#there's just so much packed into such a brief exchange of dialogue

[direwombat]

it's like some kind of wednesday in here (+ a bonus WIP music wednesday because I'm late)

tagged by @g0dspeeed, @adelaidedrubman, @gaeadene, and @socially-awkward-skeleton (or pseudo tagged anyway <3) for another wednesday

tagging @strangefable, @strafethesesinners, @detectivelokis, @sstewyhosseini, @confidentandgood, @river-ward, @wrathfulrook, @henbased, @voidika, @madparadoxum, @euryalex, @clonesupport, @schoute, @poetikat, @aceghosts, @inafieldofdaisies, @vampireninjabunnies-blog, @harmonyowl, @purplehairsecretlair, @ivymarquis, @cassietrn, @neverthesameneveranother, @roofgeese, @jacobsneed, @trench-rot, and anyone else who has something they want to share <;3!

here's the bit of dialogue right before syb does some dumb shit (surrendering herself to John)

“Chosen chopper incoming. Want me to shoot ‘er down?”

She shakes her head even though she knows he can’t see her. “Don’t,” she says. “They’re here for me.”

“Uh…I ain’t followin’.”

“I made a deal with John,” she explains. “Myself in exchange for your and Kim’s safety.”

“What!?” Nick exclaims. “You’re just handin’ yourself over to him?”

“I ain’t happy ‘bout it either, but I ain’t got much choice,” she says. “John’s just gonna keep throwin’ his men at us til one or both of us ends up dead. Least if I do this, you n’ Kim can pack your bags and get to Falls End before he decides to go back on his word.”

Besides, the sooner she knows where he’s keeping Joey, the sooner she can figure out how to bust her free. 

Then she can go looking for her brother. 

“Look. Just trust me, okay? I know what I’m doin’.” 

She hopes she sounds more confident than she feels. 

“If you say so,” Nick answers, but she can hear the reluctance in his voice. 

“Just get your ass back on the ground and go to your wife. Let me handle the rest.” And with that, she tunes into the Falls End frequency. “Grace, you copy?”

The few moments it takes for her to respond drags on for an eternity, but finally, she answers. “Yeah, I’m here.”

Sybille breathes a sigh of relief. “Great. Listen, I need you to get to Nick’s airstrip ASAP.”

“What’s goin’ on? You need backup?”

“Kinda,” she answers. Poking her head out from behind her cover, she glances at the Peggies awkwardly idling on the airstrip. One of them happens to meet her gaze and she hesitantly gives the man a wave. Puzzled, he waves back, and then she disappears back behind the bar. “Told John I’d surrender if he left Nick and Kim alone.”

“And why would you do something stupid like that?” Grace asks.

Sybille sighs and drags her hand down her face. “Was either that or risk Kim gettin’ shot,” she says. “Look, I ain’t trust a single word that comes outta that snake’s mouth, so if you could come down and make sure he doesn’t try anythin’ once he’s got me, that’d be great.”

“And if he does?”

“Then you get Nick and Kim outta here,” she says bluntly. “Don’t care where you take ‘em. Just make sure they’re safe.”

“And what about you?”

She sighs again. “Don’t worry ‘bout me,” she says. “I’ll be fine.” 

Grace is quiet for a long time, and there’s a brief moment where Sybille worries that she might refuse her request. But then her voice comes crackling through the radio once more. “You remember when I called you crazy?”

Sybille laughs. “Which time?” she asks.

“Don’t matter,” Grace answers. “I take it back. You’re fuckin’ insane.”

Her smile widens. “So you’ll be here?”

“I'm on my way,” Grace says reluctantly. In the background, Sybille can hear the roar of an ATV coming to life.

The tension in Sybille’s shoulders immediately relaxes and she closes her eyes, leaning her head back to rest it against the wood paneling of the bar. “I owe you,” she says.

“Damn right you do,” Grace grunts. “Oh, and Dep?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t get dead.”

“Copy that,” she smiles. “See you on the other side.”

WIP MUSIC WEDNESDAY

been trying to get myself into the john seed mindset so here's a song (my ethel cain katc epiphanies earlier this evening aside) that's been helping me as i struggle to write him lmao

Listen up all you beggars, you liars and you thieves I'm about to bring you something that's gonna take you to your knees And you know that I could never let you down Oh when you feel the might and you hear that old soul sound

You've been waiting on the wind You've been waiting on the winds of change to blow your sails into the night Oh but all you do is sit and cry

You got to go down to the river and wash your soul clean You got to go down to the river and wash your soul clean Ooh down to the river and wash your soul clean You got to go down to the river and wash your soul clean

What you want (Down to the river) You ain't got (And wash your soul clean) What you got is all that you need

#wip wednesday #some radio chats between syb and nick and syb and grace #and this week on wip music day we have shawn james. who does a lot of heavy lifting in giving me katc insp #Spotify

[neuxue]

‘Then tell me, how long do I have’ / ‘You tell me, how long do you need?’ is a hell of a way to get me immediately on board with a fictional dynamic and the individual characters involved.

#yeah i picked back up with ep1 of nirvana in fire #will i continue it this time? #who knows! on the one hand: it is VERY compelling. on the other hand: it is VERY linguistically intimidating. #but oh MAN this conversation!! #there's just so much packed into such a brief exchange of dialogue #a) the setup for like... Exhaustion/Endurance Tropes My Beloved #b) the way it so clearly establishes that there is shared knowledge/secrets between these two #c) the foundations for what i presume will be a whole lot of Pain bc setting your main character up as Living On Borrowed Time in ep1? #d) 'i knew twelve years ago that sooner or later...' oh it's the opening scene OH okay #e) the trust! the things unspoken because they don't need to speak them! #the way mcs looks to him and knows that however much time he asks to borrow; lin chen will find a way to grant it to him #the way lin chen says 'could i stop you?' and knows the answer #anyway i'm fine #i'm going to be fine! about this show! i can tell! #neuxue watches lyb #just like. preemptive tag.

[nctsworld]

just let me adore you

✩ jaehyun x reader (ft. mark) | fluff | campfire au | 2.3k → summary: in which the sparks between you and jaehyun burn brighter than the fire in front of you.  → warnings: fluff, flirting, swearing, kissing, wingman!mark whoo let’s get it → rating: teen+

→ gif created by me, please don’t repost or share without credit!

Laughter atop of wooden logs and wisps of smoke from the recently made fire fly towards the darkening sky on the beach. On the topic of fires, you and your friends are now reminiscing about when Haechan almost set his house on fire on more than one occasion. 

Your face is stuffed in Mark’s shoulder, unable to control your fit of laughter. As you pull away to breathe, you see a familiar group of men walking closer. Your eyes widen in reaction to one in particular.    

“You didn’t tell me Jaehyun was coming,” you spew behind the gritted teeth of your smile, leaning into Mark while having your gaze still locked on the group approaching. 

“Whoops?” Mark shrugs nonchalantly. You punch the imp smile off of your best friend’s face. He mumbles an ow and rubs the tender spot.

“Could’ve at least given me a heads up, you little shit.” 

“Maybe tonight you two will finally—hey, guys!” 

His words are cut off as the group finally arrives at their destination, greeting everyone perched on the logs. 

You may as well have flung yourself into the flames when Jaehyun flashes you a smile and maybe it’s all in your head, but you swear his eyes are fixated on only you.

Jaehyun and you were in an... odd spot. 

You may have gone to the same university, but the campus was huge, and you only ever really saw each other during large mutual gatherings, like tonight, so it was hard to get to know each other when you were often encircled with your particular clique. 

You two were mutuals on Facebook, but there wasn’t any concrete reason for you two to message each other out of the blue. However, you’d be lying if you said you never opened up the chat, stared at the blank conversation, and spent more time than you’d admit in thinking of a message to muster up. 

Yet, during only the handful of times you’ve been around Jaehyun, you liked being around him. He was sweet, like how he gave you pointers during the get-together at the bowling alley, and Mark has only said good things about him, giving him the seal of a best friend's approval.

Sure, it was a little awkward at times. Small talk was the norm, but neither of you could deny that there was something itching under the surface between you two. Maybe some nurture and care was all that was needed to break the chemistry free.

Or maybe all that was needed was tonight.

Because the logs near you are already occupied, Jaehyun and the latecomers sit across from you. Jaehyun’s in your direct line of sight with only the fire coming between the two of you.

The night falls as the blaze burns stronger and higher, becoming the only illuminating presence on the beach. Although conversations are all about, everyone’s attention is on it. Flames dance, entangling with each other in freedom. Orange and yellow hues reflect off of every face surrounding the warmth. It’s uncommon to see unconstrained flares like this often, so the rarity adds to the addictive pull of them. 

Everyone’s attention is on the fire, save for two people. 

You prefer listening to others speak and don’t really say much unless elicited, so you spend a lot of your time appreciating the beauty of the things surrounding you—at the rolling ocean waves, up at the stars, or across the wavy haze at the figure before you.

And when you aren’t looking at Jaehyun, you’re unaware of how he’s appreciating the beauty in front of him too. 

Back and forth, neither of you expect to lock eyes, but when it inevitably does, neither of you break away. On the contrary, Jaehyun offers a side smile, which showcases his dimple, and a modest wave. 

Returning his gesture with a giggle and a weak wave back, you then pretend to listen to neighbouring dialogue for a moment. 

Five seconds later, you can’t help it and steal a glimpse of him once more. 

You’re surprised to find him beaming back. 

Even though Mark’s preoccupied with telling the recent story of him winning another watermelon eating contest, he sees you smiling in his peripheral vision. His mouth still runs off, but he turns his head and sees that Jaehyun's the reason behind your smile. Although the eye flirting makes him mentally gag, he fully supports your pursuit if it makes you happy. 

Catching on, your best friend stands up to “stretch his legs” and moves closer to the ones he’s talking to, continuing the anecdote while standing. Not even a minute passes, and it doesn’t take much for Jaehyun to make a break for the empty spot next to you. 

Jaehyun doesn’t sit as close to you like Mark did, respecting your space, but is close enough to have you nervously plucking the fabric of your jeans. 

It starts off with the normal small talk, asking how classes have been and what you’ve been up to lately. Immediately after, silence takes over. 

Now that he’s in close proximity, looking at him feels like a sin. Nevertheless, you still commit the crime, stealing little glances at him throughout the bustling chatter and crisp crackling. 

Feeling overwhelmed by the silence, you grasp onto more small talk, which unfortunately soon reduces to you just rambling. Throughout it all, Jaehyun doesn’t say anything. All he does is nod and listens intently, leaning closer to you with his forearms on his thighs to capture everything that you’re saying. 

When you take a breather, he finally speaks up.  

“Although I love to hear you talk,” his voice is low and gentle, sending a small shiver down your spine. “And by all means, you can keep talking, but don’t feel pressured to fill the silence.” 

He pauses for a beat, and you peer over to view him lowering his head. 

He’s rubbing one thumb over his other, and the friction only makes his palms sweat more. Tingles reach Jaehyun’s ears, and he ponders if you notice it under the dim glow. 

“You don’t have to say anything at all; I always like just being around you, even if we aren’t talking.” 

The cool air blows, calming you along with his words. A shy grin spreads across your face. Feeling more at ease, you shift towards him, closing the empty space between you on the log and letting your leg lean onto his. Jaehyun’s focus trails from your leg to your face, and he dives deeper into your perfection with another of his famous, sweet dimpled smiles. 

Despite Jaehyun’s reassurance, you two slowly start to converse with less tension. Through the night, you get to know each other bit by bit, unravelling each other’s life stories, yet simultaneously writing a new chapter, intertwining the lines of your lives together.  

Additionally, you begin to melt for Jaehyun’s jokes. This is a first, to hear him joking around like this, but you soon find yourself laughing into his shoulder like you did with Mark not long ago.

And Jaehyun adores how you click with his humour, but he adores your laugh even more. 

Someone remembers that they brought snacks in their bag, and fast enough, marshmallows are being passed around. Jaehyun, along with a few others, hunt along the beach and come back with stray sticks for the sweet treats. 

As you two roast marshmallows, you’re sitting in comfortable silence, exchanging glances every so often. Suddenly, he lays a hand on yours, pulling it back along with the stick.  

“Careful,” he warns softly into your ear. “You don’t want a burnt marshmallow.”

Your breathing hitches, thinking about the only other time Jaehyun touched you.

It was during Johnny’s birthday dinner at a buffet restaurant. You were in the midst of devouring your food when your hair got in the way (out of all the days you forgot a hair tie, it had to be today). Failed attempts transpired at moving it; you blew, you shook your head, you rubbed the loose strands against your upper arm sleeve...

“May I?” 

His delicate inquiry made you freeze. Jaehyun already finished his food and offered his clean hands to fix your dilemma. You were so dedicated to finishing your meal that you forgot that he was right next to you, probably thinking you were a hot mess.  

Regardless, you nodded. You gulped as he daintily tucked the strands of your hair behind your ears. His touch was so brief, so simple. He barely ghosted over your skin, and the moment fleeted as fast as the way your hair ran through his fingertips. 

So if his touch was so simple, why was your heart bursting at the seams? 

Your heart thumps against your chest just the same now as it did then. Maybe even more, since you turn to face him and he’s so close, you feel his warm breath against your face. Your gaze slowly wanders to his lips. Subconsciously, he licks them, and you catch him staring at yours too. Your mind’s drawing blanks, while your body takes control. Both of you draw your bodies nearer and nearer until someone hollers—

“Dude, your marshmallow’s burnt!” 

Both of you stop in your tracks and whip your heads towards the fire, realizing it’s Jaehyun’s marshmallow that the person is referring to. Hastily, he pulls it away, blows the flames off, and stares at the charred piece with a pout. 

“Well, I guess you like burnt marshmallows though, huh?” 

Jaehyun turns to you again, watching you chew your marshmallow with a smug expression. Shaking his head, he runs his tongue along his bottom teeth.

“Hey, for the record, I saved your marshmallow from being burnt.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure,” you hum, still chewing, then getting up. “I’ll go get us some more marshmallows. Maybe extra for you, in case you burn more.” 

He clutches his chest in jest at your quip and watches the way you saunter over to the bag, his eyes full of hearts, yet regret courses his veins over how the moment was ruined. 

It’s past 1 AM, and the combination of the summer air and ocean waves pack a bite that urges you to go home. You’re both standing near the fire, waving at others who are leaving, when you begin to say you your good-bye.

