#and at the end zazie's still like “well done”
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Little but Fierce VI
She winds up… there's the pitch…
Poor Nick. It never stops being funny. I'd feel sorrier that this happened to him but he's such a bastard in his introductory episode. It's like karma in advance.
Heheh. Kar-ma.
Meryl and Wolfwood behave very much like siblings to each other, while Vash and Roberto treat them like their awful terrible kids. Roberto does actually try reach out to Vash as a mentor once or twice, but of course Vash is fuck-off old and doesn't need that kind of assistance, so he's gently deflected. Roberto is old and wise enough to keep his distance. Nick, for his part, enjoys pissing Roberto off, and Roberto is for his part duly pissed off.
Still, Vash is the reason they're all even there in the first place and Meryl shows him concern. And Vash, in his way, fusses over Nick the way Roberto feels responsible for Meryl. A lot of what Vash does, he's doing pretty much solely for Wolfwood's benefit. I mean, look at this pathetic wet kitten of a man - you can't tell me he doesn't need it.
I've already talked at some length about why exactly Vash is like he is about Wolfwood, but what's he like about Meryl?
Pretty much exactly as fond. He's just quieter about it. To my read, he's confident she and Roberto can look after themselves and each other. That's really endearing to him, but not something he has to do anything about. And Meryl's not suffering the same kind of identity crisis as the Punisher/Wolfwood/Nico. Meryl knows exactly who she is, she's just trying to get everyone else to acknowledge it, and Vash does so from the first - she's never anything but "Meryl" to him, not "newbie" or "little lady". She never has to demand that of him.
Nor is she in directly a victim of his godawful brother, which thankfully means she isn't his responsibility to help - or at least, no more so than any given human. Also, it's Vash. What's that? Someone is invested in his well-being? Golly, that sounds suspiciously like he's being cared for (which of course he doesn't deserve), or (more reasonably) like someone vulnerable to being caught up in Knives's manipulations. Or just someone vulnerable to Knives period. Stampede out!
I though you guys were buddies./I thought you three had something special.
No way./Yeah, not really.
Too bad for him, he's met his match in Meryl Stryfe.
In direct contrast to every other character around Vash, she's only one there not because she has to be, or because she needs or wants something from him, but because she decided to be. She's one of the only characters with agency, after all.
Real people aren't monsters like that./He's a man, not a monster.
But I won't give up, no matter how unreasonable the assignment!/I won't abandon an assignment just because it's silly.
We can't just leave him hanging here./No way. We can't just leave him here.
And she's also decided he needs help. So come hell or high water, this man is getting helped.
It's her knack for finding the truth without quite knowing the reasoning behind it. In physical terms Vash really, really doesn't need help, and it's the mistake Knives always makes; that because Vash ostensibly doesn't have powers like him, he's in need of a defender. (And because this is Knives, that means it's up to him personally, and he's entitled to Vash and his exclusive love/loyalty/devotion in return. Any protests Vash makes are clearly just human corruption.) But what Vash actually needs is something his brother has never, in any version of the story, demonstrated the capacity to give him. Even sensitive little boy Knives back in Maximum relied on others for reassurance up until the moment he decided he couldn't.
Vash is more inclined to be someone others rely on, to the point of being maladaptive. It's being unable to help that gets to him, especially when he's held responsible.
What he needs is emotional support. Or, well... faith.
Wolfwood gives that to him eventually, but it takes some serious work, and it comes with its own attendant difficulties, like the fact that Nick's not in a position to extend Vash help himself no matter how much he might want to. Nick is, like Rosa and like Vash, a pragmatist. Do what you have to do.
Meryl has never needed that kind of direct demonstration. To her, Vash is a person, and people always need help, and she's not going to be prevented giving it. End of discussion. And despite being mistaken on some particulars, on this point she's more right than even she knows.
The contrast with Wolfwood is incidentally why Meryl hitting Woofwoof with the truck isn't just fucking funny, it's the perfect way for him to be introduced. He can't catch the same bus as Vash by happenstance because this time Vash is his actual target. He can't have Angelina II because personal transport is autonomy he's not permitted to have.
Instead, Meryl's own autonomy and narrative significance had her run the plot right into him, completely ruining whatever plans were laid for his entrance. Notice Roberto tries to steer Meryl away from the collision course they're on, to no avail, and Vash winds up flipped over. Fantastic.
Wolfwood is getting dragged around; Meryl is the one doing the dragging. When she discovers Vash's secrets, she works to accept them and integrate them into her worldview - which means that the moment she learns he's a Plant, she doesn't reject him or become fearful of him. She instantly accepts that must mean the Plants are also people. That gives her a fuller understanding of the conflict, and especially Vash's view of it, than most. It's not a matter of "Whose side are you on?" It's "How do we move forward together?"
Wolfwood's knowledge has all been filtered through the Eye of Michael, so he's more aware of the details, but can't disentangle his true beliefs from the ideology driving them.
Meryl has a better understanding of the abstract. And that, in turn, entitles her to learn what the available methods are, and judge them...
...But it also entitles her to something more precious: Vash's unquestioning trust.
It's certainly much less dramatic than the demonstrations between Vash and Nick, but I have to say: any amount of exposure to Knives and his histrionics would leave me, at least, pretty relieved to have it.
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VII
Part VIII
Part IX
#trigun stampede#trigun meta#tristampparty#meryl stryfe#vash the stampede#meta: little but fierce#at this point I'm leaning into the yapping#so many words#i guess she is a journalist#also nick's introduction just gets funnier. it's such an absolute shitshow#and at the end zazie's still like “well done”#i can't help reading it as ironic#like “lol great job getting hit by a truck punisher”#idk the way wolfwood interacts with other eom members always cracks me up. he fucking hates them so much
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anyways there are so many absolutely golden expressions in trimax & i want SOOOOO BADLY to collect them. but im trying to not take 5 million years with my first read through so i cannot do that
in the future tho. i will reread it. and i will create icon folders for ALL of them. just you wait.
#speculation nation#i dont currently have access to it but i have a habit of doing this#need to find the usb. still havent transfered files over to this computer. ive had it for like 9 months now#but like ive got a file for orcelito Obviously. i did this a bunch with kagepro. natsume yuujinchou. some others#i havent done it for a few years but i used to use reaction images of manga boys VERY liberally. so.#id go thru source material and take screenshots of every expression made. quite the treasure trove and QUITE the effort put into it#i will make folders for vash and wolfwood at LEAST.#and maybe zazie. probably zazie. i love them so much#the more characters i do tho the longer it takes. bc screenshotting every appearance takes a lot of time lol#we'll see if any other characters stick out to me by the end#yea yea there's meryl and milly. i do love them but not as all-encompassing ykno?#... yes i do love zazie more than i love the gals. right now at least. dont yell at me.#anyways trimax chapter 35 is my current fav chapter for Battle Boyfriends vashwood & cheeky zazie appearance#also wolfwood hitting his dick on a table. that was funny#zazie being like 'hiii lol i have a message. im not gonna show myself tho cause i dont wanna get shot' like. Fair.#but wolfwood showing he knows full well where they are Anyways. very sexy of you mr wolfwood sir#hmmmhmhm im remembering why i sped thru so many chapters in one go before#need to keep reading. ABSOLUTELY not ready for volume ten. but like yolo & w/e lol#for now tho it's bedtime. gotta b up for class in 7 hours. Ugh
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how easy would it be, to love something enough that you bring it to ruin? to love something with a quiet sort of desperation, a kind of love that feels almost like grief, and knowing that, no matter how hard you try, nothing ever seems to change.
and oh, how vash tried.
he doesn't know how many places he went, how many people he talked to, how many times he was ignored or dismissed or told move on kid, there's nothin' here for you, when all he wanted to do was help.
when all he wanted was for plants and humans to live in peace with each other, maybe even love each other.
because vash has to fix this.
he has to.
and he didn't mean for it to go this far. didn't mean for it turn into people following him, listening to him as though he's someone important, someone untouchable.
he just-
vash remembers finding a lab, an abandoned place with blood covering the walls and a symbol he doesn't recognize decorating the doors. the eye of michael, he later learns, an extremist group who died out while trying to experiment with plants and the human body and-
there are two people he finds there.
the first has a grin that's far too wide, silver eyes that are far too bright, reflecting the dim light, and when vash steps closer, an eerie smile crosses their face.
"i've been wondering when i would meet you," they say, grin never fading. "the worms speak highly of you, vash the stampede." and the stranger takes a step closer, and though their frame is small, vash knows there is more too them than that. "i wonder if they're right to."
there is no question that the stranger -- zazie the beast, vash will learn, later in the dead of night -- is something otherworldly.
but for now, the strangers lets him leave. lets him wander past empty cells and cells that he wishes were empty. there were people here, once, vash knows, and he wonders if they still saw themselves as people by the time the eye was done with them. and well-
vash only finds one person still breathing.
a dark haired man, blood spilling from his lips and bones twisted out of place, ragged clothes stained an ugly crimson, and he can help, vash thinks, because something about the man feels like nai, feels like one of his sisters, and-
vash gains two people that day.
something otherworldly, who doesn't care for humans and all their complexities, and a man who used to call himself human, but doesn't think himself worthy of being one.
vash loves them both fiercely.
and somehow, he finds himself in july, desperately trying to do something, to do anything that could fix this. because isn't this their fault? him and nai did this, and though nai may be content to wander and kill and disdainfully tell people that they're doing things wrong, and you don't want to end up like them, do you and-
he can't do that.
vash can't do that, but he loves them, god he loves them. loves them to the point of ruin, and vash knows that, he does, but he can't help it. he wants to hold them close, wants to keep them all safe, wants plants to thrive with humans and humans to thrive with plants, and-
more people keep finding him.
a pair of reporters -- a girl who he adores, loves for her brightness and carefree talk of stories, and an older man who always gives him sound advice, even if he seems tired of doing it -- and his people seem to like them, and they become his as well, and.
vash doesn't know how he can keep doing this.
can keep holding people in his arms as they die, can keep running in circles just trying to make something change.
he knows he'll do it anyway.
knows he'll do it even if it kills him.
how easy is it to love something enough that you would bring it to ruin?
vash knows that it's far, far too easy to fall like that, and it's far harder to ever make things right once you do.
#cheshire writes#trigun#trigun stampede#trigun reverse au#vash the stampede#meryl stryfe#roberto de niro#zazie the beast#vashwood#kinda#swarmpede#zazievash#also only kinda :D#this au is getting referred to as 'the au where vash has many romantic/qqp and i dont know whats happening'
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This weekend's gonna be busy-busy, so let's see if I can't make some solid progress on the volume for the week before it comes. Besides, there's rumor of a scene of Legato pathetically eating meat coming up soon, and I'm HERE for it.
TriMax Volume 2!
Archive
Trigun Volume 1: Covers + 1-3, 3 Detailed Thoughts, 4, 4 DT, 5-6, 5-6 + DT, 6 DT, 7-8, 9-10
Trigun Volume 2: Covers + Extras, 1, 1 Supplemental Research, 2-4, 5-6, 7-8
TriMax Volume 1: Covers + 1-2, 2 DT, 3-4, 3 DT, 5-6
TriMax Volume 2: Covers + 1
Stream-of-consciousness thoughts for TriMax Vol. 2, Chapters 2-4 below.
Chapter 2: Resume Our Business
Ahahahahahahaha!!! I really shouldn't be laughing at these eating sound effects, but I am. Maybe I just like to know he's suffering.
Gods, I can't wait to see how Stampede tackles this whole mess. I'm giddy with anticipation for something that likely won't come up for 2-3 years.
Slurp it up, buddy. I can't believe Nightow let this drag on for SO MANY PAGES.
I genuinely think he's eating this way as a sort of penance. Buddy can force people to do things with his brain. He does NOT need to humiliate himself like this. But he done pissed off Knives, so his suffering must be great until he's back in his lord's graces.
They're all just watching him and being like, "Welp. Our boss has lost it."
The two of these I remember NOTHING about are Hoppered and Gray. Leonof scarred me in '98 (but that's a thing with me and puppetmaster-type characters, so....). Zazie's forgettable in '98 but a wonderful chaos creature in Stampede. I'm pretty sure Rai-Dei shows up in '98, but nothing about him stands out. And, of course, Midvalley, who has such an excellent introduction in '98.
Uhhhhh... insulting Knives in front of Legato (or even saying things that could be perceived as insults to Knives in front of Legato) isn't exactly a wise move. There are reasons I call Legato yandere.
Ooooh, this goes beyond insulting. Midvalley has balls. Probably shouldn't have hesitated, though.
Meanwhile, Legato's still like, "Omnomnomnomnom."
Yyyyyeaaaahhh, Midvalley really shouldn't have hesitated. Now he is a pretzel. Maybe Legato will be kind enough to spare him an extra iron maiden.
LOL, Legato saying this is hilarious because Knives implies Legato just made up their previous order without any input from Knives himself. Also, it's hilarious that he's still talking with food in his mouth. I know he can talk telepathically, but still.
Knives' plan sucks. I don't mean it's a bad plan. I mean it's terribly cruel.
Also, Knives' outfit is just... ridiculous here. I know he gets crap for wearing a snuggie (that's apparently made out of actual knives) in Stampede, but this is... also a lifestyle choice. I particularly like the spikes apparently through the torso there, like someone's run him through. I feel like there's a reason for that which I'm not quite grasping.
NO LEGATO IS LEGIT SPEAKING WITH HIS MOUTH FULL LOOK HE HAS THE MEAT IN HI MOUTH AND THE TEXT BUBBLE IS EVEN POINTING TO HIM FOR ONCE. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Ok, now that I just looked at it for however long it took to colorize the panel, I have to talk about the table. 'Cause I think it's notable that it starts out like this...
...and ends up like this.
