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inkslingersworld · 3 years

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In Defense of Lukanette/Adrigami

I have recently completed watching the animated superhero television show Miraculous Ladybug for the first time, and I have some thoughts.

Now, before I start rambling, I just want to say that I’m not trying to criticize anybody for their preferred ship in MLB. I’m just trying to encourage employing critical thinking when it comes to the show, the characters, and the plot lines. Even if I don’t convince you in this argumentative essay, it is my hope that you will at least perceive things a little more deeply regarding Miraculous Ladybug.

Okay, so for the most part, Miraculous was a decent enough show. I’m not going to go shouting from the rooftops “F*CK YOU, THOMAS ASTRUC!!!”, as some people are apt to do. He is the show’s creator and is at the liberty to do whatever he likes with it.

However, that doesn’t mean I have to agree with him on everything.

Despite its best parts, the show has a lot of flaws, and even though I could sit here all day complaining about what’s wrong with it, I’m choosing for focus on a single aspect of it (for now): the illusion of the OTP.

The Love Square - which involves Marinette liking Adrien and Chat Noir liking Ladybug, even though Marinette is Ladybug and Chat Noir is Adrien - never made much sense to me, even from the beginning. These are the problems I’ve found with it.

1. THAT’S NOT EVEN HOW LOVE WORKS

Now, I could be wrong, but if you love someone - and I mean really love someone - that love wouldn’t be jeopardized because of the love interest simply wearing a costume. And yes, I understand that Marinette and Adrien’s civilian identities act differently than their superhero ones, but still. THEY’RE THE SAME F*CKING PEOPLE!!! I’ve shouted myself hoarse about this loophole more times than I can count. If they were truly in love, wouldn’t Marinette like Chat Noir as much as Adrien? And wouldn’t Adrien like Marinette as much as Ladybug?

2. THEY DON’T LOVE EACH OTHER

Riding on the back of what I just said, the Love Square only proves that it isn’t true love. If it were, they would love each other regardless of whether they were wearing their costumes or not! And there is simply nothing else I can add to this.

3. THE LOVE SQUARE FEELS SHOVED DOWN MY THROAT

The production team for the show has missed out on the chance of some excellent character-building scenes in favor of the Love Square. They’ve been trying to sell it to us ever since the show began. Sure, the Love Square has had its moments, but it ultimately would not suffice as an actual romantic relationship. One of the worst things the show has done is scrap Lukanette and Adrigami. I think deep down all of us knew it was the move they were gonna make, but they dated for like TWO EPISODES. Even if they weren’t gonna keep them, they should’ve at least showed the relationship on more levels, at least to show Marinette and Adrien maturing emotionally.

4. THE REVEAL WOULDN’T CHANGE ANYTHING

Some people take the side of “Oh, but once they find out their secret identities, they’ll love each other!” THAT’S NOT WHAT WOULD HAPPEN AT ALL!!! Marinette would only love Chat Noir because he was Adrien, and Adrien would only love Marinette because she was Ladybug! Even people who support the Love Square agree on this!! They try to present a solution in which Ladybug falls in love with Chat Noir first and Adrien for Marinette, but that too is unrealistic. In the show’s timeline, Marinette and Adrien have been superheroes for three years. I mean, COME ON.

And 5. IT WOULD BE TOO DANGEROUS

We all saw what happened in Chat Blanc. Love Square = The End of Days. You can kid yourself all you like, but it’s the truth.

Maybe it wouldn’t unfold quite like Chat Blanc, but Marinette and Adrien becoming romantically attached would provide a vital opportunity for Hawk Moth. It’s not like he’s been the best at planning before, but this would be a hard one to miss.

Perhaps these five reasons aren’t enough to sway you, but they’re good enough for me. And now I turn my attention to the benefits of Lukanette and Adrigami.

1. THEY LOVE THEM FOR WHO THEY ARE

Marinette and Adrien have not always been superheroes, but they’ve always been themselves, and that’s who they are at their core. Luka loves Marinette for who she is, and Kagami loves Adrien for who he is. It’s that simple.

2. FAR LESS CONTRADICTIONS

The dilemma involving identities is nonexistent in a Lukanette/Adrigami scenario. If Marinette and Adrien revealed their identities to Luka and Kagami, well, that would just be the sprinkles on top of an ice cream sundae. The love of my life is a superhero too? That’s so like them. Also, this type of reveal wouldn’t pose any threat Hawk Moth-wise.

3. THEY CAN HELP EACH OTHER GROW

If the Love Square were to happen, I think it would be a den of awkwardness. Adrien has had very little exposure to the outside world, and if he began a romantic relationship with Marinette, a lot of the time it would be Marinette showing stuff and teaching things to Adrien, which might be nice in some cases, but does not sound particularly fetching to me. With Lukanette and Adrigami on the other hand, it would be the two of either couple teaching things and showing stuff to each other. Luka could show Marinette to play guitar, Marinette could teach Luka how to bake (one of my dream Lukanette scenes is one of Marinette passing on her fashion skills to Luka).

I think this could work for Adrigami also. Both of them have been sheltered for all their lives, and I think it would be nice to see them discovering new things together. They could also teach each other the stuff they already know; Kagami could work on her art skills with Adrien, they could teach each other languages, maybe Adrien could show Kagami to play the piano (or whatever that video game was in Gamer), and so on and so forth. And obviously, at some point, one of them would say to the other, “It’s you and me against the world.”

For me, Lukanette and Adrigami are just more appealing, and I can’t see why the show runners don’t feel that way as well. If they’re refusing it in favor of conflict to drive the show, they can provide that conflict through Lukanette and Adrigami. I mean, seriously - Luka and Kagami would be dating superheroes. That doesn’t come without its side effects.

If their reasoning is “we’ve been alluding to the Love Square ever since the show started”, then scrap the Love Square! I think Marinette and Adrien work better in a friend capacity anyway! Besides, changing love interests is a part of life, and doing this in the show would add a bit more realism to a rather unrealistic television program.

In conclusion, Lukanette and Adrigami could send MLB soaring to new heights, and provide a deviation from the same boring old formula.

#argumentative #inkslingersworld #mlb #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #lukanette #adrigami #against the love square #essay #persuasive essay

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goatsandgangsters · 3 years

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Much as I LOVE the boat chapters of Siege and Storm because I’m a sucker for bottle episodes and “people who don’t like each other grudgingly having to work together on a task and try not to murder each other” (seriously, I wish that section had been the entire book because I had so much fun), I reeeeeeeally don’t think it will actually WORK for the show and needs some fixing:

Reasons why I don’t think it’s narratively strong (despite being tropey as fuck in ways I enjoy)

Way too much of an immediate Uno reverse. Shadow and Bone ends with “oh yay, we escaped the Darkling” and then the FIRST CHAPTER of Siege and Storm is “surprise bitches, bet you thought you’d seen the last of me” aaaaaand they’re captive again

The narrative tension of Alina thinking he’s dead gets shot reaaaal fast, minimizing the payoff

Alina……. doesn’t do anything. At all. In this entire part of the book. The Darkling sets their little whaling field trip in motion, Mal tracks the sea whip, Nikolai arranges the rescue entirely unbeknownst to Alina, who doesn’t get anything meaningful to do during this little excursion. Considering how much more agency the show has been trying to give Alina at every turn (thank god), an entire boating expedition where Her Three Boys are the only active agents while she’s just a spectator isn’t gonna fly

Objectively it’s a really dumb ~villainous plot. “well, killing an amplifier and putting it on you to take your power didn’t work well LAST TIME, but let’s immediately try again. I’m sure it will work out better this time.” I’m in it for the plot (the Darkling standing at the bow, gazing out at the water with his cloak billowing around him), but for viewers who are in it for the PLOT Plot, it’s just… the same plot as last time, but shorter. Disappointing. Will be super obvious when you binge.

In the book, the Darkling needs to show up again in order to Be In The Story since everything is limited to Alina’s point of view, but that’s obviously not true in the show and that opens up a lot more options for what he could be doing and ways he can be present in the story without Currently Talking to Alina

Personally, my idea for the show's sea whip in order to a) make more sense plot wise, b) give Alina more agency, c) not IMMEDIATELY rehash the exact same ending of the previous book vis-a-vis “oh no we’re captured” and “oh no another unwanted amplifier”

Alina and Mal are already on the same boat as the Crows at the end of season 1, so they’re at least heading in the same direction for now

We open with Alina and Mal lying low in Ketterdam

Alina gets her wish to visit the library in Ketterdam (good opportunity to start incorporating some Jesper backstory too), where she’s doing her own research on how to make her power stronger and trying to piece together information on Morozova’s amplifiers (unfortunately, the Little Palace library has the BEST books on the subject, but she’ll make do in Ketterdam)

Alina makes the decision to go after the sea whip herself, because Alina Actually Getting To Make Choices And Drive Her Own Story is my kink (as well as Alina Actually Getting To Want and Seek Out Power)

But o! We need a ship! How ever will we go chasing this legendary sea monster?

