#with an understanding of how complex emma and her relationships are and without a cynical stand to the show's themes of love and kindness

[saptaincwan]

i need a 4 hour long video essay on ouat but done by someone who actually likes the show

[rosesandlavendertea]

Relationships in TPN

I really like how Kaiu Shirai has depicted Ray and Emma’s current relationship with Norman. Yeah, they still love him and are glad to have him back, but there is still a certain level of detachment, and the way the author has gone about writing it is amazing.

See, the thing is, they’ve already grieved him. They are ecstatic that he is not really dead, but they’ve had two years to get over this loss. They’ve spent two years going through their own trials together that he is not a part of. They have developed their own views on how the world works because they’ve been in completely different circumstances.

Norman is angry and bitter and has developed quite a messiah complex due to his own experiences since Grace Field. We already saw hints of said complex back then, but nothing compared to now. We also always saw his desire to protect his friends, no matter the cost, but back then, he was willing to listen to Emma’s opinions. He trusted her judgement because he knew she balanced him out (also, he’s in love with her, but we’ll get back to that), but now he completely goes with his own opinions and morals, without even stopping to pay attention to what others may think. Yeah, he already did that back at Grace Field (escape arc), but still: genocide? Seriously, dude? I knew his moral compass was set firmly to to chaotic neutral/neutral good and, but that’s kind of messed up.

Back then, it was Ray going over Emma’s head and Norman being her supporter, but that dynamic has changed. They’ve gone from a group of three close individuals who grew up in the same environment but had differing ideals to two close partners and a close friend whom they’ll never see the same because they spent two years thinking he was dead and when they do see him alive and well, they find out he’s been planning genocide. That kind of changes a person’s perspective on someone. 

Ray was slightly detached from his friends growing up because his experiences were different. He spent his childhood watching his siblings be led to death and not being able to do anything about it. He shouldered the burden of the knowledge of the true nature of their world alone, and while he loved his friends dearly, he matured in a way that they didn’t. When he finally got to go through the same experiences as the rest of his peers,for the first time in his life he got to be on equal footing with those he loved. You can see it with how open he is with his family after the escape arc compared to how closed off and cynical he was before.

And that brings me to Norman’s views about his friends. The thing is, he didn’t get to grow alongside the rest of his family. He didn’t even get to grow alongside his new peers because he set himself firmly as the ‘boss’. He purposefully detached himself from the people surrounding him to create a ‘God’-like image. He isolated himself and didn’t get to experiences any true bonds with anyone for two years. Yeah, he had Zazie and the others, but he was also guarded, even with them. He most likely held onto the memories of his closeness with Emma and Ray, dreaming of the day he can save them all from the hell they are in, but that is also a problem. As he didn’t grow with them and share in their lives for those two years, they stayed firmly in his mind as the children they were back in Grace Field; he didn’t see them as people who had had hardships as he had. He may have had the knowledge of their struggles due to basic reasoning, but never truly reconciled that knowledge with the image of them he retained. That’s a problem because he doesn’t see them as equals anymore; he sees them as two children he needs to protect, going over their heads because he believes that they won’t understand, that they don’t have the same maturity that he does.

Even his feelings for Emma are problematic right now because of that view. To him, she is still that beautiful, bright, innocent girl that he loves and feels the need to shelter and protect. He has spent the last two years loving that image of her, but he hasn’t been with her to let that love grow for the young woman that she is now. His feelings are like food that’s been left out for too long: they’re stale, sour and out of date; they no longer apply to who she is. So, his feelings for her are a little bit toxic because he doesn’t see them as equals, and a big part of relationships is understanding and equal-footing. Plus, she doesn’t feel the same way about him: as I said earlier, she’s already grieved him, meaning she’s distanced herself from him. She never really loved him like he loved her and now there is an even bigger gap between his feelings for her and her feelings for him because of that distance. He spent the last two years being like, 80% sure that she was still alive and holding onto the hope that they’ll one day be reunited and that she may eventually love him the same way (also toxic, might I add), stunting his emotional growth while she was out there in the world creating new connections, new relationships with the people around her instead of holding on to a person who wasn’t there.

