#its like his character has become just support for all the other storylines

[thegirlwithataser]

Garvez and How They Treat One Another

So the thing that struck me most about Luke and Penelope's interactions in this episode, specifically the scene in the briefing room where they talk about Penelope seeing Tyler, is the way that Luke treats Penelope versus the way that she treats him.

Luke was clearly about to yell at her, but she looked so small and scared that he literally swallowed his words. He told her that she was in the wrong, but he was incredibly gentle about it. He had every right to get extremely mad at her, but he didn’t play it that way, because he cares about her and her feelings so much.

But on the opposite end of the spectrum, Penelope has no regard for his feelings at all. He tells her that it’s too much for him to be hearing her talk about her sex life and she says “i know” but then just… keeps doing it. The whole scene, basically all she talks about is how good the sex is (which is a super weird thing to be focusing on in the moment anyway but that's a point for another time). Luke is very careful with his words, even though he's mad, but she just keeps talking even once he asks her to stop.

An in depth look at Luke and Penelope's treatment of one another throughout the show, as well as an analysis of Luke specifically on the date, below the cut.

And the thing is, is that this is such a pattern for Luke. When we first met him, one of his very first interactions with the other characters was with Garcia in the elevator. She’s uncomfortable and extremely short with him. She snaps and rolls her eyes, and he lets her.

This is literally acknowledged in the show. After she meets Roxy, she admits to thinking he was big headed and macho, and he said “I know.” And she’s shocked and confused, and he says. “I know you didn’t want to like me at first.”

Luke clocked her extreme hatred of change immediately. He recognized that his joining of the team immediately after her best friend left was a big change for her, and even without knowing her well at all, figured out that she needed space and time to deal with it. So he let her. He even made it easier on her by playing into it at certain points. He let her tease him and occasionally be genuinely mean, because he knew that this was her way of dealing with the change.

Luke is incredibly perceptive and also ridiculously kind. It's who he is with everyone, but it is most blatantly obvious with Penelope. Again, he barely knew her, and this was a huge change for him too. But he figured her out immediately and then made a conscious decision to let her do what she needed to do.

He does this repeatedly throughout the entire time that they have known one another. Even after they get to know each other and her teasing loses it’s genuine edge, he still lets her take out her stress on him. In the episode “Saturday”, Garcia is incredibly stressed out, and she snaps at him for saying something that made complete sense (“Shut up shut up! Just because you look like that doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want with this part of your face”) and he just laughs it off. At the end of the episode, when she thanks him for going out of his way to help, she purposely makes it seem like it had nothing to do with her, because acknowledging that Luke cares enough about her to do that would be too much in that moment. Again, Luke lets her. It’s very clear that he knows what she’s doing, but he doesn’t correct her.

Even when other people point it out, he plays it off. When JJ asks “What did you do to her?” he laughs and brushes it off.

We know that Luke doesn’t love when Penelope is mean to him because in the episode where he’s not allowed out in the field, Emily tells him that he has to work the case with Garcia, and he grins. He’s clearly happy with that, but then Penelope finds out, and reacts by saying “Ugh, fine” and making a face at him, and his smile immediately drops. He gives Emily a sarcastic “thanks” and makes a face of his own. So we know he doesn’t love it when her teasing trips into meaner territory, but he always, always, just lets her do it.

Luke is also the first person to bring up the toll that the job takes on her. He’s the one that goes to her office in the episode with the snuff films, already planning on watching it himself to get what they need. And when Garcia says that he doesn’t need to, that she already did it, he’s immediately concerned. He points out that she doesn’t even look at crime scene photos, something that everyone knew, but had never brought up before.

Everyone else loves Penelope, and they’re aware that she’s more sensitive to the gore of their job than they are, but they never say anything about it. Luke is the first to bring it up, and he asks her if she’s okay. When she brushes it off, and makes it clear that she doesn’t want to talk about it, it is extremely obvious that he’s concerned about that response, but he bites his tongue and once again, he lets her.

Specifically with that moment, we know he’s concerned. It would make him feel better to talk to her about it and actually make things better, but to Luke it doesn’t matter that talking to her about it and helping her feel better would ease his concern. That’s not what she wants in the moment, so he lets her get away with it.

Luke is constantly tracking how Garcia is feeling and reacting accordingly. For example, he brings her a little cat figurine when she's been upset because he knows that it will cheer her up.

At the start of the season, he feels guilty going to Penelope for help when he knows how good it’s been for her to not be involved, but they quite literally had no choice. He apologizes repeatedly for having to ask, he distracts her from the stress by telling her that she’s been totally irreplaceable at the BAU, he apologizes to her for Rossi’s behavior, and he is explicit in his gratitude for her help and tells her that she’s the best, because she needs to hear it.

He encourages her to tell Emily her idea about Green, he’s incredibly supportive of her and pushes when she needs it. He is completely just her cheerleader in that scene, and he keeps an incredibly close eye on her the whole time they’re working together in that episode.

When she’s on a conference call with the team, he’s the one that comments on the noise in the background and expresses his concern for her. He’s the one that asks about it because he wants to know what’s going on with her and make sure that she’s okay.

Even with the date, Luke is the one going out of his way to make conversation. It’s clearly awkward, but he was trying so hard. He started every little mini conversation, and he didn’t say anything about it not going well, not until she did. Even his agreement with her when she says that it feels clunky feels like they're having two different conversations. He's clearly relieved that that they're in agreement that it's awkward, but the next thing that he says is "but why? I mean, it's not like this when we're at work." Not that he doesn't have feelings for her, not that dating is a bad idea, he's wondering why they're so awkward on this date. He is saying that they're able to hangout and have fun with each other usually, so why is it different now? But Penelope goes a completely different route.

She says "I find it very hard to have a conversation with you when I am not dunking on you." (which is a mean thing to say considering they've had plenty of serious conversations) Luke's face completely changes. The warmth he'd had from a moment ago fades and he's literally speechless for a moment and then the only response he has is a half-hearted "That is cold." which should have been a joke, but he doesn't laugh. And then as Penelope is saying "With us, there absolutely is something there, but not that" he is shaking his head and he's no longer smiling. If he were shaking his head to agree with her, there would still be some remnants of relief on his face, but he just looks sad. After she says that she knows his person is out there, he looks down at the table, shakes his head, and when he looks back up, he looks completely dejected and asks "Where?" almost helplessly. His voice and the way he looks are both completely lost. Even his small laugh lands as pain instead of humor.

He doesn't add anything at all to that whole part of the conversation. He doesn't agree with her, he doesn't share his own feelings, he just lets her do all the talking. When she says “now that I know you’re not trying to get me drunk” he doesn’t become defensive and insist that that’s not what was happening and he would never do that, even though we all know that Luke Alvez is not that guy and he would have been well within his rights to take offense to that comment. He lets her say it, because she needs to say something to get herself back on solid ground, and he knows this about her, so he lets her get away with it. Again. He kind of huffs out a weak laugh, and then, in a voice that is completely different to how he was speaking to her before all of that, this one much softer and subdued, he says "Well okay, whatever it takes." He's smiling, but it doesn't reach his eyes even a little, but Garcia is grinning and she giggles.

The moment where she says that she can't talk to him without making fun of him also makes his reaction in episode 8 to her not teasing him when there was a perfect opportunity especially notable. He knows because of her own admission that she is at her most comfortable around him when she’s making fun of him, and so he is immediately caught off guard when she is nice and doesn’t take the opportunity to dunk on him.

Luke is always paying attention to Penelope. To what she says, what she wants, what she needs. He goes out of his way all the time to cater to it. He puts himself aside for her every. single. time.

On the plane when she gets upset about Tyler, we know Luke is upset with her, but he reaches out and physically offers her comfort anyways. In the forrest he’s more focused on her and making sure that she is okay than he is on finding Rossi or Green. He is at her side the entire time, only a few steps behind her when they do find Green.

All of this isn’t to say that Penelope is a bad person, I don’t think she is. I think that she’s been incredibly selfish this season, and I don’t think that this characterization of her is a good way to go, but I don't think Penelope Garcia is actually a bad person.

The thing with Luke, though is that they’ve taken her previous attitude towards him and pushed it beyond what it ever actually was. Yes, Penelope loves to tease him, but she's had plenty of genuine moments with him as well, which is why the line from the date makes no sense and was even a little cruel in the context of the larger picture. We know that Penelope thinks Luke is wonderful, she says it on the date, but I think she takes him for granted. He does all of these things for her, and sure a lot of them are unspoken and subtle, but they still make a huge difference. I don’t know if she doesn’t notice or if she’s just never thought about it, but she takes all of it, everything he is for her, everything he does, completely for granted.

