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iheartbookbran · 2 years

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Honestly seeing all the new HOTD pictures is kinda surreal bc they actually make the show look cool? Like for starters just based on the pictures and few minutes of footage we have so far the costumes look ten times better than anything Clapton ever did in GOT, like… those costumes look like something rich medieval people would actually wear, and we even got variety and color??? And those trademarked silly GRRM’s helmets???? I can’t believe it.

I’ve also been reading the new article and some of the things they’ve added are also pretty neat, an tbh the source material is I think perfect for this kind of adaptation because it’s so flimsy and vague to start with the writers have a lot of leeway to tweak things and give more depth to the characters if they prove themselves to be talented enough to pull it off, which I think the audience will be able to make a judgement on that pretty quickly since the new writers won’t really have GRRM’s scenes and dialogue to fall back on the way D&D did, only the broad strokes of what happens in the story, but still a clear ending in sight (and given what happened with the original series, that’s a huge relief already).

And all of that leaves a sour taste in my mouth in what otherwise would be a show I would be excitedly looking forward to… mostly because of Dany, of course. And I don’t mean it in the sense of like, Rhaenyra “losing” at the end is equally as bad as what GOT did to Dany which is a take I’ve seen floating around an I don’t necessarily agree with. The Dance, the way I see it, is a conflict streaming out of sheer misogyny and what society would do in order to keep women out of power, and Rhaenyra is both a victim and a perpetrator of that, but the story is still very centered around the nobility and a commentary of what they would do to keep their status quo and power, no matter how they hurt the people who depend on them in the process. That’s like, the complete opposite of Daenerys “Why do the Gods make kings and queens if not to protect the ones who can't protect themselves?” Targaryen.

That’s the whole point of Dany imo, how much she cares and how she’s so willing to act in order to implement change and help those who need it, in spite of the repercussions that come with it. That doesn’t scream Rhaenyra to me (though I don’t know how the show is gonna flesh her out, and I’m curious to see Emma D'Arcy and how they work around to make the character more nuanced), but maybe that’s a topic for another post.

My point is that at the of the day, Dany is the original Targ, she is the most important Targ, the fact that there’s like 3 different Targ centered shows in development is only because of her, that’s her legacy, but still HBO didn’t care enough to prevent her character from being so utterly butchered. That’s the problem.

#do i have a point in writting all of this?? eh just that i’m still bitter about g*m* *f thr*n*s and will in fact die mad about it #i wanna make it clear that though i’ve got some criticism of rhaenrya as a person #SHE WAS STILL IN THE RIGHT #aegon the usurper and alicent were huge backstabbing assholes and she was the rightful heir. fight me #still i wouldn’t say she’s like dany #literally nobody is like dany she set the bar too high #and honestly as curious as i am about all these ‘successor shows’ as grrm calls them #ultimately dany’s still a presence hanging over all of them and specifically the targ-related ones #which lbr is gonna be the majority of them precisely *because* of dany #it’s like a never ending cycle #daenerys targaryen #rhaenyra targaryen #house targaryen #asoiaf #twoiaf #fire and blood #a song of ice and fire #house of the dragon #hotd #got #dracarys to d&d

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nobodysuspectsthebutterfly · 3 years

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Hello! If you don't mind me asking, are you planning on watching House of the Dragon? I'm personally unsure about it. I was cautiously optimistic about it since D&D are not involved, but the recent casting news have been ugh disappointing imo. What do you think?

Hey anon! Sorry to say I kind of mind you asking because my inbox is still closed (to everyone except my secret Santas, which is why the ask page is accessible at all), but then I realized it’s possible if you’re on the mobile app only, you haven’t seen said note in my askbox, or my FAQ, or anything of the sort. And with older metas of mine being reblogged recently, it’s possible you may be confused. (I hope you’re on mobile only and not just ignoring my requests.) So I wanted to inform you of that... but also, y’know, I kind of wanted to make a post about the HotD cast anyway? And this ask is as good a prompt as any... so, you’re lucky, but please don’t push your luck. ;)

So, straight up: I currently have no plans to watch House of the Dragon. HBO is not getting any of my goddamn money, I don’t trust like that. And hunting down illegal livestreaming sites is a pain in the ass and I regret ever doing it for GoT, as well as regretting getting drunk every weekend enough to dampen my senses to ever tolerate that show. Yeah it’s different showrunners and writers, I know. It’s still (mostly) the same executives at HBO and even if the pervert producer is gone (or is he?), you know they still just want to sell sex and violence and dragons to an audience that thinks fantasy is for geeks.

Also, considering that Fire & Blood’s story of Dance of the Dragons has very little actual narrative or dialogue, and the historical record is deliberately untrustworthy, that gives them pretty much full rein to do whatever they like with the story and characterization and words without even being slightly obliged to GRRM at all. Furthermore, since the story is wholly political with virtually none of the magical side of ASOIAF (excepting dragons), and honestly does not have much in the way of themes or depth that main ASOIAF or even D&E has, I think it will be very hard for an adaptation to show even those brief sparks of quality that used to make me wistful GoT couldn’t be that good all the time and eventually just made me frustrated and depressed. Note I do like the history and characters of the Dance despite myself, despite its many many many textual issues, but I don’t need to see an adaptation, I have a very visual imagination. I don’t watch a lot of television to begin with, I don’t see why I should start again with this.

