#esp between male and female characters of the same age | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

Visit Blog

Explore Tumblr blogs with no restrictions, modern design and the best experience.

Fun Fact

The total number of visits Tumblr.com received during January 2021 is 327 million.

#esp between male and female characters of the same age

safiadecastilla · 20 days

Text

QUICK STATS ;

Name: Safia de Castilla Estrada

Nicknames: Saf, Safi

Age: 34

Gender & pronouns: Female & she/her

Sexuality: Bisexual

Time in Wilmington: From the age of eight

Occupation: Dance instructor at Feel The Beat and stripper at Bare Necessities

Neighbourhood: Midtown

Relationship status: Single

Face claim: Ana de Armas

Please read below for her introduction !!

QUICK INTRO ;

TW: Injury, car accident, death, gambling addiction, imprisonment

Safia was born in Cuba, to young parents. Her dad rode a motorcycle, her mom was the cute girl next door. They decided to move their family to Wilmington when Safia was eight because they believed there would be better opportunities for themselves and their kids.

Safia really struggled with the move, as she didn't know much English at the time and felt incredibly protective over her younger brother who knew even less. She grew a little angry and bitter towards her parents, and towards the world. So as she grew into a teenager, Safia became rebellious. She would skip class, smoke under the bleachers etc etc. High school wasn't her best time in terms of academics, she was a smart girl but she just never applied herself much to her classes.

She decided not to go to college at 18 as she had no idea what she wanted to study, so stayed in Wilmington for a 'year' to figure out what she wanted to do. This was when she fell in love with dance, and with a man. Buuuuut it wasn't the kind of first love experience she had expected. The relationship was slow and tentative, but Safia was like a bull in a china shop. She wanted it to be explosive and all encompassing.

Her boyfriend wasn't attentive in the way she wanted, so her eyes unintentionally drifted to his brother... Everything she wished she felt for her boyfriend, she found herself feeling for his brother. She tried to ignore her feelings, but she couldn't ignore the way he made her feel. He felt the same way for her, but Safia wasn't a cheater. So instead, she agreed she would break up with her boyfriend, and tell him the truth.

Only she received a phone call that he was in hospital with irreparable injuries from a severe car accident, and he later passed away. Safia was consumed with guilt, and immediately distanced herself from his family, and his brother.

She tried to heal, but this process took time and it was tumultuous at best. Just when she had started to feel better, her own brother came to her in a wild panic. He had a gambling addiction, and to fuel it he borrowed money from loan sharks who were now knocking on his door. He didn't have the money to repay them, so Safia met with them.

They agreed that her brother would serve a short sentence in prison, and she would repay them a certain amount each month. At this time she was only a dance instructor, so found herself a job as a stripper so she could afford to pay back the loan sharks.

WANTED CONNECTIONS/IDEAS.

Friends and besties: Safi can be pretty loyal, all things considered. She is a great friend to have, will support and encourage you through anything. These can be friends from high school, or recent years, whenever really! Whatever works best between our characters.

Roommate: Safi probably doesn't earn a huge amount of money, esp after giving money to her brother's loan sharks so she likely lives with someone. She lives in Midtown!

Friends with benefits / almost dating: This can be male and/or female! After her bf passed away, Saf probably avoided relationships like the plague. She is pretty hedonistic so she wouldn't have shied away from sexual relationships. There could have been one or two that started to feel relationshippy and she dipped out!

Dated but didn't end well: Maybe after some time Safi felt like she could be in a relationship again, but it didn't end well because maybe of your character or it ended mutually or she was scared of messing things up?

Frequent customers: Maybe some characters enjoy indulging themselves in a dance or two from Safi, and they have this playful flirtationship between each other.

High school sweetheart: One of my all time faaaave types of connections. Now Safi was rebellious during high school, so they could've been similar OR entirely different.

People who may be friends with her younger brother: I'd say he's around 30, and he has a gambling addiction. He's pretty messy too, like Safi. But currently he's serving a short sentence in prison.

#( intro. )#wnc.intro

3 notes · View notes

papirouge · 10 months

Text

sorry for the Tekken sperging

if you want to have an idea of how much japanese game developer hate women, just look into Tekken tbh

there is no female character beyond 25 years old

since there's been a 15 years old gap between Tekken 2 and Tekken 3, and while ALL the characters who were in Tekken were allowed to get old (Heihachi, Lei, the Laws (father & son), Kazuya, etc.) AND still got included in the next games

Michelle Chang? she got a replaced by her "daughter" Julia in Tekken 3. The William sisters got cryogenized for all this time so they biologically didn't age. And now they're basically doing the same for the next opus by bringing back Kunimitsu....through her lookalike daughter (same mask and all) ??? wtf is this??her daughter doesn't even have the same swag as Kuni. That Kunimitsu #2 looks like a cute anime girl, when Kunimitsu was that mysterious morally ambiguous ninja thief, like- HELLO??

glo down of the millenium tbh. rEAL KUNI WHOULD NEVER SHOW HER FACE!!!! Tekken hasnt got a decent/original character since Tekken 6 anyway.

Oh and they killed Jun after Tekken 2 (that may or may not be back from the dead somehow, but ofc won't be old cause she DIED AT A YOUNG AGE WHEN JIN WAS STILL A CHILD !!!! so probably her reincarnation, ghost or some random nonsensical shit like that) And let's not talk about Julia tragic makeover between Tekken 6 and 7 and has become a whole different person : she went from a caring, environment defender Native American to....a hyperconnected bimbo'ish geek?? ...all of this was to cater to scrote ofc bc OG Julia wasn't really sexy to begin with (kinda horse girl'ish - she was the equivalent of Hitomi in the DOA franchise imo). I feel like her character was more serious and had so much substance than she does now... I also HATE how there's a gag overkill in the serie (esp the Mishima e.g their endings in Tekken Tag 2 aaaaaand IDC if the TTT are not canon, stop trying to make this dysfunctional family where everyone wants to kill each other look like a comedy skit EVERYTIME, it's getting old) CANT WE HAVE SOME SERIOUS RELEVANT CHARACTERS WHO ACTUALLY MAKE THE PLOT MOVE FORWARD??

Tekken story plot went down the toilet after Tekken 5 anyway, and the overall chara design tanked big time after Tekken 4 (exception for Dragunov who was truly a novelty I'm always a sucker for mute characters and Lars who's my haafu husbando). My biggest Tekken crush has always been Hwoarang and they made him unrecognizable lately (he was perfect in Tekken 5)

But yeah, Tekken hates women, has become shit, and it bums me out so bad bc that's basically my first video game, and the storyline/lore used to be so good (Tekken 3 had the best plot!!! Heihachi shooting Jin -his own grandson- a bullet in the head in his ending got 9 years old me SHOOK. Ogre was sooo creepy, his Tekken Tag Tournament 2 ending is legit nightmare fuel)

I mean, even Dead or Alive that is infamous for catering to scrotes has a more attractive male roaster at this point (Hayate <3). They also did a brilliant chara design overhaul for DOA6 that made the characters so much prettier and is actually consistent and done tastefully.

Because yeah, what shocks me the most is how SHITTY Tekken chara design has become. It peaked with Tekken 4 (Jin Kazama tracksuit will forever be iconic dont @ me) but it's now such a convoluted tacky mess. Characters don't even have their own style anymore. Lars has the same tacky outfits as King (who's a luchador!!!). Also : WHY HAS HE BECOME SO BUFF??? Did he take the same steroids as Chris Redfield?? He was so hot in Tekken 6... WASTE!

They should take a few pages from team Ninja who knows how to make shit done when it comes to rework characters aesthetic. Look at this work of art

#that tiktok vid triggered me so bad i had to unleash my frustration lmao #JUSTICE FOR KUNIMITSU #gaming #papi watch #Tekken #tekken 4 #tekken 3 #tekken tag tournament

5 notes · View notes

somewhereinthepines · 1 year

Note

same anon here;) (i hope i’m not bothering you) i was wondering and honestly can’t come up to any conclusion, so i wanna ask your opinion - why do you think Chris x Ryan is such a rare pair? especially considering the popularity of Travis x Laura ship. i mean if it was the age gap that is so disturbing, it would apply to them as well? it’s really puzzling to me. (i love both)

oh, no worries, you don’t bother me! i honestly, a pretty chatty person, so it’s not a problem for me to answer questions or just talk about things!

and well, what i will write below is a personal guess, which is as good as any. i might be wrong on a thing or two, and i suppose that all of these assumptions can be read as separate reasons for specific kinds of folks. but ah…let’s see.

i think, that the most possible reason is that we have very little in canon to go by. a lot of chris/ryan stuff is knit between the lines of the story vs being bluntly shown. in comparison, travis & laura have a lot of moments in canon, and you can influence their relationships. you can control, if travis will kill laura/re-capture her again or not. you can determine how good/bad their relationships are. and there is literally an ending, where travis continues keeping the gal in the basement, basically. with ryan and chris, there are dozens of hints, lil bits here and there, but so very little that you can actually conjure up, esp gameplay wise. so this might be the first why. lack of basic info/scenes, when it comes to mister h & ryan. and i’ve noticed, that many people don’t actually look past what is presented to them or just don’t get interested in certain tiny plot-pockets. everyone ‘read’ the story through their own prism, after all. that’s only fair…

then, there is a bit where dylan/ryan is prob the most popular ship in fandom. it’s so hella rare to see someone writing anything else for these characters, beside them being coupled together. and dylan is clearly a ‘whump’ of the fandom too, the ‘precious baby’, so he gets more stuff by default. like ryan doesn’t seem to get any ships beside, him being with dylan, and then occasionally with kaitlyn or laura. every other ship with him is stretched thin and in-between. meanwhile, dylan got paired with almost every male character in the game, at least once. so it says smth too, i guess. like where most people’s pref lies. or what appeals to them the most. kinda same thing happens with travis/laura, where travis automatically makes people want to investigate deeper into his narrative.

lastly, i suppose that yeah big age gap can turn some folks off. and it’s actually somehow more ‘alright’ with most people, when such a thing is portrayed between male and female. or even female and female. vs male/male. not sure why. but i’ve noticed it before. and to think about it, this can also be joined with the fact, that a lot of fellas have problems with picturing mentors & their protage (even tho they’re of legal age) relationships as smth, that won’t be based/established on manipulation/power struggles. but personally, i think, that it’s one of those things, that heavily depends on how a person even views these terms or a possible dynamics on main. how they translate the power struggle, and is it always black/white or not.

the quarry did a good job with giving ‘hints’ on certain aspects, but mostly never speaking them out loud. and it’s once again individual. for me the quarry is less of ‘the wolf would kill someone they love, bc they’re outta control’, but more like ‘the wolf loves you so uncontrollably. loves you so much, that they cannot help, but be so very deadly toward you’. in fiction, love is so very much fun, when it’s the extreme kind of one. but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.

anyhow, this is like my top 3 main guesses on the topic. hopefully, this helped!

#asks #quarry #i cannot speak shortly #i just cannot haha

3 notes · View notes

verflares · 3 months

Note

hii not to encourage your persona posting but i have a question! i'm pretty new to p3, but the remake has drawn me in—so i'm looking for some advice asdfgh

i'm watching a playthrough of p3fes rn before playing the remake, but do you think i should watch a playthrough of p3p next? fem!mc has my whole heart, but i'm worried that the overall plot will be too similar to watch em back to back without getting a lil tired of the main story (esp. before getting to the remake).

would love to know your thoughts heh o7

anyway hope you enjoy the remake and that it doesn't disappoint! ♥

hi!! first of all i hope you enjoy your time with the game and it's characters ^_^ it's for sure my favourite of 'modern' persona lmao, so i'm really glad people will have a new way to experience its story you're right in that femc's route is largely the same as the male (though she doesn't have cutscenes, because portable is in like. a visual novel format. most people, myself included, would agree that fes is better in terms of presentation while portable is better for actual gameplay lmao). other than a couple of side-story beats and events that you could look up on youtube, its very much the same thing so! rather than watching a full playthrough of p3p right after fes, i think i'd encourage either watching or reading through a social link compilation instead! while there are a few overlaps between the male and female routes (mostly the female party members and a few other strays), she got a whole bunch of new ones to compensate. if you find yourself engaged with these characters, i'd definitely recommend checking em out :)

**the one warning i Can and Should give is that femc's social link with ken amada does have a romance option, so you should avoid that. while you can avoid it, it's incredibly unfortunate and disgusting that the option exists at all in that vein, i guess the other warning i can give about persona (if you aren't already aware) is that this series Does have history with some off-colour, trans/homophobic jokes and age-gap romances (a particular problem with persona 5's social link system). and again, while you can skip past these and don't have to engage with them At All to enjoy the rest of the game, iffthe fact they're there at all would make you uncomfy, you'd be 100% valid in skipping over these games lmao

#SORRY THIS GOT LONG but i've been playing these games since i was like. 11 lmao so i have plenty of thoughts and advice i can share #i deleted my personaposting earlier because i got embarrassed i was like (kicks dirt) tch.... nobody needs to read this......#so ty for the ask <3 i hope you enjoy the game genuinely!!#ask #if i need to tag anything else here lmk #persona

1 note · View note

theninjadark · 3 years

Text

Eng: Hello everyone, finishing the polls both on twitter and instagram, the tutorial that won the most votes was the anatomy and dynamic poses. This tutorial is a bit long, so I plan to do it in two parts, if you want to see the second part as soon as possible, don't forget to give me a like and a reblog that is much appreciated. Let's thank @BalakAndrew for commenting the suggestion of this tutorial on my twitter profile.

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

Esp: ¡Hola a todos!, terminando las encuestas tanto en twitter como en instagram, el tutorial que gano la mayoría de votos fue el de anatomía y poses dinámicas. Este tutorial es algo extenso, así que pienso hacerlo en dos partes, si desean ver la segunda parte lo mas pronto posible, no se olviden de darle un me gusta y un reblog que se agradece mucho. Démosle las gracias a @BalakAndrew por comentar la sugerencia de este tutorial en mi perfil de twitter.

Eng: For this tutorial I am basing myself on the method used by Andrew Loomis in his book "Figure drawing at its full value" as it is the easiest and the one I use with some modifications.

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

Esp: Para este tutorial me estoy basando en el método que usa Andrew Loomis en su libro "El dibujo de figura en todo su valor" ya que es el más fácil y el que yo uso con algunas modificaciones.

