#Analysis

[jamesrb4th]

So a lot of people are saying “Vi called Caitlyn ‘Cupcake’ and she folded”

But I think the real thing she said that made Caitlyn change sides is “I’m trying to save my dad”

Vi has gotten a miracle, someone she loves has come back from the dead. Caitlyn knows how much someone would want that, how badly it would hurt if it was taken away. And she just can’t bring herself to do that to a person who, despite her efforts to push them away, she is still in love with.

[tprings-hair]

I'm going to say something about the new unification short film that I haven't seen anyone here say yet.

I love the handholding scene. massively impactful. I love the echo of "this simple feeling" from the motion picture and the genesis reference and the idea that spock did not die alone or among strangers. it's just so satisfying after all this time to know that even shatner knew it was wrong and needed to be approached with more compassion for nimoy and the fans who loved these characters and knew they should be together at the end, whatever that looked like.

but you know what really got me?

this minute or so. kirk confronting his old selves. because that's obviously original series kirk right there in the gold uniform.

and the other? THAT'S HIM!!

(I'm linking it this way because you apparently can't add more than one video to a post and I need it here for demonstration.)

so we have present kirk walking down a dark hallway. at the end is spock, but at the end is also spock's death. how can he step forward and face that? what happened to the way he used to think about death?

yellow shirt is TOS kirk, who had always found a way around the problem and never (if the movies are to be believed) had to face death straight on. he's looking forward with confidence. there's no way spock is dying. there's a way out of this somehow, if only he can find it.

TOS kirk looks back the way he came, because he believes he can go back. he can always go back. the series always resets to the same characters who can be depended on to take similar actions, because that's what a serial is, and that's who he is. things have taken their toll on him, but he knows he can take the hit and keep moving.

but he stops when he's faces with WOK kirk. the one in the red dress uniform, who has lost spock and knows what it is to live without him. who has faced death in a way he had never had to before, because the constraints of the series never allowed it. he has been changed because of it.

TOS kirk sees that, and does that sort of posturing that he always does in front of someone who's threatening him. but WOK kirk isn't threatening him. he's just living through something TOS kirk hasn't had to face yet. it's him staring his past self in the face and telling him, kindly and firmly, you know nothing about how it will feel. you will never be the same without him.

and TOS kirk looks back again, and there's a present kirk, wearing his generations uniform. this is kirk having turned that grief to a desperate search for the most important person in his life, and emerged with spock by his side. he's not the same, but he's made it through. of course TOS kirk would look to that.

and as our kirk looks at these people he used to be, they vanish in front of him. he remembers the way he used to think about losing spock. the fear, the grief, the hope. there's no hope left. when he reaches the end, spock will be there, and it will be their last time together.

but he puts the pin back on, and reminds himself of his duty not just to a fellow officer, but to a friend, to the most important person in his life, and to himself. spock should not be alone, and he never got to say goodbye properly before. doing it now is the least he can do.

that's his ultimate responsibility in that moment: being there for spock. that's been his ultimate responsibility from the beginning. and this is shatner acknowledging that they deserved an ending that fit that truth.

[catras-breakup-song]

might i add, even though it's unrelated to catradora:

Touching someone’s face to manipulate them was a frequently recurring motif in She-Ra. It’s especially associated with Shadow Weaver, who did it with Adora and Catra all their lives, raising them to have a twisted understanding of physical affection. I was really excited to see how they would reverse this motif in the final season and turn it into an expression of love and man.. it was even more beautiful than i couldve imagined

So the first time we see this visual with catradora is in season 1, the Battle of Bright Moon. Catra touches Adora’s face in a show of power/manipulation, wielding her affection as a weapon. Clearly a trick she learned from Shadow Weaver.

After this, we don’t see either of them touching the other’s face until the very last season… and it’s important to note it’s mostly Adora who’s doing it.

It makes sense that we never saw her touch Catra like this when they were cadets in the Horde because she didn’t have any role models to teach her what love looked like. The only way she knew how to express it was through protection. But being with the rebellion helped her understand. She came to think of soft touches as an expression of love instead of manipulation. And she does it for Catra three times throughout the season.

Through these touches, I think.. I think Adora was unconsciously teaching Catra what she had learned about love from the rebellion. Catra spends several episodes observing how Adora conveys affection for her and she helps Catra come to a new understanding of this gesture, that touching someone’s face means you love them.. thus totally upending the ideas that Shadow Weaver poisoned them both with. And probably helping Catra heal from her particularly brutal manipulation in 2x06.

Remember (if we disregard the fake times, i.e. not dt/simulation/mind control), the last time Catra touched Adora’s face was that terrible moment in the Battle of Bright Moon when they were enemies. Four seasons later in 5x13 Catra decides to tie her fate with Adora’s, to stay by her side no matter what, even if she has to watch her die, even if it means they die together. That decision itself was a love confession but now, moments after Adora gently caresses her face in the most loving depiction of the motif yet, Catra finally understands how to translate her feelings into physical affection, too.

