#sophie being the antagonist of my life* | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sodasa-was-taken · 2 months

Text

Romantic foils done right: How G-Witch uses romantic foils

Or why none of the characters who showed interest in Miorine and Suletta ever posed a threat to them getting together.

So, after the unexpected response to my last analysis and some recent discussions, I felt inspired to make another one. This time about romantic foils, a frequently misused but great tool in romances. I hope you enjoy it.

As far as I can tell, G-Witch has five romantic foils: Guel, El4n, Shaddiq, El5n, and Sophie.

In romances, when a character is in contrast to one of the main characters as a romantic option, they're a romantic foil. Having romantic foils in a story can be a great way to show what the principal characters see in each other. This is done by showcasing what the characters like and dislike about characters with contrasting attributes to the one they'll end up with.

Sometimes, it can feel like a romantic foil is just there to create cheap drama, often when they're a romantic rival, i.e., actively trying to get in the way of the main characters becoming a thing. Other times, when one of the focal characters isn’t the best person, an author might have a character who’s a romantic rival be even more of an asshole to make the character look better in comparison. This doesn’t make the character look better; it just creates a pick-your-poison situation. Furthermore, jackass and even more of a jackass ain’t foils since there isn’t any contrast. That isn’t to say that romantic foils can’t be antagonistic. Many of the romantic foils in G-Witch are also antagonists. In cases where a romantic foil is an antagonist, they emphasize the virtues of the characters they’re a foil to by being everything they’re not.

Guel, foil to Suletta – At the beginning of the show, Guel is everything Suletta is not regarding their treatment and intentions towards Miorine. Suletta is apologetic to a fault, while Guel pushes Miorine around like he owns her. Guel is abrasive, while Suletta is considerate. He’s ostentatious, and she’s shy. Crucially, Suletta’s shyness doesn’t prevent her from having pride in herself. She just doesn’t need to show off like Guel.

Miorine grows fond of Suletta for the same reason she dislikes Guel. He’s the embodiment of everything Miorine hates about her predicament, and Suletta is the opposite. Although Miorine sees them as two sides of the same coin at first, both are out to insert themselves into her life, just in different ways. Except as Miorine soon enough learns, Suletta had no intention of doing so but just couldn’t stand by while seeing someone in distress. Side note: It’s ironic how opposed Miorine is to Suletta interfering in her life when Miorine later follows Suletta around like a lost puppy and insists on helping her any chance she gets.

Attributes Miorine likes about Suletta that Guel notably lacks include, but are not limited to, her humbleness, her upbeat nature, her gratefulness, and her commitment to doing what she thinks is right. Also relevant if you think Miorine is a Lesbian; Suletta is a girl.

When it comes to why they become the Holder, Guel is doing it for himself, and Miorine is simply a prize to be won. Suletta, on the other hand, ends up as the Holder unintentionally, dueling to help out Miorine rather than to have her. In fact, when she learns that being a woman does not exempt her from being Miorine’s groom, she goes full blue screen of death.

Guel, foil to Miorine – Straight from one character’s romantic foil to the other. Guel is Suletta's foil until he catches feelings for her and shifts to become Miorine's. After being the first demonstration of Suletta's extreme discomfort with someone coming on too strong Guel denies his affection for Suletta. This happens shortly after Miorine has Suletta donning the uniform which shows the two are engaged.

In episode nine, while Miorine does everything she can to guarantee they win the duel against Grassley House, Guel won’t even fight because Dad told him he wasn’t allowed to duel. He doesn’t want Earth House and, more specifically, Suletta to lose, but not enough to disobey his father.

At the backend of season two, Guel becomes a regular foil to Miorine instead of a romantic foil since he’s no longer interested in getting with Suletta or, as he puts it, there are more important things than whatever feelings he might have for Suletta. This means he isn’t being motivated by those feelings the same way Miorine is by her love for Suletta and can, therefore, look a bit more objectively. It also means that he doesn’t stop Miorine from doing something he sees as fruitless because helping her break Suletta’s heart is a prize he’s willing to pay to save Jeturk Heavy Machinery.

Side note: Guel does his job as a foil quite well, but because he’s a foil, his prominence is completely unwarranted. It might’ve been a little more reasonable if he was the only romantic foil, but this story has five. Giving this much attention to a romantic foil in a romance about a straight couple would be unthinkable. Still, because the story is about a same-sex couple, they can’t be the image of their own story.

El4n, foil to Miorine – El4n is the only romantic foil in the story, highlighting the flaws of the one he's a foil to. His function in the show is to get Miorine worked up and showcase that Suletta isn't the type to pine. Side note: Suletta appears to be quite binary when it comes to others having feelings for her. Either they like her romantically, or they never will.

From very early on, El4n shows a fondness for Suletta, which Miorine is having none of. Later on, El4n asks Suletta out to get to Aerial. Side note: Gotta love how Miorine compares Suletta and El4n to Romeo and Juliet, considering that if any characters in this series have their budding relationship sabotaged by the feud between their families, it’s Miorine and Suletta.

When El4n learns that Suletta isn’t an Enhanced Person like himself, his demeanor towards Suletta changes on the spot. The progression of Suletta’s relationship with El4n is an inversion of her relationship with Miorine. Where Miorine had to overcome a misconception about Suletta for her fondness for Suletta to grow, a misconception about Suletta is what El4n's fondness for Suletta initially sprung from. Additionally, El4n asks Suletta out because he wants something from her, while Miorine pretends she wants something from Suletta, but in truth, she wants to prevent Suletta from becoming the one who got away. Girl didn't pass up the chance to go to Earth in order to save Suletta because she needed a shield.

Despite Suletta having an interest in El4n, spurred on by him showing an interest in her and El4n eventually reciprocating, a relationship between them would never work as their goals are diametrically opposed. If El4n wants to keep his life and be allowed to live his life as he pleases, he needs to win a duel against Suletta and take Aerial away from her. Something she can’t let happen because, for one, she wouldn’t even give up Aerial for the person she’s excited to marry, and two, losing would be letting down Miorine, someone she cares deeply about, and Suletta’s not about that.

When Suletta wins the fight, she also wins back El4n’s heart, but their relationship is doomed before it starts because El4n fails to secure Aerial for the Peil company and has to die for his failure. El4n accepts this and doesn’t fight to stay in Suletta’s life, instead thanking her and letting death take him.

In the last episode, El4n apologizes to Suletta for standing her up to which Suletta basically tells him not to sweat it as she’s come to learn that the person for her wasn’t him.

Shaddiq, foil to Suletta – Here’s someone who starts out coming off as approachable but who’s revealed to be more and more deranged as the series goes on. Shaddiq is willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants all the while keeping his friendly appearance and calming smile.

Throughout episode nine, it becomes clear that while Shaddiq and Suletta are both upbeat go-getters, their views on Miorine couldn’t be more different. Shaddiq does, to some degree, care about Miorine, but what he thinks is best for Miorine is at odds with what Miorine wants. He justifies his attempts to control her with her being stubborn and unreasonable. She doesn’t know what would be the best for her, and Shaddiq’s been nothing but kind to her, so he doesn’t get why she keeps turning him down. This guy sure is tipping his metaphorical fedora.

The epitome of Suletta and Shaddiq’s conflicting views is shown when Shaddiq runs into Suletta after being at the greenhouse. He fails to reason with Miorine, so he tries to get Suletta to talk some reason into telling her that as Miorine’s groom, it’s her responsibility to talk some sense into her. Suletta doesn’t agree with the sentiment and instead thinks that her role as Miorine’s groom is to stand by her and support her. A very how the spouge of a woman should aim to protect and provide for their wife vs. they should treat their wife as an equal and encourage them to do what they want schools of thoughts. As Miorine seems perfectly content to be the primary breadwinner in the relationship, that first idea has less than no appeal to her.

Suletta ultimately turns out to be right, with the show taking a shot at the whole strong man who’s the sole protector of what’s deemed to be his mentality. After his defeat, he tells Miorine that he should have offered to fight for her, which most likely would have gotten him nowhere. Before Miorine met Suletta, she wouldn’t let anyone fight for her, and a good part of why Miorine rolled with Suletta becoming Holder was because she had no intention to. There’s no way of having the intention to become Holder and do what Suletta did. The intention is there, and that’s the problem. It cannot be overstated how little Suletta would care about being the Holder if Miorine hadn’t wanted her to be.

When Shaddiq learns that Miorine will be at Plant Quetta, he callously shrugs off the idea that he should try to stop her from getting hurt and leave it up to fate if she makes it out alive. This becomes somewhat vindictive when he probably justifies this kind of thinking by making it Miorine’s own fault for rejecting his protection. She doesn’t want him to keep her safe so he will do no such thing.

El5n, foil to Miorine – There’s not much to say here. El5n showcases Suletta’s aversion to someone coming on too strong and her commitment to be with Miorine, as by the time El5n first makes a move on Suletta, she’s already hopelessly in love with Miorine. He and Miorine are also opposite extremes when it comes to their interactions with Suletta. El5n insists that Suletta should get with him while Miorine rejects that she has any veto over who Suletta can be with.

Sophie, foil to Miorine – Mostly qualifies for acting antithetically to Miorine and self-identifying as someone who sees Miorine as an obstacle to getting to Suletta. Although Sophie technically doesn’t express interest in being with Suletta romantically, since she goes full Yandere mode at the mention of Suletta being with someone else, she might as well be. One of a romantic foil’s main functions is to demonstrate why a relationship with them wouldn’t be in the best interest of the person they’re interested in having a relationship with. Declaring that she’ll have to kill Miorine to get the relationship she wants with Suletta makes Sophie succeed with flying colors in that regard.

