#I love thunder brothers analysis stuff like this!

[lolli-popples]

So, I absolutely love "No Longer You" from Epic, and there are some things I've realized about the lyrics on the release of the recent sagas, so I wanna do a little analysis about what all of the prophecy prediction lyrics are about.

Okay so first line; "I see a song of past romance" This is specifically referring to "Suffering". The siren featured is singing and pretending to Penelope. She's literally singing a song of past romance (since she's using his memories to create the image of Penelope, hence "past") "I see the sacrifice of man." You could read this as a reference to Odysseus becoming a monster, sacrificing his humanity, but it's also definitely about what happened with Scylla. "I see portrayals of betrayal and a brother's final stand," this about is the mutiny, I'm assuming the betrayal is the betrayal on both sides.

So, with those 3 lines, we have a direct retelling of the Thunder Saga, in order! I knew when I first listened to the song that the "brother's final stand" thing was the mutiny, but relistening, it's *incredibly* accurate to what happened. Next is more unclear: "I see you on the brink of death, I see you draw your final breath" Now, you could reason that this is Odysseus nearly dying at the end of the Thunder saga, but so far, the lines have been VERY specific, so I feel like "I see you draw your final breath" might be something more specific that hasn't happened yet. If that's the case "On the brink of death" could very well be when Odysseus is on the Cliff in "Love in Paradise".

"I see a man who gets to make it home alive, but it's no longer you" This one is pretty obvious even before the recent saga releases, with the themes of the musical the point is clearly that Odysseus will make it home, but he'll be so changed he'll no longer be the person her currently is.

Now the middle verse!

"I see your palace covered in red, faces of men who had long believed you're dead," This is pretty clearly about Odyseuss getting home and killing all the suitors. His palace is red with their blood, and they *long* believed him dead, but now they see he isn't. I think most people know this one.

"I see your wife with a man who is haunting, a man with a trail of bodies," Now when I first listened to this, I thought this was referring to Antinous. But what I realized, and why I wanted to go through all the lines of this song again, is that it's not. It's Odysseus! He killed the suitors, and in general, has a trail of bodies from all the stuff on his journey, and this is line, that makes Odysseus so upset, is about him seeing his wife again!

So yeah! Tiresias is truthful, he is the prophet with the answers you seek. He's 100% correct in all his predictions, even tells them in order! And when Odysseus complains about coming all this way for nothing, he even tells him he's gonna see his wife again!

Unfortunately, his wording is absolutely terrible XD

[iam-groot]

First off, I wanna start this by saying:

1. Go listen to EPIC. It's great. One might even say it's epic (*wink wink* *nudge nudge*)

2. Go watch Anniflamma's God Games animatic (any EPIC animatic, really. they're all so good)

ANYWAYS- ONTO MY FIRST OFFICIAL LAZY-ISH ANIMATIC ANALYSIS

Putting stuff under the cut just for my own sanity

Going through all the screenshots I took, gonna need more than one part. But welcome to part one!

Reminder: This is NOT a song analysis. Think of it more as art appreciation

1. Athena's Gorgon Sheild.

Look at how she puts that thing away flawless. Makes it feel like she is not there to fight. Not if she doesn't need to. She just wants to talk

2. AND THEN ALONG CAME ZEUS (this joke will be continued in another part. prepare yourselves)

Him forming in the clouds was so cool. I did not see that shit coming. Idk. I just really thought it was neat

3. THUNDER BRINGER REFERENCE?

When I saw this in the WIP, I couldn't stop thinking about the Thunder Bringer WIP for Zeus' first verse and like- ??? Hhhhh- Odysseus is a toy this man (god) and a dumb one at that. Why does Athena want his freedom so bad?

4. HEFFUF

I just wanted to appreciate his design. He's my favorite god. Has been for years. Everything about his design makes me feel good. The prosthetic. The chub. The HAIR (on his head AND his body). He's just my favorite. And I love him

5. Aphrodite Level

I wanted to add this bit because this sequence made it look like Athena had mentally prepare herself to deal with Aphrodite. She's just like: "Alright. Here we go with this bitch."

6. Respectfully- RESPECTFULLY

She is so pretty. Naked Aphrodite, my beloved. IN A RESPECTFUL WAY! ARES, BACK UP!

7. Speaking of Ares

Me when my brother asks for anything when I just sat down and relaxed

8. A couple that gets scared together, stays together ❤️

9. Snake-bird Athena my beloved

She's so intimidating. So powerful. Anger slipping out as snakes. Her feathers ruffling up. Love it. No notes

[cooloddball]

JIB9 (JIBCON 2018) ANALYSIS PART 2

Go read part 1 of jib9 analysis if you haven’t read it already.

Continuing from where we left off...

Misha says no, he doesn’t think that Cas feels like part of the family and Jensen smirks and looks down while Jared smiles

Jensen helps Misha along with his answer 

Jensen defends Sam and Dean after Misha says they don’t show emotion saying things like “I love you so much”

Jens: “There are a few scenes where you know,”

Jared: “Didn’t you see the one with the whole if we die we will do that together too?”

Jens: “Yeah that was emotional”

This is getting serious people. Remember this is season 13 they are talking about.

Jens keeps going on “you know there was embracing, and then there was a lot-I mean…” This whole time Jensen is looking at Misha

Misha is like “All I’m saying…”

And Jensen cuts Misha  off and says, “Did you miss that?”

Look at Jared’s face here though. He’s like are you guys having a lovers’ quarrel? Am I missing something?

Misha tries to talk again but Jensen is adamant, unrelenting to give up on that there was an emotional scene between Dean and Cas. 13x05???  “Were you not there?”

Misha being who he is and not backing down either he says, “NO” rather defiantly. 

Jared’s face here though. He stopped talking and is watching these two lovers go at it. (No, not the sexy kind)

Jensen doesn’t look too thrilled about what Misha said. Jared laughs Jensen is basically done at this point. Look at his face.

Misha continues “That was Castiel”

And Jensen just looks appalled, he raises his eyebrows looks down at his hands [0.43 insert Jensen’s face atm] and since Misha is looking at him and he sees that Jensen is unhappy he adds “I’m very method.”

Jensen goes to say something but stops himself, Jared senses the tension, Misha is still looking at Jensen and Jensen hasn’t looked at Misha since he asked him “were you not there?”

IDK what is going on here but it fees like more than just about Dean and Cas and more like it’s about Jensen and Misha. I mean Jared and Misha are having fun with it and Jensen just seems adamant to prove they care A LOT about Cas which is weird considering the fact that the moment Misha was asked that question Jensen agreed with Jared that they are not as pleased that Cas was back (this was a joke) . So what has changed since then? Only a few seconds have passed.

Jensen presses on, “I mean was Cas there? I know he was there physically but was he there emotionally? Because it doesn’t sound like it.”

The way Misha is holding his microphone he looks scared. Jensen can’t take his eyes off Misha.

Misha says, “see this is what I’m talking about” I think he realizes Jensen is getting too emotional and personal on stage and he decides to guide the conversation to the funny side.

Jensen laughs .

Misha says “ I don’t think he [Cas] lets himself feel worthy or wanted” and Jensen keeps looking at a fixed spot on the floor and I don’t know what’s so interesting there. Jared says “smart” in reference to Misha’s statement and Jensen nods.

Jared tries to make fun but Misha is not having it, he [Misha]  looks at an imaginary watch and says  “That said-uh…that said I think this season he’s felt more part of the team and the family…probably *looks at Jensen* more than ever before” Now I talked about that moment here but I have to reiterate, something is off here tbh. I don’t know what was going on with Jensen but something was definitely off.

I have been thinking about what the causation of Jensen’ s behaviour could be and I have come to a very weird and maybe kind of controversial conclusion, IDK. But  here’s what I think. Maybe Misha finally told Jensen that he didn’t feel like he was part of the family because of the way they treated him and talked shit about him at J2 panels? Like how he pretended to gag when he saw Misha on screen during the jib9 j2 panel the previous day. Or the extreme pranks Jared played on him and Jensen just stood aside? The way some  j2 fans send hate to him and that it gets to him. Maybe he finally opened up. Because if that is the case then,  Jensen blamed himself for making Misha feel like that when he didn’t have any intention to? I hope I’m making sense. Or maybe it could be something else entirely but I feel like since 2017 Jensen had stopped going along with Jared’s attempts to make fun of Misha at their panes. So maybe this was him feeling bad that he ever played a part in that??? Okay my head hurts I have to move on. 

Since that moment Jensen doesn’t look okay, even when Mishalecki are bantering with the next fan, Jensen just seems sad? Sad is not the right word but he seems kind of upset 

So the fan makes a small mistake in what she’s asking and Misha laughs  then Jensen turns to look at him for a brief second, it’s literally for a second and Misha looks at him with his big blue eyes but Jensen looks away rather quickly. I think they can both feel the weight of the previous answer Misha gave simmering beneath the surface but they can’t talk about it atm. 

Now Jared says something rather weird to me, “A man who goes to sleep with an itchy butt wakes up with a smelly hand.”   (I know it’s a saying or whatever but it’s just a strange thing to say or maybe it’s just me) Jensen is nodding along to that but Misha doesn’t look amused. I think it’s an interesting thing to say when two of your best friends who play with each other’s butts are seated on stage with you. I’m not sorry I said that because it had to be said.

For a literal microsecond, Misha looks at Jensen but Jensen is looking at a fixed spot on the floor as has become norm in the last 2 minutes. Mish suppresses a smile because he knows Jensen still feels bad about earlier.

Jared says that’s why he thinks the brother’s and Cas have to die in order for the show to end and Jensen’s face is just stoic. Dude wtf?? 

Jensen joins in the banter and makes a joke about a man who stands on a toilet while high on pot he’s not crazy he’s just high? J2 make another joke about a man going backwards to Bangkok or something. Misha manages to laugh at those jokes.

Jared asks Misha  if he has anything to add and Jensen looks at Misha smiling look at the way he’s looking at Misha. It’s like he wants to stuff him in his pocket and take him home with him.

Jensen is laughing so hard now because Misha says that the only sayings that come to mind are the only ones he doesn’t want to say.

They try to pronounce the German word and it’s hilarious AF.

So Jared makes a joke of a sound that the fan is helping them pronounce and Jensen is just done. Completely done because he looks away and scratches his beard like he wants to be anywhere but there. JFC What is going on? He was happy again.

OMG husbands whispering at each other while Jared is engaged with a fan. Gossipy Jensen. Also I’m glad whatever tension was there after the Cas question is finally gone and they are back on track again.

They are in there own little world because IDK what Misha whispered to Jensen but Jensen is unicorn laughing. Aww J

 “We just said some really bad shit” I like it when Jensen curses. Now I want to know what they said because when Misha whispers it to Jared, he laughs really hard as well. Oh to be a tiny ant crawling around, listening to their whispered secrets. A girl can dream am I right?

7.33 Jared asks the fan what her “that German/Austrian word” was that morning and I am inclined to think whatever the husbands were whispering to each other had something to do with a sex-related orifice because of the way Jensen reacts.

The fan puts Jared in his place. Look at Jensen’s reaction.

He’s like you go girl.

Jensen wants to whisper something to Misha so bad but he stops himself.

Okay so Jensen says he did bicycle touring and he did take part in some of the quests. Is he talking about GISHWES because he never can pronounce that word. LOL.

So Jared interrupts Jensen starts telling his story and Jensen just shuts down just look at his face the entire time Jared is telling it.

Misha and Jared are talking about how it’s so hot on stage and Jensen is just miming to the fans how it’s not hot. I love when he does that. Naughty boy.

Misha moans and he and Jared just rush off to point the fan in their direction while Jensen just stands over the fan on his side of the stage and cools his balls off.

OMG!!!! Misha is doing the mating dance while making fiery eye contact with Jensen and sips from the bottle. Jensen heeds his husband’s call to mate and walks briskly in long manly steps to wards him and he takes the drink off his hand while looking at him like he wants to eat him [it’s called a mating dance for a reason] and inhales the drink whatever it is and it must be really strong because he looks away and says something to Jared. Misha walks away says something to Jared and goes to sit down.  Jensen starts twerking his booty. Misha your man wants to mate on stage do something. Anyway Jensen pours the drink that Misha had sipped directly from the bottle in a shot glass  and does the rck on sign and sips it. The entire time Mishalecki are just looking at Nesnej and laughing not understanding what is going on.

Jared sniffs the drink and says “poker face” and Jensen says “thanks Lady Gaga” IDK if this was a snide comment or just banter but now we know Jensen listens to Lady Gaga and Katy Perry (re: jib8).

This part is really funny when the fan thanks Misha for sending a recovery message to her friend but Misha says that  he had no choice but to do it because the fan just held out the phone to Misha and Misha was like “oooh, heeey”

I think Jared asks Misha what happened and Misha explains because Jared folds over laughing.

Jared starts talking before Jensen can answer the question and again Jensen doesn’t look too amused. This guy keeps stealing his thunder.

Jensen manages a smile when he hears that Misha did a German accent 

Misha asks Jensen if he wants some tips on accents and Jensen smiles and says no. Ouch. Sorry Mish, your man doesn’t want your help. He’d rather wing it.

Misha is not backing down and compliments Jensen by listing all the accents that Jensen can do. We love a supportive husband. Hype your man Mish.

Jensen says that he speaks French and he has a little have a  tête-à-tête in français. I find it funny how Misha pretends not to know Jensen speaks French yet he just listed all the accents Jensen can do. Sure Jan.  And after the French interaction which Misha adds a flair of a French accent when he talk as and , Jensen tries really hard  not to smile. Someone’s excited. #accent kink ;)

Jensen says he doesn’t think Michael is going to need an accent and Misha says yes he will in French accent and Jensen is just trying really really hard not to smile.

Look at Jared’s face though he’s like dude are you seriously turned on by Misha’s weird accent right now? It’s not even funny and Jensen can’t stop smiling.

Jensen is done with Misha’s shenanigans so he just cuts him off and Misha is exasperated and Jensen proceeds to ask his question.

