#did I get you at the end of the torture montage? thought it was a funny transition but I’m curious if y’all thought so too or if you have a

[bleue-flora]

[context]

Update: It's 50 minutes long and I don't even have all the clips I want 🤦‍♀️... suppose breaking it into parts might be the strategy lol...

so obviously it’s scuffed and I’m not done editing but thought I’d share a rough draft snippet anyway :)

[lunarspiral1127]

*SPOILERS*

Wait what?! WHY THE HELL DID THEY SKIP THE FINAL FIGHT?! COME ON, MAN! How did Alexei get away? How did the Red Room agents get away? How did Bucky get captured? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!?! Oh yeah, Bucky got captured....great, just freaking great. And, here I thought that he'd finally get away from Hydra, but noooooooooo. He has to continue getting brainwashed and tortured! *sigh* Well, I guess this timeline still has to do the Winter Soldier storyline.

But, at least Alexei is having a better life and is gonna get to be the hero he wanted to be by being a part of the Avengers. Same roster, just him being the extra addition, so seeing him next to Captain America is nice.....would've been better if Bucky was having a better life too and free alongside Alexei! 😠

I do wonder if we will have this kind of dynamic with Bucky and Alexei in the Thunderbolts movie. But, I was digging this episode until the end. I get the episodes are about 30 minutes each, but they could've shown a montage or something to see what happened during the final fight? Skipping it just raises questions. And, if you can't tell, I'm irked that Bucky got captured by Hydra again!

So, next episode is a What If about Howard the Duck getting hitched.....why is this a what if episode? I have no idea, but we'll find out tomorrow.

[cannoli-reader]

Hello Cannolli, your metas on the Wheel of Time books are always very well thought out and constructed, and you've clearly given a lot of thought to the series as a whole. I was wondering if you have any ideas on what RJ's plan for Egwene's AMoL arc and story would be? For all the other characters I can see the writing on the well, the clues and foreshadowing, and together with what can be inferred from BS's books about RJ's notes get what I think is a good aproximation for what would be their final arcs and ending. Except for Egwene! I've always had a hard time understamding her character and Sanderson favoured her so much that I have a hard time discerning what came from him or from the notes! I've found your analysis of her character very interesting and enlightening and so wanted to hear your thoughts on this! Thanks in advance! (No hard feelings if you're not up for answering this tho!)

With the caveat that I have a limited and spotty awareness of Jordan's notes, and so my answer is based largely on my projection of her arc and established characterization in the series, I would say her end was probably where Jordan intended, but Sanderson's path to get there, somewhat different.

"(No hard feelings if you're not up for answering this tho!)" - I found this amusing, because I am always down to go off at length about WoT, among other topics. "Up for answering this"? How could I not be? How hard could this be? The results of seven hours and two drafts later are under the cut.

First of all, when speaking of Jordan's intentions, I generally refer to all three of the final books together as aMoL since that was his plan, to finish the whole series with one book. So I would have to take Egwene's story from where it left off in KoD.

I think her rise in the Tower would have been a lot quicker. Maybe a montage chapter like in KoD, where she meets the other Ajah heads, with less dramatic results, but making a slightly better impression than she did with the two in KoD. Her serving Elaida, as set up in Tarna's chapter, might bring things to a head, but not with schoolyard putdowns. I don't believe she suddenly has the revelation, conveniently just in time to avoid behavior that would spur Elaida to put an end to her pretentions for good, that she should be trying to unite the Tower instead of driving the factions further apart. Rather, that realization should be more organic and maybe a result of seeing the fruits of her sowing coming to pass.

I don't believe the Seanchan attack would have gone as it did in tGS, where Sanderson seems completely oblivious to the fact that all Egwene did was kill a lot of people without changing much of the outcome. Even her shooting down the to'raken with captives was pretty appalling, since she and Alivia are living proof that being collared is not the end of your life, and the view of channelers as combat assets it is important to deny the enemy is morally repugnant. If anyone is going to be thinking in that manner on the eve of Tarmon Gaidon, there had better be some harsh & immediate blowback. I also don't think Sanderson realizes he had Egwene torture helpless women to death, or that there was any irony or sense of hyperbole in her self-congratulatory stream of consciousness. IF those things happened under Jordan, it should be the spur to Egwene coming to realize that fighting the Seanchan can't be the plan going forward, since it brings out the worst in her and others, and maybe the truce is the best thing for now. During the attack, Saerin actually showed the best leadership, and the kind more in keeping with Jordan's style in the prior books.

I don't know about her rescue, because so much of that is utterly wrong, especially everything with Bryne, from his going along at all, to suddenly brandishing a heron-mark sword, to his reaction to the Warder bond, to Egwene's pompous displeasure with Siuan in the aftermath. Again, I think Egwene was supposed to become disillusioned with Siuan in general during/following her captivity in the Tower, as she works for reconciliation, because Siuan is the worst advisor in the setting since Mordeth. She is the author of the conflict between the Aes Sedai, for her own personal vengeance. There are plenty of signs in the text suggesting that Elaida is not so different from Siuan or Egwene, and the latter in particular takes a lot of actions that mirror or duplicate Elaida's supposed worst crimes against the Tower. As part of her getting her focus on the right conflict, which should have been in parallel with Rand getting his personal issues straight, she should have rejected the whole course of action she pursued from LoC through KoD. She subtly does that in tGS, to a degree, but in a very contemptible way, wriggling out of responsibility for her part and blaming everyone else. Her condemnatory speech to the rebels after she is raised by the loyalist Hall is particularly risible, considering that collectively, the objects of her tirade balked and dragged their heels at doing most of the things she berates them for, and Egwene herself schemed, lied, tricked, maneuvered and ultimately commanded, them in taking those actions. It's the same thing with her histrionics with the Hall when she is raised, the spirit of her ideas in direct contradiction with what she tells the rebels, and her "defense" of Silviana being pure sophistry. The best thing you can say about all that blather is that it paints a picture of a sociopathicaly dishonest and manipulative woman, and might have been intended to show how far lost she has become in the pursuit of her political ascension. If Jordan had anything to do with the scripting of her plotline in tGS, that had to be his intention, to be her equivalent of Rand's behavior after Semirhage gets her hands on him (and his attack on Graendal's HQ & threats against the Borderland rulers are far more justifiable than Egwene's conduct in the Seanchan raid).

For the political side, once she was the consensus Amyrlin, she should have been in the position of a compromise candidate, not the universal hero with the moral high ground (because she has done nothing to earn it, even in the errant perspectives of in-story characters: she has waged war against the Tower, ruined the harbors and her efforts against the Seanchan are not impressive to sophisticated and experienced politicians, who scorn combat as the province of dumb thugs). This should have led to constant frustration in her efforts to make reforms and pursue policies, because after Elaida and after Siuan was deposed for her own high-handed and unilateral actions, the Hall is not going to take the new Amyrlin flexing lying down, especially when she was only chosen because they couldn't stand any of the other choices, or their rivals would never have allowed preferable candidates through. They are not going to agree to major changes to Tower procedures or policies, and they are not going to vote away their own power or toss out checks on the Amyrlin's authority on her say-so.

Jordan's writing is very big on partial victories, and compromises and hard work being necessary to achieve goals, he does not go for dramatic speeches that sway people to give the protagonist everything they want. I believe Jordan's intention in writing the original bargain Nynaeve & Elayne made with the Sea Folk to be a lesson in the costs of high-level political dealings and a warning that the hot streak the girls had been riding for a while was coming to an end, and they were not going to get their way by showing up and asking for it, or with a feat of creative channeling, and that not all goals could be met by driving off the Black sisters or defeating a Forsaken. I also utterly reject the idea that he would simply have the Sea Folk walk back the whole bargain in order to give Egwene a cheap win at no real cost.

To me, Egwene's straw-man debates with Gawyn and Nynaeve about her authority and the effect their recalcitrance can have, make no sense in ToM, because it's simply not an issue, because Warder bonds are firmly established as strictly private, and even one of the strictest sisters can have a Warder back-talk her in the Hall of the Tower without losing face in the Sitters' eyes. Siuan needed 10 years of Moiraine running amok before she started to have political problems, and it was arguably a sign of her own being captured by the system that she put it on Moiraine. There is certainly no real sign that the narrative endorses Siuan's view of the relationship & political issues, since Moiraine feels not the slightest remorse and promptly bails on the meeting to avoid telling Siuan things she is keeping from her. In the story we got, Egwene is getting everything she could wish, there are no problems with her campaign against Mesaana, and the Sitters vote for her proposals for the most painfully stupid reasons I can imagine an educated adult putting to paper. What possible reason could she have for demanding Nynaeve, Elayne and Gawyn jump through hoops to maintain her reputation? That sort of demand makes much more sense in a story where she is experiencing constant political frustration and administrative headaches (Sanderson promptly tossed all the issues with a massive and on-going influx of novices of all ages down the memory hole).

