#the nitpicking... the snarky comments...

[onlyfangz]

did we all collectively forget that vampires not being able to see their reflection because old mirrors were backed with silver is a tumblr creation that has no basis in any classical texts or?

because the reason vampires cant see their reflections (in classic texts) is because mirrors were considered reflections of the soul, and vampires are soulless, which means regardless of what the reflective surface is, they cannot cast an image.

i'm not a snob, i love modern vampires as much as classic vampires, but please remember that classic vampires are soulless monsters, not misunderstood sadboys of the 00s>.

#charlie.txt #i just saw an astarion headcanon but the way it was worded it was like this was canon lore #it was a harmless hc tho so i didnt want to harass op with nitpicking #but for one dnd5e (and be extension bg3) has its own set of vampiric lore #and for two the silver thing isnt based on any pre established lore in any mainstream media like. ever. #afaik. #they either cant see their reflection or they make a snarky comment about how you shouldnt believe all the fairytales #those are the two modern options in mainstream media #this isnt like. serious. im not upset. #THATS A LIE IM IRKED LMAO. #i just like vampires lol but im not like. stewing abt it. #its my silly little topic im passionate about.

[oldshrewsburyian]

My latest read from the library. I enjoyed it, but while being a fan of golden age Hollywood meant that I got all the references (including the sly Hail, Caesar nod) I also saw the twists coming.

...I was also critiquing things like "would this really have been Errol Flynn's star image in 1944?" so this may prove that I am just on the wrong side of the "insufferably into old movies" spectrum to be this book's target audience.

#also: would errol flynn ever have been the most sober member of a friend group? ever? #windhall #ava barry #it was fun don't get me wrong #i just kept nitpicking #if the protagonist is as seriously broke as he appears to be why is he drinking macallan? #...yes i am also Like That about scotch #book covers #cover design #wait i'm not done: am i supposed to believe that anyone would meet errol flynn and not have SOME internal reaction #to the charisma or the charm or the good looks and/or the dangerous reputation? #to none of it? All Of That shows up and offers the narrator his hip flask and the narrator is... mildly interested? #no man is THAT straight surely #also the narrator later turns out to be an activist (ish) for women's rights #in which case #he never socked flynn in the jaw/gave him the dirtiest side-eye known to man/made a snarky comment? #maybe my conclusion is: one does not simply make errol flynn a background character #queue

[blindmagdalena]

I’m in dire need of angst. How do you think he would react to someone who didn’t have a close relationship with their parents? I’m just imagining an awkward Christmas dinner, their family totally sucking up to Homelander. But also not-so-subtlety making passive agressive/snarky comments towards the reader.

It was definitely his idea to go to Christmas dinner in the first place. You've been dreading it. He insisted, though. You don't want to deny him this when he doesn't even have a family, and he's clearly so excited by the prospect of it.

And to be fair, it started off well enough. Your family was so excited to meet Homelander. They couldn't believe this was really happening!

It didn't last long, though. Your dad just had to make an offhanded remark about how you sure were "dating up."

That was the beginning of the end.

Through the night, Homelander grows gradually less boisterous. He's talking less, listening more. You're uncomfortable, dejected, but ultimately you knew it would end up this way. You just wish he would have listened to you.

By the time dinner rolls around, the tension in the air is palpable. Homelander has stopped preening under the praises of your family. You want nothing more than to eat and leave.

The final straw is when your mother sneaks in a snipe about how you "Really could have dressed up for the occasion."

"Well, Sheryl," Homelander begins, his tone immediately catching the attention of the entire table. "You could have tasted the mashed potatoes before you salted them into an inedible sodium fuckfest, but hey, I guess that's beyond your scope of competence."

The silence is deafening.

He isn't done. "God, y'know. You people. You had one job. All you had to do was be good. Nice. Shovel some food into your face and not be total fucking pricks at every available moment, but y'couldn't even manage that. Y'had to air out eeevery single little nitpick and grievance that sprang into your circus peanut brains."

You're stunned, jaw hanging. Your mother's expression mirrors yours. With a noise of indignation, your father begins to stand.

"Sit the fuck down, Henry," Homelander snaps with a flare of crimson to his gaze that puts a shiver down your spine. It works. Your father sits, and the light fades away. "Now that's the smartest thing you've done all night. Didn't think you had it in you."

Homelander pushes his mostly full plate away and sighs, picking up the napkin from his lap to fold. "I was the one who asked to come here, y'know. Practically begged. Thought Christmas might just be a grand ol' time. Do you know how often I'm wrong? I'll give you a hint: it's not often. But you..." He wags his finger between them, smiling more maliciously than you've ever seen him. "You folks really got me tonight."

He stands up. Your heart is pounding in pure anxious adrenaline. For a moment you have a terrible vision of him leaving you here, furious with them and you that this wasn't the experience he had been hoping for.

His hand in your face snaps you out of your thoughts. You look up sharply, and see him looking down at you, that wicked expression suddenly much softer. Kind, even with that anger still simmering under the surface. You close your mouth and take his hand, swallowing.

"Lucky for me I already got my Christmas wish, hmm?" He says, offering you a little wink. "You are... perfect," he says, leaning in to press a tender little kiss to your forehead, emphasizing it with a pointed mmmwuah. "No idea how you escaped all that unscathed," he says, nodding his head in your parents' direction. "So, how about you and I blow this popsicle stand and go find a whooole lotta mistletoe to stand under?"

You exhale a breathless little laugh, tears prickling hotly at your eyes, overwhelmed by how thoroughly he came to your defense. "I'd really, really like that."

Glancing over, Homelander offers your parents one last tight, venomous little smile. "Merry Christmas, you miserable fucks."

