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kinsey3furry300 · 3 years

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5 ships I hate, why I hate them, how to (kinda) fix them, the better ships you should be doing in that universe, and why you should ignore me and keep writing them if it makes you happy.

Note: this is done for amusement, please don’t be offended; I’m not attacking your ship, I’m just listing some ships I do not always care for, and how I think they could be improved, and maybe made brilliant, by clever writing.

In no particular order, and focusing on ships that often annoy me, with no attempt by me to say anything meaningful or popular about the current state of any particular fandom. I’m also a firm believer in the idea that there’s no such thing as a bad ship, only a badly executed ship, so my objections to these is less a dislike of shipping, or the paring, and more that they raise writing issues that I think are difficult to fix in a satisfying way. That’s why in a lot of the examples below I prefer AU ships to ones that try to messily work it into the cannon. Anyway, enjoy... I guess?

Marco x / anyone (Animorphs)

Why I hate it: Animrophs is an intensely character-driven story, where the tension of each book comes from the conflicts, external and internal, that the five Animrophs (and Ax) face during a long, hard, traumatic war. And while several of the character are paired off romantically, it’s always to emphasise character conflict over their different points of view. Jake and Cassie are a pair because Jake’s struggle with having to make hard, grey, morally ambiguous choices as leader is highlighted by Cassie’s burning need to make the right choice, the lesser evil, the choice that leaves some small shred of humanity and dignity and kindness left in this bleak world. Tobias and Rachel are a pair as their arcs deal with literal and figurative loss of humanity, as the slow accumulation of trauma over time turns these happy(ish), normal kids into psychologically ruined husks of their former selves and destroys them slowly, one fight at a time.

Marco’s arc, isn’t about either of these things: Marco’s arc, is about the bright, clear line between A and B, between problem and solution. Marco is a utilitarian, a pragmatist: his concern isn’t the burden of leadership, or the cost of the decision, but about how to put that all aside and make hard decisions that actually work regardless of cost. It’s not about what to do, the path is obvious: the bright, clear line of ruthless logic, but how to do it. His match, his counterpoint, the other character who’s all about the logic of taking awful decision in a way that actually works for the team, and his foil, his female counterpart in this, is not a romantic partner, but his mother: Visser one, making the exact same hard, difficulty ruthless decisions using logic and maths, but for the other side of this war. A romantic paring gets in the way of this arc because a partner doesn’t help him with that bright, clear line, and worse, any attempt to pair him of with either Rachel or Cassie breaks up not only a cannon paring, but their respective character arc.

How to (kinda) fix this: Marco’s arc is, at the end of the day, a trolly problem. So make sure whoever you ship him with is one of the people tied to the tracks. Introduce a character he crushes on, and then in the second act reveal that they are either a Controller, or in the family of a Controller or the proximity of the target of their next mission in a way that will make them collateral damage ,and let Marco struggle with what happens when that bright, clear logical line from A to B cuts through someone he actually loves; you know, like it did with his mother. See, even trying to fix this ship is weirdly Freudian.

The far better ship you should be doing: Ax x / EVERYONE. Ax in human form is described as a worryingly pretty, worryingly androgynous male of indeterminate race. He is a literally Bishonen alien hedonist with no familiarity with human senses, poor impulse control in human form, and no knowledge or understanding of human courtship rituals, and he can shape-shift, including into other members of the core team if needed to compel a mission, he calls Jake his prince, and he is incredibly close to Tobias, the lonely outcast woobie that the LGBT fans adopted as their poster boy. Come on, the potential for shipping, both with wacky hijinks and sad, tragic star-crossed lovers’ trope is endless. Every line dedicated to Marco shipping is a line of text that could be dedicated to Ax trying to eat a Cinnabon erotically on his first date as a human and hulking out mid way because he forgot just how good they are. What could be better than him leaning into to erotically kiss a team-mate, and then fucking up due to his failure to understand human mouths, making weird mouth sounds, and then licking crumbs of the table in the middle of the mall, in front of the entire school, while his crush awkwardly tried to pretend this is normal? What’s wrong with you Marco-shipper people, do you hate fun?

Riz/Tem (beastars) Why I hate this ship: Okay, just to quickly ask a question, to people who un-ironically like this as a serious ship and not a dark joke, just one little question: What’s wrong with you? I mean,are you okay? Keep taking the meds: the show is VERY clear on that point.

It’s like those people who say Joker X Harley Quinn is their ideal dark, edgy relationship: no it’s not, it’s abusive! Morticia x Gomez is dark and cool but CONSENTUAL and HEALTHY. This… this is a deeply imbalanced person murdering someone and telling themselves after that fact it was special and rare and magical. ITS HOMICIDE! And even if you write that out (and you shouldn’t, because that changes the character arc of every other major character) it’s still got more red flags that a soviet military parade. This is the botulinum of a toxic, one-sided teenage infatuation. Riz’s entire arc is about how he projects his thoughts and feelings about himself onto this idealised, made-up version of his and Tem’s relationship which, from Tem’s point of view, never existed. Riz never loved Tem: he loved the idea of Tem, the idea that someone would see the real him, see his inner pain and accept him anyway, but he never once told Tem this. He didn’t warn him “Hey, because of you I don’t feel I need my meds any more, do you mind if I try not taking them and we can meet and talk about this in a safe, well-lit pace?” He’s not honest with Tem, and on top of that It doesn’t make sense from the point of view of either of the characters for them to be actually, romantically in love (although they were clearly close friends), because it undermines and cheepens Riz desire to just be seen and accepted for his real self, and the cannon Tem X Els ship. It also doesn’t make sense from a story point of view: Riz is a shadow archetype for Legosi. He’s what Legosi would have become if someone hadn’t interrupted his attack on Haru. That’s why Legosi needs to beat Riz with his own hands: because then he’s beating the darker version of himself he’s been carrying with him, and he can finally move on with Haru guilt-free. Having Riz and Tem’s relationship actually be what Riz imagined it to be undoes that. It undoes Riz’s interesting, dark inner struggle between truth and fantasy, it turns Tem’s tragic, unsolved murder that sets the entire story in motion into a just sort of weird Romeo-and Juliet suicide. It’s ruins the character arc not only for Riz, but for Legosi, and also, by extension, Louis and Haru, because Legosi’s internal angst over whether or not herbivores and carnivores can have a relationship as true friends needs this example of a tragic, flawed, toxic, failed friendship to bounce off of.

How it could (sort of) work: an AU where Riz’s attack on Tem is interrupted and Tem lives with a slight arm injury, and doesn’t tell anyone out of his complex feelings for Riz. Meanwhile, that bunny girl from the gardening club had been brutally devoured and Rz and/or Tem are so horrified with how close this was to their own near-miss, they start to investigate the murder, and in doing so get caught up in Louis’ inner struggle. Because that’s how the story needs to work, it’s about duality and struggle: and if Riz takes Legosi’s role, and by dating a herbivore he de facto takes the role, so Legosi must take Riz’s. This could be a great AU!

The better ship you should be doing: Pina/Riz (with a dash of Pina x Els), no, seriously, I’m not shitposting. You want to give Riz a redemption arc with a cute woolly boy? How about a story where Pina, out of a need for closure about at happened to him, starts to visit Riz in jail and they talk, mockingly at first, confrontational at first, but later Pina slowly becoming more fascinated in Riz and Tem’s life and asking Riz for more and more detail until they both bond over their shared traumatic experiences and their sense of loss for Tem’s senseless death, Tem’s unfished life casting a shadow over both off them. Eventually, the two of them find, from Legosi who still has the diary, that Tem had planned out an elaborate and beautiful first date with Els that he never got to take her on, and Riz, guilt ridden and sad than Tem never got this beautiful moment, decides to ask Pina take her on that date for Tem, with Riz coaching him by phone cyano-de-Bergerac style, Riz finally getting some closure that he helped one of Tem’s wishes come true and finally acknowledging to himself that Tem had a life and loves outside of him that were cut of short by his actions, and just crying over his lost friend, as Pina and Els slow-dance in Tem memory. Or if you just want to see Tem awkwardly date a carnivore boy from school, why not something less creepy and more wholesome and ship him with Jack? That would be cute AF, and more importantly, not romanticize brutal murder. Or an AU where everything is happy and nice, I’d argue at that it’s no longer Beastars at that point, but if it makes you happy, go for it. Let’s not shame anyone here.

