#cassian john wick

[evrensadwrn]

loser squad

[r1-jw-lover]

This little post I made on Akira and John exploded more than I expected, so I shall offer more interesting observations that I noticed about lighting choices/colour symbolism in the John Wick movies. Before we get into it, I would like to recommend these analysis [1, 2] by @evren-sadwrn on Marquis de Gramont, John Wick and Helen Wick talking about the same topic as I am below.

Charon

Most of Charon's scenes throughout the franchise were otherwise dark backdrops only brightened up by the lamps/light sources around him, which exemplifies the fact that he is the most reliable, dependable and trustworthy character, ally and friend in this dark criminal underworld, fitting for someone named after the ferryman of the underworld in Greek mythology.

The only scene where Charon notably breaks this pattern was his final scene when the Marquis shot him when he and Winston and everyone else were drenched in the Marquis' harsh golden lighting, which was heartbreaking to say the least.

Marcus

Similarly, Marcus' scenes in the first film had mostly grey backdrops, representing the stability, monotony, and lack of transformation of his life, in contrast to John who just lost his wife at the time.

The two exceptions happened during the two most important points of his character arc, the first one being darkly-lit when Marcus decided to not shoot a resting John from the Continental's window and warned him instead, and the second one being brightly-lit when Marcus got beaten up and then killed by Viggo in his home for helping John. These two scenes were also backdropped by yellow lighting as opposed to the blueish hues from his previous scenes.

Cassian & Ares, Gianna & Santino

I'm putting these four characters together in the same section because they share a common theme in terms of lighting choice, especially during their last scenes. Both Cassian's and Ares' final fight with John ended in brightly-lit settings with white lights. On the other hand, both Gianna's and Santino's death scenes took place in darkly-lit settings. The parallels, man, the parallels!

Caine

The lighting choice for Caine was kinda hard to pin down, and I think it's because it's meant to represent the emotional conflict Caine faces throughout Chapter 4. The fluctuation between light and dark, neon and natural lights reflects his dilemma very well, with his darkest lit scene arguably being his duel with Koji, where it's also the only scene he took down his sunglasses, thus signifying his lowest point in the movie.

But I think it's also worth noting that despite being the obvious second main character after John in the fourth film, Caine was merely a side actor basking in other people's spotlights, whether that be the Marquis' harsh golden lights, Koji's neon lights, or John's (more accurately Helen's) yellow candlelights/sunlight. Caine was a supporting role up until the post-credit when he gets to reunite with his daughter. That's when he gets his own spotlight and arguably the brightest scene he's ever appeared in.

Okay, that's all I could find as of now. There are definitely more characters to dissect and study but I will stop here. If you want more analysis like this, please reblog.

[bluelolblue]

The way Gianna looked at Cassian's ass

[tobytheeggo]

Happy black history month to all my fellow brothers, sisters, and siblings

Especially to the black folks of the John wick Universe <3

Edit: I totally forgot Charon because of how early it was in the morning 😞 but to him and Lance Reddick too (RIP) <3

[wickblr]

Poll for the best bodyguard?

Kirill : Iosef Tarasov and Viggo Tarasov’s bodyguard

Ares : Santino D’Antonio’s bodyguard

Cassian : Gianna D’Antonio’s bodyguard

Chidi : Marquis de Gramont’s bodyguard

M/N: This is such a hard ass poll :(

[thewhumpcaretaker]

HALLOOOO wjat are some heartbreaking/or just upsetting headcanons you have on john wick characters? (the amount depends, it could be one or more!!)

Take a seat. This gets DARK.

TW: murder, suicidal ideation, animal death, childhood trauma, BDSM, dead dove do not eat

John

John was suicidal after Helen's death (this is nearly canon).

John has complex-PTSD and a trauma-bonded sort of relationship to The Director due to the way he was raised. He can't let go of his familial feelings towards her, despite the fact that she brought him into the assassin world and forced him to do terrible things. But he hates her for it at the same time.

John was forced to kill animals as practice before he began killing people. This started quite young.

John can't bring himself to do anything that even seems like hurting his partner in the bedroom, because it reminds him too much of the very real assassinations he's carried out (I know this is contradictory to the yandare/dominant John that we usually see but this is soft-John).