So, yeah. I was not intending to write this much, but I get really into character analysis and basically, I really like the subtle way the author has gone about depicting this strain on the Emma-Norman-Ray dynamic, and I hope to see more interesting stuff from an analytical point of view in the future. (Also, firm Rayemma shipper here because I love the relationship built on mutual trust and understanding they’ve built. It’s implicitly known that they are partners by everyone around them and that is so completely awesome. Furthermore, they are the Dumbass Duo and I love that dynamic. That scene where they were seriously talking about breaking Ray’s leg: perfection.)

TL;DR: Kaiu Shirai is a god, Norman can suck my dick, though I still love him, and Rayemma forever.

[kurtty-drabbles]

The doctor and the monster au (time)

N/A: I think I´m proud of myself here since I managed to put so many mentions of Brazilian/Portuguese books. Some are international.

@djinmer4

Anne Marie Darkholme is a woman that by nature is suspicious of her surrounders. When her brother told her the plan, she went along while still think it is stupid, however, as she meets the Summers and the Pryde something is not right.

James Pryde, Kitty´s cousin, is a short man with odd outfits and can´t speak, the absence of Kitty was explained that she is feeling unwell and they send the cousin to received the Darkholme.

Something suspicious bite Anne Marie with the explanation of a "sick cousin" as akin to *Capitu´s eyes and Anne refuses to let any woman makes her brother of a fool.

As she vows to keep her eyes on this James Pryde and get rid of him if he proves to have a severe case of * The Mayas with his own cousin.

______________________________

It was with great relief that in their next meeting Kitty is feeling much better and received the Darkholme(Anne Marie is pleased that the cousin is not in the house) as the Summers invite the Darkholmes to the boat trip.

"Wait, is this the boat of Professor Xavier?!" Kurt Darkholme asked a bit confused. Scott rubs his neck and explains in a few words the situation.

"It is my boat now when I was little Professor Xavier adopted me" Scott explained with few words what was a very complex story. Kurt Darkholme noticed that, but, his focus is not on Scott´s background.

Kitty and Kurt have the faux sense of privacy as Jean Grey sporadically would mention, a bit too loud, about the birds in the area every time something deemed inappropriate would happen between the couple.

Kitty rests her fingers on the metallic surface of the boat, without her glove, as her delicate hands are closer of Kurt Darkholme. Their hands touched and she is very surprised that his fur is so soft.

"I´m glad you are feeling well, Miss Pryde" Kurt stated and Kitty noticing that Jean is not looking at their direction gets a bit bolder.

"You can call me Kitty if you prefer" Kitty stills holds hands with her future husband and adds "yes, I´m feeling much better, thank you for asking me"

"Meet your cousin before" Kurt would speak in his rhetoric mode "in the police station, but, his demeanour hasn´t changed since there. I don´t think he likes me very much"

"No, on contrary, he is very fond of you, Herr Darkholme, after all, you are going to get married to me, my cousin only wants our happiness" Kitty adds smiling in such pure light that the cynical part of him almost let go, almost.

Kurt Darkholme read too much of *the relic to believe in good intentions alone. The cousin must want something out of his family or out of Kitty.

"Heer Darkholme" kitty started and Kurt chided her in good humour that he can call him Kurt if she wants "if we were alone, what you would do to me?"

Kurt thinks this question fascinating as dangerous. A smile plays on his face as his body crouch as his voice continues on the same tone that Kitty is learning to appreciate.

"Well, if you really were alone, I suppose you wouldn´t have to worry about your shoe" Kurt gesture as now he mentions the shoe in question and how it was an old shoe that saw better days(how it gets in such stated?) Kurt fixed the best he can or just used this as a great opportunity to tease her.

"Really?" she asked and at that moment their privacy is cut short, Kitty is feeling butterflies in her stomach. The sensation didn't diminish even when they start talking about anatomy.

