#in the sense of when you allow them to be their actual character

[ofbreathandflame-archive]

Sometimes, I think about the absurdity of the UTM situation — but then, sometimes I think of it and it makes Rhys a much more sinister, albeit, more interesting character.

Like - the situation is this, initially:

Feyre is in her cell. She frazzled,dirty, but hasn’t quite had to experience any of the horrors of UTM, save for her bargained first trial. After her initial riff raff with Rhys, the guards are hypnotized to never touch Feyre, and she receives hot meals to her cell everyday. Rhys was also able to clean Feyre up multiple times as well. So far - excluding his other actions up to this point - we can characterize Rhys as opportunistic, cruel, but well-intentioned in these moments. I am not asking for him to be a purity princess, only that I can vaguely understand the motives to his actions, whether good or bad.

But then…

He then *willingly* chooses to take her out said cell, allowing Amarantha to remember Feyre. His only tangible reason for doing this was to…anger Tamlin. He already had explains that Amarantha has a shield that wards against physical attacks, so that explaination makes no sense. The only one that actually sticks is that Rhys is…jealous. There is no tactical explanation as to why Rhys would establish this safe-space for Feyre, only to immediately co-opt it. Think about it, at this point, Amarantha has forgotten Feyre even exists. If she was tangibly written, she could have played against Feyre’s time, allowing each trial to take place once every thirty or a fifty years. But I digress.

Anywho, Rhysand removed Feyre’s clothes, painted her, and gave her a linen scarf as a dress. The hot food be gives becomes inconsequential because the wine makes Feyre wretch up any all of the food she receives. She then has to sleep on the dirty ragged floor naked because those were all of the clothes she was given. And as Rhysand is breaking Feyre down, he also has the antidote. Now, Feyre isn’t surrounded by the quiet of her cell, or looking forward to the anticipation of a hot meal. She is anticipating (and more than not dreading) her eventual drugging SA.

The sinister part of this is that — Rhys becomes the author of all of Feyre’s sorrows, but then he also swoops in and provides solutions to the issues…he caused.

And it’s why the music scene is one of the most unromantic moments in this series if you stop and consider EVERYTHING. Feyre is sitting there, alone and naked. Exhausted after being paraded around by the Wraiths and having to bear info she has no power to stop. Rhys reads her mind, and then sends the music into her cell. But HE IS THE ONE who caused it in the first place. All of it. It’s so scary when you consider that Feyre was a human, with no mental shields. She was a legit open book and the book acknowledges that he read it alll. Like - even in Twilight - Edward could read everyone’s mind BUT Bella. She was a closed book for and that made her interesting to him. It built a sort-of boundary between them, which considering everything, was a good literary choice.

Rhys has all of this access, and knowledge of Feyre that she doesn’t even get the pleasure of telling him (or just letting him experience it). Like that moment where Feyre tells Rhys she was scared, and he retorts back “no you weren’t” is like…quite scary. Idk. It’s just so weirddd. And I’m not asking for these tidbits not to exist. I’m saying that the story never considers any nuance in these issues. Feyre is expressing that she felt these amalgamation of emotions upon seeing Rhys, but he just smiles and tells her how beautiful she thought her was. At one point, Rhys mad feyre so scared she pissed herself (or almost did - I can’t remember) and threw up. She was terrified, violated, and afraid. And Rhys knows this - and he never apologizes. I am not against the idea of Feysand, as many may assume, not inherently. My problem is, the sinister parts do not add nuance. There’s no discussion into Rhysand’s control issue, which is wrapped in a self-sacrificing package. His need to do everything is the exact same as Tamlin’s control issue - they are both very controlling. Rhysand cannot trust his inner-circle. He does nefarious things because he doesn’t trust them to do so even though they’re so supposed to be Prythan’s version of the Avengers. He makes Mor the queen of the CoN…but doesn’t actually trust her to do the job. What I’m saying is - instead of it leveraging Rhysand’s faults into a well rounded character, the book would rather just assume they don’t exist.

