#casting out fear

[tom4jc]

November 26, 2023 Verse Of The Day

[hornyyeehaw]

When Lucy Dacus posts an open casting call for hot mascs and I look at who I’d be up against and they’re all skinny, conventionally attractive Ellie Williams lookalikes with fems in their comment section flirting with them

[abitcaughtinthemiddle]

While ruminating on how stressful part 2 is going to be watching Penelope struggle to reveal herself as LW to Colin, I keep thinking about the whiplash she must be feeling.

She had spent so many years longing for Colin and had just come to terms with giving him up and starting a new life without the man she loves.

She was going to marry Debling and continue being Whistledown. That was the biggest draw for her, outside of getting away from her family- it was Whistledown. She wouldn’t have love but she would have solace in her work, her writing.

And now, in the span of one night, she has to come to terms with the rest of her life being completely different than what she thought it would be.

I know we’re all stressing for her to tell Colin, but I really do empathize with her probably feeling incredibly overwhelmed on top of being afraid of losing every last good thing in her life.

[mollysunder]

The way Ambessa talks about the Guile is interesting. She speaks of it with such suspicion, dislike, and literal resentment. At first you'd assume that her attitude is driven by her fued with the Black Rose, but we don't know how long that's been going on, or if this was her own bias prior to it. Under the lens that these are Ambessa's own preconcieved biases before she got involved with the BR then it immediately becomes a critique on her own family. You just can't divorce her comments from how the show depicts her children, from Mel.

Almost every word Ambessa used to describe the Guile describes Mel, except "absent honor" of course. And when you understand that, it becomes clear just how doomed Ambessa and Mel are as mother and daughter. Ambessa indirectly, without the intention to imply Mel, states that her distaste for the fundamental aspects of Mel's personality. Ambessa loves her daughter, but she doesn't LIKE her.

[avichor]

i love watching a show about death and trauma and the dehumanization of people by the top 1% just to see endless posts about ships

[lskamil27]

what a radiating smile!

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

See, I think Charles’ annoyance and frustration with the Cat King really was just pure protectiveness and not any kind of jealousy - it’s understandable, because Edwin is not telling him what happened even though something clearly did, which is not typical for them. Edwin doesn’t usually hide things like this! Of course he’s worried!

Charles’ reaction to Monty, on the other hand, is difficult to explain in a way that isn’t jealousy. You could say he’s being protective again, but Charles shows no sign of distrust in Monty, and had no idea of who Monty was or that he might betray them - he was actually very chill with him, except in a select few specific scenes. You could say he just doesn’t like him because he got brushed off during their first meeting, but not only does that not seem like Charles at all, it also doesn’t make sense, since, again, in most instances, Charles is genuinely friendly and is happy when Monty compliments him and seems to have come around to liking him (it completely flies over his head that this is a petty jab at Edwin on Monty’s part but oh well hahaha). You could say it changes up their status quo a bit and that bothers Charles. I do think this bothers him a bit, but I think, unlike Edwin, Charles’ fear and frustration here is directed more at situations (the Cat King whisking him away for several hours, as an example) than others. He’s sociable and likes being able to talk to new people. There’s absolutely no way he’d begrudge Edwin doing the same - and he doesn’t… with Niko. Edwin and Niko hit it off and become very close and that never bothers Charles at all. He’s incredibly endeared to her, just like the rest, and for the most part, he’s chill with Monty too, and smiles pretty knowingly when Edwin confesses to him having awakened some feelings. The only exceptions, where he shows definite annoyance, are when Monty first shows up and gets really in Edwin’s personal space to show him the astrology chart he made, and when Edwin is so sucked into the book Monty gave him that he doesn’t hear that Charles is talking to him, to which he annoyedly says that they seem to have been “spending a lot of time together”.

You could say he’s unused to having anyone get in Edwin’s personal space like that, but, again, Niko. She’s very tactile with him and he doesn’t seem to mind all that much; they spend time together watching things. If it was just someone getting close with Edwin in general, not only would that be weirdly possessive for the character, but it would also mean he would show discomfort with anyone getting close, I think. Does Charles see Monty as more of a potential threat than Niko, seeing as he knows her and her personality and doesn’t know Monty? Well, maybe, but again, Charles shows no sign of distrusting Monty at all.

Monty is a boy. Okay. So something about seeing Edwin so close to a boy that is not him, getting lost in thought over something this boy gave him, really rubs Charles the wrong way. Charles appears to catch on just as quickly as anyone else that there is something (or it looks like something) between Edwin and Monty. He is not surprised when Edwin comes out to him in episode 6, and in fact, seems to have just been waiting for him to verbalize it. He smiles and is not bothered at all by Edwin showing (what he thinks is) a romantic interest in Monty - he just doesn’t like it when Monty clearly shows a romantic interest in Edwin. Um. Well. Well.

