#TL;DR: I am mourning the series a bit

[tuwasduwillst]

Can you not do post titles on mobile? Bizarre. Anyway, this is just more thoughts about Veilguard, now that some time has passed since my first playthrough.

After my first playthrough of Veilguard, I tried to go back and play again. Typically, the different choices and love interests (and world states) can wrangle at least a good four playthroughs out of me before I decide to move on to something else.

This time, I'm almost considering ending it at one.

What changes between Veilguard playthroughs? My world state is virtually the same no matter what I pick in the CC; for the factions, reactivity is minimal and only a select handful of factions even feel like they're worth playing as to see what changes. If you're an elf, you're some amalgamation of a Dalish/city/other elf and have no real clear way of even setting your background to begin with (which is a bit of a problem for every Rook, but it especially stands out for elf!Rook IMO).

And the romances... to say I'm disappointed with what I've seen and heard would be an understatement. I've seen so many people zealously praising and defending the way that Veilguard handles its romance and I can't even begin to fathom how or why, when you compare it to how it was handled in other Dragon Age games. Admittedly, my first romance was Lucanis and I've heard he's worst off, but comparing notes with friends has shown that even for the "best" romances, it just feels like things are missing. BioWare devs were boasting about this being their most romantic game yet; Lucanis in particular was described as a "bisexual disaster" (and I'll get into him more in a bit). But I saw no proof of either of these things in the game.

Every major issue or faction in Veilguard was entirely defanged. The Crows are your friendly neighborhood watchdogs; the Lords of Fortune are "good" pirates who would never ever steal anything culturally significant to anyone else (this is where I stare pointedly at their leader, Isabela. Can I buy that she's more careful after DA2? Maybe, since apparently they canonized her being BFFs with Hawke and returning despite them claiming they wouldn't invalidate world states*. Do I think she bothers checking everything she finds to make sure it's okay to take? Hell no).

They didn't even take full advantage of the hooks their characters naturally had in their backstories! Lucanis is, essentially, heir to the Crows (or at least one of their houses); he brings up his restrictive life once over coffee, and you get some stuff in the mind prison quest I guess, but outside of that he's more well-adjusted than literally any of the DA2 companions despite being possessed by a demon of Spite! Who was horribly underutilized, by the way; his main job seemed to be to sniff and growl at things like a tiny and ineffectual dog. I have no idea why any of the companions were worried about him being a problem in the slightest, because after making that nosebleed happen super early on, he did literally nothing! He didn't even kill Illario or cause any problems at all!

Honestly, I have so much to say and basically none of it is good. I liked how they handled Solas (and his reunion with Lavellan). I liked the Mourn Watch. It was a very pretty game and combat was fun. That's about it and every time I play more of the game it makes me like it less because I notice more things that just don't hold up.

I might talk about it more when I'm not on my phone, but I just wanted some of my thoughts here now. 😔

* this was a lie, by the way, since Harding brings up two Inquisition members that potentially weren't even recruited (and Solas brings up one of them as well potentially); Morrigan drinking from the Well of Sorrows seems to be a canon choice, and the thing with Isabela seems to have had a canon choice made as well because otherwise her line about "learning what family meant" or whatever makes no sense at all.

[maglors-anion-gap]

1, 11, and 13 from the nice asks, please?

[for this ask game]

A fanon characterization that you love:

I really enjoy fanon lalwen. She's not in the silm and she gets almost no exposition elsewhere so she really is the blorbo personality I invented. Lalwen the best friend of fingolfin, lalwen fingolfin's right hand man, lalwen the loud and the smiling, lalwen the lesbian -- idk I just really like how some folks have turned her into the big, gregarious lady, especially since most of tolkien's ladies fit different niches (tolkien would have exploded if he'd ever met a butch dyke, I don't think he'd know what to do with a woman like that). Otherwise, I like fanon maeglin a lot. Singly handedly fixed tfog for me so that I didn't have to avoidantly flip past chunks of it. Maeglin's canon behavior is obviously a real-world phenomenon (and the reason I had personal issues enjoying tfog) so there's value in analyzing that. But at least for me, it's been very nice to see people examine the interplay between low self-esteem and outward confidence, the trauma of adolescence and the adult responsibility of growth and recovery, inquisitive desire for greener grass and the feeling of freakishness or otherness. I think a lot of it takes themes present in the original but pares away some of tolkien's dated coding and the broader discomfort casual fans might want to avoid.

11. Recommend a fic with an unusual/original headcanon or characterisation that you loved:

I would recommend Half Mourning by @skyeventide! One, I love the idea of Maeglin having Dwarvish tattoos. There's so much depth there; that they'll fade and take a part of his identity with him, how distancing himself from the bad parts of his life has forcibly distanced him from the good or familiar parts as well. Two, Maeglin as a mirror for other people! Gaia has really masterfully captured something I didn't know I needed to see in Maeglin. He's usually written to be either charismatic and biting, or withdrawn and dejected (and to be clear, I enjoy both). But this fic kind of opened a third door: Maeglin who is whatever the situation requires, who has past associations and familiar customs but no real positive tether to his identity, the knowledge that he is not unwelcome but that he does not belong, that the easiest way to avoid scrutiny is to mimic the person in front of him. I felt very called out.

13. Recommend a fic (can be your own!) that features something you wish was written about more:

This is actually a series (sorry) but The Years Start Coming and They Don't Stop Coming by @i-am-a-lonely-visitor! I am very taken with Visitor's Celebhir (trans celebrian). I think a lot of folks (myself included) often write trans characters as having transitioned to their canon genders (for example, transmasculine maedhros is a staple of mine). And I love this, it's great! It's one way to explore. But I think for a while, at least what I saw, there was a bit of a stir across fandoms about best practice for writing trans characters (eughgghhh) and the Arbiters settled on "needs to match canon gender" and then enforced that vigorously. So personally, I love love love it when people take a canon character and say "I'm transing their gender the opposite direction." It requires you to analyze the character, pare them down to the characteristics about them that will never change (similar to the analysis required to set them in a wildly alternate universe) and then overlay on top of that the new characteristics of what it's like to be trans, how they interact with the world now, how that changes their character, etc. For example, Visitor's Celebhir has a certain tension with Galadriel that wouldn't exist in that manner for Celebrian. Very very tasty analysis going on. (I will be posting transfeminine caranthir soon - I say, having said this for the last three months). TL;DR: I think we should trans more characters, and if your first anxiety is "what if I'm transing them wrong??"/"I heard someone say you should never trans a character like this" you're probably *not* transing them wrong and it's going to be fine (and people love to beta so!)

[yikesxoop]

Abuse in She-ra

TL;DR She-ra tells a great story about how abuse is not the victim’s fault, but it is still very complicated to work past and grow from.

Disclaimer: I am not making statements on all types of abuse or saying that my thoughts here are universal, or even necessarily true. These are just my thoughts on the series finale and a great message in she-ra.

