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#like no shit there’s gay undertones there for a bunch of reasons!!!
biblionerd07 · 8 months
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I’m reading No Crying in Baseball, about the making of A League of Their Own (film), and it keeps making me tear up lol. It was such a novel experience for so many of these actresses to get to work with so many other women all at once and not just be like the love interest or a set decoration. They got to be tough! And dirty! And ugly!! And there was a lot of hooking up behind the scenes! But the part that really got to me was that the studio was so worried about who was going to see it, because it’s a sports movie and those are For Men (🙄) but they didn’t think men would watch “girls playing baseball” (🙄🙄🙄🙄), and then someone involved in production screened it for his daughters who were 10 and 6 and they went absolutely bananas for it, so the studio realized that this was going to be huge with young girls. And none of them had stopped to consider what having this movie would mean to little (white) girls. They hadn’t even realized it would mean so much and be so enduringly popular!!!
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I watched Goncharov 2 so you wouldn't have to
I love seeing Goncharov have this weird renaissance on tumblr. It’s like when we all decided to get collectively obsessed with Dracula and the Epic of Gilgamesh. but did you know there's a sequel??
granted it's pretty obscure, like Eighties Bulgarian Treasure Planet levels of obscure, but you can actually watch the whole thing on YouTube for free. I can't even find the original poster, just this shitty DVD cover from Amazon:
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FUN FACTS ABOUT GONCHAROV 2
released in 1985, long after anybody would've given a shit about the original
features none of the original cast (except, weirdly enough, the guy playing Andrey's driver, despite Andrey himself being absent)
SOMEHOW passes the Bechdel test
was apparently produced by Benito Mussolini's kid???
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the movie starts with a weird, pointless nightclub scene with a ton of characters who get shot dead and are never seen again. it went on for so long I genuinely started thinking this was a Troll 2 situation, where somebody slapped completely unrelated movie's name on this for free clout; but no, this is actually supposed to be a sequel! the plot is that Goncharov's brother, who is also called Goncharov, just wants to sell flowers in Milan but his uncle Vladimir Espinoza (lmao) finds him and drags him off to fight a Galician crime lord named Iago for reasons that aren't clearly explained (and shamelessly rip off the Rocky training montage while they're at it). His Designated Love Interest™ is “Marina”, (imagine a Costco knockoff of Sofia with way more cleavage), whose job is to get kidnapped a lot. She sadly doesn’t get any sapphic undertones aside from a couple weirdly horny scenes with a nameless assassin masseuse who is inexplicably called “the Algerian” despite being portrayed by a Japanese actress (yikes).
The dialogue is so truly awful I strongly suspect English was not the writer's first language. At one point Uncle Vladimir tells his nephew to “gouge out their livers like a beak of the mad kestrel”. I'm 100% certain the guy playing him was hired for his weird resemblance to Al Pacino and not any acting talent; he delivers every line like there's a gun to his head but he also swallowed 30 Ambien. Iago is supposedly Spanish(?) but played by one of the whitest guys I've ever seen (Xander Crane, who has an objectively cooler name than his actual character — dude sounds like a Bond villain). He does a godawful fake accent and keeps accenting the wrong syllables. The part where he screams GON-CHAAAAAA-ROV!! has to be seen to be believed. The mangled English also makes the torture scene unintentionally hilarious, especially when Iago asks “Are you trying to f**k me?” and creates 20x more gay vibes than every Andrey/Goncharov scene combined.
some moments (ex. not-Sofia and Uncle Vlad keep mentioning Katya, but they talk about her like she was this Goncharov's lover) makes me wonder if they started the screenplay before watching Goncharov 1 all the way through, and it was supposed to be about OG Goncharov but they had to quickly rewrite it to be his brother instead. I really hope that's true cuz it would be hilarious and explain why they made a sequel to a movie where most of the characters die at the end.
Aside from (holy shit) Val Kilmer as one of Iago's bodyguards, no one involved with this film has worked on anything else you've ever heard of. The writer isn't even listed on IMDb, and Giuseppe Stromboli's entire filmography consists of this, a kids' cartoon called Spaghetti Briefcase and a bunch of weird Italian chewing gum commercials (which are also on YouTube btw). Matteo JWHJ pops up in the credits as a producer so I can only assume he was desperate for cash.
so yeah. Goncharov 2 is objectively terrible and problematic and lacking in gay vibes or juicy Goncharov lore, but if you want something to get drunk and laugh at with your friends it's got you covered
join me next time and we'll talk about the Goncharov director's cut
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snellyboi · 2 years
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Steven! At the Disco! How we talk about Steven Universe, Disco music, and the passage of time
FAIR WARNING: This post is very much a post for myself - but if you really wanna hear me get into pop music history and reputation issues then be my guest.
For a long time, in the mid to late 70s, Disco was IT.
You could find disco music anywhere. It wasn’t there like, ‘hey, this is a genre we all think we know about’ like Philly Soul or P-Funk earlier in the decade - this was CHART TOPPER shit.
We think it was all funk and stuff before Dsico, but the charts were DOMINATED by acts like John Denver, the Carpenters, and Debby Boone. Before you look them up they’re not funky in the slightest. 
And out of NOWHERE, here comes this black, gay roots music from city centers, and unlike other black, gay roots music from earlier in the decade it just explodes. You had disco movies, disco TV shows, even a song like the YMCA was able to become a perennial hit despite its clearly gay undertones. White kids from Columbus were popping their old copies of ‘Farewell, Andromeda’ in the used bin to scrounge up for the last copy of ‘C’est Chic’.
But then, the walls started to crumble. Studios picked up any act who considered themselves a disco act. Shit like ‘Disco Duck’ got released. And when they tried to make Disco in England? It went bad. And they still shipped it over here, because Disco was seriously all over the place.
Putting Disco in your band’s liner notes was like putting STEM in the subject line of your fine arts grant proposal email; it doesn’t matter HOW shitty it is, it’s getting a green light.
And people got TIRED of it, mostly because the bad stuff was REALLY BAD and the good stuff was UNAVOIDABLE. The fact that it was black, gay roots music in a time when the country was shaping up to head into the ultra conservative 80s didn’t help, either.
So some chump DJ named Steve Dahl, along with baseball promoter Mike Veeck, got a bunch of records together, on the night of July 12th, 1979.
And burned them.
At a White Sox game.
(Funnily enough, the sox lost that night to the Detroit Tigers, 9-5)
Disco was Dead.
...UNTIL about the mid 90s when critics started to revisit some disco records, and other acts from the era, wondering if we’d been too harsh on the. Had we? The answer was YES, DEFINITELY YES, OH GOD YES. As it turns out, oversaturation is seriously bad for ANY sort of media. But with Disco, it was counter culture enough, in a counter culture America generally doesn’t like, and it was just getting...all over the place. With that and studios rushing to get their money’s worth out of a genre they weren’t willing to support correctly, they drove it into the ground. Disco never stood a chance.
Nowadays, we all see it for what it was - another genre of music. There’s good disco, bad disco, in between disco (it’s mostly in between btw). Just like ANY genre of music, there’s duds.
Disco isn’t perfect, but it’s not some awful by default genre because a bunch of studio execs pushed out crappy albums and novelty records.
~
...does this sound familiar to you?
In the mid to late 2010s, Steven Universe was IT.
You could find Steven Universe content anywhere. It wasn’t there like, ‘hey, this is a show we all think we know about’ like Regular Show or Korra earlier in the decade - this was TRENDING EVERY DAY shit.
But over time, just like disco, cracks formed - weird discourse about stuff happened. There was so much Steven Universe stuff ALL OVER THE PLACE, ALL THE TIME. It couldn’t be avoided. Then we got mad about queer rep, and then mad about villains, and mad about all sorts of stuff. But for some reason it was NOT normal mad.
I think it was oversaturation again.
Either way, it exploded. We got videos of people calling the show garbage for 2 hours straight. We got people harassing production staff. We got people getting into serious, DAYS LONG FIGHTS over what clothes a character wore. There was no Steven Universe Burning Night at, like, a Mariners game or whatever, but it was just as significant.
And now...here we are again. Steven Universe went from the best thing, to the worst, to something that was the best again because it was a pioneer in its field, which is NOT, by the way, what I’m disputing.
For a long time I remember HATING Steven Universe Future - the ill-fated last season of the show, cut short due to network heads - and I still do despise it, with a fiery passion (Though, that probably has to do with my personal tastes, as opposed to its genuine quality).
But I also remember hating ALL of Steven Universe for a while, too. And sure, it had its duds. Oh, sweet buttery Christ on a dinner roll, did it have its duds. But so does, like...everything, right?
Steven Universe isn’t perfect, but it’s not awful or some horrible piece of media either, certainly not because it had a few bad episodes and some missed opportunities here and there with the villains.
...but Disco took DECADES to reach its re-evaluation. Steven Universe has been off air, for, like...less than half a decade.
Will media’s re-evaluation periods continue to speed up, and slow down? I think so. And while I’m not sure it’s a good thing, I think we’ll have to adapt.
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vaguely-concerned · 3 years
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X-men Evolution; the great 2021 rewatch liveblog
exactly what it says on the tin, about halfway through the show I had TOO MANY FEELINGS and had to start writing some of them out haha (gets quite gambit & rogue/gambit heavy in the latter half, Because of Who I Am as a Person)
- this is my childhood’s x-men, my formative experience with them, and I’m happy to report that still seems like a good thing. the little eleven year old within me gets to geek out and have a good time with the characters and the surprisingly good animation and writing, adult me gets to CACKLE at regular intervals at the fashion/technology/absolute bonkers hot garbage comic book nonsense they use to justify a storyline every now and then, it’s been a good time 
- I was like ‘ah well it is super dated it probably won’t be quite the same now’ and then rogue’s HAIR did the THING in the opening and ‘it’s all coming back to me now’ started playing in the background... the little baby queer in me swooning across time and space
- such a good beast, both his design and the writing, my heart aches for him all the time. he’s just so passionate! about being a teacher! helping young humans learn the stuff they’ll need in life! the most wonderful nerd man, just let good things happen for him
- I’m going to go ahead and assume that rogue’s ‘crush’ on scott is more of a deeply complex psychological process about desiring normalcy and intimacy and trying to figure out if she’s queer and dealing with her emerging sexuality and latching on to the first and best safely unavailable and nonthreatening older boy to project these issues onto rather than actually being a real thing, because I respect her so much as a person and I cannot bring myself to imagine she’s honestly attracted to a man who has POSTERS OF CARS on his bedroom wall. (I’ll give jean a break just because she seems to have a longer deeper history with him that might counteract some of that libido-kill, and also she’s a jock so lol)
like I am very sorry but can u imagine being a teenage girl with any interest in a boy with model cars in his bedroom when gambit’s swanning around being a much, much, much worse choice on almost every possible level but in a teen girl kryptonite kind of way? inconceivable  
(I drag scott quite a few times in this and it’s not because I don’t love him, it’s just his tragedy to be the most draggable man in the world)
to be fair by the time gambit shows up that whole Situation has mostly played itself out I suppose but still  
- toad’s design is so ineffably brilliant, I can’t quite tell you why but that ugly cute charm has really stuck with me, he’s one of the characters I remembered the best to this day just visually
- poor evan... he truly never had a chance, did he, they just saddled him with the most 90s teen bullshit they could come up with like he’s some kind of ‘what adult writers think teens like’ frankenstein’s monster ;______; it’s not your fault honey
- poor poor POOR storm, she gets one focus episode and they were like ‘we’re going to make an episode so racist -- ‘
I’m still STUNNED at how bad it was, but undeniably I laughed hysterically to the point that my neighbours were probably worried when that dude was earnestly like ‘He [stunningly breathlessly racist caricature of a ‘witch doctor’ guy] has stolen her powers, and he’s going to use them to take over Africa!!!’ fhajsdlfhsakjldfh oh really? tell me more, like how the fUCK this could be on television within my life time fasdlfhsdkjfhsad f  just... fahjksdfh
- it’s a testament to gambit’s appeal as a character that his charm can survive what they’ve done with his hair and beard choices in this one fajskfhs regrettable but true I still fuckn LOVE him and in my highly biased yet Correct opinion he should have been around much more. get you a man who manages to stay hot through sheer Vibes even with a bowl cut
- aw scott/jean is kind of sweet in this show even if it’s taking them forEVER to get there, I like it 
- it’s very nice of rogue to not mention magneto’s romantic daydreams and nostalgic memories about charles xavier after touching his face that one time... or maybe her brain did her a service and repressed it, there’s some stuff you shouldn’t have to know about your father figure   
- the danger room is the very definition of ‘why do we even have that lever’ and I wonder what the fuck prof x does to have enough money to replace everything that gets busted all the time
- I’d say that a lot of the writing holds up surprisingly well! (but some of it is also incredibly inexcusably racist in ways that beggar belief, so... not full marks here) the characters have distinct voices and their arcs are set up and delivered on solidly for the most part, and there’s a lot of love showing through in small moments that are just there to have a funny/interesting thing to say about the characters and how their powers work separately and in combination. listen, sometimes I get so thirsty for like. basic goddamn competency in storytelling, let me have this
- ugggggh why is there captain america in my x-men have I not suffered enough... very very funny when prof x goes ‘sounds like you knew rogers personally’ and logan is like ‘I did ;)’ *all the students ganging up on steve rogers* “did you fuck our teacher, captain america?!”
