Wave Celestial Intent

I think as of TVL 3.05 I've seen enough data points to confidently say IWTV/TVL isn't just changing the canon selectively.

I think they picked a specific event in Lestat's life and had that one event go differently, and all the subsequent timeline changes are a result of this.

My hypothesis? The divergence point is Gabrielle convincing Lestat to kill the de Lioncourt family with her. (Though it could be something even earlier that that.)

Here's my take:

In the book, Lestat's family is killed during the French Revolution by a mob because they are aristocrats. Lestat's father barely escapes. Eventually, Lestat and Gabrielle part ways and then Lestat takes his father to New Orleans.

While in New Orleans in the late 1700s, he meets white plantation owner Louis de Pointe du Lac and befriends him for (among many reasons) his wealth so Lestat can look after his father in comfort during his old age.

But because Lestat's father is dead in the show at Lestat and Gabrielle's hands, this never occurred.

Because Lestat's family died earlier, he might have been around to see Nicki die instead of traveling at the time. It's not a direct cause/effect but it is possible.

Also because Lestat's family died, it might follow that his travels with Gabrielle were different so he didn't go looking for Marius the same way. Again, it's not a direct cause/effect but it is possible. They're still traveling together in 1802, when in book canon, Claudia was made in 1794 so this is much longer.

TVL 3.05 and book canon hint that Akasha was already growing tired of Enkil when she and Lestat met in the book canon.

But since they didn't meet at their original date in the late 1700s, by 1802 Akasha took matters into her own hands and mind-whammied Marius into leaving Enkil out in the sun (at least, that's my theory as to how Enkil died. You can't convince me that Mr. Martyr To Those Who Must Be Kept Marius would ever slip up that badly while transferring them to a new location. Nah, Akasha set it up, I'm convinced.)

But to go back to Lestat, at this point, he goes to the New World after 1900.

Because Lestat wasn't there to turn white, plantation-owner Louis de Pointe Du Lac, Book Louis's mortal descendants of mixed race instead inherited the plantation's wealth.

TV Show Louis in fact mentions that he had a plantation-owning great-something grandfather. In my opinion, that great-grandfather was the book!Louis, who TV!Lestat never met.

Because events played out this way (otherwise more or less the same as in book IWTV but staggered by ~100 year) Louis and Armand's relationship isn't quite the same. TV!Louis and TV!Armand don't drift apart soon after leaving Paris the way their book counterparts did, they stay together.

As a result, Armand isn't single when he meets fascinating young Daniel. He therefore is able to bring greater willpower to bear in denying young Daniel his demand to be turned into a vampire.

However, the love is real, so Armand continues to stalk and pine after Daniel and, eventually, we are brought full circle with now Old Daniel being brought to Dubai to interview Louis and save Armand from this emotionally stagnant relationship the two are stuck in.

happy new year -------------_--------------------

like they are NOT on good terms this season, but this is a moment of, "i am showing this painful, infected wound to you because you have a matching one, and you are the only one who can do this for me." like this is a big, extremely vulnerable ask from louis.

and even lestat's quiet "yes. okay." in this request even though things are bad, because this is a request of one parent to another and thus sidesteps the conflict of, "we are supposed to be something to each other, but you didn't even call when i was shot." like louis is louis and the great love of his life, but louis is also the person he raised a child with, and that bond still stands strong enough to call a favor in on.

and louis's tone when lestat brings up claudia's eyes and louis jumps in with, "i know, right? there's no spark." and there is SO MUCH pain in it but also such a moment of, "she was our child and you know her like i did. you know her eyes. talk to me about her because it's the only way she can still exist, and you are the only one she can exist for me with. she was ours."

is the actual epitome of all things scrum diddly cunt-tious, the PINNACLE of serving absolute pussõire??!?