Eng: According to Loomis the way to make a well-proportioned body is to use the head measurement as a reference to make the body. There are 4 models that Loomis takes to make the proportions:

The normal model used by many schools which is 7 and a half heads high and 2 heads wide.

The ideal body of 8 heads high and 2 and a half heads wide used by many artists.

The adapted one of 8 and a half heads high and 3 wide.

The heroic 9 heads high and 3 and a half heads wide.

When to use each one depends on the personal taste of each one. In this case we will use the model of the ideal body of 8 heads.

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

Esp: De acuerdo con Loomis forma de hacer un cuerpo bien proporcionado es usando la medida de de la cabeza como referencia para hacer el cuerpo. Existen 4 modelos que Loomis toma para realizar las proporciones:

El modelo normal que usan muchas escuelas que son de 7 cabezas y media de alto y 2 de ancho.

El cuerpo ideal de 8 cabezas de alto y 2 y media de ancho que usan muchos artistas.

La adaptada de 8 cabezas y media de alto y 3 de ancho.

La heroica de 9 cabezas de alto y 3 y media de ancho.

El cuando usar cada uno depende del gusto personal de cada quien. En este caso usaremos el modelo del cuerpo ideal de 8 cabezas.

Eng: In this model the heads are counted from bottom to top and each head delimits a part of the body.

8= Head

7= Shoulders, neck and chest.

6= Upper abdomen, arm, and elbows at navel level.

5= Lower abdomen, hips and forearms.

4= Between leg, hands and beginning of thighs.

3=End of thighs and knees

2=calves

1=ankles and feet.

This model is useful for adult men of average build and height, to make younger characters there are some additional recommendations

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

Esp: En este modelo las cabezas se cuentan de abajo arriba y cada cabeza delimita una parte del cuerpo.

8= Cabeza

7= Hombros, cuello y pecho.

6= Abdomen superior, brazo, y codos a la altura del ombligo

5=Abdomen bajo, caderas y ante brazos.

4= Entre pierna, manos e inicio de los muslos

3=Final de los muslos y rodillas

2=pantorrillas

1=tobillos y pies.

Este modelo es útil para hombres adultos de una complexión y estatura promedio, para hacer personajes más jóvenes hay unas recomendaciones adicionales.

Eng: Now some recommendations for age.

Children 1 year old 4 heads high

Children 3 years old 5 heads high

Children 5 years old 6 heads high

Children 10 years old 7 heads high

Adolescents 15 years old 7 to 7 and a half heads tall.

If you wonder how a 10 year old child has the same number of heads, but they are not the same height, the explanation is that their heads are not the same height.

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

Esp: Ahora unas recomendaciones por la edad.

Niños de 1 año 4 cabezas de altura

Niños de 3 años 5 cabezas de altura

Niños de 5 años 6 cabezas de altura

Niños de 10 años 7 cabezas de altura

Adolescentes de 15 años 7 a 7 cabezas y media de altura.

Si se preguntan como un niño de 10 años tienen el mismo numero de cabezas, pero no miden lo mismo la explicación esta en que su cabeza no mide lo mismo.

Esp: A person's head grows in a certain way from infancy to adulthood. An adult's head measures approximately 9 inches, by dividing the head into nine parts you can get the height of the head by age:

1 year= 6

2 years= 6.5

5 years= 7

10 years=7.5

15 years=9

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

Esp: La cabeza de una persona crece de cierta forma desde que es un niños hasta que es adulto. La cabeza de un adulto aproximadamente mide 9 pulgadas, al dividir la cabeza en nueve partes se puede sacar la altura de la cabeza por la edad:

1 año= 6

2 años= 6.5

5 años= 7

10 años=7.5

15 años=9

Esp: In this tutorial we only saw male anatomy because in the next part we will see the female anatomy in depth. The same rules that we saw for men are similar for women, to differentiate one body from another is by the width of the shoulders and hips.

Women have wider hips or equal to the shoulders and their shoulders are less wide than men's making an hourglass shape.

Men are the opposite. Broad shoulders and slim hips.

Note: There can be variations, every body is different.

I hope you find this tutorial useful, thank you very much for watching.

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

Esp: En este tutorial solo vimos anatomía masculina ya que en la siguiente parte veremos la anatomía femenina a profundidad. Las mismas reglas que vimos para el hombre son similares para la mujer, para diferenciar un cuerpo de otro es por el ancho de los hombros y las caderas.

Las mujeres tienen las caderas más anchas o iguales que los hombros y sus hombros son menos anchos que el de los hombres haciendo un forma de reloj de arena.

Los hombres son lo contrario. Hombros anchos y cadera delgada.

Ojo: Puede haber variaciones, cada cuerpo es diferente.

Espero que te sirva este tutorial, muchas gracias por ver.

#Tutorial #anathomy #theninjadark

32 notes · View notes

gizkasparadise · 4 years

Text

cdrama rec/review: go ahead

KDRAMA AND CDRAMA MASTER LIST OF REVIEWS

Series: go ahead Episodes: 40 Genres: family, healing/melodrama, slice of life, romance Spoilers in the Rec: for the first 20% ish/set-up If You Like, You’ll Like: reply 1988, le coup de foudre, find yourself (same production company/main male actor), rain or shine/just between lovers, found family stories, meet again stories

Rank: 10/10** (see Drawbacks section)

PREMISE

widower hai chao and his 6 year old daughter jian jian live happily above his noodle restaurant despite the recent, tragic death of his wife. one day, dysfunction junction a married couple (he ping, a police officer, and chen ting, a real piece of work) move into the same building with their 7 year old son, ling xiao. immediately, jian jian attaches herself to ling xiao, who is unexpectedly grim for a small child.

because ling xiao’s family is less-than-healthily grieving the loss of their youngest child, ling xiao’s sister who died in a terrible accident. The Apartment of Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms eventually implodes, ending with chen ting abandoning her husband and son. he ping, suddenly a single father, and hai chao come to a friendly partnership that is clearly alluding to gay marriage where they co-raise both of their kids--hai chao as the primary caregiver, and he ping supporting them financially through his job as a policeman.

meanwhile, the neighborhood busybody is dead-set on getting hia chao remarried. eventually she introduces him to a divorced single mother, he mei, and her son zi qiu, who is ling xiao’s age. they sort of start to date, but it culminates in he mei skipping town and leaving zi qiu behind. hai chao, man with a heart of gold, informally adopts him and zi qiu becomes jianjian’s foster brother.

from there, the trio grow up happily and become inseparable. but once zi qiu and ling xiao graduate high school, the bullshit parade their respective childhood skeletons reappear in their lives. circumstances lead to the boys moving overseas, leaving jianjian and their fathers behind.

they reunite after 9 years, when the boys return to a home where they hope to pick things back up from where they left off. things are more complicated than that, as jianjian finds herself in a new life and surrounded by new people.

MAIN CHARACTERS

li jian jian

hai chao’s daughter and the only girl in the family. she attended the required short-hair-low-grades training program required of all cdrama youth female leads. super positive and outgoing, as well as the youngest of the three pseudo-siblings, jian jian grows up spoiled and over protected by her father and brothers, and as a result is completely devastated once her family falls apart. it’s so sad.

after the time skip, she’s an on-the-verge successful artist who makes woodcarvings, and exudes big art bro energy. inhales sugar like it’s nobody’s business. she inherited her father’s disease called caring too much, and it’s incurable!!

ling xiao

the eldest brother and resident fun police. ling xiao comes from a seriously toxic home that finally seems to improve once his mother leaves. but then she comes back. fucking great. introverted to the point of being withdrawn to anyone but his chosen family, ling xiao’s had to carry a lot of emotional weight that takes a larger and larger toll on him as the series progresses. please get this boy some therapy.

becomes a dentist because jian jian needs one. wears a lot of monochromatic outfits with low necklines because heavy angst but make it fashion. has been in love with jian jian since high school and is still carrying that torch 9 years later.

he zi qiu

the middle child who grows up in hai chao and jian jian’s home, and is her foster brother in all but paperwork. hotheaded, zi qiu and jian jian basically share two brain cells that ling xiao routinely takes from them for safekeeping. he spoils jian jian, sneaking her snacks and junk food and wants to become a pastry chef so he can open a sweet shop for her!!

my favorite character. just wants to be wanted 8( him and hai chao’s relationship is my favorite dynamic in the series. will sob while driving a pink moped. is too proud to beg

li hai chao (left) and ling he ping (right)

the greatest (hai chao) and okayest (he ping) dads in the world! noodle dad/hai chao has never done anything wrong in his life, ever, and we know this and we love him. he ping isn’t a bad person, but demonstrates pretty classic absentee parenting/isn’t as emotionally present in his son’s life as hai chao. hai chao is the heart of the family, and would do anything for his kids 8(

SOME SUPPORT CHARACTERS

tang can (left) and qiu ming yue (right)

jian jian’s #GirlGang and roommates. they, like literally everyone in this drama, have some severe mom issue hang-ups. tang can (left) is a former child actress who is struggling with her lack of success as an adult and gives well-meaning but absolutely terrible advice on the regular.

ming yue (right) is jian jian’s best friend since childhood and as an adult is trying to break free from her mother’s controlling nature--she’s also had a thing for ling xiao for the last 9 years. raises fish for symbolism purposes.

chen ting

ling xiao’s mom and certified garbage human. unable to cope with the death of her daughter that was her fault lbr, she abandons her family and disappears for ten years. she forces her way back into ling xiao’s life when he turns 18, where it’s revealed that she’s remarried and ling xiao has a younger half-sister chengzi (”little orange”). shit goes down, and soon ling xiao is forced to move back to singapore to serve as primary caregiver to both his mother who abandoned him and the half sister he barely knows.

emotionally abusive and basically hits every single square on the toxic parent bingo card. i just. i just hate her. even typing this out is making me mad.

he mei

zi qiu’s mother. after a few dates with hai chao, she ends up ditching her kid and disappearing for unknown reasons. is a slightly better parent than chen ting but that’s like saying some poison kills you slower. the show tries to bring us around on her but it didnt work for me.

SOME OTHERS

zhuang bei, zi qiu’s best friend growing up who i would like a lot less if he wasn’t played by the same actor who played my beloved dachuan

zheng shuran, jian jian’s first boyfriend and fellow artist who’s got a weird thing for women’s waists and pretentious artists’ statements

du juan, jian jian’s friend who co-owns their woodworking studio. has absolute trash taste in men

chengzi, ling xiao’s half-sister who can be a brat but dear god does she need to be protected/saved

**DRAWBACKS

so this is a weird one for me. what i didn’t like i really didn’t like, but what i loved i really loved. ultimately, the factors/uniqueness of this show and the loveability of the main characters outweighed the negatives and it’s one of my favorite dramas.

THAT SAID. i got some #thoughts on this one.

first, there are literally no positive mother figures in this show. not a damn one. they are all negligent or controlling at best or down right abusive at worst. no woman over 30 is portrayed positively and that’s a big No from me.

the last 10 eps have some pacing issues and focus on the wrong people. spending the remaining episodes focused on one of the most universally hated characters vs. the main family was a bad move

the show tried to redeem or make us sympathize with characters that were, to me, completely irredeemable. one case is worse than the other, but both of them were terrible people that deserved to be cut out of the main family’s lives.

REASONS TO WATCH

the main family. the characters are so wonderful and nuanced, and their dynamics with one another were amazing. you’ll fall in love with hai chao aka noodle dad and the trio. they go through so many trials but they still stick together and it’s ultimately a healing drama and i loved it very much.

the central romance was less in focus, but the pining is enough to make jane austen emerge from the grave. i loved the leads together, and while LOL ling xiao’s attachment to jian jian was not always healthy, they supported each other and it made me smile. i love me a tortured pining dude.

#Acting. everyone played their parts to perfection. the child actors in particular were so well-cast (esp baby zi qiu)

the soundtrack lmao. you watch the opening credits and know you’ll need to buckle up

idk it’s a very unique show, and i haven’t seen one like it. reply 1988 comes close, but it doesn’t tackle the same issues and it was all just very real and earnest.

Final Thoughts.

GOODNIGHT, GOOODBYYYYYE MY CHILDREEEEEEEN

#go ahead #song weilong #zhang xincheng #tan songyun #cdrama #gizka does kdrama

96 notes · View notes

do-what-the-knight-tells-you · 4 years

Text

Farewell Wanderlust and Gender: an Incomplete Analysis

Okay a thing I really dig in Farewell Wanderlust is this section that Joey sings:

I’m the face that stares back when the screen goes to black

When your mum says ‘you look healthy’ but you know she means you got fat

I’m the tales that the guests will applaud and believe

I’m the child that you just didn’t have time to conceive

I promise you I’m not broken

I promise you there’s more

More to come, more to reach for, more to hurl at the door

Goodbye to all my darkness, there’s nothing here but light

Adieu to all the faceless things that sleep with me at night

This here isn’t make up, it’s a porcelain tomb

This here is not singing, I’m just screaming in tune

And I think partly it's because these are not necessarily sentiments you often hear from cis men? Which, I know, he starts his part singing "she said", so he's clearly meaning to take up the (same?) female role from the earlier part of the song, but it's still a voice we read as masculine doing the part, we still know it's Joey... And if it was just the makeup line, like, okay, some men wear makeup, esp performers/actors etc.

And the comment about your mom noticing your weight, yeah, definitely men get that shit too... But we're starting to stray into territory that is more familiar, or at least more familiarly portrayed, as being shit cis women have to deal with.

But him practically yelling, or growling, in frustration on

the child that you just didn't have time to conceive

followed Immediately by

I promise you, I'm not broken, I promise you, there's more. More to come. More to reach for..."

Again, I am sure there are cis men who get nagged and shamed for not reproducing, but that sentiment, the way it's phrased, followed by "I'm not broken" just reeks of every cis woman who ever dared to do something other than have kids in her early-mid 20s, in a family like that. Whether for career/financial reasons, or because she wanted kids, but wouldn't settle for less than a really compatible partner and hadn’t happened to meet one yet, or Literally Any Reason and she's at that family get together and all the fucking aunties are twittering away about how she's running out of time, wasting her life/opportunity for family, not filling the role she ought, what's wrong with her? And whether she wants kids eventually, and Really just hasn't had time/reached that point yet, or she Doesn't, and this Is The Plan, Fuck You, I Am Not Broken, maybe this Is How I Want It and it's NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS what my life looks like... !!!

And so to hear a voice we perceive as male express those sentiments, that frustration, it's deeply different and satisfying in a way that is distinct from if Madeline were singing those lines. Those things would still be true, the lines are I think technically still coming from the same character...

