#so if you want to rewatch the show with any other actor choose 'other' and write your option in the tags

[cutetehe]

Male mc playing the hot villain in a movie that him and the brothers are watching



Iil story

It was movie night in the HOL and mammon was the one to choose the movie. when Mc saw what movie he picked he realized it was a human film but failed to realize he had a role in it

Anyways timeskip to where all the brothers are together and watching the movie intensely and then in the movie the villain reveals their voice and the brothers recognize it but thought it was a coincidence- they did bring it up though

“Sorta sounded like mc” Leviathan pointed out

“Yeah- mc did you acted in this?” Asmo asks

“Idk” mc says not trying to continue the conversation so he could watch the movie

Not long into the movie the villain in revealed and looks EXACTLY LIKE MC

The brothers look over at mc and mc sighs and says he is an actor and played a role in it but forgot he was in it

The brothers are a lot more interested in the movie but little did they know that the movie had a ton of ….fan service

Lucifer

He was surprised to hear you were an actor

You’re a great actor he can give you that but… why take part in a movie with so much… fan service

In one scene you didn’t have anything on and only had a towel cover you and it was so unnecessary-

Lucifer has a lot of criticism but he loves your role so much

Your character is interesting and sadistic- it’s amazing

You’re his favorite character out of the entire cast

Some of the scenes in the movie with you were stunning

In another scene there was you standing over the protagonists while degrading them was the best scene

he’s not gonna lie though, some of the fan service scenes made him feel something

Any scene with you in it he’s gonna like

Lucifer asks if you ever did theater

Lucifer is a good actor so if you ever bring him to the human world so you can audition you are gonna force him to also join

Imagine if you got the villain role (again) but instead of some dude playing the protagonist it’s Lucifer

Mammon

Oh cool mc is in this moviea

Oh cool it has ton of fan service

…what a minute

HES SO FLUSTERED WHEN ANY SCENE YOU ARE IN

literally any scene even the ones that aren’t fan service

Surprisingly his favorite scene in the movie wasn’t the badass or the fan service ones

The scenes he liked the most was the ones where you looked happy

…and some of the fan service ones but anyways

His second favorite was the fan service one where you were changing and-

Ok maybe he should’t go into detail…

But anyways HES SO IMPRESSED THAT YOU ARE AN ACTOR

Mammon will try to relate to you and say that he is also an actor he isn’t lmao

Mammon asks if you acted in any other movies

After you say yes he’ll subtly ask you what movies

Mammon isn’t the best actor but he’ll cheer you on from the sidelines

Leviathan

He saw this movie before but that was before he met mc

But when he watched the movie his favorite character was the villain

Leviathan realizes this is why he recognized you

Wait a second- HES DATING FRIENDS WITH THE BEST ACTOR EVER

Leviathan asking you for autographs and everything

Leviathan favorite scene is the one where you interrogate the hero

An example of somewhat of the scene of the interrogation

I’m not gonna lie- I just wanted an excuse to use these gifs

He made a ton of edits of you

He’s not showing you them though

He’s usually not a fan of fan service (I think) but…

when any of the fan service parts come Leviathan looks down but occasionally looks up

He doesn’t know if he’s allowed to look

When he’s alone he’s gonna rewatch the movie though

He makes velocity edits of you 100%

If you ask what part was his favorite he says “all of it was my favorite”

Leviathan is adorable I love him

SATAN

Was not expecting to see you in the movie

You are the opposite of a villain

But you do play the villain role really well

Satan wants to take acting classes now or at least get training by you

He LOVES the fighting scenes and the ones where mc looks intimidating

“Mc do you know how to fight?” Satan asks after the movie is done

“Sorta? Not a lot I just got a basic training so I could fight without using a stunt guy” mc says

“Stunt..guys?” Satan does not know what a stunt guy is

“..do demons not use stunt guys???”

After explaining what a stunt guy is Satan is impressed

Anyways satan was one of the most calmest during the fan service… sorta

He’s trying his best to ignore the fact that mc is in a… suspicious position with the protagonist

HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO DO THAT WITHOUT LOOKING EMBARRASSED

impressed by your amazing acting

ASMOOOOO

Gets excited when you showed up in the movie

Every scene your in he’s gonna point it out

“ASMO WE GET IT. MC IS IN THIS SHUT UP SO WE CAN WATCH” Mammon yells

“oh hey mc is in this scene!” Asmo responds wanting to get a reaction out of mammon

Mammon glares at Asmo- about to yell at him again

“Oh hey mc is nude in this scene!” Asmo says cheerfully

“WHA-” Mammon immediately looks at the tv than realized he was tricked and looks down

You and Asmo had a good laugh

His favorite scene is all of them but he had to choose one his favorite would be the fighting ones (Suprisingly)

Asmo loves a man who can fight

Asmo thinks fighting scenes are interesting and way more better than lore

“Mc we should recreate that!” Asmo says pointing at the tv that shows mc pinning the protagonist while smooth talking

“Sure!” mc and Asmo look at mammon and mammon looks like he’s about to explode

BEELLLLL

I fucking LOVE Beel

Trying to keep belphie awake

I SPELT BELPHIE RIGHT FIRST TRY LETS GOOOO

Beel is impressed by the fighting scenes

Also confused by the relationship between you and the protagonist

“Mc is the villain and the protagonist a thing?” Beel asks

“sorta? Never goes beyond flirting but it is hinted that they had feelings for each other-” mc gets cut off by belphegor

“shhh!” Belphie hushes the two

Mc and Beel apologizes and continue to watch the movie

Beel favorite scene is the same as mammons, he likes seeing you happy and you seemed genuinely happy

Belphieeee

Wasn’t paying attention until he heard mc voice in the movie

Really enjoyed the movie

Loved the part where you stared degrading the protagonist

Belphie watches the movie over and over

He’s really grateful that Beel kept waking him up whenever he got tired

The movie wasn’t bad but if he could change a couple of things he would change it to be you being both the protagonist AND the villain

You played the villain role amazing despite being the opposite of evil

[chaos0pikachu]

So I wrote a bit about the film making of The Sign already but I wanted to dive a bit more into the VFX aspects b/c the show is - justifiably imo - getting a lot of praise for their work.

So I'm going to quote this video by VFX artists that I think sums up why, overall, the CGI works in The Sign:

"It's very interesting with a smaller budget Jurassic Park was crunched into choosing their VFX shots very very wisely and they didn't hold shots for longer than they needed to."

(I recommend watching the entire video, there's a lot of great discussion and education on how VFX is done in film. They're not simply "reacting" but talking about the techniques used in the film making itself.)

This is partly what The Sign is doing really well, they're not lingering on any shots, they're using their budget well by picking the most impactful moments to include more expensive and complicated CG effects.

What I love about smaller or mid-budget films is you can tell when the crew had to get truly inventive, creative, and purposeful when choosing how to portray a specific effect or action in a scene. Jaws is one of my favorite examples of this; Jaws cost 9 million (about 51 million adjusted to inflation) in 1975, and the shark animatronics (there were 3 pieces) was difficult to work with. This led to Spielberg and the crew switching things up and going for that shark POV that's now really famous.

It wasn't an accident, but it wasn't 100% planned or originally intentional, there was an issue, and the crew reworked things within their budget so they could still accomplish their creative goals.

The iconic first scene of the t-rex in Jurassic Park is a combination of an animatronic and CGI. In the video above they talk specifically about how this was filmed, and how setting the scene at night, with a singular main light source, and covered in water, really helped make the t-rex look "real". And why that scene holds up really well even today.

The Sign has used moments of CGI very sparingly which works within the story yes by building up tension within the narrative mystery, but also in the film making. They're not overwhelming the audience with it, whilst also using real sets and props to blend in with those scenes AND using a lot of the CGI in specific spaces.

The scene in ep01 where Phaya meets the Naga for the first time is a good example; the water is dark, there's only a singular light source (above) and there's a general lack of background. With only one light source, the VFX artists don't have to worry about shading every inch of the Naga to photorealistic standards, the image doesn't have to be insanely sharp b/c the water adds a layer of blur to everything, and since it's already a mystical creature the audience already has a higher suspension of disbelief anyway making us more forgiving to the fact this is not a "real" creature.

Compare this mythical creature with the dragons from Game of Thrones:

I want to first say I do think the special effects of GOT were really good, the VFX team's work is to be appreciated. But see how there's more light sources required for these dragons? They're just not just within a limited area, they're outdoors in the open which requires more math (literally) on where the light will bounce and reflect, plus all the disparities in texture on the dragons themselves. See how parts of their wings are more noticeably red then others?

Game of Thrones was a show with millions upon millions in it's budget, so they can indulge, The Sign doesn't, so they have to be smart. And they are!

Another standout scene so far in the series as far as filmmaking goes for me is from episode05.

If you look closely you can see the edges around Phaya are a bit blurred out and rewatching the scene you can see an image of him is almost transposed over the actor as well. It gives it a pseudo 3D effect, which helps blend the actor into the fake background which makes it less obvious it's, well, fake.

Then there's the Big Moment, the reveal of our Garuda:

I'm partially not convinced this was 100% CGI I'm wondering if they used a bit of claymation or maybe a miniature or something (maybe a puppet?). The weight of the movement and body feel like something more close to the use of a puppet or animatronic than straight CGI. (If you want to read more about miniatures in film I recommend this article on Godzilla 1954!)

But what I find smart about this shot is that the focus of the camera is on the Garuda, Phaya is much smaller and lower in the frame. I say this is smart because being distance from Phaya allows for the Garuda and the background to take up more space in the frame and contrast less with the real elements, ie Phaya's real human body. It also makes the Garuda more imposing, dominating the frame at a higher angle, and gives a sense of largeness in comparison to Phaya's smaller human self.

Since the Garuda is against an already fake background there is no need for a "light source". Notice how the Garuda has no shadows or light reflections, unlike the Naga from before (or the t-rex)? This makes less work for the VFX team b/c now they don't have to math out where all the bits of shadow, light, and color textures would come from, everything is flat and singular.

Keeping the Garuda at a distance as well, means we're not looking at or for the details of their feathers, or body. We see there is texture to them, but it doesn't need to look photorealistic b/c of that distance in the frame.

Contrast it with Simba from Lion King 2019, or Detective Pikachu:

Again, I think both look very good, but they need to because the audience is so close to the characters in frame. If Pikachu or Simba didn't have this level of care and detail put in when the audience is literally right in their faces everyone would notice how fake they look and complain (I mean I still complained about Lion King but b/c it was a bad and visually boring film but the VFX team did a great job).

We know this because Ant Man Quantumania didn't put the same care and effect in and it looked horrible. Everyone clowned Modak, and fair, but it wasn't just him that looked bad. Entire set pieces look clearly fake, like why is Ant Man suddenly in Zanarkand??

In the second image, look at Scott and Cassie's clothes, you can see the light on their clothes (especially Cassie's) isn't the same as what's happening in their surrounding environment (which is a lot jfc). It's also just poor film making because the frame of both shots is cluttered to the god damn BRIM with STUFF our eyes aren't sure what to focus on. There's a lack of perspective and weight given to the scenes (compare these wide shots to Jurassic Park when our protagonists see the dinosaurs in an open field for the first time, there's a sense of WONDER). So our human characters get completely lost in the frame and feel overwhelmed entirely. They also stick out because the CGI isn't fully well rendered.

Possibly my biggest chaotic take to date, I prefer the CGI in The Sign to Ant Man 3 there I fucking said it. Ugliest MCU movie to date I said what I said.

