#also she repeatedly REPEATEDLY asked to just be told she was wrong all episode. she was BEGGING for clarity | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

markantonys · 7 months

Text

My Mom Reacts To: wheel of time season 2 episodes 5-8 (episodes 1-4) (season 1)

the episode 1-4 post did not contain book spoilers, but this one does, so beware!

first, some dinnertable questions that arose in the past few days:

mom: 3000 years ago, when the first dragon was around, was ishamael--wait. was ishamael the dragon? me: no mom: but he was around back then? me: yes, he was the first dragon's best friend, but then he betrayed him mom: just like how liandrin is betraying everyone

(also, she keeps trying to call him "ishmael" like the moby dick character)

mom: at the end of 14 books, does good triumph over evil? me: i'm not gonna tell you that mom: well this show won't go for 14 seasons, or if it does, i'll be in a dementia ward by then

mom: how long is someone the amyrlin? me: for life, unless they get removed mom: is it an elected position or would they have like a coup? me: [sweating] it's an elected position

she wanted to know where everything was, so i pulled out the handy randland map mug she gave me for christmas to show her! haha

she also asked if we see more of the other colors (ajahs) in the books, and i said if anything we see less because liandrin and alanna have much less screentime in the books, and she was very surprised to hear that

dad: [setting up a dad joke voice] what's it called when lan dies? me: what? dad: lan's end

(okay that might be an americans-only joke lmao there's a big clothing chain called lands' end, not sure how widespread it is. but it cracked ME up, at least!)

mom: does lan die?!?!?!? me: you read his wikipedia article like 2 months ago mom: well i don't remember any of it, that was a long time ago!

she also assumed that no one who is together now (lanaeve + randgwene) will end up together. i'd straight up told her a while ago that rand and egwene don't end up together but she wasn't totally sure of that now, so i think it's actually okay if i tell her spoilers because she'll forget them immediately djkfjgh

episode 5

"she should be glad to get those ridiculous nails cut"

she was horrified by the horse slaughter!

my dad laughed at the guy getting his head exploded, maybe it's not just rand maybe he just likes to see Anyone have a bad time

elyas: your friends from the two rivers aren't your pack mom: ohhhh 😔😠 elyas: neither was your wife mom: [GASP]

she loves hopper so much and i'm not ready for her to see ep8!!

brown sister trio introduced, we pause as i am tasked with writing down every ajah and what they do lmao

my mom repeatedly asked if suroth was a forsaken. probably because she has The Audacity to talk to an actual forsaken Like That!

not much reaction to aviendha at all this episode! i think my mom was a bit overwhelmed by all the new info being learned in this episode, so she was more concerned with trying to figure out who the aiel and the seanchan are than with paying attention to aviendha specifically (partially my fault bc i first explained the aiel as "those warrior people" and she thought i meant the seanchan lmao). she mourned that we hadn't started our character/terminology list on a bigger piece of paper!

i had to fight to keep it together rather than shout with joy during the gawyn namedrop djkjfgh

mom: did the red one free nynaeve so they could try to escape?? me: yes mom: she is just too complicated for me

in this same vein, my dad later referred to liandrin as a "double double agent"

moiraine: [big sigh] dad: she's always a drama queen

he's not wrong jkdjfg

ishy tenderly stroking rand's face also got no reaction, much to my surprise haha i meanwhile was silently losing it

when the seanchan were bringing out egwene and saying how powerful she is, my dad was like "but she's the wrong one, it's the other one who's powerful" oh my god let poor egwene LIVE djkfg even he is pulling a "did you hear that nynaeve is the most powerful channeler we've seen in 1000 years" on her!

my mom cracked up at moiraine saying "it's your choice rand, i mean it this time" and was like "yeah i was gonna say, is she ACTUALLY going to let him choose here?"

episode 6

my mom literally THE SECOND renna's bracelet linked with the a'dam: "so she can channel too? i thought these people punished everyone who can channel" not her INSTANTLY clocking The Sul'dam Secret when in-world it apparently took hundreds of years for anyone to notice hahaha this certainly lends weight to the "this information Is Known but routinely suppressed, as fascist governments are wont to do" interpretation over the "literally not a single person had any idea until the wondergirls" interpretation

lanfear: why do you think you can't trust me? mom: because you have a silly hat

911 lanfear's just been murdered. i guess some people (straight women) ARE immune to her dominatrix outfit djkfg

my mom also voiced her displeasure with rand's haircut again in this scene. my mom 🤝 me 🤝 mat

BOTH my parents thought lanfear's condition was going to be that rand had to kill moiraine himself! the second he opened his eyes they both said it! they're already thinking so dark!

on that note, i'd predicted my mom would be annoyed at moiraine for refusing barthanes's sandwiches, but that was not the case: instead, she and my dad both went "oh i bet the sandwiches are poisoned" they're so suspicious of everything now! and rightfully so

"i can hear you bickering from the fruit market" got a good laugh

my mom also gave a hearty, appreciative chuckle at mat shitting on rand's hair. he spoke for all of us!

mat: i'll meet you in an hour mom: they don't have watches, how will they know when it's been an hour?

mom when moiraine apologizes to barthanes: why is she being nice? me: because she feels bad mom, as if it never occurred to her moiraine might have a conscience: oh..............

mom when siuan arrives in cairhien: now someone can tell her about liandrin! me: but no one here knows that mom: UGH!!!

haha welcome to wheel of time! the necessary information is always stuck in the wrong plotlines and unable to be passed along to the relevant people!

elayne to nynaeve: if we help ryma, we can't help egwene mom: oh this poor woman, now she's faced with another hard choice just like in the arches! me: [sits there stunned because i never made that connection]

episode 7

my mom loved lan telling rand to tuck in his shirt, naturally

lan: heron dips over the wing [or whatever the name was] mom: what? me: it's a sword form, they all have weird names mom: oh, that would explain why it didn't make any sense

lan: your duty is to protect everyone in the world, not just the ones you love mom: that's a big responsibility :(

she laughed and said "she doesn't like not being the boss!" at nynaeve's face when elayne told her to do what she said

she is SO PRESSED about other characters needing to find out about liandrin. she was so excited when anvaere eavesdropped and then so mad when moiraine left before anvaere could tell her the news (but i reassured her by saying that moiraine is about to go to the same place as nynaeve & co who will be able to tell her)

moiraine: [is Mean to lan] mom: TUH! dad: he should just slay her

mom: so what does this tea do? me: allegedly it will show mat his past lives mom: but it might be a trick me: ishamael DOES call himself "father of lies"

my dad was like "that was cool!" after mat's bad trip, which is among his biggest reactions to anything, other than "[chuckles] that was a good one!" when egwene said "renna i will kill you"

ishy: i just want to close my eyes and never have to open them again mom: so kill yourself then 🙄

911 ishamael's also been found murdered. i think she could put the forsaken in line honestly, "you have a silly hat" "kill yourself" she's just not having any of their shit. i hate to compare her to cadsuane, but it's kinda giving cadsuane.

lanfear's dominatrix outfit did get more appreciation this time though when the silly hat was not present ("they had fun with her costumes")

rand: i need your help lanfear mom: ??????? doesn't he know she's evil???????

"she could at least say something nice to lan 🙄" when moiraine fails to say something nice to lan after getting unshielded thanks to him

lanfear: [broken amyrlin line] mom: is she broken??? me: i think she just meant metaphorically, not physically mom: oh. but their love is broken :(

episode 8

my dad actually put his laptop away to watch this episode with his full attention. this is high praise! he never does that!

mom: who's that? [dain] me: the whitecloak perrin spared when he escaped with aviendha mom: i don't remember that me: we watched that YESTERDAY mom: 🤷

she did remember after another moment though haha but that supports my impression that ep5 was A Bit Too Much New Info for her to take in all at once

lanfear: rand i'm the only one who truly cares about you mom: i don't think THAT'S true!

when perrin tells hopper to stay there: "he's just going to leave his dog out in the desert with no water???"

mom when lanfear calls ishy sweetheart and strokes his hair: wait was he the one she was in love with????? me: no it was rand's past life, that's why she's obsessed with rand mom: rand's past WIFE???? me: LIFE

babe wake up new polycule just dropped (lanfear/ishy/lews/ilyena)

she GASPED when renna cut off egwene's braid! as she should!

she said "too bad min isn't here" during the episode (she thought it would be helpful if min could tell mat what would happen if he were to touch the dagger; i was like "i think he knows it would be bad mom" lmao) and after the episode she anxiously asked if we would ever see min again, dammit mom don't you dare become a min stan on me jdkfgh (although, the fact that she thought we might not see her again indicates it's 0% on her radar that min might be anyone's love interest, which is interesting! a number of show-onlys were at least expecting her to be mat's i think)

nynaeve: i'll make you regret the first kiss your mother ever gave your father mom: [delighted] that's a creative one! dad: there are a lot of nasty women on this show and only one nasty man [ishy] me and mom: TUH!

although he is not wrong to say that s2 was the season of Female Villains and Women Being Mean (and i loved every moment of it!). don't you worry dad, rand's gonna be stepping up to fill the Nasty Man Quota soon enough. and i can't wait!

dad when rand is watching egwene from a distance: he's not doing a good job of hiding me: at least his cloak is the same color as the wall dad: well his dumb face isn't

why is he SUCH a hater when it comes to poor rand jkdjfg please, that's your future son-in-law!

they both were repeatedly pressed about everyone carrying the horn box (or rather "the briefcase" as my dad called it) out in the open

mom: they need to just put it in a sack! me: they don't have any sacks on hand! mom: there's plenty of sacks lying around!!!

she keeps thinking that rand got the heron-marked sword from his mom, and when she saw that turak had one she was like "but i thought those were the swords of the aiel?" and i cracked up imagining how offended aiel would be to hear her say that

she missed rand killing all the seanchan because she was too busy asking me the above question, but when she looked back at the screen she went 1) "oh, this is so gory" 2) "did RAND do all that????"

she was sad about ingtar, she was like "ohhhh, i liked him :(" imagine caring about ingtar, could not be me jdkfg

me: so lanfear is talking about the seals of the other forsaken, she wants this guy to throw them all in the ocean because she doesn't want them to be released mom: why doesn't she just do it herself? me: me: me: i don't know, actually..................

(maybe she just wanted them gone stat but didn't want to leave falme for even a moment while shit was going down with rand and ishy? or maybe she was like, I'm Too Hot And Iconic To Get My Hands Dirty Doing Things Myself)

mom as soon as renna's shown to be alive, after egwene's picked up the collar: she should go put the collar on her!

she been knew again!

mom at the mat-perrin reunion: put the spear down before you hug him, you'll stab someone by accident!!!!

she was glad to see egwene get her vengeance, but added "but now i bet she'll feel guilty for killing someone because she's a good person :("

ishy: [talking about what rand did in his past life] mom: rand doesn't even remember that! rand right on cue: i'm not lews therin!

i warned her "you might not want to look" just before hopper's death, but she did look, and she was very sad. as was i!

she thought that one of the heroes of the horn was stepin and i told her it wasn't (it was just some random guy with similar hair) but maybe i should've let her keep on believing it because it's a nice idea!

mom when the spear goes through ishy and hits rand: OH NO!!!! just like min said!!! me: [vibrating with glee over The Great Cauthor Stabbening]

when ishy said "i'm sorry old friend" to rand here my dad said "that sounds familiar" and i was like what's he talking about? but then realized that's what LTT said to ishy in the cold open!!! my heart!!! thank you dad for catching that parallel, i gotta go make a gifset now

"how is one guy holding off all these soldiers by himself?" mom i cannot believe you of all people would doubt lan!

she laughed at rand being like "[half-dead] who are you???" but made no comment on the subsequent romantic shot of elayne. however, after the episode she was like "'who are you?' rand said................is something going to happen with him and elayne??" and i was like 🤷😁😁😁😁 and then she said "but they both have red hair, are they from the same place?" and i told her that elayne is not aiel and not ALL redheads are aiel lmao and maybe i should've just said "you'll see" but. i don't think it's a spoiler to confirm that elayne is not aiel.

she does not believe that ishy is really dead, and she kept asking me if he was really dead and if he shows up again later in the books and i swear, the three oaths possessed me in that moment and made me incapable of saying "yes he's really dead, no we don't see him again in the books". so i just kept shrugging which probably made it obvious that indeed, this is not the last we see of him haha

mom when moiraine starts weaving fire in the direction of the tower: what's she doing?! everyone's up on that tower!!! me: she's not trying to BLOW UP RAND mom: oh

at some point during all the battles she was like "now what's lanfear up to during all this? 🤨" a good thought to have always!

at the end of the episode: "now we have to wait a whole year or two for the next season!!!!!" she's hooked!!

favorite character roundup: my mom said lan is #1 and egwene is #2, and she also loves loial, and she said that she didn't care for perrin last season but likes him a lot now. my dad said his favorites are "the tree guy" (loial) and "the new woman at the end who's more powerful than anyone we've seen so far" (moghedien! that one was a surprise to me. tumblr 🤝 my dad. i hope he'll enjoy The Season Of Moghedien next season! tho it could also be that he just said her because she was the last character we saw and he'd already forgotten all the other ones lmao)

#wot #wot on prime #the wheel of time #wot show spoilers #wot book spoilers

142 notes · View notes

crooked-wasteland · 2 months

Note

How would you rank every HB episode from worst to best?

This took me some time to think on, but thank you for the ask.

So all the Helluva Boss episodes ranked worst to best (in my opinion):

The Circus

I have to place the season 2 premiere as the worst episode of the entire series, simply because it cemented the direction the story was going to go with all of the worst ideas floating to the top. The relationship mystery between Stolas and Blitz gets watered down to a childhood crush based on nothing. It is love at first sight, but then the writing performs gymnastics in order to justify Stolas’ attraction after the fact. It’s so painful in Seeing Stars and Oops how the writers really want us to believe that Stolas liked him as a person first and that is supposed to be shown in how Stolas thinks Blitz is funny when no one else does, but the series of events in the Circus will forever undermine that narrative. He finds Blitz funny because he is attracted to him. Not the other way around.

Aside from the issues with the overarching story, the entire structure of the episode fails. The idea of Chekhov’s Gun is one I believe holds merit as a fundamental tool. If you are going to introduce something like theft, acknowledge the danger of the event, repeatedly draw attention to the theft, and then just never mention any sort of natural conclusion to that plot point. If anything, Blitz returning to Stolas’ home 25 years later to do the exact same thing, necessitated a coming full circle moment of that particular plot point. The failure to identify even the most basic of narrative principles that was a solid through line of character, story and themes told me everything I needed to know about how the series was going to be handled.

Stolas’ song is a poorly-performed nonsensical word salad that I found lacked any cohesion to the character in the previous episode or the next. It’s an ugly song with maybe 2 decent verses where Stolas acknowledges that this was all playing pretend, but that eventually goes nowhere.

Additionally, Stella was officially ruined as a character, which ultimately ruined Stolas as a character. By not giving Stella depth, Stolas was also stripped of any depth or complexity. His reason for staying is dumbed down to “for the child”, and Stella’s motivation is thrown out the window in favor of “she’s awful and please don’t try to make her understandable, because then what if Stolas is held accountable for anything?” Stella is too important a character in Stolas’ story, to make her one dimensional is to make Stolas less interesting. Everything is interwoven in a story, pulling a thread in one place unravels the garment elsewhere.

In a single episode, it encompasses everything that is wrong with the series, past and future.

0/10

Seeing Stars

To be honest, I feel Seeing Stars is most people’s worst episode due to some sense of denial when the season premiered and expected the show to at least continue with some kind of coherent story/timeline. I don’t think it would be as hated if Medrano had tightened up the narrative and made Seeing Stars connect to Ozzie’s more.

However, I would still put it at number 2, even if it had. Mainly because Seeing Stars is the worst sense of characterization and dynamics I have ever seen. And when you are trying to sell a character-driven story, some kind of consistency is required. This episode cemented Loona as being an abusive, manipulative, and entitled “bitch” of a person. Octavia is written like she is 13, not 17. Blitz and Stolas have the darkest timeline where Stolas continues to sexualize Blitz after being told off in the last episode and seemingly acknowledging that he defined the dynamic without any input from Blitz. Then forces him on stage despite Blitz being on the verge of a panic attack. But most of all, it has Stolas and Blitz both completely forget why they are even in this situation, because they are supposed to be looking for Octavia.

There was no lesson Blitz needed to learn, if anything he needed to be instilled with more self esteem where possible. And Stolas already had this story arc done much better in Loo Loo Land. His character actively regresses to redo the exact plot thread, but worse. Much like The Circus, Seeing Stars set the stage for what we could look forward to in regards to the series from here on out, and the utter disrespect leveled at the original 6 episodes.

That’s not even counting how the episode is the exact same plot and story beats as Loo Loo Land, highlighting the extent of how creatively bankrupt the series is.

.5/10

Exes and Ohs

If it comes to personal most hated episode, it would be Exes and Ohs for me. The only reason it is number 3 and not number 1 is because it is a narrative cul-de-sac where the larger story is not affected by it at all.

However, it is still an objectively awful episode. Starting with the premise. The whole plot is a stolen South Park joke. It’s the Steal underpants episode, stretched out into something longer, and not nearly as funny. If you are wholesale ripping off another show, that’s plagiarism. This episode is creatively bankrupt, shouldn’t exist, has no purpose and serves no benefit. People try to argue that it has value due to Moxxie’s backstory, but what does it even serve? Sure, I know it now, but not a single character does. Millie doesn’t even find out. Even moreso, Millie’s entire connection to Chaz goes nowhere and is for nothing. We never know how, when or why she dated Chaz, it's shown she hates him, but she doesn’t even kill him. The whole episode would have ended exactly the same with Crim killing Chaz once he realized the shark demon was lying about having money.