Fortunately, Kaz-who-knows-everything knows of a certain sea captain juuuust crazy enough to take on the job. He’s due to dock in Ketterdam for trade within a fortnight. Kaz offers to make contact

I wrote this in literally two minutes: “Can we trust him?” Mal asks. “You can’t trust anyone,” Kaz says sharply, “but he’s a legendary smuggler and a patriot.” “A patriot?” Alina asks. “What d’you mean, a patriot?” Then, from behind them, “A patriot, lovely, means I care about the fate of Ravka, a fate which is currently quite precarious, wouldn’t you say? I’ve agreed to help your little expedition for the good of our country. And for a rather handsome sum of money.” Kaz rolls his eyes. “What is it, Mr. Brekker? No secret honorable intentions, no love of your homeland, lurking in that cold heart of yours?” “Kerch can sink for all I care.” “Well, in that case, best set sail before that happens. I’d hate to ruin these shoes.”

I don’t know exactly what I want the Darkling to be doing during all of this, but fortunately this isn’t my job to figure out and hopefully they’ll come up with something clever that isn’t “hand him the idiot ball and make him try literally the same villainous scheme a second time.”

We can already establish the darklina mental link as forged through the stag—considering the change that they both had the same bone in them (lol)—or even have the bond start once she gets the sea whip. The stag makes sense because same bone, BUT the sea whip has the potential of “wait, why is this happening, why does this connect me to you, you had nothing to do with this” so that we can build on his own connections to Morozova

Pros: avoids literally rehashing the same thing that JUST happened at the end of Shadow and Bone; makes the sea whip Alina’s choice; lets Alina drive the story instead of Her Three Boys; incorporates the Crows into Alina’s story before they diverge again; lets Ivan live longer

Cons: we can’t dub “my heart will go on” over darklina boat argument scenes :(

#shadow and bone #siege and storm #alina starkov #the darkling #grishaverse #nikolai lantsov #general kirigan #aleksander morozova #darklina #I wrote this post in july and it has been LANGUISHING in my drafts #gotta post it before it gets too late lol

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scrawnytreedemon · 3 years

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Zelink for the ship bingo? :0 any game!

OH GOD, THIS IS?? Gonna be a doozy. Buckle in.

SkSw:

WW-PH: Link/Tetra:

Spirit Tracks(in theory! I haven't seen the game yet, can't speak personally):

Nearly all other instances:

RIGHT! getting onto individual analysis,

1, SkSw: By far my favourite of the bunch, and a longtime delight. Whether you construe their relationship as romantic or not, doesn't matter-- They've got such a wonderful arc of trust and unbreakable love. Zelda starts off incredibly worried for Link, constantly fretting and deeply unsure of his abilities. She steps in to defend him, willing to go up against Big Boys like Groose to do so. As the game progresses, however, and Link grows, in strength and in character, Zelda, and everyone else for the matter, put more trust in him-- By the end of the game, they're on equal footing, and, oh god, oh man, I'm gonna crybhfgjfhdgkjdjd--

2, WW-PH: Nothing to say except, tough girl, sweet boy? Phuck yeah!

Jokes aside, Link and Tetra's arc is also one of trust and vulnerability, but from a different angle. Tetra's a hard-as-nails, independent, morally dubious young girl who's landed herself as captain of a ship full of Big Boys, and sees Link as little more than a useful, if rather weak coincidence she can use to her advantage. However, as the pair grow,(really as Link grows and Tetra is thrown out onto the sidelines as her royal heritage is revealed and she's forced to take on a 'princess' role, one that notably feminises her and lightens her skin), again there's that theme of growth of trust! They take down Ganondorf together, build a new Hyrule together, and isn't that just what dreams are made of?

3, Spirit Tracks: Nothing much to say, other than the dynamic looks super sweet, and there's an interesting play with gender and presentation on Zelda's end? Love it to bits, 12/10.

Now... Onto the potatoes of this, I think. Get your gravy.

This... There's going to be more objective analysis and criticism, obviously, but alot of this is also going to be deeply coloured by my own personal experiences of heteronormativity and alienation. This isn't a commentary on anyone else's enjoyment of the dynamic-- I hope I've made that clear --But, just... I guess I should get to it.

Link and Zelda,

Zelink.

As one anon put it, the vanilla icecream of shipping.

Mild, sweet,

And incredibly heteronormative.

The Golden Relationship; the one toted by fans and Nintendo alike as "the ship".

Everything else, anyone else, is a deviation. It slots neatly into the expected hero-damsel dynamic that we've had, since, well, the beginning of time, almost. It's almost as dust of the earth as it gets. The issue for me being... They don't spend time much, really. Link is barely characterised half the time as little more than a slightly lackadaisical vessel for the player, and Zelda is a sort of guiding light; a dignified keeper of the plot, Righteous Guardian of Hyrule--

The culmination of all Hyrule presents itself as: wise, smart, beautiful, dainty but compitent, ready to lead a charge should need be... but rarely unruly. Rarely ever. Always right.

Obviously, it goes without saying how Breath of the Wild's iteration of this duo changes it up immensely. Zelda is a far more flawed, and in her attempt to put on a strong face, a far more emotionally vulnerable character than any of her gentle predecessors could ever hope to be. While this pairing and her character fail to hit that particular sweet spot in me, it's deeply intriguing, and I hope, perhaps vainly, that they'll develop her and her relationship with Link even more in the sequel-- Honestly, when it comes to this? An equality between her and Link is, I think, what would be best. A mutual understanding; vulnerability.

I think that's what puts me off from Zelink, on the whole. Link is bound to her, by destiny, by guidance, ever-performing his knightly duties, and Zelda is bound to him for strength, for protection. There's little emotional substance, half the time, save for small, precious moments, many with another face, because it's a dynamic inherently dependent on the war-- On danger.

It's all impartial, situational. There's nothing personal here.

And if that were it, if this were truly explored from that angle(as it is, to an extent, in BotW), then I think I'd like that-- Especially if it weren't romantic, I feel.

But that's not the vibe we're told to get: not from the fans... not from Nintendo.

Nintendo tends to be largely neutral on certain matters, such as pairings-- Honest to god, for the best, in my opinion-- But Zelink is that one blind spot where that ethos falls away. Here, Nintendo expects us to see it as some grand, destiny-bound romance, I feel,

And the pre-Skyward Sword manga, from what I know, cements this best.

It's why, quite frankly, I don't care for the idea of it being canon. Genuinely.

It undermines what little weight Ganondorf via Demise had on all of this, this horrific cycle of blood, pain and despair, always bracing for the next wave, of the sisyphian climb of this civilisation, and turns it all into a grand goddess' love for a boy bound to her by fate and destiny manifest.

I hate that.

For something like this, something where no one has any choice, where greatness is thrusted upon them, this endless state of being used that Skyward Sword even condemned, to be seen as good.

To get onto personal experience, before this blog, and this "persona," as it were, I used to have an art account where I largely posted TLoZ, frequented by my family. My very Christian, somewhat socially-conservative family. I would perform straightness, in the form of either pushing aside or pursuing M/F romance, because I was extremely uneasy about the types of conversations anything otherwise would arouse.

This was at a time where I wasn't even sure if I was bisexual, let alone divergent in my gender, so I felt a constant pressure to tamp it down and keep it out of the spotlight, relegating my explorations via art to DMs with the friends I'd make.

Here, on Tumblr, where peppy-queerness is the status quo, there's this tendency to gloss over unpleasant things and make them soft; sweet.

I think I've talked enough at length why that alienates me.

So, yeah... I guess, Zelink on a wider scale kinda just, sums up my unease about the often hegemonic status-quo of shipping, and on the whole I'm just kinda eh about it all.

Again, I think it should be very clear that this is not a reflection on my opinions of people who create Zelink content, who are attached to these characters. That sort of weirdly-tribalistic thinking is awful, and only brings about needless conflict-- Early 2000s-2010s kinda shit, y'feel me?

I hope this all made sense, kinda. I've just got... alot of feelings.

