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cherry1sblog · 9 months

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PAIRING: Lee heeseung × fem!reader

PART 1 PART 2

GENRES:smut, fluff, bullying, alcohol,party, unprotect ed sex (rember to wrap your Willy so the out come won't be silly

WARNINGS there is bullying in this heeseung is basically a dick to y/n and nothing in this story is real!!! This is fan fiction and the way I write about heeseung is not the way I portray him as he's a person himself this is simply for entertainment only !!

SUMMARY:heeseung had always bullied you through your 3 years of Highschool but never let anyone touch you other then him and if he found out someone did that was the end of it you were basically marked as his toy that's until the summer of your junior year you had enough you were done with him always making fun of you and you hated the fact that after all he did I to you you still adored him and liked him but it dosent matter cause you wanted to leave your senior year with a banger so you were no longer your nerdy self still smart asf obvi but appearance wise different you got contacts new clothes thank god you guys didn't have a dress code and most importantly you spent all summer learning how to do your makeup..

“Heeseung hyung do you know why y/n just left?” Sunoo asked “we had an argument cause she was being a bitch again “ sunghoon heard heeseungs remark and was upset “heeseung I know it’s your birthday but fuck you dude y/n was the one who organized everything with sunoo” “yeah hyung she even spent all night planing the decorations I know that you only do this to get her attention but we’re not in 7th grade anymore bulling her isn’t and was never going to work so stop being such an asshole “ heeseung washed with guilt he felt bad yes but sometimes he didn’t know any other way to show you how he felt and right now he felt really bad and realized how messed up he was being to you leaving his own party in his car trying to find you he realized it started to rain as it was the middle of October he knew you weren’t home yet cause the drive was around 20 min so the walk would be twice as long he felt the horrible now realizing you were walking in the rain but then he doted you sitting on a curb on a couple minutes from jakes house crying concer he got off and walked to you being to your level “hey y/n why don’t we go into the car it’s rai-“ you had pushed him he landed on his ass and now his butt was wet upset but not saying anything besides picking you up and putt you in the car slamming the door “what the hell heeseung “ “doll please just let me take you home it’s the least I can do enless you wanna walk in the rain” you hated how he had a point but you really didn’t wanna walk in that rain you were already soaked “here my coat “ he handed you his coat realizing that you were going in the opposite detraction of your house “hey my house isn’t this way” “my house is closer” you were gonna argued with him but you really just wanted to get out of these clothes “oh and um t-hanks for setting up my party “ you were surprised they Lee heeseung was saying thank you not even caring that he found out you were the one who planned it all “wow they Lee heeseung is thanking me “ he laughed “don’t get ahead of yourself now “ he said as you guys pulled into his driveway and hell heeseung house was big not as big as jakes but still really fucking big “are you coming inside or just gonna chill in the car “ running to his front step cause of the rain “my parents aren’t home there on a business trip so you can spend the night “ nodding at him admiring the decorations in his house followinghim up stairs and into his room “uh I don’t really have anything that will fit you” he said as he handed you some pj pants and a t shirt “thanks “ you said him just nodding thinking he was gonna leave or go change in his bathroom but he just looked at you “um where can I change” “oh right sorry you can change in my bathroom” walking into his restroom you not I’d it was a lot more clean than you thought everything was organized you put on the clothes as they were obviously super big but that was fine walking out you saw heeseung changing you covers your eyes “you can open your eyes “ peeping realizing he had clothes on now cheeks red as you just saw heeseung shirtless “sorry I was. Just about to get my shirt “ “not its okay” he laughed at you “what’s so funny “ he just shook his head “havent you seen a guy naked before or without a shirt? You saw sunghoon without one so what’s the big deal “ you’ve obviously seen guys shirtless before many times in porn at the beach but for you to see them all alone with just the two of you it made you nervous your stomach turend with butterflies and sometimes you thoughts being in the gutter “I have obviously but still” he lifted his brow “but still what exactly?wait don’t tell me your….” You don’t under stand what he meant you looked at him as he smirked and laughed you didn’t get it “ wow doll are you still a virgin” you got embarrassed “ you really had me thinking you were actually a lit when really your just a innocent bunny” you scoffed at his words “you didn’t even let me answer” “ go on then answer

He told you but you had no idea what you were going to say so you just blurted anything “we’ll um if you reallly wanna know I’m not a vigrin anymore I’ve had a lot of sex before and given amazing head “ he look like didn’t believe you one bit with he shouldn’t you felt so stupid you says yeah I’ve given so much head before ughh “um okay? Yeah doll it’s okay if your a virgin it’s natural “ you shook you head “ but I’m not I just told you I’ve-“ “ then show me “ you didn’t know what to say mouth hanging open “ if your so good at giving head then show me “ you really didn’t know what to do only what you’ve seen on porn but you weren’t going to let heeseung win so you were just gonna try and reenact what you’ve seen on porn “ u-um okau” he say on the bed man spreading you walked over kneeling down infront of him undoing his belt but he grabbed your arm stoping you “ wait I know your lying y/n it really is okay i was just messing with you “ he looked at you with sorrow “ I don’t want you to do something and feel forced into it it’s okay to be a virgin and this is something you should lose with someone special “

You smiled at him knowing he cared but you were already infront of him so you might as well do it so then you could maybe learn “ I’m already infront of you and I want to do it you can help me along the way “ he looked confused “wait a minute you want me to be you what sex guide?” You nodded “ only if your sure “ you were sure and on the inside heeseungs heart was pounding and now growing hard thinking of you around his cock just as he always wanted you nodded to his question he released your arm you rubbed your palm over his pants as you seen the girls do before heeseung crowed to it throwing his head back you slowly zipped his pants down ridding him of his sweats and then you saw the tent in his boxers the outline already scared you heeseung saw that panick in you face “you don’t have to continue doll if you don’t want “ you shook your head your wanted to do this you pulled his boxers down and he was so pretty that your mouth started to drool “ so big” you started to moved your hand up and down spitting on his shaft moving up and down then adding your mouth to his tip swirling on his slit his eyes rolled back “fuck y/n you feel so good “ he bunged your hair “may I “ you nodded he started to fuck your face he was so big he had you stuffed gagging on him he kept rolling his eyes back “ah fuck you like being a slut for me don’t you “ you didn’t say anything but you were getting wet “my own slut my doll so I can use you whenever I want right” you gagged on him again and he can you couldn’t breath but it was worth it he came all in your mouth you swallowed it he pulled out of your mouth “did you swallow doll” you stuck out your tounge to show him “did I do good “ he grabed your jaw “you were amazing “ he placed you gently on the bed your heart was racing you were nervous and I’m pretty sure heeseung can tell by the way your eyes were closing “hey pretty girl look at me we don’t have to do this we can take it slow okay “ he looked at you like you were the most important thing to him you felt wanted by him “I want to do it “ you said it but with hesitation he held your hand “look we’ll see if you wanna go thrue with the rest after I’m done eating this pretty little pussy” you smacked him as he giggled he slowly took off your pants seeing the wet patch on your cute pink underwear rubbing his finger over you there was a barrier you needed more it felt to good already “he-heeseung m-ah” he licked a strip on your underwear sliding your underwear done now feeling a bit exposed you closer your legs “don’t hide from me cause now this pussy belings to me and only me okay doll” you nodded he went down on you he licked sucked and fucked your hole with his tounge and fingers and it felt so good but you wanted more you wanted him as close to you as he could be “ah hee-“you moans so loud as he started to go faster you were close “please heeseung don’t stop feels so fucking good “ your eyes rolled back you couldn’t hold it any longer cumming all over his tounge “ you taste so good doll” you blushed at his comment “heeseung please “ “please what baby?” You go shy you didn’t wanna say it “use your words or I don’t know what you want “ checks turning a bright rosy red as you told him what you wanted “please fuck me need it so bad seungie “ the nick name was knew to him but he loved it

Aligning hip tip with your entrance before he put his tip in he was so big in you he could feel just how tight you were “holy fuck your so tight” heeseung and you throwing you heads back as he bottomed out “tell me when I can move baby” you didn’t want to wait anymore “please just fuck me heeseung “ and with that he slowly thrusted not wanting to hurt you witch it felt werid at first but it felt so good after awhile “omg fuck” heeseung starts kissing you slowly “been wanting to do this for so fucking long always have that big ass mouth of yours “ you couldn’t say anything other than “fuck y-“ heeseung started to pound into “what’s wrong doll I swear you were saying something “ you were to fucked out to say anything you felt a coil in your stomach but at the same time it didn’t feel like how it felt when you would touch yourself so you had no idea what was happening it felt so strong “omg wa- ah” heeseung pressed on your stomach wear his duck was bulging from it felt so god that right then I’m the the coil broke it felt so good your body felt so warm “did you cum baby” heeseung starts kissing down your neck and still keeping his pace you feel sensitive but I’m a good way “fuck keep clenching on me doll” and you did you could feel heeseungs dick twitch inside you and then you felt the warmth of his cum you felt so full heeseung panting both of you out of breath as he laid besides you “holy shit that was amazing “ you said “wait shit “ heeseung looked at you confused realizing that you just slept with heeseung your biggest enemy it was too late now but you didn’t want anyone to know “can we maybe keep this beetween us?” Heeseung seemed hurt “uh yeah sure” you didn’t understand why but he did but he always makes stupid remarks of course “ wait is it cause you don’t want people to know how dumb fucked you were over my dick” playfully hitting his chest “no heeseung cause I don’t want people knowing my business but I’m tired can I sleep now “ he nodded giving you a shirt and holding you while you slept

//The next morning \\

You woke up in heeseungs arms and it actually felt nice you didn’t want to get up but you had to you slipped as careful as you could not wanting to wake him as he looked so peaceful grabbing his and your clothes and making way to find his washer and dryer you went to go washed up from your pervious night activities and by the time you were done you undies were done drying slipping them on and throwing one of heeseungs black shirts on going to make breakfast but before that you wanted to wake heeseung so you tried to wake him up by tapping on him but that didn’t work so you set on him and slowly started to kiss his lips then his cheek and then his jaw you were going down more but he stopped you “doll it’s too early for you to be acting bad “ you faced him “all I wanted to know was if your hungry I wanted to make you some food “ he smiled at you and pecked your lips the rest of that day you spent with heeseung not answering anyone just the two of you together until someone showed up at his door you opened the door not knowing who it was but you found out it was Sunghoon you were fucked “y/n? What are you doing at heeseungs place “ you didn’t know what to say at all “um he took me here after I left cause I was walking home in the rain so he said it would be bad for him to just leave me in the rain “ he didn’t seemed like he believed it not one bit “so where’s heeseung then “ the dort opend more “right here “ heeseung said as he showed himself “why are you just standing at the door come in werido “ you were so confused heeseung was acting to normal “I’m the werido you had everyone thinking you two were dead “ and really hit you your parents but then also realizing your parents weren’t home either they too were on Bissnens trips “well I’m not see we’re standing perfectly fine “ sunghoon rolled his eyes “well I can see that now but if he just wanted to make sure you don’t get sick why are you still here then it’s like 6 pm not only that you wearing hyungs shirt ?“ you looked at heeseung sunghoon got you both there I mean to everyone eles you guys are enimes in reality heeseung should have just left you there to walk in the rain but this isn’t like that At all “uh that’s a good question “ heeseung looked back at you both no knowing what to say but before sunghoon could speak you interrupted him “ I stayed because both are parents are on trip right now so we thought it be better to stay together cause I get scared being home alone and I wasn’t going to sleep in my dress duh “ you were hopeful he believed that “oh ok I mean I Gusse that makes sense but why haven’t you guys answered anyone “ see we’ll for the past like 8 hours you and heeseung have been bing watching the summer I turend pretty so that wasn’t something you had to come up with

“y/n wanted to watch the summer I turend pretty and I thought it was stupid but it’s actually a really good show we’re almost finished with it wich you actually interrupted” Sunghoon honestly was questioning why he’s even freinds with the both of you but sunghoon also came to say that “we’ll another reason I came and why we’ve been calling you nonstop is cause jake got into a fight with someone at the party “ you were conceded Scince jake was super nice like a golden retriever and seeing him hurt would upset you “WHAT is he okay????” Sunghoon nodded assuring he was fine but the other guy was not “ I don’t get it what was it wall about? Why did they even fight “ sunghoon sighs “well actually I think it good that y/ms here now but it’s a bit upsetting” you were confused what’s so bad that invoked Jake getting into a fight cause of you “the guy I Guess was taking pictures up girls dresses and skirts and you were one of them “ you were grossed out your heart sank you felt like you were gonna puke tears forming at the corner of your eyes “but there’s more I Gusse he had posted the pics he took of girls on accident and a bunch of people are calling all the girls whores “ you were definitely upset but still didn’t get why jake got into the fight “not only that but the guy got all up in jakes face cause he called him out for it and then he said some stuff about you being a whore “ heeseung looked at you to see a reaction they both did “I’m. Not sure what to say who tf is this guy?” He wasn’t really sure either he saw him but didn’t know who he was “apparently your freind soobin knows him but the dude is like a complete loser his name is minje that’s all I really know “ Minje that name sounded so familiar to you but you don’t know why after that sunghoon ended up calling the boys and chu and some of the other girls so everyone was at heeseungs you all decided to have a game night

