#we needed more analysis because even with all the amazing analysis people have done it still feels off

[twilightarc-gm]

Why do you like jiang cheng?

At the risk of liking him for the wrong reasons, let me be verbose and annoying about it.

A short anecdote: I finished the donghua before the novel and I liked JC's aesthetic so I was happy to have that imagery in my head for the novel, but mostly I came out of the donghua like "cool story, the ending was frowny face though" and I came out of the novel like I was lost in the IKEA store "there's stuff here but it's not what I want and it's organized in a way that's hard to navigate through." Bit like giving me a puzzle to solve.

Anyway, imagine a cat bapping at a thing trying to get fandom to show me what to do with MDZS (i.e. reading fanfic) and then I come across anti-Jiang Cheng stuff.

//record scratch

I'm sorry what?

Why?

NO.

I started then on Shuangjie reconciliation fic and quickly evolved into Jiang Cheng "Apologist" ((I actually don't think he has anything to apologize for even if he would do so anyway.))

I've been in the xianxia/wuxia sphere of media consumption for a year or so before trying out MDZS and JC just fits so well as the main character of his own story; destined for a position of power through birth, friends with someone in his life that causes conflict, seemingly betrayed by said friend when needing that friend the most, losing and losing and losing as his trust in said friend proves unfounded because the friend walks a path he can't follow, and then he's left with the tragedy that befell the world because--ultimately he trusted this friend too much.

It's a classic story of love and attachment and how good intentions can have massive consequences. Two men entwined by fate and in the end there's a battle on a hill (off screen in this case) where one is forced to "kill" the other.

MDZS could have ended with the past timeline, and I would have liked it more but at least in the present timeline we get Jiujiu and a-Ling.

Anyway: Excerpts and Commentary Below about WHY I LOVE JIANG CHENG, courtesy WANYIN

Of all the clans to offend, you don’t offend the Jiang Clan, and of all the people to offend, you never offend Jiang Cheng.

We stand by a badass mf in this house. The first thing we learn is that he gets credit for killing a big baddy and the second thing we learn is how fierce the rest of his reputation is. He brooks no shit and leaves no quarter. Amazing 💜

Well, I was done for at "gaze like two streaks of cold lightning" so RIP me, I guess. Reminds me of some antis that are like "you only like him because he's hot" which isn't true but it is a nice plus. He's described as inferior to LWJ so like, if it was only about hotness then wouldn't I like LWJ???

“I am his uncle. Do you have any last words?”

At the sound of that voice, every drop of blood in Wei Wuxian’s body seemed to surge to his head but then immediately drained away again. Thankfully, his face was already a mess of ghastly white, so it didn’t look strange when he went a little paler.

A man in purple attire strode over. He was dressed in a narrow-sleeved light robe, with his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. A silver bell dangled from his waist, yet there was no sound when he walked.

This young man had fine brows and almond eyes, with a chiseled handsomeness to his features. His eyes were deep and intense with a hint of aggression, his gaze like two streaks of cold lightning. He stopped and stood three meters away from Wei Wuxian. His expression was like that of a nocked arrow on a bow, ready to shoot, and even his composure was suffused with arrogant pride.

Jiang Cheng ruled the Jiang Clan of Yunmeng alone, so it could have been said that he was in a state of isolation.

🥺 Alone?? And he could still afford 400 Immortal Binding Nets? Self-sufficient king 🤩 And like, his reputation is so fierce and he's boiling over with anger in that scene, but still he restrains himself because he did the cost-benefit analysis! And then later he takes a huge risk on WWX, like he always does for WWX, and that doesn't work out for him--like it always does.

Seeing that nothing had happened to Jin Ling, Jiang Cheng was greatly relieved. However, that relief soon turned into a furious reprimand:

Parent behavior. Enough said.

He has a twisted smile when encountering a trigger for his PTSD and then he decides to fight it instead of letting it paralyze him. He's such a doer. Like, every other moment of the day he's carefully calculating pluses and minuses to every choice (valid) but when it comes to facing his personal demons he's ready to throw down. Excellent.

A moment later, Jiang Cheng’s lips pulled into a twisted smile. His left hand subconsciously began stroking that ring once more.

He said softly, “Excellent. Back, are you?”

He let go of his left hand, and a long whip dangled from it.

“Oh? Then please enlighten me, what is your type?”

Walking A-Spec flag very concerned about what the man who might be his shixiong thinks about him, more at eleven!

Wei Wuxian waved him off and then hooked his arm around Jiang Cheng’s shoulders. “Who cares? I’ll tease him a bit more before I go. You’ve already collected my corpse so many times. Once more won’t hurt.”

Okay but big lol that JC doesn't get to collect WWX's corpse that final time. //sounds of sobbing

A smile appeared on his face, but then he immediately humphed.

He's so grumpy and adorable! I love him! pre massacre JC is precious and I just want him to have someone to bring out that smile again.

He literally didn't have to do this. He makes all these excuses how he'll be embarrassed if WWX is rolling around 😂 Perfection. Boy, you are still carrying him and he doesn't want you to stop.

Jiang Cheng, walk slower, you’re gonna throw me off.”

Not only did Jiang Cheng want to throw Wei Wuxian off, but he practically wanted to bash his head into the ground to create a human crater. “So fussy even though I’m carrying you!”

“I didn’t tell you to carry me,” Wei Wuxian reasoned.

Jiang Cheng flew into a rage. “If I didn’t carry you, I think you’d hang out at their ancestral hall all day, rolling around on the floor. I can’t afford this embarrassment! Lan Wangji took fifty more strikes than you, but he walked away on his own, and you’re not embarrassed, pretending to be an invalid? I don’t want to carry you anymore. Get the hell off!”

“No, I’m wounded,” Wei Wuxian said.

Alrighty, like I'm just going through the entire book at this point.

Let me see if I can make this more concise:

Sacrifices himself despite his very dutiful nature that would oppose this. He throws away all his responsibilities for WWX, again and again, carrying on a tradition of favoring WWX over his own health and happiness. Citing: JFM favoring WWX to the detriment of his marriage, JYL dying to save WWX, and JC (exhausted and with little or no power) running into danger to save WWX ala distracting the Wen patrol and 2nd Siege.

Can't be honest in his affections and makes up excuses to do nice things for others.

Loves and understands his sister. She wanted JZX so he made it happen when LLJ had absolutely no reason to reinstate the marriage contract between Xuanli. JGS notes in the CR arc that he didn't want the marriage for his son in the first place and that there were better options than YMJ, and that was before the war! JC helped her get to Yiling to show off her wedding dress! Even though she married out he still felt so attached to her son he couldn't not co-parent Jin Ling.

Yes, he has Zidian, but he also has a second horsewhip that he keeps on him which is very exciting to know.

The narrative hates him but he survives. (He survives because the narrative hates him).

Most BAMF entrance in the novel at the temple scene with the busting the temple doors down and coming in from the rain with an umbrella. Like sure the narrative hates him but small blessings that rule of cool still counts for something.

Mama's boy.

Just some dude, shows up late to treasury room nonsense, knows all the gossip, no one has faith in him including himself, but he keeps going and doing what needs to be done even when he's so so tired and his shixiong shows up 3 months late with a ghoul lady and a latte, or disappears to liberate slave property without warning first and now he's called into a midnight meeting after trying to get some much needed rest and now he's got consequences to deal with. Someone help him!

An expert at sneering. Threats as a show of worry and care. This makes all the little and brief smiles so much more endearing.

Sandu Shengshou is an amazing title, get out of here if you don't agree. Holy Hand of the Three Poisons? Brutal, perfect 💜 It gets used like, ONCE. Crime against me personally.

Link to Blorbo Sheet for JC

He loves, he hates, he wants to hate he's not allowed to love. Zero middle ground, he's all in and there's no way out.

//is shot and dragged off stage

But just as the Wei Wuxian of the past who’d extracted his golden core for Jiang Cheng had been unable to tell him the truth, the Jiang Cheng of the present could no longer bring himself to speak up.

[alistairs-raven]

I was asked to elaborate more on what I mean when I said that Ellen isn't a victim, but rather the villain of the story.

Thank you for asking! I love analyzing this amazing film. I have watched it a stupid amount of times now and here's my thoughts.

The Story:

Very early on in the movie, Thomas is about to leave to meet Count Orlok. Ellen tells him not to go and tells him of a vision she has had. She says that it was her wedding day, and she was marrying death. Everyone around her was dead and there was the smell of lilacs, but she'd never been so happy.

The night before Thomas leaves, he's asleep while Ellen is filling an empty locket. Inside of it she places lilac and a piece of her hair.

Orlok notices the locket and examines it. Once he has it, he sniffs and notes the lilac that she has sent. He keeps the locket and doesn't return it to Thomas, because the gift was for him.

Orlok tricks Thomas into signing papers relinquishing the eternal bond through marriage he has with Ellen.

Later in the movie, Orlok appears before Ellen. This is a part of the movie where it kinda holds your hand. Ellen of course pushes back against him and accuses him of causing everyone's suffering. While Orlok points out that he is "just an appetite". A creature with no morals, merely a need. Meanwhile it is in fact Ellen who has summoned Orlok not once, but now twice. It is her who has brought all of this plague upon everyone. He tells Ellen that Thomas divorced her and now she must choose one of them. And he gives her three nights to make that decision.

During this time, the monster she has brought forth kills her friends and their family.

In the end, Ellen makes her choice. When Count Orlok arrives to see what choice she's made, she greets him in a wedding dress. They consummation their marriage, which leads to them both dying. The final shot is them surrounded by death and lilacs. Thus fulfilling the vision that Ellen had. She married death, everyone around her was dead, but she'd never been so happy.

The Characters:

Ellen is pretty cold to the two male leads of the movie.

Friedrich agrees to take Ellen in. Thomas says the trip is 6 weeks, which means Ellen stays with him for a minimum of 3 months. During that time she's having fits because her husband is away. Friedrich is shown to not like Ellen, but still does everything in his power to help her. He gets the doctor (who he definitely paid for), he goes out to get a specialist. He barely sleeps. His health deteriorates. To us, the audience, we know there's a monster. But he doesn't know that. And so when the doctor, the specialist, Ellen and now Thomas are all screaming about a monster, he is at his wits end. He has seen a plague ship, and now his wife is dying from it. He wants Thomas and Ellen to leave his home so that he can care for his wife, but Ellen immediately calls him "stupid and cruel" which hurts Friedrich deeply. He even points out to her "I'll call you cab, at my expense of course." to remind her of all he has done for her. In the end, her choices kill his entire family and then him.

Thomas takes the job to have enough money to care for his wife, which includes taking a dangerous journey alone. None of which Ellen shows gratitude for, rather she calls him selfish. When he returns to her, she emasculates him, leading to him having rough sex with her to prove himself. None of this is enough, bringing suffering to Thomas.

Ellen's love:

Ellen loves both Orlok and Thomas. But as Orlok points out to her, she has a darkness within her, and it was strong enough to reach and wake him from his eternal sleep. Note how never once in this entire movie does Ellen ever display any sort of fear towards Orlok.

Feminist themes:

As many critical analysis have pointed out, this movie is pretty feminist, but probably not in the way some people would think when they hear that word. It's unfortunate that even in 2024/2025 we live in a society that still infantizes women into always being the victim. Women are adults with choices and desires, sometimes very dark ones, that have consequences. And this movie does a good job exploring that.

Going back to my original point:

Ellen is the secondary, if not the main villain of the story. My personal opinion is that she is the main, because she is the main cause of the conflicts of the story.

---

Original post

@tomie-dollie

[chamiryokuroi]

My thoughts on Tim Drake: Robin #10 heavy spoilers under the cut

First of all got to say it wasn’t a bad ending if we consider they had to wrap up this arc in such a short amount of time, gotta give it to Meghan she managed to figure out a way to answer as many questions as possible and give us a relatively good ending for a series that I feel was canceled with no reason.