Already does. In Star Trek Picard S2 when they went back in time to 2024, none of the characters had to change their outfits because their 25th century fashion was just like, normal jackets t-shirts and trousers in a variety of black, grey and brown fabrics. A stark contrast to early TNG, where - while everything looked painfully 80's - the non-uniform attire was all fun shapes and textures that didn't actually resemble off the shelf clothes as far as I'm aware*

Even the uniforms are AMAZING from a tailor perspective!

They didn't want ugly zippers to show so the closures of the uniforms are in the seam of the raglan sleeve!!!!

In all the new adaptations they are lazy and don't do raglan and put the zippers in the back and it looks shit

Not even to mention the incredible lines of the womens uniforms!!!

Like look how smartly the lines for the pattern go, to not just have boring darts in places! These costumes STILL look futuristic!

You could not even see this on 1960s TVs!

A few months before he passed away in 2003, a 74 year old children’s television host sat down in the same studio where he had filmed 895 episodes over 33 years and recorded one last message. It wasn’t for children. It was for the adults who had grown up watching him.

Fred Rogers hosted Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood on American public television from 1968 to 2001. For over three decades he walked into the same set, changed into a cardigan and sneakers, looked directly into the camera, and spoke to children as if each one of them was the only person in the room. He never raised his voice, never talked down to his audience, and never rushed a single moment.

In that final recording, he looked into the camera one last time and said “I’m just so proud of all of you who have grown up with us. And I know how tough it is some days to look with hope and confidence on the months and years ahead. But I would like to tell you what I often told you when you were much younger. I like you just the way you are.”

And like there was no permanent cast, all these celebrities seem to have gotten a scene or part of a scene to do (i’m not sure exactly, I did not ever watch Quibi and thus haven’t seen this yet), and then they just… recreated it as best they could. At home. Under quarantine.

So like, you had Jennifer Garner in a blanket cape playing Princess Buttercup AND the Booing Old Woman with a crowd comprised entirely of stuffed animals:

Or Taika Waititi paying Westley off a badly-drawn Inigo on a piece of cardboard held in front of someone’s face:

And it’s all just delightful.

But my absolute favorite part of this thing that I’ve sadly never seen but assume is probably absolutely hilarious and a treasure and I want to find it some day and watch the whole thing… is that Carey Elwes is in it.

As Prince Fucking Humperdink.

Here ya go

earlier this week Twitter user ppuccin0 tweeted about a fashion article that advised against tops with large floral patterns, saying the wearer was in danger of looking like a "ロマンティックおばさん," or a "romantic auntie." the tweet went viral with many agreeing that a "romantic auntie" sounded like a very nice thing to aspire to be, and some even posted illustrations or photos tagged with the trend

illustration by Toyota Yuu (author of Cherry Magic)

illustration by 141shkw/Sora Midori (author of Beautiful Curse)

photos by Takinami Yukari (author of Motokare Mania and Watashi-tachi wa Mutsuu Ren'ai ga Shitai or "We Want A Painless Romance")

illustration by m:m (mangaka of Matataki no End Roll)

illustration by ooinuai (mangaka of Onikui Kitan)

illustration by ma2 (mangaka of The Reason We Fall In Love)

BONUS:

Meanwhile Ariel with legs;

Ariel already loved the human world long before meeting Eric (you don’t get a collection like hers overnight) and when she finally got a chance to explore it, she took it.

Ursula made it about Eric. She didn’t have to. Ariel had to get out from under Triton’s thumb, it could have been literally anything. Ursula took advantage of a desperate victim for her own agenda. Realistic predatory behavior toward a vulnerable person.

And also

There’s always the ‘Eric didn’t want her until she was silent and meek’ criticism - FIRST OF ALL he started out looking for a woman who wasn’t silent, and second of all what part of the carriage driving bit (or any of her other actions on land) is meek, exactly?

i am scouring the internet like the victorians scoured and destroyed all trace of joy and color from stolen relics for the LOST NAME OF THE ANCIENT PROCESS of textile-creation akin to knitting/crocheting/nålebinding that at least one academic/crafter used to recreate the leggings on this Glorious Motherfucker:

Archer statue from the Temple of Aphaia (ca. 480 BC) next to a reconstruction of its original paint job:

The leggings and sleeves would have created using a method called SPRANG which predates knitting and is over 3,000 years old. What's even sexier is modern artisans managed to recreate the entire outfit using the original method!

