The sillies!

s1 ep 6 rewatch notes

[yeah i am still doing these essays, everyone copes differently OKAY]

I wish i had the words to convey my love for the Simon-Rosh-Ayub dynamic when they’re sitting on his bed trying to talk about his video, not the Kim K. video. it’s an instance of one of the things i ADORE about YR, namely, the importance of the love and support of friends - “the gang is back together”. contra a lot of the teenage and adult movies that put romantic love on a pedestal and everything else goes to the dogs.

That shot of Wille set against the sky when the Queen leaves = is it the apocalypse or is it heartbreak and i'm not the only one seeing the religious imagery right?

“we haven’t done anything wrong.” Simon’s moral clarity, his unbreakable backbone - it’s a moment where it’s obvious the Court has no idea who they are dealing with. I’m not sure Wille even knows then.

Frida doesn’t get enough praise for her acting. that side eye of August as they cross in front of him loafing on the picnic table: sublime.

Another parallel I hadn’t seen before: Sara dresses up before dinner; she likes the image she sees of herself in the mirror. She is “someone she is not”, according to Simon (later that night), but she wants that false countenance. In S2, that same move will devastate Wille. But we have another Sara-mirror scene, in S2. Leaning on the Wille-Sara parallel, there’s something being done here about becoming who you are through artifice (dressing up ‘in costume’) or through love (revealing your true self). August (as opposed to Simon, i think …) ends up being a false or traitorous ‘coming into self through love’ for Sara.

Related … when Sara went to see August to confront him about the video, i have retrospectively imagined her as having planned what happened. But if you look at the scene as it happens, both Sara and August seem to just be playing the situation as it arises. Sara starts off by not even intending to tell August, I think that was honest. When she then confronted him about the video, she first asks why did you do this to Wille and then, how do you have the right, you destroyed Simon? none of it is about her. it’s when August asks her ‘what do you want’ - that i think the idea comes to her. And i think that explains her face after she kisses August - her revulsion at herself. it seems like a situation that spiralled out of control very fast.

i can’t really talk about the Sara-Simon fight scene because it’s my Point of No Return in terms of “This is a nice program to watch of an evening” and “These characters have become my entire waking and sleeping existence, is there treatment for this.”

in the scene that starts with them sitting on the floor in Wille’s room, there is that tender moment by the door, and one of the top two kisses and hugs in the whole of season 1 and 2 combined, punctuated with the forehead tap. and i’ve always thought it so lovely until this time i saw the “red flag” - the towel hanging on the hook - and it reminded me of the red ‘flag’ we see in the locker room every other time things go south.

the scene with kristina and wille in the car starts simply with him saying, “WHAT?” which a) comes straight out of fanfic; b) is hyper-realistic adolescent approach to dialogue but also c) actually shows that they are really close. as in, Wille might loathe his mother by the end of this episode, but also he knows exactly what she’s thinking and they can just skip all the usual staging aspects of conversation. it links, i now see, to the book scene, where wille admits that he can’t just throw out everything he’s been taught, b/c he’s internalized it so well

when K is lecturing W about all the public attention he’s going to get now, and how it will be even worse, it’s the same shot of him looking out the car window wishing he could be literally anyone else as in the first few minutes of s1ep1, after the club fight. and we see his reflection in the window, so we get him 'in double' - who he is IRL, and who he is seen to be by the viewer. very clever. very clever.

s2 brain thoughts: the squeakuel (ep 2)

as a reminder, if u see me posting any of these points as their own posts mind ur business:

-i'm sending my hospital bills to david jenkins for weaponizing thef cuking "you wear fine things well" scene WITHOUT ANY KIND OF WARNING i literally almost choked to death from shock

-hey so what the whole actual fuck is up with transitioning directly from the very painful "you wear fine things well" scene which, as we've already established, has REAL HUMAN CASUALTIES DUE TO THIS USE-CASE, into the "run from me darling" lyric overlayed on top of the god damn shot of ed pAINTING THE BRIDE CAKE TOPPER TO LOOK LIKE HIM AND BASICALLY PLAYING OUT HIS FANTASY OF MARRYING STEDE. david jenkins you have committed crimes

-also!!!!!!!!!! that cake topper has kohl smudged all over it so you KNOW our boy ed has been caressing it against his cheek and sighing longingly

-i know we've all talked about how insane the "ed plays with the wedding cake toppers pretending they're him and stede" scene is but i don't think we've really comprehended how GENUINELY INSANE it is like??? edward teach, blackbeard, the kraken, the scourge of the seven seas, the most fearsome pirate the caribbean has ever known that has recently been on a non-stop slaughtering spree, painted a bride wedding cake topper to look like himself which he then scoots next to a wedding cake topper that looks like stede so he can imagine that he's marrying him. this man carefully rubbed kohl on a cake topper to give it darker skin and darker hair and a BEARD. to make it look more like himself. so he could then. put it next to a cake topper that looked like stede. and pretend. they were getting married. i've written that 3 times now and my brain STILL refuses to fully process those sentences.

-i said it in my first brain thoughts post for ep 1 and i'll say it again: every time im reminded that ed has been crying NON-STOP. EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. for MONTHS. over stede. my wall gains another hole

-the way ed is so delirious in his sadness as he pushes the cake toppers out the window. i don't even have any thoughts on that i feel like all i can do is just note it and let y'all deal with the rest

>>actually I lied, he literally watches them sink into the sea after he pushes them out the window that's so fucked up whomever made that decision to make him do that is so fucked up

-"the sea is restorative isn't it" "YYYYEEESSS QUEEN!!!!!!!!!! I'VE ALWAYS SAID SO!!!!!!!!!!!!" "ohh that guy knows" IS THE MOST UNDERRATED EXCHANGE IN THE ENTIRE SERIES IT LITERALLY HAD ME SHAKING WITH LAUGHTER

-would looooooooooooooove to know what went through stede's head as soon as roach mentioned "some place called China??" like did he immediately think of the kiss or getting sent to the naval academy or the kiss or ed's excitement at the prospect of running away together or the kiss or getting kidnapped by chauncey or the kiss or watching chauncey shoot himself in the dome or the kiss or his flop behavior of running back to his family that doesn't even want him or the kiss or

-the crew of the red flag being so immediately kind and welcoming to stede and his crew <3

-i genuinely cannot wait to watch buttons fully immerse himself in the red flag traditions like he was made to be on that crew

-"how should I put this, your energy is..." can't believe they got hatecrimed like that

-RAT BOY

-HE'S HERE

-OUR BOY IS HERE

-fun fact: i recorded my live reaction to episodes 1 - 3 and posted the clip of my friends and i reacting to lucius coming back because we were quite literally jumping for joy and crying over the reunion and THE illustrious Nathan Foad himself told me it was literally the cutest thing he's ever seen (his words, not mine!!) so we're basically best friends forever now and the rest of my life will be spent chasing the high of the happiness i felt during that interaction

-i am also crying once again over his reappearance and i think that's just gonna happen every time i watch this scene :')

-roach's shocked face when lucius appears is something that can actually be so personal

-the way they all dogpile on top of him because they're so happy to see him bitch what the FCUK

-also stede's STUPID LITTLE "huh!" LIKE??????????? THAT WAS YOUR SCRIBE AND RELATIONSHIP GURU YOU HEARTLESS MONSTER WHERE IS THE ENERGY AND EXCITEMENT AT KNOWING HE ISN'T FUCKING DEAD??????????????

-"i love it" *BIG SMOOCH* "i love all of it" *BIGGER SMOOCH* oh so they're trying to kill me by smothering me in the syrupy sweetness of their love. okay

-okay sorry but lucius's absolutely microscopic furrowing of his brow right before black pete kisses him again. for a split second he had a slight look of sadness which lines up with the very real trauma he's endured and how even in extremely happy moments they can be tinged with sadness - maybe a sadness for the past and the way things could've been if he hadn't been pushed off the boat - and all i can say is nathan foad. ur big powerful acting mind

-we gotta talk about lucius choosing not to reveal that ed had pushed him off the ship in front of the whole crew. i'm still trying to figure out if that was him trying to spare stede's feelings (unlikely considering he lets it all out later), spare black pete's feelings (possible, since he knows black pete idolizes blackbeard), prevent himself from having to relive that trauma in front of his friends when he's not prepared to confront those memories, or a combination of all of the above

-"i fell. off the ship." "that doesn't sound like you. you have impeccable balance, babe" i literally love black pete so much i may legally have to change my name to lucius spriggs

-"toouwelss? what is this? are these jobs?" stede i love you so very much to the moon and back but for the love of god you gotta shut it my guy

-I AM LITERALLY SO EXCITED FOR THE BUTTONS SEA WITCH STORY ARC LIKE IT MAY ACTUALLY BE ON PAR WITH MY EXCITEMENT TO SEE ED AND STEDE PROPERLY REUNITE AND OPENLY LOVE EACH OTHER AGAIN

-ed just. washing the door handle. i dont have any other thoughts

-GODDDDDDD HE'S SERVING SOOOOOO MUCH GENDER WITH HIS LIL HAIR BUN AND MOSTLY CLEANED UP WAR PAINT AND DANGLY EARRINGS AKEFJAPWHFA OPERGJAER

-the way frenchie looks genuinely happy for ed when he says he thinks he got all the poison out of his system and it's a new day :((

-idk much about piracy but i really don't think there's a rule about the new first mate traditionally having to kill the old first mate, i think ed just made that up so someone else would have to kill izzy instead of him. despite everything, despite how low he's sunken into the very dark parts of his mind due to the heartbreak, ed still can't bring himself to deal the killing blow

-"i expect great things from you" might be one of the more chilling lines in that interaction because for THE blackbeard to have not just any expectations from you, but GREAT expectations? that's not a compliment, that's a threat. measure up to what blackbeard thinks you should be or else

-can't comment on the amputation scene too yucky sorry

-stede trying to triangulate ed's coordinates based off of his string of crimes on a map HE drew is me trying to triangulate where tf this season is going based off of buckwild theories i've made up and used as the foundation for even more buckwild theories

-yeah idk what the mushy ass lyrics stede wrote on that map mean but i know they're frighteningly homosexual

-"FUCK YOU. that's how i am" I am SO glad lucius gets to be openly bitchy towards stede it feels like a cathartic release for me personally

-ed's fuckin "heyyyy" to frenchie in the kitchen is both hilarious and unbelievably unsettling

-absolutely obsessed with the writers for once again showing just how scarily observant and intelligent ed is when he calls frenchie out for using his right hand to mime killing izzy even though he's actually left handed

-i really admire how david chose to use a low camera angle that looks up at ed as he reveals to frenchie that he's well aware he hasn't killed izzy yet because taika's performance was already unsettling enough but that specific angle adds so much to his overall menacing presence in that scene

-joel fry's performance in the kitchen scene with ed literally makes me want to bite something he's so good at acting quietly terrified

-this is almost certainly an unpopular opinion but i really would've loved to see more buildup to jim and archie kissing. i just feel like we know NOTHING about her let alone her relationship with jim prior to the two days we've seen them interacting and i feel like that kiss would've felt like a much more satisfying payoff if we had seen more interactions between them before they got to that point. i would've taken delaying that kiss by a few episodes if it meant feeling fully invested in it once it did happen, but i also know the show already has so much material to get through (which is why we should've gotten 10 eps but i digress)

