#that movie was suffocating and the dialogue was barely understandable

[alienheartattack]

I want to be excited for the Barbie movie but Greta Gerwig’s version of Little Women was literally unwatchable

[social---moth]

a love letter to my favorite game

My favorite game is unlike any game I’ve played, comparing it to anything else i’ve played feels unfair, it’s barely a game but it could occupy my top 10 games by itself

It isn’t the most fun, engaging, adrenaline rush ever, ultrakill or titanfall have it comfortably beat in that category

It doesn’t have the most well constructed narrative, signalis has more intrigue and disco elysium is a better character study

but all of those are constructed, you always feel the hand of the author

There are games with better character creators, but they don’t let you actually *play* your characters

in baldurs gate you can change basically anything about your appearance, but at the end of the day the preset dialogue the developers came up with is your only real option for roleplaying

which is understandable, letting a character say *anything* would be basically impossible, there’s no way for an AI to account for every possibility. Though it still feels like half measure, like i’m playing a customized variant of a default character

The trick is to pack 100+ people into a game and let the situation unfold

A simulated space station with simulated air, you need a proper mix of Nitrogen and Oxygen or else you’ll suffocate (or waste oxygen)

your characters body is the most in depth health bar i’ve seen in a game

you have blood, everyone has an appropriate blood type, and getting the wrong type is toxic. If you get shot the bullet can cause internal bleeding, which you need surgery to fix.

The same bullet can hit your bone, breaking it, a broken hand won’t let you hold something, a broken leg will slow you down, a broken skull will be very bad for any important organs that happen to be in it

if you get hurt enough, your body goes into shock

it gets harder to breathe, you gasp for air and collapse onto the ground, struggling to get back up before dying, if you don’t get medical attention you will inevitably die

The Station itself is similar to a body, needing a working engine to pump electricity through the hull, making sure the lights stay on and the doors keep working

Breaches in the hull leak air out, needing an engineer to fix it before the room succumbs to vacuum, if the station computer gets a virus it can pump flammable gas into the same hallways, leading to the most lethal analogue for a fever since plague inc

And every person, the doctor that keeps you from bleeding out, the engineer that keeps the station powered, the security guard that makes sure the law is obeyed

every single one is a real, living human, a person who logs in to the server to play

the stories that this makes is unmatchable, you do something and everyone asks in the unpredictable but sane way that humans do

what happens when a crewmember takes a contract from a rival corporation, or said rival corporation decides that nuking your station would be a good idea

how do people react to a creature straight out of The Thing replacing a crewmate

what happens when a vampire starts abducting people and enthralling them?

what if a Space Wizard attacks?

No round is the same, and I haven’t even talked about half the jobs

There is something to love for anyone

there’s combat with more true to life pacing than dedicated shooters

there’s roleplay with more reactive characters than any constructed narrative

there’s always a way to optimize a system a bit more, always a reason to come back

It is my favorite game, it’s barely a game, it’s a playable movie

I spent my whole life learning lessons from media i watch, because they’re all meant to have a purpose, something to say

but i get really annoyed when someone does something stupid, i wonder what i would have done in their situation, i wouldn’t monologue before killing my victim, i wouldn’t go into the dark hallway with a xenomorph hiding in it

i know i’d find some other way to fuck up, and Space Station 13 gives me the chance to

I see this game in everything, it’s addicting enough that i barely realize i’ve been playing it for 8 hours straight, i have my current *real job* because of this game

and it’s free, short of donating to the people hosting the server, or the people working on the engine itself, you cannot spend money on this game

this game is older than i am, based in an engine that predates Y2K, and nothing released since has captured its magic

Play Space Station 13, you might not like it, it took me 2 tries over 3 years for it to click, but once it did I had hundreds of hours in my first few months of playing

as for where to start? Paradise Station is pretty cool. GoonStation (yes that’s its real name) is way more advanced than any other codebase, at the cost of lag. /TG/ is pretty ubiquitous, at least some code fragments from there are in every server.

Personally, i recommend Para, but each station i mentioned has an appeal to someone

If anyone who reads this gets a bit curious and does any amount of research into the game, I’ll be happy

thank you for your time, and I’ll see you in outer spess

[achairwithapandaonit]

And a last one: dialogue 8 (“Oh no.” “What?” “Nothing, nothing nothing nothing, just uh, don’t look in the mirror for a minute hang on-”) with Aoyama & Izuku

The house is old and creaky, like something right out of a horror movie. The roof leaks and wind rattles through broken windows and- well...Izuku would have never thought he'd get to see Aoyama Yuuga (bright and sparkling and shiny. Someone who drinks from flute glasses, always has perfectly trimmed nails, and never has a single hair out of place) in a place like this.

"Oh no."

Izuku frowns, turning his flashlight on Aoyama. "What?"

His classmate is pale, staring at something behind Izuku. Izuku tries to turn, but-

"Nothing," Aoyama says, grabbing at his shoulders. "Nothing nothing nothing. Just, uh- don't look in the mirror for a minute. Hang on."

Aoyama moves around Izuku and grabs a battered dusty throw blanket off the side of a ratty sofa. "Don't look," he reminds Izuku, before disappearing behind him.

The sound of floorboards creaking under his feet comes, and then a whumpth as he supposedly lays the blanket over the mirror.

"I mean, even if you say that..." Izuku says quietly. It just makes him want to look.

Aoyama's still somewhere behind him. Izuku hears something clatter and then smashing. "Merde," Aoyama mutters, sounding lost, and then, once again, "Don't look."

Izuku sighs. He doesn't get Aoyama at all.

"Why did you even want to come here?" Izuku asks. "It's not really..."

Aoyama is silent behind him.

"You- you just don't seem like you hang out at haunted houses often," Izuku says. "But as soon as I mentioned this place, you wouldn't let it go. I don't think we've even talked before."

"..."

"Aoyama-kun?"

"...Midoriya-kun, have you ever noticed how strange this world is?"

Izuku blinks.

"Um, well," Not really. "In what way?"

Aoyama's footsteps sound again. The floor creaks. He passes from behind Izuku and comes to stand in front of him. Izuku can't help but think he looks weirdly dull in the lighting of the house. Still, no matter where Aoyama is he still shines brighter than anyone else.

"Everyone's dull, don't you think?" Aoyama says. There's a scared sheen to his eyes.

"Hey, are you okay?" Izuku asks, because now Aoyama's starting to shake and he's so pale, and Izuku doesn't think that's normal.

"They're dull," Aoyama says again, pushing a hand through his hair. "Sometimes it feels like you're all alone, like you're the only real person around."

Izuku- takes a step back. "How do you- I mean-"

"And when they talk, it's like they're not even speaking. But you don't mind. You forget about it from one second to the next."

It's not like that with Aoyama, though.

"I don't understand what you're talking about," Izuku says. "It's- it's not that weird, is it? It's just how the world is."

"Midoriya-kun, you know the world doesn't work like this one does," Aoyama says helplessly, a nervous chuckle making it's way past his throat. "I'm sorry- Je suis désolé. This place - it's not real."

"Aoyama-"

"It's all my fault," Aoyama sobs. "All the things I did-"

"Aoyama-ku-"

"He wanted to keep you distracted, and I didn't want my family to die, and-"

Suddenly, Izuku can't take it anymore. He whirls around and looks right at the mirror and throw blanket pulled over the top of it. There's a framed picture face down on the floor, smashed glass beneath it.

Izuku starts forward. One foot in front of the other. The floorboards creak.

He grabs a hold of the throw blanket and pulls. It falls to the floor.

"I'm so sorry," Aoyama gasps out, like he can barely breathe. "You must hate me."

The mirror is empty of any glass.

Somehow, Izuku knows exactly what this means. It dawns on him, wraps around his throat and suffocates him.

There's no way out.

[jana-multifandoms]

I was reading Divergent yesterday, and i know there's still a lot of debate to this day about how Tris killed Will; and why she couldn't have just injured him instead. So i looked into it and i think i now understand what made Tris kill him, especially seeing she was glad after all about only shooting Eric in his foot instead of killing him, depsite the fact she hates him meanwhile Will was her friend.