“During the game “

“Fuck you this ain’t fair jake hyung keeps Stealling my money “ it’s been 30 min into the game and the boys were already arguing “it’s not my fault you don’t notice this monopoly dosent have rules so suck it up” everyone was laughing at them but this game was gettin absolutely no where so you asked if they wanted to play a diffrent game “what game did you have in mind?” You were think but you didn’t really know “uh I’m not sure this game is boring that’s all I know “ “oh oh wait I have an idea “ chu said “how about we play spin the bottle scince there’s a good number of us “ there were 7 girls and 8 boys so chu was right we all went into a circle heeseung grabbing a beer bottle placing it in the center “okay who wants to go first “ Jake being jake he went first “oh shit I’m scared “ Jake said but it landed on chu every one in the room went ooooooo chu and jake ended up kissing but you guys weren’t in middle school anymore so you suggested a little more “istead of just a kiss why don’t we do make outs scince well kissing is a bit boring “ everyone agreed with you beomgyu went he needed uo kissing yerim and then jungwon went he kissed Yuna and then it was your turn you were nervous but exited you kinda were hoping for heeseung but you landed on sunghoon it’s not like you haven’t kissed before but you guys didn’t really understand what you were anymore more confusing at the fact that we’ll you had slept with heeseung nothing really made sense to you about this but it’s just a game right no actual feeling involved right? “Do I have to come to you or ?” You spaced out but went to sunghoon and he just grabbed your wait and pulled you in you guys probly made out for a good minute but when you went back to your spot you could see heeseungs death glare at you after 2 more people went it was heeseungs turn he spined the bottle and what do you know thank you lord for making this more awkward then it had to be you were really reconsidering your life “holyyy shit y/nnie your got two kissies in one night” but then as sunoo said that jake smacked him “shut the fuck up sunoo rember there not the best of freinds “ everyone kinda gose silent “hey if you don’t want to y/n it’s ok “

Sunghoon said “no it’s fine I mean it’s just a game after all” you said it’s so nonchalant but you were nervous for some reason acting like you didn’t just sleep with heeseung “hurry up doll your taking to long “ heeseung was sitting down man spreading as you went to his side of the room with the couch you say on his lap you knew he was tryna be a bit of an ass but no everyone was kinda shocked that you were being so bold before heeseung could even initiate the kiss you grabed his jaw and started to make out with heeseung for a good 2 min “okay okay we get it stop before I bulge my eyes out “ jungwon said “I felt like I was watching the intro to a porn “ Everyone laughed at yunas comment “okay well I thinks it’s time for a movie no” everyone got exited but offfff course it had to be a scary movie you liked scary movies but y’all were gonna watch the nun but honestly something even scary happend the fact that you were sat tight in between sunghoon and heeseung you wanted to kys in that moment but something happens while you and sunghoon were giggle to the point where heeseung just didn’t wanna sit next to you guys anymore wich was werid “I’m actually gonna head up to bed you guys I’m getting tired but feel free to do whatever “ you guys all looked confused but continued with the movie

\\half way thrue the movie//

You had gotten scared 3 times and by this time sunghoon suggested you just on his lap instead of jumping on his lap like 70 diffrent times so you were seated on top of him sunghoon was grabbing onto your shirt but cause we was also trying to cover his eyes and then “BAM” you all jumped and screamed chu thru all the popcorn on the floor “ your so fucking stupid we should have known you didn’t have to pee” yuna told Jake “first of all that’s was rude second of all you all looked like you shit yourself” you were moving so much you forgot you were sitting on sunghoon put his hand on you thigh and squeezed it “please stop moving “ thats when you felt it you felt bad but also felt butterflies you didn’t stop moving through the movie it wasn’t like sexual it’s just when a scary scene came up you’d move more then you needed too that’s when “hey y/n come get more drinks with me “ you looked at him confused “huh?” But everyone ofc wanted a drink but no one wanted to get up “ommggg get me another soda please “ chu said so you went with sunghoon as you walk in sunghoon closed the kitchen door and went behind you whispering in your ear “you think your little game is cute huh?” You were confused “what game “ you said defending yourself “I know you and heeseung fucked if he really only let you borrow his clothes he woulda gave you some pants “ you were caught in your own lie you were fucked “so you let heeseung fuck you before me “ he said as he started to kiss your neck you turned around to get him off of you a bit “cmon pretty gurl I already know it obvious let me make you feel good hm”……….

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I’m so sorry this took so long. I know you guys have been waiting for this so I try to make it as long as possible there was a lot going on so I didn’t have as much time but I hope you guys enjoy this in the meantime. also this is a proofread inside so long, but I have been wanting to start another series so for the next part of this might be may be a bit longer or maybe sooner but I’ve been wanting to start a new series so I’m trying to figure out some stuff, but I think you guys will be very patient and I love you all so much🩷

#enhypen #enhypen smut #jungwon #cherry1sblogs #jungwon smut #kpop smut #jake sim #sunoo #enhypen fluff #enhypen hard thoughts #enhypen hard hours #heeseung smut #lee heesung x reader #lee heeseung #sunghoon #sunghoon smut #park sunghoon

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quirkwizard · 10 months

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I'm not sure why I made this. I just thought it would be fun to do and now all you have to see the fruits of my labor. So, without further ado, the Pro Hero Parent Tier List. Hope you all enjoy it and try not to take it too seriously.

F Tier: Gran Torino, Recovery Girl, and Yoroi Musha: The simple fact is that these three characters are way too old to be parents. Maybe if this were a grandparent tier list, they'd be higher, but it isn't, so they're all going in the F Tier.

D Tier: Endeavor: Look, do I even need to explain this one? You all know what he did. One of the biggest problems in the story is the result of all the messed up stuff Enji did as a dad. His attempt at redemption was to remove himself from his family. Easy bottom tier.

Nana: While I'm someone who tries to understand Nana's position and decisions in regards to her kid and her role as a "One For All" user, she still didn't seem like a very good parent even when she was around. She herself even admits that, so that is what puts her so low.

Gang Orca: What few interactions we see him having with kids is screaming about their failures and throwing them when he is dissatisfied with their answers. That is bound to cause some trauma later. Like some Pavlovain response when they think of Free Willy.

Hound Dog: He may be a guidance consular that works with kids, implying some understanding of child psychology, but if his first reaction is to yell and growl at any emotional problems in front of him, he probably isn't going to communicate with his own kids.

Thirteen: I get that Thirteen is someone who takes a lot of care and consideration with her power and is quite safe to be around. That being said, I don't think that someone who is at risk of destroying their own child at the atomic level should really be handling children.

C Tier: Edgeshot: There really isn't a lot to say about Edgeshot as we don't get a lot of personality outside of being stoic, which could certainly be an issue for a parent. That being said, being willing to sacrifice yourself for a kid does push him above the bottom of the tier list.

Mount Lady: If we're considering her early in the series, she'd definitely be at the lower tier given how irresponsible and self-centered she is. Though considering her development and how mature she's gotten in general, she barely scrapes by as an average parent.

Kaumi Woods: Kamui Woods is just kind of average. There just isn't a lot going on with him that could give or detract merit from the little hero work he's done. He's here by default. His inability to hug his kids without giving them splinters would certainly be an issue.

Manual: Again, he's average. The most we have is that he seemed to do pretty well with handling Iida's whole situation but didn't seem to notice it in the first place. Otherwise, he's pretty plain. I could see him being the lame dad his kids don't want to talk to or be around.

Miruko: Definite Tiger Mom. She'd be making her kids do all kinds of sports stuff and getting them to exercise all the time. She cares, but she shows it by trying to make her kids excel at what they're doing. Great if they're into that, but I can see it fostering a lot of resentment.

Sir Nighteye: Like Miruko, but at the other end of the spectrum. He would be the kind of dad to make his kid study a lot because that's what he would think would be best for them. Cares and can loosen up when needed, but is emotionally distant most times.

B Tier: Ms. Joke: She is a teacher, meaning she must have some understanding of kids. She'd definitely be the "Fun Mom". She'd always try to keep a smile on her kid's face, even if that meant making terrible mom jokes. Be ready, she has been working on them for years.

Ectoplasm: He seems to be pretty good with kids, but the real clencher is his power. No matter what, he could always be around to be present in his kid's life. And hey, family dynamics are always changing. Who is to say a family can't be just a kid and their thirty-six identical dads?

Ryukyu: She can be hard on herself, but she seems to have a soft spot for children and do well with her wards, given how well they have turned out, being commanding without being harsh. And let's be real: who wouldn't want to have a dragon for a parent? That alone would put her pretty high up here.

Eraserhead: This may be a controversial pick putting him so low, but hear me out. I think Aizawa would try to be a good dad, but he's married to his job, being too tired and absent to really make it work. And did you see what he bought for Eri to wear? What self-respecting father would ever do this his child?

Fourth Kind: A good role model to any kid who tries to foster strong moral foundations and understanding of community in his wards. All around, a pretty stand-up guy to have as a dad. He loses points because punching kids is not a good way to punish them, even if it hurts him more than it hurts them.

Midnight: This could be because I read Vigilantes, but Midnight actually shows quite a few parental traits, like being highly empathic and understanding of those younger than her. Then again, I can only imagine the kind of teasing and general awkwardness that would come from having the R-Rated Heroine as a mom.

A Tier: All Might: If we're counting him without "One For All", otherwise he'd be working too much to be a dad, I think that he'd be a parent. If his students are anything to go by, he'd be a pretty effective parent. We can also tell that he plays favorites with his kids, and that knocks off a few points.

Present Mic: This may be a surprise pick, but I can see him doing pretty well as a parent. He can be the fun, comic dad that plays with his kids and can get on their level, but he can instantly go into serious mode if he needs to. The fact that he can do both so well, which you kind of need as a parent, puts him pretty high on the list.

Best Jeanist: Another stand-up guy, just trying to be a good role model and look amazing while doing it. I mean, the guy had an actual positive impact on early series Bakugou. That has got to count for something. Probably has all kinds of weirdly good life advice if you can understand fashion metaphors.

Rock Lock: One of the few real parents on this list, Rock Lock just seems like a responsible parent. He did try to call out the kids for being on missions, but he was kind of right in that regard and just looking out for them. Probably try to keep his kid from doing stupid stuff. He'd be a good, but restrictive father.

Hawks: Like Present Mic, I could see Hawks being a chill dad who doesn't seem to know what's going on but actually knows everything that happens and always has one eye open when it comes to his kids. He'll give his kids their freedom, but he's going to be there to catch and guide them when they really need him.

S Tier: Mandalay: Another one of the few real parents here, and one with a pretty bad hand. Mandalay not only had to take over as a guardian out of nowhere but had to do it with a heavily traumatized child while trying to lead a team as a pro-hero. The fact that she seems to be doing as well as she is puts her this high without question.

Fat Gum: No one should be surprised that Fat Gum is this high. He's super protective without being overbearing, tries to instill valuable lessons to make them develop, and does his best to encourage his wards to be the best they could be. And could you imagine him giving hugs? That would make any problem vanish.

Tensei: Tensei is just such a good guy. He's a good role model and leader for his team without it being detrimental. He knew Koichi for about a day and he was able to understand Koichi and tried to set him up for success. Imagine how well he'd do with his own kid. Plus, he's an older brother. That's like a being a parent with training wheels.

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sailorblossoms · 3 months

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[I have a post in my drafts that I might never publish because it's hard to elaborate without bringing up examples of specific things people have written or directly said to me, and it might come across as a long dunk fest (which is not my intention, and it might detract for my actual points). But I want to share these parts of it]

When Simon and Agatha date, Agatha sets the pace.

It might not seem like it because she's still trapped in a role and in a place she doesn't want to be. She's still feeling unheard and invisible. It might be in a way that might or might not matter. But she still does.

I think that the reader is not immune to the very same heteronormativity and gender roles that were trapping for Simon and Agatha, which might influence them to reach mistaken conclusions. Conclusions that aren't compatible with what the characters actually express, but that are compatible with assumptions about what boys and girls are supposed to feel and behave. It explains the ease with which Agatha's disinterest seems to be picked up, but Simon is seen as eagerly into it even though his disinterest is louder. He might not be as direct as Agatha, but part of why I post so much about him and not Agatha is partly because I admittedly haven't paid as much attention to her POV, and partly because he actually gives many more signs (what with him being the main character and having more POVs and all).

However, if you think about it, Simon is very passive while dating Agatha. He's facing it like it's something that's happening to him, rather than something he's choosing to do. He wonders if he should kiss her not because he wants to, but because he thinks he's supposed to. He even thinks about things he's supposed to be doing with her... and still doesn't do it. Simon, the guy who acts first and thinks later. Look at that. If something is happening, outside of Simon refusing to let Agatha talk about what happened with Baz (but he tellingly doesn't refuse with Baz, he does basically a jealous scene and wants explanations with him) is because Agatha is doing something.