But honestly, for me, that switch, him delivering that section in particular, gives me, personally, Big Trans Vibes.

So long to the person you begged me to be

S/He’s down. S/He’s dead.

Now take a long look at what you’ve done to me?

The singer doesn't have to be FtM necessarily, plenty of room for a non-binary reading, and plenty of just general Queer sentiment (the concept of "queer time" comes to mind here-- in brief, the idea that for lots of folk under that umbrella, because it often takes them longer to sort their personal desires/presentations/identities out than it does more cis/het/allo folks, they often experience a 5-10 year [varies significantly, I'm pulling those numbers out of thin air and personal experience] "delay" in hitting life stages that said cis/het/allo folk would. Steve and Melissa might be high school sweethearts, or meet in college, and get hitched and be having kids in their 20s, But Skylar, say, didn't start dating dudes as a dude until he was 25, so if it takes him five or more years to date around (and around a smaller pool, probs) and find a good partner, he won't be ready to start working on kids until at least his early thirties, and depending on the ways in which his and his partner's reproductive situation are or are not compatible for the Making of Children, it can take them even longer to unlock the Nuclear Family skin-- assuming that's even something they are interested in! Life stages at really different ages; queer time).

So yeah, it was really easy for me to drop a trans lens on this one: he's at this gathering, a wedding or whatever, and maybe he's newly out presenting as male, or maybe he's been this way, been presenting this way, for a goddamn decade, and that does not fucking stop the people who continue to approach him as though he was still the girl they thought they knew. And so he's still getting all the misogynist bulshit, the hetero/cisnormative expectation that “she, oh my goodness oops, *giggle* he” really would be happy if she he would just give up all the queer stuff, or career stuff, and maybe put a little more care into her his appearance, and then she he would be able to find a husband already and get down to the respectable business of producing and raising children!

And maybe he wants kids, he literally just hasn't had time between capitalism and going through a second effing puberty, what do you want Linda, I'm not broken, I am absolutely the person I am supposed to be and I have So Much Time and future in front of me still precisely because of how shit the last few years have been, how hard I've had to work, how bold I've had to be. Have you ever completely up-ended your life and risked burning every bridge you've ever known in order to be the healthiest/happiest version of yourself in your control? No? Then Fuck. Off. Linda. And farewell.

#farewell wanderlust #the horror and the wild #amazing devil #joey batey #madeleine hyland #reading too much into lyrics probs #but i wanted to articulate a vibe i've been prodding at in my heaed since I first heard that song #cool thing aboout music #and poetry #diff stuff will resonate differently with diff folks #trans stuff #gpoy

453 notes · View notes

eloarei · 3 years

Note

Your favorite Fallout ship and... ALL THE EVENS

Oho Socks, you mad lad lol

Well, alright then! *rolls up sleeves*

Favorite Fallout Ship: This really should be easy; I should easily say "LW x Fawkes", given how much I've written of it. And I think I'd still call that the winner. But a close runner up, worthy of mention, is SS x Nick Valentine. Ugh, such good ships, both. (Here’s one of my own drawings.)

2. Your newest ship: Huh... It's a toss-up between Luffy x Jinbe, and Luffy x Katakuri, since they both become relevant around the same time. (Here’s a cute Luffy and Jinbe.)

4. Favourite m/f ship: To avoid saying LW/Fawkes too much, I'll say it's Varric x Cassandra, from Dragon Age Inquisition! (RIP Cassandra’s head in this pic, but oh well.)

6. Favourite f/f ship: Gosh, I dunno if it's actually my favorite, but of recent ships I'd say Siora x de Sardet, from Greedfall. You can romance Siora as a male character too, but I just see it working better with a female de Sardet. (Not my de Sardet, but a nice one anyway.)

8. Most fluffy ship: Oh, Takeo x Yamato, from Ore Monogatari! Holy moly, what a pair of cuties, and what a cute anime! Super recommended if you like romcoms; I'm gonna go watch it again right this second haha (Gosh look at these goofballs.)

10. Most smutty ship: Y'know, I'm just gonna say Symbrock (Venom/Eddie) by virtue of the whole body-sharing experience. I think the fandom is like inherently, inescapably horny lol. (And by fandom I’m also including the very horny canon comics.)

12. Character that you can only imagine in one ship: This used to be like... everyone. I really never used to be a multishipper. But I've been around too long now; lol I have too many ideas. So who would never be shipped with anyone other than their one perfect OTP? Never ever? *sits here for any eternity* Ok, I gotta say it's Helmeppo from One Piece. Look, it's Coby or bust, partly because they're perfect partner-besties, and partly because nobody else would put up with his shit other than saintly Coby. (He’s a pretty good boyfriend though; haha this episode killed me.)

14. Character that you can’t imagine in any ship: Genuinely, this question just sounds like a challenge to me, but a lot of One Piece villains could fit this bill. I'll just go ahead and say Perospero. (Ahh shoot now I'm imagining him in a hate-ship with Pedro, but oh well. No take-backsies.) (I hate his tongue so much.)

16. Characters that you kinda ship but prefer as brotp: After the Whole Cake Island arc, Luffy x Sanji fits this pretty well. They have a very intense relationship (in this arc, esp), but I think it works best platonically. (God I love the opening for this arc so very much.)

18. Guilty pleasure ship: I don't think there's a point in feeling guilty, so it's either all my monster ships or none of them XD NEXT QUESTION. (Pictured: Elias and Chise from Ancient Magus Bride, because they didn’t manage to feature in any of the other questions.)

20. Ship that you liked but don’t anymore: I don't think I've ever really stopped liking a ship, but on the rare occasion it sort of gets replaced, and the only time I can remember that happening is in Fullmetal Alchemist, where I shipped Roy x Ed ages ago, and then the reboot did a much better job of presenting the mostly-canon relationship of Roy x Riza, so I didn't have as much reason to support the non-canon ships anymore pffft. (Look at them though. I do still like them. And this picture is rad.)

22. Ship that you immediately fall in love with after one scene despite not considering it before: I mean I guess Luffy x Katakuri. To be honest, I'd had a friend mention being into them, but I wasn't caught up on the anime so I was like "pffft, why?". And then their fight scene just got so.... !!! Like...!!! Like, these were enemies in a life-or-death battle, but you could SEE THEM start to like and respect and admire each other during this long-ass fight. Katakuri goes through literally an entire character growth arc during this fight, and by the end he's clearly thinking, "Okay, this pipsqueak is like no one I've ever met before; he's special, and I'm kind of honored for him to kick my ass, and also I hope he comes back to visit me one day, uwu". It, uh, it was an experience haha.

24. Biggest notp: I really only get NoTPs when I'm heavily invested in something. Back when I was into BNHA, I really didn't like Izuku x Todoroki, but since I'm not as into the series anymore, it doesn't bother me. I suppose right now my "nope"est pairing would be... uh... LW x Jericho, from FO3? I never cared for it to begin with, but it's really right-out in my current fic series. (I should have found a nicer picture but “Alright then” sums up my feelings about them.)

26. Characters that you like in every dynamic (lovers,friends,enemies) : I mean, not to rehash a ship again, but Luffy x Katakuri for sure, because they already are basically frenemies. (Look at that drawing! Even Oda knows they’re meant to be buddies!)

28. Ship that you expected to ship before reading/watching franchise and you don’t: Hmm. I'm sure there is one! I try not to have a lot of preconceived notions when I watch something... Well, I didn't expect this before the series, necessarily, but I always kind of thought I'd get into Tony Stark x Steve Rogers, but I just... never really did. Seemed like something I'd like, but it didn't catch on, even before other options became available. (Fun memes though.)

30. Favourite canon ship: EVER? Gosh, uh, let's go with Goliath x Elisa from Gargoyles! Ahh yes, someone made a good decision with that one!! Bring back whoever wrote that series! (I’m blessed by this canon gif.)

32. Favourite ship for hurt-comfort: For recent stuff, let's definitely say Kiddway (Edward Kenway x 'James Kidd' aka Mary Read), from Assassin's Creed 4. BOY, they just had to hurt me like that in canon! Their story seemed absolutely ripe for H/C. I really should write some fic.(God look at that little wink.)

34. Ship that you never expected to ship when you were younger but here you are: HMMM what series did I like before shipping was a thing? OH OKAY here's one: Zelda x Ganondorf. I definitely accepted the 'Zelda/Link is basically canon' line as a kid, so shipping either of them with the Big Bad Ganon was not remotely on my mind. In fact, I don't think I'd have ever considered it if it weren't for A Tale of Two Rulers. (Ugh man I wish I could paint like Lor does.)

Alright, that was fun lol. Thanks for the questions, Socks! <3

#elo talks #ask meme #fandom #long post #shipping #I added pictures!#cuz I felt like it #and then I added more commentary

3 notes · View notes

thebrisingamen · 3 years

Text

Love Interests of the MCU

Bout to write some criticism of the MCU, if you don’t like, don’t read? Or do, I’m a poster not a cop. Click to read more, if you’re interested. Also, spoilers.

A problem in the MCU, to be honest. We’ll get into this here and you’ll see what I mean.

Jane Foster, MCU: An airhead, breathy absent-minded professor astrophysicist. Ok, cool, a STEAM lady.... who is constantly a damsel in distress in both movies and really adds nothing to Thor’s mythos or character. In fact, Erik Selvig is a more important character being set up in Thor to be a pawn of Loki’s for Avengers. Darcy Lewis is a more interesting character AND SHE’S SIDE CHARACTER AS WELL. (For those following MCU: SHE IS IN WANDAVISION for crying out loud)

And both Selvig and Darcy have less screen time than Jane. I don’t blame the actress, because I think Natalie Portman is very talented. But that role can only give you so much to work with when your entire personality is ‘I’m an astrophysicist and absent-minded professor trope.’ That’s it? That’s all Jane Foster is? ‘Cause that’s all I ever got from her.

Seriously you’re going to waste Natalie Portman on such a shallow role?

Comics Jane Foster: A well-trained EMT (Or Nurse, but still) who immediately runs toward danger to help people, is a damsel out of distress trope, doesn’t take crap from men, is a fan of cricket, regularly also fought with Thor’s enemies (as in comics Thor was not originally god-Thor but Donald Blake, who was worthy enough to use Thor’s hammer). Was not afraid to sass or stand up to heroes (or villains!) who harassed her after she found out Thor’s identity. Hmmm...

Christine Palmer, MCU: A surgeon at the same place Strange works at! Who likes him, because they work together! Totally not afraid to stand up to him even though lots of people already call him out on his arrogance and egomania. Dated in the past but somehow together again, and has no personality beyond ‘surgeon’ and ‘ex-girlfriend who gives speech to remind ex that life is about [insert moral here]’

WOW. SO INTERESTING. I TOTALLY REMEMBERED THAT SHE EXISTED

Also what a waste of Rachel McAdams talents. I mean she got THIRD BILLING AND SHE’S BARELY IN THE FUCKING MOVIE.

Clea, Comics: Princess of the Dark Dimension and Niece of Dormammu and ALSO DR. STRANGE’S IN-COMICS WIFE. She’s so well known as his love interest that at first I thought that’s what they were going to go for in his movie, esp with Rachel McAdams as the Third Billed ACTOR. But yeah, Clea, traditional love interest, super magically potent, likes earth, hates her evil uncle, just wants to learn more magic and live with Strange.

BUT NO HOW COULD WE POSSIBLY HAVE A FEMALE CHARACTER WITH ACTUAL POWERS. IT TAKES US UNTIL FUCKING AGE OF ULTRON TO GET WANDA, THOR 3 TO GET VALKYRIE AND YEARS (FUCKING YEARS) TO GET CAPTAIN MARVEL

Not that the others did not take years, but Carol only showed up RIGHT around the time Christianized Wonder Woman showed up in Snyderverse...

Clea’s comics personality isn’t that different from any of these other characters, but honestly, the MCU could’ve done a lot with her and used a character far more well connected to Strange in his own fucking movie.

Nakia: Again, an ex-girlfriend who used to work for T’Challa but couldn’t due to [insert morality speech here] and now, suddenly, they are back together! Because T’Challa is doing things! Wonder what comics Nakia is like...

OH YIKES OK MOVIE IMPROVED HER, THEY IMPROVED HER SO MUCH. (Comics Nakia: 16 year old obsessive/possessive supervillain and yeeeeaaah that’s just....No. Big ol’ NOPE). Still I forget she exists. Tbh I’d forget Okoye exists either if she wasn’t HAVING MORE SCREEN TIME THAN THE LOVE INTEREST.

I’m starting to notice a trend here...

Monica Lynne, Comics: A more major love interest for Black Panther and more tied to his mythos. Arguably his most used Love Interest that isn’t Storm who is legally not allowed to be in the MCU anyway so she is unavailable for BP, which is a fucking shame. Personality wise, not much different, but Lynne isn’t as tied to Wakanda as any of the others.

Honestly I don’t know all that much about Black Panther so if anyone else does and wants to weigh in on a better love interest choice (THAT IS NOT STORM), please tag me.

Further, though, Monica could have given a deeper view into the complex experience of being a successful black woman in America to contrast with Erik’s storyline and have T’Challa hear more than just one singular experience.

But that’s just a hot take on my part.

Pepper Potts:

There’s no VS here because Virginia “Pepper” Potts is arguably the absolute closest MCU came to matching up with her comics counterpart. Fiery, intelligent, doesn’t take Tony’s shit and calls him on it, doesn’t take anyone’s shit toward her. She’s a bit more tame in the MCU and wildly OOC in Iron Man 3 so I don’t count that movie as canon, but honest to god, there’s nothing bad to say here about her character adaptation. A good job was done.

Hope Van Dyne: Again, a very good adaptation; most likely taking different characters together so because her comics counterparts are two separate entities, Hope has to be judged solely on her movie version. Her and Scott have good chemistry, she’s a good character in her own right. Only suffers from the trope of ‘Defrosting Ice Queen’ which you can tell because her hair and makeup get less severe as she ‘defrosts’

Better in the first movie than the second, where even though HER NAME WAS IN THE TITLE AS ‘THE WASP’ she was barely in it and sidelined by all the villains and side characters. For those interested, theories believe she is pulled from Nadia Pym (616 verse) and Hope Pym (982 verse)

Sif: Thor’s other in-comics and in-myth love interest/sometimes wife, absolutely side-lined, never given more than a few lines in any movie and despite having a supposedly epic backstory, we never see it. No one questions what the FUCK happened to Sif in Thor 3 because she has mysteriously vanished with Thor giving 0 fucks about where his remaining childhood friend went since she is the only one NOT KILLED OFF UNCEREMONIOUSLY (A different rant for a different problem)

So what’s there to say but why even include her as part of a love triangle if her absence is so unnotable that no one cares what happens to her

Gamora: Again, I’m not as familiar with her character, but like Pepper she seems to be a good adaptation, if made less of an anti-hero/villain in the MCU and given a bit of a softer side. Her romance with Star-Lord/Peter Quill is weak, however. Might be because of the actors but I don’t really see it? She has more emotional moments with her sister than ANYONE ELSE (Up until Infinity War with Quill and Thanos meeting)

The main problem we are running into, however, is look at this list. Look at how many female characters who are the love interest are demoted to be SOLELY THAT ROLE.

