#i STILL deal with the complex of catholic guilt. its a very real thing. its hard to shake

[handsomegentlebutch]

My 3 little cousins were baptized today. "Triggered" is kind of a strong word but being in a catholic church again... I'm a little fragile rn ngl.

[happyreid187]

Privilege - Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

WC: 2.1 K

A/N: Sad Spencer post nightmare comfort. Discovering and sharing feelings about each other. Mild angst then fluff. I wrote this after my season 8 rewatch but it’s not explicitly situated in any particular season. 

Warnings: Brief mentions of Spence’s various trauma; case issues, mom issues, drug use, generalized dark and twistiness. Insecurity. Swearing. Single sentence implying reader grew up religious. References to sex but not actual smut. 

____

With both of us working insane hours, we agreed early on to be casual, and then completely and entirely ignored that agreement in every way except verbiage. Avoiding labels and verbal expressions of affection, I pretended that it wasn’t emotional self destruction to spend every waking hour with this man who was notably not my boyfriend. With the amount of affection between us, it was easy to pretend it was something more. When we weren’t working, I essentially lived in his bed.

____

I was deep asleep when I heard him whimpering, waking to find him tossing and turning, breathing quickly. It took me a second to get my bearings, but when I did, I woke him as gently as I could

“Spencer! Spence.” His eyes shot open, and he immediately jumped, looked to me with his eyes welling up, and started shaking.

“Hey,” my voice was desperate as I wrapped my arms around him, “Baby, what’s the matter?” The pet name was generally reserved for other activities in this bed, but it felt appropriate now. I ran my fingers through his hair, trying to calm him. “Was it about a case?”

“It was about...” he started. “No, I don’t want to freak you out!” He sort of tossed and turned again, now in my lap. “This isn’t your job, you shouldn’t have to deal with this.” He sounded angry; with himself, and the situation. I tried to ignore the feeling that’s he might be angry with me.

“Why would it freak me out? Your job is depressing as shit, Spence. This is kind of predictable. Talking through it with you? None of this is work for me. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but you can.” I said, waiting for him to decide how to proceed.

He fiddled with his hands in that nervous way of his. “It was about you. First, you were breaking? Like glass on a windshield? Cracking but not falling apart. And everything around us was breaking; the phones and then the walls and then your face,” his voice broke then, “and then my own chest.”

Where the tears were only threatening to overflow before, he was really crying now, in a way I’d never seen him do before. In a way grown men rarely do in our terrible society if they can avoid it. In a way that made it hard for either of us to breathe. “But then it sort of mixed with work, and there was an unsub and he had you, and I couldn’t get to you. I tried, but I couldn’t get to you, and then...” he paused there, and I inferred the rest by his pained silence.

“You don’t have to keep going, I get it. And I’m not freaked out. I’m right here, Spencer. You’ve got me, and I’ve got you too. You are okay. You’re okay.” he didn’t say anything for a minute, and I rethought my words. “I’m not trying to belittle or silence you. I know you don’t feel okay. But you’re here with me, and no one’s broken, and you’re breathing, and I’m breathing, and you’re okay.”

“I’m not worried about me...” he grumbled, like it was obvious. Like I was wasting our time, worrying about him.

“Well I’m fine. I’m good. I’m happy to be here for you.”

He looked up at me doubtfully. “How can you be happy to be woken up at 4:02 am?”

Too sleepy to veil my feelings entirely, with words like adoration and devotion drifting through my head, I settled on saying, “It’s a privilege to have the chance to be here for you, and support you, and help you feel better. I have you, and you have me; okay? I’m here.”

“I’ve got you...” he softly echoed my words from earlier.

“You’ve got me.” I answered easily. It was a simple, honest fact to share.

There was a shift in him then. He pushed himself up with one arm, leaning back and staring at me, looking exasperated and vaguely frantic, like he just realized something was wrong. He looked almost angry as he asked “What the fuck are we doing?

I didn’t even know how to begin to answer that question. “I’m sorry?”

“I’m having nightmares about losing you, you’re like, taking over my subconscious, and renting all this space in my head, and then I wake up to find you here, in my bed, drying my tears and calling it a privilege! Like do you have to be so... I don’t know. Warm?” Well, that was a new one. I had never known that to be a bad thing, particularly with him. He flocked to my sentimentality like a moth to a flame.

He wasn’t done though. “I never intended to care about someone this much. It’s confusing for me. I know you have your catholic guilt, but you don’t have to martyr yourself for me. Dealing with my shit is emphatically not a blessing.” He took a deep breath and braced himself. He half smiled, half sobbed, and to be frank, he was freaking me the fuck out. “Unless you..” he trailed off. IQ of 187; an epic communicator, this one. I gave him a look that begged him to continue, holding my tongue as if he would break, like the dream, if I spoke. He sighed heavily, trying to catch his breath. I reached over hesitantly, unsure if he wanted to be touched, terrified of making it worse. Slowly, I wiped away the tears on both cheeks, willing him to look at me. He didn’t, choosing his lap instead.

I waited for him to continue. “I don’t have a lot of experience with fuck buddies,” he spit the last two words like they repulsed him, like they didn’t fit right on his tongue. Foreign words with uncertain and unsettling definitions. “...but I don’t think it’s supposed to feel like this.”

“Feel like what?” Despite the tears and the heavy air that threatened to suffocate me, I felt a new feeling. Like I would maybe feel better soon. I silently begged him to speak faster, hoping he could somehow telepathically pick up on my anxiety as I hung on every word.

“A privilege. That’s just...” he paused again, shaking his head. I could feel my anxiety coursing through my veins in a bizarrely literal sense. I wasn’t entirely sure where he was going with this, and I waited in suspense as he chose every word carefully. He then looked with me with the warmth I’d come to know, to expect, and to crave. “I know you’re a really tender person but why would you do this if we're just sleeping together?”

IQ of 187, this one.

After his lengthy monologue with its intensely painful pauses I cut straight to the point. “Are we?”

The sadness vanished from his face, leaving nothing in its place but wheels turning. No more damned pauses; I have to be brave now. “I’m not.”

“What?” I couldn’t figure out what to make of his expression. It wasn’t relief. Concern, maybe? Or disbelief? “Just sleeping with you that is. Does that make you upset?”