Snape X Lilly (Harry Potter)

Why I hate this ship: honestly, it’s not for the reason you think; I just like Snape too much as a tragic character, and making him in any way happy destroys his arc in my opinion. The objection’s others have raised: that Snape acts in a worryingly possessive stalker-ish way towards Lilly, and that if Voldemort had gone for Nevil rather than Harry as a child Snape would have remained a loyal death eater, are true and I acknowledge them as having some validity, but that’s not why I can’t stand this ship. Snape is supposed to be a morally and emotionally complex, tragic figure. That “After all this time?” line was the best line in the Deathly Hallows. Snape is supposed to show the equality destructive and redemptive power of love. It’s sort of trinity: Lilly shows the pure power of true, unconditional love in her sacrifice to save Harry, Voldy shows what self-destruction and cruelty a life without understanding love leads to, and Snape sits somewhere in the middle: his one-sided un-requited love being both the cause of his darkest, and his greatest actions. His curse, and his redemption, fall and rise. Making him happy messes that up.

How to (kinda) fix this ship: make them miserable. Make them fall for each-other only to be pulled apart by circumstance (you know, like they were in the darn original source material). You’re serious about making this a tragic, dark romance? Don’t ship them when they’re at school: Ship them during Voldemort’s rise to power, in the 80’s, after Lilly is married. Have the original Order of the Phoenix send her to meet with Snape and use their previous relation to try to milk some information out of him. Have her feel conflicted about it, have James furious about it, but have her do it anyway for the greater good. Have her meet up secretly with Snape who is angry and distrustful, knowing his must be a trap, and talk. Have the relationship slowly build over time against the backdrop of a cold-war spy thriller, as Lilly slowly realizes that she has some lingering feelings for Snape, but can’t reconcile them her loyalty to the order and her family. Make this a love story of conflicted feelings, divided loyalties, and spy-work against the background of drawing war-clouds. Have Snape offer to leave Voldemort, if she’ll leave the Order, and run away with him, but by that point she knows she’s pregnant and chooses to stay, out of loyalty even though she’s crushing on Snape. Have him show up at the rendezvous expecting for her to be there only for James to lead an Order Ambush, and a fight to ensure, on top of Tower Bridge in the howling wind and rain, Snape surviving but having his spirit crushed and fleeing before Lilly can tell him her true feelings. Make it big, and melodramatic, but above all, make it tragic. Because that’s the only way Snape works as a character. Always.

The better ship you should be doing: Ginny X Nevil or Luna x Nevil: You want tragic lovers, at school, with divided loyalties, who never get together in the main cannon because a Potter ruins it and gets the girl? Ginny X Nevil. Write what was happening that final year Harry wasn’t at school when they took Dumbledore’s Army and make it work in earnest. Heck, you could even have Snape, as headmaster, hated by them but secretly trying to protect them as a secondary character to their secret, forbidden love. You don’t want to break up Harry X Ginny? Luna X Nevil is sweet and wholesome, but also tragic as they never get a chance, having their school life taken over by the horror of that final year and the need to fight for their very souls in a school run by Death Eaters and the trauma of the Battle of Hogwarts meaning that in order to put away the past and move on, they need to leave each other behind. Hell, do an AU where they canonically end up together, why not? They deserve happiness.

Dean / Sam AKA Wincest (Supernatural)

Why I hate this ship: They’re brothers. The show even makes a joke about how squick this is. Several times.

How you could (sort of) fix this ship: You can’t: They’re brothers. The show even makes a joke about how squick this is. I guess a body-swap arc could fix this, as it’s less squicky if its just their bodies with someone else’s minds, but seriously, the reasons why this shouldn’t exist are extensively covered in the show, and it was hilarious. To be honest, I don’t hate this ship done as a joke, but I have seen some dark spots on the internet, and I can say with all honesty it’s not always treated as a joke. Some folks are really invested in this, and all I can ask is, is your home life okay?

Now, done as a joke, I’m 110% behind this. This is exactly the sort of insane wacky bullshit that makes for a good crack-fic. For example imagine that the supernatural threat of the week was book that made anything written in it come true, and the brothers are trying to find and destroy it, but they keep getting distracted by their burgeoning romantic feelings for each-other, and suddenly realise that the owner of the book is a fan on the in-universe novels, and writing slash-fic in the book. They need to find the writer before they make them do something they’ll both regret, but it’s just so distracting when Sam’s beautiful eyes are right there and- dammit, Sam, it’s happening again! Make Sam less concerned and even a little amused, with it, but make Dean hate what’s going on. Especially when the writer’s description suddenly makes Sam noticeably better hung that him. Make the villain turn out to be Becky from “Sympathy for the devil” and end with them trying to take the book away as she writes frantically to force them to do her bidding, and you’ve got yourself a good fic.

The better ship you should be doing: Cas/Sam or Cas/Dean or Cas/Sam AND Dean fic. Duh. Once again the show-runners beat the fans to the mark and pointed out that this is the best ship, and then they took it away just to fuck with us.

Any Katniss ship that ignores her obsession with Emotional Security Logic. (The Hunger Games)

Why I hate these ships: Katniss is, briefly put, a mess before the books ever start, her father’s death and harsh upbringing have arguably given her PTSD before she ever volunteers for the reaping, and it doesn’t get better from there. In psychology, Emotional Security Theory (EST) is a hypothesis that the heightened emotions surrounding repeated violent exposures leaves children vulnerable to dysregulated distress responses and eventual psychopathology, aka, why Kat be so messed up. Her internal monologue makes the books completely clear that her choice in partners is not motivated by normal affections, but by deep, deep fear. A fear of loss, abandonment and death that leads her to make every decision about what minimises her, and her sister’s, exposure to potential physical and emotional harm. It’s frantic, fraught, cold survivalist thinking. And the other characters in the book notice and acknowledge it! “Which of us will she pick?” “She’ll pick whoever she can’t survive without.” Kat doesn’t like herself for it, but she does eventually admit to herself that she makes her decisions like this.

How do we fix this ship: Ship Kat with whoever you like, but give her a good reason to pick them: and in Kat’s mind “A good reason” is based on Emotional Security Logic, she needs to have a pressing reason why this ship makes her and her sister safer. Do that, and you’ve got yourself a good Katniss story. Don’t do that, and while you may or may not have a good story, the person staring in it isn’t Katniss Everdeen anymore.

The better ship you should be writing: Finick X Annie. Or, Haymitch prequel ships

FinAnn. This, this ship has some real potential to it, and is criminally underutilized. Finick and Annie’s relationship is one of the most tragic and romantic in the story, and has so much to offer. Or, if you want to have a hard-bitten character from district 12 struggling with trying to find love in the hellish combat of the games, do a prequel in which Haymitch finds love in the capitol during training, but loses then in the area and turns to drink as a result. Heck, you could even have some fun with this and turn it into a dark comedy, or a great tragic love story, whatever you like. It’s got potential, and his backstory is vague enough you could do a lot with it.

So, tell me below why I’m wrong, and have fun with your writing: just because I hate that ship doesn’t mean you should. Enjoy yourselves.

I’m off to write awful Ax/Pina/Luna Polyjuice’d into Nevil/Cas/Finick fiction set at an anime high-school that fights a magical war against other fictional schools, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

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therodrigator6 · 4 years

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Hey there, I'm the recent anon who talked about whether C is unredeemable, and I just want to thank you for your detailed response! This isn't a rebuttal but just to add on to what you said - if they indeed made this show for the average C, then isn't it a little sad that they seemed to have forgotten about the average A and wound up glossing over C's abuse? I mean, if we replace C with a man, wouldn't C//A skirt too close to the "love the violent man away" trope..? Sorry if I don't make sense!

Oh my god, I’m so SO sorry for such a delayed response. I’ve been obsenely busy these past few days.

I think I do get what you’re trying to say, yes.

OOF, it’s a bit of a tough thing for me to say or give some kind of... determinant answer on the matter.

Here’s what I think, though. She-Ra was a generally ambitious show in what it tried to represent and regard, onscreen and within it’s overall storyline.

And on many ways, the way in which all of these things are tackled, is lacking or is bare minimum. Themes of War, Abuse, The Cycle of Abuse, Morality, ROMANCE, Toxicity, Trauma, Friendship, etc. A lot of it is face value, it’s THERE, its mentioned, but its not explored or challenged.

She-Ra is a difficult show, or atleast it is for me, to critique or judge in a negative way because, the importance of what it managed to do, of what it managed to put onscreen is FAR transcendant of whatever it tried to tell, and I believe the writers knew of this, and was at the forefront of their minds and goals.

I believe She-Ra as a show, with shortcommings or not in it’s writing, would do it’s best to PUT THAT KISS, ONSCREEN, no matter what was necessary to sacrifice, narratively. It was also very easy, and very personal to make a character like Catra HAVE a happy, uplifting ending.