First of i wanna share a theory from my mom when she watched Divergent with me. I know this is only a theory but it makes the most sense to me anyways, because in canon there's barely any evidence. Even though the scene in the movie where Tris encounters Will isn't the same as in the book, my mom did make a strong point, she said: "Perhaps Tris was in such shock after everything that has happened so far she didn't think twice and just shot him". Now i Understand this sounds pretty stupid, especially based on the movie because not that much has happened yet and she seemed pretty clear in her head at that point. But in the book she was already a mess; her mother already died in front of her, which she held herself responsible for and was also her worst fear. She almost suffocated to death by drowning! She had a million questions about her mother and her divergence which all came out at once after months! She saw her mother as a whole new person just killing mindless soldiers, and she clearly stated that she never imagined her mother as anything than an Abnegation born and that it was weird seeing her with such a determined look in her eyes shooting at people, so this behaviour from her mom must have been a big shock to Tris. And to top it off they also took Four away from her (which she mentioned twice) and to her it felt worse than if they had just killed him. Maybe she was indeed not thinking? She stated she shot at Will's head because that's where she aimed but it was never stated she meant to, she did the same to the 2 other soldiers she already killed. Maybe it never struck to her that injuring him would wake him up, and even if she did that brings us to the next option:

When Tris saw Four come at her troat in chapter 34 page 434, Jeanine clearly stated "He doesn't know you, the simulation manipulates him by altering what he sees-making him confuse enemy with friend." After that Tris says: "He's gone, Controlled by the simulation, he will now murder the people he called innocent not three minutes ago". Four almost wanted to kill her, and even if the simulation he was in wasn't the same as it was for the rest of the soldiers (including Will), it was an alternative version to work on Divergents. So Tris knew damn well what someone under a simulation that's less strong as the one Four was under could do when you're not Divergent; she saw a bunch of innocent Abnegation people (including her mother) get murdered in cold blood by people who were completely mind controlled and had no idea what they were doing. She knew that Will couldn't be taken out of the sim, even if she shot him somwhere else, which brings us to n.3:

In chapter 37 pages 470-471 there was a dialogue by Tris which stated: "My father fires over his shoulder at the guards pursuing him, but he is not fast enough. - He fires again. And again. The guards are under the simulation; they keep moving even when the bullets hit them, keep moving until their hearts stop-", this clearly shows that injuring mind controlled soldiers (thus including Will) wouldn't have gotten them out of the simulation until their hearts stopped by the too many bullets/injuries (by blood loss). Even though Tris was not aware of this before she shot Will, I'm sure she knew this deep down inside, that there was no stopping them unless they were killed, and that injuring them wouldn't work which is why she had to kill him.

These are my theories, and they probably make no sense, but these are for me the only logical explanations as to why Tris killed Will instead of injuring him (which could have maybe saved his life). Let me know your thoughts! X

[yourfanvivitran]

It should come as no surprise that John Carpenter and Dan O’Bannon were students in the same film class, that they created Dark Star together, and that they both had a great affinity for 1951’s The Thing From Another World. If you put Ridley Scott’s Alien, which O’Bannon wrote, next to Carpenter’s The Thing, the parallels cannot be contended. A group of people, bound together almost exclusively by their careers, are isolated and trapped in their own environment with a murderous monster. One by one, they are picked off by this alien beast and are forced to pull out all the stops just to survive. The tension in both movies is suffocating. The suspense stays well after the credits roll.

So, why did Alien excel and why did The Thing fail?

Alien was heralded as a science fiction-horror masterpiece, raking in over $200 million at the box office. The Thing, although now recognized as one of Carpenter’s best films to rival even the likes of Halloween, barely exceeded its $15 million budget by $4 million. What’s more is that critics panned The Thing almost unanimously after its 1982 release. And to what point?

When you compare the 2 movies, it objectively doesn’t make much sense. When you sit down and watch The Thing, without even thinking of its much more popular predecessor, it still doesn’t quite add up. There is not much I can say about The Thing that hasn’t already been said before. It’s well-known, now - the writing, the acting, the practical effects, the cinematography? Masterfully done. No arguments. So what went wrong?

The most popularly accepted explanation was that it just wasn’t the right year for it. In 1982, The Thing had to contend with the Summer of Spielberg, being critiqued alongside horror giant Poltergeist and science fiction treasure E.T. How could a stark and grim story of distrust and gore stand alongside such beloved classics?

But in tandem with these films and also calling back to the success of Alien, Carpenter cites reception from various focus groups: they hated the ending.

It should be assumed at this point that if you have not yet seen The Thing, you are sorely missing out. All the same, however, be wary of spoilers.

The end of The Thing is bitter, to put it lightly. Childs (Keith David) trudges through Antarctic snow, lit by the burning wreckage of Outpost 31, towards R.J. MacReady (Kurt Russel) who sits alone, already half buried. They observe their inevitable deaths, and drink to the supposed demise of their shapeshifting predator.

A lot is left out to die in the snow.

According to Carpenter, this ending was seen by test audiences as too dismal. And rightfully so, when you take into consideration the other popular releases of 1982. Carol Anne is ultimately saved, along with the rest of her family, at the end of Poltergeist. Elliot embraces E.T. before he finally returns home. And going further back, even Ripley is able to escape the xenomorph by the skin of her teeth and secure herself the title as one of the greatest “Final Girls” ever put to the silver screen.

And what of MacReady and Childs?

Well, that’s up to your imagination, Carpenter told a test audience member who asked who the final host was at the end of the movie.

“Oh, god. I hate that,” they responded.

As a writer, this loose ends style of concluding a story is almost expected from a lot of modern works. It’s written this way in order to haunt the reader, to linger and adhere itself to the real world in the most sardonic of ways. Think Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” or Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” This almost anticlimactic close of the curtain arrived in the literary world long before it found its place in film, but it’s a big point of contention in mainstream criticism.

Dark or incomplete conclusions have been met with the most scathing of responses. Beware the black cutaway of Sopranos fame. Or the near-universal outcry against the third Mass Effect game that grew so much, the developers created a morsel of DLC content that maybe kind of confirmed a more optimistic fate for our dear Shepard.

But even for the horror genre, The Thing seemed unprecedented. The only fate darker to fall upon a mainstream protagonist was Ben’s untimely death in Night of the Living Dead. The tragedy of both movies is palpable - all this trouble to survive against inhuman killers, all this trouble to outlive something gruesome and maybe even make the world a better place, and what was left to show for it?

In short, Carpenter’s science fiction terror was too much of a bummer.

I personally did not take much of a liking to horror until much later in life. My parents didn’t filter the media I consumed as much as they probably should have, and I was scarred early on by movies as cheesy and entertaining as The Lost Boys and Blade. It wasn’t until late adolescence and into college that I set out to catch up.

My roommate at the time of this resolution had been a fan of horror her whole life, her favorites being Halloween, Candyman, and The Thing. Having already known a good deal about the former two, I decided to strap in for The Thing for the first time ever.

These days, I always have several soap boxes on retainer, just waiting for the next unwitting recipient of my usually-beer-induced rants. Brian Jones was killed, Jaws single handedly endangered sharks, banning books is a stupid practice, representation in media is important, etc. Predictably, one of these soap boxes is the general lack of appreciation of The Thing, both at the time of its release and today (it does not even make the top 100 on Rotten Tomatoes’s highest rated horror movies).

And yet, at the same time, if The Thing had achieved the credit it deserved upon release, I may not like it as much as I do today.

I make a point to not read too much about movies I am feverishly anticipating, and revel in the feeling of going into a well-known movie knowing as little as possible. Most of the time, it makes for the best viewing experience, but I’m sure I don’t even have to point this out.

This was my experience seeing The Thing for the first time. I was on winter break, staying at my parents’ house for the holidays. Everyone else had gone to bed, and I stayed up late in the living room, curled up under layers of blankets, content in perfect darkness save for the television.

I had no idea what to expect, as I had not been spoiled by any TV show making any blatant references and had not done any prior reading into the film itself. And I was absolutely delighted from beginning to end.

What stays with me the most is the special effects. It’s true what they say - that practical effects hold up better than CGI alone. And the production team didn’t cut any corners in this department. Stan Winston and his team, who were later responsible for the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, helped construct one of the best animatronics in the movie. Rob Bottin, who brought this constantly-morphing creature to life from conception to every last slimy detail, went on to be hailed as a genius in his special effects career. And there is definitely something to be said for the work of cinematographer Dean Cundey whose masterful control of lighting and framing is best seen in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

The extent of my knowledge of the titular creature was that it was an alien. That it was an alien who could consume multiple life forms and take on their shapes was both exciting and terrifying. There’s creative genius in this premise that thrills the science fiction lover in me, and also fascinates the bookworm in me. I had been a fan of Agatha Christie novels as a teenager, and to see a new and outrageous take on the And Then There Were None structure was incredibly novel to me.

