Lou absolutely understood the assignment this season holy shit

having the whitest problem on earth: my dad got some already antique balinese masks at an estate sale 40 years ago and officially made them my problem by hiding them in a box of other masks he gave me and now i have to call museums asking who can take them because it turns out they are priceless cultural items. thanks dad.

hang on one more Nimona thing i realized. I'm so used to movies where the protagonist is inherently talented with no reason and is able to overpower the antagonists. Like, they're always unexplainably powerful and "oh wow, this person is stronger than these other people that have been training for years."

So, on my first watch, I thought that's what it was for Ballister. He fought a bunch of his fellow knights, overpowered them, disarmed the prodigy, Goldenloin.

THEN i rewatched, paid more attention, and holy shit. He's been like this since the beginning.

And then i started to notice the little things that subtly supported this.

He makes his own arm, that must take intellectual skill. He grabs a can that was about the fall off the shelf and make noise, without even looking at it.

And during the fight scene at the institute!! At first, I was like ok, typical protagonist fight scene where they overpower tons of other people. Because Plot.

But no!! the more i think about it, it's reasonable. It's established early on that Ballister is competent, he's skilled. He's very aware of things going on around him. He's able to knock out knights that around coming up behind him without looking, swiftly disable opponents.

Rewatching it always makes me go back and see these characters in a new light. So my view on Ballister went from "ah, mess of a man that's put in a tough situation. Able to do these crazy things because they're necessary to the plot." to "Oh he's competent!! That's the point!! He's still a mess but :0"

you say that as if it's a bad thing... 😳 comm for Vyrnen on twitter !!!

bitches will still be crying over the high-cloud quintet at 2 am months later and never get over them

its me. im bitches.

HII just wanna let u know i cant stop thinking abt poppy and sally (and laughingstock ofc) and its ur fault!!! i love them sm!! ur brain is huge!!

!!!!!! HOLY SHIT!!!!!

That is complete bullshit. I'd rather you break down and tell me that you hated me. At least there would be some passion in it.

MONICA POTTER as ALISON GORDON SAW (2004) dir. James Wan

every day I wake up is another day I suffer at the hands of self-care tasks.

The dreaded echelon briefing 😔 What was your interpretation of Michonne keeping her gaze steady on Rick when Jadis was spouting her propaganda and trying to make him feel selfish? It seemed like after the emotional work she and Rick did last episode she wanted to makes sure he stayed strong. Not gonna lie I’m so worried about Rick in the last episode (I’m fairly certain Michonne’s safe); “this world is broken, YOU build it back up” “things usually go to shit when people try to save the world in their own way” “til my last breath I’m yours” and the correlation of Rick’s childhood story about the burning crops and possibly burning the CRM to the ground. I know if it were up to Andy and Danai, Rick and Michonne would make it home to their babies. So much death and tragedy in the apocalypse can they please just let us have this 🥲

the dreaded echelon briefing. i don't know what it could possibly be but i know it's gotta be BAD bad.

rewatching that scene with rick, michonne and jadis, i like your interpretation because i think michonne is quite frankly always steadying rick lol but i also think something else was going on there. to me, the hard work in 1x04, as you aptly put it, was forcing rick to admit that he knows that going back to the CRM to keep their family safe is bullshit and just a self defense mechanism for his own trauma. so i don't think michonne is particularly worried about rick wavering at this point - she knows he's fine with killing jadis and going home, they just need the file first. rather, i think hearing jadis mention the "true size and scope of what the CRM is going to do to bring this world back" made michonne in particular realize right then and there that escaping the CRM wasn't enough, that they would have to stop them from doing whatever it is the echelon briefing is outlining. when jadis is talking, they both seem to realize she's hoping they'll leave not just to protect their childrean and alexandria from the CRM, but to protect the CRM from them. michonne held rick's gaze because a) they were coming to the same conclusion at the same time and b) she was silently communicating with him that what she was about to say ("this can't end with us going home") had a different meaning so he needed to follow her lead and play along.