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whimsicalfay · 3 years

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Adrien, the true main character of Miraculous Ladybug. (And the reasons why this show doesn't work anymore).

Yes, I'm going to write a whole dissertation on this and no one is going to stop me. No, I don't like Marinette, but not because she's a creepy and annoying character, but because she's bland a boring. Yes, I'll elaborate on that, but firstly lest talk about what makes a good protagonist!

1.They have a problem that needs solving. What does this mean? That your protagonist needs to have some sort of conflict going on, it can be internal or external, but it has to matter to them and it has to drive them to act. It has to be personal. The protagonist has to be central to the story and to the conflict, it has to revolve around them.

2.A protagonist needs to take action. This means that they move the plot forward, because the conflict of the story is about them so every decision they make and every action they take ends up affecting the whole course of things.

3.A protagonists needs to have reasons to take action. This is and point two come hand in hand. The conflict needs to be of importance to the protagonist so they can have believable reasons to take action.

4.The protagonist has something to lose. If things go wrong, or even if they go well, something has to be a stake. That little thing that's a stake has to be the motivation, the reason, to take action. It has to be important enough to force the protagonist to take risks that otherwise they wouldn't even consider, because they can't afford to lose that something.

5.The protagonist has something to gain. Again we have things a stake here. If they do the things right they'll get a reward, something to look forward to. Without something to gain for the protagonist, why even bother to try, right?

6.A good protagonist has the capacity to change. A MC needs to learn along the way, they need to grow and show development. They need to learn from their experiences, otherwise they'll be making the same mistakes over and over again and that's not engaging.

7.A good protagonist has to have compelling personality traits and flaws. The MC needs to have something that makes the audience loves them, but also a trait that needs improvement because otherwise they wouldn't have the capacity to change.

8.A good protagonist has a secret and a very good reason to keep that secret.

9.A good protagonist has a good antagonist. The villain has to be of importance to the protagonist. Why are they enemies? Why the MC needs to stop the villain? Why does it matter?

10.A good protagonist knows that they want and makes the story happen.

And based on those characteristics we can start crafting our MC, that one person that we will have to follow throughout the whole story, the character we have to root for and relate to. The one who makes us care about the events of the story. And once we have crafted our main character we start crafting our story around them, usually following the three art structure or the hero's journey structure. Since this is a superheros show, it makes more sense to use the hero's journey, right? So let's write down this structure following both Adrien and Marinette's stories.

Marinette.

●The ordinary world: This is the original world of the hero, which "suffers from a symbolic deficiency." The hero is lacking something, or something is taken from them.

We get to experience Marinette ordinary world the first episode. We watch her interact with her parents, parents that absolutely adore her and support her on everything. We learn her family has a bakery shop and that it's the best of Paris. She isn't lacking anything, nothing has been taken from her. Her life is perfect and normal. She has a best friend, she has a wonderful part time job as a babysitter for a famous reporter, she has loving parents and goes to a good school. She lives good and nothing of that is in danger. She doesn't lack anything. She is presented as this perfect girl with an amazing life. A little bit silly, yes, but that's actually a good trait because isn't she adorable? Oh, she's lacking a love life I guess.

●The call to adventure: The hero is given a challenge, problem, or adventure. Often it appears as a blunder, or chance. This stage establishes the goal of the hero.

Marinette gets the chance to become Ladybug. Why her? Because she was a nice citizen that helped an old man and that's enough. Why does it matter if she becomes a superhero? Is that a blunder or a chance? Why? We already established that a good protagonist needs to have a conflict to solve, and usually the call to adventure is the first step the MC takes to solve that problem. Does the MC wants to become rich to help their poor family? Well, their call to adventure, the inciting incident, would be getting the opportunity to participate in a poker tournament where the winner gets 20M dollars. That is their call to adventure. But what's Marinette's call to adventure? In the ordinary world we learned that she isn't lacking anything, that nothing was taken from her. Refusing to become Ladybug wouldn't have changed anything for her. Yeah, she is a nice person and wanted to fight crime because she's that noble, but that's hardly personal. It doesn't have weight and the audience won't care.

●THE REFUSAL OF THE CALL: The (often) reluctant hero has to be set along the correct path. They must weigh the consequences and be excited by a stronger motivation to proceed further.

Well, she had a moment of doubt before accepting to become Ladybug, but I didn't see the strong motivation that made her to proceed further. Remember that the motivation has to be personal and it has to matter. If it doesn't matter to the MC then it'll matter less for the audience.

●MEETING WITH THE MENTOR: The hero encounters a wise figure who prepares them for the journey. This figure (or item) gives advice, guidance, or an item, but cannot go with the hero.

Nothing to add here because it's pretty obvious that the mentor is that old man (forgot his name) and the item she gets is Tikki.

●CROSSING THE THRESHOLD: The hero has committed to his task, and enters the special world. Often he is met by a threshold guardian.

Nothing to add here either. Crossing the threshold for Marinette was turning into Ladybug for the first time and deciding it's what she wanted to do. Although her reasond to want it to do it are none existent.

●TESTS, ALLIES, AND ENEMIES: In the special world, the hero learns the new rules by meeting people and obtaining new information. There is often a "local watering hole" component. This is where the true characteristics of the hero are revealed.

She meets Chat Noir, she also learns about her enemy Hawk Moth, we see her making new friends and frenemies and what not. The thing is nothing of that feels important because she doesn't have a reason to be doing all that. There's no inner conflict, no goal other than to chase after Adrien. Yes, little problems raise for here here and there, but are not relevant to the big scheme of things. Her goals are momentary and achieved by the end of each chapter.

Now will get to a part that hasn't happened yet, but we can guess.

●APPROACH TO THE INNERMOST CAVE: Now our hero, and often his allies, have come to the edge of the dangerous place where the "object of the quest" is hidden. This stage often is the land of the dead.

This doesn't matter because, again, Marinette has nothing to lose or gain (nothing important at least, only short lived goals with no relation to the plot). She has no reason to be doing all that other than just to be a good citizen and that isn't interesting.

●THE SUPREME ORDEAL: The hero faces danger, often a life-or-death moment that is either physical or psychological.

Again, why should we care if Marinette faces danger when we know she doesn't even has a reason of weight to be there in the first place? How we, as the audience, are supposed to root for her when she doesn't have anything to lose or gain from that supreme ordeal?

●REWARD, OR SEIZING THE SWORD: After surviving, our hero takes possession of the object, typically a treasure, weapon, knowledge, token, or reconciliation.

It doesn't matter. If Marinette wins why should we feel like it all finally paid off when she didn't even have a reason to be there or something she wanted to gain? It's just silly. Unless that reward is Adrien's love, which would be pathetic and boring because this is not supposed to be a love story.

●THE ROAD BACK: The hero must now deal with the consequences of their actions. They may be pursued by remaining forces. They now face the decision to return to the ordinary world.

●RESURRECTION: One final test is required for the purification and rebirth of the hero. Alternatively, it may be a miraculous transformation.

●RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR: The triumphant hero returns to the ordinary world bearing the elixir. Common elixirs are treasure, love, freedom, wisdom, or knowledge. A defeated hero is doomed to repeat the lesson.

I didn't add anything to the last three points because I would just be repeating myself for like the fourth time. Why should we care about the consequences of Marinette defeating Hawk Moth? Why should we care if she goes back to her ordinary world when she didn't even have a reason to leave it? And that's justs makes the two other points unimportant.

That's Marinette's hero's journey. If we can call that a journey, because so far we haven't seen her face trials and dangers, and with this what I want to say is that she hasn't faced anything that threatens what she holds dear, not for real at least. When she faced the possibility of her best friend getting angry at her because she messed with something that was important to her? Oh, that was no biggie! After all Alya knew that would end up happening and was prepared for that, silly Marinette for even worrying! When she literally commits a crime and steals her crush's phone? Why she should worry? She even go rewarded by getting invited to the movies!

Marinette has no flaws (at least to the writers' eyes) to fix, nothing to gain (besides Adrien) because she already has everything, nothing to lose because everyone adores her and because she's so perfect she could never do anything wrong. That's a boring MC. Yes, she's quirky and pretty but that's no enough to make her MC material. She has the characterization of a support character at best. That's awful.

Now let's see Adrien's journey, shall we?