Please discern the difference for me, IN PERSONALITY between Christine Palmer and Jane Foster. Because aside from their professions, I don’t see any, do you? The fact that a good chunk of female characters in the MCU are the Love Interest and solely the love interest is....bad

It’s bad. It’s poor writing and it has consistently been done to more female characters than male. I just don’t see why the writers can’t do this basic thing.

1. Create/Adapt Character A as a full, three dimensional character

2. Create/Adapt Character B as a full, three dimensional character

3. Put A and B together romantically if they click

DONE. SIMPLE. EASY.

Also

4. Do not erase character personalities but remember what made them a good romantic pairing in the first place.

#mcu #rant #i could write better movies #if I had the drive #but even without it #I think I could edit these #and make them better #y'all better give Namor #a good fuckin deal #yes Namor is in the tags #this is marvel #he will always be in the tags #except when I talk about spider-man

2 notes · View notes

celluloidbroomcloset · 4 years

Note

Hi, I'm Lauren, the person behind those tweets you shared. Sorry if I came across as reactionary (trust me, I'm not). I was just happy to finally come across some other fans of The Avengers closer to my age and gender. I don't see you as inferior. Looking through your tumblr blog, I enjoy what you do. I said I disagreed with the ship, I'm not against it (what you provide about it is adorable). Admittedly, tweets shorten the amount of words needed for nuance. It's more to do with... 1/2

t[Cont.] ...with my issues with amatonormativity as an asexual (lack of sexual attraction towards gender, that's what I meant by ace, I was referring to my lack of attraction towards Emma to explain I'm not like the sexist male fans) and my preferences towards relationships on TV shows. Sorry that I came across as smug and ignorant, I wasn't trying to, I was just live-tweeting you and the other fans blogs. Hope I can make things up to you and be on good terms. 2/2 Hi! I think what got me was 1) the tone of the tweets themselves (I hang out on Twitter a lot too, I know that tone can come across differently than intended, so this might just be my knee-jerk reaction), and 2) the assumptions being made. For instance: Mrs. Peel does think her husband is dead. She’s referred to as a widow many times, and there’s never any indication that she’s waiting for him to come back. That he’s alive is something shoehorned into the final episode of the Peel series in order to explain her leaving. It’s not something threaded throughout the show. I’m a bit more bothered by the assumption that Steed “would never commit to marriage” and that this is what precludes their romantic/sexual relationship. That’s what seems reactionary. It assumes, first off, that Steed is uninterested in monogamy (not really supported by the show, esp. during the Peel era), and that Emma, an adult woman who has been married once, would never have a relationship without marriage as an end goal. This seems both a limiting of the characters and a limitation of the bounds of relationships. Why wouldn’t a woman want a romantic relationship without necessarily aiming for marriage? Why wouldn’t a man be interested in marriage? The “they had sex once” is an idea propagated by Brian Clemens (who did not create The Avengers or write all the episodes, as much as he wanted to pretend he did). He’s not the final authority on all things Avengers, and indeed citing authorial intent in a show like this just doesn’t wash interpretatively, for me. And yes, I do base my fandom on interpretation, just ‘cause that’s what I was academically trained to do. I absolutely understand that that’s not what every fan does, and that’s fine. I absolutely understand that you like the idea of a male and female character who care for each other and are friends without sleeping together - I like that idea, too, and I see no reason why you shouldn’t see the show in that way. That’s the nice thing about fandom - it’s very flexible, and my view of it need not be anyone else’s. The issue that I had was the condescension in “aren’t these girls cute?” in talking about Steed as a view of positive masculinity, or in seeing in the relationship between Steed/Peel as a very positive view of a heterosexual relationship, in which both partners are equal, in which the man is not constantly chasing after sex with other people, in which the woman’s sexuality is not dependent on her “catching” him in marriage. I understand now that you didn’t intend this as condescending or dismissive. I also don’t intend this response as dismissive of your concerns about amatonormativity - I know that this kind of representation is important and I think it’s a damn good thing that you see The Avengers in that way. At the same time, I simply don’t, and my blog reflects that. I don’t have any bad feelings about this - I just wanted to explain my position.

#reply #Anonymous

5 notes · View notes

vecna · 4 years

Note

Oohh for the fandom meme! Dragon Age?

Send me a fandom!

Oh boy, this is going to be spicy.

It’s also very Anders-negative, so apologies up front.

The character(s) I first fell in love with:

I’m actually not sure which was the FIRST, but it’s a tie between Morrigan and Alistair. I saw fanart of them going around at the time Origins first released, and that’s what got me to try the game!

Alistair was a breath of fresh air, because at the time, I was used to warrior men in games being all Edgy and Rough, and he was the total opposite and a sweetheart.

And Morrigan was just instantly my goth wife, and had Claudia Black as a VA, so I was sold immediately.

Both still hold a special place for me!

The character(s) I never expected to love as much as I do now:

Loghain is the main one. He does a lot of truly reprehensible shit in the first game. But once I sat down and read the prequel novels about young Loghain, plus saw what he’s like if you recruit him, he grew on me A LOT and now he’s a top fave.

Nathaniel I expected to hate as soon as I saw his name + who his father was, but then the expansion came out and I ended up loving that dude almost immediately. I really wish he was around more after Awakening, and also really wish he’d been a romance option, especially for a Cousland haha.

Merrill is a weird one because she was totally uninteresting to me in DA:O, so when they announced her as a companion in DA2 I was like, “Ehhhh.” Then they punked me by making her adorable and sweet and now I love her.

Plus a bunch of side-characters like The Architect? I liked him a bunch in the novel + Awakening – although I found his Plan in the novel much more appealing. But as the years have gone by, I keep surprising myself at just HOW disappointed I am he’s never appeared again haha.

The character(s) everyone else loves that I don’t:

There’s a few, and all of them will get me yelled at, but here we go.

First: Isabela. This one’s a bit complicated, but it really just boils down to her attitude towards how you play your character. I actively dislike characters who are super sexual – regardless of gender. But Isabela in particular bothers me because she’s constantly pushing her lewdness and sexual humor on you, and when you try to discourage it, she admonishes you with, “Well, you’re no fun.” Her whole character is just… like that for me. Super pushy, overly lewd, gets uppity when you don’t have the same ~liberated~ opinions she does, and this is all played up in the writing like she’s this Empowered Woman the player absolutely must love, especially if they’re playing a male character lol. I hate her for the same reasons a lot of people hate Liara in Mass Effect, but with the addition of pushy lewd jokey characters always rubbing me the wrong way.

Second: Iron Bull. I’ve written a lot about why he makes me more uncomfortable than any fictional character I’ve ever encountered, and I just outright hate him, he makes my skin crawl. If you want details, feel free to DM me, I don’t really want to rant about it again publicly.

Third: Anders. Again, I’ve written a lot about him before, but. I hated him in Awakening, for a lot of the same reasons I hate Isabela in DA2. But the changes they made to him in DA2 are just kinda :/. While I absolutely agree with him about Mage Rights, the level of preachiness they added to him drove me nuts, and the fact that you’re painted as a Bad Guy if you don’t like him blowing up the chantry. And from a purely OOC standpoint: He’s become a figurehead for all the aggressive Discourse people in the fandom, and if I see someone list Anders in their sidebar bio, I know pre-emptively that their blog is going to be full of 6 page long essays of meta about how everything is Problematic, and no thanks.

To a lesser extent, I’m also not fond of Zevran. But in his case, it’s not anything major like the others, I’m just tired of Bioware’s habit of making the bisexual characters overly lewd sex-focused rogues/deviants.

The character(s) I love that everyone else hates:

Loghain, lol.

But also Sebastian Vael? There’s so much about him that I find genuinely fascinating, especially regarding his backstory, and his struggles between his feelings of responsibility to his family vs his dedication to the Chantry and bettering himself. He’s such a dear character to me, and such a pivotal part of any playthrough, I’m always blown away when I remember he’s a DLC character and many people don’t have him.

HOWEVER Anders being the fandom darling means that people tend to unfairly shit on Sebastian for reacting poorly to the Chantry explosion. People also like to label him as a poster child of a White Straight Church Boy, while refusing to acknowledge he’s… not straight, and not exactly a church boy either lol.

Also Vivienne, but I think that one’s really self-explanatory. I love her, and she gives a really needed perspective on the Circle, since most of the mage companions previously were apostates. But of course, she gets written off as a Chantry apologist, and an uppity bitch, when people would def love her for the same traits if she was not black lol.

The character(s) I used to love but don’t any longer:

Justice. And by extension, Anders. A lot of people like to rant about how Justice ruined Anders, but I always saw it the other way around.Justice was my favorite character in Awakening. The whole concept around him, that he was a Fade spirit who took human form and was experiencing life for the first time was SO fascinating. I felt like there was so much to explore there with his character.

Buuuut then they had him merge with Anders. With the narrative being that he WAS a spirit of Justice, but the moment he connected with Anders, it corrupted his entire spirit into something he wasn’t anymore. So essentially, the character I used to love no longer exists, thanks to Anders. And it reminds me of that phrase recently, about how the destination is so terrible you can no longer enjoy the journey? I can’t even appreciate Justice in Awakening anymore, knowing what happens to him.

To a lesser extent, Corypheus. He was SO COOL and the premise of him was AMAZING when he first appeared in the DA2 DLC, but then Inquisition had to go and turn him into a weird shallow mustache twirl villain.

The character(s) I would totally smooch:

None? Idk I don’t really have the Smooch Fictional Character gene.

The character(s) I’d want to be like:

MAEVARIS TILANI. May I one day finally have the confidence in my identity that she does, and also marry a sweet bear man who adores me.

The character(s) I’d slap:

Too many to list, really. Probably Anders.

The pairing(s) that I love:

THERE’S SO MANY. And most of them are with the PC, because I generally don’t ship NPCs together. But my top 3 are:

M!Hawke / Fenris is my ultimate OTP in the Dragon Age series, by a long-shot. Not even sure where to start on how much I love it, but two damaged guys leaning on each other to work through their respective loneliness and trauma is MY JAM. And lmao I love silver-sideburned Hawke chillin in retirement somewhere but being a supportive husband while Fenris goes off hunting the Bad Guys, it’s great.

Solas / Lavellan is a close second, with the caveat that I increasingly prefer it with a male Lavellan. Having the Inquisitor in love with Solas just changes the entire tone of the game for me, for the better, and him actually being the villain trying to end the world while in love with this normie elf is just (chef kiss). Too bad I’m burned out by how overly spammed it is.

Dorian / Inquisitor is in third, I will just always be fond of how it’s a story of the Inquisitor helping Dorian be happy with who he is, escape an abusive family, and realize that he’s allowed to be loved. Good shit good shit.

Some others:

Warden / Morrigan is probably my favorite Origins ship, and that only intensified with the way she talks about the Warden in Inquisition, esp if they’re Kieran’s other parent. What a cute goth family, regardless of the Warden’s gender, cause you can pry Bi Morrigan from my cold dead fingers.

Cassandra / Inquisitor might have a lot of Romance Cliches, but I adore it – although, similar others, I increasingly prefer it with a female Inquisitor. I actively dislike the weird no-homo rejection with her, and come on, a lady Inquisitor being her Knight In Shining Armor is just good storytelling.

Cullen / Inquisitor, for a lot of the same reasons as Cassandra. I love me a cliche romance, but I’m also fond of the narrative w/ him of someone he loves helping him heal through the lyrium withdrawals and take time to rest.

Josephine / F!Inquisitor is just adorable all around, and wholesome, and great.

Varric / Hawke COME ON HOW WAS THIS NOT AN OPTION.

On the rarepair end:

Sebastian / Hawke doesn’t seem like it would be a rarepair – you’d think everyone who loves Cullen/Inquisitor would love this one too. I do! But alas. That said, I’m also pretty aggro about this one with a male Hawke because SEBASTIAN IS CANON BI. WHY WAS HIS ROMANCE STRAIGHT.

Maric / Loghain is a rarepair I will take with me to my grave LOL. Never forget the scene where Maric thought Loghain was leaving, and bolted across the camp with almost no clothes on to beg Loghain to stay. Come on.

Nathaniel / Cousland is dear to me, and I love it so much more than Alistair / Cousland haha.

Greagoir / Wynne, I can’t believe this got validated in canon ahhhh.

The pairing(s) that I despise:

Again: THERE’S SO MANY.

Iron Bull / Dorian is my least fave by a longshot. Again, I have written about why I hate this pairing a great many times, but it’s awful and toxic and makes me deeply uncomfortable, and I could happily go the rest of my life without seeing anything about it ever again. Please keep poor Dorian away from that man. He deserves someone that doesn’t sexually harass him until he’s finally worn down into dubious consent (while drunk) and then outted to everyone about it.

Isabela / Fenris. Sorry, but it’s just bad writing that Fenris bails on Hawke because the physical intimacy triggered his PTSD and he needs space to process, but then will turn around and have a casual sex relationship with Isabela instead. Yikes.

Anders / Fenris. Aveline / Isabela. Alistair / Morrigan. All of the DA2 Hawke/companion rivalmances. I don’t enjoy “these two people hate and antagonize and want to kill each other… but they fuck” in any form.

Cullen / Amell. Yikes.

And basically ALL of the canon wlw pairings in this series suffer from the fact they have men writing them, and as a result they’re almost always some kind of abusive or racist, and skeeve me out. See: Celene / Briala, Leliana / Marjolaine, Branka / Hespith, etc. Please Bioware, I’m begging you to consult some actual queer women. It’s insane how badly they’re treated compared to how the canon mlm couples are written.

