#if they’re going back to s1 dynamics then it might mean something for s5 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

swordlesbean · 4 years

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rewatching the first 3 eps is kinda frustrating at how much Adora does NOT think about Catra covering for her not even once while she's playing around in beds, plays pinata, eats good food etc, she's gone for days and like Catra says later didn't even think she was taking the fall for her damn. and didn't even spare a glance at Catra while celebrating with her new driends at selinas

This is actually something I've wanted to talk about for a long time, so thanks for giving me an excuse to finally do it! I think when people are annoyed with Adora for supposedly not thinking about Catra in early s1, they aren't giving full consideration to Adora's perspective during that time period. She's, uh... dealing with a lot, to say the least. There's been a fair amount of analysis about Catra's perspective during this time, but not nearly as much about Adora's. I will try to remedy that here, in my typically long-winded way.

Let's take it from the beginning. Adora touches a mysterious sword in the woods that gives her visions and makes her black out. She’s still having these visions and hearing voices when she’s back home, so she sneaks out at night to find the sword again because she wants answers. Reasonable. She plans to be back by morning, but she asks Catra to stay behind because she doesn't want Catra getting in trouble on her behalf in case something goes wrong. Also reasonable. Boom, nothing goes according to her plan, and everything goes wrong.

Adora finds the sword, but runs into Rebellion soldiers. She tries to fight them for the sword, but when she touches it, she has another vision and blacks out again. She wakes up with her hands tied, a prisoner. She bides her time instead of trying to escape because she still wants the sword. During this time, she's told information that conflicts with what she knows about the Horde, and oh yeah, she somehow randomly transforms into an 8-foot-tall legendary warrior princess. Then she and her captors get chased by a giant spider to an abandoned temple, which she’s able to open because she can apparently read a long-dead language, but then they’re trapped in the ruins.

Once they get out, she’s no longer being held captive, so she can now go back to the Horde. But she needs answers and decides to go to Bright Moon so someone can give her an explanation for all this crazy shit happening to her. At this point, is she thinking about Catra and what might be happening back home? No. But frankly, there is a lot on her plate! Like, life changing stuff. She can turn into a princess! But princesses are evil and the enemy! But this angry sparkly princess and nice archer guy are saying the Horde are actually the bad guys? What is going on? What is she?

Adora still intends to go back to the Horde, but she feels she can't do that until she gets more intel about what happening to her and what it means. She’s always wanted to know more about where she came from. This may be her only chance. And even though her overprotective streak sometimes makes Catra think she feels otherwise, Adora absolutely believes in Catra and knows she's smart and resourceful and can handle herself, so it doesn't occur to Adora that there's reason to worry.

Then Thaymor happens. They stop there for transportation, but Bow insists they stay for the party because he realizes Adora's life has been utterly depressing, and he wants her to experience something nice. I think it's pretty harsh to hold it against Adora that she gets excited and awed and distracted by encountering a party and eating good food for the very first time in her life ever. Can the girl please be allowed to live a little? Like, she's an anxious, guilt-ridden, duty-burdened mess 90% of the time, so let's maybe not blame her for having a good time for once.

That good time is pretty quickly ruined anyway. Reality ensues. The Horde ensues. Catra ensues. But even as Thaymor is attacked, Adora thinks it's a mistake. It's bad intel; she just has to explain, and the Horde will stop. It's only when she comes face to face with Catra that she understands the truth about the Horde and makes her decision to leave. Let’s be clear on this: Adora doesn't just leave the Horde without any consideration for Catra. Catra isn’t an afterthought here, she is literally standing right in front of Adora when Adora makes her decision.

Thaymor from Adora's perspective is finding out that her whole life has been a lie and that she doesn't know her best friend as well as she thought. What Adora sees is Catra being part of an attack on defenseless people and seeming to have zero concern or regret about it. What she perceives is Catra refusing to join the good guys and choosing to remain part of a lying, destructive army despite the truth of a burning village in front of them. What she feels is Catra disregarding her decision to leave and tasing her in the back as she tries to walk away.

It's important to remember that in this moment, Adora feels betrayed by Catra as much as Catra feels betrayed by Adora. People always talk about Adora breaking their promise by choosing to leave, but Catra breaks it too by choosing to stay. They both make decisions that hurt the other, and they both feel abandoned.

So that's what Adora is carrying with her in regards to Catra in early s1. She's internalized this betrayal, these hurt feelings, but she's also really trying not to let herself feel any of it. Not just because it hurts, but because it’s what she’s been taught to do. She’s well-practiced in denying herself, denying her pain and her wants and needs. This trait of hers is given specific attention in s5, but it's a necessary lens to view Adora through in every season. She won't ever put herself and her feelings first. She doesn't think she's allowed to be weak, to feel hurt and express that hurt, not when more important things are at stake. Shadow Weaver always said her feelings for Catra were a problem, and for the first time, Adora agrees, so she tries not to feel them.

She can also avoid thinking about Catra because she has so much to distract her. Catra is still in the Horde, surrounded by reminders of Adora, so it's impossible for her not to think of Adora. But Adora's situation is different. She's in a new environment, suddenly overwhelmed by a huge destiny and all these new experiences and stimuli and social dynamics she has never experienced in her life. So she puts all of her attention into learning the rules and expectations of this new life. She hyperfocuses on her duty as She-Ra.

That doesn't mean there aren't reminders of the past. Adora doesn't feel comfortable sleeping alone, and the clear implication is that she can't sleep without Catra. She isn't "playing around in beds," she just has no idea what to make of a soft bed because she's used to austere conditions. And she's certainly not able to forget what the Horde represents to the people she's now living with. She gets run out of Bright Moon because of the Horde symbol on her back, and she receives a thinly veiled threat from Angella in front of Micah's portrait. She doesn't feel secure in her place in the Rebellion, so she's definitely not going to talk about missing anything or anyone from the Horde, however much of it she actually lets herself feel.

Salineas is the first time Adora encounters Catra after Thaymor, and the wounds from that confrontation are still fresh. She asked Catra to come with her then, but all it got her was a taser to the back, so she's not feeling too charitable towards Catra and isn't keen on reaching out again. She's completely in She-Ra duty mode, trying to restore the Sea Gate to protect the kingdom from the Horde. But then, Catra isn't making real efforts to try and bridge the gap between them either. In fact, from Adora’s perspective, she appears to be perfectly happy widening it.

While Adora is fixing the gate, she’s getting hit with electric feedback and also can't risk moving or fighting back, but that doesn’t stop Catra from lashing out at her. Catra mocks, scratches, punches. Even when she softens up a bit, she talks like Adora is just going through a phase. She's trying to convince Adora to come back to the Horde, but in the same way Adora wasn’t thinking about what Catra might face by covering for her while she was away, Catra’s not thinking about what it would actually mean for Adora to come back, the terrible consequences she would face as a defector.

Adora knows she can’t go back to the Horde, not just because of her morals, but also because it’s too late to do so without something bad happening to her. So she wonders, if Catra cares about her, why would she want to bring her back to that? If Catra cares about her, why won’t she just leave the Horde and come with Adora? Adora can't see into Catra's mind, so she doesn't know the underlying motivations and feelings driving her behavior. And Adora’s never really had the "you hurt me, so I'll hurt you back" impulse, so she’s more inclined to read Catra's aggressive actions towards her as a sign that Catra maybe doesn’t care about her as much as she once thought.

After Salineas, things continue to heat up between them during Princess Prom. This time Adora is highly confrontational towards Catra. She fully believes Catra is planning something bad, and she's absolutely right, though she still tries to save Catra's life when they fall off the cliff. That act doesn't seem to matter to Catra, and she ups the ante and hurts Adora worse then ever by taking Glimmer and Bow as hostages.

Adora finally softens towards Catra when Catra returns the sword and let's her and Glimmer escape the Fight Zone. Up until that moment, Adora isn't sure that Catra still cares, but this is confirmation for her. The next time they meet, Adora makes a real effort to reach out, and she again asks Catra to leave the Horde. And they actually do start reconnecting a little, until Light Hope plays on Catra's insecurities with those memory simulations, in an attempt to drive them apart and get Adora to let go of Catra in the same way Shadow Weaver always wanted her to.

And it does successfully drive them further apart and is the true beginning of Catra’s descent into villainous self-destruction and reality-destroying levels of resentment towards Adora. But what it doesn’t do is get Adora to let go of Catra. Because it doesn't matter what Light Hope and Shadow Weaver and even Catra say or do, Adora never can let go. She does eventually let go of the idea that she's the one responsible for Catra's actions, and she puts up boundaries and becomes harder towards Catra. But she never truly gives up on her or stops caring about her, even when Catra is at her most destructive and spiteful and personally hurtful towards Adora.

But then, Adora letting go of her feelings for Catra wasn't ever the solution anyway. Because She-Ra's power comes from love, and Catra is the first person Adora loved, and the person she loves the most deeply. So Adora as She-Ra is at her most powerful when she's loving Catra and doing it without conflict, either between the two of them or within Adora herself.

#adora #catradora #spop #she ra #meta #anonymous #congratulations to those of you that make it through this long ass read #there were just a lot of points i wanted to hit to really cover adora's perspective #and i felt it was necessary to describe the events of the first two eps in detail to drive home exactly what adora was facing

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unproduciblesmackdown · 3 years

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Genuine question what is billions even about I see clips all the time and I cannot figure out what the plot is besides like “business” but I am very much in love w Taylor Mason (i think that’s their last name?) so I am intrigued ...

oh i’m so glad you asked

yeah it’s not at all a Just You thing, not only do we often only post about a particular slice of the series, it’s just REALLY difficult to get (or provide. but i’m always up for the challenge) a sense of what Billions is like as a series like, genre wise, and re: the plot, my god, every [usually more than 50 min but less than an hour] episode is a journey, in that So much will have happened. it moves at a Pace, i can tell you. but you know, good news in that it’s not really necessary to explain every plot thread ever, b/c it’s as much about its Themes or what have you

the stats rundown is billions is a weekly showtime tv series partway through its 5th season (12 episodes per season, currently they are producing the last half of s5 but had been on pandemic production hiatus for the past year, we do not yet know when the rest of s5 will air, s6 was greenlit a while ago) this isn’t really need to know for this question lol, but you don’t need to Not know either

the like, content Rundown is that yeah, it’s business, mostly high finance, although one of the main characters is always doing Legal Stuff (don’t care really b/c that side of things is not generally as relevant to, yes, taylor mason, who Makes the series). the kind of overarching Theme / premise is that the show is about like, here’s these Conflicts between people who are wielding some power in various ways, looking at the motivations of the individuals involved / the Cause And Effect web of these conflicts between them, e.g. how the consequences / fallout of one Power Play Maneuver will affect someone else’s storyline and result in them executing their own maneuvers, and of course, the pitfalls of all of this. more specifically, the series kicks off with the two (then (taylor is introduced in season 2) mainest characters, Axe, ceo of a hedge fund, and Chuck, some kind of lawyer who decides to go after axe b/c axe thinks he’s hot shit (true) and chuck is like ohhh i gotta do something about this guy. so there’s an Unending Conflict, axe vs chuck, an ongoing back and forth series of small or more overarching battles, and of course sometimes alliances, because there’s a Lot of characters on this show and we’re in season 5 so there’s been plenty of other Conflicts introduced besides this particular ongoing war. also, uh oh, chuck’s wife wendy works for the hedge fund axe runs! that’s just a whole wrench in things. as some sort of like, in house therapist performance coach sort of deal, thanks wendy, she’s also fairly a Main Character

axe is somewhat more relevant for our purposes b/c that’s that Finance side of the show via which taylor is introduced. but yeah both axe and chuck are exasperating lmfao like, this isn’t a show where it’s about the Likeability of whatever main character where like, you’re rooting for the obviously righteous / justified person or anything, it’s more about being along for the ride where you get to know Why people are engaging in these conflicts for sure, but like, unless you’re one of plenty of fans who maybe aren’t bringing the most Insight to the show who find any of this like, aspirational Epic Winner stuff like hell yeah axe or chuck as the Cool Guy Who Deserves To Win lmfao, being along for the ride is knowing that you’re just getting to watch this unfolding mess, so that’s “fun” lol

to get more to the point, yeah Taylor Mason is again the best part of the series lol, they’re introduced early in s2 as a Very Talented young iintern at axe capital (axe’s hedge fund) who, yknow, part of what makes axe an Eventful character to center things around is he’s (sometimes) capable re: all these strategic finance maneuvers, and also all “i don’t play by the rules,” which can often mean like, the actual rules like “no insider trading please” or more kinda implicit moral rules like “don’t keep taking Business Advantage over people’s deaths,” and here means that even though taylor is this early to mid 20something intern with no experience in finance who’s not even, at that juncture, necessarily planning to stay in the industry, he’s like yeah they’re valuable and i’m not gonna hold them back from that potential / opportunities * just because they’re a 20something new to the industry intern who definitely doesn’t behave in the Usual Way around here and is also a canon nonbinary character, thanks ( * you might not believe it, but axe does not proceed to only ever be a potential encouraging, opportunity creating ally* (*although, one nice thing is that they....almost always....have axe adamantly hold everyone who works with him to respecting taylor as a nonbinary person, at least in how they address taylor. b/c taylor Does get misgendered periodically, which can be exhausting, but they also aren’t exactly striving to hold it to what might be most “””realistic””” so like, taylor isn’t subject to transphobia and misgendering All The Time either) and so taylor very quickly goes beyond internship at axe cap, to the extent that when, at the end of season 2, axe effectively leaves them in charge of the whole fund when his own fuckups mean he temporarily Can’t helm axe cap

aaand then s3 starts off with taylor running things but has axe return Officially in charge soon enough, so there’s problems there, in that axe is now pulling taylor Back, and like, axe is alllllll about his ego, so it’s like, of course he’d Want taylor to have been able to successfully run axe cap while he couldn’t, since it’s his fund, but then of course he’s also mad about it b/c he needs everyone, like taylor, to know he’s better & more winning than them. and taylor doesn’t appreciate now being more sabotaged and stifled and that, like, if they’re mad about being treated this way, axe is just gonna be mad about That b/c you know, why aren’t they Only grateful to their mentor or deferential to his Skill And Experience, as well as the fact that no matter how much of an Ally you are to him, he’ll be mad if you’re not unilaterally loyal, aka if he fucks you over you can’t be mad about it or that’s actually a way you’re wronging Him, and you’re also wronging him if yknow, you say he can’t/shouldn’t just do what he wants, or do anything that to him implies you don’t think he’s objectively the Best most Winning and Deserving guy in whatever regards, like, if you’re associated with someone who makes him feel insecure in his superiority for one moment, and/or who he thinks doesn’t also recognize his superiority or something, he’ll be mad at you.......the Conflicts can arise v easily around here with this beloved character walking around. so, yeah, whereas season 2 for taylor is more like wow taylor you’ve got all this potential and value here, in season 3 taylor’s sure got reason to question their future at axe cap (see this post resident Billions / Taylor Mason Pro soph made last night) and, when not only are they and axe just more often going head to head over what they want here, there’s also this added egregious conflict of “taylor starts seeing this guy oscar who’s also in finance (but not at axe cap) and when they ask axe for some input on a matter via which they intended to help oscar out, axe uses that Information taylor just used to fuck oscar over to his own advantage, and when taylor is like ‘what the hell’ axe is just like ‘what’d you expect!! i gotta be me!!! if you expected anything different, that’s on you, and if you Did expect me to do this, that’s also on you’ because i’m sure it’s a surprise to hear that axe considers himself this like, force of nature where all his feelings and motivations and justifications are Objective and Correct, and then taylor has to tell oscar what happened and naturally this ends the relationship, to their evident further unhappiness” and oops, season 3 ends with taylor having started their own hedge fund.

i could give a tl;dr for what happens over the course of s4 & (so far in) s5, but i think the s2/s3 arcs are kinda the Essential Lore for explaining this character who crashes into the show (not in that their character tends to crash, their arrival and presence is clearly somewhat of a shakeup re: the norm, but they themself are all about staying balanced and Not being driven by tumultuous emotional impulses or anything like that, *cough, the characters they are quite a Foil to in this way*) and quickly ascends to Main Charactership. (also just remembered the other stats note that taylor is played by asia kate dillon, who is themself nonbinary.) another element that is a lot of fun re: taylor is that they have like, the series’ best Friendship lol, the show is not very conducive to a bunch of characters having a bunch of heartwarming relationships, though they sure Do appreciate those characters and let us see a lot of Dynamics at play even beyond the “these people are locked in conflict�� plots and characterful interactions and moments for their own sakes, and Alliances, even friendships, sure are the other side of the Ongoing Conflicts coin here. but what i’m getting around to is that taylor gets to be good buds with mafee, a Guy who was working at axe cap already in season 1, who, along with ben kim (Another Guy At Axe Cap in S1, who we are also fans of) is like, one of the actually nice(r) people around there, and who is just like. such this Hapless Cishet Dude lmfaooo but he also happens to be the guy overseeing taylor’s (and presumably others’) internship, and is yknow, maybe kinda conflicted about “i’ve Been an actual employee this whole time and there goes an intern rocketing past me” but is also Supportive towards taylor, and taylor in turn is an Ally to him, and they are Friends, and when taylor starts their own fund, Taylor Mason Capital, mafee is the person from axe cap who helps them do it and leaves axe cap to work for them there. there’s also a part in s4, after an arc in the middle of the season ended up with taylor taking quite an emotional L, mafee has gone and confronted Responsible Parties over it and, naturally, ended up in a charity interfund Boxing Match (which, a] billions is deliberately Wild plenty of times in both its Elevated Dialogue style but also just like, things that happen lol but b] apparently that’s something that can & does happen in real life in hedge fund world. absolutely bizarre to learn this kind of stuff) taylor kinda gives him this pep talk including “asking you to come with me (to TMC, mase cap, their fund) was the best decision i ever made” and even back then, when we’d just started paying attention to the show fairly recently and weren’t exactly familiar with everyone and everything going on, it was like oh i Gotta post that clip lmao

there are many other side characters, this is a very Populated show, including like, recurring characters, people liable to be introduced at various points who might become regulars Or make repeat appearances but more periodically Or be around for part of a season, but naturally also i am mentioning one specific side character of Winston (No Official Last Name), who is a Quant, aka a quantitative rather than fundamental analyst, who first appeared in One Scene at the start of season 3 when taylor was looking to hire some quants for a project, but did not succeed, and the character (then only Quant Kid 2) was only meant to have that one appearance, but delightfully everyone wanted him back and they wrote more material for him asap. taylor later brings him on to their quant project, which is revealed to be part of what ensures they can start their own fund, and in season 4 winston is apparently the head of the quant team at mase cap, and he continues to appear as taylor’s main Quant. could go into a long (and, as he’s not a Main Character and it’s easier to cover his material, very thorough) tangent there lol but you’re asking about taylor and i’m only bringing up winston b/c technically he Is relevant there lmfao but also, i have to, and [tfw this side character quant who was originally only going to appear in one brief scene was the reason you got into this series in the first place and now it’s like well, We’re Here Forever, and also, taylor mason is The character]

natch you must’ve noticed if you’re sending me an ask about billions, but if you like taylor mason you Gotta be following @nothingunrealistic the #1 Tayficianado and who has also recently nobly finished Actually Properly Watching Billions and who can give you all kinds of info about the character / series, there’s A LOT to cover and it’s kinda impossible to convey some stuff w/o simply experiencing things yourself firsthand lmfao but also, we think about these characters and this show every day for like, two years and running, so. as you can see......totally willing to talk about it at any time to any extent lol