Which is exactly how he signs every single Christmas card he maliciously sends your parents each year from that day forward.

#homelander x you #homelander x reader #darling anon #ask and you shall receive #my writing #YOU SNEAKY YOU GOT ME WRITING CRIMMAS EARLY #idk if this was particularly angsty but i hope you enjoy anyways haha #wow i'm in a mood for vicious homelander today aren't i??? #i haven't answered asks this much in ages hahaha

[bruciemilf]

Okay so civilian AU where the batkids don't want their dad dating Clark (not because they hate Clark, they love him, they just don't want their dad Dating) but they don't outright say it because Clark makes Bruce happy, so they just. Commit micro aggressions.

Clark gets turned around in the Manor? Jason has a snarky comment about how "if you can't even find your way around a house, how do you expect to find your way around Gotham?"

There's a bomb threat while they're out at the mall (it's Gotham) and Clark’s slightly panicking. Dick helps calm him down, but not without the patronizing comment of, "the first bomb threat's always the hardest. You're not going to last long here if you still get so freaked out about bomb threats—it's best if you just go back to Metropolis."

Clark asks why Cass resorts to sign language only when around him, like stops mid-sentence and switches to sign when he enters the room. Cass looks innocently at him and signs, "I only speak around people I'm comfortable with and I know will stay."

Damian just flat-out ignores him. Clark can't even say anything because Damian’s just Like That. Titus chews up all Clark’s clothes? "I'm not responsible for my dog's habits, Kent."

Clark tries and fails to articulate a business proposal on the behalf of WE Tim comes to rescue him with a sympathetic but pointed comment about how, "it's okay, not everyone knows how to pitch proposals. In upper-class society, it's a necessary skill—even Steph knows, and I doubt she's ever set foot in WE, but it's fine you don't know, really! Just...stay away from my company, will you? It's a family affair."

Clark Knows they don't like him, but the comments are isolated and innocent enough that he can't point anything out without it seeming like he's nitpicking.

- batposts (on anon because I'd rather you didn't see my main)

WHEEZE POOR CLARK - this tastes so much like the bitterness I had for my mom's first boyfriend. Let me tell you me and my brother invented a new layer of hell for that man.

OH OH OH - Clark thinks the batkids are invincible, they're Bruce's perfect baby angels (quoted from the titan dad himself) but he quickly realizes that's not the case at all.

Like, maybe Tim says something snarky during dinner, something intentionally smarmy about the class difference between clark and Bruce and isn't it wonderful they lasted so long despite being so different?

And Clark doesn't even blink at that, he's used to Tim being Tim, but Bruce? " What did you say, Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne?"

An ivory red lits Tim's ghostly pale painted face on fire. " Um. Jay-"

" Don't look at me, man."

" Dick-"

" Eşti pe cont propriu, cretinule. (You're on your own, moron - I like to think Dick only ever insults his siblings in Romanian)

" Steph?"

" No habla little bitch."

" Dami?"

Damian stares at him, silently squishing his cheek againts a fuming Bruce's forearm. Needless to say Tim doesn't have desert or coffee for a WEEK and Bruce has a long talk with his kids.

Counterattack: Clark's kids do the exact opposite. They just snatch Bruce, OUR DAD NOW, CHUCKLEFUCKS, and dip straight up.

When they actually DO meet, let Jon look at Dami glowering at him, because NEW BABIES? IN THE NEST? NO- and just laugh.

He laughs. That's it. " Okay, first of all, you're adorable and I love everything about you. "

Conner is straight up like,

hey Jason, right? You don't have to worry about Bruce anymore, dude. I'm kinda planning on moving in? So you can move back out. I know for a fact you have the best room in this overpriced box and I plan on taking it. Haha, just messing! Seriously though, move out. I got this.

#bruce wayne #batman #asks #dc #dc comics #text post #batfamily #jon kent #kon kent #conner kent #superbat #also bestie i know your main already???? kinda confused there but thanks for this masterpiece sjsjsjsjs #damian wayne #dick grayson #cassandra cain #stephanie brown #tim drake #clark kent

[matthew-alexander]

differences | elijah & matthew

for: @eremington​ location: remington tower

The Remington Tower had become Matthew’s some time home in the years since Park Sung Joon’s assassination. The last time Matthew had been depowered was about a year ago and despite being rendered so utterly weak, he was not one to sit still as he flitted between different safehouses because of his inability to properly lay low while the world kept going around them.

He found himself in the building’s lobby that day making snarky comments at the various supernaturals who worked there and the comments ranged from nitpicking outfits to the dismal way he thought the building was being run. Matthew was frustrated and needed to take it out on someone... anyone.

“The way you’ve organised resident information is severely lacking. How will you expect to get anything done efficiently?” the fallen deity asked as he jabbed a finger against the chest of the man who was supposed to be running things. He was doing a shit job if Matthew had any say about it.

#elijah #elijah: differences

[skidar]

I bet if people realized they’re more likeable when they talk about their passions and stuff they genuinely enjoy then they’d stop screaming about how bad everything is then try to justify it by stretching to say how “problematic” things are.

I really blame mid 2000s review shows for making it big with snarky comments on things people have always enjoyed without having to build up a case or justify that its good. Now we have a whole generation of folks thinking they have to safe guard themselves against ‘future cringe’ by rushing to put down media they may not have enjoyed (or don’t want people to THINK they enjoyed).

You can just like something without writing an essay about why its ok to like it, I promise. Same as if you don’t like something you’re not automatically ‘cool’ by being the first to shit all over it. You just become annoying to talk to and no one wants to share their interests with someone who’s just gonna scoff and nitpick them.

If you like it, great! If you don’t then shrug and move on. Spend more time being friendly and spending your energy on stuff that actually brings you joy.

