Orville Peck Theater at Madison Square Garden June 20, 2023

Reynie Muldoon Part 3

Hullo hullo friends, and welcome to the third part of analysis on Reynie Muldoon.  As you probably can tell, I tend to follow book canon because that’s what I’m familiar with, but feel free to theorize as you please.  Now I have less brain juice present with me right now, so hopefully I will be able to elucidate clearly on what I’ve been wanting to. 

And while I don’t think this is an uncommon take, I would argue that Reynie has parallels to both Mr. Benedict and Mr. Curtain, and in addition to this, they both provide mentorship in a way (although Mr. Benedict is far more direct, and Mr. Curtain does really only in the first book indirectly).  First off, Mr. Benedict is a pretty clear parallel, with how Reynie is at the center of his friends among the Society.  He also has the mind of a leader, complimented by a strong heart, and is very perceptive and good at making plans, and he is charming in a kind, personable way.  While he is often the one to make the critical decision, he relies upon his friends for constructive criticism and their opinions.  He acknowledges that he is fallible, and Reynie is often the one to reach out to a friend that is struggling in some way.  But how much of this does he parallel in personality to Mr. Benedict by being raised in similar circumstances?  They are both orphans who were raised in an environment with not a ton of support and few friends, were uncomfortably smart or perceptive to those around them, and they love to read.  A portion of their capabilities come from having an uncertain childhood, and they often doubt their own skills and decision making from a lack of self-esteem.  They also have the tendency to doubt whether they are good people, particularly in a very intrusive thought kinda way (if I do say so as a haver myself). 

And Mr. Benedict provides good mentorship to Reynie as well!  He encourages Reynie’s ability to trust his own decision making AND his ability to think in a team and trust his friends, almost providing the reassurance that Mr. Benedict could have used throughout his life before he found his family.  A key example of this kind of mentorship occurs during the mirrors and windows conversation, which happens early on in The Perilous Journey (the chapter title for those interested is Beyond the Glass, or Windows for Mirrors).   Here I would like to interrupt my analysis to give credit to @mvshortcut for providing me with the full conversation in pictures.  Carrying on, the analogy they start with is that Mr. Benedict says to Reynie, “where most people see mirrors, you, my friend, see windows.  By which I mean there is always something behind the glass” (Stewart 37).  While he praises this ability, he points out it can be both a blessing and a curse, that being perceptive can allow you to see things you aren’t meant to know just yet (or are ready to know) or to read too much into everyday things.  From here, he segues into the serpent dream conversation, where he tells Reynie, “But if you find that serpents are all you see, you may not be looking hard enough” because as he says earlier, “wickedness stands out, as it were” (Stewart 38, 37).  By pointing this out, he points out that without trust in others, this can lead to paranoia and the kind of decision making that leads one down a path more similar to his brother Mr. Curtain. 

On the other hand, Reynie also parallels Mr, Curtain for many of the same reasons.  Going by book canon, we don’t know a whole lot about Mr. Curtain’s childhood, but we can probably assume he had a lot difficulties from his disability.  While this same disability pushed Mr. Benedict to find a support system so he could be his best self as he saw it, Mr. Curtain instead felt control was the answer.  Reynie, while still very flexible as a person, could probably relate to the value of this, and getting a taste of this as a Messenger probably influences why he even worries that he might betray his friends in the first place.  After all, if you can’t trust anyone, you might as well use your friends right back?  Right?  If they’re there only for a goal and not you as a person, you might as well have your own goal.  You might as well get the recognition for what you are from a person who sees your potential, right?  It doesn’t matter how others persons perceive the truth or not, just who plays the game best to get their vengeance of living best, RIGHT?  This is a big part of why Mr. Curtain’s influence is such a tipping point one way or the other for Reynie and how he decides to grow as a person and in what direction.  In fact, I appreciate that Reynie stews on the option of betrayal, as it shows how human and hurt he is, and his decision to stick to the mission becomes that much more powerful through that lens.  And while Reynie decides not to go on Mr. Curtain’s route, he still indirectly learns the power of mind games and power struggles and how this happens in the world.  He learns what intimidation can do, and he is that much more powerful if he chooses to only to use it to protect people instead of hurt them. 

menogias icon! feel free to use as a pfp with credit. no reposts

eun!!! i'm working on a ✨project✨ for valentine's day and i can't believe i didn't think of this sooner -- as the resident jake jensen lover, what kinds of things would you put in a gift. asker for him???

OMG THIS IS SUCH A GOOD WUESTION. THANKYOU FOR COMING TO ME FOR JAKEY ADIVCE THIS MENAS THE WORKD TO ME. okay did you mean a gift basket for jakey hehe 🌝 admittedly my concept of jakey is a lot lil ooc but i would include for sure:

cute/funny t-shirts with like silly phrases or pics on them.

cool techy gadgets (like little dumb things that are overly-complicated tech wise: a 3d printing pen, a robot vacuum, a bluetooth mini fridge, that kind of thing).

loooots of snacks bc jakey loves snacks i’m just convinced of it like probably cursed snacks such as funions, hot cheetos, all the crazy mountain dew flavors.

maybe a cute little rubix cube and all the sides are pics of the two of you hehe 🥺💖

hmmmmmm what else… i wanna give him some sort of weird stuffie but that’s just me like maybe a stuffed wifi router or satellite dish.

ooh i think he’d like funny boxers with cheeky (😛) jokes on them, i could just keep going…

stickers for his laptop.