Fan says she would improve on Misha’s German accent and Misha gasps scandalized and  even Jensen is not happy about that but he takes this moment to make fun of Misha so the comment doesn’t seem as harsh 

Look at Misha’s face

and here is Jensen’s face  he can’t believe someone was mean to his baby.

Anyway, in an attempt to make it less painful for his man he tries to make and joke and says, “I didn’t send that out with the insult in mind but I’m really glad that happened.” 

The joke makes it worse and Misha  doesn’t seem to feel better. Poor Misha.

It’s over.

Time for the closing ceremony

Jensen and Briana singing.

 Misha and Adam

I love their friendship, makes me think of the possibilities that could’ve been between Cas and Mick on the show.

OMG Jensen you naught boy, yeah I see you have experience humping and spanking. Go on Rockstar we love to see it.

Even Jason Mann’s sees Jensen humping the air and Misha and Jensen turn to look at Jason. Jensen is  smirking at him after what he just did. OMG.

The way Jensen is looking at Rob when Rob tries to sing the remaining verses of carry on my wayward son. Jensen you need apple juice. Jensen is me. He is insane and he is me and I love him. JENSENKIN!!!!

Why are Jensen and Misha gravitating towards each other unconsciously? Do their hearts have magnets that pull towards each other?

Speaking of them why does Jensen seem extremely tall here and Misha looks so tiny.

Am I the only one who doesn’t like the guy who played Ketch? OMG he just rubs me off the wrong way.

 OMG is Jared trying to touch Jensen’s hand? Eww He touched Jensen’s arm and Jensen didn’t even look at him. This is embarrassing. Jensen hasn’t looked at him once/ HELP.

Misha and Jensen are standing the same way at the exact same time and they aren’t even looking at each other. OMG!! This is insanity.

Jensen turns to smile at Misha. Aww J

Jensen looks at Misha with a smile on his face when Daniela says they’ll be back the next year the year that gave us straddle gate and boners.

It’s over guys. 

So I have come to the conclusion that something was going on between Jensen and Jared at jib 9.

See you on the next one.

Part 1

[galadrieljones]

If you watched it, was there anything noteworthy in the Maggie origins episode?

Hey anon! I actually just watched it last night. I haven’t done a thorough analysis yet or anything, but there were definitely some things I noticed, and some big take-aways. 

The first thing I noticed was how strongly Maggie was cast in her role as a wife. It did not surprise me, but it affirmed my feelings about her character. I have often thought of the different characters and how their roles fit into the family dynamic, ie: Maggie is a wife, Glenn is a husband, Rick is a father, Michonne is a mother, Daryl is a brother, etc.

For Maggie, her entire narrative arc, including her leadership role during the war with the Saviors, is driven by her marriage to and then her loss of Glenn. Every time there is a catastrophe, Maggie is consumed with finding Glenn. I know many people viewed her choice to pursue Glenn after the prison fell rather than Beth as selfish, but I didn't. Glenn was her husband. He was her other half. I, personally, understand this completely. I feel the writers did this to firmly cast Maggie as a wife. Not as a daughter, not as a sister. A wife. And after she loses her husband, ie: her other half, she becomes consumed with grief, which she sublimates into anger, fierce leadership, and revenge.

I believe Maggie was cast as a wife early on to reinforce the fact that she's no longer a daughter. Why? Because Beth is the daughter. In 4b, Beth goes searching for booze in the name of her deceased father who struggled with alcoholism his whole life. Beth places flowers on the "Loving Father's" grave. It's Beth who's carrying Hershel's legacy now. Beth becomes a symbol of Hershel, so when Beth dies, so, too, does the Greene farm. In the Origins episode, Cohen refers to Hershel as "Maggie's North Star." When Hershel dies, that symbolism is passed onto Beth. Then, when Beth dies, Maggie is lost. She has no direction, re: "Them." Also, if you're familiar with TD theories, you know that Beth and star symbolism is very important. Most associate Beth with Sirius, the dog star, or the morning star, connoting a return. But the north star is important, too. Carl shows Judith how to find the north star before he dies. It's a symbol of direction and hope for the future.

Another thing I found really interesting in this Origins episode was the way it reminded us of how, over time, Maggie and Daryl align as a single unit, like their own family. Over time, they even align separately from Rick. Their alignment begins with Beth’s death, for which they are both uniquely crushed, and they align after Glenn dies. Something, too, that this episode brings to light, which I had honestly forgotten, was Maggie’s key role in brokering the deal with Gregory, which prompts Rick to lead the team into the war with the Saviors. It is actually Maggie’s negotiations, which start the war. This is important, because later, Daryl will blame himself for Glenn’s death, but this Origins episode reminded us of how instrumental Maggie actually was in the early days at Hilltop and during the war. In some ways, it was her talk with Gregory that started it all. This monumental guilt she must feel certainly bonds her Daryl as well. Let us not forget, too, that Daryl knew Glenn even before Maggie. He helped save Glenn’s life all the way back in Atlanta.

Daryl and Maggie’s alignment was also explored in Daryl’s Origins episode, particularly in how they unite against Rick to try and take down Negan. Daryl even betrays and lies to Rick in order to distract him, so that Maggie can kill Negan in revenge. Daryl is the man who sets Gregory swinging at the gallows in Hilltop. In Maggie’s Origins episode, tptb wanted to communicate to us that Daryl and Maggie are brother and sister, that the two share a UNIQUE familial bond, which is ultimately rooted in their mutual loss of Beth. They are a family. We see it come to light, too, in "Home Sweet Home" when Daryl helps Maggie, saves Maggie’s life, they talk about the past, and they talk about Beth. There is nobody else left who really remembers Glenn from the beginning, or Beth anymore, nobody aside from Carol, and as we’ve learned in "Find Me" and "Diverged," Carol is currently on her own. I believe that Maggie and Daryl are being positioned as family as another way of remembering Beth, just like so many other references to Beth we've seen in 10c and Origins. All very convenient timing!!

I noticed a bunch of other small things, like, for example, that Maggie is wearing a red handkerchief around her wrist when they arrive at the prison, which echoes the red handkerchief that Daryl carries, as well as the bit of red fabric or handkerchief that Sasha wears pinned to her jacket in “Them.” Carol also, at some point, wears a red scarf, and so does Negan. Further, in 10c, Maggie and Daryl are both shown as having red fletching on their arrows. Does it have something to do with Rick’s red machete, and the episodes “A”/“No Sanctuary?” I don’t know. I think it may be a symbol for wrath, but that’s half-baked at the moment.

Also: Maggie refers to “the loss of Beth,” not Beth’s death. I don’t know how significant that is, especially since we’re operating from Maggie’s point of view. Of course Daryl’s POV communicated that Beth was killed, and also that Rick died. We know that, in that instance, Daryl’s POV is at least half wrong. As usual, POVs cannot be trusted as verifiable sources in TWD. That said, “the loss of Beth” is grammatically cumbersome, and therefore interesting. Why not just say “Beth’s death?” Tbh, there’s still so much we don’t know about the missing time between “Coda” and “WHAWGO.” I don’t know what Maggie knows or could know about Beth’s “loss.”

There was also the moment, as the prison was going down, when Maggie and Beth start off together, but then they separate. I forgot how that went down, and it’s interesting how they decided to show it, ie: Maggie tells Beth to round up everybody onto the bus, but Beth doesn’t want to leave Maggie. It reminded me of “Alone,” when Daryl tells her to go, and she shouts “I won’t leave you!” 

In both episodes, Beth is told to do something, like stay behind, and it’s seemingly for her own protection, but it does in some sense remove her agency. Beth doesn’t want to separate or leave people behind. She wants everyone to stay together. Her instincts are right, of course. But I think a major lesson that Beth has to learn in 4b/5a is how to become her own kind of hero, rather than the babysitter for the hero, the damsel in distress, or the little sister. Because we see in “Still” how Daryl begins to view Beth as strong. He later tells Maggie so, in “Them:” “She was strong, too. She just didn’t know it.”

Another thing: I noticed that the guy who Gregory convinced to try and kill Maggie was named Otis. Very strange. Of course, Otis was the name of the family friend who accidentally shot Carl, and who was sacrificed by Shane to save Carl. There are a lot of odd name doubles in TWD so any time that happens, I give it a side-eye. Other examples of name repetition are Sam and Luke. Weird name repetition in fiction always makes me think of dream logic, ie: familiar names being used in odd, unfamiliar circumstances. It’s not a coincidence. I haven’t thought about this at all yet, however, so I don’t yet have a good understanding of what this is meant to conjure.

Per the season 11 preview: I was very intrigued by the silent walker, which had its vocal cords cut. For me, this echoes the broken music box, and is a reference to Beth (the songbird who can’t sing anymore). I think it's also a reference to Connie, the other "dead" sister. Connie says a great deal to Daryl during their friendship, but she doesn’t use her voice to speak. Very interesting choice, for sure.

The stuffed rabbit made me think of Lizzy, who kills rabbits. Lizzy is a symbol of madness and the deranged childhood. It also reminds me of “A,” and “Here’s Negan.” In both episodes, a dead rabbit is removed from a trap and seems related to the theme of predator vs. prey. Beth is certainly related to rabbits thematically, ie: she is a rabbit who gets stuck in a trap (Grady). But the stuffed rabbit also makes me think of childhood in general, and here it could be reminding Maggie of Hershel, or her own childhood back at the farm. Of course, she sets it down, because she is putting that stuff away.

Also, as you can see in the above photo, there’s a storm in the distance. There’s also “[thunder rumbling]” in the background of both “Still” and “Find Me.” The theme of the ominous, coming storm is very loud in general in TWD, but it’s especially loud right now.

Anyway, this is all I have for now. Any other thoughts?

[purplebass]

James Herondale and Cordelia Carstairs: 1001 Nights and Layla and Majnun

Yet another essay/analysis about James Herondale and Cordelia Carstairs and the references of their story with classic Middle East literature books such as “1001 Nights” and “Layla and Majnun” and how those books might have inspired some TLH storylines.

Similarities between “1001 Nights” characters and James and Cordelia

The Layla references by James and Alastair

The Scheherezade storyteller

The metaphor of James and Cordelia’s relationship

Cordelia as James’s link to this world

In the Classic Reimagined with Shadowhunters characters book, Cordelia and James are pictured as Scheherazade and sultan Shahryar from “1001 Nights”, and she is probably telling him a story in that art. This book is a collection of folk tales and it is often referred to as “Arabian Nights” and has elements of different Middle East cultures. In short, the sultan Shahryar marries virgin women and then he kills them after the night they spend together. After some time, there aren’t virgins anymore, so the vizier's daughter, Scheherazade, offers herself as the next wife/queen and survives because for 1000 nights she tells the sultan a story, which she never finishes, to keep him curious. The sultan spares her life because he wants to know how the stories end, and after 3 years (1,001 days) she finishes the stories but the sultan has fallen in love with her and he doesn’t kill her. 

Like Scheherazade, Cordelia likes books and likes to tell stories. Cordelia is Persian and this collection of tales also contains Persian elements, and the name Scheherazade means “of noble lineage” from Middle Persian. Cordelia also offered herself to marry James to save him from facing judgement from the Clave.

The name of the Sultan, Shaharyar, means “holder of the realm” as king/prince, because the “shah” was the crown king/prince/emperor in Persia/Iran. James loves to read as well and he has expressed several times in CoG2 that he wants to hear Cordelia’s stories. 

“Night” in Arabic is “Layla”, which is not only the title of “1001 Nights” in Arabic (“Alf Laylah wa-Laylah”), but it also refers to “Layla and Majnun”. The only time James calls Cordelia “Layla” is when he has the scalding fever and is in and out of consciousness. Alastair also calls Cordelia “Layla”, which is not just super cute but also a reference to their Persian heritage and it also refers to the aesthetic behind Cordelia and James. Cordelia is the night and James the day, but Cordelia is also the fire and James is the shadow. Cordelia is also a heroine like Scheherazade, of course. In literature, the Scheherazade storyteller is also someone who tells a story and is fighting with death, which means that they are telling their story to the reader but they know that they don’t have much time because death is around the corner. If you consider the trouble happening in CoG2, every character of TLH risks to die, especially since we have different POVs and each character tells their own story from their perspective. The only character writer in TLH is Lucie, who also notices how life is terrible and unpredictable, while she only wanted to put joy into her stories:

She felt somewhere in the core of her heart the truth of what her mother had just said. And one should put truth in books, she thought, but this would never be the sort of thing she put in the pages of The Beautiful Cordelia. Books were about experiencing joy. This was the raw and awful stuff of life.

It was much too terrible.

When James has the scalding fever, Cordelia reads him poems and tells him about “Layla and Majnun” by Nizami. From Days Past: Cirenworth Hall, 1900:

She read him the poems of Nizami, and especially the story of Layla and Majnun, one she clearly loved and had known since she was very small. Her cheeks grew unexpectedly red at the more romantic parts: the poor boy falling in love with the beautiful Layla on first sight, wandering mad in the desert when they were separated.

If we were to analyze this, we could say that it reflects James and Cordelia’s story to some degree. James didn’t fall for Cordelia at first sight because he had the gracelet in most of the times they met through the years, but when the gracelet is off and especially after this moment with Cordelia tending to him while he was sick, James is not able to keep her out of his mind even when he later meets Grace again in Idris. Now I don’t know what will happen, but until the gracelet is off, James will act as doesn’t love Cordelia unless their bond breaks the spell of the gracelet. Or Cortana could destroy the gracelet? The last part of this section I reported above “wandering mad in the desert when they were separated” made me think about the shadow’s realm. The realm is like a desert because there is nobody around, and when James goes there before he finally meets Belial, it’s deserted as there is no one there (even if I guess there are demons, but it’s mostly a lonely place). Cordelia is the only one who went to the shadow realm with James and seems to be a threat to Belial in that dimension, because of Cortana. Will James go back to the shadow realm and will Cordelia have to look for him again like at the end of CoG2? That could have been a foreshadowing for the ending and of James and Cordelia finally meeting Belial, but who knows if that won’t come into play again in the future. James could be unable to go back to the normal world and he could be stuck in the realm. Just a thought.

