#law & order: organized crime s2 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hithelleth · 2 years

Text

What I've (Not) Watched Lately

I’ve meant to do another one of these for so long there’s quite a number of things I’ve watched or tried to watch. Under the cut because it will get long, but I need to get my feelings out, so I can move on.

I watched 3 episodes of La Brea and then gave up because by episode 3 I should care at least one character and I just didn’t. And plot-holes, lack-of-logic-wise it was worse than Revolution (and that says a LOT). How do people survive the fall and flashlights work but apparently no car does and all plane electronics go out?

I know I shouldn’t expect logic from TV shows, silly me. Anyway, it’s a shame because based on the premise this could have been the new Terra Nova (gah, I think I need a rewatch.) As if I don’t watch too many things already.

I tried Midnight Mass and quit after one episode after I asked a friend and checked doesthedogdie, because ep ending was a very nasty surprise and apparently that continues throughout the show and nope, dead cats and lots of blood & gore to follow etc. are not for me and that’s fine.

I watched two episodes of Moon Knight, but like with La Brea, just didn’t care about the characters (even though Osccar Issac is hot). The plot was at least better but not enough – and I wasn’t in the right space for the moral dilemmas (as in everyone being wrong in some way) it presented. I might give it another go some time, though.

I finally quit New Amsterdam after 4x8, because it got boring and I can’t stand Max (and Max and Helen – and to think I really shipped them in the beginning but the put it off at least a season too long and meh) and I hated the about re: hospital policy, because we can’t make non-capitalist ways work, can we?

I half watched No Time to Die. It was the worst of the Daniel Craig’s Bond movies, IMO. Madeline came out of nowhere and hence, again, I just didn’t care that much about her and everything. IDK how they couldn’t have better established the supposedly core motivation of the movie better in 2 and half hours, FFS. A minute or two less shooting would do the trick, I think.

I also watched Un peuple et son roi, because it was on national TV and it had been on my list. European production is always a nice change of tone and it was okay, but nothing special.

Now, on to more engaging things.

Speaking of European production, I watched Heartstopper and it was fluffy, light, and adorable, and I am looking forward to S2.

I’ve also watched a ton of currently airing shows (now ended/ending for the season.)

The Rookie was a pleasant time-killer, as always.

I need to quit 911 Lone Star. The only good thing I remember from this season was that short Tommy/Julius venture. So, yeah.

I only watched episode 1 of S7 of LoT and IDK if I’ll watch it through the end. Maybe just the ep(s) where Wentworth Miller was back? Otherwise I lost interest and it also got cancelled. So, depends on my mood/state of boredom.

I continued watching CPD, mainly for Tracy, of course, and it also was a nice way to kill time.

I also started Chicago Fire mid-season purely due to Brett Dalton guest-starring, but then got attached to a few other people (mostly Violet) and kept watching. And I was so satisfied with Brett’s character’s arc. It was a healing experience, nevermind the different show and all. I was happy.

I also continued watching Law and Order: SVU & Organized Crime (which I got into at the end of last summer) and these, too, are excellent time-killers. Although, for such an old show – and the same goes for the Chicago franchise – and big fandoms, the said fandoms are surely conservative AF. I guess if I want any content for random unconventional rare ships that pop into my mind, I’ll have to make it myself. If only I had the time & energy. Oh well, I guess it’ll just stay in my head.

The height of my weekly watching was the FBI franchise, as you may have noticed, in particularly the spin-offs, in particularly, the FBI: Most Wanted spin-off. I actually meta-d about those sporadically as I went along.

So in short, FBI is more or less boring and I hate them going back and forth with propping OA up for positive ‘representation’ just to then make him bow down to the ‘way the job is done’, ugh. But Shantel van Santen did bring a bit of fresh air to the show at the end of the season.

FBI: International is what it is and I wrote about it before, but I was satisfied with the season ending (I only caught up today) re: Scott’s mum and as I said before, I am invested in these characters, so I’ll keep watching.

The new boss on FBI: Most Wanted also brought in a lot of fresh-air and as you’ve probably noticed I also got invested to the point of starting giffing again (some of which I still have to do, but see: time and & energy).

Although I’ve just learned Ivan’s leaving the show, WTF. Going like that, this show will be worse than LoT; only two original characters remaining already in S4.

But, again, I’m invested in the rest of them – I also really like Kristin and Hana and Barnes – so I’ll tune in for the next season.

Oh, yeah, I’ve also been watching Stalker, because of reasons. I still have 4 episodes left, but It’s very good, too bad there was just one season.

Phew. I think that’s all. I watched a few other things I believe I talked about in separate posts already.

#what i've watched lately #tv shows talk #movies talk #too many to tag them all so i'm tagging none ;)#next on my to-watch list: finish stalker and derry girls and give troppo a shot b/c david #then we'll see #and i should do another one of these soon lest it gets this long again #now back to fic reading #:p

7 notes · View notes

thewaysitusedt0be · 2 years

Text

Rewatching OMITB for clues

(S2 ep1)

I still think Det Williams is gonna save the day

In interrogation, she laughs when Mabel makes a dig at Kreps - I feel like she found out he was dirty during last season, and then was hired to work undercover (as herself) for NYPD

(lol maybe I watch too much Law & Order SVU & Organized Crime)

#omitb #omitb season 2 #omitb hulu #only murders hulu #only murders in the building #omitb s2

4 notes · View notes

nicolemaiines · 2 years

Note

hi, victoria can you share which other pride packs are you working on?