Being a Yandere, Sophie doesn’t understand what would be offputting about telling Suletta she’s going to kill her loved ones. In her mind, she’s setting Suletta free to become a ruthless killer, which really shows how much she’s misjudged what Suletta is like as a person. As the cherry on top, it turns out Sophie’s obsessed with Ericht and not Suletta.

This is another case of a character being the opposite extreme of Miorine. Concurrently with the event involving Norea and Sophie, Miorine is at the point where she’s blaming Prospera for Suletta’s actions, as she can’t see her little ball of innocence killing people unless she has been manipulated.

From a meta-perspective, El4n, Guel, and Shaddiq are also the antithesis of what a romance protagonist should be due to their inability to fight for love. They’re defeatist and, at points, almost deterministic. After one major setback, they turn back to the person of their affection in the sense that they leave the person’s well-being up to fate. Something Suletta and Miorine never do to each other. Even when their insecurities get the better of them, they still have the other’s happiness and well-being in mind.

Furthermore, having the romantic foils display philosophies associated with determinism is a sort of social commentary in a sense. A part of Japanese culture is the acceptance of bad things happening and a willingness to make the best of an unfavorable situation, sometimes expressed through the word shouganai and similar words. This is a perfectly wealthy mentality until it gets used in situations people can and, more importantly, should be doing something about or, at the very least, be less accepting of. Case in point: whatever is up with Japan being behind on queer rights despite its several partnerships with multiple Western countries. So, having characters that act like their hands are tied and just shrug it off makes them foils to Suletta and Miorine, where needing to do something about a bad situation is a major part of their characters. The fact that the characters in question are products of the elite and two queer people who keep getting screwed over by the system is quite reflective of the contrast between activists in Japan and the country they live in.

As the show is now, pairing these guys with the heroines reeks of heteronormativity. It doesn’t matter whether or not that’s the intention; it still does. Two female characters can go through thick and thin together, always having each other’s back whenever possible, and some people see their relationship as equal or even inferior to their barely existing or one-sided relationship with a man. The level of hypocrisy is astounding. It feeds into the idea that guys are entitled to have their feelings returned just by existing. That’s a big part of the reason there are guys who feel threatened by sapphic couples. It messes with their indoctrination that a woman would rather be with another woman than them.

It’s almost amusing how any of these characters come across as having a chance with either Miorine or Suletta when they’re never presented as such in the narrative. Unless the series was going to do a storytelling faux pas, Suletta and Miorine getting together is an inevitability by episode three. Having all this build-up just for them to end with someone else would be narrative nonsense. Good thing that didn’t happen.

#mobile suit gundam: the witch from mercury #g witch #the witch from mercury #suletta mercury #miorine rembran #guel jeturk #el4n #shaddiq zenelli #el5n #sophie pulone #sulemio #suletta x miorine #welp! here we go again

183 notes · View notes

bluesdeluxe · 9 months

Text

Sooo I've recently rewatched the movie "Howl's moving castle" — after finally reading the book it's based on. And it became the first title where I, for different reasons, but loved both. Yes, they're very different, and they both are truly wonderful at what they're doing.

Like, the book is centered around the characters, so the plot not only keeps readers engaged, but first and foremost illustrates their journeys. Diana Jones created around 4-5+ subplots (Sophie's curse, the Hatters sisters' storyline, all the other multilayered curses), and every scene advances at least 2-3 of them. Every detail matters (Which suit is Howl wearing? Crucial). The writing is genius. Especially when all those subplots are beautifully concluded in final chapters.

The Miyazaki movie, on the other hand, has much more relaxed pacing. Ghibli movies are pretty famous for magnificent sceneries and detalisation of charaters' surroundings, but here it was a crucial part of the movie's message: life is worth living — and should not be taken by such thing as the war. The main focus, to my mind, was the world the characters lived in and learnt to love and care about.

This idea is as dear to me as the book Howl and Sophie's dynamic is. I adore them both. So much. The book is about the life of flawed, but kind and such relatable characters, while the movie is about a life — in a wider meaning. About its beauty, the tragedy of the war being an antagonist of the story.

#howl's moving castle #howell jenkins #diana wynne jones #howls moving castle #howls moving castle book #just really needed this off my chest bc this HMC multiverse is constantly on my mind lol #howell is the best (loser) character created in literature btw #and sophie is the best (unreliable but very stubborn at this) narrator #i think i still love the book more but just because I'm more into literature than movies #but the movie was also the first anime i ever watched in my childhood so can't but love it forever too x)#books: read!

124 notes · View notes

breitzbachbea · 6 months

Note

Now that you mentioned it I am very intrigued by your human Hetalia au, go on

Thank you very much anon!

So. Basic concept: A world very much the same as ours, but acting mostly hidden from the public eye, are national crime syndicates in every country. Pretty much all are spearheaded by the boss of one noteable family that ensured that position some generations ago (those bosses are the Hetalia nations, ordinary Humans here) and two right hands. The AU is called Like Father Like Son.

Now, these syndicates are very much globally connected and when it comes to each other, act less than actual organized crime organisations in real life and more like monarchies or other types of state conducting diplomacy. Also, as is very unlikely for real life and much more common for royality, the bosses have usually inherited the business and had no option to opt out/felt it was the right thing to do. This is nuanced along the way, but again, stark difference to the volatile infighting and general hierarchies from real life organized crime (where the successor is probably NOT the 17 year old son, but a trusted right hand).

But they are, at the end of the day, gangsters. They fight for their own survival and supreme status within the other criminals in their own country and amongst their peers. (Alexa, play 741 Millionen by Tüsn). They don't represent states or governments or even people. They're in it because power is nice and the sunk-cost fallacy is too great to get out.

But because I am a history nerd, they still reflect certain phases and struggles and ideas about nationhood, like their Hetalia counterparts actually would. And here is where it gets interesting.

The protagonists of the AUs mainseries, called also called Like Father Like Son with the subtitle Sangue cattivo non mente on ao3, are the Irish and the Sicilians. So it's my Hetalia OCs (though I borrowed the Sicilian from a friend) Harry O'Connel and Michele Vento, plus Harry's younger sister Sophie O'Connel, and the Human-from-the-start right hands Paddy O'Neill, Charlie Higgins and Marco & Lorenzo Bontade.

And if you're looking for an Irish villain, where do you look to? England. Always the Brits. 'May the enemies of Ireland never meet a friend'. Which is why Arthur Kirkland, along with his right hands Robert Bailey and Tahir Rashid, serves as antagonist to the Irish in many stories. And of course, this makes it easy to present the fight as underdogs vs powerful evil empire, along the line of actual historical conflict. (I am oversimplifying, but we aren't here to argue details right now and in broad strokes, it IS right). If the reader has an inkling of Irish or British history, they will see the parallels. I, as the author, work it into metaphors by the narrative entity (usually occupying one character's POV, tho not to be confused with the character being the narrator). I work it into the general themes, with characters talking about history or historical/cultural backdrops. And of course, by that the characters themselves draw the parallels and pull on old stereotypes to rage against their enemies. Arthur likes to pull out the old stereotypes of the Irish being a belligerent, backward and unreasonable race when he paints Harry as a troublemaker. Harry will paint Arthur a tyrant who can't stand to see another man free when he feels entitled to his property and life. It's so enticing to believe that you know where to stand, to know where's right on the merits of history and the real world alone.

But as soon as you take a step back, you realize how they merely use something bigger and greater than themselves to fight their petty wars. Paddy and Charlie rail against the English after they've kidnapped Harry, they say Arthur thinks the world should grovel before him because it's his righ as an Englishman. But they're never alluding to anything bigger than themselves; yes, Irish are being kicked down, but it's just them. And sure, they may say an Irishman doesn't give up and that's what the English shall see, but it's the rhetoric of revolution without its goals. There's no British threat to Ireland - no fight they can align themselves with, because Arthur certainly isn't aligned with any either. Truly, if they were so committed to it, they would look with more sympathy to Tahir, whose parents came from Pakistan in the 1970s. They'd appeal to him, see the parallels of history with Ireland and the British Colony of India. But while the English tyranny rhetoric is usually reserved for white Arthur and Robert, at the end of the day, Tahir's also an 'English pedant' and haughty prick to them. And Tahir, similiarly, doesn't have much sympathy for the Irish, seeing them as annoying obstacles to their business dealings. He's in this to give his family a better life, he knows there is nothing grand about their enterprise. They all know that. In quiet moments, amongst themselves, they even express it. The farce they play; that the ideals they want to hold they betray; that they are a cancer on the people and country they love.

And I just. I love that. I love how it still has the themes one can ask in more substantial explorations of Hetalia - the constraints of free will, bearing the sins and burdens of the past, how much you can be an individual and how much you are a role. I love how it makes them true individuals, in the end, how it employs history as something that is interpreted from the witnesses we have to the past and told through our own eyes. How it seemingly creates this parallel to real history, but when one steps back, it shows that it's play pretend and it makes the reader sympathize while also keep its distance at times, enjoying a story that is fundamentally about a lot of people making the wrong decisions and living with the consequences. It's a tragedy, a meta-level of mourning - with none of that hope for a future that any reading of history can have.

Thank you for coming to my Ted-talk. I am currently rewriting the main series, because what is up on AO3 was written by a fourteen to sixteen year old and therefore, isn't very good. However, you can still check out my other writing (and the not very good mainseries) here. I also like to make lots and lots of AUs with the many Human characters and the Hetalia characters where they're not burdened by being organized criminals. You can find my ramblings about many of these AUs on my sideblog @i-centri-degli-universi . You will also find a few written works for some AUs on the ao3 already linked.

