#now i just have to rewatch cos and ill be complete

[caesarinsalata]

I FINSIHED FMA 03 AND IM NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT

[wellgoslowly]

HAPPY LOCKWOOD AND CO DAY EVERYONE

I may or may not be rewatching as I type this hehe. ANYWHOM I asked if I should do another locklyle analysis for the adaptation's first birthday and yall said yes!! so here we go: locklyle as sun and moon (idea courtesy of @queer-and-nerdy ).

ok ok so it would be pretty easy to say that lockwood is the sun and lucy is the moon upon first seeing the characters. I mean, lucy is relatively closed off and can be i guess kind of brooding at times, whereas lockwood is very charming and loves attention. but upon further examination, its clear that its actually the other way around: lockwood is the moon, and lucy is his sun.

yin and yang is a clear example of sun and moon being complete opposites but existing in perfect balance and harmony with each other. in the symbolism of yin and yang, the moon symbolizes adversities and obstacles. lockwood fits perfectly into that role. i mean, his sister died when he was young and his parents died when he was even younger. At face value in this comparison, you could say that he fits into the role of the moon because of everything that he's gone through in his life- all of his adversity and the various obstacles he's had to face. but when you're insane and autistic like i am, you realize that his connection to the role of the moon goes deeper. not only has he experienced tragedy, but he sees himself as a tragedy. he believes that he causes the death and/or pain of everyone he's ever loved. i mean, that's the canonical reason why he pushes everyone away and why he's so reckless- he believes that if he distances himself, then the people he loves are less likely to get hurt. He believes that if he risks his life, it will be ok because his loved ones will be safe and won't have to deal with this curse he's convinced himself that he has.

In contrast, the sun (lucy) symbolizes hope, "for even though a moon eclipse may block the sun's light, there is always a portion of the sun that shines through." as much of a cynic that lucy appears to be (and is), she ultimately still always has hope. when she was working with norrie in her hometown, she had hope that they'd be able to make it out of their town and make it big time in london. when norrie got ghost-locked and her team died, she was still able to harness enough hope to run away and try to make it on herself, even without her fourth grade. and even when she left at the end of the hollow boy, she had the hope and the conviction that allowed her to believe that she was doing the right thing and saving lockwood. cynical as she may be, lucy is filled to the brim with hope.

now, locklyle as the sun and moon begin to make so much more sense in this way. lucy's sun works to keep lockwood's moon grounded and frankly alive. she is the one who is determined to make him understand that he is still worthy of love despite everything that has happened to him. no matter how badly his depression is affecting him, she is still there to keep him grounded and force him to understand that whether he likes it or not, he has people who care about him.

lockwood's moon takes on the role of being determined to support her no matter what, just as the moon does for the sun. when lucy gets overwhelmed during a case or just during everyday life, lockwood is always there to balance her and to offer her support in any way she needs. he understands her without even needing to ask and always strives to be the best person he can be in supporting her, whether that means making her tea and making her toast during the morning or offering to leave a hired job because she's uncomfortable that night. he would do anything for her, just as the moon supports and balances the sun.

i think that this is really interesting for multiple reasons but ill give you two:

i love how they expand from your expectations. for a while i thought that lucy was the moon and lockwood was the sun, but they both stray from that expectation so much because of the added complexities that come from their backstories and their relationships with others, especially one another.

the sun is usually defined as a "masculine" energy, and the moon is defined as a "feminine" energy. I think its really interesting how they once again stray from the usual in this context.

ANYWHOM HAPPY ONE YEAR OF LOCKWOOD AND CO!!!! I'm gonna make a long sappy post before bed but i hope you guys like this little first birthday gift!!

@oblivious-idiot @ikeasupremacy @losticaruss @yveni @neewtmas @waitingforthesunrise @youmanynotrestnow @saltwaterburns @ravenous-rage @maraschinomerry @psychicbluebirdmiracle @uku-lelevillain @acecharmander @rainysaturdayafternoon @ettadear @thisgameissonintendo @impossibleclair @givemea-dam-break @krash-and-co @kazbrekkerfast wanted to tag some people that i thought might enjoy this hehe

[fifteenth-entity]

Arc Purgatory: The one (and only) major flaw of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies

-oh, hiii, just a note, this post is super uncleaned and kinda messy, you can see points where my ADHD patience wore off. sorry bout that, ill come up and clean later, for now, i gotta recharge-

I think I speak for most PotC enthusiasts when I say that the PotC trilogy (franchise? Wym theres more than three movies?) is one of the best written trilogies I’ve ever seen. Amazing choreography (they just don’t make swashbucklers like this anymore!!), amazing set and design, amazing writing, the comedy is peak, the world building is great shit, but by far, the best and most hooking part of the series is its characters!! You have the elusive trickster captain Jack Sparrow, you have the naive but headstrong and well-meaning Will Turner, the cunning and crafty Elizabeth Swann, and an array of amazing villains to boot! Barbossa and his excellent character arc, Davy Jones and his excellent character arc, the excellent dynamic between Commodore Norrington and Cutler Beckett and who being a villain when and why, the whole shtick. With how well the villains are written, it’s no surprise that a lot of them hold a spot in many fans’ top favorite characters - I’m no exception, Barbossa has always been a favorite of mine and upon a rewatch later on in life, Davy Jones is up there too. And while all of the characters are iconic, memorable and loveable (most times), Ive noticed a sort of… pattern in who places at the top of people’s favorite characters. Namely, I’ve seen the villains and Jack Sparrow. I’ve never seen Will or Elizabeth be explicitly placed high up, or higher than the villains/Jack  Sparrow. And even when I see Jack Sparrow be high up, I always see him be high up because he’s “iconic”, while I’ve seen the villains be high up because they’re “compelling”. That discrepancy really meant nothing to me when I rewatched the first two movies; they were, after all, an incomplete story. The third movie would bring it all together and cement these characters as excellent. Right? … Well… wrong. Now, before I go on, what I said before still stands. The trilogy is still impeccable in all the ways I’ve listed above. Great characters, plot, world building, choreography, score, cinematography… but there is only one area it falls short on: character development. But the peculiar thing is that it falls short only sometimes. So I wanna examine where it doesn’t fall short, where it does, and why I think so.

As previously stated, the character development falls short only sometimes. Where it absolutely doesn’t fall short is with the villains. For at least the first three movies (cuz i have not and refuse to rewatch 4 and 5), the villains have excellent, fully rounded character arcs, with memorable story beats. Barbossa going from bloodthristy merciless captain of the black pearl to hesitant co-captain of the black pearl, leaving behind his lonesome ways and instead choosing to make alliances if not for his own benefit. Davy Jones going from a terrifying force of power to blah blah blah, we've watched the movies, we remember what happens, we all get the gist. The villains have complete character arcs, they develop from one thing to another, either by way of actually becoming a decently better person and improving in some of their qualities, or by digging in their heels and dying as a consequence (or in Norrington’s case, becoming a better person but dying anyway because his narrative foil is cutler beckett and hell hath no fury like an 18th century british twink in a position of power). Even the side characters which are related to them have fully fleshed out character arcs of their own to complement them, namely Tia Dalma, who develops from a mysterious bogwitch to a lovestruck goddess. From this section, I want you readers to remember that the people who insofar have complete character arcs are the villains, who mostly switch up every movie. Now let’s talk about the lame ducks, shall we?

A few characters dont get any character development; namely, the side characters whose name you don’t really remember, or cannon fodder (i am counting Sao Feng as cannon fodder, I take no further questions at this time). However, there’s three other characters in the series that don’t get compelling character development and that’s the three protagonists. I’m gonna start with Will and Elizabeth; both of them do develop in a sense! They become more mature and more tolerant of piracy as they learn about the fallacies of the state. They are forced to mature rapidly thanks to their turbulent circumstances, namely as only-dubiously-pirates and only-dubiously-free and legally pronounced enemies of state unless cutler beckett decides otherwise. Thats a lot of Circumstance. No matter who you are as a person, that forces you to grow in one way or another. But let’s not forget that becoming pirate king and abandoning high society/abandoning citizenship and becoming an undead pirate are only half of Elizabeth and Will’s character arcs. Why do they get into this entire mess in the first place? Well, love! They love each other so much that they’d literally uproot their safety to be together, and the only thing keeping them apart is Circumstances™ . Naturally, this then means that their character arc would involve them triumphantly overcoming the circumstances and finally being together, either by abandoning pirate life or pilfering together as captains! Or alternatively, they discover it was never meant to be either by way of death or by departing tearfully. Yeah, neither happens. Instead they leave off movie 3 right back at square one; pining and yearning from a distance. But instead of the distance being lord vs peasant dynamics, it’s a time gap of 10 years. How is this any different from what the problem was 2 movies ago? This is their wrap up? Same circumstance with a different name and an outfit change? At best, this is incomplete. I can’t even count it as full circle if I wanted to; normally, here would be the beginning of a spin off or something, because this development is something penultimate. A darkest hour at best. Not a climax, and definitely not a conclusion; again, it is incomplete. And, sadly, the same can be said about Jack Sparrow. The movie goes out of its way to point out where Jack is flawed: he fears death so much that he refuses to see the pain and drawbacks of immortality, which leads him to do all his tomfoolery. Which is great character motivation! But it never changes. He is constantly afraid of his own mortality, so he will constantly hold himself back from going guns blasing, and it will always lead to him chasing the promise of immortality. Even when he sees what that does to Barbossa and Davy Jones, he digs his heels in and goes “la la la”. even when the plot of one of the movies was that he died. He died and came back to life. At this point, he has gone face to face with his greatest fear and come back a victor. But by the end of the movie, whatever happens, happens because he is still mortally afraid of death. Even after he comes back to life, people point out that all he wants is to be immortal, and he affirms that. So like… did the death… not happen? Because even if this is happening because Jack refuses to process it, then that gives us new motivation. And that’s not the only way for Jack to continue his adventures; one alternative could be that Jack, after conquering death, instead turns to life to see how he can maximize his limited fun, and starts pilfering and pirating to the nth degree, purely because of zero inhibitions. But instead like with Will and Elizabeth, with him, we are right back to square one.

So… why is this happening? Why are we having these fake character arcs for the protagonists? In most media and most cases, the answer is “because the writers suck” in one variety or another. Time constraints, budget constraints, bad writers, the works. But I firmly believe this is happening not because of the writers, but because of one mouse that keeps ruining everyone's fun.

(if i could add sound bytes, i would, but please imagine the intro song jingle thing of disney playing here)

Obviously we all know Disney; they want to milk their cash cows until the bitter end, which means that in order for that to happen, they need to keep an avenue open for Will and Elizabeth’s story in case they need to milk that for an extra buck, and obviously, Jack needs more motivation to keep doing his silliness. Now, as stated above, there are multiple ways for that to happen without keeping the same motivations that kept us going for 3 movies, but it has been proven time and time again that Disney will take the easy way out instead of the interesting (and potentially more costly) way out. Now, I refuse to watch star wars, so I cannot validate this point by myself, but according to a friend (thank you for your service @greetings-humans), when “somehow palpatine returned”, the franchise was owned by disney. Star wars fans, and even people with a brain, recognize how much of a cop out this is, and having seen the above cop outs happen in PotC, i am now firmly of the belief that the protags of PotC dont have character arcs because Disney believes this is the cheapest way of keeping the franchise going. This, btw, delightfully, ended up making disney shoot themselves in the foot; not only were movies 4 and 5 poorly received, but because of the way they were written, it wouldn’t make sense for any of the protagonists to suddenly have a change of motives and resume character development, which would be especially detrimental since we are talking about the PotC franchise; famously adored for its writing. They could mask the cash cow before, but now they cannot. So it’s no surprise that instead of continuing a story that is continuously shooting itself in the foot thanks to Disney’s executive decision to take the easy way out of creating a continuous cash cow, the 6th movie is rumored to be a remake of the first one.

But yeah, this is pretty much my analysis. I dont have much more to say. The key take away here is: write your own fanfics of the ending, or engage with the series however you like. I think if the series had different producers and was just left at a trilogy, then it would’ve been perfect. I don’t really have much more to say here;; this is pretty much it. I’m just glad that PotC’s one major flaw wasn’t due to incompetence and was due to the mouse being the mouse.

[kinstein-art]

SO HOW BOUT THAT TRAILER HUH

Edit: uploaded a much less pixelly and less cropped version, here yas go :)

[viscountessevie]

A co-worker irritated me last week. I heard her taking about the bee scene, and she said it was so awkward and uncomfortable. I wanted to scream: it’s supposed to be!! A post traumatic reaction is not fun!! People who have them are often embarrassed by them because they are not in control. Didn’t that scene show that perfectly?? It IS uncomfortable, but that is THE point: Kate could walk into that uncomfortable moment and bring Anthony back to himself.

