#but more seriously this parallels

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Sublime Equine.

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[egophiliac]

still absolutely losing my mind over Lilia

[autisticandroids]

FAMINE: That's one deep, dark nothing you've got there, Dean.

[youtube with closed captions]

dean and his father. dean and his family. dean and how bad it is.

(via @closetoyou1970)

[eddiezpaghetti]

Okay, Part 2! Time to get into that tasty, tasty Steve/Nancy comparison. For that, I don't think I'm really getting into any new ground, I feel like people have said this before, but it's worth stating again.

Steve having unrequited feelings for Nancy is a bad choice to compare to Will having unrequited feelings for Mike because he's a little busy basically being a perfect El parallel.

Look, okay, Nancy and Mike were automatically attracted (whether you think it was real romantic attraction or just attraction to the idea of being with them) to Steve and El respectively because they were impressive. El, of course, was "Superman landing on Mike's doorstep" and Steve had all the "King Steve" shit going on.

But Nancy and Mike both had preexisting history with a Byers boy. Mike and Will have been best friends since kindergarten, and Nancy knew Jonathan through them.

Shit happens, Nancy and Mike both lose their best friend, a lot of drama happens that basically leads to a rift between our respective pairs, but Steve and El both face down a Demogorgon to save a Wheeler (and some other people) aaaand a relationship still manages to happen despite all the shit going down. Kind of hard to ignore getting saved from a monster by a pretty person, right?

But there's still something...unspoken, between the Wheelers and the Byerses, even when the Wheelers are dating their superheroes. And when push comes to shove, when it really comes down to it...Mike and Nancy can't even honestly say "I love you", and this causes the two pairs to split up.

And...while they're split up...Steve and El both sort of...rise from the ashes of their former selves. Form new identities. But also...sort of their old ones.

Steve had lost his superpower, the thing that attracted Nancy to him in the first place. He was no longer King Steve.

For fuck's sake, he was being bullied. By some loser with blond hair. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

And on top of all that, the girl he loved most couldn't even love him back.

They parted, on terrible terms, and while they were apart, Nancy found her comfort, comfort Steve could never provide, in Jonathan.

But, while he was alone, he reclaimed his old superpower. He was king again, and he'd found something new to fight for.

He didn't ever really need Nancy to fulfill him. He just needed to be his own hero.

And El?

El had lost her superpower, the thing that attracted Mike to her in the first place. She was no longer Superman.

And for fuck's sake, she was being bullied. By some loser with blond hair. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

On top of all that, the boy she loved most couldn't even love her back.

They parted, on terrible terms, and while they were apart, Mike found his comfort, comfort El could never provide, in Will.

But, while she was alone, she reclaimed her old superpower. She was Superman again, and she'd found something new to fight for.

She didn't ever really need Mike to fulfill her. She just needed to be her own hero.

Steve and El both ended Season 4 with their relationships with Wheelers still sort of up in the air, but Nancy still ran to Jonathan while Robin comforted Steve, and El and Mike weren't talking while Mike and Will are.

And both Steve and El--in very different contexts--end the season mostly focused on, not their romantic prospects, but their best friends.

And I really think that's where their focus is going to stay.

Oh, and one last assurance--something that's been said SO many times before but bears repeating again--is this:

It's kind of hard to miss what' the story is saying's going on when the writers are saying "This is what constitutes romance," and then having Will and Mike follow the exact trail they set out, step by step by step. Not just Will, Will and Mike. It's not one-sided.

[spaceyqueer]

Mizora sucks ass and she should be treated with the same contempt that Cazador is by both canon and the fandom, but her abuse is minimised because she's a hot gaslight girlboss, not a racist Asian stereotype (remember when Cazador had a moustache?), and her victim is a black man and people's sympathy evaporates when they have to apply it to a black character.

[charlie-artlie]

the full animatronic alchemist and his little brother….. and some very familiar looking homunculus …. (ok ok im done im done)

[sage-nebula]

You know, it's never talked about, but Mabel is demonstrably an artistic prodigy.

I think it's a bit of truth in television that her artistic prowess is completely dismissed / undervalued in comparison to the logical intelligence that Dipper presents, but nonetheless, the artistic and crafting feats that Mabel pulls off in the show are nothing short of amazing. Of course, she's not gifted in all areas (her drawings are just okay), but in others?