#anonymous #winston billions #So glad to get asks like this at any point lmfao like #oh someone's asked me about My Interest huh lol. here we go babeyyy

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t100ficrecsblog · 4 years

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an interview with @easilydistractedbyfanfic (she/they)

what are you working on right now? I don’t typically take prompts, but after finding out about the Bellarke Writers For BLM Initiative and how their goal is to raise money for BLM via various fandom prompts that are requested by readers and written & illustrated by various writers and artists, I wanted to get involved. I’ve finished two prompts and am working on my third, which is a Murphy/Raven smutfic set during their years on the Ring. It’s definitely an idea I can work with - it’s over 10k at this point with a lot more to say, so hopefully the anon who requested it will end up pleased! Go check out the tumblr page and the ao3 collection - there’s various t100 pairings/ratings and you can choose the cause if you want to request a fic!

what is the fanwork you’re most proud of? I struggled with this question! My stories are all like my kids, and even if some of them could use a bit of improvement with pacing or dialogue or whatever faults I see when they age, ultimately I do love them all and I’m glad I wrote them. I do sometimes play favorites but that often depends on what I’m in the mood to read myself. That said, I really do always feel proud of my story called What You Need. It’s a darker version of Raven & Murphy, but one that I don’t find unrealistic under the circumstances of the fic. I surprised myself with where my head went on this one. In a good way, because it was really fascinating to dive into the minds of who these particular versions of the characters were.

I’m also pleased that I have over 500k on ao3 at this point. I never expected anything like this when I started writing, and it kind of blows my mind that this is my hobby now. It’s so strange to me that there are stories in my head at any given moment now.

why did you first start writing fic? I started writing in June 2018. Never wrote any fanfic before that, ever - though I did read plenty! I wrote three stories super fast, posted them all on ao3 on the same day and haven’t looked back. I think I started writing out of a combination of just really needing more content for my faves, but also I wasn’t in fandom before s5 and was quite desperate after s4 to talk to other people about Raven & Murphy. So I needed to get the stories out but also I had this hope that it would invite conversation when I didn’t know anyone in fandom.

what frustrates you most about fic writing? Just because I want to write doesn’t mean I can. Having prompts on my plate right now, I feel a real responsibility to finish them, but even when I carve time out to write, sometimes the words just don’t feel right. The muse doesn’t always strike when I have the time available. Also, it’s super ridiculously important to me that scenes and dialogue FEEL right based on the characterization I have in my head in any particular story. I can look at a scene I’ve written, especially an emotional one, and sometimes it’s just not resonating with me the way I know it could or should. It’s tough not to just push through and post it as-is, but I know that would never satisfy me, even if it means a much longer turn-around time on a story or chapter update. Often I will find that I get an a-ha moment that cracks open a better understanding of why a scene isn’t working for me, but this can take time and I have to trust in this process.

Not to preach, but it’s also frustrating when something you spend a lot of time and effort on doesn’t get much in the way of comments. I see posting fic on ao3 as a sort of conversation, so when there’s mostly silence even as the hits (and hopefully kudos) tick upwards, it can feel really...disheartening to feel like you’re talking into a void. And I say this as someone who has been fortunate enough to have regular readers who DO give feedback! I think every writer understands that they need to write for themselves first and foremost, but I wish more readers understood that feedback and enthusiasm will absolutely result in MORE CONTENT! I try very hard to follow this guideline myself by supporting and commenting on everything I read as time permits.

what are your top five songs right now? I listen to a huge mix of songs & my childhood influenced me a lot.

Some floating in my head include -

Chris Cornell’s live cover of Nothing Compares 2U Indigo Girls - Romeo & Juliet The Decemberists - Once In My Life Tori Amos - Silent All These Years The Chicks - March March

what are your inspirations (books, songs, other fic)? I find inspiration in a lot of things, which I think is lucky. One of my biggest is the characters themselves. I love getting deep into understanding who I think they are, what their motivations are and why they’d make certain decisions, whether in canon or in an AU. What parts of their personalities do they keep when they aren’t tortured and under trauma on the regular? What would happen if I change this one scenario in their lives? I could probably go on forever just based on these sorts of thoughts, but I do also find inspiration in simple things like tropes, or song lyrics and the lore of the show itself. Quite a lot of my ideas in my inspiration notebook have sci-fi themes too. A few of my stories have already touched on sci-fi topics, and I absolutely plan more of them because I love how creative that can be. I also love the idea of suspended belief - can I have sentient plant life from an alien planet that can mindread & communicate by projecting thoughts into characters' heads? Yes, yes I can! (I wrote this story, fyi - Flora Incognita, part of a series)

what attracts you to Murven? what first attracted you? Hey, do you have all day? Ha! Seriously, I could talk about this until everyone wants to strangle me! I loved Raven immediately - not so much Murphy! But I really disliked Finn, so ep 1x10 when Raven finally broke up with him had me interested. In that ep, you can see that Murphy is present, awake & nearby in the Dropship and probably overhears everything Raven says. Then he gets up and looks at her to make sure she’s still sleeping before he carries out his revenge plans. I’m not kidding - that one look absolutely and completely hooked me! Murphy was still awful then but he was so much more interesting than Finn, and back then I remember thinking how I’d really like to see them interact as two stubborn, strong personalities, because no doubt sparks would fly. And then when they did interact more, their dynamic was exactly what I’d hoped for and then some!

I love that they’ve seen each other at their worst and at their weakest and most vulnerable, yet they’ve built a strong foundation of trust, faith and understanding. They have so much in common but they’re also different sides of the coin in some ways too. Fandom talks about Bellarke being the head & the heart, but to me Raven and Murphy are the intellect & the instinct - they complement each other, provide some of the qualities that the other needs, their differences improve each other. For me, nobody gets Raven like Murphy & nobody understands Murphy like Raven. Maybe not a lot of people notice, but Raven & Murphy check in with each other a lot - Raven tends to say “I got this” but Murphy is the only person who replies to her “Do you?”. And Raven listens to Murphy’s ideas and suggestions and plans even when she’s known as the genius because she knows that he has valuable things to say. They have fun together, make each other smile and enjoy each other’s company, which is in such short supply in this show!

I know there’s parts of fandom that don’t ship them because Murphy shot Raven in s1. I have a lot of thoughts on it and have had quite a few tumblr posts about it. This is a fictional show - it does not reflect reality. I’ve been on the fringes of fandom for a long time and I know shipping doesn’t always mean yes, I want to see this relationship in real life. For me, I think it’s absolutely fascinating that someone Raven should hate has become one of her closest and most trusted friends. That she forgave him, and we as the audience get to see this dynamic change and grow, and that Murphy has always felt guilty about it even though he was being presented as selfish and out for himself - it’s such a huge, huge part of each of their character’s journeys. This is getting rather meta, but I don’t think either of these characters would have survived this long or evolved to the extent that they each have without specifically being around each other.

And I absolutely can not discuss my love for Raven & Murphy without mentioning the whole way these two LOOK at each other! OMG have you SEEN it?!?? How could I not ship them when they look at each other like that! LOL! Also, I want to keep talking about this but I’ll stop now because I truly could go on forever and anyone who follows me already knows I’m wordy.

BESIDES Murven, what’s your favorite ship in t100? Honestly, nothing else comes close to Murven for me, but I did like Kabby before the show just eviscerated their characters. I like the possibilities of Niytavia still. I can see why people ship Murphamy in the earlier seasons. Definitely think Echo/Roan could’ve been something intriguing. And I’ve got this weird thing going right now where I wouldn’t hate Murphy/Russheda, but admittedly that’s mostly about the aesthetic! I tried really hard to like other partners for Raven & Murphy since they’ve always been my faves, but I’ve been meh about all the possibilities except Luna as a partner for Raven or as a Luna/Raven/Murphy threesome. At some point I might write that. Otherwise I’d say I tend to like the friendships more than the ships.

what are some things you’d like to recommend? I always hesitate to recommend other stories & authors because I can’t stand the idea of people feeling left out if I forget to mention them! But I would like to say that I really and truly love my fellow Murven shippers who read & support my stories and who create content like fic and art and gifs and fanvids. I find so much inspiration in them even though sometimes I can’t get through 30 seconds of a fanvid before I have to pause it because the angst is too much for me!

Since you’re kind enough to ask me this question and maybe a few people will read this answer, please - I recommend that everyone educate themselves on social justice and climate change and Black Lives Matter and capitalism and unions and what intersectionality & solidarity truly mean! Vote like your lives depend on it because THEY DO!

ed’s note: compiled a few resources -Rebel Well: A Starter Survival Guide to Trumped America -Jacob and Al’s Intergalactic Intersectionality Adventure -Get involved in your local chapter of DSA -Join Your Local Mutual Aid Group -Keeping Yourself Safe Online In This Capitalistic Hellscape -Angela Davis’ book Are Prisons Obsolete? -Resource about defunding the police

You can find @easilydistractedbyfanfic here on Tumblr, on Twitter, and on AO3. You can also a request a fic written by her via @bellarkefic-for-blm!

#bellarkefic4blm #raven reyes #john murphy #murven #murven fanfiction #bellarkefics for blm interview

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bellamygateoldblog · 4 years

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The 100 for the fandom ask please?

the first character i ever fell in love with:

finn, with jasper as a close second. i also really liked bellamy and octavia right away (”we’re back bitches” is iconic and im not accepting slander- you either lean into the cheesiness or you die a coward).

a character that i used to love/like, but now do not:

everyone (book 2)

a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not:

i think for every ship i dislike there wasn’t really a point i ever liked it. but it was the fandom that pushed my hate for bellarke’s dynamic into 'over my dead body’ levels (god do i hate what it does to bellamy’s character. i also have plenty of other objections to it but none of them hold a candle to the cold takes this fandom has terrorised me with over the years).

and at first i didn’t care about clexa, i was really bored by it- but the retroactive and relentless rewriting of it of this grand love story that clarke was never allowed to get over that i think was never there really got on my nerves and still does. and rewatching knowing about this made the weak telling of clexa even harder to watch for me.

seeing it with all with more of an idea of how to interact with movies/shows and really deeply letting myself take in what was happening was what pushed me to actively dislike it due to some realisations i had with the writing of the rest of the show, especially surrounding clarke’s character, the telling us one thing but showing us another, and how fucking dumb and inept they both were. rewatching confirmed/reinforced my initial instincts and reactions to clarke and i never grew to care for lexa so it’s not that my opinion necessarily changed, it just got more detailed/justified.

like with most things in this show, the writing really let that relationship AND those characters down (i feel a similar way about lexa that i do about bellamy...and raven...and tbh most other characters- that clarke drags them down and they’re better off as characters when/if distanced from her).

but i feel like i can see where people (people who are being honest and not insufferable) find these relationships enjoyable to watch. it’s the fandoms that let them down imo- clexas and bellarkes have GOT to be THE MOST delusional, miserable and arrogant fucking fans i’ve ever come across, i resent them and all that space they took up and stole from the rest of us.

my ultimate favorite character™:

bitch king jasper jordan

prettiest character:

just so you know, to me “pretty” means something very specific about how someone looks. i want to say it’s jasper and/or josephine.

my most hated character:

clarke :*

my OTP:

i usually don’t look for things to ‘ship’ romantically (a lot of the time the pairings i like are just canon anyway) so i just call any dynamic i really love an OTP lol. so those would be finn/raven, jasper + monty/raven, any pairings between finn/murphy/bellamy/jasper, spacekru dynamics, the blake siblings’ whole mess, book 1 becho, echo/hope, clarke x dying in the s4 finale

my NOTP:

bellarke, clexa

favorite episode:

my memory isn’t great for this lol everything pretty much blends together.

saddest death:

finn’s made me stop watching the show for a year.

jasper’s made me quit the show completely until after much convincing from a friend, i gave s5 a try when there was nothing else to watch one night lol. that’s when i joined fandom to try to make it fun and take the edge off and ended up staying out of hope there might be something that makes staying worthwhile (there was: i won this whole show bitches).

on a different note- i was sad to see pike go, wasn't thrilled about every character (especially bellamy) being brutally murdered for clarke's sake in book 2, and the death (abandonment) of “the 100″ ruined the show.

favorite season:

1 and 2 for the delinquents <3 rip, and also for the vibes and the potential that hadn’t been completely bulldozed yet.

least favorite season:

6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate:

clarke, book 2 bellamy, lexa (don’t ‘hate’ her but she ain’t alla that - i did find her a lot more entertaining in s2 before she was softened/declawed and made so she didn’t belong to herself anymore...i don’t know how else i can describe that).

my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave:

this is so typical but s1-3 murphy- i really loved him back then.

my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave:

me... i deserved better.

my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship:

i don’t think i’ve ever felt this way about a ship in my life lmao what kind of description is this?

my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship:

memori. i don’t go that hard for them but they’re cute.

#the 100

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sometimesrosy · 5 years

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Hey Rosy! Have you heard Marie’s comments about s7 at Dutch Comicon? She said Octavia “finds her peace in a place you’ve never seen her before.” And “you guys are going to see a bunch of different planets.” She also said “I can’t tell you who’s where or what’s what or where’s where, but it’s ugly and it’s crazy because it’s the 100 and no one ever smiles. There’s challenges and there’s wars and there’s stuff. Different circumstances this year.” What do you think is going to happen in s7’s plot?

It’s hard to guess what will happen in the plot because they like their plot twists, so the only thing I can do is think about the storylines that are still open, the narratives that are already being told and need to be finished, and the clues they’ve been dropping.

Becuse, this is, like, the LAST season, so they need to wrap up the storylines they’ve left open. It’s kind of a big challenge because they’ve been working on a LOT of long term storylines, so if they manage to get them all wrapped up next season I will be VERY impressed. I don’t think most tv shows DO manage to tie up all the loose ends. Most shows just kind of drop them over the years? Or don’t present them at all. So let’s see. I think they’re going to do it because they’ve started to resolve things I thought they had dropped.

Bellarke is going to get together romantically. It’s a big narrative, and has been relentlessly getting closer and closer. I know people call me delusional or a clown for still seeing it, but if they weren’t still moving it forward, I’d say they weren’t. They ARE. Season 6 leaves it clear without a doubt. No they don’t go quickly. That’s the way they’re telling it. And that is okay, even if it frustrates the impatient. BUT one of the requirements, every season of The 100, is that Clarke and Bellamy come together in order to reach victory, and every season, what brings them together is a deepening level of love. Actually it’s the most easily predicted outcome for any long term narrative. The others are less certain.

For Clarke herself, she’s been through the ringer. She started out the golden girl, the heroine who was idealistic and determined and full of love for humanity and her people, and as time went on, we found out she was ruthless, sneaky, and determined, and you really wanted her on your side. HOWEVER her heart was broken many times over, she was terribly betrayed, she bore the burden of terrible acts, she lost her belief in humanity and in herself and that there even WAS a right choice or a good guy. But in the last season, she’s recovered some of her belief in humanity, mostly through Bellamy, actually, and has come to learn that love is a strength, not a weakness, so I expect to see her fully coming into her heroic powers as she saves and redeems humanity in season 7.

For Bellamy, he started out at the bottom of the hero pile, being an actual villain in season 1a, and rising, expanding the circle of who he would protect out from Octavia, to his delinquents, to arkers to all of humanity. I believe Bellamy actually completed his hero’s journey in season 5, when he came back from space and did the right thing, saving everyone, spacekru, wonkru, eligius, and thus restoring Clarke’s faith in humanity because HE was good. Right? So that meant for him s6 and 7 need to have a different story, and I speculate that Bellamy has moved on to fulfill his archetypal character trait of “The Heart.” I think the end of the 100 for Bellamy is going to be a romance. He needs to search out that good life lived in love. And we saw it in season 6, as his goal, what/who he needed to save was his soulmate. And it was a dedicated mission that had ONLY Bellamy doing the saving and he used HIS HEART to save her. No guns. No diplomacy. No wars. No distractions. No make it go boom. No delinquents. JUST bellamy, and his hands and heart, because he needed her and couldn’t lose her. See? Bellamy was already the epic hero, now he’s the romantic hero. So that brings me back to Bellarke, because that means getting CLARKE is his goal now for s7. That’s his story. Because in romance stories, the goal is the romance. Clarke’s story may still be to save humanity, but I’m guessing that this is part of the overall story. Clarke saves humanity, Bellamy saves Clarke. Just like Bellamy inspires the masses but Clarke inspires Bellamy. See they trade off who supports whom, and that’s why they are the best.

