#this is also peak enemies-to-lovers scene I wanted as a teen

[gaelmeee]

"I'm happy it was you..."

[lila-rae]

Because @jechristine hates me, she asked me to pick my top 9 films. It’s like picking my favorite children out of hundreds. So here’s a top 9 but they’re not ranked in any particular order cause it’s impossible. Also pretty sure this list would make Scorsese cry.

Up the first 10 minutes of the movie is the best storytelling I’ve ever seen in a movie, and if you don’t agree you’re just wrong

Juno this movie balances the seriousness and implications of teen pregnancy and adoption with such peak 2000s teen humor. My love forever

Love & Basketball Monica & Quincy forever. It’s where my childhood friends to enemies to lovers and back and forth all started. It’s messy but so is real life

Crazy, Stupid, Love a great movie. Ryan Gosling has abs, they do the dirty dancing lift, the backyard scene. It’s just so good. My husband and I rewatch all the time.

Romeo + Juliet Shakespeare’s words but make the setting modern. It’s where I fell in love with a young Leo. Plus that scene with the aquariums while I’m kissing you is playing. It’s so tragic and beautiful

Team America: World Police it’s South Park with puppets. I think I first watched this at like 12 or 13 with my older cousins (sorry mom) and it was my first rated R movie. It’s just a movie shitting on American foreign policy and I appreciate that.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail How can you not love this movie. It’s so absurd and I’m in stitches every time I watch it.

My Girl if I want to cry I put on this movie. His fucking glasses 😭

Fantastic Mr. Fox I blame my Wes Anderson loving husband but we quote this so much “that’s just weak song writing, you wrote a bad song Petey” that I think part of my love is because it’s a part of our relationship. But it is a fantastic (no pun intended) movie.

Honorable Mention (because I can’t choose just 9 I’m sorry)

But I’m a Cheerleader pretty sure this movie told me I was bisexual before I knew myself. The call was coming from inside the house. But it’s a classic and hilarious.

Spider-Man: Far From Home this would have been in the top 9 if not for NWH. It was my comfort movie I used to watch at least weekly and now 😔

That was brutal.

[cutepastelstarsalior]

Ahhhh!!!!!!!! Just finished all 4 seasons of Stranger Things

So here are my thought

Love season 1; the cast are so tiny and young and it really sets up the characters

Love the whole group are exploring and find clues only to meet up later

I can’t for the love of god remember what happens in season 2

At first a didn’t know how to feel about max; really thought she was going to be a side character

Love season 3; but wow the begging half is so slow

A love the scoop troop (robin; Steve; Dustin; and Erica)

I think Steve charges really peaks in season 3. For nance I think from the get go she was a good character (after the whole barb being killed)

My favorite party kids is Dustin, love his dynamic with the teens :)

I also like hopps and Joyce dynamic too! I think they make a good couple; they both have flaws and they kind of make each other better? Get a weird Enemy to lovers vibe from them

Robin my beloved. She is definitely adhd-coded.

Hopper and elven dynamics is good too! I think elven makes hopper better (tho he’s super violent and I think that’s not good)

Elven and mikes being a couple; :/ it’s alright I can take it or leave it

Season 4 is….complicated

Listen I know that the Upside Down needs a big bad but Veca….hmmm I prefer of the main villain was just a monster instead of some guy

Hate that they try to make elven seems like a murder and evil and do the whole “eleven and one are they same! Even tho one was literally just introduced this season…”

I think Dustin x Susie is cute :)

At first I was supper big on max x Lucy’s but after witness season 4 I ship it!

Maaaaaaxxxxxxxxxxxx 😭

I saw on TikTok about Eddie and I thought he would be a super important character or at least a cool new add in to the teen squad but…….Eddie is just some guy

The bay scene and when Dustin is talking to the uncle made me emotional

Nancy and jothan need to break up. Listen they were good in season 1 but I think it was just a short term romance. Like you can see them not getting alone in season 3

I don’t like how they keep trying to make Steve be back with Nancy! Those 2 don’t need to be together! They’re grown as characters and then being back together feels like it would make their character worse?

:( they made Steven not want to hang out with Dustin like….that his baby brother…..don’t

The whole Russian plot is…..unnecessary? I feel like the whole Russian thing was defining unnecessary in season 4

The whole government/One thing gets kid of confusing

Love the fashion and the neon color background

Will is definitely gay and I hope he and Lucas have more characteristics in season 5

Mike in season 5 was just…there…also him being the heart? Will, hon, mike is not the heart. That’s Dustin or you. Like one of those 2 is the glue of the group?!