Mabel hand knits all of her own sweaters, as well as sweaters for other people, animals, and magical beings. She can start and finish a sweater in a single day (perhaps even multiple sweaters, as seen in Weirdmageddon 3). Not only that, but while we mostly see her with balls of yarn, we also know that she can knit using a variety of materials; in the end tag for "Headhunters" when Mabel is trying to choose between two sweaters, she says that the llama sweater (yes, the one that is eventually given to Pacifica) is made from llama hair. Mabel is twelve years old, and she can not only knit sweaters from a standard material at a rate comparable with a machine, but she can also knit llama hair sweaters, too. The girl has a gift.

And speaking of "Headhunters"!

In "Headhunters", we learn that Stan once had a wax museum at the Mystery Shack, and also that his wax statue of Abraham Lincoln melted in the sun. Mabel ends up building a wax figure of Stan out of the melted wax. A couple things of note:

It was old wax that had already melted who knows how long ago, possibly cooled, and then melted again . . . to be fair I know fuck all about working with wax, but I can't imagine that wax was in the best shape.

Even assuming that it was in the best shape, on her very first try Mabel created a wax figure of Stan that was so accurate that he screamed, leaped away from it, and formed an attachment to it, possibly because it reminded him of his twin brother. The murderer in the episode also mistook it for the real Stan.

I repeat: this was Mabel's FIRST TRY, and it was THAT PERFECT.

Mabel is TWELVE.

Mabel is often dismissed, both in the show and out of it, because she's silly, has an active imagination, and is girly and likes girly things. But she has a serious artistic gift. The girl is a prodigy! Sure, she's not a scientific genius, but who needs to be when you can outfit an entire town for funsies in a day and make immaculate sculptures like it's nothing?

What I'm saying is: when Mabel graduates high school, she's going to art school on a full ride scholarship, where she'll hone her craft to have art shows and galleries and make art pieces that'll change the world and stand the test of time.

Or at least, that's the dream . . .

[thesmokinpossum]

The Godfather, Mario Puzo | An Hymn to Childhood, Li-Young Lee | Psalm 139: 14 | The Godfather, Mario Puzo | For your own Good, Leah Horlick | Erou, Maya Phillips | The Godfather, Mario Puzo | Ask Polly | The Hours, Michael Cunningham | FROM THE MAKERS OF "TWO-MOM ENERGY DRINK", IT'S "LET YOUR FATHER DIE" ENERGY DRINK

[phoenixtakaramono]

There are only two episodes left in The Boys S4, but having seen the leaks and with what we got, I have some opinions.

My conspiracy theory is that they got too many cooks in the kitchen (writers in the writer’s room)—plus the writer’s strike and pandemic happening during this time—and it’s starting to make sense how they dropped the ball with this season.

[what-do-1000-swords-look-like]

I'm finishing up my rewatch of season 3 of The Boys before I begin my SPN rewatch (got 2 more episodes left) and watching Jensen's performance as Soldier Boy just absolutely floors me.

It floors me because I've seen antis time and time again claim that Soldier Boy/Ben was essentially Dean in a superhero suit, that Jensen has one note acting, that he watered down the character by refusing to do scenes that made him uncomfortable (especially by one anti blog in particular who claims to be an acting expert, you know the one), and that his acting is very bland.

But in studying his performance because I'm studying the character (for writing purposes), these people couldn't be more wrong. I will admit that the only time I got a semi-Dean vibe from him was during the scene where Soldier Boy tells Butcher about his father. Which doesn't surprise me because Jensen himself said he leaned into the Dean/John dynamic for that scene.

But otherwise, I don't see anywhere where their claims hold any water. I mean, have you actually watched his scenes?

This scene is so important. Annie is getting ready to face off with this guy and even though she knows he's dangerous (after seeing he results of one of his explosions up close and personal), but she has no idea how dangerous, not really. This isn't Dean. This isn't Beau. This is the dangerous side of Solider Boy and had Hughie not intervened, there's a good possibility shit would have gone even more sideways. Especially, with Ben coming off of the confrontation with Countess, her hitting him where it hurts the most (meaning she tapped into one of his biggest insecurities. That explosion wasn't an accident (like NYC or even at Herogasm with the Twins). Ben didn't black out here. That's shown to us by there being no Russian trigger, despite him learning that Countess and his team handed him over back in 1984 and didn't even get paid for it.

I mean, look at this expression right here. His body is moving but his eyes don't. He's getting into position, ready to take out the next threat. Only when Hughie steps in and Annie's eyes dim does he step away, assessing her as not a threat. This is the weapon that is deadly enough to take on Homelander and no matter where you stand on Jensen as an actor, he pulls it off here.