It’s not good when the major complaints of the episode are actually what is saving it from being the worst episode.

2/10

Musical Special

The retconning of this episode, changing who Fizz was as a child to try and justify his uselessness in Oops retroactively is beyond frustrating. There is so much I could go on about in terms of character, but just focusing on this episode.

Mainly, the mildly perturbing extent Medrano goes to hetero-normalize her queer relationships. Every single relationship in the series is stereotypically designed as “Protector” and “Protected”. Stolas, Fizzarolli, and Moxxie are all characters who require constant support and protection from other factors in the plot.

Stolas needed to be protected from Striker. Moxxie needs to be protected from most things in his plots. Season 1 it was the fish monster, Striker, the agents, and finally Ozzie and Fizz. Season 2 we have him needing to be defended from his father and Chaz.

This episode it's all about Fizzarolli and him needing to be defended from his crippling low self-esteem that is only relevant to have him needing to be saved from something. The flashback serves to further retcon Fizz’s personality because a strong and confident performer doesn’t need to be saved from anyone, and in order to have the codependent romance where Fizz needs Ozzie, we need to fundamentally weaken him as a person. It’s a special episode, so the argument that it doesn’t need to exist is rather moot. Regardless, the characters and story are worse off for its addition to the narrative.

2/10

Queen Bee

Another special episode, so the argument of narrative value is once again disregarded. I dislike this episode for how one dimensional every female character is in this story. It highlights all the ongoing issues with misogynistic writing. Loona’s character is a wildly swinging pendulum from being antagonistic towards Blitz to being endeared with little motivation and ultimately being reduced to the caretaker of men. When she and Bee get into an argument, she only deescalates when she sees Tex be uncomfortable. The initial hostility itself is founded on nothing, Loona is immediately resentful of Bee because she’s attractive and people like her, specifically Tex. And her being sweet towards Blitz is entirely based on the fact that her relationship to him makes her look good due to his accomplishment of beating Beelzebub in a drink-off. It doesn’t read sincere, but rather she would look bad if she didn’t take care of him after identifying him as her “dad” when it suited her.

This entire episode works to assassinate Loona’s character and any hope of her being likable and growing. Everything about her motivation is purely selfish and consistently reinforced in big ways, so moving forward it will be very hard to realistically prove she does anything for not her own benefit.

The song was nice for about one minute, then it became unbearably repetitive.

1.5/10

Western Energy

This episode was altered and rewritten, which doesn’t inherently make it bad. It’s just that it was changed due to fans pointing out the glaring plot hole that is why Stella would want to kill Stolas when a divorce would benefit her more. Instead of critically assessing that question and focusing more on world building to create a logical justification for Stella’s actions, the writers shrug their shoulders and just can’t think of anything. It’s a special form of fridge horror as a writer to realize the major plot that was intended to push Blitz and Stolas closer together was so underdeveloped that when at all questioned resulted in the entire plot being unwritten. It’s transparently bad writing, but worse yet is that it is lazy.

This episode is what I use to show an example of how fans inject headcannon and plot into the series that the creators have no interest in spending the energy on. This isn’t James Cameron’s Avatar where there is a massively rich world around a lackluster story that has been crafted with such detail that it feels alive. Helluva Boss, and in extension Hazbin Hotel, have no world building and resort to the most superficial answers to any narrative roadblock at the expense of the characters and understanding their motivations. It shows resentment for not just the audience, but writing as an artform.

3/10

Ozzie's (with season 2 context)

I had to put Ozzie’s on the list twice due to this episode in specific having vastly different reads and reception before and after season 2 premiered. After The Circus, the episode loses all continuity with the original season. Stolas is pining and lovesick over Blitz, he doesn’t actually care about his wife and daughter leaving him. He just wishes more than anything to have his rugged peasant return his affections.

It is a plummet of quality and character in this episode that only comes to fruition with the understanding that Stolas has had an unreciprocated crush for two and a half decades.

With the context of season 2, Stolas doesn’t actually care about his daughter and how his affair, the marriage falling apart, their status, etc. affected her and his family. He only cares about the little boy he got a crush on, who his father rented out like a Lexus and then 25 years later Stolas demanded sex from. Stolas has a complete personality change and isn’t at all who he was the entire series to this point. Everything you thought mattered to him doesn’t, the ways we have come to expect this character to react to things is suddenly entirely different. His expectations are unexplainable and so far out to left field than what we previously established. This is one of the worst written episodes based on the major retconning of a keystone character and no effort being made to connect these changes in the narrative.

This was the warning shot we didn’t know we were given.

1/10

Spring Broken

Spring Broken to Unhappy Campers are the range of utterly ambivalence I have.

The song is poorly incorporated into the episode. Verosika isn’t ever fleshed out. Tex and Loona start off cute, and you can see a starting point of a dynamic between Loona and Blitz and you want her to treat him better while also recognizing that he infantalizes her constantly and doesn’t ever treat her like the adult she is. Could have been really good writing if it went anywhere. This episode establishes Loona abuses Blitz and does so intentionally because it gets her her way. It isn’t malicious, but immature and incredibly cruel, and there is a desire to see her become a better person and grow from this point.

Too bad.

4/10

C.H.E.R.U.B

I know this episode gets a ton of criticism for being a joke/filler episode that goes too long. And that is absolutely correct. However it is still better in that being filler, it is not seeking to be anything more than it is. It is just some dumb fun with a few jokes that come anywhere close to landing. But it doesn’t harm the characters or their stories, unlike the rest of the list up to this point

3/10

Oops

This episode is a hard one to place because I consider the first 7 of this list to be bad episodes. Then 8-12 are those that aren’t good with varying scales of enjoyment on my part. However I think Oops is neither good nor enjoyable. But it has some good story ideas that deserve some credit, regardless of how the writing and pacing consistently tries to undermine them.

The scene of Blitz and Fizzarolli in the alleyway is contrived and feels confused, but it does manage to land some points such as Fizz’s insecurity of being owned by his partner (too bad that goes nowhere and is immediately ignored in favor of Fizz NEEDS Ozzie, so essentially ownership is good actually) and Fizz hanging Blitz’s insecurity and guilt over his head.

The forced engagement, rapid fire pacing, and immediate resolution thoroughly dismantles any good points the episode started to set up. I have to admit the animation is pretty solid, people worked very hard on this for less pay than this quality deserves. But this episode struggles to find a place it belongs on my list because. It almost sees the light only to bury its head in the sand writing-wise.

2/10

Unhappy Campers

Unhappy Campers sits in the same pool with Oops and how it is objectively a terrible episode, but the portions involving Blitz and Barbie are genuinely interesting and I think relatively well done when compared to the rest of the season. Millie has some fun moments herself, though the whole portion of the episode surrounding her and Moxxie could have been cut and it would only serve to elevate the material overall. So even if she is the best part of the worst portion of the story, it still isn’t something I deem worth salvaging.

It would have been an excellent 5 minute episode.

2/10

Murder Family

It’s the first episode. It did well reintroducing the characters from the pilot. It had enough intrigue to see where it would go and how it would expand the world and characters. It. Was genuinely fun and impressive for a YouTube animation, with horror notes and black comedy. There was a sense of character that we could maybe get to know over time and see them struggle and change. It started off very superficial, which was fine.

The blank canvas of what could have been.

5/10

Ozzie's (Before season 2)

Having to remember Ozzie’s premiere after an entire season of thinking we were getting to know the characters, their dynamics, personality, wants, etc. So the personality change in Stolas is given more leeway as LooLooLand set up that he really wished he could find love and his wife and daughter leaving has changed his routine to the point he is in a depression. It even seems Stella took the staff with her in the separation and he’s genuinely all alone.

So him sitting in front of a television asking why nobody will love him makes sense and doesn’t feel out of character when given the room to rationalize and try to piece together the character from past instances. Additionally, him becoming overjoyed at Blitz calling him out is just as easy to rationalize away. I recall watching the episode and interpreting that Stolas was needy, desperate and earnest, not for Blitz, but just in general. And Blitz making himself available to Stolas is why Stolas tries so hard to make this pretend date legitimate. It also explains Blitz’s own utter disinterest in the scenario.

Ironically, looking back, Blitz feels like an Audience insert with how utterly confused and dismissive he is of Stolas’ targeted affection. He sees their relationship like the audience does: one of convenience and mutual benefit. Blitz calling Stolas out is him cashin in on this messed up coercive sex deal they have. Him calling Stolas out and using him for his own gains is only seen as fair in his eyes. And Stolas’ attempts to legitimize the date is a continuation of his own hedonistic selfishness. So when Stolas tries to leave Blitz or otherwise removes himself by covering his face, Blitz’s anger and resentment is valid. Because there’s a lot of confusion taking place at the moment, but Stolas is responsible for all of it and instead runs away.

The exact same escapist behavior that ended up with him in bed with Blitz in the first place.

This is all really compelling drama and without the codependent neediness of the second season, it ties together in what feels like a real season finale for the characters. Everything up to now was a prologue, an introduction of the world, characters and conflicts. Ozzie actually took the characters and faced them off against each other directly. Showing all of their worst traits and building more intrigue to Blitz’s past and his relationships. This was an episode of great potential when it was first released.

7/10

Loo Loo Land

I’ll be honest, the more I think on this episode the more I believe its placement is more out of pettiness than actual quality. While a song that made me invested at the time, You Will Be Okay is a poorly written musical song. Specifically in how it fails to actually build on the themes we were having presented. Because if you really listen to it, the song foreshadows how little Stolas actually cares about Octavia.

The only part of the song that builds character is the one when he speaks of how his marriage is cold and loveless and how “all [his] stories have been told, except for one.” Which one would think that untold story has something to do with Octavia. He’s singing the song for her, to her. He’s presumably alluding to the fact that she’s his only joy in life.

But the very next line is talking about Armageddon. Like the end of everything, the death of the universe, some heavenly judgement. That’s why everyone and their off brand YouTube clone was talking about Stolas dying at some point in the series. Because the song fails to adequately communicate the character and his feelings and how that wraps into the plot. It’s a pretty song to the ears, but fails as a musical.

Additionally, I feel I may still have such a soft spot for this episode in how it often contradicts the current direction the story has attempted to go. Details, dialogue, timeline discrepancies, all of that has continued to hinder the second season in trying to retcon the entire story to this lesser version of itself and Loo Loo land as an episode is just so tightly written that it has become a thorn.

All the portions with Blitz and RoboFizz are great. Great character, great foreshadowing (to nothing unfortunately), great pacing. Those scenes have some legitimately funny jokes. Stolas stole the show it seems, much to the series detriment, but the real stellar parts of the episode were for once the actual main character.

6/10

Truth Seekers

This episode would have been my favorite due to Blitz’s bad trip and the animation involved throughout. However, the fact that the show has entirely dropped the relevant and interesting portions of the episode, overused and abused Stolas’ demon design since this episode, and the animators have since been confirmed to not be paid fairly for the work they do, this gets to be number 2.

Like Loo Loo Land, Truth Seekers is a primary source of contradiction in the new direction the story has gone and a constant reminder of how little work has been put into the narrative. It’s one of the strongest episodes of the series as a whole, but it has been almost entirely retconned.

I have seen some mention of the agents returning to the story and if that does come to pass, this will be hilarious in trying to reconcile what parts of Truth Seekers is canon and what isn’t any longer. And the realization that all the best parts are the ones ending up on the cutting room floor.

7/10

Harvest Moon

Striker was an intimidating figure. Genuinely. There was a real sense of weight to this episode in the animation and visual storytelling. It’s a solid episode for what it is and far and above better than even Truth Seekers because it required Medrano and her staff to actually address the episode and make obvious efforts to retcon it. That is how solid an episode this is.

Stolas is not too creepy and dominating, but nor is he seen as the delicate princess who is always crying over some guy who doesn’t return his feelings. He is fun, and it starts the nudge towards maybe something a bit more amicable on Blitz’s end.

Millie absolutely deserved more time for her character seeing as they were staying with her family and she having an episode of standing by her husband and defending her choices in who she loves would have been far more engaging than Murder Family pt. 2, Moxxie lacks confidence and self esteem forever and always.

The song was so inconsequential. It was a funny segue with Striker basically upstaging Moxxie at every turn, but that doesn’t actually go anywhere when in regards to the plot overall.

And Stella putting a hit on her husband, to his face, was hilarious and would have been so interesting to have seen it played more than a joke. Like Stolas knows she wants to kill him, and he is just vaguely fine with that. Maybe thinking his letting her try to kill him would have her stay and not file for divorce. Have it been this macabre comedic sitcom where she’s always trying to kill him and hates his guts for being a subpar husband, but he takes it as some kind of tit-for-tat and plays along with it. She gets to send assassins after him, he gets to have sex with his rugged assassin imp. It’s a ridiculous level of absurdity that still allows for all the characters to be dimensional.

That got a little away from me there. Basically, this episode was the strongest overall. Animation wise, writing wise, story potential wise. This episode is the most solid Helluva Boss episode.

7.8/10

#helluva boss critical #helluva boss critique #vivienne medrano #vivziepop #helluva boss criticism #spindlehorse critical #spindlehorse criticism #helluva boss

37 notes · View notes

thegirlwithataser · 1 year

Text

Garvez and How They Treat One Another

So the thing that struck me most about Luke and Penelope's interactions in this episode, specifically the scene in the briefing room where they talk about Penelope seeing Tyler, is the way that Luke treats Penelope versus the way that she treats him.

Luke was clearly about to yell at her, but she looked so small and scared that he literally swallowed his words. He told her that she was in the wrong, but he was incredibly gentle about it. He had every right to get extremely mad at her, but he didn’t play it that way, because he cares about her and her feelings so much.

But on the opposite end of the spectrum, Penelope has no regard for his feelings at all. He tells her that it’s too much for him to be hearing her talk about her sex life and she says “i know” but then just… keeps doing it. The whole scene, basically all she talks about is how good the sex is (which is a super weird thing to be focusing on in the moment anyway but that's a point for another time). Luke is very careful with his words, even though he's mad, but she just keeps talking even once he asks her to stop.

An in depth look at Luke and Penelope's treatment of one another throughout the show, as well as an analysis of Luke specifically on the date, below the cut.

And the thing is, is that this is such a pattern for Luke. When we first met him, one of his very first interactions with the other characters was with Garcia in the elevator. She’s uncomfortable and extremely short with him. She snaps and rolls her eyes, and he lets her.

This is literally acknowledged in the show. After she meets Roxy, she admits to thinking he was big headed and macho, and he said “I know.” And she’s shocked and confused, and he says. “I know you didn’t want to like me at first.”

Luke clocked her extreme hatred of change immediately. He recognized that his joining of the team immediately after her best friend left was a big change for her, and even without knowing her well at all, figured out that she needed space and time to deal with it. So he let her. He even made it easier on her by playing into it at certain points. He let her tease him and occasionally be genuinely mean, because he knew that this was her way of dealing with the change.

Luke is incredibly perceptive and also ridiculously kind. It's who he is with everyone, but it is most blatantly obvious with Penelope. Again, he barely knew her, and this was a huge change for him too. But he figured her out immediately and then made a conscious decision to let her do what she needed to do.

He does this repeatedly throughout the entire time that they have known one another. Even after they get to know each other and her teasing loses it’s genuine edge, he still lets her take out her stress on him. In the episode “Saturday”, Garcia is incredibly stressed out, and she snaps at him for saying something that made complete sense (“Shut up shut up! Just because you look like that doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want with this part of your face”) and he just laughs it off. At the end of the episode, when she thanks him for going out of his way to help, she purposely makes it seem like it had nothing to do with her, because acknowledging that Luke cares enough about her to do that would be too much in that moment. Again, Luke lets her. It’s very clear that he knows what she’s doing, but he doesn’t correct her.

Even when other people point it out, he plays it off. When JJ asks “What did you do to her?” he laughs and brushes it off.

We know that Luke doesn’t love when Penelope is mean to him because in the episode where he’s not allowed out in the field, Emily tells him that he has to work the case with Garcia, and he grins. He’s clearly happy with that, but then Penelope finds out, and reacts by saying “Ugh, fine” and making a face at him, and his smile immediately drops. He gives Emily a sarcastic “thanks” and makes a face of his own. So we know he doesn’t love it when her teasing trips into meaner territory, but he always, always, just lets her do it.

Luke is also the first person to bring up the toll that the job takes on her. He’s the one that goes to her office in the episode with the snuff films, already planning on watching it himself to get what they need. And when Garcia says that he doesn’t need to, that she already did it, he’s immediately concerned. He points out that she doesn’t even look at crime scene photos, something that everyone knew, but had never brought up before.

Everyone else loves Penelope, and they’re aware that she’s more sensitive to the gore of their job than they are, but they never say anything about it. Luke is the first to bring it up, and he asks her if she’s okay. When she brushes it off, and makes it clear that she doesn’t want to talk about it, it is extremely obvious that he’s concerned about that response, but he bites his tongue and once again, he lets her.

Specifically with that moment, we know he’s concerned. It would make him feel better to talk to her about it and actually make things better, but to Luke it doesn’t matter that talking to her about it and helping her feel better would ease his concern. That’s not what she wants in the moment, so he lets her get away with it.

Luke is constantly tracking how Garcia is feeling and reacting accordingly. For example, he brings her a little cat figurine when she's been upset because he knows that it will cheer her up.

At the start of the season, he feels guilty going to Penelope for help when he knows how good it’s been for her to not be involved, but they quite literally had no choice. He apologizes repeatedly for having to ask, he distracts her from the stress by telling her that she’s been totally irreplaceable at the BAU, he apologizes to her for Rossi’s behavior, and he is explicit in his gratitude for her help and tells her that she’s the best, because she needs to hear it.

