#soundtrack is so special to me. and the book. and the movie

[girl-kendallroy]

fujoshi win if i do say so myself‼️‼️

[cadaver-moss]

Things have been kinda rough recently

I also thought this song would fit Enojadita’s emotional state after the death of her brother, especially so close to her father’s death

[greenorangevioletgrass]

fever pitch (b.b.) - part two

previous part | series masterlist

soundtrack: lavender haze - taylor swift pairing: footballer!bradley x popstar!reader synopsis: you and Bradley go on a date. they say the wrong things --or right things-- and surprise each other as they get to know each other better. warnings: language, so much unresolved tension, mentions of character deaths, fluffy heartfelt stuff, but also like sexy stuff 👀 notes: i had so much fun writing this! special shoutout to @gretagerwigsmuse who had to deal with my annoying thots at all hours. comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated as always. happy reading! <3

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Subject: Guest Attendance Confirmation From: management@annabels.co.uk

Dear Madam,

Thank you for confirming your information regarding your upcoming visit to Annabel’s.

It is our pleasure to host you for your dinner reservation on the 23rd of March, 2023, as a guest of our member Mr. Bradley Bradshaw. We hope that you have a wonderful experience dining and entertaining at the Club with us.

In order to ensure your positive and memorable experience with us, we kindly ask all members and guests to be aware of a few key rules of the Club:

DRESS CODE. We encourage individuality and style in your smart attire. After 6PM, gentlemen are required to wear jackets. Read the full dress code guidelines here.

PHONE & PHOTOGRAPHY. As a Private Members’ Club, we kindly ask Members and Guests to refrain from taking photographs within the Club’s premises. Posting content to your social media from your visit to the Club is not permitted. Phones must be kept on silent at all times and are only permitted for use in limited areas of the Club.

For guidance, read the Rules & Bylaws of the Club here.

If you require further information or assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out through this email address or by phone at +44 20 7946 0011.

Thank you and see you soon.

Best wishes, Maude Adams Floor Manager.

***

You’re not sure why you’re bracing for something to go wrong.

The restaurant is rife with opulence, with rich chartreuse and bronze walls and Japanese-style paintings over classic British architecture. Bradley booked a little corner booth just off the fireplace, the privacy still granting a nice view of the grandiose bar across the room. He pulled up your chair and told you that you look beautiful—a good three or four times, and it feels just as genuine as the first. With your show and his training the next day, you both had to pass on the booze and settle with some green tea to go with your food. Conversation flows effortlessly, exploring easy topics like your shared love of old movies, the Venn diagram of your music tastes, the novelty of the sport that he plays…

“Okay, but how did you get into soccer—I mean, football?” You smile sheepishly as you correct yourself. “Sorry. Wouldn’t wanna get maimed to death by the locals.”

He laughs. “Don’t worry. You’re safe with me.” And then he takes a deep breath as his finger toys with the condensation on the side of his glass. “It’s… uh, my dad, actually. He bought me a soccer ball for Christmas when I was like 2 and… it’s most of the memories I had with him, playing kickabout in the backyard.”

“Oh?”

He smiles—diplomatically, all things considered. “He died when I was 4.”

Your face falls. Fuck. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry…”

“Nah, don’t be. It was a long time ago. And I feel like he’s with me every time I step on the pitch.” Bradley nods, ever so reassuring. He’s had enough ‘I’m sorry’s’ for every time his dad comes up in conversation, and he doesn’t want you to feel obliged to do the same.

“But hey, I think it’s wonderful… that he’s right there in spirit with you every game.” You smile back, trying to save this slip-up in conversation. “And I bet your mom’s really proud of you, right?”

To his own surprise, he chuckles. It really is true that tragedy plus time equals comedy. “I mean, I like to think so.” He notices your questioning look, and realizes he needs to let you in on the joke too. “My mom died when I was 17. Cancer. I moved out here and lived with my godfather. Got scouted for Arsenal.”

And there it is.

You’ve been so worried about all the external factors going wrong, that you didn’t consider that the faulty one might be you. 

The clinks of plates and cutleries suddenly become so loud. The subtle piano playing over the speakers sound garbled, like you’re underwater. And the salmon sashimi in your mouth tastes like lead now. How the fuck does lightning manage to strike twice?! 

“I’m sorry, I…” and now you can’t even muster up a proper apology, because what do you even say?! The only thing that comes out of your mouth is a lame excuse, “I… thought it was a good idea not to Google you.”

His heart catches at the sight of you, all wide-eyed and dumbstruck. You wouldn’t believe it if he told you, but he thinks he might have just fallen in love with you there. Foot in mouth and all.

But you… you think you must’ve looked so stupid right now. “Fuck. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed—”

“No, no, no. It’s alright!” Bradley quickly interjects, that twinkle of amusement in his eyes still lingers. “I appreciate it, actually. I’ll take awkward moments with you over anything else you can Google about me.”

“Really?”

He nods. “Of course. I mean… it’s not like you killed them, did you?”

There’s a split second of silence, when you meet his playful gaze, and his mouth pulls into a grin over your petrified look, and then… the tension simply melts away in a sigh of tentative laughs. The garbled underwater music has come up to the surface, the dining noises dissipates, and everything turns back to normal… ish.

“Anyway, what about yourself? How did you get into… all of this?”

“Oh, it’s all I’ve ever known, really. Pretty sure I sang before I knew how to talk. I was always pestering my mom about ballet and piano lessons and living room concerts… I was that kid, you know?”

The image makes him smile, and it sends butterflies to your stomach. “Your mom must’ve been thrilled.”

“Eh.” You shrug flippantly, and that non-answer is enough of an answer for Bradley. “But she knew I was stubborn as hell, and she’s better off letting me tire myself out than trying to stop me, so…”

“But you didn’t.”

You shake your head. “By 5, I was on Broadway—”

His jaw falls open, and he looks at you like grew a new head. “I’m sorry. Five years old?”

You raise your hand in defense, not wanting to oversell yourself. “To be fair, though, it was mostly luck. My mom was working in the theater company and they needed a kid, so I volunteered to stand in—I mean, naturally,” you roll your eyes at yourself, “And they liked me. So they put me on. But I didn’t have to do anything but pretend to be asleep while the adult cast carried me around.”

“Still. That’s more than most people can say. You continued doing it afterwards, right?”

“Mm-hm. Stage, commercials, TV, the occasional movies… anything I could get my hands on.”

Bradley studies you with this look of awe—not an unusual reaction, he’s sure; it’s a pretty impressive feat. But he also catches a lost sense of melancholy in the way you say it, and he can’t help but ask, “Did you have a childhood at all?”

And your heart catches. That’s something nobody ever asked you before… “What do you mean?”

He pauses, realizing he may have inadvertently touched on a sensitive subject with this line of questioning. So he tries again more carefully. “I just meant… you’ve been working most of your life. Did you ever just get to be a kid?”

“I…” you trail off, considering your answer. You want to say yes, of course you did, but the little sting in your throat makes you question yourself: did you?

And with the soft look in his eyes, you know he knows the real answer to that. Both of you do.

It’s alarming how disarming he can be, and you would hate it… except you don’t. At least not enough to make you run off. “I guess, being in that kind of environment, I didn’t really know how to be a kid…? If that makes any sense.”

Bradley nods, understanding. He’s not entirely sure how to respond, but he wants to be empathetic.

“I went to school and made friends for a while, but…” Normally this would be an uphill point in your story, but tonight… this part is tinged with distant sorrow. “I got a record deal when I was 15, and suddenly I was living in LA and working in the studio or going on tours and… I just wasn’t a kid anymore.”

It breaks his heart, the thought of a childhood lost on you like that. “Wow. You really have lived a life, haven’t you?” He can’t resist but reaches out for your hand. 

The touch makes your heart catch, and it feels overwhelming. It feels like you’re gonna burst, so you chicken out with a lame joke. “Haven’t slept in 22 years.”

Bradley can’t help but smile at that, squeezing your hand three times in comfort. And just like that, the bubble bursts and the world continues on its axis once again. He finishes his last slice of tuna tataki and washes it down with his konacha.

“You know, for how much you’ve done since you started out, I thought you’d be more… Hollywood.”

You raise an eyebrow in amusement. “Hollywood?”

“Okay, that came out wrong,” he admits bashfully. “I just… you’re very down-to-earth. And real. I guess I expected more, like, an attitude?”

“Oh? I can have an attitude…” you smirk coyly over your tea, “...if you can handle it.”

Fuck. You’re gonna be the death of him. It’s insane how easily you switch from being sweet and vulnerable, to flirty and borderline devilish. But he wasn’t born yesterday, and he knows he’s well-equipped to handle this back-and-forth.

“I think you’d be surprised by what I can handle.”

Oh, here comes the fun part. “Is that right?”

He nods, leaning into you a little bit from across the table. “I think you’d find a lot about me surprising.”

If the whiff of his Tom Ford Black Orchid catches you off-guard, you don’t show it. Instead, you mirror his body language, propping your chin on your knuckles for good measure. “Like what?”

God, he really wants to kiss you… but it’s way too soon, and he doesn’t know how you feel about public displays of affection. “Like… I’m a pretty decent cook. And I like reading.”

“An athlete who can read? My, my…” you smirk teasingly.

Bradley laughs. He walked right into that one. But he’s not ready to admit defeat yet. Instead, he makes use of that bedroom voice girls like so much to push the point further. “That’s right. I know how to use the washing machine, too.”

You bite your lower lip and sigh, shuddering a little from his low rasp but definitely playing up the dramatics. “You do? Mmh…” 

Jesus. If that’s you faking it, he can’t wait to make you all wet and needy for real. “And you wanna know the best part?”

You meet his gaze, and for a moment, the lustful tension is real. “Yeah?”

He leans in just a little closer, head tilting as if he’s moving in for a kiss. Maybe if he throws it out there… “I can put together Ikea furniture.” 

You throw your head back and feigns a quiet but dramatic moan for your one-man audience. “Oh my gosh, I think I just came in my pants a little.”

Fuck. He really wants to make you come now. With his fingers, his tongue, his cock—

Your gaze drops to his mouth, the stupid 80’s pornstache you’ve never been into before this, the soft inviting lips underneath. The ball is in your court now, and you know he would kiss you earnestly if you close the distance…

But you burst out laughing instead. Bradley releases the breath he didn’t realize he was holding, although your bright laughter doesn’t deter him from thinking dirty thoughts about you. If anything, it just makes you ten times hotter in his eyes.

“Well played. That was a good one,” Bradley concedes, his face turning just a little bit pink.

“We should probably stop before the staff kicks us out for having too much fun,” you lean back into your seat, looking around the restaurant, making sure no one is listening. Squeezing his hand three times as the next course arrives… not entirely putting the kiss off of the table either.

Bradley recommends the vanilla mille crepe to close the meal, and you come up with the idea of sharing a slice. The dessert arrives, a lush little golden brown thing with thin layers of cream in between, so simple and so intricate at the same time. He lets you take the first bite—insists upon it, actually. It’s the gentlemanly thing to do.