Helen

Helen is an orphan. This would give her and John something to initially bond over.

Helen is also no-contact with her adoptive family because she grew up in some form of severe dysfunction. Notice that no one is talking to John at her funeral, and none of her family members are ever mentioned. John would definitely try to support her relatives after her death if she were close to them, and vice versa, but we never see anything like that. So they can't have been close, in my opinion.

The thing that caused the rift between Helen and her family was really severe, perhaps even a homicide. This would give Helen a reason to want to understand and accept John despite the fact that he is an actual murderer. She has spent a long time trying to understand why people kill, how they get involved in organized crime, etc. Just trying to understand why.

Helen has a phobia of needles and IVs. Her illness was very difficult for her because she needed transfusions, and John donated blood to her because she felt a bit better about the process if the blood was coming from him. They have matching blood types.

Gianna/Cassian

Cassian was in love with Gianna, and she felt the same way, but she hadn't yet accepted her feelings for him. Shortly before her assassination, he asked her to run away with him, but she was too attached to her position in the High Table.

The Marquis Vincent Bisset de Gramont

All of your headcanons are now my headcanons - look what you did to me evren.

Also s/he has panic attacks.

[reppyy]

[blairwick]

Hallo!!!! Was just wondering abt your fav john wick ships!! :D

Evren!! Thank you so much for the ask haha I was offline for quite a few days due to a lot of stuff happening haha

5. John Wick x The Marquis - I really liked reading Beyond Judgement although I never really had the time to continue it further. I liked how it portrayed how John and Vincent would actually be in a relationship with Vincent’s anger and all towards the High Table. I think they would make a great enemies to lovers🤍

4. Gianna D’Antonio x Cassian - I love what they had and the implications of their relationship transcending beyond just the relationship of a boss and her bodyguard. The subtle intimacy between them during Gianna’s party was enough to make me see them as a couple, and only cemented when I saw Cassian’s reaction to Gianna’s dead body and his level of devotion to the point he actively hunts down John Wick long after Gianna is dead.

3. Mia x Akira Shimazu - I just saw this around while scrolling through tumblr and I really loved the idea. I don’t have much to say other than I enjoy it!☺️

2. Caine x John - I always loved Donnie Yen as an actor and seeing him in the fourth installment of my favorite movie series since it came out back in 2014 just made me love Caine immediately. He’s John Wick’s mirror, the only one who can reflect the sheer amount of power and strength that John possesses. Both John and Caine are both fighting for love, for John it’s Helen and for Caine, it’s his daughter Mia. The way that Caine didn’t know what John was going to pull at the duel yet trusted him because John could have immediately just shot Caine right in between the eyes but no, he still had trust for John.

1.Helen Wick x John Wick - The fandom’s parents🙌  I love them and Helen continues to haunt the narrative. Her death leading to so much destruction and the entirety of the movies.

Bonus! Iosef and me because I liked Alfie Allen in GOT

[takiki16]

I've seen you talk about Helen Wick a lot and her relationship with John and how he was totally devoted to her. In the second movie, we have a nice parallel with Gianna and her relationship with Cassian. What do you think? Is it the same level of commitment? I don't remember if we have something similar in the third movie, it's been a while since I've watched it. But I love the idea of John running into men devoted to their women and being reminded of Helen because of that. Can't wait for Chapter 4 next week!

MY JAM MY JAM MY JAM MY JAM!!!!!!! POUR CHAPTER 4 STRAIGHT INTO MY EYEBALLS!!!!!

Short answer: YES. I think Cassian was absolutely ride or die for Gianna. There is just NO REASON to do a Dramatic Zoom (TM) in on Cassian’s face when he discovers Gianna’s body if there isn’t some level of deeper affection and fealty there!!! Why would Gianna say “what would I do without you, Cassian?” To use a TLT phrase, ANOTHER ONE OF DEVOTION’S CASUALTIES!

Long Answer: yes, I think Cassian is just as devoted as John, but because John chose Helen Wick and Cassian chose Gianna D’Antonio, Cassian doesn’t get to express his devotion the same way?