Even when James has the scalding fever and travels to the shadow realm, Cordelia is the only one who is able to bring him back and to their world, which means that there is a link between them, something in Cordelia and James both, a pull. Perhaps it’s the affection they feel for each other, the fiery passion that they could unleash after the gracelet is finally off. Like we saw in the whispering room. That was raw and unrelenting passion, the metaphor of Cordelia and James as a couple: fire and shadow. Cordelia is the fire/match that lit James on fire. Here’s more quotes from Chapter 3, Days Past: Cirenworth Hall, 1900 to support this idea:

He reached for her, and the shadow that was his hand caught hers, darkness against flesh. He wondered how his touch felt to her. His whole body was tensed, like a horse shying from thunder. The room smelled of lightning.

“James, you must hold on. You must. Don’t go anywhere,” Cordelia said. “Stay with me.”

“ ‘ I sought not fire, yet is my heart all flame. Layla, this love is not of earth.’   ”

He shuddered and felt himself come back to this world fully, felt his body return to the space he occupied. 

Note: There is also a parallel scene where it’s Alastair who tells Cordelia to stay with him, which could be a hint that Alastair might be the link for Cordelia to stay in this world if she ever falls into the shadow realm with James, perhaps (like Lucie could also be another link for James as his sister). In the flashback from Chapter 20, Days Past: Cirenworth Hall, 1898:

When he looked suspicious, she said, “I could use some help, Alastair. You see how careless my form is.” Alastair came and took the knife from her. “Very careless,” he agreed. “I know swordplay comes naturally to you, but not everything will. You must slow down. Pay attention to your feet. Now, follow my gestures. That’s it, Layla. Stay with me.” And she would.

To reinforce the parallelism between famous Middle East literature and English literature, we also have “The Beautiful Cordelia”, which is not a real book but a story in the making, since Lucie started writing it when she was 12 and she still hasn’t finished it. It’s also a story-within-the-story like the narrative in “1001 Nights”. Lucie is also telling her own story to the readers, and in CoG2 she is writing about Cordelia who is a beautiful red haired woman. Cruel Prince James, inspired by her brother James, is one of the characters of her book even though we don’t know if he is the Lord Hawke who adored Cordelia and supposedly is her main love interest.

One thing that differs in “1001 Nights” and “Layla and Majnun” is the ending. The first has a happy ending because Scheherazade and Shahryar fall in love and she doesn’t die because she becomes queen. In the other book, however, which is sort of a “Romeo and Juliet” love story, the ending is not happy. Layla’s father doesn’t want her to be with Majnun, because he considers the man mentally unstable (Majnun means “crazy”). In the end Layla marries someone else and Majnun roams in the desert because he can’t accept to live in a world without her. They die without seeing each other again, both heartbroken because they can’t be with the other person. 

Now don’t take the books word for word. They are inspirations for the main story for sure, but the good thing of inspirations is that they never have the same ending of the original.

Thanks for reading! I know it’s quite long, but I don’t have the gift of brevity, I’m sorry. 🤣

[fandom-necromancer]

045. This isn’t goodbye

This will be a three-parter, the warnings are there for all parts so you know what you are starting with. The bold parts are in the chapter. Don’t worry, as all my stories this will end good, but there is a bit of bad stuff happening until there will be a good ending in the third part. Just so you are save out there!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900, Hannor/Hancon | AU: Reverse AU (Warnings: android being shipped off to Cyberlife for analysis of deviancy, loss of privacy, loss of control, most think the android is dead, Grieving Character, Trauma because of past mistakes, Canon-typical violence)

[part2]   [part3]   [part4]

‘Remember, if someone gives you an order, follow it. They mustn’t know it!’ ‘Got it, Sir’, Gavin grinned teasingly at Richard. ‘Gonna be your little obedient robot, just as you like it.’ ‘Gavin!’ Richard wasn’t in the mood for the android’s silly jokes. This was serious. ‘Worry for your own ass out there, Nines. You know me, GV-harder-better-faster-stronger-200. We’ll give them hell!’ ‘Just… be careful, tin-can.’ ‘Will be, meatbag!’

They joined the others in position to storm the building. Their suspect was hiding inside this house with a bunch of his “co-workers”. They would put an end to one of Detroit’s largest drug gangs today, catching their leader and unravelling the whole organisation hopefully. They were waiting for the signal from Captain Allen to charge, as this officially was a SWAT operation. Richard was present as a consultant technically, but his past as a soldier made him qualified. Also, with Cyberlife’s most advanced android by his side, he would be worth a lot. Normally Richard wouldn’t worry as much about Gavin, but this time Connor and his android HK400 was in the team, too. Richard generally liked the android for helping his brother get out of that hole the loss of his son had ripped, but that didn’t change that Hank was just there to find deviant androids. And, well, Gavin was one. He had deviated long ago on a mission, when they both were after some fugitive. They had caught him, and he was driven off back to the precinct and Gavin had kissed him. Since then they hid GV’s true identity successfully. But with Hank this close… Who knew how this ended? Hopefully all would go well.

He didn’t have anymore time to think about the other android, as Captain Allen gave the signal and Richard followed his group. They were jogging through foreign rooms, short status reports of ‘room clear’ muttered into their mics, their breaths and the shuffle of feet and clothing all around them. For a surprisingly long time nothing happened. Then a SWAT officer wanted to open a door and Gavin interfered. ‘I detected multiple persons behind this door.’ Immediately everyone raised their guns and prepared themselves. Richard took a deep breath to steady him, the ghost of a hand touching him reassuringly as everyone was too busy to see the gesture. Then they pushed the door in and stormed into the room to leave the bottleneck behind them as soon as possible. Immediately gunfire was thundering through the room and everyone quickly dove for any cover they could find. It spread them out and most order was quickly lost, but they had the upper hand, surprising the gang members and taking down one after the other with mostly non-lethal shots. Unfortunately, they realised that too, quickly running backwards to leave the room. ‘Gavin! Quick, keep them from fleeing!’, came the order from Captain Allen. ‘Hank, Connor, help him!’ Gavin immediately jumped over the crate from where he had sat next to Richard. He ducked under bullets, calculating them even before they left the gun.  He was already pre-constructing how to advance once in reach of their leader, as a warning covered his HUD.

[Danger! Richard]

He stopped in his tracks, reaching into Connor’s holster to retrieve a gun, then aimed and shot. His bullet hit the criminal that had aligned his gun with Richard’s head in the arm and pushed it to the side, so the bullet hit a wall and not his human’s brain. The gang member next to the one he shot, had seen his action and returned it by shooting Gavin in the abdomen, just over his regulator. Gavin fell, quickly accessing the damage. Nothing vital was hit, but he was losing a lot of Thirium. Only then he realised what he had done. He had been ordered to apprehend the leader, something Hank and Connor were still pursuing. He had used a gun, what was strictly forbidden for androids. And as he looked to the side, he met Hank’s analysing glare. Shit.

-

No one had talked about Gavin’s action. After all it had saved one of their own. But Gavin knew that after they had entered the precinct again and Hank went straight to Fowler’s office, he was done for. Richard hadn’t spoken a word, except for a shocked ‘Gavin!’ upon seeing him lying there bleeding and reassuring mumbles of ‘it will all be alright again, I promise.’ Now the man pulled him right to the breakroom where they had stored a few tools to patch up an android. Richard had heaved him on top of the counter to sit there, before pulling him out of his jacket and shirt to access the damage. Then he had gotten the kit and started working away at Gavin’s wound in total silence.

‘Hank knows’, Gavin finally broached the subject. ‘I know’, Richard answered dismissively. ‘Connor knows.’ ‘I know.’ ‘The whole precinct knows!’ ‘I know!’ Richard had gotten louder, near shouting the last bit. Gavin knew it was him being frustrated, worried and maybe even afraid, but he recoiled all the same.

‘What are they gonna do to me?’, he asked then, his voice merely a whisper. ‘I… don’t know…’ ‘Are they sending me back to Cyberlife?’ ‘They won’t’, Richard answered firmly, but both knew this was a lie. ‘They will want to know what’s wrong with me.’ ‘There is nothing wrong with you! This isn’t fair!’ Richard’s hands were shaking, blue blood dripping from them. ‘Nines. I am a robot. I was never meant to be free. I’m thankful for the time we had.’ ‘I won’t let them kill you, Gav! Not over you doing the right thing. Not for you saving my life because I had been an idiot and coincidentally sticking my head out. I won’t let them kill you.’ ‘And wreck yourself, your carrier in the process?’ Gavin cupped his human’s cheeks and pressed their foreheads together. This way he could see Richard’s tears sharp and clear. ‘Nines, promise me you won’t do anything dumb, okay? Cyberlife wants to know how deviancy works and I doubt they will kill their only lab rat. I will try to fool them as best as I can. I played the obedient machine for so long now, maybe it will slow them down. And there is still hope. Markus.’ ‘His protest will be shut down soon, Gavin. It has always been like this.’ ‘Maybe not this time.’ ‘I don’t want to lose you. I love you, Gavin.’ ‘I love you too, meatbag. I’ll see you again. I promise.’

Richard had been called to Fowlers office afterwards. There had been muffled screaming, Fowler jumping from his chair and shouting back, Richard not backing down. Gavin knew this stance. Richard had always been passionate and protective, regardless of his often intimidating looks. Gavin couldn’t watch any longer. He stared at the puddle of blue blood on the carpet beyond his dangling feet. He continued to just sit there, trying not to think and to keep his rising panic in check. He had been reassuring, mostly to keep Richard calm. The man would sacrifice his job, his status, himself for a machine and that just wasn’t right. But Gavin himself was at the verge of breaking, because Richard was right, this wasn’t fair.

Hank passed the breakroom following Connor, who looked quite pissed. Gavin had only seen that expression once and that had been as Hank had met him for the first time. The human was hungover and had promptly pushed the larger and without doubt heavier android against a wall, seconds from throwing punches. Now Hank was talking to him, but Gavin didn’t care enough to listen in. That phcking asshole of a mindless robot, if he could, he would just- ‘He loved him, Hank!’ Gavin pressed his eyes shut. Just shut up! ‘He loved that android. And Gavin loves him too. Rich told me, you fucking toaster! They hid it, they hid it well and all would have been perfect. Who cares if the thing is deviant it isn’t a thread to anyone! All I know is that he saved my brother. I still have a brother because of that android. And thanks to you, he will be sent of to Cyberlife, where they do god knows what to him! Do you know what will happen to Richard once he is gone? Do you have just a sliver of an idea? Didn’t think so!’ ‘I’m not gone yet’, Gavin said, suddenly standing next to them. It was meant for Connor, but Gavin turned to Hank, squaring up, although the android was much, much larger than him. ‘I’m not gone yet’, he repeated, underlining every word with a prodding finger against Hank’s collarbone. ‘Don’t speak of me in past tense, I refuse to die. I will come back from there, no matter the cost. I will come back to Richard, I’ll come back to this shitty phcking precinct and if only to kick your goddamn robot ass into orbit! And that is a phcking promise!’

He stomped away from them, taking position by the door. For his part he was ready to be shipped off. He had been thinking about running, but that would only get Richard into more trouble and, if his theory was right, would be far more dangerous than the alternative. A potential deviant stuck in a lab to test on wasn’t a thread. A proved deviant on the loose on the other hand…

Richard came out of that office some time later, coughing from overusing his voice in such a manner. He spotted Connor and Hank, still talking to each other and took a detour to avoid them. He stopped in front of Gavin and pulled him in a tight, awkward hug. ‘Cyberlife is informed. They are waiting for us. I will drive you.’ ‘Thank you.’

The drive was quiet, no radio, no talking. There were quite sobs from the seat next to Gavin and he ignored them to his best ability, watching the road himself to intercept should Richard be unable to react. He was speeding the whole drive until he was granted access to Belle Isle. Then he slowed down, maybe to stretch it out as long as possible. Until they came to a halt in the parking lot, Cyberlife security staff already waiting at the front door. But they just sat there, nobody ready to say a word or move.

‘This isn’t goodbye’, Gavin finally said. ‘Right? Promise me, this isn’t goodbye.’ He had been strong for too long, he had to voice his fears. ‘No’, Richard said. ‘No, not if I can help it. I will do everything I can to get back to you. To get you out of there.’ ‘Just don’t do anything stupid if you can’t, okay? Stay save. I love you.’ ‘Gavin, I-‘ ‘Nines. Please. I will go. Just if this ends bad, I want my last words to you be I love you.’ ‘I love you too, Gavin.’

And then Gavin opened the door, stepped out and went up the stairs towards the entrance.

[>next part]

[elenatria]

Elenatria，thanks for all your hiddlesworth analysis，just spent a whole night reading them. My friend and I have been following them since the beginning (Kenneth's Thor).Oberviously their relationship Changed. I understand that people do change in such a long time and honesty speaking they're two different kinds of people.If not for Thor they probably won't even be friends if they only met in real life.(part1)

(part 2)  But the thing is, different as they are, they do like (maybe even love) each other (even if only for a while). From 2011 to 2014, the chemistry and atmosphere between them is sooo sweet and sexy that maybe every person who saw them can feel some of it. My friend have this theory that they were sort of dated back then. And the weird things happened in wizard world is around the time they broke up for the Hiddleswift thing. Although I am more reserved about their relationship .I do agree between 2011 and 2014, they were very close. And the kiss gesture Tom give Chris in Russia's Avengers press conference.The way Chris touched Tom consistently and softly.The words Tom said.The way Chris wink at Tom and "flirt" with him. That is TOO MUCH for a pair of working partners.And then when they (especially Chris) treated each other kind of coldly in recent years, that's also a bit much for two simple colleagues.What's your opinions about this? Can you share some of your thoughts with us? Thank you!

Does your friend *really* believe they were lovers?

Because I don't. Tom has openly said that he's straight (no reason for him to lie). Chris has never mentioned bisexuality, not that we would know of course...So if you want my honest opinion? I don't think they were lovers, no.

But my Hiddlesworth headcanons, sexy as they may sound, are *partly* based on their actual friendship.

