#LIKE. SORRY. WHY THE FUCK WAS THAT ARC MORE ABOUT WILL THAN HANNIBAL

[horrorknife]

hannibal and mischa starving alone in the winter turns hannibal into someone who expresses affection by feeding others. mischa being fed to him having such a profound impact on his younger years + being so traumatizing that he went mute and had amnesia surrounding the incident turns hannibal into someone who can’t trust other people to prepare his meals. it’s so much deeper than the show wants you to believe and its sickening to me. ik i complain about this a lot but its genuinely such important groundwork to lay for the character. “he does what was done to her” “mischa doesnt explain hannibal” AUGHHHH it’s such a bad and awful portrayal of his backstory.

hannibals cannibalism starts as a way to dominate others and make a show of his Power over them. hannibals cannibalism is metaphorical only in the sense that he equates rudeness to an epidemic + rude people are nothing more than livestock to him. free range rude. by hunting down, killing, and cannibalizing the men who killed and ate his sister (and fed her to him), he avenges mischa and takes control of his life again. before he starts performing cannibalism he takes the heads of his enemies the way samurai did after learning about it from lady murasaki. its still a powerful gesture but it isnt until he drugs himself into accessing his memories that he engages in cannibalism since he’s trying to properly avenge mischa and reclaim his trauma.

i don’t understand why nbc hannibal took us to lecter castle and didn’t let us see inside, not even in hannibal’s memory palace, or why we hardly explored any of hannibal’s past in lithuania. it was mostly about will and chiyoh. what’s the point in leaving the prisoner alive in the first place? why would hannibal allow that, chiyoh or not? why does hannibal cook and eat mischa for seemingly no reason? where is the trauma associated with that event? he frames it as “she made me betray myself and i had to forgive her by eating her” WHAT? sorry. on what planet would he ever frame mischa’s death as her betraying him. that’s such horseshit. mischa was a six-year-old girl and he loved her beyond all imagination. im just so Mad dog. and like, it changes everything. it changes the entire character. that didn’t need to be changed. just because you couldn’t set it during wwii doesn’t mean it couldn’t follow the same beats. i just hate hate hate the way this is adapted into the show. it feels like blatant mischaracterization and a straight up lack of understanding for hannibal lecter. but what do i know im jhst an autistic guy

[harrowscore]

why are you, as an adult in 2024, still hung up on reylo. why are you still mocking the shippers. why do you believe yourself to be superior only because you dislike a stupid ship from a fucking space fairytale. girl (gnc) get a grip

[willgrahamsbecoming]

why chilton?

AAALRIGHT im going to assume you're coming from my confession thing (chilton is the most reasonable character) so i'll answer that first.

(coming back up here after writing a bit, this is long and spoiler-y so i'm adding a read more. @ vic youre already up to season 3 just wait ok)

also a disclaimer: i'm writing all of this from memory while freezing in the wind at the bus stop. errors may follow

chilton may be a dumbass when it comes to his own actions BUT everyone is tbh so thats kinda just the baseline

however! he was one of the only people to believe will. he saw the evidence (albeit the little of it there was, since hannibal left very little) that pointed to hannibal, and he was able to put aside his positive associations and think critically about it

jack and alana both let their personal connection to hannibal cloud their judgement until it was too late. which is understandable! i love both of them as well. but out of those three people we see regularly interacting with hannibal personally, having dinner as friends (or more!), frederick is the only one who was willing to consider that hannibal was the ripper

of course beverly did as well, but she wasnt close with hannibal, and breaking into his house without telling anyone where she was going unfortunately docks some reasonable points. sorry bev </3

(and bedelia. but she didnt really try to do much about it except send smoke signals in the form of wine and truffles. i can understand that though. go get your europe holiday girl)

he was also the only one to see hannibal and will's fucked up relationship in season 3 ("with those two [disembowelling] is tantamount to flirtation" in aperitivo).

and now for more general 'why he's my favourite' stuff!

i really love his character arc - it's almost circular, and hes still recognisable as the frederick chilton we meet in entrée by the time the number of the beast is 666 rolls around, but he's taken his experiences in and grown as a person, imo. still confident, still egotistical, but still Changed.

and the fact that he's still the same by the end is really meaningful! because we all know that this man is a human punching bag - he went through so much over the course of the show, but he got back up every time. he's an incredibly strong person for that (and probably a little - or very - stubborn!), and it's very admirable. he held his head up and he faced abel gideon after he vivisected him (he stood right in front of him! the man who had broken out of restraints more than once!), he sat and ate with hannibal (more than once, we can assume) after he'd attacked him in his home and left three mutilated corpses for him and left him pretty much for dead

(im sure jack wouldve shot him if he hadnt surrendered and been someone familiar, and he wouldve likely been tried and if found guilty, executed much like hannibal should have been without frederick and alana saving his ass)

of course, this insistence on standing his ground led to his unfortunate fate in s3e12, but it's not his fault he didnt forsee a third attempt on his life. his strength is admirable nonetheless

i'd dock reasonable points for 'trusting will graham' but everyone did. that's another baseline. (aside from bedelia, i suppose. but her first impression of him was hannibal's pathetic little rambles in hannibal-mandated therapy)

also he's a funny little guy and has some of the best lines in the show. and he's played by raúl esparza who did so INCREDIBLY like holy shit

okay i think im out of stuff to say and i'm nearly at my stop thanks 4 reading

[rey-jake-therapist]

Thanks for the tag, @writing-for-life! I recently followed you AND I also write fanfics, so it was the right call and a fun game!

To be honest, I rarely think of tropes. It's always only after I start writing a fic that I realize, "oh! it's x trope!". When I pick a fic to read, I'll be more careful about avoiding tropes I really dislike, than about finding a trope I like... If that makes sense.

Anyway, enough babbling!

Rules: How much do these tropes affect your decision to click on a fic?

• -10 -> very dissuaded

• 0 - don't care either way

• 10 -> very enticed

• nope -> if it's a hard no and you'd never click on a fic with that tag or or you even have the tag blocked or you'd insta click out of the fic if it wasn't tagged

Bonus points for explaining the rating and whether it's conditional.

Age Gap: 0

I can't say I'm turned on by a big age gap especially, but I don't mind if there's one and it serves the plot. If it's just an excuse to write Daddy kink smut, I'm not interested.

Codependency: -10

Not a hard no because context matters, but as in most cases codependency is depicted as very romantic as codependency is often confused with "real love", I generally avoid fics that involve this trope.

Enemies to lovers: -5

I think it's a trope that can be really great and thrilling to read and write, but for me to work it has to be rather: enemies to friends - friends to lovers. I really don't like it when the characters hated each other but suddenly fall in love for no reason whatsoever, or when the reason is crap such as "oh in fact they're soulmate!" (Reylo I'm looking at you). So, I'm rather on the fence about this one and I don't think I'll ever try my hands at it personnally.

Enemies With Benefits: nope

I don't even understand how it works tbh. Maybe because I'm demisexual but it's unconceivable in my head. You hate eact other but you fuck? how does that work?

Fake Dating/Relationship: -9

I tend to consider this trope as lazy writing, maybe because I never read a good fake dating relationship story?

Found Family: 8

This trope never fails to make my heart melt!

Friends to Lovers: 5

My first ship was the ultimate Friends to lovers ship aka Mulder and Scully from X Files, so... Even though I often end up finding the trope boring and predictable, I keep a soft spot for it.

Friends with Benefits: nope

Sorry, boring.

Hurt/Comfort: 10

I LIVE for this trope!

Love Triangle: nope

It's probably the trope I hate the most. I really don't like the concept of a competition for someone's heart, and it always ends up with someone being lonely or miserable or worse, dead. Hard no.

Mistaken/Hidden Identity: 10

I love writing these stories and reading them! I love trying to find out why the character hides their identity/are confused with someone else, who they are in reality, their motivations, their loved ones' reaction to the truth, the resolution... There's so potential for development it's really one of my favorite trope.

Monster Fu... Relationship: -9

Meh... I'm more interested in *human* monster fu... than in actual monster fu... I'm a Will/Hannibal shipper for example, but if say, Hannibal turned into a werewolf at night, that wouldn't work for me...

Obsession, Possessiveness, etc.: 0

I have to clarify: if it's framed as something possessive, it's a hard NO. But I don't mind a good thriller type of fic :)

Opposites (like grumpy x sunshine, etc): 5

If it doesn't rely too heavily on stereotypes (not a big fan of the grumpy x sunshine stuff for example), I'm in.

Poly: nope

'nuff said.

Pregnancy: -2

I tend towards the negative because too often pregnancy is used as a solution to every problem that the characters might have at the moment, like, erm, a blatantly abusive relationship for example, in which case I hate it. But I write it sometimes, and if done in a realistic way that doesn't undermine the female character's arc... I don't mind.

Second Chance: 8

I believe very much in the concept of second chance so yes, I'll probably read it.

Sex to Feelings: 1

It really depends on many things, like if it's a real story or just smut without plot with a sudden happy ending (in which case it's not my thing), and of the story of course! if the plot is the trope, it's not my thing.

Slowburn: 10

As I said Mulder and Scully were my first ship.... Seven years of slow burn, friends, SEVEN YEARS!

Soulmates: 7

I never believed in soulmates in real life, but for some reason I absolutely love to read it, and write it too! It has to be well developed for me to be really into it though.

Thanks again for this! it was very pleasant ^^ Tagging now @arawen898, @alrendriablaze, @endlessbittersweetdreams, @sylverfaeland, @thepaintedlady00 : if you have already done this game or are not interested, feel free to ignore of course!

[ghostdrinkssoup]

*jazz hands* hey dudes I’m back with more hannibal notes/reactions (s1 ep11) except it’s just the silly goofy ones 🥹

omg is chilton back ??

