well, that was a roller-coaster.

Four years of waiting, huh? I reckon it was worth it. I watched the film yesterday and almost had to be wheeled out of the theatre, so I slept on my thoughts and feelings, and decided to get them down in this chapter today c:

Before we kick off- a few things:

- MASSIVE SPOILERS (in case you couldn't tell). I'm gonna be talking about the movie under the assumption that whoever's reading has watched it, so if you haven't watched it... don't read 😃

- My w key is broken and won't go into caps 😔so SORRY IF I'M wRITING IN ALL CAPS AND MY w LOOKS LIKE THIS

- I don't remember everything about the film because I only saw it once and I didn't hear some of the lines... I'm going to try and pick up a screenplay soon so I can re-absorb it all, but apologies for any inaccuracies or bits I missed out.

Anyway,  let's get into it :))

- wow Dumbledore really is hot

- I was surprised and delighted at how blunt they made the queer romance apparent. in COG it was all 'I can't move against Grindelwald' this and 'we were closer than brothers' that. In SOD they really just went 'I was in love with you' and that was so liberating!!

And he said it TwICE! It made me happy-dance in the cinema to know that they made it outright canon and stated it, rather than suggest and let the fanbase decipher what it meant.

- They were on a date in the first scene haha

- About Mikkelson's portrayal of Gellert:

I liked it a lot!!! I don't think it was better or worse than Depp's portrayal... it was just different. I like them both. If I had to pick, I prefer Depp's, but I reckon that's only because I'm more familiar with it. He has a wonderful, terrifying way of doing everything in a very calculated, slow manner, and it added a lot to how persuasive and manipulative Grindelwald is.

Mikkelson's Grindelwald was a lot more human. That made him terrifying in a different way, because it was like watching any other person do all the awful things that Grindelwald does. It made it feel a lot more real, and I think the fact that Grindelwald felt more human made the sorts of things he did feel more inhumane, if that makes sense.

I saw an article talking about how Mikkelson's performance was better because it was more believable that Dumbledore fell in love with him rather than the Grindelwald from the first two movies.

I'm gonna go out on a ledge and say that I disagree with that. I get their point, but I think you could also flip the script and say that Fantastic Beasts is about how Albus and Gellert both changed since they were teenagers. By extension, Fantastic Beasts could be about showing how this Gellert wasn't the same man Albus had fallen in love with. Just a thought.

- New creature!!! Qilin!

- Victoria Yeates (who plays Bunty) said that her favourite creature is in SOD, so I'm willing to bet it was the Qilin, and who can blame her??

- Speaking of Bunty, I know we were all a bit cautious of her in COG, especially after her 'perhaps you should take off your shirt' stunt, but I gotta say, I think my opinion of her has changed.

She's obviously smitten with Newt (who can blame her), but she stays within her limits. She doesn't force him into doing anything and keeps to her place as an assistant. I think, at this point, she knows she can never have Newt- and she's crushed about it, but that's okay. Because she still gets to work with him and share his love for beasts and knows that he would trust her with his life. There isn't a lot more saddening, I think, than loving someone, knowing you can't have them, and being right next to them and talking to them every day.

I respect Bunty a lot more now. She really pulled her weight in this film, especially with the 'no one can know anything... not even you,' and turning up with the real suitcase when it mattered most, and taking responsibility for making copies of it (even if she did refer to Newt as her husband...)

I think she's a very gentle soul, and a bit sad, but she's pushed her feelings to the side for years because there were jobs that needed doing.

- This might sound weird but I loved that camera shot of Newt falling into the water at the beginning. It just felt very cinematic and helpless.

Sidenote: water/drowning is something I love seeing in books or films, especially as an escape (anyone who's read Hold Your Breath would probably know that already XD), so this scratched that itch for me. Don't ask me why I like it, I couldn't possibly tell you.

- Classic Newt picking up all the creatures he can reach before fleeing from dark wizards XD

- how did his case grow LEGS

that was hilarious!! I probably should've seen it coming but I was shocked and delighted by it! One of the things I love about Newt is that he's very whimsical. Even in dramatic situations, sometimes his very character just seems to lighten it up a bit. The suitcase scrambling behind him on little legs was no exception!

- He was lucky he didn't die o-o

- The creatures working together to save him 🥺🥺🥺

- Twins was a pretty cool plot twist!!