“I should also get going.” Your hands are in your pockets, feet kicking at the sand. 

“Is Mark your ride home?” You nod in reply and open your mouth, ready to tell him how nice the night went with him. 

“Can I…” he abruptly cuts in before inhaling sharply. “I was wondering if you’d let me drive you home?” 

Your jaw drops at the suggestion, causing his expression to change instantly. “Unless you’d prefer Mark to, I totally understand.” 

Obviously, you accept without hesitance, and run off to Mark to inform him of the change of plans. After hugging him and saying your good-byes, Mark whispers, “Don’t stay out too late.” Then, he gives you a wink before you run to your driver for the night, walking side by side with him back to his car. 

Because it’s late and you’re both a little tired, the ride home is quiet, albeit for Jaehyun’s music playing in the background and when you begin to speak up to give directions on how to get to your place. Rolling up in front of your home, he turns the ignition off, but leaves the music still on. 

“I had a great time with you tonight,” he says with a hand still on the steering wheel. 

Tucking your hair behind your ear, you nod, “Me too.” 

Anticipation lingers in the air for a while prior to Jaehyun cutting it with a question you’ve been dying to hear. 

“Are you free next weekend?” 

You press your lips together, trying to hide a smile back. 

“Only if you are.” 

He laughs with a shake of his head, amused at your playfulness. He can definitely get used to this. 

“I’ll message you when I get home and we can work out the details soon.” 

“Sounds good,” you sway a bit in your seat whilst holding in your excitement. “Well, good night, Jaehyun.” 

Your fingers are on the door handle, but you aren’t quite curling them around it.

“Good night,” he says your name in a hush and you look back at him. The two of you match eye contact and get lost in the gleam of each other’s starry eyes. 

You’re unsure who made the first move, but it doesn’t matter because his kiss scorches you, melting you into putty. As you think you’re about to fall apart between blissful sighs, Jaehyun catches you with each caress, holding you together by your cheeks and the nape of your neck.    

Breaking away for air, you lay your forehead against his, panting, “Wow.” 

“Yeah,” he chuckles softly. “I’ve been waiting to do that since I burned my marshmallow.” 

No coherent thoughts are running through your mind, except your yearning for the man in front of you. All you want is him and his touch on your skin again, so you agree with his sentiment by diving in again without warning. 

It takes much strength for you to finally depart from each other’s embrace for the night, but when you do, Jaehyun plants a kiss on the back of your hand and wishes you sweet dreams. 

Exhausted and in disbelief over tonight’s events, you quickly change out of your clothes and tuck yourself into bed. Unfortunately, sleep is near impossible because your mind replays everything over and over.

Suddenly, your phone lights up, notifying you of a new message. 

Little did you know you’d stay up messaging the man on the other end until the sun rose. 

Next weekend really couldn’t come fast enough.

#jaehyun #jaehyun x reader #jaehyun fluff #jaehyun scenarios #jaehyun imagines #nct 127 fanfic #nct fanfic #nct fluff #nct scenarios #jung jaehyun #jung jaehyun x reader #nctcreations #myfanfics #mywritings

[macandriley]

5x06 - A Very MacRiley Analysis

Obligatory post to answer the age-old question: What do you see in MacRiley?

I’d like to start this off by saying, like a lot of you, I had very minimal hopes for this episode. I really didn’t expect anything to happen on the MacRiley front—especially not something that would significantly impact that storyline. 

But...I do enjoy being wrong.

Full transparency: this is not an episode review. If it were, I’d have to talk about the glaring plot inconsistencies and strange timeline. And I feel like I’ve already talked myself hoarse over that. 

So, without further adieu, let’s get into the long-winded analysis. 

The Cold Open

Absolutely irrelevant to the overall story and to this analysis. I just really like the way Mac says, “Riley, take the wheel,” and I thought it deserved an honorable mention.

“2020 Is Gonna Be Awesome”

Here, we cut to quarantine shenanigans. It’s cute. Fun. To see Riley and Bozer interacting like siblings again after so long just felt right.

Now, this is the pandemic, so of course conversations of toilet paper shortages arise. So Mac, in true MacGyver fashion, throws out some fun alternatives like newspaper and pine needles. And Riley shoots them all down, as she should. 

Because in the immortal words of Desi in 5x04, “Ew.”

This is when Bozer mentions that they could use the cardboard from Riley’s moving boxes. A seemingly innocent suggestion on the surface. If you don’t pay much attention to it, it goes right by without any fuss. 

However, at this point in canon, here’s what we know:

Bozer knows about Riley’s feelings for Mac

Riley has verbally told him that the reason she’s moving out is because of MacDesi. (Though her exact reasoning might’ve been intentionally misleading on her part)

So what does this mean? Well, to put it simply, Bozer is encouraging her to embrace living with Mac. To unpack her bags and stick around a while. A suggestion that Riley seems to ignore, as she says she’s dead set on getting out of there the second the pandemic allows.

Of course, the second she mentions moving, Mac picks back up with his beautiful Fauci song. Could it be that Himbo Barbie doesn’t like talking about Riley leaving? That’s open for interpretation.

Bonus points: Mac (incorrectly) blames Riley for not doing the dishes and it’s just adorably domestic. 

Getting Fed

Again, this scene is insignificant. The OG trio sit down to dinner, with Desi and Matty on video chat. It’s cute. 

But there is definitely something to be said for the way Riley looked at Mac when he mentioned having a private chat with Desi. My heart really went out to her there, because it must seem to her like she’s constantly being overlooked. 

After dinner, Riley and Bozer share a brief conversation. She expresses a disinterest in discussing her feelings, and reaffirms her choice to move out.

But Bozer reminds her that she’s only moving out so she “doesn’t have to watch Mac and Desi together,” and that “At this moment, it doesn’t seem like they are.”

This scene is important for two reasons: 

Bozer is clearly more supportive of MacRiley, which makes him honorary ship captain (as far as I’m concerned). 

it reaffirms the fact that her feelings are still very real, no matter how hard the lady doth protest.

Kitchen Floor Confessional

You all know this one from promo. After a tense conversation with Bozer, Mac heads inside to do the dishes. Riley, being the helpful person she is, offers to lend a hand. 

One thing leads to another, and the two wind up sitting on the floor by the sink, side by side. Just talking. The conversation comes to an end when Riley, who looks as though she wants to say something else, decides against it. (This “something else”, of course, would have been her confession). 

Cue the somewhat longing, emotionally charged staring from both parties. 

At this point, Mac says he’s going to go for a jog and abruptly leaves Riley alone in the kitchen. It’s clear by the look on her face that she feels, in some way, rejected. And the viewer is, at least for now, left to ponder why Mac seemed to cut the moment off so strangely. 

Though one could hypothesize that, just like Riley’s being packed and ready to go, Mac’s running has a little more to do with the emotional distancing than physical. 

The Parking Lot

Here we see Mac run off to speak to Desi. A scene I will not discuss at length, because the idea of playing footsie makes me cringe in the deepest recesses of my soul.

A little ways away, Bozer asks Riley if she told Mac about her feelings. She tells him she didn’t and that she’s glad, because she doesn’t want to be the thing that comes between them and their “happiness” (happiness is in quotes here because it seems like “anger” and “annoyance” are more common for them).

The dialogue in and of itself is not what I want to focus on here though. It’s the way the scene is framed.

Outside of the close-up shots for MacDesi’s conversation, much of the camera angles are from Riley’s perspective. Distant. Detached. The standpoint of an outsider looking in—of a girl watching the man she cares about being happy with someone else. 

The camerawork here makes this more of a Riley-centric moment than a MacDesi one.

Which is important because, from a narrative standpoint, there is no reason to frame it that way unless her emotions are going to be focal later on. This entire exchange implies that, in some way, Riley’s feelings are, were, and will be important to the plot. 

Yay for directorial story telling. 

A Moment

What to say about this scene? 

Mac has a heart to heart with Bozer and promises to be more present in his life. Bozer thanks him and begs him to finally clean the damn kitchen.

And agreeing, Mac turns away to do just that. Only, he stops himself short and tells Bozer he has one more thing he’d like to discuss.

The quote went as follows: “Kay, so...in the kitchen here a couple nights ago with Riley, there was a, uh...I don’t know, a moment.”

As I’m sure every MacRiley knows, him acknowledging that scene as a legitimate moment between them was incredibly unexpected. They’ve arguably had “moments” before, but only Riley ever seemed to notice them. Mac never mentioned having feelings, or even seemed like he might be aware of them.

This scene is the first time we’ve ever had direct confirmation that he feels—at least, in some capacity—the same way. 

To make it even better, this scene happens directly after MacDesi’s footsie match in the parking lot. Which means that, even when he’s got positive momentum with Desi, he’s still got Riley on his mind. 

Side note: I personally think this explains his behavior in 5x03. He doesn’t see Riley reciprocating, and he’s probably incredibly worried about screwing up all their history—an issue he doesn’t have with Desi, since they didn’t have much of a friendship first. 

So he throws himself back into that in an attempt to smother his feelings. Will it work? Only time will tell.

Ending

After cleaning up the kitchen, Mac picks up the piece of glass he’d left on the floor and, surprise surprise, finally gets an idea for his ventilator. Some fans say this is Riley’s influence, which I can honestly see. 

Especially given the quote Mac says at the end:

“When the world feels like it’s so turned upside down that it’s impossible to fix, it helps to look at things from a different angle. Because no matter how broken something appears—whether its your grumpy neighbor, your terrified best friend, your estranged girlfriend, or a shard of glass—that broken thing could inspire something new...Maybe even something better than before.”

I believe this is a direct foreshadow to MacRiley. Somehow, his fractured relationship with Desi will make him see what he COULD have with Riley. This “new angle” might even help him see that he’s better off as friends with Desi (something new), and that he might be happier in a relationship with Riley (something better).

And if you still don’t buy that, well...the scene transition seems pretty damning. 

There was absolutely no reason the camera couldn’t have faded to Bozer. Or to a shot of all three of them. This feels incredibly intentional, no?

In Conclusion

“Codex Adrenaline” and “Quarantine Cabin Fever” are cop-outs. Riley still likes Mac. Mac now likes Riley. And we are 100% going to see more development on that front. So is this a win?

I think so.

But I wanna hear from y’all. What did you like about this episode? What did you hate? Do you feel like they’re leading up to something bigger for MacRiley?

I’d love to hear y’alls thoughts. 

#MacGyver #MacGyver CBS #Riley Davis #Angus MacGyver #MacGyver 2016 #MacRiley #Mac and Riley #5x06 Spoilers

[nautilusopus]

tbh the 2001 version of ocean's eleven is better than the rat pack version (and ocean's 8 too from what i've heard don't @ me) but the dumb subplot with tess is easily the weakest part of it

they could've cut the tess thing and lost absolutely nothing and the movie would've functioned the same, except for maybe the metaphor about the lose half the money or try to keep all of it and lose all of it thing. which wasn't really a terribly strong or compelling theme anyway so

but like julia roberts is acting so goddamn hard and there's just nothing for her to actually do. like never mind the fact that danny's plan to win her back is fucking stupid because that is just not how people act??? like no one in their right mind is gonna go "oh well my current husband is a piece of shit so i guess i'll go back to my ex, who went out of my way to show me what a piece of shit he was while robbing him (which is the reason i broke up with him to begin with because it kind of ruined my life) because our relationship was just that loving prior to the being arrested thing and the movie keeps vaguely alluding to that, even though we never actually see that at any point at all."

like, even in a wish-fulfillment movie, the idea that she'd take him back because of all this stuff is batshit moon logic at best. except then she does. the problem is, a movie like ocean's eleven is already purely style over substance in the biggest way possible, and i mean this as a positive. it is extremely stylish and it is there to BE stylish. it has nothing deep to say to you, but it wasn't trying to do that anyway. it's a popcorn movie, and it is here to show you some people stealing things in a really fucking cool way. the director even outright admits this in an interview, claiming he set out to make "just a pure piece of entertainment" and i think he fucking nailed it, and i especially love shit that knows what it wants to do at the outset and then does it without fucking around and with a high degree of competence. this movie knew what it wanted to do and then set out to be the best version of itself it could possibly be and absolutely knocked all the goals it set out of the park

this is especially important given that it's still not a brainless movie despite being a turn-your-brain-off movie; it's a heist movie. there are a lot of moving parts, and that shit is very hard to do well without it feeling dumb and contrived (just look at ocean's 12). knowing how much to show the audience so they can follow what's going on/the reveal is hard! knowing what to hide so there can still be an air of uncertainty around the plan is hard! maintaining suspension of disbelief for a movie that specifically is calling attention to logical inconsistencies, meaning it has to keep its narrative even more tightly wound than normal, is hard! all these things are difficult, and ocean's eleven does all these things really, really goddamn well. it is genuinely a brilliant piece of filmmaking. (maybe i will get into how at a later date but for now i want to encourage you to watch it yourself by bitching about it shhhh don't question me. all i'll say is that brad pitt was actually fucking spot-on casting.)

tess is a fucking lamp, though, and her existence only serves to detract from the experience. i am only this mad about her because the rest of the movie is so good otherwise (hell, even her individual one-on-one scenes with danny, all fucking two of them, are well-acted and well-written), so it REALLY sticks out how awkward it is as a whole package.

and i know why they put the damn thing in, they needed an emotional core of some sort to the movie s it wasn't completely fucking shallow, because even in a popcorn flick there has to be something for the audience to care about. but like..................................... the heist crew is right there

like a huge chunk of the dialogue in ocean's eleven (mostly the banter, which is again one of the strongest parts of the movie) is ad-libbed. the cast all have excellent chemistry with one another and play off each other extremely naturally, and all the time in behind the scenes footage all anyone talks about is how genuinely well everyone got along, to the point where they'd just hang out on set with each other instead of going back to their trailers between shoots. and you're obviously invested in the heist, which in turn helps you get invested in the crew, and the actors work well together. and the sharp banter is the other reason besides the heist that you're watching the movie anyway and just

why not make THAT the emotional core of the movie why not build on that? it's right fucking there

why does nobody see these things

did they really think they needed a romance to sell this thing THAT BAD when the core cast already had such great chemistry. not to mention like a solid third of the movie is just danny and rusty exchanging Knowing Looks between one another and i absolutely buy them as friends that go way back a lot more easily than i buy danny and tess as a couple that were truly happy with each other a long time ago, in part due to them actually fucking getting screentime together. c'mon man

that isn't to say I think a Danny/Rusty romance subplot would improve the movie or is anything i particularly want to see, but the point is that the main cast already has a lot of chemistry together that is in turn written INTO the script already and they could've just worked with that lkdflhsdkslhhgssg.

or like, if you must have tess, maybe you could actually incorporate her into the heist properly beyond Existing as a weird mafia cuck subplot? this is actually something i think ocean's twelve did do right (just a shame about the heist in question but whatever, credit where it's due). as mentioned, roberts's perfornance isn't bad either and she also plays off clooney well in the brief fucking moments they're onscreen together.

i dunno. i feel like there were better options than what we did get. the tess subplot is a black spot on an otherwise really fucking good experience.