Charles is jealous. I really don’t know what else to say.

Look, when I first watched this show, I actually didn’t want them to end up together romantically - I love the idea of one having fallen in love with another who does not reciprocate and the two of them still loving each other just as much. That Edwin’s confession made them closer instead of making things awkward is such a beautiful outcome to this build up and I absolutely love it. However. On my two rewatches, I caught a lot more little details, and I think it would be very strange if the show did not follow up on this. That, plus the deliberate quality of these “jealousy” moments where the camera focuses on him, Charles’ Orpheus coding throughout the show, the fact that Edwin’s arc was far more about realizing his feelings for Charles specifically than just coming to terms with his sexuality, and that even the actors admit that Charles’ response to the confession kind of left things open, it really seems to me like the path leads to a romantic endgame for them, or at the very least, that this possibility will be explored in more depth.

**This is just my reading of it. Please do not use this post as a gotcha for anyone who loves them as a platonic duo or people who really love Crystal and Charles together (because let’s face it, they’re super cute too). I’m just doing my rambles. As per usual.

[alwaysahiccupandastrid]

The fact that Sir Ridley Scott said in an interview at the Alien: Romulus premiere that he doesn’t audition actors, he just decides he wants them in his films, and that he cast Paul Mescal in Gladiator II because he saw him in ‘Normal People’ implies that he must have seen Joseph Quinn on Stranger Things and Fred Hechinger in The White Lotus, and he then went “fuck yeah I want them in my film as demented twin emperors, get their agents on the phone” and honestly? That’s kind of iconic of all three of them, I won’t lie

[ghostofsnails]

so did you guys know theres this character called tristan vik disventure camp and

[anonymocha]

Bluepoch gave us the gift of barely-subtext tragic sapphic-centric media do NOT throw that away.

Context regarding PJSK and Undertale under cut.

Project Sekai cast is dominated by female characters but mlm is more popular, meanwhile Undertale has canon wlw rep and oh my god they’re at the bottom. I have nothing against these fandoms or media (I’m literally currently/was in them) but yeah. I just HOPE r99 doesn’t end up in a similar state.

[the-valiant-valkyrie]

siffrin and isa instinctively helping odile with her fear of heights on the upper floor(/roof???) of the House implies that there was some point during their adventure where being incredibly high up- probably to go fetch an orb- was somehow incredibly relevant. and now i'm wondering what and when that was

[comradekarin]

ik atla fandom likes to undermine this a lot, but i still think it’s a little crazy zuko took lightning for katara during the final agni kai,,,,, katara healing zuko and him bouncing back that quick has tricked y’all into thinking what he did was normal behavior I fear,,,,,,,,,, having that moment of bonding over their mothers despite being enemies is one thing,,,, katara offering to heal zuko’s scar is a second thing, zuko being the only visibly supportive figure during katara’s journey dealing with yon rha is another thing, but lightning ,,, thats insane hello !!! atla fandom likes to bully hag zk fans for perceiving it in a romantic light but !! he literally took a lightning strike for her !!!!! in the heart !!! unflinchingly !! there is a permanent mark of disfigurement on his chest because of it !! and they are presumably the only ones that know too !! tired of the forced platonicization of that scene,,,,, GIVE ME BRYKE’S NECK !!!

[island-in-the-shadows]

Loooool I love seeing all these people going no past Devil's Minion never happened, moving on. Ok, sure, because all the little things mean nothing. Because Night Island existing in this universe (regardless if they ever make the mini series) means nothing. Because taking Armand's whole thing about turning a vampire (and how this also plays into his formative relationship with Marius) and literally sledgehammering it to a gooey pulp and making it about Louis makes sense.

If anything I started out going "oh ok nothing" and the more time has passed, the more I think the opposite. Hey maybe I'm wrong, but it would be a waste of source material that would only ADD to the complexity of the characters and their relationship in the present. And it would literally make the relationship near fucking impossible. Might as well say DM isn't happening at that rate.

[shalomniscient]

natlan 5.1 was batshit insane but i won't deny cookery when i see it. last 1/3 of the archon quest is just brilliantly done in my opinion, from writing to level design to soundtrack. just genuine excellence

[c1trvswurld]

Arms tonite is so jimcurly coded actually

[laugtherhyena]

Hi funger fandom do y'all still remember me-