#the climax of the movie or i just didn’t care for their story

[send-me-a-puffalope]

just watched the new ghostbusters movie with my friend and truly, awkward teenage lesbians will both end and save the world.

[azumasoroshi]

suzume no tojimari spoilers ! hi guys im Insane

literature analysis brain is going haywire so here’s a bunch of incoherent ramblings some themes motifs and symbolism i love in this movie because AAAAAAA

Love and Sacrifice.

Obviously, but like the different kinds of love and devotion and how they’re never perfect and sometimes self-destructive but they’re so powerful and just waughhh. It was so important to me how after exploding at her Tamaki (suzume’s aunt, ik im not the only one who forgets names) was like “you know I don’t feel that way all the time, right?” like not denying that yes, she has felt exhausted of taking care of Suzume and sometimes wished she didn’t have to take care of her, trying to be the parental figure she needs while also trying to not encroach on her sister’s memory. It means so much to me that she didn’t deny those feelings but instead told Suzume that it’s not how she always feels, because loving someone means sacrifice and ewughghgghfgfh im not putting this into words well but htrggfhgf.

and ALSO the reciprocation of kindness with daijin - as thanks for the taste of freedom at last, and wanting to be with someone whom you love but not really comprehending that what they want (that “suzume doesn’t love me” killed me) and how by the end daijin helped her pull souta out and sacrificed himself for suzume because he really loved her ggrgfggfhfnfnch

And just. everyday love. This is kind of a mix of themes and motifs but every time we flashed back to the memories of whatever abandoned place they were in - the simple “good morning”s and “be back soon” and “it’s so hot”s made me choke up. the mundane love of Chika and Suzume in their newly found friendship, Rumi’s kindness in picking Suzume up off the street and her love for her children, Serizawa’s platonic love for Souta letting him drive these two crazy women with crazy beef for 7 hours across Japan, there’s just so much expression of love and the hardships people go through because of it and rhgrjgrjhgdhgjhb

Mourning and Closure.

Makoto Shinkai himseld said that he wanted to write a story about “mourning deserted places” (at least according to Wikipedia) so this one is all but textual but like yeah. the motif of opening/closing/locking doors and locking the bike and things like that? AaAAaAaa

To close the gates, you need to imagine the emotions of people who once lived there - i can only imagine what Souta was thinking in the abandoned bathhouse area, but hrhggejghw the school and the amusement park and the shots we got of normal life in tokyo before the worm revealed itself in the climax, it just. really speaks to the beauty of everyday life. im a sucker for that kind of stuff as both a psychology major and just a weird person who thinks “man i wonder what happened to this person for the past 22 years of their life that led them to be here with me in this moment” whenever i pass someone in the grocery store. Hodaka could let japan be flooded in weathering with you because of his love for hina, but suzume’s whole arc was learning about the common people and living their lives and embracing all the kindness they had to offer to herself and others and it really hits that like. of course she can’t just let tokyo get destroyed to save Souta, every person in all of tokyo is just like Rumi and Chika and Serizawa and they’re all people who love and are loved. She finds herself in Souta’s place as one who stretches himself thin between being a gate closer and studying to be a teacher because he loves life as well, and-

oops i forgot i was talking about mourning and closure

anyway the doors keep getting reopened because the grief never fully goes away and the worm of “calamity” is letting yourself be consumed by the grief and destroying the people around you and not being able to move on, and it comes from the Ever-after becomes ever-after is a place where time doesn’t exist and you wish you could be there forever because it’s where you can relive the events of your past, it’s where you can live in denial that time moves forward and you have to move with it, it’s where Suzume goes after her mother dies because she wants people to stop giving her condolences and just give her her mom back. “Ever-after” in itself is a “happily ever after” - a place where mortals aren’t meant to go, no matter how beautiful it looks. Souta goes there too because he is the catalyst Suzume needs to go back and face Ever-after - and it’s no longer beautiful, but it’s torn apart by grief and everything is in flames. The idea of a keystone as well, locking the memories and hurt away, is one that Suzume removes to relive her memories and puts back in place when she’s ready to move on. htrhgfhgfghfghf. she won’t let souta be the keystone because she refuses to move on without him.

Also both Souta and his grandfather tell Suzume to just forget everything she’s seen, but it’s too late for that because connections aren’t so easily forgotten. Even when Tamaki couldn’t remember telling Suzume she’d be her new mother, that doesn’t change that she cared for her for the next 12 years anyway. Suzume visits Chika and Rumi by the end, and obviously she’s never forgotten her mother, both because her chair was still in her room by the start of the movie and because she looks like her by the end. Even though relationships change, they’re never forgotten in the movie, and I think that’s beautiful, really.

(also cool detail: 12 years ago is when the tsunami that killed suzume’s mother struck. the movie came out in 2023, and the touhoku earthquake/tsunami that inspired this film was in 2011. nice)

Reality vs Fantasy

The scenes where Suzume goes out into public again following stopping the worm from destroying Tokyo were especially poignant to me. This girl’s been going on a fantastical adventure with her talking chair and talking cat, meeting nice people and making friends, excited at the idea that she’s doing something important, but after Souta’s gone she shuts down. Her feet are bloodied, her clothes are destroyed, and people keep giving her strange looks and calling her homeless because she may have stopped the worm but even without being consumed by grief, it still isn’t pretty or picturesque. Standing out in Japanese society is discouraged, as most of us are well aware, but she’s been doing nothing but that with all the running around and talking to chairs and flying through the sky she’s been doing. Without a concrete goal in mind, without Souta as company, she’s alone in the world of adulthood and has no one to tell her what she should do, no Souta to guide her through Tokyo. And without that confidence or charm, people don’t come to her aid like they did before. It’s only once she finds her resolve to save Souta, quite literally walking in his shoes/footsteps, that the next helpful stranger (Serizawa) comes in.

She could imagine those abandoned places as alive, but the truth is that they were abandoned and will stay that way - none of them miraculously revived by the end, unless something happened in the credits that I couldn’t see through all my tears. Reality will not bring those places back, but what really matters is how we carry the memories of those places with us? I think. man maybe it’d be easier to write this post if i had actually seen the end credits

this post is really fucking long so im calling it here 😭 makoto shinkai has done it again. goddammit

[altf4d3lete]

Wednesday series takes itsef far more seriously than the movies. Murder is a serious thing in the story. Here we won't find a poor girl cooked inside a cake and get a "C'est la vie!" joke. While W herself is proud of having of mutilated Dalton, seeing it as a rightful retribution, it's clear that she despises senseless murder, or killing for pleasure. EG when Enid tells her she's sorry for Xavier, W answers, without regrets, that he was a liar and a murderer, implying he deserved to be jailed.

BUT she accepts murder as a mean to protect others or themselves. When Enid and W see eachother again after the battle, for what W knows, if E is alive that means she killed Tyler. W saw what a Hyde is capable to do, and doesn't know that the Sheriff shot his own son, so the only conclusion she can reach is that if Enid survived then Tyler is dead, or so mauled that he's dying. So, Enid killed somebody, yet Wednesday reciprocates the hug. The emotional climax of the show was never about Tyler, it was for Wednesday to open completely to the girl who constantly offered her friendship without losing hope. And Tyler's final battle wasn't in the story for him, but to make Enid shine. The writers willingly wrote that.

If they really wanted to depict Tyler as a victim, I'm sure they would have been perfectly capable to write him as a victim, not as a willing participant.

EXACTLY ‼️‼️‼️ THIS RIGHT HERE.

First paragraph: this! Wednesday is shown to be morally strong in this show, in her own weird sense. She doesn’t like people who murder innocents, she doesn’t think people should be in pain if they don’t deserve it. She actively goes out of her way to be nice (as she can be) to Enid and Eugene. She only messes with people once they mess with her. If she was the way that Weylers see her as, she wouldn’t have bothered with the piranhas. She just straight up would have finished the job and killed dalton and probably killed Eugene’s bullies as well. She doesn’t like murder unless it’s justified in her eyes. And there doesn’t seem to be a lot that justifies it. Even when she found out Tyler was the Hyde, she wasn’t going to kill him. And that says a lot about her character I think. It’s also weird that people think that she’d forgive him because he was forced to do those things while she was under the impression that Xavier was the Hyde (and forced to do things) and didn’t care. Straight up threw him in jail 0 qualms about it.

Second paragraph: I already talked a little about the first half so I’ll focus on the second! this entire thing is so true. Her arc was with ENID, not Tyler, and I think that says a lot about the direction the writers want to take the show. It was never about her opening up romantically, it was never about her being shipped with Tyler or finding love. It was about her and ENID, and it always will be about the two of them, whether they end up romantic or not. It was purposefully set up that way, and the writers have already said that they’re the center of the show. Whether Wednesday ends up with Enid, someone else, or alone, no one will ever be as important to her as Enid is and that is just *chefs kiss*.

Paragraph 3: if they wanted to depict Tyler as a victim, they would have made it WAY more clear that the Hyde is a split personality or that they really have no control over their actions. Iirc, there was even talk of a Hyde who offed their master, so it’s not looking good for Tyler. It’s looking more like he has SOME sense of Will if he really tried to fight it, but he gave into the murdering and enjoyed it rather than showcased himself as an actual good guy. He didn’t look all that sad to be killing Wednesday in episode 8. By that point he would have remembered the things he did/had control over himself and he tried to kill his dad, too. Crazy that people still think he’s good. He’s a tragic villain, but he’s still that: a villain

[bobawitch]

Movie Night | C.S

a/n: i was watching When Harry Met Sally on my flight and came up with this blurb so enjoy!

cw: just fluff

wc: 436

pairing: chris sturniolo x fem!reader

“Bro what is this?” Your boyfriend probed as the older movie began to play. “Chris I told you already, it’s When Harry Met Sally. It’s only the best rom com known to man. As well as my favorite fall movie.” You shrugged, jumping onto the bed and cozying up to your boyfriend. “Right right. So who's the guy making out with that girl?” He continued to probe. “Chriiiis!! That’s Harry, now just watch the movie!” You reply, pressing your cheek to his chest as you flicked his chin. Chris scoffed in fake pain, flicking the top of your head. “Is Sally the one he’s eating the face of like she’s the last ice cream in the world?” You laughed, a soft scoff escaping your lips. “He is not eating her face! And no, that’s not Sally. You see her in a second.” You replied quickly, Chris holding you tighter. As the movie continued you’d smile, you always wanted to watch this movie along with the man of your dreams. Thankfully you finally found that man of your dreams. You got through a good 20 minutes more of the movie before he spoke again. “Wait, he’s getting married though. Aren’t they supposed to be together? I told you I don’t get these romance movies.” He exclaimed. You rolled your eyes and sighed. “Just watchhhh! It’ll work out.” Chris nodded, pulling you farther onto his lap, rubbing up and down your torso. 

After his second little outburst Chris paid careful attention to the entire movie. He barely spoke for the rest of the movie, making a few comments about how unrealistic the story was and how he didn’t like Harry. You were quick to hush his rambling and random questions. As the movie came to the resolution you’d sniffle, rubbing your eyes dry. Chris looked down at you before laughing, messing your hair up into your face. With your vision now obscured you couldn’t see Billy Crystal making his intense love proclamation. “Are you actually cryi-” “Chris shhhh this is the best part!!” Chris was quick to quiet himself though he did laugh before. Chris gently began to draw his fingers through your hair, pulling the strands away from your eyes. After the movie’s romantic climax Chris tips your chin up to face him. “I love you.” He said, his voice barely above a whisper. Shivers went down your spine and you smiled up at your boyfriend. “I love you too Chris.” Chris smiles back at you, tilting his head down to connect your lips. You kissed Chris back gently, holding onto his shoulders with a certain desperation.

[annymation]

Deleted Ideas For The Kingdom Of Wishes

That’s right fellas, the Wish rewrite that was based on the scrapped ideas of Wish, ironically, had a lot of scrapped ideas, as one would expect from any story since the creative process changes over time.

If you’re new here, hi! Here’s my rewrite if you’d like to check it out, this post will contain spoilers of it.