There is at least care going into The Sign, there's thought, there's creativity, there's a sense of passion. I can forgive that the Garuda isn't photorealistic because it doesn't need to be, it needs to be visibly believable within the world it's set in and it does. The show has been very smart about when to employ it's special effects, and how to film them. It's taken care. It has more in common with films like Godzilla Minus One which had a budget of 15 million and looks phenomenal, way better than Godzilla vs Kong or what we've seen from Godzilla x Kong (which I am looking forward to b/c I'm godzilla trash).

anyway watch the sign it's gucci

[the5n00k]

M*A*S*H and the power of pure unadulterated sorrow

(this series is marketed primarily as a comedy! :D what a scam! /hj)

⚠️long post⚠️

I want to point out one of my favorite aspects of this series which is how different it presents its drama compared to other shows marketed as dramas that I've seen. ESPECIALLY modern film

The last movie I can remember portraying this sheer level of raw grief and despair was Hereditary. Such a powerful film about how grief can tear a family apart, it's honestly uncomfortable to sit through because of how well written and acted some of the scenes with the family are. And that's the point; tragedy isn't pretty. So many times you will see characters die on screen and the actors around them reacting to it with a single tear or burying their face into their stone cold main protagonist's shoulder. I have been craving that Hereditary level of despair from something for a long time now. That raw emotional breakdown that completely shatters the mask of a usually well put together facade.

Then my friends recommended M*A*S*H to me.

Yes you can make all the "crying breakfast friends" jokes you want about how often I latch onto a heart wrenching emotional moment in a show but I can't help it when it's so well executed. I can see a million silly Disney sidekicks die and feel nothing but this show has made me cry even on rewatch. And that is RARE for me, usually it's a one and done thing but this show still manages to tear me to pieces.

Not saying the show doesn't have any fun in it, of course it does, that's how the emotional moments hit harder. If you never saw the characters at their highest highs, seeing them at their lowest would just become numbing and unengaging.

Spoilers ahead obviously, I'm going to be talking about a lot of really important character moments throughout the show please if you are at all interested watch the show and come back. It's 11 seasons but it's well worth your time

Something that has always been powerful to me has been grown men crying. Perhaps it's because I never really had a good emotional connection with any men in my life and always saw them as stronger (emotionally) than someone who is erratically emotional like myself. Especially during the timeframe this is set (the 50's) and shot in (70's-80's) I was not anticipating the level of raw acting talent from the guys in this show. Especially once you get past season 4 and shit really starts hitting the fan

To see these grown men who take so much pride in their important positions as doctors and men and who they are just break down weeping like a scared child. It never ceased to break something in me. I cried the hardest at the amnesiac soldier who lost his brother (FANTASTIC scene it should have won 60 awards) but the two characters that have always stood out to me with this particular subject have been Hawkeye and BJ

Clearly if you've watched the entire show you understand what I'm talking about and obviously the other cast members have their moments (Winchester my beloved one day I will put you under a microscope and pick you apart) but for this subject, I'm going to use the two of them as examples because I consider these moments the most prominent to me personally

I'll start with BJ because there's a lot to unpack with him and simultaneously not a lot at the same time. Because he's so closed off and disconnected from most things happening all the time, choosing to opt out of anything whenever he can unless provoked, characters don't really know that much about him. As an audience, you're forced to pick apart his little mannerisms and priorities to see where his head's at. Some people might not like that but frankly I love it. He's a simple character on the surface but underneath, he's a terrified father and husband trying to keep his head down long enough to snap out of the nightmare that is war and wake up at home. I relate to him in that way, just trying to stay in my own corner and occupy myself until I have to wake up and do it all over again. Coping with the monotony is slowly driving him crazy

Then in Period of Adjustment, he gets a letter from his wife about how she and their daughter Erin saw Radar at the airport when he got sent home. And his thin thread of stability finally snaps. He's pissy for the entire day and doesn't want to tell anyone why, he'd rather just go through the motions and repress it just like everything else. But it keeps outwardly affecting everything around him whether he likes it or not. Then, at his lowest, he physically assaults his best friend in their own tent and destroys their only lifeline, the still they use to (poorly) make gin, and runs out.

After getting so intoxicated he can't stand up, Hawkeye finally finds him again and laughs that he's wearing a helmet to see him, still trying to make light of how much he's suffering. He tells him he's sorry for punching him and Hawkeye sits down with him. He finally is completely and truly honest for probably the only time in the entire series. He is completely vulnerable and open and tells him what's been bothering him. His infant daughter mistakenly called Radar her dad. The first person she ever called dad wasn't him. And he breaks down. He barely got to see her when she was born before he got drafted, he missed so many milestones of parenthood with her already and she ends up calling someone else dad. BJ tells Hawkeye he is furious at Radar and knows it's not his fault but he's still jealous. He even mentions how he's envious of Trapper, Hawkeye's old bunkmate from before he got there, which is still a huge sore point for him because of how abrupt his departure was. But he doesn't reprimand him for speaking badly about two people he'd considered close friends. He holds him closer and lets him cry. This isn't a single tear cry, this is a full vulnerability twisted face cry of pure pain. He can't say anything to ease the pain either, nothing he could say right now could help his friend. He just has to let him work through it.

They rebuilt the still together but BJ still remains broken. This is sort of touched on in Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen when he tries to get sent home before Erin's second birthday and misses it. It's not held on but you can obviously tell that he's still barely holding onto mental stability whenever he brings up his family. If you go into this series thinking every conflict has a resolution or closure of some kind I have bad news for you lol it's safe to assume when he went home, there was a rough adjustment period reclaiming his place in the house since Peg took on so much responsibility by herself but we don't really know what happened after everyone went home.

My next example is from Bless You, Hawkeye and I always rag on this episode with my friends but the scene between him and Sidney physically shook me. Everybody probably talks about That One Scene with Hawkeye and Sidney from GFA so I'll refrain from using it as an example here, I think this one is more appropriate for the point I'm trying to make anyways.

Hawkeye has never been mature. At all. His entire character is built on being obnoxious and causing trouble. Unlike BJ, he will share nearly anything about him when asked. Except when it's serious.

In comes everyone's favorite coping mechanism, ✨ unconscious repression! ✨

Again, a part of his character that got used again in GFA, whenever something upsets him in a way he can't manage, he buries it. He rewrites the memory into something happy or positive. So when a wounded soldier soaked in dirty water smelling of mold and musty clothing triggered a psychosomatic response, nobody knew why.

Processing scenes like this is something I remember so vividly from my first watch. Seeing all the pieces fall into place until that sinking feeling fills you is something this show is so good at.

Hawkeye starts talking to Sidney about something from his childhood; being out on a lake with his cousin Billy when he was seven. He claims Billy saved his life by pulling him out of the water but the more he talks, the more his story changes. It gets to a point where even he realizes he wasn't saved. He was pushed. Billy had to have been around 13 at the time, old enough to know how mean pulling something like that is. The way he admits it is when the gravity really sank in for me. His voice breaks, he starts loudly and violently sobbing like a scared child, he's probably been holding in this breakdown for 20ish years. In any other show, I could see them trying to play this for laughs. Oh Hawkeye, you shouldn't be so upset by a silly prank from when you were a kid! Look at this grown man break down! What a baby! But they don't treat it like that. It's treated completely seriously, it's allowed to play out and he slowly works through grief for someone he idolized in his childhood, anger, and acknowledgement. It was a permanent scar that wasn't allowed to heal.

This wasn't the first time in the series Hawkeye has cried but it was the first time he truly let it out. Every other time he knew he'd have to pick himself up, dust himself off, and keep going. I'm not certain if he properly processed anything he went through in Korea because he kept (pardon my language here) drowning himself in alcohol and burying himself in work and antics. So his eventual breakdown just. Getting it all out in one gutteral, primal cry, borderline screaming was cathartic for both him as a character and myself personally. Very rarely do I ever get a moment to have an emotional release like this so I also bury myself further into my job and hobbies until I can't feel what's bothering me anymore. His man's father better have booked him therapy when he got home because I know for damn sure this jackass won't do it himself

Overall, I'll say it again, the actors in this show are insane. None of the emotions felt cheap and the way the characters are written feels accurate to how most people approached the horrors of war and the mental health crises that followed. I'm so happy this show exists. I'm a little disappointed in myself that it's taken me this long to give it a chance but I love it nonetheless. I'll make a post about the characters specifically sometime like I said I would, I just want to make sure I do everyone justice and I'm not just repeating what everyone already knows. I want to add to this wonderful community that I'm happy to see is still active on this app/site and I hope you all enjoy my ramblings lmao there is more where this came from

[iamfujoshiwe]

VegasPete Rambling

I usually only read Japanese Manga. I even filtered my search to strictly show only Japanese Manga. And out of nowhere I have this urge to try watching Live Action BL Drama I filtered them to Japanese too. But to be honest I'm not fond of Japanese BL Drama. Well maybe my taste is just different from others (I only watched a few of them so who knows). Sometimes the acting is weird. I guess a good comedy/gag in manga is just not translated well enough in live action.

Aaannndd in the middle of searching BL Drama I discovered the fckn "KINNPORSCHE THE SERIES". I saw them a few times on tumblr. Some gifs. Some fangirling posts. I was sceptic about Thai BL. I didn't even know Thai BL exist until now. But I decided to give it a try anyway. And boy do I fell hard. HARD!!! It altered the chemistry in my brain!! KPTS had aired two years ago and I just found it now???? Have I live in the cave all my life????

From ep 1 I immediately fell in love. The acting, the character's chemistry, and everything is so amazing. I didn't sense any awkward acting/dialogue I usually saw in Japanese BL Drama (No offense really, it was just me). I literally stopped reading all my followed BL/Non BL Manga and and even stopped reading the new ones too.

All the time my mind just screaming "WHAT A FINE MAN" everytime Porsche appeared. But for real Apo is soooooo good looking.

And when Kinn appeared I just got distracted by his chest. Sir, buttons exist for a reason you know. What grudge do you have with them? (Not that I mind of course). Mile is born to play Kinn.

Then I met VegasPete couple. Let me tell you, when I have obsesssion I really do obsess them to oblivion. Having tunnel vision about them. VegasPete takes the cake.

At first I have this thought: Every actor in KPTS is so good looking so why this vegas character is… not as good looking as them? (Yeah I want to kill my past self for that).

I have this funny feeling about thai actor's voice. Maybe because Thai language is a foreign language to me. I don't hear them often, as opposed to english and japanese (and my main language of course). That's one of the reason why I filtered my search to just Japanese BL Drama. But Vegas' voice OMG. I adore his voice so much. And Bible speaking english is just * CHEF'S KISS * I melted everytime I listen to his voice. BIBLE SPEAKING ENGLISH IS A GIFT TO HUMANITY!! AND THAT HUMANITY IS ME!!!

When VegasPete plot took off, my focus immediately shift to them (I am sorry Kinn and Porsche). I can't count how many times I rewatched their scenes.

I definitely have to include Pete's cry in Yok's bar (when he met vegas after he had ran away from safehouse) and swimming pool (after Vegas got shot). Such a raw emotion. 100 point for Build! I come to love him because his crying voice lol.

Vegas and Pete easily become my favorites. So naturally I have to search for their actor right? And thus began my search for Bible and Build…..

ONLY FOR MY HEART TO BE CRUSHED! MY SHIP HAD SUNK ALREADY!

Build's scandal on his old socmed post? His scandal with Poi? I don't really mind. But Build talking bad about Bible? Yeah my heart couldn't take it. It's in pieces (In a way I'm glad because when all the chaos took place I haven't entered the fandom yet so I never encounter their fan's toxicity). But I respect their decision to go their own way. I know it's not healthy for them to continue working together. So yeah I am sad but their mental health is more important.

Soooooo now I'm still deep in VegasPete swamp (with occasional breaking down when I remember BibleBuild). I choose to sink in VegasPete fanfictions on ao3. And woah there are soooo many amazing author there. Their fics are spectacular! I can't thank them enough for doing God's work creating those holy VegasPete fics.