To ME, or you, well yeah, it’s extremely disheartening to see a story that dealt with all of these things, specially abuse and toxicity take such a one-sided, black and white stance on it. It’s VERY comfortable for Catra.

Some people have been asked WHY it is that one could possibly not... sympathize or empathize fully with Catra, for example. My answer has always been that writing wise, the show focused TOO MUCH on the pain Catra was feeling for herself? And how she’d inflict it back on others. But it seldom gave itself the chance to make Catra think about the pain other people feel for HER actions, not JUST what the REaction to her actions would mean, FOR HERSELF, which is what the show did, In my opinion. Specially since, from the get go, it’s established that Catra KNOWS what she does HURTS, she wants it to HURT. She does not ENTIRELY have an askewed view of the world, she has a cynical one, one that excuses her vitriol and is self-serving. And she never changes that.

THAT, Very personally, makes it hard for me to see this character as a realized, growing and conflict ridden individual, SPECIALLY, when the narrative TELLS you she WAS conflicted by around season 5, when we NEED her to just “always have been inherently good” to make the romance work, but never actually shows it, you just have to think she goes through all this, in a subtext that is never hinted at.

The way in which the show moved some things around and worked this narrative around Catra’s actions to make the romantic relationship work, well it takes dangerous shortcuts, because it never gives itself the time to adress all of these things BEFORE this relationship can go ahead.

IN THE END, it does skirt TOO CLOSE to those tropes of old: “Unconditional, passionate and promised Love WILL be enough to MAKE us tolerate the pain, and the sorrow, and accept and FIX the shortcomings, and PULL OUT this goodness that’s always been inside of us”.

This type of trope... or way of thinking? HAS been challenged before, and continues to be so, on relationships in media in which heteronormative couples depict it. We know it DISREGARDS many things about an individual’s growth, their safety and their agency.

And SOME Shippers or stans WILL tell you, “Yes, if Catra were a man, I wouldn’t ship it, and I wouldn’t be ok with it”. Some other’s don’t, other people trully see Catra’s growth within the show as a good depiction.

Ultimately, and to string all these thought together.

As a piece of Media, yes, the achievement of putting a lesbian couple at the forefront, who kiss, and who’s love saves the universe, is transcendat in itself. It sets a precedent of marketability and opens the door for more lgbtq+ voices to be heard.

HOWEVER, there are SHORTCOMINGS in the show, SOME OF WHICH are a sign of many problems WITHIN the industry, and the writing team.

It has writing issues, it has narrative issues.

It also has problems with dealing with ableism, it has problems dealing with a lack of conscience or disregard of racism. Many of its efforts in representation are honorable and considerate, but are ultimately mute and face value, when the voices behind it, are all white and open WAY TOO MANY chances of claimship for different groups, without thinking about it

There’s a problematic in judging She-Ra as media through a scope that is TOO PERSONAL and comforting to a person. Whether or not you see she-ra as perfect, or maybe see and understand its issues. Glorifying it and gatekeeping its critique serves no benefit for the betterment of media in itself, because you close the door on finding mistakes, and BETTERING them, or CHALLENGING different ideas, and actually SUBVERTING a status quo.

We CAN and we SHOULD discuss the things we think this show got wrong, or got right, for SOME people, but then hurt others. No one is inherently in the wrong or in the write about stuff like that. We all want better stories, better rep, better comfort, or challenging narratives.

My stance on Catra does not rest SOLELY on if I think she’s “Irredemable”, personally. I think its incredibly DULL and boring to be so black and white.

My personal issue with the show is that, it allow Catra to BE on a black and white scale, “Evil”, and then TRIED to nuance her actions, by making her QUESTION this, by thinking “Is this really what I want?” And her answer at first SEEMED to be “NO, I just want to not hate myself, to be STRONG by myself, to not be afraid, or dependant! To show this horrid world which is wrong on BOTH sides that I WILL stand, in the end, trauma or no trauma”. Catra wasn’t inherently EVIL, she was a product of her circumstance, she hurt other people and herself and she could’ve subverted this “EVIL VS GOOD” Ideal that both Adora, the Princess Alliance, Hordak and the Horde, had which btw, was a part of her self hatred.

BUT THEY DIDN’T, Instead Catra ended up saying:

“No, I want Adora’s love and acceptance back that she promised me and for her to TAKE my love!, I wanna NOT BE EVIL!”, to which the narrative said, NO you were NEVER evil! your inherent goodness had always been incapacitated by trauma and indocrination! And not only that, Adora NEEDS you! And you need her, so go! Love and kiss.

Again, this is Comfortable, potentially damaging? I say yes. Catra’s character is boiled down to needing Adora sdjkrthbdrkth

But again, this is a narrative shortcoming that makes ME unable to enjoy the story as is. Again I’ll say, She-Ra has already served its usefulness, it’s a stepping stone, it CAN do good for many people by setting a precedent for the future? It won’t manage it, if we as audiences CAN’T think critically of it.

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sclfmastery · 4 years

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I think the reason why Doctor with Companions media makes me so sad is that it always is implicitly (thanks to the showrunners, not fans) part of a dichotomy of “the Doctor is happy with her companions in the present and free of her guilt ridden sordid past” VERSUS “the Master represents that sordid past, full of pain and shame and regret, and when she’s with him it’s 100% toxic and bad for her.”

It’s such an over simplification of what is and what COULD be, but it’s like, despite her speech otherwise in her debut episode, Thirteen is the Doctor who is all about throwing the baby out with the bathwater, when it comes to her past. And this has only been augmented by the Timeless Child thing, and her need to let go of a past she’ll never be able to access.

I say none of this in order to condemn Thirteen. As you’ve all seen me post repeatedly, I adore her. It’s more decisions Chibnall and staff are making, that I question, and that make me so terribly sad. It’s like, if you’re a Thoschei shipper, you either get the Doctor (Twelve) really wanting to reconnect with the Master, and doing it all wrong, and escalating the problem, OR you have the Doctor (Thirteen) washing her hands of the Master entirely.

It’s so tiresome. They could be so much more and sometimes I get tired of having to do all the emotional labor myself, lol.

#ooc #vent //#is this a vent? idk LOL #more an observation #of why i cringe every time i see gifsets of the doctor and her fam #i want the master to be part of the fam too #i want them to get there somehow #i want the dichotomy broken or at least nuanced

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aonemanarmy · 5 years

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– B A S I C S –

NAME: Usually just go by my url

ALIAS(ES)/HANDLE(S): Your Lord and God

ARE YOU OVER 18? Yes / No

IS YOUR MUSE? Yes / No

WHEN WAS YOUR BLOG ESTABLISHED? Last year, although I’ve been playing Sephiroth longer than most people on this site have been alive.

– W R I T I N G –

ARE YOU SELECTIVE ABOUT WHO YOU WRITE WITH ON THIS BLOG? No (anyone) / Semi (most people) / Yes (some people) / Highly (few people) / Private (mutuals only)

ARE YOU SELECTIVE ABOUT WHO YOU FOLLOW ON THIS BLOG? No (anyone) / Semi (most people) / Yes (some people) / Highly (few people) / Private (mutuals only)

IF YOUR MUSE IS CANON, HOW MUCH DO YOU ADHERE TO CANON? Not at all / A little (Headcanons) / Some / Mostly / Strictly / Not Applicable

WHAT POST LENGTHS DO YOU WRITE? One Liners / Single-Para / Multi-Para / Novella

DO YOU USE ICONS AND/OR GIFS? No / Gifs / Icons / Yes

DO YOU WRITE ON OTHER PLATFORMS? No / Yes (Discord being the other primary at this moment)

WHAT LEVEL OF PLOTS DO YOU WRITE? Unplotted / Open-Ended Plots (set up a meeting and see what happens) / Semi-Plotted (one or two steps ahead) / Fully Plotted Epics (plotted beginning, middle, and end)

HOW QUICKLY DO YOU USUALLY RESPOND TO THREADS? Very Slow (more than a month) / Slow (3-4 weeks) / Average (1-2 weeks) / Fast (less than one week) / Very Fast (less than three days) / It depends

WHAT TYPES OF THEMES DO YOU LIKE? (feel free to add!) Fluff / Angst / Smut / Violence / Tragedy / Domestic / Family / Conversational

WHAT GENRES DO YOU LIKE? (feel free to add!) High Fantasy / Supernatural / Science Fiction / Historical / Horror / Comedy / Romantic / Drama / Action / Adventure / Espionage

ARE THERE ANY THEMES YOU’RE UNCOMFORTABLE WRITING ON YOUR BLOG? (not triggers) No / Yes / Sometimes

DO YOU HAVE ANY TRIGGERS? HOW DO YOU REQUEST IT TAGGED? No. I’m a veteran of the old internet, so nothing shocks me nowadays other than pure stupidity.