of course! I’ve put them below the cut for you 💕

finished:

pearl mackie in the long call

poppy liu in icarly

rafael silva in s2 of 911: lone star

robin lord taylor in law & order: organized crime

sasha lane in utopia

currently editing:

e.r. fightmaster in shrill

monica raymund in s2 of hightown

niecy nash in the rookie

queen latifah in s1 of the equalizer

t’nia miller in years and years

other possible packs (aka haven’t started yet but will if I have time and if not, will do after june at some point):

alex newell in melange

conrad ricamora in fire island

erin doherty in chloe

ess hodlmoser in motherland: fort salem

jake borelli in s17 of grey’s anatomy

jonathan bailey in crashing

maisie richardson-sellers in s5 of legends of tomorrow

megan thee stallion in interviews

nico tortorella in twd: walking dead s1&2

sara ramirez in and just like that

#rph #rpc #answered #rpr wip

0 notes

more-hats · 3 years

Text

IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE IT WILL ALWAYS BE YOU AND I IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE IT WILL ALWAYS BE YOU AND I IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE IT WILL ALWAYS BE YOU AND I IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE IT WILL ALWAYS BE YOU AND I

#law & order: organized crime spoilers #law & order: organized crime #elliot stabler #olivia benson #elliot x olivia #bensler #law & order: organized crime s2 #IM SCREAMING #ITS BEEN OVER 20 YEARS BUT I THINK IT MIGHT BE HAPPENING

29 notes · View notes

odi-et-amo85 · 2 years

Text

It’s the year our lord 2022 and I have nine(!) Dick Wolf shows alone to catch up with. Who would’ve thought? 🥲

3 notes · View notes

lawandorderimagines · 2 years

Text

🚨 ORGANIZED CRIME SPOILER🚨

ELLIOT AND KATHY HAD GRANDCHILDREN OMFG

#organized crime s2 #law and order: organized crime

5 notes · View notes

beardedbarba · 2 years

Text

it’s been a while since i said this but i love jet

#Law & Order: Organized Crime #Law & Order: OC #Law & Order: Organized Crime S2 #Law & Order: OC S2 #OC 2x20

1 note · View note

wexler · 2 years

Note

sorry for the random ask but what tv shows are you watching rn?

law and order organized crime has me by the throat rn xoxo but also watching svu, yellowjackets, i'm gonna get back on my americans rewatch i think i'm on s2, i fall asleep every night either to 30 rock, cheers or b99, and obvs always watching eps of better call saul and the west wing for the 47 time. oh ofc 90 day fiancé is incredible television highly rec jk but i am watching that garbage too

#idk i wanna rewatch evil and the leftovers at some point too #and one day i'll catch up on rhoa #ask box

3 notes · View notes

aries-rising-on-an-aquarius-tide · 2 years

Text

Rating: All Audiences, Holiday fluff

Request: Baby's First Christmas x The Bells

Spoilers: Law and Order: OC S1 & S2

Trigger/content warnings: references to family around the holidays, brief mention of breastfeeding

Duality of (a) Woman

On some days for Ayanna Bell, the threshold to her home was a marker where she shed her skin and became someone else. The icy confidence and take-no-prisoners attitude that she pulled on each time she went to work for Manhattan's Organized Crime unit was unnecessary in the plainness of the home she shared with Denise - and now their baby boy.

Ayanna was all strut and rough exterior on the way out the door, then just a momma and wife on the way back in. She liked it that way, and that was just how it was on Christmas morning, as she slipped quietly home in the filtered light of pre-dawn.

The apartment was as silent as the snow-covered forest of a fairy tale. As she came down the hall carrying her shoes in one hand, she found Denise sleeping on the couch, one of Jackson's baby blankets clutched to her chest. On the coffee table there was a Christmas platter laid out with cookies for Santa, and a glass of milk.

The baby was just six months old - obviously too small to understand the story of Santa Claus, but Denise had insisted she wouldn't skip anything for the boy's very first Christmas. So Ayanna made sure to leave some cookie crumbs on the plate as she took a couple, nibbling them soundlessly as she drifted in the direction of the tree.

They had decorated it together, in lights and red plaid ribbons, alongside dangling ornaments just like she remembered from her childhood. It whispered and twinkled in the dawn, waiting for its one morning of the year to show off. Finishing her cookies, Ayanna ran her fingertips over the branches, deep in her reverie.

When the spell was broken, she went to Jackson's crib to find him already awake; he babbled at his crib toys contentedly, every now and then grabbing a foot and pulling it to his mouth.

"Merry Christmas, my big man," Ayanna smiled, picking him up. "What d'you say we make your momma some Christmas breakfast?"

She changed his diaper, dressing him in a little Santa outfit that they'd picked specifically for Christmas day, then padded back out to the kitchen. Jackson sat in his high chair, watching Ayanna with bright, curious eyes as she got ingredients together to cook French toast.

In the living room, Denise was still sleeping peacefully.

Ayanna hummed Christmas music softly and bopped about as she worked, every now and then getting a gurgling giggle out of the baby. With the frying pan turned down low and the coffee dripping, she pulled him into her arms, swaying, still humming, carrying him to where their stockings were tacked to the wall.

"See that? That's for you!" she whispered to him, pointing to the red sock that had a teddy bear face at the top bearing a Santa hat. "Santa brought that for you!"

Behind them, Denise suddenly spoke: "Now here's a nice scene to wake up to. I'd complain less if I could wake up to it more often."