Penelope has the capacity to be wonderful right back to Luke. She’s this incredibly kind person with a huge heart. All of her emotions are always so big. She cares so much about everything and everyone. She loves so deeply and so fully. And that’s what really gets me about all of this, because Penelope is that way about everyone else, but Luke is that way about her. She puts that care and that heart out into the world with so much intensity, but Luke puts that care and heart into her. If she would only recognize it, see it for what it is, see how wonderful and rare it is to find someone who treats you like that. Someone who loves you so much that he is willing to put everything to the side for you, to go out of his way for you over and over and over again, without expecting anything in return. Because he doesn't ever ask her for anything more than what she is willing to give.

And that's what would make Luke and Penelope so insanely wonderful. If she would just treat him the way that he treats her, then it wouldn't be so one sided. The worst part is that Penelope Garcia is more than capable of putting just as much care and love into Luke as he does for her.

But she doesn’t. And I can’t for the life of me understand why.

[sapphic-agent]

Thank you for the invitation! I've read your posts on Bakuguo's relationship with Izuku, and I agree with almost all of them, but this most recent post is the first time I saw you suggest that it's not just a mistake in writing on the creator's part but *deliberate* writing on the creator's part (forgive me if you've written about the subject before). The only way I could appreciate Izuku's relationship with Bakuguo was as an unfortunate side effect of Izuku's immature ideas of what it means to be a hero, and that as he experienced more of the world and grew into being his own hero, that he would eventually reject this need to tolerate Bakuguo's ... Bakuguo-ness. I also was informed that Bakuguo's behavior is a trope of manga characterization that the audience would expect from this type of writing, so I should just accept it.

But now, from what you've written, this might not be true. I've always suspected that some creators would have preferred to write about characters who couldn't actually carry a story *without* changing, but they didn't want them to change. (For example, Sukuna in Jujutsu Kansen is obviously the creator's favorite, but a story about Sukuna would require change, and the creator likes that monster just the way he is.). Are there clues that Izuku's creator is just using Izuku as a "Caretaker" character to enable the characters he does like to behave terribly and get away with it? (I hope this makes sense.)

I suppose the answer to this relies on how we look at "deliberate."

Do I think Horikoshi is intentionally undercutting Izuku's character to make Bakugou seem better? No. I don't think he has the foresight, skill, or self-awareness to even go about writing like that. I'm sure in his mind he thinks that by giving Bakugou more spotlight, he's making Izuku better written by extension.

And a lot of that has to do with the fandom. Horikoshi is an author whose decisions are very driven by popular opinion, it's why so many of his storylines and characters are all over the place. For example, almost as soon as Bakugou began to become popular (around the Sports Festival), Horikoshi started to give him more exposure. If you pay attention, you'll even notice how characters like Iida and Uraraka begin to fade into the background. This is even supported by the two of them not being very popular (especially Iida) in comparison.

And obviously, BakuDeku is very popular, the most popular ship in the fandom. Horikoshi would never make it canon, but that isn't to say he won't milk that fact for all its worth. By pushing Izuku and Bakugou together, he's feeding into that. Every time they so much as share a panel about it, BakuDeku shippers go crazy here and on Twitter. It keeps attention on MHA, and keeps revenue up.

Horikoshi knows that a large majority of the fandom will consistently read anything he releases as long as he keeps Bakugou and Izuku connected. Both Bakugou and BakuDeku as a relationship are essentially a cash cow that he can exploit.

But for Bakugou to actually improve and become a better person and for Izuku to come into his own as a hero, they need to be separated. They are both detrimental to one another's development, which is why Bakugou's character development sucks and Izuku's character seems so stagnant. They should have had to grow and learn away from each other before reconciliation was ever even thought about.

Does Horikoshi know this? Probably not. I don't think he even has the capacity to think this way. But it doesn't change the fact that he will gladly shove Izuku- and everyone else- to the side if it means Bakugou's stans keep reading

[noahsartt]

My reservations with the 2022 Interview with the Vampire tv series:

My thoughts on amc’s Interview with the Vampire (2022) tv series compared to the 1976 source material and what I liked about the 1994 movie.

Some reflections before the second season airs. I watched the series as it was coming out in 2022, so these thoughts have been sitting for over a year.

This is a subjective critique of the show, not me hating on it. I liked the show a lot & watched it twice. Many of the key changes were extremely creative ways of exploring those characters from new perspectives, instead of just pointlessly remaking something that's been done before. Distinct creative change should be the basis of every remake, no point is making something 'new' if there's nothing new about it. This show knew that, and the changes for the most part were written beautifully. ...But the movie is still my favourite despite its many flaws. Camp classic right there.

Issues with the show:

Making it take place 100 years later, it ruins the specific aesthetic of the book for me. (But I understand they had to in order to re-write Louis & Claudia as black).

Aging up Claudia. The way Bailey Bass played Claudia was amazing, no notes at all for her. I just wish they kept her younger because that was a very symbolic part of what made Claudia’s original character so tragic. She suffers in an entirely different way to Louis because of her age. New Claudia is supposed to be in the body of a 14 year old, but the actress was 18/19 so she looks much older already,  and no matter how well she played it, the age factor can’t be helped. Being stuck eternally in the body of a 5 year old (book) is so different to a 14 year old, who looks much older (tv show). Kirsten Dunst who was 10 in the movie, was able to play the little child - adult vampire progression a lot better. People say Claudia's original age is too 'disturbing' to see on screen... but that's the character...

Daniel being old… WHY?? Just so they could tie together the storyline or him meeting Armand multiple decades before ???? I only read IWTV and some of the TVL so I don't know everything that happens down the line for him, or what amc plans for the character in the show... but I don't understand the aging up except for 'diversity' reasons. Which, ok, but just to check a box? Louis and Claudia's race change make sense as a creative decision. But the Daniel in the book and film is a 20-something year old which is why he's so fascinated by Louis' 'gift', and doesn't understand the message Louis is sending, instead wanting to become a vampire too. Why would old Daniel want those same things? Changing Daniel's age is such an inherent thing... it's like if they didn't make Lestat blond. Eric Bogosian plays him funny though, I will say that. Christian Slater kind of just sat there.

Louis having no money and needing Lestat's financial support for his business ventures????? When it’s supposed to be Lestat leeching off Louis' estate … WHY. Why did they change something so fundamental about their dynamic. Lestat moves in because he needs wealth and Louis has it. And then he starts acting like it's both of theirs and Louis just lets him. Funniest thing ever. But in the show Louis moves in with him instead. That's just wrong.

Louis asking (basically begging) Lestat to make Claudia when Lestat is supposed to be the one to do it in order to ensure Louis doesn't leave him. Another fundamental part of their relationship that just got flipped around completely... and for what? Why did it change the things it didn't need to?

Antoinette... girl why are you there... we don't need more characters. Go away.

The guy that Louis gets with to make Lestat jealous …. why is he there either? In the book they don't need to bring other people in to irritate each other.

One of the most perfect scenes from the film was when Lestat was tormenting that girl and trying to get Louis to kill her. The show’s version with the opera singer wasn’t the same. The original scene is such a good depiction of their dynamic with each other: Lestat's eccentric killing methods and Louis’ shame and guilt. The show’s version didn’t live up to it. That scene was so excellent in what it set out to do. It captured their back and forth in such a simple way. That dynamic follows them forever, even as Louis begins to accept his nature, that spark of annoyance towards Lestat is ready to become a full fire at any moment. That scene is enough to be a full character study. The show has little bits here and there which capture something similar. But they should have recreated that scene at least.

Claudia and Lestat's relationship evolving from enjoying each others company and similarities, to detesting each other and competing for Louis’ affection. They didn’t spend enough time on Lestat and Claudia’s relationship in the show to fully demonstrate that, only a few scenes of them driving together and hunting together at the beginning. Even the two hour movie found a way to intergrade that better. Their relationship and the way Claudia is so starkly similar to Lestat when they move to Paris, is one of the my favourite parts of the book to analyse. Louis leaving Lestat and moving all the way across the ocean, only to be reminded of him in everything Claudia did. The show did have some purposeful parallels between Lestat and Claudia in the dialogue which I appreciate, I hope that continues in season 2.

Louis being in on Claudia's plan to kill Lestat and even being the one to finish off Lestat when it’s supposed to be Claudia’s idea on her own...?? Lestat's death is supposed to be an "ok, I guess that was necessary, time to move on with our lives now," moment for Louis. But he wasn't supposed to have the courage or the want to be the one to do it himself. He was hesitant and regretful in the show, but he still slit his throat... it was supposed to be Claudia alone. Credit where credit is due, the scene was beautifully filmed, the red blood on white cloth looked incredible and the entire scene captured the tone of devastation that the movie didn't. It was all very quick and emotionless in the movie.