– S H I P P I N G –

WHAT TYPES OF RELATIONSHIPS ARE YOU OPEN TO? Romantic / Platonic / Familial (usually twisted or angst-ridden considering it’s Seph) / Enemies

WHAT TYPES OF PRE-ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIPS ARE YOU OPEN TO? Romantic / Platonic / Familial ( canon only ) / Enemies

DO YOU HAVE OTPS? No / Chemistry Only / Yes

DO YOU HAVE NOTPS? No / Yes (Too many to name)

WHAT IS YOUR MUSE’S SEXUAL ORIENTATION? Heterosexual / Heteroflexible / Bisexual / Pansexual / Homoflexible / Homosexual / Demisexual / Sapiosexual / Asexual (for the most part)

WHAT IS YOUR MUSE’S ROMANTIC ORIENTATION? Heteroromantic / Heteroflexible / Biromantic / Homoflexible / Homoromantic / Panromantic / Demiromantic / Sapioromantic / Aromantic (as he does not know the concept of romance beyond the purely logical)

ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WRITING SMUT? No / Selectively (w/ chemistry) / Yes

HOW EARLY IN A RELATIONSHIP DO YOU SHIP ROMANTICALLY? Autoship / During plotting / After a couple IC interactions / Several IC interactions / Slow burn / Never

ARE YOU OPEN TO TOXIC SHIPS? No / Selectively / Yes

ARE YOU OPEN TO PROBLEMATIC SHIPS? (incest, canon history, age difference, complicated, etc.) No / Selectively / Yes

ARE YOU OPEN TO POLYSHIPPING? No / Selectively / Yes

ARE YOU AN EXCLUSIVE SHIPPER? Never / Sometimes / Yes (usually)

DOES CRACK SHIPPING EVER HAPPEN? No / Yes

tagged by : @xkuja

tagging: @kyouminaine, @sanguinepeccatorum, @argentumexitium, @ivory-paragon

#xkuja #ooc #whispers of a dead god #ty for the tag

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sunlitroom · 5 years

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Gotham – s5e08 – Nothing’s Shocking

As I watched it, and some random observations here and there.

Previously on Gotham:

Bye-bye, Wayne Manor. Mr Penn is dead. Jim and Barbara had a mini-fling in his office. Lee forgot she spent the last few months banging Ed and got judgey with Jim. Barbara said Jim didn’t think she was fit to be a mother. Oswald is leaving Gotham by submarine. Jeremiah’s actions caused toxic chemicals to be spilled into the river. We have a lovely flashback from season one, with Harvey’s old partner. Remember season one? Those were the days.

None of the super-intense Bruce and Jeremiah stuff made the previously? O….k.

As always, long post will be long. There are likely to be rambling digressions. Gobblepot might appear (although I welcome all shippers and non-shippers alike :)). There will be naked favouritism and naked not-favouritism. Broader comments at the end on plotlines and parallels and general direction.

Sirens, where a sequinned Barbara chats to a patron. She distastefully eyes two older men who are very much not in the style of her usual clientele – but allows them one drink, after much pleading, when they give her a small piece of intel about heating oil on the black market.

As they’re standing at the bar, they are approached and jovially greeted by Harvey’s old partner – much healthier than we saw him last. His face hardens for a moment as he asks them if they ever think about the girl. They frown – and ask him what he’s talking about. Stone-faced now, he replies

About what we did to the girl

Barbara notices a third old guy in her establishment and is irate. She strides towards them

It’s like the living dead in here

While she’s walking towards them, Dix pulls two knives and stabs each of the men in the throat. He leaves before their bodies even hit the floor – blood spurting from the wounds.

At the hospital – Alfred is asking a woman to repeat her story for Mr Wayne

A pale and injured woman says that she’s with a group living in a shelter in the west of the city. There’s so much uncertainty and fear with the river poisoned, it should have been awful, but they came together and made it a home.

Recently there’s been rumours about something underneath the building, in the basement and sewers. People have gone missing. She and her husband went to investigate. Something attacked them. She was knocked out, and when she woke – he was gone. She turns to Bruce, tearful.

Please Mr Wayne – we have a daughter

Bruce tells her they do everything they can. He walks a little away with Alfred and asks if they should tell Jim (he actually says Gordon – which seems a little odd). Alfred says he’s stretched thin. Bruce eyes Alfred carefully. Alfred tells Bruce that lady sent for them, a man is missing – what does he think they should do. Bruce looks at him and replies:

Let's go find them

At Sirens. Harvey and Jim have come to investigate. Barbara tells them that under normal circumstances she wouldn’t call them for a couple of stiffs. She’d handle it herself, and generate about four more corpses in the process.

(An aside – just a quick one – but look at how rootless and redundant Oswald seems later in this episode, and how much better running the bar and hoarding intel would suit him. I know they don’t really know what do with Barbara, but it really is irritating.)

Jim asks why she called. She nods at the corpses

Take a look

Harvey knows them - Boggs and Lewis – cops from before Jim’s time. Barbara says that they offered 3rd rate intel and begged a drink. Some other fossil knifed them. She frowns.

Nicks, Hicks, Dix

Harvey shakes his head at the mention of Dix’ name. He was in a wheelchair – could never walk in. No way

Barbara doesn’t particularly care. She rubs her bump and looks a little tired. She tells Harvey she called as a courtesy, and he’s confusing her for someone who cares.

Jim and Harvey have a quick private talk. Harvey says that he doesn’t even know he's still in Gotham. Guiltily, he says he meant to check up on him, but….he trails off. Jim says they still need to talk to him.

Jim walks to Barbara at the bar and asks how she’s feeling. She says she’s fine - thanks for asking. Jim says he’s been giving her space, but they need to talk about how this will work, since he’s

Going to be part of this kid's life

She says he seems confident. He says he is. Reunification will happen, and she should think about what’s coming, and what kind of person she wants to be when it does. Doesn’t she want the chance to start anew?

Barbara juts her chin

I like who I am

Jim eyes her disbelievingly

Uh huh

And leaves.

(An aside. Jim doesn’t seem to consider, or maybe won’t allow himself to consider, that one reason Barbara clings to her new identity and role is because the old one, who had a life all planned with him, is too painful to ever imagine revisiting. It’s also interesting to get a glance at his psychological workings. Jim was absolutely up to his neck in it with the whole Sofia Falcone business – but that’s OK now because he’s moved on and decided to turn over a new leaf. Is it as simple as that, then? The past is excusable if you decide to turn over a new leaf? All sins forgiven? It’s not exactly the philosophy we’ll hear him espousing later with Harvey.

In the library with Ed, where it’s seemingly always drafty. Ed is working on the submarine when several bells chime – his alarm system

(A quick aside before proceeding. I found this C plot pretty dreadful – to the point that I was bored and irritated when the action moved away from the A and B plots to come back here. Given how much I adore Oswald, that’s a pretty big statement. I’m going to summarise where possible – except when I feel the need to whine – because these take a long time and hurt my hands)

It’s Oswald. Ed snaps that he was due ages ago. Oswald brushes this off, saying that he’s brought lunch and met Dale (a hulking man Oswald obviously sees as useful muscle)

Ed snarls that they’re supposed to have a secret plan to get off the island – how can he trust this man? Oswald snips back that Dale is mute and dumb as a post, and that Ed is paranoid. Ed says they’re being watched – hence the alarms system

Oswald seems unconcerned, picking up random bits of metal and asking how the

SS Gertrud is coming along?

(Oh, Oswald)

Ed says the sonar is very complex. Oswald, checking his nails through a magnifying glass, says he is confident he will figure it out.

Ed snatches the glass from him

Of course I will! I figure everything out, because I'm the only one working!

(An aside. Well – Oswald is very clever, but he’s not a scientist or an engineer. Would you really want him helping? Probably not. The best person to work on this with Ed would be Lucius. Maybe Ed’s snit is because he’s daydreaming about Lucius striding in to help him. Maybe push him up against a filing cabinet again.)

An irritated Oswald reminds Ed that he stole all the valuable stuff, and he’ll be giving Ed half.

Ed yells that Oswald’s goons stole that for him, and then Oswald killed them

(An aside – again, stupid. Oswald’s a kingpin – he doesn’t do his own burglaries. Ordering them to do it amidst all the chaos and commandeering a building with a vault was the clever bit)

The bells ring again. Oswald and Ed squabble over who it might be. NotGabe is about to shoot when the door opens, but Oswald stops him. It’s……Mr Penn.