-"hey no one told me this room existed" is giving "i didn't even realize there was piracy happening"

-"take the fuckin leg" is such a perfect line delivery

-love the foreshadowing of olu explaining how the little ships on the war table were all over the place and "some of them were over land"

-roach waxing poetic about the noodles is so relatable

-"jesus christ stede keep your pants on" hands down one of the funniest fucking lucius moments of all time

-sorry but we gotta give a shout out to lucius modifying the chinese fleet uniform so it's sleeveless. the edges are cleanly done so either he was put on tailoring duty at some point and picked it up there or someone on the ship wanted to enable the slayage

-there's something to be said about the fact that the only other man who has lasted being on board the red flag ship is another member of the revenge who was picked up and welcomed into the fold well before stede and the rest of the crew wound up there. something about how stede attracts and retains other people who he can tell are gentle at heart, even if they're putting up a tough front. something about how lucius had bounced from ship to ship until he finally wound up on Zheng Yi Sao's ship where he was allowed to be himself

-"ya don't know............if ya picked up....smokin....." nathaniel buttons my beloved

-OOOOF stede's guilty face after lucius talks about how he must've picked up smoking somewhere. after the crushing guilt he already feels about the ed situation this definitely would've weighed extremely heavy on him

-MY SPICY LIL RAT BOY IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME

-"what the hell is going on in towels" wee john my beloved

-look i know izzy is on the brink of death but he genuinely looks kinda beautiful before ed wakes him up from his shock induced coma and i won't apologize for that

-"my leg" izzy is so fred rechid coded

-"it's up in leg heaven now" i need to know if ed said that as a way of metaphorically digging the knife into izzy and getting back at him for trying to force ed to send stede to doggy heaven in season 1

-i dont have the emotional capacity to dive into the ed and izzy shooting scene rn but just know it destroyed me on a metaphysical level

-"too scared to do it yourself" no because unfortunately now im thinking about ed thinking through taking his own life but coming to the realization that he can't do it. whether it's because of childhood christianity trauma and thinking he'll be sent to hell for doing so or because he knows he can't follow through with it himself if there's still a tiny shred of hope that he'll reunite with stede and everything will be okay again, he always has to outsource the big job

-also, very interesting choice to have almost jovial classical music playing in the background of the ed/izzy scene. it definitely undercut a lot of the tension compared to how supremely uncomfortable and anxiety-inducing the scene would've been if it were dead silent behind the dialogue

-"i loved you...best i could"

-"i've got an ex-wife, two messed up kids probably" LMAO stede acknowledging he would have no way of knowing how fucked up his kids are because of him

-"sounds like you're quite the fuck-up pal" "yeah, i am! and im alone! talk to pete. don't be like me" ohhhhh my god stede is in just as much agony as ed is over this breakup he's just been using his polite society social skills of saving face and never showing how truly devastated you are to others to cover up how supremely messed up he is over all of it. he is BEGGING lucius to talk to pete and NOT make the same mistakes he did because maybe if he can prevent lucius from bottling it up and actually deal with this in a healthy way he can make up for a fraction of all the hurt he's caused not only ed but lucius as well. maybe if he can get lucius to talk to pete he can absolve himself of some of the soul-crushing guilt he feels over how his actions have irreparably damaged the people he cares about the most. maybe if lucius and pete are able to work through this trauma and still come out the other side loving each other just as much or even more than they did before, he can believe that there's still hope for him and ed.

-ed choosing to put on the cravat for what he believes is going to be his last action on earth before dying because he's resigned himself to his fate but is still scared shitless by it and wants that modicum of comfort that stede will always be able to provide him no matter how badly he hurt ed is giving me the urge to find the nearest cast iron skillet and loony toons my skull

-"some people are just broken no matter what you do" noooo why do i feel like lucius was talking about himself when he said that to stede about ed ://

-oof i know they were an unnamed character but fang tried to save someone who went overboard during the storm and wasn't able to :(

-GGGOOOODDDDDDD izzy looks so fucking hot and badass all soaking wet and leaning up against the rigging after shooting ed jesus christ

-"finally" ed was so relieved to have his pain finally end. even after his journey of self discovery in the next episode im really curious how he's going to deal with having to confront the pain he thought he escaped in addition to the pain he inflicted on others while failing to cope with that pain and stopping at nothing, including nearly killing the rest of the crew, to end it

Listen I adore limoreau they're the first new ship I've had in a long time and I know the show only has 8 eps but omg they're skipping so many important things with them wtf we should've gotten to see flashbacks of their first time where's the convo after all the angst last episode we need more development and depth. I really don't think they anticipated how popular they were gonna be not as a ship but just romance in general they thought it was gonna be like the boys where 99% of the fandom could not care less about who is dating who but this is a college show and the dynamics and potential of the ships is 1000% greater than that of the boys and I LOVE the boys but it's not that show. Also although the boys doesn't kill most of its characters I think gen v is gonna be different we're loosing at least one main the finale and more in s2

okay this post kinda got away from me and i just started rambling (probably nonsense) so please forgive me if none of this makes sense and/or sounds stupid 😭

first off, anon i COMPLETELY agree with you on the first point. like, don’t get me wrong, i’ve loved and appreciated all the limoreau scenes we’ve gotten so far but right now limoreau just feels a bit….underdeveloped ig? i’m not saying that the writers need to take three seasons to get them together (that would be torture), but it feels like there are so many loose ends left with them and i don’t see how they can tie them all up in the final episode, considering it’s supposed to be a tie-in to s4 of the boys and SO MUCH SHIT is happening.

it feels as if the writers shoved in as much limoreau content as they could into the first half of the season and then were like “alright that should be enough” like???? no? we have not seen a proper conversation between jordan and marie about the state of their relationship since, what, episode 5? and they never resolved the issue of jordan being insecure about marie wanting to be with ALL of them, not just their masc self? if the kiss in tonight’s episode is the last limoreau romantic content we get, i’ll be very disappointed bc i feel like they definitely could’ve at least wrapped up that arc in less than eight episodes.

and don’t get me started on what happened during the memory wipe. the two main characters had SEX and we don’t even get to see the build-up to how and why that happened? it’s not as if marie and jordan don’t remember, bc cate literally gave them their memory back, so it kinda feels like we missed a couple steps in this episode 😭 like, yes, the kiss was super cute and soft and adorable and yes i was kicking my feet and giggling, but at the same time it felt a bit “whoa why we going so fucking fast” bc as far as WE know, they haven’t really talked about the kiss or the sex. like, i feel robbed a little bit bc this is supposed to be like THE main couple 😭

i also think you might be onto something with the writers not anticipating how popular limoreau bc the boys (while they do have some beautiful ships kimchie ily) is not exactly a ship/romance-heavy show and ig they expected the audience to take after the boys?? idk if that makes sense but 🤷🏼‍♀️

as for gen v having major characters killed off, i kinda agree, i kinda don’t. i think mostly bc they’ve already killed off two major characters (luke, who i am counting even though he was alive for 1 ep bc his death was a MAJOR plot twist bc he was literally being promoted as a main/lead character, and indira) and then they also killed off dr. cardosa, so i’d say the kill count is pretty high already. i think the characters most likely to die are andre or cate (or andre’s dad but idk if i’d consider him a major death.)

i think marie and jordan are probably the safest of the main characters (KNOCK ON WOOD!!!!!!) and should they survive this season (god willing!!!!) i think they will remain safe, if not safer. limoreau are the biggest draw (for newer viewers who haven’t seen the boys at least) to the show right now in my opinion. almost everyone i encounter who likes this show got into it because of jordan and marie. i got into it bc of jordan and marie. i don’t think it’d be smart of them to kill off their most popular characters (at least, i really really hope they’re smart enough NOT to do that) so (again, KNOCK ON WOOD!!!!!!!) i think they are safe.

cate could go one of three ways i think; 1, she lives and ends up going full villain/anti-hero arc (which works well with the theory that marie is gonna blow off cate’s hands so she can’t use her power); 2, she has a whole redemption arc where she sacrifices herself for the group; and 3, (this one seems the most far-fetched to me idk if they would actually go this route) cate dies and becomes a martyr or symbol of the entire supes lives matter thing or whatever it’s called. either way, cate is going to go through some deep deep shit in the finale.

ppl have been saying emma and sam kinda have death trope written all over them, but idk i just don’t see it. i could MAYBE see one of them dying, but also not bc apparently there was a scene from one of the promo trailers of emma in the woods as a prisoner and considering this hasn’t happened yet, i’m thinking maybe it could be a cliffhanger for the end of the episode into season 2? as for sam, i honestly have no idea what the writers have planned for him. personally, i think it would be cruel to kill him off after what he experienced in the woods, not to mention his brother already is dead so it’d be kinda fucked up to kill both riordan brothers but 🤷🏼‍♀️ anything can happen in this show

as for andre, i hate to say it, but he’s kinda useless. he’s probably the weakest supe of the group if i had to pick one and i could definitely see andre dying being used as a way to either solidify cate’s villain arc or like, shock some sense into her(?) bringing her back to the good side, idk 🤷🏼‍♀️ plus there’s the whole controversy with chance, so unless andre survives and they decide to recast him, i really wouldn’t be that sorry to see him go. also, i think his dad is almost for sure dying, my main question is what the hell happened to him and how did he die bc that was random as hell.

i really just hope limoreau and cate survive, they’re probably the most interesting characters in this entire show (i may be a bit biased but it’s fiiine), plus the actors are so so so great, it’d be such a shame to lose them. i’m a little ambivalent on sam and emma, but i don’t really WANT them to die, and with andre, i kinda just don’t care for reasons explained above.

honestly, i think if they kill off another main character this season, it might lessen the chances of killing off another main character in the second season (unless they add more characters to the main cast), and if they end up surviving all the main characters, someone is def getting killed in s2, idk if it’ll be both, but again, anything can happen in this universe so i guess we’ll have to see 🤷🏼‍♀️

Ways you can help get Shadow and Bone S3 + Six Of Crows Spinoff

Stream Shadow and Bone S2 on Netflix:

this is the most obvious and yet time consuming way that you can help. it is rumored that Netflix values completion rate, hours watched, rewatch rate, and number of new viewers. This means it would be best if you could get friends and family who might not have seen the show before to watch it all the way through.

If that isn't possible, the next best thing we can do is stream! This means to watch the second season all the way through, start to finish. You don't have to physically be watching of course, you can have it playing on a device in the background as you work, clean, cook, ect.

Ideally, the volume on your device should be more than half. You can use headphones if you don't want to hear the sound, or place it in a different room. Just remember to check up on the device every 2-3 hours to make sure it is still playing the show.

From my experience, Netflix will stop the season at the beginning of episode 4 if you haven't been jiggling the mouse or adjusting the volume, brightness, ect. So, I just change the subtitles or brightness every now and then to make sure Netflix believe I am actively watching the show.

How to stream on PC/computer:

Go to Netflix.com (you can use the Netflix app but you won't be able to mute the tab if you do it that way)

Choose Shadow and Bone S2 Ep 1 and let your device play through it. You want the sound on the Netflix tab itself to be higher than 50%.

Now that you have it playing, you can mute the tab on your device (I use Google Chrome but, I'm sure other browsers allow you to mute as well!)

