Lauren Cate

16 | She/Her | 🇺🇸🦅🤠 MULTI fandom Laurencate0 on Tiktok

[laurencate]

I'm in the process of fancasting The Secret History, and can someone PLEASE tell me where this narrative that they're all supposed to be unattractive comes from? I'm not saying this in a judgmental way, I just genuinely cannot find a single line in the book that so much as suggests that one of them (Julian's students) is ugly.

Mainly, I constantly hear people saying that Francis is "explicitly stated" to be unattractive, but in his introduction, he is described as "angular and elegant", and Richard later thinks that he could be "a really dangerous type of lady's man".

I've also heard similar things said about Henry, but, once again, I can't find any of it in the book. When they're all first being introduced, Richard says thinks "He might have been handsome had his features been less set, or his eyes, behind the glasses, less expressionless and blank", and I guess I understand how this could be interpreted as "Henry is not handsome", but I think it's more so saying that Henry has traditionally handsome features, but an unapproachable/unpleasant energy.

And I understand that Richard is an unreliable narrator, and that he could be embellishing/lying about their physical appearances, but everyone is acting like certain characters are confirmed in canon to be unattractive, and I truly have no idea where this came from. If anyone can find what I'm missing, PLEASE let me know, because I'm just so confused.

[laurencate]

CRASHING OUT; I just saw a video of Josh Andrés Rivera (the actor for Sejanus Plinth) talking about how he's a Snowjanus truther, and at one point he says "and also, like, I (Sejanus) uproot my life because he's on a train?" and I HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THIS BECAUSE HE'S SO RIGHT.

It happens a little differently in the book, but in the movie, when Coriolanus and Sejanus reunite on the train, Sejanus says "My father had to buy the Academy a brand new gym just so I could get my diploma. He begged me to stay, but once I found out where they were sending you... I couldn't get out fast enough."

😐😐😐

And as if that wasn't enough, Sejanus then asks Coriolanus what he got in trouble for, and when he says it was for Lucy Gray, THIS is how Sejanus reacts:

...

I'm on to you Sejanus Plinth.

[stillnaomi]

using violence to liberate people from sweatshops, unsafe mines, and grinding poverty isn't the same as using violence to impose those things on people. the idea that violence is morally repugnant regardless of context is a belief that every oppressor throughout history would love for the oppressed to hold

[laurencate]

I recently started reading The Winter Soldier (I haven't read any of the comics before), and there was one part that stood out to me above everything else.

It's just so tragic to me that this version of Bucky was trained to be a murderer before being taken by Hydra. That he was led to believe that people only kept him around for him to be violent. That he had to do things even Captain America wasn't willing to do ("Bucky did the things I couldn't"). And that's not even touching on the fact that this version of the character is only (roughly) 16 years old.

He has never known what it is to be peaceful.

[theunfortunate-author]

my daily affirmation as an author

[laurencate]

deadass just changed my outlook on life

[laurencate]

Look, I can get over Stratt lying to Grace. I can get over Stratt drugging Grace. I can even get over Stratt sending Grace on a suicide mission. But singing Sign of the Times? To THAT audience??? Irredeemable.

[laurencate]

[laurencate]

Parallels between Captain America: The First Avenger and Greek mythology (Achilles and Patroclus)

Note: I have not read The Iliad in its entirety, so there will probably be some inaccuracies in this. I came up with this whole idea on a whim right before I went to bed a few days ago.

Okay so. I just rewatched First Avenger, and I'm now convinced that it's a retelling of The Iliad with Steve as Achilles and Bucky as Patroclus. Let's get into the timeline.

The Iliad takes place during the Trojan War. First Avenger takes place during World War II.

Achilles became the best warrior in Greece after being dipped in the River Styx, rendering him invulnerable in almost all of his body. Steve became the best soldier in the world after receiving Dr. Erskine's super soldier serum, altering his physiology and enhancing his cell regeneration.

Achilles and Patroclus grew up together as close friends, and later in life became (most likely) romantically involved. Steve and Bucky also grew up as close friends, and, whether they were in a romantic relationship or not, had an overwhelming bond that definitely transcended most platonic boundaries ("Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky.")

Just before his death, Patroclus dons Achilles' armor (which was easily recognizable among the other soldiers), and then repeatedly climbs, and is subsequently pushed off of the gates of Troy. Just before Bucky's "death", Bucky picks up and wears Steve's shield, and then falls off the train (is essentially "pushed" off by the force of the blast).

After Patroclus dies, Achilles returns to battle and massacres the Trojan forces, with the ultimate goal of killing Hector (Patroclus' killer). After Bucky "dies", Steve vows to take down Hydra, focusing on Johann Schmidt ("I'm going after Schmidt. I'm not gonna stop until all of Hydra's dead or captured.")

[slyandthefamilybook]

[aridotdash]

[laurencate]

Catching Fire

Hey guys so we all agree that the reapings for the 75th Hunger Games were totally rigged, right?

Like the Capitol definitely knew that Peeta would volunteer to go back to the arena to protect Katniss, but they couldn't have known whether or not Haymitch would volunteer in Peeta's place, so the safer bet would be to have Haymitch's name be called.

But that could be a coincidence. There were only two male victors from District 12, so it was a 50/50 chance. If it was just Peeta and Haymitch, I wouldn't think too much of it. But what about the other districts? How insanely convenient is it that from District 4 (which should have plenty of victors) both Finnick AND Annie were chosen? Considering Mags' age, the Capitol probably couldn't have predicted that she would volunteer in Annie's place. Finnick was obviously set up to win the Games since he was bringing in the most money for the Capitol, so if his girlfriend were to die, Finnick would have zero ties holding him back, and the Capitol prostitution could escalate even further (which it would need to do since many of the other victors that the Capitol was selling would be dead).

