#it explains them and how they work/develop throughout the film really well imo

[p2ii]

The relationship between Duke Red, Tima, and Rock exists as a microcosm representing the larger political themes at play in metropolis, including capitalism, it's decent into fascim and ai/futurism/technological progression and how it exists to both serve and become detrimental towards mankind. In this essay I will-

[unforth]

Hello unforth! Thank you for your wonderful blog, and the the untamed art blog!! I followed you years ago for destiel, and you were one of the people that got me into the untamed. I watched it last summer and have been binging various cdramas ever since!! I had a question for you about reading. After watching the untamed I read the novel, and didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I think you’re someone who prefers the show, but if not, sorry if I’m remembering wrong… hoping you understand. I want to try reading other novels but I found the romance in mdzs to be kinda off. I guess I’m wondering if you have a recommendation for the best novel you’ve read so far? It would be great if it’s one with fanfic but if not I’m still curious to try! I hope this didn’t come off as rude about the untamed, it’s just a personal preference. Thanks in advance, and thanks again for all your work in fandom!

Howdy! *waves*

You have not misremembered, I definitely prefer the Untamed to the novel of MDZS (and I'm with you, no shade on people with different preferences, of course!). I also didn't enjoy the novel of MDZS as much as I thought I would, though I think some of that was because I read the Exiled Rebels Scanalations translation which - again, no shade, translating that was a HUGE job and kudos to them - but I do here from native speakers that some questionable translation choices were made, which can detract from some people's enjoyment of the novel (and can enhance other people's, it just depends how those translation choices relate to each person's personal likes and dislikes).

Now, I can tell you what I've read and what I've thought of each one, happily - I don't know what turned you off about MDZS specifically, beyond an aspect of the relationship dynamic, so it'll be hard for me to say which of these might appeal to you more? But, here's a list of which danmei novels I've read, and my opinion. The list is shorter than you'd think - danmei novels are long and I read slow, lol.

Note that all of these end happy, for various definitions of "happy," and the main ship is canon in all of them. Also note that I tried to avoid spoilers, but sometimes it's hard to even talk about the ship dynamic without some mild spoilers.

These are (roughly) in the order I've read them; I just finished the last a few days ago. All art is by the official artists, but I'm not always sure what their names are, sorry - I've tried to figure them out for my art blogs but it's REALLY hard.

1. Mo Dao Zu Shi, by MXTX.

(since I'm writing this post for you, and you're already familiar with it, I'm not putting in TW and plot)

My take: I figure knowing my opinion of MDZS will help you assess all this? There are things I loved about MDZS, including the book, but MDZS is still obviously trying to figure out pacing. Whereas in SVSSS, the storyline doesn't always flow that smoothly and the ending is rushed, in MDZS in my opinion the biggest issue is that she clearly didn't plan some things ahead. For example, Miangmian and Wen Ning are both introduced within a few pages of when they'll be needed to Do Shit. It shows that she hadn't quite worked everything out as she was going, and every once in a while was like, "shit shit I need a character for this thing" and hastily added them. The plot itself is better paced, though, though I could have wished for a less talky denouement. When it was the only one I read, I also often thought, "this author doesn't understand consent," and, "this author has kinks I don't share." Now that I've read all three of her books, I completely retract the first one. MXTX absolutely understands consent, and was intentionally playing with it in MDZS. Not sure if the evidence of that got lost in translation, or what, but...yeah.

Relationship Dynamic: ...the second of those opinions, I still kinda feel. The consensual non-con is just not really my thing, like I'm okay with it in small doses? And I don't love some aspects of Lan Wangji's domineering attitudes and Wei Wuxian's act of bare tolerating it. And don't get me wrong, now that I'm more familiar with her work, I think it was an intentional writing choice and I also think they're both largely roleplaying it a lot of the time...but I still don't personally enjoy it much.

2. Scum Villain Self-Saving System, by MXTX.

Genre: modern transmigration into a fantasy xianxia world.

Where to find it: English translation by BC Novels | donghua season 1

Trigger warnings for: graphic descriptions of suffering, non-con of the "fuck or die" variety, and body horror...I can't think of anything else rn?)

Plot: SVSSS is MXTX's first novel, and is a satire of classic stag harem novels. Shen Yuan, the protagonist and half the main ship, is reading a serialized web novel by "Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky" about a demon named Luo Binghe who has a harem of over 3,000 women and has done all kinds of ghastly awful things. He hates this novel but has read all, like, 3 million words of it or something, and trolls every chapter...until one gets him so angry that he dies...and then he wakes up in the book right around when the book starts, in the body of one of the early antagonists, a cultivator named Shen Qingqiu who abuses a young, innocent Luo Binghe physically and emotionally and, ultimately, is horribly tortured to death. Shen Yuan, in Shen Qingqiu's body, thus sets out to not be horribly tortured to death by Luo Binghe. Hijinks ensue.

My Take: In terms of my opinion of it...SVSSS secured for me that MXTX is a much more brilliant author than I thought when I'd only read MDZS. She understands tropes and subverts them brilliantly throughout the story, and from a writing standpoint, I was impressed with her. However, from a plot standpoint...she's got all the ideas but hasn't, imo, yet figured out how exactly to bring them all together. The pacing is off at times, and the ending felt abrupt to me. It's also the only danmei I've read where I ship a side ship more than the primary one (which is, of course, Shen Yuan (as Shen Qingqiu)/Luo Binghe. (also, oops...I read SVSSS after TGCF and just put them in the wrong order, oh well, not gonna change it now.)

Relationship Dynamic: In terms of relationship weirdness...it's hard to sort in that regard, because, like, it's supposed to be weird? I think it's a really interest book but I'm not sure I'd recommend it in your situation. Bingqiu's main dynamic is...uh...tolerance and obsession? They're kinda hard to describe. Shen Yuan often seems like he's just kinda putting up with Luo Binghe, whereas Luo Binghe is...god. So hard to describe, lmao. He's a big clumsy ox in a museum full of porcelain dishes and he really, really loves his Shizun. (also note that Shen Qingqiu is Luo Binghe's teacher. They don't get together until after they're not master/student, but if that's not your thing, another reason to avoid.)

3. Tian Guan Ci Fu, by MXTX.

(art is by Starember)

Genre: historical China (loosely), xianxia (note that I'm still figuring out exactly how stuff gets classified so sorry if I get one wrong, but I think I kinda get it???)

Where to Access It: English Translation by the astonishing yummysuika | manhua (this is an official translation by Bilibili! It's a few chapters behind the actual release, but still...) | donghua season 1 is on Netflix | a live action adaptation is juuuuust getting started on script reading and filing

Trigger warnings for: MCD, temporary MCD, body horror, graphic violence, epic levels of mind fuckery, uh...genocide?...again, racism/colorism, probably other stuff, sorry, I can't take as long as I'd like to for this post so I'm not being as thorough as I oughta be.

Plot: TGCF is about Xie Lian, an 800 year old man, and it commences at the moment when, unexpectedly, he ascends to godhood...for the third time. Unfortunately, when he ascends, he accidentally does some damage in Heaven, and he has to repay that, so he gets sent back to earth to deal with a ghost who's been causing some problems. Hijinks ensue...and then fucktons of angst ensue...then more hijinks...then more angst...and basically it broke my heart like four times and I am grateful for it every day? The main ship is Xie Lian and a ghost named Hua Cheng, but it's hard to even talk about without some spoilers because of some identity shenanigans. (they're VERY mildly identity shenanigans, but still).

My Take: So, you asked what my favorite of the danmei novels I've read is? It's TGCF. TGCF is one of my favorite novels ever, and it has a growing fandom, a donghua that's on Netflix, and a live action that's just starting to film. TGCF is the culmination of the skills MXTX developed through her first two works, imo. She clearly plotted it out all from the start, and while Book 1 especially often seems kind of random - lots of elements are introduced and then kinda...apparently...forgotten? And never explained? But she actually DOES bring it ALL together and it's flat-out masterful. I'm a big fan, obviously.

Relationship Dynamic: it again depends on your preferences and what you didn't like about MDZS, and there's no way to talk about it without spoilers, so consider yourselves warned. Xie Lian ascended to godhood first at the age of 17, and right around then he also saved the life of a 10 year old boy...and that boy is Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng is a follower of Xie Lian's, in that Xie Lian is literally a god, and Hua Cheng is literally one of his followers. However, they're separated for almost 800 years, so the age difference is largely irrelevant, and while some people complain about Hua Cheng's behavior being stalkery and obsessive, I honestly think they're dead wrong. It's more like when you read a celebrity/fan AU, and it starts weird, and then they really genuinely fall in love. Like, the fan may have been in love the whole time, and how they felt about the celebrity before they really met might feel slightly ooky, but it's how they act AFTER they meet their idol that matters more, and...yeah, Hua Cheng is great, they're both great, antis fight me. Xie Lian is easily one of my favorite characters EVER, he is all my favorite tropes in one horribly, wonderfully fucked up martyristic idealistic sweet kind laid back package. I would kill for him, lmao. In terms of their relationship dynamic...they love and respect each other? There's really nothing that weird about it other than the aspects of the "fan" Hua Cheng that get revealed over time - and he's always terrified that when Xie Lian realizes what a fanboy he was, Xie Lian will be upset or disgusted, but of course Xie Lian never is. They adore each other. It's glorious. Highly recommend. :D There's also no explicit content in TGCF (unlike MXTX's other two books).

4. The Husky and His White Cat Shizun (aka 2ha) by Meatbun Doesn't Eat Meat.

Genre: original world, xianxia, time travel, dimension hopping, it's so many things, 2ha is so hard to describe lmao

Where to Access it: English Translation by the amazing yummysuika (things are complicated, though, and it's not finished) | a manhua is in the works and should be out this year | a live action called "Hao Yixing" or "Immortality" is already filmed and could theoretically air literally any time cause it's completely ready, but when will it actually come? Who knows!

Trigger warnings: all of them. Literally. MCD, temporary MCD, murder, suicide, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, rape/non-con, abuse, manipulation, gas lighting, torture, graphic violence, body horror, literal graphic onscreen horrible blood murder of a small child (I had to skip that chapter), teacher/student relationship sort of but not exactly, probably other stuff, this book is dark as fuck, and a lot of these tags apply to behavior of one half of the main ship toward the other, but...it's complicated, and there are reasons things happen, and those reasons aren't "well they're just a bad person."

Plot: This is another one that's hard to describe because there's sooooo much mind fuckery going on, but I'll try. 2ha is about Mo Ran, who rises to be the Emperor of the World, Taxian Jun, but slaughtering all who oppose him...and who is so miserable that he commits suicide, only to wake up in his 16 year old body. This is pretty much perfect from Mo Ran's point of view, because he's gone back so far that the love of his life, his fellow disciple Shi Mei, is still alive. He has a chance to fix everything that went wrong, starting with preventing his awful evil Shizun, Chu Wanning, from letting Shi Mei die.

Spoilers: the main ship in this book is Mo Ran/Chu Wanning.

Hijinks do NOT ensue. There are no hijinks in 2ha. It is all pain all the time (but I swear it ends happy).

My Take: ...well, from a structural standpoint there are some pacing issues. The book is incredibly long (over 300 chapters, over 1 million words) and there are definitely some chunks that could just be excised and it'd still be fine. However, other than that, it's pretty amazing and absolutely masterful how it's plotted. As a reader you'll spend 100+ chapters thinking you know what's going on, and who the good guys are, and who the bad guys are, and how they relate to each other...and then Meatbun starts in on revealing what's ACTUALLY going on and she then spends 200 chapters repeatedly punching you in the face! Like, I went in knowing a LOT of spoilers, because the tags were so dark that I felt that for my mental health it was important I have a general idea what was going on, and I STILL ended up sobbing my eyes out (and I am NOT an easy crier and don't usually cry at books) over something I knew was coming.

Relationship Dynamic: That's about the only thing that the title accurately conveys about this book. "The Husky and His White Cat Shizun," sounds so soft and fluffy, right? That's how they get you, ha. But, Mo Ran is absolutely a big dumb husky who wants to do the right thing (well, sometimes he does) but just completely fails depressingly often. When he sees someone he likes come in the front door he WILL jump all over them and bark in their face as his way of trying to communicate affection. And Chu Wanning is equally absolutely a cat. He is emotionally constipated, poor at expressing himself, uptight, touch starved, desperate for affection, and so lonely my chest hurts when I think about him. And for how they relate to each other...well, picture that big dog greeting a loved one at the door...except that loved one is the most hide-bound proud white cat you can imagine.

That's their dynamic.

(However, also...there are multiple timelines at play, and Taxian Jun does some truly awful things to "his" Chu Wanning in the original timeline, and many of these things are graphically described, and while it's ultimately all explained, it still all HAPPENS, so if you're going to have trouble reading fucktons of abuse between the main ship, I would not recommend this book)

5. Thousand Autumns (Qianqiu) by Meng Xi Shi.

Genre: historical China (like, references actual people, as far as I can tell), xianxia

Where to Access it: ...reading Thousand Autumns is HARD, it's split over like four websites/translators. This Carrd can kinda help? I can get you the rest if you want | donghua season 1 | I heard there's a live action in the works? But I don't know more than that.

Trigger warnings: graphic violence, mentions/threats of sexual violence (but it's all stopped before things really go wrong), starvation, description of child death (from starvation), near-death, emotional/mental abuse, major semi-permanent character injury, god, minor character death, they're major characters depending on your pov, I can't actually think of others, after writing about 2ha it feels positively fluffy). Note that there's not really any explicit content, just implications of smut, and not til basically the very end and extras.

Plot: Yan Wushi, sect leader of a demonic sect, has just come out of an extended seclusion to improve his cultivation when he and one of his disciples come across a man who is wounded to the point of near death. This turns out to be Shen Qiao, the sect leader of Mount Xuandu. When Shen Qiao awakens from his wounds, he's lost his memory, AND he's blind, and Yan Wushi decides it would be great fun and an excellent use of his time to fuck with Shen Qiao by trying to turn him evil - because Yan Wushi is certain that ALL people are inherently evil, and shattering Shen Qiao's veneer of righteousness will just help prove that.

Spoilers: it's not a veneer.

Not spoilers: Not many hijinks ensue, but there are a few hijinks, and even when it's not hijinxed, it's still not that painful...usually.