To mute the tab:

right-click the tab, and then you will see "mute site". go ahead and click on that.

Tablet/Phone:

Go to the Netflix App

Click on Shadow and Bone season 2 and start from episode 1 at the beginning.

Because there is no way to mute the tab, just use headphones or put the device somewhere if the sound bothers you.

You might also want to keep your device connected to a charger as it can drain the battery a little.

please continue to stream shadow and bone! and start if you haven't already.

TV:

Go to Netflix on your remote/application

Play Shadow and Bone s2 all the way through

This is best if you are cooking or something where you can hear the show from the other room and can click "continue watching" when need be.

Other ways to help:

Say you are unable to stream, that's ok! There are other ways you can help Netflix know that we want Shadow and Bone renewed for a third season and a Six Of Crows Spin Off.

Use hashtags! Rumor has it that Netflix cares most about Twitter, so please use that platform the most if you can. (I know that is a tall ask haha) Here are some super important ones:

#Shadow and Bone

#Six Of Crows Spin Off

#SOC Spin Off

Talk about it on Social Media:

Whatever platform you use, please share Shadow and Bone content, like, comment, put the posts on your stories, make edits, talk about the plot, what you liked, what you didn't, just talk about the show!

Join the watchparty:

This is more like a blend of the two ways to help. Kanej Breakdown on Twitter hosted a watch party on April 1st and 2nd and it went super well! The idea was we all watch using a Google Chrome Extension called Teleparty (you can also just watch the episodes listed for that day at that time if you don't have PC/ Google Chrome) and tweet using the hashtags listed above. This allows so many tweets to be sent under those hashtags, and gets it trending. They are hosting another watchparty today as well as this weekend.

We want to stay as high as possible to finish out these 28 days (important for Netflix's renewal system) so, please, please if you are able STREAM!!

Honestly, I really admire (and am thankful for) the way you manage and handle those back and forth with some Izzy stans, I don't think I have the mental strength to entertain them myself.

I wasn't part of the fandom after season 1 aired, I watched it without engaging much and then kind of waited for season 2 to come out, so I had no idea such a divide had happened between Izzy stans and the rest of the fandom (glad I was oblivious to it ngl). All I know is that I hated Izzy’s guts and wanted him to get his just desert.

So yeah, I wasn’t a fan and I struggled forgiving him when season 2 started because the show was trying so hard to make him sympathetic (which I honestly couldn’t give two shits about at first, I wanted revenge), plus you’re right, Izzy got way too much screen time (which gave Izzy stans ammunitions to say “SEE!! Main character!!!”), but I did end up warming up to him by the time he died. I can even say I genuinely liked him.

BUT the journey to that point was sooo conflicting because some Izzy stans were also doing the absolute most in the main tag, painting Izzy as this angel who never did anything wrong and was terrorized by the monster Ed, and I was like????? Did season 1 happen??? Did I dream the whole season??? Did I watch a version from an alternate universe??? I was BAFFLED. I don't know who is that Izzy they're talking about, but it's not the one on my screen, that's for sure.

Then, Izzy died and the hardcore stans lost their shit (you know what I'm talking about) and they have seriously soured me to Izzy again. I want to like the character we had on screen, and I want to like his redemption arc. He was a great antagonist even if I hated him, and we owed him so much for all the shit he pulled in season 1, but the OTT takes and behaviors from stans I’ve seen have made me give up on him, which sucks. Maybe I’ll feel better about him in a few months, but right now, I can’t stand him, and I’ve blocked his tag everywhere (ao3 included, because, truly, fuck fanon Izzy, fuck him).

Hope it’s not too draining for you though, just writing this felt like screaming into the void, so I can’t imagine dealing with this on the daily. Take care!

hi anon i'm so glad you sent this bc i felt very similarly about izzy in s2. i didn't find him sympathetic at all. i didn't give a single shit that he was suffering from ed being in his kraken era bc he's the entire reason ed ended up like that in the first place. izzy was reaping what he sowed. seeing ed feeling so miserable broke my fucking heart and i can't stand any bullshit takes about 'izzy was protecting the crew from ed's abuse' or 'edizzy invented love confirmed' or whatever other nonsense his stans chose to take away from episodes 1-3.

i truly do not see izzy as a victim. i truly do not see ed as an abuser. sometimes i will start reading a post in the ofmd tag that refers to an 'abuser' and a 'victim' and i get halfway through the post and realise that the op has a completely opposite view of who is who than i do.

and as s2 progressed i just felt worse and worse about it like he was getting so much screentime and popping up all over the place and he'd absorbed a load of traits (from other characters that i'd have rather seen more of) bc the writers had to speedrun making him semi-likeable. i still haven't done a proper rewatch since the finale aired and i'm pretty sure i'll feel different watching it knowing he dies in ep8, but when eps 6-7 dropped i fucking hated every scene he was in and felt like he ruined some otherwise really lovely ed/stede moments like their breakfast in bed. izzy being cheered on for wearing drag and singing - the exact acts that caused him to threaten ed - feels exactly like the very common queer experience of seeing the homophobic kid who bullied you for being queer getting loads of support when they come out themselves.

and the takes that were coming out of the canyon at this time were absolutely wild, especially in relation to ed. people absolutely baying for blood, wanting to see him suffer, wanting his relationship with stede to suffer, wanting him to have to crawl across broken glass to repair his relationship with the crew, all while treating izzy as a protagonist who never did anything wrong.

so ngl i was delighted when he died. but mostly i was relieved that it was going to be over. i walked out of my circus tent with my clown makeup on believing that the canyon would yell for a bit and then slowly quiet down as people who claimed they'd be leaving the fandom if izzy died made good on their promise and fucked off.

and if anything they've got louder and more unhinged and are out here reinventing tjlc and harassing the writers and churning out the most rancid racist posts and writing obituaries that caused multiple people on twt to mistakenly think Actual Human Person con o'neill had died.

and on one hand i'm kind of glad that more people know what they're like now but god i really do feel for any izzy fans who have had their enjoyment of him ruined by the canyon. i really do think it's not the character that's polarising, it's the fandom response, in that most people who come in liking izzy end up either aligning with the canyon or getting so fucking fed up of the canyon that they don't like him anymore. and both of those are a shame tbh because he is very well acted and well written, especially in s1, and i wish i could've enjoyed his scenes and felt the emotional payoff of his death

anyway. sorry for writing you 1 billion words. ily ❤️

Right, I'm dropping some HSMTMTS opinions, because honestly, looking through the tag, I feel like i'm watching a different show to some of you???

For context, I have loved Rina since 1x05, but I also properly hopped on the Portwell bandwagon in s2, and genuinely enjoy both ships as written. In fact, other than Ricky/Lily, there are v few canon relationships on this show that I haven't enjoyed at some point.

Anyway, a few thoughts on the love triangle that I may get shot for, but oh well.

1) Gina is not emotionally cheating on EJ. Like yeah, her and Ricky have got their friendship back, and the nature of their friendship can come across as flirty, but Gina rn is fully invested in her relationship with EJ. Her and Ricky being close (especially given he was her first friend in Salt Lake) isn't a crime. Even in WDYKAL, she is fully in character to piss off EJ. She is not suddenly over EJ and back into Ricky.

2) Ricky is not trying to get in the way of Portwell. Yeah, he was being a bit of a dick with that comment about EJ stealing Gina because we all know that's not true. But other than that, he has respected their relationship. He had no intentions of telling Gina that these feelings have resurfaced for him, evident from the fact he swears Carlos to secrecy and is devastated when Channing catches it on camera. And he also makes a point of asking "did it show?", demonstrating that he is trying to keep his feelings under wraps. He allowed Gina to talk about EJ without getting defensive, he even answered EJ's question of why Gina was mad at him without a sarcastic comment. Saying Ricky is purposely getting in the way of PW is character assassination for no good reason. The boy has feelings, yeah, but he hasn't acted on them and the narrative has shown nothing to suggest he would while Gina is with EJ.

3) EJ is being a bit of a tool this season, but honestly, I don't think this is the wasted character development y'all think it is. I don't know about all of your own lives, but something I've found in mine is that growth is very rarely linear. Yes, EJ learnt and grew a lot in s2, and there are times it feels he has forgotten that in s3. But also, he is an incredible stressed 18 year old: flaring up in the form of your former self isn't bad writing, that's just what happens when you're a kid going through shit. I am not worried about what they're doing with EJ at all, and I think by the end of the season, he will have developed in a way that is in line with what the writers did for him last season.

4) I completely agree that they should have slowed their horses when it came to reintroducing the triangle dynamic. Especially because it does feel like PW only got a few eps without drama. But also, this is a teen drama, that's kind of how it works? Also, based on the current writing (and I know I'm in the minority here), I genuinely still think PW will be together at the end of this season. Or at the v least, they won't break up until right at the end, and it won't have anything to do with Ricky.

5) I genuinely don't think the Rina storyline is fan service. Maybe WDYKAL was a *little* bit but I loved every second so I'm not complaining. Tim has said right from the start that Rina was born out of them seeing Josh and Sofia's chemistry in 1x05, and the team feeling that they needed to write towards that. And so they did. Similarly, I feel that the PW stuff in season 2 was so great because it felt that the writers saw something v natural between these characters, and just wrote towards it in a way that felt organic with the story. Given how much of a mess 2b was, I still think Portwell is one of the best written parts of it. However , in s2, there was only closure for Rina on Gina's side, so to say it was a 'done storyline' when we've actually never seen Ricky's POV, isn't fair either? Like idk, there are plenty of things I would have done differently when it comes to the love triangle, but also I don't think that any of their dynamic this season has felt out of pocket, like it all seems to follow the tone and prev writing?

Anyway, long controversial venting over. Please don't come for me xoxo

a'ight. let's talk about the netflix adaptation of avatar: the last airbender.