It also works out pretty well for the Capitol that Beetee, who happened to have been convicted of treason and almost certainly had rebel loyalties, would be reaped. The Capitol knew that if a war were to break out, Beetee's knowledge of the Capitol's technology and communication systems would be too dangerous. He would be an asset to the Rebellion, and therefore, he had to be taken out of the picture.

And there are so many other things that just add up too well. Like the fact that the tributes from District 1 were siblings? I refuse to accept that as a coincidence.

[laurencate]

[laurencate]

[laurencate]

[laurencate]

Listen, I like Glass Onion just as much as the next guy, but one thing that really annoys me about it is how we never never get to see Helen as a teacher.

The main theme that every Benoit Blanc case comes back to is the triumph of the working class. In the original movie, one of the scenes that sticks out the most (other than Ransom's confession, obviously) is when Blanc tells Marta that she didn't actually mess up Harlan's medicines, because she is "a good nurse". In the end, Marta inherits Harlan's fortune because of how much she genuinely, selflessly cared about him, just like a nurse should.

In Wake Up, Dead Man, the scene that sticks out the most for me is when Louise asks Father Jud to pray for her, and he realizes that the case isn't as important as his responsibilities as a priest.

In both movies, the protagonist "wins" because they choose their calling over wealth and power (unlike Ransom and Wicks). In Glass Onion, though, Helen's profession is barely even mentioned. It's clear that she's passionate about her job, but it seems to be pushed to the sidelines. I feel like there was so much potential for Glass Onion to showcase Helen's role as an educator, or even something of a caretaker (since she teaches children), but they chose not to, and that really felt like wasted potential to me.

[laurencate]

[laurencate]

Luke Castellan and Hermes

I finished season 2 episode 2 of Percy Jackson the other day, and i cannot stop thinking about that one scene with Percy and Hermes where it's like

"He's my son."

"He hates you."

"He's my son."

And I need to talk about it.

Hermes has a lot of children. But at no point in the series has he shown this level of caring for anyone other than Luke. It could just be because none of the other Hermes children are as important to the plot as Luke, but I don't think that's it. Most of the demigods never meet their godly parents. A lot of them never even get claimed. I don't think Hermes feels this way about all of his children, because I don't think he even knows half of his children.

For him to put this much time and effort into saving Luke means that he feels a real connection to him, which seems crazy, because they barely know each other, and Luke's whole point is that the gods are absent and terrible parents.

So why is Hermes so absent if he loves Luke? I think part of the issue comes from Hermes being the son of Zeus, who is the absent parent to end all absent parents. And that's another big theme in the series: the gods are, like everyone else, products of their environments. They're bad parents because they had bad parents. Hermes is a bad father to Luke because Zeus was a bad father to him because Chronos was a bad father to him. It goes on and on. Hermes knows he's a bad parent, and he knows that he loves Luke, but he doesn't know what to do about any of it, because he was never taught.

This is the part where I clarify: THIS IS NOT ME SAYING THAT HERMES SHOULD BE FORGIVEN. HE'S NOT A GOOD PARENT. I'M JUST SAYING THAT RICK RIORDAN WROTE HIS CHARACTERS TO HAVE DEPTH. NONE OF THEM ARE SIMPLY EVIL FOR NO REASON, AND ALL I'M DOING IT'S EXPLAINING A CHARACTER'S REASONING.

[laurencate]

The Plinth family

There's something so devastating to me about the Plinth family dynamics. When Strabo Plinth decided to betray his district, the only home he had ever known, he did it for his family. He knew that the districts couldn't win the War, and he knew that the Capitol would punish the districts for their uprising, making life in the districts ten times harder. So he allowed himself to become a traitor. He knowingly caused the deaths of thousands, maybe millions of his fellow district citizens, all so that his wife and child could live better lives.

But it doesn't work. She's barely seen in the movie, but in the book, Mrs. Plinth can't function in the Capitol. She has more money than she could ever even begin to spend, but she's miserable. Other than her son and her husband, she has no one to rely on in the Capitol, and almost all of her friends and family in District 2 have cut contact with her. She doesn't know how to make peace with life in the Capitol.

Sejanus is even worse. While his mother is sad and homesick, Sejanus is angry. He's forced to attend school with people who think of him as inherently inferior for being from the districts. His only friend is Coriolanus, who, on any given day, feels anything from indifference to jealousy to disdain towards Sejanus.

It all boils over during the Tenth Games. Strabo notices how much Sejanus hates the Capitol, and how badly he wants to return to his District, and he assigns Sejanus to Marcus, the male tributes from District 2--one of Sejanus' childhood schoolmates.

Just like everything else Strabo does for Sejanus, it's an attempt to help. He remembers the Dark Days, he knows how terrible things can be in the districts, and he knows how hard things would be for Sejanus specifically if he tried to return. But, just like everything Strabo does for Sejanus, it backfires. The guilt of his involvement in the Games and, by association, Marcus' death, leads him to his decision to enlist as a peacekeeper and help the rebels in District 12, which he ends up being publicly executed for.

If Strabo hasn't uprooted his family and moved them to the Capitol, Sejanus might have been able to live a full life in District 2, and Mrs. Plinth wouldn't have lost her only child (and only friend).

But he fell for the Capitol propaganda.