......................................................and YES OKAY FINE obviously i'm fucking biased for wanting more found family crime squad nonsense but that doesn't meant i'm wrong either.

#squid grumbles #ocean's eleven #also give yen more lines pls :c #GIVE ME MY CRIME WIFE

[fuckyeahisawthat]

introductions and re-introductions

So there have already been a bunch of posts talking about how the conversation on the wall in Eden is such a great introductory scene--for Crowley and Aziraphale’s characters, their dynamic, the stakes of their relationship, and the philosophical and dramatic setup of Good Omens.

But I want to talk about their character re-introductions in the modern era, which happen immediately after the opening credits of episode one. These scenes also serve as the first introductions for Hastur, Ligur and Gabriel, who will function as the primary antagonists, reminders of the threat Heaven and Hell pose to our protagonists, and also function as foils showing how “proper” angels and demons are supposed to think and act.

Both these short scenes are fantastic and pack so much storytelling into two brief exchanges of dialogue.

The first thing we learn about modern-day Crowley, before we even see him, is that other demons don’t like him.

They think he’s weird for having stayed on Earth so long. Gone native, poor bloke, spent so much time among the savages out in the colonies that he’s started adopting their weird customs and doesn’t even remember what proper demon civilization is.

Which makes Crowley’s appearance, with his very human casual greetings and complaints about traffic and Queen soundtrack, quite funny. But it also tells us a lot about how Hell views humans--as a distasteful other that no demon in their right mind would want to spend too much time blending in with.

The other main thing that this scene shows is that Hastur and Ligur, despite thinking Crowley’s a bit of a weirdo, are also dangerously jealous of him getting an honor like delivering the Antichrist, even though it’s clear right from the beginning that Crowley is not exactly thrilled at being given this assignment. You get the sense that they think his good rep with Hell’s lower-downs is entirely undeserved, that they’ve had it in for him for a while, and that they’d just love a chance to catch him fucking up. The stakes are made clear right from the beginning.

Then we go to Aziraphale.

I’d like to point out that this is essentially the same scene as Crowley’s: a representative of their side shows up and announces the imminent arrival of Plot. (Nor is this the last time Crowley and Aziraphale have parallel scenes like this.)

And we learn very similar things about the relationship between Gabriel and Aziraphale. Gabriel doesn’t trust him, although the mistrust leans more toward condescension than jealousy as it does with Hastur and Ligur. Aziraphale has also been doing Human Things and Gabriel finds that weird and distasteful.

Also, the whole scene, Gabriel is standing very close while Aziraphale sits, in a way that means Aziraphale has to look up and lean back slightly to make eye contact.

It’s more obvious in some shots than others, but without ever saying anything directly, it makes the power dynamic at work here absolutely clear.

It tells us that Gabriel is exactly the kind of douche who enjoys popping up unannounced and purposely doing something to make you nervous--and that he’s quite possibly fully aware of what he’s doing and is enjoying it. Thanks dude, you’ve had exactly one minute of screen time so far and I already hate you.

Combined, these scenes only take up about five minutes of screen time, but they give us so much information about the plot that’s about to unfold, the dramatic stakes, the characters involved, and their relationships. After this point, we’re ready to just go.

#good omens #long post #character introductions #crowley #aziraphale #hastur #ligur #gabriel

[roommatesandwiches]

Hoof and Paw

An old Alastor x Reader WIP I found that I thought would be good enough to post but can't be bothered to finish. I've lost interest to write for Hazbin (and pretty much Hazbin itself) but I am writing an Invader Zim fanfic series (it's a Reader-insert, of course) if any of you are interested. As always, it's on my Ao3 account, TwinklingMayViolets (EDIT: I changed my username. It's dinosaurus_maj now)

I know this blog has been sort of dead, but like I said in the tags of my first post this is just for HH wips and nothing else so it will be pretty inactive most of the time.

Some context for the following WIP: I imagined the reader character to be a wolf demon and an Overlord and there are some descriptions of that here. You knew Alastor when you were alive and had (still has) a massive crush. You didn't know about his life of crime.

---

There he is. Alastor. The one and only. You sigh as you stare through the window, your eyes never leaving the brown-haired man you have been pining over since you were alive. He says something and his colleagues laugh. You don't know what the joke was, but you know that if you heard it you'd laugh, too. Alastor just had that effect on people, with his constant, bright and cheery smile and likeable personality. His good looks also played in the factor of women falling all over him, not excluding you.

A strong wind blows over you, threatening to steal the parasol out of your hands and lifting the skirt of your dress. You huff to yourself, brushing some stray strands of hair out of your eyes. You adjust the grip of your gloved claws on your parasol that effectively hid your more inhuman appearance from the living. Your ears squirm uncomfortably and irritatedly underneath your hat. Look at yourself. You're a demon Overlord feared all throughout Hell, and yet here you are, swooning over some human in the living world. He wasn't just 'some human', though. "You hunt?" "Yes. What of it?" "Nothing. That's just... A rather unladylike thing to do." "Sewing and cooking is not considerably 'manly' either." You find yourself sighing at the memory, at a time long past. This was your punishment. You had missed your chance when you were alive, and now you'll never get one again. There's a chance that he might follow after you into Hell when he dies--whenever in Hell that'll be--and you've heard of friends, families and lovers reuniting in the afterlife, but you shouldn't bet on it. Sure, you've got the money to now, but you shouldn't. The café bell jingles, pulling you out of your thoughts. You turn away right as Alastor and the other men working at the radio station step out of the establishment, deep in a conversation you'd love to be a part of and once could've been. Shoot. Well, your time is almost up anyway. You better head to the rendezvous now before Lucifer makes on his own promise and leaves you stranded up here. Like Hell you're gonna lose all your hard-earned power and territory because you'd been staring too long at a man. Still... You had been hoping for more. It was merely wishful thinking, but you couldn't help it. Slipping a handkerchief out from your sleeve, you quietly drop it on the pavement and start walking. Please notice it, please notice it... "Excuse me, miss." Your ears almost knock your hat off your head when they prick up with excitement. You turn slowly, making sure to keep your head low and nose hidden behind your scarf. Your hat hides the rest of your pale face, but it shows just enough for your eyes to be able to meet his. They're just like how you remember them; striking ambers that steal your breath away and send your heart fluttering out of your chest. You never thought you'd ever see his bright, beaming smile directed at you again. In his hand he delicately holds the dropped handkerchief, offering it to you. "I believe this is yours?" His voice is like honey to your pointed hound's ears, sending your mouth curling into a smile on your face in a mirror of his own. "Yes, it is," you say, your voice embarrassingly soft and almost breathless. You reluctantly reach out, conscious of your clawed fingers hidden beneath your lace gloves. Without any incident, you accept the handkerchief and quietly release the breath you had been holding. "Thank you." Alastor gives you one last, wide smile that makes his eyes squint before rejoining his colleagues. You tear your eyes away before you can see him go. When Lucifer asks, you deny the tear that rolled down your cheek and tracked a dark trail on your pale skin. --- There's a purge going on all around Hell. It's not the yearly extermination, no. Another demon is going on a killing spree, and it's not like one Hell's ever seen, according to your allies that have been here for centuries and Lucifer himself, who's no doubt sitting with his wife and daughter in that fancy manor of theirs with buckets of popcorn as they watched the carnage unfold. You can't say that you're doing the same. You would've, if some of your allies hadn't gone ominously silent. Well, not exactly 'silent'. As soon as you lose contact with them, your radio would switch on and you'd hear their screams as this genocidal demon turned them inside out. You were impressed, but also on the defensive. Whoever this was obviously had some mad power if they can take down some of your long-standing allies and fellow Overlords. You'd love to run out there and face the challenge, but whatever rational thought and sanity you had left in your mind told you that that would be suicide. You didn't want to lose your territory as well along with your life. Besides, if this demon kept this up, they would become an Overlord in no time, and you could meet them then when they're not on a murderous rampage. So you're huddled in your bunker, cozied up in your chair with your wolves sitting around you as you cleaned your rifle. Your radio is playing the carnage from your coffee table and your puppies keep a good distance between it and them. You'd tried to mute it, because one could only listen to agonized screams and chaos for so long, but it wouldn't go any lower than it already was. This demon's power was rather interesting. What you found amusing was the jazz music playing as well as the bloodcurdling screaming. When this is all over, you'd love to exchange techniques and maybe form an alliance with him. He's quite the entertaining fellow. The demon is talking among the loud music and screaming. The other sounds are too loud for you to hear him clearly but you catch a few words now and then. He's cracking jokes in a chipper tone, as if he were simply having a grand old outing with some friends and not splitting heads and tearing out organs. There's a brief moment when the screaming stops, and you're able to hear him loudly and clearly. "We're all just having a clot of fun out here!" There's a squelch and a loud groan. "If any of my listeners would like to join, feel free to—" You don't hear the rest as his victim continues their pained screeching, which suddenly silences in the next minute. You don't really notice, though. Because this radio demon sounds strangely like Alastor. --- As many expected, the Radio Demon quickly rose in the ranks and is crowned the Overlord title overnight. You're envious of how quickly he's made a name for himself and yet you're intrigued. Just who was this fellow? How and why was he so powerful? You yourself had impressive power with the ability to create your hunting dogs, but it pales in comparison to what Alastor could do. Alastor. That's right, his name was Alastor, the same name as the man you had loved while in the living world. This may only be wishful thinking, but could he be your Alastor? The only way to find out was to meet him and see for yourself. That's why you're sitting in Lucifer's lounge this evening, awkwardly squeezed in the spacious room filled to the brim with demons. There are Hellborns and mortal souls alike present, some of them looking rather bitter at losing some good allies to a fresh manifestation. In celebration of the Radio Demon's beautiful mass-genocide and new title, Lucifer had arranged a gathering and invited all Overlords to give everyone a chance at forging an alliance with him—or to start a bloodbath, either is good. You had come just for the sake of meeting him and maybe exchange a few words, but you'd be lucky to even see him in this turn-out. You just might start the bloodbath now with how many times someone's stepped on your tail in the first hour already.

(Yeah, that's all. If you're curious: the Reader was supposed to see Alastor and not recognise him. You dance with him, and his voice sounds too much like the man you once knew. You both end up hitting it off and going out to either the balcony or just somewhere less packed to talk a bit. You ask him his name, you tell him yours, and after recounting some of your time in the living world you know for sure that this was your Alastor and he knows you. Idk what happens next, maybe he confesses that he has feelings for you and maybe you kiss or something. I think when writing this I hit the same problem as when I was writing Movie Night: I realised I had no idea how to write dialogue lol. Also, I think I wrote this while I was having ideas for part 2 of the Roommates series and abandoned this in favour of writing that.)

#reader-insert #alastor x reader #mentions of murder #mentions of gore #long post #fanfic #excerpt #writing #one-shot #wip #hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #maj writes

[chamerionwrites]

Obi-Wan Kenobi or Saw Gerrera, for the character ask

Tumblr has broken my notifications (is this happening to anyone else?) so I completely missed this ask until now, oops. In exchange please enjoy these long and rambling thoughts about Saw Gerrera.

Why I like him: I mean conceptually he’s just! So great. Guerilla veteran of the Clone Wars, funded and trained by the Republic-that-became-the-Empire (and by Anakin Skywalker specifically) for that sweet dramatic irony. A tragic revolutionary who’s been fighting a desperate battle so long that it’s chipped away at his body and his soul; a story about the destructiveness of war even in a just cause. A man with fierce opinions who’s willing to throw down for them (how else does one become a revolutionary), and thus both admirable and difficult to get along with. A man who’s right about a lot of important things and whose understandable-but-not-entirely-rational paranoia makes his VERY rational and prescient investigation of the Death Star tragically easy for others to brush aside as obsession. And at bottom a man who misses his sister, and Jyn’s surrogate father who obviously loves her and did his flawed best to raise her well under the worst possible circumstances. 

There’s just so many layers of character to sink your teeth into there.

Why I don’t like him: Tbqh it’s a measure of how much I enjoy the character that I still found him sympathetic and interesting after he had Bodhi tortured, because #1 in-universe, not fucking cool dude and #2 out-of-universe, I actually have very few predictable fictional squicks but torture gets under my skin in a way that has almost nothing to do with how graphically it’s portrayed, and is a pretty reliable way to flash-evaporate most of my sympathy and also to make me nope straight out of a work if it’s written poorly enough.

Much as I do enjoy the whole tragic-revolutionary thing, in practice I also have to side-eye DLF for casting the black dude in the cautionary tale about revolutionary extremism. On a balance I don’t think it’s handled terribly, but their track record is so bad that on principle it’s a bit. :/

(The Onderon arc in TCW also makes me want to headdesk repeatedly and violently, but that’s a recurring problem with the show and thus hardly the character’s fault LOL.)

Favorite Scene: It’s very blink-and-you’ll-miss-it but I adore that brief tense standoff he has with Cassian, while Jyn is kneeling shocked on the floor after Galen’s message and Jedha is starting to crumble around them. 

Not to be a nerd on main but I’ve said before that one of the things I enjoy about secondary characters is the almost worldbuilding role they can play. Even in the longest novel you don’t have time to paint an exhaustively detailed portrait of everyone. But a sketch that’s sharp and confident can imply a whole person with a rich history and inner life, and merely by existing outside the center of the story that character also implies a world that exists beyond the edges of the narrative frame. Minor characters are like the shading that makes a circle drawn on two-dimensional paper look like a sphere. 

