lazy-plankton89

[lazy-plankton89]

yuju deep voice 🙏🙏

#yuju #choi yuna #<3 #spotify #Spotify

[lazy-plankton89]

Thoughts on Ilsa Faust in DR. Spoilers.

Thinking about Ilsa Faust's fate in Dead Reckoning and director Christopher McQuarrie's comments about it in the Empire Podcast. As a fan of the franchise and with Ilsa being my favourite character, I feel like I had to write a little something based on the movie and his reason for it. A lot of fans are upset (including me) and I want to write something properly, not just the angry tweets and posts. 

To start off, they wanted Ilsa to die already back when they were making TGM. And his reasoning seems to be that he didn't want Ilsa and Ethan to be romantic. Just that baffles me, if you don't want romance, how can you not just write a script where Ilsa and Ethan stay platonic? They handled it well in Rogue Nation and Fallout, you can see they care for each other deeply, but they don't act on it. We could have had Ilsa on the team, she could have gotten out of the game but was brought back in for some reason, she could have had literally any other story. But the fact that the only thing that seemed to come to mind if he didn't want to make them romantic was to kill her off seems very odd. 

He also talked about wanting to work with Hayley Atwell for over ten years and this fact seems a little too convenient when thinking about why he had to kill Ilsa off. But we'll come back to Grace later. 

He explains that they killed Ilsa off before they even knew the reason why. They killed off one of the most popular characters of this franchise without even having made up the reason behind it. We know that they work without a script, but making such a huge and impactful decision (he says he knew the fans would be upset) without even knowing why baffles me. 

I also need to point out, I would have been fine if she had been given a decent, meaningful death. Yes, I would have been sad, but had it felt worthy it would have been one thing. With how they handled her death in this, I can't be sad. I am just mad. Frustrated. Confused. 

Let's talk about Ilsa's storyline in this film. At the end of Fallout, she got out. In this film, she is disavowed for some unknown reason, and she is brought back into the game with the whole thing about the key. Kittridge says some weird comments about Ethan and Ilsa's relationship, that Ethan has saved Ilsa over and over when it is clearly the other way around. Let's go with this just being Kittridge getting it all wrong and not McQ but.. what do I know.

Ethan finds her in the desert and the whole scene is very rushed, they barely even talk, and.. she just hands him the key? What was Ilsa's plan? Ilsa's purpose? We don't know and we never find out (at least not in part one). Maybe there was more to it, more to Ilsa's story, we know they cut a lot of the movie, and we know for sure they cut at least two of Ilsa's scenes. 

Then she just shows up in the van in Rome before they end up in Venice. 

In Venice, we have Ilsa and Ethan hugging on a rooftop and holding hands on the gondola on their way to the party. For someone who claims that they didn't want Ilsa and Ethan to be romantic, I have a lot of questions. Especially since we also had the desert hug where she is literally on top of him. She is clearly a romantic interest, there's no questioning that. And to be honest, that is basically her only purpose in this movie. 

Now things get a little messy because we arrive at the party. I have always been a fan of McQ's writing of female characters. He did absolutely fantastic in Rogue Nation, Fallout and Edge of Tomorrow. At the party, the villain gives Ethan the choice between Ilsa or Grace. One of them has to die. 

Now, we know Ethan cares about Ilsa a lot, so the choice should be simple, her compared to this woman he just met who kept running away from him over and over and left him to die on a train track handcuffed to a car. The thing is, Ethan Hunt can't make that choice. He cares about each and every individual. 

We've now arrived at the reason why Ilsa dies. And I cannot begin to express my distaste for the cliché writing of having a male character choose between two women, one who is a love interest and the other who is so obviously made out to be the new female lead (and potentially, a new love interest, Ethan/Grace share some suspiciously weird longing looks but the fans are divided if it is romantic or not). 

Ilsa or Grace. Apparently, there can only be one woman on the team, which the previous films have shown us, too. 

I just need to add that they're working against an all-knowing AI, so why isn't "the choice" between Luther or Benji? Ethan's two very best friends, two brilliant tech minds who must be a bigger threat to the entity as well?

In the end, it all comes back to that it's not people that Ethan loses - it's women. And there is only space for one brunette woman on that team. 

So let's talk about the bridge scene. First of all, Grace has been running the entire movie, why would she suddenly stop running when there is a man literally trying to kill her? 

Anyways, she holds him off surprisingly long considering she's just a thief and with how in the previous action sequences she kind of came off as a damsel in distress. Eventually, Gabriel knocks her down the stairs. 

Enter Ilsa Faust. Highly capable spy, Ethan Hunt's equal, a woman who we know is lethal in hand-to-hand combat. We saw her take down Janik Vinter in a knife fight at the end of Rogue Nation and we saw her take down Solomon Lane in Fallout (tied to a bloody chair). 

