#this is brilliant and terrifying as is and on a meta level

[combinado]

CYBERGEM - Raiden Warned About AI Censorship - MGS2 Codec Call (2023 Version)

Recommend watching this even (and maybe especially) if you aren't familiar with MGS.

[moki-dokie]

kay so on my 5th rewatch and something i wanna point out that is such a brilliant acting choice: kenneth branagh's very specific speaking cadence for fowler.

fowler's cadence threw me off so hard the first watch i could barely even tell he was irish. my gf thought he might be from around glasgow. neither of us could pin it down. it is NOT the cadence of a native english speaker, no matter the accent. the words flow strangely into each other like there's no natural punctuation in his sentence structure. even the lilt is kinda different from what you hear in the irish accents today.

so i got to thinking: maybe this is how the japanese hear him? he's fluent, yes, but his cadence is off. he's not a native speaker. it's just slightly off. that could still be a possibility but no, i don't think that's it.

and then i remembered: ireland was still speaking gaeilge in this time period. so i looked up some recordings of native speakers of it from the 1800s, before it got heavily anglicised. and wouldn't you know it, the cadence is pretty damn similar. the lilt is almost identical.

i think fowler grew up speaking gaeilge. and i think the cadence of his native language follows him into his japanese. if so, that's some next-level meta and brillance from kenneth. I'm actually really excited to hear fowler speak around other native english speakers, excited to see if it changes at all. i wonder if he'll mask it, make it more british to better blend in. i wonder if we'll get an obvious difference when he speaks to mizu vs. speaking with other english speakers.

i could be wrong about it too but that seems like an acting choice kenneth would do tbh. either way it's intriguing as fuck fowler is such a cool and terrifying villain. as much as i think mizu should have slit his throat on the boat and tossed him overboard, i'm happy we'll get more of him and his weird lovely scary voice.

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

Let's put the ship in partnership, shall we? - Extended version

Recipe to get this LONG-ASS meta-post: Be a Sydcarmy truther. Be impartial. Be open-minded. Be patient. Be super thorough with the embedded links 🔗, which are all pieces of this puzzle I've been putting together here and working on for months. There's a reason why this version is EXTENDED.

Bon apetite!

I don’t think I’m making myself clear enough when I say, when I pray, when I demand, that Syd stands by Donna Carmy at 🔗this, his darkest time, not to “fix” him, because obviously, OBVIOUSLY!!! that’s not her responsibility, but because he will lose the will and the strength to fix himself if she leaves him quits. All he does, right and wrong, he does it for her at this point, in his own twisted way. She's his driving force at this given moment in time. Full stop.

And even when he's the only one who can fix himself, it should be even more obvious to anyone with a pair of functioning eyes that he can't do that alone. There is no way on Earth. Yet right now, he is alone. Very. And he continues pushing everyone away from him, even Syd. But he only pushes her because he's convinced her presence is unwavering. And it actually is. He read her right. Usually, addicts hurt those they love the most, the most. And as they do that, they hurt themselves. Carmy is a textbook case. She will walk if she has to, he knows, but he trusts she won't, and at the same time, he's terrified she will if he fails her again. 🔗 Carmen Berzatto is capable of that kinda oxymoron. And more.

As Richie said: "he's locked in a prison of his own making". He read him to filth. LOL!

Syd is the only one who can change that. She's the twist 🔗 in his plot.

*(I've been saying this 🔗since S2, BTW in about 20 posts, tyvm).

Now, Syd is going through her own shitstorm and has a bunch of unsolved issues too, that she deals with or not, differently. She's a very layered character too who's caring but also as self-destructive as Carmen Berzatto. She is fearless but super insecure as well, she's not a workaholic but she's an overachiever and a perfectionist, she's a G woman with a huge heart, full of juxtapositions, just like him. And they chose each other, 🔗probably for all the reasons I just mentioned, knowing what they were getting into all along. They are adults. And they are brilliant. Not that emotionally intelligent, but brilliant nonetheless. He, in particular, has the emotional intelligence of a cactus and Syd is more advanced in that department, but not that much, she's Fort Knox, yet very kind. Precisely that duality of hers, combined with her incredible talent and hardworking nature is exactly what drives Carmy crazy and inspires him because she has what he feels he lost along the way: A HEART. Maybe deep down he even envys that about her... that wouldn't be a stretch. He's capable of that kinda oxymoron. And more.

Their "partnerSHIP":

They are not you, they are not me, they are just 2 people who need each other on an existential/evolutionary level to work on their issues and to grow as people through their partnership. They need to do the inner individual work but they won't do it unless they are together, that's the conflict/loophole of their love story.

The fact that this love story happens in a professional context is just that, context. The point is that it affects them on a personal level and that's exactly what they need because they need to make personal changes to grow as human beings, not as chefs. Although the professional growth, in their case, will be a by-product anyway, of course.

The Root of this conflict is: (we're getting soooo close, BEAR with me, chefs)

In Carmy’s world, deep inside, all that exists is Syd. He's not capable right now of any other level of reasoning. We could say he's incapacitated. Temporarily. She's his compass. This will pass. He will find himself again after this crisis. But not without her. The end of Carmen Berzatto.🔗

He doesn’t really care about the rest of the team, or about Claire for that matter except for the muddy guilt 🔗and frustration he feels surrounding their short-lived relationship, and he most definitely doesn’t care about himself in any way shape, or form other than being Syd’s star bearer. He has re-defined his entire identity based on the life goal of getting HER that bullshit star, out of love for her. She's HIS STAR🔗. That love that he feels for her is self-destructive (which he in some capacity knew all along before embarking on this journey with and for her) and yet he willingly and freely chose it, although he fought it at first. Well, quite frankly it's not like he put up too much of a fight...

Yes, he went about it all wrong BECAUSE he is an asshole:

He went all Donna about it and that rendered him Machiavellian, which means that according to him, his end of getting that star for Sydney, justified ANY means. He's a man of extremes, not of middle ground. Wanna take a walk in his hell? Be my guest → click here.🔗

BTW: That mind is actually Storer's because Carmy is based on him, as I mentioned here.🔗

Syd didn’t make him do that, of course, she inspired him. His love for her inspired him and still does. Yet he is not brave enough to admit it fully, he just sublimates it in this toxic way because it’s the only way he knows how to show it, for now. 🔗And of course, it’s not the right way. That’s exactly my point, he is wrong and if she walks he will NEVER get it right. She’s his muse.

Baby-sit vs Support - not the same thing

Does that mean that Syd has to sacrifice herself for him and his toxic ways of showing affection? Absofuckinglutely not! All Syd has to do is be there, set healthy boundaries because she’s the only one he listens to, and stand up for herself to show him, like only she knows how to, what’s right, and what's wrong. Sounds a lot like baby-sitting, or mothering, I know. But in this case it's called: SUPPORTING, because he's in need and they are partners. While he can be a piece of shit, as Syd is perfectly aware of, this is not a permanent state, it's a crisis and if it was the other way around, he would try to help her, and she would not let him. Because that's what they do, that's their dance. She knows how to ask for help, but prefers not to. He just doesn't know how to, and she's the only one who understands him well enough to provide it anyway and he accepts it from her, and from her only. If you don't get that nuance of their relationship, I'm sorry to break it to you, but with all due respect: you don't get THEM.

We are now even closer to the whole point I am trying to make -thanks for your patience-

Only if she chooses to prioritize their relationship over taking the risk of repeating this same pattern elsewhere with another chef, at another restaurant, for more money and the same role, no promotion, as I went over → HERE, 🔗she will be helping herself AND Carmy. "And" is the operative (and inclusive) word here. The other scenario requires the use of the EXCLUSIVE term "or" and that would be OC for her. And for me, TBH, but this is not about me.

We've reached the key point to really getting it YAY!→ The C word

There is a certain level of codependency here at this point of their relationship, yes. I hope you've noticed. It's inevitable. And that’s what happens in partnerships. Both parties depend on each other at times because they have to rely on each other, it’s not necessarily wrong or unhealthy although it can be, the line is very fine and it can easily be crossed. Yes. That’s another risk. And that is why real and healthy partnerships require adult people and compromise. The end result of a healthy codependent partnership is synergy. Very much like in a functional family dynamic. Compromise and family are intertwined concepts, not just when children are involved. This show is about love and found families.🔗

If the fine line is crossed and the codependency turns inadaptative/dysfunctional, then that desired synergy that allows all parties involved to mutually benefit each other, turns into chaos, where everyone hurts each other. War, which usually leads to the dissolution of the bond. They, and I mean The Bear's team, not just Syd and Carmy, are currently dancing on that line thanks to Carmy, but have NOT crossed it yet. Why? Because they fucked up on the Vibrant Collaboration part.🔗

The end of S3 left them standing on the verge of choosing to go for the synergy and mutual benefit (this will require compromise and hard work from both and everyone else around them) or for the dissolution of their bond (this will entail pain and loss for all parties involved and no one will gain anything but a lesson learned on what not to do, even if Syd leaves The Bear behind, and I don't just mean the restaurant, goes to work for Shapiro and wins a bullshit star). I hope we're clear on that. That latter scenario does not automatically guarantee Syd's happiness or success and it certainly implies Carmy's destruction. That’s why it’s really hard for me to wrap my mind around why some “Sydcarmy truthers” prefer that alternative. But again, this is NOT about me. This is about the fact that given the current circumstances, he will be a hopeless case without her. And she can guess it, that's ONE of the reasons why she can't make herself quit. The other is this one. 🔗(*check RB notes about the Joker). And I'm going easy on this one because I'm fully disregarding the assumption that Syd is down bad for Carmy but, just like him, she doesn't wanna feel that, she is in denial, and doesn't allow herself to feel it, not because she deems herself unworthy of his love in her current state unless she wins a Michelin star but because she's absolutely aware that Carmy Berzatto is a piece of shit. But yet she fucking loves him.

The catch:

But here’s the catch: whilst both choices are valid and should be respected if made freely, only one of them takes into account the current disparity of one of the parties involved at this time. In other words: The timing (that's why I don't oppose her going to Noma with Luca eventually or leaving The Bear to open her own dream spot, and I'm 100% sure that even though Carmy wouldn't be too crazy about it, he wouldn't oppose either, if she's happy. I actually expect the Sydluca/Noma storyline to unravel in S4 ). BUT right now Carmy is at his lowest. So it's just wrong, it's just not the right time. It can't happen on a show called THE BEAR, he has to fulfill his redemption arc and can't do it without her at this time.

On the bright side, there’s no way but up from here, but he is at his absolute worst right now because he has EVERYTHING to lose, a lot of people who depend on him and not enough energy left in him to start over if he fails. Syd, on the other hand, still has it in her, whether she stays or leaves. She’s fucked right now too, which is her responsibility and not Carmy’s -even though Carmy definitely contributed- but Syd, as she is, can still make it anywhere. Whether she stays or leaves, she is still at a good enough point where she can still work it out, no matter what she chooses. Unlike Carmy.

And even when Carmy’s best interests are not 100% her responsibility, they are part of that partnership she chose to be in, she cares about it, and it’s in her nature to want to nurture, support, and inspire those around her and right now who needs that the most is... you guessed it: Carmen Berzatto, the piece of shit. Not at her expense, of course. That is the part of the job SHE has to do in herself so this “support” doesn’t entail her own harm. That's HER arc.

There is a way in which both can win and Carmy doesn’t have to lose so she can choose herself. That way is based on full and mutual honesty, open communication, compromise, and patience. It is NOT based on bottling up feelings, not voicing needs, not setting boundaries and reinforcing them when needed, resenting each other, and most importantly: denying emotions, which is what they both excel at. Because emotions are on the left-hand column🔗. Their emotions are the game changers. Especially when you lead with your heart.

