#also i will not lie to you the end of this liveblog refused to save so i had to retype the last eight minutes THREE TIMES
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Ayesha Liveblogs She-Ra S5
“You’re not She-ra anymore, remember?” Unlike Bow, Adora is not adjusted to fighting without her powers LOL
You know, it didn’t really occur to me to question it until now but why do only five of the princesses have runestones? Spinerella and Netossa are princesses but they don’t get to be part of the balance of planet LOL
Scorpia, Entrapta and Micah in the intro ahhhhhh! I love this for all of them
“What is this?” Akorradora trying to access the Avatar state again:
Shockingly tactful for Entrapta to suggest they’ll figure out where Glimmer is soon. You know what that is!! Growth!!!
“You saved me, and you’re gonna save my little girl.” Micah said: Have you heard of father figures. I am available
Ffhkjhg @ Adora defiantly charging every enemy she sees, magicless
“It seems [Hordak] had very little love towards you at the end.” Hordak said: I looked into my brother’s memories just so I could figure out how to hurt your feelings, Catra
How nice of Horde Clone #1 to warn Team ScorDorBow that their camp was being attacked LOL if Micah hadn’t sent a signal they still could’ve gone back
[Shadow Weaver saves Micah from a bot] [Micah grunts, perhaps in both thanks and resentment] “You’re welcome.” The funky little aunty trauma emerging from Micah and Shadow Weaver. Call me compelled
Horde Prime offering his flagship speciality, Genoc!de Jello:
How does Glimmer get this whole view of the camp being attacked but somehow DOESN’T see Micah. Feels intentional
“Ah, here she is, your beacon of hope. Adora.” Horde Prime is smarter than I gave him credit for in identifying Adora as the leader
Though, he saw all of Hordak’s memories. So. Eh on credit
“These princesses are so predictable with their feelings.” “As were you. Elevated heart rate, dilated pupils. Adora means something to you.” I was half-kidding about Horde Prime trying to figure out how to hurt Catra’s feelings but it was true
“Cast aside this false hero and deliver her to me.” Okay Lorde Hordemort
I know I’m like. Technically Millennial/Gen Z cusp. But as a self-identifying Millennial, the way this show was DEEPLY written by a Millennial. The media influences are clear
I googled it and he was born in ‘91. HA
LMAO @ BOW TOSSING EVERYONE OUT OF ADORA’S TENT INCLUDING THE KING. PRIME MEDICAL ADVOCATE:
I think Frosta should get to punch Horde Prime, as a treat
UNBELIEVABLE THAT ENTRAPTA STILL CARES MORE ABOUT TECH THAN FINDING GLIMMER HAHAHA. DIDN’T YOU JUST SAY LIKE TWO EPS AGO YOUR MAIN COMPLAINT WAS BEING ABANDONED. ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK LMAO
Whatever, much like Mermista, I’ll take it if she’s not pro-Horde
Also: Djjfkjfkhfkj funny that Scorpia is now the mediator
Also also: Scorpia’s really good at impressions!
“Little sister, why do you rebel against my commands?” Horde Prime calling Catra his little sister gives me the heebie jeebies. You are nothing like Daddy Hordak!!!! Not that Hordak was a good guy, but like. Hey. He had something to offer as a family dynamic
Ohhhhhhhhh poor Glimmer:
HAHA @ PERFUMA PUTTING ENTRAPTA ON A CHILD LEASH
“You don’t care about Glimmer or any of us. You only care about tech.” Are we FINALLY going to have Entrapta show some remorse. I hope so. AGAIN. I get that she’s probably representing a specific like. Cognitive situation. But NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE CAN CARE ABOUT THEIR FRIENDS!!!!!
“I thought maybe, if I could use tech to help you, you’d like me.” This line is a hard sell. Why then, do they have to talk Entrapta into doing anything for/with her friends by offering tech? Literally done so in this same episode? Just lean into the fact that she didn’t realize how much she’d hurt them rather than rejecting responsibility and suddenly deploying a tragic underlying motivation!
I do genuinely like Entrapta!!! She is endearing in her way. I just think that they make her so neutral towards most people (save for Hordak, with whom she shares both technology and a seemingly familial-esque bond), and then inconsistently suggest she is people-motivated. Be accountable to your actions, babygirl!
“Glimmer needs us.” FINALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY
“Focus, Entrapta! Glimmer needs you,” said Entrapta, to herself. Loving Entrapta’s Empathy Era. Good for her!!
Ahhhhh Adora needing to let go of She-Ra to move on. <3333
“Yeah, it turns out I’m an awesome leader, so we’re gonna be fine.” Also loving Mermista’s Rebellion General Era!!!!!!!
“You want She-Ra? Come and get her!” MICAH, KING OF COSPLAY
“See you soon, babygirl.” I SWEAR IF I DO NOT GET A MICAH, GLIMMER AND ANGELLA REUNION, I WILL BE SO SAD
“You remember me, don’t you? Here’s a clue. You don’t like me. Hordak.” RETURN OF DADDY HORDAK AND THE FUCKED-UP FAMILY REUNION:
Bow’s mediation skills and level-headedness are unmatched. If Adora is the Heart of the Rebellion, then Bow is the Head
The powerful healing energy of teenage girls sitting on the floor:
“Your Adora causes you nothing but suffering.” Actually, I think Catra causes most of her own suffering, Horde Prime. This is just the manifestation of her Repressed Furry Space Lesbian Feelings
Platinum Hordak has such sad little eyes as he goes to the memory bath
Poor Bow is clinging onto his hinges for dear life trapped on a ship with the two princesses with the worst impulse control (aside from Bestie Glimmer LOL) kjhgkjhgjh
“You will be exalted, raised up above the other creatures of your wretched home world.” Is this Horde Prime’s way of saying Catra’s gonna be in his museum of war horrors
“I’ll never say sorry to anybody, ever,” said Catra, at age 7, and then she stuck to it for the next ten years of her life
“I want to do that one good thing in my life. Like you said.” YEAHHHHH CATRA AND GLIMMER
(Cannot help but feel this will immediately bite Catra in the ass though)
WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH CATRA SAVING GLIMMER (AND INDIRECTLY, ADORA) AT THE COST OF HER OWN SAFETY. I LOVE U CATGIRL
“There’s no one left in the entire universe who cares about me.” [Immediate cut to Adora] WRONG
“Adora, I’m sorry, for everything.” I FORGIVE YOU IMMEDIATELY CATRA, THAT WAS ALL I NEEDED TO HEAR
Me last season: Catra/Adora is gonna be hard sell given how hurtful Catra has been for every single episode of this show
Me this season, after seeing Catra be nice twice: IT’S FINE
I keep thinking how unrealistic it seems that no one is being killed but at least with Catra it makes sense that Horde Prime would keep her, as she is the Adora Bait
Adora is taking being used as a weapon WAY better than I expected jkghkjghg. I mean good for you but you’re allowed to be a little mad at Glimmer!
“Like, one time, Kyle told me he had a crush on Rogel—” the Lizard Boy who speaks no words??? Kyle please. Also Kyle/Rogelio forever ❤️
“This is all my fault. Horde Prime only found us because—” “Because YOU activated the Heart of Etheria.” Bow is mad enough for the both of them, actually:
”That was forever ago. A lot’s changed since then.” Bow said: Now I have broader shoulders, you have a different hair, and you’re a war criminal, Glimmer. Times have changed
I looked it up on the UN website to see which War Crimes Glimmer has committed, and I count at least two:
“Intentionally launching an attack in the knowledge that such attack will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects or widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment which would be clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct overall military advantage anticipated.” (Using the Heart of Etheria)
“Subjecting persons who are in the power of another party to the conflict to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind [...] and which cause death to or seriously endanger the health of such person or persons.” (Turning the princesses into the weapon)
Starla with her boomerangs and magic owl and immediate sharing has already won me over
Do the robot arms imply that Tallstar is a double or quadruple amputee? Wild as hell
“I’m not leaving anyone behind!” YEAHHHH ADORAAAAAAAAA
“Ready to do something that probably won’t work?” “Always.” Oh, how I’ve missed the Best Friend Squad
“We’re going to fight Prime, and take back our home.” Love this for the Star Siblings as well ❤️
“You get to be mad, for as long as you need to be. But I’m not going anywhere.” Glimmer is speaking MY love language
Swift Wind making magic radio calls to Adora every night is v sweet
How have none of the Horde clones alerted Horde Prime about the intruders in their server room lmao
Are we sure this isn’t Hordak? The crying seems kind of on-brand:
Hahahaha, Wrong Hordak is a delight. The implication that all of the Horde clones are incredibly emotionally vulnerable sad boys if left to their own devices kjhgjhgkjgh. Hordak never stood a chance of being well-adjusted lmao
“I brought her to the light. Isn’t that right, little sister?” Hate every part of this for Catra. However. This animation fucking rules:
“But you have already hurt me. Prime has set me free of that pain.” Quit blaming Adora for your repressed gay middle school crush, Catra. If it were about abandonment issues, please see the past five seasons when Adora has repeatedly extended her hand to you
I also like Catra’s new haircut. The hair changes in this show are good
“We both know I don’t matter.” “You matter to me!” 💞
BABYGIRL BACK IN ACTION. NOW I BELIEVE SHE’S 8 FEET TALL:
I really hope the Helpful Hordak that they brought with them IS actual Hordak. I want to see him and Entrapta reunited
Update from thirty seconds later: It was not him, but he knows she is looking for him. Daddy Hordak will get his favourite daughter reunion soon enough
Helpful Himbo Hordak is my new favourite character. If anything happens to him I will [redact] everyone on this ship and then myself:
IGFHKJFHKFJH SCREAM THEY ADDED HELPFUL HORDAK TO THE INTRO. I’M LOSING IT HIM HOLDING THE WRENCH AND SMILING
“What do you care? I know you all hate me.” “I never hated you!” I am glad Catra is literally the first ex-Horde soldier to actually be dealing with some lingering guilt and complex dynamics emerging of her actions
Also. also. For the final time. Someone desperately needs to fix the captions of this show and stop dropping important words. The captions here drop the words ‘I know,’ which are important, because it signifies 1) Catra’s pre-empted conclusion (i.e. I don’t need to talk to anyone, I know how they feel about me) and 2) That this feeling of being hated is entirely rooted in herself (I feel that I am hated). I get that it probably has been outsourced and done as quickly as possible. But it is deeply inaccessible to people who rely on captions to understand what’s being said
All of this caption mess is really a piss-poor-how-dare-you-say-we-piss-on-the-poor moment
Also. Kind of unrelated but something I’ve been thinking about since I looked up the Millennial who wrote this show. Why do the credits use a name he doesn’t go by anymore? The show is recent enough to reasonably be updating it. Like Umbrella Academy also had someone involved in the change their name, and they changed the credits on every prior episode to say Elliot. Did the creator for She-Ra choose to leave it? On Wikipedia it describes his production credits for this show as ‘credited by deadname’ which like, to me, suggests it’s not something he actively chose. For a show which tries to weave representation and inclusion into its fabric, its Netflix presentation is bizarrely thoughtless when it comes to real people!
We interrupt all the meta concerns to say: Hee hee, leetle kees on the volleyball court
“Did you think she was going to just instantly become a different person?” LMAO @ ‘a different person’ being Glimmer and Adora’s code for ‘Catra trying not to be mean for more than 30 seconds at time’
There’s something very poetic and funny about Micah desperately wanting Frosta to accept him as a friend, like Frosta wanted from Glimmer
[Ominously] “Why don’t you stay for supper?” I KNEW something would wrong with Elberon ever since the Flutterina thing. Something has been brewing in the water here
“Horde ships coming right for us,” from Entrapta also sounds kind of like, “hardships coming right for us,” which is also true
I really feel like Adora should’ve yanked the chip out of Catra when she was still in She-Ra mode. Is it like. Connected to her brain stem?
[Groaning] “My daughter’s gonna hate me.” Micah is the love of my life
“It’s like they’ve been replaced by totally different people.” Hmmmmm
Elberon has gone full Spooky Mode. I love the constant Haunting Lighting:
Entrapta clearly remembers every time she’s been wronged (being left in the Fright Zone, Catra taking her work and sending her to Beast Island). But somehow NEVER retains anything she’s done to wrong others (hacking the Black Garnet, creating the portal which took Glimmer’s mother). What kinda selective memory jkghkjghgjh. [Entrapta as Aslan meme voice] I forgor
Wow. Catra admitting she wants Adora to stay is a real breakthrough!
“Just stay with me while I do it okay.” It’s a day of breakthroughs for Catra. I’m very proud of her!
You know. Aside from Adora being a literal alien. They’ve already established that she’s impervious to the cold, so why not, to her free-floating in space?
Bold of her to jump out without checking though!
“Chip appears to be fused with the subject’s nervous system [...]” I guess Horde Prime did put it in her brain stem!
Catra said: I do apologies AND thank-yous now. I’m a new catwoman!
Glimmer and Bow immediately moving aside so Catra can sit between them. I love the Best Friend Squad!
Not Spinerella being chipped!!!! Don’t harm our happy background emotional support couple
“Onward to a secret underwater party adventure.” Screaming over the fact that Scorpia, Perfuma, Mermista and Sea Hawk have decided the way they’re going to deal with the citizens of Etheria being turned into robot spies is by having a fancy dress party:
I love that Perfuma is an excellent actress, good for her
LMAO @ MERMISTA AND SEA HAWK HAVING TO BEAT UP HALF OF THE PEOPLE THEY SEE. Feels like perhaps the easiest version of this plan would be leaving Sea Hawk at home
“I just wanted to know what [setting someone’s boat on fire] felt like.” [Gasps] “You are everything I’ve ever wanted.” Mermista x Sea Hawk 5ever
The ratio of musical numbers really does increase as the shows goes on. Also losing it at Scorpia literally singing her deception to a room full of people:
“Strangest thing but I think we’ve met before.” DHJKDHDJHD has Prince Peekablue been replaced by Double Trouble
Update from 30 seconds later: Yes
Good for Netossa for noticing right away but for someone who has full access to his victims’ brains Horde Prime is sure not good at acting in-character for them. He should take a lesson from Double Trouble
I should’ve figured that Mermista would be the one to get chipped at the incredibly convenient and inconvenient location of underwater but NOOOOOOOOOOO MERMISTA
They are messing with ALL of the emotional support background couples this ep
This party is not really going well for Team Princess at all:
THEY GOT PAPA GLIMMER TOO??? OH MICAH 😭😭😭
“That’s your cue, Hot Stuff. Let’s go.” Hahahah is Double Trouble calling Sea Hawk Hot Stuff because he likes to set boats on fire or just because they think he’s cute kjghkjghgkjhg
Kind of bizarre that Scorpia, despite being under water, has seen no impact of water conducting an electrical current. SHOULDN’T THAT BE A MAJOR ADVTANGE?
SCORPIAAAAA. I THOUGHT THIS WAS GOING TO BE A NICE LITTLE REPRIEVE NOT HALF OF THEIR FRIENDS BEING LOST TO THE HORDE. THE FANCY DRESS OUTFITS BETRAYED ME:
Very haunting when they end episodes with just silence ahhhhhhh
Ohhhhh the chipped friends going into the antagonist slot in the intro 😧
“Your plan is to ram through an armada of ships?” “No... Maybe!” Rare voice of reason moment for Catra LOL
Dhdkjhdjjdh Helpful Hordak immediately spilling Horde Prime’s vulnerabilities at the slightest prompting. Me oversharing about my health problems when people ask how I am
Someone please clarify how they had a spacesuit with cat ear slots so readily available to them in the middle of hiding from a nearly omnipresent enemy. Was Adora just keeping this on board always in the hopes Catra would get her act together hahahaha:
LHFKJHFJHFKJH Bow and Glimmer looking between Adora and Catra perplexed whenever they make Lesbian Eye Contact
Lesbian Eye Contact Count 1: Adora giggling at Catra as she tries to take off her unexplained custom-made helmet
“So, wait. The plan is to barge ahead into the structurally unsound building to find some mystery person that we know nothing about, in the hopes that they somehow know how to defeat Horde Prime?” Catra is experiencing culture shock from the Rebellion planning strategies
It really takes Shadow Weaver like seconds to figure out how to get under everyone’s skin:
You know, surely there’s some kind of risk in plugging Helpful Hordak into this new building. You don’t really know what his reset button is
Lesbian Eye Contact Count 2: Adora staring as Catra makes a new door in their mysterious abandoned building:
“Seems Wrong Hordak has begun to question the meaning of life. [Sobbing] “Who am I if not an exaulted brother of Horde prime?” Helpful Hordak bursting into tears the moment he has to deal with anything that he’s not used to. Relatable content
Catra was right to hesitate to take her helmet off, I think. Just because they can breathe doesn’t mean those glowing spores are safe
“I think the feeling I had about this place is a bad feeling,” said Glimmer, as they were chased out of a hallway by numerous spikes trying to impale them
[Deadpanned and emotionless] “Go through the door on your left.” That Entrapta message doesn’t at ALL sound suspicious
Update from 1 minute later: It was not Entrapta speaking
“I thought it was bad but it’s not. It’s magic.” Ohhhhhhhh love that Glimmer’s understanding of magic has grown with time!!! Her being the first to understand the illusions they’re seeing:
Is the illusion creature a cat or did it just choose to be a cat for Catra?
“I’m sorry I got angry. It’s something I’m working on.” [Endeared] “Oooh. You are?” Me and Adora being impressed and endeared whenever Catra shows the bare minimum of growth hahahaha
I can’t believe the payoff for Catra’s five season fursona is that she can speak alien cat hahahaha
“They dug into the ground. Built machines.” “The First Ones. That’s what they were doing. They were mining this planet’s magic, just like on Etheria.” Everything eventually circles back to space colonization
God I love the addition of Melog, Space Cat to Team Princess
“Brothers, Horde Prime lied to us. He is a false ruler. We must rise up against him and free the universe from his unjust reign.” We love the self-radicalization of Helpful Hordak. He said we will seize the means of production and overthrow the bourgeoisie (his rude brother)
“Etheria isn’t a weapon. It’s a living creature.” Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh Shadow Weaver said I see your Space Cat Friend and Raise You Planet Friend
“We can destroy the restraints the First Ones built, set the magic of Etheria free and use it against him.” Didn’t work too well when you tried that on Daddy Hordak, did it, Shadow Weaver? Shadow Weaver said: Never forgive, always forget
“What is this tingling sensation?” “That’s warmth, buddy.” That’s Rough Buddy vs. That’s Warmth Buddy stand-off in the streets
I was wondering if Melog was going to be added to the intro in this ep and while Melog wasn’t, I did notice how the Catra and Adora fight has changed to more of a friendly and playful ahhhh I love when intros match the emotional stories of the protagonists
What good is the Hive Mind if it can’t see She-ra right in front of them LMAO
“Oh... expressing facial emotion is a privilege reserved only for Prime,” said Helpful Hordak, like doesn’t burst into tears every time he’s stressed
Obsessed with Helpful Hordak mimicking any expression he sees ❤️:
[Horrified gasp] “Princesses? Where?” [slams door] wild that the princess propaganda that Catra and Adora were raised on as Horde children has eventually circled back to being true
Hahahahah Glimmer and Bow are incapable of not trying to recruit people to the Rebellion for even 30 seconds in a shop
I like that Melog is now Catra’s means of using magic. If you're not born into royalty, adopt a giant cat with whom you develop a symbiotic magic relationship and it’s basically the same
“My fight is over. Lord Prime has given me peace.” [popular Netflix show voice] There’s no war in the City of Light
HAHAHAHAHA @ CATRA BEING OFFENDED AT ADORA HESITATING TO FIGHT HER CHIPPED HOMIES, WHICH IS NOT AT ALL THE SAME AS FIGHTING A FRENEMY WHO WAS A BELIGERENT BELIEVER IN TYRANNY UNTIL 4 EPISODES AGO
Adora: How are we supposed to fight our own friends?
Catra, scoffing, like she didn’t instigate 98% of their fights: It never stopped you before
I think Spinerella’s use of the word beloved (a term Netossa has said they don’t use) is Horde Prime being purposely cruel ☹️
“I must access the memories stored in this version.” Can’t believe we’ve graduated from Daddy Hordak to Grandpa Hordak
Speaking of Daddy Hordak, I have been waiting all season for him to find Entrapta and join the Rebellion. It feels like a matter of time
Side note though: I do think he will sacrifice himself for the Rebellion and Entrapta. He’s done a lot of damage so I can only imagine that’s how his story will end with four-and-a-half episodes remaining
“So the only person I’m fighting here is... my own wife?” WIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HER WIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD
“We were gone. We weren’t here to help our friends.” Bow you literally were helping your friends!! You can’t be every at once, sweet boy
“We won’t abandon Erelandia,” said Glimmer, before teleporting away
Perfuming crying because she hates managing people. Same girl:
“But can we circle back to your not-at-all-weird-and-very-detailed theories on our weaknesses?” Netossa said: I have a had a lot of time and trauma while you were gone
“Glimmer: Crippling self-doubt mixed with overwhelming hubris.” “Whoa, whoa, whoa, that’s like, really personal compared to fire.”
1) HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
2) True
3) Same
“Your negative vibes aren’t appreciated here, Catra.” Perfuma directly calling Catra out for being a vibe killer
“They can’t defend themselves. They’re dads.” This is such a wonderful line, I feel like they just breeze past it jkdhkdjhdj
“’What did the First Ones say when they burned dinner? It was ruined.’” Bow’s parents leaving him a note about their secret hiding place with a doodle of themselves, drawn hearts and a joke inside is peak parenting. Lance and George deserve an award for this kind of communication:
“This one’s mine.” Perfuma wants to stay above fighting her friends but Netossa truly has no such qualms about fighting her wife. She said: Are you kidding me, my wife will kill us, we gotta kick her ass
“Mara wasn’t alone. She was working with a group of rebels going against their First One’s leaders.” OOHHHHHH ARE WE FINALLY GOING TO RESOLVE MARA’S PLOTLINE? I LOVE
My money is on Arxia being the Fright Zone or Bright Moon
“Friendship isn’t a weakness. It’s my greatest strength. And Scorpia’s too.” Is this cliché? Yes. Do I adore Perfuma being too nice to hurt her friends anyway? Also yes!!!
“Because Spinny, you’re my weakness.” AHHHHHHHHH NETOSSA:
Perfuma reassuring Catra that it’s okay to keep your heart open is why I think she should date everyone she interacts with. She just has the vibe of everyone she knows living in her heart
Well, colour me incorrect! Arxia is on Mystacor, I kinda forgot about Castaspella and Shadow Weaver LOL
Netossa and Spinerella being reunited in the intro with a kiss 🥺💘 I’m love them
“Would a ‘please’ kill you?” Fjlfjfjhfjkh that ‘a’ really sounded like an ‘I’ and was really thinking Castaspella was escalating hahahah
“Micah was an exceptional sorcerer even then. It’s a shame it didn’t run in the family.” Shadow Weaver is determined to antagonize everyone who has joined her on the Arxia Rebellion Field Trip
“This isn’t about tech. It’s about our chipped friends. If I can get this to work, I can save them.” THAT’S RIGHT BABYGIRL, ENTRAPTA’S EMPATHY ERA HERE TO STAY
Lesbian Eye Contact 3: Adora loving that Catra is trying to rescue her and Catra being embarrassed about it
RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEIR TERRIBLE FOSTER MOM LMAO
“I see you and Catra are close again. Do you really think that’s wise?” Yaddah Yaddah Generational Trauma: Emotional Distance Edition
Also this is horseshit, every time Adora has transformed this season has been in the interest of protecting a loved one
Speaking of generational trauma, DADDY HORDAK IS BACK BAYBEE:
This is certainly a rough way for Glimmer to reunite with her father
“Adora, it doesn’t always have to be you!” Ohhhhhhh Catra
Vhjkvhjvhkjvh I know it’s like. To prevent them from wreaking magical havoc. But wild for Adora cave-in Micah and two other sorcerers in a hidden magical prison without food or water
“[Sacrificing yourself for Etheria] is what you’ll always choose. I don’t have to stay and watch it happen.” Someone was listening to Shadow Weaver’s emotional distance lecture a little too hard
“Adora doesn’t want me! Not like I want her.” It took her 51 episodes but Catra is finally admitting that her feelings for Adora are not entirely platonic LOL
Having non-verbal communication and comfort from an animal friend was really an element we’ve been missing until Melog. A talking horse just doesn’t hit the same feelings:
YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GO REBELLION:
We are back to the realm of the Romantically-Charged Friendship Simulation. I wonder what Bow and Glimmer will see in here, if anything
You’re telling me instead of needing a bunch of princesses, all Horde Prime needs to do to activate the Heart of the Etheria is to invest in an auger drill? LMAO
"I never could’ve done any of this without you. Thank you for being the best friends anyone could ask for.” ADORAAAAAA ☹️☹️
Catra going back to warn Adora only to stumble on to Shadow Weaver getting drunk in the middle of a war while Adora takes all the world’s burdens. Incredible. Truly representing the average parenting energy of this show
FINALLY they’re acknowledging that water conducts electricity. Just as the planet is about to explode
I can only imagine Entrapta being captured will trigger Daddy Hordak to turn. [Rafiki voice] IT IS TIME
“Take care of her, Horde Scum.” “That’s the plan, Sparkles.” I LOVE CATRA BEING IN THE BEST FRIEND SQUAD 😭❤️😭❤️😭❤️😭❤️
“Bow. I love you. I love you. I love you.” “I love you too.” Kind of figured Bow and Glimmer were headed in that direction. Every single friendship in this show is romantically charged hahahaha
More like the Best-Friends-To-Lovers Squad, am I right?