Just... the contrast between how pristine and perfect it was to how much it's just a chaotic mess it's become. It was fit for a king before. Now, two of the drinks are spilled (and one is just... missing?), there are crumbs and God only knows what else EVERYWHERE, and the silverware that was laid out so carefully is just... gone. Gah, indeed.
Midvalley is taking this rather well, all things considered. I don't think I'd be as chill if I was being pretzel-ified.
Cut to: Vash eating a donut. Because Trigun.
Neither of these men are wearing helmets, which seems rather unsafe. Sand isn't that soft.
I like how Vash recognizes Wolfwood's annoyance enough to try, even though he knows he'll fail. Very Vash of him.
"Hi, I'm Vash the Stampede. I can drive the lost technology known as space ships, but motorcylces? Ohhhh, no. Count me OUT."
Wolfwood's dodginess is bringing out Vash's serious face. Gods, he's so babygirl here, though....
Wait, is this guy riding a SAND DRAGON???
Yep, that thing sure do say "Knives" on it. And what is that emerging from the dust? SOMETHING BAD, you say? Gasp! Shock!
LOL, Vash is doing his best to Japanese. Does the Japanese version of the manga specify that Rai-Dei is actually speaking in Nihongo? Or was this just kind of confusing?
Ohhh, check it out. This guy isn't even looking at Vash. He's looking at Wolfwood. I'm sure that's not significant and definitely not something Vash has already picked up on.
Vash has a lot of questions. As he should.
Wolfwood, on the other hand, presents a single and equally important one.
Man, WW knows NOTHING about his coworkers, does he?
LOL, his secret ability is roller skates. SUPER roller skates. Gods, this manga is so goofy sometimes.
Is... Vash parrying the sword with his gun??
Did Rai-Dei just parry bullets with his sword????
This whole scene is so samurai showdown. It's great. We just need Rai-Dei to start monologuing about his training and shouting out the names of his moves and we're set.
Wolfwood calling himself a bystander. LOL
Ohhhh, shit. He done told Vash they're going after his home. Now he has to deal with Angry Vash.
Actually, WW doesn't look too happy about this, either.
Why does this guy have 411 carved all over him?
So, this guy expects to die. Or has at least accepted it as a legitimate possible outcome.
Ah, there he goes talking about technique and all. And here I was afraid he wouldn't get around to it.
Ok, can we talk a bit about how he's wearing a FRINGED COWBOY VEST over his samurai gear? Seriously, this is a thing.
Chapter 3: Samurai Showdown
Wolfwood's hand going to the straps on the Punisher. He's genuinely considering interfering.
Aw, man. Rai-Dei noticed.
Geez, first this guy's like, "Vash, we're gonna go after the closest thing you have to family here." Then he's like, "I want to hunt you, Vash, because you're not human." He's definitely a master of "ways to piss off Vash quickly."
Guys, my heart is so full at WW's little inner monologue here. Especially how it stands in stark contrast to what Rai-Dei was saying on literally the previous page. He genuinely wants to help Vash. He says, "Just this once," but that's how it always starts, isn't it?
Vash is even more in tune with Wolfwood's little movements than Rai-Dei is. AND he seems to understand something fundamental about Rai-Dei. That's my babygirl. <3 <3 <3 Be safe out there, Vash.
In anime with Japanese-inspired fights, they often talk about sensing the other person's bloodlust. That makes Rai-Dei's thought here really stand out. Also, I can't get over the framing and how very samurai showdown this whole page feels.
Then, of course, the next page follows the showdown beats, having them move and the reaction shots without telling us which one hit his mark.
If anyone wants to translate "jigenzan ittou" for me, that would be hot. I can't even give it a try without the kanji.
I'm sorry, I'm not over the Super-Skates. You can put all the skulls on them you want, but they'll still be dumb.
Oh, good. I'm glad Rai-Dei actually told us what happened on the last spread. I genuinely would have never figured it out on my own.
Heh. Vash is never unarmed.
Wolfwood, you big idiot. That's not how Vash works! That's not how any of this works!!
The real question is, has Rai-Dei dodged his way through as many battles as Vash has dodged his way through?
Wait, did Vash put a grappling wire on his gun??
Yeah, Vash has had enough of your shit, sir. Time to call it quits. Maybe find some nice mountains to retire to.
Chapter 4: Wolfwood
Hmm, I WONDER what THIS chapter will be about? *cue high-pitched screeching*
I don't think it's the way of the sword specifically that's so fragile, Rai-Dei. It's more... the path of violence. Or maybe any path we're on. Blank ticket and all.
Ohhhhh, Rai-Dei saying he abandoned his humanity to be here when WW just noted in the last chapter that, while it seems like they've all become monsters, they're just humans. There's... there's something there, but I don't have the thoughts for it right now.
Attacking an enemy's back when you've already been beat? Dishonorable.
Ohhhh, shit. Yeah, dang, Wolfwood's lucky Vash only punched him. And with his flesh arm, too. This isn't gonna sit well.
Wolfwood's not taking any of Vash's crap.
Gunsword??? That's not very samurai-like, either.
This. This is Vash. This is the line the made reference to in Stampede ep. 12. As many times as he has to so he doesn't take away their chance to make a change for the better. Wolfwood doesn't get it yet. But Vash only punched him 'cause Wolfwood needs more chances, too.
Oof, this scene. I knew it was coming, but still. There's so much weight in Wolfwood's single word. He knows exactly what he's asking on multiple levels.
GoshDARNIT Wolfwood! I mean, I realize you probably don't put a lot of weight on your own life, but... you care about him this much??? *heart bursts*
Ugh, Vash's response. These boys are killing me. But it's so brave to hope, isn't it? So brave to hold out for it even in the darkest times. Vash looks so sad for Wolfwood. He calls him a coward, but there's no malice here. Only the heavy sadness and desperation of wanting better for someone on the edge.
This is Vash not wearing his masks. This is him revealing himself to Wolfwood, with all the sadness and the troubled heart and, most importantly, all the hope he still has for Wolfwood.
Crap, why's Zazie gotta show up? They're gonna spoil the mood.
LOL, "Blow-Up Hill." What a name....
PLEASE tell me that this tall and smol who just entered the bar are Meryl and Millie....
YUUUUUUSSSS!!!! Hello, girls!!!
I, too, would like a banana sundae....
A truck full of tomases (toma?)! Hooray for birds!
"Ever since he ran away, we haven't been able to get ahold of him." LOL, GIRLS. He was RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU for a bit while you were on vacation and you were like, "Pfft, I'm not getting paid for this and LET HIM GET AWAY." I mean, as someone who's worked salary jobs, I'd have done the same, but still.
This is lovely. Everything about this is lovely. This is how it's supposed to be. In this moment, everything is right with the world.
Was that a SPACE SHIP that just crashed???
Bless Meryl. Her first concern is never for her own safety. It's always for the safety of others.
Oh, I don't trust the noises.
Wait, a girl?
Wait, she knows Vash?!
Wait, this is where I have to end for the night?!?!
#i honestly wasn't anticipating getting vashwood food this early in the story#now if you'll excuse me#i'm going to go die of feels#trigunbookclub#trigun maximum#volume 2#pancake analysis
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Black mirror season 6 thoughts below. I finished it this week. SPOILERS below.
I fucking LOVE this series. I was so hyped for the return. I’d think about episodes for days and some of them I couldn’t shake because they creeped me out so much. Or had my mind spinning and working overtime. And I loved that. But I can’t say this season gave me those feelings. I’m mostly, largely disappointed.
I think Black Mirror steered too far away from what they were. This season was weird and not in a good way. I only really liked 2 episodes.
Joan is awful (great episode, very black mirror, no complaints)
Beyond the sea, I did not expect that ending. But in a horrifying fucked up way, for the other mans mindset, it made sense. What a fucked ending. I thought he’d just kill him & go live in his place but holy shit, what a turn that took. I’m not mad at it tho. I was just shocked.
I liked those two. Loch Henry was okay, some parts I did really like, overall I think it was well done after some more election on it. i think one of the best parts was the commentary on how victims /survivors of crime get sidelined & ignored for the “story” great scene at the end where he’s still clearly in grief & shock and the producer is talking about casting his dead gf. The look on that mans face ☹️
4 & 5 just felt so misplaced, that was not black mirror. I fell asleep on both. The only thing that semi kept me up for 4 was how handsome Danny Ramirez is, everytime he was on screen I was like dayum 😍.
I mean, look at him, fine as hell.
Also, I like Zazie a lot, glad those paparazzi assholes got killed but still, it wasn’t enough for me to care about that story or get invested. And when that damn annoying actress turned into a werewolf I rolled my eyes so hard. Just not a fan. Black mirror, are you guys okay? What happened? I love a werewolf but damn, this was not the place or show for it. So random.
As for 5, they mostly lost me. I fell asleep twice. I might give it a rewatch to try to understand it better. But I liked the disco demon, I wanna hang out with him for a day 😂
#black mirror#spoilers#I keep thinking about beyond the sea#my tired ass is on a mini writing break but I might do something inspired by that premise when I’m back
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The desert was spreading, and not in the part of the island that he expected it to be in.
He hated sand, and now it was where it wasn't supposed to be, and trapped in the carpet in his room and in his shoes and his clothes. Scratching the back of his head, he stepped back into it, and then back out.
Yeah, sure as shit, he was moving between the two worlds. Memories in-tact.
"Fuck."
Last he knew, they weren't supposed to keep their memories. He'd been to the island once, returned, lived his life with no idea he'd ever left. And then, returning, he sees Zazie and Corvus, and Zazie seems to remember while Corvus forgot, but didn't belong there.
And he remembered, enough to know Corvus didn't belong there, even if she didn't.
And that's the issue. If he'd just forgotten, if it'd all gone back to whatever state he was in right before he arrived, there'd be no reason to go back willingly. Sooner or later, he'd be tossed back onto the desert planet, no memory of anything that happened here. At least, that's what he figured.
But what if, whatever was happening, was giving them a chance to go back while remembering this place? If he could go back with the information he had now - well, he couldn't prevent jack shit from having happened, but maybe he could use that to...
To...what?
Find Livio's body digging up the desert? That's what he'd thought of when he was traveling with Corvus, but he hadn't uncovered anything. And now, thinking on it...To what end?
So say he finds his body, what then? Confirm his brother's death? Could he even bring him home? No, that was too horrifying a thought.
(And besides, his own hands were too bloody to return.)
If he doesn't find his body, what then? And there was what would that imply - that he was taken by those bastards to be dissected? Or that he was alive, and still being used?
(And that his own fate would likely be sealed?)
He didn't know what he'd want to happen, and so he could only plop down, staring at the access point as it continued to grow, grain by grain.
---
(If he thought for a minute about what he wanted, if he thought he could admit it, he'd want to stay. He didn't want to return to years of lonely wandering and searching. Now searching even more, even further.)
The Punisher leaned against the wall.
---
The entire room of the housing he was assigned had been taken over by desert. It was creeping into the hallways and out the windows into the yard. It shifted and and churned and blew down the street with a vicious wind as the arid air met the cold winter breeze of the island.
It'd been hours, and he still wasn't entirely sure what to do.
There wasn't even a clear right thing to do. Sure, destroy the access point, okay, but he could do that from either side he was pretty sure.
Or, hell, he could call up someone else to destroy the damn thing, even it wasn't possible. It was still something that could be done.
Was it right to go back to his own world? Armed with his knowledge and look for his brother? Whether to give him a proper burial or to track him down?
(That, and his other goal. The other person he was tracking. Was he even there if he was here?)
("The bird that just wanted a place to sleep 'n' food to eat... and here we are.")
Pissed him off, more than anything, that the priest's words rang out in his head.
He didn't want to think about them, hell, they'd made him spiral out. He'd shot that idea in the foot, and now he was back here, spat back out from Noman's Land into the room he'd sat alone in. That he'd come back to sit alone in.
But...
---
If not for himself, then, well...
"Dead or not back home doesn't matter here. Right." The priest's words left a bad taste in his mouth, but they were true. If Livio was alive, then sooner or later he'd go back without his memories and find out. But if Livio was dead, then...
At least, at the very least, this place was a possibility. But if it was taken over, then that possibility could be lost forever. If whatever reality was through that gate became true here, then...
He didn't want to know. Couldn't risk finding out.
"Yeah, yeah, alright." Nicholas the Punisher muttered to himself, cloth and belts falling by the wayside to reveal the glowing weapon. It activated, feeling...
Lighter. It felt lighter. And he could use what he needed to.
Whatever the reason, he'd been given everything back for now. He'd been so preoccupied, he didn't realize it at all. Maybe it was overkill, but he didn't really care about that right now. Maybe it was supposed to be overkill. Either way, he was sealing this thing off.
And without another word, the Punisher emits a brief light, before a huge beam fires from it, blasting through the portal and through the ceiling of his room, shooting into the night and briefly lighting up the sky as the last of the sand rides off on the evening breeze.
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;; Ok, so now that I’m awake again and slightly coherent, here’s my thoughts on episode 10:
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some of it I expected because, being on tumblr, ya just see spoilers. So I knew some stuff that would happen. LIKE THE FRICKEN SNEEZE! That was great.
I have to do another rewatch cause I might have missed some stuff, but like...Zazie’s little “But they were mine :(” as Conrad takes their things was adorable. Pouty pile of bugs, poor thing.
And Vash’s scars! Heck, they make me so sad because all he wants is to protect people. It doesn’t matter what happens to him. Scar him up in his entirety and he’ll still keep fighting. The guy that shot him? Vash does not hold a single grudge, he understands. That scene broke my heart...
And let’s talk about one of the elephant’s in the room...Roberto.
