@mkvx

V. E. Schwab

#what a great plot twist DERRY GIRLS | 3x03

“There’s a Japanese phrase that I like: koi no yokan. It doesn’t mean love at first sight. It’s closer to love at second sight. It’s the feeling when you meet someone that you’re going to fall in love with them. Maybe you don’t love them right away, but it’s inevitable that you will.”

— Nicola Yoon, The Sun Is Also a Star

I didn’t mention this before but I’m looking at episodes 3 and 4 and it’s becoming very apparent. Anthony is on his back leg so to speak the entire time at AH. Kate is either challenging or one upping him, or witnessing him be more vulnerable and gentle than anyone has seen him been in recent memory or shocking him at every turn with her presence, her scent, her ridiculous notions of leaving. And then there was Daphne in his ear, speaking to his secret heart and frustrating him all the more for it. He’s reeling from even before she gets there, with her being a main topic of conversation with him and his family.

I think this may play a part into why he’s trying so hard to cling to his Viscount armor at the end throughout episode 5. Because he’s been feeling a bit too exposed and he’s reverting back to what is comfortable. Back to the ‘plan’.

We’ll get deeper into it later this week but I can already tell the breakdown of the events at AH leading up to the proposal is going to be both a roller coaster and a good time.

Kanthony (mostly Anthony) breakdown of Episode 5: Trying to be the Viscount when I just want to be Kanthony (part 2/2)

4: that scene where mama sharma and anthony read the grandparents for filth

This scene is kinda odd in a sense depending on how you’re looking at it. Obviously for the Sharmas it’s utterly miserable and embarrassing. Lady D and Mama B are like wtf and aren’t friends anymore (for about a week) by the end and we find out the Sheffields had another child after Mary and named him Lucifer bc they are in fact, the parents of Satan. However when you look at Anthony and remember the scene he just had with his mom where they are literally talking about a respectful way out of this marriage, he’s having a good time with this information. Of course he’s not gonna let his girl be talked shit about but this just leads us to his next scene where he outright talks about breaking the engagement. 100% Viscount mode here and everyone in the kingdom rejoiced when Satan’s parents got the hell outta town.

5: Viscount-> Gentleman -> Whore

Our blessed Kanthony scene we’ve been patiently waiting for all episode. Anthony is on cloud 9 because he can break off this engagement and simultaneously annoyed and in love with Kate because OF COURSE she’s going to argue him on this. He literally doesn’t give more than 3 seconds talking about the Sheffield/dowry thing because who gives a fuck, he quite seriously only has room in his brain for Kate. Which he tells her finally. Because he’s literally spent the entire day (has this episode really spanned one calendar day??) in torment ping ponging back and forth between different feelings regarding her- desire, nervousness, surprised, enamored, desperate, love, fear, jealousy, contentment, protective, angry on behalf of and frustrated at- and the common thread through all of them was their intensity and all consuming nature. Words were not enough to express the way she turned him inside out, upside down and completely grounded him all in succession. If you look closely in this scene you can literally see the threads of honor billowing off the Viscount’s frame. He speaks the truth folks.

6: for you, anything

I don’t favor this scene at all because it’s so heartbreaking to watch. But like every other Kanthony scene, it holds a lot of weight and has meaning to it. I recently watched Simone Ashley’s breakdown of three scenes and seeing how well thought out and in depth they went with the characters of Kate and Anthony as far as their personalities, their motives, their actions and headspace was really mesmerizing. I think the most important part regarding Anthony in this scene is: that he is unable or unwilling to say no to Kate. We’ve seen hints of if it before like when they were leaving Lady D’s dinner. Edwina tried to talk to him and he cut her off and wasn’t having it basically. Kate came and asked him and at first he resists and then she says “please” and you can see him break. He could never deny her when she sounded so upset, so unlike her usual witty tone of voice.

Anyway back to ep 5. Anthony starts off all soft and “I couldn’t sleep” and then you can just see him reel at her panic and desperation as she begs him and uses his name. He knows this will be an awful idea, he knows it’s not “mere passion” and yet, he can’t deny her.