Egwene calling on Nynaeve and Elayne to attend her in the Tower would also create conflict with Elayne. Jordan has seeded too many conflicts between Andor and the White Tower, and between Elayne's two sets of duty, in the series for that not to come to a head in the finale. Egwene's is not the only plotline or character arc where lots of potential conflicts were handwaved away. Elayne is trying to rule one country and claim another, behind two very dubious and fraught coalitions, that are largely loyal to other parties. As awesome & loyal as Dyelin seems to be, she is wrong in every disagreement with Elayne from WH to KoD. Even her support of Elayne at the end is ultimately expressed as an aspect of her conservatism and resistance to change. In Cairhien, she's going to be working with a Red sister who is sworn to Rand, and will see that as two strikes against Elayne, given her anti-Rand policies and positions in Andor. And where she had to suppress and conceal their relationship in Andor, that's going to cost her in dealing with Sashelle and and of Rand's partisans in Cairhien (and there are hints here and there that the commoners and servants and soldiers hold him in rather higher regard than their lords and ladies do). In Cairhien, Elayne herself is a compromise candidate, with the Damodreds and their allies ready to accept her for the father she doesn't remember, their rivals willing to accept her because her name isn't Damodred, whatever remains of Colavaere's allies resenting their own downfall under Dobraine in Rand's name, for Elayne's sake, and some of Dobraine's allies expecting some sort of reward or primacy of place for their efforts in the interregnum. Also, famine. And in the middle of trying to juggle all this political stuff, with the Black Tower conflict heating up in her backyard, and the methods needed to win over Andorans inspiring contempt in Cairhienin, and Cairhienin methods triggering fear of tyranny and intrigue in Andorans, she gets a call in the middle of all this to put everything on hold and dance attendance on the Amyrlin because she can't handle her end, that's going to be when Elayne decides now is the time to draw that line between personal and political authority and responsibility. And Elayne can get away with it as no other ruler in the last thousand years could, because when it comes to Elayne versus the White Tower, the Dragon Reborn, King of Illian and Car'a'carn of the Aiel, and the Lord Captain Commander of the Children of the Light are not going to think twice before taking a side. Right, of course, at the least politically convenient time for Egwene.

With Gawyn, he has been taught, since day one, that in addition to physical protection and military advice, his job is also to tell his principal when she is in the wrong, and that is so not going to fly with Egwene in the middle of all the other problems going on. Sanderson seems to have run with the fandom meme that Gawyn is an idiot, on top of inventing a character issue where he resents Rand over class issues and a sense of heretofore never seen royal entitlement. The funny thing is "I should be the leader and hero, not that up-jumped sheepherder!" is basically Egwene's normal state of mind. So I could see Gawyn going to Elayne at Egwene's behest, or stepping in an volunteering, in an effort to patch things over, and butting heads with his sister, while trying to loyally stick to the party line, because Egwene is pissed that he keeps suggesting her leadership methods aren't the best. Because Gawyn has been taught to be a military commander in what is basically a feudal military structure, which means herding cats on a bunch of nobles to get them to carry out the crown's strategies and campaign plans, whereas up until aMoL, Egwene's political training has been about intrigue and subterfuge, and no so much on coalition-building, and appeasing competing interests.

With Nynaeve, she's generally willing to play along, but that's not always helpful, as Nynaeve is all about the moral with little use for the political. We see what her version of helping with political negotiations is like in KoD where Cadsuane has to rein her in from threatening the nobles with Rand's wrath. Her PoV chapters became much more rare after she broke her block, because she's largely centered and has found her right head-space, that Egwene & Rand are still striving for in KoD & aMoL. And that means she is going to be a lot more confident in calling out the sisters on their bullshit, and have Opinions, however respectfully she might make them known to Egwene, on Egwene's methods. She's been butting heads with Cadsuane for three books. No one in the Tower is going to impress her all that much, and to Egwene, it's going to be like having a loose cannon in the Tower.

I think in Jordan's version, Egwene, around the time Rand is on Dragonmount, and Mat is struggling in the Tower of Ghenji and Perrin is trying to save the Children of the Light while relations with Elayne are at their nadir and Caemlyn is falling to the Trollocs, is going to complete her mini-arc of coming to understand what it means to unify the Tower, to move away from the partisanship that divided it under Siuan and her predecessors, reconcile with the fence-sitting sisters, and after all these problems are worked through, she starts repairing her relationships with Elayne and Gawyn, at the least. Maybe she helps resolve things between Elayne and Perrin as well. I don't think her penultimate climax is going to be simply beating Mesaana and the Black Ajah in direct combat for the Tower, at most that would be a part of the whole unity arc, only tangentially related, in the way that the fight with the Black Ajah was to Elayne's claiming the Lion Throne.

I also think the conflict, if any, between Rand & Egwene at Merrilor is going to be over an arbitrary and nonsensical issue like the Seals, but more the cumulative result of all the baggage they've built up over the course of the series. Egwene is going to be fearing the worst, because I think it more likely that Dark Rand called the meeting intending to lay down the law and crush any resistance to his leadership, but then Dragonmount, whereas he has been observing from the outset her resistance to him and his role in things, and her White Tower partisanship. Their working past that, and coming to accept the changes each has made should be organic as well, the payoff of years of friendship and history, with all their friends in common, from the Two Rivers and Rand's love interests helping to bring them together. It would absolutely NOT be resolved by Moiraine wafting in on a cloud of angel farts quoting Scripture the Prophecies of the Dragon to convince the assembled leaders of the nations to fall into line.

I think the effect of Moiraine's return should have been private and personal, for Rand at least, and maybe Egwene too. And it should have some apologies for how she treated them and used them, because let's face it, she did not go out as a hero, she manufactured a scenario to emotionally abuse and gaslight Rand into believing his weaknesses and shortcomings caused her death, and wrote a letter tacitly blaming him, while also writing one to passive-aggressively guilt Mat into risking mutilation and death to extract her from the situation she contrived to put herself in. In any case, it's nonsense that Rand & Egwene would drop their contentions at her word. Egwene was losing her devotion to Moiraine as a mentor before the end, not least because of disagreements over her handling of Rand, and as Amyrlin, would emphatically make a point that their relationship has changed now, as she does with absolutely every other person she knew beforehand. Part of Rand's epiphany is getting some perspective, and while he'd be thrilled to see Moiraine return, the List should be gone, and only relevance her return should have to that construct is the role she played in turning Rand that way. Her return doesn't solve problems, it's the reward for working past the problems. For Moiraine herself, I think she's learned her lesson as a result of her captivity, and goes into the Pit of Doom with him because she means it now, she accepts that this is Rand's mission and it's his call and she will back him 100%.

A lot of the decisions for Tarmon Gaidon, will, I believe, be made on the basis of the connections and trust built up over the course of the series, and part of Egwene's role would be to legitimize it all for public consumption, by telling people who don't get it, that everything is cool, trust the Amyrlin. For the Battle itself, I could not say, because what Sanderson wrote is the complete opposite of WoT warfare. Instead of heavy emphasis on the fog of war, brilliant plans crashing and burning at the outset, the brutality, and the cost, and especially the chaos, and the lack of control, we got a handful of protagonists playing a strategy game, where every piece moved exactly according to the rules, Mat was in complete control the whole time, and half of the decisive moments were settled in duels. On the issue of Egwene, I do think she would die, trying to do something beyond her grasp. I think Gawyn might die specifically because of an order Egwene gave or a choice she made, which is the strong implication of Egwene's dream of him choosing between two paths that lead to different fates, because of her. As it was, picking a fight with the enemy Forsaken general because he didn't have anything better to do, A. does not fit that foreshadowing, and B. indicates a failure to grow from the again, out-of-nowhere envy of Rand and his role. Telling Galad not to succumb to his own fatal flaw, because it got Gawyn himself mortally wounded, is hardly growth (and why would Galad hate or envy Rand, anyway? At best, his expression of this too-late realization makes Gawyn a shitty sibling for thinking the worst of his big brother). In Jordan's aMoL, Gawyn dying because of Egwene's choice or action (not necessarily error, mind you) fulfils his loyalty arc and forces Egwene to confront a real and personal price, and one that she has not reckoned with before this book. She's considered in the abstract prices for her tactics and people dying from her decisions, but its never come home, especially because she was spared the necessity of assaulting the Tower. Egwene pushed for decisive action, but hesitated over actually pulling the trigger on any such significant acts, and lucked out when the Seanchan swooped in and relieved her of the need to fish or cut bait on the Tower siege.

That's what I think Egwene's arc would come to in the end - a realization that she's only ever paid lip service to meeting toh or the "pay for it" part of taking "what you want", and that the price for her quest for the Amyrlin Seat, and all the dirt she did along the way, using slander against her enemies and false propaganda on her subordinates and allies, declaring war against people she should have been working with against the Shadow, and being a party to perhaps the worst case of "men fighting their own petty battles" with the Shadow looming over the world, it all comes down to what is she going to do with that power and that position. Her rationalization from the get-go, and perhaps even her true motive, though that would denote an incredible degree of arrogance, has basically been to ensure that the necessary steps are taken and the right woman for the job has it. And now, at the critical moment, she has the choice to try to do the impossible to save the world, regardless of the cost to herself, and she can't do anything else. Whether because that is how she operates, to always push, always reach for more, or because she has come to the realization that if she backs down, she was full of shit when she did all the suspect stuff she did along the way, and that all her striving since becoming Nynaeve's apprentice has only been about self-aggrandizement, that she has been taking what she wants all her adult life, but now is being called on to pay for it.

And a flip side to that, is that Egwene, as depicted in the story, who is all about concentration of power on herself, and cares only for accruing more and more power, status or authority, can't survive or have a happily ever after, without a radical change of personality and mindset, without changing into someone no longer recognizable as the woman whom readers love or hate for her irrepressible ambition and determination. To put it another way, Egwene's attitude and mindset are only justifiable in a protagonist of a fantasy story where the fate of the world hangs in the balance, where her drive and appetite for advancement can only be justified as a means to resolve stakes of that magnitude. She is the parallel to Rand, who, as the Chosen One, the prophesied savior, is given a great deal of latitude and approbation for actions that would be unconscionably ambitions or tyrannical in anyone but a man on whom the fate of the world depends (though, ironically, Egwene herself is the least tolerant toward Rand in this regard). It's understood that after the Last Battle, Rand, if he survives, will no longer have the claim to most of his power or authority. Many people swear fealty or promise to follow him, to the Last Battle, as a limiting condition on their service. But such conditions are not applied to Egwene or to her position as Amyrlin Seat. The Aes Sedai who swear fealty to Rand after grossly abusing their power and social position and violating his trust, still only do so until the Last Battle. The Aes Sedai Egwene blackmails with the knowledge of actions taken to help her friend and to further her cause, do not have any such condition that will end their servitude. And Egwene is outraged by Rand's receipt of sisters' fealty. With that kind of mindset and usurpation of power, she had to go. Egwene is the epitome of the Dark Knight aphorism that you die young or live long enough to become the villain.