[chipthekeeper]

i keep having to explain my s2 feelings to people who haven't been in the trenches here for two and a half years and it's so odd. at the comic book store, with the coworkers, with non-star wars obsessed tumblr friends. i keep having to do it and i keep struggling to put into words that "yes, the show is still breathtakingly good when it's good. yes, it's still miles above basically every other show. yes, you should still watch it"

yes. all of that. but at the same time i'm not having fun watching it because it is so. fucking. disappointing.

that's the word i keep coming back to. on the spectacle front, it delivers as well as it always did, but to me the thing that made season one...well, spectacular...was the little things. the quiet moments, the small conversations, the characters. the fucking characters!! the first "this show is perfect" post i ever made was about how EVERY character in the show felt full and real and deep, even if we only got them for a few brief moments. and as the season went on and we got to know everyone better it just made all those big moments all the more incredible because we'd spent time with everyone who was being affected by them. and that's why this season is disappointing

because we're either not getting those quiet moments at all or they just don't make any sense because we missed so many before the ones we did get. or, in the worst cases, they've leaned so heavily into fucked up tropes and nonsensical storylines that we'd rather not get them at all

the biggest tragedy of this season isn't any one character dying or even the ghorman massacre, it's that season one set the bar so high for how well crafted a star wars show could be, and then the structure of this one was never going to allow it to reach that level. and maybe a lot of people gave gilroy and his gang too much credit. maybe we didn't critique them enough where there WERE flaws with season one. we talked about them, but for some reason we believed they'd learn from their mistakes rather than compounding on them. maybe we created our own disappointment. i know i did

the five season plan obviously never would have worked out. the show was always going to be too expensive and too....controversial...for disney to allow it to keep going (and of course it would've taken such a long time and put such a strain on the cast and crew's lives). but i'll always be left to wonder how just one or two more could've improved things, even if the seasons were shorter. how much better could it have been with time to actually focus on what was important from the beginning

as with most of my rants, there's no end point to this. it's just frustrating to watch the rest of the world praise this thing endlessly when all i can feel is utter disappointment

[quirkyfries]

I still believe that you can guesstimate how much someone paid attention to the show by their opinion on Ruin’s past actions and current arc lmao. Ruin wasn’t allowed to redeem himself through death: he was forced to put one foot in front of the other to continue on and grow.

Redemption isn’t about people forgiving you. Redemption is about choosing to do better even if no one forgives you for what you did. Ruin’s major redeeming moments are fighting to preserve the peace in eaps dimension (intervening when Lefty starts talking about extreme measures against puppet, etc) and trying to help his Monty now that he knows it’s possible. He never needed to get anyone’s forgiveness; that’s not the deciding factor. It’s about him making the choice to help and do good.

Just because a choice he made put others in a bad position doesn’t mean that it’s a bad choice (in a, oh look ruin’s turning into a villain/is being an asshole again, way)—you just forgot the context of Ruin’s character. It’s not a great choice because it put others in danger, sure, but that’s the choice he makes to do right by his Monty. Putting others in danger is the consequence to that choice, and it serves to make conflict with a character whose goal is to protect everyone (Eclipse). I’m pretty sure everyone would get what they wanted if Ruin and Eclipse worked together on this, which is why from a writing standpoint that cannot happen, for multiple other reasons also.

To dumb that down into “ruin is selfish” is taking his actions out of context: he looks selfish on the surface. But he’s not a selfish character. Y’know? He’s actually one of the most selfless characters if you think about him for a little bit. Everything he did was for what he believed was the greater good, it was never even about revenge. If Ruin was a selfish character, he’d have fucked off with the wither shard when he had the chance to the first time.

To use another character: that’s like arguing that “Eclipse is an asshole to the core” without taking into account why he’s like that in the first place, and why we may assume that on the surface. In the context of Eclipse’s character, he’s expecting people to leave or hurt him, so he makes a point to never let them get close enough to seriously affect him when they do. Turns out, being mean is the most efficient way to do that, so he doesn’t know what to do when people stick around despite his efforts (he’s getting better tho.) If Eclipse was mean to the core, he would’ve stuck around the tsams dimension just to hold other people’s mistakes in their faces for longer; one of eclipse’s redeeming moments was choosing to leave so he can find an environment that would let him heal. I’m half sure he says there’s bad memories attached to the old place at some point.