The appeal wasn’t just that there was something out there, lying in wait to torturously pick off it’s victims one-by-one. It was that it could have been anyone.

At its core, horror as we know it has deep roots in whodunnit style murder mystery. With the rise of the giallo and the sensation of the slasher, horror movies of this nature are far from uncommon and can be seen as late as 1996 with the Scream franchise. Carpenter himself spurned a new kind of fear with his breakout success with Halloween by refusing to give a bodily face to its main antagonist. Here, with The Thing, he takes the eponymous killer character to the next level by giving it the genetically inherent function of deceiving its prey. Not knowing the true face of your murderer has proven to be inherently bone-chilling.

Even now, hundreds of horror movies under my belt later and still constantly learning, I keep coming back to The Thing. I really cannot think of another movie in my wide array of favorites that I love more than The Thing, and I truly believe it has everything to do with me not knowing anything about it upon my first viewing. Every other movie I can name on my (similar to the subject) constantly changing top 10 list of most beloved horror flicks was, at some point, spoiled for me in some capacity.

Think of how often the twins in The Shining are referenced in cartoons, of all the head spinning jokes made in reference to The Exorcist. Anthony Hopkins’s portrayal of Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambs has become so infamous, that I knew his dialogue (and Buffalo Bill’s) long before I ever saw the movie in full.

I don’t blame these references for ruining these movies. As a super fan, I understand that compulsion to pay tribute. It’s no one’s fault and to their credit that these films take lives of their own. But the repercussions don’t age well in terms of initial viewing experiences.

All that being said, I truly cherish how much I was not exposed to this movie. The unpredictability of the creature and the quiet, looming despair that comes with it create a horror unlike any other.

Although it was a box office flop, The Thing is now a welcome and praised name in both science fiction and horror. Even Quentin Tarantino made it known that The Hateful Eight was primarily inspired on several fronts by Carpenter’s underrated work. However, it has not pervaded pop culture like so many other horror classics have left their indelible mark on film vernacular. And to that end, I hope it remains in that slight shadow of anonymity for all future enthusiasts.

[darnedchild]

Molly Hooper Appreciation Week Fall 2018 - Day 3

Will be on FFdotNet and Ao3 later (probably tomorrow because I’m tired and I’m going to bed now)

On FFdotNet and Ao3

MHAW Day Three – Day 3 – Sound

Note – This is a sequel to my Khanolly fic “Descent Into Darkness”.  It would be best if you’ve read that fic first, but I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary to understand what’s happening in this one.

Totally unbeta’d because it’s late and I’m lazy and out of time.  Most of the bridge dialogue is lifted directly from the movie.  Please don’t sue me.  Also, it should be pretty obvious that this is an AU fic because where is the fun in a Khanolly fic if there isn’t a happy(ish) ending?  I’m not really happy with this, but it’s 11:56 pm and I’m stubborn about deadlines so I’m calling it quits now.  Finally, since it’s not obvious, the sound theme is about voices (specifically Khan’s and how Molly reacts to it and what she can read in it that others might miss).

From Darkness

Molly’s heart raced.  

From the moment the Vengeance warp core had shut down and the sickbay had switched to auxiliary power, her world had turned upside down.

No, before that.  Long before.  

When Section 31 had been bombed and Admiral Marcus had personally visited her flat to ask her to recreate the bio-agent that would be capable of killing John Harrison, that’s when everything she’d thought she’d known had tilted on its axis.

It wasn’t just that the man she’d thought she’d been friends with, had flirted with, had even shared one perfect kiss with, was a mass murderer.  She now understood that everything she’d worked on in Section 31, all of her projects for who knew how long, had been approved with an eye toward eventual weaponization.  That Admiral Marcus wasn’t the honourable man she’d believed him to be.  

It had all been a lie.

The only thing she was absolutely sure of anymore was that she was currently in danger and there wasn’t a single person on the ship she could trust.  

Not even the man she’d agreed to help in his mission to save his crew.

Especially not John Harrison.

It’s Khan, she reminded herself as she rushed from station to station in the sickbay.  

While the ship’s warp core had come back on-line, most of the computer systems were still powering up.  There was a specific order to follow as power would be allocated to the most vital areas first.  

“Life support systems will switch back from auxiliary.  Basic bridge commands, impulse drive, sickbay functions,” Molly recited under her breath as she struggled to remember the basics she’d learned when she’d first joined Starfleet, before she’d specialized in medical research for the Federation.  

She bit her lip in frustration as several of the terminals remained down.  “How long?  How long until we’re back?”

Even if she did get the entire sickbay up and running before Khan had his crew transferred to the Vengeance, where would she put them?  The seventy-two cryotubes would have to be stored somewhere until they could be safely opened.  She was unfamiliar with the layout of the ship and had no idea where Khan would send his people, but she would need to make sure she had the proper equipment ready to go when they arrived.

There was nothing for it, she was going to have to find Khan.

She stuck her hand into the pocket of her tunic and brushed her fingers against the hypospray containing the bio-agent Marcus had requested, reassured by the cool metal.  Molly hoped she wouldn’t have cause to use it on Khan; but she would be a fool not to keep it with her, just in case.  She readjusted her hold on her phaser, the weight of it unfamiliar in her hand, and eased through the door into the corridor outside.

Khan had said he was going to deal with Marcus, which meant he would have headed toward the bridge.

Molly picked a direction and ran for it, hoping that if she ran into one of the crew they would be the ask questions first, shoot second type.

It didn’t take long before she heard a woman scream in pain.  As far as she knew, there hadn’t been any other women aboard the ship when it left dock. Perhaps she was one of Khan’s crew?

Moments later, Molly heard another scream, loud enough to mask any sounds she might have made as she cautiously slipped through the door to the bridge and ducked behind the closest thing she could use as cover.    

She immediately spotted Khan pulling another man off the floor as if he weighed nothing.  From her hiding spot, she could see other bodies on the ground. The only one other one that was conscious was the woman who had switched from screaming to whimpering as she cradled her leg.

Khan held a phaser to the head of the man he was clearly planning to use as a bargaining tool.  He shoved the other man in front of the viewscreen and addressed the crew on display.  “I’m going to make this very simple for you.”

One of the other ship’s crew spoke, a Vulcan from his speech pattern and appearance.  “Captain.”

The man with Khan seemed to gather himself at the sound of the Vulcan’s voice.  

Molly considered the distance between herself and the other woman, and her odds of crossing the bridge without being spotted.

Khan spoke again.  “Your crew for my crew.”

That caught her attention.  

“You betrayed us.”  The Vulcan didn’t seem shocked by the revelation.

Khan smirked.  “Oh, you are smart, Mister Spock.”  Something in his voice made Molly shiver, something almost sinister and yet . . . it wasn’t quite fear that brought goose bumps to her skin.

The man Spock had addressed as Captain said something before Khan hit him with the butt of the phaser and let him drop to the floor.  Khan turned his full attention to the viewscreen and demanded his crew once again.

“And what will you do when you get them?”

Molly thought she saw one of the men on the ground twitch.

“Continue the work we were doing before we were banished.”

Banished?  If she got out of this alive, there were going to be so many questions.  

“Which, as I understand it, involves the mass genocide of any being you find to be less than superior.”  Spock seemed to be attempting to deliberately antagonize Khan.  

The mention of mass genocide made her blood run cold.  For a long moment, Molly considered raising her weapon and shooting Khan in the back. He’d survive it, probably, but it should be enough to bring him down long enough that she might be able to inject him with the hypospray.  If the twitching man or one of the others were able to help her . . .

“Drop.  Your.  Shields.” Khan’s voice made it clear that he was nearing the end of his patience.

Her thumb nudged the switch on the side of the phaser away from Stun.

“Well, let’s play this out logically then, Mister Spock.  Firstly, I will kill your Captain to demonstrate my resolve.”  There was no trace of the man she’d known as John Harrison left in Khan, not in his voice or in the way he held himself.  “Then, if yours holds, I will have no choice but to kill you and your entire crew.”

“If you destroy our ship, you will also destroy your own people,” Spock countered.

“Your crew requires oxygen to survive, mine does not.  I will target your life support systems located behind the aft nacelle.”  

