#the roles could be reversed but its funnier this way

[soottea]

casual weekend date night

[newluvrs]

Wonbin ₊ ⊹₍ᐢᐢ₎  mdni!! 18+ currently listening to: WE ARE MAKING OUT - YEULE, MURA MASA word count: 2.5k bb note: literally just wrote this bc I had the urge to kiss a man

Your fingers nervously fidget with Wonbin’s in the small space between you, too scared to look up at him.  The hints you’ve been sending him all night bold and obvious, a stark contrast to the way you’re behaving right now.  Your lip is pulled between your teeth, and you wish you could watch the expression on his face as you use your tongue to soothe the area you chewed on.  He thinks its funny how you can never just say what it is that you want.  Instead you throw him blatantly obvious gazes and touches.  

Like tonight as the two of you were out with friends you insisted you get SomiSomi, then when he wasn’t looking you purposefully made sure to get the SoftServe on the corner of your mouth, turning to him with a pout to help you wipe it off.  When his thumb slid over your bottom lip you puckered your lips to press a kiss to it.  And from there the hints only got more extreme.  Huffing when you saw the couple on screen kiss during the movie, constantly reapplying more gloss to your lips then asking Karina if you looked good, chewing on the straw of your drink until it was nothing but a shredded piece of plastic. 

Of course Wonbin got the hint ages ago, but he thinks its funnier to see the ways in which you’ll make a fool of yourself just to get him to kiss you.  He pretends not to get the hints, nonchalant as ever.  He likes how you react to him, how when he leans in too close you freeze up in anticipation.  He pressed his face close to yours earlier, he almost felt bad when you closed your eyes thinking he was gonna kiss you and instead he pulled an eyelash away from your cheek.  Life would be so easy for you if you would just ask for what you want, because he would always give it to you, no hesitation.  But he doesn’t mind doing this with you, he’d do it forever if you’d let him.

When you stepped through your apartment door and threw yourself on the couch he thought you might be upset, like maybe he took his private joke too far.  Your baggy shirt rides up your hips a little as you stare at the ceiling.  You think about just caving and asking him point blank, at a loss with how he can’t take a hint.  And you would just ask if you weren’t so nervous, this aspect of your relationship still very fresh.  You cover your face as you’re deep in thought, it should not be this hard to ask your boyfriend to make out with you.  You feel the couch dip next to you and you sit up, pulling your hands away from your face as you flex your fingers.  He hasn’t said anything since you got home, and you can’t bring yourself to look at him after your many failed attempts this evening.  Instead you choose to resign yourself to just playing with his hands as you pointedly try and not make eye contact with him.  

He leans forward, ducking his head down to try and get a look at your face, and you just turn it further away from him, sucking on your lip out of nervousness.  You’re not trying to pout, matter of fact you’re not even mad, he just makes you so nervous.  Every time you’re with him it feels like it’s hard to breathe.  Even when you were just friends, he always had a certain way of making you feel like it was easiest thing in the world to love him.  The air starts to feel a little charged as Wonbin gently pulls his hand away from yours.  You’re about to turn to him and tell him you’re not upset when he grabs you by your waist to pull you closer to him on the couch, the action catching you off guard.  Now it’s your turn to pretend like you don’t understand, playing coy as you continue to not look at him.  Wonbin wants to laugh now at how the roles have reversed, you always seem to switch up when you come face to face with the consequences of your actions.  A beat of silence passes and you think maybe that was it, that nothing else is going to come of this.  

“y/n..”

The way he softly calls your name makes you feel like you were dropped in ice water, making you feel wide awake.  His voice sweet with the way he calls it, you think your name fits perfectly in his mouth.  The letters and intonations coming together to make it your name but somehow sweeter.  When the initial shock wears off you bring yourself to look at him.  

Your first thought is that he’s closer than you thought he was, stomach doing cartwheels as your eyes travel down his features.  When your eyes reach his lips he notices how they linger there a little longer before you bring your gaze up to match his.  He can’t wipe the knowing smile off his face as he speaks. 

“hey”

“hi”

You want to cringe when you hear the way your voice shakes, but right now you’re too distracted, lost in the deep gaze of Wonbin’s pretty eyes.  He just looks at you so fondly it makes you feel like your chest is going to crack open.  An invisible string pulls the two of you closer to each other, until you might as well be on his lap.  He keeps doing the glance from your eyes back down to your lips, but each time he lingers a little longer, pulls himself a little closer.  The tension in the air burns your lungs with every inhale, anticipation and tenderness making your skin warm.  You’ve only been with him like this a handful of times, but already you’ve come to memorize the moves he makes before he gives in.  You suck your bottom lip between your teeth again, just out of habit.  Wonbin brings a hand to your face, using his thumb to pull on your bottom lip to get you to stop.  Your lips part at the action, quick and quiet breaths leaving you.  

Instead of removing his hand, Wonbin chooses to slide it to rest at your jaw, gently caressing your face.  When he leans forward, you close your eyes, remaining as still as possible.  He presses a soft kiss to the corner of your mouth before pulling away again.  You pray that he doesn’t notice the way you try and follow him, the hand still cupping your face preventing you from doing so.  A furrow finds its way on your brow, impatience beginning to overpower you.  When you’re the first one to lean forward this time, Wonbin obliges, but this time all he gives you is a quick peck before he’s pulling away again.  Before you can complain he’s pulling you to be seated in his lap, legs resting comfortably on either side of him.  He smooths a hand up your leg, fingers brushing against the exposed skin.  As your caught off guard by the sudden motion, he feels like now’s the perfect time.  

You’re practically trembling by the time he finally leans in, the only thing heard being the sound of each other’s heavy breaths.  It kills you because you think maybe this is another one of his jokes.  Thinking that maybe this time he’s just gonna kiss the tip of your nose, or something infuriating like that.  So when he’s pressing his lips to yours, it takes you a moment to fully register it.  It doesn’t click until both of his hands are holding the sides of your face, deepening the kiss.  When you finally realize, you practically melt against him, pouring every ounce of your yearning into returning the heat of his kisses.   

Nothing about the situation is rushed, you revel in the slow press of his lips against yours, the feeling of his thumb stroking your jaw as he leans into you.  The contrast of the gentle brushes of his lips that quickly turn into deeper presses sends you reeling.  Your breathing speeding up when he starts to tilt his head to work into his kisses.  He always knows when something is too little or too much, knows when to pull away to leave you wanting or when to kiss you so intently it overwhelms your senses.  

His moves become more teasing the longer you spend like this.  He pulls back occasionally to nip at your bottom lip, gently sucking on it as you try and catch your breath.  When your breathing starts to even out slightly he begins pressing little kisses along your jaw.  He doesn’t let you rest for too long before he’s kissing you again, hands sliding from your face to rest in the back pockets of your shorts.  As he cups a handful of your ass, your breath hitches, the feeling of his hands on you making you part your lips in a silent exhale.  He uses it as an opportunity to slip his tongue into your mouth, your hands coming up to rest against his chest in an effort to give yourself some stability.  

You’re starting to get greedy now, your hands trailing down his body, just touching and pressing against the muscle.  You notice a change in his kisses, slowly they’re starting to feel hungrier, hands kneading against the soft flesh of your ass.  When your hands reach the bottom of his shirt, you slide your cold fingers under the fabric, feeling the toned skin there.  His waist is so sensitive, your nails dragging along it making him shiver below you.  When you start to feel him harden beneath you it becomes harder to focus, falling out of rhythm with his kisses as your legs tighten around him.  

He grabs your ass again and you unintentionally push your hips forward at the action, grinding against him.  Feeling him groan into the kiss sets something off within you, rocking your hips forward again.  This time he matches the action with a roll of his own hips as his hands hold you steady.  The feeling of it has you pulling away from him, panting into the air as he starts to build a rhythm against you.  He pulls his hands out of your pockets and rest them low on your hips instead, encouraging you to rock against him. 

You risk a glance at him and when you do you see his heavy eyes, his pretty lips swollen and shiny with your combined spit.  A part of you feels cocky, heat burning within you at the thought of that being the result of you.  It makes you feel good enough that you initiate the next kiss, pulling him into you by his shirt collar.  The kisses are sloppy and slightly uncoordinated, both of you struggling to keep up when your focus is clearly elsewhere.  At one particularly good grind you gently lean your head back, staring up at the ceiling as you bask in the feeling.  Wonbin follows you, leaving wet kisses on your throat as he tries to copy the movements.  When you let out a whine he feels like he’s died and gone to heaven.  

He pushes a hand up your shirt, quickly slipping it under your bra and toying with your nipple.  He rolls it between lithe fingers as he watches your reaction, addicted to the way you arch your back to press your chest further into him.  It draws more sounds out of you too, your soft moans now permeating the once quiet atmosphere.  As he tugs on your nipple your movement starts to become more desperate.  You’re starting to become fueled by the achy feeling in your cunt, the wetness becoming uncomfortable as you try and chase the pleasure the best you can.  

Wonbin’s not faring much better either, movements speeding up beneath you in an effort to make the two of you feel good, practically trying to fuck you through your clothes.  When it’s just not enough, he flips your position on the couch, strong arms laying you beneath him as he settles between your legs.  He kisses you again briefly as you wrap your legs around him, pulling him deeper into you.  When he resumes grinding against you the angle makes your brain go numb from the pleasure.  Something about doing everything with clothes on makes this feel so much filthier.  Especially when Wonbin is pushing your shirt up your chest and your bra along with it, your bare chest pressed against his clothed one as he grabs hold of your hips.  

At this angle you’re not gonna last very long, and he can tell.  He sees it in the way you can’t stop tipping your head back, your moans turning into whimpers.  The thought of making you cum in your pants drives him crazy.  He presses a hand by your head to steady himself, grinding as deeply as he can as he bites at your jaw and neck.  

“feels.. good..” 

The way your voice comes out sounds so broken.  If it were another time Wonbin would tease you for it, but in this moment all he can do is gasp against your skin as he nears his high.  He tucks his head into the crevice of your neck as you hold him close, hands tangling in his hair.  His movements start to grow uncoordinated, you doing your best to try and meet him with your own.  You’re almost there when he sinks his teeth into the right side of your neck, shuddering as he lets out a groan.  He fucks his hips against yours as he cums, trying to sink deeper into you despite the fabric barrier.  His hips become twitchy the longer he goes, stuttering against you as you pull at his hair.

The stimulation is starting to be too much for him, making him whine with each push of his hips but he needs to get you there.  He needs to feel you cum against him, despite all the clothes the two of you have on.  When he feels you finally tense up beneath him he doesn’t stop, rolling his hips as deeply as he can as you shake beneath him.  You bring his face up from the crook of your neck, lips desperately trying to find his and when they do, the kiss tastes sweeter than any of the previous ones you’ve shared tonight.  You can barely kiss back but you do the best you can, desperate to have him in every aspect.  

When you finally stop shaking he collapses on top of you, breathing in steady breaths to get yourself to calm down, your orgasm making your mind feel hazy.  His lips find the exposed skin of your neck, leaving small gentle kisses as you play with his hair.  He presses his cheek against you, eyes closing as he decides to speak up, teasing laced in his tone.  

“You could just ask for a kiss next time you know.” 

[evernkillian]

HP Fanfiction Recs | One- Shot Edition; Part 1

Standard Rec Lists Disclaimers Apply: Please for the love of God read the tags and Author's Note/s, This is NOT the ultimate rec lists or whatever, the fics below are my cup of tea.

Also, I tried my best to make the Quotes I included spoiler free but if you think it is just tell me!

(also, I have more fic recs! Here)

🍄🍄🍄

1. r/AITA by Seagate

G | 2k Words | Hermione / Draco

Summary: A budding relationship seen through the eyes of Reddit posts

Hermione POV. Well, Reddit Post Style. Hermione's a good friend 🥹🥹🥹 Actually, most of her posts are about Harry, seeking advice on how could she make sure that he won't get hurt/make sure that he's in good hands. ALSO ALSO they keep interacting in the comments so READ THEIR USERNAMES IT'S FUNNIER IF U KNEW WHO IT IS. To this day whenever I remember Voldemort's comment I laugh. I love Hermione's characterization- she's loyal, and she takes no shit. I laugh a lot reading this because Hermione sounds so serious but it's funny. Also my favorite quote:

I don't buy it for a second. The kicked puppy look, the lost baby blue eyes, and pouty lips? I was there when he perfected it. When he used the fake remorse to get out of trouble with the professors. 

I slammed the door in his face. I'd rather get murdered, thanks.

2. Do Not Collect 200 Dollars by KittySmith

T | 11k Words

Summary: It isn't Voldemort who is reverted to baby form from the Final Super Spell - but why is Harry still alive?

Is Voldemort... cooing?

Crack fic. Like, really crack. I reread this fic when I need a laugh. Voldemort's mind is a beautiful place it's so funny. I love how oblivious Voldemort is with Snape's kidnapping attempts LAUGHING CRYING SOBBING the interactions of these 3 are my favorite parts because of its peak comedy. Voldemort as the most bizarre doting parent ever. Oh, yeah, it's a Voldemort Wins AU. He's just taking care of Harry and researching. What an icon. ALSO MY FAVORITE QUOTE:

He examined the banana he had left consideringly, checking its heft before he threw it directly into Severus’ terrified face with a flat, “Bitch.”

3. Heartbreaking Confession by LiquidLuckandStuff (@liquidluckandstuff )

M | 1k Words | Harry / Tom|Voldemort

Summary: After the war, Harry visits Voldemort's grave after a bad day with a Mind Healer.

He confesses something he is too scared to tell even his closest friends.

Just Harry having a bad day and talking to Voldemort's grave. About Almosts, what ifs, what could've beens. This fic shows that Voldemort and Harry understood each other very much. The ways they've shown it while they're enemies, while one of them is dead. Also my favorite quote!!! It's longer than this, 3 paragraphs but i think that would be too spoiler-y so here it is!

Quietly, Harry whispered a terrible secret. “Sometimes, I want to crawl in there with you."

4. Breaking More Taboos by Destiny_Of_A_Dragon

M | 3k Words | Harry / Voldemort

Summary: The first time Harry broke the taboo, he’d been beyond starving, with little to no choice. The second and third times were much the same.

But the fourth?

That’s when everything changed.

HOLY MOLY THIS FIC!!!! MAKES ME FERAL!!! It's so unique and I've reread it lots of times!!! Can't say more because spoilers but!!! If you've read this scream about it with me. Sadly I can't put my favorite quote here since I don't wanna ruin the surprise factor but!!! Just know I have a lot of them!!!

5. Lightning Heart by Clarisse (transnymphtaire)

G | 1k Words | Harry / Tom

Summary: The first time you touch, a matching symbol is left behind where skin met skin.

ROLE REVERSAL AU!!! DARK LORD HARRY GRRRRRRRR. ALSO GRYFFINDOR TOM. Also Luna's part is brief here but she's a badass I love her. And!!! Harry giving tom gifts for courting. And they're soulmates! Favorite quote:

"Did you know that Gryffindor was my old house?” Harry ask conversationally, as if they’re not under the school, with a mirror hiding the Philosopher’s stone.

“It’s why I chose it over Slytherin.” Tom answers.

🍄🍄🍄

[adamwatchesmovies]

Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is better than its predecessor. It embraces its silly features, the titular antagonist is fun... but is that enough?

Serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) senses a kindred spirit in reporter Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and agrees to be interviewed by him. With the aid of his alien symbiote, Venom (also voiced by Hardy), Eddie gets the scoop. Unfortunately, his visit unknowingly leaves behind a symbiote for Kasady to bond with. He escapes and with the help of his girlfriend, Frances Barrison (Naomi Harris), begins terrorizing the city.

While Venom was unwilling to commit to any of its many tones, this is firmly an action-comedy. Eddie Brock and Venom don’t get along but they're stuck together. All Venom wants to do is beat up bad guys so he can eat their brains. Brock wants to live a quiet, normal life - maybe then he’ll win back Anne (Michelle Williams). There are a lot of scenes in which Venom tries - and fails - to butter up Brock or the two fight in a weird "they're the same person but not really" way. They’re funny conceptually. The problem is Hardy. He's a phenomenal actor but not particularly funny, a fact made more obvious when he’s playing against himself.

The standout is Cletus Cassidy, who - unlike Brock - is having a great time with his symbiote. Riding fast, enjoying the outdoors, breaking his girlfriend out of her cell, taking hostages, getting revenge on the people who wronged him… with his tragic backstory, he might even be likable if he wasn't a remorseless serial killer. That fact leads to the biggest laugh of the whole film. While Hardy is ill-fitted for his role, Harrelson is terrific.

Naomie Harris’ Frances Barrison fits interestingly in the story. Her sonic powers are lethal to both Venom and Carnage, and she completes a parallel to Eddie and Anne’s relationship. If only the writing was better. Venom and Eddie constantly argue, even to the point of “breaking up”. They’re essentially a couple, which would make you think that Venom’s son, Carnage, would’ve been integrated as a new member of the “family” a little better. Instead, he just shows up so everyone can fight. Kelly Marcel conceived the story with Hardy and they don’t even try to make us wonder where the inkblot will stand. Let There Be Carnage didn’t NEED to explore what a new child could do to a couple’s relationship but if it did slyly slip in some subtext, it would’ve made the movie a lot smarter - and funnier too.

This film by Andy Serkis disappoints in several ways but the conclusion is well done. The biggest laugh comes right at the end, the final fight between Venom and Carnage is full of reversals that will keep you on your toes, and the mid-credit scene means the next installment can’t come soon enough. I’m not convinced this series won’t be worth paying real attention to until Venom gets that big white spider on his chest (would make the design much more exciting) but who knows; the next chapter could be “The one”. (3D Theatrical version on the big screen, October 23, 2021)

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Riverdale 4x18 Review, Analysis and Theories

I’ve finally watched the episode and I’ve got alot of thoughts about it. To be honest it went pretty much the way I thought it would, mostly. We’ve been given some more information and a whole lot more questions. There were four plotlines in the episode, two main ones and two sideplots, so I figured we could go through each one and unpack them to see what clues we’ve been left this time. So if you want to read an analysis of the episode and get my opinions and theories then read on below the tag. As always these are just my own opinions you are welcome to disagree also there are spoilers obviously.

Jughead, Charles and the Video Tapes. 

So the first plotline I want to talk about is the one where Jughead and Charles are invesitgating the tapes. The episode starts out with Jughead showing Betty, Alice and Charles the newest videotape that he found at the end of the last episode. A couple of sidenotes here which aren’t all that relevant but I figured I’d mention anyway. I love how protective everyone was of Jelly Bean. Even Charles who stood up to block the her view of the tv. But also where was FP? I feel like this is something he should be included in so it was a bit odd that he was missing from the scene. They could have at least mentioned him like said he was investigating it from the station or something. Anyway getting back to it. Jughead asks Betty if she wants to help him look into the tape but Betty says she doesn’t want to get pulled into another mystery. This is when Charles decides to suggest that Jughead and he could investigate it together. I loved that Charles called Jug little brother. I just thought it was really sweet. Also I would like to see more of the Jones/Cooper/Smith family interactions. Whilst we’ve gotten a decent amount of Charles/Betty and Charles/Jughead sibling bonding moments we haven’t gotten as many with Charles and his parents and other than this brief one I don’t think we’ve had any with Jelly Bean and Charles so I wouldn’t object to seeing those relationships developed a little more. Also I would like to point out that while it was really nice that Charles is always offering for Betty and Jughead to help him out with the investigation, I can’t help but think that Charles has an ulterior motive for this. I mentioned in my theory post about Charles and the video tapes (which you can read here if you want) that I think Charles sees Betty and Jughead as loose cannons. When they first meet Charles he says something like ‘I hear you two are quite the detective duo.’ Or something along those lines. I actually think Charles keeps asking for their help so that he can keep an eye on what they’re doing and make sure they don’t do anything to mess up the FBI’s own investigation into the tapes. I mean think about it, if Charles gets them working with him then he knows where they are and what they are doing, so he knows they aren’t gallivanting around town getting themselves into all kinds of mischief, classic big brother move.   