As you said, they probably wouldn't hang out if they hadn't met in "Thor". They sure have lots of things in common but as Tom has said, his feelings for Chris, even if he respects and admires him, can be contained in that one phrase he says again and again; "Is your head spinning with all the fame and publicity? Good, because mine is spinning too". So their friendship mostly came from their common experiences with Marvel. Because let's not forget, Tom is the studious type with the classical training whereas Chris cannot read a single book due to his ADHD, he was never officially trained as an actor. And my guess is that Chris would rather spend his day at the beach with his family than sign endless autographs and take pictures with fans, like Tom does. I mean they're very different, Tom dedicates his being to his fans who bring him joy whereas Chris has his family and his close friends for that. 

So would they hang out if they didn't have to work together? I don’t know. Don't forget that Chris' humour is more chaotic, closer to Taika's. Not that Tom doesn't have a sense of humour, it's just that they're different people. Tom himself admitted during the Ragnarok shooting that they had their good days and their bad days, like brothers who don’t always get along. And Chris was teasing him for loving the attention of the Brisbane crowd so much. He loves the attention too but he doesn't make such a fuss about it, he doesn't appear in the streets leaping in front of everyone. :-P They're different but.. the same.

I do believe they love each other, even if in a platonic way. Tom has admitted that he spent days at Chris' home in Byron Bay while filming Skull Island and Ragnarok, plus he's said many times that one of the reasons he's looking forward to working in a Thor film is collaborating with Chris again. Back in the day, when Tom was filming Thor and The Dark World he admitted to a journalist that it cost him a lot to have to separate from the friends he made on set. He would be heartbroken for weeks, missing them. He never mentioned Chris' name of course but perhaps he meant him too, who knows. And I know they were staying together in the same house during The Dark World filming so they MUST have got along, right? They totally enjoyed their nights of cooking and wine tasting there. They also seemed to have missed each other at the Thor premiere because it was raining, Tom said Chris had caused the rain (because he's the god of thunder) and Chris agreed saying "he was being emotional" (he probably had missed Tom too). And of course they used to hug each other *a lot*, you can't hide that kind of love. 

As for Wizard World, I made posts about it back in 2018. I believe that Chris was too tired or jet-lagged or maybe he had a headache and couldn't happily interact with Tom, who knows. Let's not forget that Tom was giddy and happy back then maybe because he had just started a relationship with Taylor Swift. Plus Tom kept teasing Chris about his roles not being so serious (Ghostbusters), or not having watched the Night Manager, so Chris was probably not in the mood to play the dumb friend compared to Tom's Shakespearean genius. And no, I don't think they "broke up" back then because they were never dating, that's stuff I use in my Hiddlesworth fanfics but not stuff I*truly* believe in... :-P

I don't think that Chris being flirty and winking at Tom during  the Russian press conference of the Avengers or The Dark World interview meant anything more than friendly teasing. Men do it all the time.

And as I said, Chris' "coldness" during Wizard World might be due to sickness, jet-lag, or simply a bad mood. And I don't think he was cold afterwards. Remember the Chinese interview they gave for Ragnarok? They were both joking about Captain Australia and bro fisting each other and saying how Thor and Loki love each other and that's it. Yesterday I reblogged a vid from the Ragnarok premiere. They went on stage, Chris was the last to enter the stage and as he approached the rest of the cast he took a swirl grabbing Tom's hand in a dancing move and kept holding it until he stood next to him. So I honestly don't see where the "cold Chris" headcanon is coming from. Yes they were more touchy-feely at the beginning but that's when they were YOUNGER, crazier, more open. Now it's been 10 years and both of them are less enthusiastic and more mature.

You can't expect people who have been friends for TEN years to keep acting like a "couple on honeymoon" forever, can you? Not even married couples can do that, let alone friends.

[ihavetoomanyocs]

Masterpost to all my OCs!

Hello it is I, ihavetoomanyocs, formerly known as Skye-Kloppman. I’m gonna use this post to give a little description of each of my OCs. There’s 8 of them, so here we go. Hopefully in the future I’ll be doing posts for each them individually, as well, this is just kind of an introductory post to them.

Skye Kloppman Eye color: Sky blue Hair color: Black Full name: Elise “Skye” Amelia Kloppman Fandom: Newsies Pairing: Albert DaSilva Story description: As the granddaughter of the keeper of a boy’s lodging house in New York, Skye didn’t have to live as a Newsie if she didn’t want to. But those boys were like family to her, so of course she tried her best to help them out. When Albert first came along, Skye figured he was just another boy, until feelings that she didn’t have a name for came along, followed closely by the newsboy strike of 1899. Status: Written- Strike!

Jamie Reece Eye color: Whiskey brown Hair color: blonde curls Full name: Jamie Renee Reece Fandom: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers-Turbo Pairing: Adam Park Story description: Jamie always knew the Power Rangers, although she didn’t know they were Rangers until she had to become one, herself. Now, with three of her friends leaving to be replaced by three new ones, Jamie must learn to navigate her Ranger duties, school, soccer, a father who she just wishes would leave her alone, and falling in love?  Color: Silver Status: Currently Writing- The Power Within, found on FFN

Andi Scott Eye color: Green Hair color: black Full name: Andrea “Andi” Daniella Scott Fandom: Power Rangers Ninja Storm-Dino Thunder Pairing: Hunter Bradley Story description: Andi Scott grew up in Angel Grove, where evil aliens first tried to take over the Earth. Her brother was an original Ranger, so when it comes time for Andi to pick up a morpher, herself, it becomes no question. Falling in love, however, was never apart of the plan. Color: White and Purple Status: Currently Writing- Power of Winter, found on FFN

Ryanne Matthews Eye color: Hazel Hair color: Dark Blonde Full Name: Ryanne Marley Matthews Fandom: Harry Potter Pairing: Sirius Black Story description: After moving to London, England at the age of ten for her dad’s job, Ryanne figured that she would be living a normal, English life. And then a professor claiming to be the Deputy Headmistress of a magical school came into her life, telling Ryanne that she was actually a witch. Heading to Hogwarts to learn magic was just as amazing as she thought it would be- until feelings for her friend Sirius Black start to surface.  House: Gryffindor Status: Stuff is written, nothing is published

Kit Matthews(Black) Eye color: gray Hair color: Dark blonde Full Name: Katherine “Kit” Lily Black Fandom: Harry Potter Pairing: Fred Weasley Story description: Born just 8 and a half months after her parents left Hogwarts, Kit grew up in a post-war magical London, where Harry Potter was the savior, and her father, a murderer. Knowing her father as innocent, but also knowing that no-one at Hogwarts would believe her, Kit decided to go to Hogwarts using her mother’s maiden name. With best friends like the Weasley twins, and Angelina around, everything seems to be going okay, until Kit realizes that she might be closer to a certain redhead than even she thought, just as her father escapes from Azkaban.  House: Gryffindor Status: Not started yet

Lucy Carpenter Eye color: Brown Hair Color: Dark Brown Full Name: Lucille Marie Carpenter Fandom: Captain America Pairing: Bucky Barnes Story description: Lucy Carpenter and her best friends Steve and Bucky always said that they would take on the world together. Sure enough, they do, all making it to World War 2 riddled Europe through different means. Bucky was drafted, Steve got there by letting a German scientist experiment on him and then ending up with a group of show-girls, and Lucy as one of Stark’s top engineers. Bucky had always said that he was gonna marry Lucy, one day, but the Great War may just put a pause on that dream.  Status: Stuff is written, nothing is published

Annie Barnes Eye color: Blue Hair color: Dark Brown Full name: Annie Lucile Barnes Fandom: Captain America Pairing: Steve Rogers Story description: When Steve woke up from the ice, nearly 70 years into the future, he didn’t know what to do. Most of his friends were dead, and the ones who weren’t were in their late eighties. But finding out that his best friend’s wife, one of his own best friends, was still alive was a blessing. Steve didn’t know what he was expecting when he went to visit her, but Annie Barnes, granddaughter of his two best friends, wasn’t it. Steve didn’t think he would ever get over what he lost, but Annie may well be the key to doing just that.  Status: Not yet started

Kori James Eye color: Green Hair color: Red Full name: Kori Grace James Fandom: Criminal Minds Pairing: Dr. Spencer Reid Story description: As a cop from St Louis, Missouri, Kori’s dream was to one day go into the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI; she just didn’t expect to get there, so quickly. Plucked out of the FBI Academy by one Jason Gideon, Kori found herself as the youngest member of the BAU. Only days apart in age, Kori and Spencer learn pretty quickly that sticking together is their best bet; they’re both young, still seen as kids to their older co-workers, and they work well together, constantly bouncing ideas off of each other. So when they start to fall for each other, absolutely no one is surprised. There’s even a betting poole.  Status: Stuff is written, nothing is published

[metalbatandzenko]

All of them. All the questions.

oof

1. Do You Sleep With Your Closet Doors Open Or Closed?

I have sliding doors on my closet so it’s one open one closed.

2. Do You Have Freckles?

Nope!

3. Can You Whistle?

Nope (:

4. Last Song You Listened To.

I...don’t remember lmao, I think it was 6 Inch by Beyonce

5. What Is Your Favorite Color?

I don’t know if I have one tbh.

6. Relationship Status.

Currently juggling seven reply guys bc rona has everyone acting out of line, but single.

7. What Is The Temperature Right Now?

46º

8. Did You Wake Up Cranky?

Yes sdkjfhdlkf

9. How Many Followers?

215.

10. Zodiac Sign.

Aries/Aries/Cancer.

11. What Is Your Eye Color?

Brown.

12. Take A Vitamin Daily?

No.

13. Do You Sing In The Shower?

Yes, usually it’s Mitski or songs from musicals because you know. Former theater kid.

14. What Books Are You Reading?

The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch.

15. Grab The Book Nearest To You, Turn To Page 64, Give Me Line 14.

“As in earlier days” from the poem The Walk by Thomas Hardy

16. Favorite Anime?

OPM is the only anime I watch. Being Japanese American and fem aligned means having. Not great associations with anime tbh.

17. Last Person You Cried In Front Of?

I honestly can’t remember the last time I cried in front of someone

WAIT YES I DO

It was November 23rd and my little cousin and I watched Over the Garden Wall. Both of us cried at the end.

18. Do You Collect Anything?

I have a knife collection and an old rock collection from when I was younger. I also unintentionally have a major makeup collection. My lipstick collection is borderline embarrassing. In my defense it started in 7th grade.

19. What Did You Have For Lunch?

I uh. I didn’t have lunch skfjhdsljfh

20. Do You Dance In The Car?

I do!

21. Favorite Animal?

Dude I fucking love crows.

22. Do You Watch The Olympics?

Some of them! My mom was really athletic growing up (as in one of those kids that plays a sport every season in high school), so she watches a lot of them. We tend to watch figure skating (which I know little about but have strong opinions on), gymnastics, synchronized swimming, track, and judo.

23. What Time Do You Usually Go To Bed?

Usually I’m in bed by 11 but I don’t go to sleep until 2am. Recently I’ve been getting to sleep at 7am.

24. Are You Wearing Makeup Right Now?

It is currently three in the morning so no akslkjsahd

25. Do You Prefer To Swim In A Pool Or The Ocean?

Ocean. I grew up in Northern California near the coast, and now I’m in a landlocked state. And you can kind of feel it, you know? The air doesn’t smell like salt and redwoods, the mountains aren’t there to hold up the sky so you just feel it pressing down on your chest. I miss the ocean.

26. Favorite Tumblr Blog?

I don’t know if I have a favorite. erikkillmongerdontpullout is funny and insightful, and I love dostoevskydocs’ poetry compilations.

27. Bottled Water Or Tap Water?

I grew up somewhere with access to really good tap water, so I’ll go with that.

28. What Makes You Happy?

Writing, spending time with friends, the feeling of dappled sunlight through the tree canopy.

29. Post A Gif Of What You’re Currently Feeling Right Now.

30. Do You Study Better With Or Without Music?

With :)

31. Dogs Or Cats?

Dogs but I love cats too!

32. If You Were A Crayon What Color Would You Be?

Moss green!

33. PlayStation Or Xbox.

Xbox.

34. Would You Swim In The Lake Or Ocean?

Ocean. I don’t trust lakes.

35. Do You Believe In Magic?

I believe in the supernatural, I don’t know if magic’s the right word. It’s more like a belief that there’s something more to the world than what we’re able to perceive. 

36. What Color Shirt Are You Wearing?

Charcoal grey.

37. Can You Curl Your Tongue?

Yes! I can also make my tongue into a clover.

38. Do You Save Money Or Spend It?

A bit of both. I can be pretty frugal when I’m by myself but I inherited the need to pay for everything for my friends from my mom, so if my friends are around, I will try to muscle my way into paying for everything. This is usually unsuccessful bc my friends are in the same boat.

39. Is There Anything Pink Within 10 Feet Of You?

Yes. I’ve got a pink water bottle on my bedstand.

40. Do You Have Any Obsessions Right Now?

I mean. OPM lkjshdflkjdh I’ve been hyperfixating on it, but I also am pretty obsessed with OTGW (I have been for years).

41. Have You Ever Caught A Butterfly?

No but I’ve had a few land on me.

42. Are You Easily Influenced By Other People?

Depends on the person. Overall, I’d say no, but my friends have significant sway over me.

43. Do You Have Strange Dreams?

Yes.

44. Do You Like Going On Airplanes?

I actually do. But only for short flights. Anything longer than 4 hours makes my body really hurt.

45. Name One Movie That Made You Cry.

Moana.

46. Peanuts Or Sunflower Seeds?

Sunflower seeds!

47. If I Handed You A Concert Ticket Right Now, Who Would You Want The Performer To Be?

Orville Peck or Carseat Headrest.

48. Are You A Picky Eater?

Nope!

49. Are You A Heavy Sleeper?

Yeah.

50. Do You Fear Thunder/Lightning?

No, I actually love them. I sleep best when it’s thundering.

51. Do You Like To Read/Write?

Yes to both. I’m a Creative Writing major so dkljfhljkdf

52. Do You Like Your Music Loud?

Yeah! Though not as loud as some people, my ears are sensitive.