He encourages her to tell Emily her idea about Green, he’s incredibly supportive of her and pushes when she needs it. He is completely just her cheerleader in that scene, and he keeps an incredibly close eye on her the whole time they’re working together in that episode.

When she’s on a conference call with the team, he’s the one that comments on the noise in the background and expresses his concern for her. He’s the one that asks about it because he wants to know what’s going on with her and make sure that she’s okay.

Even with the date, Luke is the one going out of his way to make conversation. It’s clearly awkward, but he was trying so hard. He started every little mini conversation, and he didn’t say anything about it not going well, not until she did. Even his agreement with her when she says that it feels clunky feels like they're having two different conversations. He's clearly relieved that that they're in agreement that it's awkward, but the next thing that he says is "but why? I mean, it's not like this when we're at work." Not that he doesn't have feelings for her, not that dating is a bad idea, he's wondering why they're so awkward on this date. He is saying that they're able to hangout and have fun with each other usually, so why is it different now? But Penelope goes a completely different route.

She says "I find it very hard to have a conversation with you when I am not dunking on you." (which is a mean thing to say considering they've had plenty of serious conversations) Luke's face completely changes. The warmth he'd had from a moment ago fades and he's literally speechless for a moment and then the only response he has is a half-hearted "That is cold." which should have been a joke, but he doesn't laugh. And then as Penelope is saying "With us, there absolutely is something there, but not that" he is shaking his head and he's no longer smiling. If he were shaking his head to agree with her, there would still be some remnants of relief on his face, but he just looks sad. After she says that she knows his person is out there, he looks down at the table, shakes his head, and when he looks back up, he looks completely dejected and asks "Where?" almost helplessly. His voice and the way he looks are both completely lost. Even his small laugh lands as pain instead of humor.

He doesn't add anything at all to that whole part of the conversation. He doesn't agree with her, he doesn't share his own feelings, he just lets her do all the talking. When she says “now that I know you’re not trying to get me drunk” he doesn’t become defensive and insist that that’s not what was happening and he would never do that, even though we all know that Luke Alvez is not that guy and he would have been well within his rights to take offense to that comment. He lets her say it, because she needs to say something to get herself back on solid ground, and he knows this about her, so he lets her get away with it. Again. He kind of huffs out a weak laugh, and then, in a voice that is completely different to how he was speaking to her before all of that, this one much softer and subdued, he says "Well okay, whatever it takes." He's smiling, but it doesn't reach his eyes even a little, but Garcia is grinning and she giggles.

The moment where she says that she can't talk to him without making fun of him also makes his reaction in episode 8 to her not teasing him when there was a perfect opportunity especially notable. He knows because of her own admission that she is at her most comfortable around him when she’s making fun of him, and so he is immediately caught off guard when she is nice and doesn’t take the opportunity to dunk on him.

Luke is always paying attention to Penelope. To what she says, what she wants, what she needs. He goes out of his way all the time to cater to it. He puts himself aside for her every. single. time.

On the plane when she gets upset about Tyler, we know Luke is upset with her, but he reaches out and physically offers her comfort anyways. In the forrest he’s more focused on her and making sure that she is okay than he is on finding Rossi or Green. He is at her side the entire time, only a few steps behind her when they do find Green.

All of this isn’t to say that Penelope is a bad person, I don’t think she is. I think that she’s been incredibly selfish this season, and I don’t think that this characterization of her is a good way to go, but I don't think Penelope Garcia is actually a bad person.

The thing with Luke, though is that they’ve taken her previous attitude towards him and pushed it beyond what it ever actually was. Yes, Penelope loves to tease him, but she's had plenty of genuine moments with him as well, which is why the line from the date makes no sense and was even a little cruel in the context of the larger picture. We know that Penelope thinks Luke is wonderful, she says it on the date, but I think she takes him for granted. He does all of these things for her, and sure a lot of them are unspoken and subtle, but they still make a huge difference. I don’t know if she doesn’t notice or if she’s just never thought about it, but she takes all of it, everything he is for her, everything he does, completely for granted.

Penelope has the capacity to be wonderful right back to Luke. She’s this incredibly kind person with a huge heart. All of her emotions are always so big. She cares so much about everything and everyone. She loves so deeply and so fully. And that’s what really gets me about all of this, because Penelope is that way about everyone else, but Luke is that way about her. She puts that care and that heart out into the world with so much intensity, but Luke puts that care and heart into her. If she would only recognize it, see it for what it is, see how wonderful and rare it is to find someone who treats you like that. Someone who loves you so much that he is willing to put everything to the side for you, to go out of his way for you over and over and over again, without expecting anything in return. Because he doesn't ever ask her for anything more than what she is willing to give.

And that's what would make Luke and Penelope so insanely wonderful. If she would just treat him the way that he treats her, then it wouldn't be so one sided. The worst part is that Penelope Garcia is more than capable of putting just as much care and love into Luke as he does for her.

But she doesn’t. And I can’t for the life of me understand why.

#the only thing that might explain this even a little bit for me would be if penelope just doesn't love luke at all #because even as just a friend this is getting ridiculous #its just more and more one sided the further we see the show develop and its not fair to luke anymore #its like his character has become just support for all the other storylines #criminal minds #garvez #luke alvez #penelope garcia #hannah's rambling #criminal minds evolution #also if you read this whole thing i love you so much

183 notes · View notes

wilsonthemoose · 11 months

Text

5.15 angels have gone

In which Sam does almost everything the same except that Dean doesn't show up to be with him when he jumps.

(As told through a series of voicemails)

Alternate Universe - Croatoan/Endverse (Supernatural), in that this fic is the events preceding endverse or how endverse came about, Angst, Temporary Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Blood and Violence, Season/Series 05, Episode: s05e04 The End (Supernatural), Hurt No Comfort, also featuring the lucifer rising voicemail and the samulet briefly

He's standing in a pool of congealing blood, bare feet tacky and sticking, "Hey, Dean. It's uh— It's Sam." Stupid, stupid, stupid. "Look I know we both thought this was for the best. Going our separate ways, I mean. But I uh— look I'm sorry okay? And I'm trying to fix it, I'm trying to fix everything and I know you are too. And we just work better together man." Cliché, cliché, cliché. "Call me back? It'd be good to hear from you."

The gun's soaked, chamber clogged. It will take some cleaning.

His hand never shook.

No new messages.

He contemplates calling of course, sometimes. Five drinks into the night.

Open wounds never close but you do them no favours by picking either so he drinks some more instead and checks his messages religiously.

"Hey, Dean. Been a while. Just wanted to check in." He's standing against a black '67 Impala he jacked four counties back out of sheer, stupid nostalgia. "Actually, no, I'm working a lead." He hesitates for a moment. "With the Trickster. And I know what you're gonna say—" Just can't stop working with monsters, can you, Sam? "But uh— he did me a real solid, and," he sighs, "It's a chance, you know? Anyway, I could really use your help. I'll send you the coordinates."

The car makes all the wrong noises. He could fix it, if he wanted, but it also doesn't have toy soldiers or legos, and anyway, he's not sure he cares all that much.

"Hi Dean, I had a really great time last—"

Delete messages.

"Hey. I know you say no chick-flick moments but—" he sucks a breath in through his teeth, "Dean, I would— I just wanna talk, just once. Baseball scores, weather, anything." He stares between his feet and imagines Dean listening to the message. He'd roll his eyes. He might be angry. He probably doesn't care enough to listen. "I keep—"

To send, press 1. To—

"Are you ready?" she asks, not unkind but bordering on impatient.

She's going to spread his remains over the planet and this time, with any luck—

"Give me a minute."

He digs the phone out of his pocket for a little bit of courage and hits play. "Listen to me you blood-sucking freak..."

"Hey, Sam." He clears his throat. "Heard you took down Famine." He takes a swig of whiskey and wipes his mouth. "I talked to Bobby and I can— I'll come and get you, okay?" The sound of Sam screaming 15 feet under the house echoes up to him, a year and a life away. "Just call me, Sam." He's half proud and then half surprised he can still feel that way. "I'm not— I'm not mad at you Sam. Call me."

"You're a monster, Sam. A vampire. You're not you anymore and there's no going back."

He sets a bucket, a few bottles of water, and a small paper clip on the floor and cuffs himself to the tiny cot. He's banking on the hope that he'll be shaking too much by the time he loses his will and tries to get out of the cuffs.

It starts with tremors and hallucinations. Then there's the seizures and the vomiting. At some point (day two or three?) he finds himself on the floor with the unbearable weight of the flimsy steel bedframe crushing him and the room moving violently up and down with a thudding like a bowling ball hitting a carpeted floor.

He only realizes it had been his own head repeatedly jerking to the floor several hours later, standing over his body trying to tear his eyes away from Lucifer in Jessica's body. Her thin-fingered hand stroking blood off the forehead of his corpse with enough tenderness that it might really have been her.

"You don't have to fight anymore, Sam," the voice is a whisper. Almost her in sound but the cadence is off. "You and me, we're the same." It probably says something, that Lucifer only ever talks to his corpse. Lucifer sighs, long and drawn out, "Oh, I know you don't want to hear this, Sam, but I promise," her hand curls around Sam's ear, tucking sticky hair out of the way, "You will understand someday."

His head is whole again when he wakes, but the wrists are torn from the handcuffs and it takes him several hours to steady his hands enough to pick the locks.

"Dean, it's been months. Getting kind of sick of the silent treatment, you know?" He pinches the bridge of his nose. "I heard about Ellen and Jo." He hates the way his voice trails down at the end, hates the way he should have been the one to die there. Hates the way his brother hates him so much he won't even—

"I'm sorry Dean. I'm here. If you want to—" he almost says talk, "yell or—" he sighs. "I don't think you're listening to these so."

Dean tosses the amulet into the trunk of the Impala and a few weeks later, off the side of the road.

"Dean, I'm gonna— I'm going to say yes." His voice is shaking. "I'm going to jump in the Cage and I'm going to take Lucifer with me." He doesn't sound determined even to his own ears. More broken than anything else, half aware he's destined to fail, entirely terrified of succeeding.

"Sorry," he sniffles, "If I thought you were listening, I'd probably try to sound less—" he chokes on a laugh. "Dean, I don't know if I can—"

He takes a steadying breath, then erases and records the message several times until it sounds in turns automated and choked with helplessness.

"I don't think I can do this alone."

He never gets a response.

"Sam, I'm disappointed." His voice is half tired, half venomous. "I'm so so disappointed in you— what? You, you can't even—" Would it kill him to call back, just once? He hurls the phone at the ground, crushes the screen under his heel, and goes in to raid Bobby's liquor drawer.

He's standing in a pool of blood. The demon he drained is still hanging by the wrists. The bottles of blood make him sick. Probably a good sign except that he thinks he'll flinch at the last second.

He's been standing over the trunk for over an hour staring at the bottles of blood when his phone pings with a voicemail.

"Sam, I'm disappointed." Sam closes his eyes and leans his head against the cool metal of the open trunk. "I'm so so disappointed in you— what? You, you can't even—" There's a crash of the phone being thrown.

Sam sinks to the ground, gravel biting into his knees, and holds his head in his hands.

He says yes in Detroit and screams no in his head five years later with his brother's throat under his heel.

#Supernatural fic #Sam winchester #Endverse #Sam winchester fic #Hey :) i wrote something sad :) wanna read?#Fic #Fic tag

40 notes · View notes

saltygilmores · 10 months

Text

Thoughts While Watching Gilmore Girls- Season 2, Episode 16, "There's The Rub", aka A Sheer Masterpiece of GilmoreDom, AKA The Gilmore Geller Mariano Trio, And Everything is Right With The World Until Forrester Shows Up, Part 4

I realized I’ve been spelling Dean's last name wrong all this time (it's only one R, not two) but I'm going to keep misspelling it on purpose because it's what he fucking deserves, frankly. You can find parts 1-3 and all other episodes I've recapped in my pinned post. Leggo.

All of the purest and most heartwarming episodes & scenes are the ones that take place outside of Shit's Hollow. Emily and Lorelai at the spa. The Bangles Concert. The time the Dragonfly Inn crew+ Rory and Emily went to a drag show. That time Lane and Rory went to Madelyn & Louise's party and Lane danced with Henry. Various scenes that take place at the mall. Rory's trip to New York City to see Jess (MY FAVORITE EPISODE). The time Jess, his uncle and his stepfather took him to see some naked mud wrestling (ah, family bonding).

It does not get any better than this, people. Let us all bask in this warm, peaceful glow, the smell of french fries, the sound of gentle literary debate, the absence of Dean, Lorelai and all of the other loudmouths of Shit's Hollow, who are safely (if temporarily) contained in secondary locations. *breathes in* Ahhhhhh.

Person: Hey ThoughtsWhileWatching, what day of the week is it? Me: Idk but I will never forget the weird way Milo held this can of salt

The fact that a friendship between Paris and Jess wasn't allowed to develop past this episode, in large part due to Dean Ruins Everything Forrester, was another one of AmyShermanPalladino's high crimes she needs to answer to. (and let's not even start on how a nice little friendship based on a shared interest in music could have formed with Lane but AmyShermanPalladino decided to make Lane salty at Jess for no reason until literally the last episode before he splits from Rory. I remember a scene in a later episode where Lane tries to run away to New York to meet up with her band but when she gets there she finds she's lost and in over her head I wanted her to get in contact with Jess so badly so she could have stayed with him or he could have helped her out. Speaking of salty.

He's so frigging cute, my heart hurts. Ow. The phone rings in the Gilly Girl household and this is one of the many times I wish I was still a GG virgin and didn't already know it was Dean the Serial Killer on the other end.

Someone who is already violating her boundaries by inviting himself over, knowing full well she wanted to spend the night alone, is totally going to double-super-duper respect-her-boundaries if she says no to this additional boundary violation. Asking her permission, that's rich. And Dean the Abuser totally won't triple violate her boundaries when he finds out her circumstances changed and she ended up spending her time with someone other than him. This is going to go just swell.

Oh god, she's still wearing the Quarter on a String and it's even uglier than I could have imagined! You can finally see it well in the harsh light of the Gilmore Kitchen. I still need an extreme closeup. D: I know you want to be alone but I just want to stop by for a minute and say hello. Actually, what I meant to say was, fuck you Rory, even though you told me repeatedly you wanted to be alone I'm coming over anyway because I'm an abusive piece of shit. R: But you just said hi.

R: But I look like a mess. I'm not pretty. You wouldn't recognize me. D: Fuck you I'm coming over.

Dean Forrester is a straight up horror movie villain or at the very least the villain in a bad Lifetime movie/cautionary tale about an abusive boyfriend. Gilmore Girls really is a 7 year long Lifetime movie. (for the youngn's, Lifetime Network was a tv network primarily targeting women, something akin to the current Hallmark channel, and although they had their share of wholesome movies like HC they also produced dozens of low budget movies about men who stalked and abused women) TWWGG's Memory: "Hey TWWGG, remember in 2020 when 4 years had passed since you had watched Gilmore Girls for the 1st time, and you wanted to watch it again during the pandemic, and halfway through the 1st season you said to your best friend, "boy howdy I'm glad Dean finally leaves after Jess and Rory start dating" and she said "I hate to tell you this but Dean is around untl the middle of season 5, and also Jess leaves at the end of season 3" and all the color drained from your face and your whole world crumbled to pieces?" TWGGG's Memory Replying to Her Memory: Yes. I remember.

This "Dean not taking no for an answer" is terribly frightening and disturbing. My skin just prickled. When you take into account the fear and sheer desperation in Rory's voice it gets even worse. I feel like I should be putting trigger warnings on these scenes or something?

But what? But why? FUCK YOU DEAN FORRESTER!!

Thats true, you're not ruining her night. You're ruining her life and you're ruining everything you touch. The sidewalk you're walking on doesn't even want your smelly shoes walking on it. You are Dean the Ruiner. You make this show unwatchable. I hate you. Look how proud of himself this motherfucker looks. "I just violated Rory's boundaries. I violated them so hard. I'm gonna barge into her house without her consent and yell at her in front of her friends. She’s gonna love me so much. I'm such a good Dean. Yeah." Dean's holding a bag of something that we're supposed to believe is a pint of ice cream. But this is Dean so it's probably a human head on ice and not ice cream. "Ice cream" is just serial killer lingo for "human remains."

#gilmore girls #jess mariano #paris geller #anti dean forester #lorelai gilmore #emily gilmore #gilmore girls season 2 #theres the rub #denise rewatches gilmore girls #experimenting with shorter posts #not cutting down on the content but just dividing them into more numerous parts #you may be reading Theres the Rub Part 12 at this rate #milo ventimiglia #if you are a sidewalk that was stepped on by Dean Forrester #you may be entitled to financial compensation

27 notes · View notes

mindmeltonabun-blog · 1 year

Text

Alchemy of Souls Part 2 (Eps 29-30): Analysis, Theories, Critique, and Thoughts

Hello Readers,

Let me preface this post by saying thank you to all the cast and crew for all of their hard work and dedication to this rather ambitious project. As for the Hong Sisters, I want to give them my sincerest gratitude for trying to do what other Kdrama writers have not done before. I am sure writing a 30 episodes fantasy kdrama was no easy task! I also want to tell them that I understand their sadness, disappointment, anger, and frustration when it came to not being able to tell the story they had initially planned. I definitely sensed all of these sentiments while watching Part 2. It is ok, Hong Sisters. I hope that in the future, the conditions will be right for you two to be able to tell the story you had intended.