Ayanna turned to her wife's teasing smile and crossed to pass Jackson down into her arms. "You'd complain less, and we'd eat less," she returned, planting a warm kiss on her mouth. "Gotta pay them bills!"

"Who eats breakfast before opening presents on Christmas, anyway?" Denise asked, pressing her fingertip into Jackson's plump mouth for him to suck on.

"Hungry six month old baby boys, for one," Ayanna chuckled. "People who work all night." She made her point by snagging a piece of bacon from the pan.

Her wife merely rolled her eyes as she adjusted her shirt to give the baby her breast. With him latched, she crossed to the kitchen, rocking him gently as she watched Ayanna get the food ready for the table. Back and forth she crossed, bringing plates, forks, mugs of coffee - sneaking glances every now and then at where Jackson and Denise were connected. Ayanna was awed by the duality, of a place that gave her such pleasure also being the place their son was most comforted.

When he seemed to be done, Denise settled him back in the high chair and pulled it over to the table where they sat. Breakfast was hot and delicious, and they made smiling smalltalk across the table as they devoured it. The little one followed the bites to their mouths with curious big eyes, hands smacking the tray in front of him to express his eagerness to share in their food and language.

When he could take their ambivalence no longer, Jackson let out a shriek that startled both women. They turned their heads to him.

"Mummummum!" he said loudly.

Ayanna and Denise looked back at one another with wide, surprised eyes.

"Did he just - " Ayanna giggled, excited.

"I think he did!"

They clambered to the baby, Ayanna lifting him out and up in her arms. "You just said your first word! You just called me Mom!"

Denise frowned, confused. "Wait. You? I thought he was calling me Mom?"

Her wife tipped her head. "No, we said you were going to be Momma ... "

"I - " Denise put her hands on her hips, "But I've been referring to myself as 'Mom' when I talk to him around the house and stuff!"

"Well, I've been referring to you as 'Momma'!"

They went silent for another moment, looking from Jackson to each other, unsure how to proceed.

"What were you trying to say, little guy - Mom? Or Momma?" Ayanna asked.

"What difference does it make if we don't even know which one of us he thinks is which?!" Denise groaned.

She shrugged. "Maybe he wasn't trying to say either - he is only six months old, Dee."

The baby put his head to Ayanna's shoulder and blinked sleepily. Behind them, presents sparkled under the tree, crying out to be opened. She leaned over and kissed Denise softly.

"Merry Christmas. Let's open some gifts before we lose little Santa's attention."

Denise smiled and nodded. "I guess for today we can both be Mom and Momma."

END

#law and order oc #law and order organized crime #nbc law and order #ayanna bell #denise bell #jackson bell #the bells #reader request #baby's first christmas #christmas #xmas #baby's first #christmas bingo #fanfiction #my writing #hearteyes4mariska #danielle mone truitt #duality

5 notes · View notes

numinousnic · 4 years

Text

I think it’s incredible, and honestly a little mind-boggling, that Hannibal Lecter is such an iconic pop culture villain when the vast majority of media he’s in is just... Not Good.

How “Not Good,” do you ask? Well, as someone who has read all four Hannibal Lecter novels and watched all six Hannibal Lecter screen adaptations (five films and one TV show) for one reason or another — either because I genuinely wanted to, or just had to in order to do due diligence with the Works Consulted portion of my honors thesis — I have opinions about every single one! And since I’ve finally succeeded in sitting down and articulating and organizing all those opinions that have been stewing in me for the past couple of years: let’s fucking go.

Before we dive into the details, you need to understand that my personal rankings of Hannibal Lecter media don’t make a whole lot of sense unless you know that I first had to group them into tiers and then rank them. And those larger tiers are as follows:

TIER 1: Hannibal Lecter Media That Is Generally Solid and I Have Minimal Reservations About Recommending

TIER 2: Hannibal Lecter Media That Is Widely Celebrated, But I Personally Hesitate to Recommend

TIER 3: Hannibal Lecter Media That Is Varying Degrees of Bad and I Just Do Not Recommend

and last, but definitely not least:

TIER 129840629486: Hannibal Lecter Media That Sucks Ass and Haunts My Every Waking Hour, and That I Would Not Recommend, Let Alone Re-Consume, Even If It Was the Last Piece of Media On the Planet

And which pieces of media falls in which tiers? You may be surprised! (Or not, depending on how much you know about Hannibal Lecter media.)

[CWs for minor discussion of (in order) copaganda, ableism, homophobia, serial killers, transphobia, Orientalism, racism, Nazis, cannibalism, gaslighting, drugging, lobotomies, and sexual activity of incredibly dubious consent under the cut.]

TIER 1: Hannibal Lecter Media That Is Generally Solid and I Have Minimal Reservations About Recommending

Hannibal (TV series, 2013-2015)

I will fully admit that I’m biased here in placing NBC’s Hannibal at the top of the list, because this was the very first piece of Hannibal Lecter media I ever consumed — I binged the entire thing during the first semester of my freshman year (because it had only just gotten canceled that August!), and my love of it would eventually lead me to write a whole-ass honors thesis on it my senior year, which would also lead me to consume every other piece of Hannibal Lecter media, with mixed results. Point is, it’s a gruesomely gorgeous, fascinatingly intertextual, absolutely buck fucking wild show, and I will never not have a place for it in my morbid little heart.