“You’re worth more than what you can give to other people.” MARA 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
“Doesn’t it remind you of the first time we met? You also tried to kill me then. 😌❤️” Sea Hawk for Most Boyfriend in the History of Etheria
Everyone’s suddenly being really forthright about their romantic feelings. That’s TWO I love you exchanges from the Team Princess and self-admission from Catra. They said if we’re gonna die we might as well speak our feelings
“Hello Babygirl.” Micah for Most Haunting Use of Babygirl Award:
“How strange. I must have fought her. I must’ve known her face. But I have no memory of it.” Last minute theory of Light Hope/Mara/Horde Prime love triangle. I don’t really think it’d happen, but it would HILARIOUS to me if it were true
CATRAAAAAAAAAAAA (also Shadow Weaver). Ex-Horde reunion LOL
“My mother raised me to be brave. My friends taught me to be kind. And I’m stubborn. I get that from you. I will never stop fighting. And I won’t lose another parent.” GLIMMER 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Side note: Until this point I have kind of been assuming Angella would be freed from her dimensional trap during the finale, but it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen
I love that Bow and Entrapta’s knowledge together is what takes down the chips!!!! TECH BOY AND TECH GAL FORCES UNITE
“It’s time to take back our world. It’s time to fight.” BABY BOY BOW INSPIRING ALL OF ETHERIA TO FIGHT BACK
WHAT DO YOU KNOW, IT SEEMS SHADOW WEAVER CAN LEARN SOMETHING:
“It’s too late for me. But you, this is only the beginning for you. I am so proud of you, Catra.” Shadow Weaver said: The cycle ends with me, actually
“Whatever happens, I am staying with you.” Catra said: ‘Til death do us part, Adora
“I made a life of my own. I made... a friend. I am Hordak, and I defy your will.” I knew Daddy Hordak was incapable of killing his favourite child:
Hordak didn’t really think through the whole Hive Mind thing when he threw his brother/parental figure/supreme overlord into a bottomless pit
Adora’s dreams for the future are so sweet ahhhhhhhhhhhhh:
(On a less serious note: What wild hair choices for everyone LMAO)
“Don’t you get it? I love you. I always have. So please, just this once, stay.” They got there eventually! GOOD FOR THEM
Not to be dramatic but lesbian love is literally going to save the whole universe. I repeat: GOOD FOR THEM ❤️❤️❤️
I’m not sure if I fully understand why the hell the First Ones did all of this planet weaponization if all it took to defeat Horde Prime was She-Ra finding a lover she could find strength in. They really took the path of Most Resistance
“I remember you.” I cannot believe that She-Ra just exorcised the Horde Prime out of Hordak as if he were a particularly vindictive ghost and not his clone brother/paternal figure/supreme overlord controlling via Hive Mind:
“Hordak! I’m so glad you’re back.” AWWW ENTRAPTA AND DADDY HORDAK REUNION
(Does no one care that Hordak has been terrorizing society for over a decade prior to this, and is probably responsible for killing a bunch of their parents? No? I really thought he was going to die, LMAO)
Edit after posting: Befuddled by what the creator had to say about this relationship, DO BETTER AT DEPICTING AGE AND DYNAMIC LMAO
“Hello! I’m your dad.” GLIMMER AND PAPA MICAH REUNION 😭❤️
Scorpia said, to Catra: My kekkei genkai is forgiveness
“So are we all just like, okay with this?” asked Mermista, glancing at Hordak suspciously, verbalizing what I believe they should all be thinking jgjhkgh
The Fall of Salineas could not be THAT long ago omg
“Look at us. From capturing you to us now being buddies. This is so dope.” Hahahaa, the off-screen dialogue in this scene is def improv
“What a sweet and optimistic ending of everyone having a peaceful friendship, familial and romantic reunions and the protagonists deciding to plan a fun little road trip to bring magic back to the universe, which could not possibly backfire on them given the amount of space colonization that has happened in order to harness magic as a weapon thus far. As with Hordak, we will pretend we do not see it 😌❤️:
#ayesha liveblogs she-ra#ayesha says things#liveblogging#she-ra#long post#television#spoilers for all of she-ra s5 obvs#also i will not lie to you the end of this liveblog refused to save so i had to retype the last eight minutes THREE TIMES#which really represents how much energy i had to put into completing this show in general LOL#like the characters: i got there eventually#also by coincidence i finished this on the three year anniversary of its ending
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Lucifer Rewatch Liveblog: Ep 1.01
Oh god the NERVES I have over doing this. It’s so stupid. Anyway before hitting play, let’s give a little backstory about how I stumbled ass-backwards into watching Lucifer.
It was September 2021 and the sixth and final season was about to drop on Netflix. Both my spouse and my mother were rewatching the series in preparation of this and both had reached S3 when we were visiting my parents for my mom’s birthday. So Lucifer became the de facto show playing in the background of the visit. All I knew about the show going in was a) it was about the Devil, b) he ran a nightclub in LA, and c) it had at one point been canceled by a traditional network and then ‘saved’ by Netflix. Oh and d) I had absolutely no interest in ever watching it.
But circumstances change don’t they? Because between the time that I first heard about Lucifer and the time when it was playing in front of my face while I visited with my family, the following events happened:
the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the world
Anxiety and depression set in making new shows feel like too much work to watch
both my spouse and I rewatched old favorites instead
I got a shih tzu puppy which confined me to the living room for months until she was fully potty trained.
Now, for my spouse, these go to TV rewatches included The Originals and Frasier. And friends, I got hooked on both. Two shows I never had any interest in watching. Two shows my spouse played in the living room so we could still be in the same room while I raised a puppy. TWO SHOWS I GOT FUCKING HOOKED ON AND HAD TO WATCH ALL THE WAY THROUGH TO THE END.
So of course the same thing happened when they played Lucifer right in front of my face. And like The Originals and Frasier, I merely picked up where my spouse was in the rewatch and refused to go backwards. ‘You should really watch it from the beginning--’ NOPE! We’re starting here. Just fill me in on backstory when it’s relevant.
Which is how my first experience with Lucifer was scattered S3 episodes and then S4-6 straight through. I loved it! It was fab! But it was months before I got the itch to go back and watch S1-2 and when I did oh boy.... OH BOY.
Well, I’ll share those thoughts live. :P
*hits play on the pilot*
OMG this little text intro they do during S1 is so trying to be edgy but is instead just cheesy.
I hate this opening scene. I mean I understand it. It does it’s job. Lucifer hates rules but enjoys punishing people! He can pull out people’s desires! Cops aren’t here to protect anyone! Just take money from the rich and terrorize the rest! Oh wait they probably didn’t mean that last one.
Weird move then to open with a dirty cop in a cop propaganda show
I am too asexual for this show in general but I’m especially too asexual for S1
I do love how Amenadiel is nearly always introduced in S1 with time slowing down. It’s a fucking awesome power! Shame he stopped using it.
Though I cannot take early Amenadiel seriously because he is so I’m Super Serious and I have seen S4-6 okay? This version of Amenadiel is a total hilarious lie.
I do love Delilah. Also I lose my mind every time that like 8 minutes into the pilot, they foreshadow the show’s end game of Lucifer helping the souls trapped in Hell to confront their guilt when he calls in his favor with Delilah to tell her to get her life together. It means nothing with the pilot alone, but when boosted by the next six seasons, it becomes a nugget of gold.
And RIP Delilah :( You should absolutely not think about how the poor thing was definitely stuck in Hell until Lucifer had his series finale revelation. :( Definitely don’t think about that.
Cool trick to pull back a very recently deceased soul to talk to it. I understand why that never really happened again (because he wasn’t usually there when future murder victims died) but since I’m a sucker for all kinds of ghost/afterlife stories, I kind of wish it had been utilized again.
~Ooo~ narrative mystery. What’s Palmetto Street????? What’s the deal with these two cops????? I wouldn’t actually care if this was my first experience with the show. Oops.
Now, they did not show that Lucifer’s supernatural charisma draws everyone to him before introducing Chloe but that’s okay. It’s the pilot. In general, they’re doing well with the plot and characters.
And by well, I mean I only like S1 because it’s hysterical after knowing where they all end up. Don’t get me wrong! I completely agree that this is the cast’s starting places. But who they all are before meeting each other and growing together is repulsive to me so in that sense S1 is terrible.
Ooph the anti-black racism in this scene with 2 Vile. I mean it goes hand in hand with cop propaganda but WOW. The rap bashing and pretending that liking blues music means you’re not racist. Wow.
I do love Chloe’s backstory of being an actress who had a nude scene in a movie because that’s the kind of thing that is so far outside my lived experience that I never would’ve thought of that for a character in a million years. But it works absurdly well in the context of this show. So kudos to the writers there.
Okay now we’re starting with the real Lucifer and Chloe banter that we know and love. I had nothing to say during their intro scene because I kept seeing all the fanvids who splice it with the series finale callback to it but here’s the actual good stuff.
“I just threatened his life. He would’ve said, trust me.” *long blink of disbelief* “You did what?” -- Oh Chloe you have no idea what a headache the next six years are going to be for you. (And also the rest of your life because I met Rory, okay. That girl is not going to be easy to raise. Trixie is your easy child.)
“Yeah, isn’t that illegal?” -- “Uh, little bit, yeah.” Finally! Chloe has an excuse to arrest Lucifer for being an ass!
Which lasts all of 0.2 seconds because Lucifer can get out of handcuffs. Which Chloe for some reason was not expecting.
Like I know through internet osmosis that sex handcuffs and police handcuffs are two different things, but c’mon Chloe. Does this not strike you as the kind of guy who would experiment with police handcuffs too? Even not believing that he’s the Devil, I feel like you should’ve seen that one coming.
Ah here we go! The mojo demonstration again... that utterly falls flat because Chloe is a gift from God.
(Oops! Spoilers! :P)
Heh heh heh. That may be the first time Lucifer forgets Chloe is a trained actress and falls for her playing him, but it won’t be the last! lol
TRIXIE! TRIXIE! TRIXIE! TRIXIE!
Lucifer calling picking up her daughter an ‘errand’ is like the 4th time Chloe pictured herself shooting him.
LOOK AT HER TWO FRONT TEETH MISSING!!! *sobs* SHE’S SO ADORABLE!
Why is this fifth grader bullying a first grader? I just feel like fifth graders have better things to do like pick on each other in preparation for the ruthless ‘every child for themselves’ warzone that is sixth grade.
Poor Trixie sticking her fingers in her ears while her parents fight :(
Dan really does earn his douche title in S1. RIP Dan.
The cynical part of me that’s bought into purity culture is dismissing Lucifer defending Chloe as dumb hetero ‘This is the couple you’re supposed to ship!’ nonsense, but the rest of me that’s remembering it’s okay to like boy-led shows and junk food can actually analyze it and see that this is just him keying into behavior that isn’t justified and therefore should be punished. It’s not special to Chloe just yet. He does already like her. He is already intrigued by her, and he’s even already slightly charmed by her daughter. But he genuinely cared about Delilah too and wanted to see her turn her life around. The whole pilot is driven by him wanting to punish those that took that opportunity away from her, and I really like that. Again, it’s set up for the S6 end game of saving the souls in Hell.
“Isn’t he funny, Daddy?” followed swiftly by asking Chloe “What’s a hooker?” is some dichotomy. LOL
Oh, Chloe. Just wait until Trixie befriends Maze. ;)
(Just wait until Dan meets Maze ROTFL Okay I will definitely have to keep liveblogging so I can rewatch that ep. OMG it’s hysterical.)
“Daddy will tell you. :)” Oh this separation is not going well. I mean that’s been pretty obvious from every scene that Chloe and Dan have shared so far, but that line really cements that. lol
Chloe and Dan both being different shades of shocked that Trixie likes Lucifer is fab. Chloe is just ‘huh’ about it and Dan is like ‘I want to kill this guy so bad’ x2.
OH I LOVE THIS EXCHANGE OUTSIDE OF LINDA’S OFFICE!
“Planned... sort of.” -- Dude you can’t say that kind of shit to me. I wouldn’t ordinarily care, but this show is already bonkers so now I want the gossip. The full story. What do you mean by ‘sort of’ in this sentence? I *will* pry.
“Did my father send you?” -- !!!!!! NOPE! DEFINITELY DIDN’T! DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT! CHLOE IS DEFINITELY NOT A GIFT FROM GOD!
(Did the writers know already? I mean, presumably they did if they’re dropping giant anvils like that. But writers also sometimes write characteristics like ‘is immune to Lucifer’s desire power’ without having the explanation ready to go in the pilot because it gives them freedom to flesh things out later. But this really feels like they had that explanation formed from the beginning.)
LINDA! LINDA! LINDA! LINDA!
I’m excited for her. I am not excited for this scene. This scene where Linda nearly jumps Lucifer is where I would’ve walked out on the pilot episode. If you had even convinced me to sit through more than that intro scene, that is. This pilot and I are very different people who live very different lives :S
However, it is hilarious in retrospect. Utterly ridiculous LOL
“Oh no he’s horrible! So square jawed, so handsome, so vanilla” -- THEN WHY THE FUCK DID YOU LET ME SUFFER THROUGH CHLOE AND CAIN IN S3! YOU COULD’VE STOPPED IT, LUCIFER! YOU COULD’VE SAVED US ALLLLLL THAT PAIN!
I mean it wouldn’t have made the Devil revelation any less shocking to Chloe and so S4 would mostly be unchanged BUT STILL! MY EYEBALLS! PLEASE THINK OF MY EYEBALLS!!!
Lucifer really doesn’t understand how a movie set works, does he? Just walks right into the middle of a massive and expensive practical stunt and then gets confused why the lead actor isn’t doing the stunt.
“You know you’re gonna have to get much better at lying if you’re going to be President?” -- “I know, right?”
“Why else do you think I’ve been sleeping with Bobby?” -- This marital fight is hilarious, I’m not gonna lie. They do not have a healthy relationship!
“Despite your proclaimed revulsion, you can’t deny that there’s a connection between us.” -- Because she can see that spark of genuineness in you which doesn’t make sense with your everything else, and she’s trying to figure out why that contrast isn’t as conflicting as it should be. You’re both puzzles the other is trying to figure out.
(You two are also a walking, talking soulmate AU which is a quickfire way to make me feral -- but that’s a conversation for a different season.)
It’s always about the money. :/
“I told you, it’s fine. I’m immortal.” -- But that poor band member isn’t, Lucifer! Dumbass.
PFFFTTTT! A fan vid cut Delilah being shot side by side with Chloe being shot here in the pilot and I LOST MY MIND ABOUT IT! I never realized that was a full proper parallel with the falling back onto shattered glass and everything until I saw that fanvid. So good!
This show LOVES using parallels and by god they do it well.
(Except S3. That’s still a hot mess, but I think they were trying for a foil there and not a parallel. Keyword is *trying*.)
TRIXIE! And then Lucifer drops her right on top of Chloe’s wounded side. Good move, Lucifer. A+ lol
“Look forward to seeing you soon, Chloe.” -- “I don’t.” Adorable.
“Glad you’re not dead.” -- my GOD when people splice that with Chloe’s S5 death in fanvids, it makes me tear out my hair. I love it!
And once again, I cannot take Amenadiel or this ‘tense brotherly stand off’ seriously. They’re just babies squabbling in comparison to where they end up. It’s nothing but comedy to me.
Bad news, Maze. Humanity is about to rub off on you too. *Jean-Ralphio voice* You’re gonna get a SO-OUL! :D
And we close with Lucifer going back to hold up his end of the deal with Linda and strike a new one with her: sex for therapy. Which thankfully, she switches to ‘money for therapy’ like a normal person at some point in S1. I mean, sex for therapy -- that’s the kind of thing that can get your license revoked. *glances at S2*
In conclusion, this was fun! I think the act of liveblogging helped my enjoyment of the show. It certainly got me to watch a full episode again. I did keep pausing to write things down which interrupted the flow. Fine for my third viewing of the pilot, but that’s going to bug me for later episodes. I’ll have to either be less wordy or take the bare minimum notes of what I want to say and then go back after the episode and flesh everything out.
#Amber watches Lucifer#All the procrastinating and pausing means I am wrapping this up at midnight#which is a big mistake a week after DST and I'm struggling to stay awake in the afternoons#however I was smart enough to do this on Saturday night and not Sunday night so I have time to catch up on sleep before the work week begins#so good job to me on that part at least
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Worm Liveblog #110
UPDATE 110: Healer in a Cage
Last time Skitter was getting the reward for her efforts: Coil would hold his end of the deal, agreeing to liberate Dinah without further discussion, since he’s so close to success. Just kidding, he backstabbed her after making her lower her guard. How will she get out of this? Let’s find out!
Or not, because it’s a donation interlude. What a terrible place for an interlude, can’t say I’m amused at all. It breaks the pacing and momentum, instead of capitalizing on it, he pretty much threw it away. It’s a shame, even when this situation is picked up again, it just...isn’t going to feel the same. Oh well. Let’s read the interlude and see if it’s worth it.
It seems the setting is the Birdcage in the present day. There’s Marquis, there’s Panacea, and there’s other people I don’t know. This interlude opens with Marquis trying to convince Panacea to do something, it’s not specified what it is, but apparently Marquis’ current status in the Birdcage is relying on it. Still, he’s not going to force Panacea to do anything, because she’s his daughter and he would never force his daughter.
He admits that although he has his own rules, he’s not a good man at all, he just follows his rules because that’s what he is. It’s not like he has any desire to be good, anyway. That’s just how he rolls, and he’s willing to give it all up if Panacea decides she truly can’t cooperate.
He let the words sit with her, turning away. Lung stood by the door, arms folded, and Marquis smiled lightly at the man. He’ll see this admission as weakness, but the right display of confidence will leave him wondering if it’s a lie, a ploy.
Honestly? I don’t think it’s a lie. I truly believe he would give it all up if Panacea decides she really doesn’t want to do whatever she’s being asked to do. However, it does seem to me like this is some sort of emotional manipulation. He’s using the real feelings I believe he has in order to achieve the result he desires, and given Marquis is the only sort of ally I imagine Panaeca has in this place, it may work.
Since Lung is standing right there, Marquis takes the time to think about how Lung did all he did because he was confident he had the raw strength to get away with it. Boy did he get away with it for a while, until Skitter came along and defeated him pretty badly. He’s a killing machine, stuck in the Birdcage, a force to be reckoned. On the other hand, Panacea here has none of that. In the eyes of everyone including herself, she’s just Marquis’ daughter. She has his protection, she has clothing borrowed from the block she’s staying it, and she has zero confidence and – I imagine – desire to interact with anyone except Marquis. She’s being left alone, pretty much. At least for the time being. That’s the problem, that sooner or later something would happen. Is that why he’s asking Panacea to do...whatever it is he’s asking her to do? Is it to prevent something?
I keep reading Cinderhands as Cinderella, and now I’m picturing Cinderella being trapped here in the Birdcage too every time Cinderhands speaks. Snap out of it, me.
It seems to me Cinderellahands is some sort of underling for Marquis, as he’s in charge of gathering the leaders and/or representatives of all the blocks for a meeting that’ll last for a while. This is a meeting he’d like Panacea to attend, perhaps that’s what he was asking her? To attend the meeting? Cinderellahands questions having Panacea there, for some reason, and Marquis pretty much tells him to do what he asked or get someone else to do it. What matters is that the reunion is made.
This should be interesting! What kind of people are the leaders of the blocks? The most charismatic, brutal, or clever people around, I bet. Maybe even all three. I’m curious, I admit!
It’s matter of time before Marquis is challenged for his leadership spot, and it’s all thanks to Panacea, since she’s the weakest link around. She was likely to be used against him somehow, so right now Marquis is trying to think of measures to avoid any future challenges. He considers provoking a mutiny, staging it as a way to goad others to join and try to overthrow him. Then he’d squash those, I imagine. Say, Marquis’ power is doing all that with his bones, wasn’t it? He has a power that makes strategy a possibility, I think he’d be fine.
Actually being defeated, it wasn’t really a consideration. He’d only lost a fight on one occasion, and those had been extenuating circumstances.
The fight that ended with him being captured, I imagine. The one where Panacea was the extenuating circumstance. I wonder how the story would have been like if Marquis hadn’t been captured, if Panacea had stayed under his care. Since he doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Skitter, he would have been around while she had her adventures, no? How would that have changed stuff, hmmm...it is fun to think about alternate scenarios! The bad part is that I’m drawing a blank here, haha
The issue with Panacea is that she is...how to put it kindly...she’s borderline catatonic, seems to me. People like that were often used as a resource or as an easy puppet for ideologies. So far Panacea has been spared such fates because of Marquis’ protection, but unless she recovers anytime soon, there’s only so much he’ll be able to do. I don’t think she will, honestly. Not after everything that happened. Frankly, I’m not really expecting her to join that meeting, and Marquis is going to lose face.
She’s complying, though. Marquis suggests she go get a shower and put on a specific set of clothing, and she goes to do so. Maybe I’m wrong and she really will attend, but I stand on that she’s not going to contribute much to that meeting.
Seems like Marquis is keeping his block rather orderly. Not only all TVs work, he also has ensured his lieutenants have some favoritism but don’t inconvenience everyone else too much. It’s some sort of tense peace, I’d say. It wouldn’t take much to shake everything. The risk of mutiny does seem to be present, and since it’s just thirty people or so, numbers can turn the tides.
This was a gamble. Amelia could be the excuse his enemies or more ambitious underlings needed to mount an attack. At worst, he’d die and she would… well, she’d be a resource that was burned up, exhausted of anything and everything she had to offer. If he was able to buy enough time, verify that she was beyond saving, then he could return her to the women’s cell blocks, cut his losses and take the resulting hit to his reputation as the only real cost of trying.
Would she fare better in the women’s cell blocks? It’s not like brutality and backstabbing conniving demeanor is limited to men only. I don’t think Panacea will be safe anywhere as long as she’s here in the Birdcage.
Still, he doesn’t want to chalk this up as a loss anytime soon. He wants to believe he can do something for Panacea, and the fact he has only fond memories of her strengthens that desire. I’m sure he thought more than once how it’d be like to see Panacea again and have her by his side, but I doubt he ever imagined things would go like this. I almost feel bad for him.
He’s running out of time to prove he’s not protecting Panacea uselessly. People are getting impatient; he has to show results of some sort. Oh boy, I’m sure this will be brought up in the meeting. And indeed, Lung proves right away the moods are souring, Marquis has to do something. What he does right now is invite Lung to the meeting, both because he wants to give an impression he’s aware of the threats in his block, and because if there’s someone he’d prefer killing him and taking over the block it’s Lung. For some reason. I’m pretty puzzled why Lung of all people would be his preference.
Marquis laughed. “No. But wouldn’t you rather be murdered by a rabid wild beast who happens to share your living space, than to have a onetime ally stab you in the back?”
Ah. So that’s why. He doesn’t want to feel betrayal. Pretty telling he doesn’t consider Lung an ally, even though they talk a lot and even have tea parties. Having said his piece, Marquis goes down to pretend to read and mull the situation for a while longer. We readers aren’t privy to his thoughts, as there’s a time jump to when Panacea finally gets out of the bathroom.
She followed his instructions, and also thought for a long while. Perhaps considering if she should listen to his request or not, whatever it was? All that’s needed is a demonstration of her power, that’s all that is required to stabilize Marquis’ position in the block and show why he’s indulging Panacea so much. She still refuses to do so, though. Welp! They’re as good as dead, Marquis thinks – paraphrasing. Seems to me his only hope is that she changes her mind at some point during the meeting, but I’m not counting on it. Meeting time!
There are twelve leaders, six from the men’s wing, six from the women’s wing. This doesn’t include the lieutenants that have come to the meeting. So, of course, the meeting starts right away with the topic of Panacea’s presence. It doesn’t seem like anyone here knows she is Panacea? Curious! Maybe they all have been here in the Birdcage before Panacea was a hero.
“Don’t waste my time with this male posturing,” Lustrum cut in. “I have women to look after. I delivered your daughter to you because you promised repayment and because she asked. I wouldn’t mind seeing that payment.”
“It was implied that I would pay you back in coming weeks or months, not in a week.”
So it has only been a week since Panacea was transferred to Marquis’ wing! Goodness, people get impatient real fast. I was under the impression it had been much longer than that, like a month! But no, it has only been a week.
