#the white lotus s2

[tamras-shieldmaiden]

When the last show you've watched calls you out on your bisexuality 👀

Yes, The White Lotus S2, that means you. I wasn't ready for Ethan and Harper (Will Sharpe and Aubrey Plaza). Those of you who have watched the series know what I'm talking about 😳

[megafavna]

soooooo important

[saynomorefic]

Marcus, Albie, and Nice Guy Syndrome

*SPOILERS Young Royals / White Lotus S2*

I rewatched white lotus season 2 and got major Marcus energy from this guy here.

Albie Di Grasso is the ultimate 'nice guy', attempting to reform his lineage of toxic masculinity by subtle manipulation tactics. His strategy is to be so attentive and accommodating that the person he's pursuing becomes the bad guy for saying no to him.

Some fun Albie (Marcus adjacent) quotes:

"I refuse to have a bad relationship with women." While gendered, this attitude gives off that in his head, he's in full control of the relationship dynamic. Reminds me of how anytime Simon was trying to express his true feelings, Marcus would throw pseudo psychology at the problem until the result was that Marcus came out the hero and therefore Simon must owe him his affection.

"I seem to be attracted to pretty wounded birds." Albie says this to his love interest early on, and at least he is self aware and transparent (unlike someone else.) This line stuck out to me the most related to Marcus. He projects this image onto Simon, assuming things about Simon's past and life based on a) the video and b) knowledge shared with his mother in confidence about Linda and Micke's relationship. This is way before Simon was shown opening up to him about any of it. And so what if Simon is both very pretty and wounded? The problem here is that both Albie and Marcus view themselves as the solution to all their love interests problems if only they were given a chance, which again takes away their partners' autonomy over their life and the relationship. Again, it's I'm going to be the perfect guy, unlike who or what has hurt you, so therefore you have no choice but to love me.

The worst part? In the end, they both get to feel like they're the good guy who got played by someone unwilling to see how great they were, or who was manipulative and non-disclosing, because they wrote the narrative so they could never come out the bad guy. We go back to Albie saying "I refuse to have a bad relationship with women." AKA, if something goes wrong, it's impossible that it was his fault. Same with Marcus. He gaslit and projected onto Simon at every turn, when he tried to slow things down or end them twice, and then had the nerve to tear him down with his shitty pseudo psychoanalysis.

Moral of the story? Don't trust nice guys.

Shout out to @darktwistedgenderplural and our rambling convos about Marcus, Simon, and nice guy syndrome. Idk if y'all have seen white lotus but it's very good!!

[kaiowut99]

oh my god it's good to get to see these in-context finally

Vector's quality long-game plan, you kinda see it as a bit too good to be true that this new "transfer student" cozying up to Yuma is natural but you roll with it, then notice those quick nuanced looks the past 10-15 episodes as a little detail gets mentioned about the Barians and you start to see him look a little fishy, then "Vector" kidnaps him and has Yuma think he's dead to get him to lose his shit by also making this big reveal

And he set Yuma up with Limited Barian Force to use his fitting Vain - Sneer of Betrayal Trap on his "V" Monsters--his Hope Ray "V"

Seeing Yuma distraught at what he thought he knew crumbling, the trust he put into "Rei" all that time (and sticking up for him against Gilag ofc) working against him and even causing a slight rift between him and Astral... also, the BGM playing as this all goes down... He's being an absolute troll about it all, right down to using his Shingetsu voice to really rub salt into the wound, and yeah, it's good stuff

I did have some inkling at the twist eventually coming being in the fandom as long as I have and Vector being such a meme (but being so because he's seen as a great villain), but did my best to avoid/scroll past spoilers going into watching ZeXal for the first time the past while, and even then it was done pretty well to still make the twist land nicely.

[also, checked the dub on a whim, and it's nice the dialogue is mostly intact, but oof dub!Yuma really could not do distraught... though it was interesting that Liscio Jr. sounds like he played R[ei/ay]? Apparently Vector too, but they put a voice filter on him so even if he's supposed to be mockingly using Ray's voice it doesn't hit the same as JP!Vector mockingly going "I lured you here and you thought it was all for the beeest to involve people that didn't need to be"

Also, Durbe I think at some point in Vector's reveal originally says he's pulling "a clever move," his tone implying he's a bit annoyed at the lengths Vector's going here and that there's some history there, but that line's removed in the dub

also how dare they cut the close-up shot that got the entire episode's art budget spent on it]

bonus: me on five hours of sleep:

[warningsine]

[lsfication]

my white lotus s3 agenda guys its happening......

[adria-draca]

Armond - he's beauty, he's grace, he'll take a shit in your suitcase

Most wondrous hotel manag'r to be

until he wast not to be

wasn't the arch nemesis of little b1tch shane

until he did start doing coc@1ne

- Spit It Like Shakespeare (Adria Draca)

[bluupxels]

Honeymoon in Tartosa

[pinkmoonmp3]

aubrey plaza via wmag

[child-of-the-danube]

Finally catching up on White Lotus S2 and why am I being called out so loudly?

One cute girl showed Valentina the bare minimum of human kindness and she went right into gay panic mode, I-

If that ain't the universal experience...

[portraitofadumbassonfire]

[spellboundmayfield]

i recently finished s1 of the white lotus and i can’t stop thinking about rachel telling shane she’ll be happy after spiraling out of the marriage throughout the vacation. like you sit and eat your cake and any character that tries and breaks from that is doomed by the narrative. the cycle is endless and inescapable. such an anxiety inducing and miserably wonderful show.

[ramona-thorns]

i just learned that Evan Peters was supposed to be playing Aubrey Plaza's husband in White Lotus and now I don't know what to do with that information.

[dracoj]

bit the bullet and watched white lotus but i truly have nothing to say about s1 lolol. suffering hotel manager, annoying rich ppl, lesbian teens 👍

[asysto-le]

i just discovered that my white lotus-husband is married to my loki-wife and i’m kinda jealous and kinda turned on at the same time