SPOILERS PRESENT THROUGHOUT UNDER THE CUT.

this covers eps 1-4 bc i need a break for food and stuff lmfao.

so i like probably many others went in braced with the expectation of it being...well, like a certain movie that we all like to pretend does not exist. i had seen some things, which i discussed on another post, that worried me greatly. i would consider myself an atla superfan; it was a huge part of my childhood and i can remember sitting on the floor of the living room watching sozin's comet with my brother as the finale aired for that first time. so while i was excited for the idea of a live action version, having been badly burned by the movie, i was wary.

i am pleasantly surprised to say that, other than some flaws that i will discuss, it actually was...good?

i was very concerned about the removal of sozin's comet, given how integral it is to the story. sure, you do have actors who will be aging, as it is gonna take at least probably 6 years for the whole story to wrap up. this is, of course, assuming that netflix does not yeet it after s2 as they so love to do. seeing that it was present in episode 1 was...a little confusing considering what i had read. but i'm glad that it was there.

seeing sozin himself was awesome tbh. i think that he is a really interesting character and i honestly would be thrilled to have an entire series dedicated to him and roku, with their friendship and the trials they suffered together as firelord and avatar respectively. that was always one of my favorite episodes in s3 because of the deep introspection we got and the history of those two characters. but uh yeah when he just casually burned that earthbender to death, yeah. that was kinda the first sign that this was not going to be an adaptation geared towards children.

which i guess does make sense, doesn't it? after all, those of us like myself who grew up with avatar are no longer children but instead grown adults with children of our own in some case. it's an adaptation: it has to adapt to the times.

seeing the actual genocide of the air nomads was...a lot. that is one thing i will say that the live action had over the cartoon; it is hard to show death in a cartoon intended for children which means that, in a way, it is harder to fully realize the gravity of the situation. by showing it, by showing the deaths of men, women, and children, you as the viewer get the chance to better understand what was actually lost. i think it was easier to see them not just as characters but as people.

i'll admit that the cursing threw me for a loop, lol. it was just strange to casually hear "ass" being used in the realm of atla. but, again, this comes back to the need for accepting the aging audience.

i know there had been some discussion of aging katara to 16 and de-aging sokka to 14. if that was done, there was no sign of it. i had also had concerns about the removal of sokka's sexism but, honestly, i genuinely feel like the story was made much stronger for the lack of it. i liked the replacement of his 'dad left me in charge, i'm the leader, this is all my responsibility' sooo much more because it made more sense, especially when the revelations from the episode called spirited away came to light. it worked. and it worked in a way that lent gravity to the situation rather than the rather comedic ties that the original sexism offered.

i think in terms of sheer characterization, sokka was probably the strongest overall. i feel like his actor really got the character. katara had a problem of, at times, feeling too flat, as well as lacking some of the passion that i felt the cartoon allowed her to have.

aang's actor did really well, i will say. my friend thought that he did not quite convey the joyfulness that cartoon aang had but, having had a few hours to think about that, i think that might have been purposefully done. the adaptation was, again, not aimed at young kids. it makes sense that aang should feel, especially based on his discussions with the other avatars and other central characters, more serious and concerned about the general state of the world. a century is a long time to be away and i liked the way they showed the struggle he had with the fact that his entire people were gone. he really was the last airbender and the adaptation made me feel that. sure, it came at the cost of some of that youthful joyfulness, but i think it was a fair trade overall.

i loved gran gran doing the initial intro lines with kyoshi doing the actual intro. gran gran doing it made it feel like a story, a legend, that had been told for decades.

something else i enjoyed was the way that the adaptation handled integrating in other plotlines. getting to see ozai and azula, as well as mai and ty lee, in the fire nation capital city was really interesting. to me, it was a reminder that even when other characters are focused on other things, there are always things happening. the fake out of azula being a spy for her father for rebellions was fantastic and i think a key to the beginning of her characterization as a whole. i will admit i had some concerns about azula but her actress was incredible. absolutely incredible.

sokka's chemistry with suki was SIZZLING. like that entire bit was just so good. them fighting together and training together was just. urgh. it was so good.

now a character i will say i strongly prefer in the cartoon over the live action was zhao. i felt like his actor was...just trying too hard. maybe it's because jason isaacs just has a villainous voice but the cartoon always felt scarier to me. zhao in the live action felt...cartoonish and silly. almost like his actor was not taking it seriously, if that makes sense? that was disappointing to me. zhao was meant to be the first real antagonist of the series, a villain we could really hate and root for his downfall. instead, he just sort felt cartoonish and cheezy to me. i'm not sure if that was a direction choice or just the actor failing to understand the character but that was one of my chief complaints overall.

on the opposite end, iroh was so good. let's all be real here for a moment: there was no way, no way in hell, that a live action iroh was gonna be better than the cartoon. it was not gonna happen. iroh in the original was peak character and they were never gonna recreate him. but they didn't need to! they didn't need to because the live action iroh was just so good. he brought the same sort of laid back, calm serenity that the original iroh did without feeling like a carbon copy - or worse, a caricature - of him. i loved absolutely everything about iroh.

i wanna talk about the funeral scene in e4 but i also don't wanna talk about the funeral scene in e4 because it made me BAWL LIKE AN ACTUAL BABY Y'ALL I WENT FROM PERFECTLY FINE TO TEARS STREAMING DOWN MY FACE SOBBING BROKENLY IN .2 SECONDS. as soon as i recognized the music that was it i was done, i was gone, almost had to pause to get myself back under control. it was bad.

i really liked how they did jet. it was a little strange for that to all be taking place in omashu but i understand the necessity of pulling everything down to fewer locations.

speaking of, to address something i spoke of at some length in another post, one of my key concerns upon learning that there was not going to be the 'running around to different locations' plots was that team avatar and by extension, us the audience, would miss out on seeing the effects of a century long war. i am very happy to say that those concerns were not valid. i actually think the live action did a better job of communicating those effects in a way that was truly shocking. think about bumi, for example. a character who in the show is, really, a sort of comedy break became instead a character who felt real, felt serious, and felt like he was bruised all over by the war that he has been fighting. i was on the fence a lot about that plot change, where bumi was sort of dark and gritty, but the more i have thought about it, the more i realize that it makes sense. a hundred years is a long time to battle an enemy that, frankly, is better equipped than you. is it any wonder that he was so angry at aang, even if that anger was misplaced? i don't really think so.

i am going to stop here, get some food, shower, and discuss the last 4 episodes a little later bc this is already unbelievably long lmao.

please feel free to let me know what you thought of it!!

Bad Memory of Grand Albert: It's a plot hole.

Outburst of a Winger

I was reading a Chinese page that featured the Super Wings characters and I noticed something wrong in the part that talked about Grand Albert:

The website said that Grand Albert has a bad memory, but before making that claim, the website itself said that he was proud of his adventuring days as a young man, which goes against the grain. what was said earlier what made me realize something: this is a plot hole and a pretty big one.

In episode 04 of season 6, Grand Albert forgets his Telephoto Transformer in Egypt if he only realized that it was not there already in World Aircraft, already in episode 20 (special episode of S6) Grand Albert has difficulties finding the teahouse in Beijing, becoming disoriented even with Jett by his side, emphasizing the plot hole.

Now answer me: How does he have a bad memory being that he is always seen telling his stories with names and details about each one, in addition to knowing the whole world so clearly? Isn't that weird for you?

That's what leaves it with an air of: no sense at all. Grand Albert, in my view, and from what I analyzed about the series, has a great memory, even being like a photographic memory, but the Alpha Group that has been spoiling the series since the third season, in addition to diminishing his abilities and the poor use of the other stories told by Grand Albert in both the first and second seasons, leaving him with no space to be more developed, giving only his worth when it comes to his Telephoto Transformer (Introduced in Season 2 EP 12) and his cowboy lasso (introduced in season 1 EP 10).

I wish Alpha Group would explore more of the stories that were told in season 1 and 2, it would be cool to have another episode of him with the iconic Mountie hat (S1 EP 13), Another showing his skills as a Zebra Scout (S1 EP 30), shown his Kung Fu blows (S2 EP 11), One more episode with the time portal (S2 EP 15 and 16) and playing baseball like (S2 EP 19).

Unfortunately this is far from happening, I just have to vent, as a Winger and a fan of the Grand Albert, I am upset with what the Alpha Group has done with him and I also fear that Ellie will have the same fate, since we haven't seen her doing anything other than her "climbing rope" which is similar to Dizzy, I hope the company doesn't ruin her like she did with her grandfather and the characters that were discarded in seasons 3 and 5 (Worst seasons in my opinion)

Me and my wiser other half just watched ofmd for a third time and just realized something which I haven't seen in any META (or I missed it if it was; we discovered ofmd just this Jan).

For last ep when we have Ed/Izzy-Threat scene I have seen a lot of meta and fanfictions which were explaining that scene as "Ed being afraid of being open and vulnerable" and saying that this was the reason to moving info being Blackbeared again.

I was accepting this even though I felt something off about this explanation (especially that whole Ravenge crew was nothing but supportive since he get back). What hit us today is that from Ed's perspective everything started to be different between him and Stede at point of going to academy. Based on his experience/his perspective Stede "run away from him" for the first time at the moment 1) seen him shaven and was absolutely shaken with that look (and even took lack of beared much harder than Ed himself) 2) was trying to ask/convince Ed to escape and get back to previous "setup" they had instead starting to accept new situation and "lack of Blackbeared". And at that poiny Stede phisically run from the barracs. He run so well that Ed had to look for him for quite some time (as he said when he reached the beach).

Then he kissed Stede and proposed to run away and leave behind "their old lives and their old identities" and build new ones based on what they have "found" in each other. Stede agrees but then never shows up to the meeting. And even while agreeing he was kinda stressed.

We as a viewers, we know what happened. We know that Stede's worry is that he is ruining Ed and as he is caring for him deeply, this is the last thing he wants to do. Plus considering his view of himself he is not realizing that by leaving he is hurting Ed. For him it is obvious that he cannot be THAT important to someone.

BUT Ed has no idea about that. From his perspective everything was fine between them as long as "a lot of Blackbeared" was still "in him" (even though Ed showed himself already as well and was fully accepted by Stede after the bathtub scene. So basically when Ed an Blackbeared were still very merged together). I do not think this thought fully came to him at that point. I think it hit him in the moment when Izzy confronted him saying he is pathethic by not being like he used to be. That now ALL he is "a namby-pamby in a silk dressing gown pining for his boyfriend". What i think was unspoken here but what Ed could have heared in his owne head is "and even this boyfriend of yours run away when he saw "naked" Ed, withouth any Blackbeared "flavor" on it. And thought the same, that this view is so pathethic he does not want to run away with you, with Ed". Ep 9 is the first one where we see Ed alone, withouth any Blackbeared identity.

And I think this is what could have made him flip into being Kraken (not Blackbeared! Until very end of ep he is not talking about himself as Blackbeared, only Kraken! Only the killer!). Stede left because Ed alone was not worth anything. I am wondering if we are right and if this self-hatered driven by such feelings and thoughts will be shown in s2.

Also curiouse to see what you think about it and if it was mentioned by someone before me :)

Aarmau Is Not Healthy - A Deconstructive Analysis On Aaron And Aphmau’s Relationship (updated)

This is the third updated rewrite of my previous Aarmau analysis. The conclusion is the same, but it includes more details.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I’m NOT trying to say that you should ship another ship, or say anything about the actors or writers here. I am simply analyzing the content as it is presented, which is generally what you’re supposed to do with shows and the like. Anyways… 

Warnings for discussions of child abuse, neglect, unhealthy relationships, etc. Standard canon Mystreet stuff.

So, to start this off, I'm going to state something that is both canon and important to this particular analysis: Aaron was abused by his parents, Derek and Rachel Lycan (more by Derek, but I'm not excusing her actions either). It's canon and displayed in several episodes, particularly Phoenix Drop High S2, Falcon Claw University, Lover’s Lane, Woof’s Tale, and in the flashbacks in Emerald Secret. They left him home alone with no food for unknown amounts of time, they called him a monster, they guilt tripped him into staying with them, etc. This is touched on a lot of Aaron and Derek’s Aphmau wikia page if you want to read up on it, because there's a lot and since that isn't the main point of this I don't want to spend to long harping on surface level analysis.

In Falcon Claw University, Aaron is being kept in isolation and treated as a monster by Derek and the people Derek has hired to keep Aaron away from people. This causes this exchange between them in FCU EP.1, “Meeting In Person”:

Aaron: I can't say. Aphmau: Huh? Aaron: I can't say why I've been gone for two years without saying a word. It's a private matter and it's hard to bring up. I can't tell you if I’ve changed as a person, because I don't even know myself as it stands. But what I do know is that I want to be your friend so bad. I really did miss you, and I hope you can understand. Aphmau: Can I ask, if you ever get the courage to tell me… would you? Aaron: Yes. I would.