Oh and anyway I read VegasPete novel too. But I don't like it…. their character are too different from the show. Honestly fanfictions are waaay better…. KinnPorsche novel too. One chapter and I was like nope, I couldn't bring myself to read further. End of story.

And that's why as of now I still can't read manga or watch any other BL Drama. Damn VegasPete! (Affectionate). My waiting list are Not Me The Series and Last Twilight. I hope I'll collect enough braincell soon so I can start watching them. There are so many BL and Non BL manga I haven't continue reading.

[crazypenguintacofan]

Okay after sitting a bit with my feelings and rewatching the whole thing, I'm 100% certain that killing Izzy was the correct narrative choice.

1— This season solves all of Izzy's main character conflicts and satisfyingly closes his arc. Easily resisting Ricky's "seduction attemp" (appealing to Izzy's ego and desire for praise and power) and remaining loyal to the crew (which s1 Izzy would've had a lot of trouble with), plus his apology to Ed and fully letting go of Blackbeard, were the perfect culmination for his story thus far. And, crucially, Izzy's character conflicts needed to be solved so his relationship with Ed could be solved, because it's the only way Ed could've ended the season leaving piracy, which I'm guessing was a major plot point the writers always had in their 3-arc plan.

With that in mind, to keep him in the story, you'd have 2 choices:

a) Build up a new conflict for Izzy, which would take a lot of screen time that we do not have bc next season is the last and we don't even know how many episodes Max is gonna order (and the resolution to Ed and Stede's story has to be the priority).

b) Just keep him around doing things in the background like other minor characters, just a pleasant background presence with no real function. Which honestly? Would've been a disservice to both character and actor. I think having Izzy go out with a blaze of glory of sorts both honors the character and gives Con O'Neill the chance to show off his skill, and that was the right call from the Doylist perspective.

2— I didn't like what I perceived as Ed being passive in the final "break up" with Izzy, I read it as only Izzy making the choice of letting go, but that's not really what happens. Ed could've chosen to go full Blackbeard again and go get revenge, and in that way keep sacrificing his true self for Izzy's sake. But he actively chooses to build his happiness with Stede instead <3

3— As many people have pointed out, both Izzy's death (as THE representative of traditional piracy) and the destruction of Republic of Pirates symbolize the end of piracy as we know it at the hands Prince Ricky. It's a massive change in the status quo of that universe and it sets potentially very interesting scenarios for season 3.

4— Izzy's death contextualizes and makes more meaningful both Ed's choice to remain in land and the crew's choice to remain pirates.

On perspective, someone important had to die in the final episode. The whole of s2 has been about showing the harsher realities of piracy, which haunted the narrative in s1 but were never explicitly visible (you could consider the Kraken scenes in s1 ep 10 a sneak peek). Piracy becoming more realistic and less fairytale-like (not hyper realistic either, this still a surreal comedy in which people turn into seagulls) could be linked to Stede and Ed getting a more realistic perspective of romantic relationships, as well. Crucially, what was missing from this exploration of piracy was a meaningful death. We've been told often that risk of death is a big part of that world, but we've never really *seen* it in a meaningful way (RIP Ivan who died offscreen). A big death was needed to contextualize the decisions that all the characters make at the end of the season and that set the stage for season 3. And again, if you're gonna kill someone, it's better if it is a character that has finished his arc and has no loose ends, and that's Izzy.

This death is a tangible reminder of the cost of living as a pirate. A sudden end can happen to anyone at any time (and Izzy got inmensely lucky that he didn't die in the battlefield and kept breathing for long enough to say goodbye). With full understanding of the costs, Ed decides to leave piracy as he always wanted, but the crew decides to recommit to it.

The crew's choice to remain pirates despite the cost it's even more significant if it turns out they're the only crew that managed to scape the destruction of Republic of Pirates. They are among the last pirates in the Caribbean (I really hope that Anne Bonny, Mary Read and Hellkat Maggie are still alive and kicking somewhere, though). And now "the new Revenge" has the opportunity and the responsibility of rebuilding piracy in a fresh and better way, inbued of all the ways Stede's captaincy has made all of them kinder.

So yeah. Izzy's death ties everything narratively and thematically in a neat little ribbon. So I'm still gonna miss the little rabid rat, but I'm at peace with it, I'm zen, I'm like a fisherman contemplating the universe in a fish scale.

(I'd still like it if they brought Izzy back as some kind of pirate revenant. I don't know how the fuck that would make sense at a thematic level, but I do love stories about the undead)

[kamilion-en-pointe]

Just watched Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 3 a few days ago. And I mean this with 100% sincerity—I don't think I've ever watched a movie so good it made me want to rewatch it in cinemas, until this one.

Anyway, here are some thoughts that have been spinning around in my head like a microwave lol. And feel free to add your own stuff. I'd genuinely love to read more of other people's takes :)

Uhhh surprise most of this is gonna be about Rocket

Spoilers Below!

The entire opening. I've listened to the acoustic version of Creep at least a billion times since watching it

I love that the stakes start relatively small. They're not going (initially) to save the entire galaxy or anything. They just need to save a member of their family. That's all you need to care

Mantis getting more character development is always really nice to see. She gives me the vibes of a therapist friend, which makes her ending of needing to part from the group to find herself quite satisfying

Nebula. Just Nebula. I love her

I think the movie handled the flashback scenes very well, especially the ones that featured heavy animal cruelty. Choosing not to show any visuals, just audio of a young Rocket screaming in pain. You can feel the horror of the Guardians as they watch the data they gathered

I like the brief scene of baby Rocket pocketing some of the High Evolutionary's tech. Especially once it's revealed he was hiding all the necessary components to recreate a keycard for the cages—something I don't think he would've done if he really had faith the High Evolutionary would let him and his friends free

When the High Evolutionary put a turtle in one of his pods, there was a little kid in the cinema who said, "Ninja turtle!" Which is great 'cause that's also what I was thinking lol

That same kid also really freaked out (/pos) when Peter dropped that f-bomb. It was really cute

I also love that Vocaloid is apparently a staple bit of pop-culture on Counter-Earth? Because that implies either:

A) The High Evolutionary thought it was literally the perfect music genre OR

B) He counted it as one of the many mistakes on his 'Reasons To Explode An Entire Planet I Spent Years Figuring Out A Way To Speed Up Evolution For' list

I'd like to just take a moment to appreciate how great of an actor Chukwudi Iwuji is??? Like, when the High Evolutionary drags Rocket to the pods and hysterically questions how? How could he have known what to do? How could this vermin be more intelligent than his creator? How dare he look down on him?! I was scared shitless

Just... Rocket's scream of anguish once Lylla is dead. After having hugged for the first and last time. Sends shivers up my spine

Floor's repetition of "Rocket, Teefs, Floor go now! Rocket, Teefs, Floor go now!" has been ingrained into my brain for the rest of time (Major shout out to the voice actor, Mikaela Hoover!)

And then the High Evolutionary has the gall to mock Rocket, calling his grief a crying contest. I already hated this bastard but oh boy—!

Which makes Rocket's reaction so cathartic, when he jumps and scratches the High Evolutionary's face off. But his friends are telling him they have to go. They have to go now! Pleading with him as reineforcements arrive until...

They go quiet. And you can't help the dread bubbling inside you. Because we all knew how it was going to end, but we hoped, just maybe, we would be proven wrong

We weren't

Rocket, on the brink of death as Peter screams for him to be alright, seeing his friends in a white void, stacks of cages barely visible behind him. They're flying, they can see the neverending sky! "Can I join you?" he asks.

"Of course. But it's not your time yet."

Me: :')

Rocket seeing a cage of baby animals that look like him, after decades of thinking he was the only one in the universe. Looking at the plaque to see 'Racoon'—that's what he is? That's what he is!

Followed by him immediately scooping them all into his arms. Doesn't matter if they can't fit, or if some of them scramble onto his back. They can't go through what he went through, they just can't!

Rocket seeing the High Evolutionary after all these years of running, being beaten and thrown around, insult after insult flung at him—"How dare you think you are more?! 89P13!"

Before Rocket changes the gravity—one of the things the High Evolutionary boasted only he could control—and declaring, "Name's Rocket. Rocket Racoon."

He uses his name. He's not only found belonging with the baby racoons he just saved, this is also the first time his torturer hears his chosen name from his own mouth. He's saying, "I am not just a string of numbers! I am not just part of a batch of 'failed' experiments! I am my own being!!"

The reveal of the High Evolutionary's actual face was gross in all the best ways. The makeup was just *chef's kiss*

Rocket insisting they have to get the animals out too, even though the initial mission was to just get the children out, and the other Guardians going along with it because they can see how important it is to him makes me smile

Peter fucking Quill going back for the Zune, not for him, but so that he can give it to Rocket!!!

For real, I was actually worried that they would kill him off. The stakes were that convincing

I like that Peter and Gamora don't end back together. It's realistic, and more importantly, it feels like the characters made that decision themselves and not a bunch of writers forcing something between them. And Gamora has grown to care for the group now, even if she'll never return to how she was before

The fact that we can understand Groot because we're part of the family now ❤️❤️❤️

I genuinely don't get why some people thought ending with a dance party was weird/bad? Maybe it's just 'cause I'm a dancer so I associate it a lot with my emotions. But if any movie deserves to go out with a dance party, it's this one. It feels so...relieving, seeing everyone on Knowhere smiling and having fun together

(And, of course, I've also been looping Dog Days Are Over a billion times and smiling stupidly to myself)

And Peter finally returning to Earth, seeing his grandfather, who immediately gets up to hug him? Tears, just like that haha

I also adore both end credits scenes. Adorable

[wawamouse]

Oz Rewatch 3: S2E07: Animal Farm

Sister before the episode began: What happened last episode…? Beecher shaved his face, and…?

Storylines

(Mini) Beecher wakes up drunk as a skunk, the fallout of last episode’s ending

Cyril is in Oz, gets assaulted by the Aryans; Ryan finds out gets Cyril thrown in the Hole to keep him away from Schillinger; McManus refuses to let Cyril into Em City unless Ryan snitches on himself

Sippel’s storyline begins

(Mini) Augustus searches for a way out, asking Schillinger about escaping through the mail

After being rejected by Bellinger, Adebisi spirals; Nappa, having just arrived in Oz and wanting to take revenge on Adebisi for the Schibetta, takes advantage of the moment and arranges for a drug test to catch Adebisi; Adebisi agrees to stop doing drugs to avoid being sent to the psych ward by Sister Pete; already unstable, he grows disturbed in new ways after encountering Jara, who reminds him of Nigeria

(Mini) Jaz Hoyt learns the ways of the mail room from Schillinger

Rebadow learns that his grandson has leukemia; at a meeting, Hoyt proposes that the gangs pitch in to send Rebadow’s grandson to Disneyland;

(Mini) Augustus asks Miguel if he could get out through the hospital

Eugene Rivera arrives at Oz as a hack; El Cid tells Miguel that he has to take out Rivera’s eyes; Miguel resolves to do so after advice from his father

(Mini) McManus cuts ties with Diane for good, having her transferred to Unit B

(Mini) Beecher’s alcoholism continues

(Mini) Poet commits murder and returns to Oz

Again, I really liked this episode. I feel like Season 2x06-8 have a nice flow after somewhat of a lull in episodes 4 and 5. The structure of this episode is less distinct, though, with more character segments interweaving and flowing into each other. I feel like this is preferable to the character segments being less related. It makes the world in the show feel more intersecting and busy, even if visually (through background actors, camera work, etc) that’s not always the case.