Hello Mr Cobblepot

Oswald is genuinely happy to see him, laughing, and grabbing his shoulders. Oswald being Oswald, his mood turns in a second to irate

You’re only coming to me now?!

Penn replies that he wouldn't let me. Oswald asks who. Turning to the case he carried in with him, Penn pulls out an old wooden dummy of a gangster.

This is Mr Scarface

Oswald turns to Ed, who offers a sarcastic wonderful

Oswald turns back to Penn, and stares at him askance

Outside Dix’ apartment. Jim is telling a somewhat unhappy Harvey that even if he’s sure Dix is in the clear - they have to ask

Harvey says that’s not it – he should have visited before now. Jim shrugs.

Look - what can you do, right?

Wow -we’re getting insights into Jim’s psychology all over the place today. No point stressing about what you’ve done, or not done, and as long as you turn over a new leaf, it doesn’t count anyway. Is this why he’s forgetful when it comes to saying sorry? I mean – don’t get me wrong – it’s important not to let things fester, and important to move on, but I kind of feel there’s a line between mature closure and the determination to do better, and a vaguely sociopathic blitheness over past transgressions.

When they knock the door, they’re greeted with a hole being blown in it. After a bit of yelling, they go inside and meet Dix, who feels that his home security system is justified given the state of the city, before he and Harvey have a guilt-ridden little exchange

Figured you forgot about me.

Look, partner, when the bridges came down, I got busy and….

Oh, sure, sure. You forgot me. Everybody forgets.

I didn't forget.

Jim, meantime, is looking round. He spots a case on the bed and asks Dix if he’s planning on taking a trip. He offers a cagey ‘maybe’ in response. Jim asks where he was last night. Dix responds with a blustery

You asking me if out there killing Boggs and Lewis? I heard about that

Jim says Dix was a detective - what would he say in the same situation. Dix agrees he’d think the same thing, but reiterates that he didn’t do it, and says he’s packing a case because he’s worried he’s next.

He looks significantly at Harvey, who looks worried. Jim ushers Harvey to the side and asks what the connection is. Harvey sheepishly says they all worked a case back when Harvey was a rookie. A woman killed husband – but it was all open and shut. He insists it wasn’t Dix

A disbelieving Jim says that Barbara told them the bartender heard the name Dix, and tells Harvey this stinks.

There’s a hammering at the door. Confusingly, it’s another Dix. In a scuffle with Jim, which Jim wins – the second Dix’s face comes off in his hand.

Alfred and Bruce wander through the sewers, which apparently run alongside the river. Bruce adds bitterly that the river is now filled with Jeremiah’s toxins.

They hear a weird noise, which they follow. Alfred finds a hand – which appears to have bite marks on it. He can’t tell, though, whether it’s animal or human. Peering down the tunnel, the blood trail suggests whatever did it dragged the rest of body in this direction. They follow.

At GCPD, Harvey, Dix and Jim are talking. The mask they removed from the attacker seems to be made of human skin. Jim quotes a name at Harvey that makes him startle, Victoria Cartwright. Harper cross-referenced a bunch of old cases to get the name. Harvey and Dix look uncomfortable, and Jim asks if Harvey’s going to tell him what he’ll find in the file.

Harvey replies that she was the wife of a banker. He and Dix take turns telling the story.

She led a very boring life. Until she snapped and put two 38 calibre slugs into her husband. End of story.

Jim is unimpressed

You guys rehearse that?

He says the file states that there was no physical evidence.

Harvey says she was convicted on her 7-year-old daughter’s evidence. He blusters a little, and says they should be looking for Clayface – not messing about with this.

Jim asks Harper for the Cartwrights’ old address – which is apparently in the greenzone. A stung Harvey asks if Jim is benching him. Jim tells him to keep an eye on his partner

Back at the library, Oswald tries to reason with Penn – but makes him indignant by getting his name wrong. Ed goes back to work – but is half-listening.

Apparently Scarface knows about Oswald’s treasure. A concerned Oswald says that Penn needs rest and a psychiatrist. Ed scowls at this. I’m not sure why. The reminder that his own fractured personality needs professional care? Because he doesn’t want to share the loot with Penn? Because he’s trying to concentrate? This whole plot is such a redundant muddle.

The puppet insults Oswald and tells him to shut up. There’s a squabble which results in notGabe being shot in the chest so Oswald will take Scarface seriously.

At GCPD, where Harvey and Dix are talking over the mess they’re in. Apparently, Boggs and Lewis were idiots, and should have realised that Dix couldn’t walk.

They both ponder whether think the Cartwright girl said something

There’s a pause, and Harvey asks whether Dix has been getting food and medicine

What if I said no?

I'd feel like crap

No.

Harvey laughs, and Dix playfully bats his face. He then reassures him the Cartwright girl is dead. Some buddy of his was a screw at Arkham and told him she died a few years ago – so this has nothing to do with her. Oh dear.

Jim and Harper approach an old house. It looks deserted and dilapidated. It’s daytime, but the weather looks squally and depressing. We see that they are watched from a high window, and hear a soft sigh.

Jim and Harper call out that they are coming in. The house still has furniture, but looks like someone simply stopped the clocks and left it alone – no sign of looting or vandalism. In a nod to The Changeling, there’s a dusty old-fashioned child’s wheelchair in the corner of the room.

Jim wanders to the mantelpiece and picks up a photograph. It’s a family scene – but only the mother’s face remains – the daughter and husband’s have been scratched out.

The cop assisting Jim and Harper searches upstairs. He enters a large attic. We hear wind whistling through the windows, and hear shaky breathing coming from someone wearing a plain white mask.

The masked person watches as the discomfited cop finds a dressing table with lots of masks on it. As he steps back, the masked person emerges to stand behind him, and stabs him in the back.

At the sound of him hitting the floor, Harper and Jim go to investigate. As they’re still making their way upstairs, we see the masked woman touch the cop’s face and moan as she absorbs it, and then becomes him.

Jim and Harper are now in the attic. We see one of those very creepy old porcelain dolls on a chair. Jim and Harper remark that there’s been someone living here. Pop pop in the attic.

Harper asks what the smell is

The cop emerges from the other room – telling them that it’s all good – no-one is here. Jim looks quickly through the crack in the door to the room he emerged from, and sees the cop’s body on the floor.

Turning quickly, he decks the fake cop. On the ground, the face changes, and the girl whimpers.

Don't look at me! Don’t look at me!

Back at GCPD, Jim is interrogating the suspect, who is still masked. Jim’s tone is harsh

We found your handiwork. Nothing to say? You're gonna have to take that mask off. The only way you're gonna keep that mask on is if you talk. Otherwise, I'm gonna reach over this table, and I'm gonna rip it off of your face.

Harvey watches from behind the glass.

The girl looks to the side. Jim asks again

Who are you?

She answers,

Nobody

Jim tilts his head

You're not Jane Cartwright? Because you were in her childhood home. You're about the right age. Talk to me, Jane. I know after your mother was convicted, you ended up a ward of the state. In and out of institutions until you ended up in Arkham. Then you vanished. Some say died. What happened to you?

We see tears rise in Jane’s eyes.

Me? Nothing happened to me

Jim looks at her carefully, and tries a different tack.

Okay. What happened to Jane?

She looks at him

Oh. Lots happened to Jane.

Harvey is still watching.

She was taken from Arkham. Down, down down, the doctor did things to her, experiments on her and others.

Jim tilts his head. Hugo Strange?

She answers.

The professor was obsessed with the power to change. The way a chameleon would change its skin. He wanted humans to have that power. He made it so Jane could change her skin her bones, her hair, the colour of her eyes. All it takes is a single touch, and her body becomes a mirror. When it's done, she sheds her skin and starts anew. It remembers everyone it touched.

She pauses.

It's touched you, Detective.

Harvey watches – face sombre.

Jim tells her we can help you, Ms Cartwright

She talks in an odd, soft, flattened voice

Jane Cartwright is dead. She died in Arkham. That's when Jane Doe was born.

Jim asks why she killed all the cops. She tells him to ask his friend, and then leans back in her chair. Jim leaves.

Once he’s gone, Jane slowly pulls her hand though the cuffs. It’s very like Eugene Victor Tooms – if you remember the X-Files. I nearly expected that odd incidental string music to play

Alfred and Bruce are still following creepy sounds. Bruce’s torch dies. A man runs at them, yelling, and tackles Bruce to the ground. He’s clearly terrified and turns out to be Hank. Apparently everyone else is dead.

Almost immediately, a large monstrous man appears and there’s a big brawl. He hits Bruce and drags Hank away, chased by Bruce and Alfred.