- THE MOTHER QILIN DYING

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

THAT wAS SO SAD

AND THE TEAR THAT LEAKED OUT FROM UNDER HER EYE RIGHT BEFORE SHE DIED

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

NEwT LOOKED SO BROKEN BY IT BUT HE wAS STAYING STRONG AND SPEAKING SO SOFTLY TO THEM

- Him falling asleep next to the mother was so soft i'm---

- haha picture of tina

It changed!! Looks like Newt is keeping up to date with her looks...

oml... he probably cut out her picture every time he saw her in the paper...

- Damn that blood pact really just tryna murder Albus isn't it

- A really little point, but I liked how Newt raised his voice to protect Albus (and stop him from letting the blood troth hurt himself)

- I like Aberforth a lot. I was surprised at how big his role in the film was, but it made sense later on.

- Speaking of which, when we heard that the film was called Secrets of Dumbledore, we all assumed it would be about Albus (and it was... mostly).

But perhaps the biggest secret (and the big secret of Dumbledore, I would argue) was about Aberforth. I reckon they did that on purpose to mislead us, because let's be honest, fruity albus wasn't a huge secret, but not many people predicted that Credence would be Aberforth's son.

- omg why is jacob's bakery so empty waaaaaaahhhh

- NO HE'S HALLUCINATING ABOUT QUEENIE THATS SO SAD

- was the wedding cake for them? My first thought was no, because cakes don't take 3 years to make and Queenie had left in 1927. But after watching that end scene, I'm starting to think they just decided to eat some wedding cake that Jacob made for someone else LMAO

- Love the symbolism of the fallen over fondant-dude XD

- Eulalie had exactly the kind of entrance that I thought she would...

Somewhat Dumbledore-y, mysterious, playful, taking charge, standing up to some men, etc

I was afraid she'd be a cookie-cutter feminist character, but I really liked her by the end of the film. She was mischievous and clever, and even though you could tell that feminism is a part of her character, she doesn't bring it up every five minutes or get defensive about being a woman.

- Her little book portkey is wonderful... are the pages a new kind of magic?

we see them form a bridge later on... that doesn't seem like your average portkey. Maybe the pages are enchanted separately, but I wouldn't know what with.

- I was obsessed with this dress.

I remember seeing it for the first time and thinking 'woah, look at those sleeves!'

- Jacob is so done with wizards lmao

- I love the train scene! Everyone was chilling together (even if they were discussing an oncoming war) and it felt so casual, which is something you don't often get to see in wizarding world films.

- Newt and Eulalie fangirling over each other 🥰🥰

- Teddy sitting in Jacob's pan ;w;

- They really did Tina dirty with 'oh she got promoted so she's not here 😍'

Theseus is head auror and he got one of the main parts of the film??? I guess warner bros could rebut that with 'well tina's never been head auror and she's adjusting to the extra work.'

But it's still unfair >:c

- I liked Yusuf a little less in this film. He seemed like a sketchy rat man in COG, but here he was just unlikeable and drifted in and out of the plot. I think I probably would've connected with him more if his lines had a little more character (or if he had a little more character :/), or if he interacted with the others a little more, but it was already 2 and a half hours long, so I get why it would've been difficult.

- Newt trusts Bunty with his suitcase 🥺

I mean, not as much as he trusted Tina with it... ;)

- The election seemed really random at first. It ran through the entire movie, and I get that it set the circumstances for film 4, but it felt like it just appeared out of nowhere. They had to explain the whole deal with the Qilin tradition as well.

Then the entire film was about them thwarting Grindelwald's attempts to win. I mean, fair enough. It helps if the guy you're trying to take down isn't the leader of the entire wizarding world, but it felt a bit like a tangent.

- They looked like spies at that tea ceremony hehe

oooo we're so sneaky we're gonna slip through this crowd and follow ppl around ooooo

- NOOOO THESEUS

- I loved how devoted Newt was to his brother. we didn't see a whole lot of that in COG, but it looked like they really mended their relationship over the past few years. I'm willing to bet that Leta brought them closer like that.

- Gee there was a lot of passing out in this film

- That really cinematic shot of Pickett reaching for Teddy and Teddy reaching for coins

- Teddy and Pickett working together 🥺

- the swIVELLING

BAHAHAHAHAHH

I love the bros so much ;w;

- Does anyone know what those crab-like creatures are called?

- Jacob has guts, man. He stomped right up to Gellert freaking Grindelwald and threatened to kill him despite never using a wand before, just because he took Queenie. Mad respect.