“No, no, y/n/n, it doesn’t make me upset.” his eyes meeting my face. I could feel that he was about to ramble, finally, and I was intensely grateful. “It depends on what you really want. It’s hard for me to believe that you actually want this.” he points at himself, like that explained his insecure thinking. Honestly, how dare he speak about my person in such a way, but now wasn’t the time to critique his criticism.

“You want to be woken up by nightmares after cases? To sleep alone while I’m gone? and when I’m around deal with my neurosis and awkwardness and rambling? and family drama? and drug cravings?” He dropped his eyes and his voice, “You could do so much better.”

We didn’t have time to even begin to unpack all of that. Not in the middle of the night, on the edge of everything we both want. I could write a novel explaining how he is in fact the very best I can imagine, but that would take time to convince him of. Time like years. Time like marriage.

Again trying to move this conversation to the conclusion I ached for just a bit faster, I answered directly, “Yes. I want that. I want you.” Like it was the simplest thing in the world.

I searched his face for some sort of happiness or disgust but received a blank stare and a look of bewilderment.

“I just want you. I’ve wanted you this whole time. I thought you would figure it out.” I laughed, and he smiled, a real smile that touched his hazel eyes that somehow sparkled in the dimly lit room, finally. “With fuck buddies, I don’t typically snuggle and go on museum dates or stop seeing other people or stick around for months.”

“You want me?” he smiled, but doubt loomed, and his smile fell as his long fingers traced my jaw.

“You say that now, but I think you’re going to find that I am a difficult person to love.” He said, as if I didn’t already know him. As if I didn’t already see him in all of his brilliance and darkness, all of his complexity and baggage. As if knowing him hadn’t been a precursor to loving him.

“Spencer, everyone thinks that about themselves.” I replied, greeted with still more disbelief. I continued in spite of him. “Besides,” I shrugged with a small smile, like my conclusion was entirely self evident, “It’s too late now.”

“What, you think that about yourself? First of all, you are unbelievably easy to love. The easiest in the whole world, probably. I know that that sounds hyperbolic, but I really mean it - I sincerely think that you are the single most lovable woman on the planet.” he rambled, talking with his hands and earning a tearful chuckle from me. “In my world at least. You are in fact, despite my best efforts, impossible not to...” he paused to physically shove the thought away, moving forward with a grimace.

“Second of all, what do you mean too late? I have a feeling I might know what you’re going to say. Please say it, y/n,” he whispered like that would make it less scary. “Or do you want me to say it? I don’t want to spook you but... it’s too late for what?”

“Too late to stop myself from loving you.”

 Finally, finally a look of understanding graced his face. A look like he believed me. He smiled that stunning, whole face smile of his that was reserved for special occasions.

 “Can you say the whole thing?”

“I love you, Spencer.”

“I love you, too.”

He was only half sitting up anyways, so when I kissed him he fell to the bed, and protested immediately. “No! I’m so gross and snotty, stop.” I settled on peppering kisses on his neck and damp cheeks instead.

I laid my head on his chest, murmuring, “You can go back to sleep, and when you wake up, I’ll still be loving you, and I won’t be broken because of it, and I certainly won’t be gone.”

“Okay,” he responded, voice still broken, but no matter. He’ll heal. He’ll believe me more with time. Eyes heavy and stinging, my adrenaline eventually waned, and I was about to fall back asleep, when his voice pulled me back.

“Just to be completely clear, this is no longer a fuck buddy situation. Like, I'm your boyfriend. Right?”

“Was it ever really a fuck buddy situation?” I laughed “But if it was, it’s over. You are mine, Spencer Reid. If that wasn’t obvious.”

I could hear his smile in his voice “Sorry, it’s so late, and my brain isn’t really working and I just wanted to make absolutely sure.”

He paused for a few minutes.

“I’ll check back again in the morning.”