Despite her wanting to know about what happened, years later when he actually tells her she blatantly doesn't care about his feelings and goes as far to invite them back into his life without his permission or even giving him a heads up, after not seeing them for years, presumably since running away in Falcon Claw University EP.30.

In EP.1 of the Mystreet Holiday Special, “Aphmau and Aaron’s First Christmas,” when Aphmau invites his family over without telling him, and they have the following conversation:

Aphmau: I wanted to invite Aaron’s family over for the holidays, even if it is just for one day, or a few. Aaron: But Aph, I told you what— Aphmau: I know what happened. But Aaron, it's the holiday season. I want to forgive and forget. And maybe try to start over.

Even if Aphmau wants to ‘forgive and forget,’ she has no right to bring Aaron’s abusers back into his life without even consulting him first. She acts as if the world is centered around her, even in situations where it’s obviously Aaron’s business to make a decision. She even cuts Aaron off, not letting him finish what he had to say.

Aaron: Aph, is this really what you want? Aphmau: Yes. Aaron… If I'm going to be in your life, I want to know your life. And that starts with the people who raised you. Even if they've been… not nice, at least it lets us take a chance to get to know them.

During EP.2 of the Christmas special, “Aaron’s Dad,” Aphmau continues to ignore Aaron’s feelings even more blatantly:

Aaron: My dad… [sighs.] I haven't seen or talked to him in such a long time. I don't know what to prepare you for. Aphmau: Hey, Aaron… however your dad is, I’m sure he's fine. Besides, it's the holidays! Holiday magic is sure to make him at least somewhat pleasant.  Aaron: It's sweet of you to think that way, but— Aphmau: Upupup! Holiday magic. Now, let's get back downstairs before your mom and my mom kill each other! Aaron: But—  Aphmau: Holiday magic, Aaron. Holiday magic! [Aphmau exits, leaving Aaron behind.]

In EP.3, “CHRISTMAS BOY FIGHT!” Aphmau says the following to Derek:

Aphmau: Honestly, you seem like a nice person, and I’m sure you are…

Aphmau says this while knowing presumably nothing about Derek, except that he mistreated Aaron while growing up and even now won’t spend any time with him.

During this mini arc, despite Aphmau claiming she’s doing this to ‘know his life,’ it never once occurs to Aphmau that to better understand Aaron she should simply ask him about his life. She disregards Aaron’s own experiences in comfort for the flimsy notion of ‘getting to know him’ despite never actually doing so.

This kind of dismissal of Aaron’s feelings isn’t a one time thing, either. She continues to do so in EP.24 of Mystreet S3: Lover’s Lane, “The Break-Up”:

Aaron: Aph… I haven’t been spending a lot of time with you lately. You have to have noticed that. Aphmau: Noticed it? [Laughs.] I barely have! It feels like I’m always with you, considering how fast the days go. They’re going by a little too fast, too be honest. Aaron: You… haven’t noticed…? Aphmau: Nope! I’ve been busy. Oh, hey! Is that a cheesecake? Aaron: [Sighs.] Aph, can we just spend tonight… alone? Aphmau: Thanks, Aaron. We'll spend more time tomorrow. I promise. [Flashback.] Rachel: We'll spend more time tomorrow, Aaron. I promise. [End of Flashback] Aaron: (to himself) Why can't I get myself to tell her about these memories? How I'm feeling... I just want to support her and see her happy. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

While this isn’t inherently evil behaviour from Aphmau, she’s being extremely selfish here. She refuses to consider Aaron’s feelings over her own even when he’s clearly hurt, and despite (apparently) knowing of his issues caused by neglect and abandonment by his parents, she doesn’t factor this in to anything. Later, while apologizing, she admits she ignored how he was feeling. However, Aaron apologizes for it too, which considerably lessens the impact that this scene is supposed to have. This wasn’t Aaron’s fault. He tried to tell her how he was feeling and she dismissed him.

After the Lover’s Lane finale, Aaron seems to be moving on from his parent’s influence. For example, take what he says in Aaron’s Ticket (the season 4 prequel) EP.1:

Derek: I'll pay you a lot for this! Aaron: ...Normally, I wouldn't listen to you, but…

Aaron only takes the job because he needs the money. This shows that he is no longer putting up with how his parents treat him.

But now, he's on vacation with them in Starlight. Post-Emerald Secret they got what they wanted back in Lover’s Lane: to force Aaron back into their life. Most likely because of Emerald Secret EP.17, where Aphmau and Derek have a heart to heart of sorts where Derek realizes 30 years too late he ruined his son’s life and makes a half assed apology while Aphmau cries, and the Derek (and by extension, Rachel) decide that everything is now good and they can go back to being one big happy nuclear family.

Growth is defined by learning. Aphmau could grow and learn from her past mistakes in her relationship with Aaron, but she doesn’t. She allows Aaron’s parents back into his life yet again while he’s dying, and doesn’t once even stop to say or consider that they were bad to him and this could do more harm than good.

Also, lets not forget that in Emerald Secret EP.10 Aphmau openly admits she'd rather have him harmed than have another woman be near him:

Aphmau: What's going on? Tatiana: We need him to wake up! Aphmau: Why? What's wrong? Tatiana: Our alpha is coming. If he finds him here, he'll hurt him! Aphmau: Huh? What? Tatiana: [Embracing Aaron]. Wake up! Please! Aphmau: What are you doing to him? Tatiana: He needs more of my body heat! Aphmau: Oh no he doesn't! Hey! Let go of him! Aaron: [Waking up] Ah, Aph, you feel so… warm… huh? [Notices Tatiana and jumps] Woah! What the— who are you? Aphmau: “You're so warm.” What was that supposed to mean? Aaron: Aph! You're here! Aphmau: Of course I am. Remember?

He almost died, and her immediate reaction is to be angry at him for practically nothing. Then this exchange happens:

Tatiana: I wanted to thank you for before - for what you did in the forest. Aphmau: What’d you do in the forest, Aaron?! Aaron: I have no idea what’s going on! Tatiana: I didn’t know men could be so kind and gentle. Aphmau: What?! Aaron: I don’t know what she’s talking about! [Aphmau throws a rock at Aaron’s head, which he dodges.] Aaron: Woah!

While it is understandable that Aphmau would interpret her words this way (we, as the viewer, know she’s talking about the wolf that Aaron rescued earlier, but Aphmau and Aaron don’t), her throwing a rock at his head should not be her first instinct.

Let's contrast this example with an almost identical one: when Aaron has picture proof of Aph cheating in Lover’s Lane (even though she didn't) he thinks rationally about the situation and firmly believes that Aph wouldn't do that to him since they love each other.

Aaron: I wanted to ask you about that. Melissa: The picture? I figured. If that isn't enough evidence for you, then I don't know what is. Aaron: I'm sorry, but that is not enough evidence for me to think that Aph would do that.

When Aphmau is presented with a couple vague statements that could be taken as Aaron cheating, she throws a rock at Aaron’s head immediately despite him verbally protesting. When Aaron is presented with photographic evidence, he concludes that he trusts Aphmau and that this isn’t enough proof that she would do something like that. (I’d like to note, I’m not trying to say Aaron should've distrusted her, she didn’t do anything wrong. Aphmau was in the wrong here, Aaron was in the right.)

In Lover’s Lane (which I should note is a season that’s actually comedy) when the topic of cheating comes up, it’s handled seriously because it is serious. Yet in Emerald Secret, which is an actual plot-driven season, Aphmau possibly hurting Aaron over a misunderstanding played off for a cheap laugh.

This is because it factors in to their own messed up relationship with their parents. In Emerald Secret, Aphmau is viewing Aaron through the lens of her father — the fear that he’ll cheat and abandon her is pervasive, even though Aaron has never made any indication that he’s anything but unheathily ride-or-die for the relationship. However, much like her mother’s occasional outbursts, Aphmau’s reaction is kneejerk violence.

On the flip side, Aaron views Aphmau through the lens of his mom — as mentioned earlier, in Lover’s Lane EP.24, Aaron’s mind directly compares the words that Aphmau are saying to him with his mother’s, and rationalizes Aphmau’s actions in the same way, that because she loves him, it’s acceptable.

Both of them are using the other to fill the role of a toxic absent parent in these scenarios, but never seem to actually acknowledge this as harmful. It’s the rational outcome for them.

The idea of Aphmau trying to ‘get to know Aaron’s life’ from a self-oriented perspective like in the Christmas special as discussed earlier isn’t a one time thing. During EP.17 of Starlight, “Make Me Like You…” and EP. 18, “Choose…” Aphmau asks Aaron to turn her into a werewolf to better understand him. He eventually does, and Sylvanna explains why this was a bad decision to her in EP.34, “Cursed”:

Sylvanna: I want to hear your reasoning. Aphmau: I wanted to turn because I wanted to understand Aaron better. I felt that something was calling me too… I didn’t want Aaron to go through something alone again. I wanted him to know I was there. Sylvanna: That’s not a good reason to become a werewolf. Mija, we’re hispanic. Someone doesn’t have to become hispanic in order to understand us. That’s ignorant, and flat-out disrespectful to that culture. Essentially, that’s what you did.

Like Sylvanna said, becoming something for someone else isn’t a healthy mindset to have. To understand someone you need to listen to them and understand them, not simply emulate their experiences in an attempt to live it yourself. Communication is a core part of relationships. While this particular situation Aaron isn’t completely blameless — he did agree to turn her — Aphmau’s outlook on situations like relationships is deeply flawed. From inviting his parents over even though he vocally expressed discomfort to asking him to turn her into a werewolf, Aphmau’s outlook on their relationship is distorted. As shown in Lover’s Lane, Aaron’s attempts of communication often are ignored by Aphmau in favour of her extreme method of ‘understanding.’ The best way to get to know someone’s life is to listen, something Aphmau time and time again seems to avoid.

Throughout Starlight, Aphmau is obsessed with making sure that her and Aaron’s reunion is perfect, but under her terms. For example, during Starlight EP.5, “Scars,” Aphmau heals Aaron’s scars, permanently altering his body while he’s asleep, injuring herself in the process for something she didn’t even get permission from him to do. It’s entirely selfish, focused on aesthetics, and betrays a lack of communication that is pervasive in this pairing.

Finally, let’s discuss Falcon Claw University. Sit down and ask yourself: “What was the message of FCU?” Although others might have different interpretations, I personally interpret it as being about connection and relationships. It’s a season defined by the interactions and feelings other characters have about themselves and those around them, with a particular focus on the nature of romance. Let’s take this scene from EP.25, “Garroth’s Confession.”

Garroth: I really like you! I’ve been trying to tell you since— ever since the first time I saw you on campus. The feelings I’ve had for you since high school… they haven’t left me. I just— I wanted to see if you and I could try to be something together. I understand I’ve done some horrible things to you, but… Aphmau: Garroth… what do you like about me? Garroth: Huh? Aphmau: What do you like about me, Garroth? Garroth: I, um… I like you mind, and body, and— wait, that wasn’t meant to say, I— Aphmau: Garroth… this hurts because I don’t want to turn you down. I want you to be happy, and I still want to be friends. Garroth… I need to tell you the truth. I’m not ready for a relationship right now. Garroth: You— you aren’t? Aphmau: I’m not. Garroth: When will you be? Aphmau: I don’t know, Garroth. Perhaps when I find the right person… I’m not saying that you’re not the right person, I’m just saying that finding the right person takes time for some people. For me that’s true. Garroth: I understand.  Aphmau: I get if you don’t want to be friends after this. But— Garroth: No! It’s— It’s my fault for bringing this to you so suddenly.  Aphmau: No, it’s not. If anything it’s mine for letting my heart close.