Rogue One does this very well imo and this is a good example, because there’s a whole mini scene with its own conflict and resolution packed into a couple of seconds with zero dialogue, and you learn a lot a lot from it. Cassian is a very tightly-wound character but not typically a jumpy one - he’s alert to the point of hypervigilance but he’s also very focused and decisive in a crisis, and in fact he spends a lot of the movie being the guy improvising a plan in the midst of chaos and dragging everyone else along beside him by sheer force of determination. But when he barrels around that corner and lays eyes on Saw, he looks for just a second like a man who fears he’s in over his head. He takes a RAPID step backwards and scrambles for his blaster, and his body language from that moment on is that of a man looking for an exit while trying not to take his eyes off a threat. It tells you a whole lot about Saw’s reputation that Cassian - much younger, much healthier, as a rule not easily intimidated, and armed with a gun instead of a stick - so very clearly does not want to tangle with him.

And then they have this great little wordless moment of mutual misunderstanding followed by mutual recognition, because both of them instantly size each other up as a threat but then both of them simultaneously move to defend Jyn. Which in turn simultaneously clues them in that they want more or less the same thing here and turns them into wary allies (and also tells the audience several things about each of them as characters). 

There’s just a lot of storytelling-to-the-square-inch there, and I love that kind of thing. 

Favorite Season/Movie: Probably also RO, but since I’ve already talked about it a lot I’m going to give an honorable mention to Rebels for that one scene where Saw all but sends Mon Mothma a space howler, which tickles me both because I enjoy a little bit of complication and seriousness in my fictional politics and for slightly dark-humored popcorn-munching drama trainwreck reasons (if you take a whole bunch of stubborn and passionate people who are by definition prepared to throw down for their opinions, shove them together, and put them under decades of stress, then...yeah, it’s not entirely surprising to end up with at least one person sending another person a twenty-foot-tall hologram of his head so they can have an excruciatingly public argument. That tracks).

Favorite Line: “You can stand to see the Imperial flag reign across the galaxy?”

Favorite Outfit: I think it’s his movie outfit by default since the cartoon ones didn’t leave any particular impression on my mind; I like the details, especially the battered flag as a cape.

OTP: I’m weak for tragedy and sending someone a twenty-foot-tall hologram of your face so you can shout at each other does kind of scream “acrimonious breakup,” especially since the underlying emotion from both of them in that scene is less straightforward anger than pained and furious disappointment. 

BROTP: Probably unsurprisingly, I have a lot of feelings about him as Jyn’s surrogate dad.

Headcanon: One of many reasons things started to get tense between him and the Alliance is that they reached out to various formerly Separatist-aligned guerrilla groups that went straight from fighting the Republic to fighting the Empire, and Saw (understandably, since the CIS occupied his planet) holds a grudge.

Unpopular Opinion: Occasionally I see people saying that he was right all along and 100% the wronged party in the unexplained but clearly messy political breakup between him and the Rebel Alliance. He was right about a lot of things, and the Rebellion as portrayed in RO clearly does have a wing of insufferable wafflers too timid to take real action against the Empire, and personally my assumption is that there was definitely ego and betrayal involved and nobody exactly covered themselves in glory...but also he tortured somebody right there on screen guys, idk what more you want to suggest that maybe there’s valid reason to side-eye some of his methods. 

(Again, out-of-universe there’s plenty to say here about the way Hollywood likes to frame “good” vs “bad” revolutionaries, but in-universe he does some unequivocally awful things.)

A Wish: As a general rule I’m fascinated by the years immediately following ROTS when what eventually became the rebellion was just starting to organize itself, and I would read the hell out of any story set in that time period.

An Oh-God-Please-Don’t-Ever-Happen: When it was Saw’s turn to be narratively framed as the Good Revolutionary Lucasfilm already gave us scrappy resistance fighters attempting to restore the monarchy (LOL) while the Republic hires pirates to run guns to them, so frankly I think it’s mostly uphill from there.

Five words to best describe him: Unrelenting, bitter, brave, dedicated, lonely

My nickname: Idk if it’s a nickname, but I think I’ve called him Jyn’s Murder Dad a couple of times (usually by way of comparison to Cassian’s Murder Dad).

#ask box #my posts #star wars #rogue one #saw gerrera

[watching-movies-alone]

Dunkirk (2017)

I would like to start this off with the disclaimer that I am very, very, gay for Christopher Nolan.

Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk is a cinematic masterpiece, and here's why.

A common complaint I hear when I proudly proclaim that Dunkirk is my favourite movie is “but there’s no dialogue!” In  a world where people are constantly and consistently in contact with one another, this bleeding into movies where the art of nonverbal communication perhaps isn’t as appreciated as it could be, leaves Dunkirk’s notable deviation from this as a key turn-off for cinemagoers. Instead focusing more on the intense, subdued, emotions of the actors (a very difficult feat to produce) and the riveting visuals and soundtrack, Christopher Nolan brings a new type of storytelling to the big screen.

While many films can fall into either the “intellectually engaging” or the “passively engaging” categories, both finding their way to the theatre with the same amount of dialogue, most cinemagoers have a sense of what they would be walking into. With Dunkirk, this sense of familiarity in the category of “intellectually engaging” films, such as thrillers, is thrown out the proverbial window. With the lack of dialogue, audience members have to pay more close attention to what is going on, so the already demanding film becomes riveting. Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack, an excellent combination of electronic sounds and orchestra, adds to the depth of the film, with beautiful touches such as the insistant ticking of a clock, which does not stop until Tommy, a main character, is safe. In addition, the thriller also bears Nolan’s signature storytelling from a not-exactly-linear timeline, something that sets him apart from other directors in his genre. This movie is many firsts for Nolan, including being his first war film, first film with multiple protagonists carrying the story, and his first movie shot entirely on location.

Dunkirk (2017) follows a three-fold story of the historic events that occurred in 1942 at a beach in Dunkerque, France. At this point in the Second World War, British and French troops have been isolated and surrounded by the Germans, with nearing 400,000 men lined up, waiting, hoping, for a way home twentysomething miles away across the Channel. Nolan expertly intertwines the journeys of three groups of people (his first film to follow a collection of people rather than a single protagonist), under the titles “1. The Mole / One Week”, “2. The Sea / One Day”, and “3. The Air / One Hour”. ‘The Mole’ follows those on the ground during the event, mostly young soldiers drafted for the war effort, our protagonists here being Tommy (Fionn Whitehead), Gibson ( Aneurin Barnard), and Alex (Harry Styles), who find themselves constantly back on the beach from multiple thwarted attempts at fleeing to safety. ‘The Sea’ follows the courageous Mr. Daweson (Mark Rylance), his son Peter (Tom Glynn-Carney), and their young friend George (Barry Keoghan) as they make their way across the channel to rescue the men stranded at Dunkirk aboard the leisure boat the Moonstone. ‘The Air’, which witnesses the three timelines converging in that hour, follows Spitfire pilots Farrier (Tom Hardy) and Collins (Jack Lowden) as they provide aerial cover for the civilian boats and the soldiers on the beach by engaging in dogfights with the German Luftwaffe, buying time for those below.

"There are four hundred thousand men on this beach."

Living up to his reputation for nonlinear storytelling, Nolan reasserts his claim to the throne in his synthesising of the unique perspectives. While visually stunning at a first look, it is in the second watch of Dunkirk that the mastery of Nolan’s detailing is noticed: in the background of scenes on the boat with George and Mr. Daweson, the Spitfires of Collins and Farrier can be seen in a dogfight with the Germans. As men are boarding the civilian boats on the beach, Farrier, on an empty tank, glides over thousands, as he fights off remaining German aircraft. Rather than ham-handedly spoon feeding the audience the going-ons of the action, and delivering the plot in a linear fashion, with ‘The Mole’ comprising the majority of the first two-thirds of the film, introducing ‘The Sea’ in the final third and ‘The Air’ in the last few minutes, the audience would missed a lot of the buildup in apprehension that the nonlinear deliverance allows for, dismantling the sense of carefully-constructed ambiguity of the dangers present in favour of producing a traditional, and tired, progression arc with a slower beginning leading to a final battle before a resolution. With the nonlinear deliverance, this arc more closely resembles an intense squiggle, like angered spaghetti, as the action ebbs and swells much like the waves on the beach itself.

The choice to have not the dialogue drive the film, but the visuals and soundtrack, was a bold one. Most movies that enter the Hollywood radar are rich in their dialogue, ranging from playful banter to clever one-liners, to incredibly moving lines with excellent deliverance. Nolan’s Dunkirk deviates here once again, as it’s minimal use of dialogue adds to the sense of urgency, what being said serving to provide clues to the thoughts of the characters that reinforce the atmosphere around them. A line that expertly conveys the sense of dread and hopelessness is an exchange between Commander Bolton, the man overseeing the maintenance of the mole, and Colonel Winnant, the highest-ranking Army official on the beach, the Commander stating, voice of strained exasperation, “Christ, you can almost see it from here,”, and when the Colonel questions to what he is referring to, there is a far-off look in the Colonel’s eyes that grows impossibly more stressed when he gives the one-word response “home.” This is later accentuated when the men discuss how Churchill wants thirty thousand men home, with hope of forty five thousand being returned from the beach, and the dismayed (and overheard) admittance that there are four hundred thousand men on the beach. This brief exchange packs a double emotional punch for the audience, as it shows how even the officials are losing optimism for an even partial recovery, and the cut to Tommy and Gibson, who have snuck underneath the mole, hearing this and knowing they should redouble their efforts to get off that beach.

The deviation from what is considered the ‘norm’ for movies, in the sparse use of dialogue, is an empowering feature of the movie. When characters voice their thoughts, it is more of a reflection of their environment (understandably), but it does not clutter the scene with action-based dialogue (such as repeated curse words or shouts serving as rallying cries), instead allowing the audience to more fully experience what the characters are -- the audience will fill in the space typically reserved for that dialogue with their own thoughts, as if they were the character. It allows for a further degree of not only sympathy, but empathy for these war-beaten soldiers, these naïve schoolboys striving to make their peers proud, these pilots stranded on a reserve of fuel they don’t know the extent of. One of the instances of this that clues in the audience to the extent of the danger, without going into an in-depth backstory of how the characters got to the beach, why the men are stranded, et cetera, is present in the first act of the film, with the sentiment being echoed at the final act, tying the scenes together in a way that causes the audience to empathise more fully with those in the Royal Air Force. After narrowly escaping a demise at the hands of the Luftwaffe’s ME-109 aircraft, a dismayed man shouts up at the sky, “Where’s the bloody air force?”, a key aspect in the audience’s perception of the scene and the stakes at hand. As the audience will learn later, the RAF had been recalled to England, as a preparation for an all-out defense for the English there against the Germans. What this line does in the moment, is intensify the action which had just occurred prior, where we can see men being killed in the explosions raining down on the beach, Tommy nearly being one of them. It also explains the mechanical response afterwards, of the men who can still stand doing so, those who couldn’t, didn’t, and the dead lay where they were. Very little being spoken especially after such an event magnifies the weariness of the soldiers on the beach, everyone knowing what to do, more ‘rolling with the punches’ than fighting back. One man had bravely raised a rifle to fire at the incoming bomber with no success, others had not even attempted, perhaps knowing that their efforts would be futile. The resonance of this sentiment is found at the end of the movie, when the passengers of the Moonstone are unloading from the boat, and one man from another boat catches sight of  the pilot Collins, who had been rescued by the Dawesons prior, in his RAF uniform, shouting after him “Where the hell were you?!”, Collins being very affronted by this, as he was shot down, is reassured by Mr. Daweson. Mr. Daweson looks over to him, reassuring Collins, motions towards the men filing off of the Moonstone, “They know where you were.” Once again, this is an example of the brief exchanges in the movie that allow for more to be understood by the audience than would be the case had this not been included. The audience had seen the effort Collins put in before he was grounded, so their emotions are very caught up in the exchange, wanting Collins to say something to defend himself, and when Mr. Daweson instead consoles him, the viewer has a sense of relief.

To conclude with that thought, it is the sparse dialogue that allows for the audience to more naturally connect with the characters and empathise with them, feeling more as if they are part of the experience, instead of simply being an outsider looking in at the goings-ons of Dunkirk.

Now, what had earned Dunkirk four awards from various programs was the sound mixing and editing. A vital aspect of the film itself is the soundtrack, which ebbs and flows with the course of events in the movie. The soundtrack was composed by Hans Zimmer, who has aided in the composing of the soundtracks for over one hundred films, with a diverse portfolio, ranging from The Lion King (1994), Sherlock Holmes (2009), Castaway (1986), and 12 Years A Slave (2013). Zimmer’s masterpiece of a soundtrack serves to drive the film and the audience’s reaction to it, with seemingly ‘calm’ scenes that would otherwise cause for no sense of alarm bringing an intense feeling of dread to the viewer, the music swelling with anticipation. Once again examining the ticking of the clock, the clock does not stop ticking until Tommy himself is off of the beach and home in England. The ticking adds to the sense of danger present throughout the entirety of the story, deepening the visuals of being on a wide expanse of beach, covered by hundreds of thousands of men, waiting, where there is no shelter from the trickle of Stukas flying overhead, the men like “fish in a barrel”. In building anticipation, a scene where Farrier is in his Spitfire, and there hasn’t been sight of a Stuka in a suspicious amount of time, the prolonged shot of Farrier arm-in-arm with the swelling of the music. Faster-paced numbers such as ‘Supermarine’ and ‘Oil Slick’ increase the sense of dread, almost forcing the audience to pay closer attention to the screen, waiting anxiously for what happens next, even if ‘it’ doesn’t end up happening.

"We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the Hills. We shall never surrender."

The combination of Nolan’s signature non-linear storyline, Zimmer’s breathtaking and adrenaline-heightening soundtrack, the commanding visuals and superb cinematography brings forth a masterful work. Dunkirk is a unique film, there isn’t a movie, war, thriller, or not, that shares these traits on a comparable level. Watching the film again and again, I still feel like I am watching it for the very first time. Not in the sense that it becomes ‘overly predictable’ or ‘bland’, but in that the aspects that make the movie what it is, it is completely riveting, every time seeing it brings forth a new appreciation of  the painstaking attention to detail and the dedication of all those involved with the film. It is a true masterpiece, a commanding cinematic experience that film analysts, cinemagoers, adrenaline junkies, and any who choose to see it, will appreciate for its individuality.  