“I’ll still be here.”

~~~

In my half asleep state, his soft words barely registered. “Good morning, sweet girl. I’m so lucky to get to love you.”

“I love you too.” I mumbled, smiling without opening my eyes. There’s his confirmation. He’s always been one for collecting good data, I suppose.

“Please keep doing that.”

[popsiclemania]

My 2020 in K dramas (+1 J drama)

I began watching k-dramas in 2018 but I’ve never watched as many shows, Korean or otherwise, as I have in this one. 2020 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I think what helps me really enjoy this over Bollywood+Malayalam+ American pop culture I grew up with is that a smirk on the wrong character’s face doesn’t make me seethe with rage and want to burn everything down. It’s not like growing up with SRK on screen and then having SRK wannabes leave you with lifelong trauma in reality. I can just move on. It’s removed enough from my everyday life but still familiar in a generic Asian family way. Does that make sense? It’s not perfect and it’s not free of its own harmful stereotypes and narratives, but there’s enough of the good stuff to make you stick around. This year I fell in love with Nana, Kim Hye Soo, Han Yeri, Park Eun bin, Ahn Eun jin, Kim Bum, Kim Yong ji, Flower Boy’s Go Dok Mi and Search:WWW’s Bae Tami. Cancelled Ji Chang wook (bye). Desperately missed Kim Jae Wook. Had thoughts on Hwang In Yeop, which were mostly heart eyes. Discovered J dramas and fell in love with Cherry Magic’s Adachi.

My year-in-review below:

LOVED

Into The Ring - I am so glad I saved this for a rainy day because it’s exactly the kind of upright citizen shenanigans my unemployed ass needed at the end of the year.

Goo Se Ra thinks the govt should work for the people but that doesn’t mean her own moral compass always points north. Her purpose is to make steady money, and I love seeing her go hard to survive and cobble together what she needs. The thing that really works for me is that she wants to be good, but she isn’t always. And you get to see her be disappointed, upset, embarrassed and hurt from being publicly kicked in the gut as she navigates a job where she appears, on the surface, to be a supremely confident, self-serving, accidental politician. What you see as her naiveté is mostly just her being a regular person in an environment dictated by backhand deals and rich people politics. She gets hit again and again, and you see what it does to her sense of worth to get back up again, how she grapples with her self. And through all this the show is funny?! Se Ra is what writers of manic pixie characters think they are doing and not doing at all. Love her friends, and Jang Hye-jin is *chef’s kiss*!

Hyena - Kim Hye Soo’s Jung Geum Ja is perhaps Se Ra’s older and darker contemporary.  Geum Ja is a survivor and will get what she wants and where she wants to, however many hells she has to cross. She’s single-minded about her success, ruthless and has no qualms about bending morals to get the outcome she needs. She’ll never compromise on who she is or justify how she lives, can build people up and also tear them down, but she also knows care and kindness.

I turned to Signal for more Kim Hye Soo but was disappointed in how the first few episodes seemed to shortchange her. May try again in 2021.

(Highly recommend @saltr0se​’s  fic series which just GETS Geum Ja so well. Fic writers are the best)

Search: WWW (Finished in 2020) - It took me half a year to finish this. I started watching Search in Oct 2019 and raced through the first 6 episodes because I couldn’t take my eyes off the rollercoaster of Bae Tami’s life. And then I had to take a break because it was a little too close to the frenetic pace of my own industry. As @drivingsideways wrote, a lot of Search is premised around ‘patriarchy? who dat?’, which is why watching its politics play out is so fascinating.  It’s also deliciously turmoil-y to watch a very clear-sighted, weathered Tami put on rose-tinted glasses for her romance and then frequently peer over them to evaluate whether it could actually meld into her life.

Catch The Ghost - Kim Seonho oozes charm and perhaps Startup was a showcase of how effectively he can be a typical male lead. But Catch is exactly not that. Go Jiseok and Yoo Ryeong have moulded their lives around to meet their most desperate wishes in life and in the process also left parts of themselves untended. There is guilt, pain and need. Now guess who will tend to whose wounds? Their dynamic is electric even when the central mystery flags towards the last few episodes of the show. I really hope Moon Geun Young is doing well and gets more amazing roles soon. She is so good here.

(Highly recommend @melonatures​‘s fic for putting that sizzling on-screen chemistry into words. HOW?!) Cherry Magic - Stories about painfully awkward people are my jam and Eiji Akaso gets Adachi’s shy, nervy energy so right. Cherry Magic is straight up just 12 hours of 🥺🥺🥺. 

Stranger/Secret Forest - I’ve been devouring the entirety of Agatha Christie’s work this year after Stranger reminded me how comforting murder mysteries can be. I love Bae Doona. I also love characters who don’t get social norms, not always because they are out to flout them but because that’s just not how their mind/brain works. (have to watch S2)

Flower Boy Next Door -  Honestly, the opening scene introducing Park Shin Hye’s character Go Deok Mi sold me on this immediately. An introverted, penny pinching copy editor living alone and working from home thanks to extreme social anxiety? Love. All the side characters are a lot of fun and I’ve never loved Kim Seulgi and Go Kyung Pyo more. It’s a warm show, slowly rounding off the sharp edges of every character.

JUST FUN

The Spies Who Loved Me -  It’s been a year of disappointing rom-coms and Spies kind of quietly turned it around for me. I want to be the fly on Yoo In Na’s wall as she figures how to play her characters. I’ve only seen her in 3 roles but somehow she always manages to be in character arcs that don’t short change her. Spies could’ve been and sometimes is the regular heterosexual fare, but In Na ups the ante over and over again, coming out on top as the smartest person in the room.

ENJOYED WITH *RESERVATIONS*

I have to watch A Piece Of Your Mind again because I don’t understand how Jung Hae In and Chae Soo bin built SO MUCH warmth and crackling chemistry with barely a kiss. I was iffy about how the whole AI thing started off and the tortured musician plotline (angsty male artists will forever be an eyeroll for me).

Park Min Young is a queen who never disappoints and When The Weather Is Nice is everything you want in a winter romance. My reservation was in how they explore so much of domestic abuse and the complex ways its traumatised the women in this family. I’m ok with the characters having imperfect ways of processing and understanding the violence, I welcome it. I’m not ok with the show dancing around whether the pivotal crime was justified/ self defence (it was).

A lot of dramas did this. I loved Han Yeri and Choo Ja Hyun in My Unfamiliar Family, I didn’t like the free pass the show gave their dad’s abusive character. 

Hwang Jung Eum’s comedy style is generally not my thing but she was pretty great in Mystic Pop-UP Bar. But I’m side-eyeing the sanctity surrounding motherhood. Maybe I should read more about babies and Korean folklore.

Hospital Playlist was my comfort watch through June and July. I think its wholesomeness and non-plot writing came at a good time for me. But I noticed then that the throughline for all main characters was moral superiority and hence what I then saw as *wholesomeness*. It’s kind of what makes it a grating rewatch in parts. Plus the real life of misogyny of Yoo Yeon Seok makes me want to push his angelic catholic character off a cliff. (For context, i was raised catholic). I want to continue loving Chae Song Hwa, and for that the showrunners need to stop cornering her with overbearing romantic interests (let that woman breathe! she literally ran away to another city!) 