- fskadfhas WHY are you showing me hot young-ified magneto’s ass fksjahfskj charles is not even here to see it, what a tragic waste erik 
- ...I was sort of kidding before but uh I think logan genuinely did fuck captain america (or at least wishes very much that he did lol)
- wanda can have a little watching the world burn. as a treat for the way every single adult in her life has fucking failed her (’aren’t they treating you well here’ professor x she’s in a straightjacket)  
- poor rogue tho can you imagine finding out after your biggest crush on a girl yet that she’s your fucking MOM in disguise... I would break out in cold sweat every time I thought about a boob forever after
- well seems like they really just had all that homoerotic rivalry stuff between quicksilver and spyke in their first ep only to never do anything with that again ever?? I mean even without the gay undertone that seems like a dynamic you spent most of an episode setting up writers what the hell haha
- dslhfkasjlh GAMBIT THERE HE IS MY BOY IS ON THE SCENE THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!! I don’t even care about his awful hair situation or the fact that his eyes are wrong here (coloured contact lenses, maybe, for a watsonian explanation? though he’d probably have to get them made special, considering he needs the sclera and the iris covered up in different ways, I’ve seen some comic panels indicating he has been known to?)
(cute little detail: when he shuffles the cards the first time we see him he ends with removing the top card to show the ace of hearts beneath <3 foreshadowing baBEY he’s a... good-ish boy deep down. hey he tries okay shit gets complicated sometimes lol) 
- cracking UP at gambit perched cheerily on the edge of a crate dispensing cards in the middle of the battle... he’s like ‘eh it’s a livin’ sfsajkhf remy stop working for supervillains just because you had nothing to do on a thursday afternoon and they said they’d pay you
- I’m guessing magneto must have imposed a strict order of silence on these guys or something because I cannot imagine any other reason for him to shut up, especially once he notices rogue is a QTE (or, far more likely, they hadn’t settled on any voice actors for the new characters until next season haha. it is kind of odd that they’re all keeping up near monastic silence, though, even sabertooth lol) 
- WHAT an epic first meeting for us rogue/gambit fans here... first his shadow like there’s fireworks going off behind him lighting him up and then he gives her the fuckn king of hearts and she’s so enchanted by his dumb handsome face she doesn’t even notice it’s about to blow up in her hands and it all happens in heavily meaningful silence afjsdfjashjk no wonder this ship ingrained itself in my hindbrain  
yeah look smug while you can remy she’s gonna have you on your knees one day and you’ll be happy about it lol
- god storm is so COOL, everything just fading out of focus when she really gets going... give her more screen time, show!!
- mystique is every person... this person... that person... that bird... that cat... that wolf... I’m not even sure she’s not also me... are you sure she’s not you? 
- holy fuck I respect the hell out of the decision to just... blow up the entire status quo in a season ender, I only vaguely remembered that (actually in general I appreciate how good the continuity is -- buildings and places that get damaged in battles need to be repaired or rebuilt, it makes the consequences feel more real even when no one gets seriously hurt. where they get the money to restore scott’s car and logan’s motorbikes every time they go cablooie is still an open question tho lol is it credit card fraud, professor? is it telepathically acquired blackmail???) 
- I first watched this when I was nine or so, so it’s a real experience to go from my starry eyed intrigued ‘oh my god... they’re teenagers’ to my horrified adult perspective of ‘oh my god... they’re TEENAGERS D:’
that goes double for the brotherhood boys honestly, I’m here with tears in my eyes like ‘I’m sorry the system has failed you so badly you’re all just a bunch of dumb kids whose caretakers clearly fucked up spectacularly’  
like lance is always waiting for mystique to come back because she’s the closest thing he has to a safe parental figure, may we speak about how crushingly depressing that is 
- rogue is so ready to throw hands at literally any moment and for that I love and treasure her immensely (I think getting to see her be so surly and unreasonable and sometimes difficult and jealous, like any teenager, meant a lot to me as a kid who was not really allowed to be any of these things, this version of the character has stayed with me so deeply. she holds on so fiercely to her right to feel what she feels and be what she is even when it’s ‘ugly’ or unreasonable, which I think plays in really interestingly with how her powers involve getting invaded by other people’s thoughts and memories to the point of overwhelming her own sense of self and the fact that she clearly has a lot of self-loathing and self-consciousness and confusion about her identity as well. I love her so much)  
- oooof this is the ‘the gang experience a microaggression’ episode huh (well more like macroagressions really)
hits a bit different with adult eyes and perspective huh
- hearing jean sound almost like a child when she says ‘that’s so unfair!’ somehow has me like ;______; -- she has to be so adult and responsible all the time, and having her be reduced to the kid she still is and should get to be in front of this awful awful man she could squash like a bug with the flick of a thought... ugh I’m Big Sad (it is funny that jean seemingly plays Every Sport tho djfhaskj)
- MY BOY IS BACK!!! this time with the duster coat and his eyes the right colour, im so happy (too bad about the subdued colour scheme tho; I adore his dumb bright pink getup with my whole heart)
it’s kind of adorable that he takes the time to take the bullies aside and go ‘I know these guys can’t wreck you without getting expelled, but I think you’ll find no law set down by god or man would stop me from doing so whenever I wanted to. so piss off and leave them alone’ lol he’s looking out for them, in his own way
- in this episode: remy lebeau wrangles some kids while looking bored yet mildly amused the whole time. what the fuck does magneto have on you for you to agree to this level of babysitting duty buddy
- fun detail I noticed b/c when I get a fave I hyperfixate: he gave rogue the king of hearts before, but he ‘introduces’ himself to the brotherhood here (lol) with the jack of hearts, probably to symbolize he’s here as someone who works for magneto in this setting and not as his own man? it’s a demotion he’s given himself there, anyway, might be he’s not very pleased about his current position huh 
- I like it when rogue and kitty team up, they’re not very effective together but their squabbling is so cute and non-aggressive 
- pietro is what draco malfoy would be if I ever found malfoy interesting to watch for even one moment, every time quicksilver talks I’m like ‘what wonderfully insufferable thing is going to come out of your mouth this time you little shit :’)’
- a) why are scott and logan shirtless for this scene? I am not complaining on the logan side of things at least but why and b) I laughed so hard I almost fell off my couch when scott asked logan if he’d ever been in love and he was like ‘once. she was the most beautiful bike I ever saw’ falsdfhaskjfhsakjlfhasklhjfd THE BEST VERSION OF WOLVERINE EVER, ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES 
- mystique’s sheer dedication to being a petty bitch is kind of inspirational tbh, almost makes me want to go on a completely bonkers and extra crusade of personal revenge myself  
- oooh they’re doing some genuinely cool things with vision/lack of vision in this one (it’s the scott left on his own in the desert without glasses one btw) even visually, dang! I’m so sad this show didn’t get more seasons than it did, honestly, it deserved it
- hell yeah jean wreck her, go get your man with the suspiciously specific clothing damage normally done to female characters 
awww :’) okay yeah they’re super sweet, I love the tiny loving animation details like how he leans his head against her and her stroking his hair away from his eyes
- nooo don’t bully evan leave my t0tally r4dical sk8er boy alone :(
- I love the running joke of people fleeing in blind panic only to reveal that what they’re running from is kitty’s cheerful well meaning little face fskfaskh 
- scott and jean are already peak married after officially being together for one episode and it’s adorable, and they just stone cold threw logan under the bus, rip wolverine we hardly knew ya
fjasdlfasldfhslajdkfhsadkjlfhsdkjalfhsdakfh h jean establishing herself as the alphabitch of this relationship by throwing her man to the wolves right after dsjfhaskjfhaskjhfsakjdhfaskjhfaskdhfskjahfskdajhf get smarter or get volunteered scott 
- ...eyepatch lady is so hot ngl
oh evan went to the place hank used to go to calm down ;________; (honestly he’s kind of won a place in my heart just by being a pretty normal teenage boy haha)
- jesus fucking CHRIST can you imagine being storm having to look her sister in the eye as she tells her ‘I lost your only child, he’s *vague gesture* somewhere in the sewers we think’ this poor woman
- amanda the self admitted monster fucker you are so VALID (I love her and her family’s design so much tho!)