Admittedly, having picked it apart with a fine-toothed comb for my honors thesis and rewatching it more recently has made me glaringly aware of its many flaws — chief among them 1) being part of the federal law enforcement glorification subgenre of copaganda by virtue of (loosely) starting out as a police procedural (jury’s still out on if the plot of S2/3 ever do anything meaningful to subvert or challenge that), and 2) that ~classic~ modern crime show trope of “neuroatypical person helps solve crimes and gets nothing but ableist judgment from their coworkers in return.” (And its treatment of gender and sexuality is... complicated, to say the least.) Still, the sad, weird truth is that it does a lot better than other Hannibal Lecter media at rectifying the shortcomings of the books/movies with only occasionally feeding into the old problems or creating new problems, very likely because it’s the most modern piece of Hannibal Lecter media on this list!

(At this point, I would like to extend heartfelt apologies to people reading this rant who dislike NBC’s Hannibal. Because I genuinely regret to inform you that from this point on, every other piece of Hannibal Lecter media I discuss will get steadily worse.)

Red Dragon (book, 1981)

Fun fact: this is the only Thomas Harris book I actually own! My parents had two copies in our basement for some reason and I took one copy when I moved out, because it’s also the only Thomas Harris book I’ve mostly enjoyed all the way through (I say mostly because there’s some underlying homophobia, because Thomas Harris was out here linking violent, sadistic crime with deviance from cis/heteronormativity from Day 1 of Hannibal Lecter media!) There’s a reason this book has the most screen adaptations of it! It’s because it’s fucking fascinating and dark as all hell! It’s because Will Graham is such a compelling protagonist, and because Francis Dolarhyde is absolutely chilling, and because your notions of their characters are so thoroughly wrecked and second-guessed for both of them by the time you finish reading! And the detail (though dated by now) that goes into describing how the FBI was working to hunt down this serial killer is pretty accurate, because Thomas Harris was, in fact, doing research with federal law enforcement at the time when they were starting to quantify what makes a serial killer a serial killer! Which is a fun historical fact that I think shouldn’t be overlooked.

Anyway, I think Thomas Harris should have stopped after Red Dragon, because (the homophobia aside) it’s a generally solid book as far as ‘80s crime thrillers go. And that final page fucking haunts me to this day, in the best possible way.

Manhunter (movie, 1986)

I will fully confess to not liking Manhunter when I first saw it because I thought it was way too ridiculous (and even for the ‘80s, aggressively neon and synth-y in aesthetic) for an adaptation of, y’know, a psychological serial killer thriller that I really enjoyed. And I still don’t like how they changed the book’s ending to a more conventionally happy one that really doesn’t work with this kind of narrative! But I can honestly say that I respect it for Committing to the Bit with its color symbolism, and also that it works better than any other screen adaptation of Red Dragon because it was actually made in the same decade as the novel it was based on, so the plot still made sense from a technology standpoint. Because people were still sending out photos from their cameras to get developed by a third party, so there could totally have been a serial killer targeting people based on their family photos! Not so much in the early 2000s (when the other, and vastly inferior, film adaptation of Red Dragon was released) and definitely not in the mid-2010s (when NBC’s Hannibal was airing). So being stubbornly anchored in the ‘80s actually kind of works for Manhunter after all!

(Also, I think Brian Cox deserves more kudos for being the first actor to tackle the role of Hannibal Lecter. Where Anthony Hopkins’ take on Hannibal Lecter has been imitated/parodied to death, thereby rendering what was genuinely a menacing performance into something kind of hokey, Cox’s take on Lecter is very different and in my opinion, equally unsettling.)

TIER 2: Hannibal Lecter Media That Is Widely Celebrated, But I Personally Hesitate to Recommend

The Silence of the Lambs (book, 1988 / movie, 1991)

Are both the book and the movie (more so the movie) critically acclaimed and recognized as icons in horror media? Yeah. Have I enjoyed both the book and the movie in the past? Also yeah. But is Silence of the Lambs super-bad about gender when its focus isn’t Clarice Starling? YEAH and YIKES DOES IT EVER.

I’m sure that more intelligent critics than I have written at length about the transphobia and homophobia in Silence of the Lambs, so I’ll keep my personal thoughts fairly brief. If your plot doesn’t make a lick of sense without said transphobia and homophobia underpinning all its assumptions, you should write a different fucking plot. And not double down on it for the film adaptation.

TIER 3: Hannibal Lecter Media That Is Varying Degrees of Bad and I Just Do Not Recommend

Hannibal Rising (movie, 2007)

To be honest, I think the most shocking thing about Hannibal Rising is that, unlike the novel it’s based on, it’s not an unquenchable trash fire! (Which is doubly shocking considering Thomas Harris wrote the screenplay for this as well. More on that in a moment.) Yeah, it still has the terrible Hannibal Lecter backstory that has more or less become the Scrappy-Doo of Hannibal Lecter media, but it trims out a lot of the excess plot threads that make Hannibal Rising such a slog to read and minimizes the Orientalism, which is unfortunately the best-case scenario — as with Silence of the Lambs and transphobia, taking Lady Murasaki (Hannibal’s Japanese aunt) and all the associated Orientalism out of Hannibal Rising basically leaves the whole thing without half of its plot. (The other half is the Nazis. More on that in a moment, too!)

Also, Gaspard Ulliel (young and kinda hot Hannibal Lecter) and Gong Li (Lady Murasaki) get all of the kudos for making the still-ludicrous script kind of work in the first place. Because without their acting carrying the whole thing, Hannibal Rising: The Movie would probably have been on the same shit tier as Hannibal Rising: The Book.