The cycle of abuse narrative is one of the most important aspects of She-ra for me. I honestly wasn’t sure if they were going to deliver on the ending that kind of narrative deserves when it came to season 5. While I thought more could have been done with the season, the ending felt extremely fulfilling.

Throughout the season, we see how Catra and Adora have a disdain for Shadow weaver because of how much pain and terror she brought them. They acknowledge that she has been a terrible person and has abused them their entire lives. But we also get to see the more difficult side, where when she dies, they can’t help but mourn. They hate her, and have every right to. But she still raised them, and that’s the bit that makes abusive families so difficult. You can know that a person is hurting you, and still want to hold on, because you have grown up around them and been taught to love them. Shadow Weaver did not deserve a happy ending, but at the very least, in her last moments, she helped the two people she abused. It’s not redemption, and it shouldn’t be. But she did one good thing in her entire life. She needed to go, but we got to see the complexities of why its so hard to let go of someone who is an abuser.

Catra and Adora themselves are another aspect of abuse. Catra has done despicable, terrible things, but she did them because she had been taught that power is the only way to gain respect and fulfillment, because she felt she was undeserving of real love. This is not an excuse, but context for her actions. Catra and Adora are the classic scapegoat/golden child duo when it came to Shadow Weaver. She saw Adora as the one worthy of love and Catra as the unworthy one. She manipulated Catra into feeling like she was worthless, and Adora into feeling like it was her responsibility to be perfect and watch over everyone, lest others would suffer because of her. This of course led to disdain between Catra and Adora, with Catra always feeling inferior and spiteful. She tried to climb the ladder in the Horde in hopes of becoming powerful and worthy, but she hurts so many people along the way. It is only when she hits rock bottom that she tries to turn it around. In season 5, we see Catra acknowledging her wrongdoings, being vulnerable, apologizing, expressing that she is working on being less angry and toxic, showing that she was trying and that becoming better takes work.

This has become very long and full of ramblings now, but the story of abuse in She-ra is beautiful. I would’ve liked to see more consequences for Hordak. And to an extent, I wanted to see Catra have to do a bit more to gain others’ trust again (particularly with Scorpia and Adora), but I felt that it was a good message in the end. In an abusive relationship, it is the abusers job to change, and it is the victim’s job to leave the situation if they have to, and be good to themselves. People have to want to change, and it takes work. But if a toxic person is going to become better, it is their responsibility. No one else’s. And she-ra shows that beautifully.

[ladymarys]

hello newtina/fantastic beasts stans, especially for those of you that are content creators and/or die-hards...

i know i don’t interact much on this platform (much less initiate the interaction) and i know i’m a bit late and you’ve probably already been discussing this amongst yourselves, but i just wanted to talk to you all about That Thing

this is a bit long so you can skip to the TL;DR at the bottom if you want, but i would also appreciate it if you read the whole thing.

just to be clear, i am not going to defend her.

so that happened.

to be honest with you, i am disappointed but not surprised. jkr has been floundering with her revelations about the wizarding world post-potter film series, and also her political views for years now (really, the earliest thing i can remember was around 2014-ish when she said harry and hermione ought to have ended up together; let me tell you, even as a harry/hermione shipper, i still found it so pointless of her to say that).

at a certain point in around 2018 (just a little bit before crimes of grindelwald came out) i started to think i would no longer be able to defend her (not just to other people, but mainly to myself). this was because at the time, she had already been spotted liking transphobic tweets on twitter. then, when the final cog trailer came out, the nagini thing quite irked me too, and the backlash against her upset me. i was so excited for cog, i didn’t want people tearing it down.

and then, of course, the film came out, and people tore it down even more. that upset me even more. i told myself fb3 will be the make-or-break for me. if it sucks, like cog did, i’m out.

but i’m not just disappointed, i’m also deeply, deeply devastated. I’m sure most of you are, too. (i haven’t yet reached the anger stage, i think.)

i’m sure most of you have also thought about the horrifying likelihood that this could cut the fb series short. even if jkr apologizes for what she’s said, nothing she does from this point forward will ever be taken the same anymore. long gone are the days when people attended harry potter film premieres chanting “Rowling is our queen!” and it’s depressing. i was rooting for her. we all were.

even more, we love her world and her characters so much. i watched fantastic beasts for the first time in 2017 and fell so in love with the main four characters and newtina that come 2018, i revived my then barely used stan twitter account to connect with many newtina stans alike and met two people i grew very close to, have actually met up with in person, and am still very close to. from there, i was inspired to make so much content for the fandom; i’ve written fanfics, i’ve made graphics, i’ve made probably cringe-worthy threads on twitter talking about how in love newt and tina are, i even made a cog-themed icon pack on twitter (take note, i was only part-time employed at the time lmao).

we were blessed with such a remarkable cast. our main cast so clearly enjoy working with each other and having the wizarding world as their playground. they love their characters so dearly and it makes me even sadder. because they deserve better. we all deserve better.

i don’t think warner brothers can just...fire jkr. i really don’t think they can. her name carries the wizarding world. and even if they did, who would replace her? steve kloves? jack thorne? anyway, rowling wouldn’t let that happen.

my question is: what happens now?

do we just...stop?

long before this happened, i read a fan artist (i believe it’s the wonderful sydsketch!) who has made some great art work for both hp and fb (and still does, i think) say that they no longer see jkr in the same light as they once did, and that they’ve accepted that the wizarding world has outgrown her, or maybe it was the other way around. and i agree. (one of my potterhead friends irl told me that the messages in her writing just don’t align with what she says on twitter. dissonance, luv.)

but i guess maybe the wound (which has been there for a while and unfortunately has been violently opened once more) is still too fresh. full disclosure: i’ve never been in a relationship before and i keep wondering, is this what it feels like to break up with someone? probably, right? i’m devastated, i’m losing sleep, and i’m having a hard time thinking of anything else. to make things worse, my anxiety totally blew up during this lockdown lmao.

as a newtina die-hard, i refresh the newtina tag on ao3 multiple times a day (it’s been second nature for maybe...a bit over two years?), so if you’re a newtina fic writer and you’re reading this then i have most likely read your work. during this pandemic, i’ve been taking time to plan and start writing a multi-chapter newtina fic that i’m really determined to finish. but i’m not sure i could write it now, or maybe i just need a break then i’ll be good to go again.

so, TL;DR (though i really do appreciate if you read everything):

for fic writers and content creators, i’m wondering: are you going to be continuing your fb WIPs? are you even still going to stay in the fandom?

this is the first fandom i’ve been in that has caused me so much pleasure but possibly even more pain, so for those of you who have had experiences like this before, how did you deal with it?

if you have any other thoughts about being in the fandom during a difficult time, conflicting feelings about loving the wizarding world but no longer loving its creator, or anything related to this at all, please feel free to reply or even message me here privately. we must stick together!

also, side note: if any of you are familiar with fic writer olivemartini, who wrote some wonderful newtina fics back in 2016/17; i recently looked them up on ao3, wanting to re-read those fics but found they had deleted their stories. i found them on wattpad and asked if they would ever post the newtina fics they wrote from before but they said that only the fics already posted on wattpad are the ones that will be posted. yeah, another thing to mourn

edit: if i do choose to stay in the fandom, i’ll probably only limit myself to reading fics. writing them, i’m not sure

[misssamericanaaa]

My “Analysis”/Headcanons on Chaddick’s Family

Note before I begin - I typed this up in my drafts and it was a very long, unorganized, and rambling post and when I pasted it into Google Docs to edit it, it was three full pages! So this is still long but hopefully more organized and not as rambling!