So I’ll list these deleted ideas from the ones that got scrapped later on in the process of writing to the ones that got scrapped early on, okay? Okay! Let’s go! starting with the one y’all will most likely be mad at me for deleting or agree it was a bit too much:

Magnifico and Amaya turning into giants made of thorny vines in the climax

- We’re all familiar with these kinds of final battles in Disney movies, Jafar turning into a giant snake, Ursula turns into a giant, Maleficent turns into a dragon the list goes on

- My idea for the longest time was that after Asha and the kingdom sang “This Wish (Reprise)” the song would serve only for the people to wake up so they could run away, and Asha would have to fight the royals after they make huge rose vines grow to protect themselves and the staff from her, now that she showed she had powers of her own

- I realized while I was in the process of writing chapter 14 (the build up to the climax) that… The only reason I was doing that was for the sake of a reference, and that’s not smart, the references should be a bonus, not the point of the scene.

- Initially I was gonna have Asha defeat their giant forms by drawing herself with her magic pencil, thus making a clone of herself to distract them while she grabbed the staff that they were holding, and broke it. This would be a pay off to the buildup I made since the beginning, about Asha not knowing how to draw herself

- I wanted to remove the two giant royals but wanted to keep this detail of Asha drawing herself perfectly to signify how she grew and understands herself more… So I just changed when that happens.

- I had Asha draw herself to distract Magnifico in his “Fake out death scene”, though I was conflicted at first to have such an important moment for Asha actually turn out to not accomplish anything to defeat Magnifico… But then I realized that it doesn’t matter if he didn’t die in that scene, it was still a personal win for Asha.

- Finally, I decided to have Magnifico and Amaya have a villain reprise of “This Wish”, before it was just narration of me saying “And then they absorbed Aster’s power” and that’s lame, we needed a song.

- So we got the climax we got, that went through a lot of last minute changes, but hey, it worked out in the end didn’t it?

Aster Having A Panic Attack In The Cave

- … Let me explain.

- When Aster revealed that he knew Asha all his life, I initially thought about making the scene very intense, as in Aster completely loses it knowing that no matter how hard he tries he can never make her happy.

- I still have the dialogue I began to write for the scene saved, consider it a deleted scene:

- As you can see, Aster is revealing he knew her all her life not by talking to HER and complimenting how much he admires her, but rather he’s talking to himself and bringing himself down about how he’s a failure…

- That made Aster feel immature but not in a cute way, more in a “Im making this about me now” way, and as soon as I realized that I went “okay I don’t care if it makes the scene longer, Aster won’t be making this revelation through an anger episode” and it was the best decision I’ve ever made because the way the scene plays out in chapter 12 is way sweeter.

Magnifico getting partially blinded by Aster’s light for a few minutes

- This is just a comedic scene I deleted for time’s sake, but basically I initially wanted the scene of Magnifico seeing Aster coming down from the sky with his light shining upon all of Rosas to play out like this

- Magnifico Goes to open the window

- Because I liked the idea that the first thing Aster does before he even lands on earth is hurt Magnifico, it pains me that I had to delete this but it just didn’t fit the tone to make a comedic scene in that moment.

Aster Turns Human By THROWING His Magic To The Sky

- Listen I thought of this one WAAAAAAYYY back, early on in the process, before I had Asha and Aster’s whole relationship figured out in my head, so the idea of him kissing her to become human wasn’t as obvious.

- But there was one point that I thought about Aster just grabbing the glowing round rock he has on his neck, and throwing it away at the end of the story, and that would magically create the North Star… It’s a fairytale folks, doesn’t have to make sense

- But then it didn’t take long for me to realize “……… Wtf am I doing? I should just make them kiss.” And that promptly got scrapped

- It may not fit my idea, but hey, if you’re writing a Wish Rewrite where they’re just friends not lovers then that might work for you as a way to turn Aster human and create the Wishing Star.

Magnifico and Amaya Were Going To Have A Duet That Presented Their Backstories

- Yeah yeah I scrapped a villain duet, burn me at the stake lol

- But yeah that’s not their story, so their backstories hardly matter for the plot, I just had this cool idea about a song called “Careful What You Wish For” where they’d sing about how the world wronged them (in their eyes) and Mag would see the ghosts of his ancestors and yada yada yada it was a cool thought but I realized pretty quick it wouldn’t fit the narrative, so we got “Wish Away” instead, which is way better for the plot.

- Also as it is they got… Two songs, that’s more than your average Disney villain, I only remember from the top of my head Gaston having two songs, and I guess maybe Ratigan.

Asha trying to reveal to the people the king killed his brother

- Technically she did try that in chapter 10, but the king stopped her, thank god for that honestly because Asha had NO PROOF that he killed Florian so really she’d shot herself in the foot if she tried to reveal that to the public.

- Initially I was gonna have her try to prove that by arguing that Amaya was in the kingdom when Florian died, to which the queen would be like “Nuh-uh I wasn’t, I was with my husband traveling, far away from Rosas” and that would be the end of that cause how can Asha prove she’s lying?

- But I realized that’d go nowhere, and Florian ain’t relevant, he’s just a nice Mufasa/Snow White reference I made up, so bringing any attention to him would be a waste of time.

Asha Was Going To Be The King’s Apprentice

- Now that would be awkward wouldn’t it? Lmao

- So yeah, back when I began writing I was going in with the idea of making a story similar to Wish but just changing a few details, til I went full on “Screw it, I’m changing everything”

- Asha was going to be Magnifico’s apprentice because she wanted to learn magic, and because she wanted to learn the truth of why her grandfather seemed like he never got his Wish granted, to which the king just said the same lie he said in the rewrite “He wished for you to be in his life”, and although Asha thought that answer didn’t make much sense, she believed it.

- So Magnifico in this version would yearly train a new apprentice, these apprentices after mastering their magic abilities enough would be sent off to study magic in sorcery schools or to be assistants for other wizards… At least that’s what Magnifico told to his apprentice’s families.

- What would actually be going on is that Magnifico takes these young and passionate teens that dreamed of becoming sorcerers like him, mentors them, as in actually teach them magic for real, and not even dark magic just any kind of magic they wanted, so when they became powerful enough he’d steal their magic essence, to make himself more powerful.

- And then he’d just break their wish as a bonus and lock the catatonic teen in the dungeon.

- Asha would be his next victim, buuuuut she found out the truth of what was going on with him cursing the wishes and all that.

- Honestly I’m pretty sure that idea of the apprentices getting their wishes crushed was gonna happen originally in Wish, considering this deleted scene with this Flazino character, that got his wish crushed, and he was the Kings apprentice.

- It’s honestly a cool concept, but I preferred to have Asha be more against the system, and have no previous relationship with Magnifico at all.

- Also the idea that Magnifico has a collection of dead teenagers in his basement is like… Eeeeehh kinda too dark even for me yall.

Anyway! These were some of my deleted ideas! Hope you enjoyed and don’t feel like you were robbed of anything 😅

See y’all next time!

Thank You For Reading!

[iiikaruz]

New CH episodes have made me officially decide to stop caring about the actual cast of the show </3 (/hj but i wish it was /j)

Anyway would you like to share some of your headcanons/scenarios for the side/minor characters ? It always makes my day 💚💖(/nf)

dude i feel you on these new episodes. wtf is going on over there. anyways, i’ll gladly dump this 10 ton stack of headcanons on you that i wrote down!! Marie Antoinette: 

loves hyperpop and 90s house music. she’s so slay (i have a playlist lol)

into european weirdo cinema like Gaspar Noe’s but she also likes chick flicks (her fave films are Climax (2018), Daisies (1966), and But I’m A Cheerleader (1999).)

frequents on lolita forums and goes to really shady places just to get cute lolita items.

has absolutely mastered voguing. super into ballroom culture.

has a pet borzoi (those groovy long-nosed dogs.) her name is “Vanille” and Marie loves her dearly.

wants to study fashion. she especially loves Vivienne Westwood and Moschino.

Jesús Cristo:

is a juggalo, and he indoctrinated Van Gogh into it as well.

says “it is what it is” at any minor inconvenience.

had a mental crisis at 13 as a product to the stress of living up to his clone father. similar to joan’s breakdown in s1e3 but 10x worse. he tries to ignore it when people bring it up.

designated driver on any road trip. for some reason.

into bands like The Cure whilst also bopping to Cypress Hill.

his fave video game is Parappa the Rapper.

accidentally punching holes/nails into his hand is a common occurrence. seems like it just keeps happening, so he’s learned to just roll with it. he’s also a pretty good nurse bc of it.

Marilyn Monroe:

is always down for the school play. BUT she usually just does script-writing and tech. 

into conspiracy theories and video essays. (all gorgeous gorgeous girls love video essays).

is a dedicated Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani stan.

SO “COQUETTE LIZZY GRANT DIOR RETRO” in her fashion choice.

she also gives “elle woods from legally blonde” vibes. straight A student right here.

CERTIFIED GIRLBOSS <3

Thomas Edison:

is obsessed with American Psycho (2000). he has a poster in his room and he’s weirdly obsessed with Christian Bale (very 🍎🍉🍊 of him, but he always excuses it with “oh no, i just idolize and worship him. there’s absolutely nothing gay ab it.” he’s lying.)

also he’s SUCH a pretentious film bro. he has a whole library of stupid film facts shoved in the back of his mind (im totally not projecting).

he only listens to: 80s new-wave stuff like New Order, Oingo Boingo, Beastie Boys, & Talking Heads OR Lana del Rey. There is no in between.

he worked (past-tense bc that shit is GONE in 2023) at a blockbuster video store next to the mall and he liked being a total bitch to people about it (example: “you really rented this shit? this movie sucks, dude”)

after getting unfreezed, he was ECSTATIC over how easy pirating movies is nowadays.

Napoleon Bonaparte:

member of the speech/debate club and he is THE WORST TO BE PAIRED WITH. he’s foaming at the mouth the moment someone gives a rebuttal he didn’t think of. some meetings end in him trying to beat up someone. 

into 80s rock like Metallica and Black Sabbath. he has an electric guitar. he also FUCKING LOVES ABBA AND JAMIROQUAI. like… too much.

unlawfully good at Just Dance. he absolutely fucks it up on the dance floor.

adores fantasy films like Conan (1982) and The Never-Ending Story(1984). he’s so lame/ pos.

he bakes really well. that’s all he’s got going for him.

he either found his napoleonic military uniform at party city or at a thrift store with Marie Antoinette; his story changes depending on who he’s talking to.

he cut his own hair when he was 14. the following conversation after he did so was with caesar, and it was just the haircut scene from fleabag . he then continued to keep his stupid haircut to what it is now.

is a hopeless romantic. he can make up entire love poems & sonnets in his head about a girl he’s crushing on, but literally cannot talk to people without sounding like a douchebag unless he’s super comfortable w/ them.

Ivan the Terrible:

is an avid deftones, sewerslvt, & duster listener (i, unfortunately, ALSO have a playlist.)

spends his nights scrolling on 4chan and arguing w/ people. him & topher have accidentally argued w/ each other AT LEAST 5 times.

literally refuses to take off his ushanka in any weather. it doesn’t matter to him if it’s 90 degrees, that thing is staying ON.

kins Travis Bickle and Shinji Ikari. i mean, just look at this dude and how he presents himself. average NGE & Taxi Driver enjoyer/ hj.

fave video games are Postal 2 and osu!. he plays osu! phenomenally, to the point where it’s impressive. (pls put that energy into a job or something).

and yea that’s all the energy i have to write this down :]

[everygame]

Hi-Fi Rush

Developed/Published by: Tango Gameworks / Bethesda Released: 25/01/2023 Completed: 09/12/2023 Completion: Finished it!

I loved this.

I’m not quite sure why, but saying so feels very exposing. Maybe it’s because before playing Hi-Fi Rush I had no idea what it actually was, and the game’s bright anime-adjacent stylings somewhat had me discounting it out of hand, so I assume the extremely cool people who read this would be doing the same.