That, and he wants to watch your face twist in pleasure again. Eyes fluttering closed, chest falling in a sigh, lips parted ever so slightly... God, he can’t wait to be the one responsible for it.

“Amazing, right?” He beams at you, very pleased with himself.

“Mm, it truly is,” you hum in agreement, watching him take a bite. It gives you a naughty idea… “It’s so amazing, I might just hijack this whole thing.” You jokingly pull the plate a little closer to you.

Bradley playfully holds the plate back, looking faux offended. “Hey! Come on. You know I’m a little bit stronger than you, right?”

“Please. That’s never stopped me before.” 

“Really?”

“I have my ways…” your finger reaches out just enough to touch his, just slightly.

Between that and your eyes darkening in mischief, Bradley fights hard not to turn into goo under your slightest touch. He bites the inside of his cheek to contain himself. “You’re really making me earn this, aren’t you?”

“Why? Girls never gave you a hard time before, Mr. Big Time Football Man?”

He laughs. “No. But you’re probably the only one giving me this hard a time for a bite of dessert.”

“Is that all we’re playing for? A bite of dessert?” you smirk, egging him on.

“What else do you think we’re playing for here?” He takes a second bite, maintaining eye contact as he does so.

You take another bite and lick the cream off of your fork. “I don’t know. A bite of… something else?”

Ah. So we are interested. Bradley is unfazed as he gently warns you, “Careful. I might take you up on that.”

“Good. I was hoping you would.”

The tension rises as reality sinks in. You both want to fuck, and looking at the trajectory of the evening, there’s a good chance you will. And it sobers you the hell up, pulling you both straighter in your seats. Sharing the slice of cake in quiet civility. Keeping a completely respectable distance, as if worried you don’t trust yourself not to climb over the table and kiss him senseless. 

But the game… oh, the game is on.

“I don’t know about you, but… I was thinking maybe a few bites, though.”

“Oh?”

“Oh, yeah. I intend to explore every part of this… dessert.”

You stop chewing for a moment. There’s something so hot about how he says it so casually. “That’s… very optimistic of you.”

“Not optimistic enough to decide if kissing you out here was a good idea,” he admits sheepishly.

“Why is that?”

Bradley shrugs. “Just a hunch.”

He’s right, of course. He didn’t choose an ultra-exclusive, members-only establishment with a no-phone policy just for kicks. He sees the security detail that follows you around, lurking at a safe distance—from back at the club. And tonight, you’re traveling light with just two bodyguards, each strategically posted near you and the exit, but it’s still more than he’s ever encountered. There’s no way you would risk a first kiss in public, no matter how discreet the place is. No matter how much you like him.

And you like him a whole lot.

“Tell you what…” you put the fork down as quietly as you can. This is the moment of truth. “I’ll let you kiss me all you want back at my hotel, hm?”

Bradley’s eyes light up instantly. He takes a moment, not so much to consider his options, but to process what’s about to happen. “I would like that very much, yes.”

“Alright, then. Shall we?” you smile brightly, flagging the waiter for the check.

“Uh, yeah. Totally. We shall,” he stammers a little, recovering fast enough to snatch the check and slips his credit card in the tab. Barely addressing the waiter as they walk back to the till.

It all happens so fast, and you whine in complaint. “Oh, come on!”

“What, was I supposed to let you pay or something?”

“You were supposed to let me pretend to fight for it, at least…” you huff.

He smiles in amusement. You are so adorable, it makes his heart fucking swell. “Okay. Next time I’ll let you pretend. I’ll even give you a little pushback for good measure, how about that?”

“Perfect.”

“Now, let’s go back to your hotel and… I don’t know, pretend you have to try really hard to resist my charms.”

“Yeah, okay.” You chuckle in agreement. This is really happening. Wow. And just as the excitement sets in, another point of concern pops up in your head, like a really annoying notification. “Did you drive here or…?”

He nods. “You wanna take my car?”

“No, I got a car waiting for me…” you smile apologetically, glancing at her bodyguard. There’s no way they’re gonna let you jump into some guy’s car. “And there’s gonna be paps out front…” Here comes the tricky part. “Would you… mind if we… go separately and meet up at my hotel?”

Oh. Bradley’s face falls a little upon realizing that he can’t just walk out the door with you. He sees how this works. You don’t want the media to jump on this first date, and it’s actually a smart move. Besides, what’s a few more minutes to a whole night of complete privacy? “Sure, no problem.”

You nod tentatively. Well, that was surprisingly easy… “And just to be clear, this has nothing to do with you. It’s just… this whole thing can be a circus, and I don’t want you to deal with anything you didn’t sign up for.”

He smiles at you. Bless you for being so thoughtful, but it does make him wonder if other people have had trouble with it. But maybe that’s a question for another time. “Hey, I totally understand. We’ll just meet up at the hotel and leave it at that.”

“I’ll text you, okay?”

You squeeze his hand gently before you get up, making your way out of the restaurant. Powering through the camera flashes as soon as you walk out of the front door. Giddy because you know something these vultures don’t.

Meanwhile, Bradley sits. Waits. For one minute, and two, and three. Looking at people walking in and out, wondering how inconspicuous he would be if he walks out now.

And then…

His phone buzzes.

[burst-of-iridescent]

atla live action thoughts: season one review

first things first: anyone who says the Movie That Does Not Exist is better than the live action is straight-up lying. the shymalan film fails on the criteria of even being a decent movie, let alone an adaptation. the netflix series, for all its problems, is at least an enjoyable watch with great effects, music and (mostly) appropriate casting. there's absolutely nothing to compare here - the netflix version clears easily.

now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's delve into the series, starting with the positives.

the good:

visuals and cinematography. they really did a great job of making it feel like a fantasy universe you wanted to be in & i love how vibrant the saturation and colour grading was. it made the world feel so much more dynamic and alive instead of the same flat, boring dullness that so many movies and shows have these days. sometimes i didn't even mind that i was being fed obvious exposition because at least they were giving me something pretty to look at lmao

effects and action. the bending was surprisingly good for the most part, and they did a good job of making the elements feel unique through the stunt choreography and the actors' movements. i'm immensely thankful they didn't try to skimp on budget by merely cutting away from fight scenes or showing us as little as possible. almost all the action sequences were fast-paced and engaging, and i was never bored watching them

acting. the main four were all great, but gordon cormier and dallas liu have to be the standouts for me. gordon brings such an earnest, innocent sweetness to aang that you can't help but like him, and dallas plays all of zuko's facets perfectly: the angst, the explosive anger, the bratty snark, and especially the deep-rooted pain that characterizes so many of zuko's actions in book 1. the range he has, especially when flashing from younger to older zuko, was insane. special shoutout to maria zhang and sebastian amoruso as suki and jet respectively, because they killed it

music. leaves from the vine instrumental had me tearbending and i love how they kept the iconic avatar theme while making it a little darker for this iteration of the story. in general, the soundtrack felt very true to the animation while still being a fresh spin on it

zuko and iroh's relationship and expanding on zuko's crew. i think the fandom universally agrees that lu ten's funeral and zuko's crew being the 41st division were the best changes in the series, so i'm not going to talk about it further other than to say that these scenes show me what the show can be, and that's why i'm not giving up on it

the bad:

characterization. almost all the main characters are missing the little nuances that made them so great in the original, but the greatest casualty is katara. i hate that they took away so much of her rage, and gave many of her traits and struggles to sokka. i don't think this is a problem solely with the writing though, because certain lines do feel like things animated katara would say, but the directing and line delivery don't have the same punch that made her so fierce in the original. this is an easily fixed issue though, so i hope they take the criticism and let my girl be angry and fuck shit up next season

exposition. this was primarily a problem in depicting aang's personality and the relationship between the gaang, because a) why are you TELLING me that aang is mischievous and fun-loving instead of just showing me and b) the gaang do NOT feel like close friends, mostly because they spend so much time apart in every episode that they have little screentime to actually bond and develop intimacy.

lack of focus on the intricacies of bending. for a show whose tagline is "master your element" the characters spend very little time actually... mastering their element. zuko is never shown to struggle with firebending (which is going to have ramifications when it comes to developing his relationship with azula), and neither aang nor katara ever learn waterbending from a master throughout the the entire show. i'm pretty sure aang never willingly waterbends ONCE in the entire eight episodes, discounting the avatar state and koizilla. bending isn't just cool martial arts, it's closely linked to the philosophies and spirituality of each nation, and i wish that had been explored more.

pacing. they really needed to do a better job of conveying that time passed between episodes because an 8-episode season is just going to FEEL shorter than a 20-episode one. the original animation felt as though they'd truly been on a long journey before arriving at the north, but here it feels like the entire show happened in the span of a fortnight or so because each episode seemed to pick up right after the previous. they needed to have more downtime within episodes instead of just rushing from plot beat to plot beat because it made everything feel a lot more rushed. give the characters and story time to breathe.

final rating: 7/10.

overall, i would describe the live action as a better version of the percy jackson movies - not an accurate or perfect adaptation, but a decent story that's very fun to watch. but what really makes me root for this show to get a season 2 is that it has a lot of potential and more importantly, a lot of heart. it's evident that the people who worked on it do genuinely love and respect the original series, and it shows onscreen.

regardless of anything else, this show created opportunities for so many asian and indigenous actors, writers and creators to tell the kinds of stories and play the kinds of roles they don't usually get, and that's something worth supporting. if they take the criticism from this season and improve, i believe they really do have something special on their hands which - although it might not be the original we all know and love - could still be a story to be proud of.

[holmesxwatson]

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes dir: Billy Wilder, 1970

I only watched The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes for the first time a few days ago but it lights my brain up in that special way that I know I’ll revisit it a lot. Don’t get me wrong, it’s far from perfect, for one thing Colin Blakely’s Watson is a little too shouty for me, but it’s very worthwhile to check out despite its shortcomings, which I think mostly come from the fact that so much was cut from the intended script.

I absolutely love Robert Stephens as Holmes. His face is so good, he has a way of looking at Watson when he doesn’t know he’s being observed that is very soft. I thought I was hallucinating the beginning of this movie with Holmes telling the ballet dancer he’s gay and in a relationship with Watson. I thought it was going to be played for a joke, and it was a bit, but it didn’t just end there. Holmes and Watson have a conversation about the repercussions in a lengthy scene that turns very serious by the end. I can’t believe this was 1970 and no one has since tried to build on this specific dynamic in a more meaningful way. Someone needs to remake this into a mini-series exactly how Billy Wilder intended it to be, here’s hoping public domain can make it so.

[above: script page from the cut story The Curious Case of the Upside Down Room, where Watson creates a fake case to make Holmes feel better]

Also, the backstory of the making of this film is so out of control: Robert Stephens’s nervous breakdown and suicide attempt during the production, the amount of years Billy Wilder was trying to write it and get it made, the interference of ACD’s son, the Loch Ness monster prop that the crew lost in actual Loch Ness, the immense scope of the episodic story they were going for, the way it got cut down from its original 3 hour 45 minute runtime and how that cut footage was lost forever! (this is crazy! everyone go check your attics and storage lockers right now).