Just a warning this does have some spoilers for Quests for Glory and The Crystal of Time so if you maybe haven’t read them yet but are interested in the series maybe don’t read this! 

Ok, so I’m aware I’ve only been on this blog a solid 7 hours but I was off work today and my classes for the semester don’t start until next week so I had absolutely nothing to do today, and I ended up spending about 4 of those 7 hours going through various SGE tags here (tl;dr - I’ve read a lot of analysis and headcanons today) and I’m still processing most of it but there was one thing in particular in A Crystal of Time that really blew me away and I actually haven’t seen any thoughts on it here (I may just be missing them) so I thought I’d share my own!

Mistress Gremlaine

So can we talk about Mistress Gremlaine? The lady who works at the Foxwood School for Boys and briefly talked to Hort and Nicola before they ran past her to find Dean Brunhilde and is, so obviously to me, Chaddick’s mother? Which also makes Lady Gremlaine Chaddick’s aunt but I’ll get to that in a hot minute.

What first clued me in was the two boys who came out of the school and talked to their mother, the older one saying that his younger brother started crying in his history class because they were discussing Camelot’s knights “and well, you know”. That line was the kicker, in addition to their named being Caleb and Cedric, following the “C” naming scheme. Going back to Quest for Glory, when the obituary Lady Gremlaine showed Tedros said that Chaddick was survived by his parents and his brothers, aged 17 and 12 (which is what Hort and Nicola approximated their ages to be when they saw them). The older brother took his younger brother to the park to comfort him, and Mistress Gremlaine paid the gardener to keep an eye on them in the park, who said he didn’t blame her for doing so. I’ll be honest, it struck a chord with me. She’s already lost one son, and even though their kingdom is supposedly under Rhian’s protection, who could blame her for wanting to keep her remaining children safe?

I will say, however, that I am a little surprised that neither Hort nor Nicola picked up on this very obvious clue, especially seeing as Hort went to school with Chaddick for three years and even though Nicola didn’t know him, she was with the group when they found his body in Avalon and seems to be very sharp and picks up clues easily. Considering the older brother was only one year older than Chaddick (16 at the time of death), I’d assume there would be some familial resemblance, even with the younger brother as well. That paired with the interaction about Camelot’s knights makes me think that one of them would have figured it out. They’re both smart and I feel as though they tend to pick up on clues such as that. Then again, maybe they were preoccupied with not being caught and finding Dean Brunhilde.

Who Told His Family?

I also have some thoughts about his family in general, particularly with how they found out about his death. I seem to remember in QfG that his death was reported to the Camelot Courier by one of the mongooses (mongeese?) that killed the snakes inside the castle in Avalon. That isn’t necessarily important here though, more just me trying to remember a book I reread only last week.

So who told Chaddick’s family? Are they even aware of how he died? That he was killed by the Snake while on his quest as Tedros’ knight? I have three main theories, all of which are somewhat plausible.

Professor Dovey

Could it have been Dovey? I know she was dealing with some side stuff with her crystal ball but could she have taken a trip to Foxwood to inform his family about his death in person? I remember her being very upset about his death (rightfully so), and I do like the idea of Dovey honoring Chaddick by telling his family in person how their son died.

Lady Gremlaine

As much as I love that headcanon, another more likely possibility is that Lady Gremlaine informed them as soon as she got the news herself. Chaddickw as her nephew after all, and I would understand her wanting to tell his family herself, because she’s also family.

The One That Makes Me Really Sad

Ok the last, most heartbreaking, possibility is that they found out on their own, by reading his obituary in his newspaper. I remember that Dovey was upset it had been printed in the paper without her consent, meaning she may have had the intention of informing his family herself and never got the chance. My heart breaks at the idea of his mother or father reading the newspaper in the morning and suddenly coming across an obituary for their own son. Their own son that they presumably hadn’t seen in 3-4 years and is supposed to be off on a magical quest and now he’s dead and they don’t even know how.

Or it was one of his brothers, flipping through the paper looking for news of Camelot and then there’s their brother, except it’s his obituary and he’s dead. Their own brother, who they grew up playing and talking with and loving, who’s supposed to be a knight for the most legendary kingdom, the king of Camelot’s liege, and he’s dead.

Or they don’t even know and someone mentions it in passing, or asks for more information and ends up breaking the news to them.

(I did not know I had this many feelings about this topic, but whoops here we are.)

“Aunt Grisella”

Ok now it’s time to talk about Lady Gremlaine as Chaddick’s aunt, because that really came out of the blue for me. For a hot second, I was pretty horrified that Rhian and Japeth were his cousins but I suppose we dodged that bullet, although Evelyn Sader as their mother just feels random but that’s for another day.

She’s obviously his aunt because a) Chaddick’s mother is Mistress “Gremlaine” and b) Chaddick’s brothers referring to their “Aunt Grisella”. That’s said and done.

It also connected a scene from earlier that seemed a bit random to me, when Agatha, Sophie, and Tedros found the crystal of Chaddick with Lady Gremlaine before leaving for his quest. That just seemed off to me, so that’s somewhat cleared up. Tedros also mentioned that Lady Gremlaine had taken a liking to Chaddick, unlike Tedros and Agatha. Which brights us to our next point…

Was Chaddick aware she was his aunt? I would initially assume he knew, as his brothers knew Lady Gremlaine as their aunt, but it seems odd to me that he wouldn’t say anything to Tedros that his new steward just so happens to be Chaddick’s aunt. Tedros and Chaddick were supposed to be best friends, and Tedros is now his king, so it’s weird to me that he wouldn’t mention anything. There’s something off there and I really can’t put my finger on it, and probably won’t be able to unless there’s more information released in One True King.

Also, just me thinking out loud, if Chaddick knew Lady Gremlaine as his aunt, was he aware of her being King Arthur’s steward before he was born/when he was young? I’ll go out on a limb and assume that Lady Gremlaine was very private about her time at Camelot.