Back at the library. The sudden loss of tension when we arrive back here is really obvious. I love Oswald, and Ed is never boring – but this is dull.

Oswald wants to understand this. Look – I’m summarising: Penn woke up in the morgue, recuperated in a magic shop, and poured all his festering resentment and rage into the puppet. He tells Oswald he chewed him up and spat him out

(A quick aside. Did Oswald treat Penn badly during his annoying dictator phase? Yes. Was Penn Sofia Falcone’s mole in Oswald’s organisation? Yes. Is it actually surprising that Oswald didn’t shoot him on sight? Yes.)

Oswald says this is a lie, but Ed decides to wade in

Please Oswald – it’s what you do

(An aside. Not sure how much damage the chip did to Ed’s head, but he’s seemingly forgotten that unpleasant and coercive incident where he – to all intents and purposes – trapped Oswald in his apartment, ignored his wishes, drugged him, manipulated his grief, used him – all so he could get murder lessons.)

Scarface wants the treasure and to be boss. There’s squabbling back and forth. Ed cuts in again.

You know what, Oswald? Honestly, you deserve this. You are opportunistic, your loyalty is shaky, at best, and you will hurt anyone, anyone to get what you want.

Oswald snaps back

I hardly think you're one to throw stones!

(An aside – again, it just doesn’t work. Oswald is undoubtedly opportunistic. But he’s loyal to a select few. And he will not hurt anyone to get what he wants – we’ve been explicitly told that his heart is his biggest weakness. Oswald at least throws the accusation back at him – but it’s still stupid to start with)

To talk Scarface/Penn down from the current conflict – Ed offers him a place on the submarine. Whatever.

GCPD, the locker room. Harvey is talking to Dix. He says they did a bad thing. Dix said they put a killer in jail – she was guilty and got what she deserved.

Harvey said they made the girl into a murderer.

He removes his tie

You, your friends, the kid – I’m gonna make sure you never do that again

‘Harvey’ lurches forward and strangles Dix with his tie

Outside, Jim asks Harper where Dix is. She replies that Bullock took him in the back.

Barbara appears. Her bartender heard say Dix say something before the kill, and she thought she’d be a good citizen and pass it on

The kid's guilty too

Jim frowns in thought. Barbara keeps talking

Listen what you said before, about me being a known criminal. I was on some list your army buddy had. When the government rolls in, am I going be arrested?

Jim says he doesn’t know

Barbara juts her chin – eyes guarded

But that would work out for you, right? I go to jail - you get the baby.

Jim says he doesn’t want that.

Barbara looks at him hard

Is that a promise? I go straight, I'm clear?

(An aside. I mean – while it’s nice that Jim claims here he doesn’t want Barbara to go to jail and him keeping the baby – I’m not clear how he’s got here from telling her last week that she was an unfit mother. Barbara’s reasoning is entirely logical. Jim thinks she’s isn’t fit to look after a child. Jim judges her at every opportunity. Jim thinks she belongs in jail, and definitely not mothering his child.

There’s something kind of alarmingly Victorian about all this. Jim likes the idea of being the staid authority figure. Then you have Barbara, the woman fallen from aristocratic grace. And then there’s the child – that would be removed from her and brought up without the tainted association.

In short, you can see how Barbara got there. What I can’t see is what led to Jim’s apparent change of heart.)

Their conversation is interrupted by Harvey’s arrival. Jim tell her to stay put, then asks where he took Dix. Harvey says he didn’t - they realise something is wrong, and rush off.

Entering the locker room, Harvey rushes over to Dix’s body. Jim says jane must have taken some of Harvey’s clothes from his locker so she could change shape.

Harvey’s in shock, though, and not listening. Jim has to shake him and tell him they’re going to find her. They leave.

Down in the sewers, Bruce and Alfred fight big angry toxin man. Bruce flings shards of glass at him to give Alfred the advantage, but then has to stop Alfred from beating him to death.

Jim and Harvey head back out of the locker room, yelling that GCPD is now in lockdown, and that Jane can look like anyone

Barbara appears at the door, calling for Jim, claiming to have been attacked. Jim asks how he can know it’s her.

On cue, a second Barbara appears – and we have instant confusion. One of the Barbaras claims

It's me, you idiot

Which Harvey feels is convincing, but Jim asks

Tell me where we first met?

One can’t answer and grabs the real Barbara – putting a gun to her head. There’s some pushing and shoving. Jane flees, and Barbara is pushed to the floor. Jim tells Harper to take her to his office and not let her out of sight.

Back at the library. Again – I’ll be summarising. Ed is berating Oswald for playing along with Penn’s psychosis and giving him a share of the treasure. He says he has an idea and he’ll give a signal.

Penn decides he’s going along with the submarine plan – but Oswald is to be shot.

Oswald pleads – talks about their shared past, but it’s not working. He says he took him into his home, and adds

And yes, I was not a good friend. To you or to anyone. (He glances at Ed here) It's why I'm alone. But I saw you for what you are, and I valued that. That’s got to be worth something.

(An aside. What now? I’m not saying Oswald’s perfect – but come on. He voluntarily went to Arkham to protect Jim. He didn’t kill Tabitha back in season 3 because he knew it would hurt Butch. He visited Ed in Arkham, and took him gifts. For goodness sake – he even tried to forge a friendship with Sofia Falcone.

I honestly find this exhaustingly bad. I know that the true purpose of this scene is apparently to give us some kind of final message on how Oswald and Ed are actually friends – but if the only way you can do that is by isolating them in their own storyline and explicitly making the whole plot about their friendship, then you’ve failed. Sorry. Stuff like this should be evident week by week, in the smallest details. It’s there, for example, every time Selina and Alfred exchange a look about Bruce’s idealism. Or when Harvey watches Jim with genuine concern. It was even there, recently, when Ed’s eyes lit up when Lucius acknowledged his expertise.

I don’t really understand why it hasn’t happened with Ed and Oswald – all I know is that it hasn’t. I’ve never made any bones about the fact that I’ve found this relationship poorly written, ooc and inconsistent – but wow, was it ever apparent here. Whereas the other relationships I’ve mentioned seem solid and well-constructed, and speak for themselves - this relationship feels like it’s held together with duct tape while someone keeps yelling ‘isn’t this great!? Isn’t it the best!? OMG!! Such a deep scene!’)

Anyway. Penn yells that all Oswald does is take take take and never gives anything. He’s a liar and a thief. Mr Penn. You’re nice enough – but you chose to work for gangsters. What were you expecting?

Ed makes one of the instruments emit a hideous noise. In the confusion, there’s a scuffle, and Oswald shoots the puppet. Penn’s face clears, and he thanks Oswald

Mr Cobblepot - you freed me! How ever can I thank you?

He smiles at Oswald, who smiles tearily back. The moment is brief, since Ed decides – at that point – to murder Mr Penn, shooting him in the head.

I’m just going to give the dialogue now.

Why did you do that? He wasn't the threat. The dummy was the threat!

Oswald. I accept you for the person that you are - just as you accept me for the cold logician that I am. That's why this friendship is great. And as friends, I think we can both agree that that lunatic had to be stopped.

Oswald laughs hysterically - a little like when he realised his father had been poisoned.

Perhaps, Edward we really are meant for each other.

They both laugh

(An aside – CMS is fantastic, and he can convey about 20 emotions with just a flicker of his eyes. Even he, though, cannot sell the execrable line just as you accept me for the cold logician that I am – it sounds written, unnatural.

Aside from that – how lovely. Oswald almost had another friend, and Ed murdered him – maybe to cut him out of the treasure profits – being a cold logician and all, but possibly just to deprive Oswald of a friend, because his relationship with Oswald has always been queasily abusive. It’s maybe another reason it’s never worked for me. I like relationships that have more of a push/pull in terms of power dynamics. This has always just been a needy Oswald and a manipulative Ed. It leaves me queasy, and I genuinely dislike that two incredibly strong characters’ recent screen time has been reduced to this interaction)

Back at the creepy Cartwright house. We hear crows cawing outside. They’ve really gone full-tilt on the horror aspects of this storyline

Harvey searches the house, gun drawn. He calls Jane’s name. We see a sad Father Christmas decoration in one of the boxes he passes – adding to the sadness of the whole scene: a family life and childhood gone wrong, cut short, abandoned.

In the attic now. Harvey calls that he knows she’s up here. He finally spots her, standing with her face to the wall

I knew you'd be here. I'm sorry. It was my job to protect you, and I let you down.

Jane tearfully tells him

You made Jane into a killer. You and your three friends. There have to be consequences

You killed three men already. When is it enough?

When you're dead.