There they go, they’re asking for a demonstration, one of the women leaders wants Panacea to heal. Panacea doesn’t say a thing, even though I’m pretty certain by now there are many eyes on her. Marquis covers for her saying she’s not healing anyone right now, and leaves up in the air if it’s because she can’t or because he’s rationing her ability. Dangerous! The longer this charade goes, the more everyone will suspect it’s because Panacea is useless as a healer.
“But there’s a great deal of demand, and you’ll have to forgive me for being a doting father, but I won’t exhaust my daughter’s mental or physical resources to parcel out her healing. We’ll hear terms, we’ll discuss the offers and counteroffers over the next several days or weeks, and then we’ll let you know our decision.”
“You are holding her power for ransom,” Lustrum spoke.
So he’s using her as some sort of bargaining chip – or at least she’s using her powers for that. Even if she snaps out of her despair, he intends to offer her power only when the payment and rewards are worth it. I see, I see. If she does leave behind her trauma – somehow – then she’d turn into quite the advantage for Marquis’ block.
One of the female leaders, one Glaistig Uaine, speaks with the voice of the legion, threatening with an army featuring her fairies. I really don’t think that’s metaphorical, because this is Worm and the powers in this story do a lot of crazy stuff. By army of fairies, does she means the women in her block? Either way, she’s threatening Marquis here.
“You’ve said as much before, noble Faerie,” he said, “Rest assured, you can have me when I’m dead. In the meantime, I will keep your warning well in mind.”
Ah, maybe Glaistig Uaine’s power has something to do with dead people, and Marquis will be affected by said powers after he dies, someday. Alright.
“Your daughter, too. Your faerie is kin to the one that sleeps inside the girl. I have no doubt this Amelia is a healer, but that’s only a facet of her true strength. I have decided I will not bargain with you, Marquis.“
By faerie, does she mean the passengers? Those things that give the powers to the parahumans, according to Bonesaw’s terminology? Does that mean this Glaistig Uaine has been gathering passengers? If so, that’s pretty terrifying, because she has so many.
Glaistig Uaine has expressed interest in dealing with Panacea as if they’re equals, and in so, she extends a hand to Panacea. After a moment, she accepted the handshake and curtseyed. Was that the right move? It’s a show of respect, and didn’t seem to me like she was making herself dominant or submissive in any way, so maybe this can be interpreted as an acceptance about being equals. I hope so, at least.
Seems like Glaistig Uaine taking a shining to Panacea is advantageous for Marquis, as this should be some sort of protection against everyone else. Hey, Lung, you saw that? Either way, word’s going to get out about this, and with some luck, it’ll make those who are getting impatient in Marquis’ block start calming down somewhat. Now it won’t be just Marquis saying Panacea is worth the effort, now Glaistig Uaine thinks that as well, and I’m having the impression people around here are wary of Glaistig Uaine. Marquis himself says here she’s powerful enough to make people listen to her. I sure hope so!
Seems to me the tension has subsided a little! One of the other leaders asks if Panacea can heal toothaches. Oh, I’m pretty certain she can! But would she want to? Marquis confirms she can, and some guy named Teacher protests because this will take away business from one of his lieutenants. Then maybe he shouldn’t be charging a small fortune for that! Although I’m sure Marquis wouldn’t just let Panacea heal any and all toothaches, so I’m sure the dentist would still have business.
During all this, Panacea finally speaks up, and it’s to make the question I’m sure many readers – myself included – have thought before:
“I know the answer’s no, but nobody really talks about it outside, so I’m not sure why… but with everyone we’ve got in here, why can’t we break out?”
This could be interesting! If there’s an answer beyond ‘we just can’t’, I mean. I remember Bakuda many arcs ago was toying with the idea of breaking out, so I think it’s not impossible. Still, it has to be extremely difficult, and I’m sure Dragon would stop any serious attempts.
Turns out there’s going to be lore built here! And it’s stuff Marquis doesn’t know. Coolio!
“Size warping technology. The device might be no bigger than a football, and that’s hidden somewhere in the middle of the rocky mountains. The warping apparatus would be bigger, but there’s nothing saying it’s anywhere close to the actual prison. Reason we can’t break out is because we’re in a prison no bigger than your fist. And if all of this is only this small,” Teacher held up a fist, then tapped it against the nearest table, “How far are you going to have to dig or teleport to get through a surface this thick? Or through something as thick as that wall over there? Or a hundred feet of lead with gallons of containment foam on the outside?”
I see! So it’s possible they’re all preeeeeetty tiny right now? And the tiny prison they’re in is surrounded by layer after layer after layer is stuff that’ll stop any attempt to escape. I suppose even if they manage to break through the wall and then the obstacles in their way, they’d still be minuscule. I bet the size warping technology is at the entrance of whatever building serves as the entry point for the Birdcage. Interesting! This sure puts a very tough obstacle onto any theories I had about people breaking out of the Birdcage at any point during the story. It’s not impossible, but the size warping technology part is making it muuuuch more difficult now.
Okay, looks like things are going better than Marquis expected! Panacea isn’t fully recovered, but she is speaking with people, so that’s progress. The meeting continues, the leaders turning against one another, and Marquis feels some of his tension evaporate. I guess that means his ruling over his block will stay untouched for a while longer!
On their way back, the topic of Glaistig Uaine’s powers is touched. Neat, let’s see...
“No,” Amelia replied. “I saw her physiology when I touched her. I couldn’t see what she sees, but I see how she’s carrying them inside her, drawing an energy from them. And there were three more, just beside her, and she was using that energy to feed them… but they weren’t active?”
“She collects souls of dead and dying parahumans,” Marquis replied. “Or the souls of any living soul that gets on her bad side. But they’re not souls, really. Teacher says they’re psychic images, photocopies of a single individual’s personality, memories and powers. She can have a handful active and doing what she wants walking around at any given time.”
I see, I see. So, what if her power is to take people’s passengers and make those psychic images with those? Would that make sense? If so, then she indeed is very powerful, no wonder she gets people to listen to her, and this is also why she’s one of the first prisoners of the Birdcage. She’s just too dangerous. Now I wonder how she got captured, hah!
The problem, though, is that if I’m correct then her power wouldn’t work on civilians, unless absolutely everybody has a passenger and it just simply stays asleep or something.
Panacea, having touched Glaistig Uaine, talks about the impressions she had. She doesn’t confirm or deny my theory, but she does confirm whatever Glaistig Uaine is referring as ‘fairies’ is sentient. Whatever knowledge this brings Panacea also brings her grief, as it may have given her a realization related to what she did to Glory Girl.
The words hit her like a physical blow. She hugged her arms close to her body, and her hair fell down around her face. “My sister. I used my power on her. Unmade her.”
Ouch. I still get shivers when I think of what may have happened to Glory Girl, given the situation was oddly vague yet descriptive back then, but this sure makes it sound like it was very nasty. Which...isn’t really inaccurate, given Brandish and Photon Lady’s reactions.
Marquis is sympathetic, trying to be supportive for Panacea, listening to her when she says Glory Girl was her family, and...well, that he isn’t. She’s glad he is in her life, but he’s not family. I guess he’s more like...a friend. Understandable, it’d be pretty difficult to think of someone as your father after so long without seeing him, and then refusing to think about him after she found out who he was.
“And,” Amelia blinked tears out of her eyes, “Already, I feel like I’m betraying Victoria, that I’m already forgetting her. For just a few minutes, thinking about what I just found out from that girl, I stopped thinking about Victoria. It’s my fault she isn’t there anymore, that there’s only that thing I created. If I stop thinking about her, if I stop hurting, then I feel like I’m wronging her.”
Ah, so that’s part of the reason for her current state. She’s intentionally trying to block everything so she can focus on thinking about Glory Girl, keep her memory alive out of respect for who she used to be. Bad news, Marquis: she’s not going to leave this behind. Ever.
In a rather nice move, Marquis realizes Panacea wants to preserve Glory Girl’s memory, and takes Panacea to go see a tinker who makes tattoos. He wants Panacea to get a tattoo related to Glory Girl? Hmmm...intriguing. I wonder how Panacea will react to that. Either she’ll be grateful and take it, or she’ll interpret is as an insult towards Glory Girl.
She’s kind of in the middle. She’s going to take the tattoo, but it doesn’t seem to me like she’s too excited about this. She won’t get Glory Girl’s face or anything like that, but she will get something.
Marquis turned to his daughter. “If you decide to get it, I would advise a symbol rather than a face. He won’t get the description exactly right, and the image will distort your mental picture.”
“I couldn’t remember her face as it was when it counted, anyways,” Amelia said, a dark look crossing her face.
...great. I’ll now have to remember what Glory Girl is now either faceless or has a distorted face. Oh crap, here comes the goosebumps again. I’m sorry, it’s just that Glory Girl’s situation creeps me out a lot just from thinking about it.
After the tattoo, Panacea is taken back to her cell, where she talks aloud, to Dragon. Dragon’s systems will register the message and pass it along if it’s worth it. Judging by what I read here, Panacea is talking about the conclusions she reached from what she found out by touching Glaistig Uaine.
Sixty-two miles above the surface of the Earth, the Simurgh changed the course of her flight.
...ah. Well that can’t be good.
The Simurgh’s flight seems to have scrambled the message. Was that intentional or just a coincidence due to her movement? It’s already pretty bad that the Simurgh seems to have decided to go pay a visit to Dragon. This caaan’t be good.
The message has been received by Dragon’s many systems as ‘duly noted’ and just thrown away, pretty much. Whatever Panacea found out must have been gamechanging. I really wonder what it was! I hope somehow in the future I can find out!
And that’s the end of the interlude. I liked it! It was good to see the situation at the Birdcage, and some more of Panacea is always nice. All in all, it was a pretty worthwhile read! Nice done, Mr. Wildbow.
But it still was awful timing. I insist on that.
I guess the arc continues next time, since this was a donation interlude instead of a normal interlude.
Next time: in four updates
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Wheel of Time liveblogging: The Gathering Storm ch 48
It’s like reading a reaction-gif summary of the previous chapter except every gif is just pain and also made of words instead. With bonus prophecy.
Chapter 48: Reading the Commentary
Min sat in Cadsuane’s small room, waiting—with the others—to hear the result of Rand’s meeting with his father.
Yeah about that.
A low fire burned in the fireplace
And a much less low (bale)fire burned in Rand’s hands…
Mix that with Min’s discomfort around Rand lately
The fact that even Min feels ‘discomfort’ around Rand is uh. Telling.
Though perhaps, just maybe, he turned a corner of sorts in that last chapter. Via attempted patricide, but whatever works.
Then again, maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part and he’s gone off to incinerate someone else instead.
But the pattern of the narrative points more towards the former, I think.
Min’s uncomfortable about Rand, and a very different sort of uncomfortable about Cadsuane—or perhaps ‘ambivalent’ is a better word. Cadsuane does not make for an easy ally, but she does have her talents, and their aims do align even if just about everything else about them differs.
So Cadsuane’s planning and Min’s reading commentaries on the Prophecies of the Dragon. This ought to be interesting.
One line in [the Commentary] teased at her, a sentence mostly ignored by those who had written commentary. He shall hold a blade of light in his hands, and the three shall be one.
OH OKAY PROPHECY INTERPRETATION TIME. HERE WE GO.
The blade of light seems like it has to be Callandor, especially given Rand’s own musings about it last chapter.
And the three shall be one…the first thing that comes to mind is the fact that Callandor can only safely be used in a circle of three. Which Rand currently sees as a box, as strings tied to him, as a trap…but flip that around and it’s an image of balance and unity and trust. So that’s definitely an option.
Or maybe it’s something else entirely; maybe the ‘blade of light’ is another reference to ‘he shall slay his people with the sword of peace’ and the three that shall be one are…maybe the three major groups of people? The Aiel, the Seanchan, and the ‘wetlands’? That feels like a bit of a reach; the three people in a circle to use Callandor safely seems more likely.
Though apparently various scholars fall more on the nations side of things and tend to think it’s about three major cities or kingdoms. In that case I’d side with my own choice of three rather than just three wetland nations, but either way if that’s given as the default opinion in the text it’s almost certainly wrong, so I guess we can throw that one out.
Min, no, you’re not useless.
And what of Min’s own relationship with Rand? She was still welcome in his presence; that hadn’t changed. But there was something wrong, something off. He put up walls when she was near—not to keep her out, but to keep the real him in. As if he was afraid of what the real him would do, or could do, to those he loved…
Rand, fix this. Min Farshaw deserves better.
But now he has been brought directly to that point of crisis, to looking down at his own father and weaving the balefire that would erase him from existence, and thinking, truthfully, that it is no more than I’ve done before. His own fear of that exact fate brought him to that point—so was he right to be afraid? Or is it the fear that made it into a near-reality, as he fought so hard to deny it or prevent it that he ended up in a war with himself that made it into not just a possibility but a near-inevitability?
It’s perceptive of Min, though, to recognise that he’s not keeping her out but trying to hold himself in. Even Rand can’t quite see it that way, because he is in effect locking himself into a box of his own making and calling it liberation.
And it would be so easy for Min to be hurt by it and think it was directed at her, think that he was indeed trying to wall her out; that’s a pretty common response from anyone who’s being kept at a distance by someone they care about. But Min is Min, by which I mean she’s fucking incredible, and so she sees past that and to the truth: that this isn’t about her; it’s a war of Rand against himself and she is a casualty, not a cause. And not just that, but she sees the reason why, and sees much closer to the truth of what it’s doing to him, and instead of being angry or offended she’s trying to find any way she can to help him.
Again, Rand, Min deserves better and you should thank her profusely when you uh…sort some of your shit out.
He’s in pain again, she thought, feeling him through the bond. Such anger. What was going on?
Do you really want to know?
Still, it’s more than the flat nothingness he’s felt when committing atrocities in the past. Because that’s what that last scene was: a shattering of the ice, and a point of collision of everything Rand’s tried to hold at bay, a collapse of all those walls and barriers and a flood of the feelings he’s tried to suppress. But hopefully it’s an implosion rather than an explosion; Rand’s been externalising his pain without really…acknowledging that he’s doing it for so long, when what he needs to do is actually deal with it and with everything else about himself he’s been trying to ignore or suppress.
She had to trust in Cadsuane’s plan. It was a good one.
The sad thing is that it really is a good plan. By which I mean it has—on paper—a good chance of succeeding at Cadsuane’s goal of getting Rand to re-learn laughter and tears (well, a better chance than just about anything else at this point), but it also is simply good for Rand himself. He needed to see Tam, and Tam is someone who can offer him the kind of help and support and love he so desperately needs but can’t ask for. And Tam, as his father, is going to see him as Rand, the boy he raised, rather than as the Dragon Reborn who owes salvation to the world. It’s a good plan because while there is of course a motive outside of simple concern for Rand’s wellbeing, it’s not a trick or a trap even if Rand sees it as such. It’s just…something good for him. Something he and Tam both want and need and should get to have.
And the fact that it fails precisely because it’s Cadsuane’s plan is sort of a cruel twist and yet at the same time a fitting case of catastrophic consequences.
Cadsuane and Rand get along like oil and water. Or perhaps like flint and steel, striking sparks when they interact simply because of who they are.
Cadsuane’s intentions are good—she wants to save the world and she has, at a few points, actually said out loud (and she cannot lie) that she is trying to do what is good for Rand, not for her or for the White Tower or anyone else. She’s trying, in the best way she knows how. And she’s right about so many things: that he needs to relearn laughter and tears, that he cannot face the Last Battle as he is now, that in many ways he still is just a boy and he’s lost and without direction or guidance, that like it or not he carries the task of saving the world, that he’s becoming too cold, that balefire is dangerous, that he needs to see his father.
Her aims are good, and even some of her reasoning for how to accomplish them is fairly solid. She tries putting Rand off-balance and making it clear that she is not going to be cowed by the simple fact of who he is…which again comes very close to being exactly what he needs. If she fears him he will not respect her, and if she doesn’t push him he will never listen to her.
But it falls apart when it comes to her specific methods. She means well, and her follow-through is almost what he needs…and then veers off in the opposite direction. It’s part of why I appreciate her so much as a character, I think, because that’s such a fascinating dynamic to watch. And it’s a fascinating way to show absolute failure: by anchoring it in very good reasoning and insight and perception and logic, and letting it come very close to something that will work, and then just…swerving away at the last second. It’s frustrating and agonising at times and yet feels so much more real than if she were just hopelessly misguided from the start.
Instead, it comes down to personality and communication and trust, as so many parts of this series do. It’s a conflict of personality and a misunderstanding of motive and a lack of communication; two strong personalities shouting at each other across a room and refusing to budge, rather than taking a step towards where the other stands and meeting somewhere in the middle.
So when she fails it doesn’t feel like the cheap failure of a plan that was stupid and doomed from the start, the way you often see in fiction. Instead, it feels like the frustrating failure of an intelligent, capable woman who tried her best and executed a plan that could have worked but that fell apart because of a chance word and a clash of personalities and a problem of methods.
Though I wonder.
Did she fail? I’m framing it as if she had, but in a way…she was right that Tam was, probably, exactly the person Rand needed most to see. The one person who might be able to get through to him, and force him out of the mindset he’s in one way or another. And…well, he sort of did, I think. Could anything else have brought Rand to that point? Would anyone else have survived that moment where he came closer to that last line, to repeating Lews Therin’s last deed? Would anyone else, watching Rand weave balefire in terror, have caused him to question, and at the last moment make a different choice?
It’s certainly not the precise outcome Cadsuane might have intended or expected or hoped for, but…was it really a failure?
And the other side of the question is: if this does work, and if the result of all of this is somehow Rand coming back to himself (or some version thereof), does it really matter who gets the credit? Would it be Cadsuane, for orchestrating this, or Tam, for being exactly who Rand needed and also just an all-around excellent father, or Rand himself, for holding back, or anyone else all the way along the chain of causality?
In the end, can any one person take credit for what ultimately has to be one man’s choice?
I guess we’ll just need to see what the actual aftermath of that last chapter looks like. After all, Rand made…I think…the right choice in that moment but what comes next? Does the collapse continue, and can he pull some of himself out of it intact? Or will he turn away again and drag those walls up again and set another city on fire? Personally I lean towards the former but we’ll see.
What were Rand and Tam discussing? Would Rand’s father be able to turn him?
That’s…still an open question at this point, I think. But it looks like maybe yes. Kind of. Perhaps. Just about. Indirectly. By way of balefire and internal crisis and memory of the worst moment of his last life. You know, as you do.
“Cadsuane,” Min said, holding up the book. “I think the interpretation of this phrase is wrong.”
Round of applause for Min! Imposter syndrome who?
Seriously, stating outright disagreement with the opinions of a well-respected scholar when you’re the equivalent of an undergrad is hard. Especially when your audience is Cadsuane.
Beldeine seems to take the standard view that Min is an undergrad and therefore has no idea what she’s talking about. Well, Beldeine, unfortunately for you Min is on the protagonist side of the narrative so she’s probably right.
Nobody could humiliate one more soundly than an Aes Sedai, for they did it without malice. Moiraine had explained it to Min once in simple terms.
That alone is astonishing: an Aes Sedai explaining anything in simple terms is practically unheard-of.
Aes Sedai would be very good at the icily professional business email of shame.
“And why,” Cadsuane said, “is it that you think you know more than a respected scholar of the prophecies?”
“Because,” Min said, bristling, “the theory doesn’t make sense. Rand only really holds one crown. There might have been a good argument here if he hadn’t given away Tear to Darlin. But the theory doesn’t hold any longer. I think the passage refers to some way he has to use Callandor.”
“I see,” Cadsuane said, turning yet another page in her own book. “That is a very unconventional interpretation.” Beldeine smiled thinly, turning back to her embroidery. “Of course,” Cadsuane added, “you are quite right.”
So while we’re on the topic of Cadsuane’s methods…
It’s a harsh challenge to Min, especially as it plays directly into what she must know are Min’s insecurities about her position as a young self-taught scholar. At the same time…actually, I think the main reason I don’t have any problem at all with this is because I’ve had professors like this. The ones who push you in precisely the places where you’re most uncertain because they want to see if you can create a strong argument against the exact challenges you’d get from the field as a whole. It’s a case of ‘this is what you’re going to face if you publish this, so you’d better be prepared for it and have a sound argument’.
Does Cadsuane have to say it the way she does? No. But in a way, this is her giving Min a fighting chance to prove herself. Cadsuane is old and competent and walks a line between highly confident and arrogant, but she does listen to young people and unconventional ideas when she genuinely thinks they have merit. It isn’t always easy, and she absolutely has her biases that prevent her from being fully open-minded, but she is capable of changing her mind. So she’s giving Min a chance here, because she believes in giving people what they deserve. She’s not going to dismiss Min on the same basis Beldeine did; she’s going to credit or dismiss Min based on how sound her ideas are.
Cadsuane’s methods often centre on challenging people, and pushing them in directions that make them uncomfortable, and yeah there are all kinds of problems with that and she sometimes comes down on the wrong side of it. But at other times there’s value in the way she does it. It’s just that, like anything else, taken to extreme or excess it’s a problem, and it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution, and she’s a flawed person like most people so sometimes she fucks up by letting her own confidence/arrogance carry her across the line from challenging and somewhat abrasive into unnecessarily harsh and somewhat abusive.
Anyway, Min seems to have acquitted herself well in this mini thesis defence here, but…it makes me wonder if it’s too simple a win to actually be correct.
“Through a great deal of searching I discovered that the sword could only be used properly in a circle of three. That is likely the ultimate meaning of the passage.”
As soon as a character says ‘that’s probably what it really means’, I begin to doubt. Especially because there’s sort of a rule of threes, here. We get the first explanation from the scholars’ interpretation, which is there to be proven wrong. Then you get the protagonists’ first interpretation, which is usually closer but ultimately also either wrong or incomplete. And then at some stage you get the third and ‘true’ explanation, in which everything comes together.
Sanderson holds to this particular rule of threes in his other work, so the pattern seems especially…likely, here.
So what else do we have three of? Past, present, future would be an interesting one. There’s the trio of Elayne, Min, and Aviendha but that doesn’t seem to fit here. There are far more than three people in Rand’s head at this point or else I’d have posited an outside guess at Rand, Lews Therin, and Moridin.
There are a lot of dualities in this series, but fewer trios than one might expect from epic fantasy. I blame the gender binary.
But seriously, there are so many opposing or balanced pairs—Light and Shadow, Creator and Dark One, saidin and saidar, salvation and destruction, White Tower and Black Tower, men and women, what hand shelters, what hand slays?, chaos and order, Rand and Lews Therin…it’s a series that deals with this idea of balance, and of what happens when one side of a balanced system is thrown off, and of how to find that balance between opposing or antagonistic forces without erasing one or the other. Which is fascinating and all, but right now I need sets of three.
I guess there’s technically the True Power along with saidin and saidar.
Okay actually that’s interesting. Rand has channelled the True Power, after all. And according to Lews Therin, his attempt last Age failed because ‘we used saidin, but we touched it to the Dark One. It was the only way! Something has to touch him, something to close the gap, but he was able to taint it.’
And Rand touching the True Power, while it certainly served to turn that scene into…*waves hands wildly in the direction of everything That Scene is*…that, seems like yet another of those things, like Callandor, that should have some further purpose. What good does dragging your character to that point of absolute horror do, if it can’t then be flipped around later into some kind of key?
Well, I mean, it causes great pain and suffering for the character and thus for the readers, which really is plenty of purpose in and of itself and I’m sure as hell not complaining, but. My point is. That right there is a loose end that, used correctly, could be part of a really satisfying twist or tying-off.
But then how does that relate to Callandor? Unless it’s just that he needs to be in a circle of three, and thus allowing flows of saidin and saidar to be controlled, and then he separately but alongside that channels the True Power as well? Hmm. When I try to put it all together it doesn’t fit as well as I thought it would. So either I’m wrong or I’m still missing something.
But it would fit with the rule of threes I was playing with earlier (first answer characters come to is wrong, second is closer but incomplete or slightly incorrect, third is a late realisation that brings it all together) in that it would allow Min and Casuane to be partially but not completely right: Rand needs to be in a circle but there’s more to it somehow.
Maybe.
Nynaeve is in the room as well, being Nynaeve. In case anyone was wondering.
And…what was that vision that was suddenly hovering above Nynaeve’s head? She was kneeling over someone’s corpse in a posture of grief.
Min was just thinking about Lan so that seems like the connection we’re supposed to make here, which of course makes me doubt it. I also am still holding on to my certainty that Lan is going to live (denial? What are you talking about?). And the fact that this is appearing suddenly, given that we know exactly what’s happening in another part of the palace, suggests that it’s related to something Rand has just done or decided, something that has tipped the future towards this outcome.
And that makes me think of Egwene’s own dreams, and Min’s other viewings, of Rand and corpses and funeral biers or pyres, and mourners. Which of course brings us back to that whole question of what happens to Rand? Thanks, Aelfinn, for your clear-as-mud answer on that topic.