Bonus track: If you think for a second that Carmen Berzatto doesn’t lead with his ❤️, just like Syd does, then you’re wrong. You don’t know him. He might be too much in his head right now, and that is a very dark place, but he's all heart, which makes him extremely dangerous when he crosses over into his dark side. Hence → S3. And here's another catch: He knew this all along, he knew what getting that bullshit star (for her) was gonna trigger in him, he expected this. He tried to protect her and talk her out of it. But there was no use because they both lead with their hearts. And that is why, no matter what it looks like right now, no matter how many detours they take, they will always end up HERE 🔗.

Summing up: I'm not worried 💅

[xamiipholia]

My favorite moment in SOTE

Spoilers for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree after the jump.

—————————————————————————

Okay so the whole dlc, for me at least, was honestly peak (yes, including THAT boss, it was great, fight me) but finding the Shaman Village was honestly such an absolutely perfect example of why a story like Elden Ring can only be told interactively. You’ve spent all of this time witnessing a world absolutely devastated by the meddling of careless gods, fanaticism, and the wars caused by the pursuit of power. You walk through ancient battlefields, through ruins that were already decaying centuries before you ever arrived. Deep time radiates out and touches the present in a world that can never truly heal because death has been removed.

And then, in the Land of Shadow, you find the Shaman Village. As soon as I saw the small Erdtree and the stripped down chords of the Elden Beast theme started playing, which iirc was just called ‘Marika’ during development, I knew immediately what had happened here.

On a meta level I think the music is pretty brilliant. In a game about the cyclical history and the violence of the pursuit of power, you have to have already gone through the whole ruthless, bloody cycle and fought the Elden Beast for this music to REALLY land. That’s some great meta-narrative stuff.

Elden Ring often juxtaposes beauty with horror - the majesty of Leyndell against the terrifying power of Marika and the Golden Order. The beautiful grace of the Elden Beast against the eldritch, unknowable abyssal power that birthed it. Malenia and ALL that she represents.

So you get to this beautiful, abandoned place, bathed in soft gold, detaching it from the rest of the Land of Shadow. Unlike the rest of the ruins you find, there are no signs of war and death - no graves, no discarded swords, no blood long-ago-dried, no undead. Just a field of flowers and a deep, longing sadness. You find the Minor Erdree and the Golden Braid which, together with the horror that you find in the ruins of Bonny Village, allow you to piece together the truth that this beautiful place, now scoured of the violence that happened here, is the source of everything that you have seen in The Lands Between. This is where the evil happened.

There is no forgiving what Marika has done, but the framing of her character shifts entirely. I would bet that at least some of this is part of GRRM’s original lore because it fits SO well with the themes that he writes about. Before all of this Marika was just… a person. She had a quiet, peaceful home, family, and a people that she loved.

And then she was alone. Her people were massacred and mutilated in death for the religious rituals of the Hornsent.

Shaman Village rests on the cliffs above the impact crater of Metyr, Mother of Fingers, an emissary of the Greater Will.

You can’t be told what happened- well, I guess you could but I don’t think if would have nearly the same impact as exploring this world and piecing together the clues on your own, finally finding this truth. The powers in the world rose and fell in cycles- we knew this from Farum Azula and Enir-Ilim. But the world was truly broken because a seemingly insignificant person who had suffered unimaginable levels of pain, violence, and persecution, was given the powers of a god and enabled to act out her grief and anger on the world, only to find out that divinity was a prison. Even removing death from the world once her position was secure couldn’t save her from loss.

This definitely makes me feel more confident in choosing Ranni’s ending. All of this horror, this pain, needs to end. There is no fixing something that was fundamentally broken from the beginning.

[akajustmerry]

it's hard to articulate why i love amc iwtv because to understand how much i love it you have to understand that i hate vampire stories and i hate Interview with the vampire by anne rice. you have to understand that on a surface level, by all accounts this is a story i would not like. in fact, i put off watching it because of my pathological aversion to both vamps and anne rice. so when i tell you i fucking love amc's iwtv, i LOVE it. i love it because i love stories that are about stories. i love stories that are about how everything you know is a story someone has told. i love stories about how people are really crowded houses of stories, most of which you don't know and they do not remember with clarity. i LOVE those kinds of stories and they're so hard to pull off. the only shows prior to amc iwtv that i think come close to achieving this level of meta-narrative are black sails and Mr robot. there's just something so thrilling and delicious about a story that knows so intimately that its a story. and not in an ironic actor winks at the camera way. but in a terrifying omnipotent way that reaches out and holds you in place by your heart so you can't look away. AMC iwtv is a masterpiece to me in every way - from the scripts to the performances. we're watching something so special and truly brilliant.

[themosleyreview]

The Mosley Review: Scream 6

There are rules that are set in a slasher film franchise. From the beginning, every sequential entry after the original has to be bigger, bloodier and the body count has to be increased by at least 2 OR the story of the core characters has to evolve in a compelling and new terrifying way. For the Scream franchise, creator and Master of Horror Wes Craven did that back in 1996 and it changed the game in films’ meta commentary and insanely creative killer murder mystery. The series went on and then the new generation decided to carry the blood soaked baton with such reverence for the foundation. Even with a few laps of logic and unrealistic choices, these new films have kept the spirit and quality of the franchise intact and I thoroughly enjoyed this new entry. These films are known for amazing opening scenes and this one was brilliant and almost completely resets the rules of what is possible in the slasher genre. The story structure is still intact in its detective story aspects and yes it does mirror Scream 2 in many ways, but it takes its time to play it on its own story and not rely on just nostalgia. Scream 5 was a return to form with the re-quel push, but this film was a straight up tribute to the entire franchise while carving its own bloody path. There are story elements that are cheesy as hell, reveals that felt bland because of the teasing of something fun and yet we get the opposite and I felt the film really was too scared of killing its characters when it truly felt right.

The new core 4 all return and they are just as great to see run around as before, but I felt only a couple of them had anything to do in character growth. Melissa Barrera returns as Sam Carpenter and I liked that we got to see a continuation of her dealing with the trauma of the past film and the realization of whom her father was. I liked that fully embrassed it and is no longer held back by it. If there is a 7th film, I would like to see explore the mental levels of her truth. Jenna Ortega returns as her sister Tara and she is a more mature and sometimes destructive character. In a way, she was a stronger person than Sam as she decides to try live her life not hindered by the events of the past. The sisterly drama between them was somewhat a typical family drama, but it works in the context of the film. Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding return as the lovable twins Mindy and Chad Meek-Martin. Jasmin was so much fun and had the best one liners in the film and even though she spelled out the new rules of the franchise, she still ends up getting surprised. Mason is always a joy to watch and I liked him the most in this film. His chemistry with the group has been elevated, especially with Tara. Hayden Panettiere returns as Kirby Reed from the 4th entry in the franchise and she was a breath of fresh air. The evolution of her character was a bit forced in my opinion, but a decent choice as you dig deeper into what she's been up to since. Courtney Cox returns as the great Gale Weathers and I liked that she finally gets a worthy show down with Ghostface. She was witty and strong as you expect, but her emotional battle with the character was truly amazing as she uses a technique that people of my generation would only think of and out smarts this new age villain. Dermot Mulroney was great as Detective Wayne Bailey and is the standard detective with a family stake in the game as his daughter Quinn played by the wonderful Liana Liberato, is in danger being the roommate of Sam. Roger L. Jackson was outstanding yet again as the voice of Ghostface. As this franchise continues, he has taken this horror icon to an even more animalistic and rage infused state and I loved it! He was actually pretty funny in some of his sadistic dialogue. The killer himself was more brutal than ever and I actually cringed multiple times as Ghostface truly shreds and guts people as he plunges his knife deeper this time around.

The score has always been a staple of the franchise and although I miss the maestro of the franchise Marc Beltrami, Brian Tyler and Sven Faulconer have done an excellent job so far. They brought back the core themes and kept the terror pounding as the violence increased. The kills in this film were creative and painful to witness. They're all enhanced by the impeccable sound design as you actually feel each stab and cut through flesh and bone. The final reveal of the killer in my opinion was lackluster as it is easy to figure out except for one wild card. Also, there is a moment when a character is rushing at another that has a gun and they're only 15 feet apart from each other. Why didn't that person just shoot them? Like I said before, this film was so terrified of killing off certain characters and I wish they had followed through. It would've been the most heartbreaking for this new chapter, but you get robbed of it. In totality, this was another fun entry in the franchise even with its dumb decision making in the third act. There is a funny end credit scene, but you don't have to stay for it. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in comments below. Thanks for reading!

[ferusaurelius]

The Tragedy of Israel Hands

A play in three Acts. 

Remember how I said I’d write up some Izzy meta? Well here’s the short version. I have a google doc full of 10+ pages of notes and individual scene breakdowns for each episode, but I don’t know if I want to pull all that out and unpack everything with that level of detail just yet.

As a tribute to Con O’Neill, I’m going to stick to the top-level summaries of what I’ve noticed. His acting is brilliant! Go and rewatch OFMD and appreciate his performance, please.

The pure tragedy of Izzy Hands adds an extraordinary level of depth, contrast, and context to the romance between Edward Teach and Stede Bonnet -- beyond mere antagonism! -- that I’m still a bit overcome with inexpressible awe and admiration. I’ll do my best to stick to the outline to encourage you to go back and rewatch the show with a focus on Izzy’s perspective. :)

I also submit to you David’s tweet (pictured here) about the complexities of the relationship between Izzy and Edward and David’s polygon interview (skip to the end) as further motivation to do that rewatch. 

I made myself unbearably sad about Izzy as a character while also accepting (and acknowledging) the sheer damage he’s doing to himself and his relationships -- and now you can join me in a hell of Izzy’s own making, too! :D

Warning this is so fucking long you probably should be sitting down.

Act I - Trouble in Izzy’s Pirate Paradise

Basically, Izzy fails to understand that he has never gotten to know Edward as a person beyond what they’ve done to construct the Blackbeard legend together. His assumption that he knows what’s best for Edward and that he has to protect the “legendary Blackbeard” become the seeds of his own undoing. Izzy’s actions directly instigate the series of events that will lead to Edward meeting and falling in love with Stede.

If you look at that process of understanding each other while falling in love as inevitable between Edward and Stede, then Izzy’s attempts to thwart that relationship, as well as his crushing ignorance about the inner life of probably the only person he thinks of as a friend(!), are really devastating. 

Con O’Neill plays this really well in scene. I’ll hit the highlights.

01- Pilot (Stede Bonnet & Crew vs. The English Navy)

Izzy doesn’t appear in this episode, so consider the English officers (Wellington and Hornberry) as a kind of stand-in foreshadowing the consequences of hubris. Remember, it’s one of the officers looking through a telescope and calling Stede a “fat woman in a dressing gown” that touches off the series of events that leads to the crew of The Revenge killing Nigel Badminton and taking hostages. As a point of interesting trivia, it’d be the role of a first officer like Izzy to track a ship’s course and prevent it from running aground, as occurs in the very next episode.

02- A Damned Man (...It’s Izzy. Izzy is the Damned Man.)

In a brilliant bit of staging and writing, we ‘meet’ Blackbeard-the-legend before Edward-the-man. Izzy and Edward created Blackbeard together as a practical way of taking prizes with as little resistance as possible because everyone sees the flag and gets terrified. Hint: the motive is fear. 

David Jenkins does all of this out in the open because he’s a mad genius like that and we salute him.

Recall also that Izzy’s motivations for approaching The Revenge are purely self-interested. He wants to take advantage of Stede’s misfortune and take those valuable hostages for himself, if possible. I also love the metaphorical implications of Izzy’s undoing being through hostages/damned/condemned men, too! It’s so literal and on-the-nose it’s beautiful.