My Take: despite that synopsis, a lot of the plot of Thousand Autumns is actually political, and I like political plots, so I liked that aspect of it. However, it has some serious pacing issues imo, and it's also hard to read in English atm because it's not fully translated; it's close, now, much closer than when I read it a few months ago, so it'll be easier to read soon. Or maybe I shouldn't say it's pacing problems, but rather, it's more of a sequence of multiple major plots, strung together, with the growing relationship between Yan Wushi and Shen Qiao playing out in the background. I think if I'd known there was no "one big plot" that would have actually helped me, because it kept feeling like, "Oh, THIS is the main thing," but it never was. Things would feel climactic...except then there'd be more. So it's probably better to actually think of it as more...episodic? And the episodes/stories build, and interrelate, and do have a culmination, but not all of them directly tie in, and not all the threads end up coming together/getting resolved.

Relationship Dynamic: early on, Yan Wushi is definitely abusive and manipulative, intentionally so, and I would argue that, imo, Shen Qiao falls for it. However, mid-way through, there's some big reveals, and after that when they're reunited Shen Qiao no longer takes any shit and Yan Wushi continues to act like he doesn't care even when he clearly does. They're not a typical ship in ANY WAY, and I'd say their relationship is more founded on mutual respect than on love. Indeed, in the author's notes at one point MXS actually says they doesn't see them as the kind of couple to ever exchange love declarations, and I thought that was really interesting and it really helped me to understand how they worked together because I'll own I struggled with at times. Yan Wushi is self-interested, often cruel, and ethically and morally dubious. Shen Qiao, on the other hand, could probably ascend to Daoist godhood, he's so pure. Yet...they DO work. I'd say "opposites attract" but that's ALSO not their main trope, not exactly. They're a VERY hard ship to explain, and I know some people who've read the whole book and still don't really...get them...and I've had to really think about them to wrap my head around them...but the more I've thought about them, the more I like them.

6. Those Years in Quest of Honor Mine by Man Man He Qi Duo.

Genre: historical fiction set in either actual China or make-believe China, I'm not sure if this is directly incorporated any real people

Where to Access It: English Translation by Perpetual Daydreams | manhua (untranslated, I'm not sure if there's anyone translating it into English) | I think there's a live action in the works? Not sure beyond that though.

Trigger Warnings: suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, drug addiction, drug abuse, chronic illness (different character than the drugs), manipulation, abusive, awful parents and parental figures (not all, but definitely some), some homophobia (but way less than there could have been), probably other stuff

Plot: After 7 years away, Zhong Wan returns to the capital of the Empire with the three children of his benefactor, the seven-years-dead Prince Ning. Prince Ning was executed for treason against the previous Emperor, and Zhong Wan has done all he can to protect and raise the three kids, but he's got a lot of worries about returning to the capital and what could happen to his charges if they get pulled into the politics surrounded the Emperor. But, even worse, he's got even more worries about being reunited with Yu She, nephew of the Emperor, with whom he has more than a little history...and about whom he has been lying for the past 7 years, claiming that he is Yu She's lover, in a bid to help use Yu She's reputation to protect Prince Ning's children.

Hijinks ensue.

And so does a political nightmare.

My Take: TYQHM was a hard book to get into because there are just so many characters and it's all about politics - this is NOT a xianxia or wuxia novel, and these characters are NOT cultivators. There's basically nothing supernatural in the whole book; instead, it's about Zhong Wan and Yu She figuring out their own histories, and accepting each other, while trying to survive in a political world that increasingly wants both of them dead. However, I adore political plots, and when all was said and done I really enjoyed it, and I'm trying tooth and nail to claw other people into the fandom with me, so far with basically no success. It only has like 15 works in English on AO3. And so not only does it not fit that requirement of yours...

Relationship Dynamic: ...I think you would also probably not like the relationship dynamic? Zhong Wan is a bit like Wei Wuxian-as-Mo Xuanyu, except more...genuinely? Like, it's his actual personality, not an act, in quite the same way. I don't mean the "flamboyantly gay" part...usually...he definitely has his moments...but he's just...like, he's been through so much that he'll basically say anything, and drag himself entirely through the mud, to distract people who might hurt the three kids (they're like 16, 13, 13, now I think? It was never THAT clear to me, tbh...certainly, all are at least 10...) and, later, Yu She. He has zero face, and doesn't mind having negative face when he feels the situation demands it...and Yu She, on the other hand, has MAJOR depression issues, is sure he deserves nothing, and mostly wants to destroy everyone around him and then kill himself, at least until Zhong Wan starts giving him a reason to live again. But, more than that...Zhong Wan is like the fucking epitome of a bratty subby bottom. He wants to get fucked SO bad. And Yu She is an incredibly reluctant dom, hilariously so at times, uncomfortably/manipulative so at others. When all was said and done, I was pretty fond of them both, but there were definitely moments that made me grimace, and given what you say of how you felt about MDZS, I think this one is less likely to be to your taste?

Bonus 7: Guardian by Priest. I never finished the novel version of Guardian because the translation had some issues that caused me not to enjoy it, so I won't get into it too much, but again, Guardian is a very different book than any of the others, because it's modern fantasy(ish, like, it's still deeply embedded in Daoist-related tropes but it's more "magic spells" and less "cultivation." Like, in terms of what it's like, it felt more like Japanese modern Onmyoji style stories, to me, than it felt like the ancient Chinese wuxia/xianxia cultivation stories.). I'm not gonna get into lots of details, because I read part of the book more than a year ago, and have seen the show (which is VERY different) like three times, so I can hardly even remember what they're like in the novel. There was definitely some weirdness, though? If you're potentially interested, I'd suggest starting with the drama instead. The plot for that is...

Plot: Zhao Yunlan heads a Special Investigation Unit in the human world tasked with maintaining a treaty between humans and the dixigren ("undergrounders") who are (in the show) aliens (in the book...it's the world of the dead). While doing this job, he keeps running into this professor, Shen Wei, who definitely knows more than he oughta.

Hijinks ensue.

And then it murders you with feels.

The live action streams from YouTube - here.

(Warning: uh, I don't want to give spoilers, but my "guaranteed happy ending" does NOT apply to the Guardian TV show...but it does apply to the book, as I understand it.)

*

Anyway, this was a terrible use of my time but it was definitely more fun than what I should be doing, and it's probably way more information than you wanted or needed, but since I wasn't sure what exactly you had in mind, I figured...might as well be thorough?

(Today's hyper-focus fail: this post, ha...)

[vaguely-gestures-to-the-void]

Hindsight: My thoughts on Loki (2021)

Welcome back folks. Read the innocence dying inside me as I accept that this show eats my expectations for lunch and leaves me like it's going to buy milk.

As a side note from what I said in my first review, here’s an interesting article. Apparently I was clowning because the Gobi desert scene was filmed (probably? idk) with the tech from the Mandalorian. I think the studios were the same. Oh well. https://www.atlasofwonders.com/2021/06/loki-filming-locations.html

Episode 4: THE NEXUS EVENT

Pre-title scene

The new perspective of Asgard is incredible.

Oh baby Sylvie, what did they do to you. Also, RAVONNA??

The TVA through a child’s eyes is heartbreaking. The mixed use of shots that were familiar (the feet walking into the TVA) and new (the TVA logo on the floor) convey how though routine, this is an alien experience for Sylvie.

She too wants to help the man being dragged in. Maybe Sylvie was a better person than Loki, the TVA taking her away was what changed it.

We don’t see Casey, but iIt’s the same ‘sign here’ guy. The changing perspective and music really alters the mood created, contrasting the whimsical procedure we followed in episode one.

She hadn’t even said much in her life. They knew how to influence the audience’s emotions, that's for sure. Props to the actress, I felt genuine concern for her before I remembered that she’s acting.

TVA

Ravonna probably underestimated Sylvie as a Loki, a mistake that cost her greatly.

The golden doors.

Ravonna looks tense and a bit fearful.

Scattered throughout the episode are eyes watching. George Orwell’s 1984, anyone?

Big Brother is watching.

Mobius! He’s a good friend to Ravonna, but there’s a power imbalance.

Ravonna is shaken. Her past failure is haunting her.

Someone edit the “What? How?” into “Wow.” It’ll be a service.

Lamentis - 1

Loki’s apology and Sylvie reflecting on her childhood are the conclusion to the previous episode. Faced with death, Loki realises that her goals were hindered by his actions. His apology is the first time he acknowledges he had something to do with it. Sylvie’s offering her emotional vulnerability in the form of memories. Her mind and experiences are her most prized possession because they’re all she has of the person who she was as Loki, her childhood and what she was supposed to be. Her glorious purpose, what really makes a Loki a ‘Loki’ was her life.

THEY TRUST EACH OTHER. THIS WAS WHAT CAUSED THE NEXUS EVENT.

C H A R A C T E R D E V E L O P M E N T.

Ravonna pointed out that Loki will always be a “lying scourge” but they went against this. In any timeline, this could cause a nexus event. They found a middle ground.

“That should be setting off alarms if someone steps on the wrong leaf.” I had a whole idea about entropy and the timeline being an isolated system but I struggled to define an isolated system, and thus I couldn’t use the whole irreversible process causing entropy to grow causing a br- if you have a clue of what I’m going on about, or want to know more, I’ll explain my thoughts. I can understand why this isn’t scientifically accurate and I’m no physicist.

The unbranched timeline means all the things that were speculated - Wanda’s kids, what happened on Saakar, all of it - is gone.

“Any news on C - 20?”I called it! B-15 is having doubts! Her subtle unease building up throughout the ep is perfect!

Most settlements have a street design that can be from space. Sharru doesn’t.

“No. We may lose... ...you’re amazing!” Damn it literally took the end of a world for Loki to change as a person.

“Their smiles. If that isn’t people accepting their deaths I don’t know what is. Man, I just want both of them to be happy.

Please don’t let that be the love theme, it’s so pretty.

The music fading into the TVA theme as they get separated is so sad.

Time Theater 25

Back to square one in terms of trust with these two, but now they have history and hurt feelings too!

Oh Mobius.

Cycles are a part of who Loki is within Norse mythology (from what I know, correct me if I’m wrong). This scene is conflict.

Loki needs both Mobius and Sylvie to incite change. One can empathise whilst the other believes in him.

Mobius believes in Loki like no one else in the TVA. He treats him like an individual, they developed a bond in episode 2, so his disappointment and anger were genuine. This is reflected in their dialogue.

Even when Loki was going through all the Feels in ep 1, he didn’t shout at Mobius. It makes it more heartbreaking when Mobius laughs and dismisses him after the “TVA is lying to you” thing. His laugh was so bitter, it’s like his belief that Loki would be the variant to prove that variants were individuals had been shattered. What Mobius doesn’t realise is that Loki was genuinely trying to warn him. The trust between them was fragile but Mobius needed to come to his own conclusions before he could see that Loki had broken out of the mold the Time Keepers set for him.

“Just kind of an asshole and a bad friend.” Y’all, Mobius doesn’t rise to Loki’s baits. He’s so hurt.

I can’t be the only one that thought Loki was going to be brainwashed when they saw the red door. Turns out it’s just a time cell.

I love Mobius but he makes me feel so conflicted. Oh shit, he’s my problematic fave.

Watching Loki get his ass handed to him by Lady Sif shouldn’t be this funny.

This particular memory reflects what Mobius will talk about later, Loki being abandon by the people around him.

Putting Loki through a memory that was physically and emotionally painful was nasty. If you hear something horrible, over and over especially from a friend it would take a toll on your self-perception. Mobius was hurt by Loki leaving him, he’s getting revenge whilst doing his job and getting into Loki’s head.

Ravonna’s office

Ravonna has hang ups from failing with Sylvie. Who she is and what she knows is going to be interesting.

Heck I just realised are Mobius’ lapels not real? They look fake.

I wonder whether the “mastermind” thing was foreshadowing the next ep.

Am I the only one who thinks this isn’t the first Loki Mobius has dealt with? Could that mean there’s a reunion next ep?!

“Variant pet.” There’s a culture of dehumanising variants within the TVA.

The cuts showing both B-15 and Mobius’ faces reminds me of ep 1, but now there’s a new angle to things. B-15 certainly sees things differently.

Time Theatre 25

Lady Sif would kill with short hair. Or long hair. It’s Lady Sif, she’s a badass.

Loki’s exhale reminds me of how he tenses before a fight.

Notable things about this scene:

Heavy use of metaphors to trade jabs.

The lights are shifting in a consistent pattern, scanning the room almost.

Shots are constantly moving and cutting.

Loki’s speech pattern changes when he’s lying. Nice touch there.

When they start arguing in earnest, the shots are close ups of their faces, not circling around each other.

Loki was at first willing to talk to Mobius if he was treated with respect, the way they engaged in episode 2. He also wants to trust that Mobius won’t kill him. Mobius dismisses him (rightly so, his trust is gone) and Loki’s pride about ‘not working for anyone’ gets in the way rather than listening to each other. Loki’s behaviour is cyclic and his lying about Sylvie affirms Mobius’s understanding that Loki won’t (or maybe can’t) change. I wouldn’t be too surprised if Mobius is a Loki, the man’s uncannily good at reading him. He deduces that Loki and Sylvie have a bond and unsettles Loki to get answers out of him, because he knows that’s the only way he can force Loki to reveal his cards. He definitely wasn’t expecting Loki’s earlier admission to be the truth. What Mobius did was not right, but it sure was effective.

“No. Not partners.” I believe this. They had an understanding, but their goals differ. Maybe just give Sylvie her own show.

“Guess you don’t do partners.” MOBIUS WHY ARE YOU SO BUTT-HURT? Probably to make Loki feel bad ik, but it’s still funny to think Lightning McQueen is salty.

That memory really hurt Loki. He stuttered.

Loki fixates on Sylvie rather than his own freedom. This was the cue to Mobius to start interrogating.

Bruh, the feeling they were experiencing better be friendship.

This made me uncomfortable because I was so sure we weren’t gonna get a romantic subplot that I related the characters to my actual family relationships. Marvel. Why?

The music combined with Mobius’ subtle shift in demeanor from irritated to mockery was very unsettling to me. I never realised how good an actor Owen Wilson was.

“Our interests are aligned.” Once Mobius tells him the truth, Loki does the same. I really hope this is the extent of their relationship. Just let them recognise one another as equals. Please Marvel.

Mobius’ hands twitching, the slight swallow. Yeesh, he certainly doesn’t think Loki’s lying, but he’s not about to accept it.

Loki’s head shake is sad. He knows he can’t convince Mobius.

