#you can see it in the change in quality and complexity of his suits throughout the seasons

[jubileepizza]

Truthfully I don’t think ianto jones even had a thing for suits, at least not initially. In his attempts at seducing his way into a job he tested a variety of clothing and it was the suit which finally got results. Jack had a thing for (ianto in) suits.

[lovee-infected]

hello! I read your post where you clarified your opinion on the character of Malleus and to be honest I really appreciated it! I agree with what you say and I have to congratulate you for the detailed analysis!! May I ask (if of course that doesn't bother you) what do you think of Leona's character instead? I ask because I think (like malleus) that some fans have not fully understood the complex personality of this character and I would like to understand more of it too. Thank you :3

Hello dears! First off, thank you very much for your sweet compliments and glad to hear that you enjoyed my Malleus analysis!

To be honest, I think that being mischaracterized isn't the main problem with Leona, the main problem is that not many actually try to give his character a deeper and detailed look which makes us lose a bunch of interesting facts and points about him and his personality. Leona's design is quite brilliant and I guess we all need to take a moment to go through those interesting details in order to understand that he's way greater than we were expecting!

I mainly talked about some possibilities of how he's mischaracterized in part (1),(2) and (12) and in the rest of the parts, we'll be talking about more specific facts and details about his personality that are often ignored.

1) Let Leona be Leona

The simplest yet the most important part to begin with. While we all understand that he has indeed gone through a hard time throughout his life as the second prince and an often ignored child of his family, it's important to realize that this isn't going to change anything about his dark personality.

Accept it, this is just the way he is. He doesn't mind being reckless, doesn't care if he's annoying at the time, doesn't care if anyone likes what he's doing or not, and doesn't see any need to excuse himself for being so.

He's surely got a painful background to go through which him have the right for being so now, but this isn't telling us that he's still a little kitten. Leona is an adult now and considering him to be a soft boy inside who just needs attention and love is totally against the way he actually is. He isn't a child who can sometimes misbehave, he's a grown-up man. He knows what he's doing and how others may think of him because of his reckless actions. This is just how he wants to be, so let Leona be Leona. But I'm not saying that he's gotten to this point for no reason, this claim will be clarified in part (2) and (3).

2) Do not try to excuse his jerky nature

This is somewhat of a continuation of what discussed back in the first part, keep that in mind that this, is just the way Leona is. Saying that he's a cute kitten who just needs more attention and love, and that he'd be a totally different person by just having someone to support and confront him is surely an adorable headcanon, but it doesn't really suit him.

Or another way of this, saying that Leona may often come off as rude but he doesn't mean to, and he holds a kind and soft heart behind that cold and rough personality.

Look, not all characters are supposed to be kind and good inside. Some are specifically designed to present a cruel and rude personality because this is just the way they are, so trying to excuse his nature is nothing different from trying to change his official design. Leona's past life took on an important role in shaping his personality, but it isn't like he's still a 5-year-old child who'd be calmed down if you talk to him.

His current self, is a result of his past and his personal decisions at the moment; as an adult he knows how to handle his personality and behaviors, and he doesn't seem to really care about what others may think of him now. Both him and the others know that he can be much of a jerk at the time, and the point is: He doesn't mind being so.

3) Leona's childhood has seriously effected his personality and life

While his current personality isn't such a thing that can be changed if you just show him some love and attention, keep that in mind that no one is born evil.

What happens when you're supposed to playing and having fun as child but instead you're working your hardest training everyday to master your magic? And even worse, what if all those months and even years of hardworking result in nothing but your family and people's fear and hatred towards you?

He was just a child, and even if he wasn't going to be the next King he needed to be noticed and paid attention to. He needed his family to be at least proud of him and his powers, but all they did was to leave him on his own because all they saw was an angry kid yet no one ever cared to calm him down-! He might've be raised in a castle, yet there are many things he needed more than wealth and money.

As a child he needed attention and motivation, but since almost everyone around Leona failed him on it, this need of his was never fulfilled and as the result, this part of him would always remain as a child.

He still enjoys attention and being phrased like he enjoys nothing, yet it's not like that's enough to change anything about him. It might've been possible to change him in the past, but now, it's useless. He can no longer be easily effected and changed like a child can be.

4) He is telented and confident

Some may think that self-esteem is a problem of his: "Why he recognize that he's already really powerful?" "Doesn't he know that if he stops procrastinating he will achieve the success he's been always wishing for?" "Why is he always comparing himself to the others instead of recognizing his own telents?"

The answer to all these questions and similar ones is: He knows. He knows that he's talented and strong, he knows that just because someone like Malleus is standing higher than him doesn't mean that Leona is weak, and he knows that he can work way harder than he already is.

We'll talk about his procrastination in part (8) but for now, let's focus on his very own opinions about himself. None of us can exactly tell how much he can do and how talented he truly is, because while Leona is totally aware of his own abilities, he doesn't care to use or show them.

In fairy gala, for example, he turned out to be skilled with posing and walking when Vil pushed him into taking the work seriously, but in the end he just did it to get rid of Vil though he could've done it all in the first place! He did know how to pose, how to walk and how to be one hell of a super model without Vil learning him much about it, yet he didn't show the smallest sign of having the ability and knowledge in!

And when he did it, he was sure that everyone would be impressed, and they were! Though he might sometimes be cocky about it he's sure that if he decides to take something seriously, it'll end up in the highest of quality and the best of result, because Leona knows how to get the best of it.

So next time that you see him not wanting to do anything, know that it isn't anything about him lacking confidence or underestimating his own brilliance, he just doesn't care to show it. And at some point, it may even be because he thinks no one really deserves to get his best. He isn't cheap. He knows that he can do it. He just doesn't want to.

5) He was thought manners

Other than respecting ladies, there's a lot about him that shows his maturity and nobility. Leona is indeed real prince, but doesn't care to show it. With that being said, know that he can go from 0 to 100 in a matter of second, just like he did in Fairy Gala and turned into the prince who stole hundreds of hearts.

The thing is unlike Malleus, he doesn't feel the need to act like the royalty he is, most likely because of the same reason we previously discussed: He doesn't think that anyone is worthy of getting that side of him. He can act like a prince, but doesn't see a need to do so. In summary it's more of a: "Yes, I can be just perfect, but you won't deserve it anyway,"

Give Leona the motivation to reveal that hidden side, and you'll see how it'll impress you. Keep that in mind that we don't even know how stunning he can be when he is serious.

6) He is different from the rest of the NRC

One of the most important facts about him which is often ignored, come on! There're too many things that separate him from the rest of the students but are rarely paid attention to.

First off, unlike many of other students, Leona is an adult, and he's been one ever since he was a first grader. The importance of age explains a lot about one's personality, especially when it comes to a school.

While other students, especially 16 years olds like Ace and Deuce, still have a lot to go through to and are much and less open to learning a new thing from experiencing like they're just doing now, Leona is the least likely (Except Lilia) to face those character developments through his 4 years in NRC because he's already gone through them back in his 16s and 17s.

Even his overblot had the least effect on him and unlike Riddle who tried to come up with a rather softer personality and make a difference in his new self, Leona did nothing but to walk off and even during chapter 3 in which Savanaclaw helped MC to defeat Octavinelle, he didn't treat MC any kindlier than before.

His attitude is already shaped as it is, and since he's no longer a teenager it might be really hard to be changed. This is probably the biggest difference between him and the rest of the students in NRC; his personality is rough and almost impossible to be changed now.

7) He loves to be praised

Remember that we talked about that part of him remaining a child? His love for receiving compliments is a result of it.

Though he doesn't need anyone to bring any of his gorgeous features to his attention, he just wants to see people recognize them and beg him to show them more.

If you walk up to him and say how attractive or powerful he looks he'd probably answer you with either an "I know," or an "Of course I am,".

During his Fairy Gala voice lines he once said: "Sorry, I'm used to compliment," which can be defined into some interesting facts about him.

Since Jack too mentioned that he entered NRC because he looked up to Leona as his role model, we can assume that Leona is more than just a forgotten second prince back in his hometown. And since he said that he's used to compliment, it might be that he's already famous and admired by his fans as he already is.

But just as we said, compliment is something he enjoys receiving in general; it isn't going to effect him in any special way that might change anything about his personality.

It can't be said that he'd ever mind having someone around to phrase him though, he's more of an "Phrase me and don't stop" type and it isn't something that he'd ever reject unless it turns into something annoying.

8) There's a rather interesting stories behind his lazy nature

This one is rather important, Leona doesn't sleep because he's always tired or sleepy in general. And you need to know that Leona's sleeping issues are totally different from someone like Silver's!

Silver literally can't control his sleeping issues and that's how he's often found asleep in weird places but doesn't even know how he suddenly falls asleep while Leona, can stay awake by his own will whenever he wants to, he's just doesn't want to.

In contrast to a rather common belief on Leona being extremely lazy, he can actually be really hard working at the time. This guy had been through some extreme training as a child, therefore he can do way harder now that he's an adult. Sleeping is literally his way of saying "I don't care", so whenever he's got nothing interesting or worthy of staying up for, he goes back to sleep.

If we give it a psychological look sleeping too much often happens to people whose lives have no specific goals, they're neither motivated nor interested to stay awake if they've got nothing to do so -> Sleeping is the best thing they can do. You can tell that Leona sort of lacks motivation in general, because this considerably lazy lion is the same person as the one who's already working his ass off to prepare for the magic shift tournaments.

In the end, all that matters is what he desires. He's also pretty obsessive with his goals so when he wants something, there's nothing to hold him back from doing anything to achieve his goal. He wants it, he gets it.

9) Leona can be childish, but he isn't a child

We previously discussed why his childhood has effected his personality and now, you may wonder how it's effected him. A child's crucial needs are necessary to be fulfilled during their childhood because they. But even as those needs aren't taken care of, they would remain as holes inside the child's personality, because they're necessities which the child's character will always lack. This is much and less of what I meant by saying that this part of Leona always remains a child.

We talked about how he loves to be praised and appreciated, but now let's think of another example that can reveal that wild child. At nearly the end of Octavinelle's chapter, he was literally acting like a big bad boy taking candy (contract) from a baby (Azul). It's not just that, we can tell that he somehow enjoys bullying and teasing others in general. He won't even take it easy on his close friends like Ruggie or Jack, as he repeatedly insulted Jack back in chapter 2 & 3 and was even close to killing Ruggie in chapter 2.

Leona wants to feel powerful, and to be treated like a King. That's why he sometimes enjoys ordering others like Ruggie around all though he knows that before everything, Ruggie is his friend and deserves to be treated better.

He didn't have many friends as a child, therefore he doesn't really get to be a the perfect friend that his allies might deserve now. It's something rather hard to change about him, but those who know and care for him would certainly understand him and know that this is just the way he is, just like Jack and Ruggie are doing now. They could've left him all alone instead of staying by his side all the time, yet they continue to support and be there for him because they do care for Leona.

10) For now, Malleus is the Mufasa of his story

This one's pretty interesting, I really appreciate the creativity used in this design. We all know that Leona's creation was inspired by Scar from 1994's Lion King, therefore I'm pretty sure that almost all of you are familiar with Lion King's famous tragedy:

As the result of Mufasa's reign over the past few years, hyenas had been living in hunger and dread, there wasn't much food left for them to hunt and they didn't dare stepping into Mufasa's territory either. So Scar decided to take advantage and convinced hyenas that their hard and pitiful lives is Mufasa's fault as the King. He gained their attention and support to help him bring down the King, and promised them the wealthiest of lives where they'll never go hungry again in return. And that's how his plan to kill his own brother succeeded.

Now try to use the same plot in twst, but how is it possible? You may think that it must be with Farena Kingscholar because, Mufasa was also Scar's brother, but there's a problem: Farena isn't in NRC.

We don't know what is going to happen in the future storyline where we might get to face a real legacy between Leona and Farena, but for now, he needs someone in the Night raven College itself to play the role of that special rival so he can present his inner villain. And who would that special rival be? Malleus Draconia.

Now think about what happened in chapter two:

Savanaclaw had been the winner of magic shift tournament for decades until Malleus Draconia entered NRC. His iconic magic skills and horrifying powers led to Diasomnia's championship over the last two years. Savanaclaw is pissed off because they literally can't do anything against him and Leona on the other hand is so mad, (This point would be discussed in the next part) and can't stand Malleus wiping the whole Savanaclaw out for a third year. To top it off, he knows that if this happens again, Malleus would find his way to NRC's hall of fame. So Leona convinces the whole Savanaclaw that it's unfair to the rest of the NRC to lose the chance of revealing their talents and using their skills because of Malleus, and asks them to help him bring Malleus down therefore not only Savanaclaw would have a chance to win again, but also the rest of the students will actually have an opportunity to join a fair battle against each other.

See? This is JUST how Scar used Hyenas' weakness against them to make them pave the way for him and bring his enemy down. But the most interesting part is, it didn't end up in victory like Scar's plan did!

11) His relationship with Malleus has a lot to tell

Some may wonder just how does he think of Malleus? What is the feeling is even supposed to be? Is it jealousy? Hatred? Confusion? But I'm not going to talk about how he exactly feels. Instead, I want to talk about why he's feeling so.

First off, you need to know that Malleus and Leona are two sides of the same coin. They're both princes, they come from well known familiesband they're both great and often feared magicians but, there are some big differences:

Malleus would soon be the King, is among the greatest magicians of the world, is respected and well-known throughout the whole Twisted Wonderland and always finds his way to be the number one in anything that he's involved in.

The big difference between Leona and Malleus is that Malleus has gained everything that Leona always wished to have, he achieved them and Leona failed to do so. Malleus presents the picture perfect Leona thad he'd always wanted to be, and that's why Leona can't stand him.

It's not like he can be blamed for feeling so though, even the thought is painful. Imagine knowing that someone just like you exists in this world which has got everything that you once wanted, just why should it be so? Why should Malleus be the one to have them and not Leona? Isn't this life just too unfair...?

And the most irritating part about this is that Malleus doesn't feel the same way. Leona considers him to be his greatest enemy yet Malleus doesn't even consider Leona a rival. Malleus is always calm while Leona rushes to him which again is annoying, as if he doesn't take Leona seriously at all and this is driving Leona crazy.

That's why he can basically do anything just to make Malleus frown at least, he doesn't care if he's okay himself or not because all he wants is Malleus not to be okay. Another annoying fact about it is that it's really hard to insult or use anything against Malleus because he's just...too perfect. Even Leona won't dare underestimate his powers because he knows that it'll end in no good. He's basically looking for each and every possible detail about Malleus to use against him.

Just like how he did back in Malleus's SR robes story. He couldn't use anything better than telling Malleus that he'll never be invited and making fun of his horns to insult him. It's so annoying when you want to torture someone so badly but you just have nothing useful against them. He is ready to do everything to make Malleus angry, to make his calm and respectful expression disappear and finally take Leona seriously as his rival and enemy.

I'm sure that Leona doesn't know anything about Malleus's tamagotchi otherwise he would've told the whole school about it by now.

12) He isn't one to easily fall in love or to be effected by anyone

Many of the previous parts can reason this point, we talked about his personality, why it's so hard to change anything about him and how we should let Leona be Leona. But still many wonder if he can still fall in love? And the answer is: Yes. Leona as well can fall in love but it isn't necessarily easy.

Leona isn't used to letting people in and accepting that he needs them in life, which is why a relationship with him can have a pretty slow development.

In the first place, it'll take a rather long time for him to first trust someone let alone accepting them as a friend. He's pretty hard to approach you see, mostly because he often wants to be left on his own. He doesn't want to desire or need anyone and doesn't think that he'll ever need any other beings except for the times when he wants to get his room cleaned or have his meal prepared.

Love is something odd to him and it takes a very long time for him to actually feel it. You might think that he won't get it when someone loves him to the point of having to slap and shout: "Can't you see that I'm flirting with you..!??", but he's actually the total opposite. Note that he's pretty smart and would quickly realize it when someone's even staring at him, so nothing would be easier than telling if someone if having a crush on him. But he'd pretend that he doesn't know.

He doesn't really care what others feel about him and even as one loves him, he sees no reason to love them back. Whoever his lover is, they need to be really really patient with him because they must prove him that they aren't giving up this easily. He'd most likely try to tell you off and make you hate him multiple times, it really confuses him to see someone not letting go of him despite knowing how cold and mean he can be. He isn't a stray cat that would that would have his heart melted if you give him some head pats or treat him nicely, gaining Prince Leona's attention is no easy.

Even as he falls in love, it isn't going to totally change everything about him, so we can't expect him to let go of each and every poor manner of his because some of them are basically linked to the way he is in general.

He'd be different though, he tries to be more respectful and charming toward the one he desires, but as a lover he's often the: "Shut up and kiss me" type. He'd still be into teasing, but not in a humiliative way. He just enjoys messing with the people he likes so it's more of his way to play with his darling and showing admiration!

Beware though, if he falls in love, his darling would be his new goal, and he'd take no effort in making his darling his and only his. If he wants the darling, it must be him and only him who will get to have them. Just as much as it's so rare of him to actually reach the level of loving someone, know that he'll be so dangerous when he's serious about it. He won't be messing around when it comes to love.

I can keep talking about him all day but this has already gotten really long and I don't want it to get boring or any longer to read- I must admit that Leona's charater is quite interesting to study and the amount of details about his personality is surely fascinating!

[supernaturallymarvellous]

Are You In?

Author: @supernaturallymarvellous

Characters: Deadpool x Reader (platonic)

Summary: An early morning call from Wade Wilson can never mean anything good, right?

Word Count: 667

Warnings: Wade being a jackass!  

A/N: So, like a year ago, @itsbuckysworld​ started the Hello Spring 31 Day Fiction Short Story Event being hosted by @itsbuckysworld.  I’ve been suffering from the worst case of writer’s block but it seems like it’s over so I’ve managed to pick this back up again!

The prompt for Day 7 is “Are You In?”.

Tag Lists are also open for this series of fics - Marvel fandom, characters to be decided as I get inspired by each prompt.  Actually tag lists are open for all my work so just send me an ask!

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It was too early to be awake.  As Y/N gingerly opened her eyes against the harsh early morning light pouring through her windows, her hand crept out from the warmth of the blankets and groped around on the bedside table to locate her cellphone.  The offending item had been vibrating for the last few minutes and while she desperately wanted to ignore it, that simply wasn’t an option available to her in her line of work.

Hauling herself up to lean against the headboard, she unlocked the phone to see several messages from quite possibly the most irritating person her in her contact list; one Wade “Deadpool” Wilson!  Cursing the day that she was ever stupid enough to give him her phone number, Y/N scrolled through the messages, finding herself growing increasingly amused as Wade’s tone changed from message to message.

Beside her, the bed dipped as Steve rolled over, lazily throwing his arm around her waist.  The desire to crawl back under the blankets and cuddle up to Steve was overwhelming, but previous experience had taught Y/N that her only option was to respond to Wade as soon as she could.  Sliding out of bed, she made her way to the kitchen and started to make coffee as she dialled the annoying assassin’s number.  For someone that was so desperate to hear from her, it took a surprisingly long time for Wade to actually answer the call.  

“Mrs America!  Do you have any idea how important my messages were?  I am trying to report a crime to one of the only people with the resources to deal with it, and you’ve probably been playing at baby making with the Captain!”

