#write up

Two

Hundred

And

Forty

Nine.

Actually that wasn’t even all of us! It was three people! One of which only started showing up halfway through the year 😭

Apparently the tøp reasons for write ups were (1) threats of violence (they were jokes lmao) and (2) plotting political @ssasinatons .

The facilitator said í was doing good in write ups until The Yaoi. Then things started going awry 😔

All the eggs now lay in the basket of the next Avengers movie – coming out nearly 8 years after the previous one. And let it never be said that Marvel didn’t go all out.

From humiliatingly kicking out the newer heroes it had introduced with much fanfare to replace them with the reanimated corpses of Tony Stark (Doom or whatever they’re calling him) and Steve Rogers; to injecting a tranquilizer dose of nostalgia and cameos with X-Men and 300 different universes colliding – Marvel is doing everything it can to force a blockbuster out of this mess. Only for a low, low budget of 700M.

it was a passable story? I was a bit flabbergasted at the reveal of the core mystery, a somewhat zany reason for all the characters to be gathered at this man’s mansion on an island off the coast of England. the not stellar acting and quirkiness of the film overall made the reveal feel more gimmicky and not as fulfilling a reason as it could’ve been.

the characters also weren’t given the time or reason to process that reveal, but at the end decide to become closer about it after spending the entire film being wary and accusatory, up to the climax even. it was like a corny happy ending, when ideally the characters should’ve met as strangers and departed as strangers like “wow that was wild and weird”. there was no chemistry between these people or enough personable dialogue to justify that ending, save for the two love birds.

the plot was entirely dependent on whether the guests receiving the invitations would actually want to come out of sheer curiosity. there wasn’t any urgency, they were from all different financial backgrounds so there wasn’t like a rich socialite/political career to do this for, and the reason these people specifically were sent the invites was because the sender thought they’d be the most curious and actually come. and then it was revealed much later that certain characters choosing to come or not was never going to matter because of a specific decision already made. so I guess the goal was technically for them to sit around pointlessly and talk and it would ‘reveal if they were worthy’, but also that didn’t actually matter. I’m like ???

there was also a scene at the beginning of the guests meeting each other on the train ride there, to make meeting each other very easy and to lay out all of the suspects for us later on. it feels to me like a cop out and a way to reference Orient Express like “ooh ha ha strangers meeting on a train!” three of these people are coming from Spain, China and the U.S., imagine if the guests arrived one by one or late to the island or to the train. do they arrive fashionably late? incredibly early? no intriguing reveals for the people coming from other countries? even Orient Express gave its international characters hustle and bustle and peeks into what they’re like. I dunno, it’s not necessary but it would’ve given us intrigue and treated them more as characters. I think the point was never to treat them as such, they were too one note for us to care in the end. we rarely learn anything about their backgrounds, the hassle it took to get here, juicy stuff!

there was also an intriguing thing that was seemingly connected to the killer having to do with symbols, and you’re like “woww is this guy playing mind games?” only for it to be revealed as irrelevant, like a “fuck you” to the audience which in itself I do find funny.

the movie committed a cardinal sin in the beginning. if you’re a new mystery movie, with only your own legs to stand on, the last thing you’d wanna do is reference a much bigger, dearly beloved mystery IP than you that everyone agrees is a classic. that is what this movie did with Miranda establishing herself as a fan of Agatha Christie, having just bought her latest book. now your audience instinctively draws parallels between your new movie and the one that may always be better than you, which is what critics did on IMDb. the sad thing is the fact it was not as hooking as a Christie novel at all, it set itself up to fall.

Christie was masterful at making her detectives and their peers feel like real, personable people with unique voices, while moving the narrative along. these characters in ItaM 2023 were rather lifeless and one note, and didn’t really have a lot of enticing exchanges between them. you didn’t really feel like these were people, just talking wooden figures moving the story along as needed. there was a bizarrely paced scene when the maid discovers a body outside and she runs up to the front door knocking, the guests open it and she just stares at them sniveling for like 10 seconds as they stare at her, and then reveals something bad has happened. girl. you should’ve been in hysterics about a death/emergency…

the characters were nothing to write home about, save for the main character Miranda Green and one of the other suspects, Donald Walker. they tried to make Miranda a blend of “quirky, unusual girl” with “can be unknowingly obnoxious” and knows she is a smartass ala Poirot—what we ended up with was someone who talks purely obnoxiously all the time, always sounds exaggeratedly posh and know-it-all in how she says all of her lines. not in a way that means anything for the character, she just talks like that. it’s framed in a sort of girlboss way, she has to be girlbossing every time she is on the screen because she’s sooo smart and two steps ahead of everyone. she does not speak like a real person, everything is a quip or exact observation. she’s very ‘I read Agatha Christie so I know everything!’ and then it proves correct, she has no flaws or mistakes in her sleuthing.

