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franklespine · 5 months

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Oh my god. Genuinely, s14e19 jack in the box was the single most excruciating episode I have ever watched. I am devastated.

How people act when they are without a soul is something I found incredibly interesting in s6 with Sam, and its interesting how the way that Jack is portrayed in this episode fits into it. Just like Sam - he's got no instinct. No guiding moral compass. No gut feelings. Except now it's a billion times worse because Jack is the most powerful being in the universe and everyone seems to want their part in manipulating him. Because the interesting thing about soulessness is it doesn't just make you incapable of feeling empathy, but also makes you incredibly susceptible to manipulation.

I just knew Dean was a ticking time bomb the entire episode. Ugh and the way he painted it - like Jack was just playing them the whole time, that they fell for his act or whatever.

And the Ma'lak box???? What if that was my final straw? What if watching Sam have to manipulate the kid that he sees as his son, that he sees as a reflection of himself, was the end of me? What then?

This entire episode, Sam isn't even angry, he's just full of guilt and sorrow and disorientation. He can't even really articulate how exactly he thinks it's his fault, just that he is somehow at fault. s14 really punishes Sam for being sympathetic huh - at every turn and every mercy.

Whereas Dean is just guilty in an angry way that is like I feel horrible and guilty but in a way that means I really do actually blame you.

Then Dean making SAM be the one to make the call to Jack. Taking advantage of Sam's close relationship with Jack, the one that he valued and took the patience to establish with new born Jack whilst Dean was drinking and condemning him before he'd even stepped a foot in the world. And he doesn't even pose it as a question. He's not telling Sam his plan - he's giving orders. "Because you are going to be so damn sincere". It's going to be you Sam because "you've always been in his corner. You're his go-to guy. If you reach out, he'll come." Yes Sam this is hard for me too, Dean says. Now you take advantage of your close trusting bond whilst I stand here and look imposing.

And then using the only thing that would make Sam actively participate in this crazy shit - his love and dependance on Dean. "If I do it, after what happened to Mom, I could lose it. I will lose it."

They both knows what happens to Dean when he looses it. They've been through the MOC, they've been through demon Dean. Like you can just see it on his face - the menacing way this scene is framed - with such clear power dynamics - this is a threat.

RAHHHH.

I can't. I can't do it.

Something that keeps happening in the later seasons is situations where Dean is aware of their codependence. He knows Sam puts a ridiculous amount of love and faith in him and he knows that he is the only thing that gets Sam to loosen his morals. And he uses it against him?? It happened with Gadreel and now it happened against with Jack and the box.

Time out. I need a breather.

#supernatural #spn #sam winchester #dean winchester #jack kline #spn 14x19 #jack in the box #I just couldn't watch Sam barely keep it together as he was like yea Jack we want things to go back to normal too #... now if you would just jump in this box....#hearing jack call for sam in the box????!!!!#I will go insane #is that what you want #ugh and its true sam has always been the most sincere with him #the only times he wasnt was at intervention of dean #screaming crying throwing up #etc etc

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hellolittleogre · 4 years

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Happy Holidays and have some fic!

Home made from me to you, the continuation of Billy x Goody College AU, Idiots in Love pt 2. Thank you all for this year, for encouragement and flailing and AUs.

May you have some days of rest, peace and food however you do or do not celebrate.

Billy was hungover, feeling like an idiot and nursing a large cup of coffee and browsing the campus bookshop for a suitable valentines card for Jujin. He hadn't told her about the whole Vasquez debacle, still feeling pretty fragile about it and not able to stand her reaction of incredulous pity, exasperation and downright ridicule that was no doubt coming his way.