Fruity four my beloved (tho I can really see any “canon evidence” for Steve x Eddie. But wow I can definitely see evidence for Nancy x robin)

I definitely feel like Eddie will come back as the vampire/bad guy theory because just how popular his character is

I wish Chrissy wasn’t a minor character. It would have been cool to see a cheerleader in the teen group. Make the dynamic more interesting. Also god I want to know more about her background :(

Oh! I forgot the whole bullied elven part? Yeah that feel weird, like I know there trying to make eleven normal and have her being a teenager but the whole bully thing was completely drop…so what was the point???

Arcgle is cool! I think he and Jonathan should be a couple :) or something

Uhhhhhh I hope in season 5 hopper and joce get married. And will x mike be canon…

[ahufflepuffranting]

The Mistakes of the Half-Blood Prince Movie

Disclaimer: These are my opinions not facts. I haven’t watched this movie in many moons so some scenes may be spotty/inaccurate. Also a lot of them are going to be derived from the book so if you haven’t read them, read the series, rewatch or watch the movies and then come back. Also major spoilers for this movie. You have been warned.

So…the HBP. I remember watching this movie in middle school/early high school. Now after a few years. I have a lot of thoughts on this movie and I felt that this would be a good first post. Enjoy!

1) Snape as the DADA Teacher. For those who read the books you know Snape has been eyeing the DADA (Defense Against the Dark Arts) teaching spot for years. We learn this in the first book and it’s mentioned in the first movie as well. But he is overlooked year after year after year. Now he finally has it. AND THERE’S NOT EVEN A MENTION IN THE MOVIE. In fact we barely see  him at all during the movie. Snape as the DADA is such a fascinating topic of the book and would’ve been amazing to see in the movie. Plus we would’ve gotten the iconic sassy Harry line “There’s no need to call me, SIr Professor”. 

2) Draco Malfoy. Now before I begin, let’s just say Tom Felton’s hair and wardrobe were at its peak during this film. Anyway, as readers and watchers all know, Draco is a death eater now and has been tasked with killing Dumbledore. In the book, we see these events through Harry’s perspective only which makes sense; it’s not Draco Malfoy and the Year He Tried to Kill Dumbledore. But a movie is an opportunity to expand and explore different characters and I wished they had done that for Draco a bit more. I would’ve loved to see the scene where is initiated and given the task by Voldemort. There were a few scenes but I wished to see the internal struggle that Draco was going through. Up until this point, we have always seen Draco as the opposite of Harry, the dark side and the enemy. But now with the Wizarding World at War, we begin to see a different side to Draco as he has a battle of doing what’s right and do what he is supposed to do. 

3) Remus and Tonks. This is another topic that is rarely touched on during this film. Remus and Tonks is such an interesting dynamic and its another topic that I wished was expanded upon. In the book towards the end, Harry finds out that Tonks was in love with Remus when he thought it was Sirius she was mourning over. After the Battle at the Astronomy Tower (more on that later) there is this wonderful, heart-tugging and romantic scene where Tonks is trying to convince Remus that they can be together. Remus tries to rebuff her.  

““You see!“ said a strained voice. Tonks was glaring at Lupin. "She still wants to marry him, even though he’s been bitten! She doesn’t care!”

“It’s different,” said Lupin, barely moving his lips and looking suddenly tense. “Bill will not be a full werewolf. The cases are completely-”

“But I don’t care either, I don’t care!” said Tonks, seizing the front of Lupin’s robes and shaking them. “I’ve told you a million times….”” 

And the meaning of Tonk’s Patronus and her mouse-colored hair, and the reason she had come running to find Dumbledore when she had heard a rumor someone had been attacked by Greyback, all suddenly became clear to Harry; it had not been Sirius that Tonks had fallen in love with after all.

“And I’ve told you a million times,” said Lupin, refusing to meet her eyes, staring at the floor, “that I am too old for you, too poor….too dangerous….” (Half-Blood Prince, pg. 623-624)

This highlights another aspect of Remus that is not easily shown in this movie, his ability to let others in. So afraid of being loved, Remus tries to shut out Tonks, thinking he is a monster, unworthy to be loved. But Tonks refuses to give up and tries to show him that she loves him for who he is, werewolf and all. This scene is iconic and to remove it from the movie is a crime. Also in the movie, they were already a couple…..??? #REMUS DESERVED BETTER #REMUS NEEDS A HUG

4) Ginny. I have many thoughts on Ginny. Bonnie Wright is an amazing actress so this is in no way bashing her.  Ginny in the book is sassy, assertive and loveable. She stands up for herself and others and doesn’t get pushed around by anyone. 