They break up when Agatha says so (Simon laters expresses things that imply he has wanted to break up before but didn't want to be the one to do it). If Agatha says Simon shouldn't go her house, Simon doesn't fight it (even though her parents are the ones inviting him like, this shit goes beyond Agatha). If they're going out, it's only if Agatha wants it – "she wouldn't go to the movies with me" implies she was the only one of the two who would choose to not do something she doesn't actually want to do, at least occasionally, and to actually say something. He even talks about being friends like it's something Agatha allowed to happen because they were trapped in her house together, instead of them just... clicking or something. Simon thinks about not wanting to lose a friendship he has had half his life (when he should tellingly be thinking about not wanting to lose his girlfriend) but he's still not doing shit to prevent this. He's like "I'll just say yes to whatever she wants" (I've talked about the difference between Simon "giving in" to Agatha vs giving in to Baz, one is survival mode that avoids processing, the other one is a Simon who knows his wants and needs and is moved by a desire to take care of his love). I've said this by considering general context and motivations even before realizing the extent to which Agatha sets the pace, but I'll say it again: I beg y'all to release yourself from the shackles of heteronormative gender roles. Sex wouldn't have happened because Simon is a boy and thus would be the one asking for it. Agatha sets the pace (it is Agatha, and not Simon, who can even think about it, but those are other posts you can find here)

Also, Simon is genuinely a bad boyfriend (not that Agatha was a good girlfriend either, we could say that sometimes she was even a bad friend – I suppose the same could be said about Simon and even Penny – and I say this as someone who would have done the same "questionable" shit in Agatha's shoes – as someone who doesn't want to be uncomfortable in my own house even for a second, when she uninvited Simon from her house knowing damn well he didn't anywhere else to go, but preferring to make that Penny's problem, I completely understood) (It was also the best choice, I mean, if Agatha uninvites Simon, he's mildly annoyed but gets over it quickly. Imagine Agatha trying to have "tact" and going to her parents. If they don't listen to her with something that's about her comfort in her own house, even if it's reasonable, how would Agatha feel? and if they do listen and uninvite Simon, which would translate into direct rejection by adults who have always welcomed him before, what would that do to Simon? He self-harms in a similar situation, when Penny is saying her mom doesn't want Simon in her house...)

Some things people want to give Simon good boy cookies for are actually things you should be crediting Agatha with. Outside of saving Agatha when she gets kidnapped, Simon doesn't take care of her. For the love of god, there's no scenario, romantic or sexual, where he's good to her. That's like, very specifically part of Agatha's grievances. Agatha is the one who tries to take care of Simon in some way because he lives dangerously, and she would very much prefer not to have a dead friend, and she's forced to choose to save herself and run when it's clear there's nothing she can do for a guy who won't listen to her. I think people can be uncharitable to her when they see her selfishness and the sort of awkward bluntness that can be off-putting, which are her flaws, but she's not made of stone, nor is she unrelatable or hard to understand. In that vein, being a sucky ass boyfriend are part of what makes Simon interesting. It doesn't make him a bad person! In fact, it's very interesting and notable that Simon, who doesn't know how to be in a loving relationship, who doesn't know how to identify romantic love, who has always been neglected... it wouldn't be crazy for that type of person to be bad at a relationship, to be neglectful and hurtful (you gotta remember he made Agatha cry) and to not realize that. But Simon is aware! I think it's such a big sign of his goodness that he's able to identify he's being bad to her when it would make so much sense for him to be unaware. It would make sense for the neglected to not realize he's being neglectful. The fact that he realizes and feels guilty about it, but still doesn't do anything to change (he doesn't know how, he doesn't have the tools and, as brave as he can be, doesn't have the courage to do what must be done here: letting go) is what makes him a relatable, flawed and thus interesting human being. It's part of what reveals what he actually wants (and what he doesn't want) before he's able to identify it. It's a manifestation of his unhappiness, of doing what he thinks he's supposed to, even if he doesn't want it.

I actually think there's a point with Simon being a genuinely bad boyfriend until he's putting in the work to be good for Baz. It's part of his character growth. Part of it is that he's taking his cues from Baz, a natural caretaker – he genuinely doesn't know how to be a good boyfriend until he's learning from Baz. But we can see by Simon's ability to see when he's being bad and neglectful that he already has the right instincts. What he was lacking was motivation, which he only gets when he figures out he loves and wants Baz, and that a future (which he never considered he would actually have, not even when he talked about marriage with Agatha, his actual belief was that he was going to die soon) without Baz is intolerable. When he decides he wants Baz to be his future.

#simon snow #snowbaz #simon snow trilogy #carry on #baz pitch #baz grimm pitch #baz x simon #agatha wellbelove #awtwb #wayward son

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umlewis · 2 months

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Lewis Hamilton Is Changing Lanes

He's got one last season with Mercedes, and then F1's winningest driver will join Ferrari. But he's looking far beyond that, toward the moves he'll make when his racing career ends.

Preparation for the Afterlife

Often in the in-between moments of his eighteen seasons in Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton has found himself in rooms with legends, some from other exotic industries: movies, music, fashion; all worlds Hamilton has felt increasing affinity for while becoming the winning-est F1 driver in history, and many from other major sports. What he'd noticed was that eventually, particularly with these aging athletes just on the other side of retirement, the conversation would loop around to the subject of preparation for the afterlife. Not death, exactly, but life after sport. "I'd spoken to so many amazing athletes, from Boris Becker to Serena Williams, even Michael Jordan," Hamilton, now 39, says. "Talking to greats that I've met along the way, who are retired, or some that are still in competition, and the fear of what's next, the lack of preparation for what's next. A lot of them said, 'I stopped too early' or 'Stayed too long.' 'When it ended, I didn't have anything planned.' 'My whole world came crashing down because my whole life has been about that sport.' Some of them were like, 'I didn't plan and it was a bit of a mess up because I was really lost afterwards. There was such a hole, such a void, and I had no idea how I was going to fill it and I was in such a rush, initially, to try and fill it that you fill it with the wrong thing and you make a few mistakes, and then eventually you find your way.' Some people took longer. Some people took shorter. But it just got my mind thinking about, okay, when I stop, how do I avoid that? And so I got serious about finding other things that I was passionate about." Hamilton, whose parents split when he was a toddler and who started racing at eight, spent the first half of his life impelled by one thing: "Being the only black kid on the circuit, struggling at school, really always my big drive was acceptance. If I win the race, I will receive that acceptance in this world."

That single-minded intent, for a working class kid who grew up on a council estate north of London, led him to inconceivable heights within motorsport. His seven individual world championships in F1 tie him for most ever with Michael Schumacher. His eight team titles with Mercedes and his 103 frand prix victories put him in a class of one. But it wasn’t until later that Hamilton finally felt comfortable directing the part of himself that he'd suppressed while pursuing racing full-time toward other creative arenas; pursuits that, rather than detract from his racing career, might actually enhance his performance on the track, set him more purposefully toward the second half of his life, and ultimately enliven his soul. "When I first got into Formula 1," he says, "it was wake up, train, racing-racing-racing. Racing, nothing else. There's no space for anything else. But what I realized is that just working all the time doesn't bring you happiness, and you need to find a balance in life. And I found out that I was actually quite unhappy." The fixation was flattening. "There was so much missing, there was so much more to me, and it was crazy because I was like, 'I'm in Formula 1, I reached my dream and I'm where I always wanted to be, I'm on top, I'm fighting for the championship.' But I was just not... It was not enjoyable." During that period, he started dating someone in Los Angeles and was exposed for the first time to creative people in creative industries. "It’s almost like being in a snow globe. That’s the racing world," he says, "and there's so much more outside of it that you just don't have time to explore. I think if you go to an office every day and do the same process every single day, eventually you just zone out. You have to find something else that can soothe you, can keep your mind going." Those trips to LA planted the seeds for what else might be possible and ushered in a new wave of self-expression and creative experimentation, through, first, his hair, tattoos, and jewelry, then through music, fashion, and filmmaking. For the next decade, Hamilton steadily pushed against preconceptions of how a racing driver might present himself, and what else a racing driver might do while winging around the world for a global racing series. "My mind is always moving," he says, sitting across from me in London. "I have really, really vivid dreams; I have to wake up and write them down. I'll have visions of something I'm designing, or sometimes it’s music. Sometimes I have a song playing in my head. I'll get up and go downstairs, play it on the piano, record it, and it becomes a part of something that I’m doing." Hamilton lives for the songwriting camps he sets up at least a couple times a year during his summer and winter breaks, when he gathers a team of producers and songwriters to help him pull together the many samples, threads, and lyrics he collects and noodles on throughout the season. He's just returned from one when we meet up in February, and it's left him on a high. "Music keeps me alive," he says. In the years since those seminal trips to LA, Hamilton has become the most prominent member of his sport, possibly even the most prominent athlete in any sport, to mess around this much and this seriously with so many sidelines in creative industries. The idea of Hamilton indulging his interests hasn't always been welcomed.

"As I explored my creativity and also how to express myself," he says, "I experienced a lot of pushback in the media." Commentators who questioned Hamilton's "distractions" off the track. "People just judging me: 'This is not how a racing driver behaves.' 'This is not what a racing driver does.'" Hamilton's rise coincided with a moment when the sport was maturing globally and corporate money was flooding into F1. As a result, the rougher edges of the sport were sanded away and the hard-partying, death-defying racers of previous eras were replaced by a cadre of safe characters who evinced limited personality off the track. "I actually feel for some of the drivers just before us, in the early 2000s," Hamilton says. "There was clearly more to them, but they weren't able to show that. But if you look at our world now, there's drivers expressing themselves differently. Bit by bit, I've had to work overtime to outperform,' he says, in order to shift people's mindsets. The motivation for Hamilton to keep pushing his sport forward on this front is twofold: Yes, to continue to break F1's often conservative, conventional expectations, but also to set himself up for the second half of his own career. "I went through this phase of understanding that I can't race forever," he says, prompting him to cultivate those other passions. "Because when I stop, I'm gonna drop the mic and be happy. The difficult thing is, I want to do everything," he says, laughing. "I'm very ambitious, but I understand that you can't do... Actually, I take that back, because I don't believe in the word can't. To be a master at something, there's the 10,000 hours it takes. Obviously I've done that in racing. There's not enough time to master all of these different things." So what's the one that's gonna take the place of racing. I ask. "Well," he says, "I think it's gonna be film and fashion."

Film Lewis

Among the most prominent of Hamilton's current side projects is the major Hollywood film he's producing, alongside Brad Pitt and the team that made Top Gun: Maverick, including director Joseph Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. It promises to be at minimum the most anticipated racing movie in history; at best, the most authentic, adrenaline-inducing racing movie ever. Hamilton says he was, like many, a movie fiend growing up, and much of his time in Formula 1 has been marked by surreal opportunities to meet the people affiliated with them. This Hollywood story, he says, begins, as many of the best Hollywood stories do, with Tom Cruise. Cruise, a racing fan since even before Days of Thunder, reached out unexpectedly to Hamilton about a decade ago to invite him to the set of his 2014 film, Edge of Tomorrow. "My assistant called me. 'Tom Cruise has invited you to the set.' I was just like, 'Shoot, yeah?! Cancel anything I have!'" After that day on set in England, Hamilton and Cruise built a friendship that consisted, in part, of encouraging messages from Cruise before and after races. "'Me and the team want to wish you good luck with the race', that sort of thing," Hamilton says. One evening, at dinner, Hamilton showed Cruise his watch that had a Top Gun logo on the back. "I said, 'Dude, if you ever do Top Gun 2,'" which had not been spoken of; there was no story yet, "'I will even be a janitor. Just let me be in it.’'" When the reality of Top Gun: Maverick came around, Cruise put Hamilton in touch with Kosinski, who offered Hamilton a role as one of the film's pilots, but he was in the middle of the 2018 title race, waging a dogfight of his own with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. Filming would have required a couple of weeks on set during the final months of the season. Despite having made admirable progress for drivers to fitfully explore their passions off-track, even Hamilton has his limits. "Firstly, I hadn't even had, like, an acting lesson," he says, "and I don't want to be the one that lets this movie down. And then secondly, I just really didn't have the time to dedicate to it. I remember having to tell Joe and Tom, and it broke my heart. And then I regretted it, naturally, when they show me the movie and it's... It could've been me!" He groans and laughs. "Oh, God, I'm still…."