(I’d like to note that for some reason Aphmau insists that she’s the only one who should apologize in this situation, but years later when Aaron does something it’s fine for them to both apologize even though he didn’t do anything? Did she get less self aware as she grew up?)

Anyways, analyzing the nature of attraction is a common theme throughout this season. During EP.21, “Aphmau’s Date?” Betty asks Jenny about her feelings for Aaron.

Jenny: Betty, I think you’re overthinking this. Aaron is a simple guy who wants a family. Betty: What else do you know about him? Jenny: He likes Galaxy Wars, and… um… 

This culminates in EP.30, “Leaving The Past Behind,” when Jenny and Aaron have this conversation:

Aaron: Jenny, I’m sorry for—  Jenny: No. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the way I was to you. The truth is, after talking to Betty and hearing Cathy just admit to what she did, I realized that I was more so in love with the idea of you and not really into you as a person. Aaron: ...Yeah. I could tell. Jenny: I think I have some things to think about when it comes to love. So, if this counts for anything… I’m really sorry about what I put you through. Aaron: I accept the apology. I just don’t want to go through that again. Jenny: Yeah. Well, see you around.

So, with this in mind, let’s look at how Aaron views Aphmau’s feelings about him. In EP.15 of Emerald Secret, after being stabbed and shoved off a cliff by a mind-controlled Aphmau, Garroth and Aaron say this:

Garroth: How are you even alive? I saw what Aph did to you… Aaron: That wasn’t Aph! She would never do that! Garroth: Aaron…  Aaron: Aphmau was the first friend I ever had. She was the first person to speak to me with compassion. She saw me for more than I was… and more than I ever will be.

To Aaron, Aphmau was the first person who ever showed him kindness. He spent his entire life being isolated and treated like a monster. He loves Aphmau because she loves him, and he thinks that he doesn’t even deserve that.

This is not a healthy way of looking at a relationship. Aphmau has gone her entire life with people who love her. During PDH, she has her mom, Travis, Vylad, Garroth, Laurance, and more. But during PDH, Aaron has no one. Feeling unlovable/unworthy, self-blame, extreme attachment behaviors in intimate relationships is commonly found in people who were emotionally abused as children. Aaron and Aphmau’s relationship is inherently imbalanced because unlike Aphmau, Aaron has almost no one else. While he does form more attachments as he grows up (Agent R., Garroth, etc.) Aaron is consistently seen as a loner who is outside the main group. This is especially relevant in Season 1. 

The thing is, they’ll never be on equal footing, because Aaron would never leave. In Season 6 EP.11, “End of a Lifetime,” Aphmau briefly doubts their relationship, stating that “Aaron would be better off without me.”

Irene in that scene assures her, existing as some kind of thesis statement of Aphmau’s character. ‘You deserve your friends even if they make mistakes because your friends make mistakes too and they choose to be with you,’ which on the surface isn’t like a bad message or anything, but in context it’s in somewhat bad taste. A recurring theme in Aphmau’s character is Aphmau saying “I’m bad” and another character going “no you’re good, actually” without any self reflection and that’s super harmful. What Irene’s missing in that scene is that the important part of mistakes is that you learn from them, not that you make them. Everyone can make mistakes, but not everyone learns from them. To be a better person you need to learn from your mistakes.

Aaron and Aphmau are not on equal footing in their relationship. When they meet, Aphmau has a parent who loves her, and has begun to make close friends in high school. Aaron has no one, and is being subjected to abuse that has altered the way he views others and himself. Their entire relationship is based on this disconnect, with their age gap when they meet signifying this (14 and 18), but neither of them are even functioning at the average for their age. Aphmau grew up homeschooled and isolated (albeit much less so than Aaron), while Aaron has no experience in any sort of positive relationship. Aphmau is the first ever person to be nice to Aaron. When he leaves after FCU, and Aphmau reenters his life, he is working dead end hard labour jobs with presumably no friends or support. She rescued him from a bad place in his life, something that he doesn’t think he can ever repay. Once again, as he says in Emerald Secret EP.15: “She saw me for more than I was, and more than I ever will be.” If he never thought he was any more than this, why would he see mistreatment as anything other than what he deserves?

That’s the core problem with Aphmau’s mistreatment him — he doesn’t review what she’s done and decide to stay with her, he is fundamentally unaware of what healthy relationships are like and believes that what aphmau does to him is justified, because she loves him and thinks he’s worth more than he actually is. Aaron isn’t self-aware when he decides to stay with Aphmau. He has no way of knowing that he should ever leave her if she harms him, and therefore Aphmau’s treatment of him is not justified just because he stays with her. 

Aphmau, understandably, has a lot of problems. However, the problem with this is while it explains her actions, they’re nowhere near justified. If you have trauma that causes you to lash out against your boyfriend, you shouldn’t have a boyfriend until you deal with these problems. She is still actively causing harm to Aaron even if her reasons are understandable. Just like that, Aaron is not justified in killing people over what he percieves as his death. When your relationship leads you to these lengths, there is no way it can be healthy.

There is no great redeeming outcome. Aaron ends the series blinded, bruised, scarred by the void, fresh off what is essentially a suicide attempt, lethargic and unable to walk and grasping at memories, perhaps a blessing consider now he doesn’t have the guilt of a body count weighing him down. Him and Aphmau are not reunited. It was all for nothing at all, for parents who abused him and friends who are his girlfriend’s friends, a girlfriend who he never saw as worthy of him.

In conclusion, do I think Aarmau is abusive? Ehh, not outright. But it’s definitely unhealthy to a major degree and I do think that these issues should be seriously acknowledged because it’s essential to understanding their dynamic and their character’s perspective, and bastardizing for ~wholesome~ shipping content is woefully boring, not to mention a complete lack of media literacy and respect for abuse narratives.

Anyways, thanks for reading! Feel free to comment if you have anything you want to say. Unless it’s “Aarmau is perfect! Don’t hate!” in which case I don’t care. I’m not hating, I like their relationship more than you, because I like it for what it actually is in canon instead of tricking myself. Just saying.

5 Anti LO Asks

1. i feel like S1, even for its mountain of faults, at least had some pretty art and a few qualities that made it not completely irredeemable, but S2 is just a hot mess. no plot progression has happened in over a year, characters have only regressed or remained stagnant (esp persephone), the story is nothing but RS trying to "clap-back" at the "haters" or using fanfic ideas, the main couple is stale, and it seems to itll have at least 100+ more eps if not more. its not even a fun read, its a chore.

2. psyche's new design kind of proves that rachel has zero understanding of how black hair works. maybe aphrodite gave her extensions, or something? but we see her with straightened (i hesitate to say permed/relaxed because her suddenly being black was clearly a wokepoints retcon) and then her braids/twists are just ... somehow the same length. smythe said no shrinkage and no logic. talk to a black woman ONCE, for the love of god, rachel.

3. for the anon: apparently rachel's original dreamcast for apollo was michael b jordan. bold of her to assume he would ever want to be cast as the insane rapist in a white-savior romance fantasy? that is BEYOND insulting.

-----FP Spoilers/Mention-----

4. From OP: Had to remove the images but just know that they do talk about ep. 180. I have it saved in drafts so I’ll post the original when the episode come out but I’ll just describe the image for now.

Not sure is this is suppose to be ask or submit a post. 

(Image of Hades telling Thanatos to get her a chair, Thanatos is shaking while Hades is angry)

Thanatos is not a fav of mind, but this interaction of fear needs to stop. When it's time to show off being a tyrant why is Thanatos constantly at the receiving end of his anger?

We have literally seen citizens disrespect this guy!

And he tells Thanatos to be grateful being a child abandon by his mother and immediately put to work as an employee so young is something to glitter for. If he recieved some apartment like Minthe or some other favor then I would backtrack, but Thanatos gets nothing, but sh*t and that's why I like his character bringing up nepotism. Grant it he did hook up with Minthe, but its not like Minthe was Hades' property. They were not together at the time and Hades was too busy having a "emotional affair" to care.

The power imbalance as boss, but also a king is already there, but Hades proceeds to always threaten him. The first time he did it. He wasn't even in the right. Instead of an investigation for the missing shades. He wrote his long time employee off as a slacker.

This interaction may be entertaining for others, but the eggshells that he has to walk on and the fact that this behavior happens even before the times of his crimes and Hades feels justified for it. Like, Thanatos how do you live like this?

And it seems like Persephone is uncomfortable with this reaction and has expressed before her dislike about this side of Hades. (Up to you on whether she should've accepted that side of him or not) but it covers my next point.

(Image of Hades telling Persephone to sit, she doesn’t look comfortable)

*Sigh* again with the little hints of power imbalance I won't bring up whats been said a thousand times so Ill get to the point. Persephone looks like a lost child commanded by her father here. Im suppose to believe that this is the manner he chooses to talk to his future queen (who is always alluded to be bada**) that he plans to wed if not now very soon? Imagine if Zeus had talked that way to Hera eyebrows would be lifted at least give a disapproving huff, Persephone. It's dialogue and mannerisms like this that constant reminds me that Persephone is a 20yr old child in comparison to the centuries old gods.

*Please note Persephone's glare to her mother and then her being back to this childlike scare when commanded. That makes this interaction towards the relationship to Hades and not just a general trial scare. (Next panel is before this one in comic)

If he made it upfront that I am strictly your lawyer and that is the dynamic we will carry this trial I would have just shrugged and accepted that he is more knowledgeable then her, but this flippy floppy cuddling Persephone to taking charge creeps me out it adds to the point. It did not feel like a mature interaction.

He comes off as this angry god who wants to protect his "cinnamon roll" in a trial! And to make things worse he is also the "judge"

And in the end of the chapter its a No emotions "I am here to defend Persephone" gig. Isn't...is that not what he should of been doing? When Persephone picked him the cliffhanger was cheaply cool and now we are doing it again?

I am at least glad that Zeus still has backbone to not Persephone glide by even for his brother. We went from "Your being to harsh on Persohone HOW DARE YOU!" to having the plot (not just Hades) have an excuse or at least have it brushed off every time Persephone's points are brought up and it's defended with emotional outbursts at that.

(Image of Hades asking Demeter why she didn’t come to him about the AOW, he’s clearly hurt)

The wording here confuses me? Tell you about what? A plan that Demeter did not know about? Or when she ran away to the underworld and Demeter did not ask for help?

Anywho, where does Hades get the nerve to speak to Demeter like this? Did you inform her of her daughter's whereabouts when she was drugged in the underworld? Or were you too fixated on your sexual urges? Oh what about the second time? Or the continuous months? Is Demeter not suppose to be a Goddess who fought along side you? "And you" is what Hades has to say to her? Hades disrespects Demeter time and time again. Not only did they argue in their youth. Hades came in drunk on Demeter's ground and even break into one of her rooms where her underage daughter lays. Constant invasion of boundaries. Just a complete lack of respect for someone you want to be your future MIL.