“poke around a psychopath’s mind, bound to get poked back” haha hi there s2

ocean imagery, ice turning into water, drowning 😳 (twotl is that you ??)

well at least gideon knows how to hold himself accountable 🤷‍♀️

chilton is such a gaslighter omg

“worked for me” killing as a substitute for divorce almost worked for hannibal too 😩 *mizumono flashbacks*

see will would lowkey be the most op serial killer ever. he absorbs all their techniques and shit, he’s like the avatar except instead of past lives it’s all the killers he’s analysed LMAO

^^ will really could’ve picked any career field. like I know his empathy is a ✨metaphor✨ but also if he can presumably get into anyone’s head and relive their experiences then damn he could really do whatever he wants but no, his dream career was this bullshit </333

alternate reality where will gives up being a criminal profiler and becomes a gothic poet like if u agree

“I just feel like somebody else” - hannibal is just sitting there listening to will unravel like 😊

“I feel crazy” “it is what you fear most” omg he really is just like me fr 😩

“will, you have me as your gauge” - I love how this is hannibal feigning security (and being a manipulative piece of shit) but also hannibal being like 🥺 I want you to rely on me. I am your paddle <3 I hate him he’s the worst therapist and boyfriend to ever exist

^^ also the idea that they’re the same 😳

^^ also FORESHADOWING

HELLO AGAIN WATER IMAGERY

YOO I DIDN’T THINK THE TONGUE/CHURCH MURDER WOULD COME BACK I SAID I KINDA WANTED TO SEE IT IN EP7 LMAOOO *flashback music*

be careful what you wish for kids

oh freddie we’re really in it now

“gave you something better to do with your tongue than wag it” THAT WAS SO OUT OF POCKET LMAO

not the dating imagery again </333 why do all the killers in this show want to date hannibal,, my fave romcom fr,,

gideon is like *tears up* freddie don’t fuck with me rn

chesapeake ripper mimicking kills and throwing himself into the fray? that’s very copycat killer of him… it’s almost like they’re the same- *gunshot*

severed arm, observatory, boom gottem

hannibal was like 🙄 yeah I got your invite, I saw on my ipad. I don’t want to fucking date you *calls the cops*

hannibal is such a snitch damn

the beginning of chilton’s looney tunes suffering arc (it only gets worse from here)

FREDDIE JUST STANDING THERE 😭 this would be so horrible to witness jesus

“I feel like fluid, like I’m spilling” WATER IMAGERY

don’t let go jack *my heart will go on plays distantly in the background*

^^ this appearing in the same episode as all that ice imagery? this really is titanic omg

“it’s hard to shake off something that’s already under your skin” this line BANGS

doesn’t will like,, run off in this scene?

THE STAGGGG OH SHIT

it’s gonna take him to hannibal’s house omfg

GIDEON IS GONNA FOLLOW WILL

NVM

why is will following the stag to hannibal lowkey romantic LMAOOO he’s gotta follow his heart and mental illness <3

“I was expecting the chesapeake ripper… not his boyfriend”

WILL IN THE CAR he’s not gonna walk to hannibal’s BSDBBSBD

NOT GIDEON CALLING WILL ILL GET ROASTED ??? TAKE THE L ???

gideon delivering will to hannibal all sheepish like “man sorry to do this I know it’s a bit awkward but I found your man out in the wild and thought I should probably take him home” 😭

HANNIBAL’S FACE LMAOOO he really said 😟

hannibal said no more girlboss only gaslight

GIDEON’S FACE HE’S LIKE WTF

hannibal deserved everything he got in s2 he was so fucked for this

the saddest thing about this is hannibal is the only person will trusts enough to be vulnerable and open with,,, the only one he feels safe enough to breakdown in front of. he’s a safe presence in his mind *screams in agony*

“he’s had a mild seizure” “that doesn’t seem to bother you” “… I said it was mild” NDNDHHD FUCK WHY IS THAT SO FUNNY

^^ whenever hannibal’s hypocrisy is pointed out to him he’s always so confused like “??? god guys it’s not like I HATE will I care about him ?? I’m his paddle ?? I’ll set his brain on fire and gaslight him to the point of mental collapse but it’s not like the seizure was that bad 🙄 he’s literally fine”

WHY ARE BOTH WILL AND HANNIBAL FUCKING ALANA OVER THIS EPISODE 😭😭😭

hannibal rlly said I want her GONE (it was very rude of her to kiss will 💔 god he’s petty)

hannibal being sweet to will now is so sick and twisted,, not the little smile,, I hate him

“I’m worried about alana” SHUT UP

alana :((( I’m sorry queen

BEDELIA ??? hello there <3 *thinking lesbian thoughts*

hannibal fr is like a child, he’s throwing around his favourite stuffed toy thinking it’ll be fine if the arm breaks, or an eye falls off. he’s too rough with no real regard for the consequences 😩

oh hannibal *head in my HANDS*

[transsexualhamlet]

watch me psychoanalyze will graham solely with will wood lyrics

I Am Mentally Ill

In general I feel like the overlap between Will Wood’s discography and Will Graham’s character arc is quite large, and I feel many selections of lyrics well capture the conflicting issues inside Will as the story progresses as told through the Existential Crises of these songs. 

Under the cut because it is literally 3000 words

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Cause back in my day we didn't need no feel good pills and no psychiatrists, we just bled out in our bath, and goddammit we liked it

Doctor, what's my prognosis if the studies show that disease is in the eye of the beholder? Tell me "so it goes", we depress to impress I guess, in layer after layer to get off our chests. It's cold out now, you can take it off later, better safe than sorry, we both know the danger, so doctor, could you run another test? I got a feeling that this time I might just pass it, well if you raise the average

-Marsha, Thankk You for the Dialectics, But I Need You To Leave

Once again I feel like this is very plain text applicable, but yeah. Will has never been quite a believer in the psychiatric side of things, and why should he be when all the interaction with them he’s had is people calling him a psychopath murderer and that autism is the precursor to eating babies or something? He doesn’t want anybody to help him, he’s always been on his own and having to argue for his right just to be treated like a normal person, he doesn’t need another diagnosis to have another target on his back, it’s become so ingrained through who he works with that means he’s bad. If he dies or lives or suffers he wants it to be on his own terms, he doesn’t want anybody meddling. Yet yknow. Look who comes in and meddles, our dear psychiatrist.

Will is searching for a reason other than his own flaws to explain what is happening to him, to find some easy solution that they are telling him just doesn’t exist and it’s beginning to seem like either they’re lying to him or he’s just fucking going crazy and a terrible awful person or somehow faking the problems he’s having.  He is not ready to be seen like they are viewing him in his x-rays, he doesn’t want the truths Hannibal is telling him, he wants out. And at this point he almost just wants to be crazy, he wants to trust Hannibal and entrust himself to his care because it’s easier, somehow even more the more that he suspects it might not be good for him.

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It doesn’t take a killer to murder, it only takes a reason to kill. We’ve all got evidence of fantasies, it’s “everything’s coincidence”, the difference twixt fate and free will is whether you’re singing: oh, could you take a look at me? (It’s an awful chemical) Am I bad, am I bad, am I bad, am I really that bad? (it’s only natural) Oh, whatever you think of me, if you were in my shoes, you see I wear the same size as you (Somebody help me!)

-Laplace’s Angel (Hurt People? Hurt People!)

This is something that Will knows from the beginning of his career, it’s what he teaches his students, but when he’s thrust into it himself he’s forced to truly reckon with it and draw lines between right and wrong that make little sense. When he takes his first life, he is not a killer, it is just what happened to take place, and those righteous fantasies that had always been there, that potential took root in him eventually to grow exponentially. Was it his free will that killed Garrett Jacob Hobbes, or was it some greater fate pulling the strings- Hannibal’s purposeful interference in pulling him that direction like a puppet? No amount of debate in his muddled head will give him a meaningful answer, and thus the guilt festers, as he turns to the very worst person to ask for the truth of the nature of his being- Hannibal, who goes to great lengths to show Will that he is a killer- and that guidance thrusts him into an even further crisis of identity.

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And if dreams can come true, what does that say about nightmares? I'll stay awake tonight. Cry my name, remind my brain of my identity! I'm not gonna listen, I'm not my volition ah, shananananana free will AGH Am I to blame for riding this train right by my destiny? Ah, prove I can crack, ah, loose from the track, ah, shanananana free will! Rolling my third eye into the back of my head and squinting through the black- Saw no center, saw not where it led, it's times like this that make me wish that- I wish that I were dead, I don't wish that I were dead but somebody's got to go! 

Carving my initials in the back of my hand in case of losing track

I wanna make my murder look like a suicide (kill me, kill me), but they'll all know they'll all know they'll all know that the body's mine (kill me, kill me), I wanna go anonymous to identify (kill me, kill me) but they'll all know they'll all know they'll all know they'll all know they'll all know that the body's mine!

-Cotard's Solution (Anatta, Dukkha, Anicca)

Classic season one Will Breakdown Core. The man's got no anchor to reality and riding along the brain waves is not going well for him. He is being pulled in all directions by all manners of people without his best interests in mind, divided into cuts of meat to share, blindfolded not even knowing what's happening to him or why. And he begins to wonder what is him and what is not, if anything he believes to be himself is true, and his long held nightmares begin to hold more sway on him than waking life. This descent of his sanity, free will, the blurring of the lines between victim and perpetrator is a long held nightmare of his and with every thought it is becoming reality. He must turn to methods previously untouchable just to make it through the day, there seems to be no way out, everyone is lying to him, so scrambled he cannot tell who is holding the knife that cuts into his skin, if in the nightmares he is the carved or carver.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She’s got the touch of an anesthesiologist, please put me under, because I tremble with the notion that there’s something unsaid, but in my head I’ll mumble reticently: I wonder how I woke up in the middle of my surgery, and I watched them botch my heart, only the second worst thing that I could’ve thought was that this doesn’t have to end if it doesn’t start!

-White Knuckle Jerk (Where Do You Get Off?)

Every time a “she” is mentioned in one of these, assume Hannibal is the she. Will Wood only writes about terrible awful manipulative girlbosses /pos /pos /pos Hannibal perfectly fits this category<3

Will’s sweaty bloody please help me doctor lecter era once again, I am going to Put Him Down!! 💞💞 He doesn’t know how he got here he doesn’t know what’s happening he doesn’t know what’s wrong with him all he knows is that Hannibal is simultaneously the only clarity in his life and everything wrong in this world, he’s being lied to and gaslit and that man is just fucking fishing around in his insides like a scavenger hunt! Love loses

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It just seems unlikely that it's me who was to blame, so I bookmark my DSM, cause I need to remember my place

-Hand Me My Shovel, I’m Going In!

