#and poirot was just. traumatizing | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

night-heron-writes · 1 year

Note

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks....

I don't mind at all! You've opened up quite a can of worms, my friend.

Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender) I love Katara because she's a wonderfully complex character. She's kind and compassionate but she's also stubborn and has quite a temper. She gets pushed into being a mother figure, first for her brother and then for an entire crew of kids. I relate to her frustration with being forced to take that on way too young.

Carmen Sandiego (Carmen Sandiego 2019) Another beautifully rounded character. I love her poise and confidence, and also that we get to see her vulnerable side. I really love her journey in understanding that the way she was raised, everything she was taught wasn't what she thought it was. I relate super hard to her being raised to do something and deciding that no, actually, she didn't want to do what her parental figures decided she ought to do. Also the one heist set to the Four Swans dance totally confirmed my thoughts that ballet training makes a great thief.

Zuko (Avatar: The Last Airbender) Oh where do I even start? He's a fantastic depiction of someone who endured terrible child abuse, and even years after leaving the situation it still affects him and his self-image. His journey of unlearning his father's abuse and indoctrination gets me every time. He's a compassionate person by nature, but was taught that he had to be cruel and angry to be taken seriously, and was always considered second best. I guess I have a soft spot for self-deprecating characters with loads of trauma 😂

Agent Twilight a.k.a Loid Forger (SPY X FAMILY) A highly skilled superspy who's also a chronic overthinker. Beneath the whole "for the mission" excuse, he is a genuinely kind character who has been through hell and back. And as for why I love him? Well, see my point above 😂

Yor Briar Forger a.k.a Thorn Princess (Spy x Family) Another girl pushed into being a parental figure much too young. I love her so much and my heart just aches at the way she sacrificed her childhood so that her brother would have one, and also at how she doesn't know much outside of what she was trained to do.

Suwa Rei (Buddy Daddies) Another assassin trained from a young age, and with a family life that severely traumatized him. I'm starting to notice a pattern in my favorite characters 😭

Flavia de Luce (The Flavia de Luce series by Allan Bradshaw) A precocious chemist and detective with a habit of sticking her nose where it doesn't belong. I love getting to see girls with a curious and analytical mindset in fiction, and also more girls in STEM, whether fictional or real-life.

Penelope Lumley (The Incorrigible Children series by Maryrose Wood) A down-to-earth and level-headed girl who finds herself in charge of three rambunctious children and in the midst of several mysteries. She's kind and firm with a tendency towards optimism that's very refreshing.

Hercule Poirot (from the books by Agatha Christie) A gentleman and a detective who isn't a misogynistic asshole. What's not to love?

Serafina (The Serafina series by Robert Beatty) A fierce and stubborn girl who takes it upon herself to protect those she considers family. She's also a catamount, a shapeshifter who can turn into a mountain lion. I adore her fierceness and dedication, as well as her ability to be stealthy.

Well there you have, it my top 10 favorite characters of all time! They reveal quite a lot about me if you read between the lines 😳

#avatar: the last airbender #carmen sandiego #spy x family #flavia de luce #incorrigible children of ashton place #hercule poirot #serafina series #buddy daddies

25 notes · View notes

lassusog · 1 year

Text

Tag game: Eight shows to get to know me!

I was tagged by the lovely @smoothshine, thank you friend ❤️

1. The adventures of Hercule Poirot (Agatha Christie)

This is my favourite show of all time. I don’t even know how many times I’ve watched every episode and this is thirteen seasons long. Agatha Christie is a literary giant and this is arguably one of the best page-to-screen adaptations of all time, for good reason. David Suchet portrays Poirot brilliantly, his friend group is to die for and one episode is enough to scratch that i want a cozy murder mystery where everything works out in the end itch.

2. Sherlock BBC

This show is part of my personality, really, and what originally got me into fandom. Apart from being an incredibly well crafted adaptation, this was also the first time I actually saw a queer couple live together. And no, I don’t take criticism on the fact of their being a queer couple. When I was a baby lesbian Sherlock and Irene Adler where my icons and it was so nice logging on tumblr and seeing people showing love to something gay. Up till then I didn’t think it was possible

3. She-Ra

This show altered my brain chemistry. An actual lesbian couple being the core of an amazing tv series? My heart was blown to bits and reconstructed. I watched this, again, as a baby gay, and it was very affirming and gentle to my heart

4. The end of the f***ing world

I cannot stress how much I love this show. Season 2 especially is such a respectful and kind approach on how traumatic experiences shape our perception of the the world and how much we need people who love and understand us as we learn to navigate it again.

5. Merlin

The first few seasons of this live in my heart rent free, I adore Merlin so much. I want to hug every character. And officiate Merlin and Arthur’s wedding.

6. Feel Good

I can’t say how many times I’ve watched this show but it certainly isn’t a healthy amount. It’s funny, it’s tender and it’s a story about two young queer people learning to accept themselves and love each other. What’s not to love?

7. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

I’m sorry, I know this show has a brilliant story about two brothers in it but Roy and Riza are the protagonists for me, I just *screams*

8. Criminal: UK

This show is what opened my eyes to what an amazing craft directing is. Everything happens in an interrogation booth but the acting and directing is so good you don’t get bored for a single minute and the cases are excellent as well.

This was very difficult, actually! And I have so many more shows I love that I could place here. I tag: @scienceoftheidiot @qs63, @dairogo @jedidragonwarriorqueen and @chryseis. Have fun!

#tag game #thank you for tagging!!

14 notes · View notes

fabiansociety · 4 months

Text

i understand why kenneth branagh wants to make poirot movies, but i don't understand why you would take that specific character and make him a brooding, traumatized war veteran. play lord peter if you want that! hell, make a big screen cadfael adaptation, even. but poirot? christie in general is an odd choice to complicate in that particular way, because the stories just *are not* set up for weltschmertz in that mold. adam sandler has spent most of his career making movies that are transparent excuses to go to a pretty location and hang out with his famous friends, but no one in branagh's poirot movies looks like they're having a good time, and the movies are a nightmare of green screen scenery. the original novel didn't include any of this—neither the immediate post-war period, nor the venetian setting, nor the seance. none of the characters are the same, none of the points are the same, the tone isn't the same, the plot isn't anything like the novel; what's exactly the point?

#poirot #kenneth branagh #michelle yeoh was barely even in the latest one #branagh's poirot says he has no friends and that's bananas #that wasn't even where the last move left him #a haunting in venice

6 notes · View notes

harleiquina · 10 months

Text

All TV series I've ever seen II

Let's see how many I remember from this time period.

1940 - 1970

1980 - 2000 (this post)

2010 - Now

1983 - V

Aliens have come to Earth but they are nice and willing to help us... or so they say.

Everybody remembers Diana eating rats, the dramatic face reveal of any reptilian, Freddy Krueger beeing a good guy (this time) and I'm sure Stephenie Meyers wish that Reneesme/Jacob had the same level of acceptance than "the child from the stars" (name given in Latinoamerica, don't know if it was also used in the original show) and whats-his-name.

Saw it on TV but we also bought the bootleg DVD because my mom and aunt never saw the ending of the show as kids.

1985 - Amazing Stories

I hardly remember anything (I was too young when it was played on TV) but I do remember beeing traumatized by Christopher Lloyd's severed (and reattached) head.