The Captain of the other ship began to stir.  Molly bit her tongue, not sure if she was trying to hold back a warning for Khan or a distraction to give the Captain a chance to catch Khan by surprise.  Her loyalties should lie with Starfleet; but she knew what it felt like to lose your family and if Khan had been telling the truth, if all of this was really about getting his crew back . . .

“And after every single person aboard our ship suffocates, I will walk over your cold corpses to recover my people. Now, shall we begin?”

She believed him.  Of course, she did, there was no way she could ever forget what he’d done to Section 31.  The question was, did Spock?

Apparently, he did.  “Lower shields.”

Thank the heavens.  Molly slumped in relief.  The odds of her survival would increase dramatically if Khan got his people back.

“A wise choice, Mister Spock.” Khan barely spared a moment to kick the Captain out of his way before he was flicking his fingers across the screen of a console.  “I see your seventy-two torpedoes are still in their tubes.  If they are not mine, Commander, I will know it.”

From where she was, she could see the way his hands shook as he transported the torpedoes and their precious cargo aboard. “Thank you, Mister Spock.”

He dropped into the Captain’s seat as Spock insisted Khan uphold his end of the deal.  As if the chair had been made for him (which it probably had), Khan took command of the Vengeance.  “Well, Kirk, it seems apt to return you to your crew.  After all-“  

Kirk, the woman, and one other man beamed away.

“-no ship should go down without her captain.”

Immediately, the image of Spock disappeared from the viewscreen to be replaced by a view of a cargo hold containing row after row of torpedoes.  “Welcome home, old friends,” Khan whispered with reverence.  

His hand moved again, and suddenly there was a heavily damaged starship on the viewscreen.  “Goodbye, Kirk.”  

“Wait!”  Molly shot to her feet.  “Don’t do it.”

Khan’s gaze flicked from her face to the phaser and back.  She immediately held the phaser up and to the side, making it clear that she wasn’t aiming at him.

“Don’t do what, Molly?  Don’t destroy this last threat to my crew?  I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

She eased closer to the command chair. He tensed.  Molly carefully set the phaser on the closest console and lowered her hands to her sides.  The reassuring weight of the hypospray was still in her tunic pocket.

“If you blow up that ship, the Enterprise, they’ll never stop coming for you.  Your crew will never be safe.  Not really.”

“if you think I’m scared of Starfleet-“ he began.

Molly shook her head.  “It won’t just be Starfleet.  It will be the entire Federation.  All hunting for you and your people.  You said that everything you’ve done was for them.  Right?”

He nodded to show he was listening.

“Let the others go.  Tell them . . . Tell them you’re honouring your word.  Their crew in exchange for yours.  Tell them that all you want is to find a new home, you just want to be left alone.  Leave them to tell the Federation how you spared them, granted mercy when you had the clear advantage.”

Khan shook his head.  “Mister Spock will never agree to that.  Neither will Kirk.”

“They don’t have to.  People will ask what happened, and by the time Kirk and Spock have been debriefed and the Federation has heard all about Admiral Marcus and convened a committee to decide whether or not to pursue you, you’ll be long gone.  If you destroy them now, every armed ship in the area will be sent after you in retaliation within a matter of hours.”

She took one more step closer and stared into his eyes.  “You’ll need time to revive your crew.  This could buy you some of that time.”

“And you, Molly?  What would you have me do with you?”

“I-I . . . You wanted my help to wake your people.  I’m here. What do you need?”

He tapped a finger against the arm of the chair.  “Khan to the crew of the Enterprise.  As promised, I have returned your crew-”

[kawai-kettu]

We need to talk about The Death Cure (2/5)

We need to talk about the Death Cure :

1. The Movie in General

2. Scene by Scene

3. The characters

4. The pairings

5. Random thoughts

Scene by scene

Attack of the train :

- seriously, the level of preparation and timing this first scene would require in real life, to have this train stop at this exact spot, is ridiculous. I loved that scene, but still…. I only accept this is possible because it was awesome to see all of them again. And also, for their common grinning when it succeeds.

- we actually have a clue that they’re picking the wrong wagon : Minho doesn’t react to Thomas banging on the walls of the wagon, only to Thomas’ voice, and said voice comes from further than it should. I actually wanted to strangle Thomas afterwards, because BOY, if your target was Minho YOU SHOULD HAVE CHECKED BETTER. There was a grid on the top of the train, you could have looked inside!!!

- I don’t like the easy, lazy ways to get out of some situations, especially from a series that didn’t have that in previous episodes : a clear instance of that was the Berg shooting at Brenda and Jorge when their car is next to the train, but then the Berg ceases fire, even when the car has stopped, and they send all theit soldiers outside, conveniently not shooting Brenda and Jorge down.

Torturing Minho :

- I love Minho’s hallucination sequence. At first, I read it as a gift to fans, but then I wondered if it also worked as a symbol of Minho’s psyche? It could say a lot : the Glade is seen deserted, seemingly  very recently abandonned, given that there’s still smoke coming from a fire, and hammocs are still hanging. It looks both familiar and gloomy, in a way. I analysed it as a symbol that despite them having left the Glade for a long time, their time in the Glade is still fresh in his mind ; it’s both a comfort  memory and somewhere he doesn’t want to return, and also, linked to the memories of friends, that are both heart-warming and painful given most are dead. …….also, who is this kid that runs through the Glade?? a symbol of Thomas? Of Newt? ……whatever explanation to this sequence, I just loved it, it was absolutely breathtaking and sad too. ……plus, I think it was interesting that his dream ended with a situation of helplessness despite having tried to escape, just like he must feel all day, trapped at WCKD as a lab rat… ç___ç

- also, him running from the Griever, in fright, took me back to The Fever Code. Because we know Minho is not a coward, so it does look like a frantic reflex, and I couldn’t help thinking back of how he got tortured as a kid. ç___ç

- I also love how they illustrate Teresa’s complexity. That first scene we have of her, watching Miho being tortured…. she’s flinching almost imperceptibly, but she’s also forcing herself to look : is she forcing herself to watch this as self-punishment? As a way to prove her allegiance to WCKD (given that Ava is watching her)? Or as a way to make sure Minho is being treated decently?

  On their way to the Last City :

- as fun as the crank tunnel scene was (…..or rather, scary fun, since I kept alternating between chuckling and jumping in scare), seriously, guys??? Turn off the shucking lights of your car!!!! Gods, you really have a death wish….. OR GO FOR IT AT TOP SPEED!!! I also loved that were they not rescued last minute, they would have died here. Because yeah, for the first (?) time, one of Thomas’ crazy plans doesn’t work. He hasn’t planned things through and he fails miserably. It happens again right after this, when they reach the protest ; Thomas wants to run head-first, blindly, to use this as a way to get in (just like he did up until now, save for the train attack that was so obviously a group effort) aaaand…. Jorge tells him it’s not even crazy, it’s unrealistic. This time, there’s no miracle, no spur-of-the-moment solution to be found. And indeed, they barely avoid being killed. I like how this highlights that Thomas is NOT a good leader and should learn not to jump into things. (….is it hopeless?)

- I loved that at Lawrence’s Rebels Headquarters, the Gladers seem to rekindle their link, the special relation between all of them. They clearly ignore Brenda, Jorge or the Rebels for that matter. It’s conveyed both through their dialogues and through the looks they throw at each other. Suddenly, their world seems to make sense again, because they’re together. (GLADERS FOR THE WIN!!)

  At WCKD :

- I liked what they did with Shai, because though some will say this development was to be expected, I didn’t think so. And I sympathised so much with Teresa in these scenes, I think you can really understand why she did all this, trying to save this little girl …..or rather, trying to save everyone, but all these victims were being embodied in a child, innocent and young, ; which is also working really well to explain how terrible this disease is and how important it would be to find a cure. (I think it’s also an echo of the second film, when Teresa smiles when looking at a little girl’s picture, wondering where she went, and is the only one reacting this way, the boys being focused on their own survival).

- that scene with Teresa spotting Thomas through the crowd was absolutely beautiful, and very interesting. I think it’s meant to make the spectator questions, what she’s seeing, if Thomas is really here or if her guilt is playing tricks with her mind…. ……It was perfect I LOVED it so MUCH, oh gods *_____* and then their whole conversation, where each stands by their opinion and you can see the moment Thomas loses faith in Teresa and she feels it, from the way he sounds both bitter and broken, and it hurts them both, and the music was beautiful and….. *sobs* it was amazing <3 “Do you regret?” “Sometimes, but I’d do it again.” “Good.” I would have wanted to be in Thomas’ mind sooooo much, when he’s letting her see him, knowing she’d follow, I wanted soooo much to know how he was feeling at that time.

