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just-here-for-iolaus · 1 year

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Hercules and the Lost Kingdom

The great HTLJ/XWP/YH (re)watch continues!

I watched this movie for the first time the other day, and I think I liked it better than 'Hercules and the Amazon Women'?

Firstly: Renee O'Connor is in this one!

How much does Deianira act like Gabrielle in the pre-sea-serpent parts of the movie??

Another familiar face: Nathaniel Lees! ♥ (He plays Cheiron in YH, and I got excited when I saw him, lol. He plays the Blue Cult priest in this movie.)

Obviously I was disappointed that Iolaus didn't make an appearance, but I guess he's not the focus.

The movie opened with some people searching for Hercules to get help, just like the first movie did. But Hera kills two of them, and honestly the second guy just seemed very okay with it, idgi. Just calmly accepted that he was the one the rock was going to bash in the head. (Let's ignore the faulty physics of the scene. It's god stuff.)

Hercules trying to eat in peace... I actually felt bad for him when the giant showed up haha. Actually, to be honest, I was surprised at how happy I was to see him (Hercules, I mean). I think he's winning me over despite my Kevin-Sorbo-aversion.

Hercules hates god worship.

This is something we saw in the Amazon Women movie that is a pretty big focus again at the beginning of this one.

He turns down the villagers' offer to build a shrine to him (since he killed the giant). When he says he "wouldn't know what to do with one" this gets a laugh from Zeus, but I assumed he meant it literally.

Zeus suggesting that Hercules make a sacrifice to Hera is just so fucking tone deaf. Even if Hercules did try to honour Hera, I don't think that would help, and Hera just literally killed a man in Hercules's arms so WTF my dude. (Apparently one of 100 men she killed who were all sent to find him.)

Herc then interrupts a sacrifice to the gods and tells the people to irrigate instead. I like his pragmatic approach. At least this time he was giving them concrete, workable advice, and not straight up suggesting they piss off the gods directly.

When this character showed up I had a huge reaction!! Something set off whatever the positive version of alarm bells is. IDK if this character (Waylin) shows up in the show or something or the actor plays another character, but something deep in my memory was like 😍 for some reason. (And he was cute in this movie! ♥ But I've definitely not seen it!)

Just as an aside: How was Deianira able to just walk up to the palace and knock on the front door?? Multiple times?

As much as it was cute that Deianira really did have a father who was a handsome king that loved her so much he sent her away to be safe...... I hated that the reveal happened when only Deianira was with the king, and that he died right after. Like, everyone in Troy just has to take her word for it that she's his daughter (well I guess the one dude heard the King say her name). She comes out of the tent totally redressed and gives a speech and... everyone just accepts her as their leader immediately. Idk man, I don't buy it. But, I'm not one to follow monarchs, haha.

I hate Deianira flirting with Hercules and I'm really glad it wasn't mutual.

Again idk if this is him swearing off all women after Hippolyta was killed because of him, or if he thinks she's too young, or if he just really isn't that interested in women at all... Either way, I'm good with it in this movie.

The rock thing.

He tells the people from Troy that in order to be warriors and kill people, they need to be like a rock. "A rock has no mind or heart or hope or fear." BE HARD.

I gotta say this doesn't really feel like the Young Hercules characterization of Herc (which I know more), and I am not sure I agree with the philosophy. (I am reminded of Buffy saying that her emotions give her strength in S2 of BtVS.)

And I get that in the end, the rocks help them defeat their enemy, and that's fine as far as how cheesy a twist it was and all. I just don't agree with the philosophy and I don't want Herc to think this way. I want him to be able to have emotions and be happy and enjoy life and stuff and it makes me kinda sad to think he thinks he needs to abandon having a mind/heart/hope... Like, he's a demigod already, he will be strong enough to help people even without closing his heart off... Maybe this is a coping mechanism for him, idk. I look forward to seeing how this keeps up through the series (or not).

Short thoughts:

Once again I enjoyed Herc giving Zeus shit. (Re: helping them take Troy back from the Blue Cult.)