I’m also feeling that there was some mystery between her and Chaddick, because she was the one that told Tedros of his death and nothing came up in that time about being related to him. That may not have been something to mention at the time, but if Chaddick was aware she was his aunt I feel like it’s really odd that Tedros didn’t know. Also, that has to suck big time for Lady Gremlaine to learn of her nephew being murdered and then having to break the news to his king and supposed best friend and comfort Tedros, all while mourning herself.

I really feel like I’m missing a major piece of the puzzle with Lady Gremlaine being related to Chaddick but I feel like I’ve picked apart all of the relevant information we have at the time...I guess that’ll be something to hope for clarification in OTK!

I think that’s about all I have to say on this right now, but I also just want to say that I already been knew what I’m about to say but writing this post made me think of it a bit differently. Chaddick was killed way too soon. His death was a mere plot device and didn’t fit his character (well, what little we knew about him anyway). There was such great potential for character development and so many ‘what-ifs” in terms of being a part of The Camelot Years while being alive...he was done dirty. I wouldn’t say I mourn the character mainly (although I definitely still do), but I mourn what could have been and what a great character he would have made to the story. But that’s a topic that’s been covered very well by many people and also not the main point! I’m really just starting out on here and I just wanted to put my thoughts out there and in one place! :)

[sleepy-hailey]

Pacific Rim: Uprising

So as some of you might know, I like giant monsters and I like writing stuff (in theory), so how about I try combining the two things. In like a tangible way, not like the Kumonga (giant spider from Godzilla series) fanfic I have been working on for well over a year that still is not halfway done.

I am going to give my short and spoiler-free thoughts here and then go into more depth under the cut.

I really liked it. I laughed out loud at some of the gags, my mouth hung agape during some of the action, I whispered excitedly to my girlfriend next to me who had her own adorably goofy grin throughout, my feels got poked here and there, and I left the theater really happy. It was not perfect by any means nor was it as good as the first, but I will honestly probably watch again while it is still in theaters once it goes discount.

Now for my detailed thoughts where I spoilerize the whole movie.

Having said that I liked it, the first thing I want to talk about is, from what I’ve seen, the biggest point of contention. They fridged Mako Mori. For those who don’t know, “fridging” is a short hand for “Women in Refrigerators” which is when a character, usually a woman, is killed or otherwise brought to dramatic harm for the narrative benefit of another character, generally used for making a guy sad and angry. What separates this from general tragedy in fiction is that usually the character whom the harm befalls was a character in their own right and what happens to them has nothing to do with them or their narrative.

Mako Mori was the deuteragonist, or second main character, of Pacific Rim 1. What made her different from just being a supporting character was that she had her own story entirely independently from the other main character, Raleigh. Her story was about how her family was killed in a kaiju attack, she was adopted by the legendary pilot Stacker Pentecost, she longed to become a pilot herself and strike back against the monsters that had taken so much from her and others and to prove to her adopted father that was as strong and capable as he. In Uprising she is killed in a helicopter crash to prevent her from delivering her negative views to a committee about deploying drone Jaegars. She is mourned briefly (but with incredible acting by John Boyega) and it’s revealed that her dying act was to send information that advances the plot one step.

This is a really crappy way to see a character out. This is right up there or worse than things like Tokyo S.O.S. where the entire previous movie was about building up the character of Akane only to shuffle her off at the start of the sequel for “Special Training in America”. This is worse than the Power Rangers’ peace conference they kept sending Rangers too. I mean, in the 2nd Mortal Kombat movie, they kill Johnny Cage in the first five minutes and THAT was better than Mako’s exit because at least he died doing things in his character, ya know, fighting the bad guy, and it raised the stakes by saying “oh this guy beat the tough guy in the previous movie but THIS tough guy killed him like nothing”. The other main character from the first, Raleigh, is just never seen nor is his fate brought up, THAT would have been preferable to this.

I’ve heard rumors that this was done for political reasons to get better box office in China. The first movie’s bad performance in China was largely blamed on the fact that it featured a Japanese woman protecting China, or so it is said. I’m not sure if I believe that was the actual motivation, but with the lousy killing of that Japanese woman and then having a Chinese woman go on to protect Japan, well, I see where the rumor is coming from at least.

So yeah, tl;dr, the way they killed Mako sucked and I don’t blame anyone if that’s a deal-breaker on their enjoyment of this movie. If they decide to bring her back as a cyborg or say that she survived the crash, but they put her in hiding for her protection, or whatever in Pacific Rim 3, I’m all for it. It would be dumb, but not as dumb as how they wrote her out in the first place.

All that out of the way, there was a lot I liked. The Mako thing puts a big “but” on my feelings, but I still liked it. There were other little issues I’ll talk about too, but none of them are comparable to the killing of Mako.

STUFF I LIKED! Jake Pentecost! I have yet to see John Boyega not be a delight to watch and this movie did not break that streak. His character was funny and charming in a dorky way. He also had to do most of the emotional lifting on this movie (with his dead disappointed dad and his newly dead sister and his shame at his past bad behaviors) and he carries that weight like a friggin champ. Also I really liked how they seemed to be leaning towards a OT3 with his copilot, whom he does call sexy and seems to have the most feelings about, and that engineer lady, who was just kinda there to make it less gay I guess.

The cadets! These kids, I may not remember all their names, but they brought a great feeling to the movie. I’m not gonna lie, I like kids’ stuff sometimes (a lot of the time depending on your definition of kids’ stuff) and kids in action/adventure is easy to fuck up. They brought in a lot of energy and the idea of “the younger generation” being able to step up and even being pushed to do so before it might be seen as appropriate due to a rapidly deteriorating situation is certainly relatable. Also they actually killed one of them as a way of saying “no, their youth does not guarantee their safety for the finale”. Also they used a giant robot to flip off a giant monster and I have to respect that.

Scrapper! Most the Jaegars in this movie felt more than a bit derivative of the ones from PR1, but that little girl was a delight. I liked the idea of a mini Jaegar able to run with one person and move into smaller areas faster. I loved how she rolled up into a little ball to preserve momentum and to protect the pilot during impacts. I loved her being used to do field maintenance on one of the bigger Jaegars in the finale. I just really feel that scrapper was an unsung hero of the movie.

Newt and Hermann! PRECIOUS GAY NERDS! If you watched PR1 and 2 and you actively deny that these two are in love, we are not friends any more (feelings of ambivalence are fine, but it won’t win you any points in my book). These two stole the show every single time they were on screen and that is impressive for a giant monster movie to make me actually more into the scientist characters than the pilots. I know some people were pissed about Newt being brainwashed by the Precursors, but it’s not like he was a willing ally. I mean, he was all but crying when he was strangling Hermann (who also seemed to be effing reassuring him that it wasn’t his fault and aaaaaaa I’m gonna cry). And honestly, I think giving the Precursors and the kaiju a human face and voice, and one as interesting as Newt’s, was a great idea. It actually made me hate the Precursors in a way beyond the generic “they’re trying to destroy the earth” way. If a third happens I want Newt to be struggling back and forth under their control. Also he and Hermann should kiss.