It was created by Spielberg, some stories land better than other ones. Maybe I should try and rewatch some?

1986 - Sledge Hammer

Is he sexist, violent, gun-lover and conservative AF? Yes... but he's also hilarious! This is satire people! Don't be like the NRA that gave somekind of award to this fictional character because they have the same level of comprehension than a brick.

Saw it on TV but it is also available on Youtube.

1986 - ALF

Alien finds himself on a typical american family house and chaos begins.

Do you live under a rock? Don't you know who ALF is? Just go watch it.

It was on TV when I was growing up, I'm pretty sure you can find it anywhere.

1989 - The Simpsons

I will keep on saying it, we argentineans speak in 3 languages: Spanish, Lunfardo (a Buenos Aires dialect but each province has their own as well) and Simpsons' quotes (latin spanish obviously, everyone agrees that it's the definitive Simpsons). Earlier seasons are better, we all know that... they kind of lose us when the original latin dubbers were replaced (it would seem that Disney brought them back but I hardly watch TV now, so I don't know)

1989 - Eureeka's castle.

I don't remember a THING about it but my family says that I was obsessed. It's a Muppet-style show of a young witch apprentice and her friends.

Upon further looking, it was co-written by R. L. Stine? So I didn't got into Goosebumps as a child but got this... who knows?

1989 - Agatha Christie's Poirot

I haven't watched everything just yet (it's been on for 20 years, people!) but I do like David Suchet's Hercules Poirot (my family disagrees because for them Poirot will always be Peter Ustinov). Hey, at least it's not Albert Finney!

1990 - Caloi en su tinta (Caloi in his own ink - Argentina)

It wasn't a series properly said... it didn't have a story to follow. Caloi was a very important artist in my country (his character Clemente became a staple in our comics just like Mafalda) and he had this TV show where he curated animations of all kinds, from all over the world. I remember seeing a stop-motion version of Barber of Sevilla and I think that I also saw Queen's Innuendo videoclip for the first time in here.

Some stories were funny, others melancholic, elegant or grotesque... but all of them were Art, with a capital A.

1990 - Twin Peaks

I don't understand the hype around this show. The only thing that I though was cool was to have a season and a half to find the killer.

Before someone tells me "you have to think how ground breaking it was in the time it came up" or "it's high end art, open your mind to it" trust me I can do that... it doesn't change the fact that I don't see why so many people like it so much.

I'll grant it a few points for showing us David Duchovny as a trans woman FBI agent that saves the day on the episode she shows up. I did like the character.

1993 - The Nanny

What would happen if instead of María taking care of Von Trapp's children in the Alps, we had a jewish it-girl from Flushing, Queens? That was Fran Drescher's pitch, the rest is history.

I got to confess I usually get bored with sit-coms but this is the only one that I can watch over and over again (and the final episode still brings single tear in my eye). Yeah, the whole plot of Fran trying to get pregnant was dragged for too long, but still it's like 3 or 4 episodes, no biggy (unless my memory fails, it's been a while).

1993 - Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

For whatever reason a alien (?) race decided that teenagers are the appropiate warriors so they choose 5 Angel Grove locals to kick Galactic-Witch Rita's ass. Monsters that grow size but still look like rubber suits, the Rangers use spandex but for whatever reason they release sparks when a blade touches them. Still sweet little 4 year old me loved this show.

I checked a few episodes on Youtube not too long ago and I was pleasently surprised by the fact that each monster represented a struggle the Rangers where having on their civilian life... so facing and defeating them actually helped these kids in their ordinary life. A nice message that I completely forgot while self-convincing myself that this show was a lot dumber than I remembered.

Oh! By the way when it was on TV I watched -maybe- up to season 2. When the movie came out I was shocked that Jason, Trini and Zack were not in it.

1993 - The X Files

The most recognizable tune ever, the OG monster-of-the-week format, a skeptic + a believer, some comedy, another bit of drama and , in ocassions, straight-up horror = one of the greatest TV shows ever made.

Regardless what people think I preffer Agent Dogget (there, I said it!!) to Mulder, but of course that sunflower-seed eater, porn aficionado, spooky guy will always be loved either way.

Of course I didn't watched on TV (my mom and aunt had that privilege, I was literally a baby) but I got the whole series on bootleg DVD.

1993 - Frasier

I only watched a few mixed up episodes and I have the first 4 seasons on bootleg DVD but it was my aunt who liked it the most.

A psicologyst with a radio TV show has to live with his dad and his brother visits very often.

You might recognize them as Sideshow Bob and his brother as well.

1994 - Friends

Watched it on cable when I had it, mixed up as usual but still... for whatever reason sitcoms bore me... and this is not the exception. Again, I don't understand the hype.

1995 - Xena: Warrior princess

Ancient Greece, a female warrior... my (probably by the time we got it in Argentina) 6 year-old self loved this show. Until certain fling with Hercules... I didn't liked romance then (or now, but I'm a little more tolerant as an adult) and it ruined the show for me.

Yes, now I see certain undertones that my youngself didn't. I get it. Leave me alone!

1995 - Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

Yeah... I didn't liked Hercules but I watched a few episodes either way. I always liked a good fight on TV.

1996 - Sabrina, the teenage witch

Who didn't wanted to have magical powers growing up becuse of her?

I can't really tell how many season I've watched because, as I said, in Argentina you were lucky if the TV channels bought more than 2 season to repeat on end. Still... I didn't quite liked it as much once she left for collage. Kinda lost its magic *wink, wink*

1996 - Millenium

The year 2000 was upon us and the promise of the end of the world, so Chris Carter decided to play a little bit with it.

Frank Black is a retired agent that has a peculiar way of getting into the mind of the criminals (the audience is the only one that knows that he can see what the criminals see... live) so he is called over an over again to help on different cases.

It ended too soon (got cancelled I believe) but it has its final episode in season 9 of The X Files (if I'm not mistaken). It deals a lot with religion (mostly Christianity) and its a lot darker than Mulder & Scully's adventures (with the exception of that one episode where 4 demons get together in a coffe shop -desguised as old men- and tell their latest works done).

1997 - Meego

I got to be honest with you... I hardly remember anything from this TV show. It was basically ALF but with a human playing an alien instead of a puppet. Still we remember it fondly at home so I guess it was good enough?

1998 - Charmed

Argentina beeing Argentina, I saw a few seasons... maybe... I do remember that I liked more the original 3 sisters.

It's fun... sometimes cheesy... as any tv or film of that time.

1998 - Will & Grace

As I said, sitcoms end up becoming boring and repetitive. But that doesn't take away that sometimes jokes are good... some are very 90, but ah, well...

2000 - Dark Angel

Maybe I saw 2 season on TV but I was obsessed.

Typical supersoldiers experiments developed this superhuman creatures that got tired of beeing an experiment and broke out the facility when they were children, so now as grown ups live in our society. The lead Max (Jessica Alba) has a job as a courrier but every now and then steals, that's how she meets Logan a journalist with vigilante tendencies that needs someone to do the dirty work.

2000 - CSI (later known as Las Vegas)

Have I ever watched a show just to laugh at it? Yes, and it was called CSI, the original (I saw a lot of Miami as well).

I had a few glimpses here and there from this procedural that were the definition of Deus-ex-machina and later I decided to give it a shot just to see if, within this universe, it made sense. And nope.

If one of mom's doctors dissed House for his nearly-impossible diagnosis... I'm pretty sure some forensics did the same with Grissom's team.