the movie wants Miranda to be the sharp, forthright, shockingly observant amateur sleuth like Miss Marple or Jessica Fletcher, with a feisty and independent personality, so she can join the collection of iconic fictional sleuths, but she’s rather annoying for how forced she feels. when we’re introduced to her she has a hyper-observation moment ala Poirot or Holmes, like “I know you’re trying to steal a book because there were 48 books on that shelf and now there’s 46!” and everyone is like omggg she’s so observant—and then it doesn’t happen again, from what I remember. doesn’t even have any theories building up over the murder weapon. also at the start she’s called out for reading instead of fulfilling duties at her job, and she tells her friend that she physically has to read the new Agatha Christie to survive doing her job… as a florist. it’s supposed to make her be eccentric and odd, but it makes her look like she doesn’t care about customers or co-workers lol

and worse, at the end, she is told she can join fucking Scotland Yard any time because she did so well unmasking the scheme and murderer. it was completely ridiculous, she solved ONE murder and it was her FIRST and she had help finding the stupid key to solving everything!

now Donald Walker, this guy… so he’s the stereotypical American noir guy but with a southern accent. and by nature, he uses “sweetheart” liberally. too liberally. he uses “sweetheart” what has to be 7 or 8 times and it’s achingly repetitive, no one talks like that. he felt like a pure caricature of ‘30s noir detectives instead of having focus on him as a person. it was also established early on that he took a liking to Miranda, finding her interesting and different from the other guests for her investigative abilities, and even gives her a pep talk when she’s scared of being embroiled in real murder. but the second she says he’s a suspect just as everyone else is, he’s outrageously offended and drops her like a sack of potatoes, like he couldn’t possibly be a suspect—because they were friends and she should know heeee didn’t do it! and he spends the rest of the movie hating her and giving her a hard time.

you’re telling me the guy who’s a journalist is offended by the simple fact he can be a suspect, and refuses to play it cool at all? why even set up the potential for these two to be friends/investigate clues together if it was gonna blow up so spectacularly when they’ve only known each other for ONE day? there is a reveal much later that justifies this behavior switch a little bit, but think about it this way: Jessica Fletcher partnered with different people to investigate together in some episodes, and most of the time they would make themselves amiable and unsuspecting right up until the moment she accuses them of petty theft, murder, conspiracy, etc. and then they’d turn on her. Donald turned into a complete asshole to Miranda when he could’ve just worked with her on this because he’s a suspect no matter what. and again, these two haven’t even known each other for more than a day, so Donald acting like it’s a friend’s betrayal is childish and only serves to put more suspicion on him! if you admired her detective skills so much why was this a surprise to you? way to go, sweetheart

I really do hate the ending. it’s revealed to us in the last like 15-20 minutes that the host had access to a crazy advanced sci-fi surveillance/monitoring network because oh, they actually happen to have connections with military intelligence who simply gave them this state of the art monitoring system and all the cameras hidden around. and oh, the cameras caught the murderer with the murder weapon! how brilliant, Miranda didn’t have to use her skills to actually prove who the murderer was on her own. and then, they just stand around (with the cops at least) letting the murderer monologue for more than 5 mins about why they did it, their backstory, their philosophy and approach to justice, etc. and then Miranda has all these great things thrown at her feet: adopt the victim’s dog because why not, an opportunity at Scotland Yard she turns down not because she’s inexperienced but because it would be too lively, her name will be all over the papers, she gets to have her skills acknowledged by the police, and they would help get her own mystery solving service started.

I really enjoyed it firstly! I was intrigued by the multiple stories weaving together with the ultimate theme of the book, and how working on/solving one case would inevitably lead Mark to answer another. He would get answers he thought were maybe final but something would keep nagging at him. One of the smaller themes in this book (I won’t reveal the main theme) is dreams and nightmares; Mark is so deeply bothered by these cases and their lingering questions he literally cannot sleep for days. It’s a mixture of empathy and the need for satisfying his inner logic. Goldberg connected the stories and always kept the plot going with information reveals while also taking narrative “pit stops” I’d say, where we can take a breather to watch the friends have silly banter, discuss wild theories, etc. And one of the things Mark did at the end to solve a case was so insane, he is lucky as HELLL to be best friends with the medical examiner 😭

Goldberg knows Mark as a character intimately and captured his mannerisms, usual behaviors, and the sort of “why” he is the way he is. I call it nosy bitch syndrome as a joke but Mark is someone motivated not only by helping others, but seeing things fit together like a puzzle with no ill-fitting pieces. I only wish I got to see more Amanda and Jesse and even Susan Hilliard in this book, I know they have plots centric to them in other books so I’ll have to get the others. (I was planning to anyway 🤭 Jack is in one too.)