Through Charles we learn that there are two drop off boxes where people can turn in the tapes they recieve. One at the Sheriff station and one at the FBI office. They are both monitored with cctv cameras but there are hours upon hours of footage so Jughead and Charles decide to make some popcorn and go through all the footage in the hopes they can find some clue as to who left the murder video tape. Also can I just say that this episode made me remember why I love Jughead there were just so many little moments that were, well I don’t know how else to describe them other than they were very Jughead. Like I don’t know what was funnier that Jughead’s response to facing hours of footage seraching for a potential killer is ‘do you have popcorn?’ or the fact that yes the FBI does have popcorn. Maybe its just me but I just got a chuckle out of that. Anyway while going through the footage Jughead does spot someone he knows and decides to follow the lead alone. Of course we learn that Ethel is the person he sees leaving a tape behind. But before we get into that I want to talk about something else I noticed. When Jug is leaving the camera pans down to show us Charles’ laptop with the cctv footage. Now they had to have done this for a reason there had to have been something in that segment of cctv that is important to the plot. The footage is very grainy and sped up but we see a woman enter the building. She walks down the hall, appears to stop briefly to talk to whoever is at the desk at the end of the hall, This person seems to gesture around the corner. The woman disappears around the corner and then a few moments later reappears, walks back towards the camera and leaves. I managed to grab a couple of screenshots of this footage. 

If you’ve read my last theory post where I talk about theories around both Charles and the Voyeur (the one I linked above) then you will know I have a theory that Donna is the one behind the tapes and also the one who is wearing the Betty mask. Now I know the image is really grainy but to me this looks like a female with long dark hair who is wearing a jacket and trousers very similar in style to what Donna wears. Her build also seems very similar to Donna’s aswell. I mean...

I’m just saying the woman in the cctv, the woman in the betty mask and Donna all look real similar to me. As for why Charles didn’t recognise her, well as we can see the image isn’t the best, it was sped up and he could have been distracted by Jug saying he saw someone he knew. We don’t see where he is looking so for all we know he might have been watching Jug leave and not at the computer screen, point is he could have just missed it. Also another thing worth noting is that right before the footage is shown Charles asks ‘do you recognise someone?’ Obviously he is directing the question at Jughead but it could also be the writers way of asking us the same question, do we the viewer recognise someone in this footage.

So Jughead goes off and talks to Ethel about the tapes and she says she was just dropping off the tapes that had been left on her doorstep, that they contained the same as all the others, static footage of her home. She gets upset when Jughead tells her that one of the tapes was different and asks if she knows anything about it. One thing I will say is her line ‘I’m just trying to make it out of Riverdale in one piece.’ really resonated. Like it really makes you think how much crap these kids have gone through with all the murders and cults. It is almost like its more of an achievement for them to reach adulthood than normal because so many of them could have been killed by one of the many serial killers that have rampaged through the town. Also I feel like a lot of the kids in Riverdale see college as being a way to escape from Riverdale. 

After talking to Ethel Jughead comes up with the idea that maybe the Voyeur is a film maker, so he and Charles hit the video store. I do love the store owners line when Charles asks if any of his customers were acting suspicious and he replies ‘they all act suspicious.’ I do think the writers might be having a little laugh with us here because its very true for Riverdale as a whole, like every character on this show acts shady as hell most of the time. The store owner gives them their records and they discover that Ethel has rented the horror movie Friday the 13th sixteen times. Charles then tells Jughead that he considers Ethel to be a prime suspect as she has a predilection for horror movies, was seen dropping off a tape and as per Jughead’s admission an obsession with him. But Jughead clearly doesn’t want to upset the progress Ethel seems to have made and points out that he doesn’t think she would have the equipment for it and tells Charles to drop it. When he’s next at school Jughead goes to the office to get info on the AV club, the members of which would have access to the equipment needed to make the video tapes. He not only learns that Ethel is the president of the club but that Charles had already been there asking questions and had already left with Ethel. Jug goes back to the FBI office to find out what happened from Charles and finds out that Ethel had somehow got ahold of the sex tape of him and Betty from Stonewall prep. Now I have seen some comments saying that they think Charles going after Ethel alone was really shady and that it could mean he has something to do with the video tapes. I’m not saying that he doesn’t have something to do with the tapes, its could be a possibilty, but out of all the shady behaviour we’ve seen from Charles in my opinion this wasn’t shady at all. I think because we see everything from Jughead’s point of view its easy to forget that its not a case of Jughead is leading an investigation and Charles is helping out but the other way around. Charles is the lead on the investigation into the tapes, he’s the FBI agent. So if he thinks someone is a suspect he’s not just going to drop that lead just because some teenage kid said he should, even if that kid is his brother. Also can I say that this is such a Jones/Cooper thing to do, they get told not to do something and then the next scene you find out they did the exact thing they were told not to. We see it with Betty and Jughead all the time so it was kinda funny to see the same thing happen to Jughead in a role reversal. It was a good thing he didn’t drop it too as if Charles hadn’t gone and searched Ethel’s home they probably wouldn’t have found out about the Scarlet Room. 

So speaking of the Scarlet Room it shows that there is an even darker side to Riverdale if that was even possible, this is a definitely x rated room in the back of the store where they have home made videos. The store owner says sometimes people sell the videos and sometimes they trade them. But these tapes consist of some sex tapes, rougher ones and weirder ones but also more sinister than that snuff films which Jug finds. I was able to catch some of the titles which could be clues as to which other murders might be re-enacted next. The one of Jason Blossom is called a Maple Murder which is pretty self explanatory. There is one called Black Hood Unmasked which I think could be Mr Svensons death. The Blackhood Diaries is another self-explanatory one. There’s another called Carrie the... I can’t make out the rest of the title but that one is clearly Midge’s death. Then there’s one called Pop’s After Hours which I reckon is from the Halloween episode where Veronica kills that serial killer in self defense. The curious thing about Jason Blossom’s murder being there though is that as far as we know there are only three copies of that footage. Betty has one on her laptop and Cheryl has the other on a USB. The third from what I remember was given to the police, I can’t remember what happened to it after that but I think the Blossoms asked for it to be destroyed? Sorry if I’m wrong about that. So if only those copies existed then how did one end up in the store. Well I do have one theory for that. We know that Betty gave Chic one of her old laptops, now I’m going to assume she wouldn’t have been careless enough to leave that footage on the laptop if it was ever on that one but you never know, we also know that Chic was in the house alot when Betty wasn’t there and he liked to sneak into her room. It’s possible that Chic found the video and took a copy to the store to get some extra cash. But the Scarlet room as a whole is a very creepy idea, that people including Students like Ethel are going in there and renting footage of people being brutally murdered, I mean no wonder there are so many serial killers in Riverdale cause that’s just messed up. On a side note I thought it was absolutley hilarious when the store owner came in and told Jughead that only over 18′s were allowed back there. Like dude you are being invesitgated by the FBI and they’ve just found your highly illegal collection of homemade sex and snuff films and you think telling them that only 18 and overs are allowed in this section is going to save you. So anyway the FBI confiscates all the videos so lets just say the FBI have now got a ridiculous amount of video tapes at that office what between these ones and the ones collected from the town residents. But I do feel like the Scarlet Room tapes are going to be important to the plotline in some way like they’ll find some kind of clue in them. 

The episode ends with Jughead getting a call from Cheryl who says she just got a tape. When he and Betty go over there they find out its the same kind of thing as the one Jughead found. Two people in masks re-enacting Jason Blossom’s murder. There is something I want to cover quickly before we analyse the tape itself but there does seem to be some confusion over whether these tapes are actually real or just acting. I mean Jughead calls the tape he got a faux snuff film and talks about how whoever filmed it went through the trouble of hiring actors. It also does seem like the person wearing Jason’s mask in the newest video is acting along. If they aren’t real it would also explain why there haven’t been any bodies showing up or missing people reported. Yet I get the feeling that these are real, I mean they look very real to me, particualrly the one with Jason. As to why it looks like the one wearing the Jason mask is acting well they either could be under duress told this is the script play along or else, or it could be that they didn’t know what was actually going to happen, maybe they thought that the gun was fake or that the other person wasn’t going to actually pull the trigger which is why they seem so relaxed and calm right before they are shot. I don’t know though maybe it is all fake? What do you think? 

But the discovery of this lastest tape raises some more questions. Once again we have two masked individuals which begs the question who are the people behind the masks? One thing we do know is that its not the same people as the first video. The attacker in the first video was definitely a woman and was much shorter than the attacker in the latest one. Also the murder victims in both are also definitely different people, the one in the first video who was dressed as Jughead was much more muscular than the one in the Jason mask who had a much slimer build. This could also maybe be evidence that its possible these really are murders going on. I mean if the first guy really was killed then obviously he can’t be in the second video. To be honest I don’t have any idea who could behind the Jason mask, at all.  

Ok but who do I think is behind the Cliff mask. Well here I do have a theory and it ties in another of the plotlines from this episode. The tickle ring one. I don’t think its a coincidence that its in this episode that Terry, the one who approached Kevin and who films them, suddenly turned violent. I mean up until now he’s come across as a decent guy by Riverdale standards. Now he’s threatening to break peoples fingers and issuing threats. Also it is worth noting that when Jughead says maybe the voyeur is a film maker the very next scene is the one where Terry comes out the room and pays Kevin, Fangs and Reggie. The writers are being very obvious with the message here I mean its like Jughead: Maybe its a film maker? Riverdale: Look its a film maker! I mean they couldn’t be more obvious if they put a neon sign above Terry’s head that said guilty. So is there anymore evidence to suggest Terry is the one in the Cliff mask? Well I grabbed some more screenshots. 

 So we have that same old problem of the qualtiy of the images in these tapes that are being left aren’t great, it does take me back to the good old days of vcr oh the nostalgia but I’m going off track. Despite the bad quality we can still get some clues from the image. Now it is a little differcult because of the lighting in the video tape is bad but take a look at the top two images in the grid above. As it was with my Donna behind the Betty mask theory its the hair that I think is the biggest clue here. There isn’t really anyone else we’ve seen in the show that has this style of hair where its longer on top and fades at the sides. I mean I don’t know about you guys but I do think the hair of the guy in the Cliff mask is very similar to Terry’s. Now obviously we can’t just convict a man based on his hair style. If we look at the two bottom images. I know it is hard to see the video tape image all that well but I have watched it over and over on slow motion and they do seem to be similar in build and height. The other problem we have comparing the two images is that while its useful that we’ve got a shot of Terry standing next to someone seated like the people in the tape, the sofa that Fangs is sitting on is much lower than the chair the masked Jason is sitting on, plus you have to take the height of the individuals themselves into consideration. But taking all that into consideration lets look at a bigger image...

As I said the difficulty we have is that Fangs is sitting on a much lower surface than the masked Jason. But lets have a bit of fun and do some estimations. Lets say the blue line on the picture on the right is the approximate height the seat of the chair masked Jason is sitting on. The black line is the length of Fang’s torso from his seat to his head. The green line is the height at which the top of his head would be if he was sitting on a higher surface. Now I know this is very much an estimation and not all that accurate its more just to give us an idea. But I think Fangs and the masked Jason seem to be of similar height so when we compare the two images we can see that the height difference between masked Cliff  and a seated individual is roughly the same height difference as Terry when standing next to a seated individual. Also something else that could suggest Terry might be involved is that he would be able to get the actors who are playing the victims. He already has a client pool he could pull from. It wouldn’t be that much of a leap to think that he might approach one of his tickle boys and say do you want to get a little extra cash? I’m working on another project if you’re interested. 

What if it isn’t Terry though. Who else could it be? Well the other person we are shown acting suspect in this episode is Mr Honey is shown to be someone who visits the Scarlet Room and it seems he does this regularly. I did think there was something about the way the masked Cliff moved that reminded me of Mr Honey but in my opinion I don’t think the hair style or height of the indivdual fits with Mr Honey as well as Terry. Also we know the person in the mask is imitating Cliff and so is mimicing the way Cliff would move which I think just happens to be similar to Mr Honey. However I don’t think that necessarily means Mr Honey is innocent and I’m going to cover my theory on that in a bit. The other person I thought it could potentially be is Bret. As I said in my theory about the Stonies having something to do with the tapes, we don’t know when these tapes were filmed or even where they were filmed. It could be that this was filmed before Bret was arrested. However while I think height wise it could be Bret the hair style is completely different from Bret’s who has much longer hair.   

Now going back to my previous theory post where I said I was pretty certain that it would turn out to be Donna behind the tapes, you could say that this newest tape derails that theory as there is no link between Cheryl and Donna. So why would she bother making a re-enactment of Cheryl’s twin brother’s murder? Donna might have had a motive with the previous video depicting Betty and Jughead its no secret she hates them both. But on the contrary I actually would argue that the appearance of this tape further confirms my theory. While it’s true there is no link between Donna and Cheryl there is a link between Donna and the Jason Blossom murder. When Jughead wrote his first draft for the Baxter Brother novel, the one that originally won him the contract it was based on Jason’s murder, it was called The Boy in the River. Later they tell Jughead that they don’t think its good enough after all and he starts writing one based on the Black Hood instead. But he finds his original draft based on Jason in a envelope saying ready for publish. He discovers that it has been rewritten but that it is the same story. Dupont later tells him that all of his classmates had a go at rewriting it, this includes Donna. This means that Donna became real familiar with Jason’s story. The premise of my original theory was that I believed that Donna was upset that she wasn’t able to commit the perfect murder. Especially as she was so close, I mean Jughead says himself that it would have been perfect if it weren’t for the fact that he didn’t actually die. I think Donna then decided to have another go at the perfect murder. A do over so to speak. Like I said we don’t know when that first copy cat murder video was filmed. If it was quite a while ago then its possible that Donna believed she had got away with it and so she looked at other imperfect murders that she could make perfect. I mean if you think about it like Jughead’s attempted murder Jason’s murder was very nearly perfect. Cliff so very nearly got away with it, from killing Jason after he was already reported missing by Cheryl, to having FP clean up and then take the wrap for it. The only reason he didn’t get away with it was because of one tiny detail, the fact that the footage of the actual murder was out there and the USB was found. If my theory is right then I think Donna is only going to continue looking for murders to redo. I think she’s going to become addicted to it and we’ll start to see more and more of these copycat murders. Also I had a thought about why if these are real murders there aren’t any bodies. We’ve been told on a couple of occasions that you can dissolve a body with Lye. As Donna says to Betty ‘No body, No crime.’ It’s possible she’s been dissolving the bodies with lye so there isn’t anything to find. Also if she is picking the victims right then there won’t be any missing person reports espicially if she is choosing people from out of town and then releasing the videos in Riverdale. The authorities might not be making the connection. 

So if I’m sticking with my its Donna theory how do I explain that it definitely wasn’t Donna in the latest video. I mean it was without a doubt a male right? Well we know that Donna works with a group. She’s the mastermind but she needs her disciples. I think she started this with the Stonies where they released the videos of peoples houses, most likely this started out as a prank. We know that the Stonies liked to pull some pretty crazy pranks like locking people in coffins overnight, we also know there seemed to be a little bit of a rivalry between Stonewall and Riverdale high schools. We also know that they were filming their fellow classmates, it wasn’t just Betty and Jughead and Moose. There were tons of illegally recorded tapes it seemed like quite the extensive operation. We also know that some of those tapes ended up in the Scarlet Room. But Donna’s got a problem now. Her disciples have either left the country are dead or are in jail. So she needs to find new ones. I think she’s formed a new group and I think this group consists of Terry and Mr Honey. I think Terry helps out by getting the victims. He’s got a wide pool of employee’s who do films for him, he could easily get people from out of town who would sit down in a chair and be tied up and think nothing of it just assuming its part of some weird kink, because I refuse to believe innocent tickle porn is that only kind of video that man shoots. I also think that he was the one in the Cliff mask. As for Mr Honey I’m not as sure on what his role could be. But we do know that Donna has worked with a teacher for nefarious reasons in the past so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that she could be doing it again. He could possibly be the delivery guy. Maybe he’s the one going around putting the tapes on doorsteps now. It would be much less suspicious for someone to see Mr Honey about Riverdale than Donna or Terry. He could also be dropping some off at the Scarlet Room. Speaking of I do think this could be where they all met/ connected. I mean as a film maker it wouldn’t be unusual for Terry to sell some videos to the store. We know Mr Honey visits the Scarlet Room. As for Donna while Jughead assumes the tape of him and Betty was put there by Bret, Donna had admitted to seeing the tape so its just as likely that it could have been her that put it there. 

Maple Rum Snoosefest.

So I figured I’d cover Veronica’s and Cheryl’s Maple Rum storyline here as to be honest I don’t have alot to say about it. Unlike the tickle ring stroyline which could potentially have some relevance to the main plot, I just don’t see how this one fits in. To be honest I find the whole thing boring. I mean its just another plotline with Veronica being at war with her Father. Plus the whole Veronica thinks her dad has changed because he spared someone only for us to find out he had murdered someone. Like we get it Hiram is a horrible, manipulative git you don’t need to keep showing us that at this point. I suppose the purpose of it was also to show that Hiram’s illness is really starting to have an effect on him because he never would have been beat up like that before, its this idea that Hiram is finally starting to get weaker so we might be coming up to his downfall. Also I found the whole scene after the thugs break into the Maple Club and Cheryl is all like poor momsie and Veronica is all apologetic to Penelope absolutely hilarious. Like this woman is a murderer, you had her on trial a few episodes ago and then you locked her up and now have her in forced labour as punishment but all of a sudden we’re suppose to be concerned for her. We’re suppose to believe that these two girls are concerned for her? Really? Being brutally honest here I kinda feel the same way about Penelope as I do Hiram which is I just don’t care. I don’t care about the rum storyline, I don’t care that Hiram is ill and I don’t care if Penelope nearly gets beat up by thugs, I just don’t have any sympathy for either of those characters seeing as they’ve been painted as truly terrible people and parents so far so why is the show trying to get me to care about them now. Sorry but its just not going to happen.

Barchie 

Ok so the other main plotline and the one I think its the one most people are talking about. Now let me start out by saying that I don’t think for one second that Barchie is over. In fact I think this is just the beginning. The episode in regards to Barchie pretty much went the way we all thought it was going to go with Archie being much more willing to persue something than Betty. So lets go through all their scenes and analyse every little moment of them because you know its fun. 

We first see Barchie away from each other. Betty is refusing to get caught up in another mystery and while some of this might be because she’s got too much else on her mind with what happened with Archie, I do think some of it is that she is just tired of it all, she’s going to Yale in a few months and I think she wants to just leave all that murder stuff behind her and focus on her future outside of Riverdale. When we first see Archie we see him playing his guitar and it looks like he might already possibly be working on the song for Betty. While he is playing he flashes back to the kiss. He then walks over and looks at the form for the Naval Academy and then out the window towards Betty’s room. I do think this is suppose to show that Archie is torn. He’s torn about whether to go to the Navy and hes torn about what to do about his feelings for Betty. I also think the two are linked, he unsure of whether to join the Navy because of Betty. Also I think the writers have left another little clue for us in this scene. When Archie picks up the form underneath it are some dominoes. I do think this is symbolic of the situation they find themselves in now. That kiss was the first domino and  they’ve knocked it over, now thanks to the domino effect all the others are going to come crashing down too, its only a matter of time. 