In one of the interviews I found, Robert Stephens says “if something is boring — if it’s three minutes long it’s too long, but if it’s interesting it’s never long enough…you don’t want it to end.” Big same Toby Stephens’ dad, big SAME. I didn’t want it to end. I read the uncut script and I am just floored at what we missed out on. Thankfully some footage and audio remain of some of the cut scenes (but still! check your basements too).

Just fully let it settle into your brain that they filmed all of these stories in the script, and then cut most of it away. Like that is mind-blowing to me, it existed at one point as it was fully intended to be. If this was made now during home entertainment times, they would have no problem releasing an almost four-hour movie, but at the very least there would be a big director’s cut dvd release and we would be enjoying all the small Holmes x Watson moments we deserve.

Anyway, in pretty short order I found a bunch of interesting links to stuff, details below. I also consulted my very well-thumbed Conversations with Wilder book by Cameron Crowe, but there wasn’t that much more information in there. I have Robert Stephens’ memoir Knight Errant and the TPLOSH blu-ray on order so I’ll add to this post if I find any more good resources. Let me know if I’m missing anything, and enjoy!

Full movie on YouTube (x) <-update: this link went private, but it's also streaming for free on Tubi and Freevee, and available to rent on YouTube, Google Play, and Apple TV

Original roadshow draft of script on Internet Archive (x)

Missing footage: Prologue [sound only plus stills] (x), The Curious Case of the Upside Down Room [sound only plus stills] (x), The Dreadful Business of the Naked Honeymooners [footage and soundtrack only, no sound dialogue] (x), alternate ending [sound only] (x)

Making of documentary that includes behind-the-scenes snippets of some of the cut scenes [this doc is in German, but you can turn on the auto-translate to English in the YouTube settings] (x)

Interview with Ernst Walter, film editor of TPLOSH (x)

Interview with Christopher Lee “Mr. Holmes, Mr. Wilder” 2003 (x)

My YouTube playlist with all of the above links in one place plus an excellent fan vid by Just Bee that I added to the list because it’s just so good (x)

Missing Movies: A Case for Sherlock Holmes from 1994 BBC Radio 2 on Soundcloud [includes interview with Robert Stephens and folks involved in the production] (x)

Articles about the lost Loch Ness monster prop (x) (x)

The soundtrack by Miklós Rózsa (x)

[hooked-on-elvis]

ONE NIGHT WITH YOU OF SIN ❤️‍🔥

50s Elvis can't sing something like this!

Well, this is something I just found out. That's why I love listening to Elvis' songs and researching on them. We always can learn interesting things that took place during the recording sessions, which makes EP's songs much, much precious.

I was listening to "Elvis: From the Vaults 50's" album, released as part of the 60-CD set "Elvis Presley: The Album Collection" (2016) — I love the "Elvis: From the Vaults" trilogy to death, by the way — when I crossed something very interesting.

The song "One Night (With You)", that Elvis performed with such passion during the '68 Comeback Special, was recorded by him in the 50s and originally had a slightly different lyrics.

The most known version, the "light" or "family friendly" (per say) version of the chorus of this one song goes like this:

"One night with you is what I'm now praying for."

The "explicit" version tho, as originally written by Dave Bartholomew and that came to be a R&B hit for Smiley Lewis in 1956, the version of the song Elvis recorded in 1957, actually sounds like this:

"One night of sin is what I'm now paying for."

I mean, the lyrics is clearly about sex in either words, but why the change in the words actually happened really intrigued me. I, as usually, looked for answers in one of my favorite books, and that's what I'm gonna share with you now.

So, Elvis was recording songs for the '57 Loving You movie soundtrack when the song was recorded. "One Night" was meant to be featured in this soundtrack album but it wasn't. The track went through a long way before it was put out there for Elvis' audience. To give you an idea, Elvis released the Loving You soundtrack album (June 20, 1957), recorded the songs that were featured in the Jailhouse Rock movie (there wasn't an official soundtrack album out for this movie), released one Christmas album ("Elvis' Christmas Album" - October 15, 1957) and the King Creole soundtrack album too (September 19, 1958), all of this before "One Night (With You)" could be finally released in October 1958, moment he was already officially "Private Presley", serving the US Army while stationed in Germany. But... what happened? Why this song wasn't featured in the Loving You movie and its soundtrack album released in 1957? Why the lyrics changed?

LET'S DIG INTO IT:

SOUNDTRACK RECORDINGS FOR PARAMOUNT’S LOVING YOU - JANUARY 15–18, 21–22 (PARAMOUNT SCORING STAGE) AND FEBRUARY 14, 1957 (RADIO RECORDERS, HOLLYWOOD) (...) When Hal Wallis asked for a few more songs for the movie, Elvis and the boys spent some time rehearsing cover versions of Fats Domino’s current hit "Blueberry Hill" and Smiley Lewis’s "One Night (Of Sin)," written by Domino’s musical partner Dave Bartholomew and credited in part to Bartholomew’s wife.

LISTEN TO SMILEY LEWIS’S "ONE NIGHT (OF SIN)":

So, Elvis first covered this song, and it was recorded in studio, as originally written but the official song he performed had a new lyrics. Let's understand why he recorded the song again before putting it out there for us to listen to.

STUDIO SESSIONS FOR RCA JANUARY 19, 1957: RADIO RECORDERS, HOLLYWOOD (...) Both the Colonel and RCA had serious reservations about the words of the song, but Elvis liked it so much that they appealed to Hill & Range to negotiate with the song’s copyright holder, Lew Chudd of Imperial Records, for permission to rewrite the lyrics.

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STUDIO SESSIONS FOR RCA FEBRUARY 23–24, 1957: RADIO RECORDERS, HOLLYWOOD (...) Meanwhile the new, bowdlerized lyrics for the Dave Bartholomew song had been produced as requested; "One night of sin is what I’m now paying for" became "One night with you is what I'm now praying for," and the deal they'd prayed and paid for freed them to pencil the song in for the Loving You album. In the end, the rewrite was a fortunate stroke. The discerning listener might have missed the more direct lyrics of the original, but Elvis's performance on the new version made up for it: Freed from worry about the song itself, he was all intensity and command. "One Night" was so good, in fact, that it was eventually dropped from the soundtrack and picked as a single with "I Beg Of You" for some indeterminate future date.

So, yes, the song needed the change in the lyrics because of its content. It was too sexual, too explicit for Elvis' audience, mainly composed by teenagers. Elvis apparently wasn't bother by this. He liked the song anyway, even with the new lyrics. He liked the idea of releasing this song but although "One Night", as recorded by Elvis in 1957, was considered a fine material for a new single, Elvis was such a perfectionist he used to redo many of his recordings before he considered they were proper to be released. He was the man picking his own singles, so they always needed his approval before they were out. He wanted work some more in "One Night" because he was not satisfied with the result, but other songs came in the way.

One work after the other, there wasn't time to redo this track recording before Elvis became a soldier in 1958. When "One Night" was finally released it was against Elvis' will. It was not about the new lyrics tho, he just thought the song could sound much better than it was. Even so, the RCA and Colonel Parker, his manager, had to make choices without his consent once his main focus was in being a soldier, between 1958-1960. Elvis used to work "by demand", that means if there was a movie to be filmed, soundtrack recording sessions were made specifically for it, if there was a new Elvis album planned to be released, then recording sessions were scheduled specifically for the new album. They didn't use to work on recording sessions to "save" tracks to be future released. Very few songs used to surplus from each recording session and that only happened when some of the tracks originally planned to be featured in one specific release weren't considered good enough, concerning the quality of the material, or due to contractual deals that weren't still set by the time that specific LP (or EP) needed to be released. When Elvis was officially inducted in the US Army, in March 1960, there wasn't enough material for 2 years of future releases and this caused a lack in songs for the RCA and Colonel Parker to work with considering they needed a certain amount of new tracks to fill an album. For 1958 and 1959, there was a certain lack in new recording material to be out but they needed to keep Elvis' name in the spotlights since there was still a huge demand for him and they couldn't miss the chance to make money just because the US Army would keep their golden boy busy to work in his records for the next couple of years, besides Colonel had promised Elvis (and of course it was his interest as well) that when he came back from the Army he would still have a career to linger on. They chose to release "One Night "as a single, the way it was recorded in 1957, even if Elvis himself didn't agree with this. It was needed.

THE RELEASE (1958):

As you can notice, plans change. The same way "One Night" wasn't featured in the originally planned "Loving You" album in 1957, when the song was released as a single the opposite track wasn't "I Beg of You" as planned previously, instead they picked "I Got Stung" as the A-side.

1958–59: GOETHESTRASSE A new single had to be chosen, and both Sholes and the Colonel were still pulling for "One Night" over Elvis’s objections; the publishing company had made a deal for part of the royalties, but the deal depended upon the song’s release as a single and couldn’t be extended past October 31, 1958. The Colonel felt it would be foolish not to take advantage of the deal, and at last he persuaded Elvis to agree. With "I Got Stung" from the June session as the B-side, the new single caused an immediate sensation. DJs clearly preferred the A-side, but both cuts shot up the charts right away, eventually reaching number four and number eight, respectively. Split airplay may well have been what stopped "One Night" from going to number one on the charts, but the single sold several hundred thousand copies more than the last two releases, even matching "Don’t"/"I Beg Of You."

Excerpts: "Elvis Presley: A Life in Music" by Ernst Jorgensen. Foreword by Peter Guralnick (1998)

Singles "One Night" (B-SIDE) and "I Got Stung" (A-SIDE) -- Released October 21, 1958 -- Recorded on February 23, 1957.

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AFTERWARDS:

As far as I know (and I say this because I am still studying Elvis' career and many things can come to my knowledge in the future), ever since released, Elvis performed the song as it was officially out, leaving "One Night (Of Sin)" to be heard only as a posthumous released track, after 1983 as it came out featuring the album "Elvis: A Legendary Performer (Vol 4)".

"One Night Of Sin" and "One Night" were featured together in the 2006 Follow That Dream (FTD) label re-issue of the "Loving You" soundtrack album. On the previous year (2005) FTD re-issue of the same album, there was only "One Night Of Sin" in the album, as it was supposed to be if the lyrics hadn't changed and the song had came out in the album it was meant to be in.

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LET'S DISCUSS IT:

First of all, I totally understand Colonel Parker's fears over the lyrics. "One Night (Of Sin)" would have been a risky song for Elvis in the 50s to perform/release and, the way I see it, the change in the lyrics came as a way of not giving munition to conservative people to "cancel" Elvis, to cause an even bigger fuss on his already pretty "stained" image as a "troublemaker", a "rock and roller rebel", an "imoral young man who's such a bad influence on the America's youth". Let's face it, have a conservative parent heard their kids listening to "One night of sin is what I'm paying for" there would have been "Loving You" LPs being burned in trashes all over the US, a lot more of badmouthing Elvis' name scenes with older folks using this song as an example of Presley's kind of "antics" and "imoral behavior", and maybe even the Loving You movie could have been forbidden if the song was performed in it, suffering boycott fired up by church leaders and all.