Jane raises a gun. Harvey aims at her

Put the gun down!

Poor Jane’s voice cracks

Shoot me. You killed Jane years ago, and you didn't even know it…. Just shoot me.

Harvey looks pained. He loosens his grip on his gun a little, and asks her, pleadingly

Let me see your face. Your real face.

Jane is aghast.

Why? So you can see what a monster she is? Hugo Strange only destroyed her face. You destroyed her soul.

Harvey asks again

Let me see it.

Jane takes the mask off. It’s horribly, achingly sad – because there’s nothing wrong with Jane’s face.

You see? You see what they did?

Harvey continues to try and reason with her.

Jane we can work this out. Just put the gun down.

Jane is resolved, though and refuses

The only way this ends is with one of us dead.

They shoot. Jane falls to the floor. Harvey’s hands start to tremble, and he shakily lifts one of them to shield his face, deeply upset by what has happened.

(An aside. This story was excellent. The whole plot managed to be both sad and genuinely creepy at points. Jane was deeply pitiable, betrayed and abandoned – and Harvey’s grief at his actions and their consequences felt real. The moment at the end where he covers his eyes honestly felt like a punch to the gut.

Compared with the nonsense we had in the preceding scene, the contrast is stark)

At the hospital with Alfred and Bruce. Hank has been returned to his wife.

Alfred and Bruce step away. There’s some brief chat about recklessness, and how they should have involved Jim. A serious Bruce tells Alfred he agrees, and tells Alfred there are better ways to find absolution. He goes on to reassure him that what happened to Wayne Manor was not his fault

Alfred is angry he wasn’t strong enough to resist what happened – and now Bruce lost a tie to his past, lost his home. He swears he’ll never be that weak again.

Bruce looks at him fondly, and tells him that part of being a family is being strong for each other

Alfred smiles and asks him when he got so smart. Bruce grins.

I had a good teacher

At GCPD. Harvey sits across from Jim at his desk.

Victoria Cartwright killed her husband. She admitted it, then recanted. There was no physical evidence.

He pauses

I wanted to make detective

Jim cuts in

So you leaned on Jane. Coerced a statement out of her to put her mother away.

Harvey retorts that the woman was guilty, but adds

We later found out that the husband beat the mother and Jane

Jim sighs

The bartender heard Jane say the 'kid was guilty too’. She meant you.

Harvey looks down

I knew something was wrong, felt it – but I was told to keep my trap shut. And after a while, I stopped feeling it – and I went down that path for a long time, until I met you. However much I've changed, I can't change the past. I made that girl a killer.

Jim regards him – not much warmth on his face.

What do you want from me, Harvey? Forgiveness? Can't give that to you.

I just needed you to know.

Harvey leaves, closing the door firmly behind him. Jim stays at his desk

Ghosts in the attic and monsters in the basement….

I know it’s probably not what was intended, but I had to sit through that nonsense in the library, so I intend to enjoy my metaphors and meta meaning that probably wasn’t intended.

Harvey’s always seemed haunted. He’s haunted by his dirty past. He’s haunted by a likely future where he’ll wind up taking a bullet protecting Jim. And he’s haunted by the notion of an alternative future, one where Jim never showed up, and Harvey just sinks further into complacency and corruption.

We actually got to meet one of his ghosts this week. Jane is a sad, tormented ghost whose life held far too much suffering. Beaten by her father, bullied by policemen to betray her mother, enduring God knows what as a ward of the state before she ended up in Arkham, and then finally in Indian Hill, as one of Hugo Strange’s playthings. Harvey might not have been responsible for all her troubles – but his part in it a good call-back to one of the preoccupations of season one, the destructive power of a cumulative lack of compassion and integrity – one selfish, neglectful act at a time. Jane’s a victim of Gotham as much as a victim of her father: of a corrupt police department and selfish cops, of a lack of care for the vulnerable and mentally ill, and of the elites who allowed Hugo to flourish.

Bruce, meantime, is wandering around in the basement, where Jeremiah’s presence is everywhere: from the chemicals coating the walls to the creatures he created. He only mentions his name once in this episode, but it’s freighted with anger and bitterness. Jeremiah is the creature lurking in the basement that Bruce can hardly bring himself to name.

I said last week that some aspects of Bruce and Jeremiah’s confrontation played oddly.

First of all – Bruce consistently exhibited concern for Jerome, as well as a sense of responsibility for him. It is not logical that this is not the case for Jeremiah, who is essentially Jerome’s last victim, and not in his right mind. Bruce instead seems viscerally angry and betrayed by Jeremiah. His treatment of him is markedly different than his treatment of just about anyone else you could name. I’d argue that that other place you see this is in Jim’s visceral response to Oswald, who – for reasons Jim probably doesn’t care to consider – can get under his skin like no-one else.

Something that deadened the tension was the fact that the easiest way to defuse the situation, or at least make Jeremiah stumble, was to simply give him what he asked: an acknowledgment that a connection existed between them. That was Jeremiah’s sole stated wish. It seemed easy enough. We know Bruce is clever and pragmatic – shrewd at reading others’ needs – but he somehow can’t bring himself to say it. Why not? Why couldn’t Bruce say this – when he knows the consequences would endanger so many people?

What you’re left with, for me, is that there is a connection between them. An personal connection – whereby Bruce cannot rationalise Jeremiah’s actions since the laughing gas, because he’s too badly hurt by the loss of him, and sees every act as a new betrayal.

Elsewhere, we saw some movement with Jim and Barbara. He apparently doesn’t think she’s an unfit mother now – but I have no sense of what changed his mind. I understand that this is the big moral redemption of Barbara, but there’s something quite sinister in it being partially motivated by fear of the loss of her child.

I’m not wasting much more time talking about the C-plot, since it wasted quite enough time on its own.

I’ll be interested to see whether this has repercussions for Jim and Harvey’s relationship. Harvey’s forgiven Jim a lot. Jim didn’t have much comfort for him here.

I sort of feel that we should have seen Lee this week if we’re rebuilding her relationship with Jim to the point where a wedding would feel plausible. Even a glance of her at the hospital would have worked – an off-hand line to Alfred or Bruce that suggested a thaw in relations.

It’s always tough to follow a Jerome or Jeremiah episode – they’re so intense and full-throttle as characters, but I felt that this did fairly well in the A and B plots.

Thoughts?

#gotham commentary #nothing's shocking #gotham s5e08

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shiros-boyfriends-are-pretty · 6 years

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So, the VLD fandom exploded today

(spoilers ahead)

Everyone's pissed about something, so I'm just gonna share my thoughts

1- the toxic klance shippers keep claiming that we got queerbaited, but tbh, its a basic marketing ploy to use a ship to make the show get more viewers. Like thats normal, the Voltron marketing team did a good job trying to entice people to watch the show, cause it worked

2- I loved this season, actually, but it was so emotionally draining that my energy all just completely wiped out of me by the time I was done. Everything was so intense and on edge, and they did a really good job of portraying to an audience what war is like. Every person I've ever talked to says the same type of thing, you turn on the people you're stuck with cause cabin fever, you get sick, and often, very often, you feel as if there is no way possible you will ever win because things and opponents keep attacking relentlessly and, as Lance said very often, it makes you honestly want to die as opposed to deal with it anymore (I do really worry for his mental health there)

3- the cast and animators and scriptwriters did a phenomenal job of bringing the storyline to life. It was gripping and emotional and I love how much we saw of the characters. It felt like the team from seasons 1&2 were back in action. In all honesty, seasons 3,4,&5 were the eh ones, the others were phenomenal. I love where the show has gone

4- at the end of ep13, with shiros speech, I shit you not, until we zoomed in on those portraits, I thought the paladins had died. Jeez.

5- ACXA IS DEFINITELY KEITH'S SISTER AND ALL YOU DUMBFUCKS WHO THINK THEYRE GONNA BE IN LOVE BECAUSE EZOR SAID SO (SHES ALSO AN ENEMY, WHY BELIEVE HER WORD) NEED TO STAHP. THEY LOOK SOOO SIMILAR, OR HAVE WE FORGOTTEN THIS. seriously. If I knew a paladin of voltron was my brother, even if he didnt fuckin know, Id do my best to keep him alive too. And she wouldnt tell ezor and zethrid theyre related! That would turn bad sooo quickly

6- Lance. Needs. Mental. Help. And. Support.

7- HUNK omg YESSSSSS HE WAS AMAZINGGGGG i loved it. I loved his new bayard upgrade, I love how he saved the day. We saw more of how he completes the team because hes so important (the fact that they tried to bring the barf thing back was weird tho, y u do dat, no). But the character development, the bonding with romelle, loved it all.