- I also loved the scene where Ava is having a drink in her office, clearly accepting her defeat…. It was beautiful, aesthetically speaking. Plus, it empathised the difference between her and Janson. Her talking gives the impression she is not willing to do anything for her survival, contrary to Janson. But I think it’s wrong ; she IS willing to do anything, as long as there’s a chance. Now that it’s clear they’re doomed, she’ll let the boat sink while enjoying her alcohol. Janson, on the other hand, is still believing in his chances of survival regardless of how bad the situation is. In a way, he shares this desperate survival instinct with Thomas (.....in a way, I know they have very different values, don’t throw stones at me). I also liked that this is the first hint of Janson rebelling against Ava, in this. It also took me two viewings, to understand how pivotal this scene is, in setting a chain of events, because it’s THAT conversation that leads Janson to order the desperate serum collect on Minho, in an emergency (which had sounded a bit convenient on first viewing).

Interrogation scene :

- Gally interrogating Teresa was made of gold, I chuckled sooo much, but he was convincing too, I mean he was badass *___* and seriously, anyone wanting to write a Cop!Gally fic?? Please?? Plus, him getting angry about WCKD’s torturing Minho was just <3, as well as him being suspicious and protective when Thomas talks with her.

- I think in that moment Thomas hates her, as shown in his coldness to her and heated conversation afer the interrogation. I also think this scene is probably key regarding making him shift his feelings towards Gally. I also loved that Newt stays quiet and silent, even when Gally and Fry are talking about Teresa : on the one hand, it says a lot that he doesn’t stop them when he had been protective about her in the previous movies, but it also says a lot that he doesn’t take part in this conversation, even when we know he’s been suffocated by jealousy not too long ago (is he trying to remain in control and show he’s not affected by the Flare?).

- Finally, I adored the fact that despite her situation, Teresa’s brain is still focused on her scienntific research ; while Thomas lets himself get blinded by his resentment, she’s still very much in control of herself.

- The only thing I would have taken out of this scene, is the conversation between Brenda and Jorge, or rather, I would have kept it, but would not have played it to make it sound like Jorge is “running from a fight” (especially since it makes fucking sense he’s the one going to the Berg, given that in the book, he’s a pilot, so he could have been a pilot too, in another life, in movie!verse. Would explain him knowing so much about this Last City).

Infiltrating WCKD’s HQ :

- this scene of Thomas, Newt and Gally infiltrating WCKD HQ, joining smoothly and silently, was so very cool XD even though okay, guys, I still don’t see why you needed to separate or where you got these uniforms. I’ll forgive you, movie, because it looked so very cool. Also…. did I get a Star Wars reference in this scene of them rescueing the captured Immunes? Because it looked a loooot like the rescue of Princess Leia in A New Hope (which pleased me soooo much as a fan), complete with Skywalker!Newt opening the door of the cell and taking off his helmet after being mistaken for a real soldier <3 it was awesome <3 thank you moviiiiiie for this SW hommage :3 (though honestly, Thomas, how DUMB are you??? LOOK AT NEWT, does he LOOK allright??? He can force the safe, you know he can, so wtf, man up and make him stay there, take Gally with you, you IDIOT!!!)

- I loved the whole elevator scene, with Janson covering his bases now that he can’t count on Ava anymore (gotta love how coldly strategic the man is, even when infected). Also, Teresa looks downright terrified, and I think I misinterpreted this at first : I don’t think she’s afraid of Janson in this, given that she is never shown scared of him in any other scene. I think she’s terrified of Thomas in this. Of Thomas losing control, acting impulsively and rashly, the way she knows he can. We’re shown she knows him well, too : even though he managed to boil in silence for a grand 2 minutes, he ends up bumping into Janson’s shoulder on his way out, and I’m 80% convinced that Janson wouldn’t have smelled something was fishy had Thomas refrained from doing this. So Teresa was right to be terrified. Notice, though, how she manages to actually save the situation and still save her skin, while still pursuing her objective of finding a cure, wasn’t she awesome???? I think it’s also the very moment Thomas starts to believe in her again.

- Also, note that this is the single instance of Newt being snarly towards Teresa (“she’s trying to get into your head”), which sadly sounded like jealousy/illness taking control of him and leading to a self-destruction attitude, kinda (made me wonder if the virus was able to kinda “protect itself” and distorted Newt’s perceptions, so they there would be no tries to cure it).

- ……And gods, Thomas letting his anger get the best of him, taking off his helmet, yelling that there is no cure, is so intense, so stupidly Thomas, it was brilliant.

  - it’s only a side note, but I enjoyed so much Janson’s angry order to shut off the alarm. Because I’m working in an job environement where there are alarms sometimes and it’s the most annoying sound, there’s no one in the whole universe who wouldn’t want it to be turned off once it’s started to ring.

Saving Minho :

- the whole rescuing Minho phase was quite interesting, but what got my attention in this was more Minho (….and Newt’s state deteriorating ç___ç ). Berserk!Minho FTW XD The rest belongs to the pairings section of these comments, save for the fact that for once in this movie, one of Thomas’ crazy last-minute stunts succeeds (whooohoooo).

- I’m basically sold whenever Gally is in a scene, BUT I had been bothered by his last minute rescue of our trio, after their little jump. Well thinking about it during my second viewing, I have to admit it actually makes sense, and Gally’s strategy is wise. Waiting till the last minute to shoot the three soldiers enables him to come closer to his targets (less risk of failing when aiming from this close) plus it gives him a better surprise effect (given that their attention must have been on the trio, and it would have taken precious seconds to realize they’re actually targeted by one of their own). So okay, clever, here, movie.

Fall of the Last City :

- I really loved the whole Rebels attacking the Last City. Not only because the aesthetic here is beautiful, but because it was realistic. I was caught once in a protest that went wrong (….but not that wrong) and I got the very same feeling. Like…. this revolt had good basis, tbh. It was justified, fueled by the unfairness of the situation, the inequalities and the despair of all these people that feel (rightfully so) like they’ve been abandonned and left to die. Yet, once the attack starts, it clearly gets out of control, and instead of a revolt, we’re dealing with wild destruction.

- Gally seems both surprised and somehow mesmerized by that (if I’m not mistaken). And I loved it. I was wondering what was going on in his mind in that moment, really. After his initial reaction, though, did you notice how during this whole mess, Gally stay clear headed, clearly protecting them all, giving out warnings and orders, taking control, combat trained and efficient?? because it was awesome *___*  (my only problem with this scene, really, was that it was risky to keep their soldier uniforms, though really, taking them off was risky too, as they offer protection, so… *shrugs*)

- Also, we get clear confirmation that Thomas was wrong : Lawrence didn’t want time. He wanted a supposed kind of justice, which was probably only revenge or a way to punish and lash out at the people he sees responsible for his fate. But what he starts is actually raw violence, blind destruction, that has nothing to do with justice, and it felt realistic.

Newt’s death :

- I love that this revolution is getting out of control and causing a mess and destruction and is actually another cause of Newt’s death, given that even if it distracts the soldiers, it also prevents Brenda and the boys to reach Newt and Thomas on time. And it is pretty ironic and sad, because the Gladers are the spark that lit this fire.

- I won’t write a lot about Newt’s death. Because it’s been discussed much already. But I liked it, even though I still wishes it had been closer to the books (because I thought it was really cruel, to have Thomas purposely shooting Newt).

- I love the desperate running through hell, the fact that they’re clearly trying, giving it their best, trying to believe despite all odds, that they’re going to make it…. …..but what really gets me are the goodbyes. Newt thanking Minho, which you can read as thanks for being his friend, thanks for having saved his life and maybe so much more. But also, I read it as a “thank you for going to Brenda to retrieve the serum and coming back to me”, as Newt going with Thomas’ lie that it will be okay, that he’s going to make it, all so that Minho doesn’t see the horrible final moments, all so Minho can feel active instead of passively accepting what’s going on. And Gally goes with it too, even though I think he’s the one knowing the most what’s going to happen, he’s almost gentle with them here and it broke my heart.

- I also loved the desperate way Thomas is carrying Newt’s body, because I could easily understand, the way you’re exhausted but still trying and yet it’s not enough, and you just want to collapse and there’s a sob right there in your throat… DOB really delivers there, all through this, his face during the desperate call from Teresa (which, again, is straaaangely happening right before Newt looses it to the Flare).