I think Goldberg also excelled in Steve’s behaviors and straight-laced logic compared to his father, down to his flaws as a stony-faced cop who can end up coming off too coldly or ‘on the attack’. He has his silly moments like eating too many bear claws and getting a massive sugar headache, and the cute banter he has with a love interest. It’s hard to judge how Amanda was written because there isn’t a lot of her, but she was of course most often a delight. She was mostly focused on her work in the path lab though she had two badass moments with Mark and by way of Jesse. Her banter and wit was sharp as anyone else, so I’m happy to see Goldberg was on the same page as everyone else with these three characters.

Now, Jesse is a weird case and I’m not saying that just ‘cause I’m a Jesse stan. He was definitely written to be mostly like himself, there’s not much wrong there. The way the rest of the friend group (Mark, Amanda, Steve) would interact with him threw me off. The books take place somewhere in the season 6 window onward, but most of their interactions with Jesse felt like they were talking down to season 3 Jesse—back when he was naive, annoying, super new to sleuthing, and couldn’t help his boundless curiosity forcing himself into cases he wasn’t ready for.

You could tell they were trying not to include Jesse in the main cases at hand because he’s got all these zany theories all the time and can be a handful, but at this point in the actual show Jesse has matured considerably and has longtime been seen as an equal to the rest of the friends. Goldberg wrote Amanda and Steve primarily as treating Jesse like a nuisance trying to push his way into their business when he hasn’t had to do that in several years. They usually just include him automatically because they’ve become so close and he often proves invaluable with his sneaking around/infiltrating places in disguise like Amanda. I dunno, like I said Jesse IS my fave, I COULD be biased! But mostly I don’t like when something feels illogical to me and this felt like a step backwards for his character’s friendships. Maybe it’s better in the rest of the book series?

A lot of people have a problem with Catra. In my experience, the biggest issue they have is that she was forgiven ‘too fast’. In this essay I will analyze how that is not true.  

First, to lay a foundation, let’s discuss everything that Catra did (wrong). Because while I disagree with people who think this way, I also disagree with how some fans get rose tinted glasses about Catra’s actions and the harm she caused. It is worth noting there is a distinct difference between Catra and Lonnie, for example. Catra had the opportunity to not just leave, but to walk into a good situation. If Lonnie left the Horde (I am not saying she wanted to just as an example) she would have nowhere to go, and her survival would be uncertain. Catra knew she could go back with Adora up until the end of season 3, and choose not to anyways. This was not indentured servitude, Catra willingly participated as a member of the Horde and attempted to climb the ranks. She wanted (or thought she wanted) to be there. 

So what did Catra do? I am not going to talk about everything she did, just things I think are important for this discussion. In “Princess Prom” Catra attacked the Kingdom of Snows and everyone attending, kidnapping Bow and Glimmer in the process. Bow was kept in a typical Horde prisoner cell, and Glimmer seemed to take quite a beating (we do not know exactly what happened to her). She also took a lead role in the “Battle of Brightmoon”, nearly destroying Brightmoon in the process. Next, Catra pulled the lever to activate the portal. This was potentially world ending and resulted in the death of Angela, which Catra was indirectly responsible for. In “Mer-Mysteries” we find out Double Trouble disguising as Flutterina was a distraction so the Horde could attack and conquer Salineas, resulting in one of the more tragic scenes in the show as Glimmer, Bow, Adora, and most importantly, Mermista, see the devastation that has been caused. 

Finally, is her actions towards the people around her. Catra for a lot of the series acted with very little care or compassion. She emotionally manipulated Adora, mistreated Scorpia, and even sent Entrapta to almost certain death to “Beast Island” under false pretenses, even though they worked together for multiple seasons at that point. Catra consistently and callously acted with no regard for others to serve her own selfish goals. Of course, Catra was treated horribly as a child by Shadow Weaver, and that trauma passed onto her in her actions towards others. For the most part, this is only really a consideration for the audience. Only Adora and whoever she confided in with that information would know that about Catra, and thus it is irrelevant for determining forgiveness (unless you assume off-screen conversations that are really just fanfiction and not relevant for an analysis). 

So, back to the question, was Catra forgiven too fast? Well, to start, I almost reject the question. People who say this seem to imply that everyone forgave Catra for every thing she ever did. Catra did not interact with every character post redemption. Mermista for example, had no interaction with Catra and we cannot know what she would think about the situation. And many of the people she did interact with, didn’t really have much of a choice either way. The fate of Etheria and everyone living on it was on the line, Catra was there and that’s all there was to it. All the remaining members of the rebellion did was not treat her like trash. The people who actually forgave Catra are: Adora, Glimmer, Bow, and Entrapta.