i feel like he collects encyclopedias about random niche topics (that’s where he learns all his weird facts) so maybe new ones on new topics, the weirder the better…

legos. he’s a lego guy to me.

also i feel like he would be into trading cards, maybe pokemon.

coupons for free head/handjobs/whatever else 😌 or honestly if you wanna be more wholesome, just coupons for free hugs 🥺 free snuggles 🥺🥺 jakey is babie boy he needs to be held he needs physical affection 🥺🥺🥺

somebody help me i'm having soft jungkook hours 😭

not to brag (i am fully bragging) but my diluc is kinda cracked

i think marinette is worse at resting when she's sick but adrien is worse at sitting things out if he's injured. i have no explanation, these are just the vibes

i think katsuki just answers his phone by barking out, "bakugou." no hello, probably doesn't even look at the caller id LOL when he hears it's you, though, i think he breathes out the tension he didn't realize was coiled in his shoulders, and says a lil, "hey," 🥺🥺

and i think when he calls you, and you answer with your sweet, "helloooo ??" he is so soft 😌 just mumbles out a quiet, "what'chu doin'?" and listens as you tell him, before saying what he needed to 😌

This is so cute actually

he does this every single year 🍰🎉

You know there is something really poetic about Rafayel's evol being fire. Like I know everyone was shocked it wasn't water or something more elementally in line with the ocean given the whole mermaid theme but

He's the symbolic light of his people

He's their sun (literal and figurative), their burning passion and drive to survive

He's the hope that one day they can reclaim what was lost

And the fact that they refer to him as "Your Quintessence" in his myth, essentially calling him the most perfect or most central to them, idk it's got me feeling a sort of way this morning.

Rafayel is the flame that keeps Lemuria's heart ablaze even when every force imaginable is working to extinguish it.

light of my life 🤍 for @kimtaegis [cr. namuspromised]

N2 Floyd in the first movie

Sad little man got himself captured :(

He also gets punched in the face, but that's neither here nor there lmao

Also sorry for not posting for a fat minute I've been busy XD

Bonus: What John and Branch be doing

RIP in pieces John Dory, you were a brave troll and will be missed

I've got some more doodles of them going through it in the first movie, maybe we will see them soon teehee .

OlderDad!Bakugou who gets a haircut and his baby doesn't recognize him and he doesn't want his dad to pick him up 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Bakugou has a cry in the bathroom and you have to spend the rest of the night consoling him.

Also Hiiiiiii, miss u, hope youre gooooood

head in my hands bc of this, just thought abt bakugo growing out his hair a little bit right after baby's birth...takes him months to go and get a real haircut cuz he doesn't wanna burden you more than he already has and by the time he's okay with the thought (but only for "AN HOUR MAX," is what he says), he has a mullet thing going on and all this scruff on his chin🥺🥺🥺

so he gets home with his regular ol' haircut, maybe a little shorter just to account for ... not wanting to go again so soon, and baby's HOLLERING bloody murder as soon as they see him and refusing to be taken out of your arms, doing that thing where they're flipping their face back and forth to dodge a kiss...

it's so tragic bc not even a little cheek nuzzling helps to calm them bc bakugo's CLEAN SHAVEN and smells like aftershave instead of like dad when he tries!!!!!!

and after, you watch him kinda sulk into the bathroom, thinking like aw yeah thats a bummer but also pretty funny, too (esp bc the haircut does look good🫣🤓), AND HE DOESN'T COME OUT FOR LIKE an hour???

....until you finally have to ask him if he's okay in there and you're opening the door to him sitting on the toilet seat, arms crossed and red cheeks a little streaky with tears...

LJFKASDJFADSJK it's the cutest, most sad sight you ever did see!! ofc Bakugo tries to deny it, but the way he tears up again (after you're done assuring him he did nothing wrong) when his baby finally realizes it's him and smiles (and then how he refuses to give them up again until bedtime) has his ass. EXPOSED.

(i love and miss u more than air, earth, water, dirt + HOPE YOU'RE GOOD TOO BESTIE ILY)

"You've been hurting so much, and for so long… Please, let me soothe your pain."

-

There was a scenario I had imagined in which Mario would suffer emotional trauma and keep it to himself to the point of becoming depressed, growing more distant and avoiding others as a result. He would so desperately want for his loved ones to be at peace that he would rather endure unbearable misery in silence than speak on it; not knowing just how tired he really is and how badly he needs to be comforted.

So when Peach would finally -and ever so gently- confront him on the matter, his walls would crumble almost immediately, and he would break down in front of her. Anguish and exhaustion slowly giving way to healing. ❤️‍🩹

Chilchuck analysis speedrun: As a hardworking half-foot who grew up poor and discriminated against and had his gullibility taken advantage of multiple times in his early adventuring days, Chilchuck thinks optimism is a dangerous flaw. He’s stressed and strict all the time because his job is noticing details like traps that could get everyone killed before anyone knows it, he takes the lives of everyone to be on his shoulders, and with the way he speaks about it that probably partly reflects how he felt about taking it upon himself to provide for his family too. His life’s always been pretty centered around work and has become even moreso now that his wife left and everyone is independent, and due to past events he’s very iffy with bonding with coworkers. He thinks feelings and job are a disaster mix. Like with his wife or with parties hiring him as sacrifice, being open or having good faith is vulnerability which can get you hurt, so he processes and shows all his stress as anger instead of worry. Doing strict dieting probably isn’t helping the irritability what with hunger, and on top of being a hunger suppressant alcohol might be the main stress reliever he has.

His grey hairs are so earned