[sohosaturn]

Little Rant about Vi because I’m mad the more I think about her character

Okay, so I’ll post some art in a bit but I wanna rant about Vi’s character in arcane, specifically how the fact that she spent the rest of her childhood in PRISON is just sometimes mentioned. Like, we should’ve gotten some more reflection of that just like how Powder/Jinx’s trauma was explored. I’m not saying I wanted to see a child getting tortured, that’s not what I mean. But some flashbacks of her, like some montage or something of watching her grow up there in that dark cell would’ve been fine enough. And the fact that her wounds from the warehouse weren’t even healed, so she just healed in prison with no medical attention is horrifying. Not to mention that the guards apparently thought she was an addict cause she kept yelling about Powder, and then seemed to stop yelling eventually when she lost most of her hope. Like imagine if we got ONE flashback of that, it would’ve been more impactful.

I get she’s in a cop in league, I get that (and personally I think Arcane sunk itself by making its story canon but that’s just me), but her decision was just barely explored enough for it to be understood. If season two had more time, it would’ve been better. It’s obvious she did it for Cait, hoping that it could help with her grief and all that, but literally just one or two scenes of her and Cait talking it through and Vi contemplating it would’ve been enough for me. And she does not protest NEARLY enough when Cait’s using chemical fucking warfare on her people and sending a bunch of people to prison, something she criticized the council when she talked to Jayce in season one. Imagine if she and Jinx were the ones who helped the people who were wrongfully imprisoned for protesting in episode four. Vi could’ve seen and understood Jinx’s impact on Zaun and on Isha, they could’ve found Warwick together (or something idk i haven’t tuned that out yet lmao), and her and Sevika, her rival from season one could’ve had an interaction. Just one, make a truce or something.

And her convo with Cait after she sends that guy with the glasses, who was injured and poisoned with The Gray btw, wasn’t even about that, it was about HER changing and not her actions. I understand their time was limited, and they did great with that fact, but I can still be mad okay! I honestly would’ve preferred the ‘promise me you won’t change scene’ to have happened before Vi became an enforcer, and Cait promising her helped her make her decision. As much as I love Cait and Vi, and I even love their ending (controversial, I know), their relationship wasn’t built as well in season two as it was in season one. And the sex scene was fun, the song was a banger (pun not intended), but like…in a fucking jail cell? Really? A jail cell eerily similar to the jail cell she was starved and beaten in while she grew up in prison? That sounds fucking insane for any other show. Why does MADDIE, ginger bowl cut rebound Maddie, get a bed but Vi, Cait’s fucking soulmate gets a fucking dirty ass jail cell???

She deserved so much better, for her trauma to be fully explored and not just brushed off and only focusing on the first half of it with her family dying because of Powder’s mistake. Let me remind you, this innocent little girl was beaten and starved in jail by enforcers for seven-eight years, and still came out with a heart of gold. They can never make me hate you, Vi.

[minijenn]

Jen Tortures Herself With Every Dreamworks Animated Movie Ever: Home

So ya'll ever watch a movie you know for a fact, just by looking at it, is made for babies and very small children? Yeah, that's what Home is, in like, almost every way. It is a dumb movie made for dumb children. I didn't like it. Let's get into why.

The Boov are (super quirky omgzz) alien race that take over the planet Earth as their new home, relocating humans, all except for Tip, a no-nonsense girl who's determined to find her missing mother. She teams up with Oh, perhaps the most fucking annoying Boov of all to the point that he's hated even by his fellow aliens, as they travel across the Earth to find Tip's mom.

Simple premise, simple movie. And yet despite that, it still manages to have really weird and fucky pacing? Like moments that should be spent on actually developing the characters and their relationships with each other are just... glossed over through montages or very brief scenes? It's really, really weirdly paced, I don't even know how to properly explain it. It felt like the movie was speed running itself (fine with me, the sooner it ended, the better.)

So if the movie isn't focusing on that, what is it focusing on? Well some pretty unexciting action scenes for one, but then there's the real thing this movie is about: humor. Really shitty, bad, immature, lame potty humor and "omgz so random!" kind of humor that was running rampant in the 2010s. Like I said, this is a baby movie, for babies. So all of the jokes are very simple and dumbed down and not a single one of them got even a smile out of me. This entire movie was a flaccid, joyless experience.

When it isn't smacking you in the face with fart and piss jokes, its trying so damn hard to hit you in the feels. But in that reguard, it takes a swing and misses completely because I felt nothing for these characters in the slightest. Oh might just be one of the most annoying Dreamworks protagonists yet, with this really aggrivating way of talking that all the Boov have where they skip words or just say things wrongly and I get it, that's the joke, but fuck if it doesn't become grating almost immediately. Tip is only a little better, but she's largely an inconsistant character, hating Oh at one point and then being besties with him the next that I barely even knew what her characterization was even supposed to be.

What else, what else? Uh.... There was a villain? The leader of the Boov? I don't remember anything significant about him? Oh and uhhh the uhhh (checks Wikipedia page bc this movie made such a nothing impact on me i can barely remember it only ten minutes after viewing it) the Gorg, which is also a nothing threat, just there to be "oooh scary" until the end where it's revealed it isn't actually scary at all and just wanted its babies back (fucking Chicken Little did this first and better, you know your movie sucks if I'm saying goddamn Chicken Little is better).

The animation is very basic, very unimpressive character designs in a very average looking world. It's not what you'd expect from Dreamworks, that's for sure; I'd say its more along the lines of Illumination's normal quality. The soundtrack was all done by Rihanna, who voices Tip, and uhhh I'm not a big Rihanna fan, just gonna admit that up front. Her songs also just feel ill-placed throughout this very silly, zany romp, it just felt so weird at times to hear these soulful ballads when I had to fucking look at Oh's stupid face like what were they thinking with this???

So yeah, bad movie for babies. Sucks because I know Dreamworks can do better, they have so many times before. Unfortunately, sometimes, I think they just go for whatever they think will sell. And well, I'm sure they thought Oh would turn into a million marketable plushies (he probably did idk). But anyway, Home can go the fuck home so I never have to look at it again.

Overall Rating: 3/10

Verdict: Get assassinated with the Shush wand or whatever the fuck it was called idk i stopped paying attention halfway through this dumbass movie to play on my Switch

Previous Review (The Penguins of Madagascar)

Next Review (Kung Fu Panda 3)

[drpsps]

Random shit I said while watching different saw movies!!! Pt1

Spoiler Warning

Saw - “Adam isn’t THAT fine” (lying right through my teeth).

“Teehee Larry you naughty boy” (was extremely high).

“Y’all their actually gay” (chainshipping bitches)

“I just know if Adam survived he would NEVER stop fucking with Lawrence” (Annoying bf who?).

“My pookie John is so silly!” (Besties hear me out, sometimes the pookie is a crazy old man).

“I hate you Lawrence.” (During the whole “I gotta go get help” thing).

“Adam’s thoughts were “Why is that body throwing it back?” during the scene where John gets up.” (I am crazy).

Saw 2 - “Y’all fuck that kid.” (I’m a hater fr).

“His dad is a fucking dick and I hope he DIES!” (He indeed does not die).

“Amanda you’re so silly.” (She was being crazy).

“I hate everyone but Amanda and that dumb ass kid.” (It was that first scene where someone died).

“Okay okay just can everyone calm down.” (Literally any fight scene).

“Damn HE’S BALD AND TORTURING PEOPLE WITH HAIR!” (Gotta quote a good ole tiktok).

“Shit man’s is beating an old guy whose dying.” (I thought it was funny).

“I’M SO GLAD THE KID SURVIVED!” (Me before the reveal).

“Oh fuck that.” (Me after the reveal).

Saw 3 - “Amanda calm your tits.” (Teehee).

“John what the fuck.” (I think he said some dumb shit).

“Okay bitches calm down.” (Anytime Amanda was beefin with the doctor chick).

“Shitttttt!” (x20 because y’all wtf).

“I thought he was gonna change!” (Dude remained vengeful).

“Well everything is fucked now.” (Amanda montage).

“Girl shut up.” (The doctor chick said something super cunty).

“Yas queen!” (Amanda said something super cunty).

“NOOOO!” (any fucked scene).

“YASSSSS!” (Any good scene).

Saw 4 - “OMG IT’S MY POOKIE BEAR MARK!” (Mark appeared on screen).

“I wonder how they didn’t know it was Mark. The constant side eye was a dead giveaway.” (We were barely a few minutes in and he did it three times).

“My pookie wookie isn’t crazy.” (Mark hoffman is extremely crazy).

“His delulu became trululu.” (Mark casually killing).

“If John is dead, then why would Mark join now?” (Before reveal).

“OOOOOHHHH.” (After reveal).

“Mark definitely listens to slipknot.” (Casual observation and definitely not a projection).

“I would NOT survive a Hoffman trap.” (Bitch rigged everything).

“Oh pookie…” (Near the end of the movie).

“I’m glad Eric died..” (Randomly remembering he’s there).

Saw 5 - “IS STRAHM HERE YES HE IS!” (That’s my genuine reaction when he showed up).

“Perez get your dog on a leash.” (Strahm was being a little asshole).

“Meow.” (Anytime both Hoffman and Strahm are on screen).

“I wanna eat them up.” (Me at Hoffman, and Strahm).

“He’s delulu.” (Talking about Hoffman).

“He’s trululu.” (Talking about Strahm).

“He’s not that bad.” (Talking about Strahm).