●THE ORDINARY WORLD: We learn that Adrien is a famous model with a rich father and absent mother (we later learn that she "disappeared"). His life is heavily controlled by his father and his assistant, to the point he can't even go to school like a normal kid or make friends, all because he has a reputation to maintain, after all he's a famous model. He's not happy with his life, he would like to experience normal teenager's experiences like going out with friends or attending school. That's his ordinary world. What he lacks is freedom, autonomy and love, and what was taken from him was his mother. There you have inner conflict, a problem that needs to be solved.

●THE CALL TO ADVENTURE: Adrien receives the opportunity to become a hero. It'd be a challenge, a problem and an adventure all at once for him. A challenge because he'll have to find ways to get away from his controlling father without getting caught, which can cause him problems, but is also the adventure he has waiting for, the opportunity to be free, that little thing he was lacking in his life. He decides to become Chat Noir because is the right thing, but also because it'll give him something that he always wanted: the opportunity to be himself. For him it's personal. And hey, maybe later on he could use his new cool superpowers to find out about his mom, right?

●THE REFUSAL OF THE CALL: He could get in so much troubles with his father for accepting this opportunity, it could also damage his career as a model. He has every reason to say no, but also every reason to say yes because he'll get to be what he always wanted. Is an opportunity he can't let go and he knows it.

●MEETING WITH THE MENTOR: Just like in Marinette's case his mentor is that old man. It's basically the same here.

●CROSSING THE THRESHOLD: This point is also similar to Marinette's. He also crossed the threshold the first time he transformed into Chat Noir, the only difference is that for him it matters and we know exactly why. It matters because he'll get the opportunity to be himself, to be free, to escape his real life.

●TESTS, ALLIES, AND ENEMIES: Also similar to Marinette's. He meets Ladybug, he starts to attend school so he makes new friends/allies, he meets his enemy Hawk Moth. We also learn a lot more about him watching his interactions with his new allies and watching him go through his tests. And most importantly, we learn that Hawk Moth is his father.

The next points haven't happened yet, but we can guess. We'll ignore the travesty they did to his character in season 4 and we'll just keep following the hero's journey like the writers should have done.

●APPROACH TO THE INNERMOST CAVE: He's getting closer to the enemy, but the closer he gets the dangerous it gets. Not only for Chat Noir, but for Adrien too, because let's remember that his father is Hawk Moth and that he knows, or suspects at least, that his son might be Chat Noir. He also did something creepy to his wife, the mother Adrien adores and misses so much. There's so much to lose, so much at stake.

●THE SUPREME ORDEAL: Adrien faces his father, Hawk Moth. He finds out the truth and that for sure will be the hardest thing ever for him. Imagine learning that your father is the one responsible for all the bad things happening in Paris, that he is the big evil you so badly wanted to defeat. His father was not perfect, but it was still his father and now he has to make a choice. What's more important to him? Family or duty? Can Chat Noir take down Adrien's father? If Chat Noir takes him down, would Adrien be able to forgive himself? Could he live with that?

●REWARD, OR SEIZING THE SWORD: He either fight his father or they talk, get to some sort of agreement/reconciliation or bails out. What will he do? And depending on his choice, how is his road back going to be?

●THE ROAD BACK: He'll have to deal with the consequences of the choice taken in the previous point. Did he fight his father? Now he'll have to learn to live with it, maybe he'll feel guilty, maybe angry. Did they talk and got to an agreement? Maybe he was able to resolve things in a peaceful way, but now he resents his father. Did he bail out? Maybe it was to difficult for him to go against his father and decided to run away, and now he feels guilty and like a failure. So many possibilities.

●RESURRECTION: His last test. He'll have to learn how to live with the consequences of his actions and make something positive out of it. It'll be hard, but it can be done.

●RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR: After coming to terms with the things that happened he gets his reward. Maybe his mother comes back. Maybe he finally gets the freedom he so much wanted without having to hide behind Chat Noir's identity. Maybe he gets the girl. Maybe he gets the three of them.

See the difference between Marinette and Adrien's journey? Adrien has reasons, goals, things to lose and/or gain, there's so much at stake for him. He could lose what is left of his family, the life he has known, his reputation, his career, his money (although I don't see him particularly caring about wealth, it'd make an impact on him to lose it all), everything. His father is the main villain, how more personal could it get!

Adrien is the main character we deserved, his journey is the one we should be following. He had so much potential it makes me sad that is being wasted like this. He was the deuteragonist, now in season four he's just a side character.

So that brings me to the reasons why I can't keep watching this show:

Firstly, if you want to keep your audience engaged with your show the worst mistake you can make is making your MC perfect from the get go, because that lefts no room for growth. And what is the hero's journey? A journey of growth, but if your MC already has it all, then why bother? Marinette bores me to death and I can't keep watching the show just to see Adrien (one of the very few well written characters that actually made the show entertaining) appear like for two seconds.

Secondly, you don't assassinate your own characters for the sake of uplifting your MC. That's bad writing. That's character derailment and you should avoid doing that like the plague. I'm sorry, but if you have to make your characters act OOC just to uplift your MC and make her look like she finally is having some development after four seasons of static personality, then she hasn't has development at all, because it's not Marinette who changed, the ones who changed are the characters around her. They all became more incompetent than her, more annoying than her, more boring than her (when that wasn't the case before) and now she looks like she's finally growing, but it's just because the writers had to downgrade the other characters. I absolutely detest when writers do that.

I hate the constant addition of new characters that literally bring nothing to the table? But I mean, I kinda understand why they keep adding characters. When your MC is so bland that following her nonexistent journey would make the plot stall, then you have to add new characters to keep the audience entertained and advance the plot a little, because the MC can't do it for herself.

I just can't keep watching only for two or three characters. Thomas and his love for Marinette are literally ruining the show. He loves the character he created so much he refuses to make her go through anything remotely negative and he hates the other characters so much because they're not Marinette, that he destroys the their arcs. His childish and he ruined a show that had so much potential.

Sorry if you're a Marinette fan, but the truth needed to be told.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous adrien #adrien agreste #marinette dupen chang #chat noir #i'm tireeeeed #Adrien you deserve so much better #Adrien honey I'm sorry #Sorry Marinette stans #marinette dupain cheng #miraculous les aventures de ladybug et chat noir #ladybug #miraculous lb #miraculous fandom #sorry for the typos #I won't fix them I'm lazy

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majorsoapfan · 3 years

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Umbrella Academy Season 3 Wish list

This is a long one so buckle up:

Let Klaus and Allison take centre-stage this season in leading the plot. Both are incredible characters and deserve the chance to shine. And I can think of several reasons why they deserve the chance to take centre-stage: out of the whole Academy their powers are some of the most fascinating and in Klaus’ case he has so many that haven’t been revealed yet. They’ve both suffered and lost a lot as well, particularly in season 2 and their hardships tend to get ignored by others. Their relationship together is already really interesting and supportive and they would be an awesome team up. There’s more but I’ll be here forever if I tried to list them.

No Apocalypse. The world ending in eight days was a great plot driver in season 1 and again in season 2 with the reveal that the end of the world actually followed the Umbrella’s back in time. But if the same thing gets repeated over and over then I’m worried that the show will lose it’s edge as a result. In order for the characters to develop new crisis's need to take its place.

Let Five have a rest. Even if it’s just for an episode or two so he can get a solid eight hours sleep if nothing else. For the last two seasons Five has been running around non-stop trying to stop the end of the world and save his family. Without that Five can grow as a person and get a literal break that he really hasn’t gotten in 45 years.

Oh course that doesn’t mean I want Five out of the drama entirely and I do expect to see Reginald and Five scenes in season 3. Five is the only one of his original children that the bastard seemed to tolerate and he did seem to have some form of twisted respect for Five as well. And I wouldn’t put it past the monocle monster to have some twisted plans in store for the eldest member of the Umbrella Academy. He’s had fifty years to plan for the Umbrella’s return after all.

The Sparrows. I just saw the line up of the Sparrows for season three and I am honestly so interested. I can’t wait to see what their powers are like and I already have some ideas. They have so much potential and hopefully they’ll be done well. And so far they seem to be written as the Umbrella’s foils. Marcus is a natural leader who loves his family, while Luther forces himself into the role and alienated his family as a result. Both Ben and Diego long to be the leader but while Diego is more emotional, Ben’s more strategic. Five is driven by his love and desire to protect his family, while Sloane feels held back by hers. Vanya was treated as an outcast and betrayed her siblings trust while Christopher, a literal Cube, is said to be loyal and is treated as a loved family member

That being said though, I don’t want the Sparrows to be the main focus this season or have the attention split between them and the Umbrella’s. Because while I do want to see the Sparrows and their family dynamic and how they interact with the Umbrella’s, I would prefer to see how the Umbrella Hargreeves’ cope with their existent and how this impacts them and how they move forward with this. Or a team up between Sparrows and Umbrella’s would be fine. Or multiple team ups, I’m not picky.