Which leads to this last occurrence of it 😭 ….

Overall this motif tells the story of how Catra and Adora redefined their understanding of love and physical affection… taking the evil version they were taught as kids and turning it into something selfless and beautiful. 

On a somewhat unrelated note, I think it’s interesting that the first face touch in the series is Shadow Weaver touching Adora in 1x01, and the very last one is Adora touching Hordak’s face as she heals him from Prime’s mind control. It says something quite profound about Adora’s journey… starting out as someone who got manipulated, and growing into someone who heals one of her own manipulators from manipulation.

[biggest-vi-defender]

one of the saddest things to me abt vi that i haven’t rly seen anyone talk abt is the fact that she never rly got the ability or privilege of learning how to do much else other than to be mainly good at fighting.

she’s learned that fighting is how you protect yourself and others, and protection is how you show love.

not to mention, she ended up getting unfairly sent to stillwater for years, and if caitlyn hadn’t broken her out, it would have most likely been forever.

she’s just never rly had the time to learn smth else to excel at.

[nezz-cringe-crib]

maybe i'm not looking in the right places but god i need more daisuke content why do i rarely see daisuke content and why is all the content of him either him being silly and dumb or him just dying. he's such a deep character just like everybody else why does nobody draw him with that same tragic air it's giving me kel from omori flashbacks </////3

daisuke has gone almost his entire life being told how much of a useless dumb wreck he is, that the only thing good about him is his physicality and even then he's still worthless because he can't put that physicality to good use. then he gets sent to this job that he barely knows anything about but he swears to do his best in order to make his parents proud and to prove that he can be a good son for them. AND THEN HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH SWANSEA MAKES IT ALL FEEL EVEN WORSE????

daisuke probably became really attached to swansea because even though swansea would constantly remind him of how useless he was, swansea was still taking a chance on him and teaching him the basics of the job. even if daisuke knew it was just because swansea was forced to, and even if he knew all the jobs swansea gave him were easy jobs swansea knew he couldn't mess up, he was still probably really happy about it anyways because of how much it seems like he's never been given a chance on life???? AND THEN FOR DAISUKE TO DIE BY HIS HANDS???

I ALWAYS SEE DAISUKE'S DEATH FROM THE POV OF SWANSEA. LIKE HELLO???? HE WAS PROBABLY TERRIFIED??? TERRIFIED THAT THE ONE PERSON WHO HAS EVER GIVEN HIM A CHANCE, EVEN OUT OF PITY, WAS NOW PRACTICALLY PUTTING HIM DOWN OVER THAT SAME PITY TOO?????? THAT HE DIED BEING A FAILURE TO EVERYONE HE'S EVER KNOWN???????

WHY DOES NOBODY TALK ABOUT THIS DO NOT LET MY BOY DOOWWNNNN

[angstandhappiness]

Interesting!

wait do people read first person stories and think they're the ones in the story???

Saw people talking about not liking first person, which is fair, but their reasoning was like "I would not do that" and I don't understand that mindset.

First person stories are still about a character. A character making their own decisions. First person isn't about you???? At least I thought it wasn't. What am I missing? I've always seen first person as just a more in-depth look into a character's mind and stricter POV. Not as a reader stand-in.

[ellouchi]

Yet again I see people mischaracterizing Jimmy as some jerk who lashes out on people for no reason and berates them for anything minor like where did you get this from did you actually read any dialogues in the game????????

Jimmy really only threw one shade at Daisuke, he didn't think he was spoilt rich kid he just said he was covered by his parents because he had support system unlike all of them grown up adults. Most of times Jimmy just awkwardly slid off silly things Daisuke said, like the ladies comment or when they were mixing the drink. Daisuke actually trusted and listened to Jimmy throughout the game (to his own detriment unfortunately). Jimmy sent him to the vent because he was the captain and he wasn't going to do the dirty job obviously and if the Swansea somehow woke up Jimmy could shift the blame like he had already got away with. Even when eventually things went to shits we don't see him blaming Daisuke because Jimmy recognised that it was his decision to send him there. Jimmy didn't want to fatally injure him, he tried to "fix it later" which didn't help at all and Jimmy felt guilty about it.

Jimmy treated Anya dog shit half the time it's true but not to the extent some people make it to be. He loves control, he has said so to Curly's face, to ours and that's why he made sure to put her down and belittle her. That's why he (potentially repeatedly) sexually assaulted Anya — because rape is form of power play, he didn't even want her sexually. Initially, Jimmy didn't hate Anya, he just didn't like her and the feeling was mutual. He continued to do bare minimum for her, like when checking up on the crew. If I had to guess how Jim viewed her by the end, then he most likely found her inferior, incompetent, always putting work on his shoulders (or responsibilities he didn't want (pregnancy)), together with being paranoid of her having the potential to ruin his life. That's why he got so pissed off when he saw her crying to Swansea, very likely having already told another person of what he has done. (I'm 100% sure he holds the grudge for telling Curly, who then rushed to "fix things", making Curly seem like a responsible captain which Jim hated.)