- it’s so cool that even in his human ‘disguise’ kurt’s fingers follow the shape of his actual hand beneath it rather than moving like a five fingered hand, it’s such a lovingly consistent little detail 
- magneto and mystique in a breathless race to see who can be the shittiest parent... tune in next week for yet another parental nadir (also some low-poly gambit appearances in this one, for those at home keeping score (me), he’s in the background looking like someone drew him with their eyes closed fakjldfhasd look how they massacred my boy)
- someone please teach the brotherhood boys about consent huh
- jean ‘soccer mom before her time’ grey and her SUV dfhakjlhds :’)
- im sobbing rogue baby girl i’m so sorryyyyyy, this voice actress is so good, my parental instincts suddenly kicked into overdrive hearing the crack in her voice :( (bb me was right tho rogue centric episodes ARE the best episodes. that tension between ‘do I identify witn this character or am I crushing on her?? both???’ now has the fun new addition of ‘oh god oh no you are a baby I want to shield you with my body from everything trying to hurt you’)
- mystique is like ‘so you see despite you telling me you never wanted to see me again I completely disrespected that and posed as a friend your age, manipulated you by offering you the mirage of direly needed emotional intimacy and belonging and added some sprinkles of homoerotic tension to it just to massively worsen your already existing grievous psychosexual trauma and identity issues... out of love’
god go jump in a black hole you fucking monster 
- there’s some very interesting and quite subtle subtext about the people she’s morphing into and what that says about her mental state/how it shows off some of her emotional baggage with the rest of the team. it’s like she’s switching between people/powers that fit the purpose as if she’s going through cycles of fight/flight (and then bursts of freeze where she’s herself, which is... so sad)
- this whole episode is hurting my heart but rogue at full power is undeniably epic  
 - ‘professor x get your goddamn act together and get this poor girl some fucking tHERAPY’ challenge
- SAFE PAPA LOGAN ;_____;
- EYYYYYY opening straight on My Lad, I cannot stop winning!!!!! 
fasdfhsad disintegrating the window with a smiley face... remy I do love you more than my heart can bear honestly, hello may we speak about the fact that his urge to be a little shit is so deep and strong it survives mind control (that little breathed out ‘hiah!’ as he vaults the fence too dsakfjsd)
hahaha and he does up the coat fhsalfdsaj 
- magneto dismissing other telepaths like ‘puh-lease, your Meaningful Looks have got nothing on my ex-husband’s’ 
- :’) rogue and kurt sibling timeees
- say what you want but this pyro guy’s got job satisfaction in being a creepy arsonist with a weird recurring horse theme (well at least twice but still weird)
- I love how beast is the kindest man to ever walk the earth but also straight up savage, this man drags people so hard their ancestors wince in their graves
- gambit taking the time to complete the guard’s game of solitaire -- this episode is giving me everything I want. u little disgrace mr lebeau
and THEN he takes the spider out in the most hilariously bonkers way my heart is so FULL
(I love that when magneto moves by he looks startled and has to quickly move his head out of the way to avoid getting kicked in the temple too that’s a fun detail)
I’m so INTO how this sequence shows off that his greatest strength isn’t even his powers (which are pretty straightforward, really, he makes go boom, longer time and bigger thing bigger boom) but that he’s clever and creative and always extremely ready to be the most harebrained-bananapants-extra-in-a-deceptively-laidback-sort-of-way person in the room (I actually have some genuinely Deep Thoughts about how his whole character does a really interesting thing with having the straightforwardly destructive nature of his powers yield to what his nature as a person is, and how using the playing cards play (heh) into it, maybe I’ll write it out some day. just the fact that he could use anything, but he deliberately chose something that adds style and playfulness and corny charm to it and that also limits the damage of the explosions compared to if he habitually used something with more mass... I find it fascinating how much he’s made a story around himself with it and how deeply it shows he does have a good heart, at the end of the day, in almost a metatextual way. he doesn’t want to destroy things or people, he’s at worst (and best lol) a thief.)
- I honestly have literally no memory of white nick fury (which seems so weird now isn’t it funny) in this series from when I was a kid, he clearly did not make an impression on me lol
- mr wolverine ‘assigned canadian at birth’ x-men 
- oh man I dig the androgynity of x-23′s outfit (even tho they had to compensate with the long hair, which... kind of doesn’t make sense in-universe but does on a design level because it’s a crucial thing that she’s a female clone of logan so yeah okay fine whatever have your arbitrary gender markers if you must haha)
ooooooh that’s actually really clever, they make her gender gradually more obvious as she unravels through the episode and her outfit changes -- first the mask coming off, and then her jacket opening to show her silhouette more clearly, that’s cool!  
- my god what really sets this show apart is how much it invests in little character and relationship moments, it’s just so fucking GOOD! it gives laura looking in on those moments such depth and weight because it’s new to her but established to us as an audience, this is how you make found family devastating people (storm growing bonsai trees is so charming too haha) 
- ooof this is honestly quite harrowing 
SHE’S SO SMALL COMPARED TO HIM I’M CRYING (at least that part of his genes translated over faslkfsjdh short king, I say this with all the love and support of a fellow short monarch)  
- tabitha seems to just be running around doing precisely whatever the fuck she wants and you know what I support her even if she is an asshole her father left her a bunch of trauma and no fucks left to give 
- still thrilled about professor x explaining the spider key fuckup to magneto after the fact like ‘magnus you dumb bitch this is why we split up’ 
- awww kitty has anime and movie posters on her wall and sleeps with a stuffed toy :’)
-          remy                           rogue
                              🤝
doing completely unnecessary parkour around the brotherhood living room seemingly just for the hell of it... I’m not saying soulmates but fucking soulmates 
- fhsadkjlfhsakjldfhsadjkfhsdajkfh just as gambit’s soul-level need to be a little shit survived his bout of mind control, rogue’s deep and urgent desire to kiss gambit full on the mouth survived hers I can’t breathe
she looks so pleased with herself too GOOD FOR YOU GIRL at least get something out of this other than more trauma 
also not only the fact that he’s smart enough to figure out what’s going on (though he’s only partially right about who’s behind it. I do so enjoy gambit/mystique deep and sincere antipathy as a constant across all universes tho lmao pure wlw/mlm hostility) but also that he keeps fending her off like he’s not trying to hurt her even though she’s in nigh on unstoppable and invulnerable terminator mode... awww 
- gambit having absolutely no patience for wolverine and sabertooth’s bullshit macho-off and consistently being this little biker trio’s one brain cell is adding years to my life with every passing moment
his voice is a little different in these scenes too, a bit softer and less like he’s trying to impress someone, it’s nice
- hank: well I barely recognize any of these (completely made up) ‘ancient egyptian hieroglyphs’ but from what I can make out -- *proceeds to infodump a perfect coherent narrative* fjdhfak  
listen this whole thing is such nonsense on so many levels, I’m just turning my brain off so I won’t have to think about it okay, the compulsion to put ancient aliens in egypt haunts us as a culture 
- I am CACKLING about gambit in the snow after having to listen to these two chucklefucks ooze testosterone at each other for hours
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he started out taking it in good cheer and is now reduced to ‘dieu would both of you just jump off this fUCKING mountain please’
- ah. a little oops-a-daisy there, we seem to have unleashed the apocalypse. please stand by (they really don’t pull their punches with the season cliffhangers in this show haha)
- opening the season on gambit’s merrily grinning face is the easiest way to gain my favour. yes good this season may commence 
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baby u r my
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 ANGELLLLLLLL
(he’s so cute here tho haha I think it shows the design isn’t unsalvagable, just get him better hair and stubble more like logan has and you’ve basically got it) 
love his exasperated eyeroll when the dude gets spooked (by his eyes? or just the general weirdness?) too
he’s just trying to keep this crazy family of evil mutants together and unmurdered by one another until they’ve managed to avert the end of the world, bless him  
- oh NO rogue’s LIP wobbles my hhhhhheart ;____; such a good animation detail to put in
- like... I know kurt is just a sad scared teenager with a lot of shit going on and all the adults are too busy averting the end of the world to help him... but buddy maybe don’t ask your sister to wake her abuser (who forced her to kickstart the end of the world!!!!!) when she feels utterly unsafe even with her statue version around huh
- ...wanda is good and I want only good things for her. and for her dad to be disemboweled for what he did to her both the first time around and when he forced her to forget I mean what 
- magneto throwing an epic satelite-slinging tantrum b/c ‘no I am the biggest sexiest strongest mutant of the pack :(’... erik fucking get over yourself 
- yes boys absolutely go along with a plan suggested by a dude who looks at you like this 
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nothing bad can come of this surely asdfkhsa
- lance’s quarter of a braincell always trying to go ‘hey wait, maybe... not do this???’ and it never helps lol
- in this episode: Logan Has A Bad Day 
...some very specific bondage positions he’s held in here, I am sure this episode awakened something in someone once upon a time lol 
- logan shielding x-23 with his body... im fine it’s okay I’m not crying don’t look at me
- afsdhlsdfjasdlk those sure are some ‘scottish’ accents flsadkjhkdsjahfsd
- scott relieved to finally be able to cede the position of ‘charles xavier’s least favourite son’ to someone else fjsaklfhsajd (poor scott it’s not your fault honey)
supremely cowardly to suggest there is an ex-wife involved rather than charles slutting his way around the british isles back in the day but okay
- kurt with a cold is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. it’s okay kid it’ll get better soon
- ...is there an implication here that professor x is naturally blond. because I am losing my entire little mind about it (i mean he at least has to carry the gene, as does this lady?)
ETA: upon doing some research into this I can indeed confirm that charles xavier does seem to be naturally blond, and after this knowledge I will never be the same 
- “listen, dracula” fskdafghasd oh scott you sweet baby angel I love you
- I know jean’s abilities are a bit ‘as strong or as weak as the plot needs right now’ at this point (so you can have the setup for what’s going to happen with them eventually and she’s basically invincible ;____;), and normally I’m cool with it but god I want her to just squash lucas like a little bug
- ewwwww please don’t ever say ‘daddy’ like that again
- ...what the fuck is even going on this episode’s a mess 
like okay the split personality thing could be something but the way it’s done... what just happened lol
- MY BOY EVAN IS BACK! with a real glowup too (...though kind of weird how he suddenly looks like a grown man)
- augh scott’s eyes are so pretty oh my god ;__________________________;
- that episode in the first season where evan makes the ‘this is my new family!!’ video is so sad now (also, again, his poor poor parents) 
- time for: life affirming road trip with gambit (involuntary) faskljdfhaskjd
stunt therapist remy lebeau 
- I mean the way he goes about it is batshit insane and it’s very much secondary to what he’s actually up to but this is the first time rogue’s sounded genuinely hopeful and confident and like herself in like a season <3 
- he is disconcertingly pleased about her nearly throwing him off the train, and may I just say I agree it’s so nice to see rogue with her old fire back 
- the first time I watched this it was of course dubbed into norwegian, so I had no idea either of these characters were southern lol (though to be fair I probably wouldn’t have had much context for what it meant exactly either, I was like ten at the time and not too interested in america) I seem to dimly remember the norwegian voice actor did a little more of a ‘french’-tinged accent for gambit all over tho haha  
- you know what respect where it’s due, pyro dude knows to live his life for the lols and one has to admire his sociopathic dedication to it
interesting that he, too, seems to have fucking hated magneto -- I wonder if the implication here is that he kept all the acolytes in line with blackmail or by keeping something/one hostage? (except sabertooth maybe he’d just have to say ‘you get to fuck shit up and fight wolverine’ and that’d be enough)
- fsdakfhsd he’s so focused on her he doesn’t notice that guy about to hit him fkafhsa 
- fuck everything else except whatever the hell these two’ve got going on
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- it’s weirdly cathartic to have rogue have a conversation with someone who was not happily adopted as well, I don’t think kurt like. gets it because his parents loved him unconditionally and still do 
birds of a feather motherfucker  
- fun detail: when the x-men team are on the shore and logan is sniffing around scott is stepping in something and trying to wipe it off his boots in the background
- when he wakes up after passing out from the touch he’s smiling even though she’s standing over him looking like the rage of god outlined by the moon fsajfsa well the last time he passed out like that it was from a kiss, maybe he still has some hopes and dreams in that direction lol (also he recovers from the tumble down the hill first and is checking on her before accidentally brushing her cheek with his hand, which I thought was sweet) 
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and it was in that moment he knew he fucked up *passes out*
- ‘I can explain’ can u remy. can u  
- did it ever even occur to you to just. ask her. to help you. I mean I know it didn’t but like rogue’s always one second away from throwing hands with some bully and is stupidly ride or die, if you’d given her the puppydog eyes she would have crumbled immediately (fair enough I guess this entire episode is telling us he’s not from a background where he has much experience with people just helping him without a price haha) 
- his eyes glowing when he’s angry or upset or using a lot of his power is undeniably cool as all hell. I’m just saying it would be Big Sexy if they sort of flickered with light in moments of genuine vulnerability okay  
- his coat... his coat is what makes the Silhouette tm and I could not be happier about it 
- another parent of the year contestant enters the running lol “hey remy have you ever considered that you’re more of a walking bomb factory than a person? that’s certainly how I think of you hahaha c’mon kid let’s go” 
- the running joke of jean luc getting dollar signs in his eyes seeing the other mutant powers and gambit being like ‘nO!!!!’ and pulling him along is amazing haha
- from the way he looks when he touches rogue accidentally and the way he talks to his dad I’m sort of getting the feeling this gambit might actually be a bit younger than he looks?
