smokeonshadows

[smokeonshadows]

ive always wondered like why Katniss was the only one Snow seemed to have a grudge against when her and Peeta were rebels together, cuz like yes he hates that she’s Covey descent but he just leaves Peeta alone?? Peeta doesn’t even realize Snow’s mad at them after the games, which proves Snow didn’t make Peeta scared of him on a personal level.

But I thought about how blond, blue eyed, merchant-class, pretty boy Peeta got on that stage and knew how to use his words as a weapon and a shield, he could play a crowd and make himself look good. He made people root for Katniss as a desirable tribute through his love for her. In the arena, Peeta trusts Katniss and then she lies to him and drugs him and runs off to do something he told her not to do because “her plans often don’t include you”. I think when Snow asks Katniss, “at what point did he realize the degree of your indifference? Perhaps not as taken with him as you would have the country believe,” he’s partly referring to that moment because he remembers the moment Lucy Gray saw all the evidence in one place and left for the katniss that was still out of season and remembers the poisonous snake in her clothes that bit him when he went looking for her.

He tells Katniss to aim higher than convincing the world she loved Peeta; “Convince me.” Because he knows what it looks like for a Covey girl to put on a show and for the blond boy to risk his life for her but never know when she’s being genuine.

Guys he believes Peeta because he thinks HE’S Peeta !!! He tortures Peeta into hating her because he thinks he’s helping HIMSELF !!!

[smokeonshadows]

ok, HEAR ME OUT--clexana but make it nosferatu

[smokeonshadows]

I love the dinamic that we see in relationships like reylo and oshimir, but sometimes I would like to see this kind of relationship with an older woman or someone thatnis more experienced; someone that is the same age or even older than the male counterpart, someone that has had her fair share of toxic relationships or just someone that's been in a relationship before (I don't know if that's Osha's case, but I'm gonna asume that is). Someone that can acknowledge that the man in question is sexy and alluring, but can see trough their deception. I have this fantasy where the woman says "you know what?, I'm going to get this out of my system ", and has sex with the man only to leave him afterwards, a scene in the mindy kailling show inspired me, where she says, "my body is very attracted to you, but when you speak my brain gets very angry", or something like that. I don't know a situation where she can be vulnerable, but she has the upper hand, and the guy doesn't see it until it's too late.

[smokeonshadows]

listen i love vasya and morozko but guys. guys can we just talk about konstantin and vasya because they are. they are. i dont know how to explain why im so obsessed with their dynamic so i will just show you scenes that make me go crazy insane

[smokeonshadows]

listen i love vasya and morozko but guys. guys can we just talk about konstantin and vasya because they are. they are. i dont know how to explain why im so obsessed with their dynamic so i will just show you scenes that make me go crazy insane

[smokeonshadows]

So some Aladdin (2019) videos popped up on my recommended page and now I'm back to being obsessed with Jasmine/Jafar and the lack of good fic has me so upset!

There's not a lot on Ao3 and what's there just isn't for me. So much of it is about Jafar winning and then enslaving Jasmine, which is fine if you're into that, but it's already been done a lot and for me, a way more interesting idea is if sultan!Jasmine were to get control of genie!Jafar's lamp and they develop some weird antagonistic, codependent, sexy relationship. I mean, yeah, mostly the idea of Jasmine as the dom is an interesting subversion, but this would also be an exploration of Jasmine's dark side. And, in my headcanon, at least, I picture Jafar as having a masochistic side (especially when Jasmine's concerned).

I also think that it would be an interesting play on the complicated power dynamic that already existed between them. Because on one hand, Jafar was the sultan's right hand man, he had the second most powerful position in the kingdom…and then on the other hand, Jasmine is the sultan's only child, she's the de facto heir and part of the royal family by blood, a position that he could never reach even if he tried. But then this contradiction kind of ensures that only they can be each other's equal and there's really no one else that could ever be on their level, but the equilibrium between them is constantly shifting.

Now with Jasmine having the definitive upper hand in the relationship, it not only completely upends the precarious balance that they've been operating under for years, but it does so in a way that totally goes against convention (because an older man dominating a younger woman is basically more of the same) and push both of them into unfamiliar territory.

And, I mean, it's canon that Jasmine won in the end and became sultan and it rubs me the wrong way that so many fics feel like the only way to make Jasmine/Jafar work or to make that dynamic sexy is to take that win away from her. It's boring at best and lightly misogynistic at worst.

[smokeonshadows]

I do think that Coryo fell in love with Lucy Gray, but i also fully believe that such love would never have been possible had he not be given the near-total control over her fate in the games, and by extension, her fate in the Capitol.

Listen. Here is a boy who has nothing but his last name, posing around pretending like he owned everything while scrambling for a scrap of something. Here is a boy who had to share everything he had ever owned, who was never fully in control of anything except for his words.  Here is a boy, who, due to the lie he's been controlling, can never let anyone in -- not even his pseudo-older sister and not even his most affectionate classmate -- for it poses the risk of being perceived, and potentially punished for his lack of ownership.