______________________________

Many people were talking about the sudden engagement of Kitty Pryde with the Bavarian Count Kurt Darkholme. The Pryde, in itself, is a very poor family that wouldn´t cross or interested the family of a count or any other to be honest(or just using the bad tongues)

Yet, no one dares to turn their eyes away from the Pryde as they could be a key factor in the monarch of England. Queen Victoria arranged several incest marriages between cousins that never went anywhere and only disgraced the family, in a way the Pryde are the only ones not touched by incest machine. And as the Queen´s son is getting a bit sick lately, the rumours are spreading wild, if the son dies, Kitty could be the very much next on the line of succession.

The Pryde family always have  *a little princess between them, however, could this change to a Queen? The family is located in one of the British colony in India.

"Kitty?" Jean enters in her room, as the woman is reviewing some notes "the queen just send a letter, her son is getting better, he sends his regards" Jean said in a tact way.

"Great, should I send a note to them?" Kitty is not interested, acting in this instance like an icy Queen. Kitty never cares for that part of her family and is reciprocate the feeling.

Why be a Queen when you can be *Sherlock Holmes.

________________________________________

Emma Frost is losing her patience, this ripper man is ruining her business. And the Hellfire association is getting in a smaller number. Empath and Tom Black were out of the picture thanks to the ripper, yet, Emma stills has a leverage.

"Good morning, Mystique," Emma said to a blue woman locked in the dungeons.

"Oh, Emma if you wanted to put into ropes you only have to ask"

"Cute, I came here to talk"

"Of course, that´s why I´m here to hear you talk"

_______________________________________

The Darkholme are discussion their last mission. Wade is serving Canadian food and is sure that it is a delicious treat.

"The author has a prejudice with Canadian food" Wade look peeved that someone would respect the fine cuisine of Canada.

"Wade, with who are you talking about," Kurt Darkholme asked wondering what is going on inside Wade´s mind.

"Never mind, so, let´s all chat about your plan like we never see each other before, me first, Kurt, next time you go feed people to sharks do in a way I won´t have to clean up, seriously do you know how hard it was to clean that?"

"Oh, I didn´t hear any complains when I throw him to the shark"

"Bromance, Kurt D, bromance"

Rogue just sighs as the two men are going on and on about their mission, she is the only one that eats the Canadian cuisine and is not surprised that her husband arrives in the scene frowning at the food.

"Wade, again?" Remy LeBeau asked shaking his head, while at the same time eat the food as well. "Taking the Canadian food aside, I have some news to share"

"As Anne Marie request, "Remy said smiling a bit lovesick which the woman rolls her eyes in good humour at such antics "I did some research on James Pryde and it is a bit odd what I found"

"For starts, the man only has as address the Scotland Yard, and nothing else" Remy explained and the others are curious about such fate" He did study in Oxford in a short course, got top grades, while everything about his staying there was little mentioned"

"He is a Pryde, right? Why the secrecy?" Anne Marie asked not understanding the picture that her husband is showing. Kurt, for his part, did read *Heloise and has an idea why such secret is around the elusive James Pryde.

"He is a bastard" Kurt explained " maybe my father in law or mother in law wasn´t that faithful and decides in the last minute to give the name to the child, however, give the name is not the same as being accepted"

"Is a theory," Remy said. Now Anne Marie takes the lead.

"Speaking in secrets, the Academy of etiquette that Kitty told she goes, what´s the name again?"

"*Madame Bovary" Wade pipes in amused.

"Yeah, it doesn´t exist, in fact, no Katherine Anne Pryde is ever enrolled in any Academy," Anne Marie said smirking at her husband, he has his contacts, she has her own.

"Yeah, I have noticed that," Kurt Darkholme was a bit impressed by how bold the lie was.

"Oh, also, the cousin does not lives with the Pryde and maybe that´s for the better" Remy said and before Anne Marie could inquire about the nature of their relationship Remy adds "the man did arrest some of the dangerous criminals around here, I mean, it facilitates our job, but, the man managed to arrest the chopper and that makes him very much unlikeable in the underground"

Now, Anne Marie, Kurt and Wade are shocked.

It is easier to look at James Pryde and see him as a cocky little man, yet, he managed to arrest the chopper?  

"Still want to marry her?"