Red Dragon (movie, 2002)

If there’s one thing that binds all the media in Tier 1 together, it’s that they’re 1) Red Dragon or 2) based on Red Dragon. That is very much not the case for this adaptation of Red Dragon, which is frankly terrible for reasons I unfortunately could not put my finger on until I saw it a second time.

The biggest reasons are this:

It’s boring and banal, shockingly so for an adaptation of a book with such a wild plot. Other adaptations, Manhunter and NBC’s Hannibal both have very distinctive aesthetics and interesting ways of adapting/retelling Red Dragon: The Book, but Red Dragon: The Movie has absolutely no flair! It has the drab palette and pacing of a mediocre thriller, and that’s exactly what it turned out to be.

It gives Hannibal Lecter way too much screen time. Lecter’s introduced in Red Dragon: The Book, yeah, but as a bit character — he’s pivotal to the plot, but he’s not a major character. But the filmmakers of Red Dragon: The Movie had Anthony Hopkins and by God, they were going to milk him for all the screen time he was worth!

Edward Norton is just. Really bad as Will Graham.

Hannibal Rising (book, 2006)

I have no idea whether or not it’s true that Dino de Laurentis told Thomas Harris “hey, we’re making a Hannibal Lecter backstory movie with or without you, so either write your own version or wave goodbye to the character rights forever,” but I have to believe it is because Hannibal Rising reads like the kind of book someone would write out of sheer spite. In many ways, this is the Springtime For Hitler of Hannibal Lecter media because Thomas Harris probably thought there was no way that anyone could make a good movie out of this (and then they almost did). And this is also like Springtime For Hitler in that there’s Nazis/Nazi collaborators. Who killed and cannibalized Hannibal’s younger sister Mischa. And had him eat her unknowingly. And that’s why Hannibal Is The Way He Is!

If that makes you want to read the book for some ungodly reason, I really must beg you not to; it’s the mother of all shitty, ~edgy~ backstories, and it takes everything that was interesting about Lecter in the previous books and just ruins the mystery forever. Also, Thomas Harris’ racism is really on full display in this one, with some Orientalism thrown in for awful, appropriative flavor! (Yes, this is also the novel where Hannibal uses a katana to behead a dude who was being a racist, misogynist creep towards Lady Murasaki; I literally cannot make this shit up.)

... That being said, it’s very important to me that you all know that according to Hannibal Rising, Hannibal Lecter is canonically a member of the French Communist Party. It’s a detail that comes up maybe twice in the whole novel, but it’s literally one of the only reasons he escapes a murder charge at the very end and it’s weirdly hilarious.

Hannibal (movie, 2001)

Honestly, the nicest thing I can say about Hannibal: The Movie is that the filmmakers looked at the ending of Hannibal: The Book and (as they should!) went, “What the fuck? No way are we doing this” and changed it entirely. (More on that ending when we get to the Final Tier!) But even with that, it’s no surprise to me that both Jonathan Demme (director of Silence of the Lambs) and Jodie Foster (Clarice Starling) bowed out of this dumpster fire as fast as they could. Even with the changed ending, it’s still a terrible movie, that, much like Silence of the Lambs, does absolutely jack shit to rectify the ways in which it is terrible!

(Wait, no, I have two vaguely nice things to say about Hannibal: The Movie! “Vide Cor Meum” is a genuinely beautiful piece of music that did not deserve to be composed specificially for this fucking film.)

TIER 129840629486: Hannibal Lecter Media That Sucks Ass and Haunts My Every Waking Hour, and That I Would Not Recommend, Let Alone Re-Consume, Even If It Was the Last Piece of Media On the Planet

Hannibal (book, 1999)

Oh God. Oh fuck. This fucking book. I hate it so much, you don’t even know. If you were to make a Bingo card of every single terrible Thomas Harris trademark, you would fucking fill it with this book. There’s racism. There’s sexism. There’s homophobia. There’s transphobia. There’s a villain specifically created to be So Evil as to make Hannibal fucking Lecter look like a semi-decent dude, but he just ends up being... I mean, Mason’s awful no matter which piece of Hannibal Lecter media he’s in, but in Hannibal: The Book, it’s just so specifically over-the-top that all of his believable awfulness as a rich white man abusing his power in every gross way imaginable becomes totally ludicrous.

And then there’s the ending. I can’t even bring myself to type it all out without gagging a little in my mouth, so here’s the Wikipedia summary! Get some bleach for your eyeballs in advance, because you’re gonna need it.

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A screenshot of the Wikipedia summary for Hannibal by Thomas Harris (1999) that reads: “Using a regimen of psychotropic drugs and behavioral therapy, Lecter attempts to brainwash Starling, hoping to make her believe she is Mischa, returned to life. She ultimately resists, however, and tells him that Mischa will have to live on within him. Lecter captures Krendler and lobotomizes him, and then he and Starling eat Krendler’s prefrontal cortex before Lecter kills him. Starling undresses and offers her breast to Lecter, which he accepts. The two then become lovers and disappear together.”]

I so desperately wish I was making all of this up. But there is a Reason that this book is in its own special Tier of Terrible, and the ending is 90% of that Reason.

... So! It’s now nearly 2 AM and this has been my personal rankings of Hannibal Lecter media, which honestly, has been a long time coming! Obviously, different people are going to have different opinions from me, and I am flexible about most of this list... with the exception of Hannibal: The Book. Because it is The Worst Piece of Hannibal Lecter Media In Existence and as far as I’m concerned, that fact is not open for debate.