Anyway, Izzy wastes a perfectly good opportunity to kill Stede Bonnet because as a god-tier duelist he’s too busy playing with his food. He takes so long to put Stede out of his misery that the rest of the crew manages to pull off even an idiotic plan.

Izzy ends up humiliated by Stede in part because he underestimates the Gentleman Pirate and his merry band of imbeciles. Even the best pirates have bad days when they get arrogant. Izzy is totally unprepared to suffer an actual defeat and in even worse news for his dignity, Fang and Ivan were both there and witnessed this and they’re 100% aware of his bullshit. 

The end of this episode also gives us a great shot of Izzy, Fang, and Ivan on Blackbeard’s ship. I love the atmosphere with spikes, black rigging, and muted colors. We’ll meet Edward in person -- and so will Stede! -- next episode.

03-  A Gentleman Pirate (… who will shortly invade Izzy’s life, while Izzy is the one capturing The Revenge, a study in irony.)

Did you forget that the opening shot of this episode was from Izzy’s perspective while he looks through a telescope at The Revenge? Because I did. Ed appears! Well, kinda. Ed is facing away from the camera and sitting in a chair in the candle-lit darkness, smoking a pipe.

We also get this exchange:

EDWARD: Wait till they make landfall then invite ‘em aboard the ship. And, Izzy, I want you to handle this personally.

IZZY: Oh, Edward, can’t I just send the boys?

EDWARD: Mm-mm. No, I want this done right. After all, he is a gentleman. We want to make a good impression.

IZZY: Stupid fuckin’ Stede Bonnet.

That last line there is the tragic refrain of Izzy Hands. He’s going to think and repeat this so much both internally and out loud, even he doesn’t even realize at this point that it’s the real beginning of the end. He’ll get the picture soon enough, but by then it will be far too late. 

And we’ll get to watch him delude himself into believing he ever had a chance at success while further ensuring his own failure. No one sabotages themselves quite like Izzy (thanks Con O’Neill!). Every attempt for Izzy to turn the ship around and restore order through his actions has both immediate and long-term consequences leading to his humiliation, isolation, and defeat.

In this episode, Izzy has done everything in his considerable power to keep this introduction from happening and, in fairness, reveals in the next episode that he’s the one that tracked Stede to the Spanish warship and attacked because Edward directed him to do so. 

“Our Prayer” by the Beach Boys plays when Stede and Edward meet. WHAT. This is amazing! Sorry, Izzy, I regret to inform you that Edward and Stede are having a religious experience known only to themselves.

Izzy probably expected Blackbeard to carry on with violence-as-usual after they invade both the Spanish warship and The Revenge as a sort of two-for-one prize. And if Stede weren’t so good at subverting expectations and charming Edward, that’s exactly what would have happened! 

Izzy did everything right as a professional and a first mate who is obeying his Captain and still the world is conspiring to thwart him. 

David also mentions in his Polygon interview that this episode is the end of the first act. So we’re going to treat it like that. 

Act II is where both the love story between Edward and Stede and the contrasting tragedy between Edward and Izzy are both going to play out on-screen and really hit their relative stride (often in the same crucial frames!).

Act II - Izzy Suspects the Obvious Truth About Edward and Stede

No one denies like Izzy Hands, no one lies like Izzy Hands, no one duels and loses and gets thoroughly sidelined like Izzy Hands!

No, I’m not sorry. He brought it on himself in so many ways, partly because he can’t see how much he doesn’t understand about Edward even when Edward explains everything in front of him in very plain language. Izzy isn’t capable of asking the right questions because he already assumes he’s right and has all the right answers. If only Edward could see it, too!

04- Discomfort in A Married State (It’s Stede and Mary but, wait, it’s also … Izzy and Edward.)

Do I even need to tell you how much I adore the scene where Izzy goes along with Edward’s dumb plan of treating Stede like Blackbeard while Stede is wearing Blackbeard’s clothes? 

Izzy plays this totally seriously and shoves Stede down in the hold and tries to get him to give orders. Then Edward, dressed like Stede, waits for Lucius to finish counting down and then lays out the situation of what it’s like to be Blackbeard in excruciatingly clear emotional detail.

If you watch Izzy’s face in this scene you’ll realize that Edward has never expressed any of these doubts in front of Izzy.

Izzy is just as taken by surprise as Stede is. It’s BRILLIANT. Then up on deck in the next scene it’s Izzy in the fog at first. He doesn’t believe that Edward has managed to do this. Edward knows Izzy doubted him! 

They share a look I still can’t decipher while everyone takes in the thick fog ( @thescreechowl​ sussed it for me). Izzy is also the one who has to tell Edward that it’s not September 2nd, it’s September the 1st. Izzy is forced to play the harbinger of doom because he’s the only one on the ship who can keep up with Edward’s reasoning.

Is it Izzy’s fault that he has to be the one to tell Edward they’re doomed? No, it’s just what a good first mate does. You’ll notice that Izzy also isn’t around for the lighthouse scene. Everyone else is at the rail celebrating without Izzy.

In the morning, after Edward makes his deal to teach Stede about being a pirate if Stede will teach him about the ways of aristocrats and fine things? Edward has to hide that from Izzy.

Izzy, in a moment of clarity, already knows the game is up and has already packed his bags to leave the ship. He knows that his open doubts from the day before have crossed a line with Edward in a way that even he can understand. And Edward, knowing that he still needs Izzy around if he’s going to follow through on his deal with Stede, tells Izzy what he needs to hear in order to keep him on The Revenge.

Izzy takes this made-up plan of Edward’s as something serious and then admits he was wrong about Ed being a deranged, unstable, erratic “twat.” This could almost count as a reconciliation between the two, except it isn’t because Edward chose to lie to him rather than tell the truth.

At the end, after Izzy tells Ed that “you’ve still got it”? Edward, wearing the clothes of a gentleman and the famous Black Cravat that used to belong to Stede, smiles, says “I know,” and then turns away from Izzy.

When Ed turns around he stops smiling. We the audience can see the change in Ed’s expression, but Izzy is still smiling behind him! Izzy doesn’t see that change from smiling to serious. The contrast between those two expressions? It devastates and chills me because Edward isn’t being honest and neither of them are pursuing a true understanding of the other. 

Ed has never been fully himself with Izzy, but Izzy is the one who doesn’t really understand that Ed hasn’t trusted Izzy with everything and has never let his first mate really know who he is past Blackbeard and brilliant sailor.

Izzy, tragic and arrogant fool that he is, truly believes that he understands Edward’s plan and is taking this suggestion to kill Stede and steal his identity at face value. 

Ed chooses to lie to Izzy in the hope that he can get what he wants and hedge his bets with that support, even if it means changing the terms of the agreement. Ed baits Izzy with the promise of becoming captain once he’s retired by stealing Stede Bonnet’s identity. Izzy, who probably can’t even imagine Edward not telling him the truth, eats this sham idea up hook, line, and sinker. 

It’s the beginning of the end of Blackbeard. It’s also the beginning of Edward starting to figure out who Ed is for real, and Izzy missing or willfully denying those changes.

05- The Best Revenge is Dressing Well (Izzy puts bows in Edward’s beard and skips the party to babysit, except all he does is embarrass himself and sacrifice his dignity and authority by being a dick.)

David Jenkins has confirmed that it’s not Stede who puts those bows in Edward’s beard, it’s Izzy, but that scene got cut for time. Tragic!

Anyway, Izzy is only present to assist Edward or discipline the crew into doing ship chores and to be honest this episode features him losing his grip on reality and authority. 

Izzy catches Black Pete and Lucius having sex and confronts them in possibly the weirdest way imaginable. Everyone thinks he’s unhinged. They see nothing wrong with a bit of casual sex and Izzy tries to play that off as a weakness, realizes he’s not getting the shame reaction he expected and has unintentionally revealed himself (Izzy, what the fuck?), and then retaliates by making Lucius remove barnacles from the side of the Revenge.

Fang, Izzy’s long-time subordinate, is also the one who spills the beans about Izzy’s unfortunate nickname as Izzy the Spewer/Dizzy Izzy. I don’t think I have to explain why Izzy wouldn’t appreciate anyone knowing about that one time when Blackbeard left him in charge of the ship during rough seas and he didn’t measure up to the challenge.

When Izzy confronts Lucius with more tasks to do that night and assumes he’ll be able to use his sexual history against him? Yeah, sorry Izzy. That’s not gonna work on this ship.

I’ve never seen a degeneration arc so swift and so complete as what happens to Izzy in this episode. His entire foundation of self-belief and identity is shaken. Who is Izzy without his authority as Blackbeard’s first mate, when everyone knows his weaknesses and no one fears or even respects him? 

I don’t know and neither does he. Damn, Izzy, this is a sad pickle you’ve got yourself into.

Also your boss is in love with fuckin’ Stede Bonnet. 

(Yes, I’m aware of the innuendo. It started out accidental but now it’s on purpose, because I sent myself into orbit and we’re all in this suffering together.)

06- The Art of Fuckery (Izzy fucks up everything so much worse than Stede.)

Izzy you tragic son of a bitch. 

Honestly this is the episode we really begin to watch The Tragedy Of Israel Hands unfold, since Izzy starts to admit to himself what he should have realized from the beginning. He’s the narrator for the opening shot!

Izzy, the most oblivious man alive, deadpanning in the background: “We’ve been almost a fortnight aboard The Revenge, and I’m beginning to suspect that Edward has no intention of ending Stede Bonnet’s life.”

Really, Izzy? It’s been almost a fortnight and you only just now came to that conclusion? I swear if irony could kill, this man would be stone dead. He makes it worse by claiming that “if he didn’t know better” he’d think Edward had been seduced by Stede!

And then we have the whole “run me through” scene with Izzy listening and making all his (for once, correct, but not in the way he thinks) assumptions. It’s funny as fuck that both Fang and Ivan know they’re not killing Stede, despite whatever promises Izzy may think Edward has made to him.

What’s funny about this is that Izzy is simultaneously in denial about the possibility of this relationship and also willing to use it in order to get rid of Stede! Izzy will allow that this seduction may possibly have occurred if acknowledging the attachment will accomplish his goal of ridding himself of fuckin’ Stede Bonnet. The absolute mindfuckery of this strategy is killing me.

This man who knows better? This is the same man who tells Stede, “I know Edward adores you.” That’s so far beyond fucked up as a manipulation tactic that in fairness I don’t have a way to fully unpack it beyond Izzy being simultaneously unable to deny the evidence and also incapable of accepting the probable outcome.

Later, after Stede &. Crew complete their fuckery, Izzy presumably doesn’t understand Edward’s history, what the Kraken represents for him, or that (ouch!) Edward doesn’t consider him a friend. 

So when Izzy challenges Stede in order to spare Edward from having to kill the man himself (this would be their usual routine), Izzy won’t be aware that Edward would now rather have worked things out rather than seeing either of them duel. Izzy is carrying out what he sees as his duty.

What really fucks me up here is both that Izzy is trying to spare Edward the pain of killing Stede and that Edward is also letting him go through with it! There’s no world in which Edward successfully puts a stop to this duel or can justify asking Izzy to stand down. They respect(?!) each other too much for that.

When Stede wins the duel on a technicality, further recall and keep in mind that Izzy was the one who doomed himself by suggesting banishment as part of the terms to make it interesting. 

The ominous music playing in the background while Izzy rows away from the Revenge is first heard in the “Blackbeard” theme back at the end of Episode 2. Did I mention I really love this show?

I’ve decided to treat this first break between Izzy and Edward as the end of Act II, because ... brace yourself, it’s about to get even worse! :D

Act III - Izzy Betrays Edward’s Trust While Trying to Save Him

Izzy fails to take responsibility for his actions and decides to compound that error by doing increasingly terrible things, including possibly selling out the only friend(?) he thinks he’s ever had ... by rationalizing that it’s for his own good. 