Jimmy never made any attempts at understanding or sympathising with Swansea. He knew him longer than Daisuke yet the latter understood him better. Jimmy probably thought that Swansea was an old grumpy man who hated everyone and everything. As the game went on Jimmy just considered Swansea to be nothing but a selfish drunkard (due to immediately assuming he was hoarding cryopod to himself). After the vent incident who Jim blames for the absence of medicine? If Swansea wasn't so stubborn (for like, few times) Jimmy wouldn't have need to spend prescious recourses on him. He could have saved Daisuke instead and fix his fuck up but Swansea ruined it twice. Swan doing arguably the right thing by putting out Daisuke out of his misery only solidified his role as a villain and a threat in Jimmy's eyes, that's why probably as a revenge (for not giving him enough time to think) he went for the gun instead of cryopod like Swansea allowed him to.

And finally Curly. Honestly this deserves a separate book on it's own at this point. It's almost 3 a.m. here so I'll only mention some stuff. Jim aggressively lashes out twice on-screen, first time because he literally lost his dream job, listened to Curly "bitching about having said dream job" and couldn't come face to the fact that Curly was "abandoning him while also looking unscratched from the fall of the ladder" while Jimmy will return to his struggle of life (he didn't even know about the pregnancy yet...). Second time was when Anya endangered Jim's new status as a captain and like I mentioned reminded him that she could fuck up his life even more. Feeling like he was losing control, Jimmy beat up poor Curly who was stripped out of said control by non other than Jimmy. Finally, he was violent off screen by destroying Polle, out of frustration, irritation from the thing, and/or hatred and resentment for the company (que "Pony express is dead" line). In one instance he says "He's mocking us" which confirms that it's about Jimmy's ego.

In conclusion STOP MAKING MY SHITTY CHARACTER SHITTY IN THE WRONG WAYS. This isn't even a full blown analysis of Jimmy's character but accumulation of posts I read and conclusions I came with.

Focus on his already preexisting shitty qualities stop making up new ones ffs signing out.

[raayllum]

Trailer Breakdown time

Important notice: There will be spoilers from 7x01 mentioned as well from NYCC as well as screencaps that were previously released. Read ahead at your own risk!

So what a trailer am I right?

For this meta I'm gonna divide into sections in terms of episode order (largely 7x01, 7x02, and speculation to the mid season point) and then also talk about voice overs / clip placement from previous seasons when I think it's relevant. Let's go!

What we know

These shots of Callum and then Ezran and co. touching down in Katolis, as well as the vision Ezran has of his parents (which the fact he's seeing like that rather than how they actually were, sitting on the thrones side by side, is life ruining let me tell you) are all from 7x01, "Death Alive".

We know thanks to 7x01 that Runaan is arrested and everyone goes to the Banther Lodge to set up a temporary camp / plan their next moves, hence a makeshift council meeting (which Ezran having the throne brought with him... baby boy really isn't doing well). So it seems the following screencaps are all from 7x02.

We can also place this Callum and Rayla handhold at the Banther Lodge by the bridge outside.

They are probably (for whatever reason) conspiring/deciding to free Runaan and leave, leading to this scene with matching sky / colours - Soren and Rayla squaring off before Ezran arrives with more guards.

He might let them go or try to hold on, but they successfully flee / get away. I could also see Rayla and/or Runaan stepping in like "I'll stay behind, you go to the Silvergrove" (and if Rayla offers, that might melt Ezran enough to let them leave). Either way, I think Ezran's conversation with Aanya on the Banther Lodge bridge will either influence the choice(s) he makes here if it's before, or reference this crossroads if it comes after before we leave the Banther Lodge for the season.

We also know from 7x01 that Aaravos wants a Moon primal stone and to likely corrupt the Moon Nexus in order to invert life and death, destroy the Cosmic Order, and bring about eternal night. It seems likely Claudia and human Aaravos will achieve these aims by the mid-season point-ish. After 7x01 they have to go to the Puzzle House to get the map to the Garden of Innocence with unicorns, and they will likely require Terry's Pure Heart (my interview with Aaron Ehasz) to read the map to get them there. If 7x02 is "pure heart" that could be a nice parallel between Callum-Rayla and Terry-Claudia about a willingness (or lack of) to help and why.

From there, it's all speculation, so let's get into it.

What we can speculate

So first things first, we get Claudia and Human Aaravos at the Moon Nexus doing the Nexus inversion, presumably, and bringing people / creatures back from the dead. One looks rather like Ziard and brings up a staff, which Aaravos takes.