- sO THESEUS IS A HUFFLEPUFF IT'S CONFIRMED

A bunch of people were tossing up between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, even though most siblings get sorted into the same houses.

- How did Aberforth and Credence establish the mirror messages thing?

- On that note, how did Credence find out Aberforth was his father and contact him?

I guess a lot can happen in three years 🤷‍♀️

- I LOVED the multiple cases plan. It felt straight out of a fanfiction. It felt like they were hatching a plan and being sneaky. I loved it.

- All of them interacting with the Qilin!! Jacob playing with it! Theseus cradling it! I'm gonna cry!

- I want some of Aberforth's personal recipe cause apparently that stuff tasted good

- This is random, but I love that moment when Grindelwald's acolyte tried to take the case from Newt in Bhutan, and he resisted. He looked genuinely angry. I loved it.

- Yeah Jacob, stop doubting yourself, you absolute treasure of a man (I love him with my whole heart and his conversation with Dumbledore was everything)

- Jacob hitting two acolytes over the head with the suitcase!! LOL, Newt's smile there was everything! He's like 'ah, yes, the surefire way to confuse and stun any wizard... I should know.'

- I love how they straight up released a storm of books, quidditch equipment, and baked goods on Grindelwald's acolytes XDD

- AND IT wORKED

- The whole Grindelwald-killing-the-qilin-then-bewitching it confused me at first. I thought he brought it back to life and I was like 'wait you cant do that 😃'

But as long as it wasn't actually alive, it abides by wizarding world lore, ig.

- I like that Grindelwald got on Newt's level and dealt with magical beasts in this film. I think it showed how (while not nearly as skilled or compassionate as Newt), that he too can dabble in whatever his enemies are up to, which just makes him even more dangerous.

- This was. The gayest fight ever.

Literally.

They stopped duelling to feel each others' heartbeats for like 30 seconds 🥺 it wasn't even intentional i-

and they didn't kill each other! Not because of the blood pact, because that had been destroyed by then, but because they didn't want to.

pls im soft

- Credence is dying??? I mean, makes sense I guess. when I first found that out, I was like 'but they'll keep him alive for the next movie at least?' then towards the election, I thought 'Oh, maybe they'll kill him off,' then back to 'nah, he'll stick around for a bit longer.' All I want for him now is to go home and live with his dad 🥺

- Did Queenie try to convince herself that she didn't love Jacob anymore? That's so sad D:

- THE wEDDING AT THE END

DUDE THAT wAS MY FAVOURITE SCENE

IT wAS THE EPITOME OF 'LET'S ALL JUST ENJOY BEING wITH EACH OTHER AND BE A LIL SILLY AND NOT wORRY ABOUT THE PLOT FOR A BIT'

The boys look so dapper in their suits 👀

MY MANIFESTING OF NEwT wEARING A TUX wORKED!!!!!!!1!11!!11

Queenie's wedding dress looks exactly how I thought it would-

THE CORE FOUR ARE BACK TOGETHER

Theseus, Bunty and Lallie joined them! They have their own little crew now!

was Yusuf at the wedding?

Pickett with the ring 🥺

The lil Newtina interaction we got--- it wasn't much tbh :/

But Theseus afterwards knew what was up ;) he came right over to Newt and was like 'aw, u nervous? <33'

I hope he goes all love-advice to Newt XDDD or teases him...

On that note, time to rant about Tina...

I really, really, really hope they don't bring her back just as a love interest. My deathly fear is that warner bros will bring her back in 4 and 5 under the pretense that she's a cool female leading figure, but then cut her out of the plot and main crew and just use her as Newt's love interest. Then defend any criticism with 'yeah but she's a boss lady, we're not objectifying her >:00000'

Instead, it would be kickass if she rejoined the main crew for the last two films! (And maybe lead a team of aurors in to save the day at a critical moment when it feels like everything is lost? 👉👈)

I'm also still holding onto the vain hope that she and Newt will protect Credence. I know it's a stretch, but her exact words in FBAwTFT were 'Newt and I will protect you.' It would absolutely fulfil me if they harked back to that and had them both defending Credence, at least once.

Alright, I think that's everything. Like I said, I don't remember everything about the movie. Thank you very very much for reading down to here. 💕💕

Comment your thoughts on the film, or any hopes or theories you have for upcoming ones! :)