Thank you for your attention. I hope you have a grand day, anon, as well as everyone who read through this.

14 notes · View notes

junebugwriter · 6 months

Text

Loki Season 2 Doesn't Understand Loki

The fundamental flaw in a season that means nothing

Spoilers below.

I think we need to talk about Loki.

People who know me know that I don’t like superhero and comic book movies. I love them. And that’s why I’m so critical of them. I can blame my brother on getting me into comics in high school, but the fact that long after that I keep coming back to the well speaks to what I love about them. Comics are the blending of prose and visual artistry, of character and medium. Every comic is a conversation between artists. Television and film, likewise, are another variation on that same theme.

However, like any other kind of media, its greatest strengths can also fall victim to their greatest enemy: the companies that own them.

Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe began as a simple concept: translate the idea of comic book universes onto the big screen. Let the comic company own the movies that bring their stories to the masses. When Disney bought Marvel, lock stock and barrel, it also brought truckloads of cash and prestige with it. This proved to be a Faustian bargain in the end, because what happens when the infinite money machine begins to grow too large to handle? Things begin to break down.

Loki Season 2 is this metaphor brought to life.

Everything Will Be The Same Ever Again

The first season ended promisingly enough. Loki and his alternate timeline gender swapped variant Sophie finally find He Who Remains, the man behind the curtains that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building up to. He’s the one who pulls the strings, paves the road, and decides the Sacred Timeline ™—in other words, this is the man who decides Marvel Canon.

Season 1 ended exactly as I hoped it would: Sophie, tired of being controlled, did the thing that gods of mischief and chaos are supposed to do. She killed the man behind the curtain. In so doing, she unspooled the Sacred Timeline ™ in the name of free will, allowing for infinite universes to be borne from the infinite choices made every moment by every being in existence. She gave birth to the multiverse. She broke the system.

Obviously, this could not last.

Loki season 1 promised that the universe would be forever altered by the actions of Loki and Sophie, and for a while, this seemed to be the case. Most of the recent phase of Marvel output has revolved, for better or worse, with the introduction of the concept of multiple realities. This has been used somewhat as more or less a vehicle for Brand Integration ™ and less as a vehicle for, you know, good storytelling. Yes, we’ve been promised Fantastic Four and X-men movies, but those aren’t even really in the works currently. They’ve been stuck in development hell for years since acquisition. All we’ve gotten is a couple of winks and nods, a musical sting, and N’amor, which all things being fair, was great, but N’amor has always been his own thing and a mutant in name only, story-wise. Otherwise, it’s been fine, but far from the promised chaos that Loki season 1 alluded to.

Additionally, there’s the problem of character. Loki in mythology is less a villain but more of an antagonist, a trickster character that causes problems and meddles in the affairs of others for little reason else besides “he wanted to.” He’s mercurial by nature, and that works very, very well for mythology. It works for the purposes of “this is how the world is, this is why things are the way they are, and this is how the world will end.” Loki’s presence is not malevolent, but rather genuinely chaotic. He will do what he wants, and usually only to satisfy himself. He often seems unable to really control himself, let alone anyone else. He does things because he loves just making things happen, and if he winds up with what he wants, it’s all the better.

In the comics and the films, he’s much more cast as a villain. In the films, he desires the throne of Asgard, to be the rightful ruler of people. Failing to win Asgard, he seeks out Earth as an agent of Thanos. Failing that, he meanders long enough in the background to have fun when dealing with Thor, and that’s about it. He finally dies an ignoble death by Thanos, and that was to be the end of him. Loki the TV series is not the same Loki we saw die. This Loki is an alternate timeline variant, and after having his ego broken by the Time Variance Authority, he seeks out another variant, Sophie, who has been causing problems for the TVA.

If all that gives you a bit of a headache, don’t worry. That’s just the comic fan experience. Comics, and superhero stories, are of a kindred spirit with Soap Operas: not only are they highly melodramatic, often made up on the fly, and filled with colorful characters, but they’re also designed to go on FOREVER. That’s the beauty of them. The characters, and the universe, frequently default to a certain status quo. Sure, every few years, something comes along that promises to Change the Universe Forever, but that often amounts to one weird tweak and then it's back to the races as usual. The bad guy comes along to challenge the hero, hero must thwart whatever plan the villain has, and all is well. That’s the rhythm of the comic book story, and that works quite well for executives... to a point. So, what happens when people start to get tired of the same old story? They change the status quo on paper, and hope nobody notices that the structure of it all is still intact.

That was the promise of Loki Season 1. See? We have a multiverse now! Please, be distracted by this CHAOS long enough to not realize that we are still in control of everything, and everything is fine.

That last sentence? That’s the plot of season 2. See, Sophie killed He Who Remains, and the multiverse exists. The TVA is designed by HWR to maintain the Sacred Timeline ™. With the Sacred Timeline ™ now in chaos, everything in the universe is going haywire. That means timelines are unraveling. The plot now follows Loki, his hetero life mate Mobius, and a cast of fun, colorful characters, racing against time to keep time from unspooling, and the multiverse from completely falling apart.

Mr. Loki’s Wild Ride

“Loki” is a show meant to turn Loki from the god of mischief and chaos to... a hero, somehow. One who wants to fight to maintain an autocratic, bureaucratic organization that wasn’t very good at its job in the first place because the alternative is... chaos. According to the plot, this chaos takes the form of nothingness. Lack of existence. See, without an imposed order, nothing can exist! Therefore, reality NEEDS someone or some entity to maintain order in some way so that everything can keep on existing.

But why is this the case? Why does reality need a temporal loom or a man behind the curtain? The show doesn’t do a very good job of explaining why everything ceases to exist the moment that the Temporal Loom, the machine that maintains the Sacred Timeline ™ other than “that’s just how it all works,” and really, it doesn’t even tell us that. It just shows time unraveling, sans explanation. How did time exist before the Temporal Loom, you ask? Loki, for all its technobabble and endlessly recurrent exposition, is not actually interested in explaining that bit. You see, it was chaos and war and death before, or it’s nothingness. Which is it? Why is it? It’s a nihilistic and frustrating bit of worldbuilding that leads to nothing.

This nihilism is a kind of narrative reinforcement technique. By the end of it, Loki has figured out how to control time itself, after much trial and error, as well as another conversation with He Who Remains. Yet in that conversation, he learns a fundamental truth about the MCU: He who makes the difficult decisions gets to sit on the throne. He Who Remains is supposedly one such person. In his stead, at the end, Loki does the same. He wrests control of the timelines, bundles them up into a cape, and seats himself on the throne of He Who Remains. As such, he recreates Yggdrasil, the world tree of Norse mythology, the tree upon which all the realms rest. You see? Everything goes back to normal, now that someone is in control.

But wait a minute. Why would Loki ever make this choice? Loki early in the show figures out he doesn’t want a throne. He doesn’t want control. All he ever wanted was to be loved and known and understood. That is the true desire at the heart of his character. It’s beautiful, and poignant, and speaks to my own heart. In Sophie, he found someone who does know and understand him. Is it narcissistic to love a gender variant of yourself? Probably! But it makes sense for him. Because he is a mercurial person. He doesn’t really understand even himself, and because of that, it results in mischief and chaos. That’s who he is. He is a chaos god.

By the end of the show though, he’s learned and grown... what? To love order? To love bureaucracy? To love control? That’s what it’s saying when he takes the throne! I understand that this is Loki learning what it means to be a hero, but is that really what it means? To let go of your defining characteristic? To lose what makes you... you? To undergo true ego death so that the world itself can keep on spinning upon your skeleton? For all its over-explanation, Loki the show isn’t interested in answering much of anything. It’s poetic that he gives up his life so that reality can continue, but this seems rather pointless, in the end. Instead of embracing himself, he denies his identity to sit on a throne he doesn’t want. That’s no god of chaos and mischief. That is the god of stability, order, and the status quo.

That’s not Loki.

Pay no attention to the executive behind the curtain

I understand the mercenary reasons for these choices. I understand that the universe must keep spinning, and the infinite money machine must keep on making money. But to do so, they need to kill the defining characteristics of their beloved characters, and that just makes it all so thin, flimsy and frustrating. There are some amazing moments in this show! Everything with Sophie, Mobius, and Ouroboros is excellent. The characters make this nonsense story shine, long enough to make you hopefully realize that it doesn’t even make internal sense.

As someone who analyses stories for a living, it’s impossible to see this apart from the concept of capitalist realism, whose central maxim is this: It’s easier to believe in the end of the world rather than the end of capitalism. Substitute “capitalism” with “the underlying bureaucracy upon which the world rests and runs itself” and that becomes just the text of Loki. It’s easier to imagine the end of reality than the end of the TVA, and the end of the autocrat who sits on top of the pyramid. The Universe is run by a corrupt pyramid scheme, but it’s that or nothingness! So, you NEED someone to run things like this, otherwise it’s all void.

That’s what this story is saying—but why does it need to say this? Why do we need someone sitting on a throne? For a character like Loki whose entire character is anarchy incarnate, this simply just rings hollow.

And so, I am frustrated. I want to like “Loki.” It has some great moments and is a lot of fun. But at the end of the day, it does the character of Loki wrong but having to reinforce the status quo, and when your central character who is defined by causing mischief, maintaining the status quo is a terrible way to end your series.

#blog #tv #television #loki #marvel #marvel cinematic universe

8 notes · View notes

natequarter · 6 months

Note

⭐️!!!!!!