Movie Ginny on the other hand is kind of one dimensional and there was so much potential for her to grow. In the book, her relationship with Harry is an actual relationship. They spend time to together. It’s cute and it’s everything. The breakup scene is so sad but beautiful in its own way because it’s so like Harry to break up with her because he loves her so much. And that kiss scene in the book!!!! Oh my gosh do not even gte my wheels GOING! Like all Hinny shippers must have been like “FINALLY!!”

But in the movie, they just kiss in the ROR (Room of Requirement) and she just disappears and nothing happens after that. So they just never dated????? Like what????? A kiss doesn’t equate to a relationship, like ever. I realize now that Rowling was trying to create a normal atmosphere you’d get in any high school/teen universe because despite being in a middle a war, they’re still growing up and being teenagers with all thier angst. Harry pining for Ginny is a HUGE part of the HBP and its a huge part of that trying to be normal vibe (whatever that means in a middle of a war and you’re the Chosen One).

5) Battle at the Astronomy Tower. In the book, after Dumbeldore’s death, a battle erupts between the Death Eaters, who infiltrated the school with Draco’s help-and the students and the Order. I remember not appreciating when I first read this but now looking back, I wish I had. This event is considered a major battle and is the climax of this book. Everything has led up to this moment. AND THEY JUST TAKE IT OUT AND REPLACE IT WITH SOME MEDIOCRE ESCAPE SCENE. Bellatrix just blows out the windows of the Great Hall and sets Hagrid’s hut on fire but he’s NOT EVEN THERE! In the book, when she flamed up his hut, Hagrid was there and was PISSED because Fang was inside. DOn’t worry for all the dog lovers, Fang survives. It just seems so wrong to take it out. The scene that takes its place is bland in comparison and they should have just followed the book instead.

6) Fleur For those who didn’t read the book Fleur is engaged to Bill Weasley and the family…for the lack of a better word absolutely despises her. Behind her back they mock her and give her the oh-so-wonderful nickname Phlegm. Even though I don’t particularly care that it didn’t make it into the movie, there is one scene that I wished they kept that ties into my previous point. During the battle at the Astronomy Tower, Bill is mauled by Greyback and is scared for life. The scratches he sustained meant he would suffer but never fully transform. Molly despairs and assumes that Fleur would no longer want to marry him because of his marred face. But Fleur angrily berates her saying that Bill’s scars are proof of his bravery and she “was good-looking enough for both of them” (HBP, pg. 623). This scene is such a heartwarming scene after such a tragic event and I would’ve been more than happy if they included it.

 THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THE WHOLE THING! I MIGHT DO ANOTHER RANT FOR OTHER HP MOVIES! PLEASE REBLOG AND ADD NOTES! 

[edamamechips]

anna’s fic recs

HAPPY BUGHEAD APPRECIATION WEEK 2020 MY PEOPLE!! here i offer you some fic recs + flailing because i love all the fandom writers and every writer deserves a lil bit of flailing sometimes! Kudos to @bugheadcentral for doing this every year. you guys are really cool.

it's nice to have a friend- bettysteddys - (rated teen and above)

southside jughead and northside betty denying they have feelings for each other because we love a good slow burn. @bettysteddys (WIP) 

a wonderful fic with emotional angst with all the feels. Southside jughead and betty with a secret relationship and a side of denial of feelings.

Bonus! this has a really cool jughead and veronica being step siblings dynamic and i’m here for it.

The Incident™- orphan_account- (rated e)

roommates hot for each other.

a really fun one shot with bughead being roommates and catching each other naked and doing stuff that makes this fic E rated. *raises eyebrows*

It Happened One Night- sarahxxxlovey- (rated E)

a rendezvous love affair with emotional turmoil and feeling friction. (WIP)

Older jughead and younger betty fall in love through a series of run ins set in the 1950’s. A perfectly smutty and angsty fic if you are in the mood.

Motorin'- Sunshinebunnie- (rated M)

sexy librarian betty and older brother jughead meet up in a library and discover their shared exhibitionism kink and act on it *wiggly eyebrows* @sunshinebunnie

first part of a smutty series i thoroughly enjoyed. This has a fun jughead being a great older brother subplot that we don’t get to see in canon. This part of the series features sexy librarian betty catches Jughead's eyes and intense sexual tension and stuff ensues. bonus(!) This has another part with more glorious smut to fuel your soul.

Also sunshinebunnie is a genius and you should definitely checkout her other fics.

take me home -sylwrites (rated M)

film nerd betty and famous jughead fall in love and that’s everything one ever needs @sylwrites

there is angst, there is fluff, and there is smut. It’s a whole package that makes you fall in love with our favourite babies again. Film nerd betty and famous jughead own my soul and I cannot get enough of how cute these two are.