Hospital is good at creating moments of comfort, so much so that I went to watch Reply 1988 after it, but had to drop it coz I couldn’t get into it. Maybe I’ll come back to it next year.

Once Again is what I call joint family propaganda. What it does well is lay bare the mechanics of living in a society that prizes the heterosexual family structure, the loops you have to jump through to hide when you break its rules and what happens when you are found out. I love the characters, their fights, their frustrations. I just don’t love the validation of joint families. (context: i grew up in an oppressive joint family lol). In my au, Nahee and Gyujin don’t get married again or immediately have children, but take the long route to figuring out how to love the person the other is. Gahee is openly dating Hyo shin and her parents have to figure out how to process her success and her romance. Young dal and Ok boon have to learn to stop dictating their children’s lives.  Joon sun runs his company from home, so his wife Hyun kyung can work on what she wants. Choyeon, Joori and Ga-yeon go back to being flamboyant AF and the market learns to not judge. Gyujin and Jaesok have to actually work on the relationship with their mother and what sent her into depression. Just a lot of learning involved.

Just Between Lovers was a nice watch, i just don’t get how Kang doo and Ha Moon So’s relationship will survive his constantly simmering anger. 

Crash Landing on You was so much fun until the main romance turned angsty, but it gave us North Korean soldier shenanigans and the epic romance of Seo Dan and Alberto Gu that we needed more of.

Tale of The Nine Tailed is probably what Goblin wished it was. I, however, will never be over Lee Rang. (Also, when can gods stop meeting their love interests as babies? Asking for my sanity)

I literally ignored everything in Oh My Ghost except Park Bo Young and Kim Seulgi and it was amazing. 

NOPE

Goblin, Dinner Mate, Oh My Baby and My Secret Romance were a whole lot of NO, NAHI, ILLAAA. 

I loved hate-watching The King:Eternal Monarch with the rest of k drama tumblr but someone please take away Kim Eun-sook’s access to gigantic budgets and all-star casts.

It was painful to watch Do You Like Brahms squander away its potential but I’m glad to be introduced to Park Eun bin. Age of Youth is next on watchlist.

More than Friends to me is only Ahn Eun jin. Someone give her amazing lead roles asap.

Why did Record of Youth do that to Park So Dam and her clothes? Just why

WANTED TO WATCH, BUT COULDN’T BECAUSE *INTENSE* 

World Of The Married, It’s Okay Not To Be Okay, Sweet Home, Extracurricular, Penthouse, Flower of Evil, Lie After Lie

WILL WATCH NEXT YEAR

SF8, Stove League, Birth Care Centre but I’ll start the new year with School Nurse Files coz it looks very good.

[hihoneyimdead]

a dissection of anime nathaniel hawthorne in relation to the scarlet letter

In Which I’m Bored and Want to Talk About Anime Nathaniel Hawthorne and Why He’s More Interesting Than the Fandom Wants to Admit, and Also About Arthur Dimmesdale And Shit

This is going to be long. Fuck. 

(spoilers through the manga, which i have not read all the way through, so take everything i say with a grain of salt. same goes for the scarlet letter, which i haven’t read in nearly four years. ripperoni bro)

Above is the topic of today’s procrastination, Anime Nathaniel Hawthorne from Bungo Stray Dogs. He is a member of an American organization called the Guild, he’s a preacher, and he has a superpower/ability called The Scarlet Letter that allows him to manipulate his own blood into scripture that can either harm or defend via spears and shit and then shields and shit. 

He’s also a simp for Anime Margaret Mitchell, but I’ll be getting into that in a moment. 

Anyway, here’s a better picture of our lovely reverend, this time with his ability:

Funny, right? But that’s what I’m gonna talk about today simply because I’m bored and I should be writing but I’m currently not and I really have a soft spot for this bitch of a preacher. Hawthorne here has a lot more to his character than a lot of people give him credit for, which makes sense because he is a relatively-minor character and all he’s been doing recently is getting cucked by Anime Fyodor Dostoevsky, and while he may currently be Comrade Assassin, he’s still a complex character if you look past what our favorite Russian pimp has been up to. 

So a bit more about Hawthorne before I crack open my copy of his most famous book:

He is a preacher, not a priest, as shown by his choice in clothing. Priests don’t wear that, take it from a former Catholic. His clothes resemble the robes worn by classic Puritan preachers (such as the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, but we’ll get to him in a minute.) Whether that was on purpose or not I don’t know, but I’m aiming for a yes because Margaret Mitchell, his partner, wears a Southern belle-style outfit that Scarlett O’Hara (the main character of Mitchell’s most famous work, Gone With the Wind) wears, and John Steinbeck wears clothes reminiscent of Tom Joad (the main character of Steinbeck’s most famous work, The Grapes of Wrath.) It’s kind of a thing with the Guild. Edgar Allan Poe wears clothes that a goth around the time of Poe’s life would’ve worn. Same goes for Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain, and H. P. Lovecraft. Meanwhile characters such as Lucy Maud Montgomery, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Herman Melville wear clothes that their characters (Anne from Anne of Green Gables, Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby, and whoever the fuck was in Moby Dick, respectively.) Hawthorne fits in with that last set of characters, which is funny considering the real life Hawthorne’s works.

In reality, Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American author in the early-to-mid-1800s who wrote many short stories, novels, and poems and shit, usually Romantic in nature. He started off, though, as a big member of the Transcendentalist movement. Transcendentalism, if you don’t know, is kind of like the 1800s equivalent of hippies. They were pretty anti-government and anti-religion, usually specifically anti-Christianity. These institutions corrupted the basis of mankind. Hawthorne himself helped form a utopian commune up in New England (it didn’t last long, don’t worry.) As he grew older, he grew out of that kind of writing and lifestyle and into the works we know him for today, such as his most famous novel, The Scarlet Letter. It, like many of his other works, contains allusions to religion and exists as a sort of criticism on it. 

The Scarlet Letter is set in the middle of the 1600s in Puritan New England. The Puritans were known for being Super Christian. They did not pass the vibe check. The main character is Hester Prynne, a young woman convicted of adultery with an unknown father. After being “released” from prison after the birth of her daughter, Pearl, Hester is allowed to move around outside of prison. But to signify her “evilness”, she must have a red letter ‘A’ on the front of her dress at all times (the eponymous and extremely metaphoric scarlet letter.) Besides Hester and Peal, main characters include Roger Chillingsworth, a doctor and Hester’s ex-husband from England who has vowed to track down the father and have him punished as well, and the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, who is sick All of the Time For No Apparent reason. By the end of the novel it’s revealed that Dimmesdale’s illness is actually a manifestation of his guilt because he was Pearl’s father despite him being a reverend and all and Hester being an unmarried woman. He ends up dying in the end after professing his guilt and showing the town the red letter ‘A’ that God supposedly engraved upon the skin on his chest. 

So let’s start here with a brief summary of Dimmesdale’s actions in the book as recalled by someone who hasn’t read it in four years but who is looking at the Wikipedia article right now. 