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here too -- idk why but it’s making the ‘wait is he baby???’ alarms go off in my head haha. very early twenties at most. 
- and we’ve officially seen him with all the face cards in the heart suit folks! (yes this is the sort of thing my brain notices no I don’t know either)
- poor logan running his ass off this whole episode in a panic and then she’s like ‘nah he’s fine (in several meanings of the word ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ) please put him down’ hfaskfsda
- rogue without makeup!!! her eyes look so naked like this haha <3
- oooh here’s a really interesting thing that tickles my brain a bit in this specific part of the scene where gambit frees his dad -- the part where he’s leaning against the door frame waiting for jean luc, who’s about to suggest using the opportunity to ruin the rival gang from the inside rather than slipping away while they still can
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from his expression here he knows what’s about to happen, what jean luc is about to say, and it’s clearly a ‘man who thought he’d lost all hope loses last additional bit of hope he didn’t even know he still had’ sort of situation. he KNOWS what jean luc is like, and it still hurts that he really, honestly can’t give him even this, can’t appreciate that remy’s already done all this shit for him when he extremely didn’t have to, without immediately (no really, it took him less than ten seconds to go there? jesus) demanding more.  
remy tells him “I’m just here for you” and jean luc does not understand it. remy seems to be sincere in this motivation -- rogue certainly thinks so, having experienced it second hand and found enough at least emotional merit in it to decide he was worth saving even after all his bullshit (lol a bit of a running theme maybe. I think it’s very telling that after she absorbed mystique she was like ‘what the FUCK you’re a fucking monster’, and after she absorbed gambit she went ‘you did the wrong thing for the right reasons’ after she got over the first wave of outrage) 
there’s also what he says as he stands there: “You don’t need me for that”, with the distinct implication that jean luc would only keep him around because he has a use for him and for no other reason -- and then jean luc shamelessly doubles down on that by specifying that it’s not even him he’s got a use for as such, just his powers. that’s some kicking puppies level of deliberately missing the point, it’s almost impressive in how cheerfully mean it is haha
this idea of using people is really important in this episode because remy’s doing basically exactly the same thing to rogue to begin with; it doesn’t really matter to his plan that it’s her that’s with him through this, just what her powers are. (I think it’s  p r e t t y  solidly implied that he does actually like her a lot outside of that too and maybe there is some comfort in having her around for this, but mostly he’s behind a smokescreen of lies through the whole thing sooo I doubt he’s even aware of it, honestly)     
but then it does matter that it’s her when she comes back for him, even after what he did. and unlike jean luc he understands what that means, that she did that for him, and that she didn’t have to. and instead of asking her for more, in return he gives her the thing it’s been established is what he considers the most valuable thing he has; his ‘last card’, the thing he’s credited with keeping him alive many a time, basically. it’s gone from using to mutuality, a tentative place of friendship, and at the end of the day he is a different man than his adoptive father, with a capacity for selflessness and love he lacks. which is of course some of the same stuff going on with rogue and mystique too, except rogue acted from a more fragile and unstable place and did something she regrets, or at least has a LOT of doubts about now, and she found some catharsis in helping someone make a different choice in a similar situation. man there’s some Stuff going on under the surface here haha
(by the way it’s a weirdly... meaningless yet intensely meaningful thing, the gifting of a symbol? of an idea? but he’s putting something very crucial of himself into her hands, is the subtext, and he expects her to understand, which she also does seem to do. at the beginning of the episode he’s proving that he’s seen something true about her -- “You’re such an unhappy girl”, knowing where she comes from, the way she’s mourning her lost confidence and autonomy with her abilities -- and here she’s proving she’s seen something true about him. :’) I wish this show had gone on long enough for this dynamic to progress, it’s really interesting and touching)   
- gambit dragging himself up onto dry land seeing someone approaching (to help?!): :D
gambit seeing that it’s logan and the look on his face: D: 
- rogue using her powers so confidently and fearlessly in this episode tho!!!! 
- *me crying* and then her FAMBILY comes to take her home and he says he’s looking out for her too and kurt still loves her even though they’re having a conflict thing between them and she’s finally able to use her powers without so much fear again and --
- ...did I just watch some baby lesbian love at first sight shit right now???  
- okay last two episodes let’s go
- HELL YEAH STORM (I love that she’s like ‘don’t give me a dumb order like that and I won’t have to disobey it’ too sdfjsaj) her voice has such command I’m usually very much not the ‘step on me’ type butttt
- y’know I feel like apocalypse’s main fault across all versions I’ve seen of him is that he’s like an immortal superpowered god king and he’s not even sexy. like at least make him hot if he’s going to be insufferable in every other way 
- also callout post for apocalypse: one time he made gambit into the Horseman of Death... and didn’t even make him sexy!!! you were handed remy lebeau, supreme bi disaster slut of the x men universe, and you couldn’t even make his brainwashed superpowered evil side hot?? a beautiful stubbled twunk with glowing red eyes and extremely charming :> face practically delivers himself into your hands and you do that to him???? I mean I’m sure apocalypse did some other bad stuff too but that was the worst one
(comics are so dumb y’all) 
- having to watch jean cry is emotional terrorism!! ;___; she has such older sister/mom energy, whenever she gets sad and helpless it hurts 
- oh, OH so PROFESSOR X you’ll make into a hunk and ~*strategically*~ rip his clothes to show off a nipple and a flawless pec in a way that makes me extremely uncomfortable because he’s like The Dad??? apocalypse you are rotten to the core this is unforgivable 
- so wait wanda never actually gets her real memories back. what the FuCk I hope that was a dropped storyline because they ended the show tragically prematurely rather than like. the plan
- why is spyke calling storm ‘storm’ show that’s his auntie o!! >:(
- as a society we need to acknowledge that apocalypse looks like a fucking clown
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- ooooh yeah I have been thinking that this show’s greatest visual weakness so far has been not having a visual way to show telepathy/battles of the minds, but this is a pretty cool way to do it! better late than never
- I’m so happy rogue gets to end this herself, since she was forced into starting it against her will, it’s just nice and neat storytelling
- YEAH FUCKING TELL HER KURT AND ROGUE I AM SO PROUD OF YOU and she has the temerity to look pissed off oh my god
the only valid thing mystique has done in her entire life is be in love with destiny. literally everything else she gets up to is a travesty. like I know objectively she’s hot but my loathing for her stops me from even appreciating it. I do enjoy loathing her tho so please don’t change her haha
(a bit odd to have kurt’s attitude to her swing so much but I’m just going to assume he and rogue had a good long conversation after ‘cajun spice’ and that he understands what’s going on better now)
- this last part is such a cruel tease faskdfhsdaj ‘here are all the cool-ass things we had planned. sucks you never get to see it huh’ im devastated 
- magneto without his helmet and playing charmingly with children like charles is going ‘well at least I saved my marriage finally’ fsadkhfjsd (honestly tho I would be super interested in seeing how they’d redeem this magneto because he’s been a real bitch the whole time lol) 
there’s an interesting thing here where magneto looks down at wanda as the last thing he does on screen before this epilogue part (yeah I hope it fucking haunts you forever what you did to her erik you absolute piece of hot garbage) and the last thing charles does is look at jean b/c he knows what’s going to happen to her and it breaks his heart... Dramatic Parallells  
- just the hint of jean as the phoenix has me in full D:D:D: mode tho maybe I wouldn’t have survived it
- gambit in the last groupshot with his arm around rogue ;^) I mean I’m sure they’re headed for some turns and roundabouts along the way but what’s that thing she says as her wedding vow, that she’ll always find her way back? anyway that got me in my heart
- man I really wish this show had been given more seasons, we were barely even getting warmed up here :’(
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antiloreolympus · 3 years
Text
A Bunch of Anti LO Asks
1. I have a lot to say about lo’s writing so here we go:
1) there is so little foreshadowing. I can’t even name one instance other then Kronos being reawakened but that was a literal direct shot of it instead of it being hinted at. There’s very little to none at all ( correct me if I’m wrong.) 2) The pacing??? This all happens in 2 weeks but so much has happened and it’s all happened so slow it feels like it’s been at least a year ( in universe time.) 3) I feel like this has been said enough but using trauma as a way to move the plot along is literally the laziest thing I’ve ever seen.
I’m sorry if this is like hella stupid or something like that
2. i dont get why the writing in LO refuses to let persephone be dark and accepting of death/punishment, because isn't that what you need to show she's going to be a good queen? she seems terrified of the concept and keeps trying to find ways to reverse them, which goes against the whole point of ruling over the dead and even something in myth hades DID NOT like, so its weird to keep making her the opposite of what she's supposed to be? shes just making the case she's not right for the role?
3. apollo/hyacinthus is having such a big resurgence right now that i dont get why rachel didnt include them as friends/a couple persephone cares about and, when hyacinthus dies, have persephone resurrect him. not only would it show her kind nature and sway over hades, but it would also be some actual positive canon gay representation that has legit myth backing. RS obviously got most of her takes from tumblr, yet couldnt take the pro apollo/hyacintus take too? is her heterosexuality that strong :/
4. the whole r*pe plotline was BY RACHEL HERSELF said to not be included, she promised as much, and readers were excited they were finally able to see a depiction of HxP without sexual assault, only for it to turn out she was lying with only a measly "this might be bad uwu" warning on the ep, triggering many people in the process. then she tried to backtrack and claim it was a #MeToo moment, and that irl victims were haters for calling it out. That speaks to who she really is, and it's not pretty.
5. lo hades isnt even cute tbh. what exactly makes him so desirable to make all these women fight over him for? his design is basic (and kinda antisemitic, a guy with a gigantic nose controlling the media and all the banks/money? rachel please), hes not charming or funny, he talks over all the women in his life, never listens to being rightfully called out, he never apologizes or does any self reflection, etc. hes just awful??? like even by an uwu hes misunderstood POV hes just a boring jerk?