Fun fact, this has really cool ig edits to accompany the story which i adore

Inconveniently- OldTsuki

southside serpents shenanigans and fluffy relationship development @moon--mama

this a series with hints of canon but southside stylez. A fun exploration of dynamics between the serpents and having betty as their queen. Also has really fluffy bughead scenes(doing homework together! Skinny dipping!) which warms my stone cold heart.

I'll Come Again- SummerRaine14 (rated M)

betty cooper deserves attention and she makes sure she gets it.

a smutshot which i enjoyed and pops in my mind at random times of the day for some reason so go ahead and read it i guess

Let It Kill You- SummerRaine14 (not rated)

a 7 year time jump reunion!!

 i’m literally adding this because there is a cute bughead reunion after a 7 year time jump from 2018 and i’m excited about that.

Under the Radar- alluringdreams (rated M)

co workers with crazy sexual chemistry and are CIA agents for extra spice. @alluringdreams (WIP)

this fic is everything i’ll ever need and i want to be buried with it. There is a feisty betty and smug jughead(!) they’re working at the CIA(!!) and they kiss for cover(!!!) The banter is pure perfection and the sexual tension is just top notch A grade gold stuff.

And a Side of Flirting- makingitwork (rated gen)

bughead being the cutest couple on the planet and doing peak OTP stuff @typing123

this fic makes my heart happy every time i read it. It is literally the cutest thing ever written and i am a sucker for bughead from a third person’s perspective. Seriously read this now and tell me your hand is not clutching your heart because of fluff. I will seriously commit arson for betty and jughead in this fic

crazy (for you)-lusterrdust (rated M) 

mentally ill bughead find love and solace in each other. @lusterrdust

this is such a beautifully written fic i don’t have enough words to express my admiration. fics involving heavy subjects can get very difficult and descriptive when you’re trying to get things right. the weight of emotions that is carried in all sincerity by just 2.5k words has me awestruck. A literal symphony of words.

Understand me (I'll Understand you)- Jugjones21(rated E)

sociopath killer jughead who would kill for betty and does exactly that and a lot more. *wink wink* (WIP) @jugjonesiiiao3

one of the first dark bughead fics i ever read and wow it was an experience. It’s like I had unlocked a whole genre of fics that my soul had been deprived of. A+ twisted and amoral characterization. 

Admit you’re hot for me- Lucivar (rated E)

stripper jughead who is also betty's ex boyfriend!! @lucivar

 this is the first part of one of the most glorious series ever. i cannot get enough of how well written the sexual tension is written in each part, the kind that permeates through the screen which makes it magnetic and furthermore a reason this should be on your list! also georgie writes some gorgeous fics so go check those out!

I'll walk with you in the shadows- Goldy (rated M)

bughead reunion because of unexplained murders @go-ldy

 this was one of my most engaging reads of the year. A very interesting post 4x19 fic with a solid plot and enough flangst to refuel your souls. Also who doesn’t enjoy 9 chapters of sleuth bughead with emotional tension and pining. 

heart in a headlock- SqueegeeBecksXo(rated E)

forced to be roommates try to deny their feelings but have hot boning sesh. @detectivesqueegee

Your typical roommates to lovers fic with an enemies twist because we are tropey and not ashamed about it. also if you are up for some hot hate sex here you go.

head over feet- thatiranianphantom (rated teen and above)

pregnant bughead tooth rotting fluff that cures food poisoning.(this is experimentally proven.) @thatiranianphantom

Sadie’s words always make me ~feel~ emotions. like i remember crying the entire hour after waking up after reading one of her fics. Anyways sadie is a wonderful writer and this fic warms my heart like hot cocoa.

as always heed the tags my loves before reading and happy reading!

[orlamccutie]

i’m taking prompts requests (with a twist)!! ☺️

in one of my former posts i mentionned having an idea that will get me back into writing, so what is this about?

fanfictions. indeed, i’ve been wanting to write fanfictions for a while now and get back into writing for just as long so i finally found the perfect solution.

this is very simple, and inspired by those “ask for a prompt” posts yet it feels original so i’m pretty happy about that and this idea as a whole.

so this idea, like i said, is based on the “ask for a prompt” where you send me an emoji and i write a prompt based on that emoji. so far, pretty basic. except that, this time each emojis (among the ones i present you) will have a kind of specific theme, meaning that your prompt could have a specific genre or take place in a specific location of your choosing (all emojis will be included below). the only thing that doesn’t change is that like with every prompt, you will have to specify which character, pairing, friendship, etc you want me to write for. i will be writing for any character (yes, even chuck bass) and any ship (yes, even chair) from the following shows: “gossip girl, riverdale, twin peaks, stranger things, you, derry girls, community, unbreakable kimmy schmidt, parks and recreation, arrested development, jane the virgin, scream, teen wolf, pretty little liars, that ‘70s show, skins, on becoming a god (in central florida)”

anyway, without further ado here is the complete list of emojis you can send me (my inbox is open) and their explanations (if there are some things you don’t understand, please tell me):

🌞: prompt based on a particular emotion, whether it be anger, sadness, despair, joy, jealousy, etc.