Oh gosh anon I'm so sorry that happened! Thanks for sharing this honestly, it means alot and you're so right!

My main response to this when I first read it was I immediately said out loud: Some people have never been mentally ill and it shows.

Now thinking it over, not only is your coworker neurotypical but they do not have an empathetic bone in their body or are straight up like Truly Blind Edwina and completely missed the purpose of that scene. Which was it's a very real and scary panic attack/ptsd response on Anthony's side. As someone who has had her fair of them, I felt SO seen by Anthony and Kate's breathing exercise to help him calm down, helped me too. I sometimes rewatch that scene when I feel panic attacks coming on and Kate's breathing calms me down.

It was one of the few scenes of S2 that was brilliant in the way it was framed and Jimone blew it out of the water. They had such a fundamental understanding of their characters, their responses and how to perfectly to portray panic attacks (Jonny) and how to ground someone (Simone). It was very accurate in capturing this situation as someone who was in Ant's position having a panic attack and had friends ground me like Kate did.

The scene meant so much to me so to have your co-worker invalidate it is so disheartening. Ik it's a professional work place but you should have screamed "THAT'S THE POINT" to her.

Also if you want, you can send her this post and if you do here's a message for her: Ma'am, please use some criticial thinking before speaking on a scene that you clearly didn't relate to you/wasn't meant for you. It would not kill you to look up panic attacks, how they present and how to help someone going through one. It would be a shame if someone close to you experienced one while you were there and all you could say that they were being awkward and making you uncomfortable instead of helping them.

Again so sorry you had to work with someone like this and hope this week's been going better. So glad you felt safe on my blog to open up about this! For future ref, I welcome all kinds of bitching and ranting of people like this in my ask box or PMs. Just straight up come in and be like "Ohmygod Kyle was being an asshat in class today" like I have no idea who Kyle is but fuck him and I'll just be here to listen and validate yall 💞💞

[theabridgedkuriboh]

What is your top 10 Buddulyfight ships?

I cannot BELIEVE that you would make me CHOOSE between my KIDS 😔

TOP 10 BUDDYFIGHT SHIPS GO~

Number 1: Rouga Aragami x Kiri Hyoryu (RouKiri)

RouKiri to this day continues to plague my heart with their wholesome energy. I love Kiri’s devotion to his teacher, and Rouga’s commitment to Kiri even after find out about his Omni Lord status, he continued to treat him the same, as a regular human being. I am soft for RouKiri. I miss them 🤧

Number 2: Tasuku Ryuenji x Gao Mikado (TasuGao)

Y’ALL KNOW THAT TASUGAO GOTTA BE IN THE TOP 3. Like, my kids are so adorable and they love each other so much. Like what the actual fuck?! Couple goals? Def 👌 I want a love like that 😔. Their development was very well done. Any relationship has its ups and downs and miscommunications, and Tasuku and Gao would always work it out in a healthy way together. It’s so inspiring. 

Number 3: Ranma Kakogawa x Yuga Mikado (RanGa)

I 👏 KNOW 👏 THEIR 👏 RELATIONSHIP 👏 IS 👏 DEF 👏 A BIT 👏 TOXIC 👏 BUT...hear me out 🥺 Ranma and Yuga were not always on a toxic level. Their relationships started out as a co-dependency relationship where they each had would help each other out through thick and thin. They gave each other warmth. They gave each other compassion. And love. It was only when Yuga began to drift away after gaining a Buddy that Ranma began to change. That sudden change in flow, the warmth being ripped away,  and the loneliness it brings would drive anyone to a breaking point. But even after all that, Yuga still loved him. And deep down Ranma did as well. It was a bad set of circumstances. But I know that if they could change how things had played out they would have. But Vile Ranma was NEVER a mistake. Vile Ranma needed to happen. 

Number 4: Magoroku Shido x Sophia Sakharov (MagoSoph)

My relationship with MagoSoph was always a bit rocky. At first, I enjoyed the thought of it. Magoroku and Sophia gave off a vibe that I liked, an aura of POWER. I love that shit. Then, I grew to dislike it. Similar to how I disliked KyoRou back in the day, it felt like Sophia did not appreciate Magoroku for who he was or what he was doing at the time for HER and for THE PLAN. But rather would belittle him at any given chance. But after rewatching Buddyfight again and again, and learning from others about their POV’s of MagoSoph, I began to understand why the ship was appealing and what I was missing. I fell in love with it all over again. 

Number 5: Kyoya Gaen x Rouga Aragami (KyoRou)

NOW. This one is a bit weird to talk about. Do I LIKE THIS SHIP? Yes. But I do think it's healthy? Fuck no! KyoRou is a ship that I honestly love to write about because it's Toxic as fuck. It’s an opportunity for me to dive into the toxicity of BAD relationships. While KyoRou DID have good points, I can honestly admit that. A BETTER amount of their relationship is completely unhealthy and should not be catered to at all. (but if its what my Rouga wants I have to support him, rip i guess  😔🙏)

Number 6: Kanata Ozora x Gaito Kurouzu 

I don’t really have an excuse for this one. I just really like their color palette and the goth boi x cheerful bubbly cupcake aesthetic they have. I fell so fast. They just seem like good friends 🙃

Number 7: Rouga Aragami x Tasuku Ryuenji (RouTasu)

RouTasu was a blessing for me from Episode 5 of Season 1. Just a good NATURAL rivalry between MEN. I love that shit. However, aside from their rivalry, they also genuinely care for one another and that shit hits my heart bruh  🥺

Number 8: Kazane Fujimiya x Mukuro Shigamine 

This Ship. This ship hit me like a BUS ON FIRE during 100. It was so unexpected for me to ship them at all, let alone fall so hard for it. I love them so much. They’re so pure. I can’t even.

Number 9: Yota Mikado x Genma Todoroki (YoGen)

Yota and Genma’s tragic relationship STILL hurts me to this day. Genma might not be a HUGE favorite character of mine, but the impact he had def left a mark in my heart. Genma was incredibly devoted to Yota. And Yota was devoted to leaving behind a piece of himself for both Gao and Genma so that they would understand his viewpoints, and what mark he wanted to leave on the world through the sunfighter. I can honestly say if Yota had lived through his illness, I think Genma would not become a Seifukai member, but an entirely independent martyr. 

Number 10: Ranma Kakogawa x Seiji Kido (SeiRan)

I  👏 LOVE  👏 VILLAIN  👏 X  👏 VILLIAN  👏 SHIPS  👏

I mean, yeah i love Seiji x Subaru because of their dynamics, but Ranma x Seiji had some kind of SPICE in it. Almost like a “help me make my boyfriend jealous” kind of ship. I love that shit. 

ASK ME MORE BUDDYFIGHT QUESTIONS. PLEASE. I’M SO FULL OF LOVE TO GIVE 🥺

[tvdversefanfiction]

Thoughts on Legacies Season 3 Episode 1

Warning: Spoilers below, do not read if you are still to watch the season 3 premiere of Legacies.

“We’re Not Worthy”

Okay so I’m going to start with the acknowledgement that I know Legacies is a different tone to The Vampire Diaries, and that TVD was a different tone to The Originals, I am also going to acknowledge the fact that out of the three The Originals is by far my favorite, with TVD firmly in second place to which I am starting to believe Legacies will never manage to take said place from TVD.

For me the stronger episodes of Legacies are always going to be the darker ones, although I must admit there have been extremely cheesy moments that I’ve found to be a guilty pleasure...however, the overall softer more child friendly tone of this show has been hard to get behind but as a HUGE TVDverse fan, and fanfic writer, I’ve been pushing pass it and it sure does help that we have had several solid episodes per season, just no solid season, in my opinion.

My favorite character in Legacies has to be Lizzie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson was hard for me to love because of the epicness of kid Hope but now I’m a strong fan of hers, and Josie Saltzman has her moments too.

Now on to the actual episode “We’re Not Worthy” thoughts...

Okay so Hope is MIA once again in another series premiere but instead of the show allowing it as a chance to further the supporting characters I found myself screaming at the television for Hope to just wake up already! (more on her waking up further down) This was an episode very much centered on Lizzie, Raphael, Josie, and Landon with some strong MG moments, and where I normally love any episodes Lizzie centric this one was a total dud for me!

Lizzie reverting to her old self is always a pleasure, especially seeing her protective sister side kick in towards Josie, Josie who just comes across completely ungrateful towards Lizzie, I know their co-dependency has a lot of issues but for me it gives me ugh feelings towards Josie and I know the word ungrateful is strong especially considering I did get Josie’s side but still, I’m glad we are going to have some Josie time out (talking about that further down too) to which I hope allows Lizzie, and her friendship with Hope, my favorite friendship Hizzie to grow, as well as allowing Josie to come back feeling lighter and being more fun as a character in general.

Raphael who is easily one of my least liked characters trying to force Landon to come back to life was some reasonably good filler, Landon’s quirkiness is often a pleasure to watch, especially alongside the over-campy guilty pleasure villain The Necromancer, a villain that could only work in the Legacies format. However, the idea of Landon in Raphael’s body was all kinds of wrong and I’m so glad they did not go down that route, I mean Hope waking up to find Landon in Raphael’s body would just be too cringe, mostly because Haphael or Rope, or whatever shippers call that one, should never happen IMO.

MG is a character who is just kind of there most episodes but then come the odd episode he really shines when given the chance and he really did in this episode, his team spirit was almost inspiring so major points for that and his cuteness.

So, in this episode we find Legacies tackling Camelot, with easily the worst CGI from the show so far, with the worst villain of the week the green knight, and the worst acting Nimue by far! 

This is easily the worst take on a rather epic tale I have seen to date it just felt all kinds of rushed and far too much like a theatre play on school that a kid wrote :(

Raphael turning out to have royal blood and being the descendent of Arthur would be interesting if it were any other character like MG for example, but with Raphael’s ill advised sudden love for his best mate’s girlfriend and him being MIA for a lot of season 2 his character just feels very misplaced to me and this plot feels to me like hey he does have a purpose after all, no thanks writers!

Lizzie and MG feel to me like their going down the route of a romance now more than ever, and although I did briefly ship them in an episode in season one I just feel like too much and at the same time not enough has went on for them to just wind up together this season, I’d like to see more growth between them both, changes, and development before they wind up together, if they wind up together but for now I’m not a shipper!

Now when Hope finally does wake up after Landon is brought back to life that whole scene just feels so lackluster, now I know what your thinking one minute I’m like wake up Hope next I’m complaining about her waking up but seriously her wake up could’ve been a bigger moment and I wouldn’t have minded next week’s episode being inside Hope’s mind which I reckon would have been a whole lot less Disney than Josie’s mind, a cheesy episode I enjoyed.

I just feel Handon reunited after one died and the other woke from a coma could have been more romantic or something, I do not ship Handon but they have had some really good shippable moments that I can not deny to the point I cannot deny them having a moment that forces me to ship them, this episode not being one of them.

So, we tackled Nimue’s involvement, Hope’s coma, Lizzie and Josie, Lizzie and MG, Landon’s brief death, and Raphael’s royal lineage which means it’s time to discuss Josie leaving to spend some quality time with her mother CAROLINE (Caroline Forbes easily being one of TVDverse’s greatest characters) Now a break from Josie I think is a great time not only to further herself but others when dealing without her, although I have a feeling her brief departure will not be very long at all.

Any mention of Caroline gets me screaming “Come back, Queen, come back!” and I know Candice King keeps saying never say never so each season I await only to be broken hearted for now two seasons in a row :( 

I get actors wanting to pursue other things, TVD was 8 years of that cast and crew’s life and TO was 5, so they deserve the break 1000%, I loved Freya’s return and I was never much of a fan of her character but it felt so needed for Hope and I cried at that reunion unashamedly. Which is why Caroline’s return would mean so much not just for fans of her character but for fans of the twins and finally getting to see mummy Caroline with grown daughters, on that same note bring back Rebekah Mikaelson, crazy aunt Bex would be perfect for a pop in to see her niece Hope.

Overall, this episode of Legacies easily goes into my do not rewatch unless your binging the show as a whole! It does have some great moments such as: Landon’s defiance over being revived, the overall campiness that is the necromancer and Lizzie putting Alyssa in her place, but it also has some horrible moments like Chad’s untimely death (loved him) Alyssa’s non exit, and literally everything Nimue related including the Shrek in armor villain of the week that they called the green knight.