Ask game: Offer a director's commentary on a particular story.

before i get started, i just want to sneak in this beautiful line from the fic i'm about to talk about:

“God’s fish, what are you talking about?”

yep. real tudor expletive. it has a whimsical charm, if you ask me. anyway, down to business.

“Heywood?” John said. “Well, you know me: I—”

i like to sprinkle bits of history into my, well, historical fanfic. john isn't a real person (i made him up, he's humphrey's irritating and very calvinist best friend. he thinks sophie's going straight to hell), but the author referenced - john heywood - very much is! he was a catholic playwright who served every tudor monarch bar henry vii, seeing as he was literally twelve when he died. i think adding those references to real figures fleshes things out a bit. also, i like to allude to historical figures a lot without actually bringing them into the story, particularly the tudor monarchs who ruled over humphrey. it adds a real sense of the narrative being haunted by the spectre of elizabeth i and the gradual move towards anglicanism without me needing to accurately characterise real historical figures

“Sans fucking blague,” Sophie snapped, and he blinked at her.

“Did you just…?”

“Oui.”

this was funny, but also an opportunity to drop in the fact that sophie does know english perfectly well (she's about twenty-five here), she just refuses to speak it. nonetheless, humphrey kind of forces her hand into speaking bits of it, else he wouldn't be able to understand her at all - also a good mirror for the bone plot, where humphrey mixes english and rudimentary french to communicate with sophie. (just speak his language, oh my god)

He sat up. “You’re still here?”

He hadn’t meant for his voice to rise like that.

Sophie nodded. She was still holding his hand.

writing their canon relationship is so hard, not only because there's not much to go on, but also because... neither of them are, strictly speaking, the villains in this situation. they're just really mismatched. there's a fine line between making one of them a bit antagonistic and making one of them straight up cruel (sophie toes this line on a regular basis). it's rather difficult to humanise both of them at once, but, well, i tried

“Right,” he said. “It’s funny … I’d never have guessed that I’d end up here with you.”

“On est marié,” she said softly. She was looking at him in a funny way, as if she were searching for something; he wondered if she had found it.

He always worried that he was too easy to read.

i wrote this in what for me is a very barebones style, in an attempt to capture the raw sadness and honesty which i think permeates humphrey's life. they're alone, he's not trying to be so much more than he is here... but when so much of your life is a performance, it's hard to be honest! court politics is messy, complicated, and often cruel, and humphrey is a very genuine person. he struggles both with losing his identity in hiding himself and with being too open around someone who, frankly, he can't be open with

there's also, imo, a very genuine, if deeply buried, affection between the two of them. they're lonely! they're both so lonely! they're alone together in a viper's nest, and you never know who will bite. by this point they've known each other for over a decade, they live together, their lives are intertwined - it's hard not to have some kind of relationship. but at the same time... they can't just go to each other for comfort, but they are each other's anchor, after a fashion

“I could never leave you,” he said. “Not that I’ve tried,” he added hastily. “It’s strange, isn’t it? But—well—” Humphrey fumbled for words. “At the end of the day, it’s just you and me. I mean, sure, there’s other people who’ll stick around—but that’s their choice. You and me … like it or not, we’ll be together, in this world and the next.”

obligatory reference to sixteenth-century religion at the end there... anyway, it's not really there in canon, but in most of my fics with humphrey and sophie, even if there is no explicit romantic/sexual connection, there's usually some kind of ust thrown in there. we see that humphrey is very awkward around her in canon, he fumbles himself/his words/everything a lot, and accidentally comes off as flirting at one point. i kind of just built on that to leave an underlying tension of some kind between them. it's not love, it's not even really lust, but as i said, they're lonely, and in this fic, they take very brief comfort in each other. by shagging a lot. whilst drunk. that's one of my sadder headcanons for them - they had sex a few times over the years, not enough to really constitute a relationship, more a desperate cry for help human contact. in this particular one they were both drunk out of their minds and it's humiliating for both of them, but i do think there's a spark between them. if they chose to act on it, which for the most part they don't, they would be going at it a lot more (things escalate a lot). as it is, they're just alone together. misery loves company

“Vous croyez?” she said in earnest.

“Um,” he said.

In that hesitant moment, she kissed him.

like i say, Things Escalate. if humphrey's awkward around sophie, sophie is (this is entirely conjecture, frankly) the impulsive one. i.e. she's the one jumping his bones (heh), not the other way round. frankly, humphrey is aware of the power dynamic between them, and doesn't want to push it. sophie, on the other hand, is used to being the one who can't really exist freely because of her status as a french catholic, so she takes what she wants when she can. in this case, her husband!

He had only ever gone to bed with one other person—dear, sweet Jane: that had been three years ago now, and at any rate it had only lasted two months before he’d lost his nerve and asked her in the kindest way he could think of to leave.

jane is also a bit of a ghost in my sixteenth-century ghosts fics. she was (briefly) humphrey's mistress, before the guilt got to him (it got to him very quickly, poor lad), and he broke it off. he really doesn't like the thought of betraying what little honour sophie has, because he actually has a conscience

She pulled away, momentarily, and said: “Then do you want this?”

Which was a question that didn’t need answering; he pulled her in for another kiss, deeper this time, and took pleasure in her soft moan against his mouth.

“Please,” she gasped as his hands wandered lower, down towards her chest, her eyes wide and wanting. “I—I need you.”

It would have been hot—it was hot—he was already hopelessly distracted and they’d barely gone anywhere—if not for the fact that it was the first and last time he had seen her give in and let herself rely on him.

this kinda sums it all up; sophie is rather isolated in england, and, having been married off at a very young age in a country where she couldn't speak the language, she doesn't trust easily. (unless, you know, they're catholics.) humphrey is aware of this, but he also only sees the distant and cold side of sophie for the most part, so he's inclined to be bitter about it... somewhere, in the back of his mind. he's not really thinking with his head at this point

Once he had been distracted by such a small feature it was not difficult to let himself admire the rest of her: that normally harsh, unsmiling mouth, softened by the innocence of sleep; those long, deft fingers, perhaps apt for creation in a world where she did not loathe tapestries; her eyelashes, her collarbone, her philtrum—that gentle dint in between a nose and a mouth which both went straight down.

She was beautiful, and he didn’t know a thing about her.

sophie hot. thank you for coming to my ted talk. humphrey is well aware of this, he just doesn't often have the opportunity to appreciate that or indeed her softer side, which she only really reveals to him in her most vulnerable moments (i.e. asleep or shagging him)

“We are never talking about this again,” he said. “Ever.”

“À propos de—?” She sat up, as he had, and looked around in bewilderment at the evidence of the careless attention they had paid each other: at the doublet tossed onto the floor with haste, at the tangled sheets around them, at the various bruises blossoming down from her neck, and said, “On ne le discute plus jamais.”

this is the equivalent of a one night stand except with your wife who kinda hates you and who you're going to have to see for the rest of your lives together. they both immediately come to the same conclusion (they don't actually remember all of it and they're both horribly hungover, as well), that this is hugely embarrassing and best forgotten. i thought that was quite funny: both their identical reaction and the classic drunken one night stand scenario except it!s tudor england and you're literally married and oh thank god we have ruffs to hide those love bites. also, it's a reference to another fic:

More curious still was that when she unfolded the letters, they were creased, as if they had been unfolded and then refolded over and over again, read and reread until the contents bore evidence of careful attention.

which is itself isabelle/thomas, so i'm sure there's marital and romantic parallels to be drawn there

“You ramble too much,” she muttered, and then lay back down again, hair fanning out like a halo for a particularly annoying saint—not that he could picture her ever martyring herself.

“Well, I’m sorry,” he retorted. “Next time, I’ll—”

anyway, there's the more typical side of their relationship (and more comic) coming through. also, another reference to christianity; specifically, sophie is framed as a saint, with the halo referencing catholic imagery - the kind that was destroyed in many english churches during the iconoclasms of edward vi's reign

He rolled his eyes, and set out in search of a jug of water.

and we return to the status quo! the middle of this a tragedy. the end of it is a bit of a sitcom, really. sophie is irritating, distant, and, above all, intentionally unhelpful. humphrey doesn't know how to talk to her and at this point can't be bothered. their relationship turns back to what it was. the brief change ultimately does not last. anyway that was way too long. whoops

There had been that incident after he accidentally shot an arrow through Sophie’s favourite tapestry (it was a long story, and to be fair to her, she only had one tapestry she liked, so really it should have been easy to avoid), when she’d yelled what had sounded like some rather nasty French words, and then stormed off and refused to so much as exist within ten feet of him for a month. The court gossip that had emerged from that debacle had been worse than usual.

it does have a (very long) sequel, and i think this particular anecdote is relevant to the above post, in which sitcom-esque reversion does not ensue and they actually have to face the consequences of their actions. it takes... a while

(link)

#asks #humphrey bone #sophie bone #bbc ghosts

7 notes · View notes

maximalttigers · 10 months

Text

While I am stilling writing up profiles and designing characters for my Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! series 'Hunted Butterfly', I decided to do a quick character lineup of my OCs that I considered to be a part of the main cast. I will have a line up for supporting characters and antagonists.

I also wrote up some basic info about them as a form of roll call to introduce them to new people.

From left to right we have;

Salem- A demon spider-monkey hybrid. Knighted warrior of his home planet and guardian of his godson Reynold Nystrom Jr./Rain, he is Gibson's biological brother. His mysterious knowledge about Dark Ones and his unique combat have helped the Hyperforce team in many ways, they are concerned about his awareness of Dark Ones as he will not elaborate on where he got this knowledge from.