6. I think the reason Punderworld or HXP Ficlets doesn't get the amount of scrutiny LO does (and PW is def LO's rival, WT has begged to Feature it several times) is because they had the good sense to never get high and mighty about their depictions, something RS absolutely does all the time. In fact the PW creator constantly promotes over myth comics and loves other takes on the mythos, while RS flips out unless its exactly how she sees it. How she survived school w/ that attitude we'll never know
7. also if demeter was as evil in LO as they want her to be then why would she ever let her emotionally unstable child out into the city with no supervision and no way to contact her? Why would she be going through all this trouble including putting her own welfare into question like trying to keep persephone out of harms' way via the cruelty of thee olympian men and out of jail (WHERE SHE BELONGS) if she's the big bad? Why even make her abusive and evil to begin with? Can't Persephone love both?
8. even if lo needs a villain (which it doesnt but w/e) must it be apollo? or leto? or minthe? or anyone for that matter? if you need some ~drama~ just use eris? she doesn't need some tragic backstory, she's an asshole for the sake of being an asshole. you could so easily have her basically be like TMZ causing discord through her popular blog and causing shit because she can. LO shoots itself in the foot by trying too hard to be deep and thought provoking when its as deep as a puddle.
9. less persephone/hades and more dionysos/ariadne: whats more romantic? a man kidnapping his underage niece and her friends crying themselves to death over it (cyane) or ariadne being dumped by her first boyfriend only to come back with some serious bling and a hot divine partner that is at least the physical equiv of her own age? (dionysos is usually depicted as mentally/physically quite young, so the godly age gap is less creepy/statutory-y)
10. vis a vis the sexual assault anon: it is also something that happens with horrific frequency to trans people as well. the number of trans reports of sexual assault that get thrown out per year by sample size is almost 5x the amount of cis female ones. LO already has some weird terfy undertones with the fertility thing, but just because it happens less (or rather, is reported less) by cisgender men doesnt mean it happens the most to cis women.
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I know it's been said before buy I just have to say I know the whole demetri and yasmine plot was just so that all the gay undertones of the rivalry and obsession and tension between Demtri and hawk could be easily overlooked
Lololol Anon you’re not even WRONG
Once they yeeted Moon out of the picture the writers were like “Oh shit, better No Homo it again!!!”
I guess in the writer’s (very feeble) defense, they DID set it up kinda, by having Demetri be like “Wow!!! I’d love to have Yasmine spit in my face!!!” and then very atrociously trying to hit on her at the beach party. But I thought his sorta-crush on her was just supposed to be like...comic relief??? Like “haha look at this nerdy guy being hot for this sexy popular chick he’ll never, ever get, isn’t it good memes???” I mean, him coming on to her at the party and just FAILING at every level was so incredibly funny BECAUSE of how much someone like her was just...never going to go for a dude like that in a million years. Like I thought that was the whole joke??? And Cobra Kai seems a bit more realism-leaning than some teen shows in how the teenagers actually act, so I figured from that angle it was gonna be the trope of “nerdy guy into hot popular bitchy girl” set up...but then, Reality Ensues, and she’s not only not remotely interested, but mildly to moderately disgusted at the idea. And that’s the comedy of it.
So yeah, after Season 1, I thought we were done with that whole arc, and it was literally just like...a joke “love” subplot to balance out the more serious relationship difficulties Miguel was having at the time. But now...Yasmine’s back, I guess??? And she apparently did a full 180 and is sorta nice now and went through a bunch of Character Development offscreen, none of which we got to see? So I GUESS her and Demetri were hinted to eventually become a thing, just like...very, very poorly. And in “hints” I assumed we were in no way meant to take seriously at all.
But yeah, the Yasmine/Demetri thing DOES seem kinda thrown in last-minute, given how finished that arc felt back in s1. And we only ever really get to see Yasmine when she’s interacting with Demetri, so it really feels like she was only brought back to be his love interest, which like...VERY weird flex, Cobra Kai writers, but okay :/
It IS incredibly sus how much time and energy Hawk and Demetri devote to their rivalry in particular, rather than like...idk, moving on with their lives??? Just ignoring each other and doing their own things, now that they are officially no longer bros and are in different friend circles, etc etc? Like they go OUT OF THEIR WAY to fuck with each other when they could just like...chill and move on. Like Demetri, a socially-awkward dude with limited people skills, works up the balls to get onstage and roast Hawk in front of an entire partyful of peers. Hawk SEARCHES THROUGH AN ENTIRE SCHOOL to hunt down Demetri at the school fight. Hawk goes up to Demetri on the first damn day back at school just to GLARE at him ominously (which I also just realized is RIGHT after some freshman girls give Demetri moony looks as they pass--jealous much???) Later on, Hawk coulda ignored Demetri and finished eating lunch with his Cool New Friends, but instead he goes out of his damn way to bust Demetri’s project and then come over and roast him about it. Demetri then eagerly goes over and reciprocates said roasting and spends that entire fucking soccer game tryna screw with Hawk in particular. They fricken almost IMMEDIATELY go for each other in the Golf N Stuff fight, IIRC. Really, they devote more time and energy to each other and their Rivalry™️ than either does to like...any other character? Like are Eli’s thoughts 90% “what’s the next thing I can do to fuck with Demetri?” Are Demetri’s thoughts 90% “what’s the next thing I can do to fuck with Eli?” Because like...I just don’t think obsessing over another man that much, even in a negative context...is very straight XD
There’s also the fact that their arcs are WAY more intertwined with each other’s than ANY girl either of them dates or interacts with. I mean ffs, Moon dumped Hawk BECAUSE of how he treated Demetri--even Hawk’s supposed Straight Romantic Subplot™️ ties directly back into Demetri! And the only reason Demetri joins Miyagi-Do at ALL and doesn’t just like...fade into the background in Season 2 is to show HAWK SPECIFICALLY that he can “fight back.” And later we have DEMETRI being the one to make Hawk realize he’s gone too far with Cobra Kai (i.e. his guilt after breaking Demetri’s arm) and ultimately being the catalyst that makes Hawk SWITCH SIDES! I honestly think every major point of development for both characters directly involves the other in some way--you could even argue Eli initially becomes “Hawk” in part because Demetri quits Cobra Kai, and isn’t around to stick up for him anymore--so he has to find another way to protect himself from bullying. Even their sense of “dojo rivalry” is mostly just about each other--Hawk’s animosity toward Miyagi-Do lowkey seems to stem almost entirely from Demetri in particular joining it and “betraying” him, while Demetri’s animosity toward Cobra Kai basically entirely comes from Cobra Kai taking Eli away from him. I literally like...cannot think of a single thing in either of their developments that doesn’t tie into the other in a major way. 
Like to put it plainly, Moon and Yasmine feel like a single step in each of the boys’ character journeys--a single turning point to spur them in a certain direction. But Demetri and Hawk just...ARE each other’s character journeys. They’re not a step for the other to discover something about themself or get pushed in a certain direction--they just ARE the entire arc for each other, if that makes any sense. Like you could argue BOTH Demetri and Eli/Hawk’s arcs like 90% center on how to navigate their relationship when Eli gains confidence and their interests diverge and they no longer need each other the way they used to. Like??? Name ONE aspect of either of their arcs that doesn’t tie directly into their undying gay love friendship in some way??? It’s INCREDIBLY integral to both their stories and is just...SO much more compelling to watch than either of them making out with hot girls at parties or in the hallway. And them repairing their relationship and/or evolving it as needed, realizing that they love each other too much to let one another go, even if they’re both somewhat different after everything??? And realizing it’s a romantic kinda undying love they’re feeling, because really, what good reason is there for it NOT to be??? We HAVE enough male characters in media already with strictly platonic/brotherly friendships, why not just let two male characters with a compelling story, a strong prior friendship, and REALLY good romantic chemistry just like...be gay??? It feels natural, it’s a good ending to their arc, it feels narratively satisfying in a “Finally having the ‘will they or won’t they’ couple get together” kinda way...why not do it??? It makes ALL the damn sense and would be incredibly thematically interesting and SATISFYING, but y’all writers are COWARDS DAMMIT
Just gonna make that crack ship from Season 1 canon so we can prove that Demetri isn’t gay, no sir??? No Homo my guy??? We can only have one (1) LGBT character per television show, or the “traditional values” viewers will come for us???
Pre Season 3 I honest to god was hoping that part of Demetri’s arc, if he ran into Yasmine again, would be him realizing that he could honestly do better than someone that bitchy and vile, and having enough self-respect to just...lose interest in someone who’s going to push him around, act like he’s beneath her, and talk smack about his friends the second she thinks they’re “lame.” Maybe it isn’t too late though, and we’ll see this in Season 4? Here’s to hoping, because I am going to THROW HANDS if this fricken pairing is ENDGAME endgame. Like...what even do these people have in common, besides getting wedgies??? Do they even have like...any of the same interests??? At all??? How are they going to build a lasting relationship off of...both having gotten a wedgie? And being mean to people sometimes, I guess?
Like, sure. Let them date for a bit--they’re horny teens, they’re prone to jumping into relationships for not exactly the most deep and meaningful reasons. Physical attraction, teenage horniness, and raging hormones are no joke. So sure, I can see them having a fling solely because they both think the other’s hot. But you wanna tell me they’d LAST??? No SIR, I must inform you I Do Not Buy it.
(Tfw you meant to do a short ask making memes about what a crackship Demetri/Yasmine was in Season 1 and you ended up having WAY too much to say about All The Things and now it’s 3 am and you’re typing like a madman. I probably cycled back across the same 5 points like 5 times each because it’s late and I’m not thinking straight, I apologize.)
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incarnateirony · 3 years
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Despite rarely getting involved with fandoms, with everything going on with Spn, I'm getting drawn in! Both your analysis of the series and your reasonable theories on what went on behind the scenes were amazing to read. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts! Last time I re-watched the series, I didn't quite finish season 5. This time, I'm already in early season 9. And, yeah, I'm one of those folks taken aback by how blatant the queerbaiting was, especially in season 6. (1/2)
Since reading your discussions, I've paid closer attention to who wrote each episode, and Dabb is starting to stand out. Particularly his handling of Dean and Cas' relationship. In season 8, the relationship felt inconsistent, like the writers tried to skirt around the subtext, and season 9 seems to be trying to erase it completely (unsuccessfully, I might add). But Dabb usually gives an even-keeled characteristion. All in all, I'm curious - maybe even hopeful - about his later seasons. (2/2)
I might point you to a few specific handlers IN season 9-- Berens and Dabb. Their episodes are less erased, but if you take the time to read The Celluloid Closet, and follow Berens’ tenure in sociopolitical writing and his presence as a gay man, and then watch his S9+ episodes. It pings differently--it’s not what fandom was used to getting in the Kripke (’haha gay is funny’) or Gamble (’oh shit we fucked up how do we bring back the gays’) eras. Carver seemed to ditch the haha gay is funny/what I would call ACTIVE queerbait but he just didn’t seem to know how to handle the content. Berens however started handling it in classic, earnest queer cinema language. Give this a peek about how his first episode hit. [x]
Now, when it comes to “later seasons”, I’m very, VERY happy to mention things even do break into text level, but again they are low visibility text for the most part until 15.18, and then I’m sure you’ve heard about the 15.20 fuckery since. So obviously, there’s a disclaimer on that.
