#owen’s acting in this scene is literally just so <3

[david-talks-sw]

Disney Plus shows & structuring episodes

Everyone's always talking about "pacing issues" when it comes to some Disney Plus shows. Where does that come from? Here's me trying to put it into words.

So I've actually been working on this post since the last episode of Book of Boba Fett came out. Then, an editor on TikTok released his 2-hour cut of Obi-Wan Kenobi and that made a lot of buzz. The idea being: if this show feels like a 3.4 hour movie... why not just make it a feature film from the get-go? So I wrote some more. What made me finish this post was a chat I had with my sisters regarding She-Hulk's episode 2.

The youngest asked "what happened in She-Hulk episode 2"? We replied "well, she got a new job, and got a new case" and we started geeking out about Abomination and Bruce and all that stuff. But after we were all done going "and that's so cool/funny too" it occurred to us that literally nothing else of substance happened in that episode other than:

Jen gets fired from her job.

She-Hulk gets new job.

She-Hulk meets new client.

And that's it. Everything else is in the episode is set-up for these two/three plot points. And it takes them about 20 minutes.

For comparison, an episode of Community will use that same amount of time to tell you a whole story with a beginning, middle and end and two subplots.

Whereas the second She-Hulk episode seemingly ended in the middle of the second act.

And that's so typical of a lot of Disney Plus shows. There will be scenes that are literally just filler (I'm using the term very loosely), there to pad the runtime because not much is actually happening in the episode.

Like, in Loki.

Episode #3, they land on a doomed planed, they get off the doomed planet. Filler shenaningans on a train.

Episode #4, they're captured, they escape capture. Filler scenes with Sif slapping Loki.

Episode #5, they land in weird dimension, get out of weird dimension. Filler scenes with variants.

Episode #6, they meet big bad, listen to big bad, kill big bad. Filler scenes with Owen Wilson & big bad's overall weird.

Or Book of Boba Fett,

Episode #1, Boba heads to town and gets attacked.

Episode #2, Boba heads to town, sees mayor, meets Hutt rivals.

Episode #3, Boba heads to town, recruits goons, survives assassination, makes peace with Hutts, heads to town again, finds out Pikes are his actual rivals.

Then Episode #4, is a whole flashback that ends with a meeting where characters we already knew hated Boba say they won't help Boba, shocker.

Episode #5 and Episode #6 focus on Din, A WHOLE DIFFERENT CHARACTER...!

Episode #7, they fight off invading Pike forces, Boba kills his old rival/mentor, cementing his already-claimed position as crimelord. Filler scenes where Din needs to fight big robot + a whole bunch of other minor characters going pew pew.

Note: The first three episodes are intercut with flashbacks that pad the runtime. Episode #3 is the one where most stuff happens, and even then, it's repetitive and the length needs to be filled with the slowest speeder chase ever. Keep in mind, I didn't necessarily hate the show, you can read meta I wrote about it here and here for more detailed opinions.

Even Obi-Wan Kenobi,

Episode #1, Leia gets kidnapped and Obi-Wan hesitates to leave his post and go rescue her, until he finally does. Standard first act. Great.

Episode #2, he frees Leia.

Episode #3, they're about to escape but Vader shows up and Leia is kidnapped again.

Episode #4, he frees Leia.

Episode #5, they're about to escape but Empire shows up and Obi-Wan needs to help the rebels survive. He prepares a trap for Vader using Reva, and uses his past knowledge of Vader's personality to escape with the rebels.

Episode #6, Obi-Wan fights Vader to let the rebels get to safety, and defeats him, coming to terms Anakin is truly dead but there is still hope.

Note: Aside from the repeating beat where Obi-Wan saves Leia twice, most of the time-padding is done through a B-plot featuring Reva... but it barely ever directly impacts the A-plot. This detraction is less problematic than the other examples given further up, imo, and I have no problems with her storyline, in fact it parallels Anakin's beautifully as I write here. They're able to tie it back to Obi-Wan at the end, but throughout it's like I was watching a parallel story.

Now, bear in mind...

... Having those filler scenes isn't bad. By themselves, I like most of them. It's Star Wars and Marvel. I'll always love whatever they put in front of me, especially if it's got Obi-Wan.

And, hey we get character development in them! (although, ideally, the audience should see the character develop throughout a plot rather than being told about it through flashbacks or exposition-on-train scenes)

But it's just that... those scenes don't really impact the plot. And if the plot is basic or even paper-thin, that's when we have a problem because it makes for an unsatisfying viewing experience, as nothing substantial really happened.

And this is nothing more than a structural problem. These episodes aren't being treated as episodes in a series, they're "parts of a 10-hour movie".

Which brings me to the below quote by Erik Kripke (heated though it may be), which sums up my issue.

“The downside of streaming is that a lot of filmmakers who work in streaming didn’t necessarily come out of that network grind. They’re more comfortable with the idea that they could give you 10 hours where nothing happens until the eighth hour. That drives me f—ing nuts, personally. As a network guy who had to get you people interested for 22 f—ing hours a year, I didn’t get the benefit of, ‘Oh, just hang in there and don’t worry. The critics will tell you that by Episode 8, shit really hits the fan.’ Or anyone who says, ‘Well, what I’m really making is a 10-hour movie.’ F—k you! No you’re not! Make a TV show. You’re in the entertainment business.”

So bottom line: before streaming came along, whether it's a

serial TV show (usually hourlongs, each episode builds off of previous episodes, and sets up future episodes), an

episodic TV show (whose stories unfold in simply one episode, like half-hour sitcoms, or a medical/legal/police hourlong procedural shows) or a

hybrid TV show (incorporate length and overall season and episode structure of serialized shows, with the week-to-week component of episodic shows; think Scandal or Supernatural or Lucifer or The Blacklist or anything from The CW, wherein there's a monster/case-of-the-week component but there's also an overall arc that's tackled every episode, and an overarching villain every new season),

the episodes are structured with a teaser, beginning, middle and end, with a cliff-hanger at the end.

This is usually done using a 5-act structure (though there is some variety; some shows will be structured with a "teaser and 4 acts").

Prologue, Conflict sets in, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution. Six storytelling plot elements, classic.

And even with a 3-act structure, like in half-hour serials like Silicon Valley or sitcoms, you still have the same idea.

"Cat gets stuck up a tree, you throw pebbles at it, cat climbs down from the tree".

Basic stuff. It's not a dogmatic must, but that's pretty much it.

And in a serial, all these individual episodes, put together, form a season arc with its own beginning, middle and end, with its own rising action, climax, falling action and a cliffhanger.

This structure makes for a satisfying viewing experience.

Then streaming came along and this became less of a hard rule and more of a guideline. After all:

You don't have commercial breaks anymore, you don't have to split the episode up it into acts, if you don't want to. If you read a script from The Crown, for instance, there are no act breaks.

Also, with streaming comes binge-watching: you're not just watching one episode a week now, right? The episodes are released all at once. So people are consuming the series differently. They're watching the series like it's a really long movie. So the pressure of sticking to the above-listed formats isn't as strong, because the next episode is right around the corner.

But it's worth pointing out that Netflix released a document a short while ago for creators to know what to include in their pitches to them (you can download it here).

This includes an example of a season map.

Okay, so same thing. Rising action, climax, falling action. Great.

And the PDF also shows an example of how to structure your episodes, using Dan Harmon's story circle (Dan Harmon created Community and co-created Rick & Morty):

Even with the story circle, which follows a 3-act structure, there's a self-contained element to the stories Netflix tells; beginning, middle and an end, the characters have an arc.

And while Harmon himself uses it for half-hour sitcom episodes, the diagram shows that even serialized hourlongs adhere to this.

So where's the problem?

The problem is that with many (not all) Disney Plus shows, this structure has been completely abandoned... but the shows aren't even being released all at once!

And this is... not ideal :D

Because the episodes don't follow any particular structure, so by and large you don't have the satisfaction of having seen a full episode with a start, middle and ending. You've just seen a cluster of scenes, wrangled around one or two plot points, with a cliff-hanger.

"Stuff happened and now the episode is over."

And when structure is thrown out the window, that's where the pacing issues come in, right? Scenes that should only be 15-20 minutes tops are padded so they run for 30. Scenes that should only be 3 minutes instead last 10. The episodes don't stick to any particular length. They seem to be paced like hourlongs but then they have the length of half-hours every other time?

Which wouldn't be an issue if the whole show was released at once and you could watch the next episode right away.

Proof: people who binge-watched Obi-Wan Kenobi or rewatched it all from the top or watched a "feature cut" all LOVED it.

So it's clearly not the content, it's the pacing, which wouldn't be problematic if you're watching this like a 10-hour movie.

But the episodes are released weekly!

It's like watching a movie, and after, like, 7 scenes... your parent turns the TV off "okay, you'll watch the rest next week" when you were just about to get to the good part.

*CLICK* turned off.

So the next week you're watching the good part, but you don't have those 7 scenes leading up to it, you're literally just starting there, so it's not as good.

Then right after the good part, one scene later, TV is turned off again.

*CLICK* off.

And you're back the next week opening on them licking their wounds.

It's not just frustrating, it lessens the impact of the movie. It's "keep watching these scene groupings and eventually it'll add up to a sort-of complete story if you wait a month."

That's not an enjoyable viewing experience.

For comparison, Mare of Easttown on Amazon was also a limited serial with a weekly release, like Disney Plus shows. But in those episodes there's a clear teaser, beginning, middle, resolution and a cliff-hanger. Only Murders in the Building on Hulu isn't limited, but it is serialized and released weekly: same deal structure-wise.

THOSE were enjoyable viewing experiences.

So at this point, like, either they:

Keep the "10-hour movie" formula and release the show all at once, so it can be binge-watched.

Format the episodes more like network ones and keep the weekly releases, thus keeping it satisfying to consume.

Because this current release strategy isn't working, if the number of people complaining about "pacing" is indicative of anything.

Of course, they'll do neither, because it totally IS working, isn't it?

After all, the goal isn't telling a story properly or making an enjoyable viewing experience, it's getting more subscriptions, more money. People keep tuning in every week? Yes? Cool. Let's settle for that.

On the contrary, more streaming services are now adopting the weekly release over the all-at-once (but again, they're structuring the shows well, so it's not a problem).

But I'm hopeful.

A friend, yesterday, told me Miss Marvel doesn't fall in this pattern, so hey, Imma watch it, while also hoping that Andor is gonna go about it better too. And I've got a good feeling about The Mandalorian Season 3. Fingers crossed!

Edit: Saw the first three episodes of Andor... same issue. It wasn't three episodes, it was ONE episode, split into three. Like, on the one hand I really, REALLY liked these three episodes (and I am usually "meh" by default on any SW content that doesn't involve a lightsaber), the acting is magnificent, it's seriously all great TOP quality stuff… but it’s paced like an hourlong episode (which is cool) but has only 30 mins length (which is also not bad if all episodes were released at once) and you have to wait a week to see the next episode. Like, don't get me wrong, the pacing is GREAT, in theory. It’s just that it should go hand-in-hand with either/both a longer length, different structure and an all-at-once release.

#I think I should point out that I'm not blaming the writers of these shows #i get the feeling this way of structuring shows has been imposed on them #long post #meta #disney plus #star wars #marvel #screenwriting #filmmaking

[spinningerster]

notes from last night (29/7 evening show)

fun random little things I wanna mention

• did matinee stage door and met so many cast members, they were all so lovely!

• mukeni was just casually walking around the foyer talking on the phone

• we got a bereal with him after the show

• also no joke I was sat next to mukeni's mum - she was lovely! we chatted a little before and after the show

• at stage door after the show archie went past on his scooter and everyone cheered

onto the show notes!!

• matthew gave me a cast pape 🥺

• was right up in the immersion (manhattan row P) and didn't know where to look at some points. like during WWK morgan was basically right in my face. damon was in front of me like twice. (fr would've worn my finch shirt instead if I would have known.) him, lucy & lillie were in front of me in once and for all and I didn't know where to look so just focused on michael on the stage 😂

• ryan went past me after kony but I didn't realise it was him until after nesim & bronte went past lol

• michael & matthew ran past me at one point (during carrying the banner iirc)

• three of them ran past me during seize the day (just before crutchie got arrested) but honestly I have no idea who it was 😂

• there was a bit (think it was just before jack, davey & les ran away from snyder) where matthew was just. laying on the floor?? like where the little banister is for the bronx

• morgan albert. LOVED him. he was brilliant. he killed it

• "that is not nice...morris."

• "and who wants brooklyn?" mark proceeded to spend 5 minutes putting a blindfold on. like the scene had moved on from that bit and he was still tying it

• "who's the big spender that ordered the seltzer?" morgan: starts drumming the table "OVA HERE"

• "two cents? for a glass o' seltzer??"

• bobbie was on vocal rest so no splint rip

• she was absolutely hilarious though. "have you seen this boss? these kids put out a pretty good...nope nevermind goodbye!"

• "and such language, which they should not be using -"

• "he doesn't do happiness, does he?" hannah chuckled which made the audience laugh

• hannah started a sing song when they were leaving pulitzers office

• HECAYNTTAWKHELLCALLYABAYCK

• during the fight scene someone jumped onto and then over the cart (think it was spencer but not sure)

• les: "buy a pape from a poor orphan boy." davey: "hey he ain't an orphan??"