For those who were super invested in AOS as I was, I know many were left completely disappointed by the way Part 2 ended. I was left feeling disheartened just because I had never gotten the ending for a Kdrama completely wrong before. Adding to this, my theories for Part 2 were almost completely wrong. I kept asking myself repeatedly how was it possible for me to get so many theories correct in Part 1, but not Part 2? While talking to my boyfriend the other night, he told me I should not be so hard on myself and that I really should be proud of the many theories I had gotten correct in Part 1. He also told me maybe it was not me or my analytical brain, but other external factors which may have contributed to why my theories were incorrect (i.e script changes, budget issues, etc). This was the moment when everything clicked in my head!

At the end of Part 1, I had thought Part 2 would be a continuation of Naksu's journey to discovering her true identity which was Jin Bu Yeon. However, this was where I made my first mistake. Part 2 was not a continuation of the her story. Rather it was a continuation of Mu Deok/Cho Yeong's story after she returned to her OG body (GYJ body) and died in Ep 1. This was why everything felt so soulless and unsatisfactory in Part 2.Do I think the Hong Sisters had intended for this to happen? No, not at all. This is why their writing in Part 2 paled in comparison to Part 1. The Hong Sisters' heart and soul were not in it when it came to writing Part 2. What they tried to do was make the best out of a really bad situation and they were really not happy about it.

Originally, they meant for Part 2 to be about Naksu discovering her true identity (Jin Bu Yeon), but a bunch of things happened behind the scenes which ultimately forced the Hong Sisters to completely rewrite Part 2. Just to be clear, the soul we followed in Part 1 was not the same soul shown in Part 2. They were two different souls. Part 1 was about Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon's soul and Part 2 was Mu Deok/Cho Yeong's soul. For those who were rooting for Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon's journey of self discovery, I would not bother watching Part 2 because her journey is currently in limbo.

And for those who have come here to argue with me by telling me I must be confused or lost, you can go elsewhere. No one is forcing you to read my post. I have proven time and again through my many correct theories for Part 1 that I did understand the Hong Sisters more so than most others.

Now for those who still want to stick around, good! Before we go down this rabbit hole, you all should be aware the events in Part 1 was still a soul switch not soul combination as others were led to believe in Part 2. I will explain more further down.

Anyways for those sticking around, it is time to put our thinking caps on! Time to analyze!

What Potentially Led To Part 2 Script Adjustments and FL Change?

Now, be aware that what I discuss here is highly speculative. So do not quote me or anything. This is just my impression and should not be taken as a matter of fact. Below is an AOS timeline. There may be some inaccuracies for the exact starting and ending date of Part 1 filming. However, everything else in red should be correct.

According to my Korean friend whose husband works in the Korean entertainment industry, the production budget is determined before filming starts and you are unable to request additional money later on. This means once the production budget is determined, the producers cannot exceed the initial budget. It works the same way in the US. Although in the US, exceptions can be made if a show or film holds great promise or if the producer is willing to receive less of their producer's fees.

Based on varying reports, the production cost for Part 1 (20 episodes) ranged from 35-40 billion won (28-32-million USD). For reference, the production cost for fantasy dramas like "Bulgasal" was around 31-40 billion won (25-32 million USD) for 16 episodes. From this, you can see the money for AOS was already stretched given there was a total of 20 episodes in Part 1. Something to point out is it is not clear whether the production budget was determined for all 30 episodes or broken up into two different production budgets (i.e 20 episodes and 10 episodes). I am thinking it was the former just because it would explain why the Hong Sisters had initially hired rookie actors/actresses over more seasoned actors/actresses. Rookies are usually paid less because they do not have as much experience in comparison to more senior actors/actresses. Therefore, by hiring rookies, they could save on money. Bear in mind this was a 30 episodes FANTASY drama so you have to save on money where you can so you can divert money towards CGI, set construction, costumes, larger filming crews, etc.

At the very beginning of AOS production there were a few very costly hiccups. Most notably, the OG FL rookie actress, Park Hae Eun, leaving at the very beginning of filming for Part 1. Luckily, the AOS production team managed to convince Jung So Min to play the FL role. Although this would eat into the production budget because Jung So Min was a seasoned actress, she would be able to give the show the stability it needed. And who knows, maybe the people who financed AOS would be more willing to provide additional money if the production team had hired a more seasoned actress.

I do want to point out that one of the production companies (High Quality; a CJ ENM subsidiary) left after Part 1. The reason for it is unknown. Was it because of this production company's departure that the AOS team were left unable to afford Jung So Min or was it because of Jung So Min's agency at the time did not allow her to sign onto Part 2 which led to High Quality's departure? I do not really know and can only speculate that it was the latter.

During the Part 1 press conference (June 14, 2022), the director said the Hong Sisters were currently working on Part 2 script (more like rewriting the entire script). Then on July 12th, rumors began to circulate the FL would be recasted for Part 2. Subsequently, Blossom Entertainment released the following two statements.

"We ask for your understanding that we arent able to tell you whether she'll be in part 2 or not because it would be a spoiler for Part 1." "She did not appear to get off, but originally signed a contract to appear in Part 1".

On August 2nd, it was announced Jung So Min would join a new agency. Following this announcement, AOS production team said on August 8th, there will be a one week hiatus "to enhance the level of completion for the second half" aka this means they needed time to edit Eps 17-20 so it could flow better with the narrative in Part 2. Who the hell knows what they had removed in those episodes. All I know is that Eps 18-19 felt weird.

Collectively, I think what ended up happening is that AOS production team was unable to get Jung So Min. They were forced to hire a rookie actress and not just any rookie actress, it had to be Go Youn Jung as to avoid even more controversy. This show did not need any more controversy. In turn, the Hong Sisters were forced to completely rewrite Part 2 while editing out things in Part 1.

If there is anyone to blame for the poor quality of Part 2, it's either Blossom or AOS production team and not the Hong Sisters nor Jung So Min herself. I am sure Jung So Min would have gladly sign onto Part 2 and taken a lesser fee, but was unable to because she was bound to whatever contract she signed with Blossom.

I am not even a screenwriter, but this just sounds super stressful. Like imagine if you had already planned to tell your story a certain way with the actress you want, but due to funding issues and actress availability, you had to completely rewrite your story in such a really short amount of time. The Hong Sisters were put in a difficult situation and were forced to make the best of it. Based on things were in Part 2, it seemed the Hong Sisters hated every minute of it. This was evident by the lack of pun filled and witty lines, double meanings, and tight writing. All the things that made Part 1 great and stereotypically Hong Sisters.

After reanalyzing everything from Part 2 and taking into consideration all the things that occurred outside of the show itself, I believe the Hong Sisters did manage to save the one character they intended to be the real star of this entire show which is Jin Bu Yeon/Naksu (meaning Naksu's real identity was Jin Bu Yeon). Continue reading below to see how the soul we saw in the majority of Part 2 was not Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon, but was actually Mu Deok/Cho Yeong, a soul I thought I though had gone back to her OG body and died.

Which Soul Did We See the Majority of Part 2?

Surprise surprise people..... it was "Mu Deok" whose real name was...drum roll please...Cho Yeong! Are you shocked? I mean this is what the majority of AOS fandom had been begging for during Part 1. Everyone was like OMG I want to know more about the real Mu Deok (because many thought she was the powerful Jin Bu Yeon lol) . And well, this is exactly what you got exactly in Part 2. As it turned out though, "Mu Deok" was really just Cho Yeong.... a damsel in distress who followed Jang Uk around like a lost puppy and a total superficial airhead. She was neither a powerful skillful mage nor a great shaman/divine priestess. Those qualities belonged to Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon who is currently a spirit lingering around waiting for Mu Deok/Cho Yeong to leave so she can finally have her own body, name, and face (JSM face) back.

A brief digression. In AOS where soul shifting is possible, names and their associated alternative names can get rather confusing when combined with bodies and souls. It is like do you call someone by their soul or body name? Imagine if my alternative name was "Honey" and my soul was in a body whose alternative name was "Biscuit". What would people call me? "Honey" or "Biscuit"? Well, people would just see your outside appearance and call you "Biscuit" even though you were "Honey". Then you find out the body's real name is “Sarah” and the name of the body you were previously in was “Taylor”. Essentially, this is what happened in AOS. In Part 1, the soul inside was called "Naksu" (alternative name) and she lived in a body whose alternative name was "Mu Deok". Everyone in Part 1, called that soul "Mu Deok" instead of "Naksu". People called that soul by a body name instead of the soul name. For me, I kept calling her by her soul alternative name which was "Naksu". As for the what Naksu's true identity was? I ended up figuring out back in Part 1 that her true soul identity was actually "Jin Bu Yeon". All that happened in Part 1 was that she had finally returned in her OG body (but did not know it yet) and was on the path to discovering her real identity which was Jin Bu Yeon (not "Cho Yeong" as many viewers were led to believe). In doing so, her soul, body, face, real name would have finally become one aka Naksu soul=Jin Bu Yeon soul back in her OG body (Jin Bu Yeon body) and finally being called by her real name "Jin Bu Yeon" with her real face (JSM face). This journey would have finally came to its conclusion in Part 2. However, this journey got sidetracked REAL QUICK because the story in Part 2 got switched to being about the real Mu Deok's soul journey to discovering she was "Cho Yeong".....the anger I feel right now. For everyone who felt duped and angry by Part 2, I want you all to know, your feelings were definitely valid. Just imagine being the Hong Sisters who were forced to write this....they were probably like 1000x more pissed because they had worked so hard in Part 1 to set up certain things up only to have it never fully being shown. In this aspect, I can totally relate to the Hong Sisters. After all, I did end up having to delete numerous pages of stuff I had worked really hard on because of shit like plagiarists.

Before I go any further, I want you all to understand that the soul in the picture to the left IS NOT THE SAME SOUL in the picture to the right. I know we cannot see souls so that is why I have placed different color hearts as a way to help you all see this and to understand things better. The left red heart is Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon's soul and the right pink heart is Mu Deok/Cho Yeong's soul. Got it? If you do not understand this concept then you can simply exit out of this post because I am tired of explaining things repeatedly.

Now, recall that the Cho Yeong body (GYJ body) to the left was burnt and gone. The body to the right is the Jin Bu Yeon body (JSM body) except with the face of GYJ (think of this like a mask). The reason why it looks this way is because Mu Deok/Cho Yeong's soul/energy is inside Jin Bu Yeon's body and her energy is being used to help Jin Bu Yeon's body (JSM body) to heal. Therefore, this is why the Jin Bu Yeon body (JSM body) has the GYJ face. It is suppose to represent that the soul inside Jin Bu Yeon's body is not the same soul we followed back in Part 1.

So, why did Master Lee bring back such a useless soul (Mu Deok/Cho Yeong soul)? Well, in an indirect way he was trying to help Naksu (whose soul was lingering around) to move on and become who she was all along which was Jin Bu Yeon, a mage/shaman/divine priestess tribrid. Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon could never realize her destiny nor regain her shaman/divine powers if she could not discard her old life as "Naksu". Side note, Master Lee could have easily brought back Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon's soul (since he had mastered Hwansu)....but like I said earlier, Hong Sisters had to completely rewrite Part 2 to somehow fit the appearance of Go Youn Jung.

A scene I want to revisit is the following below. Master Lee mentions two names during these scenes, "Jin Bu Yeon" and "Naksu". Keep in mind, Master Lee likes to change names to suit whoever he is speaking with. Often, characters and viewers tend to misinterpret what he means. For example, Mama Jin thinks Mu Deok=Jin Bu Yeon and Naksu=Cho Yeong. However, Master Lee knows it is Naksu=Jin Bu Yeon and Mu Deok=Cho Yeong...but he does not tell Mama Jin this.

I know this can be confusing. Just every time you see Master Lee mentioning "Naksu", he means Mu Deok=Cho Yeong, but characters and viewers interpret this as meaning Naksu=Cho Yeong. Why does he do this? To keep everyone else in the dark about the real truth which is that before Naksu became Naksu, she was originally Jin Bu Yeon.

If we redid this dialogue to make it more understandable, it would go like this "Cho Yeong (Mu Deok) did not take over this body using the alchemy of souls. Her soul was actually locked up inside this body." This statement is true. Mu Deok/Cho Yeong did not perform the Alchemy of Souls spell. It was Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon who did it back in Ep 1.

After Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon had performed the Alchemy of Souls spell (Ep 1) and returned to her OG body (JSM body), she left Mu Deok/Cho Yeong's soul to return to her now dead OG body (GYJ body). However, Mu Deok/Cho Yeong's soul did not move onto the afterlife. Instead, she remained next to Jang Uk as an invisible spirit because they were fated for each other and were a pair. Master Lee saw Mu Deok/Cho Yeong's spirit lingering next to Jang Uk and this is why he told Kim Do Joon as much back in Ep 13. Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon subconsciously trapped Mu Deok/Cho Yeong's soul and fed off of it until she had regained her full divine powers. Nom nom nom...soul food. Why did Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon do this? Because she was a soul who was willing to do anything to survive and accomplish a goal.

I know many will ask me when exactly did Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon swap with Mu Deok/Cho Yeong? I believe it was during the boat inccident. Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon had tried to destroy the Ice Stone, but she somehow inadvertently swapped hers and Mu Deok/Cho Yeong's souls. Although, I would not doubt it was Master Lee who did it given how during that scene in Ep 19, it looked like there was someone watching from the shore. We may never find out if it was Master Lee or Jin Bu Yeon herself who did the swap just because the AOS team did edit those episodes.

Going back to Mu Deok/Cho Yeong, what did Master Lee erase from her? He erased Cho Yeong's memories from when she was a child to adult living in Jin Bu Yeon's body as "Mu Deok", the girl from Sari. Why did he do that? So that she would be willing to accept Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon's memories as her own and not run wild. Side note, I still think Master Lee is probably Mage/Shaman Choi Cheol because he of how he was able to erase Mu Deok/Cho Yeong's memories. Who's to say he was not the same person who erased Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon's childhood memories and changed it so she thought her childhood memories were Mu Deok/Cho Yeong's memories?

Although Master Lee was the one who erased Mu Deok/Cho Yeong's memories, it was actually Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon (mage/shaman/divine priestess) who planted her own memories inside Mu Deok/Cho Yeong's head. As Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon was remembering her real childhood memories (Jin Bu Yeon childhood memories; shown off screen because Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon is an invisible spirit right now and AOS team could not show JSM as an astral projection because of other crap), she began to become gain back even more of shaman/divine priestess powers which included abilities like transmitting her memories and changing a soul's memories, opening portals, jumping in and out of her own body, etc. Why did Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon do this? To give back the life she took from Mu Deok/Cho Yeong. Y'all lets take a moment to appreciate how freaking selfless Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon really was!!

Jin Mu...The Man Who Finally Recognized Naksu's True Identity

Throughout this show, I had felt Jin Mu was a pretty useless character. However, the real purpose of his storyline was to reveal something pretty important to viewers. He was one of the selected few who finally realized Naksu's real identity was Jin Bu Yeon. Let's take a look at some of the scenes below. In Ep 22, Jin Mu is confused as to why the Naksu face was called Jin Bu Yeon. This was the Hong Sisters' subtle way to let viewers know that back in Ep 1, the soul that was in the body known as "Naksu" was Jin Bu Yeon not Cho Yeong.

In Ep 23, Jin Mu says that even though the girl has Naksu's face, her energy is different than from the Naksu he knew. What does this tell you? That the soul currently residing in that body with the "Naksu" face is not the same soul Jin Mu and viewers had knew back in Ep 1. Jin Mu thought he was raising Cho Yeong to become Naksu, but in reality he ended up raising Jin Bu Yeon who became Naksu except he did not know this until later on.

Now the the person who summoned Jang Uk and CP to Gwido was Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon's spirit. Recall from earlier, I did say that as Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon began to remember more of Jin Bu Yeon memories, the more divine powers she would have. Therefore, she was the one who opened the portal for Jang Uk and CP. Why did she do this? So they could come rescue the useless soul that is currently residing in her body aka Mu Deok/Cho Yeong.

The soul who entered that body after the wraiths scene was Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon. Before that moment, it was just Mu Deok/Cho Yeong soul. How do I know this? Because of the personality differences. The main difference between Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon and Mu Deok/Cho Yeong is that one soul fights back regardless if they are physically weak while the other soul runs, but does not fight back and waits for someone to save her. I do understand though that it can be difficult to differentiate between the real deal or just someone who has someone else's memories. Mu Deok/Cho Yeong deep down is like cotton candy while with Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon is like hellfire!

It was during the scene below that Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon regain nearly all of her Jin Bu Yeon childhood memories which allowed her to enter her own body once more to take revenge on Jin Mu. This is literally one of the most important scenes that many viewers had overlooked. Look at what Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon says to Jin Mu. Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon (not Mu Deok/Cho Yeong) tells him about finding the Ice Stone when she was a child as Jin Bu Yeon and then she called him "Danju" to indicate to him she was also his assassin...Naksu! It was at this fucking moment that Jin Mu knew he fucked up. Jin Mu finally realized that the soul he groom to become "Naksu" was not Cho Yeong, but was actually Jin Bu Yeon. BOOM LOOK WHO IS RIGHT! Me! Small victories! Collectively, this scene proved that Naksu's real identity was Jin Bu Yeon, not "Cho Yeong"!

Why Did Neither Seo Yul Nor Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon Never Tell Jang Uk About the Divination Bells?

After exiting Gwido, Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon (not Mu Deok/Cho Yeong) meets up with Seo Yul. At this point, best boy Seo Yul has finally figured out Naksu's real identity was Jin Bu Yeon and that the soul from earlier in Part 2 was just Mu Deok/Cho Yeong and not actually Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon herself. Seo Yul disclosed all of the information about the divination bells only to her because he knew he was talking to Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon now and not Mu Deok/Cho Yeong. Seo Yul thought one of the biggest reasons Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon did not want to stay is because she felt guilty for killing her own father (Jin Woo Tak) and ruining her sister's wedding. And Seo Yul did not want her to feel guilty since it really was not her fault.

He also tells her all of this because he wanted her to stay.

However, Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon said regardless of whether or not it was her fault, she still did perform the Alchemy of Souls spell which allowed her to be controlled by Jin Mu in the first place. If that was discovered, people would also eventually find out that she did kill an innocent person (Mu Deok/Cho Yeong) since she had forced Mu Deok/Cho Yeong to return to her OG body (GYJ body) to die in Ep 1. Anyways, both Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon and Seo Yul decide to not tell Jang Uk about the bells because they do not want to burst Jang Uk’s bubble of ignorance lol. They will continue to let him think he is married to the soul from Part 1 so he can be happy.

This is the thing about Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon. She wanted the people she cared about to always remember her as Jin Bu Yeon, a kind and beautiful soul and not as someone who committed terrible acts while she was Naksu (soul shifter through using soul ejectors/AOS spell, forcing an innocent soul to return to their OG body and die, killing her own father, ruining her sister's wedding, killing her lover, etc.). I know this is not what the Hong Sisters had intended to happen to Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon.....BUT THIS STILL HURTS Y'ALL. I still think originally everything was suppose to framed so that all the blamed would be placed on both Jin Mu and Jang Uk, but again crap happened behind the scenes so the Hong Sisters had to rewrite stuff so that all the blame was placed on Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon instead.

Another rant. It was Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon who was suppose to get a happy ending not fucking Jang Uk. If Jang Uk had died (it would have added to his character growth arc), then Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon could have been reunited with her family and marry a man who truly loved her, Seo Yul. This could have acted as a connecting point to the past. A marriage between Seo Yul and Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon's would have symbolized something that was suppose to happen 203 years ago between Seo Gyeong and Jin Seol Ran. And she would finally get to fucking shine with all of her immense powers!!!! The reason why characters like Seo Yul, Mama Jin, Jin Cho Yeon, and Park Dang Gu had their stories either pushed to the side or made to be a villain is because their development had depended a lot on Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon's story which I mean did not really happen in Part 2. Like the events of AOS story started with a Seo and Jin being torn apart so it would have made more sense that the story ended with a Seo and Jin finally being together (coming full circle). Instead, it ended with Jang/Cho being together and Seo/Jin still separated?! K...tell me the logic in that.

Who Did Jang Uk Marry In Part 2?

That idiot ended up marrying Mu Deok aka Cho Yeong. He really did not recognize that the soul he had fell in love with in Part 1 was not the same soul he met and married in Part 2. This is a marriage of two idiots honestly. All the while, Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon was an invisible spirit who had to witness this whole wedding...how painful is that?! Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon was unable to do anything except watch. This was almost as bad as when the Little Mermaid (non Disney version) had to watch the Prince marry the Princess and the Little Mermaid was helpless to stop it.

Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon's Final Goodbye To Jang Uk

So who was Master Lee referring to when he said "her"? He was referring to Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon. What Master Lee meant was that he hoped Jang Uk and Mu Deok/Cho Yeong's love for each other would reach Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon. And well, Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon received that message loud and clear because she used her divine powers to summon Jang Uk through the yin and yang jade.

This was Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon's final attempt to get Jang Uk to recognize her. She allowed him to see her true self which is Jin Bu Yeon. And did he understand what she was communicating? Hell no. So then Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon went back into her body to literally spell it out for Jang Uk and motherfucker still did not understand. It was during this time that Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon finally realized that she and Jang Uk were never meant to be together from the start. It was really Mu Deok/Cho Yeong and Jang Uk who were meant to be together. Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon severed this fate when she swapped back into her OG body (JSM body) and left the Mu Deok/Cho Yeong soul to swap back into her OG body (GYJ body) and die.

Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon tells Jang Uk he truly did not recognize her which is true. Jang Uk still thought she was Naksu as in Cho Yeong hence why he mentioned she killed him to avenge her father, Cho Chung. In reality, Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon's real father was Jin Woo Tak. Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon chose to not tell Jang Uk about the bells because it would be futile. Jang Uk would have never believed she was Jin Bu Yeon regardless of what she showed or told him.

Jang Uk was seriously a lost cause. Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon allowed him to see the innermost part of her soul AND HE STILL DID NOT FREAKING GET IT. What an idiot. Literally...how could he not tell the difference between the real soul and a soul who has someone else's memories. Good riddance Jang Uk, you truly did not deserve Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon to begin with. After witnessing how everything unfolded, Naksu chose to finally let go of Jang Uk so she could go on to becoming someone greater...her real authentic self....Jin Bu Yeon.

Naksu Finally Emerging as Her True Self..Jin Bu Yeon.. The Phoenix

Cue the entrance of Naksu now Jin Bu Yeon. The metaphorical egg had cracked wide open to reveal Jin Bu Yeon, the Phoenix. And next to Jin Bu Yeon is none other than loyal Seo Yul (the real man who saw Naksu for who she truly was....Jin Bu Yeon...a divine goddess). These scenes below of Seo Yul and Jin Bu Yeon are a call back to Seo Gyeong and Jin Seol Ran. The OG fated lovers and pair before there was ever a Jang Uk and Cho Yeong. Two pure souls reunited! Side note, for continuity purposes, they should have had Jung So Min during these crucial last few scenes.

If you noticed in Ep 7, Jin Seol Ran was always in the light while Seo Gyeong remained in the shadows. And this theme is depicted once again in EP 30 through Seo Yul's dark colored clothing and Jin Bu Yeon's light colored clothing. Jin Seol Ran had a lot of darkness in her, but Seo Gyeong embraced it all so she could shine like the bright star she was. And for Jin Seol Ran, Seo Gyeong was her light in the darkness.

Seo Yul stuck by Jin Bu Yeon's side until the very end. You will also notice that during the following scenes below, Jin Bu Yeon did not directly talk to the other characters. Rather, it was Seo Yul who was the one communicating her thoughts for her to the others. It makes me wonder if one of Jin Bu Yeon's divine powers was telepathy.

Now, let's take a moment to appreciate Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon. This girl had to endure so much pain and sadness and in the end, she saved all of her friends as well as all of Daeho. And no one with the exception of Master Lee and Seo Yul, would have known any better. Side note, they could have included Jung So Min without the blindfold to show that the soul from Part 1 was the one who saved everyone, but like I said earlier….there were problems behind the scenes. Anyways, I will say it again....NAKSU/JIN BU YEON DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS!!!!! Once Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon remembered all of her memories (JBY childhood memories) and let go of her past life/pain/resentment, her energy changed from pink to white, symbolizing purity. Additionally, her powers could be glowing white because when she was Naksu, her powers did glow white, symbolizing mage powers. Point being, we got to see her mage and divine powers combined. I AM NOT CRYING RIGHT NOW...BUT REALLY I AM BAWLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hong Sisters if you are reading this (and I hope you are since I sent you a link to blog since early August), please have Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon come back for a Part 3. This time please have Jung So Min play her!!!

Naksu now Jin Bu Yeon's Final Gift to Jang Uk

So what was Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon's final gift to the man who did not recognize nor really love her? The useless freaking idiot, Mu Deok/Cho Yeong, who could only see energy. Contrary to what Cho Yeong said, she does not have any other divine powers other than seeing energy. Meaning, she would not be able to cast spells nor Chisu, Tansu, or whatever else. The reason why Mu Deok/Cho Yeong would be unable to perform any divine acts of magic is because Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon only gave her the memories. Additionally, Mu Deok/Cho Yeong's soul is not a divine soul thus it does not have any divine powers whatsoever. If push came to shove, she would be flailing around screaming for Jang Uk to come save her.

Despite having Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon's memories, some things could not properly be translated into Mu Deok/Cho Yeong such as the qualities which made Naksu/JIn Bu Yeon a truly unique soul (independence, motivation, ambition, fierceness, bravery, self sacrificing, etc). Mu Deok/Cho Yeong is like imitation crab meat of the real deal (Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon). As for Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon's sword, she does not deserve it because she is not Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon. She is just Mu Deok/Cho Yeong....a plain, stupid, superficial, foolishly kind, weak, and helpless soul. Additionally, did anyone notice how Mu Deok/Cho Yeong wore her hair in that ponytail hairstyle? This was similar to how she wore it as a child. In Part 1, Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon had ended up wearing her hair in a similar style as when she was a child (hair down with side braids).

If and when her and Jang Uk have kids, they would probably be powerless kids. Why? Because the King Star energy does not transfer to their offsprings. If it had, Seo Yul would have the King Star energy given that he is a descendant of the first King Star, Seo Gyeong. When it comes to Cho Yeong, she only has Cho clan energy so maybe at best their child would reach Chisu? Then again, their kids would have very lazy parents so maybe they would never ever make anything of themselves.

So yea...these two superficial and immature souls are definitely a match made in heaven! They were able to get the life they got due to others' hard work and sacrifice. And the truly sad part in all of this, is that they did not even realize it. Ignorance is bliss. That is the dark side to the seemingly bright "happy ending" of Alchemy of Souls Part 2.

Who Knew Naksu Was Really Jin Bu Yeon?

Not many. Literally there are only two people left alive who knows the real truth about Naksu and those people are feigning ignorance so that everyone else can heal and move on. The only reason why Jin Mu and Seo Yul knew the truth was because they had known Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon the longest in comparison to other characters. And Seo Yul had met Jin Bu Yeon before she even became “Naksu” in Danhyanggot.

Those who knew the real truth which is Naksu's soul=Jin Bu Yeon's soul:

Master Lee

Seo Yul

Jin Mu (right before he had the empty Ice Stone placed inside of him)

Those who think Naksu's soul=Cho Yeong's soul:

Mama Jin

Jang Uk

Those who think Jin Bu Yeon is just Jin Bu Yeon:

CP/The King

Park Jin

Kim Do Joon

Park Dang Gu

Heo Yun Ok

Jin Cho Yeon

What Happened to Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon's Soul Afterwards?

Either she is in hibernation in her own body or lingering as a spirit next to her fated other half (Seo Yul) or back in the Ice Stone waiting to come out again. Do I think she is completely gone? Hell to the NO. Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon is a survivor and a divine soul. She also still has unfinished business to attend to which is to destroy the Ice Stone. Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon should pluck out that damn Ice Stone out of Jang Uk’s chest. I will be patiently awaiting for that moment as well as when she retakes her sword!

And let's be real here, Mu Deok/Cho Yeong neither has the galls nor the powers to remove the Ice Stone out of Jang Uk's chest. That much is apparent. She does not have what it takes to do what is necessary for the greater good.

Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon also has the power of Hwansu (method of coming back to life..I just think of it as reaching nirvana or a full enlightenment). Meaning she could if she ever wanted to, float into a dead body. The Hong Sisters could then have that dead body have the face of Jin Bu Yeon (JSM) as to indicate the soul inside is Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon. I mean that's the logic they used with the GYJ face anyways.

Let’s review all the things Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon managed to accomplish while she was around:

1. Discovered her real identity 2. Punished the man who ruined her life 3. Avenged her father 4. Gave her former lover someone else to love 5. Gave the soul whose life she stole a second chance filled with love, family, and friends....NO BUT REALLY FUCK MU DEOK/CHO YEONG. 6. Leave her real name untarnished by her horrible past

7. Save all of fucking Daeho because let’s be real here, without Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon and her divine powers, Jang Uk would have never been able to wake up big bird himself.

FUCKING PROUD OF YOU NAKSU/JIN BU YEON!! YOU ARE A BADASS BIRDY!!

Final Thoughts on Part 2

I am brain dead. It has been an emotional roller coaster. Was Part 2 worth watching? No. Was it the Hong Sisters' best work? Hell nah. Did the Hong Sisters want you to love Part 2? Hell no they did not. I will say though, they could have express their frustrations in other ways rather than taking it out on some female characters. Although I get it haha. They had planned for Jang Uk to either die or marry Heo Yun Ok and since that did not get to happen, they made her into a petty bitch. And with Soi...do you guys know what her story ended beautifully? It was because her character's story had paralleled Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon's story. Meaning that Naksu had grew up in a dark filthy world and the only brightness she ever saw was when Seo Yul had visited her in Danhyanggot. Also, with the whole foresight thing and the firebird situation…..umm if Jin Seol Ran had foreseen this a long time ago, why did she not have Seo Gyeong destroy the firebird back then? Furthermore, if Jin Bu Yeon was Jin Seol Ran with the gift of foresight, why would she allow herself to be used by Jin Mu to find the Ice Stone in the first place? I smell lies haha. Maybe Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon and Master Lee had worked together to deceive others with their goal being to help others to move on from Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon. Therefore, maybe Jin Bu Yeon was just Jin Bu Yeon and not a reincarnation of Jin Seol Ran. The Hong Sisters had done something similar in Hotel Del Luna. For example, the old lady deity had tricked Man Wol into believing Chan Sang was the reincarnation of Chung Myung when in fact he was not. Therefore, I would not put it pass the Hong Sisters to not pull the same trick again in AOS.

Potential for Part 3?

Hong Sisters, if you're reading this, since you used some stuff from my blog, might I suggest some titles for Part 3? How about "Alchemy of Souls: Reincarnation" or "Alchemy of Souls: Resurrection"?

Now I do not want to get your hopes up, but I really do feel there is a lot of potential for a Part 3 plot wise. However, this is wholly dependent on certain factors such as actor/actresses schedule availability and funding. The Hong Sisters would not have to do much in terms of writing other than some minor tweaks. I think they would still want to tell the story they had worked so hard on in the first place. Alchemy of Souls was suppose to be the pinnacle of the Hong Sister's career as kdrama writers but it ended up crashing into flames. I can only imagine the disappointment they must have felt to see their story ending this way.

Maybe one of the reasons the Hong Sisters had left some major plot holes is because they are hoping to eventually produce a Part 3. For example, the Ice Stone in Jang Uk's chest or the unoccupied leader positions of Cheonbugwan and Seoho Fortress. Sure, some would say their other dramas had some plot holes, but I would argue and say those dramas only had at most 3-4 minor plot holes. While in Part 2, there were so many major plot holes that if this were a boat, the boat would have already sank within one second of being in the waters.

How could things go if Part 3 were to happen? Well, it could start with Jang Uk's death. Sorry to all of those who were hoping to see more Jang Uk. I have been done with his stupid ass of a character since Part 1. Anyways, through his death, the Ice Stone would be used to fuel Jin Bu Yeon/Naksu's resurrection. As for Mu Deok/Cho Yeong since she is his shadow, her soul can leave with him too. Since the Ice Stone is back in the world, a new King Star should also rise to destroy the Ice Stone once and for all. Although the King Star isn't so much new, but more like old haha.

Building off of the logic of how fated lovers are always born in pairs, it would not be farfetched to think that when Jin Bu Yeon (the reincarnation of Jin Seol Ran) was born, her other half Seo Gyeong was also born/reincarnated too. And who might that be? Seo Yul. Part 3 could be about how after Jin Bu Yeon is revived, she could help Seo Yul to remember his Seo Gyeong memories which could enable him to have his King Star powers again. In doing so, it would explain why Seo Yul had coincidentally ran into Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon in Danyanggot of all places as well as why he kept having weird visions throughout Parts 1 and 2. Seo Yul also seemed to be a real old soul from an early age just like Jin Bu Yeon was. Something random is Seo Yul's final outfit in Part 2, they were nearly the same colors of Jin Bu Yeon's outfit when she was performing the firebird awakening ritual. Could it be that Jin Bu Yeon gave Seo Yul his Seo Gyeong memories back and this is why he decided to take over the Songrim position? Hmmmm.

So why would these two need to be at their best? To stop whoever or whatever enemy the Seo's were fighting along the borders. Maybe the enemies at Seoho Fortress are like the equivalent of Ice Walkers from Game of Thrones who are controlled by the ruler of the country next to Daeho. This would require a group effort from all the other characters like Jin Cho Yeon, Park Dang Gu, the King (sorry I still want to call him CP), and whoever the new leader of Cheonbugwan is. And we would finally get to see Jin Bu Yeon at her finest in action....a mage/shaman/divine priestess tribrid fighting the enemies to the west of the Daeho. And there could more scenes of Park Danggu being a bad ass archer and Jin Cho Yeon using the relics to assist in the fight against the enemies along the border. Somewhere in between all of that craziness, it’ll be great to see Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon having some much needed sister time with Jin Cho Yeon. She could even help babysit Dan and Gang haha.

Also, it’ll be great to have a scene with Naksu/Jin Bu Yeon Chisu her way to the top of the tree and see the moon (she said in P1 how she used to love going up the tree to look at the moon). Seo Yul can Chisu his way up there too and join her haha. With regards to the relics in Jinyowon, they could further explain why Seo Gyeong and Jin Seol Ran had created all these relics in the first place. I mean there was a mirror of longing, binding bracelet, fluffy, Gwiseo, and other countless relics. In Ep 7, they said the relics were created with sorcery….so did Seo Gyeong and Jin Seol Ran dabble in the dark arts or something? Why didn’t they destroy the relics in the first place if they knew they were dangerous? And remember Master Lee? They could even introduce the plot twist that he was really Master Choi Cheol, the first mage to perform the Alchemy of Souls and how he never really died inside of Gwido as many had thought.

And at the end of this long journey, Jin Bu Yeon/Jin Seol Ran would finally be reunited with her family and married to a man (Seo Yul/Seo Gyeong) who was as pure and kind as she was . A match some 200 years in the making! NOW THAT WOULD MAKE FOR AN EPIC ROMANCE.

OK THAT IS ALL I GOT OUT OF ME!! If you have any more questions, I will be more than happy to answer them. I am sure I have forgotten to talk about some things! Oh well!

46 notes · View notes

moonlayl · 2 years

Text

Just watched the first episode of She-Hulk and I’m wondering what exactly about it is making people angry? (Aside from the obvious of course)

We’re back to (actually, I think we never left) audiences absolutely being incapable of putting themselves into a female character’s shoes.

Jen, at this point, literally suddenly had a spaceship spring out of nowhere, got into a terrifying car accident, and became a HULK.