Side note I really love Ted Danson, that guy is awesome.

2001 - Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

At first I thought it was a yet another The Brain + Person that explains him like many others... but Goren and Eames are the best detective duo. PERIOD.

You get to see them investigating (so Goren, mostly, doesn't know everything off the bat... he does go to the library, kids) and Eames is not just a blank space for the audience to jump in and have Goren explain everything to her. My favourite moments are when she can add up to his theory by just having the female side of things.

Goren isn't the typical I-only-think kind of detective (like, let's say Poirot) he can -and will- get into dangerous situations when needed.

You have to watch for D'onofrio's performance.

I like Jeff Goldblum as well... but his season was kinda... meh

2002 - Los Simuladores (The Pretenders - Argentina)

What if there was a group of people to solve any kind of situations? And what if this situations are quite basic, borderline stupid, like meeting the in-laws, giving a hard exam at the end of the year and such?

This is it, that's the plot.

This was a huge hit back in the day but it took me a decade (almost) to watch because if you knew argentinean tv and film as I do... you wouldn't believe that there are actually some good ideas burried very very deep in the mud.

2002 - Monk

A detective with OCD is soooo good at his job but cannot be a detective again because of it (it got worse once his wife died in a attack). Fun and wholesome... maybe it did dragged for too long.

And no matter what... we are Sharona stans in this house!

2002 - CSI Miami.

Just like CSI I watched it just to make fun of it (and because in cable they will put all CSIs together in one afternoon so it was easier to compare them).

At least this one didn't take itself too seriously!

2003 - Tru Calling

Med student has a weird ability where dead people can reach her and make her repeat the day to try and save their lives.

It ended too soon on a great cliffhanger that we will never see resolved. Damn it!

2004 - Lost

We all know Lost... it started great... and it ended.

Luckily for me the TV channel where I was watching it stopped after season 4 and I never bothered to try and catch up again.

2004 - House MD

Sherlock Holmes goes to med school and instead of solving crimes, he solves impossible diagnostics.

Gotta give it to Hugh Laurie for beeing a lovable a-hole the whole time.

It did lasted too long for me, I didn't watch the final seasons but I did watched a few mixed up episodes in cable so I kinda know what happens after, lets say... season 4? (the final one I've watched, maybe).

2004 - CSI New York

Same as the others. Just watched for Gary Sinise and Edward Furlong's guest appearence.

2004 - Miss Marple

I was never a fan of Miss Marple in writting... but on TV she is less annoying.

How come she is never suspicious? She's always around when a crime happens!

2005 - Invasion

Does anybody else remembers this TV show set after the Katrina hurricane that, apparently, also uncovered a race of aliens living underwater that have a body-snatching way of taking over the world? It's only 1 season, got cancelled I believe and I watched it on TV at 6 or 7 AM while getting ready to go to school. Ah, old times!

2005 - Mosca & Smith (Argentina)

(Mosca can be translated as "Fly" -the bug- but in this case is the character's Last Name so I'll leave it as it is)

Buddy cop with two overly eccentric characters. A silly comedy with some really in-depth meta humor of argentinean justice system. Some jokes are in poor taste... and I think it got raunchier in it's second season (I didn't watched it because one of the leads was replaced and the 2nd actor didn't had the same punch)

2005 - Bones

A forensic anthropologyst helps the FBI to solve crimes.

This is the BrainTM taken to an extreme. Dr. Temperance Brennan just can't be good at eeeeeverything. This kinda changed as seasons passed but still... who says smart people is always entirely clueless about how to be a normal human? And why so egocentric? (Most truly smart people are usually super-humble because they know that there is a lot more to learn).

In any case, it is fun. Watched on TV (earlier seasons) and continued on bootleg DVD.

2006 - Ugly Betty

The main reason why I didn't listed Betty, la fea in here it's because it is a telenovela (soap opera) everybody in Latinoamérica watched it. Some things are not so good (maybe I'll write about it one day) but overall it had a good story.

Those dubious things got changed in the U.S version... and it changed the whole story. It was easier to create something new than trying to bring people on board using a name that is well beloved to a certain ethnicity... just saying.

2007 - El Hombre que volvió de la muerte (The man that came back from Death -Argentina)

Think of a mash up of The Count of Montecristo and V for Vendetta.

It was a remake of a TV show done in the 60s... 70s? By Narciso Ibañez Menta, a Spanish actor that was naturalized as argentinean and was our very own mix of Boris Karloff (with his love for make up) and Vincent Price (he did a lot of Edgan Allan Poe stories as well). The original story was about Elmer Van Hess, who was subject to different experiments. The lab caughts on fire, he's inside and survives. For whatever reason his organs end up being given to other people so he embarks on a quest to retrieve them.

The remake also had Elmer Van Hess who was a happy fool about to get married, his boss and associates set him up and ends up in prision for fraud. Not happy with that, his boss strikes a deal with a Doctor so Elmer can be his human guinea pig (in order to do so, he asks other inmates to torture him while in prision so his only escape would be to go with the Doctor). He's experimented on as results he gets superhuman strenght and, of course, the chemicals affect his brain turning him into a very dark and blood-lust creature. The lab is set on fire, everybody thinks he died but he comes back 10 years later ready to take revenge on all of them. He was very cruel and his idea of revenge was very Saw-like... but deep down he's still in love with his almost-wife and she's the only one that can sort of ease him in the worst moments.

For an argentinean fiction it was very good.

2008 - Fringe

The X Files but even crazier? You got it.

Mom and I did got lost after season 4... but we still have the bootleg DVDs, it's just that we should start all over again and we don't have a lot of time 😝

2008 - The Mentalist

A guy is so good at reading people that decides to ripp them off saying that he's a medium. He got the wrong guy, this guy kills his family so now it's personal!

Patrick Jane's quirks might be amusing in the early episodes but after a while you, just like everyone else on the show, will want to punch him in the face.

From my little corner of the Earth I scream: Justice for Cho!! He also deserved a happy ending!

2009 - Doll House

A bunch of people got their memories wiped and now they receive other memories (fabricated sometimes) to take on dangerous tasks.

Dubious consent galore... but overall the premise was engaging. It lasted 3 seasons, the third one included a time-jump... the end didn't quite landed for me but... meh! It's entertaining at least.

2009 - Flashfoward

The entire world fainted at the same time. Everybody had visions of the future... so now some things need to be prevented for whatever reason.

Only one season, got cancelled. I don't remember a thing except the tribute to one of Jorge Luis Borges stories (El Jardín de los senderos que se bifurcan/ The garden of paths that bifurcate) and another to David Bowie's song Scary Monsters and Super Creeps. That's all I remember, I swear.

2009 - Modern Family

Sitcom that broke some barriers on what a typical family looks like. It's fun...but yeah, it also bored me.

Note to everybody: not all latinos sound like Sofía Vergara... not even Sofía Vergara sounds like Sofía Vergara the whole time.

#very vague tv reviews by harleiquina #very vague reviews by harleiquina #tv shows #1980s #1990s #2000s

7 notes · View notes

ryanmeft · 7 months

Text

Movie Review: A Haunting in Venice

In every skeptic there is a glimmer of faith, and the stronger the skeptic the stronger the glimmer. A skeptic is simply someone who has looked at the world and discovered that it is not how they wish it were. It is not a comfortable or happy revelation, and most of us would happily abandon it were there the slightest hint of fact to any other explanation. That is the situation Hercule Poirot finds himself in at the beginning of A Haunting in Venice. He appears to enjoy a life of tea and retirement, but he is a broken man, thinking nothing of his bodyguard laying out a desperate man seeking his aid and acting as if humanity does not exist.

