#And this episode was a feast for his characterisation

[witchy-capri]

This expression will haunt me for the next months

[alicentsgf]

nothing is more subtle or more heartbreaking to me than alicent in the wedding feast scene. and half these shots dont even follow her, they follow viserys shes just in the background, (which just perfectly sums up the way alicent and her desires are stifled by viserys/his wants just btw)

so shes just watched whatever it was that was happening between daemon and rhaenyra. salt in a very fresh wound. and as far as i can work out was literally tearing up over it (if we look at the screenshot above). but then people are screaming and pushing and shoving and alicent instinctively gets up before anyone else at the table even does, still looking like shes about to cry the whole time, right up until the moment she realises its not just pushing and shoving - theres a fight happening exactly where rhaenyra was just a moment before, and suddenly her expression changes to this shot of her blatantly worrying about rhaenyra:

"but lydia, how do you know shes worried about rhaenyra? she could just be in shock at seeing the fight and concerned in general."

because its spelled out for us the next time we see her:

this shows us pretty obviously alicents only really interested in where rhaenyra is. this is a tv show, they don't show someone's reaction to something just for the sake of it and alicent is the only person we see react to rhaenyra being safe. she even appears to relax at the end, as if relieved.

this very clearly sets the stage for alicent's refusal to accept any physical harm to rhaenyra - so we can understand why she feels so much guilt and self-loathing over slicing open rhaenyra's arm, and why she is so adamant about protecting rhaenyra in episode 9 even after everything she and rhaenyra have put each other through. just as rhaenyra has a desire to reconcile with alicent she cant shake, reaching out for her even in moments when shes been given no reason to hope (like at the council in episode 6 and dinner in episode 8), alicent has this desperate need to make sure rhaenyra's safe, even at times when she has no intention of reconciling with her. even when shes at her most hostile, harbouring enough resentment to show up to rhaenyras wedding wearing a declaration of war, alicent still cant stomach the thought of rhaenyra being physically harmed. and it doesn't seem to be an aspect of her characterisation thats going anywhere anytime soon.

[dysfunctional-doodle]

Do you have any Mikey angst fics you can recommend?

Yes I do! I keep meaning to update my list here. I will…at some point.

Here is the old list:

And here are a few new additions!

Wrong (ROTTMNT):

"His younger brother lies still in his lap, eyes closed and face sickly and pale. Mikey is silent and dripping in water, chilled to the bone. He's so cold.

He’s not breathing.

In that moment, everything clicks."

Or,

A presumed dead Mikey fanfic, featuring science facts about box turtles.

Disposable (TMNT 2003):

“The life of your brother, or your own? Better hurry up and choose if you at least want one of you to make it out alive.” Bishop pressed the pistol harder against Michelangelo’s forehead, staring Donatello down expectantly.

The Fixer (Bayverse)

-> You need an ao3 account to view !! <-

NOTE: I LOVE THIS ONE B TEAM ANGST SO WELL WRITTEN I AM FEASTING ON THIS FIC…anyway:

Donnie fixes, even when he breaks. April learns this the hard way.

Surface Pressure TMNT (All Media Types)

NOTE: actually, read everything by this author, I live for their writing style and characterisation

What if Mikey saw Encanto and realized something about his very own family?

Waterboarding (TMNT 2003):

If someone had asked Michelangelo a week ago if waterboarding would be effective on turtles, he’d have laughed in their face. Now thought? Now he wouldn’t be laughing. Especially as he tried to keep water from getting in his nose and mouth and wondered if he was about to set a new personal record for how long he could hold his breath.

Parasite (TMNT 2003):

After Leo is bitten by a bat, Mikey desperately tries to convince his brothers he’s no longer himself.

Or

Leo gets infected by a parasite and is slowly infecting his remaining brothers.

Lost (TMNT 2003)

-> You need an ao3 account to view!! <-

Mikey and Klunk get separated from the others and lost deep below the sewers. Good old fashion turtle luck leaves them injured with no hope of finding their way out. But they continue on, determined to survive.

MY FICS:

Fungus Humungous (TMNT 2003)

“Mikey?”

Michelangelo doesn’t answer, standing alone in the shadows. Leonardo moves to place a hand on his shoulder but pulls his hand back when the youngest screams in utter terror, his eyes wild and staring at the space around them. It’s a sound that haunts them all to their core, ringing over and over and Mikey keeps screaming and sobbing, begging for something they can’t understand. The fungi quickly latches onto his face, mushrooms digging into his eyes, across his shell -

“Mikey!” Raph yells but Mikey doesn’t hear them, lost in his own nightmare and unable to defend himself as the mushrooms consume his face completely. Instead, they can only watch helplessly as Michelangelo gets dragged into the darkness.

~

A mysterious infestation of fungi in the sewer system of their old home causes the turtles to each become trapped in the own never-ending nightmares. Imprisoned in the dark caverns and the last one standing, Leo must battle his own fears if he stands a chance of saving his brothers before they are all consumed by their own terror.

~

TLDR: remember that 2012 episode with the fungus? I rewrote that for 2003, but much darker.

Subsidence (TMNT 2003):

It is then, as his eyes travel to follow Michelangelo, that Leo spots the way the water is dripping thicker now, seeping through the concrete of the ceiling. There are signs he has carelessly neglected – the cracking on the stone, the groaning of pipes around them. His cheerful mood snaps.

Something must reflect this in his expression; Mikey pauses, a few feet ahead of him, face twisting to concern.

“Leo –“ he begins, but is interrupted when everything shudders. Rubble drizzles, then throws itself upon them as the roof collapses under the strain of the water pipes.

For a moment, Leonardo’s eyes meet his youngest brother’s and see the terror flash inside them. He barely has time to take another breath before the world caves in, and everything goes black.

~

While the brothers are out exploring a new sewer system, the whole thing collapses. With no way to get out and separated from each other, they all face their own struggles, injuries and fears as they fight to survive and find each other.

TLDR: a sewer caves in. Leonardo and his brothers are trapped because I like angst.

[cookiepotofchaos]

So... Season 4 of the BBC's Malory Towers is basically a bunch of OCs with Malory Towers character names. It's been kinda going that way even since Season 2, but now they're nothing like their canonical parts.

Spoilers below.

Some of the storyline changes were, I think, unavoidable. For example, it was weird that when Darrell struggled as head of lower school, she never went to Sally for support, but I saw that Sienna Arif Knights has a role in Good Omens S2 so perhaps filming conflicts explains that. There were a couple of strange scenes where it was obvious that the scenes with Sally were not recorded in the same location as the rest of the cast.

Other storylines are just poorly written. Like a midnight feast with just Darrell and Alicia, but Alicia invited Ron and his little brother? Shoehorning in a very awkward and shortlived Gwen pretending to have heart problems when you've already done a fair bit of her character growth in previous seasons?

Also, putting a bunch of the original fourth formers in as first formers and other character changes makes me think the next season is going to be even further away from the original text. S5 is meant to be 5 episodes longer as well so... Who knows what they'll end up doing.

Will Moira and Catherine appear? If they do are they going to be in Felicity's form? Who knows. But because of how they changed June's character and storyline, if they make her write the canonical "poison pen letters" to Moira then it's going to be about as poorly written and characterised as Gwen's heart problems storyline.

Which...means it could happen, to be fair.

If you just watch it as though it's original characters, it's fine. Nothing spectacular and increasingly inconsistent writing, but fine and probably fairly enjoyable for the target audience. As a Malory Towers adaptation...eh... Not so much.

Also, since this season has a baby being born (to one of the teachers), a wedding (between a parent and a teacher), and 2 romance storylines involving Gwen (one with a random offscreen guy and one with Ron), I have to wonder...

Who looked at Malory Towers and thought "this definitely needs more heterosexuality"? 😂

[katcirce]

My thoughts on Rings of Power so far

My boyfriend and I started watching rings of power (yes. we are late to the party), and I have a couple of thoughts on it. As of writing this we are on episode 7 (meaning just before the finale.)