There is a really good fan theory out there about Klaus and Five being twins and while I know that in the comics it’s Luther and Five, the fan theory in season 3 would be so much better in my opinion. And in all honesty it makes so much more sense. Physically they are strikingly similar, especially as children. Their powers both concentrate in their hands and emit a blue glow when they use them. Their powers themselves are literally time and death, which are linked and they have additive personalities, which can be inherited between family members. And I can’t help but feel that this moment:

lends a new level to their relationship then what we see with them as adults. Look at how alike they are! And that fond smile that Five is giving Klaus? Making them twins opens up a wide range of possibilities for Klaus and Five both character and plot wise.

Give Luther a proper love interest. And I can’t believe that this even has to be said but his sister does not count! Literally all of siblings have have romantic interests, all of them so important in the Umbrella’s life in some way or another. It would be nice too to see Luther form a healthy romantic connection for the first time in his life.

While I’m on the subject of Luther and healthy relationships, it also brings me back to the Sparrows and how their number one Marcus seems to be Luther’s foil. And it would be interesting for the show to explore just how seeing the Sparrows and someone so similar to Luther might just affect him. He did spend thirty years of his life after all being Reginald’s little solider and believing that his position as Number One made him the family leader only to find out it was all for nothing. Only Marcus seems to be respected in his position as leader and loves his family dearly, while Luther was mocked and seems to have driven all of his siblings bar Allison away from him because of it. This has incredible potential for Luther’s character arc this season especially if it makes him acknowledge his behaviour to his siblings as they were growing up; particularly to Klaus and Vanya who probably got the worst of it. Allison after all was his closest companion, Diego was his rival (more or less), Ben seemingly got on with everyone and Five would have bitten Luther’s head off if he tried anything. But Reginald’s disappointments Klaus and Vanya? Luther, wanting to impress their dad and follow his orders probably didn’t treat them the best. And I want Luther to admit that and apologise and make the next step in becoming a better person and brother. He’s made incredible progress in season 2, but I don’t want his past treatment of his siblings to be swept under the rug. It needs to be acknowledged and Luther needs to admit it was wrong so he can grow.

Can we get Diego’s season one hair back too? I wondered just how it got that long considering that he was only in the sixties for around three months. Klaus makes sense as he was in the sixties for years. Plenty of time for him to grow it out, not really for Diego. But I really prefer his season one hair so can it make a comeback please?

What I want to see for Vanya this season is for her to realize that she doesn’t need powers to be special. I kinda noticed that she seems to have defined her worth on her powers and that’s not healthy. So a potential scenario: Reginald seems to have made the power-suppressing drug himself, so he may still have it in season 3. Imagine Vanya getting a dose of it that knocks her powers out for a good chunk of time and in the meantime some of her siblings are in danger (I’m picturing Luther and Diego here the himbos) and she ends up saving them. Not with her powers but because of her intelligence and other skills that she has and she realizes that she doesn’t need her powers to be special or to save the day. A logical step in character growth.

Getting some closure on season 2 character like Sissy, Ray, Grace, the Cult (which I really didn’t like) and the Swede and what happened to them once the Umbrella’s left the sixties. And maybe finding out what happened to season one’s characters since the Umbrella’s didn’t exist in this timeline: Agnes, Patch, Leonard, Pogo, Claire.

For Klaus and Umbrella Ben to talk about their issues and make up. I know that our Ben is now up there with the little girl in the sky but that has not stopped Klaus from visiting heaven before. And I think that if Klaus and Ben do not get at least one final conversation to talk through their issues next season then I will sue. They both did crappy things to each other in season two but they both love each other dearly and they deserve the chance to get the closure they both need. I think that Klaus will definitely need it in order to move on completely.

I know I said no Apocalypse but I’m still going to be expecting some major crisis to happen during the last few episodes. An alien invasion or Sparrows trying to kill the Umbrella's maybe? But no matter what the problem is, I really want Klaus to get his moment to shine by being the one to save the day. Reginald said himself that Klaus has untapped potential and we know thanks to the comics what other powers he has. And thanks to Ben’s antics at the family dinner the old bastard has probably written him off as useless and not a threat when making plans to deal with the Umbrella’s. Which means nobody is going to be looking at Klaus or considering him a potential threat to their plans, leaving Klaus relatively safe to start exploring and enhancing his powers. He was supposed to be the one to have done it in season one with the moon and his abilities were brushed to the side completely in season two or used for Ben’s benefit so I think he’s long overdue his moment to shine. And maybe then will the rest of his siblings stop seeing Klaus as a joke.

Lila. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of her, her story felt unfinished and she does have a briefcase. She could pop at any moment in the story. She has so much potential and I did love her actress. Imagine her and Five forcing to team up or something? Or maybe her and Allison?

Another character I’d like to see return is Hazel. He’s someone who really grew on me. And there is a chance that he could return and maybe team up with the Umbrella’s this season. Potential scenarios: Five on the hunt for allies to help him restore the timeline hunts down Hazel who in this timeline is working with the Commission and because the Umbrellas don’t exist hasn’t met Agnes yet. Maybe something happened to her because of the Sparrows?

Finally Dave. I’m a huge Dave fan but I really don’t want him to show up in season three. Or if he does then for the smallest amount of time possible just to give Klaus some ‘closure’. Time travel is in the Umbrella Academy universe after all and it’s possible that by Klaus warning Dave about his faith and causing him to enlist earlier and in a different branch as a result he’s saved Dave and opened up the possibility of seeing Commission!Dave later. Which is the perfect storyline for season 4. Season three is only 10 episodes long and there’ll be a lot going on already so shoving Dave into what will already be a pretty packed season won’t give Dave the attention he deserves and will take away from the other focus. Not only that but Klaus’ motivation for the last two seasons is doing something for either Dave or Ben. I want to see Klaus train his powers either for himself or to help someone else. Also, Dave deserves the chance to grow as a character as well and making him a part of season 3 would take away from the main focus of the Umbrella’s and Sparrows. Making him a main focus in season four instead if we get one will give a great opportunity story-wise to develop both him and Klaus as individuals and as a couple.

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anfie-in-the-box · 3 years

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X-tra Dark Cream Teaser

Notes

I’m still very much not participating in Dark Cream Week, yet somehow this thing is done right in time, so I’m posting it with respective tags.

The story of X-tra Dark Cream is going to be pretty big and serious. Like, plot-wise, lore-wise, so-many-other-aspects-wise, you have no idea what you’ve got coming. And I just really hope you all will enjoy the ride.

What you need to know now is that I’m kind of getting back to my very own idea that you can find right here. Though it’s a different timeline, not Genocide Route. What they share is a concept of both Dream and Cross being villains, at first sight their atmosphere and aesthetic are kind of similar, but that’s it. What exactly is happening here will be explained in the story, and let me tell you, Dream and Cross have a long way ahead of them before they reach the point described in this little teaser.

So I’ve got a question for you. Answer honestly.

Would you like your Cream extra dark?

。。。

Just a Bad Dream

Once the portal is safely closed and there’s no more negativity pouring right into Dream’s cursed soul, he hurries to Cross’ side, hugging him tightly. Dismissing his huge knife, Cross hugs Dream back with a weary yet content sigh. “My greatest hero, once again taking down the whole world in my name,” Dream murmurs, ever so appreciatively and very, very gently. Cross caresses his spine through the clothes and the gloop, and, although he never really bothers to use words after a foray to one AU or another, the tremble of his hands is telling Dream enough. So, as much as the fallen guardian wishes to hold Cross like this forever, he lets go.

“I believe you are due for a good rest now.”

Dream cannot help a smile when Cross doesn’t argue, merely lingering to give his spine one last stroke. One could say they are finally figuring out their routine, grasping the ways to make their complicated lives easier, if only a little bit. For Cross it’s definitely lots of sleep and lazing around after all the work he’s done; no matter how much he doesn’t like it, and despite all the bad dreams that he’s most likely to have with all the LV, both old and new, still raging in his soul.