You can definitely feel that the story was planned to be done in more issues, the building blocks are all there for an amazing arc and it is sad we had to condense it all in one issue.

Now into a more in depth analysis of the comic of my favorite parts.

The Labyrinth was such and interesting point I wish we could have seen more of, specially with the fact this is the cult if Dionysus.

I absolutely adore the fact that Bernard is fully aware of Tim’s identiry because we get such funny interactions like this where Pie honestly thinks Tim is cheating on Bernard with Robin, and that panel of Bernard laughing because of that is one of my favorites for sure, boy is having so much fun, as he should.

Now in a more serious tone, this two panels tells us so much of how Tim feels, how insecure he is of his own place, not only on his family, but in the world as a whole. That second panel specifically where we see Bernard having fun while Tim is just on the bg, knowing how hard it must be for Tim to wrap his head around his sexuality even now, a year after coming out and starting dating Bernard, this feels realistic, sometimes when you come out later in life it feels as if you do not fit exactly with the community, and it can be hard to find your place.

If I had a nickel for every time a creepy cult tried to recruit Tim into their ranks I would have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it is weird that it keeps happening.

This is honestly another point that feels like it was meant to be explored for longer before the cancelation notice came. At least it gives us an explanation of why Kate was acting the way she was, it took me a while to get it but basically after Tim saved Bernard from the cult back in Urban Legends Kate went around hunting down those that managed to escape, one of them being the son of this man that appears to be the leader of the cult, the son then took his own life and Kate was taken into the labyrinth, were we know Tim was being pumped with some hallucinogen gas of some sort, depending on how long she was on the labyrinth before managing to escape that might explain her memory loss, again this is all theorizing with what we are given since there wasn’t much space for it to be explain as it should.

And now we go back to Bernard who is looking around for Tim, going to all the people that knew him as Robin, and then those words “Tim takes care of everyone… but sometimes he needs someone to take care of him” hits me straight on the feels, Bernard is such a supportive boyfriend, he is definitely what Tim needs, someone that is there for him, not only for Tim, but also Robin.

Also the fact that Bernard is making his own homemade bat-signal with his hands is just adorable to me. Boy could had probably drove to Bruce’s house, but he doesn’t need Bruce’s help right now, he needs Batman.

And of course Batman responds. Bruce why were you following Bernard? Anyways, yet another great speech from Bernard “I thought you might be a ghost. Or you weren’t real. But the truth is you look sort of normal. Like regular-people normal.” Leave it to Bernard to understand exactly what Batman is, just a normal man trying to help as best as he can.

And then he says Tim needs help, not Robin, Tim. This is just Bernard out right telling Bruce “I know, and I don’t care, because Tim is in problem and you got to find him”

And then we get the best thing, Bernard, and Tim’s friends and family, rushing in to save him, just as he was losing hope of managing to leave the labyrinth alive. Absolutely in love with Bernard’s long ass coat.

And then we get to my favorite page. The uncertainty if it is really him or another hallucination, the confirmation that it is him, it is Bernard, here to save Tim. The hug, the way Tim is holding Bernard’s face, the only thing that would had made this better would had been a kiss.

And then we get to the ending, not much to say here, I just love these two pages, Tim just finally realizing he doesn’t need to be anyone else, that he can be himself and that he is right where he belong, and that he can be happy with that. The best ending we could have hope for with what we were allowed to have.

There are obviously many questions left unanswered.

What was exactly the Cult of Dionysus? Where did it came from?

What’s going on with Bernard’s parents?

What’s up with Moriarty? Who was his boss? What was his deal with Robin/Tim??

I am sad TD:R ended the way it did, had it been given the time to develop I feel it would had gotten better. But I am glad we managed to get as much as we did, now we just have to wait and see what will DC do now with Tim, and if Bernard will stay relevant or will they brush him under the rug.

[weirdo09]

hobie brown

i’d just like to say, i hope y’all never meet a black boy nor man because y’all’s behavior over one black teenager is honestly disturbing.

like the racist headcanons, the not taking accountability for your disturbing fics about him because “HIS AGE ISNT MENTIONED!!” like don’t act dumb, you know them people said that he’s a slight older boy than miles which would be like 1-2 years, making him 16-17. it’s also just the “i want his dick inside of me” “i want to have his kids” and the sex hcs where it’s like “he’ll fuck you hard and not give you aftercare, just leaves you to take care of yourself.”

i’m not really bothered by the smut fics and hcs cause he is attractive and i will read them every once in awhile but y’all be taking it to the extremes, calling him toxic, making him out like some abusive boyfriend, he’s only sweet when he wants you to have sex with him, he only wants you for sex, he’s a full person but only cool because he’s in a band and has sex with you, he lets his band mates fuck you without your consent, he rapes you for whatever reason (y’all’s writings not mine), he doesn’t care about stopping to see if you’re okay or if you need a break.

basically what i’m seeing is that he’s only good for sex and some of the good fics about him only portray certain parts of him. like i’m all for writing about your favorite characters n what not but if you’re basically gonna treat his character like you’re personal boytoy and not see him as anything else, it’s really harmful. especially with y’all not tagging your fics correctly and the smut fics i previously mention get seen by a minor who would want to read smut of him but not that bullcrap.

y’all literally write him being abusive to his partner, not just physically but call it “teasing”. i’m sorry but if my partner said something about breaking up with me or that i’m not good enough, would i think that that’s just “teasing”? like honestly, if you treat all your ‘blorbos’ like this then i feel sorry for you because hobie’s an amazing character that isn’t just there for you to dream about fucking and getting pregnant by him.

he’s there to show you how corruption and fascism impacting your way of life can lead to you wanting to rebel and become an anarchist to that society. he’s there to teach you that you can make your rules, that you’re more than what one person tells you, you tell yourself what you wanna be. he’s a symbol for black people who don’t wanna follow the rules of a white supremacist, fascist society, for the people who’ve ever just been like “fuck the government, i’m my own person.”

i really feel like y’all take him for granted and he is a character for a children’s type of media so the “well minors shouldn’t be looking for his smut!!” doesn’t work here. honestly, do y’all ever care about characters that aren’t perceived as “fuckable” or “attractive” by your standards? it just really pisses me off because y’all act like that’s all he’s there for, your yearning for BBC has really dimmed your perception of this character. HES A IMPORTANT CHARACTER FOR YALL TO ROLE MODEL CAUSE ITS OBVIOUS YALL DONT GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THE MOVIE’S CHILD AUDIENCE BUT YOU GIVE A FUCK ABOUT HIM SO

if you care about hobie, please remember that there’s more to him than you wanting him to fuck you and he would hate the things that you’ve done to him because you have bigger issues in the world than “he would fuck you with his big cock.” LIKE WAKE THE FUCK UP WE COULD BE MAKING ANALYSIS OF HIS CHARACTER BUT INSTEAD YOU THINK THAT HES JUST THERE TO BE EYE CANDY LIKE OMGGGG

just please for the sack of everyone, learn more about his character and stop tryna be antiblack and sex crazed over him. if you love hobie, just stop being the way that you are because it’s honestly disgusting to have to see grown adults wanting a canon minor to fuck them. you ain’t slick, the fact that i even have to write this is disgusting. do better, fandom is more than saying that you would fuck a character, care more about the teenagers on this site that are in the fandom with you as well. stop being selfish and start caring about the other people in the fandom.

[xxhypersomnia]

My Gladiator II Review

Before I get into my individual analysis I would like to say a few things. Please keep these points in mind: 

Reviews are not a substitute for your own personal feelings or ideas about a movie. A review should never determine how a movie made you feel. Movies are art and we each experience them differently. That is the whole point. 

Step outside the fandom. The majority of people watching this movie are not deep within the bowels of the fandoms of the many amazing cast members in this movie. They do not know every leaked detail, they have not done research on their character’s real life history, they have not soaked in every subtle detail. They like Ridley or Gladiator, and they sat in a seat when it came out. Our expectations are often higher or at least different than the general public. Ridley also has a duty to make sure his stories are understood by the general public. So even though we may have wanted more, I doubt most people would want to sit through an 8 hour movie. Also take into account the general thought process of a movie. How people feel about things is based on their own personal experiences and qualifiers, as well as their attention spans, relation to art or history, etc. People go with their gut more than anything. 

Movies are art. They are not required to follow your personal beliefs, they do not need/nor can they satisfy every viewer. The creators of movies are allowed artistic integrity.

Subtlety & Brainpower 

One of the things that Ridley does well in all his movies, but also this one, is subtlety. There does not always need to be a lot of dialog to get a thought or feeling across. The visuals are their own character and that is the mark of a great director in my opinion. Things like the way a character looks at someone, or the proximity in which they stand can say a million things. Many of these moments can be seen in the eyes of Macrinus, Acacius, Lucuis, Lucilla, etc. They all have moments like this. A good actor can convey the feelings without having to say a word, and I think that all of them did a marvelous job in showing their talents in this arena. Some key moments being Macrinus and the way he notices the connection between Lucilla and Lucius, you can see the wheels turning in his mind, the way he needs to get ahead of this, to preserve himself and his rise to power. The way he needs to formulate a plan to still keep Lucius under his thumb because he knows he could ruin his whole plan if he brings back the connection with his mother. This is done in a matter of seconds with just a simple look on his face. 

Another great example is the connection between Acacius and Lucilla. They don’t really say a lot to each other throughout the movie, but you can feel that connection between them by their body language, the way Acacius looks at her like she means everything to him, because she does. Another is when the arrow comes into the emperor’s stand. At this moment Acacius actually looks like he fears it was for Lucilla, thinking Lucius is aiming for her, when in reality it's him. This is a magnificent moment. The look on Acaius’ face when that eye contact happens with Lucius is intense. A feeling of “how dare you? Why would you aim here?” And trying to figure him out, that is just perfection. 

Now, I will also say that recognizing things like this are also on the viewer. I cannot expect everyone to be a good reader of body language, or empathic enough to pick up on the emotions the actors portray. Which really is unfortunate for anyone who watches and doesn’t see things this closely, but I cannot make them have those abilities, unless they work on actively looking for these sorts of things. 

Lucuis’ Anger 

Beautifully expressed: rage from pain trope. Especially the scene where he fights against the chimps. Our pain is primal. Seeing his friend die just added fuel to the flame after his wife’s death which is still incredibly recent. It wasn’t survival anymore, it was a way to avenge those he cared about. His rage toward Rome began at a young age, when it took Maximus and his mother from him. It took his home from him. Then it got worse as he just continued to lose those he loved. (If you are a TLOU fan, you will also notice this character trope in Ellie which is incredibly, incredibly executed as I am sure you know.) 

The death of Acacius added to this rage, as well as the death of his mother which directly led him to finally bring down Macrinus. Lucius reached his breaking point, this is enough bloodshed, enough pain. He is thinking, this is not a responsibility that I asked to take on, but I cannot sit idly by and let Rome continue its tyranny on the innocent (a strong quality he got from his father). While we’re at it, let's talk about how Lucius is not Maximus. I think this was also expertly crafted, and when people say the second was a remake of the first, this is the biggest thing that stands out to me. Maximus was angry at Rome I am sure, he also experienced loss and heartache, but he was a trained military man. He fought with a type of calm and calculation that Lucius does not have. Lucius fought for his people, but he was not spending his life expertly learning to control his emotions like a general must. I loved this distinction, it is clear in so many parts of the film. 