FINALLY, I recognize this will be the most unpopular of all, but. As much as I love M!Hawke/Fenris, I just honestly cannot stand seeing F!Hawke/Fenris. There are some pairings where I’m so attached to the m/m or f/f version, I cannot deal with the m/f version anymore, and that’s one of them. (The others are mainly non-Bioware.)

#LONG POST #REALLY LONG #SORRY #misc: text #misc: asks #misc: meme #series: dragon age #gen: bioware #utopianoverlord

10 notes · View notes

themikewheelers · 4 years

Note

So apparently it was confirmed that three new male characters will be cast for season 4. I don't want to judge just yet what they're going to contribute yet, because it's still early, but I'm now nervous lol I really hope they're like Tommy/Carol/Troy types, because holy shit there's already so many main characters. Also, why all male??? Hmmmm..

I don’t know how to say this and I swear I don’t want this to come across rude, but like, there’s literally no reason to complain about a season you haven’t seen yet, and all it does is give yourself a pessimistic attitude that’s just gonna make you and other ppl feel crappy. For starters, I genuinely just don’t know how to explain at this point that new characters are essential to advancing plotlines and in adding new locations, both of which are obviously a big part of s4! there’s literally just no way for them to write s4 without adding new characters. And in the case of these four characters, absolutely nothing has been “confirmed”, it’s 100% rumors that are just repeated by news outlet after news outlet. Maybe they are true, but there’s also a VERY good chance they’re fake just like 80% of news articles claiming to have information about s4 (and just while I’m on the topic I’ve seen that one “leak” EVERYWHERE claiming that s4 is gonna be out October 2020 and I just want to say rn that that is absolute bs so if we could maybe ignore it so ppl don’t get their hopes up and then complain later when it obviously isn’t out by then). But yeah, those 4 characters are complete rumors anyway. But even if they are true I’m sorry but there’s literally nothing wrong with adding them? NONE of them are rumored to be MAIN characters to begin with, or at least, the original source of the rumors didn’t claim they were main characters, idk what every news outlet has said after that when spreading the rumors with no backing. As for 3 of them, from the very very little we “know” about them, they seem p clearly to be high school aged guys who I’m guessing are maybe ppl Jonathan meets at his new school. Maybe antagonists, maybe friends. Maybe they’re upperclassmen bullies to Will. Or maybe they’re in Hawkins and the show is giving Steve some new ppl. But nothing about their descriptions makes them seem important so let’s not overreact to the simple possibility of them existing. It was only the fourth character that seemed like he may be important, but again, that’s bc stories and plotlines cannot advance without new characters being added and that’s smth this fandom just needs to get used to. Ppl having been complaining about this since 2016, and I’m sorry but I’ve been fed up with it since 2016. New characters are important, and I could even somewhat understand the criticism if it was main characters being added, but it’s not and the concept of criticizing a show for adding small roles to advance the plot is just ridiculous.

And about the “all male” thing too, I get what you mean, and trust me I’m also frustrated with how this show has so many more male mains than female, but I do think we gotta acknowledge that first off, its rlly not as bad as ppl make it out to be? 2 adults with a 1:1 ratio. 4 teens with a 2:2 ratio. And then 6 kids with a 4:2 ratio of boys to girls. Out of our mains, there’s rlly only a one character difference between male and female at this point. And it’s def complicated bc to some extent it comes down to who you want to personally interpret as a main character versus just a main cast member, but I think those 12 are rlly our core ppl even if there’s other roles that are technically credited as mains but don’t genuinely have that role (Karen, Billy, etc.). Also I didn’t count Erica in that bc I think it’s debatable whether she’s gonna be a main character going forward and we’ll have to wait to see, but she was absolutely a main character in s3. So yeah. This show absolutely has issues with diversity in so many respects, but in terms of male to female ratios, it’s rlly come so far from where it was in season 1? And while there’s always room for improvement, I do think criticisms at this point that are just “there’s not enough female characters” are kinda shallow and if u wanna talk female representation there’s a lot more meaningful stuff than just comparing numbers out of context. Also like again with this stuff it’s important to note that it is minor characters. If this was main characters I would totally agree with u that without context it seems a little crazy to be adding 4 new men and no women, but these are likely super minor roles and we don’t even know what their purpose is. And as much as ppl wanna deny it, a character’s purpose in the plot is gonna be a big factor in what gender they’re written to be, esp for minor characters.

Idk this got long and rambly and I’m just typing this out in the car sitting in my driveway for like 20 minutes even tho I thought it would take like 2 but dhskmskshsjsbs. I genuinely don’t want this to come across rude and I am just tryna express my opinion but I just don’t have a lot of patience on this topic bc ppl have been using the same complaints since 2016 and the vast majority of which I think are nonsensical. I think there’s absolutely ways that adding too many characters is a problem but I also feel v strongly that this show has done a good job balancing its characters, but more than that I feel much more strongly that adding new characters is an important part of any show and most of all, that judging any decision about s4 before watching it is just harmful to yourself and others. It’s giving yourself a negative attitude that’s gonna affect ur ability to go into the season willing to accept change and have an open mind or enjoy what happens bc ur so prepared and fixated on being critical. And it has the same effect on ppl who may not even agree with you but just from seeing the complaints and judgement from other ppl makes them feel bad about a show they love and affects their ability to enjoy it

14 notes · View notes

kireiscorner · 5 years

Note

I need help Do you have any tips on drawing female bodies?

1) Take half of what you've learned from anime and throw it out the window.

2) Take every male expectation of women and YEET that shit. Ask girls what makes them feel good, observe people around you, and start pulling from women in real life. I cannot tell you how excited my first animation teacher was that I drew women with muscle mass. Like, the dude outright thanked me in front of the entire class and then went on a tangent about how women have muscles too. Women have so many body types, research the look you want.

3) DO NOT SACRIFICE FEMININE FEATURES! I get it; some of you will be creating trans or agender characters, but keep in mind anatomy and how it works. And by that I mean the way their bone structure and such works. It's more realistic and easier to identify with when people can see their identity there than completely wiping out their journey. Looking more feminine but not identifying as a female does not change the fact that they identify differently. It's just how their body is and you dont need to wipe that evidence to make your point. I know trans ppl who still have feminine feature who identify as male or agender. Its normal??? That's real life, pull from real life.

4) Avoid giving stereotypical features where you can. THAT INCLUDES SLIM THICC AND BIG BOOBS. Not all latina and black women are thick. We dont all have thick lips and big noses or kinky hair. Fuck that. Yes there are common features between races but not always. My mom has a short upturned nose, I have a long bridge and bubble nose, and my Puerto rican cousin has a wide short nose. Pull from real life, but stay true to your character too. Have MULTIPLE refs, at least 7 or so to give you more variety. This includes for body types, lips, noses, eye shapes, etc. Cause I cant count how many times in hs I've seen ppl get mad when different Latinos or Asians got mad for being said another Latino or Asian was the same or that Africans and Blacks look the same or all white people look alike. Theres so much variety in the world, use it. God created it all for a reason. Feed that artistic brain yo.

5) Look to what in real life age groups wear. We dont wear uniforms, overly fashionable color scheme oriented outfits, or model wear. Think about what shapes look good on certain shapes. Think about where they're from, why they're dressed a certain way; again, avoid stereotypes. Not all black girls need to be dresses to be super ethnically-coded. I wear leather skirts, pajama pants, and yoga pants just like every other girl. We all like to be cute but we also like to be comfortable too! Sometimes we dont wanna dress up and sometimes we wanna give aphrodite a run for her money. We dont all wear makeup of have piercings. Anyone can inherit moles, freckles, etc. not just certain races.

6) Figure out personalities first if you can. A lot of times this can determine how a girl does their hair, makeup or no makeup, clothing style, etc. Their personality is very important and can also effect posture and gestures too.

7) PRACTICE. PRACTICE ANATOMY. PRACTICE WITH VARIOUS BODY TYPES. TAKE FIGURE DRAWING CLASSES IF POSSIBLE IT HELPED ME SO MUCH.

8) One thing I constantly see is ppl thinking theres one way certain types of women look or can act. Like, short hair and "boyish" tendencies means ur gay. Feminine traits mean you're weak and soft. Girls who dont have interest in love are bitchy or gay. That's bullshit. Maybe shes content not having a partner, maybe she doesnt need one. Shes no bitch she just dont want you. Characters dont have to date, esp female characters to be an important woman. WE EXIST. There are very feminine, super girly, cuddly cute gay women. THEY EXIST. There are short haired straight women. Draw them. THEY EXIST. Break barriers, your character is yours and if you want a buff, tall, bisexual long haired goddess who believes all clothing must be made of lace do you boo. If you want a character who is lanky as hell, bald, and killer spicy mama go for it. Draw her too, shoot. Draw all the girls.

9) Everyone has different versions of sexy. Boobs and ass hanging out isnt everyone's sexy. Sexy doesnt mean sloppy, sexy doesnt mean turning the character into a prop. Respect your characters plz! You dont know who will see it and who u can influence.

10) DONT LET PPL TELL YOU REAL LIFE WOMEN DONT LOOK LIKE WOMEN THATS DUMB

And those are kireis main rules for drawing women. The most helpful thing is pulling from real everyday life, I promise you. That, and knowing women know our bodies best so we're gonna give you experienced answers. Hope this helps even tho I'm high key ranting lol

31 notes · View notes

tomeandflickcorner · 5 years

Text

Movie Review- Ghostbusters

The 1984 film Ghostbusters was the brainchild of Dan Akroyd, who had been a long-time believer in the paranormal. When he first started writing the script, his intention was to have the movie center around three people traveling through time and space to hunt down ghosts. He also planned to have the movie star himself and John Belushi, his close friend and fellow SNL alumni. Unfortunately, Belushi’s untimely death in 1982 made that impossible. However, in spite of the tragedy, Akroyd decided to press on with his project, and he presented his proposed script to Ivan Reitman, who convinced Akroyd to revise the premise to take place solely in modern-day New York City and then brought in Harold Ramis to help Akroyd rework the script. Eventually, they were able to pitch the revised project to Colombia Pictures. The studio saw the potential of the proposed project and, even with the absence of a final script, they greenlit the film with the understanding that it would be ready for release in the summer of 1984.

So, I’m sure we all know how the movie opens, with the middle-aged librarian at the New York Public Library simply doing her job in reshelving some books before she gets terrorized by the sight of the old card catalogue’s contents flying out of their individual shelves and nearly running headlong into something that makes her scream in terror, right before the instant dissolve into the iconic Ghostbusters logo, accompanied by Ray Parker Jr.’s classic theme song. But even in that opening sequence, I was quite impressed how well the effects hold up, considering this move was made in the 80s. It still looks good when the books float across the shelves on their own. Although, it occurred to me while writing this that there might be some mild confusion among younger audiences watching this movie now, considering many of them have probably never had to use an actual card catalogue in their lives. Boy, I feel old.

We then shift focus to the movie’s protagonists, Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, a trio of scientists who study the paranormal at Columbia University. At the moment, Peter is seemingly in the middle of conducting an experiment in ESP by having two people guess what’s on those ESP cards. Basically, the gist of this experiment is to deliver a mild electric shock on the subjects every time they guess wrong. I guess this is done in an attempt to trigger the test subjects’ clairvoyance or something. But it becomes obvious rather quickly that he’s fudging his data, as he’s only delivering the electrical shocks to the male test subject while refusing to extend the same treatment to the female test subject. Peter’s obviously a bit of a womanizer in that regard. When the male test subject finally has enough of the constant electrical shocks and storms out, Peter proceeds to try and charm the young woman out on a date. However, he’s quickly interrupted by Ray, who bursts into the room in a fit of excitement. He announces that they’ve been called out to the New York Public Library in order to investigate the strange happenings that were shown in the movie’s opening. Peter, despite trying to make an excuse to sit this one out, is pretty much dragged to the library.

It was at this point in the movie that I started to raise an eyebrow at the very presence of Peter in this movie. Don’t get me wrong, because the whole franchise certainly wouldn’t have been as popular without this character, or the characteristically phenomenal presence of Bill Murray. But I do question why Peter, as a character, is even here. Yes, a deleted scene indicated that he was the one who introduced Ray and Egon to each other, meaning they might not have ever met if not for Peter. However, Egon and Ray seem legitimately interested actually studying and researching the paranormal. Peter, on the other hand, comes across as someone who really doesn’t want to be there. He can’t even conduct a legitimate unbiased experiment, choosing to instead use said experiment as a front for getting dates. It’s almost like someone who hates the performing arts going to Juilliard. Like, why are you even here?

Anyway, Peter and Ray soon join up with Egon at the library to investigate the disturbance, starting with the interview with the terrified librarian. At first, the interview seems rather straightforward, with Peter asking if she has a family history of mental illness, or if she’s currently taking any medication or drugs that might cause her to hallucinate. This, I find, is rather smart. From what I’ve seen, the best type of ghost hunters approach each case with an air of skepticism and try to find a more rational explanation for the supposed paranormal activity. It’s the only way to determine if you have a legitimate haunting. However, Peter then asks the librarian if she’s menstruating. To which the library administrator wonders why that should matter. In response, Peter simply states ‘back off, man. I’m a scientist.’ Um, no. I’m sorry, but that was a legit question. I’m asking as a female. Why would the librarian’s menstrual cycle be of any significance? Last I checked, menstruation does not trigger hallucinations. So, what’s the joke here? I don’t get it. Unless Peter is suggesting that the librarian’s emotional state might have influenced her to think she saw something due to PMS? Because that’s quite a leap in logic. Not to mention rather sexist. Just saying, if there was supposed to be a joke here, the fact that I have to think about it so hard makes it fail as a good joke.

Iffy attempts at jokes aside, Egon interrupts the interview to inform them that he’s got a read on the specter with his PKE meter and that it appears to be moving. So the trio proceed down to the lower level of the library, where they find a bunch of books stacked up between the shelves, as well as the card reader completely drenched with ectoplasmic residue. And once again, while Ray is approaching the while situation like an excited kid and Egon is gathering samples for further study, like a proper scientist would, Peter is just hanging around in the back, visibly bored and all but rolling his eyes. (Side note, really awkward line in this scene. Ray says ‘listen, you smell that?’ Normally, when someone says to listen, they want you to hear something. So if Ray was inquiring about a particular scent, shouldn’t his statement have started with ‘hang on’ or something?)