We first meet him when he and another minister, John Wilson, question Hester as to who the father of her child was. She doesn’t answer. The next time we see him in person is when Hester goes to the governor to ask if she can keep Pearl. She pleads with Dimmesdale and Wilson (who is there too for some reason), and he manages to persuade the governor to let her keep her child. At some point soon after, his health really begins to decline, and Chillingsworth moves in as a physician. Chillingsworth discovers a weird symbol of guilt on Dimmesdale’s chest while the poor guy sleeps after suspecting that the preacher’s illness is a manifestation of an unknown guilt. Dimmesdale, filled with guilt, goes to the town square in the middle of the night one day and screams his guilt to the heavens, but he can’t make himself do it during the day. Hester, shocked by the poor guy’s whole deal, decides to break her vow of silence. She calls Dimmesdale outside of town and tells him that they’re going to move to Europe together and start a new life with Pearl. He agrees and seems reinvigorated. They go back to town, and all’s fine until he gives a really good sermon on Election Day. After that, he professes his guilt and dies in Hester’s arms. People there claim to see a “stigma” in the shape of a letter ‘A’ on his chest, though others say there’s nothing there. 

Dimmesdale is a man consumed by his guilt. He physically and mentally declines because of his guilt and his unwillingness to expose himself for the sinner he really is, though, through it all, he supports Hester and Pearl as best he can considering his station as the town minister. He’s supposed to be the beacon of mortality, the person everyone should look up to and respect and learn from. And here he is, an adulterer, and a liar. And when he finally grows past his guilt and decides to let it out in favor of leaving and starting life anew, he dies, consumed, supposedly, by the wrath of God. He “falls” as a sinner, struck down by the very flames of Hell themselves. Or, more likely, a regular heart attack. He died of shock, poor guy. 

Compare that to Anime Nathaniel Hawthorne. He starts out as a member of a secret association who, according to its leader, Fitzgerald, doesn’t do good, but does what needs to be done. That’s probably why Hawthorne joined it in the first place. While his main goal has always been eradicating sinners from the face of the Earth, he probably started out as a regular old minister. Eradicating doesn’t always mean killing, and this is shown as he only attacks those who threaten his work, his partner (wink), and himself. This changes after the woman he loves throws herself in the way of an attack and nearly gets herself killed saving him. In canon, she’s still in a coma. In canon, he gave himself completely into sin because of his guilt and love for her. And that’s where the similarities between Hawthorne and Dimmesdale really start.

Let’s start with the obvious guilt complex. This goes along with what I believe Dostoevsky’s ability, Crime and Punishment, does. I believe it feeds off of an individual’s guilt, manipulating it and their mind in the process. We see this with Karma, a young man Dostoevsky kills. Karma, in his last moments, goes through all he went wrong with in his life (you know, or as much as a manga page or two can have) and dies knowing that he’ll never achieve his dream. That’s a more extreme example, I think, and not one I should really be using as evidence for anything considering it’s the only example of this really happening. Every other person that Dostoevsky kills with his ability just drops dead without the audience seeing into their thoughts. He’s got an insta-kill ability, but my theory builds off the idea that he can control living or dying. Hawthorne came to Dostoevsky to work for Dostoevsky’s organization, the Rats in the House of the Dead, in exchange for Mitchell getting “revived”. He might look cool on the outside, but he left the Guild, his friends, because Mitchell got hurt. He loves her, and he says as much in the manga (the anime didn’t say so, but left it unsaid and obvious to those looking.) The next time we see Hawthorne, he’s a mindless assassin who really only remembers Mitchell from his past, and the assassin who nearly killed her. His guilt twisted him into someone completely different from how he was before, even looking physically leaner and as different a brief appearance in a manga and anime can make someone look. He’s even lost his glasses, and any normal look in his eye. It’s kinda like the main character of Crime and Punishment from what I can tell, but I also haven’t read that book so take what I say on that with a gain of salt.) He’s consumed by his guilt (thanks, Fyodor.) Guilt is a big part of his character (as much of a character as he has currently, anyway.) The same can be said for Dimmesdale, who, as I’ve said before was consumed by his own guilt and sin until his death. 

I hope that Hawthorne doesn’t end up as dead as Dimmesdale did when he reunites with his supposed love interest (love interests aren’t really a thing in this series, which makes Hawthorne and Mitchell even more interesting to me.) I hope he gets a happy ending, but... that probably won’t happen unless Dostoevsky dies, which seems like an end-game thing to me. He’s a bad dude with slight plot armor. 

Anyway, past the guilt, their relationship with the respective women in their lives is another important and interesting parallel. Dimmesdale, even through Hester’s punishment, more or less treats her as he would’ve before Pearl. I believe that he did truly love her in his own pitiful way, though not as much as he loved his relationship with God, as seen by his continued guilt and shit. But it’s important to note that he seemed to admit his own love for Hester by agreeing to run away to Europe with her, and he did so in little ways throughout the story by helping her keep Pearl and by really just giving her a lighter sentence than a lot of women would’ve gotten. Puritan ministers were up there with government officials in the law (look at the witch trials, for example), so he would’ve definitely had input on her punishment. Most women would’ve been stoned or banished from the town or colony. Hester, notably, was let off relatively easy with just the emblem and the vague banishment to living in a house outside of town alone with her daughter. Hawthorne’s partner was Margaret Mitchell, and from the very beginning until the assassin skewered them, the two of them argued. Honestly, they bickered a lot like an old married couple. It was kinda cute in a weird way. Neither of them would obviously admit their feelings for each other. Both are proud people, Mitchell coming from a disgraced rich family and Hawthorne being a man of God. But his concern for her becomes evident the moment she gets stabbed clean through and impaled a dozen feet above the ground. That’s when he really gets on the offensive, and when she’s destroyed (image below), he calls her by her first name for the first, and only, time, looking completely destroyed (image also below.) He nearly manages to kill the assassin. And when he wakes up and sees that she isn’t going to wake up, he leaves those he cares about to fix his mistake of letting her get this hurt.

When we see Hawthorne next, he is willing to do anything to redeem himself for his mistake. When we meet him as an assassin for the first time, in the manga he says something along the lines of “I, for the revival of the one I love, will fulfill the contract of death”. Which is... not normal, I’ll admit. Poor guy. In the anime, he says something different that I don’t remember, but that was similar if not slightly different (again, the anime isn’t as explicit with their relationship as the manga.) Meanwhile she’s in a coma and is likely not to be revived by those Hawthorne pledged his allegiance to, but those he left behind. 