We also know this is earlier on in the season because Claudia's har is more white. During the spell, we also see Soren, Terry, Allen, and what seems to be Aanya holding a dead / unconcious Lujanne on the ground. It seems both Soren and Terry are running to stop her, though I don't know what Allen is doing (maybe holding back Ezran for some reason, if Ez is there).

Then we have more of the dead coming out, including a dragon that almost squashes Soren but does not have a rider, so it's not the same (assumedly) as before.

Later on, we see more creatures crawling out of the water at what seems to be the Nexus, since it's bordered by the same walls as the lake.

We also see Aanya and Ezran surrounded by the dead at the Valley of Graves (hi Sol Regem skeleton), but the moon doesn't look as... corrupted / taken as it does at the Nexus shot, so this could be happening in the early stages of the spell. Then Ezran could send Soren, who gets there too late, and who knows how fast Aaravos can travel on his own.

There seems to be some kind of confrontation between Ez, Aanya (hi exploding fire arrows), and Aaravos at the Valley of the Graves either way.

Since like I said the Moon isn't in the right spot, I'd wager the Ez-Aanya fight here is from 7x03 or 7x04, with the Moon Nexus inversion in 7x04 or 7x05. In the same timeframe, Rayla (and Runaan + Callum?) is going back to the Silvergrove and being put on trial.

The little tiny mushrooms here and in the section with her and one of the fallen assassins makes me think that rather than just standing around and talking, there could be an underwater dream-like portion to the trial as well. Something like "You touch the assassin and get blood on your hands (literally)" because they love their on-the-nose symbolism.

So I don't think the screenshots here are Rayla getting injured... Yet.

Now onto the harder to speculate sections, or what I like to call

What the Fuck is Going On

It seems, since Callum and Ezran learn that, "Aaravos is back. He wants to bring about eternal night. He's unleashed the spirits of the dead" (Callum) that the kids regroup and plan for what to do next. This could be 7x05 or 7x06. The trio (broyals / Rayla and Ezran) reconcile maybe from the Runaan fall out, with Ezran asserting that, "We have to be ready. We have to build our defences." (This could also be where Callum's line as a "the three of us have been through a lot together. We'll get through this, too" comes in as a parting goodbye before the group splits, as well as Callum's heroic rallying speech that is very reminiscent of 3x08: "There is a way out of this. With good people doing courageous things. Doing what's right!").

This "building our defences" could mean that the trio splits up to go get allies from prior seasons, like Rex Igneous (Ezran and co. shot) and Akiyu. They could also be fetching sun crystals for Aanya's arrows.

We see Callum defending an unconscious Akiyu (by the water) and Runaan (just under his tunic flare). His ice spell seemingly responds to Claudia's fire spell, and she has more white hair and is standing likewise near water. So it seems we'll get a Callum Claudia duel face off sometime in the mid to late season!

It also seems that Claudia's Laurelion dragon-scale necklace is just a dragon-scale, but gives her the super armour / fire power-up.

At some point we also meet up with the Sunfire elves, not just at their ruins / make-shift camp, but at the Sunforge palace itself, since Khessa's throne is in the background in these shots with Rayla. The purple background and Phyrrah also indicates that Soren and Corvus are in the same area.

Presumably, they've gathered all their allies (end of 7x08?) and are preparing for their final attempt to defeat Aaravos (and free Callum?). And Callum is going to get possessed, so when do we think it's happening?

Well, if the gang is travelling to get allies, Callum (and Rayla - and maybe Ezran or others?) have gone to get Zubeia perhaps from the mushroom mage. While there, shit goes down, and we get this shot of Callum (presumably from 7x06-7x07):

While the cube is angled the way it was in Callum's dark magic dreams, I don't think this is a dream. The background doesn't match up with previous, we've never seen this form of corrupted face for him with his eyes not black, and he has a white streak, which was never present when dreaming of himself as Aaravos' puppet last season.

I also don't think Callum is going to do dark magic to coin Aaravos (at least not for the initial corruption). Not only is it a little wonky pacing wise, it's a bit too clean, as it takes away the #1 threat Callum is scared of when it comes to doing dark magic. While he of course doesn't want to be corrupted at all, it was primarily the fact the corruption would make him Aaravos' puppet that scared him. It's also a bit too thematically contradictory for Aaravos to be successfully defeated in a 'bad way' rather than in a good way (teamwork, etc) nor does it work with the 6x03 set up for him and Rayla, but that's just me.

That all said, the fact that the trailer highlights his parallels to Viren and Claudia not just once, but twice (god bless that "however dangerous, however vile" and another "I would do anything for you") and through Kosmo's 6x06 voice over ("If you ever do dark magic again, the darkness and corruption will overwhelm you") makes it pretty clear that even if it hasn't happened here, it will happen in the season eventually. I don't think i have much to say on this plot beat / characterization that I haven't been saying for, well, the past 4 years, cause if you know, you know! (And I'll probably do a post just screaming about this + the cube later anyway.)