Dream, on the other hand, won’t be sleeping any time soon. It would do him no good at all — this lesson he learned the hard way. There isn’t much to be done when Dream’s whole being is brimming over with shattered positivity of the whole AU, — agonising grief and fear from those who survived; absolute despair from the last moments of those who died; guilt of those who were supposed to protect their people, parents and rulers all the same; at last, contempt and helplessness of every single soul. Oh, the two of them truly are beneath contempt, aren’t they? Breaking entire worlds, taking away a mere possibility of them functioning like they are supposed to. Monsters who only seek to twist and corrupt.

That’s what they say, Dream knows it all too well, both from careful whispers that no one else was supposed to hear and from straightforward, provocative screams right in his face. It’s good, exactly how he wants it to be, but right now he couldn’t care less. Dirt on Cross’ clothes matters more than this.

Actually, that’s what Dream’s going to busy himself with. Cross’ new uniform is piled up beside their bed, soaked in humans’ blood and covered in monsters’ dust. There’s no doubt washing these will be a real pain in the neck, but that’s exactly what Dream needs right now. Something basic yet not too simple. Easy enough for Dream to be able to pay more attention to Cross, whose even breathing and serene expression bring peace to the fallen guardian’s rotting soul, too. This way his hands are occupied, all of the energy he’s gathered is guided in the non-destructive direction until it settles, and his troubled mind is resting even without sleep. It’s a nice bonus to be able to look after Cross, ready to help him break free from yet another nightmare, for the dreadful, horrific visions are always haunting him in reality as well… At least in the first moments after waking up, although sometimes it takes Cross much longer to snap out of it, even with the aid of Dream. Hopefully, this time won’t be so… troublesome.

It’s so obvious that Dream isn’t in the slightest used to doing the laundry — any laundry at all, let alone something as tricky as washing all this blood and dust out, — it’s almost funny. Although, to be fair, it really isn’t supposed to actually be useful — a mere distraction, nothing more, nothing less.

Cross will overwrite his clothes anyway. And, if that fails (though lately the number of failures has lessened significantly; the thought makes Dream’s chest tighten with warmth and pride in his most loyal ally and dearest fiance), they’ll just trade new armor in some AU for the delusive sense of safety. Material needs don’t concern them anymore.

Dream’s progress on washing the uniform is still close to none when he feels a sudden powerful wave of severe distress, and merely a moment later the air gets heavy with magic. Bones and blasters are everywhere, there are so many of them there’s no speck of whiteness left, everything bright red and purple instead. It’s not the first time — neither it is the last one, Dream’s under no illusion about that part, — yet it’s no less mesmerising. If only it weren’t so dangerous for both of them.

Dodging all the attacks, getting closer to Cross is the easy part, that Dream’s doing effortlessly, without sparing it much thought; it’s not like Cross is able to properly hurt Dream, neither in his sleep nor while being fully conscious. Especially not like that. Cross wouldn’t gather enough harmful intent, and considering Dream’s nature is far from ordinary…

It’s even easier to throw Cross out of their bed, his body light, though trembling violently. He jolts awake the moment Dream’s hand touches his chest to grab the fabric of his shirt, but his mind is still very far away. Out of reach. It’s only the lack of resistance that shows Cross has recognised him, if only a little, on some kind of subconscious level. Nothing other than that — just pure black hate pouring down his cheeks and LV raging on within his soul. No way Dream will stand such a state of affairs any longer. Cross is his and his only, he doesn’t belong to whatever hell he’s seeing. And so the fallen guardian growls, as if his own life depended on it, “Wake up!”

Please, please let this one end quickly. Dream hates hurting Cross more than needed.

“Wake up!”

Of course that doesn’t work, it rarely does, but Dream has to try anyway. Besides, it’s usually when the struggling begins. Not this time though; good. Dream feels every single bone directed at his back, oh so clearly hears the Gaster blasters charging. Nothing ever comes. Nothing ever would; not when he’s close enough for Cross to feel the familiar warmth and weight of his body, that Dream knows for sure.

Holding Cross’ hands tight, chanting “Wake up, wake up, wake up”, as if it were a spell (or a plea, or a prayer), Dream reaches out to Cross’ chest with one of his tentacles, pressing firmly right in the middle of the ribcage, forcing his soul to appear. Cross sharply inhales, obviously in pain, and even tries to arch his back, — only Dream doesn’t allow it, keeping him in place. That’s when his tentacles come in handy…

Other than that, nothing much happens. “Thank stars,” Dream thinks, taking a deep breath. From now on, he needs to be extremely careful. Souls are not to be toyed with. Or, well, the souls of those he loves are not to be toyed with. All the others are perfect but hollow dolls to be filled with oh so very hurtful fragments of their shattered dreams.

That’s what Dream and Cross do. That’s what they’ll continue doing, and no haunting visions would ever take Cross away. They’re together in this.

With his gloved hand Dream cautiously touches the soul, pulsing with LV and shining red and purple, no trace of it ever being one of a monster. Cross’ eye sockets and mouth open wide… It’s almost like he’s screaming without a sound, or maybe the sound merely goes just as far away as his mind is.

Dream’s never asked. He’s not going to ask this time, either.

The charged blasters fire all at once, and the bones are falling behind his back, yet none of the attacks ever land as Dream bawls, “I am Dream, and you are the one who swore an oath of loyalty and love, the one who saw through me, and accepted me, and stayed by my side! You are Cross, and whatever hell you’re seeing, you do not belong to it!” Cross’ mismatched eye-lights get a bit less blurry for a second, and that’s Dream’s cue to finally act with all he’s got.

And so he lets Cross go, leaving utterly motionless body lying on the floor, only for all of Dream’s tentacles to hit the soul at same time before it disappeared once again.

This time Cross actually screams; there is unparalleled agony in his voice, unexpectedly hoarse, as if he’s been screaming like that for hours. It hurts so much to hear it.

Dream is certain it’s better than whatever Cross has just broken free from. As Cross himself once said, “At least in reality I’m in this mess with you.” Very vividly Dream remembers his own response — a warm smile and quiet, confident “Likewise.”

That was then. Now Cross is looking at Dream with lost, pained, vulnerable expression, and his eye-lights, though faded to white, are still blurry — only this time from exhaustion, not because he’s seeing something too much different from reality. That Dream knows how to deal with. He doesn’t help Cross get on his feet, picking him up instead, holding him with hands and tentacles the same.

It’s nice to feel Cross’ weight, and his soul beating more and more steadily. Soothing, really. And that is why Cross only squeaks a little, otherwise showing no signs of discomfort or desire to argue about his position. Not like an argument would lead him anywhere, even if he had enough energy to start one.

They don’t talk until both of them are back in the bed, so close to each other it’s still very easy to hear their souls beating, their breaths warming what little space is beetween them. Dream squeezes Cross’ hand and offers a smile. It’s a tender one, if only a bit teasing.

“Hush now, Cross. It was just a bad dream.”

No words can ever describe his immense relief when Cross smiles back. And all too clearly Dream sees the moment some kind of mischief sparks in his love’s eyes.

“Oh? Well, then I definitely woke up,” Cross says, almost nonchalantly, though there’s no way that would fool Dream, who knows exactly how much he weighs every word. “Because what I see now is not 'just a bad' dream but the worst Dream ever.” At that the warmth in Dream’s chest is blooming like a flower, bursting like thousands of fireworks. Then Cross adds, so gently, as if the two of them might break — and take the whole world with them. “You are my worst.”

And places a kiss on his forehead. Like a final blow.

That weird, silly fool. That wonderful idiot. Dream loves him so, so much.

It takes the fallen guardian a moment to find his words again, and to be sure his voice won’t be trembling as soon as he starts talking. For a moment Dream simply stares at Cross, who just looks back, so calm, so sure, so present.

“Good one,” Dream finally says. “Though if you're feeling fine enough to make flirty puns, we should go back to sleep.” It’s a perfect moment to return the kiss, only on the cheek. Cross seems content anyway.

“Yeah, let’s do that.” He chuckles. “Won't summon any more bones. Or blasters. Promise.”

。。。

Credits:

Undertale © Toby Fox

Dream © jokublog

Cross © jakei95 / xtaleunderverse

Shattered!Dream © shattereddreamsau

Dark Cream © zu-is-here

X-tra Dark Cream © me (anfie / anfie-in-the-box)

Link to the Russian version will be here!

。。。

Notes

I'm too sleepy to write down the references, but there are quite a few! I'll update them later.

But god and stars, do I love Cross' wordplay in the end. That's the first thing I got to know about this story. Then it became "Two villains who have the whole Multiverse terrified being idiots in love". Then I blinked, and suddenly it's huge and super serious. That was fun. It still is.