Sister found McManus’s lack of compassion for Cyril an indication of his inconsistency when it comes to wanting to improve prisoner lives.

(Me: but do you think he Actually gives a shit or does he just do it to make himself feel good? Sister: 😑…I guess he doesn’t actually give a shit)

Sister thinks that McManus, Mukada, and Sister Pete are all “tiring” because they’re constantly flip-flopping on whether or not they want to help people. Sometimes they seem to care too much, but then they turn around and don’t care at all. Sister doesn’t think any of the three have much integrity and also thinks that their pick-and-choose care tactics make it impossible to predict what their characters are going to do in whichever given storyline. She says at least with Glynn, it’s not so bad because you know he’s probably just going to say no.

I feel like I sort of agree when it comes to predicting what the characters will do, but at the same time, after something happens, I don't think it's that hard to work backwards and interpret where they come from. For example, McManus is being an asshole about Cyril because he's got a thing against Ryan and also Cyril for killing Gloria's husband, since he dated Gloria/she's a friend, so it's personal to him. Also, Cyril being mentally disabled probably just does not matter to him (although I can say this more with the hindsight knowledge that McManus has never appeared to be sympathetic to Cyril in the show).

Sister thought it was inconsistent (or rather perhaps: hypocritical) that Mukada wasn’t willing to help Sippel or accept Sippel’s remorse as Sister Pete did (i.e, on the Catholic level or whatever; the idea that if a person truly repents, they deserve absolution). I feel like Mukada being initially unwilling to help Sippel is pretty characteristic of him, though. Firstly, he probably finds Sippel even more disgusting because he was a fellow priest, and therefore Mukada probably thinks that Sippel betrayed their post/vows in some manner, causing harm when he is supposed to be doing God’s work. Also, Mukada is kind of a stubborn person, and does also get led by his own emotions often times (or at least he gives off that impression) so I think it makes sense the way he reacted to Sippel.

Me: (Rick Dalton point.jpg) Chico! Sister: Oh, they're friends again! Front row! Me: 🫥

Sister: Sometimes this show feels like we’re just watching people in the college dorms.

Sister: If I was a guy, I would not put my thing anywhere near that guy. I think he’d bite it off. But not in a crazy Beecher way. He’d do it in a weird sex addict way.

Sister: Exactly how long is she sticking around here? Me: A couple more seasons Sister: A couple more seasons?! All the other guys were dead in 10 minutes! Me: Do you want her to die? Why do you hate women? 🎤 Sister: 😑🤚🏼 Ok but she's not really doing anything, though.

Sister: (gagging noises) Sepsis. Instant sepsis. Me: If you boiled it, the bacteria would probably cook off, though. Sister: I don’t think their stovetops could get hot enough to boil off the bacteria… Did you see what they were eating in there? Oranges and a sandwich and a juice? They can’t boil shit in there. I’m surprised they don’t have more poisonings with all those cold foods. All the guys show up again every episode, but I feel like some of them should be missing and there should be a side bit where they're like "oh, where's Harold?"—"He ate the poison tomato sauce and died". Me: They wouldn’t be doing the blood thing in Oz! Sister: Well, you don’t know that. They got that lady, don’t they? And they like to poison people in this show. They could use—You know, if this show was made elsewhere, they'd have guys jerking off in the sauce. Me: What is happening right now?? (@ozimagines This part reminded me of what you said the other day about Miguel and Chico tho lmao...)

Sister: Well... it’s not like he’s had practice giving good fatherly advice, I guess.

Sister: How did he get such a big bottle inside??

Indeed, the Latinos must have major pull in the mail room, because a whole thing of Ambiguously Jack Daniels seems like quite the feat!

Stray thoughts:

Sister questions the point of Ryan ever confessing to being an accomplice in Preston Nathan's murder; she says that even if Ryan confesses, it probably won't free Cyril because he's already been sentenced; I remind her that the point in the show isn't to help Cyril (unfortunately), it's to punish Ryan

New arrivals: Antonio Nappa, Jaz Hoyt, NoName Vincent, and Kipekemie Jara arrive at Oz

Sister is convinced that Jara is an elaborate hallucination because no one but Adebisi actually interacts with him.

I wonder what movie Hoyt went to prison over

For some reason I had been under the impression that Poet had Life, when actually his new sentence was 26 years

Sister notes that sometimes the show seems to focus on a random detail as if to plant a plot point, but then there’s no pay off; in this episode, Jaz notes that the letter openers are very sharp, and that never comes into play again

Every time there has been a woman's breast on screen, Sister has yelled "boobies!"; every time there is a penis, she has gone something to the effect of "huh 🤨" or "ugh 😒"

Final Thoughts:

Sister: I feel like the show really doesn’t want anyone to succeed. Next the rapist (Sippel) is going to come back!

Sister: If anyone else gets poisoned in this show, I’m just gonna be like woooow. Like, fool me once, shame on you, feel me twice, shame on you. Third time’s the charm or whatever.

Me: Do you think Nappa will be able to take Adebisi out? Sister: Psh! No! I think if 10 guys went in, he would use them all as bowling pins. Me: I mean, in terms of planning, not a physical fight. Sister: Hm, maybe... But he's going to need more than 10 guys. And if they fail, then I feel like [Adebisi]'s going to get stronger and come back for revenge and kill them all.

Me: Any thoughts on Miguel this episode? Sister: I don’t understand why he thinks he has to be in the game. Me: Maybe it’s all he knows. Sister: Yeah, but I feel like when you’re facing a dilemma in life, that’s the perfect time to pivot, you know? Like, he should just hang out with the wheelchair dude. They were getting along earlier. He should just go and hang out and be one of the Others. Right now he's got some toxic friends he just needs to snip snip… Cut out those toxic friendships so you don’t get sepsis. Good friends will carry you through the poison tomato sauce!

[loveabledirtbag]

1.03 - brigade

what a chill opening. we learn carmy owns a coat, AND a hat? not just a white shirt and black pants. that’s what we call character growth, gang.

it’s amazing how in episode one we see the back of mikey’s head, in episode three we hear him say “let it rip, buddy”, and when he is finally revealed later on in the season i had NO idea it was gonna be who it was (more on that later). and now every rewatch when i hear him talk, or we see the back of his head i go “how could i not realize who the actor was playing mikey before it was revealed?”

i had NO idea that was molly ringwald at al-anon for the longest time. but i saw her name in the credits and had to think hard about who it could be! it was honestly like, “well….the only character who even remotely looks kinda like her would be the woman who spoke at the al-anon meeting, but there’s no way….right???” and then i googled it. yeah. that’s molly ringwald! this show does cameos so well. joel mchale last episode, now molly ringwald. so good.

i think it’s really good writing that when carmy attends al-anon for the first time, molly ringwald (i’m sure her character has a name, but i don’t know what it is) talks about “keeping my side of the street clean”, and that inspires carmy to implement it in his own “life”, his life being the shop. however, he doesn’t have the skills, the practice, the knowledge or anything to know how to implement “keeping you side of the street clean”. so he does the best he can with what he has: kitchen systems. which to him means implementing a french brigade. i also love that in the long run doing that DOES actually help the shop, but at the end of this episode we’re kinda shown that it’s a totally shitshow flop.

“remove myself from any situation that is, or could become, toxic”…well, someone’s never worked in the service industry. and i think that’s probably the point? because to me that’s the bigger point being made in her speech, but carmy’s whole life right now is the restaurant, and the restaurant is a toxic situation, and carmy can’t remove himself from his whole life. so he chooses to focus on keeping his side of the street clean instead.

the hard cut to “remove myself from anything toxic” to what is, arguably, the most tense scene of the whole show until episode seven, is very well done. and so poignant. we go from “remove yourself from anything toxic” to jumping RIGHT INTO an extremely toxic situation: richie and sydney screaming at each other, a line out the door, people not doing their job right, the whole works.

also, i don’t want to anger any sydney stans. but i think it’s strange how many people i’ve seen saying that sydney is always perfect, and carmy is always an angry monster. because here is sydney just absolutely making the situation worse by meeting richie at his asshole level. he’s yelling at her, and she’s yelling right back. she’s actively NOT helping. in fact, carmy is the one trying to mediate, and trying to calm everyone down. i’m not trying to shit on sydney! i love sydney. but i’m pointing out that this show is very good at making everyone human. everyone is nuanced. everyone is at fault at one time or another and no one is perfect. im also not defending carmy for every instance. he makes mistakes. REPEATEDLY. but he doesn’t only make mistakes. here is a scene where carmy is trying to do it right, and sydney is at fault. obviously i haven’t even mentioned richie, but that’s because of course richie is at fault. it’s richie. the louder richie is is equal to how wrong he is in any given moment.

the man with the sysco hats orders 2 dogs with everything on them, and richie says “$5.25”…i mean, i know a dog isn’t the most expensive thing in the world, but damn. it’s not exactly a mystery why they were having money problems…i looked up a chicago style hot dog place near me and one dog is $6.25

oh damn, carmy at home, and he’s wearing a black t-shirt! so much character growth! we’re learning carmy owns other clothes!

i think it’s strange in the scene where we see carmy not able to sleep, and so he goes into the restaurant early. because manny, angel, and marcus are already there, but marcus asks “what are you doing here so early?”. that’s not necessarily the most weird thing in the world, bakers are usually the first in at a place, because dough and baking in general takes a lot of time. manny and angel could also be there early to wash dishes. typically dish washers work the hardest in a kitchen. but it is strange because this early into the shift how many dishes are there for them to do? if it’s only marcus getting his prep ready, i don’t think the shop needs to be paying for two dishwashers to wash the few dishes marcus would be making. keep in mind that the beef also only has two dishwashers when they are going through a wild and hectic dinner rush. i find it more believable that they’d need two dishwashers for a dinner rush (professional dishwashers are some of the most skilled dish cleaners you’ll ever meet. they’ll clean shit so fucking fast it’ll blow your mind) more than i believe they need two dishwashers right away in the morning when it’s just marcus prepping dough for sandwich bread. but that’s not even the weird part! marcus wonders why carmy is there early, but then sydney just happens to also be there. she’s just getting in, but she’s at the shop too and no one thinks its weird she’s there so early. and then just a few minutes later ebra is also there. if so many cooks are at the beef right away in the morning, why is it weird that carmy is there? we already know carmy is obsessed with the place and spends all his time there. and he’s also the one who is supposed to be directing everyone in their cooking, as well as helping with prep and cooking himself. so why is it strange that he’s there so early? i assume it is just the writers trying to let us the audience know that he couldn’t sleep?

i do love the sort of inspirational talk carmy and marcus have. where carmy is trying not to be triggered by thoughts of his past restaurant while looking at all the dishes he used to make, as he tells marcus stories, and as marcus is being inspired by them.

not that i’m the most knowledgeable person on cooking and kitchens, my time has been pretty limited, but TWELVE PEOPLE??? i’ve never heard of a dish that takes twelve people to make. by my best estimates with carmy explaining how to make the dish he only mentions maybe 6 people: the two chefs cooking down the plum wine. the person(s) cooking the plum consommé. which carmy says takes hours, so let’s just say it takes two shifts which means two chefs. the chef making the compressed plums. and then maybe a different chef who takes the consommé and makes it into the gelée. idk how you take six chefs and make that into twelve, but DAMN

carmy talks about these compressed plums cut into perfect squares, but there’s no square plums in the picture. which is so confusing to me. i’ve thought about this forever. i hate how much time this has taken up in my life. the plums are circular in the picture, but carmy says squares. why didn’t they write it differently? they had to have had the reference photo for the dish, right?

i like to think that the chef who cracked the plum gelée was luca from copenhagen. but as carmy tells the story we’re only getting flashbacks to his shop in new york, and we don’t have any evidence that luca worked with carmy in new york.