Even though I hate Br*d Pitt's acting, his Louis was way more accurate to the book Louis. He basically was the embodiment of book Louis. Just sad and whiny the entire time. New Louis had more to him, I think Jacob Anderson even said in an interview that it was a purposeful decision to give Louis more grit. It's not a change I appreciated because it alters the original character too much. You can't change something that fundamental. Just ugh. In the show, Louis is more angry than pathetically sad, it’s very different to how the character was originally written. 

Sam Reid’s Lestat is pretty on the nose but still more serious than the original Lestat & Tom Cruise’s portrayal which was the perfect level of camp and eccentric. Tom cruise was playing Lestat from just IWTV but Sam Reid is playing him with the baggage of his entire life as written in the other books, maybe that's why he is different. Maybe his performance is even better because of it. I haven't read the other books so I can't really say.

I won't say anything about Armand (yet) because he hasn’t had his time to shine. We’ll see after season 2. I loved Antonio Banderas as Armand, and even though he was very different from how book Armand was, it was a change I liked. New Armand is going to be more accurate to the books I believe, but i didn’t like how Armand was there the entire time Louis was being interviewed… why...

Maybe I am one of the few that doesn't overtly appreciate the 'fresh' take of this story. Many of the things that draw me to the book and the movie have been taken away in this adaptation.

---

I recommend this fan fiction that explores the idea of Louis being a person of colour in the context of the original book's 1700s timeline. It explores the intersectionality of Louis' struggle with vampirism, queerness & race while still being authentic to the book. Go read it.

In the Author's words: This is NOT a rewrite of the AMC TV show, nor does it intend to be. This is us making one (subtextually plausible) change to canon in order to 1) explore underlying issues with the source material and 2) see how it affects the way the events of IWTV played out.

Ok that's it. Will maybe add to this when the second season airs. For months, this was just for me in my notes app but what is tumblr for if not to air out my locked away ideas.

[gold-rhine]

i’m only half-joking about Itto as geo archon tho. like the thing is that he is seemingly not part of any ongoing or past main storylines and hoyo likes to include all 5 stars at least at some point in some role. And the characters that didn’t play their part yet all have set ups for the future, waiting for pay off. Like Mona is clearly set up for when Hexenzirkel will come into play. like yeah mb Itto is an exception to the rule and he’s just hanging out, being charismatic and comic relief, but like thats not ergonomic storytelling. And if he does have some future major storyline to play out, I think it can only be becoming geo archon.

hear me out:

1.i’m replaying liyue rn and the throughline of “The new lord of geo will arise sooner or later” is brought up several times by several characters, both Ning and Zhongli also name new geo archon as a solution for the mora production crisis. Why would hoyo set up the whole mora crisis and address it several times if they are not going to bring it up? it would literally not be a problem if they didn’t say there needs to be a geo archon for mora.

2. Itto is very similar in character to young Morax - stubborn, brash, proud, brute force, charismatic, cares about protecting what he sees as his people, able to inspire loyalty even in ppl who lost hope.

3.he’s also set up for character development arc. he’s strong, has heart of gold and is a natural leader, but he wastes all of it on childish games. this is like obvious set up for classic ruler finally finds an area to apply himself and learns to take responsibility 

4. Itto’s right hand is Kuki, who comes from shrine maiden background, but she finished Liyue law school. Like??? thats such a specific set up that gives her both knowledge of religious institutions AND specifically Liyue laws. like hello?? she is the best advisor new geo archon could ever have

5.the only time Itto did show up in major storyline was the chasm, which connected him both the adepti thru Xiao and to Liyue goverment thru Yelan and Yanfei. 

6. Hoyo loooooves doing like subversions of expectations and ~~future mirrors the past and everything repeats~~ shit with a twist. Ning and Itto would mirror Zhongli and Guizhong rule of a strong himbo archon whos bad at money and innovative smart woman, but with a twist that their personalities are switched - Itto is charismatic and never shuts up about nonsense like Guizhong, Ning is serious and stoic like Morax. There was a popular theory that Ning is Guizhong reincarnated bc she has a lot of ties to Guizhong symbolically thru glaze lilies, ballista, etc, but I think its not reincarnation, it’s that she is the parallel to Guizhong in the new era. 

7. there are some incorrect fools with bad taste saying Ning and Itto would not get along, but like. Listen. He’s an orphan who was thrown out his village due to prejudice, but didn’t give up, formed his own crew who are intensely loyal to him, he’s unruly, loud, obnoxious, funny, brash, but has a heart of gold and when he has to protect his ppl, he has a spine despite goofing around other times. Thats literally Beidou. Itto is specifically Ning’s favorite type of emotional support himbo, not to mention that powerful ppl in general are drawn to Itto due to his sincerity (Ayato, Yae)

if i was a youtube lore person i’d throw in superficial shit like Itto has a lot of King and Royal descriptions tied to him, despite not having any actual royal heritage, but i just wanna share fun theory that i think is buried in the narrative

[accio-victuuri]

Exclusive interview with Wang Yibo: Maintain a sincere heart丨"War of Faith" hits the airwaves

Since its launch on CCTV 8 in late March, the contemporary youth growth drama "War of Faith", directed by Yao Xiaofeng and written by Weng Liangping, starring Wang Yibo, Li Qin, Wang Yang and others, has been performing well in recent days. The show topped the CVB prime-time ratings the day after it aired. The real-time ratings of Kuyun peaked at 2, and the popularity on iQiyi exceeded 9,600. The ratings are both good. The male protagonist Wei Ruolai, played by young actor Wang Yibo, is also loved by the audience for his smart, intelligent and righteous character.

"He is very passionate, has a sense of justice, is persistent and brave in his work. Even when facing the dark social reality, Wei Ruolai still maintains a sincere heart and wants to change the social status quo through his own efforts." Wang Yibo accepted the Liberation Daily Exclusive interview with a reporter from Shangguan News, explaining what "Wei Ruolai" is in his eyes.

At the beginning of the TV series, there is an assassination, a rescue, and a stock market game. The plot advances on multiple parallel lines, but they contain inextricable connections. "War of Faith" is set in Shanghai in the 1930s. It adopts a novel narrative incision and starts from the perspective of the financial industry. It embeds the storyline on the real historical picture of Shanghai and depicts Shanghai from 1929 to 1934. A scene filled with smoke and silent struggle. This makes the social turmoil in a specific historical period and the intrigue on the financial front in the play cleverly form an intertextuality.

From the character setting point of view, Wei Ruolai is a character with obvious growth meaning. In the complicated political, economic and social environment of Shanghai at that time, Wei Ruolai, as a young man who bravely came to Shanghai from the Jiangxi countryside, rented in Qibao Street, a mixed and dilapidated place. His initial wish was just to be admitted to the Central Bank and have a good job. income. Wang Yibo revealed that what impressed him about the role of Wei Ruolai was his charisma. This ideal and belief in taking family and country as one's own responsibility, as well as the unique passionate feelings of young people, are the character traits that Wang Yibo admires.

As a young man from a poor family who left his hometown to work in Shanghai, Wei Ruolai showed great personal talent in the financial field. Whether he is helping his neighbor Aunt Zhou on Qibao Street to trade stocks, or being fearless in the face of fire during the central bank exam, the character's agility and human touch are all reflected. When Wei Ruolai got up early to rush to the central bank for an interview, her pair of torn socks, her leather shoes that "gathered dust" under the bed, and her slightly messy hairstyle in the mirror all gave the scenes in the play a sense of life.

In Wang Yibo's view, Wei Ruolai was just like the young people of that era. Although he initially regarded his career as a job that could earn more money to support his family, he had his own ideals and ambitions in his heart. This can be seen from his bent on joining the central bank. "In the context of the times, he was eager to create value through his own efforts on the best financial platform, improve people's livelihood, and make society better."

"War of Faith" adopts a two-line parallel narrative structure. One line is a financial war without gunpowder, and the other is a thrilling spy war drama. In the workplace where the central bank is the stage, the new senior adviser Shen Tunan (played by Wang Yang) plays the role of Wei Ruolai's master and becomes his guide on the career path. Shen Tunan is both good and evil, and he wants to promote Shanghai's financial reform, and he does not hesitate to take risks with his own life. Shen Tunan's sister Shen Jinzhen (played by Li Qin) and Wei Ruolai's brother Wei Ruochuan are both underground members of the Communist Party of China. In the dark current situation, they disregard their personal lives for the cause of the party. Therefore, these important characters surrounding Wei Ruolai constituted his dilemma in social situation, and also laid the foundation for Wei Ruolai and Shen Tunan to part ways.

Wang Yibo feels that Shen Tunan plays an important role in Wei Ruolai's professional and personal growth. "Wei Ruolai, who had just entered the workplace and had no work experience, just rushed forward with momentum and persistence. Therefore, he admired Shen Tunan very much and once regarded him as the direction of his life's efforts. The two of them also learned from each other in the process of getting along."