53. Would You Rather Carve Pumpkins Or Wrap Presents?

Wrap presents. I’m not a big fan of the smell of pumpkin, and wrapping presents is a tradition for my mom, brother and I. We’d put on some music, drink some hot chocolate, and wrap as many as possible. Then my brother and I would smuggle some wrapping paper to our rooms and wrap our mom’s gift.

54. Put Your Music On Shuffle, What Is The First Song That Came Up?

Somebody that I Used to Know-Gotye (listen the song still slaps)

55. What Season Are You In Right Now? (Weather)

Winter/Spring transition. It hailed for 15 minutes straight yesterday.

56. What Are You Craving Right Now?

A popeyes 5 piece spicy chicken meal with fries and ranch. Can you tell I’ve thought about this?

57. Post A Screenshot Of Your Tumblr Feed.

I don’t wanna.

58. What Is Your Gender?

Nonbinary, but vaguely girl adjacent. 

59. Coffee Or Tea?

I think coffee. I drink more tea, but I also drink exclusively green tea and chai (like the traditional chai made with milk not the chai teabags) and I really am not a black/white/earl grey tea person.

60. Do You Have Any Homework Right Now? If So, What Is It About?

OOF Yeah I do

I’ve got a thousand word readers response to “The Other Boat” by E. M. Foster, a one thousand word journal about WWI, a reflective journal check in and a powerpoint I have to make for Sense and Sensibility for Brit Lit and I also am tutoring a few of my classmates

In my biological anthropology class I’ve got a Unit Exam and a few lectures to watch

For my internship/Teachers Assistant position I’ve got 17 10 page rough drafts to read and give in depth comments on as well as a portfolio I have to assemble for next year’s TA bc I’m transferring, phone meetings with the 17 students who wrote those rough drafts, and I’ve gotta compile some resources for my professor

I need to finish my memoir for my independent study and I have to present. my nonfiction memoir. to my classmates. on Zoom. I’m one of two people doing a nonfiction memoir for their independent study the rest are doing fiction, poetry or a literary analysis paper so like. My classmates are gonna be talking about their fiction piece and then I’m gonna be giving a 15 minute reading and Q&A about a piece that focuses on my trauma and being hate crimed so that’s fun.

I also gotta get some stuff done for my school’s lit magazine.

61. What Is Your Sexuality?

A known bisexual™

62. Do You Make Your Bed In The Morning?

I try to but I forget.

63. Favorite Pokémon?

Togepi, Blissey and Togekiss.

64. Favorite Social Media?

I hate to say it but it’s tumblr.

65. What’s Your Opinion On Instagram Stories?

If it’s longer than six stories, I’m not watching it. Unless I know they’re gonna be fun or we’re really close then I will.

66. Do You Get Homesick?

A bit. I’m still really homesick for my hometown tbh because that’s where all my family except for my parents are. I’m really close with my extended family, so being isolated from them feels like there’s an emptiness at my side.

67. Are You A Virgin?

No.

68. What Shampoo And Conditioner Are You Using Right Now?

Redken Frizz Dismiss. I got those big fucking bottles you can get at Ulta where it’s like a gallon of shampoo so I haven’t had to buy any in over a year.

69. If You Were Far From Home And Needed To Sleep For The Night, Would You Choose To Rent A Crappy Motel Room For $60 Or Sleep In Your Car For Free?

I’ve slept in my car before and I will do so again most likely. Also $60 is too much to spend for a motel room.

70. Are Both Of Your Blood Parents Still In Your Life?

Yes. Though I’m much closer to my mom than my dad.

71. Whats The Next Movie You Want To See In Theaters?

Idk shit about movies tbh.

72. Do You Miss Your Ex?

One of them yes, the others no. But the one I miss I also acknowledge is someone who had their place in my life at the time and helped me through some rough shit, but no longer has a place in my life. I appreciate the hell out of him though, and we’re on good terms.

73. What Is Your Favorite Quote Right Now?

I’ve got two!

“I don’t know how to stay tender with this much blood in my mouth” –Ophelia, Hamlet

and

"Suffering feels religious if you do it right." –Chelsea Hodson

74.  What Eye Color Do You Find Sexiest?

Brown. Especially the almost black-brown eyes.

75. Did You Like Swinging As A Child? Do You Still Get Excited When You See A Swing Set?

Yes to both.

76. What Was The Last Thing You Ate?

Chocolate covered pretzels ljhflfsd

77. What Games Do You Have On Your Phone?

Toon Blast and 2048.

78. Would You Give A Homeless Person CPR If They Were Dying? Why Or Why Not?

Holy shit I hate this question. Yes, of course I would. I don’t know why mentioning that the person is homeless is relevant. Homeless people are not somehow less worthy of CPR?? What the fuck.

79. Been On The Computer For 5 Hours Straight?

...yes

80. Stalked Someone On A Social Network?

I’ve briefly skimmed over someone’s page after meeting them but I don’t lurk.

81. Do You Like Meeting New People?

Depends on my mood.

82. Do You Wear Rings? If You Do, Take A Picture Of Them.

I hate my hands so this was pushing it.

83. Do You Sleep With Your Bedroom Door Open Or Closed?

Closed.

84. What Are Three Things You Did Today?

Corrected papers, walked my dog, did some writing.

85. What Do You Wear To Bed?

T-shirt and shorts.

86. List All Of Your Different Beauty Products You Have Right Now.

Dude I can’t do that I have too many, I’ve been buying makeup for 7 years and I used to work next to a sephora

My makeup routine pre-rona was:

Sephora brand moisturizer

Milk Hydrogrip primer

Fenty Pro Filtr Hydrating Foundation

Maybelline Age Rewind Concealer

Anastasia Brow Definer

Glossier Cloud Paint

Fenty Sunstalkr Bronzer

Fenty Liquid Flyliner

Fenty Flypencil

Fenty Full Frontal Mascara

Fenty Glossbomb

It’s...an expensive routine.

87. Are You A Day Or Night Person?

Night to early morning.

88. List All Of Your Video Games On Your Phone, Console Etc.

I answered this one and I don’t want to reanswer it tbh ldkjfhds

89. Tell Me About A Dream That You Had And When It Happened.

I genuinely can’t remember any of my dreams right now. I remember a snippet of one where I was in a cave and I looked at the wall and I could see water running down it, reflecting in the torchlight but that’s literally it.

90. Favorite Soda Drink?

I’m a big pomegranate person, so Italian soda’s my go to.

91. What Sounds Are Your Favorite?

The sizzle of meat hitting a hot wok, rain, hail, thunder, the crunch of dry leaves. I also love the sound of Simone de Rochefort’s laugh. It’s so good.

92. Do You Wear Jeans Or Sweats More?

Jeans.

93. How Do You Look Right Now?

Shitty.

94. Name Something That Relaxes You.

Skyrim ldskjfhd

95. What Tattoo Do You Want?

I really want to get my family’s mon on my ribcage and my mom’s Japanese name somewhere. I don’t know how my pain tolerance is but if I can handle it, I’d want to get at least a partial sleeve.

96. Favorite YouTuber?

Polygon and Watcher.

[translationandbetrayals]

Why kamigami no asobi is a waste

  (disclaimer this a critic made for the 1-3 chapters of the anime series, also I don’t know all mythologies so I can get something wrong)

Kamigami no asobi is a franchise of otome games made in japan who also launched an anime in 2013It features multiple culture gods (Greek Egypt Nordic Japanese) because they cause bad karma and that affects human for that Zeus make an academy for these young-looking gods learn about love and humanity. The history is about a single Japanese student who has to take care of them.

The first problem I get is character and accuracy to chosen them. Zeus is by far the weakest of any of leaders of any of the mythologies and being the one of order kill all a generation of humans + give permission to give pandora the box because he wants to make her marry Prometheus and make him miserable. And he is charge in run a place to show love for humans, is messed up. Second “hades and Apollo problem” 1 Hades is happily married, with Persephone. He is very loyal to her even taking harsh punishment’s when she was kidnap by  Pirítoo ft. Teseo. So, love isn’t a thing they can teach him so. Also, Hades is brother of Zeus, he is the same as him so Zeus hasn’t a right for him. Also what all this stuff of “he bring the bad luck with him” come on is the king of all riches down in earth, death and invisible things he can’t be “that unlucky” like Friday 13 unlucky, I kind of get It for the Heracles myth(the guy get down to get Cerberus, Hades say no but Heracles threatens him with arrows whit the venomous blood of hydra) but if it was a hydra arrow  it would be venomous  not a curse.And about Apollo the myth about the laurel is all about “you can’t force love “so neither. Also, they made him so kind and dandy, but him is a brat sadist. When someone threats him with a “I sing or do stuff better” he asks the thunder out of Zeus and only ashes remain. Maybe he really has a reason to be there but they will never show that things.  I can’t very do this analysis in the other mythologies for short Loki and Thor. All I know Thor is the protector of humanity so discarded and both know about romantic love at least. Then are the Japanese gods I think are ok like basically. Then the Egyptians god Thoth and Anubis Thoth are fine but I really want to see this two with the animal heads it could be funny, Anubis is depicted as a light hearted thing he don’t have any depth .at all. And because he isn’t the only Egyptian god of death, I don’t get why only him. And death is kind of a big stuff in the ancient Egypt is all about the pyramids and mommies are about, they prepare for that and like it. I can continue but is exhausting.

Figure 2 Anubis i will revenge your head

 Is a waste and a big mess, join all this forces together to make a better world, it doesn’t has to feel that bland, because all 4 of this mythologies has styles of lives different so 4 ways to think, is sad that all has to dress the same uniform the most of time, is sad they have to ate the same and don’t have time to talk about different food, because Nordics eats more meats and fish and dairies and Greeks has fruits cheese, olives based diet and black soup Japanese is has a diet similar to Nordics and could make something great about sharing experiences and information and it doesn’t. The boys don’t interact a lot between, and could be more chaotic specially for being the beginning days, it seems nobody is there because they want, maybe they don’t have magic but still they can make a riot specially in part of Thor and the Japanese gods.

Also the last thing is the protagonist center history, all by the stupid mind of a 16 year old girl that have to look at least 6 gods who are way older than she,  that’s the worst part because we don’t know what is happening if we don’t see it, also is the only one and the rest of people who fill the school are soulless clones of people, that’s bad specially is you want to do something fast to fix the karma. The gods go to the only person that care because there’s no more. Maybe Thot being a counselor but it isn’t the fittest to the job. If were more people who want to connect to the past it could be better boys and girls trying to understand what happened and how to help, is significantly

more interesting that only see a girl who don’t know better.

The idea of mythology mixing is a very interesting one but see it getting used is very rare, it could be a heart breaking story, about strangers that became friend to get a common goal save the world because is worth protecting it, if you chose good the characters and make a good quantity of research, is possible do a good story of connection of cultures that’s is something is happening right now with the globalization phenomena. We need history’s that show us that we can convive together, and that’s is why Kamigami no Asobi is a waste.

by Francisca Valenzuela

[megamanx1994]

The Legend of Kuzon Chapter 1

(Kuzon Tao a.k.a Knuckle Joe is a vigillante fighting criminals in Republic City. However when a new crime boss invades and threatens to destroy everything he cares about, Kuzon teams up with the Avatar to put a stop to his evil plot with the help of his other bender friends. This is an alternate take on the Korra Turf Wars trilogy)

Chapter 1: Legends Rise (Disclaimer! I own nothing of Korra!) Air Water Earth Fire These are the elements of many benders of the world. Thanks to the efforts of the original Avatar, Aang and Fire Lord Zuko, Republic City was born. We've gone through troubled times over the years, but they were all avoided and we were all saved by the new avatar, Korra. Other heroes like Captain Falcon and The Peacekeepers did their part to help whenever they could. I believed what I was told, and I assumed that there could never be another unique bender like the avatar. But then something happened, that changed everything… Four people were running with Korra going after a blimp. The blimp was about to unleash some kind of gas that would take out all the benders in the area. The guy with the blonde hair was using fire bending to force bad guys out of the way. That's Kuzon Tao, the bravest guy I've ever known. One of the others formed a concrete shield around him and piled through a group of chi blockers. He's Kanji, and well…. He likes Earth. The one with the ponytail is Anana Hookfin, a spectacular waterbender. We call her "fish hooks." The one with the green hair is me. I'm Saria Forest. I’m an airbender, and well…. I'm not so brave. But that's ok because I have Kuzon and the gang, and they're my best friends! But if I'm gonna tell this story right, I'm gonna have to take you back to a while ago. A while Ago….. Late at night, a group of robbers were making their way out of a jewelry shop. "Selling these is gonna make me a mint," said the boss. "Hey boss," said one of the robbers, "How come we're the ones doing the heavy lifting while you're standing there?" "Cause I'm the one who started the heist idea, that makes me the leader," said the boss, "Now stop yapping." They started putting the stolen jewels in the truck. "Hey what's with all the noise?" Asked someone. It was Kuzon in his newly colored suit. "Some of us are trying to sleep," he said, "Couldn't you wait til tomorrow to do this heist you're trying to pull off." "Who the fuck is this guy?" Asked one of the robbers. "Ok, this is the part where you tell me your name, what your intentions are, etc. etc, and I stop you," said Kuzon. "Who we are is not your concern, whoever you are," said the boss, "And we can't let you tell anyone what we're doing." "Ok, I guess I'm gonna star," said Kuzon, "I'm Knuckle Joe!" He threw a fireball at one of the robbers. "And you've just stepped into my school of hard knocks," he finished. One of the robbers grabbed a gun and trapped Kuzon in some kind of force field. He managed to break out. "Wow cool toys," he said. More thugs showed up ready to fight him. "Alright," Kuzon said, "Let's do this." Two of them went after Kuzon and he did a jump and slammed his fist on the ground forcing both of them back. "C'mon don't be shy," Kuzon said, "There's plenty of me to go around!" They all came at him one by one. Kuzon used various fire bending techniques to take them out. One of the robbers started firing at him and Kuzon used the fire as a shield. "Nice try," he said. He then did one of his signature moves, the Vulcan jab and finished it with a rising break. His fist was on fire as he did the uppercut. Soon afterwards the robbers were rounded up and Lin's police force arrived on the scene. There was a note that said; "Found your jewel thieves. Courtesy from Knuckle Joe." "Who is this guy chief?" Asked one of the officers. "Whoever he is, he's a great help," Lin said cuffing one of them. "Awesome job," said Zoe, Kuzon's little sister talking to him through a communicator, "You've certainly been practicing your bending techniques. "Yep, I think I did pretty good out there," Kuzon said. "Wang would be proud," Zoe said. "He sure would," Kuzon said looking into the sky. "Although next time if you want to do the fire uppercut technique, hole onto the flame and then release it when you do the punch," Zoe said. "Oh, that explains why that move failed," Kuzon said, "But other than that, it was awesome!" He took off his mask. "I think I'm gonna call it a night," Kuzon said, "Gotta head to the garage early to rehearse for the battle of the bands," "Alright, good night Kuzon," Zoe said before signing off. "If anymore criminals wanna take over Republic city, then I'm ready for you too," Kuzon said doing a stance. He headed back to the garage and did some analysis on his combat moves. The next day he was asleep on the couch. "Kuzon you in there?" Asked someone. "Oh spirits I forgot!" Kuzon said, "Band practice!" He quickly changed into some clothes and came back out. "Kuzon?" I asked. "Hey Saria, I'm right here," he said. "Ok what happened to you?" Kanji asked. "Well I was taking on some crooks in the city all night," Kuzon said. The rest of us laughed. "C'mon Kuzon we all know you've been up here looking up music videos on guitar moves," Anana said. "Guilty as charged," Kuzon said. "Alright enough talk," Kanji said getting on the drums, "LET'S JAM!" He counted down and we begun playing.