Agh Will and mental disorders. He has an interesting relationship with them. He doesn’t want to believe there’s anything wrong with him, he in the beginning is adamant that he’s fine. That’s not him, he wouldn’t do things like that, and it’s for sure he’s not a murderer. There’s got to be something else wrong. But it becomes so frighteningly evident otherwise he no longer knows what to think of himself. Can he keep calling himself a good person, someone who saves people? How is he supposed to define himself? All that seems to be available from the opinions around him is frightening, demonizing diagnoses and accusations.

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Never trust in yourself, or anyone else, we've always all been wrong, and we built these walls strong, even I might defy, won't deny, that I’m trying while my eyes do defy and belie quiet liars as I say what I say anyway I might be saying it but I've been wrong before! You can break a shovel when you break new ground, you dig dirt up when you dig deep down, you should know better than that by now, it's not profound to know that you could never know

-The Song With Five Names (Soapbox Tao aka Checkmate Atheists! aka Neospace Government aka You Can Never Know)

Will is struggling between two versions of the truth, everything his eyes tell him is wrong and his words and convictions seem so ridiculous even to him at this point not to mention how discredited he is to everyone else. And in the search for the truth in unearthing his memories, dealing with that absolute terror of sitting in your cell not even knowing what got you there, who’s pulling the strings, finding the truth is somehow worse than never knowing, wishing he could have just believed the easy thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Good luck finding creepier critters than me, they shoulda fried me, I’ll give ya PTSD, vodka shots droppin down the throat they been stompin on, cockin guns lockin up the quota’s all for shock n’ awe, Drivin’s tirin and I’ve been hotwirin, to make my getaway from this jailbreak riot and cellmates scrapin ‘pon the bricks in the basement, tryin to escape this probation generation, too late crazy fuckers gotta do the time, committed to the mental ward committin all the crimes! I’m alive and kickin till the split ends fray, maybe plead insane, guilty but I’m not to blame- I’m a slave to the main vein sprayin on the mainframe, sufferin the infrastructure hopin I can maintain… Please policeman no heel to toe, oh please let me go, please policeman is it a test, I won’t know till I’m under arrest

You bear a striking resemblance, some kind of semblance of somethin’ I been rememberin’, you appear familiar dear, you look just like my bathroom mirror

-6up 5oh Copout (Pro/Con)

This whole verse is fucking gibberish sung, but altogether it clearly fits him. Will is obviously alienated from the rest of the FBI in a major way from the beginning, and these creeping fears and suspicions of himself have always been there, fed by the paranoia and fucked up ideas the whole department has around the sort of brain that he has and how they've treated him and criminals that are too much like him. It’s a role that will never fit for him, an institution that will always be against him and he knows it’s all bullshit, and there is a breaking point where he can no longer maintain it. It all breaks down, and he begs just to know who he is. He’s always been worried one day if he kept going into BSHCI one day they wouldn’t let him back out, and in some ways, he’s almost happy to prove them right, to embrace that otherness. Though he knows that he wasn't at fault for the murders he's on trial for, he will become exactly what they believe he is despite it.

The second (much shorter) lyric excerpt is finding that the one thing he is most scared of is himself. He is searching for himself and who he is, and what he finds in the depths of his own lost memories and delusions is that all his nightmares of the pursuer, the hunter, the stag and Hannibal are reflections of himself. The truth of himself might be something much more deadly, what he’s found is the worst discovery, he is much more sinister than he believed.

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Who makes the call? What's a symptom, what's a flaw? Could it be both? Well I suppose that's an answer. Would you give up your humanity for just a touch of sanity cause god knows it's not like it's cancer!

-Marsha, Thankk You for the Dialectics, But I Need You To Leave

And at this point he is trying to define what does make him a good or bad person, what other people see as either a symptom or a flaw, especially the way Alana flip flops about him, like there’s always one right or wrong answer. Either he’s not in control of his actions and he’s a sorry victim or he is and he’s an evil villain. And he’s starting to think he’s willing to give up trying to be seen as human altogether, to go to that dark side so he might at least have some clarity.

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My name was soiled by a last call spill with a backwash swill and the blackout killed me sober on impact from a fall from grace! Take the road on higher ground and tell me don't look down, you'll fall and break your back, but that just reminds me how there's more to be found beneath the black

-Hand Me My Shovel, I'm Going In!

Will’s jail brooding arc. No one believes him, everyone thinks he’s a killer, no one who cared about him wants anything to do with him, the one person he thought he could trust gaslit manipulated hypnotized drugged and framed him. And yet Hannibal is the one who is seen as the sweet perfect nice guy, giving him such fake well meaning advice for how to get better like mocking him from outside the bars. It makes him so frustrated he just. Decides to go the exact opposite way and thrust himself entirely into the world of the dark. (Hannibal loves him for that.)

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This chastity is Greek to me, the meat is still fresh, the gnashing teeth will masticate the bones from the flesh, since nobody will tell me where these bastards go, I’ll see for myself- I think they might go to hell. You said “Let loose!” but now you’re lost, while you tied your boots like a tightrope noose, the problem chased the taste of the cause, while the evidence supports the truth, is 80 enough proof for you?!

-Front Street

I don’t really know how to explain this one in words I wish I could just show everyone the little slideshow of images I have comprised but I will try. It’s a sort of monologue that starts as a voice in Will’s head and builds to himself saying it. It’s the story of him going down this gruesome path convinced he’ll be fine, pushed along on the line of just sane enough to keep going, and that quality of himself becomes exaggerated and warped as time goes on, beginning to form the characteristics of the killer shaping him, and when he finally regains his autonomy, he can no longer find his way back. He also wants to mutilate corpses now

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When did I become afraid of the dark? Was it when I left the cave and swore I'd never go back? If we can't see each other there's no more use for hiding, I've decided I'll abide it; why deny the color black? I'm not a flower, not a solar powered calculator, damn my eyes for seeing what's not there! I'll trade in vision for a practiced intuition, till my fears come to fruition, I'm not scared!

…All that I ask is, keep those empty frames, if nobody's in them then no one is to blame. For your self portraits, sign another name… well who should I be then, if I'll never be the same!? I will be the sunshine, I will be the moon at night, well who else could I be, when I can't fucking see?! I will be my sunshine, I will be my moon at night, I'm nowhere now, here's no one now to be.

-Dr. Sunshine is Dead

This is a common theme within My Blorbo Typecast, the whole "the only way to overcome your fears is to become the thing you fear" routine corruption arc. Will was desperately frightened that deep down he was a terrible, horrible person, he couldn't handle what he was exposed to in his job and it didn't used to be nearly as much of an issue as it's gotten to be. Hannibal has consumed his whole life and there is no way he can return to the way he was before, and now he sees that the only one who can be with him in this darkness is Hannibal. And Hannibal is right- he isn't a tool to be used by the FBI, just a pair of specially fucked up eyes, he can be so much more than that. If he takes that step into the dark himself, he can’t be caught by surprise. So, if you can't beat em, join em, embrace the fear and make the darkness your home. If you can't escape your tragedy, make it your becoming.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you knew what I knew, if you saw what I see, you’d look through illusions, hallucinations and lucid dreams, and I know that meaning can be such a pretty thing to keep but I’ve got facts and I’m not afraid to use them, take the good with the bad, take off the back you make a new front! Some days I am glad that I am a madman and I’d rather be that than an amicable animal, a mild-mannered cannibal. But I’m more level headed than ever and I’m getting better one forever at a time and if sick is defined by what’s different, well then pull the plug out and let me die!

-2econd 2ight 2eer (that was fun, goodbye.)

At this point my guy has found the humor in it all, and has decided to weaponize it instead. He’s over going oh no what shall I do I’m literally suffering so much to LOL what if i KILLED HANNIBAL what if I fucking Rickrolled Him by Stabbing Him 37 Times In The Chest isn’t it so funny how this stag is haunting me forever now what if I Became It. But genuinely this is his girlboss corruption arc era. He’s started to see the best in his situation and take advantage of it, he’s now taking ownership of that label upon him cause at least he’s not Hannibal, he knows what’s up with Hannibal and he starts to take a corrupted pride in how he feels about Hannibal. He knows what he’s doing, he’s full aware of where he’s going and maybe he is fucking crazy and maybe they’re gonna go down hand in unloveable hand and they’re utterly doomed but yknow! That would be just desserts! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the cattle fall dead and the waters run red I’ll be your lamb’s blood on the wall, oh and God isn’t dead but that’s exactly what we’ve been dreading, and after all the meek inherited fuck all! Jesus Christ, I will die for my own damn sins if you help those who help themselves, my superstitions, your visage, my visions, furthering the fever of my fervor for believing

-Your Body, My Temple

I don't know, I feel like this is pretty self explanatory. This song represents for me when. When he's gay /ref

This is at once him in the end of season one + two and in the end of season three, depending on how it’s interpreted. On one hand, it is of Will clinging to Hannibal for solace even knowing he’s the one gutting him on the spot, he is the reason everything has gone wrong, he cannot trust his eyes and he knows Hannibal will be the death of him, when he’s starting to see the full picture of everything in horror and futility and strings around him and just not even giving a damn. 

But on the other hand! Despite the fact that read this sounds really Negative will wood is a fucking horny bastard and this is a song about him and his fucked up sex with a cult leader, the mental illness is just decoration. So I would carry this over as well to the resolution of Hannibal and Will

You know. When Will’s whole head is just filled with blood and Hannibal and he has abandoned all pretenses of it being any other way. He knows who he isn’t, casting away the ill fitting world and taking the knife into his own hands. When he is thrilled by what they have done and he’ll never go back, when the two of them stare at a mutilated corpse and see the same thing and that thing is art. You know. When they’re gay

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well they always ask you not to leave, and I am as they remember me. So when all my friends forget my name, no I won't come back and be the same.