Maybe it’s also just that Hi-Fi Rush is… pretty straightforward? It’s not particularly trying to move the medium forward (although I think it does some clever stuff) it’s just trying to be very, very good at what it’s doing. And what it’s doing, actually, isn’t so much “anime” as “full on Sega blue skies” while being an incredible competent 3D action platformer/brawler with a likable (dare I say loveable) cast of heroic misfits telling a simple but effectively structured narrative with some very savvy music choices.

The thing is that… succeeding at something that hits that many beats isn’t actually… easy? Something I’m most struck by is actually those characters. By now we’ve all seen the nadir of Marvel-inspired quip-a-thons thanks to the likes of that Forsaken trailer, but even looking at something like, say, Guardians of the Galaxy, where they have something that (at least previously) had worked, it’s remarkable how flat it falls. Here, you have a goofy, act-first-think-later hero, Chai, the cleverer-than-him female leader, Peppermint, the funny robot, CNMN, etc. in a very simple “baddies are doing bad things, let’s get the different things we need to defeat them” story, but it completely pops because there’s been care to keep the story rolling naturally so you flow through it and grow into caring about them. I’m so insanely curmugeonly that I can’t believed to ride that line for me. But they did!

Now you could say, “ah, but the secret weapon here is that the game uses actual songs that you actually like! That always works!” But it doesn’t work if all the pieces don’t fit together. There’s no better example than one of the game’s latter levels that uses The Prodigy’s Invaders Must Die. It plays at a moment where narratively all hell is breaking loose. It feels like you’re in a climax of an action movie, not just because the music is playing, but because the story has taken you there. That the level design is clever enough to cool down, let the music pull back a little, and then kick it back in for a climax? Absolute chef kiss.

(It only really gets better from there, too. Ending strong is rarely something I think video games aspire to, but Hi Fi Rush is sensibly around the 10 hour mark and the last three levels or so rip. Did the appearance of The Joy Formidable on the soundtrack literally make me emotional? Yes. Yes it did.)

Now interestingly, I haven’t actually played any other Tango Gameworks titles so I don’t really know if I should have expected rock-solid play, but either way I was surprised by how well it does. What makes Hi Fi Rush genius, I think, is that it takes a type of game I am incapable of not button-mashing through and adds a rhythm action component that doesn’t expect but rather, uh… politely asks you to hit your combos on rhythm. And it works!

I can criticise it, somewhat, however They quickly add quite a lot of subtleties to the combat and don’t tutoralise them heavily enough–I didn’t understand how to use Chai’s “partner combos” until well over half-way through the game, and I don’t know if I ever got comfortable with parries because standing around waiting for enemies to attack seemed the antithesis of everything else I was doing. There end up being a lot of buttons and you have to internalise the order of your partners and switching between them rapidly in situations where there are like 3 different kinds of enemies at once meaning at times combat is just a total stramash. But even then, there’s always the beat to follow. It’s very clever.

Anyway. I loved this. It’s one of my favourite things I’ve played in years. Your mileage may vary!

Will I ever play it again? When it finished I wanted to play it more. That literally never happens. I sort of hope there’s a sequel, but the story of this is so pleasantly complete that I’m not sure if there should be one.

Final Thought: I may also be a bit of a sucker for this game because you��re always accompanied by a black cat. Inspired by the game director’s!

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[woundlingus]

Okay I’ve seen Driven (2020) starring richard Speight Jr and I’ve taken some notes to share with the class;

It is not very cinematic. 98% of the shots are very boring. Obviously it’s a very low budget film and that’s not to rag on low budget because a lot of low budget films become cult classics because they have a charm to them that comes from a movie with little money but a lot of love ie. Blair witch project ($60k), paranormal activity (15k) a lot of horror movie franchises start really low budget and it makes them super campy which is what makes them so beloved. But this is boring cinematically. And they don’t commit to what kind of style they want to go with filming and it jumps from very clear steady shots to shaky hand held footage without much rhyme or reason. I think they could’ve done a lot with very little and just the car by incorporating the fact that she’s an “Uber” driver through use of security footage found footage style. Viewing the story from a rear view reversing camera, a passenger camera- those kinds of things and it would’ve given a more visually interesting angle than smack bang in the middle of the dash board and never moving. In a movie that’s comprised 97% of shots of the two of them sitting in a car dialoguing there’s a distinct lack in dynamic shots to spice up the monotony.

Personally I would’ve liked to have seen more of the story happening in the background of things, I think it would’ve been visually fun to see her driving around in The beginning and viewing the oncoming disaster through her windows while she’s distracted with her own personal problems, a little like Shaun of the Dead if you’ve seen that, it’s got this great scene where it’s a one take where he just strolls through town with havoc going on in the background while he’s so self obsessed he doesn’t notice, then we could be part of the journey opposed to getting a lot of information dialogued at us.

The plot is very nonsensical and feels like it was given about 10% of the love and attention for what makes up 90% of the movie while the rest of the care was put into the bantering- which is very good. I will give them that the bantering between the two of them was VERY funny, though I think sometimes they need to know when to let a joke go (toilet spoon).

The two leads aren’t bad actors though, and sometimes that’s really all you need to make something watchable is if the people you’re watching are capable of making a dull script and character interesting to watch, they bounce off of each other with a very natural chemistry on a set where everyone else im going to assume is getting their first big break (no shame, everyone has to start somewhere) because they’re NOT good. Especially Jess who stands there dead eyed and delivers her lines like she’s reading off a teleprompter… that was the worst part of the whole movie, she’s unwatchable it was terrible. It’s a pivotal part of the film, the emotional crux of Emerson coming to terms with needing to self realise that she’s what’s holding her back and Rodger is a dick but his words cut because they’re true. And she’s crying on one side of the car and her ex girlfriend is just “😐 you didn’t… fight for us😐 you sit 😐 in the car of our relationship😐”

It’s very typecast of RSJ to play this kind of guy who’s a little awkward but very flirty and quippy- sassy, I suppose. And he does it VERY well like not just being a Gabriel girlie I always find his joke telling very compelling, but there’s the big emotional climax of the movie where he turns on a dime and snaps at Emerson and it’s MEAN. And I think he’s quite capable of branching out into a more serious type of character role and I’m not sure why he doesn’t, maybe he just likes to play the funny guy and that’s fine but he’s very good at being a little bit crazy and sadistic and I think he could play a good bad guy at some point if he wanted, I think he’s capable of portraying that kind of emotional depth.

The best part is obviously the bi4bi energy going on in this car. They’re both quite awkward and the “my ex girlfriend” rolled off the tongue like it was a very normal thing to say. You know sometimes you watch something and there’s a tense beat and then it’s like “my… girlfriend,” and you’re supposed to go ooooh this is hard for you :( there was none of that. She just spat that out like she was shooting the breeze with someone chill who would just get that, and later brought up an ex boyfriend and there was no needless discussion about bisexuality we’re just expected to get it in the way that Rodger literally could not give less of a fuck about it you know? Cool you’re bisexual, can we get back to hunting demons??? There was no awkward straight guyness to it. He didn’t go “oh? Oh!” Or ask crude details about girl on girl action- you know, the usual stuff. He instead shared his own personal love life strife or lack there of. Bi4bi energy. And chaotic. Love a good bi4bi chaotic duo. Their relationship was the best part of the movie I enjoyed watching them start tense and awkward and quickly bloom into a friendship BECAUSE they’re tense and awkward, it’s fun! There wasn’t a change in character, no suaveness, she does standup comedy it’s dorky it’s cute I think they’re perfect.

And those are all my thoughts, I’d give it a 4/10 just for the distinct amount of missed opportunities they skate on by but it’s not unwatchable, I just certainly would never recommend it to anyone

[oneiric-somnolence]

I watched The Twilight Saga for the first time in 2023.

(Maybe somewhat obviously, there are spoilers for the Twilight Saga in this post! Proceed with caution and care.)

A real post on main, guys! Can you believe it?!

INTRO:

I’m a movie guy. I like films—even the ones that aren’t particularly good. Maybe especially those ones. 

When I’d reached the target age and audience of Twilight (2008), I really was of the scene and aesthetics of someone who should have watched Twilight (that, of course, being an edgy tweenaged girl). It’s release was, however, just a few years before my most conscious ages and by then had already garnered the reputation of being a rather shit film. The specific kind that fell victim to excessive scrutiny because it was targeted towards girls. I was never terribly fond of things for girls (for reasons that would come to make themselves clear in the future) so I naturally joined the hate party. I think at that point, the most I’d even known about the film came from parody in the cartoons i was watching. There may have been a particularly notable Twilight bit in American Dad. Who remembers?

Anyhow—while no longer tweenaged or a girl, I feel as if I have reached the point in my life where I would most respect these films for what they are. I appreciate an amount of cheese and I feel that a lens of nostalgia for the era they come from will cloud my judgement quite beautifully. I hope there to be an amount of earnest in them—as that’s all that a film really needs to be entertaining to me—but I’ve seen criticism of the later films in the franchise for being very of an industry and without the charm that audiences enjoyed from the franchise initially. The quality or charisma of any films after the first (excluding Eclipse) will not be necessary to keep my attention because Michael Sheen is in them. So I’ll do my best to give them all a fair shot and not let the opinions of others snake too far into my mind. 

First up, Twilight (2008)…

TWILIGHT (2008):

Knowing what I do about films in general and my preferences when it comes to them, I was immediately a bit turned off by the two-hour runtime. Even a supernatural action-romance didn’t need to be much longer than 1:45 if they knew what they were doing. It did, however, get the benefit of the doubt for being based on a book. I know that can lengthen things. Now, while it wasn’t exceptionally long, I think the movie would have greatly benefited from being a few tens of minutes shorter just to force them to figure out where their priorities lie and pace things much better. I will revisit this idea many times in the post to come as it is a bit of an issue with the franchise.

The very first thing the movie needs absolute credit for is its style. From the iconic blue filter over the entire movie to the insert song choices to the actors chosen and done up to specifically be beautiful in the way this story desires—they had a vision and they did their best to fulfill it. Now, I feel it necessary to mention I have not read the books nor do I plan to. I’m reviewing the films as films and alluding to the books as an abstract potentiality. I haven’t a damn clue what’s actually in them. With that bit clarified, it seems to me that the filmmakers had an idea of how they wanted to put the book to screen and it seems they’d succeeded. 

My favorite part of the movie before the final climax was—believe it or not—the most memed scene of it: Bella’s confrontation of Edward. I like it. I thought the whole vampire research montage was fun and the “I know what you are” bit was well done and a good buildup-payoff (this will not be very common in these films). Save for the silly vampire super speed moment, it was a visually beautiful scene and a great emotional turning point for the film.

There are a few things that surely wouldn’t have made a teenager in 2008 bat an eye and even would seem their greatest fantasy while not aging well at all. I very much enjoy the dynamic of “I would love to love you and it’s in my very nature to do horrible things to you but I love you too much to ever do them” but, as an already ethically gray trope, it becomes odd to watch when you put two high school juniors in it. Now make one of those juniors an immortal that has been a teenager much longer than the other and you start to wonder what the fuck you’re watching. Lonely flip phone-era girls don’t think about these things and that’s why they’re happier than us. Though, the filmmakers (I’m counting Stephenie Meyer as a “filmmaker” as she did have a hand in it by, y’know, writing the books they’re based on) did think about the oddness of it to some extent because, in the following films, they did wait until Bella was an adult to let things get “serious.” I’ll give them that.

I liked the baseball scene. That may be a bias for how anime it is and the Muse song in the background, but I did think it was a good transition from romance focus to Vampire Murder focus by showing us vampiric abilities in action. I do think the other vamps showing up to crash it and that being the major turning point was rather lame and I can’t exactly say why. That said, I found most of this section of this film to be rather uninteresting. The villains were unengaging—the best vampire out of the three antagonists was Laurent and they did fuck all with him. I rather dislike Victoria (and you will see that that will in no way change for me as the series goes on) and whatever the killer one’s name was. I really didn’t like him—it was no fault of the actor’s as I could tell he was trying really hard with the horrific dialogue he was given. He didn’t convince me as a Killer and had no motivation as a Vampire. 