We also have some misc screencaps that could go about anywhere (Terry running, him + Aaravos and Claudia in the woods with the flying primal stone? Seeker or guider?) even if I do think they continually point towards Terry defecting this season.

Conclusion

If I missed any screencaps or you have any questions feel free to send them my way in my askbox! What do you think is going to happen and what are you most excited for this season?

[aroaceleovaldez]

one of the things that I found particularly interesting in Demigods of Olympus is that it finally gives the best direct comparison we've seen so far between Percy and another character's experiences in terms of academics and particularly ableist discrimination.

The way Zane describes his experiences and what we see in his POV is that, while he is similarly discriminated against for his "atypical" behavior and blame is placed on him, the only sorts of punishments he receives for this are relatively benign, such as an increase in counseling. (It is also notable that Zane is somewhat autistic-coded, such as having the "incorrect" scripts when speaking with adults and Sam explicitly reminding him to remember to make proper eye contact.) Percy, on the other hand, similarly experiences discrimination for "atypical" behavior, but whereas Zane is treated as "too smart for his own good" and given slaps on the wrist, Percy is automatically labeled as aggressive, destructive, and a trouble-maker based on preconceived assumptions about him and is more severely punished, such as being frequently expelled.

We rarely get this level of direct comparison between Percy's experiences and that of another character, particularly such similar experiences, so looking at the differences is really interesting to gauge what their different experiences with ableist discrimination is like - and how it could potentially tie into intersectionality and other forms of discrimination at play for them.

For instance, Zane's parents are generally heavily implied to be middle-class and/or generally financially secure, versus Percy who grew up poor, so it could be classism in combination with ableist discrimination. Alternatively, it could be intersectionality with racial discrimination, as neurodivergent behavior in people of color is significantly more likely to be punished more severely and labeled as aggressive or disruptive behavior due to racist preconceptions - particularly since we know Percy's experiences with ableist discrimination are also somewhat based on assumptions people make regarding his appearance. Both Zane and Percy are racially ambiguous - Zane's appearance essentially being completely unspecified, but Percy at least having some notable details such as having a deep tan complexion. If not racism, it could also be colorism, which in this context often has similar intersectionality. There's a lot of potential options.

It's just very interesting to me! I love having such a direct point of comparison to examine the experiences of two characters within.

[themattress]

The populist movement of our time: MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

The inevitable result:

its funny that a lot of conservative cultural sticking points right now are just slightly more advanced versions of what they believed as somewhat dull children, like "teachers are evil actually" and "vegetables are poison"

[cosmicjoke]

How the Shattered Teacup Represents Total Loss:

I can't believe there are people that actually say this moment, with Levi crying, was awkward or out of character. Takes like that are just so bereft of any nuanced thinking and, honestly, I find it insulting to Levi as a character and the seriousness of what he's just gone through in this story.

They're talking about a ten year old boy who's just had to kill for the first time, who was nearly beaten to death and threatened with being sold into sexual slavery, and who's only solace in a life of absolute hell is this single, good memory of him and his mother drinking tea together. A memory that's already vague in his mind, already insubstantial.

I think it's absolutely purposeful how Isayama shows only a portion of Kuchel's face in Levi's memory of her, slightly out of focus and cast in quite literally an idyllic light. It's meant to indicate that he doesn't remember her clearly. And Levi says as much, when he says the only thing he remembers clearly is her elegance. All he's left with is an impression of her, then. An outline of who she was. That we don't really see her eyes, but only her smile, leaving her in Levi's mind an unknowable enigma, a woman of beauty, stood out in his mind for how sharply that beauty contrasted with the filth and decay of the rest of his world, but not much else. No doubt the memory of her is fading further under the deluge of suffering and horror that makes up the rest of his life.

These same people who say things like Levi crying here is out of character also seem to think that the reason Levi is crying is literally because the cup broke, that the cup breaking represents nothing deeper or more meaningful, and that's why they think it's weird. I can't think of a more simple-minded way of reading this scene, written by an author known for his nuance and use of subtext.

The cup shattering is a metaphor for Levi experiencing total loss. The loss of his innocence, the loss of his connection to his mother, to the warmth of that memory of her, to any sense of comfort or goodness, all to be replaced with the bleak reality of his existence in the Underground, a world of merciless cruelty and violence and a reminder of his own loneliness. He's crying because it's the last vestiges of his hope shattering and, as I've spoken about before in my original analysis of this scene, I think Levi's tears are also rooted in this sense of fear that he's somehow sullied his mother's memory by killing those men. That's such a tragic thought, because Levi didn't sully her memory at all, even as her memory has indeed been sullied, which I'll talk about in a moment. But it's not Levi who sullied it. He was just doing what he had to to survive. He killed purely in self-defense. It wasn't wrong of him to do so. But that also exposes the insidious nature and the cruelty of what the man in the glasses said to Levi, planting this thought in his head that his mother would be disappointed or disgusted in him for killing.