as for being worried about rick. well.

i'll be the first to say that i'm terrible at making plot predictions lol i'm literally just here to watch my favorite people make out. but! i think you are right, that the show is clearly setting up some sort of big sacrifice for the greater good. it's been a constant theme since episode one, and i think the obvious conclusion to that would to be for rick (or michonne) to make the difficult decision to sacrifice themselves or each other for the greater good - if we are to take this foreshadowing at face value. BUT. the show is also very insistently trying to get us to draw comparisons between okafor/thorne/jadis and rick and michonne and giving us the constant refrain that while separately rick and michonne are vulnerable, together they can do anything. i think we are supposed to connect that while okafor, thorne, and jadis gave up not only their loved ones but their own sense of self to commit to the mission (whatever that mission may be for each of them), rick and michonne by contrast are not going to do that. rick, as i've said previously, already metaphorically killed himself for okafor's mission only for michonne to bring him back to life. why retread that? so, when i'm in a hopeful mood, i like to think that all of these red flags we're seeing are going to lead so some sort of fake out only for rick and michonne to figure out how to survive this and get home, while also protecting the world from the CRM. it's just that they may have to make a morally questionable choice, or some other sort of sacrifice, to do so. my best guess is that they might need to mass-kill all of those soldiers at the summit that's happening.

but, i do get it. i'm worried in general, not necessarily because of what's actually happening onscreen but because i've been burned so many times before that The Anxiety will not let my brain do anything other than assume the worst as a self-defense mechanism lol. that's just me personally trying to temper my own expectations though. my fear is actually the complete opposite of yours - i think AMC would keep rick and michonne alive indefinitely as they are clearly some of the biggest cash cows they have. my worry is that i think if andy (or danai) felt very strongly that their character should die or just wanted to be done with the franchise once and for all, that choice would be respected and honored. on the other hand, they have clearly demonstrated with these first five episodes that they are dedicated to giving their fans exactly what they want. and while i suppose episodes 4 and 5 in particular could be seen as a swan song before a tragic end, i don't think either one of them is stupid enough to think fans would be satisfied with losing either of these characters at this point. if rick dying was always the endgame, why not just kill him on the bridge in the first place? what would be the point of all of this? it wouldn't make any sense and it would be incredibly awful writing. michonne dying is simply so inconceivable to me i can't even contemplate it. still, anything can happen and i try to be prepared for that so i'll just say that should either rick or michonne die i'm sure danai and andy would do it justice and make it meaningful and respectful. i'm saying this through gritted teeth btw.

Every time i look at 1992 uwe tod i come away thinking that tod just..... should be weird. We can't be having normie tods running around... I want him to be this completely inhuman figure who tries to get close to humanity (because how do you personify death??) but deeply misunderstands some things, especially things like human behaviour and emotions. Máté is good at this too, he just did it in a different way, but after those two the effect is never really potent enough again. I mean, there is something to say for prods with humanized or gentle etc tods, at least theyre doing something else than mrak seiber, but it's not quite it for me at least. He needs to be weird because Elisabeth is weird and, dissatisfied with her life, craves a poem in the flesh.

And for me personally (this is not me saying gender non conformity is weird or inhuman btw, it's not, it's just hot and looks good) i want back the mayerling dress and all that, and the actors should be styled accordingly, if he's not going to put on eyeshadow and blush and get dolled up to kill rudolf then don't fucking cast him?? There are enough musical actors out there who like straying from the mold, the overlap between drag performers and musical artists is not insignificant. Hell, if despite your best attempts macho guys are still the only guys you can find, then cast a woman (trans or cis - for a trans woman the role might be easier/not require rewrites, because of vocal range), cast a nonbinary performer. You don't really have to change stuff in the script, someone who's not a man can still be a "prince" if the styling is androgynous. It really is that simple...

also this should maybe be a separate post but 1992 is so iconic for portraying mayerling as a romance, rudolf running to embrace tod, twirly dancing, Big Damn Kiss (rudolf barely notices the actual act of shooting himself, he's so busy making out) - up until the very end, when rudolf is dumped unceremoniously on the floor. symbolism. It's such a better deeper way to tackle the subject. Suicidal ideation doesn't just beat you over the head violently, mental illness/depression lures you in with promises of a "solution" but actually only offers a miserable nothing.