“That I can respect. I mean the lies you tell yourself.” This was the best writing imo. Loki doesn’t make any final attempts to connive his way out of the situation because telling the truth to someone he’d trusted had failed. He willingly walks into the Time Cell.

Time Theater 47

B-15 being unable to support herself, having to rely on the structures around her to stay upright. This woman deserves so much y’all.

WE NEED HER NAME MARVEL.

You better appreciate her beyond shipping her with Sylvie or istg.

The music is so mournful. It just emphasises how much everything changing is going to hurt not only the main characters. Lives change because of the TVA and the events of this episode, it’s not overlooked by the writing or music.

The poster and the 1984 parallels. Exquisite!

Sylvie not sitting straight made me snort.

Ravonna Renslayer’s office

More Theremin music! This time I’m pretty sure it’s Carnival of the Animals, XIII. Le Cygne (the Swan) : Le carnaval des animaux: No. 12, Le cygne (arr. For theremin and piano) by Clara Rockmore.

Fun fact! Clara Rockmore influenced theremin music and the instrument and was a virtuoso of the instrument. Give her a google, it’s worth it. Also look up Leon Theremin, he was (among other things) a Soviet spy. There’s a great Wiki spiral for anyone there.

Mobius was probably being lined up for a high position in the TVA. Damn.

TemPads are personal, or have different levels of clearance.

Mobius didn’t stop interrogating Ravonna throughout that scene. He knew that she wasn’t telling him the whole truth.

Sleight of hand wasn’t shown how Loki and Sylvie do it, they didn’t use misdirection.

Ravonna knows something is up with Mobius. Maybe he hasn’t been around for long if this is his ‘career case’.

The pacing becomes really fast like in the end of episode 2 as conflicts get resolved. Buckle up comrades.

2050 Roxxcart Disaster

I don’t have much to add, it’s a powerful scene.

They use close ups whenever a truth bombshell is dropped.

The music varies considerably between these scenes, each one has a different tone.

“We’re the same.” With what she knows of B-15, Sylvie knew not to be smug when delivering the news about B-15’s life.

B-15 crying in the rain hurts.

“I looked happy.”

TVA archives, Time Cell, Time Theater 25

The floor opposite Mobius is FE3, above it is 3FG.

Oh Mobius.

C-20 deserved better, I'd love to see her later in the series.

The music goes from mournful to harsh and we’re left in silence when it cuts to the Time Cell.

“You told me to shut up.” Loki can be salty sometimes.

“Do you really think you deserve to be alone?” Mobius is rattled, he wants to unsettle Loki.

The music starts to build somewhere between “...your connection... “ and Loki saying “‘WE?’”

The faint tinkling reminds me of the Avatar (blue people) score.

“How about the word of a friend?” This is Loki’s olive branch. When he admits Loki was right, their trust is tentatively reinstated.

The music is finally back to that chaotic theme we know. I think it’s the TVA’s theme.

“You can be whoever, whatever you wanna be, even someone good. I mean just in case anyone ever told you different.” Mobius corrects what he says in the first ep.

They are friends y’all I’m so sad.

Mobius can lie through his teeth like it’s nobody’s business.

Pruning hurts, Mobius’ face is in agony.

Loki’s tears. GIVE THEM ALL JETSKIS.

Ravonna takes a moment to compose herself.

Time Keepers (the final smackdown)

Why are the last 10 minutes always so insane?

Loki’s eyes only show hurt. I’ll leave.

Ravonna’s so sharp, she instantly catches Sylvie’s wet hair.

All of our expectations from the trailers always get yeeted out of a window because the scenes are never really what we think they are. I get that that should be expected but it’s refreshing that the writing is never what we think it is.

Did anyone else notice the egg timer/infinity sign murals on one of the hallways to the left of Sylvie?

Ravonna is so cold (and yet I’d simp for her).

The M.C. Escher staircases I see you set designers/CGI folks.

B-15 just gets knocked out. They better not kill her for no reason or I riot.

I’m pretty sure that Sylvie ripped off one of Ravonna’s TVA badges (or buttons) when she fought her.

Sylvie’s the better fighter, she’s had to use it more often though.

The elevator doors stay open.

It would be so funny if we get an elevator scene where Sylvie is just dragging Ravonna somewhere.

They really led us on with the Time Keepers, particularly the middle one. I was somewhat convinced there’d be something more to it. I’m interested to see where it goes.

Ep 4 review

I really don’t have much to add with these last two episodes. I’ve definitely come to appreciate that no matter whether you liked the writing of the show or not, it’s never what you expect. Is that a good thing? I guess that that remains to be seen. Nonetheless, I appreciate how much effort went into this series. It’s been a fun romp, I’ll be back with my reviews of the final episodes. I’ll also stop posting Loki content to my blog because the Gods know that my followers don’t read this lol.

I’m just going to survive until the season is over and then hopefully keep my sanity together until the next Marvel content or at least Dr. Strange.

Here's the link to my episode 3 review.

Thank you all for being here, you're wonderful my loves.

[hmsannlett]

Foe the salty asks:

4. Do you have a NoTP?

25. Would you change the ending of Anna/Hewlett(/Selah)???

4. Anna/Abe is a big nope for me and is probably the ship that irks me the most on the show because there’s so many destructive elements to it, and yet the show just kept pushing it. Their relationship has huge collateral damage for everyone who has the misfortune of getting dragged into it and, imo, does a disservice to both their characters (especially/mainly Anna).

Anna/Simcoe also bothers me, because she could not more clearly be terrified of him, and he uses that against her and doesn’t respect any of the times that she says no to him. It especially strikes a negative chord with me because I’ve been in Anna’s position more than a few times with men that just won’t take a no (although not to the extent that Simcoe took it to), so I truly empathize with the powerlessness that she feels. It’s the worst position to be in, and to feel completely alone like she does makes the situation all the more unsettling.

Both ships are unhealthy in their own ways, imo. Fortunately, neither ship is/has been very popular in the fandom.

25. Oh, goodness. So many thoughts on this. I’ll try to not write a whole thesis here lol and just distill it down to my main thoughts.

In short, yes, I would love a different ending. I will preface all of this, though, by saying that I’d like married couples to be happy with each other and remain together as much as anyone. I’m not completely against the idea of Anna/Selah (though Annlett is my fav and will always be my otp); I just don’t agree with how all of Anna/Selah was written and how Anna/Selah/Hewlett ended.

So, from a writing perspective, I think Selah was brought in too late in S4 to have the character development that he needed after how he was depicted in S1 (and, according to the show’s writers, Anna and Selah were supposed to have a pretty unhealthy dynamic in S1; some of these scenes had to be cut for time constraints, though, so we only get small glimpses of this dynamic). There wasn’t much opportunity to connect positively with Selah in S1 or S4, and as a result, his quick character arc in S4 (to me) breaks the age-old writing rule of showing vs. telling.

There’s no buildup to Anna’s and Selah’s reunion that shows him growing as a character or even what it was that caused him to grow and respect Anna. Why would he suddenly respect her now in S4 more than he did in the first part of S1 after she all but said that she wanted to end their marriage by jumping from the boat, publicly humiliating him, and causing their lengthy separation – during a time period when desertion/an extended period of separation was, in some of the colonies, considered equal to divorce? There’s no apparent motivation (that we’re shown) to inspire his growth. We’re just told as an audience that he’s changed, and I think that weakens the growth that the writers were aiming for. It could be that Selah spent a lot of time reflecting while he was in Philadelphia, but we don’t get to see that onscreen. And for me, what is shown on the screen is much more convincing and effective than whatever we are told happens off-screen.

My other issues with Anna/Selah’s ending are that

1.) If their relationship was so unhealthy before, is his change in how he treats her sustainable? (Would he still treat her with respect after he found out/got confirmation about her affair w/Abe? That tended to make a woman “damaged goods” back then.)

2.) If Anna feels that “he’s not the same man I married,” why then does she seem so upset in 4.10 when they return to Setauket and in the epilogue? It seems like the story ends w/Anna being in exactly the same spot she was in in S1 – unhappy w/her life for whatever reason – and feels like she had more of a character circle than a character arc. She didn’t really end up anywhere different than where she started, even though she had grown so much throughout the show. It just feels like lazy writing to me, and I had really hoped that all of Anna’s sacrifices and growth during the war would be rewarded (even if that wasn’t necessarily a future w/Hewlett like my shipper heart wanted).

Conversely, there was excellent growth shown between Anna and Hewlett, both individually and as a couple. We got to watch each of them grow to respect each other’s character, sacrifice for each other, and fight for each other over the span of almost two seasons – and do so even when both of them felt there was no hope that the relationship could continue. There was a purity and selflessness to their relationship that none of the other relationships on the show were really able to capture, and, imo, is absent from most relationships in films/shows. And I had hoped that that kind of character development would be rewarded or at least considered in S4 after dedicating so much screen time to it. I also feel that Hewlett offers what Anna truly wants: respect, agency, and to be seen as a person, an equal. Like I said above, I don’t know if Selah could offer that level of respect long-term in their relationship. I’d like to hope so, for Anna’s sake, but she definitely doesn’t seem satisfied to me in 4.10.

Anna and Hewlett each left a significant mark on each other and were an enormous part of each other’s individual growth, and I feel like that was largely ignored in S4. For two characters so dedicated to their causes (and practically acting as the epitomes of the two sides’ warring ideologies) to be able to see each other as people and respect the person/character they saw in each other, even at the end of their relationship, is huge. And it seems like the writers just abandoned that without a second thought because they felt that they (finally) had to be historically accurate.

So for me, it’s disappointing that a show that was so heavily focused on character development (and, by and large, executed that development very well throughout the seasons) took what felt like a cop out and didn’t fully realize/fulfill Anna’s, Selah’s, and Hewlett’s individual character arcs. Since the showrunners felt they had to keep Anna/Selah for historical accuracy, I would have preferred that their relationship had been given more time to develop before his arrival in S4 because they had grown very far apart and had significant issues to address before moving forward. But ideally, of course, my Annlett shipper self would have liked the writers to stick with the two seasons of character development between Anna and Hewlett, resolve their relationship, and find a way of kindly writing Selah out (because, tbh, he kind of deserves a better ending too. Anna did betray him deeply, and it’s a lot to ask of him to just overlook/forgive that and move forward with their relationship. Furthermore, I don’t know that Anna is capable of really, truly loving him – it’s always come off as more loyalty/obedience to me – and that’s not a very satisfying conclusion for his character either). And as for how I would end Anna/Selah/Hewlett…well, there is a fic in the works…

Annnnd this is over 1k and has indeed become a thesis, so I’ll leave it at that because this is probably waaaaay more than you wanted lol. This post pretty much hits the nail on the head (succinctly! unlike me lol) with my frustrations about the writing of Anna/Selah/Hewlett and the closure of their character arcs/relationship arcs, as well as the balance of character development and historical accuracy. If you want me to explain any of my litany of thoughts more than I have here (this is the best I can do at an overview of all my thoughts lol; I have many), I can write responses/metas that go into more detail. :)

tl;dr: I wish the show had decided earlier on whether it was going to go with the character development it had created or with historical accuracy, because I don’t feel either Anna/Hewlett or Anna/Selah got the ending they deserved. Annlett was left with two seasons of development unfinished and forgotten, and Anna/Selah was drawn to a close without enough development to make it feel truly convincing for me.

[jenniferladybug]

Essay Wars - it’s a doozy

Last night my friend got in a texting debate about the story structure and character developments of Star Wars (a majority of it Kylo Ren). Well, what started off as my vigorous texting writing turned into full-blown essay responses. 

Alright, let’s get into how this actually happened.

First, I was so excited about The Rise of Skywalker Final Trailer and I began to sing praises for Kylo Ren/Bendemption. My friend did not like that...so I whipped out the big guns. 

I began to send scattered texts about certain things, mostly pertaining to:

Kylo Ren was turned to the dark side before he was even born via Bloodline, where Leia describes a dark presence over her womb.

Someone must be impersonating Darth Vader when Kylo goes to the Vader mask for advice.

Leia and Han were emotionally neglectful/did not know how to raise their son in the right way, mixed with brainwashing lead to Kylo Ren.

The Jedi are not good for the galaxy (yes, yes I know, but see my explanation down below...if you last that long)

Kylo wants to let the past die and start fresh with a new ‘order’, leave behind the Sith, Jedi, First order etc.

I also rambled on about a few other things in separate texts, but that is the gist of it.

So, in response to my scattered texts I received this from my friend Sammy, and oh boy was I ready:

So, let’s start with the story of Ben. The dark side since before he was even born thing is interesting and the fact that he’s been influenced his entire life by it is something they should have made much more clear in the films. That’s actually one of the problems I have with this new expanded universe- it just seems like damage control for the movies. The Previous EU EXPANDED everything, giving backstory to the characters we know and understand, in addition to secondary characters. Hell, they even gave us new characters as well but they never negated or changed the meaning of the films which is the bread and butter of the franchise, so if this super important info is coming from the book I think that’s just silly. You really shouldn’t have to read the novel iteration to understand what the movie did a bad job of interpreting. But I digress, that is some crucial info…

The Vader mask scene and the theory that it’s someone else like Snoke who has been pretending to be Vader is interesting, and I buy that, but like…Kylo didn’t know Vader was redeemed? Did Luke, Leia, Han, Chewy, Lando, Akbar, Wedge, or like literally anybody else form the Rebellion forget to tell him that? Big yikes.

IMO, feeling “misunderstood and neglected by his parents” isn’t a valid excuse for him to kill his own dad and being ok with his mom getting bombed to hell. Idk, you can ask why it’s ok for us to forgive Vader through his redemption arc but I think comparing his experiences to Kylo’s is like comparing apples to oranges. Vader was a BAD guy, but he ended up doing the ultimate GOOD thing in the end, and then the prequels fleshed out how he became bad intangible way, which to be fair, Kylo doesn’t have. But still, this is why most fans don’t take him seriously.

About the Jedi not being good- I challenge your credentials. “For a thousand generations the Jedi knights have been the guardians of peace and justice for the Old Republic”, then they were hunted down and everything turned to shit. And both in this canon and the previous one, it’s wildly considered that the few thousand years preceded the events of the movies things were super peaceful all things considered when the Jedi were in charge…and the Sith traditionally only operates in agents of 2. So how come everything was so peaceful for a thousand generations when there were a million Jedi and 2 Sith…ying yang in this case is bollocks.

And if Kylo really wants to “Start fresh”, why’d he start by becoming Supreme Leader of like the Star Wars version of ISIS? This is something we’ll need to find out in this next movie. I agree, his motive is to dismantle the Jedi and Sith way and create something else entirely, but the second Rey says “nah” he goes back to how he was. It’s not looking good.

