#splitseams

Ah, sorry for the late answer! Tumblr never notified us. Ugh.

Anyway. Buckle up!

To start: Umbrella Academy. Amazing. The updates they made to an already-awesome comic were superb. The acting? Brilliant. The characters? We were emotionally invested in every one (I mean, except for Hargreeves Senior, he can rot!) But don’t even get us started on Klaus Hargreeves. We could go on and on. I think, specifically, that Robert and Ellen did exceptional things with Klaus and Vanya. And every moment of sibling bonding (ok, only dig–we wish there had been more platonic sibling bonding between one of the male siblings and female siblings, but that does feel a bit nit-picky) felt deeply organic and important. We thought the soundtrack was good, the action was good, the pacing was good. Netflix really knocked it out of the park with this one and we can’t wait for season 2.

and now…

HIGHER FURTHER FASTER BABY.

CAPTAIN MARVEL!!!!

Not going to lie, both of us were emotional wrecks. We’ve seen it twice now and cried each time. I think it actually had more impact the second time? Brie is amazing, emotional, stunning, showstopping, superb, etc etc. The twists were all good. The larger building of the Marvel universe was incredible. We don’t want to give too much away, and we’ll tag spoilers, but oh man. Talos? Crying. It was sort of an easy twist to guess I think, but that doesn’t make it any less amazing. Brie and SLJ have RIDICULOUS chemistry. Also Brie and Lashana (who is SUCH A GOOD ACTRESS). Carol and Maria? MARRIED.

(that scene after the black box?? outside the shed?? fucking TEARS MAN THEY’RE ALL SUCH STUNNING ACTORS. WHAT BEN M. CAN DO WITH HIS POSTURING? LIKE SOME OF THE LATER *spoilerish* TENDERNESS? HIS VOICE?? AHHHH!!!)

YEAH so really like infinity/10 like sure sure we get some of the CGI complaints but it’s not like every Marvel movie doesn’t have a weird, bumpy spot. But Captain Marvel? To us, like Black Panther, was damn near flawless, and quickly joined the ranks of our favorite Marvel films.

To be strong, be brave, and be kind. To yourself, and to others. And perhaps most importantly: don’t let your awareness and concern for the state of the world supercede your right to a life. A very, very good friend of mine recently expressed how guilty he feels for the moments he feels happy, because his wife is still struggling to gain legal status, as is the majority of her family. 

And I think it’s key right now to find the balance between being conscious of the world’s current terribleness, and giving yourself opportunities to be alive. to my worried, guilty, activist friends: your own happiness doesn’t come at the cost of less fortunate peoples’. it’s okay to enjoy life. just find the balance you need, between being active and being alive. being myopic in either direction doesn’t benefit anyone. 

thanks for the question & tremendously kind words love!!

you dare suggest I sully my immortal image with actual latin

…you asked.

To start on a positive note: I enjoyed the soundtrack, and the film was visually pleasing. Yates had some really excellent shots. Also: baby! NIFFLERS!!! heart eyes motherfucker

(The fantastic beasts are, of course, the best parts of these movies. I wish they’d just let Newt be happy and take care of his animals asdfghjklkjhgfds)

Unfortunately, the writing left much to be desired. It was jumbled and wanted too badly to remind us of all of our favorite moments of Harry Potter, but not in an easter egg way. It was more like “we can’t think of new material, so let’s break canon just to shove this in.” Minerva, the boggart, etc.

I don’t even want to start on Leta’s parentage. A white man enslaving and raping a black woman! You’ve GOT to be kidding me. And Nagini? There’s not much to say that hasn’t been already. This is not representation.

ALTHOUGH you best believe I was LIVING during the “you were as close as brothers”/uuh excuse me bitch “we were closer than brothers” gay ass Albus Dumbledore (side note they could’ve gone way harder on the gay but this was a pleasantly surprising moment and it’s not like I expected to get a lot)

Except then… The blood pact?? I get there was blood magic but that was a magnificent oversight for a woman who wrote AIDS in as a major metaphor in her series. Gay men making an unbreakable blood pact? I genuinely don’t think it was purposeful but it was not well thought out.

Speaking of romance, Queenie was nearly unrecognizable as the glassy-eyed, flat, obsessive, messy ~love interest~. I’m disgusted.

Moving away from the absolutely unbelievable racism/sexism if you’d like to just have me deconstruct plot: Credence as a Dumbledore?? Lazy, sloppy stuff. I love Credence and it was nice to see him have sort of a larger role? But at the same time, uh, THERE ARE OTHER WIZARDING FAMILIES. Like… It’s possible to do worldbuilding without tying E V E R Y T H I N G together.

Initial thoughts are keyboard smashing and excitement!! We’re both so happy the suit is McKelvie’s and Anka’s design instead because we hated the green one they kept showing on set. Everything is right in the world.

Second thought was: Teddy!! He obviously wouldn’t be around now, but the introduction of the skrulls in a major way (finally!), especially with Captain Marvel (uuuh idk how much marvel comic stuff you know, so just in case, Teddy Altman is Mar-Vell’s half-skrull, half-kree son) means we could see him eventually... and then...... THE YOUNG AVENGERS!!! I would die??

A little annoyed that it seems like Mar-Vell has a big part :( Like, obviously he’s integral to her origin story, but a male captain who teaches her to control her emotions? No thanks.

Super cool 90s vibes happening, the CG on Nick Fury is incredible (plus, we get his origin-ish!!), and Maria is so amazing already.