Mmm-HMM, love me a shapely thigh in harlequin hosiery. Put👏men👏in👏clingy-ass👏clothing👏again👏👏👏

Unfortunately english sources are hard to find, partly because Google's a shithole, but also because this textile project comes from a German museum, in Germany, where people tend to speak (and publish) in German. That said, the original link is to a short-but-sweet article I would have had no problem finding in 30 seconds a mere few years ago. fortunately i have clever beautiful insane people following me, but alas not everyone has such luxury. thanks to everyone in the notes who shoved themselves down this rabbithole with me!

It's year 13?! Here’s the AO3 link if you want to see all 13: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1968099 (including me talking about playing the long game, of creating new systems, giving yourself time to rest, and the importance of meetings)

Here’s the tumblr tag if you prefer to stay on this site: https://potofsoup.tumblr.com/tagged/happy%20birthday%20steve/chrono

Anyways, thank you everyone who encouraged me to do this even though I'm not really in the MCU fandom anymore. (I hear Sam and Bucky are currently on the outs? Well I made them talk to each other again here. :P) This is done especially in memory of @rubynye, who passed away this year, and who I miss deeply. She was an eternal friend and perennial encourager of my July 4th comics, from the very first one. <3 Love you and miss you.

Sorry Steve ended up doing most of the talking, but it felt like a Steve year, because it's time to fight back.

Also, at one point I was going to set this by the Reflecting Pool, and had planned an extended analogy about how the Reflecting Pool has always needed maintenance against the sinking ground and the hot sun, but Trump is the first to (a) make it worse, and (b) refuse to own up to the mistakes, and (c) post National Guard to arrest anyone who tries to touch it. [quick reflecting pool history timeline] But then there's the heat wave and I'm like "the boys are staying inside this year." :P

Sorry this year's is more hastily done than usual -- I just finished my Asian American Citizenship comic a few days ago, and haven't really been thinking Captain America thoughts.

We'll see what next year brings!

"The Conscience of the King" is deeply thoughtful in how it integrates the concept of "so there would still be Adolf Eichmann types in a better world, and they're going to try the same shit for the same reasons, and it's a better world because it has the will and infrastructure to shut that down much earlier, but it's still something you have to engage with" in with Shakespeare and theatre and proto-Empire Strikes Back level cinematography. It's smart about the limits of understanding atrocity via gut empathy and the comfort of denial and minimization vs the place of intellectual rigor in emotionally registering horror and outrage appropriate to what actually happened.

The way that both Kodos and Lenore can't shut the fuck up long enough to not give themselves away, and both openly suggest Kirk is subhuman, and his refusal to play that game while struggling with nuclear rage and yearning for justice, is profoundly true to the people involved. Kodos's attempt to separate his own daughter's life from his atrocities to other people's children and families is pure Nazi shit, and it's sharp about how this is something you don't get to do, with the ultimate result that Lenore, even more of an apologist for Kodos's genocide than he is, ultimately is forced to experience a small part of what Kodos inflicted on so many others (Spock: "families destroyed, children watching their parents die...").

Kirk and Riley have been able to keep themselves from being completely defined by Kodos, however narrowly at times, by building other lives and their connections to their communities. Both survive the episode because of their ties to other people. Kirk is fucked up enough that he's laser-focused on protecting Riley physically, by isolating him from others; however, it's actually Riley's connections to others that saves him. He's lonely and depressed by Kirk's inexplicable treatment, and reaches out to his friends in communications for comfort and Uhura ends up singing to him. The only reason the communications system was already open and his pleas for help got heard in time as he was poisoned is because he'd reached out to his friends.