It is 1947, ten years since we last saw Poirot in Death on the Nile. The time has been intentionally chosen by director and star Kenneth Branagh, working from a late, poorly received entry in Agatha Christie’s novel series, which specifies no date. He has taken a free hand with the material and chosen his year so that the exuberant, confident, arrogant Poirot of DotN can be replaced by one whose faith in God, humanity and everything else has been wiped out by going through two World Wars.

The opening device of a retired detective wasting away without a case is hardly new, but Branagh sells it well by adding something new to the unflappable detective---flappability. Summoned by his old writer friend Ariadne (Tina Fey) to a seance by a medium (Michelle Yeoh) she professes to be unable to expose, he encounters the series’ usual lineup of eccentric oddballs: Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly) the mother of a young woman who drowned the previous year, the deceased woman’s arrogant, fortune-seeking ex-fiancee (Kyle Allen), Olga (Camille Cottin), the extremely superstitious housekeeper, a doctor (Jamie Dornan) traumatized by the war and his son (Jude Hill), who is more interested in books than people, the medium’s opportunistic assistants (Emma Laird and Ali Khan) and Poirot’s own bodyguard (Riccardo Scamarcio).

Inevitably there is a murder and these people end up locked in with Poirot, this time in an old, rotting Venetian palazzo that is said to be cursed by the long-dead souls of children left there to die of plague. A train and a boat can have nothing on this place---it is an excellent accomplishment in the use of a great setting at a time when setting hardly matters in most wide release movies. Like any good, really old house, it is strewn with expensive treasures under dusty coverings that are stretched throughout hallways and rooms which are just narrow and close enough to be confining, but not so much that they don’t also look really neat. Always threatening the proceedings are Venice’s famous canals. All of this murder and suspicion takes place during a really cracking storm, and the waters reach menacing fingers toward the foundations of the building. We are, every so often, shown the window from which the dead woman fell, a spectre of a real, well, spectre. Most of this was done in Pinewood Studios, but many exteriors are clearly the sinking city, itself.

The previous movies were dependent on the (by now a bit tired) premise that the genius was always one step ahead, even when they do not appear to be. This one depends on taking that same character and shaking him badly, leaving him in genuine doubt, fear and panic. The best horror movies operate also on this principle. They place a disbelieving person in a situation where their disbelief will be tested, for it is so much more frightening encountering a scary thing you didn’t think existed than one you fully expected. Poirot faces new types of challenges this time, something that couldn’t quite be said for DotN. He hears voices. He seems to be ill. Every mystery he figures out simply crumbles into a new one. There is an attempt on his own life. And there is always that storm. He handles this by hiding frequently in the restroom so as not to let his panic be seen, but we see it, and his struggles with his own skeptical nature humanize the character in a way not previously accomplished. For all his affected, fabulous-moustache-having ways, Poirot was the least interesting thing happening in the previous two films. Here, he is the best thing. Branagh directs himself, from a third script by Michael Green, with conviction, so that when the answer comes it is cathartic. Before now, I could take or leave sequels. Now, I want to see more.

The weakest link here is Fey, who gives her role every bit as much cynic power as Branagh’s, but who is saddled with a character clearly meant to be a satirical tribute to Christie herself. She is said to have made Poirot famous by writing of his cases, and reminds us of this constantly, at one point even claiming Poirot is nothing without her stories. It’s an overbearing and obvious bit of meta-commentary, a tactic I’ve long grown tired of in fiction, and the character’s presence robs the film of that little touch it needed to be a mystery classic.

Even with that blemish, though, this is as close as Branagh’s ever come to capturing what he’s trying to do with these adaptations. I would like very much to see more. I’ve gotten what I’ve been looking for since 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express. I have faith in the series now.

Verdict: Highly Recommended

Note: I don’t use star ratings. Here are my possible verdicts:

Must-See

Highly Recommended

Recommended

Average

Not Recommended

Avoid Like the Plague

#kelly reilly #tina fey #kenneth branagh #a haunting in venice #disney #jamie dornan #michelle yeoh #horror #mystery #movies

6 notes · View notes

bookgeekgrrl · 2 years

Text

My media this week (16-22 Oct 2022)

ᵛᵃᶜᵃᵗᶦᵒⁿ ʷᵉᵉᵏ ʷʰᵉᵉᵉᵉᵉ

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

😍Dishonor On Your Cow (mandarou) - 111K, shrunkyclunks - this fic is just fucking hilarious and so, so good - I had forgotten just all the great moments AFTER the initial meet-ugly, like bucky (sort of) becoming a cat and a multiverse Steve and repeated guest appearances by deadpool

🙂👂‍Curtain (Hercule Poirot #44) (Agatha Christie, author; Hugh Fraser, narrator) - though published last, it was written right after WW2 which made it interesting to read after later written novels. I've always thought this was a solid end to HP though.

🥰👂‍A Thief in the Night (Gentle Art World) (KJ Charles, author; James Joseph & Ryan Laughton, narrator) - delightful - KJC is an autobuy and never disappoints

🥰👂‍The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting (Gentle Art World) (KJ Charles, author; Cornell Collins, narrator) - reading Toby's story (A Thief In The Night) made me want to revisit Robin & Hart - I forgot just how GOOD this was in terms of exploring different power differences and communication styles and how everyone is always bringing their own baggage/interpretations to what one thinks is a straightforward communication - fascinating and complex

🥰Whatever here that's left of me is yours (rainbow_nerds) - 41K, stucky AU - I'm a sucker for a ghost romance with a happy ending (esp if it gives me ghost sex first!)

😊Okay, so he can play… (pretty's got nothing to do with it) (darter_blue) - 50K, stucky college hockey AU (mildly a Check Please AU)

😍World Enough And Time (laiqualaurelote) - 51K, brilliantly done MFMM/Doctor Who AU

🥰👂‍The Spare Man (Mary Robinette Kowal, author & narrator) - MRK's self-stated mission was 'The Thin Man but in space' and she succeeded brilliantly. Loved ALL the characters and the plotty sometimes tortuous plot (very reminiscent of all the AC I've been reading). Gimlet (space Asta) is of course the biggest star. [There were one or two places where i had a flash of annoyance? irritation? at the plot/characters but I actually think this might have been because of the audiobook format? Like, if I had been textually reading i would have maybe rolled my eyes but it would have moved on more quickly. It was DEFINITELY a me thing, not truly a book thing.]

😊Murder on Board (Miss Underhay #10) (Helena Dixon) - Kitty & Co continue to be quick, light, cozy mystery fun. I do absolutely love the absurdly high body count this series is accumulating in such a short time.

🥰Clean Slated State (Justkeeptrekkin) - 42K, BlackBonnet AU with newly divorced/dating Stede & bartender Ed - fantastic characterizations, so enjoyable

😍by the moonlight side (wearing_tearing) - 92K, Steddie, werewolf!Steve - stayed up way, way too late for my old woman body reading this! SO. GOOD. Full of found family pack feels and wolfy goodness, tender and hot and emotional.