The way that Lucius is incredibly stubborn, or the way that he delivers speeches to support the men is much different than Maximus, and I believe that is with purpose. One thing rang true between them both, which was like a string connecting Lucius to Maximus, is that it doesn’t matter your experience or expertise, you show the people that you care and that you will lead them with caring and humility and you will earn their trust. Maximus and Lucius did not just care about their own survival, they cared about the survival of everyone who was forced to be a gladiator. They cared about working together, which is something Lucius definitely learned from watching his father in the arena. He knew that things were better accomplished as a team. This was also the way Rome needed to function, and that is what was going to make them good leaders. By taking into account the suffering of others. In the end, Lucius may not know the first thing about politics or running a council for the people, but he understood the people. 

They also both were good leaders in the sense that they were unafraid to take the helm. They knew someone had to help, so they took the duty upon themselves. 

Macrinus & Lucius have the same motive 

Denzel’s character and Paul’s character both hate rome. They both want to see it change/fall. However, while Lucius’ reasons are based on avenging the loved ones he lost, Macrinus’ reasons are selfish. He remembers the pain that was directly caused to him and he wants revenge. He wants to make Rome pay, he wants to burn it to the ground. But the way he was going about it was making him no better than those who mistreated him in the first place. He was too consumed by power, literally saying “I must have power” and he was willing to do anything to obtain it, regardless of who he hurt. 

(This shows the clear difference between revenge and avenging) 

The Emperors

In reality this was much too short a time to understand a lot about their characters, but the point got across. These two characters deserved much more screen time but sadly that wasn’t available. They could have each had their own movies to be honest, but I think that Ridley did enough with the scenery, the supplements around them to create a narrative that could still be understood. We knew that Fred’s character had syphilis. We knew they both were losing their minds, they were twins. They were easily manipulated and never should have been in power in the first place. They were easy targets for Macrinus to come in and manipulate them. I immediately loved both of them and believed their mental states. Without having to be told specifically they were unstable, we could see it immediately, through their appearances, the look in their eyes, their laughter, their inability to discuss things at a level of intelligence needed to run Rome. Joe especially was deep into the mental state of his character and he did so beautifully. 

The Use of Lighting & Color

There are multiple moments in the movie where lighting is expertly used as a tool for storytelling. A lot of the lighting I noticed around Lucilla especially. There is a moment where she is in one of the cells I believe and she is lit so beautifully by the window (I tried to find a photo, but have not). This can represent how she was light, a sign of hope, of safety. 

Color is huge in film. Colors can convey emotions that you don’t even recognize they are making you feel sometimes. A huge example of the importance of color was the end scene where Lucius says goodbye to Maximus and Lucilla. The scene is mostly blue and purple. Colors that are often said to be calming. Blue is related to grief and death. What I find beautiful about this is that most of the movie is in natural tones. Beige, brown, white. Then there’s this one scene that is so blue, as gentle as it is, it's a stark contrast to the feeling of the rest of the film. 

I also enjoyed the scenes where Lucius drifted to another “realm/dream” and envisioned his wife. I think purely from an artistic standpoint this was beautiful to do in black and white. Death and the shock of death can feel hollow, colorless, like every ounce of vibrancy has been sucked out of your world. There could have also been a cultural representation here, forgive me I am not versed enough to know about the way people in these areas viewed death besides they thought they lived outside the realm of the living, which could potentially be represented by the taking away of his wife or how he ran but couldn’t get to her. (I would need more research into this subject to know more. Although I have a lot of great books about death and how different cultures view death if you would like to expand yourself.) 

General Acacius 

To put it bluntly, Acacius needed to die. Again, beautifully executed. Putting aside my massive fangirling of Pedro Pascal, he was a flushed out character with the little that we got of him. With very little language, they were able to build him as a character that we knew had a good heart. From the beginning we see him grieve the loss of human life, regardless of his role as general. Acacius was no doubt seen as merciful, but also most likely as a pillar of the growth of Rome. The expansions that, by view of the people, kept them alive and thriving. Continued to give them lands to harvest and feed the people. Obviously we learn more about his character later from the full script, which helps explain a lot of other stuff I won’t get into right now. But Acacius did a great job as a much needed story support. Acacius was fiercely loyal to Lucilla. Not only as her love and husband, but as someone who was tasked with caring for her (which is lightly touched on in the first scene of Acacius and the emperors together). This is absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. From the original movie, we know that Lucilla was the subject of much pain and heartache, being misused by her brother and discarded, as well as losing her son and Maximus. It was so lovely to know that she had spent the last 16 years, no matter how strenuous, with a man who would give her the world. She deserved that. (all women deserve that ahem). 

Why did Acacius HAVE to die in the manner he did? 

Let’s start with how this character was perceived. Much like Maximus, we get the sense that Acacius was much loved, selfless in his fights for Rome and understanding. He commanded gently and caringly. When Acacius was captured for treason, Macrinus saw this as a “two birds with one stone” opportunity. He could buy the loyalty of Lucius, by giving him the general’s head, but he also could use this moment as a way to manipulate the emperors and begin to turn the people against them. He makes the suggestion of having Acacius enter the ring. Which is not what the people would have wanted. They did not want to watch their beloved General die in spectacle. Executions were often reserved for non-citizens of Rome as well, he was being degraded by being put in the ring at all. Lucius line about how they treat their heroes was perfect here. Lucius, refusing to kill Acacius, set him up for future success as the prince of Rome. The people were able to see that he was also merciful. If he had killed Acacius himself, they would have hated him for taking away their beloved general. 

When Lucius realizes that Acacius cared for his mother and his father, as well as refusing to fight him, he is able to see past his anger and realize he was not an enemy. Acacius being killed so abruptly, and by arrows again, reignited his rage for Rome. Recognizing that Acacius, a good man, was also being forced into a form of servitude, unable to deny his post as general. And thus forced to continue taking lives in the name of Rome. In this moment, there is realization, for himself but also the people of Rome, that Rome is not there to help. There is no discerning between enemy and hero in the eyes of Rome. Acacius’ death serves as the catalyst for the people to begin to turn against the idea of the emperors and open the space for Lucius to become the one people look to. 

The symbolism of arrows/death by arrow 

Everyone that Lucius loved died by arrow. Arrows are a disconnected way to kill someone, it's less personal. It's distant and emotionless. Using arrows was incredibly symbolic. Those in power are cowards, unable to take the lives of the people directly. Pedro’s character however, has had to do this multiple times. A close, personal kill resonates with you. You see the pain, you feel it, you get covered in their blood. Arrows are a cowards’ tool (or any long distance weapon) where you can disconnect the life you’re taking from yourself. This just showed that Rome didn’t care, killing was easy to do and they would do it to anyone, there was no grief in their actions.

It felt like theatre 

The directing style of Ridley leans hard into this being an aspect of the film. We know that he enjoys single cuts and doing things from start to finish and that was really shown here. I recommend watching the movie again and just making yourself aware of this. There were multiple scenes that made it feel like you were watching a play, from the placement of the characters to the way they had to act in the moment. A phenomenal example of this is the scene where Macrinus manipulates Caracalla. The monkey, Sherry, was definitely doing her best to throw them off their game and they acted their asses off. Bravo! But also, the set up of the scene felt very theatre-like which resonated with me. Who knows, maybe that’s because I’m a theatre kid. 

Shock Factor 

There were a few moments that actually made the audience gasp, which to me is just great. Movies with a strong emphasis on fighting and death can easily be turned into just a gore fest but I do not feel that happened here. The parts that made you tense were done well and were few, such as Macrinus’ hand being chopped off, and Geta’s death at the hands of his “brother” (technically Macrinus). 

Homage to the original

While some people think this was a cheap way to do the movie, I don’t. I think it was marvelously executed and nostalgic. What is cheap is things like Disney literally making the same movie but just making it live action. This was a way to bring your memory back to the original, to spark the feelings you originally felt, or to get excited over what might happen when you realized that things were similar. Personally, I rewatched the original right before going to London to watch the sequel and I was so glad that I did. I was able to pinpoint those exact moments and it made me wonder where the story was going to go. Were they going to do the same thing? Then I was pleasantly surprised when it was different. I think Gladiator reserved the right to do this. It has been 24 years since the original, it was a big deal when it came out, a fan favorite and the reason being, it was a good story. So to implement those same story elements into this one and not only bring back memories, but create memories for a new audience, I think in my own opinion was appropriate. 

There were some beautiful, almost shot for shot moments, like when Lucius’ friend rides to find the military to enlist their help or after being captured in the original, Maximus’ injury was helped by a fellow slave and Lucius did the same for another in the sequel. 

Cons

Too many storylines to flesh out 

One of the great things about this movie is we got a lot of really great characters, when in the original we had about 3 main characters (Maximus, Lucilla and Commodus). In the new one we have 6 (Acacius, Lucilla, Lucius, Geta and Caracalla). They are characters that we want to imagine more of, that we need more of. The issue is there wasn’t enough time to give them all the storylines they deserve. While some of us may have gladly sat through an 8 hour movie, I don’t think that is the case for most people. However, I did not leave the movie theatre feeling I didn’t understand any of the characters. I maybe wanted more of them, but I was given enough to understand them and their place in the storyline. 

Do we need to talk about the sharks?

(maybe a little bit…) We know that the reason we don’t have great white sharks in tanks in aquariums right now is because of transportation. Great whites must have constant flowing water over their gills to live, this is why they are continuously swimming. There have been many cases of modern technology attempting to move them for human entertainment, which have failed miserably. So I am confused as to how they were transported into the arena (if they were. I have not done my research to see if this was at all historically linked.) If you would like to learn more about how we have made attempts to transport sharks, I recommend one of my favorite books “Devil’s Teeth” by Susan Casey. 

Recap

I know this wasn't much of a review as it was an analysis and that was by design. I do not wish to tell you whether or not you should like the movie, but to instead give you tools to look at the movie more objectively. I hope you liked this, and please feel free to message me here or on instagram. I have more to discuss but I can't possibly go on forever in this post.

[andreal831]

im not sure if someone has asked this but what do you think aboit camille and how undervalued she is both in the fandom and show

there were so many implied storylines that they never showed about her

yusuf said vincent was in love with cami, rebecca breeds said she wouldve preferred aurora to fall for cami after being obsessed rather than them over a mediocre man, phoebe and leah both liked haymille. the actor who played the detective in s3 said he would have liked cami and will. luciens actor said the same. it seems everyone wanted her but the show just wanted klaus

we should have seen cami take over the human faction

they wasted her potential by making her what everyone claimed she was, just klaus' love interest when she was so much more but they made her last episode all about klaus. elijah and cami were a cute duo too, her and marcel as well

I have talked about how undervalued Cami is, but I will always talk about it more. My most elaborate analysis of Cami is here.

There are so many storylines Cami was meant to go down, but because of the fandom she didn't get the chance.

Although, I don't think she needed more ships. People are, of course, welcome to ship Cami with anyone. I have crack ships for her that I like. But I also hate when everyone is in love with one character and their entire storyline just becomes a messy lovefest. TVD did that with Caroline and Elena. Adding more love interest doesn't make a more compelling story or character. I like Klamille, but they didn't need to be endgame to make Cami an important character. She didn't need a love interest to make her more important.

Cami is an important character because of her family and her personality. As you said, Cami was slated to take over the human faction. It had been in her family for generations. Even as a vampire, she at least remembered what it was to be human. She should have gotten the opportunity to use her vampirism to protect humanity. She would have done an amazing job teaching vampires to maintain their humanity.

I disagree that the show reduced her down to "Klaus' love interest." The fandom definitely does, but this is purposeful. The fandom loves to reduce Cami to nothing and pretend she wasn't important for various reasons. But the fact that you listed a bunch of characters that loved Cami and wanted more with her shows she was so much more than that.

Cami and Klaus hardly even interacted for much of season 1 and 2. We knew they cared for each other in the background, but that wasn't the main focus of the show. All of TO's ships operated in the background. But that didn't mean Cami didn't have important storylines.