“Jesus Christ Wade.  It’s only just past seven in the morning.  Do you have to be your obnoxious self so goddamn early?!”

Hearing him to start to rant, Y/N switched to speaker mode and put the phone down on the bench before taking a long drink of black coffee, the only substance that stood a chance of getting her through this conversation and the rest of the day.  She offered up a silent prayer of thanks to Tony and his insistence on importing the best quality coffee that he could lay his hands on, and began to tune out Wade’s voice.  After a few minutes, there seemed to be nothing but silence emanating from the phone. Y/N dared to pick it up, hoping Wade had rung off.  She had no such luck and no sooner than she had put the device to her ear, the conversation started up again.  

“Hello?  Are you still there, Y/N?  My god……you call yourself an Avenger and you are doing absolutely nothing to avenge the awful tragedy that has taken place!!”

Realising that the only way to shut him up was to hear him out, Y/N asked Wade to explain exactly what had happened.  Again, he launched into an over-elaborate and complex tale.  Finally her patience snapped.

“Wade!  For the love of all things holy, just tell me what was stolen.  So far all you’ve done is complain and whine like a baby.”

“They……they took my katanas.  That stupid metal giant and the angriest emo child I’ve ever met took my swords and won’t give them back until I’ve agreed to join their stupid mutant group!  I don’t play well with others, Y/N!  Now can you please do something to help me?  Wake up the scary lady assassin and get both your asses down here.”

That was the final straw.  Y/N just shook her head and pressed the button to end the call.  There was no use in continuing the conversation any longer. She quickly drank down the remainder of her coffee before addressing the AI system that was ever present throughout the Tower.

“FRIDAY?  I’m going back to bed until a more reasonable hour.  Please screen my calls for the rest of the day.  Oh and could you send out a group message telling everyone to ignore that red-suited idiot!”

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Tagging: @itsbuckysworld​   @ibwhellospring​  @waywardimpalawriter    @zepppie   @81mysteriouslyme​  @helvonasche  @xxloki81xx    @redlipstickandplaid​

[andinewton]

Since You’ve Been Gone - Mystic Messsenger Alternate V Ending Jumin x MC

I feel like I’ve been writing this for years!  It’s probably been just one year, but I finally finished it!  

The concept is this fic will have two (maybe three) endings. Both are set firstly during V’s two years away then moving into the party where he reappears.  The first, this fic, has MC and Jumin beginning a relationship, while the second has Jumin crushing on MC but her heart belongs to V.  Both a little angsty, though mostly that’s left to your imagination, with fluffy undertones too.  I think that about explains it!  I might even get around to a third ending which is the poly ending!  We’ll see how I go!

Since You’ve Been Gone - Mystic Messsenger Alternate V Ending Jumin x MC 

Relationships: Jumin x MC

Warnings: None, really.

Two years.  That’s how long it had been since you came to Korea on the promise of a position as a video games tester.  It had turned out not to be what you thought.  At all.  Firstly, you thought testing would be more technical, matching your fledgling skills more, but it turned out it was more  onsite beta testing on a prerelease.  Until it wasn’t.  Until it turned out that the AI’s you had been talking to were real people.  Until it turned out you were staying at the headquarters of a cult.  Until you had run from the place with a red haired hacker and an aqua eyed photographer.  Until you had played nursemaid to the latter while he sweat the poison the cult had given him out of his system.  Until you started to have feelings for him.

Throughout it all the one thing you were always sure of was the way you felt towards V, Jihyun.  You had liked him immediately, the way he trusted your word when the rest of RFA didn’t, he vouched for you, he saved you.  And then he was gone.

You understood, you really did.  Besides the fact his fiancee had been batshit crazy and started the cult in the first place, besides the fact she had not only almost blinded him but had stabbed him.  Besides all of that, you understood his need to find himself, to take time to rediscover who he was and what he wanted.  He still kept in contact, though sporadically, and it was enough for you to know he was safe and happy.  He had asked Jumin Han, his most trusted and oldest friend, to watch over both you and RFA, especially when you made it clear you had no desire to return to your home country, that you planned to stay on as RFA’s guest coordinator, if they would have you.  The answer was an emphatic yes and, after not very long, Jumin had offered you an apartment in a modest complex he owned at a reasonable rent.

You began working in a local office, turning down Jumin’s offer to work for C&R as you felt he had done enough for you.  However, that didn’t stop him calling you every day at least once, texting when he had time, and whenever you logged into the messenger he always seemed to be there.  Then he began calling into your office during your lunch break, saying he was in the area and would you like to join him for lunch, or he would call you to say he was passing and would you like a ride home.  He asked you to attend parties with him, business dinners, as you had proved to be confident in conversation with strangers without being overfamiliar.  It was a quality he admired and found many of his associates warmed to you quickly, allowing many deals to go through much smoother than he expected.

Then, finally, only a month ago, Jumin invited you to dinner at his penthouse.  You had come straight from work, wearing a navy slim leg pants suit and matching blouse decorated with lilac flowers, your shoes were sensible two inch heel pumps.  You had your bag slung over your shoulder and a raincoat over your arm.  The weather had promised showers.  They had blown over early but you were always prepared, if nothing else.  Driver Kim had dropped you outside the building where the head of security had been waiting to escort you to the penthouse without delay.  You were familiar with all of Jumin’s staff now, knowing them by name and able to make polite conversation with each one, even though it confused Jumin as to why you would want to know how a security official’s son’s last soccer match had gone.  You accepted that Jumin had been raised in a particularly elitist way and that he meant nothing by it, he didn’t mean to be rude he just didn’t know any different.  The fact he was so cordial and considerate of you, a mere office worker, meant it was less a status thing and more an employee/employer thing.  You thought.  You might be wrong.  Jumin was something of a puzzle in himself.  Often you would find yourself at dinner while he had his phone pressed to his ear, sipping your wine and regarding him curiously as he spoke.  You understood why Zen referred to him as a robot from the way he spoke and carried himself, so formal as to almost be painful, but you knew that inside that harsh exterior lay a man with so much passion for that which he deemed worthy.  You found him fascinating.  He could change subjects at a moments notice, something coming to his attention he simply had to tell you or address, and once he got something in his head there was no dislodging it until he had seen it through.  You were unsure what this dinner was in aid of, you could only guess the upcoming party.  You had had meetings with the entire RFA and with both Jaehee and Jumin, but this was the first time you had been invited to his penthouse alone.  You hoped everything was okay and that you hadn’t made some sort of error with the guest list.  This party was going to be the biggest yet, extremely extravagant and elegant, and you were worried that you may just screw up such an enormous event somehow.  Time to find out.

The chief of security knocked on the door and you respectfully stayed a few paces behind him.  Jumin never kept you waiting long and, sure enough, he opened the door just moments later, wearing one of his trademark three piece suits with matching tie and a striped shirt.  You had always considered this sort of outfit stuffy and formal but on Jumin it worked, it accentuated his figure without being loud or flashy, and you had to admit it was quite a nice figure.

You were close, you admitted that, perhaps closer to him than any other RFA member, but a large part of you denied what you actually felt.  He was V’s friend, and although the photographer had never confirmed that he considered you as anything other than a that himself, your mind still thought back to when he told you that if he was ever ready to love again he would consider you.  Consider you.  It felt like your emotions had been put on hold when he left, as though you weren’t permitted to think of anyone else until you knew for sure, but recently you had found yourself thinking more and more of Jumin and less and less of V.  Your heart seemed to know what this meant, however, your common sense had not yet caught up.

‘Ah, MC.’  He greeted you as he always did before turning to his head of security.  ‘That will be all.’

The security chief left as Jumin stepped back to allow you entry and took your coat from you without hesitation.

‘Are you well?’  He asked politely as you put your bag on the dresser by the door as always.

‘I’m fine, thank you, Jumin.  How was your day?’

‘Far too long.’  He admitted before stepping ahead of you.  ‘Allow me to get you some wine.’

‘Thank you.’  You replied as he disappeared into what you knew was his expansive kitchen.  You had never seen a kitchen so big and even that was only once.  Jumin liked to keep you out, as though going where the food was prepared burst the mysterious bubble behind its creation.  Instead you went to the large picture window that filled one entire wall of the suite, overlooking the city below, and you toyed with the locket the members of RFA had chosen for you as a gift on your last birthday.  You suspected, from the name of the jewellers it had come from, that Jumin had put in a good deal of the money towards it, although the thought was most likely Jaehee’s.

‘Here you are.’  Jumin said as he approached, his footsteps muffled by the thick carpet below his feet, and you turned to accept your glass, but instead found him a bouquet of blue roses.

‘Jumin?’  You asked curiously as you took the bouquet when he offered it, tied with a matching ribbon and wrapped in delicate paper and plastic.  ‘What are these for?’

‘They are for you.’  He stated the obvious.  ‘Please, can we take a seat?’

‘They’re very beautiful, thank you.’  You said as you took in their scent and moved with him to the couch, finally realising he held two glasses of wine in his other hand.  You accepted one as you placed the flowers in your lap.  ‘But really, what did I do to deserve flowers?’

‘Do?  I don’t understand.’

‘You’ve never given me flowers before.’  You pointed out.  ‘There must be a reason, because you never do anything without one.’

You thought you saw him blush as he took a large sip of his wine before putting it on the table behind him.  ‘MC, I wished to talk with you, and I thought blue roses would be a good icebreaker for the conversation to come.’  He said formally and it made you frown slightly.

‘Okay, should I look up what blue roses mean so I know what’s going on?’

‘I shall explain, if you permit it?’

‘Of course.  It’ll take longer otherwise.’  You said encouragingly.

‘Very well.’  He adjusted his cuff before taking the flowers and wine from your hands again and placing them with his own.  He turned back to face you and seemed to compose himself before he began.  ‘MC.’

‘Jumin.’  You replied overly seriously, hoping to put him at ease.

‘I am trying to be serious.’  He huffed out a breath.

‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this nervous.’  You rested your hand on his knee.  ‘Are you sure everything is alright?’

‘I am uncertain right is the wrong word, however I must clear the air between us before I can decide.’

‘Did something happen to V?’  You asked, thinking this may be the only thing that he would want to sit you down and talk about.

‘No, not at all.  He checked in just a few days ago, as you know.  He was in Alaska of all places.’

‘Then what is it?’

Jumin looked down at your hand on his knee then took it in both of his, holding it between you as though it were something more precious.  ‘MC, I feel it would be unfair on each of us if we were to carry on as we are without me expressing to you the changes I have felt.’

‘Things have changed?’  You asked in concern, assuming you had done something wrong to make him think so.  ‘Please, tell me what it is, and I’ll change it back, if I can.’

‘I do not need you to change anything, to my eyes you are perfect.’  He said sincerely and you felt a blush tint your cheeks.  ‘Which is what I wish to tell you, and I would appreciate you hearing me out before you ask any questions.’  When you nodded, concern now written on your face, he continued.  ‘I first of all wish you to know that this will change nothing between us, unless you want it to.  I am, if nothing else, honourable, I just feel that to not tell you would be tantamount to lying, which I will not participate in.  When V was injured by Rika I promised that I would take care of you, watch over you, and I have taken my duty very seriously, but now I find it less of a duty and more a necessity, a pleasure.  I enjoy spending time with you.’

‘I enjoy spending time with you too.’  You assured him, ideas still filling your head as to what he might be leading to.

‘I’m glad, and I do not want what I am about to say to stop you feeling that way, however I must confess.  I cannot deny my feelings for you any longer.  MC, I care for you very deeply, very much more than I do about anyone else in RFA.’

‘I care deeply for you too.’  You smiled, glad that it was only something he wanted to get off his chest.  You knew that Jumin didn’t like errant emotions.  They ruined his concentration.

‘I’m sorry, I am not explaining myself very well.  Perhaps I should use the roses.’

‘Alright.’  You were unsure what he meant but that but you tended to allow Jumin his eccentricities.

‘The blue rose is very rare, therefore it remains for many mysterious and unattainable.  I thought them the best way to express to you that although I want you, I know I shouldn’t, yet I cannot stop thinking about you, despite how inappropriate it is.’

He continued to talk but your brain switched off.  Something about being loyal to V, words of emotions, his heart speeding up whenever he saw you.  Jumin…liked you?  Had feelings for you?  This was…new.  Your stomach did a nervous flip-flop at the thought of staunch, austere Jumin Han confessing his feelings for you.  Suddenly it all became clear.  The many visits and calls, the fact you spent your day thinking about him, wondering if he had eaten and what.  He wasn’t alone in his feelings.

‘Say something, MC.  You’re being awfully quiet for you.’  He prompted and you did the only thing you could think of.  You leant in and kissed him.

Jumin couldn’t move with your lips pressed against his, and so he remained, unmoving and unresponsive, until you sat back, your cheeks flushed and eyes on your lap.

‘Jumin, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…’

You never finished as his hand slipped into your hair and he closed the gap between you, his lips stealing your words more effectively than anything he could have said.  His kiss was languid and slow, as though every motion brought a new flavour to him and he wanted to try them all.  His hand that still held you pulled you closer until you rested your free hand on his chest more for support than anything else, but you could suddenly feel his heart beating hard and fast against your palm, like a caged animal trying to escape.  You finally broke for air but Jumin held you in place with his hand on the nape of your neck, his eyes closed as he pressed his forehead to yours.

‘Do I take it you feel the same?’  He asked breathily, his already deep voice throaty and rough.

‘I do, I just…I never thought that you…’

‘How could I not?’  He brushed your nose with his own.  ‘You are the most incredible woman I have ever had the pleasure to know.  I feared, however, that my feelings may not be reciprocated and that I was somehow hurting V by acting on them.’

‘I’m not V’s.  I’m not anyone’s.’  You shook your head just enough to rock both you and Jumin from side to side.  ‘V only said that maybe one day he could love again, that maybe it could be me.  He never asked me to wait for him, he never asked me not to fall in…’  You stopped yourself before you confessed what your heart felt.  ‘I’m not V’s.’  You repeated finally.

‘Then would you, perhaps…consider being mine?’

‘I thought you’d never ask.’

Jumin wanted to make things official.  Jumin wanted everyone to know you were his.  It took a lot of convincing but you finally had him agree to keeping this between the two of you, just for now.  You had spent a lot of time together and even the press had ceased querying who you were, once they knew you were a member of the RFA.  Only the occasional tabloid still ran photos of you both and you were so used to that by now that it wasn’t an issue.  You were sure things would change if and when you did make it official, but for now, even from the RFA, it was your little secret.  The next RFA party was only weeks away so it only made sense that your meetings were increasing.  Between you, you had decided to tell the RFA first, before the party to be precise.  Things between you were going well and you saw no reason to keep things behind closed doors.

Jumin had tried to sway your choice of outfit that evening, wanting you to wear something from a famous designer, but you had chosen your dress months ago, beautiful but not expensive, not by the standards he was suggesting at least.  One thing you did allow him was to send a car for you as he was doing so for the rest of the RFA too.

The doorbell rang as you were applying the topcoat to your lipstick and you hurriedly put the lid on, not wanting to keep the driver waiting.  You had a small purse which was already slung across your body for convenience and you slipped the lipstick inside as you picked up the key to your apartment and opened the door.  You hadn’t been expecting Jumin himself to come and collect you, although really you should have guessed as much.  He looked dashing in a silver frock coat suit and cream cravat, a diamond pin glinting against it.  He smiled softly as his eyes took in your outfit and you knew now why he wanted to know the colour of your dress.  His silver and cream ensemble contrasted well with your own black and silver.  The dress was long sleeved, wraparound and ankle length with a split to your hip.  Across your breast and from your hip to your knee was black and silver sequinned, making it look like you wore a short dress underneath.  You had fastened the top of your hair back with a black and silver clip, the stones in which you doubted were even glass let alone actual gems, and your lobes sparkled with simple silver drop earrings.

‘You look exquisite.’  He greeted you, bowing his head to kiss your cheek.

‘Thank you.  I love your suit, very…you.’  You settled on.  ‘I wasn’t expecting you.’

‘I would not allow anyone else to accompany my lady to an event of such calibre, let alone unaccompanied.’  He reached for your hand, or so you thought, but instead you found a slender velvet box pressed into your waiting palm, and you glanced down at it in surprise.

‘What’s this?’

‘A gift.’  He said simply.

You stepped back and let him inside, closing the door before opening the box, your breath catching at the diamond bracelet within.  ‘Jumin, it’s lovely.’  You breathed as he took the box from you and fastened the item on your opposite wrist to your watch.

‘Not as lovely as you.’  He raised your hand and pressed a soft kiss to your wrist.

‘Not that I don’t appreciate it, but what’s the occasion?’  You asked as his storm grey eyes looked into yours.

‘Do I need an occasion to treat you like a princess?’

‘Considering this probably cost more than a years salary for me, I think so.’

‘Then consider it a token of my affection.  Every diamond, like every star in the sky, cannot compete with the beauty before me.’

‘You’re too sweet.’  You went up on tiptoes and kissed his cheek, cupping his jaw with your palm.  ‘Thank you so much.’

‘Shall we?’

You left your apartment together, Jumin with his palm pressed to the centre of your back.  You had found it was a way of maintaining physical contact in public that didn’t draw suspicion, rather it drew attention to Jumin Han being the well raised gentleman everyone expected him to be.  It was more personal than anyone in RFA was used to him being and your friendship had not gone unnoticed, although no one realised quite how far it went.

You hadn’t been expecting a limo, although in truth you should have.  Jumin liked the finer things and as you were going somewhere the press would be awaiting your arrival then it stood to reason.  He let you in first then offered wine as soon as the driver closed the door.  You made smalltalk, Jumin sitting in a very deliberate position so his knee touched yours, his fingers brushing yours on the seat between you.

There was already a considerable crowd of press and gawkers when you arrived, despite knowing you were there long before any guests were due to enable you to go through final checks of equipment, place settings and, of course, the all important guest list.  Jaehee had been here for several hours already so you were certain everything would be perfect, but this was now your routine, where the parties were concerned.  Though none of you would admit it, it gave you a chance to each have a drink and chat before the evening kicked off, a brief catch up as you were all so busy you rarely saw one another in person.

Jumin alighted from the limo first, holding his hand to help you out as the press yelled his name and questions at the two of you, but while he was quick to release your hand he ushered you inside just as fast, not sparing a moment for the press.  You could see Jaehee across the room with her tablet in her hand, no doubt checking off last minute items with the staff who would shortly be milling with canapés and drinks.  Yoosung’s blond hair could be seen out on the terrace where he was no doubt talking to Zen, who would be having a last minute cigarette.  He had cut down recently but still it continued.  There was no sign of Saeyoung but he could simply be running late or working on the PA system behind the scenes.  A professional company always provided it but that didn’t stop him from tinkering whenever he got the chance.

Jaehee saw you and waved before finishing what she was doing, heading straight towards you both with a confident stride.  ‘Mr Han, MC.’  She greeted you both with a small nod of her head.  ‘Everything here is just about ready.’

‘Very good, Assistant Kang.’  Jumin replied.  ‘Is everyone from RFA here?’

‘All present and accounted for.  There was a small mix up with the wine you requested, however by way of an apology the company have provided us with a better vintage at no extra cost.’

‘Excellent.  Are we about ready to have our final meeting before the doors open?’

‘As soon as Saeyoung finishes what he is doing.’