But, besides the point. I WILL die on this hill. I hope that makes any kind of sense.

[ecargmura]

The Apothecary Diaries Episode 34 Review - Thirteen Chilling Tales

From what I’ve seen from this show so far, anything and everything is vital to the story, so this definitely means that the stories told in this episode are definitely going to be brought up in the near future. You thought this was a nice respite from the intense royal family drama? Haha, no. In fact, this is probably the start of an even bigger family drama.

Maybe because of all the suspicions I have on Shisui that I can’t help but not to trust Gyokuyou’s three new maids, especially when they all look the same. What I know is that new characters mean more problems later on. I got my eye on all three of them… Regardless, it was nice seeing a bit more on Yinghua since she’s been in the story since the beginning and we finally get some details about her in this episode. It was funny how she is terrified of ghost stories, yet joined a spooky sleepover where an actual ghost was involved.

But yeah, those horror stories are all pretty interesting. Given how significant some of them are, they’ll definitely play a part in the future, like those glowing mushrooms. The story with the monk was interesting. I only just realized that the story revolved around insects because Shisui is fascinated with them and it could revolve around praying mantis as it’s know that the females consume the males. The story about a woman that was once impregnated by former Emperor does raise some questions. I thought it was about Anshi at first, but given that she was impregnated and unable to leave the rear palace made me think otherwise. What if that woman had given birth to a daughter, hence why she wasn’t allowed to leave? I feel like that would make sense given how the palace worked before the current Emperor’s rule. Anshi was able to roam around freely since she gave birth to a son. Though, the ghost woman does look awfully familiar—she sort of looks like Suirei. Given that Suirei also had a high position as a court lady makes me wonder if that woman was her grandmother or mother… Though, I’m probably overthinking…

The way Maomao noticed how familiar Shisui’s side profile looks only proves my theory that she is Loulan! I can’t wait for the day it’s actually proven. Also, I do wonder what Jinshi’s deal is with how he has his hand on the cup, which is a sign of disrespect in some cultures.

I’m still surprised about this anime’s casting because the ghost lady is voiced by Aya Hisakawa. If you’re not familiar with her, she is the voice actress of Kero from Cardcaptor Sakura, Sailor Mercury from the 90’s Sailor Moon anime and Yuki Sohma from the 2001 Fruits Basket anime. In other words, she’s a prolific veteran voice actress. The new maids also got pretty interesting voice actresses. Haku is voiced by Satomi Sato who’s known for voicing characters like Wendy from Fairy Tail and Magilou from Tales of Berseria. Koku is voiced by Hitomi Ueda who voices Yoshino from Yakuza Fiance and Sekiu is voiced by Miku Ito who voices Song-yi from Solo Leveling and Miku Nakano from The Quintessential Quintupets. They all have a big role, so it’s interesting how known names are always being casted for these new characters.

I honestly can’t wait for what’s next for Maomao. The preview does seem like something intense will happen. Also, which of the stories were the scariest to you? Let me know your thoughts on this episode!

[mariacallous]

The latest episodes in Andor’s second season focus on Mon’s break with the Imperial Senate. “Within the senate Mon is becoming lonelier,” notes O’Reilly. “She has few allies. Palpatine’s power and grip on the senate is undeniable. She is isolated. And she's in danger. The rebellion as we move through the series is growing because we are becoming more successful. We also, like most things, become divided, fractured. And with fracture comes confusion. So nothing is as it seems.”

Mon’s speech in episode nine was a focal point for O’Reilly as it gave her character a voice as a woman, politician, and as a leader. O’Reilly felt that she and Gilroy both wanted the political narrative to feel rooted and real for the character as Mothma made a speech to the senate after the Imperial massacre at Ghorman.