*obvious spoiler warning*

Unfortunately I was spoiled by twt before even watching the show as to the whole Halbrand situation, so I have been watching the entire show knowing who he is, but god I wish he wasn't. Or even, I wish the show was its own thing, and not a half-way between a tolkien canon and whatever it is. This principle kind of extends thoughout my wishes for this show; I do really like it, but I also have some critiques I will outline.

Cinematography and beauty prioritised more than pacing and immersion

There is no doubt that this show is absolutely gorgeous. Every shot is an artform and a feast for the eyes, however, in some cases it seems the pacing suffers as a consequence. Take for instance the scene between The Stranger and the Brandyfoot girl, where she hands him an apple. I assume they had so many shots in order to give the impression of the grandness of it all, however it came across as someone not being able to choose between which shot to take, because they were all great, and subsequently ending up adding all of them. It just felt a little awkward. This is also the case with combat scenes where we felt the immersion was often lost in favour of an aesthetically pleasing shot.

2. Galadriel and staying true to canon

The showrunners obviously took some liberties with the characters, and die-hard tolkien fans might feel more conflicted with the difference in presence of characters they already know and love from Tolkiens universe. My boyfriend hasn't read the books, and had no issues with the characters, because he didn't already have a strong pre-conceived notion of who the characters were. For me, adjusting to this new Galadriel was more challenging than say Elrond, simply because her energy is so different. That being said, I see the point in showing her in this young version, and as a character I adore her; but I can't help but still feel a little conflicted that the two characters are the same. Galadriel is one of the eldest, and is therefore supposed to be one of the wisest elves, but I find her nature to still be very young compared to the other elves. I love her characterisation, but where it kind of glips for me, is when compared with Elrond, who seems wiser.

3. Halbrand...

This especially is where I wish this show was its own seperate universe, and he did not become the Sauron known from LOTR, embodiment of pure evil. Even in the series they mention sauron being controlled by Morgoth, and after his fall seeking to better the world. In my own personal little bubble, I wish this could be the story of someone having been a puppet and the hand of a greater evil; witnessing themselves comitting atrocities without being able to control it. After gaining free-will seeking to right the wrongs, while having to hide their identity, because they know, they cannot be forgiven. I know that is not the case, but I wish it was.

4. The harfoots :)))

This is both mine and my boyfriends least favourite part of the series. We both found the harfoots quite annoying. The whole "We are harfoots. We stick together", just doesn't really catch on with us when they literally have a book of left-behinds. That, and they all blame The Stranger for a branch falling (why the did no adult stop the kid from stepping out under a clearly fragile branch!?). It seems insane to banish the Stranger after a branch fell when he also saved them from wolves, disproportionate through and through.

I've basically written an essay now, and I have so much more to say on Elrond, dwarves, the southlands, Isildur, Elendil, etc. However, I'll stop now and maybe add on after we watch the finale. :)

[shinygoku]

Top 10 CSatM Episodes (2/2)

See part 1 here

As a few paragraphs and pictures for 10 episodes in a row makes a rather long, unruly beast of a post!

The second half of my personal preferred picks for a Top 10, though the order they’re being listed in doesn’t correspond to my favour, but the order how I watch them on my DVDs. I still suggest you read the first half of the list before this one, all the same~

Spoilers below the cut, be warned! ✂

Crater 101

So this ep is pretty much a sequel to Lunarville 7, and is followed up with Dangerous Rendezvous. Neither of those made the cut of my list though, and even isolated from those it makes a solid story. The most Space-y of all the episodes and a visual treat, cause while we mostly stuck to the stark accommodations of Lunarville 7 in that episode, here we see the grey grimy gloom of the outside of the Moon, and the sharp, delightful contrast of the Mysteron’s fantastic plastic Complex. Here, vivid marbled colours and flashing lights join inorganic shapes that suggest something of the Mysteron’s nature, but as always, nothing conclusive.

Moving away from the lovely Aesthetics, this is also a strong one for characterisation. We get some sweet interactions with The Lads and for this episode only, the Best Female Character in the whole show. Linda Nolan is the controller of Lunarville 6, a smart, capable woman who had her own cool space mission referenced and in fact critical to the plot. She is also relatable in that she catches feelings for Scarlet, so while she’s barking up the wrong tree I still have nothing but respect for her, hehee.

Eerie, tense, interesting and still somewhat funny, this is another episode that eeks into an even higher ranking list than 10, I could comfortably put it in 5 and mmmaybe 3. Though I’m not gonna be able to say definitively as the best episodes all bring something different to the table, and this may just be the strongest in the uniqueness regard.

Fire at Rig 15

I get the feeling this may be an unorthodox choice, somehow? But yeah, I just really enjoy it. It’s not a funny episode, but it is rather exciting, and contains some lovely new music and a sweet scene at the end. The Mysteron’s plot is pretty simple, but should it succeed, devastating as it would be crippling Spectrum’s operations by removing the unique type of fuel all the craft uses.

In a way, it’s kind of like a dark mirror to a typical Thunderbirds setup; whereas in that show the initial fire would be more likely to be accidental or just maybe some ne’er do well like the Hood, this time it’s as simple as the Mysterons reopening the master valve. When traditional firefighters would eventually retreat to make room for International Rescue, here Spectrum themselves have a rather passive role as a professional rolls in. And of course, said man finds himself very, very dead due to further Mysteron interference (see picture), with Black seemingly hypnotising the poor bloke into standing too close to the explosion.

From there his duplicate half buries his original corpse and later receives direct instructions from Black to suicide bomb the nearby refinery, and it’s en route to this is where the thrilling car chase takes place! Scarlet saves the refinery but the whole SPV he was driving is completely ablaze at the end of it. Like my thoughts on Point 783, I really appreciate the human touch to the last scene, with soft music as arrangements are made for Scarlet to recover from the horrible state we’re spared of seeing. Seeing how his ability to recover from death is one of the cornerstones of the whole premise, I love it when we’re allowed a bit more insight into what the other Spectrum personnel do in the situations, in this case White specifically instructing Dr Fawn to make sure Scarlet is comfortable as the process takes place.

Treble Cross

A notable and unique spin of an episode, where a rather routine Mysteron threat takes quite the turn when their assassinated target is brought back to life! It seems by the 2060′s we’ll have cool machinery to do CPR for a couple of hours as well as doctors ready to play god when they happen to drive by the car crash scene, heheh

Seriously though, this is a really fresh premise, that the villains who have been using doppelgangers for their devious schemes get the tables turned. This time the duplicate gets perma-killed while the original Major Gravener willingly participates in an undercover mission to help draw Captain Black into a trap at last... However, an easily overlooked factor in the driver who was also killed had been duplicated offscreen, so even with this amazing chance Spectrum can’t catch Black. But the World Capital, Futura City, is saved and Spectrum find the Mysterons themselves can’t tell their own copies from the original person, so it’s all in all a net gain!

Also this episode contains the World’s Happiest Clock, so that’s a neat plus.

Flight 104

We start this story on the incredible note of Captain Blue singing in the shower of the Hotel room he shares with Captain Scarlet. Scarlet then orders them both room service for some lunch. And if that sounds like the start of a fanfic plot, it may well be, but it’s also literally right there in the episode, baybee!

Charmingly domestic opening aside, I love this whole shebang. Again it’s the usual Mysterons threatening of an individual who Spectrum are bodyguarding, but the way both our heroes and villains go about this is different from the norm. Scarlet and Blue are trying to avoid drawing attention, so they spend the whole episode in normal clothes (Blue spending 1/3 of this in that comfy bathrobe!), and don’t have their comms. What’s more, they get a pair of reporters suspicious, and the two trail them looking for a Big Scoop.

When I was first watching this, I was expecting the journalists to get killed by Black to be the Mysteron Pawns, but no! They’re both fine from the start to the end! Then we find Black doing ....something.... to the Flight Crew of the titular Flight 104, but they aren’t killed either, just drugged. Instead, the Mysterons remotely pilot the plane on a slow collision course with the Alps, but are undone when an Electrical Plant interferes with their control.