Meanwhile, it's Kirk's ties to McCoy and especially Spock that actually save him. McCoy and Spock confront Kirk about his nervous isolation and, despite him lashing out, press long enough for him to reveal that he's thinking about just murdering Kodos, but also clinging to uncertainty. McCoy finally gives up and leaves, but Spock stubbornly stays to keep pushing, and it's because of his reluctance to leave Kirk alone that he catches the sound of the charged phaser in Kirk's quarters, allowing them to prevent the destruction of that entire deck (which certainly would have killed Kirk, along with many others).

Then Kirk saves Riley, and himself, in a deeper sense by reaching out to him rather than isolating them from each other and those who care about them in the short-sighted-via-trauma way he's done throughout the early episode. It's less about physically protecting Riley than stopping him from binding himself to Kodos for the rest of his life through unnecessary extrajudicial murder, and stopping himself from doing it in the process—not for Kodos's sake, but theirs. I recently saw someone insisting that the only moral takeaway of COTK is "revenge bad," and it's such a banal poor-faith reading of what's going on there that I was just like... damn. That's a level of media illiteracy you have to work at.

For Kirk and Riley, Tarsus IV haunts them at times, it informs their (esp Kirk's) reactions, it's not something they overcome so much as something they live with. But they can. They have lives beyond that, and people beyond what they've lost. Tom Leighton was never at peace (something also stated of Kirk multiple times in the show), but that was not the totality of his life, either. He loved his wife, his field, he cared about people. But Kodos has turned Lenore into someone isolated, mentally fragile, entirely identified with him. Experiencing a small part of what Kodos inflicted on his victims breaks Lenore. The best they can hold out for is that she'll receive compassionate treatment that, perhaps, will let her become her own person someday.

I also really appreciate the contrast between Kodos and Lenore playing at grand tragedy, neither of them more than adequate actors at it, while Kirk is smiling, smiling, smiling throughout so much of the episode, then utterly solemn when not protecting himself, all of this resting on the jarringly wrong notes embedded into Barbara Anderson's performance of Lenore and Arnold Moss's of Kodos (both fantastic), and William Shatner's unexpectedly spectacular performance of Kirk's brittle charm as performance vs the somber gradations of trauma when he lets the mask drop or can't help it (few ST actors do a haunted stare better, tbh). Then there's the accidental re-casting of Bruce Hyde turning Kevin Riley into one of the most buckwild minor character concepts in the show. There's even the strain of specifically ecofascism in Kodos's rhetoric and specifically dehumanization, absolutely true to his Nazi inspirations and a compelling context for Kirk's kneejerk hostility to culty escapist back-to-nature fantasies as well as technocratic tyranny, qualities about him that persist throughout the entire show.

One season later, we then get "Patterns of Force." It's ragingly antisemitic trash that is not only broadly antisemitic, but custom-tailored to Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner specifically—both the sons of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants, both born shortly before the Holodomor and old enough to remember the effects of the Holocaust on their families—and it's also the reason the list of uncredited people appearing in TOS includes Adolf Hitler. It has basically one idea that doesn't suck (Hitler was not some unique monster, the same systems produce the same shit and it could happen all over again, anywhere, any time), executed in about the worst possible way imaginable, up to and including Spock wrongly Vulcansplaining Nazi Germany to Kirk, but also just finding a different One Bad Guy to pin it all on.

Just a few things that happen in it: Nimoy and Shatner are put in Nazi uniforms (just them, for some reason), Nimoy has to tell Shatner that he looks like a Nazi (yeah, as Spock, but the context is Shatner's actual RL appearance), they're sexily whipped by Nazis (the whole James Somerton Nazi fetish just happens here), the actual Nazis break down the racial inferiority of Nimoy's features detail by detail (Nimoy's actual features, not just made-up Vulcan things), and the Jewish analogues are called Zeons. Nimoy refused to do any publicity for the episode, and more power to him.