She even has the advantage of a sword compared to the villain who has a tiny knife. They fight. For some reason, Ilsa manages to get in way too close several times (watch the choreography for the RN knife fight - she's quick, get in, slash, get out, you can't linger in a knife fight) and she somehow doesn't seem to be able to hold off the old villain longer than Grace. 

She gets stabbed in the chest. Ethan finds her dead on the bridge. In the next scene, Ethan looks sad on a rooftop for a few moments. Benji wipes a tear. They never talk about Ilsa again. It's underwhelming in every sense. 

But what makes it worse, is the fact that in the next scene, the team asks Grace to join the team. Not going to get into the writing of that whole scene, but the thing is, they do it in a way that is basically "look what happened to Ilsa." and the things they say honestly make the team seem very cold-hearted considering Ilsa just died. And we know the team is not cold-hearted. Yes, there's a mission and they need to focus on the job, but they really didn't have to do it like that.

When I tell you I have a bad taste in my mouth, boy, do I mean it. Ilsa dies and in literally the next scene she is replaced by Grace. 

Now comes the talk about her death which McQ describes as "very heroic". I'll admit, in one way, I get why he thinks it is a heroic death. Ilsa sacrificed herself to save someone else, that would be a worthy ending for someone who dedicated their whole life to saving the world, saving people. 

What baffles me is how he doesn't see how poorly executed the whole ordeal was, which is what fans and a lot of critics are upset about (see list of articles criticizing it here:  https://www.tumblr.com/rebeccalouisaferguson/723559978545414144/list-of-articles-criticizing-ilsa-fausts?source=share ) 

Is it fridging? In one way it is; Ilsa is Ethan's love interest and we know "the choice" between Ilsa and Grace happens because Ethan cares about her. McQ also mentioned it happening to up the stakes, so..

Yes, she also died because she decided to save Grace, but there's more than one reason for her death.

I feel like what also needs to be mentioned is that article with editor Eddie Hamilton who said they cut a "badass" line from Ilsa when she arrived at the bridge. They cut it because it lowered the audience's expectations for what they were about to see. "In the audience's mind, you know that Ilsa is going to kick some serious ass. She kicks a bit of ass, but not a lot. It's not a complete, devastating, ass-kicking, which you hope Ilsa is going to give at some point." They later removed this bit from the article because of backlash. We, the audience, know that Ilsa is better than and so do they. 

We know they're doing damage control, a lot was cut from the delayed Empire part two podcast. Somehow, the more they talk about it, it gets worse.

I know this movie is only part one and there might be more explanations for all of this in part two. But with what we've seen in this film, they fumbled her death so badly that the one thing that would make sense is that it is all a trick and she comes back in part two. There are many theories on that, but I'm not going into details or speculating on that here. 

A testament to how badly they executed her death is that people literally can't believe they'd fail her character this badly. McQ who we all thought was a brilliant writer. McQ who wrote one of the best female characters we've seen in years only to throw her out as if she was garbage. No matter what happens in part two, one thing is for sure. 

Ilsa Faust deserved better.

#honestly the way i see it #they failed ilsa #she was my favorite #and she just wasn't ilsa in this movie #and to nerf her like that my god #i left the theatre genuinely pissed idk why i feel strongly about this character lol #it's been a while but it still gets on my nerves #like cmon #if she had died a better death then okay #but it truly feels like mcq just wanted to work with hayley which is :/

[lazy-plankton89]

i'd like to talk about these cats in my neighborhood. about a month ago, this orange cat gave birth to 4 kittens and decided upon this random house to take care of them. so this bewildered guy with two poodles set up a cage in front of his house and some food.

fast forward two weeks and i finally muster up the will to check out the random cage in front of the guy's house (I absolutely don't know him) and then these two kittens just start screaming at me lol. i buy them some food and they're eating happily, my other neighbor (we'll call him Anton) walks by and he's like "Oh there were 4 of them yesterday". And so we went around trying to find them but couldn't. The next day I come back and the dude that owns the house said that one of the kittens sadly passed, we still don't know where the other one is though.

And then I get hospitalized for a week, Anton helped get me to the ER lol. I come back and there's this meowing in the empty house beside mine. Turns out someone dumped 3 tiny kittens, probably not even a week old :( I call Anton over and we're both like "What are the odds?" And then he's like "I'll take em", so that was that. Later that night Anton was walking with the other guy and his girlfriend (I think, idk any of them actually). And she told me they were looking for one of their cats.