• OH MY GOD RYAN. forgot how much I absolutely love his davey

• "your girl?" "YOU HEARD ME!"

• like act 2 davey was SO SASSY. "oooh, so what does that make you?"

• oh yes. above. flip. the. flip. fold. flip.

• him and jack were like a comedy duo in act 2

• "I'm told we once shared a carriage ride." "TOLD YA"

• damon finch my beloved <3 so happy I got to see him he was amazing

• josh blew some of his smoke into nun bobbie's face

• OH THE CUTEST MOMENT. at the end when jack is like 'we won!' specs immediately hugged ritz and then hugged a few other people it was adorable

• when jack told them to vote 'no' mack literally had to hold spot back it was so funny

• mike was the last person to leave after jack betrayed them at the rally and he gave jack such a dirty look

• matt threw the paper for bronte to catch in kony but she missed and it fell to the ground

• michael jack. my absolute beloved. he was so comedic like the way he said certain lines was so entertaining

• there were like two wolf whistles when jack & katherine kiased in stbi

• michael and bronte were so giggly in the start of the finale scene it was so cute

• final nesim performance. what a little star he is

• in the bit after carrying the banner when davey, les & jack are talking the delanceys (aka morris) was basically like just throwing the papers at the newsies

• officially in love with pips. she did a little star jump during brooklyns here it was so cute. AND HER OUTFIT?? obsessed

• background moments during the bows/curtain call: matthew didn't make the shot. morgan & owen did a funky lil dance. lindsay, lucy, sam, jamie and someone else (they were off to the side so couldn't see who it was) did the wave

#if anyone else was at the show and got a cheeky lil audio politely extending my hand out #newsies #newsies uk

[mazeowen]

hi :3

7, 20 & 16 for the violence ask game

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

Well, this is actually incredible considering this happens in like, literally every other fandom I’m in, but Outsiders doesn’t have one of those for me! The contrary actually happened to me, with me beginning to like Magic more because of how mean the YouTube comments could be to her character!

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

Okay, I fully believe that everyone who says Owen’s talk with Magic before dying was just him pretending to be regretful so he could leave and commit more murder is wrong. Like…the man did not have Anime Flashbacks to the good times with those he betrayed while screaming and crying about how he didn’t want to remember and out loud say “I…was a tool” for the outside world for nothing. He was devastated over what he did, and I do think he regretted it even if he wouldn’t acknowledge that.

It’s just that he also lied, playing into the Maze Owen/Soldier Owen division thing, so he could actually have a chance of getting tf out since there was no way anyone would believe his self realization speedrun. Well, not that it mattered, in the end. In a way, he’d be happier if he died ignorant. (Obviously it’s not like his entire worldview changed, but he acknowledged a lot of the things he was repressing in that prison. What being faced with death and all your loved ones saying “yo bitch you’re wrong” can do to a mf)

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

The fanon thing where the c!owen pre-memories and post-memories contrast is taken to the extreme and made as like. An actual division, treating them like atp 2 different people. “Maze Owen” didn’t die when “Soldier Owen” awakened, because the fact that he chose to ignore and repress his care for The Clearing’s demons upon remembering his murder past doesn’t change that he still cared. It shows in multiple scenes, even before the finale.

It’s just that…sometimes, love isn’t enough, and someone’s hatred, refusal to change their worldview and thirst for revenge can make them forget all the love they once had.

#outsiders smp #c!owen #outsiders owen #edit: TUMBLR SHOULD HAVE POSYED THIS DAYS AGO ARE YOU KIDDING ME #asks

[jurassic-park-incorrect-quotes]

On the scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate Jurassic World Dominion?

(This becomes a very long post that goes all over the place, so I apologise. If your attention span is as short as mine, I won’t be offended if you just “too long, didn’t read”)

This is actually quite difficult for me to answer, because I’m easy to please when it comes to films - if I had fun watching it then to me it was a good film. And I had a lot of fun watching Dominion. So I’ll try putting on a logical head for this one.

Spoiler free opinion: 8/10

I’ll go more in depth with my opinion which means I will openly talk about stuff that happened in the film. So serious spoiler warning! (All you asked was to rate the film out of 10 but I guess I’m going full opinion time!)

Ok. I loved this film. Seeing Alan, Ellie and Ian back as main characters was OF COURSE a big part of that. I also loved seeing the dinosaurs in the world, how they were with the humans and other animals. And I liked that the ending was “so yeah. Nothing’s changed from the beginning. Dinosaurs are in our world now so deal with it.” With the exception that the humans and animals were no longer fighting back. The parallel between the beginning where the horses were being used to round up the Paras and the end where they’re a unified herd was great. And I liked Alan’s last look at a little girl playing with a dinosaur. It was him seeing that dinosaurs and man could co exist.

The amount of different dinosaurs was great! And the animatronics were. Top. Notch. That giga animatronic is beautiful. The scene where Maisie is with those workers and they watch the brachiosaurus in solemn silence was really nice actually. I liked the lack of dialogue. You could hear some indistinguishable shouts in the background and Maisie whispers to that one guy about the flare, but the fact you couldn’t hear what any of them were saying was just a nice way of showing what was going on without the brachiosaurus’ majestic moment being sullied by dialogue. It was just a nice gentle moment. I like how the franchise has used brachiosaurus as a symbol of peace amongst humans and dinosaurs since the Sleeping in the Tree scene in the first one. I feel like every time they show a brachiosaurus dying, it symbolises current animosity between the humans and dinosaurs - see: Jurassic World + JW: Fallen Kingdom. So maybe this little scene shows us (foreshadows??) that humans and dinosaurs can find a way to co exist. Maybe I’m thinking way too deeply into this.

Another thing I really liked was the family dynamic between Claire, Owen and Maisie. I felt this was the film where I liked Owen the most (don’t get me wrong, I liked his character a lot in the last two films, unpopular an opinion that is in the fandom). He felt more mature and grown up, less selfish and less quips, and I haven’t seen anyone actually acknowledge that yet. Although, that’s probably due to him being played by Chris Pratt and I understand that separating actor from character can be hard - a post for a different time.

As I was saying, I liked their little family. It was shocking to actually see a Jurassic Park couple stay together from the previous film. A first in the franchise I think! I’ve enjoyed Claire’s story throughout the 3 films, and it hasn’t ever felt forced to me. Trying to make up for treating the dinosaurs as money making attractions rather than the animals they are is a simple but good idea to make her character likeable. Maisie was a little grating at the beginning - girl, they’re literally trying to protect you! You are old enough to understand why they’re not letting you beyond the bridge! - but I could understand why she was fed up. Bet they didn’t even have WiFi in that cabin.

The bad guys were good enough, and they served their purposes. It would’ve been nice to see Dodgson act like book Dodgson though. The nice, friendly Dodgson when he’s welcoming Alan and Ellie to BioSyn, but in truth is cold-hearted and has no qualms about letting his underlings die to progress his company. That way I feel like his death would’ve been much more satisfying (don’t get me wrong I was grinning like a maniac the entire scene. It was still good to see an end to the guy responsible for starting the franchise).

Alan, Ellie and Ian were damn near perfect in this film and I’m disappointed that we only got the one scene of just the three of them together - a scene that was mainly Ellie and Ian talking plot related stuff while Alan was arguing with a barista (on behalf of all baristas, I apologise. You are my favourite character of the entire franchise Alan. I love you). Don’t get me wrong, I found that really funny, and it fits Alan’s character - see: Alan + Computers in the first film - but I wanted a whole scene of three of them. Maybe they’re discussing something together, and then the conversation escalates to Alan and Ian getting into one of their classic arguments until they realise Ellie’s gone quiet. And she’s just stood watching them like “… you guys done?” And then they split.

And then of course, they needed a second scene of them either:

Traversing the lands, somehow separated from the Jurassic World characters, where they maybe talk about how they never actually did the whole “surviving dinosaur infested jungle” thing together. Alan did it first with just Lex and Tim and then the second time the entirety of JP3, Ellie did it with Muldoon (rip) for a short while, and Ian only really did it in The Lost World, as he was resting up injured since Rexy broke out in the first film. They could come across Rexy, either as a short Dino hunt scene or as maybe just a nostalgic scene (she could be sleeping or something when they come across her and they realise she’s the same one from JP due to her age and scars)

There wouldn’t have been time, but it would’ve been cool if they’d taken the tour with Ian and we get a call back to the three of them in the car, maybe Ian flirting with Ellie a little and Alan is less than impressed. Or maybe it could have been a really nice catching up bit. Ellie telling them about her kids growing up and being in college and what she’s up to. Ian telling them about his own kids, perhaps slipping in something about his daughter Kelly having been with him on Sorna. At least give us a hint as to what Sarah’s up to? Are they still together? Where is she? It would be nice. And then Ian asks Alan what he’s up to and he just says he’s doing what he’s always been doing, and leaves it at that. Again, they could see Rexy while on the tour and like I said before, is just a nice throw back moment. I would say they could go through the lab area and try going in to see it, breaking in, but at that point it would just be ripping scenes from the first one (but man do I love the three of them simultaneously breaking out the seats. They’re so great I love them!)

The throwbacks and references to the old films were really nicely done, I thought! First of all, they didn’t just reference the first film. A lot of “final” films in a franchise do the whole nostalgia awakening thing, but they usually just use stuff from the first one - aka the most well known and liked one. But they didn’t. In fact there was a surprising amount of JP3 references! E.g. Billy’s 3D printed raptor vocal chamber thingy was on Alan’s desk in his tent, and you can’t tell me you didn’t hear Amanda Kirby screaming “BEN?!?!?!” in your head when Claire was hanging in the parachute from the tree. I thought overall, the references were tasteful and not forced in your face. You could say the giga hunting them around the car was directly ripped from Rexy’s after-Gennaro car tossing, but I felt there was enough difference for it to once again be a nice throwback. Actually, I like that scene a whole lot. It’s one of the bits where the film especially feels like a Jurassic Park movie, which to me wasn’t felt all the way through the film (more on that later). I liked how real Maisie was when the giga was chomping down on the bars around her. I didn’t blame her for freezing in terror, and I thought the acting from her in that bit was really good! However I didn’t like the film making me think Ian was going to die. Felt for sure like the film was going to go “haha! The original characters aren’t immortal! Nostalgia won’t save them from being eaten! They’re all in the same boat” but I’m really glad they didn’t do that.

I’m surprised they sidelined Blue for the entire movie! She basically just said “you better get my kid back” and dipped. I think it was for the best, she wouldn’t have fit in with everything else going on. But she was such a big part of Jurassic World and Fallen Kingdom, and after seeing the raptors in all three JP films as lethal and to be avoided at all costs, it was a big thing to see a raptor/keeper relationship that wasn’t based on mutual hatred (Muldoon and the Big One were totally Owen and Blue’s opposites). Not to mention the toys and other money making products they got from her, it was quite shocking for her to be absent and unmentioned for the majority of the film.

I liked how they had Rexy win against the Giga, honestly! She had to win, because she is the Queen of Jurassic Park, obviously. But this jester prancing about in her court was bigger than her and a lot younger than her. Rexy was there from the beginning and she’s been in a few tough fights! The Big One gave Rexy iconic scars but she was young and had a massive advantage at that time. When she was up against the Indominous, she was fairly old and almost didn’t make it. And then with the Giga, she had been through and suffered a lot, and she was even older. Yet she still got a bit of damage in there. I was about to throw hands when they made it look like she had been killed. I liked that the Therizinosaurus got some hits in before Rexy got up to finish the giga off. It was a good way of killing the Giga without taking the moment away from the franchise’s most iconic dinosaur, even when the odds were against her. In true Rexy fashion, as seen with Blue, that one Carno and now the Therizinosaurus, she gave her assisting Dino a nod and let them go. I just hope that Alan, Ellie and Ian saw the end of that fight, I don’t want them thinking Rexy died. And she’s got family now? She’s not the only T-Rex any more?? Good stuff. She’s the Matriarch of that little family for sure.

Now for some things that brought down my opinion to an 8/10.

The characters should’ve all met up a lot sooner, I felt. Just as you were settling into the story of the Jurassic World characters, it would cut to scenes of the OG 3 and you were immediately sucked into it. So when it cut back you had to try and focus on them while trying not to wish it would go back to Alan, Ellie and Ian. If they’d met up sooner, you’d be able to focus on the Jurassic World characters’ stories as well as get more OG 3 content.

The plot line with Maisie and her mum. I did like it and found it interesting. But honestly it felt like I was watching a different film entirely. It didn’t feel like I was watching a Jurassic Park film, just another SciFi. I mean, I get that if they can clone dinosaurs from incomplete dna, then they can do it with humans, and I liked how they tied in “filling the gaps in the genome sequence” thing. But there was something about that plot line. I don’t know.