#hannibal lecter #hannibal #red dragon #the silence of the lambs #hannibal rising #thomas harris #hannibal meta #my meta #hannibeard #(throwing it under my old honors thesis tag. for old time's sake)

25 notes · View notes

serenagaywaterford · 5 years

Note

5) Honestly, imo it would made a lot more sense if Serena got involved with the Resistance after 2x08. She's a writer and a good propagandist, June's an editor, they could carefully go behind Fred's back. Also, Commander Lawrence is there. They could have brought down Gilead from within. Maybe I'm being simplistic, but I think it would have given a nice msg. An instigator (and impassioned supporter) of a misogynistic (and homophobic) totalitarian regime becomes a victim herself, but decides to

6) to do sth about that monstrous situation she created, even if that means that she will go down with Gilead. Then again, I do understand why the creators didn't go there. This is the handmaid's tale, not the redeemed fascist's tale. Regarding 2x10, oof. I pride myself in having a hard stomach, but that scene made me REALLY, REALLY uncomfortable (and ENRAGED). (A lot more uncomfortable than the previous ceremonies, which were terrible enough on their own, AND Eden's death* .) And given that

7) Serena has the gall to tell Fred that June hates him, because he raped her. Like bitch, stfu, it was YOUR idea! You raped her and used Fred for the penetration. And not only that, but she manipulated Fred/played him like an instrument. She knows at this point that he's a serial rapist/abuser AND in love with June, so ofc he wouldn't decline the opportunity to abuse her once again. It really is telling that June was screaming Serena's name, not Fred's. I wonder wtf was going on Serena's mind

8) to put the baby's life in danger. She could have punished June after the birth if she really wanted to. That being said, I personally think that Serena was kind of OOC in that episode. Not because she's an angel that is not capable of such hideous things. But, after taking under consideration 2x08 and 2x09, I felt that her 180° change came out of nowhere. Especially, since she took a small taste of her own medicine. She knows what abuse/domestic violence feels like. As for the marital rape,

9) it may have been clichéd, but it would also have made sense. A person that repeatedly rapes a woman, beats his wife and is okay with mutilations draws the line at forcing himself on her? Since when do creepers have standards? One last thing, because I've spammed you enough. *I mentioned Eden's death (which made me cry like a baby). How do you feel about her? Bc was disappointed that the fandom blamed a 15 year old child that was forced to marry a man twice her age. Not only that, but she

10) forgave him and kept Nick and June's secret? // END OF RANT // My apologies.

---------

I think I have to put a read more here! Eep!

“Then again, I do understand why the creators didn't go there. This is the handmaid's tale, not the redeemed fascist's tale.”

I had to laugh IRL there. Cos, it’s true. It’s June’s story, technically speaking, not Serena’s. And I dunno but I feel like I suspect that’s where they eventually want to take the show. But S2 is too early for that? I personally don’t know why. There’s no law an American programme must go one for 14 seasons. It could easily be a 4 season series. Or 3! But I’ve read things that Hulu wants to keep it going as long as possible. Huge mistake, imo. Organically speaking, Serena changing course after 2x08, or even, at a push, 2x09 would have made much more sense than this “will she? won’t she?” BS they keep doing with her. I think she’s come around in a way she hadn’t before by the finale (or Eden’s murder). But it still doesn’t seem like it’s something she’ll carry through with--especially without June. It’s interesting how much Serena relies on June for incentive/encouragement. Basically everything Serena’s done in resistance since mid-S2 has been because June has done or challenged her or said something to prompt her. I feel on her own, she would be ~meeker. Even things like, “Hey, so I know this way to possible save the baby... what do you think?” is clearly her going “Please say what I want to hear!” It’s like she can’t just do it herself. She needs June’s input. June was calling almost every shot in 2x08. In 2x09, when left to her own devices, Serena folded. It took June screaming at her in 2x13 for her to do anything about reading. So, without June around I feel like Serena will just go back to old ways. Which is ridic cos she is an intelligent, powerful woman when she actually has the balls. The only thing Serena manages to do on her own is assault, hate speech, and war crimes lol. The easy shit.

That said, I kinda like how they ended 2x08. I loved Fred seeing the rose on June’s bedside and putting all the pieces together and seeing that as the true threat: Serena and June as friends/partners in rebellion. The beating scene was horrific too, mostly cos I’m not one of those weird fans that was sitting there cheering, “YAY I’M SO GLAD SERENA GOT BEAT! SERVES HER RIGHT!” (I just... want to throttle every single person who’s said that. Not necessarily cos I wuv woobie Serena sfm but because way to miss the point of the entire series.) but the aftermath was even worse, imo. June reaching out and attempting to maintain the bond, but Fred managed to break Serena really easily. Like it’s just so awful how easy it was for him to snap that bond, cos he knows his wife and her pride, etc. It was ... so manipulative and evil genius. (Although it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out, Freddie boy.) It was just such a prime example of exactly how they maintain power in Gilead and how they managed to get it working: estranging women from each other. And it was just such an apt way of visualising the concepts June talked about in S1 about keeping women at arm’s length of each other, suspicious, etc. in order for men to keep power. So, in that sense, I thought it was well done. But then... I was like, “OH FUCK THIS. NOT AGAIN. FUCKING SERENA. WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT. WHY CAN’T SHE BE STRONG LIKE JUNE. UGH.”

I dunno.