“She speaks on behalf of all those people being murdered by the state,” said O’Reilly. “She implicitly understands the violence that is being perpetrated and performed. And that it will come to her. And that it will come to all those that she knows and loves.”

Andor’s focus on people’s home lives, their heritage, their cultures helped to ground the words in Mon’s speech. “The detail in those Ghorman episodes, you feel like you've known this whole culture forever,” says O’Reilly. “I feel like I can talk to someone on the street about them. And so the loss of that allows for a depth or a weight that is carried that makes sense. And so when the moment came for Mon Mothma to speak, it was vital for me that I was able to hold those civilizations forward and hold those people and that pain forward and perhaps to give an understanding of who Mon Mothma is much later. And that was really my driving force for this whole season. And I think it's the way George Lucas set it up in the very first film, telling a very political story through very personal relationships.”

While in the original script Mon’s speech was split up into different parts as the episode would cut from Mon to other characters while she was speaking, O’Reilly and the showrunner, along with episodic writer Dan Gilroy, agreed that it was important for her to deliver a full, uninterrupted speech on camera. “And that came out of a generosity of a creative partnership that doesn't happen very often,” noted O’Reilly. “I stood up and I gave the whole speech, and the whole speech now exists in the piece and that's very special. It's an understanding of how an actor likes to work, the generosity of taking the time to do that, a director understanding the actor who understands the writer.”

After Mon’s speech, she and Cassian Andor, who Luthen sent to extract her from Coruscant, have to make a run for it. Which gave O’Reilly another chance to show a new side to her character. “I was just so thrilled that she got to run! I did think it made sense…that she wouldn’t be good at it. She’s not Vel. She’s not in the field. She’s a senator. She’s a politician. So, of course she’s not going to pick up guns and start shooting people. But it was great to see her have to run, have to use her body. I think she exercises her whole cerebral cortex in the speech and all that’s left is to run.”

While there is more of Mon Mothma’s story to come in Andor’s last arc, the speech and escape provided a tense and fulfilling end to one chapter of Mon’s life and O’Reilly’s experience playing her. “I was so focused on [episode] nine and working really hard to chisel away at that because for me, that was the heart of Mon. So when I eventually saw it, I actually just cried afterwards. I just cried because it means so much when you're chiseling away at your own little thing and your own little studio and you're trying as an actor to really push and create and paint. And then when I saw it, I was so deeply grateful that I was able to be a part of it.”

Genevieve O’Reilly on That Speech and Mon Mothma’s Other Biggest Moments from Andor Season 2

[rise-my-angel]

If the christian god really exists, I think Rhaegar stans might be him punishing humanity for all our sins. There's just no other explanation for how nightmarish they are.

I just wrote something from Rhaegars point of view, and I guarantee those 2000ish words have more nuance then anything Rhaegars stans have said or thought about him in their entire lives.

[tackykachowch]

By the way, did we ever talk about how stupid it is that they made Silco the reason Felicia died? I don't mean that he killed her personally, but that he jumpstarted violence on a peaceful protest. Because that's sooo who Silco is, right? A character who makes impulsive and poorly thought out decisions, right? A character who goes into a fight headstrong without carefully planning his moves and strategy and just YOLO-ing it, right? Right?? ......sigh

And don't even THINK about giving me the whole "wElL hE cHaNgEd SiNcE tHeN dUh" crap. Even s2 is smart enough to show us him writing something in a notebook in a flashback, which implies that he was the brains behind the Lanes' creation/revolution as a whole. And if he was he would never sabotage his own plans with something so stupid as throwing a single molotov at enforcers. Literally who does that???? Silco we know would probably organize an attack under the guise of a peaceful protest, but not just. Straight-up ruining just a regular peaceful protest. That's stupid. And Silco is the last character in arcane that would do something stupid. Literally the whole plot of season 1 relies on him being intelligent and sneaky with his plans are you kidding me.

[coquelicoq]

too bad this book three people recommended to me was just. not good. hate it when that happens.