-Self-

Short lyric, I know. I think of the last part of the show with this one. Will kinda sucks, yknow. He spent three years desperately trying to return to the way things were, he could never tell anyone how much he really changed, no one could know what went down between he and Hannibal, and no matter how hard he sticks himself in that nuclear family and pretends to be a version of himself that no longer exists, his mind is still fucking soaked in blood. So when it all breaks down and he throws everything away to disappear into the night with Hannibal, he knows he is never going to see them again, he’s never going to attempt to explain himself to them, there’s no point in it. The world will form whatever conclusions they decide on and it won’t be up to him anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[maschotch]

hello my friend, wanted to ask you to rank the team from least favorite to most favorite. and to tell you i hope you have a good day!

ahh ok ok ok like the whole team or just the core 7? fuck it: all of them

jj: explanation here but tldr? white pinterest mom vibes and im nota hashtag feminist girlboss

kate: same reasons as jj but i thought she was funny while she lasted and i liked the human trafficking episode with her niece that was crazy

rossi: racist wealthy italian. "i used to be in the mafia" and "im a war veteran" are his only other personality traits. need i say more? his best moment was when he gave hotch a gun to kill himself ajsdlghsjg

seaver: wattpad energy im sorry gamergirl

matt: breeding kink. my vietnamese and filipino friends have had too many interactions with kpop stannies and koreaboos for me to support wasian kids with white moms im sorry

reid: he's not low on purpose i just don't really like any of the story arcs that surround him specifically and hes the most annoying ab his daddy/mommy issues than anyone else on the team (why cant he be normal about it like morgan lol) and i know enough other people love him to make up for him not being my absolute favorite

alex: another low empathy legend. i find her fascinating and i love lveo lveolevoevlevoelvoevleovelvoe her relationship with reid!!! thats his mom right there!!! (no disrespect diana- a boy can have two moms<3)

stephen: he was such a funky little guy. had that weird dad energy that we've missed since gideon left. didn't deserve to go like that, the scene with monica brings me to tears everytime, i wish he could've been there longer and had a chance to develop his relationships with the rest of the team more

tara: i loooove her she's so cool and smart. i wish she had more storylines about her tho :/ but thats the racism ig lmao

gideon: literally just a fucked up guy he's so goofy and weird. and it's kinda like the opposite of spencer--he's higher on my list bc i know he's low on so many other people's and honestly the weirdo freak deserves better. i want someone to hannibal him so so bad

jordan: ok i thought she was fucking awesome??? i really wish she had stayed longer but i also loved how she always struggled with the job because of how personally she took everything. she looked at this nightmare of a life and said "no thanks :) not for me" and i respect that. but i love her relationships with the team especially emily morgan hotch <3

penelope: ????do i even need to say anything she's gorgeous and funny and literally the glue that holds the team together like this show would not be shit without her in it

morgan: another one i feel like goes without saying he's just such a good man so gentle and sweet and kind and loving and protective. he takes all the hurt he's experienced and uses that to fuel his love and devotion for others. and he's so so smart he just doesn't need to rub it in everyone's face all the time. he's just got that tmasc swag and his tits always steal the show<3

luke: baby boy baby he's my absolute golden boy fr. he's going higher than morgan/penelope which seems a little off but i'm grading on a curve: he didn't really get any storylines and he wasn't there for that long. latino king and im a sucker for sign language. his crush on garcia is sooooo cute and just the way he was always there for her emotionally even when she didnt want him to be.. .giving him infinite gold star stickers

elle: badass cuban?? the way she instantly settled into the bau family?? putting everyone in their place?? how her leaving left a permanent scar on everyone who cared about her?? the potential for vigilante elle?? haircut in the second season?? her smile??? teh gUn HoLsTerskasj j??? what's not to love?? i wish she lasted longer :((((

hotch: hes my boring white man i will hype this bitch up so much!!!!!!WILL defend southern boy hotch to the death. trans man autistic man trying-to-be-better-than-his-father man <3 hes sooooooo expressive and emotionally open especially when he goes -_- i love him so so much

emily: she's so so so smart and hot <3 i love my low empathy queen <3 normally i dont really like ~rich white girl with mysterious international connections~ trope but she manages it perfectly bc its not her whole personality you know? she's all about second chances and trying again and building a new life for herself out of the ashes of her old one and it doesn't always work but she keeps trying anyway and i love love love her

[possession1981-moving]

what are your fave kdramas (and tv shows overall), kind of got curious bc i know you liked jbl, and saw you watching yom now.. plus it's never too late to make my to watch list longer than it already is 🥴

aleks i’m sorry this took me like a while to get to bc i started panicking over narrowing down all the dramas i’ve watched into like a top list but i will give u a top 21 kdramas (i could have forgotten something though so it’s not set in stone) excluding jbl, which is definitely in my top 3 officially! u’ve probably seen a bunch or most of these they’re not exactly obscure but..

The smile has left your eyes (ruined my life) When the weather is fine (literally the catharsis..........) My country: the new age (also ruined my life) Wok of love (everything about this show is so sexy i gotta rewatch) Run on (character arcs <3) Angel’s last mission: love (i literally would watch anything shin hye sun ever did but this show truly slapped me in the face and said cry bitch.) While you were sleeping (introduced me to jung hae in my beloved)  Something in the rain (pure melodrama i had such anxiety) One spring night (why is jung hae in so fucking great?) Strangers from hell (the sexual tension between siwan and lee dong wook 100% the reason the horror and suspense work so well) Hotel del Luna (literally genius in every way, plus actor jieun!!!!) It’s okay to not be okay (i love a show that makes me process my own trauma) Mr Queen (shin hye sun is literally the most brilliant actress in korean tv) Still 17 (see above) OCN Black (so many truly unsettling moments, i love go ara she is perfect) Hwayugi (fantasy!!!!!!!! suspense!!!! melodrama!!!!!) Reply 1997 (i rewatch so often...) Reply 1988 (same......) 100 days my prince (kim jae young desereved more screentime :/) Bubblegum (jung ryeo won and lee dong wook? TOGETHER??? sign me up! it’s so sad tho) Are you human too? (seo kang joon u are so much to me!!!!!!! i love the way this show genuinely engages with really fucking tricky existential topics in such a real way. also the amazing vixx ost <3) Sky castle (literally i mean it’s perfect. the way that show goes in and just questions power in every single place it appears.... chills. also kang chanhee did not GIVE ALL OF THAT for him to keep getting cast in little tragic cameo roles that propel the emotional narrative of main characters i’m looking at u true beauty and imitation)

i have a strong preference for working class stories and shows where the main characters are like, real adults in their 30s or so because i just think the writing tends to be better... i also love horror elements and fantasy and historical shit but most of all i love melodrama and tragedy. currently i’m watching youth of may as u know and also doom at your service and so i married the anti-fan and i am loving all of them tremendously what a good drama spring!! also for a bonus my favourite cdramas are ashes of love and the untamed. in terms of tv shows overall i love old classics like twin peaks and the x-files, i still mourn the get down, i’ve been an umbrella academy fan since my father figure gerard way released the original comic book and i still rewatch criminal minds regularly although now i do it with a critical eye because there’s def a dose of the copaganda but like the characters are so well written. also i love hannibal but i still have to finish it!!!!!! buffy is still my mvp show though like through all its problems i still would rewatch 100000 times </3

[deans-haunted-baby]

Curious. What do you mean by Dust till Dawn going against it's Characters? I know I have my own feelings, or confusion, with how they left Kate's story.

From Dusk Till Dawn effectively character assassinated every single character in the very last episode including Kate Fuller. No one is acting like themselves in that series finale it's like some deranged fanfic writer came aboard and hijacked the show while no one was looking. If you thought 15x18 & 15x19 of Supernatural were bad and believe me they really are; those episodes are minorly salvageable against the slaughterhouse that Dusk 3x10 was. It utterly contradicts and ignores everything the show put forward in all 3 seasons. I will never watch that episode again.

I'll first explain what that piece of shit did to the show's lead protagonists, the Gecko brothers. Regardless of how you or anyone else feels about Supernatural's series finale; that show was a saint to Sam and Dean's storyline beginning to end compared to how From Dusk Till Dawn definitively butchered Richie and Seth. I'm sad saying this because Zane Holtz and DJ Controna are outstanding as these characters. I freaking love their chemistry man, it's a great rival to J2! They're the badass dark clones of the Winchesters.  Their arc starts out fascinatingly complex because they went from cold-blooded criminals/bad guys and meanwhile during their escape over the Mexican border with this hostage family the audience is told pretty quick by Professor Aiden Tanner that the Geckos are destined to become these foresworn warriors The Mayan Hero Twins in an ancient prophecy (based on real Mesoamerican lore) who battle the Underworld. So right away the show is telling us ahead where Seth and Richie are suppose to end up in their journey and when you introduce a storyline this big I expect a satisfying payoff.

At the end of season 1, Richie Gecko is *SPOILER ALERT* transformed into a culebra (snake-vampire) while Seth Gecko remains human symbolizing their night and day Hero Twin counterparts from the legend. And they're separated in the first half of season 2 where both try to navigate this new supernatural world they've stumbled on individually. What they find, no different than the Winchesters, is that neither can function properly without the other making their destiny all the more valid. That season is practically constructed like their swan song to the criminal lifestyle since the brothers are meant to become more than crooks; and since Richie's a vampire they can't ever go back to basics. Their adopted father aka uncle Eddie actually says the line "this is my swan song" in 2x07 to Seth and Richie in reference to their final heist together which is not a coincidence. That's the writers telling us that the Gecko Brothers' role in the show is going to shift from anti-heroes to heroes very soon. Eddie and Kate Fuller's fates in S2 act as the primary catalysts for this transition taking shape in the finale.