Yeah. 2x10. I was “lucky” to have seen that scene ahead of time... so I was prepared when it happened during the episode. But it was still repulsive. Aside from the nonsensical writing of the whole thing, it was just gross. And I think maybe you’re the first person that when talking about this has mentioned how grossed out you are by the other Ceremony scenes. So many people just... don’t really mention them. I remember the article about 2x10 and how the showrunners were saying something along the lines of “Is it really that big of a deal when the same thing has been happening the entire time?” Nobody reacted the same way those times, because the Handmaids are quiet and well-behaved during their rapes, even though, on some level I think Serena and some other wives (IIRC) are completely aware of how terrible it is (Serena even admits as much...but does it anyway uuuggghhhhh.) This is the only time June ever fights back and suddenly not only are Fred and Serena faced with the brutal reality of the act but as the audience we are as well. It’s easy to look the other way when nobody is crying or struggling but WHAM. Fuck that. This is gross and horrible and here is what it REALLY is. And it’s hard to swallow.

June crying Serena’s name was probably the absolute worst part, cos it just makes it crystal clear that everyone knows exactly who is responsible for that rape. June knows who has the power, whose idea it was, and she knows the only one to stop it is not Fred. (God, I fucking hate Fred but like you said, he was totally played by Serena. I don’t let him off the hook for it but really it was her idea, 100% and he just thought “Hell yeah! Sounds good!”)

I feel like as much as Serena understood the Ceremony is pretty bad generally, I don’t think she recognised it as “real” rape until that moment. I feel like a lot of those Gilead people are just so willfully blind and selfish and horrible that they actively refuse to see things. Like Serena’s weird ass enthrall about child brides. I know some of that was to get back at June but she seemed genuinely awed by how beautiful it all was. NO BITCH IT’S NOT. IT’S CHILD ABUSE AND SEX TRAFFICKING.

I just have given up trying to understand why Serena would do such a monumentally STUPID and DANGEROUS thing if she honestly cared about the baby--which, incidentally, I do believe she truly loves Nicole and babies. As crazy as that is. Even if her love of Nicole specifically is totally a self-centeredness. But she loves babies. Babies above all else apparently, including other women. And she’s not an idiot. Baby health aside, that is a HUGE crime in Gilead to rape a pregnant Handmaid for any reason. I’m supposed to believe Serena is just so massively upset about June’s false labour that she goes mentally insane, even after being subjected to the similar treatment like a week earlier? It’s a huge, nonsensical risk on basically every single level.

I’ve come to the conclusion, considering all those things you did, it was just bad writing. Her 180 just... is bonkers. I give up. I don’t think there’s any way to logically get from 2x08/09 to 2x10 without taking some leaps. Do I think Serena would punish and abuse June for humiliating her? Absolutely. That’s her MO. She lives for that shit. But rape? It... I dunno again. Fucking weird. I don’t know if it’s on purpose or what, but I do find it interesting that after that Serena never raises a hand to June again, when she had some opportunity. She still punished her by separating her from Nicole but she never physically assaults her again. (Not that I’m saying she’s a changed person or anything. I just thought it was curious but I don’t know if it was deliberate on the show’s part or just a symptom of lack of real opportunity.)

ITA re: the marital rape too. I see no reason Fred wouldn’t escalate to that. It’s all Joseph Fiennes fault. Which is probably what pisses me off the very most. He decided that was just too much for his character? C’mon. That’s too much but what Fred does in the next ep is peachy keen? Oh, right, because in 2x10 we can blame Fred’s behaviour on his evil wife. It’s not really his fault. I see. But you can’t blame Serena for him raping her. Ugh. So, cos, Fiennes doesn’t like it, we lose way more context for Serena--who, lbr, is the more important character in this whole series out of the two of them.

EDEN. OMG BB EDEN.

I’m with you. I was actually pretty disgusted at fandom’s response to her. SHE IS A CHILD. But all these Nick/June shippers were going hogwild attacking her for getting inbetween their precious self-insert fantasy relationship. (I have a particularly low opinion of Nick/June shippers primarily because of their reactions to Eden, tbh. Before that, I was like whatever, each to their own.) This is a story about women and girls in a horrible society, and the focus seemed to be on tearing apart this female child for something she had zero control over. I never got the “Eden is evil and gonna fuck shit up for Nick (and June)!” vibe. She seemed to be a regular girl caught and raised in a misogynistic awful place and just lost. I absolutely ABHORRED the way Nick treated her the entire fucking time. (I honestly hate him so much, and most of that again is due to him since the forced marriage, both in the way he was with Eden and with June. And the number of fangirls fanwanking away all his shitty fucking behaviour and throwing Eden under the bus didn’t help my attitude.)

She’s a KID. FORCED TO MARRY A GROWN MAN. A man who it wouldn’t kill to just be straight up with her and a little bit kind. Fuck. (Serena’s grooming certainly wasn’t good either. Like, seriously lady, shut up. Stop pressuring the kid to fuck an adult man who hates her by telling her “Well maybe you can like it too!” AHHHHH.)

To me, aside from the babies/children, Eden was the most truly good character on the entire show. She was patient, kind, caring, FORGIVING, loving. Completely innocent bb girl. And then she gets fucking murdered for kissing a boy she actually likes and wants to be with. Which, was ........... wow. Gilead’s hypocrisy killing a pious young girl, presumably fertile... Yikes.