Kate here is interesting because we see her default to self sacrificing once again. I can’t imagine how hard the night was for her, replaying Anthony and Edwina’s words over and over, tearing her apart. She has it the worst in this entire situation, torn between the loves of her life. But you can tell she regards Anthony highly and trust him above all others. She is able to ask Anthony of this favor for this plea when she’s never asked anyone for anything before. She wouldn’t ask Mary or Edwina for something to this degree, ever. She doesn’t even think Anthony loves her and cares for her past desire and still she trusts him enough to ask to to continue with the marriage. She was desperate to save her sister (which was ridiculous all things considered) and cared about Anthony’s honor as well. This is where we see the triangle in full force. Anthony is saying basically “for you, anything” to Kate. Kate is saying that to Edwina and Edwina is saying that to Anthony, literally! (We may have to look at this a little deeper my friends) Heartbreaking scene for sure. And I think we see Kate asking for the Viscount here when Anthony is being who he always is with her or can’t help trying to be, which is himself. Remember, the Viscount facade is always cracking and breaking around her, this woman who has always seen right into his heart. This scene was all genuine Anthony and you can see him turn back into the Viscount at Kate’s request. And you see the Viscount until the end of episode 6.

Kanthony (mostly Anthony) breakdown of Episode 5: Trying to be the Viscount when I just want to be Kanthony (part 1/2)

Anthony this whole episode is trying to be the Viscount, playing the role, doing his duty, all rationality no emotion yada yada. He sums this up in ep 6 with his conversation to Edwina “we don’t have a choice” “our roles aligned” but we’ll talk about that episode in more depth later. But that menace to society and love of his life Kate keeps fucking up the plan! We’re going to track the build up of this episode from Anthony’s perspective here (and a lil of Kate’s) that basically culminates in his admission that Kate is the reason the wedding couldn’t continue. We have 6 Kanthony scenes in this episode folks, so let’s get started:

Scene 1: daydreams & meeting with queens

Here’s where it all begins. This scene is important for a couple of reasons. First this scene is from Kate’s POV and we see her flashbacks in the hallway and her trying to compose herself. Then when she’s sitting down with everyone else and he looks at her, she has ANOTHER flashback just from looking at him. Right in front of the queen, Edwina, momma Sharma and Lady D!! In front of everybody’s salad. Yikes. And they are both visibly nervous, Anthony practically kneading his hands together fiddling with his ancestral ring (hello, does DUTY call?) and Kate being a pile of jitters like that guy from season 1 smallville. And also, per usual can’t keep their eyes off each other. Which tells us that not only can they alone see the other’s nerves and strain. Once again they see and understand the one when no one else does. Secondly, our love birds don’t do much talking and not at all to each other than their greeting in the hallway. Everything that’s happening here, like in many of their scenes, is unspoken. Only decipherable with the right context. It’s scenes like this where it makes sense that Edwina and others didn’t see this coming. A lot of Kanthony getting close either psychologically or physically is when they are alone. Other times where they are speaking volumes without words or thinking of each other, others aren’t privy to because only have partial information or aren’t paying close attention and usually it’s both. Kanthony doesn’t even consciously realize just how much they mirror in each in different ways yet. And speaking of mirrors (Is there a mirror in this scene? I’ve been wanting to do a mirror count but haven’t gotten to it yet)

Since one of our themes was mirrors this season, let’s assume that Anthony was mirroring more than Kate’s nerves here. Anthony may be a little late because he just had to compose HIMSELF after having flashbacks of Kate. When he looks at her during the meeting/tea time he’s imaging how close he was to feeling her lips against his. How he could hardly stand the sight of how beautiful she looks today and every day. Will this awe of her ever lessen? It seems ridiculous that she takes his breath away every time he sees her. Surely this couldn’t be healthy for a person. It probably hits him here, the irony of it all. How he wanted to find a wife this season and stumbled upon the perfect diamond, a woman who was pleasant and amiable, someone who checked all of his boxes and they had the blessing of the queen. He should be content. Except Kate. SHE was the only one with whom he’d truly felt contentment with in the past decade. She checked nearly none of his boxes in the list that he created with logic and reason and yet checked all the boxes on the list of his heart, his desires, his secret dreams. If Kate and Edwina could somehow trade places, he would have sworn he had died and arrived in heaven.

But that could never be. He, the Viscount had decided on what this marriage would and would not consist of and if there was a chance that what Daphne had said was right, Kate would not do. Love. He was resolute that he would not allow that. Until he looked at her. Into those beautiful, clear doe eyes of hers. Until he caught the scent of her as she passed. Until he thought about the feel of her hand on his. Keeping his eyes away from her was a nearly impossible feat. In this scene Anthony is feeling it acutely. How wrong and impossible this all is. But he’s had many years of pushing feeling down and allowing the Viscount to take over. It’s second nature to him now. He’s the Viscount in this scene but you can see how Kate’s wearing him down.