Going into season 3 it's business as usual for the boys until the prophecy of the twins officially rips a hole in the damn universe via demon queen Amaru. Who's now possessing Kate. Throughout that season Seth and Richie embark on a journey of heroism; find themselves battling monsters, actually saving civilians and dealing with their own personal demons (guilt and remorse over past sins). That year is presented as their redemption arc and final phase into their new role. No one ever tells them about their destiny (despite most of the other characters knowing) but we as the audience are already aware as we watch the brothers in action. The best episode is without a doubt 3x06 the crown jewel of From Dusk Till Dawn because it's about overcoming the darkness inside. And who best represents that than Richie; the show's most important central character whom began the series as a deadly clairvoyant criminal into the tortured vampire hero struggling with his own humanity. Now I won't spoil the whole episode for anyone who hasn't seen it or the show in general but it's an incredible moment of character development for both the Gecko brothers. Not only does it cement their powerful bond it's the episode that defines who these two are once and for all. The ones who lead the battle between good and evil; keep the balance of light and darkness. One day I plan to do an entire analysis of that episode because it's so fucking brilliant and shot so incredibly eerie at the same time 😁

You want to know what 3x10 does to these characters? It shits all over their entire storyline and pisses away THREE FUCKING SEASONS of character development. Just flushes it all down the toilet rendering everything they've ever done up to that point completely pointless! Their destiny which is the WHOLE POINT OF THE SHOW is suddenly dropped last minute and the Geckos hit reset on their former criminal escapades; dragging Kate along with them. I hate that finale with the fire of a thousand suns for what it does to Richie and Seth 😡

Moving on to Carlos Madrigal. He is the best villain character in the history of show villains hands down. I can actually say that without blinking. Wilmer Valderama is phenomenal, he steals the show as Carlos. He's is so freaking awesome, evil and badass! I just want to keep seeing this man tear things apart while being the sexy asshole he is 😈For all intents and purposes I don't want to spoil his whole storyline on the show for those following me in case they're interested. But what I will say is 3x10 destroys this character; so don't watch it if you want to keep the memory of who he was alive. I'm actually depressed over what was done to him as much as I feel sorry for Wilmer having to perform that shitty script. It's laughable in a very bad way. Gotta hand it to the writers and showrunners of FDTD they certainly knew how to humiliate their best characters in this series. Carlos basically goes from charismatic yet lethal Hannibal Lecter to a very captain obvious Gandolf caricature. Yah you heard that right, it's really fucking sad.

Next we have Freddie Gonzalez; the audience's avatar into the series. This character is connected to everyone on the show for a reason because of the crucial part he plays in this universe. The "Peacekeeper" destined to police the line between the supernatural world from the human world. In the beginning he's a Texas deputy on a quest to avenge the murder of his father figure/partner Earl McGraw via the Gecko Brothers. But once he steps in that territory of monsters there's no going back. And FDTD repeatedly tells him and the audience this in the first 2 seasons. But then 3x10 pulls the ultimate fuckery by giving him the most cliched, nonsensical hallmark ending effectively cancelling out his entire purpose in the series. He instantly forgets that he ever cared about Kate, watching her bleed out on the ground, then leaves the Geckos high and dry rushing his family (who isn't injured) to the hospital. And he stays there while the battle continues 😣

Kate and Scott Fuller OMG words cannot describe my anger over what was done to them so I'll make it fast. I'll begin with Kate the bright light and heart of the series. Her arc in the first two seasons is excellent. It's emotionally driven because she begins as an ordinary girl in broken yet seemingly-happy family to a young woman finding her way around the supernatural world maintaining her faith and moral compos while trying to help her brother after he's *SPOILER ALERT* been turned into a vampire; paralleling the Geckos's situation. Scott being only a 16 year old kid, like Richie, struggles immensely after his transformation; searching for meaning as a cursed individual and coping with his duality. He was already different to begin with so being a vampire adds some interesting layers to his character.

Btw Kate plays a vital role in Richie and Seth's lives, though in my opinion is more strongly connected to Richie. The show even goes as far as developing the early glimpses of a romantic arc between Kate and Richie (seeing as they kiss twice) with angst at the end of season 2 that is never resolved. You want to know why it wasn't? Not only does season 3 mute Kate's voice and agency but 3x10 ruins her character and demolishes her whole arc with Richie (who spent all of season 3 trying to save her) at the last second due to fan pressure of those who shipped her with Seth. They don't exchange one word nor barely look at one another it's like seasons 1&2 never happened. This is the biggest fuck you to fans of these characters I've ever witnessed in a series and they did my boys Adam and Michael so dirty in Supernatural. Poor Scott whom the show enjoyed kicking around all season barely gets a thing to do in that series finale either than listening to his sister and Seth gab about prom lol. Yah you heard me I'm not making this shit up I swear. Then he gets abandoned by Kate while she goes off to be a bank robber with the character assassinated versions of Seth and Richie. How extraordinary 😖

Santanico Pandemonium is really the only character in the series who manages to get out unscathed. HOWEVER her arc is handled very poorly beginning to end. They set up an arc between her and Seth that also goes absolutely nowhere. Give her zero closure with Richie whom she sired, dated and used in S2. And randomly throw her in a scene with Kate that makes no fucking sense after these two had nothing to do with one another all series. On top of that Santanico is barely in season 3 so by the time the show wraps her arc feels incomplete.

Other characters go missing that no one notices, the new bad guy whom they've set up at the end is just left hanging. And Richie Gecko, you know the show’s other lead, is horribly sidelined after 3x06 to make way for the Seth Gecko solo show. When I say FDTD series finale is bad I mean it's really fucking terrible and blasphemous.

[brave-clarice]

“Clarice” Liveblog: Episode 4

Since today is International Women’s Day, I decided a (somewhat) timely viewing might be in order.

she’s running! finally!

what are these unnecessarily graphic autopsy scenes?? what narrative purpose are they serving?

“Tony, don’t be a dick.” Murray sucked in Episode 2, but I’m falling for his bluntness tbh.

“I heard that on a search of Catherine Martin’s apartment...” hey! a book reference!

Clarice didn’t live through Hannibal’s mind games to be manipulated by this chump.

an incredibly weird flex: making Krendler the victim of career sabotage?????

oh boy, I do not like where this Ardelia subplot seems to be going. Ardelia’s ambitious, but she’s also loyal. C.S. + A.M.!

“you’re speaking to me like a roommate about a case I’m investigating.” she IS your roommate, and she literally spoke to you the same way about a case SHE was investigating, Ardelia! where was your by-the-book attitude then?

Clarice is not behaving any differently than she has in the past, and Ardelia’s chewing her out over it, like...?

“I would never have compromised you.” I’m sorry, that’s just a nasty, passive comment, and I hate it. :)

“Might be aliens!” Nod to the X-Files? LOL.

“I understand that one of you is a sociopath whisperer and one of you’s a sharpshooter” Clarice is ALSO a sharpshooter!!! WHEN IS THIS GOING TO BE SHOWN?!

And “sociopath whisperer”? she treated Hannibal like a fellow human being with dignity. that’s the secret.

Clarice’s Pinto!

they’re going to BALTIMORE. *waggles eyebrows*

missed opportunity for Clarice to mention that she’s been to Baltimore several times before in her “rattling death trap” (wink!)

yay for casual sexism.

please DO NOT expect me to feel bad for Krendler.

“so James Hoffa is in your crawlspace? He has the Lindbergh baby? That’s great news!” I laughed.

STOP MAKING KRENDLER A GOOD GUY.

behold: someone who might have actually lived in the early 90s!

iirc Ardelia dated somewhat regularly...so idk why she’s being characterized as this standoffish two episodes in a row.

lol, uh, do agents call each other “agent”?

“your friend Clarice, the Bureau decided to shine a light on her. Overnight she’s a star.” easy enough to see how a veteran agent who’s stuck might view Clarice’s situation like that...but that doesn’t make it true. the Bureau didn’t “shine a light” on Clarice--Jack Crawford used her as bait for one of the most notorious serial killers of all time. she almost got killed and recycled. her career never takes off (which I really hope these show-runners remember).

it finally hit me...since they can’t include Jack Crawford, Clarice’s “angel,” they must be trying to combine his character with Krendler’s?

and, uh...it doesn’t work.

“They didn’t do a favor when they threw you to the cannibal.” Hannibal reference!

and yay, some self-awareness from the writers re: all the stuff I just ranted about!

what time of day is it? everyone’s been wearing the same clothes all episode, but a trip to Baltimore from D.C. takes just under an hour one way.

she’s just pretty

Krendler’s excuse for treating Clarice the way he did is so comically stupid. spare us, dude.

but tbh this is the Krendler we should be seeing - shaming Clarice for doing the right thing.

the girls are fighting. :( and for no reason.

honestly...this conflict is so artificial and manufactured for cheap drama and god, I hate it so much.

Ardelia graduated as Academy Valedictorian!!! obviously both race and gender factor into her career path within the Bureau, but that is sure as heck “a leg up”! so why is she telling Clarice “opportunity’s like nothing to you”?!

not to belabor the point, but Clarice’s “opportunity” was to “wheedle a crazy man with come all over [her]” and then to almost die in another crazy man’s basement. no big.

“I love you, but who do you think you’re talking to?” no, Ardelia, who do YOU think you’re talking to???

Ardelia Mapp, ARDELIA FUCKING MAPP, just threatened to report her best fucking friend, goodBYE.

as @special-agent-pendragon​ pointed out, Ardelia knows something about how traumatized this version of Clarice is by what happened in Belvedere (that “opportunity” that made her a “star”). she knows Clarice has mandated therapy sessions, knows that she’s seen multiple men die in front of her in the past few DAYS. she maybe even knows about Clarice’s flashbacks/bad dreams. so knowing all that, it’s downright thoughtless and cruel of her to treat Clarice this way just because she’s angry and bitter.

me too, girl

I hate to see Ardelia get the short end of the bureaucratic stick, but maybe it’s a lesson about priorities that this OOC version of her needs to learn.

Krendler sacrificing himself to save his team...a lamb, if you will... surejan.jpg

their person of interest purchased a ticket to BUENOS AIRES.

“I graduated second in our class” no! she was valedictorian! is this show’s Achilles heel really going to be Ardelia Mapp?!

systemic racism is a theme worth highlighting just as much as the sexism that brings down Clarice’s career. I just hope they don’t throw Ardelia’s awesome character away to do it.

no one as brilliant as Ardelia should be surprised that the Good Old Boys were using her to get at Clarice. they just so happened to pluck her out of cold cases to investigate ViCAP, her best friend/Academy roommate’s team? why is she shocked???

I’m so mad. Ardelia is guilt-tripping Clarice, dumping all her anger and fears about the future on her, and for what? damn, our girls deserve better than this.

there have to be better ways to expound on the theme of racism than the heroine’s closest friend and confidante throwing her under the bus.

Clarice’s boss just called her out for going into a dangerous situation alone without informing anyone of her whereabouts. so what do the writers make her do? that exact same thing! except now she’s an agent with a team, not a trainee on her own. ugh.

and to wrap up by far the worst episode of the series to date, a cliffhanger! #Yikes.

I’m really disappointed. Last week’s episode was a little dull and less than impressive...but this? For all I’ve been complaining about the Clarice-is-traumatized subplot, that was somehow better than whatever this was. Plus, nothing I was critical of last week was addressed or fixed.