💖💖 +102K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

How we rolled up the carpet so we could dance (rohkeutta, SulaSafeRoom) - MCU: Stucky, 7K - featuring Cap!Bucky and the tag "Tired Old Men In Need Of A Break"

Feeling I'll Forget, I'm In Love Now (smithsonianstucky (thelarenttrap)) - MCU: Stucky, 8K - great WS recovery fic - Bucky's touch starved but also traumatized so they get a cat

Apes Debemus Imitari (We Should Imitate the Bees) (buckysbees) - MCU: Stucky, 15K - semi-annual reread of this wonderful The Little Shop Around the Corner AU set in a farmers' market with beekeeper!Bucky. I love this fic so much. Basically any time someone mentions it I immediately have to reread it.

✨✨ also this absolutely marvelous essay ✨✨

‘Family Means No One Gets Left Behind’: An oral history of Lilo & Stitch, the Disney movie that almost brought hand-drawn animation back

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Ghosts (US) - s1, e15-18; s2, e1-3

Columbo - s1, e6-7

ParaNorman

The Forgotten Disaster of the SS Eastland

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Ologies with Alie Ward - FIELD TRIP: I Go France and Learn Weird French Stuff

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Louie Mattar’s Fabulous Car

Switched on Pop - Steve Lacy brings bedroom pop to the Billboard top

Shedunnit Book Club - The Kidnap of Elizabeth Canning

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Meramec Caverns

99% Invisible #512 - Walk of Fame

Vibe Check - It's the Gayest Candy

Twenty Thousand Hertz+ - A Thousand Words

Song Exploder - Santigold "Ushers of the New World"

Into It - A Portrait of the Artist as Taylor Swift

Ologies with Alie Ward - Metropolitan Tombology (PARIS CATACOMBS) with Erin-Marie Legacey

One Year - 1942: The Most Hated Man in America

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Times Square Hum

Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster - Ep 155: Taron Egerton - where you will learn that Taron loooooooves mayonnaise and does occasionally like to just...spread it over a slice of pizza 'like a crumpet'. [if i have to have that knowledge you do too]

Strong Songs - "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota" by "Weird Al" Yankovic

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

'80s Rock

Journey

Presenting Iron Maiden

Presenting Joni Mitchell

Presenting Taylor Swift

The Loneliest Time [Carly Rae Jepsen]

Presenting Carly Rae Jepsen

8 notes · View notes

white-light-on-my-prism · 1 year

Text

Tagged by the lovely @letters-from-transylvania 🤍🤍

Name: I go by Lavanya(he/she/they) in the football fandom because why not? Also because she's one of my favourite fictional characters moulded by the one and only Rabindranath Tagore, the love of my life.

Birthday: 28th of May!

Zodiac sign: gemini according to western astrology and leo according to Hindu astrology, but I am way too ignorant about astrology to understand what either of those mean for me.

Hobbies: wayy too many holy shit, can you tell I'm neurodivergent? I LOVE MUSIC, so... it's not a hobby it's worship for me, and I don't care if it sounds corny. I was pursuing fashion as a career but now I've switched my majors so I guess it's a hobby? And writing is a hobby which I want to transform into a career going ahead. Nail art is a proper hobby though. It just exists and I do it and I enjoy it thoroughly. Picking out gay subtext from every piece of literature I ever– *gets shot*

Favourite colour: Blue and pink on the main, but I find anything softly vibrant to be visually appealing.

Favourite book: Sherlock Holmes. Everything of Sherlock. Everything of Poirot except 'Curtain' because spoiler alert he dies and he's not allowed to do that. I'm quite into Greek myth though a lot of that shit is messed up, but so am I. Recently read the second book of 'Aristotle and Dante' series, those two books SLAY SO SO HARD.

Last song I listened to: 'Still Alive' by Demi Lovato, it just came out and it's a punk rock masterpiece. Demetria🤌✨️

Last movie I watched: 'Is love enough? Sir' directed by Rohena Gera. It's in hindi and the artistry in the film it top notch. An excellent commentary on societal class divide, privilege, dreams, hopes, love and the complications that arise when all these intersect.

Something that helps people: Some wisdom I gathered from recent personal experience– acknowledge the negative impact of other people's actions on your life, and do not be afraid to take steps accordingly. Doesn't matter if the person did it completely unintentionally, doesn't matter if everybody around you says that they're "an angel" and they would "never do that to anyone" even though they did it to you, doesn't matter if even you genuinely believe that they're a good person and they didn't mean it. It still happened. And it affected you negatively. People can be the best people ever and still act in a shitty way on occasion because we are humans, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't be held accountable. So don't be afraid to admit it to yourself, or call it out, don't feel compelled to accept their apology, especially if their behavior doesn't change going forward, and don't shy away from drawing boundaries. You may lose friends in the process, people may attack you to defend them and it may hurt a whole lot, but, you owe it to yourself to not put up with bullshit, including unintended bullshit.

Meaning behind my url: I used to be a passionate science gay bb as a middle schooler lol. Had to let go of that part of me because of some traumatic experiences which are ☠️☠️ better not talked about but... I've always thought of the dispersion of light by prism experiment as a symbol of queer liberation for obvious reasons. That's where the url is from :)).

Tagging: @neyxmessi @ispeakmorelanguagesthanyou @dykes4neymar @emmacarsword @krocodilf if y'all haven't already done this, I'd love to get to know you but nothing compulsory. And anybody else seeing this, you're tagged!

#tag game

4 notes · View notes

quibliography · 2 years

Text

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

Synopsis: This Hercule Poirot novel is a locked room (or locked boat) mystery about what happens when love is so scorned. Simon and Linnet are newly married and taking a honeymoon trip down the Nile. When Jackie, Simon’s previous love so recently rejected, shows up on the same steamer, Linnet can’t help but feel threatened by her presence. A feeling that is perhaps justified when a death on the Nile is later discovered.

My Quibs: I prefer when Christie is cleaner with her plot lines. In DotN she has not one, not two, but three mysteries criss-crossing throughout the novel. She also really strung out the tension at the beginning. It takes almost half the novel to get to an actual murder. The long tension between Linnet, Simon, and Jacqueline though makes you fully invested once it begins unraveling. I understand that now after having watched Branagh's movie version where we basically get three quick bullet points before we jump straight to the discovered death.

1. Simon and Jackie are in love. 2. Simon and Linnet are married. 3. Jackie is like super jealous about it. Then BAM. Death.

If it wasn't for the A-list casting, I wouldn't have cared a whit about the characters. Christie has subtlety. She hits us fast with the swapped engagement but she lingers on how it manifests in Jackie and Linnet; conversations that contribute to the understanding of the ending. Christie's murders are almost always a story about people, not about drama. Ironically, her protagonist Poirot is immune from being dramatic, instead always being level-headed to contrast against the characters he interrogates mercilessly. Branagh's Poirot is not Christie's Poirot; he doesn't have a (completely random and useless) backstory about love, he doesn't get flustered talking to charming women, doesn't get passionately angry when things go wrong. He contemplates with his little grey cells and he uncovers the truth. Though with DotN, there is a substantial amount of truth to uncover and it seems to be one of Poirot's busier cases. Should you read it? It’s not one of my favorite Christie novels, not my favorite Poirot (that’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd). But it doesn’t miss if you’re eating your way down the Christie list. But should you watch it? No, unless you just want to stare at some pretty people because the cast and costume are beautiful.