As breaking into the pilot cabin had the side effect of jamming the landing gear, the plane has to crash land at the airport, but almost everyone being unharmed makes this one of the most gentle episodes of the lot... of course, Scarlet himself is still heavily implied to have been killed from the crash, but even his injuries seem pretty minor this time. And yet, it’s not lacking in excitement, as the tension of Spectrum trying to communicate with the two without their Comms and the inability to override the Mysteron’s control until that pre-established Electrical weakness kicks in holds for a while.

Inferno

Those who know of me from Thunderbirds are Go (the 2015 TV series) discussion are likely to know how much I love the episode from Season 1, Tunnels of Time. It heavily features my favourite ship in that show as they explore an ancient South American Temple which is full of peril. The temple is destroyed by the end of the episode.

So anyway, Inferno features my favourite ship in this show as they explore an ancient South American Temple which is full of peril, and tragically the temple is destroyed by the end of the episode! Heheeheheee~

Ok seriously though, eerie parallels aside this is another utterly beautiful instalment, with set design and lighting that really blows other episodes out of the proverbial water. And the pyrotechnic team clearly had fun with the seemingly unending explosions at the end of the adventure. An all-around visual feast!

Main plot is relatively simple, like in White as Snow, the Mysterons kill a Satellite and its crew and steer the reconstructed version towards their target of the week. Unlike WaS, they succeed in the end, a reminder that they’re still not to be underestimated. No human lives are lost, but the important complex and more tragically, the 800 year old temple that’s otherwise intact, get bombed to smithereens. Something something additional cost of warfare on Culture and History.

But while this is the end of my personal Top 10 list, it’s not all bad, because the Scarlet and Blue antics in the temple are utterly lovely and [chef finger kiss] splendid cinema~!

That about wraps up this Two-part post of mine! Picking 10 out of 32 is easier than 10 out of 100, but it’s still tricky as most of the episodes are very good, with only a few I’d promptly write off as a candidate for the list. And in some ways I wonder if I went about this the right way, some eps I only saw once and might feel strong enough to pip one’a the ones I did choose.

I have been rewatching each of the eps covered, and a few that didn’t make it, but my initial choice was made looking at the full list and letting my gut grab a few, having to think over more as the slots filled. Some fan favourites like Lunarville 7 came close, but I hope I’ve been able to clearly convey what it is about this selection that gave them the edge ;3

I will write further posts on Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons in the future, but after this mammoth and also the Notable Episodes list I’d quite like to enjoy it for a while without thinking about points to talk about, haha

[hezjena]

Death? I don’t even know him.

Castlevania Season Four, had some characterisation issues, for me... which I think could be fixed with one simple change. 

Spoilers, head-canons and tinfoil hats under the cut! 

So, I really felt like my lady vampires got the short end of the stick in terms of characterisation and screen time in season four. Although, saying that, I totally cried when Striga and Morana rode off together, it was beautiful! However, I really thought that Lenore was lacking her scheming and Carmilla had just cranked up the crazy. 

And skipping forward a few episodes, I felt like the final fight with Death was a little anti-climatic, because Death was just introduced (although hinted at earlier, the main villain was only introduced in that season). While the character design, was AMAZING - his powers are unknown. It was really difficult to gauge how difficult of a fight it was for Trevor. 

Soooo, my solution? Make the final villain someone we already know. Why not make Death Lenore instead? 

This would keep most of Death’s motivation - they still want to bring back Dracula because they want to feast on Death. 

But instead have Lenore know about Hector’s plan and be low-key letting it happen. Maybe keep that she’s horrified with Carmilla’s plan. But add in a motivation of thinking Dracula is the only thing powerful enough to stop Carmilla’s conquest of the whole world. Alternatively, her motivation for wanting Dracula back is to pit Carmilla and Dracula against each other to prolong the war (more death to feast on.) 

I think it would keep her characterisation from season three more consistent. More evil scheming vampire, less damsel in distress easily manipulated by Hector. (Plus more lady vampire screen time!) Moving her from a passive to an active role. And it would better explain why Saint Germain was wearing the red/black ring - because it’s already been established that she knows how to use them. 

Plus, I don’t think it would actually change too much of the rest of the plot, just make the lady vampires more important to season four. 

[where-theres-smoak-2]

My Featherbed Analysis

More of a fun post here than anything else. I’m bored and the episode is hours away so I figured why not obsess over Gendrya some more and I did promise an analysis of My Featherbed a few days back so. Anyway some context for you, I was watching some GOT Theory videos on youtube and came across this one where he points out the astrolabe (big sun thingy) in the opening credits show engravings of historical events. These are depicted in chronological order moving forward in time. But this changes in the season 8 opening credits, they are different events more recent and ones we’ve seen in the show, The birth of Dany’s dragons, the red wedding and the destruction of the wall. But they now also go backwards in time as oppose to forward. I then noticed something else. In the older opening credits the map would start at Kings Landing then move up North and show Winterfell and The Wall. But now that is going backwards too we start at The Wall and go to Kings Landing. Now you might be wondering what the hell’s this got to do with Gendrya? Well it got me thinking what if you did the same with the song My Featherbed and read it backwards, would that hold any clues for Gendrya. You know what it kinda works in fact if I read it backwards its my perfect endgame for Gendrya. So if we start not with the first verse but the last 

 I'll wear a gown of golden leaves, and bind my hair with grass, But you can be my forest love, and me your forest lass.

Now the first two lines about a gown of golden leaves and hair bound with grass I think is symbolic of who Arya is when she first meets Gendry. In the song those lines are talking about how the subject of the song has a free spirit with a little bit of a wild nature. This is very much what Arya is like its a fundamental part of ther characterisation. Ned himself said ‘ Ah, Arya. You have a wildness in you, child. 'The wolf blood,' my father used to call it.’ So I think these lines are almost like introducing her character. As for the next two lines ‘you can be my forest love and me your forest lass.’ Think back to when Arya and Gendry first met and their time together throughout those first few seasons. Where did most of their scenes take place? In a forest. We also know from Maisie’s bts interview from 8x01 that it was during this time that Arya fell in love with Gendry. We haven’t really had any confirmation on how Gendry felt about Arya during that time, I personally like to believe he had some kind of feelings for her. However I do feel like the song can be split into two halves with the last two verses being from Arya’s point of view and the other two from Gendry’s. But my point here is that despite it being the end of the song I think it actually represents the beginning of Gendrya’s journey better. 

And how she smiled and how she laughed, the maiden of the tree. She spun away and said to him, no featherbed for me.

The next verse reminds me so much of Arya’s rejection of Gendry’s proposal. Again the subject of the song is rejecting that life as a lady, she doesn’t want that previliged life of luxury. This is true for Arya at this point in her life too. It’s not Gendry she’s turning away from it’s that idea of what it means to be a lady all dressed in silk dresses and featherbeds. To Arya a lady is someone who spends their life in delicate silks and isn’t allowed to do anything fun, I think she thinks of them as being trapped and she’s also looked at that title as being something negative. She doesn’t believe she could possibly ever be happy as a lady. And so she turns away from it. This verse also brings us to the middle of their story and where we are at in the show. 

For you shall be my lady love, and I shall be your lord. I'll always keep you warm and safe, and guard you with my sword.

Above I said that the song is split into two halves well this is the part in the song/ story where we have a shift, its now being told from Gendry’s point of view. I also think it goes side by side with the verses above as oppose to after it. ‘I’ll always keep you warm and safe and guard you with my sword.’ Like the golden leaves lines in Arya’s half I think this part is symbolic of Gendry’s character, this is his introduction. In my opinon he has always been the protector. Yes they look out for each other and protect each other. But Gendry in particular has that worrying, caring nature. He knew she was a girl and a Stark but kept it a secret because he knew she could be in danger if he didn’t. He held her back from the Hound out of concern she’d be hurt. He tried to persuade her to stay in the crypts and he became concerned about her when he couldn’t find her at the feast. He was always at her side watching over her, having her back. But also I think it’s telling of what it is Gendry wants to provide her with. We know from when he left her to join the brotherhood he has always longed for a family and how he’s never really had a home, always moving from one place to another. So I think these lines also show that Gendry wants to give Arya those things, he wants to keep her safe and warm in the home they’ve built together. Also the line about guard you with my sword might not be so literal. It could be more metaphorical. The best way Gendry protects Arya isn’t by picking up a sword and wielding it himself (though we know he’s got some badass hammer wielding skills) but by making her a weapon of her own. Gendry guards her by providing her with her own sword/ weapon to fight with. Afterall it was his weapon that helped keep safe during the Battle of Winterfell. 