However, I’m not going to avoid spoilers or discussion, and I’ll probably follow the show the tumblr way, through gifsets and video clips and people bitching on their blogs etc. If, somehow, by some miracle of good screenwriting and acting, the show manages to transcend its source material, I’m sure I will be informed. And then, if and only if then, I may try watching. (Without, of course, giving HBO any of my goddamn money.) We shall see.

(Though I certainly don’t know why anyone in Targ standom would ever watch a Dance adaptation considering almost every Targaryen and everyone else in the story is terrible except Helaena and the kids, and considering how the story ends, unless y’all are gluttons for punishment? (I do not comprehend hatewatching, sorry.) It’ll probably be fun at first to see the adventures of those “precious silver douchebags” (to borrow a friend’s tag), but eventually rocks fall, everyone dies, including the girlboss you know you’ll hope the story will be changed enough that she succeeds. Just letting you know now, she won’t.)

That said. I’ve been following the casting news and I think the hate/fear/wild screaming is entirely overblown. Yeah, I know, but wait, just listen. On Friday I officially welcomed @naomimakesart to the “favorite character is now played by an actor who looks nothing like most fanart and is mostly known for wildly different roles” club. I still remember that day in September 2009 when my brother texted me “yarp”... and that right there is the thing. Yeah. Rory McCann looks very little like most pre-GoT Sandor fanart... but many fans grew to love him anyway. (There are some who never did, of course. And yeah the character went off the rails by the end, but truly, who didn’t. Having seen his audition, having spoken to him and heard him wistfully talk about book scenes he loved, I’m convinced if Rory had only been given Sandor’s actual scenes and such, he would’ve killed it. Sigh. Deep, deep sigh.)

And Rory isn’t the only one. Neither of the actors for Jaime and Cersei were considered “beautiful” enough at first. I recall very clearly people bitching about Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (about his nose particularly?) because they had wanted Tarzan-era Travis Fimmel to be Jaime. (Seeing people bitch because current-Fimmel isn’t playing Daemon made me laugh out loud for both BEYONCE?! meme -type “why would you ever cast him omg he doesn’t fit my headcanon Daemon at all”, and amazing amounts of fandom flashbacks.) Lena Headey was “too square-jawed”, “too mean-looking” (since at the beginning you should never be able to guess she’s evil), “too dark-complected”, “too mannish”, not at all attractive enough. (Tricia Helfer was the most common “but I wanted” for Cersei, btw.) And of course “they don’t remotely look like twins, ugh!” Note, there’s receipts for all of this, none of it is made up. (Unfortunately.) Those two actors are just the ones whose casting wank I recall most clearly, particularly because oh how the turn tables.

Also. You know, there’s a post with Matt Smith and Mark Simonetti’s TWOIAF Daemon going around with shrieks of horror... and I’m finding it maddening in a “am I crazy? am I the crazy one???” way, because Matt looks like the painting. Their features are not that dissimilar.

Same deepset eyes. Same cheekbones of doom. Same thin lips. Same protruding chin. Same high forehead. Same invsible eyebrows ffs. Matt has a squarer jaw, and a longer more rectangular face, and a wider nose, but considering that Daemon’s features are not described in the text, and this is the only official ASOIAF artwork that shows Daemon’s face straight on, I can for sure see why he was probably shortlisted to begin with. And that’s not even getting into to his role in The Crown, which I’ve heard is very well played with politics and palace intrigue... and if you doubt Smith can play seductive/roguish and/or evil (depending on how you LARP as a Westeros historian), or look good with long hair... well. I do not want to watch the movie, but this trailer is disturbingly enlightening.

And as for Rhaenyra... y’all know this show is starting at the beginning of the story, right? When she’s a teenager? Not a voluptuous MILF? Yeah, Emma D’Arcy doesn’t look like a Magali Villeneueve painting (though who does, good lord), but you know who she does look remarkably like? Harry Lloyd.

Same jawline. Same nose. Same thin lips. Same sharp cheekbones. Notably, same kind of sharp cheekbones and deep-set eyes as Matt Smith. HBO evidently has a concept of a “Targaryen look” that’s a little bit quirkier than supermodel-Greek statue-gods on earth, yeah, fine. But it’s consistent, and they look like family, and that-- that is good casting.

And yeah, in a few months to a year or so, you’ll see them in costume and wigs and makeup, you’ll see them in motion and speaking lines, and go Oh. That’s different. Never mind. And while people will make fanart of the show depictions of the characters and those will probalby get popular, they’ll also keep doing fanart of their pre-show headcanons, and those too will be popular. (God knows when I draw or visualize book!Sandor, Rory does not come to mind, lol.) Either way, there’s no reason to panic. We’ll live.

(Though will we live well? Got to wait on the writing and showrunning for that, alas.)

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consciouschunkofmoss · 2 years

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I don’t think my ask ever sent😭but we’ll re-do it. Off topic but do you ever refer to yourself as we? Sometimes I do it without realizing it or other times I do it when I or I’ll just doesn’t feel right yknow🤔 I hope that made sense😅

Anyways back to the before topic, I couldn’t type Mr.Golds name either😂 I like rumple for short but not when saying it out loud because rumpelstiltskin *I had to google it* has a nice ring to it. I could honestly just sit there and repeat his name over and over again without getting bored.