At one point, when all the Forsaken were coming back in different bodies, I thought maybe Rand had a chance of something similar, especially as there are definitely some lines that seem to point in that direction…but so far that seems like the Dark One’s domain, so now I’m not so sure. Maybe to live, you must die really does just mean he has to die in order to be part of the cycle of rebirth again. Or maybe he could be reborn immediately, and given a chance to live in peace in the world he has bought with his sacrifice? Or, with Egwene’s dream of a funeral pyre, some sort of phoenix-like death-and-rebirth healing or renewal of body and soul? It would fit the Fisher King theme we’re working with: the land renewed and changed and maybe healed, and so the Dragon getting the same, through some kind of cleansing fire type thing. Rising from his own death, finally healed of the wounds he has carried and thus taking part in the renewal, but no longer recognisable as who he once was, because this will be a different Age and the man who had to play that role is effectively dead (at peace), allowing Rand al’Thor to have a life?
I don’t know. I predict metaphysical fuckery, and beyond that I give up.
“Cadsuane,” she said. “This is still wrong. There’s more here. Something we haven’t discovered.”
“About Callandor?” the woman asked.
Min nodded.
“I suspect so as well,” Cadsuane replied.
Well at least they agree with my little rule of threes.
Oh hi Tam.
“What have you done to him?” he demanded.
Cadsuane lowered her book. “I have done nothing to the boy, other than to encourage him toward civility. Something, it seems, other members of the family could learn as well.”
“Watch your tongue, Aes Sedai,” Tam snarled. “Have you seen him? The enitre room seemed to grow darker when he entered. And that face—I’ve seen more emotion in the eyes of a corpse! What has happened to my son?”
Oh, Tam.
He’s furious here, and it’s directed at Cadsuane, and perhaps rightly so…but I think there’s another layer to this, which is that he has just seen his son, who seems barely alive and is surrounded by darkness and Tam had to stand there and talk to him and still feel powerless to help. He’s grieving.
And it’s an excellent counterpoint to the Tam we saw last chapter, because it’s a way to almost watch the scene again through his eyes. We saw him filtered through Rand’s, and we saw him careful and gentle and offering anything he thought Rand might take. He pushed Rand a bit, towards the end, but even then he was absolutely the father trying to help his wounded child.
Here, though, we see Tam’s side of it. We get his impression of Rand, we get his shock at the darkness that surrounds him—a shock he absolutely could not let Rand see.
We see his pain now, when he tried so hard to hide it in that last scene for Rand’s sake.
Tam al’Thor is a good parent and this hurts.
And I also really like how the love that pushes Rand to this breaking point, to the point of repeating but then rejecting Lews Therin’s past, is the love between parent and child rather than, say, the love he feels for Min or Elayne or Aviendha. And it’s not even the second cliché of a mother’s love; it’s the bond between an adoptive father and his son. I mean sure, that comes up plenty in the genre as well, but it’s just nice that that’s the tipping point. It’s something a little different and it’s lovely.
Tam took a deep breath, and the anger seemed to suddenly flow out of him. He was still firm, his eyes displeased, but the rage was gone.
Tam was the one who taught Rand the trick of the flame and the void, after all. And he’s using it here because now he’s feeling more than he can deal with; it’s all too much all at once. But he knows, too, how to steady himself.
“He tried to kill me,” Tam said in a level voice. “My own son. Once he was as gentle and faithful a lad as a father could hope for. Tonight, he channelled the One Power and turned it against me.”
I am emotionally compromised.
And he’s not even angry at Rand for that, because it’s all so wrong, and so instead it’s just pain. Pain for Rand’s own pain, shock at what Rand has become, grief for the boy he was who—by his own words and Tam’s acceptance—may as well be dead now, and something almost like disbelief that they could have come to this. I think he even knows that it’s not really personal, but that doesn’t make it better. This is his son except he’s so lost and broken that Tam doesn’t know how to bring him back.
Because at this point Rand is the only one who can do that. If he chooses to.
The words brought back memories of Rand looming over her, trying to kill her.
But that hadn’t been him! It had been Semirhage. Hadn’t it? Oh, Rand, she thought, understanding the pain she’d felt through the bond. What have you done?
This is precisely the distinction I tried to make last chapter, but it gets harder and harder to hold those things separate, and now Min has to wrestle with that and face what Rand has just done of his own volition, and that’s twice now that he’s almost killed those he loves most, and the first time he was controlled by Semirhage, but what does it mean that he almost did the same now?
Does it help, Min, that he’s asking himself that exact same question? What am I DOING?
There’s so much pain in these chapters it’s overflowing the book and I’m FINE.
Of course Tam went immediately off-script. That feels like a genuine flaw in Cadsuane’s plan; she shouldn’t have given him a script at all. She should have known that wouldn’t help, that Tam and Rand needed to be able to just…talk.
“I don’t know what you did to him, woman, but I recognise hatred when I see it. You have a lot to explain to—”
On the one hand, Tam does certainly have cause to be angry with Cadsuane. On the other hand, Rand’s state of mind is not Cadsuane’s doing, any more than it’s any single person’s doing. It’s the result of two years of torment and responsibility and trying to endure the unendurable.
But then, can you fault Tam for being angry, and looking to any target he can find? This is his son, and what he’s just seen is horrific, and he has to do something.
In short, we’re all emotionally compromised.
Except Rand, who has simply compromised his emotions.
Cadsuane calling Tam ‘boy’ is…grating. Though she does have several centuries on him. Still.
“Cadsuane!” Nynaeve said. “You don’t need to—”
“It’s all right, Wisdom,” Tam said.
HE CALLS HER ‘WISDOM’. I mean, with a second or so to think about it, of course he does. But given all she’s struggled with, and her entire character arc of growing beyond Wisdom of Emond’s Field and finding her strength and authority in a world so much larger than her village, and learning to make her place and claim respect in her own right…it’s just really lovely for her to get this nod from Tam. To him, she is still Wisdom, and he accords her that respect without even a moment’s hesitation.
It’s like Rand said: Tam is one person who hasn’t changed. He’s a fixed point in a world where so much is uncertain and so much is shifting.
Tam stared [Cadsuane] in the eyes. “I’ve known men who, when challenged, always turn to their fists for answers. I’ve never liked Aes Sedai; I was happy to be rid of them when I returned to my farm. A bully is a bully, whether she uses the strength of her arm or other means.”
…fair enough.
And it’s good to see someone challenging Cadsuane on that point, especially someone like Tam who can sustain that challenge. He’s like Gareth Bryne that way: he’s damn near unflappable, and she can’t get a reaction out of him through her usual tactics. It’s the sort of thing a character like her needs to run into sometimes, because the thing with Cadsuane is that she’s been on top for so long, and in the Aes Sedai power structure that means no one challenges her. And so there’s no check on arrogance that can so easily creep in to what once was simply confidence, no pushback when she takes something too far. That’s not good for anyone.
“Didn’t we warn you that Rand had grown unstable?”
“Unstable?” Tam asked. “Nynaeve, that boy is right near insane. What has happened to him? I understand what battle can do to a man, but…”
Ow ow ow this hurts.
(I feel like the whole second half of this book, and especially the last several chapters, have been basically just…[not pictured: me, trying to walk quickly across hot sand sprinkled liberally with broken glass and burning coals, mostly failing and going ‘ow’ a lot]).
One thing that stands out here is how differently Tam responds to Rand’s…‘instability’…than so many other characters do, or would. Because once again, he responds entirely as a parent, above all else. He doesn’t shiver in fear of what this might mean for the world, or simply stop at stating that Rand hardly seems sane as if that’s all that needs to be said, or suggest a course of action. No, he just asks, calmly but with this undercurrent still of loss and something like desperation, what has happened. He hasn’t seen Rand in years and now he sees this, and he wants to know what has hurt his child.
It stands out especially given that Cadsuane’s next statement is to tell him that’s irrelevant. Because she is one who looks to the world first, and the person second. (And I’ve said this before, but her viewpoint absolutely has its place as well, but it’s that as well that’s important. You also need people like Tam or Nynaeve who look to the person first).
Tam knows what PTSD looks like and this is something else, and he’s angry, yes, but mostly I think everything about his response in this whole scene is just a manifestation of…shock and grief and confusion and pain at seeing his son hurt in a way that he doesn’t even know how to identify, much less help.
I am not a parent, so I could be completely off-base about all of this, but this seems like it has to be right up there with a parent’s worst nightmare: to see their child so hurt and so far gone and to be helpless to do anything at all to save them. I mean, Rand outright said that the Rand Tam knew, the Rand Tam raised, was dead. And Tam just had to stand there and take that, and again I’m not a parent but even I know that no parent should have to bury their child, much less stand there and watch him bury himself.
And that feels like the root of Tam’s responses here: his gentleness with Rand; his pushback when he thought he had just enough of Rand’s attention that maybe, maybe Rand would listen; his horror at watching Rand weave balefire because I think he was just as afraid for Rand as of him in that moment; his uncontrolled anger at Cadsuane when there’s no other way to release what he’s feeling; his shock and confusion now as he tries to figure out what has happened to his son.
This is not Tam al’Thor’s best day, is what I’m getting at here. He rescued an infant from the slopes of Dragonmount, only to find that some part of that child never truly left that mountain and everythign hurts and nothing is okay and I would like ten million more chapters of this please.
“If you’d explained to me how he regarded you,” Tam said, “it might have gone differently.”
He’s probably right, there. That’s one she really should have been more open about.
But she has a point, too: there’s no use going over the woulds and shoulds and maybes. And…I have to wonder if there was really any way for that conversation to end other than it did. If it hadn’t been the mention of Cadsuane, it could just as easily have been something else that set Rand off. A rage in him fit to burn the world, and he holds it by a hair. That’s more true now than it was even when Cadsuane first said it; he is unstable for all that he thinks he is cold and controlled, and he has almost no limits on what he is willing to do (except perhaps one), and that whole conversation was, in retrospect, a time bomb.
Because at this point, given how far he has gone, I don’t think anyone could truly just…call Rand back in a single conversation. I think it has to come from him; and I think with all the walls he’s built and all the damage he’s done to himself, with this war he’s been fighting against himself as much as on the field, a violent moment of crisis might really have been inevitable, and possibly the only way to force him to face that.
So passing blame around like a hot-potato is…an understandable part of the process, because they’re human (silly mortals), but ultimately probably not going to accomplish anything.
“This is what we all get,” Min said, “for assuming we can make him do what we want.”
The room fell still.
Okay so.
On the one hand, this is a great line, and to a certain extent I agree…
But. On the other hand, it feels a bit…I don’t know. Cheap? Simplistic? Not quite true? Because at least three of the people in this room are among those very very few who do actually look at Rand as a person, as the person he was, rather than as the Dragon Reborn, saviour and destroyer of the world. Nynaeve followed him out of Emond’s Field, with the others, and followed him into a dream battle and said ‘at least let me heal you’ because there was nothing else she could do. Min has stood by Rand through most of the series purely because she loves him, and when so many other people’s perceptions of him were changing, she told him ‘I see you, Rand. I see you.’ Tam al’Thor is Rand’s father, and hasn’t had a chance to do much for him directly, but he hiked to Tar Valon to try to find him, and then specifically stayed out of his way because he thought that was the best thing he could do for him.
These are not people who have been trying all along to manipulate Rand into doing what they wanted.
And even this…this is an intervention, more than anything else. When your friend, lover, son, former babysittee, whatever is willing to annihilate cities, I think it’s fair to step in.
What help would they be to him if they just stood by and watched his descent this entire time? What good would it do anyone—Rand included—for them to never push back when they thought he was going too far, to never question his decisions? It’s like I was just saying above regarding Cadsuane: it’s not good for anyone to live unquestioned and unchallenged, especially if they hold that kind of power, authority, or influence.
And when talking to someone stops working, when reasoning with them stops working, when begging them stops working, and when, again, they’re ready to annihilate entire cities…yeah, you’re going to have to look at other options.
But none of them started at that point, and they’re some of the few who really haven’t been manipulating him to their own ends in general, and so this feels a bit…unfair, I guess.
I love Min, but I’m not sure I completely agree with her here. It would be a very true and very fair statement if made in just about any other company, but to Nynaeve and Tam? Not sure I buy it.
That said, in light of everything happening, I think everyone’s entitled to a bit of unfairness and anger and shock and all the other emotions flying around because hell, I’m emotionally compromised and I’m just the reader.
“He opened one of those gateways right on the balcony. Left me alive, though I could have sworn—looking in his eyes—that he meant to kill me.”
It has to mean something that he stopped himself. That has to be the turning point we’ve been waiting for. It’s too perfect a mirror/inversion of The Last That Could Be Done for it not to be…right?
Also someone please just sit Tam down with a giant mug of hot chocolate. This genre is not easy on parents even when they survive the first chapter, as it turns out.
“I’ve seen that look in the eyes of men before, and one of the two of us always ended up bleeding on the floor.”
Wow, okay, uh, sure, that’s…a line. Damn. There’s a whole conversation to be had here about swords and ploughshares and men who have seen too much and yet find a peaceful life for themselves in the aftermath but I don’t have much more than an ‘in this essay I will…’ for that so I’ll leave it for now.
But I think, in that exchange, it’s Rand who is left bleeding.
That moment tore open the wound he’s been trying to stifle and ignore, the gaping wound in his past life that led him to his own suicide once and that he is now forced to remember but has never been able to process. How the hell do you even begin to process something you never did, except a past you did do it, and suddenly you get that just…dropped into your brain and it’s yours but not yours and is it any surprise Rand has ended up where he is?
It tore that wide open by forcing Rand to face it head-on (no more than I’ve done before) and face it as himself rather than as a memory of a past existence that he can try to shove away. And it tore down his walls and threw emotions like knives at the shields he’s been trying to hold up and even if he’s not bleeding physically, he is absolutely bleeding.
And so is Tam, if we’re talking metaphorically here. That conversation was not without casualties.
“Ebou Dar,” Min said, surprising them all. “He’s gone to destroy the Seanchan. Just as he told the Maidens he would.”
But that would mean closing down anything that might have come of that conversation and realisation, shoving it all away back behind those walls of ice, and I’m no more a therapist than I am a parent but I’m pretty sure genocide is not a recommended coping mechanism for…uh…anything.
“Light preserve us,” Corele whispered.
Rand’s been evoking that reaction a lot, lately. It’s become something of a repeated chapter ending the way ‘Tarmon Gai’don’ echoed throughout Knife of Dreams.
Next (TGS ch 49)
Previous (TGS ch 47)
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PotC Liveblog: Curse of the Black Pearl
CotBP is one of my ‘forever films’ for sure - every time I rewatch it I not only feel the same sense of wonder and delight as the first time but invariably discover new things to love and squee over as well.
I would love to learn more about Elizabeth as a child: this lonely, solemn girl who feels something perverse in her thrill at pirate stories and gallows humor, yet who gravely takes on the duty of looking after young William Turner because she wants to be good, too. (@dollsome-does-tumblr‘s Elizabeth-centric, post-CotBP fic Shrouded Heart explores this ambivalence in her self-concept with heart-wrenching emotional realism)
Wow, Will was doomed from the start, wasn’t he? I would be too if I were a 12-year old piece of half-drowned human driftwood waking up to a miniature guardian angel who softly murmurs, “I’m watching over you” before I drift back into unconsciousness
Framing Elizabeth’s memory of seeing the Black Pearl and meeting Will as a dream, one that impels her to put on the medallion, suggests fate or some other supernatural influence at work - a nifty way for writers to sidestep accusations of Contrived Coincidences and call it Destiny instead!
Keira Knightley is so beautiful hELP
Awww, Will is so proud of his handiwork! It’s interesting because the film puts a fair amount of emphasis on it early on, his skill and pride in not just wielding swords but forging them - only to tell us later that he’s really a pirate by blood and at heart. I like it when fics like fried_flamingo & salr323′s At World’s End: Redux lean into Will’s identity as a blacksmith and extrapolate from it an affinity for land/earth/balance/creation as opposed to the sea’s wild potential for destruction. (He lost his father to the sea and to piracy; he never learned to love either.)
My god everyone’s layered in buttoned-up and corseted finery in the fucking TROPICS no wonder Elizabeth passed out (ngl despite the ‘Caribbean’ in the title and visiting the Disney ride in New Orleans Square, I remember stupidly assuming Port Royal was part of England, not Jamaica; at 9 yrs old my geography was shit and I had yet to learn what imperialism was ok)
“A ship with black sails that’s crewed by the damned and captained by a man so evil that hell itself spat him back out.” shiver me timbers now that’s how you tell a ghost story
“If he were telling the truth, he wouldn’t have told us” has the same antimonious energy as Winnie-the-Pooh going, “Well, it’s a good thing I noticed it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have seen it”
This is definitely tmi but in retrospect the rescue scene played a formative part in my (bi)sexual awakening: for a long time my go-to pubescent fantasies involved near-drownings followed by hypersexualized resuscitation attempts and frantic uncomfortable sex on wet rocks in damp subterranean caves
Omg I just realized Elizabeth’s scene with Jack on the docks mirrors the one she had on deck Will in the flashback: a (wo)man overboard recovered, rescuer hovering over a supine body and fingering the pirate medallion around his/her neck, love at first sight
“One good deed is not enough to redeem a man of a lifetime of wickedness.” “Though it seems enough to condemn him.” Basically “no good deed goes unpunished” but with style
16 years later and the swordfight between Jack and Will holds up as an iconic example of swashbuckling fight choreo. I also love how the exchange establishes the Jack/Will dynamic: the former as a kind of ironic mentor (“Excellent form. But how’s your footwork?”), the latter as an unwilling pupil who nevertheless mostly plays along
“I practice with them three hours a day.” “You need to find yourself a girl, mate.” Raunchy Shakespearean-grade comedy at its finest (along with “This sweet, proliferous bouquet that is Tortuga…What do you think?” “It’ll linger.”)
“This shot is not meant for you.” I love the hints we get of Jack’s darker side: he keeps his bitterness close and his grudges closer; for 10 years he saved that bullet for one man, refusing to expend it in any number of life-threatening situations in the interim; he drawls, “Worry about your own fortunes, gentlemen. The deepest circle of Hell is reserved for betrayers and mutineers,” like a witch uttering a curse. A dishonest man, methinks, would not feel the stab of betrayal so deeply.
The running joke of Will not getting recognized for his skills and earnest efforts is what makes Norrington’s parting words to him at the end so satisfying: “This is a beautiful sword. I would expect the man who made it to show the same care and devotion in every aspect of his life.” (NORRINGTON KNEW IT WAS HIM ALONG BUT WAS TOO JEALOUS TO EVER PRAISE HIM TO HIS FACE that petty little shit lmao)
I remember looking up the definition of ‘acquiesce’ after watching CotBP as a kid, so Barbossa had a direct hand in expanding my 9-year old vocabulary.
Competent, hyper-focused!Jack at the wheel with an unholy gleam in his eye as he gets drenched in a torrential downpour is my kind of Byronic hero
I prefer Jack Sparrow’s backstory to remain a loose collection of rumors and half-truths jumbled together even in his own memory, but I DO want to know how Jack and Gibbs met, how the former earned the latter’s (mostly) steadfast loyalty. I want to eavesdrop on all the inebriated conversational musings they’ve shared over a bottle of rum, whether topside on the decks of a ship not the Pearl or shouted above/muttered below the ruckus of a Tortuga tavern.
I’d also read/watch a prequel about the mutiny. “He plays things closer to the vest now. And a hard-learned lesson it was.” WHO HURT YOU JACK
Well obviously Barbossa did, but I still have so many questions! How did a younger, more trusting Jack earn the ire of his first mate and crew, to the point where they’d stage a mutiny? Then again, to hear Gibbs tell it, Barbossa simply appealed to Jack’s sense of fairness; perhaps in their unadulterated greed they saw Jack’s honest streak as a vulnerability to exploit? Or was it something in Jack’s manner of captaincy that fomented discontent? Idk, I can’t tell based on the way the crew jeers at “Gents, you all remember Captain Jack Sparrow?” whether their antipathy smacks more of derision or vitriol.
“Mr. Gibbs? …Jack? Jack Sparrow?” Elizabeth must be SO confused by these blasts from her distant and more recent past: who knows when Gibbs left Norrington’s employ, but the last time she saw Jack he had her in chains and at gunpoint, and now apparently he’s conspiring with Will??
I’ve always been kind of baffled by the cabin scene between Elizabeth and Will. What is she apologizing for? Taking the medallion and not telling him? Or for telling him and making him realize his father was a pirate?
Also her tearful, “Because I was afraid that you were a pirate. That would have been awful” is the biggest, bald-faced lie if I’ve ever heard one. She took an interest in him BECAUSE she thought he was a pirate (although I do think young Elizabeth had been afraid FOR him, after Gibbs’ pantomime of the hangman’s noose)
“daft like Jack” should be my Jack/Elizabeth/Will OT3 tag
Ah, back when PotC incorporated visual gags to spice up their action sequences instead of building the equivalent of a Rube-Goldberg machine around a single, unfunny gag. Compare: Gibbs’ canteen making its unlikely way from the Interceptor to the Pearl and back as an accompaniment to the battle and Jack’s breakout from his cell VS the overextended Tortuga sequence in DMC where Jack weaves in and out of a brawl to no apparent purpose except to try on different hats and then exit the tavern.
“Though it does seem a shame to lose something so fine, don’t it? …So I’ll be having that dress back before you go.” Barbossa is despicable and Geoffrey Rush delivers his lines with such RELISH
I will squee over the island scene & its deleted segments at length in a separate post so for now I’ll just say: Elizabeth is obviously a huge Jack Sparrow stan and she’s doing a piss-poor job of hiding it
Listen it’s easy to overlook Norrington’s sense of duty and decency in the face of the stick up his butt and his bouts of extreme pettiness. But the fact is that Jack’s attempt to manipulate and appeal to his ambition fails. Because the Commodore is no Barbossa - he’s a fine man who serves others, not only himself; who cares whether a woman’s acceptance of his proposal is less than sincere; who wouldn’t have risked his men ambushing the Pearl’s crew had he known about the curse (last two courtesy of the deleted scenes on the Dauntless).
Now that I’m paying closer attention I’m just blown away by the careful consideration in Jack’s plans. He’s playing both sides to further his own goal of enacting revenge at minimal risk to himself, but he looks after the unwitting parties he involves in the process, too: while the Royal Navy occupies the undead pirates from the safety of their long range cannons, Jack can intervene to save Will, use him to break the curse, and kill Barbossa. All the good guys win! (He couldn’t have foreseen the Trojan Horse or the en masse submarine attack; nor Norrington’s pettiness in defying Jack’s instructions to man cannons that would’ve blown the undead into smithereens.)
Exhibit B: “Now, to be quite honest with you, there’s still a slight risk for those aboard the Dauntless, which includes the future Mrs. Commodore.” Disregard his insouciant delivery here, and you get Jack telling the whole, unvarnished truth!!! “What do you have to lose?” he asks Norrington, who brushes him off: “Nothing I’d lament being rid of.” It’s JACK who reminds him that for all their precautions, the ambush might put Elizabeth in danger. Jack knows about the curse, and after being marooned on an island with her, he knows Elizabeth will do whatever’s necessary to save Will. So he finds a way to ensure not only that she won’t interfere, but that she’ll be kept safe from harm!! I’ll never be over it
And Murtogg’s “You think he wasn’t telling the truth?” line is such a great callback to their early sketch as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern on the docks of Port Royal. These dimwits happen to know Jack does tell the truth, expecting no one to believe him. His own exhortations on the subject notwithstanding, Jack’s real trickery lies in rarely telling the whole truth, letting people make their own assumptions, and giving them enough rope by which to hang themselves.
Governor Swann is such a darling, the ultimate doting father. It’s easy to assume he doesn’t get Elizabeth at all, but he’s no idiot. He rightly suspects she only agreed to marry Norrington to save Will, and while he’s not above nudging her in that direction (“I believe you made a very good decision today. Couldn’t be more proud of you.”), he’s also not about to let his only daughter bargain away her happiness for the sake of his OTP. (And his face of exasperated affection at Jack’s hanging, when he realizes she only pretended to faint as a diversion! Notice the lack of surprise in his expression: that’s the face of a father who is all too used to her Pulling This Kind of Shit)
Jack keeps popping up like a bad penny and both Norrington and Barbossa are so appalled every time lol
The sequence where Will breaks the curse and Jack shoots Barbossa and Elizabeth jerks like she’s the one who was shot is just - *chef’s kiss* the CHOREOGRAPHY! the CAMERAWORK! the EDITING!
“I feel…cold.” *a single apple rolls out of Barbossa’s dead hands* Can you believe a summer blockbuster movie invented poetic justice tell your English professors
“If all I have achieved here is that the hangman will earn two pairs of boots instead of one, so be it.” Ugh Will is sooo not my type but he’s so DASHING and GOOD no wonder Elizabeth covets him. What a hero
“My place is between you and Jack.” Ohhh you know what I would love to track the main characters’ alignment arcs throughout the series. Here Will’s situating himself as the Chaotic Good between Jack’s Chaotic Neutral and Norrington’s Lawful Good. But I would argue he’s still pretty Lawful and, even under Jack’s tutelage, only resorts to Chaos in extremis; meanwhile Jack flits between Chaotic Good and Chaotic Neutral; Elizabeth’s arc is similar except it’s unidirectional; and without the Law at his back Norrington spirals into Neutral Evil.