Octavia will be redeemed. She has to be, because she’s symbolic of humanity itself. That she became evil for a while also fits because humanity is what destroyed the earth. I do not think that JR is writing a grimdark show that says humanity is evil at its root though, because the redemption of Octavia is happening. That was in doubt for me for a while. I thought they’d switched the humanity symbolism to Madi maybe? Or were cheaping out on a martyr sacrifice instead of real redemption. Not after they took away her martyrdom, though. ALSO a slow narrative. It seems like a war is brewing with whoever is in the anomaly, and she may use her warrior skills...BUT it might be important that she DOESN’T??? not sure. She might actually need to use them to better the world. This story DOESN’T say that violence is always the wrong choice, so being peaceful MIGHT not be the answer. Being peaceful has sometimes been the wrong choice in this show. But also, just because you HAVE the power to kill people doesn’t mean you should. So I’m not sure HOW she’s going to manage saving people. But she’s going to care about THEM, not her own power.

Raven will find a way to save everyone with technology. We’ve been talking a bit about her roll on my blog, and it’s highly likely that she might redeem BECCA, as a mirror of Becca’s tech destroying the world and leading to all of this, Raven has learned that it’s not jus getting to the goal that matters, but also HOW you get there. She’s learned ethics and morals. So if Octavia serves as a kind of symbolic salvation of humanity, Raven might be the redemption of technology, cleverness and advancement, as we see her no longer making it go boom, but rather unlocking secrets or creating tools or defense or who knows what? Not sure how this is going to work out. I also think that Raven and Clarke will reconcile, again, not sure how it’s going to work out because I thought it was going to happen through a spacekru story but Raven’s reckoning came through Abby instead, and therefore a kind of symbolic siblinghood with Clarke. I don’t think spacekru will be against Clarke anylonger though, because she was the last holdout and a lot of it was personal issues which she worked through with Abby.

Murphy... now Murphy is a question. We were talking and thinking that maybe HIS growth might be SPIRITUAL in direction. Which would be quite a twist for that s1 villain. But it might be true that he always wanted to be a part of something bigger, he always wanted to belong, to be loved, he also, until s6, was actually able to understand morality the most clearly of anyone, even if he chose to be bad sometimes. Then he had his spiritual reckoning when he died and thought he was going to hell... so we’ve got these questions coming up for him. Now he’s “immortal” and I hear tell that in s7 he’ll be living in the castle and that some of the sanctumites might still worship him. So that’s interesting. If his journey on the show has been a spiritual one, and now he’s being worshipped... he might decide to scam them be, well, leading them as “a god.” Of a type. Which might actually help to settle everything in the village. Oh, yeah. This is an interesting concept. I’ve actually had a long term theory that the 100 is actually a kind of origin story of the “gods” who redeemed humanity. And if we consider that Murphy is (for now) immortal, and he’s such a scammer, and he’s been a witness to Clarke and Bellamy from the beginning...oh holy heck, what if MURPHY is really the narrator of this tale? Oh holy heck. Murphy has taken part in all the storylines except for Mount Weather and Pike. AND he played the role of fleimkepa for a while. Holy Heck. Murphy as religious leader. Possibly god. Religion founder? s1 no god. s2. searching for god (literally on a quest for the city of light.) s3. fake(?) prophet/priest. s4. clarke’s morality (while you were saving them I was saving you,) and his own. s5. needs to be a hero/to be good/sacrifices himself. s6. dies/goes to hell/becomes immortal. s7. holy heck murphy’s found god??? is god??? leads the people to god???

Echo. Echo is Ash. This is important. She also needs to be her own person, who she is. She can’t be the good spy anymore. This is a plot point, not my wishful bellarke thinking. Echo’s story is about independence and identity and finding herself again. This is not a romance story. This is a feminist story of breaking free of the dictates of the past and choosing her own path. She needs to stand on her own two feet and not follow her leader anymore, who is now Bellamy, her boyfriend. Having your boyfriend be your king is already a suspicious dynamic. Ditch him, Echo. First off, you can make your own decisions. Secondly, you need someone you can share your soul with and for some reason it’s not him. (oh right because he’s already given it away and she’s standing right there.) Thirdly, you need to figure out who you are. I think Echo needs to make a choice for herself and it might not be the choice that Bellamy makes. Last season I said she’d choose to stand with the slaves of sanctum over her own people. This might be how it works out in the end, but it would look different because they’ll integrate at least some of the sanctumites into their people. IDK we’ll see.

Madi. IDK. I think that’s part of her story. What is her role now that she’s no longer heda? Child? She’s not just a simple child either.

Emori. Mostly Murphy’s storyline. She steadies him and gives him love. His early redemption started with “I don’t want to die alone.” and she gives him that. (Oh no. What if that means they are going to die... but not alone, together. a possibility.)

Jordan. Not actually my favorite character, but he’s a main, so that says his role will be bigger next season. He’s been brainwashed. So we’ll either have to get him out of it, or he’ll end up being kind of a villain. :(

Biggest mystery. The anomaly, Hope, Diyoza.

The anomaly is a gateway. It leads us to multiple planets. We already knew about those planets, so that makes sense. There are five, I think, of which Alpha is the first. There’s a guy there who made Hope bring Octavia back? Hope is a grown up now but Octavia is still her own age. The anomaly not only messes with space but also with time. I have not given up on our heroes going back in time and back to earth (they have been filming in and around a yellow farmhouse which I have speculated might be Diyoza’s father’s farmhouse where she went to hide from being captured but eventually WAS found in.)

We also know there will be upheaval in Sanctum, not all of the sancumites accepting what happened, Jordan being brainwashed and Murphy and Emori being worshipped as gods. lol. Wonkru is awake unless they put them back to bed and we have some Eligius prisoners awake because we saw the casting. Why wake them? Marie said a war. Are they going to war against whoever stole Octavia? They need them for a war.

I still think it’s about the redemption and salvation of humanity and maybe making up for destroying the earth, either by fixing what they did on earth, or creating a new, non toxic society in the colonies. I am not keen on colonies being the answer, because I think that’s not the answer to redeeming humanity for what they did to earth, but I also wonder if our delinquents might separate and choose different paths. Maybe some go back to earth. 200 years later it might be habitable again. I could see most of the delinquents going to different planets but Clarke and Bellamy going back to earth to see if they can fix it and living in peace, their own adam and eve. It’s a theme we’ve seen used before so it could happen. Also it would give them a The 100 style happy ending like Marper got. idk. I predicted marper’s ending as a possible bellarke ending a while ago... in other words, got the right story but the wrong couple. but marper is a mirror of bellarke so it could still happen.

I have a hard time saying what the plot of s7 will be. They’ve given us less than they ever have before. I got quite a bit from s5 hiatus, and I’m actually still going on things we found out then. I feel like it’s all one story, not two separate stories each season.

#the 100 #series finale #speculation #idk

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apomaro-mellow · 5 years

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What has changed?

So yeah, we can all agree that airing episodes out of order can hurt things like character development. But there is some kind of progression and things are escalating. And I kinda disagree with the fact that some people are saying s3′s finale is the same as s2′s.

So what has changed between Origins and Miracle Queen?

1. Marinette’s confidence as a civilian - We can see that before the new school year, she let Chloe bully her around. It’s only after defeating an akuma for the first time (and meeting Alya) that she starts standing up for herself. Pre-season 1!Marinette probably would have never stood up to Lila the way she did in Chameleon.

2. Marinette’s responsibility as Ladybug - This one is a less dramatic change, but one nonetheless. In Origins, she gave up her miraculous the moment things got tough because she thought she wasn’t capable. In Miracle Queen, things are even rougher and she does need to be comforted twice, but she never considers giving up.

3. Knowledge of the miraculous - This one covers a lot of ground. In the beginning, only Marinette, Adrien, Gabriel, and Fu had any knowing of the miraculous. (And possibly Nathalie, we don’t know for sure when she got clued in to HM). By the end of season three, Marinette knows all the powers of every miraculous. She and Adrien know how to combine two miraculous. And each know their powerups (water, ice, etc).

Gabe has been presumably decoding the book’s texts which was in his possession pre-season 1.

Half of Mari’s class knows what a miraculous is; that it comes with a kwami and grants superpowers, as well as the time limit as opposed to the beginning. LB and CN came out of nowhere to fight a monster that also came out of nowhere.

4. Akumas in Paris - Going off the last thing I said, Parisians reactions to akumas, which have become normalized. They’re still a scary thing of course. But before, folks would have no idea what was going on or why. Now there’s “akuma alerts”, presumably in most public buildings as we saw in the Louvre during Riposte. Now citizens know that not only will there be at least 2 heroes taking care of it, but that any damage will be fixed in the end. And knowing is half the battle as we see in the few times a person has either fought against Hawkmoth or avoided an akuma altogether because they’re aware that they feed on negative emotion.

As much as we decry Chloe’s development, she is the first to actually refuse akumatization when HM’s already in her head, showing us that it can in fact be done.

5. The Guardian(s) - Initially, only Marinette knew Fu from the beginning of s2. Adrien met him and presumably learned a bit more partway through the same season. In Feast, HM finds his true identity and this all comes to a head in the s3 finale.

Fu did give up his guardianship in that same finale and now HM seems to be back at step one because he doesn’t know who LB is. But now there’s a bunch of guardians in that newly rediscovered temple which must certainly be a plot point in the coming seasons (one would hope).

And Ladybug is the guardian now. With Fu’s memories gone, she is the highest authority among the Parisian heroes.

She could find out Chat Noir’s identity through necessity

She can hand out miraculous at her discretion. We’re definitely going to see more of her classmates get a miraculous (as confirmed through the leaks)

And this possibly means more kwami interactions. Either between themselves, Marinette, or their future holders and speaking of.....

6. Future Miraculous holders - So, Hawkmoth knows the faces of all the part time heroes and he certainly must recognize a few of them as Adrien’s classmates. Chloe could possibly know as well. Being akumatized seems to cloud the victims memories at times, so it’s uncertain how much of Miracle Queen she retained. So what’s in store for them now? If we go by the show’s rules, none of them can ever use a miraculous again (or at the very least not the same one). And this is where the other miraculous come in, I’m sure.

The point is, HM could very well draw conclusions about LB and CN’s identities based on the allies they chose.

7. Adrien’s rebelliousness - Technically the first time we see Adrien, he’s being a rebel, going to school against his father’s wishes. But as the seasons went on we see him doing more and more to go against Gabe. Whether it’s escaping his room as Chat Noir or just straight up lying about where he’s going (Desperada, Frozer, Startrain). And we see this result in him ditching an official event in Loveater that Gabriel is even attending (as a tablet but still)! Something pre-season 1!Adrien may have never done.

8. Hawkmoth - Season one he’s just a dude in his attic acting alone with his akumas. By the end of s3 we know the villain is the father of one of our heroes, doing this to restore his comatose wife. And by this time, he has allies. Mayura, who is Nathalie, who was in on the scheme possibly from episode 1. Lila, his part time minion. And now he possibly has Chloe, who at this point is disillusioned by Ladybug.

9. Chloe - Oh lawd, here we go. Okay, yes, her development seems all over the place but let’s just focus on where she started to where she is by the end of Miracle Queen. In Origins, she’s the queen of the school. No one stops her from doing anything and they just kind of roll their eyes while letting her do her thing.

Starting with Alya, people start to challenge her. Marinette and Adrien have done so as well, forcing her to consider the way she treats people. And from the beginning, she’s in love with LB (interpret that how you will).

By the end of s3, she’s been told to her face how she needs to treat people and how she needs to act if she really wants to be a hero. But in the end, she fights against Ladybug, willingly. She welcomes an akuma (almost twice) putting her in the same league with Lila.

I believe in s4 we’ll see a Chloe who is very much like s1!Chloe, except we’ll understand her motivations and the choices that led up to this and know that she doesn’t mean to be good for good’s sake but would rather do anything, even evil, to be taken seriously.

10. How Adrien sees Marinette - Oh LAWD here we go! In Origins, Adrien certainly notices her. As someone who doesn’t hesitate to tell someone off when they’re doing wrong. Adrien ends up making amends because he wants to make nice with everyone. And from then on, he and Mari are friends in his eyes. And while some of us lament that “just friends”, friendship is very important to someone who has been isolated his whole life.

S2, Adrien acknowledges her as their “everyday Ladybug”, which means he sees how she helps everyone and always does the right thing, which he finds admirable.

By the end of s3, he’s actually seen her in action as Multimouse. He has seen her being a hero in and out of costume at this point. Whereas before she was probably just one of many friends he wanted to make, now she’s an important friend, and an incredible one at that.

11. How Marinette sees Adrien - I’m not gonna say too much here because I wanna get into the lovesquare as a whole, but suffice to say, this dynamic has changed. Marinette went from not knowing who Adrien was, to being obsessed with him, to realizing that maybe it’s time to move on and that perhaps they’re better as friends

12. The Lovesquare - whooo boy. I want it to be known that because this is a children’s show, I’m betting on all sides of the square being resolved and together by the series end. I’d be surprised if any of the tertiary pairings (Lukanette & Adrigami) were seen through til the end. That being said, the status of our main couple has changed quite a bit. I already mentioned the possibility of Ladybug having to know Chat Noir’s identity due to her being the guardian, so just imagine that extra layer over these.

Ladrien

These two couldn’t look at each other two seconds without blushing and turning into babbling messes. We know Mari’s arc is leading her towards Luka and away from Adrien. Adrien’s is possibly leading him to Kagami, but a big part of his is his indecision. And this could mean that in the future, while he no longer flirts with LB as CN, he may try and shoot his shot with her as Adrien instead.

Marichat

In s1, LB’s attitude towards CN carries over into her identity as Marinette, which we see in Evillustrator when she mocks him. But come Glaciator and she finds out his feelings for Ladybug are serious, which is reinforced in Weredad. Seeing as Marin is moving towards Luka and Adrien towards Kagami, this could open up the door for a true Marichat friendship

Adrienette

This side of the square is pretty much “dead”. And I mean that in the sense that as of right now, neither is looking at the other as a romantic option. Marinette is moving on and Adrien never saw her that way to begin with. I’m sure this is something that will change is s4 and s5 and we might even experience a shift in the dynamic (reverse lovesquare anyone?). But as of right now, this might be the most platonic side of the square except for possibly....

Ladynoir

Remember in the beginning of Loveater when Chat Noir said he had a girlfriend and we all clutched our metaphorical pearls before he said “just kidding :3c” That might turn into a real conversation now if Adrien’s seriously going to date Kagami. Which means he won’t be flirting with LB. And Ladybug might be surprised this time around, but as we saw before, she would also be supportive. He’ll still be punning and she’ll be rolling her eyes, but now there’s no romantic advances on his part, which I’m sure LB will appreciate. But this could be potential for friendship and thus a stronger partnership.

And those are all the things that have changed from Origins to Miracle Queen. If I missed any, go ahead and lemme know.

#apo watches #miraculous ladybug #ml spoilers #miracle queen spoilers #loveater spoilers #why did i spend 1.5 hr writing an essay for a children's show #personal

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lovelylogans · 4 years

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,,,,can I get some opinions on lorelai, specifically Lorelai's Love Interests?

*cracks knuckles*

i just answered an ask about rory’s main love interests but now i’m gonna go into lorelai’s

quick disclaimer: i have seen s1-s5, read scripts of key episodes of s6/s7. so. let’s get into it.

jason:

jason is literally trash lmao and i Dislike Him. least favorite of lorelai’s love interests. garbage man. if men have one thing it’s the Audacity.

okay first of all his whole introduction to canon was that he wanted to leave the business his dad groomed him for..... to piss off his dad. like. that’s his reasoning. that’s why he wants to go into business with richard. literally just to piss off his dad. Sir You Are Nearly Forty.

and then. and THEN. like his FIRST scene!!!! with lorelai!!!!! is when lorelai is like “hey you shouldn’t have gone behind my mom’s back and planned this business trip when she was planning a party! that’s kinda shitty of you!” and his response was to REMINISCE about their time at summer camp and he’s like “you still hold a grudge” because. BE. CAUSE. he stood up and tipped over the canoe when lorelai was fully clothed, and when lorelai pointed this out, this man. has the AUDACITY. to say. “i remember. green t-shirt, no bra. trust me, i was the hero of cabin five for the rest of the summer.”