NOTABLE MENTIONS

1) Chad’s dead, again! Only this time I feel like it’s a proper exit for the character, although hoping they bring him back. Love his scenes with the necromancer and even found myself shipping the two (Chad and Ted forever)

2) Josie’s off to see mummy Caroline, any mention of Caroline is notable. (Come back to us Caroline)

3) What the heck is going on with Lizzie’s hair? Is it a really bad wig or just styled so awful? It does not do the character or actress any justice whatsoever. (justice for Lizzie’s hair)

4) The Necromancer is clearly sticking around! Not to mention Alyssa and Raphael are still very much tied to him which we found out by Chad’s death (my heart keeps breaking)

5) MG, who is not my favorite character, is easily the character that shines the most in this particular episode. (MG on the rise?)

Episode Rating - 2/5 (Not the worst, but close)

[aion-rsa]

Where in Fiction Would You Spend Christmas?

https://ift.tt/34FuLCB

It’s been a staying-in kind of year. That New Year’s Resolution you made to travel more? It’s gained 20 pounds, started cutting its own hair and is now in a jigsaw club with your neighbour Ken. The only marathon you’ve completed in 2020 is a Battlestar Galactica rewatch. The only mountain you’ve climbed is the metaphorical one it takes to shower daily. That beach trip you’d planned? It went okay actually. You made some bells by selling coconuts to Nook’s Cranny and dug up a bunch of Manila Clams with a flimsy shovel.

For obvious reasons, escape is on our minds this year more than most. So we started thinking, if you had your wishing socks on, where in the collected imaginations of everyone who’s ever dreamt up a film, TV show, game or book, would you spend the holidays? On the holodeck of the Starship Enterprise or roasting on an open fire with The Simpsons, exchanging gifts with Ewoks or witnessing Scrooge McDuck’s transformation from miser to philanthropist first hand?  

To get things started, here’s what our writers picked…

Alec Bojalad would spend Christmas … reveling with the Sterling Cooper staff on Mad Men

If I’m to indulge this hypothetical in which I’m torn away from one reality and thrust into another, one thing is very clear: I will have to be extremely intoxicated to avoid my heart exploding from the stressful terror of it all. Thankfully, I know exactly where in pop culture to go to get absolutely blitzed: Mad Men. In terms of sheer debauchery, a Sterling Cooper Christmas party probably falls somewhere between a Bacchanalian orgy and Valhalla itself. As Don, Roger, Bert, Peggy, and company gather together to celebrate another successful year schmoozing clients and sexually harassing one another, I will don my finest 1960s attire and infiltrate the festive event. 

As Don Draper wonders who this soft-bodied weirdo in an ill-fitting suit is, I’ll catch up with Harry Crane about television. Then I’ll ask to see Bert Cooper’s weird tentacle porn painting. Sometime around my 9th J&B Whisky on the rocks I’ll visit the secretarial pool and beg them to demand better treatment because “you’ree ssssooo strong and eleganttt. Don’t listen to thessseee men. They’re Mad Men.” Hopefully I’ll be taken away to an old-timey hospital at that point, given electroshock treatment, and return back to my own continuity.  

Ryan Britt would spend Christmas… at Deanna and Will’s cabin from Star Trek: Picard

When Jean-Luc Picard uses the spatial projector to zap himself and Soji across the galaxy to the planet Nepethene, the result is a cozy pizza dinner with Will Riker, Deanna Troi and their daughter Kestra. For those who had been pining for more ‘90s nostalgia in this Trek series, the episode ‘Nepthene’ delivered, but with a strong shot of realism. Although Picard was written and created before the Covid-19 pandemic, the idea that Riker and Troi would leave the busy and crowded life of Starfleet, and retire in a remote cabin to protect their family is a choice many have actually faced in 2020. As people around the world have fled pandemic epicenters and tried to put shields around their own families, the peaceful and remote home of the Riker-Trois represents the optimistic ideal of Star Trek with a quiet, and very close-to-home twist. 

Spending time with the Riker-Troi family would mean great conversation, great music (oh the jazz!) and, above all, great food. I would happily put my own family in their ‘pod’ if only so Kestra could teach my three-year-old daughter the best way to construct a bow and arrow, and of course, how to learn that secret language of butterflies. 

Then, after the kids were in bed, having a glass of wine or some Romulan whiskey with Will out on the porch sounds pretty damn perfect. 2020 has been tough. A bear hug from Riker seems like the perfect Christmas gift of all. 

Caroline Preece would spend Christmas… at The Muppet Christmas Carol’s Penguin Skating Party

Ever since young-me set eyes on the ultra-festive world of The Muppet Christmas Carol I’ve wanted to visit. I can’t imagine a better way to spend Christmas Eve than in the cuddly version of Dickens’ cautionary tale, helping Kermit and his co-workers tidy up Scrooge’s office for the holidays, dancing down the snowy London streets and attending the Penguins’ annual Christmas skating party as the ultimate topper to a perfect evening. 

As well as being super-merry and joyous (‘tis the season), judging by Kermit’s performance on the ice, they let anyone take part.

It could just be the general lack of socialising and festive frivolity in 2020, but Bob Cratchit’s hopeful walk home from the office (remember the office?!?) on the night before Christmas has always epitomised the idea that the anticipation of Christmas Day is the best part. Add to that a trip to the market to pick up some singing vegetables, or the cosy Cratchit dinner with Miss Piggy and their gaggle of pig and frog offspring, and it’s a version of old-timey festive cheer that will always hold a place in my heart.

Louisa Mellor would spend Christmas… with the strippers in Hustlers

This choice won’t reflect well on me. It’s neither edifying nor improving and has a core of savage capitalist consumerism, which is probably what makes it so Christmassy. Midway through Lorraine Scafaria’s Hustlers – a film about a group of strippers who right the wrongs of the 2008 financial crisis by drugging Wall Street guys to run up their company credit cards – there’s a scene that’d make anyone’s heart grow three sizes. 

A dozen lap dancers gather for Christmas in a high-end apartment, their daughters and a grandmother in tow. Dressed in luxe loungewear and chunky gold, their skin glowing like a sucked butterscotch, they swap gifts, smile and sing and dance and thank the lord for their sisters. Expensive elegance is everywhere. Someone gets a fur coat, somebody else a pair of animal-print Louboutins. The woman who dips the dancers’ tits in bowls of ice before they go on stage is given an iPhone 4. Mostly though, they give each other affirmation. Without a natural hair colour, nude fingernail or a man in sight, it’s a dream family Christmas. Picture a Norman Rockwell painting with Jennifer Lopez in gold lamé, a cashmere Santa hat and a balcony bra. Feel-good festive perfection. 

Michael Ahr would spend Christmas… secluded in Hogwarts

Some may have found Harry Potter’s winter holidays without his friends rather lonely, but I can think of nothing more magical than having the vast empty halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry all to myself. Why let the staff have the warm, dry, magical snow that fell annually in the Great Hall all to themselves? Not being of school age myself anymore, I might choose to share a butterbeer (or perhaps a hot buttered rum) with Dumbledore and Hagrid by a roaring fire.

I might even be tempted to make the trip to Hogsmeade to see all the shops decked out with lights and blanketed in snow. I’d still be able to enjoy the comparative solitude without all the kids running around, but I’m almost certain there would be a group of carolers wandering about the square, never mind the singing enchanted suits of armor back at the school. And of course, if I could pick a particular present, I’d choose to receive the same amazing gift Harry received that first Christmas from Dumbledore: his father’s Invisibility Cloak. I’d likewise pass it along as a family heirloom to my own children on some Christmas morning to come.

Jamie Andrew would spend Christmas… in a Deep Space Nine Holosuite

At first, I entertained the idea of spending Christmas in Baltimore with the denizens of The Wire, mainly because I liked the idea of children running up and down the streets hollering, ‘Omar’s coming!’ moments before the shotgun-wielding Robin Hood of the Hood came swaggering down the street wearing a big red coat and a white beard, tossing out bank notes and whistling ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’. Then I realised that the chances of me ending up a corpse inside a boarded-up derelict building before the turkey was even cooked were surprisingly high, so I thought I’d try Christmas with Frasier Crane and family instead. Unfortunately, my foreknowledge of Martin’s and Eddie’s deaths would cloud the occasion, and I’d probably spend all night slumped crying in Martin’s recliner, unable to tell anyone why I was so upset without violating the temporal time directive. 

Best, then, to spend Yule time on Deep Space Nine. Christianity and its associated festive traditions don’t appear to exist in the 24th Century, so after saying hello to Sisko and co., and maybe playing a bit of Dabo at Quark’s, I’d probably spend the rest of my time in a faithful Holosuite reproduction of a 1990s Irish bar on New Year’s Eve getting absolutely wasted with fellow Celt Chief O’Brien. Now THAT’S what I call Christmas. 

Juliette Harrisson would spend Christmas… in Narnia

Not, of course, the White Witch’s eternal winter, when it’s always winter but never Christmas, but a regular Christmas in Narnia. It would, of course, be a white Christmas because otherwise, how would Father Christmas come and deliver presents to everyone? So I could spend the season in a snowy woodland surrounded by magical creatures, and be in with a chance of a really good present. Or possibly a sewing machine.

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On the first moonlit night when there’s snow on the ground, Narnian fauns, dryads, and dwarfs perform the Great Snow Dance, with the fauns and dryads dancing around while the dwarfs throw snowballs that don’t hit them (an often forgotten detail from the book version of The Silver Chair!). I would join in, although possibly not throw any snowballs as my aim isn’t that good. Then I’d go back to Mr Tumnus’s for sardines and cake on Christmas Eve and talk to him about his somewhat dubious taste in books (just what is Nymphs And Their Ways about, eh Tumnus?). I’d spend Christmas Day up at the castle of Cair Paravel, eating and drinking like a Queen, and then I’d go visit Mr and Mrs Beaver on Boxing Day for a feast of leftovers and maybe a little light ice fishing.

John Saavedra would spend Christmas…celebrating Life Day with Star Wars’ Poe Dameron 

No one has ever cared so much about Life Day, the Star Wars galaxy’s own version of Christmas, as much as ace pilot Poe Dameron does in the Lego Star Wars Holiday Special. From decorating the Millennium Falcon and choosing the right Life Day sweater to roasting the traditional tip-yip (also known as Endorian chicken), Poe shows there’s something much stronger than the Force in the Star Wars universe: holiday spirit. Who knew the Resistance hero best known for his knack at blowing stuff up had such a soft spot? 

Hanging with Poe on Life Day would mean chestnuts roasting on an open exhaust engine, drinking whatever passes for cocoa in the Star Wars galaxy, hanging out with Wookiees on their homeworld of Kashyyyk, singing festive carols in Huttese, and finding just the right Life Day tree for the Falcon. It’d also mean dancing to the hip tunes of Max Rebo’s drum (the rest of his band is unfortunately no longer with us) and partying with Lando Calrissian, Finn, Rose, Rey, Jannah, Mon Calamari, Jawas, Rodians, Ewoks, and maybe even Chewie’s son Lumpy. If you’re not sold by now, your taste in holiday parties might be bantha poodoo. 

Elizabeth Donoghue would spend Christmas…. at The Office’s Classy Christmas

Dunder Mifflin has many memorable Christmas parties, but Steve Carell’s final festive special includes some of my favourite things about The Office; weird Gabe, Michael’s enduring hatred of Toby, and Michael and Holly’s adorable relationship.

After Toby announces he is taking a leave of absence for jury duty (‘Thank you, Scranton Strangler. I love you. You just took one more person’s breath away’) Michael learns that Holly will be returning to Scranton and demands that Pam’s regular Christmas party must get classy. What makes a Christmas classy? A backwards Kangol-esque Santa hat, a red velvet smoking jacket and a quarter of a jazz quartet of course.

I would actively enjoy watching Dwight take down Jim in their snowball fight (total bully, needs to be taken down a peg or two), get drunk with Kelly and Meredith, dance with Phyllis and Erin and learn more about the enigma that is Creed. And although it is slightly more subdued than their Benihana and Moroccan Christmas parties, I’m sure we could keep the party going at a Poor Richard’s after-party.

Kayti Burt would spend Christmas … on Themyscira

The Amazons’ decision to opt out of the “Patriarch’s World” has always been a relatable one, but never so much as in The Year 2020. Historically, I’m not really a beach person, but Themyscira, aka Paradise Island, has a lot going for it: warm weather, a supportive community, and live sporting events where you don’t have to worry about some drunken dudebro spilling cheap beer on your toga. 

As far as I can tell from the Wonder Woman movies, no one (besides Young Diana, who’s usually working through some stuff) ever seems to be having a bad time on Themyscira. And why would you? The pre-Crisis comics incarnation of the island (which I am going to choose to accept as my holiday canon) includes indigeneous kangaroo-like creatures called Kangas that the Amazons ride like horses. Diana’s is called Jumpa; mine will be called Jimmy Hoppa, and we will explore the island’s cascading waterfalls and cliffside terraces together. In the evenings, I will attend performances at the Themysciran amphitheater with my new Amazonian friends or, if I’m feeling introverted, catch up on my book reading and crossword puzzles.