Now the lines ‘you shall be my lady love and I shall be your lord.’ As I said in the forest love bit that represented the time/ moment that Arya fell in love with Gendry. Well I think the same is true here. As I said we don’t really know how Gendry felt back then but we do know that after their reunion in Winterfell Gendry definitely fell in love with Arya. Also the words ‘Lady love’ are significant because we know that Gendry always saw Arya as a lady which is shown in his insistence in calling her m’lady. But Gendry’s idea of a lady is very different from Arya’s. He sees them as someone of higher rank than him. He also from what I can tell believes Lord’s and Lady’s to be of an equal level as oppose to Arya who sees a Lady being trapped by a Lord who would tell her what to do and restrict her.

 The part about ‘I shall be your lord’ is all to do with Gendry’s legitimization he has now become a lord and he wants to be her lord, her husband. He feels that he’s finally on a level with her and they are now equals and he’s finally good enough for her. 

My featherbed is deep and soft, and there I'll lay you down, I'll dress you all in yellow silk, and on your head a crown.

This is the most exciting verse because if we read the whole song backwards then this represents the end of their story. ‘My featherbed is deep and soft and there I’ll lay you down.’ So this to me could represent two things. One is Arya realising that she does want love and that safe place to call home. I feel like that has been Arya’s stroy its seems like a journey of revenge which on one level it is but its also a journey about returning/ finding a home. I can’t think of a better ending for Arya than her finding peace and having a safe place to land. That doesn’t mean she can’t continue to go on adventures but I think its important for her to have that place to come back to. So it could represent her and Gendry making a home and hearth together. Two, it could also be symbolic of their wedding night which is the more literal interpretation of it. 

So the next line ‘I’ll dress you all in yellow silk.’ I think the colour here is very significant as it is the colour of House Baratheon. But I don’t think it means that Gendry is going to be dressing Arya up in silk dresses. He knows her too well and so knows she would be very unhappy being forced to wear gowns and act like a traditional lady and I don’t think he’d want that for her either her wild wolf blood nature is what made him fall in love with her. I actually think this dress you in yellow silk is talking about the wedding cloak. Traditionally the wedding Cloak that is placed around the brides shoulders to bring her under the husband’s protection is made from the colours of the groom’s house which in Gendry’s case would be yellow. 

‘On your head a crown’. Now I have a theory that Gendry will end up on the throne by the end of the series. Why? Well because 1) He has the strongest claim. 2) He’s not the immediately obvious choice most people would think Jon or Dany or one of the other more prominent characters. 3) I’ve said before that the show is all about history repeating itself and circles. Well Gendry/ a Baratheon sitting on the Iron Throne after the defeat of a Targaryen who went mad (which it looks like thats the direction they are taking Dany in) brings us full circle back to the beginning of season 1 when it was Robert on the throne after defeating a Targaryen who had gone mad. Now if I’m right and Gendry ends up on the throne then he’ll need a Queen. So I think that’s what this line is representing. Them ruling together. 

So to sum it up if we read the song backwards it reads like a traditional romantic story. It intorduces as to the characters and tells us how they both fell in love with each other, then it has that heartbreaking rejection which seems like a huge set back and oh no will they ever be together again moment, before finally they find their way back to each other and have the happy ever after ending. 

Now as I said I’m not all that serious about this post, I’m not going to present it like I think this has some huge significance with in the show but it was fun to analyse and I do think its a bit of a happy coincidence. Anyway how are you guys all feeling about the next episode. Excited, Nervous, Terrified? All of the above?  

[alltoozelle]

They really did just disregard seven seasons of character development and disrespect GRRMs carefully crafted characterisation and character arcs in favour of Shock Value and Reinforcing Patriarchal Ideas and good ole fashioned Sexism huh

Let’s address Arya - the episode started off promising for her and tbh she’s the one they did the least dirty. She rejected Gendrys untimely and misspoken proposal in order to remain true to herself. Fantastic stuff Arya! Then she defended Jon’s decision to bend the knee - good on ya, glad someone sees the light - because family is important yadda yadda fair enough but then she abandons said family with no explanation in the next scene - a lil bit contradictory don’t ya say?? But at least she’s being true to her character by presumably heading to kill Cersei, which was always going to be a part of her character arc.

Sansa - they did her dirty firstly by the whole playing her off against daenarys trope like I’m pretty sure that trope is tired why are we being put through it??? She has her ideas disregarded by daenarys who, if they were being true to her character, is probably the only one who would actually see how smart she is and be trying to find a way for them to work together. Then they have her confronting Jon and instead of listening to him and keeping her word to him and keeping his secret and being an overall good sister they have her ignoring the fact that he’s glad he bent the knee, that he doesn’t want to be king, that he trusts daenarys, and betraying his trust by telling his secret and conspiring to put him on the throne (which he does not want) and probably killing the queen he is loyal to and the woman he loves. Throughout the series we see Sansa go from naive and innocent to smart and cunning - but she has always maintained that she doesn’t want to cross the line from smart to manipulative. She does not want to be like littlefinger who she killed for treachery. But here they are basically turning her into him. They really are showing that they think all smart powerful women are manipulative untrustworthy snakes who will tear each other down given the opportunity huh.

ADDITION - I forgot two very important things!! 1. They basically insinuated she’s glad she got raped and abused because it made her stronger!!! So many things wrong with this!!!

2. She says that Stark men don’t do well in the south and she wants to protect Jon so shouldnt she prefer it if he stayed at winterfell as warden of the north??? Where he will be at home with family and relatively safe from political manoeuvring??? Instead she conspires to make him king which is very risky because the unstable dany they have created would have reason to execute them all for treason if she found out and even if they are successful being king is highly dangerous!!! It just makes no sense to me!!! She wants to protect her family by...putting them in more danger??!

Brienne - a woman being mocked by a group of men she trusts for her (lack of) sexual experience how original!! Great writing!!! What a way to treat the first female knight after she was heroic in a battle!! Then having Jaime follow her and instead of apologising for being insensitive he keeps the jape going and she agrees to sleep with him anyway?? I get that they were always gonna end up in bed but like this??? It was very distasteful. And then they have her, the strongest woman in the whole show, vulnerable and begging, crying as he leaves her. Again I understand that he has to go confront Cersei and finish his redemption arc and he had to be mean to her to protect her - but why are they being true to his character arc but doing her such a disservice??? (The answer may shock you - starts with s)

Missandei - what can I say that hasn’t been said?? Killed off for pure shock value and to further their sexist dany is crazy plot

Honourable mention to the poor girls at the feast who’s mere purpose was to look dumb and silly and available - you deserve better. Every girl who’s played a prostitute or girl at a feast in this show deserves better. Women are not walking sex machines thanks.

Finally, Daenerys. I’m still in shock that they would do this to her. I actually think many other people have said what I want to say much better than I can so please find their posts on my blog I have reblogged them all.

[vaguely-gestures-to-the-void]

Hindsight: My thoughts on Loki (2021)

Spoilers below. Please correct me if I slip up. I am in no way shape or form educated on ANYTHING to do with the making of films, how to critique this stuff etc, this is all just my opinion. If I haven’t covered a scene, it’s probably because it’s already been covered much better than I can. This is my extended episode 1 review.

Episode 1: GLORIOUS PURPOSE

Pre-title scene

The scene titles looking like a train station combined with the scrolling through time is such a cool stylistic choice.

The music is familiar, but followed by an alternate shot of Loki as Cap. A different perspective of something known, how fitting. FYI, I’m going to mention music a lot.

Love how no one questions the Hulk terrifying people.