And so a couple years later, despite the missed opportunity, Hamilton found himself on a Zoom, staring at a screen with Kosinski and Bruckheimer, who were asking him to get involved with a real-deal, big budget Formula 1 film. Hamilton glimpsed the potential pitfalls instantly. "My point was, guys, this movie needs to be so authentic. There's two different fan groups that we have; like, the old originals, who from the day they're born hearing the frand prix music every weekend and watching with their families, to the new generation that just learned about it today through Netflix." Hamilton signed on with an imperative to make the movie work for both. "I felt my job really has been to try to call BS. 'This would never happen.' 'This is how it would be.' 'This is how it could happen.' Just giving them advice about what racing is really about and what, as a racing fan, would appeal and what would not." Cameras were rolling on the production at last season's British Grand Prix, where the filmmakers shot live racing before a crowd of 150,000-plus at the famed Silverstone Circuit. One of the coolest experiences thus far, Hamilton says, was "being at Silverstone and just finding out that Brad is actually a racer at heart. He's genuinely got the abilities, the skills." Where does it come from? "I think he's always loved bikes, and so he's watched a lot of motor racing. When I was younger, I worked at a driving school to help pay my bills, just getting around to these races and stuff. Companies would come with seventy people and they're on the wrong side of the road. They're on the inside line, driving toward an apex of a turn. Just no knowledge. Brad knew what part of the track to be on." This understanding of Formula 1 racecraft, then, put actors like Pitt and Cruise in a rare class of American. Hamilton had seen the ignorance up close for years. He spent the first half of his career coming to the United States and Canada, shocked by having to just "continuously educate people." Here was this continent of massive sports fans who were somehow immune to whatever had made Hamilton mad for F1 all his life: "How has no one got the bug like me? How are they missing it?" I spoke to Hamilton once before, in late 2011, and asked him what has really been an open question since: What would it take to infect the American sports fan? He knew. It was gonna be a movie that did it. "I'd love to hear any ideas," he told me then, issuing an open call to screenwriters. Netflix's Drive to Survive proved that there was something to Hamilton's theory, that if only you could package up the speed and drama in a slick story, audiences might get hooked on the real thing. The still-untitled Pitt-Kosinski film-they could do worse than Top Gun: Formula 1-should be the ultimate test case. At one point, Hamilton and I discuss the slate of racing feature films that have come before. Grand Prix (1966), Le Mans (1971), Ford v Ferrari (2019), Rush (2013), and on and on. I ask him if he keeps up with new entries; which work, and which are way off the map. "I do watch all of them," he says, in part because he’s a fan, in part because he and his new production company, Dawn Apollo Films, need to keep an eye out. "But one thing I think you'll learn about me is I don't like to... We live in such a judgmental world, and having seen how, for everything, building something from scratch and creating takes so much time and commitment from so many people... So I never like to be someone to dog anything."

Still. Ferrari? "I loved it," he says. Encouraging news for Ferrari fans, who have been salivating since Hamilton's shock announcement that he'd be moving to their team at the start of the 2025 season. "One, because Ferrari is Ferrari, and envisioning when they arrive at the factory, seeing some of the history... The racing was nuts back then. The cars were so dangerous. Could I look at it and say this could be done better? Of course. Capturing racing is really, really difficult, and I don't think anyone's been able to really capture it in a way that brings the adrenaline you have as a racing driver. But I think it's one of the best they’ve done. If you look at the old movies, with McQueen, the big camera on the helmet and the guy lying on the front of the car to capture the shot?" He laughs. "You should see some of the cameras that Joe is able to use. He's a visionary." Are you to the point of thinking, we've got to blow these other racing films out of the water? "I don’t feel competitive with these movies," he says, "but I guess we probably will be."

Fashion Lewis

Before movies, there were clothes. In 2007, Hamilton attended his first fashion show. "I come from a racing world where me and my dad were really the only people of color," he says, "and then when I went to the fashion world, it was so mixed, so diverse. I loved it." Hamilton had already spent his years coming up in the sport having to answer for superficial differences from other drivers; his braids, his tattoos, his jewelry, then his clothes. Every additional layer of differentiation brought outsize attention and required immense effort and energy getting people to believe that these things were not affecting his performance or causing harm to the sport. The scrutiny found yet a new target when he started working with Tommy Hilfiger. Hilfiger, who had been involved with Formula 1 for decades, invited Hamilton to design five collections for Hilfiger's namesake brand between 2018 and 2020. "I got almost like an internship experience, getting to work with these designers, in the background," Hamilton says. "I got to just be really hands-on, massively engaged, and then I would go to races and I was just really free." To celebrate his first collection, in 2018, Hamilton flew to a party in New York before a grand prix in Singapore. "That's not really great preparation for a race weekend," Hamilton concedes, "so you have to be really cautious about that. The narrative was, 'Oh, he’s not focused.' But I wasn't out partying late or drinking like that. I got to Singapore and I delivered one of the best laps that I've ever delivered. And after that, everyone was like, oh, he can do that. Even Niki would say to Toto, 'You can't let Lewis do this! This is not what a racing driver does!’'" In Lauda's era, I suggest jokingly, racing drivers would just drink and smoke all night before showing up to the track in the morning. Hamilton laughs. "Yeah, exactly. But eventually I got him to see it. 'Oh, maybe he can do those things, too.'"

In recent years Hamilton's interest in fashion has evolved. He doesn't just want to wear clothes or design them, he tells me, but to influence the industry in more ambitious ways. Hamilton has pushed diversity initiatives within Formula 1, Mercedes and beyond, efforts aimed at busting up the homogeneity in the spaces he inhabits. Now he's thinking about ways to marshal that sort of influence-and, yes, financing-to help independent fashion brands that he admires. "I think it's about really working on the idea of... We've really got to send the lift down," he says. "There are so many incredible young up and coming brands that at some stage would just get eaten up by the big organizations, and they'll lose a large percentage of the company that they've started, and that’s often the way it goes. I think it's about getting a seat at the table. It's not easy. Getting in the room with Arnault and having the discussion." Have you tried, I ask.

"Uh, I'm not yet in the room, but I believe I can." Just to pick one I've seen you support, I say, I look at a brand like Wales Bonner (from acclaimed 33 year old designer Grace Wales Bonner) that has about as clear a vision as any fashion label for what it's about-fresh takes on black style and contemporary Britishness-and yet remains humbly independent. Do you think about getting involved financially with businesses of that scale? "I have been to Grace's studio," he says, "and it's fascinating speaking to her about just how hard it is for her. She's putting on these great shows, she's super creative, she's very intentional with the work that she's doing. But there are opportunities that have just not been presented to her, and I know that there are so many of these young brands that somehow need more finance, somehow need more support, help with the infrastructure, which the big brands obviously have crazy infrastructure. Which when you do get, you know, they are at risk of just having to sell a chunk of it to somebody in order to stay alive. So I'm trying to just figure out how we fit into that picture." Honestly, one of my dreams is I have thought about creating my own diverse LVMH," he says. "Like, I don't know if we live in a time where that's really possible, but that's something that I'm conceptualizing." Act I: Beat Schumacher Act II: Beat Arnault Just one of those ideas that gets jotted down in the middle of the night and worked on, I suggest. "Yeah," he says. "We've got an opportunity to really lift people up and let them get in the jet stream. I think about LVMH and, of course, I love Pharrell. He's been, since I was a kid, just musically and creatively, someone that I really aspire to be like. And I was really split, having now been in the space, on the decision that LVMH took." That is, to make him men's creative director of Louis Vuitton. "'Cause, wow, he did the work with Chanel, Billionaire Boys Club, he deserves it 100 percent. Then I'm thinking about someone like Grace, or Martine Rose would've been cool. Put a woman in power in that position, because a lot of women aren't getting those opportunities within the industry. I think that would've been a baller move. But I'm loving what Pharrell is doing."

F1 Lewis

The start of 2024, Hamilton says, is "probably the most exciting time in my life", in large part because it's the first time he's been able to think about the next two years in tandem. "I've never started a year excited for the year to follow," he says. His life has been measured in seasons; one team, one car, one series, one summer break to cram in all the travel and songwriting camps and other interests. "People ask me all the time, where do you see yourself in five years? And I've never been able to look that far ahead. But now I'm in a place where I can map out a little further ahead. There's some really cool things that will be happening in the next two years." He means, "Some really fun projects with fashion that will come to light at the end of the year, obviously the movie, and hopefully a documentary to follow." He pauses, and I smile. Yeah? Anything else? Hamilton shocked the racing world a couple weeks before our conversation by announcing that he would be leaving his long-term team, Mercedes, for its most famous rival, Ferrari, at the start of the 2025 season. He would, then, be racing all of 2024 with the team to which he'd been effectively married and won everything there was to win for over a decade, all while having the next relationship primed and ready to go for the day after the divorce, which forces him to hold both this year and next year in his head concurrently; a rare state of play for a driver. "My focus is, how do I deliver the best year that this team has ever had, after all the great years we've had?" he says. "It's how you engage with the people around you ho have taken the news, some of them really well, some of them less so. How do you take them on this journey and leave on a high together?" Before moving on, he says, he has to figure out how to make sure the work he's done at Mercedes on diversity initiatives continues to live on without him pushing it. It's a consideration that could apply to many of the shifts Hamilton has helped facilitate in the sport. What happens when Lewis is no longer at the front of the pack challenging the status quo? At one point, I ask him, what's the thing you're most surprised hasn't evolved further during your time in F1? "We still need more women in the sport, and to fight to make sure that there are more and more women to put out at the front, in view, for young women and girls to be able to see that this is a place for women." In 2024, he says, "I'm training harder than I've ever trained. I feel the most physically prepared I've ever been, so I'm really excited about the present, knowing that nothing is promised beyond that," he says. "But then it's also conceptualizing. I have all these ideas of things I want to do beyond, in the next phase. Honestly," he continues, "I've manifested everything I've ever wanted to do. I do it every year. Working with Tommy, winning a world championship, breaking records. And so I've had some other plans for the future." Did you manifest the Ferrari move, I ask.

"Yeah," he says. "I think perhaps more unconscious manifesting from the early period of my life, but it's always been up there for me. For now, though, I'm gonna lift Mercedes as high as I can this year. The way that I exist..." he continues, "I don't look at it as on the way out. My commitment to the team is exactly the same as previous years. I want to kill every other team. We want to beat them. My approach remains the same, right 'til the end, and I can't let too much of my mind be distracted by what's afterwards. You can't really tap into that until next year." This final season at Mercedes comes during an unprecedented stretch for Hamilton, who has not won a race the past two seasons. Mercedes constructed a car in two consecutive seasons that has struggled. Red Bull and Max Verstappen have dominated. Hamilton wouldn't be doing it still if he didn't think he could compete for a world championship, he says, but we discuss whether the end of the 2021 season felt like a turning point for him in his career. The title that year was decided in the last race of the season, the last lap of the season, the literal last minutes of the season. After a surreal, improvisational ruling by the race director, Hamilton and Verstappen were cut loose to settle the title in one final sprint. But with Verstappen's car in a clearly advantageous state (he had fresh tires), Hamilton's fate was sealed before Go. Were you robbed, I ask him. "Was I robbed? Obviously. I mean, you know the story. But I think what was really beautiful in that moment, which I take away from it, was my dad was with me. And we'd gone through this huge roller coaster of life together, ups and downs, nd the day that it hurt the most, he was there, and the way he raised me was to always stand up, keep your head high. And I obviously went to congratulate Max, and not realizing the impact that that would have, but also I was really conscious of, like, there's a mini-me watching. This is the defining moment of my life. And I think it really was. I felt it. I didn't know how it was going to be perceived. I hadn't, like, visualized it, but I was definitely conscious of, these next fifty meters that I walk is where I fall to the ground and die, or I rise up." I ask him if he fixates on that race. "If I see a clip of it, I still feel it," he says, "but I'm at peace with it." And the winninglessness that's followed? "My fans were really ride or die. I couldn't understand it at first. 'Guys, but I'm not winning anything!' But I've realized it's not easy to relate to someone that's always finishing first. It's inspiring. But there's no..." There's never been a comeback story until now. It's a good lesson from his sideline in movies. People love a comeback story.

#lewis hamilton #f1 #formula 1 #fic ref #fic ref 2024 #not a race #2024 not a race #between australia and japan 2024 #pre-season #pre-season 2024 #sewis #toto wolff #niki lauda #tw max #brad pitt #tom cruise #jerry bruckheimer #joseph kosinski

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authorgirl0131 · 6 months

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I don't want to detract from a post so I'll give my rant here.

Have you ever seen that post about where Rogue is asking if mutants could really be cured and Storm said no, because there was nothing wrong with them? And people were calling Storm's ability one to "make clouds" and really taking the situation at face value? Storm was right.

First off, Storm's ability isn't just "make clouds." Her ability is omega-level- for the record, that's the second most powerful level. It means her powers do not have an upper limit. Storm is an incredibly powerful mutant and she had to learn to control herself from a very, very young age. Because Storm's ability is far more dangerous than Rogue's could ever be.

To start, when Storm caused weather to happen somewhere, she was basically taking that weather away from somewhere else. If she were to use her power to summon rain and end a drought in one place, she would be taking that rain from someplace else and could cause a far deadlier drought without realizing. Ororo was told this at a young age. There is absolutely no safety in her "making clouds." She has to be extremely careful what she does or she could cause a catastrophe.

Additionally, the level of power Storm has is literally world-ending. If she wanted to, she could wipe out continents, even the world. If she lost control of her powers, she could kill hundreds, thousands, millions, billions. Ororo was a child when she manifested. In some canons, she was a child when she learned exactly how powerful she was. But, child or teen, she still had to adjust to exactly how dangerous she was. She had to look back and see how many times she could have ended everything. Such difficult lessons for a child to learn, but she learned them.