The Good: Some funny lines, a Hannibal reference (along with a Baltimore trip and a mention of Buenos Aires), and a couple of good allusions to the novels. Someone telling Clarice that it was wrong for the Bureau to throw her to “the cannibal” as a trainee. (She knows this, it’s just nice to hear it out loud.) Almost no trauma/flashback scenes, thank God. Clarice going for a run! Oh, and Rebecca Breeds is beautiful, as usual...though she, also as usual, doesn’t have much to actually do.

The Bad: Everything else. The Ardelia subplot made me genuinely upset. It’s not necessary for the show-runners to force a conflict between Clarice and Ardelia to get their messages across! Maybe people who haven’t read the books are eating this up, I don’t know. But to me it’s a total betrayal of their dynamic. The costumes are still boring and still not very 90s. There’s no character development. (Except for like...Krendler?) AG Martin and Catherine don’t exist in this episode, making everything from last week feel even more unfocused. They added a new deep state/big government type twist to the existing conspiracy subplot, which...why??

I just didn’t like it.

Clarice still needs better costumes. What she really needs is character development, though. The show-runners don’t think the movie had time to flesh Clarice out very well...but Jodie Foster was given more to do than look sad all the time! Rebecca has shined so far when she’s had the opportunity. Of course the show has to have a plot, but the heroine should also feel like a real person.

Sorry about all the negativity in this one. Hopefully, this is the worst episode of this show we’ll ever have to see and the Ardelia nonsense is resolved next week. I’ll take another week of boring costumes, etc., as they put the canon characters I love back en route to their proper arcs!

[afaimsarrowverse]

The 14 Creepiest Arrowverse Villains:

Yes, this one should have been made for Halloween. But after the year we just had, let’s take comfort in the fact that were are not forced to ever meet this guys here on the street in the dark. While two of the villains on this list had rather big seasonal arcs, I specifically disqualified characters from here, have proper motivations and character arcs as well as villains, who are creepy but at the same time quite a lot of fun. This why you won’t find Alice, her Mouse, Ramsay, Eobard, the Trickster, Mallus, Neron or even the Thinker here.

This list mainly consists of people we want to put back in the box, they got out of, until not seeing them at least for a season or so, and who we want to yell at: „What’s wrong with you!“ while they are on screen.

 14.  Toyman Senior (Winslow Schott Sr., Supergirl, Henry Czerny)

Technically this one should not be on this list, because he was redeemed in Season 5, however that happend after his death and on Earth Prime rather than Supergirls Original Eart,h so we will ignore that for now (also I wrecked my head whom from „Supergirl“ to put on here, so I overlooked that on purpose). Toyman is more creepy as a concept than in reality. He blows up kids (and other than the Trickster is no fun at all while he is doing it), threatened the life of his son to get his wife to leave him and did God knows what else to said wife and son. And did not even stop terrorizing people after his death. Can you imagine growing up as Toyman’s son? Poor Winn, you truly deserved better!

 13. Bug Eyed Bandit (Brie Larvan, Queen Bee, The Flash, Arrow, Emily Kinney)

Yes, it’s because of the Bees. Because she controls Mechanical Bees that sting and kill people! I am sorry, but what’s your problem, can’t you just kill your enemies like a normal person, Brie? Not to mention the whole Felicity-thing, because yes it’s totally normal to go around and kidnap and threaten to get what you want and then try to murder again. I still do not get why they let her into the Young Rogues anyway, but then … most members of that gang were all wrong, weren’t they?

 12. Garfield Lynns (Arrow, Andrew Dunbar)

Most of us have tried to forget about Season 1 Episode „Burned“ for several reasons. But the villain of it is also one of those. Because, yes Mick was a Pyromanic as well, but for more complex reasons. Garfield Lynns was a fire fighter who started burning people and ended burning himself to death because of reasons and … well let’s be honest, he was nuts and burning people is not cool at all!

��11. Jake Simmons (Deathbolt, Arrow, The Flash, Doug Jones)

That’s what you get, if you hire a creature actor (no offense, Doug, we love your work!) to play a psychopatic villain. Occasionally kind of fun, yes, but mostly Simmons is crazy and creepy, and we never liked him very much, but crucial Captain Cold killed him with a flimsey excuse, which no one ever bought, and let’s put it that way: If Leonard killed him just like that, there had to be something wrong with him in a big way, and yes, the hints were there, so, yeah, what a creep.

 10. The Mist (Kyle Nimbus, The Flash, Antony Carrigan)

A former Mob Hitman that looks like that and can turn into Mist. Do I have to say any more? I would take Victor Szasz over this one any day. Because Nimbus … well you would not want to meet him during a misty night, would you?

 9. Murmur (Michael Amar, Arrow, Adrian Glynn McMorran)

This one actually cares about his grandma, I will give him that, but SOMEONE SEWED HIS FUCKING LIPS TOGETHER! So you don’t really like looking at him, and he kind of went over board after he was pressured into joining Damien Darhk with, you know, killing everyone and joining HIVE, who as you recall planned to end the world as wen know it, so what about everyone elses grandmas, they can just die or what? No, Mister Amar, there is quite a lot wrong with you, that’s for sure.

 8. Everyman (Hannibal Bates, The Flash, Various)

That one could be a tragedy, but well, he got so mixed up and wrong in the head, that he became a danger to everyone else. He is creepy trapped between shapes and he is creepy in other shapes because … you don’t just go around and kiss random women, who think you are somebody else. That is just wrong. But Bates is kind of mostly wrong, so, yeah.

 7. Anthony Ivo (Arrow, Dylan Neal)

Ivo is Sara’s Personal Case of #Metoo, which really should be enough to earn him a spot on this list, but there is also his habit of keeping people in cages and the whole „You have to choose, whom I shoot dead!“- thing and all of that is only the tip of the iceberg. Not even Dylan Neal can stop me from wanting to scream at the top of my lungs: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! at Dr. Ivo.

 6. Nocturna (Natalia Knight, Batwoman, Kayla Ewell)

We all know the story how Nocturna was not allowed to show up in the Animated Batman Series in the 90s, because she was considered too disturbing (Morbius on the other hand was allowed to show up in the Spider-Man Cartoon but had to … undergo some changes, which made a perfectly good vampire into the creepies cartoon-villain ever unleashed on kids and scarred me for life, but that’s another story). Here she finally is, and yes, she is rather disturbing. Because she acutally knows very well that she isn’t a vampire, but still strings her victims up and bleeds them out, after biting them with laced spikey teeth. It would be kinky, if it were the least bit sexy, which it totally isn’t, so yeah, put her away for good please.

 5. Vandal Savages Hawk Creatures (Legends of Tomorrow, Various)

Season 1 of „Legends“ was quite different than what came after, but „Night of the Hawk“ was an early highlight. While it was kind of a parody, being Season 1 it still played it straight for the most part, which resulted in an episode with the vibe of „American Horror Story“: We are in on the joke, but it’s still Horror. No wonder, after all Joe Dante directed this one. Vandal Savage turned poor teenagers into hawklike monsters, that no one would want to meet … ever. So yeah, thanks, but no thanks.

 4.      August Cartwright (Ethan Campell, Batwoman, John Emmet Tracy, Sebastian Roche)

Oh, God, that guy. So his mother wasn’t particulary ... nice, but that is no excuse to kidnap, gaslight, and brainwash a young girl, keep that girl’s mother’s head in a fridge for years, turn said girl into a slave and get her to make facemasks out of actual human face! Nor is that any excuse for fear-gasing your own son just because you are mad at him. Or anything in any way related to face-stealing, ,killing, identitiy theft, or anything else Dr. Cartwright has ever been up to. Like, seriously it has been a long time a character that desevers to be hated that much has been on our televions screens. Creepy Creep!

 3. Duela Dent (Batwoman, Alessandra Torresani)

Female Slashers have become kind of a common trope in fiction by now, but Duela is kind of different. Suffering from a pretty extreme version of of body dysmorphic disorder Duela sees beauty through a different lense than the rest of the world (we will never forget what she deems to be her face being perfect, even though we desperatly want to). So yeah, she slashes faces, mainly her own, is out to punish people, who force beauty ideals on her and othes, and somehow has no problem with … donating her face to Alice. … Can someone please get that poor woman help, I mean, seriously?!

 2.      Rag Doll (Peter Merkel, The Flash, Troy James, Phil LaMarr)

He did make Joe West throw up. And not only him. Rag Doll is plains disgusting. So disgusting actually, that the producers dialed him back in Season 6 and used more CG and less pratical „Troy James freaks us out“- bending. But while he could be fun all elongaty, we actually prefer him as his creepy original Season 5 Self. He is demented, wears a creepy mask, acts creepy, and we really don’t want to see him do his stuff but can’t look away at the same time. I have no idea why he was in the Young Rogues either, because he is really mainly creepy – und would be the Overcreep on this list, if it weren’t for….

 1.      The Dollmaker (Barton Mathis, The Broken Doll Killer, Arrow, Michael Eklund)

I am still amazed to this day that they were allowed to make this episode. You have to remember „Arrow“ had been only on for one Season at this point and „The 100“ was still about to premier. The CW was yet to change it’s image. Still they somehow got to made the Dollmaker-Episode, which left us disturbed to this very day. What Mathis was doing to his victims …. Well not only Quentin got nightmares about it. Poor Laurel went understandable full addict after almost being made into a puppet by him. So, Rag Doll might look creepier, but the Dollmaker is one of this Serial Killers we never want to even hear from again. It’s really no wonder he was an one-off, like I said, I am still amazed they were even allowed to make the episode on Network Television let alone The CW at all.

[mxtxsblog]

Redemption for villains and storytelling

Relevant to my interest and my XY hyperfixation, but not only.

I want to say it: the characters don’t deserve anything. Because the characters don’t exist and can’t decide anything. The author is the god of their stories, she/he/they can decide anything.

Sometimes it’s full of satisfaction, sometimes it’s a mess.

(I’m stressed and in a hurry, broken essay written in broken English under the cut)

(The author is god and the author is dead at the same time, my favorite way to enjoy a narration)

Let’s take Loki, for example. Marvel wanted to kill him in Thor 2, but he had become such an icon that he stayed. He could have been easily the villain of Thor 3, of Avengers 3, but no, he died (redempted, we can say). Do I think Loki needed redemption? Of course I did. But my belief, or the belief of a fan who hates Loki is unimportant, because the writers decide everything. He could have become worse and worse, if so the Powers To Be had decided.