As for the very end climax of the film, Kristen Stewart is about the only on this cast who could do action sequences convincingly and she was never actually partaking in any of them until they almost killed her. Alright. The final fight had some very pretty and cool shots but the fight choreography was just awkward and boring (this is never remedied even as the franchise goes on). I enjoyed the dynamic of the Cullens for the first time during this fight and I’m happy to say that they stay a very good group of characters from this point on.

If you break the movie into four 40 minute segments, the first half was okay, the third fourth was lame and uninteresting, and the last bit was maybe even quite good. The literal last seconds of the film aren’t a half bad lead into the next movie. I wish they’d prioritized some things and emphasized some other things. If they forced themselves to make this movie 30 minutes shorter, I think they would have found where their priorities lie and it would have been punchier and much more consistent and engaging. Not a completely horrible movie. I feel like they wanted to lean into more of the lore and world building I’m sure the book had, and they take the opportunity to do so in the following films, but you could tell they wanted to. It felt like they either forgot or weren’t sure exactly how. 

It’s a charming film, confident in it's romance but less so in it’s action. It’s got as many dumb and flawed moments as it has nice or enjoyable ones. Worth a watch for the sake of a watch. That’s the best I’ve got—it takes a backseat in your mind once you’ve watched all the others as the story moves so quickly in insane directions. It’s a humble beginning.

Here are some of my various notes I wrote while watching:

“Bella gets sexually assaulted eight minutes into the movie.”

“All the banter dialogue in this movie is completely unnatural and unbearable except all the small town Washington folks. Love them. That said, this is exactly how two extremely awkward teens act when forced to partner up in class.”

“If I was partnered with Edward Cullen, I would just assume he was severely autistic. (ETA: I’m not sure he isn’t. Might be on the spectrum on top of all the vampire shit.)"

“Edward Cullen really was such a dark pretty boy back then, wasn’t he? I’m not trying to imply Robert Pattinson isn’t widely considered beautiful still, but nowadays you can find a guy exactly like him smoking a cigarette and listening to Radiohead on every street corner—and also in every female demographic anime video game since 2010.”

"Edward should’ve just pretended he was surprised about the eye thing and the super strength and whatever. "

“This entire family are freaks and it’s not because they are vampires." 

“I’m starting to wonder if Edward talks so weird because a young Robert Pattinson is struggling to do an American accent."

“These movies would be infinitely less lame if more people got maimed to death. (ETA: They do.)”

“I was unaware of how close this film got to a sex scene.”

NEW MOON (2009):

This series has a habit of introducing a villain with very high potential and then either killing them or elaborating on them in a way that does not matter and doesn’t really amount to anything. This movie is Victoria’s nothing elaboration and the introduction of Aro and the Volturi. 

The Volturi, to me, are these very enticing anime-style villains. I think they’re a good addition to the lore as the governing body of vampires. They have their flaws, as every group in this franchise does, but their existence and the way they work in the story shows intention and direction—something I’ve mentioned these films are quite low on. This film is their exposition. They do little actual villainy within the walls of New Moon and I do wish they were simply more prevalent in general, but this film gives them great context and introduces them very, very well. I’m writing this here as a bit of a preface—they don’t really get too involved until the near end of the movie. This, though, is a good thing. They take the opportunity to properly explain and expose the Volturi and explain to us why we should be scared or be enticed by them before they force us to.

The emotional plot was—I don’t know—something. It seems odd and forced and unsure of itself but it tells us why Edward and Bella need each other and makes sure everyone in the movie is aware of it as well. I appreciate that. Breakup plots when you know they end up just fine together feel like they take forever to get anywhere and make any sense, though I’ll give it the benefit of seeing it through the eyes of that lonely teenage flip phone girl. I’m sure she was quite devastated and would have been left as Bella was if the movie didn’t resolve itself.

This was his movie but still I found a lot of Jacob's plot unmemorable. The only thing I do remember is how this is the film that turned him from the fun, casual alternative into a bit of a weird, obsessed never-even-was-ex-lover who chooses repeatedly and knowingly to insert himself where he isn’t wanted. A bit of Jacob's character is remedied in the following films but he really just enters an odd state where they aren’t sure what to do with him and you aren’t sure if you like him.

It did stop being the werewolf movie by the end of it. This is when the Volturi show up and steal the movie—and Michael Sheen shows up to steal every scene he’s in. I’m told Victoria was the main villain of this film and yet she was the most forgettable aspect of the film. By the time they make it to Italy, you don’t give a single shit about any of that—the feeling of something much bigger sets in as they spend little time wading in What Just Happened and quickly move on to setting up the following films. 

The unsatisfactory pacing and poor prioritization of subject matter per film is somewhat remedied when you start thinking of this Saga as a series—and I do believe it would have been one if the books were adapted in a time where limited series were more popular. Thinking of them as an anime is what made it more easy to finish and accept certain oddities. 

Overall, there was too much of the film that was terribly unremarkable but the good parts were rather very good and gave me a perhaps misguided hope for the next one. To add—I quite liked the soundtrack. The insert songs were often fitting and genuinely added to the scenes they were in.

Here are some of the notes I wrote while watching:

“So far, it’s my impression that these films are just as wildly ambitious as they are confused. It does, admittedly, make them a bit endearing.”

“I don’t think I’d take the time and effort to read the books but I could definitely see this story being much more nuanced and enjoyable in text form. Though I can’t say anything of Stephenie Meyer’s writing style. I haven’t read even an excerpt of it. Maybe it sucks. Who knows.”

“Michael Sheen’s first appearance in this movie is him ripping off a man’s head.” (This was noted simply from sense of amusement. Or perhaps arousal.)

“Alice Cullen is genuinely adorable.”

“I get the emotional implication of the motorcycle but I really don’t think Edward Cullen would be opposed to his girlfriend having a sick ass motorcycle if they were together right now.”

"I’ll admit I have been somewhat too engaged to make notes. So I guess that’s good. “

“Why did Edward fly to fucking Italy to kill himself? Just eat some fucking garlic or something dude.”

“I found this movie to be far more consistently engaging. And my judgement isn’t clouded by having Michael Sheen on screen because he barely was.”

“The vampire fight in Twilight was lame. The vampire fight in New Moon is even lamer since we got to see how fuckin' sick the werewolf fights were.”

“I’ll give credit to this movie for officially engaging me in the plot of these characters. I actually wanted to know where things were going in this movie. I didn’t feel that too hard with the first.”

ECLIPSE (2010):

New Moon sets up the Volturi and Eclipse knocks it down? No, not at all. They aren’t really even here. Victoria. Victoria, Victoria, Victoria. Hey, at least she dies in this one. They foreshadow the conflict very heavily and then go into a bunch of particularly boring relationship nonsense. It sets up for progression within Edward and Bella’s relationship to come but I found the way in which they did it a total snoozefest. I don’t care about the sex lives of teenagers. I’m sorry. Lord forgive me. A lot of what happened in this film could have happened elsewhere. It didn’t particularly need to exist in the grand scheme of the story.

The main point of this movie was Bella’s dichotomies. Bella struggles with the decision to be turned into a vampire and the decision between Edward and Jacob (though, that one less so as the narrative so clearly favors Edward). She’s shown the barbarism of vampires through the newborns and she’s shown the beauty and humanity in them as she talks to the Cullens about their lives and as she falls deeper in love with Edward. There’s a very nice bit where, in a graduation speech, Bella’s friend talks about how her age is about making mistakes and that nothing is permanent. It’s a very nice speech for anyone to hear and sends a good amount of uncertainty to Bella that drags with her until she makes her final decision at the end of the movie. I thought that was rather well done both cinematically and thematically. That may have been the most enjoyable part of the movie for me. 

Despite its flaws, by this movie I was unfortunately hooked. My critical mind had left me and I really was just following the plot. Still, I didn’t have the mind for emotional stuff that bored me and the action aspects of the movie were also rather boring. They gave us good backgrounds on some of the Cullens. The best vampire fight in the movie was when they were sparring. We get some decent vamp/wolf action and some jumping points. This movie was just a bridge but that does mean it leaves you wondering what’s next. The pacing feels a lot nicer, again, if you think of is as a really long episode of a greater series.

My notes are a little more sparse for this one:

“I really don’t find Victoria to be an interesting or scary enough villain to warrant being a villain for this many movies.”

“I think this franchise is so much more bearable when you think of it as an anime. Genuinely.”

“How many actors in these films are English and trying very hard not to be? Lots of weird accents going on here.”

“Every single other Cullen is infinitely more interesting than the one the story chooses to follow."

“I love the Volturi’s anime villainy. It’s my favorite thing in this entire franchise.”

“Jasper may be the weirdest, most fucked up creepo Cullen but he is also the funniest by far.”

“Why does Jacob specifically have to carry Bella to mask her scent? I don’t get it. If he’s so pungent, just him walking with her should be enough, no?”

BREAKING DAWN — PART 1 (2011):

The decisions are made! Edward and Bella are getting married! Then they’ll fuck and turn Bella into a vampire a bit later! Yeah! I know, like, thematically why they place so much emphasis on Edward and Bella having sex but I find it much less interesting than the whole Turning Into a Fucking Vampire thing. Bella gets pregnant. Hell spawn. Everyone gets pissed off. She has the baby. They name it something stupid. She almost dies. Edward turns her into a vampire. Jacob gets the hots for the just-born child and I’m supposed to be okay with that for some reason. Really, even the flip phone girl has to be asking questions by now. There. I summed up the whole movie. Really, that’s pretty much all that happens. Oh! The werewolves wanted to kill the kid, but didn’t. For reasons relating to Jacob wanting to fuck it when it grows up. I don’t know. I’m trying.

This movie was unexciting and just set up Part 2. I suppose it did exactly what it was meant to do but it did nothing for me. There you are.

Wanna read some of my notes? Here:

“If I dreamt Michael Sheen was at my wedding, it would in no way be a nightmare. “

“Sex preparation montage? Okay. I have no comments. I just needed to mention it was there.”

“They really, really don’t know what happens when a vampire impregnates a human? Really? In all this time?"

“Werewolf rage segment doesn’t interest me. The first half of this movie has not been particularly interesting."

“Every single actor in these movies are just beautiful. Genuinely fantastic-looking people. The vampires’ makeup would convince you otherwise though.”

"'Jacob just had an idea.’ '…It wasn’t an idea. It was a snide comment.’ is the funniest dialogue in this whole franchise.”

“Vampire venom CG? Okay."

"Jacob 'imprinting' on Renesmee is such an unbelievably odd and vile thing to put into this story. So fucked up."

“This is the movie that turned Bella into a vampire but still manages to be a boring and unnotable transitional phase into Part 2.”

BREAKING DAWN — PART 2 (2012):

This movie is the actual payoff for the Volturi—if you could call it that at all. This is it: the great climax! And yet it takes so long to get going in a way that means anything. The stakes set you up for everything and give you nothing. 

Bella enjoys being a vampire. Everyone is really mean to her dad for some reason. Everyone got really cool with Jacob taking claim on Renesmee very fast. The Volturi catch wind of Renesmee and think she is a child who was turned into a vampire, which is Vampire Illegal, so once again, they come to hunt down the Cullens. They’re very foreboding and scary and Micheal Sheen pleases me greatly no matter how terrible he looks. Really, with all the lost visions in these movies I wish they could have found a genuinely good design for the vampires—I’d never quite liked how they look. 

Anyhow, the Cullens build a great vampire army to fight off several clones of the Spirit Halloween logo, but, of course, they’re hoping they don’t have to fight and that the Volturi will hear them out. It all comes together in an empty field when the snow sticks to the ground where it’s vampires and werewolves versus the Italians. We see a great battle that gets infinitely lamer-looking when the characters you like join in because God hates you. Humbert and Dolores—I mean Jacob and Renesmee make a break for safety. Vampires get shattered like stone, werewolves go down like sick dogs and Aro rips off Carlisle Cullen’s head. Aro gets his head smashed off. Rami Malek is there. 