Tech- Commonly going by his nickname, a very skilled mechanic and Chrome's younger brother. He usually works alongside his creator/father in his projects and helping with raising his goddaughter, Sophie Ito. His understanding of new and old technology has helped the Hyperforce team a lot with fighting the war, he and Otto are close mechanic buddies as they work on new projects together while also having a mutual concern for Chrome albeit for slightly distinct reasons.

Chrome- A fully robot monkey mercenary as well as the chosen wielder of the Dark Reaper who fights the Krivark on his home planet. He is Tech's older brother and primary guardian of his goddaughter Sophie Ito; he later becomes Otto's boyfriend. He works to find the answers to many secrets relating to his home but also Eki's past, secretly having a feeling she's more important than what was originally thought to be.

Skyper- The last monkey created by the Alchemist and later became a Formless-Monkey Hybrid due to Skeleton King; he is Antauri's biological younger brother. He's very unique in not just biology but also in his general personality, at times he's mysterious even to himself. These days, he's acting as Eki's self-proclaimed guardian/protector.

Eki- A bionic human girl who was rescued from her 'creator' by the Hyperforce which after some time she becomes a member of the team and Chiro's foster sister. She is learning about life and freedom while adapting to her powers, thankfully for her she has a good support group in her growing development.

Amy- The botanist of the Hyperforce, using her knowledge to help Gibson craft cures and keep the team safe from dangerous specimens on unknown worlds. She is also Sparx's younger biological sister; She's probably one of the very few who can stop everyone else from killing Sparx but will have her moments where she wants to 'kill' him. While not an occasional fighter, she can hold her own when needed.

Azure Spear and Ruby Mace- A pair of monkeys who are very much in love to the point where they got married, they live on the same planet as Chrome and work various part-time jobs to keep themselves occupied. Azure is the peacekeeper while Ruby is the warrior, they in a way act as unofficial advisors to the Hyperforce with Ruby more of the fighting type mentor while Azure is the more emotional/mental advisor. They have a good relationship with the Hyperforce team while being old friends of Salem, Chrome and Tech.

Octavia- A monkey-sea siren/mermaid hybrid and the adopted daughter to the current queen of Atlantia, an underwater kingdom that resides in the Shuggazoom ocean. She acts as the expert of sea life and later becomes Gibson's girlfriend, through her Gibson has learned to relax more and accept the concepts of 'magic' better. She's close to the female members of the team and has a good relationship with the males, Sparx is protective of her's and Gibson relationship.

Coco- A young female monkey created by an exiled Veron Mystic member and raised as not just his student but also his daughter in a small pocket dimension. Other than the Power Primate, she had light and healing powers. She eventually becomes Antauri's girlfriend (And to Skyper's delight, his sister-in-law). She's honestly struggling to adapt to Shuggazoom but she knows that she'll be ok with the rest of the Hyperforce team with her.

Kaneki- One and the only surviving prototype of the monkey team who later became a part of the Super Robot as a part of its subconscious and in control of it. When he is discovered and his new body is completed with the updated nano bots, he is fully trusted with controlling the Super Robot when needed and acts as a secondary advisor and guardian to the whole team. It is heavily implied that he and Antauri have developed a form of psychic connection due to the events of 'I, Chiro' while he's lowkey worrisome about Chiro's future.

That's it for now, hopefully I will have written up the profiles for other characters as well.

#oc #hunted butterfly #srmthfg hb #srmthfg #digital art #antauri #art #chiro #gibson #otto

13 notes · View notes

tracing-lines-in-the-infinite · 12 days

Note

re: blow up my inbox rb

who are your fave characters from person of interest, bones & leverage, and why? :) !!

Ooh!! Thank you for asking I'm so excited to talk about my guys.I'll talk about my fav main & side character for each (though I had to force myself not to just keep typing because I adore all of these shows and characters.)

Person Of Interest:

John Reese is probably my favourite character, with Root and Sameen Shaw as second and third. Honorable mention that Root's line about the universe being chaotic and cold and there not being a plan before the machine from / (Root Path) is what I put on my cap when I graduated. And Shaw's a fav because I love her loyalty and that its tough to earn- I wish we could have seen her and Cole more but her and Lionel's relationship is probably one of my favourite from the show. In the Crossing(i think?) she saved his kid because she thought about what he would prefer she do and the way that she's careful with him and he thanks her.

Reese is my favourite for several reasons. The first of which is summarized in one of my fav episodes of the show, SNAFU, where Finch says "John has the heaviest heart of us all but he's trying his hardest to be good". To be honest I feel like he's just such a sad guy and yet even when he's trying to be good he's constantly failing in certain respects (though the show doesn't often take that perspective.) He's definitely helping people but he's also hurting a lot as well. There's just something about a character that's supposed to be dead trying to do life better while on borrowed time. The episode where we see a world without the machine and John is dead really hit home how the entire show is his attempt to make up for the sins of his life and it ends with him feeling accomplished that he's done something good (save Finch.)

My fav side character is Peter Collier. I will forever be mad that he died via Greer/Jeremy. He's a character that I want to rewatch season 3 and give my full attention to analyzing. This is in large part due to Leslie Odom Jr's incredible acting, but the fact that I truly believe he was right makes him all the more interesting to me that he was both a pawn and an antagonist. The fact that he made it a priority to not hurt innocent people in so important to me and the fact that Vigilance got framed for the explosion at the end of S3 makes me so mad. I will never forgive Decima/Greer for it.

In general I'll also say that the antagonists in POI was always great. I absolutely hate Greer and Martine which I think speaks to how well they were written as 'villains'. Elias, Anthony, Mini, Simmons, Alonzo Quinn, and all the members of HR, Vigilance, and the Brotherhood were such full characters that I enjoyed watching them interact with and antagonize team machine and each other throughout the show.

Leverage:

My fav main characters are the OT3, and I truly cycle through them all as my favourite so I'll just talk about everyone.

Parker is Parker and the way that's everything is so incredibly important to me. I adore her purely because of how incredibly written and developed she is. Her "I want to do the right thing" speech from The Long Way Down Job makes me cry just thinking about it.

Alec Hardison. Age of the Geek baby! As a black person ins STEM he's an inspiration for me. I just love how he's such a complete person. He's kind. He's soft. He's the smartest man Eliot has EVER known. He got to go to space! He started doing crime to pay for his foster mom's healthcare. Thinking about him makes me cry.

Eliot Spencer. He reminds me of John Reese but I don't cry as often with Eliot because to me he's much more settled(I don't think that's the right word so I'll be thinking about it more and lyk if i figure out what I mean). That said I think the fact that we don't get a full backstory on him (the least info of anyone besides Sophie iirc) makes him such an interesting character because he could have truly done ANYTHING! He's a chef. He plays guitar and sings. He's a baseball star. When he knocks people out they tend to stay knocked out. He can identify anything of important through its most distinctive quality and is right every time. All of these things come together to make a man that has done terrible things and knows- not believes but knows- that he will never be clean of them and decides to wake up everyday and help others.

Fav side character is Sterling. I love him and I love to hate him. He's just such a good antagonist. I absolutely adore him especially the justice vs order debacle during the long goodbye job. The fact that he's the one of them that understands Nate the best at the start and I find the dynamic between him and Eliot really entertaining.

Bones:

Hodgins is my favourite guy of all time. I truly adore how invested he is in his bugs and plants and spores & how excited he gets every single time they're able to help him solve a mystery. He's my inspiration for wanting to do something that I have a passion in and I cannot put words to how much I adore all of his antics. The ease with which he gave up his money as if it wasn't a question was something that made me appreciate him so much more and the development that happened afterwards was really lovely.

Side character(s)-wise I love the squinterns. I could maybe do some kind of ranking but I do think my top two would be Daisy and Edison. Honestly the more I think about them, the more indecisive I feel because I adored Wendell and Nigel-Murray and Arastoo and Fisher (and Zack tho I don't consider him a squintern).

Edison I connect to because his first and last name are two towns near where I grew up and he's so focused & serious with his work that it ostracizes him- which I felt with dance when I was younger.

Daisy I connect to a lot because she's unapologetically herself and refuses to change who she is- especially when it comes to her work! Her deciding to prioritize her career over her romantic relationship/Sweets meant a lot to me because it was such an in-character decision for her that a lot of others shows wouldn't have allowed to happen.

Thanks for the ask! Always happy to ramble about these guys.

#person of interest #bones #leverage #john reese #sameen shaw #root #parker leverage #eliot spencer #alec hardison #jim sterling #jack hodgins #zack addy #i feel like I rambled a bunch and idk if any of it makes sense #asked and answered #daisy wick #clark edison #peter collier #carl elias

6 notes · View notes

atopvisenyashill · 14 days

Note

What other projects have you watched with got and hotd actors and how do you like their performance outside of got/hotd?

I’ve watched probably….most of Matt Smith’s filmography on account of watching Doctor Who in high school and falling in love with him. I think he’s incredibly talented and charismatic and genuinely perfect casting as Daemon. I had also seen Paddy Considine in that movie Pride altho I didn’t recognize him as Viserys lmao but i adore that movie, you should watch if you haven’t seen it, it’s about the Lesbians And Gays Support The Miners movement and I definitely cried watching it aksjdjd. I also watched all of bates motel as it was airing which olivia is in (and also the sound of metal, which she and riz ahmed are amazing in, and also riz steven and chadwick were robbed that year smh). olivia and matt are actually The Reason i started hotd lol i didn’t intend to watch it but then i was like oh…..but……….i love them aksjsjs.