"Of course, she is part of my plan...it would be a bit hypocritical of me to be upset by the secrets, after all, I have big ones too, either way, the plan stays" Kurt Darkholme now takes a knife and starts to peel an apple "and if James is indeed following the footstep of his ancestors, I have to qualms in end the competition"

[rpwdtd-blog]

I have this thing with furry monsters

When I started writing this post it was supposed to start with words “I recently saw (...)”. Unfortunately, due to the lack of time and motivation, I am forced to change “recently” into “about three weeks ago”. So...

About three weeks ago I saw the new Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast, and I fall in love with it”.  I’ve never saw the original version of this story and to be honest I don’t know if I plan to. I’m just afraid that my expectations now are too high. Taking this into consideration, I won’t compare these two.

I know that Disney movies are sooo predictable, but this predictability appeals to me. And even though I know what can happen next, those movies still elicit strong emotions in some scenes. The characters are great as well. Simple, yes, but we have to remember that the target audience for most Disney movies are kids. Therefore, those characters cannot be psychologically complex. That would be probably too much for the young, about 7-year-old man or woman sitting in front of the screen. 

By the way, here we come to that part that my mom couldn’t understand. This movie is more than two hours long, while the original version was about 1h 30 min. Of course, this probably enabled film-makers to develop some threads. Nevertheless, my mother was a little bit shocked that parents go to cinemas with their children, often aged like 4 or 5. Because how is it possible for such a little kid to sit still for so long? I can barely do this while watching some movies.

Anyway, despite the fact that two hours are sometimes too much even for me, I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. And that’s beacause I love probably everything in this movie. The music is great. There was one moment when it crossed my mind that there is too much songs, but then I remembered that well, it’s a musical. If I had to pick only one song that is my favorite one, I would probably sit and cry. I particularly like “Evermore” by Dan Stevens (with and without Beast filter), but “Gaston” and “Be Our Guest” also sounds wonderful, especially hand in hand with the movie. Soundtrack alone isn’t as great, but that doesn’t matter.

Costumes. Gosh, I adore them. Now I have to watch every movie where Jacqueline Durran was the costume designer. And when you combine this with photography you get this beautiful scene in the ballroom where ladies were all wearing white dresses and dancing. And there are more as lovely shots as that one.

Another thing is casting. The creation of Gaston is splendid and I want to thank Luke Evans for creating a character so egocentric, mean, malicious and hard-heatred that I really, really hate him. LeFou is fantastic as well, funny, kind of clumsy, but so faithful to his companion (at least most of the time). Emma Watson as Belle? Couldn’t be better. She is a real beauty and I can look at her for hours. And Emma, just as Belle, loves books and is a really warm, charming person. Others are also wonderful - Emma Thompson, Ewan McGregor. I can list almost everyone of the cast here, but that’s not the point. 

But remember this line where I wrote about emotions? Those are brought out inter alia by the history of Maurice’s marriage and his relation with Belle. And maybe I like their relation so much because of my personal experience with my father. Some people may say that Maurice shouldn’t left his wife. When you are in love with someone, you stay with them no matter what. But we see in almost all of his actions that if he could, he would do anything to have the possibility to still live with his wife. When the Beast imprisoned him, he didn’t want Belle to take his place. He had already lost his wife and he didn’t want to lose his daughter as well. This whole history, that you have to leave the person you love, because they are seriously ill, in order to protect the other person you love is really heart-breaking. Of course, it’s nihil novi and this motif is reoccurring in various films and books, but still.

Another thing is Belle – Beast relationship. How he changes under her influence is as cute as his face when he says:

Again, some people are cynical and you probably had seen those memes that “Beauty and the Beast shows us, that looks doesn’t matter, as long as you’re a prince who owns a castle”. Some of them are joking, some are not. Personally, I don’t agree. You know, there are people who do not look appealingly to us, but they do to someone else. And who knows, maybe Belle had this thing with furry monsters with horns. Anyway, the scene with soup is lovely, when the Beast is ashamed to eat like a pig in front of Belle, so she takes her plate and start eating without a spoon.

So finally, is there anything that is dislike about this movie? Yup, Dan Stevens as a prince. Without a beard and with long hair. Ew.

Listening while writing: Beauty and the Beast Soundtrack. Duh...