u/profaneangel1991

I feel like I've been waiting so long for this to actually come out. So happy to have it.

It's my birthday and these are my gifts. I'm so happy. The only one I haven't seen yet is Network, very excited to see that. Very excited to rewatch His Girl Friday too.

I'm not saying people need to love her arc in season 2 or she's removed from criticism. It's just crazy when people correctly draw attention to Vox being insecure, thin skinned, and needy and then give her no slack for acting the same way. Plenty of Vox fans agree with me when I describe him as her foil, yet Charlie is somehow expected to not be affected by those flaws they have in common. The biggest difference between them is Charlie tries to manage this through trying to help others and be kind (and she never killed anyone), but people act like she needs to be this holy mother who never screws up. In a way it reminds me of certain fans that act like Vox's flaws mean he's stupid or incompetent when they're just part of what makes him human. Just give her a break.

I'm still annoyed this moment amounted to nothing. What was the point? Anyway.

Given how important Vox, Charlie, and Alastor are to the show, and how they're all in each other's business, it surprises me that we only got one scene of them together. And it sucked. My problems with the season 2 finale aside, I think as a trio they're really unexplored in and out of the show. I know I'm the one always complaining about Radiostatic, well I will admit placing Charlie in their mess does make it more interesting. People don't seem to like when I say that, but I mean it. From many angles there's untapped potential. Alastor and Charlie didn't have a conversation this season until the finale. Vox in an ideal world should have had his relationships with both get treated with the same level of importance. Charlie should have opinions on their weird beef considering she was dragged in the middle of it against her will. Honestly just the sheer fact that it puts Alastor in between two very similar personalities is interesting in itself. He's surrounded! Or he would be if they got to all interact together some more.

I know I'm preaching to the choir, but I'm sick of this. Wanting to see a more nuanced Vox doesn't mean I'm in denial he's a villain. And wanting him to make smarter moves in the back half of season 2 doesn't mean I want him to be perfect and win at everything. But a happy ad hominem to you too I guess.

Went to B&N not expecting to find much as this location doesn't sell a lot of movies. And what do you know! When they announced they'd be bringing Life of Brian back I knew I'd get it. Love that movie, very happy to upgrade from my standard bluray. Hairspray I haven't seen in years, but I know I liked it a lot. Looking forward to seeing it again. And Desparate Living is a rare blind buy for me. Usually I buy movies I've already seen, my last blind purchase was years ago. And I figured why not, I like other films from Waters and wanted to see it anyway.

The only relationships he has that matter in any way are the other Vees and Alastor, but he's not his friend so he doesn't count. I don't think I'm asking for too much here, just let him have someone else to talk to.

I don't know the source, sorry.

I have to say I'm surprised Y Tu Mama Tambien wasn't included in that Odyssey collection on the channel this month. I'm also surprised it's currently out of print. Or I should say out of print unless you're willing to buy that beefy box set, and maybe you are. It's definitely one you shouldn't neglect if you do own CC40 and haven't seen it. It's an amazing film, Gael Garcia Bernal was right about it being something that makes you wanna go live. It's also a very emotional film. For how sexy and funny it is the film has a lot of substance. Hopefully Criterion gives it a 4K release in the future.

Moonlight and The Handmaiden aren't part of the collection, but I want them to be. I love these films and can't believe they're now a decade old. Time really does fly. These are easily some of the most beautiful films I've seen and encourage seeing them if you can. The Handmaiden is in my letterboxd top 4 and basically had me in a chokehold for 10 years. Moonlight is one of my favorite Best Picture winners. If it doesn't already have a 4K disc it definitely deserves one.

I'm not sure I have anything to say that I haven't said before, but I need to get these stupid ships out of my face. God. I've reached a point where I can't tolerate them anymore. Like people DO know Vox's character exists outside their toxic yaoi, right? He doesn't revolve around Alastor and Valentino. He's not their accessory. His arc going forward shouldn't just about his relationships with these assholes. I want this to be done, but its never done is it?

The promise of more Radiostatic has just broken something in me. I can't even be bothered to make this look like an analysis post, I'm just annoyed.