But as Wei Ruolai received more and more attention, the corruption within the Kuomintang was exposed in front of him. Inspired by the people around him, Wei Ruolai and Shen Tunan eventually embarked on completely different paths of faith. "After experiencing a series of changes such as investigating the counterfeit currency case and treasury bills, he witnessed the darkness and corruption of the current situation, and realized that he needed to change the status quo of the country and fight for the people. Therefore, the sense of opposition between his master and his faith made him once I lost confidence in Shen Tunan, who was once a like-minded person, and eventually embarked on a different path of faith, but Shen Tunan has always been Wei Ruolai's guide"

Director Yao Xiaofeng once said in an interview that he chose Wang Yibo to play the role because he saw many similarities between the two. "I saw something in Wang Yibo. I felt that this story should be filmed as a small character who came to a big city to develop, and then accidentally got involved in a bloody storm and fell into a battle between two forces that were beyond his power. , let him hesitate, let him make a choice."

In one scene, his brother Wei Ruochuan was betrayed by his companions. After searching for Wei Ruolai in Shanghai, he eventually died due to excessive blood loss. In this scene, Wang Yibo performed Wei Ruolai's pain and fear. After his brother died, Wei Ruolai had no time to grieve and buried his brother in pain overnight. "In such a terrifying period, if you have a Communist brother, you have to be screened, and the first thing you will definitely bring is fear. I was very impressed by Wang Yibo in this scene, and the whole audience applauded (after filming)." Yao Xiaofeng said. In Wang Yibo's eyes, Yao Xiaofeng is a director who pays great attention to details. "He is more of a good guide to the actors in terms of performance. He will let me use my own real experiences and feelings to understand the character's current emotions, allowing the actors to perform the performance more closely to life."

In real life, Wang Yibo likes racing. When a reporter asked which scene in "War of Faith" was the most fun, his answer was a bit unexpected but reasonable. "The most fun thing was riding a motorcycle from that era." As for what themes or roles he wants to challenge in the future, his answer is also very open, "I want to try them all, and have a sense of freshness."

[wanderingmoonflower]

I love Team Star a lot, actually

This is like. a lighthearted mini rant, mainly cuz I am tired of seeing Team Star getting the "they're bad cuz they're not evil" treatment. Honestly remembering the context that ScarVio takes place within a school environment, having an evil team that's just a group of delinquents works perfectly, considering you don't really personally interact with adults plotting to end the world during your school career.

I get that those kinds of evil teams tend to appeal better, but if Team Skull is able to get a lot of love while also being a group of delinquents (albeit influenced by a bigger evil), then what's stopping Team Star from getting the same kind of love?

This does have vague spoilers for Indigo Disk, and obvious spoilers for the main story, so please proceed with caution and read at your own risk.

I went into the Starfall Street storyline without expecting much, I mean, when Cassiopeia came to us asking to help disband Team Star, I didn't think much of it.

"We need to disband a group of delinquents cuz they're causing the school a lot of trouble? Okay, sure, whatever."

But every time we met up with Penny in-between each star base, and she starts putting details into our heads about how everyone in Team star were bullying victims, and this was their way of standing up to their bullies, I saw them in a completely different light.

Bullying is something that's, unfortunately, still frequent in a lot of schools, and I'm a victim of bullying myself. So when all these details came to my attention, I grew extremely fond of all these characters. I grew especially fond of Giacomo, who was alienated from his peers for his strict policies when on the student council.

In all honesty, ScarVio is very down to earth with its story and how it's portrayed, so much so that I forgot I was playing a Pokemon game, since I'm used to these elements of whimsy being present. Team Star at its core is a group of young kids who were bonded together by similar experiences, and use that similarity to lift each other up and support one another. Operation Starfall only came into effect because of threats of expulsion, and Penny cared for them too much to let that happen.

Team Star was built on the basis of love, and while calling them an "Evil Team" after learning all this is a little weird, they initially present themselves as antagonistic, so it still checks that box. That love is still present in a cutscene after finishing the Indigo Disk, where the Team Star bosses take it upon themselves to form a study group so they don't stress Penny out too much.

These characters feel so real, and honestly all the characters do. They're so full of personality and color yet don't feel overly exaggerated. For Team Star, there's bonding with others through your loneliness and alienation, the uncertainty of not know what the future will bring, and treasuring your friends even if they don't know how much you truly care for them at first.

So sure, Team Star isn't evil. But by no means are they bad characters. I've found comfort in them, as I'm sure many others have too. Their experiences are real, and has happened to others. But everyone can have their own opinion, just don't push yours onto others because they don't agree with it.

Shine bright like the starry sky and become who you really want to be, hasta la vistar... ☆

[laylawatermelon]

Please please read this and give it some love but I had an inkling of this feeling but never mentioned it cause I thought it was absurd.

Basically its a tweet of a reddit post (inception ik) basically of how Tim is basically rewriting the characters back to the way they were.

More below 👇🏾

Everyone's been mentioning how the characters have been more in character and the actors are happy and that makes sense.

He's been making them more in character than they ever were.

And with the Buddie situation (yes not everything is about them but i am a buddie fan who happened to find and grow to love this show because of it) it makes the most sense.

Now that Oliver mentioned the love story and everyone assumed it was the shooting and being in live it made the most sense.

Who else was he going to be falling in love woth at the time? It surely wasn't Taylor. Their romantic relationship was always doomed to fail and it was a great friendship they had (ehhh sideye for Bobby situation and Jonah eventually) that lasted if they weren't too persnally involved in each others lives.

She'd have been a perfect friend for him to gossip about the drama at the 118 (not work cause you know she'd make a story). That relationship wasn't going to work. He's too honest and she's too opportunisic.

If it hadn't been Jonah it'd be something else and he'd feel the same sense of betrayal (also Buck kissing Lucy was betrayal but that also felt a lil like assult cause she got him reallllly drunk and if the roles were reversed people wouldn't be that enthusiastic about it).

The only other love story that's been written logically as a will they won't they tragic and emotionally complex story is Buck and Eddie's.

Season 2 he replaced his love intrest! Like come on!

But in all seriousness, the Ana breakup and ll the vague dollow your heart is basically being rehashed.

I remember someone mentioning that Marisol is just another Ana (whoever you are if you see this send me hit I'll put it in here) and that's actually true.

Yay Marisol no last name haters your time has arrived cause it's official she's done!

There's no worry because we're getting a conclusion on the fact that was supposed to happen years ago.

She's not a permanent structure.

This storyline can go two ways.

One Buddie confirmed season 8.

Or two, Eddie realizes what his family could look like and its a single parent home with a support system from work (and Buck but we're gonna just gloss over that for now).

Meta linked above I just talked about Eddie and its coming to fruition (hire me abc im getting better at screenwriting!).

For the first one it's juicy storytelling.

For the other it makes sense as development for Eddie becoming comfortable with himself apart from his identity as a husband/widower, son, Catholic, and father.

He'll learn to bebhimself which he hadn't had the opportunity to do as he had fell into adulthood with his kid and then added on having a child with a disability that needs a lot of monetary support he ended up losing the chance to figure out who he is without all of that.

Even if it's not romantic (😔) it's great for him to realize he doesn't really need to be with anyone or fulfill a role he's not ready or willing to fill due to duty.

He can just be a father and work it iut that way.

Chris only wants his dad happy and I sense he knows his dad isn't happy at times or even worse he's not happy but is pretending so that his dad can be happy as he feels he has to give him that space/approval.

Chris is getting a storyline and he's always been observant so he'll most likely either explode in his feelings and tell his dad or tell him in a misunderstanding (he is getting to be a moody teen after all it's not going to be an adult reaction).

He's been close to death, heard his dad lose it and loat his mom. He's more mature than people give him credit for but the story hadn't included him much recently so we'll just have to see.

[queerfables]

I'm very hopeful for Buck/Eddie to become a canon ship, it would be great if that's what the show is doing, but also the more that I watch the more I get really emotional about what the show has already done by making Buck bi.

I'm reluctant to say too much about this since I'm only on s4 but I feel like... this show always impresses me with how sensitive and real its portrayal of its characters is. With Buck in particular, my sense is that they have been doing on purpose what a lot of shows do accidentally with their macho action hero male leads, which is to deconstruct that role and expose what lies beneath the preformative bravado. And what that is is just a person with hang ups and vulnerabilities like anyone else. He's not uniquely strong and he's also not uniquely damaged, he's just someone trying to figure out who he is and find a place where he belongs.

Looking back on the pilot with what I know now about his past, I think that must have been the first time he's ever really fought for something he cared about (except for Maddie, and I will never get over him continuing to write to her for years even though she never responded, and her keeping the letters). Buck never fully belonged anywhere enough to fight to stay but being a fire fighter and working at the 118 is different.