In the previous chapters Hades is "lumped in" everytime Poseidon and Zeus do something in his opinion, but as we see it seems like Hades has his own stories that you still don't take accountability for after that tape.

That does not even cover the added on stress of what Zeus did when he came to Demeter's garden.

I am glad she still has backbone as character because she really does not owe Hades the decency after what he did. Being a bystander or lack of action because you want to be supportive of Persephone's choices does not void distrust from Demeter. Like it's funny how he thought everything was peachy after everything.

Like seriously what is this trial?

(Any crappy flow of words and mistakes I blame mobile.)*If anything does not make sense I can answer them in notes.

5. (FP Spoilers) I don't understand what RS is doing with the trial. Like... So far it's just been Hermes and Thanatos just saying stuff about Persephone? And Thetis comes in randomly with Minthe with no prompting? There's no cross examination or order or anything. It's not really a trial it's more like a mess.

Hello Darling 🦋

I can’t believe we trusted Chris to deliver us Malex. We‘ve seen 7 of 13 eps and got only two mini-malex-moments and one of them is Michael being mean to Alex.😠 Half of the season is over.

At this point I believe Chris and Heather have some personal relationship bc otherweise I can’t understand why Maria is leading S3? Wasn‘t Liz supposed to be the Lead-Character? Heather directing ep 7 where everybody praises Maria??? 🤮🤮🤮

I wasn‘t expecting him to undo S2 and what Maria did but giving us hope about malex and delivering nothing but making Maria the most important person on the show??? We have genius Michael, extra-ordinary brilliant Liz, mindcontrolling Isobel, Captain Alex and smart doctor Kyle who are not able to defeat Jones but Maria who didn’t have any powers for the last ten years and didn‘t know how to control her power in the last few eps?🤦🏽‍♀️🤔🤨

I think Chris, Vlamis and Jeanine are using Malex and giving us hope and some crumbles about malex (other acknowledging their love is NOT malex-content for me. Malex interacting together, talking together and working towards a relationship is good malex-content. Not Michael accusing Alex of not caring about anybody. 😖) bc otherweise so many fans of malex would stop watching RNM. Malex is their selling-point. After S1 and and during/after S2 so many fans left RNM.

I am leaving now and stopping watch RNM anymore, bc malex will not get together in S3 and how stupid and unlogical S3 is, there no point in watching it anymore.

I will scroll through Tumblr and see what happens.

Have a nice day! 🤗

Chris, like most showrunners, doesn't follow through with their promises (i.e. we're treating Echo and Malex the same this season). And sadly, it looks like he's carrying the homophobic torch on continuing to separate Malex from each other (while having them propping Maria Deluca up) into season 3. It's really too bad, I didn't expect a huge amount of change but damn, he's literally hung the Malex fans out to dry in a REAL in your face way.

I don't think Heather/Maria's special treatment this season is because she's Chris's favorite character or person or anything. It has to do with the network trying to save face this year as they became under fire last year for treating their POC/black character's poorly in storytelling (in all CW's shows, not just RNM). Maria being in every scene this season is the CW/RNM trying to say, "LOOK WE CARE ABOUT OUR POC CHARACTERS, IT'S MARIA EVERYWHERE, DON'T THINK TOO MUCH ON WHAT WE'RE HAVING HER SAY OR DO, JUST THAT SHE'S IN EVERY SCENE AND WE'RE SAYING HER NAME 1000 TIMES AN EPISODE!". It's definitely not helping RNM's case as Maria is still being written to be the absolute worst and still hasn't had any character development this season.

Liz has not been the lead of her own show since season 1. It's absolute bullsh*t they had Maria Deluca written to be front and center this season when it's LIZ ORTECHO'S SHOW and Maria Deluca is still being written to be the f*cking worst. Also yeah, didn't really think about it but really weird how in Heather's director debut the writer's had all the characters say 'Maria' like a billion times (seriously, if it was a drinking game we'd all be hospitalized or dead).

I actually was expecting Chris and the writer's to fix a LOT of season 2's mishandlings, especially in regards to the homophobic narration wrapped around Malex and Maria. It's literally the least they could do after grossly insulting the LGBTQ+ community last season and triggering a lot of people from that disgusting scene. They seem to have no problem writing everyone to be OOC in being up Maria's ass this season, yet just simply making a point in stating on screen by ANY character that how Alex Manes was treated by Maria (and even Michael at times) was wrong and especially 2x06's actions was unacceptable. There are no excuses, the writer's are just choosing to ignore all of it because it pertains to a gay character.

It can definitely be seen now 7 episodes into this season, that in the past interviews the cast, writer's and showrunner's have just been queerbaiting fans in trying to get them to continue watching this pretty terrible show. At this point, whatever Malex scenes we get at this point, I'm not expecting much. We only have 6 more episodes left and the romance hasn't even started between the two of them, they're barely interacting or talking about one another in other scenes. Don't even get me started on Sanders/Ramos being the ones to drop the Malex crumbs, it should be the main group. You know, the people who were completely ignoring Malex all last season? Still would love to know how the f*ck Ramos/Flint/Greg/Max/Sanders all found out about Malex since NONE OF THEM WILL TELL US. They just know. It's bullsh*t.

I totally understand nonnie, and I can't give you a reason to keep watching, this season has been a huge disappointment. I'm still going to try and stick it out till 3x13 but at this point I'm heavily disappointed after seeing how the homophobic narration is still going strong on this show.

Look at those arms! MMMMM!

You know, I really like Gilina. Or, more correctly, I really like what Gilina represents, both in terms of Crichton’s development and in his feelings for Aeryn. Gilina is Earth Crichton’s dream girl: she is blonde, pretty, sweet, and plucky (she is no push-over). She is also a girl geek, and a techie and for our scientist, that’s quite irresistibly appealing. (Btw, let me take a moment to note how much I like that the show showed us that Crichton had a type in women, B.A. (before Aeryn): they were blonde and sweet and had a certain safe niceness to them. Aeryn is not blonde, not sweet, and not safe at all. And neither is his feeling for her). If Gilina was a girl working for a research institute on Earth and she and John met at some party, I can easily see them talking, dating, falling in love and getting married. And having a happy married life. And the John of ‘PK Tech Girl,’ despite some unpleasant encounters in the Uncharted Territories is still enough of the Earth John to be attracted to Gilina, to be at the very beginning of developing something for her. He is still enough of an innocent, with enough uncomplicated and sweet left in him, for Gilina to be his type. But of course, that is not the case any more when they meet again in ‘Nerve.’ When they meet again, Gilina has had a fairly uneventful PK tech existence. She hasn’t changed much. But she is not Crichton’s type any more. Not after Maldis and finding out firsthand that there are psychopaths that will just enjoy watching you die for the fun of it, not after Crais and finding out that no, if you only explain the truth, it won’t make it better. The person will still want to kill you even if they believe you, even if it’s wrong and irrational, and there is nothing you can do. Not after ‘Jeremiah Crichton’ (my least fave ep of the whole show, but whose theme of Crichton’s long isolation is well taken). Not after finding out the truth about Zhaan, or almost dying out there in space with Aeryn. Not after the mind and soul fuck of ‘A Human Reaction.’   Gilina is not for this John. Not any more. And it’s not just that in the meanwhile he’s ceased to see anyone but Aeryn. It is also that his character has changed. And that is only the beginning. When he meets her in ‘Nerve’ it is pre-Scorpius, pre-Aurora Chair, pre-everything in S2, 3 and 4 (I’d do a list but it would take too long to type). If Gilina met S4 Crichton, she’d freak and run away and rightly so. A digression, but I find it fascinating how John's non-Aeryn women reflect his change. We have his ex-gf on Earth who he was serious enough to apparently want to propose to, before they went their separate career way. She is sort of like Gilina only blander, less engaging (Earth Crichton strikes me as someone who's had things come to him too easily because of his intelligence or what not. His passion (for whatever) was never truly engaged to the full, and the gf reflects that.) There is also Caroline (who we meet in Terra Firma) with whom he had something or other, but she is rather like his Earth-ex and it's clear the Crichton of TF doesn't even have anything to say to her any more. From them, we progress to Gilina (about whom see above). In first half of S2, there is the PK Disruptor. Now, she is a lot more edges, more hardness. If she is like anyone, it's a female version of Bond. And Crichton sleeps with her, because hey, he's tried everything to get Aeryn to admit any interest, he's beaten his head against the rock and he's beaten it and beaten it. But she refused and she's conclusively walked out of his life for good (not even came to see him for the very last time, when he needed her most). And also, girl can kill him, good to stay on her good side. There is no Gilina sweetness in her, at all. PK Tech Girl Crichton would annoy her and be intimidated to be with her, not so much Crichton of that s2 ep arc. But interestingly, that is the last time he even looks at another woman, no matter the circumstances. Once Aeryn and he admit their love to each other at the end of S2/beginning of S3, that is it. Even at the second part of S3, when Aeryn is off with Talyn-Crichton, Moya-Crichton goes deep into his obsession with wormholes, not any girls at all, and he is just as obsessed with Aeryn as ever. Even after the end of S3, the beginning of S4, even after he tells Aeryn "I can trust you with my life. But not my heart" and he locks himself away, he still does not look at anyone else. He cannot. And even the drugs cannot knock her out from his mind. Which is why his last non-Aeryn woman is Grayza, who rapes him while at the same time telling him if he gives her the wormhole stuff she will help him find Aeryn (OMG, that bit is seriously the worst in the whole scene). I think the darker progression of these women-others mirrors the darker and darker universe. OK, digression over.   I find it interesting that in S1 we have a number of people (beings, whatever) whose life is affected, changed by Crichton and who are grateful for that and thank him for changing/opening/saving either explicitly, or it’s implied. But after S1 this slows to a trickle pretty fast and then stops almost entirely. Crichton is such an innately kind person, and one of the saddest things in the show is seeing this kindness leach away under the tortures (literal and figurative) he is subjected to. I find it so sad and so significant that in the S3 finale it’s Aeryn who brings up the fact that the command carrier has a lot of lives which John’s plan might end. Aeryn. Not John. She’s become more compassionate (she, who started out saying ‘I hate that word’) and he’s become much less. These are both reactions to their environment, to events they are in (When they initially meet, she is a product of an individuality-less, soulless scenario. Even if he is wrong in reading her at the very very first in Premiere during intros, he is not wrong in reading her potential, in recognizing she is a person, and even as early as Premiere she proves him right. I also love that for Crichton, she is always her own person, not a preconceived notion of what she should be. He loves her for being Aeryn, not for some idealized being in his head). And yet it is never completely suppressed, it is always there, however muted and downtrodden, however circumscribed. He had to jettison most of it in order to stay sane and to survive, but somewhere deep inside he is still the guy who, in a completely strange world, took the time to fix the eye-stalk of a mechanical critter thingy he didn’t know at all.   And of course, part of the reason he jettisons it is also because whenever he tries to save someone or make it better, it often ends up making the situation worse. I am thinking for example of S3’s lovely ‘Different Destinations’ which turns a beloved sci-fi trope on its head and he has to live with it and he can barely bear it.   And I love how the show never lets us forget the cost this takes on him, that he is not a power-hungry psychopath, a cavalier callous being only caring about his small group of friends. That coda to S4’s ‘We Are So Screwed’ where he is with Aeryn, and he breaks down, and he can’t help it, and he weeps for what he’d done, for what he almost did (and it’s going to be small fry in comparison with PKW) is just brilliant and heartbreaking and one of my favorite bits (and I love that she is there, and she silently comforts him, and he clutches her arm as a lifeline). And that is why I actually liked the drug storyline in S4. After all the stuff that Crichton been through, I am surprised he didn’t end up going on something earlier, just to deal with it all somehow (I love that the show brought up earlier that he has nightmares, feels tremendous guilt, and that was mid S2, I am sure they are much worse now). And it also made sense that when his number 1 obsession, Aeryn, told him to give it up, he did, as he’d pick her over anything. She’s his number 1 drug. Basically, he needs Aeryn desperately. She is what allows him to function, allows him to stay (relatively) sane, what holds him together. When he can’t have her, or doesn’t have her, he falls apart and needs something else to get through the days (wormholes in S3, lakka in S4). I do find it interesting that Crichton keeps his compassion, however tattered, but he develops absolute priorities, as a result of choices he shouldn’t have had to make. Most people don’t really analyze whether they will pick the woman they love or selling one’s soul and giving up something which earlier, to protect, you didn’t give up even when tortured or hunted or broken. They don’t have to. Crichton’s developed rigid priorities are a result of the environment where he had to confront those hierarchies in himself. Crichton’s earlier ‘purity’ and goodness and optimism exist in part because he is a product of a relatively sheltered life (compared to Uncharted Territories). But that early cleanness allows others to see a better or at least a different path for themselves and so they repay the favor later by pulling him out when he is on the brink of succumbing to all these horrors (which really do seem to be scarily disproportionately triggered at him). One of the things I love about Crichton is that even after he’s seen and dealt horrors, he has a certain moral absolutism to him (however broken it gets at times) and a pure refusal to give up, and strength even if only to make the least worst of two bad choices presented to him. Something untainted is always there, maybe a legacy of his initial idealism, and so he never breaks, not permanently, not irreparably, though he comes very very close. Throughout the show, even as that world bends and molds and twists him to its own parameters, he manages to make the world somewhat bend and mold and twist to himself.   Do you know what I really really wish for John and Aeryn and the kid after the end of PKW? A few years of total peace, where they can just travel the space in Moya, and John can do his research, and be with Aeryn and watch their child grow, without having to worry about saving his and their lives every other day.