But alas! None of it’s real. We cut back in to Aro holding Alice’s hand before they started fighting and reading what she saw in the future—the future he has if they choose to battle today. Aro wants to call it off to save is head in the most literal sense possible but still fears danger remains in the form of a half-human-half-vampire child. Alice reveals a vampire they met who is indeed that and is just fine. Great, even. Grew to maturity and stopped aging. Aro is delighted and just leaves. All is well and all romantic pursuits are happy, including one with Bella’s father who is the only man in this series who deserves happiness. That’s the end of the film and the franchise as it stands.

While I would normally go completely feral and find someone to maim with that kind of “it wasn’t real!” ending, this one feels… earned. It stayed engaging. It had a reason to exist other than just trickery. I have no complaints regarding that and I’m sure it was rather exciting to experience in-theater at the time.

What I have got complaints about is once again that rancid sense that they have no idea where they’re going next. It doesn’t feel at all like they’re done with it but they gave no indication of where they would want to go in the future. With almost no payoff from the best villains in the series—everything just goes back to how it is and everyone’s happy. The only difference between the end of Twilight and the end of Breaking Dawn 2 is that Bella is a vampire now and Renesmee exists. It was an exciting movie but with so little point. This franchise is so afraid of ending but so unsure it’ll go on. It’s understandable but just annoying and unsatisfying as a viewer. It does deserve credit for making me care that there was a good ending, just gets the same points taken back for not giving me one.

Overall, I enjoyed the film. It’s one of my favorites in the series. I can’t, however, rate it as an ending because it isn’t one. I can tell it wants to get there but it’s too unsure.

Last round of notes comin’ up:

“They’ve taken a rather vague stance on if vampires sleep recreationally or not.” (This still annoys me.)

“I know I’m saying this while I actively chose to watch the goddamn Twilight Saga but I do not care one single bit about the vampire sex. It’s the least interesting part of these films. They managed to make Vampire Sex boring. I don’t get it.”

“Rami Malek was quite a sweet thing in this movie. I’m used to his characters being like sick or on drugs or something.”

“I like that that credits were kind of credits for the whole franchise. that’s nice.”

“Okay, I did not expect Billie Joe Armstrong once the scrolling credits came in.”

CLOSING STATEMENTS:

It’s not a series that’s going to change your world. I don’t even think it’d make a viewer of average sensitivity cry unless it hit a nerve specific to the viewer. It’s a flawed story, but ultimately an interesting and deeply earnest one. I find there’s a charm specific to the first and final movies. That isn’t to say the other’s were less interesting, just that the franchise has a problem with drive and direction. Quite obviously, the very first and the very last are the ones easiest to overcome that. The series is best at its most certain. There were moments it seemed rather confused about what was important or how something was to be portrayed, but within the moments that were very confident in themselves was an engaging supernatural romance, and I find it quite easy to give it the benefit of the doubt more often than not. 

In two words—flawed, charming. It does what it wants to do and isn’t completely terrible at it. Overall enjoyable films. 

I wouldn’t recommend someone sit through them all unless I think they would actually like that kind of thing or if they were making an essay about it. I might, however, recommend that one who enjoys films watch the first and perhaps second to see if they may be unexpectedly enticed. I found myself—to my own discontent—hooked in by the third one. I don’t recommend holding out that long if you really aren’t enjoying yourself but if you insist on giving them a fair chance, that’s my anecdote. 

[moviemunchies]

Before this movie came out, there were some reservations about it–whether it would be good, or if it would even be released. There were problems with the state of the DC movie universe, for starters, and the weirdness going on with Warner Brothers management. Despite all of that, the guys at Warner Brothers insisted that this movie was coming out, and that it was “one of the greatest superhero movies ever made.”

It is… not.

Barry Allen is the Flash–a founding member of the Justice League and the fastest man alive. Upon getting a better grip on his power to travel through time, Barry decides that he can prevent his mother’s murder and clear his father’s name through a very simple switch-up. So he does that; except he’s thrown out of the timestream unexpectedly to his eighteen-year-old self’s life, where his mother is alive and he’s in college. 

Except everything’s changed! Because changing history isn’t only going to change the present, it also disrupts everything else, so Barry’s now in an alternate timeline. And in this timeline, Zod is invading and Barry can’t find Superman or the League around to help. So he’s got to figure out how to save the world, and then get home.

Yeah, it’s another loose adaptation of Flashpoint.

This movie was being billed as the thing that was going to reset the DC continuity for the movies and put it in the new state for Superman: Legacy. Except watching it, the movie is plainly not that at all–the way the universe is left at the end of this movie is not really compatible with whatever they’re doing with the new DC movies. The end result is that the movie feels pointless in its conclusion, a funny little one-off that affects nothing.

It’d be more forgivable if we’d had more time with this iteration of Barry Allen/the Flash. Instead, much like Superman in Snyder’s movies, we’re skipping straight to big stories without developing these characters enough to care. And now we’re getting no more of Barry Allen, or at least this Barry Allen.

Which is kind of a shame? Because I went into this out of curiosity, and I didn’t expect that much from it. I remember for the first third of the movie or so, I was having a surprising amount of fun. I liked this version of Barry. I enjoyed seeing his interactions with his fellow Justice Leaguers, and I thought about how I’d love to see more of these characters interacting. I’d love to see more stories about Barry, but I don’t think we will, at least not anytime soon.

Also, Ezra Miller went kind of insane in the last year or so, and that’s probably an admittedly good reason as to why they’re not rushing to make more anytime soon.

The multiverse is pretty weak here–people have written pieces as to why we’re all sick of the multiverse by this point, and that’s fair. Other than the main Plot itself, where Barry is in an alternate timeline, it only really comes up in the climax, to sort of say, “Hey! We remember all of these past DC iterations! Do you?” Okay, fine, that doesn’t make it good storytelling. It’s not terrible, it’s just not great, either.

Michael Keaton’s a fun Batman. I’m going to be honest with you–I never had much attachment to the 1989 Batman. I liked this take on Batman, though I don’t know if that means he should have replaced Ben Affleck, or even the Thomas Wayne from the comic; the decision to reference the Burton film felt more like fanservice than something that actually made sense.

Also! Question: why does Iris like Barry? By the end of the film, she’s clearly interested in him, and while we know he’s a great guy, the way he’s acted towards her throughout the movie isn’t very appealing from her point of view. She should be incredibly skeptical about his prospects as a romantic partner, if anything. It seemed like a typical ‘Nerd guy gets The Girl’ Hollywood trope than actually writing for the characters.

This movie feels like it’s had a dozen reshoots added to it, to try to make it appeal to more fans through references, and to try to make it fit or not fit in a new DC universe. And while it’s great fun at times, I’d have preferred if the movie only tried to tell a singular story. I would like an actual Flash movie that had Barry interacting with his own supporting cast and rogues gallery–because Flash has an amazing rogues gallery! Thawne! Zoom! Captain Cold! Mirror Master! These would be fun on a massive blockbuster budget!

And it’s pretty darn egregious that, with everything that’s going on in Warner Bros, that they canceled Batgirl, a film with a female Hispanic lead, and kept straight on with this, when its star has actually committed crimes and threatened people.

I don’t know! I had more fun watching this than I expected, and that was a nice surprise! At the same time, this far from “one of the greatest superhero movies ever made” that was promised–I don’t know how someone even arrived at that proclamation, unless the executives decided “nostalgic references to previous movies” counts as quality. Given the state of Hollywood, that’s a possibility.

If you’re a massive DC fan, or liked other movies in this iteration of the DC universe, than you’ll probably have some fun with this movie. But is it a must-watch? No. Not even close.

[kateywritinganalysis]

4/1 Blog Post

“Kimi No Na Wa” or “Your Name” is my favorite movie of all time. I could just sit there and rewatch it as much as possible. From the visuals to the OST, this movie is absolutely gorgeous. If we didn’t have it already have it assigned to us to watch, I would have requested it for every class pick. Every frame of the movie can serve as a wallpaper and I commend the animators for creating something so beautiful. Ever since I watched this movie, I have listened to the songs and even background music on repeat. Mitsuhua’s theme is a particular favorite of mine and it merges so well with the “Katawaredoki” song, as they play in similar keys. There’s a sense of loneliness when listening to Mitsuhua’s theme as she is constantly being separated from someone she cares about. For both her and Taki, they forget about what happens every time they switch bodies, but their feelings for one another transcend time. While there are romantic aspects to it, it is more of the deep bond and connection they have to one another due to their fate being tied to one another. Even though they live at different times, they maintain this connection and desire to find one another, which leads to the eventual meeting with Mistuhua and Taki (years before the meteor strike), and her giving him the “red string of fate” ties them to one another in the future to prevent the deaths that the meteor caused.

The Katawaredoki scene is probably one of the most iconic parts of the movie. Fora climax point of the story, it is calming. During twilight, the two times merge and Taki and Mistuhua finally meet one another. A lot of peopleget frustrated with the fact that Taki had written “I love you” on Mitsuhua’s hand as opposed to his name, but it makes sense. She would have forgotten his name as the body switches to them are like fleeting dreams and it probably would have gotten erased, similar to the notes they had left on each other’s phones. However, since he had written “I love you” instead, he left her with a feeling instead, which cannot be erased. In the time skip, Taki had felt like something was missing throughout his life and we can assume that Mitsuhua had felt the same way up until they finally see each other once again in the final scene.

There is a lot more than can be said about this movie, but it is a little funny how we go from Penguindrum (a story about fate) to Your Name, which uses fate as a storytelling tool as well, but (in my opinion) in a more cohesive way.

This made me also regret not recommending “A Silent Voice” for any of the class picks week.

[hamliet]

Hello, Stranger (Things)

So, Hamliet finally watched Stranger Things, motivated by the promise of a super hot squid villain I mean, 80s nostalgia and a good story. 

Overall, I enjoyed it. Eleven and Max are my daughters, and Will is my son. Steve and Eddie are too pure for this world (so were Alexei and Bob). Robin and Erica are amazing. Nancy is my girl. It is a good story. 

The writing itself varies wildly, with characterization inconsistency as the story’s main flaw. Seasons 1 and 2 were extremely tightly written and well done. Season 3 is definitely the weakest, with several characters just doing what the plot needed them to do for Reasons, but it ironically has what was, for me, the most satisfying climax. I also found Season 4, while also having some very, very, very obvious flaws in its writing, the most interesting in terms of themes about the past, choices, parents, and more. We’ll see if they continue to explore those in Season 5. If they do, it could be great. 

The Part Where I Complain

Y’all know critique’s coming so let’s get it out of the way before I gush about other things and give theories. 

Season 1: 

The subtext around intercutting shots of Nancy choosing to have sex for the first time with scenes of her BFF literally dying is decidedly Not Great. Yes, I know it is a deliberate flouting of the typical horror movie trope in which the dark-haired girl who has sex gets murdered. But it still relies on this premise that women choosing to have sex for the first time is a negative and results in losing your friends and not knowing who you are anymore. 

Season 2: 

Season 2 introduces the good victim/bad victim dichotomy between El and Kali, and Max and Billy (which continues into Season 4 with Henry). The writers also don’t seem interested in exploring this deeper. 

Also, the writers are addicted to sacrificial death starting this season. 

Season 3: 

If you thought I was going to complain about Billy’s death, you’re not wrong. But it’s honestly decently done so writing-wise it’s not terrible, and now I’ve complained a bit so let’s go on.

Why did Steve and Billy never interact again? After that fight in Season 2, there was unfinished business. I can only conclude the writers were terrified of the sexual tension. (I kid. Kind of.) 

Mostly, here is where the inconsistent characterization emerges. Hopper’s character is the worst victim of this. His arc could have worked, but the execution didn’t. It makes a lot of sense for Hopper to struggle with anxiety and to have all his insecurities stirred up with having a daughter again. But how controlling he was to the point of threatening a child? It wasn’t shown how he got there at all. Hopper deserved a way better arc than acting controlling with El and Joyce without the substance behind that being explored.