- I love the way they mannage to show that Newt is still fighting the illness, that he fights desperately to remain in control and kill himself now it’s clear there won’t be any miracles, and I think that Thomas understands this. However, Thomas being Thomas, he denies suicide to Newt (because there’s a hope, there’s always a hope, he’s been through so many desperate moments, and he’s always managed, there’s always hope, just wait a little longer, just bear with this a seond more), and I think he is fueling Newt’s frustration and anger and making it more difficult to remain in control, like a vicious circle of pain.

- as said, I was really touched by Brenda’s running, heroically, flying with this life-saving miracle, but that it was in vain. And Thomas’s reaction, when Newt dies, gods…. The hurt, the guilt, the anger, the silent accusation when his eyes meet with Brenda’s and she’s too late, she’s too late when it was the only moment she should not have been. All with nothing but music, it was heart-breaking. But what made it worse was all of the boys reactions afterwards. Thomas, unable to deal with this, unable to stay, fueled by his guilt and hate (hesitating between hate towards WCKD or towards himself). Gally EDIT : it was not Gally, it was Fryyyyyy (Sorry Fry ç__ç), kneeling, solemn, paying respect to Newt but breaking  down soon after. But worst of all, Minho, collapsing, falling to his knees, like he can’t stand anymore, like his life is over too (reminding me of when he thought, in the Maze, that they were all condemned). ç____ç

Janson and Teresa’s deaths :

- I’m torn, about the last scene with Janson. I like that you’re given a clear understanding of Teresa’ motivations and the line she draws, the difference with Janson (and probably Ava). I also love that neither Teresa nor Thomas reallly stand a chance in a fight against Janson, and we’re reminded that these are teenagers, fighting against a grown man, a trained and cold-minded opponent (even if he’s infected).  I also absolutely love the way Thomas reacts to being shot, in disbelief (probably having felt but a sting, with the adrenaline) and then collapsing; Teresa’s reflexes to stop the bleeding…. but also, in this moment, them rekindling their relation, showing that they are still important to eachother. I also think, in this moment, that Teresa understands that she has lost the fight too, like Ava. Except there’s still someone left to protect, Thomas, and she’s fighting for him with all she has ç____ç On the other hand, and despite all those great things... I loathed the Deus ex Explosions. As well as the suddenly easily breakable glass in the Cranks’ cage. It spoiled the scene a little for me.

- Teresa’s death scene broke me. She’s carried him with the same determination as he carried Newt, but with even more strength, before they collapse. And when she tells him, brokenly, that she tried (an echo of Thomas wanting to try to save everyone), we get this shot of the cure, drenched in blood, and I think in that moment she sees it as a symbol of the suffering she caused, of the price that had to be paid, for one single vial…. *sobs* I also like how much she fights to get him to safety, but also the fact that once he is safe, she just stops. I heard people complaining, saying it was a lazy death because she had time to get into the Berg. I don’t think it was lazy. I think it was suicide. She accepts her fate, smiling, not even trying to get into the berg. Apart from this, I hated the shot of them all watching her fall. But in general, I have mixed feelings about deaths in TMR (I loved Ben’s banishing but hated Chuck’s death, it was too much, too forced).

- On a side note, I loved that Vince takes the time to secure himself before approaching the void, while Minho doesn’t, and also loved the whole group’s reactions, belatedly, to Thomas’ wound.

Epilogue :

- basically, I loved the whole Paradise scene. It was rewarding, as a fan, to see them reaching happiness. Yet, it also broke my heart to watch this, and I loved how, instead on focusing on their happy end, they decided to focus on remembering the ones who are missing. I think that’s what survivors would need. To try not to feel guilty. To try to have something familiar with them. But also to create a link between these people that are basically strangers, a link through the fact that they all lost important people. It seemed incredibly human, to end this trilogy on remembering the characters that were lost along the way.

- ………and Newt’s reading his letter. I don’t know whose idea it was but it’s both emotional, cruel and brilliant ç___ç

[theageofthemovies]

GERTRUD - (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1964)

Some stills of Danish movie "Gertrud" (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1964), a magnificent female psychodrama centered on the character of a middle-aged singer (the marvelous Nina Pens Rode) and her relations with three loves of her life: her husband (Bendt Rode, a next to be elected Minister she is going to leave); a young mercurial and vain pianist (Baard Owe) she actually loves; and her ex-lover (Ebbe Rode), a poet she left after he wrote that "the woman's love and the man's work are enemies"; at the end, after many years are passed by, Gertrud talks to his psychiatrist friend claiming her choice of loneliness and love. "Gertrud" is an outstanding masterpiece; a portrait of a female character who is absolutely different than all the previous women in cinema, a real woman identified by the fact "she doesn't let anybody suffocate neither judge her" (C.Th. Dreyer in an interview). Her story is a sort of "tragedy of a woman's liberation" told in a bare, essential form, cleared by any naturalism (or realism) despite the live sound. A "spectacular" movie (in the higher meaning of the adjective) whose mise-en-scène is marked by a lot of close-shots, plenty of plans-sequence, long dissolves and the predominance of the sounds (dialogues and music); so extremely far from the "cinema of entertainment" and so near to the "cinema of composition" (the most daring and difficult typo of cinema). Many (almost all the) critics were displaced by the film at the time of its first release and didn't understand it: some wrote of "filmed theatre", others spoke of Dreyer's "mistake of old age"; only very few "illuminated" people suddenly became enthusiast of the movie (Godard compared it to the last symphonies of Beethoven considering the movie what it actually is: a masterpiece. (RM*****)

r.m.

[journeysintowebcomics]

Homestuck Liveblog #171

UPDATE 171: Like Punching Your Own Face

Last time Roxy had managed to create the matriorb out of thin air, and Dave and Dirk were finally having a much-needed conversation, Dave unloading everything he had in his head regarding Bro’s way of raising him. It was raw and made me sympathize a lot with Dave, but it’s not over yet. Let’s continue.

The first thing I read in this update is Dirk apologizing. Huh. It wasn’t your fault, Dirk, Dave simply had the bad luck of being raised by a sucky version of you. Then again, as it was pointed to me: Dirk himself admitted long ago that he has no business raising anyone. He’s not wrong, if this was the result. Roxy didn’t do a stellar job, but she wasn’t a complete disaster – the ocean-sized gap that’s the lack of communication between the Lalondes was the problem. All in all, maybe not having to raise them by themselves would have helped.

DAVE: you had a completely different life full of like  DAVE: different choices and actions and stuff 

He’s not wrong about that, environment shapes people a lot. I wonder how alternate Dave would have raised Dirk if there wasn’t the slight problem of Dirk being a few centuries in the future...and also if alternate Dave hadn’t been killed. That can’t have been of help either.

Dirk continues feeling responsible of what Bro did, saying he needs to take responsibility for all the splinters that are him. It’s hard to understand, a bit. I honestly can’t even start saying how complicated it is to feel like that – but somehow I have the feeling that a lot of people in the world would feel responsible for what their alternates do. I don’t know if I would.

DIRK: I've felt...  DIRK: Haunted by them.  DIRK: And what that really means is, I'm perpetually haunted by my own bad qualities. 

You literally made glasses that are filled with some of your own bad qualities, Dirk. You kinda brought that one to yourself, just saying.

Dave appreciates Dirk’s apologies, even though it feels weird to hear it from someone that isn’t the Bro he knew, which in turn makes Dirk confess that he isn’t even happy with his relationships with his peers – especially with Jake. Well yeah, no surprise there, everything is still a fresh wound. It was just a day ago or so that Jake was telling to other people that he felt suffocated. Who knows, maybe in the future that’ll change! Don’t give up, Dirk.

It’s nice to see that Dave and Dirk are trying to give support to each other despite the trouble they have to connect. It’s clumsy, it’s distant, but they’re trying. It’s more akin to pulling teeth than a heartfelt conversation, buuuuuuut it’s the best the Striders can do.

DAVE: you dont actually seem like a bad person to me though  DIRK: No?  DAVE: nah  DIRK: Why not?  DIRK: We did just meet, after all.  DAVE: because  DAVE: i dunno if truly bad people wrestle so much with whether theyre good or bad 

Dirk is not a bad person. He can be extremely difficult to deal with, but he’s not bad. I’m sure hearing it from Dave will make it resonate more than if he had heard it from anyone else, even if everyone else would be more energetic about telling him that he’s a good person. Dirk isn’t even accepting it from Dave at face value, although he is grateful about it. Everyone else idolized him, after all.