[freddie5romeo2blaine2sidney4]

People who think Eddie and Conrad are red flags are the TRUE red flags🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

[angy-grrr]

I don’t get why ppl keep saying bkdk is dead or Horikoshi broke off bkdk. If that were true, this extra would look very different as you pointed out multiple times. The extra was still heavily focused on them and I hate how ppl are letting one no dictate the entire relationship. Izuku asks him to be a special lecturer too. I think the no just needs more clarification but other than that it is mostly fine. If a ship were to be shut down by the creator, it would look very different. Same logic for if a ship were to be canon, it would look different than what we got in the end for izu///ocha. This extra was bad in different ways from ships. It was just a whole lot of nothing that doesn’t meaningfully add anything to the story but I guess we shouldn’t be surprised since it is an extra. It is still an ambiguous ending that can be pretty fixable by one shots by Horikoshi in the future or even better by fanfiction lol. Except for the Toga part. That is just inexcusable

himiko-chan :(

and yeah! like even tho 431 is terrible not only for pairs but also for the whole story, it only confirmed Katsuki feels something really strong for deku and he doesnt notice bc he doesnt consider himself to be that great; they keep talking, and they keep being in each other's lives with no problem -they also imply they will work on communicating their feelings, as the special lecture is about this topic and deku also thinks katsuki doesnt see himself in a high regard. This is actually something that could be used in the future, as their relationship and arc isnt completely finished -in the way that they arent at a point of no miscommunication, no yearning, etc. They still need something to work with in regards to themselves and each other in the process. When it comes to midoriya and uraraka, idk what exactly could develop from what 431 tell us -seems to be mostly about paying attention to the ppl in your life instead of just letting life happen I guess? But idk what conversation or arc they could have together that wasn't resolved already, it was a really weird choice to focus on them as if there needs to be more explored -which is why choosing to not make them talk to each other nor think of the other in these years is potentially interesting, like the only way they could actually need to talk things up or have a separated special moment is if they just stop being friends and want to talk more from now on. Like, if they kept their friendship these years and were part of the other's life, there wouldnt be a moment like this at all.

I think it hurt mostly ochako -and deku if we interpret it as "deku just wants to be teacher, he is super happy about it, and loveeees so much his ex bestie after 8 years of no contact and never thinking about her"-, more than the bkdk relationship.

It would be interesting to see those one shots, if he does them -I know he said he wanted to do more things and little drawings and content for it, but idk if he will do something elaborate or just one page of something silly. I think he still has to opportunity of working with the material and make something at least not this bad -or completely ignore 431 and just continue with their adventures like 430 implies lol If he wants to double down with the "romance" I have no idea how he could do it with what he has tbh, unless he just ignores the plot and their personalities.

[repurposedmeatlocker]

I gotta make a post about this. It will drive me insane otherwise. But I really REALLY like the way in which Beavis and Butt-Head incorporates the music video commentary segments within the context of the actual show.

On one hand, it is indeed a way for musicians and creators to be promoted, albeit in a satirical and tongue-in-cheek way, through the banter of two ignorant fifteen year old boys. But this does not mean these segments are floating around unrelated. Actually, the commentary segments are completely intwined within the world of the show. They are not just used as opportunities to make pop-culture references and trash the musicians, but as a jumping-off point for Beavis and Butt-Head to get into off-topic tangents. Ranging from simple questions to sparse recollections of their home-life. I can't say this definitely since I haven't exactly been keeping track, but it appears to me that most of the sparse information out there about their moms and family come from statements made during these segments. Then there are also all those moments during music videos where they aren't even paying attention to what is on-screen and instead are doing stuff like looking at magazines, trying to cook, fighting, falling asleep, etc.

This all is such an odd yet interesting window into their lives, and how much it revolves around their television. I don't think this is unintentional at all. The characters are first introduced in the pilot, as being parked in front of their TV getting off on a woman advertising exercise equipment. Mike Judge is indeed making some kind of commentary here regarding the modern dependence on TV and cable television (especially in the context of the 90s when the show came out). At the same time though, I don't feel like this is a completely mind-numbing experience in the case of Beavis and Butt-Head. In fact, I find their interaction with the programs on television extremely "active" whether it be actually constructing opinions about what they are watching (even if it rarely is more complex than 'this rules' or 'this sucks'), or deciding to do something based off of seeing it advertised or talked about on TV. When you think about it, most of the plots of the show use the television as a catalyst for the episode's plot, which just ties the TV to the show as a whole even more.