Eventually, the three of them come face-to-face with the Library Ghost. However, they’re all a bit stumped on how to proceed. Because this is apparently the first time they’ve actually seen a full torso apparition in person. Not even Peter’s attempt at establishing communication with the Library Ghost seems to work. Because, hey, it’s a ghost of a librarian. They insist on people being quiet in the library. But then Ray gets an idea. Only his idea is to charge at the Library Ghost, shouting ‘get her!’ Needless to say, this plan doesn’t work, resulting only in the Library Ghost to instantly shift her appearance into a menacing looking creature that sends Peter, Egon and Ray running completely out of the library in terror. (So much for the famous Ghostbuster motto of ‘I ain’t afraid of no ghost.’)

Interesting tidbit about the transformed Library Ghost, though. The original design of the puppet they used in the scene was deemed too scary for the movie’s PG rating, so they had to set it aside and start from scratch. But they later repurposed the initial design of the ghost for the original Fright Night, which came out the following year.

Sometime later, the trio return to Columbia University, with Peter teasing Ray about his impulsive plan. However, it comes out that the data Egon managed to gather on the Library Ghost during the brief encounter has led him to an interesting prospect. Through some technobabble about ionization rates, they theorize that might be possible for them to actually catch and permanently confine a ghost. However, when they get back to their lab in order to report their findings, they are confronted with the college dean, Dean Yeager. It turns out that the college’s board of directors has decided to terminate their grants, which means they’re being kicked off campus. Thing is, I can totally understand why they’re giving Peter the boot. Because as I said before, I have no idea why he even bothered getting the same parapsychology degree that Ray and Egon got. Unlike them, he seems purely uninterested in actually researching the paranormal. And the brief glimpse of his fake experiment on ESP demonstrates that he will willingly fabricate his data. Everything we’ve seen from Peter so far seems to support everything Dean Yeager is accusing him of. So yeah. I totally support them terminating Peter’s employment at the university. But…why are they kicking Egon and Ray out? They seem like the legit scientists here. I haven’t seen any indication that they’re abusing their positions as paranormal researchers the way Peter is, and they appear to believe 100% in what they’re doing. Is it just a case of them being guilty by association? It would be one thing if they showed Ray and Egon trying to stick up for Peter, being all ‘if you fire him, you’ll have to fire us, too!’ And then immediately cut to them sitting outside on the curb, with boxes full of their stuff. But they don’t do that.

Regardless of how it doesn’t make much sense, all three of them are now out of a job. And Ray is taking it particularly hard. Because without the money and facilities the university provided them with, it’s going to be quite difficult for them to continue their research. Or something to that effect. However, Peter seems quite cavalier about the whole thing. Seemingly on the fly, he comes up with the idea of him, Ray and Egon opening up their own business as paranormal exterminators by running with Egon’s theory about catching ghosts. The only thing is, for them to fully realize the ghost containment system that they have in mind, they’ll need to have a substantial amount of money. Because the necessary materials and power system they need to keep it running don’t come cheap. Of course, Peter’s got it all figured out, and he manages to coerce Ray into mortgaging the house his presumably dead parents left him in order to obtain their start-up loan. Something that Ray isn’t pleased with, but Peter is confident that the franchise rights of being paranormal investigators and eliminators will make them super rich, so there’s no need for Ray to worry about losing his childhood home.

Next up, they have to find a center of operations, so to speak, so they turn to a realtor to help them locate a vacant building they can utilize. The realtor ends up bringing them to the iconic Firehouse, which has apparently been sitting empty for a while and is in a state of disrepair. So much so, the ever-serious Egon finds nothing but faults in the old structure. However, Ray, ever the optimist, falls in love with the place, particularly when it comes to the fire pole. So, despite Egon’s objections, they end up purchasing the Firehouse.

We then cut to a rather fancy looking apartment complex, where a woman named Dana Barrett lives. We join up with her as she’s returning to her apartment with a bag of groceries. Before she can reach her apartment, she is briefly held up by her dorky neighbor, Louis, who works as an accountant. And he, I guess, has a bit of a one-sided crush on Dana, as he keeps inviting her over to his place for some refreshments. While Dana is clearly not interested in him like that, she continues to graciously turn him down, though she does noncommittedly state she’ll ‘try’ to stop by at a party he’s planning on throwing for his clients in the near future. Right before Dana retreats to her apartment in order to get ready for work (she’s a professional musician who plays cello in a symphony orchestra), Louis informs her that she accidently left her TV on when she went out, which greatly puzzles Dana as she doesn’t remember leaving it on. This does end up being beneficial, however, because when Dana enters her apartment, the TV just happens to be playing an advertisement for Peter, Egon and Ray’s new business, Ghostbusters. Dana, briefly watches the commercial in bemusement, but then turns the TV off, continuing to the kitchen in order to put away her groceries.

And that’s when the disturbance happens. While Dana is putting things away, the eggs she set out suddenly start flying out of their shells and proceed to cook on the counter. While it takes Dana a few seconds to notice this, she is visibly stunned by the phenomenon. Before she can recover from the strangeness of this, she hears a menacing growl emanating from her refrigerator. Deciding to investigate the growls, Dana opens the refrigerator to see the interior has been replaced by some dimensional portal to a demonic looking realm. Before Dana can slam the door with a scream, she witnesses the image of a bear-sized creature roaring out the word ‘Zuul!’

Quick question before I continue. I know that the movie pretty much implied that Dana really had simply forgot to switch off her TV before heading out to the store and all, but was that really what happened? What if the TV being switched on while Dana was out was another paranormal happenstance? I know it was probably the more rational explanation, but Kid Me always kinda wondered about that.

Cut to two days later. The Ghostbusters are still trying to get their new business off the ground. They’ve got a rather basic sign for the front of the building, which Peter isn’t too impressed with, and Ray has purchased an old hearse to function as the company car, even though the car is in need of some serious maintenance. They’ve even found a secretary in the feisty and intellectual Janine. She seems to have a thing for Egon, though he seems to be a bit bewildered by her at first. Just look at the way he’s looking at her when she’s rabbling on about how much she likes to read. Maybe he was expecting her to give up on making small talk with him when he retorted that ‘print is dead.’ Maybe this is the first time he met a woman who wasn’t immediately scared away by his overly serious demeanor, and he wasn’t sure how to handle that. In case you couldn’t tell already, I ship these two so hard.

That’s when Dana enters the Firehouse. It seems she has remembered the commercial she saw and has come to the Ghostbusters office to seek their help in figuring out what happened at her apartment two days ago. (Side note, I do get a chuckle over how Peter popped up like a Jack-in-the-Box when he overheard Dana talking to Janine.) Since the Ghostbusters haven’t had any other prospective clients yet, they are quick to offer her assistance. After hearing about what she experienced, Egon and Ray immediately start formulating their hypotheses on what might have caused Dana to witness the things she did and decide to get right to work on researching the history of Dana’s apartment building and searching for any information on the name Zuul. However, Peter volunteers to go to Dana’s apartment and take a look around. Though it’s made very clear that he’s only doing so because he finds her attractive.

Of course, when they get to Dana’s apartment, Peter is unable to find any evidence of paranormal activity. Even though the remnants of the eggs are still on the counter, everything else is completely normal, with the refrigerator being just an ordinary refrigerator. Not even the ghost sniffer that Peter brought along seems to be detecting anything unusual. This frustrates Dana, who begins to partially question her sanity. However, Peter decides to be Peter and proceeds to lay on the charm, even going so far as to confess his love, even though he only met her that day. Last I checked, this isn’t a Disney movie. I don’t think the Disney Corporation even owns Columbia Pictures (yet). Dana, of course, is not having it and instructs him to leave. Peter complies to her request, but not before vowing to prove himself by solving her case. Dana simply rolls her eyes at his declaration and practically has to push him out the door.

That night, our protagonists are sitting down to a dinner of Chinese takeout, where they toast Dana as their first and only customer. Peter, not giving up on his intent to woo the lady, voices his intent to take her out to dinner in order to keep her invested in their services. However, Ray informs him that the food in front of them has effectively used up what was left of their funds. It seems that the necessary repairs they had to do on the Firehouse and their chosen vehicle, not to mention the advertising costs and construction & upkeep of their equipment, has taken a sizable chunk out of their monetary account. If they don’t start making some revenue soon, they’re pretty much sunk.

As luck would have it, at that very moment, Janine answers a phone call at the reception desk. And I do get a chuckle out of her ‘yes, of course they’re serious.’ It makes me wonder if they were getting a lot of prank calls after their advertisement started to air. However, this particular phone call ends up being legit. It turns out there’s a disturbance at the Sedgewick Hotel, and the hotel manager has decided to call in the Ghostbusters. Prompting Janine to excitedly press the alarm bell to announce the Ghostbuster’s first official call, which they respond to almost instantly, driving out to the Sedgewick Hotel in the newly-dubbed Ecto-1. (Question- how much time has passed since Dana approached the Ghostbusters? When she first walked in, we see Ray hard at work in fixing up the car’s multiple mechanical issues. And now it’s apparently been repaired to full working order, complete with a new paintjob. I find it doubtful that they could have completed all that work in only a day, so there must have been a small time jump at work here. Also, there are two arcade games and a pinball machine in the Firehouse. Which of the three purchased them? Inquiring minds want to know.)

Upon arriving at the Sedgewick Hotel, Peter, Egon and Ray are approached by the hotel manager, the one who called them in. The manager explains that the twelfth floor of the hotel has always experienced the occasional disturbance over the years, but it’s always been easy for the hotel staff to cover it up so the guests wouldn’t notice. However, two weeks ago, the paranormal activity has intensified, which has left him no choice than to try calling in the Ghostbusters. After the brief discussion with the manager, the Ghostbusters head to the elevators in order to head up to the twelfth floor. But first, we get a possibly dated joke where a hotel guest takes in the appearance of the Ghostbusters in their coveralls and proton packs and asks if they’re cosmonauts. I had to look up was a cosmonaut was because I was not familiar with that term. FYI, it’s basically the Russian equivalent of an astronaut. Which basically means that the hotel guest was suspecting them of being Russians. That only makes sense when you consider the fact that this movie was made during the time of the Cold War, when there was strong tension between the Soviet Union and the United States.

Moving on, as they make their way up the elevator, Egon and Ray admit that they never properly tested their equipment. Meaning this first mission is going to be a crash course, so to speak. Of course, they basically do have their chance at testing out their proton packs when they impulsively fire off Proton Streams at a housekeeper who just happened to be passing by. (Thankfully, she wasn’t harmed and only her cart got toasted.) After the slight mishap, the trio decide to split up in order to cover more ground. As such, Ray is the one who comes across the ghost first. As those of you who are familiar with the franchise knows, it’s the green potato-shaped entity that will eventually be dubbed as Slimer. (Although the creature was originally called ‘The Onionhead Ghost’ by the film crew, as the ghost was supposed to emit a particular odor.) At the moment, Slimer is stuffing his face with the food on a room service cart. Because Peter and Egon are out of earshot, Ray decides to try and catch Slimer himself, but his attempt only ends up spooking Slimer, who zooms off and escapes through a wall, leaving behind a bit of green ectoplasmic residue. This results in the green ghost crossing paths with Peter. To his credit, Peter seems to take it a little more calmly and contacts Ray over the walkie-talkie. But before anything could be done, Slimer flies toward Peter almost menacingly, prompting Peter to scream (which is probably the most emotion we’ve seen Peter display so far. He didn’t even scream during the scene with the Library Ghost.) By the time Ray appears on the scene, Slimer is once again gone, but Peter is lying on the ground, drenched in green ectoplasm.

At this point, Egon manages to contact them, announcing he witnessed Slimer entering a ballroom elsewhere in the hotel. So the Ghostbusters head down the ballroom in question, instructing the manager to wait outside while they deal with the matter. Eventually, they do manage to capture Slimer, but only after causing extensive damage to the ballroom, including destroying a rather expensive looking chandelier. Although, this scene does contain a moment when Egon informs Ray and Peter of an important safety precaution involving their Proton Packs. Because of the nature of the Proton Streams they use to restrain the ghost while the Ghost Trap is being set up, it is vitally important that they don’t cross the streams. Because if they do, it would result in a total protonic reversal that would cause every cell in their bodies to explode. Which is obviously a rather gruesome way to die.

Upon the successful capture of Slimer, the Ghostbusters exit the demolished ballroom and approach the hotel manager, seeking the payment for their services. But the manager balks at the knowledge that they’re asking for $5,000. (Because I’m a nerd, I actually took the time to adjust this amount for inflation. That price is equivalent to $12,326.42 now.) At first, the manager refuses to pay that much. Until they threaten to release Slimer back into the ballroom. Now, on the one hand, I can appreciate that the Ghostbusters are in desperate need of funds at this point, and they need to be properly confiscated considering how expensive it is to maintain their equipment. At the same time, they could have offered a slight discount, seeing as how the hotel is now going to have to pay for the damage to the ballroom. Still, we do get a nice moment of seeing Peter and Egon playing off each other. If you watch carefully, you can see Egon trying to covertly signal Peter in how much to charge the hotel for trapping Slimer.

And thus begins the montage scene of the Ghostbusters doing their thing in busting the various spooks that continue popping up around the city as their popularity continues to grow, with them making the front page of newspapers, appearing in various magazines and even scoring TV interviews. (Along with brief cameos of Larry King and the now-late Casey Kasem.) Of course, there is one moment in this montage that appears to be a dream sequence of Ray’s, in which he’s visited by a ghost lady who, despite not actually showing anything (the movie was rated PG, after all), clearly performs oral sex on him. It’s a bit of a weird moment, to be honest. Of course, that brief sequence was actually recycled footage from a scene that didn’t make it into the final cut. The scene in question had the Ghostbusters investigating a haunting at the fictional Fort Detmerring. Though knowing that doesn’t make the scene any less weird.

As the montage wraps up, we get introduced to our final main character, Winston Zeddemore. He arrives at the Firehouse in response to an ad the Ghostbusters put out, asking for additional help. It seems that the ghostly activity in the city has gotten to be too much for Peter, Ray and Egon to tackle on their own, and they’re hoping to get more assistance. So Winston has decided to come by and apply for the job out of a desire to have a steady paycheck. And because Peter and Ray are particularly exhausted over how busy they’ve been lately, they hire him on the spot upon returning from a bust.

Now, I probably should acknowledge the fact that Winston seems to get the short end of the stick among the Ghostbusters fandom, with him being regarded as the odd one out due to the fact that he doesn’t join the team until halfway through the movie and isn’t actually a scientist like the others. There was even an episode of Stranger Things that brought this up. But honestly, I think Winston is one of best members of the team. Because he’s the everyday guy. The one who pretty much gave us ordinary folks the hope that we could be Ghostbusters, too. And, as an adult, I can appreciate Winston’s whole attitude when he straight up tells Janine ‘if there's a steady paycheck in it, I'll believe anything you say.’ This is a guy who just wants a job that will help him get food on the table, and just happened to end up landing the coolest job on the planet. That is awesome! I wanna be Winston!