What I love about his backstory is that although it isn't an inherently queer story - figuring out who you are and where you belong is something almost everyone experiences to some degree - Buck as a queer person who doesn't know it yet does make a lot of sense. I love that the show leaning into that reading of his character resonates so well with what they've already established about him. I love that he already has a community around him that includes queer people, and nobody he has to worry might not support him while it's all still new and uncertain even to himself.

If Buck/Eddie is where the show is going then I know they will do an amazing job with it, because character and relationship development is where this show really shines. And there's a whole other post in why queer Eddie would make sense (bi Eddie makes a lot of sense; at this stage, gay Eddie also makes sense to me and I think there could be a super interesting story in him coming to terms with his complicated feelings about Shannon in light of that realisation). But I also appreciate that the show isn't rushing into a Buddie otp storyline, that it's taking its time with the characters, and I appreciate that this is a show I actually trust to handle queer storylines well.

[scalproie]

"Why are you mad? Bi-han was always evil"

I think what I'm mad about is the removal of underlying tragedy in his story in mk12. Yes, bi-han was, is, and will always be a villain/an antagonist/the "bad" sub zero to counterpart kuai liang's "good" sub zero/scorpion's tormentor in one way or another/"evil" BUT. previously there was nuance that is missing in his mk12 storyline. Its not a good or bad thing per say, I just lament that bc of that, people wont know even less of that nuance.

In previous timelines, bi-han was what the lin kuei was, he wasnt "evil" on his own, he was just the perfect representation of what his clan was because he was shaped by it. His own ambition wasnt really adressed, if he even had any. He was just a cold professional.

Its even more supported in mk: mythologies, the events happen because he has a job to do, not because he wants to. And when things go south he actually goes and fix his mistakes. He also both kills (hanzo) and spares (sareena) people in this game.

It's also now that I realize BOTH sub zero brothers dont really... start stuff. Things happen to them and they react to it but big events dont really happen because of their actions. They're both pretty passive. (and yes even killing scorpion. It happens bc of the clan rivalry. Not really bc bi-han has personal beef with hanzo)

It's when he's killed and become noob saibot that he becomes fully evil thanks to the corruption of his soul, and the focus on his own ambition is then pushed forward. But that's not an accurate representation of who bi-han was. Here's some confirmation from mk:deception

anyway long story short, in the previous timelines:

Bi-han (alive): neutral

Noob saibot: evil

And outside of mythologies, we have seen very little of neutral bi-han

Now in mk12: bi-han's ambition is THE FIRST THING about his character, its his drive. The lin kuei is also no longer smth he is appart of, HE IS the lin kuei, where he goes the lin kuei follows, and not because of his skills (and that wasnt smth ever implied in mk12) but by birthright, so his path to """evil""" is his own path and not something he was forced into. So in other words, its his own choice, there's not something inherently tragic about his situation from lack of agency like it was before.

And it's not inherently a bad thing like. It works in the story. It's okay if this bi-han is """"""evil"""""" from day 1. Bi-han has to be an antagonistic force (but when put in comparaison to other characters like mileena who's a protagonist and whose defining rivalry with kitana has been erased its mmmmmmh kinda unfair. But im not here for that. Thats my own bias). Before in previous timelines he was part of a small, unrelated to everything else (for the most part) sidestory, he was legit just a guy, but now he is part of a larger interconnected one and we NEED antagonists.

But yeah it's like. Despiste being originally a neutral-aligned character, my man gets an awful rep where this part of him is either unknown or ignored and he gets branded evil without knowing fully why. Plus we havent seen much of "neutral" alive bi-han at all and his relationship with his brother has still never been explored as of late. And now mk12 is going to make it even harder to convince people that bi-han is, while not GOOD or misunderstood or smth like that, not ENTIRELY BAD. He was a victim of circumstances. but now he is the circumstance.

[windriverdelta]

On the Grand Northern Conspiracy

Somehow I have been thinking a lot about the Grand Northern Conspiracy, an ASOIAF fan theory that posits that in AFFC/ADWD the lords of the North and Riverlands are plotting to install Jon Snow as King in the North. Well, no time like present to write a comment.

TL;DR I find it extremely implausible and would very surprised if TWOW featured anything even resembling that. It's a far-fetched conspiracy theory.

First of all, as other people like @turtle-paced have pointed out, there are lots of barriers to communication between the supposed conspirators and no evidence that they could coordinate their actions. Now, there is evidence in Arya's ASOS chapters that the Brotherhood Without Banners has contacts to the Riverlords and one wonders if Jaime Lannister in AFFC is being deliberately steered to Brienne, but that doesn't mean the Northerners can do the same.

Second, where is the set-up for the Northern lords using Stannis like that? Late Walder Frey is amply established as a traitor, opportunist and oathbreaker two books before the Red Wedding, there is no foreshadowing at all for Mormont, mountain clans etc. This isn't Game of Thrones, spectacular betrayals do not come out of thin air in ASOIAF. In this context, it's worth noting that foreshadowing in ASOIAF usually takes the form of a few unambiguous meaningful events, not a lot of very ambiguous little things that can interpreted in multiple ways like the infamous "Corn Code"

Three, Jon Snow does not work very well as a fulcrum for such a conspiracy. Ignoring for a moment that nobody has bothered getting his buy-in for such a plot (what if he deems it dishonourable and sleazy and ices out all the participants?), there is no indication that any physical copy of Robb's will survived the Red Wedding. Remember, the various lords and ladies are referred to as its "witnesses", and most of them are now prisoners of the Freys. Look at it from a character's perspective: Two lords who somehow survived the Red Wedding, claiming that Robb wanted to make Jon king. Why would anyone believe them? Especially Jon Snow, who knows in ADWD that Robb was killed by his own men, he has no reason at all to trust Maege or Galbart. And without the will, Jon Snow would just be an usurper and deserter from the Night's Watch.

Narrative-wise, I don't see much foreshadowing of Jon being king in the north in the main series - all so-called "foreshadowing" I've seen are ambiguous allusions or far-fetched interpretations. I see no thematic or character purpose, either - I tend to think that R+L=J, the three dragons and his assassination lead into him being a dragonrider and fighter against the Others. In my opinion, the political side of the Northern storyline is Sansa and Stannis' job. And there is plenty of potential conflict around them without the need for a king in the north scheme.

But the big sticking point is that the actions of many of the supposed conspirators don't fit with theory. Just to cite a few examples:

Lady Stoneheart is not crowning Jon with anything but a noose, not in a million years, there is no evidence whatsoever that she's anything but a revenge zombie.

Wyman Manderly is entrusting Rickon Stark to consummate Stannis loyalist Davos Seaworth, which makes no sense at all if he planned to betray Stannis later - why would he risk Rickon becoming Stannis' hostage?

We have no reason to believe that Barbrey Dustin is lying about not liking the Starks - for one thing, Dustin troops are noticeable by their absence for the War of Five Kings, true to her word. She'll probably jump ship if Roose falls, but that's not the same thing as becoming a Stark restorationist. In fact, I could see her supporting Stannis to take the Starks down a peg.

People keep citing Lyanna Mormont's defiant letter to Stannis as proof of Bear Island not being truly on his side, but not only is she (as Jon points out) not in charge of House Mormont, we later see Alysane marching with Stannis. She almost certainly is in contact with Maege given her comments to Asha about her family; I doubt that this is a right hand vs left hand situation. I am not even sure that she has much of a retinue, either - the problem with Rickon above may exist here too. Finally, recall that in AGOT Maege challenged Robb, telling him that he was so young as to have no business giving her commands. The Mormonts don't let anyone boss them around, that doesn't mean that they are Frey Lite.

In short, this theory requires lots of poorly foreshadowed OOC behaviour to enable a rather pointless political ploy that doesn't fit the narrative very well.

[denimbex1986]

'Christopher Nolan has a knack for wrangling impressive ensemble casts for his films, but he really outdid himself with his 3-hour historical epic Oppenheimer. Even if the World War II biopic didn’t include the frequent Nolan collaborator Michael Caine, the stacked ensemble is filled with a terrific ensemble of veteran Hollywood stars, Academy Award-winning performers, underrated character actors, relative unknowns, and a few former box office titans that have seemingly disappeared over the last decade or so. It wasn’t that long ago that Josh Hartnett was the marquee lead of films like Lucky Number Slevin and Black Hawk Down, but his star power has seemingly evaporated, as some actors can only maintain the same level of success for so long. However, Hartnett has always been a more interesting and complicated actor than the roles that he was given at the beginning of his career. Hartnett isn’t just in the middle of a major comeback; he basically steals Oppenheimer with one of the most nuanced supporting performances.

Why Is 'Oppenheimer's Ernest Lawrence So Important?