It’s the Sparrabeth shipper in me but the last line of the movie is Jack singing a song that Elizabeth taught him. (*Cutler Beckett voice* “We’ve had dealings in the past. And we’ve each left our mark on the other.”) For a fic about what Jack leaves her, may I redirect you to Shrouded Heart by dollsome, linked above - and this brain dump comes full circle!
#this is already too long and it's...only the tip of the iceberg that is my potc feels#i've reserved my more effusive observations for illustrated commentary#stay tuned for comments & tag novels on edits i've found of my fave scenes#pirates of the caribbean#the long and short of the meta#t-recs
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Megan Reads Oathbringer (part 6)
tfw you go to work halfway through a liveblog post. not a good feel.
Part 6 encompasses pages 394-476 (previous parts)
Okay, sleep is good, but it’s back to my boys time.
Only Dalinar would consider healing himself in a vision “cheating”
I’M SO EXCITED FOR DALINAR’S OTHER SURGE
let’s get some new magic up in here
“Welcome to my madness, ladies.” DALINAR PLEASE, that’s the most ridiculous greeting ever.
Navani getting all overly excited about an ancient fabrial is delightful. She’s like a kid on Christmas. Though if this leads to her figuring out the design and getting lil Regrowth machines out into the world so people can heal, that would be magnificent. And seems like exactly the thing she’d be planning on doing.
THERE WAS A TEARFUL MOTHER-DAUGHTER REUNION!! THERE WAS ONE!! I’VE BEEN ROBBED
I genuinely love how every time Dalinar orders the Stormfather to do something, he’s like “wtf dude, no I don’t take orders from you” but he does it anyway.
sooo..most of the time when a Radiant dies, their spren dies, too. But the Stormfather was actually...enchanced? by Honor’s death. Obviously, Honor isn’t a Radiant, and I get the feeling that the Stormfather wasn’t his spren, but there’s a certain similarity in that they were clearly connected in some way--if they weren’t, why would his death affect the Stormfather at all? So why did the spren memory loss thing work the opposite way for the Stormfather--that he was fuzzy and forgotten while his connected being was alive, and more sure of himself now that Honor is dead?
“Dalinar squinted, but he still couldn’t make out which were human and which were not.” I feel like that says something, doesn’t it? If you can’t tell the humans from the parshmen? the maybe you’re not so different after all? Maybe you all die the same way, you all bleed and fight and die the same way. And maybe the things you’re fighting for are different, but there’s something to be said for looking at things from a different point of view.
oooohhh honey, is that what they told you? That the Heralds ascended to the Tranquiline Halls? God, humans so want to believe the best of people--as a general rule, we are an optimistic race. We want to believe things will get better or people won’t disappoint us. The betrayal of the Heralds wasn’t even a thing they could comprehend. Why would their gods abandon them? Surely, it was because they’d earned a better afterlife, not because they were tired of being tortured and just...walked away.
I’m emotional about the surprising resilience of humanity, but also of the marvelous ways humans lie to themselves to make themselves feel better.
I’m also emotional about the Heralds. That’s a constant thing though, sort of goes without saying.
ARE WE ACTUALLY GETTING INFO ABOUT THE HERALDS!!!!!?? AAAHHHHHH WHAT
FINALLY
Wait, are you telling me that the Desolations--all of them--were started by vengeful, angry ghosts????
vengeful, angry Parshendi ghosts.
that’s...marvelous.
OOHHHHHHHH
THIS IS MY SHIT THIS IS MY JAM. TEN PEOPLE PUTTING THEMSELVES IN HELL TO SAVE EVERYONE ELSE AAHH THESE PEOPLE
strong, selfless, sacrificing people
who got tired. and fucked up. and broke. and I’m
goooddddd this is MY SHIT THIS IS MY FAVORITE GIMME THIS WHOLE NOVEL AAAAHHH
AND THEN THEY WENT BACK KNOWINGLY KNOWING WHAT WAS WAITING FOR THEM THEY WENT BACK AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN WILLINGLY KNOWINGLY I”M
I AM EMOTIONAL ABOUT THE HERALDS
also the Stormfather slowly gaining humanity/perspective on humanity is a beautiful thing to witness. Like, yeah, we got it with Syl and Pattern and will with other spren, I’m sure, but it’s wild to see it in the soul of a storm.
HE WASN’T EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE THERE HE WASN’T A KING HE WASN’T ANYONE SPECIAL HE WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE THERE AND HE WAS THE STRONGEST OF THEM AND HE NEVER BROKE HE NEVER GAVE IN AND HE WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE THERE AND I”M
TALN
TAAAAAALLNNNN
I’M CRYING
I”M C R Y I N G
I AM UPSET ABOUT THE HERALDS
FOUR AND A HALF THOUSAND YEARS
(also that’s a lord of the rings reference I never noticed before, good job)
oohh shiiiiiittttt. they are reborn literally every nine days how the hell do you fight that
haaa um. the letter in the epigraphs--”it was agreed that no two Shards should settle in the same place”--my dude...you’ve got a limited number of inhabitable planets in this system. hate to break it to you, but... y’all were gonna end up in the same places. ..
“Everyone who might have been able to help us is crazy, dead, a traitor, or some combination of all three. Figures.” 1. Kaladin pls. 2. No, they can’t be dead. that’s too convenient. and also if they’d died before Taln escaped, he would have had someone there to help bear the torture burden and maybe wouldn’t have broken? Or...maybe I’m assuming Taln is stronger than he was there at the end.
Also, Kaladin, you don’t get to be self-righteous about the Heralds. I know you suffered and were tortured and survived with your oaths intact, but you almost didn’t--you reaaaally almost didn’t--and your tortures weren’t nearly as bad as theirs.
“Maybe that should make you reconsider those other wars, rather than using them to justify this one.” GET REKT, DALINAR. GOD, WHAT AN IMPORTANT LINE.
See, Shallan, that’s the beauty of Kaladin. He doesn’t consider whether or not something is “the sort of thing you say to the Blackthorn.” He knows what’s right, or what should be right, and he knows what needs to be said, and he frikkin says it. That’s one of the marvelous things about him--it’s not that he doesn’t care about the consequences, it’s that the consequences of him not speaking are worse. Because if he doesn’t speak, he doesn’t have a chance to change minds or hearts at all.
“You, three of your men, the king, and Adolin.” GOD BLESS THIS ROADTRIP
MMMMMMM YEAH NOPE
No wonder Jasnah and Taravangian got along so well; they have the same world philosophy. Murder a few people on the off chance that that might stop everyone else from dying.
Pragmatic, but ultimately horrible. And probably ineffective. The Heralds already broke. There was only a single year between the last two Desolations. It is highly likely that they any of them did go back now, they would simply break immediately and you’d have the same problem right away.
Usually, Jasnah has good ideas, but this is just. stupid.
ALSO THE FACT THAT HER ONLY OTHER SUGGESTION IS GENOCIDE OF THE PARSHENDI IS REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE. COME ON, JASNAH, YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT.
Listen, I don’t think Jasnah counts as a really good therapist, but at least she’s...trying? to help Shallan? Shallan really needs a therapist.
“Is there a solution?” “I don’t know.” “Perhaps...act like an adult?” Amen, Pattern. Aaaaaamen.
Here’s the thing: I fully 100% understand that Shallan is a sheltered, frightened, PTSD, abused child who can’t confront her problems and therefore hides in various identities because it’s safe there. The problem is that this is the end of the world. Nothing is safe. And acting petulant because you want to sketch in a corner and hide and the big adults are forcing you to help save the world? Not an endearing quality.
I know she has panic attacks whenever she thinks about confronting her problems, and panic attacks suck ass, but you need to work through them? At some point, if you really hate yourself that much, you have to stand up and decide to change? Decide to be better. Shallan has said several times that she hates herself and she wants to change, but she refuses to actually do that. And yeah, it’s fucking hard, but there comes a point when you just have to grow up.
~*~unpopular Shallan opinions with Megan~*~
“Was she perhaps simply not interested?” Ace!Jasnah #confirmed. haha
Okay but like...Jasnah would never train you to be only a “mousy scribe” like...what the fuck, Shallan.
oh of course. Skybreaker...
Okay, so there’s the Sons of Honor--now Amaram’s domain. The Ghostbloods. The Diagram. Hello Darkness My Old Friend’s Skybreakers--which we know from Edgedancer were working on Ishar’s orders. The listeners and the parshmen. And us. the New Radiants. That’s.....a lot of groups with very conflicted purposes and goals.
Someone else in Amaram’s army was close to bonding a spren? and Hello Darkness took them out... Was that the other voice Syl was talking about? the first person she heard? who the heck was it.
“How long will Shallan go before she remembers we’re here?” Aw, Gaz, it’s like you think she cares about you guys.
I AM FREE FROM WORK AAHHH
going to work for 8 hours mid-liveblog just sucks y’all. Anyway. On we go!
“Teft woke up. Unfortunately.” I KNOW THE FEELING, MY DUDE
also good finally please tell me what my boy has been up to/where he’s been disappearing off to
......why this
we didn’t need a drug addiction subplot. why this.
also OOH HE HAS A SPREN? What type. It’s automatic to assume Windrunner, but what if it’s not?
WELL, I’M GLAD KALADIN AND ROCK FOUND HIM wtf we didn’t need this aargghhhh
We’re...really not going to get Azir, are we? I mean. that litany of what the Sunmaker did to them...I’m not freaking surprised that they don’t trust the Alethi. I wouldn’t. That’s horrible.
Dalinar has a point about living long enough to see his consequences though. And he’s actually doing a pretty good job of owning up to his mistakes and dealing with his consequences.
Probably wouldn’t hurt to, like...apologize to Azir though.
OMG LIFT HI
HI BBY GIRL I LOVE YOU
how the heck did she get in here though? is this some of her connected-to-the-cognitive-realm stuff?
pfff Gawx just being so excited to see her thas cuuutte. Besties 5evar.
OOHHH THE ART IN THE BUBBLE IT’S GOT THE PATCH RIPPED OFF
OHHHHHH OOOOOOHHH OOOOH MY BOY. MY MOASH. AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
he’s alive I’m
aaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
pfft “stew”. nothing will ever live up to Rock’s, I’m sure.
oh wait shit okay
I did not remember that Moash’s king-killing friends were Diagram peeps...I’m assuming we knew that in WoR but I did not remember and that’s... Why would Taravangian want to kill Elhokar? That wouldn’t do much to destabilize anything--that would just put Dalinar more firmly in charge... hm.
unless Taravangian wants Dalinar in charge because he know Dalinar trusts him... dangit. okay.
MEANWHILE I”M UPSET ABOUT MOASH
at least he didn’t throw the patch away. he can sew it back on when he comes back
OH GOD HE’S IMAGINING THEM BEIN HAPPY WITHOUT HIM AND I’M SAD? HE MISSES THEM SO MUCH
AAAAAHHHHHHH
n ooooo he didn’t tell them he didn’t want them to hate you it’s okay just...come hoooommmeee
OH SHIT NO NOT FUSED COME ON
LET HIM LIVE
I S2G
HE GOT A SPEAR OKAY HE’S GOT THIS HE’S THE BEST THEY HAD OH GOSH OKAY
COME ON, MOASH, YOU GOT THIS
“BRIDGE FOUR, BASTARDS” THAT’S MY BOY
IS HE GONNA BE OKAY
WHERE ARE THEY TAKING HIM
WHY ARE THEY TAKING HIM
STOP THEM FROM TAKING HIM
LET HIM COME HOME
I”M CRYING STOP PUT HIM BACK LET HIM COME HOME I MISS HIM
I legit thought he was going to kill Moash, I was ready to drive back to Utah, I WAS READY TO YELL AT PEOPLE OH GOSH
huh. art page: why are the sails on the bottom? Are these air ships? stick the sails into a highstorm, let it push you along on the winds? that...would be dangerous but REALLY COOL?
“Red, stop trying to make deevy a thing, it’s not gonna be a thing.”
it’s like groovy but worse sounding
so when is Ishnah, the espionage lesbian, going to call Shallan’s bluff?
Sorry, Veil’s bluff.
I feel like Shallan’s plotline in this book is just that Onion headline that’s like, “Area [wo]man thought breakdown would be more obvious”
I love Shallan being jealous and suspicious of Adolin’s flames, but Janala isn’t the one you gotta worry about. Danlan’s the one in the Ghostbloods. Ghostbloods? Diagram? shit, I’ve forgotten which evil organization she’s in... or if it even matters. She hasn’t shown up again, has she?
idk, Jasnah, Shallan was justified this time. Anyone making fun of Renarin definitely deserves the Sarcasm Bludgeon.
But Shallan, you weren’t invited on the boys road trip.
though, tbh, that could be fun...
BUT KALADIN JUST LEFT REVOLAR. MOASH JUST ARRIVED OR WAS DRAGGED WHATEVER BUT KALADIN JUST LEFT. THEY COULD HAVE SEEN EACH OTHER, KALADIN COULD HAVE HELPED HIM ESCAPE, HE COULD HAVE COME HOME.
ARRGGHH
“They had no reason to obey the lighteyes. They had no power, no authority.” That’s the problem with tradition. With having something so societially ingrained that you can never shake it, because you don’t think to try.
Moash no. don’t... don’t run yourself into the ground pulling wagons, please, darling, just... don’t die. Don’t give up. Stand your ground, find a way, come home
the letter in the epigraph: “Rayse is contained and we care not fot his prison.” yeah, uh...you gotta....you gotta do maintenance at the very least...to make sure he stays in prison? like...just...check the locks every once in a while? idk. this seems like it might be your fault if he escapes...
Sigzil being scientific and doing tests on them all is still so endearing. I love him.
Also poor Skar. let the man get his squire on, pls.
also, someone who can draw, please, please do an art of Rock doing the “Horneater victory dance” and skipping through a field of wildflowers and butterflies. Please. This is important art.
they still leave a hole in the conference circle for Moash, and hi this is my ghost I’m dead now bye
god, Kaladin would make them do squad formations in the air. Is there a goose-migration vee formation?
SKAR IS A GOOD. A GOOD TEACHER AND A GOOD GLOWING PERSON AAHH
Hey, guys, did you know I love Bridge Four?
#op#Megan reads OB#Oathbringer spoilers#ladyknightliveblogs#MY BOYS ARE SO GOOD AND I LOVE THEM#that's not spoilers that's known fact#Stormlight Archive#Oathbringer#Brandon Sanderson
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Attack on Titan Episode 30
LIVEBLOG
I have this acquaintance who seems to believe that I’ve been unfairly circumspect regarding my opinion of this (and other) episodes. I am aghast (aghast, I tell you) at this ruthless judgment of how I best enjoy my cartoons.
To defang such a callous accusation, this seemed like the way to go.
(Featuring xtreme whining, manga spoilers like whoa, more whining, and maybe a few spots of joy. Who can say. I haven’t started yet, and I’ve never done a liveblog before. It’s a surprise for everyone.)
So, Attack on Titan Episode 30, “Historia.” Let us begin!
I appreciate that it starts with the opening instead of pretending that the content outside of this week means anything.
Tag your spoilers though. Sheesh. That’s going to continue to bug me every time I watch an episode from this era.
Yes, we could have given these characters with a surprising amount of lines this season something new and exciting to do in the opening considering that we’re going to exclude them from all the group shots (they aren’t traitorous enough for traitoring, but boy howdy are they too shady to pal up with their innocent buddies), or, or... we could just go ahead and borrow animation from six episodes in and throw it through some filters.
Complete with dramatic stills. Still. The other one can have dramatic motion. She’s going to be a main character soon, after all.
It still makes me happy that the opening spends time remembering that these two matter outside of everything else that’s going on. Their dramatic anvil of emotional trauma has meaning enough to be dropped in the first minute and thirty seconds of every episode kind enough to skip flashbacks. Most good and excellent.
I like this opening on its own, too. The first one has the epic music that goes with anything, the second has the epic music and really tired anime tropes, but this one manages to grasp that the epic music belongs with suitable animation. I don’t know how it would compare head-to-head, but this one feels like a more complete work.
But enough with the opening.
Bring me the feels that I have graciously waited four years for.
Yes, good, excellent.
...
You mock me.
I don’t understand. Is there something wrong with suddenly shifting your story’s entire focus to two girls who have yet to contribute anything relevant to the plot in a season where there are only twelve episodes and the fanbase has not been reared on monthly frustration?
Why would you want to give the filler moments to characters that people already know something about and care for? How very dare.
(I have watched this before, in case that was unclear, and I don’t remember my exact reaction to this episode opening with filler, but I do remember moments of pain as the snowy boot failed to lead to the scene I wanted it to.
You cut the flashbacks to taunt me with filler, WIT.)
However much it floats about the wrong people, the snow is really beautiful. I don’t live anywhere I get to experience snow, but I like the feeling of muted emptiness it brings an atmosphere. Things are allowed to be still and quiet.
As a bunch of young recruits are trying not to freeze to death, but it’s okay. We already know everyone we care about makes it through.
Hark, the first reference to this episode’s true purpose!
(Why couldn’t Crunchyroll show me kindness and use the K version of her name? It isn’t like it’s going to matter soon.)
I am against this filler on general principle of not getting exactly what I want at all times, but Mikasa showing awareness of what Krista gets up to is always going to blindside me with feels. Mikasa doesn’t know it, but they’ve both watched their mother die thanks to the world’s malevolence, and they both latch on to the person who comes to shape their new place in life.
Neither Eren or Ymir is especially delicate about it, but when they speak their hearts, Mikasa and Kristoria hear them like they’ve heard nothing else.
Of course, that’s all based on later things, but whenever Mikasa has a scene with Kristoria, there’s this extra weight of subtextual understanding that just sings to me.
It helps that it’s mostly one-sided. Everyone in the 104th knows Mikasa, because how could you not, but Kristoria, outside of being rescued repeatedly and bargaining for certain people’s lives, doesn’t show any special acknowledgment of Mikasa.
Meanwhile, Mikasa notices Krista. She’s not the blonde or tiny one, she’s the one who sticks with Ymir--or, in this case, stays behind with Daz.
In this section of the story, Mikasa really has no idea how alike she and Kristoria are, but I like that even before she knows, she notices. ...Or maybe more accurately, some part of the writing staff notices the similarities, so allows them to be continually linked.
...I really like Historia and Mikasa’s nonexistent irrefutable bond.
Why is the OVA that has more of it not stateside when we were given the crack one.
BUT HEY GUESS WHAT THAT’S NOT WHAT THIS EPISODE’S ABOUT!
Look, look, it’s what the episode didn’t start with.
...
...
Oh help.
Excuse me, I think my heart grew three sizes and I need to lie down thanks to unforeseen feels because oh wow, this is somehow the perfect and I don’t know how to deal.
How.
Just how.
I don’t care if it’s a translation flair or not. There’s something--heck, just help.
Not “no.” “Never.”
Kristoria is a melodramatic stubborn moppet and what even.
You’re dragging a dying body through the snow. Be less perfect.
Ymir, of course, continues to talk, going through all the reasons why a dead body is going to be involved in their night--because some titans get their energy from sunlight, and some get it from pointing out as many inconvenient truths as they can in the space of a single conversation--and Kristoria, of course, continues to be perfect.
I swear, my favorite part of half of the training scenes between these two is that Ymir spends most of her time rightfully criticizing every single thing Kristoria does, and after the initial confusion, Kristoria just refuses to listen.
She puts up a good fight, and can talk with shining eyes about Sasha choosing to be herself regardless of her word choices, and play the heroic role of still believing that there’s a way out while she’s basically in the middle of a suicide attempt, but she is so, so wrong.
This kid is so wrapped up in whatever role her head thinks she’s playing that she listens to her common sense maybe about half as much as any rational person would. Then she uses whatever’s left to try and defend herself to Ymir, because Ymir has the nerve to suggest that she’s thinking about as little as she actually is.
And good grief I just love this scene.
Because yeah, she’s about ten seconds away from being bashed over the head with how unproductive this all is, but look at that face.
The anime version is going with a lot less dead eyes here, and I should and will maybe find time to complain about that, but what it’s turned so horribly glorious is Kristoria’s overall tone when she starts telling Ymir to get lost. It’s downright mocking.
Also fake.
So, so so so fake.
Yet somehow, one of the genuine things Kristoria does as Krista. She doesn’t try to convince Ymir to save herself with a warm smile and proper actions; she plays Ymir’s own game and taunts her into wanting to leave Kristoria and Daz behind.
Kristoria’s basically given up at this point. She’s marching in the middle of a blizzard tugging a pre-corpse behind her, and I don’t think she considers her own life to be in better shape than Daz’s. They’re both dead. Game over man, game over.
Ymir’s outside of that picture, though. Ymir’s heart is still beating, and she obviously doesn’t want to stay, so why should she stick around and watch all of this misery?
This is the early version of how Historia always negotiates. Whenever there’s something she wants, she picks her arguments based on what the other person will find convincing, not necessarily her own logic for making a case.
So with Ymir, she chooses to be obnoxiously cocky about her chances.
(help.)
The manga has this byplay so much quieter, and you can see so much more of Historia from the next arc coming through, but Kristoria makes affected arrogance look damn good and why why why.
WELL NOW THAT’S RUINED, ISN’T IT.
Tough break, Kristoria. You’re going to have to earn being cool from now on.
The anime does such a good job of this moment.
What always gets me in the manga, and what carries over here, is the look of pure horror on Kristoria’s face when Ymir puts words to her thinking. When it’s said out loud, it sounds horrible. She isn’t trying to save someone’s life. She’s given up on Daz.
I don’t think the jab about giving up on herself hits that hard. Kristoria’s a suicidal mess.
But Daz, he who spends this entire scene basically being treated like a sack of potatoes by both of the people responsible for his eventual survival, is a life Kristoria cares about. I think a lot gets lost when that isn’t taken under consideration.
She doesn’t mind killing herself. But what hits is that her resignation regarding her own life has crept out and threatened someone else.
Kristoria’s been responsible for death before. It terrifies her.
Before Ymir draws it out, I honestly don’t think Kristoria has any idea what she’s doing here. Her own life has never mattered to her. Daz’s fate is pretty much inevitable. She’ll stay with him until the end, and put in the token effort, but they’re both screwed, and deep in her heart, all of the talk of third options and hope is a lie. The only thing she can do is keep Ymir from being taken by the hopelessness as well.
But giving up the way she has means that she’s hurt Daz’s chances of survival beyond what they already were. She never asks for help. She just accepts death and carries on walking straight into its embrace.
And when Ymir says it, like this is all on purpose, Kristoria immediately denies it.
She does not want Daz to die. She thought herself a witness, at worst. Not his executioner.
Like I said earlier, Kristoria just does not think about this. Her fatalist tendencies take the wheel and drive her off a cliff that wasn’t even on the route.
So when she’s made to think about what she’s doing, and when she sees, for the first time, where it’s landed her, she’s horrified. She’s a screwed up mess, but she isn’t intending to get anyone else killed.
There’s no denying that that’s where she’s sitting, though.
This is so well done. It’s... this is one of my favorite scenes in the series. Most ones involving these two are, but these moments make such strong use of silence. There’s nearly a full page of beat panels after Ymir starts this conversation, and the tension and the swirling snow stand out even better in a medium dependent on motion.
The world stops when Ymir calls Kristoria on her actions. They’re probably all going to die, and in what Kristoria is thinking will be her last moments, the deepest part of her soul is on full display, and she can’t come up with a single way to defend herself.
She’s out of hope, doesn’t have a sense of self-worth to begin with, and Ymir is confronting her with every sordid detail of the life she wants to forget.
...That part’s me skipping ahead, but look, that’s the mood. Just this lost little girl in the snow wondering how the hell she’s fallen so low.
...While Ymir continues to make it worse.
Because why not. Blizzards are a great time to chat.
(Daz ends up dependent on the two people with the some of the strongest saving-people instincts in the series, and he still nearly dies because they only know how to have honest conversations if death is nearby. That is his purpose in this scene. He is the conversation starter.)
"Hey, you’re about to kill a guy, but btw, I am totes not a thief.”
Who are you trying to impress. I mean, Kristoria, obviously, at all hours of the day, but even at this point she knows you too well to buy that you’re too morally pure to steal things when you’re starving.
Also, there’s that blizzard thing. How are you still trying to act cool.
Oh Ymir...
That ability to instantly empathize and decide a course of action based on those feelings is a little scary, really. Because she knows the story, this girl she’s never met sends a hook through her heart, and suddenly she’s in the military.
Her gift of perception is what makes her so fun when she’s around other characters, but combined with her smarts and impulsiveness... she’s good at finding just enough rope to hang herself with.
...Yeah, meanwhile there’s you.
...
Fine, let’s be real, it’s both of you.
These two are so innocent that it physically pains me.
There is some humor in Ymir resorting to blatant lies to cover up having *~feelings~* in a conversation largely about being true to yourself (Ymir and Historia are both human disasters whose emotional maturity lingers somewhere around toddler level), especially when it’s in response to the person lying about her entire identity posing an honest question, but mainly, oh no.
Like.
No.