She then wakes up in an unfamiliar place, and has Bruce repeatedly be kind of horrible at breaking everything down for her (understandable from his perspective, this isn’t a criticism of him). She’s told that she might have to be isolated from everything, her job, her friends, her family, her LIFE, for YEARS.

Bruce repeatedly makes the assumption that her becoming a superhero is inevitable, to her face, something she’s not at all okay with, something she doesn’t want, something she never asked for, all in the manner of DAYS.

He expects her to go through the same exact journey as him, and when clearly, she’s actually handling it differently because a) they’re not the same people b) they’ve had different experiences and c) the world (in universe) itself has changed, and after several different scenes of that, after several days of her suddenly being expected to drop everything and change her entire life (something none of us would be okay with. Something none of us would handle well) she snaps at him.

A lot of the things she said were mean, yes, that’s true. But for the most part she wasn’t wrong.

I think they were both a little wrong in that scene and both need to understand/respect each other better. But no, her saying she’s had to control her anger all her life, be it when she’s catcalled, or when so obviously her male coworker doesn’t respect her or see her as an equal/capable, isn’t her “rubbing Bruce’s trauma in his face”

She wasn’t wrong about Bruce’s life being terrible and him living in isolation. He kept trying to defend it, saying “that’s the life of a superhero” or something along those lines, but it IS true that him being the hulk and even later a superhero ruined his life in certain ways, and it makes a lot of sense for her to not only NOT want that, but to also stop him from trying to convince her to go through that.

Bruce is at a point where he needs to understand that the world changed, that things aren’t like before, and that he can’t expect Jen to just be okay with all those changes immediately, even if he’s there to help her.

But Jen needs to understand that denying the Hulk (like Bruce said) isn’t going to work and it’s not a permanent solution. And she does need to understand that he DOES have experience with this.

They both made brilliant points but both sort of missed what the other was saying. Honestly, their argument and fight was very believable.

Bruce also did a bad job at breaking it down for her. “15 years” would make anyone freak out. He repeatedly tried to get her angry, which yeah, he did it for a reason, but that still contributed to her eventually snapping.

This is new territory for her and she’s clearly desperate to get back to her life and is terrified (though she does a good job of trying not to show it and pretending it’s okay; basically living in denial) Actually, this is new territory for both of them. I thought both their actions, words, and reactions were very realistic given the sudden, unexpected situation they found themselves in.

And no doubt, this will be addressed later in the show, and we’ll get scenes where she understands what he’s been through better.

It’s not surprising though, why many dislike this show. Is it flawed? Yes. But I’m guessing the scenes that include her being catcalled, other women immediately willing to help her in the bathroom and saying “whoever did this to you does not care about you”, her facing disrespect in a male dominated workplace, and her pointing out that she always needed to control her emotions otherwise she’d be seen as emotional or her life could actually be threatened, pissed off a lot of people, and those are the scenes people had issues with. Even though not a SINGLE one of them wasn’t realistic or accurate.

It’s not surprising, why many review bombed this show.

#she hulk #mcu #marvel #marvel meta #mcu meta #jennifer walters #bruce banner #she hulk spoilers #she hulk show #tatiana maslany

131 notes · View notes

desiredcaramellatte · 2 years

Note

Platonic request strawberry crepe cookie poison mushroom cookie choco chess cookie x parental reader who is really worry about them and they know all of them are being use like tools for dark enchantress cookie and pomegranate cookie so y/n try to convince to leaves the Cookies of darkness and be adopted by y/n and have a happy childhood and being friends with gingerbrave and the others headcanons if she’s thinks she can user this precious baby’s like tools she’s dead wrong

Hell yeah! Couldn’t have said it better myself! Justice for the poor little babes Dark Enchantress is manipulating!

I spent a few hours trying to think of things for Poison Mushroom and Chess Choco after writing Crepe’s, but I really just burnt myself out today with other things on top of writing this, so I figured I’ll do Crepe for now. I’ll post something for Chess Choco and Poison Mushroom later, most likely tomorrow, when I’m feeling a little less braindead!

Also can I just say for a moment how much I absolutely love and adore Crepe, would die for them, ok thanks for coming to my ted talk headcannon time now!

Contains ever so slight spoilers for episode 10!

Strawberry Crepe x Parental Reader

Fluff, Platonic!

~| Strawberry Crepe would be very hesitant, at first. All their wafflebot friends were here! How could they leave them behind?! You'd have to consistently visit them and befriend them, randomly appearing and just taking them in as your would not work. They don't trust cookies, they don't even trust Dark Enchantress, she had just promised them wafflebots and privacy.

~| Do not harm them or their wafflebots in any ways. They act very ignorant and apathetic, but if you do one wrong thing then you'll be lucky if you can get them to trust you again, if you aren't pummeled by their wafflebots.

~| When you do manage to get them to follow you, oh lord, you're in for a ride! They're a little troublemaker, no doubt about it. You'll have to constantly be dragging them out of fighting other cookies, even children! They do NOT like being told what to do, and are very rebellious. This, mixed with them being a prodigy, makes for some pretty entertaining but chaotic mischeif.

~| You're going to be in for the long run with Strawberry Crepe. Once they do accept you as their friend, they will not leave you alone. Always asking you to play with them, to help them clean their bots, help them with repairs, etc. In the moments you do get alone, you'll have to deal with Crepe's mischeif, especially cleaning it up.

~| Despite being a little hellion, Strawberry Crepe does have their golden moments. When they finally calm down, and go to sleep, they're a little warmth vampire. They'll snggle up to you and cling to you so tightly you won't be able to get them off until they wake up.

~| Very protective of their wafflebots, but they're even more so of you! Wafflebots can be fixed easily, you can't. They get jealous EXTREMELY easily, they have to have your attention and your attention alone 24/7. If you pay attention to another kid or a cakehound or even another cookie, they'll come up to you and start tugging on your clothing repeatedly, yelling "I'm hungry! I'm lonely! I wanna plaaaayyy!" Every single time, without fail. Don't tell them no, or to give you a minute. They will stomp off with an angry little face and sit on the ground, and they won't talk to you for hours. You're going to ignore them? Then they're going to ignore you!

~| It will take them a very, very long time, but when they do call you their parent, it'll feel so nice. Despite calling you classic parent names, they'll never tell anyone that you're their parent. Other cookies will have to figure that out by the both of you interacting. They had never had a parent that they remember, so they don’t know how this parent-child dynamic works. You’ll have to be the one to initiate affection, take them out for ice cream, and all-around show them how to have a childhood.

~| They’ll have to be constantly touching you, holding your hand, being held, having your hand on their head, etc. You may notice them brushing against you a lot or just touching you in small ways. Theres a large part of them that wants to constantly be as close to you as possible, but they don’t really know how to express that since they’ve been alone most of their life, so it often comes out as just small movements.

~| Often tests your authority. “Strawberry Crepe, you need to brush your teeth!” “Or what!?”, “Strawberry Crepe, you’re supposed to be asleep!” “So are you! You think I would have gotten up if I knew you were awake!?”, etc. You’re going to need to lay down the law with them, and even so they’ll get angry and, sometimes, won’t even comply.

~| Don’t you ever threaten to leave them, even if you don’t mean it. They have too much trauma from abandonment, they’ll literally break down. If you mistreat your Strawberry Crepe, I’ll come after you.

~| Overall a little mischievous hell spawn, but once you get close to them, they’ll become YOUR mischievous little hell spawn, and they’ll make sure nothing and no one drives you apart <3!

Thanks for reading! I’ll have one out soon for Poison Mushroom and Choco Chess as well!

#cookie run kingdom #cookie run kingdom x reader #cookie run x reader #cookie run #strawberry crepe x reader #strawberry crepe #platonic #fluff #requests open #ahhhh I’m a bit braindead rn hehe

60 notes · View notes

kathonydaily · 2 years

Note

Hello! What is your take on the Violet & Anthony conversation on the staircase of Lady Danbury's house in episode 7? I've seen many people interpreted it as her saying he couldn't marry Kate. But I can see it as Violet indirectly & ambiguously asking if he plans to marry Kate, which I think would be more in character for Violet because she is a believer of true love and knows how Anthony feels about Kate. This also would make her shocked reaction to his answer make a little more sense. If the latter was the case, obviously she didn't ask him in the best way. Anthony, thinking about his failures of his duties, perhaps took her question the wrong way? And has not yet realized that he could be with Kate until Benedict told him to stop wallowing in his misery and to think of a new perspective, which you brilliantly explained here. (Unless he's miserable because his mom hinted he shouldn't marry Kate? Idk tbh.) I know Violet hasn't been the nicest person to him throughout the 2 seasons but I don't see why Violet, who had repeatedly told Anthony to marry for love, would reject the one person he actually does love, even if they're currently trying to get thru the scandal.

Do Violet wants all her children to marry for love? Yes. BUT she's also very much aware of what the society they lived in, thinks and wants. You could see it with Eloise in s2, when she continued to push her to find someone to marry, even if it wasn't exactly what Eloise wanted. Hell, she even did the same with Anthony in s1. Look I don't believe Anthony truly loved Siena, not in the way she deserved to be love, but there was no way Violet knew that. Anthony on the surface seemed very much into Siena, but you didn't see Violet being like: if you really care about her, I think you should marry her, be damned the consequences for our family. Anthony as the head of the family had responsabilities to carry, and he needed to marry well and without scandal. Not to mention, Violet and Anthony had a really complicated relationship since Edmund died. They stopped being simply mother/son, and became more wife/surrogate husband. So there is this continuing push and pull between them, where sometimes Violet acts like a mother, and other times she acts like a very disappointed wife, who puts expectations on his son/husband.

So what I think happened in that scene is that Violet wasn't acting like a mother who wanted her son to marry for love (like in other scenes in s2), but more as a Viscountess, who was very much aware of their society, and still wanted her son to marry well and without scandal. And even if he had feelings for Kate, he couldn't marry her now, not without causing a huge scandal for their family. They both knew it. So I don't think Anthony read Violet wrong in that scene, he read her very well. BUT that was also the scene where Violet finally understood how much unintentional hurt she caused her son since Edmund died, and when she stopped being a Viscountess/surrogate wife to her son, and returned to be simply a mother to him. A mother, that at the end of the day, just wants all her children to be happy, no matter what.

#bridgerton #anthony bridgerton #violet bridgerton #asks

45 notes · View notes

kitkatt0430 · 1 year

Text

So I've got a character study for Iris West, the 1990 live action version, I wrote up after watching the pilot episode last night. Currently in a editing phase and I'm debating adding one more scene to it, but it gets to be first in my Six Sentence Sunday snippets.

In the 90s show, Iris only shows up in the pilot episode. She's dating Barry, but their relationship is pretty clearly on the rocks. They actually break up and get back together over the course of the episode; yet despite them ending the episode as a couple, Iris never shows up again after that. Which isn't totally surprising. A lot of shows have been known to have characters get quietly dropped after the pilot episode, but the fact that was done with Iris West of all characters...

I guess I got a bit curious about her point of view in all this.

"I was thinking," Barry said, sliding their fingers together and ducking his head a bit nervously to look at them, "I could have been killed last night. And something like that makes you look at your life, you know?"

Iris tried not to just yank her hand back, feeling a creeping unease up her spine. "Oh, I know where this is going."

"What's wrong with that?" Barry asked.

Nothing, except he'd asked before. Not this subtle beating around the bush, but down on one knee with a ring in hand, gazing up at her with so much hope and...

Since it's intended to be canon compliant, I lifted some dialog from the episode. By repeatedly replaying certain parts of the episode since I couldn't find any transcripts online. This Iris doesn't nearly have the developed personality of 2014's Iris West, even comparing just pilot episodes alone, though I do feel like her being a graphic artist could have been an interesting change to her character if she hadn't been so quickly scrapped.

As for my 2014!Flash fics, I think I'm getting close to wrapping up the 'Barry takes Joe's demand not to tell Iris poorly' fic. There's been a lot less Joe in it than I initially thought there'd be because there's been so much more Barry-avoiding-Joe going on. But that's given Cisco more space to be the person Barry seeks sanctuary from when he's upset about things. So I'm not complaining too much.

That said, I've finally reached the part where Barry confronts Joe about how much what he said hurt Barry. Well meant intentions don't make a poorly worded request any better, after all.

Despite telling Iris to mind her own business, Barry winds up at Joe's house one evening anyway.

It's all weirdly normal. Joe acts like everything is fine. It drives Barry quietly up a wall.

"Why did you ask me not to tell Iris, anyway?" Barry finally demanded. Rather glad Iris wasn't there for this conversation. Apparently she'd told Joe about Eddie and they were mad at each other. Again.

"Because I thought she'd do something stupid," Joe admitted.

I'm not going to end on a 'Joe apologizes, everything's magically fine' note. But they'll be making steps towards being okay again, so they'll be okay down the road.

And the second fic in the Man in the Lightning series is being a bit sticky in places, but I've had Barry give his two week notice at work and also tell Singh the truth too.

"I want you to get peace officer certified," Singh finally said. "It'll legitimize any arrests you need to make on your own. I'll do what I can to keep your identity as the Flash secret."

Barry smiled. "Thanks Captain." He hesitated. "I think Joe is expecting you to talk me out of quitting."

"Even I don't make crime fighting my work and all my hobbies too." The Captain gave Barry an understanding look.

#six sentence sunday #the flash #fanfiction #e90!iris west #e90!barry allen #barry allen #joe west #david singh

5 notes · View notes

labrats-and-clonetroopers · 8 months

Text

Ahsoka/Chase Random Thoughts:

Ahsoka is the type of girlfriend who loves wearing their partner's clothes, and she approaches the task of stealing Chase's flannels like a stealth operation. Figuring out how the dressing function on his capsule works and subsequently where his clothes are stored is very important intel. And yes, as she told Bree when the bionic girl caught her, she knows could have just asked Chase for one of his flannels, but, as Anakin taught her, sometimes the hard way is the fun way to do things.

I don't know if its fanon or from legends, but I ran across a post saying that togrutas purr, so... the first time the Elite Force ever hears Ahsoka purr is when she falls asleep cuddling next to Chase.

When Rex first meets Chase, he treats him with a mild (professionalism comes first) 'you-are-dating-my-little-sister-if-you-hurt-her-i-will-end-you' intimidation tactic. But upon learning about Chase's background, immediately switches to treating him like one of his brothers, and the two of them end up becoming very close. (Of all the Davenports, Rex actually admires Leo the most, as a natborn having such complete familial love for the genetically-engineered superhumans that he repeatedly risks his own life for them is something Rex considers to be rare, and doesn't even completely understand)

While I hate the androids plot line in Elite Force, and normally write it out ( I'm of the opinion now that it wouldn't take that many months for Ahsoka and Chase to start dating anyways), it would be amusing if the reason all the androids rejected Chase and swarmed Kaz was because Ahsoka sabotaged their programming. Helping Chase come to his senses (and see what's right in front of him) while simultaneously tormenting Kaz. Two birds with one stone.

Chase is terrified of Ahsoka meeting Adam (after they start dating), because of what happened with Sabrina, as well as his insecurities. Problem is, he's far too embarrassed to discuss any of this with Ahsoka, so his anxiety just builds to a crescendo the days leading up to Adam's arrival. Kaz beats him to the punchline, though, by intentionally triggering Spike. And Spike in a cramped penthouse is not a good situation. Though caught off guard, Ahsoka ends up using the force to shut down the Commando App and wake Chase up.

After the Spike incident, and "The Intruder" episode, Ahsoka tries to teach Chase to connect with the Force enough to try and control his bionics even if the Commando App activates or his chip is hacked; this doesn’t work completely, but it helps give Chase a little more control. (I do think Chase could be mildly force-sensitive because he was able to deactivate the Triton App; Leo almost certainly is because he's too damn lucky) Ahsoka also studies his bionics much more diligently, wanting to understand how they work, and how she can help him when he glitches or something else goes wrong.

Ahsoka still struggles with coming to terms with what happened to her on Mortis, and after Chase brings Skylar's powers back, she asks Chase to try and help her determine if there's anything weird, wrong, or unusual about her midi-chlorians or DNA.

Chase absolutely freaked when Ahsoka's montrals were injured during a mission. Not only because Ahsoka, who is normally stoic and silent about any injury, was in a panic due to the excruciating pain and disorientation. But because Chase had to figure out how to treat that part of her anatomy without any previous knowledge to build upon. He didn't sleep for two days straight working, only caving the third day when Oliver sedated him. After the incident and Ahsoka's recovery, they traveled to Shili and purchased a medical droid in case something ever happened again.

Ahsoka looked up Chase on the fan boards, saying it put them on even footing since he was a longtime Star Wars fan. (She didn't actually need to justify her actions, Chase looked uncomfortable when she mentioned it because he knows Bree likes to make derogatory posts about him when she's bored, and what Ahsoka thinks of him matters a lot to him).

While she does tease him for his ego and arrogance, Ahsoka is very supportive of Chase as a leader and individual. And while he had periodic crushes on her when he thought she was just a fictional character, her genuine compliments are what actually caused him to fall head over heels for her. (At that point though he automatically assumed she didn't feel the same)

As a couple they are very physically affectionate. Always holding hands, cuddling, nose nuzzling, kisses... Ahsoka loves being close enough to drape one of her lekku over Chase's shoulder. She also loves messing with his hair, a peculiarity of humans that still somewhat mystifies her even after growing up around so many. Chase has kissed (and counted) every stripe on her montrals/lekku. He also particularly loves resting his head on the area between her montrals when cuddling.

That's it for now, I have other stuff I need to do tonight. But if you have any ideas of your own I'd love to hear them! Or send a request, tell me if you'd like to see any of these ideas turned a fic, or if you write something yourself for this pairing, please, I beg you, tag me! I would scream in utter joy if someone else ever made content for this obscure crossover ship.