So, I had a feeling for a while something bad was gunna happen to him. His whole character was about protecting Meryl. Sure, he claimed it was for his own health, like on the Steamer where he found a life boat and wanted to get the hell off because they were gunna presumably die. But when Meryl gives her big speech, he doesn’t leave. Why? Because she doesn’t leave. He’s got this dad mode on him where he has a need to protect. Journalistic integrity? Nah, he’s there to protect the newbie.
When that demon child started to attack, I had an immediate gutteral feeling that this would be it. The way he protected Meryl, the way he put himself in front of her every chance he had, it just screamed this was going to be his end.
As much as I want every character to live, I understand why Roberto dies. It’s for Meryl, it’s for her character and motivation. Not everything is sunshine and rainbows. As Roberto says in episode one “It’s a dog eat dog world out there” and this just shows Meryl not everything works out and even those she’s closest to get hurt or die.
I cried like a baby.
As an aside, I do like Ele’s and Nico’s dynamic. It was kinda cute the way they argued, almost like siblings.
Now, I’m sure everyone knew this was a trap for Vash. if you know anything about the manga or the OG Anime, you know July got destroyed, so clearly, if they’re going to July, only bad things can come. That was unsurprising when they realized they wanted to trap Vash.
But Vash knows. At least, somewhat. He knows, and he is well aware that Nico is working for them. He’s not an idiot. Vash might act naïve and dumb, but he really does pick up on a lot of things. And he knows Nico is doing it to protect something. He’s got other people in mind and this is not self-motivated. So Nico being with him, basically bringing him to his brother, is not a surprise either.
Can we talk about that contract? I saw a screenshot but I’m going to have to get a better look to see what it said at the bottom. As much as I wanna hope Nico feels accomplished, like he did the right thing, we all know that he probably feels he didn’t. That he could have done more, better, etc. I dunno, I gotta sit and stew on those thoughts in particular for a while.
Let’s talk about the drama llama that is Knives. That man...of course he’s playing their song, of course he’s sitting at a piano. But I do want to say...I’m kinda glad the way he’s shown is not far off from how I’ve been trying to play him? I am still terrified of episode 11 and 12 shattering how I’ve been portraying Knives, but this was a good insight and relief to my fears...
His fricken piano room though, the motif on the floor. And those statues. Knives can’t let it go. He has to put up reminders as to why he’s doing what he is. He has to remind himself of the suffering the human’s have caused for so many of the plants. And his little jab at Vash about the crash... (hah I called it). A reminder to Vash that he helped him, even unknowingly. And that the human’s would forever hate Vash for it. Which we know isn’t true, but in Knives mind it is because he’s a wanted man. Vash is getting the blame for everything Knives is doing, he’s the face and he’s the one people hate. So Knives can’t understand why Vash continues to defend the people who seem to, in his eyes, despise Vash for everything that he is.
And of course the dramatic bitch uses the piano to open the floor under Vash. I now understand why everyone was saying Vash soup. As a side note, I love Vash’s little wire from his arm. That’s great.
But of course, Knives is dramatic, and he cuts the wire. A wish to reset his brother and make him perfect, like he is.
And now I’m terrified for 11 and even more so for 12.
So I just get to sit here and try to piece together these fragments I have while I wait again. This is gunna be another long week...
#ooc;; time for tea#mun;; the confused potato#musings#trigun stampede#episode 10#spoilers if you haven't seen it
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Under the cut you will find your roommates! Please know, you will have until 17th at midnight EST to get a thread done with your partner! Those on hiatus (after 2/9) and reduced activity were not included in the list. Please remember the following:
This is a mandatory thread. We will be keeping track, please do not make us give out strikes :(
Please IM/tag the main in your chatzy, para, gif chat, text thread or f2f when you reach at least 6 notes.
No matter what type of thread you and your partner choose, please make sure it has substantial replies (on both ends) and not just a three word reply - the point is to build new connections!
New members coming into the group will be added up until February 11th. After that they will not be added into the list since it wouldn’t be fair to hold them to the same requirements with less time. However, they must still say they are on the trip!
Please do message us if your roommate has not replied to you to plot or if they are on the verge of going inactive, as we will take everything into consideration <3
If you got paired with another FC that you play, please send us a message and we’ll fix that for you right away!
If you cannot find your FC in the list, please let us know so we can fix that as well!
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Please be mindful that this list can and will change because of unfollows, activity checks, and/or new members being added into the group. So please make sure to like this notice so you can keep track of things :)
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Please like this notice so we know you’re all up to date! :)
Rami Malek and Blake Lively
Madison Beer and Saoirse Ronan
Shawn Mendes and Selena Gomez
Brandon Flynn and Misha Collins
Jennie Kim and Jane Levy
Zac Efron and Carrie Underwood
Nick Jonas and Taylor Swift
Carlos Valdes and Jung Hoseok
Lucy Hale and Ben Barnes
Lee Donghyuck (Haechan) and Xiao Dejun
Jennifer Lawrence and Elizabeth Olsen
Becky Lynch and Demi Lovato
Candice Accola and Perrie Edwards
Zendaya Coleman and Beth Behrs
AJ Styles (Allen Jones) and Charlotte Flair
Danielle Panabaker and Lily James
Carmella and Melissa Benoist
Brie Larson and Roman Reigns
Florence Pugh and Shay Mitchell
Connor Franta and Cate Blanchett
Ashley Tisdale and Joe Dempsie
Kim Seokjin and Marcus Rashford
Kristine Froseth and Mike Faist
Grant Gustin and Kang Yeosang
Hilarie Burton and Lucas Wong
Nina Dobrev and Bill Skarsgard
Jeon Jungkook and Dylan O'Brien
Karlie Kloss and Jamie Dornan
Oscar Isaac and Sebastian Stan
Alex Fitzalan and Kim Jungwoo
Lucy Boynton and Byun Baekhyun
Kate Middleton and Luke Hemmings
Brendon Urie and Dakota Johnson
Natalia Dyer and Mike Mizanin
Lalisa Manoban and Dacre Montgomery
Seth Rollins (Colby Lopez) and Zoe Kravitz
Cody Ko and Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Demi Bennett (Rhea Ripley) and Miley Cyrus
Lee Taemin and Ashley Benson
Bruno Mars and Ben Platt
Vanessa Hudgens and Jesse Lingard
Zayn Malik and Nathan Sharp
Gigi Hadid and John Boyega
Hero Fiennes-Tiffin and Emma Stone
Lili Reinhart and Kim Taehyung
Ariana Grande and Alexa Bliss
Aaron Tveit and Brie Bella
Kim Namjoon and Sasha Banks
Jackson Wang and John Krasinski
Alanna Masterson and Madelaine Petsch
Martha Hunt and Sofia Carson
Anthony Mackie and Jennifer Aniston
Min Yoongi and Kennedy McMann
Ryan Guzman and Mena Massoud
Zazie Beetz and Harry Styles
Crystal Reed and Camila Cabello
Sam Claflin and Park Chaeyoung (Rosé)
Daisy Ridley and Fergal Devitt
Jade Thirlwall and Maryse Mizanin
Choi San and Renee Young (Renee Paquette)
Jung Yoonoh (Jaehyun) and Miles Heizer
Kim Yongsun (Solar) and Chris Evans
Naomi Scott and Troye Sivan
TJ Oshie and Avan Jogia
Brittany Snow and Adelaide Kane
Matt Czuchry and Meryl Streep
Pamela Martinez (Bayley) and Taron Egerton
Niall Horan and Stephen Amell
Alisha Boe and Yoon Bomi
Dylan Minnette and Sarah Drew
Emily Osment and Katherine Langford
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wanted plots for my 1x1 blog @mostpxculiar as well as fcs I’d like to play/play opposite to. please like this post, or dm me if you’d like to discuss any of these plots further! tw: nsfw/smut plots cheating, pregnancy, murder/blood, under the cut.
plots i want, but also please come at me with plots YOU want!
a plot based off of fleabag/hot priest from fleabag
someone should give me a plot with this big bad gang leader and his super soft and cute girlfriend that has him wrapped around her finger. like he’s a feared man, which she doesn’t really care about. and she’s there to patch him up and while he usually tries to hide her away from the cruel world he’s in whenever he isn’t there with her, she just patiently waits for him when he’s out and about doing his business and he’s so fascinated by her and no matter how much of a bad guy he is, he’s just so soft for her and he’d do anything for her!!! and then his most precious possession gets kidnaped and shit goes down snsnsns (m/f, f/f)
f/f plot where a snobby, graceful, poised and rich prima ballerina falls in love with a reckless pole dancer who is super hot with a 6 pack and colourful hair and the girls are total polar opposites pls hmu
a plot where muse a just needs to get away from everything so she packs up everything into her small shitty car that barley runs and just drives. she loses count of the boarders she crossed until she lands right into the middle of a small town where the population is like 2 thousand and her car breaks down. so she goes into a diner that she sees is open and she asks about a mechanic so the lady in the diner calls up her friend who happens to be muse b, the local mechanic. so muse b comes over and tells her that he wont be able to check her car out until morning bc its like 10 pm now so muse a is going to check into a motel or smth but muse b offers to put her up for the night and bc shes broke she says yeah and basically they end up banging with the intention that after tomorrow they are never gonna see each other again - wrong. muse b goes down to his shop and looks at the engine and a really important parts gone in it and its going to take a couple weeks for it to come in and basically muse a has to stay in this shitty small town for the next couple of weeks AND THEY FALL FOR EACH OTHER AND WE CAN FIGURE THE REST OUT! (m/f, f/f)
I really want a one night stand where she snuck out before he woke up and he tried looking her up but he didn’t even know her full name, so he moved on. Move on years down the road and he’s just gotten engaged and at the engagement part he’s introduced to her sister that’s been living overseas for the past few days, but who is it, that girl from all those years ago. Better yet, meet her child, wait, why do they his eyes.
modern hades and persephone where persephone is a tired college student and when she finds out the god of the underworld wants to make her his bride she’s like “become queen of the dead AND never have to go to an 8 AM lecture again, not to mention watch with popcorn as my ex dies and finds out my new boyfriend is his new king? YES PLZ” and just fucking swandives down into the underworld and hades is like “…i had a carriage prepared but okay that works too”
plot three. six months ago he let the nanny give him head. he has been avoiding talking to her since, and is really flustered. she is a full time, live in nanny in their giant mansion. i’m getting a ‘living in england’ vibe, but i’m not sure. he has 3-4 kids running around with his wife of years. the nanny can’t stand the wife, but is obviously polite. his wife is bitchy, whiny, and all she cares is about appearances. who cares if you’re actually happy? just play happy. pretend to be happy. the nanny loves to fluster him when the wife isn’t home. she’ll wear short outfits, lean over, not wear underwear, forget to wear a bra. it was a holiday. so they invited the nanny to eat dinner with them. she starts rubbing him under the table. later on that day, he pulls the nanny to the side into the bathroom or something to tell her that she had to cut it out and that it was a one time thing. out of the blue - he kisses her hard. just give me lots of behind the wives back, and maybe she gets pregnant down the line?
ok but i need a plot where there’s these two idiots who are roommates, and they bicker and act like a married couple constantly, and can hang out like bros but they’re completely platonic, no we’re not in love that’s preposterous!! and it’s so evident that they’re into each other like whenever one goes out on a date, the other is all bitter like ‘no i’m definitely not jealous’. and they like leave bars together at some stupidly early hour and their friends tease them and they just go home and get drunk together instead. and like domestic washing the dishes and fighting over who does what and flinging soap at each other. and then one day it kind of just clicks, you know, like wow you’re my best friend but i think i might love you as more this is so difficult and just, give this to me now. (m/f, f/f)
not to be dramatic or anything but i really want a sugar daddy/sugar baby plot where the muse a is “ happily ” married ceo of a big company with shit tons of money and muse a goes out to a local bar just to chill when they meet muse b. ofc they hit it off and go in muse a’s car and fuck all night and in the morning muse a offers muse b a proposition, if muse b agrees to be muse a’s mistress then muse a will give muse b anything they want starting their sugar baby/sugar daddy relationship. it’s all good until muse a sees muse b all over another guy and looses it and gets into a huge fight with muse b that ends with muse a fucking muse b up against his car and yea gimmie this smut i need sneaky around and sexting while around his wife nd getting him riled up like yes pls thank
bloody , murderous & psychotic couples who love killing people for the thrill and make out with bloody lips and high five each other by the mountains of dead bodies they made . fuckyeah ? give me this crazy shit . serial killer couples . vampire couples . dark romeo & juliet couples . modern au persephone & hades couples . couples who compete to see who kills the most or the most gruesome . give me gore . give me bloodshed . GIVE IT TO ME ! (m/f, f/f) (focusing a lot on hades/persephone, vampires but willing to go the bonnie and clyde or serial killer route)
no offense but i need a messy exes plot where they can’t get over one another no matter what they do and they always tell themselves they’re not gonna go back to them yet every time they get done with a date they end up knocking on the other person’s door and just jealousy and angst and heartbreak and crying because they don’t know if this is ever going to work out but they can’t walk away because this person is still their whole fucking world and they don’t know how to move on (m/f, f/f)
faceclaims I’d like to play and play against or both but also literally come at me with your fcs!!!
Inbar Lavi
Tom Ellis
Lauren German
Sophia Bush
Trevante Rhodes
Zoe Saldana
Madelaine Petsch
Camila Mendes
Lesley Ann Brandt
Manny Montana
Diane Guerrero
Adria Arjona
Ana De Arms
Aisha Dee
Chris Evans
Ryan Gosling
John Krazinski
Matt Czuchry
Lana Condor
Elizabeth Lail
Anya Charlotra
Victoria Pedretti
Zazie Beetz
Shay Mitchell
Candice Patton
Margot Robbie
Florence Pugh
Lucy Liu
Jodie Comer
Katie Mcgrath
Justin Baldoni
Indya Moore
Oscar Isaac
Matthew Daddario
Tessa Thompson
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okay, I know I’ve mentioned it before that I find the criticisms of ‘joker’ very shallow and misleading - but this is the top review on rotten tomatoes...