Listen, I wouldn’t want to spend forever on Themyscira—I’d miss my friends, family, and TV shows (Themyscira doesn’t seem to get a good wireless signal)—but a few weeks (or months, especially as I will be quarantining for my first two weeks) for Christmas 2020? Bring me to the enchanted feminist utopia.

Alana Joli Abbott would spend Yule… at the coven house from the Nightcraft Quartet

Witchkind, as presented in Shannon Page’s Nightcraft Quartet, don’t celebrate Christmas, but they do love a good Yuletide celebration. Page’s witches and warlocks are separate from humans, long lived, and magical. Young witches train in the magical arts at a coven house, living there like a dorm; the adult women of the coven (always numbering thirteen) may be involved in scientific research (like protagonist Callie), medicine and healing, or reading Tarot, and they teach their specialties to the young witches. The coven house is a central place where women gather to live, to practice magic together, to celebrate, and to honor traditional rituals. While Callie’s coven in San Francisco has their problems, the community there is caring and genuine, full of both youthful energy and centuries of experienced witchery. 

One of the perks of editing this series is that I get sneak peeks into parts of the story readers haven’t seen yet—including Yule decorations. Rather than cutting down dead trees, witches coax living fir boughs to weave along the walls and mantles, accented with red ribbon and gold—coins, beads, chains. I can imagine the cozy San Francisco coven house filled with witches all rushing to perform their tasks to make the perfect celebration, some of them convincing the fir boughs to expand in just the right ways while others brew hot chocolate or prepare the feast. I picture them eating in the large hall, voices lifted in joyful chatter, and then making their way out to the grounds beyond the house to celebrate beneath the stars, singing midwinter songs and looking forward to the next year. After months of 2020 with smaller communities and less human contact, being surrounded by such a vibrant, magical group of women sounds like just the right way to end my year.

Rosie Fletcher would spend Christmas… with the Roy family from Succession

Go hard or go home, they say, so since I can’t go home this year, I’m going round the Roys. That is, of course, the family at the centre of Succession, a show peopled by the very wealthiest and utterly worst. Festivities would be held at the home of patriarch Logan Roy. His children and their partners would be obliged to attend. Logan would hire a chef to cook, waiting staff to serve, some of whom he would abuse. I would give them sympathetic “I’m sorry” looks but do nothing, secretly thankful Logan’s ire wasn’t focused on me. 

In all likelihood I would be a figure like Greg (the egg), or Tom Wambsgans – mostly tolerated, vaguely despised and very much the second class citizens of the Roy clan, skulking on the periphery as Kendall, Roman and Shiv compete for Logan’s love and oldest son Connor comes up will another entirely ridiculous life plan – I dunno, maybe this year he’s decided that his next career move is to become Santa Claus. 

The food would be extraordinary. The booze the very finest – how long before, like Greg, I would be claiming the bottle of vintage rose champagne I had just motored through was ‘not my favourite’? And the dinner table conversation would be electric. Electric like an electric shock – sharp, painful, disorientating, unexpected. 

So Christmas has become too commercialised? Fine, fuck it. I’ll take the eye-wateringly expensive gift that’s grudgingly bestowed on me, I will gorge on the finest cheeses known to man and coat my tongue with port made from molten rubies, knowing I am on my way to moral bankruptcy and doing it anyway. Go hard or go home…

Kirsten Howard would spend Christmas… singing along in the closing moments of Scrooged 

You’d be hard-pressed to find a Christmas movie that feels as genuinely uplifting during its climax as 1988’s Scrooged. Bill Murray’s arrogant TV boss Frank Cross, having been visited by the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future, disrupts a live broadcast of A Christmas Carol to rant openly and honestly at the cast and crew (and eventually you) as he makes a passionate case for a life less invested in exploitation and capitalism, and eventually kicks off a collective singalong of Annie Lennox and Al Green’s version of ‘Put a Little Love in Your Heart’.

That’s where I’d like to be this Christmas. Not just to sing along with Bill, but to be around people immediately swept along by the much-less-explored altruistic route of ‘no fucks given’. 

Also hanging out with Bill Murray, though, of course.

So much of the last few years has been a public race to the bottom of Nothing Matters Mountain, but even if it hadn’t all been so demoralising and forced so many of us to reevaluate our priorities, Frank’s message of redemption in love and living as well as we can, while shrugging off our own heavy expectations of success, still feels really special. 

This Christmas, there is light at the end of the tunnel. We may not be able to grab the nearest stranger and sing “put a little love in your heart!” at them right now, but we CAN carry that feeling with us into 2021. As Frank says: “There are people who are having trouble making their miracle happen”. We can always try and find time to stop focusing on our own for a while and to help them.

David Crow would spend Christmas… chilling with Harold and Kumar

Not many people are aware of this, but A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas is the best Harold and Kumar. It may not have the pop culture cache of their medicinal-fueled quest for mini-cheeseburgers, but it does have something very special, indeed: Wafflebot. If you’ve had the misfortune of living your life oblivious to Wafflebot’s existence, allow me to introduce you to a greater world of wonder and magic.

Wafflebot is the best Christmas present to ever come out of Santa’s Workshop. Displaying an eerily sophisticated artificial intelligence for a toy meant only to cook delicious breakfasts, Wafflebot can make you waffles any time by just popping the top and letting that batter drop. But he can also do so much more! Vaguely aware of the concept of friendship, this brunching Frankenstein can learn how to love and appreciate his owners… and defend them from any threat with scalding hot projectile syrup!

With the ability to serve breakfast, save your life, be manipulated into dangerous attack mode, and learn how to see the real you, all while playing a mean drum solo, Wafflebot would make any Christmas a sweetly warm experience. And then Harold and Kumar, and I could also steal a Christmas tree from NPH or something.

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[jonlovessansa]

HOW JONSA HAPPENED IN 8X2 WITHOUT US REALIZING IT

EDIT: Clearly the show proved me wrong by ep.4, but i refuse to delete this post because I still think it makes more sense than to believe they didn’t talk before the battle. Also, their consummation before the NK’s attack is one of my old theory from the books, so let’s see if this will turn out to be an Easter Egg… By the way, thank you all for your likes and comments!

So, I finally had a rewatch of episode 2 and I really can’t believe how badly we’ve been tricked... right in front of our own eyes… This is THE Jonsa episode, and they hid it behind the omage to all the characters.

Buckle up now and let’s start from where they left, namely Sansa posing a question:

While the camera closes up to Jon we hear a door opening: it is the link to the next scene with Jorah and Dany, but also, as by now we are all accustomed to, it is symbolic, because the last time we saw a door opening was on that boat.

What is clear here, is that Sansa knows what they’re doing, to Jon’s dismay because I suppose he was sure he was hiding it well… That’s why he swallows, that’s why he looks guilty, almost like a lover caught cheating. So if you think he doesn’t answer her, you are wrong, because the door is open now, and he can’t just close it and pretend nothing happened. 

And I’d go as far as to say that here they’re also acknowledging the tension between them, which they never address but that we’ve been told they have been skirting around since season 7, so they know it’s there: she has teary eyes and is heartbroken, he looks guilty and he's heartbroken too because she is hurt. The door is definitely open.

So, excluding the possibility that he lies to her face since it’d go against what they showed of their relationship in the episode, especially in this scene (if you think he lies when he says SHE’LL BE A GOOD QUEEN, that’s not a lie, and if you listen carefully to Jon’s mind, what he adds is a loud I’LL MAKE CERTAIN OF THAT…), we have only two options:

- he tells her that he’s not in love with D, implying that he’s just sleeping with her and that that has not clouded his judgment;

- he tells her about political Jon.

The opening of ep. 2 gives us the answer:

Sansa is upset for what happened with Jaime of course, but Brienne vouched for him, her own mother had trusted him… Her reaction is mostly of disrespect towards Daenerys, which means that she still doesn’t know the truth and so she is angry both because she’s in love and because she still believes Jon doesn’t think straight. How else could it be? She read this Queen at first glance, why didn’t he do the same? If she is an ally, why did he bend the knee? And if she’s a good queen, why does she acts like… that? 

Since it’s been established that Sansa is clever, and knowing she trusts him and has faith in him, as she confirmed to him, the only reason why she can’t make sense of that, is that her mind is full of love and jealousy and anger and hurt and she can barely contain it in front of her.

And then comes this beautiful played moment between her and Daenerys.

As many of you already discussed, this is when Sansa finally can put two and two together, when finally everything makes sense. And you can see all the emotions displayed on her face: she is happy and relieved because Jon is not in love, he’s not been manipulated, he is the manipulator. But most importantly, she’s proud, which is something we have to take into consideration to understand what’s about to happen, because it means, especially after that impossible level of tension in the office, that now we should expect Sansa to go straight to talk to him: they are too straightforward with each other to avoid confrontation, more than that they need it. And she needs it immediately because of what she feels. And once this truth is out, do you think Jon would be able not to tell her about his real parents? Not a chance! And if the last barrier between them falls, after what we saw in the office scene, what do you think will happen?

And the confrontation does in fact happen, they simply don’t show it to us, preferring toast to them with clues spread all over the episode, following their usual favourite shock value path.

Starting from the war council: if you look attentively, you’ll notice that not once, not even for a tiny beat, Jon and Sansa look at each other. 

In the first episode we’ve been shown this

and this

and this,

nevertheless, not once they look at each other during the entire scene. 

Jon looks at Bran and Arya, Sansa looks at Bran and, completely ignoring Jon next to her, she looks at Arya, but they don’t look at each other and they don’t talk to each other. It makes sense if we assume that Jon, knowing he’s not her brother, the last wall helping him keeping a minimum distance, is embarrassed to look at her. But Sansa? She’s not angry anymore, we saw she’s proud, and she understands now that everything he did is for the North, so why wouldn’t she look at him?

And they are both hiding something: Jon has his gloves on and Sansa has the same posture she had with D, with her arms crossed behind her back. At a certain point Jon even seems to turn to her but immediately stops himself like he is about to do something he shouldn’t do. Why?

 Also, they’re always blocked together, establishing that they are indeed a couple, but while in the Great Hall their chairs were practically glued together, and in the office they end up very close, here there’s always a safe little distance between them.

And then this happens:

This is the most close to “looking at each other” they do, and it’s subtly. Jon’s saying:

”LET’S GET SOME REST.”

Do you see Sansa carefully looking at him out of the corner of her eye? I say that she’s thinking of whatever they are going to do, except rest, in the Lord’s chambers…

Do you think I’m seeing things? Look at the boldness of D&D&co, what they shamelessly show us:

The Bear has entered the Castle! 

This is not the right post to talk about it, but yeah, the bear is Jon.

Now let’s go back to the previous scenes to search for the hints, thanks to the other characters, of what happened after S&D little chat.

THEON AND SANSA REUNION: 

If you think this is framed as romantic you are absolutely right, but it’s not forshadowing a love story between them, this is both a reminder of Castle Black reunion and a preview of what will happen the moment Sansa will be with Jon, far away from our eyes: a new reunion after she found out the truth, and it’s not a case that this hug resembles the one we all remember, with Theon being a stand in for Jon, like many times in the books and the show too.

Actually, Theon has one of the best political Jon forshadowing that we had on screen. Do you remember when he returns home by ship? He has sex with the Captain’s daughter and she falls in love with him. But he’s only using her, he even tells her that she could be pregnant with his child, a king’s bastard son. Then he arrives at Pyke and his sister is waiting for him… 

TORMUND AND JON REUNION:

This is another enactment of Jon and Sansa reunion, from Jon’s pov this time: Tormund, a tall red head, hugs him and calls him LITTLE CROW, and you remember that S&D joked about his short height, right? Then Jon tells him HE THOUGHT HE LOST HIM because the Wall has fallen, or the door has been opened in our case; also, KH is purposefully staring at Tormund’s lips!

But happily reunion apart, there is more: Jon changed his jacket. This happened in episode 1 too, establishing a precedent: after having sex at the Waterfalls, he changes his clothes before going to talk to Sansa. And I think the same thing happened here, only he changed his clothes after talking to Sansa… plus, do you see how ill-fitting and consumed the jacket is?

This is not the only time we see something like this, and there is a reason here too: I believe this is Ned’s (it doesn’t look like the one he wore in ep.1), and probably Sansa gave it to him after he told her about his parents, not to let him forget who made him the man he is or doubt who he is, a Stark.