Similar reads? Christie is Christie and no one else is Christie.

(Spoiler Alert!) Christie had so many balls in the air that it was hard for me to anticipate things. Although as soon as she reveals one (such as the first death) it eliminates a whole web of options. For instance, I couldn’t figure out which of the three would die because there are many opportunities and stories behind each choice. Once Linnet was the first murder, I ruled out 2/3 of what could possibly happen next. It was obviously either Jackie (for revenge) or Simon (for money) so she had to distract with two other deaths and side plots. It was a little disappointing that it was Simon for money because greed as pure motivation is flat and cliche. Almost as flat and cliche as to turn against yourself for romantic love. Christie really dials down the moral impact of murder and death when she ultimately has Jackie commit the last two murders. She does try to explain that after the first kill, it becomes too easy to do it again. But...like... how traumatizing is it for everyone else on their vacation to end it, disembarking with five bodies. And one was someone’s mother! Dead because she has a big mouth! And her daughter is supposed to be comforted by a new relationship and new family?? Yikes.

What did you think of Death on the Nile?

#agatha christie #death on the nile

0 notes

thischarmingand · 2 years

Link

Gawker gets it.

#the thing about these movies is they miss the point so much that I can't stop thinking about them #like it's such an embarrassingly naked look into Branagh's inner workings that this man thinks he is 'redeeming' Christie #by giving the moustache an origin story #can't wait for Poirot who Fucks in the Murder of Roger Ackroyd #it may be the most Branagh thing to ever Branagh including his winter palace Hamlet

5 notes · View notes

saintmarymead · 2 years

Text

💃🏻🚢Death on the Nile thoughts and review !!!🥂🕌

Spoilers under cut !!

After literal years of waiting, hearing that teeny teaser at the end of Murder on the Orient Express- I have finally got to watch Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile!!!!!!!

Death on the Nile is my joint favourite Agatha Christie book (along with Five Little Pigs), and I adore Suchet’s version soooo much, I’ve rewatched it so many times. Not a fan of Ustinov but that’s just my personal taste. I love murder lovers Jackie and Simon (the fact Simon was last played by JJ Felid and now Armie….. the downgrade) and the ending scene is one of my favourites in not even just any Poirot, but of all movies (and why I started listening to Al Bowly) So this new adaptation had a lot to hold up to !!!

Overall, I did really enjoy it! The cinematography was beautiful and the acting was really good too!! I loved the scene with Poirot and his little biscuits!!!! “Leave my little friend alone.” Baby boy baby.

Van Schuyler and Bowers being together made me really happy!!! Lesbians, lesbians, lesbians!!!!!!! Little old lady lesbians!!!! It was a very nice and fitting addition. But I did Not like how Poirot outed them in front of Bouc? And how … aggressive he was being.

Emma Mckay was really good as Jackie. I didn’t think I would like anyone who wasn’t Emma Griffiths Malin as Jackie but I loved Emma Mckay just as much!!!!! She played her so well.

The merging of Pennington with Allerton and Mr Ferguson with Dr Bessner was interesting. As was how they were all in Egypt for the Doyle’s wedding party and all knowing each other rather than just coincidentally going on the same cruise. And of course the addition of Bouc and his mother being apart of that. I’m not sure why Branagh kept Bouc in when Colonel Race was right there…. or the reason to kill him off that wasn’t just to make Poirot more edgy and sad.

The mustache lore…. I hated. Hated. Poirot has a funky mustache. That is it. We don’t need a traumatic reason Mr. Branagh…. not to mention him SHAVING IT AT THE END. I loved Rosie’s little Poirot roast, but I resent that he admitted it was true? Like yes, Poirot is all those things. He is egotistical and a little freak but I don’t think he would ever admit to that. And I really don’t like that Poirot is the little freak that he is, because of the moustache trauma, because of the weird love interest back story. “I was normal before :)) I was gonna be a farmer :))” No, Poirot is just a little weirdo. An egotistical little freak penguin man. That is why I love him. He doesn’t need a reason to be so!!! The weird edgy trauma porn for him was weird as heck and I wish Branagh had left that out, but, artistic liberty, his vision and all I suppose.

So yes, overall I did enjoy the movie! Beautiful cinematography, great actors and lovely music! It was a good adaptation of the original story, and though I did not enjoy it nearly as much as it or the 2004 version, they will always be there for me to reread and rewatch !! I’m very excited to see what else Branagh does in creating the AGATHA CHRISTIE CINEMATIC UNIVERSE!!!!! I’ve seen him mentioning making a Miss Marple film, and that I would love. But he better not make her young or anything!

#dotn #dotn spoilers #wanna 🥺🥺 acc give my thoughts on agatha christie it is always on me brain but i always keep to myself #not anymore !!! gonna use this blog 🥰🥰🥰🥰

3 notes · View notes

johannestevans · 3 years

Text

Friday Summary 23/04/2021

Erotic Short: Spanking

A young man takes a punishment from his captain.

Short M/M story between a cis ship captain in the age of sail and a trans sailor. 3k. Contains open-handed over-the-knee spanking, a little crying, D/s, the obvious employer/employee power imbalance (with a past relationship discussed), some mild humiliation.

Warning for mildly dubious consent, just situational, and the implication of period-typical transphobia.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon

Serial Update: The Boatswain’s Hook

Chapter Four. Captain Hook has some interactions with the local children of Bispham-with-Norbreck, although his lungs give him difficulty in the process.

Read on Medium / / Read on WorldAnvil

TweetFic: Train Indulgence

Short, sweet, and silly! Romance/slice-of-life between a trans man Poirot enthusiast and his boyfriend.

Read on Twitter

Erotic Short: Knotting

A werewolf ties with his lover.

Explicit M/NB short between a cis werewolf and a nonbinary person who uses they/them pronouns. 1400 words. Kinks included are knotting, size kink and size difference, some emphasis on monstrous transformation in regards to lycanthropy (teeth, claws, hair, muscle changes), rough sex, sex face to face.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon

Erotic Short: Prostate Milking

A footman plays a joke on the house butler.

Erotic M/M+M short between three cis men. 1700 words. Prostate milking, rough sex, anal, tears, D/s, objectification, implications of overstim.

There’s mildly dubious consent in that there’s no pre-negotiation, but it’s understood by the sub that he can tap out at any time, and he submits to everything enthusiastically. Reappearance of Vic Mead, Sam Harrison, and Don Howard who originally appeared in Butler vs Footman.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon

Slice-of-Life Short: Dancing On A Pin

A student of ballet sees an angel practicing in the studio.

Short slice-of-life / fantasy bit, with a ballet student seeing one angel training another in the dance studio. Featuring Asbat Nur-Badr (Asmodeus) and Jean-Pierre Delacroix, who also appear in Powder and Feathers. 2k. Set in the 1950s.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon

Fantasy Short: The Lord of the Wood’s Spring Bride

Every spring, the Lord of the Wood is honoured with a bridal ceremony.

Fantasy, humour, and a little romance! Rated M — raunchy but not explicit — and about 10k.

A trans dressmaker is embroiled in the strange schemes of a local deity, and he lets himself be carried away with the tide.