i’m glad that the show addressed being a woman in the kitchen. i know that being a woman in the service industry is getting better, BUT there’s still so much work and progress that needs to be made. obviously. and so we have two women in the beefs kitchen and one has learned how to be as tough as nails (tina) and the other has proved herself with talent, and is insistent that she doesn’t need any help with anything (syd).

it’s also poignant, because sydney is tiny and marcus is a giant with a golden retriever soul, and he just wants to help without even thinking of the fact that sydney is a woman. that’s obviously not an excuse, but i really believe marcus is just puppy-dogging his way forward and is just like “can i help? that thing is three feet above your head, but it’s at my eye line so i can grab it!” and sydney struggling with all her might is like “nah! i got it!” even though she clearly doesn’t got it.

the continuation of the tomato mystery!!! mikey was buying tiny little cans? even though the bigger cans are cheaper per ounce? whatta mysteryyyyyyyyyy????? (more on that later)

the short back and forth between carmy and ebra *chefs kiss*! again, ebra is criminally underused! even more so in season two (more on THAT later). but “english carmen!” “the more i understand about michael, the less i understand. rest in peace, young man” “who cares? we don’t use tomatoes anyway”. there’s nothing abundantly funny in the lines, but ebra’s delivery is just PERFECT

the conversation between carmy and sydney, specifically the conversation continually being interrupted, is just spot on. i don’t think i had a single meeting or important conversation with someone when i worked service industry that wasn’t continually interrupted by a million things. seriously, gang….management in service industry is just a fucking lot.

i think carmy’s idea makes a lot of sense, and also has some context to it. even in episode one carmy says he wants to start defining roles in the shop. i get sydney’s hesitancy because of her history in restaurants, and carmy does a bad job explaining his reasoning behind it. but if you’re dealing with a chaotic shit show, isn’t part of the answer introducing some order?

THAT BEING SAID: the moment sydney agrees to running the kitchen in this new system and carmy says let’s go is SO SHITTY. it might be one of the worst things carmy does in the whole show. reordering an entire restaurants workflow, when some of the staff have been there for DECADES, and putting the responsibility on the newest hire, and then telling her the moment she agrees that it’s gonna happen that instant and she’s going to be running the meeting where is being announced...it’s stupidity to the utmost extreme. i know carmy isn’t trying to be shitty, but FUCK dude. that is SHITTY.

“yo, carm the phone ringing” ….no shit marcus. it’s been ringing all morning, in carmy’s office. where carmy just came from. again, it’s probably a writers technique to show us that the phone ringing is something that we should have on our mind, because this shows sound design is very intentional, and it’s possible we could subconsciously think that the phone ringing is only meant to add to the chaotic sounds of the shop. but when thought of practically…carmy can probably hear the phone marcus.

once again, carmy talking about harnessing their gifts, organizing the special thing the whole team has. in my opinion he is coming from a place of respect, and love for these people (many of whom he has known for years) and wants to give them a chance that life has denied them because he knows they can rise to the occasion if given the chance. but i can also see where people could argue carmy is white-savioring, or “my fair lady”-ing, or some other toxic thing. but i do think carmy is going about this with the right intentions, and not as “i’m better than these peasants, they need my help”

what a weak pun by richie. escoffier/scoffi-gay. weak. i mean, yea, also homophobic and offensive. but what a crime to name puns. come on richie.

i wonder if it means anything that as richie makes the joke, the camera is on angel and he looks sort of annoyed and displeased at richie. we’re two seasons in without knowing much about angel, it could just be a camera cut to make the scene more interesting and dynamic, but for some reason angel is looking at richie and he doesn’t look happy

“i was in a brigade once” “what happened?” “many people died” GOD, EBRA! so funny! but also, fuck, that’s tragic dude! but then carmy’s “…o-okay, this is gonna be different”. is delivered so well. just the air of “i didn’t think i’d have to be telling people that a french cooking brigade would be different than a somalian army brigade…”

“like hierarchy!” “more like a regular chill-archy…” syd is so awkward, and this is one of those scenes where you close your eyes and groan because you wish she was anything but awkward. the writing, the acting. god, so good!

“i’m the sous, right? which means i just follow orders even if it leads to tension, and chaos and resentment and ultimately doesn’t work. but yeah, that’s what i do.” is SO GOOD. if any good person has ever been in a management position before, they KNOW that’s the eternal power struggle between owners and staff. and is also why i think the service industry desperately needs to unionize. because far, far, far too often managers have to voice something from ownership that fucks over the staff because part of their job is just to do as they are told, much like how staffs job is to follow orders from management. and it sucks! and if a good person is not careful, they follow orders and ignore their conscious and walk right off a cliff and suddenly they’re in a viral video talking to camera’s about how their staff deserve to work minimum wage without being allowed bathroom breaks for 12 hour shifts and how child labor laws are ruining this country, all because they’re just doing what the owners are saying and they forget that they’re in charge of actual human beings.

“chef de partie?” “yes” “…i accept!” GOD EBRA!!! i would die for ebra.

i love with the camerawork that from richies face we know something isn’t quite on the level with niko. we don’t know what (yet) but his face says “damnit niko, why are you calling? don’t mess this up for me and get me in trouble.” that’s added to by the subtle “i’ll hit him” from richie. he means “i’ll hit him back” as in “i’ll get back in touch with him and talk” but by cutting out the “back” it sounds a little more threatening: “i’ll hit him”, “i’ll punch him, because he’s gonna get me in trouble.”

also, it’s so beautiful and sad that carmy can’t see richie’s face. because he says that it felt like mikey was alive for a second. and richie looks like “i know exactly what you mean” but richie also looks like he’s saying “i can’t deal with that right now; because i’m barely holding on myself, so i can’t carry you too.” so richie says “no thanks” and carmy is just left to believe richie doesn’t care about him. just more assholery from richie. but we the audience know, oh, richie is broken.

i think the show does a decent job of showing anxiety and panic this season. BUT i think they go above and beyond in season two. the ringing and grabbing his heart is good, but season two really helps channel the anxiety

peep the crisp white sneakers on carmy’s feet as he walks into the church for al-anon. i know jeremy allen white is a sneaker boy, and i wonder if those shoes are just jeremy’s, or if they also wanted to give carmy some sick sneaks to go along with his denim love

quick peep at syd’s japanese knife. much like carmy’s japenese knives. i don’t know if anyone reading this knows about different countries knife philosophies and how their knives are designed to suit that philosophy (maybe philosophy is too strong a word…), but it’s interesting that carmy and sydney share a similar knife

ah, hiding in the walk-in because you need a moment to yourself to stop yourself from crying. i miss it and also don’t miss it. you know? maybe that’s ptsd? the scene is all the better because syd goes into the walk-in talking to the team with the most empty cadence a person can have. she’s saying what she’s supposed to be saying but she doesn’t believe a word of it herself. which also means the team doesn’t believe a word she says

ok. there’s very few good things to say about tina up to this point, which is probably why i haven’t talked about her much. but the fact that she clearly has so much beef with syd, but still she goes into shop-mom mode the moment sydney gets a cut. i just love it. every shop has a shop-mom and every shop needs a shop mom. tina is one of my favorite characters, of all time, and her journey is so well done this season.

and of course sydney doesn’t help anything by getting defensive and once again trying to prove how good and tough she is, instead of just accepting the care and help she needs.

and….of coooourse tina goes from trying to help sydney to then immediately turning the heat up on her stock and sabotaging her. because tina might be the shop mom, but sydney is annoying her, and trying to change everything, and so shop mom goes mama bear on her and fucks with her.

sloppiest “assumed” drug deal ever between richie and niko. like they’re looking around and trying not to get caught and somehow they miss that carmy is RIGHT THERE

here again with syd’s burnt stock, carmy is a little bit of an asshole. obviously we think he’s being more of an asshole than he is, because we know sydney is having a hard time being the sous in the shop with everyone against her, but carmy doesn’t. to carmy, he put the only highly skilled chef in charge while he left, and he gets back and no one is doing what they should AND sydney is (seemingly) making rookie mistakes which she should know better than to make. so he does get a little angry at her, and even from his prospective he could have been less intense, BUT from his view it’s like “how did you mess this up? this is cooking 101”.

again too, when sydney’s trying to explain that tina should be on onions, but tina’s on lemons and carmy just wants her to say “yes, chef” and do the onions…i have mixed feelings on. because, once again, we the audience know that carmy is being an asshole and not helping sydney’s already shitty day. but carmy doesn’t know about sydney’s shitty day (which is also his fault), and to his credit sydney trying to explain that she has tried to get tina to what she’s been told and tina isn’t listening sounds a lot more like whining than explaining. there are times and places, and right after being scolded for burning your stock is not the time to try and explain that the real problem is actually not you, but tina. is carmy ultimately way in the wrong? yeah! but he’s asking syd to say “yes” and in the moment she should have just said “yes”. your bosses makes mistakes, and when they’re telling you something, it’s not the best time to show that they’re wrong and you’re right. sometimes you just gotta say yes, and hate them in your head. and if they’re a good boss (like carmy is) you then go and talk to them when things are calmer. they have that moment later in the episode when things are calmer.

i’m not trying to say that people just have to put up with angry shit from their bosses…but in a moment of stress, ESPECIALLY when you’re in the service industry, sometimes you just gotta nod your head, take whatever they say, and curse them in your head. because in a heated and hectic moment in a shop, you’re not gonna convince them of the nuanced issues going on. that has to come later when things calm down and they have a clear head.

knowing that the hands that are prepping the food are actually syd’s and carmy’s hands (i know the actors have names, i’m sticking with syd and carmy) never ceases to amaze me. especially in the scene where syd preps the onions, because you can really tell she got skilled at it. with carmy they cut back and forth and so they can make us think he’s moving faster than he is, but they had a long shot of sydney just cutting, and she was zooming through. (the gif below is carmy because i was struggling to find a gif of syd cutting)

i always wanna know why the suqaar isn’t good? like, it’s so bad that sydney is near revolted. because ebra says it with such pride and confidence, carmy seems excited by it. but then when sydney tries it she’s so disgusted. was it actually that bad? or was sydney just in such a bad place that nothing could taste good?

those lowboys are SO gross. i have nothing else to say, really. just real bad.

it’s rather unprofessional that when “someone” took sydney’s onions she bursts out of the kitchen to the front of house, WHILE richie is hanging out and talking to a customer, to yell at him asking where her onions are. richie is working. obviously hanging out with customers might not seem much like working, but that’s front of house (FOH) shit right there. and to yell in front of a customer (which she and richie have been doing a lot in this episode) is just unprofessional from someone trained in the way of fine dining.

the small detail of syd having her overwhelmingly bad day, and when she goes into carmy’s office he’s just sitting there, and then the first thing he says is “we should be outsourcing bread”, which was 1) in her 30 page packet last episode, and 2) talked about just a few hours ago in the team meeting carmy skipped out on. it would be beyond frustrating. and we know that carmy is actually working, like, the guy stays late to hand scrub the floor, so he’s really working. but it just looks like he’s chilling while syd is running around, and that doesn’t help her boiling rage and panic.

the most painful thing is the world is sydney yelling at marcus about him offering to help her with something again, to the point that her hand is shaking and her eyes are bulging…and then he leaves and she dumps it all over herself. i’ve never been a woman in a male dominated workspace, but i have been someone who really wants to prove themself, and to then have it blow up in my face, especially if it LITERALLY blows up in my face like it does to syd, and the added shame of knowing you wasted a bunch of money (veal fat isn’t free), is stay-awake-at-night-reliving-that-moment kind of painful.

but, it’s also so sweet, and so relatable of marcus to come in after hearing the spill, to sydney standing there covered in her own mistake, and to wordlessly leave and come back with towels and help her. everyone in the world needs a marcus.