I find the “villainous” characters to be more interesting, especially when you get to see a part of their history and how they came to be. And can sort of figure out there thought process by their actions and what they say. I also love when we don’t know what happened to them and can make up different scenarios in our head and see what other peoples creative minds think as well.✨

Slasher movies are da bomb.com😌 I didn’t watch as many during October which was my plan but I’m hoping they’re still on HBO max😅I’m so behind on watching the stuff that’s come out this year that I don’t think I’ll be able to catch back up🤓 Ooo when I get back to watching it I’ll definitely hit up your inbox💫

oh im sorry about that :( it happens to me as well but i never really know if they end up sending or not sjxhsjxs :")

but anyway, i do that as well !! sometimes i like to do that on purpose to suit my synesthesia needs (like. we being a word that considerably yellow to me, so putting it in an equally yello phrase is very cool ngl) but also theres just times where i say it without even noticing too haha (both in english and portuguese, actually)

and same !! his name is so satisfying to say out loud, but i do prefer using rumple in normal conversations bc it feels more natural imo

(also yes i do have conversations about ouat in my day-to-day life lmao my mother also watches this show so we tend to talk about it)

and i totally agree with you !! literally everything that there is to characters that are not titled as 100% good come to be very very interesting to me, as i am wholeheartedly devoted to analyzing characters like this and the narratives they reside in 💕😌 so like. zelena, regina, rumple and even belle are totally my favorites in terms of nuance because of the amount of good content that can be taken from them out of this complexitiy that they hold (even outside of their own motives and objectives that co-relate with the main plot)

having characters that can be molded by the very spectator's eyes and perspective over their course throughout the story is also something i love very very much ! being glados an example of a character that holds all of these clear defects and nuances, but that we are never shown the source from where they come - which then leaves such a huge opening towards the players' very own interpretations and hcs - is why i absolutely love her and analyzing the very core of her personality too ^^

OH AND SO TRUE ! i have a list with me rn so if you want any recommendations i can totally give you some !! (even for ones that arent particularly slasher ones but still pretty good and on the same lane of "old horror movies who are kinda silly but still pretty cool" lol)

im also on the same boat lmao i havent been up to date for quite some time with recent releases of literally any kinds of genres sjxhjxs

and please do !! i would love to talk about horror movies with you ! <3

#i can also recommend a few sites i use to watch older movies that are usually already taken out of official streaming sites and stuff #so if you want me to pass those to you in case you wanna watch those clasic ones just let me know ^^!#asks #ray !!

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for-peace-war · 4 years

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No, really. Lovecraft Country sucks.

These are spoilers, but I also don’t give a shit because it’s a bad show and I hope you skim enough to fucking skip it. I took a few days to decide if I hated it enough to write this and well, I do.

I will try my best not to say “X is a bad actor,” but instead stick with the characters as they’re intended save for one particular issue.

The Story

It isn’t very Lovecraftian. And don’t take this as me saying Lovecraft was some kind of master of his craft. I think he was an absurd racist that used xenophobia as his guise for what truly horrified the sane mind. That being said, the element of the unknown is definitely the hallmark of his world and that in no way is represented in this show. It could easily be called “Goosebumps: The Black Version” and it’d be just as authentic--if not more so, really.

The story deals with the Bible (?) and magic that comes from uh, knowing the names of things. You speak a made up language and then you do some kind of confusing magic that has no real purpose or point. I sound dismissive of this because I am, to be clear. They could have just as easily had this language be something whites stole from Africans and then perverted into their own means of power (it’d be a pretty easy parralel to any number of imperialist issues left behind in Africa, huh.)

But anyway, it has a tentacle monster. I think we see a big scary octopus at one point. But the monsters are often in your face and it’s probably less scary than Stranger Things S1.

Honestly, the characters repeat “autumnal equinox” so much that I felt I was going to have a fucking breakdown. Just the writing is very empty and no one seems to really care about anyone else on the screen except for in a rare moment between the only two characters that make it far and matter.

Characters

They aren’t very good. There are tropes present, which isn’t bad at all, but the way the characters interact, speak, and in general move us through the story feels stilted, often nonsensical, and entirely reliant on the viewer assuming that the latest sentence spoken is the only one that matters.

Atticus “Tic” Freeman

A war criminal that derives his power from the white blood inside of him. Again, dismissive but true. We see this man struggle to connect pieces to a puzzle and eventually he pays the price for it, but not in the way Lovecraft would have someone pay for endeavoring beyond their realm. Rather, something about fate and a book. Look, honestly? Who gives a shit. Tic murders a woman in coldblood and it’s never really touched on. There’s a lot that could be said about militaries, oppression, etc, but we often see these characters enact violence and then the story skips merrily beyond it. So yeah, he summarily executes a Korean woman and then is later shown torturing another, but it’s okay because he feels a little bad and fucks the Korean sex demon woman. More on that later. I felt nothing for him. He didn’t have some deep animus over being a torturing war criminal. He was just kind of moving through scenes and having confusing fights with his girlfriend/baby mama.

Letitia “Leti” Lewis

This is what empowerment shouldn’t look like. It amuses me that the show claimed to subvert some kind of norms when the primary love interest (and ultimate heroine) remains the lightest skinned sister in the room. She is able to maintain the appeal of the ingenue while at the same time having the understood attractiveness of her complexion. As far as Leti is concerned as a character, she too seems to be a pretty shitty person. We hear that she has “transactional” friendships and she seems pretty much all about self-survival and rarely if ever puts up where others do. She’s a heroine in the sense that the story makes her be heroic, but it never addresses how her flaws are ultimately all self-inflicted and unnecessary. She could just not be a shitty person.