The George Lucas rhyme thing lets not forget he’s talking about Episode 1 which was arguably one of the worst Star Wars movies made and he ended it with “hopefully it’ll work” and then grimaces…IDK bud lmao. And I doubt back in 1977 he knew there was going to be an episode 9 because he didn’t even know what he just made was Episode 4! It definitely was never a 9 episode arc from the get-go. Now, I know for certain after the prequels he had another trilogy in mind, and when he sold the rights to Disney he did hand them his drafts and notes, but even Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, admitted in his new book, they didn’t follow those drafts AT ALL. LIKE NOTHING. And he said that George felt betrayed. This idea of a new trilogy is something that was created in 2012, but I suspect they have been making this up as they went. After this last movie, Disney scrambled to get JJ Abrams back and figure out how they were going to get everything back on track. Daisy Ridley herself said JJ wrote a story for each of the 3 new movies, but Rian ended up created his own completely. I think that alone shows that production for these movies has been inconsistent, I don’t buy this was all part of some 9 series plan with a definitive beginning, middle, and end from the get-go.

Not sure what Rey’s lineage is, we’ll find out for sure in this next movie. I read one theory that Palpatine created her sorta through the force like many people think he did with Anakin.

So that was what I was up against.

Let’s take a brief moment to appreciate this:

Okay now that that is done...great. 

My turn! 

Now, I wrote my response (copied below) at top speed in about an hour, so maybe some of the things I say start sounding rushed or not as fleshed out as they should be. But I cracked my knuckles and gave it a go:

I am the first one to advocate for a film to have the ability to ‘stand-alone’ in any particular universe, whether it be Marvel, DC, Hunger Games, and Star Wars. By introducing a backstory for Leia’s pregnancy and hers and Han’s marriage in ‘Bloodline’, LucasFilm is doing just that: giving a backstory. In both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, there is proof that Snoke is the one pulling the strings when it comes to young solo. In the first film, Leia is quoted saying to Han, “There’s still light in him I know it! No. It was Snoke. He seduced our son to the dark side”, and in the second film Luke is quoted as saying, “Snoke had already turned his heart”. It is made apparent that ‘Kylo Ren’ is the production of Snoke, and Ren suffers abuse both mental and physical from his master. Though this changes when Kylo finally becomes free of the shackles Snoke once had on him when Ren slices him in half. The look of shock and release on Ren’s face when he realizes what he’s done says it all. Who are we to judge someone who is freshly out of the control of their captor? By just watching the films it is clear that Kylo Ren is not fully in control of his actions and he is being manipulated consistently as shown by the quotes above. When having that manipulation in conjunction with the neglect of a parental figure, then you get the full-blown reality that is Kylo Ren.

Feeling “misunderstood and neglected by his parents” is a valid excuse for turning to the Darkside in the world of a fictional fairy tale. Keep in mind we are not in a reality where this is okay, yet the world in which Star Wars exists allows such things to be redeemable and explainable. Take for example when Padme knew about Anakin killing younglings; she wanted him to still come home because she ‘loved’ him. If he had turned back to the light at that moment she would have most likely accepted him back. It is a danger of the force. They are not dealing with everyday normal emotions; the force, as well as the genre of the franchise, creates a heightened sense of urgency which is apparent throughout the forty-plus years Star Wars has been around (hell, as long as any fairy tale has been around). When you point out that Vader did the ultimate good thing in the end, do you mean to save his son and push Palpatine down a duct? If so, then this would be his redemption which occurred in the last of the original trilogies. If you are to treat Kylo with the same rules as Vader, then we must give him a chance to ‘do the right thing’, something which the filmmakers have been steadily building his character-arc for. Vader did numbers ‘wrong’ things, some of them much worse than Kylo has done. But yet the audience still chose to respect him, even before the prequels which fleshed out the story of Anakin Skywalker.

Now, you may be correct in that Ben Solo knew of Vader’s redemption, and I misspoke, to which I am sorry. He, in fact, learned of his heritage when he was training with Luke at his academy when he received a letter from his mother. The contents of the letter are unknown, though it is assumed she told him of his heritage when he was in his late teens. This was only because one of her rivals she was campaigning against in the senate threatened to leak the knowledge to the public that Leia was the daughter of the infamous Darth Vader. Ben had no idea before-hand though, so once again we assume that this had some type of impact. Imagine finding out your grandfather was Hitler. Would that be fun? But, since we addressed the fact that external material should not need to be consumed in order for a film to make sense, then we should disregard any idea as to how Ben Solo came to learn of his heritage. It is not mentioned in the films, but it is a widely held belief by many in the fandom that if Kylo Ren knew of his grandfathers’ redemption then he merely took this as a lapse in judgment in his late years (especially since it is hinted to in the films that Ren is speaking to someone via the Vader mask). Perhaps said mask has been telling Ren lies in lieu of the true story of the redemption. But that is speculation. What is not speculation is the line Ren utters in The Force Awakens, “Forgive me. I feel it again... The pull to the light... Supreme Leader senses it. Show me again... The power of the darkness... And I'll let nothing stand in our way... Show me... Grandfather... and I will finish... what you started.” What we can tell from the film is that Ren is in a constant struggle to stay within the dark, and through his words, it is expressed how this warrants forgiveness. The second half of the statement is even more worrying in the fact that Ren says ‘show me again’, referencing a previous time this ‘Vader’ has shown him what the darkness entails. Will we find out in episode nine if there was an imposter (Palpatine?) feeding more lies and brainwashing to Kylo Ren? That means not only was he getting terrible treatment from Snoke, but from his ‘grandfather’ as well. Perhaps this is why in the final trailer for episode nine we see Rey and Ren destroying said helmet. Until the film comes out, this will still be a mystery.

In coming to why I believe the Jedi are bad, I side with Luke Skywalker on this one. As he says in The Last Jedi, “ At the height of their powers, they allowed Darth Sidious to rise, create the Empire, and wipe them out. It was a Jedi Master who was responsible for the training and creation of Darth Vader.” To that, Rey points out that it was also a Jedi who saved him. Which is true! Yet, the rules surrounding the Jedi order are such that allowed for Anakin to search elsewhere for support. True, he was very conflicted, but the Jedi are so extreme that they do not welcome outside opinions or thinking. You are either all light or you’re bad. There is no intermediary. That is why the answer is grey Jedi. I know those exist, and what needs to happen is a yin and yang between the light and the dark. Working together fosters acceptance and love within the galaxy. Even the symbol in the pool of the Jedi Temple in which Luke tucked himself away had a figure in a yin and yang pattern. “Powerful light and powerful dark...a balance”. Yet, any dark whatsoever that the Jedi see they stamp out.

When Anakin says, “If you’re not with me, then you’re against me”, Obi-wan responds with, “Only sith think in absolutes!”. Well, can you see the issue there? Obi-wan is also thinking in absolute. Using the word only further segmented and cast aside Anakin, by labeling him a lost cause. Such a similar thing happened with Kylo Ren and the incident with Luke at the Jedi Academy. The momentary lapse which Luke expressed to Rey was the tipping point. In Ren’s eyes, even his Master saw him beyond saving. And since everyone around him insists on thinking in absolute, then he must be bad according to them, right?

Slowly, Ren is beginning to realize there is another way, something not presently defined within the Star Wars universe. It is not Sith, it is not Jedi, it is not the First Order: it is the ‘new order’ which he proposes to Rey. Yet, he is not ready for redemption yet. The entire point of the scene was for Rey to realize that Kylo Ren cannot be saved by anyone but himself. This is a very powerful message and I am quite looking forward to seeing how his self-realization occurs in Episode Nine. Now, keep in mind that he had banked everything on Rey saying yes, and in his mind, she is “Still. Holding. ON!”, which she is, and he is right that it is holding her back. How can you expect someone from a family of yelling, angry people to get it right the first time? In fact, Adam Driver had to ask Rian Johnson if Kylo Ren had ever kissed a girl before. Kylo is not experienced in this ‘love’ world. He did not receive much love language from his absentee parents, so the only relationship he’s known for most of his teen and adult life is that of Snoke and General Hux. At that moment in which he wakes up to realize she is gone is one of abandonment and rejection. He thought he had found his match, the answer to his loneliness, and she snapped his lightsaber in two. He is basically throwing a grownup temper-tantrum, which is blatantly apparent in the standoff with Luke. When Kylo threatens everything, even ‘destroying’ Rey, Luke claims that everything Kylo says is “a lie”. It is clear in the last few moments of the film when Kylo is defeated and on his knees holding his father’s die that the audience begins to realize his anger was all a facade. In that shot, he is merely a lost and lonely boy realising the path he has chosen is wrong. The final force-bond between Kylo and Rey exhibits every one of those notions. There is no anger in his face, not very ‘destroy-ee’ of him, and he looks up with her with an almost longing. But when she sternly shuts the door on him, once again he is left alone, the die slowly fading from his gloved hand.

If that doesn’t sound like poetry then I don’t know what is! George Lucas was quoted saying in the behind the scenes of the prequels, “You see the echo of where it all is gonna go. It’s like poetry, sort of. They rhyme.” Similar themes and sequences occur within the franchise, and they have kept that alive at Disney Lucas Films, especially in regards to the parallels drawn between Anakin/Padme and Kylo/Rey. They even designed their respective costumes in a similar fashion. Kylo has his mother and father’s anger and stubbornness. They had a rough idea of where it was all going to go. And in regards to JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson, JJ Abrams was an executive producer on Episode 8 and had a say in the general outline of the plot. JJ had set up the relationship between Kylo and Rey in The Force Awakens, and Rian continued along that path. He followed the skeleton needed to get the plot from 7-9. But think about it, Disney would not allow Rian to just veer off the path completely. Yes he had some creative license but within parameters. Sometimes I don’t think people understand the workings of a large corporation with creative decisions. On a project like Star Wars there is always input from the higher-ups. In addition, JJ Abrams auditioned potential Kylo Ren actors with the script from Pride and Prejudice (Mr. Darcy of course). This is made clear in the writing decisions and parallels which have been made for that particular character.

Lastly, would you really want George Lucas at the helm of this new trilogy? People thought the prequels were terrible and Lucas went back and digitally altered the originals against the will of fans. He is not technically the best when it comes to scriptwriting (Exhibit A: “I hate sand, it gets everywhere!”) Also, Mark Hamill was interviewed in the early ’00s and said, "You know, when I first did this, it was four trilogies. 12 movies! And out on the desert, any time between setups...lots of free time. And George was talking about this whole thing. I said, 'Why are you starting with IV, V and VI? It's crazy.' [Imitating Lucas grumble,] 'It's the most commercial section of the movie.'” Yes, the first film was a stand-alone, since they had no idea they would receive any further funding. But then the immense success allowed for Lucas to develop the franchise further.

What I think people tend to forget is that Star Wars is a fairy tale, and it is not supposed to be about ‘a mass murder’ who is going to jail. It is supposed to be about redemption at its very heart. George Lucus had expressed that he intended Star Wars as a series for “twelve-year-olds”. This explains things like Jar Jar Binks and other bizarre choices he has made as a creator. Though this explains a lot of why most of the people who hate the franchise now are angry adults online who live in an overly politically correct world judging a fictional character who is in the middle of a character arc. As JJ Abrams had said in the director's commentary of The Force Awakens, “We looked at it like […] a fairy tale. What are the elements that you’re going to see that makes it this genre, this specific genre? […] You’re probably going to have a castle, and a prince and a princess, if you’re looking at a fairy tale. We wanted to give these fundamental, not cosmetic, but prerequisite elements.”

Okay, I’ve talked too much. I am going to end it there for now. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

Haha hope that was entertaining and that sparked some thinking and inspiration. I know I let my keyboard run away from me and please excuse the odd typo from time to time. Let me know your thoughts.

I mean just look at that beautiful man.

Love you all!

[the-paris-of-people]

THE GOOD PLACE SEASON 3 SHIT POST

Alright! Well the first half (or more than half) of The Good Place, Season 3 has officially aired and let me tell you, I have OPINIONS! about what I liked, what I didn’t like, and what I’m excited for/expecting in the episodes to come. I’m going to put this under a cut because it’s hella long so get ready for it! 

I’m going to start first by examining each member of Team Cockroach, character journey by character journey, and pinpointing what I liked, what I didn’t like, etc.! Also I’m going to try to refrain from screaming about Cheleanor in this post. We all know I love them a lot and there are other aspects about the show that I love and don’t post enough about! 

ELEANOR 

What I liked: 

I absolutely adored her close relationships with Simone and Tahani this season (YAY female friendships!) and I hope their connections continue to deepen throughout the series 

Her breakdown at Tahani’s engagement party was one of my favorite moments- I thought it was so realistic and human and lovely to have her relapsing and to deliver such a heartfelt apology really showed how she had grown in a different way than she did in the afterlife 

What I didn’t like: 

I thought the show focused too much on her character journey this season and not enough on the journeys of Jason, Tahani, and Chidi. I thought the episodes of “A Fractured Inheritance” and “The Worst Possible Use of Free Will” didn’t really add anything to her story that we didn’t know- they only confirmed what we saw previously. Like alright! We get it! She hates being vulnerable! I wish we could’ve known more about her previous relationships (romantic and otherwise) just for a more fair comparison of her relationships to Team Cockroach 

To be honest... her clothes this season. I thought her style in the flashbacks was more “Arizona trashbag” and wackier and more fun. I also don’t understand why she was wearing jeans so much? Like isn’t Australia really hot? 

What I wish for them in the future: 

For her to finally be happy with Chidi, to navigate all the ups and downs of being in a committed relationship

Now that she and Chidi are happy also, I would love to see more of her relationships with Tahani, Jason, and Janet (and Michael too! but they did already spend time together a lot this season) 

SPEARHEADING THE MOVEMENT FOR A MORE FAIR POINT SYSTEM IN THE AFTERLIFE WITH MICHAEL. LIKE YOU GO GIRL, YOU DE FACTO LEADER! 

CHIDI 

What I liked: 

I really enjoyed seeing Chidi in a committed relationship with Simone (seeing his hand around her shoulder in “The Snowplow” made me swoon!) and I think he grew a lot from it and (like he said) developed a lot professionally and personally. It made me proud to see him step outside his realm of comfort (philosophy) and toy with neuroscience, a subject which he is totally unfamiliar with (Did I think the study was a good idea? Ummmm that’s a completely different topic!) 