Oppenheimer is told in non-chronological order, in what has become a hallmark of nearly all of Nolan’s films. While Hartnett doesn’t play a significant role in the black-and-white sections that show the confirmation hearings for Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.), he is instrumental within the main storyline focused on J. Robert Oppenheimer’s (Cillian Murphy) studies at the University of California in Berkeley, where he first conceived of much of the technology that ended up becoming critical within the Manhattan Project. The sequences in Berkeley aren’t just where Oppenheimer unlocks part of his genius, but also where he falls in love with his second wife Kitty (Emily Blunt), and makes a community of friends for the first time. It is during this period that he works hand-in-hand with Hartnett’s depiction of Ernest Lawrence; having an outsider’s perspective on Oppenheimer’s work was necessary for this sequence to function.

Ernest Lawrence was an incredibly influential figure in Oppenheimer’s life. While he’s not someone that Oppenheimer often looks up to and idolizes like Neils Bohr (Kenneth Branagh) or Albert Einstein (Tom Conti), Lawrence represents the sort of man that Oppenheimer could never really become. Hartnett depicts Lawrence as a man of great importance, intelligence, and class that also has a relatively normal social life and shows an ability to adjust to the stresses within his life. Lawrence encourages Oppenheimer to find a balance within his work, but it becomes obvious that it’s not possible for someone with his capacity for genius. It creates an odd tension between them; Lawrence feels both resentful and sympathetic for his friend. Oppenheimer’s inability to simply “turn off” his brain and focus on something other than his work may end up making him more historically important than Lawrence, but it negates any sense of accomplishment or happiness he may feel.

Josh Hartnett does some really outstanding subtle work with his performance, as there’s an interesting dichotomy to Lawrence’s feelings about Oppenheimer. He’s not resentful, as he and Oppenheimer are able to get along and share much in common due to their shared experience in nuclear research. Lawrence is someone who can communicate with Oppenheimer on an intellectual level about the groundbreaking studies that are being done, but he’s not capable of reaching the same next-level conclusions. Lawrence is well-educated and knows what he’s talking about, but also acknowledges that it’s not his name that the world will remember. It was almost a bit of reflective acting on Hartnett’s part as if he was acknowledging that he was no longer the same star who had led Pearl Harbor to its box-office success two decades prior.

Ernest Lawrence Is Important to the Politics of 'Oppenheimer'

Christopher Nolan isn’t necessarily known as a “political filmmaker,” but while his films aren’t necessarily as overt as the work of directors like Oliver Stone or Spike Lee, there are strong anti-war, anti-escalation themes in The Dark Knight, Dunkirk, and Tenet. Oppenheimer is definitely Nolan’s most overtly political work to date, and Lawrence is instrumental in unpacking the film’s complex understanding (and criticism) of the decisions that Oppenheimer made on behalf of his country during his lifetime. At first, Oppenheimer’s relationship with Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh) is nothing more than a passionate romantic affair, but it's Lawrence who explains the danger that being involved with the socialist political movement at the time that they are in. Lawrence has his personal feelings about the rising Communist movement, but he worries that Oppenheimer’s mind could be distracted when he’s working on studies that could literally change the way that mankind observes the world.

The political differences between Lawrence and Oppenheimer are fascinating, and Hartnett does a great job of showing Lawrence’s conviction in his belief and handling the dense political dialogue. It’s fascinating that Lawrence’s political beliefs aren’t delved into that deeply other than his expressed desire to keep all discussions about the socialist movement out of the classroom. Lawrence tells Oppenheimer that he considered himself a patriot, but he also wants the University to be an institute of science, and not a hangout spot for a potentially dangerous movement to begin. He and Oppenheimer begin to grow further apart as a result of this, but they still share a mutual understanding of which events transcend their own personal beliefs. Both men react with the same surprise and fear when news of Adolf Hitler’s invasion of Poland breaks.

Josh Hartnett does a great job of showing Lawrence’s empathy for Oppenheimer. While he understands that a traditional celebration isn’t necessarily something that Oppenheimer would enjoy, there’s a friendliness between the two men that continues after General Leslie Groves (Matt Damon) whisks him away to work on the Manhattan Project. Lawrence refuses to report incriminating evidence on Oppenheimer during the government’s investigation, and the two are able to shake hands at the end of the film. That’s more than Oppenheimer can say about Edward Teller (Benny Safdie), whose pro-nuclear beliefs created too much of a divide between them.

Josh Hartnett is in the midst of a much-needed comeback, and it’s great to see that Oppenheimer gave him such a nuanced role to execute. While it may have taken a while for him to finally get the chance to work with Nolan, his performance is one that is essential to show what made Oppenheimer tick on both an intellectual and personal level.'

[willemdafinky]

I have completed Spider-Man 2 twice now and I have very conflicting feelings on the game’s story, mostly towards its Venom/Symbiote storyline. On my first playthrough my problem was how little screen time and characterization Venom had in the story despite all the build up and prioritizing him over anything else and while I still have a problem with that aspect of the story, upon my second playthrough I realized that my real biggest issue with the narrative is Peter’s time in the black suit and being corrupted by the Symbiote. I felt it was rushed and forced but I didn’t have any deeper and meaningful critiques of it…that is until I looked back on other adaptations of the Black Suit storyline and a review of Spider-Man 2 by Youtuber Dorito God which I recommend watching that made it click as to why Peter and the Black Suit doesn’t work.

Insomniac's Peter Parker is the nicest version of the character.

An aspect of Peter Parker that I feel has been downplayed in many adaptations is that he was, at many points, a jerk. He had an incredibly short temper, tends to be cocky for the worst, and outright selfish at points. This does not inherently mean he was unlikable, I actually believe this makes him more interesting and even sympathetic. His negative traits aren’t there just because but are present of numerous factors, most of them because of his double life as Spider-Man. The sheer responsibility that is required of being Spider-Man would naturally cause high level of stress which as we all know can easily lead into losing your cool: not to mention other elements such as J Jonah Jameson’s constant slander of his name which influenced his public perception amongst New York, the grief and guilt of losing loved ones such as Uncle Ben, his struggles of keeping good relationships due to wanting to keep his identity a secret out of fear of his loved ones getting hurt, and how this all started when he was 16 it is completely understandable that Peter can be frankly a jerk.

I don’t think Peter Parker’s defining characteristic is a jerkass who underneath is a good person but I feel that his jerkiness is an important factor of the character that doesn’t get much attention in adaptations outside of Peter B Parker in the Spider-Verse movies. That being said, I would be arguing in bad faith if I said this has been completely left out of Spider-Man adaptations: Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, The Amazing Spider-Man duology, and even the MCU have this aspect of Peter’s personality intact. In the Raimi Trilogy Peter is shown to be a very flawed boyfriend to Mary Jane with Spider-Man 3 being the most prominent example where he just doesn’t understand Mary Jane’s own struggles and subconsciously brushes them off not just because of his own struggles but also from the outright celebration he is getting from New York as Spider-Man. The Amazing Spider-Man duology gave Peter a new motivation for becoming Spider-Man as originally purely being revenge only to later take up the role of hero, not to mention also breaking a dying man’s promise of staying away from Gwen. The MCU had Peter initially refuse to help Norman and the other inter dimensional visitors despite the fact that it was his fault they were brought to the MCU and it’s only because of Aunt May that he does try to help.

Now, I have to ask a question: can you honestly name a scene with Insomniac’s Peter where he has any of these traits? I genuinely can’t think of one. Spider-Man 2 tries with the boss fight against Scream where while under the Symbiote, Mary Jane tells Peter how much he made her feel like she was nothing more than emotional support for his struggles while not doing anything for her and I don’t think that lines up with how Peter was written in the game. Peter is very supportive of Mary Jane throughout the story for her job and does listen to her when she vents about it so this interaction where the story suggests otherwise in the Scream boss fight doesn’t work for me. Peter in these games is just a really nice guy, does this mean he doesn’t have moments where he crosses his limit? No of course not, the climax against Otto disproves but that’s more of an example of the “pissing off the good guy is a bad move” trope than Peter’s more abrasive side. I don’t think this inherently means that Insomniac Peter is a bad character, I very much liked him in the first game and Miles Morales after and one of my other favorite versions of the character is the one from the 90s cartoon who is also a kinder interpretation of Peter Parker. So what is my problem?

I don’t think this overly nice version of Peter Parker works with the Black Suit story. Ever since the 90s cartoon, every version of the Black Suit story has the Symbiote amplifies Peter’s more negatives traits (most notably his temper) and we’ve established that Peter doesn’t have of any these traits so seeing him lash out at other characters and being more aggressive feels extremely out of character and not in the way that I think the writers intended.