🌺: prompt based on a particular trope (which you can find on tvtropes.com). ex: enemies to lovers, brain and brawn, etc

🍇: insert of a certain word or object of your choice in the prompt.

🦋: specific location in which you want the prompt to take place (mostly a certain country or city, but can also be in a particular room - ex: the kitchen)

🌿: in what specific genre do you want this prompt written? fluff, smut? or a cinematic genre? horror, for example

🍄: rewrite of an already existing scene

🧚🏼‍♀️: this one still needs to be more defined but i would call it “prompt with a little twist”. ideas that come to mind right now are genders swap and human characters as supernatural being. obviously if you have a specific idea in mind for this emoji, don’t hesitate to tell me

&&

and that’s all for this long (ass) post haha

ps: i’m not a native english speaker, i still make grammatical errors and i haven’t written a real text in probably ten years so please be indulgent.. which doesn’t mean that you can’t tell me if i made some grammatical mistakes, but also what didn’t work in my writing and what you didn’t like (and why). but mostly don’t shy away from letting me know what you did like ☺️

[insidious-intent]

Copy/paste and bold your fic preferences because why not, gotta choose one (near impossible, but go with your first gut instinct), and tag someone because, again, why not.

I was tagged by @aewriting THANK YOU BB!

1. slow burn or love at first sight 

2. fake dating or secret dating  (you can pry this from my cold dead hands)

3. enemies to lovers or best friends to lovers 

4. oh no there’s only one bed or long distance with correspondence (shout out to @gra-sonas for writing me one of these lovelies! “There was Only One Bed”)

5. hurt/comfort or amnesia (I love both actually and there’s one written by @dancinbutterfly that comes to mind as peak h/c: Let Your Warm Hands Break Right Through)

6. fantasy au or modern au (I’ll never get enough of modern aus!)

7. mutual pining or domestic bliss (I will read curtain fics till the end of time)

8. smut and fluff

9. canon compliant (missing scenes) or fix-it fic (I do love both)

10. alternate universe and future fic (AUs are my weakness. I even wrote my first ever multi-chaptered fic based on this trope)

11. one-shot or multi-chapter (I love and read both, but I’m a sucker for multi-chapter, stay up all night to finish the thing kind of goodness. Like how I live for updates of Ad Astra from @beamirang or Missing from @laniew1 or @mansikkaomenabanaani‘s epic choose your own adventure!)

12. kid fic or road trip fic (KID. FIC. KID. FIC. KID. FIC. I love acquired bb, mpreg, adopted bb...and everything in between. Also this is a call out to @michaels-blackhat to share some more teen mom Alex)

13. reincarnation or character death (my OTP finding each other in all lives, every life is my hope and dream and wish and desire)

14. arranged marriage or accidental marriage (I mean, I would read both though)

15. high school romance or middle-aged romance (BOTH IS GOOD)

16. time travel or isolated together (I recently answered an ask about this but TIME TRAVEL IS MY FAVORITE TROPE EVER.)

17. neighbours or roommates (I mean there is a reason why this is universal fave).

18. sci-fi au or magic au (both these categories are very broad, but I love both. I picked sci-fi because it more often combines more than one category, and because I’m shameless, my own favorite fic is a sci-fi au)

19. body swap or gender-bend (ANYTHING that has to do with body swap is automatic gold. Especially this lovely maribel fic from @caitlesshea that I love and adore)

20. angst or crack (Um my friends know angst is how I live and I am proud)

21. apocalyptic or mundane (I said above that curtain fics are life)

I don’t know if this is going around yet, so tagging @hannah-writes @lire-casander @bellakitse @manesalex @daffietjuh @brightloveee @spaceskam AND ANYONE ELSE WHO WANTS TO DO THIS, FEEL FREE TO USE THIS AS AN INVITE!

[kiraziwrites]

@samirant and I think someone else tagged more for this meme several days ago but I got distracted, sorry! I’m late to the party so I think most of my mutuals have probably been tagged already.

Top Three Ships

I don’t think I can pick a stable top three, so I’ll go with the two currently occupying my attention (and my heart) and one that’s been there for two decades. Interestingly, they’re all canon het ships (although I read plenty of slash) but they’re all also somewhat non-normative in their gender dynamics.