Hippolyta Freeman

Well. Hidden Figures was an excellent film, and I think that’s where Hippolyta came from. In a more serious series, perhaps she and her daughter could have had a very touching arc that would deal with survival and exceptionalism in a world that maligns you for your very being. Unfortunately, in reality she just comes off as a character that’s quirky in a world that’s also quirky and she doesn’t get to harness her power. There’s an entire episode dedicated to how she discovers who she is and the result is well, her hair turns blue and she makes robots? I think the character TYPE is great, but they misused her here in all ways.

George Freeman

Well, well. If the series had remained about George, Tic, and Leti adventuring through America and encountering sundown towns and monsters both human and otherwise, I think it’d have been okay. The issue is, they wrote this series by the numbers so George is immediately thrown away. He’s a wise and circumspect guy that has his own flaws (he has patrarchical notions built around protecting/babying his genius wife, clearly), but the flaws he has are understandable and well reasoned. George dies early on. Then he sort of doesn’t, I guess? But the fact he did was really the nail in the coffin for this series. The moment they did that, the rest just became empty strokes. A story where George witnessed the others dying and going back to his wife and daughter would have had so much more heart to it, but well. Uncle George is literally one of the few bright spots.

Ruby Baptise

Much like her sister, Leti, Ruby is a terrible attempt at showing empowerent on the one hand, and a masterwork on the other. The bad first: she’s a rapist. I’ve been called a nigger before and while it didn’t feel great, I don’t think I’d have been justified in just sodomizing the person that did it. That entire sequence was weird and they tried to hype it as her reclaiming something, when really it spoke to a disgusting and gratuitous tendency toward Ruby: she’s always too much. Ruby, IMO, should have been Tic’s love interest. In a sense. First, because Wunmi Mosaku was a very attractive woman with impressive acting chops (she’s where I’ll break my moratirum, sorry), but also because it wouldn’t be what you’d see in every other show now: light-skinned pretty sister, dark-skinned sexual eikon. And that’s the issue with Ruby there: she’s always too much. She’s sexual by existing and that isn’t necessarily to her benefit since Leti, the good one, is an actual virgin before her sudden period sex. So the narrative has already spoken as to how it views sex. Yet, because they tried to give Ruby these strange strokes, she comes out as an interesting character. She has feelings, aspirations, and dreams that she’s kept from and that’s very real. In a story about the absurd, a sense of realness is a familiar handhold to gather your wits. She’s all that, really. It’s why she has the best relationships in the show, which is AGAIN an issue, but well. I’ll say Ruby was never bad to have on screen though I was disgusted with how often her blackess (and Blackness in general!) became the source of grotesque horror.

Christina Braithewaite

This is where I get annoyed. My issue with Christina is that she should have easily been the most hated character, but they overplayed their hand with not showing how nefarious she was. In fact? Christina and Ruby’s relationship is the only meaningful, real, and understandable one in the entire series. I felt no joy during her downfall, because I didn’t really get to see her doing anything bad? Just, consider what the show is. It’s about Lovecraft’s lore, ostensibly, which treats all non (specific types of) white men like dogs. So Christina comes at it from the “white” but “woman” perspective and you know, she has moments of duality that you can say is she more white or woman here. But they don’t execute on how sinister she should be. She’s a little rude at times? Yet she is the only person to treat Ruby like she should be treated and she’s the only person that seems to have a goal outside of “the quest.” It really bothered me that she came out so well done, because either they needed to have her for two seasons and make her far more nefarious after the first, or to just make her less a force for good. She saves the characters more than a few times and pays for it by being killed when she’s at her lowest. Yeah, it’s... a weird take.

Ji-Ah

What can I say? There are depictions of sex in the series, and they’re all negative: most of Ji-Ah’s scenes, Montrose’s angry self-loathing sex with his boyfriend, Ruby’s morphic horror scenes. In the case of most of those, there’s something being said. Ji-Ah is a monster, literally, that could be seen as Lovecraftian in the sense she’s an exotic Asian woman that kills men that sleep with her. So, HBO was like “we’ll blow our tits and ass budget on her,” and she exists for a series of sex scenes and vague, inscrutable... shit, maybe SHE is the most Lovecraft of all the characters! Anyway at some point she joins the party after confusing drama with Leti because they both fucked Tic. It’s okay though, because Ji-Ah isn’t here for any of that now. She’s the one who had the best friend that had her teeth yanked out by Tic, and also who was there when he shot her other friend in cold blood, but they get over that and she’s now their friendly red panda pal or some shit. It’s fucking trash. Much like the Freemans (sans Tic), I think she’d have done great in another show. But they rushed her story and it felt less Ghost Nation (Westworld) and more Masturbation (Jordan Peele).

Diana Freeman

Confusing. A stock character (quirky kid that does art, is impetuous, and won’t take no for an answer) that is given a lot of screen time. When she sort of hijacks an episode when two ragamuffin girls chase her down and infest her or something because racist cops. Well, the story veers to her direction. What can I say? If you like 11 from Stranger Things but wanted her to have Mike’s attitude, well. Here you go.