Jonathan was also somewhat inconsistent in Season 3, again not because his conflict couldn’t work, but because the writers didn’t put the time or effort into making it work. Jonathan being mad at Nancy for pursuing the rat lead was a bit nonsensical, and then being furious when they lost their jobs--the conversation about their experiences with sexism and classism could be an excellent source of conflict for them. However, it’s brought up just once and then dropped. If you’re gonna bring it up, explore it. 

And I know the show isn’t over and these issues could come back, but like. Patience only gets you so far when you’re telling a story in serial format which inevitably affects the experience consuming it.

Season 4: 

Why is the Upside Down’s poison air now gone? Do you know how obvious a worldbuilding inconsistency has to be for me to notice and care? 

Brenner’s characterization was also a retcon that puts BNHA’s Enji retcon to shame. ~He may have abused and been a monster, but he still really loved them~ The complexity, again, is not inherently bad, but it wasn’t even remotely hinted at earlier and four seasons is a long time to suddenly be like “surprise!” But I am glad El chose not to say she understood at the end. 

Ye old "the way the world is is actually a prison and we should change it" is again the ideology of a villain. Like... really, it’s a bit tiring to see revolutionary ideas always framed as dangerous. Not that I’m advocating violence or Vecna’s solution, but.  Vecna's making points. Since we can't have that let's show him slaughtering innocents to show us he's wrong even though--well--some of it ain't wrong. 

The clear neurodivergent and gay coding of Henry Creel is... here is where I’ll invoke patience. I’m not entirely ready to say I don’t like this yet. It really depends on how the show handles it next season. 

The Parts Where I Liked Things

Will’s sexuality (and also, just. Will) 

Going into Stranger Things, I only knew a few things. I did know that many people were complaining about Will being a queerbait-y character, and went into the show expecting Will’s sexuality to be a subtextually teased thing that I would complain about. 

Not the case.

Even before Season 4 Volume 4, and actor interviews aside, the show is very upfront about Will’s sexuality from like the first 20 minutes of Season 1 Episode 1. If people didn’t get that Will was gay, I’m sorry, but--how? Joyce literally says that he’s “sensitive,” and other kids call him “queer” and other things. Season 3 has Mike directly state that Will does not like girls. Yeah, kids say stupid shit all the time and people develop at different paces, but it’s a story, not real life where we say dumb things that don’t matter. In a story every detail should be important. The writers are trying to set expectations. Something that is repeated multiple times across seasons is obviously intentional. It doesn't need to be spoonfed to the audience be abundantly clear that Will is gay. 

The scene in Vol 2 of Season 4 where Jonathan and Will talk--where Jonathan is clearly telling him that he knows Will is gay and he loves him--is beautiful, one of the show’s best scenes. 

Give Will a Boyfriend please (Mikhail, anyone?) 

But, more on Will later. 

Season 4′s Themes

Like I mentioned earlier, I really enjoyed Season 4′s questions about the past, about parents, about the difficulties of growing. Everyone regressed this season: Jonathan being Mr. Mom, Joyce was absent (even w good cause), Max isolated herself, El thought she was the monster again, Steve obsessed over Nancy, etc. 

Steve: Too Pure, Too Good For This World

Speaking of Stancy/Jancy... the writers really don’t need to draw out this love triangle. Unless a major retcon is coming (not impossible), Jancy should be endgame as it’s always been set up to be. Steve and Nancy will probably have another moment, but there’s enough weird framing of Steve’s feelings in Season 4 to make me doubt any possible endgame for them. Despite Dustin and Robin insisting it’s true love, Nancy never once said it was love herself, and the problem is that Steve also says--after Dustin has already suggested he get Nancy back--that he would date Robin if she was not a lesbian. Hence, I’m not convinced the story wants us to buy Steve really loves Nancy, or if he just loves an idea of hers.

The thing is, Steve already has what he says he dreams of. He wants six kids. Well, that’s ironic considering he has six kids Robin explicitly identifies as “your kids”: Dustin, Mike, El, Max, Lucas, Will. He also says he dreams Nancy is there with them and the kids--and she is. She already is, even if not romantically. My guess is Steve will realize this at the end of his arc. 

Honestly, Steve’s arc is a fantastic deconstruction of toxic masculinity. Which... don’t hurt him Duffers. Don’t. I’m begging you. 

Max Will Be Fine

Seriously, I promise. Max will be fine. You don’t leave a character in a coma unless you plan to wake them up, unless you’re the latter two seasons of Angel levels of horrifically bad writing which, for all of my complaints, Stranger Things is not. 

Max is heavily foiled with Vecna (and Chrissy): traumatized, isolated child subject to the whims of their unstable mother. Vecna tells Eleven that he wants them to make their own rules, essentially to be gods of the world. Max, way back in Season 3, tells Eleven that “we make our own rules.” 

Max’s words are what El remembers when she brings Max back. No, this isn’t negatively framing El bringing Max back. It’s showing that there might in fact be some nuance. Max’s rules are based in love and friendship, in hope, in love of humanity, while Vecna’s are based in hatred of humanity. To uphold Max’s message--which the story needs to do--Max has to live. 

Eleven, I am Your Brother!

Okay, now let’s talk Squid. 

Henry’s whole story is Star Wars. Actually, Season 4 was just Star Wars (makes sense given the 80s stuff). Brenner was Yoda, telling Eleven that she wasn’t ready to leave just yet, that if she ran out to save her friends she’d fail. I know the prequels weren’t until the late 90s-early 00s, but Anakin killing the younglings is clearly the inspiration of Henry’s rainbow room massacre. And Henry’s “join me, Eleven, to build a better world” speech is essentially Vader’s speech to Luke and Kylo Ren’s speech to Rey braided together. 

With that said, I fully expect Henry to get some kind of human ending. Will he atone? Don’t think so. But the foreshadowing is pretty obvious. (More on that later.) 

Brenner tells El that she and Henry are not alike: “that’s where your similarities end.” Brenner’s the least reliable narrator about this. (Also, you cannot give the abuser--Brenner--a redemptive death and not give that compassion to his victim.)

El and Compassion 

El’s true superpower isn’t her telekinesis. It’s her compassion. It was her compassion, her empathy with the abused child in Billy, that inspired Billy to sacrifice himself. Her compassion saved Will. Yeah, she’s human and lashes out, but she loves deeply. Her compassion freed Henry and then her uncontrolled powers turned him into Vecna (not that she’s at fault; she isn’t). But her compassion should ultimately be what helps save the world.

Vecna himself asks El this. "Why cry for them after everything they did to you?" Well, let's see Vecna. Why does Max cry for Billy? It’;s kind of a theme in Stranger Things. Even without forgiveness (like El not forgiving Brenner), she still acknowledged his humanity. I don’t have to love it to see the theme as it is. 

I strongly suspect the main question at the end for Vecna will be "after all I've done to you, why cry for me?" But compassion is what Vecna’s missing, what he lacks in his view of humanity. It’s the true magic of being human.

Henry and Vecna, Unreliable Narrator

Did Vecna choose to become the monster like he proclaimed? Yes. And no. 

It’s not a coincidence that an abused child targets other abused, isolated, and traumatized children. Even if Victor loved Henry, his mother was clearly implied to be considering locking him up and lobotomizing him. Like... woof. There’s a lot there subtextually. He’s clearly targeting himself as much as he’s targeting everyone else. I’m not sure the writers will entirely explore this, though. But I do think they will have him experience humanity again. They should. 

Honestly, Victor should die trying to save/stop his son. If Victor’s alive, and if he mourns his son--which he does--he should have to consider whether he loves Henry despite everything that Henry has done. If he does, he should try to convey that even if it kills him. 

But who will the actual key be to stopping Vecna? 

Will as the Key

So, there are two characters--and only two--who have survived the Upside Down for any significant length of time. Vecna, and Will. 

I actually think Will is the one who can reach Henry. It can't be Eleven, because Henry sees her as having hurt him. But a “weak” helpless boy who is an outcast, gay (Henry is absolutely coded this way) and has just been suffering his entire life still choosing love (or even choosing corruption for a time and going back to love/friendship even though I doubt the writers have the balls for this particular plotline)? 

Vecna thinks he and El are the two most alike, but it’s actually Vecna and Will. And Will is so human, in everything Henry thinks he hates about human beings. He’s not superpowered. He’s a sad boy in unrequited love with his best friend. He just happens to have a mom and brother who love him. 

Plus, tbh, structurally Will should be the focus of season 5. Season 1 was Mike (the heart, which Will called out funnily enough in Season 4), Season 2 Lucas (the mind), Season 3 Dustin (the body), Season 4 Eleven and Max. 

Obvious Foreshadowing is Obvious

I’m not sure how much clearer the D&D game at the start of Season 4 could be in terms of foreshadowing. 11 couldn’t defeat Vecna. 

But 20 did.

How interesting that the three kids still alive are 11, 8, and 1, which totals 20. 

Henry--Vecna’s humanity--is probably going to be key to stopping himself. No, I don’t think he’ll get any sort of classic redemption, and he certainly won’t survive it, but I can see him pulling a Zeke Jaeger where he doesn’t exactly repent but still chooses to sacrifice for some bigger goal like destroying the Upside Down or something in a moment of compassion in the end. 

[clevermird]

Review: The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley

I first read this book when I was about twelve and I remember not caring for it at all – Disney’s Robin Hood was one of my favorite movies, I’d eagerly devoured several other print versions of the legend and in comparison, The Outlaws of Sherwood seemed boring, tame, and unadventurous. But reading it again as an adult has given me a new perspective and I think I can now say that this book is actually quite good.  Robin has no dreams of becoming a famous outlaw or a legendary marksman. He’s just a young Saxon man trying to survive the Norman occupation of England. But when the bullying he endures from his fellow forest rangers escalates to an accidental murder, he flees into the depths of Sherwood Forest where his best friends, idealistic miller’s son Much and discontented noblewoman Marian, convince him that his impulsive act of rebellion could become a symbol for something much more powerful. And as more people gather in the woods, each with their own cause or hurt driving them to risk everything, it seems as though Much and Marian may be right.  This book attempts a more realistic take on the Robin Hood legend than some other depictions, examining in a very subdued way how legends are built and heroes forged from the collective efforts of larger groups and of the value of symbols to a movement, as well as the ways that those of different backgrounds and talents can nonetheless contribute – cooking, carpentry, and contacts with the outside world prove to be as valuable to the outlaws as trick shooting in many cases. What my younger self interpreted as a frustrating lack of excitement and flash seems now to be more of a simple, down-to-earth approach to the story (although still peppered with the author’s signature wry humor and romanticism). The result is an oddly relaxing story that nonetheless still delivered on some tense moments. Also worth noting is that this is perhaps the first book I’ve read by Robin McKinley where I didn’t feel like the ending was rushed, and in fact the climax and denouement felt very well-paced to me.  The only major critique I have for this book is actually the main thing that bothered me as a child as well, and although the sharpness of the complaint has blunted since then, the point remains. Towards the end of the book, several of the supporting characters take increasing prominence in the narrative, to the point that by the climax, most of the story is from their perspective. While this is, I believe, deliberate, to emphasize the theme of Robin Hood being a collective symbol rather than a single man, I started to feel as though Robin (who I did quite like with his practical cynicism and reluctant soft heart) was becoming a bit player in his own story.  Nonetheless, The Outlaws of Sherwood is a really solid read for fans of Robin Hood or of historical fiction with a fairytale-esque bent. It brings little new to the table, but the comfortable prose and likable characters more than make up for it. 

Rating: 8/10

[trulyinspiringmovies]

Suzume

“Suzume” is a great movie, but never reaches the impossible heights of “Your Name.” or “Weathering With You”.

Suzume Iwato is riding her bike to school one day and spots a handsome man walking in the opposite direction. He stops to ask her where the nearest ruins are and Suzume lets him know. After continuing with her ride to school for a little, she decides to go find the man again. She goes to the ruins and finds a mysterious, lone door instead.