The first valentines card Billy had ever sent, or rather had made, with chubby fingers sticky with white glue and glitter, way back in playschool, had been for Jujin and his mother, and so it felt like a good gesture. A “no hard feelings” kind of gesture. A “I guess you kind of outed me but it turned out alright in the end, and all in all I’m kind of glad to have it done because it would have been difficult as hell to introduce our mother to my legally wedded husband and our adopted kids 15 years down the line, so it’s all good, put please for the love of God don’t do it again” kind of gesture.The trick was to find a card which was nice, yet still patently ridiculous, since nobody wanted a sincere valentines card from their brother. He was choosing between a card with a very grave looking cartoon T-Rex holding a heart, and a card with a big yellow rose saying “HAVE A GAY VALENTINE!” which seemed funny, but also slightly passive aggressive, when his eye caught on a postcard.

It wasn't specifically a valentines card, instead it was a water colour depiction of a hazy moon, full and white, over the water of a calm pond. Little wisps of cloud were trailing around the moon, softening it, almost like a veil, and muted green tones around the edge of the water-mirror hinted at lush vegetation. On the back it said La Lune, Metropolitan Museum of Art. It wasn't strictly speaking a valentines card but it was so Goodnight that Billy didn't hesitate for a moment and left the shop with it and the t-Rex valentine in secure possession.

Delivering it to Goodnight was easy. They all had their cubbyholes in the lobby and leaving for lectures on the 14th Billy quickly looked around to make sure he was alone before sticking the unassuming white envelope into the cubbyhole. He had settled for printing Will You Be My Valentine? and nothing else at the back, figuring that was mysterious enough without driving Goody into a frenzy trying to figure out who wrote it. He'd never squashed little handwritten notes into a crush’s locker in high school so he figured he was owed the experience. All day there was a little jitter of excitement and he firmly ignored the little voice that said that if he had any balls at all he'd give it to Goodnight in person and come clean.

Coming home he immediately spotted the card lying on Goody's desk. It was the hardest thing he’d ever done not to look at it and just walk over to his bed like normal. Goody seemed in a good mood, humming softly and hanging out the window smoking and picking up Billy’s valentine’c card and tapping his fingers against it. It was sort of a breathtaking feeling. He had done that, he'd caused that little dreamy smile that hovered just at the edge of Goody's mouth, and it made him want to preen and puff up.

“You want a chocolate?” Goodnight asked leaning into the room to look at Billy.

“You got chocolates?” Billy asked, crestfallen,and tried not to feel upstaged by Sam again. As if Billy was not upstaged by Sams whole existence.

“They were giving them out for free at the health center,” Goody shrugged and pushed a small pink box towards Billy.

“At the health center?” Billy asked and took one. “Are you feeling ok? Not ill?”

“No, I’m fine, I have a standing appointment with a hmm, uh, a counselor,” he shrugged it away looking a little pink so Billy elected to let it slide in favour of stuffing his mouth with chocolate. His mom had always told him he would grow out of his sweet-tooth but so far it hadn't happened.

“Happy valentines,” Goody said with a smirk and Billy tossed him a chocolate. “Any roses and flowers?”

Billy huffed. “Not that I know of. They could of course have gotten delivered to my other dorm room, with my other roommate.”

“Yeah, that place is probably so full you can't even see the floor,” Goodnight said with a bark of laughter.

“And they're all from your mother,” Billy returned, pleasantly warmed by Goody’s slender fingertips against the shiny surface of the card and his attention.

“Too bad she's wasting her time when all you want is my daddy's dick.”

Heat exploded all over Billy's face. It might be the way Goody's mouth curled around the word daddy, all fat and satisfied and filthy, his crooked smile, or hearing him saying “dick” that casually, or too close to what Billy actually wanted for him to control himself, but he blushed so hard he could physically feel his cheeks pulse and his eyes dropped immediately to the hands in his lap.

The silence was deafening.

He could hear Goodnight moving but he didn't think he could look up even if he was offered good money for it.

“Aw, shit Billy. Shit, I'm so sorry. I talk too much, everyone says so. I didn't mean to…”Goody's hand was warm on his shoulder and Billy darted a glance at his face before looking away again.

“‘S OK,” he managed, all cotton mouthed.

Goody was just there, close. If Billy leaned any closer he could push his face into his crotch. Mouth at the fly and unzip him, sneak one hand up under his t-shirt and fit his palm to the crest of his hip bone. Would Goody say no?Or would he let him?

