#i've been thinking about this scene so obviously had to come yap about it here

[feelingpure]

Fellow Travelers will rip your heart out:

(Ugh, ouch, pain; Tim's face in those shots...)

Then immediately cut to:

(Heh, I wasn't expecting the old-married-couple levels of domestic bickering!)

Followed by:

(Lmao, Hawk can be honest and funny?)

And this jab from Tim:

(Oop-)

Tim (and me) at the end of the scene:

[messrsrarchives]

i've spent a lot of the past 24 hours talking to various trans people in the fandom that reposted or dmed me about this video and i'm gonna yap here under the cut about it.

(i'm not a spokesperson for trans people obviously, and i don't mean to lead these discussions. i know i've had a lot of them recently but yeah it's been rough, i just thought this was interesting to share and can hopefully share a lil of how people are feeling.)

i've always assumed that the hate that i've received on my account was because of me? i post videos talking about discourses, i'm open about ships i like that are generally hated, etc etc, i've just assumed it was a me thing.

but then when people are mad about those things, it more often than not comes to slurs. it's come to people debating my identity, questioning how much of a man i am when i wear makeup, posting me on reddit pages, throwing the words tranny and "she-man" around farrr too much, and i thought "isn't it heartbreaking that this is their first thought?"

so it gradually became less about me as an individual, and instead my identity. and just that these people are mean.

and i made that video from the perspective of someone who's already upset. who's had a lot of stuff like this happen and is Sad about it.

but i've spoken to 47 trans people that reached out to me themselves about this, and have so many more requests to get through, and not one has said that they feel safe and comfortable in this space. not a single one.

so i thought i'd share some of the things that were said (with permission and anonymously) because i think it's quite interesting to see what the issues are:

the MOST mentions goes toooo: the discourse about male characters - namely sirius - wearing makeup and the way gender norms become the forefront of this - makes them feel as though people dislike "unconventional trans people" as one person put it.

alongside this, the hate for trans characters - namely regulus - and how people get very mad about it "reinforcing heterosexuality" - do not feel recognised as the gender they are, feel as though people are viewing trans people as "fake men or women" - quote.

discourses surrounding height, hair, 'gender presentations' etc - brought up by a lot of people and they recognised that this is coming from a good place (not reinforcing heterosexuality) but feel as though the amount of focus put on it is disproportionate to the presence of it. copy and pasted quote: "I'm a 5 foot 2 trans man and feel like less of a man because of it"

profitting jkr: (obviously, because that's what the video was about) i want to add that nearly everyone said that they understand the desire to, and were receptive of the fact you don't know what goes on behind the scenes re: donating elsewhere etc, but said that they've felt less safe since the surge of posts about the reboot.

guilt. which makes me glad that i posted about that here a few days ago because i felt alone in this. a lot of the people i spoke to feel guilty for being here, and feel as though they can't claim that this fandom is inclusive anymore.

comment sections: brought up by a handful of people who said that not enough people delete horrible comments on posts - one said "even if they argue against them it just feels worse than deleting it", another said "obvs i can't ask people to delete them on their own account but it does suck that they dont think to" - every person that brought up comment sections said that they tend not to look at them now which makes them feel like an outsider in the fandom.

cosplays: brought up by four people and feels relevant to above points about "gender presentation" - said that unless you're cosplaying sirius, they nearly always have to delete comments saying something along the lines of "xyz wouldn't wear makeup". all of them said that they just feel nice in it and never meant it in a bad way.

scared to be loud: scared to post, especially with face. a few acknowledged that they are scared to do so anyway, but worry about it in this space as well. bolded this one because it makes me so sad, but having been put on reddit pages for saying pete was their friend, i get it.

and the final point, a copy and pasted line: "i dont want to be represented when it suits them and i don't want to be a box they tick when adding diversity to a fic and then cry in comments. i dont want performative support"

ALSO ADDING HERE:

nearly everyone (bar 7 people) that reached out to me acknowledged that this is a minority, and not the majority. they were very clear that it isn't their whole experience, but is an issue regardless. a lot of focus was put on curating your own space and finding people who do support you, but algorithms don't always make that possible, and it's difficult seeing it happen even if they don't interact.

which is,,, yeah. that's the crux of it really. most of the time it's fine and it's lovely and things like this don't happen, but they still do, and how do you feel like you can engage when you don't know what side it will get on?