This does segue into my favorite complaint against most things by the way; it should have been gayer. I use this complaint so much that it’s basically a running joke with my friends, but I mean it every time. Newt and Hermann are in love. Their plot in the first movie was all about them coming together and how it made them better and helped them to aid in saving the world. In this movie, I don’t even know where to start, it’s just unambiguously a sad romance where two people’s lives split when they both know they’re happier together. Like even the people making the movie straight up say that, yeah, that’s intentional and it would have been explicit if the powers that be didn’t fear losing money by having gay stuff. Also there’s no way way Viktoriya’s hostility towards Amara didn’t stem from misplaced feelings of attraction, I honestly expected (hoped with my gay heart) that Vic would kiss Amara during the finale.

I liked the kaiju! THIS SHOULDN’T SURPRISE ANYONE! Now the three main kaiju that attack Japan, none of them really stood out too much to me other than one of them had a cool thing where their face opened up and one of them liked to dig I guess(?), but that wasn’t all we got. The Jaegar/Kaiju hybrids that attacked in mass were pretty effing cool, honestly with their color variation from white to kaiju blue glowy bits and weapons and yeah. Then we got the Ultra Kaiju that was a combination of the three big un’s that attack Japan, that thing was quite the friggin monster. It may seem like a silly thing, but a kaiju that is a giant to other giants always gets me, like, terrified if done right. Were any of them better than my girl Otachi from PR1? No, but I wouldn’t mind having toys of any of them on my desk either.

The action! I mean, duh, it’s an action movie, if you don’t like the action you’re not gonna have a good time. I can’t say it was better than PR1, but I CAN say it was better LIT than PR1 with all the colors of the kaiju and jaegars shining brilliantly and all their moves on clear display. And they did a damn Rider Punch from the atmosphere to kill the Ultra Kaiju. I even loved Newt and Hermann beating up the guards in the elevator in their feisty nerd way.

Oh yeah, the other thing I didn’t really like was the ending. Like the very ending after they Rider Punched the Ultra Kaiju to death and captured Possessed Newt. I get that they were trying to have a light moment much like the end of PR1, but Jake and Amara having a snowball fight right after a fight that left them both pretty banged up and one of the cadets dead, along with probably a lot of civilians, was just kinda weak and odd. And where the flip was Shao? She was instrumental in saving the world, you'd think they'd give her a parting scene/shot. Then came the sequel stinger and I just wasn’t feeling the idea of a movie where we invade the Anteverse. I mean, it might be cool, but it just made me think of a movie with humans running around in giant robots and stomping on aliens, but it being ok because it was us doing it to them this time.

So yeah, those are some of my thoughts on Pacific Rim: Uprising. I get why some people hated it or just didn’t care that much about it, but I enjoyed it even with it doing Mako dirty. See you in the drift, nerds!

[musingsinamericanslang]

TL;DR Be Here Now

Envision with me a scenario: 

Joe Blow American 20 something’s alarm goes off on his phone on a Tuesday morning. Rolls over and shuts it off. Notices a couple of garbage emails from job boards came through his Gmail, an “in case you missed it” Twitter notification, a couple of “so and so posted to their stories” Instagram notifications, and an “events around you” Facebook notification. Not to mention the several stories on Snapchat that have been posted from the night prior. Mr. Blow goes through and checks these notifications, scrolls through each application to make sure no relevant/funny/seemingly important pieces of information are missed before getting out of bed. 

35 minutes has elapsed. “Fuck.” 

Hits the shower, throws on a pair of slacks and a nice button down, and heads to work. Along the way, he listens to that new/hilarious/intriguing podcast everyone is talking about. He didn’t download the most recent episode and can’t on the drive because the service sucks on his commute in addition to the battery on his seemingly obsolete iPhone 7 Plus hardly makes it to noon anymore. So he’s stuck listening to an episode of a less popular podcast which won’t be talked about during and after work. Also, he makes sure to tune in to the sports radio station to see if anything pertinent has happened with one of the Big 4 pro sports teams or 5 local collegiate teams in the past 12 hours. 

At work, Mr. Blow spends the morning getting coffee, checking emails that he was CC’d on which are of zero practical relevance to him, sending funny Snapchats to the group he’s in with his undergrad buddies, and now listening to that podcast he couldn’t earlier. 

Lunch is spent with a burrito in one hand while the other hand scrolls through sports Twitter to see what’s been going on in the two hours since he last checked. 

The afternoon drags a bit since he has a burrito baby, but he manages to send off a couple of relevant emails to his three bosses to ensure that they know he did some work today. Makes plans with a couple of friends from work who play in the same Fantasy Football/Baseball/Basketball League to hit the bar after work to check out the game. 

Hits the bar for a few drinks and some laughs with the fellas. Splits a nacho appetizer with the people he’s with. Checks on the fantasy app to make sure his team his playing well. They aren’t so he yells “shit,” and proceeds to hold the screen up to his friends to show them how poorly the fictional team he owns is doing. Looks down at his shoes. They’re scuffed up. “How am I ever going to meet a woman if she knew I wore such shitty ass shoes?” The game ends and it’s about 10, so he heads home. Pops on Netflix to continue watching the newest/popular Netflix series everyone is talking about this week. Plugs in his phone, sets his alarm, passes out. 

And scene. 

While this description is along the lines of things I have seen and personally experienced, I am confident elements of what was shown here ring true in some of your lives, too. If pieces of this seemed to mirror aspects of your life, how did it make you feel to see them in words like this? 

Now, there’s nothing wrong with our hero Mr. Blow, and there’s nothing wrong with a life like this. He’s not doing anything wrong. He’s not living immorally (whatever that really means) or purposely harming others. He’s just living in a world that was crafted for him, one that he likely had no part in consciously creating. We are trained to do and like the things that we’re “supposed” to do and like instead of the things we want to do or want to like. I have talked to many of my friends who are married who feel like having a kid is the next thing they are “supposed to do.” As if the game of Life became real like Jumanji and they are nearing the part where they either get a pink or blue peg person to ride along in the back seat. 

BUT. Here’s the thing:  

In our American society, we have become obsessed with appearing happy, healthy, and successful. Obsessed with status and appearance. Obsessed with likes and retweets. Obsessed with comments. And the great irony of it all is that for as “individualistic” of a culture we think we live in, we are all so worried about being perceived as unpopular or uncool or as a social media social pariah. We want to know that we are both materially successful and well-liked in both the literal and social media sense. And instead of being satisfied and content with the cool things that happen to us along the way, we suffer because we are worried if it aligns with what we’re supposed to be doing or with what we think people think that we ought to be doing. 

