I love Vincent x Thomas with my heart and soul because with all that forbidden love legit all they want is vanilla marital sex. They are not angsty, no hate, just romantic love.
They are the older couple in the house next door. You look out the window to the beautiful garden they have grown having been in the neighborhood for decades. You ask them how they met, and they gush talking how they found each other at a time they both felt lost and it felt like a second chance. They are both retired. They are active participants in the community. They go to church every Sunday. Their sons and daughters visit every other week, the yard filled with noise of their grandchildren playing. They are that soft quiet love that make people wish they grow old together for.
But he is the Pope and he is the Dean.
What if I told y’all he’s my special little meow meow and I love him so much. The poster this is based on is under the cut
wpuld love to hear your gripes about striker's design!
aah it’s mainly the fact that he looks so cool and yet way too busy. i’m used to viv’s maximalist style and for the most part i like it and don’t think character designs should be simplified because this is the show’s style—but striker has too much stuff going on with his clothes in particular.
i really liked how he looks vaguely coyote-ish, so it’s mostly his clothes for me—there are at least 3 different shades of grey in his outfit and it made it difficult for me to picture him when he wasn’t onscreen other than coyote with cowboy hat and big teeth. there’s also a lot going on with his tail—if it were a solid color without the stripes and spikes, i’d be able to follow its movement better and distinguish it from his accessories.
he also doesn’t really pop out from the wrath environment in general, having such muted colors, which i think could be intentional to show him as being much more ‘native’ to there than moxxie, but the same thing happens in other places, too—grey just really doesn’t stand out.
so yeah i think it’s just the dissonance between the fact that i think he’s really cool/yay snake cowboy so i really like some of his design, but also that his clothing is too busy without much contrast and there are so many stripes and layers which make it difficult to follow the minutiae of his movements!
i read the conclave book in less than a day and watched the conclave movie twice and i feel like i can say edward berger definitely read the book and thought "you know what the problem here is. not enough benitez as a jesus allegory content"
just a few changes to showcase this:
1. In the book Benitez is constantly portrayed being welcomed by Filipinos, Africans and other nations due to his reputation. Multiple times the book has shown Benitez being dragged into groups and numerous nationals listening intently to what he has to say, which is why he rose so slowly but prominently.
In the movie, Benitez is almost always alone--the scene where Lawrence finds him looking at the late popes turtles alone was originally Benitez talking to a group but deciding to leave to speak to Lomelli instead. The movie frames Benitez in the same quiet but thoughtful work as it does the nuns and all the important female figures in the Church--watching, listening, saying nothing until the spirit moves him to speak the truth. The book shows Benitez still being involved in the politics of the Conclave, dragged around his social groups, whether he wants to be or not; the movie expressly separates Benitez entirely from the politics, placing him in a kind of objective, angelic watcher position.
2. Jacopo Lomelli's name is changed to Thomas Lawrence. The book is likely referring to Jacopo as Jacob, the man who wrestled God, but in the movie he is clearly focused on being Doubting Thomas, the man who interrogates and sees proof of Jesus's resurrection from an abdomen wound. Guess who Lawrence was interrogating about the treatment of an abdomen wound in the movie
3. Speaking of the treatment, the movie changed Benitez's condition from having a fused labia to having ovaries, and also changed the way he found out from a car bomb explosion injury to an appendectomy. Again. This is probably an allusion to Doubting Thomas checking out Jesus's wound. But the fact that even this major detail was changed to fit the "Benitez as a Jesus allegory" narrative is hilarious to me
4. This is my biggest, funniest observation of the Conclave Book vs Movie Benitez. Book Benitez is determined to make Lomelli win. He gets up and speaks after the discovery of the terrorist attack to expressly say that the conclave has already had a majority vote (Lomelli) and that all the 24 people who voted for Benitez should vote for Lomelli instead to strengthen the church. He doesn't outwardly express any disdain for the conclave, just that he wishes they could work together to strengthen the Church. Movie Benitez is VASTLY different because he just straight up says sth along the lines of "all of you are petty and weird and know nothing about the conflict youre getting into and i cannot wait to go back to kabul and do some actual good for this world instead of being stuck here with all of you. " its just such a holy takedown of the church that clearly separates Benitez not as a member of any faction but as a voice of God
I love both the movie and the film for completely different reasons and I think everybody who reads or watches one should check out the other just to get a complete picture of both visions
Yknow what I fully understand Vincent's shockingly immediate downbad actions in the beginning of Conclave
Like if I was an aging member of the catholic church who had seen too much violence, who was secretly in possession of the Torturous Organ (a uterus) whose known existence would threaten my life in this toxic ass work environment, and who was sent late to the Conclave under secret protection (which caused much suspicion among my peers, forcing me to be kept in some dingy room upon arrival), and I was greeted and believed by the first geriatric male cardinal from the Vatican that I see and welcomed with such care, concern, respect, and gentleness that Lawrence welcomed Vincent with, I would latch onto that old man like a koala. I WOULD immediately believe that he's the right choice to be pope just because he was nice to me in BOTH of our TWO (2) interactions we've had so far. It would have probably been the first time a man was nice to me in ages. And I WOULD certainly feel something purring. I'm sorry it's just the truth. Vincent I get you so much