In Season 1, Cami's plot wasn't Klaus. It was learning about the supernatural world and her family's legacy. It was also her establishing so many important relationships: Marcel, Davina, Josh, etc. In Season 2, Cami's plot wasn't Klaus. It was working with Marcel and helping trap Finn. In Season 3, Cami's plot wasn't Klaus. It was working with the Detective and Vincent to catch a serial killer. Cami was probably one of the few characters that didn't seem to fully revolve around Klaus.

Cami and Vincent's friendship was so important to New Orleans. Whether it was ever romantic or not, their friendship was an important part of her storyline and even helped the Mikaelsons since Vincent cared for Cami. Cami's friendship with Marcel, the leader of vampires, is continuously underrated. Cami and Hayley, the alpha of the wolves, became friends as they were both new to this world and trying to navigate it together. Cami became a surrogate mother to Davina, the Reagent of the witches.

The entire Mikaelson family cared for her. Elijah had so much respect for her that he stood up to Klaus. Finn was obsessed with Cami. Rebekah loved Cami and encouraged Klaus to pursue her. We don't really see Kol with Cami, but I imagine he would have loved her just for how well Cami protected Davina. Cami was a maternal figure to Hope, the first ever tribrid.

Cami became one of the most important people in New Orleans. Not because Klaus loved her, but because everyone did. It didn't need to be romantic. Everyone loved her because she was a genuinely good person or tried to make the world a better place.

Her last episode is so sad, but I loved that we saw the entire city mourning her. Yes, they did make it about Klaus, because that's what TO does. Everything is centered on Klaus. But I loved that she had a chance to be scared and vulnerable. I loved that everyone showed up for her. I do hate that after she died, the only mentions of her are to applaud Klaus for doing the bare minimum. I hated that it didn't seem like anyone talked about Cami to the point that Hope didn't know who she was.

Thanks for the ask!

[storiesofsvu]

Solace in Solitude Ch 12

Emily Prentiss x reader Warnings: language, alcohol, canon typical conversation, smut. This ch feels a little it jumpy, partially because it is, partially because of how it needed to be. Each of the breaks represent a time jump, just little pieces of our girls lives while they figure out how to go about it. Two to three chapters left until this series is finally done with!

“Fuck…” Emily muttered with a small huff, flipping the cover to her iPad closed before she gently tossed it onto the coffee table.

“You good?” You asked, glancing between the television and her.

“Yeah, just lost another round of scrabble.”

“Cheeto breath’s the blonde, right?” You asked, redirecting your attention towards her as you picked up your glass of wine.

“JJ.. yeah..” Emily’s eyes drifted out the window for a moment, reminiscing about her memories with Jayje over the years.

“I take it you two were good friends?”

“Yeah.” She cast you a small smile.

“You know… you are allowed to talk about them.”

“I know.” Emily sighed softly, picking up her own drink, “it just almost feels surreal now. Like that part of my life was some kind of fever dream, the years between Doyle were reality but the way things worked out it almost seems like the fake memories were it, not the time with him.”

“Did you go straight from that undercover gig to your team?” You asked your brow furrowing.

“Basically.” She laughed, the grin staying on her face, “a few months to recuperate, make sure all the loose ends were tied.”

“How does that work on a resume? I mean, you can’t exactly put an entire fake identity on there.”

Emily laughed again, taking a bigger swig of her drink while she mulled over the entire topic, “the bureau and international teams have their way of covering things up. It wasn’t really me who did all that, it was Lauren, so Emily Prentiss came off a desk job, well recommended to the BAU.”

“And they believed that?” You raised a brow in her direction. It didn’t take a federal agent to notice the way Emily behaved, the little things she picked up on that made her seem like someone with extensive experience.

“Everyone had their walls up, they weren’t ready for a replacement on the team yet, it wasn’t exactly welcoming. Not to mention Hotch seemed to have it in for me, thinking my mother had swindled the job for me.”

“Hmm.” You replied over the rim of your wine glass, “it didn’t stay like that though?”

“No.” She smiled softly, “they became family. I spent more time with them than anyone else in my life, we all did, even outside of work. If I wanted to have a girls night I knew JJ and Penelope would always say yes, Derek was never going to decline a visit to the gym or shooting range, Rossi was always dying to teach someone his latest recipe…..” She trailed off, her eyes slowly misting with tears as she thought about how likely it was that all of that continued despite her absence, how they were all coping with her death, with their grief while she tried to figure out her own on the opposite side of the world with only one person by her side. “We were all a better family to each other than our own ever could have been.”

“They sound amazing.” Your hand reached out, squeezing at her elbow and she cast you a grin.

“They are.”

“So aside from being a total bad ass federal agent chasing down serial killers, what is it exactly that your unit does?”

“Behavioural Analysis, it’s more psychology based, figuring out trends, triggers, history, patterns, geographical locations,” she waved her hand with each statement, “putting it all together to figure out who our unsub is.”

“That’s honestly really neat. I kinda wish hospitals had people on staff to help with that kind of stuff.”

“Yeah.” She laughed, “me too.”

***

Thick flakes of snow were drifting down through the air, coating the city in a fluffy white blanket, which meant going nowhere. Emily crossed her arms over her chest, letting out a huff as she looked out the balcony window. The temperature had been decreasing daily and she was getting pent up, cabin fever increasing and had been hoping to get out of the house this weekend.

“You okay?” You asked from your spot in the kitchen, packing up leftovers to toss in the fridge before pouring out a couple fresh glasses of wine.

“I’m bored.” She practically whined, turning around to face you, “if I have to watch another episode of The Bachelor I will blow my brains out.”

“Okay…” you laughed, picking up the wine to move back into the living room, handing her her glass. “You have anything else in mind? New show, game?”

She chewed on her lip, eyes darting around the room while she tried to find something to entertain her and you knew you were in trouble when they shot back up to you with that dangerous glimmer in them. “How about poker?”

“We’ve played every night this week, you think that’s gonna cure this?” You asked, grabbing the deck of cards from behind you before you settled on the couch.

“How about we up the stakes?”

“What? Play for real money?” You asked with a laugh, nearly gulping at the look she gave you in return.

“Or… we could make it strip poker?” She offered with a wild grin and you couldn’t help but roll you eyes.

“Fine.” You started to deal the cards out, “but you better take it easy on me, we all know you’re the poker champ.”

Emily in fact, did not take it easy on you.

It didn’t help that the cold bothered her more, her body aching at the temperatures meant she was bundled up, thick socks, leggings, tank top, thin pullover, hoodie. You preferred cool temperatures, meaning you were already down to just a pair of lace panties while she still had pants and a bra on.

“This is not fair.” You grumbled, letting out a little shiver as you crossed your arms over your chest and she laughed, draining the last of her drink. “You were wearing so many more clothes than me.”

“Sounds like someone’s a poor loser.” She chuckled, the cards in her hand finding home on the coffee table as she shifted toward you on the couch, “but I’m pretty sure I can make it up to you…”

You let out a small laugh as she caged you into the couch, your back hitting the arm in the same moment her lips hit your neck and you were suddenly out of complaints. Her hands toyed with your chest, groping and pinching at you, her lips smirking up into a grin as your hips rutted up against hers. It only took a few moments before her hand was sneaking into your panties, gently rubbing at your clit.

“Fuck…” You muttered, your head dropping back against the couch, eyes fluttering shut as her mouth wrapped around your nipple.

Your moans became louder when her fingers slipped into your pussy, twisting and curling just where you needed them. Emily’s breath hot on your neck, her teeth scraping against your skin as you fluttered around her, whimpers leaving your lips as she toyed with you, getting louder and louder until you hit your peak and losing a poker game was the furthest thing from your mind.

***

Emily let the apartment door swing shut behind her, flicking the lock before dropping the bag of groceries on the counter. After hanging up her coat and kicking off her boots her eyes finally swept through the living room, her head tilting when her gaze landed on you. You were perched in your usual corner of the couch, fuzzy blanket over your lap, mug of coffee in your hand but instead of staring at the television, your gaze as focussed on the corner of the room. She watched you for a couple of minutes, wondering if you were just zoned out, off on some tangent of medical language in your brain but you didn’t even blink to notice that she’d even come home.

“Okay you’re freaking me out. This is like when your cat is staring at the wall and the only explanation is a ghost.”

“Should we get a tree?” Your head titled to the side but your gaze remained in the corner.

“Uh… what?” She asked, laughing awkwardly and you finally looked over to her.

“For Christmas.” You explained, eyes sweeping through the living room, “every where’s all decorated, lights, garland, trees, I could do without the Christmas music at the hospital constantly but it’s a little drab in here, don’t ya think?”

“And you want a tree?”

“Not a real one,” your nose scrunched, “too much work, and it doesn’t have to be a big one, a mini one, just some lights to make it a little festive in here.”

Emily crossed through the living room, dropping down onto the other side of the couch as she looked through the apartment, “you’re right. We should decorate, even just a little, make it feel more homey in here.”

“Yeah?” You looked up at her and she couldn’t help but smile at the excitement in your eyes.

“Yeah.” She squeezed at your leg through the blanket, “we watch enough tv as is, we could be marathoning Christmas movies. I picked up hot chocolate,” she nodded toward the grocery bag.

“Now that, sounds like a festive night.”

“After decorating though.” She grinned and you raised a brow, “there’s so many little celebrations going on out there.” She gestured toward the window, “I walked past two separate Christmas markets today, we should go check them out, pick up some stuff for the apartment, maybe some treats.”

“You wanna go now?”

“Well I was gonna make baked ziti for dinner, but that could wait cause I have a feeling you really love Christmas.”

“Yeah…” you nearly winced with a small smile on your face and Emily laughed.

“Well c’mon.”

Five hours later the two of you were curled up under the same blanket on the couch while The Holiday played on the television. Empty pasta plates sat on the coffee table and mugs of steaming hot chocolate spiked with Baileys were cupped in your hands. Multi coloured lights from the tree and the tops of the wall cast a warm glow throughout the apartment, the smell of gingerbread wafting from a candle burning on the kitchen island.

“You were right.” Emily mumbled “this is much better. I guess I forgot how just how nice actually embracing the holidays can feel.”

“Oh really?” You glanced up at her with a small grin and she raised a brow in your direction.

“What?”

“I’m just saying, I saw an ad for a really cool looking ice sculpture festival next weekend.”

She laughed, nudging your shoulder with hers as she shook her head at you, “alright, fine. It’s not like I have much else to do anyways.”

“Exactly.” You settled back into the couch with a satisfied sigh, “though we need to get some presents for under the tree.”

***

“If you don’t hurry up, you’re gonna miss the countdown!” Emily shouted over her shoulder, puling her sweater tighter over her shoulders, her eyes sweeping through the stars sparkling in the night sky. A dreamy look on her face, no doubt partially thanks to the bubbly the two of you had been drinking since dinner.

“I know, I know!” You scoffed back, hurrying back onto the balcony and handing her a flute, “but you absolutely cannot start a new year without champagne, and this is legit champagne.”

“Classy.” She replied with a laugh when she took the glass from you.

The streets below you were filled with laughter, cheers and the general sound of celebration as midnight ticked closer and closer. You shivered and Emily tugged you closer to her, her arm linking into yours as smiles broke out on both of your cheeks while you joined in on the countdown echoing from the street below. The clock hit twelve and choruses of ‘Happy New Year’ and cheers bounced through the air as the two of you clinked your glasses together and took a swig of your drinks fireworks exploding in the sky above you.

“What?” You asked when Emily swiped your glass, putting it along with hers down on the small table.

“C’mere.” She tugged you to her, “you can’t not have a new year’s kiss.”

Her arm wound around your waist, lips meeting yours tenderly, moving with grace against each other as your arms wrapped around her shoulders. Her tongue slipped into your mouth and you let out a happy sigh into the kiss.

“You know, you’re really good at this.” She murmured, lips curving into a grin and you chuckled.