AND THEN: 

We scroll through our social media feeds, looking at how happy and successful and cool all of our friends seem. We see our friends getting wives, and dogs, and kids, and promotions, and doing crafty things, and posting these inspirational quotes. And we think, “that person has it together...why can’t I be cool and happy and successful like them? I don’t get nearly as many likes and comments as them...” In our quest to appear happy and at peace, we have become more depressed than ever. What a great tragedy that in a time when our quality of life has never been better thanks to advances in technology and medicine, that our health and happiness in so many ways has never been worse. And all along the way, we are completely missing out on the world and life happening around us because we are addicted to and obsessed with what’s happening on Instagram. 

And I’m not writing this as some person who has transcended this way of thinking and behaving. Because I haven’t and I am still working. I’m simply shedding light on insights I’ve had which have helped alleviate suffering in my own life. 

So what is the point of all of this? It’s to make us think about two things:

First, zoom back. Way way way back. We are floating through some infinitely large space on a infinitesimally small speck in some backwoods corner of a galaxy that we don’t completely understand, and we think if we don’t get married by the time we’ve hit 30 that we’re worthless failures. Or if people notice our cracked iPhone screens that we think they’ll think we’re clumsy and should have bought the insurance. So in this vastness, we suffer over the entirely inconsequential for no other reason than we think we should. Succinctly, so many things we give such high importance to absolutely could not matter less.

Second, and related to point one, on this time on this small speck in the backwoods of the Universe, we spend our days not here. We are in our past, mourning the Might Have Beens. Or, we are in our future, carefully analyzing and reanalyzing all of the Might Be’s. But life isn’t in the past nor is it in the future. It can only be lived now. We can’t change what happened. Nor can we deterministically model even the next 12 hours of our lives. So why spend our time in places where life is not? Life is only now. It’s not in our screens. It’s not in our expectations about people’s possible expectations of us. It’s not in what our parents want us to do. It’s not in what we think society wants us to be as a man or woman. It’s here. Now. That’s it. At the end of our days, we will not be sad we didn’t spend more time anxious about what people thought of us. We will wish we had more time to be present for the people and experiences we loved most. 

I’ve been repeating this over and over lately and for those of you who follow me know that I have been saying it a lot, but all of these words distill down to this:

BE HERE NOW. Be present for your life right now. This is the way to liberation, and true, lasting, sustained peace, love, and happiness. It comes from presence. It’s the only way. 

This isn’t a call for you to live any particular way, except that which brings you the most joy and spreads the most love. This is authenticity. And this is being present. For me, I have spent a lot of time being inauthentic because I thought that person would be more liked, more accepted. And it caused me to not be present, and consequently, I suffered great mental anguish completely unnecessarily. Again, I’m not some realized being, but I have found great peace in practicing and really emphasizing being here. Now.

It is a practice. And that’s the beauty and grace of such things. That we can practice without judgment. If we feel ourselves becoming anxious due to lack of presence, we can be cognizant of it, and even honor it for trying to help us. But return to presence. This inner work is the way. Not a ton of followers, not following your parents’ wishes for your career or spouse or whatever. It’s presence. That’s all that truly exists. Right. Now. 

Namaste.     

[iasmelaion]

Yuletide 2017

Don’t mind me, just crossposting my Yuletide letter here. Fandoms are The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt (has nothing to do with that Tom Cruise movie), Sense8, 17776, and Moonlight. Sorry to everyone on mobile where I guess read mores still don’t work?

Another year, another Yuletide! Thank you for signing up to write in one of my fandoms! I can't wait to see whatever you come up with, and with these fandoms, chances are I'll love whatever it is you choose to write. If my requests/prompts/details don't catch your interest, just remember that Optional Details Are Optional, and that I will be thrilled to get fic in any of these fandoms at all. As far as my basic preferences go: I am okay with gen, het, slash, and femslash. If I've indicated a pairing preference in my request, don't feel pressured to write it! I'm a big gen lover, and I'll specifically note if there's a pairing I don't want to see with the characters I've requested. Also, a confession: I usually skim through sex scenes. I know, I know, what am I doing in fandom if I skim past the porn. But I am almost always way more interested in character interaction than in sexy times. Feel free to include sex scenes! I'd just really prefer that porn not be the whole point of the fic. Things I love: banter, subtle but meaningful declarations of love and/or trust, pining, characters finding home and family with each other, the smaller moments of domesticity or the calm before the storm, crossovers, detailed worldbuilding, lolz, feelings, women being complex and sometimes assholes, dudes being stoic yet simmering with repressed emotions, any number of forced intimacy situations (fake married! Undercover relationship! Surprise soul bond! Huddling for warmth! Oh no there’s only one bed! Sex pollen! I could go on, really), threesomes/sedoretu-style moresomes, and indulgent emotional hurt/comfort. Things I don't love: dark fic, character bashing, character death, non-con, infidelity, incest, alpha/beta/omegaverse fic, mpreg, harm to children, being mean to robots, unhappy endings, issuefic. Also, while I generally love AUs, I love these fandoms for their settings and the characters in those settings, so I'd prefer no total AUs (canon-divergent AUs okay though).

1. The Last Samurai - Helen Dewitt (Ludo, Sybilla) My desires in terms of Last Samurai fic are simple: I just want to know what happens to Ludo and/or Sybilla, after the book. Especially Ludo. Who does he end up being, when he grows up? What does he do with his brilliant mind? Hell, what name does he choose to go by? I'd really just love to see something about an older Ludo interacting with the world and the interesting people in it, a sort of extension of the kind of adventures he got up to in the book. I'd also love to know more about Sybilla, whose character arc I thought ended up getting somewhat short shrift. How does her life change as Ludo grows up? Does she enter the world again, academic or otherwise? How does she continue to deal with her depression? This is my third fourth fifth sixth SEVENTH, holy shit, year requesting this, and I live in hope! I’m pretty sure the book is even in print again now! Here is what I said in years past: I wrote about my thoughts on the novel here, if that interests you. Anyway, like my request says, I more or less want straight up future fic about Ludo and Sybilla. I want to know what kind of man Ludo becomes, what happens to Sybilla as Ludo grows into an adult, what happens to their relationship. In short, I just want to know more. Whatever you do to fill my insatiable desire to know more more more about these characters will make me happy. Don't feel like you have to match the style of the novel. I will be very impressed if you do, but it's not a dealbreaker for me. Anyway, Ludo and/or Sybilla future fic! That's my Last Samurai request in a nutshell.