One of the things that makes us all so hype about the JW franchise is the world building - not only is there an Insane Badass, but he lives within a LARGER FRAMEWORK of insane badasses that have COOL AESTHETIC INFRASTRUCTURE to support their various acts of badassery. John and Cassian may be actively trying to kill each other, but they still vibe because they share…it feels weird to call it a ~*social class*~, because that implies politics I don’t think Chadley and Co. have thought about, but that’s kind of what it is! They know that they are both Service, rather than Management! They come from virtually identical positions on the chessboard! It’s also why I love the John and Sofia scenes in Chapter 3, because her exposition adds more depth and detail to this framework. John may be unique in his SKILL LEVEL, but his actual POSITION in the grand politics of this world means that he still has to kneel when he asks for certain favors. (Which is ANOTHER of the things I loved about Chapter 3 :)))

TO EXTRAPOLATE FROM THAT TO BEAUTIFUL FEALTY MUSINGS: you all already know that I love a subby murderbot who is devoted, body and soul, to the object(s) of their devotion, and it’s even better when there is a FRAMEWORK of subby murderbots who share this common understanding. They may have plot-related disagreements, but even through vengeance there’s always this vibe of “I understand. If it was MY beloved, I would do the same. Now we shall fight to the death, but with that understated Respect (TM).” The only other canon example I can think of is Wheel of Time, but that’s where I see John and Cassian #subbymurderbot4subbymurderbot. And the thing is that Gianna ALSO sees this, which is how she knew exactly the most hurtful thing to say to John when he came for her - the idea that Helen would hate him, for what he was.

HOWEVER - as I said, Cassian can’t express devotion the same way because there is NO WORLD where Gianna D’Antonio agrees to give up the potential political advantage of a marriage, or even a long-term relationship, to make a commitment to her bodyguard - no matter how good or devoted he may be. And there is no world where Cassian would even attempt (and fail miserably) to put Gianna in that position. Has Cassian ever said anything about any potential feelings he might have? Has he admitted it to her…or even himself? What good would it do him, other than make him a potential liability? What good would it do Gianna, to acknowledge that one of her employees would die for her out of deeper emotional reasons than gold coins? I DO think that both of them are aware, and that Gianna has some level of reciprocation even, but I also think that neither of them have ever said anything because…what good would it do? The High Table is not a place where you can have emotional indulgences without returns.

Which makes me think that, in a weird way, Cassian might be jealous of John. A lot of subby assassin murderbots in similar situations might be? And that MAYBE that’s the reason everyone, even people who hated John or were jazzed to have him back, kept saying “I’m sorry about your wife.” To a whole class of subby murderbots who have stalled out in the stoic pining stage where Cassian lives, John achieved the Impossible Dream. HIS person wasn’t his underworld employer, or some other similar backstabbing Underworld denizen, but someone who would allow John to wear his heart on his sleeve, so to speak. And yeah, civilian relationships usually had extremely short literal life spans, but of course the motherfucking Boogeyman pulls off the Impossible Task and manages to get himself a whole LIFE with her!!! He got to marry his person! Legally, even! They got a house and a yard together! John did something that was nOT supposed to be possible for anyone at his level in their world. It’s like if your coworker suddenly did every single job in your workplace for a week by themselves, then immediately won the lottery and left the country, only to have all their money immediately lost in some kind of bank failure. AND someone trashes their car and kills their dog.

I’m imagining like…assassin water cooler talk about John. “Oh, did you hear about Wick? Yeah, he dID it, that crazy bastard! He wiped out all those guys in one night, and then he retired, that mad lad! Didn’t think even HE had it in him! I’ll bet he gets bored and comes back real soon. Couldn’t be me, bro, retiring and living a boring suburban life…with the Person of my Affections…not getting treated like a disposable weapon all the time…SO BLAND, right? I give it two months. Fuck that guy, anyway. Oh…oh she died? After only five years? After…after everything? Oh god, who ordered the…oh. Ouch. Hey man, I’m sorry about your wife.”