When you think about the fact that the only good thing Levi has in his life is this memory of his mother, this single memory of her elegance that he regards with so much importance precisely because it's the only good experience he can ever recall having, and then you realize that memory and experience has now been so horribly, irrevocably tainted by what he's just gone through, the trauma of killing for the first time, it really puts into perspective the weight of this loss for Levi.

It makes perfect sense, then, why he bursts into tears. It also makes clear why we see Levi's trauma manifesting as an adult, in his habit of holding his cups by the rim instead of the handle. It isn't a fear of his cups breaking that makes Levi do this, it's because his mother's teacup shattering is representative in his mind of losing her for good and he plainly doesn't want to live through the pain of that again.

The only good thing he had to cling to in a life of suffering, the only thing of purity left in his life, has now been destroyed by the very environment and world that took his mother from him to begin with. Again, it wasn't Levi who sullied his mother's memory, but those men who attacked him, and the nature of the world Levi is living in itself.

This is the moment where we see Levi finally lose everything. He has nothing left after this. Like he said, his power awoke, Kenny disappeared, and the only thing that hadn't disappeared were the memories of his mother. But those memories have, from this moment on, forever been spoiled by the trauma of what those men did to him and forced him to do in turn. Levi won't ever again be able to find the same solace or comfort in the memory of his mother that he once did. The cup shattering, and Levi crying, is meant to represent the completeness of that loss. It's like he's lost his mother all over again, but this time, for good. He no longer even has that memory of her to retreat into as an escape from his horrible life, because it's been dirtied by what he's just gone through. He'll now forever associate the memory of his mother with the trauma of having to kill to survive.

It's so messed up and I don't think people have really given enough thought to just how tragic this moment is. And once again, I think it only serves to reiterate what a miracle it is, that through this total loss of anything good in his life, even something as basic and insubstantial as a faded impression of his mother's beauty, Levi was still able to be a genuinely good person. The kind of strength that would take, mentally and emotionally, is something truly special. Faced with such absolute cruelty and loss, instead of becoming cruel himself and wanting to rob others of their comfort, instead of becoming bitter and consumed by hatred, Levi instead became someone who always leads with compassion and kindness, who is always willing go give up his own comfort to ease the suffering of others.

[ksfd892]

Last night I was discussing with @ernestonlysayslovelythings that one of the things Gilmore Girls does really well is nuance. In terms of conflict, most characters will be a little bit right and a little bit wrong (as it tends to be in life), and yet many viewers will automatically side with one particular character. Lorelai and Rory (Rory in particular) tend to often be seen as in the wrong, and this intrigues and frustrates me. While a lot of the time they are 'in the wrong', so is the other character, and yet this is rarely acknowledged. Information which the other character has (and the audience has) is not given to Lorelai and Rory and yet they are still criticised for it (which other posts have gone into).

Emily and Paris are fan favourites and it's easy to understand why; they are funny, sarcastic and outspoken and yet also have vulnerability. Viewers will often take Emily's side in an argument with Lorelai and Paris's with Rory, which I find frustrating, because the reasoning seems to be either that Emily and Paris are 'more funny' or that Lorelai and Rory are 'annoying'. Emily and Paris are funny (Paris in particular is exaggerated as a side character) but they can also be very mean. Lorelai and Rory are not intentionally mean, generally speaking, yet a key element of Emily and Paris's characterisation is unkindness. Of course, this is largely for comedic effect (such as Emily firing maids and Paris making Brad cry), and yet Lorelai and Rory seem to be held to a higher standard. Emily and Paris can be very cruel to Lorelai and Rory (ie Emily's ongoing disgust over her daughter's romantic life or lack of and Paris bullying Rory at school) but it doesn't seem to 'count'. Viewers identify the reasons for this; such as Emily's hurt over Lorelai running away or Paris feeling intimidated by Rory, but do not extend the same understanding to Lorelai and Rory. Lorelai can be immature and shut out her parents, which is due to an unhappy childhood, and Rory sometimes wants space (which I don't personally find unreasonable), but that apparently means they're 'arrogant'.

This lack of nuance is also notable with Jess. With non-Literati shippers, many viewers write Jess off as the asshole exboyfriend who has 'exaggerated' his unhappy life with Liz and is 'ungrateful' to Luke. On the flip side, many Literati shippers take the view that Jess never does anything wrong and Luke is a total jerk. Again, there is nuance here; Jess is not infallible and, like all the characters, he is right and wrong about certain things. While there is zero evidence that Jess exaggerated anything (although some fans seem to exaggerate for him), he can be rude and perhaps seem ungrateful, but it is understandable. He acts this way because he had an unreliable mother who sent him to live in a strange town with his uncle without any say, and he lashes out because he is angry and not listened to. In S6 when Jess has grown up, he appreciates what Luke did for him, because he has the maturity to see it. Luke, for his part, did his best and also messed up because he stubbornly thought he knew what he was doing, and didn't think he needed advice. It does not negate the fact that he cared and tried his hardest. As with Lorelai and Emily, Luke and Jess are both right and both wrong with their reaction to things.