This is also why it's so important for Elisabeth to get dumped on the floor as well - there's more care in that than in how Rudolf is treated, Tod is obviously distraught, but that's the point and the tragedy of the show!!!! Freedom is fleeting, dreams are fleeting, emotion is fleeting, but yearning for them is what makes us human!!

If he carries her away the moral of the story becomes "if you die you get a hot supernatural partner that's obsessed with you!!!" No!!!!!!! The romance narrative is a big lie, suicidal ideation is a big lie, history is a big lie, it's all connected, but we always cover shit up with kitsch because some people prefer a simple romantic reading to the degree that they warp the rest of the story around it. I stg people have just replaced sissi movie trilogy fairytale prince FJ (1950s) with elisabethdasmusical fairytale prince modern peugeot king mark seibert leather tod (2020s) or insert whatever other boyfriend death you prefer

Stoick, to Toothless: How’s our dragon warrior?

Me:

Hot take about NSR

i've been thinking about it today, and TBH.....

I think DK West could have been Mayday's brother instead of Zuke's

I get that the point of May's arc is the revolution and Zuke's is fixing mistakes he did in the past, but honestly I think we would have been fine with Eve in Zuke's past, and West in May's. That way we would have also had much more insight into her past like Zuke, instead of Zuke havinng a mountain of backstory compared to May yknow?

Not to say I dislike Zuke and West's shared history, I do love it a lot, but idk I feel that if they had to cut out a lot of May's lore they could have sacrificed a bit of Zuke's for her

lmk if this is #true or not.....

While I do still think sam’s anti-Benny stance in the beginning of s8 is wildly out of character, it does make sense that Sam (in a season where all of his mistakes are consistently thrown at him) would be deeply jealous of Benny (blood sucking freak)

Hello.

I do not post for DSMP anymore, but for the record, although I will be keeping my c!Wilbur content up, I will no longer be creating for him at any point and no longer continue to support cc!Wilbur.

Shubble's abuser is almost certainly him. It is okay to be hurt by this possibility, but if you watch Shubble's vod and take the time to read the corroborating evidence posted by other individuals, there is no one else it could be; it is unproductive and not to mention disrespectful to deny it.

If you feel as though you cannot accept this reality right now, log off, take some time away, and focus on yourself. Wilbur is a grown adult man and does not need his fans to defend him. You are enabling him if you do.

All of y'all pretending like heterosexual women are the only ones who experience misogyny, or experience the most misogyny, are not (just) being homophobic, you're being misogynistic.

You're denying women's sex based oppression is real or it's severity. So maybe sit down and shut up and realize that we are still women despite the fact that we are not sleeping with men. You have the ability to make the choice not to sleep with men too. It's not an inaction unique to homosexuals.

I will spread any feminist praxis I want, and if it's insulting for me to reiterate the ideals we preach in these spaces because I'm a homosexual then you can go ahead and be insulted. SSA women have just as much claim to these spaces as you do because we are women and these spaces are for fighting misogyny, which we all experience. It's not just for tackling the misogyny y'all are uncomfortable with, it's for tackling all of it. Get with the program, ladies.

I've been having fun with Buck and Tommy, but you were my go to Eddie/Ryan person so I hope you come back soon. I miss him!

I'm going to go on record and say I'm not mad, but I need you to understand the level of entitlement you (and everyone else who has sent messages like this in the past week) must have to go onto someone else's playground and tell them they're playing with their toys wrong. I love Eddie. I love Ryan. I've been blogging about them for years. Literal years, so if you miss them so badly, please feel free to scroll through my archive or a couple posts back since I've posted about both Eddie and Ryan fairly recently. But do not send me messages like this again because that's just going to annoy me. Thank you <3