In Buffy, did Spike need a romance with Buffy? Unimportant, Joss Whedon could have written him any ways he wanted. He got a redempion, but he could also not get it.

Hannibal, for being a terrible cannibal serial-killer for petty petty reasons, gets the love of his life to love him back. Does he deserve him? Fuck no, but damn if it isn’t a compelling story and I love it.

And of course pure sweet wholesome characters suffering and dying horrible terrible deaths (Yanli, for example, and a sadly enormous group of female characters). Did they deserve it? Fuck no! But they did.

And many other characters. For me it’s baffling that Meg was used in that way in SPN, they look really OOC. But retcons are a thing, especially when many many many people work in a popular show. Some people enjoyed it, hurray for them.

Did Darth Vader deserve his redemption? Unimportant, Lucas wanted it to happen and so it did (I personally love Luke and Anakin).

Some characters needed much more screentime and they couldn’t have it.

So yes, of course it’s fun to see a story as an universe separated from any other things, where characters are people. (Hello suspension of belief and premise to care about any story!)

And not all the twists and the evolutions are good, oh my god no. (Chuck, I repeat? Lex in Smallville? Loki in the comics? And many others).

But I just wanted to say that it’s not a matter of being more or less pure, moral. Story happens, plot happens, ideas of the author happen. It isn’t a matter of “this character deserved this or that”, but what the author wanted to write.

And now because I’m really transparent... Yes, of course I can see a redemption for Xue Yang. The fact that it wasn’t written doesn’t mean that it couldn’t exist. And yes, it could work very well with MDZS plot (where our protagonist inexplicably is almost never treated as a villain, despite killing thousands of people) (my thirst for villain protagonist WWX is for another rant).

Redemption means many many things for different people. For some the intentions are more important (this character realizes he was wrong), for others the character simply stops doing evil things, for others again is trying to make up for their evil. For other stories it means to start killing different people.

I think they work in different ways with different characters.

Do I want to see a Loki wrecked by guilt? No, thanks but not thanks.

Do I wish to read a Xue Yang desperate because he’s understood that all the people he had killed didn’t deserve it? Are you kidding me? No!

What about a Palpatine who repents? Pff, no!

An Hannibal who decides that is sorry for being a serial killer and that should leave Will because he deeply hurted him? No no no!

Do I long to see a XY who follows XXC and starts exorcising evil things because he wants to stay near him? Fuck yeah. He stayed 3 years in a creepy old poor house without any other excitement than “Fuck, what’s this feeling, I want this”. Fighting alongside XXC would be a wet dripping dream (also, I think he’s already gone in some legit night hunts, why should he pass an occasion to see XXC fighting and being sexy?).

Do I want to see an Untamed!XY going to Yiling Laozou and doing demoniac cultivation together? Yes yes!

Do I wish to see a XY deciding that the Wen were actually terrible (he doesn’t like dominating others! He just likes killing people that he thinks they deserve to die in his revenge against the world) and fighting against them, ally of the other sects? I’d pay someone to write it.

Sincerely, in his case, I don’t care if he starts doing good things because he understands them. I think he can’t, or he wouldn’t have done the things he had done. Sincerely, I prefer to think that in that life at least he couldn’t understand them, because then he would be more innocent, in contrast with the option that he understanda and not cares (proof: he really believes there is a chance that XXC would understand his need for vengeance. If he knew it was so wrong, he would have tried something different (and maybe it would have worked!)).

Last but not least: I don’t like defanged villains. I just don’t like them. It may be my humiliation squick. And if the villain is harmless the “redemption” is not redemption at all: he couldn’t do anything! For this reason I’ve disliked (I didn’t read them, I would never leave a flame) the fics in which Loki was magic-bound or anything similar. Yes, it may be a transition, but long-term? Thanks but not my cup of tea. And yes, for a “redemption” arc to happen, the villain should be able to do evil... and not do it.

So yeah, I think people mean fundamentally different things when they speak about redemption, and not all of them are goods or things I’m interested in. And if something didn’t happen in canon, doesn’t mean that it absolutely couldn’t happen, but only that the author decided not to do it.

[xxgothchatonxx]

So Clarice has come back and... yeah, it’s not really getting any better. As per usual, they’re still not moving forward and they keep jumping backwards and flip-flopping between going “omg Clarice, shut up about your mental health issues and just get the job done okay?!” to “omg Clarice, you poor sweet angel, we know you’ve got a lead but you need to rest okay? <3 <3 <3″

And that “big twist” about who the Mystery Man was was so goddamn obvious, he might as well have had I’M THE DOUCHEBAG tattooed on his forehead when he first appeared as “a totally regular character” early in the show. 

So, same old annoying eye-roll-worthy shit I’ve come to expect from this show. 

But then I got to the ending.

*inhales sharply* Let’s talk about the ending.

One of the ONLY reasons why I have stuck with this show was because I wanted to see Clarice and Catherine Martin meet up again. And their reunion scene was... ok it still had some problems but overall I was pleased... but then the retconning started. 

This show likes to sit on its high horse saying “see WE respect the books and the characters unlike *hisses* Hannibal”... and then they go and retcon the completion of Clarice’s arc in Silence of the Lambs. The whole point of her saving Catherine and killing Bill was so she could right the wrong that had haunted her since childhood. By saving Catherine, she finally silenced the lambs and recognised her motive in her career choice. It's not because “it’s just a job”, it’s because she wants to save people. And most importantly, it showed that even though she wasn’t the tallest or the strongest, and she wasn’t a man, she could still be the hero. 

I do not have a problem with them showing Clarice crying. In fact, I’d have a problem if they did the opposite and just made her a stone-cold Strong Woman. What I have a problem with is that they took that triumphant moment - one of the most iconic heroine scenes in the history of cinema - and retconned it. All for the sake of a twist. All for the sake of adding more trauma. 

Now I’d like to go back to the high horse thing. So, in this retconned memory, they actually included a line that Bill says to Clarice in the book but didn’t say in the SOTL movie. So the fact that this episode said that Clarice was remembering that climactic battle “wrong”... how goddamn pretentious are you, writers?! Oh and I’ll let you in on a little secret, writers... yes, Bill did say that to Clarice in the book before he died, but the rest of the scene played out with Clarice making sure the prick was dead, telling Catherine she was going to call for help, and emerging triumphantly. She didn’t have a fucking panic attack freaking out that no one was going to come and help her! (Which, jfc writers, we get it - you’ve got a thing for seeing women in distress!) Again, I’m not saying that she can’t have panic attacks but when it comes at the cost of retconning... yeah, that’s a huge problem. So this show has absolutely no damn right to put that quote in without saying what happened after he said that. And then dunk all over Hannibal because “wahhh it didn’t follow canon :(” oh yeah because Ardelia, Krendler, Catherine, and Ruth are TOTALLY recognisable in this “sequel to the SOTL movie”! 

I am sorry that this is so long. But I am so bloody sick of this shit. Clarice  Starling is so much more than her trauma. Yes, talking about her trauma was a huge part of her story but the bigger part was her overcoming it! THAT is why she has lasted so long, and why Silence (the book and ESPECIALLY the movie) is so iconic. She proved everyone wrong, and proved Hannibal right (because he believed in her wholeheartedly - that’s why he coaxed that story out of her). So taking that empowering heroic scene and going “oh no... no, that was just a warped version of what really happened” is... you know what? It’s not a slap in the face. It’s a crowbar to the jaw. 

This show wants to be an empowering revival of Clarice Starling? Then leave the already empowering moments the fuck alone!

[hanniba1]

i was tagged by @matthewbrown and @cannnibal for these super fun hannibal questions!! thank you both so much i always love gushing about this show as we know

Favourite episode and why: oh god okay, if i HAD to pick one it’s mizumono. it’s just such a Perfect episode, it’s so ridiculously beautiful down to the tiniest detail, like the ticking clock sound that plays through most the episode???? love it. my other top favorite episodes are secondo, primavera, shiizakana, dolce, naka choko, appertivo, tome wan, trou normand, the wrath of the lamb, the number of the beast is 666, contorno, mukōzuke and su-zakana.

Least favourite episode and why: uhhh, i honestly love them all?? i guess probably either hassun or takiawase?? just they feel the slowest to me i guess.

Favourite side character: jimmy price!!!! i love him so much. i’d say beverly but she’s not a side character in my eyes.

If you could bring back one character who died, who would it be?: abigail because she didn’t deserve to die. i know it held value for the story but i really wish she hadn’t, especially in that way. it’s beautifully tragic and painful but she as a person deserved better.

Dish prepared in the show that you would like to try eating/ making: all of it except the weird ass nietzschean trout and that disgusting jello with the fish in it because those look DISGUSTING. and the frois gras for the same reason as bella. everything else i would try, can’t promise i’d like it but i’d definitely try it.

Which side character would you kill off?: chilton just because for god’s sake just let the man DIE ALREADY poor guy

Was there any scene that you didn’t like to look at?: i’ve talked about it before but the intubation scene is by far the scene that causes me the most discomfort. it feels so much like a rape scene and the symbolism of it, it Is a rape scene, a violation of will’s body. the way hannibal strokes his face i just. yeah. also the lobotomy scene but i have a thing with eyes. other than that the gore never bothers me much, at least not anymore i’ve seen it some many times.

Biggest ship: hannigram obviously like..... why is this even a question

Why did you start watching Hannibal?: i have always been a big fan of the hannibal films, and red dragon was always my favorite so when i found out they were doing a show i was stoked! i watched the first two seasons when it first aired but i lost cable around the time season 3 aired so i didn’t end up finishing it until 2016. so yes, i ended on MIZUMONO and didn’t see any more for TWO YEARS. it was traumatic.

Favourite Hannibal fic if you’ve read any?: okay i went through a period of like 3 months where i just Binge read them and they were all good but they’ve sort of blurred together. but a few that really stuck out for me were

Blackbird

Two Solitudes

As soft, as wide as air

Of Putrefaction, Saccharine (lol this one fucked me UP and i CRIED)

I Didn’t Know It Could Be Like This (part 1) & If The World Burned to Ash, Still We Would Remain (part 2)

What We Talk About When We Talk About Blood (i never read the second part bc it’s not finished, and i REFUSE to start a incomplete fic)

Change Me (If You Dare)

Have you watched any of the Hannibal films?: yes!! i grew up watching red dragon, silence of the lambs and hannibal. i think i watched silence of the lambs for the first time when i was like 7 or 8 LMAO which explains a lot. the only ones i haven’t seen are hannibal rising and i really wanna watch manhunter!