GROSS. GROSS GROSS GROSS GROSS GROSS. FUCK MEN. as if THAT isn’t gross enough he came up with the nickname “umlauts” because her nipples were showing through her shirt!!! diSGUSTIN!! men! are! nasty! and literally less than TEN one-sentence lines later he ASKS HER OUT.

and then literally the rest of his character is basically just “business.” like. that’s it. when he takes the day off to come to stars hollow literally almost the Entire Time he’s focused on business calls and not on lorelai, his girlfriend who he came to spend time with. and then when richard, being a Shady Bitch, double-crossed him and went back into business with his dad, jason wanted to SUE HIM??? BRO???????? YOU STILL EXPECTED LORELAI TO STICK WITH YOU WHEN YOU ARE SUING HER FATHER?????????

this doesn’t even go INTO all the other stuff about hidden relationship and they’re literally dating just bc it pisses off their parents, it’s just. jason sucks. dude sucks. don’t like him. not one bit.

christopher:

i have..... complicated feelings toward christopher. to steal a quote i saw from twitter when someone was like “he knows lorelai so deeply!” they said “he knows her past, it doesn’t mean he knows her.”

so, like, on one level. i think that christopher was a bad dad to rory. right. like, he isn’t a good dad. i come from a home with split up parents, so, like, i understand the complexities there, but. he wasn’t a good dad. he just wasn’t.

that episode in season one? it’s the first time he comes to stars hollow. the. first. time. in sixteen years he has never gone to see where his daughter (and friend/romantic interest) lived, which follows: he hasn’t been to any of her parent/teacher nights, he’s never gone to any of the performances she was in as a child, he’s never participated with her when it comes to town events that she’s so passionate about (being a pilgrim, all the things taylor lists when she turns down being ice cream queen, etc) he wasn’t there. he wasn’t there for all the small moments that make up being a dad. no helping with homework, no sitting with her and listening after a long day, no actual parenting—no being there when she’s sick, no disciplining her if she does something wrong, no being there to celebrate her victories. he isn’t a good dad to rory. he has his occasional moments (he starts calling her more often post that visit, but it drops off again post-sherry) but all in all? not a good dad. i would go far as to say “deadbeat dad” as the first significant financial help he offers, that we see in canon, is him paying for yale. not helping with chilton, or any other childcare costs.

that’s an important factor when it comes to evaluating him and lorelai. because, quite honestly? i think that if rory didn’t exist, christopher and lorelai would have been firmly in the realm of “we dated in high school.” maybe a former flame that gets a fling when there’s a high school reunion. but since rory exists, they’re tied together forever, and therefore those feelings keep cropping up and flourishing (esp in situations when they shouldn’t) and they’re so stuck in the past.

i think that teenage christopher and teenage lorelai are well suited. i don’t think adult christopher and adult lorelai are well suited. lorelai had to grow up very quickly when she had rory, so she got a job, settled down in stars hollow, and put in the work of being a responsible parent who provides for her child. christopher doesn’t start keeping a job until s2/s3, he’s still very much stuck in the past. his pursuit of her is almost entirely rooted in nostalgia, as is her returning interest. they keep coming back to each other because it’s comfortable, it’s what they know. but once they look past that lens of nostalgia, their compatibility kind of falls apart. christopher is still immature in general (getting angry over the character reference she writes for luke, getting drunk at emily and richard’s vow renewal and basically shoving himself in the middle of their relationship like “but THE OOOOOLD DAAAAYYYS” and that WHOLE storyline of where he turned off his phone and ignored lorelai’s calls when richard had a heart attack, do NOT get me started) and lorelai is very independent and she likes her life where it is and how it is.

so to sum up: christopher and lorelai’s relationship is almost entirely doomed to fail because they can’t remove their rose-colored glasses when it comes to their (mutually romanticized) past together, and when the glasses are knocked off, they aren’t compatible. they just aren’t. what ties them together is that nostalgia, where they’re most natural is when they’re joking and being friendly (like the old times!) and when it turns into a romantic relationship, reality is too much for that tenuous connection to handle.

luke:

OBVIOUSLY i am team luke. this is the ship i’m most dedicated to within the gilmore girls fandom. he’s there for her, they push each other to become better (lorelai keeping his father’s boat, for example, and him encouraging her throughout the opening of the dragonfly) they have that Longing and Yearning. they have amazing chemistry, they’ve been crushing on each other since SEASON! ONE! and honestly they are fantastic when they work together.

i will say that they have their issues, and it almost entirely boils down to lack of communication.

if lorelai had communicated the occasions in which she had seen chris, luke wouldn’t have been so caught off-guard at the vow renewal and cut off their relationship. if luke had communicated about april’s existence with the full honesty that he didn’t know about her existence, lorelai, as a mother, as someone whose child’s default father figure is luke, would probably take some time but ultimately understand the importance of a child. they should have communicated about the wedding being too soon, and all their other issues. that bickering that makes their flirting and crushing so great also gets in their way sometimes; it’s hard for them to have a serious conversation without lorelai deflecting or luke shutting down. honestly i think it would have been great if they’d gone to couples therapy (okay, look, almost everyone in gilmore girls needs therapy, including emily and lorelai, so i’m glad that at least that one got tackled somewhere in canon) and it would have really helped fix that main problem.

frankly, i think a lot of their problems are bc ASP and the other writers wanted “drama.” which fair, it’s a tv show, but frankly leave the drama to rory and there are other ways to manufacture drama other than breaking up your main couple: dragonfly drama, for instance, or liz and tj and jess, or dealing with rory’s dramas, or something like the emily and richard and luke drama but sustained to a point where it causes a similar family fight that might have even paralleled lorelai leaving the gilmore household for someone she loves, and seeing that relationship knit up. like i get this show was in the 2000s but honestly let the couples actually Be Together!!! let them explore those dynamics!!! the whole “break them up, put them back together, break them up, put them back together” thing is tired and it seems unrealistic. like!!!! luke says “i’m all in” to lorelai and less than like TEN episodes later he’s like “it’s too much. this relationship is too much.” LET THEM WORK THROUGH THEIR STRUGGLES AS A COUPLE AND LET THEM C O M M U N I C A T E. LET THEM!!!!!

otherwise? iconique. the Flavor. the taste. the vibes are immaculate. chef’s kiss. luke/lorelai is So Good. their chemistry is unparalleled. their support of each other unmatched.

i can’t really remember any other love interests lmao OH SHOOT

max medina:

lol forgettable uh, i think that he and lorelai had an interesting partnership, but it clearly wouldn’t have worked out to the point of a wedding, which i feel like lorelai knew because she kept holding back on actually answering him for the proposal after the s1 finale. i think that his dynamic could have also really been utilized to play with the dynamic of lorelai re-entering her parents’ world and the different expectations that that maintains; i don’t think it should have gone so far to, like, proposal, i think it could have been maintained then max wanted to get serious and lorelai hesitates and pulls something similar to the show. anyway, interesting first love interest for lorelai, also helps ground the world of chilton, so nice little twofold purpose for max there

i will say his proposal was super cute tho the thousand yellow daisies thing was Excellent

#i LITERALLY didn't remember max until i was about to hit post lol #that's why he's down at the bottom #annalise talks gilmore girls #Anonymous #ask

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twdmusicboxmystery · 4 years

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Hell/Dark Tunnel Symbolism

Okay, today I want to talk about the hell or dark tunnel symbolism. It really came together for me in a big way during episode 10x10 and I want you guys to see what I'm seeing. First let's talk about what it is. It often starts with water. We’ve said before that water = Beth, and that still true. But I believe water may represent something slightly bigger or more general than that as well.

It struck me in episode 10x11 that when Ezekiel went to get Carol, she was at Daryl's camp by the water. Now, Carol basically did in this season exactly what Daryl did after he lost Rick.

(Once again, Carol and Carol are very similar in their tendencies and how they deal with things. Both of them tend to shut down and become somewhat hermetic.)

It's important to note that Ezekiel is the only one who could've convinced Carol to come back to civilization. This happened relatively quickly, because as soon as Ezekiel found out what happened, he went out to get her. She wouldn't have come back for anyone else. The same was true of Daryl, and that's what makes it sad. After Rick’s death, if Beth had been around, he wouldn’t have stayed out in the woods so long. She would come to get him and he would come back with her. But he ended up staying up there for six years because he had no Beth to come get him and bring him back, as Ezekiel did for Carol.

And yes, for the record, Carol did bring Daryl back in S9, but remember that he wouldn't do it for her originally. He said no. She had to leave Henry with him overnight, trusting that Henry will be able to convince Daryl to come back. And who did Henry represent and remind Daryl of heavily? That would be Beth.

But back to Carzekiel. I thought it was interesting that rather than just have her go off by herself into the woods somewhere, they purposely put her next to a body of water. I think water represents happiness, especially romantic happiness for our main characters. So, Beth definitely does = water, especially for Daryl. And I also think she equals water for other reasons having to do with the plot, including the helicopter group, which is purifying water. She's a dynamic symbol.

But back to the dark tunnel symbolism. It often starts near water to show that the character is happy and that there surrounded by people they care about. That's often romantic love, but it can also be other kinds, like familial love. After all, Rick was near water when he disappeared, which would suggest romantic love for Michonne losing him, but obviously not for Daryl and the others.

So again, we start no water, which represents happiness. Then something happens, usually the loss of someone the character cares about, and the character enters the dark tunnel or hell symbolism. This is often represented literally by a dark tunnel in the show.

We've also seen it represented by gas station more than once, and gas stations represent hell. So, these are all the same symbols. It represents a period of great trial, personal hell, or emotional/psychological darkness for the character. And again, this is usually because they’ve lost someone they cared about.

Yet, we often see it depicted as having a light at the other end of the tunnel. This usually represents them being able to get that person back. Because of this, I believe the dark tunnel symbolism is usually used only when the character will eventually get the person they've lost back. In other words, a death fake out.

I’m going talk about all of the instances of dark tunnel symbolism I can think of. I'm sure there are some that I've missed, especially smaller, more subtle instances. I'll just give you enough so that you can see the way that they do this in the show.

Let me mention that this specific dark tunnel symbolism was not used heavily until S4 when Gimple took over. The trials the characters went through still existed in earlier seasons, of course, but I don't think they used “dark tunnels’ extensively to show those trials until Gimple took the reins.

So, for example, earlier death fake outs included Carol in S3 and Merle in S1, but they didn’t specifically employ dark tunnel symbolism for those. I’m sure if you go back and watch the episode, you might be able to find something that qualifies, but it’s not to the same extent that Gimple began purposely putting still after 3x16.

The original dark tunnel had to do with Rick in episode 1x01. After he wakes up, Rick enters the hospital stairwell, which is very dark. He has only a small flickering lighter and then we see him open the door out into the sunlight, which is very common now, which is very similar to what Beth did agree.

Now, this dark tunnel might represent Rick’s own fake out in ep 1x01. Because Lori and Carl thought he was dead and then he showed up alive. Rick waking up at the beginning of the series was sort of the Original Death Fake Out.

And I think sometimes Gimple does this. More often, though, the character who enters the dark tunnel isn’t the one who is presumed dead. Rather, someone they love is presumed dead, which is why they’re in hell to begin with.

The dark tunnel in 1x01 represents Rick is about to enter a period of trial or is going to lose someone. I believe for 1x01, the dark tunnel represents the series as a whole and the zombie apocalypse in general. Rick is about to enter a period of trials that is the apocalypse and the end of the world. He’ll lose a lot of people along the way, and this entire story is one great big hell for the characters. This is actually backed up by quite extensively by what Dr. Jenner in 1x06 at the CDC. We get a lot of biblical symbolism and mention of trials.

It’s also worth mentioning that one of the first and most famous scenes of the pilot is where Rick arrives at a gas station and sees zombie girl. That was mirrored in 8x01 and foreshadowed Carl’s death, so it lines up fairly neatly. The gas station represents the hell that comes from losing a beloved family member or other character. The dark tunnel, while represents basically the same thing, is used primarily when the person lost is a romantic love interest.

But then Gimple takes over in 3x16 and starting in S4, we get much more purposeful and obvious use of this dark tunnel symbolism.

In 4a, Daryl's group, while looking for medicine, goes into a gas station. This instance is how we know the gas station represents hell. On the marquee the letters have been turned to spell out the word, “hell.”

We also get what I always refer to as Grady lighting at both the gas station and the veterinary clinic. All that means is that it's dark inside with light streaming in from outside. So kind of lines up with dark tunnel symbolism. It might also represent imprisonment. Darkness insight the prison with the light of freedom on the outside.

A couple of important details: they are looking for water almost right away, because the battery (Battery Theory) that they find is dry and needs water. We also see prominent keys, and coolant (antifreeze) plays a prominent role in how the people in the gas station died.

In 4b, we had two major instances of the dark tunnel symbolism. The first was with Maggie and Glenn. Glenn and Tara literally entered a dark tunnel because Glenn was searching for Maggie. When they got into the tunnel, they found that the ceiling had fallen in, trapping walkers.

I’ve always believed the ceiling falling and was a representation of Beth being shot in the head. (See the Hole in the Roof theory.) Maggie even tells Glenn later that she fired off her gun and that's what made the ceiling fell on the walkers, which saved her life. The point is, Maggie and Glenn were separated and searching for one another. We have a literal dark tunnel with light at the end, and they came out of the dark tunnel on the other side, reunited.

Bet you can guess the other major hell, dark tunnel symbolism and 4B. That would be the golf club. Once again, we have a confirmation that this represented hell because on TTD, the writers said that Beth and Daryl going through the golf club represented the nine circles of hell. So, it represented a period of trial for them.

And I could go into all kinds of ways that what happened in the golf club foreshadowed their arc and what would happen, including the passage of eight minutes which probably represents eight years. But the point is, we have dark tunnel symbolism which represents hell or a trial. And at the end, both of them came out on the other side into the light and Beth said, "We made it."

Let’s move on to S5. We had Beth leaving Edward's office and literally walking into a dark hallway with light at the end. We also have the shot of her looking down the dim hallway greeting when she arrives, and seeing a man with a mop at the end, standing in lighter area. This represented that Beth was about to enter her dark tunnel arc.

Well, I said the person entering the dark tunnel is not usually the person who's presumed dead, but the one who lost somebody. So between the two, it's really Daryl in the dark tunnel because that represents his emotional or psychological darkness over losing Beth.

However, I also believe that Beth will have a dark tunnel of her own. We haven't seen it because we aren't seeing anything from her point of view. But when we get her story, I think there's a very good chance that she has a dark tunnel as well. Mainly it will be dealing with the emotional darkness at losing her family and being left behind, but I think there's a good chance she’ll come to believe Daryl is dead as well. That could be why it’s taken them so long to find one another, because neither believes the other one is still living.

Moving on to S6.

Enter Glenn's death fake out. Because he’s the one presumed dead, It would be Maggie who’s in the dark tunnel because she lost him, right? And, once again, we have a very literal dark tunnel that Maggie enters.

After 6x03, Thank You, even before the audience learned he’d lived, Maggie and Aaron enter a dark tunnel together. This very much represents her emotional turmoil over not knowing whether Glenn is alive or not. And all the lighting and symbolism applies.

(I’m also side-eying the fact that Aaron was involved here, given that he befriended Daryl right after Daryl lost Beth, and that Aaron actually showed up with the music box.)

It's also important to me that we didn't get any dark tunnel symbolism when Glenn actually died. That's why I believe it's only used when they're going to get that loved one back. So the dark tunnel applied in S4 when Glenn and Maggie were separated but found their way back to one another. It also applied in S6a when Glenn had his death fake out.

But we didn't see it around Maggie when Glenn actually died. Don't get me wrong, we saw her grieving and saw other interesting symbols around her, but not specifically the dark tunnel symbolism because, in this case, she wasn't going to get Glenn back.

Season 7:

We see a version of this when Daryl was being held captive at the Sanctuary. There were a lot of symbols there that showed he was thinking a lot about Beth and that represented his dark tunnel arc. The symbolism we saw here other wasn't exactly the same, but I think that's because it represented the dark tunnel that he was already in.

The thing about Daryl is that, as Beth pointed out to him in S4, he doesn’t naturally default toward optimism and faith. He often can't see beyond the darkness toward the light. Other characters such as Beth and Ezekiel can see beyond the darkness to light much more easily than he can.

So, we had a shot of him lying in his cell, reaching toward the light, and he's definitely surrounded with darkness. It's like he wants to get to the light, but he doesn't know how. And again, it’s important to note that he didn't actually take actions to get himself back toward the light by escaping the Sanctuary until after Dwight played the song that reminded him of Beth. She became his light that helped him get through the darkness.

Season eight.

There was a scene where Negan and Rick were fighting and went into the basement of an abandoned building. This is another thing we can point to as being a representation hell because there was a sign beside it said "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."

That same thing is written above Hell, in Dante's Inferno. So, the writers obviously pull heavily from Dante (the 9 circles of hell in the golf club also comes from Dante) but this obviously represents Rick's coming dark tunnel and death fake out, in the same way that the golf club represented Beth’s.

Season 9:

Some people have suggested that, just before Rick disappeared, when he and Daryl fell into that pit together, that might have functioned as dark tunnel symbolism. Also, during his hallucination, we saw him in the hospital again from 1x01. There are lights on in the hospital, but it still dark compared to what's outside, so that also might have been a representation of dark tunnel symbolism.

And its interesting that it showed the hospital from 1x01 again, because it kind of book-ended his time on the show by showing both ends of the tunnel, as it were.

I also think it's worth mentioning what happened with Michonne in 9x06, right after Rick disappeared. She found an abandoned van hidden in the brush and got in to explore it. Honestly, this wasn't the best representation of dark tunnel symbolism because the van wasn't terribly dark. But it was cylindrical in shape and it did have sunlight streaming in from the outside.

And to be fair, this tent Daryl wakes up in also has the look of a dark tunnel. They were both in a bad place after losing Rick.

During the opening sequence with her, she picks up the sheriff that looks a lot like Rick and talks about how since he left just become darker and darker for her. So, I think it's a representation of her being in the dark tunnel after having lost Rick.

Season 10:

Now, finally, we get to the sequence in 10x10, with Alpha and Daryl. While I don't think this represents a coming dark tunnel arc, I think it’s rehash of Daryl's entire dark tunnel arc from the beginning.

So, notice it starts out near some water, which represents him being with Beth. Then, we see a fight between him and Alpha, in which Alpha (who represents Dawn) injures Daryl (who represents Beth in the sequence) in the forehead. He even stabs her in the shoulder as Beth did with Dawn. Then they both stagger away into a gas station.

Remember that gas station represents hell or the dark tunnel. In other words, after Beth was shot, Daryl enters the gas station/dark tunnel of trial because he lost her.

We have a walker horde involved. (I haven't mentioned it specifically with each individual case, but there are usually walkers involved in the dark tunnel/hell symbolism. Walkers were involved in the train tunnel in 4b with Maggie and Glenn; there were walkers blocking her and Aaron from getting out in 6a; we believe a walker horde was involved in leaving Beth behind; you get the idea.)

We saw many symbols around Daryl in the gas station in 10x10 that we've seen throughout a lot of these situations over the seasons, including fire extinguishers, yellow mops, a car with an open trunk, Christmas tree symbols, and coolers. There was even a fish hanging on the wall. I won’t go into details on all of these for this post, but if you’ve followed TD for a while, you should have a pretty good idea.

And then of course there was the conversation were Alpha asked, "Can you see beyond the darkness, into the light?"

Daryl: "No."

This was a representation of Daryl's entire dark tunnel arc. I think they’re replaying it because his is been longer than anyone else’s by far. Maggie and Glenn’s came to a close, both times, within a handful of episodes. We don't know exactly when Michonne will get Rick back, but certainly won’t take as long as it did for Daryl to get Beth back.

Daryl's entire arc on the show since S5 has revolved around losing and was foreshadowed in S4. I also believe they’re rehashing it because it's about to end. He's about to finally come out of his dark tunnel when he finds Beth alive. So just as we saw the hospital from 1x01 again when Rick disappeared, so they’re also rehashing Daryl’s dark tunnel arc because Beth is about to appear.

We get a few different symbols of resurrection at the end of this dark tunnel arc. Sometimes its eyes fluttering open (Beth and Glenn). Other times it’s lying against a tree. *Ahem*

It's also important to note that Dawn died very soon after what happened with Beth because Daryl shot her. Obviously, Daryl did not kill Alpha, but I do think it's important that we saw the sequence with her being a stand-in for Dawn and only two episodes later, she's dead. Yet more evidence that the sequence was meant to represent Grady.