Disappointed we didn’t get any information on some of the other main characters from past films. When we saw Barry again, we got to see quick pictures of Vivian and Lowery, which was nice, but. How about Sarah Harding? Or maybe Zach and Gray? Or most of all, Timmy and Lex? Couldn’t they have asked Ariana if she didn’t mind putting down the paintbrush to do a small cameo? And I’m sure Joe Mazzelo would have loved to have at least done a scene. He still put Jurassic Park pictures and stuff on his Social Media. He’s still an actor! Timmy and Lex were iconic. And Claire could’ve at least had a line or something where she tells Owen that she was talking to her sister on the phone and that the boys are doing ok. But I am at least grateful we got our original 3 back.

The film kind of forgot that Alan was a beacon of survival in the franchise. His knowledge of dinosaurs helped them survive in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park ///. “We look for your son… in the direction he’s going” - Mr Udeski, 2001, gone but not forgotten. You stick with Alan, you do as he says, you live to tell the tale. It would’ve been great to have a “what do we do?” scene where they all just turn and look expectantly at Alan. Instead, he was just kind of there to do… not a lot of Dino related stuff to be honest. Ellie told him to get the locust, so he did, He could’ve tested Maisie’s knowledge of dinosaurs when they were just the three of them, like he did with Timmy. Or he could’ve had a scene to himself, a moment to remind the audience who the original Main Character was from the first film. I just love Alan so much, he needs the recognition he deserves!

They never found out what Dodgson did. They never found out that he hired Nedry. Imagine a scene where the OG 3 find that out and absolutely tear him a new one between the three of them. Alan, Ellie and Ian went through way too much in this franchise for them not to get the chance to verbally eviscerate Dodgson for his greed and desire to be ahead in the genetics race. That, along with them tweaking his character to be more like his book self, would just make it perfect. I’d eat it up. His “Dennis Nedry sends his regards” Dilo death was chef’s kiss though. I’d keep all that for sure!

I don’t know if it was just me but… there weren’t that many kills. The most we got was the breakout in Malta. BioSyn was full of Red Shirt employees! But they just got sent home? Did I miss a massacre or was this film just really merciful? Maybe it’s because the group was full of main characters from the pat films so they couldn’t kill off anyone there. So like, have some characters of note amongst the BioSyn workers and University students who get eaten! It just surprised me how so few people died in the final film of the Jurassic Park franchise.

Now for some miscellaneous things I couldn’t write a paragraph on:

I liked Alan and Ellie with Maisie. It was nice to see 2 characters from the very beginning, who had seen everything throughout the franchise, with a character who was not only new, but only just starting her life really. Thinking about it, Maisie was quite lucky! She got parents in her first film, and grandparents in her second! Nice. It would’ve been good to see Alan have a moment with her, maybe bringing back the whole “Alan isn’t good with kids but hey, he’s trying!”

Barry. Is. Back! And it was great to see him. Was very scared they were going to kill him off, although death by raptor would’ve been fitting. Sorry you never got to say goodbye to Delta, Barry. :(

Where did Zia go??? She was in the one scene at the beginning and then disappeared. Glad to see my boy Franklin again, shame we didn’t get to see his bestie Zia though.

Pleasantly surprised they let Dodgson’s protégée guy live. I was prepared to say goodbye as soon as we met him. He was prime Red Shirt material.

I liked how they branched out from just Dinosaurs! Of course Pterasaurs have been in for a while, and there was the Mosasaurus, but seeing the cute little Diictodon (took me back to Primeval with Sid and Nancy) in Malta was nice, and the Dimetrodon drowning itself to do a JP3 Spinosaurus reference was cool too! (Although I was a little disappointed it wasn’t an actual Spino. I know there’s no way a Spino would fit in those mines, and it did defy everything by killing a T-Rex, but I did love it. The roar, the design… it was cool).

Carno/Allo team up (Think it was an Allo)! Literally looked at each other like “it’s you and me against the world” before eating people left right and centre. Hope they’re doing ok.

Speaking of, I want to just gently hold the baby Carno. Even if it bites me. Dinosaur King taught me the Carnotaurus love!

I also want a Dimorphodon to sit on my arm like a parrot so we can also stare at strangers walking past like an old pirate in a tavern.

Alan triangulating around Beta with Owen and Maisie was great. You could see the respect he has for the creature, the fear he has for it, and the amazement that he’s helping control a Velociraptor all at the same time. Like, he’s seen the intelligence of these creatures and he’s seen them kill. He’s studied them and their habits. And now he has a measure of control over one. I just really liked that. This is just me as a Muldoon fan, but he could’ve slipped in a line like “Robert would be turning in his grave if he knew we were trying to save this thing” but hey it’s not too big of a deal.

I reckon, if they did want to confirm that kid from the first film was Owen, they could’ve done it in the same scene. When Alan was saying that they now know Raptors went straight for the throat instead of gutting, Owen could’ve said something about how he didn’t need to traumatise him with the raptor claw fossil when he was a kid. Would’ve put Owen in the Alan Grant Fanclub right next to Eric and Timmy, who he quotes - “I read your book” - and would explain how he got the job at Jurassic World in the first place. A tough navy guy who’s interest in Velociraptors means he knows stuff about them too. It just works.

I was kind of disappointed when Owen showed up and scared off those Dilos, kind of felt like “ok, there you go, years of wanting the dilophosaurus back and now you’ve had your scene. Shove off.” So I thought, hey, we’ve seen them again after all these years (not just a hologram), I am happy! Just hearing those little chirrups filled my heart right up. Shame they’ve only ever claimed Dennis. But I thought too soon! Very satisfying that the dinosaur that killed the guy he hired also came for him too. Just a shame we never saw a body or anything like that.

I’m actually surprised how happy I was to see Wu get a good ending. He was never a bad guy per se, but you did sort of think that if he died, he’d deserve it. Or I did, anyway. So to see how run down and exhausted he was, as well as how much he wanted to do something good with his work, it was really nice to see him fix one of his mistakes. That bit where he was celebrating in the end, throwing his hands up in excitement and relief? I was happy for him. Hope he got to retire somewhere nice and peaceful.

Can you believe this film cuts out TellTale’s Jurassic Park: The Game from being canon? Because I know Rexy crushed that can. Unless Dodgson hired someone to make an old Barbasol can look like it had been buried in mud, he must have recovered it when Jurassic World was being built. How he managed to sneak in and get it i don’t know. And why he’d go through the effort of recovering it when the embryos inside are useless. He’s sentimental I guess. I can understand that. Really added to his death scene.

I liked how it ended. There’s enough there to make another film if they wanted to, but also, it’s a really nice way to end it all. It all ties back to stuff talked about in the first film. I love it.

And one last thing before this whole thing is finally posted: it’s been 29 years since Jurassic Park was released. Despite being a couple in the first one, Alan and Ellie never kissed - cause, you know. They were stuck on an island with dinosaurs killing people all over the place, they didn’t have time to kiss (not looking at you Claire and Owen. People being attacked and killed by pterasaurs everywhere, not a good time to be making out). I think that’s why there’s a slew of people who are adamant Alan and Ellie were never a couple, somehow ignoring the whole “Ellie wants kids but Alan doesn’t” thing throughout the film. Strange running theme to have between two characters who are just friends right? Anyway, our hopes were dashed by Jurassic Park /// annoyingly following book canon. So thank you, Jurassic World: Dominion, for giving us that Alan x Ellie kiss we’ve been waiting for since 1993. And it happened when they were nice and safe away from dinosaurs. In the cinema I was in, someone literally said “it’s about time!” When she kissed him. Cause yeah, it was. Alan and Ellie are canon, y’all.

8/10 overall

Great film (in my opinion)

#hey…. #you reading this? #you got this far? #I’m sorry #all you wanted was a rating #anything I missed I’ll just turn into a separate post #not a quote #jurassic park #jurassic world #jurassic world dominion #jurassic world dominion spoilers #dominion spoilers #Jurassic world: dominion #long post

[youremyonlyhope]

I have ONE complaint about Volume 1 of Stranger Things 4:

Not enough Will.

This show is still underutilizing Will. The best part of Season 2 was that we got to finally focus on Will. And what did it show us? That Noah is a fantastic actor! That kid has major acting chops! All of his possession scenes were incredible. I was sure he’d get an Emmy nomination and I was devastated he didn’t. But at the time I thought “Well, he’ll get one for Season 3.”

Then he was given no substance in Season 3. We got nothing besides his Spidey sense tingling when the Mind Flayer was up to stuff and then him crying at the end when they left for California (which tore my heart out). So I thought, “Ok, in Season 4 we’ll DEFINITELY get more of him.”

Sure. We got a bit more of him. But my god they’re still not giving him the attention and screen time he deserves! Like when the kids found out that Dr. Owens was back and got Eleven out of jail, the camera zoomed in on Mike’s reaction to hearing about Dr. Owens first. What about Will?! The kid that Dr. Owens literally studied and tried to help! The reason Dr. Owens knows who Eleven is because he was brought in to treat Will! I wanted to see Will’s initial reaction to Dr. Owens’ name first! Will is the more relevant character here!

I get that Will as a character is shy and soft spoken, but the show needs to give him more. He and the rest of the California group weren’t even in episode 7 at all! I need more. If he’s gonna be pining over Mike, give me more! If he’s supposed to be El’s one friend in California, show me more of their friendship! He definitely still has trauma after being in the Upside Down and being possessed, but after Season 2 ended they basically pretended nothing happened to him and that he was fine (if just a bit more shy), when he shouldn’t even be remotely recovered yet! Give me more! I want him to confront everyone with how he feels about this whole Upside Down business since we never get to hear from him! Give. Me. More. Will! More more more!

So I hope Volume 2 gives us the Will content that we deserve.

#stranger things #stranger things 4 #stranger things spoilers #st spoilers #will byers #will is literally the only character in any media that i call 'my son' or 'my child' #every other character i love is 'my baby' or 'my love' or 'my everything' or whatever. but Will has always been my son #and i want more for my son #give me more #the reason i started to cry at the end of season 3 was seeing Will cry while saying goodbye #then everything else in that last sequence just made me cry harder until i was sobbing so hard that crying wasn't enough #and i started hitting my couch in an effort to get the pain out. but that cry started because of Will. i couldn't handle my son crying.

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

Hey guys xD

LOL "pain is a stimulant" xDD

As he deserves tbh, so valid 😌😌 >:))

Aww PHEW yeah she's fine 😅🥰🥰

At first I thought somehow she got a scrape or something on her head but it was just Tommy checking her eyes lol

Thank goodness <333

Y'all all did it, but you especially Grace :'))

You put in the effort form the very beginning <333

My girl 😭❤️❤️🥰

LOL yeah how to explain this to your husband XD

OPE there he is now XD rip girl good luck lol

AWW themmm 😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🥰🥰🥰🥰

Y'all I literally love them so much <333

I can't even 😭😭❤️❤️❤️

Awww themm :'))

Nah I mean they did help but they weren't the ones who were here first xD

Lol Judd sounds like he's boutta go for him xD

LOL he is XDD

I mena he did show up but FAIRRR lol xD

HE <333

Judd of course 🥰🥰❤️

He loves her so much :')) :'DDD

YESS it is a skill that can be earned 🥰🥰

What a slay honestly :'DD

YESS now go home y'all deserve it 😭🥰❤️ xDD

My idiots <33

But also of course they're very smart, Judd too but Grace specifically right now :')) like focusing on her lol

My babeys :')) ❤️❤️❤️ <3

Aww hey guys :))

Lol xDX

I mean you are stealing it from him xD

LOL yep see xD

Ooh that sounds good

I mean y'all are acting like it's good lol xD

Good for y'all :))

Ooh interesting activities :D

Fun I mean not like weird lol

OPE :o

Oof yeah it is expensive xdd

Okay I don't actually think he's part of the trafficking ring but still this is sus xdd

I don't think he's trying to distract Owen or something even though I did first think that automatically that's just because this show has broken my trust one to many times XDD

But nah not genuinely

Oof still sucks though xd

OOPE :OO so THAT'S what we were focusing on there lol

I figured something had to go wrong or be revealed for this scene to exist xD and also because I don't think that the journal and such count as revealing information about the family lol

Anyway D: oh no it's like a disease or something isn't it? Like Parkinson's or something DD:

HUNTINGTON'S???

ಠ⁠oಠ

I

Oh my gosh

Oh C R A P

This ain't good 😭😭😭😭

Aww dude I'm sorry :((

Ohh that's where the pause earlier at the name came from 😭 he was forgetting his daughter's name 😭😭 that sucks dude I'm so sorry :'((

That's so sad 😭

Ahh died with it but not from it :'((

And passed it on to you guys xdd

But YEAH BACK TO NO OFFENSE SIR THE MORE IMPORTANT PART: ITS HEREDITARY

OHHHHH NOOOOOOO 😭😭😭

TK AND OWENNNNN 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH

I am S T R E S S E D this is not okay 😭😭😭😭 DDDD':

I'm sorry though guys :'(( for all of you <33

Not like sorry for but sorry for as well I mean just this sorry is addressed to all three of them xd

And I mena his family too now that I think about it

Even if you guys don't have it :'((

Because like there's a chance they won't get it

Pretty darn 99.9% sure on that XD

Well 100% really xD but anyway

I'm sorry y'all 😭😭😭❤️💔

But aww yeah he does still want to spend time with you that's not the only reason he came down :')

While he still can though as well probably

So it's probably still a bit of the reason xd

Yup :'(( xd 😭😭😭

You're gonna be fine :')

Nah you guys are gonna be fiiine :')))

This is fine 😌

You're gonna be fine :'D

This is gonna be fine :) :')

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I'm not okay :'))

#9-1-1 lone star #911 lone star #oasis's 9-1-1 chatter #this reason this took so long to catch up on is because I kept having to pause to think about the ending snd the promo xdd #or stress about it and be in shock anyway lol

[kyofsonder]

🎃🌙

Thank you for the ask, and the chance to talk about my writing!