...and I feel the need to repeat myself again. This isn’t the only one of its kind, but it’s the most popular I’ve seen. Every media outlet has written about a similar topic in some shape or form.
So I’ve read the article, hidden behind a paywall as it is, and I take serious issue with the damaging message the author took from the film. I’ve copied the article bit by bit because I’m so fucking irritated by it.
For it is essentially a depiction of what happens when white supremacy is left unchecked. It shows the delusions that many white men have about their place in society and the brutality that can result when that place is denied.
Arthur Fleck doesn’t want to be treated better because of the colour of his skin. He doesn’t ask for help because he feels he’s superior to the POC around him. He needs help because he’s ill and no one cares. The film is a criticism of austerity and classism, and the unsympathetic arrogance of those in more fortunate positions than others. It’s also, more importantly, about how all this affects a mentally ill loner with a history of childhood abuse and living in poverty.
It has nothing to do with his race. The author’s words imply that a white person in such a desperate situation is only seeking to affirm their own supremacy. That’s....so fucked up. Mental illness isn’t some tool to be used in a race war, it hurts anyone. He’s dismissing the experiences of a man who happens to be white because he can’t see beyond the colour of his skin. Doesn’t that sound like exactly the kind of thing POC have been fighting against for decades, if not centuries?
The fact that the Joker is a white man is central to the film’s plot. A black man in Gotham City (really, New York) in 1981 suffering from the same mysterious mental illnesses as Fleck would be homeless and invisible. He wouldn’t be turned into a public figure who could incite an entire city to rise up against the wealthy. Black men dealing with Fleck’s conditions are often cast aside by society, ending up on the streets or in jail, as studies have shown.
And though Fleck says he often feels invisible, had he been black, he truly would have been — except, of course, when he came into contact with the police.
Arthur is invisible. It’s painfully obvious that he is. He incites a movement because of what he symbolises and the way Thomas Wayne dismissed people like him. When he murdered the three rich boys on the subway, only his clown makeup was identified. The police weren’t looking for a man of any specific colour, they were looking for a fucking clown.
Arthur could have been black, brown, red or blue. The face behind the mask doesn’t matter, because Gotham City united behind the icon of resistance. It’s supposed to be ironic. The only way Arthur felt seen was when he was under his mask. Nobody cared about Arthur Fleck, they cared about the Joker.
So yes, had Arthur been a black man, he’d still become the symbol of resistance.
Though Fleck is pursued and investigated by Gotham’s finest, his whiteness acts as a force field, protecting him as he engages in the violent acts of the latter half of the film. Consider his appearance on the live talk show hosted by Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro). A black man acting as strangely as Fleck does would not have been allowed to go on the air. But the white Fleck is given access, and bloodshed soon follows.
I mean, in regards to how strangely he was acting, the reason they invited him to the show was because they thought he was a freak. They wanted him to make a fool of himself. Also Murray’s producer never wanted him on the air, but Murray insisted because he was more concerned with viewership. Again - that’s the fucking point. Murray was far too invested in his own self-interest to see a man dangerously close to snapping. The author completely glossed over that, and the producer who didn’t want Arthur, white skin and all.
Or look at how Fleck interacts with others. He is frequently in conversation with people who occupy a lower rung in society than he does: a state-appointed therapist he sees early on; a protective mother who chastises him for playing peekaboo with her son on the bus; his possible love interest, a neighbor who lives in the same building; and the psychiatrist he sees in Arkham Asylum. Every one of these characters is a black woman with whom he eventually has confrontations. Phillips consistently places Fleck in an oppositional or antagonistic position to these women.
I don’t know if this is intentional on Phillips’s part, but it is significant. When we learn that his relationship with the neighbor (played with artful restraint by Zazie Beetz) was merely a figment of his troubled imagination, the way he leaves the apartment implies that this realization has led Fleck to kill her and perhaps her child. After his final conversation with the Arkham doctor, his bloody footsteps suggest that he kills her as well.
A key fact the author conveniently ignores in his article is that Arthur never blames immigrants or POC for his misfortune. When he takes a beating at the hands of non-white kids at the start of his film, his colleague calls them “animals” (a common racist term for non-white folks) but Arthur insists they’re just kids. He sympathises with them, despite the fact they brutalised him, because he doesn’t see them as an ‘other.’
And I do think that’s why, crucially, most of the female characters are black women. Whether they occupy a lower rung of society than he does is debatable, because he’s constantly framed as being in the same situation as them. He’s as impacted by the austerity cuts as they are, he rides the bus as they do, he lives in the same shitty building as they do. To quote his therapist: “they don’t give a shit about you, and they don’t give a shit about me, either.”
Arthur doesn’t just have confrontations with them, he has an imaginary relationship with one. Whether he murders her or not is left ambiguous and up to the audience to decide her fate. We can’t say for sure that she’s dead, and that’s the theme of the entire film. We have no idea if anything is real or all in his head when he’s in the asylum.
And that’s the brilliant point.
Arthur’s world is dominated by black women because black women are one of the minorities most affected by institutional prejudice, facing discrimination for both their race and their gender. In 1970s America, they were some of the most invisible people around, ignored by the wealthy and powerful. So Arthur relates to them.
Phillips’ decision to use black women offers a double message that they, too, are suffering under austerity and classism. This isn’t just a white lonesome man’s struggle, it’s a reality for black women everywhere. Arthur’s situation isn’t exceptional because your neighbour, your therapist, the woman on your bus with her kid - they’re all going through it without going on a murderous rampage. If you feel for Arthur’s plight, you feel for theirs too. It’s fucking brilliant.
As for why he has confrontations with them - he has confrontations with literally everyone. Literally everyone treats him badly. Again, that’s. the. point. Except for the black man at Arkham Asylum who tells him to go get help, who’s just doing his job and feels pity for Arthur. But hey, the author ignores that.
Fleck kills white men because he cannot access their status and is ostracized by them, but his black female victims are so invisible that the film does not bother to show their deaths. We as viewers can and should take note of them.
Arthur killed the three white boys on the subway because they were beating the shit out of him for no other reason than him laughing. They were cruel and sadistic, and he’d just been fired from the job he loved so was on his last nerve. He killed his white ex-colleague for framing him and having the balls to still ask him to lie on his behalf so he could keep his job, when he had Arthur fired. He killed Murray for demeaning him and mocking his plight.
Every person killed on-screen was white. Every person killed on-screen was because Arthur felt they’d done him wrong. Zazie’s character is unconfirmed if dead. The psychiatrist at the asylum is implied to be dead, but Arthur’s transformation to the Joker is complete and it’s entirely possible that the act in itself demonstrates (after having sympathised with black women before) that Arthur’s sanity has cracked and his humanity has been replaced by the chaos of the Joker, who cares little for any life, even that of a marginalised minority he once related to.
There are other ways that whiteness informs Fleck’s character. He anticipates he’ll be treated as a son by the Wayne family, and assumes he’ll be given medical records just by asking the hospital orderly (played by the great Brian Tyree Henry). The privileges that come with Fleck’s race set him up for these unrealistic expectations. When they’re not met, the consequences are deadly.
It’s almost as if Arthur has no concept of reality and has little understanding of the way the world works and naively believes that things will just happen because he wants them to. It’s almost as if he has severe parental issues and was so desperate for a father, he even imagined Murray calling him the son he’d always wanted. It’s almost as if this has been established in the film multiple times.
Whiteness may not have been on the filmmakers’ minds when they made “Joker,” but it is the hidden accomplice that fosters the violence onscreen.
Let’s take a film that offers a brutal outlook on the impact of mental illness on one’s psyche and sanity and demean the entire message, important as it is, and try to steer a much needed conversation on mental health towards something that doesn’t concern it. As a POC, I find articles like this so, so damaging to the fight against racism.
It essentially weakens our arguments and offers ammunition to those that believe POC just hate white people for no other reason than, “ur white and I don’t like it.” Way to go, NYT.
Guaranteed, if Joker had been black or brown and white women were only used, there’d be a backlash against the narrative for painting men of colour as unstable and white women as victims because men of colour aren’t allowed to be mentally ill, only terrorists and criminals. Which is what Joker ultimately ends up becoming. Can’t win, can you?
Thank u for coming to my ted talk.
#sorry I went off#I'm open to valid criticism#but to turn this into a race issue#and ignoring the conversation of mental health#doesn't help anyone#because we NEED to talk about mental health and austerity#it's a VERY REAL ISSUE affecting SO MANY PEOPLE#also people are assholes and we need to try and not be assholes and that's a lesson too lawrence but go off i guess#joker spoilers#go to sleep aly
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Top 10 Personal Favorite Hit Songs from 2007
18 to 19 years old. Things were slowly starting to get better and better.
15 honorable mentions, but this is still only a top 10. What an incredible, amazing year for music. My favorite hit song for the entire decade is in there! I think everyone already knows what that is because I am, in fact, extremely predictable.
Disclaimers:
Keep in mind I’m using both the year-end top 100 lists from the US and from France while making these top 10 things. There’s songs in English that charted in my country way higher than they did in their home countries, or even earlier or later, so that might get surprising at times.
Of course there will be stuff in French. We suck. I know. It’s my list. Deal with it.
My musical tastes have always been terrible and I’m not a critic, just a listener and an idiot.
I have sound to color synesthesia which justifies nothing but might explain why I have trouble describing some songs in other terms than visual ones.
Second to third year of my History studies. Met a great guy. So great, in fact, that I married him in 2019 because we’re still living together 13 years later. Got my first summer job but spent my first pay on driving lessons, because, again, I needed to get out of my parents’ appartment and knowing how to drive would be good to find a job. I had a much better access to internet. I still had great grades. Things were getting much better.
I stopped making my personal lists of favorite songs that year, and I had an mp3 player, which really opened a world of possibilities even if you could only put something like 40 songs on it, at best.
I was still reading Rock Mag a lot. As you can see, the biggest controversy at the time was what was emo and what wasn’t.
We were alright.
As far as non-elligible songs go, well there’s I Still Remember by Bloc Party (and the fact I can’t put it on the list is a heartbreak and a half) and basically everything from Year Zero by Nine Inch Nails. Nightwish, Epica and Within Temptation all had pretty good albums too.
Here’s a metric ton of honorable mentions first!
Snow (Red Hot Chili Peppers) - Perfectly pleasant song.
D.A.N.C.E (Justice) - Never understood why this was so popular. Still good.
Love is Gone (David Guetta) - Heyyyy another repetitive dance track, perfect.
Miracle (Cascada), Smack That (Akon), Chasing Cars (Snow Patrol), SexyBack (Justin Timberlake) and Say It Right (Nelly Furtado & Timbaland) - Still elligible songs for that year. Still great songs. Still not making the list.
Butterfly (Superbus) - I didn’t like this band, but I liked that song.
Thanks for the Memories (Fall Out Boy) - Same here basically.
Who Knew (Pink) - Not her best, but not her worst by a mile either.
Walk It Out (Unk) - Stayed in my head for days, I swear. I have no idea what the general opinion about it is nowadays. Maybe that’s a humiliating pick and I genuinely have no idea.
Crank That (Soulja Boy) - I do, however, know that the fact this very nearly made the list IS hilarious.
Alive (Mondotek) - Laugh all you want about the tektonik phenomenon, this is still a banger and a half.
Sound of Freedom (Bob Sinclar & Cutee B) - Not as good as Rock This Party. That’s the only thing I can say against it.
Umbrella (Rihanna) - This is an edit because holy shit I forgot Umbrella. It very nearly made the list too. Sorry.
And now, possibly one of the best top tens yet.
10 - This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race (Fall Out Boy)
US: #32 / FR: #71
Almost everyone got the lyrics wrong. The title is way too long. I really don’t like this band of pretentious idiots; if you’re gonna be pretentious at least write about something more grand and epic than your own navel, and go all out (more on that later). Nobody ever really cared about their supposed feud with Panic! At The Disco. And, to make matters even worse, the singer looked exactly like the terrible ex I had punched in the face the previous year.
This is still a damn good song and it’s on the list instead of any of the honorable mentions.
RIP me.
9 - How To Save A Life (The Fray)
US: #24 / FR: Not on the list
You already know I loved The Fray. This song could have apparently also made the previous list but it’s on this one instead. It was overplayed. I still loved it.
8 - U + Ur Hand (Pink)
US: #29 / FR: Not on the list
In 2002, I bought Pink’s Missundaztood album and as you might remember this was the second album I ever bought in my life, right before the gigantic trainwreck that highschool was.
The fact that about five years (that felt like twelve) later, Pink was on the other side of that trainwreck, back in my earphones, just as energetic and fun as she was before, was nothing short of heartwarming.
7 - Je Suis Un Homme (Zazie)
US: Not on the list / FR: #43
I’m not gonna beat around the bush. This song is terrifying.
Here’s a translation. Yeah, it’s about humanity destroying the Earth and itself in various ways, and it’s preachy, but holy shit, how can something be so bleak, so scary and still so catchy. It’s a mystery.
6 - Double Je (Christophe Willem)
US: Not on the list / FR: #2
When I first heard this song, I genuinely thought that was also Zazie and I was like oh wow, she’s learned to have fun again after that bleak, bleak song.
But no. She only wrote it, and it’s sung by this guy. It’s relatable as hell (”When I grow up it’s gonna be easy, I’ll finally know what I am”, “Who’s fault is it? / I’m something and its opposite / Double me”). The fact that a guy had this kind of voice and that a ton of people loved it (enough for him to win a big talent show and make this the second biggest song of the year!) also did wonders for my dysphoria, by the way.