And that little girl was more brave than ANY other character. And maybe some of that is teenage thinking but still she was staring down death and refused to back down. Sure, it’s unreasonable, and an adult likely wouldn’t have made that decision... but also what was her option? Repent... and become a Handmaid? That would have been her fate since she’s an adulteress and fallen woman. And since she truly believes in goodness, and God, and Heaven (presumably), she sees it as a way for her and Isaac to be together. Meanwhile, it took a literal death sentence for Nice Guy Nick to actually recognise he could have maybe been a bit kinder to her. Then she’s asking for HIS forgiveness. AH. Eden bb.

I have a lot of feelings about Eden, and the way fandom treated her. Even when she was killed, fans were still calling her stupid and annoying for her choice--likely the ONLY real choice she has EVER had for herself. (I think that concept gets forgotten.) Like WTF sort of world do you live in that you watch a show about fascism and female oppression and turn around and bitch out the YOUNG GIRL strictly for being a young girl in a fascist society?

But hey, this is the same fandom that calls Janine annoying and crazy, and says Serena deserves to be beaten and mutilated by her husband/Gilead. Way to miss the point of the entire show. But that’s a totally other rant for another time, heh.

Also, anon, NEVER APOLOGISE FOR YOUR RANTS. They are so wonderful to read cos I completely agree! And it’s just such a relief to see reasonable people around these parts.

#rants and raves #Anonymous

1 note · View note

tomorrowedblog · 3 years

Photo

Friday Releases for May 21

Friday is the busiest day of the week for new releases, so we've decided to collect them all in one place. Friday Releases for May 21 include Army of the Dead, M.O.D.O.K., Miitopia, and more.

Army of the Dead

Army of the Dead, the new movie from Zack Snyder, is out today.

From filmmaker Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen, Zack Snyder’s Justice League), ARMY OF THE DEAD takes place following a zombie outbreak that has left Las Vegas in ruins and walled off from the rest of the world. When Scott Ward (Dave Bautista), a former zombie war hero who’s now flipping burgers on the outskirts of the town he now calls home, is approached by casino boss Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada), it’s with the ultimate proposition: break into the zombie-infested quarantine zone to retrieve $200 million sitting in a vault beneath the strip before the city is nuked by the government in 32 hours. With little left to lose, Ward takes on the challenge, assembling a ragtag team of experts for the heist. With a ticking clock, a notoriously impenetrable vault, and a smarter, faster horde of Alpha zombies closing in, only one thing’s for certain in the greatest heist ever attempted: survivors take all.

Blast Beat

Blast Beat, the new movie from Esteban Arango, is out today.

On the cusp of the year 2000, Colombian brothers Carly (Mateo Arias) and Mateo (Moises Arias) prepare to move to the United States for their last years of high school. Metalhead Carly has his heart set on attending the Georgia Aerospace Institute and working for NASA, while his supportive parents (Diane Guerrero and Wilmer Valderrama) seize the chance to escape the political turmoil in Colombia and chase the American Dream. At first, Mateo is the only one to express any cynicism, but when the reality of their new life sinks in, the family struggles to adapt as their expectations are shattered. When events threaten to derail their future, Carly’s dream becomes his only lifeline.

New Order

New Order, the new movie from Michel Franco, is out today.

While protests rage in the streets, Marianne’s high society family prepares for her wedding. At first, only splatters of green paint and the appearance of Rolando, a former employee seeking emergency medical funds, intrude on the festivities. But soon the party is unable to keep the reckoning at bay, and what follows is a swift disintegration of law and order defined first by class lines, then by disastrous government recapitulation.

The Retreat

The Retreat, the new movie from Pat Mills, is out today.

Renee and Valerie, a couple at a crossroad in their relationship, leave the city to spend the weekend at a remote cabin with friends but when they arrive, their friends are nowhere to be found. As they stumble through their relationship woes, they discover they are being hunted by a group of militant extremists who are determined to exterminate them.

The Dry

The Dry, the new from Robert Connolly, is out today.

When Federal Agent Aaron Falk returns to his home town after an absence of over twenty years to attend the funeral of his childhood friend, Luke, who allegedly killed his wife and child before taking his own life – a victim of the madness that has ravaged this community after more than a decade of drought. When Falk reluctantly agrees to stay and investigate the crime, he opens up an old wound – the death of 17- year-old Ellie Deacon. Falk begins to suspect these two crimes, separated by decades, are connected. As he struggles to prove not only Luke’s innocence but also his own, Falk finds himself pitted against the prejudice towards him and and pent-up rage of a terrified community.

SOLOS

SOLOS, the new TV series from David Weil, is out today.

Created by David Weil. With Uzo Aduba, Nicole Beharie, Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathaway. Seven unique character-driven stories. Each character will set off on a thrilling adventure in an uncertain future and they’ll come to reckon that even during our most isolated moments, we are all connected through the human experience.

Trying S2

The second season of Trying, the TV series from Andy Wolton, is out today.

All Nikki and Jason want is a baby—the one thing they can’t have. So they decide to adopt. With their dysfunctional friends, dramatic relatives, and chaotic lives, will the couple succeed in building the family of their dreams?

M.O.D.O.K.

M.O.D.O.K., the new TV series from Jordan Blum and Patton Oswalt, is out today.

An egomaniacal super villain struggles to maintain control of his evil organization after it is bought by a multinational tech company, all while juggling the needs of his demanding family.

Miitopia

Miitopia, the new game from Nintendo, is out today.

Cast your friends, family, or anyone you choose in a comedy-filled adventure to bring down the face-stealing Dark Lord!

#Games #Movies #TV #News

0 notes