The movie then cuts to Carnegie Hall, where Dana is just getting out of work after a rehearsal. She and a fellow member of the orchestra, a male violin player who Dana later describes as one of the finest musicians in the world, are complaining about the guest conductor who oversaw the rehearsal, and how the conductor in question seemed to prefer shouting at them in German rather than actually do any real conducting. Their conversation is cut short when Dana spots Peter a few feet away, and she goes over to talk with them. Strangely enough, Dana seems to be rather taken with Peter now. The last time we saw these two together, Dana seemed a bit annoyed by Peter and his unwanted advances. But here, she seems to have warmed up to him. Were there additional scenes that showed further interactions between the two that wound up on the cutting room floor? Because if the movie really wanted to sell these two as the main couple, they could have really benefitted from showing them interact a little more. While the actors do play well off each other, it seems a bit odd that Dana seemingly went from viewing Peter as an annoyance to her regarding him as a friend without showing us how she got to that point. Granted we saw her appear a few times in the movie’s montage segment, but that was only her reacting to the various news stories about the Ghostbusters’ rising fame.

Anyway, Peter reveals he was true to his word. Even though they’ve been busy dealing with other hauntings and whatnot, they’re still working on figuring out what caused the paranormal activity at Dana’s apartment. Their research has found some information about the name of Zuul, who was a demi-god worshiped by some various ancient cultures around 6000 BC. He was also said to be the minion of a being called Gozer. Of course, they’re not quite sure why Dana seems to have been targeted by Zuul and Gozer, so Peter suggests they could get together Thursday night around 9 to discuss the matter more thoroughly. Of course, Dana sees this for what it is and knows Peter is just trying to trick her into a date. But she ultimately agrees to the arrangement, because she is now apparently charmed by his advances now. Not sure why, but whatever.

It then cuts back to the Firehouse, where Ray is busy showing Winston how to load a captured ghost into their custom-made Containment Unit, which basically works as a jailhouse for the imprisoned ghosts. Meanwhile, Peter is upstairs, dealing with a visit from Walter Peck from the Environmental Protection Agency. Basically, Peck is there to investigate the Ghostbusters and check if their operation is creating a significant impact on the environment. As such, he wants to inspect their equipment, particularly the Containment Unit. Ultimately, Peter refuses to comply with his demands. Now, as someone who actually has a BS in Environmental Studies, I have to admit that…. Peck is not necessarily in the wrong here. He’s simply doing his job in investigating the Ghostbusters and making sure they’re not releasing any toxic substances into the environment. So I don’t fault him for what he’s wanting to do. However, I don’t think he went about it in a good way. Especially since he really does give a pretty big veiled threat to Peter during their conversation. Not to mention that he seems to indirectly accuse them of purposely releasing noxious gas into the atmosphere with the intention of making people hallucinate into seeing ghosts. Because of that, I also don’t blame Peter for refusing to comply with Peck’s demands. If Walter Peck had just been a bit more professional and respectful about his intentions, things might have turned out differently. After Walter Peck storms out, Peter rejoins Egon, Ray and Winston down in the basement, where the three of them inform him of some fresh concern of Egon’s. The Containment Unit, it seems, is getting close to maximum capacity due to all the ghosts they’ve been catching. To make things even more concerning, the data he’s collected from their various missions throughout the city suggests that something much bigger is on the horizon. Which he explains with a Twinkie analogy.

However, I have to pause for a moment to really look at these last few scenes back-to-back. This is probably a nitpick, but the continuity of these scenes seem a bit off. If you look carefully, you see that Peter is wearing his Ghostbusters jumpsuit during his meeting with Walter Peck. And that the jumpsuit is stained with ectoplasmic goop. Which is exactly what he was wearing when he and Ray returned to the Firehouse during Winston’s job interview with Janine. So, taking that into account, it seems like the correct order of events would be 1) Winston being hired into the Ghostbusters, 2) the meeting with Walter Peck, 3) Ray instructing Winston on how to operate the containment unit and then 4) Egon’s Twinkie analogy. Based on the characters’ wardrobe throughout those scenes, it seems like they all occurred simultaneously. Of course, that would put into question where Peter and Dana’s meeting outside Carnegie Hall would fall on the movie’s timeline. Especially since Winston later will state that, as of the movie’s climax, he’s been with the company for a few weeks. So, since the climax really starts to kick off on the night of Peter and Dana’s Thursday date, it makes sense for the Carnegie Hall scene to come after Winston was hired. But if they had aired the scenes in the proper order, we wouldn’t have gotten that dramatic cut that the movie gave us. Because the way the movie plays out, we immediately cut from Peter saying ‘what about the Twinkie?’ to the top of Dana’s apartment building, where a pair of stone statues of demonic creatures (known as Terror Dogs) start to break open, revealing there are real Terror Dogs encased inside the statures. Apparently, they’ve been lying dormant until the opportune moment and are now being unleashed. (Which is that big thing that Egon saw coming on the horizon).

As the Terror Dogs are emerging from their stone statues, Dana arrives home in order to get ready for her date with Peter at nine. By coincidence, her neighbor, Louis, is also holding his party on the same night and, despite Dana’s best efforts at sneaking past his door, he somehow hears her moving down the hall and comes out to greet her. Louis is crestfallen when he hears that Dana scheduled a date on the night of his party, but quickly takes in in stride, suggesting that Dana can bring Peter to the party, too. (Dude, take the hint.) Dana, more to appease him than anything, states that they’ll try to make an appearance. However, it doesn’t really matter either way. Because when Dana returns to her apartment and starts to get ready, demonic hands burst out of the chair she’s sitting in and forcibly hold her down so the Terror Dog known as Zuul can possess her. I don’t have to tell you that it is a really chilling scene to witness. To this day, I cannot sleep with the closet light shining through the door gaps, and I blame it on this scene.

While Zuul is possessing Dana across the hall, Louis is having some paranormal issues of his own. It turns out that the second Terror Dog, this one named Vinz Clortho, has targeted Louis as his chosen vessel. Because both Terror Dogs need to possess a human vessel in order to prepare the way for their master, Gozer. Not really sure why Louis was selected, however. Sure, he’s the only other character we’ve really been introduced to so far, outside of the actual Ghostbuster crew (and I’m including Janine in that). But to our knowledge, Louis didn’t experience any sort of paranormal warning the way Dana did with the eggs cooking on the counter and her refrigerator becoming a portal to the demonic realm. Unless the running gag of Louis constantly getting himself locked out of his apartment was his paranormal ‘warning.’

Anyway, Vinz disrupts Louis’ party, terrifying the guests while Louis runs out of his apartment, prompting Vinz to give chase. (Is that why Louis got selected? Because he was the only one who ran out of the apartment? Do Terror Dogs hunt by movement?) Despite Louis’ best efforts to evade the demonic creature, Vinz eventually corners him outside Tavern on the Green, the well-known restaurant in Central Park.

This scene, admittedly, confuses me to this day. When Louis is cornered and subsequently possessed by Vinz, he is in full view of the people eating at the restaurant. But even though they all look up when they hear Louis screaming outside, they immediately go back to their meals as if nothing happened. Did they not see Vinz standing outside with Louis? Was Vinz invisible to everyone except Louis? That doesn’t make much sense, since Louis’ party guests, his elderly neighbor, the apartment building’s doorman and the number of people who happened to be driving by clearly saw Vinz as well. So was this supposed to be a bit of social commentary about how New Yorkers often don’t lift a finger to help people in distress? Because I can see the reasoning behind such a thing. After all, there was that famous news story about the homeless man bleeding to death on the ground and how nobody stopped to help him. And there was a similar story back in 1964, when a 28-year-old woman was raped and killed while at least 38 bystanders didn’t bother to intervene or respond to her screams. Even so, you’d think that someone in that restaurant would have reacted to the sight of Vinz.

Back at the apartment building, Peter has just arrived for his date with Dana. While he does react to the presence of the police who have been called out to investigate the disturbance at Louis’ party (as people had mistook the Terror Dog for a cougar), he makes his way to Dana’s apartment. Unfortunately, by the time he arrives, Dana has already been possessed by Zuul, and is now wearing a rather provocative orange dress. (Can’t see Dana having something like that in her closet based on what we’ve previously seen her wearing, so I’m wondering where that dress came from.) Despite Peter’s best efforts at reaching out to Dana’s consciousness, Zuul’s hold on her mind is too strong. Which of course leads to the iconic ‘there is no Dana, only Zuul’ line. Though it’s important to note that Zuul refers to herself as ‘the Gatekeeper,’ and that she’s waiting for ‘the Keymaster.’ I’m sure we all know the sexual undertones of those monikers, so there’s no need for me to comment on it.

Meanwhile, Louis, now possessed by Vinz, has been picked up by the police because he’s been causing a bit of a scene in Central Park with his search for ‘the Gatekeeper.’ But since the cops aren’t sure what to do with him due to his erratic behavior, the police captain has decided to bring him to the Ghostbusters. (By the way, I love Janine’s immediate response when she opens the door to find the cops standing on the doorstop. This woman is awesome.) Egon, upon seeing how the possessed Louis is making the PKE meter spike, agrees to bring him inside the Firehouse, where we get this awesome effect of Vinz’ true form appear on an infrared monitor. Upon being questioned by Egon, Vinz explains that he’s waiting for a sign from Gozer the Traveler, who will come in a pre-chosen form. Janine, growing a bit worried by what she’s hearing Vinz say, briefly pulls Egon aside to voice her concerns, stating she’s got a terrible feeling that something awful is going to happen to him.

The tender moment between the two is broken when Peter calls the Firehouse to inform Egon of Dana’s possession by Zuul. At present, Peter has managed to knock Zuul out by injecting Dana’s body with 300 cc of thorozine. (Does Peter normally carry around thorozine? Particularly when he’s planning on going out on a date? Do I even want to know?) Egon instructs Peter to return to the Firehouse straight away, also warning him that they cannot let Zuul and Vinz meet.

Elsewhere, Ray and Winston are off in the Ecto-1, apparently coming back from a call. Strangely, Winston is still wearing his civilian clothes while Ray is in his Ghostbusters jumpsuit. As previously stated, Winston is supposed to have been with the Ghostbusters for a few weeks by this point. So where’s his jumpsuit? How long does it take the uniform store to design a Ghostbuster jumpsuit? Anyway, Ray is busy studying the blueprints for Dana’s apartment building, currently unaware of what happened with Dana and Lewis, and is taken aback by how the top of the apartment complex was constructed by a magnesium-tungsten alloy, which is apparently very peculiar. Winston, seemingly out of nowhere, interrupts Ray’s musings to bring up God and Jesus. However, the reason behind Winston’s choice of subject becomes clear when he asks Ray if he remembers what the Bible said about the last days, when the dead would rise from the grave. To this, Ray states he remembers Revelations 7:12 and proceeds to recite a Bible verse. However, if you actually look at a Bible, you’ll see that the verse Ray recites is NOT Revelations 7:12. It’s actually Revelations 6:12. You got the wrong chapter, Ray, but points for trying. Either way, Ray basically shrugs and states all ancient religions have their own myths about the end of the world. But his mood shifts when Winston points out that perhaps the reason why they’ve been so busy lately is because the dead HAVE been rising from the grave. While this particular scene doesn’t really contribute much to the plot, it is still a good scene, and one of my favorites in the film.

Back at the Firehouse, Egon is awaiting the return of his fellow Ghostbusters and performing a few tests on Vinz while he’s waiting. Because of course Egon would want to gather some data on the possessed Louis. Unfortunately, that’s when Walter Peck returns. This time, he’s brought in the cops and a worker from Con Edison. Janine does her best to stop them, pointing out that she knows they can’t barge onto the premises without a writ or warrant (which is further indication that Janine is highly intelligent and not just a pretty face), but Peck counters her denial of entry by showing he does have a warrant. Upon storming into the basement with his reinforcements in tow, Peck demands that the Containment Unit gets switched off. Egon urgently warns the Con Edison man against turning off the protection grid, as does Peter when he arrives on the scene. However, Peck is persistent and forces the Con Edison man to comply with his order, despite the Con Ed Man’s hesitations.

Of course, the moment the Containment Unit’s protection grid is switched off, alarms start blaring, and everyone is forced to run out of the Firehouse before the Containment Unit explodes with such force, it blasts a hole into the Firehouse’s roof. The instant this happens, Zuul/Dana snaps awake. Because this was apparently the sign she and Vinz/Louis was waiting for- the release of all the ghosts the Ghostbusters had previously caught.

As a crowd gathers around the damaged Firehouse, Ray and Winston return back from their bust. As such, they are present when Peck angrily charges forward, demanding that the cops arrest them for being in criminal violation of the Environmental Protection Act. To Egon’s enragement, Peck even tries to blame them for the explosion. Which was really a jerk move on Peck’s part. While I won’t deny that he was just doing his job at first, it was his refusal to listen to Egon and Peter’s multiple warnings that make him lose my support. They TOLD him repeatedly that shutting off the Containment Unit’s protection grid would have led to disastrous reproductions. But he refused to listen to them out of what I can only imagine was the result of him having a chip on his shoulder because Peter ‘insulted’ him. To make matters worse, Vinz/Louis manages to slip away amidst the chaos. And throughout the city, the newly released ghosts proceed to wreak havoc.

Sometime later, the Ghostbusters are confined to a rather large jail cell, which they’re sharing with some other prison inmates. I admit I don’t know much about prisons, but… do jails often have cells large enough to hold up to ten people? Regardless, Egon and Ray are busy studying the blueprints of Dana and Louis’ apartment building, commenting on how bizarre the structural framework is. Long story short, it turns out that the building was actually designed to be a super-conductive antenna designed specifically to pull in and concentrate spiritual energy. Egon then goes into storytelling mode, explaining to his compatriots (as well as the other inmates, who also seem interested) that he has previously discovered that the building’s architect was a man named Ivo Shandor. In 1920, following WWI, Ivo had decided that society no longer deserved to survive, so he formed a secret society. He and his many followers began to worship the ancient god Gozer. And, atop the high-rise that would eventually become Dana and Louis’ apartment building, they conducted many rituals that were intended to bring about the end of the world. Now, it seems like the rituals they performed might actually succeed.