The two ministers here follow generally the same path of sin. They start out as the badass ministers they really are, men of God. Then, one way or another, they fall deeper and deeper into sin as they go. For Dimmesdale, that was boning Hester Prynne and hiding it from the town and corrupting himself with his guilt. For Hawthorne, that was ‘allowing’ his partner to ‘die’ and surrendering himself to a higher power to try and get her back, losing himself in the process. In the end, both men are shells of their former selves. Dimmesdale dies sick. Hawthorne is a brainwashed assassin. Dimmesdale’s higher power, God, is ultimately what killed him, and his devotion is what really did him in. Hawthorne is probably gonna die or get otherwise written out, I have a feeling (several villains in this show have, just look at Pushkin and Mark Twain and even Mitchell herself.) If he is, it’ll be Dostoevsky or one of his weird Russian friends doing him in or taking him out of the picture. He’ll likely never see Mitchell again and he will die due to his newfound devotion to a “god” who is willing to punish him for going to far. 

And guys, Hawthorne’s ability is literally the titular scarlet letter. What else can I say?

Honestly, I’m not sure what this post was, only that I killed a good three hours writing it and that it gave me yet again a newfound appreciation for something I used to hate. It was Anime Hawthorne, but before that it was IRL Hawthorne and The Scarlet Letter. Thank you American public school system. 

[darklygophilia]

Just A Little Comparison...

This gif basically sent me down the rabbit hole of Daredevil & Punisher meta-land...

Here we have Matt pushing Foggy out of the way of the incoming bullets, but Fogy still gets hit regardless. Which, IMO, mirrors their friendship. Despite Matt’s good intentions, Foggy still has to deal with a lot of Daredevil consequences no matter that Matt tries to keep him safe, 1st by keeping that part of himself a secret in S1, & later by trying to avoid talking about Daredevil with Foggy at all in the beginning of S2. But Foggy can’t ignore that Matt’s Daredevil, he can’t just ignore the elephant in the room! So, Foggy faces a lot of fallout b/c of Matt’s inability to balance his duel identities as well as Foggy’s own inability to accept both sides of Matt b/c Matt lied to him for most of their friendship. I do feel that if Foggy had found out much sooner, if Matt had confided in Foggy, than their friendship wouldn’t have suffered so much. But, there’s always gonna be this part of Foggy that likely feels that Matt didn’t trust him b/c he didn’t tell him he was Daredevil. And that has to hurt. Foggy had to find out on his own, by accident! Which leads to the question: Would Matt have told him himself if Foggy hadn’t accidentally found out?

With Karen it’s a little different. The Matt she’s known was a lie, in a way she fell in-love with her own fantasy of Matt. The Matt that he projects onto the world by day. And while, unlike with Foggy, Matt does decide to confide in Karen himself that he’s Daredevil (probably cause he was trying to learn from his mistake with keeping things from Foggy, & hoping to avoid loosing another one of his only two friends), Matt still essentially lied to Karen. He showed her a false image of himself. And she’s done the same thing, she has her own secrets. The fact that their brief romance was essentially built on lies/secrets from both of them needing to hide their true selves from each other (both out of fear of rejection) provides a very week foundation for their so-called love story. Not to mention their differences of moral ideology (Karen’s moral ideals are more on par with Frank’s than Matt’s). Which is why I’m CONVINCED that Karen/Matt are NOT endgame. B/c the foundation of a good, healthy relationship full of trust, & love, & knowing each other just is NOT there at all. Another thing, they’re both wearing masks. Karen projects an image of herself to Matt as well. Basically, neither Matt nor Karen really know who the other is, even after Matt tells her he’s Daredevil. They simply don’t know each other! And its strongly hinted that they have a very different belief system.

What is ironic is that, the answers were all there! We as viewers can clearly see they’re both holding back something. But the fact that neither Karen nor Matt strive to really delve deeper with each other, not only shows they don’t know each other - it shows that they don’t want to know each other! B/c they refuse to see the truth of one another even when all the hints are there staring them in the face. Seriously, Matt can hear a person’s heartbeat & tell when they’re lying, so you know he’s gotta know that Karen is lying, too. She’s holding back her real self. Karen is also very observant; she knows when someone’s bullshitting her. Just look at her relationship with Frank. She’s not at all afraid to call him out on anything & get to the truth of him. The fact that she doesn’t do this with Matt is very telling.

Then of course there’s the differences in behavior in interaction between Matt/Elektra & Frank/Karen.

Just look at them! They’re brutal with each other. Passionate. Driven.

They both know each other’s secrets & dark side. And what they don’t know, they strive to know & understand. They have chemistry. And, of course, they argue/bicker like a freaking old married couple!

And the thought of loosing each other is unthinkable...

Now back to the gif that spurred this meta into action...

Matt isn’t just protecting Foggy, he’s also protecting Karen. Or, IMO, he’s protecting his fantasy of having something normal. In a way, the Matt/Karen relationship is driven on expectations. The people they project to each other are the very people that others expect them to fall in love with. There’s also the expectation of the audience & comics. They’re canon (though in canon they didn’t actually have a happy ending, either) so, their inevitable love is expected, & almost tired by the time it actually happens within the show’s narrative. Anyone who hasn’t read the comics or is new to Daredevil, doesn’t really expect Matt to have this deep, complex connection to someone like Elektra who, at first, seems to be the exact opposite of Matt. But, in reality they’re both very similar. Matt strives hard to be the ultimate, typical good-guy even when it’s not realistic (cause sometimes you need to get your hands dirty to do a greater good, like Frank). Matt has been raised with the typical Catholic guilt, he’s driven by being better than the criminals around him, & he was taught by Stick to keep people at a distant & therefore taught to lie about himself. Elektra may seem like the spoiled, entitled rich girl at first, but we quickly learn she’s a lot more like Matt than even she realizes (their similarities, are probably what drew them to each other in the first place). Elektra may not have Catholic guilt driving her, but there does seem to be a lot of guilt that’s projected onto her from Stick. Elektra knows she has a dark side, but b/c of Stick teachings she was taught to deny her nature, to lie about herself, to keep others at a distance. Like Matt.

It’s similar with Karen & Frank. Neither is what the other expects. Frank’s not at all the kind of man whom people would think Karen would be drawn to. But she is. She sympathizes with Frank’s loss & his inner demons b/c she’s experienced it herself. She’s able to see past the mask of the Punisher. Just as Frank sees past her mask. They’re both passionate people of conviction & have their own moral code that might not be purely good or purely evil. They both operate somewhere in the grey-zone. Better yet, they’re the kind of people who aren’t afraid to do something bad, but for the right reasons! And while Karen may not like a lot of what Frank does, & Frank doesn’t like that Karen puts herself in danger, they both accept each other regardless.

In a way, I kinda feel like the Matt/Karen “romance” was a red haring, like MARVEL was totally trolling us. B/c their relationship opens with typical, cliche hero/heroine development. The girl doesn’t know the hero’s secret, the hero saves her (both as himself [Matt], & as his alter ego [Daredevil], plus they’re prominently in each other’s lives b/c they work together & are friends. I wonder if MARVEL was like, “Ok, the audience are gonna ship these two, so let’s play with that.” B/c 1) of course they’re gonna get shipped at first, b/c there’s this idea that two people who work so closely together & are of the opposite sex can’t simply be friends; & 2) it’s in the comics so its canon. Like, MARVEL gave us what was expected, the typical cliched hero/heroine romance (which was really, romance-lite) before ripping it apart & giving us something more real, more tangible with Matt/Elektra & Frank/Karen. Like, “Ok, audience, this is what you think you want. But look over here! This is the real deal. This is what you’re really looking for.”