The physicality he utilized in this role speaks volumes. And it's not about Soldier Boy being a Supe or being in a suit or having to look pissed off all the time (minus the few times he's amused). It has to do with how he embodies that character, carries him, and if he pulls it off. Spoiler alert: he did.

This scene exemplifies exactly what I'm talking about. I have watched it countless times and this part of it always sticks out to me every single time. Look at that expression, look at the eyes. Ben is not going all out to sell this belief let's call it to Hughie. He's giving him a look that says "this is the truth and you better believe it or else". He's not smiling for news cameras or doing propaganda or greeting fans of his movies decades prior. He's not selling the Soldier Boy is America's Greatest Hero image here. He's subtly threatening Hughie, and this is where he begins to have an issue with him. Because Ben wants to see himself as the good guy, something Kripke, Jensen, and the cast have talked about in promoting the season. In his own mind, he is the good guy; he's a legend in his own mind so to speak. He's bought the hype about himself. And anyone who doesn't see him that way is an enemy aka a threat.

It doesn't mean he doesn't know he's doing things that aren't right (as we saw in those outtakes of the 'Don't-do-drugs' commercial). He's very self-aware but he justifies it to himself because he's Soldier Boy and almost like Homelander always says, he can do what he wants. Not necessarily that he has a god-mentality that rivals Homelander's but everything is justifiable in his mind because he's a Supe, or more precisely the Supe, and he's protecting his country. And it also keeps that insecurity of being a disappointment at bay that he has from his childhood. It's all layered into his make-up so to speak. So not only is Hughie a threat (not physically obviously but to Ben's image of himself) but is also bordering dangerously close to reminding him of the very thing he hates: a mirror that reminds him that maybe his dad was right about him (not saying he was, I'm saying this is potentially what is running through his mind). So not only does it share a brilliant parallel between Hughie and Annie when it comes to Soldier Boy that eventually plays out beautifully in the Tower Scene in the finale, but it also is sewn into the issue between Hughie and Annie this season in their own relationship.

But the way Jensen plays that scene is phenomenal because if you watch it, you realize if Hughie says one wrong thing, he may be in trouble.

Which is then continued in this scene:

In this scene, Hughie is mentioning there's a lot of people inside Herogasm and here we get Ben's reaction to Hughie saying that. Then he tells Hughie as long as the people stay out of his way they should be fine. But again, watch how he says it, his expression, focus on his tone, his body movement. He clearly is not happy that Hughie says this (it literally is a continuation from the hotel room scene) and again has that subtle threat vibe, even with Butcher standing there (because let's face it, to him, even with temp V, Butcher is no threat). And of course, we all know the slap scene and the punch scene that happens later. Not only does Hughie get switched out for Ryan later on who Butcher ends up protecting from Soldier Boy, but it all plays out beautifully as all of the connections, overt and subtle, unfold throughout the season.

But back to Jensen's performance. There is so much to appreciate in how he fully embodied this character. And that's not saying it through an AA haze of "omg he's so hawt!" or "omg did you see his ass?" That's appreciating the amount of work that he put into this role when the cameras started rolling. He literally became Soldier Boy and he embodied him even outside of the suit.

As an actor, Jensen is very nuanced. He consistently adds in these little things that help make the character even more multi-dimensional than what is written on the page or what is called for int he scene and how it's blocked. This is why there is a certain small group of people on here that repeatedly talk about Jacting Joices, it's not just related to Supernatural or Destiel or Dean. It's about Jensen as an actor, as a performer, and how much he actually pours into these characters he plays. Whether it be the way he moves (or walks), or the expressions he uses, his eyes (yep, he does that too, see above), with his hands, even down to the way he delivers a line. All actors do this in their own way obviously, lean into physicality as well as their performance, but he definitely has his own unique style that I just don't see anyone else replicating. I think there's a reason so many people say no one else could have played Dean the way he could have for example. And if you watch his characters, really watch them, you'll see what he does each and every time. Even smaller characters like Jason from Smallville or Tom from My Bloody Valentine or Alec from Dark Angel. It's all right there on the screen.

So I guess my whole long point is I don't get why antis rip him apart when it comes to this role of Soldier Boy (other than being antis I guess) or say he can't act or that has no idea how to properly analyze his character because he actually did put a ton of work into this specific character (as well as all the others he's done) and you can clearly see it as you watch his scenes in the show. While I wish we could have seen Homelander and Soldier Boy go at it a bit more, and see Soldier Boy truly unleash that Alpha-ness of being the original Supe like had been talked about in promotions and interviews, it doesn't diminish that this character was fascinating and he brought it to life from the script in a way that complemented his own unique style as a performer.

tl;dr Jensen crushed Soldier Boy and Ben (yes, two different characters to embody actually) and I cannot wait to see more of him in any future Boys-related visual story telling, on the show or others.

