just thinking out loud here but i feel like a lot of popular perception of kon esp in online fandom spaces is colored by his joie de vivre and all the times he's silly and goofy. which i do of course adore!! i love when he's silly and goofy. but comparing that perception to, that of like, clark or kara, i feel like kon gets shunted into the box of "dumb comic relief character" a lot more easily. lots of factors probably contribute to that (sb94 having a bad rep, while no other kon comic really goes into a lot of his tragedy; conflation with the side of the fandom that doesn't read comics; the fact that comparatively postcrisis kara doesn't have a team the way kon has yj and clark is seen as a more capable adult, so other characters in the jl get the "dumb comic relief" short end of the stick more often; etc) ...

... but what really gets me about him is that he does embody a lot of the same traits as the rest of the kryptonian superfam. he's so extremely kind. he's got that same noble heart as the rest of them; he cares about everyone and he wants to protect everyone. and he's so, so lonely. he struggles between cultures and worlds where he feels like he doesn't belong to either. he is so strong and capable and holds so much power that it scares him.

cradles him gently in my hands. he contains multitudes... come closer don't you want to love him 🥺

watched the little mermaid last night and it’s everything i imagined it to be and more. im cheesing smiling kicking my feet up beaming with joy. halle is ARIEL and jonah is PRINCE ERIC aassddffgghgkllllll what a perfect cast. HALLE’s VOICE IS PERFECTION. eric’s love-gaze-pinning eyes got me weak af. my man was in LOVE LOVE with ariel. CHEMISTRY WAS CHEMISTRY-ING. and grimsby was me tbh… he made it his full mission to get eric and ariel together and i love him for that.

look at them! just two beautiful nerds in love. yeah, im going back to the cinema tonight to watch it again idc if i just get three hours of sleep it will be time well-spent 😭🧡

MINHYUK in Reason Era

My phone thought it'd be a funny prank to delete all the pictures in my Download folder :) So now I lost 90% of the historical clothing references I had gathered in the past couple years :)))) Thank you phone :)))) I wish I could crush you against the wall right now :))))))

finally able to kiss my demon boys ♡ well, some of them at least...

should maybe take the 'my lines r shaky cus my hand is injured so I'm drawing with my left hand atm' from my pinned post cus they arent really shaky anymore lol

via USWNT | 09.22.23

I pull out so many random facts about the making of Lord of the Rings that people usually respond with, 'how do you even know that?!'

oh, friend.

my brother, a most pretentious lotr fan, snatched up the extended edition hot off the shelf and for weeks it was the only thing on the tv all day long. I've seen every commentary, every special feature . . . twice. maybe more. I didn't have a choice.

souP..

Something I find interesting as I delve deeper into different mediums of The Sandman is the way that Dream's appearance is used as a literary device. I don't remember whether I've discussed it here or not, but throughout the comics, his outfits serve as an indicator of his outward emotions and attitude while the style of the artist is often used to depict some aspect of his internal, unspoken emotional turmoil/peace. This carries over to the audiobook, though without the graphic aspect inherent to the original medium, it manifests in an interesting way through narration and further solidifies this interpretation of significance.

I had to start on Volume II for *cough* reasons, and the usage of detail is quite similar to other works by Gaiman, in that they are only included where it is important. He doesn't hit you over the head with scenery at every chance, it's carefully slotted into the scene at the points where it is most necessary and poignant, with the depth of these descriptions being directly tied to the importance that you, the listener, understand. We only hear that the random park is peaceful in the soundscaping because the park itself serves no purpose beyond that, but we get a couple paragraphs of description of Hell because it is vitally important we understand the scale and intensity of the horrors found there; setting is only acknowledged when it contributes to the narrative. This is echoed in The Sandman: Annotated, where we get some notes in the script regarding artistic choices—many of which are gestural, some of which are very detailed so that the artist may understand from this where their (and by extension the reader's) attentions must be drawn, which provides a sort of visual pacing.

To draw my point in a bit, Dream's castle follows this rule as an extension of his will and selfhood. It changes often to reflect what facet of himself he wants to convey outward most directly; appearing first as a rather low set, art nouveau affair with perhaps a silly bit of phallic imagery, then a gothic castle atop a mountain, most clearly establishing things when he puts it at the needlepoint top of a physically impossible peak covered in turrets and rooflines which jab into the air forbiddingly during Season of Mists as he contemplates the Key. When Dream is settled, the Dreaming is as well, when he is tumultuous, such follows. We don't get blow by blow descriptions, only when it is necessary.

Now that the visual language has been established and connected (insofar as I really can with the allotted mental energy for a tumblr post, however much of a passion project this may be, I am tired), it can be connected to Dream himself. His character design is very intentional, it reflects the post-punk, modernist take on its themes through his incredibly goth Look—he has the big, messy hair and impossibly white skin, dark clothes and dramatic fashion sensibilities—but beyond that, it reflects what feeling we are supposed to get from him. Morpheus' sense of self is ridiculously deeply tied to expectaction and perception of others, his entire personhood is based on what they expect. Despite this, to his infinite chagrin it seems, he has a personal identity sitting at his core that we see in his "natural" versus "put on" appearance (for lack of better terms): he's quiet and withdrawn but highly passionate and caring with all of the expected emotional regulation issues we would expect of someone with these temperaments they desperately repress; What he can control (clothes and hair) are utilized similarly to the castle, conveying his outward intention—think his driving outfit in Brief Lives versus his family dinner outfit in Season of Mists versus his final outfit in the Kindly Ones—where the things he cannot consciously seem to control are disguised by him, but utilized by art or narration to make a statement on his surroundings and feelings—think again of those outfits, of what his behavior means through that lens, what is conveyed through detail and silhouette.

What these more consistent physical attributes say is quite interesting, and quite revealing: Dream is not that scary. Sure his eyes will make you feel like you've stared down the cosmos and felt god touch your soul, but beyond that? Really? He's just a dude. A beautiful and strange one, but really nothing especially imposing. He's tall, but that effect is sort of diminished by his slight build. His face is angular and ethereal, but often careworn or haggard as well in a way I would compare to a very old and very poorly maintained stone statue. What this means to me is that Dream was never meant to be this frightening and imposing figure, that this was a choice made by the active individual we know exists because he is the one telling us about this all! A choice against his own nature that is concealed as often, swiftly, and mistakenly as his internal nature. This is, to conclude my point, supported by where these aspect of his appearance are given weight through art and narration. We only hear about his stature when he's sad or scared, only hear about his inhumanly pale skin when faced against the more beautiful aspects of personhood or mortality, only hear about his eyes when he uses them to scare or comfort.

These details of appearance are as woven into the narrative as any plot point, and used as any theme; which makes sense, he is the Prince of Stories afterall.

firm believer that carole made mav bradley’s legal guardian before she passed. in that sense that even if other family members tried to take him in they COULDN’T because that boy belongs to maverick (and ice) now 

When your mum says

You look healthy

But you know she means

You got fat

Director's commentary for the art of my rtc faves I just posted. The idea that Ricky can tell all his stories and ideas that he's had bottled up in his mind to a captive audience, and that his ideas won't entirely die with him if Jane can listen to them. Even if she might not remember, it's still a willing person who he's shared this all with...

Mischa being the first one to tell Ricky that they'd all listen to him now, right? And then doing so, and getting almost as wrapped up in the stories and ideas as him... Asking questions and thinking of his own ideas...

i need to go touch grass but i promised rho yesterday i would talk abt vace+comphet so really quick. i think it's very interesting that vace is so clearly hit by the like. compulsory heterosexual desire for Spouse And Family when so much of exocolonist is like, this futuristic world where gender+sexuality are so much more fluid right

bc in some ways the helio is v forward thinking! nomi mentions it if u ask abt their gender right. theyre like 'oh i was worried there might be ppl mean abt it bc u guys are less advanced than us but u guys have nb ppl here too!!' or however the dialogue goes right. expectation internally that the stratos are going to be Less cool abt this stuff than helio but also like

idk i think the whole like. patriarchal? militaristic? vibes of the helio are really fascinating when they come up against this sort of thing. like. vace's dialogue about..... what is it. if youre not fighting, having kids, or working in engineering to help the war effort, you're a waste of resources. right. it's so like...... interesting that in both his best end (peace post therapy) and his worst (any where he and nem are still together. god) he has a family+kids right. and i think that's something that he genuinely really wants! but also the Way it's been presented to him on the helio is so damaging that he can't really have it without taking the time to self examine WHY he wants it and breaking out of hte mold of being Assigned to want it u kno

HAURCHEFANT ; ANCIENT VERSE.

Svalinn is most known for how keenly Azem speaks of them: a being with a gilded tongue and a golden heart that could rival the very sun. While decidedly not a member of the Convocation or their close inner circle, his name tends to be familiar to most of those in Amaurot, especially those closely tied to the creation of arts:

He is the author of many and more of the oldest pieces of poetry, the rhymes and rhythms that those across shards remember but cannot place the beginning of. While most of it has been recreated and credited to others across the history of the shards, many of them echo what was once common reading in the Ancients.

He and Azem had a bond like no other. While they traveled on occasion, Svalinn held little power - metaphorically or literally - to truly embark on his own. He wished to see the world, but feared weighing down the one truly meant to do so: and as a result, he wrote.

Most of his works are wholly inspired by the traveler themselves and the tales they shared with him, and are - to everyone but himself - blatantly things created from love, both of them and of the world itself.

While he has likely been invited to speak at conferences or contribute to the Bureau on an official manner, Svalinn has consistently refused to be recognized officially as anything but a man with too many words and not enough time. Words had little reason to be called his own when anyone else could have pulled them together just the same, he would say sheepishly, and that was that.

(If Azem asked nicely, he may, eyes closed and voice but a whisper, recite the ones he has memorized, the ones that remind him the most of the being that, to him, walked among the very stars and hung the sun in the sky. But only if they asked.)

Was thinking about what you said about the likelihood BJ never sees any of them / Hawkeye again, and besides the very interesting cocktail of emotions that idea makes me feel (agreement and denial at war, essentially), it inevitably got me thinking about the Trapper & BJ comparison again.

I think about BJ calling out, I'll see you in the states, I promise! and the smile he wears. and I think the reason it hits so hard is bc in the moment when he says it, he absolutely does mean it? the flush of emotion in those big life moments can make everything seem undeniable e.g. "you mean a lot to me, so of course we will see each other again". but ofc people don't live in those big life moments.

it's so easy to envision BJ finding a way to integrate Korea into the greater lie that is his life (easier to do when it's over, in the past and subject to whatever framing he chooses to give it). the truth he can't face in the moment of goodbye is that it really IS goodbye, that Korea-as-it-was and Hawkeye do not fit in the life he told himself he burned to get back to.

(Hawkeye was so tired, I got the impression he implicitly understood all this about BJ and wearily accepted it even though it hurt -- another way GFA knocked me down; sometimes people are not as strong for the people they love as they'd hope, and sometimes you just have to accept that it's going to hurt and there's nothing to be done.)

With Trapper, I think it is also very likely he never sees Hawkeye again, or at least not for a very long time. But I don't think he ever lied to himself about it; he seemed like a "ripping the bandaid" type. the pain of not seeing hawkeye again is one he is willing to confront and accept (and inflict?)

(...apologies, this didn't end up being as coherent as I'd hoped, I sat down with coffee on my break and started rambling in your inbox lol)

OK FRIEND WE ARE HERE WE ARE QUEER WE ARE (STILL SICK AND RUMINATING OVER YOUR WORDS BUT I GOT ABOUT FIVE HOURS SLEEP LAST NIGHT BUT I THINK THAT BRINGS OUT MY BEST RAMBLES SO!)