And then suddenly this boy -- who's so desperate to own something -- is granted the ownership of another person  a full-pass to control everything about her; her words, her image, her story. And sure, she wasn't his first pick, but the thought of having something gave him a sense of relief and dignity his lies could never give him, and that dignity, that slight restoration of confidence, gave way for that first crack on his chest after being guarded for so long.

And then the person he "owned" showed up, and she was the most interesting person of the pick. She gave the people a show and she made a song on top of it, turning his confidence to pride. I truly believe that had he been assigned to another person, he would not have showed up to the train station, simply due the fact that they were not interesting enough to warrant his  visit -- or his grandma'am's roses. Him showing up to the train wasn't just done in goodwill; it was also a stake of ownership -- it was him, acknowledging to himself that this was something worth owning, and like other things worth owning, it could be taken away from him if he lets his guard slips.

And that becomes the initial foundation to their interaction; the talking, the bringing up food... sure, Lucy Gray was interesting, but he was detached of her charm in those first meeting, seeing her in the lens of how others might measure her and her worth. his main focus was "taking care of her"; making sure his precious thing survived, making sure his ownership of her -- and thus his pride -- will not dissipate.

And then the tributes started plotting to kill him, only to be stopped by Lucy Gray. Sure, for her, he might seem as if he was doing something a kind -- even if useless -- meeting her in this run-down train station, and that perhaps was part of the reason why she defended him, and part of the reason why she stood by him in that Zoo cage. But for Coryo, his visit was calculated, his rose a chip of bargain, his zoo visit a byproduct of refusing to be caught slipping. For him, Lucy Gray stepping up for him was uncalled for, a surprising kindness.

He tried to rationalize it best as he could, but he was stumped. And I think this was when he started to really listen to Lucy Gray, to stop being detached from her. He was his father's son, and he believed in knowing the things he owned in order to properly maintain it. And it was this desire to know that melted his walls, that made him vulnerable, because to understand her fully he opened himself up to be understood, which had never happened before.

I think Coryo did love Lucy Gray, however tainted and terrible that love was. I think it was the first time of him making the effort to perceive someone and be reciprocated back -- fully, thoroughly, and wholeheartedly. It helped (or didn't help?) That Lucy Gray was a poet, that she fed him with pretty words; the only things that -- up until she showed up -- he'd ever truly owned for himself. For him, that connection -- added over the fact that he had "owned her", as everyone else kept saying -- must have felt like a drug. It must have felt intoxicating, to own something so lovely, something that adored him. It must have been a new, exhilarating feeling for Coryo, who never owned anything but worthless scraps and his pretty, pretty words. And yes, that was such a terrible way to put it, but love is many things; it can be terrible too.

I think Coryo loved Lucy Gray, and had they stayed in Capitol, he would have been able to continue to "love her". Billy Taupe was just some name, the Covey some story. What for Lucy Gray was history, was only pretty words for him. For all he chose to believe in, they could be the same pretty words he said; mostly lie, some exaggeration. In the Capitol, she is his, fully. And Coryo can love only what he owns.

But they didn't stay at Capitol, they moved to twelve. Suddenly, all her pretty words were honest and real, something he couldn't ignore, much less control. Suddenly, there was the Covey, and Billy Taupe, and Mayor Lipp, and even if her eyes were for him only he still had to share the rest of her -- her voice, her charm, her poise -- with other people. Twelve highlighted that he'd never truly owned her, we all know that. But here's another thing that twelve highlighted; it was him who chose to be the soldier in a rundown district, him who chose to follow her. If there was any ownership to be had here, it was her that owned him.

And Coryo? He doesn't share, yes, but worse than anything, he despises being owned.

This is where TBOSAS shone its brilliance; president Snow is the way he was not because he is an unfeeling sadist the was Volumnia Gaul is. He was the way he was because of love. Because of the vulnerability that comes with that love, and the refusal to surrender to it. President Snow would not be as ruthless and despicable had he been desensitized, and it was his feelings, his capability to love, that led him to employ some of the most gruesome tactics to win the games.

Here's the heartbreaking thing; once upon a time, Coryo loves Lucy Gray, and that love was true. Here's another heartbreaking thing; that love was built on poison, and its toxic vines ruined him so completely, decimated him so thoroughly, he was reborn anew evil; president Snow would not have happened without Lucy Gray, without Coryo's time in Twelve.

President Snow said, "it's the thing we love most that destroys us," and he said this as a warning to Katniss, yes, but he also said it to Coryo's shadow, standing behind her, who was looking at the back of the Girl on Fire, thinking the wavy black hair and the whispered songs were that of someone else's.

[smokeonshadows]

Quick! Funniest reason for someone to become a villain

[smokeonshadows]

You know, I kind of enjoy the love triangle...but only because I love how completely disinterested Wednesday is in both of them.