After Archie looks out his window we switch over to see Betty in her room reading her diary. This entry is talking about the day she first fell in love with Archie and we get a flashback to Mini Barchie waving at each other through their windows so know we’ve got another iconic window scene to add to our gif sets. It’s worth noting that while reading this entry she is smiling so we know she is thinking of the memory fondly. Howver when Alice comes in and they start talking about the future and getting teary eyed, Alice asks what Betty could have to cry about it Betty flashes back to the kiss and gets teary. It shows that while Betty might be looking back on the past fonly she has lot of guilt and uncertainty about the more recent kiss. She’s very confused about her feelings. 

The next time we see them is the first Bunker scene. Here we see them laying on the bed together and they start out by telling the other where their significant other is at. Betty tells Archie that Jugead is with Charles and Archie replies that Veronica is with Cheryl. I think in this moment wher ethey are lying close together and its intimate and all these feelings for each other are welling up they bring up Jughead and Veronica to remind each other that there are two other people involved in this, who are going to be affected by this. It’s at this moment that Betty asks what they are doing there? She is trying to figure out her feelings and what all of it means, whether its real, she’s despesrately trying to find the answers. But Archie doesn’t have an answer for her as he as just as confused by situation as she is, there is one thing he is sure of though and that’s this feels nice. Betty then admits that yes it is but that they can’t do anything more than this. This is very telling because it tells us that not only is Betty thinking about doing more with Archie she clearly wants to. It almost like shes saying it as a caution to Archie and herself, she saying this is nice I like this but we have to be careful because it would be far to easy to get lost in each other and go further. I did think Archie’s response to this was kinda funny, he’s like we’re just hanging out. It is a typical Archie/ teenage boy response and again its very telling because it actually shows that one Archie is a little in denial here, there is obviously more going on here than them ‘just hanging out’. It also seems like Archie is trying to find a reason for them to keep doing it by painting it as being more innocent than it actually is. He trying to justify them being alone together by thinking well we’re not doing anything romantic or anything. But while it may seem fairly innocent, I mean they are just laying on a bed, on top of the covers, with their clothes on, the reality is they are both having romantic thoughts about each other and this moment is actually a very intimate moment on an emotional level. The might not be physically cheating but they are being emotionally unfaithful and deep down they both know it. I think this is why Betty says she loves Jughead at this moment. She needs to say it out loud because she’s getting overwhelmed by her feelings for Archie, she needs to remind herself of Jughead who she could really hurt. Archie’s reply is actually really interesting firstly because he pauses for quite a while before answering, his response doesn’t come automatically to him but also because all though he also says he loves Veronica he adds a but. Have you ever heard that saying that nothing a person says before the word but really counts? I think its from Game of thrones. I think that is relevant here Archie says he loves Veronica but this feels nice. So if we’re saying nothing before the word but counts then what Archie is really saying is this feels nice. He also adds a question to the end of it. This feels nice, right? Again this is important because it is telling us that Archie needs that confirmation from Betty. He needs to know she feels the same that he’s not in it alone. Although Betty doesn’t give a verbal response to this I do think we can safely say she does feel the same as we see her turn to look at him and they spend some time staring into each others eyes before taking each others hands. I think in this moment they needed to make some kind of physical contact with each other, their feelings are drowning them but they know that at any moment they could knock some more dominoes and cross the line. But handholding is safe right? I mean they’re just hanging out right?

The next time we see Archie he has gone to his Father’s grave. Like I said I do get this feeling that Archie is just really confused and at a loss. He talks about how he wonders what advice his father would give him. That it would probably something like follow your heart. Archie admits that he doesn’t know which way it is pointing and he doesn’t want to hurt anyone. He is at a crossroads right now. He’s got several paths in front of him that he could take and he doesn’t know which one is the right one, and even scarier than that he doesn’t know where any of them lead, what could be hidden round the bend? Does he stay with Veronica, something he is familiar with and a person he loves and has a lot of history with? Does he stay in Riverdale after high school and focus on the center and his dad’s business? Does he persue his feelings for Betty another person who he has alot of history with but who he now has new romantic feelings for? Does he join the Naval Academy and get an education? There are so many possibilties in front of him but so many unknowns too. Its no wonder why he’s really missing his dad right now as thats the person he would ordinarily talk this all out with. 

And then we were back with Betty. Again she is reading her diary, this time its about the proposal. She describes this day as the happiest day of her life, which is just super adorable. She again flashbacks to Mini Barchie and the proposal and can I just say that red heart ring is so cute and I do think it might pop up at some point again, they did take special effort to give us a close up of it and I can’t help but wonder what happened to it. Did Archie still give it to Betty anyway as a kind of promise ring? Did he keep and its in a draw somewhere? Who knows but I do think itll eventually end up with Betty. Kevin interrupts Betty’s thoughts when he asks if she ok and when she answers yes she was just thinking, he asks if she was thinking about simpler times to which Betty agrees. The thing is if we look at it from Betty’s point of view it really was a simpler time. Back then she was certain about what she wanted. She wrote in her diary ‘I know I want to marry Archie but I know we’re too young.’ Little Betty knew exactly how she felt and exactly what she wanted. There was no boyfriend whose heart she could break, there was no best friend who she could utterly destroy with her betrayal. There was only her and Archie. Fast forward ten years and shes in a very different situation then what her younger self thought. As a child she believed this was the time when she and Archie would be getting engaged, when they were 18 and in high school. Now all those feelings she felt then are back but its far from a simple situation. 

I don’t think its at all surprising that when we return to Archie he is working on a song. Archie has always tried to work his feelings out through songwriting and music. We can see him smiling throughout the entire process of wrinting this song. Now I was going to wait and talk about the meaning of the song later when going through the second bunker scene but I actually think we should cover it now. I mean if Archie has written a song for Betty then obviously we need to study every single line in great detail just because what else would we do with it? So lets first start with the title. According to the video I found on youtube its called ‘Carry the Torch’. Now if this is the official title then this is very intersting as the phase means to love something for a long period of time. Us Barchie shippers have been saying all along that Barchie never lost their feelings for each other and I do think this confirms that. The first line of the song is ‘There’s no warning when everything changes’, pretty obvious that Archie is talking about the sudden emergence of their feelings for each other here. I also think its interesting that for Archie everything has changed. Literally nothing is the same for him anymore, not his feelings for Veronica, not his plans for the future, his feelings for Betty, literally everything is up in the air. 

‘You let down your guard and I saw something strange, I thought she’s not made for this world and neither am I.’ The part about her letting down her guard I think is in reference to how previously in season 1 after he broke her heart she became more guarded with Archie to the point where when he tried to talk about his feelings with her in the season 1 finale she shut him down. Now though she’s let that guard down, she’s kissed him and she’s met with him in the bunker, she admitted she was feeling something for him. As for the part about seeing something strange and thinking she’s not made for this world I again think this is a throw back to how he used to see her. I’ve said before that I always thought a huge part of the reason why Archie rejected Betty in season 1 is because of how he saw her as this perfect girl next door and so much more than he ever would be. I think he’s now realised thats not true. That she’s not the same person anymore and neither is he. The line about not being made for this world is a little more ambiguos to me but I think he means they aren’t made to fit into a box, they both a little different. I mean I think they have had similar paths, they both have struggled with a dark side that was brought into exisitence by the same man, the black hood. Archie’s anger at the black hood lead him down some pretty dark paths, Betty got the calls from the black hood that also took her down a dark path.They were both manipulated by someone they thought they could trust. Archie was manipulated by Hiram and Betty was manipulated by Chic. They have both lost their Fathers suddenly. I think Archie is trying to say that whereas before he saw them on different levels now he recognises that they are on the same, that they match. It could also mean that they aren’t meant for the world of Riverdale, this world that’s steeped in blood and violence, Archie has always seen their relationship as being something pure, that childhood innocence, maybe he’s saying that their love is being blocked because of this world where they can so easily be corrupted. How he feels for Betty is so pure that it doesn’t belong in this world of evil and corruption its on another level it doesn’t fit in with this world, its just too good if I’m making sense here. 

‘Cause you make me wanna be stronger than I am.’ Another fairly obvious one Archie wants to be good enough for Betty he wants to be worthy of her. She inspires him to better himself and again we this alot throughout their relationship. She supports his music and encourages him to persue it, we know that story of how she helped him get caught up as children so he wouldn’t have to repeat a grade, we also know that she helped him with his schoolwork when he got out of prison. She always believes in him and he always listens to her advice and lets her guide him. The next line is ‘Maybe I’m reaching, misplacing a feeling. There’s no way to know but to try.’  This line is really showing Archie’s confusion. But it also tells us alot about how Archie is thinking. He recognises that isn’t certain of his feelings that he just be mistaking nostalgia but he also says the only way they can know is to try. This is kinda what I’ve been saying myself. The only way Barchie are going to get closure is if they explore their relationship otherwise they are always going to wonder, they’ll always be a what if. It seems from these lyrics that Archie thinks this too that he wants to try and see what they could be. 

Ok I do want to point something out real quick here. We know that Archie didn’t sit down and write this song all in one session. This song was written over a couple of days and as I said I do think Archie uses music to sort through his feelings. All of the lines above come from the first verse of two. Here’s the thing there is a huge change between the two verses. In the first it is very much about new, tentative and unsure feelings. However as you will see as we go through the second verse it is much more sure and certain. Archie has made up his mind about what he wants and its reflected in this second verse. “So give me tonight, I don’t know much but I knoww this feels right.’ Archie might be a bit clueless most of the time, he might make mistakes and he might not have all the answers but in all that uncertainty one thing he does know, beyond a shadow of doubt that what he feels for Betty is right. I mean if you compare the line ‘maybe I’m reaching mistaking a feeling’ with this line ‘but I know this feels right.’ This is such a huge turn around. Those lines couldn’t be more different. From the line give me tonight it does make me think that the first verse was written sometime after the first bunker visit but before he goes to see Betty and arranges to meet her at the bunker tomorrow evening. I think the second was written the next day when he knew that evening he was going to sing the song for Betty. In that time he had recgnised that his feeling were real and that they felt right. 

‘So give me tonight, If you carry the torch, I’d follow the light, I’d follow the light.’ Here again Archie repeats give me tonight. I think he understands that Betty is unsure and so he’s asking her to hear him out, to keep an open mind to come to this conversation he wants to have. It seems to me like Archie very much wants to talk about how they are feeling and have that conversation that lets be honest they should have had the last time they kissed. When he says ‘if you carry the torch I’ll follow the ligh’t this is huge. He is literally saying that if she says that she has feelings for him, if she wants him too then he’s all in. He wants to be with her, its as plain as day in those lyrics. Like without a doubt if she had said she wanted to be with him he would break up with Veronica and be with Betty and does come across as what he wants. 

One thing I will say real quick is that I do think Archie needs to break up with Veronica anyway. Irregardless of whether Betty is willing to be in a relationship with him or not if he is having feelings as strong as what he is portraying in this song that its not right for him to continue with Veronica. As much as it would suck for her and as much as I’d hate to see her hurting, I think Veronica is an amazing woman and person and deserves a heck of a lot better than to have someone settle for her.

When we go back to Betty the diary entry of the day is talking about how they used to listen to records together. Again I don’t think its a coincidence that right after we see Archie working on a song Betty flashes back to them listening to music, music has always been a predominant part of their relationship. Again child Betty describes it as the best day ever. Betty seems to be trying to work through her feelings by looking back at old memories everytime we see her shes got one of her diaries in her hand. What I do think is interesting is that while Archie seems to be looking forward, looking to their furture Betty has chosen to look backwards. I kinda get the sense that Betty is frightened of the future and so her tactic for dealing with that is to just not think about all the much. So she’s getting lost in the past. Archie then shows up and can I just say I love Archie he’s so adorable, like he literally spent the entire episode writing songs and trying to think of ways to hang out with Betty. When he says that he’s there to help her with the year book it is so obvious that he is looking for any excuse to be around her. Definitely had th esame vibe about it as ‘we’re just hanging out.’ Bless ya cotton socks Arch. Anyway Betty sees right through Archie and points out that he’s not there for the yearbook. This is when Archie confesses that he can’t stop thinking about her. She says that they can’t do this but then after looking at him for a moment continues with ‘not here’. Naturally Archie gets very excited at this little bit of hope and Betty admits she can’t stop thinking about him either. Now the next couple of lines of dialogue I think are very important. They arrange to meet at the Bunker but Betty doesn’t want to meet that night but the next. The reasoning she gives for this is so that they have time to think about it and ‘make sure this is what we really want.’ The reason why this is such a big deal is because of the implications behind it. Betty is basically saying that in this moment at least she wants to be with Archie, this means that in this moment she had pretty much decided she was going to leave Jughead for Archie. The intersting thing is that she asks for that delay. I think some of it is yes so that she herself can be sure that it is what she wants and that she isn’t going to change her mind. But more than that I think she wants to make sure Archie won’t change is mind. I mean look at it from her perspective he has broken her heart before. Not only that but after they kissed last time when she next sees him after that night he is kissing Veronica and its obvious their back together, we know that Barchie hadn’t talked about the kiss at this point and they shared a look when Archie spotted her and realised she had seen him kiss Veronica. This must have hurt Betty too its possible she hadn’t spoken to Archie yet because she was working up the courage, unfortunately Archie could have seen the fact that she hadn’t tried to talk about it with him as indifference on her part which is part of the reason why he goes back to Veronica. I think Betty is thinking ok he says he can’t stop thinking about me now but lets wait a bit and see if that cools off and it changes because if we start something up for real then not only have they hurt the people they care about for nothing but Betty’s heart will be broken again. 

Betty continues to read her diaries in the meantime and the next entry we get is acutally really telling given what comes next. In this entry Betty is talking about how much she hates Cheryl for kissing Archie. This is relevant because unlike the others this isn’t some happy memory of childhood love, in this memory she is remembering what it feels like to see someone you love kiss someone else. I suspect she is then recognising that this feeling is what Jughead and Veronica will go through if she does persue things with Archie. These thoughts and feelings are fresh in her mind when Cheryl comes in. This part of the episode does seem to have split some opinions in the fandom and caused a bit of a stir. Alot of people feel like it was really out of character for Cheryl to say that what Betty feels for Archie isn’t real and that she is in love with the idea of him considering she was the one saying that it looked pretty real to her just a few episodes ago. I agree with that I was very confuse myself by it when I first watched the episode. But since then I’ve gone back and watched the scene again and I’ve got a few things I think we should think about with this scene. Firstly we need to remember that Cheryl unlike the audience, doesn’t have all the facts. She doesn’t know about the kiss, she doesn’t know that Betty fantasized that dance, she doesn’t know about them meeting in the bunker. Betty straight up denied anything had happened between them when Cheryl asks. I think in these instances its really important that we look at it from the character’s pov. We can actually learn alot from studying Cheryl’s facial expressions during this scene. They are very subtle but if you look closely enough it can make you understand Cheryl’s thought process also it gives us an excuse to look at Cheryl’s beautiful face so its win win. This is Cheryl’s face when she first realises that she was right and Betty is having real feelings for Archie. 

She is clearly excited and happy at the news. This is much more in line with what you’d expect from Cheryl after her comments about it looking real. However her demenour changes after Betty says she thinks a part of her had been in love with Archie for the last ten years and she suddenly looks alot more sombre and well sad to be honest... 

  So why the sudden change? Well her expression also seems really sympathetic to me as well as sad and her expression makes alot more sense when you see what she is seeing. She is looking at Betty in this moment and this is how Betty is looking at that moment. 

I mean look at her, she is so devastated, she is clearly hurting and struggling. Now again we have to look at this from Cheryl’s pov. While she might put on an act alot of the time and while its true she seems to enjoy chaos, she isn’t a heartless person. In fact on many occasions we have seen a softer side to her an example of this with Betty is when Betty suspected that her dad was a serial killer she went to Cheryl and she was supportive of Betty and gave her some really good advice. Well they might not be bosom buds Betty is still Cheryl’s cousin, her family. Again if we look at it from her point of view not knowing about the kiss or any of that then Cheryl likely sees it as Betty has started to have feelings and the idea of it is really upsetting Betty. If Cheryl did know about the kiss she might have given different advice but she doesn’t. It’s also possible that Cheryl may be feeling some level of responisibilty for Betty feeling upset now because she was the one who put the idea in her head that she had real feelings for Archie. I actually think Cheryl is trying to find a way to cheer Betty up, to comfort her when she gives this explanation that she’s just in love with the idea of Archie. 

I went to a body language class once and the guy told us that when a person lies or is trying to tap into their imagination they look up and to the right because its the creative side of our brians. If a person looks up and to the left they are trying to tap into the memory side of their brains. The interesting thing about Cheryl in this scen is she actually does both, her eyes flick from one side to another. Now I’m not an expert in body language I only ever went to the one workshop that covered the basics but to me this would suggest that Cheryl was searching for something to say here whether it comes from her imagination or a memory doesn’t matter she just wants to think of something to say that will cheer Betty up that will make it better. 

If you look at Cheryl’s face right before she says false and then goes on to explain that she’s in love with the idea and that what she has with jughead is real, to me it has that lightbulb look. You know the one I mean, when you’ve just had an idea pop into your head? Yeah I think this is Cheryl’s that’s it, that’s the solution to the problem moment. You can see it alot better when you watch the scene you can see the moment where it pops into her head. So I do think this was more Cheryl’s miguided way of cheering Betty up. I mean like I said she doesn’t even have all the information about the situation all she knows is that Betty is feeling hella upset right now. I think Cheryl meant well but that she didn’t give the best advice at this moment. Also there’ another much simpler reason for why Cheryl said this. The writers. I think they want to draw this Barchie storyline out and play on the angst a bit and so they are using Cheryl here to throw a spanner in the works and delay Barchie getting together. 

However that doesn’t mean that what Cheryl said doesn’t have some merit. In particular I think the line about being in love with the idea of the perfect romance is important. You know I actually half agree with Cheryl here. Only half though because I think this used to be true in the past. I think back in season 1 when Betty was more innocent and naive she was in love with the idea of the perfect romance with Archie. However now, when you think about it, it’s not possible for her to be. Mostly because she can’t have the perfect romance with Archie. By this point Archie has already broken her heart once, what’s perfect about that? They have already kissed and then hidden it from their significant others while pretending it didn’t happen in season 2, again what’s perfect about that? Now they’ve kissed again only this time its worse because they’ve actually cheated and now they know that if they do decide to be together alot of people are going to get hurt, yeah there’s definitely nothing perfect about that. My point is their relationship is already flawed, its already gone through the wringer and they already bear the scars from it, its not perfect so how can she be in love with the idea of a perfect love story with Archie? It not perfect but it is real. I need to point out as well that in this scene Betty admits that she has been in love with Archie the whole time. Yet when she talks about Jughead she says ‘I love Jughead’ not in love, love. I do think they’ve done this deliberately, this difference between the two phrases but I haven’t figured out what the significance of it is yet.