Izzy you sick tragic fuck. Edward is never going to forgive you, and you’re going to end up in hell dealing with The Kraken instead of the Blackbeard you knew.

07- This Is Happening (Izzy betrays Edward because Ed betrays Blackbeard, at least in Izzy’s mind.)

Izzy completely fails to admit that Edward likes Stede because Stede wants to get to know him as a person and Izzy can only conceptualize this as insanity. Edward was half-insane before he met Stede and Izzy probably would accept him being half-insane again rather than admit whatever the fuck is going on might be both permanent and, if you’re Ed, preferable to returning to the usual.

We don’t see Izzy until the last minutes of the episode, wherein he is doing his level best to end fuckin’ Stede Bonnet once again because he’s “done something to my boss’s brain.”

Izzy, we regret to inform you that’s called love. We know they’re both idiots, but give them a break, they’ve never been in love before!

08- We Gull Way Back (Izzy fucks up even worse, which is impressive when you consider he doesn’t physically appear in this episode.)

Calico Jack reveals he was sent by Izzy Hands, who he calls a sentimental bastard for wanting to get Edward out before the English showed up.

For Ed, he and Stede are now a “we,” so Ed responds that: “Izzy sold me out.”

Yeah, Izzy, Ed will not be forgiving or forgetting that you only meant to catch Stede in your trap and is definitely taking this personally. 

09- Act of Grace (Izzy gets decked by Ed and deserves it.)

Did you catch the part where Chauncey refers to “Captain” Hands? Who has already agreed to commit himself to the King’s service in exchange for Edward’s life? Izzy what has been going on in your head.

IZZY: Edward, I know you’re upset, but it was the only-- [Edward punches him.]

IZZY: Okay ... that’s fair.

Izzy cannot even begin to understand the circumstances of Edward’s fury, but he knows what it looks like when it’s directed at him and he for damn sure accepts Edward’s right to pass judgment on his actions.

Pay really close attention to that speech Izzy makes when he’s trying to convince Edward that Stede’s death is the right thing and the only humane way to end it and then Edward’s reaction to that speech.

Izzy makes every practical argument about how firing squad is the right way for this situation to end and it’s in part his words that push Ed into shouting “Act of Grace.”

Fuck me but the realization in Izzy’s voice when it’s Ed saying the words? Izzy you started this! Yet he still doesn’t realize even when it’s happening that Ed is committed to doing whatever it takes to save Stede Bonnet’s life.

Izzy’s even there when Ed signs the Act of Grace! Of the pirates, it’s just Izzy and Stede there to witness this choice. As it has been since the beginning. Stede sees more of Ed than anyone else ever has, without realizing what it all means. Izzy doesn’t understand what’s changed but probably realizes better than Stede does why it’s happening.

The point is Ed chooses to sign the Act of Grace even when Stede tries to let him off the hook and Izzy has prepared an alternative path. Ed is so thoroughly committed to this path that he’ll accept no substitutes.

Can we talk about how Izzy as Captain Hands portrays himself as “tough and fair” while also eating dinner on the deck of the ship in front of the crew while they’re working? Self-deluded guy thinks Fang and Ivan will back him up and puts himself in the same position as Stede when the crew wanted to mutiny in Episode 1.

Edward told you back in Episode 6 to be careful what you asked your god for, because she might just answer! Coincidence? Haven’t met her.

Can we talk about how surprised Izzy is to see Ed turn up without the beard? How Ed just ignores that the crew is in the middle of a mutiny and is the one who allows Izzy to go right back to his role as first mate? Ed just interrupted Izzy getting the comeuppance for his arrogance.

Let’s move on because thinking about it too much is going to destroy me, and we’ve still got one episode left.

10- Wherever You Go, There You Are (Ed turns into the Kraken and Izzy, because he’s monumentally fucked up, thinks that’s a good thing... for now.)

Izzy has presumably been the only one Ed spoke to until asking for Lucius, because whether Edward likes it or not, he’s used to relying on Izzy to play the role of first mate. Izzy looks so rattled not only by the change in Edward here but also by not knowing what to do beyond ... go back to doing what he’s always done and praying that works out, somehow.

Izzy is sitting up amongst the rest of the crew while Edward is singing and at the end, when he tries to correct them and enforce Captain or Blackbeard as a form of address, it’s Ed who corrects him and says he’d rather be known as Edward from now on. 

Izzy’s look of utter shock and surprise gets me every time. Remember, he serves Blackbeard!

Up next: Izzy why are you like this?

Izzy, in speaking plainly, confesses that he should’ve let the English kill Edward and uses what should be a gesture of physical affection as a taunt. Izzy knows Edward well enough to know what will make him doubt himself and his choices to try a different life. Izzy wants Edward to go back to being Blackbeard but he has no fucking idea what he’s just unleashed, instead.

And then we’ve got Leonard Cohen’s “Avalanche” playing while Edward makes his transformation. 

Other people have discussed how fucked up the toe scene is (does this show go hard or does it go hard?) and, I’m going to go a bit out on a limb here, and say that Izzy thinks this brutality is what he wants because it’s who Blackbeard should be. Above all else, loyalty to his Captain, no matter who that is or what he has to endure.

And I’m going to stand by the reading that “it’s complicated” because the lyrics overlaying that?

The crumbs of love you offer me / are the crumbs I’ve left behind

The most fucked up reading possible is that these lines are referring to Izzy and Edward’s fucked up relationship. So that’s where I’m going with this.

Fucking Izzy Hands doesn’t fully realize what’s about to hit all of them and is still prepared to be loyal and accept whatever fucked up justice Edward distributes as what he deserves for betraying him in the first place. Did you notice that it’s Izzy who uses Stede’s first name, now? 

Or that Izzy has adopted Stede’s language in front of the other crewmembers while he and Ivan are marooning them. That when the crew ask where Jim is, Izzy replies that, “Edward probably wanted to discuss feelings or something?”

That it’s Izzy who sends everyone down into the Kraken’s lair to decide whether or not they’ll be part of his new crew?

That it’s Edward who calls the crew Bonnet’s playthings and no longer uses Stede’s first name?

Izzy’s the one standing next to Edward, holding a gun on Frenchie as he hoists the new flag. No longer is it enough to be loud and a jerk, or to stick to verbal threats until violence is the practical alternative! Think back to the beginning when Izzy just bought Stede’s hostages without getting violent.

Violence is now the rule rather than the exception.

How the fuck far is Izzy going to go when he’s just glad to be serving Blackbeard? How the fuck much is he going to be willing to suffer when violence is the new normal rather than one of many tools to get what they want? 

Con O’Neill is a magnificent bastard who managed to act out Izzy Hands’s entire operatic fucked up tragedy in full view of Edward Teach’s love story while in the same frames as Stede Bonnet.

WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK.

[hunxi-after-hours]

ALL RIGHT!!! all right all right all right, I guess my first 琅琊榜 LYB meta is going to be about Lin Chen, because I love him, and I think he’s one of the most important characters in the show despite the fact that he’s there for oh, maybe nine episodes out of fifty-four

keep this image in your thoughts, I’m gonna come back for it

and really, it all boils down to this:

Lin Chen is Mei Changsu’s friend, not Lin Shu’s.

There is a ghost haunting every moment of LYB (okay, fine, there’s seventy thousand ghosts), and his name is Lin Shu. The brightest youth in the capital, the young marshal of the Chiyan forces--brilliant, bold, beautiful, bright, he’s larger than life, impossibly talented, universally beloved. Nihuang still holds a special place in her heart for him after twelve years; Xiao Jingyan never truly lets go (the red bow on the wall, his lingering dislike for intrigue, politics, and tacticians with bland smiles) of his best friend, his other half. In the very first conversation (first real conversation) Meng da-tongling has with Mei Changsu, stolen between imperial walls, voices hushed for fear of discovery, Meng Zhi expresses his disbelief: you’d written in letters that because of grave injury, your appearance was wholly changed, but I had never imagined--

Eternally, Mei Changsu is both the shadow and shadow archetype of Lin Shu--his polar opposite, quiet and reserved where Lin Shu was brash and loud, deceptive and conniving where Lin Shu was straightforward and righteous. We laugh at Xiao Jingyan for taking so long to figure out who Lin Shu was, but can we blame him? Mei Changsu spent a decade shaping himself into everything Lin Shu wasn’t.

Lin Shu lingers in almost every interaction Mei Changsu has with his former friends, acquaintances, family, fondnesses--it’s precisely why he cannot reveal himself to Nihuang, or Jingyan, because they loved Lin Shu too well, and, knowing his true identity, could not bear to watch him give, and give, and give of a frail body that was already running out of time. Lin Shu lingers in the way the former Chiyan troops salute Mei Changsu, in his joint mission with Prince Jing to overturn an old decree and wash the name of the Lin house clean of blame. 

And for the most part, Mei Changsu does not resent this lingering--after all, he still is Lin Shu on some level. These bones and blood are the same, even if this body no longer looks like how it used to (you used to look so much like your father--). Mei Changsu is avenging Lin Shu, avenging himself, as much as the other seventy thousand lost souls.

But Lin Chen does not look at Mei Changsu and see the ghost of the man he had once been before. Lin Chen looks at Mei Changsu, and sees Mei Changsu.

(do I, in fact, go absolutely feral over the fact that Lin Chen is the only person I can think of who calls Mei Changsu by name only? to everyone else, Mei Changsu is Su-xiansheng, shaoshuai, Su-xiong, zongzhu, but to Lin Chen, and Lin Chen alone, he is just--Changsu)

Mei Changsu is peerless, in every sense of the word. He occupies the highest position of the Langya gongzi rankings; he’s the impossible 麒麟才子 qilin talent, coveted and admired and dreaded and feared. He is the leader of the Jiangzuo alliance; he is a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, bundled in more robes than the season calls for, hidden beneath that bland, unreadable smile he’s perfected over a decade. Mei Changsu doesn’t have friends--above, he has his liege-lord; below, he has a truly terrifying array of connections and subordinates, people who would die for him in a heartbeat, people who will do anything for him. Oh, sure, he enters the capital, ostensibly as Xiao Jingrui’s friend, but look how well that turned out for Xiao Jingrui.

No, Mei Changsu doesn’t have friends. He has at best, chess pieces he’s friendly with, chess pieces that he’ll try to take care of, chess pieces that he will, nevertheless, maneuver if he needs their service.

And then there’s Lin Chen. Langya Hall’s young master, snarky, irreverent, incandescently talented in his own way and more than happy to remind Mei Changsu of that fact. Lin Chen, who gives Mei Changsu as good as he gets. Lin Chen, who’ll sass Mei Changsu right back, who’ll challenge his decisions, who’ll laugh in his face, who’ll bully him into resting. Lin Chen, who understands (知己 zhiji, I’ll throw hands about this, they know each other) Mei Changsu more than anyone else--more, even, than Xiao Jingyan, for all the prince’s wide-eyed hurt and decade of angry grief.

Lin Chen is so goddamn important and I will die on this hill.

Remember that screenshot I started out this post with? Here, I’ll bring it back:

So what really strikes me about the visual composition of this moment is the balance in the frame--they are each given equal weight, and they mirror each other with their long, pale robes falling in folds, long hair cascading down their backs (long, unbound hair, which is continually associated with the jianghu, the world separate from the imperial center, though the two of them prove to be more intertwined than romantic notions would have any of us believe). 

Lin Chen is not not one of Mei Changsu’s chess pieces (if you listen closely to his lines, he repeatedly mentions going to Nanchu/Southern Chu, which is relevant to the Worst Birthday Party Ever, implying that he was there to help Mei Changsu with Certain Plots), but Lin Chen also holds a certain amount of power over Mei Changsu as his doctor. Lin Chen, more than anyone else, is the one keeping Mei Changsu alive. Likewise, Lin Chen understands Mei Changsu best--he refuses the bingxucao on Mei Changsu’s behalf, which Mei Changsu then corroborates. Lin Chen calls out his friend--as if I don’t know you? he asks, after everything (not quite everything) has ended. You’re still holding onto that breath in your heart.