SO TO RETURN TO YOUR POINT about Cassian reminding John of Helen bc he keeps running into other subby murderbots - YEAH. I DO THINK HE DOES. I know that polite coldness is sort of etiquette in the Continental, no matter how much you might hate someone, but John goes to the trouble of telling Cassian why he did what he did. Heck, he CONFESSES to Cassian what he did in the absolute worst possible context, even though John could easily have lied at the party and said he was there to kill some other famous underworld boss. It would have bought him a few minutes! But no, John tells Cassian everything because HE would want to know, in Cassian’s shoes. John is fresh off a massive murder spree because someone took Helen’s last gift to him - he knows exactly how Cassian feels right now.

I think that John is lowkey both a legend and a cautionary tale to people like Cassian, because hey. Even if all your dreams come true and you get to build that perfect life with your person, you could lose everything just like that (see Marcus: “It’s days like this scattered among the rest.”). Is it better to just keep your mouth shut and serve their interests as best you can right now? Or do you gamble everything on an Impossible Task, with the possibility that you lose everything anyway?

[evrensadwrn]

i do not care they tried to kill a man. smash.

[r1-jw-lover]

Caine as John Wick's Mirror: A Somewhat Coherent Analysis

What is even a 'mirror' exactly, narratively-speaking?

A mirror character is someone who reflects the hero, usually by highlighting similarities, and is therefore used to help enhance the themes being explored in the story. They can share personality traits, values, skillsets, even goals and narrative arcs, but how the pair of characters differ in their approach to these commonalities is what makes this literary device so interesting.

Caine as a character in the John Wick universe is so fascinating to me (not many people are able to go toe-to-toe against the Baba Yaga himself) and while a lot of my fascination and enjoyment can be attributed to Donnie Yen's performance and his chemistry with Keanu Reeves, what I want to talk about is the writing of his character, and how well Caine served as a mirror to John Wick, the protagonist.

I think to analyse Caine as a character, we need to first look back at another character who most closely served a similar function as Caine towards John Wick: Cassian.

Cassian and Caine are the only two people in the John Wick movies who fought John Wick squarely in a one-to-one match as equals, and got a gracious send off by John in return. Neither of them wanted to or asked to be made an enemy of John Wick (in fact, it was John's actions that caused both men to pit against the Baba Yaga), but each of them took up their role within the story with much dignity and fairness, and in the end were rewarded with John sparing their lives.

Cassian provides lovely contrast to John in Chapter 2. He is the first to show us a character on the same playing field as John Wick who could sit next to the legendary Baba Yaga and share a drink and enjoy a conversation before Caine or anyone else did.

Cassian and John respected each other, knew each other's preferred drink and promised to make the other's death quick, but it seems that's all there is to their relationship, and the moment they stepped out of the Rome Continental all bets are off.

Their motivations are widely different at this point in the story, and Cassian as a character feels more like an obstacle in John's way that John had to face eventually.

Speaking within the confines of the individual movies that they first appeared in, I will argue Cassian from Chapter 2 aligns more closely with the Tracker/Mr. Nobody from Chapter 4 when it comes to his place in the overall narrative, and it is Santino who's on the same level as Caine, because Santino had history with John, asked John about his wife, knew John personally and was the reason John broke Continental rules and would eventually go up against the High Table.

To add onto this, Cassian more importantly serves as a greater parallel to Ares being bodyguards of the D'Antonio siblings with the way John left his opponent's knife in Cassian's chest and kept him alive because John respected Cassian vs John pulling Ares' knife out of her chest and letting her die because John couldn't respect Ares.

At the end of the day, John and Cassian are both men who were ultimately bound by their loyalties to Santino and Gianna respectively, whether that be out of a Blood Marker or out of a sense of duty.

On the other hand, the relationship between John and Caine is the literal heart of Chapter 4.

Yes, Caine has parallels with other characters too. He and Koji were fathers trying to protect their daughter if it meant throwing away their shared brotherhood, he and Mr. Nobody were pawns under the Marquis' thumb tasked with hunting John Wick, but these parallels take a backstage to the parallels between John and Caine.

They are retired hitmen who were forced back into their old life and pitted against each other in a duel to the death through circumstances out of their control. Neither of them had any love for the High Table, and neither of them wanted to hurt or kill the other either. They have the physical evidence to show of their past/present servitude to the High Table (John's ring finger and Caine's eyes), and in contrary to the Marquis' own evaluation of their character, both men had someone to live for, die for, and kill for.