We also get other, oblique symbols that recur with the Dark Tunnel symbolism, such as flashlights and flashlight flares,

but I won’t try to go into all of that, today.

So that is the dark tunnel/how symbolism as I'm seeing it. As I said, I'm sure there's a lot more instances, but these are the major ones that came to mind.

Thoughts?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

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amwritingmeta · 5 years

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21 Supernatural Questions

I was tagged by @deletingpoint - thanks for the kind words, girl!! Made my day! You rock the block! And yes don’t mind if I do join in, this looks fun. :P

1. When did you start watching Supernatural?

I’d seen stray episodes before - I’ve absolutely no clue which ones - but then I binged S1-6 in 2013 while being ill with the flu and I was hooked before it came up, because I loved S1-3 and the brother dynamic and thought it was a really awesomely well-written piece of television, but when they introduced the will-they-won’t-they-make-this-uber-masculine-guy-be-into-guys-and-specifically-the-guy-with-wings I was pretty much gone for. So I caught up on the show and watched it until a few episodes into S9 (don’t judge me, I was surface watching and couldn’t get with the program at the time because why wasn’t Dean gay already??) and then I quit watching for a few years because I couldn’t stand the grey area and the uncertainty. I also wasn’t invested enough to stand it, tbh, and felt, naw, I’ll get back to this if it ever seems like they’re actually gonna do anything with this thing they’re hinting so strongly at. Picked it back up while S12 was airing and here we now are.

2. Who is your favorite in TFW?

But the other two might get jealous!

(okay, it’s Cas)

3. Who is your least favorite in TFW?

They’re the holy trinity and none of their character progression works without all of them taking up their allotted space in the narrative and how can you not love them all what is wrong with this question why am I hyperventilating why aren’t they beloved equally gaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh

(but Cas is my favourite)

4. Tag your top 5 Supernatural blogs!

I sincerely can’t, but I can tag a few people whom I very much appreciate and whose answers to this questionnaire I would be intrigued to see: @godshipsit @charlie-minion @mad-as-a-box-of-frogs @waywardliliana @natmoose @purgatory-jar @myed89 @inacatastrophicmind @rustling-pages @angelneedshunter @nerdylittleshit @obsessionisaperfume @assbuttboyfriends @misskittyspuffy @starsinursa @postmodernmulticoloredcloak @casismybestfriend @mittensmorgul @elizabethrobertajones - you’re all like bursts of colour and glitter glue and I’m happy you’re around! :) (btw I always find it awkward to tag specific peeps because there are so many of you lovelies that I would honestly tag so just know that this most likely includes you) (yeah that’s right) (YOU) <3

5. Who is your favorite character (not including TFW)?

Jack

6. Who is your favorite woman in Supernatural?

Rowena

7. John or Mary?

Mary

8. What were your first opinions of Sam, Dean, Cas, and Jack?

Sam: my first impression of him was very coloured by my impression of Jared as Dean on Gilmore Girls, so to hear someone call Jared Sam and then this Sam call someone else Dean was a bit jarring while watching the pilot. My earliest opinion of Sam was that he was kind, good with people, skilled, independent and, yes, haunted by past choices.

Dean: Immediate impression was oh, he’s one of those guys, and then almost straight away that first impression was blown to bits and everyone knows that he’s very, very easy to fall in love with quickly, so my love for him grew strong within a few episodes, for sure. First opinion formed holds until this day: someone who’s lost and who’s searching for a way home. In every sense of that sentence.

Cas: Holy shitballs, who’s this now?? was pretty much my first reaction to Cas’ entrance. It blew me away. It was an absolute game changer. It made me sit up. It made my brain go... are they... are they going to make Dean Winchester... is Dean Winchester into men?? And because on my first watch I’d not seen the little hints of this that now are so damn glaringly obvious, the chemistry between Dean and Cas literally made a lot of shit click into place for me regarding what I was potentially actually watching, and raised my emotional investment sky high considering the possible social commentary baked into the overall message of family and identity, and yeah, that still holds true to this day.

Jack: I was ready to fight tooth and nail for him after 12x19. That episode is still one of the best 42 or so minutes of television I’ve ever seen. The plant of Jack as a needed push for Cas’ progression hit me in the heart, and once it clicked that Jack represented the holy trinity of Heaven, Hell, Humanity, and how he might narratively prove a knitting point for TFW, something for them all to rally around, well, I was pretty much done for.

9. What’s your favorite season?

This is a really hard question because watching a season from start to finish means taking all of it in, and all of them - when start-to-finished - I feel are rather outstanding, but twist my arm and I’ll say: S1 or S4 or S5 or S8 or S9 or S11 or S13 (I can’t narrow it down to just one season alright?) and S14 and looking at what we have so far with this unfinished season I’d name S15, definitively.

10. What’s your least favorite season?

Oh, man. Make a girl sweat. So, here’s the thing, I genuinely see each season as adding something valuable to the whole, you know? I suppose S6 drags a bit, but I really like the tone and the noir sensibility of it, so I wouldn’t really call it my least favourite, but if I were to choose one season to binge over a weekend, S6 wouldn’t necessarily be first pick.

11. Opinions on Destiel?

Ah, yes, the obligatory essay question. Please see attachment. *points to blog*

12. Do you believe Supernatural queerbaits?

Look, to my mind, the reason Dean and Cas aren’t together yet is character related. They need to get their fucking ducks in a row. (and then those ducks will hopefully be fucking all over the place) (okay that’s graphic bird sex but you know what I mean) (not literally Dean and Cas dressed up as ducks and fucking) (but like... good stuff for the eyes will be happening that isn’t necessarily fucking feather related) (wait) (oh ffs brain!!) (you HAD to go there didn’t you??) (moving on) (or rather answering the question) --> I don’t believe they queerbait, no.

13. Seasons 1-7 or 8-14?

8-15x03

14. Favorite villain (plot wise)?

*chills are multiplying*

I love Chuck as the Big Bad, sincerely, but oh mannnn Michael.

15. Do you think they should end the Lucifer plot line?

Yeah, this questionnaire has been in drafts for a while now so um... I mean, the Lucifer plot line as it pertains to SAM should reach a satisfactory conclusion, but as it pertains to Lucifer’s play for Jack and breaking God’s toys etc. yeah, no, done.

16. Who do you think has gone through more trauma (Sam, Dean, or Cas)?

That’s too relative to their highly linked, and yet wholly individual relationship with their past and lingering sense of trauma. I think @deletingpoints reply was something along the lines of: Can you measure trauma? And I agree. They’ve all been deeply traumatised at different stages of their life and they’ve all dealt with their individual trauma in different ways.

17. What’s your favorite Supernatural episode?

I’m sorry, what? I thought you just asked me to pick one favourite episode out of 3678916236363487236783 times infinity. This is mathematically impossible and since I’m sadly not fluent in math and have absolutely no access to any type of calculator or abacus or, I don’t know, a neighbour who happens to make amazing fucking latte and dresses in knits and is attractive in a non-conventional way and also happens to be a math genius, I must reject the question outright and plead the 105th. (i.e. I cannot possibly)

18. Do you like case episodes?

Where’s that gif of Dean going Dude Yes?

^^^

19. Who do you relate most to in TFW?

Darling Cas. Socially awkward and lost but growing into his own skin Castiel. My God, I love him so dearly. There are not words for how much I relate to him, or for what he’s done for my personal self-reflection, or how much I’m now re-relating to his need to push himself out of his comfort zone and dare. I owe him. *hugs into oblivion*

20. Why do you like Supernatural?

Ohhhhh, goody, one of those multi-choice questions. Is it:

a) because of the absolutely stunning character journeys

b) because of the absolutely smashing world and all its mythology

c) because of the underlying social commentary and the intricate use of subtext to effectively, though subtly, bring ideas linked to the conscious/unconscious sides to us into not only the use of already mentioned mythology, influencing the world building, but also wholly guiding, impacting and giving momentum to the already mentioned stunning character journeys

d) all of the above

e) all of the above, and a little bit more that would take an actual book to relay

E. It’s E. All the way the answer is E.

21. If you could bring back one character and kill off another who would they be?

I’d bring back Eileen and holy moly Shoshanna is coming our way. And I don’t have a character to kill off tbh. Let them live, I say. :)

I genuinely tag EVERYONE. Go on, everyone, you know you wanna! :) xx

#tag me if you decide to #tag along #:D

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steve0discusses · 5 years

Text

Yugioh S4 Episode 2: Rebecca...She’s back, I guess?

So I got hella sick this week so it’s...just one update this weekend. The rest of the next update has the caps done but then the copy I was putting together got very distracted about which Founding Father was the hottest and I think that was the Dayquil? I barely know what day of the week it is rn. I think it’s Saturday, is it Saturday?

Anyway, we’re battling that Monocle guy. Gurimo? Yeah his name is Gurimo. I honestly can’t remember him saying his name even once, so thanks Google for the help.

It’s a new season so not only did we suck all the power out of God Cards but now you can’t use them anymore with the new glowing green mechanic. The writers really did just...a lot to make it so God Cards are no longer relevant. Like they buried them so far.

This guy repeats himself quite a lot about being soul hungry? Yeah I watched all of Sailor Moon so like, I’m super up to date on my soul energy anime. I’ve walked this path before I know it well.

(read more under the cut)

Such a shame we can’t read those stats which may just be Hebrew letters in lorem ipsum (note that when Pegasus makes you a card, you don’t get to have stats) but it’s nice to know that, if you wanted to, you could play Rex and Weevil in universe of the show and something would happen.

Anyway, Gurimo lost, his eyes went all glowy red at some point, and decided to go out throwing stuff because it’s Yugioh and you have to throw cards at least 3 times a season, its in the contract.

Don’t think about physics guys, just trust that cards can do this on a roof where there’s no wind for some reason.

And then he went up in a green ball of glory. It was nice of the green beam of soul energy to wait until the impossible card toss was over.

Lol this show and how it just kills people on screen just...all the time. All the freakin time. Can’t show a gun, but murder as many people as you like. It’s OK, his soul is in a paper card so he’s not *really* dead. That won’t terrify children under the age of 10.

So Pharaoh decides to do the tactic of telling a bunch of motorcycle gang edgy kids (adults? not sure about those three) that stealing is Wrong.

They also, youknow, are implicit in murdering Rex and Weevil but youknow, stealing is wrong and the God Cards don’t belong to them and Pharaoh is shook that these kids won’t keep their end of their bargain that whoever wins the card fight keeps the cards.

So basically Gurimo died for freakin nothing.

Welcome back to the fold, Rex and Weevil, apparently this show isn’t done with you yet. I was pretty much done with both of you 3 seasons ago but alas, you will be back, with your raspy as hell voice acting, at the beginning of S5. I am sure of it.

(PS I just noticed I spelled resurrect wrong and I know I should go back into photoshop but like...I’m too sick to care at this moment so maybe I’ll change it in the next week or so I dunno, I’m just gonna post this thing so I can feel like I did something productive today.)

And so these kids decide the police are never going to freakin show up to the rooftop brawl where a guy super died and several children were endangered and a huge beam of light you can see from space went out like a bat signal to the rest of the city of “ps, something bad is happening over here, if any of you adults feel like helping out these four high school drop outs? Nobody?”

First, they decide to keep this horrible thing:

(which second thought is not SO surprising, because Yugi clearly loves hoarding dead people)

And then this other horrible thing:

Why would you keep these? Why would you do this?

I mean Yugi’s got such specific dark tastes that I wouldn’t be half surprised if his closet is filled with dozens and dozens of rat skulls he collected from the subway station.

And then the next day, Yugi decided to just like watch Joey and Tristan dangle Rex and Weevil like puppets. It just seemed super unnecessary.

Like Yugi isn’t even Pharaoh right now but he’s absolutely fine with these guys getting shook around. Yugi is all sorts of gray area in this show and I’m glad that’s never changed although sometimes it’s like “Is Yugi slowly turning into a mob boss? Because I’m down, but also somewhat concerned?”

Anyway, the God Cards aren’t even here anymore so we say farewell to Rex and Weevil who seem just as confused at how the hell you can steal a God Card as we are.

*not entirely sure where Rex and Weevil are from. I’ve been assuming the UK or the US but like...maybe they live here? I don’t even know.

And then Chibiusa--I mean Rebecca showed up.

Ah, remember this plot point from S1? What if she shows up and (according to Bro) Just never leaves?

I’m coming to terms with this. Anyway, Rebecca’s only purpose seems to be as a part of a (love????) triangle (square????) between Yugi and Tea but like...

And maybe this is the Dayquil speaking but...

Is this even weird?

Seriously, they’re family friends, why is this weird? Maybe it’s because one of Rebecca’s core traits is that she’s American and I’m also an American so I don’t even see a problem with Rebecca and how she acts (since she’s a freakin child with a crush on a card-famous person) but like what small child see her friend she hasn’t seen in 2 years and is not going to hug him?

Anyway, Yugi was the worst to not remember this chick. Maybe his brain looks like a box of loose packing peanuts (I say as a metaphor remembering that his brain literally looks like an Escher painting screensaver), but he can’t remember this chick from just 2 years ago that he gave his rarest card to? The chick who’s grandfather had that blue-eyes he gave to Yugi’s Grandfather? The chick who’s grandfather helped his grandfather get that necklace around Yugi’s neck? The necklace he wears every single day and is super cursed by?

How do you forget the Hawkins when they are part of the reason everyone thinks you’re losing your mind?

But I guess she looks older now and got a pair of glasses (bifocals????). She No longer has her hair in pigtails but, I dunno, she looks basically the same to me since she’s still about the same size as Yugi but wtv.

And then Yugioh was like “Listen everyone, we’re very tired of all of your angry reviews, and I see y’all are saying we never do romance, well get ready, we know how to do romance really well, get ready for it, we can make things move faster than a snail in wet cement, just watch.”

Because somehow, after Yugi was the biggest asshole ever to Rebeca, I guess she figured like “well, at least you’re still card famous”

You know what? I have several girlfriends who I am not dating, but, if it’s been a couple weeks since they’ve seen me last, will give me a huge as drunk hug on my arm and go “MY LOVE MY GIRLFRIEND MARRY ME” and like...Again I’m American so maybe this is just my culture here in California?

I’d like to believe that Rebecca is just messing with these people because she can.

Ps I’m pretty sure this girl was 6 last time we saw her but they decided...we better age her up if it’s gonna be a romance but they only made her 12. OK show. Yugi’s pushing 17 at this point so like...barely even logical. I’d say legal but I’m thinking more of just logic at this point because the last time we saw this girl she was holding a teddy bear (which we can guarantee is probably still shoved into her luggage)

...OK, show...

Now listen listen listen. All ships are fine here. I’m not gonna go after shipping because like, c’mon, it’s 2019. If you stan Rebecca and Yugi, go for it, why not? I’ve said it before, and my feelings haven’t really changed, I’m immune to shipping, so I feel absolutely no different with Rebecca and Yugi than I do with Tea and Yugi. I think Tea makes more sense, but that’s not saying very much because literally anyone else on this cast who isn’t related to him could probably work. Go ahead and bring back Mako Tsunami. There’d be a fun pair.

Bro got very excited when I mentioned a MakoxYugi pairing just now ps.

But it really does feel like this ship has the dynamic of the Usagi/Chibiusa/Mamaru ship from Sailor Moon where Usagi was always jealous of small little Chibiusa spending time with Mamaru who was her OWN DAD. Why would you EVER be jealous of a 12 year old girl hanging with your boy...friend? Tea is a 17ish year old ballerina who never, ever wears full pants. She’d have this in the bag if she ever decided to like...do anything with...this. And I don’t blame Tea for never doing anything with “this” because like...look at “this.”

I just don’t think the writing team knows how to write a competent love triangle (square) but...this exists now. They even had Rebecca decide to dress nearly identically to Tea as a demonstration of her devotion but like...it honestly comes off more that this small child just admires Tea. Because she’s 12.

Yugi is just babysitting this girl for his Grandfather and it feels like the writing team just had to have the girls be all catty at eachother. Because it’s a kids show. Gotta have those girls all catty. Can’t let them be friends.

Anyway, back at this museum that these kids visit so freakin often, you’d think they’d change their home address, we meet up with the granddads in question.

Ah, now Ishizu is no longer with us, Exposition Grandpa is here to take the torch. Can’t wait for that.

And I made his font gray because I freakin give up. Grandpa Hawkins might change his font color every episode. I...I’m figuring it out.

And then, every helicopter in Domino shed a single tear.

Wow. I’ve been so mad for so many seasons that they never use a freakin seaplane to cross the ocean that when they actually do I’m like...kind of disappointed?

I mean it’s not shaped like a dragon, but I will take this perfectly acceptable seaplane.

I can’t believe they drew a normal ass plane. on this show.

*Waits patiently for it to turn into a blimp next episode*

Anyway, if you just got here, this is a link to read all the caps in chrono order. There’s over 3 seasons of this. Y’all I’ve done over 100 episodes.

#Yugioh #Ygo #episode recap #photo recap #Yugi Muto #Rebecca Hawkins #Tea Gardner #Joey Wheeler #Gurimo #The biker guys I think one is called valon or something #tristan taylor #grandpa muto #grandpa hawkins #so I found out only the first 5 tags are searchable so I don't know why Im bothering writing so many tags other than it's fun #S4 #Ep2

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safflowerseason · 5 years

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Second question! What do you think drew Dan and Amy to one another? What you do think defines their connection?

Hi Anon - apologies that this response took a while! It’s a big question and I wanted to think it over without simply copying @thebookofmaev, who wrote her own wonderful response to the same question that everyone should read.

I wrote about what Amy finds so appealing about Dan in this post here (essentially, she gets to be herself around him), so I won’t bore everyone by repeating myself.

As for Dan…I tend to the view he really had written her off as a person of “interest” to him after they dated. I’m sure he was attracted to her, thought she was funny and smart and charming in her way, and obviously useful. But for Dan, none of that is enough to capture his attention permanently. I guess what I’m saying is that however much Dan might have liked Amy personally, I don’t believe he thought Amy was that different from any other D.C. woman that he’d dated (except maybe more naive). (I also really doubt she was Selina’s chief of staff when they dated, otherwise Dan wouldn’t have dumped her after just three dates…which means that professionally, she’s not quite as distinctive yet from her peers.)