that first inkling of seeing HUGE payments to KBL electric! my brain was just like “oh shit, mikey was laundering HARD”

i love the scene where marcus tells syd that family dinner is ready, when syd walks out of frame we stay for just a moment on tina. tina cleaning her station. because to me i think it’s easy to assume, well, she obviously has to clean her station at some point while working, so it’s now. but after having a few back and forth moments with syd in the episode, where syd specifically asked her to clean up, i think it means something that tina is finally cleaning up. and knowing the arc she goes through in the next episode, i think this is like a seed being planted showing us that even tina is slowly being changed by the new system that carmy and syd are implementing in the beef.

i know that this is like the tiniest detail, that has also been talked about SO MUCH by people in the restaurant industry. but carmy drinking out of a plastic container hits to good every time i see it. i’m 29, i haven’t worked in food-food in like 8 years, and i still love using those containers as water glasses. THEY HOLD SO MUCH, plus you get them for free if you order pho from my favorite restaurant (and most restaurants where you’re ordering soup to go) so it’s like an added treat with my pho.

i do think it’s important that carmy can tell something is wrong with syd. only because he’s been so single minded for three whole episodes. missing cues from the people around him about the pain they’re in. i know there’s a lot of discourse on here about if the relationship between syd and carm is moving towards romantic, or showing the depths of a truly deep and trusting friendship/business partnership, either way i don’t care if the writing and performances are good. but it’s important to note that this is the first time carmy has looked outside of himself/the restaurant at someone else and noticed them for real. he went to find syd, and upon seeing her body language asked her what was wrong. obviously, most of what was wrong is because of him, but he still tried to make it better and showed that he’s the kind of boss who actually cares and is trying to create the best working environment for his staff as possible. he’s just human and struggles at doing it.

i’ve read a few people say it’s shitty that carmy admits to being harder on sydney than everyone else in the shop, but i really don’t think so. no one else has gone to school for cooking. no one else but syd can comprehend most of what carmy says or even understand his vision for the place. syd has been at the beef for a few days/weeks/maybe a month or so? and she’s now the number two over people who have been there for decades. so i don’t think it’s outrageous that carmy holds sydney to a higher standard. or is more upset when she sinks to richie’s level to yell at him, or when she isn’t able to properly make a stock. once again, i’m not trying to excuse carmy’s bad behavior, but my first day in a kitchen i was treated with baby gloves, but when i was a supervisor, and in charge of training people in, i would never hear the end if i messed up something simple. because i knew better, and carmy knows that sydney knows better.

i think it’s worth noting that sydney says “i think this place could be so different than the other places we’ve been at.” she says “we’ve been at”. not “i’ve been at.” she’s assuming, and assuming correctly, that carmy has also been in some terrible kitchens. and she’s assuming, and assuming correctly, that carmy is also really tired of it

i think it’s probably only really tv magic that we’re in episode three and sydney feels comfortable to tell carmy that she wants to partner with him in making the beef better, but that he also has to listen to her ideas. that’s a lot of trust in the emotional maturity and headspace of a boss that you haven’t really had any previous emotional connection with. like we haven’t really seen her and carmy connect or have a mutual understanding of the other. we haven’t seen him give syd a reason to think that he wants her to partner with him in improving the beef, or that he’s all that interested in listening to her ideas. HOWEVER this scene works because we know carmy so well already, and we know syd really well, and their chemistry sells it. so she basically says she wants to talk freely with her boss and be heard and listened to and instead of him shutting her down like 90% of bosses would do, he says “you’re absolutely right, and i agree.”

and for her leap of faith, we see carmy open up to her! carmy opened up! he’s trying to work through his gunk! it’s so good!

FUCK BRUNCH

ok. i love brunch. but i hated working brunch. it’s the worst shift in the world.

the scene where carmy comes out of the beef on a break, cigarette hanging from his lip, his hair a particular kind of wild, to listen to sugar’s voicemail…that is the vibe and look i have wanted to replicate from the moment i saw him, and i have no idea how to show the person who cuts my hair because the look is just “sweat and grease” and that’s a hard ask in a salon chair.

i like the flow of learning its michael’s birthday, with us returning to the beach with carmy. because it makes the fact that carmy heard mikey say “let it rip, dude” more powerful. carmy is thinking of mikey on his birthday, carmy’s been thinking of mikey all day, and it’s been nagging at him and weighing on him and everything he has said and done has been because today hurts worse than most other days have.

the question then becomes: timeline-wise, is carmy at the beach the same scene that started the show? we know that only a day has passed, did carmy wake up and go to the beach, and then after work go to the beach again? i’m sure someone with more attention to detail could tell me if the sun is in the same position in both scenes, or if the sun is on the opposite side of the sky in one from the other. but it mirrors the opening so much that it kinda feels like we opened on either the beginning of the day, or the end of the day, and now we’re closing on that same visit to the beach, to remind us of that trip and to put the day into a greater context with mikey’s birthday. if i had to bet, i would bet that both scenes happen at sunrise, because we have a shot of the shop while the dinner rush is happening and it’s dark outside. like past sunset dark. we know they close late, like 10/11pm late. which is far after sunset. so if carmy is walking outside while there is a sliver of light, it’s probably sunrise.

UFFDA, i love this episode. i feel like it slowed way down (except for that one scene during a lunch rush), and amped up both the emotional ante, and the comedy. the next episode to me is like a mid-season finale, because it wraps up some major themes and storylines and opens up some new ones, but we’ll talk more about that in episode four!

Season One: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8 |

[maya-matlin]

This is probably an idiotic question, but how much do you think Chad/Sophia and Milo/Alexis being in love in real life and that chemistry naturally translating onscreen has to do with why you ship brucas and literati: not a factor whatsoever, a small factor, a mid-sized factor, or a major factor?! I never thought it impacted why I shipped either of them but, honestly, on paper both ships are 'eh' to me and the writing has me cringing at points, but somehow when I actually WATCH them my heart is like 'yup, no matter what your brain says, we want these people together' and I really do think the actors' chemistry factors into that a lot more than I had realized. (The reverse is often true too---like my brain *wants* to ship brulian because they're a 'healthier' ship and Julian gave Brooke her fairy tale ending and all that but my heart is like 'eh, sorry, just not feeling it.') I swear there are a few Gilmore Girls scenes where I'm like 'that's not even Rory and Jess---you can tell by the tone and expression that it's Milo and Alexis lol' and same goes for Chad and Sophia when I rewatch parts of OTH. So I would say the actors' real life love coming through onscreen influences my shipping both those couples a lot, or at least more than I'd realized before. I'm so curious what your take is!

I would personally say that the chemistry has a massive impact. Not necessarily the real life relationships, though I'm sure for some that was part of the fun. Oftentimes, when fictional couples turn into real life couples, both the on screen and off screen dynamics are shipped simultaneously. I mean, it especially plays a large role in terms of Rory's relationship with Jess and their continued popularity. Their on screen relationship didn't last long at all. Milo choosing to leave at the end of season 3 and only appearing sparingly after that meant Rory and Jess never got a proper second chance or even a semblance of one beyond one kiss in season 6. Yet, their relationship is massively popular and touched so many fans. It's the definitive Rory romance even though she dated both Dean and Logan for longer. While Jess got a big push considering he was a real character with his own arc and story lines as opposed to Dean and Logan who primarily revolved around Rory with little things happening in their lives here and there (Dean's failed marriage, Logan's constant battle with Mitchum) that Rory would typically be there to observe, it's undeniable that what they shared on screen can't really be described as a successful romance. Both Rory and Jess had good intentions, but Jess also had a lot of problems that he needed to work through. He genuinely loved Rory, wanted to make her happy, and seemed committed to staying together after high school, but then his personal demons got in the way. So as a result, Jess let Rory down and failed to properly communicate the things that could have brought them closer as a couple. But, damn. The chemistry.

You see little moments like this on the show and also out of context in so many edits. You almost forget how badly things ended. Because how can you not love them?! And back to the chemistry. It never felt as natural with Rory's other boyfriends. I think it was more believable with Logan than Dean, but overall this looked effortless.

Also, Chad and Sophia. Good god. I don't know specifics about Milo and Alexis, but by all accounts Chad and Sophia's short-lived marriage ended in complete disaster to the point it's widely speculated that it played a role in how the endgames played out contrary to what everyone behind the scenes claims. Whatever Brooke and Lucas were intended to be in any given season (and I personally think that during season 2 at the least they might have been endgame), their chemistry far outshone the official Lucas/Peyton pairing. It was just so raw, you know?

These are all different phases. Through their initial relationship to the separating/divorcing era to firmly divorced, that chemistry never went away. Even when the underlying subtext isn't supposed to equal Brucas, the fact their love was once real off screen meant that it never 100% went away. Lucas could say a million lines about what Peyton means to him and how he's never been happier, but it never packed the same punch as the look on his face when he's around Brooke. And I'm not stupid. This is not pro-Chad and Sophia. The man got engaged to a high school senior. I'm not here to debate his real life thoughts and feelings for his ex-wife. I'm also aware acting exists. But if we're talking about real life relationships and on screen chemistry, it's relevant. For them at least, what went down in real life made the love story between Brooke and Lucas feel real.

As for Brooke and Julian/Sophia and Austin, it's interesting how it all kind of inverted. This is a good example of how other times, what's happening in real life doesn't make a difference in regards to on screen couples. On screen, Brooke and Julian were perfectly fine. I'd probably say they had the most heat in season 6 when Sophia and Austin were still figuring out whether they wanted to be together, but the Brooke/Julian relationship overall never had the same passion and effortless on screen affection. It never looked as put on as Lucas/Peyton scenes, but it was never exciting. So I definitely see what you're saying. On paper, Brooke and Julian was the right ending. It was evident how much Julian loved Brooke and that they'd formed an incredibly strong relationship throughout seasons 6-9. But because of the differences in chemistry, it doesn't feel quite as impactful. With Brooke and Lucas, it's like their love for one another is so overwhelming and impossible to turn off even when they want to. With Brooke and Julian, they love each other and it's really nice to have that comforting love after years of failed romances. But it's not necessarily the romance that jumps out.

See, this is very sweet. They're doing everything right. But it's just not the same.

[fishylife]

Fishy's top movies watched in 2023

It’s that time of year again. Time for my movies roundup for the year.

This post includes movies that I watched in 2023, not movies that were released in 2023. I will rank movies based on my personal impression, so this is not an objective post. As well, I sort the movies in tiers as opposed to individual rankings.

From my ‘About’ page, you can see my movies posts from prior years as well as my Dreamwidth blog where I post writeups on movies and other media.

And on with the list!

My Favourite Movies of the Year

These were the movies that had the biggest impact on me. I think of them often.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)

This movie was about a man and his attachment to his childhood house. It was based on the experiences of one of the writers, who also played a fictionalized version of himself in the movie as one of the main characters. I thought the movie was thoughtful in its themes, about gentrification, and people's attachments to places.

Another reason why I liked this movie was because it was very beautiful. I was so in awe of some of the shots and aesthetic choices that the director had made. San Francisco is such a visually distinct city and the director definitely took advantage of that. As well, the colour palettes in this movie were so pretty. I had fun choosing a gif for this movie in my post because there were so many beautiful shots. (My custom Tumblr theme seems to be cutting off some gifs so if you are viewing this post in my custom theme, please click on the above gif to see it in full because it is pretty :3)

Definitely check out this show if you want a visual feast and a meaningful story.

Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms (封神第一部: 朝歌風雲) (2023)

I know this is more of a fun action flick but it really did move me. This movie is the first in a trilogy covering the Investiture of the Gods, a famous Chinese historical fantasy and mythology novel. The novel is a retelling of the fall of the Shang Dynasty and the rise of the Zhou Dynasty, with mythology weaved in.