“I’m good at a lot of other things too.” The smirk on your lips pulled a laugh from Emily.

“I like this.” She replied, stepping backwards and you let out a squeal when she pulled you down onto the couch behind her, your legs settling around her hips as she adjusted you on her lap, her lips meeting yours once again.

The kiss was full of little laughs, happy breaths, satisfied sighs as you held each other tighter to combat the chilliness of the now January night air. You could only hope that if this was how you were starting the year off that it would end up being a better one overall than the last.

***

Emily was in the kitchen scrounging up what she could for dinner out of leftovers when you finally emerged from your bedroom. You glanced up to her with a happy smile,

“I take it the meeting went well?” She asked.

“Yeah. The hospital wants to fly me out for a couple of consults on Tuesday.”

“That’s amazing!”

“You’re good then..” your brow scrunched, “like… if I take off for a few days? It feels weird to leave you… unsupervised, for lack of a better word.”

Emily barked out a laugh, “I’ll be fine, I’m sure I can handle a few days on my own. You go save some lives.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” She shrugged, “you’ve cleared me, the shrink has my med load decreased, I was cleared at the beginning of the month by PT to up my workouts. Hate to break it to ya, but you’ve been downgraded from babysitter to roommate at this point.”

“Okay, okay.” You laughed, sliding onto a stool at the island.

“I’m guessing this is the same research you’ve been working on?”

“Yeah, finally found the right place with the right fit and resources.”

“So you’re moving then?”

“God no, I don’t even know if there’s an actual job available. They might just want my research, might offer me a grant to keep working here, fly me in when needed. I could probably do ninety percent of it over Skype, it’s all about collaboration at this stage.”

“Well whatever happens I hope it’s good.”

“Me too.”

While Emily did actually enjoy her solo time in the apartment, she found it feeling just a little strange. Knowing that you weren’t coming home those nights, that noise out in the hallway were just the neighbours making their way to their own apartments. That she wasn’t waiting for you before starting dinner, she could eat whenever she wanted and that there was no one to start the coffee for her in the morning. Your absence was felt, even if you were still keeping in touch over text the three days you were gone.

**

It was barely noon and there was already a sense of urgency shooting through the apartment as you practically jumped out of your bedroom into the living room.

“Em!?”

It wasn’t even a second later that she came barrelling out of her room, duffle over her shoulder, still open so she could grab her phone charger and tablet from the kitchen island to shove into it.

“I, uh.. I think I need to go.”

“What?” You asked and she stalled suddenly,

“The guardian I had for Declan, he just called me. Declan tried to call him, there’s something going on, I need to get back stateside.” She took a deep breath, feeling the jitters in her chest starting as her pulse started to race, “oh god…” She suddenly dropped to a squat, her elbows on her knees so she could bury her face in her hands, “I really didn’t think this was gonna happen so quick.”

“Em…” you stepped toward her, a hand resting on her shoulder, squeezing softly and she was able to take another deep breath, calming her racing heart enough to bring herself up to standing and you could see the misting in her eyes.

“I… I know you’re not my therapist or anything, but you have honestly been the closest person since we got here, and I… I don’t know if I’m ready to go back.”

“If Declan needs you…”

“What if this is some kind of trap? What if Ian got to Tom, and this is just a fucking set up?” She ran a hand over her face, turning back to you, “sorry, I’m freaking out. You were gonna say something when I first came out.”

“Yeah,” you smiled, “you don’t have to worry about Ian. Your team has him.”

“What?” Her eyes widened and you gestured to your phone in your hand.

“Hotch called; they want you back to help break him.” Reaching out you squeezed at her wrist, “you’re ready. They need you, the real you... you get to be yourself again.”

Emily couldn't help the warmth flowing through her at the thought of that, at getting to return to her real life after all this time. “And you what, keep playing pretend here?”

“No.” You laughed, “actually right before Hotch called, St Thomas’ called…there was a job and they just offered it to me. I move to London at the end of the month.”

“Oh my god, that’s amazing.” A smile burst out on her face and she pulled you into a tight hug until you were nudging her away.

“You need to go.” You practically laughed, “there’s a jet waiting for you, a car will pick you up on the other end.”

“Fuck, right.” She quickly zipped up her bag, double checking that she had everything she needed.

“Text me if you’re missing anything crucial and I’ll ship it out.”

“You’re a lifesaver.” She paused, looking up at you with genuine gratitude written across her face, “and I mean that, both literally and figuratively. Thank you, for everything.” Stepping toward you she wrapped an arm around your shoulders, placing a kiss on your cheek before she stepped away.

“Yeah well, you can pay it back to me by not ruining all my hard work in your first day back in the field, okay?”

“Absolutely.”

“Stay safe.” You warned her and she cast a smile back to you while she opened the door.

“I will. And don’t be a stranger.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

_________________

@momlifebehard @daddy-heather-dunbar @maybe-a-humanbean @rustyzebra @leftoverenvy @kades95 @dextur @supercriminalbean @daffodil-heart @its-soph-xx @just-a-torn-up-masterpiece @hopelesslyfallenninlove @peanutbutterprincess @emilyprentisssluvr @lex13cm @zizzlekwum @emobabeyy @riveramorylunar @scorpsik @happenstnces @sapphicprentiss @geekyandgay98 @onmykneesformarvel @inlovewithemilyprentiss @desperate-gay @amypoehlfey @overtrred28 @regalmilfs4me @ara-a-bird @five-bi-five-mind @niyizh @inlovewithmiddleagewomen @hotchs-bitch @ollysmulti @kmc1989 @irishavengersassemble @romanoffsho @ratsnestinmyhair @assgardangod @hopedoesntknow @dj-bynum3718 @venromanova @waitaminuteashh @noahrex @imlike-so-gaydude @wittygutsy @cx-emerald-cx @lesbodietcoke @momily @nilaues @borinxnovak xnovak

[lostsyren]

You’re so brilliant I love your analysis on Sofia. I blame the writers completely for a rushed story, but bc Fiona is an incredible actress she conveyed every emotion and dialogue so well that we were able to love her even with minimal screen time. I so wish they explored her more individually from rafe, but I’m hopeful we get to see more of her character development. In an interview, Fiona mentioned she had to build the character from scratch (like excuse me… the writers made her a love interest nothing else and it was up to her to add more depth to sofia???) but ofc she delivered!!

She’s so subtle in her acting, but you feel her heartbreak, her guilt, and also genuine love. I so hope that r*ara ship isn’t explored (in any context bc it feeds the delusionals). These writers need to get serious and stop following fan service look where its lead them. If they even think about discarding Fiona/Sofia I’m completely OUT!!!

Oh my gosh you’re so lovelyyy, thank you🫶💫!!!

I agree entirely– the writers rushed her introduction and story. And I’m not even saying they should’ve give her more screen time (even though that would be amazing) because it’s an ensemble cast with lots of storyline, but they could’ve done things more skilfully. Like in s4, just a shot of Rafe locking eyes with her at the bar before the party scene to explain where she came from would’ve helped a lot without eating too much screen time. And the scenes they deleted in s4 would’ve definitely helped flesh her character motivations and morals out, instead of just focusing on Rafe’s character.

The fact that Fiona and Drew had to create an entire backstory for their relationship from scratch shows how bad/unprepared the writes are– that is literally their job. That’s testament of how great of an actress she is. Ig some people don’t think so, saying she doesn’t have much emotional range, but did we watch the same show?? You can clearly see the transition of emotion, when she doesn’t have a lot of dialogue to help.

And the show is lowkey so weird about the female characters– having Sarah and kie fight over a boy in the first season and then have Kie get with her entire friendship group?? That’s why I loved Cleo’s character in season 2, it felt like a departure from that. But the main cast ofc have more depth because of all other storylines– but why would they introduce Sofia’s family and show her house if they weren’t going to do anything with it yk??

And with the whole riara thing, I 100% believe it would be out of character for both rafe and kiara if that were to happen. But I do see where their shippers come from– the writers have undeniably hinted towards it. But then why introduce Sofia’s character?? Why have kie finally find love with jj??

Idk it annoys me. But I love Sofia and I love Fiona. All her scenes were interesting and I’m so invested with her story– let’s just hope it gets explored in more depth!!

[torpedopickle]

Transformers One review. Warning: long

(Mild spoilers, detailed analysis of characters tho)

I've been waiting for this movie for years. Transformers is one of my all time-favorite franchises, but honestly it has rarely treated me right, especially in regards to movies. I've enjoyed some of them, even loved a couple, but this really is the first time where I feel like I can genuinely say that we've had a capital G Great Transformers movie. So much so that I've had to knock some points off my older reviews simply because I can't pretend like they're worthy of the same score as this movie.

Where to even begin honestly. The beautiful score by Brian Tyler, the rather great animation and excellent technical work with rigging and detailing the machines and characters, the stellar set pieces and imaginative action choreography, the jokes (which don't always land but land more often than not), and the captivating performances from namely Henry and Hemsworth. The world-building is effortless and expansive, with so many little details that work so neatly together, like trains and roads being able to adjust their path to adapt to the ever-changing environment of Cybertron's surface. This is absolutely one of the most well realized depictions of Cybertron, especially when it comes to the societal hierarchies that the characters find themselves in and how this sets up the eventual falling out between the two amazing leads.

Some might find D-16/Megatron's heel-turn to be on the sudden side, but I'd say that's more a matter of the film not always helping you notice that he's changing, rather than the change not being natural, because in my opinion it is expertly done.

It's extremely high praise for me to say that I was invested in the falling out between D and Orion, because this is a prequel, not to mention a retelling that utilizes several little bits of prior transformers stories. So the fact that they were able to make their development feel gripping, tragic, enticing, and unavoidable all at once is genuinely incredible, given I knew going in how things would turn out. Of course we know Megatron is gonna become evil in the end, but the road he takes there is so fascinating and serves as a good example of how sometimes, a predictable plot is actually a positive trait, showing that the writers effectively communicated their ideas to you as you piece together how the paths characters are set on will lead them to an inevitable clash that you can't wait to see unfold.

Megatron's radicalization worked so well to me because they make it clear early on that the foundations for his mental stability are rather shaky from the start. He's built his entire identity on this idea that if he stays in his lane, follows the rules, works hard, and trusts in his superiors, he'll be rewarded and allowed to continue living comfortably, even if his circumstances allow for limited options. He's naively grateful to the people on top of the hierarchy, blindly trusting that they want the best for him. Because naturally the system has to be fair. Because if it's not fair, and those above him have been lying to him, then he'll have nothing, because carving out an existence *inside* the system they built was his everything. His entire identity is founded on the idea that this is the best life accessible to him, and that's just the way of things, and that it's no one's fault.

So of course when it turns out to actually be someone's fault, things crumble very quickly. The system failed him, he's learned that there's no way for him to earn what he's owed within the system. And if he can't earn it within the system, then the only thing he has left is his strength and ability to take it by force. And as we know, he idolizes Megatronus Prime, known for being the strongest of his siblings. Which serves as a nice hint to what D values early on as he later needs something to cling to as his reality unravels.

While Megatron was by far the most fascinating character to me, Optimus was also captivating. Orion immediately contrasts D-16 in some big ways. Namely that he isn't quite satisfied with his place in the hierarchy. What forms the foundation for D-16's subsequent fall into despair and rage is the fact that he tried to build his entire identity on the rather rickety foundation of the system, convincing himself that this is the only place where he'd be happy. But Orion from the get-go very clearly believes there's more to life than what the system has outlined for them. So when the system is revealed to have failed both Orion and D, Orion handles it a lot better, because it doesn't shatter his identity like it does with D, it just solidifies and further encourages his existing desires.