#dark cream week #dark cream #x-tra dark cream #shattered!dream #cross!sans #undertale #utmv #anfie writes #x-tra dark cream fic #A glimpse into this ship's life #So much more is coming!#I love these two too much for my own good #Hope I'll be able to tell their story #It will be quite a journey #and for once I'm more excited than nervous #Not sure if it lasts though #But I'm determined anyway!

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cto10121 · 3 years

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Mercutio and Romeo’s Battle of Wits: Or, the Mercutio-Romeo-Benvolio brOTP

Or, Mercutio Misses Romeo Something Fierce As His Main Bro Because Romeo Is Not A Whiny Wimpy Stick-In-the-Mud and Is Actually Very Fun To Be Around and Benvolio Is Good and All, but He’s Just Not The Same(tm), You Know?

So the first half of Act 2, Scene 4, when Mercutio and Romeo have a game of wits before the Nurse enters gets cut or abridged a lot, for obvious reasons. The double entendres and witty Elizabethan wordplay are very difficult for even great actors to convey them to an audience, and they don’t seem to serve a narrative or thematic function apart from “two bros just being bros!!!” That bit of the scene just feels like filler safely cut or abridged in order to jump to the Nurse’s entrance and thus the plot. R&J the play, after all, is long; the whole play done completely is usually touching three hours. Cuts are always necessary, and for the most part it’s justifiable.

But I’m not going to lie, I like this bit a lot. Always have. Not only do we get Mercutio’s attitude toward Tybalt and his growing concern over Romeo’s love doldrums, but we get another side of Romeo hitherto unknown to us: Romeo being witty and fun and actually roasting Mercutio good, even besting him in a game of wits. And Mercutio actually being happy about it and just surrendering the battle to Romeo (!!!) What is this cinnamon roll of an exchange, too pure for this world, doing in an otherwise heavy tragedy? Are Romeo and Mercutio out of character just for some punny times? Not at all! The punny times are entirely necessary narrative and thematic-wise, sets up the tragedy, and shows needed nuance and dimension to both characters and the Montacrew in general.

Where the Fuck Is Romeo Seriously, I’m Getting Kinda Worried

So we begin the scene with Mercutio right away wanting to know where Romeo is:

Mercutio. Where the devil should this Romeo be? Came he not home tonight?

Benvolio. Not to his father’s, I spoke with his man.

Mercutio. Why, that same pale, hard-hearted wench, that Rosaline, torments him so that he will sure run mad.

It’s really hard not to read even a little bit of concern in that first question past the bluster, but in case you missed it, Shakespeare makes it explicit by having Mercutio blame Rosaline and worrying that Romeo’s love for her is driving him crazy. Once again, we get the sense that Romeo was not really himself pre-Juliet, and that, according to Mercutio, this is something to be concerned about.

We then segue into news that Tybalt has challenged Romeo via letter. Benvolio expresses confidence that Romeo would fight him, but Mercutio has doubts:

Mercutio. Alas, poor Romeo, he is already dead! Stabbed with a white wench’s black eye, shot through the ear with a love song, the very pin of his heart cleft with the blind bow boy’s butt shaft—and is he a man to encounter Tybalt?

Once again Mercutio switches to troll mode and characterizes Romeo’s love angst over Rosaline as him “being dead” (“the ape is dead!”)—which would be dramatic, to say the least, except that the tone is humorous/satiric. But it does betray an anxiety on Mercutio’s part and gives the understanding that whatever Romeo’s infatuation with Rosaline was, it was not “typically” Romeo, at least according to Mercutio and by implication Benvolio, since he doesn’t challenge it. When Romeo finally enters, Mercutio continues his satiric portrait:

Benvolio. Here comes Romeo, here comes Romeo!

Mercutio. Without his roe, like a dry herring. O flesh, flesh, how art thou fishified!

We get it, we get it, Romeo has turned a lameass pussy by ~love. But unbeknownst to Mercutio but knownst to us, Romeo is not the same guy of previous acts. How will Julietsimplord!Romeo react to Mercutio? This is going to be good.

Mah Bruh is Back and He’s…Fucking Roasting Me?

So we get the first encounter.

Mercutio. Signior Romeo, bonjour! There’s some French salutation to your French slop. You gave us the counterfeit fairly last night.

Romeo. Good morrow to you both. What counterfeit did I give you?

Mercutio. The slip, sir, the slip. Can you not conceive?

Romeo’s greeting is polite, open, but unconcerned, perhaps a bit breezy, perhaps humoring. Notice how Romeo before has given Mercutio a ton of slack for his satiric mocking—his only critical comment so far in the play is “He jests at scars that never felt a wound,” which can read almost as dismissive (this in contrast to Benvolio’s worry that Mercutio would anger Romeo by talking about Rosaline lewdly). Either way, he responds to Mercutio’s acerbic queries about him ditching them straightforwardly and without heat.

Romeo. Pardon me, good Mercutio. My business was great, and in such a case as mine a man may strain courtesy.

Mercutio. That’s as much to say, such a case as yours constrains a man to bow in the hams.

Notice how Mercutio doesn’t ask Romeo directly about what his business was, but rather assumes that it was sexual (“bow in the hams,” to flex his butt cheeks). Again, typical of Mercutio, but it does justify a little why Romeo, at this point in the story, does not immediately tell Mercutio and Benvolio about Juliet. And also why he says this instead:

Romeo. Meaning, to curtsy.

Mercutio. Thou hast most kindly hit it.

Romeo is 100% trolling here, doing a Mercutio, in fact by pretending to take another meaning—oh, yeah, you obviously mean curtsying, right???? This marks the first reply in which he doesn’t answer openly, but instead answers slyly. Mercutio answers accordingly with an equally troll-y, “Oh yeah, that’s definitely what I meant, super PG” *snort*

Romeo. A most courteous exposition.

Mercutio. Nay, I’m the very pink of courtesy.

Romeo. Pink for flower.

Mercutio. Right.

Romeo. Why, then is my pump well flowered.

My Burton Raffel edition, infuriatingly enough, only gives one definition of “pump” as shoe, but make no mistake—Romeo also obviously means “dick” (the pump, I think, being the “head” part of the shoe, and thus….you get the idea). Mercutio is immediately excited—Romeo is speaking his language now.

Mercutio. Sure wit, follow me this jest now till thou had worn out thy pump, that, when the single sole of it is worn, the jest may remain, after the wearing, solely singular.

Romeo. O single-soled jest, solely singular for the singleness!

Mercutio. Come between us, good Benvolio, my wits faint.

Romeo. Swits and spurs, swits and spurs, or I cry a match.

Mercutio. Nay, if our wits run the wild goose chase, I am done, for thou hast more of the wild goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five.

Barely does the game of wits begin when Mercutio seems to give up, and now Romeo is the one urging him playfully to keep going or else *he* wins. Mercutio could just be joking about needing to be “rescued” by Benvolio, but he does say explicitly that nah, Romeo is just too witty today to continue to “chase” the joke, or the goose (“wild goose chase” eventually became a cliché all on its own, and it’s really just a throwaway line).

And now for my absolute favorite Romeo retort:

Mercutio. Was I ever with you there for the goose?

Romeo. Thou wast never with me for anything when thou wast not there for the goose.

“Was I ever with you for the game?” “Bitch, you weren’t with me for anything but the pussy!!!!!” “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”

Mercutio. I will bite thee in the ear for that jest.

Romeo. Nay, good goose, bite not.

“I’ll fucking jump you for that” “A pussy jump on me??? Oh no, I’m ~scared” 🤣

Mercutio. Thy wit is a very bitter sweeting, it is a most sharp sauce.

Romeo. And is it not, then, well served in to a sweet goose?

“Your game has some spice, bro” “Like the spice they’ll put on you after cooking your ass????” 🤣

Mercutio. O here’s a wit of cheveril, that stretches from an inch narrow to an ell narrow to an ell broad.

Romeo. I stretch it out for that word “broad,” which, added to the goose, proves thee far and wide a broad goose.

“You’re stretching that joke so damn much it’s going to break” “As much as I’ll stretch your stupid ass out because you’re the joke, bro!!!!!!” 🤣

And then comes the end of the game of wits with the final twist:

Mercutio. Why, is not this better now than groaning for love? Now art thou sociable, now art thou Romeo, now art thou what thou art, by art as well as by nature.