This movie specifically followed the journey of Ji Fa, who would be the future King of the Zhou Dynasty (sort of a spoiler though most Chinese audiences will already know who he is). Ji Fa was a hostage son who glorified his captor, Yin Shou, the last King of the Shang Dynasty. Over the course of the movie, Yin Shou’s tyranny was revealed, and by the end of the movie, Ji Fa understood his values and decided he had a responsibility to take down the tyrant. The mythological story line had to do with the immortals seeing that Yin Shou’s rule would be bad for the common folk, and wanting to stop that from happening. It was an exciting movie about war and politics, but it was also a touching story about fathers and sons. I kept rewatching scenes between fathers and sons and brothers and feeling those moments of love for one another.

There have been comparisons between this movie and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and for good reason. The director, Wuershan, took much inspiration from the Lord of the Rings and consulted and hired people who had worked on the Lord of the Rings. Many behind the scenes videos outlined the extensive design process in creating the world that this story was set in. There was also a separate variety show that covered the 8-9 month training camp that all of the young actors attended to hone acting and physical ability. It’s clear that a lot of love went into this movie, and it showed in how rich the movie felt to me.

For some reason, I couldn't find any Creation of the Gods gifs using the Tumblr in-post gif finder. So instead, I looked up specific characters and found a gif from one of the most hype scenes in the movie >3

Check out this movie if you want something fun and fast-paced!

Honourable Mentions

These were also movies that I enjoyed and they made me think. They just weren’t at the top of my list.

The King of Comedy (1982)

The King of Comedy was about a man who was desperate to find fame through any means possible. There were characters in the movie who were fascinated with fame and celebrities in different ways. What was chilling was that some of these characteristics were familiar to us and I was sympathetic to them to varying degrees. I thought the different interpretations of obsession with celebrity were interesting, and relevant even to celebrity culture now.

An Elephant Sitting Still (大象席地而坐) (2018)

This was a drama film focusing on a few main characters living in a town, each with their own battles. One of the characteristics of this movie was its length, nearly 4 hours long, and yet this movie did not feel as long as other long movies I watched. The director Hu Bo naturally had a slow style but it didn’t feel slow. Rather, he captured some of the mundanity of life so instead of feeling bored, I felt that I was accompanying these characters in real time as they went about their day. As mentioned, this was a story about characters and their battles, and I did feel some parts of this story to be somewhat hard to watch. Not literally, but in the sense that I felt bad and I knew I couldn’t do anything for the characters. I know this movie definitely isn’t for everyone given its length and style, but I felt that I could get a sense of what the director was trying to express, about trying to break free of one’s chains.

Movies that were still good

I thought these movies were good and they had messages that would speak to other people.

From Up on Poppy Hill (コクリコ坂から) (2011)

This was a movie about young people, young romance, and coming of age. Our main characters were high school students. Through the course of the movie, they learned about themselves, each other, and they learned to fight for causes they believed in. As a story, it was fun. It was cute, but our characters did encounter troubles which I appreciated.

While this movie was animated by Studio Ghibli, it was directed by Miyazaki Goro, the son of Miyazaki Hayao, and there were notable differences in style. I felt that From Up on Poppy Hill was a bit faster paced, but still showed off much of the Studio Ghibli style that we appreciate, in high quality animation and pacing.

Apocalypse Now (1979)

I’m not normally drawn to war films, but I felt that the story line of this movie offered something a bit different. This movie was about a military captain who was assigned to assassinate a defector during the Vietnam War. I think this movie appealed to me because the plot was more of a personal journey of the captain as he tried to understand why the defector had decided to take the path that he did. It offered a different perspective on the horrors of war that I commonly see. I think this is one of those movies that I’ll have to re-watch several times because it was packed with interesting dialogue.

Bullhead (Rundskop) (2011)

This was a solemn drama/crime film, surrounding an illegal market where livestock were injected with hormones. From beginning to end I felt a serious sense of gravity over the main character as he went about his life, and as we discovered his past. I think the appeal of this movie was the style and the character, as opposed to the story. Not that the story was bad, but rather, I think the story was more of a vehicle to show us what life was like for the people in this movie, specifically our main character.

I Am Mother (2019)

I do love a science fiction story that asks questions and makes me think. I Am Mother was about a child who was raised by a robot. Initially, we were only privy to the nurturing of this child. As she grew older, we were shown more about the truth of the world. I liked this movie because it was simple from a story standpoint, but it did raise a lot of hypothetical questions, which is what I love about science fiction stories.

Quest for Fire (1981)

I included this movie on my list because it certainly left an impression on me. To sum up my feelings on it, I appreciated the commitment to the concept. This movie was about a group of cavemen in prehistoric times. They had had a fire, but it was put out, and so the group sent a few members to find fire again. The reason this movie left an impression was because it was very raw. This was a prehistoric time, a time before many of the social norms we were familiar with would have been common among people. Some of it was gruesome, such as violence or just eating habits that were hard to watch, but I appreciated that the movie retained this cohesive style to immerse us in the time period. I’m pretty sure this movie was not historically accurate (for reasons that I won't say because of spoilers) but I think it delivered the story it set out to deliver.

The Heroic Trio (東方三俠) (1993)

If I was 13 years old I probably would have made this movie my entire personality. This was an action-adventure movie starring three icons of Hong Kong and Chinese entertainment (Michelle Yeoh, Anita Mui, and Maggie Cheung). It was a story about solving crime mixed in with a little bit of the supernatural. It had a surprising amount of backstory, particularly relating to two members of the trio. And of course I loved seeing the women fight in cool action scenes.

Closing Remarks

I’m a little surprised myself that there were some critically acclaimed movies that didn’t make this list. This didn’t bother me in previous years but it did bother me this year. I went into some movies expecting to love them because they were what I would consider my type of movie. Perhaps it was because my expectations were too high, that the parts I didn’t like seemed to stick out more to me. I did do some thinking as to why I didn’t like those movies and I think I still stand by those opinions.

Anyway, that’s it for 2023. Have you seen any of these movies? What did you think of them? Let me know!

Wishing everyone a happy 2024!

[browneyedbeauty5725]

My more in depth thoughts on OBX S3

I will admit I skipped through a lot of parts of each episode cause I literally could not care less about Big John and his treasure. I genuinely wish they hadn’t brought him back cause they had this build up of what an amazing dad he was supposed to be just to show he was actually a pretty shitty one. Like the storyline they were going with in the beginning where the whole reason John B was looking for this treasure was to honor his dad was great and then they kinda ruined it.

JIARA, what can I say other than finally lol. Some people feel like it was rushed, some people felt like it fell flat, and others loved it. Frankly I loved it. It was so them. One I think it was never going to live up to any of our expectations cause their build up was so amazing especially considering it was very unintentional in the beginning and we all built up the moment they finally got together in our heads.JJ showing her that you know what forget Big John,forget the treasure, you’re what’s important to me I will come for you every single time was amazing. And Kie being the one to say I love you first, when one John b n pope came at her and two because it’s JJ and emotions are hard for him being vulnerable is hard for him was just so important. For her to be the one to be like I know this is hard for you and I know you don’t think you deserve it but I love you and I’m choosing you was important. And just the enormity of JJ being able to say it back in a room full of people no less. And as for it being rushed if there had been more than 10 episodes yea ok maybe but there weren’t so them getting together in episode 9 along with the two previous seasons of build up was played out perfectly. And I loved Pope kinda being the first one to really acknowledge that something was going on. He’s listening to JJ say nothing happened and is just like you can say that all you want but what I walked in on was not nothing.

Fuck Kie’s parents. Like don’t get me wrong it did seem at first that her mom was genuinely trying but then she just gave up and went back to being the same as she always was. And don’t even get me started on Kie’s dad. Like I hate people who forget where they came from just because they end up successful. Like excuse me sir once upon a time you were just like those boys. And i can’t remember if it’s canon or just something we all made up in fanfics but it’s like they don’t realize they are doing the same thing Anna’s parents did to her. Kie isn’t throwing away any of what they are trying to give her. She can still have a good successful life and still hang out with the pogues. The only way she loses that is if her parents cut her off.

I love Cleo and Pope and his family. I love them together. Their chemistry is amazing. And I love how Heyward is as exasperated with all the pogues behavior like Kie’s parents but he’s handling it the right way. He doesn’t like it but he knows they are gonna do it anyway and he understands that he can either be as supportive as he can or he can risk losing his relationship with his son.

And honestly I’m just kinda over Sarah and John B. Like what was the point of her cheating and like when Kie his best friend is like we can’t trust her in season one John B is all too bad but suddenly the dad who abandoned him is like we can’t trust anyone else he’s just suddenly willing to lie to Sarah and then throw her trauma over her family in her face. I loved the relationship in the beginning but now every time I rewatch the show I’m just like go away. And maybe this is cause the actors broke up idk but the chemistry between the characters just isn’t there for me anymore. Their storyline has just become really tiring for me.

Idk how I feel about the time jump cause of all the things we probably won’t get to see but at the same time I am ready to see them as young adults. Overall though it was a pretty good season.

[stormyoceans]

Thoughts on talay's character arc? Thoughts on Puen's character arc? Thoughts on the development of their relationship? Thoughts on any part of this wonderful gift of a show??

ANON YOU'RE PLAYING A VERY DANGEROUS GAME HERE I COULD LITERALLY WRITE A WHOLE DISSERTION ABOUT VICE VERSA YOU GOTTA GIVE ME SOME LIMITATION IF WE BOTH WANT TO GET OUT OF THIS WITH OUR SANITY INTACT. it's probably a good thing that it's been a constant 48 hours goat screaming up in my head since the show ended and that im still nowhere near coherent enough to articulate my thoughts properly........

talay's character journey is actually one of my favorite things about the show (and this says quite a lot, considering i adore pretty much everything about it) and i think it's also one of the best i've ever seen depicted in a BL. i do feel like im lacking the right english words to explain myself rn, but there's been something so.. charming and heartening about watching this boy who didn't believe in love, who has always prioritized his dream career to the point he never allowed himself to even consider a romantic relationship, slowly opening up to the possibility of it

the way they handled it was also incredibly refreshing to me, because talay’s choice of putting work before love is never shown in a negative light, it’s simply a part of his character that helps the viewers build a sense of who talay is: someone driven, meticulous, logical…. but talay is also warm and caring and kind. he doesn’t need to change or put his dream aside to love and be loved, he just needs to leave some space for it and let himself feel. if in the end puen is asked to choose between work and love (and in his case that choice feels like a blessing, because he never had an option before), talay’s journey is all about learning that he doesn’t necessarily have to pick one or the other, but that the two can coexist

another thing i really appreciated is that the writers never rushed talay into realizing and accepting his feelings for puen, but they made him experience all these new and different emotions (both good and bad) and then actually gave him have the time to figure out what they meant. it was a slow process, but it felt incredibly natural, and drawing a parallel with the color pink was such a clever way to show the progress in talay's feelings

puen’s character journey is probably less evident, compared to talay’s, but it’s honestly just as good. i feel like we focus a lot on how the alternate universe gave puen the chance to learn about all the different kinds of love and affection he never got to experience in his life (not only romance, but friendship and family too), however i think a big part of his journey is also rediscovering himself and letting himself be puen

it probably sounds a bit of a contradiction, since he spent most of the series going by ‘tun’, but i’ve rewatched some scenes from the first few episodes and it’s really startling how much more contrived puen feels compared to the second half of the show. this isn’t to say he was being fake or insincere, but you can see he used to hide a lot behind the cool actor persona he had to build for himself, and it made me realize that i didn’t fully understand just how true puen’s words are when he tells talay “not many people see this side of me. you’re one of them” and “i’m like this with you only. when i’m with you i don’t act.” being with talay and travelling to the alternate universe helped puen reconnect with who he is, and it’s beautiful to see his real self coming out more and more throughout the episodes and have him realize that maybe being puen is not that bad

i think im gonna stop here because this is already too long and if i start on all the reasons why puentalay is the best couple with the best development ever i will be on my deathbed and still not done with it, but i said it before and im gonna say it again: puen and talay's journey of going from strangers to friends to lovers felt believable and realistic in a way few others ever did, not only in BLs but in other shows too. it was about two very different people who didn't know what love was helping each other grow and choosing each other over and over again. they fell in love, and it felt real

[vinylattes]

List 5 favourite shows (in no particular order) and answer questions accordingly. Thanks for the tag, @spineless-lobster !! <33

• Legends of Tomorrow

• Good Omens

• WWDITS

• Yonderland

• BBC Ghosts

1. Who is your favourite character in 2?

Aziraphale and Crowley. Yeah, they can’t be separated.