‘Perfect.  Have wine poured for us all, I wish to propose a toast before we begin.’

‘Yes, sir.’  She walked away as quickly as she had arrived while you looked up at Jumin curiously.

‘We don’t normally get a drink until all the guests are here.’  You reminded him.

‘Tonight I wish to make an exception.’

‘For any particular reason?’  You teased, suspecting you now knew why.

‘I wish for our friends to be able to help us celebrate our happiness.’

‘For someone who’s reputation is that of a stern businessman, you really are quite the romantic.’

He leant towards you, and when he spoke it was quietly as the staff were now milling around in preparation, carrying trays of drinks for the guests.  ‘It just took the right woman to bring it out in me.’

‘Look who finally showed up,’ Zen greeted as he came back through the doors with Yoosung in tow, ‘now all the work is done.’

‘Was there anything for you to actually do when you arrived?’  Jumin quirked him an irritated eyebrow which changed to a scowl when Zen kissed your cheek.

‘That’s not the point.’  Zen graced you with his most dazzling smile.  ‘I hope this jerk didn’t bore you too much on the way in, jagiya?’

‘He was the perfect gentleman.’  You assured him as Yoosung gave Zen a playful nudge.

‘Don’t hog MC’s attention like that, Zen.’  The younger man groaned before you stepped forward and hugged him.

‘How are you, Yoosung?’  You asked.

‘A little tired.’  He blushed as you parted.  ‘I stayed up late on a raid.’

‘You knew we had a lot to do.’  You admonished him playfully.  ‘And a late night tonight.’

‘I know, but my guild were depending on me!’

‘We are depending you not to yawn all through the party.’  Jumin adjusted his cuff, a sure sign he was feeling nervous.

‘I won’t, don’t worry.’  Yoosung waved to someone and you turned to see Saeyoung emerge from one of the side doors.  ‘Looks like we’re nearly ready.’

‘Good.  Come.’  Jumin touched your elbow and you headed towards where the bar staff were pouring the wine he had requested.  Just moments later you all stood together, glasses in hand, everyone slightly confused by Jumin’s request for a toast before the party begun.  As soon as the area was clear of staff he cleared his throat before speaking.  ‘I think I should first apologise for lying to you all for so long.’

‘I knew it.’  Zen rolled his eyes.

‘This is it!’  Saeyoung laughed gleefully.  ‘He’s going to confirm the rumours!’

Jumin and Jaehee glared at Saeyoung while you rubbed at the bridge of your nose in a modified facepalm that also hid your faint smile.  ‘I am not going to even dignify that with a response.’  Jumin said disdainfully.  ‘I…we…merely wanted you all, as our friends, to be the first to know.’

‘We?’  Yoosung asked.  ‘We who?’

‘We us.  MC and I are…are…’  He looked at you for help as he struggled with the exact definition.  ‘No longer friends.’

‘Jumin, that’s not the best way to tell them!’  You laughed, lacing your fingers with his.  ‘We’re together.’

‘This…is a joke, right?’  Zen raised a hopeful eyebrow.

‘No joke.’  You said as Jumin replied; ‘I would not joke about such a thing.’

Everyone just stared at you for several moments, and finally it was Saeyoung who broke the silence.  ‘Congratulations!’  He thrust his glass forward, the golden liquid within sloshing at the edges.  ‘I, for one, am pleased for you both.’

Everyone else joined in with the congratulations then, even Zen, although he did give you a concerned look before mouthing; ‘Are you sure?’  To which you nodded with an emphatic grin.

‘Goodness!’  Jaehee put down her glass rapidly.  ‘Look at the time, I have to check in the guests!’

‘We should all take our places to welcome them.’  Jumin beckoned over a waiter to clear your glasses.

You began to walk away, planning to join Jaehee as you had invited the guests, but Jumin didn’t release your hand, pulling you back until you faced him.

‘That was not too terrifying, I hope?’

You shook your head.  ‘Not at all.  I’m glad they know.’

‘As am I.’  He cupped your cheek with his gloved palm before kissing you softly, being careful not to smudge your lipstick.  ‘Do not stray too far during the party, my love, I would like to be able to steal you away whenever I choose.’

‘You’re ridiculously romantic.’  You chuckled, running your hand down his cravat.  ‘You’re also ridiculously territorial.’

‘I think I was remarkably behaved.’

‘You were.’  You pushed up on your toes and gave him another quick kiss.  ‘Come on, we have to be ready to welcome the guests.’

‘With that as my encouragement how could I refuse?’  He gave you a rare yet warm smile, letting you go as he did so.

The party was in full swing, the last of the invited guests were now checked off and you had all gathered once more, Jumin coordinating who should speak with which guests in the few moments he was not being sought after himself by business associates.  Jaehee walked by where you stood alone, between conversations, and said; ‘Mr Han wants us to coordinate another brief meeting with the RFA, to see how things are going.  Five minutes, where we met before.’

‘Alright, Jaehee, thanks.’  You replied as she hurried over to Zen.  You headed to the bar, tucking a hair behind your ear as you went.  You were happy just to spend a few more minutes with Jumin, regardless of the reason.

‘Good, we’re all here.’  Jumin nodded.  ‘Saeyoung, could you speak with the representatives from the LFG Corp regarding their technical questions.  Yoosung, the youth organisation representative should be your next stop, give them the point of view of today’s college students.  Zen,’  Jumin gave him a raised eyebrow, ‘just continue to flirt with anything in a dress but don’t go too far.’

‘Hey!’  Zen snapped, but Jumin continued regardless.

‘MC, ensure you have spoken to everyone so they know who you are for future parties.’

‘Okay.’  You nodded.

‘And, Jaehee.’

You felt her back straighten beside you.  ‘Yes, Mr Han?’

‘Try and look a little more relaxed.’

You hid a snort of laughter as Jumin waved his hand and conversation broke out among the group.

‘I can’t believe it’s been two years since V was discharged.’  Yoosung shook his head.  ‘It’s also been two years since Rika…’

Saeyoung interrupted him, not wanting him to dwell.  ‘The last time we tracked him, he was in Alaska.  About three months ago.’

‘Why would he go there?’  Zen wrinkled his nose in a way you knew the fans went wild for.  ‘Hey, CEO-In-Line!  No recent calls from V?’

Jumin turned his full attention back to the group with a sigh.  ‘None whatsoever.  He’s apparently not planning on showing himself at this party either.’

‘Well, whether he is here or not, congratulations on a successful opening of the RFA party.’  Jaehee smiled warmly.

‘Nice work, everybody.’  Saeyoung agreed.

Jaehee adjusted her glasses.  ‘I didn’t think we’d be able to hold a party again to a success.’

Jumin entwined his fingers with yours.  ‘This party was also held in order to remind ourselves that now we have defeated the event that befell two years ago.’

‘Yes, and you performed a major role in forming this party, Mr Han.’  Jumin waved a dismissive hand but Jaehee continued.  ‘Of course, we wouldn’t have made it if it weren’t for Zen, Luciel, Yoosung…all of you.’

‘And we can’t leave MC out of this.’  Yoosung added excitedly.

‘I’ve only done what I’m supposed to.’  You shook your head.

‘Being humble isn’t bad, but I think you can take more pride for a day like this.’  Jaehee was definitely one of your biggest supporters and you didn’t like to argue with her.

Zen waved a slender finger at you  ‘That’s right.  You’ve worked so hard to organise the list for the party guests.’

‘Why don’t we have a glass to celebrate?’  Jumin indicated to the approaching server.  ‘You can look forward to this champagne.’

‘Hey, let’s be honest, Jumin.’  Zen began as he took a glass.  ‘You’re an alcoholic, aren’t you?  And you keep uploading alcohol pictures on the messenger.  You also uploaded some strange wine image yesterday.’

Saeyoung laughed.  ‘I think all of the wines he uploaded could match the price for one of my babes waiting in the garage.’

Jumin just rolled his eyes before clinking his glass to yours and taking a good slug, but Zen wasn’t ready to let it go.

‘Hey…just how much are you going to chug?  You’re the CEO-In-Line!  You think it’s okay for you to drink every day?  MC, tell him!’

‘My friend and father happen to be stressing me out on a daily basis.  I’m merely de-stressing on my own terms.  But don’t you ever get tired of uploading your own face?  It’s not like there’s a major change in your looks.  I don’t understand why you would upload the same image over and over again.’  Jumin acted casually but his words held bite, and you squeezed his hand in an effort to get him to tone it down.

‘Hey, I didn’t do it for you.’  Zen spluttered.  ‘It was for the entirety of mankind!  And they’re all different, in little ways.’

‘They’re all completely different from each other.’  Jaehee argued in his defence.

‘That’s right.  Ugh…I shouldn’t lose my temper on a good day like this.’  Zen flicked his hair towards Jumin in a dismissive gesture.

Yoosung leant towards Saeyoung.  ‘I’m so glad Zen and Jumin meet only during parties.’

‘Same here.’  The hacker laughed into his glass.

Yoosung grinned, he was so happy lately it was great to see, but his smile suddenly turned to a small pout as his eyebrows shot up.  ‘Oh right!  I forgot to decorate table twenty-eight!  Seven!  Could you give me a hand?’

‘Aw, come on, this champagne’s a delicacy!  Mind if I give you a hand after I finish my glass?’

‘You can have it later, Seven!  Come and take a look at the ornament I chose!’  Yoosung pulled on his arm and Saeyoung put his glass into Jaehee’s waiting hand.

‘Hmm…I’m actually wondering which ornament you bought.  You didn’t log into the LOLOL for two days because you had to choose an ornament so it had better be good.  I’ll be the judge for you.’

‘Judge?  You?  Yeah right…anyway, follow me.’

‘I’ll catch you later.  Make sure to leave my portion of the drink.’  Saeyoung threw you all a grin.

‘I prepared several spare bottles.  So no need to worry.’  Jumin called after him.

‘Seriously?  So you really are determined to drink, CEO-In-Line?’

‘Zen, leave it.’  You asked sweetly, knowing he couldn’t resist when you did so.

‘Yoosung is very eager.’  Jaehee smiled after your youngest member left.

‘He is.  And Seven’s also enjoying himself.’  Zen finally seemed happy with a change of subject.  You were all happy with the way the RFA was heading, everything was so positive, a far cry from the state of things two years ago.

As though reading your thoughts, Jumin spoke.  ‘I hope we all can show the potential of the RFA in the future, starting with this party  Today cannot be any happier.’

‘And this is the day that I, Zen, make a grand comeback to the society!’  Zen laughed in such an attention grabbing way several heads turned.

‘Zen, there are a lot of women over there almost glaring love at you.’  Jaehee remarked, pointing subtly with her glass.

‘And I can also see a pack of hyenas, I mean reporters, clustering right nearby.’  Jumin all but groaned.

‘Talk about this popularity of mine…but no showing off.  Let me run now, but I’ll come back!’  Zen took a overdramatic bow before heading out into the crowd once more.

‘We should give him some bodyguards.’  Jaehee watched him go with a hint of worry in her eyes.

‘Let him be.  He seems to be enjoying himself.  He looks good.’  Jumin shrugged.

‘Are you serious?’  Jaehee’s eyes went wide at Jumin’s words.

‘Which reminds me, Jaehee, I got a call that my father’s arrived.’

‘He did?’  You asked as  Jumin raised your hand to his lips for a soft kiss before releasing it.

‘You mean the chairman?  I haven’t received such a call…let me double check.’

‘He called me himself before I called us all together.  I believe I should go and greet him.  I beg your pardon, MC, Could you stay here and enjoy the party for a bit?  I’ll be right back.’

‘Of course.’  You nodded, smiling warmly at the adoration in Jumin’s eyes before he left.

Jaehee rapidly put down both glasses she held on a table and pulled her tablet back from under her arm.  ‘Mr Han!  You know there’s something we must relay to him.  Allow me to accompany you. I’ll see you in a while, MC.’

You laughed as she ran off after him, taking another sip of the champagne as the crowd filled in the gaps around you.  As such, you then weren’t expecting the voice that came from behind you.

‘I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time.’

You thought your heart had stopped, that your memory was playing tricks on you, and all you could reply as you turned was;  ‘Pardon?’

There before you stood the very man you had all been talking about minutes before.  V.  He had had his hair cut since you last saw him, not that that was a surprise, but he looked so grown up, the shorter cut suiting him well.  His white shirt was unbuttoned showing an enticing expanse of pale skin, with several necklaces contrasting.  His khakis and dress shoes were the only thing out of place in such a relaxed outfit, as though he would be more at home relaxing on a beach somewhere.  You knew your eyes were wide and your mouth open but you just couldn’t think of anything to say.

V took another step towards you, his smile more genuine than you had ever seen it.  ‘Congratulations, MC.’

‘V?!’  You spat, the only thing you could finally vocalise being his name.

He chuckled softly.  ‘It’s Jihyun Kim now.  Long time no see.  You look surprised, puzzled.  I actually missed that look.  Did I keep you waiting too long?’

‘Uh, we missed you.’  You stammered.

‘You couldn’t have missed me more than I missed you.  There’s not a single day I spent without missing you, MC.  I missed you so much.  So fathomlessly.  You can’t imagine.’

You swallowed hard, worrying where this was going, but still he continued.

‘I’ve booked and cancelled tons of tickets to see you.  Now I even have a scrapbook of tickets I cancelled.  MC, but you know what?  I think it’s worth the wait.’

‘I, uh…’  You seemed to have lost the ability to string more than a few words together, but V was happy to continue.

‘Have I ever told you that my hobby happens to be putting together white blank puzzles?  I’ve been putting together blank puzzles for the past two years.  And I’ve been drawing and painting them.  I deliberated what I should draw, what I should use.  It took hours for me just to think.  Though it took so long I can guarantee that those puzzles now hold my sincerity.  Do you want to know what became of my blank puzzles?’

‘Yes, I do.’  You managed.  In all the time you spent together he had never opened up to you this willingly.

He took another step towards you and took your hand, holding it between both of his.  ‘Then why not go see them together?  I’ve been lost for years, but I’ve filled them up with a variety of fun colours.  Now I finally discovered an array of colours to paint my blank puzzles.  And if you like the puzzles I coloured there’s something I’d like to offer you.’

He stepped closer still until your toes almost touched, your heart rate had sped up as you pondered where this was going.  Sure, being away he probably had a lot to share, but this seemed more personal than a travel journal.

When he spoke again his voice was low and just for you.  ‘Do you still remember…what I said in the past?  I said that I want to love again, though I wasn’t sure if I could.  That I’d like to love again once a chance arises.  I’d like to love now, so…I’d like to draw paintings more beautiful than the pictures of the sun…with you.  I want you.  I want to choose you.’

Oh shit!  You thought.

‘The paintings we draw will flourish with the colours of our own.  I’ll give you my word every time we hold the brush that we’ll draw together what you truly want, MC.  I give you my word that I’ll paint only the real you.  I, too, will fill our artworks with a man called Jihyun Kim.  We might run into a fight even at the outline part.  We’ll discover something in each other we weren’t aware of.  Regardless, I’d like to make my choice.  I’d like to choose a future not alone.  A future we paint together.  Please be yourself with me, not my canvas.  Please keep your darkness, light, everything with you.  I want to love you.  I will love you.  I love you, MC, just as I love myself.’

‘V?’  Jumin arrived behind you just as V’s hand was coming up towards your cheek, and he draped his arm around your waist as he stopped beside you.  ‘We weren’t expecting you.  What are you doing here?’

‘He’s, uh, back.’  You said as V lowered his hands away from you, his eyes flickering to Jumin’s hand on your shoulder.

‘I decided it was time.’  V’s words were less confident than they had been a moment before, his smile faltering a fraction.  ‘It’s good to see you, my friend.’

‘And you, we must celebrate.’  Jumin gave a small smile.  ‘Darling, would you excuse me while I arrange some more champagne?’

‘Of course.’  You forced a smile as Jumin kissed your cheek before leaving the two of you alone again.

‘So…’

‘You and Jumin are…’

You both spoke at the same time but V waved his hand to allow you to continue.

‘I’m so sorry, V.  Jihyun.’  You swallowed hard, your heart in your mouth as tears pricked the corners of your eyes.  ‘We didn’t now how to reach you, or when you’d be back, and…’

‘MC, it’s fine.’  He stopped you.  ‘I didn’t ask you to wait for me and it’s not fair of me to expect you to have done so.  It was selfish of me to think you wouldn’t have…but Jumin?  I’m happy for you both.’

You shifted your feet nervously.  ‘Yeah.  It’s still pretty new, for both of us.’  Your lip quivered as you looked into his aqua eyes.  ‘I really am sorry.  I didn’t mean.’

‘Shh, it’s okay.  I’m glad you have someone who makes you happy, and to think Jumin has someone as wonderful as you to love him.  But, speaking of Jumin, could you ask him to hold the champagne for another time.  I had a long flight and I really need to go get some sleep to help fight jetlag.’

‘Oh, of course.’  You said hesitantly.  ‘But don’t go on our account.’

‘It’s not you, I promise.  But you’ll come see my puzzles soon, yes?  With Jumin?’

‘I promise.’

‘Then please pass my apologies to everyone for such a brief visit, we’ll catch up soon.’

He was already backing away and you were sure you could see his heart breaking.  ‘V…’

‘Goodbye, MC.’  He smiled warmly and turned his back on you.  All you could do was watch him go.

‘Where’s V?’  Jumin returned to your side with three glasses linked through his fingers and a bottle of champagne in the other.

‘He, uh, had to go.’  You murmured, forcing down your tears once and for all.  ‘He was tired.’

‘Understandable.  We will have him come to the penthouse for dinner to catch us up on his adventures.’

‘Yeah, sure.’  You let Jumin’s arm on the small of your back pull you towards him, allowing him to press a kiss to the top of your head.

‘Are you quite alright, MC?’

‘I’m fine.’  You smiled up at him.  ‘I think the reality of V being back was a bit of a shock.’

‘I certainly wasn’t expecting to see him, but him not being here shouldn’t stop us having a celebratory drink.’

‘Right, no, it shouldn’t.’  You spared one more glance at the door, V having already disappeared from view, and you allowed Jumin to distract you from your thoughts.

V stepped outside the venue, allowing the night air to cool his skin.  Of course she was with someone else, she was amazing.  Who wouldn’t want her?  And that it was Jumin?  You couldn’t even begrudge him that.  Of all the people she could have ended up with, Jumin he would gladly concede defeat to.  His friend needed love perhaps more than he did, in his opinion, and MC was just the kind of woman who would do him the world of good.  So why did it feel like his heart was breaking?  Why did tears flow unbidden as he slipped his hand into his pockets, planning to walk home and clear his head.  But, in truth, even after all his work, he wasn’t sure his head, or heart, would ever be the same again.

[grigori77]

2019 In TV - My Top 10 Shows

This past year may have sucked balls in a lot of ways, but we certainly never got short-changed when it came to our TV.  There was an absolute WEALTH of truly cracking TV around, both on regular networks and on the various on-demand platforms, and so here is my pick of the best, my absolute favourites of 2019.