Cinematography: 95

Screenwriting: 100

Delivery: 95

Average:

97%, A+

#dunkirk #christopher nolan #movies #movie reviews #movie critique #cinematography #screenwriting #movie ratings #cinema #essay

[ct-hardcase]

I wrote out a thing about what Eighth Brother’s purpose was in Twilight of the Apprentice to begin with, mostly to rationalize it to myself and my friends but here it is:

So you’ve got yourself a season finale where a lot of shit goes down. Vader and Ahsoka duel, Kanan’s blinded, Maul returns, and you also get two of the season’s main enemies dead. Point is, there’s a lot going on, why go to the trouble of introducing another antagonist?

It’s not only plotwise that it’s a lot, but you need to intro a new VA (adding to a cast which otherwise, all has history with either swr or tcw), design an entirely new character, give him a model in animation, and some keenly-eared people have heard the strains of a musical theme, though I haven’t confirmed it myself, so Kiner needed to think of that on top of everything else.

Let’s list the reasons why he’s here:

-It’s natural that there’s an inquisitor hunting Maul, if the Empire’s hunting down the remainder of the Force users. It works in-universe.

-“I’ve never had an inquisitor run from me before.” While not exactly having taken another level in badass quite yet, Kanan (and definitely Ahsoka) benefit from actually being able to take down an inquisitor on the first go, and having him on the run from them. It gives them a bit of an intimidation factor.

-Fleshes out the rank structure of the inquisitorius. In fact, Eighth was the inspiration/motivation to create the structure in the first place (which begs the question, why eighth in the first place, versus another lower rank like ninth or tenth, but that’s another tangent).

-Related to that, he helps Fifth Brother and Seventh Sister with the conclusion of their mini-relationship arc within Rebels. It’s subtle, but their teamwork does get better over the course of season 2. This culminates with them united against another inquisitor.

-Gives Maul a certain level of threat. He helps kill three inquisitors (directly killing one), which certainly shows the audience that he’s lost none of his edge during his years in exile.

-Gives Chopper a moment in the sun too.

-He presents a threat to Kanan in that he caught him off his guard and knocked him out. Kanan’s not on his A-game during this time, and Eighth Brother’s fighting style is tailored to messing with that. Additionally, Ezra, Ahsoka, and Kanan are far less familiar with him, leaving him less easily beaten back than his counterparts.

-Evens the odds for the inquisitors. Seventh Sister and Fifth Brother would not have fared well alone against four enemies.

Any Reason Why Not? -Budgetary concerns: I’m sure Vader’s cape, or the entire rest of Malachor, wasn’t cheap to animate. Not only that, but you’re reskinning Maul for Rebels. The costs mentioned above that go into creating a character at least give this as a reason to keep a new inquisitor out of it.

-Poor Seventh Sister and Fifth Brother, after being two of the main villains of rebels most considered a laughingstock, they have to share the episode where they ultimately die with the other emotional moments, and a new character being formed. Had Eighth Brother not been around, maybe the two of them would’ve had more dramatic deaths. Mostly Fifth, poor guy.

-Poor Eighth Brother! You make your debut as a villain in the same episode as Maul and Vader make an appearance. Even villains of a more badass caliber wouldn’t be expected to keep up with that, and Eighth Brother does not have much going for him comparatively. That’s on top of everything else happening in the episode, which doesn’t involve him anywhere near the heart of it. Of all the inquisitors introduced, his appearance and disappearance probably packs the least of an objective punch.

-The capture and interrogation scenes would’ve had more meaning and a bit more irony, I argue, if either Seventh Sister or Fifth Brother got captured by Kanan and Ahsoka instead. It shows them having power over their prior enemies, puts the other one in a situation where they’d have to be the underdog (as offscreen as that would have been) and rescue their partner.

-What broad narrative purpose does he have in the scope of Rebels? Not a lot, really. He gets some context with Seventh and Fifth, but it’s brief, especially in an episode packed with so much. Any sort of dialogue he gets (“more than enough for the two of you,”) never gets explored beyond what’s immediately consequential within the episode. Any fanon there may have been of him being a Harvester Kid (which would’ve put him in connection w the Future of the Force plot) got jossed during Vader (2017). He and Maul–his target–get exactly one brief exchange of dialogue, and then only fight in bursts after the fact. He didn’t even get to display how the temple’s firing sequence affected people, as that scene was cut.

Overall, I think that the pros of him evening the odds and that it's just straight-up logical for Maul be hunted is enough to justify him being in Twilight of the Apprentice, but I wonder what the logic was on the production team for his creation?

#eighth brother #long post #star dorks #inquisitorius tag #sw headcanons #if anyone here is smart and cares to share/dispute a point I completely missed feel free but I was just #*vexed* with the question of why he exists #naturally he lives in my head rent-free either way but still

[littlemisssquiggles]

I might get some flack for this but, in hindsight, Oscar technically doesn’t need to be in chapter 4. He hasn’t gone to a huntsmen academy. He hasnt really been properly trained, and therefore he shouldn’t get a license and celebrate with everyone. I’m sure he’d feel it’d be weird to celebrate with them anyway since he hasn’t been with them for as long as they been with each other, and besides he hasn’t earned anything, at the moment. He’d be more comfortable congratulating them when they return

Hey Cora. Whelp, first of all, I don’t think you’re going to get any flack since you’re not the only Pinehead who’s tried to justify why it was a good thing that Oscar wasn’t present to join everyone in celebrating receiving their huntsmen licenses. So you’re good on that front.

Here’s the thing with that though. I get what you’re saying, and while I can’t speak for all Pineheads, I can speak for myself and explain why I didn’t particularly enjoy RWBY V7CH4 for Oscar’s absence from that scene. I didn’t like it when I first watched the episode yesterday and even now, after I’ve listened to this same rationale from other Pineheads such as yourself, I’m sorry but my feelings have not changed much from my initial first impression.

This episode only served to further justify a glaring issue with Oscar’s treatment within the show. I’ve heard other Pineheads (and in some cases, even Ozpinheads) voice this concern before and now I’m starting to see it too. 

Oscar is not a character. At least, often at times, he doesn’t feel like a character even after three seasons since part of his characterization involves him being used as a plot device for the purpose of either advancing the plot or aiding in another character’s development while his own gets swept under the rug.

With the exception of certain characters; like Ruby and to some extent Nora; the only time when the other characters are required to care about Oscar’s well-being is when it services the plot. Other times, the Writers are perfectly content with having the characters behave as if Oscar doesn’t exist and this is where it becomes bothersome to Pineheads like myself who take notice of this dribble.

This would explain why Blake mentioned him last episode since it led into Yang addressing the Mammoth Grimm in the room regarding hiding the truth about Salem from Ironwood which then led into her asking Ruby about Oscar’s feelings in all of this.

It serviced the plot since that’s how we were able to get the flashback to Ruby’s talk with Oscar…even though it was brief. And following that episode, Oscar wasn’t seen or mentioned again for CH4 since…well…his presence wasn’t required to advance the plot of this seemingly filler episode. CH4 definitely felt like one of those ‘cool down’ episodes especially coming off the high of the last three episodes that were pretty packed with lots of entertaining action and intriguing plot-heavy exposition.

So Oscar wasn’t a factor in CH4 since his character wasn’t needed. Still didn’t make his absence feel any less weird, at least to me since a) I genuinely missed my boy this episode and most importantly of all b) I don’t understand why he couldn’t be there with everyone.

Not even your rationale about Oscar being uncomfortable being there around everyone when they’re having their moment is helpful because it doesn’t really answer why he couldn’t be there. It’s just another hunch—another potential reason as to why Oscar couldn’t be there but we’re not sure if that’s the case since it’s not supported by the show.

This is why I have a better chance at believing the Pinehead hunch by @miki-13 and @maripr where Oscar wasn’t present for the celebrations because, at the moment, there might be some unspoken tension between him and Ruby that possibly arose because of their talk from CH3. 

I’d believe that reason since it’s supported by a bit of evidence from the show. The saddened expression on Ruby’s face and how defensive she got when Yang probed her about the topic definitely gives the vibe that she didn’t manage to win over Oscar as she did with the others. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the case as we’ve seen in the past how Oscar becomes when he senses that Ruby isn’t being completely honest with him. 

So I’m wondering if the two did get into a fight and now things are akward between them. I don’t really know and another thing that bummed me out about CH4 is that we got no further clarification of what went down between the Rosebuds. CH3 gave us a teaser and left us a cliff-hanger while CH4 dropped it all together. This all feels like the calm before the storm.

Like imagine if…in the next episode, it is revealed that things are indeed tense between Ruby and Oscar. Like picture the episode kicking off with Ruby standing outside the door of Oscar’s dorm this time to parallel him coming to her in CH3. 

Perhaps…the door is closed and Ruby has just been standing there for several beats, gearing herself up to speak to Oscar since, the last time the two chatted, it didn’t go as well as she remembered. 

But as Ruby goes to knock on the door, it suddenly slides open and there’s Oscar already standing before her. Oscar doesn’t even react to seeing Ruby there. 

As the audience, you can tell that there is some assumed strain between the little barn prince and his little red rose by their taut interaction but you don’t get a sense of what’s really going on until they speak to each other.

Imagine a dialogue exchange like this:

Oscar: *tersely* …Uh hey. What’s up?

Ruby: *awkwardly* Oh I…just wanted to show you this. *whips out her huntsman license* I got my license, see! Ironwood gave it to us after the mission. Isn’t that…great?

Oscar: *indifferently* Yeah. Nora and Jaune already told me. Congratulations.

Ruby: …Thank you.

Oscar: *dismissively* Anyways, I should get going. Got training.

Ruby: Oscar wait. C—Can we talk?

Oscar: About what?

Ruby: You know what. About…what happened…last time we—

Oscar: It depends. Did you tell Ironwood the truth about Salem?

Ruby: N—No but—

Oscar: *crossly* Then there’s nothing for us to talk about.

Imagine if...Oscar is mad right now at Ruby. It’d actually be interesting if there was currently a bit of bad blood between the Rosebuds. I’ve seen one or two Pineheads voice how much they’d like to see Oscar go off on everyone for how he’s been treated by the group since Argus. I doubt Oscar is going to be 100% okay with Ruby pulling an Ozpin. As a matter of fact, I’m expecting that to be a point of conflict for his side of things this season. 

The last time Ozpin pulled an Ozpin, Oscar technically was the one who instigated the reveal. If Oscar hadn’t stopped Oz from trying to retrieve the Relic back from Ruby and if he hadn’t also told Ruby the truth about the lamp then Jinn wouldn’t have been summoned. You can almost go so far as to say that Oscar was the reason the truth came out. 

While Ruby was the one who asked the question, Oscar was the one who fed her the information required for her to get the chance to ask that question.

The truth came out with Oscar’s interference. So I’m wondering if that’s going to happen again, only this time Oscar will be forced to do the same to Ruby. And I can imagine him being very conflicted on that due to how much he cares about Ruby. That could be cool. But for now, it’s only an assumption.

An assumption that I wished CH4 had kind of addressed. IT really sucked how the CRWBY Writers got us intrigued with the Rosebuds scene in CH3 only to go into CH4 with no mention of Oscar at all, not even in a flashback. This is why it all felt so jarring.  

When I first saw Ironwood there, my immediate reaction was “Oh! Is Oscar here too? Did he come down to the construction site and took a lift with James?“ 

But as we saw, Oscar wasn’t present. I kept waiting for him to pop up especially when the group were taken up into Amity Tower for their briefing. I kind of expected him to be present since all the people who knew the truth about the tower’s purpose were there in the arena room. 

Penny was there. Winter was there. The Aces, to some extent were there. But Oscar wasn’t. When I first saw this scene I figured it was going to be another follow up debriefing regarding the tower’s construction since that’s how it started off as before it went into the licence rewarding.

I’m not saying that Oscar should’ve been there to receive his license too since Oscar is still inexperienced. Even if he’s trained by Ironwood, he still hasn’t earned his license like the others and I understand that. That’s not why I was upset.

I was more upset at the fact that here were have yet another moment with the team together, bonding and celebrating an achievement they earned together and…Oscar, who we’ve been told is also a part of the team too, isn’t there to celebrate the moment with them. Not even to be shown congratulating them afterwards?

As I said on Twitter yesterday, this moment only served to remind me of my biggest nit-pick with Oscar’s treatment in the show. You have the series clumsily trying to tell me, as the audience, that Oscar is supposed to be a member of the team but then you get moments like this where everyone is together and he’s not there to share the moment with them.

It reminded me of why I strongly disliked V6CH9 and most of V6 for how they handled Oscar’s integration into the group. After two seasons with him going on three, I still don’t feel as if Oscar is really a part of the team. 

And your reasoning for Oscar only being with the team for a short time and shouldn’t be allowed to share in this moment further justifies that fact.

Oscar has only been with the team for roughly 48 or 49 days. That’s approximately one month, 2 weeks and four days. But if @_ebea over on Twitter is indeed correct about another month passing between the group’s arrival in Atlas and their first mission with the Ace Ops, then it would mean that Oscar has actually been with the team for two months.

So…why would it be better for him to not be present during a great moment for his team…when he supposed to be a part of the team??

I’m sorry Cora. Again, I know what you’re trying to say and I hear you m’dear. But, hand over heart, I’m not fully buying into this rationale because all it’s doing is making me think back to V6CH9 when Jaune Arc dead-ass says:

“…This team just isn’t the same without you Oscar.”

And yet, here we have this nice little moment of achievement for the team and Oscar isn’t even there to congratulate everyone and be there for his team even though he’s supposedly a part of it.

(Dude; Penny hasn’t seen the team in about the same amount of time as Oscar has been with them and yet she was allowed to share in this moment with them? So why couldn’t Oscar too?)

I’m sorry. This moment just does not compute with me.

As a team moment for JNR_RWBY, it doesn’t work for me since ALL the members of the hero squad are there, except Oscar.

And as a meeting of all the people who knew about Amity Tower, it doesn’t sit well with me either since, like I said, everyone who knew about Amity Tower and were present in Ironwood’s office for the meeting were there…except Oscar.

The one plausible reason for Oscar’s absence from V7CH4 is that he couldn’t be there because he didn’t know that JNR_RWBY were getting their licenses that day. 

If I recall correctly, the earning of the licenses was a shock to the heroes too since Ironwood surprised them with it…after just one mission with the Aces.

Still felt kind of weird that no one asked about Oscar again for this episode though. Especially when Ironwood, Winter and Penny all came down from Atlas which pegged the question of :

“If Ironwood was down at the site with our heroes; since the FNDM assumption was that Oscar was probably training with Ironwood while the heroes were with the Ace Ops; then does this mean that Oscar was left all alone up in Atlas while everyone was celebrating up in Amity Tower?”