Okay so, the amplification of negative emotions doesn’t work but maybe they went through a different approach. Maybe in this version the Symbiote instead brings out the host’s intrusive thoughts and inner frustrations, like they did with Mary Jane. The story suggests this: first in the Spider-Men fight where Peter hints that he has a sense of insecurity in his role as Spider-Man because of how good Miles is in the role, that he might not be needed anymore and how the Symbiote is the only way he could keep and be greater. Second when Miles and Martin Li go into Peter’s subconscious it is outward stated that Peter supposedly may secretly want to kill his foes just so he could end the cycle, which the Symbiote feeds on. This all sounds great, what’s the problem?

Neither of these are even hinted at beforehand. Peter never shows any resentment towards Miles, not helped by how little screen presence Miles has in the story but that’s its own can of worms, and there is nothing to suggest that Peter even entertained the idea of defeating his rogues gallery permanently. So there is nothing in this story that gives any reason as to why Peter acts the way he does while under the Symbiote. Now this might sound weird for me to say since “isn’t that what the Symbiote does” but hear me out:

Harry does not act anywhere similar to Peter when he is using the Symbiote. His personality is the same which gives the idea that perhaps in this continuity the Symbiote might not have the same negative energy it does in most adaptations and is more like in the original comics where its only negative thing is that it takes control over the host while they’re asleep. But I don’t think that was ever the intention, it always felt like that the Symbiote is supposed to be what it usually is in most adaptations. So why was Peter affected by it but Harry wasn't?

There’s also the problem that Peter himself never has the big moment of realizing what the Symbiote is doing to him, he doesn’t have his own self reflection. Compare to other adaptations:

•The 90s cartoon: He almost kills Shocker after the latter had already given up and even after he stops, the Symbiote still tries to kill Shocker.

•Spider-Man 3: Him slapping Mary Jane is the moment where Peter finally sees that he had changed for the worst.

•The Spectacular Spider-Man: Getting called out by Flash Thompson for how he’s been treating his friend is what plants the doubts in Peter’s head that something might be wrong with the Symbiote which only gets confirmed when it tries to convince him that they don’t need anyone.

In Spider-Man 2, we don’t get that. I don’t consider Miles telling Peter that the Symbiote is changing him to be a moment of self realization, it doesn’t work for me. I never got the idea that in this game Peter did something so awful, an action that he wouldn’t act out doing, that would break him free from the hold the Symbiote hivemind has on him and to be better. I don’t get that.

Combine all that and you have what has ended up being one of my least favorite versions of the Black Suit storyline, even more than Spider-Man 3. Note that I hate Spider-Man 3, it’s my least favorite of the Spider-Man movies not counting the Sonyverse movies, but with that I can see how it could work with that version of Peter. Spider-Man 2’s version of the story doesn’t work fundamentally to me because of their Peter unless you change Peter’s characterization, the narrative or how the Symbiote works.

[starwalker03]

I have plot bunnies. Was wondering how time traveled WMLP Dick would explain having a healing factor like Slade's (Good luck with that Dick) ended up day dreaming into a new au and living up to my namesake. So idea: A government is trying to recreate the experiment that got Slade his powers and make their own unit of Deathstrokes. Dick or the team is investigating human tracking and human experiments. Dick infiltrates the facility but gets caught (suspend your disbelief here). Evil scientists decide to use Nightwing as a spare subject. Most of their subjects are dying anyway, and he's around the right age and health standard. May as well get some more data before they kill him. Slade who came to shut down the experiment for more personal reasons, finds Dick before the Team does.

I have this image of Slade finding Dick curled up in a cell. The roots of his hair are turning sliver in patches. Dick puts on a brave face and tries to barter his way out but Slade can see how exhausted he looks and guess what happened to him.

ooooooooooooooooh yes. mhm mhm yes very much.

I love a good plot bunny. nom nom nom. This is going in the sladick server for sure lmao.

Nightwing in the YJ show is always so fun to mess with because he is definitely Nightwing, like he's not some strange other version of the character with the same name. The story is very different, his role as a hero is very different, his experiences are very different, but he is still quintessentially Nightwing. I tend to blend all my canons together a lot to make stories but the YJ canon is really fun to mess with on its own sometimes, especially with nightwing.

He's just so young and like, different (?) to how he is in other storylines. like Nightwing of YJ is not Nightwing of Teen Titans. they're just not the same. and what we see of his relationship with Batman is so interesting. And then on top of that the timeline for the batfam is so weord to mess with because within five years Dick becomes Nightwing, Jason becomes Robin, dies, Tim becomes Robin, and there's no actual proof that Dick left Gotham for his own city, so for some reason he became Nightwing but stayed in Gotham but Bruce still went and found a new Robin? like. what?

ramble aside, Nightwing being captured and experimented on and saved by Slade before anyone else is so fun. I'm imagining this as like, post season two maybe? or actually no, cause by then he's quit as team leader. so imagine just before season two, maybe Kaldur has already started going undercover in the Light, and Dick gets captured. It falls under the radar a little because he's very independant and things with the light and the reach haven't started to boil over yet, so they assume he's got caught up in some other mission. unless of course he gets kidnapped on a mission. the absolute panic of that. THey've already lost one leader (Kaldur) under mysterious circumstance and now they've lost Nightwing too? Wally and Artemis having already retired from heroing and hearing about their friend going MIA is a Thought. M'Gaan and Conner being out somewhere else doing some other mission.

ooooh wait. in season two Dick has had to fall back on a support position as leader of the team, because they have had to start splitting up on multiple missions and the only way to effectively lead everyone is to be at the mountain on comms and computers. this would be a fun explanation for that. Him getting kidnapped and experimented on, Slade finding and saving him, helping him heal and figure out what's happened to him, and Dick skedaddling as soon as possible because he doesn't want to get double kidnapped and he can tell Slade is very close to doing exactly that.

showing up at the mountain after running from Slade, who has been giving chase... oh that's fun. makes me think of a series by mizufallsfromkumo called Gravity.

Anyway. He's barred from field action for a bit while the league makes sure he has a psych eval and stuff, cause that sounds like a procedure they'd have in place after someone is kidnapped and captured. And because of that no one learns about the fact that he's kinda sorta a supersoldier now and he wants to keep it that way. and then the season starts and he finally gets back in the field and everything. and when Slade shows up in the show he immediately spots Kaldur'Ahm and is like 'yeah there's no way this turned evil shit is real' and he hunts down Dick while he's on patrol to be like 'well hello there. so this can go two ways...' because he now has leverage.

him using Kaldur as leverage to make Dick strike a deal with him, so this time there's no running away. Dick showing up as renegade months later and no one putting two and two together because he's wearing a mask and he's not supposed to be a supersoldier.

I've realised I already have two different fics that follow a very similar plot to this lmao. one is from whumptober 2021 and the other is just only a few chapters in and I haven't had a chance to get back to it lmao.

What Kind of Man? is the idea of Dick handing himself over to Slade as payment for his silence about Kaldur and Artemis. Oh, Well, Call Off the Dogs, We Found Her in the Woods involves Dick getting kidnapped and experimented on to make him a supersoldier (and will eventually involve Slade).

Also if this is an idea you vibe with I would reccomend the series I linked before (although I think it's been discontinued? it's unfinished at the least) and also An Active Imagination by @withthekeyisking-writer. oh! and Dia a Hero by Foreverwhelmed.

I swear I had more recs to give... Oh! hang on...

Black and Blue Looks Good on You by Soul Tinkerer

and Persuasion (which is on hiatus) by Averia.

okay that's all I got rn byeeeeeee

[silent-sanctum]

The Part 3 Dilemma

I have one of this random thoughts of mine and it's about one of the complaints about Stardust Crusaders

"I dropped at Part 3 because the plot dragged too long" "The Monster-of-the week trope made it boring"

Personally, I don't mind it (thanks to Jotaro's presence tbh). But I do understand why others feel that way. I feel like the reason Araki decided to stick with that set-up is because for one, it's a shonen series (a.k.a a manga who's targeted for young boys), and two that it's because it's his way of experimenting with a new power system.

So, you can't really blame a guy who wanted to test things out in the beginning rather than to focus on writing a more engaging story, more so when him knowing that the introduction of Stands and their powers was able to bring him the most commercial success.

But from a writer's perspective and someone who watches a lot of shows, I think what made SC such a sludge to get through is this part's lack of subplots.

What do I mean by that? Let me explain:

"A subplot is a narrative thread that is woven through the media to support the elements of the main plot. A subplot can build out the conflict in the main plot or it can be a vehicle for a secondary character's storyline."

Essentially, it's a method of fleshing out the story more by introducing the audience a side story to either tackle a theme that's related to the main plot or develop a character more to better understand their purpose in the story.

Now let's look at Part 3

The central point of this part is that a big bad has returned to wreak havoc on the Joestars and the world and it's the heroes' job is to get rid of him once and for all. It's odyssey-based where we get to see the guys go on this journey and fight the bad guys until they reach the final stage.