Ymir and Kristoria are having this dramatic conversation in the middle of a blizzard while some guy dies at their feet. They are working the tension like it’s going out of style, and they aren’t going to stop anytime soon.
They’re reaching Batman levels of extra angst.
...Holy crap, Historia’s Batman.
No no no, listen, see, she’s got the blue blood, and she’s got the piles of influence, she has the tortured dark loneliness, she watches her parents die in front of her (admittedly, one has help), AND SHE ADOPTS SCORES OF ORPHANS. HISTORIA REISS IS THE ONE TRUE BATMAN FIGHT ME.
But then Kristoria swoops in, mid-suicide attempt, and goes all angelic shiny eyes, because oh my gosh, friend??!!
She is the epitome of a kicked puppy, and it is adorable.
Unbelievably tragic, but. That is a puppy expression. Over friendship.
While Ymir tries to pretend she’s too cool to want any of that.
When she’s just as bad.
She’s not the one dragging someone’s body through the snow out of a warped sense of self-hatred and heroism only to go all doki doki over the possibility of someone wanting her as a friend, oh no.
She just joins the military because she hears a story about some girl and she can relate.
I know the episode isn’t there yet, and since we’ve been graciously spared a flashback start, it might be hard to remember. But for the sake of perspective:
Ymir is standing on top of a collapsing tower surrounded by titans entirely because she’s so desperate for human connection that she ran off looking for some girl whose first name she didn’t even know because she thought they had something in common.
THIS IS THE PERSON WHO HAS THE NERVE TO PLAY TSUNDERE ABOUT WANTING FRIENDS.
TO REVIEW.
THIS IS WHAT COMES OUT OF HER MOUTH
LITERALLY ONE MINUTE AFTER SHE SAYS THIS
“HI I’M YMIR AND I WEAR METAPHORICAL REINCARNATION BETTER THAN YOU, SEE HOW PRETTY MY BLACK AND BLUE DRESS IS NEXT TO YOUR SILLY WHITE AND GOLD ONE.”
This is a very mature conversation between two people who have been through too much and come out incredibly damaged.
It’s also two teenagers yelling at each other in the middle of a blizzard.
For instance, this is a tragic statement about Kristoria’s emotional trauma.
It also sounds vaguely like Ymir is encouraging murder.
It might not sound funny now, but give it time. Around the arc that ends with Historia killing her father, this becomes utterly hilarious.
And this... this will always hit hard.
Kristoria’s my favorite character, and that’s been the case since I first saw her. This is the arc that gives substance to that fondness, and this moment in particular is one of the most brutally cool parts of Kristoria.
She isn’t just trying to kill herself. She joins the military. She conducts herself admirably. She’s a good enough soldier to earn a spot in the top ten, even if that should more correctly be the top eleven.
Yeah, she doesn’t care about herself. Her care for others is also debatable.
But she isn’t just stumbling her way towards the quickest end. She keeps her head up and finds a way to die that looks appropriate from every angle, and marches toward it. If she had died here, even though that’s exactly her plan, and staying alive isn’t something she’s trying too hard at, she would have died on her feet, still stubbornly clinging to the heroic ideal she wants to decorate herself with.
Krista might be a fake hero, but Kristoria goes the extra mile even when she’s completely out of heart to give.
That unholy stubbornness is headed the exact wrong direction here, but it is such a cool character trait.
Ymir and Kristoria’s relationship is really just this long debate over which one of them is better at winning arguments.
I also appreciate that Ymir’s winning argument, in this case, involves throwing people off cliffs.
Sure, she’s right.
But even without titan powers I can totally see her suggesting throwing someone off a cliff as a valid way to keep them alive if it meant finding a way to prove Kristoria wrong in this scene.
She starts out wanting Kristoria to leave Daz behind. Then it turns into a philosophical showdown, and suddenly, nope, there is a way for all of us to live, guess what Krista, YOU ARE WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING FOREVER.
(Love yourself.)
...Whatever the anime does wrong, now and in the future, I don’t think I will ever be able to deny the extreme gratitude I feel towards whoever lovingly detailed Ymir picking up a kicking Kristoria and throwing her down a hill and into a tree.
Best love interests ever.
You three still aren’t supposed to be here, but I begrudgingly appreciate that even when Eren finds Krista creepy, he’s the kind of righteous dude who will do whatever he can for his crew, and of course Mikasa and Armin won’t ever let him do it alone.
Fine, I like the filler this episode.
“Hello, we are also here, and have absolutely no ulterior motive to making sure that Krista is still breathing. Look at how helpful and great we are.”
“We’re just good people who love our friends and need more screentime.”
For a good time, count how many times Krista is mentioned by name compared to Daz and Ymir.
You know, I feel like the full context of what happens here deserves more words.
Ymir literally jumps off a cliff to win an argument with her girlfriend, leaving said girlfriend smacked against a tree and under a pile of snow in the middle of a blizzard, all with the full expectation that Kristoria is going to be just dandy.
AND SHE’S RIGHT.
Kristoria gets a front row seat to two people she sort of wants alive diving off a cliff, and then gets to wander through the wilderness in the dead of night, blizzard raging, entirely by herself.
Just like Ymir knew she would.
...
Just because it’s a terrible plan doesn’t mean I can’t find her faith heartwarming, shut up.
I feel like this screencap accurately captures the Ymir experience in its entirety.
...I always forget how tiny Historia is.
She is incredibly tiny.
I don’t have a comment.
I just feel something in my chest.
I think it is pain.
The whimpering noises coming from somewhere support this theory.
This level of physical affection is not in the manga version help it doesn’t even make sense for their personal bubbles to be ignored like this where they’re at right now it’s just done to make a smooth transition cut so how dare you make me feel things.
Stop.
Look, see, we have a perfectly good thing here where even the idea of living under her real name makes Kristoria gasp fearfully, and that is a slice of tension that I should be able to dig my teeth into and enjoy,
BUT INSTEAD WE’RE HERE, DOING THIS!
My heart is on the floor yet somehow still doing things to me and I have complaints.
Oh good, this is better.
...Does Ymir just. enjoy jumping off high places?
This is also some epic music to get the party started.
LET THE BODIES HIT THE FLOOR
Speaking critically for a moment, as much as I dig the music once we’re back from the Information for Public Disclosure, I’m really disappointed in the blocking for Ymir’s initial attack on the titans.
It lasts about ten seconds, so wow get over it, but they go with more long shots than swift cuts for those ten seconds. Considering her fighting style, it feels like the wrong call. It’s impressive to watch how swiftly she’s moving from titan to titan, but some of the brutal strength of the violence is missing. Chomp, nom, move on. There are a few good shots mixed in, but the flow of the scene feels like it could have been way more intense if they’d kept close to Ymir.
Loving that music, though.
Pictured: Kristoria nearly falling from her death because she hasn’t moved a single inch since trying to reach out and stop Ymir from jumping off yet another high surface.
So. Cause of death?
Could not stop staring at Ymir.
Okay.
...I’ve been good. Very good, arguably. If Studio WIT wants to take a few liberties with micro expressions, that’s their call, and they even made one really unfair thing out of it, so I shouldn’t complain too loudly.
...
Yeah, fuck it.
SHE DOES NOT SMILE IN THIS PANEL OF THE MANGA. VERY MUCH THE OPPOSITE, AND THAT WAS WITH SIGNIFICANT LESS DAMAGE TO HER LEG.
YOU ALSO FAILED TO DEPICT CONNIE’S PANICKED STILL OF REACHING OUT WITH BOTH ARMS TO TRY AND CATCH HER. IT IS PRECIOUS AND ADORABLE AND YOU ARE DEAD TO ME.
Bertolt’s “wtf��� expression is a gem, though.
This is Kristoria’s most vivid recollection of three years of friendship with Ymir.
Bless these two.
Only two people on island with knowledge of history past a hundred years ago shocked when the person named Ymir has a link to Titans.
Bertolt really does have magnificent background expressions.
I. feel personally victimized by this episode.
What always gets me about this section of Utgard is how disturbed Kristoria starts out by... all of this. It’s all scary stuff, everyone up safe on the tower is talking about how suspicious everything is, and Kristoria’s a bit of an anxious mess to begin with when it comes to life.
You can see so easily how someone who’s never had a reason to trust anybody could have trouble trusting the motives of a secret like this, and the environment is just waiting to tighten its hold on all of her insecurities.
But Ymir is still Ymir.
Even before the pieces fully snap together, and Kristoria starts breaking out of her anxious shell, she can’t watch Ymir in danger and not worry. She can’t turn off caring for her friend.
And then we just. just.
Oh help they added a montage.
This should not be allowed at all what even why are you doing this.
Butting heads and marriage proposals. And awkward drinking experiences.
That’s what Kristoria holds dear to her heart when she thinks of Ymir.
I’m fine. Fine fine fine. Fine.
Help me I love this episode.
I do not have words. They are not found. This world was not meant to waste moments talking about scenes like this when they’re there to be enjoyed. There is no greater high than Kristoria shouting off encouragement about property destruction and generally showing her deep, abiding love for Ymir by calling her an irredeemable jackass while she nobly tries to save them all at her expense.
Then WIT goes ahead and brings me back to earth when it decides to cut my favorite smile altogether. While I’m grateful for the return of my ability to make words instead of distressed noises, why. You gave the filler its dear sweet time to do whatever it felt like, and now we’re left without an animated form of the bestest smile ever.
Minus bazillion points.
Oh wait.
Waaait.
You. can’t just.
Ow?
Ahaha oh, but this is entirely the anime’s fault and ow. That... that slow hesitance of her feet before they just start going. Ymir’s being torn to shreds, and there are titans everywhere, but running to her side is such a basic instinct for Kristoria that she just... goes.
The manga captures that sense too, but the boots. That tiny little delay before she bolts.
How are you allowed.
Oh yeah, and here we have Ymir’s eyes opening. Entirely because Kristoria’s calling out to her. That’s good. That’s okay. Yeah.
If I didn’t have things to complain about like WIT turning Kristoria’s kindly request that a titan wait on eating her into the anime version of thought bubbles (WHICH SHE SHOULD NOT HAVE YET), I don’t know what I’d do.
Mikasa’s auditions for the role of Kristoria’s personal white knight just make me really happy.
Smiling Erens would, except.
Well.
Sorry about your life, kid.
....Yours too, but, uh.
Um.
...oh wow.
This can’t be how they’re supposed to spend their budget. but. This is so amazingly beautiful. The lighting is so, so soft, and Historia’s voice when she tells Ymir’s her name is one of the most gentle utterances you will ever hear on this show.
You have this episode full of teenagers yelling and being scared and making poor decisions, and so much pain, and so much violence and passion. Then the morning sun rises, and all that’s left is this tender moment between two people who love each other.
And Ymir, battered and bloody, smiling at the sound of Historia’s name.
More care than I’d dared to hope for goes into the final scene, and... yeah, wow. Thanks for existing.
So.
That’s it.
Episode over.
On the whole, I like the manga version better thanks to a few tiny details that don’t matter to anyone but me, but this is... extraordinary, and I am so glad that they were willing to take their time and let it flourish into everything it’s meant to be. Damn.
I can’t see myself doing one of these again, but it definitely had its moments (this episode hurts me), and I hope some enjoyment can be had from the transcript. Thanks for following along.
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Okay, so I really will talk about this more when I actually write up the eighth and ninth posts of this liveblog, but I’m feeling really, really aggravated at a certain turn this story has taken right now, and so I have to get it off my chest. Because honestly, this is one of my least favorite things and I really have to gripe about how it has been inserted into a narrative that I was otherwise really enjoying before this point (like, really, it’s kind of ruining it for me a little bit, ngl). Putting this under a cut since it’s pretty major #spoilers for Seven’s route.
So the whole deal, as you know if you’ve either played this game or have been reading my posts, is that Seven is a secret agent for an intelligence agency on top of managing security for the RFA. Because the intelligence agency does very shady things, and because he has had to do horrible things, and because of all the other bullshit going on in his life right now (re: Saeran and V and all that), Seven is (more than a little understandably) going through a really rough time and keeps trying to push everyone away, including the MC, who has feelings for him since this is a dating sim and this is the path in which you pursue him. Seven feels that it’s too dangerous for him to get involved with anyone or have connections, and as such the idea of having someone close like that---however much he may like them---is exceptionally stressful for him and he just . . . can’t deal, at least at the moment.
The problem is, the narrative can’t allow that because this is a dating sim. So even though it’s more than understandable that Seven wants his space, even though he has every right in the world to end this relationship where it is, the narrative is still pushing the MC to go after him despite him repeatedly saying “no” and “we can’t do this” and “it’s impossible” over and over again. Even in the Good Ending answer choices, the MC is like “but what about my feelings” and “just let me understand you”, and putting aside the understanding him bit for a minute (because I have a gripe about that, too), I hate that, I hate it so much, because it’s like---
Obviously it’s not just restricted to Mystic Messenger. This is a trope we see time, and time, and time again, wherein one character (usually male) has a very troubled and tragic backstory and, because It’s Dangerous™, he feels the need to push everyone away. But another character (usually female) refuses to accept this, and even though he very truthfully explains to her that it is dangerous and he does not feel comfortable with her coming along for the ride, she continues to ignore him and railroad over those boundaries (feeling that ~it’s okay because she loves him~) until he finally breaks down and accepts her. This is treated as the girl ~melting his icy exterior~, when in actuality it’s the girl completely disregarding his consent, stomping all over his boundaries, and wearing him down until he says “yes”.
Do me a favor. Flip those genders. If it was a woman repeatedly telling a man that they could not be together, that she could not have a relationship with him, that it was too dangerous to be with her, that she didn’t feel comfortable putting him in danger, et cetera, would you feel okay with the man character consistently ignoring that, pushing and pushing, until the woman was finally worn down and gave in with a “do whatever you want”? Would you be okay with that? I really hope the answer is “no”, because even if it’s “well, but we normally don’t see that so the gender inversion is cool!” that’s not okay. Double standards are not okay. A person having their consent and boundaries violated time and again is not okay, regardless of the genders of the parties involved. It’s not okay to do this to guys just because ~they’re guys~ or because ~well the girl loves him~, because in scenarios where men relentlessly pursue women, I’m sure they’d say it’s because they love them, too. And however ~pure~ the female characters’ intentions are framed (often because works like this refuse to acknowledge that women could be anything but pure---it’s why they’re often presented in the right in scenarios like this, even if the scenarios themselves are not romantic), that doesn’t make it right, or okay, or acceptable. It’s gross and extremely bothersome, and I would never do that to someone . . .
. . . and yet, in this game, I’m forced to, and to a character I really love and do relate to, at that.
It kills me, because before it felt like we were really bonding, but now we’re not. And part of this comes down to the fact that this is a dating sim, and so the MC has to have a really generic and bland personality (in this case, Plucky Shoujo Heroine™) so that the average person can self-insert into her. The problem is, though . . . okay, there’s no way to phrase this without sounding like a douche, so I’m just going to say it: I’m not the average person. Like, it kills me, because there were multiple points (and I took screenshots of some of them) where I just would not realistically say either of the answer choices. And when Seven is going on about how “you’re so bright and warm and you could never possibly understand the real me” or “you could never understand, but there’s never been a day when I haven’t been depressed” --- like, BRUH! I just wanted to snap back, like, seriously? You think I don’t understand? Really? Boy, take a seat, because it’s time for you to feast your ears on some truth pops that I’m about to lay down on this table for you, straight up. Obviously our situations are not exactly the same---I’m not the bastard child of a wealthy politician, for one, nor was I manipulated into joining an intelligence agency, et cetera---but trust me, I’ve faced more than my fair share of abuse in childhood, adolescence, and even adulthood, so I definitely know where he’s coming from with that. I have diagnosed chronic severe depression, anxiety disorder, and C-PTSD, so yeah, I can relate there, too! And all of those jokes? Those lols we had in the chat? The playing around, the trolling? No, it wasn’t all a lie (from him, either---people are multi-faceted, Seven, that can be just as much of a part of you as this part of you is, and yes, it is possible to joke while being severely depressed at the same time, I would fucking know), but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have my own issues, either. That doesn’t mean that I don’t also feel severe depression. I mean, for fucksake, I’m supposed to be at therapy in like six hours, what the fuck do you think I’m so cheerful and bright and carefree for, huh? It’s honestly insulting.
And no, it’s not Seven’s fault, because the game can’t flesh out the MC because the MC has to be relatable to everyone. Never mind the fact that the MC, despite being told that she has to stay in Rika’s apartment because of The Party™, apparently didn’t have a job that she had to notify that she would no longer be showing up to. Never mind that she apparently never had family she had to tell where she was, or bills to pay, or a pet at home, or anything like that, like---you’d think that’d raise some alarm bells, that it would raise some questions that no one in RFA knows literally anything about this person that they’ve let into their group, other than the fact that she seems nice and wants to help with The Party™. And again, I know it’s because the MC has to be relatable to any random person to pick up the game, so she has to be bland and generic and her backstory literally does not matter since the game is not about her, but rather is about these characters---but my point here is that aside from the obvious narrative flaw of constructing a story like this (which is just a problem inherent in the genre, I know), she’s not relatable to me anymore. It was much easier to feel absorbed when I was able to be snarky and and whatnot, but now that the VNMs have her being a Plucky Shoujo Protagonist™ . . . that’s not me. That’s not me even a little. It’s especially not me when I’m having to pressure Seven into ~thinking about his feelings for me~ and refusing to back down when he says it’s dangerous and we need to stop because, for fucksake, I’m not saying I’d give up completely, but I’d want to have a real talk and I absolutely would not keep pushing the romance thing regardless of how I feel, because he has more than enough problems to be getting on with now, and me being a whiny bint doesn’t need to be one of them. I wouldn’t want someone pressuring me like that, so I hate that the game is forcing me to do it to Seven.
Anyway, this got long, and I’m supposed to be saving it for the actual playthroughs, but . . . man. Aside from the MC having long hair in all these images (I’m actually rather pale, so even though I like my chosen avatar’s darker skin, that doesn’t yank me out as much as the long hair does---why do things like this act like girls can’t be pretty unless they have long hair?), it just really breaks the immersion and is a definite turn-off for me. I hate this kind of set-up, the “I’ll keep pushing until I wear you down” set-up, and especially how it’s always so excused when it’s the girl chasing after the boy. I mean, one of the few things JKR did right when writing Harry and Ginny is that, when they had that talk at the end of HBP, Ginny did back down after Harry said that he cared that she would be in danger. Like, yeah, she said “what if I don’t care?” but when he said, “I care,” she listened to him and respected that and backed off until he was ready to give it another go. That’s good. That’s what you should do. Not this bullshit where “but what I want matters toooooo” because no, not really, not to the same degree. Yeah, you’ll be sad if you’re not together, but the difference is that he’s unhappy because you’re imposing yourself on him despite how anxious and uncomfortable he is. You’re unhappy because he’s leaving you alone. Forcing your company on someone who doesn’t want it is always going to be more wrong than someone walking away from a relationship that, for whatever reason, doesn’t make them happy at the moment. Your happiness is not more important than someone else’s well-being*, and someone terminating a relationship with you---regardless of the reason---is not wrong if that’s what they need to do to feel comfortable. I very, very strongly believe this.
(*And no, “but what about my well-being since I’ll be sad if we’re not together” is not a valid response here, so don’t even play. It’s nowhere near the same thing and you know it.)
So yeah, I’m still going to keep playing, and I’m still going to keep going for the right answers (another thing that breaks the immersion), but I’m really upset that the narrative took such a turn. I guess I should have seen that coming, too, but . . . yeah. It’s really uncomfortable.
Anyway, more on that tomorrow.
#scrawlers chats with a mystic messenger#and like this is at least a little better than SOME cases i've seen#like it's clear that MC doesn't want to *use* Seven the way some other cases i've seen do#and that the MC really does genuinely care et cetera#(though since the MC *doesn't* understand him it feels a bit off)#(versus me where i DO legitimately understand and just)#but it's still bothersome to me#even if it's better than SOME cases it's still employing the same trope#and i fucking hate that trope
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Spare Parts Liveblog 8 - Disc Four
In my liveblog, I’ve been posting links to Spare Parts on Spotify for those who haven’t bought it (I have; it’s so cheap). For what it’s worth, it’s even CHEAPER this weekend -- 99p. Big Finish is having a Mondasian Cybermen sale.
Also, I forgot to mention: Just as new Who adapted Big Finish’s Jubilee to make Dalek, it also borrowed (although not quite as extensively) from Spare Parts to make The Age of Steel / The Rise of the Cybermen, for which Marc Platt received an acknowledgement.
So anyway. I’ve been kinda beat today and have only just gotten to Part IV. Let’s whip through this; I still have to watch this week’s new Who.
I’d mentioned that it sounds odd to me now when I hear early Big Finish, before they got the rights to all the classic Who themes, and all the eps start with what I think is the 1970s theme. @ironic-disingenuous-sadness pointed out the earlier-classic-Who theme fits this story rather well.
Track 4.1: “Shelter”
We’re back to the Doctor very much nonconsenting a medical procedure, and the cyberized Committee declaring WE WILL SURVIVE. Scary cybermen are scary.
(here we go again...)
Oh, Pete’s doing awesome speechifying again. The ranting BEGINS while he’s being scanned.
“Only cold logic stifles their natural urge to SCREAM IN AGONY!” (as he’ll be doing again shortly, I’m sure. Always do what you’re best at.)
And this is where Sally Knyvette was needed: she can give it right back.
“How can you do that to your own people?!”
“Because we’re dying! That’s why we’re screaming!”
She goes on a long rant too, the first time we’ve really heard what she’s feeling behind the wine-deadened mask of indifference.
Jeng and the Committee argue over priorities: the Doctor made them promise to keep the city going, but it’s a choice between activating the propulsion system to move Mondas out of the nebula that’s shaking it apart, or shutting down the city.
“Sacrifices must be made,” the battlecry of those not making the sacrifice to save themselves.
Even now they’re divided in what to do. They finally decide to process all the citizens into Cybermen to save them. Of course. It’s then end.
The Hartleys discuss Nyssa being taken away, doubtless to be processed (aieee!) like Yvonne. They’re watching the iceflow envelope parts of the city. Is this establishing something in a classic Who ep I haven’t seen (missing eps/recons?)
The Palace broadcasts that all citizens should go to the Palace. “Shelter will be provided.” Mr Hartley scoffs; he knows it’s a lie.
Although in a way it isn’t— they’ll be well protected in their cyber-suits. Just dead.
Track 4.2 - “Logical Deductions”
Nyssa gets dragged past the Doctor, who tries to save her by (to her horror) suggesting she can help Allan with the cyber-process since she’s so good at bioengineering. Which, apparently, she is. Allan decides to requisition her, but Jeng barges in to say all citizens are being processed. Including Allan.
Who freaks out with the classic Mad Scientist line: “I CREATED YOU!” “And I am superior. Be proud while you still have the capacity.”
Ah, there we go. Of COURSE the scan means the Doctor has to scream. Agony Acting Peter is off again.
And in between screams, fighting the Committee in his mind, one of the best Who speeches ever.
How did this start? Just a few hip replacements and breast implants - vanity's a killer, isn't it? And where will it end? Sleek, heartless scavengers cobbled together from space junk and other people’s bodies— but you’ll look ever so STYLISH!! *screaming*
There’s a long pause when they ask him to evacuate Mondas using whatever means he used to get there. It’s too late for that... isn’t it? But it would’ve been one way to save the people. Except it’s a means he almost never uses; the TARDIS is never a lifeboat. (Seriously considers it in Equilibrium though.)
YOU WILL BE LIKE US.
I will never be like you!
Again, this is the real horror of the Cybermen— Assimilation, in a form even worse than the Borg (which came several decades later).
oops, more screamy Pete.
The Committee finally achieves consensus (”disjunction means extinction...”) and all agree to join as one mind. “We are the future... we are the future...” the voice changes. It is now the “Cyber Planner” which appears in early classic Who.
Track 4.3 - “We will be like you”
I wish recent Big Finish still had track names like chapter names; they’re so creepy.
Anyway poor optimistic Nyssa is waiting for the scan to finish and the Doctor to come back. Allan’s being cynical and fatalistic again.
Out in the city, the civilians have woken up to their doom but it’s TOO LATE; they waited while their neighbors were rounded up and their rights curtailed in the name of Security until they have no power left.
They’re having an angry protest in the city’s main square, burning the tree. Mr. Hartley and Frank are there, refusing to submit, even though it’s bitterly cold. Then they try to storm the Palace — only to be captured. The Cyber-planner puts their own security ahead of the propulsion system, overriding Jeng’s wishes. “Resistance must be crushed.”
Back in the palace, the scan finishes, door opens— no Doctor! A moment later a new, improved Cyberman comes out.
Nyssa thinks it’s him. The Doctor is now a Cyberman like the ones who killed Adric! Her voice— ouch. Poor Nyssa. She has been through such HELL since meeting the Doctor.
And here’s another of my favorite moments.
Allan’s given up and is drinking heavily —Knyvette being awesome again— trying to get Nyssa to join her in toasting the end of the world.