Storm's control is legendary. She had to learn to keep her emotions completely and utterly in check as they react hard when she's upset. To keep omega-level mutations under control as perfectly as she does is one thing. It's infinitely more impressive that she has as much control as she does when her powers are triggered by her emotions. Storm's ability to exist without being a constant threat to everyone around her is the product of years, maybe decades, of hard training to keep herself in check.

Storm does not just make clouds. She absolutely knows what Rogue is going through. But Storm is also old enough to see the full picture.

Number one, Rogue has only recently come into her abilities. Control very much could be possible for her. She's new to all of this.

Number two, there is no evidence that the cure is safe. Given the amount of genocide that goes on against mutants, the older ones were probably worried it was yet another attempt at wiping them out. Even if it wasn't, what if it hadn't been properly researched? What if medical trials hadn't been done properly? Had they bothered to look into what a "cure" would do to someone with a physical mutation like Wolverine's? There's so much unknown and the adults all know it. They don't know enough to know if this is dangerous.

And number three, the cure was dangerous. As Magneto says, how long before parents had the right to force this cure on their children, employers on their employees? How long would it have been before the cure became mandatory? They could not trust humans with a cure because humans were demonstrating a long history of wanting all mutants gone. Hell, humans literally weaponized the cure, shooting people with darts and forcibly injecting them with it, in the same movie! How long would it have been for them to go mask-off eugenics and genocide? They couldn't even make it the full movie without proving Magneto right, that this cure was going to be used to hurt them.

No matter what, the cure was a bad thing. Storm had the wisdom to know that. Rogue didn't.

This isn't comparing autism to depression in the "wanting a cure" debate, this is two high-support-needs autistics debating the autism cure thing. One desperately wants to not be autistic, the other understands that the cure is potentially unsafe and has some extremely dangerous implications. Maybe, one day, Rogue could be cured if she wanted to be. But that cure existing then, when people hated mutants, was only going to end in eugenics and genocide and could only be a bad thing. Regardless of the good uses of it, it would be used to turn all of them human.

Storm knew what she was talking about. Stop acting like she didn't.

#x men #storm #ororo munroe #shut up aaron #rogue #anne marie rogue

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archivalofsins · 11 months

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There's a few things that are influencing my decision to vote Kazui Innocent. His ability to possibly protect other prisoners is not one of those things though and I'm going to explain my reasons along with why that doesn't even factor into it one bit here.

This isn't really a theory but an explanation of my logic.

A lot of my reasoning is based on being an all or nothing type of person. One could call it my bias or aversion but the one thing I hate the most is hypocrites and I try not to be hypocritical myself. So, seeing people "go think of his poor wife" after just coming from everything I saw people saying about Mahiru's boyfriend-

Yeah, no, people can shove that. I'm not interested in being lectured by people who only have sympathy towards victims when it is convenient to them. Then rationalize that behavior by saying there was a difference in the seriousness of the relationship. Mahiru was only dating but Kazui got married. Oh, how scandalous.

I personally see no difference here since both things are still committed relationships. At the end of the day both were bad to their partners and that led to their deaths. This is just my personal bias but how serious the relationship was would not detract from the pain I would feel if someone I was in a relationship with cheated on or hurt me in any way.

Because regardless I put my trust in this person enough to call them my significant other or partner and how they behaved was a breach of that trust that led to me being hurt. Having someone come in and be like, well, it's not like you were married so it's not that bad would simply not make me feel better personally.

Simply tell me the real difference between these two images.

That garnered such wildly different responses.

I am on my knees begging but I've seen how this fandom reacts to things like that already, so I doubt I'll get an answer.

Overall, the lack of sympathy I've witnessed regarding the victims of other prisoners up until this point makes me rather suspicious of this sudden amount of concern for the victim's feelings. When I came on here saying I was about to be heartless everyone should have taken that as a sign. I meant that shit. I saw how Mahiru was doing and said this far before Cat even released.

So, this is in no means a brand-new perspective from me. Because of how I have personally seen other prisoner's victims discussed I simply do not want to go-

"Oh, yeah you're right the victim's feelings matter in this case actually. Those other six before this well those were different."

I didn't see anyone going oh how do you think Haruka's sister felt it's not her fault that their parents are like that, Shidou's patients, or the hat girl one more time to rub it in Futa's face. I can't go back to discussing Mu's victim because of all the shit I saw with that.

Yuno is exempt because people simply assumed her murder was abortion. It depends on the person, but I don't really see a victim there if that's all she did. However, no one was like come on think of her clients or even went back to reexamine that case after the third anniversary art reveal which seems to be the prisoners directly after their crimes.

So, I'm very much in the camp of that's not going to persuade me into voting him Guilty and I don't understand why it's been brought up as a point of concern here and nowhere else. Mahiru is currently sitting at a firm Innocent verdict and these two things are basically the same to me.

So, it's only fair from my point of view that he's Innocent too.

Outside of that I think reducing people voting Kazui Innocent as them simply wanting him to protect the prisoners is a lacking assessment.

Because personally I don't give a fuck if he protects these guys or not. I know that may sound super shocking, but I really don't. Everyone in Milgram is a murderer, they better figure it the fuck out themselves. I mean they figured out how to kill someone before so they can figure out how to defend themselves.

Plus, I'm in a pretty comfortable position because no one I'm really attached to is Guilty right now. People that really care about Mu and Haruka definitely should want Kazui Innocent because those two can't fucking fight. Haruka literally admits to only being able to kill things smaller than him and Mu had to get the jump on her victim and seems oblivious to hostility.

Both are sitting in the Guilty seat right now. So, if Kotoko is voted Innocent again and keeps playing by Milgram's rules she will jump them and not the other Innocent prisoners. Milgram's second trial commencement notice even alludes to this bias being an issue stating,

"Do remember, Milgram allows for sensibility, morality, ethics, legality, preference, taste, or sexual inclination as the basis for judgement. You have done just that in the first trial, and you have my gratitude. Now as we come to the second trial, I'm guessing a new basis for judgement has introduced itself in your mind. You are also human. You can't help but develop attachments to individual prisoners. If you find one Innocent another might be in danger. If you decide to judge one as Guilty it may prompt the other to go in a wholly unexpected direction. In this environment of swirling interests,

Profits

and Losses

Will you all be able to follow the metrics of your own values, and decide correctly Innocent or Guilty?"

This is the reason Kotoko is last because if enough people already have their favorite prisoner's safety secure and the ones that they dislike are guilty it's far more tempting to vote Kotoko Innocent instead of Guilty.

Gunsli, how can you feel so comfortable, be so calm despite Mikoto not going on trial yet? Couldn't you be interested in having Kazui Innocent to possibly protect him? If he's voted guilty again Kotoko said she'll kill him how can you be so calm?

Well, you see-

"When you got skin in the game, you stay in the game but you don't get a win unless you play in the game. Oh, you get love for it, you get hate for it but you get nothing if you wait for it."

I'm sitting so comfortable because I'm willing to do whatever it takes to be able to say,

"I wanted what I got."

If after everything I've written about Mikoto he's still Guilty well that seems like a him issue. I don't cast my votes on a maybe, but other people can. Hell, I'm even willing to bargain for it I'll vote Kotoko Innocent every day of the fucking three-month trial if Amane and Mikoto are innocent first and I think a lot of people feel similarly. To the very end of Milgram selfishly with no limits I want to do what I want to do regardless of how that makes me look.

It's really funny that a lot of the fandom is fretting over the idea of a video game, not recognizing the game has been on for a few years now.

If that outcome happens I'll be upset surely but at that point regular Mikoto is just gonna need to learn how to block, he might need to learn evade too, or to shove something against these lockless prison cell doors so no one can come in whenever they want. Either way he better figure it the fuck out. Because Kotoko may still jump people regardless of what her verdict is.

It's even weirder to pretend Kazui is our only hope when it comes to defending the prisoners. Truthfully, they should all be evaluating ways to defend themselves after the incident anyhow. Especially since it's not like Kazui can be everywhere at once.

Furthermore, Kazui even expresses the possibility that he may be incapable of doing that on his own in his second voice drama.

Imposter Boulevard Kazui's Second Voice Drama

"That much is only natural. However… she really is strong, isn’t she? I mean, I’ve experienced some fights myself, but [going up against] a woman like her was a first."

Hm… Is she strong enough that even you can’t stop her from doing harm?

"Well, in cases like this, it’s generally the heavier person who ends up winning. After all, if she really does have proper killing intent, I can’t afford to let her injure anyone. It’s difficult, isn’t it."

Is that so…

"I was afraid that it’d come to this from the very beginning. There’s a lot of young kids here, too. It’d be hard for anyone to keep a decent mentality in a situation like this."

…You’re pretty rational.

"I wonder. Maybe it’s because I’m used to violence. Even so… I couldn’t make it for Shiina-chan. I feel responsible for [what happened to] her."

…

"Well, rest assured, though. As long as I can move, I’ll be protecting [the others]. After all, it’s pretty much just me who can fight her on equal terms."

Mikoto, too.

"Ah… yeah. Like back when he went out of control, right? I can’t quite read him, though… If both of them were to attack us, it’s possible that we’d suffer a total defeat."

A total defeat…?

"If that happens, this prison game would probably come to an end as well. All of that depends on your judgment, right, Warden-kun? Who will be forgiven by you and who won’t be…"

Then he stresses the importance of Es' verdicts when it comes to the safety of the prisoners literally asking,

"If at all possible, I would like you to choose a method that will not get any more people hurt. That’s what I’m saying."

So, you’re telling me to forgive you?

"(laughs) Oi, oi…! Don’t look at me like that."

I’m the Warden. If I forgive you, I forgive you. If I don’t, I don’t. There’s no other factors to it.

"(sighs) Wouldn’t it be okay? I mean, this situation with prisoners being hurt wasn’t what you wanted either, was it?"

…

"Just pretend that you’re looking at our sins, and make your judgment with the protection of the prisoners in mind. After all, nobody can read your mind – so that much craftiness would be fine, don’t you think?"

He's not just referring to himself but the other prisoners as well. Es assumes Kazui is asking to be voted Innocent but as it stands now we don't know how restraint will work for the second trial. If Prisoners that weren't voted guilty in trial one would be put under the first level of restraint or if it would jump to the second. Considering how Mu and Haruka are moving around I would assume it's the first level of restraint.

Meaning Kazui would more than likely still be able to move even if he were voted guilty. However, he does specifically say look at our sins, so he is referring to prisoners outside of himself as well while recommending this.

Something that people have literally already done with Shidou.

I know that I only voted Shidou Innocent so he could take care of the injured prisoners we have now and others in case another violent incident occurred. However, a similar thing happened there where people wanted to allude that Shidou being Innocent was bad for Kotoko.

The person I must state again who has jumped people, is in possession of numerous weapons, and can quite frankly protect her damn self.

That's not even going into the fact that Kazui to his continued admission was too slow to protect Mahiru. So, who's to say he wouldn't be too slow when it came to protecting someone else. I don't believe people are ignorant when it comes to this information.

He even brings up how if Mikoto and Kotoko attacked him at the same time he would lose. Something that has been implied as a possibility from the beginning.

20/07/01

Mikoto: Hey, hey, Koto-chan. I’ve been thinking this ever since I first heard your name, but don’t you think the names “Mikoto” and “Kotoko” kinda sound like siblings?

Kotoko: No.

Mikoto: Don’t say that! Let’s get along well from here on as the Koto-Koto combo!

Kotoko: I’m not doing that.

2022/12/15 (Kotoko’s Birthday)

Mikoto: Ah, Koto-chan. It's been a while. We were isolated for some time but, how are you doing? Lots of things happened, but for now let's get along. Here, it's your birthday right? I figured that no one would come celebrate it for you, so I came to wish you a happy birthday.

Kotoko: …What a carefree person you are. Someone as atrocious as you won't be forgiven next time too, surely. When that time comes, it'll be your last. Next time, I'll kill you.

Mikoto: Haah? Why don't you try it then, you lunatic. I'll crush anyone who tries to harm me…. I'll make sure to thoroughly beat you at your own game…!!

Kotoko: Hmph. The boundaries have gotten more blurred, it seems. Your existence itself is a crime. I will give you your punishment. This is MILGRAM's, Es', and also my own decision.

I can't speak for everyone all I can say is there are multiple other reasons that someone would want to personally vote Kazui Innocent. For me though I simply want to live with no regrets. So, I try to do what it is that I want in the areas of my life where that is possible. So, I'm gonna keep doing what I feel like.

#milgram #kazui mukuhara #gunsli rambles

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george-weasleys-girl · 9 months

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GWG Ramblings

The Darker Sides of Harry Potter

tw: rape

It's not explicit, but nonetheless, I'm putting the rest under the cut.

~•~

So, I posted this earlier and it got me thinking. What other things got cut out of the books, either because they were inappropriate for young readers or weren't important to the story?

Whenever I edit my writing, there is usually at least one thing that I end up cutting because it isn't necessary or it detracts from the story. So, I would imagine there were quite a few stories that didn't make it into the series. And I'd really love to read those.

I also wonder what the series would've been like had it been written for adults rather than kids. I think about things like love potions (the magical world's version of the date rape drug). And since it was widely available, how did the magical community view rape? Was it even a crime? Or was it only a crime when love potions weren't involved? What kind of mindset are we looking at here?