Hell, Lin Chen goes to war for Mei Changsu.

In the first episode, Mei Changsu asks, how much time do I have left? to which Lin Chen responds, well, how much time do you need? When Mei Changsu says two years, Lin Chen scoffs, says, two years? You’ll need ten doctors then.

There’s a pause, in which Mei Changsu stares at Lin Chen, solemn, unbending. Lin Chen looks away, glances back, sighs deeply, and caves, pulling a small ceramic bottle from his sleeve and placing it on the table. 

Lin Chen didn’t come to Langzhou just to check in on Mei Changsu. He came here, knowing already, what Mei Changsu would ask of him, and Lin Chen came prepared.

Mei Changsu laughs, a small huff of breath. 有你足矣，he says, 顶的过十个大夫. Having you is enough--you’re better than ten doctors.

What’s that? The sound of me, screaming once more, about the 足矣 zuyi pseudo-literary construction? The echoes of the Lu Xun quote 人生得一知己，足矣 / In this life, having one person who knows me is enough, which already goes hard, and then is popularized/refracted through the lens of the snow scene in CQL?

Everything Mei Changsu does is for his grand purpose, his great, impossible goal, the absolution of himself, his family, his ghost, his name. His accomplishment brings vindication and forgiveness, exoneration and closure to his friends and family, Xiao Jingyan and Mu Nihuang’s lost years, seventy thousand wronged souls. Mei Changsu sacrifices everything for truth, for justice, for the good of all under heaven.

And everything Lin Chen does is for his friend. That’s all, and it’s no less powerful.

[astradrifting]

I love your writing! Can you tell us your jonsa journey? Also, throw in some personal ASoIaF predictions, cause you have a knack for spotting the good stuff. ☺️

ahhhh thank you so much!

It’s funny actually, I came to ASOIAF purely because of Jonsa! Tbh I was pretty stubbornly against reading it or watching GOT for ages, partly because of how notorious the ending was and also I thought it was way too grimdark and misogynistic for me. The joke’s on me now because I’m completely obsessed :P But I read thimbleful’s brilliant they tumble down a couple of years ago, even not knowing anything about GOT, and loved it. I found it again this year and was really drawn to Jon and Sansa’s characters, so I decided to read ASOIAF to actually understand the canon behind them (I was still determined to avoid GOT too until I got curious about how the book scenes were adapted, so my sister finally wore me down into watching it).

I actually tried to avoid jonsa for a while after I started reading the books because I started to feel weird about the fauxcest, but the fics were too good and I got over it lol. I was only idly fanon shipping them at first, but then I started reading jonsa metas on here and found them so well-written and convincing, the level of analysis in them is so amazing. There’s so many parallels and layers of foreshadowing within the text, they can’t all just amount to nothing! I read through the books with a jonsa lens, and maybe it made me biased but it was so fun. That and the weirdly intense relationship Jon and Sansa had on the show have fully converted me, and now I’m in hell waiting for TWOW with everyone else 😋

Hmmm, one pet prediction I have is that Dany isn’t going to be kidnapped by the Dothraki, she’s going to force them to take her to Vaes Dothrak instead, as part of her conquering them. The show made so many weird adaptations around this point trying to obscure Dany’s responsibility for the unrest in Meereen, especially by making the Sons of the Harpy attack in the fighting pit, when Drogon was the reason it broke into chaos and people died. In s6 she was basically a damsel in distress puttering around until Daario and Jorah got there so she could be badass in front of them but, for better or worse, she’s going to have a lot more agency during this section in TWOW and her darkness will be a lot easier to see. Drogon flew away for no reason in the show just so she could be kidnapped, but he’s still with her at the end of ADWD when the Dothraki find her, and they were clearly terrified of him - she has the power in that situation. When she burns down the temple of the dosh khaleen, she’s going to use Drogon, not a convenient brazier, and it’ll be her first personal act of mass murder. Whether it’ll still be presented as righteous is a toss-up, it’ll be from her POV and GRRM could be gross like that, but I think from there we’ll finally get other characters’ perspective on her darkness.

For jonsa, I’m a big fan of the girl in grey being Sansa, or maybe, Alayne; I think Melisandre assumed it was Arya, then didn’t deny Jon’s assumption that it was Alys, because she saw that the girl had brown hair, and knew that there was only one Stark daughter who looked like that. Except Sansa is a brunette now too, and she’d hardly be able to wash the dye out of her hair if she’s on the run. It being Alayne would also fit with Mel’s thoughts when she looks for her again:

“A girl grey as ash, and even as I watched she crumbled and blew away.”

Alayne is a false identity, and will crumble away easily once Sansa no longer needs it.

I also noticed a description in the Jon chapter in ADWD where he finds a group of wildlings in the weirwood grove beyond the Wall:

“The evening sky had turned the faded grey of an old cloak that had been washed too many times, and the first shy stars were coming out.”

It’s an oddly specific description when grey has already been established as a significant colour in Jon’s storyline. I’m holding out hope that when Sansa leaves the Vale, she has to do so in a hurry, and the only cloak she can grab is old and grey, from being washed too many times.

Thanks for the ask!

[adultswim2021]

Space Ghost Coast to Coast #85: “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” | December 7, 2003 - 11:30 PM | S08E04

Happy 20th anniversary, Adult Swim. And, boy, what a momentous episode of Ghost do we have here to celebrate. There are a number of episodes where the guest is an event unto itself and this is truly one of them. Frequent punchline William Shatner is an absolute cunt... and a proper legend. His cuntiness and legendary status are two things that seem to be at odds with one another, and the Space Ghost crew have managed to come up with an artfully idiosyncratic episode to match Shatner’s weird-guy-ness. It’s a classic for sure, and important. But (making a “smug dipshit” face) is it funny?

YES! It’s FUNNY! I will admit though, the first time I saw this episode I didn’t quite know what to make of it. This is partially because I’m very much a Star Trek agnostic. I’ve never been into Star Trek. In the last few years I’ve watched most of the pre-Next Gen motion pictures for inane list-making reasons, and I enjoyed them to varying degrees, but Star Trek is truly not for me. I’m more of a... well, I’m not a Star Wars guy either. What’s the other one? Uh... Spaceballs. That’s it. I’m more of a Spaceballs guy.

But I feel like I’ve absorbed a lot of Star Trek lore through cultural osmosis. I vaguely understand that William Shatner has had some deliberately-paced choreographed fight scene on those rocks from Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. When I hear music similar to the the music that Jim Carrey hums in The Cable Guy, I’m pretty sure whatever it is I’m watching is doing a Star Trek thing. And yes, I’ve watched every single Red Letter Media “Mike and Rich talk about Star Trek for 4 hours” video. But even today, after having picked up more Star Trek knowledge on my journey to the grave, I still have this nagging feeling of “I only sort of get this”.

Still, this episode has a handful of screamingly funny lines, and the episode ends wonderfully, with Space Ghost in his death throes, suffering the ultimate indignity of dying in front of William Shatner. There’s also the part where Zorak asks why everyone in Star Trek is black, and a part where Moltar nervously reads from his fan fiction (from a book labeled TARD WARS, hahaha). Shatner, who has a reputation for being arrogant and difficult, is as good a sport as one could hope. The show makes good use of his hammier moments, and only shits on him slightly in the process. The most notable moment is when Shatner says to Zorak “didn't you and I fight to the death?” to which Zorak replies “That sounds pretty dumb, man”. I’ve actually quoted this line many times. It’s one of the best.

Also, for those of you who like to track these things: the show features callbacks to other episodes and shows; the handimen at Zorak’s apartment are clearly extras from Sealab 2020/2021, one of the Leprechauns from Aqua Teen Hunger Force shows up, and there’s a poignant callback to classic Space Ghost episode “Banjo”. 

The title motif of this season is naming the episodes after Allman Brothers songs, and I always wondered about this one. Maybe I’m reaching, and it’s probably too disrespectful to be true, but I always thought that it was somehow a veiled reference to Shatner’s wife, whom he supposedly killed or let die. It’s simply too dark to be true, but it’s the first thought that immediately jumped to my mind when I first heard the title of this episode. Am I stupid for thinking this? Am I stupid because it OBVIOUSLY is a reference to that?? I simply do not know. I would like to know.

MAIL BAG

The big anniversary is upon us. What are your 20 favorite things about adult swim for 20 years going. Don't sleep on this question!

I gotta do SOMETHING special, so I might as well do this. More thought could have gone into this, but I spent about an hour trying to come up with episodes or moments from 20 different shows and putting them in rough chronological order. I limited myself to one episode/scene/moment/joke/whatever per show so it’s not all Space Ghost jokes. So, here we go:

Sealab 2021: “I, Robot”. Adult Swim proved it could be brilliant right out of the gate with the stealth premiere of “I, Robot”, but for Sealab it’s all downhill from here. (2000)

Space Ghost Coast to Coast: Space Ghost stops in his tracks to reminisce about the time Bobcat Goldthwait said "crack a window". The entire episode “Kentucky Nightmare” is brilliant, but this moment in particular so uniquely captures my sense of humor that it’s inexplicable. The dumb look on Space Ghost’s face when he stops in his tracks. Goddamn. (2001)

Aqua Teen Hunger Force: “Mayhem of the Mooninites” I tried very hard to make this all be individual jokes or scenes or whatever, but this is another episode where the entire thing is just line after line and I can’t really pick. This, “I Robot”, and “Kentucky Nightmare” is like a perfect trio illustrating how good Adult Swim really was right out of the gate. (2001)

Home Movies: Jason casually reveals that his parents have no idea who Brendon and Melissa are and that he spends most of his free-time making movies with them. This is the episode “Storm Warning” which is overall one of the best episodes of Home Movies, but this scene is probably my favorite. Illustrates how simple and hilarious the comedy is on this show. (2002)

Tom Goes to the Mayor: the end scene in “Undercover”, where they’ve shoddily reversed Tom’s various unnecessary surgeries and called him “Taumpy Tears” to boot. Positively sublime. (2006)

Metalocalypse: Dr. Rockso’s music video. From the episode “Dethclown”. I was never in love with this show as much as the true fans were, but there were a handful of incredible episodes. This episode basically tells one joke over and over and it’s very funny. It really ends with a bang showcasing Dr. Rockso’s shitty music video that celebrates cocaine use. His singing voice is hilarious. (2006)

Assy McGee: I am the only person in the world that defends Assy McGee as being “actually pretty good” and it’s all entirely due to this one line: Assy McGee (a pair of naked buttocks with legs, whose ass functions as his head) is forced to attend a black tie event and is just milling around wearing nothing but a black bow tie. Through clenched anus he delivers the line “I can barely breathe in this penguin suit”. The whole show is worth it for that joke. I don’t even know what episode it is except that it’s from one of the first few. I might not even have the line exactly right. But, I remember laughing so hard. I may not have laughed at Assy McGee again. (2006)

Saul of the Mole Men: The opening theme song. And nothing else. (2007)

Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!: Jim and Derrick. I should pick something more user-friendly maybe, since this episode almost entirely relies on being familiar with Tim & Eric’s previous episodes. But goddamn, this episode is such a funny concept (which is basically Tim & Eric doing an alternate MTV-ified version of Awesome Show) (2008)

Moral Orel: “Numb”. When Moral Orel suddenly stopped being a quirky Adult Swim comedy and suddenly started doing episodes that resembled art films. This episode is a fucking masterpiece. I remember sobbing the first time I saw it. There are a few in season 3 that are like that, but this one is my favorite. (2008)