10.  WATCHMEN

Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof brings us a blinding sequel to comic book legend Alan Moore’s legendary graphic novel with a delightfully trippy, ruthlessly efficient rug-puller that seems pretty tailor-made for HBO.  Old faces return in interesting ways, while there are some cracking new “masks” on offer, particularly Regina King’s Sister Night and the always-brilliant Tim Blake Nelson as morally complex antihero Looking Glass (in some ways very much the show’s own answer to Rorschach).  It never goes where you expect it to go, and refuses to give easy answers to the questions it raises, effortlessly paving the way for more next year ...

9.  THE BOYS

Amazon offers up its own edgy, thoroughly adult superhero property with this darkly funny antiheroic gem based on the cult Garth Ennis comic, expertly adapted by Supernatural creator Eric Kripke.  Karl Urban dominates as Billy Butcher, the foul-mouthed, morally bankrupt “leader” of a makeshift crew of mercenaries, hitmen and psycho killers devoted to “taking care of” superheroes when they inevitably go bad.  Season 1 ultimately serves as an origin story, showing how the team come together, laying quality groundwork for the incoming sophomore tour that promises to open the already fascinating world out significantly.

8.  PREACHER (SEASON 4)

More Garth Ennis, namely this blinder of a closing season for AMC’s consistently impressive adaptation of his best known series for Vertigo comics.  Surprisingly epic, deliciously subversive and constantly, darkly hilarious, this thoroughly non-PC series from showrunners Sam Catlin, Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen (yes! I Know!) certainly went out on a high note, providing its loyal followers with perfectly-pitched bow-outs and sometimes heartbreaking goodbyes for all its players, especially its dynamite leads, Dominic Cooper, Ruth Negga and, in particular, Joe Gilgun as unapologetic bad boy vampire Cassidy.  A worthy end to one of my all-time favourite TV shows.

7.  THE WITCHER

While it’s clearly taken its look from the wildly successful video games, Netflix’s second most ambitious long-form offering of the year takes its lead from the fantasy book series by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski that started it all.  With its somewhat episodic set-up and decidedly twisted narrative timelines, it take a few chapters to get the hang of it, but there’s plenty to draw you in, from the exotic world-building to the frenetic action and compelling collection of richly crafted characters.  Henry Cavill is the titular hero, lovably grouchy mutant monster-hunter Geralt of Rivia, but the real scene-stealer is co-star Anya Chalotra as roguishly self-serving mage Yennefer of Vengenberg.

6.  CARNIVAL ROW

One of the year’s two big sleeper hit TV surprises for me was this inventively offbeat allegorical Amazon fantasy series from The 4400 creator René Echevarria and screenwriter Travis Beacham. Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevigne are the star-crossed lovers at the heart of this intriguingly dark and dirty murder mystery thriller set in Victorian London-esque city-state the Burgue, in which humans struggle to co-exist alongside a struggling disenfranchised underclass of fae (fairies, fawns, centaurs and the like).  The racial turmoil undertones are writ large throughout, but this is far more well-written and lavishly appointed than you might expect on first glance, and almost ridiculously addictive viewing.

5.  LOVE, DEATH + ROBOTS

My other big TV surprise was this wonderfully bizarre sci-fi anthology series of animated shorts from Netflix, mostly adapted from an eclectic selection of short stories from a wide range of top-notch literary talent including Peter F. Hamilton, John Scalzi, Marko Kloos and Alastair Reynolds (a particular favourite of mine).  As you’d expect from the brainchild of Deadpool director Tim Miller and producer David Fincher, this is edgy, leftfield stuff, frequently ultra-violent and decidedly adult, and the wildly varied nature of the material on offer makes for a decidedly uneven tone, but there are some absolute gems on offer here, my favourite being Suits, an enjoyably simple tale of salt-of-the-earth farmers on an alien world utilising clunky mech suits to protect their settlement from rampaging giant xeno-bugs.

4.  THE DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCE

The show with the biggest cinematic wow factor in 2019 had to be this long-awaited prequel series to Jim Henson’s classic fantasy movie masterpiece, created for Netflix by, of all people, Louis Leterrier (yes, the director of The Transporter, Now You See Me and Clash of the Titans, if you can believe it). The technology may have evolved in leaps and bounds, but there’s a wonderfully old school vibe in the delightfully physical puppet effects used to bring the fantastical world of Thra and its denizens to life, so that it truly does feel like it’s based in the same world as the film.  This was EASILY the most visually arresting show of 2019, packed with exquisite character, creature and set design that perfectly complements the awesome work done by Henson and Brian Froud on the original, while the writers have created a darkly rich narrative tapestry that makes Thra seem a more dangerous place than ever.

3.  THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY

I was a HUGE fan of My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way’s magnificently oddball alternative superhero comic, so when I learned that Netflix were adapting it I was a little wary because I knew how spectacularly hard it would be for ANY showrunners to get right.  Thankfully Steve Blackman (Fargo season 2) and Jeremy Slater (The Exorcist TV series) were the right choice, because this perfectly captured the outsider nature of the characters and their endearingly dysfunctional family dynamic. Ellen Page, Tom Hopper (Black Sails, Merlin), David Castañeda and Emmy Raver-Lampman are all excellent as the more “functional” Hargreeves siblings, but the show is roundly stolen by Misfits star Robert Sheehan and Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn’s Aidan Gallagher as nihilistic clairvoyant Klaus and the old-man-in-a-child’s-body sociopath known only as Number Five. Consistently surprising and brilliantly bonkers, this was definitely the year’s most wonderfully WEIRD show.

2.  STRANGER THINGS (SEASON 3)

Writer-director duo the Duffer Brothers’ ultra-nostalgic 80s-set coming-of-age sci-fi horror series remains the undisputed jewel in Netflix’s long-form crown with this consistently top-drawer third season expertly maintaining the blockbuster-level standards we’ve come to expect.  This year the cross-dimensional shenanigans have largely been jettisoned, replaced by a gleefully nasty through-line of icky body horror that would make major influences like David Cronenberg and Stuart Gordon proud, as perennial teenage bad boy Billy Hargrove (the fantastically menacing Dacre Montgomery) becomes the leader of an army of psychic slaves under the control of the Upside Down’s monstrous Mind Flayer.  The kids are all brilliant as always, Winona Ryder and David Harbour really get to build on their strong-yet-spiky chemistry, and the show is almost effortlessly stolen by Joe Keery as one-time golden boy Steve Harrington and series-newcomer Maya Hawke as his nerdy new foil Robin Buckley, who were very nearly the cutest couple on TV in 2019.  Another gold standard season for a true gold standard show.

1.  GOOD OMENS

Sadly, legendary author Terry Pratchett died before he could see the adaptation of one of his most beloved novels (and one of my all-time literary favourites too) see the light of day, but at least his co-author Neil Gaiman was around to bring it to fruition with the aid of seasoned TV director David Mckinnon (Jekyll, Doctor Who, Sherlock), and the end result sure did him proud, perfectly capturing the deeply satirical voice and winningly anarchic, gleefully offbeat and gently subversive humour of the original novel.  David Tennant and Michael Sheen could both have been born to play Crowley and Aziraphale, the angel and demon nominally charged with watching over the young Antichrist in preparation for his role in the End Times, even though they would both much rather the world just went on quite happily the way it is, thanks very much. This is about as perfect an adaptation as you can get, the six hour-long episodes giving the surprisingly complex story time to breathe and grow organically, and the result is the most fun I spent in front of my TV this year.

[retvenkos]

(PART ONE) Hello! Congratulations on your milestone! Can I request a :fire: for Harry Potter? I’m a straight female, My zodiac sign is Scorpio, I’m also a Slytherin. My personality type is Estp-t. I have big goals for my future such as being an actress. I also play the electric guitar and I also really enjoy skateboarding. My favorite music artists are lil peep, Ghostemane, and suicideboys. My friends say that I am very adventurous and I’m emotionally strong.

(PART TWO) they also say that I’m not afraid to take any risks. I can be a bit stubborn at times, I have a hard time trusting people. My aesthetic is a dark grunge. I am an ambivert, I’m not afraid to dream big too. I am also very passionate about witchcraft. I don’t like too much physical contact. I am very protective of my personal space unless I am with someone I’m very close with. Thank you! <3

Harry Potter:

I ship you with Regulus Black!

now, at first this may not seem like the best idea, but i’ve put a lot of thought into this and can say that this is a good idea

from what i gather about scorpios (astrology is not my strong suit) you are the stereotypical slytherin - bold, ambitious, maybe a little secretive... you definitely have the potential to swing either way on the villain/hero scale. you are sharp and intelligent, and more stubborn than anything else, but none of these qualities are necessarily bad. 

truth be told, a lot of these traits are sirius’ personality traits. you’re very similar to him, and therefore, very different from regulus.

where you are bold, regulus is cautious; where you are ready to jump into battle, regulus is patient; where you are defiant, regulus is flexible and goes under the radar; where you are prone to taking risks, regulus is calculated.... and the list goes on.

on the surface, the two of you look like you would never get along - and i’m usually not a fan of opposites attract - but i have some key points that i want to get through to help explain where i’m going with this.

(1) regulus has lived with sirius for his entire life, and since you are so similar to sirius in personality, he understands you really well. of course, he probably doesn’t like you right away, but he knows how you operate and either the teachers catch onto this and make you partners or some of regulus’ friends realize this and task him with getting you to go help them out.

(2) both of you could become either the villain or hero of the story. regulus is a bit of a tragic character, really, because with the push in the right direction, he could have made a lot of change a lot sooner than he did, and maybe the most cruel thing was the time stolen from him. he’s extremely vulnerable to influence, just due to his personality, and so had he been given someone who believed so adamantly in dumbledore and the other side of the war, regulus really could have been the hero - no need for harry potter to grow up, because regulus could have taken center stage and defeated voldemort himself, with the help of the order of the phoenix. from what i know about scorpio, slytherin, estps, you could have a very similar story. because you have all the determination and ambition to go one way, but you are also transformative and can turn with the right influence, and be adamantly the opposite. both you and regulus are perfect for redemption arcs or bastardisation arcs, depending on what influences you have.

and, since you are the more bold and steadfast, of the two, you would be a driving force in regulus’ turn to the good side - you would supply him with all of the confidence and practicality, and the two of you could have honestly stopped voldemort together, that’s in no way a joke.

(3) you are incredibly forgiving, and this is because you have faced the darkness within yourself, so you are not afraid of it when you it in others. furthermore, you are incredibly perceptive and intuitive, so even though you are slow to trust, you know deep down when you can trust someone and perhaps hold them at bay for a while until you are 100%. but when you’ve seen them, and this usually happens early on, you know. you’re just praying your not wrong. (but girl, trust yourself. you are among the most intuitive slytherins out there, and you are rarely wrong).

(4) you both think big! this is usually rare for an estp, but it makes sense since you are a slytherin. you both have goals and will stop at nothing to achieve them. when you and regulus know what you want, you get it, no matter the cost, and that’s really iconic of you.

something i love about you and regulus is that you will bring dreams to him. regulus has never really had the luxury of foreseeing an ideal future for himself, but you are not afraid to dream, and you can bring dreams to him. it’s definitely one of the reasons why he first fell for you - you talk about the future like it’s something meant to be seized, and you talk about dreams like they’re meant to become reality.

i also think that your stubborn side is good for regulus - he can often be gripped with indecision, but you will take the reins and soldier forth with the idea you know think to be the best. you are bold and direct and original, all of which regulus thinks he is not. you are the person that shows him he is, indeed, all of those things - he’s standing up to the dark lord, after all.

(okay, sidebar, but now i really want to read a series with you and regulus. you are fellow pureblood slytherins who believed in supremacist ideologies because you were raised that way, but in your 6th year at hogwarts, the two of you are forced to become death eaters, and slowly from there, you realize what the death eaters truly were - murderers and thieves and terrible, terrible people who are willing to do terrible, terrible things for no real end. and the two of you decide to leave together. you find the first horcrux and succeed in destroying it, and then the two of you start to fight against voldemort alone, until you eventually join the order of the phoenix and start to take voldemort down. in this version, there is no prophecy and harry potter isn’t the boy who lived because you and regulus take down voldemort yourselves. sirius, james, and remus both join your sides (peter can still be a traitor, or not, it’s up to you. same with snape - i feel like without the harry storyline he wouldn’t swap sides.) and we get the marauders plus you two destroying the horcruxes. can you imagine how great that story would be?)

okay i have rambled too long, let me give you some random headcanons.

as i have said before, regulus listens to music religiously so i 100% see the two of you listening to music while on the run, debating about who’s band is better.

and that’s another thing! you guys have debates like no other - it’s really a wonder the two of you care so deeply about each other, because to the untrained eye, you both look like you annoy the hell out of each other, and it’s very funny when people realize you are such good friends.

(oh yeah, enemies to friends to lovers. although now i get just friends vibes, but i’ve put so much effort into this match up.... friends or lovers. your choice)

i definitely think that the two of you have stargazed throughout your travels - regulus probably told you all about his family one night, when you’re looking at the stars, and you comfort him.

oh! since you want to be an actress, headcanon that the two of you have to go undercover as muggles for a while in your attempts to defeat voldemort, and you end up really falling in love with muggle movies, and after the two of you have a marathon one night (maybe you get a night off or something, idk), you talk about how you want to be an actress. and then, regulus prompts you to dream for him - what would this actress life be like, if when it happens?

and you spin an entire story for him, a dream - a hopeful one - without the war and the suffering, without magic and death eaters, where the two of you are happy - you as an actress, and regulus as a screenwriter, only crafting the most complex of characters for you to play.

and he’s pleasantly shocked that he’s in this dream of yours, and you confidently tell him that no matter where you go, he’ll always be there, at your side. “you can’t get rid of me now, you realize that, don’t you? you’re stuck with me, black.”

and he doesn’t say anything in that moment, but he thinks that maybe that’s not such a bad dream, after all.

okay, i popped off with this one, but now i really want this regulus story to be a THING,,,,,,,,,,, ugh. can you imagine how great it would be? okay, just imagine if it were a mini series and it had the greatest soundtrack ever, and the palate was dark greens and blacks,,,,,, i got carried away but can you imagine.

[watching-movies-alone]

Knives Out (2019)

Knives Out was released to theatres in late 2019, following the mixed reactions to writer/director Rian Johnson's 2017 The Last Jedi addition in the Star Wars sequel trilogy arc. While many hated The Last Jedi, and may have adopted less-than-favourable opinions on Rian Johnson because of it, I think we can all agree that Knives Out beyond redeems him.

Benoit Blanc: It's a weird case from the start. A case with a hole in the centre. A doughnut.

Knives Out opens with a surreal shot of two dogs running over a slight hill away from an outstanding house, which becomes known as the Thrombey Estate. Straight off the bat, the shots used throughout the film are outstanding, and paired with an eerie, intense, soundtrack of a string orchestra, the scenes are striking. Add that to the witty, culturally relevant one-liners and the hilariously blatant lies about the situation of the family members themselves, you get an incredible watch.

Benoit Blanc: Why is grief the providence of youth? I don't know. But I'd imagine that age deepens all feelings.

Cinematographer Steve Yedlin (The Last Jedi, Carrie, Looper) procured fantastic shots for Knives Out that gives it an enticing quality that makes each scene a work of art in its own. 

The movie is listed on IMDb as a "Drama/Crime/Comedy", which shows the film's appeal to audiences from a variety of backgrounds: it suits drama lovers, mystery junkies, the almost effortlessly funny script draws in viewers from a large spectrum of senses of humour, and cinephiles will adore the visual aspect of the film, as well as the superb soundtrack composed by Nathan Johnson (Rian Johnson's cousin).

Following the murder investigation of 85 year-old mystery author Harlan Thrombey, his eccentric family faces questioning about the night of his death. Among those questioned are Linda Drysdale, the fabulous self-made head of a real estate firm and daughter of Harlan, her husband Richard Drysdale, son Walt Thrombey, the unsatisfied head of the Blood Like Wine publishing company for his father's books, Joni Thrombey, the widowed daughter-in-law with a quirky disposition that remains close to the family, and caregiver Marta Cabrera, a registered nurse for Harlan, and his friend.

[Marta and Harlan are playing "Go"]

Harlan Thrombey: I don't know how you beat me at this every time.

Marta Cabrera: I'm not trying to beat you. I'm creating a beautiful pattern.

Harlan Thrombey: That's elder abuse. I'm calling the AARP.

Marta Cabrera: Don’t make me get the belt.

And let's not forget an extraordinary performance by renowned actor Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc, with one of the strangest, but most endearing Southern accents I've heard. 

Adding to this is an unexpected, but no less stellar, performance by known Marvel franchise actor Chris Evans, who portrays the troubled, but quite fashionable, Hugh Ransom Drysdale, who finds hilarity in his family’s shock at the changes his grandfather made to his will a week before his death. It is in contempt of the privileged, spoiled, Ransom, actually, that draws the frequently divided Thrombey family together.

A memorable performance by actress Ana De Armas (Marta Cabrera) brought a beautiful character to the front of the screen, with truly beautiful shots like the ones below:

Another phenomenal thing about the film is the colour palette used. It is a balance of warm, earthy tones, that give a sense of familiarity as well as of the comforts of home one would look for. This juxtaposes the intricacies of the death at hand, and serves to add to the feeling of discomfort and hostility, as the dark underlying mystery lurks within a beautifully furnished house and within a troubled, yet somehow sincere, family.

Below it all, the central message of Knives Out is one of kindness. This is handled expertly, as it does not come across as overbearing, nor cheesy. It is the story of an older man who finds comfort in a nurse, who is more of a friend, and how he makes the decision to leave his family out of his will, leaving everything to her. His family is a mess, yes, but it is the genuine kindness of Marta Cabrera that he finds happiness in, so he decides to leave her everything. From the beautiful heart that is Marta Cabrera, to the real reasons surrounding the death of the wealthy mystery author being to protect her and her family at the expense of his own, it is truly a heartwarming story. 

When comparing sons Ransom (Richard’s disaster son) and Jacob (Walt’s Nazi child), and about Jacob’s whereabouts:

Walt Thrombey: He was in the bathroom Richard Drysdale: Joylessly masturbating to pictures of dead deer. Walt Thrombey: Ok, you wanna go?

ALSO a huge shout-out is in order for the set department. The set design, especially all of the subtle touches within the Thrombey house at 2 Deerborn Drive,  is phenomenal, and really reinforces all that is happening in the foreground without being distracting. The Gothic touches in the architecture, the clever paintings on the walls, and the little statuettes flanking every hallway and surface bring the serious, but whimsical, manor alive. The Set Design was headed by David Schlesinger, who also worked on Twilight: Breaking Dawn parts 1 and 2, and John Wick chapters 2 and 3. 

Can we take a minute to appreciate how beautiful that knife array is?

And even yet, there is still the multitude of current-day references: with the Nazi child (Jacob Thrombey, portrayed by Jaeden Martell), and the discussions held by Joni Thrombey and Richard Drysdale about the situation at America’s border, and the conflicts between the youngest generation: Meg Thrombey being quipped at by her cousins Ransom and Jacob for being liberal while the rest of the family seems to swing conservative. Even a reference to Hamilton made it to the script, which I had a good moment at, multiple references to Instagram and others that, while dating the film to 2019, made it especially enjoyable for younger audiences and moviegoers alike.

Marta Cabrera: I've never been to a will reading before.

Benoit Blanc: You'd think it'd be like a game show, but think of a community production of a tax return.