He loosened up and became less rigid, from not caring so much about being fired from the university to being excited about having a drink with his friends to abandoning rules, the very thing he always clings to for a structured society, and playing Jacksonville-style pool with his buddy Jason 

SHIRTLESSSSSSSSS CHIDIIIIIIIIIIIII HOLY FUCK 

Seeing his life in Everything is Bonzer! I really enjoyed seeing the university he worked at and spent most of his time, meeting with his colleagues and friends Simone and Henry, visiting Henry in the hospital and bringing him blueberry muffins, freaking out in the library, going to a cafe to break up with his girlfriend. None of it surprised me really but it was just nice to see his life outside of the neighborhood. 

I liked seeing Tahani and Chidi bond, even for a short while, in A Fractured Inheritance because they haven’t interacted in two seasons and I love these two highly educated sophisticates! 

What I didn’t like: 

How he went from 0 to 100 in regards to his feelings for Eleanor? I mentioned my feelings in this post but yeah... I just don’t get how he was able to leave Simone behind so quickly when he was lingering on his feelings for her even after he learned the truth about his fate 

Why the fuck did he wear so many sweater vests this season? I loved his button down shirts, short-sleeved, in the afterlife because they highlighted his chest/arms. SHED THE SWEATER VESTS 2K19!! 

What I wish for them in the future:

Again, HAPPINESS WITH ELEANOR! I’M READY FOR THE GOOEYNESS! 

To address the gap between the Chidi/Simone, Chidi/Eleanor relationships 

I want this more for Chidi than for Eleanor, but I REALLY REALLY REALLY want Chidi to become closer with Jason and Tahani. They have such wonderful relationships and they aren’t explored enough! I’m hoping now that he and Eleanor are finally settled in, he can form deeper connections with them. I also barely know anything about his relationships with the Tahani and Jason because he barely interacted with them in the Snowplow? 

TAHANI 

What I liked: 

I loved that she went about giving her money away because she WANTED to, rather than needed to for validation, in Jeremy Bearimy. She had genuine desire to become a good person and to hand her money over to people who needed it (like Jason). 

Also, even though I am not a fan of A Fractured Inheritance, I did really like that Tahani wanted to make up with her sister out of the goodness of her heart and that she expressed sympathy for Kamilah (even though Kamilah didn’t necessarily deserve it) It really showed how loving Tahani truly is 

Her reactions to Jason’s life in The Ballad of Donkey Doug... absolute golden 

In general, I adored her relationships with Jason and Eleanor this season. She has such strong friendships with both of them, and I wish we saw that level of bonding in Chidi’s relationships, too! 

What I didn’t like: 

I hate to say it, but most of the jokes for Tahani were kind of stale for me this season (I don’t think this is due to Jameela at all, but more the writing?) Though she KILLED it as a centaur! 

What the fuck was the point of Larry Hemsworth? Also, stop trying to make Jason/Tahani a thing. Also, STOP GIVING TAHANI MALE LOVE INTERESTS! SHE’S A LESBIAN.   L E S B I A N!!

What I wish for them in the future:

I really want Tahani to have more screen time because IMO she doesn’t have enough and she’s such a wonderful and relatable character. I hope she finds a role for herself in the afterlife system and creates a satisfying career for herself (WHICH I WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING) Honestly, at this point in the series, I’m not really rooting for Tahani to have a love interest because I think she could have a kickass self-journey first. Go Tahani! 

JASON 

What I liked:

I think the writers did the best job at depicting Jason’s life on Earth, probably because his Soul Squad adventure was in his natural environment/home turf. I loved his relationships with Pillboi and Donkey Doug, watching him work so that they became better people, and more than that, I ended up adoring and rooting for Pillboi and Donkey Doug in the process. I still am! Hi guys!

SEEING DANCE DANCE RESOLUTION! I think watching Jason lead his dance crew and ponder a deeper meaning to life showed a new depth to his character and also excellently highlighted his most positive qualities. I thought the humor in his Everything is Bonzer! storyline was my favorite and perfectly in line with who he was.

His two moments interacting with Simone were frigging golden and I wish there was more of that friendship (although Simone is more like his mom... yikes LOL) 

His friendship with Tahani. I mentioned it earlier but it really warmed my heart and I’m happy they are so close!

I actually loved his Earth clothes and getting a sense of his regular style, especially his jackets!

What I didn’t like:

Not much honestly. I liked Jason a lot this season!

What I wish for them in the future:

Reunited with Pillboi

A RELATIONSHIP WITH JANET PLEASE PLEASE PLEASEEEEEE

Again he’s a mixed bag, so we’ll see, but to reiterate I would love a Chidi/Jason friendship! 

JANET

What I liked:

Everything about that Janet(s) episode. I mean that was more D’Arcy but still, I adore that Janet(s) got her moment to shine because I thought she was underutilized this season (and now I see why, she was working hard filming this episode!)

Her adoration of Jason GETS ME! and I hated (and loved) how she admired him from afar

God. Her friendship with Michael I liked but didn’t pay much attention to but now I care about so much it’s now one of my favorite relationships on the show and it makes me well up thinking about how much time they’ve spent together. I can’t wait them to have more adventures together! I also liked how she was more rational when Michael was going nuts with his ideas of how to keep the humans together.

Seeing her develop new abilities like lying, throwing shade, kicking ass, etc. I’m so freaking proud of how far she’s come!

Releasing her queue in front of the judge so she and Michael could escape to Earth. GO JANET!

What I didn’t like:

Again, I thought Janet was underutilized and now I see why!

Sometimes I am ??? about some of her gaps in knowledge since she is supposed to know everything (like wouldn’t she have known no one’s gotten into The Good Place in 521 years?) but eh, that’s the show’s fault, not hers

What I wish for them in the future:

LET!!! HER!!! DATE!! JASON!!!

MICHAEL

What I liked:

His love for the humans truly touches me and I was astounded by the lengths he was willing to go to protect him.

I thought he was really funny this season, especially with the Dick Tracy joke!

His way of explaining the humans’ history in the afterlife (JEREMY BEARIMYYY) with all the whiteboards 

What I didn’t like:

Again, too much time bonding with Eleanor and not enough with the other humans!

Not treating Janet like an equal! GIVE HER WHAT SHE DESERVES!! ACKNOWLEDGE SHE KICKED THOSE DEMON ASSES NOT YOU!

What I wish for them in the future:

I’m so freaking excited to see him take charge of the point system! The last episode really got me pumped up for this reformed demon and I’m PSYCHED to see what’s to come!

Favorite moments of the season (Non-Cheleanor related, because I feel like that’s a given): 

Pillboi and Jason’s handshake

The reveal that Donkey Doug is Jason’s dad 

Eleanor’s breakdown at the engagement party

Eleanor forcing Chidi to ask Simone out

Eleanor pretending to be Simone 

Simone talking to Eleanor after her breakdown 

Chidi and Simone’s first meeting (I FREAKING LOVE IT! You’re so weird!)

Eleanor and Simone in the cafe  

Just anything with Simone really I’m in love with her 

The scene where Jason was lecturing DDR to give everything they got (Little Peanut: Now we can legally rob their houses LOL) 

Eleanor-Janet pretending to be Jason-Janet

PEEPS IN THE CHILI POT

Confrontation with the judge at the end of “The Brainy Bunch”

The fight inside the bar in Canada

The snail funeral for Martin Luther Gandhi Tyler Moore

Favorite episodes of the season: 

Janet(s)

The Ballad of Donkey Doug

Everything is Bonzer!

The Brainy Bunch

Jeremy Bearimy

Least favorite episodes of the season:

A Fractured Inheritance (that episode can choke) 

The Snowplow

Predictions about The Good Place in the future: 

Okay I feel like since no one’s gotten in in 500+ years, The Good Place must be incredibly outdated and therefore, not at all that great? Like it’s probably not up to speed technologically (in terms of the Janets, too) and everyone there is too old-fashioned/too goodie-two-shoes and it’s up to the gang to diversify and modernize it. 

I think Mike Schur mentioned something about how children are more likely to go to The Good Place since they have less time to collect negative point values, so I bet the place is crawling with kids? (If I can find the interview I will reference it!) 

I made a post awhile back about how William Jackson Harper in an interview said that Chidi would try to touch base/save someone from his past (Again I will reference once I dig through my posts)... my theory now that they’re back in the afterlife is that he is going to try to save his grandma! Will Eleanor meet his grandma? OMG will his grandma show Eleanor baby photos of Chidi? (This is just me launching into fanfic territory don’t mind meeeeee) 

What I want to happen in general/ what I want to know more about: 

What the fuck happened with Uzo? Like he was not even mentioned at all in season 3? Isn’t he Chidi’s best friend? 

WILL SIMONE EVER COME BACK I FUCKING MISS HER 

MINDY!! PLEASE!! COME!! BACK!! 

THE DEMONS! I NEED MORE OF THE DEMONS SHAWN VICKY GLENN ETCCCCCCCC

Anyway, this has concluded my ultra long shit post after the December 6th episode. Hopefully you enjoyed reading this and please let me know if you share the same thoughts or if you disagree! Ohhhh and I would love to hear your predictions too! Thanks so much if you got this far <3 

Tagging: @cheleanorwhore @dearestpartnerofgreatness @helianthus21 @montygreen @chidi-anagonye

[unexpectedreylo]

Spoilerific Thoughts On “Solo”

Rosé All Day In The GFFA!

As of writing, I’ve seen the movie twice and I really enjoyed it both times.   Forget those tales of a troubled production; Ron Howard made a solidly entertaining, fun film with lots of goodies and surprises for fans of most stripes.

“Solo” is basically a heist movie and a Marvel-esque origin story at the same time.  When we meet Everyone’s Favorite Smuggler, he’s a runaway living in Corellia’s dark and filthy underworld hoping for the big score to get him and his girlfriend Qi’ra away from their Fagin-like “master.”   We march through Han’s escape from Corellia, how he ended up with his last name, his abrupt and necessary decision to go to the Imperial Academy, his time as an Imperial officer, his first meeting with Chewbacca, and his re-entry into the galaxy’s underworld with his mentor, Tobias Beckett.  We witness his first meeting with Lando Calrissian and finding the love of his life, at least the one that isn’t a breathing person, the Millennium Falcon.  The famous sabacc game?  It’s there.  So’s the legendary Kessel Run.  All of the while, Han’s penchant for trouble and not listening to anyone but himself puts him in danger over and over.  It’s all great character development and enjoyable to watch.  But there’s more!  In “Solo,” we see the gray and topsy-turvy world of the galaxy’s criminal class.  Sometimes it appears glamorous and beautiful, sometimes it looks just like what it is:  dirty and awful.  The good turns out to be bad and the bad turns out to be good.  All of the while, Beckett reminds Han never to trust anyone.

So, you might ask, what did you think of Alden Ehrenreich?  Alden was in the same crappy position that Chris Pine was in while playing Captain Kirk in the more recent Star Trek films; it’s very difficult to step into a very famous role played by a very famous actor.  Ewan McGregor had a similar problem but because he played Obi-Wan decades younger, it gave him a lot more wiggle room to define the character himself while making it credible he and Alec Guinness were playing the same guy.  Ehrenreich and Pine were playing their respective roles less than 20 years younger than their more legendary incarnations.  That’s tough.  I’m certain some people are blowing off this film simply because they can’t accept someone else playing Han Solo.  The other side of that coin is it’s precarious in HOW you play the character.  Take on too much of Ford’s affectations, it looks like an impersonation, one that could descend into parody fast.  Completely ignore them and people won’t connect that it’s Han Solo at all.  Now, Ehrenreich doesn’t really look much like Ford.  He’s shorter, his nose is smaller, the whole shape of his face is different.  There’s only a bit of resemblance around the eyes and the makeup people thoughtfully added Ford’s chin scar.  It’s a little jarring when you realize that eventual son Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) really does look related to Ford while Ehrenreich looks like neither one of them.  My mom the movie critic, who saw the movie with me and my brother the first time, thought Ehrenreich is actually better-looking than Ford.  But (and there’s always a but) attitude can make up for a lack of resemblance.  More on that in a second.  For what it’s worth, Ehrenreich does have the right attitude.  It’s like seeing a more boyish Han, one who gets by on b.s. and bluster, who’s a tiny bit full of himself, and who hasn’t experienced a decade’s worth of betrayals yet to come and other things that made him far more world-weary in ANH.  This Han is charming and self-assured, a cinnamon roll whose circumstances define him but won’t defeat him and turn him into well, Qi’ra.  From this movie, it’s easy to see why he was drawn to Rey in TFA.  He saw a lot of himself in her.

Everyone does a pretty bang up job in the film performance-wise.  I have to say Donald Glover absolutely kills it as Lando.  Glover doesn’t really look like Billy Dee Williams but he’s got the Lando-ness down perfectly:  the smoothness, the vague sleaziness, the flair for fashion, and all around cool.  He even nailed Williams’s way of speaking without making it an impersonation.  Glover has so much charisma in the part, I really wouldn’t mind seeing him again in his own adventure.  Woody Harrelson was an excellent fit as Beckett.  Harrelson brings his own charisma and worldliness as the father figure who initiates Han into the life that as prophesized, he never got out of.  Casting him was a great idea.  Also worthy of mention is Phoebe Waller-Bridge as L3-37, or simply “L3.”  Funny and sassy, you’ll be touched by her short time onscreen.  And the mysterious Enfys Nest (Erin Kellyman) who turns out to be not quite what we thought.

The surprise in this turned out to be Emilia Clarke as Qi’ra.  Of all the new characters, she’s easily the most fascinating.  She’s beautiful, smart, resourceful, and tough but also a bit of a femme fatale.  She has a heart but she’s also hungry and hell bent on not ending up a Corellian street rat again.   She is what Han could have been with a few degrees of difference in his personality or more time spent a virtual slave on Corellia, what Rey could have been had she decided to trade on her looks and feminine wiles for material security from crime bosses.  The interesting thing about her is she clearly cares about Han.  I don’t know if she loves him per se but she does care about him enough to know she has to protect him from her.  She’s sort of like that old Amy Winehouse song, “You Know I’m No Good.” Paul Bettany’s character and Beckett both warn Han that he doesn’t know her as well as he thinks he does and that she’s done some pretty bad things.  We know for sure she allied herself with a crime syndicate that has committed atrocities and well, we find out toward the end how far her darkness extends.  She accepts Han’s affections but to a point.  Why?  She knows they can’t get attached.  At the end, when she splits in the mobile Crimson Dawn HQ, it seems to parallel the last Force bond seen in TLJ.  In TLJ, Rey has to do it for her own sake as well as Kylo’s.  In this movie, Qi’ra does it for Han’s own good.  The more he’s kept away from this stuff the better, not so much IMO she fears that lifestyle would destroy him as she realizes at some point her knife has to go between Han’s shoulder blades if he keeps hanging around.