OK, these are getting epically long omg.

Another thing Lokius shippers are now using for deluding themselves: Sylki has no merch!1! Sylki has no merch... like let's just completely ignore the Loki and Sylvie horns tiaras sold together as a matching pairing (for couples cosplaying), the T-shirts with "Love is a dagger" and Loki and Sylvie together as a couple as "God and Goddess of Mischief" (Mr and Mrs Smith, anyone?), let's ignore the Lego minifigures with Loki and Sylvie as a couple (like Wanda and Vision...) with their pets Throg and Croki, let's ignore the "Love is dagger" art poster after ep 3 (btw, they are really pissed that the phrase is a Sylki love moment, and not a Lokius one), let's ignore official Marvel and Disney accounts calling them soulmates, let's ignore a whole 1 hour documentary where everyone says that Loki and Sylvie love story is vital to the series!

But hey, there is one, literally one, T-shirt with Loki and Mobius, and that is proof that Marvel wants Lokius endgame. Oh, and also the merch with the "For all time. Always" catchphrase. Because, don't you know, that is not the TVA motto, no no, is a secret love declaration between Loki and Mobius. Tom Hiddleston himself told them that (no really, they truly believe that. Btw, considering that the catchphrase is in all the Miss Minutes merch, following their reasoning, it means that Loki and Mobius are in a threesome with Miss Minutes. Sneaky guys!)

But hey, it's the Sylki shippers who are the deluded ones!

On a serious note, I'm really starting to worrying about how they start to sound more and more like j/ohnlockers. Between the ones convinced that Tom is sending them secret messages about Lokius being canon in S2, and the ones convinced that Tom and Owen are in a honeymoon right now, writing S2

I know they aren’t all like that but it is getting weird how some of them are convinced that Tom and Owen purposely played Loki and Mobius like love interests because they were rooting for l0kius, I don’t see it.

People often compare them to Crowley and Aziraphale from Good Omens but if you see that and compare them to Crowley and Aziraphale you will see how much more lacking l0kius is when it comes to “romantic chemistry” and “sexual tension.” It’s just not the same at all. I don’t know how people can compare them and ignore the stark difference.

Then I have actually seen l0kius shippers suggested that we are jealous because they got everything and sylki shippers got nothing, but let’s not pretend if it was Loki and Mobius sharing the moments Loki and Sylvie shared they wouldn’t be delighted.

Imagine the scene where Sylvie tries to enchant Loki but instead it is Mobius and he has his hands gently rested on Loki’s neck and their silhouettes form a love heart with soft romantic lighting.

Imagine Loki fondly talking about his mother to Mobius, then Mobius tells Loki that it sounds like she believes in him, then Loki shows him some fireworks and Mobius watches them with tears in his eyes before they have a conversation about what love is.

Imagine Mobius wakes up to Loki serenading him with a song in Asgardian, before Loki gives him the love is a dagger speech.

Imagine Mobius gently resting his hand on Loki’s arm and Loki responding by carefully sliding his hand into his without breaking physical contact and them emotionally staring into each other’s eyes as the world falls apart around them.

Imagine when they get arrested by the TVA, there is a slow mo shot of Loki and Mobius never taking their eyes off each other as they are dragged away in different directions.

Imagine after watching Loki get pruned, Mobius takes a leap of faith and prunes himself too with no way of knowing if he will survive or not, in the hope he will find Loki.

Imagine Loki sharing a blanket with Mobius and talking about potentially sharing his future together with him and telling him he won’t let him down.

Imagine Loki telling Mobius “you go, I go.”

Imagine Loki telling Mobius that he just wants him to be okay and then Mobius crashes his lips into Loki’s and they share a kiss while a score that sounds like it was ripped straight from an old timey Hollywood romance plays over the top.

But yeah sure we got absolutely nothing and if all these things happened between Loki and Mobius instead of what actually happened between Loki and Mobius, l0kius shippers would be throwing tantrums because they got nothing, right?

I’m not anti l0kius, I am anti l0kius shippers.

trailer thoughts 💭

Let’s keep in mind it's just a trailer so I'm not gonna be too judgy. The s1 trailer included mostly clips from episode 1-3 and then some from 5 and 6. This one probably also mostly includes scenes from the first two to four eps. The first season also had a pretty fast pace and a lot happened in the episodes, which might be the case this season too. Something I noticed was that the necklaces are nowhere to be seen in the trailer. They will appear later but tbh I'm starting to believe that maybe they only were a coincidence, but we'll see! Ana's health isn't mentioned either. Ana’s mom is there which is exciting, I really enjoyed the grandmas! Tere makes an appearance only in the teaser, and she's talking to JC and not Mariana, maybe they're on bad terms still. Ferrán is also introduced. Ana's and Mariana's relationship seems rocky, but then again it's only the trailer and they probably want to throw us off by showing them being interested in Ferrán.

Let's just start with Ferrán and get it over with lol. Seems like there's gonna be some sort of a love triangle between the three of them because he's flirting with both of them? I'm not sure how all that's gonna go down since they're all working together. There's one part in the script, at the dinner where he also is invited together with Mariana, and then another part where Pablo asks Mariana how her weekend with Ferrán went, and so does all this happen unbeknownst to Ana, while she also has a thing with him? Or are they going for polyamory? Like that one time Paulina commented that a polyamorous relationship could be a good idea under a pic of Ana and Mariana, and also mentioned it in on of the clips that recently came out. I mean can you imagine? "Madre Sólo Hay Dos....... + Ferrán". I just don’t see it. Idk what part of the audience that plot would please. I might be biased since I am very for Ana and Mariana only, but putting that aside, Idk how that would fit in this story in particular. I'm thinking there's a plot twist at the end regarding Ferrán. And a side note, Paulina barely posted anything about the s2 so I don’t think she’d randomly give a potential spoiler like that. I hope she’s trolling xd.

Regarding Juan Carlos, apparently him and Ana and are still going to therapy which ughhh I'm so over JC, I don't care about the man at all. I’m pretty sure they officially are separating and I get that it takes time but I'm over hiiiim. It's such a waste of time since they did it in s1 when they were on better terms and couldn't figure things out. It's a short season and I'd just like to see something other than JC :<.

A lot of the scenes in the trailer also feel like they're in the first episode. The scene where Ana, Romelia and the kids are eating and they ask about Mariana and JC could be the opening scene, which also could lead the kids inviting Mariana over and then Mariana does come over (before the trailer came out I was thinking Mariana was sleeping over at Ana's because I thought she was wearing pajamas, turns out she's not lolll). That could be Ana's and Mariana's first encounter. Ana sees Mariana in her house, gets angry and maybe they'll even have some intense conversations ;)... They're really milkning Mariana being confused so idk how far they'll take that. Ana will probably be in full denial-self defense mode for a while, which isn't surprising.

She'll possibly go back to her 1x01 characteristics and personality for a while, especially with Mariana. Ana's probably really going to get on Mariana's nerves, especially knowing Mariana is patient, causing things to build up until it eventually bursts for Mariana which probably happens when she walks out on Ana after they argue. That argument seems to be a little more serious than their normal bickering since even Ana seems affected by Mariana’s response. I think all of this will happen in maybe the first 2-4 eps, which makes my wonder what'll happen in the other half of the season…

I was thinking Ceci's grad might be at the end of the season but it probably isn't. And speaking of Ceci, I hope they develop her and Ana's relationship way more this season, I really do. They didn't get too much time last time so I hope they'll have some sweet moments together, regarding everything... I really like Ceci! Ceci probably wants Mariana at her graduation and so Ana maybe cools down a bit and realizes some things, hence the bathroom scene (which btw I'm totally assuming the bathrooms scene happens at the graduation, it could very well be another occasion). After that maybe they'll at least be friendly again, have a "let's forget what happened" bs moment etc., although they probably still will keep annoying each other, like in the office when Mariana calls Ana a control freak and Ana calls Mariana a confused hippie lol. But it maybe is on and off since there's also a scene where they're with the babies and seem civil and where Ana is talking about how Ferrán was flirting with her, so they probably leave whatever happened in the past... until they realize that they're more than partners... whenever that happens. That one sentence is my lifeline at this point like no joke whenever an obstacle appears, remember that last sentence in ep. 8. I'm gonna be let down so badly if that part ends up being nothing lmaooo but I've decided to trust the show at this point.

While I'm putting my trust in their hands I’m also trying to keep my hopes low just in case. I'm also very bad at predicting plots so idk. I usually expect the telenovela plots since I'm pretty scarred by them lol but I was expecting a telenovela-ish plot when I first watched the show but then got really surprised afterwards. I feel like this show has a telenovela vibe but without all the parts and plots I usually hate, which is great! The love triangle drama seems like a very telenovela-y plot so I hope they'll eventually remove Ferrán from the both of them. Again, I'm really trusting them here, might be a terrible choice but here we areeee. Our protagonists have also mentioned an alleged third season, so it's okay if MarYAna won't be endgame just yet, maybe they're saving that for the third one! :)