I wonder if that song was in fact in the movie tho. The Loving You movie is very, very "family friendly", all cute and sweet. I can't even imagine Deke Rivers singing "One Night Of Sin" onstage, since we know Elvis performed songs using not only his voice but his whole body. I mean, of course he performed "One Night (With You)" with the usual sex appeal inherent of him but the original lyrics would add much more sensuality into the performance, no doubt. I wish I could've watch him performing this son,g with its original lyrics, in the 50s... it would be something else, I tell ya. But it would also be quite scandalous for his image back then. Even so, I can't quite understand how that song was never performed by him the way he recorded at first, "One Night of Sin", during the '68 Comeback Special - or any other Elvis performance. He had no more reasons to try to play the "cool and nice southern religious boy" anymore by then, so why Elvis didn't sing this song the way it was originally recorded? I guess, concerning the '68 TV Special, this time it was a matter of being in television - you know... the sponsorship for the show would probably not agree with such "explicit" lyrics considering it was supposed to be a Christmas TV special, again, family oriented. Maybe he never performed the song with its original lyrics because nobody heard him sing it before since it was only released for the public after Elvis died. Such a shame.

As far as I know, Elvis never performed One Night Of Sin live but it would have been VERY, EXTREMELY suitable for late 60s/70s Elvis. I personally would give almost anything to watch him singing this song in the 70s, really but I guess it is what it is. The timing wasn't what good when this track came to him — or it actually was because, if you think about it, now we have two versions of that song sang by Elvis. What could be better than one Elvis song than two (and hundreds more)?

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You can listen to "One Night (Of Sin)" by Elvis Presley on:

"Elvis: A Legendary Performer" Vol 4. (1983)

"The King of Rock’n’Roll – The Complete 50’s Masters" (1992)

"Loving You" (2005) – FTD (re-issue)

"Loving You" (2006) – FTD (re-issue)

"Elvis: From the Vaults 50's" (2016)

[fayrinferno]

The (printed) collection

From time to time I get a question like, "do you have this or that book?" So, a few weeks back, I finally took them all out of their hiding place and grabbed some photos. Wish I had used my camera instead of phone, I had to stand on a chair to get it all and yeah, the picture is not the sharpest.

Anyway, I have some other stuff, figures and such, although I admittedly DO focus more on books as an artist/writer/translator. These books are the ones I translate from so I wasn't going for mint conditions, although a few of them are. You can see some of them still packed in the store bags. I included the CDs cause... well, they were next to the books and they do have some printed material as well.

The Shiren Suiki book gets a separate photo cause after taking the photos at home I realized I had left it at work when I scanned it... practically crying as I did cause it was barely opened when I bought it and it's a beautiful book. My Anvils are also very fragile.

I may do a complete list one day but for now, here are the quick descriptions.

ARTBOOKS & FANBOOKS I have pretty much all of the major official books I think, missing maybe 1-2 pieces. The one that may look less familiar is Hiroshi Osaka's personal artbook. I also have four of the relevant Nobuteru Yuuki artbooks. The bottom right one with the orange title is the issue of Newtype Magazine with a feature about Esca.

SMALLER BOOKS (let's pretend that's a category) Here I got all the novels (they are out of their sleeves cause I was working on them), all the filmbooks, Secrets of Escaflowne, Escaflowne Bible, and the Energist Memories manga/doujin collection.

DOUJINSHI I was mostly going for stuff I haven't seen online so I only got a handful. Besides the Shiren Suiki book, there are three Minato Tajima doujins (one of them is racy heh but I'm not hiding that I have it). One of the other doujins may look unfamiliar; it's a compilation book that includes other series (the character on the cover is from DN Angel). People who talk to me on Discord probably recognize the Nanoka doujinshi cover.

CDs AND THE LIKE I don't have all the soundtracks for some reason, probably cause I thought the missing ones wouldn't be hard to get. The PSX game is the special edition with the tarot cards. The LDs that I literally bought just for the covers and inlays. I also have all the audio dramas, some CDs with extras... and a phone card that was for some reason packed in a CD case lol (kidding, it's precious that they would give it that kind of protection). Oh, and there are two movie posters which I guess don't fall under either category.

I have some other stuff that is kinda related to Esca "by association" such as by artist or things that "looked similar" but I didn't include them. Also the figures. I may update this post with those but this is the brunt of it. I will be posting some goodies from these soon!

Same goes for the ongoing translations that I've been doing updates on in this post. Life is too short to delay them for months and years because of perfectionism, or rather, being self conscious about one's imperfect language skills. I am thankful to everyone who has helped me so far, proofreading my translations (coverteyes, pikafwance, sevenstars, and radical-rad1986)... I'm not tagging you guys but know that I'm VERY grateful, also to the other people who are helping me with other projects). I always had fun working together with you but it's no longer sustainable and I likely bit off more than I can chew. So I will get myself out of the way. There are two books that are almost complete as of today so I will just probably go chapter by chapter. I hope to be done with this asap but also December is a busy month for me so I'm not sure how smoothly it will go. Let's hope it does.

[drag0nashes]

So I just watched the trailer for dreamworks new movie: The Wild Robot, and I have to say I am actually so obsessed with it already for a number of reasons!...

- I love the concept; a robot trying to survive the wild and learning such a soul touching lesson of life

- Its a new idea, which honestly we've been lacking in animated movies lately if im being completely honest. Its interesting and immediately caught my attention

- it was created by dreamworks, to me this is a direct thumbs up because I don't think dreamworks disappoints that often

- the trailer was beautifully animated in that newer style that i adore (seen in movies like Nimona and into the spiderverse); with amazing nature scenes that were relaxing to the eye

-the music sounds so familiar to the well known How to Train Your Dragon soundtrack (which holds a very special place in my heart btw) and this is because it was also created by the same people!

-the cast looks great with icons like Lupita Nyong'o, Pedro Pascal, and even Catherine O'Hara. But I'm most excited for Kit Connor, who also acts as nick Nelson in heartstopper! (I believe he will be the voice of the robot too, but its unclear atm)

- Its based on a book series. In my experience, when books are made into movies (especially by dreamworks) it turns out beautifully. Plus, bow I have a new series that I actually want to read!

Generally it just looks like such a wonderful movie. I'm super excited for it and I'm going to try to read the books before it comes out. Just everything about it seems great and I hope it does well! Please go watch the trailer its super amazing!!

[turtlevariabilis]

Honest Opinion. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

[Español]

Warning 1. This review will contain some spoilers from the movie, so I recommend avoiding reading it if you haven't seen it yet.

Warning 2. Here I only present my opinion, which does not mean it is entirely correct or entirely wrong. Of course, I would also love to read yours, especially if you differ on something. Always remember that diversity of opinions is a wealth.

Well, it's finally time to express my opinion about the movie Mutant Mayhem (2023), the newest version of our beloved ninja turtles. Get ready because it will be somewhat extensive, and although I will of course mention positive aspects, I really want to focus on the drawbacks it has, especially on the significant and serious problem it faces.

First of all, I want to clarify that I love the ninja turtles and I accept and admire them in all their versions. I firmly believe that each one has something special to contribute to the beautiful franchise they are part of. Mutant Mayhem is no exception.

First, I want to mention several very positive aspects of this new version. Its style. Its art. Its animation. The design of all the characters, mutants and humans. The setting. The soundtrack. I love how it highlights the ugliness, the dirt, the filth, and the darkness. I remember that when I watched tmnt 2012, I loved that they showed the garbage, the graffiti, and the dirty streets. In rottmnt, this almost doesn't happen and I miss it. But in Mutant Mayhem, it's picked up again, and I really love it.

The story is quite simple, but it's very good, well-crafted, entertaining, fun, and highly enjoyable for anyone. Here I want to emphasize that, despite the negative aspects that I will highlight later on, I loved the movie and I have already watched it a total of four times, and I'm capable of watching it many more times.

So let's start talking a little about the characters.

Donnie has always been my favorite turtle, so seeing him change in this version bothered me a bit. Just a bit. How did he change? He's still the turtle who stands out for his intelligence and has a great interest in technology, but in a more realistic way, without being the one who knows everything and fixes everything. That's great. What bothered me was that they made him a big fan of various things, like anime and the Korean band BTS, which isn't bad, but this personality trait usually belongs to Leo. Leo, from the start, can be seen either reading the science fiction book Dune, or being the only fan of the series Space Heroes, or even being the biggest fan of the Jupiter Jim movies, depending on the version. He has always represented those who are fans of something specific. But in Mutant Mayhem, it's now something about Donnie. It took me a while to get used to it, but in the end, it's just a small change, nothing serious.

About Mikey and Raph, I won't say much because we already know them, and they didn't have a very significant change, and they also don't contribute much individually in the movie (like Donnie). Generally, we can't see the turtles develop individually, and on rare occasions, we can only distinguish them as Leo and his brothers. That is to say, as a group, they have excellent development, but individually, there was a lot missing, we can only see slight character development in Leo. For me, this is not entirely bad, because in reality, a movie limits a lot, and I believe they couldn't have done it differently. I imagine this will change with the new series that is coming, and we will be able to enjoy them more as individuals than as a group soon.

I love the dynamic between the four brothers. It's great to see them so youthful and their interests and conversations reflect that. However, sometimes conversations, jokes, and references overlap, and even after watching it four times, I still can't catch absolutely everything. They know a lot about current popular culture, and that's great for introducing a new generation of ninja turtles fans, as has always been done with new versions.

Now, I have a personal conflict with Leo. To address this, I ask that we take a moment to consider the version of rottmnt. Initially, this version was quite poorly received by ninja turtles fans (including myself), mainly because it made very radical changes, such as the character designs, where the turtles are of different species and ages, and, what caused more conflict: the change in Leo's personality compared to previous versions, as he is not even the leader. This is not an opinion about rottmnt, so I won't dwell on it too much, but I really believe it was a good decision to have Leo not be the leader at first and then later on, because it's perfect for developing his character, his identity, and his place and relevance in the team. What about the Leo in Mutant Mayhem? He returns to being the typical leader of the group, the one who seems like the older brother. Within this movie, he has his own development, as he is portrayed as the good and obedient son, the one who wants to do things right and meet his father's expectations. I love that because I identify with this, but if we think about it, this is a regression for his characterization and for the franchise in general, because his character will once again fall short and remain quite static. It's like I have the feeling that, in this movie, which supposedly was made for the new generations and certainly succeeds in many aspects, it actually seems to be made for ninja turtles fans who only stuck with the older versions. Which isn't entirely bad. Again, this is just my feeling and it was one of my big disappointments on a personal level.

Now let's briefly talk about April. Honestly, I didn't understand why she faced so much discrimination from the audience in general, as if it were the first time she was depicted as black and asocial. And yes, now they also designed her as overweight. So what? The truth is, she's perfect and fits really well into her role in the movie. And those who say she's not the same April anymore... well, let me tell you, only April O'Neil would think to go alone after the people who stole her motorcycle, without worrying if they're dangerous people. April is still exactly the same April from previous versions, just with an added layer of insecurity regarding how she feels about herself. And that's great for her own character development.