Poor Han.  Not only can the guy never escape trouble, he’s constantly faced with betrayal throughout his life, which it is easy to see why he leans so much on Chewie.  Say what you will about Chewbacca, but he’s the one of the very few beings who never lets Han down.  Sadder yet are the implications of Han’s upbringing and his relationships with authority/father figures.  In one conversation with Lando, Han mentions his blue collar dad that he wasn’t close to.  Who knows what THAT relationship was like?  Han tells his Imperial recruitment officer that he “has no people,” so the officer christens him Solo.  (For all we know, Han’s real last name is Wallbanger or Horowitz or Seymour-Butts.)  Why Han was on the streets is still a mystery.  Did Han simply run away from home?  Was it disagreement and butting heads or was there severe dysfunction, i.e. addiction, abuse, neglect?  Did Han do something to the old man?  We don’t know and it’s not like Han to tell.  Han takes to Beckett as a surrogate father figure who of course betrays him.  Another fascinating and tragic parallel takes place near the end of the movie.  Most people pay attention more to the “Han shot first” aspect of it rather than how this scene predicts Han’s eventual fate in TFA.  Han kills his father figure just as his own son will eventually kill him.  Han of course was acting in self-defense but it’s tragic all the same.  Han’s family situation also predicts the struggles he has in his relationship with Ben Solo.  In this context it makes sense that a man who had no idea what a dad is like would struggle to be one himself, especially since he’s almost or at middle age when it finally happens.

Another thing to love about “Solo” is its careful attention to the mythos.  The film has the style and feel of Brian Daley’s novels from back in the day, while much of Han’s backstory, known to Star Wars lore fans for decades, is in here.  Moreover, elements from the expanded universe, video games, The Clone Wars, and the prequels are brought in to great effect.  Teras Kasi?  Glee Anselm?  The Maw?  Carrida?  Aurra Sing’s fate? Colo claw fish roe as an appetizer?  It’s all in here!

I will say this:  DARTH MAUL’S SHOCK CAMEO GIVES ME LIFE!!!

I blurted out, “What the hell?!”  when he turned up at the end of the film.  (I also had to explain to my brother, who had never seen The Clone Wars or Rebels, why Maul was still alive.)  A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.  That Qi’ra is working for him has a whole host of implications for her and possibilities for Maul to return in other Star Wars canon.  And yes, that’s Ray Park reprising his role and Sam Witwer voicing him.

“Solo”’s score is pretty good, a mix of original and unique music and John Williams’s classic scores.  Listen for some fun callbacks like “Asteroid Chase” from TESB.

Like “Rogue One,” “Solo” is a smaller movie than the bigger, sweeping main saga flicks.  It doesn’t have TLJ’s artistic ambitions or haunting quality.  But there’s room for a movie that’s pure fun with a few more layers than expected.

[mazqueen]

I’ve seen a handful of posts/some replies to me/etc explaining why people think she’s a lesbian and not bisexual, but I haven’t really seen anyone talk about why Petra is bisexual and not a lesbian even though I see a lot of people who do think she’s bi, like I do. So I’ve volunteered to do the honors because I have a lot of feelings about Petra Solano and I have no life. And obviously I’m not claiming I’m right, or anyone is wrong? But this is really just the way I see it, how I feel about it.

I’ll start from an outside perspective and why I think Petra as bisexual is important: bi visibility.

We already have three confirmed lesbians in canon. Rose, Luisa and Krishna. All of whom have been around throughout seasons despite not being regulars. Granted, so far it’s been poor representation overall but regardless of how they’re written, they’re there. People are pretty much assuming JR is also a lesbian. I don’t know if this is something they’ll confirm but regardless. So I’m thinking what are the chances the writers would add another lesbian onto the list when bisexual is a very clear (and for me makes more sense) option for Petra? Plus they’d have to re-explain Petra’s past with men both romantically and sexually into something less than what it’s been already canonically portrayed in order for them to portray her as a lesbian. I don’t know how they’d do that without veering into bi erasure because that’s certainly how it’s going to feel for me and I’ll get into that more later when I talk about why I think Petra being bisexual fits her story within JTV’s narrative.

The only bi character we’ve had is Adam, who is not a main/recurring over a long span of time the way Rose, Luisa and Krishna are. I’ve seen/talked to some people suggesting the episode was also in some way a precursor to Petra’s biwakening. They knew they were going toward that direction with Petra’s character, so they inserted Adam correcting misassumptions including and specifically focusing on: that bisexuality isn’t a pitstop to being gay. I initially felt the timing of Adam’s departure was insulting, given he left not two seconds after it was revealed he’s bi, but if it’s true that the episode was at the same time a precursor to what’s happening with Petra right now, everything actually kind of fits into place. This way they can tell Petra’s story with hopefully the chunk of misinformed audiences’ misconceptions about bisexuality already corrected as well, and it makes sense for it to have been Adam and not Petra do so especially because Adam will have had time to understand this more than Petra would at the place she’s at right now. He’s definitely in a better position than Petra to clarify bi misconceptions since this would be new territory for Petra that she’s only starting to explore and might not have a full understanding of yet.

(Also mildly significant, Gina Rodriguez retweeted bisexual Petra and while that isn’t an official confirmation, they’re filmed up to 4x13 by now soooo… she knows more than we do, there’s that to consider.)

Petra as bisexual would be such a good representation. Petra as a lesbian would be good representation for lesbians but personally, I feel would deadass be horrible for bisexuals especially the bi erasure that would happen, imo, which is already such a problem for bi’s to begin with. So I don’t see how that could possibly end well.

Now, I’ll talk about why apart from being good bi representation, I also think bisexuality fits into Petra’s narrative and doesn’t clash with what’s already canon as opposed to her being a lesbian.

I’ve seen some suggest Petra’s a closeted lesbian. Closeted suggests she’s aware, but that she’s keeping her sexuality a secret. I don’t think this is the case because first, Petra doesn’t strike me as the type to hide something like that and deny herself. In the last episode, she tells Jane in one of her voice memos that if you want something, you go get it or something similar. I can see her being in denial over a short amount of time at best, or confused. But denying herself for a long period of time? Not very Petra-like for me. Second, and I suppose more significantly. The narrator said ‘sexual awakening’ in the last episode after she woke up from her JR dream, confirming that it was… well, an awakening. Which means she wasn’t aware she was attracted to women before. That’s already canon, confirmed.

Moving from that, I’ve seen a few others suggest she’s a lesbian because of her problematic relationships with men in the past. And while I know this has been the experience of some and that’s valid, in Petra’s situation in particular, I truly feel that her unhealthy/problematic relationships have more to do with (1) who and how Petra is and how she treats people in general and/or (2) her being gullible and her inability to judge people whether they’re good or bad / their intentions, etc in general (not just people she’s dated) rather than the gender of the people she’s dated. Why? Because Petra doesn’t only have problematic romantic relationships with men. Petra has had problematic relationships with literally every single person at one point or another in every aspect of her life (familial, platonic, romantic) so far, save for the twins.

This is a list of all the people in or have been Petra’s life that we’ve seen her interact with: Magda, Milos, Lachlan, Rafael, Roman, Jane, Chuck, Krishna, Anezka, Luisa, JR.

Let’s start with Magda. Her mother. That relationship was problematic as hell. Manipulation, lies, death threats, you name it. This is self explanatory and has less to do with Petra and more to do with Magda though I do think her mother is the root cause of a lot of her problematic ways because she played such a huge role in Petra’s development as a child. This problematic relationship lasted because Magda’s been lying for her for years and she had no clue. Because as I’ve mentioned before, Petra can be very gullible when it comes to people. She likes to think she’s a good judge of character but she’s honestly just… not. Take a look at Milos (turned out to be an abusive pos), Lachlan (she believed him in s1 and thought she was playing him, turns out he played her), Roman (turned out to be a kidnapper working for Sin Rostro), Chuck (not as bad as the others but still a liar), Anezka (do I even need to get into this), and finally JR (who has been pardoned now and proven herself...so far, but I’m not just gonna ignore the fact that she started out with the intention of framing Petra and Petra totally missed that). These are problematic men and women she let into her life. I’ll reiterate that it’s a common theme for Petra to do so in all aspects of her life, not just in romantic relationships with males.

Krishna, Jane, Rafael and Luisa are all different relationships but I do think all of them fall under problematic relationships in the first category I mentioned : that it has to do with who and how Petra is, the way she acts etc. She doesn’t really treat Krishna well. Luisa… not exactly either. She’s tried to manipulate Luisa several times on the show now. Her relationship with Jane, as much as my Jetra heart hurts to say? Is rocky at best. Petra’s done a lot of shit to Jane, and if Jane wasn’t such a forgiving person they’d never have reached what they are now. And I’d like to point out that what they are now? Uh. Not exactly something I’d describe as healthy either (though less problematic than others yeah). As for Rafael, I’d say this is more both of them contributing to the occasional problematic af nature of their relationship.

Bottomline: Problematic and/or unhealthy relationships for Petra has been, like I said, with LITERALLY every person in her life at one point or another, in all types of relationships she’s had. Not just with men, not just romantically with men. So I can’t attribute her problematic romantic relationships with men to her being a lesbian subconsciously, or unconsciously. If she actually had a healthy relationship in any other aspect with someone? Anyone? Any one person then yeah, I’d consider it. But there isn’t. And the closest we’ve gotten to Petra having a healthy romantic relationship with anyone is with Raf. So let’s talk about that and bi erasure.

Rafael was (is) the most prominent man in her life. Rafael, whom she married. Rafael, whom she fell so deeply in love with, and I do believe that Petra loved him as much as she was capable of, as much as she knew how to, all things, especially her problematic past, considered. Rafael, whom we’ve seen flashbacks of Petra in the happiest we’ve seen her throughout anything we’ve seen on the show so far. (We see her smiling at JR the same way as Raf!) At the very least, in the flashbacks we’ve been given (since s1 gets a bit complicated), I’ve always felt like the love she felt for Rafael was real. Genuine. It never felt forced, it never felt fake. Let me list a few instances that explicitly show Petra’s feelings for Raf were real and not forced, not fake: I remember in s1, she admitted how hard it was to see Rafael and Jane together, building a family. And that was something that she and Rafael were supposed to have. The heartache there was real. When she told Rafael ‘I never stopped loving you.’ That felt real to me. And it wasn’t just me. The narrator confirmed it was real, ‘Turns out, it's easy to give a good performance when what you are saying is actually true.’ Petra, who told Zaz she hasn’t cried since she was a child, Petra who rarely breaks down in front of other people, Petra, who thinks crying would mean embarrassing herself couldn’t help but cry anyway. Even when they were no longer together, and Petra was still lowkey in love with him? I remember she made that one stupid decision about the alcohol license permit because she let her feelings for Rafael get in the way. She caved and let Raf have his way, even though she had nothing to gain from it. A lot of us have done stupid things for love. And there are more but the point is, her romantic relationship with Rafael has always felt real to me.

Petra and Rafael fell apart because of two outside circumstances that they weren’t able to handle as a couple: miscarriage, cancer. Before that? They were happy. Building a family together. But those are huge things for people to go through and they were young. They didn’t know better, I don’t think they knew how to handle things when it came to it. The people giving them advice? Magda, whom we know is trash I mean come on, she basically tells Petra to use sex to her advantage and Luisa, whom I recall was encouraging Raf to leave Petra and be honest (without malice though!) but idk? No one ever tried giving them an advice I feel would be more appropriate for a marriage like: How about they give the relationship a try, actually make an effort and try to make things work. Maybe go to couples therapy. Something, anything that involves at least an attempt at fixing things. Because the fact is they fell apart and they never tried to mend it until 1x02/3 but it was too late by then. Like I said, they didn’t know better. And I think the fact that those two grew up with trash parents also contributes to how they handled problems when they arose. Parents are crucial to a child’s development. But just because they fell apart, doesn’t mean the time that they were happy and in love doesn’t count. They do count. Her relationship, marriage with Rafael, a male, counts. Just because it fell apart, doesn’t mean Petra wasn’t in love with him. I know JTV likes to pretend sometimes that all Petrael ever were was problematic but they weren’t always.There are scenes to prove it. External forces caused them to crumble, yes. After that, it was a roller coaster, yes. But that relationship, the feelings they had, more importantly that Petra had was genuine, romantically, sexually. To say that it isn’t when the narrator has confirmed it was or to lessen it or whatever, personally? is bi erasure to me. And while in s4 Petra realizes Raf isn’t what she wants anymore, it doesn’t change the fact that he was exactly what she wanted in the past. People ARE capable of having real feelings for someone in the past and then moving on. To negate her feelings in the past because she feels differently romantically now, is bi erasure.

…especially when literally in the last episode she talks about her sexual attraction for Raf. So much so that she gets herself worked up : look at her in the scene once she starts talking about sex, you can see how it affects her. That scene was the build up for Petra having that sex dream. Her JR dream was a combination of Petra working herself up with thoughts of how good Raf is in bed along with her attraction to JR she wasn’t fully aware of. Bi.Sexual. It also isn’t the first time they’ve touched on Petra and Raf’s sex life. s3, the narrator thought it was noteworthy they had sex thrice, Raf whispering to Petra about Paris? felt sexual to me too. Petra’s relationship with Roman? Significant in its sexual aspect too. Petra’s sexual attraction to men? Real. As real as her sexual attraction to women. (Briefly bringing up the way Petra looked at Luisa’s boobs early s4, which I now think was put there intentionally.) If Petra having sex with JR in the future turns out to be the most amazing sex she’s had? It doesn’t make her not bisexual. If Petra falls in love with JR and her love is deeper for JR than it was with Raf?  It doesn’t make her not bisexual.

And so yeah. With all of that, if Petra doesn’t turn out to be bisexual in canon? It’ll feel like bi erasure to me. It’s been outrightly conveyed more than once that her feelings, romantic and sexual, for her male partners (not all of them because she was just using some lol) were real. Taking that back to fit a narrative where Petra is a lesbian would feel like rewriting it (and I can see how it can be done, for sure) and would leave loopholes, imo. That’s just me. Anyway, I’ve yet to read other theories that have made me believe otherwise sooo. But until JTV confirms it, it’s hard to conclude anything, really.