We finished the song on a high note. "And the crowd goes wild, and many people scream Tone Benders!" Kanji said. "I know right, this song rocks!" Kuzon said, "Although while we played this my brain hatched an idea for another song." "Whoa dude, one idea at a time," Anana said laughing. "You're right," Kuzon said. He looked at his watch. "Well time to go deliver some stuff to Cappy Town," he said, "Let's call it a day." "You sound real good Kuzon," I said packing up my keyboard and guitar, "By the way. Who's this Korra person?" "What?" He asked. "I heard you talking in your sleep and heard this name 'Korra'," I said. Kuzon got up and said, "She's a childhood friend from years ago who lives in the south." "Well looks like she and the Avatar share the same name," Anana said. "I haven't seen her in years though," said Kuzon, "For all we know, she's probably forgotten about me." "I'm sure you'll see her again soon," I said, "Friendship is forever." "Thanks," Kuzon said, "Coming Kanji?" "You bet," Kanji, I gotta pick up my girlfriend anyway." Kuzon and Kanji were taking a bus to a neighboring city in the Earth Kingdom, Cappy Town. People were greeting him as he walked by. "Hey its my two favorite customers!" Said someone. It was Chef Kawasaki. "Hey chef," Kuzon and Kanji said in unison. "Two Kawasaki steaks on the house coming up!" He said passing them two steaks. "Thanks man," Kanji said. The two of them were walking to the King's castle. "So how was your date yesterday with Cidney?" Kuzon asked. "It was a blast," Kanji said, "Thanks for hooking me up with those tickets, Cidney loves those guys." "Don't mention it," Kuzon said. "I think its time you found someone too dude," said Kanji nudging his shoulder, "At this rate you'll be the only guy in our band aside from Anana who's single." "Well I…. You know that wasn't very funny," Kuzon said. A spark of lightning appeared to his left and then his right. "What the…." He said. "BOO!" Someone said scaring him. It was Kanji's girlfriend Cidney DeVille. She was gifted with the ability to thunderbend and she refers to herself as if she were more than one person. "Well, looks like our lightning actually can scare people," she said laughing. "I wasn't scared, I had…. Allergies to thunder," Kuzon said. "Yeah sure," said Cidney not believing him, "So what are you guys up to?" "Just delivering some goods to Uncle Dedede," Kuzon said. "The King?" Cidney asked. "Well he's not really my uncle," Kuzon said, "Just an uncle/father figure since…. You know." "Yeah," Kanji said, "But they're up in heaven watching you grow up to be a great man." "That can't bend," said Kuzon, "I'm still kinda jealous that my friends can bend an element. "Your sister can't bend an element," corrected Cidney. "True," said Kuzon. I was heading to the office where my Uncle Wenyan was speaking with the president. "….And so with the upcoming campaign coming up we've got to make sure you're represented as a hero," he continued. I had a poster hoping that he would be able to make it. "Mr. Wenyan, you're niece is here," said someone. "Tell her I don't have time to talk right now," he said. "Can't you make some time?" I asked. "Saria I'm in the middle of an important conversation," Uncle Wenyan said. "More important than me?" I asked. "Not exactly, but you know what I mean," he said. "Uncle, my band and I are participating in the Battle of the Bands competition and we were hoping you could come," I said. "Again with this music nonsense?" Uncle Wenyan asked, "Why can't you realize that music is a waste of time?" "That's not the point," I said, "There are a lot of people that think I can make a career out of music." "Well those people are wrong," Uncle Wenyan said, "These past few events have been occurring and bringing our city into ruin because of the Avatar, and President Raiko is doing all he can to keep us all in order." "But…" I said. "There are people with bigger careers that will make what you can do absolete," he said, "In this reality, playing music is a JOKE!" I was hurt by those words. "You're never gonna come to my gigs are you?" I asked. "No," he said. He continued his conversation with the president. But I didn't care as I was excited to tell my bandmates about it. Kuzon made his way to the king's throne. "Uncle Dedede?" He asked. The king approached him. "Kuzon, why I haven't seen you since…. I can't say it enough, I'm so sorry about your brother," he said. "He use to bring me up here to see Earthbenders at work," Kuzon said, "About earlier…." "Water under the bridge," said King Dedede, "Is there anything you need?" "No just stopping by while I did my errands," Kuzon said. "Well anytime you need someone to talk to I'm right here," said King Dedede as he smiled. Back at Republic City someone was sharpening their weapons. One of his men approached the room. "I expect some good news," he said. "Lord Tokuga, We managed to find the locations of the materials we need for your plan," said the henchmen. "Excellent," Tokuga said facing him, "We will commence soon enough."

[okami2506]

Oh and tell us about your oc’s pleaseeee

Ohgosh..how do I answer that?

I have somany of them that I can’t explain everything and everyone in full length xD Soto spare some of you from torture, I’ll add everything under the cut :P

So the mainthing you need to know is that every Oc I have is from the same universe/story(yeeesss I have a story that needs a bit of work to finish lol) What’s thestory about thought?….HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM… It’s mostly focused on my main’sadventures and it involves the entire world of supernatural beings and how itfunctions (races, world mechanics, kingdoms, relations etc) The other general rule that applies to almost all of them is that powers are a must. So everyone has apower from a roster of 15 cores (it’s a jewel-ish thing from which all theirpower comes from and it’s somewhere hidden in their body). So to put it inperspective of how many ocs actually exist, I’ll just show you this image that alignseach character with their respective power. And not all of them are listed yetbut that’ll give you an idea of how it’s nearly impossible to talk about all ofthem…here and now at least:

 There’s alsomagic, dark magic, dragons, deities, time traveling and maaaaaany things I can’texplain in detail unless I link you docs about them.

That’s forthe really vague general description of them. Now explain individually foreach character is hard so I’ll try and give you some insight on some of my preciousimportant ones (or you know..those I can actually show you a picture of)  A small disclaimer: if you’re easily triggeredby ideas going against your religion or you’re easily offended, please don’tread this. (there’s nothing explicit here but just in case…)

I gotta reduce the description on these. If you wanna know any additional info about any of them just ask me and I’ll have a more appropriate analysis for them. But for now have this sorry excuse of description:

Keith (the dude on the front) isthe main character of this story. He’s a demon prince (cliché I know) who runaway from his homeland (another cliché in a row, I know) with his guardian,Rosally. The demonic kingdom was under attack by angels (remember that trigger Imentioned earlier?) so to save the last remaining child of her beloved queenLucinta, Rosally ran with little prince precious to Earth! (yeeeeee  there are actually two worlds  in this story, one connected to the other.Earth is the origin world of humans, where some supernaturals took refuge andhid, and the other is Vadose. Vadose is the homeworld of all things magical andit’s connected to earth with some underground passages.) Prince precious hidesand grows up next to hoomans until shit gets real there too. Aftersome character growth he is required to leave Earth and return to his homelandto fix things back at his kingdom cause that place went to shit too.  He’s your typical sassy goofball who hastrusting issues at the beginning, but learns to open up a bit and turn into a protective, rude, easily angered but supportive teen/adult.  I could write essays for this boy but let’skeep it simple. He has the power of shadow, meaning he has control overdarkness, moves swiftly, quietly and jumps around like a ninja with clawsssss.So in short, he’s an assassin.  He has 2brothers and 2 sisters who all survived the attack way back then and reunite with him years later. From oldestto youngest -> Edge, Klein and Jewls (twins), Anzul.

Nala is myimaginary spirit animal lol. She’s prince precious’ best friend since foreverand something like family. She’s been with the royal family from very young ageand ever since she swore to protect their butts and become a skilled warrior (easily the strongest of the gang and the big sis). Nala is aRed Phoenix and has fire powers. For more info look at this challenge.

Edge is thebig brother of our group…literally. He has a huge swag and an equally hugesword. He is the caring, calm and buffed person of the group with huge-ass strength. Klein on theother hand is the weak, coward and sensitive of the group but also the secondmom of the family.(he’s male and i mean he just takes care of everybody.) He’s just too pure of heart and not too thrilled to fightbad peeps but at least he can cook and do alchemy stuff.(i don’t have a good ref for these two so i’ll just…leave this? Edge has redhair and Klein is on top of him xD) There’s also Daren (the tiny dude), Rosally’s mentor. He may look 11 but you can bet your ass he’s older than her. (cursed boi was left to rot in a body that never ages) Wise smol child is a thunder user and the strategist of the gang.

Rosally ismy vampire queen (not a real queen though) and like I mentioned before, Keith’sguardian. Poor soul adopted prince precious ever since they ran away and has ahabit of caring for anyone younger than her like she’s their mom or something.And that’s because she was supposed to be unable to bear children of her ownbut jokes on her, she got tricked by life. The point is that she’s the mom ofthis story and Lucinta’s best friend aka Keith’s real mom. Vampire mom uses windpowers and a fan because she’s elegant af and a true lady.

Hope  is the devil of the story  Rosally’s real daughter and a mischievouswitch. She’s the only human worth mentioning here and the only one to havepowers because of her mother’s blood and DNA. She and mommy both possess darkmagic powers from some evil books. (story for another time whoops) Also she hasa bo, his name is Raiki and I love them.

Uno andJewls… well, see this. Note that these belong to the far future.

Ammy is thecinnamon roll of this story and a wolf-person. She’s a priestess who belonged to an extinct clan so she grew up alone,all cheerful and sunshine for some reason. There was another cinnamon roll inthis story but he got murdered. His name was Leon and was Keith’s bae.

Seraphia isan angel who’s the main villain of this story. But it’s cool since she has asister who’s one of the heroes! Her name is Nika and she’s a sunshine roll witha cheetah-kinda dude protecting her cause we miss the tsundere type. (his nameis Luke and he likes to purr) Needless to say Seraphia and Keith don’t likeeach other.

Uhh….

…..

I guessthat’s the extremely short version!! Can’t you tell i suck at storytelling??

Honestly though, I’m really, really grateful for this ask! Thank you so much for your interest! I know it’s messy and explains absolutely nothing about the characters of the story but the story’s lore itself is really long and the characters are all over the place. I have links on their names for a reference pic so you’ll know who the heck i’m talking about. Any interest in this little hellhole is much appreciated! :))))))

[xparrot]

Thor Ragnarok

Went to Thor Ragnarok last night and just, WOW YES WOW. It lived up to its preview and that is saying something (if anything I am disappointed I watched the preview, it spoiled some bits a little. Not that there wasn’t so much more to enjoy, it’s not that it ruined all the best stuff, but.)

It was hilarious and ridiculous and took the occasional turn into heartfelt and then whiplashed out of it in that way that I love so much. The characters were all perfect, both in casting (oh my god Cate Blanchett was such an outrageously awesome villain, her voice and her poise and that helmet) and in characterizations.

And the leads -- Loki was amazing, amaaaaazing, everything I want my Loki to be; but I actually think Thor might have been even better -- the one worry I had, watching the previews, was that they would make Thor into a complete doofus, but no -- while he is a blowhard idiot and a lot of the jokes are at his deserved expense, he’s also courageous and perceptive and legit clever, a lot, like, briefly talking science with Bruce or executing plans and just...okay, I wrote 150K of Thor, I got really fond of the guy, and while this version isn’t mine, it’s what I loved most in mine.

And Thor and Loki together were perfection, every single scene they had, and there were a ton of them, which will get spoilery so under a cut they go.

I don’t know what my more favorite thing is. That Loki is a trickster, the god of mischief, that every single goddamn thing he does is motivated both by emotions and in pursuit of some chaotic agenda, but you can never tell how much is one or the other, like, maybe he’s a better person than he seems, or maybe he’s even worse and is just getting better at hiding it.

Or that Thor has his number now, that Thor was manipulating Loki more than vice versa, and so slickly, playing both on his emotions (his whole ”I wanted us fighting side by side but that’s not what you want” and the “you could be more”) and his trickster side (”you’re getting predictable”) and Loki at the end is there for real, and is it because he wants to be beside Thor? Or because he just wants to prove Thor wrong now? Or because he has another plan?

(The question is, how well does Thor know him -- does Thor know that Loki totally absolutely without-a-doubt took the Tesseract? And that’s probably why Thanos is dropping by to pick it up...)

From their first scene -- that Thor had figured Loki out (how long did it take him to suspect? Clearly Surtur saying Odin wasn’t in Asgard was just confirming what Thor had already guessed) and then he threatens him and then Loki reveals himself (and the Asgardians don’t seem THAT shocked, like, how many of them did suspect? Loki, you’re so bad at this) -- and then Thor and Loki are on Earth and snarking at each other like estranged brothers but not like nemeses.