So now we’ve gotten to the second bunker scene. It starts off with Archie playing the song for Betty. What I do think is significant here is that whilst he is playing she flashes back to that scene where he was playing for them all and she gets overwhelmed and runs off. Like before when she was reading the diary entry about Cheryl she has remembered a time when she felt hurt and in pain because the person she loved had kissed someone else (Veronica in the cupboard this time) again she is thinking about how much that hurt her and how that’s how Jughead and Veronica are going to feel on top of that she’s got everything Cheryl said spinning through her mind and all just overwhelms her and she was to stop Archie. Another thing worth pointing out is when Archie asks if she doesn’t like the song she replies ‘it’s us, it’s us’ again here she is admitting that they are real, they are right because that’s what the song is about, so if she thinks the song is them that she must believe that. Yet I think in the end as she says she doesn’t want to hurt or lose Jughead. Ultimately that’s what it comes down to. It’s not that she doesn’t have feelings for Archie, its not that she doesn’t think they are right for each other, it not even that she doesn’t want to be with Archie, she just doesn’t want to hurt Jughead. She doesn’t want to face the consequences and so instead she just ends instead trying to convince them both that its just nostalgia and fear of things changing. 

The immediate scene after shows that Archie is still playing the song and his mother comments how it must have been written for someone special, she assumes that its for Veronica. This is the moment when Archie says that he wants to join the Naval Academy and says he thinks it’ll be best to just have a fresh start. I mean this poor guy is so heartbroken that he’s decided that the only thing left to do is join the Navy. I do think being in the Navy is going to drastically change Archie in some ways it might be good for him as it will give him more control over his emotions and discipline but it also might make him a much harder person. We won’t know for sure until after the time jump but I do feel like we should prepare ourselves for seeing a very different Archie. Again though we are being shown Archie looking forwards to the future as a way of dealing with his current situation. 

In contrast Betty is still focussed on the past, mainly on burning it away. But I do think its interesting that while one of them is obsessing over the future as an escape the other is losing themselves in the past in an attempt to deal. The thing is though neither one of them is focussing on the present on what’s going on right in the moment and so I feel like they are missing out. Its obvious that in this scene Betty still trying to convince herself that her feelings for Archie aren’t real. When her mother asks what shes doing she says she’s ‘exorcising her demons’ and then later after Alice points out that they are her childhood memories and that they are precious, Betty replies that they are just memories. I do think she is trying really hard to convince herself that what Cheryl said was true. I do think its interesting that its Alice in this scene that saves the last diary. I do think this diary is going to be an important plot point. I am very curious about whats in it. But I do find it ironic that Alice was the one in 3x01 who was trying to convince Betty to burn all her diaries but now shes the one trying to save them. Also it could be significant that Alice is the one to do this considering her past. When she was Betty’s age she too was in love with someone, FP. She too, like Betty is now, decided to not face these feelings and instead went for the safer option in Hal. As a result alot of bad things happened to her. While her life wasn’t necessarily terrible there was still something missing for her, the same can be said of FP. That decision to not face there feelings for each other had a direct impact on there lives. It had a domino effect. Like Betty and Archie Alice and FP had other opportunities to be honest with themselves and each other but didn’t. 

As I said before I don’t think that Barchie’s story is over yet. There are too many things left undone. We still haven’t heard the whole song in the show yet. I do think its possible that Veronica will somehow discover the song, whether because she hears a recording of it, or hears Archie playing it or becuse Mary asks her what she thought about it. Then one of two things will happen. Either Archie will be faced with the awkward situation where he either has to admit the song isn’t about her or pretend it is and play it for her. Or when she hears it Veronica realises right away that it isn’t about her. Maybe Jughead also hears the song and also gets suspicious. I also think that diary is going to come back into it, maybe Betty reads something in it that makes her realise Archie is the one she wants and so she rushes over to see him and tell him only to find that he has already left, she gets to his room and there is a letter for her on his desk. Inside the envelope is an explanation that he’s left for the Navy, a loves confession and the heart ring is in there too. Then we’ll have the 5 year time jump where we find out they’ve been longing for each other the entire time. Oh the angst. The other thing is that Jughead and Veronica still haven’t found out about the kiss and with these video tapes popping up all over the place its only a matter of time before that one comes out. Also its worth saying that technically Archie and Betty still haven’t had a proper conversation about their feelings. While they were better this time around and they did touch on the fact they couldn’t stop thinking about each other their conversations were more about what they didn’t want then what they did. They don’t want to hurt Jughead and Veronica. So at the moment they are kinda at a stalmate.   

Well thank you to everyone who read all the way to the end of this. I know it got real long, like I said a lot of thoughts about everything. Again I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next. I’m not sure how much information we are going to get from the next episode as its going to be a revenge fantasy from a story Jughead is writing but you never know, either way I’m still excited for the episode. So until next time.                         

[anhed-nia]

BLOGTOBER 10/29/2019: ONE CUT OF THE DEAD

I usually don’t post spoiler warnings, because I assume that if you are willing to read about a movie at all, then you accept some risk that you will receive an unpredictable amount of detail about its content. However, this is a case in which it is really worth saying: If you have the slightest interest in this highly unusual horror comedy, which earned over a thousand times its ~$25,000 budget, please just watch the ONE CUT OF THE DEAD. Don’t watch any trailers and don’t read anything about it. It’s a really special experience.

With that said, I will reluctantly describe this experimental indie gem to you. Even under the assumption that readers have seen, or aren’t worried about seeing ONE CUT OF THE DEAD, it feels like a violation to try to crystallize what it’s like in words. The production is so simple, and so lively and spontaneous, that the rigors of analysis do it a real disservice, like sticking a wild animal in the zoo. But, this is what I committed myself to this Blogtober, so here goes. Shinichirô Ueda’s ultra-meta comedy begins with an astounding 40 minute single take that becomes more engrossing as it spins farther and farther out into chaos. Its found footage style is confounded by the fact that it features a tiny, seemingly separate film crew who are themselves creating a micro-budget zombie movie at an abandoned water processing plant. Tension builds around the stereotypically megalomaniacal director’s increasingly aggressive behavior, and then explodes when his ramshackle production is interrupted by a real live zombie outbreak. The concept seems simple enough, but something is off about it. Conversations meander disjointedly in the way they might in a phone call with someone who is secretly a hostage, insert shots that seem inconsequential linger on to a maddening point, and sometimes everything just descends into complete chaos. The movie only gets weirder and more off-kilter until a pattern starts to emerge, and you begin to realize that these strange deviances are actually designed to accommodate the creation of special effects--LIVE. What was once confusingly eccentric becomes oddly riveting, like watching a tightrope walker in action, and the thrill is all in trying to guess what insane stunt they’re about to pull off while the camera holds on yet another closeup of the screaming heroine for a deranged amount of time. Giddy suspense builds around this oddball filmmaking technique, which is like a cross between a sports event and a magic show--until credits roll, and the “real” move begins.

So *actually*, ONCE CUT OF THE DEAD is about journeyman DP Takayuchi Hamatsu (the wonderfully versatile Takayuchi Higurashi) who is hired to direct the premier production for a debuting zombie-themed cable station. The proposal, to which he can’t but absolutely should say no, is to shoot a TV episode about an undead apocalypse, and broadcast it live--one camera, no cuts. That the first 40 minutes is the result of this setup is not the only surprise from the second half of the film. The tyrannical diva in the director roles is not only just a blue collar cameraman, but a gentle, submissive guy who worries about whether his teenage daughter respects him. In light of his explosive performance in the first leg of the film, part of the excitement will now be in seeing how this mild-mannered hired hand will transform into the terrifying juggernaut we first saw, who is in fact fighting for his dignity and the love of his family. The following ride or die struggle of his crew to achieve the impossible, which is essentially a reverse angle of the first 40 minutes, is as exciting as it is moving, and just as funny or funnier than the movie’s opening assay.

Folks who have seen ONE CUT OF THE DEAD already may not be surprised to learn that it is a film adaptation of a play by Ryoichi Wada. The movie has an obviously theatrical sort of vibe, and it’s easy to imagine this same protracted stunt playing out effectively on the stage. It’s almost a little disappointing to learn this, because ONE CUT is so startlingly original to the uninformed. But, I’d like to say that the addition of the limitations of cinema--that some things are off-screen, and that your choice of specific media (e.g. film or “shaky cam” video) forces one interpretation of how “real” your movie is supposed to be--adds a valuable extra layer of mystery and suspense, giving certain narrative facts a proverbial curtain to hide behind until the time is right. The final product is enormously charming, and it makes me very curious about what Shinichirô Ueda could possibly do to follow this act. All I know is that I just looked up what he did first, and now seeing it is a fucking emergency.

[battlemaiden13]

another 2 questions for bros from UT, US, HT, UF, SFR, Gastertale, MT, UL, and StoryShift Papyrus - 1. What games, board-games, video games, or card games might these skeletons play? 2. What is their favorite foods, or the foods they eat the most?

13: this turned out to be a bit longer than I thought it’d be, whoops. I’ve included a brief description of the games I figured most people wouldn’t of heard about to so you should be able to understand most of them. 

SansPulling pranks and being a pain aren’t really games you can tell people you enjoy although if they were that’s what he’d say. Instead he tells you his favourite game is questions only. It’s an improvisation game played between two people were they are only allowed to talk in questions. If someone manages to say something that isn’t a question than they’re out and the other person wins the round. He likes this game because he doesn’t necessarily need to stand up to play and there’s no set up. Of course he’s favourite food is obviously ketchup especially if he can have fries with them.

PapyrusWhy stop at a simple game? Being out of the underground Papyrus has discovered the wonders of escape rooms. Not only are they rooms filled with multiple puzzles but most are intended for more than one player making them the perfect bonding opportunity. Escape rooms are by fair his first choice of games if he could pick but he’s basically willing to try any puzzle based game from the digital game portal to just literal puzzles. Of course his favourite food is spaghetti.

RedReally likes RPG video games, his favourite though is the Persona series. They are a mix of RPG, logical thinking, fighting and strategy.  He enjoys other RPG’s to but this series is the one he keeps coming back to over and over again. He particularly enjoys the aesthetic of 5. Red’s favourite food to go along with his mustard is greasy cheeseburgers.

EdgeLikes games of subtle manipulation and control, his favourite of which is the board game series Munchkin. It’s a game where you have to work together in order to move forward but if you help out the others to much they will pull ahead and win the whole game. You have to figure out what alliances to keep and when to break them in order to best benefit yourself. Edge enjoys Lasagna, there are so many different ways to make it that he finds the whole thing very enjoyable.

BlueOne of his favourite games is Double memory! Of course you could also convince him to just play regular memory but double memory is way funnier in his opinion. Double memory is played with two decks of cards laying face down on a table, the joker cards are removed. With two decks you have to match both the number on the card and the suit where as with regular memory you just have to get the number because it’s played with a single deck. If you get a pair on your turn you get to go again, the person with the most matches at the end wins. Blues favourite food is tacos although he isn’t that great at cooking them he likes the different flavours you can get from a single bite from them.

OrangeLikes shooter video games, his favourite of which is borderlands. Not only is it a fast pace shooter but he really enjoys the style in the game and he adores the humour. First time he picked it up he wasn’t expecting it to be funny but it’s got him a few times and he was hooked. Orange has such a big sweet tooth anything to do with desserts he will love, that’s why he drinks honey. If he had to choose one thing though he’d definitely go with donuts.

LordLikes games that let’s him install fear in others usually done with contraptions he’s made himself. One such game he’s created is a game of chicken involving a finger guillotine. Players put their finger in the respective slot and take turns cutting a string. One of these strings will release sharp blade cutting off the players fingers. If you remove your hand you lose although losing a finger might not be the best option for any winner. Lord likes gyro’s and is convinced that they are the superior food.

MuttHe doesn’t really get to play games too often but if he had to pick one it would the card/ board game codenames. The game is played in teams, 12 tiles with different pictures are placed in front of you, the speaker has a card showing the locations of the different agents. The speaker gives the players a number and a word and the players have to try and connect the words to the pictures on the board. The number stated indicates how many agents could be hidden with that word.  The winners are the first team to find all their agents. Mutt likes it because you have to think about what your team or speaker would connect with each word in order to find the agents. Mutt also has a sweet tooth but prefers things a little bit sour. He could eat a ton of sour gummy worms along with the sour cream he always seems to be eating.

AxeHis memory makes it hard to concentrate on most games so it either has to be something he can leave and come back to or something that’s over pretty quickly. He does enjoy backgammon, he knows were his own pieces need to go and he doesn’t really need to concentrate when its the other players turn. He simple needs to role his dice and move his own pieces according to the numbers shown. He finds it easy to pay attention for these short times when it’s his turn and likes the logic and luck behind the game. Also loves ketchup but he will say that his favourite food is fruit. There wasn’t really a chance to get fresh fruit underground so now he really enjoys it.

CrooksLikes classic puzzles. Like puzzles, puzzles, you know the ones with pieces that fit together to show an image. That! The more pieces the better in his opinion and he finds the 3D ones just as fun. Over the years above ground he’s accumulated quite the collection of different puzzles. Like he has a wall in his house with a bookshelf covered in boxes of puzzles.  His favourite food is also spaghetti, he thinks it tastes best if made with rabbit meat or deer.

GGames aren’t really his thing but he has been known to play Tarot Cards of Fate.  The game is played in 3 rounds using a deck of Tarot cards. The cards are placed face-down on a table and the game is played by flipping them up one by one. Cards are assigned a score equal to their number shown on them i.e. The World being XXI is assigned 21 points. This score is awarded only to one of the players. Cards score also depends on their position when flipped up, if they are facing upwards the player is awarded positive points, if they are reversed they award a negative score. The sole exception to this rule is The Fool which serves as the game’s “Joker”. If The Fool is face up it is an instant-win for the score player, if reversed it is an instant loss regardless of any score. Although G does enjoy drinking Hot Sauce his favourite food is curry, the spicier the better.

GreenHe enjoys doing Sudoku puzzles. It’s something he picked up from his Gaster half and with his Papyrus half already enjoying puzzles there really wasn’t much argument about it. He’s filled in so many of those puzzle books that you’re sure it could fill a library. Green doesn’t really have a favourite food but he will indulge himself with different chocolates every now and then.

RouletteChoice poker is his favourite game. Any gambling he enjoys but he finds choices poker really raises the stakes. It has the same rules with common poker, five of a kind being the strongest hand and high card being the weakest hand. You are allowed to exchange your card only once. (You can exchange one to five cards). This game is also played with the joker and it is considered the strongest card instead of the ace. However, having the strongest hand doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll win, the higher bidder of chips in the betting round is given the choice to select whether the stronger or weaker hand will win that round. This means the bets are usually pretty high which makes for an exciting game. His favourite food is potato cakes alongside tomato sauce, he finds the flavour less sweet than normal ketchup although he’ll drink that two if it’s available.

SniperFavourite game is Duel Clash Poker. The game is played with a special deck, two pairs of players against each other. Each player has eight different cards: numbered card from 1 to 7 and one Joker. The player who plays the stronger card wins. However, if two players use the same card, they will cancel each other and the winner will be the person who played the next highest number. For example, when the chosen cards are two 7s, a 4, and a 2, the person who played 4 is considered the winner. The strongest card in the game is the Joker. Jokers can also cancel each other, though. The pair who manages to win four rounds first wins the game. Snipers favourite food is also pasta but he prefers them with white sauces.

LustAlso likes RPG’s his favourite currently being Skyrim because he has install all the horny mods, the same can be seen on his sims saves. He doesn’t play games to often but if and when he does you better believe his favourite things are the sexual mods that other creators have made for them. Lust favourite food is pizza mainly because he can argue it has veggies on it.

CharmPlays dating sims. Not only does he find them fun but he can use them as a training resource or as a way to test his skills. He doesn’t really have a particular favourite title as he’s basically willing to try any title in the genre and he’s actually pretty good at them. Charms favourite food is actually sushi, he finds it more romantic than pasta for some reason.

PoppyHis favourite game is actually Tetris. The other papyrus personalities don’t tend to enjoy video games but Poppy adores this fast paced puzzle game. A game of skill and quick logical thinking what could be better? You don’t think you’ve ever seen him lose unless he was super distracted. Just like the others have a tendency to though Poppy also really likes pasta. He doesn’t have a specific dish he enjoys more but he always seems to enjoy pasta.

[1358456]

Review Response, Dec 22 - 28, 2019

“28″, but I’ll be including the reviews that came in this morning. Because hey.

And... there are a lot. The most this year.

Legacy Prologue - Kalos

1) That first part DEFINITELY reminded me of the XY chapter, except Y is being the Hikikomori (shut-in) and X is trying to drag her out... It’s a good role-reversal!

I also wanted it to be like the time in XY where Y found out what happened to her mother and she got super depressed. Except this time, X tries to do something about it. Finally.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Legacy #008

1) LOVED IT!

Thank you!

2) Poor moon. I loved this chapter

Hey, it’s you! <3 Thank you kindly.

3) WoW cool chapter. So blue confessionele next chapter hopefully? Lol have been waiting on that for the entire story so Lets hope its the case

Haven’t we all. ... Except for those that don’t like this pairing...

4) It’s nice to see platinum trying to help blue move things was a good chapter with nice interactions with the juniors and seniors all under the same roof

It’s like a big Dex Holder family! ... But not too big, since there are far too many of them nowadays! And despite Platinum not really wanting to get involved, she helps out anyways, as “foretold” by the Headcanon Chronology!

5) While Moon really should rest, the idea of her getting that Spirit of Vengeance team you posted about on your Tumblr sounds way too awesome. ...Also Umbreon bias since it's my first (and only) shiny, but yeah.

Poor Blue - it really is probably only going to hurt her the longer she keeps it in. Wonder how that is going to play out, since I guess Platinum's now put things in motion. I think the first scene in this chapter is the one I enjoyed the most.

Damn, for Moon's Pokemon to die like that...that's gotta be traumatizing. I have to admire that determination though, even though she's shaping up to be a revenge-obsessed character from what I see.

Awesome chapter as always and can't wait for the next one!

Hehe. Spirit of Vengeance. The amount of curse in that team would be quite terrifying. Hehehe... ... Only shiny, you say? Aww...

Platinum has gotten the ball rolling despite not really wanting to. MVP of the confession? Hehe... Sisterly bonds, indeed. Now, will it work out in favor for Blue??

Moon can’t be filled with a lust for vengeance if none of her friends and Pokemon have perished. And so now she rises from her agony with ice cold determination for blood to be spilled for the blood that had been shed. ... Or does that saying go the other way around? Heh. Regardless. She’s pissed, has a bow, lethal poison, and soon to be a team packed with ghosts (and Dark types).

Thank you as always! And you won’t have to wait long~!

6) Eh lucky really isnt my cup of tea but the way you write stories is pretty awesome keep up the good work!

I could tell by the anon ID you picked. To each their own. And thank you!

7) Awww blue being so shy hahahaha. Its like the roles have reversed since the first time they met thats so cute! Anyway Great story as usual

Hehe. Timid Blue~! It’s new and very cute, isn’t it? And thank you.

8) Hey man Great story looking forward to the next chapter

Thank you. It’s coming very soon.

9) Wow this is A really underrated story I really like how you keep most characters so in character!

Still underrated... in comparison to my previous stuff. But that’s to be expected, I guess. And thank you.

10) Well Colour me surprised ! A Pokemon story thats not forcing crack pairings! Anyway Where is green in this story?

Heh. Crack pairings... Only once in a solar eclipse. And... who? Heh. He’s in Kalos and thus off screen.

11) Wtf did moons Pokemon just die? Great story but damn thats fucking dark

Yes they perished in the fire. “Die, insect” and all. ... And one of them was an insect! Heh. Ahem. ... Dark? That’s not dark. Have you seen the stuff I did in SA and Destiny? Heh...