Nyssa’s gotten over her shock, like she always does, and gives a pretty damned good speech of her own.
[We must do something]
“Who cares?”
“The Doctor would care!”
“Anything to encourage oblivion.”
“Please, listen to me!” *breaks the woman’s bottle*
“You STUPID little—”
“He’s gone. The Doctor’s dead. Worse than dead. And Adric’s dead too. So many people killed because of your Cybermen. So where’s the Committee? I have to stop this once and for all!”
I love it when Nyssa lays the verbal smackdown, and I thumb my nose at those fools who think Sarah Sutton can’t act. She’s better now than she was when she was 19, of course, and even then she was pretty good.
And there Nyssa goes again, once again ready to take the Doctor’s place and finish his work when she thinks he’s dead. She is too damn brave for her own good. And she never gives into grief while there’s lives to save.
But before she can get herself in worse trouble...
“The Doctor was a gift... he was our last resort.”
*door opens* “Oh dear, you make me sound like Southend-on-Sea.”
I love the Doctor’s stupid quips at the worst possible moments. (And happy reunions.)
Allan belatedly informs them (she was mocking Nyssa) that the new Cyberman was Dodd.
“Where is he now?” the Doctor says.
“Oh? It’s a he when it’s someone you know.” Good point, Allan. She doesn’t approve of what’s happened, but she’s still proud of her “invincible” creations.
Team Nerd reunited— Doctor needs something to sabotage the Committee, Nyssa suggests using Allan’s wine store, much to her annoyance.
Track 4.4 - “Consider the Grape”
I think the Doctor gave that grape-quote earlier in the story?
Ouch. The roof’s falling in, and the citizens have no choice but to rush into the arms of the Cybermen.
Nyssa’s still furious. “You’re PATHETIC” she tells Allan and clops her one when she tries to stop the Doctor from numbing the Committee’s nutrient bath with alcohol.
The Doctor and Nyssa wonder again if they can change history. Ironically they’ve switched sides of the argument— the Doctor’s so determined not to have himself used as the template for the Cyber-race that he’s considering changing history after all, while Nyssa wonders if they should since it’s the only way to save these people’s lives. He wants to have a hand in steering the creations based on him.
Another irony: Allan’s so proud of her Committee, her “children” that she’s willing to sacrifice the planet to save them (?) Jeng disagrees.
The Hartleys rescue Nyssa and the Doctor from being collected. Alas, Frank holds Nyssa back to apologize, and they get caught for processing. *whimper* (And everyone’s being rounded up for processing in the palace.)
This story doesn’t let up.
Track 4.5 “Death is Just a Bowl of Cherries”
The Cyberplanner sends Allan for processing, of course. They grow up and turn on you.
Allan’s finally gotten angry. The Committee are directing all power to processing to make more “walking dead”, rather than saving the city OR the propulsion. And when she’s stuck in line she’s defiant. Embraces her end with a bit of courage.
The Doctor’s keeping the Cyberplanner busy while Mr. Hartley summons the cybermats to save the day. And screaming again. They override Jeng when he tries to activate the propulsion system.
Track 4.6 “Logical Conclusions.”
Nyssa’s just about ready to be processed OF COURSE while the Doctor’s chitchatting with the Cyberplanner. DOCTOR SHUT IT.
Finally the cybermats overwhelm the Cyberplanner, allowing them to divert power to the engines and send Mondas back towards Earth.
The Doctor and Nyssa think they’ve put Mondas on better footing: the Commitee’s out, Jeng is out, and the Cybermen are helping repair the roof. Hartley is in charge of the reconstruction.
But sadly this story, like Genesis of the Daleks, can’t actually do a damn THING to alter the monsters’ future. The ending is horrifying: Jeng returns, and the processing will begin again— all the survivors the Doctor and Nyssa helped will shortly be converted. At least the Doctor and Nyssa leave before they’re caught or even find out that sad truth.
And I’m still not 100% sanguine about an EU story where the ONLY thing that changes is that the Cybermen are now based partly on the Doctor!
But it’s a hell of a story, dealing with some of the heart and soul of the whole “Can we/should we change history?” problem of Who, some fine speeches, some incredible courage on the part of both Doctor and Companion, and a little side commentary on organ harvesting/human rights/universal healthcare/cost-cutting/”sacrifices must be made.”
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In which I live-blog Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Okay. Here we go.
Can I get more Heather and Valencia this episode? Please?
Oh, Rebecca. So many unresolved father issues.
Wait? Paula made that veil? What a gem. What a fantastic human.
Rebecca, I know you’re SO HAPPY but this wedding CANNOT happen.
I mean, this wedding isn’t going to happen, right?
RIGHT?!?!
YES A DEATH METAL NUMBER THIS IS EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED FROM THIS SHOW
You know Josh, you’re not the brightest, but thank you for recognizing something’s up and that Rebecca’s has done a complete 180 in regard to her newfound idealized vision of her relationship with her father.
You still shouldn’t marry Rebecca, though.
Stop being cute. I refuse to ship this.
Oh, God; she’s said her life is practically perfect. She’s happy. How is this all going to fall apart?
Hmmm…
Oh, God.
Josh is a stand-in for her dad.
No, not like that.
Just that she had abandonment issues regarding her father and that Josh is her way of fixing that. Like, by him sticking with her, she can mentally erase what happened with her dad by making Josh the primary male figure in her life. Just like “A Boy Band Made Up of Four Joshes” in season one suggested-that every guy she dates is just a stand-in for her dad.
This show, guys. It’s so good.
Robert? Who tf is Robert? Was she engaged before? Interesting…
Darryl’s in the stag party, God bless.
REJOSHECCA CHABUNCH DID I MENTION HOW MUCH I LOVE DARRYL
Looks like Rebecca’s not the only one with an unhealthy relationship with her opposite-sex parent. (Lookin’ at you, Hector.)
White Josh is right; last two people who should get married.
WiJo is not into marriage; of course. Kids, yes, marriage, no-Darryl is going to be so upset.
But, you know, actual conflict that couples have to deal with is good, so props on that. I’m excited to see where their storyline goes. And, you know, I think there’s something to be said for not having to “legitimize” a relationship by getting married.
But I also really want them to get married at some point, so…
But, you know, it’s fine. Because I trust the creative team on this show-I trust them in whatever decisions they decide to make.
Wow, I have literally never said that about a show before. Good, job, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Team. (This show is the best, you guys.)
I love Father Brah. Like, legitimately so much.
Shut up, Naomi; Valencia is great.
“Hootenany.” I’m so glad Valencia’s vocabulary is this way.
All of these guests, but no Trent? I was promised Trent. Where is Trent?
Did she just…pop her foot while hugging her dad? WTF?
Aw, Scott and Paula went together. As much as I don’t like infidelity plots, I’m glad they’re working things out.
Naomi is dishing. It. Out. I wasn’t aware how much I loved her before this episode.
NATHANIEL IS HERE
WHY
WHY IS NATHANIEL HERE AND NOT TRENT
Is he trying to be a Nice Guy ™? Or does he just want approval because he also has father-based self-esteem issues? In either case, he really needs to shut up.
Hmm…accepted to Harvard, Robert happened, went to Yale instead? GIVE ME ANSWERS
Yeah, she’s an enigma because she kept one obviously traumatic event from you, Josh.
He thought….
The dance instructor thinks Rebecca is marrying her dad. Wow. And she finds it funny instead of being freaked out (presumably because a stranger sees an emotional connection between them and she’ll take anything she can get at this point)? Can this show get any more blatant?
My poor, little problematic protagonist.
I NEED. TO BORROW. SOME CASH. WOOOOOOOOOOOW. What a fucking jerk.
No wonder Rebeca has so many issues. Her own parental unit only came to her wedding in order to ask her for some fucking money. God, I hate this show.
(That’s a lie; I love this show with every single atom in my body.)
Thank you, Doctor Akopian. Dr. Akopian is the hero we all need. #AkopianforPresident
Oh shit, Robert the mysterious ex-boyfriend was her TEACHER?! (I mean, she said “I dropped out of your class” and “You said you’d leave your wife,” so I assume…)
Oh, no, Rebecca. You did not drive your father away, you were eleven. You were not a needy child. Someone give this poor woman a hug.
Forget about the past? I do not like this. I don’t trust you, Silas. I’ve got both my eyes on you.
YES TRENT FINALLY
PLEASE SAVE US WITH YOUR MORALLY UNSOUND PLOTS
So, this wedding can’t happen, but I don’t want Josh to be the one to call it off because I know that will utterly break Rebecca.
But I also don’t want Josh to be sad because he’s trying his best.
Yes, communication is good. Thank you, Father Brah.
This conversation is going to be a time.
A REPRISE OF YOU STUPID BITCH
AND VILLAIN IN MY OWN STORY
IT’S A MEDLEY
Okay, this show wins all the awards. All of them. Everyone else can go home.
NO JOSH A GIRL CANNOT FIX ALL YOUR PROBLEMS
YES JOSH RECOGNIZING YOUR ISSUES AND CALLING YOURSELF OUT I KNEW YOU HAD IT IN YOU
Please, talk to each other. I don’t ship you, but you need to have this conversation.
I am actually legitimately scared; I have no idea what is going to happen.
This friendship is so important. Paula and Rebecca, I mean.
HAHAHAHAHA DON’T ASK ME I’M JUST A DUMB COWBOY WHO LIKES WEDDINGS Darryl is my favorite. Like, actual favorite on this show.
WiJo, maybe you shouldn’t argue about it, but you should talk. Discussing where your relationship will go is important for couples everywhere.
Heather’s directness and honesty is everything to me.
JOSH WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING
DARRYL DARRYLDARRYLDARRYL IT IS FAR TOO EARLY IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO CONSIDER HAVING A BABY YOU GUYS ARE PRECIOUS BUT PLEASE THINK ABOUT THIS
Why is this show like this? Why did I sell my soul?
…I hate this.
Josh, no. Don’t just leave. You need to talk to Rebecca. Trust me, it will hurt her less than if you just don’t show up without an explanation.
I am so here for all of Rebecca’s friends being willing to rip Josh apart for abandoning her.
“With someone else, but it’s not what you think?” Is he dead?
WHAT
JOSH IS JOINING THE MINISTRY
…Because Father Brah said it was the answer to all of his questions about life and Josh thinks this will solve his serial monogamy problem.
I…honestly didn’t see that coming.
Oh, no. Rebecca is thinking about jumping. I can’t do this. I cannot do this. I asked for a silly musical show that deconstructed romantic comedies, and I did NOT ask for this.
Aw, she admitted she loved Greg while he was here. This makes my heart happy. They were not good for each other and shouldn’t get back together, but I’m glad she acknowledged his importance.
Okay. So, Robert was her teacher, he broke up with her, she tried to burn his stuff and got tried for arson, and the judge agreed to strike it from her record if she sought mental health counseling. She went to a mental institution and did the whole drug cocktail thing, and that explains why she was on so much medication at the beginning of the show and couldn’t feel anything.
That…makes a lot of sense, actually.
YES PAULA
Oh, God, this is so important. Everyone in Rebecca’s life left her because of their stuff, not because of her. And it all starts with her father walking out.
YES YOU TELL HIM REBECCA
Oh, thank GOD.
“You’re crazy.” “Little bit.”
REBECCA OWNING HERSELF AND ACKNOWLEDGING HER ISSUES HOW LONG I HAVE WAITED FOR THIS DAY
“Have fun flying coach, dick.” Oh, Nathaniel. You know, I just might come to like you.
Destroying Josh Chan. What is she planning?
WAIT WHAT NO
YOU CAN’T JUST END IT THERE NO
I CAN’T WAIT ANOTHER 8 MONTHS FOR A RESOLUTION TO THIS
GIVE ME MORE
Well, at least we got renewed for season 3.
I look forward to it.
And, I gotta say: Rebecca hating Josh is a new dynamic I am beyond excited to explore.
Peace out. This has been a Liveblog No One Will Read.
#liveblog#crazy ex girlfriend#crazy ex girlfriend spoilers#stream of consciousness#long post#cxgf talk
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Gotham 3x14
The Gentle Art of Making Enemies
And I want to slap and kiss the writer who came up with THAT title, because I mean... you smug, self-aggrandizing, self-satisfied jerk. But it IS accurate, can’t fault you for that xp
So, here’s how this is going to go. I have so many feels about this episode I can’t begin to organize, so I’m just going to rewatch it and liveblog the whole thing. Then later, as a resident crossover Fannibal/Gothamite, I plan to do a deconstruction of 3x14 comparing it to Mizumono, the infamous season 2 finale of Hannibal. If you’re not familiar, I’m afraid I have to ask you to watch this clip. I couldn’t find any gifsets that showed ALL of the blocking, even this clip doesn’t have Will getting out into the pouring rain, but now I’ve just said it was and is VERY RAINING, so that’s fine. I’m also giving you the EXTRA FEELS edition without the music behind it because it was SO HARD to find a clip that showed everything I needed. If you would like to hear the music of LITERAL HEARTBREAK though and PLEASE DO use it for the ending of this episode, in fact I will like PAY a video editor to overdub the end of 3x14 with Bloodfest, PLEASE, but if you would like to hear pain transcribed, here you go! Welcome to Bloodfest!
But more on all of that later, first, the liveblog! Under the cut, of course c:
You know, normally black outs are one of my favorite fic tropes, but I know for a fact no one is having ‘anonymous’ sex tonight
AU where Jim and Harvey are zookeepers
This is just... unbelievably painful to watch. I can’t watch Oswald being this stupid, it... ouch.
And Ed... EDDDD, UGH MY CHILD! MY BEAUTIFUL BABE!
You know Ed, I’m with you, we kinda all expected Oswald to kill her personally, it was kinda weird he didn’t. I know why, he was HOPING TO HELL you wouldn’t find out, but like THAT was ever going to fucking happen and that has been the WHOLE problem this ENTIRE time. Oswald hasn’t been thinking straight since he fell in love with you, if he had, he would have known that NO cover up, no matter how meticulous, how well-done, NEVER would have fooled you, Ed Nygma. And yet, time and again, and ESPECIALLY this episode, Oswald does INCREDIBLY. DUMB, THINGS. And he knows better. And that’s what makes it so hard to watch.
Oh baby, you are so... angry. And I mean that POSITIVELY, I mean that in the BEST way, because you are AT FUCKING LAST being angry WITH him, in FRONT of him, we are finally getting some positive goddamn traction on your emotions, you’re working through it! You’re doing it! I am so fucking happy!
And it’s clear, from the look on your BEAUTIFUL ANGUISHED FACE, that what UPSETS YOU, ABOUT ALL OF THIS, is the betrayal and GOOD. IT SHOULD. THAT IS WHAT YOU SHOULD BE ANGRY ABOUT. THAT IS WHAT YOU SHOULD BE CONFRONTING HIM ON AND YOU ARE AND I AM SO FUCKING PROUD! You are being explicit and honest and FUCK I AM SO HAPPY. YOU COME SO FAR BABY. YOU COME SO FAR! I AM SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU!
And Oswald... honey. I do love you, not as much as my son, but I do love you too, which is why I am so disappointed in you this episode. You keep lying when we are WAY PAST LYING. You keep saying THE WRONG FUCKING THING. And again, YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER. But you’re not, you’re being an idiot. I’m sorry, just... Ed confronting you WITH THE GODDAMN car was NOT the time to say ‘no I didn’t do it’ OSWALD HONEY. OSWALD. ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS. DO YOU NOT SEE THE LOOK ON ED’S FACE. HE IS NOT INTERESTED IN FUCKING BELIEVING YOU YOU PIECE OF TRASH. GET IT TOFUCKINGGETHER AND TELL ED THE TRUTH, HE FUCKING DESERVES IT.
Okay, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but just. I’m ALL about Ed in this, ALL ED ALL THE TIME. And one of the GREAT AND BEAUTIFUL THINGS this episode is doing is breaking their rule about not showing us Ed’s face when he’s saying something important. For the first time ever we get to see IN FULL FRONTAL CLARITY what he looks like and we know, viscerally, how he feels and I am SO PLEASED. There are no tricks, no lies, just pure unvarnished honesty. Except for the scene at the end where they do something SO CLEVER AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH but we’ll get to that later, all in good time. But here, where Ed’s explaining how he took everything from Oswald, he looks PAINED. He didn’t WANT to do this, he didn’t want to have to DESTROY his best friend, hero, and idol. It hurt him to do this, as all betrayal does, it hurts so much to be angry at someone when they’ve hurt you because you LOVED them. And you didn’t ever want to feel this way, you didn’t ever want to know that they could hurt you like this, that they WOULD. I just... UGGGGHHHH POSITIVE EXPRESSIONS OF EMOTIONS! I AM SO FUCKING THRILLED! NO MORE REPRESSION! NO MORE DENIAL! I celebrated the whole goddamn episode I AM SO HAPPY HE IS HAVING FEELINGS AND SHOWING THEM AND SAYING THINGS, I AM OVER THE MOON!
Court of Owls, blah blah blah, whatever, who cares
HARVEY. HARVEY ONCE AGAIN BEING THE ONLY SANE PERSON HERE. HARVEY BEING THE FIRST PERSON TO GO “Did you know we don’t have ANY mayoral staff right now? No mayor, no chief of staff, literally no one.” Because, think about it, NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT THE SHIT ED’S BEEN PULLING. NO ONE HAS ANY FUCKING IDEA. OSWALD’S BEEN OUT FOR AT LEAST TWO DAYS AND IT’S JUST HILARIOUS THAT HARVEY IS THE FIRST PERSON TO NOTICE. Also, how the fuck does Gotham even work? I mean, putting aside the fact that we’re a breeding ground for super villains, this city is HELL because the government is a pantomime soap opera. I mean... I... wowwwwww. Wow. But FINALLY now someone can go “Did you know we have literally no idea what’s going on? Huh. Maybe we should go check that out.”
Like, I want Jim and Harvey to finally go OKAY, WHERE THE FUCK IS OUR MAYOR, WHAT DID OSWALD FUCK UP NOW and be in the middle of trying to unravel all of THAT SHIT when ED HAPPENS. When Ed just, full Riddler, waltzes the fuck in and Jim and Harvey are both, “Ed??? Aren’t you Oswald’s chief of staff? Where is he?” Because on public record THAT IS STILL WHERE WE ARE. And I want Ed to just LAUGH at them to just go “Oh right! Yeah that WAS my job... good fucking luck! I’m not explaining ANYTHING!” and he goes off to fucking chaos riddle something else and Harvey just looks at that green streak of instability and says, “Well, clearly Oswald fucked THAT up.” and for Jim to just look at him in horror, offended that Harvey said these words in front of him, that Harvey let him know this and now he can never unknow it.
“The city’s one giant dumpster fire” Thank you Harvey. Thank you Harvey, you continue to be perfect.
Oh my goddddd EVERYTHING about Ed walking Oswald through his grand plan, EVERYTHING. I LOVE EVERYTHING. BEAUTIFUL. I love that Ed is incapable of NOT explaining how he did it, I love how he gloats, I even love Oswald’s naive disbelief and shock that all of this is how it happened. XDDDD
And OH MANY, that bit about dumping his father’s bones in a dumpster behind a Chinese restaurant? I AM NOW 100% CERTAIN ED IS LYING AND HAS BEEN LYING THE WHOLE TIME ABOUT THAT. And I’m really fucking relieved, oh man, good to know he was just being a shit. Because I COULD have believed Ed went so far to really dig up his bones, but just throw them in a dumpster? No, no, he was in forensics, we don’t treat bones that way. We don’t treat bones that way. And given that was such a spectacular, colorful lie for the pure purpose of pissing off Oswald, I now believe the WHOLE thing was just a fucking ruse and that makes me happy. Bless you Ed, bless you.
YEAH OSWALD, YEAH ED NEEDS YOU TO SAY IT, HE NEEDS FUCKING CLOSURE, WHY IS THIS A SURPRISE TO YOU. WHY ARE YOU BEING SUCH A LITTLE SHIT. OH MY GOD.
And ohhhh no. Oh no no no no. nooooo. I remember saying “Shut up shut up SHUT UP” to myself as I watched Oswald start “and you should thank me because...” because oH MY GOD NO. OH MY GOD YOU BETTER WALK YOURSELF FUCKING BACK DON’T YOU EVEN GODDAMN DAAAARE, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU THINKING?! Because BOY ON THE LIST OF THINGS NOT TO SAY, THAT IS THE VERY FIRST ONE. THERE IS NOTHING THAT COMES BEFORE “Tell Ed he would have murdered her himself” on the list of things YOU SHOULD NOT FUCKING SAY TO HIM RIGHT NOW. YOU SON OF A BITCH OSWALD. I know you know it, I even know HE knows it, but you GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME THAT YOU’RE GOING TO THROW THAT AT HIM AT A TIME LIKE THIS. WHEN HE CLEARLY ALREADY WANTS TO KILL YOU. YOU’RE GONNA... I can’t fucking believe you Oswald. I cannot fucking believe you. I... that REALLY cut me deep, I couldn’t believe Oswald would say that. And it doesn’t even fucking matter if it’s true NOT THE GODDAMN POINT.
To Ed’s INCREDIBLE credit, he doesn’t fly off the handle for that. Which makes me think he expected it, he prepared. Because HE DON’T EVEN FUCKING LISTEN. He refuses to fucking take that in and GOOD JOB BABY. GOOD MOTHERFUCKING JOB DON’T YOU LET HIM DO THAT TO YOU, YOU KEEP ON BABY, YOU ARE GLOWING AND I LOVE YOU, I AM SO PROUD.
“You’re a monster, just like me” IS NOT THE ARGUMENT YOU WANT TO BE MAKING RIGHT NOW. I just... I... it’s manipulation. You’re fucking manipulating Ed when he is MAD AT YOU FOR MANIPULATING HIM. OSWALD DID YOU THINK ABOUT THIS AT ALL BEFORE YOU SAID IT. IN WHAT WORLD WOULD THIS WORK, WHEN ON EARTH WOULD ED FUCKING LISTEN TO YOU??? EVEN if you’re right, EVEN if that’s true THAT DOESN’T FUCKING MATTER RIGHT NOW BECAUSE YOU ARE DOING THE THING HE IS MAD AT YOU FOR DOING. HOLY FUCK OSWALD.
It’s... it’s an insult, it’s a goddamn insult to who Ed thinks he is and who he wants to be, you’re... I just.. .WHY why would you be saying this? You are DENYING him his ability to control himself, you’re degrading him TO HIS FACE. AND YOU THINK THIS WILL SOMEHOW WORK???
Now, to be fair, I don’t think once, in this entire episode, is Oswald ever truly trying to save his own neck. The entire time he’s only trying to get Ed to see something, he’s trying to get through to Ed. Which I think is why Oswald doesn’t say ANYTHING right, he DOESN’T say what will get him out of this, when we’ve SEEN him do that MULTIPLE TIMES, because he’s not trying to do that right now. And I don’t think it’s because he doesn’t think Ed is serious, Ed is PATENTLY, DANGEROUSLY serious, I think it’s just... it’s not his priority right now, he’s just focused on talking to Ed. I think... genuinely, Oswald doesn’t care if this kills him for the entire episode. Even starting last episode, I don’t think Oswald cares that Ed will kill him, that loving him will kill him. Which is... WOW, wow, OKAY. I mean, major Hannigram feels, but putting that aside for a second.
It’s also unexpected for every character here INCLUDING Oswald himself. I mean Ed plans PERFECTLY, he has Oswald down to a science, he has him pegged for the survivalist gutter rat Oswald is, was, and always shall be. Which is why it throws EVERYONE OFF when Oswald doesn’t play to script, he doesn’t do ANYTHING he’s supposed to do, he flips the fucking tables and Ed is actually a LITTLE BIT angry at him for betraying him one last time; for here, at the last second, for the very first time ever, Oswald won’t defend his own life. Oswald says kill me, there’s something I care about more. And... Ed’s entitled to feel angry about that I think because MOTHER OF FUCK Oswald, couldn’t you have done this EARLIER, you know, couldn’t this have been something that occurred to you in ANY OTHER scenario, and it’s also fair that it doesn’t, it’s fair that this only hits Oswald now. But it’s awful because now Ed knows, can never unknow and has to go, ‘FUCK. Okay, knowing this, how do I... how do I feel? How do I proceed? I am still SO FUCKING ANGRY WITH YOU, but you won’t... you won’t let me hate you and kill you and just be over with it. Now it’s complicated. THANKS.’ Because Ed DID, Ed planned this PERFECT, flawless, clean ending and if Oswald had JUST run true to form, if he’d just followed the fucking script this would all be over and Ed would have peace, he could bury Oswald and it would be done. Now it’s a mess. Fuck you Oswald. Also I love you and I’m MORE GLAD THAN I CAN POSSIBLY SAY THAT THIS HAPPENED AND WOW HOLY FUCK THE WRITING I CAN’T BELIEVE THEY DID THIS, but also fuck you. But I’m getting ahead of myself, more thoughts on Oswald’s revelation when we get to it.