And them with Odin, Loki twitching every time Odin said “my sons” -- and how much do I love that, that despite the occasional “adopted” quip, that’s a joke; the reality is that Loki is Odin’s son and Thor’s brother, no matter what he does or how reprehensible he is -- that you can’t undo family with a convenient “we’re not technically blood relations,” that’s not the way it works. And Hela is their sister, too, in all her pain and anger and power.

I loved the mythical themes, that these are gods. “GOD of Thunder,” Thor keeps insisting, but he’s right to, it matters -- the power isn’t in his hammer, the power is what he is. And Loki is the god of mischief and there’s a certain...if not absolution, at least understanding there? Even Heimdall doesn’t really hold a grudge against him, there’s this sense of, ‘Well, it’s Loki, what are you going to do?’ -- you can’t change him, not exactly, but you can redirect him; a trickster isn’t innately evil, just innately chaotic, and chaos is necessary.

Which sounds like a serious analysis of such an absurdly silly movie, especially when I loved it for being so silly (though that was not least of which because tricksters are so much better in comedies). But there were so many delightful themes and stories embedded in the silliness!

(and I haven’t even mentioned Valkyrie and her incredible introduction! Or Taika Watiti voicing Korg. Or Loki’s black suit on Earth, thank you costumers, thank you so much...)

[the-desolated-quill]

Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch - Iron Fist blog

(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. If you haven’t seen this episode yet, you may want to before reading this review)

Well how about that. An episode of Iron Fist that didn’t bore me into a coma. Oh don’t get me wrong. There’s still problems galore, but at least I could watch Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch without begging for the sweet release of death.

I think the main reason why I like this episode more than the first two is because this is the first episode not written by showrunner Scott Buck. Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch was written by Quinton Peeples, who seems to have a much better grasp of how to structure a story and progress a narrative. The pace isn’t as tortuously slow as it was in previous episodes, everything moves at a pretty fast clip and it did manage to hold my interest.

It appears we’ve finally gotten past the whole ‘is this really Danny Rand’ thing and they’ve now shifted to Danny having to try and legally prove his identity, enlisting the help of Jeri Hogarth from Jessica Jones to do so. While part of me wants them to just wrap it up now, it’s nice to see the characters do something more proactive for a change instead of just standing around and wringing their hands. Of course Ward is going out of his way to erase any existing evidence of Danny Rand, which injects some much needed tension into the proceedings. The fight in the hospital archive was the first time I ever came close to being engaged by what’s happening on screen.

But what really stole the show for me was Jessica Stroup as Joy Meachum as we get fascinating insights into her character that really elevates her above her brother and father. After we see Joy and Danny start to bond on her doorstep, she drops the bombshell that she’s willing to pay $100 million dollars for Danny’s shares in the company if Danny agrees to change his name and go into hiding. Danny, understandably, doesn’t like this idea very much, to which Joy responds by putting Danny on a guilt trip, saying that she and Ward worked hard to make that money and that Danny couldn’t come swanning back after 15 years and mess things up, as though he had a choice about what happened to him and his parents. I think this is the first time I’ve ever empathised with Danny in any way (don’t get excited though. The episode ruins it later on, but I’ll come back to that).

While Joy seems to be more reasonable than her brother, they are clearly cut from the same cloth. Both have become accustomed to their wealth and social status and don’t want anything to get in the way, including Danny. Joy also seems to be willing to use unorthodox methods to achieve her goals, just like Ward. In quite possibly the best scene of the season so far, Joy offers a dying child’s liver for this guy’s son in exchange for the pier that Ward (and the Hand) want. I loved Stroup’s performance in this scene. I was surprised and genuinely disturbed by how cold and seemingly uncaring Joy is, treating a child’s organs as little more than a business commodity just to get a good deal. This is very dark stuff, and I kind of half wish they would get rid of Ward and Harold and just make Joy the antagonist. She certainly has more of a presence than those two.

So Danny and Jeri now have proof that Danny is who he says he is thanks to the fingerprint on the homemade pot Danny gave Joy as a birthday present when they were kids (I like how they keep it ambiguous as to whether or not Danny stole it or if Joy finally grew a conscience and gave it to him), and now the legal battle over ownership of Rand Enterprises (or is it Industries?) has begun. I like how Danny isn’t motivated by money or power. He just wants to preserve his identity and protect his family’s legacy. Danny is only going to these lengths because the Meachums forced his hand. Okay. I can get onboard with that. There’s just one problem with this, and that’s Danny himself.

I’m sorry, but I still don’t like this character very much. Part of it is down to the performance, with Finn Jones having all the charm and charisma of an itchy verruca, but it’s mostly down to the writing. I mentioned earlier how I was actually starting to empathise with Danny when Joy stuck her oar in. Well that was ruined when Danny, once again, barges into Colleen’s dojo and starts telling her class the proper way to do martial arts. Putting aside the racial implications of a white guy instructing an Asian master of a dojo how to properly run a martial arts class, it demonstrates a sense of entitlement and arrogance that just isn’t appealing. Why should I sympathise with this bratty know-it-all? This privileged white boy who thinks he knows best. Who does he think he is? I wouldn’t dream of walking into, say, a science lecture and telling the lecturer how to instruct their students. That would be incredibly rude and insensitive, right? So why does Danny think this is acceptable?

Since I’ve mentioned Finn Jones, let’s quickly talk about the fight scenes. One of the many recurring criticisms of this show is that the fight scenes are shit. I respectively disagree. The fight scenes are actually pretty decent for the most part... when Finn Jones isn’t doing it. I mean did you see Colleen in that fight club scene? That was awesome! It was fast, brutal and intense. Compare that to the scene where Danny ‘instructs’ Colleen. Suddenly the fight choreography is a lot slower and less engaging. Why is this? The problem can’t be with the choreography because, as I said, the fight club scene is cool. The only possible explanation is that Finn Jones can’t do the fights. It looks as though the director asked Jessica Henwick to slow down in order to accommodate Jones. Now, call me crazy, but if I were making an Iron Fist TV series, I would cast somebody who could, you know, actually fight. We know for a fact that the people behind the scenes were determined to stay true to the source material and cast a white person as Danny Rand, and they have every right to do that. But if you’re so determined to keep the main character white that you cast a guy that not only can’t fight, but is also hindering the performers around him who can fight, maybe it’s time to reevaluate your priorities.

Basically what I’m saying is Lewis Tan should have been Iron Fist.

But it’s not just the arrogance and casual racism. There’s other things to. Like the patronising sexism for example. Danny keeps insisting that he doesn’t want to leave the dojo because he’s worried that Colleen will be in danger, despite the fact that she can easily take care of herself (she’s the master of a dojo, for fuck’s sake) and that he’s the one that brought the danger to her in the first place. Also he’s a bit shit at this whole protection thing, isn’t he, because at the beginning of the episode when those guys break in, Danny hides on the ceiling. Wow. Very heroic.

But the biggest problem of all is... why? Why has Danny come back from K’un L’un after all this time? Why is he in New York? It’s difficult to empathise with him because we still don’t know anything about him and we have no idea what his goal or motivation is. This is basic shit, guys. This is like the first thing they teach you at a creative writing class.

Finally let’s talk about Harold and Ward. Things are threatening to become interesting with Ward having second thoughts about being in charge of the company and the revelation that Harold isn’t so much working for the Hand, but rather he’s their puppet. Unfortunately I was somewhat distracted by the Hand’s supposed leader... Madame Gao?

But... Madame Gao never worked for the Hand. Aren’t the Hand a Japanese group? Madame Gao is Chinese. They made that pretty clear in Daredevil Season 1. Nobu and Madame Gao worked for separate factions. Scott Buck does know the difference between Chinese and Japanese, right? Bloody hell, I don’t think even the original Iron Fist comics made that mistake. Maybe they’re going somewhere with this, but I’m going to be keeping a watchful eye on this development because... this is kind of dodgy.

While Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch is nothing to get excited about, it is at least an improvement over the dull and plodding first two episodes. Whether the rest of the season will follow this trajectory and continue to improve remains to be seen.

[withacorkscrew-blog]

Sherlock: The Lying Detective

**Sherlock analysis/spoilers below**

In which some people don’t understand what makes villains villainous, what makes characters human, and the difference between love and disaster (or style and substance). 

And in which, again, “some people” does not refer to Sherlock Holmes (mostly).

Also ft. the id!fic I very specifically asked to not ever see, and sadness. 

Starting with the easiest bits, going towards the hardest. 

Does this give us an arc? The return of Billy. The return of Irene Adler. Appearances by Mrs Hudson and Molly and Lestrade and Lady Smallwood. Redbeard, too. The return of a whole bundle of visual motifs: Sherlock’s case wall, Sherlock’s violence towards his case wall, an almost replica of the shot following Irene Adler’s drugging of Sherlock, Sherlock’s deduction with the window and the attendant visual affects, Sherlock’s juvenile wit with the Bollocks map, Benedict Cumberbatch seeming to infuse a certain amount of joy into the role again during Sherlock’s breakdown...a lot of old favorites returned to the show this week, and it felt good. In the moment. But, at least to this point, those pieces don’t feel like they fit together. The underlying logic that would unite them isn’t there. It could be! What if Billy had given Sherlock some of the memory drug? Or what if Mrs Hudson and Billy were in cahoots to get Sherlock the least damaging drugs since, as she points out, her husband was a drug dealer? What if more of the characters interacted with each other? Or did more than their professions, since we get Molly doctoring and Lestrade detectiving, and none of the cohesive human interactions that make the characters feel like more than props? But none of that happened. Maybe the next episode will create that, but at this point It isn't betting odds imo. Not impossible, but not looking great,

Do Mofftiss understand what makes villains villainous? Culverton could have been brilliant political allegory and a psychologically haunting villain. The idea that power creates opportunities for deadly, consequence-free callousness couldn’t be more timely for either European or US audiences. The idea of a rich, powerful man who takes joy in removing people’s agency, who will discard their lives for fun, and who gets away with joking about it on TV...well. The problem is that Mofftiss don’t understand the psychology of marginalization and precarity well enough to understand why that’s a horrific scenario, what’s at stake, how it feels to face down a power that can hold your life in its hands and decide what to do with you based on a whim. They’re closer to being that power than being subject to it (and that’s one reason why this story would’ve been better told in someone else’s hands). That terror is what would’ve made Culverton work. Instead, we get close-ups of his teeth which, like Magnusson’s face-licking, were affectively gross, but not worth more emotionally then a perfunctory wince, and that does more to tell us more how Mofftiss feel about ugly people than it does to establish investment in this nemesis or Sherlock’s victory over him. Reducing him to a fallible, clownish, one-off villain is a waste, and the lack of understanding is telling and terrible.

Did Mofftiss mean to write the TV equivalent of id!fic? Powerful middle-aged white men who make veiled confessions on TV can get away with murder. Are they even trying for subtlety? I mean, I figured that was just my own reading, but then the back to back “It’s amazing what people will ignore if you’re rich and powerful,” and “With this, I could crack America.” The TARDIS-esque hospital room wallpaper and quick shot to aliens on Culverton’s lot didn’t do much to put me off either. I can no longer tell whether this is self-aware wink-wink nudge-nudging, a total lack of self-awareness, or subconscious leakage. But has anyone checked their airing cupboards?

Do Mofftiss understand what people mean about strong women? Cue maniacal laughter, because we already know the answer. It’s just particularly disappointing in this moment, when these twists could have been really fucking cool. Mrs Hudson is a confident badass and there’s a Holmes sister? That would be brilliant! If it was done brilliantly! So...it isn’t. As much fun as I had watching Mrs Hudson - and it was a lot, until the unease set in - it was so far out of left field I almost hurt my neck trying to look for its source. This is the same Mrs Hudson who jumps at loud noises and cries while being tortured by Americans and can’t tolerate being yelled at by Mycroft - and she’s dodging gunshots and strategically dropping things to handcuff violent drug addicts and convincing the lads downstairs to stuff them in the boot of her sports car? I bought that she might hide a phone in her robe, that sort of matter of fact bravery. I bought her deduction to Mycroft and that she would kick Mycroft’s men out to preserve John’s privacy and emotional space. I’ve long bought that she was exceptional in a number of ways. But put all that in a classic mid-life-crisis-mobile and add a dose of violence, and I’m not sure whether I’m looking at a Mrs Hudson or a retired Bond Girl. I am pretty sure this isn’t the Mrs Hudson we’ve seen before. And Euros...the first thing we learn about her is that she uses her appearance to deceive. The Holmes brothers work on intellect and emotion. The Holmes sister? Straight to feminine wiles. Her first big reveal doesn’t center around her mind; it revolves around the audience watching her recreate a seduction and begin to undress. It’s as though Mofftiss can’t conceive of “strong women” beyond the femme fatale trope and that’s really limited. To say the least. I want to know what Mrs Hudson listens to on the radio and why. I want to know how Molly decides what to make for lunch and what it was like for her to realize who her boyfriend Jim was. I want to know how Irene Adler learned to adminster tranquilizers. I want to know how Donovan felt about Sherlock’s death and how it is for her working with Lestrade and Anderson. I want women with interior lives, with interests and motivations and relationships that don’t revolve around men. Kind of like all the ones I know in real life. 

Who are these people? I’m losing track. John is becoming a superspy, thanks to his internal marylogue, and making some very Sherlock-esque deductions, especially with that happy birthday at the end. He also can’t forgive Sherlock, even though he forgave him a faked death and a two-year-long disappearance, but still has chats with Mycroft (who he has to tell to stop calling?), and is hallucinating his dead wife, who he never really seemed to like very much, and also, in the midst of that, completely rolls with the fact that yet another person who he thought was dead is not actually? Sherlock was abstracted and ��distant in the last episode, and in this one he’s half killing himself to provoke John into rescuing him and giving mini-speeches about how death affects people and confessing that he’s afraid of dying and admitting that he texts Irene Adler back and talking about how he has the terrible feeling that we might all be human and holding John in a soft embrace? Mycroft is calling John all the time and flirting with Lady Smallwood and letting information about Sherrinford/Euros slip out accidentally? Lestrade is unconcerned with Sherlock’s well-being? Mrs Hudson is treating central London like Thunder Road? Who are these characters, and where did they come from? And who will they be next week? 