8- despite making fun of lance constantly (as in, the entire team does, which also needs discussion, stop kicking my poor son) keith still trusts him wholeheartedly as his right hand man. I love their dynamic as paladins of voltron, and ship or not, they work well together and thats what matters.

9- Jeez, shiro needs a nap.

And thats all! Do not respond to any of this, cause I dont wanna fight over a show. I loved it, but im tired and sad and anxiety ridden after that 13 episode rollercoaster, so Im gonna get away from this toxic fandom. I personally understand that my expectations of the show should never have any grounds over wat happens, and that any ships or headcanons I have are attached to me more than the show. That is all.

Love y'all! Be respectful!

#voltron fandom #voltron s7 #vld #vld spoilers #wow #dang #honestly? amazing #review #my thoughts #voltron

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themusingsofacurlyhairednerd · 7 years

Text

All My Friends Are Heathens; Part 6

Summary: Murphy is still banned from cursing, Octavia makes a deal with Bellamy that no one likes, and Bellamy contemplates telling Clarke how he feels.

TrashPrince: OCTAVIA U MOLDY HAMBURGER BUN THIS IS WHY WE DON’T LET U DO ANYTHING ALONE

Jaaaassssppper: tag urself I’m moldy hambuger bun

TrashPrince: THIS IS NO JOKE YOU GUM ON THE BOTTOM OF A SHOE

I DIDN’T SIGN UP TO GET FRECKLES A GF AND CLEAN HER TRASH HOLE OF A HOUSE

I WAS TOLD WE’D BE SAFE FROM REPERCUSSIONS AND NOW I’VE GOT A BUTTLOAD OF LIBRARY FINES AND I’M SWEEPING UP GLASS AROUND A GARBAGE RIDDEN POOL

TheSuperiorBlake: Bell promised the library fines would go away

this was the only way to get monty to stop crying

he’s fragile

I had to protect his little green bean heart

Greenbean: I thought this was about Bellarke?

MillertheKiller: don’t throw his little green bean heart under the bus like that

we ALL did this for bellarke

HeadBandWonder: well bellamy better hurry tf up because I JUST FOUND A CONDOM UNDER THE COUCH

Trikru: 0_0 was it...used?

HeadBandWonder: NO YOU LIMP NOODLE I’M SCREAMING CAUSE IT WAS STILL WRAPPED UP

OF COURSE IT WAS USED

UR DEAD TO ME OCTAVIA

Jaaaaaasssppper: GUYS I FOUND LEFT OVER BROWNIES

Greenbean: don’t u dare

u gotta be sober like the rest of us for this

i-make-it-go-boom: somebody want to help me keep murphy from diving into the pool?

it’s full of cups and smells like a toxic combination of vodka and chlorine and murphy keeps eyeing it suspiciously

Jaaaasssppper: DUDE DRINK IT

Trikru: DO NOT DO THAT MURPHY

TrashPrince: somebody end my suffering

*Iliad direct messaged Officer_Kane*

Iliad: Hey Kane, cane I ask you something?

Officer_Kane: it’s probably not legal

Iliad: What? No it’s a lady thing.

Officer_Kane: Oh

Wait... What kind of lady thing...?

Iliad: How’d you know it was the right time to tell Abby how you felt about her?

Officer_Kane: Oh thank God!

Iliad: -_- Gross Kane

You’re like a father to me DON’T GIVE ME MENTAL PICTURES OF YOUR RELATIONSHIP

Officer_Kane: right, sorry

Look feelings are always complicated

I didn’t tell Abby how I felt first

Iliad: You didn’t?

Officer_Kane: She was married before and I didn’t want to push her so I waited until she was ready

Iliad: So what, one day she was just like, “hey Marcus I’m in love with you so now would be a great time for you to say it back”??

Officer_Kane: is that how the kids are doing it these days?

She said when we first started dating that she wasn’t sure how ready she was for a committed relationship. After several months of taking it slow, going on casual dates and a drink every once in awhile, she made her mind up about what she wanted. When she said she was ready to get serious, I was free to voice how I felt.

Iliad: This has been incredibly unhelpful

Officer_Kane: What’s the matter, Bellamy? You’ve never had girl trouble before. I can recall a time where the trouble was keeping girls OFF of you.

Iliad: Freshman cheerleaders are terrifying

I don’t know

I’ll figure it out

Thanks anyway

*NurseGriffin has been added to the Bellarke Forever<3 group chat*

i-make-it-go-boom: mom ur house is clean u can stop living out of a motel now

TrashPrince: it wouldn’t kill ya to clean up a bit every once in awhile tho

NurseGriffin: THAT WAS YOUR MESS

TrashPrince: a thanks will be fine

NurseGriffin: raven get ur bf under control before i strangle him with my bare hands

Jaaaassssppper: i’ve watched enough law and order to know strangling somebody without gloves is a no no

unless u WANT jail time of course

MillertheKiller: yeah there are better ways to strangle a guy

Trikru: Roan knows a guy if u need him

TrashPrince: who’s side are u on u donut head???

NurseGriffin: I WAS ABOUT TO SAY THANK U BUT SOMEONE WROTE BELLARKE FOREVER WITH MY BRAND NEW $50 LIPSTICK ON MY BATHROOM MIRROR

U SHITBRICKS

OCTAVIA I KNOW IT WAS U

TheSuperiorBlake: me???? I was making out with lincoln in his car

it couldn’t have been me

*Trikru direct messaged TheSuperiorBlake*

Trikru: Octavia

the light of my life

my sun

my moon

my stars

TheSuperiorBlake: what did u do lincoln?

Trikru: i did a bad thing and used clarke’s expensive lipstick to write the message on her mirror

TheSuperiorBlake: THAT WAS U??

I’M SO PROUD

MY BABY ALL GROWN UP AND REBELLIOUS

Trikru: they are meant to be together I HAD TO DO SOMETHING

tbh gettin real sick of ur brother always looking doe eyed at clarke when he thinks no one’s looking

TheSuperiorBlake: I didn’t think it was possible but i have never been more in love with u <3 <3

Trikru: awwwww babe <3

*NurseGriffin direct messaged Iliad*

NurseGriffin: ur sister owes me $50

Iliad: I’m afraid to ask

NurseGriffin: She wrote “bellarke forever” on my bathroom mirror in lipstick

Iliad: I had a feeling she wouldn’t give up on her plans so easily

The whole party was just her scheme to get us together

NurseGriffin: How thoughtful

Just talk to her, would ya? I got a test I gotta study for

Iliad: Yeah, sure

Listen, before you go, can I ask you something?

NurseGriffin: can it wait until I’ve had a couple glasses of wine and a bubble bath? No way I’m gonna do this paper with all the stress our stupid children have caused without one

Iliad: Never mind. It’s nothing.

*IceIceBaby direct message Iliad*

IceIceBaby: listen freckles

I didn’t let lincoln break my beautiful nose for u to not ask clarke on a date yet

and tbh gettin real tired of checkin facebook to see if u have updated ur relationship status

do u know what’s on facebook dude?

my mom won’t shut up about politics

LIKE THE BORING POLITICAL STUFF

the stuff u see in newspapers

she literally never stops posting

do u want me to be subject to that just so i can see if bellarke has happened yet???

Iliad: Roan, did my sister put u up to this?

IceIceBaby: dude I have eyes!

ur breaking my shipper heart

just ask her out already!!

Iliad: I’m blocking your number

IceIceBaby: ur a monster

*Bellarke Forever has removed NurseGriffin from the group chat and added IceIceBaby, per his request*

IceIceBaby: u guys got a new plan yet?

TheSuperiorBlake: lincoln and i are on our way to your place to discuss specifics

i-make-it-go-boom: murphy and i are standing by for orders

and by standing by i mean sitting in his rust bucket truck arguing over which Halsey song to listen to... so hurry this up

TrashPrince: IF I HAVE TO LISTEN TO CLOSER ONE MORE TIME I WILL LOOSE MY MIND

IT’S NOT EVEN A REAL HALSEY SONG

GASOLINE IS A REAL HALSEY SONG

HELL, I’LL EVEN LISTEN TO THE ACOUSTIC SETS IF U WILL JUST TURN OFF THIS DAMN CHAINSMOKERS SONG

i-make-it-go-boom: u shut ur whore mouth john murphy

closer is the anthem of our generation

TrashPrince: if i die because my brain melts in my skull, tell everybody that the Chainsmokers murdered me

I want it written on my headstone

Repeat it in ur ulogies

write songs about the poor sap who was killed by this god forsaken song from hell

TheSuperiorBlake: drama queen of the year award goes to murphy

Greenbean: again

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