S11+ is when you really want to keep an eye; Dabb started easing in to taking over in S11 while Carver phased out for his other show, but didn’t “officially” take over until 12. You also have to keep in mind, at 12 was when BuckLeming also got shoved forward into being EPs, and Dabb had an entirely new room. There’s a lot of good content littered through 12, but Eugenie’s stank is all over it: the BMOL, Ketch, Lucifer, and her openly admitting she stole the rift idea from Wayward when that got delayed a year, which led to the S13 AU stuff Dabb had to work with, etc. S12 Dabb had himself, berens, a bunch of rookies, and Eugenie peeing on everything so there’s a lot of MESS. by S13 he seemed to galvanize his new writers into a new method that helped push back and deliver some very well-bound story. 
S12 does have some of the loudest DeanCas thrown out there in ways fandom generally appreciates -- but they were just moments, really, rather than keyed into a plot progression; S13 had some key episodes, but if one say--holds the queer content to a different bar than straight was required at the time (eg, 5.22 swan song Lisa Never Too Late reunion vs 13.5/6 DeanCas Never Too Late reunion), the following text really reads foreign to people because it’s simply a lowkey established domestic undertone. S15 is when it really starts punching you in the face again, this time as a core plot structure -- completely magically when Berens got promoted to EP. So enjoy that heads up.
Don’t lose track of Berens.
Also a general reminder that if you’re mad at the CW for its shit, make sure not to stream their stuff through paid clients. The official line is “buy used DVDs or something” but if you get creative, hey, cool.
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cassyapper · 3 years
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Apart from Jotaro and Kakyoin (unfortunately) what are your other favourite jojo ships? I’d love to know
OHHHH POST YOUVE OPENED A CAN OF FUCKING WORMS LET ME GO OFF
i have a disease that makes me invested in the joestars’ happiness to an absurd level so bc of that a lot of ships i enjoy involve,,,one joestar,,,but there r others i swear let me just start rantingi
jonaeriwagon is soooooo so so cute it involves the most wholesome and purehearted jojo characters and it makes me smile so wide. erina and jonathan r childhood sweethearts and erina helped jonathan back on his feet after he lost EVERYTHING in the first fight against dio at the mansion. jonathan and speedwagon are best FRIENDS OKAY!! SPEEDWAGON LITERALLY CHANGES HIS ENTIRE WALK OF LIFE BECAUSE OF JONATHAN AND THE KINDNESS HE SHOWED HIM. i know erina and speedwagon didn't interact a whole lot in part 1 but like they're BEST. FRIENDS. in part 2, so much so joseph thought something was going on between them. i bring this up bc then it’s proof that this ship is full of ppl who just care for each other so much. they just adore each other and love each other and I'm crying
caejoseq is my FAVVV OKAY they're so stupid and in love. i love love love love imagining caesar and suziq falling in love slowly when he’s first training as lisalisa’s student and like they never do anything about it cause they're both so shy (yes caesar is shy bc these feelings r more genuine romance rather than sexual, unlike his other flings) but it’s obvious enough they both understand to a degree the other knows they like them sjkd;dn cuties. but then JOSEPH BARGES IN with his stupid hamon-breathing mask and his stupid blue-green eyes and his stupid lax personality combined with the moments he takes thing seriously during which is works hard as fuck/smart as fuck. he just completely sweeps them off their feet they had no fuckin warning whatsoever. so after a bunch of messy and intense pining from the both of them they eventually sit down and are like okay. we should do smth about feelings actually. so they Do and it ends with the polycule and I'm (”: smiling so wide they loved each other do u understand
AVPOL!! DO NOT GET ME STARTED OKAY it’s the survivor’s guilt and cherishing and longing for me sis!!!!!! I'm just saying both have pasts (araki said avdol’s backstory was so sad he didn't wanna put it into sdc so that’s where I'm drawing this from) that leave them focused on things other than their direct happiness/their own futures but then they connect and even though they're so fucking different they are SOOO different they're still the same on this level and i think!!! that would be everything for them finally someone who understands...listen I'm ging to go insane do you hear me. avdol loves this stupid fucking Frenchman so much because said stupid fucking Frenchman just cares so much about everything. meanwhile polnareff is in love with this fuckin god of a man who’s patient and kind and funny and a skilled enough fighter it’s stated explicitly in canon “oh avdol’s the one we need to worry about most not jotaro” like fuck polnareff is ENAMOURED WITH HIM!! AND I DONT FUCKING BLAME HIM!! and just dude. when pol thinks avdol came back to life and he starts crying tears of joy and hugs him so tightly and avdol just laughs but hugs him back imfmfjfj help. help. help. help. help. POLNAREFF LITERALLY ASKS HIM OUT ON A DATE THIS IS FUCKIN!!! CANON!!! i cant do this stupid fuckign idiots i love them
JOSUYASU!!!!!! TWO GUYS BEIGN DUDES WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT??? like listen we have such a SLEW of wholesome moments between these two the opening to the tonio episode is literally just them going on a date OKUYASU WAS GONNA FEED JOSUKE AND JOSUKE DIDNT EVEN FUCKING QUESTION IT OKAY THAT’S KINDA GAY THAT HAS ROMANTIC FUCKING UNDERTONES!! and them fighting against shigechi idk man i just love their dynamic it’s such a pleasant bro relationship and i love them. but even beyond the wholesome moments when okuyasu fucking dies josuke loses his SHIT!!! DO YOU HEAR ME HE GOES FUCKIGN INSANE!!!!! HE’S SCREAMING AND CRYING AND BEGGING OKUYASU TO WAKE UP AT THE EXPENSE OF HIS LIFE FUCKIGN HAYATO HAD TO SHRIEK AT HIM TO MOVE HIS ASS OUT OF THE WAY OF KIRA’S BOMB LIKE!! listen the recklessness and furiousness of josuke’s tactics after okuyasu “”died”” haunts me. he didn't want to live in a world without him and meanwhile okuyaus LITERALLY TRIUMPHS OVER DEATH BECAUSE HE DOESNT WANT TO LEAVE JOSUKE’S SIDE HELP ME GIRL FJKF;NDJN FUCK. fuck. so yeah i lvoe them
fugionara... any combination of this ship makes me go nuts okay okay. the dynamics in the bucci gang will forever leave me in tatters but THE ONES BETWEEN THESE THREE IN PARTICULAR. FUCK ME UP. it’s the healing it’s the animosity it’s the regret it’s the trying to figure out your own mentally ill self while also the world ur in with these ppl u love so much and I'm going crazy okay okay okay. idk how to quite put my feelings for them in worlds i just have a lot of them and they are fuckin. overhwelming. just narancia for example meant EVERYTHING to fugo as evidence by purple haze feedback (literally every other paragraph is a flashback) and the only time giorno cries in the anime is when narancia dies. meanwhile fugo saved narancia’s life and giorno knew when to take narancia seriously as opposed to a joke. and then THE WHOLE DISCUSSION ABOUT GRIEF FUGO AND GIORNO HAVE IN PURPLE HAZE FEEDBACK? listen something about these three make me go insane and feral
foolymes like okay. okay. I'm shaking like a dog trying not to go overboard on this justification just listen to me. hermes and jolyne first find someone to trust in prison in each other. jolyne cares abt her enough that she first learns how to use stone free’s string-on-a-telephone ability bc she wanted to watch over hermes. hermes loves nd respects jolyne that after she wakes up from getting a stand shes like “hm. wonder where jolyne is” and goes to find her before all that bullshit happened just hey okay LISTEN TO ME!! and then they get foo they save her it’s just like fucking kakyoin they give her another chance and they show her what relationships are supposed to be like (fulfilling) they enjoy her company and make her laugh and she makes them laugh in return ohmy god EVERYTHING FOO FIGHTERS DID WAS FOR JOLYNE AND HERMES DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!!! the marilyn mansion debt collector arc. the kiss of love and revenge arc. foo fighter’s death. I'm going to eat rocks in an attempt to stop feeling oh my god JOLYNE DIDNT EVEN BELEIVE FOO FIGHTERS WAS DYING AND THEN SHE GOT HYSTERICAL LIKE “BUT WE CAN JUST REMAKE YOU RIGHT WE HAVE YOUR STAND DISC??” SHE DOESNT WANT HER TO GOOO HELP ME HELP ME. I'm in tatters these three girls loved each other so fucking much they just wanted each other safe and they DESERVED to be safe and happy together but araki is fucking evil
jotaweather I KNOW THIS IS A CRACK SHIP I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW DONT FUCKIGN LOOK AT ME JUST HEAR ME OUT. jotaro and weather r both of similar demeanor that is quiet soft-speaking intimidating strong big aura of sadness coming from them. both have powerful stands and both had real fucked up luck in the love department. i also hc both to be autistic so that’d be another similarity. i jus think them settling down together after everything went down in a stone ocean au would be very soft and sweet yknow? they wouldn't even necessarily start it off in a romantic sense but they just take the time to try and heal with each other and eventually it just kinda veers that way. yeah
gyjo for OBVIOUS reasons like are you serious? gyro changed johnny’s fucking lfie from the SECOND they first interact johnny begins to push himself and tries to reach further/go further. and in turn johnny shows gyro you cant always be a wet blanket you need to take a stand this both helps his resolve to save the kid AND helps him to take the measures necessary to get to his goal. like gyro would not have been able to find johnny in the “who shot johnny joestar?” arc if he hadn't gone through, say, the ring roadagain arc with johnny first. listen man their relationship is literally the catalyst for this whole part it’s the driving force i just. they love each other they love each other thank you goodnight I'm emo
yasugap is just so so so so sweet it makes me so happy,,like okay josuk8 literally has a daydream where all that happens is he gives yasuho some candy and she eats it and is like “aw josuke this is so good thanks!” and she smiles at him and that’s IT THAT’S THE DAYDREAM 😭 listen they just love each other so much and i am emo. they literally SAVED EACH OTHER OKAY LIKE yasuho pulls him from the dirt and like she mentioned during the flashback chapter with the hairpin and her dad, it was also the other way around....saving josuke also saved herself and just LISTEN TO ME. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER. it’s a very sweet and healthy relationship and i hope to god araki makes it canon please sir ill bite you
anyway yeah these are the main main ones ? that i ship ship. like you'll get me excited if u mention them. anyway this post has gone on long enough so I'm gonna end it here by saying i really do have a thing where the relationship focuses on healing/helping one or both parties to save/improve themselves
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lucidpantone · 3 years
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I really hate the crew of wtfock for what they did to me. I was such a fan of the show since s1, I found happiness in every clips, every posts on insta, I found amazing people on tumblr, twitter, but everything went downhill in s4, I could not accept Kato as a main, I'm a proud black girl and this season broke my heart to the max. The inexcusable racism, the hidden hate towards POCs on social medias, the silencing voices... I even started to dislike some actors for being friends with Romi when she was the one who accepted to take away the role of a POC, to accept to play a racist girl and have discriminatory behaviour in 2020 of all that, and to even joke on her insta just because her friend said it was ok and she didn't even apologise when we called her out for it. Yeah they ruined my happiness and I can't even be happy when I see a wtfock post now. To even have Nora do a live and defend the season, saying that it's a prejudice based one ? Hurts me so much. And not even one excuses coming from the crew, nothing, it hurts deeply. I can't even enjoy anymore the beautiful fanfics that the fandom write. I read every zoenne and sobbe fics but now I don't even bother checking if there is new fic. I hate them for taking my happiness off me. They're starting to go downhill too with the lack of insta posts from their characters and only die hard fans of sobbe are here now let's be honest. Yasmina's season can't be saved if there is still Kato but a glimpse of sobbe will make the fandom shut up and they know it. It's sad and I'm so upset about it. Sorry for the rant but I so badly wanted to talk.