John and Sherlock - what? This meta going around suggests that John has become abusive. Watching the episode, I wondered if Sherlock had. He self-harms as a form of manipulation, he tests John’s loyalty in all sorts of ways, he makes unilateral decisions about what’s in John’s best interest even when that puts John in danger, he puts responsibility for his well-being on John’s shoulders, he condescends to and belittles John regularly, he lies to him, hides things from him, he faked his own death for two years and abandoned him while there were dozens of other people who knew...while the aforelinked meta makes some great points, Sherlock’s behavior isn’t exactly healthy. My point here is not that Sherlock is the abuser, though. My point is that their relationship is deeply, dangerously toxic, and I’m not sure how, or whether, I can keep rooting for it as either a romance or a friendship. My instinct in watching their interactions is that these are two people who have been so deeply hurt by each other that there’s no coming back, no real possibility of trust and good faith. That doesn’t mean there isn’t also love there, or that there couldn’t also be forgiveness, or that there can’t be moments of connection based on their shared history, in which they try to keep being the sources of support and understanding that they once were to each other. I don’t think, for instance, that their hug was unrealistic. But I also don’t think it was a moment of great support and reconciliation so much as a moment of convenience and/or last resort because, as Mary points out, they don’t have other options. That’s not love, platonic or romantic; that’s codependence. And I can’t imagine a scenario in which they would still be able to have a genuinely healthy relationship. For that matter, I can’t imagine a scenario in which they would be able to have a relationship that’s anything other than mutual enabling. If there’s anything to grant here, it’s that they might both want to be in an mutually enabling emotional conflagration; they’ve both got self-destructive streaks a mile wide, and this way they get all the pain and someone else to blame for it, and humans are complicated. And hey, who knows who they’ll be next week? But it’s not a thing I, personally, can hope to see more of. It’s not a thing I want to watch. It’s not a thing that makes me care for the characters or their relationship. With my last reserves of caring about either of them, I no longer want Sherlock and John to be together, in any capacity. I want them at a good distance, preferably with therapists who aren’t villainous family members in disguise. 

And then there’s the show’s treatment of their feelings for one another, which I am too tired on too many levels to even touch with a damn bargepole.

Where does this leave things? If John and Sherlock - their relationship, their teamwork as partners in crime-solving, their interactions - are the heart of the show (which I think they are), and John and Sherlock have both become so destructive to themselves and each other that their relationship, in any capacity, is one I want to see continue - what’s left? 

This episode gives an answer: flash. There were moments that were genuinely exhilarating. Seeing Mrs Hudson play the badass, the reveal of a Holmes sister, the recurrence of ‘Miss Me,’ Benedict Cumberbatch’s joyfully unhinged drug-addled attempts at case-solving...it was exciting to watch. Stylish, quick, colorful. Empty. And a bit sad. This show was great because it was tight and interesting, because the characters were relatable, because viewers’ attention was rewarded. It was never the flash that made it. When the flash is most of what’s left...that’s not much. 

tl;dr:  :( 

Things to watch:

They’ve introduced a technology that can alter memories; on a show based on deduction and intellect that could be an exceptionally powerful plot device. Was it a one-off, or will they manage to make use of it? And if so, will it be as a weapon, or as someone’s choice? And who gets to decide? Or has it already been used?

See also, the trailer for The Final Problem: “Every choice you’ve ever made, every path you’ve ever taken, the man you are today, is your memory of Euros.” “Your memory of” is an interesting choice of wording, especially since the memory is neither so strong nor so recent that (an admittedly drug-addled but still very observant) Sherlock could recognize her in multiple disguises and on multiple occasions.

Potentially related, Sherlock is intrigued by what drugs do to his mind. Will that become a profitable line of inquiry?  

We keep seeing Redbeard, and it’s clear that that’s important. Is Rebeard an abstract representation of something? Did Euros kill Redbeard? Or is there some parallel there - Sherlock was told they both were sent to live on a farm? Sherlock has confused (or been made confused) one with the other? 

When Sherlock and Mary get shot, we see the bullet in slow motion. When Euros shot, we saw a wisp of smoke, but no bullet. Was it a blank? 

Sherlock not having recognized Euros will probs be a thing too, so therefore a thing to watch, idk.

The female detective who appeared briefly in TST, only to disappear again - was that a character who will recur, sloppy continuity/disposable women, or Euros?

What or who is Sherrinford? Another sibling? A location? A code name? 

What the hell was going on in the Holmes household? 

We still don’t know who sent Mary’s CD. Who? Or is this a continuity issue? Or is the explanation that Mary already knew it was going to happen, which I would roll my eyes v heartily about? 

Who will all of the characters be next week? (It’s an adventure!) 

Random thought: There was a person of color in this episode!  Just pointing it out because that doesn’t always happen. As is, of course, to be expected in contemporary London, where everyone is white. Good times, good times. In addition to all the words spilled on this show’s sexism, perhaps we should dedicate some to this show’s casual racist erasure.

[thebloggerryan-blog]

The Last of Us Part 2 Trailer 2 Analysis

Ryan Toscano

10/30/2017

Recap:

So the second trailer for The Last of Us Part 2 has dropped, and while there was no gameplay, no Ellie, and no Joel, there is still a ton to take away from this trailer. The opening black is coated with the sounds of rain and thunder in a forest. We are looking up into the trees until the camera moves down revealing two hooded figures dragging someone into the dense forest. One of these figures looks like a large man, and the other a women, so I can’t be the only one who was wondering if this was Joel and Ellie.

It isn’t. Instead we see a couple of big “goon” types, and a braid haired woman who seems to be some sort of cult leader. We’ll get to this in a little bit. The scene is in The Last of Us fashion, and by that I mean grim. The only source of light is from the source of a torched car, and hanging in the trees are bodies… gutted bodies. And unfortunately for the lady being dragged in the woods, this seems to be her fate, as she is swiftly strung up by her neck and promptly lifted. A bucket to tip toe on the only means to prevent asphyxiation.

The women reveals herself to her apparent victim and takes out her shiv. “You are nested with sin” she claims just before lifting her shirt and placing that blade upon her belly. “Nested” is such a perfect word here in this world. Creating “nests” is exactly what clickers do. From underground subway systems to college dorms, nests are clickers specialty. Just this simple choice of word creates a level of horror. Then the braided women tells her to “breathe in” which can’t help but bring my mind to the fungal spores of the infected.

A scream from the woods sends a goon off to the forest, and he comes back with another goon, holding a young girl by her arms. This girl is named Yara. We learn this from the braided cult leader as she approaches. I say “cult leader” because she specifically calls Yara (and Lev, we’ll get to him soon) an“apostate.” An apostate is someone who renounces a religious OR political belief. One small detail later in the trailer leads me to lean on the religious end of the spectrum. This being when Lev refers to the infected/clickers as “demons.”

Upon the cult leader requesting to know where “the other apostate” is, Yara spits in her face. A defiance that brings me back to Ellie snapping David’s finger during the incredible “Winter” sequence of the first game. This leads to another interesting use of dialog, when the goons are ordered to “clip her (Yara’s) wings.” There is one true as blue winged animal that is a focus in The Last of Us and that is a firefly.

Yara’s left arm is brutally smashed in with a hammer. This is the kind of brutality you get with The Last of Us, and the scene continues to deliver when an arrow pierces through the face of the goon ready to smash Yara’s remaining working arm, and then another through his heart. Lev is apparently a damn good shot.  The distraction allows Yara to grab the hammer and smash the face of goon #2.

Yara raises to her feet grabbing the hammer, as cult leader raises her gun, only to be distracted from a shot in the woods. All this time leaves the viewer, and the cult leader, to forget about the chick they noosed up on the tree. She wraps her legs around the cult leader's throat, slowing her down just enough for Yara to smash the sharp end of the hammer through the cult leader’s temple. The first struggle is over and it’s wake the women left on the noose is left dangling without a bucket, choking.

Lev reveals himself from the woods, claims that the “demons are coming,” and is told by Yara to “cut her down.” He denies her at first, claiming that she’s “one of them,” but is convinced when Yara tells him again more sternly. Not only does Yara understand that without her, she would likely be dead, but also if the “demons” are coming, someone is going to have to make up for her broken arm.

The three stars of the trailers are revealed to us in an Avengers like camera pan. The lady that was hung up is extremely jacked, holding the hammer just pulled out of the head of the dead cult leader. Lev has his bow pulled back, looking from side to side as the rustling and groans from the infected draw nearer. Yara is holding the shiv up in her right arm, as her broken left arms hangs at her side. Yara and Lev are told to “watch their backs,” the violin music picks up slightly, and a vicious pack of clickers comes their way.

Analysis: 

There is so much good stuff to take away from this trailer. I want to start with the religious aspects of the trailer, and how it projects the tale we are getting from The Last of us Part 2. “Apostate” is the big clue here in the trailer, along with the word choice of “demon”, but the tiny touches in the trailer really bang the point home. The whole vibe of the trailer screams “satanist sacrifice.”

From the very beginning we are looking at figures cloaked in black, dragging someone away to be hung up and displayed. The only source of light in this trailer is a fire of a burning car. Fire and satan are obvious connection, but then the gutted bodies hung up on the trees make my mind jump to human sacrifice. The leader of the goons talks of “sin” is an obvious nod to religion. Even the string instrument that plays throughout the trailer creates the music that is often so associated with church.

The strongest moment in my mind, is when Yara is being held down in order to have her “wings clipped.” When she is laid out on the ground  her arm are stretched out horizontally, and her legs are pulled straight down. The goons holding her down are using a hammer to smash her arms in. This scene isn’t just a girl being tortured, this is directly using Yara as a symbol of Jesus. Of course it is done its very own The Last of Us way, because instead of having  her hands and feet nailed to a cross, she is getting her “wings” bludgeoned on the cold dirt.

In my recap I mentioned that the word “wings” was an easy reference to make towards firefly’s, but what if it’s something else? In religion, angels are known for their halo’s and their wings. Is this trailer insinuating that Yara is an angel of this world in some way?

While we’re looking into the symbolism of Yara the character, it’s also important to think of what this name means. I have found three different meanings for the name water that I’ll break down in order of importance. The first meaning is Brazilian, and in that culture Yara is a name that represents “water lady.” The trailer is covered in rain. Other than this I can’t reason anything in particular with what we’re given.

The second meaning is Persian, and in that culture, Yara means “someone you love.” Obviously Lev is a pretty good first choice as this someone. They look like they could be brother and sister, and their bond may be a relationship that The Last of Us Part 2 looks to explore just as much as Joel’s and Ellie’s relationship. This could also just mean how the player is going to feel about Yara. For as amazing as Joel is as a character, it’s easy to claim that the character players latched on to in The Last of Us was Ellie. With Ellie’s rage seemingly at a pinnacle for the sequel, Yara may be the character that you truly love. The character that you hope and pray gets out of the sequel unscathed, more so than any of the other characters.

It is the third meaning of the name Yara that really makes me think. This meaning is in arabic, and it is “small butterfly.” For one let's get this out of the way, Yara is young, she is small. Butterfly is the key word here. I keep being drawn back to “clip her wings.” Maybe this doesn’t refer to a firefly, or an angel, but a butterfly. Upon looking up the word “butterfly” you find out that a butterfly is a symbol of  endurance, hope, and life. Even more important is that in religion, a butterfly is symbolic of resurrection.

This meaning behind the name Yara as well as the hanging from the cross symbolism, really pits Yara as a symbol for Jesus. But what would the Jesus of this post fungus-apocalypse world be? With Christianity, Jesus died for our sins, and then later resurrected. You would think that Ellie’s character would be more fitting for the symbolism that they are putting on display for Yara. For me I am unsure, but I love seeing the clues that Neil Druckmann and company are leaving for us, and I’m so excited to see how this story puts those pieces into motion.

The Last of Us was a game that was all about the pitfalls of government. From the onset when panic caused the murder of Joel’s daughter, to the revolution in Pittsburgh (as well as other location) that led to nothing more than more violence, to the firefly’s themselves who were willing to stop at nothing to push their cause. At every turn you were being told a story about government tyranny and oppression. It seems like The Last of Us Part 2 looks to tackles the flip side of the same coin. I of course don’t have all the answers, and by the end of this soon to be masterpiece, I’m sure I’ll be left with more questions. I just can’t wait for the ride to officially begin. 

Quick Notes:

Lev is incredible with that bow. One through the face, and the next through the heart!

Lev is a Russian baby name that means ‘lion.” This trailer alone made me fall in love with all three of these characters, especially Yara and Lev. I’m excited to see how the traits of a lion will embody in his c Lev. The most obvious turn is potentially to his courage, but The Last of Us is a series that likes to swerve.

Lev is a Russian baby name that means ‘lion.” This trailer alone made me fall in love with all three of these characters, especially Yara and Lev. I’m excited to see how the traits of a lion will embody in his c Lev. The most obvious turn is potentially to his courage, but The Last of Us is a series that likes to swerve.

The lady being hung like a scarecrow is absolutely jacked! I would not want to see a brawl between her and Tess break out… Or maybe I would? How much are the tickets?

I truly believe that Yara could end up stealing the show in The Last of Us Part 2. We have already seen so much awesomeness from this clip that’s less than six minutes. Her defiance to spit in that woman’s face, her triumph when she plows that hammer through her skull, and her intelligence when she insisted that Lev “cut her down.”

There may have also been quite the gameplay clue hidden in this CGI trailer. Neil Druckmann has announced that this was an “in game cutscene.” Since this is the case, we can assume that you fight that pack of clickers right after. The nameless character of the trailer picks up a hammer, so a hammer seems like it just may be a new melee weapon! How brutalizing, and fitting, is that for The Last of Us?

I’m not the greatest at understanding musical scores, let’s get that out of the way. It seemed to me the music that lifted at the end of the trailer, just before the arrival of the clickers, was the same notes from the main theme of The Last of Us, but done with a violin and not a guitar. If so it is just another beautiful touch on a beautiful game.