[maryasmorevna]

a few days ago i (re)watched the 25th anniversary concert of les misérables and. oh god. i forgot how much this musical did éponine dirty

[autisticcole]

Heheheheheho I have gotten some of the Dragon Age books (🏴‍☠️) and this is gonna really let me dig into some stuff, especially my favorite guy Cole, cause now I can read his OG appearance, I want to see how much stuff Cole says, especially during his quest actually makes sense, and how much is in-universe "both sides are right"ing about not listening to what Cole wants to do.

I am mainly talking about Spirit!Cole thanking Inky for not making him change... Despite the fact that thoughout Cole's quest Solas ignores what Cole wants (Like being binded) & wants to do (Kill the guy who beat beyond beating a 12 (at most) year old (most likely, it isn't outright stated (to my memory) the Templar who fucked up the paperwork was also one of the ones who physically abused him, but I feel it's a pretty safe assumption) & got that child killed due to neglect & faced no consequences) but ultimately the choice that causes Cole to thank the player for not changing him is the one where you listen to Solas over Cole (Or well Varric, who also doesn't let Cole do what he wants but is closer to what Cole would have done if he had went alone for the confrontation) & in this route I would say Cole's character changes a lot more, especially as he forgets the original Cole, which... Rubs me wrong, but I'll save my more detailed thoughts for 1. After I fully read Asunder & 2. Either a full Cole analysis or a detailed post about my thoughts on his quest & routes (& maybe how I'd rewrite them, as a Autistic person & a ally to the aroace community)

Anyways my point is that I want to see how true it is characters rejected or wanted to change Cole, I want to see what leads him to feel that having two men argue & tell him who he is supposed to be & do only to have a third person decide out of those two's options for what he should do is remotely a situation where he's been accepted.

[takaispog]

posting this here too because some of you make me SO MAD.

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

Do you ever read a post where someone is explaining a pokitical thing and from the way they're saying you know with absolute certainty 1) they got their info from a tumblr post and have never actually followed up on how feasible that information actually is to act upon (they may not even have checked if it was CORRECT, but when they do they have clearly not looked into how easy or hard it may be to follow those instructions with a positive outcome), and 2) you know WHICH tumblr post they're quoting because it is basically a copy/paste of it, and 3) it was YOUR goddamn post and the thing they are saying is entirely counter to the point you were making when you said it to the point that you genuinely wonder if they just like. Memory-holed the entire context once they saw that one itty bitty point.

It's like the motherfuckiny dating apps all over again. I do not want people to love my words if they are not actually willing to do the work of understanding them! Didn't your kindergarten ever make you play Telephone to teach you how heresay falls out????

[phantastragoria]

do you have a favourite portrayal of a character in the gotg game!! who is it and why <3

Oh I think they're all great honestly!!! Part of why I love the game so much is that genuinely, the whole team + supporting characters are written with such obvious love of the source material and equal attention between them all. When I see comments of people saying who their favorite character was from the game and the answer always being different from each person I'm like!! That's how it SHOULD be!!! They're the Guardians of the Galaxy (plural) the focus shouldn't all fall on a singular character like most other GotG media usually ends up as 😭

The two (sorry I can't pick just one) whom I think benefit the most from the game though are Drax and Gamora because they're almost always sidelined both in-and-out of universe by most of the various writers (especially as of late) and in turn the viewers/readers. I've been told plenty of times that they're the most boring members of the "main" team, BUT IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY! The amount of love the game versions get (by the few who've played it at least) proves that 🥺