My saving grace is that Oscar was actually with Pietro helping out in the lab and secretly being trained to become an inventor’s apprentice. 

Because as I said, we got everyone there except Oscar. Everyone who knew about Amity Tower and its purpose were present except him and that’s what mostly bothered me about this episode.

It just felt…like the Writers honestly forgot about Oscar…again and it just brought back a lot of bitterness for me because it reminded me of V6 all over again.

So yeah, your reasoning is cool Cora. If that’s how you look at it then great. Just don’t mind little ole me if I disagree with that outlook because from my perspective, leaving him out of team moments like this has the opposite effect.

To me, this just further highlights the disconnect between Oscar and the others and just shows how much he doesn’t really have a place on this team even though he’s supposed to (and especially since the show told us last season that he does). That’s my take on it.

Also, not to be that person but… bold of you to assume that the CRWBY Writers are actually going to show Oscar congratulating everyone on earning their huntsmen licences once they return up to Atlas Kingdom. We didn’t even get to see him sending off everyone before their mission or reacting to everyone’s new looks (particularly Ruby’s like most of us Rosegardeners had hoped).

We’d only be so lucky if next episode opens with a scene where Ruby shows up at Oscar’s room to show him her sparkling new license …who’s to say, right?

Only CH5 will tell and I’m curious if it will highlight Oscar training with Ironwood as part of the narrative. Unless that’s going to be it’s own focus episode which it should be at this point since…Oscar could use a focus episode that actually gives him full attention for once. But who knows.

I can’t really trust that with these Writers. Not after V6 and not after V7CH4. But we’ll see.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

#miraculouscorazone #squiggles answers: rwby #oscar pine

[truths89]

A Gem of the Pleiades

I am walking to the F train in Brooklyn, to head home from the 4th ave train station, while I smoke a spliff and recollect my raw appetite from the late hours of the 29th night of February. She is face down, ass up and my fingers are curled around her g-spot, as I bite chunks of her ass. Her moaning is so gratifying, like a seamless orchestra to a conductor. Her body is richly melanated, her thighs are thick, her belly soft and round. I am intent on devouring her at this moment. So tight, so moist, the aroma. Just a lick, a sip of a clit. The thirst was real. For a taste of her lips, all of her lips.

Kole, unlike my numerous Tinder dates, is a person with whom I attended Smith College. She was a senior, when I was a first-year. We both resided in Lamont house, on the 4th floor during the mid-2000′s. We were cordial during that single overlapping year of study; however, hadn’t established a relationship outside of smithiehood. While residing in Manhattan  over the past seven years, Kole and I have run into each other at Union Square twice, and once at the Schomburg Museum in Harlem. We were always polite and graceful, but never made an attempt to meet up intentionally. Since graduating in 2011, I hadn't attended a single Smith event. It wasn’t until Winter of 2019, when I received a Facebook invitation to the New York Chapter Smith Holiday Party from Kole, that we became reacquainted again. The small talk was pleasant, her presence was enchanting. We exchanged numbers and she was convinced she could link me with a friend of hers, who she believed, I’d take a liking to.

I can’t precisely pinpoint when the mutual attraction was realized, but there has always been a sense of humor and sensuality that I associate with Kole. About a week after the Holiday party, Kole invited me to Ginny’s Supper Club in Harlem, for a Jazz performance and a salmon entree. The venue was so beautiful and rather romantic. Our conversation was substantial and we broached  the topic of dating. She shared a little bit about the matter, and my curiosity grew. Before me, was a beautifully black, assertive and accomplished woman, how could she not be dating? The next hurdle was to learn her sexual orientation. Typically, she responded with, “I like people.” As a very fluid person, this was alluring to me. Naturally, I shared with her a little of my dating experiences. We walked separate ways at 125th St. and Malcolm X Blvd. I wanted so badly to invite her over, but knew she was an aged wine, not a wine cooler.

There may have been a text message correspondence, I truly couldn’t recall. But Kole sent out an email invitation for showings of Black Women in Film Festival, with dates in January. One happened to be on my birthday, the 30th, and I hadn’t made any plans to celebrate. I thought little of reaching out to spend my birthday evening with her. Serendipitously, her late father and I share a birthday. We decided to meet up at 6 pm, at  a bar near West 4th to make a toast to her father. She was about forty minutes late, due to her train being stuck underground. Even so, I was still thrilled to share time with her. The bar was packed. She had a single drink on the rocks; I declined to join in, as I was already overly intoxicated from a sushi lunch with my best friend. We made it to the Film Forum and saw a clip that starred Eartha Kitt. It was beautiful. Afterward, we took a couple of pictures, walked to the train and gave each other a rich embrace.

Some time had passed, when I was walking along Riverside Park one morning, on February 14th, and received a text message from Kole about the upcoming potluck she was organizing. Because I have numerous email accounts, and communicate over several text phone app platforms, I can easily lose track of a correspondence or invitation. In my defense, there were two events, a potluck and a karaoke event, a week apart.  After going back and forth with her via text message, on where her invitation might be located on my phone, I immediately RSVP’d for the 22nd at 5 pm. I decided to also RSVP for the Smith Karaoke for the 29th at 3 pm.  I arrived at a quarter to 6 to the potluck, bearing half a loaf of bread and two flavors of hummus. I didn’t immediately find myself conversing with Kole, as she was the host. The night was rich in food, dialogue and community. By the end of the evening, Kole was hugging me goodbye, in such a way that I began to feel sexually aware of my body. I felt safe and liked it, but was unclear on her intentions. She gave me two twirls before sharing that her friend could drive me uptown from the Queens home we were in. I was grateful, as I had a 6 am flight to New Mexico the next morning.

I visited a ranch in Sapello, New Mexico for a week. There was not a day in which Kole and I did not communicate. I told her that I liked her touch and felt safe, but giddy. I had sent her a short erotica story that I had written my senior year, while attending Smith College. I also shared with her some articles I had written for a niche newspaper on being a Peer Specialist. Something was happening, and we were just flowing. The pictures she would send, and then my versions that I would send in return. I was in the hot tub when we had a video call, which was seductive. We were both eager to gain clarity on what it was we were feeling and doing. I expressed my interest and her rebuttal was promising. By the time I boarded my return flight to New York on February 28th, Friday evening, I knew I’d see her the following day for Karaoke.

While on the plane, the more I thought of Kole, the more I felt butterflies in my tummy. This was such a new and strange experience. A woman I met 14 years ago, who I barely communicated with during all this time; and suddenly, I can’t help but yearn for her touch. Karaoke was a cute event to host. The song selection was not quite for my palate, but I appreciated watching Kole have fun. There was one smithie who both Kole and I were acquainted with, as we all lived in Lamont House on the 4th floor. The last time I saw Abby was at the Smith Holiday Party. Now, at the karaoke venue, we’re playing musical chairs around Kole. I was thirsty to have her body beside my own. Frankly, I had bravely sent her some visually seductive material and did not want to overstep my reach. I wanted her to initiate physical contact. And did she. She guided my hand to her lower back. I commenced with rubbing her back in circular motions, amid the Karaoke selections being played. Abby seemed very confused. I was gleefully avoidant of eye-contact.

While in New Mexico, Kole shared with me a house party that was being thrown after the karaoke event by a fellow smithie. From midtown, we took a taxi to the house party in Brooklyn. At this point, the sexual tension was palatable. Honestly, I have deeply desired black and thick love, it’s been a source of grief. Although Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge have been excellent in facilitating my connection to potential lovers and friends; the women whom I‘ve met are slender, and not brown or black. It’s been challenging and complicated. So during the ride to the house party, I was in awe of the universe’s uncanny orchestration of timing. We arrived at the party, and upon our arrival, we saw a familiar smithie at the entryway; we entered the apartment together. The space was lovely and the display of food was so appetizing; an array of cheese, meats, crackers, wines, etc. It was very laid back and I was feeling very much at ease.

Like magnets attracting an electrical charge, our proximity was very close. The conversation was intimate and felt like necessary emotional labor. It was vulnerable and transparent. Although we were in a room with other folks filled with chatter and drinks, we were much absorbed in our own bubble. I had to say, “I want to kiss you.” “Why don’t you,” she asked. I admitted to some shyness around the space we were in. As a gathering, we began to play What Do You Meme. Perhaps over a dozen rounds, in the midst of such, Kole and I were twisting our fingers together, holding hands, and playing footsie. There were a couple of moments when we left the living room to get more food or drinks from the kitchen. Two bodies passing, she reached for my waist, and I hers. We exchanged two brief soft wet kisses. I may have been exhausted from my return from New Mexico that morning, but her essence was caffeinated sensuality.

We met up in the kitchen about two more times that evening, before deciding to take a taxi to her home. It was a short ride. She initiated the kissing and hand holding along the ride. I enthusiastically reciprocated the affection. She resides on the second floor of an apartment building. Her roommate wasn’t there, gratefully. The clothes came off with such grace. While her body rested upon mine, with my arms embracing her being, eyes locked, I felt a sacred energy between us. Because I don’t recall what persona I portrayed while at Smith College, I have felt very uneasy and anxious with that social network. But with my head between her bosoms, as she caresses my forehead, I felt her nurturing touch.

I woke up around 7:46 am, in bed by myself. I lingered for a little, but went searching for Kole. She was comfortably lounging on the couch in the living room, while consuming some cold cereal. She was wearing a robe and her glasses. After I brushed my teeth, I joined her on the couch. The morning small talk was polite. Dating varies by person, but I chose to tell her that my male booty calls can stay on KIK. Because at age thirty-one, I am committed to manifesting a healthy black lesbian love relationship. I was preparing to leave, when she decided to sit on my lap. Her curves, her softness, her eyes, and her full lips. I’m weak. But literally, we both have orthopedic limitations, bad knees; it was fucking endearing and romantic to navigate our bodies with such gentleness and humor.

I don’t know what this is. I don’t know what this will be. But I have already soaked up so much healing and pleasure. I am grateful to the magic of the universe. To her black pussy and its wetness. May I drink her like a lily does the sun? We are black star seeds in the garden of passion and creation. What can two wombs create in the absence of sperm? A Star System. 

#smith college #smithie #'07 #black love #blackqueer #blackweirdo #blackgirlmagic #lesbianism #new york city #serendipity #uncertainty #excitment #healing #romance #harlem #brooklyn #2020

[marithlizard]

Thoughts on RBWY v7c4: Pomp and Circumstance

I've been assuming this season was meant to parallel v3, but the pacing is increasingly feeling...off.  Slow.   If you compare, so much more was packed into each v3 episode.  Dialogue was crisper. Even with the tournament fights taking up a ton of time, we touched base briefly with each group of characters and were reminded why we care about them.   Every scene laid groundwork for the approaching avalanche of plot.

Here,  a lot of time is spent on long shots, watching vehicles travel and people walk and pose and stand around. That's not necessarily bad in itself, but there's a LOT of setup still needed before all hell breaks loose and I really thought more of it would have happened by chapter 4 or 5.   Eight episodes left.

- Robyn has spies in place, good for her.

- Dramatic exit from the mines and fawning over the Ace Ops, case in point about slow pacing.   Jaune's googly-eyed admiration seems weird to me, especially in comparison to Ruby's more mature attempt to give professional compliments.  (Nora is of course Nora.  And Vine doesn't think enough of her to even react.)

- The Ace Ops aren't all that nice to each other, are they.  And Marrow's the designated target to pick on.  Their focus on "it's just a job" and efficiency-based pairings is pretty obviously going to be shown to be inferior to our heroes' stronger bonds of affection and loyalty.   I do not want Qrow on this team.

- WBY brushing off Ruby's enthusiasm is meant to show us something - is she out of sync with her team? Yang's unamused "We almost died" here is such a contrast to the similar summing-up conversation when Ruby and JNR arrived in Haven. It's got to be intentional.   (Also, Weiss,  YOU didn't explore a continent on foot.)

- Okay, at 4:23 and following Qrow's animation looks WEIRD.   Slightly too-big head superimposed on his body.  It's not just me, is it?

- James tells Clover to be subtle, that too many visible Huntsmen will make people nervous.  He tells RWBYJNRQ that their Huntsman presence will reassure and help Mantle. What are Clover's orders, and why am I guessing they have nothing to do with help?

- Jaune and Ruby's innocent shock at the death of Exposition Weeb underscores their youth.  Qrow doesn't bat an eye.  In fact, he seems rather detachedly sardonic. I was assuming Qrow's been staying with James and that the two of them have had some chances to talk.   If not, why not, after that hug?

- James looks so very tired.  Too tired and self-doubting to even react much to Jaune's impudence.  I'm still on the fence about his intentions, and yet I want the guy to get a hug and a massage and a solid night's sleep.

 - (Seriously, Jaune,  the embargo may have been a bad move but you sound like a young twit who knows nothing about PR or politics. Which you are.)

- On the other hand, you look great compared to Jacques.  Who does not deserve that elegant airship.  I like the reactions to his guilt trip - Ruby and Yang are shocked, but Blake knows all about this kind of tactic.  And Winter has heard it so many times she just steers clear.

- I can see the reasoning, but the huge empty space full of bad memories is anything but celebratory, and the long establishing shot of their tiny figures in the center isn't helping.

- James references Haven in his speech. Has he been briefed on that, at least?  Speaking of conversations I really wanted to see.

- Oh, HEY.  James said "Brothers know you deserve it".    The sea captain in v5 said "By the gods" once, but this here is a direct invocation of the two gods we know are real.   Was James raised to worship them? Does he swear by them because Ozpin told him they were real,  years ago?  Does he know some of what was in Jinn's vision, and how? TELL ME I MUST KNOW.

- James says "I could certainly use more trustworthy fighters by my side."  Blake and Yang exchange sidewise glances, as do Weiss and Ruby. Jaune looks oblivious.   "I should be so lucky to have all of you."   Pause.  Pauusee.   James turns to look at Ruby.  "It's okay." Hello Miss Rose, is there something you would perhaps like to finally tell me?  No? Fine.

- It's still an awful plan, and if you can mouth off to him about the embargo, kids, perhaps you could point out some of the gaping holes in it? With or without the massive secret you're keeping?

- The awkward end to the speech feels like a loud subtextual signal that James is a good and sincere person (villains are more polished, right?)   And it's working despite my misgivings.

- Ren is low-key acting like he's kind of tired of Nora,  or realizing he doesn't love her the same way she loves him.   I figured he was pulling away from her for other reasons, but now I wonder...