I wasn't a fan of the subplot with the guy from Troy that saw Herc as a love rival for Deianira.

"Cow-herd's way" was... dorky. It amused me.

Herc shouldn't have needed to pick up a piece of rubble to hit the priest with, if he was able to punch a giant to death. Maybe it was to spare his hand?

Herc not wanting a slave is totally in character, played into the previous themes re: god worship etc.

Deianira wtf?

Deianira is so ready to die for her people, to "fulfill her destiny". Okay, cool she wants to protect the people of Troy, but why is she so convinced that she needs to be sacrificed to the gods after she learns that she was saved from that as a child by her father? (I guess trying to avoid prophecies that are actually inevitable is a Greek thing tho.)

I don't love that Deianira became a helpless damsel, lost and confused, and wearing a billowing white dress while being threatened by a monster man... for Hercules to save. At least it's not to bone her?

WHAT IS THIS?

Herc gets yeeted out of there. It was really silly. I guess he's taking Deianira's place as Hera's sacrifice kinda (but not really)...

It should have ended here, tbh. We shouldn't have seen him again. We get a nice little wrap up that Troy will be okay. Perfect!

But then we get this:

And while it's, like, nice to know he didn't die, I guess... IDK him just getting yeeted back to wherever Troy is cut off from, and having someone need his help... feels like a much weaker ending to the movie. Maybe this was so the movies could be watched out of order and they wouldn't have to explain how he survived Hera in a different one. That's logical, I just don't like it.

So... final thoughts... I don't see this being one I watch over and over again either, but... I think I had a better time watching this one than the Amazon Women one. The plot didn't feel as cheesy/heavy handed. I felt a lot more connected to Hercules already, and the other familiar faces were nice, too.

I wanna see that one guy again! Waylin! Is he a recurring character or just the actor? Where am I pinging him from?? He was a delight.

#the great (re)watch #htlj movies #htlj #hercules the legendary journeys

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arr-jim-lad · 2 years

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If you don't mind me asking, could you tell me about DIO and how he became your favourite? I'm curious!

you know what that's a really good question and i wish i had a clear answer but it kinda just happened lmfao. there was some process to it that i can easily narrow down though and i will gladly dive into it and try to explain it because you KNOW i'll take any chance to talk about god damned DIO lmao

im gonna try to make this as coherent as possible but please bear with me, i'm pulling an allnighter and am currently in the 24th hour of awakedness so lmao

ok first; initially kakyoin was actually my favourite for a while, and after a while i'd say i like them the same, but we all knew. we all knew i was a dirty little liar. i have 4 kakyoin figures. i have a DIO shrine. i wrote several analyses of DIO. my god damned phone background is DIO. idk who i was trying to fool lmao

the funny thing is that before i watched jojo i actually fucking hated DIO lmfao, there was a blog here that posted undertale quotes and i really enjoyed it, but then one day the blog decided to just start posting 'you expected x but it was me, dio' memes and it was extremely unfunny and annoying and i hated it and i hated him lmfao

then i watched jojo with my friend and i just thought DIO was funny in like a fucked up way, mind you i watched the dub which made him extra funny with the british accent

i "liked" him but more like as a joke. i did really enjoy just the sheer extent of how vile he was though, making a mom eat her own baby is still one of my favourite fucked up things i've ever seen a villain do. it's the way he had fun with being absolutely reprehensible that made him so much fun to watch. i love when villains are fun.

having seen him in parts 1 and 3 i still kinda liked him as a meme and eventually as like, "i hate that i like him lol"

but like, then i've seen the OVA, and DIO spoke with andrew chaikin's voice in the dub and i was just kinda uh 😳

because like andew chaikin's freaking DIO voice???? hi hello??

also just in general how DIO is in the ova... his design and animation are fucking stellar and he was just a freaking delight to watch, but his voice made him particularly comforting to me.

so yeah it was the ova. the ova is to blame for all of this.

i do feel a need to mention because this is something that would make me super uncomfortable if people misunderstood it, but as i am aro/ace, my love for DIO is not of a romantic or sexual nature at all. i'd describe it more as like.. adoration? i see him as a muse and a comfort character.