Voldemort was the product of love potion rape. So, we know it did happen. On what scale, though? And what, if any, repercussions were there?

It's possible that it was deemed a crime with a harsh punishment. But it was rarely reported, not out of fear, but because the victim doesn't remember it, thanks to the memory spells that altered or wiped a person's memory.

Which brings me to another point.

I wrote an entire ramble on mental health care in the wizarding world. Something I didn't even consider at the time was the use of memory spells as mental health care. I talked about shock spells as being the magical equivalent of electro-shock therapy. One of the potential side effects of electroconvulsive therapy is memory loss.

On the surface, this seems like a great idea. Erase the memory of the trauma (be it rape or seeing Voldemort brutally murder one of your friends).

Then, voila! No more bad memories.

Except...

Does it erase the trauma caused by the event?

Imagine how fucked up it would be living with the effects of long-term trauma, but having no idea why and no way to remedy it.

It'd be like going to the doctor, knowing that something is wrong and being told it's just your imagination.

It's all in your head.

And brings me to another point. (I'm on a roll today.😅)

These spells were generally reversible (unless something goes wrong). So what if a person's true memories aren't wiped/altered but instead just made extremely difficult or impossible to access by non-magical means?

I think about when Hermione altered her parents' memories to erase her existence from their minds. I can't help but wonder if they were haunted by the reoccurring thought that something was missing. Something very, very important. But they had no idea what.

This all reminds me of the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (which, if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it).

To sum up its about two people who, after their painful break-up, have their memories of each other wiped. The movie then follows the repercussions of that decision. The female lead, Clementine, is still plagued with depression even after the memories of her ex are all erased. And at the end of the day, the point is, we need our memories, both the good and bad if we are to grow and to heal.

We can't do either if we can't remember what hurt us.

~•~

ANYWAY.

Wow. I really galloped off on one hell of tangent. I think that's enough rambling for today.

And it wasn't even the one I've been working on. Go figure. 🤷‍♀️

~•~

@milivanili99 @fancy-pantaloons @turvi @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @georgie-weasley @kaysau2510 @sierraluvz @hanne-montana @rhunew @greenapplegrass @loca4moony @whotfskai

#harry potter universe #harry potter fandom #hp books #harry potter books #hp fandom #hp universe

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ariminiria · 1 year

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You know...even the live action Scooby Doo movies from the 2000's were MUCH more enjoyable then the crap that Hollywood throws at us now. Those people who worked on the LA Scooby Doo movies totally went all out!

They were a little bit bad in some ways, but at the same time they were so charming. And they weren't trying to be edgy, or anything more or less than the source material. They set out to strictly make a live action Scooby Doo, and they did.

I also think that Scooby Doo is a better candidate for live action than many things that have been adapted as such recently, because of the "monster of the week" nature of the show. Most of the episodes were unrelated, unconnected, and rarely referenced each other, except to sometimes mention old cases. But there wasn't a huge overarching plot to drag the pacing down and detract from the main focus, aka whatever case they were currently working on.

That's why I personally found the Mystery Incorporated reboot to be severely underwhelming. Definitely my least favorite iteration thus far. They focused too much on a "big" mystery instead of just. Ya know. Monsters. And they added too much supernatural element. I'll get into why the live action one gets a pass for that later, but the original cartoons and the What's New Scooby Doo phase only ever winked at supernatural realism. Like the cornfield episode where the creepy cat disappeared except for its red eyes at the end. But it was never really taken super seriously.

The live action movies came out to do their own thing and they set the bar from the get go. So sure, we're having Scrappy Doo try to eat Scooby's soul and the gang gets their bodies all swapped around, why not. They kept the tone consistent with the original material and that's what matters. And you didn't have to watch the other movies to understand whichever one you were watching, much like the original monster-of-the-week setup of the series.

Mystery Incorporated tried too hard to be dark and gritty, yet it still pretended it was being faithful to the original. But they reduced all the characters down to the most one dimensional cardboard cutout caricatures of themselves, taking one trait and blowing it up into their whole personality. Fred is a dumb jock who knows nothing but how to make traps. Velma knows nothing but books (and also she's a controlling emotionally abusive girlfriend now??). Daphne is overtly obsessed with Fred and that's her whole personality.

And then they tried to add an overarching plot in the background of each season. They imply that its similar to the cases they've solved this far - ie realism - but just a bigger threat pulling the strings. They're never ever clear of what is supposedly going to happen. Some vague and generic bad guy is planning something. What something, you might ask? What is the culmination of three seasons of insulting material and vague hints? Maybe a real estate scam? An inheritance scheme?

No. Quite literally out of nowhere at the end of the last season, they go through a portal into a shadow dimension and a whole bunch of people get eaten by a shadow demon that can only possess talking animals (for some reason) and it wanted Scooby but only managed to snag some pathetic bird. But it still wants Scooby tho! Anyways the shadow demon is literally consuming their town and the people in it (including the gang's parents cause yeah let's give the kiddies some nightmares) and somehow the power of friendship defeats the shadow demon but also sends them back to an alternate reality like Back to the Future and they all have really cool, better lives now. For some reason.

Honestly, it was insulting that they tried to even call that a Scooby Doo show. If they had made original characters and done their own new thing it would have been kind of interesting. But nah. Just something else where you can tell the creators hated the original material and were determined to twist it into what they wanted to watch instead of being faithful to the source.

The movies understood what they were doing and they didn't try to make it something that it shouldn't be.

#this got kinda long #hollywood hate #scooby doo

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onewomancitadel · 1 year

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I think what's funny about being a very dedicated romance lover is that there definitely times where I actually don't want it in the thing I'm into or at the very least I don't want it to be bland and really boring. I get it, Zelda/Link shippers go way back, but the gestural relationship was always way more interesting as a chaste knight/lady dynamic, and it's just lazy leaning into cutesy wholesome rivals-to-lovers shenanigans. (There are no intended TOTK spoilers in this post). It could not be there, and the story wouldn't really change in BOTW (or indeed even Skyward Sword); it's not achieving overly much except finally leaning into the (ostensible) inevitability of Link and Zelda getting together. Meanwhile - yeah - if I have to draw comparisons, any implicit Beauty and Beast dynamic to Link and Midna actually transforms Midna's character arc and the ultimate tragedy of her disappearance (and inability to reconcile their partner dynamic with who they both are and the nature of the Zelda myth).

Similar to that vein I really don't like companion romances in DW, which is why I feel that (even though she was polarising) someone like River Song was more interesting if the Doctor had to have a romance, but I always preferred the Doctor as a sexless figure/professor/parent type thing. Idk, the companion romances were very clumsy and uninteresting (which is why Donna remains one of the best companions - despite the fat single woman jokes, ugh, I can't believe people say only Moffat's run was misogynistic) and just obviously there to pander to a more familiar format of storytelling by the time of the reboot (self-insert Doctor with a sexpot companion). This is why I really don't like the Thirteenth Doctor's casting as an attractive (relatively) younger woman, just because it's really apparent they weren't thinking too hard about who would actually be appropriate for a Doctor. I don't know if that makes me unfeminist (I don't even like Tennant's Doctor, and Eleven works because he's unconventional) or something, I'm not sure - I think they did her wardrobe well enough but I just can't get over the casting there (and I know she has some sort of a companion romance, again, which it seems like they didn't even commit to with a female love interest, which says a lot. What I'm really getting at here with Thirteen is that I would've preferred a less conventional actress for the Doctor).

But it really comes down to motivated versus unmotivated romance, and sometimes we're not even really talking about the same thing - fluffy superficial shit (and yeah, you can definitely argue Doctor/Rose isn't superficial, but to me it does break part of the identity of DW and the Doctor's dynamic with the companions, and the characterisation of that relationship is exhausting and so fucking boring) is just fluffy and superficial, but from a storytelling perspective I want to be thinking about what these romances achieve narratively. If anything I think what is, say, critical to writing a companion romance with the Doctor is that it should by nature be fraught and taboo, and despite Rose's parallel-world disappearance the nature of them having feelings for each other is just a foregone conclusion and the will-they won't-they shit is just boring romcom bullshit. I find the Davies era mostly unwatchable because of this nonsense now (and then Martha gets saddled with that bullshit too, which brings down her entire run as companion).

I enjoy romance which is narratively justified and I find it tedious and boring when it's shoved in my face where it's inappropriate, which is fucking hilarious because that's a common detraction to the romances I enjoy. But we know it's assigned as a bad faith criticism in these circumstances and rarely do they explain why it doesn't work. But in writing romance, what I think is valuable is asking what it achieves on multiple levels - character, plot, theme - and whether it belongs there, particularly tonally.

I understand it's not a popular opinion (Zelda/Link and Doctor/Rose are huge ships in the General Audience alone, and the reason I think the former especially has been leant into is for an obvious reason) but I think it's worth considering critically for where romance does and doesn't work, because even if those ships are nominally popular, sometimes things are just popular because they hit familiar tropes and feel inevitable and cute.

#on romance once again #bad faith interpretation of this post: aggrieved link/midna shipper bigmad about zelda/link #it's not the same thing and I wouldn't even say I'm nominally a link/midna shipper #same for zelda/ganondorf #not in the traditional sense at any rate #I can recognise with link/midna it's a very constrained narrative and would never be revisited again #it's a gestural mythic totally implicit romantic tragedy

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rookie-critic · 1 year

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Rookie-Critic's Film Review Weekend Wrap-Up - Week of 4/3-4/9/2023

The Fast and the Furious (2001, dir. Rob Cohen) [REWATCH]

I have to label this a rewatch on a technicality, because I have watched it before, but it must have been back in 2001/2002, because I don't remember anything about it. I've also never watched any of the FF films besides this one, so this will be a journey of discovery. I think what works about the Fast & Furious that started it all (not to be confused with Fast & Furious, the fourth film in the franchise) is that the characters are compelling and the central story of it is engaging. Sure the VFX are horrible and the film is so uber-early 00s that it physically hurts to watch/listen to sometimes, but in a way that kind of adds to the charm of it. I've heard it compared to teen exploitation films of the 50s, and while I don't think I've ever seen one of those, that sounds like the exact vibe it has. Thankfully, most of the film's ear/eyesores lie in the first half alone, so it doesn't detract too much, and again that almost adds to the charm. I know the praise didn't start rolling in for this franchise until the fifth film, Fast Five, but I think the OG FF film was a pretty solid start to one of the most lucrative film franchises ever created.

Score: 8/10

Currently available to rent/purchase on digital (iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, etc.) and on DVD, Blu-ray & 4K through Universal Studios.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023, dir. Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley)

My full-length review from this week, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was a fantastic adaptation of one of the more adaptation-elusive games out there. Directors Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley, as well as everyone in the main cast, were able to capture the spirit of what a fantastic D&D campaign is all about. It has fun with the fans instead of at their expense, and is a comedy without ever falling into being a farce or a spoof of its source material. My only complaint (and it's not even really a complaint, per se) is that, a few times in the film, they go into very heavy exposition on certain aspects of the world's lore in order to provide context to certain characters and scenarios that, to the D&D uninitiated, will very possibly cause glazed-over eyes and checked watches, but I promise these moments are very few and fart between, and they never last longer than a minute of runtime. This one was probably the most fun I've had in a theater for a 2023 film so far.

Score: 9/10

Only in theaters. You can read my full review for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves here.

A Thousand and One (2023, dir. A.V. Rockwell)

I will always go out of my way to see the smaller-budget, not as well advertised indie films just as often as the big-budget blockbusters, and I'm so glad I did for A Thousand and One. A film that analyzes how CPS handles women and children of color, and to an even more niche and specific extent, the nature of CPS and the foster system in mid-90s to mid-00s New York. Teyana Taylor is undeniable as the film's central character Inez, a woman fresh out of Riker's Island and looking to get a fresh start on her life with her son Terry, who, when the film starts, is in the care of an overstuffed and possibly abusive (it's not confirmed, but it is heavily implied) foster family. The film follows them (as well as Lucky, Inez's on-and-off romantic partner and a father figure to Terry) from 1994 to 2005, when Terry is on the cusp of turning 18. The questions the film presents are complex and not easy to answer, and I feel like some of the things the film presents and wants the audience to agree with them on aren't things I necessarily did, but I am heavily sympathetic with Inez' situation as well as the film's central argument about the question of what guardianship and being a parent really is. For a debut feature, director A.V. Rockwell knocked it out of the park. Score: 8/10

Only in theaters.

Better Luck Tomorrow (2002, dir. Justin Lin)

I diverted my Fast & Furious journey to a film that, while technically not an official entry into the franchise, serves as a somewhat-official origin story for one of the franchise's most beloved characters, Han (played here and in the Fast & Furious films by Sung Kang). I gotta say, once I got past the lo-fi production and the requisite sexism and homophobia that plagues most films from the early 00s, I really, really enjoyed this. The acting from the then fresh-faced cast (which includes a pre-Harold & Kumar John Cho) was exceptional, and the story of the film, that analyzes suburban boredom and the societal pressures placed on Asian youth in America, was really thought-provoking and well-written. It has a few trappings of a new director finding their footing, but it really doesn't take too much away from the film. Any person looking to go on the Fast & Furious odyssey should slot this one into their lineup, it's worth the watch.