5 - Ta Meuf (Faf Larage)
US: Not on the list / FR: #19
This is a song applying the most obnoxious rap and hip hop clichés about gangsters (and guys in general) to a woman, and she ends up terrorising all the guys and they’re realising these clichés might, in fact, be really toxic.
It’s a great song about gender roles usually seen in this kind of music and instead of being preachy, it’s hilarious, and well-written (I mean, it’s Faf Larage, it’s a given, but still). Check it out.
4 - Relax Take It Easy (Mika)
US: Not on the list / FR: #12
All hail the new king of pop. He was here to stay and what a breath of fresh air he was. This was very much his year in Europe as soon as the album Life In Cartoon Motion dropped.
My significant other absolutely loved this album and we listened to it wayyyy, way too much, and even with all the radio overplay AND the overplay when we were together, I still can’t get enough of this album.
3 - Love Today (Mika)
US: Not on the list / FR: #39
Here he is again!
If this was any other year this would top the list very easily. What were the US even thinking back then to not let this guy chart. Why isn’t Mika a huge star over there too. What is your problem guys. Do you have something against fun or what.
Anyway, here’s possibly the best comment on the music video:
I mean. You’re not wrong.
2 - What I’ve Done (Linkin Park)
US: #38 / FR: Not on the list
Aaaaaaand they’re back. And they’re once again topping my list. Lord have mercy on me. I loved them so much.
This was the first step into their modern sound, less raw, more U2. A couple of years later, when Lacuna Coil released Shallow Life, I used to joke that Lacuna Coil was trying to sound more and more like Linkin Park, that Linkin Park was trying to sound more and more like U2, and that U2 was trying to sound more and more like boring garbage and. I mean. I wasn’t wrong there.
My absolute favorite part of the song is at 2:24, when the music calms down a bit and the lyrics go “I start again / And whatever pain may come / Today this ends / I’m forgiving what I’ve done” and then the guitar explodes again. So powerful. Love it.
And now you’re probably thinking “so... Linkin Park was back, and with such a top quality song and it’s NOT your #1? After you put a Linkin Park song or a Linkin Park remix at #1 for three years in a row in 2002, 2003 AND 2004? What’s going on, Jo? Are you okay?”
Oh I’m more than okay. Friends and enemies, here comes the absolute best hit song of the entire decade and possibly of my entire life so far.
You probably already know what it is.
1 - Welcome to the Black Parade (My Chemical Romance)
US: #59 / FR: Not on the list (shame on you French charts)
I know I keep complaining about stuff I love not charting, or charting but not high enough to make any year-end list, but... How was this even allowed to chart. Why and how did it end up on the US year-end list when so many more radio-friendly hits I loved couldn’t even scratch the hot 100.
I’m not complaining at all. I’m just baffled.
Play the first note on a piano and I’m already a wreck. Heck, I’m pretty sure everyone from my generation is. It was basically our very own Bohemian Rhapsody. It still is. Where do I even start.
Oh. I know. Look at this page from a 2006 Rock Mag, it’s gold.
Yep, they highlighted The Open Door by Evanescence and praised it, and were like “this is very risky and ambitious and we’re not sure you’re gonna like this” for The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance. Hilarious in hindsight.
A few months later, the same magazine was desesperately using double pages to interview them because everyone adored the album.
So in case you’ve never listened to it (I’m... not even sure why I’m doing this since I’m pretty sure even people who don’t like this type of music have tried to out of sheer curiosity), it’s a concept album about a guy (...possibly. I mean there’s a lot of trans and/or nonbinary hints in the lyrics and did you really NEED to make all of this more relatable? What the hell guys) dying of cancer, remembering all the good and the bad things that happened in his life, and since his fondest memory is seeing a marching band once as a child, death arrives in the form of a marching band. He then settles some scores with his friends and family, says his goodbyes, and... and doesn’t die in the end. He ends up surviving the whole ordeal, and the last song, Famous Last Words, is one the most incredible things I’ve ever heard. It’s so propulsive, uplifting and motivating. “I am not afraid to keep on living / I am not afraid to walk this world alone”. Holy. Shit. Sadly, it’s not elligible.
Welcome to the Black Parade is basically the centerpiece of the album, as you already know or might have guessed, but here’s the thing. It also works out of context because there’s already an entire narrative arc within this one song. It’s larger than life. It’s about death and the meaning of existence. It basically contains all the stages of grief, and the conclusion it reaches is that this guy will be remembered and therefore, he will transcend death. It’s full of rage and passion and triumph. There’s key changes. There’s tempo changes. There’s everything. It’s a rock opera in a single song. I put it on my mp3 player immediately after listening to the album, and it’s still on my mp3 player today. I never, ever removed it. I listened to it countless times and every single time, it feels like rewatching one of my favorite movies.
Best hit song of 2007 by a mile. Best hit song of the decade, hands down, and now that the 2010s are over, I’m pretty confident in saying nothing has topped it so far. I’d say “fight me” if I thought this was a controversial opinion, but it’s not even that controversial.
And that feels damn right.
Next up: Is... is this a list with actual filler? Are you telling us there was ONE mediocre year for music in the 2000s? Sounds fake but okay
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“Joker” Review: Send in the (Problematic) Clowns
Directed by Todd Philips
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beets, Frances Conroy
“Joker,” on paper at least, has a message most us can all agree on.
Over the last five or six years, mental health has been a subject of increasing importance for a variety of reasons from millennial burnout, substance abuse, increases in suicide and the stigma is slowly dying away. People are more concerned than ever about it and, generally speaking, everyone wants the system to do better at addressing it in society.
(”Office Space” continues to be more and more relatable every year...)
Throughout its two-hour runtime “Joker” makes the case for better mental healthcare and a society that’s more empathetic to the mentally ill. For some viewers this is a much-needed discussion on a complicated topic through the medium of pop culture’s most famous psychopath.
For others (me), the problem is it goes about this in an extremely problematic way that grossly mischaracterizes the problem, the people afflicted by it and namely who the victims really are, making some of the pre-film controversy unfortunately not all too inaccurate.
“Joker” takes place in early 1980s where a man named Arthur Fleck cares for his disabled mother in an increasingly hostile Gotham battling the unfair social structures of society. Arthur struggles with his mental health, seeing a social worker each week, taking multiple psychoactive drugs to keep his mind intact, and failing to keep down a Tourette like laugh that estranges those around him. As the world gets increasingly more difficult to live in around him Arthur begins to see himself in a new way and wonder’s what the point of participating any longer in it, thus beginning a series of events that will change his life and the city forever.
One of the core appeals of Gotham’s most sadistic psychopath, The Joker, has always been that the motives behind his violence have rarely had a clear reason behind them.
Other than to piss off Batman, The Joker just kind of does things because he can and kills for the exact same reasons. There’s no reasoning behind it, he just doesn’t believe in much of anything. It’s just chaos and he loves it. There’s some twisted nihilistic appeal to that in a cruel world that relentlessly reminds us many times of it and it’s what made the Clown Prince of Gotham such an iconic villain across all forms of media.
Because we all kind of want to stop caring, even just a little.
(Iconic.)
But what happens when you try to give a character like this a reason behind his twisted psyche? Does it take away or enhance the character? Many writers have toyed with this concept but never concretely answered it whether it was Alan Moore alluding to him having a “bad day” in “Killing Joke,” or the intentionally vague and confusing backstory Christopher Nolan gave the character in “The Dark Knight.”
The question behind who The Joker is, and why he is, is never truly answered in any case. They still tend to keep it mysterious because well, giving a concrete reason to this character’s particular madness kind of takes away from what makes him interesting. To quote Ledger’s Joker he’s an “Agent of Chaos” and nothing more. The Joker doesn’t care so why should we?
(Let’s really not care about this version though. Like seriously. In fact, throw it in the trash and shoot it into the sun...)
But director Todd Philips decided to give the character his first real motive behind his psychosis in “Joker” and while it can be admirable that he attempted something no other writer or director has done, and in some small way has a positive message to it, the results is at best a boring slog of a movie and at worst a problematic depiction of the mentally ill.
“Joker” certainly get’s A-pluses in plenty of areas of course; Joaquin Phoenix probably deserves an Oscar for his twisted depiction of a pre-clown prince Joker as he fully takes on the character’s twisted, emaciated skin and Philips certainly creates a believable pre-Batman Gotham city with some effective Scorsese-esque shot creation and sets. The movie though is extremely predictable as nothing all that surprising happens from beginning to end. It’s just one shitty moment for Arthur after another, culminating with (SPOILER) Arthur’s encounter with a young Bruce Wayne that leads to the final moments of the film.
(Did we really need to put Bruce through this again onscreen? The MCU gave Uncle Ben a reprieve at least...)
I wish I could get into the more superficial reasons this movie doesn’t work, such as its overly self-serious dialogue, Philips making some perhaps unintentionally humorous moments in the movie but the problem is truly it’s muddled script that appears to not really understand what mental health issues look like and who the real victims are.
“Joker” appears to make the case that society has largely ignored and left behind those with this stigma, that we are responsible for not engaging with the problem actively and not caring about the problem. Throughout the film, Gotham and its inhabitants are relentlessly cruel to Arthur, sometimes to the point where it can be over the top, showing that this is what we do to people like Arthur in the real world. They are beaten both physically and mentally and we refuse to understand or acknowledge their existence and their problems.
In this way the film almost endorses Arthur’s eventual turn to violence as the price paid for ignoring people like this.
(I’m amazed how literal some of these memes ended up being after watching this movie...)
Again, the problem with this film isn’t that this isn’t a tremendous issue in society because it is; suicide rates are climbing, despite progress in mental health awareness many country’s still stigmatize it as a “you problem,” and healthcare in this country, well you know the drill. The problem is the film seems to make the claim that these folks who are left behind by these broken systems are in danger of becoming violent monsters and it’s fucking gross.
I cannot stress this enough when I say this but there is NO CONNECTION between mental health problems and an increase in violence. In fact, they are far more likely, ten times more likely in fact, to be the victims of the kind of monster The Joker is in this movie.
The idea that simply better healthcare will make those with mental health issues less likely to commit violence isn’t a new one. The NRA and other small-brained politicians (left and right) have been scapegoating them since the days of Columbine and our doofus of a “president” isn’t far behind in licking those boots.
In the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting, as protesters did walkouts to decry gun violence, the mental health “advocates” made a counter protest called “walk-up” encouraging students to talk to each other more and engage with the outcasts in their schools.
While I certainly can agree that we should all try to be nicer to each other instead of not at all, it grossly ignores the fact that the shooter, Nicholas Cruz, was reportedly abusive, sexist and racist to his fellow classmates. Tell me, in what world would it be smart or safe, especially for a female student, to engage with a guy like this? Cruz didn’t kill people because he had “mental health problems,” he killed people because he was evil asshole.
(Yup, these people definitely look just some misunderstood social outcasts who were just in need of a few more hugs and some happy pills. Yup....)
Again, I can’t stress this enough lack of mental healthcare doesn’t make super villains; it’s pure fiction like this movie. Throughout the film Arthur is bombarded with slight after slight after slight be it from the institutions that leave him in the dust or the people around him. The movie kind of wants to state that the intuitions need more help but weirdly at the same time shouldn’t be trusted as Arthur is openly hostile with them throughout the movie. It’s almost comical at times as after a while and some viewers might find themselves after a while going “ok, we get it. The world is really mean to this guy, when does he become The Joker?”
The point is though, the motives behind great acts of violence have rarely, if ever, been about not being able to get access to some guy’s prescription drugs. In fact, the truly mentally ill are far more likely to be a danger to themselves than to others (as stated in a few of these articles linked already).
But for argument’s sake let’s pretend that this is not meant to be a literal depiction of how mental healthcare in society has failed people. Let’s say its metaphorical instead, that those with mental health issues become monsters within their own minds, hell the movie kind of alludes to a bent reality that may or may not have happened within Arthur Fleck’s mind.
(It’s actually one of the few narrative choices I liked about this movie, so A for effort, Mr. Philips.)
The problem with that is that again it depicts the mentally ill as monsters instead of the victims of those kinds of people. The movie does make a point of depicting the system as monstrous but again a person like The Joker as a product of that is misleading of what is actually going on.
Depicting the mentally ill as monsters, be it metaphorical or literal, will do more harm than good to those who are afflicted by these issues.
While I do not subscribe to the idea, necessarily, that movies create shooters these films definitely don’t exist in a vacuum either. Afterall there are still d-bags who think Tyler Durden is the real hero of “Fight Club,” and idolize maniacs like Al Pacino’s “Scarface” because they’re “badass’s.” I went into this movie thinking the pre-trailer controversy was likely overblown but I came out of it thinking some incel asshole could absolutely find something to relate to in this particular version of The Joker.
This movie has proven to me that the Joker’s origins are simply best left mysterious. He is just best used as a stand-in for chaos and anarchy with no specific goals or ideologies. Though his psychosis has certainly been the stuff of speculation behind his motives for decades by the fans its never been about him being crazy so much as it is about him being the antithesis to Batman’s ridgid sense of law and order.
youtube
(Probably the best cinematic depiction of that clash of ideologies.)
The Joker is a fascinating character and there’s a reason fans have gravitated to him for so long and inspired plenty of writers, directors and actors to try their hand with him. But any amount of understanding regarding what’s going on with mental health in society will take you out of this movie almost instantly for most people.
I think fans of this movie have perhaps latched on to the right messages of the movie, namely that we do need to do better with mental health and the mentally ill in this country, and I definitely don’t disagree with that, but the conclusions this movie appears to come to just aren’t right and it makes the movie damn near unwatchable for myself at least.
I’ll close with this though, “Joker” is inspiring in one way and one way only for me and that’s that it may cause a change in the way Hollywood see’s this genre of movies. I’ve written extensively myself about how, at times, the MCU has too rigidly adhered to the blockbuster formula and created almost a factory-line style of movies for the general populace to devour but a film like this, that is enjoying quite a bit of success right now, could change the way major studios approach these characters.