GREY WORM AND MISSANDEI

There are many gifs with good parallels to Jonsa, plus they had sex for the first time before a battle. Here GW performs his version of Jon’s I’LL PROTECT YOU, just in case we forgot: “My people will protect you”.

ARYA AND GENDRY REUNION:

The parallel between these two couples has been established in the first episode

but here they go even further, because before having sex Gendry reveals to Arya who his real father is. Could it be more obvious?

JAIME KNIGHTING BRIENNE WITH HIS SWORD:

I remember many gifs paralleling them to Jon and Sansa, and they are all valid, but in the books there is an important moment that helps us understand better what we have here: when they were going to King’s Landing they had a sword fight. J cut B with his sword on her “upper thigh” and a “red flower blossomed”. The scene is described with a double meaning, alluding at J breaking her maidenhead with his “sword”.

Jaime using his sword to knight B has a sexual innuendo, and if you have any doubt, you should remember what Tormund says, and the expression on his face: 

“I’M NO KING, BUT IF I WERE, I’D KNIGHT YOU TEN TIMES OVER”

 Well, that’s exactly what King Jon and Sansa are doing right now!

JENNY OF OLDSTONE

I think we all know that this is a reference to Sansa and to what will happen to her and Jon, but let me add something about her leather dragonfly outfit: for those of you who don’t know, in the books Jon’s LONGCLAW has a virgin leather grip (Sansa is still a maid in the books, thanks to God no marriage with Ramsey there) and it is sheathed in leather… I don’t think I need to explain why they chose this particular episode to have Sansa covered in leather.

(gif by @lokispells)

Now, there are some other clues, and there is a big one too, but first I need to tell you other things that I hadn’t planned to and that requires me more time. Is it conclusive enough what I got you here? I hope so...

Thanks for listening.

[rainbat]

"Like, if you know it isnt happening, why are you still teasing that it could? that’s only gonna lead to MORE disappointment." Honestly I think "this whole ‘not saying anything’ air" is because Josh and Disney KNOW EXACTLY THIS. That it will lead to disappointment and less people watching. I don't want to call it baiting cause we will get some form of canon gay BUT it touching very closely as it feels like they are not doing it to create a genuine hope, they're doing it to protect advertisers

Yeah it’s all about ratings for sure but like,, heres the thing:

Andi Mack “andimackers” the “friendom” whatever you call it, its literally 1% or less of the total viewership. there might be more on instagram but most of them are jandis and tuffys anyway lol. this news, which would reach MAYBE 3k people, while would upset us, all those people will likely still watch the finale. we still know tyrus is canon and who tf thats in this fandom is gonna be like ??they get together but no kiss? nup not for me! ... thats like lowkey weird lol are you REALLY just watching this show for two boys to kiss ??? 😳

so if news gets out that theres no kiss, maybe 10 weirdos out there will ‘boycott’ the finale. the rest of us truly, wholly, love this show. we are here until the end and we’ll rewatch when its over and we’ll support a movie or season 4 until we croak. i have MUCH doubt that ratings would be affected by josh tweeting ‘ there is unfortunately no tyrus kiss, but there is a beautiful moment that will be a first on disney’ (or something to that degree) i do believe he is NOT allowed to say that tho. 

So the rest of the 655000 average viewers? yeah they’re kids aged 8-14 literally just watching the show when they get home from school, when they go over to a friends house, when they see the jandi kiss promo and go :O if youre under 13 you cant be on social media, sure some are, but i can guarantee about 99% of those kids are not in the andi mack fandom. they dont follow josh on any platform besides maybe their moms instagram acct, they arent engaged like we are, they aren’t obsessing over tyrus, they havent been teased about a kiss or not, they probably forgot iris exists. they watch the show and either ship tuffy, tira, or have clued into cyrus having a crush on tj and think ‘omg what if tj liked him back???’ 

that is really the majority of the viewers. like, yall realise there arent 600k people in the fandom right 😭

so there you have, let’s say, 600k people that regularly watch the show that literally would never see any news about a tyrus kiss maybe or maybe not happening, let alone confirmation of it (not) happening. 

you would have maybe 3k (and thats a REAL stretch) people seeing this confirmation, and of those 3k ill be bold and say 100 would decide they dont wanna watch the finale if they heard there was no kiss. 

in ratings thats like,, not even statistically significant. So no spoilers, sure, ok. but why hype it up or down? it REALLY doesn’t affect anything and it just sets those 3k people up to be (a little) disappointed in the finale. 

i get the fandom does exist and has some kind of presence but look: i made an am stan twitter, right? so i use that for my fandom stuff, but i have a different twitter that i use every day and follow no andi mack stuff or people on. i have seen the show pop up exactly ONCE and it was a weird mutual connection of an actor i followed with josh. i dont mean to say anything bad but we ARE a small fandom. its just a fact, i dont think this news, no kiss, could do anything. (if there WAS a kiss, thats a completely different story, i do believe that would blow up) 

if you told someone who didnt watch this show: “andi mack has two gay boys but they arent gonna kiss in the finale :((” they’d go : whats andi mack and you’d go “this show on disney but its really good” and theyd go “gays on disney? like for real? wow thats cool” and youd go “yeah but they arent gonna KISS” and theyd go “ i mean its disney channel...” and you’d go “ya but theyre gonna be official” and theyd go “what WHAt theres gonna be a canon gay couple on disney??” and youd go “ya but-” and theyd go “thats crazy! wow maybe ill watch” “but-” “wow gay teens on disney confessing feelings a WIN” “but-” “and hes SAID the word gay??” “yeah but i-” “wow 2019 is a whole other world huh”

you get me? 

people older than you: watch cos omg gay boys on disney? 12 year old me could never imagine. 

people younger than you: omg do you think jandi is gonna get back together?? omg does buffy like marty now??omg cyrus does NOT like kira :o hey why did ham go to india?

TLDR; confirming a kiss to not exist would likely not affect ratings at all, i get why they dont wanna say anything because its a spoiler, but hyping it up really doesnt do much either. this fandom tends to forget it makes up less than 1% of viewership. the teasing of a kiss only does more harm than good

[hithelleth]

V Wars (S1)

Did I tell you all I watched V Wars? I did! It was last week when I was still in a recovery haze, which is actually the best time to watch things because you can’t be too bothered by details (and binging helps with that, too.)

It started so-so and then got better in some ways (and not in others.)

They sure as heck used a lot of women as props/for fridging:

Jess (mom-turned-monster, murdered),

Claire (suspect as to whether to be trusted, murdered upon finding out the answer was probably yes)

Rachel (mentally ill and therefore presented as an incompetent mom (figures!), although she then didn’t do a bad job in a crisis, as much as it was in her power)

and Sasha (the genuinely good politician who gets shoved away by the baddies, although at least I hope she’s still alive.)

Danika was interesting, although maybe not likeable, until she reconnected with ‘her man’ and then got completely watered down, wtf. Bit at least she hasn’t died. Yet.

I did like Mila’s whole vampire-who-hunts-vampires stick.

Ava? IDK, at least she was consistent and made sense. I get that she and co. would align themselves with a leader who promised them power and freedom. That’s an understandable choice. Even if I don’t like it. Both because of Michael and because I loathe Niklos with passion. (Also, IDK how I feel about her aligning with the same person who was until then spearheading the project of eliminating them.  I would need a rewatch to sort it out, but I am not going to. )

Uh, the men.

It’s hard to really be into a show,when the main protagonist is… it’s not that he isn’t likeable, he sometimes is, he sometimes isn’t. My biggest problem with Luther is that he is dumb a lot of times — or the show is dumb — except when it serves the plot that he isn’t. Then again that is a problem a lot of shows have: making characters serve the plot regardless of characterisation.

Anyway, I was this close to quitting when the dumbass was in the middle of the court with all the media present and didn’t think of just outing the bad guys threatening him — but, thankfully he then wizened up and grew a pair and did it. It was the peak of the show, IMO.

Of course, the whole testimony was rigged to fail, so there was that.

There were also other dumb things in the show like conveniently forgetting being bugged and watched and listened to and only remember it when it served the plot (again!).

And why didn’t Sasha secure her own security team to be loyal to her/protect her no matter the orders? Oh, right, because she was the stereotypical naive good guy trusting the system and justice and all.

(Speaking of, Michael was also dumb and naive in this way.)

Which brings me to the thing I disliked the most: the whole shady government being shady and way too reminiscent of current USA governmental issues, I guess in a not-so-subtle way. Obviously, fiction reflects reality, but I like it better when it’s less in-the-face about it.

Oh, and, I liked Michael. (Figures!) Is he dead now? Maybe not? I hope not?

And Dez was okay. It’s often hit-and-miss with kid characters, but this kid was not annoying, not too dumb, just what a child would be like, so, yeah, I’m cool with him. I wonder what they’ll do with the trauma he had to go through in S2, though.

I think they already renewed it?

Anyway, this turned out way more negative than I intended, because the show was entertaining to keep me watching – especially the second half when it got better.

I missed dealing with more moral questions and explaining some details. For example, we know from what Sasha said that about a third of vamps turned to feeding from blood bags or loved ones, but we mostly just saw carnage and everyone hating vamps – I’d like to see that not just being told in a line.

And I’d like to see how Danika figured she can’t feed on people she doesn’t care about and how the toxin works.

Or Mila’s development from surviving to becoming a vampire hunter – we only saw her die and the next thing she was shanking vamps: what about the inbetween stages and reasoning?

I know this show is based on books, so maybe these things are dealt with in more detail in those and the creators expected us to be familiar with them already. I am not sure if I’m going to read them, though.

I do, however, intend to watch S2, because there are things I want to find out, so the show is at least good enough for that. ;)

[chromsai]

DM Review

So now that I’ve reached the end of my rewatch, I feel it’s appropriate to give it a quick review before I move onto GX. I don’t really plan on dragging this on too badly since I feel I expressed my thoughts over the show well enough throughout the liveblog anyway, but I do, however, want to break it down a bit, so in order to give it a proper rating, I feel it’s best (and easiest) to give each “season” of the show its on individual rating, and then go from there. So let’s do that...

Duelist Kingdom (episodes 1-40 + 41-49)

Well ignoring the fact that the rules are incredibly broken throughout (which can be forgiven since the rules for the actual game still hadn’t been fully established yet), the ridiculous premise is very much enticing enough to make me want to keep watching Yugi climb his way through the tournament to save his grandpa from Pegasus (who is, imo, still the most enjoyable villain of the whole show) and become the King of Games. Even though from episode one, we’re just thrown into the world and have to follow along with these characters that we know nothing about, the season makes up for it as it does take its time throughout to tell us each character’s background and story and why they’re involved. The world building this arc is, funnily enough, not that important, which is something that shows can very rarely get away with. We get just enough to understand why this tournament is important to the world of these characters, and that’s fine. Though the outcome of each duel is terribly predictable, it’s not in a bad way since what matters is the journey, not the destination. When I started, I thought this was going to be a hard arc for me to get through due to the nonexistence of the rules of Duel Monsters, but oddly enough it was exactly the opposite for me. It’s not such a grandiose plot, this season, but it kept up the intrigue throughout. On an overall note, DM’s main cast are (mostly) lovable so that of course always helps keep its charm.

The episodes in between Duelist Kingdom and the next arc are basically filler... meant for the purpose of introducing some recurring side characters. They’re fairly... um... ignorable, imo. Wouldn’t necessarily say they’re terrible but... most of them don’t really keep your attention for too long.

Overall rating for this arc: 3.5/5

Battle City (episodes 50-97, 122-144)

This arc does tournament arc tension and development for its characters pretty well, namely, actually, for Jounouchi. He got a good start in Duelist Kingdom, however he definitely starts shining this arc. Anyway, like 85% of this arc is legitimately enjoyable. There is a lot of dumb logic happening throughout, courtesy mostly of this arc’s villain Marik and his rare hunters, but I’d say it’s for a good cause (as in creating at memorable conflict and personal dire stakes to the game). This arc also does a great, no, a superb, job at demonstrating exactly why Seto Kaiba is such a memorable rival and character. World building is much improved in this arc, but also isn’t overwhelming where the cast is too large that we can’t even keep track or we just don’t care about certain characters (though... *coughbakuracough*). We also get to see some more good inner turmoil well up within Yami Yugi regarding dragging his friends into such a dangerous tournament, which in turn works very well along with his friends’ (again, mainly Jounouchi) support of him. The final duels in this arc are, despite their slow as hell pace, exactly the kind of shit you ended up watching Yugioh for anyway so it almost makes you forget any small little flaws you had to deal with on the way. Though, one of those flaws... was exactly the pacing. Why. Why do duels have to be that long? No... I don’t think I needed to hear that same monologue one more time. Lastly, is this arc also predictable? Definitely yes. But again, it’s in the journey. Not the destination.