I just took a walk earlier. Anton and the guy were there chilling with the kitten, turns out the other one also disappeared :( we talked a bit bout the cats and his dogs. it's funny and wholesome how these kittens made me talk with my neighbors, it's like a little community formed coz of em :)

these are the kittens, the guy on the left is the remaining one. i think they're perfectly ugly and we still haven't named em

#some ramblings of mine #love these guys with my entire heart #sad that we lost some of em tho #i still don't know who the owner's name is #but his poodles are choco and chip #i'm allergic to most things with fur so i sadly can't take em #but ofc that doesn't stop me from giving them pets and picking em up

[lazy-plankton89]

the thing that sucks is that people love saying sleep early is good etc etc and yeah it is. I've seen some benefits before. but I think it sucks to ignore that late night is the only time with any freedom. I think it sucks to not acknowledge the dread in waking up and it's a work day again

#i find that i'm most true to myself when i'm alone #sucks that that the only time for that to happen is well above the normal bedtime lol

[lazy-plankton89]

Stream Monochrome!

​

[lazy-plankton89]

just thinking about babymetal opening their debut album with "babymetal death"

#babymetal #also having megitsune headbanger 'catch me if you can' 'ijime dame zettai' and akatsuki in one album is a flex

[lazy-plankton89]

yerin's new EP is also so good!! i didn't like aria all that much, but bambambam>>>

'the dance' is so fun, do check it out

#yerin #bambambam #umji also has my heart recently #not really that into viviz but umji>>>>> #i guess i like the half of gfriend whose name starts with a y lol #umji counts coz it's kim yewon

[lazy-plankton89]

underrated yuju songs people need to know about!!

seriously, i love everything she puts out. the first two have such a special place in my heart, idk where i would be without them.

#(minus my americano but we don't talk bout that) #yuju #i need her to blow up #for the specific reason so that she can tour and come to my country lol #choi yuna

[lazy-plankton89]

missing yuju hours even tho dalala's not even 2 months

#yuju #dalala #rewind was so good too #usually i wouldn't listen to that type of music #but it's yuju #'no way' is also so good!! #love the melody on that one #'With or without you 매일 #너와 숨 쉬고 있잖아' #best part in rewind!! #seeing the bts for dalala is so funny lah #the people just standing there like🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️ #still needing yuju city pop

[lazy-plankton89]

i'm too happy with this comeback

#dreamcatcher #OOTD #im venus nephthys call me a goddess #if people are calling this generic then this is the best generic out there

[lazy-plankton89]

ootd is so cunty i can see it going viral already

#YESS

[lazy-plankton89]

bit late since i legit took a 6 hour nap and missed the comeback showcase but DAAAAMN

i love this!!! this has got to be everywhere. i want OOTD blasted from every single corner. The MV is so fun. those outfits with the caps are so good, yoohyeon bro😭 jiu going "i'm a goddess" and i can't do anything but agree. i think my favourite "OOTD this my fashion" is sua?

they gave handong more lines!!!! that pre-chorus in rising wow. the entirety of rising is so good actually. dami's part in the bridge and the music during that part. siyeon ending it with a bang of course.

the shatter choreo?? gahyeon coming in like that?? hello?? also another member of the silentnightcurseofspider universe lol. that choir bit.

they said 'we are young' is a festival song and i can already imagine the lights.

as with most things dreamcatcher releases, i love it!! can't wait for the promotions.

#dreamcatcher #jiu sua siyeon handong yoohyeon dami gahyeon coming in to make our lives better once again! #my only complaint is that this should've been longer smh #wdym only 13 minutes 😭 #deukae #OOTD #OOTD this my fashion shut up no more questions

[lazy-plankton89]

why's it only 13 minutes brooo 😭😭

#dreamcatcher #villains?? #versus villains??

[lazy-plankton89]

i thought the audio for shatter was broken since it cut off so suddenly 💀

#dreamcatcher #shatter

[lazy-plankton89]

i love babymetal so much i have no other words

[lazy-plankton89]

looking back on some of my notes from a few years back and seeing how much my music taste has changed is so funny. what's even funnier is replaying all those songs and somehow still remembering them word for word, beat for beat. i think 2017 me would have been shocked to find out that i listen to kpop now, i was so anti back then lol. also stuff like babymetal and chvrches would have absolutely floored me.

#pre pandemic me only listened to taylor swift and whatever was in the top 40 #which isn't not valid but just funny to look back on #actually smth weird but before i listened to taylor #i really didn't listen to music #my google play music was very much empty

[lazy-plankton89]

i think screaming su-metals' last "headbangyaaaaa" would fix me

#babymetal #headbanger #sumetal #moametal #momometal #listening to the budokan live album is cathartic #but also that one version of headbanger they did on moa's birthday #so cute :((((