[omaskit]

I CANNOT GET OVER HOW COOL FLESHA'S MOVEMENT IS IN THE FINALIE!!

LIKE THE FIGHT??? THE FUCKING FIGHT??? IT'S SO ELEGENT YET JANKY AND SHE"S SO CHILL AND SMILELY IT"S SOOOO CREEEPPPYY!!!! SHE"S SO SURE SHE"S GONNA WIN I CAN"T!!

AND ITS SO ELEGENT!!!! LIKE SHE"S COMPLETLY HIJACKED THIS FLESH VESSEL AND KNOWS HOW TO USE IT!!! IT"S TOO SMOOTH AND ITS SUCH A GOOD CONTRAST TO UZI"S STRONG AND HARD HITTING MOVEMENTS!!!

LIKE UZI HAS NATRUAL JERK AND EVERYTHING SHE DOES IS EITHER A HIT OR RESTABLIZING HERSELF AFTER SHE HitS LIKE I CANT ARTICULATE IT BUT IT"S COOL AS FUCK!!!

WATCH THE FINALIE!! ITS SO MUCH BETTER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE

[gingermintpepper]

hi I love your tags so so much! they were so sweet and so interesting and creative and the whole Aphrodite type of beauty thing sounds really interesting do you have any articles and recommendations to read further into it??

-hogoflight

Hello my fine feathered (I am assuming possession of feathers if you are, indeed, capable of flight) @hogoflight! I'm always always happy to hear that people appreciate my frenzied rambling in the tags :D! I have a lot of articles and recommendations :D!! Ancient Greek notions of beauty and representations of it in their art and sculptures is a pretty well studied topic! There isn't any way for us now to know definitively what the beauty standard was (it varied widely from region to region and culture to culture after all) but here are a couple of my favourite reads about Aphrodite and what her representations tell us about idealised beauty!

Probably the most empirically extensive one I can list is Krönström's thesis which compares statues of Aphrodite and literary text referring to both the goddess and mortal women to determine physical ideals for women in five specific eras of Grecian antiquity. Including measurements of the statues there are many descriptions of Aphrodite as 'curvy' with a 'voluptuous figure' and with 'ample buttocks and bosom'.

"When the beauty traits are described in the texts, they are never extreme or anything that could not be found in normal people just that they are more beautiful in every aspect. Furthermore, the sculptures’ physical forms look healthy, they are tall and have distinct curves. Great examples of this are the Knida sculpture and de Milo (the Melian) sculpture."

Of course, these images are still idealised, and there was still a concept such as 'too fat' or 'too skinny' found in written records (and this thesis even includes analysis of pornographic writings and descriptions of the fashion and stylings of pubic hair of women from different regions!!) but from an interpretational standpoint? There is absolutely no reason why these can't refer to a fuller figure. Height was also a very important factor after all and over the course of many eras, it seems like being well proportioned in addition to the length and appearance of one's hair were the most important factors (and, like Apollo, greater beauty was given to those with curlier hair)

Mireille M. Lee's 'Other Ways of Seeing' essay which talks about the forgotten female viewers of Knidian Aphrodite which is also extremely illuminating on how Aphroditic sexuality and sensuality was perceived totally differently from the well documented male voyeuristic gaze (which was overly preoccupied with the statue's nakedness and therefore over-sensationalised the statue's physical appearance) vs women's perspective on the statue which is more centered on the beauty of simplicity in Aphrodite's garment and decoration and in her power and ability to captivate both in her finery and without it. I think it's especially useful in exploring the importance of finery, jewellry and adornment in representations of Aphroditic beauty.

"Some of the small-scale copies are heavily jeweled, especially those from the eastern Mediterranean, for example the Hellenistic gilded terracotta statuette in the Çanakkale Museum (Fig. 5) in which the goddess wears, in addition to the armband on her (right) arm, the following: a necklace with multiple pendants; cross-bands extending over both shoulders and hips, with a cascading pendant in the center; a coiled snake armband on the left arm and another snake on her left thigh, and a twisted anklet on her right leg. (The left leg has been restored, and might also have featured an anklet.)"

"Jewelry is especially associated with Aphrodite in Greek literature. As seen above, in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, the goddess adorns herself with gold jewelry, dress-pins, and earrings in the shape of flowers (162–3)..."