12) I mean I kinda like the story but isnt specialshipping canon? Also this is really really dark

No, it’s not canon. What is canon is that Yellow has a crush on Red. What’s also canon is that Red is uncomfortable with the idea. And of course he is. He thought she was a guy the whole time and then suddenly found out all at once that she was a girl and had a crush on him. His response is not going to be positive. And again, this is not dark. ... Though I guess that depends on your sensitivity.

13) hey sorry for not leaving A review for so long but I still really like the story lol!

Hey, you’re back. ... Then... who’s the anon with the v2 of your ID?

14) I love your writing style!

Thank you!

15) I somehow found Pearl smacking Black across the face to wake him up funnier than it should’ve been. Haha

I wonder if Blue really will confess to Red today. If so, I wonder how the opportunity would present itself.

Its quite sad that Hau, Lillie, and two of Moon’s Pokemon died. I guess this is where Moon’s overhaul comes in. I cant wait to see Moon’s viciousness unleashed when she inevitably meets the guys responsible for all that.

I look forward to more!

Hehe. Black always getting smacked around in my stories, literally and figuratively.

Will Blue truly confess on that day (which is a day before the stuff in Alola happens), or will she fail again due to anxiety? And will it end well for her??

Moon’s overhaul is happening now, yes. For that, she’ll have to go to Galar too. And I don’t know sh*t about that region, so... that’ll be difficult. Hehe. And much later in the story when she meets her foe... oho, Rage Unleashed Moon!

16) Moon and Lillie sure get burned really bad. Also, what about the kid with the malasadas? Hopefully, Blue will confessed to Red soon...

The local boy with the malasada had the same fate as Lillie. Two stretchers with a body on top, with the white blankets pulled all the way up.

17) I figured that now would be the best time to give a review for one of your works. therefore, I should review my personal favourite.

I been a consistent and long-time reader for numerous years now without ever leaving a review. I simply didn't have an account until recently just so I can give my thoughts on some of the series that you make.

Regarding Legacy as a whole, it truely showcases your ability to take the wide variety of dexholders and thiee different personalities and place them in situations that would absolutely never occur in the actual story. I have always loved the way you portray each individual character, improving thier teama and strategies and having genuine character growth. Although Sun and Moon are my uncontested favourite characters so far, I adore the way you use Platinum B in your stories, giving her a genuine personality and character traits.

You also generate a wide range of different and creative settings for each of the characters to go through. Legacy is the perfect example of this in terms of one truely coherent story setting. by using the opportunity of the highest stakes that these dexholders may ever face, you use the opportunity to explore all of the aspects of each character amazingly and how they would face this danger.

Since Sun and Moon are my favourite characters, the wait for this chapter absolutely killed me. Although it sucks that due to the lack of reviews for these characters I will get few opportunties to read your way of presenting the characters What I am trying to say is that the way you write your characters makes them feel REAL. I genuinely believe that these are the actual characters as they personalties are replicated and refined to perfection The way both Sun and Moon react in this chapter is exactly the way I would have expected them to. Being a Deliveryshipping day 1, seeing even the slightest interactions in any media, especially in your stories always brings joy to me. I have regulary reread most of your works such as Special Chronicals and Distinct Events becuase each story is chapter is amazing in its own right.

Your amazing work has inspired me to possibly start my own project one day. I am sorry for the stress that you have gone through this year and the issues with the Discord. It will get better this year. Seeing as you use reviews to indicate the popularity of a particular series, I had to write this review so that this series can get the update it deserves so that we can all see how this fantastic story ends. Thank your for all of the amazing work you have done.

Whoa, hello. Haven’t gotten a review this long since a certain someone stopped with Destiny reviews back in July.

Accounts aren’t necessary for the reviews. Guest reviews exist! And if you use the same anon ID, I’d know it’s you. But thank you for going through the effort! It’s much appreciated!

Aww, thank you very much! <3 And while I don’t know about Sun, but Moon is going to be in the spotlight quite a lot, so enjoy it! Since Platinum is my uncontested favorite, she gets plenty of development in my stories, with new character bonds, teams, battling style, etc. And unlike in DPPt, she actually gets to do things against the enemy.

Of the three major stories I’ve written (SA, Destiny, Legacy), Legacy has the lowest stakes. But I think it’s also the most personal, which I guess means it’s much more important for individual Dex Holders. Well, we’ll see as time passes. And yes, these are kind of things that would never happen in the actual arcs, so the Dex Holders get to be stress-tested. How would they react given their personalities, tics, relationships, etc, in a realistic situation?

Oh. ... Ahem. Sorry for making you wait 7 months. Ehehe... And while it’s true that Sun and Moon currently have the lowest “viewership”, that changes as time passes. Like Black and White in SA and X and Y in Destiny. As the “meh” torch is passed down to Sword and Shield, Sun and Moon might rise in popularity, thus increasing the chances of them appearing in my stories.

I don’t really know if this was how Sun would react though. But I also don’t know how he would’ve actually reacted, so this might not be outside the possibility range. I kind of had him act like Black, really, but without being as sweet... or loud. Well, there will be more Sun & Moon interactions for you to enjoy in the upcoming chapters, so... there you go!

You should start your own project! Go for it! And eh, Discord. Sh*t happens. I wouldn’t call that stress. Anyways. Yes, I use the review count as an indicator of how many people have finished the chapter. Of course, there are plenty of people who read the chapter to the end without reviewing, and the number of people who review after reading tends to fluctuate. But if there is a trend, that indicates a trend in viewership as well. And that is what I look at. Hence the charts. And yes. We’d all like to see how the story ends. Me included. Keep up with the reviews and we’ll all see it by 2021.

And thank you so much for the review and the... sweet talking. Hehe <3

18) Just found this story and am enjoying it thoroughly. Big fan of your Blue characterization as well, I used to enjoy shipping Red with Yellow, but recently, I've come to enjoy Blue with Red.

A small nitpick - Did none of the juniors comment on Red and Blue sleeping in the same room/bed while they stayed in Red's house in the last two chapters? I would assume the female juniors already know Blue likes Red and so won't say anything unnecessary, but I guess the guys are a little more tactful than we give them credit for?

Looking forward to me. Cheers.

Red with Blue works very well. And it’s cute! Hehe... ... biased.

Heh. The girls... already know, since the girls who are in the house were Platinum, White, and Y, and they already know of Blue’s crush and all that. So White and Y would just snicker at the fact that Red and Blue are sleeping on the same bed, while Platinum would just smile. As for the boys... Diamond might notice something if he spent more time talking to Red and Blue before and after. But I doubt Pearl or Black would notice anything odd. They’d probably just assume that Red and Blue are sharing the bed because a ton of guests were sleeping in the living room, so there were no other options.

Of course, all that’s assuming that the juniors know that Red and Blue are sleeping on the same bed. I don’t recall having Red and Blue give them a tour of the house, so as far as the juniors know, there might be another bed upstairs. ... Though a house tour is generally the first thing you do, but... heh. Ambiguity. No one knows for sure.

And I look forward to seeing more reviews from you!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well well. Would you look at THAT. Way above the average now. So... looks like I’ll have to keep my word and update Legacy again before this year ends in 3 days. Heh. Of course, I did notice a few things but... well... whatever.

18. That’s the most reviews I’ve gotten in a chapter in all of 2019. Or 2018. ... And vast majority of 2017 (Legacy Prologue - Kanto was in January 2017). If this kind of thing happened much more frequently, I would be updating Legacy like once every two weeks, instead of 3~4 times in a year.

But, there you have it! New record in almost 3 years. As a result... Legacy update in 3 days.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DE #031

1) Sun and moon are so cute. I love them

Support the new...ish pairing!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And with that, DE #031 is no longer in the top 4 least reviewed. Yay!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SC #017

1) Awesome story.

Thank you.

2) Well that was...brutal alright. Thugs deserved it though. I'm mildly surprised no one died, but I think that's more because I'm used to seeing that from your old "doom hammer" chapters.

I admit the Santa part was an amusing touch, and I guess that explains why you needed to release this by the end of the year. Heh, Blue's gadgets are useful as always and very effective - that's a nice disguise. That action scene was awesome and easily the best scene in this chapter. The situation aside...it was nice to see Red be a hero even without his Pokemon.

You were right - this is an enjoyable chapter and I like this "brutal Red" experiment. Can't wait for the next chapter!

Heh. The doom hammer is for serious stories. Not comical ones. So no one dies in the hands of Santa Claus. This time.

Ahem. Well, there’s the inspiration for the chapter, and the reason behind the line of “Or Santa will go jolly on your naughty asses with a candy cane axe”. Hehe. Cheers, everyone, Santa has come to town!

And the duo of Red and Blue becomes much stronger. Mercenary Red with technological support!

Hehe. Much more serious brutal Red (instead of comical) to come up later as the experimentation continues. Ohoho!

3) holy crud, santa beating up a gang is greatest thing ever

Yep. Santa going to town on their naughty asses with a candy cane bat. What’s not to love?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And with that, the latest SC chapter is now in the top 4 least reviewed. For now?

... Looks like the “A Day at Work” chapters are failing miserably, since they’re at 1 and 3 reviews respectively. So... I guess I won’t be doing that again.

And with this, the longest review response post of 2019 has come to an end.

[arcanacouncilrp]

    “ You are a message of faith, for the universe will bless you     and bring forth all that you need. ”

Upright: Hope, Faith, Rejuvenation Reversed: Insecurity, Discouragement, Lawlessness Astrology: Aquarius ♒︎  Element: Air 🜁 Power: Weather Manipulation

Faceclaim Suggestions: Amber Riley, Nyle Dimarco, Indya Moore*, Hale Appleman Name: UTP Gender: UTP (If the chosen faceclaim is nonbinary, the character must reflect this) Age Range: 28-33 Years with Council: 6 Council Role: Failsafe

FIRST - The sky was so, so full of the sweetest lights that night, so densely packed it seemed as if all it would take to climb to the heavens was one step. As if to prove it, The Star stood with one foot planted in the dewy grass. The other hovered, waiting for pure faith to help it find purchase. They had dreamed and dreamed and dreamed of reaching up into the stars someday. Of winding their fingers through the glittering black and pulling back a palm full of light. All that hope was the reason they had been chosen by The Ancients, they were sure of it, and now it was time to test their new magic by leaving behind the bonds of mortality. They closed their eyes, stepped up, and cupped their hands around something warm. Its light split through their fingers. When they opened their hands they found not a star, but a firefly, and their hopeful smile softened—but only momentarily. That was when they looked down and found themself in the air, one step further from earthly doubt, one closer to a brand new destiny.

FROM THE WORLD’S JOURNAL - Faith comes in many different forms, as I have learned the hard way through The Star—no other Councilor’s reincarnations have been less predictable. Some were inspired by the divine and some had no religion but power, some had lost all faith and some found hope in everything. Sometimes no faith was better than nothing. The Ambitious Three relied on it to twist the original to their desires, after all. They would have trouble with this one, unless they gave a truly polished pitch. This Star is too anxious about protecting themselves from hurt to be generous with their hope. They’ve tried to play it cool, but I noticed it right away. It’s why I spent so much time trying to change their mind. They need to see that they are safe with us, so they will trust the Council enough to help maintain that security. I could use the help, and the inspiration I keep hoping for from them. I want them to shoot for the moon, but they have been too busy keeping a watchful eye on the ground around them.

NOW - Faith? Hope? You had to laugh when they told you that was your higher calling. There’s nothing wrong with believing in things, but you don’t believe in anything that isn’t right in front of you. That’s the only thing that’s safe. Those dear to you? Safe to trust. The Council? Hit or miss, but mostly okay. Humanity as a whole? Forget it. They can hardly manage to be mostly decent to each other in the most mundane of scenarios. Why put all this work and magic into protecting their right to be dicks to each other, especially when history is proof that not even the Council is immune to that urge? It’ll only come back to bite you, and you’ll feel the sting the most because you let yourself believe for a moment it wouldn’t hurt. At least, that was the excuse you used to make back when you were new and hung toward the corner of every meeting putting all your energy toward looking nonchalant. Now you aren’t so sure. What if there is something better to hope for? What if your fear isn’t impossible to overcome after all?

Connections

THE HIEROPHANT - If ever there was someone who got your sense of humor perfectly, it’s them. Their perpetual curiosity makes them fascinating, because they’re constantly learning all this new stuff about anything that catches their fancy. No matter how intellectual they get, they’ll still snort when you crack a dirty joke. Sometimes you think back on things you’ve said to them and grin, certain you’ll never top that moment, and inevitably you come up with something even funnier to tell them. They don’t ask you to be all encouragement and tenderness either, which only makes things better. You couldn’t ask for a cooler person in your life.

STRENGTH - It’s bad enough that you already have one overgrown puppy for a friend, but then this one latched onto you with the single-minded goal of changing how you see the world. You’re not really sure why you put up with it. They’re so determined that they ignore your hints, but usually you give up with a sigh and just let them pull you around. Even if you hate to admit it, they do know how to have fun, and it’s hard to hide your smile at the end of a day with them. They’re barking up the wrong tree if they think they can prove to you the world is a magical and wonderful place, but you’re not so insecure in your own beliefs that you’ll stop them from trying. Wouldn’t it be nice if they were right...

THE MOON & THE SUN - You barely accepted a mansion full of magic powered idiots before The Sun was bobbing in your face, smile wide and arms open.  You didn’t come here looking for friends, and certainly not ones as nauseatingly optimistic as them.  But then The Moon rolled in and they were absorbed into their light too, and suddenly you felt less skeptical.  Less like someone might be using you or getting close to you for your powers and more like, well, they actually wanted to be your friend.  You eased to the concept over time, and while you’re still not the most openly affectionate, you still enjoy your time with them.  In fact, you’re hardly ever apart.  

[borisbubbles]

16. SERBIA

Balkanika - “Nova Deca” 19th place

Out of all the positive morphs I experienced this year, Serbia was the one that I suspected the least. I never hated them the way others did, but eh, I didn’t think highly of them either. Especially when the backstage clips showed them enterting the stage dressed up like members of some inauspicious fertility cult. “Oh.” I thought. “Another Genealogy. Except it won’t make the final. Whatever, NEXT”

How wrong I was though, because it did qualify and caused me to re-evaluate all I knew about life and come to the fucking conclusion that... this is really fucking good??? HOW is an exaggerated mess that has accurately been described as “Balkan Megamix Volume 3″ this great? 

I actually don’t have a clear answer for this as i’m writing this down (we haven’t reached the songs I would spam the replay button on yet), but the core of it is that Balkanika tried REALLY hard to condense 900+ years worth of Balkanic musical tradition in a mere three minutes and fucking pulled it off by... striking battle poses like some Ethno-Power Rangers

GO GO BALKAN RANGERS!!!

The choreography as a whole is just so extra and beautifully overacted. The entire way through, the members of Balkanika strike poses as if in Madonna’s “Vogue”, guided on by the beguiling tunes conjured by Ljubomir’s magic whistle-wand [ed.: here’s the best gif i could make of Old Rasflutin’s background flailing, but it’s way funnier if you pay attention to his presence as you watch “Nova Deca” unfold, so SCROLL UP AND REWATCH RIGHT NAO!!!]:   

Such a beautiful presence we’re not worthy of, y’all. All while the rest of Balkanika are either serving some epic 90 Percussion realness:

or chanelling some Project: Waters of Life sillyness

This could have so easily turned into a San Marinese goopy mess (which I don’t think too highly of, as you know), and briefly it looked like this would be the case; Instead, we found something better.

The plain answer however, lies in that Balkanika didn’t try to be funny and that makes a massive difference. Every piece of overacting, from Mladen’s creepy stares to Ra-Ra-Rasflutin (Serbia’s greatest love machine) prodding the action on from the background, is the product of intense belief and dedication, which... makes it hysterical, but in an endearing sort of way. Balkanika really just can’t help themselves. <3 

However, as I have to take things into account other than just act, I can’t really drag Balkanika much higher than this. Their song, while cool in concept, is kinda a bit too overloaded with quirks, which are largely lost to me because you know, show-stopping staging. (lol I just realized this is such a reverse “O jardim”, how neat they will now be forever ranked next to one another in this ranking). “Nova Deca” also suffers from the fact that I already had a large slew of other faves before I started to love them. As a whole, I think they have the least to offer of those left in the ranking. Oh well, at least we’ll forever have this: 

<3

RANKING SO FAR:

16. Serbia (Balkanika - “Nova Deca”)

17. Portugal (Cláudia Pascoal - “O jardim”)

18. The Netherlands (Waylon - “Outlaw in ‘em”)

19. Ukraine (MÉLOVIN - “Under the ladder”)

20. Macedonia (Eye Cue - “Lost and Found”)

21. San Marino (Jessika ft. Jenifer Brening - “Who We Are”)

22. Sweden (Benjamin Ingrosso - “Dance You Off”)

23. Austria (Cesár Sampson - “Nobody but you”)

24. Latvia (Laura Rizzotto - “Funny girl”)

25. Azerbaijan (AISEL - “X my heart”)

26. Israel (Netta - “Toy”)

27. Norway (Alexander Rybak  - “That’s how you write a song”)

28. Montenegro (Vanja Radovanovic - “Inje”)

29. Armenia (Sevak Khanagyan - “Qami”)

30. Poland (Gromee ft. Lukas Meijer - “Light me up”)

31. Greece (Yianna Terzi - “Oniro mou”)

32. Georgia (Iriao - “For you”)

33. Belgium (Sennek - “A matter of time”)

34. Italy (Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro - “Non mi avete fatto niente)

35. Romania (The Humans - “Goodbye”)

36. Ireland (Ryan O'Shaughnessy - “Together”)

37. Croatia (Franka - “Crazy”)

38. Belarus (ALEKSEEV - “Forever”)

39. Russia (Julia Samoylova - “I Won’t Break”)

40. Spain (Amaia & Alfred - “Tu canción”)

41. Iceland (Ari Ólafsson - “Our choice”)

42. Australia (Jessica Mauboy - “We Got Love”)

43. Czech Republic (Mikolas Josef - “Lie to me”)

FOOTNOTES (optional)

1) I decided not to credit Sanja Ilic simply because he wasn’t on the stage and I feel it’s kinda unfair to credit him just based on his merit as a composer, while Isaura composed AND performed second fiddle to Cláudia, without a letter of on-screen credit. 

2) Re: Intentional vs Unintentional humour: The reason why intentional humour rarely works for me is that it comes with the built-in pressure to laugh, which... makes me less inclined to find something funny because it kinda takes away the choice element of it. Like, I think I have a fairly okay sense of humour, I can decide for myself what I find funny, you know? This is why intentional humour rarely works for me, while unintentional humour nearly always does. For reference, dial back to where I ranked Israel and Norway and Czechia and San Marino (or “Yodel it” and “Space” from last year), all acts that piggybacked on scripted humour

3) DoReDos are one of the few instances this year where intentional humour totally worked for me, although I also realize they’ve largely been hit-or-miss. But we won’t be discussing that soon.