It's also interesting that within Literati shippers, the majority of people will take Jess's side in a conflict with him and Rory. Jess and Rory are flawed people (who are also very young) who manage to hurt each other deeply. Rory runs away after kissing Jess because she does not know how to handle her feelings, which Jess perceives as her thinking he isn't worth staying for and, a year later, Jess leaves town without saying goodbye, which Rory also wrongly perceives as a rejection. Neither of them intend to be cruel and yet, according to numerous Lit shippers, Jess was hurting and Rory 'couldn't see it'. Of course she couldn't see it - Jess never communicated to her that he was in trouble at high school and had to drop out, or that his father showed up, or anything else going on with him. She could see something was wrong but couldn't help him. Likewise, Rory never communicated to Jess that she was feeling mixed up about being with Dean and later with Logan, but somehow this understanding isn't extended to Rory. Jess and Rory are both fallible and are both written with excellent nuance.

One of the best things about Gilmore Girls is how well it reflects growing up and our relationships in real life. Situations are rarely binary and, as we mature, we can often look at conflict more objectively and see 'the other side'. Lorelai and Rory, along with most of the characters they interact with, are written with depth. When they mess up or miscommunicate, it doesn't mean they 'wrong' or not worth caring about - it means they have something to learn from. They are funny, frustrating, vulnerable and have moments of clarity, just as with real people.

[biggest-vi-defender]

“caitlyn seriously switched sides the moment she saw vi and heard ‘cupcake’?”

while i feel like that’s largely i joke in the fandom, i feel like a lot of ppl genuinely believe it, and i can’t help but see that as a mischaracterization and a too-simple generalization of caitlyn’s character and what actually caused her to betray ambessa and noxus as a whole.

yes, ofc it was partly that, but it was more than just vi.

it was caitlyn’s entire conversation and realization when it came to singed, that they had similarities. singed is doing all of these fucked up things for love, the way caitlyn is arguably turning into a darker, less moral person bc of her own love for her mother.

caitlyn had called him a “monster”, and now that she knows singed is doing this for his daughter, in her mind, what makes them so different?

not to mention, cait never completely believed in or trusted ambessa, and she is also someone who is naturally a better person than this, underneath all that pain and the anger. she just needed to realize that again.

[hellincarnation]

The Manipulative Brilliance Of The Hunger Games

Hunger games is so good because it’s about giving you the sense of empathy and pity, while showing a group of people (the Capitol) who feel nothing of the sort and that juxtaposition makes you want more.

Let’s start all the way from the beginning.

Methods used by the Capitol to exert full control over all the districts:

The Method Of Reaping (selecting the tributes)

POINT 1: BUILDING BOUNDARIES WITHIN DISTRICTS-

If you haven’t watched hunger games, the method of selecting the tributes is left to chance. Why does this look familiar? It’s the method used by governments in the Vietnam War to draft soldiers. Using this same lottery system makes The Hunger Games feel more real, like this could really happen to you.

By The Capitol’s design, when you get chosen, someone can volunteer in your place to be a tribute in The Hunger Games. This is rarely done because who would choose to enter a game where your death possibility is so high?

The air of silence when you are picked as a tribute sends a message “Someone could save you right now. But they won’t. They won’t.”

That friend that promised you they would be a friend forever, the sibling that was raised with you, your mother, your brother, your sister, your friend. None of them are going to save you.

And this affects the whole district, it reminds them that at the end of the day, no matter how much of a friend your companions assure you they are, when you are picked as a tribute to die, they WILL NOT SAVE YOU.

Thus, it puts up boundaries preventing a district from getting too emotionally close with each other. Because you could be so friendly to someone but at the end of the day, they wouldn’t help you.

Effectively preventing districts from banding together and launching a revolution against the Capitol.

The Method Of Solely Using Children

POINT 2: BUILDING BOUNDARIES BETWEEN DISTRICTS-

So the Capitol, using the method of point 1 has successfully prevented districts from banding together internally. Now, how do we stop districts from working externally with each other against the Capitol?

Hate.

Hate and Fear.

See hunger games isn’t just a game. It’s an entertainment experience hiding a public execution.

But it’s not the Capitol executing these tribute, oh no! It’s using tributes from different districts to kill one another. Using this method, the Capitol effectively has their hands as clean as possible superficially, while simultaneously pitting districts against each other.

Mind you, all the tributes chosen are between 12 to 18 years old. CHILDREN. The Capitol is playing on two levels,

1. Making each district look even more savage. For when put into the hunger games, everyone loses their morals. Forcing the savagery out of mere children, it implies that if children are already this bloodthirsty, how crazy must their parents be? This benefits the upper class of Panem by reducing the lower districts to savage animals.