1. Brienne of Tarth/Jaime Lannister, Game of Thrones

The serious affair. I mean, duh. I kind of shipped it before, but wasn’t really a steady fan of the show, and then the knighting scene happened and my longstanding narrative boner for fraught pining and mutual caretaking and affirmative recognition between a slowburn enemies-to-lovers battle couple went boinngg! and here we are, nearly 100k words of fic later. I love the role-reversal of gendered romance norms, I love the way they share so much history together (and a lot of the same values, deep down, even if Jaime’s are rather more tarnished) and I love the fact that he absolutely wants to climb her like a tree and beg her to sit on his face.

2. Phryne Fisher/Jack Robinson, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries

The heady new dalliance. People have been suggesting to me that I might like this for some time, and now I’m sheepishly wondering why I didn’t take them up on it sooner. I’m always fond of a good odd-couple detective pairing, especially with added clashes over procedure and traumatic baggage, but what makes this really work for me (aside from the unbearable KISS ALREADY sexual tension) is the thoughtful portrayal of two people who are clearly drawn to one another, but who also have some very different beliefs and commitments that make it hard for them to go there without serious change or compromise. The show is not without its flaws (there’s some peak white feminism going on at moments, alas) but the pairing is one for the ages.

3. Harriet Vane/Lord Peter Wimsey, Dorothy L. Sayers

The lifelong passion. My OG OTP from my mid-teens, along with Cordelia/Aral, still going strong twenty years on. I’ve reread Gaudy Night more than any other book (upwards of 20 times, I’m guessing) and I can see in retrospect how much it set the template for the kinds of love stories I’m drawn to: stories about two complicated, messy, stubbornly independent adults with deeply held values and strongly felt vocations and a whole lot of personal baggage and history that they have to work through, with patience and care and a fundamental respect for each other’s autonomy and equality, in order to build a life worth sharing together. Also they are madly horny for both books and one another, and quote a lot of John Donne. I will never be over them.

Last Song You Listened To

Kesha ft. Big Freedia, Raising Hell (my current get-stuff-done banger)

Last Movie You Watched

At the cinema, Little Women. On the laptop, a rewatch of The Shape of Water.

Reading

Mostly fic this month, but I have just finally gotten my hands on The Traitor Baru Cormorant, which I’ve been meaning to read for ages, and I’m also working my way through Code and Clay, Data and Dirt: Five Thousand Years of Urban Media.

Last Thing You Ate

An inauthentic but tasty riff on Eggs Kejriwal, a sort of cheese toastie with green chilis and fried egg (I used multigrain bread and sharp white cheddar, plus zhug instead of green chutney). But I’m currently awaiting some tacos al pastor.

[alexanderwrites]

Thoughts Roundup - Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 11

“There’s Fire Where You’re Going”

Here is an episode that i’ve heard a lot of people describing as the point where this season “hits its stride”. What i’d say is that, while each episode has been nothing less than great (for me), there has been a certain scattershot style to the season which has displeased some. This scattershot style is not detrimental, but certainly is different to what we expect from narrative, serialised television. So far, the season has been like a closeup of a patchwork made of smaller segments, and with this episode, we’re starting to get a clearer idea of what the patchwork will look like when viewed as a whole. Will we really see the big picture by season’s end? Maybe not. But by “hits its stride”, what I believe people mean is it is satisfying to see the threads pulled tighter and the picture look a bit clearer, as it does in tonight’s episode. There is a narrative flow in Part 11, as well as what feels like quite a bit of progress. Adding to this is the episode’s crafty blending of all the elements that make Twin Peaks Twin Peaks. The show’s deadpan humour, jarring violence, abstract nightmare segments and small-town drama were all present tonight in an episode that felt cohesive, tight and covered a lot of bases that people wanted covered. 

. Miriam ISN’T DEAD!!! If last week’s episode punished by presenting women without agency, this one gave them a bit more to do. Miriam, thank the lord (or lords David and Mark) is alive, and her crawling out the bushes is a relieving but nightmarish image, and really reminded me of Ronette Pulaski. This Miriam’s a fighter and a good person, and I hope she helps to put an end to Richard’s reign of terror.

. Becky is Laura, right? I mean, not literally Laura. But she is sort of Laura? The shots of her looking skyward while riding in her boyfriend’s car a while back visually recalled Laura, and her scream tonight was Laura all over. Pained and furious. Even if her actions differ from Laura’s, I think she is supposed to remind us of her. Violence is cyclical, people don’t change, and what has been will always be. That’s what the show is about for better or worse, so echoes from the past reverberate as Laura’s ghost looms heavily on the town, and on Becky. I liked seeing Becky intent on revenge, and part of me really hoped she’d kill her sleazebag boyfriend. But then again, I’m glad she didn’t, because I wouldn’t want to see her locked away so soon. I found her super interesting tonight and can’t wait to see where her character goes, and what a lovely surprise it was that she’s Bobby’s daughter.