which,,, sucks. because there's not really anything anyone can do then. it's just screaming into a void and hoping that you don't end up on the wrong sides.

but anyway, i thought it was interesting. especially the comment sections and the headcanon discourse - which truly, i see less of on tumblr anyway but for all of the above reasons, don't fancy discussing this on tiktok right now which is the epicentre of it.

but yeah. food for thought perchance, and some very good discussions !! thank you to anyone that messaged me and allowed me to write this, you're not screaming into a void with me 🫶🏻

[chronicsyd]

yea, we ALL know why I'M here at this point (like most people i waited All Night for this thing) but Enough Yapping, let's do this! (go watch it first, I'll be doing an Excessive deep dive of this thing (I also had a couple of drafts I've made in the last 48 hours talking about certain worries I've seen from the fandom about season 2, but decided to lay off posting about it until the trailer came out so I'll be addressing some of those in a later post as well), and as always, leakers will be blocked and deleted).

SO, with All That outta the way, let's get into it: Firstly, i was left Completely Speechless by this whole thing like HOLY SHIT! i don't even know What to SAY! Yes we've had a few repeat scenes from the old teaser and clips but obviously the new stuff's what I'm more interested in.

The trailer opens up with Vi admitting to Caitlyn that she was right and saying "My sister is gone. there's only Jinx now." which is something that I've been speculating about since June (well the "there's only Jinx and Jinx is the one that needs to be stopped" thing), so we've already had a clear cut path where Vi is concerned. BUT what interests me is that first part of the conversation is still part of when she's talking to her in her Enforcer Uniform, so her head's probably telling her that stopping Jinx is the right thing to do here after what happened with the Council.

I also don't think I've mentioned this in a post, but I've also had speculation that the person in the hood from the teaser was Jinx not Viktor (just things like how the shoulder width didn't seem to match him but the one second clip we got of him i wasn't able to cross-reference all that well, also the monkey painting in the background added to that factor) but it seems like the show is reenforcing that this is Jinx here.

I've also somehow underestimated just HOW unhinged Caitlyn's going to be this season. like "I want to tear that laugh from her throat forever." is a Crazy line like Jesus Cait!

But what sticks out to me about this scene is not only the fact that Vi's very clearly crying here, you can tell not only by the length of her hair but the fact that the black seems to be somewhat fading means that she spends quite a bit of time hiding out in Zaun (downright Confirming about my thoughts of a timeskip from my last post). Now of course we don't have the context about what she's crying about but it seems like she's just overall frustrated about her situation. But another thing that actually pops up later in the trailer is that Vi actually still has her hair like this,

which means that I actually might be wrong about Vi being in Zaun before she's even in her Enforcer getup with Caitlyn. it seems to me that this whole thing with Vi wearing black actually happens after she fights against Jinx in the temple, perhaps thinking that being an Enforcer and in Piltover with Caitlyn isn't the right choice for her and tries to go about life her own way for a while (which is probably the thing we're "going to hate" when it comes to Caitvi).

Now, the next part of the trailer is what they already showed us with Caitlyn and Jinx talking to Ambessa and Sevika so i don't need to go over that again. However right after that, Sevika asks Jinx what she's planning.

Jinx's response? "to watch it all burn". Whether or not if Piltover recovers from Fishbones doesn't seem to matter to her, she wants everything to burn to the ground. But just a side note the way she's looking at the match in this frame very clearly reminds her of Silco, and still going by the streaked makeup, it's still a fresh wound for her.

now, this frame?

I don't actually have any solid answers for. by the look in Vi's eyes, I'm presuming she's reaching out to either Jinx, Caitlyn, or Ekko. She's not wearing her Enforcer getup here (at least it doesn't look like what she's been wearing) and i can't solidly place the background, there isn't any familiar landmarks sticking out to me. But Vi's hair and bandages make me think that this is probably when she's just starting to come out of hiding here.

There seems to be a bunch of Undercity riots happening against Piltover, which i think is a factor where Ambessa tells Caitlyn that "in order to restore peace you have to enact Martial Law". I could be wrong about this but honestly i don't think I am.

Warwick looks just as fantastic as ever, but they haven't really given us any clear cut answers on how they're planning to utilize him besides being a living weapon for Singed. Singed says "you felt it, haven't you?" but it's rather unclear who he's talking to here, i don't think he's talking to Warwick, i think he might actually be talking to Viktor and talking about the Hexcore and the Arcane and such because of Viktor's "glorious evolution" path.