(The blockbuster formula can be great though sometimes if done right. Exhibit A ^)
Superheroes are modern Greek myths these days and have tons of source material and nuance to mine for directors and writers. Restricting them just to simple heavily CGI, action blockbusters is a disservice to their extensive catalog of stories and the comic book writers that made them famous.
While “Joker” is definitely not my favorite comic book movie of all-time I can respect that it took the risk of doing something different and going against the grain of most of the rest of the genre. If it inspires Hollywood to greenlight newer and more unique depictions of these characters I’m all for it.
In the end though, “Joker” is a mess of a movie that sends some right messages but ultimately the wrong one. If you enjoyed it great, I won’t stop you but I do ask you to think about how this movie could be twisted in the wrong ways as well.
After all, we live in a society...
VERDICT:
2 out of 5
Can we all agree at least this is still the best version of The Clown Prince of Gotham?
#Joker#Joker movie#The Joker#Batman#The Dark Knight#Batman Begins#Christopher Nolan#Todd Philips#DC#DC comics#DCEU#Dawn of Justice#MCU#Marvel#Marvel Comics#marvel cinematic universe#Heath ledger#joaquin phoenix#Robert Deniro#martin scorsese#Gotham#Gotham City#Comic Books#comics#graphic novel#The Killing Joke#Mental Health#Mental Health awareness#mentally insane#insane
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When a Table Invokes your Writing Muse
So, I wrote a oneshot in reference to the replacement table that appeared in Norman’s office in chapter 126. Mind you that though I pride myself in my writing ability, fanfiction isn’t something I’d do on a normal day. But then again, I’m bedridden from foot surgery and drugged up on percocet, so anything’s possible I guess...
Btw, I tried to portray Norman as definitely not plagued by exhaustion. Slightly panicked, but still as calculating as ever. It was also very fun to write Norman’s drawn out thought process (Yes that was intentional)
This also takes place after the meeting between the trio, so I’m keeping this as ambiguous as possible in regards to the outcome of the conversation that is to occur in future chapters.
This was written for laughs too, so please refrain from taking this seriously
“The Distraction” (Word Count:1068)
Norman looked around his office from his seat at his desk, a slight frown on his face. As enlightening as the conference with Emma and Ray was, his thoughts were constantly drifting towards one specific part of the room. One part he would say had changed since his departure from the base.
Sinking his gaze down towards his desk, he silently chided himself for giving the smallest amount of thought over a measly change in the room’s appearance. This new information was crucial after all. He should have his undivided attention on the situation. Just when he thought he had it all figured out, a new obstacle found it’s way to cut him off. How could he be so naive and not factor in the experiences of his friends after their escape from the plantation? He refused to linger on those pessimistic ideas. He would find his way around this snag eventually. He always did in the end.
Just as he started to believe his mind could focus again, the distraction took him again by the collar. Surely he wasn’t the only one who noticed. Emma and Ray had been in the office before. But they didn’t ask him about it. So maybe he was the only one. How was he going to get any work done if he keeps getting distracted by the layout of the room of all things? The lives and future of every cattle child rested in his plans, after all. One slip in his thinking and they all might as well be dead.
He dropped his head into his arms that were crossed over the desk’s surface. His body still felt heavy from the trip, sleep desperately tugging at his eyelids. Maybe the exhaustion was finally taking over and causing his mind’s delusional wanderings. Even so, he couldn’t give in, there was just no time.
But maybe he could spare a few minutes.
Just before sleep could claim him and his restless mind, the sound of the door took hold of his attention. He jerked his head up from it’s resting place to see three of his confidants aligned at the far end of his office. Norman took a moment to observe his comrades. Though Vincent’s normally stone faced expression was hard to penetrate, one look at Cislo and Barbara could give him all the insight he needed instantly.
Easily read, like children.
Like Emma.
Assuming their eagerness from the results of the journey, as well the new developments that came from his impromptu meeting was too easy. So he indulged them, with the most reassuring smile he could muster through his fatigue.
“There’s no need for worry. Everything’s going be fine.”
He watched as the duo’s form’s relaxed and the tension disappeared. He continued on with his usual spiel.
“We’ll begin the briefing in a moment, but before that I have something I want to quickly address.”
With that, his calm words sparked a reaction of apprehension from the two. He specifically noted Barbara’s avoidance of eye contact as well as Cislo’s nervous fidgeting. Something must’ve occurred during his absence that they were hiding from him. Maybe it had to do with his new “distraction.” Despite the sudden change in behavior, Norman’s serene tone didn’t falter.
“This might sound strange, but do any of you know where this new table came from?”
Before he could examine a change in their behavior, Vincent quickly chimed,
“It’s a gift.”
A gift? Norman remembered to have received many odd gifts from the children at Gracefield, but a table was not one he recalled. He stayed silent to allow his attendee to explain his outburst.
“A gift for a successful outing and a step closer towards our goal of demon annihilation and total liberation.”
Beside him, Cislo and Barbara relaxed once more, nodding fervently at Vincent’s reasoning. From this, Norman gathered as much of the situation as he could without a straight answer.
Something happened to the table while he was out forming the alliance with Zazie. Something caused by either Cislo or Barbara. VIncent was present for the incident and decided to replace the table under the guise of a gift.
“Though I preferred the old table, I appreciate the thought.”
He’d rib them later for the real story, maybe even utilizing Isabella’s old interrogation tactics for extra effect. It wasn’t the table itself that worried him, but why the table needed to be replaced to begin with. Though Cislo and Barbara were the more zealous two of his squad, they knew how to behave themselves while he was away. He then remembered how out of breath Emma and Ray were upon finding them standing in front of his office. They had obviously rushed over there to meet him, and their urgency proved that. He didn’t tell them about his departure from the start as to allow them comfort and ease as they regrouped. Dominic and Chris were gravely injured after all. Clearly that was the farthest from their mind, as their meeting contained urgent information that he regrets to have not listened to sooner. They must’ve come to his office the day of his departure to attempt to discuss their thoughts and feelings about the plan, only to meet Vincent, Cislo, and Barbara loitering in the office. He figured that word had spread over his sudden change in demeanor, eventually rousing the curiosity of the two of them, resulting in questioning of his childhood friends. Though it might’ve started out menial with talk of his childhood, full of good times and constant illness, it could’ve turned to talk of their current situation. One very sensitive to his trustees. Norman was certain that Ray was capable of assessing the situation and choose to stay reserved, but Emma... Oh no! She must’ve said something or looked a certain way that revealed her true feelings. Cislo or, okay it was probably Barbara that didn’t take that well and thus, damaged the table. This was all assumption of course, but it could explain the urgency conveyed from his friends. And Emma... Poor Em-
“Uh....Boss?”
The sound of Cislo’s confused tone jolted him from his thoughts. How long was he actually thinking about that table?
“Yes, excuse me. Let me divulge the recent developments I gathered from our newest companions.”
Enough distractions, it’s time to get back to work.
Work towards destroying this hell of a Neverland.
So yeah, 1000+ words centered around a fucking table.
This is what happens when your alone and in pain
#tpn#tpn spoilers#tpn manga#tpn manga spoilers#tpn norman#the promised neverland#yakusoku no neverland#fic#baby boy#mad lad
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hung the moon...
a/n: some of you may dislike the ending as its a bit of a cliffhanger. i couldn’t make up my mind. may write a second part to this one. feedback is glorious + nourishing fruit.
summary: noah + the new costar who hates him get stuck in a precarious situation. costar’s faceclaim is the beautiful zazie beetz.
word count: 2638
warnings: none
You couldn’t really place it. You didn’t know what it was about him, or the general idea of him, that you found so untoward and irritating. You had enough self-awareness to realize that it may be the complete makings of your own neurosis and natural distrust but you just couldn’t shake it.
Everyone positively loved him. He had the cast and crew practically eating out of his hands. The girls in hair and makeup laughed at all his silly, menial jokes. The director showered him with compliments and tempered direction. Your co-stars would retell stories from the nights you went to bed early about some stupid prank he pulled on someone.
All in all, it seemed like you were the only one not fully on the Noah Centineo train.
But really, that was completely okay with you. You didn’t have the time or energy or mental capacity to be sucked into the false charm of another male co-star.
Been there, done that, didn’t even get a t-shirt.
At this point, you wanted to focus on your craft; wanted to truly harness your emotive propensities. You wanted to give a stellar performance and then get onto the next set, with a completely new group of people and hopefully not be cast alongside the world’s next biggest heartthrob.
You hope that your reticence with him isn’t coming off in your scenes together. You try to play it off as how your character would organically feel in a situation of love triangle proportions. You watch the dailies and can see that slight sheened veneer you put on when your characters are entangled. Whether emotionally or physically, or in the most difficult of spaces when both were required.
You’d skipped out on the suggested bonding practices that predated production and have maybe said 5 words to him directly when not in character. Though he’s tried numerous times to bridge the gap.
You continued to tell yourself it wasn’t unprofessional, you were simply protecting yourself. You wondered if your faux indifference would make for awkward promo after the film’s end but hadn’t thought that far in advance.
You were an actress after all. You knew how to fake it so you weren’t actually that concerned.
But this was the first time on one of your only days off that the director wanted you to meet her at a new location prior to shooting there.
Your reverence for her work made the inconvenience well worth it. Even in the middle of a very chilly fall in New York.
While waiting for the elevator doors to open in a rickety old building, you see Noah approaching.
You hadn’t realized you had both been called for this specific task. You’re instantly annoyed and pull your jacket around yourself snuggly.
He looks just as surprised to see you but doesn’t say anything.
You wait for the elevator in complete silence which seems to be taking literal years to make it down to the first floor, the little illuminating button almost taunting you with its beaming.
Finally, the doors slowly open and you walk in, he follows you a few paces behind.
He casually leans against the opposite side of the elevator and watches you push the button for the 7th floor.
“You know what this is about?” Noah finally says loosely, you can feel the weight of his gaze on the side of your face.
You shake your head lightly.
“It’s cold today,” he offers.
He’s talking about the weather and you want to die. You want to just vanish into a million little pieces.
You hate talking about the weather. You hate small talk with a passion that rivals little else.
Small talk was a waste of energy and vocal undulations.
You offer no verbal response.
Suddenly, the elevator jolts, sending you toward the button panel and then immediately stills.
Your ears start to ring as you immediately realize what just happened. You can tell Noah is saying something but you can’t make it out.
“No… no, no…” you mutter as you hit the panel. You try the emergency button, nothing. Then you hit any button in a desperate attempt to get the elevator moving again.
You feel your stomach drop when nothing happens.
“Shit,” you kick the bottom of the door which causes a jolt of pain to shoot through your foot.
You remember he’s there when you feel his hands brushing yours away from the panel.
“Don’t do that, you’ll only jam it,” Noah explains, calmly.
You angle away from his touch.
“Don’t touch me,” you mutter. You almost think you said it in your head until you look at him and realize his expression has gone from concerned to confused.
“You’re right,” Noah admits quickly, he takes a step away from you. “I’m sorry. I shouldn't have touched you.”
Pain radiates from you booted foot.
“Fuck, that hurt,” you complain, attempting to put weight on your foot.
“Yeah, well elevator’s are made of steel,” Noah remarks as he takes out his phone. “No service.”
“Ugh,” you mutter as you squeeze your eyes shut against the ever impending reality of your current circumstance. You quickly glance at your phone. “Damnit!”
You repress the urge to throw it against the closed steel doors.
“What did I do to deserve this?” You demand to the unmoving metal.
“Someone will notice the elevator isn’t working,” Noah reasons gently. He’s retreated back to his corner.
“In this damn near deserted building?”
“Right.”
Silence looms as you attempt to slow your racing heart by pulling some deep breaths.
“How are you so calm?” You accuse.
He shrugs. He’s studying you. The way he sometimes did. The way he did when you were on set, or running lines with someone else or at dinner with the entire cast. You’ve caught him quietly contemplating some aspect of you and always immediately acted as if you didn’t see it.
You had a feeling he was always trying to silently figure you out.
But you weren’t budging. You refused to fall for whatever guise he operated under.
“I just don’t feel the need to freak out,” he offers simply. “It’ll start working again.”
You huff and continue to glare at the elevator panel.
Of course the universe would conspire to have you stuck in an elevator with this man. That’s exactly what type of track you were on personally.
Even if your professional life was flourishing, your personal life and emotional safety weren’t necessarily corresponding.
“I can take a look at your foot if you want,” Noah offered loosely.
“Does that line typically work for you?”
“Don’t really have much occasion to use it,” he countered without missing a beat. “Can’t say that I’ve seen many women kick steel elevator doors.”
“You aren’t a doctor,” you exclaim. “You wouldn’t even know what to look for. It’s fine. I’m fine.”
“Okay.”
You silently stare at the doors, willing the elevator to start back up again. You really need to get out of there.
“Hey, listen… if I ever did or said something to offend you, I’m really sorry,” he offers evenly.
You still can’t look at him but you feel momentarily bad until you realize that this softness, this unending affable posturing that he seemed to be angling at wasn’t gonna work on you.
You’ve been a sucker before and those days were long gone.
“You didn’t offend me, Noah,” you begin carefully. Your anxiety still looming at the reality of this enclosed space. “I just don’t buy it.”
“I’m sorry, what? What don’t you buy?”
“Your whole schtick. The act,” you respond. “The effortlessly charming ‘nice guy.’ The internet’s boyfriend. Maybe everyone else eats it up, but I see right through it.”
There’s silence on the tail end of your claim. You almost want to look at his expression after your admission but feel it better to keep your attention outward.
Then you hear a small chuckle and you’re instantly infuriated.