#chase davenport #ahsoka tano #star wars #lab rats #crossover #chase davenport x ahsoka tano #ahsoka tano x chase davenport #ahsoka x chase #chase x ahsoka #star wars x lab rats crossover #star wars x lab rats #star wars: clone wars/bad batch era

1 note · View note

thesecretattic · 1 year

Text

Mannat from 31st Dec, 2015

Year 2015-2016 was the first & last new year I have ever celebrated I currently have high fever rn so I can’t type much again I wish I had someone to talk to… maybe another loner like me, cuz all others are having plans for tonight. So all my teens I was bullied and it went to so much extent that the geyser bursted and our bathroom caught fire twice (I’m sure you’ve read that) Anyway they would bully me on bbm but as a 15-16 year old I was like we are too old for all this… cuz they were bigger anyway but in actual sense it was indeed bullying and very toxic. On new years too I would get tortured with all sorts of texts, as a final resort I was told to lie and tell them I was celebrating NYE with new friends but one of them saw me running my daily errands so they started spamming me with more scathing messages such as “Go celebrate with your imaginary friends you forever loner” my childhood best friend would ask them to circulate this phrase repeatedly “A girl who can never have a best friend” anyway she did that cuz she had her older brother’s support who was again 7 yrs older than me and he was very intimidating, she used his help to turn everyone against me and make sure they would boycott me cuz i was on friendly terms with everyone and I wouldn’t back bich about them like her (she had that habit, she would even comment on people’s appearance and weight) she was very materialistic and she came to India like a spoilt brat from Dubai, she would shun and disparage all Indians that was her sole motto when they shifted here and since me and my brother were younger she would tried doing that with us too but as a next door neighbour and same bench partner at school she was in for a shock. Everyone at school believed I was some NRI from USA and someone started spreading those rumours in my new school as well cuz I was always that well versed and I would come up with all those ideas and thoughts which were prevalent only there (even when someone saw my work a few years ago like when I was 21-22 they said I couldn’t believe it was made in India it’s too sophisticated for here) so in school everyone would say you’re too classy all ur high profile words will go bouncers… you’ve recently come from US right? Etc etc. They weren’t being mean they would just start joking after that. I had a good circle till a certain age but then they started shuffling which I think is really wrong especially when there’s a lot of groupism cuz some ppl stick together and some don’t. They thought I’d recently shifted, me and my bro were used to buying imported stuff and we knew all the places where we would get them for cheap and we knew a lot of other things which she couldn’t handle, she almost challenged a 7 year old to show her prowess in Hollywood movies/trivia that too even adult ones while playing dumb charades.

We didn’t bother fighting or arguing we would let her win… she was always competitive and she would get jealous of my inexpensive fancy stuff even though she would get a lot of things from Dubai (because choice matters more) anyway she went extreme after growing up, my school had to be changed and I don’t want to get into more discussion but she’s the reason why I don’t have any friends. I also learnt about racism from a very early age that too within India, sorry she never considered herself an Indian. I once tried showing her Rihanna in my fav Magazine but she couldn’t take it so she flung it across the room and she thought I was good at fashion because of those mags. Nope! wrong, I would select my own clothes even as a toddler I’ve shared this before like Raven from that’s so Raven it was very relatable when she said that in one of her episodes, all other parents would ask for the same stuff when they would see my clothes on the cash counter. I started reading those magazines out of interest cuz I always loved fashion and I knew maximum items listed there were paid advertisements. As a 12 year old (I was a bit sassy) I would be like “All paid… all paid even the Chanel Sunglasses by Delhi Vasant Kunj store” I can’t write much there’s a lot to share haha funny stories too, she started getting magazines just to compete with me and she would even compare home appliances (show me a kid who’s interested in all that) next she would ask me what career I would like to pursue just to go around and tell everyone she wanted to take up that as well… she then started getting extreme, even now she is the first to copy trends and stuff cuz she thinks that is what I do even though she hasn’t seen me in recent years, Karma: I was an epicurean I loved trying out different cuisines so she would always get jealous whenever I would go out even though she knew I would cry a lot of tears before leaving due to my family eventually she took away all my friends and even the little bit of happiness I had on my previous childhood birthdays (I last celebrated the 15th one or so) and I went on dating apps to socialise cuz girls are very jealous and hostile in India now I’ve realised even guys have a very poor mentality and she too had those traits even if she was from Dubai anyway I went there and got bed ridden and she got her wish I STOPPED going out to restaurants and stuff and she would then POST her own restaurant and food images OBSESSIVELY and then Karma struck back to her and we had Covid when NO ONE WAS ALLOWED to go out anymore but even during cov times she tortured me and she dragged one of her friends to whichever cafe was open during lockdown just to share images. When I wrote my previous book and published it (cover editing layout typesetting website whatever I could manage or do) she couldn’t take it so she created a fake writer’s acc with all those previous society’s friends and came there to mock and harass me. Even now she copies all these stupid trends cuz she thinks I might be doing that, the world is currently a fashion disaster and no offence so are you. I don’t want to ruin anyone’s new year the way she ruined mine I hope she is not reading this. Anyway, I could go on for hours, I actually haven’t shared the dark side of this story, there’s a lot more.

My hands are getting cold cuz I can’t type much. I have shared the following stories previously but all the other posts have now obsoleted them. Coming back to 2015 31st Dec I realised I wasn’t the only one who was crying in the car due to lack of friends, I saw an old uncle crying on the signal too cuz it was almost midnight and he wasn’t able to make any sale… he was selling party stuff. I was 20, someone in the car had cleanliness OCD back then so I couldn’t buy anything. I came up with an idea which led to a very unique resolution that year, I knew Harsh’s birthday was coming on 5th so I picked 3rd to like make this “Mannat” but of a different kind not where you tie threads, I’m sharing this cuz its a sweet memory and I hardly have such memories. Back then we wouldn’t get those Nutella snack packs consisting of biscuits and stuff☹️🥺😡 so I just got big jars of Nutella and I went to Carter Road… you would always find these little urchins there selling colouring books and stationary, they would even sometimes nag you to buy them something from those stalls. I once bought one of them some yogurt but the yogurt wala 😡😡😡 the reason I’m calling him that is because he was really bad he was just looking down upon that kid and that’s not because his height was small or he was unable to reach the counter, I had told him to give him whatever he liked… don’t treat them like that or I won’t even pay for my yogurt! I had already made the payment that’s why he was acting smart I was keeping a watch from outside 👀 It was some chappi employee btw what did he think of himself?

I went there on 3rd Jan hoping these kids would be around but looks like they were still decompressing from 31st bash or they were probably too smart to only come out on weekends, unfortunately Carter road was entirely empty that day… then I spotted one toddler coming from the opposite side, she crossed very fast cuz they are very adept at all these things, she came to me and she was just standing there cuz I don’t think she had even learnt how to talk she was too small like those Chucky dolls. I gave her the Nutella but I had to explain to her that it’s like chocolate cuz she was like I said too small to understand anything, I was afraid someone might snatch it from her so I kept a watch, but she went back properly to her mother and on her way there she opened it and tasted it (this was the fun part) no child would resist something like that. She tasted it then she hugged the jar like left right, I was like how cute 🥰 people rightly say Nutella is like happiness. She turned out to be smarter than I thought cuz she was holding it properly and she went straight to her mother. I was hoping he would get a good opportunity or tv show or whatever he wanted to do cuz it was like a Mannat an exchange of favours with God and it would’ve made 2 people happy or in fact more than 2, I was happy a few onlookers were happy… but God just wanted that thread???!! Since it was something sweet, he should’ve gotten a sweet role to play not toxic ajinomoto I will never have Maggi in my whole life (ref. 22nd Dec + posts) I’m feeling giddy like throwing up, happens when you have Maggi too. Bye. I can’t write further I’d already taken a few breaks in between.

- Zara Sauleh

0 notes

briamichellewrites · 2 years

Text

2004. Elliot was diagnosed with Chronic Motor Tic Disorder but not Tourette’s. Her tics were twitching her head and looking away while moving her eyebrows repeatedly for fifteen minutes. She was grateful and relieved to have a diagnosis. Her condition was annoying and frustrating, though she was learning how to live with it. It was possible she would have to live with the disorder for the rest of her life, just like her mental health conditions.

While talking with Phoenix and Mike after the appointment, she started ticcing. They knew better than to mention it because it only made things worse. She could continue talking, so they did. Phoenix was worried about her getting into an accident during a tic attack, as was Mike. Her tics came out of nowhere sometimes, though they usually came when she was stressed out or tired.

She mentioned getting a handicap placard or looking into getting a special license. Why did she want to continue driving? Independence and convenience. It was just easier for her to run errands when she wasn’t working and he was in the studio. She could also take herself to appointments. That was true. He asked if she could let him know when she was leaving, where she was going and when she made it to her destination safely. Yeah, she could do that.

Mike was proud of them for working together to find a solution. He had been there in case they needed a neutral third person. Nope. They had talked about it like adults. If she didn’t have a neurological disorder, he wouldn’t have a problem but, she did and that’s what made him anxious. Mike asked about her psychosis. She joked that she had traded in her psychosis for tics.

“I don’t know what I’d rather have: voices in my head or a neurological condition. It’s like when someone asks what’s wrong with me and I’m like, alphabetical or chronological?”

They laughed.

“And your sense of humor.”

“I have to laugh at myself because it’s the only thing I have left that I can control.”

That was very true. After talking with them for an hour, she said goodbye because she was visiting with her dad while he was on the set of Mr. And Mrs. Smith. She and Mike had talked about Anna’s being insecure about Angelina Jolie, Brad’s co-star. Anna was worried about him leaving her for Angelina and her taking him away from her. He tried not to laugh when she told him that.

If Brad cheated, it would be karma. She would know what it felt like to be cheated on and how much it hurt. Ever since they started dating, she had been complaining about him being gone, the lack of privacy, and everything else that came from dating Brad Pitt. Well, yeah. She knew what she was getting into. Her life could have been a lot different had she not cheated and gotten pregnant. She could have had a quiet life away from the paparazzi and the tabloids with Mike. But no.

She made her bed and now, she had to lay in it. The person he did feel sorry for was Shiloh. She didn’t ask to be born. He heard that Angelina was flirtatious and sexual, a lot different than Anna. A lot of men wanted her. Not him. He didn’t find her attractive at all. She wasn’t his type.

His assumptions about her were correct. Elliot found her to be all over her father. She got a strong sense that she didn’t like her because she was in her way. When she found him, he was talking to her. They all said hello before he excused himself. They went into his trailer to talk privately. What did the neurologist say? It wasn’t Tourette’s but Chronic Motor Tic Disorder. She then explained the difference. Has she had any episodes yet? Yeah, she had one right before coming over.

She had driven to the studio after the appointment to talk to Mike and Phoenix. What was she thinking?

“I told Mike and Phoenix that I have to have a sense of humor about this because it’s the only thing left I can control. I would rather laugh at this than have someone else laughing at me.”

“Ellie, sometimes you are older than your age. Okay. What about driving?”

“I had to work with Phoenix about that. He doesn’t want me to but I convinced him that it would be more convenient for us to let me drive. If I have a tic attack, I will find somewhere safe to park and wait until it’s safe.”

Her neurologist gave the okay for her to continue driving. She would inform the DMV of her diagnosis. After going through everything and getting it sorted, they went back outside. Did she want to watch it? What was he doing? Just some shots of him and Angie shooting each other. Okay, she could stay for a while. How did Anna like his hair? He laughed and stated she hated it! She liked it longer!

“That is possibly the only thing I agree with. You look like an older version of Tyler Duden!”

He laughed. “Tyler would not be doing this shit. He would have people doing it for him!”

“Isn’t that the whole premise behind Fight Club?”

“It’s a little more complicated than that. When you turn eighteen, you can see the movie.”

“I’ll tell Phoenix. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled!”

He laughed again. They were photographed by the paparazzi outside of his trailer walking together with their arms around each other. He had a big smile on his face. It was the biggest smile he had in a long time. It was because his little girl was there with him. The same little girl he had watched grow up and who had spent years with as his traveling companion.

If he could, he would have put her into a box to make sure she never grew up. But, he couldn’t. She was almost an adult and he didn’t know how he felt about that. He wasn’t ready for her to be an adult. She was a great mother to the animals and he was overjoyed about her relationship with Phoenix. One day, he might be giving her away at her wedding and becoming a grandfather. No, he was not ready for that but, it would happen eventually.

If she married Phoenix, he would welcome him into the family with open arms. He could see their relationship lasting a long time. Phoenix was perfect for her and he couldn’t ask for a better boyfriend. Would they get married someday? It was possible but she wasn’t ready for that yet. Maybe in a few years.

“Babe, if we get married, Mike is going to be your father-in-law.”

“Oh my god! He would never let me live that down”, Phoenix joked.

“Who’s older, you or him?”

“I am by three days. At least I’m not older than your dad!”

“That would be the definition of awkward!”

He laughed.

Phoenix and I are wondering if in the future we get married, what would your reaction be to have him as your son-in-law? – Ellie

Mike didn’t know how to react to that because he was too busy laughing. He had no idea what that would be like! That would be something! He called her just so he could continue laughing before telling her that he would welcome him as his son-in-law. She gave Phoenix the message before passing the phone to him. He thanked him for his blessing. That made him laugh more. After a while, they hung up.

@zoeykaytesmom @feelingsofaithless

1 note · View note

imajinxnation · 2 years

Note

how would jinx, vi, and ekko react to her s/o Who has a history of self harm, having a really bad depressive episode. And I mean really bad

You Have An "Episode" - Arcane Preference/Reaction

I made this more just kinda an "episode", not exactly specifically depression but still an episode because I'm more familiar with panic and anxiety episodes

Honestly I don't know Ekko well enough, he's an amazing character, don't get me wrong, but I don't know enough about him to write him

Warning: Angst, Attempted Suicide, Self Harm

So, this is also going off of my own experiences with my own "episodes". Vi's is actually my thought process during one I had a few months ago when my friend left me for telling the truth

Jinx

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you were to end it all, right then and there? Would anyone care, would they laugh at your dead body on the ground, would they dump you in a river? Sitting on the edge of a building, on the edge between life and death, what would someone who thinks they have no purpose, no hope, choose?

"(Y/n)? What are you doing up here?" Jinx asked, walking towards you and sitting next to you.

You had a hood over your face to stop anyone from seeing your flushed, blurry, tear streaked face.

"Why are you looking for me? Why the fuck do you care?" You snapped.

The voices in her head started, but she quickly told them to shut the fuck up, she didn't want them interfering with this. She placed her hand on yours. You looked up at her. As she finally saw your face, she realized why you were here.

"I care because, who else would help me blow shit up? I would never be able to find another you in the world, please don't leave me..." she started tearing up, backing the both of you away from the edge.

"I want to feel something other than pain, and there is no other way out of misery," you explained, calming a bit at her words.

Her eyes widened a bit and dove in for a hug, knocking you onto the roofs floor.

"If you wanna feel something... feel me. I'm real, and I want you to keep exsisting. Silco once told me that everyone has a purpose, and now I'm gonna pass that onto you. Please don't go so soon.." she cried into your shirt, hugging you like you were going to disappear at any moment.

She rolled up your sweater to see old marks, some newer than others. Some were burn marks, some cuts, and she cried harder. She had no idea.

"Just feel me. Feel my love, please," she sobbed, "anything, just don't leave me, please don't leave!"

So there you were, sitting on a roof, crying in each others arms. Maybe if you had her, things wouldn't be so shit, maybe you could just do as she said, and feel her.

You stomped into your room, frustrated, angry, panicked, and every other shitty feeling.

"AAAAAARRRGGGGGHHH!" You screamed, kicking your desks chair to the floor, then proceeding to punch a wall.

"How could I be so fucking stupid!? I can't believe she left! I FUCKING TRUSTED HER!" You cried angrily, repeatedly punching the wall in front of you, your forehead pressed against it.

You fell to the floor, sobbing into your now bleeding hands. At this point you weren't even punching the wall, and just slapping it with no energy. The anger left, but was instantly replaced with despair.

You banged your head on the wall a few times before crumpling into a ball with your hands over your ears. Her words never stopped playing inside your head. You hit your head with the side of your fists a few times.

You suddenly heard your bedroom door open, but couldn't be fucked to check who it was.

"Oh my fucking God, (y/n), what happened?! You're bleeding. Tell me what happened so I can fix it!" The person was your girlfriend, Vi.

You cried harder and threw yourself into her, her hard body refusing to fall backwards.

"I trusted her with my everything and when I finally told her the fucking truth, she fucking left me! SHE SAID SHE'D NEVER LEAVE ME FOR ANYTHING!" You sobbed into Vi's shirt.

Vi immediately knew who you were talking about; your "best friend". She always had a bad feeling about her but never said anything because she wanted you to be happy. Anger started bubbling in her chest, how fucking dare this street whore looking woman do this to someone like you.

Vi hugged you as you sobbed into her, and started stroking your head as a means to calm you down, even just a little bit. Vi started getting up once she noticed you were calming down.

"Please don't leave, I don't wanna be alone," you said, trying your best to wipe your tears even though they just started back up.

"I'm not going anywhere. I promise I will never leave you like she did. No matter what you do, I will never leave you," she replied, kissing your forehead.

She picked you up and layed you down on your shared bed. You curled up against her, and you both stayed like that until you went to sleep. That night, Vi never left and guarded your dreams from anything bad.

#arcane imagines #arcane jinx #arcane #arcane preferences #arcane preference #arcane x reader #jinx imagine #jinx x reader #vi imagine #vi x reader #angst #arcane angst

834 notes · View notes

ilikekidsshows · 3 years

Note

Hi! I loved the Adrinette analysis you made...do you think you could make a similar one for Ladybug and Chat Noir over seasons 1 to 3?