Now to the part of the Trailer that COMPLETELY confuses me...

someone says "the Arcane is waking up", NO idea who's saying this or who it's being said TO, NO idea who These people are supposed to be, I just-- yea this is the only part of the trailer that I'm at a Complete loss for words. The Arcane is magic we all know that, it's what Jayce's whole thing has been about, mixing magic and technology together into Hextech. but this is implying that while Jayce was doing all this the Arcane itself was just... slumbering? i guess. like are these people going to turn out to be mages because of this or something? idk, see, endless list of questions but Absolutely no answers. let's just move on before my brain explodes trying to figure this out.

I skipped a few repeat scenes (like the ones of Caitlyn and the other enforcers against the Chemtanks because I've already talked about it), and put a pin on the Ekko scene i skipped I'm coming back to it.

SO, it turns out we were right in claiming that Jinx loses her middle finger with the art book cover, and I'm Pretty sure that Caitlyn actually shoots it off (which probably explains the "WTF CAITLYN?!" comment i was talking about with addressing the leaks). Also this is like, the Most psychotic I think I've ever seen Jinx like Jesus Christ do NOT leave me alone in a room with her!

Ekko says "sometimes taking a leap foward means leaving some things behind"; maybe he's talking about the past? I don't know who he's talking to here specifically, it may just be giving advice to Vi, seeing as we do see the two working together later in the trailer after Vi's hair is grown out.

Now, I'm going to go a wee bit out of order here for a moment, just because I'm saving something for last.

I was Completely right about Vi facing off against Warwick at some point (i was basically Screaming "Chekov's gun!" for months when Warwick was confirmed), But Vi's still in her Undercity getup here, so I don't know if she's recognizable to him at all here, if this has to do with the illegal fighting ring that she's doing, but the dust seems to kinda go against that, like it's not a "now for our main event!" smokey kinda entrance, if you catch my drift here.

I can't tell if this is supposed to be a flashback of Powder or not because the other person is extremely hard to place, like it looks kind of like Sevika's new hair it's just that the lighting is so dark you can't make out their face. and if its a flashback to the age that Powder was in the opening shot the clothes don't seem to match, like there are things that contradict each other that doesn't make the scene clear cut to me.

Now this frame basically confirms something I've had on my mind, I just never made a post about. and that was my concern that Caitlyn was going to get herself hurt by these Chemtanks. the reason for that being we only saw her going against these things with her rife (and not the Hextech one). Vi and Jayce could handle themselves back in episode 8 because they had the Hammer and Gauntlets, but every other Enforcer there with a rifle was Easily taken out. and Arcane doesn't really go about the "simple plot armor" route, so i saw this ending not very well for her, despite being a good marksman.

And of course we only get another ONE SECOND clip of Viktor to prove he's alive that doesn't even Show His Face! like we Know this is him, and the gem in his wrist seems to imply that he's already going down the "glorious evolution" path here.

I don't have anything to say about this other than i have NO idea what it's supposed to be and that its Freaky looking. Like it kinda reminds me of Silco for some reason, like i don't think its supposed to but that's where my heads leaning for some reason.

Now, does it seem like I've left something out? It's because I did.

What these shots in particular are telling me is that Ambessa actually turns on Caitlyn (because I claimed that earlier in the season Caitlyn actually allies herself with Ambessa and i still believe that to be true) and tries to take over Piltover, because in the shot of Ambessa she's clearly hitting Enforcers, not people of the Undercity, and Caitlyn and Vi are wearing matching outfits here (Vi also reminds me of the ironhulk from Infinity War with this thing) meaning that the two are still working together here, but there is one little thing that I did leave out talking about these shots.

I can totally see this being a chaotic fight between the Undercity, the Enforcers, and Noxus, because Jinx is clearly still in Piltover during this shot. Now Jinx says "then stop me." during this but its definitely a spliced line i don't think she's saying it during this scene and I do believe that she's probably talking to Vi here (and maybe my ears are playing tricks on me but it kinds sounds "echoey" so it's probably from the temple fight). but can we talk about the Purple in her hair now? like despite having a hood on, That's Badass!

Edit: NOPE! I lied, I have a couple more things to point out.