Clearly, this is really bad, and the Ghostbusters know they have to do something about it. Even though Winston seems doubtful that they convince a judge to believe their tale and let them go. Thankfully, luck is on their side, and a jail guard, portrayed by the same actor who played Carl Winslow on Family Matters and Sgt. Al Powell in the Die Hard movies (that man loves playing law enforcement, doesn’t he?), appears to announce that the mayor has asked for them. So the Ghostbusters are all brought before Mayor Lenny. And not a moment too soon, as time is running out- Vince/Louis and Zuul/Dana have already found their way to each other.

When the Ghostbusters arrive at Mayor Lenny’s office, he’s already in a meeting with his advisers, discussing all the turmoil that’s been going on because of the escaped ghosts now running amok. Of course, Walter Peck is also there, once again accusing the Ghostbusters of being con artists who have been making people believe they’re seeing ghosts by releasing a hallucinogenic gas into the air. Thankfully, Mayor Lenny’s advisors are skeptical of Peck’s accusations. The Fire Commissioner states he has no explanation for what he witnessed when the explosion occurred at the Firehouse, despite seeing every form of combustion known to man. And the Police Commissioner points out there’s no rational explanation behind the walls of the 53rd precinct bleeding. Eventually, the Ghostbusters present their case to Mayor Lenny, warning him that if they don’t act quickly, a disaster of biblical proportions will occur. The Mayor is ultimately convinced to give the Ghostbusters a chance when Peter presents a wager of sorts. He tells Mayor Lenny that if they’re wrong, they will willingly go to prison. But if they’re right, and they’re allowed the chance to stop Gozer, then the city will view Mayor Lenny as the man who helped save the city by not preventing the Ghostbusters from doing their job. Like most politicians, Mayor Lenny is all for the option that could get him re-elected.

And so the Ghostbusters are off to the Ivo Shandor building, complete with a police escort. Only now Winston is finally sporting a Ghostbuster jumpsuit. That was convenient timing. Did his jumpsuit arrive at the exact moment they returned to the Firehouse to pick up their Proton Packs and whatnot? Either way, upon their arrival, a sudden earthquake erupts, breaking up the street and swallowing up the Ghostbusters. I guess Gozer sensed the Ghostbusters arrival and, recognizing them as a threat, attempted to get rid of them. Somehow, they survive falling into the gaping hole and manage to enter the building. But the elevator is apparently out of order as they’re forced to climb up the stairs to reach Dana’s apartment up on the 22nd floor. When they do reach the apartment, they find the place in a shambles, as the whole side of the building exploded during the earlier sequence where the escaped ghosts were terrorizing the city. Although, they do locate a staircase that leads them up to the roof, where the Temple of Gozer now resides.

It’s too late, however, as Zuul/Dana and Vinz/Louis have already started the ritual to summon Gozer. (It’s somewhat implied they had sex on a stone alter). The Ghostbusters arrive on the scene just in time for the pair to complete their transformation, shedding the appearance of Dana and Louis and becoming full Terror Dogs, and they can only watch as the temple doors open, revealing Gozer in the flesh. After another iconic moment where Ray attempts to instruct Gozer to leave only to get blasted backwards for not identifying himself as a god, the Ghostbusters attempt to take Gozer out with their Proton Packs. To their astonishment, Gozer vanishes when they fire their Proton Streams at the alter Gozer is standing on. For a few seconds, it looks like they succeeded in defeating Gozer, but of course it’s not that easy. As Vinz stated earlier in the movie, Gozer typically takes a pre-chosen form before beginning his destruction. And that proves to be the case here, as a disembodied voice instructs the Ghostbusters to choose the form of the destructor.

Peter, stepping up to the plate, takes the initiative. Realizing they’ve only got one shot at tricking Gozer into taking a form they can easily overpower, he encourages his teammates to clear their heads so they can think of something. But unfortunately, not quick enough, as a thought has already entered Ray’s head- Mr. Stay Puft the mascot of an in-universe brand of marshmallows. A minute later, a 50-foot-tall Mr. Stay Puft manifests down in the city streets below and begins making its way toward them. In order to try and stop Mr. Stay Puft, the Ghostbusters attempt to fire their Proton Packs at the creature, but this only makes Mr. Stay Puft angry, and it begins to climb up the side of the building, King Kong style. So now the Ghostbusters are in a bit of a tight spot. Obviously, they have to defeat Gozer’s chosen form, but how?

That’s when Egon gets his last-ditch idea. He suggests, since the door to Gozer’s temple swings both ways, perhaps they can close it and therefore put a stop to all of this by reversing the particle flow through the gate. Unfortunately, the only way to accomplish this is by crossing their Proton Streams- the very thing Egon warned them against doing on their first mission as Ghostbusters. Peter is quick to remind him of this, pointing out how that plan would put them all in danger. But he quickly shifts gears and becomes in full agreement with the plan when Egon suggests there’s a slim chance they’ll survive.

Egon’s plan ultimately works, with the four Proton Streams merging into one big one that helps close the gate. This results in the Temple of Gozer exploding, with Mr. Stay Puft getting incinerated and melted marshmallow raining down onto the streets below, with one particularly large mound of it falling right onto Walter Peck. (There are some deleted scenes that show Peck was still trying to get the Ghostbusters arrested, even after seeing Mr. Stay Puft.)

As the smoke clears atop the building, we see the Ghostbusters have all miraculously survived the explosion. Though they’re all drenched with marshmallow fluff. Except for Peter, who only got some in his hair. How he accomplished that is anyone’s guess. As the Ghostbusters check up on each other to make sure they got through the ordeal in one piece, Peter steps away to take in the charred remains of Zuul and Vinz, who were also consumed in the explosion. Ray, realizing that Peter’s thoughts are of Dana and how she had transformed into the creature, offers his condolences. Of course, the movie didn’t want to go out on such a depressing note, and it’s quickly shown that Dana and Louis both survived as well, as they slowly break out of the petrified remains of the Terror Dogs, a bit battered but still alive and well.

And so the movie ends, with the Ghostbusters emerging triumphantly to the cheers of the crowd of New Yorkers. Peter even gets to share a kiss with Dana in full view of everyone. Which would be awesome if the movie had actually shown us more of this pairing’s development. Then again, the fact that Peter seemed particularly upset when it looked as if Dana had died does suggest he does genuinely care about her. So I guess I can buy this kiss. And we also do get one final scene with Egon and Janine, as the latter had actually came out to the site of the final battle and embraces Egon upon seeing him unharmed.

Dana then gets to essentially ride off into the sunset with the Ghostbusters in the Ecto-1. Which is a bit odd, since we see Louis is escorted away by some Red Cross employees. What’s with that? Why does Dana get to ride off in the Ecto-1 while Louis has to stay behind to receive medical care? Dana went through the exact same ordeal as Louis. So if Louis has to get checked over at the hospital, then Dana should be, too, right? Especially since she was the one who seemed to be the most disoriented after she was freed from the petrified remains of Zuul.

Despite the few issues that arise with the movie, I still enjoy it. It’s easy to see why Ghostbusters took the world by storm. While I wouldn’t say it’s a laugh-out-loud comedy, the jokes they work in are really smart and clever. The effects are impressive, even by today’s standards. The ghosts featured in the film still look amazing (excluding this one moment when Vinz is running across the street. I admit something looked off at that moment). And there are so many iconic lines that I’m pretty sure this movie is right up there with Star Wars in terms of quotability.

In fact, my only real complaint is the character of Peter and how we never got any indication on why he even got involved in parapsychology like Ray and Egon in the first place. Instead, he comes across as a bit of a jerk who is only in it for the money, and to pick up good-looking women. Admittedly, that seems to be a trend of Bill Murray- playing a jerk character. (I’m looking at you, Groundhog Day and Scrooged.) But at least with those movies, Bill Murry’s character underwent a character arc, and by the end of the movie, he had stopped being a jerk. But that’s not the case with Peter. While he didn’t display any of his jerk-ish qualities by the end of the movie, we never saw any real indication that he’d undergone some sort of character development. I know no one had much in the way of character development in this movie, but the point still stands. It just would have been nice for the movie to give us some indication why we were supposed to root for him. Because the only thing we really got was that he had a thing for Dana, and that’s it. All the other characters are all very likable, though, so that does help balance out any negativity Peter’s presence might have caused.

One thing that stuck out to me while watching this movie now, apart from the presence of the 80s-style technology (case in point that huge 80s cellphone a movie extra was using in one scene), was all the product placement that cropped up throughout the movie. As I watched this movie, I saw appearances of Cheez-it crackers, Coca-Cola, Perrier, Oscar-Mayer bologna, Wise Potato Chips and Hi-ho crackers (which are now called Ritz crackers). And, of course, Twinkies. I might be wrong, considering I don’t normally watch for this sort of thing, but I don’t think we generally see this much product placement in movies coming out today. So seeing that many recognizable brands was quite interesting to me.

That pretty wraps up my review of the original Ghostbusters movie. I’ll be sure to review its sequel, Ghostbusters II on a later date. But first, I think I’ll look at the episodes of the movie’s animated spin-off, The Real Ghostbusters. Even though the series technically takes place in a separate continuity, I do remember there were a few callbacks to the events of the movie, so that should count for something.

(Click here to read more Ghostbusters reviews)

#ghostbusters #movie review #ghostbusters franchise

9 notes · View notes

warmbeebosoftbeebo · 6 years

Note

I’m dehydrated and you’re one of my faves. Where did ya go?!

been here, falling hopelessly behind on posts, both my own n others. i did just do a bden’s booty post with brallon, vices era that’s quite…uh…educational. yeah, educational.

i’ve been reading on orgasm gap research between het women, bi women, lesbians, gay men, bi men, straight men too. you know something is profoundly wrong with our (cultural) definition of sex when researchers and laypeople can say straights have more sex than lesbians, who supposedly have the least, but straight women only average 7 orgasms a *month* while lesbians average 55 monthly, more than anyone else. *x-files music with gillian anderson quoting some piv & porn-critique*

i wondered something the other day: imagine if only people who really liked women and wanted to just show people having a great time sexually made sexual material? bc most porn is so clearly “women are trash/cum dumpsters/whores/cunts so let’s hurt and humilate them” i’m astonished most people can’t see it. (it’s amazing how common women’s faces are visibly distressed, in pain, etc, and this is either irrelevant or the whole damn point.)

i’ve also had so many dirty thoughts about b i can’t even… like outercourse/tribadism/frottage are criminally underrated–been thinking lots lately about that with b (not that i don’t do that usually haha). am also working on a part two of bden’s tongue–that man’s so oral n his mouth generally is just… so sexy n ridiculous at the same time? how does he manage to get me thinking these filthy thoughts about his mouth on me, esp on my vulva, when being a complete goober with his lips and/or tongue? fucking houdini. (he’s my favouriteeee. precious lil boob) also, how is my life now in significant part “contemplating” him having a smaller than average dick. (bden has a small peepee ok peeps? on what planet does he have a bigger than average one? bc it ain’t earth.) god, i wanna touch that man’s dick, feel it in my hands n in my mouth n between my thighs n between my labia n on my clit n dsfkldfskl;dfskl;dsf

i’ve also been thinking of doing an imagine with a trans character, esp since it’s been requested a couple times, but was thinking of doing one with one who was starting to desist/recently desisted. i don’t consider myself a desister bc i never took steps to transition medically, and was never publicly socially out, due in large part to my environment (structural feminism, livejournal vs tumblr, my mom & her own history, knowing my brother had also been trans when younger than me for a few years and desisted, eg he used to steal my underwear n menstrual pads to wear them, wished he was female, wished there was a magic way to become one), but from 12-16 i was trans (intensely wished i was a gay man, contemplated medical transition sometimes, had a vivid fantasy life of being a gay man, wrote about being a gay man, i still to this damn day get dysphoric/anxious/panicked/distressed at the idea of wearing a dress or skirt in spite of my trying to rationalize it away, etc). given tumblr, being born later in the age of lupron for preadolescents n medically transitioning adolescents, no radical and other structural feminism (eg shere hite, kate millett, audre lorde, dworkin, alice walker) my life would’ve turned out very different.

i would be super interested in talking with someone(s) who wanted to look at ideas around an imagine with bxreader with that, like struggling with seeing one’s body as female, having genitalia being called vulva/cunt/pussy/etc, wondering how to be seen as a person while being female during sex–i think a lot of what drives the fact that 70-80% of young trans are females who identify as male/nonbinary/etc, and what drove it in part for me, was rejection of porn culture/pornification/women being seen as holes for males, and not wanting to be treated like women in porn & mainstream culture (which is pretty much the current softcore porn and softcore virtually isn’t actually made anymore by pornographers) are treated, combined with how completely Barbified teen girls, 20something and 30something women in mainstream culture are, with a few rare exceptions for older women like Ellen (who are generally not seen as sexual but only funny, talented, etc). (asperger’s, anxiety & depression, eating disorders/disordered eating (anxiety n disordered eating also played a role for me), same sex attraction & lesbians being seen as boring and so last century at best, and evil oppressors at worst who are treated incredibly poorly by others, inc "the queer community" or being redefined out of existence are some other issues at play.) i’d love to hear from desisters and people contemplating desisting in particular, but others are welcome to chime in around these themes.

bden’s own history with “crossdressing” and the dress-up box (from about 6 on thru adulthood–he’s spoken repeatedly about wearing his mom’s clothes n heels n his sister’s cheerleader uniform, would wear his mom’s jeans all the time from 13 on, and even in fever era wore whole outfits from the women’s section), wrapping curtains around his waist to be a dress at 5, playing female roles in family plays, wanting to sound like female singers like gwen stefani, carly simon n beyonce n not like a man, etc could also be interesting to look at. b’s family being strict/traditional mormons kind of boggles my mind, bc they seemed to have left him to it, n he was (and still is) a big momma’s boy. like you can tell boyd loves his son but have you seen that man’s political views on twitter? omfg. i imagine he bit his tongue a lot around his youngest, and i wonder if b’s gender nonconformity played a role in b’s brothers coming to live with them (b, his 2 sisters, mom, dad) when he was 8. i bet grace (mom) stood up for him a lot, n that b was more feminine than his sisters (altho for sure there’d be a lot of shared interests with plays, the dress up box, n such).

3 notes · View notes

Last Seen Blogs

martilyongabo

fall into the hole with me

nerdsworld

Nerd's World 👾

twotreesgloomywater

figure skating

nomotiongroup

snergle

Cosplay & cute girls