mostlybuddingthoughts

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Presenting a rare Riza doodle

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ill fated

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A thing I love about Andor compared to other gritty media about revolutions is that it's still unabashedly pro-revolt. Most media about characters who do 'terrible things for the cause' usually go 'both sides are bad actually'

Andor sees it as even more reason to celebrate the revolution. People like Luthen sacrificied so many things including his own humanity to push the cause forward. We have a responsibility to carry on because of that.

Luke and Leia could swoop in to save the day later, similiar to how any succesfull 'peaceful' protests movement have worked because there also was a more militant faction forcing the state's hand.

Few shows manages to be both so romantic and pragmatic about the revolution at the same time

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nemik's manifesto being spread galaxy wide, so well known that it reaches the inner workings of the empire, is so meaningful and impactful in ways i can't explain.

a young boy with a dream for the future, passionate about his hope for a better galaxy, dead before he can see his dreams come to fruition.

and cassian spreads his manifesto, his message, shares it onto the holonet and watches as it inspires people all across the galaxy. waking them up.

cassian andor is a messenger.

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So you're telling me that Nile could have handed Joe a magazine the wrong way, accidentally given him a paper cut, and whoops immortality gone.

I'd like to speak to immortality's manager because that's fucking dumb.

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Been thinking about this all day, and I think the main thing this movie failed to understand about itself is this: the immortality was supposed to be the premise, not the plot.

Like, the immortality piece fuels the villains in the first film, but the unknowability of it is part of the point. It’s a dreadful curse, to outlive all your loved ones. Or, it’s a powerful gift, to grow and nurture a relationship for centuries on end. Or, it’s a complicated responsibility, a way you are uniquely positioned to help make the world a better place, and how much of that mantle should you take on? It’s the premise, the vessel through which the themes and characters can be explored.

The point was never to find out the “rules” and drop a bunch of lore about it. This movie took the premise and made it the plot, and that I think was its cardinal mistake.

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final TOG 2 thoughts: there is a much better movie in there somewhere that strips the first immortal / last immortal concept out entirely and allows Quynh to be the big bad. Quynh wanting her immortality to end after centuries of repeated awful dying contrasting w/ Booker (who she's kidnapped and does not immediately release) slowly coming to the realization that he *does* have family to live for and that there's good shit out there in the world if he's willing to look for it. Quynh being convinced that Nile has the power to end her immortality bc she thinks Nile took away Andy's. Quynh trying to box Nile into a corner to do what Quynh wants by threatening Nile's mortal family. Nile having to face her mortal family after letting them believe she's dead, having to let the life & family she's left behind and the life & family she's chosen come together.

and then on the final showdown, Nile and Andy facing off against Quynh together. Quynh deals Andy a mortal wound; Nile deals Quynh one. Quynh still heals. it turns out her obsession with Nile was always wrong; Andy lost her immortality because she stopped *believing* in the life she was living. Quynh in angry hateful tears begging a dying Andy to come back, it's Quynh who's supposed to be dying. Andy quipping, "I always go first" and then dying

and then if you want a happy ending: Andy coming back after. Andy regaining her immortality *because* she cherishes her life and believes in what she does and isn't ready to end yet. Andy and Nile bringing Quynh back into the fold. Andy and Nile and Quynh and Booker and Nicky and Joe *healing* together

do you see my vision

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Does anyone with more knowledge of Amestrian military uniforms than me know why Roy and Riza were wearing dress uniforms when they first went looking for the Elrics in the manga?

In '03 and BH they wear regular military uniform.

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Where Royai truly sets itself apart from other ships is the fact that even though Roy desperately wants to save Riza and will do anything to save her, Riza will not let him do it and risk everything they have worked for and with a movement of Riza's eye he understands this and respects her wishes which means letting her die. That is love.

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i love them so much 🩷 they mean the world to me

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DOCTOR WHO — Hell Bent (S09E12) directed by Rachel Talalay | written by Steven Moffat ››› Peter Capaldi as The Doctor ››› Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald

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Headcanon

Riza is not a physical touch sort of person - she has her own personal space and is intensely aware of it being intruded on - but on days when Roy comes into the office just a bit off - some PTSD acting up - or a bad anniversary, or just particularly lonely, she intentionally touches his fingers as she passes him a pen, or brushes against his arm when she's standing by him. She puts a hand on his shoulder to get his attention and feels him breathe back into the present.

She's grounding him.

If she ever said that, he would say technically he's grounding her, the same way an electrical current is grounded - because he can feel the sensation of her touch jolt through him all the way to his feet.

But she never says that to him, and he never responds to her. She just keeps on grounding him with her touch, offering what he needs even when it doesn't come naturally to her.

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Eugenicist and bioessentialist beliefs about magic

Like New Age, modern witchcraft developed at a time period when eugenics and so-called race science were highly popular ideas - and consequentially, some of these ideas influenced people’s beliefs about magic. These beliefs also influenced modern conspiracy theories about the occult, which in turn influenced perceptions of magic in general. Here’s some of these beliefs:

People are either born with magical gifts, or they’ll never have them at all.

People born with magical gifts are meant to be spiritual leaders and guide the world into a new age.

There are special bloodlines whose members are more capable of performing magic than others.

People who can perform magic are able to do so only because they have special ancestry.

Some racial groups are more capable of performing magic than others.

Some bloodlines or racial groups are more capable of performing certain kinds of magic than others (EG, so-called “light magic” or “dark magic”).

The traditions of your genetic ancestors will always come to you easily and intuitively, with little to no study required. (And if they don’t, you aren’t a “true witch.”)

Modern witchcraft was also hit by the gender essentialism stick, and claims that come from this line of thinking include:

Magic requires or at least massively benefits from some performance or symbolic representation of heterosexuality or heteronormativity; other forms of magic will be inherently weaker.

Literally all magic is a recreation of heterosexual reproduction.

The womb is a woman’s most potent source of magic.

There are only two important deities: the god and the goddess.

All goddesses represent the divine mother archetype, all gods represent the divine father archetype.

Feminine energies are soft and nurturing, masculine entities are aggressive and bold.

Masculine energies are too strong in the world, and are the reason for imperialism, violence, etc. The imbalance can be corrected by focusing on feminine energies.

So yeah, always watch out for claims like this because they don’t come from a good place.

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A date in the sky

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Royai season continues......as always...... :-)

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y’all ever notice how Roy doesn’t (really) introduce himself on the phone to Riza? Because she’ll just know who it is?

So that scene where he calls up, she’s super tense answering, and then

Those blacked out eyes are Riza’s equivalent of anyone else … fainting with relief, rolling their eyes so hard that they get stuck in the back of their heads, glaring at the idiot on the other end, etc. etc. It doesn’t show the detail of her reaction because Arakawa doesn’t draw dopey!Riza - she intentionally keeps her cool the entire time, but this is the equivalent of Riza pulling some “huh??” face.

So Riza instantly knows it’s him, basically. They’re trying not to draw attention to themselves because the lines are probably bugged, so they’re not outright saying it’s him …

But then he goes and breaks the cover immediately - not saying his name, but pointing out that he’s definitely not the florist by changing the lie to a different lie. What’s someone listening in going to think? They definitely think he’s her boyfriend, an interested party, or some really stupid guy, but for sure if any of the bad guys hear this (ie. not just a peon), they’ll know instantly it’s Mustang. That’s why they don’t actually talk about anything important on the line. Because they know that the bad guys will know.

So if it’s that clear - if Riza knows, if the bad guys know - that it’s Roy … does that just mean he never introduces himself on the phone to her? I’m extrapolating, of course, but … I promise, it’s research …