Glimmer I would guess is the least controversial of these four. This is interesting because Catra did the most individual harm to Glimmer: kidnapping her, attacking Brightmoon, and indirectly killing her mother. However, as many people have pointed out at this point (and may be a future analysis), Glimmer and Catra have parallel arcs. Glimmer with her actions in season four did pretty much the same thing Catra did. She was directly responsible for a nearly world ending event, and is indirectly responsible for the only mother figure Catra had, Shadow Weaver (obviously she is a lot worse of one than Angela), being killed. The pair also spent plenty of time together on Horde Prime’s ship, being forced to communicate as there was no one else to talk to. This shared experience made them closer and understand each other more. Finally, Catra saved Glimmer’s life, sacrificing herself to be subject to whatever horrible things Horde Prime could do to her. Overall, it’s logical Glimmer would have forgiven Catra.

Bow is a little more tricky. His personality is warm and kind. He showed that to Adora when she was their captive all the way back in the first episode - it’s just who he is. What I would add to this is Bow (and Glimmer) saw firsthand how much Catra meant to Adora. He saw her reaction when Catra’s voice went out after she sent Glimmer back. And yeah - there’s that too, Bow loves Glimmer and Catra saved her. Bow’s forgiveness is in character and justified. 

Catra sent Entrapta to Beast Island. She ended up kind of thriving there, but she understood what that meant. It is arguably the most morally reprehensible thing Catra did. However, Entrapta herself was not innocent. She helped the Horde’s attempt to defeat the princesses and created the portal (I think Entrapta is more responsible for the portal situation than Catra is, but I know that is probably a hot take). She faced that head on in “Launch”, seeing how her actions affected her former friends. I think Entrapta not forgiving Catra would be the pot calling the kettle black - she fell in love with Hordak for Titan’s sake!

And finally, Adora…do I need to even talk about Adora? She witnessed every awful thing Catra went through growing up, has a heart of gold, and is in love with her. Obviously Adora would put aside the feelings of resentment. Not to mention the fact Adora probably blames herself for a lot of what happened. Obviously she forgave Catra. 

Featuring- Kehan, Tim, and Masky.

bsed on au by- @flock-of-the-divine @ribcagecavityy

Plot- Kehan has a nightmare and is caught lazing around my Tim and Brian

The Appalachians felt heavier than the Himalayas. Kehan had expected thin air, silence, the same kind of vastness that cradled his family’s old home in Garwhal. Instead, the mountains here pressed in close, full of damp earth and trees that seemed to lean toward him as he walked the narrow trail. His university mates from Delhi had stayed behind in town, laughing and drunk from the American liquor; Kehan needed air. The chatter in crowded rooms had always left him with a racing chest, sweat prickling his palms. Out here, he could breathe.

But he wasn’t alone.

A branch cracked ahead, sharp as a gunshot. Kehan froze. Then, out of the shadows, someone stepped onto the path—a girl, or at least she looked like one. Her movements were too quick, almost blurred, as though she’d been waiting for him. Kehan’s breath caught when he saw the mask in her hand, a wolf’s skull polished pale.

“You’re far from town,” Kate said, voice flat, unreadable.

Before Kehan could answer, another figure appeared from the opposite side of the path, brushing pine needles from his shoulders. He wore a mask too, a coyote’s grin carved from bone, but he had lifted it just enough to show the smirk beneath.

“Or maybe town is far from him,” Toby said, eyes flicking with a mischievous spark. “People like him don’t belong in noisy places anyway.”

Kehan tried to step back, but the earth behind him sloped steeply down into darkness. His pulse quickened. “I—I should go,” he muttered.

Kate tilted her head, her hazel eyes sharp even in the dusk. “Do you always run from what’s waiting for you?”, her voice was monotone, like she barely cared for this.

Toby laughed low, crouching to draw a line in the dirt with a stick. It looked almost like a sigil, though Kehan didn’t recognize it. “We’ve been watching you,” he said casually. “The way you can’t stand the crowds. The way you see things the others don’t. The Divine told us you’d come.”

Kehan swallowed hard. His disorder had always been a private battle, with palpitations, visions when the world pressed too tight. But hearing them speak of it felt like being undressed. His voice trembled, “What do you want?”

Kate slipped the wolf skull mask over her face. “Not want,” she said, voice muffled, eerie. “Need. The Flock always needs those chosen by the Divine.”

Toby leaned closer, his grin widening in the half-light. “And you, Kehan,” he whispered, like he already knew the sound of his name, “you’re going to fit right in.”

The forest seemed to grow louder then—the creak of trees, the hiss of cicadas, the rush of his own blood in his ears. Kehan should have run. But Kate was already stepping forward, impossibly fast, placing a hand on his arm with surprising gentleness.

“Don’t fight it,” she murmured. “You’ll see soon enough.”

And between Kate’s unyielding grip and Toby’s wicked firelit smile, Kehan realized the trail behind him had already closed.

And then, it was just darkness.