Saying that this movie had an uphill battle is an understatement. It was already being compared to the phenomenal “Weathering With You” and almost perfect “Your Name.” because it’s made by the legendary director Makoto Shinkai. I had the highest of expectations for this movie and was ecstatic to finally see a Makoto Shinkai movie in theaters. I wanted to watch “Weathering With You” in theaters, but I had to go to the city to watch it and the pandemic was shifting into full gear at the time. After watching "Suzume”, I’m glad I got to watch it in theaters, but it didn’t hit as hard as Shinkai’s previous two movies. For starters, I thought the concept was definitely cool, but not very fleshed out. I would’ve loved to know more about the mechanics of how the fantasy aspects worked, but they were never really explained. It was hard to get surprised by anything when the majority of the movie has you going with the flow. I wish I knew more about the Worm like where it came from or why it’s such a force of destruction. I feel like there was an opportunity to tie it in with the theme of this movie that was completely missed. The motivations of the first keystone also felt flimsy to me. It was hard to tell if it was a villain or just causing mischief. The second keystone comes out of nowhere and basically comes along for the adventure without properly announcing itself. The doors are also a cool concept that isn’t really fleshed out all that much. Looking through them allows you to glimpse into the afterlife, but the living cannot pass. Locking them prevents the worm from causing disasters. The only people who can lock these doors are Closers. The special reason why Suzume is able to close the doors is because she’s been in the afterlife before. She wandered there while looking for her mother. What I don’t understand is why Suzume was even able to get to the afterlife in the first place. The rules clearly state that the living can’t so why was Suzume able to? The romance between Suzume and Sōta has been contentious because of the age gap, but it’s never really brought any attention, so I didn’t really care. Plus dating in Asian countries is different from here in the States, so I don’t want to push my cultural norms onto an entire country. My problem with the pair is how much I don’t really care for their relationship. These romance anime movies are dependent on the main character’s chemistry in order to win over the audience. Suzume and Sōta don’t really have any. Sōta is a chair for the majority of the runtime, so it’s hard to have the two build a meaningful relationship. The only real thing Suzume knows about Sōta is that he’s handsome and he wants to become a teacher. That’s about it. The movie still ends up being gorgeous to look at and has an amazing soundtrack. I know I’ll be humming the theme to myself for a very long time. It tries to deliver that signature Makoto Shinkai gut punch at the end and it would’ve definitely worked if the story was a bit stronger. I felt a lump in my throat during the climax, but it wasn’t enough to really push me to cry. That’s because the situation alone was heartbreaking, but the context didn’t reinforce it. I’d say, this lands somewhere in the middle of Shinkai’s filmography, but it’s still definitely worth the watch. Just because it isn’t great by Shinkai’s standards doesn’t mean it’s not better than most movies.

★★★★

Watched on April 13th, 2023

[niobe-loreley]

Heaven Is In A Shortcake {vii}

it's been so long? huhuhuhuu~ cuz of that 2 chapters incoming!

disclaimer: The Gray Man and the characters are NOT MINE, even the reader. I only own the plot and the reader's character lol. Pictures used in the fic are NOT MINE, only the edited version of the pics (u can msg me if u ze owner); credits to the rightful owners and to canva + weheartit. Addtionally, I am not a Subic/Zambales native, so my apologies for any wrong locations, descriptions, or languages.

Six x F!Reader / Courtland Gentery x Female Reader

warnings: moderate swear words. some filipino dialogues. slow burn. fluff. trust issues. comedy if you use a magnifying glass. culture shock. check some word count.

CHAPTER SELECTION in the ✨Masterlist✨ Chapter 6 - where is this? in the masterlist! Chapter 7 - this is IT [next chapter link will be posted below for suspense and convenice hehe]

word count: 3k (N/N): nickname *Kiara = Claire *Kurt = Court *cover names | reader doesn't know (except you do know #wreckthe4thwall)

“Hoy, (N/N)!”

“Huh?”

“Tapos na shift mo, ba’t ka pa nandiyan?”

“For extra cash?”

After the manager of Ril Steak scolds you for overworking, you start heading to the staffroom. You actually didn’t realize the time, because you’re too busy recalling the rising action of your summer. It's the dispute you had with Court three weeks ago.

“.. Kiara and I are the Road Runner. So don’t go making promises you can’t keep.”

You don’t know why it suddenly pops into your mind. Maybe because it's either filled with books, movies, the father-daughter duo, or anime, and no in between. But you let the memories ride you like a rollercoaster as it's almost reaching this summer's climax— the loop-de-loops.

Rewind back to three weeks ago…

Claire hasn’t contacted you ever since they got back from their 3-day trip. You wonder if she’s starting to heed her dad’s ways of not getting too close to you, but you also wonder if she and Court are fighting because of you. You feel like that’s too narcissistic. It’s easier to say she’s avoiding you. Still, aren’t you just a troublemaker? (Note the sarcastic cooing).

Without a second thought, you’re befriending a foreign teenage girl with a damning cardiovascular system and exchanging books with her like old friends. What’s more is that you’re trying to prove yourself to her father. Since when did you care if anyone thought you were kind or not? He’s not worth shit of your kindness, however, his daughter is a different story.

“(N/N), do you read me? Don’t give it back to him.” Claire says as soon as you open the two-way radio. “I repeat, don’t give the walkie-talkie back to my dad. Over.”

“I read you, Kiara. And I actually concluded before sleeping this morning that I really won’t give it to him. Over.”

"Wow, so steadfast. That's admirable. Over."

It’s Thursday— rest day! You’ve done nothing but sleep from 8 AM to 7PM. Ril Steak was packed last night. Plus, there was a fight, it happened two hours before closing. You can’t wait to tell Claire how you smack a bottle on someone’s head to save your co-worker from being pummeled.

“What’s more admirable is you rebelling. Or did Kurt give back your walkie-talkie? Over.”

“Nah, I’m rebelling. We’re kinda fighting ‘cause of you. Over.”

Yikes. So, you weren’t being narcissistic. Intuition for the win.

“Don’t take that the wrong way, (N/N)! I mean,” Claire pauses to hiss out a profanity. “It’s not your fault. My dad just thinks we’re the only two people on the planet, and talking to flowers is a bad thing. Over.”

You snort. “Luckily for you, this flower doesn’t just talk— she claps back! Over!”

“Damn right, she does!” Claire giggles, “Over.”

You let the gleeful moment pass, counting to three, you sigh heavy-heartedly. “Still, Kiara.. I don’t want you and your dad fighting because of me.” you glance at the miniature ferris wheel on your bedside drawer, “Not when it sounds like you two are all you have left of each other. Over.”

“.. Is it that obvious?”

You smile. “It wasn’t at first. But then, I got to know you two.” and you recline on your swivel chair, “A month is enough to get to know a person.. right?”

Static answers you back, but you know she’s still on the other side of the line, so you continue. “It’s easier to say that I’m doing this out of pity, but I’m not. You remind me of my little sister, Kiara.. but I like you because you’re not entirely like that snot-nosed brat I love very much.” you breathe out a laugh, “You’re a good kid, I’m sure you understand why your dad is being like this. Over.”

“Yeah, I understand, but..”

You wait for two seconds before you press the button. “See? You’re smart and very mature for your age, too. Over.”

“Why do you sound like you’re saying goodbye, (N/N)?— Over.”

“I’m not saying goodbye to you, just to our transmitted talks. Over.”

“I thought you said you weren’t giving it back to him?”

“I’m not. But I am reducing the schedule of our late night talks.” you pause to prepare your mother-like tone, “It’s way past your bedtime, young lady!— Over.”

“....”

“We’ll still see each other every Friday, okay? Over.”

“Promise?— Over.”

Shit.

You sigh and press the button. “Well, unless my schedule changes, or I get sick, or Godzilla emerges from the sea.. then cross my heart, hope to die. Over.”

“Don’t say that, (N/N)!” Claire suddenly cries.

Something squeezes your heart, you wait for three seconds this time, but Claire continues to stay silent. “K-Kiara? What do you mean? Over.” you question worriedly.

Her voice frizzles through, you’re not sure whether it’s static or there’s really a crack in her voice. 

“I’m sorry.. I gotta go. You know, chores.” she begins to sound upbeat, “See you tomorrow night? Over.”

You falter. “Yeah, sure.. tomorrow night. Over.”

“Great! Buh-bye! Over and out.”

Claire turns off the portable radio, glaring down at it, she picks it up to throw it across the room. But she stays still. She knows the consequences of letting someone else into her and Court’s lives, but she only realizes now that she doesn’t fully understand it yet, especially about— what could happen to you.

There’s a weight of another person in the room, Claire looks over to see Court at the opened door, which was previously locked. He gazes into her glassy eyes, guilt etching his face with a frown, and he regards the floor, mulling over on how to comfort her.

“Good night, Six.” she says with a sigh, depositing the radio on her bedside drawer, she lays down on her side.

Court tightens his jaw. “Good night, Claire.” and flicks the switch, swiveling away to exit the room, he grabs the door—

“I’m not mad at you, you know.”

He halts, turning sideways to look back at her, even though the streetlight is the only illumination of her room, years of training in the dark has allowed Court to find her smiling at him through the dimness. “Thank you,” he replies, tensed shoulders loosening with relief. “And in case you don’t know, I’m not mad at you either.”

She scoffs. “As if you could be.”

He shakes his head in disbelief. “What’s gotta give for you to take me seriously?”

Claire hums. “Your trust issues, for one.”

“What?”

“To elaborate.. get a girlfriend,” Claire sits upright. “Or atleast, have sex. You’re probably all pent—”

“Good night, Claire.” Court firmly interjects,  stepping out of the room with burning ears.

“Oh, c’mon, don’t run away! I should be the one running away!”

“I said, good night!”

“And I heard you the first two times.”

“Will you just get back to bed?”

Surprisingly, today’s Friday is not busy. Or so you thought. As soon as the clock strikes 11 AM, customers have been coming in relentlessly. It’s been a while since the cafe has been full, some customers have taken the tables outside; luckily, you cleaned them this morning. It was destiny— or rather accidentally sweeping a finger across one of the tables and ending up with a dust-coated fingertip.

The customers start to diminish around 8 PM, Mindy wanted to flip the sign from OPEN TO CLOSED, but you and Muro managed to stop her. When no customers show up for 30 minutes, the three of you decide to eat in the CCTV room, watching a Netflix movie on Mindy’s phone rather than eyeing the surveillance footage.

“Buti naga-adjust na si Lilia,” Mindy suddenly says, taking a sip of her canned root beer. 

It’s good that Lilia is adjusting.

You nod. “Masipag naman kase.” She’s diligent.

“Imagine kung hindi, edi lagot ka kayo pareho nung bata kay Eliza.” Muro snickers.

Imagine if she wasn’t, you and the kid will both be reprimanded by Eliza.

You can’t retort with a mouthful of carbonara, so you kick his chair instead. Muro nearly falls, and Mindy laughs at his attempts to stay upright.

When everyone has had their fill, you’re chosen by roleta (picker wheel) to wash the dishes. You play music from your phone before slipping it in your apron. Mindy hollers for you just as Lutang by jikamarie starts playing.

“What?” you holler back instead of going over to the surveillance room, she and Muro have opted to stay there to continue watching the movie.

“Nandito na sila!” They’re here!

“Ha? Sino?” you loudly ask, looking over to see Mindy peeking out of the surveillance room’s doorway, which is just beside the door to the staffroom.

She makes a face at you. “Edi sino pa ba?”

Muro suddenly, yet carefully, sidles past her. "Ako na d'yan, (N/N)." I'll handle that, (N/N).

"Fine," you sigh and wipe your hand on the drying cloth hanging near the sink.

"Bakit? May nangyari ba?" Mindy questions. Why? Did something happen?

Your brows knot puzzledly. "Ha? Saan?"

What? Where?

"Ano ba?! Ba't ka ganyan, haa?!" Mindy smacks you upside the head when you pass by, "Malamang tinatanong ko kung may nangyari ba sa'yo at sa mag-ama! Panay buntong hininga ka kase tuwing name-mention sila tapos humahaba mukha mo parang kabayo!"