Score: 8/10

Currently streaming on STARZ.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023, dir. Aaron Horvath & Michael Jelenic)

I really wanted to love this. I wanted to post this and be so excited to rant and rave about how much relief I felt because the Mario movie was amazing. However, amazing, it is not. Now, by no means is it bad, or even ok, the Mario movie is a very solid, good film, but it has a fair number of issues. That being said, if you're a fan of Illumination and the general humor and vibe they bring to every single one of their productions, then good news, you'll love this. It falls perfectly in line with that sensibility. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people. I find the Illumination brand of humor to be very cheap and lackluster most of the time. They just try too hard, and ultimately I think that's what holds the Mario movie back from being great, because it does everything else right. The voice acting from the entire cast (and I will include Chris Pratt in that group) was impeccable, with Charlie Day and Jack Black as the clear standouts. The references to the world of the Super Mario video game franchise are all so much fun to experience and look for as a fan of the games, and frankly it's what saves the film from mediocrity and almost makes up for the very lackluster humor and the unoriginal, baseline narrative. If you're a fan of the Super Mario video games or Illumination's previous animated outings, you'll find a lot to love here, if you're not, I highly doubt this will connect with you on any level.

Score: 7/10

Only in theaters. Keep an eye out for a full review of this coming later this week.

Air (2023, dir. Ben Affleck)

Air was a harmless, effortlessly entertaining fluff piece for one of the most iconic shoe lines to ever exist. The cast is amazing, the writing is solid (not to mention hilarious. The film basically functions as a comedy for a majority of its runtime), and the true-life story of the uphill battle Sonny Vaccaro had to fight to get Michael Jordan signed to Nike is as fascinating as a story like this can be. It's not going to go down in the annals of film history as some historic business-drama or anything, but it is incredibly well-made and I personally can't find a ton of fault with it. There are some pretty blatant pieces of product placement that are way more overt than product placement should ever be in a film (not counting the fact the film is basically a 1 hour and 52 minute commercial for Nike), and it commits the period piece sin of throwing way too many period-appropriate references at the audience so that you really don't forget that this film does, indeed, take place in 1984. However, again, I couldn't help but enjoy this, and that might just be because of my appreciation for Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Ben Affleck, Viola Davis, and Chris Tucker (basically the entire cast), but if that's really why, then so be it.

Score: 8/10

Only in theaters.

The Wicker Man (1973, dir. Robin Hardy)

What a film this was. Who would have thought the film that inspired that 2006 Nicolas Cage-trainwreck of a remake would be not only an amazingly well-made mystery/folk horror film, but also a cutting commentary on religious stubbornness and extremism. Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee are exceptional as the film's opposing forces, and the way the film and director Robin Hardy really don't try to sway you against either side, but merely presents the characters and the lifestyles as they are and lets you be the judge, is remarkable. The film has aged astoundingly well (outside of the handful of musical sequences in the film's first half the long overstay their welcome), and I don't think I could have been more pleasantly surprised and impressed with this than I was. If you're a horror-movie buff and have not seen this, take the time out of your schedule to watch it. It's a benchmark film that I wasn't even aware I was missing out on all this time. Thinking about how this was a double-bill with Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now back when they both came out blows my mind. To have been a teen in 1973 and to have witnessed these movies back to back. I can only imagine.

Score: 9/10

Currently streaming on AMC+ and Shudder.

2 Fast 2 Furious (2002, dir. John Singleton)

Unfortunately, the magic and character development that made the first Fast & Furious film so watchable was not transferred over to its sequel. The story feels very deflated when compared to the intrigue of the original, and the cast at large doesn't feel quite as lively and fully realized as the Toretto-clan does. That being said, not all is lost when it comes to 2 Fast, because Tyrese is here now, and he's hilarious. The back-and-forth between Paul Walker and Tyrese is unquestionably funny, and it's the film's secret ingredient that makes up for the fact that the film as a whole isn't really that interesting. Ludacris is also pretty great as Tej Parker in this installment. It's funny how they knew what worked from these first few installments in the franchise, and knew to take all of those elements and combine them into one cohesive team for the franchise's golden-era. Just seeing them work out the kinks in the early installments is an experience all unto itself, and it's making me even more excited to get to what many fans consider to be "the good ones" (although I did really like the first film).

Score: 6/10

Currently available to rent/purchase on digital (iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, etc.) and on DVD, Blu-ray & 4K through Universal Studios.

Enys Men (2022, dir. Mark Jenkin)

The last film on this week's docket was a bit of a disappointment. I was excited to see this one, it seemed like a continuation of the trend that Skinamarink is a part of in this new, highly experimental horror-scape. I'm all for watching fresh takes on how horror stories can be told, and was ready for another one in that vein. Sadly, Enys Men (pronounced like "Ennis Main," it means "stone island" in Cornish) feels just a tad too impenetrable. I wouldn't say I didn't understand it, I found the story to be quite easy to follow considering how disjointed and abstractly it's timeline is laid out. I wouldn't even say I didn't get it, in a way, because I saw all of the things that the film was throwing at you that are clearly meant to mean... something. I just don't have any idea what that thing is. My entertainment value from Enys Men came more from piecing the mysteries of the film's narrative together, and ultimately that proved to be a dead-end and not the point I think director Mark Jenkin was trying to make. Beats me if I'll ever be able to figure out exactly what that point was, though. Maybe that's closed-minded of me, but I find myself having increasingly little patience for movies that are so vague you have to be on a very specific wavelength to understand. It is sufficiently spooky, but vibe alone does not a good movie make.

Score: 5/10

Only in theaters.

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nyctarian · 1 year

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2022 best and worst reads

The best and worst things I read this year, not necessarily that were published this year:

Best Nonfiction:

The Death of WCW by R.D. Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez

I listened to the audiobook for this, read by Bryan Alvarez (who, if you are a wrestling fan you will be aware of; he is very Bryan Alvarez in the reading, without going full yelling blokes madness bryan alvarez) and as WCW going out of business is frequently referenced without any context by wrestling fans, so a book that actually explained all of that was very interesting and informational, especially as someone who only became a wrestling fan well after that death happened. I specifically listened to the 2014 updated version of the book, so more up to date than the original while not quite in line with the modern wrestling landscape, but obvi still was compelling and interesting.

Nixonland by Rick Perlstein

I also listened to the audiobook for this one, not the best reader voice but it didnt detract from it. This book was a chronicle of the rise and fall of richard nixon, going very in depth on how he got to the position of power he got to, and how he fucked himself right out of that same power. For straightforward american presidential history of a certain era, from someone with leftist politics, tracking rises in reactionary thinking in american society you cant really go wrong with Perlstein. After this one I started listening to the spiritual successor, the invisible bridge (about the way america went from nixon to reagan style politics) but i havent finished it yet, as it had some redundancies with this one, and as it was very depressing at times, lol. Good solid history book, very long, rarely boring, packed to the gills with shit I didnt know about ol tricky richard nixon.

Best Fiction:

The Cook by Maylis de Kerangal

This was a very short book, packed with beautiful imagery of food, with an unnamed narrator telling the life of a cook that they are a friend of. It was an incredibly quick read, it immediately made me want to check out some of the authors other works, and it was simplistic and elegant.

Chalice by Robin McKinley

I am always hoping to find a standalone fairytale-esque original piece of fiction with a likeable main character, a mystery of a plot, and a quiet romance. This hit the spot perfectly. Any fantasy novel that does extensive worldbuilding that doesnt overwhelm the reader, and has a magic system that is interesting and doesnt explain everything but not convoluted, is always of interest to me. When I finished it I just wanted more books that didnt replicate any of the storybeats, but did replicate the tone and style of the book.

No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood

This one. Hmm. I heard lots of very good things about it and scoffed every time because it sounded stupid. Eventually I gave it a shot because I passed by it on our New Arrivals shelf at work enough times and I finished it in basically two days and it nearly made me cry at work. So. It is an Incredibly Online book, and as such parts of it didn't work and were cringe for me, and parts of it hit the part of my brain thats been on twitter for nearly a decade very well. The first half is basically just observation shitpost tweets of someones life, and the second half is an incredibly tender exploration of disability and parenting. The bits I didn't like were so stupid I would groan outloud but as I was reading it all I wanted to do was read it, and when I finished it I knew it was unquestionable going on my year end list. It also had lots of really beautiful imagery tucked in it.

Pure Color by Sheila Heti

Mentally I group this one with No One Is Talking About This even though I read them months apart and they are Very Different books. This was another one that I had seen effusive praise for, but the praise intrigued me instead of making me scoff. I ended up reading it when we had it in another of our New Arrivals displays and the beginning hooked me immediately with its dreamy contemplative tone. This book is not fantasy but it is, and it has a very philosophical interest in humanity existence. The bits I didn't like were also things that made me groan, but because they felt Trying To Hard To Be Thoughtful, and I didn't love the ending, but when I finished it couldn't stop thinking about it. It talks a lot about love and grief in ways that I didn't always like, and I think if I were to read it now I might hate it, but it absolutely stuck in my ribs.

Mairelon the Magician by Patricia C. Wrede

This makes the list but not the sequel as the sequel toiled far to much in the historical fiction elements and not enough on the fantasy mystery parts, but the character dynamics were fun and the story was simple. This is the type of YA/Middlegrade that I would have loved as a kid. The book is about a girl street urchin befriending a real magicians pretending to be a fake magician because he's wanted for a crime he didnt commit, and the subsequent solving of the crime. I like fun mysteries and fantasies that take place in the real world with lots of worldbuilding so this hit the spot for me. Reading it made me want to reread Ellen Raskin's The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues (which i did end up doing) so even though they are very different, they hit that same sort of weird midgrade mystery note. I think I started this after seeing it recommended for people who liked chalice, but it hit very different notes for me, even if it has similar beats of mystery fantasy stuff.

Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews

I read this book and then i read the four sequels to it in less than two weeks, a very fast clip for me. It was sufficiently dumb fun urban fantasy mystery romance, with likeable characters and silly plots. The sixth book in the series (the first three books are focused on one character, the next three on her younger sister, presumably the authors will write more about the third sister etc) didnt come out until five and a half months after i finished the fifth book, and i ended up dnf'ing it because the plot had gotten to absurd, with previously poor main characters now ridiculously overpowered and wealthy. If it had been out when i was reading the others I probably would have plowed through it because thats the type of mindset i was in when i was reading them. I almost didnt include it in the list but i had such dumb fun when i was enjoying them and it scratched the mystery fantasy itch, as is evident, i was very into this year, as I was pretty burned out on shitty bad adult romcom esque novels.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

However, some authors have the goods for adult romcom esque novels and emily henry is that for me. I've enjoyed each of her books that I've read so far (only the adult ones, though im aware she's also written ya). I liked this one much more than her last one, though still not as much as I enjoyed the first one I read by her, Beach Read. Her books hit just enough of the expected tropes in a romcom novel (this one very selfawarely so) that they are breezy reads, while avoiding a lot of the annoying pitfalls that bring down other books of the genre. She also writes characters that are likable, another thing other authors of the genre are largely incapable of doing. I'll also use this space for a special mention to the short story she wrote putting together the three couples from her books in the same setting, as it was a good way of highlighting the differences of the characters, and with them all broadly existing in similarly literary settings it made sense to have them in the same world. Altogether she's a solid author for a fun breezy read with good relationship building for characters, very few "ah come on wtf" moments that most of the genre are riddled with, and a decent plot.

Worst:

Love Scenes by Bridget Morissey

Maybe this shouldnt make the list because i barely remember any of it, other than that the main character was dull and that the story was dumb. Like Funny You Should Ask, and most romcoms that take place in some media environment, it just read as really misinformed the entire time for how like. The Real World Works. Referring to my goodreads updates i made it about 12-15% into the book before i started hating it.

Good Girls Die First by Kathryn Foxfield

Failed as a slasher, failed as a ya mystery, failed as a supernatural thriller. The ending is one of the dumbest things ive ever read in my entire life, and the whole enterprise reminded me that i am too old for even the most 'i just need something shallow and dumb to read' ya.

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

This is a book that really is the most "oh you are writing self insert fanfiction about game of thrones" that ive ever read. The author thanks game of thrones fanfiction authors in her acknowledgements. It was bad, and really made the argument that fangirls shouldnt be allowed to write books, and that especially no one should write any more fangirl geek chic romcoms. Enough.