🎃: Do you have a favorite brainstorming technique? How do you like to gather ideas for your WIP?

A: Generally, I brainstorm in 1 or a combination of these 3 ways

Acting out my characters living through scenes I plan to write/acting out a scholar giving a lecture on a worldbuilding topic -- this method is embarrassing if I get caught, but it helps me to keep character voices and behaviors consistent and get an academic tone in my worldbuilding. It also gets me into a character's emotional state, so the tone of my writing feels more natural.

Asking myself/my headmates/my friends "what if..." then brainstorming from there. Using feedback to refine my ideas if it's offered. "What if this plot hole was actually a plot twist?" or "What if the reason the MC did x is because of y?" or "What if I completely changed this one character's backstory?" That kind of leading question can get some good results, especially when I'm asking fellow writers.

Suddenly realizing, in the middle of doing something else entirely, that I have an idea and either immediately writing everything that comes to mind in a "development" document or desperately repeating it in my head until I can write. I both love and hate this method, because it's fun to get that spark of inspiration but disappointing when you look back and don't understand half of what you were trying to write.

🌙: Do any of your OCs have dark backstories or secrets they're trying to keep?

A: Most of them have at least one of these things, if not both. I seem to have my characters running from their pasts pretty often, and that past needs to be something heavy or constricting enough for them to want to run away. A lot of this makes it on-page, sometimes as part of the current plot and other times as a memory for my characters. Some details for specific characters under the cut.

A Place to Return

Owen's dark backstory happens on-page, although he keeps plenty of secrets before that point. It's a bit of a spoiler to say what happens to him, but he blames himself for it and... doesn't deal with it well. He does some less than moral things, himself. He also keeps it secret even from his journal partner. This adds onto his secret about having a journal partner/body swapping partner at all. Leo's dark backstory is unknown even to him, and gets revealed closer to the end of the novel -- it involves the antagonist(s) of the story trying to use him for science when he was a baby, then later doing the same with his little sister. Any more detail would be, again, spoilers.

To Be Honest

Micah's dark backstory is revealed early, and details gradually come to light as his dreams of the past continue. The more he reminisces and faces what happens, the more you learn about the night his familiar and his older brother went missing. River's dark backstory still makes me angry to write, in a terrible and cathartic way, but it's something Micah and his friends help him deal with when his past comes after him. It involves his nature as a changeling, and people he thought he'd never have to see again.

Apricots

Ian's dark backstory is the loss of Jess, which happens right before the novel starts, but he's experienced another loss before this. His dad died when he was very young, and while he's mostly made his peace with that it's a part of his past that influences some plot points in the novel. His secret is that he's using magic to travel between timelines, which he only keeps secret from most people so certain enemies don't notice him as a threat.

Stray Identities

Stray is literally on the run from his tyrannical government that can't decide if it wants to make him a figurehead or execute him, and he's lost plenty of people while fleeing. Some to that government, some to their own wars, some to age. Marco, whose identity Stray takes on, even dies as soon as they meet. Stray is trying to pretend he's just Marco now, and no trace of his past remains. He keeps so many secrets he's lost track of them all.

* * * *

Motivated by This Ask: 522 words

Total Written Due to Asks: 18,793 words

#writing #ask game #october writing asks #sonder speaks #sonder stories #I might have gotten a little carried away on the dark backstories #as I usually do #also #the acting things out is a habit from childhood #my headmates are my audience #my room is the stage #I am #the entire cast #it works pretty well #bonus fact #Leo is more upset to learn about his sister #than about himself #he doesn't remember it anyway #but his sister has suffered thanks to that #he won't take that lying down #even if he will hold Owen back from acfual murder #he doesn't cross that line

[these-are-the-first-steps]

*Claps hands* OK, LET'S TALK about the Obi-wan show...

This show is a mixed bag in every sense of the word, all the way down to acting, script, presentation, etc. So let's get as briefly as possible into it:

(MASSIVE SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT-- good things talked about at the end. Proceed with caution!!!)

Acting: This is probably the strangest bit of the whole show- either you have people absolutely killing it like Ewan McGregor (obligatory), Indira Varma (standout for such a brief time on screen as our regretful Imperial officer), and Baby Leia herself Vivien Blair, or you're stuck with really, and I mean really, stiff performances like whatever's going on with all those inquisitor actors. Then there's folks like Kumail Nanjiani who does a great and admirable job as Haja trying his best to throw a little bit of light comic relief into an extremely dark story. It's truly a bizarre, full-spectrum of acting abilities both good, bad, and in the middle. And the episodes are only about 30 min long so the whiplash from talent to talent really hits you like a mack truck. It's really, really weird. Was this cast in a hurry? I don't know what to make of it. "Bizarre" really is the best word for it.

Script: 30 minute show, but there's this remarkable "hurry up and wait" aspect to every episode. Either things are happening break-neck or we're spending 50 fucking years in a chase scene. I was actively fast-forwarding through a lot of those moments of just....people aimlessly running around very fast or slinking around very slowly....and missed absolutely nothing. And yet there's this feeling, this press, that somehow they *still* didn't "have enough time" to do everything they wanted in an episode? God forbid you cut down one of those chase scenes, though- the whole show might collapse! /sarcasm

The lines are also interesting, and I believe there's a strong correlation between their quality and the actor saying them as goes with a lot of the nature of star wars- but not always. One of the final lines of ep. 3 of "Now we'll never catch him!!" was so fucking random and cliche- not to mention wrong!! (y'all have been chasing his ass across planets for three episodes- what do you mean one more jump makes it suddenly impossible now? What?? xDD), that I actually laughed out loud when I heard it. Absolutely terrible. But then on the other side you have great performances out of Ewan, and the guy playing Uncle Owen, etc. where the cliche star wars angst comes out beautifully cooked. There seems to be a strong vibe of actors who get what they're doing here in Star Wars, and actors who are absolutely lost for how to be in this world, especially out of the villains. Even now I'm sitting here trying to figure out what's going on....maybe the writer/s just can't do bad guys?? Which is a shame because Star Wars badguys are always some of the best. Well, not in this show! It's a mess!

Presentation: This is not a show for the casual TV viewer. This isn't even a show for someone who's watched all nine movies and maybe some of the side movies. If you were a casual viewer, or even a casual star wars fan, you would hate the shit out of this- for all of the reasons mentioned above, it runs so hot cold, and quality whips back and forth so hard....if you came into this looking for a Highly Polished, Quality TV Show, you will throw your remote away in disgust. BUT!! Are you one of those dumb fuckin weirdos like me who lives for more lore crumbs and reaches for them with greedy little raccoon hands no matter how ridiculous the script and bad some of the performances are? Are you someone who knew, the second the first episode started, that you were watching the execution of Order 66 before they even said anything? And other shit like that? Then this show, quite literally, is made for you. There is so much going on, so many small details, that if you weren't one of us who has spent literal hours writing meta about stupid fucking star wars over the past few years, it would all go over your head, and possibly even confuse you, further ruining your enjoyment of this show. This is a show made for the nerds who read way too much into things. And that is why the bits of bad script and moments of shit acting don't matter. Because we, the nerd fans, aren't in it for that, not really. All we need is Obi-wan to be legit, for Anakin to be as close to legit as possible (and he definitely is that), and for Baby Leia to be lovable and we're golden- so long as you stuff us full of lore, niche references, and more pieces of the giant main-story star wars puzzle. That's yet another reason why casual viewers will not like this show. It's quite clearly not meant for you.

The Good Things: Jamesssss Earl Jones, boys and girls!!! I was screaming! No one can handle a stilted star wars script and make it sound good like that man, and we needed him on this show so I'm glad he's here. Hayden also being the one under the armor is a nice touch, too, although it's hard for him to really shine under there- he's an emotive actor (which happily we get to see a sliver of in the field) and doesn't really have the physicality, I don't think, of Adam Driver, to pierce through the costume, plus it's a bulkier getup so he's already on hard mode and going to have a tougher time. While you could argue that there's already a precedent for Vader's body language, that's far, far into the future meaning he could really go to town now if he wanted. But eh, like I said. If anything it's a nitpick- no harm no foul. I think everybody's just happy it's Hayden and JEJ driving this character, as they should.

The sets are really cool on this show- you can see that's where the budget went. It's the only thing that's really made me go wow. These are feature-grade sets and it shows. Was it wasted on a 30min per ep 6 ep series? Ehhhhh.....depends on how recyclable all the pieces they made are. We'll never know. The sets are probably the only thing maintaining consistent quality on this show lol.

Obi-wan and Baby Leia are brilliant together and I'm loving all of it.

I AM LIVING FOR THE ORGANAS!! THE ORIGINAL ACTORS ARE BACK AND I LOVE THEM BOTH SO MUCH BAIL ORGANA IS THE GOAT AND BREHA IS ALSO THE OG ACTRESS AND SHE'S ALWAYS BEEN SO PRETTY I CAN'T STOP LOOKING AT HER WHEN SHE'S ON SCREENNNNNNNN. Anyway I love them, perfect, excellence incarnate.

A lot of the featured background are better actors than some of the billed actors and that is LOL.

The Vader-Obiwan chase and fight at the end of ep 3 is, quite honestly, how I envisioned the chase between Kylo and Rey to go down in what I anticipated Episode VIII to be. I was watching it like "Yes!! They feel each other around in the Force like a punch in the heart!! This is so personal!! It's incredible love/connection gone twisted from anguish and tragedy!! Look at the desperation!!" Those are exactly the themes that should have played out between Kylo and Rey in Ep8 in a tone exactly as dark, menacing, and exquisitely painful/horrifying as that. That was the correct pitch!!! Although we never got to have that, it was nice to see it happen in SW at least SOMEWHERE, so that was a little cathartic. Part of me really felt like "Ah, the writer of this episode/scene understood what Ep8 was supposed to be and it's been translated here instead" haha. Ah well. It's just more fodder for all of us to gnaw on and use elsewhere.

I really really really really like how dark this show is. We hit the ground running starting scene 1 with the infanticide of Order 66, the intermezzo is a jedi teenager strung up over the gate of the town, a storm trooper gets sliced clean in half and the camera actually lingers on it (I laughed pretty hard, it was so extra I loved it), and then we have the emotional heart-stabbing between Anakin and Obi-wan that keeps hitting both of them over and over until Obi-wan is dragged, literally, through the embers himself. YES!! Gimme that dark shit!! Make it darker!! (but with good actors!) The ST should have had this tone!!! And I think the writer/s know this- this may all be their way of subtly righting that wrong how they can and I tip my non-existent hat at that. Thanks guys- we absolutely need more of this. And Ewan is the perfect person for all of this to play through and for Obi-wan to witness. And Obi-wan is the witness here- all he can do is stand back and watch, and that's what makes it even more brutal.

So! Do I recommend this show? That depends:

Are you a star wars meta writer? Yes, watch this show.

Are you a star wars fanfic writer? Yes, absolutely watch this show.

Are you obsessed with the lore and want all the pieces of the puzzle you can get? Yes, yes, watch this show!!

Are you someone who's watched all 9 sw films and thought they were pretty good and hey maybe you'll give this obi-wan show a shot? No, this show is not for you. The quality isn't good enough for that, and the information presented in it is so niche that what little of it is good will be lost on you because you haven't read the laundry list of books out there that would have filled in a lot of the gaps for you. This is not a show with explanation- this is a show that immediately drops you in a moment in time and expects you to already know how to swim.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on eps 1-3. I feel like at this point we know the sort of quality and experience we're getting here. See you at the end in about three weeks!

#star wars #obi-wan kenobi #eps 1-3 review

[vera-dauriac]

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My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

OK my bitches (by which I mean the lovely operblr folks), Don Carlos at the Met has been seen. Here’s a bullet point list of my thoughts.

--Even if I don’t like Act 1, if you’re at the Met and those opening notes sound, it’s very exciting!

--If you ever asked yourself: “When Matthew Polenzani does that gorgeous pianissimi, can it possibly hit the back of the hall?” The answer is yes, yes, it does. *sobbing*

--Hubby: “I expected Sonya to be pretty good, but she’s even better than I expected.” Truth.

--The Met orchestra playing the Act 2 prelude…. Fuck. Me.

--The bro-love duet is everything you want it to be.

--If a mezzo doesn’t own the stage when she walks on as Eboli, can she really call herself a mezzo? Barton is A Mezzo ™.

--Carlos is so extra in the scene with Elizabeth. Matthew was perfectly ridiculous.

--Dupuis is so natural in the duet with Owens, I didn’t even think about the fact he was singing. It was just so good. The only criticism I have is most of the night, I wish I could have turned up the volume on Owens’s lovely voice.

--There are moments in DC when I am wont to drift. A mediocre garden trio will do it every time. This was not mediocre.