Where they differ is that, one is driven by a sense of loss to remember his dead wife, and the other is driven by a sense of protection to keep his daughter alive. (It's interesting to note that Helen's death had nothing to do with the High Table at all whereas Mia was only alive thanks to the High Table's grace.)

This dilemma of choosing between their loved one and their past friendship is key to Chapter 4's theme of what it truly costs to obtain freedom. It reminds us that John isn't a perfect martyr for rebelling against the High Table with how much trouble and pain he caused to those around him, including Caine. But it also doesn't absolve Caine from the bloodshed he's responsible for despite his hands being tied by the Marquis, or the fact that killing his friend is wrong.

Caine: We are damned, you and I. John: On that, we agree.

I think that Chapter 4 introducing Caine early on in the movie, definitely much earlier than Cassian in Chapter 2, tells us how important Caine's role is to John's goal of achieving freedom and peace. (The most notable example is Caine helping John up the stairs of Sacre-Coeur after he got kicked down these very same steps by Chidi.) In the same vein, Caine wouldn't have gotten his happy ending if John hadn't made the ultimate sacrifice of saving his last bullet to shoot the Marquis.

Not only that, Chapter 4 also shows us several instances of genuine camaraderie and companionship between John and Caine underneath their antagonism, not just how well they worked together and understood each other when they had a common enemy in sight (first in the Berlin nightclub with Killa, and eventually during the sunrise duel with Marquis de Gramont) but also how much they cared for each other deep down.

John and Cassian are colleagues, but John and Caine are close friends. And I think that's why Caine makes for such a good mirror to John Wick, and is the one most deserving to send off John Wick for good in the final chapter of the franchise, that is until John Wick 5 comes along. :(

Tagging @evren-sadwrn, @chaoticgardenbread and @jotunvali02 <3 <3

[tobytheeggo]

i rlly like stealing headcanons from yu/silly anyways do u have john wick headcanons no pressure ofc mootie patootie

riccardo scamarcio going through an existential crisis for the soul

I will always forever love this photo, it’s in my favorites album in my gallery 💕

Silly John wick headcanons here we go‼️

John likes to stand in front of the tv like how little kids do (inspired by this image from destination wedding 💀)

Viggo is on level 7163 of Candy Crush

^Whenever he’s not in a meeting or doing business, that’s what he’s doing

Iosef complains about it too; saying if he can’t play COD, he can’t play his ‘stupid puzzle games’ (he’s just salty he got his Xbox taken away)

If Gianna did spontaneously take Santi with her to go out, she would force him to take her instagram photos whenever the sun was shining perfectly and the wind was blowing through her hair

^it left Santino in tears

Gianna watches my little pony when she’s extremely bored (especially the rarity episodes)

The D’Antonio siblings always take pictures of the other sleeping and it’s become a joke to a routine now

Ares and Chidi have a sibling bond; whenever Santino and Vincent are too busy arguing, they just mess around

^Chidi likes to give her piggy back rides around the halls cause Ares basically weighs nothing to him

Cassian is also like a brother to Ares

The bodyguards having a sibling-like relationship <3

Tracker and his Daisy love to people watch

^ he’s one of those dog owners that give their dogs 5 course meals

Akira really likes popsicles; she would be eating one any time of day or weather

Winston is a crossword puzzle grandpa

[marquisedegramont]

What are canon x canon ships you write for?

-🧸

To make this interesting, I’m going to put the ship along with the amount of (explicit) WIPs & Drabbles they have

𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝐖𝐈𝐂𝐊 / 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐒 𝐃𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐓 ( 𝙘𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙙𝙪𝙚𝙡 )

━╋ 3 WIPs , 1 Drabble

𝐆𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐀 𝐃’𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐎 / 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐀𝐍 ( 𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚 )

━╋ 1 WIP

𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐑𝐀 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐙𝐔 / 𝐌𝐈𝐀 ( 𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙙𝙚 )

━╋ 2 WIPs

𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐈 / 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐒 𝐃𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐓 ( 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙡𝙮𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙙 )

━╋ 5 WIPs, 3 Drabbles

𝐓𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐋: WIPs - 11 ♰ Drabbles - 4

[nimuetheseawitch]

I see two men grappling while rolling down some stairs in Rome and immediately wonder if anyone ships them.

[reppyy]