The costuming was also excellent, with memorable pieces being worn by Lisa Drysdale and Ransom Drysdale in particular, as well as the dashing Detective Blanc. 

(The suit you wear to debate at your father’s memorial)

(The outfit you wear to the will-reading despite being gone for the funeral)

Benoit Blanc: But the complexity and the grey lie not in the truth but what you do with the truth once you have it.

And while the characters changed their clothes as the days passed in the film, the outfits they wore tended to fit their personalities, so even if you couldn’t remember names or faces, the outfits would clue you in to the character subtly, while giving many inspirations for their own day-to-day mystery aesthetics. Major props to Costume Designer Jenny Eagan for that.

Earning a respectable 8.0/10 on IMDb, Knives Out has already secured its spot in the minds of viewers and critics alike, despite only being out since November of 2019. If you haven’t seen it yet, I would highly recommend seeing it. 

Final rating:

Cinematography: 90

Screenplay: 95

Delivery: 95

Average: 93.33%,  A

[the-outer-topic]

El Coyote

Introduction for non Spanish readers

For a quick summary, use a web translator to read the wiki article, for my own description, read on:

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Coyote

As the name suggests, this was a postwar long series, of pulp western novels numbering about a hundred issues, by a Spanish author, a remake of the Zorro character of novel and film, in fact in the story the hero draws the inspiration from the example of the earlier hero and moved forward in time to the Far West times of the California Gold Rush and later decades (1849-1879). In fact they are the best Western novels I have read, and told from a Spanish perspective. El Coyote starts as a defender of the local Californian Spanish and indians against the abuses and violence of the American gringo invaders and criminals in the wake of the Gold Rush, and later on becomes a crime fighter, as law and order are established and the native Californians get equal status as US citizens, often helping  American people and not just the Spanish speaking Californians, up to the point that despite his sympathies for the Confederacy, he strives to keep California loyal to the Union, if only to spare its population the ravages of civil war, and later on at one point renders a good service to President Ulysess Grant.

For a hack writer, Mallorquí, the author, was a very good writer with a great culture, knowledge of the history of the West and California, and a flair for character relationships, and a wide variety of plots other than the usual topics of Western films, including action packed shootouts, murder mistery, courtroom drama, and political intrigue to name a few. Since he wrote so many novels to pay bills, the quality is uneven. Some are great, others formulaic, and most of them just a entertaining, pleasant reading, in itself not a mean achievement.

About the character, the merit of Mallorquí is about making the Coyote a more complex character than the Zorro, and his  public persona, that of wealthy, peaceful if not downright cowardly, bon vivant, and cynical landowner César de Echagüe and his family life as interesting as his heroic exploits as a masked avenger, combining in one man the duality of the Spanish character with its virtues and vices, half Quijote, half Sancho Panza.

Don Diego de la Vega is a fop, but it’s just an act to avoid suspicions while Don César de Echagüe, while also pretending to be a weakling,  is a highly intelligent man, that makes him a hard realist and he sees the futility of the struggle against the new American order, but he fights injustices and abuses as El Coyote anyway out of a sense of justice and Christian morality but also as a thrill seeker in his youth, and driven by a death wish in his mid-life crisis after the death of his first wife while giving birth to his son.

Had Mallorquí been born in the USA he would have became famous, as it was, in his lifetime his books were published in other European countries and were very popular, of all places, in Finland.

These wonderful covers are from a reprint in the 1980s for nostalgic middle aged people that read them in their youth in the 1940s, and to save printing costs, they combined two novels in each volume. As a teenager I found the artwork gorgeous and the books mind blowing, and highly inspirational as they presented for me a Spanish hero as a counter to the American Hollywood culture that steamrollered over Europe, and on a personal level I was fascinated by one female character that appeared as one of the various lovers of El Coyote, an  American adventuress that pretended to be a Russian princess made me feel intrigued and interested in that far away country and among other things lead me later in life to meet my Russian wife, who by a coincidence has the same name as the fictional princess.

It took me about twenty years to complete the collection as my older brother hadn’t bought them all when they were first reprinted, and I had to find them by chance  throughout the years in flea markets and found the last ones thanks to the internet. Reading them in maturity, they don’t have the same impact as when I was impressionable uneducated teenager, and a few of them are formulaic and trite, but I still find them great reading, though I was shocked by the casual killing and the grisly realism of depictions of death, even though it doesn’t indulge in sadism, though torture is often mentioned as a matter of fact. Just like violence in the American Western movies, come to think of it.

Looking back, I must have been a bloodthirsty psychopath in my teens (so what has changed you may think). On the other hand these novels were written in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War for a generation that had gone through war and mass political murders and repression so I guess readers, children included, were desensitized to killing and brutality back then. Though one thing that makes them apart from the American films and novels, is the strong moral values throughout. Not the American values of law and order and the Protestant work ethic, but Catholic values of justice and equality. El Coyote is a violent man that takes justice in his own hands, but also a Christian and there are strong injuctions against social divide, racism and exploitation of the poor by the rich.

And that’s all I can think of. I will try to scan and post more of these covers if there’s interest.

PS: dor some reason and due to the vagaries of color printing, the Mexican "charro" costume of the Coyote appears in these covers in a range of shades from purple to blue and with gold trimming. Actually both in the novels and the original period covers the suit is black, with silver piping, wich makes sense since the Coyote, as an outlaw usually acted at night and the black color made him a harder target. One has also to bear in mind that a eye mask and a sombrero were enough disguise at  a time when there was no electric lighting and nobody could get a good look at his face.

[myrecordcollections]

Charles Mingus

Mingus at the Bohemia

@ 1956 US Pressing (mid 80s reissue)

*****

The songs from "Cafe Bohemia" contain the typical Mingus "Jazz Workshop" characteristics. A concert as workshop meant first of all a live experiment; this is mainly true for his “guest” musician Max Roach in “Percussion Discussion”. Mingus at the Bohemia fixed a moment in time where Mingus found his musical identity.

The first song, "Jump, Monk" is a tribute to Thelonious Monk. Mingus tried to simulate with his bass play the dance like movements of the great musician. This composition is described by Mingus as "a profile of Monk", not a complete picture of the man but a side view or one aspect of a complex personality. Actually, it is a double profile because one can see an important aspect of the composer, Mingus. The eight-bar, many-voiced section that keeps alternating with the melody most certainly mirrors the emotional, earthy quality found in both subject and composer. Mingus can be heard shouting during the last chorus, thus bearing out the identity. Of importance, also, are the compositional techniques used in this piece. Along with given melodic figures, the composer created the form and mood by giving the musicians scales on which they could build their own figures. These figures then had to appear in certain places and also had to maintain the mood of the composition. During the first and last choruses, even though George and Eddie play different notes in comparable places, the mood and feeling are still the same.

The above-mentioned "Percussion Discussion" is a duet between Mingus and Roach, which was later also used in the Epitaph suite. The two men play two instruments that are very rarely found on the stand-alone. The two produce an assortment of rich and exciting sounds showcasing the artistry of both musicians. Mingus' pizzicato becomes so strong at times that it sounds very close to Max's percussive effort.

The "Work Song" (not to be confused with the Nat Adderley composition) should reflect the history of the black workers in the US, with elements of soul jazz. This is the only truly representative composition in the album. It is actually a jazz tone poem depicting the old slave gangs as they did their back-breaking work of "swinging that hammer". Driving stakes or laying railroad ties with all the oppression and problems the Black race had at that time. Notice the cannon-like sound of the piano which really simulates the blow of a sledge-hammer. This is called a "cluster" on the piano. Because of the low register clusters and other rhythm section accents, we get a strong feeling of depression throughout the piece. However, there is a note of hope in the composition which is found in the words of the original melody: "Swing that hammer over your shoulder: get bolder and – BOLDER!"

"Septemberly" is a combination of two songs: "September in the Rain" goes over into a romantic "Tenderly". Sub-titled "The Song Of The Thief", this is, of course, a conscious accusal of musical plagiarism. As Mingus said, "Two composers collect royalties for the same tune". Eddie has the first melody ("September in the Rain") and George has the other ("Tenderly"). After treating both melodies simultaneously, the arrangement then moves from one section of the first tune to another section of the second tune. The solos are built on the exact chord changes of "September", but they could just as well have been built on "Tenderly". On the end of the arrangement Mingus's new developments on old ideas can be heard. In the early days of jazz, the musicians had no planned endings. They would all solo together into some kind of consonant, harmonious ending "a la New Orleans". For this arrangement there's no ending. The musicians just move together, each in his own way, toward a resolution of the composition.

The last song is the standard "All the Things You Are" blended with "Prelude in C sharp minor". Mingus was very aware of similarities in tunes, and, as in one other case in this album, Septemberly, he combines two or three in a composition. Whether intentional or not, this often implies to the listener that one tune was derived or stolen from the other(s). In this case, the combined tunes are "All Things + Prelude". The piano line is similar to "Clair de Lune", with the three-note motif that is found in the beginning of "Prelude",  in the introduction on "Things", and although the melody is different, in the rhythmic idea of "Clair". The motif is found throughout the composition and gives the piece a well-knit feeling.

Chazz! was the title of various reissued versions of the album.

[bestgroundcoffee101]

How to Choose Commercial Coffee Machines - Espresso Machines, Bean to Cup, Bulk Brew

These information is intended to give general information on the range of commercial coffee machines that are used in the Coffee Industry now. I apologise in advance if I'm "Teaching you how to suck eggs. " Having been a consultant mixed up in Coffee World for some years, advising clients and helping them choose the right equipment to suit their needs. Believe people when I say that there have been many people who have asked the question, "What's an egg? " Facts are facts therefore, the following is my interpretation and how I advise clients. There have been many changes in the UK's interest in coffee within the last 10 - 15 years. The need for real espresso based coffees has increased dramatically. Instant coffee available a tin, or at best "Pour and Serve" filter coffee machines were the main way of providing flavored coffee during the past thirty years. I can speak from past experiences when selling coffee machines that prepare "real bean" espresso based coffees to businesses in the food and drink sector. These days those types of business wouldn't consider anything as few as a traditional Espresso machine or Bean to Cup machine. Back then, the British public was really only used to "instant" type coffee and Espresso was something foreign. Businesses didn't see the need to go "foreign. " Thankfully, the only thing that has changed. With the evolution of the High Street big brands of Coffee Bars. The growth in Café Traditions in the UK and the influence of the well known "American" food outlets. The public's perception of Coffee has changed and be more refined. In fact , the UK is now officially a nation of coffee drinkers. To respond to this many unbiased businesses have moved towards more sophisticated methods of producing coffee to compete in the coffee market. From the standard Italian style Espresso machine to the more complex Bean to Cup automatic coffee machines, it is possible to produce a wide range involving high quality espresso based coffees very simply. In 1938, Milan coffee bartender, Achille Gaggia filed a Obvious for a steam-free coffee machine. Unlike its predecessors, Gaggia's design used a revolutionary piston mechanism which forced mineral water through the coffee grounds at high pressure. It was his quest for the perfect espresso in 1930s Milan that gave beginning to one of Italy's most iconic brands, and heralded the production of the Espresso as we know it. Standard Espresso Coffee Machines are the type you see in Café Nero, Costa Coffee etc . There is a separate Grinder, which often sits on top of a Knockout Drawer which is used for the spent coffee pucks. Although most Traditional Espresso Devices have automatic dosing these days, the coffee making process is by hand (Artisan). The coffee shot; single and double is prepared using the machine. The milk is foamed using the machine Steam Wand. The coffee is usually then put together to make any one of the most popular coffees. Cappuccino, Latte, Mocha and Macchiato etc . All of the preparation increases the "Theatre" of the Coffee Culture. Customers have a higher perception of an "Artisan Coffee" and are willing to pay more. Exercise is required to ensure quality and consistency. With practice, staff will be able to provide customers with a superb range of popular speciality coffees. Coffee making in this way is looked on very much as an "Art form. " The size and the nature of espresso machines vary. Choosing the right machine to suit business requirements is important and should be given consideration. A person formally been trained in coffee preparation and has served coffee on a full time basis for a number of years are known as a "Barista. " The term comes from the Italian name for a male or female bartender. Bean to cup coffee machines are relatively recent extras to the coffee machine market. The principle is to be able to duplicate, more or less, the range of espresso based coffees that are regularly handmade on an espresso machine. All at the "Touch of a Button". As previously explained, when using an espresso product, a Barista would make coffees by hand. Although not a long process, it doesn't allow the Barista to prepare other food assignments for example. In fast food outlets, where staff do not have time to hand make a coffee, or where there is limited staff members training a bean to cup machine is the ideal solution. Bean to Cup machines are found in many self-serve environments such as Cafeterias, Company Canteens. Bean to Cup machines are becoming popular in Offices. Staff want the identical standard of coffee that they get from their favourite coffee shop. Also these days, many people have domestic Bean to Container machines in their kitchen. A Bean to Cup machine grinds the coffee beans to make espresso coffee on require. These systems also have built in automatic milk foamers that are able to produce steam and foamed milk for producing Lattes, Cappuccinos and other milk based drinks simultaneously. The process of producing coffee from a Bean to Cup machine differs from the others from a traditional espresso machine. The brewer in a Bean to Cup coffee machine works similarly to a Cafétiere. This coffee beans are ground into a brewing chamber and then a ram forces the hot water through the coffee, extracting that espresso coffee. A traditional espresso machine creates pressure that forces water through "group head" to produce the capuccino coffee. The software in a Bean to Cup machine allows for various types of drinks to be produced. These vary pc type of machine chosen. Generally commercial Bean to Cup machines have between 8 and 12 drink options. Basic and domestic bean to cup machines have a separate steam arm or foamer which means that milk with regard to Cappuccinos and Lattes have to be foamed separately. These machines are ideal for domestic use or small offices have been less than twenty drinks are required in any one day. Please be aware that if using a machine in a business environment it should possess a commercial warranty. This generally will not be available for low volume domestic machines. If you are considering a Bean to Drink machine for your business it should be noted that they are manufactured to different volume categories. Machines have to be matched to on a daily basis cups/day requirements/estimates, drink size and how quickly they will be needed. All Manufacturers' cups/day specifications are based upon a great 8oz serving with numbers spread evenly throughout the day. Typically low volume bean to cup can produce as much 50 coffees per day. Medium volume machines range between 100 and 150 a day. Medium to High sound would be 150 - 200 a day. High volume would be 200 - 500 cups per day. Bean to Goblet machines will protest if asked to do more than they were built to do and will appear slow at busy circumstances. There are no major training requirements to use a Bean to Cup machine. No Barista skills are really needed. Most of the more powerful high volume Bean to Cup machines have traditional Steam Wands so some "foaming" skills may very well be needed. Training is more to do with how to use and look after the machine. Cleaning is especially important when using a Bean to Cup machine. It's a good idea to have some knowledge of coffee beans so you can choose a blend that will to suit your customers' tastes. The final types of machine to consider if offering a "real" coffee are the ones that have been familiar for many years. Filter type caffeine made with Pre ground coffee. The type of machines depends upon volumes required. For example , high volumes of coffee may be necessary for breakfast coffees in Hotels. Conference Centres would require high volumes for seminar coffee breaks. Also, Purpose facilities, Staff canteens and Theatres where a high demand for fresh coffee is required in a short space of time. In this condition Bulk Brew coffee machines are highly recommended. These machines can produce between 30 and 140 Litres associated with fresh filter coffee per hour. There are a number of popular brands for Pour and Serve and Bulk Brew a cup of coffee machines. Pour and Serve coffee machines range from a simple two Jug filter coffee machine with two hot clothing or multiple hot plate Pour and Serve for up to four Jugs. The ultimate is a Bulk Brew coffee machine. A lot of these have one or two brewing columns. They have detachable brewing containers, capable of holding up to 40 Litres of coffee. Your convenient control panels with LCD display makes it easy to adjust brewing times and volume requirements. The detachable producing containers mean that high volumes of coffee can be served in different locations simultaneously. The other type of "filter" coffee machine is a RLX type from Bravilor. They are modular fresh filter machines with added hot water and steam facilities, well suited for producing hot water for teas as well as a steam for foaming and steaming milk. I hope that this article has been useful to determine the right type of coffee machine for your business needs.

[wellingtongoose]

Loki vs Thor - A Psychoanalysis

This essays exists because of a one wonderful, insightful and very determined person who has been asking me to psychoanalyse the Odinsons for many years. 

In the course of researching this I binged watched all the films with Thor and Loki in, read as many commentaries, interviews with writers and directors as I could get my hands on, and browsed tumblr.

So here is a psychological analysis of Loki and Thor (the marvel movie versions). 

It explains: 

why they have such different personalities,

why they are not able to relate emotional to each other

how they feed into each other’s emotional dysfunction, which creates the conflicts that drive the films

 Thinkers vs Feelers

 Thor and Loki have very different personalities, and often have difficulty relating to each other emotionally. Whilst some of the difference is genetic in origin, the vast majority of their personality differences and relationship dysfunction can be explained by their upbringing.

The development maturation model explains not only why Thor and Loki are different but also provides an excellent lens through which to examine their motivations, and emotions through the films.

The model predicts that during the first years of life, infants learn coping strategies to handle strong emotions. This is a vital part of human development which everyone undergoes but the path an infant “chooses” determines their future personality, their susceptibility to psychiatric conditions and response to psychiatric therapy.

All infants start off with the basic instinctive need to gain attention; it is an essential survival strategy but there are two broadly different methods that infants learn to use to gain attention. 

“Feelers” are infants who learn the best way to cope with emotions is to amplify them because this brings attention/comfort from the primary care giver. “Thinkers” on the other hand learn that internalising their emotions in favour of pleasing the primary care giver leads to attention/comfort.

I think the best analogy for Thinkers and Feelers is: 

If emotions were fine wine, the Feelers would all be drunk and the Thinkers utterly sober.

The functional Feelers would be amusingly tipsy, bringing joy and laughter to the party, whilst the functional Thinkers would be savouring all the subtle aromas of the bouquet and discussing the quality of the vintage. 

The dysfunctional feelers would be smashing up the wine cellar in a drunken rage, whilst the dysfunctional Thinkers would be stoically standing the in the middle of the carnage refusing to acknowledge that wine can stain their suits. 

Most well-adjusted adults exist somewhere on the spectrum between two extremes. They are able to retain the good parts from their original “path” and learn the beneficial strategies of the opposite “path”.

Thor the Feeler

From this model we can see that Thor is very much a feeler. He clearly expresses and amplifies his emotions throughout the films. At first, we see him doing this regardless of how it affects other people around him but as Thor develops, we see that he learns to control how and when he expresses his emotions. He is learning the “Thinkers” strategy of coping with emotions and applying it to balance out the negative impact of his “Feelers” strategy.

Thor’s “Feeler” instincts to express and amplify whatever he is feeling is part of the reason why he is seen as an honest and open person because he never tries to disguise his emotional state. We are hardwired to respond to other people’s emotions and thus superficially at least Thor is often easier to relate to than Loki.

When Feelers must deal with stressful emotional states, their instinctive strategy is to simply amplify their emotions. We see this clearly in Thor 1, when Thor has a screaming match with his father, and then flips a table over in anger. We see this again when Thor fails to pick up Mjolnir on Earth and cries rather dramatically in the rain. Even without an audience, Feelers instinctively over express their emotions as a coping mechanism. Some psychiatrists believe this is actually a helpful stress release mechanism, and Feelers are less likely to develop stress related psychiatric conditions.  