This might be my most controversial piece yet. So as the title says, I don't take issue with fanart of Vox hypnotizing Charlie. I honestly like some of it. I know it's a fetish, I know graphic fanart and fanfic of this exists, but majority of the hypno fanart posted to reddit that I've encountered is tame. In these drawings he isn't performing sexual acts on Charlie, she isn't stripped naked, he isn't violent, he isn't even kissing her in the ones I see. And a lot of the time I feel like this art gets reposted to reddit specifically to upset people, which is honestly a mean thing to do to the artists whether they see it or not.

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People get very angry at this fanart and hold it against Staticbelle as a ship, I don't like seeing that. I know the reason it makes people uncomfortable, but there's no need to reduce this ship to one specific kink and guilt fans over it. Especially when some of these artists have made cute art for them that I see shared and reposted all the time. Staticbelle isn't just a dom / sub dark ship, but even if it was largely that I don't think insulting the shippers is productive. Meanwhile I've seen highly sexualized fanart of Vox hypnotizing Alastor and Angel and nobody says a thing. I can't sit here and feign outrage over drawings of Vox draping a hypnotized and fully dressed Charlie in his arms when this same fandom is literally posting Radiostatic rape comics in the main sub. I just can't.

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I wasn't expecting to write about this scene because it's been picked very clean. I think a lot of the posts analyzing it can be tedious. That said it's always been weird to me. Viv really built up this idea that Vox had this brutal backstory to him and I was confused by this being what we got. I get that the point is he was vulnerable and had his feelings wrecked, but I just expected something more. On paper it even sounds like a joke, Alastor didn't want to be Vox's friend and that's why Vox is so mean. I'm simplifying it, but I expected a lot more than this. The scene also plays out weird, at first I didn't know how seriously I should take it. There's this big tonal whiplash of Alastor having the most over the top reaction to his offer and being called his friend to Vox being sad about it seconds later. You literally recreated a meme in this scene and unfortunately Alastor still gets a laugh out of me here. I'm not sure why they couldn't just play it completely serious.

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I sometimes have an awkward time reconciling Vox in this flashback with him in the rest of the show. The implication is he's never been vulnerable with somebody in his entire life. I think that's silly. Yes he was ruthless in life and most likely closed off to keep his secrets, but really? He never felt warmth outside when he was with Alastor? I hate to say this, except no I actually don't, why is Vox so attached to him in the first place? I know why he's obsessed with him in the present, but what was so special about Alastor to him back then? What did he like about him? This is also where things start to slide into this idea I don't like where Alastor is essential to Vox in a way nobody else is. That nobody else matters to him, he will never feel anything like this again because it was just for him. Puke.

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I honestly thought this was an act at first. The little sweater, complimenting him about radios, his self depreciation, the touching. I know it was sincere now, but initially this seemed so jarring I just assumed it was manipulation. I'm not trying to accuse Vox of being fake, I accept this softness is part of who he is, it's just a weird scene to contextualize with the rest of him right now. Brighter exists to reinforce that he was always a villain and he's so messed up in the present that he only ever appears sweet when he baby talks his sharkie. Even when he's alone he doesn't allow himself to be any other way. Yes this speaks to his myriad of issues, but it makes this behavior in the flashback feel like a weird isolated incident. I would like to see something in the future that helps bridge these sides of Vox, I hope we see it. I'm not sure how we'll see it. But I think this weirdness is kinda why I see so many bad reads of the scene, that and people refusing to accept Alastor is a bastard.

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People accuse Vox of wanting to use Alastor to kill him later, of trying to get Alastor drunk, they say he's a bad person so his feelings don't matter, that Alastor did nothing wrong, that Vox is just mad he got told "no". Jeez guys. And its been implied Vox and Alastor remember their relationship differently and I don't like where that seems to be going. I don't want this to have a Rashomon effect. We don't have a reason to doubt the legitimacy of the flashbacks we see, but we're supposed to do it here? And with how the show positions Alastor I dread a flashback for him because I just think it will invalidate Vox. Some people would rather believe Alastor is exposing who Vox really is than believe he's just plain mean. I don't want the show to do anything that leans in that direction. I'm also just really put off by their whole beef and this ship. I say that a lot because it's true. This whole thing became a tumor in season 2 even if I think Alastor was funny during it. The pandering merch and my social media being flooded by it doesn't help either. I want this part of Vox's story to be over, but we all know it won't be.

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