Check it Out! with Dr. Steve Brule: Terry Bruge-Hiplo reviews “Dumpster’s Children”. Another bit of comedy that I’d describe as “inexplicable” and “sublime”, and it all hinges on an old man’s mouth. Holy fuck. I don’t think I’ve laughed harder than this at a TV show since. (2010)

Delocated: The ending of “Mole”, an extended Face/Off riff where Jon goes undercover as the scary mobster Sergei. In the final moments of the episode he marries a woman, fathers multiple children with her, and only then is pulled out of the mission. The episode is a tour-de-force of comic acting by Steve Cirbus, who is graciously allowed to shine for most of the episode. But man, that ending is fucking wonderful. (2010)

Venture Bros.: The ending of “Operation P.R.O.M.” a flurry of emotions hit me when “Like a Friend” by Pulp starts playing. The scene is so well done and weirdly touching. Brock realizes that deep down he gives a shit about the Venture family and is genuinely terrified something might happen to them. And then he gets to slaughter a bunch of Zorak monsters, which is also weirdly sweet. It’s even touching on a meta-level knowing that Jackson and Doc tried many times and failed to include licensed music in the show. I love Venture Bros, but I think we’d all be better off if this were the series finale. Sorry. I had to say it. (2010)

The Heart She Holler: The first scene with Patton being taught the way of the world posthumously by his father on a VHS tape. The first season of this show is amazing, but that scene, especially where Patton does a little Japanese bow and says “oh, hot dog!” is just hysterical. Literally every time a hot dog comes up in conversation my wife and I quote it. Please, do not scorn her, it’s not racist when SHE does it. (2011)

Eagleheart: The All That Jazz inspired finale. “Paradise Rising” is mostly a masterpiece, and how it ends is so fucking incredible. Easily the most under-rated show on Adult Swim and I’m not just saying that because... you know (mimes dick-sucking) (2014)

Rick and Morty: I watched the first two episodes of Rick and Morty, thought it was good, but for some reason didn’t become a devotee until my wife made me watch the Mr. Poopybutthole episode. It’s still my favorite episode, I think. (2015)

Brett Gelman’s Dinner in America: The “Dinner with” specials are all really good, but goddamn, this one hits. Should be shown in schools. I am going to go to every grade school in my county with an AR-15 (to get past the guards, of course) and I won’t leave until they call an assembly and they let me fumble around trying to find it on vimeo and play it for the students. (2016)

The Eric Andre Show: Eric interviews Steve Schirripa. The bit where he has an intern dip his balls in Steve’s spaghetti sauce is hilarious, naturally, but I’m here to showcase the running gag where every time Steve complains how hot the studio is, Eric just wordlessly hands him an ice cube until Steve explodes. It’s one of the most childishly hilarious things I’ve ever seen. It’s perfect. (2016)

Million Dollar Extreme Presents: World Peace: The Pick-Up artist sketch. I’m mostly unimpressed with MDE, and all but a few Sam Hyde bits leave me cold. But this sketch is a crowning achievement. I mean, I think these guys suck politically and are more mean than funny, but their sensibilities yielded one really incredible piece of comedy. Okay, I laughed at the blackface sketch too. There. You dragged it out of me. (2016) Joe Pera Talks With You: This show is beautiful and I love every episode. But the episode “Joe Pera Reads You The Church Announcements” Wherein Joe discovers a new-to-him song and can’t stop listening to it, is one of the most joyous episodes of television I’ve ever seen. A gateway episode. I tell everyone to please watch this one first. (2018)

[jealousofthetea]

St Petersburg (late)

This is a pretty Serious episode - very high stakes, Arthur is upset and stressed which is an unacceptable state of affairs. 

PS If you haven’t already read John Finnemore’s Farewell Bear Facts for this and the other episodes (or if, like me, you last read them in 2014 when they were posted) then you should check them out! Here (x) is the entry for St Petersburg, you’ll see the others in the sidebar. Also here (x) is the post he made when it first aired.

Anyway, as he says in the Farewell Bear Fact - how Douglas and Martin react to the goose strike is soooo different from how it would have been a series or two earlier. Douglas trusts Martin when he says he can handle the landing - and is right to do so, because Martin doesn’t panic and in fact does a great job! And also Martin didn’t take offence at Douglas’s offer to take over, with its clear implication of ‘because I’m a better pilot.’ Growth! As individuals and of the relationship! We love to see it. 

- A nice hot cup of coffee mug is a thing that exists, right? Presumably?

- Tbh I had never given much thought to the experience of Carolyn and Arthur during the goose strike and emergency landing until reading @sircarolyn‘s post just now but god. A real bad time for everyone huh! And then. AND THEN! They have to deal with (what they think is going to be) the end of their company, AND they have to sell the plane to - and just generally talk to and be around - fucking Gordon Shappey. Whom I assume everyone begins wanting to murder as soon as they first hear Arthur’s reaction to hearing he’s coming. 

- “Douglas will sort it out. He’ll think of something clever, like he always does.” I think it would terrify me to have someone with that much faith in my abilities. Especially at a time when I didn’t have a solution to the current problem. Also, I enjoy the meta level of John Finnemore being the one to say these lines like “don’t worry. We all know how this show works by now.”

- “Obviously everyone’s br- ...no, he’s not brilliant!” and then [panicking noises], “I’ve never seen him like that.” >>>>:(  - that’s me looking at Gordon Shappey. 

- Free lunch for the hero pilots! But not like, a good lunch. 

- Ah, Arthur’s accents. Those and his cooking, both legendary. Martin knows doesn’t know about football but he DOES know about cricket. Because *I* don’t know anything at all about cricket, idk if knowing the names, ages, and...retirement statuses(?) of the two cricketers mentioned is basic or advanced cricket knowledge?

- Gordon stops pretending to be nice and reasonable... I don’t think we knew before this why Douglas left Air England, did we? 

- Douglas is going to do something clever and save the day after all! Love him refusing to tell them what’s happening, just making them trail after him, going “ask yourself why”.... Loser. Loves to be dramatic. 

- “Do you find you have rather sticky fingers?” This whole sequence of the three of them enacting their plan and taking him down is GREAT. Call backs to Arthur at the beginning and to the gin <3

- “There you are then. Exactly what I said all along.” aka “I know what I’m doing, guys. This is a sitcom!”

What a good episode. 

[firefletch]

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?) 👀

Ooooh, I love this question. there's so much where do I start

In a trilogy I have planned, each book has a similar structure meant to parallel the other two; those structures center around the arcs of the three main characters, that also parallel and reflect and build off each other - even while offering three different perspectives/flipped scripts. It's been interesting to plan ahead and see how the similarities and differences flesh out some aspects of the characters, and make certain scenes/traits/actions more impactful to the end of the series. they're also a trio of reckless drama queens lost in a large universe and I love them It kind of happened by accident at first (and I don't know how obvious it will be in the final product), but I really love that aspect of the series now.

A symbolism thing in the most recent world I've written: the number 9 shows up a lot - it's a sort of alternate universe nod to the Trinity (3x3), as well as representing the three “components" of the the world: Mithae, Aedrir, and Ae (there are some in-world theological theories about how the three components tie back to the Trinity, but that's another discussion).

Another by-accident-but-it-turned-out-cool-when-I-developed-it thing: all of the main characters in my Kaslay series have surface level fears that directly symbolize what they fear the most in a deeper sense. For example:

Andren is cleithrophobic (afraid of being trapped and unable to move); his main fear is being helpless to protect his friends and family.

Lenesse is nyctophobic (afraid of the dark); a lot of her underlying (and mostly unacknowledged) fears relate to things she can't see and understand. She is also afraid of becoming "dark" herself, not only losing her own light but losing sight of anyone else's (and potentially snuffing out other peoples' light).

Esyin is acrophobic (afraid of heights); also, knowing that he is actually one of the smartest people around makes him afraid that he will reach too high, overestimate himself, become too proud, and so "fall from grace" - and even worse, take people with him when if that happens.

These fears also have very tangible roots, both for the surface level fears and the underlying fears. Andren was trapped in a small space for two days when his brothers needed him; and he's generally felt helpless since the beginning, due to the enormity of a war in comparison with his ability to keep those around him safe. There was a whole traumatic experience with Lenesse that I won't get in to now, but beyond often using knowledge as one of her main weapons and so being afraid of losing that, she (slight spoilers) is also afraid of her magic powers, which are complete unknowns to her; magic is something she's only ever (in her admittedly limited experience) seen used for evil and for twisting people, and she is terrified that it will turn her into something that could hurt/ruin her friends and family - something "dark". Esyin fell off a very high cliff when he was kid and broke his leg - he's also seen brilliant, highly-regarded people (like he gradually seems to be becoming) bring the entire country of Kaslay to ruin for egotistical (and supposedly logical) reasons.

Narin and Tresha are the other two main characters but there's so much that I haven’t even got to with these three, so they’ll have to wait for another time

On more character stuff, another ask reminded me of one of my favorite character arcs, where the main character goes from selfish, revenge-obsessed loner to understanding, self-sacrificing leader through the Power of Found Family™ and also Friendship.

Partially since I’ve been developing it recently, I am excited for some foreshadowing in a newer project, building up to a twist that I am also excited for (which will feature a lot of callbacks). But I can't really go too far into that now because spoilers (also I may need to apologize in advance to my writing group and I haven’t done that yet).

Considering the amount of stories and WIPs I have in mind, there is more - however, this post is long enough as it is lol, so I’ll end it there.

[hutchhitched]

Social Commentary in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

I haven’t written a lot of meta about The Hunger Games trilogy. When I first read them, I devoured the entire set in three days before I was part of tumblr or writing fanfiction. My own metas were in my head and part of things I taught my classes and discussed with my friends, but not something I generally put on my blog. I don’t know why. (I do have a meta about Peeta’s hijacking that I’ve been meaning to write for a while. Maybe once I’ve finished this book. Hint: It has to do with George Orwell’s 1984, which I used in my classes last year and was performed at a theater in Houston right as the pandemic hit.) I don’t know if reading this book when I’m a decade older and after a really rough few years of my own has anything to do with it or just that I’ve been exposed to so much by being in this fandom, but I’ve got a lot of thoughts about The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. I’ve only read Part 1 so far, but here are some observations. (It’s long, but at least read the last one—even if you have to skip to get there.)

 Spoilers below:

Reaping day is July 4. We already knew it was during the summer, so that’s not a huge stretch. What intrigues me is the symbolism of July 4 for Americans since it’s Independence Day. For those of you who aren’t American or aren’t sure why that struck me, here you go. Independence Day represents the day the Declaration of Independence was signed (although, it was actually two days later, but whatever). The Declaration of Independence was issued 14 months AFTER the beginning of the American Revolution in April 1775 at the battles of Lexington and Concord and was not the cause of the Revolution as so many believe. Penned by Thomas Jefferson (at least colloquially), it famously discusses the celebrated (but sadly, not practiced) phrase that “all men are created equal.” That’s the phrase that’s trotted out and waved about, but the Declaration is mostly about tyranny and the role of government. In fact, the Declaration doesn’t start with “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” Instead, it begins with this: “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another…” In other words, the Declaration of Independence does indicate that all humans are created equal. It also discusses what the government is supposed to and not supposed to do. Having Reaping Day occur on July 4 is a brilliant jab that adds an entirely new level to what Independence Day means and how it’s celebrated—with lots of flag waving and fireworks and BBQ (and very little knowledge of what the document itself actually says).