Montrose Freeman

He could have been a good character, I guess. He seemed unnecessary and often was there purely for an x-factor of “uh?” Like, his infamous scene where he slits a two-spirit Native American’s throat after we learn that this indigenous person had just been restored after being raped by bad guys. So there’s that. Also I guess he was self-loathing so he beat his son (that may not be his son???) and also liked fucking dudes, which was I think where we were supposed to care about him. It’s like someone saw Omar was a gun-wielding desperado of drug theft and decided, “Well what made him okay is he’s gay!” But it didn’t add much. I get he was angsty but other than Tic calling him a “faggot” (one of the few good scenes between them in terms of emotion), it all seemed empty and kind of meandering. At no point does Montrose seem a part of the team. He just half-mumbles, gets angry, cries, and falls apart.

Captain Seamus Lancaster

He’s barely a character, but I need to include him for another point. He’s the “bad guy.” I guess? He uses the bodies of black men to stay alive, which is actually a really smart reference to black bodies fueling the American system, but it comes off as cheesy because it just never comes up. He’s cartoonishly bad in a way that he’s less sinister than a meme. Compare him to say, Ridgeway from Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad. One’s a sinister representation of an oppressive system and the other’s well, a joke.

Racism

How could this not be a theme? The issue, as was shown with Lancaster, is that it isn’t even remotely handled with seriousness. The best scene of racism is in the first episode when Tic, George, and Leti are forced to leave a Sundown county before they’re lynched by the racist sheriff. The anticipation and animosity lead to some serious anxiety and it was a nailbiter.

But after that? White people say “nigger.” Then they get, I don’t know, raped or spit on or who knows. A lot of black people talk back to the cops anyway in the 50′s and that’s cool.

But the real monsters of the series are all black people. Let’s go through it:

Tic brutalized women in the Korean War.

Montrose killed the two-spirit person.

Ruby rapes the shop owner.

Diane crushes Christina’s throat.

Ruby literally sheds her flesh in repeatedly gratuitous acts of the grotesque.

Even Ji-Ah, who’s not black, is a monster in the literal sense. We do see the doctor that experimented on black people, but that’s about 5 minutes at the end of an episode that has a baby’s head on a man’s body so I was too busy laughing at the absurdity to take any real meaning from it.

The truth is, in Lovecraft Country, white people always should do their best to kill or keep black people down. It definitely doesn’t speak at all to any togetherness or what have you. Just, well. Magical negroes doing bad stuff because nothing can stop them.

The show misses the chances to show real horror in race. Hell, the Tulsa Riots are reduced to a backdrop for a confusing book scene. But then again, Emmett Till becomes a kind of empty reference point that we then see a white woman act out... for some reason?

Again, the only characters with any chemistry are Ruby and Christina, which is very unfortunate for any number of reasons. As far as a statement that racism is bad goes, I mean. I barely saw it. If I was a racist I’d be like hell yeah, Lovecraft was right they are dangerous.

Even when people try to indicate the horrors of it like, “Oh, the Korean War scenes are bad because we see how men are forced into the military complex!” We didn’t see a white officer say “Shoot her, boy,” it was just two black guys killing women with no care at all. And no compeuppance, so that’s cool.

The Music

Sucks. Thanks Peaky Blinders for making modern music over gif sets a thing.

Conclusion

I sure as hell would never watch it again. If I can get one other person not to, then maybe it’d be worth it. It’s not a good show. It’s not “smart,” and there’s no secret subversion in it. It’s just... bad.

I won’t post on it anymore. Please, in true Lovecraft fashion, trust me when I say that this show is so bad it cannot be comprehended.

#lovecraft country

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ducavalentinos · 4 years

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I was tagged by @lady-eleanor-vane, thank you! 💜

rules: pick 5 shows, then answer the following questions, don’t cheat. tag 10 (or however many) people.

Bates Motel

Narcos

Rome HBO

Breaking Bad

The Borgias

who is your favorite character in 2?

Narcos: Tata Escobar, I mean I already loved her in S1, but I feel s2 gave more depth to her character, and I loved watching that, and I love her inner conflict between her love for Pablo, and having to think about her children safety. And how brave she is. How that doesn’t mean not feeling afraid, because she is always afraid, but she doesn’t let that paralyse her, she pushes through that fear and tries to protect her family as best she can, and ughh I love my queen so much! I miss her! <3

who is your least favorite character in 1?

Bates Motel: Emma, but then again I don’t like her character in any season.

what is your favorite episode of 4?

Breaking Bad: I’m thinking ep 12, Crawl Space. It’ soooo good it actually feels like a season finale.

what is your favorite season of 5?

The Borgias: I can’t choose, oh my god! lol. Ok probably season 3.

who is your favorite couple in 3?

Rome HBO: of course it’s my historical otp cleopatra x antony. who is your favorite couple in 2?

Narcos: Pablo x Tata, my babies! amor bandido at its finest. I’ll never be over it.

what is your favorite episode of 1?

Bates Motel: this is literally so hard, but I guess I’ll say ep 101 because it really does a great job establishing Norma and Norman relationship, their individual characters, and it sets the tone of the show basically. But I also love ep 205 because there’s some good moments of Vera Farmiga’s amazing acting.

what is your favorite episode of 5?

The Borgias: I can’t choose, sorry djsdjsdjs

what is your favorite season of 2?

Narcos: Season 1 and 2.

how long have you watched 1?

Bates Motel: hm, the show started on 2013, but I only started watching on 2015 I think, and just keep following after that until the last season on 2017, so it’s been 2 years?? since I last watched it. Seems longer bc I really miss this show *cries*

how did you become interested in 3?