“Lets just see if you got any mail though,yeah? Did you check your mail?”

Goody ushered him down to the lobby, dithering about this and that, leaning more heavily on the French than he used to, a sure sign of how flustered he was. Billy was still feeling the smarting sting of his previous stupidity, as well as the whole mess about Vasquez and wondering how to take it back or bring it up again. He didn't want Goody to assume he was carrying some hopeless torch for Vasquez, or that he was his one true love and would never look at anybody else, he just didn't want Goody to think that the boy he had a crush on was Goodnight.

If he hadn't been so surprised he would have thought of better lie, like the boy in the coffee shop or the tall guy who checked books at the library or basically anybody else other than someone both Billy and Goodnight talked to every day.

His cubbyhole had an unexpectedly rich yield with a card from his mother, and a pizza flier with a two for one offer but Billy's attention was distracted by a chocolate box at the very bottom of the drawer. He pulled it out and looked at it. It didn't look like a commercial offer but there wasn't a card or note and he kept turning it over and frowning.

“Did you get one of these?” he asked Goody, waving the box and Goodnight frowned and shook his head. “There is no note,” he said, turning the box over again and Goody bent down to pick up a folded piece of paper by his foot.

“Maybe this?” he started and then trailed off. “Its...uh. Its from Vasquez. Cool! That’s uh, really cool.Chocolates from your crush on valentines! Wow!” Goody said with a bright smile, handing the note to Billy. It was handwritten in an uneven scrawl: Happy Valentines, enjoy! / Vasquez

Billy stared at it with narrowed eyes. He was 90% certain Vasquez wasn’t the type to buy chocolates for Valentines for the person he was dating, let alone a friend. He was also 90% sure that if Vas was trying to get into his pants it would be through the means of a bottle of tequila and a frank question rather than what looked like Mexican Ferrero-Roche.With Goody heading back to their room Billy clutched his trove to his chest and fished out his phone. Vas picked up on the second ring.

“Hey Chaparrito, how’s it going?”

“Why the fuck do I have chocolates from you?” Billy said, never one for circumspection, and Alejandro laughed.“Its my abuelita, man. She gets them from her work and always picks up at least two cartons of chocolate, they are left-overs from last year, so she sends a ton to my ma. She says that when I was in pre-school I had so many novias there weren’t enough to go around. And they were all called Maria.” He sounded nostalgic.

Billy frowned even harder.“Your grandma has sent me old chocolates because she thinks I’m your bitch?”

“Dude, that is not what novia means. Also if I had bitches then Emma would be my bitch, and you would be my side-bitch. At best.”

“Aren’t I fucking lucky,” Billy groused and Vasquez made an indignant sound.

“Hey cabron, you could just say thank you.I could have given those to at least three girls in my course. I could even have let those go into the bottomless hole that is Josh, but instead I hauled ass all over campus to stick those up your letterbox, so now you had better appreciate your not even expired chocolates.”

“Ugh, I’m so touched. Your grandma chocolates are the most romantic thing to ever happen to me.”

“You’re an ingrate, shorty. Did you get one of those pizza leaflets? Josh and I are using one to go and crash Emma and Mathew’s valentines date, you should bring Goodnight and come.”

“Is Red coming too?”

“Yeah but he’s going as his own date. Says two pizzas and he might not get hungry again after half an hour.”

“All right, if they have their date in the student pizzeria hey deserve to have it crashed.”

Goodnight was hanging out of the window and smoking when Billy reached their room, Billy tossed his jacket at him and waved the leaflet.“Come on, we’re getting pizza and crashing Emma and Mathew’s valentines date.”

“We are?” Goody asked, picking up his coat.

“Absolutely, I have a two for one pizza offer and nobody I’d rather spend it on. I’ll even pay for your soda.”

“Oh, Billy,” Goodnight rolled his eyes. “You sure do know how to treat a fella.”

“World’s okayest roommate. You can stick it on a mug for my birthday.”