“Sorry he sucks sometimes.” (Talking about Hoffman).

“Eat shit asshole, die in a trap.” (Hoffman at Strahm).

“Y’all I’m so cool.” (Me on liking all the apprentices).

“My pookie wookie is trying.” (Me about Hoffman).

“HE NEEDS LOVE!” (Me about Strahm).

“I HOPE YOU ALL DIE.” (Minus Strahm and Hoffman).

“I’m so sorry baby girl..” (Me anytime Strahm is on screen).

“He’s cringe but he’s free.” (Me at Strahm and Hoffman).

“Damn someones salty.” (Angry Hoffman scenes).

“Bro is down bad.” (Strahm investigated Hoffman).

“Y’all this shit is crazy.” (About the traps).

“I’m still mad at hoffman.” (About the trap he put Strahm in).

“Okay what the fuck!” (end of film during Strahms death scene).

I need to watch 6-9 and I’ll make a second post.

I love these films with all my heart and you can definitely tell that my faves are literally every jigsaw apprentice (Including Logan from the later films) and most of the male characters (I.E. Adam and Peter Strahm). I honestly think the first three movies tie in together better than the later movies (seeing as we keep this crazy shit going).

I hope y’all enjoyed reading this shit.

[birb-boyo]

HOW DID THE CHAIN MEET IN YOUR STEVEN UNIVERSE AU???

HOW DID TIME BECOME…TIME?!

ARE THE GODDESSES THE DIAMONDS? AND IF THEY ARE ARE THEY LIKE THE DIAMONDS IN THE SHOW???

WHAT IS RAVIO?? IS HE LIKE- A GEM THAT WAS CUT FROM THE SAME CRUST/KINDERGARTEN AS LEGEND???

TELL ME ABOUT IT SAHDE

OKAY

HELLO(I just got from my nap, sorry for the wait)

FOR THE FIRST QUESTION

All heroes, instead of having a triforce, they have a shard of First’s gem, also called the Shards of Courage. These shards are made of basically just Light because that was Hylia’s parting gift, to make his shards shine brighter than the morning sky. Ask the chain, except Sky, they fucking hate it. It’s Sky’s nightlight by the way. It’s like a naturally made flash bang. It’s an activation thing, so it’s not always there.

I don’t know why I explained that last part but whatever.

I actually haven’t thought about how they met, but I suppose we could stick with the iconic dream montage. Like, they all pass out randomly and suddenly First is talking to them like, “Hyrule needs her heroes to assemble and-“ blah blah blah

A lot of them probably ignore him, but some days later, when they all end up through a portal, surrounded by each other with their bright ass shards, they definitely believe the magic dream man.

SECOND QUESTION

Time is a fusion between Fierce and Mask

I should also clarify that Majora and Fierce were never masks, their gems were put in stasis. Skull Kid and Mask were able to gem those gems out of stasis(I didn’t think about how yet) and I guess the final fight was like a Pokemon fight and I love that idea so much but it’s also so stupid-

SO WHAY HAD HAPPENED WAS, AFTER THE BIG TERMINA FIASCO,

Mask and Fierce were going to part ways, but Fierce has been in stasis for so long, he knew that the surface had changed. Not only that, but being in stasis for so long made him weak. It made Majora and Fierce weaker than they used to be.

So Mask, still in a existential crisis, was like “we can be travelers together then” because mask didn’t want to seem like he used Fierce (even though he kinda did) so he offered to be travelers together with Fierce.

My boy Fierce took that “together” the wrong way and kinda forced Mask to fuse with him.

THEN BOOM, TIME EXISTS

Mask is kind of shaken like, “What the fuck?”

Fierce is kinda like, “Isn’t this what you meant?”

Mask is like, “No!” Mask then uses they mirror shield. “I mean…”

So now they’ve been fused for a good while. They also just feel safer inside the fusion because they know that if one fumbles, the other has their back.

I also have a feeling that no gem truly knows what it means to be married, so when marriage was proposed to Time, he was kinda just-🧍🏼‍♂️

Then Malon(I’m keeping her human…hylian) explained it sort of like, “Marriage is like promising to be best friends forever-“

“Then me and Fierce are married?”

“NO-“

THIRD QUESTION

I would give the Goddesses Diamonds. Nayru gets Blue, Farore gets Yellow, Din gets White, Hylia gets Pink.

Hylia gets pink because she is all over the place. But she is actually shattered too. She shattered herself after First got shattered so her shards(Shards of Wisdom) could be beside First’s for all eternity. You know Demise’s hating ass shards(Shards of Power) are also there, tearing shit up🥰🥰🥰

The other diamonds, Nayru, Farore, and Din, just monitor what the shard wielders are doing and making sure Hyrule doesn’t fall in on itself.

FORTH QUESTION

Yes, Ravio was born in the same Kindergarten as Legend. The same hole too. He was made after Legend though and came out “deformed”. Physically, Ravio doesn’t look really deformed, but other amethysts disagree. He’s skinnier and weaker and far more in the mind(smarter) than he should be.

That being said, my boy did not have fun while trying to serve his diamond. So he ran away. He attempted many times to run away, in turn, he was kind of tortured by his “siblings”. Don’t worry, there’s no crack, but other amethyst would forgive and forget in a solid three human years, but Ravio? Those nights are engraved into him gem.

In order to truly escape, he had the help of an opal(Hilda) they kinda just hang out together until they find another amethyst(Legend) on earth and started spying on him and WOW ANOTHER GAME INCOMING

Kinda dropped backstory there whoopsie😅

@the-cucco-nuggie :D

[wikinomnom]

Oppenheimer

The man staring back at you with a cigarette enclosed between his lips, not quite an inviting one, but a deep gaze holding your eyes - that is what I remember as my first memory of American Prometheus. I do not quite remember how I came to the book. Maybe it was from some early reading on Oppenheimer, or maybe I found my way to it once I finished reading Feynman's "Surely You're Joking..." autobiography. In any case, I know reading it at the time I thought the Prometheus analogy fit perfectly. A man who knew too much, revealed to much to the humans; punished for it, tortured for it, forever haunted by it.

Then to see the words come to life, in and through Cillian Murphy's eyes - what a treat. To see Oppenheimer be himself on screen, dressing up in a small Los Alamos building room as he discards the military uniform and adorns his hat, takes his pipe and the same deep gaze peering back was life coming full circle. The realization of my imagination of the words could not have been rewarded more aptly. In his performance as J. Robert Oppenheimer, Murphy lights up the screen and by the end I was left with a gut-wrenching knot in the pit of my stomach as he looked back into nothingness in the final moment of the movie before all cuts to black.

Nolan, so expertly, has fit in so much into one film. I felt transported between a historical drama, a court room thriller, a piercing look into a not so simple marriage and yet at the center of it all a psychological dismantling of a man, who pursued the responsibility of unearthing some awesome but life-altering truths about scientific forces and was left to bear the weight of how he had changed the very nature of our world. One scene early on in the film that thundered in was the switch in Oppenheimer's attire as the camera pans during his witch hunt of an AEC hearing. Pivoting behind the attorney pecking away at Oppenheimer's fragile mental armor, the camera reveals a naked man. Vulnerable. Laid bare in front of his contemporaries. As you think his humiliation could not be further, a layer is added from his wife's perspective when her point of view of her husband's affair is imagined by the now dead-girlfriend nakedly and lifelessly staring back at Katherine Oppenheimer.

Emily Blunt does so much with her eyes as well and many a times without them. In her few minutes giving testimony to the people tearing down her husband, Katherine Oppenheimer shudders initially, unable to meet the eyes of the men who are doing so. As they lock in on her, that unease is replaced with fight, tenacity and a determination to defend her truth, personifying what she has been pleading her husband to do since the witch hunt started. Equally significant is Kitty Oppenheimer's stare back at Edward Teller during a final montage where Teller hopes to mend broken fences but instead is met with deathly eyes, unforgiving of the statements he made to contribute to her husband's witch hunt.

The fallout of this witch hunt comes back to haunt its architect - played so beautifully by Robert Downey Jr. With an almost youthful energy he welcomes Oppenheimer to join the Institute of Advanced Studies and a within a handful of moments you see the ego-bruising disappointment in him, as he feels a rejection and the lack of embrace from the very legend of Oppenheimer he imagines he has helped create. Till the final turn of the film, I almost thought the narrative did so well to present a redeeming side to the Lewis Strauss of Downey Jr. But as the black and white scenes reveal the final layers of Strauss's story through his senate confirmation hearing, you are presented with an equally piercing image of a self-centered man who has worked so hard, all his life really, to get to the pinnacle of his life, only to see his machinations behind Oppenheimer's downfall come back to haunt him and deny him that reward.

Able to elicit wonderful performances from all the supporting cast and breath taking visuals to show them in, Nolan is relentless in his mastery of the craft. I was curious to see how he would capture the sheer scale of the atomic bomb explosion. I was not disappointed by his interpretation. He does not go about romanticizing the bomb or its effects. The explosion fills up the screen, and with it your senses. The sound, and in some instances, the lack of it, bring through the nothingness and destruction that such a "gadget" leave in its wake. The raw and bare colors of the explosion are left on the screen for your eyes to soak in. Letting you take a moment to think of the scale, washing over you. And then comes the sound, and in some instances the lack of it. Accurately conveying the physics of it, the light from the explosion reaching you before the sound of the blast comes blazing at you.

By the end, I was left with a hollowness akin to the gaze of Oppenheimer's eyes. Leaving the theater to a soundtrack that is magnificent yet intimate and vulnerable, I came out into the night feeling haunted. Haunted by the simple reality I was transported back into, away from the magnum opus of a vision that had been imprinted in my mind. A haunting is what will stay with me.