I have technically seen Rhys in several things but he’s Fine. I am still mad about him having zero chemistry with Lucy Liu in Elementary and ruining an entire season by having negative rizz. why am i supposed to believe that man is like some great love of watson’s life when they don’t even look like they like each other. rhys count your fuckijg days. i’ve also seen graham mactavish in a number of things, the first being Outlander and he was like, one of the best antagonist characters in the show, was both excited and devastated when his character died hah he has one of my favorite lines in the show which is “the idea of grinding your corn does tickle me” 💀💀😂😂

For the main show, I had seen Charles Dance in Phantom (he’s really good even tho it’s a more romantic take on the story but that’s fine i still love it!!!), Lena, Peter, & Mark in like Most Of Their Filmographies bc i was already a fan of them, who hasn’t seen at least five Sean Bean deaths, and I’d seen a few Alexander Siddig, Ciaran Hinds, Iain Glenn, & Indira Varma in a bunch of stuff too and loved them - Kingdom of Heaven & Syriana & DS9, Persuasion & The Terror, Resident Evil, Kama Sutra.

I’ve seen Gwendoline, Elyes (he was Rakharo, rip to an icon), Thomas Brodie, Sophie, Maisie, Kit, Richard, Jason (Momoa), Michelle, and Tobias in a bunch of other stuff since I started the show. I think Gwendoline is incredibly talented, as are Sophie and Maisie. Richard imo usually needs a good script to shine - like Rocketman? amazing. Eternals? Meh - and Kit is uh. Sometimes he has good chemistry with other actors. I paid real money to see him in Pompeii and my sibling holds a grudge against me to this day for that one aksjd. Jason Momoa has a tendency to just play different versions of himself but the movie Red Road Redemption is real good, it’s about MMIW & his acting abilities really shine, I’d love to see him in more serious or more romantic roles and less action roles. I cannot praise Tobias Menzies more highly, hes in Outlander, The Terror, and the Crown and he’s just sublime in all of them and you’d never know it by the way they wrote Edmure. OH SHIT also obviously Jacob Artist in IWTV is amazinnnnnnng EGOT INCOMING and Nathalie Emmanuel was REALLY FUN in The Invitation!!!

Probably my favorite of everyone is Peter Dinklage tho, he’s very serious & choosy with his roles bc he doesn’t want to play a stereotype and it’s made his filmography just *muah* like it’s so interesting and varied and he puts his whole heart into every role however goofy or serious it is. i love him, i want him to be the romantic lead in more stuff bc i’m a romantic and also like, a pervert and he’s so handsome aksksk.

Also Ciaran Hinds & Amanda Root Persuasion >>>>>>>>>>> Those Other Two

#asks #anons #i think that’s everyone…..#nathalie was in like 2 seconds if the misfits so i recognized her but i hadn’t seen her in anything #i can’t even remember the first thing i saw dinklage in bc i remember watching narnia and going ‘hey i know him!!’#i think penelope? which is the perfect movie i’m dead ass. by the time i was like 12 i was watching his backlist bc i loved him.#i have seen last christmas which was like. fine.#i also want richard to kiss more men on screen but that’s bc RICHARD clearly wants to kiss more men on screen akskskdkd.

4 notes · View notes

thecomicsnexus · 1 year

Photo

TMNT: THE ARMAGEDDON GAME - THE ALLIANCE #4 FEBRUARY 2023 BY SOPHIE CAMPBELL, ERIK BURNHAM, BRITTANY PEER, ROI MERCADO, WILLIAM SOARES, NATE WIDICK AND SHAWN LEE

Venus and Bludgeon get dragged into the future, where their future selves are fighting against Armaggon!

SCORE: 9

There is a lot to unpack in this issue.

We continue seeing Sophie Campbell’s version of the future. A future that so far seemed to be a little idyllic, but Donatello’s resentment against his brothers and extended family gives me Mirage vibes.

I think this is also the first time I see QNA being used after it was mentioned in TMNT #50 (it is probably the key ingredient to the turtles reincarnation). I am sure it was mentioned earlier, but this seems to be the first time Donatello is aware of it. And the thing about QNA is that is infinite energy or something... I think I will have to analyze the whole thing once the dust settles.

Armaggon looks amazing, and he is more of shark than a mutant shark... however... I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a ship or something like that. It’s funny that Bludgeon is in this story, considering how he was originally going to be this universe’s version of Armaggon until Waltz changed his mind. Now Armaggon seems to be the next big antagonist for the series.

I am not sure how I feel about Venus now knowing about her WHOLE future and everything she learned during her life. I am sure this an important part of the plot (to prevent whatever is happening here)... but by knowing everything, she runs into the risk of becoming the Mary Sue fans accused (mistakenly) Venus of being in the TV show. It was fun when adult Lita knew everything, but this gives too much authority to the character for the future of the book. I hope she doesn’t actually know EVERYTHING.

I do like her redesign though, she wasn’t going to stay Frankenstein’s monster forever, this we know because we already saw her in a panel from the future in previous issues. So hopefully this puts some Venus fans at ease. Although I can imagine that hardcore fans of Venus will probably not be over the fact that she wasn’t even a turtle (and she was actually human).

When it comes to gender issues, if Jennika’s situation could remind someone of the struggles of transexuals, then Venus situation could be similar to that of the intersexuals. However, considering she was originally a human girl, I don’t think it matters whether she is a frog or a turtle now. She does seem to have identity issues until this issue though. But this brings a question to my head right now...

If the effects of the Mutagen bomb were reversed... what would happen to Venus? She didn’t just transformed... she also had a lot of surgery made on her. I am sure we’ll never find out. Or at least, I hope not.

In the end Bludgeon and Venus do not join Karai in her recruitment. In fact, Bludgeon quit the Foot clan and wants to start a new clan. I assume, the clan from the future, which I always assumed was the Splinter clan.

The art difference between the main and the backstory is a little jarring. There is no way of competing with Campbell’s take on the turtles.

The only problem I see with this issue (and why it isn’t a 10), is that it relies too much on the whole Mutant Town saga (particularly the Lita issues). Since we are still to have a proper explanation of this future, it is hard to keep track of things.

#idw comics #idw entertainment #comics #review #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #venus #venus de milo #bludgeon #sophie campbell #2023 #post modern age #the armageddon game #the alliance

28 notes · View notes

an-ungraceful-swan · 1 year

Text

Here is my extra credit essay for @camelspit. I hope it’s satisfactory Professor.

———

Anyway, I’m so unwell about Lady Galvin I wrote an essay

Lady Galvin is introduced in the first KotLC book as an antagonist, albeit a minor one. She teaches alchemy and fails most of her prodigies, according to Dex. It’s mentioned that the only reason she teaches is because she is Talentless and is only doing it for the title. She’s portrayed as vain, especially when it comes to her capes, and is often rude towards Sophie.

While being rude to literal children is not a great look I’ll admit, it’s understandable. In this essay I will explain how Lady Galvin is a prime example of the flaws culturally ingrained within the Lost Cities.

Let’s start with the most obvious metaphor, her capes. Foxfire is what is known as a “Noble School.” This means that you must complete it, including the elite levels, to fully join the nobility. The mentors, as I’ve been able to gather, are a small subsection of the nobility. They have a title and capes. Because apparently capes are important. One of the very first things we learn about Lady Galvin is she cares A LOT about her capes. Sophie destroys her cape, furthering Lady Galvins dislike towards her. Her detention is having her prodigies iron them out, and she is generally in love with them.

At first it’s a bit confusing as to why she cares so much, but when you think a little harder it makes sense. The cape is the symbol of everything she can’t have (a title, power, etc.) She’s talentless, so the only way she can get any of that is by being a mentor. So she’s defensive of her capes because it’s the only bit of power she can exert.

Let’s get to the second point. I’m not excusing her actions completely, because she can be a bit of a bitch. I do not endorse being an asshole to children. That being said, if I had to teach the children of the people who are the reason my life sucks so much, I would fail them too.

Especially considering she’s probably seen former students manifest abilities and go on to achieve things in government she couldn’t dream of. She’s bitter but has no way to destroy the system. She’s played by all the rules and there’s nowhere else for her to go.

Enter Sophie Foster. She is the golden child who is automatically accepted into elven society for just existing. One ability? No, she has 15 million. (Citation Needed) No wonder Lady Galvin has something against her. She’s the epitome of everything she hates. Sophie did nothing to deserve her status and yet she still has it.

In conclusion, Lady Galvin is the perfect metaphor for everything that’s fucked in the lost cities (except for matching but Shannon told me she’s gay and in love with Master Cadence so…)

#kotlc #swan says a thing #kotlc analysis #lady galvin #keeper of the lost cities

18 notes · View notes

youareinlovetv · 2 months

Text

so my friend maddy (mentioned in previous posts) has this whole fascination with communism

she’s an anti communist, but she’s interested

and she talks about it so much that in certain classes we (meaning our class, and more specifically me and my other friend) have banned her from saying the 4 C words

the actual C word

chaos

cult

communisn

in some lessons she is not allowed to say these words lmao

#maddy being bi-conic*#sophie being the antagonist of my life*#cult #chaos #communism

0 notes

businesstiramisu · 1 year

Text

Okay I rewrote the post. Thoughts on the last tenth (or so) of Worth the Candle:

[I don't really expect this to be interesting to anyone except me, but i do want to save these for future me, lol]

I found the ttrpg Fel See Incident much more satisfying than the Aerb version. No, not satisfying, it was horrible. But it was exactly what the story had been building it up to be, for 1 million plus words, and that's quite an accomplishment. Whereas the Fel Seed of Aerb.... I think the problem is scope creep? When the stakes get Too High and the antagonists (or protagonists, for that matter) get Too Powerful my brain just gives up and I disengage. Like "sure, whatever, just tell me who wins". Whereas the ttrpg version, and the real world-level drama around it, felt horribly plausible.