--The Met chorus was just crazy good in the Auto-da-fe.

--Owens best moment is the open of Act 4. Without anyone else to compete with but an orchestra at a volume he can work with, he’s great.

--The Grand Inquisitor scene is the only tempo issue I had with the evening—too fast. Let the bassoons of doom take their time.

--Relyea is everything you thought he would be.

--Let’s be blunt: this duet and the quartet that follow is one of the places I drift sometimes.

--If the audience had clapped any longer for Barton, the Met would have been forced to reconsider the encore policy.

--My poor Rodrigue! The singing could not have been better. And good lord, Matthew and Etienne were all up in each other’s stuff. One quibble about the staging, though. There are long stone benches/tombs (depending on the scene) and people sit on them all the time. Couldn’t Carlos have schlepped his boyfriend over to one rather than letting him stand until the very end? It barely registered the poor guy was dying.

--Did I cry literal tears during the lacrimosa? No one will ever know, because it was very dark.

--Sonya nailed her aria, unsurprisingly.

--Until it hits “Au revoir,” this is another duet where I sometimes drift, but once they hit that part, I was invested and it was lovely.

--So, those reviews were not exaggerating—Carlos gets stabbed, and Rodrigue comes back surrounded by a bright light to embrace him and they collapse on each other in the middle of the stage together.

Obviously, I loved it. It’s in cinemas next weekend. Go see it if you can!

22 notes - Posted March 19, 2022

#4

Trying to actually do a little writing tonight in the first time in forever. Wish me luck.

25 notes - Posted February 21, 2022

#3

I simply do not understand people who say they don't like to read history. Like, how do you not want to hear about all the crazy shit people did 600 years ago? It's absolutely fantastic.

26 notes - Posted September 2, 2022

#2

So, I just watched Becoming Traviata, an excellent documentary about the 2011 Aix-en-Provence Traviata with Dessay, Castronovo, and Tezier. Just in case anyone is looking to win my undying love, the person who gifs the rehearsal of Un di, felice, eterea will have it.

30 notes - Posted January 15, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Rewatching The Borgias, and fuck me sideways, but who the hell gave Francois Arnaud the right to be this sexy?

30 notes - Posted August 12, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #am i seriously my own 3 most often reblogged? #did not expect that #oh well #and how did i make 4 muskie's posts without the important additional tag? #i'll take a very pretty cesare as my top post #blast from the past for sure

[meant-to-be-a-hero]

Season Four, Chapter Seven: The Massacre At Hawkins Lab

Nancy couldn't think of a better entrance line than "Hey there."

I bet this scene was hard to act, there was so little that was actually there to interact with considering all the CGI.

"Great, more running." Robin is a whole mood as always.

Yeah, like I said last episode, the ending here is actually pretty good in terms of cliffhangers. I mean yeah Nancy's "in trouble" but it doesn't feel like that's meant to be as dangerous as it first appears since it's not where we actually end (and it's not, she's fine).

Kentucky Fried Secret Agent Man, mmm.

If only Brenner had had Owens to curtail him from the beginning, all of this might not have happened.

First time anyone's said Brenner's first name out loud? I know it's on paperwork in the earlier seasons but I don't think anyone said it.

Max's mom isn't there, they really shouldn't be questioning her at all.

Suggestive shirtless Steve scene is suggestive.

Lil spider monkey Munson.

His handerchief survived the swim, that's a surprise.

Steve's feet are going to be ripped to shit by the time they get home.

Murray's Yuri impression is spot on.

Brenner's approach is certainly one way to deal with bullies.

Erica's blackmail material must be really bad. A thousand out of ten?!

Dustin's deductions are almost entirely on the money, except his Vecna/Mind Flayer theory.

I feel like the Upside Down being frozen in time is going to be important in the last season for some reason.

The way Eddie asks if SOS is good breaks my heart.

Joyce's unimpressed looks in the background are gold.

The little light box communication thing is genius, such a good scene.

Get entirely fucked, Callahan.

Bye bye useless parents, let the kids take over. There's going to be some explaining to do after, but it'll be worth it.

Another awesome upside down camera transition.

Steve pedalling with no shoes on must hurt like a bitch, I've done that before. Not recommended.

There's the vent El uses to escape in Season 1. Although that's still 4 years away at this point in the memory.

I wonder if this Zoterior (?) thing will come back and be part of how they weaken Vecna in Season 5.

The idea that Joyce travelled all that way just to see Hop die is fucking awful.

Should have thrown the Warden in with the Demogorgon.

Pow, right in the kisser!

Happy reunion :')

That gate pops like a zit.

Everyone's hair is still immaculate, despite the dip in the lake.

P-p-p-p-plot twist #1! Friendly Orderly is One!

We all know what those stains are, Eddie.

If Dustin didn't have Suzie, I swear he and Erica would get together in the future.

That fucking swimming pool, I swear. Barb's not looking well.

The alarm at Hawkins Lab and at the Nina Project is the same.

No wonder El surpressed this, it's horrific. Henry killed literally everyone.

P-p-p-p-plot twist #2! Friendly Orderly is Henry Creel!

P-p-p-p-plot twist #3! Henry Creel is Vecna!

Thick and fast plot twists, this episode.

Playing with black widows, even if you have psychic powers, seems inadvisable.

He may be nuts, but Henry does make some valid points.

Dude tortures bunnies, though. Totally irredeemable.

Eyeballs rolling around under closed eyelids is creepier to me than the whole way Vecna kills people.

Get atomized, bitch.

The Vecna reveal is a great payoff given everything we've been through up to this point, it all fits quite neatly.

And yeah, I wanted to know what happened next, but it didn't make me want to scream for an entire month, so I appreciated that a lot.

#Stranger Things #Lem's Stranger Things Rewatch #Beware The Liveblogging Lem

[drdelphinecormigay]

greys worst couples? rank em

Omg lol hope I don’t start anything with this answer haha! Also this was surprisingly hard bc I have like a general dislike for a lot of couples lol and I hate them all for very different reasons

(This is best of the worst to worst of the worst so like 11 is my least fave)

1. Arizona and Eliza. This is funny bc it also ranked quite highly in the ‘rank the non-calzona calzona ships’ list. It’s a confusing one for me bc Arizona was hot as shit in this pairing. Like damn. But, I also hated Eliza, she was a bad character and she was also kinda badly acted. And I hated the whole ‘Arizona is going for this person despite the fact that everyone hates her and she is literally the worst just because like, she told her she was hot?’ thing. Idk it was just a bad couple. But the best of the worst bc Arizona’s vibes in that elevator scene? Top notch

2. Addison and Derek. This may be controversial as I know a lot of people like them. And it’s not that I dislike them that much bc they had quite a fun dynamic if you discount all of the shit. The issue is, all of the shit (lol). Derek was just such a twat to Addison stringing her along when he clearly wanted to because with Meredith. It was just such a dick move bc he just like had some weird moral high horse that he had to sit on for no goddamn reason. And he took it out on both Addison and Meredith and that was just gross. Big no. Of course also the fact that Addison cheated on him in the first place is pretty bad news so like, you know how it is. But like, we didn’t see that on the show really. All we saw was him and his damn moral high horse making her feel like shit. So, yano.

3. Amelia and Owen. I dislike all of Owen’s relationships because I dislike him intensely. This one was probably the least worst bc they were both pretty shitty to each other throughout it, so it like half cancelled each other out. Still sucked though. Not a vibe. I don’t hate them as friends though like it’s eh whatever.

4. Cristina and Burke. I didn’t really dislike either of them as characters - I love Cristina and Burke was annoyingly up himself but I didn’t hate him that much. However, their relationship sucked ass. It was just them both projecting their ideal partner onto each other when neither of them were actually vaguely near what that ideal partner was. They were just so fundamentally bad for each other, it just didn’t work. And because of that it was really annoying to watch.

5. Callie and George. Fucking George man. I could write an essay on this but I won’t, I’ll keep it short. Callie just wanted to be loved, so bad she was chasing someone who would never love her the way she deserved. George was just so insecure he let Callie love him for his own ego and was never strong enough to tell her that he didn’t feel the same. It was just so sad to watch bc I want to wrap poor Callie up in a blanket and tell her it’ll be fine. Also the show did Callie so dirty in this era god. I’ll forever be salty about that (but again I won’t go into detail here)

6. Jackson and Maggie. God they just made me so uncomfy? Like, even without the fact that they were step siblings (which just made the whole vibe weird af), they just did not go well together at all. I can’t even properly explain it. I just remember really deeply disliking it.

7. Cristina and Owen. Second worse Owen relationship. They were ok at times, but they were also just quite shit for each other. He needed someone that would care for him, and she wasn’t ever gonna be that person. Also the fucking baby plotline god I hated it with every ounce of my soul. The way Owen acted towards Cristina for not wanting kids like she was some kind of monster made me mad. The only way it could have been worse was if she’d caved (but that would have been so ooc). I just hate the whole miscommunication thing, it’s such an overused plot point in greys. Just have your characters speak to each other, please!

8. Izzie and George. Just the idea of them together makes me cringe so hard. It was just so gross and awkward and ew. And that’s without the fact that George cheated on Callie in this situation. Again, could write an essay but won’t, I’ll just leave it at big ew vibes nasty nasty

9. Callie and Penny. Ok these last three are tied last ngl. I ranked them like this bc I suppose if I had to I would, but I hate them all for very different reasons so it’s hard to pick one. Callie and Penny I just hated mostly bc the chemistry between them was so fucking shit. I’ve gone into loads of detail on this before so I won’t elaborate but I did not enjoy it. Then is the fact that Callie is going around rubbing how in love she is in Arizona’s face is just ew. Of course I’m always gonna hate the relationship that comes after calzona, but this one was particularly bad.

10. Teddy and Owen. I didn’t even watch much of them being together, but god I hated it. I just hated the way Teddy spent the whole show pining over him. Like, that could have been a usable plot point sure, if a) it wasn’t strung out and then kinda ditched and then brought up again and then ditched and then brought up again etc etc and b) Owen wasn’t such a fucking rat. Also just the notion that ‘it’s always been Owen’ even after Henry existed made me fundamentally angry bc Teddy and Henry were so cute together. Teddy just deserved infinitely better than endlessly pining over damn Owen. Also when Teddy came back to greys she was kinda weird idk it wasn’t a vibe. I didn’t watch enough of it to have an opinion but for me the real Teddy is the OG Teddy and her best romance was Henry.

11. Arizona and Leah. It feels a bit dramatic of me to put this at the bottom idk. And they don’t really even count as a couple. But the way watching their fling play out made me feel was by far the worst. At least with Penny it was like, this makes sense and also is a logical point in calzona’s messy relationship thst she’d exist. Whilst I do understand why Arizona went for Leah at the time (she wanted to be wanted so bad and went for someone the opposite of Callie and also self sabotages - I’ve talked about this before), I really really didn’t like it. All of the sexual harassment stuff whilst valid from Leah’s side was just so uncomfy to watch. I just hated it so so so much. Big big bad vibes. Ugh.

Ok that’s my ranking. I hope I haven’t offended anyone too much! Please share your thoughts!!

(Also whilst researching greys couples for this to see if I forgot any I saw an article claim that calzona are only the 17th best couple on the show out of like 30!!! Like hello how rude!!)

#greys chats

[televinita]

Super-belated Dominion Thoughts!

Because I’ve been noodling at this post for so long, it’s gotten VERY rambly and yet has improved zero percent in structure or coherence, so the short version is I had absolutely no complaints about anything; this film is Perfect 2 Me and is the best one I’ve seen all year. ...as evidenced by the fact that I ended up going to see it three times in the theater, which I don’t think I’ve ever done before.

Part 1: Thoughts After First Viewing (week of June 20)

(from the original draft, because I had some good lines that are outdated/updated now, but which I want to preserve. also, IDK how fandom usually addresses various characters so everyone is getting first name treatment.)

* I don’t actually have that many feelings about the original trio, as they feel very Before My Time despite seeing the originals as a kid -- IDK how the hell I got more emotionally invested in Claire & Owen, but here we are! maybe because my formative experience with the OG3 was “the human characters are just window dressing for the dinosaurs”? -- but I am glad they were there. Ellie in particular; the guys are simply “fine” to me but I wholeheartedly love her. * I knew basically nothing about this film going in (I saw the trailer once in February and promptly forgot it all), and did not remember how the last movie ended at all, but I think even if I had I would NOT have been prepared to see CLAIRE AND OWEN AND MAISIE JUST. BEING A FAMILY IN A CABIN IN THE WOODS.

(side notes from 3rd Viewing Me: Owen building said cabin in the 2nd movie, for instance, would be one of the things I forgot)

* He’s such a good dad! She’s such a good mom! THEY ARE ALSO SUPER IN LOVE. I am spinning like a dog in circles because at this point IDEK which dynamic between any two pairs among these three thrills me the most.

* I Am Not Immune To Cowboy Owen Looking Hot And Capable On Horseback * omg Baby Blue!!

* I am Also Not Immune to steely-eyed Owen staring down Blue with a very clear "we have an understanding, and I’m prepared to honor that, but I will Fuck You Up without a moment’s hesitation if you hurt my kid.” 