Rome HBO: Well, my interest for Ancient Rome came back again a few years ago, and I have always had this show on my list to watch, but never got around to it because the copy I had was bad, but I was able to find another copy, more decent and decided it was time to finally watch it and it was one of the best decisions I ever made djsdjsds.

who is your favorite actor in 4?

Breaking Bad: I don’t actually have a favorite?? They all great, honestly.

which do you prefer, 1, 2, or 5?

Bates Motel, Narcos or The Borgias: Oh my god, why are you doing this to me??? I....love these three shows for different reasons. I don’t prefer one over the other, I’m sorry, but I can’t lol.

which show have you seen more episodes of, 1 or 3?

Rome HBO: because it has only two seasons so it’s easier to watch and rewatch.

if you could be anyone from 4, who would you be?

Breaking Bad: JDSDJSJD is no one an answer here? like....their lives is the defintion of The Struggle™ and I already enough of that in my own live so I’ll pass.

would a crossover between 3 and 4 work?

Breaking Bad and Rome HBO: hmm, I don’t think so? maybe for Walt’s caracter individually? he has the intelligence, ambition and ruthlessness of the many characters on Rome HBO, so maybe it could work out for him, idk.

pair two characters in 1 who would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple?

Bates Motel: Actually we had that, with Emma and Dylan, I never thought about them romantically, and at first I didn’t think it was going to work out, but then they ended up becoming strangely fine. I never care for the ship, but they were ok together, that much is true.

overall, which show has the better storyline, 3 or 5?

Rome HBO or The Borgias: Both have it imo, but I’ll say the Borgias just because I enjoy the overall storyline better. I love Rome, but I think I should say that I only really loved the part that covered the “elite” and their lives. The part that deals with Vorenus and Pullo is one I just didn’t find interesting.

which has the better theme music, 2 or 4?

Narcos or Breaking Bad: No doubt Narcos. Tuyo is a masterpiece and there’s so many good Colombian songs, I listen to them all the time now and it’s a joy. Tagging: @borgialucrezia @elcctra @aphollos @bergmancapa @roseneys and anyone else who wants to :)

#p #tagged #about me #this is super fun #:)

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roxannepolice · 6 years

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Punishments, redemptions and force deprivations - or the b*tching that was promised

Arite, so I guess we all here agree that Luke’s naughty nephew can’t end this trilogy with so much as a tap on his wrist. Some reckoning is due for jedi killing, dad piercing, mind probing, force choking and village burning. But I guess we also all agree that it can’t be another redemption=death feast, we had it with his grandpa.

So, all sorts of different theories as to how Kylo Ben will pay for his crimes have emerged, the most popular of those being maiming (particularly arm losing), exile (more or less self imposed), imprisonment (for term unknown) and force deprivation. Being frustrated with the apparent seductiveness of all of these tropes being flung here and there, I decided to explain why none of this makes much sense for a deeper narrative meaning. Disclaimer, though: I can’t say that the writers definitely won’t go there, I can only explain why they don’t make as much sense as they would seem at a first glance. I’ll also spend more time on the subject of force deprivation, because it’s, frankly, probably the most tempting and the most shiver inducing.

First of all, all of the above options could be very strong narrative points – if they’re temporary. Yes, that would even include death, considering Rey’s heroine journey is likely to incorporate some rebirth imagery. Loss of arm is still an option to honour a family tradition, especially if Kylo Ben loses his crossguard lightsaber and has to use Luke’s green one - the weapon that made a would - for a while. But when any of those things is done permanently.... well, that’s where my bitching comes in.

Let us dissect what are narrative purposes of punishment, beginning with enumerating what they shouldn’t, though very often seem to, be:

giving audience a sense of justice – this is probably the most valid point among these. We certainly need some karma feast before we’ll forgive Kylo Ben. But that being said, the attitude of well, we don’t won’t him to die, so let him be permanently deprived in some other way has too much of hand washing vibe, IMO. That especially applies to force deprivation. We’re civilised people, popculture progressed so much since Vader... No, let him live, but let’s make sure he can no longer cause evil he’s caused by taking away from him a universal power dormantly binding all beings that he had too much of and clearly abused. *Sigh* This may be a heavy cannon, but this, y’all is

Goodness is something to be chosen. When a man cannot choose he ceases to be a man, if you get the drift. And no, this doesn’t mean I apply exactly the same morality to real life, this is fiction, here to provide me with a catharsis that may become reflection over real world, not give me straightforward answers about it, I can’t believe I had to consider this disclaimer

paying for the crimes – let’s get something straight. If you kill a murderer, you don’t bring back the people they’ve killed, you only get another dead person. I think we all agree here that Kylo Ben’s redemption will be through life, not death but also not any other punishment. Because him suffering won’t erase the suffering he’s caused

a lesson for the audience through a character, aka. cautionary – yes, I get it, Don Giovanni was a bad person to seduce thousands and commit murder, he refused to repent, Commandor’s ghost was right to drag him to hell, and good guys are even more right to sing Questo e fin di chi fa mal. I suppose I won’t be seducing people and killing their fathers now that I’ve seen a man dragged to theatrical hell. Congratulations, Wolfie, you’ve done a great job if you think’s that’s serious just listen to the opera and hear the mockery in the music

So, now that we’re clear on what aren’t the narrative purposes of punishment, let’s dig deeper beyond the surface level and see what hides beneath the above simulacrae.