I did like "we'll win the second time because, if Joon had gotten a second chance at the game, he would have let the players win." That was a nice bit of narrative reinforcement/article of faith.

I love the Long Stairs. It's almost enough to make me think I should give SCP a more serious look, but I'm still worried the horror will be Too Scary for me. (And don't get me wrong I would hate to play a ttrpg campaign in it... actually, maybe it wouldn't be worse than usual? I could just follow the RDP instructions instead of my usual choice paralysis. well, depends on how often they come up. I probably wouldn't like having to make new characters constantly b/c they keep dying.) But like when Juniper wished they could've stayed in the labyrinth and explored the other cultures living there, I was right there with him.

The final reveal of Uther/Arthur..... hmmm, complicated feelings. On the one hand, ugh! why couldn't he just apologize, and admit to being terrible!! Well, he kinda did later... to Juniper, after they'd spent a long time rebuilding camaraderie and basically giving each other a pass for the horrible shit each considered the other to have done. And that was depressingly realistic. Well, idk that anything in my life compares (fortunately) but the most serious, scary arguments in my life have mostly gone like that.

Juniper and Arthur's ultimate goodbye felt appropriate, even cathartic. Raven and Bethel didn't get anything comparable though. Just Uther brushing them off (or in Ravens case saying "I understand this is hard for you but you've got to suck it up", basically). Which, yeah the world ain't fair. It wasn't justice, though. They didn't get their due like Juniper did.

The final conversation withe the dungeon master was also surprisingly satisfying! I liked it a lot more than when Sophie's World did the same thing. (And I've probably read more books that have the character confront the fact that they're characters in a novel, but that's what came to mind lol).

Maybe b/c it was really funny how the DM told Juniper "you're all characters in a novel I'm writing" and Juniper immediately rejected that explanation as bullshit.

Similarly, the Narrator, as the actual Juniper who was writing WTC

Heaven!Fenn though, felt overly self-indulgent to me. Which is maybe ridiculous, b/c the whole story is an exercise in self-indulgence/self-examination, but i dunno she just didn't work for me

Well, it's pretty hilarious that she was The One Person In Aerb Ever To Go To Heaven, and was always destined to be that one person. Hilarious in a pretty arbitrary way.

Someone in the comments to Ch. 245 or 246 said that "Worth the Candle but Reimer died instead of Arthur" is a great fanfic premise and... i dunno, it would be a massive amount of work, but it's tantalizing to think about. Seems like Aerb would have to be very different with--well, idk, would it be a whole collection of Reimer's characters, since he never seemed as devoted to one of them?-- instead of Uthur Penndraig, but with the themes of putting people on a pedestal, using their tragedies as an excuse to wallow in your own grief and depression and rage, and also the DM presumably having the same goals, I have to wonder how much it would even matter?!

Wow, the void beast was a metaphor for global warming?! kinda kicking myself for not picking up on that. Unless I just forgot about it; this story is really long.

#worth the candle #my own liveblogging #justice for bethel #justice for raven

12 notes · View notes

chthonic-cassandra · 2 years

Text

So, I read the first 10 Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse books over the past month (interspersed of course with other books so I didn't lose my mind). I might read the remaining volumes eventually, but these were the ones I physically had in my possession.

I've been largely enjoying them, though the quality ebbs and flows and some of the books are so incoherently paced that they stop being fun and begin to become extremely difficult to get through. At their best, they strike a fine balance between vampire drama and quotidian detail, making good use of Sookie's almost absurdly optimistic narrative voice, which I think either charms you or drives you out of your mind.

(Representative episode: in book two, Sookie is traveling on a special vampire-accommodating airline to a job using her telepathic powers to assist a vampire leader in another state. She's never been on an airplane before, and tells us, the readers, how impressed she is at the politeness of the flight attendants and the beverages they offer. At length.)

It has something in common with both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sunshine, all three of which were released roughly contemporaneously and center around a young woman with supernatural powers who is trying to live a normal life but has to deal with vampire drama. All three texts are interested in humor and horror, vampires and everyday life, abrupt tonal shifts. All of them try to keep vampires as horrific figures (to varying degrees) while also building in a vampire-human romance. I'm sure all three works were influenced by each other (Buffy and Angel get a direct nod in Harris' work), but there's something interesting about the convergence. Sunshine is very much my favorite, of course.

I still find Harris' direct analogizing of vampires to oppressed minorities in our world offensive, as I did when I first learned the premise of the books and tv show, though I've softened enough as a consumer of vampire media to be interested in it. The basic frame - something shifts in the world so that vampires no longer need to prey on humans to survive, and the question of how both they and the humans adjust to that - is an interesting piece of world-building.

I don't think Harris is always up to the task of grappling with the moral dimensions of it, of dealing with vampires who have killed many people no longer needing to. The books are at their weakest when Harris runs herself into a corner with the amount of violence that happens to, around, and by Sookie, when we as the readers are supposed to take some parts of seriously and shrug off others. I'd be interested in the darker version of the story, but wouldn't I always?

The vampire characters are often fun, though softened too much for my taste by the need to have Sookie be never too much in danger by characters we are supposed to like (Eric was more interesting when he was more of an antagonist; I suspect this is not an unpopular opinion among readers).

I have now gone back to the tv show, which I am finding more engaging after reading the books; a lot of this I think is about bracing myself for the sex scenes, which I found pretty unwatchable the first time I tried. The show is being rather more direct and intentional in how it deals with race and sexuality, though I am reserving judgement so far about how well it does at that.

The best part of the books by far is of course Queen Sophie.

#books #vampires #this is an absolute jumble of thoughts sorry

21 notes · View notes

writernopal · 1 year

Text

Top 10 Character Essence Tag

Tagged by @leighvalentin in a new-to-me tag! See their post here!

Rules:

A challenge to give your Top 10 favourite characters, based on their ESSENCE. They have to be favourite characters that also have a deeper literary value, where you enjoy their specific role in the story, and this means that the list also should exclude characters that would normally count as favourites if for purely nostalgic reasons. They can be from film, tv, or written media, anything.

Alright I have to admit, I dragged my feet on this one because I had to think very hard about all of these!

Tagging (gently): @sam-glade @elshells @mariahwritesstuff @autumnalwalker and anyone else who'd like to do this!

10. Skeeter - The Help

Skeeter is the epitome of how blind someone can become in the face of morality. She constantly asserts that she is doing right by the maids she interviews for her book and believes she is above her peers and family because of her more 'modern' outlook. The film frames her as a hero for these aspects, but if you look deeper, this heroism doesn't really exist. She's just lauded for being a hero because everyone else lacks any sort of decency. I enjoy the take on perspective this brings to the table and also the bitter taste her character leaves in my mouth. Proof that anyone can be the hero of their own story and how that view can easily become flawed.

9. Sophie - Howl's Moving Castle

Sophie is on this list because she is the epitome of an arc I love in any character: self-discovery and self-acceptance. The way her age fluctuates throughout the film is a subtle and clever way of demonstrating this progression! That aside, what is more compelling to me about that and her as a character is how often she goes through that change and doesn't even realize it. She is a beautiful representation of how someone who can be considered inherently 'good' and 'humble' can still wrestle with their own identity and perceived worth. She's also a great representation of how coming to that realization often takes a lot of work, and the progress is most definitely NOT linear.

8. Miranda - The Devil Wears Prada

Aside from being played by one of my favorite actresses of all time, Miranda is a favorite of mine because of a line that Andy says in the movie: "If Miranda were a man, no one would notice anything about her except how good she is at her job." She's set up to be the obvious antagonist of the story from the start (and rightfully so because, objectively, she treats Andy like trash), but I think she highlights how important gender is as part of perception (both IRL and in media). Sure, it's entertaining (to a degree) to watch her dunk on Andy the whole time and maybe to even start hating her somewhere along the way because she's just SO much, but I think the ire her character elicits is absolutely far greater than it would have been were she a man. And I realize this is a VERY narrow take on the discussion of gender as a whole and probably pretty basic compared to other depictions of it, but it's accessible and direct, which I believe is valuable if only to stir the mind to become more curious and engaged with the subject.

7. Betty - Mad Men

A character whom I adore because she is the tragic product of her times. She is the quintessential American housewife, with the two kids, the white picket fence, money, and every comfort imaginable laid at her feet. Despite this, she is so SO unhappy, and I FEEL for her. She often laments her own loneliness and how she has no one who will listen to her. She feels no sense of belonging, nor does she feel she has refuge in the place she should consider home. She is portrayed as combative and childish, often dismissed, and it is often implied that she is stupid. I think she highlights exceptionally well how the caged nature of life, and more specifically, the traditionally caged life of women, is the source of undying anguish and of a one-dimensional, inaccurate, and cold representation of the self in the eyes of onlookers.

6. Joan - Mad Men

If I could put all of the ladies from Mad Men on this list, I would! But Joan is on here because she's tragic in a different way from Betty. Yes, I said tragic, and I stand by that because, despite her relatively happy ending, she has to endure loss and disillusionment, all while pretending that it's not happening. She works so hard to portray this outward appearance of a life that isn't falling apart or miserable. And this is not me ragging on her choices; her life is made miserable by the people, specifically the men around her, forcing her to be complacent in the system that is keeping her in check to cover their own asses. The episode that hits me the hardest is when she is having her going away party, and she is telling everyone how she is going to move out to the country with her doctor husband only to burst out crying because just the night before, he's told her that he didn't get the residency and she can't quit her job. But it's too late, and now, instead of saying anything about it, she bites the bullet in favor of protecting her husband's reputation. I think she perfectly represents the effects of sustained sacrifice of the self for the sake of survival.