. Seeing Bobby and Shelley together was surreal. I kept remembering how they looked when partying around Leo’s comatose body, and thinking “shit, that’s actually them”. It’s a shame they never made it work, but it’s an even bigger shame that Shelley has found an even bigger sleazeball (sleazebag? There are too many Sleazes in this show. I’m not sure what comes after Sleazebag and Ball. Sleazecar? Sleazehouse?) in Balthazar Getty, who’s name i’ve forgotten and won’t look up because I prefer writing the name Balthazar Getty. Shelley hasn’t made a good choice in hooking up with this guy who we know is a drug importer, and it seems that Becky is following a similar path. I love Shelley, and will always sympathise with her. She brings out the protectiveness of the audience, and Becky does the same. I really, deeply hope to god that history doesn’t repeat itself, and that Shelley and Becky won’t get hurt. 

. Did anyone else think of the little kid with the gun as a lodge spirit? You could say that about anyone on the fucking show (James Hurley is a lodge spirit! The pie they serve at the Double R is a lodge spirit!), but he reminded me of little Lynch Jr as little Tremond (who turned out to be a lodge spirit in Fire, Walk With Me). Maybe it’s because of his creepily defiant stance, his silence, and that he’s dressed exactly like his dad, but it felt like a surreal moment and that something more sinister is happening there. Then something even MORE surreal happens, and it’s the hardest i’ve laughed at something that’s scared me in the show yet. Yes, i’m talking about the slime puking teenager and the screaming woman. The scream was so repetitive and strange sounding, and the longer it went on, the more funny yet disturbing it sounded. I put my hands to my cheeks Kevin Macallister style and could only offer up a big, loud “WHAT THE FUCK”. I love that Bobby simply watches like we do. Utterly bizarre - and what do we think of the Woman’s dialogue? Did it remind anyone else of “Around the dinner table, the conversation is lively”? It did for me, but it might mean nothing which is totally fine with me. I’m here for individual moments, and if by episode 18 i’m saying “Wait - what the fuck happened to the slime puking teen?”, that’ll be fine with me. 

. Elsewhere in town, Hawk and Frank are planning their field trip to the black lodge. I hadn’t thought before of electricity being the modern version of fire because i’m a dumb asshole, but when Hawk says so it makes a lot of sense. Fire and Electricity seems to be the Uber of the spirit world. They use it to travel, as well as way that they harness their power. The thing we really want to know is the thing that Hawk tells Frank he doesn’t ever want to know about: that weird symbol that was on Doppelcoop’s playing card, and is on the top of Hawk’s map. Why does nobody ever say ‘actually, I really DO please’ when told ‘you don’t want to know’? I want to know!! And we get another touching call from Margaret, who tells us her log is afraid of fire (i’m still keen on the theory that her log contains the spirit of her husband - a logger who died in a fire) and that there is a fire where they’re going (hey! that’s the name of the show!). Her warnings are to be taken very seriously, and with how bleak this season can and has been, we should start preparing ourselves now for something bad to happen out in those woods to Hawk, Bobby and to a lesser extent, Frank. I am so excited about this storyline because I just want any excuse to see more of the woods and more of the black lodge.

. Let’s raise a toast to Matthew Fucking Lillard. Matthew Fucking Lillard. The longer I think about it, the more certain I am that he’s been my favourite performer this year so far, and I was saddened to see his head...uh...smashed off(?) tonight - in a manner that recalls how the heads of those lovers were smashed off by the box monster all those weeks ago. In an ensemble of hundreds, he truly stood out and made every moment he was on screen utterly riveting. And this scene is the most memorable of the night for me, while Cole’s deadpan of “He’s Dead” is the funniest line of the night. 