the reason i actually really started liking DIO so much and why i consider him a comfort character is because he turned out to be just.. amazingly, delightfully comfortable to draw. i enjoy drawing him so much. i've drawn him 128 times and plan to draw him many more times. i think my art has improved immensely just from how much i've drawn him, especially when it comes to more muscular bodies, which i really didn't enjoy drawing before.

he's so incredibly fun to draw because he combines this macho huge body with fashion and elegance and beauty, and drama and evil and danger and egypt and vampires. there's always something about him that's gonna inspire me to draw another piece of him. i haven't had an art block since i started drawing him (though worth noting is that my mascot Luv has also been a top notch fighter against art block; him and DIO are my main muses to always keep me drawing and experimenting and creating new approaches)

I also think DIO is a hugely interesting character, as it's apparent by how much i've written about him in the past. i think his motivation is so messed up and convoluted and interesting because yeah a fucked up vampire who's been isolated underwater for 100 years would probably not exactly be a stable and rational person lmao

to me as someone with social anxiety, the fact that his main goal is to achieve peace of mind is also really interesting. uh, spoiler for stone ocean here so im gonna cross it through so people won't accidentally catch a glimpse of it but, ok firstly i think DIO's plan was absolutely batshit and definitely not the right thing to do LMAO, but i love that he literally wants to change reality to know what's gonna happen next, because not knowing things in advance is preventing him from achieving his peace. like im not saying i relate to DIO because i really don't, but as someone who's been very familiar with anxiety, it's really interesting to see that as a villain's motivation (also might as well mention i don't think DIO has anxiety, i think it's more like frustration over lack of control with him, also he's a huge paranoic)

i want to also talk about his philosophy that i genuinely love so much, and that is the concept of gravity as he means it on that famous panel. DIO's idea of gravity is a very zen concept, it's the idea that fate will bring you where you need to be, fate will make you meet the people you need to meet, etc. as someone who struggles with anxiety, that is a really compelling idea to me, which helped me overcome stressful situations long before i got into jojo. of course i do understand that to some people the idea of a predetermined fate can be terrifying and tbh i totally get it, but for me, when it comes to anxiety-inducing situations, the idea of "gravity" has helped me be less stressed. it's a very interesting concept and i love that it's something that's so deeply ingrained in DIO's philosophy. (PS just so you know whenever i say DIO's plan was a good idea i am joking 100% of the time, i would not want to live in the world he wanted to create. however, it's funny to say DIO was thinking of us socially anxious folks so im gonna keep saying it lmao)

you know, it's also really funny that like.. DIO ended up being such a massive beloved comfort character of mine, because like up until him, i generally got attached to characters who were very Good and Wholesome lmao. tfw the two characters that served as the most important comfort characters for me in my life were DIO and......... Papyrus from Undertale LMAO

they are almost polar opposites, but what they both have in common is that they are both very confident, and i'd say that while characters who doubt themselves are generally those i personally relate to, characters who are confident are the ones i gravitate towards for "support". Papyrus has been a character who i honestly hold single-handedly responsible for helping me turn my life around and just.. had an amazing impact on my mental health. i dont want to know who i'd be today if i never got into undertale.

with DIO, i feel like part of the reason why im so joyous and loud about how much i love him and why im so open about how much fun im having enjoying his character so much is because if i were to meet this character back then, when i was in college or in high school, i would never allow myself to enjoy this. i think that to me, DIO being such a huge comfort character represents like... something? i can't quite put my finger on it, but i feel a certain kind of pride and freedom about it because i know i overcame something in these past few years, and that i am much better and happier for it in every aspect.

i am very much a person who gets deeply attached to things or characters that i associate with positive changes in my life. because i've been at such a low point once in my life, i cling to things that remind me of how far i've come.

im just like.. really happy to be here as i am and DIO somehow became a deeply ingrained part of that.

#or at least he will become a deeply ingrained part of it once i get that tattoo i scheduled to get in june next year lmao #jamble ramble #dio brando #about me

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