Finally, and to me, the most important one in the argument for an interpretation of Hyacinthus as fat, beautiful and fundamentally Aphroditic comes from Brilmayer's brilliant brilliant thesis done on Aphrodite's work and influence in Archaic Greek Poetry which does away with all of that masculine preoccupation with physical proportion, measurement and bodily ideals for a focus on a Sapphic Aphroditic ideal centered in clothing, ornamentation and, most importantly cunning as symbols of Aphrodite and ultimately a feminine idealised form of beauty. This paper also discusses Pandora and Helen in these terms and it is just kind of a wonderful read tbh.

"Combining Homeric and Hesiodic elements with her own ideas, she [Sappho] alters the way female beauty is viewed. For example, the Homeric war chariot – a symbol of male, military prowess - comes to symbolise the totality of Aphrodite’s power uniting in itself male and female qualities. Having addressed the concept of beauty directly, Sappho then concludes that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. With the help of Helen of Troy and her beloved Anaktoria, Sappho sets out to reinvent the concept of female beauty as a godlike, subjective quality that may be expressed in many ways, yet remains inspired by Aphrodite."

The conclusion to all of this of course is that Aphroditic ideal beauty is much more fluid compared to its stricter Apolline masculine standard. The nuances and understandings of both are of course, constantly being studied, analysed and scrutinised but really, if Dionysus who was both bearded and clean shorn, effeminate, birthed and rebirthed (and twice gestated!) and strongly associated with vegetation can be popularly portrayed as fat and handsome, why can't Hyacinthus?!

[becauseplot]

i feel i should preface this with saying that this relationship analysis "takes place" before qcellbit's emotional exhaustion and motivation crash---

---but i have been having SUCH crazy thoughts abt the archivists (qcellbit n qphilza). guy who needs evidence of Everything 🤝 guy who takes pictures of and hoards Everything. two-cars-passing-each-other meme whenever cellbit (practically nocturnal at this point) makes a late-night run to the Ordo to grab some notes he left there and bumps into phil (trouble sleeping ever since the birdhouse incident) who's sitting in one of the evidence rooms organizing a new backpack of photos to hand over to cellbit.

"oh. hey phil." "hi mate."

their conversations and interactions center mostly around cellbit's investigations---the ones cellbit lets the public know about, anyway---and whatever new info phil managed to scoop up since the last time they saw each other. theories are exchanged, and photos are passed between them as easily as pleasantries. "how're you doing?" "oh, doin' alright, doin' alright. you?" "eh. busy, you know?"

they don't talk about much else.

see, they both understand secrets. intimately. things you did you would much rather leave behind you, if you can, or thoughts, worries, doubts you would much rather keep to yourself for fear of speaking them into existence. sealed lips; a tight lid. they look at each other and know they're only seeing what the other wants them to see, but that's okay. they get it. sometimes, it's just easier to focus on what is directly in front of you. what you can see, what you can touch; what you know is true, what you know is real.

what you can do.

so cellbit generates and bounces his theories off of phil, and phil is more than happy to be a sounding board. phil fills up a backpack with photographs, and cellbit is more than happy to take it off his hands. they focus on The Work, on the spiderweb of red string and loose ends and grainy pictures and scrawled notes pinned to the wall, madness-incarnate sprawled out before them. they trust each other's judgement, and they trust each other's skills, and they trust each other, and neither asks too many questions. they both appreciate it.

[passports-pls]

I just finished Ishin and I have like, a million and one thoughts on Hijikata and how dirty they did him

[fairyroses]

— SMALLVILLE, “Reaper” (1.17) & “Tempest” (2.01) 

[winters-rose-daughterofcain]

Something something Natalie's death being ruled an overdose and how even in death she cannot find peace or escape from the judgments or assumptions made about her due to a coping mechanism, however unhealthy, she developed only after society failed her as nothing but a child, something something death being labeled the great equaliser yet proving time and time again not to be, proving that the memory is far to great an stain on it's supposed equality to ever truly balance anything, something something Jackie and Nat parallels and Jackie being remembered as the image she projected of herself that fell apart outside organised society and Nat being reduced to the image others projected onto her that she was only ever given the chance to break free of after the established rules of organised society fall apart, something something how no matter who they are at their core they will forever be reduced to what they were perceived, forever assumed and never understood, something something the reduction of them both to predetermined roles for the dead and the stripping of both their individual personhood being not at all surprising on reflection, just a microcosm of girlhood and womanhood itself, something about how in that way, perhaps death dose equalise after all, if only in the manner in which societies reflection after robs these girls of their human complexity.