The contrast with D also flips in a really thrilling way, with Orion initially being the risk-taker, causing D a lot of grief as he fears Orion might jeopardize the progress D has made in scaling the societal ranks by following the rules. Although once all that falls apart for D, he now becomes the risk-taker, as he's nothing left to lose, and everything to gain, while Orion is left to watch in horror as his best friend is radicalized bit by bit (not helped at all by encountering a raving gang of might-makes-right hooligans who provide extremely negative affirmation).

Their ultimate falling-out feels gut-wrenching when it finally comes to pass, and I'm just so happy that it wasn't an accident, a misunderstanding, or the tampering of a corrupting influence or higher power. These two brothers simply do not have compatible worldviews by the end of the film. The ways they respond to the same traumas in different ways is remarkable, and is a gold standard for character writing.

The other characters were quite fun too, while shallow, Sentinel Prime "Hamms" it up (hehe) and makes for a very fun character to hate. Elita-1 serves to nicely compliment the broader themes of classism and exploitation, and rounds out the cast very well, although doesn't have as much meat as the leads. Bumblebee's addition is in my opinion for the better, although I know many who would disagree, and to each their own. I just can't help but find it adorable how he excitedly imprints on the first people he meets after most likely going insane in what's essentially solitary confinement.

The only real point of criticism I'd be able to muster would be that Sentinel Prime is mostly just the linchpin for the other characters' arcs rather than being a truly rounded character in his own right. And I didn't find all the jokes funny, but honestly, that's a me-thing. Most of the jokes in the film were in my opinion well written even if I didn't chuckle. Many of them are jokes you can also only do in a transformers story such as the transformation mishaps, or are otherwise complimented by the setting, such as Bumblebee's imaginary friend Steve, who's name would ordinarily be a joke about it being a basic name, but in this alien setting is actually rather exotic, which does elevate the joke from being lazy, to at the very least being inspired.

Overall this really is a fantastic movie. After the first trailer I was honestly prepared for the standard Transformers experience. At best I was hoping for it to be like the solo Bumblebee film where it has some strong highs and character writing but overall flawed. But no, this is just an all-round great film, dripping with passion and talent in near every aspect. I can't recommend it more, and I'll likely make this movie an integral part of my personality forever, as if I wasn't insufferable enough about Transformers already.

[flaresanimedump]

Why Fukuzawa is the Hottest BSD Character

*Cracks knuckles* ok here’s “what’s likeable about Fukuzawa/Why would Ranpo like Fukuzawa” because I saw that again recently

1) HAVE YOU SEEN HIM?!?!?

Twunks are agelessly hot. Don’t pretend you didn’t think movie stars 10+ years older than you were attractive as a teen. And everyone currently thirsting over BTS - he was the same age as they are when Ranpo met him.

2) You like strong, warm hugs where it feels like you’re swallowed up in the other person’s arms? You like the safe feeling it gives you?

What if those strong warm arms belonged to a bodyguard??

3) Ok now what if those strong arms belonged to a bodyguard who was also once a bad guy.

You know those hands can kill because they have before. But they’re gentle with you, careful. He’s on his way to being reformed but you’re seeing the good that was always there to start with, if only the world hadn’t pushed him into violence. This is Bungo Stray Dogs so just go ahead and briefly imagine this as a dog rescued from dogfighting that’s the absolute sweetest thing you’ve ever met. Now transfer that feeling to Fukuzawa, a man who was used by the government in a war Ranpo was too young to be part of, a rogue who’s learned the error of his ways and seeks to repent, a reformed bad boy with a heart of gold, you might say??? Incredible I’ll take 12.

4) Before we get into the long character analysis stuff I am going to try to impart to you the allure of an older man who isn’t a creep.

4.1) They’re wise and confident. They can offer help nobody your age can.

4.2) They stay calmer under pressure. An island of serenity.

4.3) When they get mad they usually get shit done. Way less drama. Fukuzawa may be a slight exception because of his former boyfriends but he has done his best to kill them both himself so I stand by the statement.

4.4) They’re still very human. Fukuzawa specifically gets passionate and loses himself in emotion when he’s worried or afraid, but it takes a lot to crack his exterior chill. It’s extremely hot when you get a reaction you had to work for.

5) Fukuzawa is about the most dependable husband-type we have in BSD.

He built up a whole agency to support his and Ranpo’s life together (a lifestyle they both wanted to continue, as mentioned in 4th anime opening Shirushi) despite initially being bad at 90% of the skills required.

(Rough Shirushi lyrics in question below)

Fukuzawa's described as "afraid of strangers" and thinks to himself how everything about leading a company is something he could never do in Origins,

and then we see him 12 years later and he's worked really hard to be able to do it. We get all these hints about how connected he is now

and we see how good he is at leading the ADA but there are times when it's clear it's something he adopted and not what he was born for, like when Mori started asking about strategy books and he'd only read the most common one, or how he plays Go but was reading a book about the rules in one of the official arts set in present day.

Of course, Tsun Tzu isn't exactly light reading, but I don't think Asagiri would make the character based on the most notable proponent of education in Japan be less well read than his opponent if it wasn't core to Fukuzawa's character in BSD. He's worked so hard to be what the ADA needs and wasn't/isn't a genius at it but still does well, and he basically switched careers on a whim at 33 to support Ranpo. Imagine if somebody did all that for you. If Ranpo wasn’t in love with him before I think that would be the killing blow.

6) Even if Fukuzawa’s not a genius, he’s able to understand and accept others more than any of the "normal" people in Yokohama.

He thought Ranpo was amazing when everyone else thought he was annoying (Fukuzawa also thought he was annoying of course, but the amazing part won out in the end). He experienced the full brunt of Ranpo’s observation and felt bad that he got upset over it when literally every other person who’d encountered Ranpo over the course of 2 years had been angry, shouted, and in the case of the Police Academy dorm head and presumably Ranpo's classmates, beat him for it.

We can guess from the agency members Fukuzawa employs that he’s a freak magnet and it’s probably because of this trait of his. I’d say he has ‘clear vision’ in that he’s able to see if someone is good or bad beyond societal norms even though he is aware of them himself.

Basically, Ranpo doesn’t like “common sense,” and while Fukuzawa is familiar enough with it to function normally in society, he’s one of very few like that who aren’t governed by it.

7) Fukuzawa is a genuinely good, kind person.

He listened to Ranpo more than anybody but his parents would, took him in when nobody else would. He refused to become a soldier, to go and kill other soldiers with no power over the outcome of the war, in order to assassinate the officials actually responsible for continuing the war.

I’d argue that Fukuchi was trying to follow in his footsteps with his grand war-stopping plan – that he felt Fukuzawa’s decision to kill the fewest possible people to end the war was correct. And Fukuzawa made personal sacrifices to do that, letting his best friend go to the front alone, not knowing if he’d live or die. Losing friends and losing the respect of those who did come back when he quit.

But even though there’s a good chance that what Fukuzawa did saved a lot of lives, and even though the people we're aware he killed were unquestionably evil, he still felt that his feelings at the time put him in the wrong. He was still horrified at what he was capable of and quit once all the officials who could restart the war were dead.

There aren’t many characters in BSD with that kind of moral fiber. Dazai’s not trying to repent in the ADA, he’s just there to do good because a friend said he should. Ranpo’s not a bad guy but he’s not exactly caring or in possession of a strong moral compass.

Atsushi’s obsession with doing good is so tightly wound into his own self-worth it’s almost involuntary, which takes away some of his agency in his actions. We know Tanizaki is willing to commit murder without fear, Kunikida was fine with letting Atsushi be kidnapped, and everyone in the Port Mafia is morally gray at best. Even the Special Operations Division is governed by a “needs of the many over the needs of the few” mentality.

Arguably the only other characters who even come close to this level of humanity are Oda and Chuuya, but Oda's not in this essay and even Chuuya doesn’t care as much about collateral damage. The only characters in the cannibalism arc who drew a line to stop their groups from killing each other and anybody who got too close were Fukuzawa and Mori, and Mori’s morality would require another essay. So I’d argue that in a series where many are great, Fukuzawa is a very rare good man.

As illustrated by his scene with Fukuchi and Teruko. Fukuchi is a great man willing to work himself to the bone and die for others, but he’s also willing to “curse” Fukuzawa, as Ranpo said in the finale, with the long-term burden of his plan, and to kill innocent people to make it all happen. Teruko is a great girl willing to carry out Fukuchi’s orders out of either devotion to him or to justice, but she’s willing to kill and frame a man she knows isn't a villain to do it. The ends justify the means.

(To be clear I think this makes her a great character, but not one whose allegiance is to simple good-ness.)

Fukuzawa isn’t willing to kill someone who isn’t evil. He WAS willing to kill his evil mad friend to save his other friends. We saw that when he first struck Fukuchi down, so it wasn’t the closeness of their relationship that stayed his hand after he understood Fukuchi’s plan. It was that he felt the ends did not justify the means.

Virtually every other character in this series would have done it, thus: Fukuzawa is a good man in a series full of great people.

And that is what I ultimately think made Ranpo attach himself to Fukuzawa and listen to him without question despite Fukuzawa being an idiot in comparison. Let's face it, Fukuzawa's a bit of a himbo. But Ranpo realized he could trust Fukuzawa to know right from wrong at the same time he realized he couldn't trust himself to know: when Fukuzawa shouted at him after his rescue in Origins.

Ranpo was in the process of doing exactly what all the other characters do: whatever it took to catch the bad guys/stop the bad thing from happening. He allowed himself to be kidnapped and accepted the risk that he might be shot in order to find the hideout of the men responsible for, so far, a murder and a kidnapping conspiracy with Very Bad implications for the peace in Japan (kidnapping Natsume is not something they would do JUST for a ransom).

Objectively, without considering the human element, this appears to be the correct choice. Ranpo being in temporary danger isn't a big deal when the grand scheme has such major red flags for national security. Many many more people were probably in danger, and we now know the group was somehow tied to Fyodor so yeah, he was on a Very Troubling Thread. But even without knowing Fyodor's connection it seems sort of brilliant and ideal.

The ends justify the means.

But Fukuzawa didn't see it that way. He didn't care about catching the bad guys, he didn't care about efficiency or Ranpo's plans or anything of the sort. He was the only guy in the city whose main focus was on the human element - on Ranpo. Fukuzawa presented a fundamentally different way of thinking that Ranpo and the majority of the cast just aren't capable of, and it's natural to him. And I think Ranpo understood that in a split second when Fukuzawa said he shouldn't put his life in danger and decided that even if Fukuzawa was essentially blind compared to him, Fukuzawa's decisions would always be better than his.

SO that's what I think Ranpo would like about Fukuzawa and what makes Fukuzawa attractive!! Also he's really sexy :D

[furiousgoldfish]

How do I decide a career field?

I mean my entire self esteem, self worth and self confidence is destroyed. I hate myself. I don’t think I’m capable of doing anything. I like art, even though it’s very hard for me to do I’m pushing myself to explore as much as I can. I am thinking of going into data analysis but it’s so overwhelmingly scary for me.

I have an MD, but i can’t pursue it because of my mental health issues.

Okay so I might not be the best person to talk about this, because I figured out that career just isn't important to me when I'm just trying to survive, so I don't think any field is worth chasing or putting effort into, for me at least! Job is just something that gives you the means to get survival resources and that is it.

Otherwise I really relate to what you're saying, I also don't feel like I'd be good at any field, don't feel like I'm made for anything and can't see myself doing anything specialized seriously. It's also very difficult to choose a field when you've never gotten to try bunch of things, never had experience doing stuff and you don't really know what you'd enjoy, what you like, or at least what doesn't feel too stressful, overwhelming and impossible.