 Which brings me to Sejanus Plinth. Bless him. He’s the voice of compassion and reason in part 1 as he speaks up about treating other humans with respect and dignity, about the humanity of those in the districts, as he feeds the hungry, as he challenges the inhumanity of the Games. In short, he’s the Peeta Mellark voice from the final council of the tributes in Mockingjay. I have no idea what’s going to happen to him in the rest of the book, but he’s the humanity I’m craving as I read. A note on his name: Sejanus was a close friend and ally of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Sejanus worked to improve conditions in the Empire and served as a proxy to Tiberius when he was absent. He was strangled to death in 31 AD/CE. His last name is what makes me stop and want to hug Collins. Four years ago, I had no idea what a plinth was. I’d never heard the word, but I was the prop mistress for my church’s summer musical, and it was on the list of things I had to find. I googled it and found out it’s a base on which a statue (or something else) is displayed. In Mary Poppins, it was used as the base for a statue that came to life and talked to the characters in the park. In other words, it’s a place on which someone can take a stand and deliver a message—a platform, if you will, of the character’s compassion and humanity.

 I don’t remember if we got that Tigris was Snow’s cousin in the original trilogy or not. What I do remember is that she was a former stylist who Snow thought was no longer useful and had her removed from the Games. I haven’t figured out yet how I feel about her in this book, but her banishment and desire to see Snow destroyed are even more intriguing to me as a result of her inclusion as his relative. I would not have pictured her as a Snow before reading the new book. I’m still waiting to be convinced. “Snow comes out on top” is awesome. I wish I could write half as well as Collins.

 There’s so much Holocaust imagery in this book, it’s terrifying. The cattle cars, the inhumane treatment of the tributes, using a veterinarian to treat the tributes instead of a doctor, the numbers, the cages, the rats, separation into districts and restrictions on travel, the hunger and starvation. Ugh. I’ve spent the past several years studying the Holocaust with some of the leading Holocaust and genocide scholars in the world both here in Houston and in Israel. I’ve traveled to Germany and Poland to see the death camps and headquarters of the Gestapo and Nazis and so on. The Games themselves are genocide, by definition, as an attempt to reduce the population of undesirables by targeting the children so they cannot reproduce. Hearing Survivor stories always reminds me of how Collins discusses Victors. There are no winners, only survivors. Survivors have never forgotten the Holocaust, nor should they. It’s what helped so many of them find compassion and humanity and forgiveness (and equally what causes such despair and depression in so many, as well). During my time Yad Vahsem in Jerusalem last summer, one thing was repeated over and over and over. The real triumph for Survivors aren’t the children; they are the grandchildren and then the great-grandchildren. In Panem, there can’t be too many grandchildren if the children are killed before they reach child-bearing age. (There’s also something in there about Snow being raised by his grandmother, but I’m gonna let that one rest for now.)

 In one of the seminars from last summer at Yad Vashem, a scholar of Holocaust music taught us about the role of bands and singing in the camps (all levels, from death camps down to prison camps). First, there are some achingly gorgeous songs (the lyrics of one which were preserved on a child’s shoe in the death camp of Majdanek). Second, she asked us what we thought were the purposes of songs and music in the camps, and we all gave the standard answers—an attempt to distract themselves, holding onto humanity, finding beauty in the midst of horror, and hope. As a faithful fan of The Hunger Games and the saying “Hope is the only thing stronger than fear,” I was just as astounded as others when she said, “There was no hope. People died in death camps. They were starved and covered in shit and piss and lice and filth. They wanted revenge.” I don’t think revenge is what music represents in this book or in the original trilogy, although I think that argument can be made with the use of the Hanging Tree song in rebellion in the movies, but I can’t get that woman’s statement out of my head when I read this book. Not everybody has hope. Katniss didn’t when she first volunteered. I think there’s something to that.

 Lucy Gray Baird is not Katniss. I haven’t exactly figured out who she is, yet, but she’s not Katniss in the first part of this book, which I think some people were hoping she was (as an analogy, obviously). Her flirtations with Snow are fascinating, and her outgoing and peculiar behavior at the reaping in District 12 was my first indication that the title was not as clear cut as Snow=Snake and District 12 female tribute=Songbird (alluding to Katniss). She puts a snake down the dress of the daughter of District 12’s mayor. She also sings. Is she both? Is she the songbird only? If so, then why the snake? And Snow doesn’t appear to be the snake either. My bet’s on Dr. Gaul. She’s a piece of work. Or maybe it’s Clemmie. Interested to see where that goes, too.

 Lucy Gray’s insistence that she’s not from District 12 is fascinating. She insists she’s Covey, which by definition is a group of birds. The Covey are a group of traveling performers, who were stopped in District 12 and not allowed to leave. Trapped birds—interesting. Also, besides the Jews, the Roma/Sinti were targeted during the Holocaust. This group was commonly and derogatorily referred to as “gypsies,” people who moved about frequently and were suspected of crime, stealing, and a myriad of other issues. The Roma and Sinti immigrated into Central and Eastern Europe from India. If Katniss and others in District 12 are descended from Lucy Gray, then that covers the non-white argument about her ethnic makeup. I have no idea if that was Collins’ intention, but it makes a lot of sense in my brain.

 As for Snow, he’s not a villain in this book. At least he’s not yet. So far, he’s the hero (or maybe anti-hero is better), but he’s definitely not the villain. Since we’ve read The Hunger Games, we know he’s the ultimate villain later, but he’s not so far in this book. He’s got ambition and cunning, but neither of those are ultimately villainous. He mourns his mother. He loves his cousin and grandmother. He’s proud of his father’s military service. He’s sad about his friends who die. He’s interested in, if not attracted to, Lucy Gray. We know what he becomes, so it’s hard to read about him as a person with hopes and dreams and struggles. Why? Because it humanizes him, and when he’s humanized, it’s harder for us to say, “He’s evil, and that’s why he did those things.” This is much the same way people blame the Holocaust and World War II on Hitler. “Well, he’s evil, so of course he did that.” Or how we dehumanize gunmen in massacres—“Well, he was clearly a sick individual, so he shot up the place.” Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying these crimes are excusable (in real life or in Collins’ works). What I am saying is that knowing Snow was a child shaped by war, hunger, poverty, and loss makes it harder for us to distance ourselves from this “evil” person. His characterization is uncomfortable because it makes us face that we could also do terrible things in specific contexts. Evil people are rarely born. They are almost always made, which means any of us could be a villain. That is what’s really terrifying.

 A couple of other notes before this gets way too long for anyone to read.

 The role of the government: Sejanus argues it’s the government’s job to take care of its citizens. This is an argument that’s raged in the US (and other countries) for a long time. The question is how do governments take care of the citizens? By feeding them and giving them health care and making sure everyone has enough? Be protecting them with a huge army? By allowing broad civil liberties (e.g., choosing whether to wear face masks during a pandemic)? By instituting restrictive liberties (e.g., gun control, wire taps, screenings at airports)? It’s a really interesting point Sejanus makes early in the book. Not surprising not everyone agrees.

 Mention of the three other book titles (almost): The Hunger Games are mentioned several times. There’s a reference to something that “really catches fire.” And then there are the jabberjays. There are no mockingjays yet. Probably because there is no mockingjay yet. Seriously, Collins is brilliant.

 The role of war: War is not good for those who live through it. Snow is traumatized by the war, as are the rest of the Capitol’s citizens. It makes most have little empathy for those in the districts who rebelled against them. War has destroyed the city. It’s weakened the economy. It’s destroyed the Snow’s fortune. And then it also leads to the Hunger Games. This book is anti-war just as much as the original trilogy is. It is not anti-soldier, but it is anti-war.

 The role of children: Suzanne Collins lives in Connecticut, right? Yes, she does. You know where? Sandy Hook. More specifically, Newtown. Where children were shot to death in their classrooms by a gunman a few years ago. A ton of gun control people thought the slaughter of children would be enough for gun control to be implemented in the wake of that mass murder. It did not. Since then, there’s been a meme that’s circulated (taken from a tweet) that says, “In retrospect Sandy Hook marked the end of the US gun control debate. Once America decided killing children was bearable, it was over.” On page 60 of the book (right at the end of chapter 4), Snow insists the Hunger Games are to show how much people care about children when Dean Highbottom asks what the purpose of the Games is. And then there’s a paragraph in which Snow wonders if people really do care about children. He concludes that children don’t seem to be quite as important as we claim they are. I don’t think that’s a coincidental commentary on Collins’ part.

 So, that became a lot longer than I planned, but wow. This book is fascinating, and Collins is a genius. I’m so ready for more. Part 2, here I come.

Hey, @everlarkedalways, does this count?

[herald-divine-hell]

A Hamilton Meta

So, I’ve been really thinking about this, and extraordinarily impress about how Lin plays Hamilton in “Meet Me Inside”.

Throughout the first act, and even later on in the second, we often see Hamilton as charismatic, boastful, proud. He stands straight, he’s confident when he gets into a speech. He’s unafraid, he’s respectful to the authority that Washington posses and displays, but also is not unwilling to challenge Washington when he believes his skills can be put to better use.

But!

In “Meet Me Inside”, we see something that’s we only saw in “Aaron Burr, Sir”. In the beginning, he stands tall, he speaks confidently and surely, nearly reprehending Washington himself by defending his actions. Yet, when Washinigaton snaps and shouts “Or you could die, and we need you alive.” Hamilton closes in, his eyes goes down, he looks terrified, guilty, ashamed.

As he says “I am more willing to die”, he seems scared, ashamed, but nevertheless eager. I theorize that for a moment, Hamilton is no longer speaking to General Washington. He’s remembering his father, the destitution of his time in the Caribbean, and his desire for death. He doesn’t like to be yelled at, he is reminded of his time with his father, when he simply left. Washington is a kin to a father figure to Hamilton. He helps him prepare for his wedding, his give him a support that James Hamilton could never do. (Historically, Hamilton had a more symptomatic look onto his father) To have Washington disappointed in him raises a shame and depressive thoughts that clouded his mind when he was younger. He wants people to be proud of him, because he could never gotten that from his father. Yes, Hamilton seeks glory, but he also seeks a way to be rid of the pain of societal shame of his birth and the horrible life he lived and witness prior to arriving at the Thirteen Colonies. It wasn’t out of glory that he says that, but admission that he has reasons for death as a martyr. Lin highlights Hamilton’s depression and suicide in this song, with his face and the slight quiver and desperation in Hamilton’s voice. 

Hamilton is bent over, almost bowing to Washington, a sign of submission that we rarely see Hamilton preform. Even when meeting the General of the Continental army, Hamilton is straight-backed, his eyes confident. Here, Hamilton puts himself in an even smaller position, as if he is trying to close himself off from the world, a tatic used to those who had been abuse, as if trying to shield away from his ptsd and his growing anxiety, and to hide away from the verbal “abuse” that Washington delivers. You see it a lot with children, when they keep looking down, trembling, when they get yelled at. Hamilton here symbolizes that completely. He truly is terrified of getting yelled at by his boss, but also doesn’t loose his fire. He shoots back, his anger at being called son, his anger at his father, his worry of disappointing Washington, and that complexity of depression and anxiety that stems from his childhood fully blows through, and shows how much pent up aggression and frustration Hamilton held within him toward his family, toward his past. 

While Lin shows Hamilton as the brilliant tactician and statesmen he was, he also humanizes Hamilton and makes us relate to him, regardless if he has been dead for two hundred years. While we never had to life in the terrible cruelty that was the West Indies, nor most have to life through the abandonment of a parent and the death of another, not have to life the social stigma of being born outside marriage, we can relate and sympathize with someone who clearly hides most of his true feelings, his worries and stresses, behind arrogance and pride and a justified intellect, and a super-human level of work ethic. For a moment, we see a side of Hamilton that we only get to see at glimpses, especially during monologues, such as parts of “My Shot” and “Hurricane”. The only other person we see him show off this sense of vulnerability and torment is with Eliza, his wife, and whom the real Hamilton only shared such feelings toward and entrusted her with, besides perhaps John Laurens. But instead of being quietly confessed or announced strongly by Hamilton, this time it flashes out, like lightning.