Goodnight’s hand landed on the back of his neck, warm and broad as he leaned over and gently bumped their foreheads together, their noses nearly brushing. Warmth zipped up and down Billy’s whole body. It was like being back at first week when Billy had jumped at the slightest touch, his heart doing an eager little somersault in his chest, and his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.

“You, mon ami, are so much more than “okay”,” Goodnight said warmly and released Billy to get his shoes on and Billy stuck behind him all the way down to the street to give himself time to stop blushing and get all of his limbs back under control.

Mathew and Emma had indeed been dumb enough to have their romantic valentines date at the student pizza place and although Emma’s face promised murder it was a fun evening. Vasquez and Faraday kept trying to trump each other with bad dating stories, Vasquez winning with the story about how he had managed to commit pre-school polygamy with all the girls in his creche and then got into terrible trouble when they all found out and he and his best friend (the Cyrano to his Casanova) had been forced to hide from the tiny mob of pissed-off five-year olds under the pillows in the nap room until his dad came to collect him.

It made Billy laugh so much he got the hiccoughs and nearly fell off the bench and Vasquez was forced to reach out and pull him up by the scruff of his neck, putting an arm around him to make sure he wasn’t falling off again, and Billy looked up from laughing so hard he was literally snorting orange juice through his nose and saw Goodnight looking at him with a brittle smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, and he remembered he was supposed to be in love with Vasquez and perhaps not laugh so hard at his romantic failings.

“I’ll see you Thursday,” he called out to Vasquez when the groups separated, on Thursdays they both had a midday gap in lectures that they usually used for going to the gym.“It’s a date, short stack,” Vas responded cheerfully and blew him a kiss before putting an arm around Josh to support him around an icy patch on the road.“A date uh?” Goodnight said, smiling as they walked home and Billy looked at his feet and shrugged, his ears heating up. He was really going to have to find a way to get himself out of this one.

#christmas post #fic #mag7 #Billy x goodnight college AU #idiots in love #college au

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justanothercinemaniac · 7 years

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Epic Movie (Re)Watch #129 - Bottle Shock

Spoilers below.

Have I seen it before: Yes

Did I like it then: Yes.

Do I remember it: Yes.

Did I see it in theaters: No.

Format: DVD

1) Bottle Shock I think is one of the most oft forgotten films of the late 00’s, which is too bad because - although not the BEST film ever made - it is pretty damn entertaining to say the least.

2) The very first thing we as an audience experience while watching this film is its score. A few notes grace our ears before any visuals, which is delightful because the score is one of the best aspects of the film. Mark Adler’s work is able to blend both the passion of the vineyards in California with the more “snobbish” style of the French in a score which is occasionally humorous, largely touching, and totally memorable. The main theme alone feels just like the perfect fine wine to go with this movie.

3) Chris Pine as Bo.

This is an early film of Pine’s. Well, early as in pre-Star Trek but post Princess Diaries 2 and it shows off the roguish charm he would later cultivate in future roles. Bo is a flower child, a true hippie product of the 70s. He’s not only that though. Bo starts off as sort of a stereotype but he goes through a transformation of passion and self respect throughout the film, something Pine is able to show us wonderfully.

4) Alan Rickman as Steven Spurrier.

Honestly, has anyone seen Alan Rickman give a bad performance? Has he been in bad movies? Sure. But has he been bad IN movies? I don’t think so. Rickman gives the same level of devotion to Spurrier as he would Severus Snape or Hans Gruber and that is why he’s such a great actor. Spurrier is an interesting character for us to view as the audience. He’s a bit of a snob (well, more than a bit) but watching him become aware of the world of viniculture that lay just outside his previous understanding is a wonderful experience. Rickman is able to play Spurrier’s less likable characteristics in a way which never feels TOO awful. We always sort of connect with him, root for him, understand him. In some ways he is our introduction to this world, and the character writing mixed with Rickman’s performance allows it to work pretty damn well.

Also his bromance with Dennis Farina is pretty nice.

5) This film has some nice bits of humor. Quirky, honest, subtle. This is first seen when Spurrier is attending a fancy dinner and the table he has been given is by the kitchen, so he just keeps getting banged by the door. Very clever.