This is the last time Loki will hear Thor call his name, or speak to him. Oh darn, I made myself sad.

Marvel studios logo

The Marvel logo changing colours + Loki theme finally taking the centre stage. I love it.

The comments made on Loki soundtrack videos saying ‘I see that the Mandalorian soundtrack has become a genre’ are so accurate it hurts. Shout out to Ludwig btw, he deserves all the awards for his soundtracks.

My thoughts so far: This part is setting up the general shift in tone from what we’ve seen in past Marvel projects, even the other shows. It reaffirms the audience’s subconscious that whilst we are familiar with the characters, there’s new twists up ahead, subtle hints to oncoming mischief. Props to the entire team behind the series.

Gobi Desert Scene

As much as I liked the opening bug crawl, the following interactions look a bit CGId. I’m being picky, they really are gorgeous. It’s also difficult after having seen the Mandalorian, but that show really paid attention to scenery as it was an instrumental part of the story, whereas here it’s just one scene and all the others are stunning.

The parallels to Tony in the desert. Loki immediately rips off the muzzle (?).

I just watched the scene and yes, Tony rips off the mask immediately.

Also I think I would have definitely had a crush on young RDJ.

And Gwyneth Paltrow (GOOP LADY) if I didn’t know her now.

Props to Tom Hiddleston’s acting. Loki’s face when he sits up is just pure confusion but with the signature hint of indignation that I’d expect from his characterisation at this point.

The rock lmao.

THE MUSIC WHEN B-15 (MY QUEEN) APPEARS. HELL YEAH!

Also props to the supporting cast of minutemen, where does Marvel find these people? They’re so well choreographed, they all move perfectly and it’s a joy to watch.

Love the time doors honestly.

I couldn’t have been the only one who thought that the temp pads were Samsung phones for a sec right?

Lol is that unintentional foreshadowing about the TVA? Jk I’m just clowning.

Has anyone spoken about what the Temp pad showed?

My theory is that ‘Units’ refer to a predetermined rate of change [e.g. m/s] where one unit = one increment of change.

The steady rate of change here is interesting. I’ll talk about it more at the end of the next episode.

I love the music, just the slow ticking increasing in pace and the dramatic flares brought on by the strings (I think), simply divine. Natalie Holt got it spot on and props to Tom Hiddleston and literally everyone involved for understanding the importance of good music with this series. I’ll talk about this in depth in the next episode, just wanted to mention it when it first started that I noticed.

In retrospect, I can definitely retract my critique of the background in the scene. It holds up well now that I’ve rewatched it.

B-15 doesn’t get enough love. Shout out to Wunmi Mosaku, she’s a trooper and I’m here to hype her up.

Also y'all I just checked the cast list and ???? Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner and Tessa Thompson are on it?????? MARVEL TF IS THIS WHAT TOM MEANT BY EP 4 BEING WILD I-

Tom’s acting chops: The face moment. You know the one. It’s pretty incredible.

Theory from me: the reason that Loki doesn’t see the hit coming is because B15 was moving unnaturally fast.

It’s the immediate change in the music to reflect the audience’s reaction at the standard fight scene taking a strange turn for me lads.

B-15 doesn’t smile, which I think is in character for her.

She’s seen this shit wayyyy too many times.

We’re not even five minutes into the first ep and a) I’ve waffled this much, Gods, and b) the music has changed at least 3?? Times to reflect what’s happening. I love it.

My theory about resetting the timeline: the reset charges get rid of anything in the immediate vicinity of the branch, pretty much a mini-apocalypse of the timeline. If everything is erased, none of it matters. Does that make sense?

Taking away the Tesseract while yes, it serves a purpose with showing Loki the might of the TVA later on, also reflects how nitpicky the TVA are about their time-keeping. They do everything in a very orderly fashion, but as we see later, the outdated nature of things is very human.

The TVA - the elevator thing

Man I love the TVA’s look. Someone (and I’ve heard that Kate Herron was also very particular about the set design) went to extraordinary lengths with every single scene, not just this one, but the one before as well.

Heck I just want to appreciate how much of a visual feast this series is. Good on ‘em.

The shots changing angle is also very interesting. They switch it up between one-takes, close-ups of differing extremities and it just keeps the flow fast-paced, ya know?

Watching Loki run was hilarious.

“Sounds dumb.” - Casey, Null Time Zone.

This weird robot is what I think of when the TVA is mentioned. Advanced tech mimicking a retroistic 70s feel.

The cat’s adorable.

The clock. The cup. The placing of props. Impeccable.

The clock’s hands don’t move whilst they’re on screen.

The realisation on his face when he eyes the stack of papers.

Why is the wall so badly scratched???

I love that the signature is in character. I have a huge thing for attention to detail lmao.

Again, why are all of the walls so scratched? If they could talk, I’d presume it’s just a set design choice but it’s interesting that they did that.

Does anyone else want a TVA sweater vest?

Tickets

The opening zoom in on Loki combined with the consistent brown-orange colours of the set makes the room look uniform and encompassing. I love how the lights are always placed in a repetitive manner so rooms are given the illusion that they go on forever.

Lighting here creates depth, but whilst the lights form a ceiling, we can’t actually see how they’re suspended and I think that’s neat.

The posters. Yes.

This is the first time I noticed the different minutemen uniforms. This one’s half orange-red and black. Pretty cool imo.

Shout out to Tara Strong and the entire animation.

The butterfly was a nice hint to the butterfly effect, and the music is perfect as always.

The wooden walls in the background of this shot. How very 70s.

The reflection showing the guy getting pruned is pretty cool.

Again, another clock with no movement on the wall.

The first 11 minutes are up and we’ve made it to the title! If you’ve read this far, congrats.

1549 Aix-en-provence, France

Just speculating, we’re in a church with an initial high-angled nearly bird’s eye view and then a cut to one looking up at Mobius. I guess it means even if we think as viewers our perspective is omniscient, we’re not spared from the mystery in this series.

Who’s in the stained glass window?

I love how they tie in a detail as small as the gum. It just goes to show when you haven’t got much time, every character interaction is meaningful.

Props to Owen Wilson, he really sold Mobius to me.

Mirrors in a church showing the devil behind Mobius. Or on his side.

Time court 37

The time court 37 really reminds me of train stations.

The chairs remind me of pews. They sure are reverent of the Time keepers.

The lighting is a cool, bluish tinge for the first time I’ve noticed. Especially on Ravonna (MY LOVE!).

B-15 knows Loki’s clowning lmaooo.

Ravonna isn’t here for it either.

Ravonna’s nailpolish is a very nice shade of brown.

Theory: Resetting is ‘being brainwashed for the TVA’. Not very original, but it’s interesting that the TVA thinks that Loki would be useful as a worker, unlike the guy who got pruned earlier.

The TVA exterior is amazing. It also extends forever in all directions, even down.

Time Theatre 25

What is that elevator music??

“I thought you didn’t like to talk” Ragnarok, anyone?

Loki reading the ‘Time theatre’ sign whilst rambling. Gotta give it to him, he’s always aware of his surroundings.

The little TVA logo on Mobius’ shirt.

Shout out to whoever did the costuming. Personally, I liked the shirts with no collars, and the armour of the minutemen and Hunters came off to me as practical but not ignorant of the branding that the TVA likes.

Theory (bear with me): Once you’re a part of the TVA, you’re not collared anymore, though there is an appearance of that on the shirts.

Seriously tho, what are those shirts like? Mobius doesn’t have a collar.

Why do the ties just… end?

Neat details:

Holo projector 35.

The lights being reminiscent of skylights but still leaving the characters in the dark. “The sun will shine on us again, brother.” Not yet.

The reflection of the projector in the table/on the ground.

Loki: *turns away.*

Mobius: *sips Josta.*

Seriously, the lighting is great. Loki moving in and out of the shadows? Great way to show his mistrust/ unease of the situation.

The illusion speech is the last time we really hear 2012 Loki in my eyes, mainly because Mobius really gets into the cracks of who Loki is and then there’s action.

The ‘I was- I am” Freudian slip is perfection.