[youtiaoshutiao]

gotd season 2 rambles

I finished GOTD two/three weeks back but then was immediately swamped with real life work after that. Finally had time over the weekend to pen down all the thoughts swirling around my head!! I was thinking about whether to make this post or not but no one I know irl has watched this and I kind of want to remember what I felt about the drama so well. Here goes nothing!!

[Though… 慎入！！Beware of entering, for I just finished writing this post and I’m boggled at how utterly long + incoherent + messy this post is]

- I was rather worried about how Jingyao would play into the whole picture marrying into 楚王府. But in the end I guess it wasn’t thaaaaat bad (minus uhm, her poisoning Li Chu to force Zhenzhu to leave.) I can deal with drama like external factors forcing my OTP apart but what I can’t deal with is if the OTP itself fractures apart. So (at least in my pov) even though the director did all that annoying slow-mo spinning around in circles thing with Jingyao, my intepretation of Li Chu’s 眼神 wasn’t one of 动心/暧昧 and instead was just concern/maintaining a distance so I guess I wasn’t that mad about it….???

- OTP~~ OTP!! Jing Tian is so beautiful with her hair down :3

- TBH i enjoyed watching Li Chu and Zhenzhu in the battlefield and all that pining and stuff but I found the way they ended up there kind of… contrived. Though what Jingyao says does have its element of truth, but really?!?! Poisoning?!?! Internal drama?! Couldn’t it have been a more… dramatic reason? Like maybe a political maneuvre making Zhenzhu realise that Li Chu will be ‘burdened’ with her around or smth, then maybe Jingyao coming in to stir the pot, then Zhenzhu making the choice to leave. I just felt that the whole poisoning thing was kind of loophole-y. If Moyan Chou can research and link it back to Jingyao, shouldn’t Li Chu be perfectly capable of doing so too? Yet in those two years he never suspected anything. Though maybe it could be explained by him being too blinded with anger and disappointment at Zhenzhu that he just focused on his princely work in those years rather than sparing any thought on his love life. And I’m not sure how this whole matter ended up being resolved? When Li Chu found out and confronted Zhenzhu about it, she was still all ‘I can’t return back to you because you might come to harm if I break the oath I swore’… But in the end they just kind of ignored it? (after confronting Jingyao). Hm or maybe I missed something hahaha.

- still the whole arc with them on the battlefield/her becoming the Empress of Yan was still quite entertaining hehe. Pining! Fraught looks! Tears! Angst! I must say that Mao Zi Jun was much better in S2 than S1. In S1 his acting just seemed to be glaring and sticking out his eyeballs hahaha. I guess his forte is in all the emotionally charged scenes… Though I still don’t really care for An Qingxu. Also Zhenzhu’s outfit in the Yan empire was quite pretty too :3

- On a really random note, lives if you are not a main character in this drama (though actually who am I kidding… you don’t escape from death being a main character here *coughing fit*) are so worthless. I swear there are people dropping dead like flies in every episode… TBH back in the Uyghur ‘you-killed-my-father-prepare-to-die’ arc of the first season, I kind of couldn’t deal with how so many of Li Chu’s men died along the way of Li Chu searching for Zhenzhu because Li Chu refused to rest/take a chill pill when weather conditions sucked.

- It’s really a pity that they had to resort to excessive greenscreen and body doubles in the last Uyghur arc because it was really quite obvious and kind of affected immersion in the story. I’m guessing Jing Tian couldn’t make it for that filming period? Or maybe they were rushing and had to be split up across filming groups. Like… it was quite jarring to have everyone else in the scene then bam! Switch over to Zhenzhu awkwardly greenscreened in. Or some scenes where it was obvious that Allen wasn’t even interacting with Jingtian but rather a body double.

- Moyan Chou x Li Chu. Ouchhhhhh (especially since cracks kind of appeared in their friendship with Li Chu marrying Dugu and Zhenzhu using Moyan Chou to get a divorce from Li Chu). I’m really impressed by Allen’s acting ;_; like of course he’s still kind of raw in places but like wow there’s a 灵气 to his acting and he is exceptional considering how it’s his second time playing male lead. Of a 92 episode drama, no less. In the scene where Moyan Chou and Li Chu drink together for the last time, his tears just kept on flowing non stop! Idk if anyone who reads this has the same experience of using the cliche phrase ‘他的眼泪像断了线的珍珠纷纷落下’ (his tears flowed down like a broken string of pearls) in chinese compositions in primary school but that’s the first thing that popped to my mind when I saw this scene hahaha.

- anyway, compared to this drama’s standard death bgm 荣耀, it was a nice touch to change it up to 为江山 which fit perfectly with the setting and nature of Moyan Chou’s death. It was pretty goosebump inducing when the music crashed over the speakers as he slumped down and the entire congregation of people at that intersection of stones (?!?!) began kneeling and wailing.

- again props to Jing Tian’s and Allen’s acting. Though Jing Tian wasn’t that consistent in all the crying scenes (though she has so many it’s kind of hard to be hahaha) but i really think they handled the growth and development of their characters quite well. The Zhenzhu and Li Chu you see at the end of s2 are tangibly different from them at the start. Even if they banter with each other, it’s very different in vibes from the early days - more measured and serious. And the change happened quite subtly? imo at least :3 

- personally felt the whole way the showdown with Empress Zhang took place was kind of… anticlimatic… but I guess that’s kind of how it went down in history hahaha oh wells.

- hints of how even though Li Chu became emperor, there’s still trouble looming in the distance with Li Fuguo still maintaining power etc. was kind of disturbed reading real history because the image of Daizong having to pander to eunuchs and all that kind of isn’t really aligned with the capable Li Chu we see in the drama (oh the woes of dramatisation of historical characters - i felt the same reading commentary about 14th prince back in the day after watching/reading bbjx) but i was thinking about it and i realised that i can kind of accept that! because there were quite a few scenes throughout the drama where Li Chu was lamenting about how he feels so helpless because he can’t do anything about the political situation/corruption/etc, how even though he has the acumen to perceive and see what all the parties are doing to procure power for themselves he cannot do anything about it. so taking this aspect of Li Chu into context - how he definitely is smart and capable, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t susceptible or is invincible given how the entire tang court is deeply mired in politics and power play, i guess it’s not that far of a stretch to link this Li Chu to the Daizong in history books (who wasn’t a baaad emperor too anyway)

- the whole Zhenzhu being 油尽灯枯 at the end was also kind of… random and a little contrived imho but given her life circumstances i guess it can be justified and is a logical way to end things, since they do ultimately have to adhere to the historical ending of Zhenzhu going missing and Daizong never electing an empress during his rule. (I have to say, my favourite arc in this entire drama was probably the 10+ eps of separation when the Anshi rebellion kicked in, because the conflict felt very real and organic and the stakes felt really high, so the senses of urgency/loss/anxiety/despair were really heightened.)

contrived as it may be to me, that didn’t stop me from feeling deeeeeep despair and sorrow through the last few eps ;_; him making longevity noodles for her; them being in the same space that holds so much meaning to both of them, the little wooden hut where she professed her love for him, yet both of them lost in their own separate thoughts; them weeping their own separate tears; him holding her as she takes an afternoon nap, knowing that this is probably one of the last times he can do so…

and his coronation ceremony/the day she leaves for good from his life. their last hug - he was the very definition of 依依不舍 ): Him walking down the aisle (HAHA is that what it’s called) of the Tang courts, dressed in stately regal emperor garb, the world is his yet he is so utterly alone. 所谓“高处不胜寒”! (haha though this line was not yet in existence during Tang)

and the ending was so poetic in all its tragedy and hit all my buttons hahaha. Him dressing as a cart driver to send her off for the last time → !!!, her stopping at 醉仙楼 and coming out of the carriage to take a look at the place where her and her Donglang first met → !!!!!! (I think this really got to me because I have a huge fondness for their entire first meeting haha. And this + how she hallucinated Dong Lang in that red outfit when she was semi-conscious to me kind of shows how ultimately she loves Dong Lang for who he is as an adult, and not because he is her 太湖公子 from her childhood, which is very important to me?!) And lastly Li Chu riding on his horse, surveying the mountains and landscape that Zhenzhu disappeared into, the 江山 that he owns… aka really ‘一人一马一江湖’, as the drama oh so helpfully foreshadowed for us in the first few episodes.

- Since I’ve mentioned 为江山, as I’ve said before, I really love the OSTs in the drama! But while previously the bigger ‘hits’ (in a sense) like 夙念 and 荣耀 were stuck in my head, these past two weeks, I can’t help but keep on replaying 素颜 and 唐韵 on loop. (though I still enjoy all the songs - except maybe the Jike Junyi one which is still not bad but just doesn’t get to me like all the other songs do… maybe because it was never played in any scene throughout the drama? (except the ending credits of s2. which I skipped everytime.) (speaking of which, s2′s opening theme song became 荣耀 but they didn’t correspondingly change the opening sequence which was so nicely timed to 为江山, which is also more regal and had more oomph more befitting of an opening track!! that was quite sad ):))

And especially for 素颜 (Unadorned Beauty), omgggg the lyrics nearly killed me when I sat down to properly read it at the end of the drama. It’s played twice in the drama - once in the beginning when Zhenzhu and Lin Zhi were sitting for the consort selection tests and once in the end when Zhenzhu leaves the palace (and Donglang) permanently for good. And omg the lyrics really fit perfectly?!?!

→ The verse/first part of the song: “你是春的使节 让残雪融解 / 染成青黛的天 等著细雨停歇 / 你素颜 裹着云烟 诗意了远方 湿润了心  / 闭上眼 姹紫嫣红都不觉甜 只为你的容颜” - basically just really beautiful lyrics about how you are the envoy of spring melting the remnants of snow and how your bare-faced/unadorned beauty bundled in mist lends poetic flavour to the distance and how all the beautiful flowers pale in comparison to your beauty blablabla. The first half of the chorus too: “豁然间 春光如练 / 渲染了 你的出现 / 最留恋 不是云巅 / 是千万里朝颜和暮雪” The whole song just describes Zhenzhu to me, and in these particular lyrics I think about Zhenzhu in the early episodes, fresh and dewy-faced, dressed in pale pinks and whites. I’m just imagining the verse + first chorus being Li Chu’s inner monologue about Zhenzhu and my heart feels all squishy kyaaaaaaaaa

→ The second half of the chorus: “梦回间 春光流泻 /  归去在 落花时节 / 待离别 青空绵绵 / 你会成山水间那一点 如烟” basically talking about how as time passes, she will leave when the flowers fall, and become a dot in the landscape like a wisp of smoke… how apt ;_; and okay here I’m just babbling nonsense but like all the terms like “青空” “山水” “如烟” really fits her costuming in the last few eps which had 水墨/ink wash painting vibes 

(↑ i’m probably overthinking this way too much ahaha)

[on another note, some other particular lines in some of the other songs that I just really liked (i have random feels for sentences that I think are really poetic. though it may only be me who thinks so hahaha)

为江山：“挥手时飞扬飘零的黄沙 蜿蜒于驰骋豪情的天下” and “铿锵的温柔 忠义的绵绸 此情动我幽幽” like all the juxtaposition between toughness and softness… (uhhh it made more sense in my head). this entire song is Li Chu’s life ;_;

唐韵：okay no I went to search up the lyrics again and I want to copy the entire thing over HAHA. I love how the lyrics, true to the setting of the drama and the name of the song (how do you translate 韵 properly? it’s such a nice word haha), incorporate elements of Tang inside it. “釉烧出 多色绚丽的斑斓” or “浸润出 三彩交融的璀璨” - mentions of pottery/sancai glaze that flourished during Early Tang. Or “昔繁华 已苍芜” - befitting the backdrop of the drama - Tang the flourishing golden dynasty at the precipice of its dwindling. And for some reason I just love phrases like “静谧千年的思念” and the whole of the second half of the chorus: “愿你记得 穿梭人浪中一瞥 / 临摹也不能复刻你容颜 / 墨浓映画眉 / 朱红落点唇 / 只盼伴来生共偎”

为你成全：my favourite line is “锦绣长安夜 / 似昙花惊艳”!! 

i think i just really like imagery in lyrics hahaha. i like 荣耀’s lyrics a lot too. in comparison i actually think the lyrics of 夙念 and some parts of 为你成全 are pretty standard drama ost fare… though they still serve their purpose well in inducing appropriate feels in various scenes.