It's incredibly impressive that you have a MD, that alone signifies great endurance, persistence and intelligence on your part, and it's awful that mental health issues prevent you from doing anything related to it (I feel the same tho, my degree is in the closet, never seen or used at all lol)

I think the best way to decide is to talk to people who work in various fields and ask them what their day-to-day work is like, and figure out where you see yourself, where you fall in easily, or at least what seems doable, not too stressful, not overwhelming. What doesn't make you hate yourself. I'm just doing cleaning but I couldn't be more pleased because it's very obvious when I've done well and it's so low stakes that pretty much nothing can go wrong. Nobody ever complains either. In fact yesterday I got a text message from a client saying I did amazing, I mean that kind of stuff is ideal to my mental state.

I think we're raised to believe that our career needs to be something very significant, something that creates a place for us in the world, the proof that we're useful to society and that we made something out of ourselves! We need to show off our success and our identity needs to be tied to what we do. And we need to be good at it and make a difference in the world with it.

Well in the current capitalistic climate, this is bullshit. The only socially useful jobs are the ones which get no recognition, no social acceptance, no praise, no acknowledgment, in fact you're looked down upon if you just do manual jobs that are incredibly necessary to keep the society going.

The jobs where you can reach high success and high paycheck - are the ones that make rich people richer, and that is not what I'm about. I mean it's not what anyone really wants to do, but it's the only thing that is considered successful and admirable, and I hate it, don't want to participate in it, makes me want to run away from capitalism.

And also it's a myth that you need to be really good at your job because people do bad jobs constantly and get paid and they don't feel bad at all, lots are bad on purpose and use their jobs to do evil, and get away with it, so there's no pressure to be perfect at your job. If it gets done thats all that matters.

So if you can find anything that just fulfills the purpose of getting your survival resources to you, go for it. If you feel like data analysis is what makes you pleased and happy, go for that. If art makes you feel good, you can do that too! You don't have to have only one job, you can change jobs multiple times during your life, it doesn't need to define who you are, you are not here to serve the society, you're here to survive and you can do your job for yourself only. It's supposed to serve you, not the other way around. You don't exist only to do your job. You exist to be safe, and happy, and fulfilled, and safe. A job is supposed to do this for you, and it doesn't matter which one, as long as you're not being tormented by stress and fear, it's fine.

So what I'm trying to say, the world should not pressure you into making a quick decision, you should take your time trying out stuff and finding what works for you, and what doesn't make you feel awful about yourself. And also if it helps, everyone has a sort of a low confidence when only starting! Everyone is bad at everything when they're starting. Confidence will come with experience, when you see yourself getting better at something trough the years, you will get a chance to gather some faith in yourself and know you're doing well. You can follow any interest you have, regardless of how well or bad you're at it, as long as it can secure you some income. It's okay to be bad at first too because everyone is kinda bad at first.

Also, I've seen some people incredibly confident in their work while doing an awful job at it, it was pretty scary. Like they were doing active harm to society and didn't understand how anything actually worked but boasted about how capable they are because they were picking up a high paycheck. When I think there's people like that, and then others are worried about not being good at anything, it makes me stunned. I truly believe that no matter what you do, you'll never do as much harm as some high-paid people out there.

I hope you don't have a horrible time deciding anon! It's a difficult spot in life for anyone, so don't worry if it takes a bit of time or if you choose something and then quit, it just brings you a step closer to what you actually like doing, and it's a good thing to try things out and pick out the one that works best for you.

[lucianalight]

Loki S2 Review

I rewatched S2 and I liked it even more on the second watch. I'm giving it a 6 out of 10 in average(8 for the finale). Since I didn't post a review week by week like for S1, I'm just going to talk about the main things I liked/disliked

The Improvements & Things I liked:

The pace and the narrative's tone and framing have changed. While the pace drops sometimes, these moments aren't as boring as S1. Meaning you don't want to constantly check when it's going to end(like you know, S1 and especially 1x06). The narrative is neutral and doesn't villain code Loki and hero code others. It doesn't turn Loki into a clown, a punching bag or someone who deserves humiliation(I guess they've done enough of that in S1). On the contrary the characters are shown as flawed people, with Loki being the most moral, considerate, logical and heroic amongst them.

They stated bluntly in episode 1, that what TVA used to do, were atrocities. That they were killing numerous innocent people who had a right to live their lives as they chose.

The characters were three dimensional, likable or tolerable despite their actions in S1. They showed remorse for the things they had done. Although the way the narrative chose to go about it in S1 still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It shouldn't happen to you for you to realize sth is wrong. But at least it was shown that the characters weren't slaughtering people mindlessly and some of them deep down knew it was wrong. Although the fact that they still did it, because of the "greater good", and "woe is me! It's not a comfort it's a burden" attitude about it is repulsive.

OB, Casey and Timely being funny, cute nerds and fanboys :D

Loki using amazing magical stuff and DID YOU SEE THE GREEN MAGICAL GLOW IN HIS EYES?*incoherent screaming*

No Romance. It was unnecessary and rushed in S1. This time they focused more on Loki needing friends and that was definitely a better choice imo and what they should have gone for in S1 too.

Sylvie's actions and personality framed as what they were. She wasn't put on a pedestal as this amazing different FeMaLe version of Loki. She was framed as a flawed character with wrong and right actions and beliefs.

Loki and Sylvie's talk in the pie land, about change, hope, fixing what's broken and being gods. That sigh before Loki saying "We are gods" with all the weight of the world on his shoulders. Wonderful acting.

The ending and its epic soundtrack.

Topics & Things That Could Have Been Handled Better:

The Topic of New York Invasion

"Sometimes a rage builds up and you just gotta let it out. Do you remember that time I was so angry with my father and my brother, I went down to Earth and I held the whole of New York city hostage with an alien army? Tried to use the mind stone on Tony Stark? It didn't work so I threw him off the building. It wasn't tactical. I lost it"

On the surface it looks like Loki's saying that's why he attacked New York and probably most people accept this without a second thought.

But the context of the scene matters. We see during the interrogation Mobius loses his temper. He was worried about Loki getting angry, but he was the one who loses his temper and hits Brad. Loki tries to calm him down by sympathizing with him to try and see what caused his behavior. It's the same thing he did for Thor in the first movie, before coronation and after it, while Thor was nervous and angry. What he says about New York while isn't the whole truth, it also isn't untrue. He was angry with Thor and Odin but as we know his anger and thoughts were influenced by the scepter. We also know Loki doesn't like to talk about his time with Thanos or being tortured. Instead he uses a half-truth, sth that is in character for Loki.

So the scene can be rationalized by this analysis but it's still annoying that this analysis is even needed. They should have been clear about the scepter's influence especially when mcu confirmed it.

Loki thinking about Thor's change as being a weakness. While both Thor and Loki were groomed and taught to consider being soft as a weakness, that wasn't Loki's true feelings. At least I don't think someone who prefers words and magic-that are considered a weakness in Asgard-over brawn thinks like that. His goal in the first movie was to goad Thor into fighting him. So the line should have been sth like this: "Asgard taught us being soft is a weakness, so I used that against Thor to goad him into a fight. I said he's gone soft…"

Plotholes and things that weren't explained.

Why Loki and Sylvie weren't sent to their original timelines like others? And why neither of them showed any interest in seeking their family? You're telling me Loki wants to see these people he knows for 10 seconds more than Frigga or Thor? OOC.

Sylvie's sudden mastery of magic since 1x06 isn't explained. She didn't know much, but then suddenly could do everything Loki did. I mean I can headcanon that her and Loki linking their power taught her some things but these sudden developments without any explanations are annoying.

Loki's genderfluidity. No mention of it at all. Although I believe that no representation is better than bad representation. And you should leave a topic alone if you don't understand it, otherwise you're gonna mess it up. Because bad rep can be more harmful. And so maybe it was a good thing mcu let that one go. But they could still fix it with some shapeshifiting, explaining its difference with illusions and Loki confirming that he is comfortable in her female form.

Loki's clothes. It's probably not that important in comparison with other issues but I really hate that beige suit. Why Sylvie who doesn't even want to be Loki and wasn't in Asgard since childhood changes into an Asgardian outfit for a fight and not Loki? Yeah I get it. It was because of the last reveal and transformation and finding his identity blah blah blah but at least they could have gave him his old Asgardian clothes or he could change the suit's color ugh

Criticism & Things I didn't like:

The ooc moments for Loki in some comedic scenes. Especially in episode 5. While the character has a comedic potential, it's not based on clownery or clumsiness. The best humorous moments for Loki are the ones where he outwits others, use sarcastic language or he is being outwitted despite his careful plans.

Certain emotional stakes aren't clear from the start. The audience know that saving TVA is the right thing because it protects all the freed timelines but they don't know why they should care? Or more accurately why Loki is so emotionally invested in this goal. That gets answered in episode 5 and while Loki's talk with Sylvie is a good emotional scene, the fact that it's stated so late in the story, makes the first few episodes boring when it comes to saving TVA.

The main reason the emotional stakes aren't clear(at least for me), I believe is because most of the people Loki call them his "friends",  haven't done anything to either deserve his friendship or aren't close enough to be considered a friend. Let alone someone Loki tries to move heaven and hell to be with them, instead of for example trying to find his brother and family. It is an issue which again is rooted in S1 and carried to S2. What happened in S1 wasn't therapy or a healthy friendship.

However, Loki being loyal to anyone who show him an ounce of affection or him being moral enough to try to save people are in character for him and that's sth good about it.

The torture scene.

The trick Mobius and Loki pulled was predictable as hell. I didn't even doubted Loki in TDW, let alone here. And even though I didn't believe for one second that Loki's actually going to hurt the guy, and he wasn't shown enjoying it, I still hated that he went along with the torture idea Mobius had come up with. Especially considering the fact that he was a victim of torture himself and never shown any sign in canon that he would torture someone. So yeah I hated that scene.

And why that scene was even necessary? Loki could get into X-5's mind when they weren't in TVA. We know he is capable of it. He did it both through mind stone in Avengers and in TR. how else they were going to delve into Mobius' problem though smh

But alright let's say they needed a scene like that. Still the whole Brad believing Mobius is against torture, and Loki's the one who would be in favor of it, is so fucking ridiculous. Any way you look at it, it has always been TVA and Mobius who did any torture we've seen during the two seasons. The tortures that Loki endured might I add. Even in the previous scene, it was Loki who didn't hit Brad and only tried to intimidate him non-physically by acting as a villain. It was Mobius who hit him, who was shown more affected by Brad's insults. So logically the scene they had planned to fool Brad, should have been played completely the opposite way. By having Mobius do the torture. At least it was recognized that the torture idea was from Mobius and both he and Loki gave the credits for it to Mobius.

Verity Willis. Hunter B15 unlike the Verity in comics, doesn't have a close friendship with Loki or truth detector powers. Not having a good friend like comics Verity for Loki, was such a wasted opportunity in the series.

Mobius saying to Loki "You're a man of action...". That was such a stupid, unnecessary line. As if the main difference between Loki and Thor wasn't Thor acting before thinking, and Loki thinking and planning before acting. While Loki is also a man of action, he is first and foremost a man of strategy. The only plausible explanation imo is that Mobius said it to not feel useless in comparison with Loki and his skills.

"Thor's not that tall". Yeah, no. I don't think Loki's reaction to seeing Thor and Odin's statues would be that. Knowing his brother and family were murdered by the very same people he's working with now. Remind me again why he's considering them "FrIeNdS"? Someone really needs to explain the concept of friendship to Loki. Or rather the writers of this show.

And while we are at it. Let's talk about how Loki's past and identity issues were completely swapped under the rug as if they were all magically fixed and didn't matter anymore. As if those weren't the most important part of his journey. Another issue rooted in S1.

Final Thoughts(for now :D)

Season 2 was definitely better than season 1. Not perfect, and not for those who care about OG Loki's issues. They set him on a completely different path in S1 and they messed up any chance to actually delve into his problems. So in S2 we're having a character that we're supposed to accept has moved on from certain issues, and now tries to find what he wants and where he belongs. Still, I think that they listened to the criticism for once as they tried to fix some of the problems of S1. After many years it didn't feel like that the creators hate the character, or using him as a prop, or a plot device. It was a story about Loki. A bittersweet story for the god of stories.