And if your joy comes from constantly antagonizing people over their media preferences then the problem’s with you and you gotta do some self evaluation :P

[darchildre]

Sara Reads an Infuriating Book, the Conclusion

Friends, I have finished W Scott Poole's Wasteland. Here are some notes on the last two chapters:

Chapter 4:

Like chapter 3, this mostly discussed subjects outside my bailiwick - the chapter focused mostly on the rise of fascism in Europe and America throughout the 1930s and only touched on film a little. And the films it did discuss are, to my mind, only horror films if your definition is very broad: M, and the Dr Mabuse movies.

I have one small rant here: Poole, in discussing M, talks about the movie's "fully human monster" and the fact that American and British film wouldn't "fully explore this subject for another three decades." And I thought, okay, sure - making a movie as frankly about a child killer would be pretty confronting even today, that seems fair.

But no, this is not what he means, because the films he uses as examples of British and American films exploring the subject matter are Psycho and Peeping Tom, which means we're just talking about serial killers.

Sir. Even leaving aside movies like Murders in the Zoo and Mystery of the Wax Museum (which he's going to discuss in the very next chapter), between 1927 and 1944, people in Britain and the US filmed three separate versions of The Lodger. I am absolutely not claiming that these movies are anywhere near as good as M, but you cannot argue that no one outside Germany made a serial killer movie before the 1960s.

On the up side, this chapter did remind me to rewatch M and that I've always meant to get around to the Mabuse films.

Chapter 5! This chapter was called "Universal Monsters", which of course made me excited. Unfortunately, this is the last chapter, so Poole has to cram a lot of stuff in and can't really give anything enough space for proper discussion. Especially since this chapter is as scattered as all the others: we do discuss the American horror cycle of the 1930s, but we also have to drop in on Lovecraft, T S Eliot, and Machen (as we do every chapter), as well as discuss the revival of Spiritualism, the collapse of Victorian mourning culture during WWI, and some thoughts on ghost stories as comforting when compared to, y'know, the omnipresent mutilated corpses that Poole never stops talking about.

Because there's so much, nothing gets a lot of focus. Here are some bullet points:

Poole does not discuss the 1931 Dracula at all. It gets a sentence or two marking that it has been made, but no discussion of the actual film. And sure, you can't talk about everything, but my dude! You have been yammering on about symbolic/metaphorical portrayals of shell shock for chapters now and you don't want to talk about Dwight Frye's Renfield? We're just going to move right past Lucy quoting "Stand to Your Glasses" to a literal walking dead man? I get that you talked about Nosferatu a lot but damn, that seems like a hell of an omission.

Talking about James Whale and his horror movies: "We unfortunately have really nothing from the director himself regarding how the war shaped his vision of horror." THIS IS WHAT I'M SAYING. Look, I am generally death-of-the-author as hell and I think that Poole's reading of most of these films is a legitimate and valid reading. I just object to the idea that it's the only valid reading, especially when he never presents solid evidence other than his opinions about the films.

Petty nitpicking time: friends, I just watched every damn one of the Universal Invisible Man movies and there is no suggestion in any one of them that Griffin is “a disfigured scientist who seeks invisibility to hide his mutilated face". That's just wildly inaccurate. Poole loves facial disfiguration so much that he sees it in films where it does not appear at all. (Claude Rains as Griffin is visible for all of 10 seconds in the original film, his face is entirely unmarred and, frankly but irrelevantly, really lovely.)

Even pettier nitpicking: if you are going to make a snarky comment about people mistakenly referring to Frankenstein's assistant in Frankenstein and Bride as Ygor, it's going to come off better if you remember that the character in the original film is named "Fritz" and not "Karl". Karl is in Bride.

I will admit that I only skimmed the Afterword because, frankly, I've been reading this book at work and I got to it when we were about to close up and go home. Thus, I don't have anything to say about it.

In conclusion! This is not the most infuriating book about horror I've ever read, because Poole a) doesn't hate people who like horror and b) doesn't think that all horror stories are about incest. I disagree with a lot of his conclusions, but mostly because I think he's making too strong a case on too little evidence and I don't like anything that only allows for one reading of any work of art. I also found the structure irritating and I think parts of the book would be better if the scope was narrower - wandering off to talk about Surrealist painters or T S Eliot every damn chapter got old after a while.

It's absolutely not the book I would recommend for a first entry into horror film history - that's still Skal's The Monster Show. But, if you want some context for 1920/30s horror film, with a focus on European film, it's not a bad book to argue with or make film lists from.

And now I have to go track down Shell Shock Cinema by Anton Kaes, because it's the book in the works cited that sounded the most interesting.

#i've also been reminded of how much i love the black cat #that might be due for a rewatch soon #sara reads an infuriating book

[loveourfuture-c]

Not to nitpick but I wouldn't call Ben's advice "non-judgmental" bc it can be very judgmental at times!! but the thing is, Ben manages to give Devi advice in a way that is most helpful for her. Even with a few insults or snarky comments thrown in, he still manages to get through to her and she always listens to him bc she values what he has to say and she knows that he has her best interests at heart.

It's Ben that got her to spread her dad's ashes. It's Ben that encouraged her to make up with her mom. It's Ben that got her to apologize to Aneesa. And it's Ben that helped her realize that she shouldn't settle for anything less than she deserves.

Not to undercut Devi's growth bc Devi is ultimately responsible for all her own wonderful character development, but Ben has helped her a lot and still believes in her even with all her flaws and mistakes. He still wants the best for her and thinks she deserves everything good, even after she hurt him so badly.

No matter what, he still sees Devi for the incredible person that she is and that's why I will always, always believe that Ben is the best choice for her ❤️

Oh, I don’t think it’s too nitpicky!! My using the phrase “non judgmental” was probably not the best. I just meant that he is never mean to her about it, if that makes sense. Like his judgments are always fair and come from a place of concern.