[newberyandchai]

A Single Shard (2002)

I must admit that my absence from this blog has been partly influenced by how much I did not enjoy this book in particular. It was predictable, the relationships didn't develop in interesting ways, and the plot was unimaginative. The tropes were so obvious that if I didn't know better, I would have assumed the plot was made up by a gaggle of fifth graders for a creative writing assignment.

(Spoilers ahead... if you care.)

A Single Shard begins with the orphan Tree-ear and his older companion Crane-man, who both live under a bridge in a village in what is now South Korea. Tree-ear is curious about the potters for whom the village is known and wants to learn more about the art, but he accidentally breaks a bowl that was crafted by Min, the most skilled worker in the village. Tree-ear makes a deal with Min to work off his debt by helping Min make a replacement piece. (If this were a movie, the days in which Tree-ear performs hard manual labor for Min might be portrayed by a fun montage, a la "I'll Make a Man Out of You" from Mulan...)

One day, an imperial emissary comes to the village to look for a potter to commission for royal pottery pieces, and he's impressed by both Min's work and that of another potter in town. The second potter had figured out a cool technique (that's about as specific as I can get; I'm no expert) that the imperial guy was interested in, but the pot Min had created in the same technique had been fired incorrectly and came out flawed due to no fault of his own. The imperial guy likes Min's attention to detail, so he gives Min another chance to impress him and asks him to bring his best sample of pottery using the new technique to the palace. However, Min is old and won't be able to make the trek, so Tree-ear volunteers to do it instead.

...And this is about where I started to lose interest. The rest was completely predictable: my thought was that Tree-ear would meet an obstacle that would end up in all but one of the pottery pieces getting broken, but he would still deliver it to the palace somehow, Min would get the commission, and everyone would clap. And that's more or less what happened, but there was a slightly disturbing su*cide (can we say that on Tumblr without getting banned?) reference that seemed intended to be... inspirational(?) in a weird way.

Tree-ear climbs the Rock of Falling Flowers at Crane-man's request during his journey to the palace, which is named for what took place there during an important military battle centuries before Tree-ear's time. The book focuses on the part of the legend where the lovers and servants of the king throw themselves to their deaths to avoid being captured by the enemy:

"All of the king's concubines and ladies-in-waiting crowded around him, determined to protect him until the last. The women knew well that the T'ang would not kill them; no, they would be taken prisoner, probably to be tortured. Their terror can hardly be imagined ... The T'ang army charged up the hill. All at once, as if all their minds had become one, the women began jumping off the cliff. Every one of them preferred death to becoming a prisoner.

"Can you see it, my friend? The women jumping one after the other from the cliff, their beautiful silk dresses billowing in the air — pink, red, green blue... indeed, like flowers falling."

Tree-ear gasped, his eyes round. What courage it must have taken!

"The T'ang were victorious that day, but the women's efforts were not in vain, for they have since been an inspiration to all who have need of courage. Their memory will live for a thousand years, I am sure of it."

... "Go to the Rock of Falling Flowers when you reach Puyo, my friend," Crane-man had said. "But remember that leaping into death is not the only way to show true courage."

I hope I'm not the only one who finds that horrendous loss of life somewhat hard to regard as brave or courageous, at least from a western point of view. Whereas su*cide was viewed as a sin as far back as the 1200s in medieval Europe and is ingrained in the west as being objectively capital-B Bad, there is a centuries-long history of eastern cultures using the act of taking one's life as a way to preserve a family's honor or take responsibility for causing shame. When people from Asian countries immigrated to the U.S., that idea may have persisted, however subtly: su*cide is the second leading cause of death in Asian-Americans from ages 15-24.

I don't think this concept — the idea of su*cide being acceptable, even venerated, in the context of medieval Korea as opposed to what it's regarded as today — was communicated very well in the book, if that was what the author was intending. There are several old superstitions mentioned that are portrayed as simply being the products of a less scientifically advanced age: for example, Crane-man mentions that the reason he lives under the bridge in the first place is because a fox scared him off the main road one night, as they were believed at the time to be trickster animals who would feed you to their young. We're told he was so scared that by the time he was ready to get back on his journey, he'd stayed under the bridge for so long that the spot already felt like home.

In short, I think the fox story serves the purpose of juxtaposing medieval Korean beliefs with modern day and illustrating just how different the conventions of the time period differ from modern life: Tree-ear is slightly afraid when he hears the story ("Even to say the word [fox] made a trickle of fear run down his spine"), but I believe that's meant to be educational for the reader, not instructional. A kid would probably read that passage and think, "Wow, people were afraid of some weird things back then," not "Man, Crane-man says foxes are really scary, so I should watch out." Crane-man even delivers a line that reflects what we know today at the end of the story, which I think indicates what a young reader should ultimately come away with: "I have come to believe foxes could not possibly be as clever as we think them."

The purpose of that story being included is fairly straightforward, but I still can't tell how the author wanted to frame the idea of thousands of women jumping to their deaths. Were readers supposed to understand that this, too, is just meant to provide context into the (slightly extreme) beliefs and worldviews of medieval Koreans and understand how different they are from today? Or could a kid read this book and actually come away with the idea that taking their own life is the right thing to do in some circumstances?

The characters never say anything that doesn't glamorize su*cide — we don't get a line like "It's a shame so many lives were lost" or anything that recasts it in a negative light. We don't get a line that serves the same purpose as Crane-man telling us that foxes aren't actually scary. Instead, we hear both Tree-ear and Crane-man commend the women to engage in mass su*cide on multiple occasions ("Crane-man's words came to life ... [the women's] terror and their sudden act of bravery, their colored dresses like the petals of thousands of flowers").

As I've mentioned before, though, I'm reading this as an adult with a less imaginative brain than in years past (sad) and often forget about all the violent or disturbing books I was reading while in the target age group for this book. For example, the plot of Animorphs #19 centers around Cassie's reaction to ripping the throat out of an alien while in wolf morph... which I remember reading during health class in 6th grade. But that didn't mean I or other fans of the series developed a desire to kill or consume increasingly violent media.

(However, being surrounded by media that depicts violence against oneself may be a different story... which is an issue for another time.)

The rest of the book was what I'd like to call "Chekhov's everything": you can't reveal that two married characters have lost a child and not have them adopt the orphan character; you can't have the mentor character not die at the end (which, I might add, conveniently takes away the only possible reason Tree-ear has to not become the couple's new son); you can't have important pieces of pottery undergo a long journey by foot and not have them break...

The books I've truly enjoyed lately have made a point to ignore this principle and led me on completely unexpected journeys, so I just find myself getting tired of predictable storytelling. I'm holding out hope that future Newbery books will offer greater surprises.

Lest this gets any longer, 5/10, Not Recommendable.

[ultranerdygirl]

Tortured Poets Department Album Thoughts pt. 2:

**Note for Tumblr: once again, these were originally sent by me to my sister through the notes app.

Black Dog: bittersweet, but I really like it.

Get you back: you know that one scene from The Golden Girls where the conversation goes: “Where are you going?” “To get ice cream or commit a felony. I’ll decide in the car.”? That’s what this song sounds like.

Albatross: a little too Folklore-y for my taste.

The one w/ all the names: sounds like Joe IS a drug addict and also a cheating hussy.

How did it end: you’re gonna laugh at me for this later: this song gives me the vibes of the “Hallelujah” montage from the first Shrek movie.

So high school: love this song. Feels very Debut album to me.

I hate it here: also love this one. It’s very gentle and I love a good literature reference. Gives off Folklore vibes, but the kind I enjoy.

Ty Aimee: ah yes, the bad old days of high school. If I had been in a mood, this song probably would’ve made me cry. Jeez.

People’s windows: reminds me of that character you hated in the first Fall Play I was on crew for in my freshman year. You know the one. The creepy murderess in the window who stabbed the guy in the back at the end. **Note for Tumblr: the play was “Terror By Gaslight”.

Prophecy: another gentle kinda sleepy song. I dig it.

Cassandra: love me some Greek mythology. Very good.

Peter: gentle, sweet, and reminds me of a different song called “Lost Boy” by a singer named Ruth B.

Bolter: this song slaps. I don’t like to say that about things cuz it sounds stupid, but this song slaps.

Robin: hey, um, Taylor? Ouch.

Manuscript: this one was giving me vibes of The Notebook, but like, if the dude in the dude in The Notebook sucked. Maybe I’m thinking of a different movie lol.

**Note for Tumblr: I listened to the album and assumed it was all about Joe Alwyn, and then later learned that some or most of it may be about Matty Healy.

[heavensbeehall]

"Catching Fire", Chapter 19

Part 3: The Enemy

Chapter 19: Let the 75th Hunger Games Begin! Katniss swims to the Cornucopia and gets there first, but is joined by Finnick who has Haymitch's Effie!bangle and says they are allies. They retrieve Peeta and Mags before heading into the jungle as what I consider to be an adorable foursome. Katniss, however, is uneasy with this alliance. Particularly the Finnick part of it. But then Peeta hits a forcefield with his knife, and his heart stops.

Thoughts:

-- At this moment, many of the tributes are going in here with the intention of sacrificing themself, not of surviving. Yet six people will survive these Games, topping last year's record of two which is somewhat good. But I can't help thinking that more should be able to make it since these games only go for three days (spoilers?). We know now that the 10th Games lasted five days. Before that they were over quickly but it's most likely this last Hunger Games was both the shortest of the Snow era, and the last.

-- I have seen people wondering why District 1, 2, 5, 9 and 10 (particularly 1 since Cashmere is mentioned as being trafficked as Finnick was) were not included in the Alliance. Honestly I think that having 12 victors (3,4,6,7,8 and 11) with "varying" knowledge of the plan is already a lot of people and I'm surprised a Totalitarian Dictatorship didn't catch on. At the very least, that's a lot of conversations that could've been overheard. I also wonder, in the particular case of D1, if the fact that they were siblings meant either would've happily reported on the Rebels to save their sibling.