DIRK: She meant well, but was so enamored of me, and seemingly everything I did.  DIRK: Which I think was the last thing I needed.  DIRK: To be idolized in some form by other people I respected.  DIRK: I had enough of that feeling coming from within, particularly when I was younger. 

No wonder Bro ended like that. I really don’t think anyone dared to tell him about his flaws. I suppose that maybe this could be interpreted as a sign that Bro respected Dave, but I’m not going to think that’s correct. That relationship was pretty messed up, after all.

Dave sounds genuinely floored to hear everything his alternate self did in Dirk’s universe, including killing clown presidents and somehow managing to make a million Statues of Liberty. I’m still wrapping my head around that one. Could that have been how things would have gone if the world hadn’t ended horribly? Hm...no. The movies and all were a way to give the Condesce a sucker punch, no Condesce means those concrete movies wouldn’t exist. It’s hard to say what would have happened. Maybe Dave really would have gone into the fields that study dead stuff.

Dirk tried to follow Dave’s perceived good traits. Golly, Dave must have never seen that coming.

DIRK: You get to apply all that potential you showed in one reality to something much bigger and more existentially critical.  DIRK: Whatever strength you showed in trying to save a dying planet, the fact is, I think we need that more here.  DIRK: And the trials inherent in being a part of something like this, I think they bring more out of you than a relatively pedestrian life on Earth would. Make you face more things about yourself. At least, that's been true for me. 

Oh hey, I just realized that this alternate Dave pretty much did everything that’s expected of the Dave we know: fight, resist, and pretty much be a cornerstone of the rebellion against the Condesce. He’s everything Dave doesn’t think he can be. Think about that, Dave.

DIRK: I hope it doesn't come off as overly sentimental garbage, but it seems to me like you turned out to be a really good dude.  DIRK: Like, really, a better sort of dude I ever imagined talking to when I pictured meeting the legendary guy I idolized.  DIRK: I pictured him as probably being "too cool" to be the type of guy you are.  DIRK: But you know what, fuck being too cool for that.

Congratulations, you pretty much punched Dave’s hopes from when he was thirteen years old. It’s for the better. Somehow hearing that Dave is not the “cool” person Dave had once hoped Bro would see him as catches him off-guard. Here we go! This’ll be the turning point for Dave, won’t be it? Things are going to change for him – hopefully! Dave certainly had the big character arc in Homestuck, even if he says people don’t have arcs.

And here we go!

DAVE: its really fucked up of me  DAVE: what im presently doing  DAVE: so  DAVE: sorry about that  DIRK: Oh, y-  DIRK: Yeah.  DIRK: Man.  DIRK: This is some fucked up shit alright.  DAVE: i know

This is much more than I expected. Of all things that could happen, a hug wasn’t even close to the top of the list. This is actually a pretty sweet moment, I’m glad it actually happened. Part of me was sure Hussie wouldn’t show them talking, but he did. I’m glad I was proven wrong about it.

So! There’s only one conversation left before things may kick into overdrive straight towards the last part of Homestuck! Roxy is going to meet Kanaya, surely to give her the matriorb. Things are winding down everywhere else, it won’t be long now!

Roxy appears from the skies with a ‘heeeeeey’ and repeats it a few more times, preparing the surprise by telling her to guess what she brought. I can guarantee that the matriorb is not going to be a guess here, hah!

KANAYA: Is It The Thing Behind Your Back  ROXY: yup but u gotta be more specific  KANAYA: Is It A Little Piece Of Paper That Says Hey On It  ROXY: hahahahaha no but that would be SO FUNNY! 

I won’t lie, I wouldn’t have been surprised if it hadn’t been that. Wish you had thought about it before. Maybe there’s still time to write “I.O.U one (1) matriorb” on any random rock and give it to her...or maybe that’d be cruel. Shrug.

Not wasting any more time, Roxy presents the matriorb, much to Kanaya’s astonishment. She’s so surprised she can barely express her surprise while Roxy tries to explain in vague terms. Look at that, Kanaya has tears in her eyes! It must be hard to describe, the feeling of hope in seeing the way the troll race is going to be resurrected. Keep it away from the Condesce and everything should be fine.

Nobody would have thought that the way to revive the trolls would just be given to her like this, but she can’t complain. There’s a lot of work to do, the mother larva isn’t going to raise itself. There’s a life of duty and work ahead of her.

Where’s Karkaroni, asks Roxy? “Meditating”. With his face deep into the dirt. You’re so lucky you’re telling this to someone Roxy doesn’t know very well, nobody else would believe such answer.

Roxy gets into her role of Rose’s mother and tries to know Kanaya better, asking about the meteor tri, where everybody formed small groups and only convened like twice of three times. It wasn’t the social jamboree Roxy imagined. Could have been worse, Roxy. It was worse once. At least now everyone is more or less getting along and Kanaya is aware she needs Karkaroni’s help so trolls aren’t like in Alternia.

...having doubts about fighting? Well I can understand Kanaya would want to protect the matriorb and that she believes her skills are not as good as everyone else’s, but if the Condesce isn’t defeated that matriorb will only be good as a paperweight. Roxy points all that and tries to give Kanaya encouragement about her skills. Well not many things can beat a chainsaw in power. That’s all enough to convince Kanaya to go with her and prepare for the fight.

Now that all the dialogue options are over, the point of view returns to the dream bubble where Vriska has gone to harass herself. Yeah, don’t ask me why she’s bothering to do this.

Okay, I read one page and I’m already feeling a bit sick. I don’t know how Hussie is doing this, managing to make me dislike Vriska after I spent most of her appearances liking her. In just a few hundred pages he’s managing to make me not want to read her anymore. It’s going to be difficult to write something that isn’t constant grumbling. Well, there’s one thing...

VRISKA: Remem8er when you used to care a8out that sort of thing?  VRISKA: No, o8viously not.  VRISKA: All you care a8out now is 8ullshit hipstery fashion trends, feeling "happy", and... whatever the fuck it is you're doing here?  VRISKA: Frolicking with some horses in an ugly field or some shit. VRISKA: Just a8solutely disgraceful.  VRISKA: How could I have 8ecome so selfish??  VRISKA: You do know this is selfish, right?  VRISKA: This isn't having some fucking "epiphany" or like "growing as a person" or whatever self-serving spin you might 8e putting on what's happening here.  VRISKA: It's just plain narcissism, the worst kind you're capa8le of. A total renunci8tion of any responsi8ility for contri8uting to the gr8ter good.  VRISKA: And it makes me FUCKING SICK. 

...I have no words. Yeah, looking for personal happiness is selfish, but there’s nothing wrong with being reasonably selfish. I just...I can’t say anything about this that isn’t some sort of circular argument that in the end isn’t worth typing here. I just can’t say anything.

VRISKA: Contrary to your lazy fakey "happy" shit, I've ACTUALLY GROWN AS A PERSON.  VRISKA: What do you think of THAT, you frivolous, dithering 8ITCH???????? 

Like hell you did!

Just...agh.

Looks like the dead Vriska wasn’t wrong, the horses really is a bad omen for her. Meenah is leaving her and going with the Vriska that is alive. At least Meenah has the decency to be conflicted about what she’s feeling and all, but damn, what a way to punch someone that’s already down, Hussie.

Meenah likes dead Vriska a lot, and she admits it, but she’s bored of having an idyllic life with dead Vriska. She wants to fight Lord English and here’s the chance to do it. Dead Vriska may have changed, but Meenah is the same than before, and that one isn’t content with sitting on the sidelines. That’s why she’s leaving – more or less.

I feel bad for dead Vriska. It’s almost hard to believe that the end for the character I knew for so long is this – or at least this seems like the end. It feels...weird. I feel really bad for her. I wish this hadn’t gone for this. Heck, Meenah deciding to go fight Lord English would have been understandable. I just wish this whole thing hadn’t needed to happen.

Hm. I think I should be stopping here for now.