My reasoning for this is that a part of their relationship arc in S1 (and early S2 as well) is Dan’s discovery that Amy can be as ruthless and cunning and ambitious as he is, and that discovery explicitly changes his opinion of her. His reaction in 1.04 to Amy’s bargain with O’Brien is very impressed and also very unsubtle: “You’ve gone up like ten levels in my estimation.” What initially draws Dan to Amy in a real way is the knowledge of what she’s truly capable of accomplishing and that her limits are just as flexible as is . That’s when he starts to actually respect her, to regard her as a real ally, a formidable strategist in her own right that he really needs. She’s no longer someone he sees as temporarily useful. He learns that she’s as smart as he is, is even better than him at certain things, and she’s willing to go as low as him when it’s needed. All this makes her more attractive to him. (I don’t mean that Dan thinks they’re the same. But he does recognize something in her that he sees in himself—a drive for power that he thought only he held—and that makes him sit up and pay more attention.)

In S1, they still jockey a bit longer for influence with Selina, but by S2, Dan has stopped trying to win favor by cutting out Amy. He also spends the back half of S2 consistently telling her he might quit, which is his backhanded way of implying that she should leave with him. And when he learns that she really is thinking about leaving, he officially tells her they should jump ship together.

Once Dan learns that Amy is actually worth his time and attention, I think that opens the door for all the other stuff he does like personally about her to resonate more, to become more important to him. Her intensity, her vulnerability, her blazing temper, her coolness under fire…Amy is an intoxicating paradox in her own way, and Dan loves that (plus, he’d be bored otherwise, and he gets to be the only guy who can figure her out.) And because he respects her more than anyone else, it’s a million times more satisfying to win an argument with her or to tease her and watch her transparently react to him. And Amy is beautiful and smart and witty…in all the ways, she’s very good for Dan’s ego. (In the Iannucci years, Anna Chlumsky’s undeniable physical beauty does not seem to be a part of Amy’s Washington identity in the same way that it is for Dan, but whatever, Amy looks like Anna Chlumsky and she is absolutely lovely. The less said about how Amy’s appearance is treated during the Mandel years, the better.)

We talk a lot about how Amy gets to be herself around Dan, but in a way, I think it’s true for Dan as well. Amy sees right through him, so he doesn’t have to pretend to be a doting boyfriend or a sycophantic staffer or even a decent human being. He can be open in his disregard for everyone else in their office (and everyone else in D.C.), he can whine constantly, plot and scheme openly, he can be a sociopathic robot and Amy just takes it in stride because she understands him and doesn’t expect him to be anything else. So we have Amy and Dan getting to be their perfectly flawed selves around each other, and their relationship works because they are exactly what the other person needs, personally and professionally. It works right up until Nevada, where Amy learns at the exact worst moment that Dan is still willing to sacrifice her in the name of career advancement and Dan learns that there are still limits to how much of a shithead he can be around Amy for her to keep him in her life, which promptly makes him furious. (I have to stop myself here before I go into another long tangent about their fight in 5.03, I could write a novel about it, I love it so much and am profoundly grateful it comes early enough in the Mandel years that it fits with their dynamic in the early seasons.)

In addition to their fiery physical and intellectual chemistry, I also think that Dan and Amy do share the general life compatibility that is crucial for a relationship to really function. They have similar values, namely that they hate everyone else, have very dark views of human nature, and want to gain power at almost any cost (these values just manifest themselves in different character traits). They’re both workaholics (this applies more to S1-S5 Dan than S6-S7 Dan) and obsessed with their jobs. Amy’s never going to be waiting around at home for Dan to come home from work, in other words, because Amy’s at work too. While Dan might be slightly less intense than Amy, there’s nothing to indicate that he’s not working as hard as she is.

And in their off-hours, Dan and Amy want to do the same thing, which is talk about work outside of the office. It’s not like Amy wants to go to the movies and Dan wants to go for a hike (hahaha). They’d both just rather to go to bar and bitch about work while drinking tequila or order in food and yell at the tv. And while Dan is more openly attracted by the financial benefits of a high-powered political career (and the attendant status symbols, like a fancy car or a luxury apartment), it’s not as though Amy is so pure about politics that she’s opposed to permanent financial security. Her problem with lobbying wasn’t the money, after all. So they share an appreciation for that dimension of political life as well.

A lot of words to say: I think what Amy and Dan find in each other is the ultimate partner. And I mourn for the pre-hiatus version of S7, where they would have figured out a way to make that partnership permanent, all the while pretending not to.

#veep #dan egan #amy brookheimer #dan x amy #they are so twisted and messed up and terminally into each other #i love them and their dysfunction

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aha-chuu · 6 years

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Vld s7 Lance predictions

Okay, so I'm thinking that season 7 will be our main Lance arc, for several reasons that I'm about to explain. But first off, I'm only predicting and in reality don't know anything for definite. Also, major s6 spoilers up ahead. (This is a tad long).

First off, I think this will be the season to most comfortably fit a major arc for Lance since a lot of other arcs have just come to a close. Keith, who's had an ongoing and extremely central arc since season 2 (arguably s1 as well) has just matured a good bit, finally gotten back the real Shiro and has his mum. His crisis about his identity has been mostly dealt with after his stint with the Blades, the two years alone with Krolia and his return to Voltron (especially to the Black Lion). Shiro, who has been similar to Keith in his large amount of focus throughout the series, is alive again and has replaced his clone. Of course he'll still have stuff to deal with in the upcoming season, like the emotional distress that comes with being dead and trapped in a robot lion whilst your clone wrecks havoc, but now he's no longer in a lion he'll probably be just having a little downtime and maybe catching up with the team. Pidge's family arc ended in s5 so that shouldn't be much of an issue that needs screen time either. This means that the characters ready for their own arcs should be Lance or Hunk (ideally) but also possibly Allura even though she's been extremely central since season 3, as she did just go through the break up of a Gulran lifetime.

Also, the last line of season six was that they're going home, which Lance obviously has the most ties to. Shiro's family has never been mentioned, Keith's (apparently) only relative from Earth is long dead, Pidge has Matt out in space and saw her father recently and Hunk’s family, whilst mentioned, hasn't been nearly as spotlighted as Lance's. So, narrative speaking, it just makes sense for them, as they go to Earth, to transition focus onto the character who most often mentions his home (I. E. Veradera beach, actually naming Cuba as his home, picture of his family back in s1ep2, names of siblings, multiple scenes of homesickness).

Lance also has the most loose ends to tie up (seriously, he's like an unravelled ball of yarn at this point). His homesickness needs sorting, his insecurities (that have been scarcely mentioned but are definitely there since he's got this theme of calling himself a spare 'wheel' and that 'leave the math to Pidge' scene that still doesn't seem resolved imo). There's also his crush on Allura that has only become more prominent and serious in s6 which, whilst I don't believe she'll be his endgame love interest, will definitely factor into his development due to it basically being all he was there for last season. Then there's the whole plot line in season five that never went anywhere where Lance was the one who noticed the changes in clone!Shiro and we all thought he'd help out with that somehow (I'll come back to this later). His rivalry with Keith dissapated in s3 but will leave a new dynamic for them after a while apart (especially on Keith's end since it's been 2 years) (BTW I'm still Klance trash). There's also confirmed lgbt rep to be had, which might not involve Lance but I believe will since the creators posted that picture of him holding the lgbt sign.

Okay, so that's my reasoning for why he should get an arc but I haven't dived into what his arc might include. Obviously, since they're going to Earth, he'll probably be getting closure on his homesickness arc. There's also the stuff with Allura to deal with, which I hope includes her telling him maturely that she doesn't feel the same way and is hung up over Lotor, but could end up with the two of them dating (even though I don't think the relationship will last long. Still, I wish Allurance shippers the best). Lance is probably also going to have to deal with a lot of guilt in season 7, partially shown by him crying properly for the first time in the show over Shiro's body, apologising about how he didn't realise sooner. Which, going back to my point earlier, is why I think they teased us with Lance helping close off the clone storyline but didn't deliver; so that they could explore some (likely extremely heartbreaking Langst) in the season to come. Jeremy Shada (Lance's VA) has also confirmed that we'll see Klance reconnect in s7, so Keith will likely support him, probably helping him dealing with not knowing about Shiro and reassuring him that it's okay (maybe a bit of romantic Klance at the very end if they have Allura shatter his heart (which would be for the best if she doesn't like him that way) in ep1, giving him enough time to move on a bit.

Yeah, so those are my predictions. I'll probably end up being wrong and Lance will only get two lines of dialogue, one being an insult to Keith and the other something like 'okay' after someone orders him to do something. Whatever happens, I'm still pumped for s7!

#Lance #Voltron #Lance vld #Lance mcclain #Voltron season six #Voltron spoilers #Vld #Voltron legendary defender #Vld s6 #Keith vld #Klance #Season 7 predictions #Clone shiro #Langst #Meta

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mittensmorgul · 6 years

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Wayward: Supernatural in Parallels (and a parallel universe as well)

aka I have spent the last four hours typing again, so here you go. :P

(at least I managed to keep it under 6k words this time!)

(shut up that’s kinda brief for me... now if only I could write 6k of fic in 4 hours I’d really be on to something...)

Wayward Sisters set itself up admirably as a spinoff, if for no other reason than it’s so deeply rooted in the original series without actually being that series. We already know all six of the main characters (some of them for nearly a decade, like Claire and Jody), and we know at least a little bit about about how they came to be where they are at the start of 13.10. But even more than that, this episode served so many parallels to the entirety of Supernatural’s past canon, but did so in ways that take all of those themes and wove something entirely new out of them.

All the seeds for the spinoff grew from the original, but they’ve been sown in a new field.

I needed to record as many of these as possible for future reference.

(under a cut because as I said, it’s like 5900 words deep and it’s 2:23 am and I am so not up to editing this tonight.)

The little girl Claire saves from the two werewolves in the cold open looked so familiar to me-- because she reminded me of the ghost girl in 2.11 Playthings. Not technically a parallel, but even from the promo clip with her in it my brain insisted that I’d seen her somewhere before.

Mr. Werewolf and his terrible knock knock joke was such a dark mirror to Kate the werewolf in 8.04. If she was the noble version, he’s the grotesque, right down to the way he uses almost the exact same movements to terrify an innocent as Kate used to get revenge on the guy who’d turned her against her will and murdered her boyfriend. The Winchesters rightly let Kate go (TWICE!) but Claire rightly kills this jerk.

Not to mention Claire’s very personal history with werewolves (and being one bite of a heart away from becoming one herself) in 12.16. This case, and rescuing a little curly-haired blonde girl from werewolves is a tidy metaphor for how Claire has developed as a hunter since we’ve seen her last. And she absolutely PROVES that she’s learned. She doesn’t hunt dumb like she did back in 11.12. She does her homework, and knew exactly what she was doing when she approached Mr. Werewolf’s lair. She knew exactly who she was there to save, how to approach the werewolf lair most effectively (DELIVERY! LAND SHARK!), and she kept her cool throughout the entire fight-- for the sake of the little girl.

This entire fight is also reminiscent of 11.17, just for the fact that she’s physically proving herself as capable as Sam and Dean are in a werewolf fight.

Her rescue of Amanda Fitzmartin from werewolves was a direct parallel of 12.06, and Mary Winchester’s rescue of Asa Fox from… you guessed it, a werewolf! Right down to the mother/child reunion scene on the front porch. I can only imagine that Amanda Fitzmartin may be a future generation hunter now, too… Then again, Asa took up hunting because Mary told him she was “retiring,” and he felt obligated to fill her shoes so that someone would be out there saving people. Claire told Amanda that everything would be okay, and then went right on hunting. Claire’s in a very different place than Mary was, despite the similarities.

Jody’s call to Claire-- “It’s Sam and Dean. They’re missing. They were on a hunting trip, and I haven’t heard from them for a few days.” Well, isn’t that just THE iconic line of the entire series? 1.01, top of the script, hello Dean Winchester. Not to mention 12.20 and how Alicia used the same line about her mother to get Sam and Dean’s help in finding her.

What’s DIFFERENT in Jody’s plea to Claire is, “It’s time to come home.” Home has always been such a nebulous concept for the Winchesters. For the longest time, the only home they knew was Baby. Their “apple pie life” was a pipe dream that they wavered on ever really believing they could have it, or if they even really wanted it the few times it seemed like it could be within their reach (Dean with Lisa after s5, Sam with Jess pre-series, Sam with Amelia after s7). It took a while, but they both now identify the Bunker as “home,” despite it not being a home in the traditional sense. And after Dean’s words to Cas in 13.06-- “Welcome home” as he hugged him at some alley payphone-- I believe their concept of “home” is more “the people we care about” rather than a fixed physical point on a map, you know? And after watching Wayward, and oopsie here jumping to the end for just a second, Claire says, “I'm staying because I need them, my family.” In both series, home is where the heart is, if you will.

Of all the hunters Alex could’ve mentioned that she’d tried calling while looking for Sam and Dean, she mentions Donna (who we’ll see in a bit here), and WALT. Aka one of the guys who killed Sam and Dean way back in 5.16, and who returned in 12.22 to help take down the BMoL.

Claire and Alex’s gentle teasing of each other is just… so dang sisterly. In the same way that Sam and Dean’s teasing of each other is just so dang brotherly, you know? “Did you miss me?” “No, not really.” Lines delivered deadpan followed up with the knowing little smiles.

Claire pointing to her cut lip and telling Jody, “It’s just a werewolf, no big deal.” Well, isn’t that exactly what Dean told Sonny in 9.07 when Sonny questioned him on how his wrists were injured? And heck, how many times has Dean diminished the seriousness of an injury with an “I’m fine” or a “no big deal.” To the point where in 12.23 when he meets up with Cas again, Cas doesn’t even bother asking if he’s okay, just rolls his eyes and heals Dean with a lil boop.

“When did we become huggers?” Well, Sam, Dean, and Cas seem to ask this of themselves every time they find themselves hugging… at least they used to. They’ve since become acclimated to the fact that yes, they are huggers.

Claire’s discovered that Jody let patience move into her room, borrow her sweatshirt, while she was away. But she takes the blame for leaving on herself. This calls back to a lot of the emotional baggage between Sam and Dean over the years in a far less toxic fashion (You chose a demon over your own brother? You didn’t look for me in Purgatory? Who are you gonna replace me with next? There’s a lot of that between the brothers.) But Claire lets it go. And they have Business to attend to…

Alex tends Claire’s wounds during their meeting to share what they’ve gathered so far about Sam and Dean’s disappearance, and then Alex gets up to leave for work. She has a job-- a real, regular job as a nurse (how respectable! In Dean’s words from 2.20). Claire is upset, because finding Sam and Dean should come first, but Alex doesn’t even argue about it. The entire dynamic is similar to Sam and Dean’s motivations in 1.01. Sam had a law school interview that he didn’t want to miss (which Dean initially assumed was a job interview), and described as his whole future on a plate. But Dean insisted they already had “the family business.” Just as Claire insisted her own job is hunting. Unlike Sam and Dean, Alex and Claire work this out in their own way, and Alex DOES go off to work. Her job is just as important as hunting to her, and she doesn’t compromise on that.

Patience’s visions in this context are so reminiscent of Sam’s visions back in the early days. She’s still trying to figure out exactly how they work, and exactly what they mean. And in a lot of ways what Clare seems to be feeling is a reflection of Dean in 2.05 when Andy mind-controls him into telling the truth, “He's psychic. Kind of like you. Well, not really like you, but see, he thinks you're a murderer, and he's afraid that he's going to become one himself, 'cause you're all part of something that's terrible. And, I hope to hell that he's wrong, but I'm starting to get a little scared that he might be right.”

It’s not an exact parallel, but the same sort of disbelief and maybe even a little bit (or a lot) of fear over what those visions might mean. And Claire addresses this later in this episode when she’s talking to Kaia while Jody and Donna are investigating the ship. So I’ll get back to that later… I’m finding it’s really difficult to take this scene by scene…

Claire’s difficulty with Jody “smothering” her while hunting reminds me A LOT of both Dean’s difficulty with John (when Dean first began to break away from blind obedience to John’s every order toward the end of s1), as well as Sam’s difficulty with Dean. How many times has Sam pulled the “I’m not a little kid anymore, I can do this” card on Dean? Exactly. This growth process hurts, and it’s terrifying, but it’s a give and take on both sides, and Claire and Jody both grow a lot by it. Because it’s not just Claire wanting to prove she’s capable, it’s also Jody’s abject fear of losing ANOTHER CHILD to the Supernatural. She would give anything not to have to relive what she went through with her son in 5.15. And Claire does begin to understand Jody’s point of view, as Jody begins to understand Claire’s. And after Dean admitted to Mary in 12.22 that he’s been both mother and father to Sam most of his life, this exact same dynamic can be applied to his over-protectiveness of Sam. There’s a balance to be found between Claire’s “run in head first” and Jody’s “find the perfect plan.”

Speaking of balance, Alex seems to have found a balance that works for her. It’s been a long time since 9.19 when Jody gave her a foundation to build a new life on, and as Jody said in 10.08 and we saw first-hand in 11.12, it wasn’t always easy. But Alex found a career that makes her happy, and in return she’s happy to help Jody with whatever she needs, be it housekeeping or monsters. She seems… settled. And she confirms to Claire that Jody (and by extension Alex herself) never stopped worrying (or thinking) about Claire even when she wasn’t around. It was a solid confirmation to Claire that yes, she’s still part of their family, regardless. And wow, how many times has this sentiment been expressed in Supernatural? Too many to count.