4) Me being a history nerd, I also think the idea of “weaving a song out of literally every Serbian musical quirk ever” is a really cool song concept. It really comes close to an earnest, Balkanic version of “Swedish Smörgåsbord”  <3 5) “Nova Deca” is a way more accurate representation of what actual balkan music sounds like (as opposed to the tiresome, tedious, boring Balkan Ballad). The Folk music channels in Bulgaria, for instance play “Nova Deca”-esque songs all day.   6) A funny argument between my mom and I occured during this song. My mom, who is Bulgarian, argued that Balkanika plagiarized their song from Bulgarian Polyphonic Singing. When I pointed out the song was based on the Byzantine musical traditions, she claimed that the Byzantines stole them from the Bulgarians, which is historically implausible (see note 8). This is one of many reasons I think little of ethnocentrism and nationalism, especially from the Slavs and Greeks. Everyone accuses one another of cultural appropriation (see again: Macedoniagate), when in fact, their geographical proximity exposed them to similar cultural ideas and their geopolitics (warmongering) turned it into a mutually unintelligible wash. 

7) Besides, the entire point of the Balkans is that they support each other due to their cultural similarities in spite of wishing horrific, painful deaths on one another.  <3

8) HISTORY LESSONS WITH BORIS #1: Polyphonic Singing.  Polyphonic singing evolved as a Byzantine response to Roman Catholic liturgical chanting (instituted by Charlemagne, who as Holy Roman Emperor, took measures in making the religion more accessible to the common folk. How do we make the Bible popular? By teaching rich people how to read! What a genius. <3 ). Thus, polyphony spread as Byzantine Christianity spread, which would later become Eastern Orthodoxy after the East-West Schism in the 11th century AD. (hence why polyphony is such a big cultural benchmark all Eastern Orthodox nations, including Russia and Georgia, but not Armenia until their annexation by the Russian Empire in the 19th Century AD (since Armenian Christianity is a cadet branch of Oriental Orthodoxy, which split from Catholicism in the 4th century AD).  Anyway, Bulgaria historically played a massive role in spreading Christianity and its liturgical chanting to their pagan Balkan neighbours, after the Bulgarian Knyaz (a fancy way of saying “Khan”) Boris I converted under the pressure of Byzantine Emperor Michael III. Boris (whom, as you might have guessed, I was named after) used Christianity to pacify the squabbling lords of his realm (which included both pagans and Catholics) and oversaw the creation of the Glagolitic (liturgical) and Cyrrilic scripts to speed up the spread, paving the way for Bulgaria’s Golden Age under his son Simeon. During that Golden Age, btw, much of what is now Serbia came under Bulgarian control, including Belgrade.  So while the Serbs probably did learn polyphony from the Bulgarians, the Bulgarians absolutely, totally, learned it from the Byzantines, who invented the damn’ thing, in their own spin on Charlemagne’s popular church choirs. Mum, you’re WRONG. O:-)

[sparda3g]

Gintama Chapter 689 Review

Before going into this chapter, I thought it was safe to assume that it’s going to be another hilarious chapter with a few nice scenes here and there. To my surprise, the comedy and serious tone ratio has been altered. Therefore, we got ourselves a really captivating chapter with funny and drastic scenes. The time to throw down and get serious is coming, and yet, I’m not ready.

After what happened last time, there’s no way you can skipped the comedy. By that, I mean the false or “wrong” fan service moment with Granny Kagura. Usually, Gintama recaps the last moment of a segment; reminding fans where they left off. In this case, it’s necessary for a comedy skit that had me rolling.

The theme is how Shinpachi has become a player; at least according to Gintoki’s observation. What’s hysterical is how he believes Shinpachi has risen to the level surpassing Gin-san. I heard of a student surpassing the master, but this is downright ridiculous. But that opinion is shattered when naked Granny Kagura appeared. As expected, she doesn’t know Gintoki is there. The funny part is he doesn’t know that’s Kagura. So it begins a train of hilarity.

What stunned him really is not just because he saw a naked granny, though my eyes would dried out, but because Shinpachi has gone way above Gin-san, aiming for Ginsan and Kinsan tier. This joke is hilariously clever if you know those twins’ background, who were over 100 years old, and how the name with suffix became a full name. I was laughing so much to see Shinpachi skiing through space; a hilarious callback to one of my favorite reactions. The puns about elders are also funny.

Things got very awkward when Little Kagura comes out of the shower, wondering if Shinpachi is home. I died from laughing when he thought this is the final chapter with Shinpachi, for whatever reason, skiing through space with law enforcements arresting him. That’s the most tragic ending ever. I can’t stop laughing at how self-aware Gintoki is about the final arc going on for a while and wondering when is it going to end. I know it has to end one day, but good God, don’t end controversial. That’s one way to kill your manga.

I can credit Gintoki for looking after Shinpachi’s safety, even if everything is misunderstanding. It becomes tensed when Kagura can’t find her underwear, but he’s blocking doors to avoid contact. What could possibly go wrong? How about breaking through doors with her bare arms. How terrifying that must have been for him. Rejoice, fans. You got your actual demanded fan service more or less. I’ll say this much; she’s another victim of longer hair equal prettier. I need to take a break from manga…

So yeah, Kagura is about to bash his head, but still doesn’t know that it’s Gintoki. However, he now knows that it’s Kagura, so at least he cleared out his mistake. Unless he thinks Shinpachi went “there.” This sounds like some Batman and Batgirl twisted fantasy. Anyway, he luckily escapes, though a bit bummed that another reunion is stalled for another time. That is until Kagura notices the hair belongs to her precious father-figure, Gin-chan. The run and hide charade is nearly over.

After one wacky reunion, we finally got to see what’s up with Katsura and Takasugi. Takasugi took the opportunity of another enemy warfare occurring outside and snuck inside to meet with Katsura. That was nice to learn how he did it, especially when you consider that he has no army anymore. That said I’m a bit surprised that he went all the way there to kill him. I know Katsura is Zurump, which is understandable for him to be targeted, but think of the friendship.

I can’t help but laugh at the scene where Elizabeth is standing atop of the chandelier. It looks so funny to me. But of course, Gintama has its own way to present a cool moment out of a funny sight. I honestly thought there will be a battle between him and Takasugi; that would be a money-making match. But instead, Elizabeth takes a snapshot and then, we ensue the true way to shape the future: Twitter! The reference to Trump is genius.

Never would I thought to see a comedy skit with Katsura and Takasugi, but after what happened earlier with Gintoki, anything is possible now. It’s so funny that he has tweeted many times with random nonsense or casually downplay the assassination attempts. This is too close to home. What makes it funnier is Takasugi was practically forced to play the straight man, but he lacks energy to be one. Everything that is stupid, he replies in a normal calm manner. Even Katsura calls him out at failing. Either Takasugi legitimately don’t know what is a straight man or pretends to not know, Katsura notes that next time, they will play in their reversal role. This is comedy. Sadly, it ends here and the atmosphere drastically becomes serious.

The tone gets heavy when they begin discussing about their beloved master, Shouyo. Takasugi let him know that he has been searching for his master to save him; similar to what he has said to Gintoki. Katsura’s decision is different yet arguably more righteous of the two. There’s no mistake, he too wants to save their master. It almost sounds like he was agreeing with Takasugi. However, his definition of saving differs.

It’s awe-inspiring yet kind of hurtful with Katsura’s decision to save Shouyo by eliminating him. I was touched on how much he has learned as a Prime Minister and meant what he felt about his people. He wants to protect everyone, like what a Shogun used to do. It’s just Shouyo is also Utsuro and instead of gambling their chance, he wants to end the religion and him. That, to him, is what he considered “saving him.”

I mentioned hurtful because some fans would like Shouyo to return and earn freedom to live, but the reality is he’s the most hated criminal. Letting him live is an awful decision; making all “coolest guy ever” characters look like no crime record people. This moment leaves Gintoki as the middle man since he is torn between ending and sparing Shouyo’s life. I know he wanted to kill him before, but that flashback with him raising the child gave us a clearer view of his character. This subplot is seriously exciting. Please, Sorachi. Don’t ruin the payoff.

Katsura has some serious sincere dialogues that really got me picking his side over the debate. You can argue that he is more mature than Takasugi in this predicament. He hits right in the feels by closing the argument with everyone cannot go back in time after what they have become. It’s so true yet sad at same time. This discussion helped Takasugi to make his final decision: kill Katsura. Not like this…

This chapter is just fill with surprises. Not only would I never thought to see a comedy skit with Katsura and Takasugi, but now, a battle between them. The way how the setup plays out definitely feels like this is going to be a serious one-on-one combat. Katsura versus Takasugi is really happening. So many battles that I thought it wouldn’t happen, but since Sougo versus Kagura, anything is possible. I don’t know if the cliffhanger interrupts it, but if not, oh man, I can’t contain my excitement.

I was so happy that Kagura is chasing after Gintoki; however, I was so sad to learn more depth of her inner conflict. There’s no laughing matter here. In the flashback, Umibozu gives her a deep meaningful advice about letting go. Kagura was conflicted to return to Yorozuya, but he told her that if she doesn’t reach her hand out, there will be no one to grab back anymore. It sounds like a guilt trip, but it’s true in many ways. I sadly can relate to that. One must make a move to bring back together.

What really did it for me is another flashback about Shinpachi’s past two years action. Kagura thought Shinpachi was protecting their home and waited for Gintoki to return, but the truth is he wasn’t. He only protected it because he couldn’t move on; he too was stuck in the past. After all, Yorozuya is designed for those who have nothing to do. That…is a deep reference. Honestly, that made me whisper, “…aw…”

This left Kagura to carry a heavy burden. She has the chance to bring the family back together again. I love how the chase scene slowly becomes emotional. This could have been a funny gag, but the more you understand her feelings, the more you are feeling her pain. You want her to stop Gintoki from leaving. Her expression changes overtime from determination to sadness. Her reaching out her arms moment is so moving. The metaphor could not be any more painful.

The ending twist is not what I expected. The terminal is about to blow up, which I don’t get. I thought Tendoshu need them, unless there’s something else I missed. But that means the series is about to get dark again. The best part is how Gintoki drops his charade that reads, “To hell with hiding! I must protect Kagura!” I love that moment so much. This is why these characters are amazing. What comes next is anyone’s guess.

This chapter was a lot of things and outstanding is one of them. It’s filled with great laughs, especially in the beginning. I can’t stop laughing at the thought of ending the series controversial. It’s filled with serious developments such as Katsura versus Takasugi, which I, if uninterrupted, can’t wait for it. Lastly, it’s filled with emotional connections, including a teary scene with Kagura crying for Gin-chan. It looks like it’s time to begin another war. I thought I was ready… I guess not.

[pubtheatres1]

ARCHIVE INTERVIEW WITH PAUL CLAYTON THE RUFFIAN ON THE STAIR by JOE ORTON The Hope Theatre, Islington, 29 Jan – 16 Feb 2019 Paul Clayton is an RSC actor to the core. He has immense presence, a rich timbre to his powerful voice and his knowledge of theatre goes right to the bone. Most recently Clayton has been appearing in Holby City and The Split on BBC1. He is in the new Alan Partridge series with Steve Coogan and has filmed a guest lead in the new series of Shakespeare and Hathaway for release in 2019. With such a busy schedule it’s surprising that he’s fitting in directing Joe Orton’s THE RUFFIAN ON THE STAIR at The Hope Theatre January 2019. It is fitting that Clayton who is patron of The Hope Theatre, should be directing a play from the short body of work written by Orton. Orton lived and breathed in Islington, where his main haunts were along Upper Street. Halliwell, murdered Orton (aged 34) before committing suicide (in 1967). Whilst the Hope theatre isn’t particularly a gay venue, Clayton says frankly that “we know from the diaries of Orton’s sexual exploits which would have included areas not far from The Hope”. This is not the first time Clayton has directed an Orton play. Clayton (61) has an extensive career in television, film and theatre. Clayton made his first stage appearance for 10 years in BRIMSTONE AND TREACLE atThe Hope Theatre for which he was nominated for an Off-West End award for Best Actor. Now, he is re-emerging as stage director. “The whole thing about directing has changed. Theatres used to ring you up and ask what you are doing next season” says Clayton. “You could cherry pick what you would like to do and who you would like to do it with. Who are the names?” During the 90s and noughties Clayton was doing a lot of corporate. In 2007 he joined PEEP SHOW and the acting took off again. “Suddenly people wanted to get you in the room. I was Rather lucky to do five series over ten years”. Meanwhile, he continues to work in the corporate event world, most recently, four in a row for McDonalds. “Thanks to a wonderful team, at the end of business meeting, 3,000 people got to their feet and applauded; that’s a show for business, to be able to turn it into something emotional” recounts Clayton with a measure of understandable pride. It’s this work which enables him to do something like RUFFIAN. Fringe theatre is notoriously strapped for cash. Fringe theatre is very important to Clayton. “We all did it, because it was there. Now it’s a key part of your career plan and it enables actors with creating a project they’re passionate about.” Therefore, when AD Matthew Parker invited him to be patron of The Hope Theatre, he was keen to support and help. “It’s really vital that places like The Hope are there to let young people find a space for their ideas and that’s what I love about it.” At The Hope there are the Sunday and Monday slots when people cannot commit to a full 3 week run. Sitting in this elegant restaurant chosen by Clayton, he fits in rather well. He looks dressed by Saville Row, with Italian grooming and the staff know him by name. His presence could easily be that of a lawyer in court, confident and assured. So, in one of those theatrical reversals, it’s fun to know that, he is the one who coaches lawyers, in one of his corporate role play jobs on how to pitch. This is not so far from the rehearsal room where Clayton’s job is to make suggestions. “The actor takes that suggestion and makes it his own. You don’t tell people what to do but you open up possibilities for them and they are surprised by what they’ve achieved. That’s when it works at its best” The thing he most enjoys about directing is “being in room with actors but not doing the acting myself.” He loves “creating an environment”. One of his favourite directing jobs was on COMEDY OF ERRORS at Nottingham playhouse in 1994. “In a room for 4 weeks with 12 actors, and a 400-year-old play that had the audience rolling about. After four weeks of rehearsals it gets to be hard work but when the whole theatre roars with laughter, I think Oh! My god it works, it works.” “I’ve been lucky enough to play comedy. The sugar lump of the laugh.” Clayton read Orton before he saw any productions. “Primarily the things I love about Orton, is that he’s naughty and funny. There is that sense of wanting to shock and yet at the same time an understanding of being an outsider and loneliness in all of the plays. There are facets of him in them. The young men in Loot, the title character in Entertaining Mr Sloane, and even the bell hop in What The Butler Saw In the mid 70s The Royal Court did a season of three Orton plays, at least one directed by Lindsay Anderson. Clayton remembers queuing for tickets. Clayton has a clear understanding of Orton’s language and is a stickler for getting it right. He explains how important it is to be true to the writing. In his final year at drama school he had to do a bad play. Lord Arthur Savile's Crime by Constance Cox based on an Oscar Wilde short story. “Our director knew all about stage business, double takes, slow burns … picking up a glass” but in this play Clayton had to put business in to make the dialogue interesting. Clayton demonstrates the line “I was walking to the church at half past two and I saw Mrs Yates”. He explains that if he breaks after the words ‘half past two’, what follows seems much weightier. Clayton’s face takes on an ironical smile - “It’s sometimes naughty and I’d do it in Shakespeare”, he says under his breath. But Clayton insists this cannot be done in Orton. “You cannot put naturalistic pauses and para linguistics into an Oscar Wilde script and Orton is the same. You have to honour the script, it’s the gift of epigrammatic language. If a young actor can handle this dialogue, he can forget the acting and make it work, and make it funnier, just by the delivery of it.” The language is not necessarily naturalistic. “Wilde gave everyone an archness” explains Clayton. “Orton relishes and uses that”. He gives an example: Fay : Have you known him long? Hal: We shared the same cradle. Fay: Was that economy or malpractice? Whilst Clayton jokes that he might find his inner Ivo van Hove or Robert Icke, both taking theatre in radically different directions, he will be bringing the weight of all his experience as an actor. He has been very cautious with casting, two of the actors he has worked with before and he prefers to trust in the casting director and see only the most likely candidates. (Just aware that I want to make the point that this is done to improve the casting not to shut people out) He uses an analogy: “I don’t like a menu that has 30 choices because it gets in the way of me eating. I like a really nice restaurant with 3 or 4 entrées rather than a café with 30 choices … and everything with chips”. He prefers to spend a bit more time working with the actors. He has an idea of what he’s looking for and where to find it, but he keeps an open mind because he’s sometimes surprised. THE RUFFIAN ON THE STAIR is a play that is not done very often. It’s an early piece written originally for radio and adapted for the stage by Orton. “It’s a microcosm of what he then goes on to use as a prototype for what becomes ENTERTAINING MR SLOANE” says Clayton. Clayton thinks that he’s clearly influenced by Pinter. “It’s similar to Pinter’s THE ROOM. It’s really a Comedy of menace. Things are not always what they seem to be. There’s also a resemblance to Pinter’s pauses, although …” Clayton adds “there’s a bit in Orton’s diary when he says actors shouldn’t pause”. Clayton is enjoying the journey of the piece. “What you think you see at the beginning is not what you see at all. What you saw and what is committed are two different things. The story peels back. We think we’re watching a woman being terrorised by a man when her partner/husband is away and possibly that’s not what we’re seeing”. Clayton is clearly impressed with the script and its secrets. His assistant director has arrived at the restaurant, auditions are tomorrow and rehearsals start soon. The excitement is palpable. Paul Clayton paulclayton2@me.com

[mostleemorethansmut]

Better For You

{{Re-reading this, I made Stephanie it to a very big wimp throughout. As someone who preaches that Steph should not be defined by Matt I tell you this: I needed a juxtaposition. It doesn't stay that way. Sorry for my horrible writing technique}}

This is cause for celebration.

When Matthew brought his wife in for counseling, he had no clue what to expect. Stephanie was given one on one, the two of them met with the therapist, and Matt had is own meeting with the (female) therapist.

MatPat thought this a bit redundant. He was fine, it was Stephanie who needed the help. Unexpectedly, Matt learned a bit more about his own fear for Steph during this situation. However, meetings cost a lot. After a short while, Matthew insisted to be taken out of the therapy, probably to his ultimate detriment.

Stephanie was resistant at first. So much so that Matt had to literally carry her. Even then, their 'private' meetings were held with MatPat still in the room wearing soundproof headphones while Stephanie clung to him. Matthew didn't blame her. He'd probably be in the exact same position should the roles have been reversed.

Then Steph blossomed. Therapy became something she was willing to go to. Matt's presence in the room wasn't a be-all-end-all condition. Their couple therapy sessions were actually going very well. After four months, Stephanie was even able to laugh at rape jokes again (as much as one can).

This is cause for celebration.

Leaving was difficult. Stephanie told Matt everything once they left, and they had to be awkwardly cute in the lobby before Steph could muster the courage to put on enough of a shell to leave. Their car drives were very awkward to start with. The rape victim just stared out the window and stared out the banal landscape.

That's when Matthew Patrick made an executive decision. They were going to travel. The man decided that they were going to see something after every therapy. Maybe it was the state capital. Maybe it might've been a museum they'd been meaning to go to for a while.

Matt chose accordingly. The first day out, Stephanie barely wanted to move, retracting herself into her shell. Her husband chose up a small beach museum occupied by about two people other than them. Stephanie happily clung to Matt as they examined everything.

During the better days they went out and about. They visited crowded places and saw different things. Stephanie was pretty introverted when the two of them began dating, and Matt couldn't help but to feel a bit nostalgic as he worked once more to make his best friend used to groups of people.

Afterwards, they found a Dairy Queen to hit up. They always ordered a Blizzard. Sometimes they ordered something exotic and some days they didn't. Sometimes they talked about therapy and some days they didn't. That was fine. As Stephanie got better, she began talking to more and more people around them.

This is cause for celebration.