2. Who is your least favourite character in 1?

Rip Hunter.

3. What's your favourite episode of 4?

Elders ‘11.

4. What is your favourite season of 5?

Can’t decide if it’s 2 or 3. Combining their best hits would make THEE ultimate season.

5. What's your favourite relationship in 3?

Nadja & Laszlo or The Baron & The Sire.

6. Who is your anti relationship in 2?

Madame Tracy and Shadwell, sorry.

7. How long have you watched 1?

I think I saw a clip from Crisis on Earth-X back in 2017 or 2018, but I actually started watching in 2020 when I was still watching Flash.

8. How did you become interested in 3?

Influenced by some mutuals and the film, so I tuned in right after s3 ended and actually contributed to the fandom during s4.

9. Who is your favourite actor in 4?

Throughout the series, it’s Martha and Larry.

I love Debbie and how Martha portrayed Imperatrix, I just wished she had a few more roles other than the two just like the other five (I think it’s a costuming thing but I digress).

I love Larry both as writer and an actor, and especially for making Ho-Tan and Kendall real.

But like, if actors in general, it’s Jim.

10. Which show do you prefer 1, 2 or 5?

Nooo, I can’t possibly choose!!

11. Which show have you seen more episodes of 1 or 3?

I mean, LoT has more seasons, but I have rewatched WWDITS a very Normal amount.

12. If you could be anyone from 4, who would you be?

Can’t tell if I want to be Debbie and Ho-Tan or be with both of them.

13. How would you kill off your favourite character in 5?

I mean, they’re all already dead, so...

I’m weirdly satisfied with Pat and Humphrey’s death, like obv they didn’t deserve it but I wouldn’t have it any other way? Kitty and Cap’s death aren’t revealed yet, but I hope Kitty’s didn’t cause her much pain bc my girl’s been through enough and I hope Cap’s either got the funniest or most earth-shattering one.

Apart from that, I don’t think I will be able to handle another ghost being sucked off (except for some, uh, cases 👀)

As for Alison and Mike, I’d rather have them die due to old age.

14. Would a 3/4 crossover work?

Yeah, and it’s called BBC Ghosts. (No but seriously, I think Yonderland might be able to fix the vamps. They would love the Parvuli.)

15. Pair two characters in 1 that would make an unlikely, but strangely okay couple.

I haven’t seen the show in ages and they’re all pairable, but Astra and Kendra probably? Charlie and Spooner? (I’m just spitballing, idk if they’d work)

16. Overall, which show has the better cast, 3 or 5?

Harvey and Matt are the only ones I love from that cast for reasons, so it’s gonna be the cast of Ghosts.

tagging @autisticharrywells @bluntbeard @larryrickard @starwendy @horuuuuu @hedgehog-png @ghostlyheart @rubyanjel @zaritarazi and everyone who’d like a go!! <33

[movie--obsessed]

brief intro + currently watching

what's up with ya, tumblr people? as i noted in my bio, this blog here is a sideblog. secondary blog. whatever the better term is. tumblr calls it a secondary blog but i've pretty much only ever seen second blogs referred to as sideblogs. so i think i'll call it that. so. this blog here's a sideblog off of my main, @pirateprincessofpizza.

i always said to myself, "i'll just post whatever i want on my main. i'm not gonna make a sideblog. i have no need for one." ...but i gave in. i want the organized chaos of my main to remain as it is with what i post on there now. which consists largely of once upon a time and other miscellaneous content. so i made this one to obsess over other movies and tv shows and actors. and the possibility of books as well.

this particular post will also consist of an ever-changing "currently watching" list, which will be placed below the cut so you can choose whether you'd like to look at it.

if you're curious if i've seen any films or tv shows, feel free to ask! i have a weird range of things that i've watched. i've seen some films/tv shows that may be somewhat obscure, and i've not seen some that might be well known.

currently watching:

tv (parentheses indicate season i’m currently on, if a show has multiple):

star wars: rebels (season 3)

toradora

rewatch of the flash (season 7)

rewatch of once upon a time (season 1)

i’m also currently working my way through the star wars screen franchise, films and shows both included

films:

val kilmer's entire filmography, basically. so far i've watched, in chronological order:

top secret (1984)

real genius (1985)

top gun (1986)

the murders in the rue morgue (1986)

willow (1988)

billy the kid (1989)

thunderheart (1992)

tombstone (1993)

batman forever (1995)

heat (1995)

the saint (1997)

the prince of egypt (1998) (i think i'll always wonder why he didn't sing in this movie. like. imagine.)

at first sight (1999)

the salton sea (2002)

blind horizon (2003)

conspiracy (2008)

planes (2013)

1st born (2019)

val (2021)

top gun: maverick (2022)

and at some point i'd like to get through johnny depp's entire filmography, an idea that's been hanging around in my brain for years. i've seen:

edward scissorhands (1990)

all pirates films (2003, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2017)

secret window (2004)

finding neverland (2004)

charlie and the chocolate factory (2005)

corpse bride (2005)

both alice films (2010, 2016)

rango (2011)

dark shadows (2012)

into the woods (2014)

and for the fun of it, i'm currently reading gilded by marissa meyer.

[blmpff]

Getting to know your BL mutuals - 2022 Edition

Simple, answer the questions. @ some people. Include the tag 'g2ky BL mutuals 2022' on your post so we can find everyone's answers!

Thank you kindly for the tags @lelephantsnail and @gillianthecat ❣️ I enjoyed reading your posts as well! ❣️

(I got tagged on my main account @asdfghjklmpff but I'm answering here as I've made it my bl dedicated side blog 😊 Sorry for the wait!)

(just a heads up, I don't keep any lists nor master spread sheets or anything, I'm just writing down what comes to my head as I read the prompts)

What has been the BL that took you by surprise this year?

First that comes to mind is Eternal Yesterday that's ending this friday, I completely wasn't expecting to be so into it, as I'm more of an action packed, and fast paced shows fan, but every week I am sat with my eyes glued to the screen.

Also Big Dragon, because I was expecting it to be like The One That Shall Not Be Named Fahlaruk level of toxic and trash, but it was surprisingly layered and meaningful, with lots of nuance.

Ghost Host Ghost House started slow for me, and I even considered dropping it, but when the main couple got together their chemistry blew me away and it made me appreciate the show more. I think the show didn't do a proper build up to the second conflict, but the couple ended up talking about the issue and it kinda made it up for me. Kevin and Pleum's chemistry is definitely one of my favorites this year.

Honorable mentions: Semantic Error, Old Fashion Cupcake, Minatos's Laundromat, DNA Says Love You, Blueming, My Only 12%, More Than Words, My Tooth Your Love, My Ride, To My Star 2 (bc we all know that sequels more often than not don't live up to the previous parts, but oh god was it good)

What has been the BL that you felt a bit disappointed with this year?

Plus & Minus, I did genuinely like the show, but it really threw me off with that random break up at the end, and now I don't want to rewatch it at all, even up until those last two eps....

Check Out and Fahlanruk bc yeah... (hopes and prayers that P'Jojo gives us the proper enjoyable messy show we all want and deserve, and not the annoying (gestures everywhere) whatever these two were),

Ocean Likes Me I was really looking forward to seeing Holland act, and surprisingly I did like his acting, but what I had issues with was that it felt like half the plot/story ended up on the cutting room floor and it didn't feel put together enough to draw me in. Also, idk if it was the make up, lighting, or what, but the other guy looked so pale and sick all the time to me.

The Tuxedo!!! The actors had such great chemistry in all the bts footage I saw on my socials leading up to the release I was so hyped, and then the show came and I was so let down... The story made sense, but the execution wasn't there, and the directing/scene choreography was also lacking, and overall I ended up so disappointed... (funnily enough, it was my second time seing The House that's everywhere now lol, I had no idea it's going to be in half the thai productions this year)(The first time was in The Player, and the rest is history),

Love Class, I truly enjoy kbls, but I really didn't feel that one, and I'm surprised they got a second season confirmed.

What has been your favorite BL this year?

It's impossible to choose just one ;-; also it's almost all the same as the ones that surprised me, probably that's why they're one of my favorites

Korea: Semantic Error, Blueming, and Choco Milk Shake.

Thailand: Big Dragon, Between Us (duh), Ghost Host Ghost House, Bad Buddy and Not Me (they finished airing in 2022 it counts shh), Something in My Room (yes I know it's slow as hell, but somehow it charmed me and I ended up binging it till late am on a work day. also wtf was up with that alien plot)

Japan: More Than Words, Old Fashion Cupcake, Minato's Laundromat, Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai, Seven Days,

Taiwan: DNA Says Love You, About Youth (fuck those parents tho, and the father in particular)

What are your favorite BL couples (not just of 2022)?

(not the order of favoritism, just who comes to my mind first)

Pat x Pran - Bad Buddy

Da-woon x Si-won - Blueming

Nozue x Togawa - Old Fashion Cupcake

Jae-young x Sang-woo - Semantic Error

Seo-joon x Ji-woo - To My Star & TMS2

Jin Xun An x Bai Lang - My Tooth Your Love

Win x Team - UMWA/BU

Choco x Milk x JungWoo - Choco Milk Shake (not a couple I know, but try and tell me I'm wrong, I dare you)

Kevin x Pleum - Ghost Host Ghost House

Cake x Eiw - My Only 12%

Qiu Zi Xuan x Xia Yu Hao - History 2: Crossing The Line

Meng Shao Fei x Tang Yi - History 3: Trapped

Igawa Shun x Hibino Nagisa - His (2020)

Dan x Yok - Not Me (it's criminal how little time they got. hehe get it?)

If you had to suggest a BL for someone what would it be?

This is going to sound the same as 99% of people I saw doing this, but it's true so here goes:

Softer ones: Semantic Error, Bad Buddy, Seven Days, Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai, Light On Me, Be Loved In House I Do, About Youth, We Best Love, Life; Love On The Line, To My Star 1 (then 2 if they're invested).

And more action packed: History 3: Trapped, Manner of Death, Long Time No See, 3 Will Be Free, KinnPorsche The Series (for VegasPete).

What's your non-BL favorite for this year?

Weak Hero Class 1, At a Distance Spring is Green (when I tell you I bawled my eyes out, and I don't cry like at all)

The Sandman, Bastard Son and The Devil Himself (recommended for all you 3 Will Be Free enthusiasts, like myself), Wendel and Wild (bc I love Coraline and it's by the same guy, also the rep)

Barbaren

I probably missed a lot, but it's long enough already 😅

As for the tags I feel like everyone's done that already, but if someone haven't yet and would like to, consider yourself tagged! <3

@loooreleii @seung-sung and @varis-world maybe, if you want to? 😊