Also, unpopular opinion (probably), I don't actually see a lot of romantic chemistry between Wednesday and Enid. They're still cute though and I wouldn't complain if they were endgame.

As far as ships go, I actually really like Wednesday and Bianca. But that's probably because I have a thing for enemies/rivals to enemies/rivals with benefits ;P

[smokeonshadows]

J*hnny d*pp has earned $116 million since amber heard first came out about him abusing her. He continued to be in h*rry p*tter, murder on the orient express, pirates and several other movies. The idea that his career was ruined by her allegations are a joke, never mind that benign article where she didn’t even name him, considering he earned $116 million after

[smokeonshadows]

okay from the top, I have no delusions of fixing her. I am defecting. I am compromising my morals. I have become the secondary antagonist, and for what? Villain Pussy

[smokeonshadows]

The other post got too long, but I also wanted to talk a little about Juliet Tan. At first, I wasn't so sure about adding any more characters, but I do think she has the potential to be interesting, especially given how they're setting up her relationship with Kerwin. There are definitely comparisons to the Azula and Zuko relationship from ATLA, but I like how this one seems a little more complicated in that it seems like Juliet actually does care about Kerwin and she wanted to bring him back into the fold. From their interactions, it seems like while Kerwin saw their relationship as a rivalry, she seems to think they have a normal-ish sibling relationship (given the first conversation between them that we see) and never really saw him as competition.

And then it was also mentioned offhandedly that they both had an older brother who died, so I wonder how/if that might play into this.

[smokeonshadows]

Finally caught up with Kung Fu! So I wasn't expecting Zhilan and Kerwin to actually meet this soon into the season and I'm not sure how I feel about it. My prediction going in was that Kerwin would spend at least half the season trying to track Zhilan down so that he could get revenge or tie up loose ends all while pining for her secretly until they finally meet again and have this big dramatic showdown. I kind of still want that because I'm a huge fan of angst and pining and lovers-to-enemies-who-still-love-each-other-but-won't-admit-it, but I do think that their interaction this episode made sense and was well-executed.

From the moment Zhilan walked into that room and looked at Kerwin with this expression of pure shock and regret, I was entirely on board. It was such a subtle moment, but Yvonne really sold it for me. In that one look, we got to see the vulnerable side to her that she's so far only shown with Kerwin.

And then on Kerwin's end, I like that it wasn't this clear cut ‘he's angry with her and wants revenge’, but it also wasn't like he just completely turned to jelly and begged her to come back to him or whatever. It's interesting that more than being angry at her for trying to kill him, he was hurt that she didn't trust him enough. And then even after their fight, Zhilan still cared that he's seemingly back with his father and in a position where he's neglected and put down constantly.

While I do think that it was a bit unrealistic to have them fight it out for a bit and then be fine with each other afterwards, I think it's meant to show that betrayal and hurt feelings aside, the fact is that they still love each other they're still essentially on the same side of this, they still both want to bring Russell down. It's also pretty significant that Kerwin literally says that despite everything, Zhilan showed him how terrible his father really is and inspired him to try to take him down from the inside.

That said, it definitely made sense that they didn't leave together in the end. It's realistic that even though things are 'cool' between them and they're technically on the same side, not all is forgive and they both need to move forward on their own first.

Something else that was really interesting about this episode was Kerwin's interaction with Nicky and Henry and how they immediately called him on wanting to get revenge on his dad as soon as Zhilan's (supposed) death was mentioned (and that he didn't deny it). idk, exactly what this means, but it just felt kind of validating that Zhilan and Kerwin's relationship is given that much weight in-universe.

Also, since it's looking like everyone's technically on Team Stop-Russell-Tan...does this mean Zhilan's going to team up with Nicky at some point this season?

[smokeonshadows]

ok, I've never really considered myself a shipper, but CAN THIS SHOW JUST PLEASE LET NACE HAPPEN?

And can George and Nick please get back together? T.T

I get it, there has to be stakes in order for the story to matter, but does it have to hurt so much?

[smokeonshadows]

I stopped watching Mr. Robot a little after season 1 and the show ended years ago, so this take is coming in extra late, but I just found out how they killed off Joanna Wellick and I'm so fucking mad.

She was easily one of the most interesting characters on the show and had the most potential to be a great, complicated villain. Having her get brutally murdered by a loser jealous ex-boyfriend side character that she (and everyone else) didn't care about and then basically calling it karma (for all the violence that the Wellick family has done) is exactly the type of death that's meant to 'humble' powerful women characters.

[smokeonshadows]

I like that we're seeing Ryan's sneaky side and how he's more like Nancy than he probably initially realized.

Also, I'm really fascinated by Ryan comparing Nancy to Celia. idk if they'd ever be able to explore it further, but it's a spot on observation and a really interesting callback to last season that I didn't expect.

[smokeonshadows]

FANSON, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

NANCY/AGENT PARK, YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS???