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a34trgv2 · 3 months

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The Problem With Bad Adaptations/Spin-Offs

In today's entertainment landscape, there's definitely a surplus of adaptations and spin-offs of pre-existing IPs. While some are very well crafted and more than worthy additions to the franchise, others are, to put it simply, not. This post will dissect why bad adaptations and spin-offs do more harm to the IP than good and what aspiring creators can do to avoid these missteps.

If you're assuming that this post is going to point to the executives who only care about money as opposed to quality, you're sorely mistaken. Executives need to be finance and business savy so that they can keep the company running. The real root cause of an adaptation/spin-off's shortcommings falls on the shoulders of the creators. They're the ones who went ahead with the creative decisions, they're the ones that put the whole thing together, they're the one's whose name is slapped under the director or creator's credit. The executives may care more about how the project rakes in profits, but it's the creator's responsibility to make sure it's entertaining to the audience.

You know how many fans of books disregard the movie with the saying "the book was better" regardless if the movie was good or bad? Well, this saying is most predominantly used for bad adaptations because when they fail, the original book is used as evidence to support fans criticism. While changing things from the source material is a given with adaptations, the adaptation should make for an entertaining retelling of the original story with well rounded and fully developed characters, creative would building and really good acting. Films like Percy Jackson and The Olyimpians, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (what is up with that title being so long?!), and The Devil All The Time fail at all these essentials, and as such make for sloppy movies that don't do the books they're based on justice.

Like adaptations, spin-offs should be worthy additions to the original IP. Yet often, a spin-off is mediocre at best and absolutely terrible at worst. By haing a spin-off turn out bad, the creators inadvertently justify the doubts of naysayers who felt the spin-off was unnecessary. Planet Sheen, for example, could've been a really funny show that expanded the Jimmy Neutron universe and provide some more creative ideas. Yet because it turned out to be so unfunny and unfocused, fans of Jimmy Neutron were made correct into thinking it was unnecessary. This badly made spin-off is now a permanent stain on the legacy of the original IP and creators have no one to blame but themselves.

DreamWorks Animation has got to have the worst track record when it comes to their spin-offs and adaptations. With some notable exceptions such as She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Dinotrux and the Dragons series, most of their shows are some of the worst cartoons ever made and do a great disservice to the original IP. Among them, Legends of Awesomeness is the worst offender and the pinnacle example of how NOT to make a spin-off. The animation is terrible, the writing is atrocious, the voice acting is very bad, and the characters are one note and annoying. The worst part about the show is Po and how he's completely out of character. Where in the movies he's a really nice guy with genuine love and respect for kung fu, the show makes him a lazy, unfunny and annoying cheat who lies and decieves his way to get what he wants. Unfortunately, DreamWorks Animation has not learned the right lessons as their recent spin-off, The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday, was absolutely terrible and their new Megamind series looks, unsurprisingly, abominable.

To anyone who's tasked with making a spin-off or adaptation, here's the mistakes you need to avoid in order to make a worthy addition to the IP. Firstly, don't assume your audience is already family with the source material, because more often than not, they aren't. Second, familiarize yourself with the IP and understand why it worked in the first place and how to apply those qualities to your work while still putting your personal stamp on it. Third, don't make changes to the story or characters because you were told to by the executives or because you think it would be funny or more digestible for the audience. Before you make any changes, consult your head writer and actors and ask them what they think. Lastly, consult the producer on how to work around budgetary limitations. If you're given a set budget, don't use that as an excuse to make your work visually dull. This is especially true with animation, where you can tell they had a small budget based on how flat and weightless the visuals are. My advice when making a spin-off based on a 3D animated movie is to hire art and animation directors with impressive resumes and who can deliver quality animation even under limited budgets.

Making an adaptation/spin-off is hard, much like making any movie or TV show with an original story. That said, I think the creators of adaptations and spin-offs of established IPs have a responsibility to not only do the source material justice, but also make an entertaining product that reintroduces the IP to new audiences. When the adaptation and spin-off is mediocre or terrible, it angers fans and alienates newcomers. We could've had a whole new generation of fans of The Green Hornet by now. But because the 2011 movie staring Seth Rogan was so mediocre and underperformed financially, the IP was sent right back into obscurity with a reboot stuck in development limbo. To conclude, an adaptation/spin-off should be more than just an addition to the franchise; it should be a very good appetizer to an already great main course.

#reblog #share #like #follow #animation #dreamworks animation #kung fu panda #legends of awesomeness #megamind #adaptation #spin off #planet sheen #harry potter #feedback

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diamondcitydarlin · 8 months

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I'm not gonna tag this because shadows fandom loves to be contrarian and base their metas directly on people who didn't like things while calling them stupid and shallow and whatever (because apparently I can't not like the way a thing was written without directly insulting someone else who did?? Or being stupid? make it make sense) but I honestly am all for Guillermo being and staying a human. I've been all for it since day one, honestly. To me, everything about his story from the first episode, first season suggests that this is the kind of idealized dream he's going to wake up from eventually and realize it's not everything he wanted. I've always been 100% on board with that, especially with the reveal that he was a vampire hunter which came with its own set of powers. In fact, I was working on a fic a couple years ago that I intend to return to that is ALL about Guillermo finally eschewing his dreams of vampirism for a purpose that better fulfills him etc.

So no, my problem with this last episode is not that 'Guillermo needs to stay a vampire or it's bad writing phwah', my problem is with the swiftness that all of this happens, coupled with the fact that Guillermo is between a rock and a hard place and more or less just being guided into place by what everyone else in the situation thinks is best for him. Despite the fact that he literally DRINKS BLOOD FROM A CUP to fully come into his vampire powers naught but a few scenes before, the fact that he cannot bring himself to drain a human directly from the tap until dead (which I still don't think makes a lot of sense on it's own but fine) is treated as this insurmountable problem they can't possibly get over so, obviously, he needs to be reverted via Derek's death (a character who also doesn't deserve that). Can't just let him drink blood from cups or bottles for a while. Can't just let him half drain someone but not to the point of death. Maybe at least to give him some time to decide??? Maybe give him better reasons (of which there are many) to decide to revert? He has been idolizing this for most of his life, after all, I just think it's a shame that we're meant to accept that ONE moment of revulsion towards killing someone (KILLING SOMEONE OF ALL THINGS) is enough to make him just nope out completely. That's a disservice to him and what he's capable of, if you ask me.

See, I of course enjoyed the deliciousness of the whole cheating/sex parallel to Guillermo being bitten by someone else, loved that, I'm just not sure how I feel about that storyline ending with Nandor being like 'im gonna forgive you for this but only because you're too much of a stupid little baby to know what you want, but I know what you want better than you do, now lemme kill the guy you cheated on me with real quick ok' LIKE. I KNOW that they are toxic I KNOW they are unhealthy, but Guillermo is a character that has constantly been struggling with his own agency, often seizing it on his own by very aggressive means, often being shown as smarter and more capable than most of the household, and for this storyline to just end with Nandor 'fixing' it all because Guillermo's just too dumb to know what's best for him...IDK YALL. DIDN'T LIKE IT. I can see how people would find it romantic and I do think it's meant to be but...nope. I don't find that romantic lmao I find that insulting and patronizing. Maybe that's the point? But it wasn't funny either. Or interesting, really. (The Freddie stuff was fucked up but at least it was funny to some degree lol)

I guess my point is that I wish there had been more time spent on this. We can't keep excusing these cop-out, rushed and dropped storylines on 'well it's a goofy show' because yes, it's ALWAYS been a goofy show I get it, but there's no denying that seasons 1-3 did a better job of holding on to arcs and creating consequences for the characters as a result of these arcs and their actions, such as the Vampire Council tricking them into custody after a season of Guillermo killing a bunch of vampires etc. There's precedent in this GOOFY GOOFY show to think that there will be follow through and consequences of characters actions etc, so no, it doesn't come from nowhere and it's not people just seeing what they want to or whatever.

I do kind of think this was rushed because the next season will most likely be the last, but even if that is true, I don't see why we couldn't have dedicated more time to it in this next season. It's deflating, it's boring, it sucks that one of the main narrative questions of the show 'Will Guillermo transform or not?' has been answered with what I find to be more or less a wet fart that doesn't even really make sense or fully take into account who the characters are and what they're capable of.

Yes, it's a goofy show that is usually just episodic moments of whatever crazy shenanigans the vampires will get into today, but it used to be elevated and tied together by story arcs and narrative consequences that would, eventually, sooner or later, show up for the characters to deal with. It used to be arcs that spanned episodes of Guillermo coming into his power and feeling conflicted about his dreams versus his destiny. It used to be the Vampire Council or the Baron being a certain kind of existential threat. It used to give us the idea that while funny stuff was happening, buckle up, because it's going to get REAL in the last few episodes.

But now that's uh...more or less just not a thing anymore. Everything is dealt with in a 25 min runtime and there are no consequences for anything that last or mean anything. To me, that sucks, and not in a cool vampire way lmao.

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noco7 · 1 year

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Do you think the love triangle was forced?

I like how you say "the love triangle." I know you mean Gwen-Duncan-Courtney but like. There was a Cody-Gwen-Trent triangle before them, and an Ella-Dave-Sky love triangle afterwards. They are not the only TD love triangle out there.

I'm going to be honest, I don't personally care about the Gwen-Duncan-Courtney love triangle. I don't get the outrage. So many people see it as the end of the glorious D*ncney empire, but that relationship was crumbling before Gwen got there. I also don't care much for Gwen or Duncan as chacters 💀 Courtney all the way, and Evil!Courtney is Best!Courtney, so the love triangle did not destroy my favorite character lmao. Sorry for the rest of y'all though.

And yeah. It was forced. I think everyone believes that, and I kinda doubt you anon - that you asked this question in good faith. You just wanted to see me rant, didn't you?

And I'm gonna do it, cuz I love ranting. Yes, The Love Triangle was forced. And that's the biggest problem with it, imo. Not the result. Not Gwuncan. But all the steps it took to get there.

It's no question that Gwen and Duncan's like for each other was a little.... abrupt. They are alike, and I could even argue that they WOULD make a decent couple, but Fresh wasn't interested in writing a decent couple, and I'll touch more on that later. They were interested in the drama. So suddenly, Gwen starts missing Duncan. Suddenly, Duncan kisses her. And huzzah, one of the most controversial moments in TD History.

After all what's more soap opera than the girl's boyfriend cheating on her with her best friend? And to get to that scene, S2 and S3 were made a fuckton worse.

The thing about Gwuncan is not just that it's poorly written. It's because the writers had to demolish Gwent and Duncney to get there. And instead of putting down Gwent with grace and dignity, or having their relationship generally peter out, the writers just machet-ed it. And in the fandom's eyes, that's *Gwuncan's* fault.

In the real world you can't blame your bad breakup on the next guy your girl gets with. But this isn't the real word, this is writing. And word on the street is that TD had to fuck up Gwent so that they could get Gwuncan. So now Gwuncan represents the downfall of Gwent.

Duncney, on the other hand, was just... they needed to make the relationship worse in Action, obviously. But how they went about it (even I though I enjoy evil Courtney), did a disservice to her character arc in Island. There's nothing wrong with characters regressing, or making a dark turn, but like. You need to have a reason.

A lot of people say that reason was her anger on being rigged out. And she's right to be angry about it. But how is it Duncan's fault? (I actually have a figured out a way that makes sense but like, TD didn't. And we're examining THEM.)

So now Duncney sucks, so Duncan has a "reason," to cheat on her.

Great. So that's why S2 sucks. What about S3?

I See London. As a Noah stan, this episode doesn't hurt me, and it never did. But as a *writer*? Oof. Some of the worst slop I've seen.

I See London is completely built for the Gwuncan moment, and it's so fucking obvious. Gwen and Courtney building a friendship? It's just to make the betrayal all the harder. Duncan somehow being in London, despite being dropped off in Egypt? Yeah, just for Gwuncan. Gwen helping KIDNAP him? Which is OOC for several reasons.... Just for Gwuncan. Even Noah's elimination could be tied to Gwuncan if you tried hard enough.

Gwuncan, as a writing moment, was the root of all evil. Lmao.

But Gwuncan as a ship? I'm going to be honest, I don't think the love triangle was to set up Gwuncan. Which doesn't make sense, but here me out. Sure Gwuncan happens as a result, but the focus is less on their relationship and more about how it affects Courtney. When it comes time to eliminate either Courtney and Gwen, they make up a fake reason to have a tie. (Cody would have voted for Courtney if he didn't have some random injury.) And then Gwen couldn't just lose, but had to have a random allergy? Like the elimination is so stupid, I can't.

But wow, one half of the ship is now gone. Their relationship lasted FOUR episodes! Four! Two long-standing fan beloved ships that spanned entire seasons, are now destroyed for ... four episodes? Why?

And then they make an episode where DUNCNEY get paired together in a WEDDING THEMED CHALLENGE? Bruh. Like I'm actually sad for Gwuncan, as a ship they were disrespected so bad. The show constantly put focus on Duncney, it's so clear that the writers wanted to talk about Duncney, and that Gwuncan was just a cool conflict they thought of.

It's honestly sad, and my deepest condolences for Gwuncan fans, and any Gwuncan fan who still ships Gwuncan and believes in them - y'all the strongest soldiers.

If TD had truly wanted to make Gwuncan a thing, yeah breaking up Gwent and Duncney was necessary (and perhaps they should have ended Duncney earlier and not just Then), but they should have written Gwuncan as two people fleeing terrible relationships. Let them have the audience's sympathy. And then have Courtney be eliminated instead, and show us how good Gwuncan could really be.

The fact that in All Stars they immediately ditched the Gwuncan idea is either proof they never wanted that ship, or that the audience hated the ship so bad that getting rid of it felt like the only option. Cowards. Should have just taken it as a challenge to prove how good it truly was. That's what I would have done. (That's why i write noco)

Tl;dr. Gwuncan's cheating moment was Cool Drama, Fresh wanted to cash in on that, played the long game and destroyed their savings in the process. But they did get what they wanted! But a cool moment is just that, a moment. And Fresh doesn't even like Gwuncan.

#total drama #td askbox #tdwt #gwuncan shippers i love you #dont feel like tagging the characters

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tellthemeerkatsitsfine · 2 years

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I’d heard the short version of the Tim Key origin story before – guy who isn’t a Cambridge University student but just lives in Cambridge manages to join Footlights anyway. But I’d never heard it in detail, or heard it explained by Tim himself, until I listened to his two-part episode of The Comedian’s Comedian podcast today. The story is even cooler than I’d thought; I’d assumed they knew he wasn’t a student and let him in anyway, but apparently he just lied about being a student and cheated his way in. And then kept up the lie for a while by pretending to be doing a PhD, and by the time they worked it out they’d already been rehearsing and didn’t want to re-cast him.

That is so entertaining, I don’t understand why no one has paid Tim Key money to turn that story into a sitcom. There’s so much potential there. They could add layers of commentary about gatekeeping in the class system if they wanted, an outsider to this elite institution coming into their club. Or they could just purely mine the inherent comedy in someone who’s working at a temp agency pretending to be a student so they can be in a play or whatever. This should happen. Let Tim Key write and star in this.

Even aside from that, it was all interesting – I recommend this two-part episode to whichever of the many people on this site who are obsessed with Tim Key have not heard it yet. There’s cool stuff about the origins of his work with Alex Horne and Mark Watson, and where he gets ideas for weird prop-based stuff he does in his shows, and how he works poems into comedy. There’s also an explanation of what was going on in this video, which I did not expect to ever get:

youtube

There’s some stuff at the end about how he worked with Steve Coogan, which made me remember how very good Tim Key was on Mid-Morning Matters with Alan Partridge. I think he does himself a disservice on that podcast saying he was barely acting in that. He was acting all the time, that’s what was so great. When I watched that show last year, I kept running it back to watch the same bit again, but only watch Tim Key. A really fun thing about Mid-Morning Matters, and to a lesser extent This Time with Alan Partridge and Alpha Papa, but especially Mid-Morning Matters (just because the earlier show has less going on in it so the few characters it has are on pretty much all the time), is that Tim Key is always doing something incredibly funny with his face. It’s worth watching Tim even if he’s way in the background and not meant to be focus on that part. He is always sitting there looking exactly the way someone would look if they were stuck in that situation. The facial expression of “I’m seeing how bad this sounds, but I want the opportunities I can get out of it so I’ll try not to show that, but I’m also calculating whether the pros of those opportunities are getting outweighed by the cons of the hit to my reputation that occurs from being part of this car crash, and oh God I hope he’s going somewhere reasonable with this.” Tim Key just sits there conveying that all the time, partly cringing but partly trying to plan his next bit - it’s incredibly funny.

This episode was from March 2015, so just before the first season of Taskmaster aired and changed the game completely for Alex Horne, and it’s interesting to hear Tim Key talk then about doing their things together without knowing how much mainstream attention Alex and everything around him were about to get.

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alexwatchesshows · 5 months

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Grace & Frankie S1E6

Spoilers for up to and including S1E6.

This is a really interesting episode in introducing the Frankie-Sol-Robert dynamic. It's interesting to see how Robert, who doesn't seem to hold much attachment to Grace, his ex-wife, understands (or doesn't understand) Sol's lingering feelings for Frankie. Similarly, Frankie's journey from evidently having once been very emotionally dependent on Sol to trying to become independent from him as she no longer trusts him becomes very clear in this episode. On this particular issue, it seems like everyone is trying to achieve on extreme-- either return things to how they were (S comforting F) or move completely past that to a new dynamic (R wanting S all to himself). Ultimately, everyone is bound to be dissatisfied because neither of these extremes are achievable: F can't go back to trusting S after learning about his decades-long affair, and S can't fully detach himself from the woman he loved and was married to for forty years.

The insight into R & S's relationship was also interesting, and I wish we got more of it throughout the show. The beginning was more or less what I would have expected, but the mention of breaking things off and praying for it to go away adds a lot more emotional depth to it, encouraging the audience to feel more sympathy towards these men who were evidently desperate to hide such a big part of themselves, even if that act of hiding did do so much more harm than good. This is where I think the show actually does a decent job at exploring the differences between the affair that did happen and how it would have been different if R & S had been cheating with women. There's definitely an added layer of complexity that comes with homosexuality that they don't shy away from dealing with.

Grace also gets some character development in this episode and acts as an interesting source of contrast to Frankie-- whilst F still struggles to pull herself away from her old marriage, G is out trying to seek a new relationship. Whilst the initial date fails, she does find something new. There's not much to really do with all this specifically but the theme of moving on and seeking future relationships in light of such a massive betrayal is an interesting one.

The one issue I do have with this episode (and with other parts of the show as a whole) is how it treats the whole ex-cons thing. A lot of the time it feels like this show just brings in social issues to contrast G & F or for character development or whatever and not to actually discuss them, which does the whole issue a massive disservice and can come off as insensitive.

#my posts #general #grace and frankie #episode review #grace and frankie review #grace and frankie spoilers #spoiler #tv #tv reviews #tv shows #tv show review

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fweet-prince · 2 years

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This might be incoherent but I wanna talk about tumblr’s girlbossification of Clytemnestra because like. A) “Clytemnestra was right” ignores/erases a lot of really fascinating complexity from the story and frankly does a massive disservice to both Electra and Iphigenia, the daughter Agamemnon killed, two of my favorite girlbosses in the canon (and Orestes, who I also adore), and B) Clytemnestra is way more interesting when we open up the moral ambiguity of what she did as opposed to oversimplifying it to “grieving mother kills her husband for killing her daughter,” which is arguably not even a simple version of what happened.

First off, “was Agamemnon right to kill Iphigenia,” “was Clytemnestra right to kill Agamemnon,” and “was Orestes right to kill Clytemnestra” are three separate questions, and the latter two take the answer to the previous ones into account but aren’t solely determined by them, but tumblr seems to get stuck on “no, obviously,” therefore “yes, obviously,” therefore “no, obviously,” which is an interpretation, but all three are really interesting complex questions, that’s why people keep fucking writing Oresteias!!

“Was Agamemnon right to kill Iphigenia” is often looked at as “is it cool to kill a teenage girl so you can go to war” but it is WAY more complicated than that. Like I am fully on the fuck Agamemnon train but not for the reasons I feel like a lot of people here are. Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis is so fucking good and really highlights how utterly and completely Agamemnon did not have a choice. It wasn’t “sacrifice Iphigenia or go home,” it was “sacrifice Iphigenia or all the armies die here at Aulis,” which means that functionally it was “sacrifice Iphigenia or the men kill you and then her anyway.” On top of that, it’s not like turning around and going home would be a real option even if it was a logistical one, and this is Not the post to get into the causes of the Trojan War but the short version for this purpose is that is simply not how a tragedy works. Still extremely fuck Agamemnon for lying to Iphigenia and to Clytemnestra and for using Achilles, and Achilles in that play does a great job demonstrating how we’d want Agamemnon to act by telling Iphigenia fuck that I will take on every single soldier here if you say the word but like. That isn’t a rational response, that’s a prideful, emotional response and the narrative knows it and Iphigenia knows it. Iphigenia was tricked to Aulis and for that Agamemnon is a shithead, but Iphigenia went willingly to the altar and she died a hero and she knew it, and that is way too sexy and powerful to bury to make an uncomplicated vengeful mother story out of Clytemnestra. Of course that’s only one telling and there are others where Iphigenia doesn’t have that kind of power but why would you ignore the ones where she’s so fucking cool. My best friend Iphigenia

“Was Clytemnestra right to kill Agamemnon” I gotta say I am still on board with “lmao yeah” to that one but there is so much more to it than revenge. I think it’s important to acknowledge that Clytemnestra very much was cheating with Agamemnon with his cousin and she very much did kill him for power and while it is a sexist double standard to condemn her for infidelity and not Agamemnon I think we can in fact condemn them both! And there’s also that there is so much indignity in the way she killed him that I feel like gets lost in cultural translation but like. Agamemnon did not get to die gloriously in battle. Agamemnon died naked and tangled in a shower curtain after returning home victorious. It’s the same kind of thing that makes Medea’s prophecy of Jason’s death so powerful, that a great hero dies pathetically, and you absolutely could argue he fucking deserves it (Jason certainly did) but it is also worth acknowledging that Agamemnon does not get the dignified death that Iphigenia does. Even if we take Clytemnestra killing Agamemnon as purely revenge, she gave him worse than he gave Iphigenia. And we gotta acknowledge that she did also axe murder Cassandra which is just plain fucked up. I don’t think I have to explain that one that’s fucked up. But my point is Clytemnestra is frankly SO much more interesting if we separate “did Agamemnon deserve what he got” (yeah, probably) from “did Clytemnestra do it for the right reasons” (who knows!)

And “was Orestes right to kill Clytemnestra” I mean. That one’s so complicated it gets an entire play of the Oresteia dedicated to it. That one’s so complicated Aeschylus had the Athenian justice system invented to deal with it. And this post about Clytemnestra is not NEARLY gonna get into All My Thoughts About That (affirmations voice I am NOT going to go off about Hamlet-Orestes parallels in this post) but the main factor in how it relates to Thoughts On Clytemnestra Specifically is like. Pretty consistently Clytemnestra was a shitty mother at least to Electra and (looks at smudged writing on hand) chrysanthemums [Chrysothemis] and depending on the telling just straight-up Sold Orestes. In at least three of four tellings I’m familiar with (I do not remember if it comes up in the Odyssey and I cannot be assed to check rn) Electra is 100% on board with the mother-murdering, and in Euripides she actually holds the sword with Orestes and helps him physically do it which is fucking metal I adore Electra with my entire heart. Like. Yes the final argument Aeschylus gives to acquit Orestes (that the father is more closely related to the child than the mother) is utter bullshit but he also doesn’t (directly) address a lot of the factors that are Very Relevant to us today (like, any of the non-avenging-his-father reasons for Orestes to kill Clytemnestra, nor any of the non-because-she’s-his-mother reasons for him not to), so I think analysis can and should go well beyond what Aeschylus brings up

Anyway I. I swear this isn’t an anti-Clytemnestra post this is just a pro-acknowledging Clytemnestra’s complexity post because frankly she (and Iphigenia, and Electra) is WAY too cool a character to be oversimplified how I keep seeing. I mean I don’t know what I expected to happen to one of the most juicily morally gray stories I’ve ever encountered on a site where black-and-white hot takes are encouraged but also I hope people who are big enough nerds to read my five-paragraph essay about Clytemnestra are on board for deeper analysis dhfgdhg

#bloop #Clytemnestra #the oresteia #god fucking dammit am I having another Oresteia phase. I don’t even remember why I started thinking about this #anyway this has not even scratched the SURFACE of my Oresteia thoughts #many of my most beloved blorbos ❤️

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things-we-cant-say · 3 years

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pretty little liar

Pairing: Ten x Female!Reader

Summary: In order to get your annoying ex off your back, you tell a little white lie that takes an unexpected turn.

Genre: College!AU

Warnings: Smutty smut, dirty dancing

Word Count: 4,867

A/N: Unable to withstand Ten’s power any longer, I had to start writing about him…or a version of him anyway. Hope someone out there enjoys my first dip into the ~imagines~ pond. ☺️

The party was in full swing by the time you and your best friend Amy arrived, the music so loud it could be heard down the street. It was a wonder the cops hadn’t broken it up yet but hey, the night was still young. Ducking through the arched doorway with Amy hot on your heels, you let her guide you into the foyer where you both stopped to take in the scene. The place was packed with people dancing, drinking and laughing—everyone apparently having a great time. Which was perfect for you because all you wanted to do was blow off a little steam and pretend you hadn’t spent the day fantasizing about committing the perfect murder.

You enjoyed school for the most part and you enjoyed your classes, but really you couldn’t wait for it all to just be over. Two extra years and your master’s degree in linguistics was almost within your grasp. You still weren’t one hundred percent what you planned to do with it (teaching was definitely out) but either way you were ready to dive into the real world. To no longer be stressed out about exams and papers and boring ass professors that constantly seemed to have a stain on their tie.

And to get far, far away from your stupid ex, Adam.

“Uh oh you have murder face,” Amy said as she peeped around to look at you. “What’s wrong?”

You shrugged. “Just in my head I guess.”

Amy hummed. “I get it. That’s why we are here though! To get fucked up and do something we regret in the morning.”

You laughed. “Guess we’re Uber-ing home.”

She grinned and grabbed your wrist, pulling you over to a table loaded with different types of alcohol. The guy ‘tending bar’ as it were winked as you two approached. “What can I get you for?”

“Something with alcohol but where we can’t taste the alcohol!” Amy exclaimed happily. “Oh! And if you’ve got any little umbrellas I’d like one of those too.”

He did finger guns and proceeded to cook something up in two red cups, sticking in two pink umbrellas when he was done. You and Amy took your drinks and after a cursory sniff, took a sip. The tequila wasn’t as strong as with a single shot but you could still detect it just not enough to make you stop drinking. Unlike Amy you didn’t plan to get completely fucked up but you weren’t going to say no to a nice buzz.

Cups in hand you migrated onto the dance floor and fell in with everyone else, bopping to the beat and scream chatting over the loud music.

“I really needed this!” Amy yelled. “Statistics is kicking my cute little ass!”

“I know what you mean!” You shouted. “But hey! Soon we’ll be done and actual jobs will be kicking our cute little asses!”

Laughing, Amy bounced up and down, sending her blonde hair flying. “Is that why you’ve been so grumpy lately? Or is it…he who shall not be named?”

With a sigh you took a big sip of your strawberry margarita. “Yeah. He keeps fucking calling me and leaving me these stupid ass messages, apologizing and shit. I’ve blocked him but he just uses someone else’s phone.”

Amy’s eyes stretched wide. “That’s like stalker behavior! Or maybe he really is sorry for what he did.”

You snorted. “Sorry for having sex with his ex in the backseat of my car? As far as I am concerned he can take his ‘sorrys’ and shove them so far up his ass they come out his mouth as safaris!”

Amy choked a little on her drink, hitting you hard on the arm in admonishment after she stopped coughing. “I hate you! I could have died!”

Her words made you smirk. “But did you? No but for real, fuck Adam. Fuck Adam and anyone who even looks like Adam!”

“Woo!” Amy threw both hands up into the air, yelping as liquid sloshed down onto her head. “Oh shit! Drink emergency I’ll be right back!”

Before you could say anything, she turned and hurried back towards the drink table. Alone in the middle of a dancing crowd, you didn’t know whether you should slink over to a corner or just keep dancing. That last thing you wanted was some random dude trying to groove with you. Of course if you decided to hold up the wall nothing would stop some random dude from trying to hit on you either. At a bit of a loss you drained the rest of your drink and did a I don’t really know anyone two step, hoping Amy would return soon.

The tequila settled nice and warm in your stomach, making you feel more at ease. Most of the people at the party were from your school but not ones you associated with on like, a daily basis. Sure you recognized a few faces from the library or cafeteria but there was no one you’d had more than a surface conversation with.

And then your eyes landed on him. Ten.

Ten was a…different sort of person altogether. He was the kinda guy CW shows thought actually existed in college, except he was very real. And very much fucking gorgeous in that unattainable way CW shows also loved. However, that sort of did him a disservice because as far as you knew, he was just a decent guy who happened to be able to do some pretty awesome things.

For example, he was an amazing dancer. The kinda dancer that just freaking mesmerized you when he moved. Had you wondering how in the hell had he taught his body to do that shit? One minute he was in total sync with everyone else and the next he was performing his solo and blowing your mind. He’d done some show a few months ago with a friend and you’d nearly flipped out of your chair watching him work. The body rolls, the attitude, the way he’d just commanded the stage…whew. Was it possible to be a fan of someone who wasn’t famous?

Then there was his art; things he designed himself or drew from memory. Art class was essentially where you’d sorta came to be acquaintances with him. You weren’t exactly good at drawing but you liked it enough that you wanted to improve, plus it helped you de-stress after particularly hard days. Ten on the other hand excelled and just like with dancing, it was interesting to watch his process. He’d described himself as a sensory artist so he wasn’t always as concerned with the end product as the professor sometimes wanted him to be. From your eye though he’d yet to create anything that wasn’t remarkable. In fact, more than once you’d wanted to ask him to design a tattoo for you, but felt it would be kinda weird. He had no idea what you were into after all. So far your conversations with him had consisted of colors and that one time he’d asked to borrow one of your brushes.

You were pretty sure he’d sold something to an art gallery.

Anyway so Ten could dance and he could draw and he could sing and he was fluent in several languages; as far as you knew the only thing he was kind of shit at was cooking. But who hadn’t set a class kitchen on fire once or twice? Or three times…

If he were an asshole—well people would probably still crush on him—you’d count that as a major flaw and want to keep your distance. But the kicker was that he could do cool things and he was nice. Dorky even especially when it came to cute animals. Was always posting pictures of himself at the animal shelter playing with the kittens and the puppies, or just acting like an idiot with friends. Yet it was that confidence that made him seem untouchable, and also made him sexy as fuck. More than once you’d fantasized about biting his Adam’s apple.

Heh.

Shaking your head, you fanned lightly at your face with both hands. Maybe stepping outside for some fresh air would be a good idea.

“Y/N!” Amy nearly tripped over her pretty sandals in her hurry to get back to you. “Weewoo weewoo weewoo!”

“Um…”

She grabbed your shoulder. “It’s a police siren! We have a code red situation here, I repeat a code red! Adam just walked in!”

“What?” You blinked and immediately looked towards the doorway, brows narrowing when you saw she was right.

Standing there in a white t-shirt in his formerly handsome glory was your ex-boyfriend, Adam. Once upon a time you’d thought the world of him; thought he was the kinda guy you could probably marry someday. The kinda guy you’d introduced your family to. Turns out he was the kind of guy that hooked up with his ex in your car repeatedly until finally being caught in the act. Sure it had been gratifying to make him and her walk home half naked but it had done nothing to quell the pain left behind. Thankfully though your pain quickly turned to anger and now you usually focused on not murdering him when he popped up. There was a lot you could forgive but cheating was firmly in the do not cross zone. Everything you’d felt for him evaporated the moment you saw him with her.

And he’d promised he was over her. Lying piece of shit, you thought to yourself.

“What the hell is he doing here?! Does he even know anyone here?” you asked with a frown.

“I dunno!” your friend said slowly. “It’s possible, big campus and all. Do you want me to help you climb out of the bathroom window?”

“Yeah my boobs aren’t fitting through one of those skinny ass windows,” you replied wryly. “Though to be honest I’m almost willing to risk it. C’mon let’s—”

It was too late. Adam spotted you like an arrow searching for its target, eyes registering shock and then elation. He reached you in three quick strides, opening his arms for a hug that he was damned crazy to expect. “Y/N. Wow you—you look amazing. I’m so glad we ran into each other.”

You huffed. “I’m not. I told you we’re over Adam. Or does me blocking your calls not get the message across?”

He exhaled deeply. “Look I know I messed up but I’m sorry. Classes were just really tough and—and Lucy and I would reminisce about old times…”

“Do I look like I give a shit? You cheated on me and we’re over.” The lie came so easily. “Besides, I’ve moved on.”

“Yeah!” Amy poked him in the chest. “She’s moved on so suck it!”

Adam arched a brow. “You’ve moved on?” He sounded skeptical and that made your blood boil. “Since when? And with who?”

You’d once heard that Hippocrates came up with the saying drastic times call for drastic measures though it wasn’t something you’d be willing to bet money on. However, standing there with your ex eying you like he just knew you were lying brought a whole new meaning to the idiom. You would one hundred percent be damned before giving him the satisfaction of gloating.

Tequila’s kicking in…

Without missing a beat, you put a hand on your hip and motioned to Ten. “Him. I’m seeing him.”

Amy made a sound like a cat having its tail stepped on while Adam gaped at you. “What? I—no. No way. You’re totally lying. I’ve seen the people he’s dated and you’re not his type at all.”

This bitch.

Twirling on your black heels, you strolled across the room to where Ten sat in an arm chair, chatting with a few of his friends. Before you could talk yourself out of it, you straddled his lap and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I know this is awkward as fuck—I’m so sorry—but if you just play along I will owe you big time. I’ll give you anything. You need a kidney? You can have a kidney.”

Ten’s friends had gone mute and as you sat back to gauge his reaction—or to possibly be thrown off of him—you bit your full bottom lip. His dark eyes were watching you calculatingly, his own lips pursed together like you were a riddle he needed to solve. Up close he was utterly breathtaking, all smooth skin and silky black hair that fell artfully across his forehead. He smelled incredible.

And then he spoke.

“There you are baby,” he said wrapping an arm around your waist. “I’ve been looking for you.”

That was when you figured you owed him your first born but it was fine. “Well, you found me. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

He chuckled. “You’re worth waiting for.”

His friends still looked confused though they didn’t have time to voice their opinions. Adam stalked over seconds later like a man on a mission. “So it’s true? You and Y/N are together?”

Ten tilted his head to the side and you saw the moment the lightbulb went off for him. “Yeah we’re together.”

Adam huffed. “Since when? For how long? Where did you two meet?”

Ten smirked. “Are you taking a survey or something?” He brushed his lips across your jaw, making you shiver. “The only thing that matters is that she’s mine. Let’s dance, Y/N.”

“I would love to,” you replied with a smile. You were also grateful he’d remembered your name.

You climbed off of his lap and took his hand, sending Adam a you thought look before pulling Ten out into the thick of the crowd. Your heart was beating a mile a minute but you felt too giddy to pay much attention to it. Plus, you knew Adam was watching you like a hawk and you didn’t want to let on how nervous you actually were. If he found out you were lying he’d never leave you alone and consider you pathetic to boot. Besides the nice buzz that was finally creeping down your spine told you everything would be fine. How could it not be?

Ten’s hands settled low on your hips and he gave you a little tug, pulling your back to his chest. You fit rather perfectly with him, his chin brushing the top of your head. Picking a rhythm in the song that thumped with bass, you began to move together. You rolled your ass against him and leaned your head back to rest on his shoulder, focusing on his breath as it ghosted across your neck. A silver of light wouldn’t have been able to get between you.

Normally you wouldn’t have dared to do something like this with a near stranger but your desire to make your ex suffer was bigger than your nerves. Besides Ten appeared to be all in on the ruse; his body twisting and curving in sync with yours, fingers on his right hand sliding up between your breasts to wrap lightly on your throat. His teeth nipped at your earlobe and you gasped. Reached around to his side to clasp his shirt for an anchor. You heard him chuckle and suddenly you were spun away from him only to be reeled back in, this time face to face.

The room felt like it was two hundred degrees. You weren’t exactly wearing much—a slinky black dress with tiny ties at the hem—but even that seemed too much. Without missing a beat though you and Ten continued to grind with one another, his thigh just barely pushed between your own. Every time you swayed forward to meet him the denim of his jeans rubbed deliciously against you, sending sparks sprinting through your veins. Both of his hands were on your ass as if helping to guide you, and as you met his gaze you couldn’t help but bite your lip at what you saw there. Desire, lust, hunger—no one had ever looked at you like that before. Like they could just devour you and still not have enough of you.

It made you feel powerful.

You grinned and wrapped an arm around his neck, fingers giving his hair a little tug. He hissed and lowered his head so that he could mouth at your bare shoulder, hands squeezing your ass so hard it nearly hurt. You weren’t sure when you started to get wet—maybe it was the moment you sat on his lap or he decided to play along with your dumb stunt—but you could tell it now. Your panties were sticking to you, your skin was on fire and it was becoming difficult to think straight. Honestly however you didn’t want to think at all, especially not if it meant not being in Ten’s orbit.

“Ten,” you whispered into the skin under his jaw.

He hummed, the sound vibrating through your body. You plastered your hand to his chest and pulled it down, nails catching on the thin material of his shirt until they were brushing along the zipper on his jeans. You gave him a quick squeeze—he was hard and straining—and he cursed loudly. Between one second and the next he was dragging you down a dimly light hallway, past kissing couples and one guy passed out drunk in the doorway of someone’s room. He swung you both into the first vacant room he came to; a lavish bathroom at the very back of the house. The door was closed with a swift thump and the lock clicked shut.

You licked your lips as he crowded you back into the counter, looking down at you with a tiny smirk. That part of your brain that yammered on about bad decisions was surprisingly quiet, so you figured it was beyond okay to pull him down for a kiss. As with most of the stuff he did, Ten was a damn good kisser. His mouth was soft and warm, his tongue playful and coaxing. He kissed you like he’d been waiting to kiss you for a long time. Until it grew deep and sensual. Until you were both panting with the need for air but neither wanting to let go of the moment.

With a gasp you tilted backwards a bit, your knees suddenly weak. “Fuck me,” you said absently.

“Can I?” Ten asked, chest heaving. “Can I fuck you?”

“God yes,” you replied, already pulling your dress up until it hitched around your waist.

Ten hooked his thumbs onto the band of your pink panties and slid them down your legs, laying them next to the sink. He looked you over with that same eye he used for his art but you could tell he liked what he saw. You grabbed his hand and brought it between your legs, spreading them wider for him. Two of his fingers slipped inside of you without any resistance to find you damp and aching, already so hot for him. He started a lazy rhythm—in and out, in and out—like he was in no hurry at all. Like he wasn’t driving you crazy all the way down to the tips of your toes.

He kept his eyes locked onto yours as he touched you, lips slightly parted like he couldn’t believe this was happening. That rang true for both of you. Never in your wildest dreams did you think you’d ever really be friends with Ten, let alone about to hook up with him. It was like you’d stumbled into some alternate universe.

Bringing his free hand up to your cheek, he smoothed his thumb across your lips, pressing lightly until you let him in. You sucked his thumb into your mouth and gave it a little nip, smiling when he smirked. When he deemed it wet enough, he pressed it to your clit and you moaned, your hips stuttering upward with a will of their own. He began a firm massage, working your clit this way and that, fingers still thrusting in their maddening motion. Of course he’d be great with his hands. Of course he’d be able to play your body like a finely tuned instrument.

Pressure started to build low in your stomach. “I—I’m…”

“Turn around.” Ten took a step back and made a show of sucking his fingers into his mouth, tongue darting out to lick between them like he wanted to savor every drop.

You whimpered but did as he requested, your eyes finding his in the wide silver mirror. You watched as he unzipped his pants and pushed them along with his dark colored briefs down to the floor. You hadn’t seen him pull out a condom but he had one; ripping open the packaging with his perfectly straight teeth before rolling it onto his hard cock. It was a delicious looking thing you had to admit, long and thick with a slight curve. If you’d had the time you would have gladly went to your knees for him.

A low breath shuddered out of Ten’s lungs as he pushed inside of you, his hands gripping your waist so strongly you were bound to have a few bruises later. “Fuck, you’re tight.”

It had been a while since Adam and nobody after him until now.

When he assumed you’d adjusted to the size of him, he pulled nearly out before driving back inside of you. You moaned and pushed back to meet his thrusts, feeling the pleasure shattering through you. Your breasts bounced as he moved and he reached a hand forward, tugging down the top of your dress so that he could cup one. He rolled your nipple between his fingers and pinched, bending over you so that he could bite down onto the tender skin of your shoulder. The motion sent him even deeper and you both groaned at the feeling.

“Te—Ten,” you stammered, losing your train of thought when he rolled his hips liked he did on the dance floor. “Oh fuck! Fuck!”

The picture you made in the mirror was a very erotic one; you could see every single expression on Ten’s handsome face. The utter enjoyment he was obviously finding in fucking you was written all over it; there was nowhere for it to hide. His head was tipped back, eyes fluttering closed only to pop back open so that he could watch himself shove into you over and over again. He had you up on your tip toes, nose just an inch from the mirror itself. He was always sexy but tonight that word took on a whole new meaning.

All you could do was try to give as good as you got.

You slapped a hand onto the sink to steady yourself and clenched around him, reveling in the low whine that escaped his throat. It kinda sounded like your name.

And then he was pulling all the way out, dick bouncing as he stumbled backwards. You blinked in confusion. “Wh--what’s wrong?”

Ten ran his fingers through his hair. “C’mon. I want you to ride me.”

He sat down on the closed toilet seat lid and you straddled him without a second thought, sinking down onto his dick with a full body shudder. With your dress around your waist and your breasts jiggling in his face as you bounced up and down on his cock, he traced his tongue around your nipple before lightly biting down. You tangled your fingers in his hair and panted out his name, letting out a squeak when his palm connected with your ass for a hard slap. Planting his feet on the floor, he leaned you backwards a bit as he drove into you repeatedly, eyes watching how well your pussy took him.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured against your collarbone. “Gorgeous—you feel so good.” He bit you again, this time on the side of your neck. “So good.”

With one hand on his shoulder to brace yourself, you rose up and let yourself come down hard over and over again, feeling him pound so deep it was almost criminal. Had the music not been so loud you knew exactly what you would have heard; the sound of skin hitting skin as Ten fucked you like he owned you. Just for tonight, maybe he did.

You weren’t sure how long it went on but when you came it still managed to take you by surprise. Your body lit up like a Christmas tree from the inside out and you cried out Ten’s name, clenching around him, your nails digging into his shoulder blades. He muttered a drawn out fuuuuck and pinched your clit with this thumb and forefinger, making you jerk so hard you nearly tumbled off his lap.

“Ah! Ten!” You shouted as he kept it up. “I—no—oh god—”

Your pussy tightened around him again and he shivered, thrusts growing erratic as he came with a grunt. You trembled through a second orgasm almost in disbelief—usually the only thing that could get you off twice in a row was hidden under your bed in a shoe box.

Seconds later you flopped against him, attempting to catch your breath. He was still rolling his hips just a tiny bit, making all the too sensitive areas ping.

“Whoa,” he said breathlessly, wrapping both arms around your waist. “That was…”

You chuckled softly. “Yeah…” Chancing a look at him, you admired the way strands of his dark hair stuck to his sweaty forehead. He was glistening, shirt sticking to his chest. He smelled like hints of your perfume and you smelled like hints of his cologne. It was all so intimate.

Reluctantly you sat back and gazed at him, wondering if things were about to get awkward. But Ten just smiled and ducked his head a little, a barely there blush creeping up into his already flushed cheeks. It was so adorable you couldn’t have resisted kissing him if you tried. From the way he melted into you, he’d had the same idea.

After a few minutes of just enjoying the feel of his lips against yours, you forced yourself up off of him. Your legs shook; you had to grab the counter to keep from tripping in your heels. You could already tell you’d still feel him tomorrow and the thought made you kinda dizzy, but in a good way. Blinking at your reflection—your hair was a dark mess—you knew there was no way you’d be able to hide the love bites that adorned your skin. They stood out stark red and purple like a bruise.

Ten remained slouched on the toilet for a couple of moments before removing the condom and tossing it into the trash. He dabbed at his dick with a handful of toilet paper, and then pulled up his underwear and jeans. “So…can I ask you something?”

You fixed your dress. “Sure.”

“Who was that guy?” he inquired with a grin. “The one you obviously wanted to get away from.”

Oh shit you’d forgotten all about Adam! “Oh he—he’s my dumb ex. He jumped stupid at me and I—I wanted to show him that he’s an idiot. That I’m totally over him. I—I’m sorry for getting you involved.”

He laughed as he patted down his hair. “No complaints from my end. I think he got the message though.” Reaching behind you he handed you your panties. “Don’t wanna forget these.”

It was ridiculous to be embarrassed considering what you’d both just done, but you couldn’t help it. You took them from him and pulled them on, keeping your eyes on the ground. “Thanks… Look Ten—”

“I’m hungry,” he said interrupting you. “Have you ever had grilled dried pollack?”

“Um yeah once I think,” you replied uncertainly. “It was pretty tasty.”

Ten motioned behind him. “I know a place that makes it if you wanted to go. And…maybe afterwards we could just hang out. Talk.”

That sounded amazing. “I’d love to. But…”

He picked up on your meaning. “Y/N I sit next to you in all of our art classes. I make conversation with you for no reason. Do you really think I of all people forget my brushes? Honestly I’ve wanted to ask you out for a while but you’ve always seemed…disinterested.”

You were dumbstruck by his admission. “Me?! That’s just my face! You’re the unattainable ingénue or whatever!”

Ten chuckled, folding his arms across his chest. “Oh please the only thing standing between me and being a serious cat dad is having an apartment that allows animals. However, this conversation is pointless. You owe me and I’m collecting…if that’s okay?”

You huffed but couldn’t stop grinning. “It’s perfect.”

The walk from the bathroom to the living room had everyone staring with a few people letting out loud whistles. Adam had disappeared but Amy was there to give you a big thumbs up. You promised to call her later and then let Ten pull you outside into the warm night air, your fingers happily entwined with his.

#wayv ten #ten imagines #wayv smut #ten scenarios #ten x reader #ten smut #nct scenarios #ten oneshot #wayv imagines #woc reader #wayv ten imagines #ten lee #wayv au #nct au

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valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn · 2 years

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The implications of Loki cutting Sif's hair after spending a night together are pretty awful to consider. If they were close what sort of argument could have caused that response, that doesn't come out of nowhere for attention. This would make Sif a spiteful ex chasing after royalty by wanting Thor after, trying to cause a rift between brothers. It's a 'you hurt me now I'm going to get revenge by taking your family away' situation. I thought they didn't get along because they were opposites.

It's a terrible take, especially when you consider that what happened in the myths is that Sif was cheating on Thor, but if these people hadn't seen the previous movies are we really surprised they know nothing about the myths either?

From what we know in canon, Sif didn't trust Loki because she felt he had been envious of Thor all his life, which is such a harmless thing it's almost funny. But this loop thing is so terrible that despite her awful judgement in previous movies I highly doubt she would have ever done something like that, kicked and punched him over and over again while he was kneeling, on the verge of tears, completely submissive to her? Look, Sif was a little a dumb but I refuse to see her as such a vicious being.

It didn't fit Loki's character at all and it was a huge disservice to hers.

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wings-of-a-storm · 3 years

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One of the things I hate most about the way the love triangle was handled, other than the fact that it literally came out of nowhere, is the fact the writers decided to throw all these (real) relationship problems at Venji to give Victor the excuse to get close to someone else. Plus the fact that Rahim said he didn't mean to get between them, but he had no problem sweeping in and telling Victor how he felt and kissing him after witnessing Venji arguing. He saw his opportunity and he took it.

Anon, I love your passion.

To start with, yeh, I think it was a disservice to Victor and Benji to skip over a lot of their honeymoon period just because it was too smooth-sailing and not dramatic enough for television. To start the season focusing a lot on the outside forces making them sad and putting strain on their relationship pretty much biases people against Venji before they’ve had a fair chance to show their strengths. The average viewer isn’t going to spend time imagining the good stuff but will only focus on the emotions right in front of them -- the tough stuff. It gives an unbalanced perception that their relationship is just full of tension from the get-go. Throw us a bone, writers!

The Love Triangle:

Okay, to be fair to Vahim, I don’t think the love triangle completely came out of nowhere. The direction/camera-work did show us a lot of small breadcrumbs leading up to their day out, like prolonged stares and white privilege connection and Victor openly oogling Rahim’s naked torso. But that being said, an attraction to another human and a new friendship that covers a few areas that weren’t previously being covered does not automatically lead to a love triangle dilemma. It just means Victor has eyes and room for all sorts of friendships, you know? So in that sense, it did feel (for me) like the love triangle was kind of an over-the-top reaction for Victor once it eventually appeared…

I really feel you with the frustration of the writers throwing ‘challenges’ at Victor and Benji, not so they can work on them like all new couples, but to justify space for a third party to wiggle through for dramatic purposes…

Like, a few times the situations felt less like an organic occurrence and more like a plot device -- namely whenever Victor had to explain anything to Benji without actually explaining anything. The ‘lesbian aunt with a thing for dachshunds’ was meant to mean something obvious to Benji, same with Adrian referring to Benji as Victor’s ‘french toast’ as a sign of acceptance. Would Victor really be that continually obtuse as to explain things only via in-joke phrases that Benji obviously was never present for to de-code?? I kept having to suspend my disbelief for that level of ineptitude and vacancy…

I also had to suspend my disbelief for the climax of Victor’s dilemma in the final episode. Like, it is canon that Victor made a hell of a lot of deep and varied memories with Benji throughout season one, over the summer we never got to see much of between seasons, and then throughout season two (eg. the secret hand signal of epic sappiness that contained Benji’s patience and sacrifice and touched Victor enough to come out at school; the peaceful and meaningful I Love You exchanges in the early morning light, etc).

These were Moments and they happened over months. And yet we were meant to organically believe that the very recent memories with Rahim, as charismatic as he is, would be on equal footing with a developed relationship? Even just with memory recall, wouldn’t that be like short-term memory versus the deeper retention of long-term? So I could understand Victor’s confusion while he was still in shock/processing the kiss, but it felt a bit forced to have that lead to an actual Dilemma of who to choose that very night…

Rahim S2 VS Victor S1:

Ah yes, Rahim making his move was an interesting one… With only season two in mind, I confess I can’t really blame Rahim for making his move. He was longing to experience a relationship, he really connected with Victor, he saw Benji was probably prepping for a breakup and the time was near, and he is a romantic who saw his chance to confess his feelings instead of always regretting staying silent. And since he is a romantic, notions like ‘fate’ and ‘timing’ would inspire him to want to go for it in case it was fate that Benji and Victor were having problems because Rahim is The One meant for Victor. Like I totally get that mindset, especially in high school where anything feels possible.

But with season one in mind, where we had a parallel of this kind of moment with Victor in Rahim’s shoes, you obviously can’t help but compare Victor’s choices compared to Rahim’s. And yeh, I agree that Victor’s come off in a far better light -- Victor didn’t want to cause problems between Benji and Derek when he was forced to see the reality of the mess with Derek and Benji fighting in public. He didn’t want to put Benji through a ton of stress. He wanted Benji to be happy. So he stood in front of Derek, rather like an unarmed man facing a sword pointed at his throat, and defended Benji and tried to compliment Derek’s and Benji’s supposedly amazing relationship to patch things up. He then surrendered and left them alone to their relationship.

Rahim…didn’t do that. He didn’t try to chase after Benji to reassure him about the slow-dance despite knowing how sad Victor had been without Benji. In fact, he made it harder for Victor by escalating the unnamed thing between them right into cheating territory. And that sequence did rub me the wrong way because from my own experience, when you really like someone, like truly like them, you want them to be happy, even if that isn’t with you. You don’t want to get between them and the partner they are in love with and take that away from them. You feel all of that because the person you adore deserves the world, you know? And yeh, Victor did that for Benji but Rahim didn’t do that for Victor… (And Rahim saw Venji’s good moments together at school and envied them for it and photographed it, so he knew how happy they were together when they weren’t fighting so…no excuse, bro...)

I think you summed everything up nicely, Anon, with a simple but efficient: I hate it! XD

#LV ask #Love Victor #LV S2 analysis

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