Work was a pill. The first few days, Steph and Matt just cuddled up together and did nothing. Stephanie wanted to feel safe. Matthew wanted Steph to feel safe. However, life caught up with them. There was a small backlog of episodes, but they couldn't rely on those forever.

MatPat needed to work, but was afraid to leave Stephanie on her own. So, Steph wrapped herself up in a blanket on a part the couch. Matthew typed up scripts on one side and apologies to sponsors and co-workers on the other end. He tried to explain the situation the best he could to all of his employees.

Matt was struggling. The few day wait they had imposed on themselves, added with the days they took off for therapy, culminating with the loss of Stephanie who always helped thin the workload... Matthew was struggling beneath the weight.

Then, one happy day, Stephanie just joined him. There wasn't any pomp and circumstance, no argument, just Stephanie picking up her computer and working with him. She didn't take on much work, mainly staying behind the scenes. She didn't even start on her large pile of e-mails until much later.

Then life resumed. There was no more hidden Steph. No more woman who couldn't function. No one pried and Stephanie was back into life. When what happened came up in conversation, she'd talk about it comfortably. No one saw her slip her shaking hand into Matt's hand. Still, she was better.

This is cause for celebration.

GTLive disappeared at first. It actually took a few days for Jason to appear on the community tab. He told them that the Patricks were going through a tough time and GTLive would return, but at an undetermined time.

They tried one stream. Steph just sat on the couch quietly on the stream the whole time. The chat pointed this out. As a result, Stephanie read one comment from the chat. Otherwise, she just motioned to Jason when she wanted to show off something from Twitter.

As hopeful as this was for people, it was draining on Steph. By the end of the day she was cuddled up with Matt on the couch and not moving. People wondered if GTLive was going to end altogether.

Then Stephanie did something unexpected. She posted a video. It was a short 1 hour edited Let's Play of her playing Slender. She talked about her past, talked about some of the things the channel was working on, and general silliness. Still insecure about herself, she posted the video to see if it did okay.

Doing okay is not what the video did. Exploded, might be a better adjective. People were split. Some said it was a decent side series. Some said they wanted the streams to come back. Others loved the content and only wanted it. Though, through all of the arguments, Stephanie gained encouragement.

The next week GTLive returned with Scary Games Friday. The stream began on a bit of a somber note as the couple explained their whole situation, but soon it was back to its awesome action.

This is cause for celebration.

"Did you hear that Matthew?" asked their counselor, turning to him.

"I did," he lied, his mind snapping back from his wife's beauty.

"Well," the woman pried. "Aren't you excited?"

Matt, completely lost, looked at his wife for context. She let out a soft signal of her being let free and walking away. "Well, of course, I'm happy," Matthew stalled. "But I think excited is the wrong word for me. I've had Stephanie back for a while. I'm just glad we can move on from this point in our life."

"Well spoken," the therapist agreed. "Still, you should both be proud of what you've accomplished. This is cause for celebration."

This is cause for celebration.

And it truly was. Stephanie had been at the best she'd ever been. She was perkier. She was funnier. She was calmer than before. She was sillier. And she was prettier. God dam, she was prettier.

Matthew caught himself staring more and more often. Steph probably lost most of her excess weight from the nights the poor woman spent crying. She also didn't wear much make-up during the crisis. Matt had grown accustomed to seeing her without it, and she still looked lovely. When she did put it on, Matt had make her drive so he could just stare at her.

That may have been a slight exaggeration, but a very small slight. He only made her drive on the way there, not the way back. As if that had not been enough, Stephanie was moving herself towards being more healthy. She bought more healthy meals that were easy to make, went running more often, and tried (unsuccessfully) to start cooking.

So Matthew was in agreement. This is cause for celebration.

This is cause for celebration.

But it wasn't. Something was off. When MatPat stared at his wife he felt something. It wasn't the burning of love, the craving of lust, and it, of course, not hate.

Jealousy?

No, that was to potent. He liked how she was, no matter what.

Envy?

More accurate. He wanted to be like her. She was so beautiful, and he was a miserable lump. Every morning when he looked in the mirror, he looked away as soon as he could manage.

Shame?

Ashamed. That was the right word. Not him ashamed of her, but ashamed for her. He was so round when he sat next to her. He wasn't as agile.

Inadequate.

There was another word that fit his situation. He was inadequate to her beauty. And there was nothing he could do about it.

Still; somehow, this was still cause for celebration.

*

"We're so glad to have you back," Matthew read. "She has returned. GTLive gives me a reason to live again. I'm glad to hear that, but I hope you have more reason than just us."

"What are you talking about," joked Stephanie, between groans of fear. "GTLive is the best."

Matt pushed his foot forward and nudged her ankle. Stephanie flipped out and adapted the fetal position on the floor. "I hate you," she muttered, as all of the men laughed their heads off. "I hate VR, I hate Jason, I hate Chris, and I hate this monster that thinks it's funny to watch me suffer."

Matthew laughed and took a knee to give his wife a reassuring cuddle. "You're the worst," she groaned to all of them.

"Love you too," he agreed, pulling her back onto the couch. "Um..." MatPat began reading the chat again. The positive comments were flowing, but in the chat some negative comments were appearing. When he flipped over to the Twitter, the message became clear.

"Who even likes Matt anymore?"

"MatPat isn't as good as he once was. His comedy's been going downhill. Anyone notice how Stephanie's getting better then him?"

"I wish Matthew would leave the stream. He isn't as good looking or as funny as Steph."

And, of course: "Matt has put on some more weight."

The male Patrick just bit his lip and tried to ignore the comment. Besides, Stephanie was back on the couch. GTLive had returned from its unscheduled hiatus. And this was cause for celebration.

But that phrase stuck with Matthew, even after the stream had ended. "Matt has put on some more weight." More. He always knew he was fat. He understood that he needed to loose weight. But more?

Matt found himself dwelling on this all throughout dinner. He watched his wife hum and wander about the kitchen. Beautiful Stephanie. Pretty, cute, petite Stephanie. Somehow got stuck with him. "I bet I couldn't ride a ostrich anymore," Matt thought.

*

It was that night that Matthew decided he needed to do something about his stomach. Matt walked down the stairs to the toilet. He shook his head before he mad the decision. Was he seriously doing this? Only a few seconds decided before he tugged on the back of his throat and threw up his supper.

It felt horrible, but Matt ignored it, washed out his mouth, and went back to bed. And the next night he did the same. And the night after that. No one seemed to care. No one noticed. Except Stephanie did. She smiled and noted how much slimmer he was getting. The chat only belittled him for being fat though.

Matt was losing energy. He'd begun catching naps in the recording closet, and that thing was extremely uncomfortable, so that was saying something. His rate of scripts and everything had plummeted. Matthew still cursed his body every morning, but Steph always gave him encouragement.

It was that night that he was caught. "Honey?" Stephanie called, as her husband snuck out of bed. "Where are you going?"

"I'm just going to the bathroom," he admitted. That wasn't a lie.

"You've been going a lot," she noted. "Are you alright?"

"Of course," he agreed. That was a lie.

"Alright..." she frowned vocally, rolling back over and into bed.

Matthew begun repeating the process that he'd done every night. Sneak down the stairs. Slip into the bathroom. Crouch down in front of the toilet bowl. Put hand in mouth and-

"Matthew?" a voice asked from the doorway.

He guiltily glanced up at his wife who stood in the doorway. "Yes?"

Stephanie joined him on the floor and wrapped her arms around him. "You don't have to do this to be beautiful."

Matt shook his head in disagreement. "How long have you known?"

"I suspected since day 1. Matthew, please don't do this. You're so handsome."

"But I'm so fat. I mean, look at you. You're petite, beautiful, and just simply perfect. Why would you want someone like me?"

"Because you're not fat. You're strong, smart, and kind. You forget Matthew, I'd be a mess if it weren't for you."

Matthew clung onto his wife. "I don't-"

"No you don't," she reassured him.

They cuddled in the bathroom, cuddled on their way back to bed, and held each other all night.

[destressjournal]

DCOM Rankings #77: Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie

Wizards was probably one of my favorite shows growing up. And I’m not talking just on Disney channel, like, all time. It was a cute little sitcom with lots of lore and world building and character development sprinkled in. I honestly think this show was ahead of it’s time, at least by a few years. I will probably talk about the show at some other point but for now, let’s discuss the DCOM.

So real quick, I have no idea if this was supposed to be considered the finale before season 4 came along. Because this movie was pretty intense at some parts, and the finale of the show itself played out much differently and almost....anti-climactic-ly. But I guess it doesn’t matter. I was just wondering why the movie didn’t end up being the series finale like a lot of other shows do. Well I guess Hannah Montana is another exception cuz it had a theatrical movie release before its last season.

Ahhh getting off topic. Okay, right off the bat, this is a classic “be careful what you wish for movie” which honestly makes sense and can easily be done with a family full of wizards. In other DCOMS it’s like “jimmy finds a magic coin” or “billy was dreaming all along”. So it is nice and refreshing when you can just have a character wish for something and have it come true and not be totally weird.

HOWEVER, and this will get into the biggest flaw of the movie, it seems it took a bunch of liberties with the magic logic.

-for one thing, it’s never explained how Alex’s wish came true, I mean it had to have been a spell but spells in this universe are usually done in rhymes and only really powerful wizards can do them without having to say anything. Like, every kid gets mad sometimes and says stuff like “I wish you guys never met” or whatever, maybe it was the power of her anger that triggered it?? That’s the only explanation I could come up with, but my god I feel like Alex as a character would have said this more than once. I don’t know. Just the fact that one angry outburst caused this much of a problem is like...ehhh but like I said it’s one of those movies.

- that no one could reverse the spell but the kids. And that wasn’t explained either. That they had to speed up the wizard competition because reversing the spell could only be done by a full wizard. How does the dad know this when he barely knew the context in which the spell was cast?

-the wizard competition in itself. I loved watching it but the dad is just thrown into all of it and it’s really weird how he manages to just go along with it when he hardly knows what’s going on. ALSO!! I figured they were transported to some secret wizard location in the magical dimension. But the mom, a mortal, just waltzes up and throws Alex the stone and says here ya go. Like where is this place then?? How did she know where to find it?

The other flaw that I had was a flaw of the show from pretty much the 2nd season on, and that was the character of Max. Max is very under-utilized and underdeveloped as a character, in contrast to Alex who is one of the most complex and interesting characters to come out of Disney channel. It’s always been a battle between Justin and Alex, while Max is pretty much pushed to the side to either be the comedic relief or to play a minor role in the story. I like Max as a character, don’t get me wrong, and having 3 kids fight for the crown of wizardry instead of two makes for a more complex story, but not when the 3rd kid doesn’t really take any of it seriously or isn’t even given the opportunity to show what he’s got. I haven’t seen the show in years so I’m not sure if there’s an episode or scene that addresses this that I’m not aware of (there probably is) but I know the outcome of the finale of the show and that’s all I’ll say about that.

The good stuff

- honestly the CGI and visuals were pretty, a little bit outdated obviously but for the time, in a TV movie, it’s pretty good

-the acting as always is amazing. Jake T. Austin’s acting got SOOO much better since his last DCOM, and throughout the wizards show too. I knew it would and I was here for it.

- the character of Alex Russo, she is just such a refreshing character and I could never get enough of her. I still watch clips of her in the wizards show to this very day (not every day but occasionally) because her scenes just steal the show, she is laugh-out-loud hilarious, and fully admits to being a slacker lazy person who doesn’t really try in school or in life. Normally that would describe a bad/antagonist character, but Alex is also a character that’s deep down, full of heart and compassion, and understanding. Because she gets it. She understands the pressure and the struggle of everyday life. And that’s why she’s so likable because she’s clearly not perfect and is okay with that, and won’t blame anybody for not reaching a certain threshold. She’s very down-to-earth. Characters like Hannah Montana or teddy or raven, are still great characters to me, but fall short because they seem so put together and perfect, even when they mess up.

Okay enough girl crushing on Alex, another good thing about the movie is the emotions it brings up. The conflicts between Alex and Justin and Alex and her mom were greatly handled in my opinion. When Alex and Justin had that heart to heart on the floating rock, that was just so genuine it didn’t feel like I was watching a cutsie disney channel movie, like, this is real stuff that kids go through with their siblings or friends. Justin is jealous of Alex because she still succeeds even without really trying, and Alex is jealous of Justin because he gets the approval from their parents and gets all the perks from that. Justin thinks he has to keep up that “perfect” image to please his parents, though, so that’s another layer to his character that his perfection isn’t natural, he really works so hard to be liked and praised. Whereas Alex’s success comes more naturally. I love that dynamic, and how both of them feel like they wouldn’t be loved by their parents if they were to be fully themselves. I’m sorry that’s just really deep for me.

And then again, the conversation they had the second she won the wizard competition and Justin started forgetting everything. My god that was art. That scene always gets me. Alex was so desperate for help and felt like everything was taken from her. Her brother was the last one left who could help and he now couldn’t remember her name. So sad, even if it only lasted a couple minutes.

I know this movie is trying to explain to kids, yeah parents can be unfair sometimes but they love you so you should appreciate them. This specific plot isn’t unique but it’s the character dynamics that make it special between Alex and her mom. Also it helps that this movie already has an established TV series that’s been going for 3-4 years to build these characters up. It’s why a lot of the character moments feel so powerful, we’ve been with them for so long. It’s not like in movies like “You wish” where we only had time to learn about all the characters in 90 minutes. But even aside from that fact, Alex is such a great character that when she even learns to appreciate her mom, it hits hard.

Overall, the movie is really intense at some parts and I remember watching it when I was younger and hanging off the edge of my seat. I still kinda felt the same way watching it for this ranking. Of course it all resolves in a matter of minutes because “c’mon guys we gotta wrap up”

The antagonist in this movie wasn’t really the main antagonist, it was moreso Alex’s struggle with herself and her family members. This guy is an okay character. He doesn’t do too much until the very beginning and very end, cuz he was only needed to supply the map and then steal the stone. If he WAS the main antagonist I would suggest building some kind of real trust before the betrayal. But since he’s clearly just a side conflict, I don’t really care. What they have is fine. I just wish the dialogue with him was a little funnier.

Okay, grading time! I really thought about giving this an A+, but for now I might stick with A. Only because this is an awkward placement in the series for this movie and honestly it doesn’t move the overall story much forward at all. It’s a very self-contained story. I almost wish they made it the finale and have it be the wizard competition, the real one. Cuz the actual finale is just a two-part episode with TV-level graphics. I feel like these two events should have been flip flopped.

So yeah! There you have it! The next movie is one I consider to be my guilty pleasure DCOM. I can’t wait to revisit it and see if I feel the same way or not. See you then, whenever that may be!

[aion-rsa]

Why Batman: Last Knight on Earth Is “The Last Batman Story”

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This Batman article contains major spoilers.

When writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo were tapped to create a new volume of Batman comics for DC’s New 52 reboot in 2011, they didn’t set out to create a saga that would span almost a decade. With early story arcs like “The Court of Owls” and “Death of the Family,” Snyder and Capullo were just trying to tell the biggest Batman stories they could, the ones they’d always wanted to tell.

Their run, which is regarded today as one of the best in the history of the character, reimagined Batman’s origin story in “Zero Year,” killed the Caped Crusader off in “Endgame,” and brought him back to life in “Superheavy.” Then they sent the Dark Knight to space to fight a cosmic threat from a nightmare multiverse in the 2017 Dark Nights: Metal event, which is getting a Wonder Woman-centric sequel later this year. With a resume like that, it’s no wonder this creative team has become synonymous with “big storytelling.”

As Snyder told us in 2015 ahead of his final arc on Batman, “The truth of the matter is that if you’re going to work on a character like Batman, there are thousands of writers that would kill to get on the book so that they could do their one big Batman story. And if you have one that’s a big Batman story that you care about but you choose to do the relaxing, small story, I feel like you might as well move over and let somebody else take the book and swing for the fence on it.”

The story doesn’t get any bigger than the three-part Batman: Last Knight on Earth, a post-apocalyptic road trip billed as “the last Batman story.” It’s set on a ravaged Earth where most heroes have died — except for the Dark Knight, who has found a way to cheat death (because Batman always wins). The miniseries, which is out now in hardcover, is the conclusion to Snyder and Capullo’s work on Batman and a love letter to almost a decade of storytelling. They even reunited with all-star Batman inker Jonathan Glapion and colorist FCO Plascencia to finish their story.

Den of Geek spoke to Snyder and Capullo at NYCC 2019 ahead of the release of the final issue of Last Knight on Earth about finally bringing their run to an end, why Batman and the Joker are destined to dance forever, the Court of Owls, and what they hope readers will take from their time in Gotham.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530" }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Batman’s Inferno

In the span of eight years, this creative duo has told every kind of Batman story there is, from action-adventure and horror to science fiction, detective yarn, and mech vs. kaiju disaster tale. But Last Knight on Earth is by far their weirdest Batman story yet. The world is a wasteland covered in desert. On the blood-red sands walk zombies with green power rings that conjure up giant killer babies. The earth is plagued by Speed Force storms — giant, violent tornadoes made up of the distorted bodies of past Flashes that beg Batman for help — that can age you into bones and dust in milliseconds. All around Batman lie memories of the dead.

And then there’s the Joker’s decapitated head in a jar, which narrates the story and acts as the Caped Crusader’s guide through Hell, like Virgil from Dante’s Inferno but much funnier. Together, they travel from Coast City to the underworld to a dystopian Gotham City where Batman makes his last stand against an evil tyrant named Omega, a masked villain who has a connection to Bruce’s past.

The storytelling is absolutely insane, and that’s saying something when it comes to this creative team, who once made Commissioner Gordon the new Dark Knight. So, how did Snyder come up with this finale for his version of Batman?

“There’s a really interesting natural progression of the character, because this was the story that I thought of as the last story that we would do for years,” Snyder says. “I didn’t come up with it at the end of our run, I came up with it back when we were doing ‘Zero Year,’ the bones of it.”

The comic book industry is known for its resistance to change. Bold, new takes on characters are great for selling first issues but comics always eventually return to the status quo as one creative team leaves and another takes over. Yet, rarely does a creative team actually get to give their version of a character a genuine beginning, middle, and end. Most runs tend to flow into each other.

But after giving his Batman a beginning in “Zero Year,” which takes a younger Bruce Wayne from tragedy to donning the cape and cowl for the first time, Snyder hoped to give him a definitive end.

“It really came from this moment when I saw [Snyder’s Batman predecessor] Grant Morrison at San Diego Comic-Con when we were first starting Batman, and he told me to come up with an origin and a death for our version of Batman that was particular to ours,” Snyder explains. “The death came pretty early too. You can see the bones of it in the story I did for Detective Comics #27 (2014) with Sean Murphy, where Batman sort of figures out a way to always make sure there’s a Bruce Wayne Batman with his final invention, his cloning machine.”

This “cloning machine,” which creates a new Bruce Wayne aged to the moment when he decided to first become a Bat, plays a vital role in Last Knight on Earth. The first issue actually opens with the original Batman’s death in Crime Alley and his rebirth as a younger clone several decades later. Snyder and Capullo use this setup to ask big questions about what it means to be Batman and why the world needs him as a symbol for hope.

“I was thinking about how I wanted Batman to make my kids brave, the way Frank Miller wrote so much to my fears as a kid. The Cold War, urban decay in New York, all that stuff I grew up with here, I felt in his work,” Snyder says of writing a Batman story that would inspire hope in his own children and a new generation of readers.

“What would they be afraid of?” Snyder asks of this new generation. “They’re afraid of shooters. They’re afraid of terrorism and they’re afraid of apocalyptic scenarios that are in the air all the time because of climate change, global dissolution, the whole global community falling apart. I think people have apocalyptic worries right now.”