I totally agree with everything you said btw. Ben is the best choice for Devi always. ❤️

#never have i ever #benvi #devi vishwakumar #ben gross #totally agree with everything you said! #when I think of being judgements I always think of it as a negative thing so that’s where I was coming from

[byrusvirus]

Kinda funny that I found a lot of my favourite obscure/under-appreciated movies through ranting YouTube critics.

While they're nitpicking the movie to pieces and making snarky comments I'm just like "damn this flick fucking rules"

#Movies #Text #Personal #I'm not alone in this one either lol #Found quite a few new obsessions in Musical Hell's reviews #Like sorry lady you have bad taste but thanks for introducing me to this hidden gem lol

[mangakamen]

The Ghost of Persona 5′s terrible criticism past and current

Honestly, I think this something that I need to get off my chest since I’m known as the guy who responded to that almost 5 hour video from Cvit - Persona 5: Style over Substance. I want to talk about why I decided to respond to the guy, some of the background details, and even talk about stuff that’s happening today with this (yeah, it is). Get ready for a long post. And as a Side note, this isn’t a post for me to paint a target on people or call to arms - I’m just getting this off my chest after about 2 years

Now, if for whatever reason you don’t know what I’m talking about, let me get a couple links - I understand that you’re looking at about 9 hours worth of content, but I’m not expecting you to watch it all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGzS4KtItEo

Now, what I wanna talk about is how petty some people are. Like, to give context, Cvit’s video came out in August 2019 - My video series started on June 2020 - almost a year later. One thing I want to point out before I was developing this video series I had avoided Cvit’s video - Not because I can’t stand criticism of things I like, but rather because... It’s almost 5 hours long.

Like, I know that this was the beginning of the youtube meme of overly long criticism videos with a snarky narrator who acts like their opinion is the be all end all - Ironic I know considering where my Youtube’s content has been going as of late, but hey, It’s been 3 years.

No, what really caught my attention was that I was seeing a ton of weird criticisms being spread across twitter, tumblr and reddit.

So, I started to look, and found that some people had cited Cvit’s video - Now, I’m not one to instantly believe that someone is outright making arguments in bad faith, and not to mention, the game of Telephone is a thing so maybe there was context that I was missing.

So, I decided to live tweet my reactions to it.

It started off with me simply disagreeing with his takes with the subjectivity of how music can affect a person’s enjoyment if used too much - That’s nothing big and depends on the person, as well as how much you play in a single sitting of a game.

BUT THEN... He talked about the english dub of the game, and used the Persona Problems site:

For those who don’t know, this is a website that was created to catalogue the issues with the English Translation of Persona 5 - All well and good, right?

Well...

While there are some examples that do indeed highlight issues (He’s a scum being a prime example) they have just as many terrible examples.

Here’s one such excerpt

Now with that, you might be thinking two things 1) God that’s a bad screenshot, and 2) Seems like a legit criticism to me.

Well, let me tell ya, there’s more than meets the eye here - most notably the context and characters.

For those who have played the game, know that this scene involve Futaba, she’s the character saying the lines. Futaba is a recovering shut-in and is flustered about being with the protag  on Valentine’s day - She’s stumbling over her words and is not sure what to do in this situation - Also, she’s a teenager.

I’m not saying that Persona 5′s translation is perfect, but this site will often remove context from scenes and just look at the lines in a vacuum, which is dishonest if you ask me. And naturally, this extended to Cvit - Who just took the webiste at face value and slapped it in his video as if it were a completely reliable source. Hell, I doubt he even read the source other than one example;

But it was then that I decided to make an actual video on the matter - But I didn’t want to talk about all near 5 hours of Cvit’s video, so I made a general complaints video - and it ws to be the ONLY video I had planned at the time to talk about Cvit’s.

THAT WAS UNTIL I GOT A FLOOD OF COMMENTS SAYING THAT I TOOK HIM OUT OF CONTEXT.

There were a ton more, but this was one of the many.

It was because I had gotten a mob of comments, e-mails and tweets @’d at me telling me how flawed my video was because “I Nitpicked’ or “I took Cvit out of context”.

So, that’s why you have 6 videos - each going after a specific portion of Cvit’s video - And one large combination video. Because people just wouldn’t shut up and wouldn’t stop harassing me about it.

Should I have ignored them? Maybe, but if I did, then people wouldn’t actually listen to the parts where Cvit removes context, interjects fake context, ignores Japanese culture (funny since he praises Yakuza which is Japanese) and outright lying about the game. (But hey, I guess Pyramids aren’t tombs now?)

I think what got me more was that you had prominent youtubers, like Foxcade, defending his video.

Ironically dismissing the complaints that Cvit almost practically started this whole “hating persona 5″ and how so many people referenced his video or used his points against the game in debates that I saw online.

I do not regret making my videos, the only regret was that I wish I had better audio balancing at the time, and if I ever decide to go back to remaking that long ass video - I’d gladly re-record every single line I made.

But now we get to today. And for some bloody, gat-damn reason, the fact that I responded to Cvit is used against me, and painting me as a Persona 5 fanboy who thinks the series can do no wrong.

Then again, this is also a problem with LIS fanbase because I dared to criticize the game franchise they love. In addition, I’ve been critical of the Persona franchise in the past:

Especially Persona 5.

But hey, why bother actually looking to see if this is true if some random reddit user claims this, then it must be true?

And for some reason, these same people leave out the fact that I only responded to Cvit’s persona video (his almost 5 hour long video). Ignoring the fact that in my videos on Cvit that I proved that he actively removed context and used faulty sources. Ignore that I criticized the Persona games in the past.