(Blue: “Same. Good talk.”)

* I literally could not keep track of and still can’t remember how many desperate reunion hugs there were. At least three involving Claire & Owen alone. PEAK Televinita content.

* asldfjaslkdjfaslkjdfasd the scene in the plane right before Claire ejects; I love that her already sky-high terror multiplies to a thousand at the verbal implication that she has to survive because he won’t, and I love that he then manages to actually make it sound like his chances are greater than zero in promising to see her again. (Honestly, I’ve been on this ride with Star Wars; I didn’t know! I was pre-pissed about the possibility of them pulling a dumbass “we know fridging women is Bad, so we’ll make her a Strong Survivor instead,” but between that and the “I love you” and cheek kiss I probably could have lived with it if they had. (I’m so glad they didn’t)

* FAMILY REUNION HUG TIME!!!!!!!!!!

Moving on to the other OTP for a bit --

* Alan’s Lovelorn Pining is on full display literally the moment they make eye contact and never stops; I love it

* oh my god you had Ellie fall asleep on his shoulder during the plane ride; that is PEAK UST shipper indulgence!!!

(side note: hah! I didn’t even realize/had forgotten they already pulled this move with Claire/Owen in the previous movie. Repeating an indulgent trope for a different couple makes it even MORE indulgent. Also, on 2nd viewing I realized she’s not even just asleep, she’s full-on holding onto his arm, jesus take the wheel)

* Are you kidding me I also get protective positioning/him literally using his body as a shield over her?? SOMEONE is trying to make me ship them like a boss. (it’s working)

* A third party (Maisie in this case, which is even better) calling them out on acting like an old married couple? I literally have 3 spots on my Bingo card for “imagine your OTP” and we haven’t even gotten to the high point yet.

(also omg “I wasn’t happy;” fling me off a cliff)

* Perfect ending kiss!!!

* Ooh, also, Ellie calling for Alan in a panic immediately post-car-crash: yesssss.

And now for things besides romance -- 

* Claire & Ellie going off on a mini-mission together is the stuff of dreams I didn’t even know I had. SISTERS IN BUG-SLAPPING AND SERVER-SMASHING. (side note: it seems very mean to make Ellie endure giant swarming locusts twice)

* The next-generation “hey! eyes on ME” from Maisie seemed very gratuitously “here’s something Relatable for the kiddos who have now lost all their under-14 representation in these films,” but I’ll allow it.(notes from 3rd viewing me: it does make me hard cringe on every subsequent play though)

* Literally everything about the Black Market, including the endless dino carnage: *chef’s kiss* * SO MANY EPIC DINOSAURS. Also, oh my god, one that can dive under the ice and swim?? What an asshole indeed. (I love her.)

* Husband pointed out that he really liked how the “bad guy” this time wasn’t actually an overarching Villain Type, he was just a Billionaire Capitalist** weighing the cost of human lives against profit and calculating acceptable loss. He’s so bumbling and weirdly charming in a very David Wallace kind of way. (except, you know, slightly more ruthless with the paying for child abduction, willingness to induce Homicide By Dinosaur, etc) (**I did lol at how the film presents the initial solution as “we decided to centralize control of all the dinosaurs in the whole world to One U.S.-based Pharmaceutical Company, because as we all know those guys are great! and super trustworthy and transparent!”)

* Husband also proclaimed great love for the two people helping Claire perform a PETA-style farm raid at the beginning, and then laughingly asking me, “You don’t remember them from the last movie, do you?” <--- In point of fact, I did not.

* The pilot lady [Kayla] is AWESOME. Everything she says, does, or has a facial expression about is great.

* Also I really like that even though the women are constantly being awesome, kicking ass and taking names, they’re also allowed to scream a lot. That’s a valid response to acute terror and I like not being served any Strong Women Are Stoic/Fearless nonsense.

* I can literally never remember what Scientist B.D. Wong’s deal is from movie to movie or why everyone dislikes him, so yay for a lil’ redemption. :’)

* My sole question about the plot is why the exit plan for the fireball of grasshoppers after “containment failure” was straight into the air and into the sanctuary instead of, like, emergency fire suppression? (also how did those grasshoppers live so freaking long while half burned to a crisp. how did they just become...living embers instead of ash?) I don’t actually care that much btw. * Oh, and also, I’m maybe a liiiiittle concerned that even if they’re in Europe now, aren’t there still like 3 very much alive raptors who won’t stop hunting Claire & Owen ‘til they’re dead? anyway --

* The final dino boss battle was so stupid and awesome. (I still can’t believe we’re all cheering for T-Rex like she’s Blorba from our shows but we ARE)

Overall: this movie is high-key STRESSFUL. Nobody important dies, but my shoulders physically ached by the time we left from the constant, unrelenting tension and genuinely countless near-death experiences/escapes for all of our faves.

Bottom line: We paid a stupid amount of money to see this movie on the UltraScreen, because this was the rare movie experience that deserves it, and then it turned out it got moved off that screen the day before and we got the “super DLX screen,” which has speakers throughout the theater for an “immersive” experience but is actually just absurdly loud -- I had to plug my ears for 15 minutes to make it a normal volume. I should be getting a refund for putting up with that, not paying extra.

BUT. Still so happy I went. Part II: More Thoughts/After 3rd Viewing (July 13) (that’s how late this post is!) + I still cannot hold every adorable family moment in my brain at once. There are too many. I will have to make a whole new post to properly address them all, once I have a DVD.

+ I would like to humbly request that Ellie & Alan become Maisie's adoptive grandparents. I didn’t realize until the 2nd or 3rd time around just how much I love everything about the three of them escaping together, not to mention Maisie demanding his assistance with the Beta-capturing mission. I want to imagine a billion more adventures. And also let Claire & Owen fangirl/boy over their elders some more.

(side note: if you don’t think I’m currently running the general plot of Jurassic Park III through my head with the new cast, in a different context to make the parents less stupid, ur wrong)

+ You know how I was saying there are countless near-death experiences? At least five of them take place during the Giganotosaurus attack. By the time Claire is getting dragged out entangled in rope, it’s almost comical in a “17 endings of Return of the King” kind of way. (But also. I appreciated every single one.)

+ I found a clip from part of that scene, and for the life of me I cannot make sense of how they all get from the ground up to the tower -- too many cuts! whiplash editing! Beginning to really annoy me, actually, that I can’t logically track the action. Maisie is 2nd up the ladder, but then the dinosaur rips half of it away? even if they just managed to tear off the cage and leave the ladder intact, then what, it just...chills out and is too distracted by chewing metal to notice while the next four people make it up? I want an extended version of this scene here Very Much, is what I’m saying.

+ There are at least two instances in which Owen is personally responsible for saving Ellie’s life and/or is shielding her, and somehow the wayward shipping light turned on in my brain. *emoji shrug* (But I think I can beat it back with the part of my brain that’s going “NO! SIBLINGS” because yeah that’s better) + I somehow didn't pick up on the Stabby Fingered Bird Dino being blind until I read up on the wiki, and awwww, poor baby.

(but also. I laughed a lot at him side-swiping the innocent deer for existing. very “FUCK THIS DEER IN PARTICULAR”)

+ Robert Downey Jr meme* “I am mesmerized by the beauty of the [brontosaurus herd in the logging camp].” Their bugles are so beautiful and they are 100% my favorite dinosaur. Forget whale sounds, give me a white noise track of their calls.

+ I can’t decide if the giant grasshoppers are actually MYNIGHTMARE ON STEROIDS, or if the sheer density in their larger mass makes them seem more lizard-y and less bug-like. On screen at least, it was kind of the latter? Which is fortunate, because otherwise this movie would be a regularly unpleasant time. IRL I am the kids screaming at the top of their lungs as they run for cover.

+ That Claire and Owen both get separate “oh god (s)he’s dead” moments before relief? Good stuff.

+ I saw one complaint that Claire never outright tells Owen she loves him, and in retrospect it is maybe a little unbalanced that he not only gets to say it to her directly, but confirm it to a third party. But also: I don't care -- I don't feel like it's necessary; I don't doubt her feelings and I don't even know where I would organically add it in if I could -- and I love hearing it two different ways from him.

+ Every time I see Claire & Ellie go on their server-destructing mission, my head plays “women gotta stick together / eaaaach and every day!” and then stops there, before the (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) song gets weird and the opposite of that message, but it’s really amusing me. Also LOVE the mention of them still having nightmares. like if ever there was a gratuitous fanfic prompt handout...)

+ The one thing I have not been able to replicate w/ gifsets and the occasional video clips on YouTube (most of which are soundless/in fanvids or dubbed) is Owen’s voice when he comes charging into the cabin, immediately post-abduction-witnessing. I feel like that’s the closest we ever see him come to actual panic in this series and I love it.

+ I don’t know what I love more, Claire bringing a dinosaur stun gun to a knife fight, or the evil chaotic neutral lady being OFFENDED by this fact. “You don’t use it on PEOPLE” girl! you are actively trying to murder her.

(I do love an evil Girlboss though. Especially when she is actually more of a Morally Neutral Girlboss who serves only money. I love that “can you take care of it?” / “not for free” exchange)

+ I laughed SO hard at Dodgson’s prissy little temper tantrums. Comedic gold.

+ I don’t know what the wise-faced little moley dinosaur chained in one of the pits is called, but I love his little old-man face and his very innocent little CHOMP as soon as a hand is within reach. [edit: Lystrosaurus apparently.

+ I know it’s coming by now, and yet the jump-scare dinosaur in the cave makes me jump and gasp EVERY TIME. (side note: that counts as another near-death experience. how did Alan not end up with a cracked skull when he fell)

+ Oh No I just reread my comment about how much I love Kayla and suddenly I realized my brain is trying to wayward ship her and Owen STOP THAT, BRAIN. (brain: what! it was only implied that she's into women, and nobody said it was to the exclusion of men. Bi queen!)

+ Speaking of movies I don’t remember, PLEASE tell me that whatever appearances Ian Malcolm makes in Jurassic Park, he has always been this deadpan ridiculous in his commentary. “Well that’s...bananas” SENDS ME.

+ Also dammit I have absorbed Tumblr’s headcanon that he and Ramsey are/were hooking up. Bi king! (is that the language the kids use? maybe the kids in 2015?)

+ Which reminds me, I spent the whole first viewing assuming Ramsey was going to betray them and was BAFFLED when he in fact was a good guy. Happy, but baffled.

(On a related note: damn it, now I kind of feel sorry for Dodgson getting betrayed by him. He would never do that!! He gave him every opportunity he never had; he was mentor AF; HOW DARE YOU YOUNG SIR.)

+ After 3 viewings, the dino-farm-raiding is starting to feel really disconnected from the rest of the story. like, I get that it kind of serves as bridge, but also...for someone trying to keep her kid safe and hidden, is putting herself in the line of fire and/or risk of arrest the wisest choice in off-the-clock activities? Also, it’s weird that they don’t appear to know anything about the state of her relationship, and it’s weirder that the movie tries to fake us out by calling it a “weird thing” when it only takes like five seconds of footage to see that they are in a perfectly stable and compatible partnership now.

+ That said, now that I’ve rewatched Fallen Kingdom and remember who her two accomplices are, I get why my husband was so happy.

+ Very off-the-cuff thought, but: I still can’t believe Dimorphodon is based on a real fossil. That’s literally just a miniature t-rex head on a tiny pterodactyl’s body. It could not look more Frankensteined in a laboratory if it tried.

+ I may have choked up at the ending, specifically the silhouettes of the Triceratops trundling along with the elephants against a setting sun.

And as you all know...since then I’ve basically been in All Jurassic All The Time mode. I finished The Evolution of Claire yesterday and I LOVE IT (it’s not perfect, but it’s crafted with so much love and it works so well!); highly recommend! I’m almost through the Maisie Lockwood book too, and I am SO excited that there are already two additional books on deck. I think Blood & Treasure is slowly pushing it out as it reclaims its #1 spot in my fandom brain, but the last five weeks in mega-fandom mode have been incredible.

#this review is rated R because I could not restrict myself to a single F-bomb and really felt I had earned and needed 2 #they are only used for positive emphasis though! #jurassic world #jurassic world dominion

[reyescarlos]

Hi! 🥰 5 favorite Carlos scenes & top 5 favorite fics? 💜

Hi!! Oh my lord, these questions are HARD! JUST 5 CARLOS SCENES!?! I could go episode by episode and give an analysis of each of his scenes and why they should be revered. I'll go with the first ones that come to mind, but I know I'll wind up missing some gems and kick myself later 😅 Also, I rarely use the bookmark function on ao3 because I'm a goblin and have suddenly forgotten every fic I have ever read in my life, so I'll list writers instead 🤷🏾‍♀️

Tempted to say all of Bad Call because so many moments from that episode hit me at once. Between him standing down in the alley to the interrogation room scene with his dad to his talk at the firehouse with Owen to “trust my gut”, to that glorious reunion with TK in the end, he had me GRIPPED the entire time. That will forever remain in my top 3 favorite episodes. He completely owned it

The como dream sequence in Push. Literally him in that entire episode tbh, but there was just something so compelling about watching him essentially acting against himself. We got to see such a range from the anger flaring up to the emptiness after he got his thoughts off his chest. 2b (yes, I’m being sneaky with this) would also be from Push. I could cry just thinking about him being there as TK woke up and when he was finally able to hold his hand, run his fingers through his hair with TK’s knowledge and consent after being months apart??? Poetic and stunning! No notes! Give Rafa an Emmy!