Overall rating for this arc: 4/5

Noah’s Virtual World (episodes 98-121)

This is, more than any of the other arcs, the one that I was *not* looking forward to when I first began rewatching since I remember that I didn’t enjoy this as a child. Well it’s a good thing I seem to have grown up. This arc... is not exactly written well, and thus thoroughly flawed (mostly in its logic and general premise and whatnot), but what matters, once again, is the content we get in between all the idiocy. The most enjoyable parts of this arc comes, no doubt, in the form of Kaiba family backstory. We knew a fair bit about Kaiba beforehand, but this arc definitely adds a good well of information regarding his motivations growing up, why he is the way he is now (side note: lmao holy shit), and what kind of business man he really is. The backstory found in this arc for Kaiba is well worth slugging through it. Actually, even if you get frustrated with the dumbness of it all (especially the incompetence of its villains, The Big Five), it’s still overall a pretty fun watch.

Overall rating for this arc: 3.5/5

Doma (episodes 145-184)

Sighs. This is the worst arc. Just. Straight up. I don’t wanna beat around the bush.

I wish I could just keep it at just that but I want to emphasize that this isn’t just a “weak” story arc in the overall grand scheme of things, it’s bad. It is terribly noticeable that the writing direction was handled by someone else than whoever was writing-directing it up until before this point because the show stops being fun to watch. The entirety of Duel Monsters is riddled with bullshit logic, but this arc really takes up to an unforgivable eleven. The villains of this arc are literally fools whose tragic backstories are very obviously shoehorned in at the last second in order to draw out sympathy. The stakes of the game are so high, you don’t really feel compelled to root for our protagonists because you know that everything they’ve “lost” will be restored anyway. Not even the big bad of this arc faces any consequences. To top it all off, Mai, DM’s strongest female duelist, is reduced to demeaning levels of melodramatic character arc writing.

Noah’s Virtual World arc was indeed filler, but it was passable to good filler. This arc is just bad filler.

Overall rating for this arc: 1/5 this shit was a drag to get thru. I enjoyed it as a kid but I’ve grown tf up.

KC Grand Prix & Memory World (episodes 185-224)

I’ll probably get through this a bit quicker...

The KC Grand Prix arc was short... but not exactly sweet, though I will say it gave us a few classic lines here and there. Overall, it’s mostly forgettable and not exactly important for the story. It’s, once again, more filler, this time meant to convince Kaiba to let Yugi & co. hitch a ride back to Japan after the nonsense that occurred in America the last arc.

As for with the all important Memory World arc which leads us to the grand finale ceremonial duel between Yugi & Atem: It’s a nice story but the pacing is scrambled. That being said, however, I’ll forgive it mostly because it was a very interesting watch (not exactly fun, per se) and gives us answers to many questions we’ve been holding onto since the beginning of the show. Not to say it doesn’t raise some questions (that it doesn’t answer as well), but the other reason I’ll forgive it mostly is because Takahashi-san rushed to finish the manga on time for the anime whilst being severely ill. For as obviously rushed as it is, it still gives a good bit of depth that is just satisfying enough for us to run with that it feels mostly complete. 

The ceremonial finale duel, tho? The set up was rushed as well, but the duel itself was beyond iconic. Pretty good ending, I’d say.

Overall rating for this arc: 3/5

Final Overall Rating: 3.1/5 (yes, I did the math, check it if you must).

Final Thoughts: This show mostly shines on through nostalgia and its characters’ undeniable charm. However, its overall quality gets dragged down from its unnecessary filler, pacing, and flawed logic. For a shounen about card games, it certainly set a standard and a foundation, and I think that’s a good thing that future series can build off of and nod back to. It’s certainly one for the books, but with a big asterisk attached to some of its story arcs.

[ayellowbirds]

Keshet Rewatches All of Scooby-Doo, Pt. 14: "Go Away Ghost Ship"

("Scooby-Doo, Where Are You", Season 1 Episode 14)

AKA "An Improbably High Number of Chef Disguises For an Episode About Pirates"

The episode begins with a foggy night at sea; a sailor aboard a large vessel catches sight of something strange through the mists. A tattered-looking ship from the age of sail? Flying the Jolly Roger?

Sure, that’s a rational conclusion. The view does indeed switch to the deck of the “ghost” ship, revealing a cock-eyed ginger buccaneer laughing madly... and then the view fades to a malt shop as the music goes from menacing to mellow.

I’ll note that his is at least the third time we’ve seen that hot rod parked next to the Mystery Machine at a malt shop. Who does it belong to? What’s their story? We may never know. 

Inside the shop is an almost 1:1 reproduction of the newspaper-reading scene from episode 3, down to the pink drink with extra straws. The news this time? One “C.L. Magnus”, a shipping magnate, claims that the recent rash of disappearances of oceangoing vessels are caused by the revenge-seeking ghost of Redbeard. Shaggy hopes his “super duper sandwich” isn’t a target, a reasonable fear since it’s about as big as an oil tanker.

With Scooby’s assistance, Shaggy ties a string around his sandwich, compressing it from a height that reached from his waist to his shoulder, to a fruitcake-dense sandwich of more normative volume.

He doesn’t notice that Scooby is still holding one end of the string, however, and when he closes his eyes in anticipation, Scooby gives it a yank and opens wide, downing the entire thing in one go. “Ree-lishus!” Scooby chortles to himself, while Shaggy is left confused and hungry. Man’s best friend.

The rest of the gang do not pay attention. They are used to the boy and his dog with their bottomless appetites. They do not look directly at it, and late at night, it will keep them from sleep.

Velma and Daphne seem oddly sympathetic to the plight of Mr. Magnus the Magnate, with Velma calling him “poor” and mentioning that he’s going out of business, while Daphne calls him a “nice man”. Fred suggests they help solve the mystery, and leads the gang to Magnus’s luxury penthouse apartment.

The gang act as if they somehow know of Magnus, and that it’s perfectly reasonable that they could show up unannounced and offer their assistance free of charge. Magnus’s butler is not having any of that.

“Not to be disturbed”, he intones in a voice rendered by John Stephenson as a riff on a Boris Karloff performance. If Magnus is not to be disturbed, mister, you’re setting a bad precedent.

The gang decide to sneak in, convinced Magnus will accept their help if they can just talk to him, and they dress up as “room service”.

There’s a few obvious problems with this, aside from an attempt at unlawful intrusion into someone’s home. For starters, the butler has just seen them, and yet Velma and Shaggy do not adopt more of a disguise than throwing on aprons and hats. Second, it’s an apartment building, not a hotel. Apartments tend not to have room service.

Third, as the butler notes when they push past him, it’s 11:00 PM. No wonder Magnus wanted to be left alone! When the gang wind up tumbling into a pile of teenagers and a Great Dane and are forced to explain themselves, the scene transitions to Magnus relating how his ancestors were responsible for ending the original threat of Redbeard, and that the pirate is now seeking revenge. As he relates this, Scooby notices his butler watching from behind a curtain....

The butler is so obviously telegraphed as the culprit, that it’s obviously not him, but there’s ultimately no resolution to this bit—a comic book adaptation made him out to be a spy from an insurance company, leading me to wonder if that had been part of this episode left out of the final production.

The gang take a motorboat out in the middle of the night, having drawn conclusions about the scheduling of Redbeard’s attacks that apparently completely elude the Coast Guard and other authorities. They spot a “mysterious’ fog bank, moving ahead of the real targeted freighter and playing a decoy foghorn to try to lure out the pirate ship. Shaggy observes the fog is thick enough to cut it with a knife, and Scooby...

I can excuse the fog-cutting as a cartoon gag but Scooby where the jinkies did you get that knife? Has Scooby just had a knife on him this whole time? 

The gang has little in the way of foresight when it comes to villains actually planning violence, and the ghost ship appears on a collision course prepared to ram their tiny boat. When Shaggy tries to put the outboard motor into “double full-speed reverse”, it tears a chunk of the boat off as it zooms away on its own, and their little boat is struck, cutting it in half!

That one-word response from Fred is his single best line in the series so far.

Split up in the most literal and forceful manner possible, Shaggy and Scooby squeeze in through a porthole while Fred, Daphne, and Velma climb the side of the boat, all seemingly unnoticed by the pirates. Each team seeks both the others... as well as some clues. Scooby and Shaggy run into Redbeard himself, who gives chase and menaces them with a flying sword.

It’s the specifics that make Shaggy such an icon of cowardice. The audience can’t be left to assume that this is a friendly ghost sword, wielding by some cavalier Casper. Stuck between a ghost and a sharp place, the boys are forced to plead for their lives as Redbeard and his “ghost” crew bear down on them.

Meanwhile, the other three members of the gang wander around the unrealistically massive interior of the ghost ship, wondering about its emptiness. They catch sight of Redbeard walking around and laughing, but quickly lose sight of him while sneaking about, leaving the viewer unclear on the timing of this scene. Is it while Shaggy and Scooby are being chased? Before, or after?

It doesn’t matter to the writers, because it’s clue time!

Before it can be explained to the viewer that dry ice (AKA frozen CO2) is notable for rapidly sublimating into a misty-looking vapor even at temperatures well below the freezing point of water, and that it does so especially dramatically when exposed to liquid water, the trio are locked in the room by Redbeard.

A scene transition back to Shaggy and Scooby shows that Redbeard is also standing over them, who observes that he’d spare their lives if they were “good for anything”. Shaggy says they’re good cooks, which seems to confuse Scooby as much as it does the viewer, but the threat of losing their heads motivates him to go along with it.

Oh, and Shaggy finds another use for his chef getup from when they tried to break into C.L. Magnus’s apartment, which i guess he’s just been... carrying around?  Deciding that they need to make a stew that a ghost will enjoy, Scooby and Shaggy mix in chains (for rattling), ash from the fireplace, cobwebs, and on Scooby’s suggestion, an enormous bar of soap.

Shaggy, you’re a track athlete. This is how you get a fungal infection.

Alternatively, he means he hardly ever uses it as an ingredient, which is almost worse, because it implies that sometimes Norville “Shaggy” Roberts does use bar soap as an ingredient.

Redbeard has some doubts about their creation, and insists that they eat it. After some hasty mouthfuls, Shaggy hiccups out some bubbles, and Redbeard simply sits and watches as Shaggy suggests to Scooby that they “bubble our way out of here!”, turning to face the ghost pirate and spewing a screen of soap bubbles at him.

As the chase scenes continue amidst things like Shaggy utilizing his vocal talents and shadow puppetry to convince Redbeard’s goons that their captain is pointing them in a different direction, and falling overboard in a basin—forcing Shaggy and Scooby to hand-paddle after the ghost ship’s wake—the pirate vessel pulls into a skull-shaped cave in the middle of a rocky cove.

You know, i feel like Hanna-Barbera cartoons ill-prepared me for the utter lack of skeletal rock formations in real life. If i ever want to live on a mountain shaped like the yawning maw of an angry skull, i’m probably going to have to make it myself.

Fred identifies this as “a secret cove on Skull Island”, but i feel like, you know, someone ought to have noticed the enormous sea cave formed by the skull-shaped part of a place known as Skull Island. Unless Skull Island has lots of skulls. Maybe it does!

There’s a brief and confusing gag where Scooby notices their paddling after the ghost ship has attracted a shark, which—oh, wait. It’s just a dorsal fin, which Scooby realizes when he lifts it out of the water to inspect it. Just a dorsal fin, skimming the ocean surface and following them around.

What.

The gang reunite in the caves, and Fred realize that the folded paper hat Shaggy has been wearing since casting Redbeard’s shadow was made from a ship’s manifest, indicating the contents and value of C.L. Magnus’s cargo freighter... that is, the one that sails tomorrow, rather than the one that they were attempting to raid that night. As the gang gather more clues that the ghost pirate is no ghost at all, they find a treasure chest with a talking pirate skull inside that pops out and demands “the password, you swabs!” via a miniaturized microphone and speaker hidden in its jaw. 

The gang try several piratical passwords, but it’s Shaggy’s suggestion that works:

This is the weirdest callback to a previous episode. Beyond the secret passage that opens in the wall, the gang find countless crates and barrels of stolen cargo, and the ghost pirate crew, flying sword included. The resulting chase leads to the gang hiding among the cargo, where Scooby and Shaggy discover...

An entire shipment of Scooby Snacks, further solidifying that this is just a known product, something on the market that has Scooby’s own name on it. Emboldened by biscuits, the antics kick into high gear, with things like a battle of sword vs. liverwurst sausage, toilet plungers fired from longbows, and Shaggy tickling Redbeard with an electric eggbeater that has a pistol grip for no good reason, before fleeing on an “automatic pogo stick” that is clearly a jackhammer, as Shaggy and Scooby only realize after it already starts up, taking them on a ride that winds up going up onto the ceiling and directly over Redbeard. As the resulting chaos sends Scooby, Shaggy, and the villains crashing into a pile of tires, the chase ends, and the villain is revealed as...