Next update: next time

[dweemeister]

8½ (1963, Italy)

As a bored and depressed teenager and before I ever delved into classic movies, I looked online for lists of the best films ever made. Certain titles from more reputable websites kept appearing – one of those frequently-mentioned titles was Federico Fellini’s 8½. Soon after, I began actively seeking out these films. I was fifteen years old when I first encountered 8½, and I remember thinking to myself that there was something about Fellini’s film I could not quite grasp at the time. I stopped, barely a third into the movie, made no judgments, and did not finish it. Nine or ten years have passed (this was one of the first movies in my classic movie adventure so I know how old I was; I just don’t remember which year I saw it in), and upon this revisit to 8½ and completing the film, it is the greatest artwork about artist’s block I have ever seen. The film comments on the torment surrounding artistic creation, and how an individual’s personality – their ego, ability to examine themselves, and attitudes towards others – make that struggle unique to that artist. At times a bawdy comedy, 8½ – referring to the fact that Fellini had directed six feature-length films and three short films before this production, equaling 7½ – is also a dramatic surrealist fantasia filled with behavioral inconsistencies and fanciful sequences entangling dreams and reality.

And so by 1963, Federico Fellini, who gleamed off the Italian neorealist master Roberto Rossellini (1945′s Rome, Open City and 1948′s Germany Year Zero), and directed neorealist-inspired films in I Vitelloni (1953), La Strada (1954), and Nights of Cabiria (1957), was beginning to dip into the fantastical. These later fantastical films, however, were primarily steeped in modernity – demanding much from the audience, as Fellini uses impossible images to express ideas and states of mind that would become uncinematic if explained by dialogue.

In the midst of starting production on his next movie while resting at a Roman spa, acclaimed director Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni) is struggling over how to approach the autobiographical elements he is integrating into a science fiction piece. Late in pre-production, Guido is having tensions with (and not just limited to) his mistress, Carla (Sandra Milo); wife, Luisa (Anouk Aimée); and producer, Pace (Guido Alberti). His friends, Rossella (Rossella Falk) and Mario (Mario Pisu), are unsure how to help him, as he drifts day-to-day between his loud, bickering-heavy reality and his fantasies. Those fantasies are not always clearly indicated by 8½’s editing by Leo Catozzo – the movie begins with a suffocating traffic jam, progresses to images of Guido’s childhood in a seaside village, his Catholic school days where he was punished for dancing with a prostitute (Eddra Gale), and features a handful of sexual fantasies that include the film’s darkly uproarious harem scene involving all the women from Guido’s past and present life (the movie is suggestive, not explicit, with sex – the former always more difficult to film). Claudia Cardinale stars as Guido’s fantastical Ideal Woman and as Claudia, an actress who appears briefly, but notices something about Guido’s idea and his persona that pierces his psychological armor.

Fantasy and reality, in competition across 8½, are harmonious in the closing minutes. Whether or not the ending is a statement of Guido’s (and, by the fact this film is at least somewhat biographical, Fellini himself) impeccable artistry, comic relief, or both is perhaps the most vexing question I continue to wrestle with. At twenty-five years old, I find myself giving tentative answers to the film’s questions; this write-up might read much differently if written at a later stage in my life.

The screenplay by Fellini, Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli, and Brunello Rondi (Flaiano, Pinelli, and Rondi being frequent Fellini collaborators) models Guido as Fellini’s alter ego. Marcello Mastroianni, as Guido, inhabits the role with a physical fatigue similar to his role of Mario in Le Notti Bianche (1957). But if Mario was less tragic and more fashionable, he would be Guido. Mastroianni is excellent in displaying his character’s brokenness due to constant rumination over his noncommittal habits, inability to express his feelings, and his search for sexual gratification compounding his emotional and social emptiness. All of this will affect his artistry. The moment Guido walks outside his hotel room, he is besieged by the film’s crew and actors who have not even been officially cast. What do you want for this scene? When will we start shooting? I can’t wait to appear in your film! The barrage (those were paraphrases) lasts all morning until the moment late at night Guido slams his hotel door shut, readying himself to be with a woman he only seems to care for. His creative side is so exhausted that not even Mastroianni’s dialogue delivery changes tone when producer Pace fumes at the excessive production delays – no sarcasm, not even a nonplussed shoulder shrug. Mastroianni, debatably the greatest Italian actor of all time, exemplifies incredible discipline in this role.

With an unsustainable, ridiculous situation unfolding, 8½ partly becomes a tragicomedy – if the film weren’t so absurd and racy, it would be more difficult to watch. In this movie about an Italian, Felliniesque director unable to make a movie, Fellini has crafted a movie teeming with introspection and visual splendor. Guido’s sexuality seems inspired by Rubens’ portraits; his relations to everyone (but especially women – who, to him, are either maternal figures or harlots) predicated on what they can do for him. He might not fit the stereotype of the tyrannical director, but his self-worth has become defined by the most external: his professional accomplishments and his romantic conquests that seem to be without indications of abusive behavior. As the viewer intuits Guido’s character, his biographical flashbacks are understood as less reliable, more subjective. To what extent are those flashbacks colored, censored by nostalgia for a childhood or adolescence that Guido chooses to remember? There are no answers to that question in 8½. The film’s aforementioned introspection falls to the viewer. Guido, expending so much time thinking about his upcoming production, leads a life unexamined.

At this point in his life he arrives at what appears to be a spiritual dead end. That just so happens to contribute to his director’s block. Hearing from the others working on Guido’s film, we hear their concerns about the structure of the movie and nobody understanding what it is saying. To the crew, it is a jumbled patchwork of philosophical avant garde for the sake of being philosophical avant garde.

In outdoor scenes, cinematographer Gianni Di Venanzo (1962′s L’Eclisse, 1965′s Juliet of the Spirits) has his camera motion side-to-side in the direction of character movements, suggesting restlessness. When characters are shown with a shallow foreground, one feels Guido’s anxiety considering the demands and hopes of others. In moments where there are fewer characters and when they are placed further away from the camera, the camera moves more dramatically, as if floating in air. It contributes to the dreamlike quality of several scenes – including Claudia Cardinale’s introduction in the movie – even when Guido has no space to fantasize. The production design and costume design by Piero Gherardi (La Dolce Vita and Juliet of the Spirits) showcases ‘60s elegance, with Rome’s rich mingling at the spa Guido is staying. Here, 1960s Italy clashes with what appears to be Ancient Roman and Renaissance-era architecture (free-to-read English-language literature on the film does not specify if these outdoor sets were constructed for 8½ or are actual attractions, but the film was shot entirely around Rome and the Lazio administrative region – where Rome is located). The aesthetic differences in architecture at the spa are reflections of the contradictory and unsettled statuses Guido’s imagination and soul.

So too is Nino Rota’s celebratory, yet mysterious and varied score. Like his work on La Strada, Rota has a main theme influenced by circus and carnival music. Where in La Strada (that film partly inspired by Fellini’s memories of circuses and clowns) that decision made literal sense because the characters are traveling circus performers. Here, it is to echo the madness of Guido not knowing what to do and being surrounded by a gaggle of irate businessmen, sycophantic actors looking for a job, and confused craftspersons having to alter their work due to their ineffectual director. For 8½  – a fragmented story where Guido’s bitter life is intercut with his daydreams – the score lacks stylistic cohesion. Interspersed with the circus and carnival music is Rota’s take on jazz, mid-century popular music, and brief quotations of classical music. In another film about a different subject, this Rota’s score would be bothersome. Because of the protagonist’s nature and unpredictable editing (at least, for first-time viewers), these frequent and rapid musical transitions fit the film.

Fellini also faced his own writer’s block while figuring out the screenplay to 8½. At some point during writing, Fellini resolved that the protagonist – originally a writer – would be changed to a movie director (read: Fellini himself). Bear with me on this one: everything that Guido says within the film about the film he is making can also be said about 8½. And yet 8½ never descends into self-conscious or self-referential meta humor taking the viewer out of one of the most rapturous pieces of cinema. That is because it paints a tapestry of individuals living among our troubled protagonist: rich and poor; vulgar and refined; conciliatory and uncompromising; vacuous and perceptive; and so forth. The film poses existential questions about how Guido’s self-perception is impacting how he treats others and his artistic abilities. And though you might not sympathize with Guido given his misadventures, you will wonder how similar you are to him. Reaching the answer, do you flinch at what you have found? 

8½ dispenses with conventional cinematic form. Compared to films of the French New Wave – ongoing during 8½’s release and more intent on breaking norms – Fellini’s film, despite being inundated with autobiographical meta, achieves an intense thoughtfulness without ever taking itself too seriously. Fellini, himself in artistic transition, makes a stunning statement by obscuring the separation between his neorealist origins and reverie. The answers to Fellini’s questions, as well as Guido’s and ours, are found in both.

My rating: 10/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. 8½ is the one hundred and forty-seventh film I have rated a ten on imdb.