Heroes of the Rebellion! The following Victors were known to be part of the rebel alliance: Unnamed District 6 male Tribute (Morphling), Woof, Cecelia, and Seeder. (please play respectuful music for them in your own head.)

Quotes:

I can't think straight. The image of Cinna, beaten and bloody, consumes me. Where is he now? What are they doing to him? Torturing him? Killing him? Turning him into an Avox? Obviously his assault was staged to unhinge me, the same way Darius's presence in my quarters was. And it has unhinged me. All I want to do is collapse on my metal plate. But I can hardly do that after what I just witnessed. I must be strong. I owe it to Cinna, who risked everything by undermining President Snow and turning my bridal silk into mockingjay plumage. And I owe it to the rebels who, emboldened by Cinna's example, might be fighting to bring down the Capitol at this moment.

I think it's worth noting how Snow uses all the people, including Darius and Cinna, as pawns in the Game. (The whole world is an arena, afterall.) Both of these men will die off the page, with few short lines given to their ends. Darius will again be used as a pawn in an attempt to unhinge Peeta. While Cinna is said to have died while being tortured because he refused to give answers to his captors.

Someone asked me "what did Cinna give to the rebellion?" when I was mad about Gale not wanting Cinna's gloves. That kind of unhinged me, if you haven't noticed by my harping on him. He gave his life, obviously. And his talents. And while his early life was probably much easier than any district kid, I don't think that it's fair to say he had a platform because of the Capitol. He had a platform because of his abilities. It doesn't seem like all Capitol citizens get to be on TV. He had more access, I concede. I don't think that makes his sacrifice lesser though.

Anyway did you guys know Francis Lawrence considered having Lenny Kravitz being executed in the montage of executions in Mockingjay Part 1? ("The concept for the scene was that President Snow's speech would have been delivered during a series of grim executions that were broadcast live, with Cinna's execution being carried out last along with a specific message to Katniss." here)

I'm going to have to cut for length and I've only gotten through the first two paragraphs of this chapter.

[the-haunted-star]

My humble thoughts on

(Minor spoilers!)

After multiple delays and a pandemic ridden year it's at long last time to enjoy a new movie in the way they were meant to be enjoyed, on the big screen in a dark movie theater with fellow fans. It was a pleasure to be finally attending an opening night screening of a new Marvel film again and I'm glad to report it did not disappoint!

This film at its heart is definitely a family affair. Ever since Natasha was introduced way back in Iron Man 2 she has been a character trying to escape her tramatic past, redeem her misdeeds and find a place in which she belongs. Over the course of the past twenty plus movies, Natasha found a purpose worth fighting for and a family among her fellow Avengers. A family and purpose she ultimately sacrifices her life for to save the world in Endgame.

The events of this story take place between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. Natasha is on the run from the government for having violated the Sokovia Accords in Civil War when her past as a Black Widow comes back to haunt her. The opening of the movie is perhaps the most heart wreching as we see Natasha as a young girl when she is taken back to the "Red Room" to resume her training as a Black Widow. There is a montage of Natasha and many other young girls being forcefully taken and put through the grueling and torturous training program which is set to a haunting rendition of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". This sequence actually put a lump in my throat as it is just so sad and tragic.

The opening also introduces young Natasha's family although this is just a guise for an undercover mission. Years later Natasha is reunited with this long lost family when it's discovered that the Red Room she thought she had destroyed for good is in fact still in operation and actively creating new Black Widows. Natasha, her "sister" Yelena, her "mother" Melina and her "father" Alexi (The Red Guardian) join forces once again to end the Red Room once and for all. Along the way Natasha discovers that although their familial relation started simply as a cover, family bonds do not start and end with blood.

The supporting characters shine with Florence Pugh being the breakout star of the film as Yelena Belova, Natasha's surrogate sister and former Black Widow agent herself. She steals many of the scenes with her sarcastic sass and sharp wit. David Harbour is humorously lovable as the Red Guardian, Russia's washed up version of Captain America who he shares a decidedly one sided rivalry with which is a running gag through the film.

This film is packed start to finish with exciting action set pieces and fights. I think the benchmark for awesome fights still belongs to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but the fight scenes in this film definitely come close. They're fast, hard hitting and relentless. One nitpick I have about the action and this not limited to this film is when characters take extreme falls or are involved in huge wrecks, they are able to spring back up with seemingly little difficulty, injury or impairment. Natasha and Yelena both take some very nasty falls and bumps that really look like they should have several broken bones and yet they bounce back to their feet without much selling (to use a wrestling term.) It just takes you out of the moment when you say to yourself, "no way she would get up from that". It's one thing if it's a super powered individual like Thor but Natasha is a human character with no super upgrades.

Much of the film's action is spearheaded by the Taskmaster, a formidable and relentless beast that pursues Natasha and company like the Terminator going after Sara Connor. While I love the design of costume and the action scenes he's involved in, it's this character that was my main complaint about the film.

Marvel has not had the best track record with the handling of its villains and the Taskmaster unfortunately joins that dubious list. I would compare this film version of Taskmaster to Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode 1 in that he looks really cool, badass and has some great fight scenes but is otherwise empty as an actual character. Taskmaster spends the entire film as a mute attack dog for the main villain (who wasn’t much more interesting either) and is part of a twist that one, you could see coming a mile away and two, just seems completely unnecessary. He becomes another character from the comics that is essentially “in name only” because they stripped everything away from the character that made him who he was in the comics except for the physical similarities. I knew going in this was probably going to be the case but it’s still disappointing nonetheless. I will never understand why Marvel does not handle its villains with the same care as they do its heroes when it comes to the source material.

Overall while the villains are a weak spot, the movie delivers a thrilling, action packed adventure with standout performances from the main cast and a heartfelt story about family, loss and redemption. A bittersweet swan song and official farewell to Natasha Romanoff the Black Widow. ⭐⭐⭐½

[themafia-terrapins]

I have a hard time with angst.

But.

Although Raphael “likes“ Immogene, he pushes down any feelings towards her, tout suite. So, maybe a spin off of one of the prompts. Why does she keep popping up? He probably knows…but the Brute doesn’t pussy foot around when he wants to know something.

Thank you!

i feel like i've definitely misinterpreted this lmao but i hope you enjoy regardless ❤ i wanted to have convo between them two originally but it didn't go to plan so it's him and don. hence why it's so rushed 😭

♧♧♧

"you like her" donatello skimmed his fingers gently against the wall as he walked in. he sat upon the chairs, eyes watching his older brother carefully. he deduced the following observations, one that his hot-headed brother was unnaturally quiet and the second was something, or rather someone, plagued his thoughts

"hm?" the brute was captured in a daydream, his toothpick caught between his scarred lips as his fingers toyed with his pen, dangerously close to snapping.

"immogene" it was her name that startled him, the pen shattering and flying opposite sides of the room. raphael composed himself, sitting upright as he eyed the genius carefully. the other looked at him calmly, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. he knew, of course he did.

"i don't-"

"don't insult me by pretending, raph. i know she's what been on your mind these last few days. i'm not here to judge you. but... as your brother i'm asking you truthfully do you know what you're getting yourself into?" donnie raised his eyebrow, his arms crossed over his chest.

"no... for that first time in my life i don't know what i'm getting myself into. and i don't care, i don't want to know. i just wanted to experience this feeling for tha first time" raphael sighed, his head in his hands

"she's so unlike kiki. her mannerism, her characteristics, everythin" the brute replied thoughtfully, thinking back to the bar and the encounters for the first time.

"don't kid yourself that something there. don't have...." they both looked at each other, understanding the last word silently. hope, don't have hope

it made him sad, how many times they needed help and how many times the world shut it's eyes and ears. how him and his brothers couldn't rely on anybody.

"one thing i don't get is why me? anyone in the world but she wants ta know about tha mutant turtle wit a target on his head" he gazed wistfully from the window, wishing for once he was one of those people scurrying hope to his significant other. away from the murders and the blood and the screaming and fighting. wishing that perhaps once in his life he would've have a normal relationship.

"ya can't love a villain in this world. no human can't love someone like us, don. it doesn't happen, its not natural" he leaned against the desk, his head bowed while his mind was poisonous montage replaying all those bittersweet moments. moments he may never get to experience again.

"and in tha end, i can't even guarantee her safety. i can't guarantee they won't get ta her. they won't torture her, they won't hurt her. i can't promise to rescue her in time" raph inhaled a shaky breath, knowing that he'd never be able to feel this way again. knowing that this couldn't happen again.

he couldn't jeopardise her life for his pleasure. he would not watch someone life fall apart because of him again

"i gotta stop. we can't be together, why hold onto hope? why torture myself with possibilities that'll never happen. i gotta stop pretending we ever had a chance. i gotta stop pretending she was the...." with every unsaid word his heart grew heavier, at any moment it would burst and those feelings he had done such a good job of hiding would reveal themselves.

a strange yearning took over his heart, he was surrounded by many people but nobody really knew him intimately. she had come close but it was enough to make the beast back into the corner.

for if he revealed his true self, could she take the horrors that lay just behind the shadows? could she see him as he was and still love the mutant? perhaps not, perhaps she'd go running for the hills and who could blame her? in this world, nothing beautiful existed. not in the mafia. they took everything good and beautiful and destroyed. obliterated it until it was dust.

sometimes love simply wasn't enough to keep two souls together.

[wormstacheangel]

15x20 should have just started with Dean getting arrested. He was hunting alone, shouldn't be but he thought it was an easy case to take plus he needed a break from his extended vacation. Turns out it wasn't an easy one and now they're taking his mugshot.

Next we get Sam bailing him out if jail, he's lecturing him the whole run to the car where Eileen is already waiting for them. Dean kisses her cheek hello from the back seat then she floors it. They have to go back and pick up Dean's car in the motel.