As for romantic relationships... personally, I prefer when they are nonexistent, but it makes sense that one of the turtles, who are teenagers and therefore have raging hormones, would fall in love with a girl, in this case, Leo with April. It won't contribute much to the plot, and it's obvious from a mile away that it will end up just as toxic as the "relationship" between Donnie and April in tmnt 2012. But this is not a problem because it adds a lot to the comedy, which is an essential trait in any version of ninja turtles.

Let's talk about the villains. Cynthia remains as a background villain, but she sets off a chain reaction that will surely explode in relevance in the likely sequel. Actually, the true villain of Mutant Mayhem is Superfly, who is awesome and I love him, very charismatic as well. The fact that he has his gang of mutants, most of whom we know from previous versions, is perfect. It's true that none of these, except for Superfly, gain individual relevance, but they act as a group (like the turtles). I didn't mind that the movie handled so many characters as a group rather than individually; I think the opposite would have been too much. And I also know that some may have been bothered by Superfly's origin, but let's be honest, every version of ninja turtles is different, and that's great. In this case, it fits well with the plot, it works well. And, furthermore, it follows a parallel trajectory to that of Splinter, who is like his counterpart.

Well, let's talk about Splinter now, and this is where the real problems begin because his character is quite flawed no matter how you analyze it. But first, I must admit that I like his role as a father: he is overprotective, it's clear he loves his sons, he wants the best for them, and wants them to feel their best. We also see his frustration at not finding a partner (another romantic relationship that I didn't like, but which fits well to complete one of his personal subplots). The problem with Splinter is his origin. I really hated that he's originally just an ordinary rat from New York. It seems ridiculous to me because Splinter is supposed to represent the connection the turtles have with humans. And I know it's not the first time in his origin story that he's a rat because it also happens in the tmnt 2003 version... and I hate it (although at least in this tmnt 2003 version, it makes a little more sense because of his connection with Hamato Yoshi and Oroku Saki, but I still see it as a problem). And in Mutant Mayhem, he decides to learn Ninjutsu out of nowhere through movies and that's how he teaches his sons. It's just absurd. To me, it's a regression for the franchise. And yet, I'm able to overlook this issue because, if you pay close attention, in this new version, the only ones who can turn into mutants are animals that are not human (if you hadn't noticed this, I advise you to pay close attention to Superfly's plan).

And here is where the real serious problem that I wanted to bring to the discussion table begins: that the ooze only affects animals that are not humans despite the fact that... humans are animals! There is nothing biologically that distinguishes us from the rest of the animal kingdom, so there is no logical reason why humans cannot become mutants. I understand that this is why they decided that Splinter is originally a rat because otherwise he wouldn't have been able to become a mutant rat. But I just can't accept, ignore, or forgive that they start from the premise that humans are not animals and that's why they don't react to the substance the same way other animals do! And the worst part is that I doubt they can fix this in the plot, which I think is a very serious mistake. Some of you may believe that humans are different from other animals, either for anthropocentric or religious reasons; that's fine. But purely biologically, which is how the ooze affects, we are not different from other animals. Therefore, it makes no sense that humans cannot become mutants. And I don't understand why no one is talking about this, since it's the only major flaw the movie has. This makes the new version built on a very weak argument, and I believe it could lead to its self-destruction over time. Which is very sad.

We could try to fix this by considering that humans are not entirely human and that this is the reason why the ooze doesn't affect them, for example, they could be half extraterrestrial like April was in tmnt 2012 (and that's why the mutagen didn't affect her). Because, I don't know about you, but I have no doubt that Cynthia and her henchmen, who control the strange company TCRI, have something to do with the Krang. Still, this solution that absolutely all humans are not one hundred percent human seems impractical to me and even unrealistic.

In short, I love these new turtles; I love their youth, their dynamics, their relationships; I love the animation and the setting; I love the comedy; I love all the references both within the franchise and from the popular and current external world; I love the moral reflection the characters had to face and the final message; I even love the plot and most of the subplots that I consider well-developed, and I also love that they leave us with some big loose ends that enhance the likely great sequel, which seems to be very promising. I loved this movie, and yet, personally, I feel like it's already ruined and there's not much that can be done to fix it. A real shame, because it had plenty of potential. It could have even become the best version so far... but it didn't.

To conclude, I want to add something else about the ending, a separate topic.

We're used to the turtles being ninjas, meaning they work in the shadows of the night, hidden, as invisible heroes of New York. All this even though we, as viewers, only wish for them to have a normal life, to enjoy their youth pleasantly, and to be accepted by society just as they are. In Mutant Mayhem, this goal is achieved... is this good?

To answer this question, I want to go back a bit to previous versions. Even in tmnt 2012, they do everything possible to be invisible to normal people. But in rottmnt, the situation changes slightly. Although disguised (obviously), they are not afraid to go out during the day, and it seems like they care less about being seen. And the people of New York rarely seem to be scared of them. This may seem silly, but to me, it seems like another success of rottmnt, since the goal of delivering a new version to the audience is to reach new generations, and these new generations are increasingly open-minded in many ways. So, it makes sense to me that the turtles go out more and hide less, and that they are more easily accepted. The fact that in Mutant Mayhem they have been completely accepted, to the point that in the end they even attend school, not only makes it the cutest version of the ninja turtles but also, I'm sure, reaching that ending was necessary to adapt to these younger generations. This is a huge change in the franchise, and I am very curious to discover how the story will unfold now and what new challenges the turtles will have to face as a result of this.

I think I've gone on too long with this opinion, and I could actually go on even more, analyzing every detail under a powerful microscope... but the truth is, despite it all, I loved this movie. It excited me a lot. It made me feel a lot. It will always be a pleasure to reunite with these characters in different circumstances and versions.

So we'll leave it here. Thank you for reading, I hope you found my perspective interesting, and hopefully, I can hear yours as well. Have a great day!

P.S. If I feel like it and see that this opinion has been interesting and entertaining to you, and also sparks a pleasant discussion, perhaps I'll be encouraged to write my opinion about other versions.

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Click here if you want to see content about Mutant Mayhem

[finniestoncrane]

ooooooooh tagged by precious wonderful @doctorvondooms

three ships (these work for me as friendships too!!):

canon x oc obviously, and i don't care who

batjokes fuck you

quiddler

first ship: oh god like actively? i am going to have to embarrass mysef and say johnlock

last song: uranium rock by warren smith (i am deep in it boys, i'm playing red dead with the fallout soundtrack on)

last movie: i cannot believe this. but my husband put the bill murray garfield movie on yesterday. so that.

currently reading: my pile of books i started and then stopped is ridiculous. probably most recently picked up would be peter vronsky's "sons of cain" and "gef! the strange tale of an extra-special talking mongoose"

currently watching: fellas, it happened again. i am on what now must be my 400th watch-through of peep show. and i still haven't finished hannibal

no pressure tags: @selkymaiden @cornetespoir @thesquishypenguin @valentineenjoyer @it-is-i-zim @glorified-monster @paprikaspice @honkytonka @just-a-girl-living-in-gotham @riddle-me-ri

[loser-xx]

im very friendly sometimes, go ahead and reach out!

PLAYLIST REQUESTS OPEN! (6-12 songs, any fandom, any mood, any genre!)

Im 22

I like critically analyzing movies and tv shows

Im autistic

Im engaged and in a polyamourous relationship

Im panromantic/graysexual and genderfluid

i have 2 cats

Favorite Topics/Special Interests: Cats (which can range from the animal to the musical to the entire Warriors book series.) Lord of the Rings (long time love), Overwatch, and Undertale/Deltarun (and now fish maybe?) Please engage with me on these topics if you want!

Some minor interests: Terrifier 2, Far Cry, Hollow Knight, Lost, Once Upon a Time, Borderlands, Bioshock, Vampyre (game), Zombies (the monster in general), Don't Starve, True Blood, the Owl House, Gravity Falls, She-Ra, Kipo, Dishonored the list may be infinite I'm a media driven boy, please ask about your favorite media and I will probably have seen it and analyzed it lol

I have many kins so i dont really have a comprehensive kin list atm, but currently my main ids are Moira from Overwatch, Galadriel from Lord of the Rings, Joseph Seed from Far Cry 5/New Dawn, Cardinal Copia (ghost band), Shawn Spencer from Psych, Desmond from Lost, Harold Finch from Person of Interest, and Ghostface (specifically from Dead by Daylight, although my canon pre-entity's realm is a lot different.)

Self-ships: Kingpin from Daredevil, Ben Linus from Lost, Zaheer (and the rest of the Red Lotus gang) from The Legend of Korra, Grima Wormtounge from Lord of the Rings, Adar from Rings of Power, Alric from Wolfbloods, Ganondorf from Legend of Zelda, and Detective Lassiter from Psych.

I have a passion for music and making playlists that work like soundtracks, my spotify can be found here https://spotify.link/YBXue5SznCb

Im a hybrid vampire and certified cannibal

Icon by @taylaedraws

[allys-diary]

stories i om-nom-nom'd :: april 2024 (week 1)

Considering that this is my first week of full on unemployment since 2016, this is also probably the first time I've purely had time just to myself. So you bet ur souls I nom'd a whole lot of media this week.

As usual, expect spoilers, you've been warned. Everything below the cut:

movies

Mulan (1998)

This was a rewatch and I honestly just had it on because I wanted something in the background while I was cleaning, but also I was having such a blast singing and dancing along to the soundtrack. And also I just wanna take this moment to say that Yao, Ling, and Chien Po were the realest ones in this movie because they were so unfazed by the reveal that their new friend Ping was actually a woman and all they cared about was trying to stop Shang because they thought he was gonna execute her. And then when she popped up at the palace going "Hey guys! I have an idea" they just dropped everything and didn't even hesitate to put on a dress and makeup.

Like I need friends like that, their loyalty is unmatched 👏👏👏

Also the Emperor becoming Mulan's wingman at the end was something I forgot and I cackled so loud watching that scene over 😂

Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)

I'll be so real and tell y'all that I put off watching this movie for the longest time because I've seen so much hype around it, and when I see smth like that I have one of two possible responses. I either immediately jump on it the second it releases…or I procrastinate. But watching this was honestly so much fun and even though I didn't watch the first movie, I could still feel Winnie's devastation when she watched her sisters fall victim into a yassified Thanos snap. Although honestly I do feel like this was just natural consequence doing its thing, like Book really tried to warn her so many times, so really this is just "Fuck around and find out (Winnifred's Version)".

I will say though, that something I felt was lacking was the building of the characters of the new witches. It feels like the movie was made with the hopes that people would go in this with so much nostalgia for the first movie and that would be enough to carry the entire project without having to do much on actually telling us who these new witches are, and why we should root for them. The dynamic between the three girls felt very much like it was telling rather than showing that Becca would be the leader but she's going to put in the work to make them all have equal footing, while in contrast, the Sanderson sisters had a dynamic that drew you in and showed you from even the first scene that Sarah and Mary were treated by Winnie as subordinates rather than sisters.