Shaggy is shocked that it wasn’t the butler, and the Coast Guard rep who has joined the gang on the deck of the ghost pirate ship (which, one must assume, they commandeered and piloted back out to open waters on their own) clearly wants to see Magnus’s two companions unmasked, as well, asking about their identities.

Daphne doesn’t care who they are. Well, as long as their names aren’t Merle and Taako.

The plan is explained, including the dancing sword being “operated by wires”, and the bit about the dry ice, which Velma says “everybody knows”, though the Coast Guard guy has clearly never heard of it. Scooby demonstrates, stirring up an impenetrably thick fog, which he cuts through once again with his mysterious knife.

Only this time, he cuts a giant doughnut shape in the fog, grabs it with his paws, and takes a bite out of the fog-nut, proceeding to chew and swallow.

The visual of Scooby treating a cloud of carbon dioxide vapor like it was solid matter and joyfully eating it has haunted me for decades. Dear Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, you tormented my childhood with this bit. This joke stole my innocence.

Zoinks darn you, Scooby-Doo!

(like what i’m doing here? It’s not what pays the bills, so i’d really appreciate it if you could send me a bit at my paypal.me or via my ko-fi. Click here to see more entries in this series of posts, or here to go in chronological order)

[enchanted-keys]

Hey, love your blog. I just rewatched the Salem episode and both times Wyatt saying "I need you" to Jess just stuck out to me. He literally just said that to Lucy, right? It seems very deliberate on the writer's part. Any thoughts on why Wyatt is like this and the reason for that "parallel"? I love Wyatt but dude needs to sort himself out. Not really a fan of all this co-dependent behavior. Signed, a Wyatt fan

Hi, anon! Thank you for following me, I’m happy to hear that you enjoy my blog :DI honestly can’t remember Wyatt ever saying to Lucy that he needs her, are you sure you’re not confusing with the scene in 1x05 where Lucy tells him that she (and Rufus) need him?Maybe it’s just me being tired, but I can’t remember such moment ^^Now, about Wyatt needing Jessica…this is a very delicate moment for him: he’s been through a lot and he’s overwhelmed by the absurdity of this situation, as anyone would be in his shoes.We already know that Wyatt and Jessica were not in a particularly healthy relationship (for a multitude of reasons on which I won’t dwell, now), and even though we don’t know the specifics of it, I think we can suppose that Wyatt used to rely on her to the point of depending a little bit too much on her.This, though, can’t be considered 100% canon…we don’t have evidence, we can only assume.That said, Wyatt is in a very fragile place right now, and the words “I need you” in this specific context, could be subtext for antithesis, meaning: Wyatt may think he needs Jessica, but pretty soon he will realize that what he really needs is to learn how to let go of his past by choice, in order to grow and become the best version of himself. Now, Wyatt has come a long way since the beginning of s1: he has finally started to deal with his ghosts and traumas in a different way, (an issue that represented a huge problem and obstacle within his marriage) even though he has still work to do about this. He couldn’t be the man he wanted, for him and for Jessica, because he didn’t know how to deal with his problems.Is it possible that he thought Jessica and their love were what he needed in order to heal? It could be. In this case, Wyatt needs to realize that this was not the solution and that he has to overcome, as much as possible, his problems on his own, not by depending on someone else.Notice, I’ve added “as much as possible” because Wyatt suffers from mental illness (abuse survivor, ptsd, depression) and sometimes, you cannot completely heal: you can make it better and learn how to deal with it in a healthy way, but mental illness is complex, you don’t just get over it.Substantially, maybe the line “I need you” is a key that the authors inserted to tell us that part of Wyatt’s journey is stepping out of his habit to cling onto his past, to the point that it prevents him from growing and ultimately heal, and realize that he actually doesn’t need Jessica, he’s just afraid to let go.Plus, as someone else pointed out, one of the reasons Wyatt wants so much this second chance with Jessica is because unconsciously he needs Jessica’s forgivness. He has spent 6 six years blaming himself for her death and for not being the man he wanted to be for her, the man that she needed. He wants this chance to make up for everything and to obtain the forgiveness that prevents him from moving on completely, once and for all. He just doesn’t realize that right now, but it’s part of his journey.The word “need” is a key word for his development.I hope this makes sense, and answer to your question, I really do.I’m so tired I’ve probably mumbled about nothing for half an hour, in that case I’m sorry, ahahah.

[agentdammers]

Grand Torchwood Rewatch 1x12 & 13

IF YOU FALL I WILL CATCH U I’LL BE WAITING........ T I M E A F T E R T I M E

One season down...... It’s a Finale Double Whammy, just as it aired back in 2007! Crumbs of Jack Lore drop into our laps, some absolute plot bullshit takes place, an old man is there!!! fuck it let’s get this over with

content warn: pisstaking, fun having, oh! plot bullshit!, i absolutely lose my fucking mind, Owen Harper!!! I Won’t Hesitate Bitch

1x12 “captain jack harkness”

- a thought before we dive in, but man owen gets A LOT of story stuff over the course of the 2 seasons he’s in right??? like more story stuff than ianto and tosh combined. interesting

- AH FUCK!!! A VOTE SAXON POSTER. REMEMBER WHEN?

- so..... here’s a thing. “Ohhh people have heard music from a derelict building! better send torchwood in!” how... does that come about? Could it be squatters or something??? fuck it, let’s send in a Secret Government Agency! they’ll sort it out. i mean we don’t know what they do exactly but i imagine at least one of them is a ghostbuster or something lmao, whatever

- OH NO THIS CREEPY OLD BITCH!!! i forgot how scary he looked!! god, this dude must be a million, or a vampire, or likely both

- tosh’s eyes get SO BIG WHEN THAT GUY ASKS HER TO DANCE I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!! she’s the best one!!!!!!

- wish i could wipe this episode entirely from my memory because that fucking reveal when the Real jack harkness introduces himself? F    U    C   K

- speaking of tosh, finding it extremely unconvincing that she, a tech nerd, would go out with a laptop with an almost completely flat battery... like, c’mon. she would be prepared

- Gwen cooper, a fully adult woman: haha me and my friends;;;; came here 4 a dare;;; cos its spooky lol....

- the camera on this show has me fucking SCREEEAMING “He wears a cravat.” THERE’S A DRAMATIC SLOW MOTION ZOOM IN ON THIS GUYS FUCKING CRAVAT AND THEN ON IANTO’S FACE LOOKING AT IT AND ITS ALL IN FUCKING EARNEST LET ME DIE!!!!!!!!!

- the dance they’re at is called “KISS THE BOYS GOODBYE DANCE”, which is what my finishing move would be called if i was a character in a fighting game

- ianto and owen slapfighting over their shit girlfriend experiences fucking owns genuinely lmao

- tosh pops the top off a tin and then cuts her hand open on the obviously blunt fucking lid?????? jesus christ

- “I’m tired of living in awe of the rift!!!” .....................first i’ve heard of it. I love that owen is talking as though the rift has been a major fucking factor throughout the entire series up until this point, rather than a thing that’s just been vaguely fucking referenced as the reason why a bunch of weird shit just seems to happen in cardiff. no, im not standing for this. You can’t pull out the rift at the eleventh hour and then talk about it as though it’s a Hugely Important plot device when the biggest role it’s had over the stretch of the entire 11 Whole Ass episodes prefacing this was to allow the plane to come through in “out of time”. y’all have barely mentioned the rift this entire time and now you want to act like its the hellmouth??? eat my ass!!!!!!

- and continuing on that note: apparently they’ve had a machine that can manipulate the rift in the hub......... the entire goddamn time. but no one thought to MENTION it i guess!!!!!!!! pfft, why would THAT be important??? right???? right?????

this plot bullshit almost makes me feel bad for how harsh i was about “cyberwoman” but, i will admit.... despite this Absolute Fucking Nonsense, i do find the jack and tosh storyline in this episode really fun and interesting. its just unfortunate that all the stuff arrrrround that is some kind of fic scrawled in the back of a kid’s math book.

- also the size of owen’s fucking NADS in this episode!!!!!!!! “Don’t compare yourself to me.” SAYS MAN CRYING OVER THE GIRL HE KNEW FOR ONE (1!) (SINGULAR) WEEK!!!! as opposed to ianto’s longterm girlfriend being turned into a monster and eventually murdered by his own team!!!! Like, i understand that’s owen’s problem actually goes beyond that, and its not so much about diane herself but about the fact that he let himself feel close to someone again after his fiancee died but for us, The Audience, watching this as it airs... we haven’t unlocked owen’s tragic backstory yet. and without knowing all that it just makes owen look really bad and like a huge fucking tool lmfao.

- NEVERMIND THE END IS GAY AND SAD AND Y’KNOW!!!!!! i am a man of simple pleasures, at heart, and so... i’ll let it slide. jack meeting his namesake knowing that he’s going to die and them having a moment is more of the kind of emotional content we would get in episodes of doctor who, and its Just Right

- in honesty, theres a bunch of stuff about this ep that i DO like. that tosh gets a prominant role for a change, while gwen gets to do fuck all. the whole Real Jack story. owen gets shot and pops a tit out at the end. its just unfortunate thats its all wrapped up in this rift thing thats been wheeled out last minute for a Big Season Finale with no real foreshadowing or build up to it at all lmao. but, moving on...............................................................................................

1x13 “end of days”

- RHYS BUNS DETECTED, A SOUND WAY TO KICK OFF ANY EPISODE

- lovely reading voice ianto’s got..... i also like owen acting up to make sure we know that they remember him being shot in the shoulder last episode lol.

- “owen, if you open the rift you’ll break it” (owen opens the rift anyway) “owen, you opening the rift broke it” (owen GASPS IN DISMAY, ME??? REALLY?) yes bitch open your ears

- “So are we going to sit around crying into our lattes or are we gonna do something about it?” OWEN..... IS THIS. SUPPOSED TO SOUND BADASS I.... GENUINELY CANT TELL? IT SOUNDS BAD, OWEN

- jack was so likeable last ep now he’s a DICK. gwen calls him out on how he talked to owen and he’s really fucking catty at HER for no reason at all????

- i haaaaaaaaate this scene in the hospital where a Mystery Illness has all the fucking symptoms of the bubonic plague but apparently every doctor in the entire hospital never did high school level history and are all incapable of recognising it. if fucking *i* know what symptoms of the bubonic plague are im sure they didn’t need Absolute Brain Genius Owen Harper who is seemingly the only person with any sense in cardiff to come in and diagnose it. i also hate how owen just like casually mentions to the doctor yep, this is caused by people falling through time dude yknow!!! like they do!! expect more of this to keep happening probably idk!!

- “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU OPENED THE RIFT WITH THIS MACHINE WE HAVE THAT’S FOR UHHHHHHHH UHHHHHHH OPENING THE RIFT *big fuck off galaxy brain*” thats basically this episode.

- i love that owen has followed jack all this time but NOW in a crisis is the time to actually lose it and start questioning his authority bc they dont Actually know who jack is like???? you’ve been fine not knowing this entire time before??? thats not to say that jack isn’t an entire dumbass himself. he expects them all to follow him blindly and its so creepy. he’s like a cult leader, and as they all have Torchwood Stockholm Syndrome that ive mentioned in previous episode run downs they’ve all just gone along with it.

- owen having a little cry on the way out is such a Good scene bc he puts on such a brave and defiant front tho 💕💖💘💕

- i dont know why the really quick flashback to diane flying off in the plane made me lose my fucking mind, its just like “LMAO IN CASE U FORGOT: SHE WAS THE PLANE LADY. I KNOW SHE WAS ONLY IN FOR LIKE TWO MINUTES, BUT DONT WORRY ABOUT IT.”

- gwen for fucks sake!!!!!!!! not again!!!!! after all the cryptic shit and lies she’s told rhys up until this point, she now knocks him out and locks him in a cell and STILL offers no explanation. this poor fucking dude!!!!!!!!! and it’s about to get even worse for him...

- the way gwen screams “RHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEUUUUUUUURRRRRSSSSS”

- YES EVERYONE REBEL AGAINST JACK!!!!!!! FUCK THIS DUDE!!!! you’re doing what a creepy old dude who is Absolutely Definitely evil wants, but still

- why does gwen start doing shit on the computer when toshiko, the computer expert, is standing right there, like.............