Side note the music’s changed yet again. It’s definitely setting up the more mournful tones for seeing his mother’s death.

I find it interesting that the door is partially in the shadows.

Doors are symbols of opportunities, barriers and both death and birth from what I remember of high school English.

From what I know in interrogations the person being interrogated is allowed to sit with their back to a door. Initially, both Loki and Mobius are sideways, equidistant from the door. When Loki wants to run, he edges closer to the door, even if it is just to make a point. Excellent blocking in my eyes.

Oh man, Mobius’ little gestures.

“Always so perceptive about everyone but yourself.” I really don’t have to talk about the significance of that line, do I?

Frigga being stabbed in the back. Little solace to a dead man? Ouch. That hurt me too.

Loki’s wounds heal unnaturally fast, because he’s no mortal.

Mobius really drives home the last point. Who says ‘like you did your mother” ??? Owen sold how Mobius can influence Loki's mind.

The ‘best versions of themselves' line and showing Thor must have hit Loki hard. He spent two movies trying to prove who he is, measuring himself against Thor. And then he sees them both working together and being equals.

Loki’s escape

Wunmi and Owen’s line delivery is unforced and charged, completely in character.

Mobius looking under the table is hilarious to me.

The music.

The tidy cubicle = healthy timeline is a bit contradictory because they’re supposedly in the null time zone but okay.

Is no one going to mention the taxidermy ferret?

Loki just had an identity crisis. His ‘gut you like a fish’ seems in character.

The dude’s really questioning everything he knows lmao.

Casey’s ‘what’s a fish’ was really our first hint that not everything is what it seems to be at the TVA.

It amuses me that Loki’s on his knees when he gets the Tesseract.

I’m sure someone’s pointed it out already, but given that Loki takes back the Time Twister, it’s possible he could have stolen an Infinity stone.

Again, point’s already been made but Loki seeing the Infinity stones is what sells the power of the TVA.

Please, the rest of the office not giving a damn when one dude’s having some drama is hilariously on point. They really said ‘not my problem’.

Loki’s future

The screen on the table showing what he’s rewinding as it happens.

Btw if you pause any moment during that, you’ll see a scene.

A quick note on Loki’s characterisation:

He’s been through a lot in a very short period of time, quite literally finding out that his actions don’t have any consequences. He’s lost all autonomy, especially as a god who probably believed he was not as restrained as mortals. More on this in later Eps.

I really liked Ragnarok because it showed Loki and Thor’s maturity; they had to step out of legacies that were thousands of years old and come to terms with a universe that was much bigger than them. It also fleshed out their relationship as brothers, but not at the expense of who they were. Loki still is a schemer, and he talks more because he has less to hide in my eyes. He’s no longer just a villain, and that can’t be shown by just actions, especially in his own tv show.

Loki’s little laugh when Thor talks about giving him a hug. Man that was sad.

What shouldn’t be forgotten is that Loki doesn’t know how it ends. He doesn’t know whether Thanos gets defeated. For all he knows, he died in vain and left behind a brother with no family.

The collar says DANGER.

This is the scene that really nails it home to Loki that his purpose in life was to cause pain. He found out his glorious purpose in that timeline, he’s conflicted as Sylvie points out in Ep 3.

When Loki talks to Mobius, they’re both in medium shots. They’re on the same page.

Loki’s delivery has changed when talking about the 'illusion' but Mobius hasn’t. That may change in the later episodes.

1858 Salina, Oklahoma

Others have covered this better.

Sylvie’s theme is similar to Loki’s but not identical.

It’s got sinister tones which change throughout the series.

I love how you can see the images of the minutemen’s past and future as they walk through a time door, they literally step through time.

I’ve got a whole other post on the end credits scenes. Cheers if you read this all lads.

Ep 1 review

All in all, this was a scene-setting episode. One of my friends texted me and said ‘Loki really went through ten years worth of character development in minutes’ and I think that sums it up pretty well. It’s a great set up, but the next episode is where the plot begins to progress. Really enjoyed it. There’s not too much that was aided by what we know from ep 3 besides Casey’s fish from what I caught.

See y'all next time, if there is anyone reading this. Look after yourselves!

[coolmiddlename]

what ive learnt from this streaming... and especially the timegap since i last took an interest in this show (coming up to 3 years)..  its given me a new perspective on adventure time’s greatest strengths and weaknesses

the shows a visual feast for the senses. its imagination-bending world allows for literally anything to happen. the dialogue is hilarious and, most significantly, everything feels alive. the characters dont stop doing stuff when theyre offscreen, theyre all aging and going on wacky adventures of their own. while other shows like SU hint to this  they lack the same potential for just how much has changed that AT has, cos SU’s world just isn’t as wild. it’s more grounded.

the interactions the chars have are a treat. i think my favourite character dynamic is, quite easily, finn and jake themselves. their relationship is the show’s heart and it remains with us even across finn’s darkest times. but you also get surprising relations. ice king and everyone, lsp and marceline, pb struggling to teach her freespirited grandson while jake also neglects to relate to his own kids.

and the way adventure time’s depth sort of balloons out over time... yep, it DEFINITELY had traces of this in season 1, but its amazing to see justhow much has changed. i really doubt any show on air has gone through an evolution as stark yet natural as adventure time’s. 

then we come to its flaws, which are highlighted in later seasons. it can often feel that adventure time fails to take itself seriously in critical moments, and takes itself too seriously in moments where it shouldnt.  what i found was season 5 and 6 were by far the most boring and frustrating to rewatch. i thought it was going to be season 2, but as it turned out i’d forgiven season 2 for its sins long ago. with season 5 and 6 i was begining to make sense of different flaws.

AT season 5 and 6 felt off because the characters were a lot darker than before. we have a newly characterised princess bubblegum who gets up to some really dark stuff, and watching the whole season gives the perspective that its not just moral ambiguity at play, its real dickishness. this is somewhat entertaining though. i remember being engaged back durig this time period whe we were finding out her mysteries. as a whole its a lot less sympathetic than it felt at the time... yet it still serves a grander purpose.

FINN THE HUMAN, however, was written AWFULLY in these two seasons. i dont know how else to describe it. either he was getting obsessed w girls in a super creepy way that was uncomfortable to watch, or he was saying/doing something so philosophically up its own ass that i got bored out of my mind. and this is when the show would take itself too seriously - characters would be used as mouthpieces for writers’ philosophy without there being any believable emotional expression or investment from the character themselves. 

and emotion, or lack thereof, even follows the show into early season  7. theres many parts of Stakes that could have been drawn way more expressive like the brilliant Varmints. checkmate is a wonderful episode but the first couple of minutes look so... dull, like it could have looked so much better and the voice actors were struggling to make up for it.

most of these complaints die off in later seasons, where a certain writer’s influence is less obvious. i think it would be absolutely inaccurate to describe season 8 as having the same emotional expression issues as the seasons preceeding it; everything feels far more natural and nuanced. it’s a rollercoaster! its almost got some of the nostalgia from the early scenes coated in the depth of later on. the season finale is the height of season 8′s tension; we get a scene that has been building up since, perhaps, season 5.

i really hope season 9 manages to deliver the same emotional weight that many episodes in season 8 did. if so, adventure time might just have one of the greatest sendoffs ever.

[aquaburst3]

After rewatching some of Defender of the Universe in a DOTU review, I noticed that the beginning episodes are pretty damn close to what happens in VLD.

Okay; in the first couple episodes of DOTU, after in the intro stuff, go like this...

Yurak (Sendak) goes to planet Arus to wreck shit, sending a Robeast to fight the paladins

The paladins try to fight it off, but struggle to do so 

They somehow are able defeat that Robeast thanks to the castle being able to fly now

After this victory, they have a feast and Yurak comes back again

The people try to defend themselves, but Voltron comes in and saves the day

This is what goes down in VLD...