But, KINDA apropos, because that is the SECOND time Oswald throws love at Ed and here he’s doing it the first time and I LOOOOOOOOOVE, I LOVE LOVE LOVE THAT ED FUCKING CUTS HIM OFF AND SLAMS HIM INTO THE FUCKING GROUND. I looooove that Oswald says ‘I love you’ and Ed fucking snaps because NO YOU DON'T, NO YOU DON’T GET TO FUCKING SAY THAT TO ME, SHUT THE FUCK UP. He GRABS him to silence him and LAYS HIM FUCKING OUT and GODDDDDD. BEAUTIFUL. YES. I do find it kinda hard to believe that Ed has digested enough to articulate all of this so well, but I’m SO GLAD THAT HE IS. I’m SO GLAD he’s self-actualizing and is in a solid enough place in his own mind that he CAN lay down the law, again, I AM SO FUCKING PROUD. I AM BEYOND HAPPY HE IS HERE NOW. So, fuck it, I’ll just believe that in the past week he’s had enough time to think that he knows exactly and explicitly what Oswald did wrong AND how he himself feels about it. I am so... he has identified what’s wrong and WILL NOT let Oswald talk him out of it YOU GO BABY! YOU GO MY SWEETHEART, MY DARLING! SO PROUD OF YOU! I am so PLEASED his self-esteem has come so far that he can defy Oswald, that he can look his idol in the eye and say NO YOU’RE WRONG, that Oswald says the wrong thing Ed cuts him down to size, OH SWEET JUSTICE OF EQUALITY YES! FUCK YES! I BEEN DREAMING OF THIS!
I love this, I love everything, I love this, I love everything, I love Ed MOCKING his own tender gestures toward Oswald, twisting his old role, by taking his tie and THROTTLING HIM WITH IT. UGH. GET THAT PETTY VENGEANCE SWEET BABY! DO IT! MAKE HIM SUFFER!
Okay but LIKE FUCK Wayne Manor doesn’t have its own private generator. Just saying.
Okay, so this entire episode is all Nygmobblepot to me, but I’m actually also REALLY FUCKING HAPPY AND IMPRESSED with the Jerome-Bruce dynamic we’re building, that was also REALLY FUCKING GREAT AND SPOT ON. WAY better than last time. It’s just, Nygmobblepot is taking up 1 - 50 of my priorities, but Batjokes is coming in at a CLOSE 51 today because they did SO WELL and I’m really fucking pleased. I just gave my heart away to this other thing first xp
I adore the overture of their relationship here, I... the dynamics have gotten a LOT better. I love the home invasion so Bruce is on his home turf and is able to tackle Jerome on some equality. David is older now, he’s got my personality, more control. Jerome died and came back, so he’s a little closer to Joker madness. Bruce playing to his ego and showmanship is a MASTER stroke and I was so proud. And it’s SO GOOD that we’re getting this now, good and early, so that we develop that rivalry and fascination and adoration and obsession. Because you need ALL of that to harness a fulfilling and worthwhile Batman-Joker dynamic and we’re getting the seeds here I AM SO HAPPY. Because Batman and Joker must ALWAYS be equal and opposite, one of them cannot have advantage over the other for any length of time and when we started Jerome was at an advantage because Bruce was not old enough or equipped enough to handle him. We’ve done a lot of growing with Bruce since then, he’s in a more capable place now, so we have a much more even-footed relationship and I am thrilled. Again, THIS EPISODE WAS FANTASTIC, I LOVED ALL OF IT, NOT A PIECE OF IT WILL BE CRITICIZED BY ME.
In the words of TeamFourStar, “I know you’re playing me.. but you’re right.” Which is one of my FAVORITE CHARACTER MOMENTS IN ANY DICKBAG EVER
Okay, I love how PATENTLY OBVIOUS it was that Ed sent in this guy to free Oswald, because LIKE FUCK Ed’s not there keeping watch. I could believe he doesn’t want to watch Oswald die, especially something as grisly as this, but he’s still THERE. This guy didn’t just wander in. Yeah no, no. And the next bit with Tabitha and Butch confirms it, Oswald was ALWAYS meant to go free from this. Love it, love your plan Ed buddy, I love that this is ALL a massive trust exercise, holy god. AMAZE.
We have a lot of near deaths in this, seems to be a pattern
At least Jim can hit a cue, bless you Jim
Also, where is this carnival that IT has power for all the rides? Just saying... just saying.
The mirroring of Jerome meeting Bruce at HIS home, then taking Bruce to the circus, his own home... ahhh, just how any good first date should go XPPPP
Also, I really dig Bruce’s make up, we put a good design on him
Awww, I missed Butch, I love Butch, I missed him so much. *siiiigh* He makes too much sense for the bunch of hooligans he has to run with.
Also, TABBY. YOU NEED TO STOP BRINGING UP HOW YOU KILLED OSWALD’S MOM. I know you only do this when you think you have total control of him but that is a FOOLISH MISTAKE. He does remember, he will remember every time you do this, and you. will. die. THIS SEASON, I FUCKING BET.
I love that Jerome ALREADY wants to be understood by Bruce and that Bruce picks up on it fast enough to keep him talking, LOVE LOVE LOVE! SO CRITICAL TO THEIR RELATIONSHIP! UGH! SUCH GOOD CHARACTERIZATION!
BATMAN THEMEEEEE NANANANANANANA! Oh, sorry, wrong one ^^;
Also, dat ain’t how piranhas work. Stop piranha hate : ||||
Oooooh, DAT STAPLING THO. I LOVE that Jerome NEEDS him to react, oh god that was BEAUTIFUL! That was fucking FANTASTIC! I have CHILLS! God. Yes. Sew them seeds of obsession, START that courtship, HELLS yes!
Here comes Team Good Guys to save the day!
And another suspiciously near death here with Bruce ^^;
Annnnd BACK TO THE ACTION! I love that Ed and Oswald now have neck burns in the same place. I LOVE the tired, defeated voice Robin’s doing.
I do have one question though, why... why does Babs do this? She could just kill him, LEGIT. Why is she suddenly invested in the mental health of Ed Nygma? Why does she care if Ed gets closure? I mean... that’s the only reason to go through with this charade here at the end, the ONLY person this is helping is Ed and... we all suddenly have good and nurturing feelings toward ED??? What the fuck? I mean, I don’t understand why Babs has let him do ANYTHING. THIS WHOLE TIME. But just... I don’t know, does she feel some kind of kinship with Ed? If so, how?
And Oswald does... nothing that he’s supposed to. And what’s kinda crazy is Ed DID need an answer to the question, he did need to know, once and for all, no lies, no tricks, is there ANYTHING Oswald cares about more than himself? And Ed... wanted the answer to be no. Ed wanted that, again, so he could bury him, so he could kill his love for Oswald and bury it and be at peace. I mean, miserable, and lonely, but he could kill Oswald knowing it was the right thing to do. And Oswald... doesn’t let him have that, and it’s not like it’s Oswald’s fault, FOR ONE, the ONE TIME Oswald is expressing sincere emotion and he didn’t actually fuck something up, at least not intentionally. But, nonetheless, this prevents Ed from getting the closure he desperately wanted. And Ed says EXACTLY what I expected him to say, I was so pleased, word for word, I said it with him, “I... don’t know what it means.” AND YES. CORRECT. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO FEEL OR WHAT TO DO AND NEITHER SHOULD YOU.
And remember how I said earlier the writers were FUCKING PHENOMENAL here? Okay, so this episode was ALL geared up, all ready, for ED to have a fucking revelation. But instead we don’t, instead OSWALD has a revelation and I DID NOT KNOW HOW BADLY I FUCKING WANTED THAT. OH MY GOD. THIS IS FUCKING FANTASTIC. Not only was it TOTALLY defying of expectations, in the BEST way possible, it was SEARINGLY IN CHARACTER, and I just started making tea kettle noises, I just screamed at a range beyond human hearing when I saw Oswald start to go because OH MY GODDDDDDDDDD! I DIDN’T THINK WE WOULD GET THIS BUT WE GOT THIS AND I AM SO FUCKING HAPPY! THIS IS GENIUS! THIS WAS INCREDIBLE that they built up an episode that was clearly all going to be about Ed, and in the crux of it, we make Oswald break, not Ed, THAT’S BEAUTIFUL. FUCK ME THAT WAS BRILLIANT. I LOVE EVERYTHING.
The mutual horror and distress on EVERYONE’S FACES as Oswald TOTALLY FUCKING THROWS THE SCRIPT OUT THE WINDOW AND DECIDES HE WANTS TO LOVE. I love that everyone is MUTUALLY sorry that this happened, that this is a thing happening in front of them, ESPECIALLY Ed, who is the MOST sorry of all that this is happening.
Goooooddddddd SO GOOD. SO FUCKING GOOD. WOO! Okay, gotta focus on the good Bruce and Jerome fun X3
I love love love that Jerome ALREADY wants to partner with Bruce, I love that their chemistry is WAY more on par now, I love... just... everything. Fuck yes. YES. MUTUAL MADNESS. MUTUAL, OPPOSITE MADNESS. LOVE YOU TWO!
THE FIRST TIME BRUCE LOSES CONTROL AND IT’S JEROME YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! GOD THAT’S MORE IMPORTANT THAN LOSING YOUR VIRGINITY, I mean, this will mark Bruce and stay with him FOREVER. EXCELLENT PRELUDE TO THE REST OF YOUR RELATIONSHIP, THE FORESHADOWING THAT JEROME WILL ALWAYS BE THE PERSON WHO GETS UNDER YOUR SKIN, WHO MAKES YOU LOSE IT! FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES! SO HAPPY! SO FUCKING PLEASED! JEROME YOU FUCKING ENABLER I LOVE YOU BABY! YOU DOING YOUR GODDAMN JOB! BLESS! I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU BOTH!
Bruce is not okay, Bruce had an Experience back there, and he needs a hug. Jim, in the background, looking sad because he gets no hugs. GO HUG YOUR FUCKING HUSBAND YOU IDIOT. YOU HAVE A HUSBAND. GODDAMNIT JIM.
Jim punching off Jerome’s face. More things I didn’t know I needed. A Jim Gordon reaction shot to THAT. All is right with the world.
JIM. HOLY FUCK, BE WITH YOUR HUSBAND, DO NOT GO DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE. OH MY GOD WE ONLY JUST GOT YOU OUT OF THAT AND HARVEYYYYY, Harvey is here for you! Harvey loves you! And Harvey would LIKE IT IF YOU LOVED HIM BACK TO PIECE OF TRASH. UGH. Goddamnit Jim, BE WITH THE PERSON WHO TAKES CARE OF YOU, MOTHER OF FUCK.
Ah yes, Justice, and the Line conversations, some of the key staples in BATMANNNNNN! BECAUSE YOU GONNA BE BATMANNNNN. BATMANNNNN. BATMANNNNNNNNNNNNNN.
Court of Owls, blah blah blah, could not care less.
...OH. And Here We Are. Was literally my reaction to seeing Oswald shivering on the edge of the docks with a gun pointed at him. Again. Just... here we are. We are here. Of course we’re here. In fact ED PROBABLY KNOWS, Ed probably knows INTIMATELY and this is some kind of weird Freudian recreation of THAT, except that Ed Nygma is not Jim Gordon. And Ed has PERSONAL reasons alone for killing you. But once again, it’s your fault, yours and yours alone. Because you betrayed someone. So good job Oswald, you ran staggeringly true to form. Even your one break, of course, of course you CAN love and of course you’d stake your life on it and of course it would be the one time NO ONE wants you to. This is horrifically, painfully, in character.
I have sooooo many feelings about the speckles of water on his glasses and the camera angle with the ridge of his glasses so that when Ed says “I don’t love you” his eyes are so deep in shadow we can’t tell if this is true or not. His vision is, literally, so distorted, HE doesn’t even know if it’s true or not. And I have always FUCKING LOVED those glasses and NOW I KNOW WHY.
Oh my god, Oswald reaches for him and Ed slaps his hands away! Oh wow ^^; Missed that the first time. I mean yes, correct, but ouch. Mannn... this is... this is bad time, this is painful time right here.
Mannn Oswald CONTINUES TO SAY THE WRONG THINGS. “You need me and I need you” A CO-DEPENDENT ARGUMENT IS NOT ONE YOU WANT TO BE MAKING RIGHT NOW OSWALD. WHY ARE YOU SO FUCKING BAD AT THIS. ALSO WHY ON FUCKING EARTH WOULD YOU CLAIM THAT??? *siiiiiigh*
See, see Ed is FULLY WITHIN HIS RIGHTS for telling you to SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU KILLED SOMEONE IMPORTANT TO ED AND REGARDLESS OF ANY OTHER FUCKING THING THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE TRUE, YOU, MOTHERFUCKER, GET TO BE HELD A-FUCKING-CCOUNTABLE. You keep changing the subject, you keep denying Ed his feelings, you keep shunting responsibility, JUST. STOP. FOR FUCK’S SAKE. That you love each other is NOT MATERIAL RIGHT NOW.
“You can’t talk your way out of this Oswald!” Ed has to TELL HIM THAT. AND ED KNOWS HIM SO WELL THAT HE CAN, that he KNOWS and. I just... I... And once again Ed is UPSET, he is in PAIN that he has to FUCKING KILL YOU, but you’ve left him with no other options because you’re not sorry and you can’t make amends and it’s KILLING HIM that he has to do this but he must!
And I think it’s actually the case of Ed needs to kill Oswald, but he doesn’t need Oswald to die. Because I think that’s ultimately what happens here, Ed needs to perform the act, at least emotionally, of killing Oswald, at least symbolically, at least killing the lie of their relationship thus far, because he needs that fucking closure. But he doesn’t actually need Oswald to die and disappear, he needs Oswald to... change, he needs their relationship to change and he needs it to restart. Which, fortunately, is exactly what he’s going to get, bless. This is all catharsis for Ed, this is all rebirth or, to use a Hannibal metaphor, a becoming. Ed is becoming here. More on that later.
And UGGGGHHHHH, Oswald makes the creation argument and I’M SO MAD AT HIM FOR DOING THAT TOO. UGH! YOU KEEP SAYING BULLSHIT, YOU KEEP SAYING THE WRONG THINGS, GODDAMNIT OSWALD! And I just... no, no, you can’t... though you do have PROFOUND influence on him, don’t you DARE take away Ed’s self-creation, don’t you DARE rob him of himself, he worked FUCKING HARD to get this far and NO I don’t fucking buy that this IS your doing. Give Ed is fucking due you piece of shit.
“And I am the only one in the world who truly sees you as you are, who you can still become.” ...but then you had to go and say that. And that, is, unfortunately, to my ever-lasting regret, true. You phrased it LIKE A TOTAL SELFISH DICK, but unfortunately, you’re still fucking right. DAMN it Oswald. damn it.
Oh baby... oh sweetheart, my heart broke when Ed said he was listening because Ed could take every lie and threat, he was prepared for that, and GOD BLESS HIM HE WORKED SO FUCKING HARD. But Oswald had to go and say something TRUE and that’s... that’s not fair. And, I will say this, it is true that Ed loves him. But Oswald shouldn’t have said that. He NEVER should have said it, he has no proof, and Ed is SO VERY FUCKING FAR from admitting it because FUCK YOU OSWALD. ACTUALLY, LITERALLY FUCK YOU, YOU DON’T FUCKING DESERVE THAT TODAY. And the thing is Ed isn’t repressing no more, he’s in control, so he can do WHATEVER THE FUCK HE LIKES AND YOU CAN’T TOUCH HIM. Which is why none of this shit works, Ed knows who he is, he knows how he feels, he’s on such GOOD FUCKING FORM today, I AM SO PROUD. And I know that Oswald isn’t thinking about saving his neck, he’s... trying to claw into Ed, he’s trying to... reestablish a relationship that Ed doesn’t want established, Ed NEEDS the closure and Oswald’s denying him. So it’s a fucking mess and it’s not fair. And, to Ed’s huge credit, he does his best to fucking cope and to manage the fact that Oswald loves him and he can’t unknow it anymore. Ed does a really nice, clean job everything considered and I love him and I’m so proud.
And Ed does come back to it, he does go “I’m sorry but... this isn’t about that. You hurt me, you did this to me, and I deserve to make things equal now.” I wouldn’t have blamed him if he couldn’t have gone through with it, really glad he does though and he shoots Oswald somewhere PAINFUL not NON-FATAL. A gut wound. The wound of the betrayed. WE WILL COME BACK TO THAT INTIMATELY WHEN I TALK ABOUT MIZUMONO.
And when Ed grabs him by the tie and pulls him in... I DEFINITELY thought kiss and... I’m not 100% that Ed WASN’T also thinking kiss. Like... the look on his face? That he leans in for a half second? I'm not POSITIVE it didn’t in fact cross his mind. And that’s just the chocolate sprinkles on top of the cherry on top of the whipped cream on top of the glorious sundae that this this episode. Fucking flawless. I loved everything. Everything is beautiful. WOW. YES.
And we know for a fact Oswald will be fine, don’t worry friends. This was all about the symbolic death and the emotional retribution and the closure Ed THINKS he’ll get out of this. But here’s the thing, and I’ll be curious to see what they do with this next episode... Ed doesn’t shoot him fatally and I want to know if that was a conscious choice or not. I HOPE it’s not, I HOPE Ed internalizes that he killed Oswald and that IT FUCKING BREAKS HIM. I hope it’s the regret and loneliness and PAIN that fucking causes him to split and his evil half dominates him and goes full Riddler. I FUCKING HOPE that all of this is because he killed Oswald I WOULD DIE HAPPY. Because THINK about it, think about HOW FUCKING INCREDIBLE THAT WOULD BE WHEN OSWALD COMES BACK. THINK ABOUT HOW IT WOULD FUCK ED UP SEEING HIM AGAIN, WHEN HE DID ALL OF THIS BECAUSE HE’S IN THE THROES OF SELF-LOATHING AND THE REASON WHY HE’S ALL FUCKED UP IS STANDING IN FRONT OF HIM? HOLY FUCK YES! GOD GIVE IT TO ME!
I mean, it’s fine if they play it differently, but I just think that’d be FUCKING EXQUISITE if Ed internalizes that Oswald’s dead and it’s his fault.
But basically, as usual, this isn’t REALLY closure because now Ed cant let it go. Now he’ll carry Oswald inside him forever because he killed him. And that’s fucking beautiful. And fucking great. And Ed’s gonna suffer and hate himself forever and I LOVE IT. Or at least until Oswald resurfaces again which I hope wont’ be for AWHILE. I want him gone and away and I want to have NO IDEA where he is or what he’s doing, I want it to blow my mind when he shows up again, because I want to sit here and suffer with Ed and grin at his misery over this 8DDD I AM READY, I AM SO READY, I WAS BORN READY.
Basically this episode watered my crops and cured my acne, I love it so much, this was fucking fantastic, 10/10, A+, FUCKING INGENIOUS, CANNOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT BIT!
#Gotham spoilers#Gotham 3x14#The GEntle Art of Making Enemies#Ed Nygma#Oswald Cobblepot#Nygmobblepot#COME ENJOY WITH ME FRIENDS!#I HAD SUCH A GOOD TIME!#UGH SO GOOD#LOOOOOVED IT
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Girl Genius Liveblog #118
UPDATE 118: Transition to the Next Plot Point
Last time the trek towards the generators of the Castle, but as usual, trouble happened. To be more concrete: Zola and Tiktoffen got away. What now? Well it’s not like they have time to look for them right now, do they? After all there’s still two very sick sparks here. Let’s continue.
Tarvek doesn’t approve the fact a hostile agent that was working against the Heterodynes was simply left in a cage unguarded. Can’t say he’s wrong, that was a bit of a bad move. Then again, I doubt a guard would have deterred her. Knowing how cold she is, she’d have shot the guard at the first chance, getting away right after that.
Looks like Zola was successful in fooling everyone, because everybody says “oh, but she’s useless!’ and then stares blankly in revelation that she’s not useless. Way to go, everybody!
Ahaha, for some reason the way this was drawn makes me laugh. Tarvek is there, in disbelief, and when the revelation strikes suddenly he’s in high-definition. Must have been one heck of an epiphany. But yeah, the mere mention of Zola’s name is enough to make Tarvek believe she’s an idiot – apparently he knew her from before. She truly had everybody fooled, didn’t she? Guess I was kinda fooled too. I mean, I did always suspect she was faking her bumbling behavior, but I did underestimate how dangerous she could be now. Truly that was a mistake, now that she’s free and running around...yeah, she’s very dangerous again.
Agatha has her priorities in order. First heal the mortal sickness that’s going to kill two main characters, then deal with Zola. You know, I doubt it’s going to be easy at all, now that Zola is free to go around and cause trouble, the task of healing these two could be way more difficult than it’d be otherwise – and it was very difficult already.
So, what’s the story? No idea, but if she was going to be the false Lady Heterodyne, was there going to be a false Storm King that isn’t Tarvek? Maybe. Hell, for all Tarvek knows the false Storm King would be Wooster. Really? Yeah, I can’t see it. He’s just a British spy, unlike some Ludmilla woman.
...that’s a key? That has to be the most inconvenient and convoluted key I have ever seen. You could use it to chop down trees, seriously.
The time for gossip stops when they arrive to a place. Did we really get there already? So soon? Wow, lately everyone in this story has been moving at amazing speed! Good for the plot. Well, they’re not completely there, they need to get down to the bottom of this deep hole over there. How to do that without dying while trying? Fortunately for everyone here, there are several sparks here, so there’s abundance of ideas.
Jumping into the hole and hoping there’s a comfy mattress at the bottom has a much higher chance of survival than any of these ideas. You sure you should listen to them, Agatha? I’m all for mad inventions, but right now there’s no time for that. Thankfully for Agatha, Moloch is here and since he doesn’t have the spark he can do things like looking around and suggesting something that’s not likely to maim you horribly at the very least. Use the platform that’s right here to take everyone down the hole.
Hah! None of Agatha’s minions is happy about this sensible suggestion. Common sense? In the Girl Genius universe? Perish the thought, someone take this party pooper away. “And so more level heads prevail (for once)”, says the dialogue box here. I like Moloch, he’s going to be the one to counter the madness that permeates this whole story. At times like these, his presence is very valuable.
Heck, he’s even great at keeping the sparks controlled! Knowing there’s no time for crazy new inventions, Moloch tells them to stay here and leave it everything up to him. I agree, Moloch knows what he’s doing and he isn’t prey to the madness that comes from being a spark. It’s for things like this that you’re the head of Agatha’s troop of minions, buddy. His way to deal with this all makes him attractive to one of the minor minions, hah!
The platform is ready soon, so who’s going to the bottom to mess with the generators? Of course Agatha’s going, who else will? Maybe you, Moloch? Tarvek and Gil immediately offer their help, they’re looking excellent – too much, apparently. Not wanting to be left behind, they messed with what’s keeping them alive right now and pretty much cut in half the time they have left. It was all done for the sake of helping her and saving each other.
They really are invested in keeping each other alive, despite their mutual dislike. Who knows, maybe they won’t be enemies forever. They care too much about each other for them to be in bad terms for the rest of Girl Genius. Perhaps by the time the Castle Heterodyne arc is done they’ll get along?
Also you’re going to kill them anyways, Agatha, in the name of MAD SCIENCE.
Even though Gil and Tarvek are coming, more sparks would be good. Which one of you minions is going to come? Looks like the risk is too much even for a group of enthusiastic mad scientists, they try to think of excuses to not to go. I like the one about having to polish the spikes in the pit trap, that sounds believable.
I think it says a lot that Agatha has been the recognized Lady Heterodyne for a few hours tops and all these prisoners are willing to do stuff against their own will if there’s no more options. Sure, the end objective is to be freed from this Castle, but doing something dangerous? Well that’s more devotion than I had expected, minions or not. Then again, it’s not like they have a lot of options here, the Castle wouldn’t take kindly to refusing Agatha help.
Suddenly, paid advertisement!
...well! Not what I expected to see ever in this webcomic. Apparently this is an advertisement for a game about spies, corporations and a dark future. Blowing up island fortresses near Reykjavik may not be included. It’s unfortunate I don’t have time to check this further, it looks interesting.
The source of power of the Castle was so secret not even the Heterodyne Boys knew the details about it. And that’s not a lie, apparently, it’s such a big secret that not even some members of the family were aware of it. Could that mean Lucrezia isn’t aware of it either? It’d be quite a big piece of information not to know! That said, now there’s this large group of people who are going to find out a highly important secret of the Heterodynes...
...and it includes two members of, uh, ‘opposing factions’ like Wulfenbach’s reign and the Storm King, a mechanic whose merits include being the one sane person in the group, and also this random prisoner over there. I don’t think the Heterodynes or the Castle would approve of this – luckily for them Agatha makes clear killing them will be frowned upon, so you better not do it, Castle.
Alright, they’re approaching something big, the source of the Dyne. Given that, well, the family name is the Heterodynes, I can only imagine it’s extremely important. I’m aware heterodyne is a term, yeah, but I’m convinced the Foglios wouldn’t have given whatever’s down there this name if it wasn’t related to the family in some way. This is bound to be important and maybe game-changing, so I think I’ll stop for now.
Next update: next time
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