But because this part involves just that- the fighting bad guys part- for 40+ episodes, it bores the audience because of how repetitive it's becoming. There's nothing else it has going on for it to keep the audience engaged.

There's a significant lack of subplots to enhance their journey to Egypt.

Compare that to the other parts…

Part 4: A slice-of-life/murder mystery plot that focuses on the stories of its residents (e.g. Koichi's development, Okuyasu's family issues, Yukako's obssesion, Rohan's antics as a mangaka, Josuke's bond with Joseph), before tying them into the main plot in the second half (e.g. Reimi's murder, the involvement of the Stand arrow, focus on Kira's mind as a psychopathic serial killer) Part 5: Got to look into the past of each of Bucciarati's crew: Giorno and Bucciarati's childhood, Mista's pre-Stand user life, Abbachio's past as a cop, Diavolo and Trish's dynamic, Fugo's history with his anger issues. There's also the involvement of the Stand arrow, brief focus on La Squadra's perspective, etc. Part 6: Explores the characters of Ermes (seeking justice for the death of her sister), FF (their path of finding their identity), delving deep into DIO's psyche about "attaining heaven", Weather Report's history with Pucci and Perla, and the estranged bond between Jolyne and Jotaro.

This is Araki improving his craft but when we compare that to Part 3, we can see that P3 only got the "fighting enemies until we reach the boss" plot going on. And that's tedious to get past.

Sure we got one subplot going: Polnareff's quest of avenging the death of his sister.

His purpose of joining the Crusaders in the first place was to find the killer. It's been tackled for more than one episode and in the process, we see him form rapport with the allies he made while still sticking to his mission, allowing the audience to connect to the Frenchman more (even to the point where they start to joke that he's the main protagonist instead of Jotaro)

But what of the rest? What of the development of the other Crusaders?

Kakyoin and his past as a lonely child born with a Stand?

How Avdol met Joseph, and what his motivation was to continue working with the latter?

Maybe a subtle foreshadowing of Joseph's infidelity or how he's doing in New York prior to the quest?

Heck maybe even a background as to why Jotaro turned to delinquency when in the past, he's seen or viewed as a regular happy child who does well and is active in school?

Instead, what we got is Kak's past revealed as a last minute attempt to make us feel sympathy for him as he's dying, Avdol died without much going about him, Joseph is just there to be the secondary Jojo, and 3taro is most of the fandom's worst version of Jotaro because at a surface level, he's seen only as a rude standoffish teenager who does not emote for no reason.

We don't get to connect with the Crusaders as much or as deep because we don't know them outside of "we're here to defeat the big evil" and a bunch of fighting.

tldr: Not enough character development because there's too much of the "beat the bad guys and win"

I don't know. It's just my personal take because usually when I consume media, I tend to get hooked onto the story when there's mini stories that fleshes out the overarching theme.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk

[car9723-t]

A rough ideation for TGaMM S3 finale episode

Since I found that somebody shared what they envisioned for TGaMM's S3 finale, as well as I read S3 scripts myself, I decided to compose a rough form of outline I had in mind as a my own S3 finale.

As a result, here's a rough outline of mine to suggest. If you're interested in my own, here you go.

OUTLINE.

When the summer vacation comes, Ollie finds he has a full three months as an opportunity to engoodify the Ghost World. Since he was already enthusiastic to help ghosts enough to try doing what wasn’t supposed to be a Chairman's duty, he decided to invest heavily in it. At this point, since he could come back to his human body at least within a day, he couldn’t notice that he tends to suffer from the memory loss. While Molly supports his enthusiasm, she is aware of the fact that he had been obsessed with ruling the Ghost World, resulting in him spending more and more time there.

Ollie spent longer time than ever before in the Ghost World, trying to set the afterlife on the right track he envisioned. However, it worsened his memory loss since he spent too long time as a wraith, eventually forgotten his human life entirely. It also contributed to his problems with remembering details about the living world, causing him to visit there again after a long time - at this point, Scratch was the only one who regularly let him know what was going on in the living world.

When he returns to the living world, he fails to recognize anyone who is either his family or his friends. He also couldn't notice his shell either, just assuming that he needed assistance and tried to help him get better. That way, he returns to his home with his own shell, eventually encountering the welcoming party about his return (Ghost Friends - including Molly - were eying hard for his return, preparing a welcoming party in case of his return in order to ask him what he had done and threw one on double once they learned that he returns to the human world).

Not only he couldn’t remember the name Ollie, he had a gradually mounting panic attack when his family began asking him about his life and such. Then, by mistake, he entered his body again, triggering his memory of jis human life. Slowly and steadily, he finally recovered his human life, and he finally realized that he had lost all the memories about himself for months. He was told by his family and friends about everything.

Having realized that his leadership isn't sustainable anymore, Ollie decided to take action. While he was told to decide what he wanted - he can keep working as a Chairman if he really desires, his family and Molly said - he realized that he put other important things like friends, family, and his own life behind for others' sake - even as a Chairman of the Ghost World, him began troubled with human knowledge wasn’t a good sign. He still had his own life to live.

He had an emergency meeting with the Ghost Council and the Chairman Robe, discussing his successor. In the end, Ollie decided to let the sentimental robe itself become a Chairman. He found that the robe had developed its own vision about the ideal leadership, as well as a strong will to learn better about it from Ollie. Apparently, the robe learned a lot when it was looking for candidates for the Chairman and working with Ollie.

He decided to retire from his job, give his position to the robe, and work as a mentor/advisor to help it lead the Ghost World. He also promised that him and his friends would offer help when he could afford them. He eventually returns to his own life by doing so.

SELF-EVALUATION.

Honestly, it eventually became Ollie-heavy storyline. I guess I should have considered better about other important characters' roles when I was working on it. But, nothing is perfect with the first try - and I rushed an idea in order to compose it a written form before forgetting all of these details.

I see it could be refined and has a plenty of rooms for improvements. So, I'm open to other suggestions and insights aligned with the same topic. So, looking forward to see better ideas!

[rivalsforlife]

Upcoming Takarazuka/Great Ace Attorney Musical

Takarazuka Revue, a long-standing all-female theater troupe in Japan, was the first to do an adaptation of Ace Attorney in 2009, with their two musicals Ace Attorney: The Truth Reborn (a musical loosely based on Rise from the Ashes) and Ace Attorney 2: The Truth Reborn Again (a musical loosely based on Farewell my Turnabout). This was followed in 2013 by a Miles Edgeworth-centric musical involving time travel.

Now, ten years since Takarazuka’s last attempt to bring Ace Attorney to musical life, they’re returning with a fourth musical (link goes to official Capcom announcement in Japanese), this time based off of the Great Ace Attorney games.

Like the previous three musicals, this will be performed by Takarazuka’s Cosmos Troupe. It will also be directed by Suzuki Kei, who directed the other three Ace Attorney musicals. According to the official Takarazuka page, as of right now, they plan two runs in July and August 2023:

July 19th - July 26th 2023 at the Umeda Arts Theater in Osaka, Japan

August 1st - August 8th 2023 at the KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theater in Yokohama, Japan

So far, cast lists have not been announced, except that the actress Rukaze Hikaru will be playing the lead role of Ryunosuke Naruhodo, and judging by the synopsis, Susato Mikotoba and Herlock Sholmes will also be present.

A (google translated) synopsis from the Takarazuka page (with minor modifications + square bracket notes for clarity):

A stage adaptation of the blockbuster "Great Gyakuten Saiban" [Great Ace Attorney] featuring Ryunosuke Naruhodo, the ancestor of Ryuichi Naruhodo [Phoenix Wright]! Set in a courtroom, the game "Gyakuten Saiban" is a popular series that has sold more than 9.8 million copies in total. The unique characters and intricately crafted storylines have garnered tremendous support, and have been mixed in media such as movies and TV animations, not limited to games. In the Takarazuka Revue, after its first performance in Sora [Cosmos] Troupe in 2009, "Ace Attorney 2" was performed in the same year, and "Ace Attorney 3" was performed in 2013, both of which were very popular works. Ryunosuke Naruhodo, a college student who aspires to become a lawyer, goes from the Empire of Japan in the Meiji era to study abroad in the British Empire with the World Exposition just around the corner, in order to learn about the latest judicial system. Ryunosuke, who is involved in one difficult case after another, stands up for his client with judicial assistant Susato, but the great detective of the century, Sherlock Holmes, appears... From the famous line "There is an objection!"

From this synopsis, there is little information on what specific cases may be loosely adapted, or what other similarities the musical may share with the games. 

To clarify for English-speaking AA fans, as I understand it, Takarazuka does not translate their plays, so any fans who are interested will have to either wait for fan subtitles or find a way to watch a recording (possibly dvd release, if they’ll do that for this one) without them.

I’ll try to update this post as new information is released. Please let me know if there is anything that I missed or is incorrect that you would like me to add.