 And that’s what makes Hamilton so great. Yes, he can be prideful to a fault, arrogant beyond all relief, inconsiderate at times. But Lin also took time to show that even the greatest men in American and world history had problems that stem away from politics. We tend to look at Hamilton from his political or legal accomplishments, yet we rarely ever look at the man, who was very much depress and haunted by his life in the Caribbean, who wanted love and admiration, but sought it took quickly and to uphold his personal honor, which he considered some of the few things ever owned, over all else. He was a great man, but he was just that: a man. A man who was tormented by his past, and blessed and cursed by his own brilliance. A man whom we should respect for his contributions to the United States, to sympathies for his mental health and insecurities, and to look down with disgust and disappointment of his actions with his personal life. 

[smylealong]

Year in review - 2020

2020 has been a mixed bag of an year. Where on one hand it has been a raging dumpster fire with a global pandemic, lockdowns, social distancing, online schools, politics, forest fires, Karens and the general sense of ennui that the year brought. On the other hand, the year gave us all time. Time to reflect on ourselves. Time to teach ourselves new things. Time to binge watch. And boy did the streaming platforms make full use of it. Listed below are the best things I saw in 2020. (Across languages and in no specific order.) IT IS A LONG POST. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

HINDI Thappad: Dir: Anubhav Sinha. Starring: Tapasee Pannu, Pavail Gulati, Diya Mirza, Kumud Mishra and Ratna Pathak Shah. On surface level, the premise seems frivolous. After all, it was just a slap. Just. One. Slap. Yet, with that one slap, the protagonist’s neatly organized world comes apart at the seams. From there begins Amruta’s (Tapsee Pannu) journey into exploring the micro-aggressions and tiny slights that she has turned a blind eye to, for the sake of keeping peace. The film never veers into a glorification of violence nor does it get overly preachy. It is a mirror to the patriarchal society and raises pertinent questions about the things that the society as normalized. Things that shouldn’t be normalized.

Bulbbul: Dir: Anvita Dutt. Starring: Tripti Dimri, Avinash Tiwari, Rahul Bose, Parambrata Chatterjee and Paoli Dam.

Horror does not always lie in the things that go bump at night. Sometimes, horror is what society expects of you. Horror is the consequence of not fitting into the role that has been written for you. Sometimes, it is terrifying to be a woman in a male-dominated society. That is what Bulbbul explores. Wrapped in a beautiful package, Bulbbul tells the raw story of a child-bride who is punished, harshly, inhumanly, for acting her age. If you haven’t seen it yet, drop everything and watch it. It’s on Netflix.

Lootcase: Dir: Rajesh Krishnan. Starring: Kunal Khemu, Rasika Duggal, Vijay Raaz, Gajraj Rao.

This was a charming little movie that had me in splits. A story of a simple man who chances upon a bag full of money. What follows is a hilarious tale of lies, deception and comedy of errors. Kunal Khemu proves that Bollywood does not realize just how talented he is. Vijay Raaz’s deadpan comedy and Gajraj Rao’s evil smiling desperation are a delight to behold. I’m smiling even as I am writing this. This was fun!

Raat Akeli Hai: Dir: Honey Tehran. Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte, Ila Arun, Shweta Tripathi, Tigmanshu Dhulia.

This was India’s answer to Knives Out. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is at his finest as the honest and frustrated (in more ways than one) police officer who finds himself attracted to the mistress of the murdered man. What follows is a tale so full of twists and turns that I could not predict where it is going. When you have Siddiqui at the helm, you are almost certain to get a good film. But when he is backed by stellar performance from the able cast, that takes the film to another level altogether.

Patal Lok: Dir: Avinash Arun and Prosit Roy. Starring: Jaideep Alhawat, Niraj Kabi, Abhishek Bannerjee, Swastika Mukherjee, Gul Panang, Ishvaak Singh.

Wow. Just. Wow. This is arguably the BEST thing that I have seen all year. On the surface this is an attempted murder case. But what it actually is, is a mirror to our society. It is a human story. A story of greed, corruption, power, violence, misogyny, depravity and true evil. It is a story of love, hope, support, kindness and humanity. It is a story of us. My hats off to the entire cast and crew for coming up with something truly special.

ENGLISH

Haunting of Bly Manor: Created by: Mike Flannagan. Starring: Victoria Pedretti, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Amelia Eve, T’Nia Miller, Rahul Kohli.

Based on Henry Jame’s Turn of the Screw, this was a poignant tale of love, loss and pain. While it pales in comparison to its brilliant predecessor, Haunting of the Hill House, and the 1961 screen adaptation of the novel, The Innocents, Bly Manor still manages to be a worthy watch. In Mike Flannagan’s deft hands, we get to see a completely different perspective of the Haunting. I won’t say more, for spoilers, but this was definitely one of the better things I watched this year. Especially since I almost eschewed English movies/series this year. (I did watch some forgettable movies like Extraction and Mulan, but even mentioning them here feels sacrilegious.)

Korean

This year, I returned to Korean Dramas after a long time. My last Korean Drama before this year was Faith that I saw in 2014. Since Boys Over Flowers (Read Kim Bum) is my guilty pleasure watch, I decided to have it on in the background sometime in March or April this year. (Honestly, in 2020, who knows?). BOF took me to The King: Eternal Monarch. And TKEM introduced me to Woo Do Hwan who gave me some of the best times in this year. Three of his dramas feature here.

Save Me:- Dir: Kim Sung-soo. Starring: Ok Taec-yeon, Seo Yea-ji, Woo Do Hwan, Jo Sung-ha, Jo Jae-yoon.

Do you fancy a kick to your teeth? Because that is what this series is. What starts a simple story of a regular family’s struggles upon moving to a new town, quickly turns into a harrowing nightmare in which you are simply the viewer. The story delves into cults and the insidious power they hold. Through Seo Yea-ji’s brilliant performance as Im Sang-mi, we see a K drama heroine who is not a damsel in distress. She isn’t the one throwing the punches, that is done by Ok Taec-yeon and Woo Do Hwan. Still she is the one that leads the fight. If that wasn’t enough, Woo Do Hwan, plays Seok Dong-chul. Arguably one of the best male leads I have seen.

Mad Dog:- Dir: Hwang Ui-kyung Starring: Yoo Ji-tae, Woo Do Hwan, Jo Jae-joon, Ryu Hwa-young, Kim Hye-sung.

What a treat this show is! Smart protagonists pitted against equally intelligent antagonists and a taut plot that rarely sags (It does sag just a wee bit in the middle but it picks up pace very quickly). Woo Do Hwan is fantastic as the ever changing, tough to pin down, Kim Min Joon. The layers in this character! This show will keep you guessing. Every cast member is stellar and no one has a single misstep. A must watch!

My Country: Dir: Kim Jin-won Starring:  Yang Se Jong, Woo Do Hwan, Kim Seol-hyun, Jang Hyuk.

This series brings a set of very complex emotions in me. Don’t get me wrong. I love the series. Its story, characterization, costumes, cinematography, acting, action scenes, OST. They are top notch. A+. But... and this is a big one, this series is also a glaring display of what happens when a writer falls in love with one of their characters. As a writer, I can say that we love all our characters. But it is very dangerous for a writer to move from simply loving the character to falling in love with the character. When that happens, the writer becomes afraid of letting that particular character make mistakes. Or glosses over their flaws. Often at the expense of the other character. Which is what happened here. The writer fell in love with Seo Hwi and Nam Seon ho paid the price. Hwi could literally assassinate people in front of Hui Jae and still be forgiven for it, while Nam Seon-ho gets demonized for trying to save Hwi by telling lies. I could go on and on about how unfair this series was to Seon-ho, but that would be a separate post altogether.

Tale of a Gumiho: Dir: Kang Shin-hyo Starring: Lee Dong Wook, Jo Bo-ah, Kim Bum.

I started this series for Kim Bum (I LOVE THE GUY). I was prepared for some cheesy, goofy fun with some good looking people. But soon, I was watching it for the story. A smart Urban Fantasy with elements of Korean Mythology, this was UF done right! This series made me do research. I am so tired of seeing the same old myths in fantasy that this came as a breath of fresh air. Intelligent protagonists who communicate well (gasp! what? That happens?). A flip-flopping anti-hero. A truly psychopathic villain and a bunch of other well-fleshed characters make for one entertaining watch. I highly recommend it.

Chinese:

K-dramas made me revive the Tumblr account that I had created sometime in 2017 and which lay dormant since then. Soon, my Tumblr feed was filled with gifs and metas of a show with pretty men. I did not pay much attention to it, till a post about Jin Ling’s Uncle made me snort. Even though I didn’t understand what it was talking about, it was still funny. Realizing that the show is on Netflix, I saw the trailer and wasn’t impressed. Then there was the length. 50 episodes! Holee-moleee. “No. I ain’t got that much time,” I said and moved on. But then, I saw a gif of a man smiling. I had never seen a smile that dazzling. There was something about that smile that made me go back and click on the first episode. And in less than ten minutes of the episode, they killed the man whose smile drew me to the show. WTF? But I had seen gifs of him. There had to be more. Then, the show began and I had no idea what was happening. I decided no smile could be worth the brain-cells I am having to expend for this. Chuck it. But people in Tumblr said, hold on. You will understand it. Episode 2, and I still wasn’t sold. I gave it till episode 5. Then, before I knew it, I finished the 50 episodes and currently reside in the rabbit hole that is The Untamed.

Dir: Zheng Weiwen and Chen Jialin Starring: Xiao Zhan, Wang Yibo, and a host of others. I can’t write the name of the entire cast, even though I want to.

PS: In case you don’t know, the man with the pretty smile is Xiao Zhan.

[m00nslippers]

Okay but like Jason wearing sweatpants while training is absolutely everything like freaking noobies who just join the JL just watch Jason wipe the floor off of some leaguers and wow wee is it a sight to see👀🍑💦

You’re damn straight! On the very rare occasion that Jason is on the mats or assisting in training, like, everybody stops what they are doing to watch because it’s just amazing.

And it’s not just because Jason himself is hot as fuck and you get to see him sweaty and sexy and out of breath. It’s because Jason is actually an insanely good fighter. He’s not as flashy as Nightwing and not quite as fast, but he makes up for it by being brutally efficient and tactically brilliant. People assume this guy must be a meta of some kind because he’s that damn strong and you can break furniture on this man and he just shrugs it off, he can take a beating like a champ, he has freakish levels of endurance and pain tolerance. Somebody thinks they’ve got in a good shot and Jason’s just like, “Oh, was that supposed to hurt?” *punch*.

Also he’s amazing at reading people and a fast learner, he doesn’t fall for the same move twice. And what's more, is Jason has this intimidation factor that pretty much none of the other bats have, like he gets snarly and scary when he fights, even during training, he makes you think he’s going to kill you, people flinch and react badly because they are just straight-up terrified and that does half the work for him.

Some noobies are over here gawking at the smoking hot guy acting as sparring partner for people while Black Canary watches and gives critique and corrects people's forms and teaches them. And the noobies are first like, “Hnnnng! Oh my god, I can’t wait until that sweaty beefcake wraps me in his arms and thighs and squeezes the life out of me, and I can just touch him all over!” And then it’s their turn and they step up to the mats and stare at the guy distractedly, starstruck and Canary starts the spar and it’s like the whole mood changes. The noobie sees him coming after them and their brain just starts screaming, “Oh fuck! I’m going to die! And he won’t even have to squeeze me with those massive thighs, this was a huge mistake!” And then the next thing they know they are staring at the ceiling, having been instantly taken out and their body is just a confused mess of terror and lust.

Here, have a sweaty Jason in sweatpants. I like the tapered ones on him!