And Claire and Alex get their emotional baggage handled and properly stowed, and it’s right back to the Big Issue at hand. Where we discover that despite all their differences, they’re both on exactly the same page. Claire suggests searching the hospital database for “rock star aliases” in case Sam and Dean have been injured, and Alex confirms she already searched for practically every rock musician she could think of, “From metal gods to obscure hair bands.” And of course “obscure hair bands” makes me think of poor old Vince Vincente and Ladyheart back in s12. Their third album wasn’t terrible… :P

Incredibly enough, a new search for Jane Doe leads Claire to find Kaia in that very hospital (and heck, is it Sioux Falls General? Aka where Dr. Monsterface worked back in 7.02?) Claire finds Kaia and confronts her about Sam and Dean, and instead of needing to be broken out of “child prison” (10.09 for Claire) or rehab (13.09 for Kaia), they both walk out of the hospital. Except oops… there’s some Bad Things waiting for Kaia outside. She freezes in fear and Claire comes to the rescue… but Jody also came to the rescue, and only working together did they kill the Bad Thing.

Warning that here the Destiel Parallels become impossible to ignore or avoid. They’re just blatantly there, so freaking deal with it.

In the hospital, the first time Claire and Kaia see on another we get increasing close-ups of their eyes. Like… welcome to intense eye contact city. The scene is punctuated with an eerie swooshing sound effect to make it impossible to ignore as A Significant Thing.

Back at Jody’s while Alex goes from Nurse Mode into Monster Autopsy mode (snapping that glove on like a regular Dana Scully), Claire and Kaia have a Bonding Moment outside-- comparing scars. As we pointed out back in 11.15, Dean did this exact same thing while bonding with his childhood idol Gunner Lawless (and yes, not Destiel per se here, but definitely a queercoding of Dean and the exact nature of his youthful infatuation with this wrestler). And the trope started with a scene from Lethal Weapon 3, where Riggs bonded with his wife-to-be in the exact same fashion. And Claire and Kaia’s bonding over this is again shown to us through significant eye contact and smiles, and then beginning to open up about themselves in ways we’ve been told that Kaia never opens up to anyone. At least based off what we know of her from 13.09. This is Significant for both her and Claire, who’s been hunting alone for at least a year now. (like… all the Destiel parallels intended)

Back to the Monster Autopsy… this is so reminiscent of 7.09 for me, as a lot of this episode is. I was half waiting for the monster to sit up and start fighting again just like the monster formerly known as Gerald Browder did in 7.09. But unlike Gerald who’d been human until the “creatures from another dimension” got hold of him and fed him grey goop and turned him into a monster, the thing on the table in 13.10 is… really not even remotely human (and it wore a strange mask anyway, in a season of “masked things” and misidentified things). I even tweeted at one point while watching the first time that the monster’s blood was even visually reminiscent of the TDK Slammer goo. Which is interesting because in 13.03 when we first met Patience, there was a billboard announcing that the TDK Slammer was back at Biggerson’s for a limited time. And isn’t that just entirely amusing.

(also a depressing but necessary side note about 7.09-- the episode ends with Bobby shot through the head by Dick Roman. Dick was a thing that looked like another thing, a thing from “another reality” aka Purgatory in his case. But something that absolutely was not supposed to be on Earth. And of course 13.10 uses a LOT of parallels between Purgatory and The Bad Place. I’ll get to those soon.)

Claire convinces Kaia to open up about what she knows of this strange monster and where it came from, and therefore what happened to Sam and Dean. Kaia was convinced that if Sam and Dean are in the Bad Place, then they’re already dead. Much like Dean was convinced that Mary must already be dead in 13.01 when she was trapped in the War World. And much like Sam was convinced that Dean was already dead when he was trapped in Purgatory back in 8.01. And yet…

Sam and Dean are just having a lil camping trip. Well, Dean’s adjusted SCARY FAST to the Bad Place. I suppose that compared to Purgatory it’s kind of a garden spot. They say they’ve been there for two days already, and they haven’t seemed to have run into anything that’s threatened them. It’s not the sort of 360 degree combat we saw Dean endure in Purgatory anyway. He’s even bothered to stop for barbecue. Well, he’s bothered to trap a lizard and roast it over a fire he managed to build.

Poor Sam, meanwhile, looks disgusted at the mere thought of eating the monster land lizard, and rather uncomfortable in general. In the face of Sam’s uneasiness and insistence that they continue to look for the door back to their universe, Dean maintains his exceedingly practical outlook. “Eat up.” They’ve been there two days, they have no reason to believe the door is even still open, and nobody knows where to look for them. He’s been in this exact same spot before, in Purgatory, and learned very quickly there that you do or your die. There’s no point wasting energy fretting about it. I think it must be a switch he can just flip at will at this point, into Purgatory!Dean. We saw it in 12.15. We’ve seen it a few times since s8, actually. It’s unsettling, but it’s practical. It’s how you survive.

When the monster closes in on their little campsite, Dean takes his roast lizard on a stick to go. Unbeknownst to Sam and Dean, something human-shaped has been following them. They’ve seen nothing to raise their suspicions that it might even be a possibility that anything human-ish lives in that world, or that anything might pose a threat to them aside from the giant monster they keep hearing. They’ve been there just long enough to shift their priorities on what to keep their attention focused on that just by waiting them out, Darth Kaia is able to sneak right up to these two men who at ANY other time would’ve been on high alert about being followed. Like in 8.13 Dean had his “gay thing” with Aaron following him around, and Sam had “something stuck to my shoe,” aka their code word for “I’m being followed.” They have a LONG history of being hyperaware of their surroundings, so it took some kind of patience for Darth Kaia to wait them out like that.

Patience has a crisis of normality after watching the monster autopsy. She’s not sure she can handle the hunting life, and it’s Alex who convinces her to stay. Which is incredible because this was Alex’s crisis back in 11.12 when her own history caught up with her at a time when all she wanted was to be normal, to go to school and have a boyfriend and maybe go to nursing school. She didn’t want anything to do with monsters or hunting, as she and Claire talked about earlier at the hospital, but she’s found a balance that she can live with. She knows she can truly help Jody by helping with the hunting stuff when she can, and that it doesn’t have to be her entire life like it is for Claire. She can do both! And she also knows her limits. Alex isn’t a fighter for the most part, and Patience doesn’t have to be either. They can each have an important place there, though. “We help in other ways.”

As Patience is packing her car to leave, she has another vision of Jody’s house being overrun by monsters. Claire wants to stay and fight, but Patience argues back that they can’t win. And hooboy this is a fascinating parallel to 3.12, in about six different ways. RIP Victor Henriksen. Patience laying down the truth to Claire, and then using an interesting bit of technology to demonstrate the truth of the situation, much as Dean laid the truth out for Victor and Sam used an interesting bit of technology to trap and exorcise a gaggle of demons all at once.

For Sam and Dean, 3.12 also marked one of the points in the show where they were officially declared legally “dead.” It was a turning point for them, which in a strange way freed them up to do their jobs more effectively with far less concern over interference from human authorities, so they could focus on the monsters. In a way, this moment functions in a similar fashion for Patience, not that she’s going to be cut off from society as drastically as Dean and Sam were, but as a liberation of sorts, and an affirmation to herself that her visions are as important to the group as Claire’s fighting skills or Alex’s nursing skills. They all have a role to play. This just helps her find her way to it.

In some ways it’s also reminiscent of 3.15, and the trap Dean left for Bela at their motel, similar to the trap Aragorn helps the hobbits lay for the Ringwraiths in Bree. These monsters aren’t so much fooled by a trap, or decoy bodies left in beds, but they do arrive to an empty house while their quarry has managed to flee. I think this tactic has been used elsewhere in Supernatural, but since I’m just about at the halfway point of the episode and this essay is already nearing 3500 words, I figure I should probably try to be more concise...

Me… more concise. Talk about your freaky AU scenarios…

Whatever. Claire watches the monsters tear up Jody’s house via webcam, and she gets a sudden, shocking, undeniable lesson in the reliability of Patience’s visions, which brings to bear the full weight of the vision that brought her home in the first place, and the reasons that Jody was so terrified for Claire’s safety. For the first time all day, Claire is rattled. It’s one thing to go through life as a hunter knowing how hunters typically end up (and hello all 39 iterations of Dean’s “point of a blade or barrel of a gun” speech), but to know specifically how you’re going to die is entirely different. This was s3 Dean with the ticking clock to Hellhound Day. This was Sam during the Hell Trials.

And enter the D-Train. The ray of sunshine so chill that butter doesn’t melt in her mouth. And like the monster that signalled her first REAL introduction to the supernatural back in 10.08, Jody introduces her as someone who’s killed a lot of vampires. To think Claire wondered when they all became huggers before… “You too, Rainbow Brite. Come on, bring it in.” Donna brought the hugs. And the angel wing imagery behind her in this scene, combined with her nice tan coat. She’s our angel; our sunshine, as it were. And armed to the teeth (just the basics, because she’s from Minnesota).

Alex proves yet again that she’s an excellent Sam parallel, using the phone and Kaia’s vague clues to find the exact location where the rift opened. Please oh please let Alex have the same sort of Magical Wifi that Sam does. :P

When Jody and Donna leave to investigate the shipyard, Jody has Claire stay behind to protect the other girls, much like John used to do with Dean, ordering him to protect Sam. I mean, it has nowhere NEAR the sort of ick factor to John doing that in the flashback scenes in 1.18, for example, but there has been a consistent implication throughout the series that it was a constant state for Dean, and thank HECK this dynamic between Jody and Claire is shattered by the end of this episode.

Jody’s actually surprised when Claire agrees to stay and protect the other girls without much of a fight, because of what Patience’s vision might mean for her, as I mentioned above.

Donna asking who knows how to use a flamethrower… honestly Dean would be jealous. He and Sam have always had their jury-rigged camping fuel flamethrowers when they’ve needed literal firepower like in 3.02 and 4.05 among others.

Speaking of Sam and Dean, back in the Bad Place, Sam’s finally figuring out that they’re in an entirely different universe, and Dean’s annoyed by how muddy it is. Which was a rather hilarious reversal of Sam’s reaction to stepping in horse poop the moment they landed in Sunrise, Wyoming in 1861 way back in 6.18. Sam complained about the state of his boot, and Dean was all excited because AUTHENTICITY! But he’d been wearing his lil cowboy costume at the time, and we know how much Dean loves cowboys, despite the fact that he was far less enamored with “authenticity” and how much germier it was than he’d been expecting… but once he adapted his expectations back in 6.18, he kinda stepped right into the role of sheriff, just like he’s able to adapt to Purgatory and to eating monster lizard despite the germiness factor. He’s a delightful but thoroughly consistent bundle of contradictions, and I love him.

Enter Darth Kaia, who catches them entirely unaware and off guard. They were entirely convinced that the only potential danger to them in this world was whatever huge thing they kept hearing in the distance. They hadn’t run into any of the creepy Monster Autopsy critters that constantly plagued Kaia in The Bad Place, and after two days, it’s entirely understandable that they would begin to let their guard down at least a little bit. Heck, it’s like Westley and Buttercup in the Fire Swamp, except nobody ever told them about the ROUS’s. When Darth Kaia sprang out of nowhere at them in full-on kung fu attack mode with a spear, they were honestly lucky to survive. They’d been flung as far from the portal into that world as Kaia was flung out to that abandoned roadside where the ambulance found her and had picked a random direction to wander in search of a portal the size of a party streamer in an entirely foreign universe. A portal they weren’t entirely sure was still there to find in the first place. Everything about their situation had them on their heels for once, even more so than Purgatory did for Dean (where he was at least expecting to be attacked from the moment he landed, by a pack of red-eyed monsters he later referred to as “gorilla wolves” in 8.02). And funny that the Big Monster in the Bad Place has a skull that vaguely resembles a gorilla, and the smaller red-eyed monsters were scripted as “Canids,” aka “dog-like monsters.” Again, in so many ways, The Bad Place is similar in design and function to Purgatory.

Back at the abandoned shipyard, Jody and Donna find the Impala and know they’ve found the right place. They find the melted angel blade and scorched angel wings from 13.09, as well as the portal, but encounter a very large pack of the “Canids.”

Claire and Kaia have another heart to heart reminiscent of some of Dean and Cas’s conversations. Claire expresses some of the same sorts of self-doubt and fear that Dean did at the end of 4.16 while lying in the hospital bed, telling Cas it’s too big, and he can’t do it. But Claire feels she can’t stand back and let others handle this alone. Kaia encourages her with, “If you go, I’ll go with you.” And how many times have we heard Dean and Cas offer this to each other? Very recently in Dean’s offer to accompany Cas to his angel meeting in 13.07. But also highly notably in 11.23 when Cas offered to go with Dean to face Amara. In situations large and small, they have offered to go with each other. But unlike the majority of Dean and Cas’s I’ll go with you’s, Claire accepts Kaia’s offer. They DO stand together. They ACCEPT the help and support. (Can we please have this gradually begin to happen with Cas and Dean? I mean, even something small like Dean running out to pick up pizza or something, and Cas offers to go with him, and Dean’s like YES GOOD I WOULD LIKE THAT.)

“Maybe together we can save them.”

Meanwhile at the rift, Donna wants to go back and tell the girls they found it, but Jody is ready to go into the rift alone. “If I don’t, she will.” She knows Claire would run into danger to do what she believed was right. That’s how you save people, after all. But here we see into what’s motivating Jody to protect Claire from danger-- “I can’t lose another child.” And I know I mentioned this about 3k words ago, but the Canids pose an immediate threat and Jody is forced to turn back from running headlong into the rift the way she was trying to prevent Claire from doing. This motivation to self-sacrifice to save someone else-- a child-- is what motivated John’s deal with Azazel in 2.01 in exchange for Dean’s life, and what motivated Dean to sell his own soul in 2.22 in exchange for Sam’s life. Jody’s only saved by circumstance, but it gives her a chance to step back and reevaluate that choice, and to see Claire clearly, to let go of her need to protect Claire at all cost.

Back in the Bad Place, Sam and Dean come to tied to a couple of trees in a foggy forest. I feel like yelling, “I hope your apple pie is freaking worth it!” because this feels just like 1.11. Instead of being sacrificed to the scarecrow, they’re being sacrificed to the Kaiju.

Meanwhile Claire has tried to call Jody, but when Jody doesn’t answer, Claire goes immediately into Concerned Mode. All four girls unite immediately into “Together we can save them” mode. And it’s beautiful.

Donna and Jody take refuge in an abandoned car aboard the ship, lying across the front and back seats in a configuration identical to the way Sam and Dean slept in 11.04-- the Winchester Motel. But instead of a cooler full of beer, Jody and Donna have a swarm of Canids trying to figure out how to get at them.

(wherein we discover that Canids are really not the smartest monsters…)

If they make a run for it, they’re dead, but if they stay put they’re dead too. Kinda feels like a situation typical of Supernatural, yes? What they need is a miraculous intervention.

*enter the flamethrower*

And Claire is so chill and competent with her flamethrower that it brings a smile to Jody’s face. And in that moment she might still hate the whole idea of it, but she knows she’s gonna let Claire go through that portal without too much fuss… especially after she realizes that the portal is shrinking. Claire tries to run through it and Jody holds her back, though not to stop her. To tell her she knows. Jody understands. As much as Claire needed to save Sam and Dean, Jody needed her to know that she understood.

Donna, ray of sunshine and weapons training officer. OKIE DOKE, HERE YA GO. and then “Oh there he is! Hiya, buddy!” When there was just ONE Canid, but Donna absolutely does not lose her cool when she sees it’s a veritable swarm of the things coming at them. Bless. “Okie doke” reminded me so much of that security guard in 2.12 that Dean liked because he said “okie dokie.”

Kaia knows right where Sam and Dean probably are in the Bad Place, just from the sound of the Kaiju monster. Claire shows up and cuts Sam and Dean free in a circumstance reminiscent of Sam showing up to cut Dean and Emily free in 1.11.

At the portal, Kaia shoves Claire out of the way just in time to save her from Darth Kaia’s spear, and instead she takes the spear wound to her own side. Need I even bring up all the Fisher King symbolism here that was so incredibly prominent in s12 surrounding Cas? The comparison has already been made to Ramiel stabbing Cas with the Lance of Michael, but it wasn’t just that one episode that draped Cas in Fisher King/Wounded King parallels. I believe many of those also apply to Kaia…

As she lay there dying, she reaches out and grabs hold of Claire’s hand while Sam and Dean have drawn their angel blades to stand off against the now apparently disarmed Darth Kaia. Except that’s when the Kaiju shows up…

Claire ignores her own safety in the face of that much larger threat, and charges at Darth Kaia in a fit of rage/grief over Kaia’s apparent death, and Dean has to grab her and pull her through the portal just as it snaps closed. Cue the parallel to Dean dragging Sam away from Jess’s burning bedroom ceiling in 1.01, and Sam pulling Dean through this exact same sort of portal in 12.23 when he was struggling to run after Cas.

Meanwhile Patience struggles to understand the vision that brought her to Jody’s in the first place-- Claire’s “death.” The editing of this scene is spectacular-- cuts between Kaia’s body in the Bad Place, Claire in Jody’s arms both in Patience’s vision and in reality, and Patience herself putting all of these pieces together. Death, life, and what she believed was a death was actually profound grief… and again this has been a theme of s13 through Sam refusing to grieve for Mary and his belief that she was not only alive but that they could save her, Dean’s grief over Cas’s death that he believed was permanent, to the point he’d lost all hope for anything and was ready to die in 13.05 until Death herself told him he still had work to do.

Whatever the truth of what’s happened to Kaia, there is absolutely work to do here, as well.

Dean says “I tried talking to her.” Not “we” but “I.” He’s beginning to use the proper words here. This issue has been going on for a loooong time, where Dean phrases things in terms of “we,” such as in 11.23 during the infamous Beer Run, telling Cas he’s like “our brother,” and always couching his feelings as inclusive of Sam as well. This was nicely lampshaded in 12.20 by Max Banes calling Alicia out on her attempt to do the same thing, and in 13.07 Dean FINALLY told Cas “I’ll go with you,” instead of “we’ll go with you.” The fact that Dean is talking about himself like this regarding anything even in the same arena as emotional issues is just… fantastic all around.

Claire feels responsible for Kaia’s death, after promising to protect her. She feels she failed, and that that was the reason Kaia was killed. Jody doesn’t dismiss any of Claire’s feelings or try to talk her out of them (the way Sam and Dean have done for, like, ever), only offers her unconditional support whenever Claire’s ready to accept it.