There’s so much to unpack, but the image of Cole staring into a portal to another place is absolutely a standout moment. This place in South Dakota is another Glastonbury Grove (if we weren’t sure enough, it’s on Sycamore Street), and seeing Gordon begin to fade as he stands in the path of the portal really reminded me of Cooper descending into the Black Lodge at the end of Season 2. Also at the scene, we get a couple of woodsmen spirits standing on some stairs (which reminded me of the stairs in the Palmer household) inside the portal, as well as one very real woodsman who gives Bill Hastings’ head a cheeky little burst. It’s such a simple effect, but the fading in and out of the woodsmen deeply scares me. It’s so uncomfortable and dreamlike, and a neat way of hammering home that these things are not from our world. I don’t like how they sneak! And then they find Ruth Davenport’s corpse (Ruth, we hardly knew ye) with coordinates on her arm which will doubtlessly lead right back to Twin Peaks. It’s beginning to become clearer how the FBI will end up back in our favourite town, and Diane loses the trust of both us and Albert even more when she clearly mouths and memorises the co-ordinates written on Ruth’s arm. It’s hard to figure out at this stage just what is going on with her, but whatever the answer is, we’re likely to find out that she is in cahoots with some really bad eggs. This might lead her and the FBI on the path back to town, but it’s still vague as to how Coop will find himself back there. Speaking of Coop....

. I was really, really pleased with how his story developed tonight. He seemed a lot more lucid in this part, and seemed affected by his gentle knock-on-the-chin by his boss. And his final scene is monumental, but before I get to that let’s tackle...

. Those darn Mitchum brothers (a spinoff sitcom produced by Chuck Lorre?). Last week, I wrote that they weren’t my favourites and that i’d like their story to move at a pace quicker than Dougie eating pie. Tonight, perhaps because of the makeup of the episode, I enjoyed every moment with them and, yes, the story moves swiftly along. They make a really fun unit to watch bounce of each other, even if it is hard to reconcile that i’m praising the work of Jim Belushi and T-Bag from Prison Break (for the record, Robert Knepper is a great actor. Prison Break is not a great anything). Their scenes tonight developed their chemistry and personalities, and I liked seeing Brother Jim talking about his dreams (the work of someone in the black lodge?) - and the fact that he doesn’t want to kill Dougie if he “isn’t our enemy” was a nice touch. It highlights that there is an intelligence and even a tiny bit of humanity in him, and that he’s not as simple as a ruthless thug who’ll kill anyone he feels like. They may be a couple of bastards, but tonight I found them interesting and of a different breed to the typical tough-guy gangsters. Coop has brought them a cherry pie, as instructed by Mike via the Black Lodge. Brother Jim had a dream about a box with a cherry pie in it, and if its in there, ‘Dougie’ is not their enemy and they can’t kill him, he insists. And so Black Lodge spirits save Coop again! Again the question arises of why they want him alive, and why they need him to wake up. I’m still betting that it’s because they need Doppelcoop back in the black lodge, and that Coop waking up has something to do with Doppelcoop being sent back. We’re edging closer and closer, and it’s getting pretty damn exciting.

. And then the Mitchum brothers and Coop go for cherry pie! There are plentiful allusions to the past, and who Coop used to be, but he can’t get back. And in a sense, the show Twin Peaks cannot get back to what it used to be - and why should it need to? People have aged, actors have died, times have changed and the world is different now. The 1950′s aesthetics of chrome diners and cherry pies and colourful fashion were always a veneer that the show hid under. It was never about that, but instead about how a surface of gloss is wrapped over the ugliest crimes of humanity to make them more palatable. It is entirely possible to enjoy the aesthetics of the show (and honestly, everyone who loves Twin Peaks, me included, enjoys it), but it is important to remember that that’s not what the show is about. If anything it’s a pretty vicious critique of how false this aesthetic is, and about the damage done by ugliness being wrapped in a pretty package. And now, that pretty image isn’t as strong as it used to be. It’s not there because it never really was. Coop can (loudly) eat his cherry pie, he can even call it “Damn good”, but he’s been through too much now. He’s seen too much, and we have too. We can’t get back to the idealised version of Twin Peaks because Lynch and Frost have shown us that it isn’t real. Nostalgia might call us back to it, and we can fawn over images of the past and try to get that feeling back - the feeling Coop gets when he hears a pretty song, or sees a pair of red shoes - but it isn’t there for us anymore, and I think that’s what The Return has all been about. It’s not about going back and finding that everything is beautiful and exactly how you left it, but about the fruitless struggle of trying to recreate the past. Who knows - maybe by season’s end we’ll have a beautiful moment of Coop waking up, of order being restored and him enjoying a meal at the Double R. And if we get that, it will doubtlessly be stunning, and moving and haunting - because we will have the knowledge of what has happened. The pull between an idealised past and a cold, stark present is a powerful one, and the final scene of tonight’s episode conveys this masterfully. The song the pianist plays - which sounds quite a bit like Laura Palmer’s theme - is the past calling out to Coop, and he responds, as does the viewer on hearing it. Where it goes from here is impossible to predict, but this is a moment of real beauty that summarises the entire run thus far. 

“If you put these two symbols together, you get this”

“Black Fire”

“Correct”