evoking pity for the character – well, art isn’t a purely intellectual experience, we need some appeal to the emotions, too. What seems to us like justice getting it’s due is in fact evoking in us – and other characters – pity towards a reforming character. It’s rediscovering humanity where we denied its existence. Maiming, imprisonment, exile, torture and force deprivation would all have that effect on the audience, however they can easily turn to joy when the reformed villain has their status restored when they prove worthy

a declaration – when a villainous character willingly subjugates themselves to good guys’ justice, it serves to show that they aren’t just tossing words at wind. They want to change, in fact they want nothing more in their lives, so they would accept whatever price they have to pay for the world to allow them that change – even if it’s their life, to show that they accept the right of those they formerly fought. Again, all options match, though permanence is almost counterproductive

a lesson for the audience and a character – if nothing else works to for the villain to change their ways, they need a lesson, which will also serve as a food for thought for the audience. This is where the trope of paying with what they value most about themselves comes in, especially if pride was one of their sins. Ramsay Bolton trigger warning.

A warrior loses a hand, a seducer gets neutred, a prophet (seer) goes blind, a liar loses a tongue, Thor loses Mjolnir – an extremely powerful force user loses his force sensitivity. They need to understand what it’s like to be one of those they despised and abused – but, on a more positive note when a character is to become a hero, also learn that their value didn’t end at what they considered their only greatest asset.

This is Star Wars, it’s now adoptive sibling of MCU, not HBO, and that’s why I can see temporary, Thor-like, loss of force sensitivity in store for Kylo Ben – maybe that would be the revival in Rey’s story, should Disney-LF feel that actual BatB scene could be a tad too cheesy. So now I’ll delve into narrative options for force deprivation and explain why they all make more sense when temporary and not permanent:

he cuts himself away from it as a form of self-flagellation – done. And really, Luke’s whole arc in TLJ was about refusing to act being just as harmful as acting wrongly, so I can only see that scenario if it ends with Rey kicking another Skywalker’s ass out of useless pit of despair

he’s deprived of it by the bad guys – first of all, let’s discuss the logistics here. It’s not as if any technology or chemistry could actually bend the universal will to their own desire. The most it can do is mess with an individual’s nervous system enough for them to not be able to use it. I can see that happening to Kylo Ben, courtesy of Hux, once again, excellent occasion for Rey’s revival powers to shine. That being said – this here, is Faustus. Devil can have all the chirographs he likes, the doctor can willingly forfeit his soul – God and Margaret have different plans

he’s deprived of it by the good guys – so I suppose they could even try to be more delicate about than Hugsy. But it’s necessary. It’s just. It’s what the force wants, they know it, it’s they that keep telling each other may the force be with you. This here, on the other hand, is Tannhauser. The pope knows when a sinner is beyond redemption and has God’s word on his side to deny the absolution – and ends up with his staff springing leaves to show him he himself became blinded by pride

he just loses it. Force is done. he doesn’t deserve it – BITCH, NOW?!!!!!! YOU DID NOTHING TO PALPATINE, TO SNOKE, TO MAUL, EVEN TO VADER BUT NOW YOU INTERVENE? I KNOW ANAKIN HARDLY GOT HIS CHARACTER FROM SHMI, BUT REALLY????? There’s no narratively satisfying moment for that to happen (again, permanently) – if it happens after he turns, what the hell, now that he’s trying to actually make up for the evil, now he gets punished? This is no case of showing good will, what’s the point? If before – well, exactly, bitch, now? Not when Snoke started to get inside his head, not when he destroyed the jedi temple, not when he killed his father, not the moment he seized power, only some two years into his rule? Honestly, there’s only one way that would make sense – if he’s actually really effing evil as the renperor and... frankly, I root for his redemption because I believe he’s actually capable of being a good person before it’s his only option.

There are some other reasons why force deprivation would feel right to us. Some may want to see it as passing the torch entirely out of Skywalker bloodline and onto Rey (cue in some mystical feminism) – but, frankly speaking, you can’t have a trilogy packed to the brim with yin-yang imagery and then end it with yeah, they’re equal and mutually dependent parts but some parts are just equaller. In a way, Kylo Ben’s role isn’t to redeem himself only to redeem all of the darkness of the prime jedi.

There’s also the laying down the gun trope – the sheriff saves the city and then drops his star to go farming. This feels right to us, even those who wish Reylo all the best. But that’s the problem with both accepted/self imposed force deprivation, exile and to some extent imprisonment – they all give a sense of peace.

And Kylo Ben deserves many things – corporeal punishment, learning what it’s like to not be force sensitive, sex with Rey, being a subject to mind probe (though I would say he had it the hard way with Snoke for years), losing his arm, fighting side by side with Rey, utter hellfire which will explode in his chest when he sees Chewie, showing off what the piece of junk can actually do, kissing every freckle on Rey’s skin, guiding a new generation of force users, especially those temped by extreme darkness, family with Rey. Punishment. Redemption. Life. Love. Happiness.

But not peace. Not yet.