–

This series of bloopers/original voice clips released by one of the production companies attached to this show is like a soothing balm to an injured heart after watching the ending. And the last video in this series - aww the entire team really put in so much effort to film this show, and it shows in the acting, the props, the sets, the costuming, the music (excluding awkward greenscreen and s2 editing). ANDDD watch from 13:52 onwards!!! A small Easter egg - Allen’s original soft soft voice going “珍珠，你总算回来了……” welp I’m gone

s2 was ultimately a lot weaker in many aspects than s1, and tbh the entire plot of GOTD is riddled with well trodden tropes. But I still have so much fondness and love and feels for this 92 episode drama I mainlined in three weeks (and then promptly regretted because real life came cascading down on me soon after that) :3 It’s definitely an engaging drama that had quite a lot of effort put into its making, and with it’s length there’s something for everyone - (1) an otp that will make you squee (2) endless angst, tears and misery (3) palace politics that are relatively quite complex for it’s 古言 status (4) some harem-esque drama for 后宫戏 fans (5) battle scenes, war tearing apart otp bringing about more angst… et cetera. Considering how I quit dramas at a drop of a hat, I’m pretty impressed that I managed to complete this haha xD

shall end off with a short 花痴楼！

《帅帅的殿下SHOWTIME!》

虽然在跟别的女人转圈圈但仍非常帅气的殿下！

微醺醺的新郎装殿下！

睹物思人的殿下！

穿上盔甲，眼带杀气的殿下！

闭着眼，姹紫嫣红都不觉甜的殿下！

超级无敌苏的殿下！

化身为大厨的殿下！

I wanted to take more screenshots but I shall just end here, because I scrolled up and got a huge shock seeing exactly just how much babble I spouted. I’m kind of horrified?! Omg anyone who reads this to the end, I’m sorry for all my incoherent rambling :3

[tsunrugi]

hello it’s the last day of the year and what better time for some more gouenji meta?? whole lot of rambling under the cut. note: i haven’t read/watched/played anything for a long time. everything in this post is based on memory.

so recently i was encouraged to write out some of my new ishido shuuji thoughts as a drabble thing (this is a first draft form please forgive me) and because of that actually a lot of things that i’d considered about gouenji separately kind of started to fit together!! and that is this:  gouenji is super concerned about the welfare and happiness of kids. and i know that’s kind of something that seems like duh, of course, but imo he goes out of his way to look after the kids in his care in a way that maybe some of the others don’t!

i’m not saying the other characters don’t care about kids. they obviously do. but they have careers and motivations outside of that. imo this is something gouenji consistently returns to, and explains why he’s the one out of all of them that becomes the head of the youth soccer federation in galaxy. 

so to start obviously there’s yuuka. he adores yuuka and is protective of her and all of that. i don’t need to remind anyone how much he cares about the wellbeing of his sister. this could just be “well duh he’s going to care about his own baby sister”, but then in comes toramaru! gouenji gets super invested in toramaru. the other inazumas acknowledge something is going on with the kid but they’re mostly content to be like “yeah that’s strange” and continue within the boundaries of their ffi rules/training. but gouenji doesn’t. he noses his way in and very inelegantly almost forces himself in to the senpai role. it’s subtly different to the ways he deals with his peers! because they have that senpai/kouhai dynamic, and i think a bit of gouenji’s want to look after younger kids comes out in the way he acts w toramaru.

doing a bit of a time jump, we have ishido shuuji. ever since i first watched go i’ve LOVED trying to work out his motivations for doing the whole seitei thing, and in that drabble i linked up there it goes in to some things i’ve been thinking about lately! to sum up: he realises that, actually, when they played as kids the level of harm they faced was really not ok, that even though kageyama was gone there were still the forces that supported him and his actions, so obviously someone who isn’t going to deal with that bullshit needs to step in and make sure the new kids don’t get maimed and/or die. because it’s fic obviously it’s all my interpretation but here are some things from canon that i think support it:

- gouenji used his position to set up support systems, training programs, charity events, etc, for disadvantaged kids/kids who didn’t have the opportunity to play soccer otherwise

- fifth sector was created to combat the unofficial ranking and competition that had taken over the middle school league: it’s founding intentions were to level the field for all kids, not just the ones in elite soccer schools, to be involved in the various competitions

- i’ve written before abt how i think gouenji wore those stupid sunglasses in the god eden movie bcs he wouldn’t have been able to hide his disgust at what was going on there. his displeasure is palpable throughout that whole film and imean come on he sent fubuki there to undermine it so he’d have a legit excuse to shut it all down lbr here

- also i’m 90% sure hakuryuu says in one of the games that gouenji made sure all the god eden kids were looked after

- there’s also the fact that he’s obviously quite close to taiyou. taiyou doesn’t know him as gouenji shuuya - he knows him as ishido shuuji. that makes me think that visiting kids in hospitals and stuff isn’t out of the norm for “ishido”! he also very seriously considers taiyou’s emotional as well as physical wellbeing when he wants to play in the vs arakumo match and he’s on edge the entire time in case shit goes south (it does) (but not for taiyou) (i hate that match)

- also he clearly paid for yuuichi’s surgery

- and it’s really obvious how much he cares for his seidouzan team. they adore him. he encourages them. he knows if they beat raimon he’s never getting out of this ishido shuuji thing but DAMN he’s so proud of them and part of him does want them to win, not for fifth, but for themselves. when you recruit the seidouzan captain (kurosaki?? i forget his name) in chrono stone he’s all upset that they couldn’t finish the match and kind of implies he feels like he let ishido down which is cute. kurosaki (IF THAT IS HIS NAME) knows a lot of gouenji’s hissatsu and they share a kesshin so imean it’s c ute

there’s all of these things that he does in the background or get mentioned offhand that kind of show just how much he does for the children!! and sure, the other adults have their kouhai and they have their teams but i don’t think any of the others have such a wide amount of young soccer players with whom they have a direct mentor relationship.

moving on to chrono stone, gouenji does a lot of legwork for the kids, but also it’s probably because he wants endou back too lmao. BUT one thing that stands out is towards the end (of the game) when he and goggles are brought to the future to coach the teams agains the second stage children. he’s angry. he wants his friend back. he wants the future to stop fucking with the past. and then he finds out about the second stage children’s shortened lifespans and their hardships and his sprite goes from super mad to super sad really quick. it’s a little subtle thing but imean!! it would have been just as easy to write him in a way where he didn’t have that small sad reaction. so im counting it.

and this gets us to galaxy! to be honest i was a little surprised that he’d gone to a corporate role so young in his soccer career when i first watched galaxy, but i kind of just brushed it aside as “well level-5 probably wanted to include the original raimons somehow”. and yeah that’s probably still the case but THAT’S NOT FUN TO THINK ABOUT. instead, let’s think about it in terms of a continuation of what he’s done since go! fifth is gone and they still need a managing body. he has experience. as much as funagi/funaki (i can never remember) likes to throw ishido in his face, he has done good, and even his critics acknowledge that. he clearly cares about the work. he could have just as easily gone back to playing pro, or gone to coach somewhere like seidouzan, but he didn’t. he chose to take responsibility for the WHOLE organisation. there’s so many maybes as to why he did this!! maybe he realised he could help a whole lot more kids this way. maybe he wanted to make sure the programs he put in place as ishido stayed funded and running. maybe he wanted to make sure that the corruption that had been in the organisation since kageyama was actually gone. either way, it fits in terms of character and development and i like it a lot.

this has been a long-ass meta post

[thornsickle]

Here’s what Rian Johnson really meant during that infamous interview (imo)....

This is just my opinion, so you are all free to disagree. I don’t want to keep banging on about it, partially because this thing has blown up to such an extreme degree, but while we can all agree that the Kamp, the journalist, took Rian’s words way out of context, the actual interview itself still makes us raise a few eyebrows. So here is my perspective on it. Of course it will be a little bias since hey, Reylo, but anyway, I thought I’d give my two cents on a few things we’re all still a bit confused about. Get ready for over the top analysis that will inevitably give you a migraine. Still up for this? Okay, let’s go.

1. ‘Does a romantic relationship happen in this movie?’ ‘Not the way it does in the original, no.’

First of all, let’s take the Han-Leia thing out for a second. Kamp referenced Han-Leia, but I think he said that merely because it was an obvious reference. Han-Leia’s arc is a blatant love story, that is the center of their plotline for ESB. But I think Rian Johnson is answering the actual question, not the reference. In other words, what he is saying here is that there is romantic tension between characters, perhaps even a suggestive romantic plotline, but it’s not going to be like the original trilogy, where it was an obvious romance. He is NOT saying that there is no romance at all. This is actually his most honest answer in the whole interview, because after this it gets pear-shaped. The important ting to note here is that he DOES NOT say that there is NO ROMANTIC subplot in TLJ. There is, but it’s not like Han-Leia. It’s not as obvious as that. This works out for both Finn-Rose and Kylo-Rey and their possible developments.

2. ‘And that’s something that I would have loved for there to have been.’

Why would Rian Johnson say that he would have liked to have directed a romance arc in TLJ if there were no possibilities anywhere among the characters for that to feasibly happen? This is where I start to think that Rian wants to say more, but can’t because he would be ruining the film. First of all, he could be talking about Finn and Rose. He wanted there to be a full-blown romance there, but because Finn is injured at the beginning of the film, or because SPOILER ALERT POSSIBLE PLOTLINE DON’T READ SKIP THIS Rose is actually like Boba Fett or Lando and is going to double-cross Finn, perhaps even Winter Soldier style, just a rumor that leaked when we found out about filming in Dubovnik, a romance between the two of them was not feasible because of the plot of the film. But again, remember what he said earlier, this does not mean that there will be no romantic-tension between the two characters (think Jyn and Cassian, heck even Rey and Kylo haha). As far as Kylo and Rey is concerned, he could be also referencing them because....

3. When we started working forward with these characters, it just didn’t feel-

I can bet that the end of that sentence was ‘right’ or ‘organic’. It didn’t make sense, given where the characters were. But remember, if there were no possibilities at all, he wouldn’t bother trying to explain why he couldn’t add those obvious elements. Rian Johnson is a straight-forward guy. If there was no possibility at all, he would simply say no, there’s no romance at all. He doesn’t strike me as the type of guy to say ‘I would have loved to have had romantic elements’ just for the sake of it, to pander to the journalist. No, he said that for a reason. Rian Johnson wrote the script, which means that unlike a director, he had to really think about all the character’s motivations and the possible journeys they could potentially take. It means that he has thought about this as a possibility. All writers do this, they try out all sorts of different paths, but if it doesn’t feel true to the character, you scrap it. In the case of Rey and Kylo, my interpretation is that he has thought about it, but it just wouldn’t make sense, he couldn’t make it work. Not in the space of a single movie anyway. They have other things to worry about, other stuff they have to work through first before they can reach that point. Again, I hate to repeat myself, but if there was no possibility at all, he wouldn’t say he would have loved for there to have been romance in TLJ.

What he’s saying is, I wish it could have happened in this film, but it’s still too soon.

And that applies for Rose and Finn, as well as Kylo and Rey. And that decryption pretty much matches up with the next quote.

4. Does anyone get involved with anyone? Well, you’ll have to see.

Yeah, thanks Rian for clearing that up, since this journalist is such a dunderhead and wasn’t really listening to what you were saying. I get it, Rian has to be careful about what he says. He simply can’t say too much. He can’t say stuff like, ‘there is romantic tension, but I can’t tell you anymore than that’, because it sets up the audience to expect it, and of course, as we all know in this community, we are the minority, and SW wants to keep it that way. That’s why they haven’t fought against the backlash we have received. I think they would have wanted to, the way they have been bashing the ‘Rey Skywalker’ theory to death, but they can’t, because it’s a major plot twist. But hey, I could be totally wrong, and that’s also fine. I just don’t think I am.

But all jokes aside, I think that ‘you’ll have to see’ is as far as he can go. But on the whole, it sounds more positive than negative from my perspective. If there really was no romance, he’d say that ‘the characters at the moment are concentrating on their separate paths, so there’s really not much of that element in our film’. But he doesn’t say that.

5. There is no one-to-one equivalent of the Han-to-Leia burning, unrequited love in our story.

Okay, so here is where Rian was being really sneaky and nebulous. He was throwing a bunch of red herrings at the journalist because he wanted to throw him off the scent. I almost think he reveals too much with the ‘you’ll have to see’. He feels the alarm ringing in his head to stop talking, so he throws something else at the journalist. I had to read this a couple of times to really get what he was saying, and also, what he was actively avoiding to mention.

Han-to-Leia. Not Han-and-Leia.

The burning, unrequited love? He’s talking about Han’s feelings towards Leia. The ‘you could use a good kiss!’ stuff. He’s talking purely about how Han feels in the first half of ESB. Makes sense, since the journalist brought up this relationship. But the question is, why wouldn’t Johnson simply say there’s no Han-Leia like romance? Why specifically talk about Han’s feelings towards Leia?

Because he knows that there is a connection between two characters that is going to be explored in TLJ, but he cannot talk about it because it’s such a massive part of the story. The teaser poster? Hello?! He doesn’t say, there’s no Han-Leia like connection AT ALL, because that would be a lie. And Rian, unlike JJ, doesn’t really enjoy toying with his audience or blatantly lying to them. He just doesn’t strike me as that kind of person. He would like to say that ‘there is a growing, requited connection between two characters, but it’s not like Han-Leia’. He can’t say that however, because that would be like George Lucas saying during a press tour in 1980 that ‘Luke is going to meet his father in ESB’.

It’s too much.

But Rian had to answer the question, so he does, without lying to the journalist.

AGAIN, if there was going to be no romantic tension between any two characters at all, he would simply say that there is no romance like Han and Leia’s relationship in ESB. Either way, this is an extremely weird way to answer Kamp’s question, and it makes me raise an eyebrow.

He’s avoiding the question and bumbling a bit, but to me, I think he is also thinking either about Finn or Kylo. If it’s Finn, then I think Rian simply means that Finn and Rose’s connection won’t be fiery and turbulent like Han-Leia. First of all, because Finn is not all like Han, and that immediately sorts that out. My guess is Finn and Rose are going to get on quite well, but who knows at this point. Either way, I doubt Rose will dislike Finn the way Leia disliked/liked Han so the ‘unrequited’ thing doesn’t fit with them. It might be that Rose has unrequited feelings for Finn, that could definitely work, but again, I think it goes against what Rian is saying here.

Then there is Kylo..... A lot of us, including me, believed there was a possibility for Kylo to become obsessed with Rey a little like the way Han had unrequited, confused feelings towards Leia. Even though I think Rian’s words were meant to act as a diversion, I still think they are valid. Kylo won’t have unrequited feelings for Rey, at least, not in the obvious way that Han harbored for Leia.

I don’t think it means Kylo won’t have confused feelings for Rey. But it won’t be dealt with like the way it was dealt with in ESB. Rian’s quote informs me that the Kylo-Rey thing is going to be handled in a much more delicate and subtle fashion, and unlike with Han-Leia, there won’t be loaded with lots of cheeky sparing. It’s going to be more serious, very heavy and dark. The backdrop of Han’s death parallels well with this vision, and I think this is what we will get in TLJ. The weird connection with be there, but it’s of a completely different nature to Han-Leia.

Let’s just say that you shouldn’t expect Rey to make any jokes about Kylo’s ears or his crappy lightsaber skills. In the case of TLJ, it’s not about unrequited or requited.

Rey/Kylo’s connection is obviously a lot more complex than that, but Rian can’t talk about it right now.

6. Yeah, I can’t speak to what Colin is doing. In our story, that’s not a centerpiece.

Again, here it gets mushy, but I think he’s saying that in Episode IX there is a possibility for the playful banter-like conversations that Han and Leia have throughout the trilogy. He might be referring to Rose and Finn. Maybe Rey and Kylo. Either is a possibility.

And that’s the point. He is not ruling any of it out. If it’s possible in Episode IX, it has to join up with Episode VIII. Episode VII is not a romance, there is no romance between Rey and Kylo. But that does not mean that ‘Reylo’ is not present in that film. That’s the difference I think. There will be connections between characters in TLJ. It will continue where TFA left off, and for me, if we continue to get more develop as far as ‘Reylo’ is concerned, the way it was developed in VII, well, then that’s all fine with me, because hey, isn’t that, in the end, what we were all predicted in the first place?

Hope you enjoyed the post guys. Please comment and reblog, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.