What are you doing?! Why are you acting like this, huh?! — "I'm obviously asking about the father-daughter duo! You're always sighing whenever they're mentioned, and then your face would stretch like a horse!

"Bakit may mangyayari sa'min?! 'Di naman kami gano'n ka-close na makakapag-usap araw-araw!" you shout, rubbing the back of your head. "Tuwing Friday nga lang nagki-kita… Nabatukan at nainsulto pa ko."

Why would anything happen to us?! We're not that close to talk everyday! — We only see each other on Fridays… I was even smacked and insulted.

You exit the kitchen with a smile. "Hey, you guys!" you greet in a large yet high-toned voice as they take their usual booth.

“Ha, Sloth!” Claire laughs, wagging an approving finger at you.

You tip a finger-gun at her appreciatively. “I see you are a woman of culture.”

“Magandang gabi, (Y/N).” says Court with a nod. Good evening, (Y/N).

You’re astonished, after the dispute you two had, you have been believing that you two aren’t on speaking terms anymore. “M-Magandang gabi,” you reply, mentally cursing yourself for stuttering, and you pretend to be busy behind the counter.

After the father-daughter has settled their belongings in the booth, or more like, after Claire dumps her sling pouch on the seat, she’s skipping to the counter with Court trailing behind her. You take their orders, remarking several nutritional values that you know about certain meals from time to time. And there's something different about these two tonight.

“No one bought your strawberry shortcake today?” Court inquires as he waits for the receipt. Claire is already hovering by the game shelves.

“Huh?” you blink.

He gestures to the display case, eyeing the whole strawberry shortcake on the second shelf, and you glance, mouth forming an O as you finally understood. “Well, if you mean no one bought one whole strawberry shortcake, then yeah.” you smile and hand him the receipt, “But I actually sold five slices today.”

“Oh, good for you, then." he chuckles, glancing down at his shoes.

You grin. “Thanks! Would you two like me to serve some slices for dessert?"

"Oh, no, I.." he trails off, rubbing the side of his neck, he looks at you for one second and then at the display case."I was actually going to buy the whole cake."

"Really?" you stammer dumbfoundedly.

"Yeah, for Friday movie night.. Kiara wanted to watch the books she borrowed from you, but she also added a comedy movie or two in the list." he paused to breathe out a laugh, "She said that TFIOS and Paper Towns are too much heartache to watch in one night."

"Indeed, indeed, they are. I suggest you prepare your tissues as well."

"Kiara already has them in the living room."

"Well, aren't you ready to burst into tears later!" you teasingly regard Claire when she steps up beside Court.

"I am so ready!" she fist-pumps.

"You better call me tomorrow about it." you say with a playful frown.

"Of course!"

"Um, is it alright if we just take the cake later?" Court asks and deposits the exact payment on the counter.

You nod. "Sure! I'll just box it up once you two start eating."

Before their dinner is cooked, you play a game of DOS with Court and Claire, because they're not familiar with the rules (actually, the whole game). You teach it to them and end up playing.

"This game is rigged," Court frowns when he draws another card from the pile. "I'm not getting any number lower than five, so I'll pass."

"Who shuffled the deck?" Claire asks, putting down a red 2 and blue 2 atop the green 4, she then slides the cards to the discard pile before placing a new card down.

"Hey, don't blame me—" you dramatically place a hand on your chest, "—I shuffled like a casino dealer. You're just unlucky, Kurt."

When Muro calls you to serve the meals, the game ends with no losers or winners, though Claire was close as she only had three cards left. You had five, while Court had eight. You leave the father-daughter duo to eat and begin packaging the strawberry shortcake with a stupid smile on your face. You don't even realize until Muro points it out, which earns him a kick to the shin.

It's not that you're going crazy, you just thought that Court and Claire would be all stiff and awkward tonight. Considering the last time you spoke with Court, plus the call you had with Claire last night. But instead, they're acting normal. While you're still racking your brain on whether or not to stop interacting with them, or at least lessen it.

And playing DOS with them is the way to go— your inner self remarks with a derisive sneer, and you sigh defeatedly as you don't have any rational retorts in your arsenal.

You approach the father-daughter duo five minutes after they're done with their meals. "Here's your cake!" you hold up the box by the ribbon and a hand on the bottom.

Claire takes it the same way. 'Thank you!" she beams and peers into the small plastic window, shaped as a fleur, on the box cover.

"I'll see you two out," you grin, striding ahead. 

The bell chimes merrily when you push the door all the way open. You step aside for Claire and Court to exit. "See you next Friday, (N/N)!" she waves at you.

"Good night," Court murmurs as he passes by.

"Bye and good night, you two! Safe driving!" you reach for the door, and something moves in your peripheral vision, it clutches your wrist just as you grab the door.

The handle is sharply cool against your palm, while Court's hand is warm around your wrist, which appears so tiny being enveloped by his fingers. "Kurt?" you ask, quizzically regarding him.

He releases your wrist when he meets your confused gaze. "Sorry, I was," he cuts himself off, sighing, and he gathers his courage for a second, all the while he doesn't stop looking at you. This makes you blush until he says, "I was wondering if you'd like to join us?"

The blood in your cheeks runs cold. "Huh?"

Claire hops beside him. "Really?!"

"If she wants to," says Court.

"Please say you do, (N/N)!" Claire grabs your arm eagerly.

You're flabbergasted. "Bu-But I can't go, I'm still working until 10:30."

"We could wait. Is that a yes?" Claire prompts.

"No! No, no.. I mean, I don't want to impose." you say, glancing at Court.

"You're not, because I'm inviting you." he declares reassuringly.

Just say NO— a simple word of refusal with two letters and one syllable, that's all there is to it. Because you're trying to heed Court's advice of not getting too close to them, right? So— WHY THE HELL IS COURT THE ONE INVITING YOU TO THEIR HOUSE AND YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT IT?!

He started it, so you should end it.

You sigh. "Alright.."

"Alright?! Yay!" Claire exclaims.

“What?— Wait, Kiara!”

She marches back in the cafe and sits on the table near the game shelves. “Can we play while we wait for your shift to end?”

You whip to Court with a glare, and he abruptly halts from entering the cafe. "What the hell are you doing?!" you whisper in a low, hissing tone.

"I think I'm stopping from going into the cafe..?"

"This is not the time to be wise, smartass."

"I'm not—"

"Listen, I don't even wanna know what you're really after. But Kiara shouldn't be caught in the middle of this, Road Runner. You’re always insinuating that I shouldn’t be too close to the two of you, but then you’re pulling a stunt like this! Here I am trying to make promises I can keep..”

Court is stunned, with how venomous your words and glare are, it’s as though you’ve practically bitten him and discharged poison into his system. He watches you stroll away, shoulders squared, yet you smile at Claire while passing by her. It’s an understatement to say that he wasn’t thinking straight when he asked you to join their movie night. He’s still trying to process why he did it, but the consequences of his actions are pouncing on him too fast.

Glancing over his shoulder, he eyes the street with suspicion. He hides his wariness behind a blank facade, closing the door as he steps back in the cafe, he starts pondering on the reasons why everything seems upside down when it concerns you. And as he ponders, a few things keep sticking in the crevices of his brain—

Claire likes you. 

And he’s starting to like you (as a person). 

It’s absolutely hard not to like you.

A/N: oh goshhhh he's starting to like you teehee sparks are starting to fly around the air

The portal to Chapter 8 will open momentarily, kindly wait :> no more! IT'S OPEN <333

✨TAGLIST✨

@kat-thepoet @queenofhellhasrisen @sierrasixswife @vallyb @lyuir [want to be in this awesome list? Check out the fic's Masterlist on how to join!]

[dannyreviews]

The Crying Game (1992)

Picture that it’s 2004, the height of Blockbuster Video and it’s another day of renting movies for the week. One title you keep hearing about is “The Crying Game” and not so much for the film itself, but for the plot twist. The internet wasn’t as full blown as it is today so you wonder what everyone was talking about a decade earlier. You watch the film and then you don’t care about the twist, and you get into the story, the characters and how everything will resolve itself. That week I rented “The Crying Game”, I did something I never did before and that was watch the film twice during the rental. 18 years later and about 30 viewings later, this film has become an all time favorite of mine and has opened my eyes to how flexible a film could be and the many possibilities it can take. 

The film opens with a British soldier named Jody (Forest Whitaker), who is kidnapped and held hostage by an IRA ring led by Jude (Miranda Richardson) and Maguire (Adrian Dunbar). Both of them are uncaring and ruthless, but it’s underling Fergus (Stephen Rea) that winds up befriending the hostage, who’s days away from possibly being executed. Jody tells Fergus about his life on the outside, with his girlfriend Dil (Jaye Davidson), a London hairdresser. When Jody dies in a botched escape, Fergus tracks Dil down to her London neighborhood, and the two become romantically entangled. Jude and Maguire, in turn track Fergus down themselves and try to rope him into a plot to assassinate a judge, but Fergus is torn between his love and care for Dil and his allegiance to the IRA. Which direction will he take?

Writer and director Neil Jordan was the best possible person to be at the wheel for this film, which if in other hands might have turned into a convoluted B or C-grade dud. Jordan divides the film into three parts that are so intricate in style, mood and genre that you think you’re watching three different movies. The first part is a chamber piece between hostage and captor. The second part is a romantic drama that is subtle in its subject. Finally, the film turns into a thriller with a gratifying climax and then the coda returns to the themes of the opener. Jordan segues through each portion flawlessly and the seams don’t show because the story is that involved and deep where you pay attention to every detail. In my case, with each subsequent viewing, I’m just as enthralled by the screenwriting and the requirements of each character in relation to the plot. This is why “The Crying Game” had to win Best Original Screenplay, not because of the famous plot twist, which plays no crucial role in the unfolding events, but because of its unique method of putting the plot together.

“The Crying Game” was Stephen Rea’s introduction to American audiences and he gives the best performance of his long career as Fergus. He makes the biggest shift in maturity, from a mindless follower to a somewhat reformed man. Miranda Richardson, who I think is one of the greatest actresses of the last 40 years, is simply superb as Jude. Not many films have a female villain and especially one like Jude that has no feeling or empathy. Richardson personifies Jude’s evil to a T, from pistol whipping Jody to intimidating Fergus and Dil outside the bar. The very underrated Adrian Dunbar is also excellent as Maguire, with a more muted evil to his demeanor, a contrast to his supporting role in “A World Apart”. Forest Whitaker, though only on screen for the first half hour, makes his short time on screen count for something. Jody is a regular person caught up in the worst possible situation and Whitaker holds nothing back. And then there’s Jaye Davidson, who steals the show as Dil, a character that seems normal and hardworking, but there’s something hidden that we the audience want to know. 

The drawback of “The Crying Game” is that during its release in the US, the subject of the twist was turned into a late night punchline. Many people didn’t care what the film was about, and just wanted to pay money to see what the fuss was about. I would like to think that out of all the people that went in with their mind on the joke, the majority came out enthralled with their lower jaw agape at the complexity of the film. The twist only takes up a scintilla of time, and before you know it, you’ve forgotten what it was. That’s another reason why the film won Best Original Screenplay. Jordan is telling you to look here, and then does a complete 180 by giving the audience their money’s worth with the climax that really should’ve been what people were talking about. “Don’t see it for the twist, see it for the resolution.”

Despite the manufactured joke, “The Crying Game” was a box office smash and a major contender at that years Oscars, scoring nominations for Best Picture, acting nods for Rea and Davidson and Best Director, apart from its Screenplay win. I would’ve nominated Richardson for Best Supporting Actress for “The Crying Game” instead of her one scene standout performance in “Damage” that same year. I think she would’ve won if the nomination was changed. It’s probably her most rich and flawless performance in her long career along with “Tom and Viv”. “The Crying Game” is a representation of a time when filmmakers took chances on their movies and stood out, something that is very lacking today, where 90% of the mainstream award winning films are homogenized mush. People will remember “The Crying Game” for years down the road, can you say the same thing about the past few Best Picture winners?

10/10