[hath-e]

Take a relaxing taxi drive back from your long walk in Davao, or the Taxi ride scene from Gundam Hathaway

So this is a really short scene that could have been included in the post about the walk scene, but it deserves a whole post on it's own.

So this scene starts right where we left off, with the Man-hunter Jegan roaming the streets Hathaway jumps in the back of the first taxi he sees in order to get back to the hotel now that the Mafty businesses is done.

The unnamed driver starts small talk with Hathaway about the Man-hunters and Mafty, he's shows his distaste for the Hunters and support for Mafty, yet he points out the organization is flawed, they're thinking about the day after tomorrow while ignoring that there is going to be a tomorrow. Sure the Feddies have lost almost all their clout since the Laplace Incident and the introduction the Hunters, but Mafty has done nothing to help the average person either, the people they want sent to space without even realizing their own privilege of not having to worry about surviving.

The people of the island nation don't struggle with having enough food or missing the beautiful plant life, they struggle with surviving day to day, sure the reason that's pointed out by the driver is that he's paying of shady people to get his earth permit which is a direct fault of the Federation, but if Mafty wins there will be no staying on earth, so who's he better of with.

And here's the core reason why Mafty is so flawed, while most revolutions are worried about the tomorrow and how the actual revolution is going to look while ignoring what's going to happen after, Mafty is too worried about what's going to happen in the future while completely forgetting about the "tomorrow" the day that more people will be deported by the Hunters, the day when someone won't be able to pay for necessities because Mafty sent them off into space, and the fact that people are just too busy trying to survive to even have the time to notice the bigger picture that's so important to Hathaway.

This shatters Hathaway's world view, he almost forgets for a time that he's supposed to be undercover, this is the reality check he needs but even so, there is nothing he can do, the Federation is still evil and someone has to stop them, and the earth is still too polluted, and so on he goes, onto a one way crusade that no one has time to ask for.

Aside from just the analysis of Mafty as a organization, this scene also features some amazing visuals, from the ad playing on the monitor promoting leaving the earth sphere, to the change in the background to a blank concrete tunnel whenever Hathaway points out the fact that the earth is ruined that then gets lit up with the suns rays as the driver counters his point.

This scene is amazing and although I love everything about this movie, this one is my favorite.

I got way too busy today and don't have time to finish the Zoltan post so tomorrow is going to be a triple feature with that one, the post about Michele and Rita and a smaller ramble post, the day after that will be Mineva, Banagher and the meta analysis of Gundam Narrative and the Scene analysis of Hathaway's bedroom monologue.

(image source is the lineart for the movie Gundam Hathaway)

[elijah-loyal]

on the kick of movies, i ALSO forgot how good Hunchback of Notre Dame is (analysis ahead btw)

yes, it's a Disney movie (that's why we pirate it lads) so it won't have the same conformation to the novel that another corporation MIGHT have done (still highly doubtful) but it's still so good and holds up so well???

I prefer the musical's nuance when it comes to Frollo, but in the Disney movie he doesn't really need a reason to be "evil" other than just power-hungriness, racism and being a predator. I find it incredibly interesting how they divided the two aspects of his character into Frollo (Judge Version) and the Archdeacon, because when you know the background of his character you understand that complexity even when it's absent from the movie. Also I'm a SLUT for "Hellfire," because not only is the animation sequence DELICIOUS ASF, and the music and lyrics ASTOUNDING, but the overlaying Latin that just contradicts his convictions is SO good, as well as the predatory ideas he's grappling with, and his justification of them through religion and how he's "purer than the common, vulgar, weak, licentious," people of Paris. Even in the cut-and-dry Disney version, he's still a fairly layered character.

I also find it refreshing that Quasimodo's jealousy of Phoebus doesn't cause him to try and tear him down or hurt him; no, he doesn't love Phoebus, especially at first when he thinks he's chasing Esmeralda to hurt or arrest her, but he holds no grudge against him because it's unnecessary. I can't tell if I just got used to other bad movie jealousy plotlines, but it's nice to see that Quasimodo isn't petty as hell just because he's jealous of Phoebus.

Speaking of Phoebus, what a chad

Of course, the score for the movie is brilliant (excluding a guy like you, I'm sorry but i fucking hate it) and the repeating themes of different characters make it feel more like a live theater musical than some of Disney's other musical works. Frollo's "Kyrie Eleison," theme (which is so fucking funny to me by the way, having the Latin/Greek phrase of "Lord have mercy," be Frollo's theme, who doesn't have mercy whatsoever and really just reflects his last moments) is SO so scrummy, I eat that shit up every damn time.

The animation sequences are fairly good throughout the movie, but I find them ESPECIALLY amazing for particular songs like "Hellfire," "Out There," "And He Shall Smite the Wicked (Score)," and "Sanctuary (Score)." The movements are VERY smooth and flow well, and the usage of color in "God Help the Outcasts," is STUNNING.

All in all, I still really enjoy this movie after a long time of not seeing it, and just really enjoy the themes and general collective story of the Hunchback of Notre Dame

[shitpostingkats]

Hi yes I need you to know that your analysis on Jaden and Yusei (June 16, 2022, idk if you’ve done multiple on them but that’s the one I’m talking about) is the realest thing I have EVER read and you’re so right and you should say it MUCH louder that is the greatest take op it’s amazing and I’m screaming /pos

Jaden is my favorite character like,,,, ever, and you have nailed him I’m going bonkers

Another thing, I love your Groupchat AU but you have made me become aware that there is???? Another???? YGO show????? I was like who on God’s Green Earth is Yudias and then Google attacked me with information. I still remember. When Vrains was new. To me Vrains is still new. It came out 6 years ago. I feel old. I am not okay. I have yet to acknowledge the existence of Sevens and will continue to do so with Go Rush. Oh I got off-topic, whoops-

Anyways, love your Groupchat AU but I saw the one part with the Eldritch language that Jaden and Yuya are both fluent in and I humbly request more of their dynamic???

I had an epiphany last night, they’re so similar I’m actually losing my mind. All I can think about is that one audio of Batman and that girl on the swings and it’s like “They got their weapon, I got cheated out of my childhood” “I know what that’s like.” “You do don’t you?” Tell me that’s not them I am dying /pos

Much love <3

Oh my gosh, thank you! <3

Jaden and Yusei, my beloved blorbit. The painfully monstrous and the painfully human. The narrative foils of all time. Jaden Yuki, the creatchur autism boi of all time. <3 I need to write about them more.

I know what you mean about the new shows. I'm still a ways off from watching them, but I still want to remember they exist but keep forgetting. What do you means vrains is six years old??? (<- was not even a yugioh fan when vrains was airing) You're telling me there's probably going to be new one after that??? That the days start coming and they don't stop coming?????

Shoutouts to the sevens and go rush fans. They are the mightiest of soldiers. I know nothing about their shows but I'm hesitantly penciling them into the groupchat au anyways because I have seen maybe three clips but I know this funny little alien guy is near and dear to my heart.

Obviously there's a bit of a shift between Vrains and the Sevens era, being made for new audiences, a little tone shifting (which we LOVE, because any franchise that stays the same forever is no bueno.) and that makes it easy to group the first six shows into one group. But I also think there's a fascinating dialogue between shows 1-3 and shows 4-6. I didn't realize it until I was a good way into Arc-V, but each of the second trilogy protagonists sorta reflects the first three.

With Yuma and Yugi, it's very purposeful, a stated "return to form" with the chipper kid and his ghost companion who lives in his special necklace. And when I was gushing over Yusei in 5Ds, I got a lot of people saying "Man, you're going to love Yusaku." They're both the rbf hacker protags who fight the government. Lots to love.

But Jaden and Yuya????? Did not imagine I would come out of Arc-V going "omg they're foils. They're the same story through a different lens. They need to TALK to eachother and bond over their shared experiences."

Even leaving out my pet theory of "Zarc Was An Incarnation Of Jaden In The Original Timeline", they're just so. *clenches fist* The childhood trauma of being a weird kids and masking with an overly bubbly personality only to learn the great anger they've been trying to hide is powerful enough to rip apart reality and they're secretly harbingers of destruction.

By the end of GX, I think Jaden has wonderfully come to term with that. By the end of Arc-V, I think Yuya hasn't.

Their dynamic in the gc AU is very much to me Yuya is still struggling with Z-arc stuff, but not saying anything about it because that'd be weird, so he just kinda frets about it until he hits a breaking point and Jaden gets to offer his advice on dealing with all this.

I am so interested in exploring this that it actually got me started writing fic again,,, which I haven't done in like a year, so wish me luck. I'll keep y'all updated :)

Angst aside, they're also just. One braincell between them. Theatre kid and guy who has never once acted natural in his entire life. Kid making a scene at a Waffle House while his friend slowly eats the entire menu and offers suggestions. Jaden is a pokemon fan and Yuya is a kingdom hearts girlie, I've decided this, and they takes turns infodumping to each other. Jaden summons duel spirits so Yuya can ride around on Hiphippo even when he's not dueling. They trade funny things they've heard their dragons say. They're eldritch and inhuman and best friends, your honor.

[messrsbyler]

Hello!! what do you think about the tag those days? do you have a fav blog? who do you think is saving the tag from dying with posts and theories?

i think the tag is slowly dying tbh and it's sad to see? the reality is that for the past year or so the tag has been kept alive (from what i've seen and my personal experience here) because of art/fic creators and analysis blogs. however, it's been a year since s4 dropped and as i've seen some people around the tag say, everything that could've been analysed or said about byler in the last season or all seasons has already been said. now, i personally LOVE doing analysis even to this day, doesn't matter if i'm probably repeating something someone else spotted and blogged about two months ago. it's fun to make those posts, but we can't ignore that they are becoming repetitive and that side of the tag is burning out. because of that, things like fics/art/headcanons/ficlets/aus are so important now.

we don't have to run out of content to enjoy in our tag, but people should be willing to step outside their comfort zone and accept that canon is limited to what can he done and said about byler. aus however open new doors that this tag hasn't really explored yet, and for some reason there's a bit of resistance? and that leads us to a dead end because then there's no new not repetitive content and the tag starts dying even with its huge following.

another issue is definitely the lack of rb in the tag. i can jump on any post in the byler tag and check the notes and i know the ratio between likes and rbs will be ridiculous. ofc i can't force anyone to rb if they don't want to, but liking a post and not rb kills a post bc it stops reaching new people who will then engage with said post and then it will reach even more blogs. liking does nothing, it's a dummy button.

rb not only allows a post to stay alive, it's also a great opportunity to create conversations in the tags and engage with other people on this side of the internet. and well if you aren't into that or don't like to add tags to every rb, a simple rb still does much more than a like.

i have many fav blogs and i'll probably forget some, but from the top of my head i have @andiwriteordie (writer and au lover) @foodiewithdahoodie (amazing takes and headcanons) @astrobei (writer and artist) @wiseatom (amazing writer) @doriandrifting (analysis and amazing takes) @emblazons (amazing takes and gifs) @mayahawkins (one of the best gif creators in the tag) @perexcri (amazing writer) @likegoldintheair (amazing writer and amazing headcanons/ficlets) @elekinetic (amazing writer and amazing scripts) @kidovna (beautiful art and aus and comics) @noodles-and-tea (art art art i am obsessed) @nnilkyway (again beautiful art) @strangeswift (writer and a fun blog to check out) and many more that i'm probably forgetting right this moment.

if you (anyone who is reading this) have a blog rec pls lmk!!! i'm always looking for new byler content!!

(if you have stonathan blogs recs uh also lmk i need more stonathans on my dashboard thanks)