There was just enough hints at the end that there's a movement for a third Hocus Pocus movie to be greenlit because there's still one more black flame candle, and that was more than enough for me to blurt out the words "Gilbert, you lil bitch".

On a lighter note tho…the flying roombas and the performance number were a few of the highlights of the movie that kinda make me wanna watch it again…Ohh and Hannah Waddingham as Witch Mother 100% had me going "this better not awaken anything in me"

nvm…too late

tv shows

Law and Order: Special Victims Unit

I can't watch the shows in order because my streaming services really said "fuck your binging rights", so I have 0 context on overarching series arcs, but I watch what I can.

Season 21, Episode 1: They created a whole ass MeToo episode and it was so well-written I actually had to take a second to remind myself that this was acting and to hold off on hating Ian McShane because he portrayed his whole "sleazy media mogul with a whole ass casting couch" persona eerily well. One of the things I'm steadily coming to appreciate with the series is that they're not shying away from touching on current issues, and I personally cannot wait for the incoming seasons and they start taking jabs at Sickelodeon--I mean Nickelodeon.

Also Hadid deserves jail time she needs to be taken down ALL the pegs. If Hadid has 0 haters, I am dead.

Season 21, Episode 2: Speaking of not shying away from sensitive issues, this was a doozy and a half because it was really subliminally heavy on the victim blaming. Reagan's "friends" for one are some insane pieces of work just damn near scoffing when they were told "your friend might have been assaulted" and going "yeah probably not she has a whole bunch of crazy antics". And that utterly disheartening moment when the team realizes that if this actually does go to trial, that she might not win because the defense could spin a story about "her wanting it" because of her history and her sexcapades with a bunch of other guys.

In the name of fully supporting women's wrongs, I fully support Reagan going full "I Spit on Your Grave" on these bastards 😤 That and I'd fully be on board with a movie where Ariel Winter goes the vigilante & revenge route.

Sidenote: This is why I hate that I can't stream all the seasons because I have no idea what happened to Olivia in the previous season that was called back to in the final scene with Reagan where she said she knows that Reagan will survive because she survived.

Season 10, Episode 22: Okay so I knew from the jump when Stuckey was introduced that either he wouldn't be around for long because he was gonna screw something up which would result in him getting fired (or at the very least transferred to another department far away from interacting with people), or he'd get an improvement arc where he suddenly became an invaluable asset to the team. What I didn't think was gonna happen was that he was going to go on a murder spree in an attempt to manipulate events so he could overcorrect on a mistake that he made from being way too lax and honestly kind of arrogant.

I just know that Benson went like this the second they had him in custody:

games

Undercover: Blood Bonds

Chapter 3: We get introduced to Vera's former coworker (and possibly ex) Gabe, revealing that before she became a journalist, she was a detective, and he's not too happy about her career shift. In the chapter outro, we get a flashback of Lilly looking like she's going through it and has been keeping a diary to write her feelings down. This flashback might be of the night that Lilly disappeared, maybe the last time Vera saw her sister alive.

Chapter 4: Jericho's a mysterious new figure that makes his entrance by walking into Club (no really, the club's name is "Club") without being carded by Hank, the bouncer. Also he has red eyes. Vera managed to swipe Lilly's journal from the crime scene and she finds out that the last time her sister wrote in there was the night that Vera left the city to go back home.

Chapter 5: Vera's in a competition with Crystal over who gets to keep the job at Club because only one of them can stay after the week's over, and knowing she doesn't have a shot, Crystal sabotages Vera by "accidentally" dropping her lipstick on the floor so that Vera slips and falls and breaks a tray full of glasses. Hank mentions that the previous barmaid Daisy would've been useful to know what happened to Lilly, and the very end shows a flashback that Jericho met Lilly the last time she went to Club and bought her a drink.

Chapter 6: Jericho buys a drink for the new DJ, Bluejay, but doesn't score with her because she has a gig and she's determined to stick to schedule (which is finish her shift at 4am). Hank tells Vera that Daisy was head over heels for Jericho when she used to work at Club, and a flashback reveals Daisy trying to discourage him from chatting up Lilly because she's "just a kid". He's unfazed by that (red flag alert red flag alert woop woop das da sound of da police)

Chapter 7: Vera turns down Jericho's sleazy attempts to buy her a drink and invite her back to his place after shift, and he denies ever having seen Lilly when he's shown a picture of her, claiming that "she's not his type". Then he immediately rebounds in a record 0.5 seconds with the next girl that shows up (and serving her orders becomes our side quest for this level). Outro showcases Hank's green flag status offering his coworkers to drive them home since it's so late, and ends with him driving Vera to the police station so she can check on the status of the investigation.

Chapter 8: We play as Crystal in this level and let me tell you now, I hate it here. She goads on Vera for being "sluggish" and having a bad day and sucks up big time to the boss Mr Smirnov with "grand plans" to improve clientele, which of course gets him going and has him leaning towards granting her the permanent staff position. Then Gabe calls Vera with disappointing news and tells her he'll just give her the apartment keys after work.

Chapter 9: Gabe goes to Club to hand over Vera's apartment keys, which gives us our side quest for this level where we serve Gabe his orders for the night. When he releases the apartment back to Vera, he reveals that Lilly's ex-boyfriend Sam is the prime suspect. He also lets slip that their chief's trying to prioritize the case of a missing barmaid (most likely Daisy). We also get a flashback of what is probably the night Lilly disappeared, where she comes home to find Sam waiting in the dark, angry over her coming in late.

Delicious: True Love

Stage 3, Day 8: Philippe, a horny mustachio'd guy that made the moves on Emily back in Stage 2 and ends up having to share a passenger cart with her on the train, asks Emily about why she's so attached to Jean-Paul's letter. She tells him that she and JP had a summer thing when they were 16, and she wrote him a letter and thought he'd never replied. Turns out he did and the letter arrived a little late…like 16 years late. She says it's fate, but Philippe drops hints that maybe what fate was really trying to do was to make her cross paths with him along the way. He's really down bad for her and it's getting a bit painful to witness, tbh.

Stage 3, Day 9: Philippe writes a review for Fresco's Diner Express (the train restaurant…ohh also, Philippe's a renowned food critic), which he tears into pieces when Emily tells him "you're sweet but my heart's with someone else" and calls her a silly naive American girl whose head's filled with frilly "plastic" Hollywood love stories. Typical "I'm a nice guy" behavior, part of him still thinking that Emily "owes" him after he voluntarily bought her a ticket so she won't be kicked out the train. He tries to make amends when she goes back and gives him his torn up review that she taped back together, and says he's happy to stay friends.

Now see here I wanna believe that he means that, but I've seen "nice guy" behavior. They're never happy staying friends. They're like not-so-silent red flags 😤😤

Stage 3, Day 10: It's Emily's final day on the train and Fresco's a bit emotional because she's helped him so much (he's precious we must protect him at all costs). Philippe shows up at the end to wish Emily goodbye and good luck, finding her suitcase at the station that's now filled with a whole bunch of notes from her mother (she's another thing I don't even wanna touch on right now), and gives her the details of a restaurant where he believes she'll find Jean-Paul.

I'm now looking at the chapter titles for Stage 4, which takes place at a restaurant called "Chez Jean-Paul", and ngl y'all I'm scared. There's one here that says "A Bitter Blow" and something tells me Emily's not actually ending up with JP at the end of this story. Lemme just…preemptively sharped a pitchfork real quick…

Stage 4, Day 1: Emily's arrived at Jean-Paul's restaurant but he's not around, and she offers her assistance to the sole employee manning the place. Said sole employee then takes off to go to an appointment. 🤦🏻‍♀️ The day ends, still no JP, so she goes off to explore Paris and becomes so enamored with the place seeing all these couples so madly in love. Even the birds have their own love stories going on.

Imma tell y'all right now I have so many fears--

Stage 4, Day 2: Emily sees some flowers that remind her of Patrick (the boy next door who delivers flowers to her restaurant back home in Snuggford) and she has a moment where she's just happily remembering him before she up and decides to get some flowers for Jean-Paul. The day ends with her running into JP and him needing to jog his memory (it's been 16 years, so I can kinda understand), which really only kicks into gear when Emily starts reciting lines from his letter. They share a hug and they seem happy but…that chapter title from earlier is still giving me fears--

Stage 4, Day 3: Emily and Jean-Paul are catching up with each other, and that's really what the whole day revolves around. There was a side quest in this level where you'd have to tap on JP when he shows up because he's having a food fight with Emily while serving customers. He says a bit about her being worth waiting for, and they share a kiss. And here's where I have some critique for the story writers and game developers…

If y'all didn't want us to anticipate the twists, the chapter titles should have been hidden until the player reaches said level. Now I know that Emily's bound for heartbreak at JP's hands which makes it easy not to root for this relationship. Y'all should've pulled out the rug from under our feet without the early warning device. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Stage 4, Day 4: Ohh no. Ohh fuckque no I hate it here. Emily's over the moon and tells her new florist friend Amelie that she's reunited with her first love, and Amelie's equally excited because she thinks her boyfriend's about to propose after she's been dropping hints for the last six months. The chapter ends with Jean-Paul in a hurry and promising to see Emily later, but in his rushing he didn't see that a goddamn ring box fell out his pocket.

To quote Dr Swift herself, "I think I've seen this film before and I didn't like the ending" 😖😖

Stage 4, Day 5: Jean-Paul's clearly in a bit of distress because he can't find something, which opens up our side quest for this level, putting the ring back in his coat pocket. There's also an inscription on the ring about "love being a flower" which makes me even more convinced that this ring isn't for Emily, but rather someone else whose name sounds like "Emily". JP then asks Emily to go away with him and see the countryside, to which she says "Yes" because now she's convinced he's gonna propose to her there.

Stage 4, Day 6: Emily and Amelie make promises to each other to attend each other's weddings, both clearly excited about where their relationships are headed (meanwhile I'm here fully convinced that they're seeing the same man). At the end of the day, Emily asks Jean-Paul if they're going to see each other later that night but he says that he has "a prior engagement", but that he intends to whisk her away to the countryside the next night. So lemme just get this straight��he's gonna propose and get engaged to his long-time girlfriend (most likely Amelie), and he's turning Emily into an unwitting other woman by starting something with her without ever even once thinking that "Ohh oopsies I probably should've told her I have a whole ass relationship and I'm already in the proposal stage".

If OG story Jean-Paul has 0 haters, I am dead 😤

Stage 4, Day 7: The day starts off with Jean-Paul starting to wave his red flag loud and proud by showing annoyance at the sound of a child crying because he got a splinter, which has Emily side-eyeing him while she tended to the kid to get the splinter out. There's no side quest in this level, and the day ends with JP postponing their getaway because a friend of his is in town and "he hasn't seen him in so long and he wants to catch up".