Haggar sends in  a Robeast while everyone is distracted

Shiro and Pidge rush back to where everyone else is

They try to fend off the Robeast, but fail to do so

Shiro has a flashback of the arena, remembering that he defeated this foe before. They use that same technique and win

Later, the team have a feast with the Arusians. While at said feast, Lance feels homesick with Coran comforting him and Allura suspects that Pidge is a girl

Sendak and his cronies wreck shit, making Lance go into a coma in the process

Coran and Hunk leave to acquire a new crystal, Keith and Allura rush to the Arusian village as it is being attacked by the Galra while Shiro and Pidge remain at the castle with Lance.

Shiro fights off Sendak, but Sendak over powers him and steals the crystal.

Pidge, who is in the castle, defeats one of the cronies and kills him  (As a side note, it’s kinda disturbing to think that the paladins have a body count starting in s1)

Hunk and Coran are still on the Bulmeria, trying to find the crystal. They find it and escape, Hunk promising Shay that the rest of the team will come and save them

The space mice are able to take down the particle barrier, allowing Allura and Keith to enter the Castle and help Pidge against Sendak. With Lance in recovery and Sendak imprisoned, Pidge decides to remain on the team.

The team welcomes Lance back before Pidge reveals that she is a girl and they head off to the Bulmeria like Hunk promised

While sure, there are a lot more added into VLD, the bare bones concept between these two are very similar. 

It actually really shows the differences in storytelling and improvement between the two versions. 

Go Lion/DOTU seems to be more formulaic and more Monster of the Week, relaying on the giant robot to come and rescue them a lot more. Whereas in VLD, there is a lot more moments focused on character development and developing the over all storyline, using more serialised storytelling.

Also, the characterisation seems far more stronger in VLD than in DOTU or Go Lion to me.

If I had to guess where we are in the DOTU timeline, we are somewhere around episode 14 -- Lotor’s introduction. We are kinda around episode 6 as well, considering that is when Shiro dies/goes to the “hospital planet”, but considering the Haggar vs Shiro fight is present in the s1 finale...albeit a lot better animated and corographed in VLD, I’d say we are more around episode 14. 

[psi-psina]

i am up to a feast for crows on my reread now and to start with, a feast for crows is so fucking good i can’t Believe this and also frankly i love lady brienne so much i think i’m gonna DIE i have missed her sooo much and i’m so BITTER about what a BRUTISH INJUSTICE her show counterpart is!! 😞 i mean...i mean i am bitter about what a brutish injustice the entire wretched show is but some of these just sting that little bit more than others! i rewatched series 2, 3 and 4 while rereading bc i’m a moron and i am gobsmacked by just how bad it is TBH (it’s been YEARS since i watched them...ok) i mean i knew S2 was bad the first time i watched it but i hadn’t read the books in at least a year by the time S2 aired and was prepared to be a lot more forgiving back then, and then i let myself think that series three was a bit of an improvement despite having noticeably lower low points (wrong. incorrect. utter foolishness.) but it isn’t it’s atrocious lmao. i mean aside from the fact of their utter disinterest in characterisation and themes bc they prefer to see their actors as toys they get to play with along with a healthy level of hubris and a boatload of vile misogyny, the other BIG reason everything sucks so much is because the way they structured each season around delivering a Big Shock or Big Battle in episode 9. having jaime and brienne arrive back in KL at the end of S3 was a major fuck up that was frankly the herald of doom for both their character arcs. jaime and brienne should have ended S3 with jaime turning back and rescuing her from harrenhal because HELLO that is the first of the TWO MAJOR TURNING POINTS for jaime. Omitting the fist of the first men to instead just show that stupid lumbering horde and cartoonish pirates-of-the-carribean-ass Other at the end of S2 only to omit the slaughter and the misery and suffering of the trek back to crasters entirely was just...idek man, utter stupidity and bad decision making. and straight up, the red wedding should have been in S4. forgetting for a moment the painfully stupid robb-talisa storyline, S3 should have ended on a hopeful and melancholy note, with robb and catelyn turning north and heading to the twins on the way back to reclaim their home as they are in the books (NOT THIS BULLSHIT ABOUT GOING TO WAR ON CASTERLY ROCK???WHY WOULD..... god i hate the character they turned robb into 😞) as arya heads to the twins as well now as sandor’s captive, maybe, finally, to be reunited with her family and go home with them, as jon breaks away from the free folk and heads back home to castle black mere feet away from bran who see’s his brother as summer but can’t go to him as a boy as jaime heads home to kings landing with brienne beside him GOD can you imagine jaime’s final line of dialogue in S3 being “I dreamed of you” as dany moves further AWAY from her (ancestral) home as she continues her campaign in slavers bay just alksjdnlf .. .. .. .so much....the red wedding should have taken place in S4 ep2 and the purple wedding in S4 ep4 GODDDD can you imagine how tight a properly structured actual adaptation of a storm of swords could be....im gagging... and like i fully understand that structurally speaking a storm of swords would be a FAR greater challenge to adapt than even a clash of kings and they FLOUNDERED there, but this time they gave themselves 20 (TWENTY!!) episodes to do it in and they literally DIDN’T EVEN TRY! they’re literally just using the major plot points of each book as a prop to fill in with all their own bullshit!! disgusting.

[talaballet]

Mary Barnes and The Carnival

Approaching her narrative as an example of the medieval carnival genre enabled me to gain a deeper understanding of how Barnes embraced her experiences. By doing so she was able to transcend social and medical definitions and frameworks of her experiences and engage with new possibilities for being.  

The carnival genre identified by Bakhtin culminates in the 16th-century novels of Rabelais. The Life of Gargantua and Pantagruel tells the amusing, satirical and crude story of the adventures of a giant, grotesque father and son (Bakhtin, 1984a). The carnival is characterised by: I    Eccentricity, whereby the carnival permits and encourages the sensuous latent sides of human nature to be expressed. I    Profanities, the debasing acts of the carnival seen in its obscenities, blasphemies and parodies (Bakhtin, 1984b). I    The suspension of hierarchies and associated social etiquette, so those who were previously separated by such barriers can enter into familiar contact in the carnival arena and new forms of relationship can be negotiated. I    A dispersion of this familiarisation, so that everything is brought together – high and low, sacred and profane, wise and stupid – through ridicule, mockery and satire. At the heart of this orgy of physical excess, was a process of rebirth or renewal for the people. What follows in this article is an examination of Barnes’s narrative through these elements, exploring first the eccentricities and profanities within the text and, second, the suspension and inversion of hierarchies.  

Regarding the carnival’s eccentricities and profanities, an essential feature of the grotesque body is its ability to outgrow itself, seen in the protuberances (nose, ears, breasts, phallus) and the orifices. Bakhtin argues that it is through the orifices that the body transgresses its boundaries, conceiving new bodies, which are, for Barnes, faeces. These are a product of her body, but also a body in their own right, as she sculpts and makes a shrine out of figures of faeces, describing these as her ‘babies’. To self and others, Barnes embodies her madness and therapy  through the grotesque.  

‘One evening when Joe [Berke] was out with David [Cooper], I put shits from my pot all over myself and in my hair. When Joe came I was frightened to touch him because of my shits. He went up on the roof. I followed him. Joe was not afraid. He bathed me. I dreamt of being in a big sink with all my shits. It was being cleaned off me.’ (Barnes & Berke, 1971/2002, p.164) Berke’s description of this encounter is a page long and refutes Barnes’s account of the incident. He refers to it as the ultimate test of his love: ‘Her account of the incident amuses me because of her blind confidence that her shit could not put me off. I can assure you the reverse was true’ (Barnes & Berke, 1971/2002, p.249). For Berke, this episode almost ended their relationship, such was his abhorrence and anger: ‘I stalked away as fast as I could. Fortunately she didn’t try to follow me. I would have belted her’ (Barnes & Berke, 1971/2002, p.249).  