I really loved his final scene in 3x05 after Det. Washington suggested he take the detective’s exam. That look of determination and pride on his face was 10/10. Seeing him get that validation of a good job done and stepping into himself...I’m beyond ready for Detective Reyes to be in full effect. I need it like oxygen

His breakdown in 2x12 post fire. Seeing him be so vulnerable really felt like such a window into him. That’s the first time we got to see him fully give in and let himself be comforted and literally held. He keeps so much bottled in, he needed that release

“And I’m packing a piece” Arguably the most iconic line in recent memory for me, hands. We are more than halfway done with s3 and I’m still shaking over that delivery oooof! See also: “Are you gonna make me twist your arm?” Truly, how does TK get anything done when this Man™️ says such things to him?

Fic Writers:

@reyesstrand @sunshinestrand @bellakitse @marjansmarwani @iboatedhere @strandnreyes @doublel27 @howtosingit yes, this is more than 5 but oh well~ 😌✌🏾 I have stories for all these folks open on my phone as we speak and/or have been reading their stuff since I first joined this fandom!

#jamie tag #rafaelsliva #message #games

[headheartbellarke]

I Wish You Would | CHARLIE GILLESPIE

Requested by anon: “hello🌼 could u please write a charlie x reader imagine when he posts a picture on his instagram story with a girl to makes his crush jealous, but she end up distancing herself from him bc she's hurt and respect what she thinks is his relationship” PAIRING(s): Charlie Gillespie x fem!reader WORDS: 2,445 WARNING(s): angst w a happy ending, some language SUMMARY: “I wish you knew that I'd never forget you as long as I'd live."

A/N: hi, everyone!! really, really sorry that this took so long. haven’t had the best march tbh, and writer’s block is a bitch. && this isn’t very good, either, but i had to get something done. love u <3

TEN HOURS EARLIER

“And… post!” Charlie taps his phone, grinning brightly.

Owen cheers from behind him, his voice meshing into the humdrum of the bar they’re currently at. “I’m so proud of you!”

His friend laughs, spinning around in the bar stool to face him. “She’ll finally understand what it feels like!”

Owen nods frantically, taking another sip of the drink in his hand.

Charlie copies his movement – a part of him knows that he is absolutely hammered, but the bigger part of him doesn’t care. He’s had a long day, and he deserves this.

Besides, how else would he and his best friend have thought of this wonderful plan if they didn’t have a billion drinks in their system?

PRESENT

A knock on the door pulls Y/N from her thoughts. “Come in!” She yells, but her voice comes out feeble and hoarse, probably from all the crying she’s been doing for the past hour.

As the door swings open, her best friend, Savannah, pokes her head in. “Hey, babe. You all right?”

Y/N sniffs. “M’fine.”

Savannah enters the room, closing the door softly behind her. She walks to the window, opening the curtains, and Y/N groans when light floods into the previously dark room.

She sits on the bed beside Y/N, and Y/N rests her head on her shoulder as she pulls the covers up to cover their bodies.

“I’m sure that they’re not dating.” Savannah says, wrapping an arm around her best friend.

Y/N chuckles sadly. “You don’t have to lie to make me feel better, Sav. I mean, in the photo, he was kissing her cheek. Literally. And he put a heart between them.”

Savannah sighs. “That’s so not Charlie, you know… kissing random girls in bars and posting pictures with them.”

“Yeah, that’s so not Charlie, because she’s not a random girl. Her name’s Francesca and she went to high school with him, so, technically, she’s known him longer, and probably better than me.”

“I – I had no idea.”

“Yeah.”

“Y/N, babe, just tell him about how you feel. I’m sure that he likes you too.”

“If he liked me, then he wouldn’t be kissing Francesca!”

Y/N exhales, as Savannah gulps, not knowing what to respond. “Y/N, I – I swear, he’s crazy about you. I don’t know what happened between last Friday and today, but I swear – the Charlie that I know – has eyes for no one but you.”

Y/N rolls her eyes, feeling a pang in her heart at Savannah’s words. “Savannah, we kissed and then he ghosted me for a day and now he’s posting pictures of him kissing another girl! I think he has eyes for everyone!”

Savannah bites her lower lip, not knowing what to respond, again. Her best friend feels tears prick at the back of her eyes when she says, “Maybe I’m a bad kisser.”

Savannah’s eyes widen, and she sits up, straight. “No. No. Babe, no. Don’t say that, ever. You’re a great kisser, okay! You’re an amazing kisser. Your lips are fine as hell, believe me. He’s the one with crusty ass lips. They’re not even lips, they look like… like… peanuts.”

Y/N stares at her best friend for a moment, before saying, “Peanuts, Sav? Really?”

“It’s the first thing that came into my mind!” She says defensively, before the girls break into a fit of laughter.

“I’m never talking to him again, ever.” Y/N says after they’ve calmed down. “I’m never even gonna look in his direction. Fucking asshole.”

*

Charlie sighs, taking another sip of his coffee. It’s eight in the morning, and he’s normally a morning person – he loves the mornings, the peace, the quiet, and the feeling that comes along with it more than anything, but right now, he just feels… sad.

On regular days, he would be talking to his best friend, Y/N, about everything that’s on his mind. But today’s different.

Last Friday, Y/N kissed him, and long story sort, it was the best thing that’s ever happened to him. After work that day, they went to get some food at a drive through, like they usually do. All throughout the ride, they made plans to go hiking once the production for season two finishes. She drove the car to a lookout, and oh, god, it was so pretty. The midnight sky was littered with stars, and since they were at the edge of town, there was less pollution, and they could see bits of the galaxy, too.

But, for some reason, the girl next to him seemed more beautiful than anything he’s ever seen, and after they finished eating, he just sat and stared at her talk about the last book that she’d read, for a while. He knows that it was terrible that he wasn’t listening – but how could he pay attention to anything when she looked like that, especially with passion illuminating her face like times square on New Year’s Eve?

She had looked at him as if he’d just grown a third head. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Li – like what?” He’d asked, embarrassed to be blatantly caught.

“Like that…” She’d said and kissed him, and it felt like he was seeing colour for the first time. Although, the next day, everything turned to shit.

Now, it’s Monday, and she’s nowhere to be seen. He desperately wants to know if his and Owen’s plan actually worked (no reason that it wouldn’t), and he feels so impatient right now, and he misses her. Also, his massive hangover isn’t helping, either.

He hears his name being called, and sees Kenny smiling at him.

“Hey, so we’re gonna do a different scene today, since Y/N and Savannah are out, is that okay with you?”

His heart races. “What happened to them?”

“Y/N’s sick, and Savannah’s taking care of her.”

“Oh. Yeah, it’s okay with me.” He says, feeling his heart sink to the bottom of his stomach.

*

“This is the last time I’m asking you this…” Y/N sings, wiping her nose with the sleeve of her sweater.

“Put my name at the top of your list!” Savannah sings, using Y/N’s straightener as a mic.

“This is the last time I’m asking you why!” Madison joins.

“You break my heart in the blink of an eye, eye, eye!” Jadah sings, jumping on the bed.

As the second verse comes on, the girls sit on Y/N’s bed, huddled close to each other.

“You know, I’m feeling better now than I did when I woke up.” Y/N says, resting her chin on her knees.

“Taylor Swift can fix anything.” Madison says, leaning her head on Y/N’s shoulder.

She nods. “And y’all. Thanks for being here.”

Jadah grins, wrapping an arm around her. “We couldn’t let you have a pity party all alone!”

Savannah laughs. “I’m gonna kill him, I swear.”

“As relieving as that would be, don’t. I’ve decided what I should do.”

Madison quirks a brow. “You’re gonna kill him yourself?”

“Madi! No. I’m gonna distance myself.”

Savannah tilts her head. “I think that maybe you two should talk it out.”

“I don’t think so. I need space, time to figure it out. My head feels like a mess. And I respect him and Francesca, and I’m not gonna dip my toes between them.”

The other girls solemnly nod their head.

“You do realize that that’s not actually the saying?” Jadah says, after a while.

“Don’t embarrass me, kid.”

*

Charlie exhales, watching his breath crystallize to tiny ice particles in front of him. Even though, he’s a Canadian, he still feels cold. Although maybe it’s not due to the weather, but due to the coldness in Y/N’s eyes.

He watches her chat with Jeremy a few feet away, both of them discussing something that is out of bounds to him. He knows that it’s probably decisions regarding their characters, considering Y/N’s character is Jeremy’s character, Reggie’s love interest, but a part of him feels like it’s shit about him.

He has no reason to feel that way, of course. He hasn’t spoken to Y/N in four days, and this morning, when he saw her after for what feels to be eternity, he was blatantly ignored. He had only watched helplessly as Y/N exited the room the moment he entered and had sunk into his chair feeling like absolute shit, especially with everyone’s pitiful stares.

Charlie’s mind keeps replaying each moment, torturing over every tiny detail, wondering what he did wrong.

And that’s when it hits him: she really doesn’t want him anymore.

Last Saturday, he had hopelessly watched her with her long-term boyfriend of god-knows-how-long – he had come to surprise her on set, and it was Charlie that was more surprised. Because he thought that they were over, for good. And it wasn’t like they seemed like they weren’t dating. They were acting just like they used to when they were dating, and he was too close to her for his comfort. They still laughed the same, joked around the same, and were just as inseparable as they used to be.

A question kept rising in Charlie’s mind, like an icicle to his heart: why would she kiss him when she already had someone else? Why would she give him hope, and then take it all away? Why would she dangle his hurt in front of him?

So, he decided to give her a taste of her own medicine, and posted a picture with Francesca, his high school friend, who he had run into that night.

Owen sinks into the chair beside Charlie. “You okay?”

“I’m starting to believe that our plan didn’t work.”

*

“Hey, uh, Y/N?”

The girl in question hears Charlie’s voice, and turns around, avoiding looking into his eyes.

“Can we talk?” He says, and for a moment, her defences are down again. He looks so… tired, almost like he’s going through the same things that she is. Almost like there’s an explanation as to why he broke her heart, why he ruined something that had the potential to be extraordinary, why he made her feel so bad about herself.

And she almost believes it, too. Like the fool she is.

She presses her lips into a thin line, and says, “Nothing to talk about.”

As Charlie opens his mouth to protest, she smiles and walks away.

*

“Okay, Charlie, you two need to talk it out. This is too much. Both of you are obviously hurting, and there’s obviously some serious miscommunication here.”

Charlie shakes his head at Savannah’s words. “She hates me.”

“No. She could never hate you.” She says, thrusting her phone in Charlie’s face. His eyes squint to read the text on the screen – from Y/N.

Sorry – forgot to leave a note. Drove down to Dad’s, gonna stay here for a while. It’s too painful – honestly, you know what? I’m still very, very, very mad at him. But I’m also missing him very, very, very much. So, I need to flush it out. Flush him out. He might be a jerk, but he’s still one of the best people that I’ve ever met. Love you, okay? Will return when the time is right.

Charlie’s eyes widen, and he stares at Savannah’s face for a while. “There – there is still hope!”

She nods frantically. “You should call her –”

“I’m gonna drive down to her dad’s house, too!”

“That works, too.”

*

A frantic knock on the front door pulls Y/N from her thoughts. She stops typing on her keyboard, and flips the lid shut, keeping it on the dining table in front of her.

She runs to her dad’s door, knowing that it’s him, back from his shopping. She opens the door, saying, “Let me take those for – Charlie?!”

Y/N’s heart swells at his sight as he grins sheepishly.

“So, there’s been some misunderstandings… can I come in?” He asks, and Y/N pauses, considering.

He sighs, and adds, “Please?”

She stares at him.

He juts his bottom lip out. “Pretty please?”

“Fine, come in.”

He closes the door behind him, wordlessly following Y/N, who feels like she might hurl right now. They sit on the couch, and it’s really, really awkward for a few seconds.

Y/N sighs. “You said you –”

“Yes. Yes, yeah. OK, so – I, uh, I –”

She couldn’t hold it in anymore. “Why would you do that to me? Do I really mean that little to you?”

“I could say the same about you!”

“Really?”

“Yes! I saw you with Shahid that day, I know that you two are back together –”

“Shahid?!”

“Yes!”

She stares at him, baffled.

“So…so… Francesca….”

“I only posted the picture to make you jealous! She asked me if I wanted to go out with her and the rest of my high school friends, and of course I went, and she saw that I was being a little… unsocial. So, I told her about how the girl that I’m completely crazy about has a boyfriend! And a long term one at that, too! And then Owen came up with a brilliant plan, and I guess you know what it was. Now, I’m realizing that it might not have worked.”

She stares at him for a moment, before she bursts out laughing. Charlie throws her a confused look.

“You – you thought that Shahid – Shahid, my best friend since we were in nappies, Shahid who is married to this amazing man, and at whose wedding I was the maid of honour – you thought that I was dating him?”

“He’s gay?!”