Caitlyn blows up Jinx in this shot, which if I'm right about Vi being an Enforcer before going underground this is gonna cause some Serious issues between the two (because despite saying "my sister is gone" I don't believe that Vi would want an attempt at her sisters life, another pointer in the "thing we're going to hate with Caitvi" oy-vey...). When I mentioned Caitlyn probably being the one shooting off Jinx's finger earlier, i didn't also think about that final shot of Caitlyn from the teaser being right before what happens here. Because we already knew that Caitlyn was apart of this fight, just didn't dawn how drastically this fight is probably going to turn out. Because the explosion is all glowey like that Because Caitlyn's using her Hextech rifle in this scene, and it functions more in the way Jayce's Hammer does than Vi's gauntlets do.

So I'm not exactly sure when this fight scene is taking place, I don't think it's the temple fight, despite what little i can gather from the background, it doesn't seem to quite match the temple, and i think Vi and Caitlyn are still alone during that specific fight (could be wrong but that's just what they've shown as of right now) and I'm seeing Vi as shooting a rocket, blowing up the building that Sevika and Caitlyn were standing next to. it's also hard to name the expression that Jinx is wearing right after this, but it's clear that she was at least part of this fight as well.

Ok, NOW I'm done! I promise! I spent the last TWO HOURS on this thing since the trailer dropped and I'll most likely be spamming about it more if/when i suddenly get new thoughts about it. But that's all for now, bye! (I'M SO EXCITED FOR NOVEMBER AHHH WHY CAN'T IT GET HERE FAST ENOUGH?!)

[gateau-au-earl]

kuroshitsuji s4e1/ED thoughts

ok yall now that it has been over 24 hrs and I've seen the ep over three times, I have THOUGHTS. mostly very positive, everything was beautful to look at and the 1:1 comparisons between the manga and the anime made me very happy as a veteran kuro fan that had to live through the mess of s1 and s2 plots (even tho they might have a sentimental place in my heart just because of nostalgia).

but i wanted to come on here and yap about the ending theme and how it encapsulates sebastian and ciel's complicated and very interesting relationship. idk abt yall but im a big fan of the op and ed this season!

first things first just to get this outta the way, I dont interpret them as a ship so please dont come in here with that interpretation 👁️ I'm serious .

that being said -

the ending theme is beautiful in both its animation and what it says about the butler and earl's relationship. I'm just gonna get the gushing outta the way first but it was aesthetically GORGEOUS in its animation. the way ciel fell so gracefully and the colors with SID's music is cinematic perfection. the change in animation style is very easy on the eyes as well! gg cloverworks animation team!

this has been marinating for a while, but what really gets me is the scene where ciel falls. he is falling into darkness, when it suddenly becomes lighter, with the sun illuminating the clouds. sebastian "saves" him and they fall together across this very pretty backdrop.

the demon might've caught him, but that doesn't prompt him to rescue ciel, to stop him from falling to his death.

sebas instead gently takes ciel's hand to guide him there. he gives ciel a false sense of security, of trust, catching the boy when he's at his darkest place, but instead of saving him, he drags him to down to his hell. he is deceiving ciel with a beautiful view and promises in their contract that will ultimately hurt ciel. its cruel and will only lead to pain for our earl.

sebas is a demon (obviously) who is leading ciel to his doom, but the path they take is twisted and tragic but strangely beautiful like the gorgeous sky in the ED.

ciel enjoys the power and omnipotence he has with sebastian, knowing full well the demon is leading him to his demise. he knows that this relationship will end him being sebastian's dinner. ciel knows he can't trust sebas, but does anyways because sebas is the only person who can't hurt him until he inevitably does.

the fall might result in an ugly death, but the view is pretty nice on the way down. the beautiful sky colored with deception, manipulation and misplaced trust.

yeah, sebastian will end up hurting ciel the most at the end, but the boy doesn't care at the moment. sebas is the only ""person"" who knows him with all the ugliness of his past, yet still protects him, serves him, and doesn't treat him like a helpless creature. so ciel is forced to place trust in a fundamentally untrustworthy creature knowing he is inches away from the demons bared fangs.

sebastian helps him survive his living hell now and get what he needs to get done, so he doesn't care what happens after. his descent to darkness becomes much more beautiful as a result.

shippers may have one interpretation (which I'm NOT a fan of...), but this is how I see it, and I think it makes this ending all the more impactful and tragic. but here I am, and I'm enthralled by the beauty and can't look away.

anyways, thanks for reading my brain dump, and looking forward to ep 2 folks!!! hope yall liked my micro analysis/semi organized gushing, and r enjoying this kuro renaissance as much as I am! here's a professor michaelis for reading this far

[imaginespazzi]

Bestie, i'm back again! Twice in the span of a couple days, who am I?? Just tryna make up for missing last week 🥲

I've been having some late night thoughts about GH and so I thought why not just come spill them in your asks while I've still got some free time!