I must be a terrible person.

This is the latest in times where this has been used to dismiss my points, and it ignores SO much context of the videos in question and doesn’t actually provide any legit examples or evidence. Part of the reason why I did this on Tumblr (and will link on Twitter later) was because I can provide screenshots in a single post to prove that what I’m saying has some level of evidence backing it up.

This is part of the reason why I distance myself from fandoms - There’s so much toxicity and slander that It’s no wonder people hate fans of popular things. Even when you’re trying to defend the thing you like, if you’re unliked by these people, they will outright lie and mischaracterize you as a terrible person - Evidence backing them up be damned.

And ironically enough, it’s the same damn problem that Cvit had in his video on persona 5 - “ I don’t think I have to tell you this, but if you’re actively removing context from the scenes in order to make your point, then your point is dishonest and casts doubt on your other points too. And frankly, that’s a terrible thing to do: “

But unfortunately, this is the internet - And people don’t actually care about context or trying to be nice - They only care about instant gratification and being ‘right’, whether or not they have evidence. “Just trust me bro”.

And it utterly disgusts me that I’m being attacked for simply pointing out flaws in a highly regarded - And yes, people still see Cvit’s video as a good source of Persona 5 criticism - video and proving it. Sorry that it has to take a lot of time for me to respond to a near 5 hour video where I give proper context and explain in detail why Cvit’s points are wrong and why I think it’s in poor taste to insult the developers of the game based upon that terrible inaccuracies.

Hell, I’ve even been harassed by these kinds of people.

I thank you for your time reading this, and hope you have a good day.

#Persona 5 #Cvit #MangaKamen #LONG ASS TUMBLR POST #rant

[organic-guacamole]

this is a dumb excuse but last night I was showing my sister how to type with a Korean 10 key keyboard and then hit my phone stuck on it and that's why I'm late...

HSMTMTS SEASON 3 EPISODE 8 REACTION

yay jet doing the recap

before this disaster begins I just gotta say I love the background music at the start. the stringy rendition of shallow lake is so nice.

ON 3 OR AFTER 3!!!!! if this finale has any more callbacks I will not stop screaming

imagine if ricky did get a heart attack though...🤔

not saying he should but like, it would be original (unlike a certain recycled love triangle plot)

my best friend is old enough to vote now too and it's actually insane

but this isn't about me, BIG RED YESSSSS

how'd he come though, Ricky stole his car 🤨🤨🤨

JET

idk what's happening now, it would be cool if they fleshed out Jet and Ricky some more but they didn't so now it's awkward the way Jet is asking Red.

AND ASHLYN IS STILL JUST STANDING THERE? HUH? MOVE GIRL

EJ I love you.

"where's Gina" *punches pillow, mattress, wall, door-*

no wonder EJ his busting his ass to make sure the show is perfect. Ricky is the male lead and doesn't know the name of the kingdom in frozen? chile please

miss Jenn? do people not have other things to do in this show (me being petty about every little thing because I'm pissed about the storylines of this season)

why are all these elders jumping in the kid's solo smh smh

GO ASHLYN WEEEE

Channing showed up with like 20x more gay and he's so cute

why would they livestream this wth

shut up Richard, I'm so tired of his snarky comments this whole time

DUDE THE WAY THEY ALL TURNED ON EJ IMMEDIATELY I CANNOT STAND THIS SHOW

and then don't apologize for assuming he'd throw them all under the bus after the 2 weeks of him working so hard to make sure they excel I'm so angry I'm gonna cry

Nini? I'm not even surprised atp

she's not coming back.

"these things don't go away in a night" THANK YOU KOURTNEY

why is the crowd laughing so hard I do not understand (nitpicking)

thanks Channing 🧍🏽‍♀️

I know redlyn won't break up but it's scaring me.

not the sign saying no spitting in the middle of the emotional scene between Alex and Kourtney

SUPERNOVA GSHEGSHSHSAJBA I LOVE THEM

no Channing not now

why does Nini have to stand there, isn't it more conspicuous than sitting in the audience?

yes Gina beat that man to the ground

I LOVE KOURTNEY SO MUCH

I'm so happy rn.

bORN TI BE BRAVEEWE I KNOW WHO I AM INSIDE AND I WONT APOLOGIZE WOOOOOO

"we missed you so much this summer" literally no one thought about her (petty guac is back)

Channing is such a fun character, his dialogue is almost always hilarious

and now EJ has to witness THIS. seriously just twist the knife in his heart atp

I love Val why isn't she in season 4😔 (Actually no cuz then they'd ruin her character)

*marches down the path with lanterns and pitchforks* KILL CASH CASWELL KILL CASH CASWELL

EJ deserves so much more than they give him and I'm so upset that not only did he lose the girl he really liked, but also can't even get his dad to say something as simple as "you're not a disappointment"

seriously. born to be brave is just making me nostalgic for s1 and I can't handle that rn

Not Ms Jenn actually being in hsm, didn't Mr Mazzara prove that she wasn't? anyways um

just like that? Corbin switches sides? redemption?

why is miss Jenn pulling every 40 something man in this show

is it just me or does Ashlyn have the bi colours in her hair

EJ SIGNED AS ELTON IM SCREAMING

I hate the last day of camps like this, I've been to 2 and I cried so hard whole waiting for my ride, like those people you just spent days and nights with you might never see again but the bond is just so ✨

BRO LOOK AT THIS? WHEN THEY FOUND OUT NINI WAS THERE DID YALL SEE RICKYS FACE? HES NOT OVER HER (not in the sense of wanting to be with her still, but just not over that relationship and probably craving that feeling again. hence lily and now Gina? why why why should they be the rebounds for him and why is the narrative making it seem like a good thing.)

like this guy that has had his eyes on Gina and only Gina for months is not right for her! fine! but does that automatically make Ricky, the guy who is like the opposite of boyfriend material bc of where he is in life rn any better? no???