2. Sense8 - Any I basically just have a lot of EMOTIONS about the cluster and the experience of being sensate, and would love a fic exploring that. What exactly does it mean, to be part of a cluster? Our main cluster seems to have had a somewhat unique/traumatic experience of being “born,” how does that make their take on being sensate different? The show did a pretty good job visually showing it, but I'm super fascinated by what the interiority of the experience is like. The members of the cluster seemed to feel a pretty instant empathy and understanding of each other, what's that like? By now they must know each other better, what was that process like, learning all the mundane stuff about each other in non-life or death situations? How does being a sensate influence their relationships with the other people in their life? What happens when, say, Will tells Diego or Lito finally tells Hernando and Dani (on the way to rescue Wolfgang perhaps)? I know Season 2 ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, but feel free to just jump ahead to some nebulous future where everything’s resolved if you want. You by no means have to answer all or even any of these specific questions, they’re just guides for the kind of thing I’m interested in here. I picked Any characters here, so go wild. I'm most interested in the main cluster, but I'm overall fascinated by the whole sensate experience and what it means for any given character's relationships and experience of the world. Any fic exploring that would be great. Shipwise, I'm into all the canon pairings and basically any permutation of the members of the cluster. My tl;dr thoughts on Sense8 are here and here. This is a fandom where I sort of feel spoiled for choice in terms of characters I'm interested in, so I picked Any for this request. I love the main cluster and their relationships with each other, you basically can't go wrong picking any given combination of them and smushing them together. I'm also very interested in all the non-sensate side characters and how they interact with the cluster. I really just want more more more in this universe.. 3. 17776 - Any I am so utterly FASCINATED by the improbable and amazing and weird utopia Jon Bois has built with 17776. It’s a world that seems to be positively teeming with stories, and I’m wildly interested in reading about any and all of them. I do not actually care about football qua football; I like the country and centuries-spanning version of the game Jon Bois has extrapolated here, but you don’t have to make it the focus of anything you write. What I’d love to know more about are those first few decades after humanity realizes they can no longer die. Or, heck, who first realizes people have stopped dying, and how do they approach that mystery? How do other parts of the world deal with immortality, what games do they play? I know Jon Bois thinks that humanity is alone in this universe, and won’t be able to overcome the practical roadblocks to long-range space travel, but what if they did? What if humanity’s not alone? Who are the kinds of people who’d fling themselves out into the big, wide dark of space, with no expectation of returning, and eternity stretching out in front of them? What other bits of electronics or AI have gained their own sentience or significance, and who do they talk to? Honestly, I’d be thrilled with you exploring just about any nook or cranny of this fascinating universe. I’d only ask that you maintain the source’s absurd yet optimistic and loving tone. Bittersweet and even a little elegiac is fine, I just don’t want anything grim or dark here. The world we’re living in right now has plenty of that. Also, do not feel the need to try any wild format/coding stuff the way Bois did if you don’t want to. A vanilla text story is more than enough for me. A quick primer on 17776 in an effort to snare more people in, and also just elaborate a little more on why I love it: 

You can find 17776 here. It is...hard to explain. Maybe impossible to explain. For one thing, it's a sort of multimedia storytelling experience, composed largely of text, but also some video and audio, and some website weirdness. Jon Bois of SB Nation wrote this, ostensibly, as a series on the future of football. It is not what you might expect, given that starting point. The premise is this: humans stopped dying and aging as of April 7, 2026. Any other risk of injury or illness has been mitigated by a worldwide network of nanobots that will fix anything. It’s a post-scarcity utopia, all pressing problems fixed Having reached this pinnacle, and having hit the hard limits of ability and resources that leave them unable to meaningfully explore space, the humans of 17776 are left with some weird ways to pass their endless supply of time, one of which is playing football. Only it’s not football as we know it, it’s football blown up so the field crosses states and the timespan crosses decades, centuries. 17776 opens with the space probes Pioneer 9 and Pioneer 10 trying to talk to each other, many years in the future. As 17776 slowly unfolds, Pioneer 9 is shepherded into sentience and learns about what’s going on on Earth from Pioneer 10 and JUICE (the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer). Pioneer 9 learns about football, and the people who play it now, and some people who don’t play it, but are passing their endless amount of time in different ways. Really, the whole experience is worth a read/watch, I’m not doing it justice here. I’ve always been fascinated by fictional takes on immortality, and 17776 offers a pretty new take on it, one where everyone is immortal, not just a few people, so humanity has to figure out how to deal with it together. It would be easy to turn this premise into a horrifying dystopia, a sort of endless hell for all the humans stuck on Earth together with eternal life and no escape. What I love about 17776 is that Bois turned this premise into a utopia, a bittersweet sort of heaven. There are things and experiences that the humans of 17776 mourn and miss (no more children seems like an especially bitter loss, ouch), and they seem to be a little obsessive about cataloging and exploring the past. But it’s so meaningful to me that, when free of want and hardship and death, this vision of humanity buckles down to do ridiculous, wild, fun, sweet things like play century and country-spanning games of football, or travel around learning every minute detail of every place, or travel around meeting each other to share stories. Here is a quote from Jon Bois that really gets at why I’m so fascinated and in love with the 17776 universe: Humanity’s technological advancement over the last 150 years has been almost frightening, but that’s a very small speck of time. I think we’ll eventually hit a wall, and that wall will be, “we can’t travel into deep space ourselves.” Too much distance, too much radiation, and too little incentive. If that ends up being the case, we’ll have nothing to do but solve our problems on Earth. I’m being really optimistic when I guess that we might someday. After we do that, we’re gonna want our games, our art, and each other. One day, we might see those as the only reasons we’re here. In a world where there is no death, where the biggest human problems have been solved, there's something beautiful about those things that still hurt, those things we still lost: the dream of space, children, childhood, endings. And what sweet hope, to distill down our reason for being here to games, art, and each other. There’s a real love of people that runs through all of 17776, and that's one of my favorite things about it.

4. Moonlight (2016) - Chiron, Kevin Just give me Chiron and Kevin’s happy ending. The world hasn’t been kind to them, but I want to believe in the possibility of it being kinder, of them being tender and kind with one another, after everything. I want to believe that they can build a life together, even if it’s not the kind of life they or anyone else would have expected. Trevante Rhodes said, “I like to think they’re together, walking in Central Park hand-in-hand when they’re 90 years old,” and yeah, that’s what I hope for them too. So I’d love a story about how they get there, or how they start that journey. Another possible prompt, this one from something Andre Holland (who plays Kevin) said: “I have this image of them walking along with Kevin’s son and teaching him, either overtly or experientially, about what masculinity is and what it means to be a man, in all the variations that are possible. That, to me, is the magic of it, that there’s a young boy in the world who will grow up with a different idea of masculinity than either of them had.” The thing I loved most about Moonlight was how incredibly intimate and tender it was, how quiet and clear-eyed. It felt like living in Chiron’s skin. And I love it as a love story too, even though the ending was bittersweet. I took it to be hopeful, and obviously, I’m a lover of happy endings. Ultimately, as sad as parts of Moonlight were, as hard as life obviously is for Kevin and Chiron, Moonlight healed some wounds in me that Brokeback Mountain and so many other unhappy queer love stories left, by showing all that hard stuff, but offering a way forward anyway. Kevin, calling Chiron to reconnect. Chiron, taking a risk, making that nine-hour drive to see Kevin. Kevin and Chiron letting themselves be vulnerable to and with each other. Both of them, ultimately, reaching for one another.