This story is light-hearted throughout but the characters are dreadful: content warnings include a trans man being outed in a public situation (he doesn’t find it traumatic), and implied transphobia, fatphobia, racism in anti-Romani sentiment, and homopobia. Again, all is mildly taken and non-traumatic, but it’s present nonetheless.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon

---

If you’d like to get this summary emailed directly to your inbox each week, sign up here!

#as defined by dictionary #original fiction

10 notes · View notes

autumnblogs · 3 years

Text

Day 32: Through the Looking Glass

https://homestuck.com/story/4116

So right out of the gate, we learn a few things about the Scratched version of the universe, aside from the obvious fact that the new heroes are the previous guardians. Everyone is a little more mature, and identities are a little more fully-formed.

Jane’s name is already set in stone. Notably, the definition between the audience and Jane is also a little clearer here than usual - the Narration implies a distinction between us and Jane. Could be because we’re not controlling her yet - but as we get into Act 6, we will find a lot of cases where audience participation happens as part of the mechanic of narration, and this distinction will be called to a lot more.

More after the break.

https://homestuck.com/story/4117

So let’s unpack Jane’s interests and relation to pre-established parts of the Homestuck Universe, and see if we can’t start making guesses about Jane.

First thing’s first is that while we could read Jane’s affinity for these mustachio’d funnymen as being purely an attraction, she roleplays like John does - as a bit of a prankstress herself, and one who dons a fake mustache for one of her disguises, Jane roleplays as these men immediately suggesting to us that she looks up to them, and wants to be like them, rather than that she’s attracted to them.

(Though she certainly could be.)

Second thing is that Jane’s position as the Heirress parallels her not to John, but to Feferi. Like Feferi, Jane is a sweet girl who is the heir to a position of abominable power, and because she is beholden to the shape of that power, as long as she remains wedded to that shape, she will not only struggle to do anything productive with it, but in the course of the story, be subverted into a villain, at least for a little while, and it’s clear from the way that Crockertier Jane’s situation is communicated to us that she is an accomplice to her own brainwashing, and that the actions she takes in that form are meaningfully hers.

On another note, I think it’s interesting that on this side of the scratch, the Condesce has reimagined her empire as a megacorporation.

https://homestuck.com/story/4120

What do we learn about Jake right out of the gate? He likes movies - adventure movies. Jake, like Tavros, the other page, loves to bluster about subjects that he actually has relatively little affinity for - and in both cases, their lack of affinity can largely be described as performing their culture’s ideal of public personhood - warrior virtue. While Jake has all of the outward signifiers of masculinity, and is actually a pretty brave and technically skillful fighter by the standards of the real world, up until the Hopesplosion, he is outclassed by a lot of his friends, and ultimately, the cases where he most embodies warrior-manhood, Jake is being forced into it by someone who wants to take advantage of him.

We benefit from most of this knowledge with hindsight. It’s not actually there in this opening section, but the main thrust of Jake’s interests is his love of adventure and his love of wrestling, and I’m principally interested in Jake’s physicality in addressing his interests - he’s a very physical kid.

https://homestuck.com/story/4121

We’re hot off the heels of Terezi’s fake choice, and a lot of conversation about free will and fake choices in Act 5 - and here we’re presented with one almost immediately. We can pick either option, but the outcome will be the same whatever we do.

https://homestuck.com/story/4124

I’ve always thought the Condescension’s relationship with Jane is deeply fascinating. There is something about the prospect of cultivating an heiress, someone to take over her legacy, that brings out something tender and maternal in her, I think, even if it only manifests in a twisted way. She’s a bit of an enigma to me.

https://homestuck.com/story/4126

Well, Jane is certainly interested in Foxworthy, so I rescind my earlier comment.

We’ve barely been introduced to her and she pretty much immediately starts showing off her paternalistic disdain for rural and vulgar people through the narrative’s language, and her nostalgia for Problem Sleuth characterizes her enjoyment of its sequel.

Jane has an aristocratic mentality, and conservative leanings in the media she appreciates, and the way that she appreciates it. If Andrew’s commentary that he continued to examine the themes he started with Feferi in Jane, I think what we should take away is that Feferi’s concern for the lowly comes with a heaping helping of...

Wait for it.

Wait for it...

Condescension.

https://homestuck.com/story/4127

Jane’s disdain for the vulgar - low culture, low classes - also shows itself pretty quickly. In stark contrast to the other two leaders - John and Karkat - Jane isn’t much of a movie watcher at all (Jake gets that attribute in his session) and her attitude toward’s Jake’s movies is one of snobbery. Both of the other two movie watchers have a playfully self-deprecating attitude toward their own bad tastes in movies, but they still enjoy those movies sincerely.

Her relationship of passive-aggressive one-upsmanship also distinctly recalls Rose’s relationship with her mother, suggesting that Jane shares some of the underlying pessimism and mild hostility that Rose struggles with.

Also, as a symbol Swanson is a representative of the sort of anti-government animus that characterizes the politics of Trans-Mississippi America outside of the heavily populated West Coast, where the wedding of big business and state planning have created a lot of disaffection toward the distant and disinterested corporate landlords and bureaucratic apparatuses that govern huge tracts of federal land and private property in the west. Pawnee Indiana may not actually be on the other side of the Mississippi from Washington, but having grown up in Montana for at least a part of my childhood, Swanson’s politics are immediately recognizable.

Unfortunately, this anti-state animus has manifested not in the form of a renewed commitment to emancipation, but to the uniquely American, get-off-my-lawn form of Right-Wing populism practiced by the short-lived Tea Party, and smug “It’s just basic economics” Reagan-worshipping conservatives.

What I’m trying to say is, Jane would probably be a Ben Shapiro or Steven Crowder fan in the modern day.

https://homestuck.com/story/4136

Jane’s skepticism prevents her from listening to her friends when they tell her about the extraordinary things that they do, but it’s also not exactly a kind of scientific skepticism, and more of a dogmatic realism - she has a narrow vision of what the world is like, and is dismissive of ideas that are outside of her bubble.

Quick Note that while Jake makes only an off-handed remark about it here, he is sensitive to the hostile, toxic relationship between the AR and Dirk in a way that neither of the girls really is, and while that may seem uncharacteristically emotionally intelligent of Jake, I think he’s a lot more aware of his surroundings than he lets on.

https://homestuck.com/story/4142

Now as long as we’re talking about Right Wing Populism and comparing Jane to John there is an extremely potent assertion.

The USPS, and the idea of privatizing it, is as much a symbol of the war of corporatists and authoritarians against social democracy as anything is, and because of the way John is associated with Mail in general as a Hero of Breath, Jane is almost immediately setting herself up as a foil to John.

https://homestuck.com/story/4144

Calliope is so cheery that it’s easy to take everything she says in stride, and yet, with all the horrors Sburb has to offer, in terms of the way it destroys planets, and traumatizes its players, her optimism toward the game is at least disquieting.

Sure, the Null Session isn’t going to destroy the kids’ session, but her language is contrasted against both Kanaya’s and Karkat’s when they berated Aradia and Jade respectively. Both Karkat and Kanaya rue the effects of the narrative on their lives, but Calliope is a superfan.

https://homestuck.com/story/4156

I know I’m spending a lot of time ragging on her here, but like, as long as I am; Jane is sure openly hostile to her best friend, in a way that comes as kind of surprising even given the precedent that we have to work with.

https://homestuck.com/story/4160

Poirot is from Belgium.