"I think the reason it hits so hard is bc in the moment when he says it, he absolutely does mean it" <- oh heck yes, BJ is -- to me -- the character on this show who faces all of this experience the least, including the bits that, despite everything, were good. he's got that increasingly at-odds-with-his-outbursts genial type of "everything will be fine" attitude right up until the last moment we see him.

something about the best lies are the ones we believe ourselves and the things he's going to be slapped in the face with when he gets home, despite knowing that it's not the home he left (also do we think he shaves off the moustache, yay or nay? if he does, I put that down to the commitment to put on the "nice young husband/father/veteran/doctor/community man" man again, for better or for worse, but if he keeps it, I'll assume it's his one concession, because I doubt he'll actually properly talk about anything).

Trapper was weary and pragmatic and (correctly) pessimistic way back in ceasefire (although he allowed Hawkeye to be hopeful for the most part, I like the read that Trapper tries very hard to not bring Hawkeye down, but occasionally how he really feels just slips out), not to mention the way he talked in mail call.

Who was it that said Trapper's speech about the war in mail call is basically Hawkeye's journey's-end by s11, because um... ouch.

I just watched my first Mike Farrell interview yesterday (the first interview I've seen with any cast member except for Alan Alda, and it was very emotional, but at least I didn't tear up as Mr Farrell himself did!) in which he said that he imagines they'll see each other at least once again, and that BJ would "walk across America" to see him -- but then he also added that it wouldn't be same, which was quite a sad little amendment to what until that point seemed like his personal BJ/Hawkeye is end-game headcanon.

Whether or not BJ and Hawkeye do see each other again (and purely geographically, there's a higher chance of Hawkeye bumping into Trapper, especially considering the fact that Charles is in Boston and I like the idea of Charles and Hawkeye getting surprisingly close after the war -- surprising to them of course, they have more in common than they'd admit!) I would love to know (but would be afraid to ask) Mr Farrell what he feels about how they left things, and how that might play into one or two odd reunions.

I've gone deep down a rabbit-hole of thinking about all of this in terms of BJ's issues (and Hawkeye's issues -- I say this over and over again, but was BJ wrong when he felt like he was Trapper's replacement, and to rage against the box he'd been put into that didn't really allow him his own personhood. On a meta sense, if Hawkeye knows they're in a haunted narrative, then BJ specifically is aware that he is Trapper's shadow and he doesn't like it! and I don't think it helped with everything else that was going on) and so the idea of fluffy mutually healing BJ and Hawkeye doesn't really gel with me, because they've hurt each other -- and BJ has really hurt Hawkeye, sometimes in very pointed, somewhat vindictive-seeming ways -- a lot!

But would BJ romanticize it in his head after he got back and real life there got hard to handle (as I imagine it will for him)? Would he smooth out the rough parts and -- who knows -- create outright lies to fix things (in which BJ Hunnicutt creates the ultimate AU) -- he and Hawkeye were the best of friends after all, and he says in their last scene that he doesn't know how he would have made it without him (I cannot go back and look at the wording, I cannot go back and look at that episode yet, I'm not strong enough!) so he's not wrong when he remembers just how important Hawkeye was to him.

The ways in which Hawkeye at times becomes a kind of stand-in for Peg (or, that is, the wife that BJ has in Korea -- I said this in another post, but I want to reiterate that I use "wife" deliberately, because I hc BJ veering wildly between acting with Hawkeye as his male best friend, and BJ treating Hawkeye like his put-upon spouse, because he's just... real fucked up about his actual wife, but then also at times they're a gay couple), versus the idea that Peg could start to be the butt of comparisons to Hawkeye?

I'd have to think about that one some more, now I've just written it. It depends on the Flavour of post-war fucked up BJ.

Anyway, Mike... Mike, care to go into detail about it not being the same? Do you think BJ will be able to live a life of benignly empty oppressive polite middle-class heterosexual suburbia after all of this? Would he just... carry on, living the dream (the dream here being used as in a literal sense that he builds the fantasy to cope)?