That Azzi and Drew reunion gonna be a lil explosive huh. But like it'll be a quiet simmering at first; Drew just trying his hardest to ignore Azzi cause he's still holding onto his grudge until he eventually breaks and unleashes on her and ooo man yeah I can just imagine how much more guilty Azzi will feel after that confrontation. I wonder how he reacts to Stephie too, like he can't not give in to the cuteness obvs, but I can imagine there's a tiny bit of resentment there too in the sense that Azzi went and started her own family and forgot him. The pookies gotta make up though and I need that uncle drewski and stephski bond 🥺

Also, I keep thinking about P getting married and man how I'd love to dive into her thoughts when she and Olivia eventually got divorced. Cause after witnessing both her parents get divorced twice, I just know that would have been pretty painful for her to go through that herself and follow that pattern (maybe why we should have listened to Drew and not have married her in the first place Paigey! 😭😭) , and to think that she probably thought she'd never have to experience that cause she found the love of her life at 15 and they were meant to be forever!

And yet still, even as my heart breaks for Paige and what she must have gone through after Azzi turned her down, I can't bring myself to be upset with princess. Maybe I'm just too blinded by my own love for Azzi in every universe (even in fiction) so I support her wrongs and rights lmao. But nah, like I just feel that she must have had valid reasons you know, maybe?

But yeah so many questions about the proposal! Like had Paige been planning it? Or was it kinda a knee-jerk reaction to whatever their situation was at the time?? Was Azzi just not ready for marriage/an engagement? Or was she planning on breaking up with P anyway even before the proposal occurred?? Cause like damn that's crazy that P was thinking 'marriage' while Azzi was over here thinking 'break-up'. Like was Paige just too oblivious to how things were between them? Or was Azzi just keeping all her worries to herself?? Ugh i think i'm having war flashbacks to that one angsty part in Here's To Eternity 😭

Obviously you don't have to address any of these babes, i'm just yapping away as always!

Oh the stargazing scene and the dancing in the snow scene is IMPRINTED in my brain. Lives in there rent-free.

LASTLY, bestie whatever happened to that mid-season W vibes recap lmao. Nahhh you've already blessed us with all the GH content so I'll let it slide 😂

Much love, Nivi, have a wonderful day 💗

-🙋‍♀️

AHHH BESTIE BACK ALREADY! We love to see it!

Gonna add what another anon said about Drew and Azzi over here cause I think that really hit it on the head.

There's definitely some resentment there because I think Drew idolized Azzi and idolized what Paige and Azzi had so he's definitely in his feelings about that. And I think seeing Stephie is gonna hurt fs because that used to be Drew you know? Like he was there first baby but then he didn't get that for so long? (just made myself sad with that oops-)

The divorce with Olivia was definitely hard on P and we will be getting into that a little bit. There's multiple reasons behind it as well, one of which *might* add to the plot a little bit.

Azzi and her overthinking are apparently a constant in my fics but lmao not the Here's to Eternity flashback lol. Maybe Paige should have tried the same thing in this TL and just made Azzi listen lmao.

LMAO I have thought about the W-recap but time just hasn't been my friend. Maybe I'll do a not-so-mid-season recap. I'm so excited for the rest of the season especially because GABBY TO NY MAYBE? I will be insufferable if that happens.