I wonder if Andrew or Jane is the one committing that error?

https://homestuck.com/story/4168

Jake is full of little contradictions like this. Likes Adventure, terrified of monsters. Not even ambivalent about them, certainly not excited by them. It’s like the opposite of how little kids are usually super into Dinosaurs.

https://homestuck.com/story/4171

So what is the deal with Jake and his fascination with Blue Women? Aside from the metaphysical connection with Vriska and Aranea (and to a lesser extent, Jake), like... what’s the meaning of it?

I think a possible answer to the question lies in the process of the initial portraits becoming blue - leaving them out in the sun to fade - and the relationship between that, and the way in which he likes mummies and suits of armor, and so on and so forth - and even his stuffed trophies.

Maybe this suggests that Jake is, on principle, far more comfortable with the idea of a thing, than with the thing itself. Jake’s Blue Women are comfortably static. They have ceased to change a long time ago, and now exist, preserved in perpetuity, without the need to worry about adapting to suit them.

https://homestuck.com/story/4175

While a lot of Jake’s guesses are incorrect, he’s still clearly spending a lot of time pondering over the mysterious time shenanigans - he just hasn’t quite put it all together.

https://homestuck.com/story/4177

The same way that Dirk’s fastidious organization is equated to his complicated and demanding modus, and the way that John being a big impulsive himbo is equated with his inability to manage his fetch modus, constantly getting distracted from his goal by the card on the surface, Jake’s Modus has an enormous capacity, but most of it is preoccupied inefficiently.

https://homestuck.com/story/4184

The Autoresponder continues the conversation that Andrew has with the audience about the distribution of the self - Dirk does this more generally, but the particular thread the AR tugs on is the question of where a person’s self really stops - just as the question lingers in the air because of John’s disposition toward Davesprite, the question of whether the AR is really a separate person from Dirk, or a part of him, is posed continuously just by the fact that it exists.

https://homestuck.com/story/4192

To be fair to Dirk, who I will have a lot of kind-of-sympathetic-antipathy for, I had forgotten that it is, in fact, the Autoresponder who sets up this particular challenge for Dirk.

The parallels between Dirk and English are nevertheless being set up through this conversation nevertheless - by sending him the parts and getting him to assemble the robot, Dirk makes Jake complicit in his own humiliation, even as he attempts to build Jake up into an ideal partner.

https://homestuck.com/story/4196

Already we’re seeing indications that this segment of Homestuck will deal with different themes of growing up than the first half. Which is already kind of obvious, but we’ve moved decisively out of Part 1: Problems, and into Part 2: Feelings. The second half has moved out of the territory of other humans and their emotional situations as somewhat idealized problems (somewhat) and into this situation where everyone is a moving body, complicated and the characters are each others’ biggest obstacles, and their own biggest obstacles. That’s a bit of a reductive way of describing it, but I think it rings true.

https://homestuck.com/story/4256

While I am willing to concede that Dirk is not literally responsible for siccing the Brobot on Jake today, he more or less assents to AR’s sexual harassment and physical abuse of Jake.

In addition to his vicarious physical abuse, Dirk’s persona as the Prince of Heart calls him to suppress the uniqueness of the people who are around him, moulding them like clay into shapes that better resemble him. Jake and Jane need to be more like each other in his eyes - which is to say, they both need to be more like Dirk.

We also get some insight into Dirk’s sense of humor here - it’s not just about the irony. I think there is an extent to which at the base of the thing, Dirk’s sense of humor is about simultaneously denying and affirming a thing’s meaning - making fun of it while cherishing it. Having a thing be incredibly silly - while also being incredibly serious business. He cherishes the absurd.

I wonder if he’d like Kojima’s stuff.

https://homestuck.com/story/4257

The way that Dirk identifies with logic and reason recalls the sort of “enlightened by my own intelligence” New Atheist jerks who were known to prowl the internet in the early half of the decade, and to some extent, still do. Like Libertarians, these folks have often in the present day gotten caught up in Right Wing Populism. Maybe it’s something about the way that Right Wing movements increasingly identify as a part of counter-culture even though they advocate reactionary policies.

https://homestuck.com/story/4273

This is extremely silly, but Jake is in mortal peril all the time, and I expect even at the best of times he might be uncomfortable being touched.

https://homestuck.com/story/4284

Here we shall pause.

Sorry for the late post. Early work was quite busy, and once the rush was over, it was already quite late.

So the first Act of Act 6 has been very informative! Compared to the first Act of Homestuck, we’ve been introduced already to all our Dramatis Personae!

Tune back in tomorrow to here Cam Say,

Some variation on Alive and Not Alone.

#commentary #liveblogging

7 notes · View notes

edith-moonshadow · 3 years

Note

Okay I think this time travel idea is so much fun! totally see billy full on terminator, ill be back! but why don't we just throw out the rule book and have future billy kidnap past self and teach him about the upside down and the future bonding he can have with Steve. have future him coach billy to get Steve to fall for him. because if future billy bonds with Steve then what would happen to younger him? also if you could meet past you wouldn't you want to set yourself up with all important info

The terminator is very appropriate because we know he knows the character at least. Maybe that could mean that he has an interest in science fiction and time travel in particular although it could also just be that he thought it would look good as a costume.

I think the two Billy’s biggest problems are that they are the same person who can be antagonistic, stubborn and in this case very protective (possessive) of Steve. Also, future Billy lost a lot when he lost Steve, the breaking of a bond is a traumatic event and in Billy's case he would carry the guilt of feeling he was to blame.

Future Billy kidnapping past Billy is probably his best chance to get through to him but past Billy would resist, fight him every step of the way because he doesn't believe/trust him. If future Billy only went back a week he'd attempt more and more desperate measures to get through to him.

If he had a year I think his biggest problem would be resisting Steve because of how much losing Steve destroyed him and now he is in the flesh, happy, healthy and interested in Billy. I think it would take all of his willpower not to give in because he's been alone for so long and dedicated his life to the upside-down and something like this happening was a once in a lifetime chance. He could help past Billy but again I think they would clash because past Billy wouldn't want his help and future Billy would struggle with someone else (even though it's technically him) being with Steve.

Future Billy bonding with Steve would be catastrophic as past Billy would end up like future Billy only his Steve would still be alive but bonded to someone else who might disappear after he changes the past, this would probably destroy Steve because his bond could be broken so they'd both be miserable and alone.

Changing the future by saving Steve could set off a domino effect that could alter future Billy's timeline as well. If he returns to his timeline will it be to Steve? What kind of life have they had together? This always makes me think of back to the future because when Marty McFly returns to his timeline it's to a completely different family, living a very different lifestyle so where did the Marty they know go? Can he relate to them as they have no shared experiences? I wonder if Billy would end up in this situation with a Steve that has memories and experiences of Billy that don’t exist for him. How would that make Billy feel? Would he just be happy to have Steve back?

Time travel is always a lot of fun, as Poirot would say it's good for the little grey cells. I don't think there's an agreed-upon scientific basis for time travel (I should preface this by saying I'm not a scientist) so the rules are not set in stone you can decide anything you want. I do feel exploring the consequences of changing the past are fascinating. If everything about your past changed would you still be you?

#anon ask #harringrove #alpha beta omega #alpha billy hargrove #omega Steve Harrington #top billy hargrove #bottom steve harrington #fic idea #time travel au

4 notes · View notes