Loki the Thinker

Loki on the other hand is definitely a Thinker and, like all Thinkers, he experiences emotion, but that experience is superseded by his conscious thought process. A Thinker’s relationship with their feelings is far more complex than a Feeler’s. Instead of simply feeling the emotion and then expressing it, thinks see emotions as tools to be utilized in social interactions. Functional thinkers tend to only express emotions that are acceptable and appropriate to help lubricate social interactions. Other emotions that are not deemed to be social acceptable are suppressed and ignored.

Thinkers when confronted with stressful emotional states, first tend to over-analyse and then inappropriately contain their negative emotions. This containment allows the Thinker to feel in control, and projects the illusion of emotional control to others. However, Thinkers pay a high psychological and physiological price for this containment. Their strategy for emotional management creates more stress for themselves. Thinkers are more likely to develop depression, particularly treatment resistant types, anxiety and other stress related psychiatric disorders.

The best example of Loki containing his emotions is after he returns from Jotunheim and works out that he is a Frost Giant. Thor, the Feeler, would have screamed the place down and demanded answers immediately, but you can see that Loki keeps his negative emotions contained and does not express anything.

The scene in the weapons vault between Loki and Odin is an excellent example of a Thinker having what is essentially a nervous breakdown.

Loki starts off in control of his emotions and the conversation but swiftly we see the containment of his negative emotions crumble and collapse. The ensuing emotional outburst from Loki is like a dam breaking. It is not just the emotions that he has been holding back for the last few hours that breaks through but all of the negative emotion he has likely contained within himself for years. The emotions wash over him, and completely overwhelm his ability to analyse or contain them. What we then see is the Thinker finally Feeling emotion.

Moments like this, if handled well, can be very cathartic for Thinkers because for the first time they truly loose control and just experience their emotions. With that loss of control comes the chance to express emotion in its raw state. It can be a very liberating feeling, and during this process the Thinker is learning how to be more of a Feeler and balance out the negative impact of their chosen coping strategy.  With acknowledgement, and positive reception, dysfunctional Thinkers like Loki can incorporate Feelers strategies when managing their negative emotions.

Unfortunately for Loki, Odin falls asleep in the middle of his emotional catharsis, and Loki never gets the chance to truly express his emotions and be acknowledged for doing so. Therefore, he never learns the benefits of expressing his emotions. Instead we see that after Odin falls asleep Loki immediately feels guilty and reverts to the Thinker strategy of containing his emotions once again. His voice drops, he crouches down to touch Odin. Once again, he has forced himself to put his own emotions aside for the sake of someone else and from a psychological point of view this is both tragic and damaging for Loki.

 Brotherly Love and Dysfunction

Why is Thor and Loki’s relationship so dramatic and dysfunctional?

The root cause of their relationship problems is not Loki’s jealousy or Thor’s disregard for Loki’s feelings, those are merely symptoms.

Just like the Holmes Brothers, Thor and Loki have opposite coping strategies for emotions and therefore they have very different emotional needs. Both of them are firmly entrenched and dysfunction Thinkers/Feelers. Whilst Thor does develop a more comprehensive and balanced approach to his emotions, this only happens when he gets thrown into a completely new environment and meets new people. Loki never get this chance.

Their dysfunctional Thinker/Feeler coping mechanisms significantly affect their relationship with each other. Unlike the Holmes Brothers, even as adults Thor and Loki spend most of their time together, they have the same social circle and that exacerbates their inability to grow and change.

Thor is locked in a perpetual cycle of expressing and amplifying his emotions without any kind of filter. This is because no one has managed to convince him that his emotions are not the most important things in the world. I can imagine that Thor, as Odin and Frigga’s longed for son got a lot of unconditional love and attention as an infant. He only had to cry to get the attention he wanted. As he grew older, crying turned to screaming and shouting. Essentially Thor’s emotional outbursts have always been rewarded with what he wants, eventually. Therefore, Thor has never had to learn the Thinker’s strategy of modifying his emotional expression to relate to other people.

It is not that Thor doesn’t understand or care about other people’s emotions: he clearly has the capacity to do both when he falls to Earth. He just doesn’t do it on Asgard because he doesn’t need to. In nearly all situations his emotions have been treated as being of paramount importance. The world almost revolves around Thor’s feelings. It is only when his outbursts are directed at Odin that they fail to get the effect he wants. Therefore Thor, instinctively shouts louder which escalates the situation and ends up getting him banished to Earth.

Apart from Odin, no one ever holds Thor to account for his emotional outbursts. When he flips over a table after his argument with Odin, no one even comments except for some light protesting about wasted food. Instead, Loki actually comes closer to acknowledge Thor’s feelings and provide him with comfort and advice.

Here we see that Loki is perpetually stuck in the cycle of enabling Thor’s dysfunctional Feeler strategy.

Loki has become a Thinker probably by necessity. He only got attention, comfort and acknowledgement when he displayed the right emotions. This is most likely because his parents had already got into a bad cycle of providing unconditional attention to Thor, and did not have enough capacity, when Loki arrived, to give him the same undivided unconditional attention. Therefore Loki learned to display emotions to please the people around him in exchange for attention. As he became older, Loki necessarily became the diplomat, the person who smoothed things over in disagreements. He puts his own emotions into containment so that he can display what other people want to and need to see. This is completely instinctive by the time we meet him in Thor 1.

Unfortunately, a dysfunctional Thinker like Loki simply feeds into Thor’s perpetual cycle of amplifying his emotions. He always has a captive audience in his brother, he always gets the acknowledgement he wants from Loki. He never has to acknowledge Loki’s feelings because his brother never appears to be inconvenienced by any negative feelings. 

This is probably why Thor loves Loki so much and just assumes Loki must love him back. This is also why Thor is so surprised when he finds out Loki actually resents him at the end of Thor 1. Loki is very good at containing his feelings, and a Feeler like Thor is completely ill equipped to read between the lines and see what emotions Loki isn’t expressing.

Thor does care about Loki, but he doesn’t know how to relate to someone who isn’t a Feeler. Loki had to be screaming, crying and attempting to murder Thor before Thor finally realizes there was something wrong with their relationship. Even then Thor doesn’t realize that his behaviour is the root cause, nor does he realize that his family and his society are ultimately responsible for making him the way he is.

Thor is at heart a good person filled with love. This shines through when he encounters people who don’t accept his outbursts and corrects his behaviour. Jane, Darcy and Erik Selvig make Thor a worthy person by teaching him the skills he needs to become a better adjusted in how he handles his emotions.

Despite Thor’s emotional progress with other people, the way that he emotionally relates to Loki remains dysfunctional. We see this most clearly in Thor the Dark World:

When Loki gets news of Frigga’s death, we see that his negative emotions manifest as violence. He smashes the furniture in his room, tears at his hair, and generally destroys anything he can in the vicinity. However, despite experiencing an outpouring of emotion, Loki has no one to acknowledge his emotions. He essentially suffers alone and again misses the opportunity to develop a better relationship with his own emotions because there is no one there to provide the emotional support he needs. We see Loki swiftly reverts to his default Thinker strategy as soon as he gains an audience. His first instinct when Thor comes to visit is to hide his emotional state behind an illusion. Despite everything that happens in the first three movies, Loki is still firmly entrenched in Thinker mode.

What is important to note is that Loki does dispel the illusion and allows Thor to see him in his emotionally vulnerable state. This, I believe, may be the closest Loki comes to acknowledging his own unfiltered emotions. For an entrenched Thinker like Loki to display such a candid emotional scene is essentially a cry for help. What I find heart-breaking is that Thor does not acknowledge that Loki is hurting, in fact he specifically says he is not here to discuss their shared grief. Instead he demands help from Loki to help further his own plans. I personally find it tragic that once again Loki puts away his own emotions and emotional needs for Thor’s benefit.

In Ragnarok, again we see that when the brothers are alone together they revert to their old habits of relating to each other. 

When Odin disintegrates into “star dust”, Thor is not mindful of his brother’s grief. It is telling that as Loki watches Odin disappear, he looks visibly distraught but still trying to contain his emotions. Thor does not acknowledge this, instead he appears only to care about expressing his own anger towards Loki.  Loki must put his grieving on hold to appease Thor. It is only the timely arrival of Hela from another dimension that prevents Thor from having his emotional outburst.

Having pointed out all the dysfunctional aspects of their relationship, I want to conclude by saying that it is this very dysfunction which makes Thor and Loki’s relationship so fascinating, dramatic and timeless. None of us have perfectly functional relationships, particularly with our family members and all of us can see something of our own sibling relationships reflected in these brothers. Thor and Loki have a solid foundation of love to build upon and no matter what the galaxy throws at them, their bond will remain strong. 

[i-am-an-accidental-hipster]

Anime and Animation Recommendations (Includes shows I would never recommend, please read the accompanying text)

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: I feel like this is what would happen if the album Clockwork Angels by Rush was turned into anime, but the main character was replaced by two brothers who actually have a personality and an interesting backstory. Essentially, it is a mix of a compelling take on western philosophy from an eastern perspective, good character writing, and FANTASTIC art direction. Characters undergo meaningful development, it has no filler, and it avoids the problem of power creep fairly well. Adding to that its heavy use of Sakuga an minimalist animation, and it is one of my favorite anime of all time.

Mob Psycho 100: Criminally underrated. With a plot borrowed from a japanese web-comic maker who is surprisingly good at making comedy and relatable themes meld seamlessly, and animated by Studio Bones which is basically my favorite studio, this show is absolutely fantastic, to the point at which it competes with ol’ Fullmetal for my favorite anime. Like its sister anime One Punch Man, this show uses VERY heavy use of both Sakuga and minimalist styles of animation, switching between them in a way that is hardly noticeable but also really captures the feel of the situation; it even switches art styles regularly, and the animators are not afraid to try new things, making the show an absolute blast to watch. Despite its comedy focus, the main characters undergo extensive development, sometimes in the span of a single episode, and the combat sections are mesmerizing to look at.

One Punch Man: Really good show, slightly overrated, but mostly deserving of the attention it gets. As someone who was unemployed for a long time, this show really captures the difficulties of someone in that situation. The plot, such as it is, is pretty repetitive by it’s very nature, but it’s animated by Mad House studios, and is basically composed entirely of Sakuga with short spurts of minimalist animation to remind one of the original web comic (you may notice a theme in the anime I like), making it a blast to watch. Would recommend.

Hero Academia: The Naruto of our generation, and it’s easy to see why it’s so popular. The character designs and personalities are all memorable (such that you can actually remember all their names), and basically all of the main cast gets at least some screen time; as a result, it is really easy to remember basically everyone’s names. Because of the memorable character designs, it is no surprise that the fandom is bursting at the seams with shippers, but for the most part it’s non-toxic and results in a lot of pretty good fan art. And of course, as you guessed, it has Sakuga, and makes good use of it. Finally, as an aside, it has one of the best portrayals of a paragon archetype character I have seen in a long time, in the form of All Might. Would recommend, but I really don’t have to because it’s all over the place.

Guerren Lagann: Good animation, good character designs, stupid nonsensical plot. A really fun anime if you turn your brain completely off and just watch the GIANT ROBOT FIGHTS.

Kill la Kill: Good animation, but I can’t stand the character designs and the plot is so physically painful I couldn’t watch past the fourth episode (I only watched in the first place because some idiot on youtube said it had interesting themes, which it does not). Do not recommend.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team: Good anime, but the fanservice is too much for me. Just as I was getting invested in the plot (a treatment of the Gundam war from the perspective of the grunts on the surface), BOOM NAKED BOOBS HERE. No seriously, it came out out of nowhere so suddenly it gave me a heart attack. Mixed feelings on this anime.

Death Note: Good anime. A little melodramatic. I love L, ‘cause he’s basically me but smarter. Would recommend.

Bleach: SO MUCH POTENTIAL WASTED. Season 1 was GREAT, season 2 was ok, and then I couldn’t get past the Bount arc. Would recommend for the sake of the first two seasons.

Attack on Titan: two words: CRIMINALLY OVERRATED. It’s basically edgy trash with little depth or nuance, and a plot that seems ripped from Starship Troopers.

Assassination Classroom: Really good, actually. Well animated, decent character designs, a little weak on character development. Korosensei is my spirit animal (I’m a teacher). Goodness gracious, he embodies everything I want to be in terms of being a teacher, except perhaps his obsession with big boobs. Would recommend.

Psycho-Pass: Very cerebral, very interesting, very mesmerizing, has complex themes. Only downsides are that it’s basically a torture porn during the entire first half of the first season, which means you don’t want to eat before you watch it, and really only the main two protagonists and the main villain have good character designs. Would recommend for those who don’t mind seeing a lot of mutilated bodies and who like complex themes.

Now for shows that look like anime:

Avatar the Last Airbender: No surprise, this is a really good show. Minimal filler, and what filler there is doesn’t feel like filler. Good action, excellent handling of complex themes, good magic system. The plot starts out okay and then ramps up significantly after the season one finale. Where this show really shines, though, is it’s characters, who are almost all memorable and have great voice acting. Better yet, almost all of them get character development. Also a good exploration of eastern philosophy. Would recommend to those three people who haven’t seen it yet.

Legend of Korra: Good action, good art direction, really good animation. Not sure I like most of the characters, though. to be honest, Varrick, Zhu Li, Bumi, and Bo Lin are the only protagonists who I like in this show, besides of course the returning caste from the previous show. Season two was pretty bad, but the plot was very strong for seasons 1, 3, and 4. Some things felt very shoehorned. Almost all the villains were so incredibly compelling that they almost made up for the bland protagonists, and each one represented an individual theme, which was a very nice touch. Kinda screwed up some of the lore and the magic system, though. Mixed feelings on this one.

Dragon Prince: Season 1 was good, introduced a really cool magic system, nice complex themes, and a diverse and likable cast. The down side was that it suffered from some... questionable choices in animation style. Season 2, on the other hand, is... just really, really, really good. It has a good chance of becoming the next Avatar the Last Airbender if it keeps this up. It explores the magic system in fascinating detail, the themes are developed with a depth that rivals that of Korra, the plot has thickened, and the characters have developed significantly in likability and relatability. I highly recommend this one.

Voltron Legedary Defender: Starts out really good with Sakuga all around, kick-ass action scenes, and a decent plot. Unfortunately the shippers infested the fandom to the point where they were actually influencing the direction of the show, and the plot suffered as a result. Over the course of eight season, the show slowly decayed into a hollow shell. Mixed feelings on this one.

Ben 10: Kinda overrated, but still good. A nice watch on day you just want to relax and watch well-animated fights, but don’t expect it to make much sense.

Generator Rex: Criminally underrated. I love all the characters, all the action is great (even if it doesn’t make sense sometimes), animation is pretty good throughout, and it actually has really good technobabble. Honestly, it is my favorite show out of all of the ones on the list, despite its problems, just because of the really cool aesthetic. The main character starts as an obnoxious stereotypical Cartoon Network Protagonist, and develops into my second-favorite depiction of a paragon archetype. All the villains are memorable (even the silly ones). The first season has the best stand-alones (with some absolutely hilarious comedy episodes, dark edgy episodes, and fascinating pieces of science fiction); the second season has a season finale so good it made me cry, and the third season has by far the most interesting plot. I have a recommended watch order if you want to watch it.

Samurai Jack: Minimalist, very stylized, has some kick-ass fight sequences. Each episode has it’s own plot with not much in terms of overlap, but even the minor characters are memorable. My favorite is the Scotsman, but that is really no surprise if you watch the show. The Yin Yang dynamic between Jack and Aku is really interesting in its own right. Would highly recommend.

Teen Titans: Starts out mediocre, quickly gets good by the end of the first season, then ramps up to amazing by whichever season had the Trigon arc. Characters are almost as instantly recognizable as those in Hero Academia, and each one gets character development. It also has some standalone episodes that are almost as good as the standalones in Generator Rex. YOU SHOULD WATCH THIS SHOW.

Young Justice: Very similar to Generator Rex in many way. Memorable characters with good character development, good sci-fi, good action, and a similar season structure. It’s having a new third season right now which, despite the drop in animation quality due to limited funds, still manages to be engaging (especially the Vandal Savage origin episode and the three-episode arc devoted to Cyborg’s origin). Would recommend.

Transformers Animated: Criminally underrated, largely because of its... different animation style which is more like the animation for Teen Titans than the original G1 series, and the fact that they changed a lot of the lore. It has surprisingly complex themes, the voice acting is spot-on, and they do a good job of handling power creep. Though many of the protagonists start out kind of unlikable, they get really good development as the series goes on. By season 3, every single character has become so likable that it becomes legitimately distressing when they get hurt, and they play it to good effect. To give you an idea, when my sister saw the season finale of this show, she had an enormous melt-down at the end when her favorite character died (not telling who). It took three days to calm her down (the only way to do so was to introduce her to the idea of fan-fiction. I HIGHLY recommend this show.

[icedanceupstarts]

JGPF 2019 Preview

We’re officially at the midpoint of the season and junior ice dance has finally returned to us! In case the JGP feels as distant to you as it does us, here’s a quick refresher!

Avonley Nguyen/ Vadym Kolesnik USA

Age: 17/18

Started Skating Together: 2017

Coach: Igor Shpilband and Pasquale Camerlengo

Season's Best: 174.68

Rhythm Dance: Aladdin

Free Dance: Rach 2

Fifth at this event last season, Nguyen/Kolesnik are the top qualifiers at their second JGPF. These two have charisma for days, and it just might carry them to the JGPF title. In just three JGP seasons these two have gone from being the newcomers in the middle of the pack but with loads of potential, to putting up the highest scores of the season so far. Aladdin is a great fit for them in the rhythm dance and Avonley’s dress is absolutely stunning. Would we have personally chosen to construct this program in this manner, including a slowed down cover of A Whole New World jammed in the middle? No, but they make it work anyway with strong skating and so much personality. And the Friend Like Me sections are a real delight. We're interested to see how their performance and interpretation of their free dance has evolved. While beautiful during the JGP season, the program didn't feel all the way there and lacked a sense of building throughout. They have some of the best lifts in the world, at any level, using their size difference to make difficult lifts look effortless. The speed, changes in position, and flow in and out are all just impeccable. If they keep doing what they've been doing, it's going to be hard for anyone to beat them for the gold, either here or for the rest of the season.

Elizaveta Shanaeva/David Naryzhnyy RUS

Age: 16/20

Started Skating Together: 2016

Coach: Alexander Svinin and Irina Zhuk

Season's Best: 171.07

Rhythm Dance: Bonnie and Clyde

Free Dance: River

The first to actually qualify to JGPF, Shanaeva/Naryzhnyy have really stepped up this year. There was certainly room to do so nationally with last season's top Russian junior dance teams moving to seniors, splitting up, or missing time due to injury, but their big improvements in skating together and in consistency would be commendable in any case. 

Our personal favorite Bonnie and Clyde program, although we still can't believe there are enough contenders for that title that we can actually choose from. It's just really well constructed and a lot of fun, suiting both their individual personalities and chemistry as a team. Their entrance into the twizzles is mildly ridiculous and feels like a seamless part of the choreography. Their free dance is coming along and we're interested in seeing how it's evolved. It was a bit of a mess at the test skates but they've improved at every outing. Last we saw, there was a lot of music happening towards the end, but it's a pretty cool contemporary program with a really badass combination lift. There's a lot of variety in the free dances this year, but they would stand out regardless, and with two other Russian teams joining them in group one for the rhythm dance that can only work to their advantage.

Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva/ Andrei Filatov RUS

Age: 17/19

Started Skating Together: 2019

Coach: Denis Samokhin, Maria Borovikova

Season's Best: 165.59

Rhythm Dance: La La Land

Free Dance: Sign of the Times

We've got to tip our hats to Elizaveta here, the reigning junior world silver medalist with her former partner who has not missed a beat in this new partnership. Of course, equal credit goes to Andrei, who has also completed his first JGP season like he's got years of international experience. They're not the first junior team to find major success in their first season together, but it's still worth noting how quickly and seamlessly they've fit together. La La Land will never be a true fave for us and their styling is a bit sleeker than we typically see with this music choice, but they're just already such a strong team that their talent makes it work. The angst of their Sign of the Times free dance is right up Elizaveta’s alley as a performer and is a great vehicle for this new team. It allows them to go all out on emoting and connecting with each other while not being too complicated a story or theme for them to portray at this point in their partnership. They don't have quite the complexity of some of the lengthier partnerships in this event, but not to the point where it should hold them back if they skate their best. New teams with strong basic skating skills can often show more drastic improvement early on competition to competition compared to some more established teams, so it will be exciting to see how much farther they’ve been able to take their partnership. And it could definitely be to a medal.

Maria Kazakova/ Georgy Reviya GEO

Age: 18/20

Started Skating Together: 2017

Coach: Denis Samokhin, Maria Borovikova

Season's Best: 169.22

Rhythm Dance: Take Good Care of My Baby/Dream a Little Dream of Me

Free Dance: In the End

We should probably note that, for the purposes of this preview, we're using their Junior season's best, because these funky little overachievers have also been competing at smaller senior competitions and intend to compete at Euros and Worlds now that they have their TES minimums. Having to split their attention puts them at a bit of a disadvantage compared to their fellow juniors, but does give them a leg up on seniors so it works out. Since they have no domestic competition, it's a risk they can afford to take without fearing getting lost and buried at Nationals. But internationally at the junior level they are more than capable of contending for podium finishes, and the teams they’ll be facing aren’t training two patterns. You win some, you lose some, and they've clearly decided the pros are worth the cons. Their rhythm dance is the program that suffers the most from their multitasking, but it's still a nice program. Their foxtrot section is especially lovely, but historically they've always had some struggles hitting their keypoints. At their first JGP, their level issues in the RD is what kept them from winning the gold over Khudaiberdieva/Filatov, as they won the FD handily. The free dance is their big strength and already a fan favorite. On paper this program is objectively ridiculous. Absolutely nothing about it should work, and if you just describe it you sound like a crazy person, but it all comes together. From the opening where Georgy tosses Maria over his head just for style, to their performance, to the cartwheels in the choreo steps, it's just incredible. We're not sure there's a way to make skating to a rap cover of Linkin Park sound like anything but the most tragic misfire, but if you haven't seen it yet, you really need to. It's not just acrobatic and interesting and cool, it's impressively emotive as well. They're in their last year of junior eligibility and their maturity level is evident in their skating. If the can get all their levels, particularly in the rhythm dance, while skating their amazing free the way we know they can, some of the higher qualified teams might be in for a nasty surprise.

Loicia Demougeot/ Theo Le Mercier FRA

Age: 17/20

Started Skating Together: 2015

Coach: Karrine Arribert-Narce

Season's Best: 162.70

Rhythm Dance: Your Feet's Too Big/How's Ya Baby

Free Dance: Carmen

A French team back in the JGPF! And they are bringing the traditional French ice dance weirdness. Their first two JGP medals and first trip to the JGPF in their fourth JGP season have made this a very successful year for Demougeot/Le Mercier following their first top ten finish at Junior Worlds last season. They won the rhythm dance at their first event and put up one of the highest RD tech scores so far at their second event helping them snag two silvers. It's almost ballroomy but has that dose of classic French wackiness to keep things fresh. Their free dance, inspired by French theatre on ice or not, we do appreciate a good Weird Carmen and this one’s got it all from the music to the costumes to the choreography. They're in character from the first note of the music and carry it all the way through to the end. What keeps it from just being Weird Carmen is their strong sense of musicality and also vision. We can't say we truly get what they're doing but we're certain they do. Their world standing means that they will be skating in the second group for the rhythm dance which could play to their advantage. With their theatricality and commitment, they're sure to hold their own at this event. It's been some time since a French team has made JGPF, and longer since they medaled, but this could be a weekend for surprises.

Diana Davis/ Gleb Smolkin RUS

Age: 16/20

Started Skating Together: 2018

Coach: Igor Shpilband and Pasquale Camerlengo

Season's Best: 160.17

Rhythm Dance: Everybody Wants to Be a Cat

Free Dance: Always Watching You/Love is Gone

Young, new teams tend to grow rapidly, and Davis/Smolkin are no exception. Last season they were entirely respectable, but still learning each other on the ice and focusing on the technicalities of ice dance. A year and a coaching change later and they've settled into each other and developed some real flair and personality, bringing their performance to a whole new level. While we wish they showed the level of commitment of having cat toe bean gloves or just cat themed choreography in general, their rhythm dance ends up being pretty delightful anyway. They've got some really impressive lifts showing off their strength and creativity in a bluesy free dance. It's a nice change of pace from their rhythm dance while still allowing them to show off their improved performance quality and range of emotion. At their second JGP event, they made a silly mistake on the spin that dropped it to base level, and while they did enough in the rhythm dance to hold onto silver and their JGPF spot, it made things dicier than necessary and is why they're the final qualifier. They absolutely have the opportunity to improve on their qualifying position, or even take a swipe at a podium position. Given the cutthroat nature of Russian ice dance at any and all levels, every little bit counts before Nationals. They're a talented team, and we hope to see them skate to their potential and continue to blossom.

[popwasabi]

My MCU Phase 4 Wishlist

So, over a decade and 23 fucking films later an era of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe has finally concluded with “Spider-man: Far From Home” premiering last week. 

It’s still staggering just how robust this franchise is considering in just eleven years’ time it already has amassed nearly as many films as the James Bond franchise and is arguably a more bankable series at this point than “Star Wars.” Though it’s not a perfect series by any stretch its success is nonetheless tied to its consistent, often magnetic charm and grand action set pieces and Phase 3 showed that it was even capable of some complex and nuanced growth. The third phase tackled deeper more emotional issues for our favorite super heroes while also giving many of its directors more free reign to do as they please with their scripts. Not always perfectly but it was more often than not hugely successful at reaching audiences on a personal level.

(Sometimes with mixed results...)

But as much as “Endgame” was a near perfect sendoff for this franchise, The Mouse isn’t done by any stretch with churning these films out seemingly until the end of time, so with that mind where should Disney go from here since it looks like the franchise will continue on indefinitely?

There’s a lot of ways to envision success for the MCU, and some wheels are already in motion between next year’s “Eternals” and Disney+’s streaming MCU shows but what would it really take for this series to get to the next level? Well this writer has some ideas and is more than happy to share a few of them.

 Make the Villains More Prominent (and stop killing them off!)

Less so in Phase 3 but consistently throughout most of the series has been a total lack in quality villain performances and story-telling. Whether they are generic mustache-twirlers, essentially dark mirrors of the hero or just plain half-baked characters, the MCU has really done a disservice to its robust catalogue of rogues by often wasting the talents of great actors and actresses all to just check a box in a super hero script.

And on top of that they are consistently dead by the end of each film giving them no chance for growth in a sequel. I mean it’s not like we haven’t seen that work before right?

(Case in point)

For phase 4, especially in the wake of two thirds of the Marvel’s Holy Trinity out of the picture, villains should take center stage now more than ever. The heroes of this newer, younger and developing Avengers are probably not ready for the responsibility of protecting the world and the universe as evidenced by the near catastrophic mess Spider-man commits in “Far From Home” and to have the villains of this next phase take advantage of that would be a smart move.

These villains need to be prominent, larger than life and command a nuance to them that much of the older films did not have. A character like Norman Osborn for instance could step in to fill the power vacuum left behind by Stark’s shadow as the new tech futurist of Earth but of course without the responsibility and good intentions of Iron Man. Doctor Doom could be a counter to Black Panther’s Wakanda as a polar opposite of nations in Latveria. And bringing on a character like Mephisto could further expand the mystical side of the MCU that started to be explored in “Dr. Strange.”

(But seriously, Marvel Studios, if I don’t get Toby Stephens as Norman Osborn I will riot...)

Either way, these villains need to carry on for more than one film for a change. Only Thanos, Vulture and Loki have managed to get past their first movies but if Phase 4 is going to be more distinctive it needs to have these villains come together in some way, perhaps even a *gasp* team-up! Having the villains form a super team to fight a younger more inexperienced Avengers could provide for some great drama and welcome change to the usual “fight an army of nameless goons, aliens and/or robots” of the previous era.

In any case, Kevin Feige and The Mouse need to have their sights set on truly developing these villains beyond just simple one-offs and into fully fleshed out characters that can continue to be trouble for our heroes across the series.

 Expand the Cosmic Spectrum of the MCU

The MCU is a science fiction series, if that didn’t already occur to you before, what with it’s iron-suited heroes, super soldiers and in these last two phases space aliens. With the latter the next phase really needs to lean into this and all its possibilities.

There’s a wealth of characters and worlds to explore on the cosmic level of Marvel Comics that not just the Guardians of the Galaxy can be a part of and Disney would be smart to bring even more properties into this real estate of the MCU.

It should namely start with Adam Warlock who was teased in the mid-credits scene of “Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2.” Warlock has long been a favorite character of mind, dating back to reading my dad’s old copies of the Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity Watch. He’s a charismatic character who effectively blends both the cosmic and mystical side of the Marvel Universe together that can lead to a wealth of possibilities across the new MCU. Who should play him is purely subjective at this point but I can tell you right now Zach Efron isn’t even my fourth choice on that particular ladder.

(Maaaaaybe?)

With the Fox deal, Disney also has the option to bring Silver Surfer and Galactus into the mix which they absolutely should at some point. Beta Ray Bill is also said to be making his debut in “Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3” who can take over for Thor as Chris Hemsworth will eventually move on from the franchise at some point. Guardians will eventually need to retire too of course which opens up the possibility for the Infinity Watch with characters like Moon Dragon, Maxam and Pip the Troll and don’t tell me any of them wouldn’t work on the big screen. If Rocket Racoon can be a fan favorite Moon Dragon, Pip and Maxam can definitely make it too.

Either way the Marvel Universe is big fucking place and Disney would be dumb to not explore more of it for future franchises.

 Make better Original Scores

Johan Goransson’s Oscar win for Best Original Score for his work on “Black Panther” was a watershed moment for this franchise because it showed how super hero music can still be relevant. Imagine Christopher Reeve’s “Superman” without John Williams theme music or Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” without Hans Zimmer’s prominent percussion echoing the legend of Batman. Its not nearly as memorable and I feel the MCU has largely short-changed itself by not putting a higher emphasis on original scores during its decade-long run.

(*Bwaaaaaam BWAAAAAAAAAMMMM* I can hear this gif)

Phase 3 has definitely done a better job with this of course, Michael Giacchino’s work on Spider-man is solid, Alan Silvestri’s return to Avengers especially the “Portals” scene is epic as hell and again Goransson’s score is part of the reason we knew exactly what was coming next when Cap said “I know somewhere” before we even saw an image of Wakanda. But Phase 4, in my opinion, needs to make this more important as we introduce new characters.

Music has a way of echoing memories and ideas that we’ll immediately associate with an event or in this case a character and with the MCU heading into uncharted territory with what’s looks like even more unique characters, adding memorable music will help audiences identify with them. A catchy tune can go a long way to making a good scene greater just ask the binary sunset in “A New Hope” and it can make a character truly standout.

Imagine the next Avenger’s films if you will as all these new heroes come together on screen all their theme music coming together to culminate in one epic version of the Avengers suite. It will be glorious if done right and the MCU needs to make this happen with inventive composers and film scores in Phase 4.

 Save the X-Men for Phase 5

I know with the Fox deal and the whimpering flameout of “Dark Phoenix” fans are clamoring to see what Disney and Marvel Studios can do to bring in everyone’s favorite team of mutants but I say “hold up.”

As much as I would love to see a (hopefully) more faithful rendition of the X-Men I think we need a breather from Professor X, Cyclops, Beast and especially Wolverine. The X-Men franchise has been going on for over two decades and as much as we would all like to see these mutants get some much needed redemption after “Apocalypse” and “Dark Phoenix” I think general audiences need a breather. Yes, The MCU brought in Spider-man barely two years after the “Amazing” franchise which flamed out badly as well but Spider-man, even by its franchise standards, had a considerably smaller catalogue left behind when he made his debut in “Civil War.”

I think teasing the reappearance of the X-Men in Phase 4 is probably fine. Maybe dropping clues on the existence of mutants, maybe mentioning an alternate universe they come from because chances are their backstory will be retconned but either way the X-Men should be left on the backburner for Phase 4. 

(Deadpool though? Keep’em coming.)

Make Phase 5 all about the emergence of mutants, build them up as a great new team for the MCU and perhaps even pit them against the Avengers down the road. Either way, let the X-Men have a break for now. They need it after what Fox did to them.

 Bring in Diverse New Heroes

Oh, here comes that dreaded word that makes the slimiest denizens of the internet overreact and proclaim they’re not the “oversensitive” ones (in all CAPs of course).

The MCU had its fun with its main cast of primarily white Marvel staples over the past decade and if they’re going to show that they have new ideas and new stories to tell it should begin by bringing in browner heroes.

“Black Panther” was largely a breath of fresh air for the franchise because it told a very personal and relatable story to the society we live, primarily on the struggles of being a minority. The story wasn’t a simple good vs evil tale or nonspecific theme about family and love but of something deeply wrong in the world and it’s the reason it resonated as much it did.

The MCU is already making way for its first Asian American hero in Shang Chi, which is a good start but it shouldn’t end there either. Diverse heroes should be its next flagship for the new era of the MCU. Bring in Amadeus Cho, Ms. Marvel, and hell start teasing Miles Morales.

(And don’t give me that bullshit that black Spider-man can’t appeal to mass audiences...)

I can already hear the idiots shouting at the screen right now about “white erasure” or some other bull shit about reverse racism and/or forced diversity. First of all, these people would bitch about diversity no matter what way it was brought in. If a hero is turned from white to brown it’s “Why can’t they bring in a new brown hero?” If they bring in a new brown hero it’s “Why are they bringing in a new brown hero? No one cares.” And if people do care it’s “Forced diversity.” All I have to say to you people is you keep shifting around the goal posts so much to the point that it makes me wonder what you are actually angry about?

The MCU needs brand new blood and given that it again made a talking Raccoon a fan favorite there’s nothing that tells me this is a bad time to bring in more brown heroes from Marvel’s lesser known catalog. It isn’t that I or even other minority fans hate white heroes (I wrote an entire article on how much I love the MCU’s Captain America afterall) but for the sake of showing that these diverse heroes matter and giving them a chance to shine on the big screen this is needed. It wasn’t long ago that barely anybody knew who Black Panther was, now you have folks throwing up “Wakanda Forever” signs on their Instagram and social media and reading his graphic novels. So, open your mind up a bit and stop being a child about “forced diversity.” Thor was still epic as hell when he brought down Storm Breaker in “Infinity War,” Captain America still inspires patriotism in even the most cynical of souls and Iron Man saved the universe with a snap of his fingers. Your white heroes (and fragility) stories will survive a little spice in this franchise.

 How the MCU truly proceeds from here will be interesting. There are already projects in motion of course and fans should probably be excited for it regardless of what I have written here but I do truly hope a lot of these happen in Phase 4. Marvel needs better more consistent villains going forward, the cosmic side of the comics deserves more exploration, better soundtracks will make these movies better, the X-Men need a break, and after 23 movies we could stand add a few more brown people to the mix. 

Hopefully The Mouse is listening…

“Huhah! I own all future box office revenue regardless anyways, you peasants. Huhah!”

[giannisbct-blog]

Raw Analysis

I thought I would share my raw “data” that informed my analysis, because well, why not? As you will see I most definitely didn’t reference properly, or at all throughout this process so forgive me but its more to show all the things I didn’t include in the hand in.

SPYCE ANALYSIS

Video

Music is inquisitive, curious and intriguing. reminds me of Sergers Prokofiev’s Peter and The Wolf.

Coupled with the start of the video where you see the machine with the lights turning on but it isn’t clear as to what it is

Interior photo in second shot shows the restaurant to be clean and look more like a co-working space or a big open plan office a lot of tech companies are moving towards, hints at the “innovative” angle as well as the robotics

No ‘faffing’ around with their explanations, just get straight to the point with the facts. Mirrors the precision of the robot

“Humble starts in our fraternity basement” looking to show that they are made for the average person, by the average person.

Basic prototypes and back story give that “wow” factor to entice the customer

Very transparent in the whole process of making the food. i.e. explain how the woks cook, how they are heated, how they came up with the menu…

“perfectly cook your meal every time”

Once introduced the concept and the mechanical expertise, bring in the experts in food. Shows that they have all the bases covered

Appeal to both the students by having this innovative approach but also the older generation by bringing in a top chef

“Guess his email address” shows the commitment and the drive of these people, makes for a cool story and adds a wow factor to the backstory

The chef who says he was also puzzled by the idea and then likes the idea, used to sway skeptics

Every team member is justified

Using the idea of robotics as the way of the future and the vegetable focused menu (as meat is not sustainable) to show that they themselves are forward thinkers and look to the future.

Order system is familiar to people as it is a screen that they can navigate through touch and order without actually having to interact with someone.

“Affordable, tasty and nutritious” - no human error keeps it consistent and no humans means it’s cheaper

Music at the end goes back to that curious nature that almost invites you to come try yourself

The food is the end product the consumers see so lots of shots feature the food itself, as well as it cooking

Key point they mention is that the meals are “complex”, these aren’t basic or low number of ingredient meals

Can see your meal being cooked

Everything is automated except for the toppings so it is suited for people who don’t want to interact with others, which is a lot of the younger generation

Vibrant and energetic shows the wellness side and the “fun” factor

a lot of energy has gone into adding the personal touch, (your name while its cooking)

Website

“Wholesome and delicious food” the reason behind it anyhow it came about, the engineers working with the Michelin-Star chef, the salads themselves are all wholesome

Being a restaurant, primarily all their photos are of food and the space. They also include the human touch by having photos of the people behind the counter. Shows that they are just like any other restaurant and they aren’t trying to put people out of jobs

The Our Philosophy section puts the consumer first and two they are doing all of this to impress you, the consumer.

FAQs - Our Mission - Talks about the benefit of the robotic kitchen in terms of the cost factor and the nutrition.

FAQs - Our Mission - Diplomatic in the sense of ‘job cutting’ but show that they pride quality over quantity when it comes to staff.

Backstory has a wow/cool factor to it in terms of why and even how they got Daniel Boulud on board.

While talking about the technical aspects they talk about the process but much of the language is very human focused, to potentially bring it out of the typical sterile robot mindset.