- Ugh, Qrow's bitterness towards Oz has not softened one bit.  That makes me really sad :(   And while Ruby is clearly having some doubts,  I don't think this conversation is taking them in a useful direction.  How exactly can Ironwood  prove himself to you, Ruby?  If he doesn't, when are you going to tell him what Jinn said?  Just before he goes on national TV to announce the existence of Salem? After?   If you never sit down among yourselves and actually analyze what Jinn told you, you'll never spot the very obvious clues in the wording.  

- WHERE IS OSCAR. Not a single mention of him. No reason I can think of for him to be left out of this celebration, or for the others not to care. What is he doing? Sitting in a dorm alone? Did Ironwood send him to school? I want to have faith in the writers but this makes no sense.   Even if the writers consider him a side character like Maria (and I think that'd be a terrible mistake) he's in a critically important position plotwise. We should be checking in with him every episode.

- A Summer secret, huh.  (Is she alive?)  Qrow's affect here isn't that of a mourning lover, but someone who's come to terms with the loss of a friend.  

- Still not on board with the voice. Or rather I'm not not on board with it, but...this is not the Qrow I fangirl-swooned over.  I would not listen to him read a phone book.

- Isn't Penny supposed to be heavy?  Did Ruby get stronger, or did they rebuild her of lighter materials?

- Oh my, they are either brothers or cousins and I'm betting brothers. Did Watts' voice actor change since v5?  

- Whitley announcing a visitor?  Klein is banished, and Jacques'  last remaining kid is not having an easy time of it from the look of things.   I hope he gets a chance to make his own life like his sisters.

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby v7 spoilers

[apiratecalledav]

 Reasons to be Hopeful for Gendrya season 8:

“I have a son. You have a daughter. We’ll join our houses.”

They have tried to marry a Stark girl with a Baratheon twice now. Robert and Lyanna. Joffrey and Sansa. Third time’s the charm!

Robert and Lyanna are a lot like Gendry and Arya, both in looks and some of their major personality traits.   And we see they have similar relationships to Ned and Jon respectively. See how much Robert and Ned’s first scene parallels Gendry and Jon’s meeting- these first serious and solemn-looking exchanges end in smiles and good natured ribbing. Jon and Arya are especially close, just like Ned and Lyanna were. Also, Lyanna’s introduction— showing off her horseback riding in front of her brothers— feels similar to Arya shooting an arrow into Bran’s target in the pilot episode.  But Robert and Lyanna didn’t know each other very well, unlike Arya and Gendry who were friends and companions for a long time. Not to mention that Gendry and Arya are much better people than Robert and Lyanna. Gendry is not a drunken philanderer and Arya isn’t as thoughtless (and selfish?) as Lyanna.

Compare Arya’s first meeting with Hot Pie in season 1 to their final goodbye in season 7. In season 1, they met just after Arya lost her family. She was already devastated when Hot Pie insulted her and tried to intimidate her. Arya threatened him and it was one of the first times we see the depths of her fierceness. In season 7, Arya finds Hot Pie just after she avenged her family. She’s already feeling pretty happy(ish) when Hot Pie tells her that Jon has Winterfell, that she’s pretty and calls her his friend. It is the first time in awhile we see her heart and emotions absolutely unguarded.  Hot Pie and Arya’s reunion highlights how he went from her bully to her friend, from kicking her while she was already down to giving her the best news she had heard in years when she was as happy as she ever expected to be again. So Arya and Gendry reuniting ought to show us how much their relationship has changed too; from friends to something more.

So far, very few reunion scenes have featured both characters being taken by surprise. Sansa went looking for Jon. Bran knew when he’d see his siblings. Arya probably hoped to see Hot Pie at that inn. Davos tracked down Gendry. The guards told Arya that Sansa was at Winterfell and they told Sansa that Arya was there. Arya learned from Sansa that Bran was home. Jon knows that Bran and Arya are at Winterfell. Sandor knows that Arya survived. So I think it’s very interesting that at this point, both Arya and Gendry are completely unaware that the other is still alive. I think it’s intentional so that it can be one of the few reunions where it’s a complete surprise to both of them.

Just generally speaking, they were as heavy-handed with shippiness as they could get away with in seasons 1- 3 considering the age difference.They had a hard line to walk between “planting the seeds” of a future relationship and not making Gendry look creepy and I think they handled well:

Their first meeting is a classic “meet cute,” especially among kids and/or in adventure stories, where A defends B from danger or harassment. 

Gendry realized Arya was a girl pretty quickly or maybe even immediately. In the books, it’s only after their little group is on their own for awhile that he notices she goes far away to pee. I know a factor might be simplifying things because of time constraints. But I think it’s worth noting that in these situations, the love interest will often see through the disguise. It also gets bonus points because even with long hair, Arya had been frequently mistaken for a boy.

“As my lady commands” can be seen as having a similar vibe as Robb and Theon laughing hysterically after Arya throws some food at Sansa. But it definitely can be seen a flirting-- if in a “kids in the school yard” kind of way.

She ogles him blatantly while he is shirtless. Growing up with lots of brothers and their friends and swimming with them and stuff.... it’s not like male anatomy is a mystery to her. It’s basically a big flashing sign telling the audience that Arya does not see Gendry as some kind of big brother replacement.

When they leave Harrenhal, it’s clear that Gendry doesn’t think it’s safe to do so. But Arya goes and he follows rather quickly. Either he really trusts her judgement or he’s willing to die with her. 

We often see them exchanging meaningful looks and/or practically reading each other’s minds. When they hear that lady talk about how they’re all slowly being tortured and killed in Harrenhal. When the Mountain picks Gendry to be rat food. How Gendry checks with her before he tells Thoros the blacksmith he used to train with. When they say goodbye to Hot Pie and he gives them that misshapen wolf bread. Or when Arya tries to stab the Hound, Gendry stops her when the rest of the Brotherhood is still dumbstruck. I almost always only see that kind of non-verbal communication in characters that are siblings (twins more specifically) or a couple. 

They get a pretty long one-on-one farewell. This show is not big on goodbye scenes. Most are off screen and if not, tend to be rather brief and the characters have to have a stiff upper lip because there are other people around or because they can’t/won’t open up. But the scene where Gendry tells Arya that he wants to stay with the Brotherhood is very emotional and both of them get a bit teary-eyed. It’s not their literal goodbye scene, but it figuratively is. The audience learns that they will soon be parting ways and it is the last time they really speak to each other on screen. Obviously, since their actual separation would be caused by Mel dragging him away, they wouldn’t get an actual, proper goodbye. I think the writers really wanted to show the audience that these two care about each other a lot and would miss each other terribly.   

The only other goodbyes I can think of that matches the intensity, music, and dialogue of this scene are Dany saying goodbye to Jorah and Bran saying goodbye to Rickon and Osha. Jorah declares his love and Dany cries tells him that he has to get better because she needs him. And those two were one of the longest running relationships on the show and a popular BroTP/OTP for six seasons. Bran and Rickon, of course, were the last Stark siblings to separate and Osha had been Bran’s last proper guardian figure. 

And of course there’s “You wouldn’t be my family. You’d be m’lady.” Yes, this is mainly Gendry highlighting the differences in their stations. But... I do think the use of “m’lady” was deliberate as hell. “M’lady” is loaded with romantic connotations and has long been associated with dashing knights in love with noble maidens fair. Even today, there’s a stereotype of cringe-y guys trying too hard to get girls to swoon by calling them “m’lady.” Heck, even Joffrey trying to woo Sansa made a big deal about calling her “my lady” every time he spoke to her or about her.  Not to mention, seeing as Arya was Robb’s sister, wouldn’t it have been more likely she’d have to be referred to as “Princess”?  So you can accuse me of shipper goggles, but I don’t think it was a coincidence that a sentence that’s supposed to mean “I won’t be part of your family because I’m a dirty peasant” could also easily be interpreted as “I won’t be like a brother to you, you’ll be my wife.” 

Also, we already know that Arya does not have sisterly feelings towards Gendry. So her offering to be his family is especially selfless and sweet. Hey, while I’m being trash, I’d like to point out that family can mean brother and sister and it can also refer to a married couple. Maybe this is foreshadowing that Arya is the one to propose. Heh. 

Finally, Arya is not going to be happy staying in Winterfell for the rest of her life. We learn in season 6 that Arya wants to travel the world and see what’s west of Westeros. In season 7, we see that Nymeria has formed her own pack and is forging her own, unconventional path. Clearly, Arya is heading to a similar lifestyle. She is not a lone wolf, however, and she’s going to want someone to go with her. Jon, Sansa, and Bran couldn’t accompany her even if they wanted to. Hot Pie is happy where he is. Sandor is probably going to be 100% done with road trips. If Brienne isn’t too busy with Jaime (let me have my delusions dreams), she’ll probably feel more obligated to stay with Sansa. That pretty much leaves Gendry. And if you recall how quickly he dropped everything to go off with Davos, he has no reason to hang around, either

Bonus shipper trash reason-- the story technically kinda starts with Lyanna dumping Robert and eloping with Ragdoll Tergiversation so it’s only fitting that it ends with Lyanna’s niece eloping with Robert’s son. :) 

#arya stark #gendry #gendrya #arya x gendry #game of thrones #i have been waiting since 8th grade vocab class to use tergiversation in a sentence hahaha

[emperorsfoot]

Can we talk about how Kevin has never had a stable Father-Figure

Seriously. 

Kevin Levin has never had a stable or consistent (or even really very positive) father-figure or male role model in his life. Don’t believe me? Lets take a look at his life!

1.

Harvey Hackett

Kevin’s step father. 

Admittedly, very little is known about Harvey since he only appears in one scene in one episode. But what we don’t know of him first hand, we can infer from dialogue. 

In Harvey’s exchange with Kevin in “Ultimate Power Part 2″, we learn that even though Kevin was an 11-year-old child when they lived together, Harvey was afraid of him. Imagine what they must be like, to be a child that young and one of your two main care-givers, one of your parents is afraid of you. That would totally mess with a kid’s head. And -clearly- it did when in the exact same conversation Harvey says that Kevin destroyed the house and ran away from home. And before any of you say “well, doesn’t that just prove Harvey was right to be afraid of Kevin?”, let me remind you that KEVIN WAS A CHILD AT THE TIME! 

He was only 11-years-old (or younger, we don’t know how long he was living on the streets). Children that young need care, understanding, encouragement and support! Especially special needs children. Say what you will, but a pre-pubescent kid with superpowers counts as a “special need” child. Children like that need their adult care-givers to understand them, or if not understand them, then at least make adaptations for them to better thrive. Not only did have clearly NOT do that for Kevin, but he also went one step father to openly admit to rejecting Kevin. 

To a child that young, being fearful of them is indistinguishable from rejecting them. Kevin picked up Harvey’s fear and only saw a parent who didn’t want him. 

So, he had a mental/emotional breakdown, used his unnatural super-powers to destroy their house, and ran away from home. 

Or, from Kevin’s perspective based on what he told Ben in “Kevin 11″ from the Original series, his parents threw him our because they didn’t like having a “freak” for a son. 

Kevin would see Harvey’s fear of him as a rejection and might run away from home imagining they would kick him out anyway. While Harvey would interpret Kevin’s destructive tantrum and running away as Kevin proving how “bad” a child he was instead of the cry for help that it actually was. 

Both characters’ stories are true. 

But that doesn’t change the fact that Harvey was a terrible parent and father-figure to Kevin. 

Now, lets look at his second male role model and father figure. 

2. 

Kwarrel

The inmate whom Kevin met in prison and took him under his wing. 

I could argue that Kwarrel is Kevin’s most positive male role model. Because, honestly, in the short time that they knew each other, Kwarrel did more for Kevin than any other adult figure he ever met. 

When Kevin first met Kwarrel he was newly trapped in the Null Void and newly sentenced to the prison Incarcecon. He was physically deformed by the Omnitrix and -as far as Kevin knew- permanently disfigured. Understandably, Kevin was angry, resentful, even hateful. One of the first scenes in the flashback that introduces Kwarrel is one of Kevin beating the crap out of other inmates and then asking for more. 

Seeing through Kevin’s rage and hostility, Kwarrel approaches him and strikes up a friendship. Through their friendship Kwarrel helps Kevin, not only, let go of his anger, but also helps him learn how to better control and use his powers. 

In the entire franchise, Kwarrel is the ONLY adult who works with Kevin constructively to develop and control his powers. 

We also see that Kwarrel is the one who taught Kevin to absorb matter so that he wouldn’t have to rely on absorbing energy and rest madness, or disfiguring mutation, or both. 

Sadly, Kwarrel was only with Kevin for less than a year before he was shot in the back and killed. 

All of this can be seen in “...Nor Iron Bars a Cage” in the Ultimate Alien arc of the series. I highly recommend you go and give it a rewatch. It is one of my favorite episodes. 

After Kwarrel dies helping Kevin escape from Incarsecon, he ends up running headlong into the path of our next terrible father-figure, and -quite possibly- the most toxic of all...

3.

Proctor Servantis

A power-mad Plumber with much too much influence and privilege compared to moral fiber. 

I could write chapters on this guy. But for this post, I’ll try to be brief.

When Kevin first meeds servants, he’s a ordinary human that’s employed by the Plumbers and stationed on the Null Void. He rescues Kevin from a pack of Vulpimancers that attacked him when he was wandering the Null Void an unknown amount of time after escaping Incarsecon (it could not have been that long since Kevin looks to still be between the ages and 11 and 12). 

Saving Kevin’s life was great and all. I would not like the Ben 10 franchise nearly as much as I do if Kevin stopped being a character after the age of 12. 

But almost immediately after meeting Kevin, Servants started manipulating him and using him. First just using his powers to conduct inhuman experiments on other children and aliens. Using Kevin’s Osmosian powers to graft alien DNA onto the genes of otherwise perfectly ordinary human children. 

That quickly escalated into sending Kevin and the other children on black ops missions that would have been dangerous even for adults. He basically turned Kevin into a child-soldier and used him to make other child-soldiers. 

Then, when Kevin and his team failed in one mission (the mission to kill Ben) Servants threw a juvenile tantrum and used the powers that Kevin gave him to wipe everyone’s memories and then ABANDON them to wander the Null Void alone. 