This is insanely long but these words are for my anon
Oh dear.....well am happy you told me and the looney tunes. I can’t say I blame you because s4 is so toxic and cruel on so many levels. You know some people will say its just a show “let it go” but I think what people don’t realize is what this show that you clearly loved tells you about the world at large. That even shows, brands, movements and celebrities can harbor questionable morality towards issues of race. S4 ended up being an exercise in showing [us/the audience] how morally corrupt the bosses of wtfock truly are and how at end of the day all those black boxes on instagram mean nothing when it comes to money. Because guess what? Platforming racist ideology does have a price and wtfock made it very clear that they got paid. Look am gonna tell you something that my anons have been saying in a coded way but havent said directly but lets just put it all on the table. 
S4 when Romi took the role it was not pitched as a season exploring interracial relationships or white privilege. It was never meant to be that. So Romi had no way in knowing what it would turn into. After the premiere night production panicked because they saw everyones disappointment towards the main(it should have been Moyo & everyone knows it even they do now) and took a hard left. Noa was meant to be Romi’s co-star but it was never meant to have all these racial undertones or not as extreme. The reason the script changed is because wtfock wanted to keep this whole “small engine that could” rapport going that they literally made the last minute call to try to tackle race relations. I mean to you and I we are probably like are these people for real? They are just gonna try to tackle race and white privilege as a story arc without having done the sufficient research and or had the man power in the writing room concerning writers with lived experienced on the topic. Yea, they did that. So anyways they “just decided” on a whim to tackle race *facepalm*. Now that decision in itself is an embodiment of white privilege. A bunch of white dudes wanted woke points and thought “race” yea we can totally do that topic unprepared. Hence why episode 2/3 were so damn repetitive and also literally made no sense. Am sure they pitched this to Romi as some super intellectual and thoughtful narrative that would hold deeper meaning. So I am not defending her instagram actions but I want to give her situation a bit of context. Also am pretty sure she tried to tell us in a round about way. Her insta post was just a display in lacking any awareness towards the importance and pain of BLM because she obviously just lacks race education or common sense but she is a 22 year old brand model so am not really looking for her to set an example. To me wtfock became in some weird way so high on fandom validation that they were egotistical enough to think they could try to tackle this insanely complex topic on a whim and with a 1st time screenwriter at that. S4 was doomed to fail from the start because it was a literal embodiment of unconscious bias that then turned into conscious bias because at one point they knew it was terrible while filming but they were too deep in to pull the plug. You are so in your right to be upset at them because to me the most hurtful thing is that THEY KNOW IT WAS BAD and they won’t address it and now they are going to use their token queer couple to try and fix this. Leave the gays out of it. You can’t fix racism with queerness it doesn’t work that way buddy(am looking at you Rutgers) especially for those who are part of both parties. Do I think a large part of the fan base will “forgive” wtfock for what they did? Probably, but its weird since technically wtfock should be asking their fans who are poc for forgiveness above anyone else. I guess I am not as pissy about the whole situation because am either cynical or emotionally numb to this type of fuckery. I would say concerning the cast and the crew it really isnt their fault. I hear from good sources a lot of them tried to say something and they were shut down. Look if you cant let this go then try to find some semblance of resolve over this. You’re allowed to be mad but at the same time this is the world we live in and this will happen to you again and again (trust me I speak from experience). I do hope you can try to find some comfort in Zoenne and Sobbe and try not to see the cronies of wtfock in their love stories but if you can’t then pack all their shit up and throw it in the attic. Maybe one day you can reopen that box. Last words of advice, happiness is a moving target because in reality it’s a compilation of moments that continuously mutate to accommodate other moments. So don't let s4 taint what moments you had with wtfock and try to remember the things you loved and if you need to walk then walk away. I wish I could give you the biggest hug right now but trust me when I say what you feel is so valid and am so happy you spoke to me about it.
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poc-movie-supremacy · 4 years
Text
Guardian Angel
Remember that post I made with Joey as beth’s guardian angel? Yeah I turned it into a fic. I hope you guys like it! Comments likes and reblogs are appreciated. Enjoy!
----
Joey opens his eyes to see a vast auditorium. He’s in a magician’s costume that mimick’s the one his father used to wear. The crowd is cheering, and applauding for him, but he doesn’t know why. He can’t really remember anything, and he’s freaking out. 
The crowd asks for another trick and he gives them one like its muscle memory. The trick was complex. It was a trick he never learned.
Joey opened his mouth to call for his father. No sound came out of his mouth. The crowds cheered loudly for him, but it wasn’t happy applause. It had a dark undertone to it, and Joey kept performing tricks, scared of what would happen to him if he stopped.
After a few hours, probably, someone called for him. Hastily Joey bowed to the audience and followed the person backstage. “Dad, Mom!” 
They took him to this house, theirs apparently. No one explained anything to him. When he hugged his parents, he realized his side was hurting. Joey asked his mom about it, but she just bit back tears and tried not to cry. He didn’t want to upset her further, so he decided to figure it out on his own. 
The doors to the house opened up and he saw his grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles all waving excitedly at him. They ushered them into the house hugging them and talking happily as they went in. He winced as they continued to hug him on his bad side. Joey was confused. He went to all their funerals, or the ones who...
Died
When, he lost his card, and he knelt down, and..
Suddenly Joey shivered like someone stepped on his grave. Wait. Suddenly as he got a vision, or something, he could see his actual grave with someone kneeling on it.  They were wearing sneakers, jeans and a blue sweater decorated with yellow stars. Their hair was in an afro-oh Joey realized that the person knelling on his grave was Beth. 
He strained to hear what she was telling him. “I got you these flowers, I remember you said you liked them cause your aunt used to grow flowers. She was at the funeral. Cameron was there too.” Beth bit back a sob and put on a watery smile. “I think he misses you. His dad’s back in town too. They said it was weird. Ice on the roads, in the middle of fall. Anyways, I finished that book we were reading, the Witching hour. The one with the famous female magician. It was a good book. The girl, she’s so brave. Her father ended up being super proud of her. You would’ve liked it.” Beth had to pause to let a few sobs lose. 
Joey felt like he was going to have a panic attack. He want to go to Beth, and comfort her. Tell her it would be alright, but his mind was already taking him to an old memory. It was the day they died, but the scope of the picture was wider than what he remember. In the trees there was a man looking like a cracked ice sculpture examining the scene before him. Joey wondered why this moment was important. Then Ice Sculpture man blew out and he saw his card move. 
“No.” Joey didn’t think that could’ve been the reason he died. Then the man shifted and he looked like... Mr. Mahkent? Joey watched him further, through different memories to see what the hell was actually going on throughout Blue Valley. 
~~~
So... superheroes were a thing. He watched proudly as Beth managed to save Yolanda from Mrs. Brooks. Joey really wished he didn’t have to see her in that outfit, though. Their fighting was incredible, although a small part of him did worry for Beth’s safety. He watched somewhat closely to make sure Beth was ok. 
~~~
The ISA’s words echoed in his head. They wanted to kill the Junior JSA. Beth. Joey watched their every move more carefully to make sure Beth doesn’t join him anytime soon. Soon, he realized he had some control on the comings and goings down on earth. As he watched over them, he tested out his abilities. 
Joey noted how much time the school delinquent, Rick Harris, spent with Beth. It was interesting to say the least. Rick seemed to almost soften with Beth. “You always were special Beth.” Joey whispered fondly. 
Yolanda smiled more often now. A weight, even a tiny bit, seemed to have lifted off her shoulders. Now, she’s happy. Joey’s happy for her. He also notes that she has a special smile reserved for just Courtney. Joey smiles happy knowing that one of the happiest girls in school finally seems happy again. 
He knew everything was going to go to shit the minute Dr. King woke up. He didn’t think it would be this bad, though. Dr. King is in cahoots with Mr. Mahkent and they plan on doing diabolical things together. Henry Jr. teams up with the JSA. Joey winces at Courtney’s choices, but it’s interesting to note how Yolanda handled the situation and why Courtney choose him. Joey wondered if Courtney ever got lonely in her childhood. 
It gives him a headache to try and keep an eye on all of the JSA members at once. At first he kept his main focus on Courtney, Yolanda, and Henry and prayed that Rick kept an eye on Beth. 
Soon though, he realized that Courtney and Yolanda worked well together and Rick was trying to release a seven-foot zombie. Thankfully, Joey doesn’t need to intervene because Beth’s voice filled with terror was enough to distract Rick from Solomon Grundy. They eventually met up with the others by a gate, the last obstacle from the main world. Meanwhile Joey took a minute to close the door to Solomon Grundy’s cage. It wasn’t open by much, but he’d rather be safe than sorry. When he caught up with them, Henry was facing his father while the other JSA members watched on in horror. 
When Joey saw the tunnel start to rumble and crash down on him he used his powers to simultaneously protect the JSA and hit Henry King Sr. square in the head. Before going to see a former classmate, Joey made sure that Pat and Barbara picked up the JSA from the tunnels. 
“Nice to see you again, Henry.” Henry King Jr. new ghost stared at him confused. 
“You’re dead.” 
“I’ll explain on the way. Come on, I get anxious if I’m not keeping an eye on the Junior JSA for a while.” Henry looked at him confused. 
“You did a wonderful job protecting them and all.” Joey complimented Henry as they walked to Joey’s house. 
After Joey assimilated Henry to the afterlife, Joey showed Henry a bunch of magic tricks as they let the lives of the Junior JSA play out in the background. “Do they like each other?” Henry asked Joey. Beth and Rick were sitting in one of the old cars in Pat’s auto shop. Beth was trying to understand how the car worked while Rick was examining his father’s notebook. In other words they were desperately ignoring the fact they saw their classmate die in front of them. 
“Probably? But then again, I used to spend time with Beth and we weren’t dating.”
“You weren’t?”
Joey wonders if he should tell Henry that he’s actually gay, but he thinks that’s something to save for later. “No, Beth’s just... She’s one of a kind.” Henry nodded like he agreed with Joey and they continued trying out different magic tricks. Joey wanted to see what they could accomplish with Henry’s telepathic abilities. The possibilities are endless. 
Henry looked torn when they found out about the ISA’s plan. “I died for- we died for this? This is why my dad murdered me? Why aren’t they just politicans?” Joey shrugged helplessly at Henry. 
“My father is way too damn dramatic. You didn’t have to kill me for this stupid plan to work!” Henry screamed at the window to the other world.
“They are definitely too extreme in their methods. Come on and focus, Henry, they still want to kill our friends.” Henry nodded and he and Joey kept a close eye on what was happening. 