Sam is lecturing Dean about being reckless. About how he keeps saying he's retired but Sam has to keep dropping his plans to bail Dean out of his "last hunt".

"Dean, I can't keep worrying about you!"

"Then don't! Nobody forced you to pick up the call. I could have called someone else."

"Like who?"

"I could have sent Eileen a little text."

Sam and Dean argue then they go back to living their seperate lives. MONTAGE of them living their lives apart. Sam is steady and organized and he is the Boss of the hunters. People keep asking him things and they look up to him. And Dean's scenes are bar fights and blood splatter, his or whoever he is fighting. No sex scenes but instead is him alone in bed while it compares to Sam waking up next to Eileen. There is a scene where Sam is teaching a kid to aim his gun better and then it shows Dean shooting a monster between the eye.

Then it finally slows down when Dean and Sam are sitting around Jody's table. They are asking when Dean is finally gonna settle down with someone. Dean laughs, Donna elbows Jody who asked, and the tension is high.

"Don't think that's in the books for me but I think Sam here has some news to share with you guys."

Then it goes to Dean fighting again, torturing for information. We never know for what.

Eileen then comes on screen in the bunker with Sam. She is getting bigger, Sam kisses her stomach. They are building a family, a life, a home.

Compares to Dean who looks like things are never changing for him. He is destined to die as a bloody hunter.

Show Sam and Dean arguing in a familiar place.

"Dude, why did you tell me this was urgent?" Sam is looking around and Dean shoves a book at him. "What the hell? Are you-are you doing a spell?"

"Yeah! I needed a witch and lucky for me I knew one!" Dean takes out his bloody coat. "Now just say the spell and I'll do the rest."

"But Dean-"

"Just do it!" Dean screams at him. Sam looks wide eyed but Dean takes a deep breath as he whispers. "Please, Sammy. Just...please do it."

Sam dosen't ask again. He trust his brother so he starts reciting the spell.

The wind picks up around them and he doesn't get distracted as he chants the spell. He smells smoke but he doesn't look up from the book, this being a complicated spell he didn't want to mess up.

Then in a flash of thunder, a bolt of lightning hits between them. Knocking them back and Sam calls for Dean in a panic. Then the world was silent for a second.

Dean was holding someone in his arms.

"Cas?" Sam crawled forward and then stopped as he noticed his brother's shoulders shaking. He was crying, Cas was the one doing the comforting.

Then Jack appears besides them. He looked shaken up but over good.

"Did we do it? Did it work?" Jack says and Cas gives him a thumbs up before motioning for Jack to come forward and join the hug. He does, running before sliding to hug Cas from behind.

Then the show ends with a family dinner with Jody again.

"So Dean, when are you gonna settle down?"

Dean takes Cas's hand before he says, "We are looking for places close by actually."

The end.

[winterfireice]

Nightmare promt Sokeefitz week 2022

@gay-otlc @rainbow-frog-earrings

——————————————————————————

I shoot up in bed shaking, Gethen’s voice echoing in my head like a shadow that never really goes away. I try to calm myself down by taking deep breaths and it helps, a little. I grab a half empty bottle of youth and down the contents in one gulp, holding Ella tighter I lay back down trying to go back to sleep. But after tossing and turning for fifteen minutes I give up looking up at the clock across the room its two thirty in the morning, sighing I reach out telepathically to Fitz and Keefe, “You awake?” She asked quietly, trying not to wake them if they were asleep. “Nope” Fitz’s crisp voice filling her head How could I be asleep when you want to talk. Keefe’s cheerful tone pops up right after. A smile settles onto Sophie’s lips the sound of some of her favorite people's voices calming her down almost instantly. “So, what's up Soph?” Keefe asks, “Nothing, just wanted to talk to you guys.” Not wanting to say the real reason she was interrupting the night was because she was scared to go back to sleep. “You sure?” Fitz has a bit of skepticism in his thoughts, “Yeah you sound a bit stressed”, damn them and knowing her so well. “Wait is “sound” the right word since I'm not actually hearing you with my ears but with my head or brain I guess, wow your guy's ability is confusing. Wait, I'm getting off topic, are you ok?” Keefe sounds concerned and a little protective the way he does whenever either of his partners is upset. “I just can't sleep I had another stupid nightmare.'' I'm picking at a loose string on one of my blankets now. “Hey, I bet it's not stupid especially if it's keeping you up,” Fitz says gently “want to talk about it?” Bitting my lip and tugging out an eyelash I transmit “it was just the average Gethen taunting me with the occasional torture montage.” I try to sound sarcastic but tears are falling down my face and even though neither of them can see me somehow they can tell “Hey hey its ok don't act like its nothing nightmares are scary enough on their own but there's the added factor of them being based on real things that have happened. And don't act like there's nothing wrong, remember I'm the king of pretending everythings fine and we both know that never helps.” Keefe reassures me. “I know I just hate that he still has this control on me I'm supposed to be the fearless mooklark and I feel like I've accomplished nothing which makes me even more worried for our world since we've made the most progress then anyone has with the neverseen” I confess full on crying now. “I know you feel a lot of pressure but no one is expecting you to be fearless or perfect and honestly if you were fearless I would be a bit concerned for your self preservation,” Fitz chuckles “and you're not the only one with nightmares that they wish they didn't still worry about why do you think I'm awake, and don't apologize you did nothing wrong and before you argue you weren't going to say anything, remember I'm connected to your thoughts I'm blocking most of them but the thoughts in the front of your mind I can see loud and clear.” Sophie shut down the apology she totally was going to send to him, “plus at least your nightmares don't have a giant bug in them talk about an embarrassing injury.” Sophie half smiles and Keefe says, “You know I think you're picking up on me and Foster’s dark humor Fitzy. But I also completely agree with you on everything else, nightmares sink like iggy's breath.” Sophie laughs at the mention of her sleeping imp’s breath “Yeah they do, thank you guys for talking to me I love you.” “Anytime Foster I love you two too.” Keefe says slightly sluggish as if his brain is yawning. “I love you as well. I have the best partners.” Fitz states confidently. Sophie ends up falling asleep talking to some of the best people she's ever met and while she does have more nightmares there not nearly as bad as before.

[greensaplinggrace]

So you mentioned in another post that you have some strong thoughts on Baghra, especially about how the story frames her as one of the good guys. I would love to hear about it.

@youremotionallystablefriend: I would love to hear you rant about Baghra if you feel like it (and haven’t already)! Personally I don’t think she gets enough constructive critique in the fandom for being the one that brought Aleks up and for the way she treated her pupils and especially Alina :/

Anon: Hello! I love your thoughts on the grisha books. I'm actually interested to hear your take on Baghra

@misku-nimfa: If you are up for it, I would love to read your thoughts on Baghra or your full critique of society in the Grishaverse. Your analysis is really well structured and interesting! ^.^

Anon: Hi! I saw your recent post and was wondering if you'd share more of your thoughts on Baghra?

---

Hello everyone! I was honestly very surprised to see so many people interested in my thoughts on Baghra? I'll share what I can, but please know that this is by no means a full breakdown of her character! It’s just some Thoughts I’ve had, and they’re mostly centered around show Baghra because that’s how I was first introduced to her character. Although IMO book Baghra might actually be even worse.

I’d like to preface this by saying that many of my issues with the treatment of Baghra as a character in fandom come from the wild double standard there seems to be regarding her and the Darkling. Darkling Antis and a vast majority of the people in this fandom who don’t like his character have a disturbing habit of absolutely ripping into the Darkling for all of his faults and then turning around and treating Baghra as some sort of pristine mother figure for the exact same shit.

They’ll talk about how badass she is, how strong she is, how they sympathize with her past (although they’ll continue to dehumanize the Darkling and refuse to sympathize with his own past) and sympathize with the fact that she has to deal with the Darkling (who’s always referred to as a monster she must corral or control, as if he is inhumane and beastly. These particular comments always take on the very distinct tone of victim blaming as well). They’ll laud her for all of these “powerful girlboss” moments as if they aren’t carbon copies of the Darkling’s own behavior - as if they aren’t things Baghra herself taught him. Which is why this is the wildest double standard of all to me, because every horrible action they praise Baghra for is something she taught the Darkling, and something they cannot stand to see in him as well.

It’s as if there’s a disconnect between their consumption of the literature when it comes to the two characters, and I’m of the opinion that it’s largely because Baghra is a woman and a mother and therefore infantilized in the fandom quite a bit. In fact, Bardugo herself often infantilizes many of her female characters in her writing. This is mostly through the process of excusing their terrible deeds, not allowing them to do anything remotely dark, or brushing any morally grey actions under the rug without ever touching upon them. Which puts me in the strange position of knowing I’m supposed to sympathize with Baghra for having to deal with the monster she’s created, and instead feeling resentful of the fact that this bitter woman is held up as this wise old strict teacher instead of the abusive mentor/mother she should have been.

Now, here’s what I said to make so many of you send me asks:

Last note, in reference to your first line, and also probably a pretty unpopular opinion. I do not like Baghra. And it legit has nothing to do with the Darkling or with Alina, I just don't like her "I'm going to hit you and berate you and emotionally abuse you and manipulate you and act like the good guy at the end of it" vibe she's got going on. At least Aleksander is acknowledged as the villain within the narrative. Idk wtf Baghra is on but it's absolutely wild to me that people aren't more critical of her actions. Which is, rather fortunately for you, another rant I will save for another post if anybody ever wants to hear it lol. (but like kudos to Baghra's actress. I loved the character as a character, I just don't like the way she's framed as a good guy. Weird. Uncomfortable. She literally set bees on the kids she was teaching).