Cleaning up after the Canids tore up the house, Patience has a lil moment of shock over the fact she killed a monster. Donna smiles knowingly and Alex chuckles and says, “Welcome to the family.” Like Claire said in the cold open, “I kill monsters, that’s who the hell I am.” Well, that’s what this whole family is. They save people and they kill monsters.

Darth Kaia has opened a rift to our world, in the middle of a park reminiscent to the place where Mary turned up in 12.01… opening about a million other mysteries along with that rift.

I know I didn’t cover all the parallels. That probably wouldn’t be possible considering how many times the show has looped back around on itself thematically and narratively, but I think I hit all the big ones here. Now how the hell do I even begin tagging this?

‿︵‿︵‿︵‿ヽ(°□° )ノ︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

#spn 13.10 #wayward sisters #destiel #dreamhunter #parallels #too many episodes to tag them all #the fisher king #kaia nieves #claire novak #patience turner #alex (mills)#jody mills #i fudging love sheriff donna #the tropes are hungry #i'll probably come up with some more tags for this eventually >.>#heaven hell purgatory and the empty #alternate universes in canon #‿︵‿︵‿︵‿ヽ(°□° )ノ︵‿︵‿︵‿︵#there that covers my feelings on trying to tag this :P

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butteredonions · 6 years

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You have no idea how curious I now am about your thoughts on Kuron.

I don’t know if my thoughts about Kuron are different so much as they’re not really popular.

The short version is I don’t like Kuron. I don’t hate him, but I don’t like him. Most of the time I avoid saying that at all, because there’s an unfortunate set of assumptions that accompany that statement. When Kuron was first introduced in s3, a divide quickly arose between fans: you either love him or you hate him. As fandoms usually go, the idea of a middleground seems to have been widely overlooked. As a result I tend to avoid saying “I don’t like Kuron” because people’s first reactions is inevitably “you hate him? How can you say Kuron is evil! He’s a Shiro!” That’s not what I’m saying at all. I don’t think Kuron is evil. I might have thought that at first, when the seasons were brand-new, but now a few months out and especially after s4, I’ve had a little more time to think about things.

The more I think about it, the more I think s3/s4 would’ve been stronger for the team if Shiro hadn’t been there at all. Yes, that hurts me to say. It would’ve been a stronger season if he’d been allowed to come back much later, perhaps in s5/s6, and realize how much the team has grown. Common plot technique: you can level-up the others by temporarily removing the strongest. Don’t get me wrong. I would’ve missed Shiro hardcore if he hadn’t been in s3 and s4 at all, but I would’ve gotten used to it, and the character growth of the others would’ve been worth it. Keith as a Blade works, and I love it, but he also could’ve grown in a longer stint as Black Paladin. I’m not saying that’s what Keith wanted, but who knows where his journey would’ve taken him instead? Imagine Keith as Black Paladin at Naxzela! Imagine the different journey Voltron would’ve taken to not only get Keith there, but the entire rest of the team - emotionally, mentally, you name it. Shiro’s return also short-changes the switch Lance had to make into Red, too. We still see the shifting dynamic between Lance and Allura as she learns to pilot Blue, which is beautiful, but - and I say this with no connotations of ship whatsoever - we were getting somewhere new with Keith and Lance, too. Lance as Keith’s right-hand man, literally, was awkwardly cut short. With Shiro’s return and the flip-back to normal - to a new normal - all of that seems weirdly stilted and fast.

Kuron’s inclusion and incorporation into the team is a clever solution to returning Shiro to Voltron, and I really have nothing but kudos for the writers who came up with it. On many levels, it’s brilliant. With how exceptionally strong the clone theory is, Kuron is - basically - Shiro. He appears to be operating off of Shiro’s memories, perhaps fully believing he has also experienced Shiro’s trauma, living another sort of trauma that may come to hit him when he realizes he’s not the original after all (and that would hurt, and I do feel sorry for him if/when that moment comes. Shiro’s so loyal in any form - that sort of revelation would be devastating, no matter which Shiro he is). Logically, I can see the appeal. As Shiro, Kuron is therefore unconsciously making his choices and living with whatever Shiro-memories/experiences he’s been given (I don’t believe he has all of them - personal headcanon), as well as Shiro’s mannerisms and techniques and ticks. It’s who he is. I didn’t like that at first, but he’s the Shiro we have right now, and there’s something to be said for that.

I’m still struggling with the Black Lion, but this is what I’ve come to. The Black Lion must’ve seen something in Kuron, at least, since she rescued him from imminent death and allowed him to fly her. That’s interesting. As a result, I don’t believe that Kuron is evil, malicious, spiteful, hateful or a conscious mole to the rest of the team. If any of that was conscious thought or intent, the Black Lion would have seen it, and not bonded with him or saved his life when it most mattered. Shiro/Kuron still cares for the team very much. Therefore, I think it’s damn hard for Kuron to be an evil sleeper agent unless he’s not aware of it, which would mean the Kuron we’ve seen is not actively plotting to destroy the team/undermine Keith at all. The Black Lion would’ve seen that. Shiro’s a great actor, but he couldn’t fool her.

This doesn’t mean some of Kuron’s behavior can’t seem fishy, and of anyone on the team, I do headcanon that Keith has noticed. I firmly believe it’s part of the reason why Keith left. Maybe Keith is the only one who’s noticed that something is off with Shiro, even if he can’t entirely put his finger on what, and Keith would notice because of his shared history with Shiro that the show’s hopefully going to give us someday (please show please!!). Of course some of Shiro and Keith’s interactions may seem odd under that light. I think the choices Kuron makes can be and are slightly different from the choices original-Shiro might make, because although he’s the same person, he’s under different circumstances and that just can result in different outcomes. A same but different person. A puzzle.

That said, I can rationalize all that until the cows come home, but my unpopular opinion is I still don’t like Kuron. I don’t hate him, but I don’t like him. The middleground here is that Kuron might be a Shiro, but he isn’t the Shiro that I fell in love with. He is a different Shiro, and the bottom line for me is that makes Kuron a Difference on my absolute favorite character, and regardless of form or content that’s really hard for me to swallow. I admire the people who have, but I just can’t. I’ve tried. It has nothing to do with thinking of Kuron as evil, or ‘lesser’, or ‘bad’ or ‘unsympathetic’ in any way. He’s Shiro, but he’s different, and I fell in love with the Shiro of s1 and s2 so hard that this ‘new’ Shiro hurts. A lot. And until I figure out how to justify that for myself - in words, in canon, in fic or otherwise - in a way that doesn’t hurt, I’m not going to.

Middleground.

#voltron #shiro #kuron #i wrestled with this one for way too long #disclaimer:i haven't seen the seasons more than twice #and it's been a while #this is just what i've come to from thinking over it entirely too much #onion thoughts #that's it that's what i have #discourse #thehouseofthebrave #the onion answers #long post

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coalitiongirl · 7 years

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ive been watching your scenes to rewatch and ive been crying at literally all of them. out of curoisity, what are your favourite ouat scenes? either sq or general? also side note, i love your latest fic, such an interesting premise. i get so scared every time someone says an order and emmas forced to comply, that scene with the trolls had me on edge. and the fact that cora must suspect something about emma now - im so scared but excited ahah :D have a nice day :)

OH I super dropped the ball on those omg, i have so many others!! but i haven’t been able to rewatch in a long time, it hard 😩

of course i LOVE almost every swan queen scene!! it’s hard for me to pick favorites because nearly every one pings something else inside me omfg. I don’t think there’s a single sq scene I couldn’t write an essay about WHOOPS. so lemme try to answer this with just some of my favorite non-sq scenes 😅

Emma in True North: hoo boy, this is probably in my scenes to rewatch but that scene on the road, MAN. there’s so much careful buildup with emma’s abandonment issues and how much she sees herself in nick and ava. and they have a chance she never does and dammit, she fights for them!! she fights for two kids just like her and they get their moment and jmo turns that realization into agony with sheer artistry in emma’s FACE in their final moment. god.

Regina in We Are Both: this was the episode that sold me on Regina! tbh i’d marathoned s1 as soon as they announced mulan was going to be in s2 so i hadn’t been focusing much on thinking before that?? and then suddenly there’s Regina, in all her rich and layered stories, and i fell hARD. the whole narrative of the episode- Regina resisting parental abuse until she becomes what she’s always feared to be free!! and that translating into her saying ‘no, this isn’t going to continue to the next generation. even if i lose the only thing that matters to me.’ do u ever stan!!! I DONT KNOW HOW TO LOVE VERY WELL. END ME.

Emma in Firebird: listen. never follow ur idols to ur next fandom or you’ll suddenly realize they actually hate women and then get ‘’’muted’’’ for ‘’’yelling at her too much’’’ but jane espenson did a GOOD with the flashbacks in this one (present day still literal and figurative hell tho!!). The concept of Emma’s jacket as armor isn’t an original one, but the execution was honestly stellar. Emma forging this connection with an older hardened woman who can’t let go of the past either!! emma destroyed and remade into the lady we met on her twenty-eighth birthday. GOD. SHE FINDS HER DAUGHTER. and i gotta say, the vulnerable-tearful-young thing jmo was doing w emma in s5 didn’t work for me in terms of what present day was trying to convey, but it’s a perfect fit for that flashback, i WEPT.

Regina in Quite A Common Fairy: Lana OWNS the cave scene with Tink, god. The depth and breadth of emoTION. The episode and the narrative itself builds it up from episode one! because this regina on the road to redemption but finally giving us a glimpse into the emotional and mental state she was in as the young queen- she has all this rage and she’s SUSTAINED by it, it’s her only real truth and constant and she’s terrified of what might happen if she lets it go for even an instant and chooses hope instead. (Lana’s voice when Regina says she’s afraid that without rage she might just ‘—float away’ is something that has stayed with me for a long, long time.) REGINA PULLING OUT HER HEART TO MAKE A POINT. far from the last time she will, but how affecting!! god!!

Emma and Snow in S1: There are a few moments i’m thinking of (and i’m literally writing this on the treadmill so pls forgive the lack of episode names) and all of them are so stellar, god. The moment when Snow finds Emma living out of her car early on. Snow and Emma sitting at the table at the loft holding hands. Emma lying down next to a crying Snow. Snow yelling at Emma for being so selfish when she tries running off with Henry?? EMMA SHOWING UP AT MARY MARGARET’S DOOR SEARCHING FOR A ~PERSON~ AND MARY MARGARET SILENTLY LETTING HER IN. Snow and Emma work best in S1 in the silences and the fights, where they’re allowed to just care and be family, and I treasure each of those moments as much as they do.

Regina and Zelena in the Kansas: There’s a lot of effort put into this dynamic right near what seemed like the end, playing with how exactly Zelena perceives her happy ending to go- and then Regina strikes it all down by being different, by changing, by being someone Zelena hadn’t believed either of them capable of. And then Regina goes to Zelena’s cell and offers her!! sisterhood!! my god. i instantly fell in love with the dynamic in that moment and i’m forever pressed that the ‘it’s nice to have family in town’ line was cut. because you can tell that regina craves family and craves unmaking this second monster of her mother’s and zelena was going to TAKE that second chance and hey! this seems the perfect time to go off-message and

Belle in Family Business and Heroes and Villains: imma be honest, i like belle just fine in the early seasons but i have zero interest in rumbelle, which means a lot of fast-forwarding through her scenes. But these two scenes were ENCHANTING. Mirror Belle preying on Belle with the truth that she’s afraid to face! Emilie does such a fantastic job conveying so much cruelty in that scene, I was gaping and enthralled and hoping shattered sight was going to work exactly like that (and tbh props to ginny for doing a hella creepy snow at the start of Shattered Sight). And that town line scene!!! What a stunning, evocative scene. Belle reclaiming agency and taking action in such a 100% cold-blooded but necessary way!! that’s my ravenclaw babe!!!

Mulan and Aurora: I was young, and I Believed, and I Believed for a very long time. I am appalled at my naïveté too, don’t worry.

Regina in Enter the Dragon: LOOK it’s not about the leather but it’s a lil about the leather!!! I really appreciate both Regina in the past and present in this one and also how gay it is, and I’m most charmed by lil evil pep talking nugget Regina who just wants you to be the very best villain you can be! It’s such an artful melding of the exuberance of young!Regina and the delight in chaos of eq!Regina and i, for one, am a fan.

Emma (and Henry) in The Stranger/An Apple Red as Blood: my gOD. Okay I think one of the first times I cried while watching this show was in Emma’s desperate, hysterical denial to August about the curse. She’s so clearly hit rock bottom and she’s TERRIFIED of believing and it’s breaking her. SHE DIDNT ASK TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYONES HAPPINESS. SHE DOESNT WANT IT. THAT IS CRAP!!!! i love her!! i love emma swan!!! i do!!!!! and then moving into the end of the next episode when she tells henry she’s leaving and just!! ‘henry! life isn’t a story!’ man this show had some incredible early work. sigh. emma kneeling in front of henry begging him to listen! my god.

Regina in the Cricket Game: so i’m leaving out all my fave sq moments which severely limits the number of regina and emma scenes i can talk about here but the flashbacks in this one SURE ARE SOMETHING. regina has hit rock bottom in this set and you feel it in every moment, in her REGRET THAT I HAVE NOT CAUSED MORE PAIN and frickin stABBING snow and that dark scene with the candle oh god. this is a regina who doesn’t think about looking back anymore but who doesn’t think about looking forward, either, and she’s terrifying. it reminds me a lot of the scene later this season in Welcome to Storybrooke where she takes out snow’s heart and ‘see? i can have everything’ but there are tears sliding down her face. regina in enraged despair is something to behold!!

Henry (and Emma and Regina) in Operation Mongoose: Henry doesn’t often get lengthy times to shine that aren’t about other characters, but he was literally a YA hero in the author’s universe! man! what a kid! and his scenes with bandit Regina are some of my all-time favorites, as is that heartstopping moment when he reaches the top of that tower and flings the door open and Emma KNOWS him. reader, i wept. i wept hard. talk about your earned moments!!!

Emma as Dark Swan: posture! clothing! positioning! voice work! dark swan was a revelation i’m still rightfully bitter about, because she was EVERYTHING in those early episodes. the way she caressed snow’s face in first episode of 5a. the faux-innocent with the calculating eyes on the ship with whats-his-name. every interaction with henry where she was trying to be a PERSON. the way she moved! the way she felt more reptilian than human! i wanted to know everything about her!! (then i did and quit the show lol) honestly some of jmo’s best acting to date, i’m forever in awe.

That Still Small Voice: look, this is an episode about a cricket and it remains one of my favorite quality ouat episodes. Archie sells it best as an adult influenced by his past without quite knowing it, and Archie and Henry make for a really engaging dynamic in here. There is nothing about Archie’s professional behavior that doesn’t make me want to scream but this remains a very, very good episode.

Emma in Sympathy for the De Vil/Lily: okay this is cheating a little because so much of this is also Regina but!! Emma individually shines in this narrative and throughout 4b. From the moment she finds out about what her parents had done, you can watch it slowly draining a part of her?? yes her eyes got redder but there was also this kind of apathy about EVERYTHING. And tbh the Cruella episode is pretty awesome on its own (I love the slow revelation that Cru is the villain, what a stellar execution of a fave trope) but WHEN EMMA KILLS HER. In the exact moment that Cruella says ‘heroes don’t kill’. that’s what pushes emma over the edge!! and then emma ready to kill again the next episode because she feels like she’s sliding into an abyss, i couldn’t BREATHE. emma is incredible when the narrative lets her be angry, and i wanted So Much More. Speaking of which, Emma getting angrier and angrier and almost losing it in The Snow Queen was more of that anger!! i am HUNGRY for it.

Regina and Snow in The Evil Queen: This episode is messy af but damn did my heart skip a beat when a hooded hero saves Regina and tears off her hood and it’s SNOW. This episode does so much of what makes Snow/Regina so fascinating and frustrating, both in the present and the past. Their interactions in the woods moved me! changed me! and Regina had already crossed the point of no return but oh man, oh man, the way they’d almost gotten somewhere for a minute there.

Regina and Henry in Save Henry: A classic, a work of art, and I’ve said so much about it in the past that I’m exhausted just thinking about expressing it all again now. But what a STORY of an evil queen who falls in love with a little boy. What a narrative!! The promo pictures from this episode came out when I was sitting in the hospital for a checkup while I was expecting my daughter, and I was tearing up and the nurses thought it was about the ultrasound. I’M NOT PROUD. This is a love story!!! And it culminates again in A Curious Thing, by the way, which put another ten years on my life, an Epic !

Emma and Henry in New York City Serenade: boy was this a journey, but I was absolutely spellbound omg. This was a love song to a fantasy but it’s a fantasy that never unmakes Emma– she’s afraid of commitment and happiness and everything permanent in her life that isn’t Henry, but she’s still going to take that leap despite herself. It’s a wonderful character study that captures Emma’s essence in a new world, with a new past.

Snow in The Miller’s Daughter: Snow is at her best when the show isn’t painting her with rose-colored glasses and we get to see her darker side, and I don’t think she ever gets quite as dark in the first three seasons as she is when she’s standing there, smiling earnestly at Regina as she tells her that the key to Cora loving Regina is in the poisoned heart she holds. My god. It’s so incredibly cold-blooded and vile, and it’s absolutely the kind of manipulative pragmatism that suits Snow best. I am enthralled and horrified.

Neal and Emma and Henry and Gold in Manhattan: This is one of those really cool scenes where even though I don’t particularly care for half the characters within it, everyone acted the hell out of it and it’s so GOOD. There’s so much tension and you’re holding your breath through the squabbling, and then Henry shows up and you KNOW. You know what’s going to happen and you’re terrified for Emma and it’s so visceral, right up until the instant when Neal demands Henry’s age and Henry shouts ELEVEN and my god, my god. What a reveal. What a scene.

There are more!! so many scenes and moments i’ve loved over the years. Emma and young!Lily! Snowing in Snow Falls! Anna of Arendale!! Snow and Emma in Lost Girl!! Ruby in Red Handed! The David/Emma dragon fight in A Land Without Magic! Regina tearing out that heart in The Doctor and meeting Daniel again?? Regina and her father in hell. all of Hat Trick. i think twenty is a good place to stop, but hoo boy, when this show was good, it was GOOD. alas.

#ouat #Anonymous

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