Human aspect is to counter the typical feelings associated with automation and robots.

Instagram features very little of the actual system and focuses solely on the people and the food itself.

Highlighted on the landing page “Excellence Elevated” presenting the idea that their system innovates the food experience

Very simple process all up

The report concluded that jobs that involve “predictable physical activities” — such as cooking or serving food, cleaning kitchens, collecting dirty dishes and preparing beverages — are the most susceptible to automation.

Because the industry’s human labor tends to be lower paid, robots cooks have yet to be adopted, the report said. As the technology becomes cheaper and more widespread, however, that could change.

“Our restaurant is really efficient because people focus on what people are good at, but the robot handles the high volume tasks — like the cooking and washing  — that robots are good at,”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2018/05/17/will-robots-replace-chefs-at-this-new-boston-restaurant-they-already-have/?noredirect=on

From reviews

people really enjoy watching the food getting made - similar to teppanyaki restaurant?

The being able to see aspect makes it seem “smarter” rather than it being in a box like the rotimatic

Unlike the Moley robot kitchen, it doesn’t aim to automate for the sake of automating the process, space aims to improve the process by making healthy meals quick and accessible.

https://www.moley.com/

The patent extends to both the cooking of the ingredients and/or mixing ingredients by complete automation.

We were four really hungry MIT students and water polo teammates tired of spending $10 on take-out lunches and dinners. Our athletic appetites required better nutrition but our student budgets didn’t allow for that kind of expense. While we ate our bland chopped salads and stir-frys, we dreamed of an alternative: a robot that cooked tasty and nutritious meals, served them, and cleaned up after.

https://www.spyce.com/who-we-are/

From a commercial standpoint the idea is solid, but buying ingredients and cooking your own meals is cheaper, so is Spyce the best solution to wanting cheaper healthy meals?

A simple google search will find you plenty of meals for under $10 that are healthy and easy to make and extend beyond the basic chicken and rice.

In essence the robot is a self portioning, cooking and cleaning system. The meals are still decided by humans, the method is still decided by humans and the art (presentation) is still done by the humans. The robot doesn’t have to do any of the thinking or checking if the meal is cooked.

high volume tasks

Look at:

Reviews

youtube reviews (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuIIaEND70A)

news stories

facebook

Automated cooking

rotimatic

cat food automation

mechanical harry

automatic pan stirrer

process automation

is there cooking method the best

are there better style meals

Main Takeaways so far

The automation allows the food to be consistent, delicious and exactly as intended every time so there are no surprises

The automation allows the staff to be more customer focused/ allows the business to focus on other aspects as they are not held back by the process.

Questions so far

Does an automated system really allow you to focus on something else when it comes to food, as cooking is an involved process and an experience?

Can this be extended to a personal version that allows you to not have to worry about the cooking?

Can automation turn dinner into less of a chore by removing the need to be involved? Can it just be something that is ready when you want it to be without effort from you? (look at sci fi for inspiration)

Does the system they use result in even cooking of the food?

What is the effect of short wait times for food that is supposedly Michelin-Star? Does it seem tacky? Is it a throwaway?

Is the salad bowl and their method of making it the best for personal value and nutrition?

Can the idea be extend beyond just salad bowls?

Why Automation?

[travllingbunny]

The 100 rewatch: 1x12/1x13 We Are Grounders (Part 1&Part 2)

So I’ve come to the end of my rewatch of season 1. (The season 2 opener post will come soon. I’ve already rewatched it.) Overall my opinions on the quality of the season haven’t changed much, though I did like some episodes more and some episodes less this time. It was, however, interesting to see how much foreshadowing there was of later events and how many moments later got callbacks and parallels in later seasons. 

I’ve also tried to now keep track of the timeline and body count in every episode...but I’m now starting to realize, after how confusing the numbers got in 1x11 and in these two episodes, that I’ve probably given it much more thought than the writers ever did. In the end, I had to look up The 100 wiki – but it seems just as confused as I am.

Back when I first binged the show, some 7 months ago, I was posting about it on SpoilerTV in the daily discussion threads. Sometimes I wrote just a few lines, but about this two-parter, I wrote a very detailed post - and I wish I had posted it on Tumblr, too. Maybe I’ll dig it up and post it as an annex or something.  Funny thing, before that, after 1x11, I made my list of predictions for the two-part finale, and all of them turned out to be true. I liked it anyway - predicting things isn’t always bad, it may mean that the storytelling is logical and that plot points were well foreshadowed. But it’s also one of the reasons why I didn’t find it as mind-blowing as the S2 one or S4 , or even S5 one. (But it’s certainly miles better than the S3 finale. Although that’s not saying much, since the latter was pretty anticlimactic and is one of my least favorite episodes.)

I’ve always felt that Part 1 was the stronger episode, and that hasn’t changed.

Ranking and ratings of season 1 episodes:

1x12 We Are Grounders part 1 - 10/10

1x13 We Are Grounders part 2 - 9/10

1x08 Day Trip - 9/10

1x10 I Am Become Death - 9/10

1x05 Twilight's Last Gleaming - 8.5/10

1x06 His Sister's Keeper - 8/10

1x03 Earth Kills - 8/10

1x11 The Calm - 8/10

1x04 Murphy's Law - 7/10

1x07 Contents Under Pressure - 6.5/10

1x09 Unity Day - 6/10

1x02 Earth Skills - 4.5/10

1x01 The Pilot - 4.5/10

 Season 1 overall - 7.54/10

Part 1

One of the few things I didn’t guess about this finale in advance was Ark coming down the way it did. It’s kind of funny that Kane tried to have a sacrificial redemptive death, but Jaha got there first, and had his best and most useful and most heroic moment ever… but then the show didn’t let Jaha have a redemptive death but let him live. And then he went on to make terrible mistakes and be an antagonist for at least 2 seasons, before having a morally grey (and most suited to his character) role in S4.

Every time someone tries to sacrifice themselves on The 100, they live on, and almost every time a major character has a big heroic moment, they are brought low the next season and make terrible mistakes and/or do antiheroic things. 

I like it whenever the show has a flashback of the life on the Ark or goes into the past in some other way. And it’s always nice to have another little reminder of the time when Wells used to exist for 3 episodes, which usually happens through his father’s memories or hallucinations. Here it’s Jaha watching an old video of Wells and Clarke, which helps him figure out the solution to how to bring the Ark to the ground.

And look at Jaha opening a 97 year old bottle of scotch, “The Baton” This bottle is almost a recurring character - doesn’t it also appear in the season 4 finale?

I remember that I Kane and Abby’s chemistry was so obvious in this episode, and their scenes so close and extremely friendly (what a contrast to where they started... like mother, like daughter?) that I made a comment that they seemed like they were going to start making out any moment, LOL. And I wasn’t even shipping them then, it was more like “Wait, is this going to be a thing now?” Well, I wasn’t wrong, it just took them 2 more seasons.

A few bullet points about things first mentioned in this episode: 

First appearance of Tristan, sent by Lexa, who tells Clarke “I’m the man sent to slaughter your people”. Well, at least no one can say the guy is not honest and straightforward. Also the first time we hear about the existence of “the Commander” and learn that Anya isn’t actually the leader of the Grounders. An interesting bit of trivia I’ve learned since is that the Commander was originally supposed to be a child. JRoth must be really In love with this idea, since he went back to it eventually with Madi.

First time we hear about and see the Reapers, and the scenes with them looked like something right out of a horror movie and was genuinely horrifying. Lincoln not answering Finn’s question what they are but simply saying “Pray you never find out” was, of course, a way to keep it a mystery for us a bit longer, but now we know it was really more about, pray you never get to become one, which happens with Lincoln in season 2, while Finn will unleash his inner monster in another way.

 First mention of Luna by name, though Lincoln had already talked about her people to Octavia earlier in the season. I wonder how much of her role was already planned in season 1. With all the Mount Weather mentions and other things like the acid fog, Lincoln’s drawings etc., it’s clear that the main arc of the first 2 seasons was planned since the beginning, with Grounders as secondary antagonists that the 100 mostly deal with in season 1, and the Mountain Men as the main villains, who will get focused on in season 2. But I’m not sure that this was the case with any of the season 3 arcs.

Lincoln finally explains why he is helping the 100 and that it’s not just about Octavia: “What my people are doing to your people isn’t right”. The same reason why Maya and the other rebels in MW will be helping the Delinquents in season 2. In the show where people too often justify their actions by “it was for my people”, it is great to have characters who prioritize what is right. 

And god, how good it feels to hear lines like that again. Maybe JRoth and the rest of the writers should have rewatched season 1 and remember the things that actually happened in their own show? Back when they still hadn’t gotten it into their heads that the 100 were somehow the bad guys in that scenario because they were desperately trying to survive after being forced to go to the ground (sent by the Arker leadership because the Arkers were going to die in space), and that Grounders were somehow the good guys for attacking and trying to kill them all for no reason but paranoia and prejudice?

Two big things that happen to Finn: he has a reaction to having directly  killed someone for the first time (even though it was a Reaper) and then made his big love declaration to Clarke- only to be rejected, in one of my favorite moments of season 1. I’ve always found Clarke’s reactions throughout that storyline and particularly in this scene really relatable - her feelings for him haven’t gone, but she was hurt and couldn’t trust him or go there again. “You broke my heart... I’m sorry. I can’t.” I always thought that she would never give him a chance again, and that, while the feelings were still there, she was slowly starting to move on and that, in any case, he was her past rather than her future, long before he killed a bunch of people and she had to mercy kill him. Overall, while I really didn’t like Finn/Clarke or Finn/Raven as relationships, the atypical way the C/F/R love triangle was resolved (both girls reject Finn, and become friends) was one of my favorite things about S1.

Finn’s line “I should have fought for you” always struck me as odd (that’s not exactly what I’d say was the problem: he should have been honest with her and told her he had a girlfriend, or then he should have been honest with Raven and told her the truth, he shouldn’t have been playing both of them, he should have made up his mind and been honest about it rather than waiting for Raven to dump him…), and I’m not sure what exactly he meant (fought against whom? Or did he just mean, been more decisive and not let passively wait for things to happen?) but I guess it reflects Finn’s state of mind? He was always trying to play a white knight, first to Raven on the Ark, then to Clarke. And in retrospect, this may be one of the first signs that of where he ends up in S2, when he becomes violent and obsessed with the idea that he’s going to find and save Clarke. But the show has never been fully clear on how much his mental state was PTSD due to war and fighting, and how much his increasingly unhealthy obsession with Clarke.

Speaking of saving Clarke, the fact that Bellamy was able to be very rational about the fact Clarke, Finn and Monty were missing and focus on protecting the camp rather than going on a rescue mission, as opposed to the way he acted in 3x02 when he learned Clarke was in danger and immediately got dressed as an Ice Nation warrior and went on his own behind enemy lines to rescue her, says a lot about how much Bellamy’s feelings for Clarke became stronger between the end of season 1 and beginning of season 3.

This was the episode when Bellamy definitely became one of my 2 favorite characters, with how he dealt with the Murphy situation, and showed what a leader he had become. (Which Jasper also recognized, verbally and with a big hug.) If I were to dig up my SpoilerTV post I wrote back then, you’d see a lot of very embarrassing fangirling over Bellamy. ;) 

This time I was able to focus more on Murphy’s motivations and characterization, which I didn’t think that much before.  When  Murphy is trying to taunt Bellamy - after putting a noose around his neck - saying things like “You think you’re so brave”, “You think you’re stronger than me” – I’m pretty sure that’s what Murphy thinks, deep inside. He has a deep inferiority complex. Which is exactly why he wanted revenge on Bellamy in such a way, hoping to see him afraid and brought low. He used to defer to Bellamy in the early days at the ground, so when Bellamy threw him to the wolves, then later tried to kill him in rage, exiled him and showed multiple times how little he respected him or cared for him (compared to, say, a little girl), that must have brought on a lot of resentment. But the whole “I know the truth, you’re a coward” thing would work better if it wasn’t in a situation where Bellamy was risking his life to save Jasper and actually being just as awesome as Murphy was trying to prove he wasn’t, so the whole revenge attempt was a huge, pathetic failure by Murphy. And Murphy going on about how he’s maybe now going to become the leader of the 100 after both “the princess” and “the king” die, now seems less like a villain’s threat, and more like empty bragging that he probably didn’t even believe in himself. He knows he’s not a leader type and he’s much better at making people hate him than follow him.

The speech Bellamy gives at the camp is impassioned and emotion-driven and gets the Delinquents full of passion to stay and fight – for a moment, until Clarke gives her short speech where she simply points out that they’re likely to die if they stay and convinces them to leave. This is a good example why and how the idea of Bellamy as “the Heart” and Clarke as “the Head” makes sense: it’s not that he is all emotion and can’t think rationally or that she’s emotionless – both of these things are obviously untrue – or that he’s always acting on emotion or that she’s always making her decisions rationally (there are plenty of examples of either of them doing the opposite), but it’s how they tend to approach leadership and decision-making and the arguments they used to appeal to people: his tend to be emotional, hers practical.

Part 2

 …And Clarke points that out to Bellamy when she convinces him to go with the others rather than stay on his own to fight, in one of her many pep talks to Bellamy about what a great leader he is. “You inspire them”. (She’ll tell him the same in the S4 finale.)

The Blake siblings scene was beautiful and emotional and one of my favorite scenes in season 1. But now, after that relationship got a lot more dysfunctional in the following seasons, I can’t help but notice that, while Bellamy takes back his statement from 1x06 that his life ended when Octavia was born, saying it was the opposite, Octavia never really took back her accusations that Bellamy was at fault for their mother dying and pretty much everything. (In the following seasons, Octavia will keep the tradition of always blaming Bellamy for everything ever. She does, however, tell him“I love you, big brother”.  I believe she says that two more times, in the S4 finale and the S5 finale. But in the latter, it understandably doesn’t get quite the same response.

And here we go again, Murphy is once more captured and tortured by the Grounders… how many times does Murphy get tortured or has other bad things happen to him during seasons 1-3?

Fans who like Finn more than I do have argued that he jumped in and saved Bellamy during the battle because they are comrades. But since he was earlier willing to let Bellamy stay behind and probably be killed, I think the main reason Finn did it was because Clarke was showing concern for Bellamy and upset about him potentially dying.

 My main problem with Part 2 was always the scene where Clarke has to pull the lever and close the dropship door, before Jasper incinerates everyone outside. Or rather specifically, the scene where she and Finn stare at each other for a couple of seconds during battle, with dramatic music and all, which was weird because he was pretty close by and it looked like she could have yelled at him to get inside, and he could have come inside, so I was never sure if the scene was just badly done, or if it was supposed to be deeply meaningful (Finn starting to lose it and desperate to prove himself as her hero? A reaction to her rejection? PTSD? All of that at once?) but it didn’t quite work because she looked frozen and emotional, but he was just kind of blankly staring at her… And I’m afraid I still don’t have no idea what the scene was supposed to be.

In any case, the entire thing with Clarke’s dramatic and heartbreaking choice to close to door on Finn and Bellamy to save the others should have felt more epic and had more weight, but it kind of does not. It happens quickly, and then there’s more focus on whether the Delinquent crowd will act inhumane and lynch a vastly outnumbered Anya. And, of course, there’s also the fact that I’m pretty sure no one in the audience ever thought Finn or Bellamy were actually dead. But at least the scene where Clarke goes outside and stares at two charred skeletons was good because you really felt what she must have been thinking.  

However, I love the parallel/contrast to this scene in the S5 finale, when Clarke keeps waiting for Bellamy to come inside the ship and doesn’t pull the lever to close the door (while Raven is hurrying her to do it, same as Miller was here).

The visual of the Ark coming down is beautiful - it looks like a ‘falling star’ - a callback to the earlier conversations about making a wish on a star.

Kane and Abby looking at the Earth together kinds of reminds me of Bellamy and Clarke watching the new planet in the S5 finale. (Except the former two at this point aren’t nearly as close to pull each other in an embrace.)

The ending with the Mountain Men is well done, but that was one of the things I predicted at the time: that the finale will mostly be about fighting Grounders, and then the Mountain Men will appear at the end, and they will be very technologically advanced. With so many mentions of them, it wasn’t hard to guess they had to be the S2 antagonists who appear at the very end of S1 in a cliffhanger - shows often do that. (I actually didn’t even make the Mount Weather connection, since I’m not from USA and had no idea what it was. But the mysterious Mountain Men had to be different from Grounders and Reapers, and the opposite of what you’d normally expect from people called ‘mountain men”. Which doesn’t mean it was not a good twist - it’s just hard to fully surprise fans like me who have watched so much TV .)

Timeline: I used to think season 1 lasted about a month, month and a half, but now it seems that it can’t be more than 3 weeks, at most. And even that’s a stretch.

We know for sure that episodes 1-6 lasted 10 days (and a week passed between 1x03 and 1x04), but events in episodes 1x06 to 1x09 were happening very fast, it couldn’t have been more than a couple of days, and ditto for episodes 1x10-1x13. The only possible times when more time could have passed was between 1x9 and 1x10.

Body count:

Part 1: 

1 Delinquent (Myles), wounded last episode and now murdered by Murphy as revenge for the lynching.

1 patient on the Ark that Abby wasn’t able to save.

1 Grounder killed off-screen by Lincoln

2 or 3 Reapers

1 or 2 unfortunate Grounders being eaten or about to be eaten by the Reapers.

Part 2: Lots of people.

About 300 Trikru warriors (and some of the Reapers who had been fighting them, probably) – most of them burned in the ring of fire.

Either 31 or 29 Delinquents – first a redshirt Drew, killed by a scout before the battle, then a bunch of them in battle with the Trikru (or maybe burned). This is where it gets confusing. At the start of Part 2, Bellamy feels he’s failed and says there have been 18 dead, and Clarke tries to comfort him, saying 82 are still alive. But only 16 Delinquents were killed before 1x13. So, either 1) two more died of that illness or were killed by the Grounders off-screen, or 2) he was assuming Monty and Murphy were dead or would soon be dead. And in season 3, Bellamy tells Kane “Trikru killed 37 of my friends before you even touched the ground”. Out of the 16 Delinquents who definitely died in the first 12 episodes, 6 were killed by Grounders (3 directly, 3 by bio warfare/illness). That would mean either 2 more + Drew + 29 in battle, or Drew + 31 in battle.  In any case, in season 2, 48 were captured in Mount Weather, while 6 survived outside of it (Octavia, Murphy, Finn, Monroe, Sterling, and one boy killed by Tristan in 2x01) – which would make 54, plus Bellamy and Raven.

A bunch of people died in the landing of the Ark, but there’s no info how many. In 1x07 they said there were 2,237 people on the Ark. (Which means that, before they sent the 100 to the ground and Raven took the escape pod, there were at least 2339.)  In 1x11, Kane said there were about 1,000 survivors on the Ark. But he also said 1,500 died in the shutdown of the Ark, which definitely doesn’t add up, as it would mean there were about 2,500 people before that, and that’s without the few hundred that died with Diana on the Exodus ship (which Kane may or may not counted?). Either Kane is terrible at math, or the writers got things mixed up. Anyway, let’s say that 1,000 survived, that means about 1,200 died either on Exodus or due to the shutdown on the Ark. But some of the 12 stations probably exploded before touching the ground, so a few hundred more Arkers probably died.