“Bisexual. Oh my god, I have to tell him. This is hilarious.”

Charlie bites the corner of his lower lip, feeling his cheeks heat up. “This is really embarrassing. But you two act like you’re dating!”

“No, we don’t. You’re just being insecure and jealous. I’ve known him forever, and yes, I am the most comfortable around him. Because he’s my family. He’s my brother. Oh, god, I can’t believe that you were jealous of him – wait, have you thought that we were dating this whole time?”

“Kind of. I thought you guys broke up when he didn’t visit you on set during the first two months of production.”

“He was helping feed kids in Somali.”

“Oh. Oh. God, I feel so –”

“Dumb? That’s because you are.”

He grins sheepishly, his cheeks crimson.

Y/N smiles. “But I forgive you. And I wouldn’t mind if you took me on a proper date this time.”

“Deal. Also, promise that we’ll always talk it out before… you know… doing anything?”

She laughs, and nods. He wraps his pinkie finger around hers.

“Well, Owen’s plan did kind of work, though.”

#charlie gillespie #julie and the phantoms #jatp #charlie gillespie x reader #charlie gillespie x y/n #charlie gillespie x fem!reader #charlie gillespie imagines #charlie gillespie fanfic #charlie gillespie fanfiction #charlie jatp #jatp fanfic #jatp fanfiction #charlie gillespie + reader #charlie gillespie + y/n #luke patterson #luke patterson x reader #charlie gillespie oneshot #savannah lee may #jeremy shada #madison reyes #owen joyner #owen patrick joyner #jadah marie #carolynn rowland

[adorethedistance]

READING MY BOYFRIEND’S FANFICTION?? - Owen Joyner x Influencer!Reader

JATP masterlist

Requested: OMGGG!! Could you do a an Owen fic based around his girlfriend being an armature youtuber/social media influencer (shes also an actress and they met on set and have been dating for a while) and it’s “reading/reacting to my boyfriend’s fanfiction” ? You can do whatever you want with the fanfic part it’s just a concept that has been running around in my head for a while. LOVE ALL YOUR WORK!!

Warnings: swearing, allusions to sex, very mild

Words: 1460

A/N: A fic?? From Ace?? Hi. I’m off spring break officially and so my stress has dissipated immensely. School was becoming so much these last two weeks and I thought I’d be stressed or worried, but I’m actually fine? It’s weird lol so I decided I could be productive with my stress-free moment and post a little fic for y’all. I love this prompt, and before any of you writers panic, I’m using my own fics for the fanfictions because I wouldn’t want to put y’all on the spot like that. Also this is my 3000 post! thought that was cool lol

“Do you wanna do the intro?”

“I think I have to do the intro.”

“Okay, go for it.”

“Alright,” Owen sighs out a heavy breath in exaggerated preparation for my (some would say lengthy) intro. “Hello, hi. Yes, okay, this is Y/n Y/l/n vlogs, welcome or welcome back to my channel!” Once Owen finishes his statement I’m so stunned I can’t generate any sort of response other than a slacked jaw semi smile.

“That was not even close. Do you know my intro?”

“I got the first part right!”

“You’ve lost intro privileges,” I turn back to the mess of lights and tripods in front of me and ignore the disaster of an intro Owen offered. “Oh, hello, hi! I am Y/n and this is: Reading My Boyfriend’s Fanfiction!”

“That’s basically what I did.”

“No, it is not! It’s ‘oh, hello, hi. I am ‘name’ and this is: ‘title of video’.”

“You don’t ‘welcome to my channel’?” Owen’s voice has dropped to a hushed volume as he genuinely inquires about the segments of my usual introduction.

“I do not.”

“Don’t use any of this,” he pleads when making direct eye contact with the camera. “Mister Sid. Editing Sid, please don’t embarrass me.” His pleas fall on deaf ears, knowing that I’ll be using the footage in full.

“Anyways. Butchered intro aside, I am Y/n and today I am here with my lovely “So Many Stars” costar and scene partner, Owen Joyner!”

“I’m also your boyfriend.”

“That too,” I give Owen’s pointed comment a soft place to land, “So, yesterday--it was actually like, two weeks ago, I don’t know why I said yesterday--a little while back, I came across a tweet telling me someone had written a fanfic about us-”

“Did you read it?”

“On Wattpad. Of course, I read it. There are only three chapters up right now and they’re all in the 2-3k range so it was a quick read.”

“2-3k?”

“Words,” I reply nonchalantly as I unlock my phone. I bookmarked a few one-shots beforehand for us to read, and I’m slightly cocky about my selections. Owen then responds with an outburst of shock.

“2-3 thousand words is a short read?” I merely give him a blank stare.

“Judging by that reaction, Owen hasn’t read any fanfics in his life.”

“Is that not long to you- That’s what she said.” Owen cuts me off with his own stupid joke and I briefly sigh before answering.

“No, that isn’t long. Baby, I’m here for that 130k slow burn enemies to lovers on AO3 with the ‘only one bed’ and ‘locked in a closet’ tropes.”

“The what?”

“Oh, we have so much to catch you up on.”

__________________________

“So I saved three fics, an angst, a fluff, and a smut. Which do you want to read?”

“Wait, what does that mean?”

“Oh my- okay. Angst is the sad shit, it’s what you read when you need your heartbroken and a good cry. Smut is pretty much in the name, it’s explicit content that will undoubtedly get this video demonetized, but that’s okay because we do have a sponsor. And fluff is the cute moments, domestic and sometimes mundane romance that makes you smile like an idiot and put the device down to screech into a pillow.” Throughout my whole explanation, I can tell Owen was becoming more and more lost, so I opt to give him a few moments to collect his thoughts.

“Let’s start with the fluff just to ease into things.”

“Smart choice. This fic I have saved is called ‘Baby Fever’ and the summary says ‘you and Owen spend a day at the zoo babysitting Baby Shada, and her presence sparks conversation about adding a new presence of your very own’.”

“That sounds so ominous.”

“Here, I’ll read the narration and reader’s POV, and then you’ll read your own dialogue.” Owen nods and leans over my right shoulder to read off of my computer screen.

“You actually start the fic.”

“‘You ready, little one?’” The instantaneous actor mode Owen slips into has me howling with laughter at which he looks at me confused. My gasping for air makes Owen laugh empathetically despite still being unsure as to what’s killing me at the moment.

“Why are you laughing?!” He yells, dramatically shaking my shoulder.

“Just the way you jumped into that, I wasn’t prepared for you to turn on the acting charm. Okay, uhhhh, ‘I bite back a laugh when I hear Owen’s voice coo from the back seat’.”

The two of us go back and forth between reading the narrative, bouts of laughter, commentary on the accuracy of Owen’s character, and we finally manage to finish the 2.5k fic in about forty minutes.

“‘When he looks up from CJ’s tiny body and recognizes the familiar ‘baby fever’ look in my eyes, he smiles and utters a simple-’.”

“‘I told you so.’”

“That was cute! I like the tie-in of having us watching over Baby Shada- or, sorry, you and ‘y/n’ watching over Baby Shada.”

“They wrote me kinda funny, I don’t think I’d ever fabricate a life to make conversation with a stranger due to baby fever.” My jaw drops slightly and before Owen can respond to my reaction, I cry,

“That is such a lie!”

“What?”

“You absolutely would do something like that, are you kidding me?!”

“No, I would not!” Owen punctuates every word with the utmost offense. He has the same look in his eye as when he was proving himself to be the cleanest phantom of the three on the Sunset Drive podcast.

“You literally told the guy at Home Depot yesterday that we were buying plants for our child’s nursery!”

“Okay, that’s different-”

“How is that different? That’s the exact same thing as fanfic you!” Owen’s furrowed brow and dropped jaw are a sight to be seen as he leans away from me, bending at the waist to stare at me with defiance. I raise my eyebrows pointedly as I await a response. Instead of actually producing a response, Owen lunges forward, grabbing my waist in his hands and squeezing gently. The feeling makes me screech and gasp of laughter from surprise and also being ticklish.

“Owen! Owe-STOP, I’m gonna drop my laptop!” I manage to say through my laughter and with one final grab, he releases me from his hold. It takes a minute for my laughter to settle but once I do, the two of us are simply breathing heavy and staring at one another with giddy smiles on our faces. In a moment’s clarity, I turn to look into the camera lens to talk directly to my editor,

“Sid, don’t use any of this. And please don’t cut to this after we finish reading to make it look like- things were happening.”

“Actually, I think you should, Sid. Just cut to right there and make the world think we-”

“OKAY, thanks for watching, bye!” I quickly stop the recording before Owen says something we’re unable to recover from. I hear him laugh gently behind me as I set my laptop down on the coffee table behind the tripod. Coming back to the couch, I move to plop down but before landing successfully on the cushion next to my phone, Owen grabs my body and moves me to sit on top of him.

“You are crazy, you know that?”

“Hmm. Crazy for you, maybe.” His cheesy line makes me scoff but smile nonetheless. I reach my right hand up to caress the side of his face as we sit cheek to cheek.

“Remind me to never film with you again.” The gesture is sweet and the sentiment is not which makes Owen laugh and he presses a soft kiss to my cheek. I lean back into him so my back is pressed flush with his chest as he lazily wraps both arms around me.

“You say that now but you’ll regret it when you wanna do a ‘boyfriend does my makeup’ challenge video.”

“Nah. I’ll just call Charlie to-” Without allowing me to finish my sentence, Owen is digging his fingertips back into the tissue of my sides and I squeal with laughter once more. This time the torment is short-lived and Owen releases me after a sweet, reconciling kiss. “Do you have baby fever now?”

“It was cute and all, but not really, no.”

“That’s too bad,” I stand up from my spot on his lap to grab my computer and hold it to my chest, “I was gonna say we could practice some baby-making.”

And with that, I turned on the balls of my feet, heading for my bedroom when I heard Owen stand up eagerly, quick to follow.

***

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#Julie and the Phantoms #Julie and the Phantoms fanfiction #Julie and the Phantoms fic #Julie and the Phantoms writing #Julie and the Phantoms imagine #Julie and the Phantoms oneshot #Julie and the Phantoms one shot #Julie and the Phantoms fluff #Julie and the Phantoms smut #Julie and the Phantoms angst #Julie and the Phantoms fanfic #Julie and the Phantoms x reader #Julie and the Phantoms x y/n #Owen Joyner #Owen Joyner fanfiction #Owen Joyner fanfic #Owen Joyner fic #Owen Joyner writing #Owen Joyner imagine #Owen Joyner oneshot #owen joyner oneshot #Owen Joyner fluff #Owen Joyner smut #Owen Joyner angst #Owen Joyner x reader #owen joyner x y/n #Owen Patrick joyner #Owen Patrick joyner fanfiction #Owen Patrick joyner fanfic #Owen Patrick joyner fic

[owen-not-carvour]

i’m in another really long line so here’s some more incoherent spytown thoughts lol

1) road to hell would be absolutely INSANE. going off of how the actual song goes we’d get tatiana going like ‘✨lady hermes✨ that’s me’ and i would be Dead :).. we’d also get persephone!curt with the folding fan which is just. hilarious to picture. (also thinking about him during living it up on top and just. plz let him be happy. for longer than ten minutes. please…),, there’d also be HADES!OWEN WITH T H O S E SUNGLASSES HAHAHA (something abt those glasses is just. so funny to me lol). AND THEN THAT PART WHERE HERMES GOES “and thus begins the tale of ORPHEUS!! AND! EURYDICE!!” and orpheus and eurydice end up like. accidentally face to face and just looking at each other. that’d be the BEST!!! like what a fuckin way to start the show :)

2) way down hadestown: persephone’s dance. i am literally so obsessed with her dance at the beginning it is the coolest thing and i wish i could do it right SO BADLY OMFG!! but just. it’d be cool w persephone!curt yknow,, seeing how he’d act during his ‘funeral’ of sorts.. and speaking of him. just his attitude and mannerisms during that verse would be so!! good!! bc like. he hates hadestown but still loves owen (simplified but yeah that’s basically it). and just. the bite he’d have to his words there AHHHHHH. also tatiana narrating this song???? sosoosososo good. AND THEN WHEN HADES AND PERSEPHONE GO BACK DOWN!?!?!?!!?! AMAZING. just. all of wdh would be so insane with them (that’s a running theme here i’m sorry i say it a lot lol)

3) come home with me. yknow how curt is. also owens ‘ohhh he’s crazy’ and the back and forth they’d have a bit of is so fun to think about (we’ve already established how great this one would be,, this is just to reiterate it lol)

4) again,, living it up on top and our lady of the underground. i just love persephone’s mannerisms in normal hadestown,, so when you combine hers with curts mannerisms everything just gets even better yknow. also i love how these two songs kinda show the same aspect of persephone’s personality,, but it’s also so different because of the circumstances. and just imagining how curt would change between those two scenes and just. again. the BITE!! like the whole YOU WANT STARRRRRRRS!? line and everything!!? both would be just. so good!!

anyway,, that’s all i got for now! thanks for tolerating it and i’m sorry these always end up so long.

#spies are forever #owen carvour #agent curt mega #spytown #i just think abt this au daily #yknow #like a normal person #persephone!curt is just.. so amazing