5. Elisa - The Shape of Water

Oh, my dear Elisa! She is a huge inspiration for Mariel, but that is not why she's here. She's here because I think her character does an excellent job of avoiding a lot of common (and frankly rather gross) ableist tropes. It's not overlooked that she's mute, and many characters in the film comment on it, explicitly bringing it to the viewer's attention. She is seen as being uncomfortable and even disturbed by the attention placed on it at times (Strickland, I'm looking at you), and openly expresses the desire to be seen for more than her disability. I think the film does an excellent job of highlighting how actually weird it is that we (collective/societal we) fixate on disabilities in general and gives weight to the view that many abled folks ignore in favor of being overly aware of a disability should it be apparent (Let's not even get to the levels of weird/3d chess abled people play with unseen disabilities). This is not to say that we should all hold hands and pretend that people with disabilities just need to 'try harder' or that they can 'do anything'. It's more important and not a 'bad' or 'taboo' thing to acknowledge limitations when they exist. Offering a helping hand when needed, and more specifically, wanted by the individual, is okay, but they're people dammit. Treat them as such.

4. Lenore - Castlevania

I liked Lenore's character from the start for the more surface-level reasons. I thought she was clever, witty, and fun, but the more I got to know her, and especially when I saw how her story ended, she quickly became one of my all-time favorites. She is the epitome of a slow-born realization that things are quickly spiraling out of control, and is horrified by her circumstances. I remember reading that a lot of people really hated her ending, but I was not among those who did. I believe that it was her way of choosing freedom, especially after her world had been shattered and forever changed. While sad, I think it was appropriate, and I remember feeling at peace along with her. Ultimately, I think it demonstrates that the decisions made by others don't need to make sense to us, and often won't, because we have not lived their experience and may not fully understand the impact those experiences may have had on them.

3. Fane - Divinity Original Sin II

I fully realize that Fane falls into the trope of sad immortal and a little into the territory of robot learning to love, but what captivates me the most about him is how we have the opportunity to grieve with him throughout the game. He initially comes off as very on his high horse and is pretty obtuse in his complaints about humanity, but as you befriend him, he grows to see the beauty in the world as it is and even begins to care for it. His story, I think, provides a really interesting take on perspective and circumstances, specifically how impactful these are to behavior and disposition. Anyone can become a hero/villain given the right circumstances type beat.

2. Waymond Wang - Everything, Everywhere, All At Once

Waymond is arguably one of the more low-key characters in Everything, Everywhere, but it's for that reason that he's my favorite. He doesn't go through major growing pains like some of the other cast does, and he seems to be mostly the same, no matter what universe Evelyn jumps to, and it's for this reason, I like him so much. I wouldn't venture to say that his ideal of unyielding kindness and compassion is the 'right' way to be, but I think it makes the more important point that when you are authentically yourself, no matter what life throws at you, you will be able to make something of it. Just as growth is important, so too is the ability to stick to your true self and live in a way that makes you feel fulfilled, even if others do not understand it or would argue that it makes you weak.

1. Alma - Phantom Thread

I will admit I didn't like Phantom Thread when I watched it the first few times. I thought it was strange, disorienting, and a little disturbing, and I was particularly confused by Alma's character. I'm still figuring her out, but I'm absolutely enchanted by her, not just because of her mannerisms but because I think she functions as a very cleverly disguised form of rage. It's so quiet you almost don't notice, and that subtlety is what is so satisfying about her, even if what she is doing is something you might not approve of and does an excellent job of making a successful commentary of the nuances of dysfunctional and abusive relationships. She is brilliantly written and nuanced for so many reasons. That makes her my all-time fave!

#character essence tag #tag game #writeblr tag games #character analysis

6 notes · View notes

sophiaannecarusos · 2 years

Text

Sophia Anne Caruso Interviewed for Teen Vogue Sophia Anne Caruso is the star of The School for Good and Evil, but one could say that she’s been a star for years, since she was only nine.

Performing her way from her hometown of Spokane, Washington to New York City, the actress collected a handful of onstage and onscreen credits before she even turned 16. Sophia’s talent as a dynamic stage performer earned her a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for her role as Iris in The Nether and critical acclaim for her hypnotizing presence as Lydia in Broadway’s Beetlejuice: The Musical. Now, the 21-year-old is bringing that talent to the screen for one of her first major film roles as Sophie in the Netflix fantasy film The School for Good and Evil.

Based on the New York Times bestselling series by Soman Chainani, The School for Good and Evil centers on two childhood best friends Sophie and Agatha (played by Sofia Wylie). The duo’s lives are turned upside down when they’re kidnapped from their village and sent to an enchanted institution. At the academy, aspiring heroes and villains are trained to become legendary enough for their own fairytales, and ultimately protect the balance of good and evil.

The regally-dressed students in the School for Good, nicknamed the “Evers,” learn the power of smiling and finding true love’s kiss, while the witchy punk-goth “Nevers” learn how to look menacing and incite chaos.

An avid reader of fairy tales, Sophia’s character Sophie has long dreamt of becoming a princess. Sophie saw attending the school as her ticket out of her “mediocre” provincial village life. But when she winds up being placed in the School for Evil instead of Good, she embarks on a thorny journey of self-discovery. Refusing to accept her new status, Sophie relentlessly tries to prove that she’s a princess, not a witch. But she eventually learns she doesn’t have to be a princess to get what she wants.

“I was excited by [Sophie]... the variety, all of the colors that there is to play in her,” Sophia tells Teen Vogue, admitting that she’d probably be a Never in real life. “When I first looked at the character description, I was like, ‘Hm, princess. Let me read this script.’ And I was like, ‘Oh no, she's not just a princess, she's also kind of a devil.’”

Throughout the film, Sophia’s character teeters between protagonist and antagonist as she tries to take unapologetic reign of her own destiny. Sophie effectively enters her villain era — if that’s what it truly means to forge your own path.

“I think it can be difficult, especially for young women, not knowing exactly who you are and not knowing or not feeling comfortable pushing the boundaries as a young woman, but I think Sophie very clearly does that,” says Sophia. “She pushes everybody. She just crosses every boundary.”

Sophie’s redemptive qualities, from standing up for her outcast best friend to empowering her Never peers, is what makes her an unexpected antihero. According to Sophia, Sophie’s journey across the spectrum good and evil teaches audiences a valuable lesson.

“There's a little bit of both [good and evil] in all of us, and that's okay,” she says. “You don't have to be perfect [or] really good all of the time, because that's just not how humans work. It's not how people work.”

Her complex character arc also shows young women that they don’t have to conform. Like her character, Sophia doesn’t conform to a label either.

“With my fashion choices, with my music, or the work I choose, I want to push boundaries and just be ever-changing and reinventing myself all the time, because it's how you figure out who you are,” she says. “You experiment in all the different versions of yourself. There's a million versions of me and who I am. I'm not just one thing. I'm not completely solved in who I am, [I’m still] figuring that out. I always say to myself, ‘We're all just growing ourselves up all the time.’ We're all still realizing who we are… ever-changing and morphing, and I'm always reinventing myself in search of self.”

Throughout the film, Sophie’s wickedly stylish costumes signaled each stage of her search of self. Sophia explains that the costume her character wears at the start of the film, a quilted patchwork village dress, represents “making the most of what she has.” “She’s trying her hardest,” says Sophia. Once the character unwillingly enters the School for Evil, however, she wears what Sophia calls a “sack dress.”

“[It’s] actually one of my favorite costumes, because I love the ropes that she adds. They symbolize being bound, but it's also like she's trying to make a fashion statement with it, which is so cool… I love that costume, because it's just so badass.”

While Sophie eventually becomes a powerhouse in her own right, Sophia notes that she was surrounded by real-life powerhouses on set. Sophia’s co-stars included high-profile actors like Michelle Yeoh, Charlize Theron, and Kerry Washington. “The women on set really held it together,” says Sophia. “It was really awesome to be in a female-forward story, a story about young girls, and also be surrounded by so many well-established actresses and strong women.”

Ultimately, the truest love in the film is not between a princess and prince but friends Agatha and Sophie — two strong women themselves. Sophie and Agatha formed their friendship at an early age, but behind the scenes, Sophia says her bond with Sofia began with a chemistry test over Zoom. While on set, they deepened their connection by hanging out during lunch breaks and sharing a “mutual love of chocolate.” Soon enough, Sophia and Sofia became real-life friends.

“I love what the girls represent,” Sophia says of Sophie and Aggie. “I hope that it can set a positive example by the end of the movie for girls and their friendships.”

Overall, Sophia aims to continue inspiring girls with her portrayal of realistic young women. “I suppose my whole life I'm going to be looking to play authentic women and represent what that is versus the Hollywood version of what a woman or a teenage girl is,” she says. “I'm sort of anti-that. I'm pro-real-girls and representing them, because that's what the female demographic [wants] and that's what I want to put forward… I hope that it inspires them and they feel like they can relate to it.”

Sophia isn’t entering her villain era — she’s entering her transformation era, inspiring all those watching at home to live our most authentic lives. Good, evil, and everything in between.

#sophia anne caruso #sofia wylie #tsfgae #sge #the school for good and evil #teen vogue #interview #tabitha yuen

5 notes · View notes