6) I grew up in Wisconsin, I appreciate any references to my home state.

Maurice [after Spurrier makes a joke about his being from Chicago]: “I’m from Milwaukee.”

7) I never really LIKED the relationship between Jim (Bill Pullman) and his son Bo until the film’s end. Jim is kind of a pretentious proud asshole who is a jerk to his son consistently. I mean I get that he’s passionate and worried about losing his dream, but save for a moment here or there I just don’t really like him at all. Maybe I’m not supposed to.

8) Rachael Taylor as Sam.Most of you probably know Taylor from her excellent work on “Jessica Jones”, well she does an admirable job here. While Sam can fall victim to being objectified here and there by male characters (and male writers), Taylor adds a nice depth to her. She’s still a bit of a 70s flower child but something MORE than Bo. There’s a charisma, an honesty, a passion to the way that Taylor plays Sam which makes the audience invested in her as a character.

George [talking about how wine sort of gets “jet lag”]: “It gets what is commonly referred to as bottle shock.”

Roll credits!

10) Freddy Rodriguez as Gustavo.

The film takes a little while to show off the fact that Gustavo as a character has any…well…character. In the first ten or fifteen minutes he’s pretty silent and keeps to himself. But then we understand who he is in a simple grand gesture when he breaks off the antenna of a racist trucker. This paints Gustavo accurately, as for the rest of the film we learn that he is a passionate man, in touch with his heritage and true to his values. Rodriguez plays Gustavo wonderfully, stealing the show often from Pine and veteran performer Bill Pullman. His passion, his heart, everything that makes Gustavo Gustavo is given to us wonderfully by Rodriguez in a performance you will not be quick to forget.

He’s also got some great quotes.

Gustavo: “Modesty is the virtue of slaves.”

11) Eliza Dushku as Jo!

There’s not too much to say about Jo, but honestly I’m happy to see Eliza Dushku in any movie. I mean come on! She’s Faith on “Buffy”! What’s not to love!

12) The entire scam or “parlour trick” at the bar shows off a lot about the community we see in this film. We see the relationship between Bo and Gustavo clearly, we see how Napa - while wine country - is still filled with rogues. But these are rogues who love their wine, as the game they play at the bar is not based on beer it is based on love and respect they all have for wine. We get a sense of who Jo is, we get a sense of how Sam is fitting into her new environment, all in a wildly entertaining way. One of the best scenes in the film.

13) This film shows off its love for wine in a very sincere and touching way. Its passion about it is shown through all the characters, and particularly the touching music. You understand why Gustavo’s friend cries after tasting his wine, because we FEEL how it tastes as an audience member. That is no easy feat to accomplish on film.

14) I think one of this film’s issues is that it struggles a little with POV. Are we supposed to be seeing this world through Spurrier, through Bo, through Sam? There is not enough of a distinction for it to be an ensemble or anthology piece but there’s also not enough of a focus on one character to have someone we see this world through. Like there are times when Alan Rickman just disappears from the movie, or Bo is briefly forgotten.

15) I love this.

Bo [after Spurrier leaves from tasting their wine]: “Took money for a tasting?”

Jim: “Yeah.”

Bo: “Is that a new policy we have?”

Jim: “No.”

16) I never understood the emphasis on ambition. I mean I myself am ambitious but so what if you’re not? Like Jim gives Bo a hard time for not being ambitious. Like what’s the big deal if you don’t have ambition? As long as you are happy with your life and not treating people like shit, why do you need ambition? And who are other people to judge you for it?

17) When Sam sleeps with Gustavo, it feels totally random to me. Nothing earlier in this film suggested they were attracted to each other. I think it’s meant to show more of how powerful and how good his wine is (because she sleeps with him after tasting it) than anything else.

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18) I love this whole aside.

Spurrier: "Wine is sunlight, held together by water." The poetic wisdom of the Italian physicist, philosopher, and stargazer, Galileo Galilei. It all begins with the soil, the vine, the grape. The smell of the vineyard - like inhaling birth. It awakens some ancestral, some primordial... anyway, some deeply imprinted, and probably subconscious place in my soul.