I've never really liked 616 Drax shifting to being a complete clown during the 90s and such (and even less so when the MCU followed along 💀) So I appreciate the game taking a bit of his seriousness from the DnA run and just making him struggle with nuance and context clues in a less exaggerated way (autistic Drax I still believe in u) and I feel the focus put on him and how losing his original family + the aftermath deeply affected him hits pretty hard here because it's treated very seriously and shown in depth, especially with how his family (wife) gets actual focus. I cannot tell you anything about Yvette in comparison to Hovat, who actually seemed to have had a personality lol (AND she was on their village's council like omg imagine having more to you than just being The Housewife) Though I will say I flip and flop on my thoughts about Heather being disconnected from Drax's life in this universe... The TLDR is that I think his arc here specifically works stronger when he has to come to terms with losing his entire family and accepting the life he currently has with the Guardians. BUT!!! I very much appreciate that Heather is still confirmed to exist within this universe, even if that means her dad issues would have to be dealt with in a different context if we ever get to see her.

Also? Shoutout to the writers actually bringing up the intense paranoia that always kneecapped 616 Drax but having that be a turning point in his backstory here, with that conversation he has with Peter where he talks about how he was becoming so paranoid of everyone being a chitauri/Thanos conspirator to the point of literally turning into an obsessed maniac like Thanos, and realizing that he desperately needed to turn his life around, it's so ough.

Out of the already many great conversations throughout the game, I think the ones with him are the most poignant. My favorite scene in the whole game is Drax and Pete's little moment on Knowhere... makes me go wahhh

(l also love that out of everyone on the team, it's his headspace that we quite literally get to go into. You KNOW that if this was any other media it'd be going into Rocket or Groot's head and likely treated as a joke.)

And oh my god, Gamora...

I find it so extremely refreshing that her role in the plot doesn't revolve purely around the men in her life, and instead, it's nearly exclusively her connection with other women. Or in the most direct obstacle she has to deal with, being how she starts projecting to the millionth degree on Nikki's situation for reminding her of what happened to her and Nebula. I find that infinitely more fascinating as a reading of her character rather than just dating drama or her arc getting completely overtaken by a man's instead.

And especially in her friendship with Mantis, who, despite having all these futures she's constantly seeing and having to navigate, still makes time to do her best to help her 🥺 From saving her life and being the one who put her on the path to healing on Lamentis, to getting her to join the Guardians and still checking in on her when she's able 😭 Friendship between women can be so powerful... u love to see it (🏳️‍🌈)

I also find it nice that there's this emphasis on her recovering mentally, and the comparison between Thanos essentially teaching her to just Deal with the shit in her life through very simplistic meditation versus the priests of Pama actually teaching her something to help soothe the mind :^( and that she still has moments of relapsing essentially. I find that to be a realistic take on recovery because that's just part of the journey since healing is not linear... and I think it's very sweet that she finds comfort in collecting something ---girly--- like dolls. Love to see a person reclaim a part of their childhood that they weren't allowed to experience. And how she's allowed to make BAD JOKES?? Imagine a woman being written to have multiple dimensions, crazy and absolutely unthinkable, I know.

There's this extremely specific theme in relation to Gamora across media that's been rattling around in my brain since first playing the game. When near the end during the revisit to Knowhere, she's about to completely lose it when Peter tries talking -for- her on what she's so upset about before immediately shooting him down, and she explains what happened between her and Nebula and she starts crying. It really struck me right then that she's never given a moment to cry elsewhere (or in the 616's case, the quite literal inability to.) aside from her shedding a Single Manly Tear (Original Sin) or a single moment out of legit fear (MCU 💀) because she's a hashtag Strong Independant Woman who can't be vulnerable etc etc. But for her to cry in front of the people she's come to care about, It gives her a moment of true vulnerability that I don't think she's allowed ever in most other media.

That and all of the above hits hard and is what makes me genuinely believe that the writers cared about her in the narrative and tried to do right by her when every other bit of media really hasn't nor cared to the majority of the time since the 90s :'^/ Brings a tear to my eye that she's allowed to just... exist in the narrative on her own merits and not on what she can provide to someone else's story.