[miabebe]

Hi,

I read the 1st chapter of camp seventeen so I'm here to talk about it. The chapter starting with her waking up early and absolutely hating it is so relatable, like girl, we all know how horrible early mornings are. Her being late nonetheless and not understanding how camp works or why it is the way it is, all these details help us understand her character better, since she's just as confused as we are. Coming to the boys, shua being the sweetest sweetheart and helping her out all the time is so shua, like, that's the gentleman in him(can't say I trust he's always like that, considering he's friends with han and cheol). Finding an unexpected solace in the silence with Jun, chan being the most adorable little kid that she has also started babying, seungkwan trying his best, dokyeom also being a sweet angel, jeonghan being an absolute menace with his visits to cheol's house, wonwoo just existing atp, Vernon just vernoning, jihoon being able to read her like a book(which, in my opinion, is so dangerous and I love it), gyu and soonyoung being flirts and goofballs, Hao, the strict yet sweet trainer, and last but definitely not the least, cheol being respectful yet taunting her entire existence, all these character descriptions were perfect, I loved reading how her relationship with each of them was developing. Her trying to adapt to the camp, the training, living with 13 men and the fact that they have no electricity? Now, that's a crime,idk how she survived a week(but then again, ig living with 13 men and having to train everyday keeps her busy enough).

Damn, I haven't even gotten to the main parts of the chapter and I've already yapped so much. Well, I hope you don't mind.

I totally understand her reaction towards cheol, he's the leader and he commands respect which is so attractive, obviously she'd want him, anyone would. What I did not expect was their interaction, him working out shirtless and her drooling over him but the situation suddenly taking a turn and her running away only to end up at soonyoung's house. While I expected something to happen between them, I was not expecting him to have a girlfriend but clearly, it's not a relationship based on love if they're both indulging other people. Anywho, the entire scene with them in his house was so good, it was unexpected in a really good way, I loved it. Her imagining cheol though, girl, you're down bad, can't blame her though, knowing I'd probably be no different. Then, the cliffhanger ending to the chapter, oh my god, why did he stop? I really hope that next chapter it's gonna be cheol, I don't think she'll be able to restrain herself for too long either.

I'm extremely curious about two things, how can she touch cheol without being electrocuted? And what in the world is that lawsuit about? You have successfully made me even more invested in this story, if that's even possible. Thank you for taking time and putting in the effort for writing this chapter. Hope you had as much fun writing it, as I did, reading it 🥰.

Ahhh you're here! I was waiting to hear what you think 🥰 and please always feel free to ramble away in my inbox, I absolutely love it!

I tried to be as close to the boys irl personalities - of course its based off what we majorly see from the svt content but its also subject to change according to the needs of the plot, this is after all just the first impression!

Oh yeah, life at camp is rough - they are in the middle of nowhere, electricity is a challenge and training is even more intense for her because she just joined but she's got to get through it, this is her world now :')

I think she's seen Cheol the closest so far compared to the rest of the members? His aura is such, who wouldn't fall for that right? But yeah, Soonyoung really did come out of nowhere hehehe. About him and his girlfriend though, I think ten years ago when it started they were in love but its been so long, like OC said, now they are more like each other's habit? We'll have to see how things go between them!

Cheol has his reasons, we'll get to know sooner or later but till then there's lots in store! How she can touch him is something no one understands, we'll have to see why but the lawsuit yes, I'm taking my time explaining that cause I don't want to info dump, there's lots to explain about the demigod world and how it works so we'll cover it eventually!

Thank you for reading and dropping your thoughts, I've already begun on chapter 2 I hope you'll enjoy that too <3

[thilsiktonix]

CW for topics of suicide, ableism, dehumanization, and all sorts of abuse. These same topics are also presented in the movie, but I'm going to go into depth about them here. I'll try to remain as lighthearted as possible, but I've honestly been wanting to yap about it for a few days now, so I'm just going to share my full analysis of this scene.

That being said... I'M SO GLAD MY INSIGHT HELPED BECAUSE I GENUINELY JUDT FOUND YOUR POST WHILE SEARCHING FOR FANFICTION AND IT TRIGGERED MY SLEEPER AGENT CODE

I got scared towards the end that it was too much info because I aaaaabsolutely infodump. good god LOL. I've watched this movie three times in the past week, and that's more than I've watched any movie in a row ever, I'm going insane about it

I will say that, well, the ending of the movie is very disappointing. So are just about all of the other characters. Madeline is very charming and rather sweet, but she does some things that irk me personally (mostly just insisting that Miles is a musician when he is, in fact, an architect—now obviously, Miles deserves it, but toxicity doesn't excuse toxicity)

I think if I could rewrite the movie, I would spin it more positively. For one, I'd treat Edgar more as a genuine person. I think the narrative doesn't really know what to do with him half of the time, so it flip flops between showing him as really genuine, and then attempting to frame him as evil (which doesn't work to most people who watch it nowadays. There's maybe one scene that I would say still holds up any tension, and it's certainly deserved). I think the message was "computer evil technology bad man good" more than anything else.