“When did you become an expert on ‘schtick’s’?” He questions. “Is it a class you can take?”
“Fuck you-”
He completely bypasses that remark.
“Do you typically so easily pass judgment on people without knowing them or is that a specific distinction I get the privilege of.”
“I don’t need to know you to be able to peep your whole game,” you retort.
You finally do look at him. His arms and legs crossed, leaning against the elevator. The way he’s holding his body reminds you of the easy posture of someone who looks like he’s lying down while upright. Utterly relaxed. His gaze is unflinching.
“There is no game,” Noah corrects. “I’m not the way I am for any type of personal gain.”
You laugh now. You think that maybe mirroring his own reactions will somehow allow you to calm down and make you less unnerved by his own ease. Because all it’s actually doing is making you more irritated.
“No gain? Besides everyone thinking you hung the moon, right? Okay.”
“You’re wrong,” he offers simply.
“That’s doubtful.”
“It’s actually unfortunate that you’ve relied so heavily on this narrative that’s a complete fabrication,” Noah responds. “Because if you hadn’t, then maybe we’d actually be friends or at least civil and you wouldn’t be standing in a stalled elevator seething because of some misguided hatred.”
“Oh my God,” you lament loudly, turning back to the elevator and banging on the door. “Let me out of here!”
“That won’t help.”
“Please stop talking.”
“Sure.”
He goes silent and the silence is almost worse than hearing his incessant gabbing.
You feel a well of emotion come up dissimilar to the anger and terror you’d been trying to mask since the elevator stopped.
“You men are the fucking worst,” you mutter, not even to him directly but you know he hears you.
“What’s his name?”
“Who?”
“Whoever has you out here distrusting complete strangers,” Noah ponders.
“Names, plural. Your kind are real winners,” you remark, taking a deep breath in an attempt to try and subside some of the sadness creeping in.
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop saying that. You are also not a complete stranger. You have a very public persona.”
“As do you,” Noah reminds you. “Or one that’s been crafted around your relationship at least, but unlike you, I don’t necessarily believe it.”
You prickle at that. Just the mention of your ex sends you to another realm you can’t really occupy in such close quarters. You feel like the elevator is much too small for all the vitriol you hold for him and your memories.
“I’m not talking to Disney channel’s wonder child about any of this.”
“You’re mean,” he observes lightly. But he doesn’t actually seem offended. Which is weird to you.
Were you trying to break him? Trying to rile him? What were you actually doing besides internally screaming for something?
“But maybe not as much as I originally thought,” Noah continues thoughtfully. “If I’m honest, it sort of hurt my feelings that you were so kind to everyone else. I tried not to take it personally. But more than mean I think you’re hurt.”
“Please do me a favor and don’t ever fix your mouth in an attempt to psychoanalyze me again.”
You look up at the elevators mirrored ceiling and let out a primal scream. Once it’s out, you bend over, bracing yourself with your hands against your knees, just praying that the elevator will start working.
You silently count to 10 with your eyes squeezed shut. When you open them there’s no change.
You feel worse.
“We’re gonna die in here,” you say desperately.
“We will not die in here,” Noah assures you.
“What do you know?”
“It’s a shame our characters don’t hate each other,” Noah offers thoughtfully. “You’d have a head start.”
“You’re not important enough to hate, Noah,” you exclaim bitterly.
“Ouch.”
You feel yourself vacillating between anger, fear, sadness, and panic. All emotions you don’t want anywhere near this man you’ve kept at an arm's length.
“Will you stop looking at me?” You’ve felt his eyes on you intermittently the entire time and the longer that continues, the more unnerved you become.
“Where else am I supposed to look?”
You can tell he’s trying to be playful. Which is maddening and also a bit sweet because you momentarily forget you’re freaking out.
“Anywhere else.”
“I’m looking at you because you’re trembling,” Noah offers gently.
“It’s fucking freezing.”
“Hey, look at me,” Noah requests after a moment. It takes you a full 7 seconds to bring yourself to do as he says.
His gaze is so gentle and innocent, you almost feel like you’ll burst into tears just looking at him.
“I will not hurt you.”
Those words hit you with every ounce of sincerity they are uttered alongside.
You instantly believe him and you’re pissed about it.
He straightens and walks toward you. Which is only about two paces in that elevator. His hand’s tentatively on your shoulder and it’s only then when you physically feel just how much you are shaking.
“Is this okay?”
You nod your head wordlessly. He outstretches his other arm and with the most subtle movements, wraps you into a light hug.
You lean against him instantly, your body finally being cued to relax for the first time since the elevator stalled. Your hands come up and grasp the sides of his jacket, your ear against his chest.
He tightens his arms around you as you sink further into his warmth.
“Your heart is racing,” he mutters.
“Anxiety,” you sigh. “How are you so warm?”
“I don’t know, I just run hot.”
Being in his arms feels so good. You want to believe it’s just his body heat and the lack of your own but it’s something else. Something that pulls at the pit of your stomach and knaws at your conscious.
If someone would have told you, even 12 hours ago, that Noah would be holding you in this moment, you would have laughed in their face.
Maybe you were wrong about him.
That realization makes your heart drop and all the myriad of emotions that well up in you are steeped in regret and embarrassment.
He’s being so sweet to you and you’ve been nothing but a pain in the ass.
You feel your eyes burn with tears as you wrap your arms completely around him beneath his jacket.
“I’m sorry I’ve been such a bitch to you,” you mutter. You attempt to school your tears but they won’t be reasoned with.
“It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay,” you exclaim against his chest, your voice breaking. “I have such a shitty track record with charming men, I just clammed up. I didn’t even get to know you on a basic human level and that’s so embarrassing. I’m so sorry.”
The tears are flowing now and you feel absolutely mortified.
He pulls back briefly just to peer into your face. He wordlessly wipes away your tears and envelops you back into his arms. This only makes you cry harder.
Where did this deep generosity come from? Why was he so willing to freely give it?
“Shhhh,” Noah offers, resting his cheek against the top of your head. “It’s okay.”
“It’s so fucked up,” you cry into his chest. You don’t know where these tears are even coming from, or why you feel safe enough to unload them with him in this moment.
There’s a lot there that you haven’t even begun to speak of.
He’s back to wiping your tears away and his eyes look like the most delectable mixture of honey and amber and you feel certain you’re in the Twilight zone because all you want to do is kiss him as your eyes flick toward his mouth.
But you wouldn’t dare… it feels like too big a stretch and you aren’t that brave.
#noah centineo#noah centineo imagine#noah centineo fic#tatbilb#to all the boys i've loved before#peter kavinsky#peter kavinsky fic#fanfiction#one shot#sierra burgess is a loser#jamey#the stand-in#swiped
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The Quill Seal Of Approval Awards - The Best of 2018
Hello and welcome, dear reader, to the greatest, most important awards ceremony in the history of entertainment. The Quill Seal Of Approval Awards. The award of recognition that everyone on Earth covets even though they don’t know it. For the Quill Seal Of Approval is a most esteemed prize for hard work and artistry. Better than the Golden Globes, more prestigious than the BAFTAs and guaranteed to be more diverse than the Academy Awards. You know your film, novel, TV show or video game has achieved legendary status when some random nobody on the internet says it’s the best in some obscure top 10 list that’s read by only a couple of people. That’s the true sign of success.
First, a few parish notices. Obviously this is my subjective opinion, so if you disagree with my choices, that’s fine. Go make your own list. (also remember that my opinion is 100% objective, scientific, factual and literal truth and anyone who disagrees is clearly a philistine and a dummy and a poopy-head whose mum smells of elderberries). Also please bear in mind that I haven’t been able to experience everything 2018 has to offer for one reason or another. In other words, please don’t be upset that A Star Is Born isn’t on this list. I’m sure it’s as amazing as everyone says it is. I just never got around to watching it.
Okay. Let us begin.
Inside No. 9 - Series 4
BBC2′s Inside No. 9, written by the League of Gentlemen’s Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, is an anthology series that’s often sadly overlooked, but it’s really worth a watch if you’re into shows like Black Mirror and The Twilight Zone, and this series in particular has been fantastic. We’ve had an episode written entirely in iambic pentameter, an episode whose chronology runs backwards, a live episode that really plays around with the format, episodes containing tragic and biting satire, and one especially twisted episode that brings out a side of Steve Pemberton we’ve never seen before. Series 4 has been a real treat from start to finish, with each episode beautifully written and expertly performed. Inside No. 9 deserves to share the same pedestal as Black Mirror, no question.
Black Panther
I’m sure everyone knows about my less than flattering views on the Marvel Cinematic Universe by now, which is what made Black Panther such a breath of fresh air for me. Stripping away all the convoluted crap, Black Panther has often been compared to The Dark Knight, and for good reason. Like The Dark Knight, this movie uses the superhero genre to tackle real social and political issues. In Black Panther’s case, exploring just what it means to be black in the modern world. Boasting an impressive cast of black actors, strong female characters, an engaging and complex antagonist, fantastic special effects and truly excellent direction from Ryan Coogler, Black Panther represents a new benchmark for Marvel, the superhero genre and the film industry in general. It proves how important and how lucrative diversity and representation in media can be, and it unintentionally shows how flawed the Marvel business model has become. The reason behind Black Panther’s success is simple. It’s because it’s bloody brilliant. And the reason it’s bloody brilliant is because Coogler was allowed to realise his own creative vision without Kevin Feige and Mickey Mouse breathing down his neck. Perhaps they should take note of that in future.
Deadpool 2
Of course Deadpool 2 is going to be on this list. Are you really surprised?
The Merc with the Mouth goes from strength to strength in the rare instance where the sequel is actually as good as, if not better than, the original. The first Deadpool was a great origin story for the character, but Deadpool 2 felt like an adventure ripped straight from the comics themselves. Crass, ultra violent and hysterically funny, Deadpool 2 is the crowning jewel of the X-Men franchise. Fan favourites such as Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Colossus return as well as new characters such as Domino, played by the exceptional Zazie Beetz, Cable, played by the astounding Josh Brolin, and Firefist, played by Julian Dennison who deserves all the success in the world because good God this kid can act!
But of course the star of the film is Deadpool himself with Ryan Reynolds once again proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that he understands this character back to front. Not only is he hysterically funny, capturing the character’s irreverent tone perfectly, he also absolutely nails the tragic underpinnings of Deadpool that make him such a wonderful character. In between the f-bombs and gore are moments of real drama and emotional pathos as the film tackles themes such as loss, discrimination, abuse and suicidal depression. All this whilst taking the piss out of 2017′s Logan.
Oh yeah, and it also features the first openly LGBT superheroes in cinematic history. Fuck you Disney! NegaYukio and Poololosus for the win! LOL! No, but seriously, now that you have the rights to X-Men back, if you try and censor Deadpool in any way, shape or form, I will kick your arse.
God Of War (2018)
“BOY!”
Yes Kratos is back, having successfully destroyed the world of Greek mythology and now has his eyes on the Norse Gods. And he has a son now. What could possibly go wrong?
Seriously though, this new God Of War is simply exquisite. While I have long admired the God Of War franchise for its interpretation and adaptation of Greek mythology, the previous games in the series have never exactly been the most sophisticated when it comes to storytelling (and the less said about the casual sexism, the better. Yes Sony, I promise I understand the thematic reasons behind playing a minigame that allows you to have sex with Aphrodite in God Of War 3, but it still doesn’t change the fact that it’s sexist as shit). God Of War 2018 changes all that with an intelligent and engaging story that allows us understand and connect with Kratos at a more personal level than we’ve ever done before. Taking place years after God Of War 3, Kratos is older, wiser and trying to raise his son Atreus in the hopes that he won’t make the same mistakes Kratos did in his past. Not only is the story amazing, continuing the franchise’s themes of vengeance and the strained relationships between parents and their children, the gameplay is also a ton of fun with many memorable moments and boss fights.
And as an added bonus, we get two strong female characters that aren’t treated like discardable sex objects. That was nice of them.
Incredibles 2
The long awaited sequel to The Incredibles finally arrived in 2018 and it did not disappoint. Incredibles 2 was everything I could have wanted and more. Continuing on from the events of the first movie, we see Elastigirl take the spotlight as she fights the Screenslaver whilst trying to persuade the worlds’ governments to lift the ban on superheroes. Meanwhile Mr. Incredible takes a back seat as he tries to reconnect with his kids Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack and prove he can be a good, supportive dad.
Continuing to draw inspiration from Fantastic Four, X-Men and Watchmen, Incredibles 2 is... well... incredible. Expanding the world he created, Brad Bird tells a smart, funny and compelling story that stands head and shoulders above the majority of superhero movie fodder we get nowadays. Elastigirl flourishes in the lead role this time around and the kids get a lot more development, the Screenslaver is a great villain that compliments the themes of the franchise wonderfully, and we get to see a whole bunch of new characters such as Voyd and the Deavor siblings as well as the return of old favourites like Frozone and Edna Mode.
Honestly, the baby alone is worth the price of admission. Hopefully we won’t have to wait another fourteen years for Incredibles 3.
Marvel’s Spider-Man
Marvel’s Spider-Man is an amazing game. But of course you knew that already. It’s made by Insomniac Games, the same guys behind Ratchet & Clank. Of course it was going to be brilliant.
Simply put, this game does for Spider-Man what the Arkham games did for Batman. Not only is it a great game with brilliant combat and fun web swinging mechanics, it also has a great story worthy of the wall crawler. Unlike the movies, which seem to continuously yank Peter Parker back into high school with each new reboot as those the poor bastard were attached to the fucker on a bungee rope, this Spidey has been fighting crime for eight years. With great power comes many responsibilities as we see him struggle to juggle crime fighting, his new job as a scientist, his commitments to helping Aunt May at the F.E.A.S.T shelter and trying to win his ex Mary Jane Watson back after a six month split. It’s a brilliant story featuring many classic villains such as Shocker and Electro as well as lesser known villains like Screwball and the criminally underrated Mister Negative who finally gets to be the central antagonist in a Spider-Man adaptation. It’s fun to play, engaging, dramatic and really emotional at points. I cried real tears at the end. What a punch to the gut that was.