Yeah no…I'm sharpening a pitchfork…

Stage 4, Day 8: Aaaaaand here it is. Big confirmations that this story's Jean-Paul is a piece of work that deserves to have da pipi chopped off. The day starts with Emily not having heard from him, the guy not even bothering to check on his restaurant that he claims he gave his entire life to just to earn his star rating, mind you. And it ends with Emily going to spend some time with Amelie, who reveals that she's engaged. They're planning a double date, when they see JP with another woman and kissing her ("haven't seen him in a long time" my ass). The two women reveal to each other in their shock that they've been seeing the same man, and Amelie's immediately on whack-a-cheater mode, while Emily breaks down in tears.

Stage 4, Day 9: We love Amelie in this household, she's a complete girl's girl, not even spending a single second even remotely annoyed at Emily and immediately goes in to hug her when they see each other again. She just hates that she wasted her time and moved to Paris for trash bag Jean-Paul. She walks off before the level starts, vowing to have her revenge. Then Philippe arrives excited to see Emily again and telling her he's had Chez Jean-Paul on his schedule to review, which kicks off this level's side quest of bringing him his orders. Amelie shows up at the end of the level, dousing the final dish that Emily serves Philippe with a heaping dose of hot sauce (high key hoping it's some Carolina Reaper levels of burn).

Philippe writes a review that will take away the restaurant's star rating, and JP goes rabid telling the two women that they ruined his life and "all because he couldn't help that he loved women", to which Emily pushes him into the fountain and Amelie delivers this absolute banger of a line:

Stage 4, Day 10: There isn't much to this day other than Emily saying goodbye to her new friends, and Amelie reminding her that one day they'll attend each other's weddings. We also have Nadia finally getting the quote right. "Love is the flower that grows in front of you." That sends Emily into another round of tears, and giving us as the viewer the glaring red neon sign that's been there since Stage 1, Day 1.

BAY-BEE. IT'S PATRICK. WAKE UP AND SMELL THE FRESHLY DELIVERED EVERY MORNING TO YOUR RESTAURANT FLOWERS 👏👏

Delicious World

Season 2, Episode 3, Part 7: This bit focuses more on Frank and Monet's side story, where Monet's cooking his boyfriend a simple risotto and Frank's trying to be reassuring that people would still love his recipes even if he pivots and tries to make simpler dishes, because what would matter is the taste. They have a discussion about what the people would think if he changed up his cooking style, and it led to how his reputation would be "ruined" if he comes out and reveals Frank to be his boyfriend, and sweet little pretend-Health Inspector boi says he's fine with staying private.

Sweet babey noooooo…you deserve better than to be hidden away in a corner 😤

Season 2, Episode 3, Part 8: Speaking of keeping relationships hidden…Jean-Paul's doing the exact opposite, constantly risking it all just to kiss his bb on the cheek out in public where anyone can see. And he shoots down the rumor about him and Shuvani. This is where it's giving me so much whiplash to play both this and True Love at the same time because while the original story's JP is a walking talking red flag, this one's steadily looking more and more like a green flag that I'm almost sad for him that he won't end up with Emily in the end. 😩

Gallery Coloring

If you're familiar with those games where you have to decorate your house/garden/cafe after completing enough levels or earning enough stars from completing levels, that's essentially the whole concept of Gallery. Except the levels are color by number that have varying difficulties.

The story I'm at right now is Leo and Mia (our main characters) are trying to get their friends Paul and Vivian, who've been crushing on each other, to make up and try their hand at a first date again, since the first one didn't go through because of Paul's outstanding levels of misfortune. Vivian's pissed and doesn't even want to look at Paul, let alone hear him out, and instead talks out what she wants to tell him by telling Leo what she appreciates about his and Mia's relationship in a way that's not so subtly criticizing and reading Paul for filth.

Meanwhile these four are all working together trying to get the cafe they've been renovating into a presentable enough state before an art critic named DeWitt comes in to meet with Mia and discuss her works.

There's also a Festival Season event that I'm trying to work through, which is just a mini story of Leo teaching his wife the ways of partying in a music festival.

Hello Kitty Island Adventure

A new update released this week, and gave us a few new morsels of lore. We go on a quest that spans 4 days to bring together Hapidanbui for a performance in hopes of reminding the Island Spirit that old long-running friendships are something to be cherished and hopefully heal her heart a little bit more and get her to open up a bit more to the idea of seeing her old friends again.

There was also a shorter quest that involved us bringing back weather into the island and getting it to rain with the restoration of the Aquafaller, so now it can rain throughout the biomes of the island, revealing blue flowers to water that will reward you with raindrops that can be traded for new furnitures and clothing items.

youtube & tiktok channels that got my watch minutes

India Rose Crawford

If y'all haven't seen the knitted frog stop motion animation videos yet, let me put you on because the way she has gotten to make these motions so smooth, it's like she's breathed life into this cute lil knitted frog?? Like, da fuckque??

SWOOP

SWOOP is one of those creators where when I see that she's posted something new, I wanna drop everything and watch through the entire video no matter how long it is. The new video she dropped this week was an hour and a half long, and she talks about Amanda Bynes and the devastating downfall of her career. If my heart wasn't breaking enough for her, it's just shattered now, and I just hope that whatever she's doing, that she's genuinely happy and giving herself the room and the patience to heal at her own pace.

Also, if Dan "The Foot Man" Schneider has zero haters, I am dead. Jail. Electric chair. 😤😤

Alexa Nikolas

While I can't find it in me to recommend a Trisha Paytas video, that's shockingly what's gonna happen right now, because Alexa made an appearance on Trisha's podcast "Just Trish" this week, talking about her experience in the set of Zoey 101, the abusive chapter of her life where she was a victim of child SA by her ex-husband and the cover up made by parties in the music industry that ultimately led her to starting Eat Predators. And while I do have my opinions on Trisha, I do have to give credit where credit is due and give them my respect for giving Alexa the time and space to share her story and let the emotions flow and not butting in with any potentially disruptive questions and adjusting accordingly when the mood shifts.

Also every single part of me itches so bad whenever I get reminded that she and most likely the rest of the cast don't actually get any residuals from Nickelodeon. Like excuse you?? After all those reruns that are still going to this day, and none of the child talents that helped y'all make those shows happen see a single cent of it?? What the whole grain full fat buttery fuckery is this??

ASMeRi Eats

On a lighter note, lemme share with y'all a mukbang video that had me going full on out of character and craving shrimp

Quinton Reviews

Quinton's become quite notorious for releasing videos that do deep dives of series that span anywhere from 2 to 21 hours. No, really…his Sam & Cat videos are a total of 21 hours spread across 3 videos.

Well this week a new video dropped on the Beverly Hillbillies, this time hosted by his father because Quinton's off hard at work on another project. And this video from his dad has a runtime of 38.5 hours. My eye's twitching just thinking about it, but for some reason I've started to watch it and I'm nowhere near even the 25% mark, but I'll ease my way through in multiple sessions.

stories to om-nom-nom next

Hello Kitty Island Adventure: Imagination Celebration Event

Not quite sure how much story they're gonna put into this event, but I hope that there's a good bit in it because there's castles and cute lil medieval fairy tale vibe type costumes involved, and also they're calling Kuromi "Spooky Queen Kuromi" so there's gotta be something there, right?

The Bricklayer

Honestly I just wanna watch this because Nina Dobrev's in it. I barely even remember what was in the trailer.

That's all for this week. Considering that I'm on vacation mode, chances are next week's post is gonna be even longer than this. I apologize in advance 🫡

[randomalistic]

🎬 MY 2023 MOVIE LIST

THIS YEAR I WATCHED:

44 DIFFERENT MOVIES

30 NEW MOVIES 17 REWATCHES

28 ANIMATED MOVIES 16 LIVE ACTION MOVIES

I’ve also linked a few posts with my initial reactions/discussions

MUST-WATCH LIST: at least imo. teehee.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Labyrinth (1986)

ParaNorman (2012)

The Last Unicorn (1982)

Nimona (2023)

Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)

Wreck-it Ralph (2012)

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

Megamind (2010)

Coraline (2009)

Kung-Fu Panda (2008)

The Book of Life (2014)

Corpse Bride (2005)

Isle of Dogs (2018)

Tangled (2010)

I hope I keep this up !!! Maybe I can watch more TV shows or play more games next year :)

+ SOMETHING COOL TO TRY: Watch 2 similar movies back to back more often. You’ll be able to make interesting connections between them and it's fun!

-- Extended list below --

———————

ABSOLUTE FAVORITE

Watch it!!

Good but had some problems

———————

1-12-23: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) ACTUALLY PEAK FILM. AMAZING VISUALS, EPIC FIGHT SEQUENCES AND VERY HEARTFELT . I love piss in boots. MUST WATCH.

3-9-23: The Steven Universe Movie (2018) (rewatch) Spinel is in this. The songs are amazing. Fun to revisit !!!

3-24-23: Labyrinth (1986) DAVID BOWIE AND INTRICATE PUPPET CREATURES 80s FANTASY MOVIE I AM IN LOVE. Must watch

4-8-23: ParaNorman (2012) hit me harder than I was expecting, really subverts your expectations. AMAZING. MUST WATCH.

4-28-23: The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) I watched this on my birthday :) It made the child in me so happy

5-8-23: Tinker Bell (2008) (old rewatch) Pixie hollow is a legitimately communist society. Fun to revisit !!

6-18-23: The Little Mermaid (2023) ew live action remake lol. But it’s one of the better ones. ok honestly i'm mad that i sorta liked it upon initial viewing. maybe its just cuz i havent seen the original (WHAT ARE YOU DOING!????? oh mygod please watch the original one OK FINE I WILL........)

7-17-23: The Last Unicorn (1982) really a product of its time. So beautiful and unique in its own way. Must watch

7-28-23 Run Lola Run (1998) Indie german crime/thriller film that was fun and experimental, I loved the late 90s trance soundtrack and had a good time, it went by quick!

8-3-23 Barbie (2023) ITS BARBIE !

8-19-23 (Most of) Aladdin (1992) (old rewatch) gGenie………. The animation is GODLY. the early CG is a bit rough but hey it was 1992

8-25-23 Nimona (2023) MOST QUEEREST COOLIEST MOVIE I SEEN HITS VERY HARD AND ITS SUPER GOOD OHHHH…. PLEASE MUST WATCH!!!

9-8-23 Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022) finally got around to this one, what a special experience. MUST WATCH

9-15-23 The Road to El Dorado (2000) White savior movie but otherwise fun characters. Tulio and Miguel are the gayest straight guys I’ve ever seen

9-15-23 The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) GENUINELY HILARIOUS AND SO GOOFY. It was fun seeing this right after el dorado.

9-21-23 Wreck-it Ralph (2012) (old rewatch) brooooo this moviie sucs I hate it so much i. please watch

9-22-23 How to Train Your Dragon (2010) very powerful music and showcases a very touching relationship between humans and nature/the unknown, must see !!!!!