- JACK TRYING TO SMACKTALK TO ENTIRE GANG LIKE HIS OWN CLOSET ISN’T CHOCKFUL OF FUCKING SKELETONS

- i forget, does anyone know jack’s immortal apart from gwen? or was it just the shock of owen actually Shooting Their Boss? the only onscreen death i can recall of his after suzie shot him was in “cyberwoman”

- god, minutes ago they were all like FUCK JACK!!!! JACK DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO SAVE US AFTER ALL!!! and now theyre all crawling back asking jack to save them all from cgi pig Ganon and its just..... a lot to happen, over the space of about half an hour.

- the ending is so anticlimatic and also why does sucking all the Yummy Life Energy out of jack make abaddon die?????????? Though in its defence... after like 3 bowls of cereal, i too am like OUCH OOF MY BONES

- aaaaaaaaaand rhys is back! will he get treated any better from here on out? i dont remember!!! guess we’ll see.

- bit much of gwen who’s actually known jack the shortest time of them all to be like NO, let ME be with him uwuwuwuuw

- ahhh!!! ianto smelling jack’s coat ;_;

- aaaand jack’s back too. AND HE GETS TO HOLD A CRYING OWEN? FOR ME? oh you shouldn’t have! this Almost makes up for all that rift plot bullshit (almost. i still know what u did.)

- ANDDDDD OH SHIT. FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE GOOD ENDING. HERE COMES THE TARDIS. FUCKING YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...............................and there it goes. one season down. sorry this one was so long!!! i love and appreciate anyone to takes the time to read these posts. thank u!!!!

[aion-rsa]

How Ginger Snaps Explored the Subversive Horror of Womanhood

https://ift.tt/30jSLcc

In 2000 Mission: Impossible 2 topped the box office, Gladiator triumphed at the Oscars, and the first X-Men movie ushered in a new era of superhero movies. Meanwhile in Canada, while no one was watching, a new hero was emerging. Her name was Ginger, she was a 16-year-old girl, and ok, she might have turned into a monster and killed a few people but, wow, was she a ferocious figurehead for females everywhere. 

“That’s what she’s about. She’s about fuck you, fuck the patriarchy, fuck the standard, fuck society, fuck the norm. And to me, that’s a hero,” says Katharine Isabelle, speaking with Den of Geek via Zoom from her home in Vancouver, 20 years after the film’s debut. Isabelle was just 17 when she stepped into Ginger’s very cool boots and she had no idea it would become a massive cult hit.

“When it first came out, no one fucking watched it. It did well with some critics at a few festivals, but no one cared. No one went to see it,” she recalls. “It wasn’t until it hit the VHS circuit in small town Canada that people were like, ‘Oh, Ginger!.’ Emily [Perkins, who plays Ginger’s sister Brigitte] and I thought we’d be the only people that liked it because we were weird and dark. We had no idea that through the generations it would continue to have an effect on people.”

Watching 20 years on and Ginger Snaps absolutely holds up. More than that, in fact, it looks positively progressive and even transgressive in a year where we were onto our third Scream, our second Urban Legend, and our first Final Destination. Glossy teen slashers were the thing, which didn’t often make for great parts. 

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“In the ’90s, as a 17-year-old girl it was ‘be hot, get murdered’,” says Isabelle. “There weren’t a lot of really interesting characters coming out of that, especially in my small Vancouver, Canada acting world. So to see this and be like, ‘Holy shit, this really speaks to me, I am this dark, insecure, troubled, deep, dark humored girl who feels outcast and misunderstood by everybody,’ I was just like, ‘Yes. 100%.’”

Written by Karen Walton who would go on to write for Queer as Folk and Orphan Black, and directed by John Fawcett (one of Orphan Black’s co-creators), Ginger Snaps was a fresh take on the werewolf subgenre and a brand new slant on teen horror. This was about girls for a start – sisters Ginger and Brigitte who are weird outsiders fascinated with death. Though there’s sex in the movie it’s really a love story between the two females while the only male character who we have any sympathy for is a drug dealer who has no sexual interest in either. There are dog maulings along the way, and as we head towards the climax with Ginger becoming more and more monstrous, there’s plenty of gore.

But the most scandalous splash of blood is Ginger’s own first period.

Period piece

“You never see that. The visual of bloody panties is so shocking,” says Isabelle. 

“It’s what, 2020 and we’re just seeing feminine hygiene products using red dye instead of this fucking blue shit? We’re always so mortified by this human experience that half of the people on the planet go through. And you know what? At the same time you should be, because being female is a fairly horrific fucking experience in itself. So guess what? Why don’t you fucking look at it once in a while? For it to be labeled as shocking is just so boring to me.”

It would be bold even in 2020. That color matching company Pantone only last month released a new shade of red inspired by periods as part of a campaign to end menstruation stigma shows it very much still exists. So to be this open in discussing it in 2000 in a horror movie – traditionally assumed to be the playground of young men – was a brave move.

“I remember a friend of mine, his older brother had taken his friends to see it and he was like, [Isabelle does impression of bro-tastic young man] ‘Oh yeah, we were all screaming and throwing shit at the fucking screen and then we walked out. All this fucking women shit.’ I was like, ‘Cool. Thanks, buddy. Awesome.’ Fuck you! They thought they were going to see hot girl tits and werewolf stuff and they weren’t prepared for an actual look into what the female experience is like. And they couldn’t handle it. Pussies.”

Suddenly it’s like I’m talking to wolf-Ginger, fierce, articulate, full of fire, the Ginger that punches the mean girl in the face for hurting her sister, the Ginger that isn’t going to stand for any of your shit any longer, the Ginger that could tear the flesh from your bones if she wanted to. 

The metaphor of werewolf transformation and puberty is a no brainer to Isabelle.

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“You’re going along your life perfectly fine, something happens to you, boom. In one day, you have all these strange urges, you have all these weird thoughts. Your body is completely abandoning you and morphing into something else that you are not comfortable with,” she says. “It’s a complete betrayal of everything you know and how you feel. And it creates this monster in you that you have to reckon with and deal with. It’s a brilliant allegory.”

Ginger Snaps is body horror. It’s a movie about a woman’s own body destroying her from the inside out. Before she knows what’s really going on Ginger is bleeding, weak, crippled with cramps. Weird hair starts sprouting – a shaving scene really hammers home the horror of teenagers taking razors to their legs.

But with this pain comes power. Ginger is suddenly confident, beautiful, strong, the boys at the school all desire her and she knows it. She will take who she wants and do what she wants – there’s some serious wish fulfillment going on at the same time as the trauma of her transformation.

Being Ginger

It’s not really surprising that Isabelle is so like this iconic character. She says she had an immediate affinity to Ginger – both sides of Ginger, the troubled outsider as well as the she-wolf.

“At that time, I wasn’t a good enough actor to have acted it. I just had to be myself,” she laughs, “They showed a pieced-together trailer halfway through to the cast and crew and I had a complete panic attack. It was my first panic attack, and I was like, ‘I’m fucking this up.’ This is the best character in the best movie and I clearly have no idea what I’m doing. I’m obviously the worst, this is terrible. I’m ruining this, I should just die. So all of the insecurity and the manicness…”

This just in: it’s shit being a teenage girl. Even more so when you’re 17, on location without your mother for the first time and working 18 hour days. 

“I nearly fucking died!” she says. “Towards the end, it’s like a seven hour prosthetic piece when I’m full blown werewolf. I was living off of Oreos, McCain Deep Delicious Chocolate Cake, cigarettes, and Coca Cola. It was not good. And honestly, I wasn’t a good actor. So everything in that was just me being manic and sleep deprived and upset and insecure.”

Whatever was driving it Isabelle is excellent, flitting from difficult outsider with an undercurrent of fury to a whirlwind of teenage angst, sex, hunger, and violence that feels absolutely authentic.

Becoming the wolf

The effects are practical rather than CGI, which helps Ginger Snaps not to look dated on a rewatch. Ginger transforms gradually from woman to full blown wolf over days – she’s not a traditional werewolf who only becomes a wolf during the night of a full moon, instead once she turns fully she’s not coming back. Her different looks in the movie are cool and iconic – unsurprisingly Ginger Snaps cosplay is a ‘thing’ – which pleases Isabelle. The prosthetics procedure was somewhat less pleasing, however.

“I didn’t understand what the process was,” she says. “You see it in your head like you do when you read a book or whatever, or how the movie is going to be. You don’t think of the six hours on top of your 18 hour shooting day that you’re going to be inhaling alcohol-based paint until you’re high out of your fucking mind.”

The transformation came with other obstacles too.

“The process of losing my senses was a first for me. By the time I’m in the very late stage werewolf with the hair, the contacts and the claws, I can’t see anything, I can’t hear anything, I can’t smell anything, I can’t talk. I have fangs. I had to ADR most of the movie when I have fangs in. Because I had a lisp, so I’d be like, ‘Ask Tham. He’th the exthpert.’” She says, mimicking a line from the movie. 

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“It’s just terrible. I couldn’t touch anything and there is blood all over me, and it’s drying and I was trapped in my own body nightmare. You don’t really realize that when you go into it. So now when I read scripts, ever since then, I’m very like, ‘What does that exactly mean for the physical torture I will be experiencing through the duration of this?’ Let’s take a step back and just really look at this more closely,” she laughs. 

Pain and gain

Isabelle is funny – like Ginger, she has a dark sense of humor and though we genuinely get the sense that the shoot was traumatic (“We were all fucking ill and we were shooting nights for about three weeks in a row, so you do not see daylight. You lose your mind. It wasn’t quite Apocalypse Now, but it felt like that to me when I was 17.”), she’s got great stories. Like the time she gave herself a concussion… 

“There’s a scene where I slam my head on a desk and I was like, ‘Ginger probably really slammed her head on the desk.’ So I really did it a bunch of times and then woke up the next day with a fucking full on concussion headache. They had a doctor come in because I was fucked. He gave me Tylenol T3s and I took them on an empty stomach. I’m vomiting on set and they’re holding the roll, and I’ve got a bucket I’m puking into. And then immediately I had to do the slow motion walk down the hall scene. I was so fucked they had to put tape on the floor. I couldn’t walk in a straight line. I’m so mad every time I see that. I’m like ‘Fuck, you only get so many slow motion walking down the hallway looking cool and hot in your whole career, and you really fucked this one.’” 

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Of course, it doesn’t play that way on screen. It’s a key moment in the movie and even 20 years on, Ginger’s look still stands out. Costume designer Lea Carlson put together her outfits from thrift stores to create a kind of indie/goth cool with spot on accessories for an aesthetic that matched Ginger’s newly awakened give-no-fucks vibe.

“When that infection hits and she’s got that fucking attitude, it’s like, don’t we all wish we could just walk around with that attitude like a hero?” says Isabelle.

She says she can watch the movie now and enjoy it, though she couldn’t for a while.

”I haven’t seen it in 15 years because I tend to not revisit my most awkward moments on film as a teenager,” she laughs. But she now speaks fondly of this “wonderful sisterly love story.” 

Ginger and B

She and co-star Perkins had known each other “forever” before filming began, having even been born in the same hospital and gone to the same elementary school so they auditioned for Ginger Snaps together. Perkins as the younger Brigitte (even though Isabelle is actually four years younger than Perkins) is sympathetic, awkward, vulnerable, and eventually heroic and there’s an obvious chemistry between the two. Isabelle recalls how between one of the auditions and the first time director John Fawcett came out to meet them Emily had shaved her head.

”I was like, ‘What are you doing? You’ve fucked this for us!’, I didn’t even recognize her in the room. And then thank God, we got the part. And that’s why she’s wearing this wig, this very offensive wig throughout the film…”

Why did she shave her head during casting for this movie? We can’t not ask…

“I don’t know. I don’t know. She was having a moment. She’s a very smart, progressive woman, and she was feeling her oats,” Isabelle laughs.

Despite the traumas of the prosthetics and the shoot, Isabelle has clear affection for the movie and a character who rings incredibly true even 20 years later, largely because of her authentic performance  “It connects still to this day with people who weren’t even born when it came out. And that’s always shocking to me,” she says.

So what would today’s Katharine Isabelle tell her 17 year old self, 20 years ago?

“Oh, God. Fucking suck it up, you whiny bitch.” she says, all wolf-Ginger before swapping back to pre-transformation Ginger. “No, I would be like, ‘Yo, this is good, and you’re going to be okay. You’re gonna be good, and you’re not going to hate yourself as much as you think you do. And eventually, in 17 years, you’ll be able to watch this without having a total meltdown about how obviously terrible and insecure you are.”

She pauses.

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“Isn’t that what everyone says to themselves 20 years ago? ‘You’ll be okay, don’t be so insecure, believe in yourself, you got this?’ I think that’s what everyone would say to their younger self. Also, ask for more money.”

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