OOOOOH! And we might be getting to play as Miles Morales in the sequel! I sure hope so! :D
The Grinch
At this point I imagine many of you are scratching your heads.
“Really Quill? The Grinch? Illumination’s The Grinch? This deserves the Quill Seal Of Approval? Are you sure?” Yes dear reader, I’m absolutely sure. Just hear me out.
It’s true that the majority of Dr Seuss adaptations are shit. While the live action version of the Grinch starring Jim Carrey has a cult following and is fondly remembered by some, it’s still pretty crap, and even Illumination themselves screwed up royally with their adaptation of The Lorax. But this new Grinch is truly excellent. For starters, the animation is gorgeous. This is clearly the format that works best for Seuss movies. Benedict Cumberbatch does a really good job voicing the character, giving him depth and complexity beyond just being a big old meanie. The film also has something no other Seuss film has ever had before. Subtlety. Illumination have clearly learned their lesson after The Lorax. They’re no longer bashing you over the head with a moral message. They’re not trying to over-complicate a simple story by adding pointless sub-plot after pointless sub-plot. In fact the bits they do add actually feed into the main core of the narrative, as opposed to The Lorax, which just confused things. And while there are cute Minion-esque sidekicks like there are in a lot of Illumination films, The Grinch limits it to two (Max the dog and a reindeer named Fred), they’re both legitimately funny, serve an important narrative purpose and don’t distract from the more serious and emotional moments.
In all honesty, I was debating between giving the Quill Seal of Approval to The Grinch or to Bumblebee (the first legitimately good Transformers movie), but I decided to go with The Grinch because of how it handles the character and the story’s message. A lot of people scoffed at the idea of giving the Grinch a back story (and to the film’s credit they don’t force the issue or over-explain where the Grinch came from) but it’s honestly what makes this new adaptation of The Grinch so special to me. He’s gone from being a Scrooge-like monster to an anxiety filled misanthrope who associates Christmas with being alone. It may sound like a jarring change on paper, but in practice it honestly works so well and adds a whole new dimension to the Grinch. It’s treated with absolute care and sincerity and the film really earns its emotional moments, particularly at the end when we see the Grinch sit down to have Christmas dinner with the Whos.
If you haven’t already, I highly recommend you give this new Grinch a chance. You might be pleasantly surprised :)
Doctor Who - Series 11
A woman?! In the TARDIS?! How absurd!
Jodie Whittaker made history as the first woman to play the Doctor and the new series doesn’t disappoint. Whittaker is predictably brilliant in the role, giving the character compassion, charm and wit. We also get a new bunch of companions (including the always brilliant Bradley Walsh as Graham) who all have some great moments in Series 11 and the relationships they form with each other is incredibly touching and fun to watch. But the writing, my God, the writing. Admittedly not every episode has been perfect, but it’s leagues above anything Moffat has given us during his disastrous reign. The majority of Series 11 has been well written and intelligent, tackling important and relevant social issues (something Doctor Who has always been doing and anyone who says otherwise is an idiot) and focusing on likeable and relatable characters rather than convoluted series arcs. We got to meet Rosa Parks, witness the partition of India, and ponder on the dangers of automation whilst the Doctor tries to save the world from bubble wrap. Oh, and the Daleks are scary again! I know! I couldn’t believe it either!
What makes this all the more remarkable is who the showrunner is. Chris Chibnall. A writer I’ve often criticised in the past for being derivative and shit, and yet somehow he’s managed to create some of the best Doctor Who I’ve seen in a long time. Not only has his writing improved dramatically since his Torchwood days, he’s also demonstrated a commitment to having diverse representation both in front of and behind the camera as well as in the scripts themselves. For the first time in what feels like an age, Doctor Who feels like Doctor Who again, and I’m ecstatically happy.
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
How come we don’t see many animated superhero movies in the cinema? Considering the medium from which superheroes came from, you’d think it would be a no-brainer. Presumably it’s because Disney have got such a strangle hold on the animation market, but that’s hopefully going to change thanks to Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (or, Sony’s Repentance for The Emoji Movie).
Let’s get the obvious out of the way. The animation is gorgeous. It’s pretty much an animated comic book and it stands out as one of the most unique looking animated films in recent memory. Spider-Verse is essentially a love letter to the legacy of Spider-Man as we see multiple different versions of Spidey, including Spider-Gwen, Spider-Ham and Nicholas Cage as Ghost Rider cosplaying as Spider-Man Noir, demonstrating not only the sheer variety of Spider-Men we’ve had over the years, but also exploring what connects them together. With all these different interpretations across many different universes, the idea of Spider-Man comes to the same thing. An ordinary person who experiences tragedy and becomes something greater. It’s hopeful and inspirational in a way Spider-Man films hasn’t been for a while now (Spider-Man: Homecoming sucked donkey balls. Period).
But let’s not forget that while the film explores the Spider-Verse, the main focus is Miles Morales who finally makes his cinematic debut. Not only is it a very faithful adaptation of Ultimate Spider-Man’s origin story, Miles himself is such a great central character for the modern age and arguably has more relevance to today than Peter Parker does. The characters are funny and relatable and the story is expertly crafted and impactful. But then what do you expect from the writers and directors of The Lego Movie? (if only Disney hadn’t interfered with Solo: A Star Wars Story. We could have had it all).
Mowgli: Legend Of The Jungle
This one kind of snuck up on me toward the end of December, but I knew the moment I saw it I had to include it on this list.
Mowgli: Legend Of The Jungle is an adaptation of The Jungle Book with Andy Serkis making his directorial debut. Yes the same guy who did the motion capture for Gollum in Lord Of The Rings and Caesar in the rebooted Planet Of The Apes movies and who totes deserves an Oscar for Best Actor (fuck you Academy Awards!), and he brings this same motion capture technology to this film. Unlike Disney’s Jungle Book, which merely rehashes the original animated film whilst somehow stripping all the charm from it, Mowgli sticks closer to the original Rudyard Kipling book. This isn’t a cheery musical. This film is often dark and intense as we see Mowgli (played wonderfully by Rohan Chand) struggle to find his place in the world. He knows he doesn’t belong with the animals in the jungle, but he doesn’t really fit in with the world of man neither. It’s an emotional and dramatic character piece brought to life by great writing, great acting and stunning special effects.
Andy Serkis has expressed a desire to do an adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, and after watching this movie, I would love to see that. If you haven’t already, go watch Mowgli: Legend Of The Jungle. It’s available to stream on Netflix and it’s truly amazing.
And that’s it for 2018. Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Quill Seal Of Approval Awards. Unfortunately we’re on a limited budget here on The Desolated Quill, so I can’t offer any sort of trophy or medal or anything. What I can do though is write the words ‘I’m an awesome cookie’ on a post-it note and stick it on your forehead. Will that do?
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25, 23, 29, and 30 because i hate (love) you and want you to suffer 💖💖💖💕
EYYYY I’m finally getting around to finishing these lmao. (also I just noticed u changed ur profile picture???? I’m iN LOVE ❤️✨❤️)
WARNING this is super mega long!
I ended up writing a lot of these for all of my paras bc I can’t fucking stop myself n you’ve honestly heard enough of my mains and not enough of my others so I Had to I’m so sorry
this entire post ended up being such a mess and I’ve been working on it for weeks I’m so fucking sorry
send me emoji asks!
🏈 Does your para enjoy playing sport?
Zazie does actually enjoy playing sports quite a bit, just.. alone. He’s not a team player, and often doesn’t know his own strength, so it’s better to let him do things on his own. He used to do a lot of running & parkour, but nowadays he mostly just works out on his own. He still does gymnastics tho. Tatsu very much loves playing sports, be it soccer, football, whatever, he’s in. He likes team sports, but he’ll still go work out alone most of the time. With Nyru it’s a bit more complicated, bc on one hand she has to be in top form for her concerts, but on the other, she really hates sports and just moving in general. Usually Zazie motivates her n they end up working out together, but otherwise, she doesn’t like playing any sports. Nyro plays a lot of chess, that counts right? Otherwise, he & Nyra really don’t like sports either. Meg & Ao tho work out a ton and always look incredible, and especially Meg enjoys playing sports, even if she’s not the best. She’s also quite strong tho, so that’s nice. I think Rin would be into sports as well, he’s all about a healthy balance in his life. He spends so much time painting, that I feel like he’d take some time for physical activities as well. Daiki is a fucking nerd and hates sports as much as Nyru, a subject they like to rant about a lot. Suki probably isn’t into sports either, like at all. Ami.. yeah actually. She spends a lot of time with the more active in the group, especially her brother, so she’d be into team sports as well.
🌼 Describe the aesthetic of your para (can include visual)
OKAY u already know how much trouble I’m having with this one but. My first plan was to actually write them down, like, all those posts u always see, but I only really liked the one I wrote for Zazie, all the others I disliked. Now I’m going back to wanting to make boards, and I think that’d be really cool, but I just do not have the energy to make all of those first, so I’m putting this on my to do list and hopefully I’ll actually do that at some point lmao. Now I can finally post this beast. ✨
✍ Write headcanons/imagine about your para(s)
OKAY so uhh. With any other person I would just take some more points from my hella long list of fun facts about Zazie, but you know literally all of them. I think?? Yeah literally every single one of these I’ve told you about. So. Huh. What do I do now. We’re at a point where I can’t tell you shit about Zazie & Nyru bc you literally know everything. So let’s see if I can come up with some other facts about Tatsu on the spot bc he needs more love.
despite the fact that he’s been appearing a lot less in my daydreams, my heart still goes ❤️🚨❤️🚨❤️ when I think about Tatsu.
i mean COME ON he’s amazing and he needs to come back I miss him!!!!!! I just feel like he’s been.. sorta withdrawn and depressed since he’s no longer with Nyra. That happened a while ago tho, idk maybe he’ll finally come back soon.
not sure if I ever told u this?? but he also doesn’t have a gag reflex. like at all. zero (0). 👀 for some reason he likes to bring this up in the most random moments too.
he’s actually fluent in 4 languages, at some point Zazie dragged him down the rabbit hole and they learned a bunch of languages together. these are English, Spanish, Japanese & German.
he has an incredible voice as well, obviously. it’s relatively high, but has this.. hmm I guess seductiveness about it? not sure how to explain it lmao. apart from Jay Kay & Brendon Urie, this song here is very close.
he can hit ridiculously high notes, on the same level as Nyru actually.
I told u this before, but his theme song is hey look ma, I made it due to how fucking perfect it is for him. he was very close with his birth mother, but she died shortly after his sister’s birth. his step mother was very abusive & made their life a living hell, and now, many years after they’ve gotten out of that situation, he still wishes he could show his real mother what has become of them.
he really didn’t deserve all of the bad shit that has happened him. sadly, he’s kind of a sheep, he just follows along with whatever’s happening. he’s not a bad person at all, he truly has a heart of gold, he just doesn’t have the strength to actually fight against anything. not really.
so in situations where he has to do bad things bc Zazie basically tells him to, he’ll do it, matter how much he hates it. man writing that out is actually heartbreaking damn.
he has a lot of regrets in his life, but the biggest one is probably his relationship with Nyra. he really did love her (still does tbh but don’t tell anyone), it’s just that he really fucked that up. and I don’t think he’ll ever be able to have a normal, healthy monogamous relationship the way Nyra wanted. so that’s heartbreaking as well. why did this turn into me talking about how fucking sad I am about Tatsu lmao ok we done here
🎙 Write a poem/song/or a story with song verses about your para or parascom
nshjfbkjdsbfkjds u know I hate poetry & I’m way too insecure about my writing so we’ll just uh… write down a fitting song verse for each of of my paras.
Zazie
I ain’t niceNo I’m quite a dickI’m the bad guy who’s makin’ you sickIt’s easy for meI’ve got no shameI’m in it for the money and fame
Nyru
But I got a mind to show my strengthAnd I got a right to speak my mindAnd I’m gonna pay for thisThey’re gonna burn me at the stakeBut I got a fire in my veinsI wasn’t made to fall in line
Tatsu
So I don’t feel loveBecause I got no faithI’ve seen those twisted lies thrown back into my faceI’ve heard the crazy doctrines of the human raceI must be alone
Daiki
Got an eagle beak with the ostrich feetSeven spider eyes for every day of the weekMeans I’m still up working while your bitch ass sleepsI’m an alien among the human beings
Nyra
Picture, picture, smile for the picturePose with your brother, won’t you be a good sister?Everyone thinks that we’re perfectPlease don’t let them look through the curtains
Nyro
Triangles are my favourite shapeThree points where two lines meetToe to toe, back to back, let’s goMy love, it’s very late‘Til morning comesLet’s tessellate…
Megumi
I just keep elevating, no losses, just upgradingMy lessons, made blessings, I turned that into moneyThank God I never settled, this view is so much betterI’m chilling, I’m winning, like on another level
Ami
Well you think that you know what I am but you don’t‘Cause I say what you can’t and I do what you won’tI like it loud really proud like a crown upon my headI’ll always be this way ‘till the day that I’m dead
Ao
Somehow, you’ve remained modestFlashbulbs pop, paparazzi goes wildWith amazing grace you walk and smileThey answer to your beck and callYou’re flawless
Rin
Prove to yourselfThere’s nobody elseRaise up your handAnd leave no man standing
Suki
I see how your attention buildsIt’s like looking in a mirrorYour touch like a happy pillBut still all we do is fearWhat could possibly happen next?Can we focus on the love?
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