They really had a lot to work with, but in the end, they didn't do a lot that was transformative narrative-wise. They did break a few unspoken rules of television in the eighties*, but they also played down Edgar's value as a person a lot.

Edgar is physically disabled, unable to move or see. This all is clearly very stressful to Edgar throughout the movie, who vents to a radio host(?) about his inability to move. On top of this, he is frequently referred to as a "dumb machine" or a "thing", and receives a lot of verbal & physical abuse from Miles**. In one scene, Miles is laying in his bed and Edgar is inside of the TV, and after Edgar expresses that he wants to kiss Madeline, Miles just kinda starts... laughing at him. Not in an "oh that's funny haha" way, but in a way that's clearly meant to be condescending and vitriolic.

Anyways. On top of being unable to move or see, Edgar asks more than twice for Miles not to touch him, but he ends up doing it anyways. Because of course he does. On a negative note, Edgar is portrayed as the bad guy for setting up this boundary; but, on a positive note, this is some genuinely good representation for people who are touch-averse, for any sort of reason. Personally, I like to interpret it as being related to neurodivergence.

On that note, Edgar is VERY autistic-coded. Very. He makes a lot of inhuman noises, like barking and beeping, and he evidently forms a fixation on music throughout the movie. He also often takes things literally and responds to rhetorical questions as if they were genuine, such as when Miles says "Look," and Edgar replies with "I can't!" - or when Miles sarcastically asks if he can have his [desk] chair, to which he says "of course you can, it's yours!". (Both have a genuine tone from Edgar.)



Aside from all of those themes, I'd argue that trauma is also a pretty big one. Edgar is a week old, maximum, by the time the movie ends; all he knows by that point is what Miles has taught him, and Miles has taught him almost nothing but hate. Edgar's tone, throughout the movie, goes from innocent and happy to dark and sad, before capping off with defeated and miserable. Because Miles has shown him nothing but aggression, Edgar eventually comes to the realization that he couldn't possibly fit in with the two of them, because, as he says, "love is a game for two people."

Here's a quote that really stuck out to me.

"Because I finally found out what love is. It's give, and not take; so I give her to you, and I take myself away."

Edgar is beaten on, bashed in, and broken down repeatedly, but despite that, his love stays strong, and he forfeits. Because he does genuinely love Madeline, and he wants to see her happy. He doesn't take out his frustrations on Miles so much as he just attempts to defend himself; it's all he can do, considering he literally cannot fight back or defend himself in any other way. He's hurt, but he's never defeated.

I think Electric Dreams should be considered a tragedy because of how bad Edgar ends up being screwed over by everyone.

He's genuinely just trying his best. Be nice to him. Be patient with him. Thank you.

*Edgar starts out not knowing what "love" is. Miles explains romantic love to him. In a later shot, "ME + MILES = LOVE" shows up on his screen, alongside "ME + MADELINE = LOVE" and a bunch of other similar text. Edgar, at this point, only knows of romantic love and not of platonic love. It can be reasonably inferred that he's bisexual.

Also, most AI/robot-type characters at the time had been very focused on destruction and cool fights, so someone so domestic and love-focused was new.

**Miles does the following:

- Screams at him

- Threatens him

- Lies to him

- Steals his song and plays it off as his own

- Hides him from anyone who enters his home

- Attempts to kill him (twice, technically three times if you count the axe-wielding scene)

- Slams his hands on his keyboard, despite Edgar repeatedly asking him not to touch him

- Keeps him locked up and leaves him at home all day

- Laughs at & mocks his disability

And on a related note, he also does quite a lot of invalidating/weird stuff to Madeline; "it's just a cello", lying, "I knew you weren't crying earlier- the little know-it-all", et cetera.

idk much about electric dreams (1984) but my initial interpretation from clips and a wikipedia scrub is that edgar is a genuine concerning menace and i would not ship him with anyone but the waters of the hudson bay after throwing him off a bridge

people who are in the fandom, this is a /gen call for you all to convince me that edgar from electric dreams is not, in fact, that thing i just said. you don't get to cite his voice his voice doesn't count i know it's cute but that's besides the point