At a time when DC was pushing darker, grittier takes on heroes both on the page and on the big screen, Snyder and Capullo did something completely different with Batman. Their version isn’t just a symbol meant to inspire fear in evil-doers and the kinds of thugs who would make a child an orphan. Throughout their run, Batman inspires the people of Gotham to be better, to get back up after they’ve been knocked down, to keep fighting. This is a quality usually reserved for “lighter” heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman, but Snyder and Capullo instilled a goodness in Batman that you might not even know was there if all you knew about the character is what you saw in the recent movies.

In Last Knight on Earth, this new, younger Batman faces his toughest challenge yet: a broken world that’s stopped believing. But he walks through Hell for us so that hopefully one day he can show us paradise.

Dance with the Devil in the Pale Moonlight

Last Knight on Earth, like much of their work on Batman, pays tribute to one of the greatest rivalries in comic book history. No great Batman story is complete without a visit from the Clown Prince of Crime, but Snyder and Capullo completely turn that relationship on its head. In a future when virtually all of Batman’s allies and loved ones have died, the Joker becomes the Dark Knight’s only friend.

Despite the fact that the Joker has appeared in many of their stories up to this point, the team keeps finding new ways to explore this relationship. Snyder once described “Death of the Family” as a comedy and “Endgame” as a tragedy. It’s a deadly dance that reaches its conclusion in Last Knight on Earth but not in the way you think.

So why can’t the hero exist without his greatest villain, even after the world has ended?

“They kind of mirror each other in a way, [but] one’s a dark reflection,” Capullo says. “They’re a lot alike in a lot of ways and one of the few things that separate Batman is he knows not to cross the line of killing. Because he could become just as bad as that other guy, because he’s got the same kind of issues, you know? And so he could easily become a Joker.”

Nowhere is the fragile sanctity of Batman’s most important rule — no killing — more apparent than in the villain of the piece, Omega, who is later revealed as an older, heavily scarred, and power-mad Bruce Wayne. Although thought dead after an angry mob under the influence of Lex Luthor rushed the Hall of Justice and murdered the Justice League, this Bruce survived and took over the world as Omega. His ultimate plan is to use Darkseid’s Anti-Life Equation to bend the remaining people of Earth to his will. He believes this is the only way to save humanity from itself.

Snyder, who explored a similar idea with the Batman Who Laughs, a grotesque Jokerized Batman from the Dark Multiverse who killed his entire family and rogues gallery on his Earth, uses Omega to show what would become of the Dark Knight were he to lose himself. As the Joker says in Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s The Killing Joke, it only takes “one bad day.”

“I think for me Joker is always the inhuman opposite of Batman. Whatever Batman is trying to prove, Joker’s proving the opposite,” Snyder says. “When we were doing Batman, Batman was very much about proving that every action matters. He’s trying to get everybody to be inspired to get out and do something good. Joker was always saying, ‘Nothing matters. Everything is empty. There’s no story. It’s just empty existential, inconsequential, nothing.’ And so whatever Batman is trying to do to make himself feel effective, Joker will reverse it. And it’s why I love him as a character. He’s sort of the embodiment of evil in that regard. Whatever you’re most afraid of, he brings to life for you.”

Ironically, the Joker goes through a very different transformation in Last Knight on Earth and ends up helping this new Batman…in his own way. Let’s just say Batman is going to need a bigger cave.

Night of the Owls

The Joker isn’t the only classic villain who gets an encore in Last Knight on Earth. Twisted versions of Scarecrow and Bane haunt an elderly Alfred, while the last remnants of the Earth’s military don masks made of bandages similar to the one worn by Hush. A decrepit Lex Luthor spends his final days inside the Fortress of Solitude trying to bring the Man of Steel back to life.

The Court of Owls, the underground crime organization that ran Gotham from the shadows with an army of undead owl-themed assassins, play a major role in the book. How could they not? The Court remains one of Snyder and Capullo’s biggest contributions to the Bat mythos. In the years since their introduction in 2011, the Court of Owls has leaped off the page and appeared on TV’s Gotham, the animated movies, and are rumored to be the villains of an upcoming Batman video game.

What is it about the Court of Owls that’s given them such staying power?

“The scariest thing is when the things that you feel most comfortable with attack you,” Snyder says. “I think that’s why I loved Stephen King growing up. He does that over and over with things that are totemically comfortable like your car Christine. Your dog Cujo. Your father Jack in The Shining. It’s always the things, these American icons or these things that you feel safe with, that suddenly turn on you.”

As Batman learned in the first arc of Snyder and Capullo’s run, the Court of Owls had manipulated the events of Gotham City for centuries. Suddenly, The Dark Knight didn’t know his city as well as he thought.

“For Batman, I was thinking what is it that could turn on him? And it’s Gotham itself being like, ‘You don’t know me as well as you thought you did. Everything you thought you knew is just this much and I’m a big mystery,’ Snyder says. “It felt like the kind of horror that I love. So I hope that’s why it sticks. And zombie owl assassins are pretty cool.”

The Court of Owls storyline also led Bruce to some major discoveries about his own past, namely that he possibly had a secret younger brother, Lincoln March aka Thomas Wayne Jr. Batman never truly solved this mystery, and Snyder has said that never doing a second Lincoln March story is “one his big regrets.” But it’s possible that the legacy of the first story will live on long enough for another writer to pick up the yarn.

“What he did was brilliant,” Capullo says of Snyder’s writing in that early arc. “For Scott to drop this bomb in there and go, ‘It’s existed for hundreds of years without you knowing a damn thing about it.’ I just got chills just saying it again. It’s genius. I think that’s why it has so much appeal and it makes its way into these other things.”

Snyder and Capullo bring the Court of Owls’ story full circle in Last Knight on Earth. Long after the Gotham they once ruled from the sewers has been reborn in Omega’s image, the Court of Owls is now led by Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon. In this dystopian future, the owl has unexpectedly evolved into the symbol of hope and justice — just another example of how Gotham can still surprise Batman.

Batman Forever

The Court isn’t the only thing that’s changed after eight years of Batman stories. The creators have changed both in how they work as a team and how they approach telling stories.

“It’s funny because Scott started off giving me ridiculous amounts of script for the 24 page story,” Capullo says of the early days of working with Snyder. “Issue one was over 40 pages of script. I’m going, ‘Are you crazy, kid?’ Because I was used to working from phone calls with [Spawn collaborator] Todd [McFarlane], and I’d jot down notes. And I would tell Scott all the time, ‘You don’t get paid by the word, just let me do the heavy lifting.'”

It’s no secret that there was friction between the writer and the artist at first, and they weren’t sure they were going to be able to work together. Snyder was still a relative newcomer to comics in 2011, while Capullo was a veteran who’d started his career at Marvel Comics in the ’80s and moved on to Image for a long run on Spawn in the ’90s. Capullo was used to working under the “Marvel method,” named for the process pioneered by creative pairings like Stan Lee and Jack Kirby or Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, where an artist draws an entire story based on a short summary or notes from the writer. The writer then goes back and add dialogue to the finished art. This was not how Snyder liked to work. Fortunately, the team learned how to collaborate and Snyder and Capullo even became close friends in the process.

“Finally, he’s gotten it,” Capullo says. “Now the scripts go, ‘Okay, here’s what happens from pages 8 to 24.’ So he’s completely changed. He’s realized this is much easier.”

You can see how this partnership developed from what issue to the next. As Capullo has said previously, the artist feels that their early issues of Batman were a bit too verbose and “a lot of the lettering in the first chapter covered up the art.” But you can see how the team’s approach loosened up in later issues, with the art doing more of the talking, especially in the action-packed and splash-heavy “Zero Year.”

“I don’t even recognize the way I used to write when I look at those old scripts,” Snyder says of his early collaboration with Capullo. “I never do that unless somebody asks anymore. I don’t write full scripts, but I write closer to full script than what I show him. Like I’ll write it page by page to make sure it fits beat by beat. And then I undo the pagination and press send, so that he has more room to decide how to choreograph it. I just don’t want to put too much in so that I’m jamming it, or too little, you know?”

Snyder believes that change is important in order for an artist to grow: “That’s the way it should be. No matter what creative field you are, you should always be changing and evolving and seeing things in a different and hopefully better way.”

Looking back at their time with Batman, there are too many iconic moments to count: Batman trapped in the Court’s labyrinthine underground base, the Joker wearing his own face as a mask, the Caped Crusaders epic fight with Doctor Death above Gotham City, the Joker toxin attack that turned everyone in Gotham City into a laughing maniac, and the Dark Knight’s mech battle with the giant monster named Bloom.

Snyder’s favorite moment of all? It’s a single panel from Batman #50 (2016).

“I think my favorite moment might still be when he came back after being dead and Jim Gordon is Batman at the moment, and [Bruce] comes back in the real Batman costume and he’s like, ‘Hello Jim, who died and made you Batman?'”

But eight years is also a long time. While Snyder recently wrapped up a 39-issue run on Justice League and Capullo took a break from DC to draw a creator-owned book for Image, most of their work has been tied to Batman. Both creators have called Last Knight on Earth the last Batman-centric story they’ll work on together.

“I think we both want to do other things,” Capullo says. “It feels good and I think we’re leaving on a high note. I’m grateful that people received what we did, and they can judge it for how they judge it. I just did my best with what [Scott] was giving me, and that’s it, man.”

Next up for the team is Dark Nights: Death Metal, a new event book that looks more insane than anything they’ve attempted before. It’s a dark, horror-tinged story that ties the different eras of DC history into cosmic battle against the evil goddess Perpetua and the Batman Who Laughs. Batman’s in the story, of course, as the leader of an army of zombies that he controls with a Black Lantern ring, but Death Metal is really a Justice League story that picks up where Snyder’s run left off.

As their time with Batman comes to an end, what do the creators hope readers take away from their eight years of storytelling? What is the message?

“I hope that what people take away from ours is that we tried really hard to make it personal. And for me, what made our Batman personal was the idea that he was less about scaring bad guys into the shadows than inspiring people, good people, to come out into the light and try and do something effective with their lives. He was more a symbol of hope and inspiration,” Snyder says. “I think there’s still a lot of fears, all of these kinds of worries about big cataclysmic disasters. And Batman says, ‘Get out of your house, do something good today.'”

Batman: Last Knight on Earth is out now.

The post Why Batman: Last Knight on Earth Is “The Last Batman Story” appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Comics – Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2Rq4TUq

[downinfront]

The DC Extended Universe is in rebuild mode, and “Justice League” is the first step

In all of sports, there are few terms more loaded than “rebuild.” That’s the euphemism given when a team finds itself mired in mediocrity and decides to pivot away from a win-now mentality, dumping its resources instead into the prospect of winning later. To do that, they’ll usually dump a lot of their tenured veterans in order to free up money, then draft and develop young talent that can provide the core of a contender in a few seasons’ time. The Houston Astros just did it; the Los Angeles Lakers are in the middle of it; the New York Giants are about to do it and the Cleveland Browns have been attempting to do it for what seems like 20 years now. It’s a unique combination of white flag and hopeful eye towards the horizon: We suck now, but we’ll be back in the saddle a couple years down the line.

That’s the DC Extended Universe, and truth be told it has been for a while. The comic-book giant boasts two of the mightiest IPs in the world — Batman and Superman — but its attempt to build a counterpart to Marvel’s bulletproof Cinematic Universe has been a creaky, accursed enterprise since it launched in 2013 with Man of Steel. Under the creative auspices of Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen), DC attempted to shy away from Marvel’s zippy, quippy, made-for-mass consumption franchise machine by grinding out lengthy, humorless epics about gods and men. It wasn’t the worst idea int he world at the time — coming off of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, the market was still ripe for “gritty” superheroes — but returns on these modern-day tomes have been increasingly diminishing, from the thunderous nonsense of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice to the bullet-ridden vomitorium of Suicide Squad. (There was, as we know, one glorious exception, which we’ll get to momentarily.) Justice League, the long-awaited culmination of DC’s first wave of movies, doesn’t exactly reverse the trend — it’s fun, both because of and despite how much of a mess it is — but it does contain some long-awaited signs of hope that the franchise is finally willing to throw its original plan out the window and start from scratch.

For one, there’s not a lot of Zack Snyder to be found in this movie, even though he’s technically credited as director. A gifted adapter with a near-unparalleled visual palette, Snyder’s singular vision for the DC Universe certainly provided a viable-on-paper alternative to Marvel’s product, but his two movies — 2013’s Man of Steel and 2016’s Batman v Superman — simply weren’t good enough to pass muster. That his fingerprints have been all but excised from this one is due to some truly horrifying circumstances: The death of Snyder’s daughter forced him to step away from Justice League, and Joss Whedon (The Avengers) took over for writing and directing the reshoots. And this wasn’t some second-unit formality, either: Whedon did enough to get the second script credit after Chris Terrio, and even though Snyder is the only credited director, Justice League feels very much like Whedon’s film. This is occasionally for the worse — he lacks Snyder’s gift for sumptuous visuals and his attempts to replicate them are middling — but even as the stitches show on the movie, Whedon brings out a lighter, funnier side of the characters that Snyder seemed genetically incapable of delivering. He does so by moving the majority of the film away from its hoo-ha of a plot and its two biggest anchors, focusing instead on the four backups who all prove to be infinitely more interesting.

Whether this finally means the end of the great Batfleck experiment remains to be seen — the top-billed star still seems somewhat disinterested here, but he fares better than Batman v Superman because he’s given a bit more to play — but the shift in focus does provide ample opportunity for Gal Gadot to continue on her star turn from Wonder Woman. A utility player brought in from the Fast & Furious franchise to play sixth man in Batman v Superman, Patty Jenkins’ megahit from the summer turned Gadot into a megastar and a feminist icon. Less than two years from starring in B-rate action comedies, Gadot now has the kind of box office pull and cultural cache that hasn’t been seen in a long time. Whedon, who made his name in part on Strong Female Characters, knows he’s got the biggest one in decades on his hands, so it’s surely no accident that Wonder Woman gets most of the best scenes here. One minute she’s slicing and dicing through a horde of malevolent bug men, the next she’s slugging a dickish Master Wayne in the sternum so hard he goes flying across the room. It’s to Affleck’s credit that he seems to be having fun even as his minutes decrease, but it’s the movie that reaps the benefits of the change under center.

Flanking Gadot are a trio of greenhorns who give the movie a jolt of energy each time the plot starts to sag, which, given that this movie has a terrible plot, is often. As The Flash, Ezra Miller is wide-eyed, scared shitless (the bit about how he’s never fought anyone is great) and ultimately thrilled to be there. He’s a caffeinated mix of earnestness and annoyance, and if he were ten years younger Marvel would have scooped him up to be Spider-Man. Jason Momoa reimagines the oft-maligned Aquaman as a hard-drinking swingin’ dick with mommy issues; he’s not around to do much besides slug back whiskey and make fun of Batman’s getup, but you get the sense that the Game of Thrones veteran might have finally found a role worthy of his online reputation. And, as Cyborg, Ray Fisher gets an intriguing, Frankenstinian backstory — he’s a prodigy reborn as a machine with a tenuous grip on his humanity— which he plays with a muted resignation that occasionally spills over into outright panic each time his transformation leaps forward. 

Either Whedon recognizes what he has here or realizes he’s got a lot of makeup work to do to give the team the same care he afforded to the Avengers. Either way, he cannily works in a series of scenes with each of these characters that don’t do much to advance the story, but give the actors something to play, the audience something to connect with, and the movie to boast in the way of genuine enjoyment. The most affecting of these is a heart-to-heart between The Flash and Cyborg as they exhume Superman (Henry Cavill) from his grave; the funniest is a scene when Aquaman accidentally sits on Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth and tells his new teammates what he really thinks about all of them.

Between those charming non-sequiteurs and his low-key Twitter shade to the movie’s villain, you get the sense Whedon couldn’t give a shit less about Justice League’s plot. But as a previous franchise steward, he knows that no matter his misgivings, he’s got to both deliver a decent movie and right the ship as best he can. There have been way too many missteps on DC’s part for one movie to correct, but it helps that Whedon has a good sense of where to patch the holes. So, he wisely builds upon what worked in the previous films while minimizing what didn’t (Jeremy Irons’ Alfred gets more scenes; Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor gets less) and even manages to offer some much-needed rehabilitation to their original leading man once Superman is inevitably resurrected.

The question of what to do with the white-bread Man of Steel has been bugging the movies for a while, and while Snyder’s gritty approach was certainly a novel concept, it seems now like the wrong idea at the right time. Cavill cut an imposing presence, but his Kal-El was a morose, occasionally misanthropic demigod who wasn’t afforded the slightest bit of levity even as the adorkable Clark Kent. The man playing him has as much matinee-idol charm as you could want in an actor — The Man From U.N.C.L.E. isn’t quite as good as people online think, but Cavill is a Movie Star in it — but he wasn’t allowed to be half as charming as Christopher Reeve or even Brandon Routh. (Who, as a side note,  rebuilt himself as an MVP of DC’s TV universe playing The Atom on Legends of Tomorrow — it’s a fun show and he’s great in it.) Justice League fixes that, giving the Last Son of Krypton a complete personality change once the team brings him back from the dead. It’s not enough to entirely rehabilitate the character, and Cavill is still oddly humorless in the role, but as the fun mid-credits scene with The Flash shows, even a little bit of awkward goofiness goes a long way.

There are more signs of a rebuild outside the movie as well, all of which are harbingers of positive change down the line. Affleck was brought in as a top-flight star to anchor the franchise, but rumors have swirled for a while now that he wants out. Matt Reeves, who’ll write and direct the upcoming The Batman, supposedly has his eye on a replacement already. The upcoming Flash solo movie will reportedly adapt the reality-meddling Flashpoint arc, potentially giving DC the opportunity to make a trade. Coming out of Suicide Squad, Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn is rumored to be returning in a movie about Gotham City’s villainesses, while the horror/action stylist James Wan (The Conjuring, Furious 7) will tackle the Aquaman solo movie for next year. There’s also the rumors of a set of movies outside the Justice League continuity, both giving DC a chance to adapt its entire Multiverse and start fresh with the characters its already bungled in the runup to Justice League. Jared Leto’s much-maligned Joker might already be getting subbed out for Leonardo DiCaprio in just such a movie.

Of course, there is the lingering doubt that all these efforts may be too little, too late. Generally speaking, rebuild is an exercise in hope, but it’s also a test of fans’ faith in the franchise. Despite a weird Rotten Tomatoes embargo that held off mass consensus for an extra day or two, Justice League was still subjected to a drubbing that muted enthusiasm to a disheartening degree. Box office returns for the first weekend topped out at around $94 million, which is almost unthinkable for a tentpole featuring the two biggest superheroes of all time and a glass-ceiling smashing movie star. Any staying power this movie has will be on word of mouth alone, and while it’s certainly entertaining in a disheveled kind of way, there simply might not be enough there there to warrant two hours and $20 at the multiplex.

It’ll probably do well on cable and Blu-Ray, which feels appropriate and, to a degree, necessary. The DCEU experiment has been steadily building to at least one outright failure, which is always the catalyst for any rebuild. Watching Justice League, it’s hard not to get the sense everybody saw the L coming and decided to shore up the ranks for next season. That’s sort of optimistic in and of itself, and while saying the movie delivers on the meagerest of promises is damning praise, it’s praise nonetheless and a positive notion of things to come. The night has been dark, but the dawn might finally be on the horizon.