This basically summarizes most of my thoughts on Baghra as a character and how she’s portrayed. I touched on it a bit above, but the way she’s able to get away with so much and not suffer under heavier critique is honestly baffling to me. There should be a lot more criticism of her out there in the fandom. This is the woman who abused her students and neglected her son. Although to be honest I don’t even know how to quite describe the emotionally neglectful yet unhealthily codependent bond she fostered in him from a young age. IMO, Baghra’s behavior around Aleksander is creepy, and I know she has a history that makes it more understandable, but it’s still incredibly disconcerting to witness.

But let’s get back on track! First of all, her students. Whom she physically, emotionally, and mentally abuses. She’s derisive, she’s insulting, she’s belittling. She works hard to strip them of any self confidence they may have. She uses pain as a means of triggering powers. And the strict teacher excuse doesn’t fly. The “it’s only a training method!” excuse is even worse. This is literal abuse she’s heaping on her students and it’s wretched.

The first thing she does to Alina when they first meet is insult her. Then she hits her. Then she kicks her out.

Second time they interact is a montage. Baghra hits Alina multiple times. She shames her. And then when Alina actually calls a light she tells her it’s not nearly enough, effectively wiping the smile off of her face and every sign of self confidence that had been building. Then we see the door to Baghra’s hut shut in Alina’s face. So now she has been bruised, battered, berated, stripped of all self confidence, and then banished again. As training methods go, this is not only entirely ineffective, but it’s also just abusive.

Then we get this interaction between Alina and her friends:

Marie: One time, Baghra released a hive of bees on me. Nadia: Worst part is, it worked. Marie: It really did. I could summon at will after that.

Which is fucking horrifying and not talked about nearly enough. That goes beyond hitting your students. Baghra used a fear tactic on a young girl to activate her powers. She literally tortured Marie to make her powers work.

Alina throughout this conversation is looking very disheartened. She’s lacking in any self confidence and the comment about the bees has clearly affected her. For someone who’s first words to Alina were “Everyone believes that you are the one. Come back when you believe it too,”  Baghra doesn’t exactly seem keen on Alina actually believing she’s the one. If she did, she wouldn’t be stripping her of every positive emotion associated with sun summoning.

Let’s not forget that Baghra demeans Alina multiple times for her status as an orphan. How she utilizes what she knows of Alina’s emotional weaknesses to provoke her and discourage her and make her angry.

And then Baghra drugs her without consent. To take advantage of any information Alina gives her in that state. To use the way Alina reacts for her own ends.

Because why else would she say this?:

Alina: We planned to run away together. Baghra: You had plans. Perhaps he never did, because where is he now?

Which is, strangely enough, the same sense of isolation and separation from Mal and her past that Aleksander is attempting to foster. Weird how mother and son are both using the same manipulation tactics.

In fact, why does Baghra never tell Alina about the letters until she’s already engaged with Aleksander? Baghra must have known he was taking them. Alina talks about it enough. Baghra must have known he was isolating her from Mal. How could she not, when it’s revealed later that she has spies in the Little Palace collecting information on him? How could she not, when she knows he’s the villain from the beginning - when she knows he’s manipulating Alina?

Baghra knows, and yet she keeps the same lies Aleksander does and furthermore uses that information to make Alina feel even more isolated and weak. Baghra literally just piggy-backs on Aleksander’s manipulation and then exacerbates it. She wants Alina to feel no attachments to her past because she wants to use Alina as well. But for some reason, because this manipulation and treatment of Alina as some sort of tool is done by the woman who opposes the Darkling, it’s suddenly okay. As if it still isn’t the same terrible shit but with a different perpetrator. I mean damn, at least Aleksander feels something for Alina. Baghra’s just cold.

So, point by point. Baghra mentions how Mal doesn’t care for Alina, she mentions Alina’s failings constantly, she mentions Alina being an orphan, she constantly hits her, she guilts Alina about orphans dying, she works to instill a sense of isolation from her friends and her family.

And when Alina finally comes to Baghra, having decided to abandon her attachments to her past and her attachments to Mal, the words that ring in her head are Baghra's words - “needing anyone else is weak.”  Which is honestly just a horrible sentiment in general, but an even worse one when considering how hard these people are working to detach Alina from anybody who can help her or give her an outside perspective.

Strangely, it’s also similar to this line:

The problem with wanting, is that it makes us weak.

...which is spoken by Baghra’s son. You know, the Darkling? Our big bad villain? The one Baghra raised?

Which gives me the impression that Baghra’s teaching methods with her students are really not that far off from the teaching methods she used on him as he was growing up. It’s a horrifying thought, and leads into my problems with her relationship with Aleksander.

First of all, show wise. What the fuck.

Aleksander: They’re punishing us for being Grisha. Baghra: Punishing you. You made him afraid. Now he wants you to fear him. Aleksander: I won a war for him. Baghra: And in doing so, started a war on us.

I get that she’s trying to convey how the king feels here, but it still feels incredibly victim blamey from a narrative standpoint. It isn’t Aleksander’s fault the king fears him when he used his powers under the King’s banner to help him win a war. Aleksander trusted this man who betrayed him and then betrayed his people, and we get a line from his mother, entirely unsympathetic, talking about how it’s his fault all of these people are dying.

Baghra: Where’s the girl, your healer? Aleksander: Dead. She died because of me. Baghra: She died because they always do. They’re not as strong as you and me.

Baghra’s use of the term ‘girl’ and ‘healer' here instead of Luda is pretty telling. She either doesn’t like Luda or doesn’t care for her. Either way, this is the woman her son loves, and Baghra talks about her so dispassionately. Then he comments on Luda’s death and there’s no reaction except to say that they always do.

Like, her son is literally broken up over here. Grieving. Desperate. Run ragged. Caged and hunted. Feeling guilty as hell. Mind running through a million different ways he could possibly save all of these people. And Baghra offers him nothing except a paltry “people die, get over it, we’re better than that, she didn’t matter anyway.”

Honestly, how is Aleksander even still functioning at this point? He has no support system and he’s working against a king and his army to protect a group of civilians he could easily abandon to save himself. The sheer amount of responsibility and mental strain keeping track of a group alone entails is already monstrous, but adding in every other factor? The recent death of Luda, the fact that they’re cornered and they’ve been hunted down while fleeing across the land, the fact that he was just a couple hours ago forced to his knees and entirely at these men’s mercy, begging for Luda’s life. And here his mother is, if anything a negative support system. Offering no other ideas, telling him to give up hope, not even offering the barest smidgeon of emotional support as he grieves, putting everything on his shoulders.

It pisses me the fuck off.

Aleksander: You’re the one who taught me how to kill, mother. Their blood is on your hands as much as mine.  Baghra: I taught you so you could protect yourself. Not them.

Once more, Baghra highlights how he needs to protect himself. How he should abandon the people he’s protecting. How he shouldn't help others and only ever himself. Once more, she says it’s my way or the high way. There’s zero effort to work with him. Zero effort to sympathize or compromise. She’s constantly pushing him to take the one option she knows he won’t take. The hell did she think was going to happen?

Also, Baghra taught him how to kill. Not necessarily great parenting, but understandable given the circumstances of his upbringing. But the level to which she takes it is honestly concerning. Like, look no further than this woman to see where Aleksander got it from lol.

Baghra also forbids him from using Merzost. Which is great and all, she gets to claim the moral high ground. But she doesn’t offer a single alternative except to flee and let everybody die. There was legitimately no other option to Merzost except for torture and death. If there was, Baghra sure as hell didn’t help Aleksander come up with one. Aleksander, who - by the way - is in no fit emotional state to be making any kind of decision right now.

So anyways, that’s just my tv show grief regarding Baghra, and it’s not even really all of it. I don’t want to make this an hour long read though lmao. But I’ll go over a few other things.

First of all, Baghra’s whole “We’re the only two that matter. We have to do whatever we can to protect ourselves,” mentality is one that she actively touts to Aleksander on a regular basis when he’s incredibly young. It’s honestly a wonder he grows up to care about other people at all. But the mentality itself is something Aleksander still heavily internalized in regards to protecting himself and those he deems worthy at any cost.

There’s a moment in the books when Aleksander is attacked and nearly drowned by some kids who wanted his bones (one of which was a close friend of his). He uses the cut in self defense and then blames the nearby Otkazat’sya village. Baghra knows he’s lying, and yet she allows an entire village to get slaughtered for harming him. This is a disproportionately violent act that Baghra approves of, and Aleksander as a kid is definitely internalizing that mindset.

Also, Baghra’s behavior around Aleksander has always been weirdly possessive and controlling. Especially when it comes to the people he loves. Her actions often come across as her trying to isolate him in order to keep him by her side, even when the relationships he has are clearly intimate. Which... is especially strange for a mother to be doing to her son.

She was also an extremely emotionally neglectful mother. Based on the show and what I gathered from her actions there, I’m actually half convinced she was physically abusive as well, in that “I think I’m being a stern, good parent figure when in reality I’m actually harming my child” kind of way. She fosters codependence with her son and then refuses to provide for any of his emotional needs. She drives it into his head that everybody dies, that he’ll always be alone, that love is useless and power is everything. She denies him the opportunity to be soft and works to harden him at a young age. She tells him he must never allow people to touch him, except she doesn’t work to supplement those physical needs in any way. She essentially abuses him.

Honestly, I could go on. But in reality the simple fact is that I just don’t like her. I think she’s a hypocrite. I think she’s abusive. I think she’s a terrible mentor and an even worse mother. And I think the fandom and the books are willing to brush aside so many of her faults simply because she opposes the Darkling.

I’m sorry if this isn’t what you guys were looking for! It sounds like a lot of you wanted a more of a sophisticated breakdown, but my thoughts on Baghra come with a heap of emotional baggage lol. It feels weird to say this now, but I actually do like the character as a character, I just,,, don’t like her in every other aspect. My feelings on Baghra are just a bit personal, to be honest. But hopefully this was at least comprehensible??