I knew I was leaving myself open for this ask, and I kinda dreaded it, because 80% of Ladynoir screen time is dedicated to defeating an Akuma, meaning the characters have something else to focus on rather than progressing their relationship, and most the relationship stuff is just Marinette being really stubborn and refusing to properly look at her partner. In other words, there's significantly more screen time, but also proportionally less stuff going on in Ladynoir than in Adrinette because the characters are superheroes on the job and one party is actively resisting any development happening. It's also a very different kind of arc and relationship to Adrinette where the goal is just the two of them getting closer and more comfortable with each other. Ladynoir has that as well as all the trust issues and superhero team dynamics. Basically, this post is definitive proof that Miraculous has had plot development before season four, and it has had a lot of it. I got almost dizzy with it while compiling this.

Once again, I’m trying to go in a somewhat chronological order to properly track the relationship.

In 'Origins', we only get one-sided Ladynoir stuff. Marinette is new on the job and completely focused on solving the Akuma problem and nothing else. Meanwhile, Adrien actually takes note of his partner. He sees her flounder but ultimately put together a clever plan. He sees her lose faith but ultimately pick herself up and deliver a really badass speech at Hawk Moth. It's really no wonder he fell in love. The number one thing he learned about Ladybug is that she can fail and the second thing was that she could pick herself up again and grab the win anyway. I've brought up earlier in the Top Adrinette Scene discussion that Adrien is very scared of failing, because his father does not forgive failure, so Ladybug being someone who can turn a failure into a win understandably makes his heart go pitter-patter.

Meanwhile, Marinette barely noticed her partner. As I said, she was fully focused on solving the problem, but she was also getting distracted by her own insecurities. Marinette's first experience with Cat Noir was that he was kinda smooth and seemed to be much more confident than Marinette. Her second experience was that he tended to leap before he looked, but was perfectly willing to listen to her say-so. We have a very brief attempt at flirtation from Cat Noir, that Ladybug barely seems to even notice.

In 'Bubbler', Cat Noir actually gets to flirt with his Lady. He's clearly intent on getting her to notice what he's getting at, but Ladybug seems mostly exasperated with him. At this point their partnership is new and Marinette is most likely thinking back to their first case, when Cat Noir was so patient and supportive and not this...much. She still doesn't tell him to quit it, though, meaning she’s trying to accept him being a lot.

'Stormy Weather' has Cat Noir continuing in his attempts to get Ladybug to notice him and this time she responds playfully when they're not right in the middle of a tense situation. She's getting used to this being Cat's way of interacting with her and keeping the mood light.

'Lady Wifi' has the pair discussing the secrecy between them, with Adrien actively making the decision that honoring Ladybug's wishes concerning keeping their secret identities is more important than knowing the identity of the girl he's in love with, that doing so is the proper way to love her. 'Lady Wifi' is also the first time Marinette panics at the idea of something romantic being suggested about her and Cat Noir, when Alya says Adrien might be Cat Noir, that Cat Noir might be the boy she's repeatedly told Alya she's in love with.

'Copycat' shows us for a fact that Ladybug has no idea that Cat Noir's flirtations with her are genuine, and Cat Noir is growing tired of his feelings going entirely unnoticed.

Because of his growing frustration over not being able to communicate his feelings to Ladybug in a manner that she'd take seriously, Adrien goes the extra mile to write her a love poem in 'Dark Cupid'. When he receives a response that appeared with no sender, just a ladybug, he entertains the thought that Ladybug answered his poem and does in fact return his feelings (not realizing that Ladybug would need to know his identity to deliver such a note to him specifically, but Adrien does generally worry less about secret identities than Marinette). 'Dark Cupid' is also the first occasion of Marinette's by-now patented plan "Pretend to be in Love with Cat Noir" to solve problems, except that she was absolutely certain that a True Love's Kiss could occur between them, so there isn't even much room for pretending, but Marinette's denial is so powerful, she'll try.

In 'The Mime' we see Cat Noir actually testing Ladybug's receptiveness to a date, by suggesting that they could have gone to the play together if they didn't have to detransform. Ladybug replies that she has other plans before zipping away, and Cat Noir merely smiles after her. His feelings are growing, and he might still be remembering the love note he got. In fact, this is probably why he says "We are meant to be," in 'Gamer'.

In 'Animan' Ladybug actually does some of her own flirting with Cat Noir by giving him chin scritches. We also see a very straightforward gesture of affection from Cat Noir to Ladybug, when he hugs her in relief after the battle. Ladybug smiles softly at him, seeing that her partner cares about her well-being, while Cat Noir jumps back, embarrassed over his own reaction, or perhaps even afraid of censure. Adrien isn't the type of person to suddenly grab people in a hug, most likely because such "overly emotional" displays are discouraged in the Agreste household. This is the first occasion of Adrien projecting his father's supposed reaction to a thing he does on Ladybug, so he runs away from her.

In 'Simon Says', Cat Noir clings to Ladybug when faced with Gabriel looking at him weirdly (he's trying to figure out if he's Adrien, but Adrien himself never realizes his father was suspicious of his identity). At this point, Ladybug has started to become something of a security symbol to Adrien specifically against his father.

'Reflekta' is the episode where Cat Noir reminds Ladybug that he doesn't just deliver quips and he is actually a hero in his own right, even with diminished capabilities, in response to Marinette almost leaving him behind because he couldn't use his Cat Noir powers, because he'd "just slow (her) down", and then it turns out she couldn't have won without him. However, with the scene of Cat Noir taking the hit, Ladybug also starts on the process of realizing exactly how important her partner is to her success. Noticeably, it's while they're plotting together that Ladybug responds to his flirtation by flirting back, even if not very well (protip, Marinette, demeaning someone isn't funny to anyone but the person doing the demeaning, the other person is not suddenly lacking a sense of humor). Cat Noir is also a bit softer with his overtures in this episode, his cheeky flirtation gaining a bit more intimacy.

In 'Antibug', we can see the lessons Ladybug learned in 'Reflekta' sticking, with Ladybug listening to and valuing Cat Noir's input, unlike how the last time he tried to give her advice in a Chloé situation in 'Evillustrator', when she acknowledged he was right but couldn't bring herself to follow his advice. She also flirts with Cat Noir of her own volition, when she rings his bell. Cat Noir also keeps showing genuine warmth towards Ladybug instead of being just cheeky, when Ladybug compliments him. They affirm their bond after taking down Antibug.

The events of 'Reflekta' and 'Antibug' together influence what happens in 'Volpina', where Marinette is very suspicious of a new superhero showing up, without ever suspecting she could have been an Akuma in disguise. Cat Noir is her partner, and Cat Noir is her only partner. She’s not only learned his value, but has grown possessive over him. There's no need for any outsider. This jealousy over Cat Noir is actually something Marinette doesn't get over during the first three seasons the way she learns to deal with her jealousy over Adrien.

By the time 'The Collector' happens, Adrien has developed enough trust in his partner to ultimately believe her over her suspicions about Gabriel being Hawk Moth. This episode also has the first time Marinette voices concern over Cat Noir's emotional well-being instead of merely physical, who, of course, can't tell her what's wrong because it would break the secret identity clause.

'Prime Queen' has some very nice mutual Ladynoir flirting at the start of the interview. However, they're both mortified when Nadja comes out with the pictures. Cat Noir is confused, because he had no idea that their relationship could even give that impression, he must have been feeling like he hasn't been making much progress in getting closer to Ladybug. Meanwhile, Marinette goes defensive for the first time since 'Lady Wifi' only, this time, even more so. She even runs out on Cat Noir when he, very understandably, wants an explanation why he head to learn from a reporter that she'd planted one on him instead of from her. The episode confirms that Marinette will refuse to, in any way, discuss anything romance-related in relation to Cat Noir, even when there's an innocent explanation, like breaking an Akuma's spell. She's so defensive it's suspicious.

We also have another occasion of Marinette "pretending" to be in love with Cat Noir to solve a problem. While Cat Noir purrs either over the confession, having her close, or both. Marinette also jumped at the chance to "pretend" to confess her love so eagerly, that it left Prime Queen unimpressed. Still, Marinette refused to commit to the "ruse" enough to kiss Cat Noir while he's actually conscious and aware of it, because then she'd have to deal with the aftermath of kissing him.

'Dark Owl' has the first true test of faith between Ladybug and Cat Noir, when both of them have to trust the other not to look while they have to recharge. Although, considering 'The Collector', this is actually the first test only for Ladybug. At the end of the episode, Adrien also genuinely asks Ladybug out on a date for the very first time when they unexpectedly have free time from Owl-sitting, but Marinette preferred to skip off to spend time with Alya since she hadn’t gotten to see her while being so busy with The Owl's antics for so long.

'Glaciator' has Cat Noir planning an actual outing for Ladybug. The thing is, before 'Glaciator', Marinette's response to Cat Noir asking her out has always been that she has other plans, no can do. However, in 'Glaciator', she specifically says: "We'll see," and then she ends up ghosting him because she forgot to even send him a message that she didn't feel like going anywhere. At the same time, Gabriel purposefully stands him up for dinner, causing Adrien to project onto the Ladybug situation so hard that he doesn't think Ladybug even sees him as a real friend. Considering Adrien was under the same impression about Marinette in 'Puppeteer 2', it is typical for Marinette to send these kinds of mixed signals (which is fitting, considering how clear communication seems to be the biggest bullet point in her character development agenda).

On the upside, Cat Noir's compromised emotional state led to him being more frank about his feelings to first Marinette and later to Ladybug, finally making Marinette understand that Cat Noir is actually in love with her and how sensitive her partner can really be and that she can hurt his feelings. Notably, in this episode, Marinette particularly enjoys employing her "Pretend to be in love with Cat Noir" gambit, this time even going as far as kissing him, after finding out he's actually in love with her. Indeed, at the end of the episode, her rejection to Cat Noir is entirely focused on her having feelings for someone else (as well). She never once said she doesn't love him, and, in fact, never claims so in the English dub.

In 'Sapotis' we also see a brief glimpse of Marinette's jealousy over Cat Noir when he welcomes Alya onto the team so warmly but, because Rena Rouge was a teammate Marinette herself chose and trusts, she doesn't feel threatened enough to express it more than by merely keeping an eye on their interaction. 'Sapotis' also starts the arc of Cat Noir starting to lose faith in Ladybug having his best interest in mind when Rena Rouge appears out of nowhere and he's expected to just accept that no-questions-asked.

'Gorizilla' notably has Marinette repeatedly voicing her belief that Cat Noir will show up, something Adrien appreciates a great deal, going as far as blushing over something so simple. He's astounded by the fact that his Lady has faith in him, but it seems he still believes it despite the notion being strange to him.

'Frightningale' really drives home the arc going on in this season. 'Riposte' was the first time we saw Ladybug and Cat Noir seamlessly working together to neutralize an Akuma, but in this episode, they move in perfect synch while fighting Frightningale while handcuffed together. Cat Noir and Ladybug's teamwork has reached phenomenal levels.

I've repeatedly said that 'Syren' is less about Cat Noir and Ladybug's relationship and more about Fu's relationships with his two chosen. Still, this is the episode where Marinette gets put on the spot and comes through for her partner and Cat Noir learns that Ladybug keeping secrets from him wasn't of her own volition, but because of Fu, restoring his faith in her completely.

It's most likely because of the trust Ladybug showed towards him in 'Gorizilla' and their perfectly synchronized teamwork in 'Frightningale' that Cat Noir tries to confess to Ladybug again in 'Frozer'. These two episodes could give Cat Noir hope that he might be winning Ladybug over, especially since, as I said before, Ladybug has not said she doesn't have feelings for him. But she, of course, rejects him, although it's notably with more wistfulness than the last time, especially when she comments how she doesn't think it's possible for the "other boy" to not be a concern. 'Frozer' takes place during the arc in season two that covers Marinette's growing frustration at her inability to progress with Adrien the way she wants to and the discontent shows in her interaction with Cat Noir as well.

The change in how Marinette regards Cat Noir's input in fights between season one and two is especially noticeable in 'Style Queen' and 'Maledictator'. Both times Cat Noir is absent in a fight and this influences how Marinette approaches fighting the Akumas. In 'Style Queen' Marinette tries to play it sneaky but also needs to be saved by Plagg's intervention in his holder's absence. In 'Maledictator', Marinette's plan involved siccing the brainwashed Cat Noir on the Akuma's goons. Cat Noir has become necessary to Marinette, which is why he's able to galvanize her during 'Heroes' Day' by reminding her that the two of them against the world is what's always worked.

Season three as a whole revolves around Adrien losing faith that Ladybug could ever return his feelings the way he wishes and Marinette getting several warning signs about how she could lose Cat Noir. I might even go as far as saying that this season has negative Ladynoir development (in that their relationship grows more frayed and brittle instead of stronger).

A big reason for this new development direction is 'Reflekdoll', which, according to the production codes, happens early in the season. In this episode, Ladybug and Cat Noir learn the worst possible (false) lessons about themselves and each other and they carry those lessons for the rest of the season. In my 'Reflekdoll' conflict analysis, I wrote that Ladybug basically "learns" that Cat Noir is fae-like in that he isn't bothered by mortal things like stress or heartbreak. Cat Noir, meanwhile, "learns" that, while it doesn't matter if Ladybug makes a mistake because she can always fix it, him making a mistake makes him fundamentally less worthy as a hero and a person, so he could never be as valuable as Ladybug even as a person and not only strategically.

'Weredad', meanwhile, is the quintessential evidence episode for Marinette being both possessive and in denial about Cat Noir. She's literally pretending to be in love with him to him, while totally denying to herself that she feels anything for him, all the while she's feeling jealous over him seemingly moving on from her to be in love with her. The reason it's so important that no one but Marinette herself and Tikki know what went down in this episode is that Marinette's denial would never last if someone actually questioned this whole mess.

This is also an episode where we can clearly see the aftermath of what 'Reflekdoll' did to Cat Noir. He's once again projecting his situation with his father onto someone else (this time Tom), but he's also blatantly refusing to fight Tom at full strength, because he feels that it's his fault he got Akumatized, allowing himself to get hurt severely because he feels he's not that important, that he might even deserve it.

'Oblivio' has Ladybug once again do the whole: "How dare you say I'm in love with Cat Noir I am quitting this conversation right now!" routine. Cat Noir also got actual confirmation that something about him made his Lady want to kiss him when their memories had been wiped.

'Desperada' has the semi-infamous scene of Ladybug saying she doesn't need Cat Noir and, while she learns the valuable lesson that yes she flipping does, this is also the episode where Adrien repeatedly fails to use the Snake Miraculous correctly, having to give it up to someone else, feeling like an undeserving failure *turns to look at 'Weredad' and then at ‘Reflekdoll*.

'Kwamibuster' is an episode where everyone keeps telling Ladybug not to trust Cat Noir and she believes it to the degree that she sees him as a bigger threat than a Kwami-targeting Akuma. In other words, Cat Noir being treated like a part-time hero again in season four is because of 'Kwamibuster'.

'Gamer 2.0' is actually an important episode for the Ladynoir dynamic. This is the episode where Marinette takes on way too much responsibility (voluntarily) and is really stressed about it, while Cat Noir dismantles that stress with his good humor and positive outlook. This episode enforces the lesson that was stated outright in 'Reflekdoll': "Everyone has their role", and Cat Noir's role is to be the jokester who makes Ladybug feel better. Also, Cat Noir doesn’t even hesitate to make a sacrifice play for his Lady, because he’s less important.

'Timetagger' foreshadows that Marinette's words of affirmation are losing their effect. She repeatedly says things like "I trust Cat Noir", "You're irreplaceable", "You know you're the best", but she doesn't know how to express her regard to Cat Noir in actions. And it's important to note that Adrien was raised among liars and manipulators. Even if he doesn't doubt Ladybug's intentions, he might doubt the depth and truth of her feelings for him. Because Ladybug is so nice, she might lie about valuing him to make him feel better. Words aren't enough when words are the only thing between you and your insecurities. This is also an episode that feeds into Cat Noir's worthlessness arc, with Bunnyx repeatedly insisting that Ladybug in the future is just awesome, while Cat Noir broke her Miraculous. Even Ladybug shoots him down at the end of the episode when he tries to ask for extra affirmation, claiming he "already knows he's great".

In 'Puppeteer 2', Cat Noir's hope from 'Oblivio' that Ladybug might be starting to be won over by him comes back to bite him when the wax Ladybug gets close to him by pretending to be coming onto him. He only realized she was a fake because she smelled wrong, something that comes back to haunt him in 'Ladybug', when he's faced with a perfect copy, whose only difference to the original is that she's apparently in love with him. The villains clearly know he’s so in love with Ladybug it sometimes blinds him.

With the villains using this clear weakness as an in, it's no wonder that Cat Noir finally makes the decision to move on from Ladybug in 'Heart Hunter'. He tries one more time to test her interest to see if she'd be jealous of him dating and, when she's merely overjoyed, he decides to finally move on to Kagami. However, when faced with the actual reality of Cat Noir giving his attention to someone else instead of her (instead of in addition to her), Ladybug actually finds herself hurt and questions the lack of "My Lady" in Cat Noir addressing her, but she instantly denies it when Cat Noir notices. Denial denial denial...

Aaaaaand that's a wrap! Putting this together made me realize just how interconnected the show really is but no one notices because there aren’t any secret identities being revealed, people getting together or lore being revealed. Even something that seems like a breather episode like 'Gamer 2.0' has a larger role in the arc of developing the relationship between our main heroes.

#miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #miraculous ladybug #ladynoir #lovesquare #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #ml meta #long post #REALLY long

409 notes · View notes