Have you read the Thomas Harris books?: i’m in the process of reading red dragon, but i most definitely prefer the show.

Favourite murder tableau: in the whole show it’s the prisoner, because the significance it holds for will’s character arc. but if we’re talking about the more traditional murder tableau’s i’m gonna go with cassie boyle’s it’s visually very striking and beautiful in a horribly morbid way.

Favourite blood spill: oh god a lot of them but uhhh, obviously the slaying of the dragon, will imaging slitting hannibal’s throat in tome wan, and then i completely loose my damn mind over will imaging being randall tier in shiizakana when he’s covered in blood and has the antlers coming out of his back i— 👁👄👁

What’re some of your headcanons?: it’s not necessarily a headcanon and more of an analysis but i go absolutely FERAL when i read any meta talking about will holding a more traditionally feminine role in the story of the show, especially talking about him being a gothic heroine. it’s why i loose my mind over any comparisons of hannibal and dracula and will being mina i just [incoherent screaming]. i also obviously love any headcanon’s of dark will graham. it’s something i post about myself a lot because to me it’s not headcanon, it is canon supported throughout the show, that will is killer who wears a person suit the same as hannibal. he’s not just a righteous killer, he has the exact same capacity for violence as hannibal. he just had a harder time accepting it.

i tag (and once again if i double tag y’all i’m sorry!!) @aragima @arunima @horrorcupid @nietzscheantrout @honnibal @hughdancyx @marg0t-verger @serialcannibal @hotgirlhannibal @francisforever and anyone else who wants to do it obviously xx

[chiliadhand]

some venom 2 thoughts

ms chen. most interesting character in the film because of one question: why did she care so much about venom? i'm sure there's an answer to this question in venom 1, which i restate i have not seen, but i'm sure that the answer is disappointing. at any rate it's an interesting idea. this stern working class lady, who's getting on in years but seemingly has no family to speak of, who feels a probably maternal fondness for this man-eating alien monster? i find that much more compelling than eddie's dynamic with venom TBH. like i'd rather watch a movie about that lol

i also wanna talk about that scene at the end where cletus says "eddie i just wanted your friendship" and eddie says "i'm sorry cletus" and venom says "FUCK THIS GUY" and eats cletus' face. okay listen. not only was that venom line the only quip in the movie which made me laugh, but that exchange represented genuinely interesting character ideas. it establishes cletus as a fucked up guy who sees himself in eddie and craves connection with him — anyone who's watched hannibal knows there's an interesting dynamic there. then we get to see that eddie CARES about how cletus feels, and chooses to express it! cletus has terrorized eddie but in this critical moment, where they both know cletus is about to die by eddie's hand, eddie accepts cletus' final bid for connection. he makes himself emotionally vulnerable to cletus, and shows that he is affected by cletus' words. what a gift to give the man you tried to kill, the man who tried to kill you. it has the makings of a really good character moment for both of them, if only it was scaffolded by a broader narrative that acknowledged and explored these ideas more fully. then venom, this entity who is intertwined with eddie so intimately as to share a life, establishes that he DOESN'T give a shit about how cletus feels, he refuses to have sympathy for him, and showing that in contrast to eddie's behavior is interesting too, and could lead to interesting disagreements between them. if that kind of dynamic interplay had been at the heart of the film, it might have been interesting. but they saved it all for the last minute :/ it's like they were too scared to actually explore the interesting ideas, and the best they could do was hint at them.

that's about all i liked about the movie, those little glimmers of Possible character dynamics. there were some other small moments between eddie and venom that i thought could be interesting if they were transposed into a better story. i guess marvel superfans must be well-adjusted to picking up on those little glimmers and mentally nurturing them into full-blown story arcs so that they can pretend their movies have actual narratives. i feel so bad for y'all

i know this post is long but lastly i want to note things i thought the movie did an especially bad job of:

- the police guy and the scream lady brought nothing of value to the story; their "plotlines" were boring and unnecessary. i understand wanting to give cletus someone to care about, but if they'd really thought about it they'd have realized it should just be eddie instead of a character invented solely to play that role. i assume the police guy was only tossed into this movie because he was important in the first one.

- the pacing was disorienting, the characters were underdrawn, the narrative was weak and disjointed, but god, the DIALOGUE had to have been the absolute worst part of the movie for me. it was so slapdash! almost none of the lines had any subtext or even interesting phrasing, and almost none of them served any purpose aside from moving the threadbare plot along. it felt like they literally went with the first draft of the script, and also like the first draft of the script was written by the board of executives instead of an actual writer

- the scene where eddie's ex-girlfriend, who had not spoken to him since breaking up with him, invited him to dinner at a fancy restaurant just to tell him she was getting married — and then guilt tripped the SHIT out of him for not acting excited. queen . . . . . what? it's hard to imagine that the writers did not understand how fucking insane those actions were. but it's the only possible explanation

- IT WASN'T EVEN FUN AND HORNY!!!!! all of these flaws could be forgiven if the movie was fun and horny like i was led to believe. but it wasn't fun or horny at all :(

[nyadversary]

30 questions meme thingie... tagged by @autumnalserenade sort of ehehehe

(1.) name / nickname:

kester / kes

(2.) gender:

oh haha no thank you :)

sometimes i think about how im both a transgender bisexual and a bigender transsexual and how thats so epic of me

(3.) star sign:

aries but i think astrology is stoopid i don’t like it. watch as that turns out to be an aries stereotype or something though

(4.) height:

5′9

(5.) time:

6:37 am EST

(6.) birthday:

04/17

(7.) favorite bands/groups:

oh fuck i’m definitely going to forget something important but

mother mother, metric, the decemberists, alt-j, echo & the bunnymen, x, pixies, hole, nirvana, clipping., my chemical romance, blondie, mindless self indulgence, studio killers

(8.) favorite solo artist:

again i’m definitely gonna forget someone important here

emilie autumn, amanda palmer, fiona apple, patti smith, marina & the diamonds, yungblud, poppy, slayyyter, hozier, mika

(9.) song stuck in my head:

i’m so sorry to have to say this but. dr3 despair arc ending theme

(10.) last movie:

genuinely no idea. i try not to watch movies if i can help it

(11.) last show:

it was either hannibal or better call saul, i don’t remember which of those i watched most recently

(12.) when did i create this blog:

sometime in late 2019, i think? don’t remember exactly. i know i announced i remade in early 2020, but i’d been active on this blog for maybe about six months beforehand

(13.) what do i post:

all kinds of stupid and gay shit

(14.) last thing googled:

“in a world where clowns are real” (i was trying to find a particular tumblr post)

(15.) other blogs:

@catboyebooks (liveblogging; we’re playing dr1 right now) @sexytesting (portal sideblog)

also. i did hoard a url the other day to use as like, a danganronpa sideblog maybe? so i don’t have to be unhinged on main maybe? so i can turn search engine indexing off and hide from the fandom at large maybe? it will probably be like some percentage shitposting some percentage sloppily written meta posts i don’t really know. might drop the url if i do anything with it

(16.) do i get asks:

not often, but from time to time! i think most of my followers are mutuals so when we talk it’s mostly through DMs or something rather than asks

(17.) why did i choose this url:

no deep reasons, it’s just nya + adversary although my lovely mutual litzo junkheaded did point out it could be read as “NY adversary” which also fits, i like that too

(18.) following:

92. i’ve never been one to follow a lot of blogs, as long as my dash isn’t super slow i prefer to keep my following count low — i think most of the blogs i follow are mutuals actually

(19.) followers:

116. again i think the majority of these i’m in mutuals with

(20.) average hours of sleep:

i have bipolar disorder so no

(21.) lucky number:

1, 4, 9, 11, 17, 55, 69 (nice), 93, 95, 101, 417, 420 (nice), 428, 666 (nice), 4673

(22.) instruments:

i’m mainly a singer but i used to play fiddle (would like to pick it up again sometime), i know some very rudimentary piano/keyboard (i can do basic chords), i’m trying to learn ukulele and i’d also like to try learning guitar

also my school did force us to play the recorder but we got sort of hardcore with it, broke out the alto/tenor/bass recorders and all that. i used to play alto and tenor mainly but i’ve played like every type of recorder probably lmao

(23.) what am i wearing:

shrieking shack t-shirt with a really deep fried image of harry holding dead dobby on it

black and white checkered pants

boxered shorts

(24.) dream job:

i don’t dream about having jobs simply <3

but no ideally i wind up being some sort of author i guess?

(25.) dream trip:

anywhere. ahaha. let me out <3

(26.) favorite food:

some favorites no order: soft pretzels, like all pasta but my fave is tortellini, virtually all seafood honestly but especially crab, mussels, salmon, and anchovies, udon, ramen but not instant ramen i’ve had enough of that for one lifetime probably but will continue to eat it bc money, cheesecake, pizza but specifically like really good italian style pizza (new york style is also pretty good), garlic bread, really anything with garlic, salty foods in general

(27.) nationality:

american 😔

in terms of more specific cultural background, just for funsies: mom’s side is irish catholic mainly, her dad’s family is from county tipperary, i’m 3rd gen. she grew up on staten island and most of her family lives (or did live) in the tristate area. dad’s side is scots-irish with left welsh and has been here a while, since i think the mid or late 1600s? my paternal grandparents ended up settling and raising their family in socal (san diego) but both their families are from the southern appalachian region (grandfather on that side grew up in rural northern alabama, F to pay respects, and i don’t remember specifically about my grandmother)

(28.) favorite song:

i cannot pick. uh. the most played song in my itunes library is infinitesimal by mother mother, so, whatever that says about me

(29.) last book read:

does... does the komaeda manga count

(30.) three fictional universes you’d like to live in:

Three??? most of the fictional universes i like / am invested in are horrible nightmare realms. the only one i can think of that seems like an overall good time is pokemon and i don’t think i need to explain why that would whip ass

i tag: the girl reading this <3 or, like, whoever, you can do this if you want and say i tagged you, no obligation