“They’re splitting up in too many different ways.” Henry complained. 
“Well, let’s focus on the guy’s in the tunnel and keep everyone else in the background.” Joey said. They watched as the JSA and the ISA versed each other. Joey was impressed at how much their fighting abilites improved. 
Henry wanted to puke when he saw his dad masquerade as him to try and trick Yolanda. “He’s going to hurt her.” Henry panicked. 
“Save her, use your powers, I’m going to keep an eye on the rest of them. “ Joey split the window in threes. One on Yolanda, one on the battle in the tunnels, and another on Beth. Henry channelled his ghostly powers to subconsciously warn Yolanda of his father’s trickery. She slashed his throat and she watched him die. Joey cheered happily, then gasped when Cindy stabbed her father. Henry and Joey looked at each other stunned. 
“I mean, you shouldn’t gass your kids.” Joey reasoned. 
Henry nodded in agreement. “Gambler’s releasing Grundy and sending Jordan after Beth.” 
“You take Grundy and I’ll take Jordan.” Joey told him. The window was now split in two one on Grundy and one on Beth. 
“Hey he’s taking off the robot arms!” Joey noted that Rick had four minutes left on his hour. 
“Help me rewind the hourglass.”
“What?”
“Come on, put more time on his clock.” It took a lot of strength, but they managed to give Rick one extra minute. Sadly though, they didn’t realize how close Jordan was to Beth and Barbara. 
They were too late to save Chuck, but Joey managed to heal Beth’s concussion from her slam against the wall. He stayed with her until Yolanda ushered her out the door to watch Jordan and Courtney fight each other. 
Somehow Jordan managed to survive the fall. Joey looked for ways to somehow help the JSA when he saw it. Mike drove along the street haphazardly until Joey guided the car straight into Icicle. (It was the only straight thing he ever did). Not all the ISA members were taken down that day, but their heavy hitters were. Joey finally relaxed knowing that Beth and the others were safe.
~~~
Beth kneeled in front of Joey’s grave uncaring of the fact her jeans were now dirty. “Hey Joey. Long time no see. Sorry about that. It’s been a hectic few months. Jordan died. It’s funny in a horrible way, he also died getting hit by a truck. Can’t wait for the influx of drunk driving talks in school.” Beth paused as she thought. Rick waited calmly a little ways behind her. They had been planning on going to the ice cream parlor, but she wanted to take a detour. “I’m not as lonely as before.” She whispered to the grave. “I have friends now. Rick doesn’t mind my rambling, and Yolanda also read the Witching hour. She said we can discuss it together. I lost Chuck, but Rick says he can fix it. I hope he’s right. I have to go, but I thought I should say that I miss you. I hope you and Henry are having a wonderful time up wherever you are. Bye.”
Joey discreetly wiped tears from his eyes. “I miss you too Beth. We’re okay. Me and Henry? We’re okay.”
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spotlightsaga · 7 years
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Kevin Cage of @spotlightsaga reviews… Blood Drive (S01E02) Welcome to Pixie Swallow Airdate: June 21, 2017 @syfy Ratings: 0.627 Million :: 0.18 18-49 Demo Share Score: 3.5/10 @blooddrivesource
**********SPOILERS BELOW**********
It’s not that ‘Blood Drive’ is completely unwatchable, because it isn’t, there is certainly an undeniable improvement from E1 to E2. It’s just that as far as options go, particularly within this genre, and television as a whole… SyFy needs to do more than push the boundaries of censorship to keep viewers. The bloody, 'fuck-bomb’, Soska Sisters-wannabe series has already seen a 25% drop in overall viewers as well as that coveted 18-49 Demo Share they need for advertising income from just E1 to E2. No doubt that SyFy has some sort of deal with Amazon Prime & Netflix in place, but they’ll need more than that to secure a renewal. The last two SyFy series we’ve covered were both cancelled after 1 season, and the show we always rushed back to watch (Defiance) was mysteriously cancelled as well despite being SyFy’s too rated show… Marking the last remaining show left over from the tail end of the SyFy Network’s 'Golden Age’. 'The Magicians’ is the only series in the past several years that has actually shown an increase in interest and overall viewership as well as that coveted demo. Just for comparison sake, the universally panned 'Olympus’ averaged 0.551 Million viewers & a paltry 0.14 18-49 Demo Share. SyFy’s 'Wynona Earp’, which is now in its 2nd season is averaging below that, at 0.508 Million & an 0.12 18-49 Demo Share. We assure you, Olympus was at least cheaper to make.
Everyone knows Preacher is back on A&E, right? 'Blood Drive’s core audience seems to be those that are simply impressed with boundary pushing and had big brothers in the 80s who lined their bedroom walls with posters with models like Christie Brinkley, Tawney Kitaen, & Cindy Crawford in skimpy bathing suits with big hair and butt floss. Entering Blood Drive’s 2nd episode, the only character that seems to be of any note is Julian Slink (Colin Cunningham), his motivations besides being a blood thirsty bad ass with a scary demon/deep voiced/possible woman robot boss with multiple copies, Aki (Marama Corbett), who may or may not kill him depending on whatever she feels like doing at the time for no reason whatsoever, are vague and unclear. She loves that Slink showed initiative and killed the over-eager new head of maintenance with the bottom side of a briefcase in the public view of the Heart Enterprises waiting room, so that will buy him time to take the 'Blood Drive’ race on the air to see if they can register better numbers than the SyFy channel. He better hope that he does, though honestly he doesn’t look to thrilled about the idea. Lucky for him, SyFy numbers aren’t hard to beat.
While the race is without its host and partially unsupervised, Good Cop Arthur Bailey (Alan Ritchson) and Bad Ass Female Driver w/little to no character motivation, Grace Argento (Christina Ochoa) take a break from fucking in the front seat of their blood thirsty car that records everything they do and head to 'Pixie Swallow’. Charming, I know. While the 15 year old boys in the audience are stuffing their stiff socks from last week under their bed with an old pizza box, they ready another pair from the dirty pair as the pair checks into a creepy hotel after stealing an Elvis impersonator’s room key. Unfortunately for them, it’s not Arthur & Grace having hot car sex this week (Anyone remember that one movie 'Crash’, the NC-17 one where there was a group of ppl that were obsessed with fucking while crashing cars? Sorry 🚨 ADHD thought alert 🚨).
This week on the 'Blood Drive’ menu, our sex scene is a gay anal scene between a very frail, unkempt and dirty looking 'The Scholar’ (Darren Kent) and a very old, crusty creeper that looks like he could be the cousin of 'The Tallman’ from a parallel universe in 'Phantasm’, but dystopian damaged, and possibly inbred. Yup, I’m talking about 'The Gentleman’ (Andrew Hall). The Scholar professes his love to The Gentleman, but The Gentleman turns his love and affection into hard pumps into The Scholar’s ass. I have a sneaking suspicion that this dude didn’t even spit on it for Christ’s Sake. The Gentleman tells The Scholar tells him that once they win that he can basically fuck off, no going to Bjork’s unpronounceable hometown for him! This makes zero sense for 'The Gentleman’s character. If you want yo get ahead, you wait to screw people over. 2nd episode admittance is kind of like signing your on death warrant in the least original or interesting way possible.
The most revolting two people two have ever starred in a gay sex scene on cable television (is there an award for that? MTV maybe? Possibly the European MTV Awards?) isn’t all that’s on the menu for this round of 'Blood Drive’. The diner connected to the hotel is run by a family of possibly incestual rednecks who are using human meat to make steaks and burgers. This whole schtick has been done to death, nothing new to see here. Anyone remember that bad ass Horror/Exploitation film from 1980 called 'Motel Hell’ or the 80’s film 'Blood Diner’? Well combining two films that are both 30-35 years old doesn’t exactly scream originality. Slightly entertaining? Not really, possibly, sort-of. It’s hard to care. I did mention that 'Preacher’ just started S2 on AMC right! 🚨ADHD thought alert! 🚨 There went another one.
Somewhere along the line, Arthur and The Scholar end up in the diner together, connecting over their disconnection with their driving partners. Arthur is eating his rare burger (ewe, steak ok, tuna ok, but rare human burgers? At least Mid-Well, dawg) and while he’s chewing down he finds one of the fingers from one of the women from the cast of TNT’s 'Claws’. Arthur, of course, investigates and for a reason that wasn’t exactly crystal clear, the owners freak out and a bunch of cannibals take over the hotel. Meanwhile, Arthur’s partner Chris (Thomas Dominique), wakes up at Heart Enterprises and they let him roam around the building, but first they tell him he had 9 erections while he was sleeping. No news as to whether those erections were resituated or grabbed, pulled forward, then let go to smack Chris’ stomach and make a fun noise. Unfortunately, we never find out what happened with those 9 erections and now I’ll forever be haunted by the mystery. In what is the most entertaining scene of the entire episode, Chris goes through Heart Enterprises’ 'Orientation’ and the Aki copy show’s a deep appreciation for her part in the orientation video. The lines are on par, proving that once again, surrounded by total muck and poorly executed ideas, there are some fun moments to be had in 'Blood Drive’.
Apparently great earthquakes created a great scar in the middle of the United States and instead of running from it like everyone else, Heart Enterprises ran toward it… Finding incredible resources in 'The Scar’, such as; “unstable minerals, morally questionable fuel alternatives, unnatural gasses, and deep wells of unidentifiable glowing goo with properties far beyond the realm of modern science. The world ecological disaster was our economical windfall. And now we share with you, the newest member of Heart, the fruits of our labor… We Heart You.” Aki even mouths the words to 'her part’ and makes a heart with her hands as she repeats, “We Heart You.” The scene gets better… Apparently Chris is what this show has been missing. His back and forth with Aki embodies the exact type of silliness, dark undertones, and comedic timing that the Exploitation genre calls for. Chris even calls the Aki copy 'Small Wonder’… Vicky The Robot, anyone?! Aki tells Chris he’s free to roam the building and can leave anytime, but she’s pretty confident that he will stay and join them… So he’s free, but he’s not to contact his partner or anyone else for that matter or he’ll be 'modified’… Behaviorally. Ok. This entire scene just made the rest of this episode completely worthwhile.
There’s some seriously weird shit that goes down in the hallways of Heart Enterprises and again I’d much rather follow Chris, Aki (the many versions), and Slink. These three outweigh our main protagonists by a landslide. That’s not how 'Blood Drive’ is going to work though… And while Arthur, Grace, and The Gentleman search for The Scholar to fix their cars, Chris is returning Arthur’s message and filling him in on the drama going on at Heart… Probably not such a great move, but hey… Blood Drive! There’s a convenient sob story about Grace’s sister and I just thought of how much laundry I have to do… Seriously. 🚨 ADHD thought alert #3! 🚨 Heart and the asylum that Grace’s sister happen to be in are connected. Apparently instead of getting on with the race, they’ll be stopping in that very asylum in the next episode. Back to Chris! I’ve suddenly forgot all about my laundry! Chris is going to stay at Heart and work with them and pledges to one of the Aki Copies his obviously fake as shit loyalty. She accepts. She also delivers on her promise to 'modify’ him as she’s quite aware that he contacted his partner… Former partner, now as behavior modifications are underway. More Chris. More Aki. More Slink. Less everything else.
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