19) Yay! Faith gets to burn the British snob!

Spurrier: “These Californian wines are all…so good.”

Jo: “What were you expecting? Thunderbird?”

20) I do love Spurrier’s way of handling Jim.

21) Ugh…Jim…

Jim [to Spurrier]: “If there’s one thing I know it’s people.”

That has not proven to be true even a LITTLE bit during this movie! Like seriously. You misjudge people constantly because of your pride and your anxiety, dude. You don’t get people AT ALL.

22) The entire scene at the airport, where Spurrier and Bo are able to convince these random passengers heading to Paris to carry one bottle of wine each so they can get through customs, is also a great testament to the community and love for viniculture found in Napa. That right there is one of the things the film does VERY well. It also provides a nice rare moment in the film between Pine and Rickman.

23) When I first saw this when I was thirteen, the whole concept of the Brown Chardony stuck with me incredibly. Jim makes perfectly tasting Chardony, but it comes back brown for some reason. A visit to Bradley Whitford playing a professor of viniculture let’s us know this.

Saunders: “You can make wine TOO perfectly.”

There is a natural brown enzyme in chardony that is neutralized by air, so if no air gets in the bottles it stays brown. It is perfect because you don’t wine exposed to air too long.

Saunders: “Barrels of perfection.”

Of course we learn this after Jim has given off and sent the chardony to be dumped in a landfill, but fear not…

24) I LIVE for scenes like the one where Sam, Bo, and Gustavo realize that all the dreams they thought were lost have been saved by Jo. I mean oh my god their faces as they figure out! THANK GOD FOR FAITH!

And then the scene does the impossible and becomes even BETTER by showing us how Jim reacts!!! I wish I could find a clip of it to show you but HE TAKES A FUCKING SAMURAI SWORD TO OPEN THE BOTTLE!!! OH MY GOD HE’S JUST SO HAPPY, AND HE KISSES THE SECRETARY, AND I LOVE IT!!!

25) Jim FINALLY gives Bo the credit he deserves. Yes he started the movie sort of as a bum but when he started doing things right Jim didn’t give him credit because of his pride. And then he says Bo should represent them at the tasting. I love that. Redemption for Jim.

26) In a similar way to Sam sleeping with Gustavo feels unearned, Sam kissing Bo feels a little unearned. We get that he’s had a thing for her ever since she showed up, but she’s never seemed to really reciprocate anything more than friendship. I don’t know, it just feels weird to me.

27) The tasting is a nice way to end the film. For me, the whole brown chardony thing is the climax of the film. It is the moment of greatest tension for Jim, Bo, and everyone else and you just feel such a swell of joy when it is resolved. BUT this whole thing in Paris is a nice climax for Spurrier’s arc and a nice final note to end the film on. Watching the French wine snobs trying to figure out which is Californian wine and which is French is also fun.

28) God bless Dennis Farina.

Maurice [After Spurrier says Cali wines are “radical” and “unique”]: “Where I’m from they call it a left handed compliment. But I don’t think they have a word for it in England. It’s too embedded in their culture.”

(GIF source unknown [if this is your GIF please let me know].)

29) Dude, I love Spurrier’s face when he realizes that the wining wine is Chateau Montelana. I also love Bo’s face when he hears the winner. And then you can even see some pride on Spurrier’s face after the initial shock.

30) This is a nice summation of the film.

Spurrier: “We have shattered the myth of the invincible French vine.”

Bottle Shock is a nice treat. It is nice, escapist fare, with compelling performances from the whole cast, and writing which clearly communicates the passion felt by the characters in the film. From the cinematography to the score, it’s an underrated film I wish you will watch.

#Bottle Shock #Alan Rickman #Chris Pine #Rachael Taylor #Freddy Rodriguez #Epic Movie (Re)Watch #Bill Pullman #Eliza Dushku #Dennis Farina #Boom #Movie #Film #GIF

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