NOT THE TIME SKIP

I also just realized this is the longest hsmtmts episode to date, that's cool, literally what we've been begging for since s2 but sure.

no stop. that documentary is not complete within 1 month, no way. especially not after what they said about in a month the trailer will come out.

BRO CARLOS' DRESS??????

and can we talk about the meta-ness of this? what show am I even watching rn? hsmtmtsftmtd?

OMG EVERYONE IS SO HOT

"ok Ricky Bowen and you're watching Disney plus" *does the wand movement* ain't no way son

oh no it's gonna have the Ricky confession scene isn't it

oh jeez not the reality show edits

OMG WHY DID THEY DO THAT TO CARLOS IM CRYING

love how jet's own can't even be excused by some editing

this show has gone off the rails but the documentary trailer is killing me

the awkward shots of Ricky grinning at the camera while Gina says that she wants one thing I'm dying I'm deceased yes.

BIG RED IS BI WE KNEW THIS BUT ITS CANON NOW WOOHOOO (why he got an interview segment? no idea)

"good for him" so true

EJ my man... *shoulder pat*

oh Rina is still gonna happen?

hm

no jeez why is it always the girl confessing to Ricky

SHE DID NOT JUST USE PART OF HER BREAK UP WITH EJ TO CONFESS TO RICKY. IM BACK TO HATING THIS SHOW.

SHE ALREADY CONFESSED DURING THAT FLASHBACK SCENE AT THE S1 CLOSING WHAT WHAT WHAT

HES 18 TOO HOW COULD SHE USE THE FACT THAT EJ'S AN ADULT AND MOVING FORWARD AGAINST HIM WHEN RICKYS ABOUT TO DO THE SAME?? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHG

NO STOP ICKY EW GO AWAY

nonono, don't get me started

#hsmtmts #hsmtmts s3 #hsmtmts season 3 #hsmtmts s3 finale #ej caswell #ricky bowen #gina porter #carlos rodriguez #kourtney greene #ashlyn caswell

[tea-with-evan-and-me]

https://x.com/simonthchipmunk/status/1751720384657858847?s=46&t=vw4WI8Brl3poq10fUcDT9w

I just need to say about the commenting on Emma’s weight, drug use, or life situation “just because she’s not dating Evan anymore.” When people were bringing up Emma’s weight they were actually saying she looks better so I don’t see how that’s bad, but also nobody is commenting on her “just because they’re not dating anymore” it’s because she’s a verifiable horrible person who is abusive. Maybe I’m a bad person but I don’t think it’s horrible if snarky comments are made towards an abuser. There are stans of Emma that Simon at least used to, I don’t know if he still does, be friends with who would make fun of Evan’s appearance a lot. Saying he has “coke pores” (just one mild example, there’s worse) stuff like that. He had no problem with that but because a few people on this blog made snarky comments about filler use of a domestic abuser it’s now abhorrent and nasty?

And just another thing, nobody’s trying to hide the stupid retweet or dumb off the clock video, but I don’t see the point in bringing it up frequently and unnecessarily. Like it doesn’t need to be brought up every time a fan makes tweets like “Evan’s so unproblematic” or stuff like that. This is something that annoys me about celebrity culture and social media in general, the way people feel the need to continually bring up something stupid a, usually at the time very young and ignorant, celebrity did 20 years ago. People grow up, they learn, they change, it’s okay to let people live down past mistakes that don’t represent who they are. I cannot stand the constant condemnation, criticizing, and nitpicking that happens on social media.

you are exactly right, simon consistently says and has said far more offensive and negative things than anyone on here has said. this is a person who liked a tweet wishing terrible, violent things on evan. all of our ire is directed towards someone (emma) verifiably terrible, someone we have no moral obligation to flatter. we have no obligation to speak kindly of an abuser and overall awful person.

honestly, he’s just scrambling and has been for days because he’s being confronted with the reality that he is disliked by most people who are aware of his twitter presence, because he is a terrible person who does everything he can to make sure you know it. again, you’re right - you can absolutely acknowledge mistakes a person made without constantly bringing it up, years later, especially when you claim to know the person is not a bad human being. there’s no good reason to continually remind people of shit from years ago, especially when they are not even worth being mad over.

[faith-in-democracy]

Unleashing the Art of Criticism

Hello, dear readers! Today, we shall dive into the fascinating world of criticism. Ah, criticism - the truly noble art form that never fails to enlighten and uplift our souls! If there's anything the internet has taught us, it's that everyone has an opinion and they're not afraid to let you know just how wrong you are. Why bother with productive conversations when we can simply tear each other apart with a snarky comment or a passive-aggressive tweet? After all, why engage in thoughtful analysis or constructive feedback when we can drown in a sea of snide remarks and haughty attitudes? But hey, who needs empathy or kindness when we can indulge in the exhilarating sport of tearing things apart? Why focus on the hard work and dedication that goes into creating something when we can simply belittle and mock the efforts of others without any consequences? Critics truly are the unsung heroes of our time. They possess a rare talent for nitpicking the tiniest flaws and blowing them completely out of proportion. Oh, how we cherish those nitpickers who lift us from the depths of ignorance and guide us to the promised land of their impeccable taste! In fact, isn't it just fantastic how we can all be expert critics from the comfort of our armchairs? Who needs credentials or experience when we can don the cape of judgement and unleash our righteousness upon the world? So, dear reader, the next time you find yourself feeling insecure about your artistic endeavors, just remember that there will always be someone eagerly waiting to shower you with their unsolicited opinions. Embrace their criticism, for it is a true testament to their wisdom and superiority. Or, you know, you could just ignore them and continue doing what you love. Remember, the world needs more critics. The world needs more negativity. The world needs more sarcasm and snark. After all, kindness and understanding are vastly overrated. So go forth, dear reader, and unleash your inner critic. The internet is eagerly awaiting your scathing remarks!