[37h4n0l]

Have you had any thoughts on what does the two figures on the stained glass symbolize in the 91 Days opening credits? Cause I'm pretty sure I have a good explanation for it.

Oh, you mean these, anon?

Since I’m not well-read on the Bible, I had to do a bit of research, during which I discussed this in the chat, and buckle up, because this is gonna be a wild ride.

First of all, the biggest thank you to @cryofblood who brought these observations over from the Chinese fandom.

The two figures on the stained glass are a depiction of a biblical scene featuring Jonathan and David. To quote directly, “Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle”. And if you’re wondering who exactly these two were, here’s the wiki link, but I’ll sum it up shortly.

Jonathan was the eldest son of Saul, the king of Israel, while David his rival for the crown from a different tribe. After David kills Goliath, him and Jonathan become close and he starts serving Saul. However, Saul becomes jealous of David because of his military accomplishments and fame, and decides to kill him, but after series of events (during which David spares Saul’s life), they reconcile. In the end, Jonathan and his brothers get killed and Saul commits suicide. David mourns for them, for Jonathan in particular (but I will come back to that later).

Don’t some parts of this story sound a little familiar? The eldest son of a high authority taking a liking in a man and practically making him part of his family after seeing what he’s capable of? Yes. 91 Days was very likely inspired by a biblical story.

Most of us would know David from 'David and Goliath’. Goliath... That name rings a bell, doesn’t it? 

Oh wait, maybe it’s the guy whose name is literally Goliath. And yes, Nero gets it wrong in the screencap because he’s a dumbass.

You know how David defeats Goliath in the Bible? With a slingshot.

David is taken in by Saul after his heroic feat. The figure of Saul seems to be a mix of Vincent and Barbero, on a different note. He’s Vincent, as in the father of Nero (Jonathan), the head of the family (king) and the one whose life David (Angelo) spares but ends up dead anyway. On the other hand, his jealousy towards David, the way he wants to keep a close eye on him and keeps his intent secret from Jonathan, aware of his bias in favour of David, point at Barbero. 

And here comes the best part of all of this: the relationship between Jonathan and David, which spurred discussions and controversies due to its possible romantic nature. The most telling passage is here, but I will now include some quotes.

“Now it came about when he had finished speaking to Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as himself. Saul took him that day and did not let him return to his father's house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.”

(After Jonathan’s death) “I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.”

“David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together—but David wept the most.”

Oscar Wilde refers to David and Jonathan as examples of "the love that dare not speak its name”. 

TL;DR: Avilero is canon, and I had no idea this question would open such a treasure trove, but here we are. I don’t know if this is what you thought of, anon, but I’m infinitely glad you sent me this ask.

[mdwatchestv]

Sherlock 4x01: The Six Thatchers

HAPPY NEW YEAR! And not just any year- a SHERLOCK year! Four score and seven years ago we all began watching this goddamn show and we have finally received a season 4. What were you doing seven years ago? Who were you when Sherlock began? Likely a different person than today. I was going to do more with this bit, but I have genuinely become depressed thinking about how I am seven years older than in 2010.

                                     Squares on squares on squares

MOVING ON!

                                      I would watch a whole ep of this

Sherlock has one of the most unique formats on television with its release of 3 90-minute "episodes" every other year or so. There has never been a popular show to do this before, making every season of Sherlock a venture into uncharted television territory. I am all about the new and never seen before in TV, and I commend Sherlock for being the first to strike out into the unknown world of the mini-movie. However being the first can be a blessing and a curse, and this format is starting to show its cracks.  

                                         Princess Leia realness

The first five episodes of the series ("A Study in Pink" thru "The Hounds of Baskerville") truly felt like standalone movies that could be watched and understood independently. Those early anthology episodes were the series best, my text alert is STILL the breathy moan Irene Adler put on Sherlock's phone and not just because I don't really know how to change it (this is true, text me up if you don't believe me). However in recent seasons the show has become increasingly serialized which has lead to the wheels coming off the writing wagon.

              The smile says: clearly evil. Toby Jones says: I am foreshadowing

Let's be real, the mystery in this episode straight up sucked. I am referring to the mystery named by the episodes title 'The Six Thatchers', a play on the original Sherlock story 'The Six Napoleons'. The mystery itself was disappointingly predictable, and even with the USB 'twist' it lacked the satisfaction or effort of previous episodes. The mystery that really drove the episode - the 'AGRA' storyline' - was meandering and directionless. For example, what happened to the other USB sticks of A.G.? Would they not have been immediately taken by their captors? Are they just floating around somewhere? Also it seems a bit silly to me that Sherlock is the last word in protection for a soldier and an elite trained assassin but ok.

                        Character work is an underrated part of spy craft 

Which brings us to that shocking twist. This is an example of how the series set up hurts the show. It's hard to mourn for a character we haven't physically seen in over a year (in the XMas special) and whose plot we haven't visited in three years (season 3 baby). Hell, I stopped caring about who was going to die on The Walking Dead and it was only like four months between seasons. This is not a knock to the character of Mary or the wonderful Amanda Abbington (who I'm glad in her final episode at least got the chance to let her considerable comic chops shine) but rather poor storytelling timing. Had her death come at the end of the second episode after spending 3 fresh hours with Mary it would have likely packed more of a punch. As it stands her death felt more like a device to get the series moving - giving us Sherlock's true case of trying to reach John emotionally and resulting in what I'm sure (and Tumblr hopes) will be them moving back in together. I don't hate that plot, it's a clever way to inject some emotional juice into what is an almost decade long series. But it did make the first episode feel like an appetizer to a main course. While in more traditional drama series 'set up' episodes are a common necessity, when you only have 3 episodes there isn't any time for filler. I am looking forward to where this season will go, but this first episode is a far departure from the standalone gems of seasons 1 + 2.

But all that aside let's talk about some good stuff! Another result of the unusual schedule of the show is the chance to study the performance of an actor over time, like the Seven Up! of scripted television. Watching Benedict Cumberbatch return to this role on and off has been a fascinating study in exceptional acting, baby actors take note. Not only is he able to slip the titular antihero on like a glove every time, but he also continues to bring new layers to the character. Seeing an actor so engaged with a role and continuing to grow and work on it over such a span of time is a rare gift. Love those Brit actors, they're thinkers.

                                         Now THAT’S a split screen

Also this is the first episode directed by a woman! It only took seven years (lol, but really). Rachel Talalay injected this episode with a lot of great retro spy movie style, I love me a good split screen.

TL;DR: When in doubt, cast Toby Jones.

XO MD