2. Making each district have a plausible reason for despising each other. Back to my point that all tributes are children. Parents must watch as their child is forced to abandon their morality or die. So the relatives of the fallen tribute associate their child’s killer with the bad ones.

For example I am from district 10 and my child is killed by a tribute from district 5. Not only will I mourn the loss of my child but I will direct my hatred at district 5, not the Capitol.

The Method of Display

-Being Dolled up

When the tributes are shipped out to the capitol, they get dressed in finery, they get made up like one of the members of the Capitol. This in itself is vicious mockery. It sends the message “You look like one of us, but you will be sent to your death and we will watch. You may look like one of us, but you will NEVER be one of us” What this achieves is setting the members of Capitol on the level of gods who only see humans as playthings to be dressed up and killed for entertainment.

-Being put on talkshows

Tributes then need to be on a parody of our real world talkshows, forced to laugh along with the hosts and endure the personal questions and inquires.

In conclusion, what does The Method Of Display achieve? It mocks all the districts, while simultaneously elevating The Capitol to gods.

The Method of Dehumanisation

Using all of these methods, the Capitol degrades the tributes to products to be sold. Think of those idol shows in real world where viewers vote on the ones they want to win. Tributes become personas to ‘Stan’ and support. By combining the mockery of dressing them up like they belong, to forcing them to act like they DO belong, it achieves the desired message to all the districts “None of you are at our level.”

The Method of False Winners

So you’ve won the hunger games. But have you actually won? Your status as a killer on national television, your PTSD and trauma, your mental state says otherwise. No one wins the hunger games. They survive the hunger games and get forgotten by the time the next one comes around.

Five By Five Takes on YouTube makes an excellent point which I will now paraphrase:

When you win the hunger games, you not only become a weapon of the Capitol but a symbol of false hope for the districts. By having a victor, it echoes the idea that sure the hunger games are awfully deadly but there is a chance you could win. The victors of the hunger games get to live in finery, if you’re from the poorer districts, this gives you a hope for a better life. And humans, even in real life, run on hope.

The Capitol

At the start of the movies, the people of The Capitol look like MONSTERS. Why? They are so devoid of empathy, they watch people die with the energy you’d use while watching a funny comedy.

When we watch movies, we try to put ourselves in the shoes of the characters. This is why self inserts are so popular in fandoms (im writing another short analysis of why some fandoms are so much more successful than others) However…a majority of people wouldn’t want to insert themselves in such a dangerous situation like hunger games.

Personally, when I watched the Hunger Games movies, I went “Thank god that isn’t me.” But then my thoughts suddenly went to “I would sacrifice other people if I didn’t have to go.” And what does that sound like ladies and gentlemen and other? You start realising that you’re thinking like a person from The Capitol. BOOM. From empathising with the tributes to suddenly realising you’d do anything to not be a tribute, you start realising how human the ‘monsters’ of the Capitol are.

Conclusion of this point:

The Capitols are horrible people. But they are as human as the rest of us. Any one of us could be a member of the Capitol with enough influences and experience.

Overall Conclusion

The Hunger Games are so brilliant because they play with your emotions, opinions and morals, using them against you in the most twisted way possible. All while hiding it all under a guise of entertainment.

-The End-

lol it’s not proofread, I wrote it in about an hour. My first full analysis ever. I’m gonna keep making them. Give me feedback :)

Like, Reblog or Reply if you like this analysis. Or don’t. I could not care less, it’s just a hobby of mine:)

This is Part 1 of my hunger games series of analysis

Link to another great analysis here

Tags

@lovely-rants-alot @shinchansbitch @jeahreading @totally-not-castor @unhinged-as-hell @sunshinerainbowsandlollipops @zeherili-ankhein @cafffeineconnoisseur @schrodinger-ka-billa @mireyaaaaaaaaa @the-loveliest-liar @daonedaonlyskh @iamgayforyourmom1510

[frogfacee]

i think some people get too committed to the idea that will’s van speech was entirely a cover for his emotions, and we forget that he genuinely believes this is true for el. yes it was wrong to lie, yes he’ll most likely face consequences for that, but he isn’t just trying to let his own emotions out.

he believes that mike makes el feel better for her differences. he doesn’t know what the audience does, that that’s not true, because he wasn’t there for their fight that revealed that. so he wants mike to know what he believes to be true, because mike has just expressed that he wants el to need him. he doesn’t think it’ll mean anything coming from him. so, he shares what he thinks is true for el, and is made more emotional by the fact that 1) it’s true for him, 2) he doesn’t think mike wants to hear that, and 3) the painting that the speech builds to is entirely about his own feelings.

thank you for coming to my surface level analysis refresher. back to the crazy theories we go, now remembering and valuing will byers’ layered motivations. don’t forget the text in the midst of subtext 🫶🫶