#CNN #News #Politics

[attollogame]

I started playing atollo and met Sylvester, I wanted to adopt this man as a younger sibling now. We already have a younger sibling, so it isn't so far of a stretch to adopt this perfumer maker right???

I don't think you'd last 5 minutes with Sylvester as a family member

#the nitpicking... the snarky comments... #unbearable

[datleggy]

OMG UR LATEST POST / DRABBLR ABOUT OMEGA EDDIE. if you can, whenever you’re free, plewSe write more. it was so good and refreshing! ugh. you’re the best author. i don’t have a prompt or anything but jealous, stubborn, anxious, or doubtful of his worth omega eddie sounds splendid. especially when his alpha buck with undoubtedly reassure him

hgeupfhoerheoghi u can't hype me up like this with my big ass head lmao thankyouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu <3

hope u like this one! :)

_

Eddie isn’t your stereotypical omega--or rather, he doesn’t behave in any of the ways that most people who have never actually met one, believe an omega should behave. 

He’s stubborn, often to the point of being bull headed, confrontational, snarky, and he does rather dangerous work for a living, to top it all off. 

Eddie is well aware--thanks to the constant reminders from his mother in Texas--that he isn’t exactly prime mating material. “Nobody likes a mouthy omega.” Helena likes to say. 

And normally? Normally Eddie can brush off the little comments criticizing and nitpicking at him--he tells himself she only does it because she’s old school and she only wants the best for her son.

But tonight she’d said something during their online call and hours later the words were still ringing in his ears. 

Christopher had been right next to him at the time, when Helena had said it. “You need to find a mate soon, honey, you’re not getting any younger, you know.” and this? This, Eddie was used to hearing, but she hadn’t ever brought it up in front of his son before, and he’d tried to tell her to cut it out, but she’d gone on to say, “Christopher, don’t you miss having two parents?” 

And Christopher had simply shrugged and replied. “I guess sometimes.” without really giving it much thought. 

“See?” Helena had looked at Eddie like he was failing Christopher in some capacity. “The boy needs you to stop being so stubborn already.” 

_

And now it was two in the morning and Eddie couldn't stop thinking about it. What if she was right? What if all of his fears of abandonment, of not being a good enough mate, a good omega--what if he wasn't doing alright on his own as a single parent?

After Shannon had left and cut off all ties with them Eddie had told himself that he wouldn't bother looking for another mate, had convinced himself that it was not just for his sake but for Christopher's too.

He couldn't just start dating and introducing strangers to his kid, knowing that it was all just temporary in the end and Christopher would find heartbreak in goodbye over and over again.

But....

Now he's thinking that was an excuse he'd been using to protect himself from getting hurt instead.

_

The next morning at work Eddie is exhausted and cranky and admittedly sad.

He tries to avoid the team unless they're on a call, but of course there's no way he can avoid Buck. The alpha notices his less than sunny disposition and is determined to get to the bottom of it.

"You gonna tell me what's wrong or are we gonna keep playing hide and seek?" Buck asks, when he finally manages to corner him in the locker room towards the end of the day.

Eddie sighs, annoyed. "Just leave me alone. I'm really not in the mood."

Buck frowns in concern, "You're upset, maybe talking about it will help?"

"Talking helps you, all I wanna do is punch something till I can't feel my knuckles." Eddie looks away, glaring at the bench beneath him as if it's personally wronged him.

The alpha doesn't miss a beat, simply holds his hand out and says, "Ok. Let's go, then."

[jackstarbrightisaqueen]

Thoughts on the Alex Rider TV show...

Some background: I’ve been reading the books since Point Blanc came out, so we are going back a few years (actually quite a few more years than I care to credit). I thought the Stormbreaker movie was a pretty awful adaptation all round. Definitely lacked the grit of the book series. Imagine my fear of what they were going to do to Point Blanc, one of my favourite books of the series...

So, thoughts (in no particular order):

1. Otto Farrant is brilliantly cast. OK, one can nitpick. He’s been aged up, but I think that works - the TV series has tried to go grittier than the movie, and if we’re honest, a 14 year old being treated the way Alex is would just be extremely uncomfortable viewing. The books are written for children - they put up with a lot more than adults. And Farrant manages to strike an excellent balance between being old enough to make the whole thing believable, and young enough to provoke the right amount of outrage. His portrayal of Alex is really very good - the unwillingness to let something drop when he’s curious about it, the coldness, the desire to just be a schoolboy, the fundamental streak of doing what’s right. Sorry, Alex Pettyfer, but no matter how good looking you were, you weren’t Alex Rider for me. Otto Farrant has nailed it.

2. Alex generally. The writing is pretty faithful to his character. There are a few tweaks - he’s a bit more of a rebel than he is in the books. The foam party - one can see Alex doing that in the book because it’s part of the bad-boy act he’s supposed to be putting on, but I’m not sure that was the motivation for the foam party; I think he did it because it was fun and he’s someone who likes to rock the boat a bit. But I liked this Alex. It made his snarkiness and impulsiveness that much more believable. And, let’s be honest, what kid is taught to withstand interrogation techniques without becoming a bit of a loose cannon? One thing that was changed that I’m still not sure about was his determination to go back to Point Blanc. Book Alex didn’t want to go back; TV Alex says he’s going with or without MI6′s help because he’s got friends there. This was admirable, and I think probably the right move (I don’t think “leaving it to the professionals” would have come off well on screen when he’d made such good friends), but I did miss the scene from the book where Jones more or less manipulates him into going back in.