A second feature of the grotesque in Rabelais is that the body is not just characterised by its function, but also by its size. The grotesque is a defecating, feasting, devouring, expelling giant, and often a fractured body with dismembered parts that have a life of their own. Barnes epitomises the grotesque body in not only painting her own body in faeces, but producing paintings of dismembered body parts in faeces. As Barnes describes, these faecal paintings were not private, but part of the carnivalesque public space that was Kingsley Hall. Berke describes her painting of a gigantic pair of breasts painted in excrement: 

Ah yes, but the breasts she scrawled, dabbed, smeared, and splattered throughout Kingsley Hall were not ordinary breasts. They were black and made of shit, so smelly that people gasped upon entering the room…. These breasts so omnipresently hung about her home were not good and nourishing, they were bad and poisonous. They rode the walls like storm-tossed waves across a demonic sea. They proclaimed the orgy of hate and destruction which lay lightly concealed beneath the pale skin of baby Mary. (Barnes & Berke, 1971/2002, p.223–4) Berke captures well the indulgent nature of this act: it was an ‘orgy’ where the carnivalesque profanities, debasement and obscenities are revelled in. For Barnes, as for Rabelais, excrement is ‘gay matter’ (Bakhtin, 1984a, p.335), a bodily product related to regeneration and renewal, where the orifices mark old and new life, death and rebirth, in a cyclical process.  

However, carnival time does not last for ever. It is limited, a bounded temporal space when people can throw off the social shackles and rail against authority. Once the carnival is over, the hierarchical structure returns, so that the carnival exists to simultaneously subvert and reinstate these social hierarchies.

https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-25/edition-9/looking-back-carnival-kingsley-hall

[vrheadsets]

Capcom Release Part 2 of The Making of Resident Evil 7 Videos

In the second part of Capcom’s behind-the-scenes series of short films about the making of Resident Evil 7, the creators discuss the making of the ‘dinner’ scene and the meaning behind the setting and some of the names.

The second part of The Making of Resident Evil 7 is called ‘Welcome to the Family’ and goes into more details about the creation of the videogame antagonists. The creators reveal that the game was set in Louisiana in order to capture a ‘Southern Gothic’ feel. The development team did some searching on Google Earth in order to find a place that matched the tone they were aiming for. Members of the capture team even flew out to a location that had been found by one of the team in order to take photo scans of an abandoned Louisiana house to capture the texture and feel of the buildings.

The character of Jack was known during early development as ‘Daddy’, who was originally characterised as being a somewhat two-dimensional monstrous killer, but as his character was fleshed out, aspects of him being a father figure, as well as his determined pursuit of the player character came into play, and the writers hit upon using The Shining as inspiration, which is why the character became known as Jack, after both the character of Jack Torrence, and Jack Nicholson, the actor who played him.

The infamous ‘dinner’ scene where the Baker family sit around a horrifying feast, was redone completely, after the director thought it needed to be more disturbing. The effectiveness of the scene is that it truly allows the player to perceive the horror of the family’s insanity. Rather brilliantly, the development team actually acted out the entirety of that scene in a brightly-lit conference room to use as a pre-visualisation, complete with little drawings of cockroaches on bits of paper.

Further episodes of The Making of Resident Evil 7 biohazard will be released on a weekly basis. You can watch Part Two: Welcome to the Family below. Part one of the series can be found here.

VRFocus will bring you further updates on Resident Evil 7 and other VR videogames as they come in.

from VRFocus http://ift.tt/2o80oRl

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Family feuds, war and bloodshed Englands medieval Game of Thrones

Research shows how an 800-year-old conflict known as the Anarchy still marks Englands landscape

Englands first civil war raged for almost 20 years and outdid Game of Thrones for violence and treachery. Indeed, the 12th-century conflict was so intense it changed the landscape of the nation for decades, according to newly published archaeological research.

Fortified villages and churches appeared across the country. Rivals to the kings mints made coins in different territories. And a network of castles to hold back rebels was constructed.

Most people would think of medieval warfare in terms of large-scale pitched battles, but our study shows the conflict was instead characterised by devastation of the landscape and by siege warfare, said Professor Oliver Creighton, of Exeter University, leader of the research project. These sieges often resembled a prolonged standoff between the two sides, rather than close combat. Some have left traces in the landscape that we can see even though more than 800 years have passed.

The violence of the time and its impact on the landscape is also bleakly suggestive of George RR Martins books, which HBO turned into the hit TV series Game of Thrones. However, the fictional series and Englands first civil war known to some historians as the Anarchy have even closer parallels, it transpires.

The war erupted after the death of King Henry I, the son of William the Conqueror, on 1 December 1135. Henrys daughter Matilda claimed the throne but her cousin, Stephen of Blois, reacted first and had himself crowned king of England at Westminster Abbey on 22 December. In response, Matilda launched a campaign, supported by her half-brother, Robert of Gloucester, and her uncle, King David I of Scotland, to win back the throne.

Within a short time, the English countryside had been militarised as the two sides and their allies fought battles that ranged across England. Churches were fortified Hereford cathedral even had catapults placed on its tower. Landowners buried hoards of coins to save them from looters, while many areas of the country were laid waste.

The ruins of Wallingford Castle, one of the most besieged places in England during the first civil war. Photograph: Alamy

The Isle of Ely in Cambridgeshire was transformed into a desert, according to contemporary chroniclers, while Wallingford, on the Thames, became one of the most besieged places in the nation. During the 19-year war, its inhabitants were forced to fight off three sieges.

The conflict ravaged the landscape. It was a time of violent upheaval. It was a vicious, prolonged war, said Creighton, whose book of his teams archaeological research, The Anarchy: War and Status in 12th-Century Landscapes of Conflict co-written with Duncan Wright, also of Exeter University has just been published by Liverpool University Press.

If that sounds familiar to Game of Thrones fans, it should. The conflict that enveloped England looks very close to the battles that engulfed Westeros and Essos in the TV series. For good measure, one of the latters key plot lines closely mirrors the origins of the Anarchy. Matilda was the kings daughter but was not accepted by some nobles, because she was a woman, and her throne was subsequently usurped by her male cousin. So Matilda fought to get it back.

Likewise, in Game of Thrones, Yara Greyjoy daughter of King Balon Greyjoy claims the Salt Throne of the Iron Islands when her father dies. However, as a woman she is deemed unacceptable to some and the throne is seized, in this case by her uncle, Euron. Yara then launches her campaign to get back the throne through various alliances with others key characters in the series. (At the end of the most recent episode of Game of Thrones, which was screened last year, Yaras bid to gain the crown of the Iron Islands remains unresolved.)

Matilda, daughter of King Henry I. Photograph: Alamy

In fact, George RR Martin has hinted that medieval England may have been very much on his mind when he was writing his epic fantasy novels. In another key episode of Game of Thrones, young King Joffrey Baratheon, lord of the seven kingdoms, dies after choking at a feast. (In fact, he has been poisoned.) But as several fan websites have pointed out, this incident mirrors events during Stephens troubled reign. In 1153, the kings only son Eustace died and it is said this occurred at a feast, and possibly from choking or poisoning. Crucially, his death led to the resolution of the conflict. An agreement was reached with the grieving Stephen that he could remain as king, but that Matildas son Henry would inherit the throne when he died.

At this point, the story of the Anarchy diverges sharply from the carnage depicted in Game of Thrones. When Henry inherited the throne in 1154, he began a process of demilitarising the countryside, rebuilding the machinery of government and knocking down the castles that had been built across the nation during Stephens reign. Peace was restored an unlikely outcome for Game of Thrones, whenever its final episode is written and filmed.

Civil wars impact on the landscape ofEngland during the Anarchy is nevertheless intriguing and has been uncovered through extensive efforts by Creighton and his colleagues. Remains at a range of carefully selected sites, including castles and settlements, were studied while existing archaeological finds, including coins and weaponry, were re-analysed. In addition, state-of-the-art survey techniques were used alongside the examination of historic maps and documents.

Its the next step in books: George RR Martin explains Game of Thrones collaboration with Apple

We wanted to open up new perspectives on this darkly fascinating period by interpreting the material evidence artefacts, sites and landscapes as well as studying documents, said Creighton.

Our research shows that for the aristocracy this was a period of image-making, as well as warmongering, when amid the turmoil lords stamped their mark on the English landscape.

Additional research by Sarah Mitchell

Read more: http://bit.ly/2kI4WeT

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