#reylo #kylo ren #ben solo #save ben solo #bendeption #tw: torture #tw: maiming #force is an asshole #but I don't think to such an extent #ramsay bloton should be a trigger warning #culture ramblings #star wars #episode ix speculation

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insightfulinsomniac · 7 years

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Band of Brothers Hogwarts Houses

I was asked by Bandumb on AO3 to list what Hogwarts houses I headcanon the BoB boys being in... so here we are! Special thanks to everyone in the HBO War group chat for debating a lot of these! ****** Dick Winters: Gryffindor, for obvious reasons. Lewis Nixon: Slytherin, also for obvious reasons. Carwood Lipton: Slytherin. BEFORE YOU DISCOUNT THIS LISTEN UP: this comes from the incredible @alyseofwonderland on the HBO war group chat. First, Dick Winters listed Lip as one of the "killers" of Easy Co. Also, Lip is FIERCELY loyal to his men and will do anything to anyone to protect them. Hufflepuffs are very loyal, but Lip is loyal in the sense that he would undermine other people and use his intelligence to get his way for his men. Very Slytherin-esque loyalty. Finally, the best argument from her, in my opinion, is the fact that Lip joined the Paratroopers to be and be with the best soldiers. If that's not Slytherin, I don't know what is. I digress. Ron Speirs: Slytherin. Everyone already knew that. Harry Welsh: Also Slytherin. Fiercely loyal to a select group... aka KITTY. Also, incredibly charming and he is just so Slytherin okay HIS FIGHTING STYLE is so Slytherin Buck Compton: Yeah, he's a Gryffindor golden boy. However, I see a bit of Slytherin in him with the ambition and goal-focused mindset, but he's pretty Gryffindor. Bill Guarnere: Gryffindor! This isn't too hard to see (especially the "stubborn and loathe to back down..." pretty Bill imo) Don Malarkey: Gryffindor, again. See a pattern? Gryffindors are opportunistic and spontaneous... remember the Luger situation in Day of Days? Very Gryffindor. Malark has a few Hufflepuff characteristics as well, but Don is definitely more Gryffindor. Skip Muck: Also Gryffindor. Skip fits it (on paper) even more than Malark, personally. Alex Penkala: Yeah, we have a Gryffindor golden trio. Don Hoobler: Also Gryffindor. (See a pattern?) He was known as one of the most genuinely kindhearted men of the company, and he was known for never taking himself too seriously, as well as willing to volunteer for anything — patrols, scouting, etc. In my opinion, Hoob's a bit of Hufflepuff and Slytherin too, but his boldness and playfulness put him in Gryffindor for me. Joe Liebgott: He is a classic Slytherin. No question about it. David Webster: Classic Ravenclaw. He even stayed as a Private throughout the war to literally observe everything — a seriously Ravenclaw trait. Among the other more obvious ones. Joe Toye: HUFFLEPUFF. Fight me on this. Fiercely loyal, tenacious, and determined. Some Hufflepuffs are even considered unemotional at times — something Toye can be. Passionate and dependable... very Joe. Remember that some of the best fighters (see Cedric Diggory) are from Hufflepuff. They're very tough people. George Luz: Slytherin, without a doubt. I used to think of him as a Hufflepuff, but he is undeniably Slytherin. Charming, willing to use his intelligence (or anything else, for that matter) to get what he wants (see impressions to trick higher ranking officers, @Sobel). Also, Slytherins LOVE positive attention. Adaptable, yes. Not to say that he isn't a bit Hufflepuff, but he is more Slytherin. Frank Perconte: Slytherin. He stole Winters' rifle from his foxhole in Bastogne (true story). He completely destroyed O'Keefe in Why We Fight. Perco is a Slytherin. Babe Heffron: HE IS SUCH A GRYFFINDOR (he's basically a Weasley). Arguably one of the most obviously Gryffindor in the group. Eugene Roe: Ravenclaw, for sure. Read the traits on the graphic and it's pretty obvious. Albert Blithe: He's such a sweet little Hufflepuff. I see the honesty and fairness shining through the most, for sure. He flat out tells Speirs that he's scared, something that most men would not admit so easily to any man, let alone Speirs. Smokey Gordon: Pretty Slytherin to me. He keeps Doc updated on where everything is and what everyone needs — he knows that Perco has scissors and that Toye needs boots. He's very goal-oriented in that mindset, and he's pretty damn ruthless when it comes to machine-gunning. Shifty Powers: THE SWEET SUNSHINE CHILD IS HUFFLEPUFF OKAY no one would say otherwise anyway Roy Cobb: *sings* he's the mean Slytherin we all love to hate Bull Randleman: the man is Gryffindor, okay? He's got some Hufflepuff in him too, but he's honest, blunt, and very experience-oriented. Totally Gryffindor. Johnny Martin: Slytherin, obviously *gives the classic Johnny-to-Webster glare* Alton More: no doubt about him being Slytherin. Did you not see him blatantly lying to Speirs about Hitler's photo album? And the cheeky little smirk afterwards? He's a legend. Floyd Talbert: Another sweetheart of a Slytherin. He's totally charming and very very driven; totally self-reliant. Chuck Grant: Almost a 50-50 between Slytherin and Gryffindor for me, but Slytherin wins out simply because he's subtly charming. He's also very bold; he has to be in his position. Skinny Sisk: He's pretty Gryffindor. Nearly spot-on. Pat Christenson: I honestly think he's very Ravenclaw. He's an artist, which means he's super creative, but he also teased replacement Webb about Speirs. He seemed very witty and it was nearly self-entertaining, two very common Ravenclaw characteristics. Earl McClung: Yeah, he's Slytherin. Was said to be able to "sniff out Germans" and was thought to have killed the most. Very ruthless. ***BONUS: Renée Lemaire: She's also Ravenclaw! She wants to be an observer rather than a participant (but steps up when she's needed). She's introspective and independent, which makes her a Ravenclaw through and through.

#bob #hogwarts houses #I think we see a pattern here

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