Meet Me In The Margins by Melissa Ferguson

A lot of books these days, especially romcom books, take place in the literary environment, with main characters who are authors librarians or otherwise adjacent to the industry. To an extent this makes sense, as authors are inherently going to be interested in books, and writing, and thats something thats easy to give a character as an interest. I've done it for my oc's, its been done successfully in books that ive liked by authors like emily henry above. this book. was not successful. On goodreads, i had almost 40 progress updates on the book as i read it, and i dnf'd at 52%. As someone who cares about books, and good books, and would like a healthy publication industry, this book annoyed me on those merits, and in the half of the book i read the relationship was never developed enough for the book to even attempt to be anything more than a vessel for a very dysfunctional ideology about the publication industry from an author who is attempting to cater to an audience that doesnt read anything except ya. Here are two mean things i said about it as i was reading:

Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman

This book committed the gravest sin any book can commit: it had the audacity to be boring and bad, despite the fact that I had anticipated reading it. The main character was woe is me full of herself, while reading as much younger than she was written (with the back and fourth flashback plot style really highlighting that she doesnt seem like someone who grew at any point in time). It doesnt really understand how journalism works, or hollywood, and it didnt do any building up of the fake media landscape it would have lived in. If a character in your book is a writer of some acclaim the exerpts should be good, or shouldnt be included. The main character also went to my actual irl real life for real alma matter, and boy, did she remind me of the worst girlies i went to school with. I had over 30 goodreads updates as i read this book, basically all bitching about it. I ended up skipping huge chunks because it also wasnt a compelling bad read, it was terminally dull the entire time. Also the whole plot was about a fictional celebrity and fictional journalist/essayist author and all that, but couldnt come up with a fake media ip for the character to be cast in so it talks about james bond the whole time, and it takes away huge from the already bad story, lol. I am forcing myself to stop writing this one because i could keep going it was such a disappointment.

#sorry for not really explaining plot like i typically do a) procrastinated until right now b) several of these are not really plot-y plots #also same two why i dont really get into characters lmao sorry #this list is really for future me anyways #book recs #2022 #personal

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dragonsandwolvesohmy · 2 years

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Okay... controversial opinion. I don't care for Maisie Lockwood. I don't. Am I the only one? Honest opinion, here, guys.

(warning, long-ass thoughts, and more cussing, below.)

I understand her purpose- a clone baby in the series about science cloning dinosaurs and everything. Natural progression of science- which, terrifying. That kind of gene manipulation is wack. (Do people even still use that besides me?) However. However, it's not new. May I remind everyone of Dolly, the clones Sheep? She was cloned in '96, cloning living beings and all isn't new, so Maisie's purpose is... lemme say odd? I guess? I mean, I get it- the dinosaurs were one thing, they had to spell out what they'd been implying all along with the, essentially, resurrection of the dinosaurs. Basically- look, humans and dead people too! Which, again, wack.

When people die, they should be there. I say this as having lost friends when I was young, parents when I was young, grandparents when I was older, knowing and supporting those who've lost someone in my life- grief fucking sucks. Would I love to have more time with those I lost? Fuck Yeah. Would I be willing to clone them to possibly get it? Fuck No. Maybe it's just me, maybe it's because I haven't lost a child, but the idea of cloning a replica of someone dead is fucked up. Which, point of the movie. Dinosaurs, an extinct species, are one thing, people are another. Not because one is an animal, one is a human- no. Because extinct species could be helpful and beneficial to the world. (I mean this in the context of endangered animals, plant life, marine biology, etc.) But that's another thing altogether, I'll get off my soap box.

Sorry, got a little off-topic. Maisie Lockwood. It's not the whole fucked up thing of being a clone of someone dead- to be frank, I don't give a damn whether she was a clone or not. I don't like her, because I don't feel she was useful to the story. That's my main point above with the whole dolly thing. I get it was a natural progression of the story's science. I do. I just feel it was... not worth it?

I feel like all of Maisie's character and story arc could've been cut out, and I wouldn't miss it, essentially. I came for the dinosaurs, I stayed for the dinosaurs, I got too much Maisie Lockwood, I feel. I love Claire and Owen's domestic- ness, I like the idea of them as parents- loving them as adoptive parents, fuck yeah adoption!- but Maisie? Feels... not forced, not awkward, just not right? Idk how to explain, I just don't care for her or her story arc. I feel it detracts from what Jurassic Park/World was originally all about. Dinosaurs.

The locust plot, Blue's baby, the original trio (I am here for Alan, Ellie, Ian.) the idea of the dinosaurs in everyday life, containing them, rescuing them, illegal breeding, Biosyn in general and especially Wu's trouble with what he's doing with the locust- all of. It's grounds for a good fucking movie. And what's there, just kinda hanging around, being a center focus- Maisie Lockwood. I know there needed to be some resolved questions and whatnot from the previous movie about her, but to be honest? I didn't really care. I could've got one or two throw-away lines and been satisfied. I remember watching the previous one and being like- uh? okay? Maisie's a thing? I guess? I didn't get why she was so important then (other than, you know, her major plot points, which I feel could've been better utilized. By, say, having other characters fill in, and not use her story at all- sorry) and I still don't get her importance.

There's a theme in the Jurrasic franchise of having a kid in each movie, Maisie filled the spot I guess. But I would've loved to see a character already known, someone with purpose. Claire's nephews, significantly older now, maybe? A cameo by the original kids from the original Jurassic Park? Ian even mentions his children- why couldn't it have been one of his grandchildren in the mix, like his daughter was in 'Lost World, Jurrasic Park'?

Maybe I don't like Maisie because she was underutilized, or maybe it's because she was overused. I came for dinosaurs, I got Maisie Lockwood instead. I just... Didn't care for her. Gimme more dinos, less Maisie. Parent Clair and Owen? Sure, sure, have them adopt literally any other child, and they could've filled the same purpose of Maisie, without the drama of the whole clone of a dead person drama that took away from my dinos.

I feel like if I read the books, Maisie Lockwood would be more integral, more important, maybe I would've even liked her a whole lot. In the movies? I just felt like I was missing something the whole time. and that something was more dinos, less Maisie.

Book readers, think I would feel different about Maisie if I read the books? I don't mind the cloning topic, honestly, I just felt like the movies went 'of shit, throw this in too, don't wanna forget that'. I just feel like Maisie's whole topic belonged in a spin-off, in its own movie, and not taking the spotlight from the dinosaurs.

Maybe even her own show like Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous, focusing on human cloning and all, with dinos in the background. Instead of how unbalanced the movie felt trying to do all the dinos we wanted, and still unload the human clone story arc too.

#jurrasic world #jurassic park #jurrasicpark #jurassic series #jurassic world dominion #maisie lockwood #fallen kingdom #personal opinion #personal thoughts #maybe i should read the books #might care more about maisie if I do

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potatoes83 · 2 months

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The obsession with race...

or The Race to the Bottom...

So, we've all heard of the Netflix thing, we've seen the memes, their obsession with fiddling around with race and/or gender when it comes to retelling time-honored stories. Mind you, Hollywood's doing the same thing, but Netflix has seriously doubled down...

Now, like so many, I had been bootlegging off my parents Netflix until such time as we couldn't do it anymore, so we went ahead and got our own. And much of the time, we're watching old shit, and generally not even made in this country. Kim's Convenience. The IT Crowd. Downton Abbey... Same deal with Amazon Prime. Suffice to say, I'm not exactly clamoring for original Netflix content. Home from work today, because Good Friday, and fasting, because Catholic, so I decided to go ahead and start into a series. It was a toss-up between The Crown and Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events. I've said before, I really try not to sit in front of the idiot box, but I needed some decompression time. Lemony Snicket won the coin-toss.

The series generally has so far been... pretty good. I have not read the books, assuming there are indeed books to be read, but I did see the original movie, which combined and moved around several storylines, as the story is presented in chapter format. I enjoyed the movie, because having no knowledge of the story, it was not what I was expecting, and I like that. I figured with the title, and the cast, that these kids were palling around with their uncle Lemony Snicket, on a series of whirlwind and magical adventures...

Yeah no.

I like being surprised. It's not easy to do, and I enjoy it immensely when I can honestly say "I didn't see that coming".

Trouble is, several of Netflix's casting choices and character tweaks are in fact detracting from the series. Like the credited "Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender"... umm no. That's clearly a dude. Being played by a dude. Curious that there is the necessity to make the character, I don't know, "gender-fluid", I think is the made-up nonsense term? And then double down in the credits, which again, no no, he's a dude.

Or Uncle Monty being played by someone of middle-eastern descent. Interesting. Because when I think of Montgomery Montgomery, an avuncular Scottish person as presented in the movie, I think of a skinny middle eastern guy.

Meryl Streep and I will probably never agree on ANYTHING as far as politics or sociology goes, but damn, was she a great aunt Josephine. She knocked it out of the park. So imagine my surprise to see the character being played by a sassy black woman.

And I will point out that these actors and actress do not do a *bad* job in their depictions of these characters... but again, you've already established a universe here. You don't have the same actors as the movie, fine, but it would be like casting a Star Trek, TNG movie, and replacing Patrick Stewart with Laurence Fishburne... People are gonna notice that shit!

If you want to tell tales of persons of indeterminate gender (no such thing, but hey, TV is already make-believe), or middle-eastern persons, or black persons, go nuts. Write those stories, and tell those stories. But when you're telling a story that's already written, descriptively cast, and with its own universe already created, stick to your lane. Because the problem is, when you so obviously shoehorn race in because reasons, it's quite obvious to the viewer. And it does indeed detract from the storyline. 🥔

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commandsfear · 1 year

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fateviled ➤ {rey}

perhaps it was whatever connected them that kept her from feeling any true worry or malice at his presence, but the knowledge of his past mistakes does not detract her from finding herself nodding along with him, incapable of preventing her eyes from scanning every inch of his face, the youthfulness that he presents striking something in her chest that she isn’t sure she wants to feel — not for him, not for a person who had all but cased the agony this world now faced. was this what could have become of her once, in another lifetime? a young child wearing the robes of a padawan apprentice with hope and excitement still gleaming in her eyes? or would she have been happy and content with her parents, force abilities remaining undetected for years by the jedi council? (would she have been happy, regardless?)

“pretending is easy. it’s believing that’s the difficult part.” the words fall easily, a smile pulling at her lips at the ridiculousness of the sentiment, and a moment later finds her shaking her head. “i used to pretend my family would come for me, that they were still alive. trying to believe they were alive was harder.” as if anyone living would leave their child to suffer the way she had, in a planet that was as dead as they were. her throat tightens, and she isn’t sure why she says it. she doubts it matters to him; the imperfect hero and the redeemed villain, never fully belonging in light or darkness. but speaking the words out loud loosens the tightness in her chest, a grief she had not let herself show for lack of knowing how to mourn a family she barely remembered.

her shoulders lower as she leans back in her seat, flashing him an unimpressed glance at the comment. for a second, he reminds her of poe, the spark of insolence and glee mirrored in his expression, but there’s something sharper about it on this man’s boyish face. as if it comes from the knowledge contained within him, the surety he wears. something eases within her, that she can’t help but return his mirth, eyes sparking with something she’d considered lost. “lucky you, it seems you haven’t done anything to personally spite me. yet.” already the conversation between them flows easier than that she’d shared with kylo, but she can’t fault him for the mistakes his grandson had made.

CHARISMA really was a gift anakin didn't deserve to have. confidence had brimmed at his edges from the time he was a mere nine-years-old, so sure he could win a pod race that he had no business participating in. qui-gon had seen it; had sensed his strength in the force.

rey was like that. even weighed down by the shackles of her past, she had lived on even if it had all been fueled by a LIE that she told herself. survival meant everything; living under conditions where others would give up. he moved his body to sit down next to her. touching her was impossible, but he could still do simple human actions like sit. the space between them was at least an arm-length; he didn’t dare get closer. she was strong in the force– who knew what potential she was truly capable of.

“the force made me,” he tells her, trying desperately to relate in a way that he knows he really can’t, “it made my mother do everything by herself. i used to pretend my father was a jedi who would come and whisk us away one day… when that day came, the only person he took was me. and he wasn’t even my father.” nor the man who would become like a father to me.

leaving shmi behind had hurt, but he had mistakenly thought her safe. DELAY and LISTEN and RULES and SELFISHNESS,deities vying for the attention of anakin’s soul, all conflated into the moments leading up to his and padme’s quick flight to tatooine. all of it a WASTE that ended in DISASTER. his mother had only lived long enough to die in his arms. what good was a chosen one who couldn’t save his own mother?

then again, what good was a chosen one who fell the moment things got too hard?

balance– he had to BALANCE the force. even in death, he had to provide guidance for the ones who would allow his culture to be born again. the culture he had helped destroy, of course. he tugged fiercely on his his padawan braid, his eyes steely as they turned away from rey to stare into the nothingness of the distance. his lips turned downward into a tight, uncomfortable frown. brief moments passed before he had swallowed it up again.

“what i’m trying to say is,” he stops, trying to think of the very obi-wan thing to say in the moment. he can’t, of course. all those words feel like ash on his tongue. so, instead, he talks to her the way he would talk to ahsoka, “it sucks. all of it. dead parents, dead masters, dead desert planets full of unforgiving heat and even worse people. it’s no place for a good jedi to grow up. and i’m sorry that my bullshit had a hand in letting another jedi grow up like me.”

he ran his hands over his face. what else could he say? what else was there? it came to him, of course, like many things did. “i just want to help you where i failed. to make sure no one grows up the way you or i did. but only if you’ll let me.” there was so much damage he could never forgive himself for– but he could at least help it heal.

#fateviled #fateviled (rey)#anakin: cool i can work with that #❧QUEUE.❧

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