3. Jack. I love Jack as a character. It’s a bit more of recent phenomenon - I think since I became about the age that Jack is and suddenly woke up to what she must have felt - but the book Jack puts up with so much without complaint. The thing is, she’s a very tricky character to portray, because it’s a fine balance between making her powerless and useless. I think they did a good job here. They’ve changed things - Jack gets her degree at the start, and hints to Ian that it might be time for her to think about leaving. It’s not faithful to the book, but it’s a brilliant move, because as soon as Ian dies and she sticks around, you think - wow. She’s just given up her plans for this kid. She really cares. And that’s what the book series hints at throughout but has only addressed explicitly in recent books. I also like that they showed her having a bit more agency, which is realistic. I mean, she’s got a law degree. She’s not helpless. Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo does a good job here. OK, she’s not the red haired Jack we know of the series. But so what? Representation matters (on a side point of which, good job in making Alex’s crush at school black too). And didn’t that thing about Immigration strike just a bit harder because Jack was black? Didn’t it make it that much more realistic and scary? This shit happens, people.

4.Ian. I didn’t have strong views about this. I’ve seen that others didn’t like how his death was changed. I’d argue they wanted to get away from what had already been done in the Stormbreaker movie, and, anyway, it set up the mystery of Scorpia’s involvement and the MI6 leak quite effectively. I don’t care about the speeding/seatbelt change. They probably did it because these days any decent car (like Ian’s was) screams at the driver if they’ve not got their seatbelt on.

5. K Unit generally. We didn’t get too much of Fox, Eagle and Snake, but we got a bit, and what I saw, I really liked. I liked that two of them were women (one of them an excellent sniper!). This show generally handles women much better than the book series - far more balance. I liked the introduction of K Unit - the whole interrogation scene was really well done, from K Unit following orders but being quite uncomfortable with the whole thing, to Alex’s reaction to it, to his escape. I think the lack of SAS training camp was again an attempt to shift away from the Stormbreaker movie and, although it has spawned a lot of fanfiction, it doesn’t actually serve any purpose that couldn’t be addressed elsewhere. For K Unit lovers, I think this move was a good thing. It is pretty difficult to justify K Unit’s attitude towards Alex at Brecon Beacons, and translating that situation to one of trust between Alex and Wolf would be very difficult. This approach worked because, although K Unit was introduced in circumstances where you think they’re acting badly (following orders to interrogate Alex), you’re immediately introduced to the idea they’re not comfortable about it - so they might be good guys after all.

6. Wolf. So this gave us ALL the feels (the apology, the blanket wrap at the end...), but I (possibly controversially) think they could have done more here. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of what we saw in the book - Wolf not liking Alex, and then them turning that around. Don’t get me wrong - obviously, the more Alex/Wolf trust, the better. But I thought they made Wolf into a bit more of a softie than they really needed to. They had 8 episodes - they had time to build more of a character arc for him. 

7. Jones. Mixed feelings. Vicky McClure is really good, and I think the way they’ve set it up, there’s room for a good character arc here; at the moment, the Department is portrayed as basically being under Alan Blunt’s rule, with others disagreeing with his approach but getting overruled. If they make it far enough, Mrs Jones is going to need to have adopted some of his ruthlessness by the time Blunt gets the sack at the end of Scorpia Rising. A bit like Wolf, I thought Mrs Jones could have been a bit more complex than she was. But I’m happy to wait and see what they do in (hopefully) future seasons.

8. Setting. Generally pretty well done. Thank GOD they were wearing proper school uniform (what were the directors of the Stormbreaker movie thinking...this is Britain, y’all). The Point Blanc academy was suitably creepy and isolated. My only criticism re setting was that the “Department” was in a basement. I can see why they did it (dark and mysterious setting, OK), but it didn’t strike me as a particularly realistic place to run a Government department from. Even MI6 has a decent building in Vauxhall.

9. Kyra. I didn’t want to like this deviation in principle - I was really suspicious they were just setting up a love interest (the same way as in the Stormbreaker movie, where they elevated Sabina’s character in a way that just wasn’t appropriate). But Kyra was a brilliant addition. Complex but good-hearted. And nothing cringey happened - even that nearly kiss before Alex leaves Point Blanc was actually pretty believable and went just far enough. Be interesting to see if she comes back - that hanging ending, man. Poor Kyra. On a side point, I think for the purposes of the TV series it was quite important to give Alex a good friend at the academy. Solitary spying works well on the page, but not so much on screen - viewers need dialogue. I thought the way they did it worked well.

10. Plot. Yes, there were tweaks. But I thought the way it was put together was well done. There was no dramatic baddie revealing all at the end. I liked the way it gradually unfolded, and that although MI6 had managed to piece some of it together, it was ultimately Alex who solved it through the spying he’d done. Interesting that they have decided to introduce Scorpia so early on, but it’s given us something to drive the series forward rather than it just being one mission after another, so probably a good move.

11. Tom. The relationship between Tom and Alex was well done (when Alex comes to Tom’s rescue at the end!). O’Connor is good (though, please, PLEASE can we ditch what my husband and I have dubbed the gnome hat?). I thought he got slightly too much air time at this stage, personally - and turning up at the Friends’ house was a bridge too far for me. But I can forgive this. I liked the way they targeted Tom because he and Alex are such best friends. This bromance was something missing from the series and it was a welcome introduction.

I could go on, but I think this is long enough. If anyone has anything they’d like to chat about or to hear my opinion on, do PM me or comment on this post. Meanwhile, I’m off to rewatch the series.

#alex rider #alex rider tv #otto farrant