Oh, but wait, not only did Servants wipe Kevin’s memory and abandon him to the equivalent of a Turkish prison/space Australia, but Servants ALSO created false memories to replace Kevin’s real one. There by erasing part of his past and part of his identity in the process. 

And that leads me into our next weak and inconsistent father-figure...

4.

Devin Levin

Our super-sexy space daddy that I just wanna... uh... 

Anyway...

If you only ever watched Ben 10 up to the end of Ultimate Alien and nothing past it, then you would know Devin as a pure-blood Osmosian from planet Osmos V, whom married a human woman, Mrs. Levin, and had Kevin. And, from all appearances, did manage to live and be present in Kevin’s life for some time.

At least, there is a photo of Kevin with Devin in Kevin’s house. Its always hard to tell cartoon ages since they’re cartoons, but Kevin looks to be about 4 or 5 years old. That’s old enough to have vague memories of his father. 

From the ONE and ONLY flashback we get of Devin, he appears to deeply love his son and wife and is not only willing to die for them, but in fact DOES die for them. He dies protecting Earth from total planetary destruction, and as Devin dies in Max’s arms his last words are to tell his wife and son that he loves them. 

That sounds like a really great father-figure, right?

Except that he died when Kevin was 4. So, its not like he was ever actually present or active in Kevin’s life. 

But worse than that, if you DO watch beyond Ultimate Alien and into Omniverse you will see that they ret-con Devin. They ret-con him OUT!  Now, Devin never existed in the first place. Instead, he was a false memory constructed by Proctor Servants and implanted into the minds of Kevin Levin and Max Tennyson. In Kevin, so that the Osmosian would have a motivation to become a Plumber, team up with Ben and Gwen, and become a sleeper agent poised to spring when Servants reappeared. And, in Max’s mind so that Max would accept Kevin on the team without question and look out for him.

So, not only did Devin die, not only did Devin not exist, but Devin was just some little flourish to further nefarious schemes, a conspiracy, and an assignation plot. 

So... fuck Kevin. Am I right?

But I’m not done. I saved the best for last. Are you ready for number five?

5.

Max Tennyson

That’s right, Max mother-fucking Tennyson! 

Now, before you all get angry and rage replay that I’m just a hater who hates Team Ben, please remember the Original Series. Please remember Max’s backstory. Please remember how they develop Max’s character of the course of the franchise, all the way from the OS, through AF/UA, to the end of Omniverse. 

Max raised two children of his own. He is helping raise three grandchildren. He has LOTS of experience with children. 

Max is a Plumber. He’s a space cop. An alien police. He has lots of experience with people with extraordinary and super-human powers. He knows how to deal with them, how to de-escalate situations with them, how to keep them from using their powers to hurt others. (Or at least, one would assume he knows these things since that’s a Plumber’s fucking job!)

So, what does Max do the first time they meet?

Abandons him! That’s what!

At the end of the episode “Kevin 11″ the first episode where we ever meet Kevin, the fight between Ben and Kevin doesn’t “conclude” so much as it just ENDS. There’s an explosion and -at first- Kevin is buried under a bit of rubble, which gives Ben the opportunity to return to Max’s side. But Kevin craws out pretty quickly after that. He’s conscious and ambulatory. Ben, Gwen, and Max SEE him. He’s just on the other side of the train tracks. Its not like its impossible for anyone to get to him. So, what does Max do?

He takes his own children and WALKS THE FUCK AWAY! He -literally- turns his back on Kevin the first time they met. 

At this point in the franchise, Kevin is a homeless, rejected, unloved child with special needs, that no one in his life has ever tried to understand. 

Max is a grown adult who has experience with both children and people with extraordinary powers. He is the best equipped person (possibly in the world) to be a care-giver to Kevin. But Kevin’s not his, so why the fuck bother!? Right?

Even when Kevin keeps showing up. 

In “Framed” when Kevin is stalking Ben, posing as Ben, and committing crimes to frame Ben (which is, by the way, a cry for help), Max has another opportunity to help Kevin. And he wouldn’t even have to take care of the kid himself. 

In “Framed” there was this other group tracking Kevin. Some kind of SWAT team that specialized in extraordinary cases. All Max had to do was tell those guy that “hey, this monster here is really just a disfigured child, you should take care of him” and then be on his way. But Max didn't even do that! 

Just mentioning to that group which was clearly well funded, well equipped, and well trained, that this one monster they were trying to subdue was an unbalanced child who needed help would have been doing the BARE MINIMUM to help Kevin. Literally, the absolute minimum. 

But Max wouldn’t do even that! 

In fact, Max didn’t begin to give a rat’s ass about Kevin Levin until Proctor Servants had to alter his fucking brain! and give him fake memories of a partner who never existed. 

Even then, Max STILL agreed with Ben when Ben decided it was better to kill Kevin than rehabilitate him during the Ultimate Kevin arc. 

In short, 

ALL OF KEVIN’S FATHER-FIGURES/MALE ROLE MODELS ARE TERRIBLE!

Its actually amazing he managed to become as well adjusted, helpful, constructive and GOOD, a person as he has. 

#Kevin Levin #Kevin 11 #Kevin 11000 #Ultimate Kevin #Osmosian #rooters #Proctor Servantis #Devin Levin #Kwarrel #Max Tennyson #Harvey Hackett #ben 10 #alien force #ultimate alien #omniverse #vendetta #nor iron bars a cage #ultimate power #weapon xi #gwevin #KEVIN IS A PRECIOUS BABY! #I love him #I wish more people in the fandom loved him #he is the reason I watched the show

[sunriseinorbit]

monoma, shinsou, and my hero academia’s english major bullshit

i like the joint training arc. yeah, i know, big surprise there, considering it’s practically my personal brand at this point, but you don’t understand. i really like the joint training arc.

but a lot of people don’t. and honestly, i can’t really blame them. it’s a low-stakes, villain-free arc that focuses heavily on characters a lot of people didn’t really care about and it directly followed an arc that was action packed, introduced an instant fan favorite character in hawks, and was thematically relevant to the main question the series tries to answer: what makes someone a hero? and honestly, i don’t think i would have given the joint training arc as much of a chance if i didn’t have a shippy reason for doing so.

and therein lies the question: do i have a not-shippy reason for liking this arc?

no. no, i don’t. at least, i don’t have a reason that isn’t based around my two favorite characters and the relationship between them. but the reason i did find goes a lot farther beyond “i want them to make out”, i promise.

and it begins with this panel:

compared to the action that ended the previous chapter and continues after this brief interlude, this first panel of chapter 211 is striking, not in that the action depicted in it is particularly extreme but in that it isn’t. there’s no movement in the shot, and the only thing we see is a younger monoma, smaller than the dialogue bubbles around him and, most importantly, completely alone. in the midst of the most highly-anticipated match of the full arc beginning and deku’s quirk going haywire, this panel effectively pulls you out of the action and makes you feel the same way monoma does.

the chapter continues with this exchange in the viz translation:

and while i do like the viz translation quite a bit for obvious reasons, i also have other reasons for liking other fan translations.

for example, this is the translation by mangastream:

and this is the translation by jamini’s box:

while i don’t have the raws for this chapter or the knowledge of the japanese language necessary to determine which translation is “the best”, i do know that there’s no such thing as a perfect translation and that the same thing can be said in many different ways.

that being said, i really liked “i know how it feels to be ‘unable to do anything’” in the mangastream translation and “we both have to be open to seeing all things in shades of grey” in the jamini’s box translation, because i think they really get at the heart of the emotion the first panel is trying to convey.

while monoma’s quirk certainly doesn’t physically work on its own, the real “problem” with it, so to speak, is that in bnha’s quirk-based society, his - and everyone else’s - identity is entirely based around it.

quirks are everything to most, if not all characters in the series. firstly, they’re passed down genetically, and because of that, they can be a physical representation of heritage. and for some characters, they’re treated as such: the two most notable examples of this are iida and todoroki, who both come from high-status hero families that tie their livelihoods to their quirks. todoroki especially has a lot of character development and growth surrounding this concept as he accepts the fire side of his quirk on the way to accepting the fire side of himself. while he doesn’t forgive his father for what he’s done, he understands that his father’s quirk is a part of him, and that using that quirk isn’t a bad thing when he takes control of his path to becoming a hero.

and secondly, for the vast majority of pro heroes, their quirks are their personal brand. hell, this is even lampshaded on the back covers of every volume of the manga, where a pro hero advertises a product that has something to do with their quirk (or, very rarely, their personality). this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it is definitely one of the factors in hero society’s greater problem.

this inexorable bond between quirks and identity creates a problem in society: a strong quirk is valued, especially in heroics, more than the person who has it. on one end of this spectrum, you have early bakugou, who was praised for having an amazing quirk ever since it manifested, which inflated his ego and led to him acting in... not very heroic ways. despite that (and getting no rescue points in the ua entrance exam), he destroyed so many robots in the entrance exam - with, again, his super strong quirk - that he got into the school on that alone. he’s getting better now, of course, but even ua fell into the trap of overlooking his personality in favor of his quirk.

and on the other end, you have shinsou and monoma, who face similar problems in different ways.

in shinsou’s case, the ua entrance exam was stacked against him from the start. since he couldn’t use his quirk on the robots, he didn’t stand a chance, even against deku, who only received his quirk that morning. he applied to general studies because he knew he wouldn’t get in, no matter how much he wanted to be a hero.

and while monoma was presumably able to use the quirks of the other students to pass the entrance exam, he failed the final exam. the teachers planned the exams in order to push the students out of their comfort zone, and for monoma, that likely meant being placed with someone like shiozaki whose quirk he couldn’t copy. in that sense, his sentiment of “i know how it feels to be unable to do anything” in chapter 211 applies here. not only is he practically quirkless when there aren’t any good quirks to copy, but in most real-world fights, he won’t be working with people whose quirks he’s used before. he’ll take whatever he can get from other heroes, villains, or civilians, and use it to the best of his ability, meaning that he has to constantly be on his toes. even working with his class around the clock to master their quirks won’t prepare him for that.

but a problem both of them face is that their quirks have a large amount of stigma working against them, too. obviously, this is really fleshed out with shinsou; a major part of his sports festival fight with deku is devoted to fleshing out his backstory and motivations and proving that he wants to be a hero despite his quirk and his actions:

and i think that with the way the sports festival was structured, the audience - both the spectators of the sports festival and the readers/viewers - all fell into that trap too: we all freaked out when shinsou first used his quirk on deku because it’s a scary quirk. and i think that’s the point, that we’re assuming that all heroes fit a certain mold when they don’t. it’s like monoma says, some people have to be “open to seeing all things in shades of grey” because they’re unable to do things the traditional way. after all, bakugou and todoroki and deku and everyone else were able to use their quirks on their competitors and the environment without anyone batting an eye, why shouldn’t shinsou?

furthermore, when (because we all know it’s when) he gets into the hero course, graduates, and starts his career, he’s going to face an uphill battle. because his quirk has so much baggage attached to it, no matter how many people he saves, people are going to assume that he’s shady or outright evil just because his quirk is what it is.

but i think monoma faces these kinds of assumptions, too, though he has a different set of obstacles in his way. and once again, it comes back to this panel from chapter 211:

think about monoma’s quirk in the context of quirks as a manifestation of identity. quirks are basically your personality, they’re what everyone around you first finds out about you. but here comes this kid who can use your quirk, the thing that makes you unique and makes you you. and, worse than that, without your quirk, which he stole from you, he’s practically quirkless. how is that fair?

obviously, i don’t think that about monoma at all, but it wouldn’t come as a surprise if other people did. thus, this panel: he’s not just alone in that he can’t do anything without a quirk, but he’s also alone in that other people probably wouldn’t have let him use their quirks as a kid. he’s alone because he doesn’t have any kind of quirk to hold onto that’s just his own.

chibi reviews said in his video on chapter 211 that this scene really showed that compared to the other characters, monoma doesn’t have an identity. his quirk, the number one factor that contributes to who he is in the eyes of bnha’s world, is constantly changing, so he is constantly changing as well. this means that once he goes out into the pro hero world, he’s going to have trouble securing a brand that he can build himself on, but it also means that he doesn’t have anything to build himself on, period. he can take whatever quirk he wants as long as it’s in the vicinity, but it’ll never really be his. it’ll just be a copy of someone else’s.

and this is what makes monoma and shinsou’s experience with their quirks fundamentally different from deku’s experience with his. deku was given the chance to change, to inherit this new identity from all might and all the ofa users before him. obviously, deku was still quirkless and faced a lot of judgment because of it as a kid, but he was given a tradition to uphold, a noble if unknown quirk he can embrace. but for monoma and shinsou, they don’t have that opportunity: their quirks are who they are, and they have to deal with people seeing them that way, and just because their quirks work the way they do, that’s a disadvantage for both of them.

which is why it’s so important that they’re working together, because they’re doing so in a way that complements and somewhat makes up for the other’s fears and insecurities: shinsou’s quirk is based on talking and requires a vocal response to work, but monoma isn’t afraid to talk to him and does so a lot; on the other end, monoma’s quirk revolves around using the other quirks around him, something that plenty of people probably wouldn’t agree to since quirks are such a personal part of them, but in chapter 209, it’s shinsou who proposes the idea of combining their quirks to pin down midoriya.

more importantly, though, both of them fundamentally understand the other’s experience in a way very few other characters do (the only one i can name off the top of my head is aizawa): in a world where nearly everyone is told that being a hero is the greatest thing they can do, they were told the opposite, that no matter how much good they do they’ll never be seen as heroes, not without doing some very much non-heroic things. and it’s heartbreaking that at just 16, they’ve accepted that the world isn’t going to see them for who they are and that in order to achieve their dreams, they have to resort to things that to the casual observer would seem counterproductive. and yet, here they are.

over the course of the series, my hero academia has kept coming back to one main theme: anyone can be a hero. of course, the story is centered around deku’s journey from a quirkless kid to becoming the greatest hero and all might’s successor, but that’s not the only story that can be told here. the vigilantes spin-off shows that even characters who weren’t able to become heroes in the traditional way can still do what’s right, even when the world doesn’t agree with them. not everyone can be a hero in the way deku can, but anyone can be a hero by doing the right thing and being a good person, even when it doesn’t always seem that way.

and i think i love this arc so much because even when the odds are so heavily stacked against them, monoma and shinsou can prove it.

#bnha #bnha spoilers #monoma neito #shinsou hitoshi #monoshin #(ofc im gonna tag that one who do you think i am) #reposted bc tumblr is broken #meta