9-29-23 Little Miss Sunshine (2006) dysfunctional family road trip with chaotic/dark humor. ITS FUNNY I LIKED IT

10-1-23 Elemental (2023) REALLY didn’t deserve the hate, it’s a sweet romance/immigration story. A little cheesy but it’s charming. The visuals are a feat to behold

10-4-23 Napoleon Dynamite (2004) some outdated language/humor but otherwise a Very specific brand of silly/charming

10-5-23 Marcel The Shell (2021) unexpectedly touching and unique movie presentation style - I may have cried

10-7-23 Megamind (2010) (old rewatch) ICONIC and hilarious supervillain film and aged very well. MUST WATCH!!??

10-21-23 Coraline (2009) (rewatch) this movie has such a distinct, creepy identity and it’s enthralling each time. MUST WATCH

10-27-23 Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) has tonal problems and it wasn’t confident enough to go all out all the way through, which is so unfortunate… But AMAZING otherwise. The architecture ??! And Frollo. Evil priest characters you are so cool

10-27-23 Kung-Fu Panda (2008) (old rewatch) Legitimately amazing animated martial arts movie and embraces self love. we all know this. It’s even better on rewatch. MUST WATCH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

10-27-23 Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) (old rewatch) SURPRISINGLY POWERFUL AND A REALLY GOOD SEQUEL. Hi shen blushes

11-4-23 The Book of Life (2014) this film is such an UNDERRATED TREAT. Absolutely gorgeous celebration of Mexican culture. Incredible world and characters and the style is so distinct. Must WATCH !!!???

11-5-23 Five Nights At Freddy’s (2023) :) I’ve been waiting for this ever since I was 13 and I had so much fun watching it. This was a highlight of my year!

11-12-23 Corpse Bride (2005) Really really good Tim Burton Halloween movie with so much stylization. So much fun to watch!!!! And so ethereal at times. MUST WATCH

11-12-23 Frankenweenie (2012) Very cute but disappointing ending, too safe. It could have been more impactful if they pushed it further. Watched this after corpse bride and the parallels were FUNNY.

11-18-23 The Wizard Of Oz (1939) (old rewatch). The real life abusive filming process makes this movie Hard to Enjoy with peace of mind- but the finished product is truly groundbreaking and whimsical

11-20-23 The Bourne Identity (2002) AWESOME THRILLER ACTION MOVIE EHEHE

11-21-23 Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) unpopular opinion - the movie suffers when you don’t see it in its original intended form (in a movie theater . In 1977.) I SWEAR. I STILL ENJOYED IT THOUGH. ….

11-22-23 Austin Powers: The Spy who Shagged Me (1998) SO SILLY but mean spirited/offensive humor at times. ITS AUSTIN POWERS…

11-23-23 Monsters University (2013) (rewatch) MOST UNDERRATED DISNEY SEQUEL/PREQUEL. FUN AND IMPACTFUL COLLEGE FRIENDSHIP MOVIE

11-25-23 Wreck-it Ralph (2012) (rewatch AGAIN.) haha

12-1–23 Isle of Dogs (2018) Incredibly unique/distinct presentation style. My friend who’s a Japanese major loves this movie. MUST WATCH

12-1-23 Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) another silly goofy little dysfunctional family unit, a bit yikes at some parts but overall pretty lighthearted. It was cool seeing this immediately after isle of dogs cuz you could see the inspiration in the visuals between the two

12-8-23 The Mitchell’s vs. The Machines (2021) silly robot apocalypse family road trip movie with AMAZING visuals (everyone in the family is autistic)

12-17-23 Prancer (1989) Unexpectedly heartwarming movie about a little girl helping an injured reindeer. VERY SWEET and great message about the impact of kindness and the wonders of being a child. MADE ME CRY.

12-18-23 Wreck-it Ralph (2012) (3rd REWATCH) get a hold of yourself oh my god ‼️

12-19-23 The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) (rewatch) classic muppet Christmas movie :)

12-22-23 The Muppets (2011) (old rewatch) SURPRISINGLY CATCHY SONGS and a silly muppet movie. Fun to revisit. Tex Richman my beloved

12-23-23 Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1964) Mediocre writing and mean spirited at times <3 BUT ITS A CLASSIC. so ofc i liked it

12-24-23 Tangled (2010) (old rewatch) I forgot how good this movie was. ACTUALLY PEAK and so fun to revisit. Such a fresh take on a fairytale story, great songs, amazing romance, and also empowering about overcoming an abusive parent … MUST WATCH!!!

12-26-23 Klaus (2019) (rewatch) it’s so great to see a new 2D animated movie come out, and such a great story too. Cute origin story of Christmas and POSTAL WORKER APPRECIATION!!!!!

12-31-23 Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) (rewatch) started off the year with this movie and then ended with it! What a treat!! I even wrote a short essay about it 1 semester ago :)

———————

In conclusion, I love movies !!! But my favorite movies are those that are confident in their identities and don’t hold back. Like share your message to the fullest !!!!

I watched a lot of stop-motion movies this year. I wanna watch more studio ghibli movies next year

And maybe I should purposefully try watching bad movies… it might make me appreciate good ones more and easier see what they do right. But also. I really dont wanna watch ralph breaks the internet.

[ifthesewings--couldfly]

I wasn’t interested in, and I hadn’t planned on seeing ‘Wish’; but I did, and it was surprisingly good! *POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD*

Ironically enough, the best parts of it were when it didn’t try that hard to be a Disney Princess/Tribute movie. I hardly liked the Easter Eggs in it (especially that creepy “Peter Pan” guy at the end, what the heck was that?) except for the book at the beginning and Asha’s Fairy Godmother outfit, which was really cute. Star was not as annoying as I had expected it to be, and neither were ‘The Teenagers’; on the contrary, it was nice to have a Disney Princess with a friend group for a change. Magnifico was definitely my favorite character, down to his descent into madness, even though I was sorta hoping for a redemption for him and a resolution of his relationship with Amaya; but Chris Pine has great charisma and really nailed the role; my praise goes to him for that.

The soundtrack was a BANGER. I thought ‘This is The Thanks I Get?’ was good, but ‘Knowing What I Know Now’ manages to be even better. The part where Queen Amaya steps in had me SCREAMING, and the whole choreography was brilliant. Ironically enough, ‘This Wish’ was the song I liked the less (after ‘Welcome To Rosas’), there was a Pop flavor to it that I found out of contest in a classic fairytale movie, but Ariana DeBose was overall amazing, and definitely a fantastic Asha. Also, curiously enough, I even liked ‘I’m A Star’, even though I usually don’t like the most childish numbers of Disney movies. A special mention goes to ‘At All Costs,’ my second favorite song after KWIKN.

Overall, I think this movie is very misleadingly marketed, and this is why many people feel like it has no identity of its own. Disney’s choice to focus on legacy has overshadowed the creativity behind it; still, this movie does deserve a chance - again, I say this as someone who didn’t even want to watch it.

I can’t think of anything else I want to say about this movie (maybe because it’s almost past midnight where I live) so I think I’ll save any further impression for another post. Meanwhile, tell me what you thought about Wish!

[camilaxmartin]

cuz I’m curious and these are questions I like asking to get to know people better :3 so here ya go ^^

1. What got you into doing some of your favorite hobbies? Did you just think you were good and start doing it? Or was it something you were told you should try?

2. What are some of your favorite things?(food, colors, characters, smells, etc.)

3. what’s your favorite video game? Or are they not your thing? do you recommend people playing it?

4. Have you ever listened to a vocaloid song?(Project Sekai/Hatsune Miku colorful stage)

5. Thoughts on Renee Rapp and Bebe Wood? Or just the new Mean Girls in general(this is VITAL)

6. Do you like musicals at all? If so, which is one of your favorites? And please share the soundtrack

7. Who was your first childhood crush?

8. If you’re queer, who was your gay awakening?(ik you are but like😭)

UH YEAH- HOPE YOU ENJOYED MY QUESTIONS :D

omg omg omg omg

1. if we’re talking about writing then i guess when i was little i wanted to write down all of the dialogue of some of mlp episodes but my mom said no😭😭 and i did throw a whole tantrum then and she was like “child get over yourself” and i was all putty and decided screw you people, i’ll do it myself >:[ (spoiler ahead: i didn’t) and then after some years i guess i watched some series and me and my friend made up a world there and i wanted to write down some scenes with me so i literally wrote my own fanfiction then?? (i literally don’t remember what was happening to writing in my life between the ages like 8-13💀)(i mean i remember i was writing a silly story once and planning a book but like??? when exactly??)

and as for writing i literally came out of the womb with a marker in my hand so i was doing it for as long as i remember and i always loved mlp so it started there and well… here we are

2. oh my, my favourites? my favourite colors are defo: red, bottle green and purple but like… a deep one, and a hot pink lately. my fav food is just pasta. i don’t care how or with what, PASTA!! my favourite flower is an orichid:) my favourite characters oh my: fizzarolli (defo), violet from ahs, monica from friends, twilight from mlp, narcissa from harry potter, lady lesso from sfgae, catwoman/poison ivy/harley from dc (still can’t decide on one) and batman, peggy from marvel, aubrey from pitch perfect, celia from tshoev, and darcy from written in the starts:) (there’s a lot more but these are the few from the top of my head)

3. I LOVE VIDEO GAMES THEY WERE MY SPECIAL INTEREST AS A CHILD!! right now my favourite must be the batman i’m currently playing (i have no idea what is that game called) and probably minecraft and little big planet

4. i have not! or i don’t think i have at least, must check it out:)

5. RENEE RAPP>>>> i must still watch the new means girls so bear with me, but i want to watch it in cinema and it just came out in my country so i need to get my friends to go with me

6. I FUCKING LOVE MUSICALS I LIVE FOR THEM!!! my two favourites are mamma mia and pitch perfect (and a special place for sweeney todd) JUST UGH ABBA AND A MOVIE??? CMON!!! AND PITCH PERFECT HAS THIS OERFECT PERFOMANCES LIKE UGHHHH

7. rose from titanic. i said what i said. it was the first movie with people i’ve ever watched and the first lady my brain went “i want to be like her she’s so pretty:)” (you didn’t want to be like her camila, you wanted to be WITH her)

8. oh god good question. i think the person i accepted myself with my sexuality was cheryl from riverdale (when i thought i was bi and then omni and all of those different things) and then robin from stranger things, they both have a special place in my heart. but like just a gay awakening i must also it was also rose? it’s just the kate winslet effect

I LOVED THEM!!!>:]

[incinerated]

annihilation. the one with natalie portman. the us government sends a team of female soldier-scientists into a strange mist that’s started to form around a foreign body that landed on earth. really cool soundtrack. special effects tht we will now replace with AI. fucking fantastic but not necessarily scary. i loved the book it’s based on but to me they’re separate works— imo the movie wasn’t a good reflection of the book but it’s still a good movie. okay done!!

WEVE SEEN ANNIHILATION AND CERTAINLY AGREE REGARDING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THR BOOK AND THE FILM, THOUGH IMO THE FILM MADE ME SOUR IN THE MOUTH DUE TO THE MILITARIZATION OF THE RESEARCH TEAM. STILL EXCELLENT BUT IT IS RARE TO CAPTURE THAT NIGHTMARISM AND NATURAL HORROR VANDERMEERS SO GOOD AT WRITING! THANK YOU!