2: ring the alarm baby

Our second scene is a classic Kanthony with Brooks boy twist. Our star crossed lovers are nearly alone and seeing as Brooks is having an open love affair with the tea and cakes one can infer that they are actually alone. Not that having more people in the room would change anything really, as we’ve established in the last scene. When Kanthony are together, even if you’re at the alter getting marriied to HER SISTER, all senses are trained on Kanthony. I don’t make the rules here people. It is what it is. Anyhoo. There was a great analysis somewhere that I will find at some point talking about how Anthony HAS to engage with Kate when he’s around her, and you can see definitely see that here. He’s sort of pacing, jaw clenched, trying his fucking hardest not to look at her, and seems to be internally fighting with himself. Context matters here and last time they were alone… well we all saw what happened and like us, they can’t stop thinking about it either. Kate does a good job of being up front about it. She wants to address it but Anthony is still in Viscount mode except for the one slip of the life raft he throws at them both “would being married be the outcome you desire”. But they’re doing their usual “ily but you annoy me and I can’t be with you bc of obvious and some not obvious reasons” back and forth banter until they are interrupted by cake boy Brooks and whatever he was saying about gloves and rings and spans. Interesting note how quickly they both object to the ring sizing. It’s an awkward situation they don’t want to be in precisely because deep down deep, they know it’s the situation they desperately want.

The scene does a clear shift once the ring is on its rightful owner. I’m surprised a harpist didn’t suddenly appear in the corner and start playing honestly. You can see how Anthony is just completely overcome. As his eyes travel up her body, the Viscount leaves, runs off never to be seen again (at least until his fiancée and other people come lmao). It’s just Kate and Anthony here, having another moment which in hindsight, always scares them both and leaves them wanting more. In the moment however, they simply choose to be in the moment. They pull vulnerability and gentleness from each other and are always helpless to resist it. Right before Anthony takes her hand you can see it all click for him. He can’t deny it anymore. Daphne was right because this feels RIGHT. Anthony feels like his life was leading to this moment with this woman. She is meant to be his wife. He is hers and always will be. All of this is what he’s feeling as he holds her hand. The Viscount never stands a chance when in Kate’s presence, which after a decade of being suffocated by the role, is exactly what Anthony needs. She is his breath of fresh air and this moment is where it all becomes clear to him. He dons the mask back quickly however and hates how it makes him feel.

3: hands off, hands on

this scene is the one that made me want to do this breakdown. I’ve always loved the overt parallel between this scene and the previous ring scene and in a season of mirrors and parallels galore, this is definitely in my top 3 and it’s not 2 or 3. I replied to someone who addressed this parallel briefly and then thought about it’s broader significance in the entire episode which lead us here. Basically the docks scene was meant to portray 1. How Anthony genuinely couldn’t stand the thought of another man touching her ungloved hand. At this point they’ve had hand to hand contact on at least 5 times and Anthony KNOWS how she makes him feel and he constantly thinks about how his mind goes blank whenever he touches her. My man letting DORSET?? touch her? Was never going to happen. And 2. He NEEDS to touch her again. To hold her hand like he did earlier. He doesn’t like to think about how RIGHT it felt to see his parent’s ring on her finger, to look at her and feel with no doubt that she was meant to be his, but for the life of him it was all that occupied his thoughts. And there she was, magnificent as ever, laughing and touching??? Dorset?? He would not stand for it.

Now I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that this level of intensity and jealousy is a consistent character trait of Anthony’s. There’s actually not a ton of parallels between Anthony and Kate and Anthony and Siena that I can think of which is a good thing in my opinion. They were both good for him in different ways and he learns more of who he is through both relationships. However the docks scene reminds me of the boxing scene in S1 when Siena was with the other guy and Anthony was eye fucking her and then literally fucking her. Anthony can be slightly obsessive and possessive at times which is another reason why I think he pushes away intimacy and love. Because he knows how he is subconsciously and how vulnerable that can make him in relationships and with himself tbh.

The comical parallel here is how he uses mansplaining again in order to touch Kate. Whereas in ep 4 he “showed Kate how to hold a gun” this time it’s “I question your nautical skills”. I like adding the “go get lemonade so I can sit with my girl” scene in ep 2 as well even though he wasn’t as conscious of his attraction to Kate then. This scene is another perfect example of having a ton of meaning even though our lovebirds don’t say much to each other. Our Viscount is in full force, but once again his body betrays him and we clearly see the cracks in the facade because of none other than the Bane called Kate.

I did this on my phone so sorry if formatting sucks

Black Women at Peace X X X X

i’ve watched this like 8 times in a row

You never get full off of Cheez-Its. You just get tired of eating them.

Me, today and everyday.

For anyone who is going through a time of trouble. Nicki’s monster verse starts at 3:35