I mean, just look at this gif again...

All Matt does is push Foggy & Karen to the ground, & covers Karen’s body with his own. There’s no caressing, no clutching, no words at all exchanged between them.

Look at these...

Matt caresses Elektra with one hand while clutching onto her with the other.

He literally nuzzles her entire face while clutching onto her, afraid to loose her.

And now look at these...

Frank doesn’t just push Karen to the ground. There’s a lot of movement in this scene, & I’m not referring to the bullets flying all over the place. Just look at Frank’s face. It looks like a combination of fear for Karen’s safety as well as absolute rage that anyone would dare try & kill her. Plus the fact that Frank shows up simply to prove to Karen that it wasn’t him that shot at her. Frank doesn’t really care what people think of him, he doesn’t care that at least 50% of the city thinks he’s a monster. But he just HAS to tell Karen that it wasn’t him. It reminds me of their hospital scene when Frank does everything to ensure that Karen knows he would never hurt an innocent person, he’d never hurt her, that she was safe even when he was gunning for Grotto. He doesn't care about what anyone else thinks of him, but he cares about what Karen thinks.

Frank also repeatedly looks back down at Karen. Even though he’s covering her & there’s simply no way she could get shot with him protecting her, he keeps looking back down at her as if to reassure himself that she’s still alright.

And Frank’s not the only one clutching, Karen is, too! But Frank also draws his hands repeatedly over Karen’s head, almost like he’s caressing her.

If that’s not love I’ don’t know what is.

[thefilmsnob]

Glen Coco’s Top 10 Films of 2016

Another year has passed and although it wasn’t the greatest year for film, there were still several that stood out. Here are my picks for the top 10 films of 2016. But first, the runners up:

Runners Up

-10 Cloverfield Lane

-Fences

-Hell or High Water

-Loving

-Nocturnal Animals

-Sing Street

-Sully

And here’s the top 10!

#10b (Bonus Track): The Witch

Director: Robert Eggers

Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie

The fact that a horror movie is anywhere near my top 10 list is astounding, but The Witch is a rare gem in a genre usually composed of cliches and cheap thrills. This is one of the most beautifully photographed movies of the year containing countless striking shots and director Robert Eggers creates a mood of almost unbearable tension. The film follows a family who’s been banished by their community to live in a remote part of the woods where strange things begin to happen and we’re never quite sure whether it’s mere paranoia or something supernatural. What’s so impressive is that we see very few little violence or traditionally scary images, yet Eggers always makes you feel like such elements are just around the corner. It’s been said before, but it’s what you don’t see that’s terrifying. The reason why this film isn’t in the top 10 is because of  audio problems and poor line delivery. The story is already ambivalent, but you’ll find yourself even more lost because you miss half the dialogue. That said, it’s still a pleasure to look at and definitely worth an honourable mention.   

#10: Silence

Director: Martin Scorsese

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Liam Neeson

No, it’s not Martin Scorsese’s best film, but even his lesser works are better than most movies out there. Silence is officially a box office flop and admittedly its pacing is frustrating at times, but its effect is undeniable and will leave you thinking about it well after the credits roll. The movie follows two Jesuit priests (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) as they search for their mentor (Liam Neeson) who’s apparently given up the faith in a 17th Japan that was ruthless toward Catholics. Though the sceenplay could’ve been a bit tighter, like The Witch the movie looks marvelous thanks to Scorsese and cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto. Scenes of the priests sneaking through caves, Catholics crucified over the ocean or chilling events seen through the bars of a prison cell are all visually stunning if not disturbing. And the dilemma of whether it’s moral to allow others to die just to uphold one’s faith is an important question here and one that’s handled with care. 

#9: Moonlight

Director: Barry Jenkins

Starring: Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, Alex Hibbert, Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Andre Holland

Moonlight tells the harrowing story of Chiron, a gay African American growing up in the projects of Miami. Unfortunately, in a place like this where machismo reigns supreme, Chiron seemingly has no chance; it’s a tragic situation. Impeccably acted by all three performers who play Chiron as well as the supporting cast, especially Naomie Harris as his drug-addicted mother, the story is told in three different time periods, enhancing the idea these problems can’t be solved overnight and that people from these neighborhoods do, in fact, grow, mature and have fascinating, complicated lives. Directed with poetry and grace, covering both the tenderness and darkness of this character’s life, Barry Jenkins brings everything together perfectly with a final, almost real time, sequence completely devoid of action, but rich in honesty, vulnerability and feeling with Trevante Rhodes and Andre Holland holding your unwavering attention. We’re entranced by the implications of their meeting and eagerly await the outcome.

#8: The Edge of Seventeen

Director: Kelly Fremon Craig

Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, Haley Lu Richardson, Blake Jenner, Woody Harrelson

Although the problems Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) faces in The Edge of Seventeen pale in comparison to those of other characters in this list, they’re still realistic, identifiable and fitting for a 17-year-old high school student. Nadine’s already awkward, lonely and isolated from her classmates and she has to deal with her only friend dating her older, more popular brother. It sounds like a recipe for a paint-by-numbers teen comedy, but writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig provides one of the most honest and witty screenplays of the year. Steinfeld is quite possibly the best 20-and-under actor in Hollywood today and was completely snubbed for this complex role as a precocious young lady who’s too smart and witty for her own good. She’s hilarious in this role, but also naive and vulnerable and it’s these qualities under the surface that make her such a sympathetic character. Woody Harrelson is exceptional playing the hard-edged mentor teacher who cares about her deep down despite his tough love. The verbal sparring between the two is a delight to witness in an equally delightful film. 

#7: Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

Director: Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone

Starring: Ander Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone

Considering the rest of this list, no, this isn’t a joke. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is the funniest movie of 2016 and one of the funniest movies in recent memory. Written and directed by Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, 2/3 of the Lonely Island comedy group, they’re joined by their partner Andy Samberg in acting and writing efforts to bring us this hilarious mockumentary and biting satire about the pop music industry. Producing countless belly laughs through priceless one-liners and some of the funniest sight gags you’ll see, Popstar focuses on the rise and fall and rise of The Style Boyz and all the infighting that comes with that. And I can’t forget to mention the outrageously funny original songs. Any movie whose song contains the lyrics “I wanna fuck you like we fucked up Bin Laden” has to be good.

#6: Manchester by the Sea

Director: Kenneth Lonergan

Starring: Casey Affleck, Lucas Hedges, Michelle Williams

Manchester by the Sea is a minor miracle. Here’s a film whose protagonist has ruined his life through a horrifyingly plausible accident, abandoned his titular coastal hometown due to overwhelming grief and guilt and now must return to take care of his nephew following his brother’s death, yet somehow writer/director Kenneth Lonergan manages to avoid melodrama and manipulation. This is a film with emotional complexity and gorgeous naturalism in a story with no easy answers or moments of eye-opening catharsis. The whole cast is extraordinary, but Casey Affleck stands out playing Lee Chandler who displays flat, distant behavior on the outside, while simultaneously conveying the emotional turmoil going on within, trying to deal with one tragedy after another. It’s an impressively restrained performance for a character who we come to sympathize with more and more as the plot unfolds. The ending won’t please everyone, but it’s honest, human and entirely realistic just like the film.

#5: 20th Century Women

Director: Mike Mills

Starring: Annette Bening, Greta Gerwig, Elle Fanning, Billy Crudup

20th Century Women takes place in the late ‘70s when the cultural identity of America was in a state of flux. This feeling permeates the film and even though it concerns a small group of seemingly insignificant characters, the film is framed within a much larger history and this coupled with the revelation of the characters’ fates far down the road gives the proceedings a heightened sense of importance. Annette Bening, another Oscar snub, is perfect in this role as an aging mother trying to navigate such a strange world while attempting to reconcile her conservative tendencies and wariness of modern life with her liberal values and open-mindedness. This complicated, 3-dimensional character recruits some lodgers and neighbours to help raise her boy, but these people are just as complicated, flawed and, indeed, beautiful themselves, especially Abbie played by the magnetic Greta Gerwig. The movie has little plot, but you fall in love with the characters and their struggles and that’s really what’s important. 

#4: La La Land

Director: Damien Chazelle

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone

The people involved in making La La Land should just be thankful the film was produced. A completely original movie musical filled with jazz doesn’t sound like the most lucrative products for today’s audiences. But with the help of Damien Chazelle, who demonstrated his wizardry behind the camera and helped bring jazz to the forefront with his extraordinary Whiplash, and two of the biggest stars in Hollywood today, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, the movie has become a technical marvel and a smash hit. Bringing to mind the classic old Hollywood musicals, La La Land tells the story of two struggling artists with Gosling and Stone making us invested in these struggles every literal and figurative step of the way. Containing breathtaking dance numbers, infectious original songs and some truly show-stopping moments, the movie is fun and exhilarating from start to finish and the chemistry between Gosling and Stone is possibly the best you’ll see in 2016. It’s impossible to walk out of this movie without a smile on your face.

#3: Arrival

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Starring: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker

Arrival is a realistic and logical take on the fascinating premise of first contact. Denis Villeneuve, one of the best directors in the business, is an expert at creating and maintaining an almost suffocating level of suspense with the help of his distinct camera work, steady pacing and nerve-wracking music. The snubbed Amy Adams is brilliant as Louise, mourning the loss of her daughter while facing the herculean challenge of communicating with aliens. Adams has a way of making Louise quiet, contemplative, even sad without exuding weakness. Unlike lesser films where a communication problem like this is solved in minutes, Arrival presents it as a grueling process involving linguistics and translation  that Louise and Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) must go through in order to make even the smallest breakthrough. This aspect of the film is entirely convincing and even educational. The ending is a real mind bender that’s executed elegantly and adds another thought-provoking layer to an already dense narrative. The best moment, though, is a scene where a helicopter’s approaching a spacecraft hovering in the distance. The view of the object in the background coupled with the unnerving music and lack of dialogue is hypnotizing and brings to mind imagery from 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s a truly mesmerizing sequence.

#2: Lion

Director: Garth Davis

Starring: Dev Patel, Sunny Pawar, Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara

The most important thing about a story is that you’re invested in the characters and no other movie of 2016 makes you as invested in its lead as Lion. The thought of falling asleep on a random train and waking up hundreds of kilometers away from your home is terrifying, especially if you’re a young child in a densely populated country like India who doesn’t know where home is. But that’s the true story of Saroo, ably played by the young Sunny Pawar and the older Dev Patel. Remarkably, the adult Saroo manages to use Google Earth to find his home and long lost family. All aspects of the film work from the directing to the writing to the wonderful performances. It’s a pleasure going on this extraordinary journey with Saroo. It all culminates in the most satisfying ending of a film in 2016 that challenges you to keep a your eyes dry. You won’t be able to. This is the most inspirational film of the year.

#1: Everybody Wants Some!!

Director: Richard Linklater

Starring: Blake Jenner, Zoey Deutch, Glen Powell, Tyler Hoechlin

It wasn’t nominated for anything, it’s not groundbreaking and no one even saw it, but, dammit, Everybody Wants Some!! is the most satisfying movie experience of 2016. No, it’s not as good as Dazed and Confused, its spiritual prequel, but it’s pretty damn close. The film follows a group of university baseball players in the days leading up to the first day of school. That’s it. Writer/director Richard Linklater understands youth, knows how people talk and has a firm grasp of time and place and he combines all three of these qualities perfectly here. There’s no real plot to speak of but Linklater is that rare filmmaker whose dialogue is so engrossing and whose characters are so relatable that we can forgive him and just enjoy the ride. He also captures that unique time period of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, just like 20th Century Women, where cultural identity was so undefined. He showcases this with a great, eclectic soundtrack composed of rock, pop, rap, new wave and country tunes and even the players go from a disco to a country bar to a punk rock show all in one weekend. But what makes this movie work is the baseball players themselves. Sure, their goals are similar to most college-aged men: have sex, drink beer and compete with each other over everything. But there’s so much more to these characters who sound and act like real humans with varying traits, opinions and emotions. Their macho exteriors don’t drown out their insecurities and insight into their own lives and surroundings. Most importantly, though, you’ll have a blast watching this movie. There’s not a dull scene or exchange within and it’s often laugh-out-loud funny. Hell, it’s literally and figuratively one big party and it’ll make you want to jump through the screen and join in.