“Jokes on you, bro, I’m into that shit!!! (Seriously, though, glad you’re back, bro, omfg, finally)”

Conclusions

So now for some wrap-up:

Mercutio in the beginning of the scene thinks the Romeo he knew is lost or “dead” by love. This has been established before in the after the ball scene, but here it is explicit—The Romeo he knows is gone and replaced by a pussy all over Rosaline’s pussy. Not good. There is also more than a trace of concern and worry—Mercutio is the one who asks for Romeo, and not Benvolio, the guy’s own cousin.

Mercutio is not upset by Romeo beating him at the game of wits and in fact gives in rather too easily. It’s not too clear why Mercutio does this. Mercutio has been established as a witty, satiric character. Romeo is as verbally dexterous as he is, if not more so, but his wit is warm and expressive, not satiric. His roasts and shade are playful and good-natured for the most part. By all accounts, Mercutio should have won the skirmish. It could be that he is too happy with Romeo actually making witty puns to care about winning, but personally I think Mercutio would be too proud of his verbal acrobatics, to concede that easily and make himself a willing target for Romeo’s roast (especially since he has roasted Romeo so damn hard these past scenes). It’s not like Mercutio to go easy on Romeo or even anyone, as he proves with his roasting Tybalt and even ragging on Benvolio. It could be Shakespeare is slyly characterizing Mercutio as a character who can give it out, but not take it, hence his backing down so easily, (“Okay, okay, you win!”) but usually that type of character responds with impatience and even anger. Mercutio’s replies are too amused for that. Perhaps he was too surprised by Romeo suddenly taking a page out of his book after scenes of him just angsting—to his perspective, but not ours, this does seem to come out of nowhere. But his replies don’t sound like someone who is surprised at all by this show of wit by a good-natured friend—on the contrary, it is taken as proof that the friend is back.

By the end of the exchange, Mercutio believes Romeo is more himself again. Not entirely, as he does cast further shade on his infatuation with Rosaline, but he is genuinely glad to see Romeo act more like himself again. We are once again reinforced with the notion that the mopey Romeo with Rosaline and even the radiantly lovestruck Romeo with Juliet is not the Romeo his friends have known. We receive proof of this: Romeo can and will throw shade over you for a song.

Not going to lie: I am here for all of this.

So I think it’s fair to conclude, based on the above information, that Mercutio has missed Romeo, perhaps something awful. His constant ragging on him for Rosaline and being mopey (lovers aren’t even supposed to be sad, wtf man) and his asking for him and just generally talking almost exclusively about him (that could just be his supporting character role, though) supports that. His joy at Romeo roasting him also characterizes a key component of their friendship and dynamic hitherto missing or not as present: Jokes, teasing, puns, wordplay, outright roasting when called for.

Not only is bro bonhomie clearly established (brohomie!), but also the macho culture—this exchange is far from locker room talk, more focused on wordplay than crude expression, but it does set up the dynamics of the duel scene and Mercutio’s motivations. Mercutio is most happy when Romeo performs masculinity through puns, wordplay, and roasting; when he doesn’t, or refuses to take stand in the defense of his honor, that’s when Mercutio gets frazzled. This is not because he believes Romeo is inherently a wimp—far from it, as he clearly expects Romeo, once he seems unstuck from the quagmire that is Rosaline, to duel Tybalt. He is unsurprised when Romeo throws shade on him right back, and is even pleased. So it’s shocking and disturbing for him when Romeo refuses to step up as he had done in previous scenes to fight the likes of Tybalt, for seemingly no good reason.

On a related note, expectation is noticeably absent in Mercutio’s own dynamic with Benvolio, whom he sees as helper and abettor of his wit and decisions, a soundboard, and a quasi-sidekick (“come, shall we go?” “Come between us, good Benvolio, my wits faint” “Help me into some house, Benvolio, / Or I shall faint”). When he does rag on Benvolio for his supposed sword-happy temper, Benvolio does not rise to his bait or roast him back, but gives only mildly amused replies, if gently pointed, to Mercutio’s surly displeasure.

Benvolio. An I were so apt to quarrel as thou art, any man should buy the fee simple of my life for an hour and a quarter.

Mercutio. The fee simple? O simple!

Mercutio may want to fight someone badly enough to go after Benvolio, but he also wants a challenge, the excitement of a back-and-forth of wits—hell, even for someone to tell him he is full of shit if so he could hit back. Perhaps that’s what Mercutio needs and perhaps secretly desires: Someone to roast him and tell him to shut the fuck up every once in a while. But would Romeo do this?

Nurse. I pray you, sir, what saucy merchant was this that was so full of his ropery?

Romeo. A gentleman, Nurse, that loves to hear himself talk and will speak more in a minute than he would stand to in a month.

The answer is yes. Yes, he would.

R&J Adaptations’ Weirdness with This Exchange

So why the difficulty retaining this fun exchange? Well, Romeo talking about well-flowered pumps and Mercutio just happily taking his roasts goes against the usual romantic!Romeo and charismatictroll!Mercutio characterization of earlier scenes. Even in adaptations that do keep this part of the scene, they tend either to brush it by (Baz Lurhmann) or even mischaracterize it a bit to keep it consistent with the interpretation of the characters as established (Zeffirelli). McEnery’s Mercutio in the Zeffirelli is in control and dominant all of the way through, and one of his lines (“Thy wit is a very bitter sweeting, it is a most sharp sauce”) is given to Romeo instead. The Baz Lurhmann plays it only broadly in terms of group male camaraderie and not so much Mercutio-Romeo dynamics; Benvolio does not participate in the game of wits and is by all accounts just vibing (my personal troll headcanon is he is keeping track of the game of wits on a slate. 2 Romeo, 1 Mercutio, that sort of thing).

Also, perhaps due to Mercutio being on Romeo’s case for most of the play and his being a lil’ shit at points, some adaptations take a weird Ho Yay approach to the dynamic, especially productions that make Mercutio gay or queer. If so, then productions have to do a lot of heavy lifting to interpret Mercutio’s gleeful/amused roasting of Romeo, his lewd blazon of Rosaline, and his anger at Romeo’s loss of honor in refusing to fight Tybalt as signs of romantic love towards Romeo. Romeo’s own emotional independence from his friends and his willingness to roast Mercutio also works against this interpretation. Thus another reason why this exchange is often cut or abridged (although the Globe Theater just decided to go ahead and have Mercutio roll all over Romeo while Romeo is roasting him as a shameless pussy chaser in this scene, because of course that makes perfect sense. Is it any wonder why I don’t like most R&J productions and adaptations?).

The only adaptation I know that gets the camaraderie and dynamics even close to right is the French musical (and to a certain extent, the Hungarian version) through that earworm and evergreen bop, Les Rois du Monde. It captures the spirit of their friendship and youthful zeal so delightfully. Mercutio, Benvolio, and Romeo were so well cast you can identify which is which at a glance—and they are literally as far as from my personal faceclaims for them as you can get, and it’s great. Presgurvic didn’t have to go that hard, but he did and it was glorious.

TL;DR

Mercutio roasts him, Romeo enters, they trade quips and wordplay, Romeo roasts him, Mercutio is too happy to gaf, and everything is character-building fun that will pay off very nicely later on, except that versions and productions can’t make the puns and wordplay comprehensible so they prefer to cut or abridge it (ten points from Gryffindor). And all because Mercutio actually misses Romeo and wants his bro back. Bruh.

#romeo and juliet #shakespeare #william shakespeare #rj meta #r&j meta #les rois du dorks #les dorks du monde #lehetsz dorkály!#i’ll stop now #but seriously am loving these two in the play #hope my troll paraphrases please #montacrew #cristina metas

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mcmactictac · 3 years

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Hi 🙋‍♂️

What do you think about jasons death ? In my opinion it made sense because it made the emprrors seem like a true threat but in the other hand i wish his character arc had been finished before that . Jason was suppossed to be a Bridge between greeks and romans and yet we barely See him in that role.Also i would have loved to See platonic jiper .... .....

Oh I have SO many thought about this I’m so glad you asked.

Here’s the thing. Jason had the potential to be a really interesting character in hero’s of olympus, but a lot of it was tossed to the side because there was so much other stuff going on with the plot. I know everyone complained about how boring he was and how he did literally nothing. Although his character has amazing potential, it was never going to be properly explored.

The one thing they could do to Jason’s character to make him more interesting and sympathetic is kill him off. Although it frustrates me that his death is really only there for Apollo’s development, it made his character more interesting. I feel like it adds threats we don’t usually see with demigods.

Within the first series they talk a lot about how demigods usually don’t make it past like 20, but then no one really dies beside in the war. I think Jason’s death is a good way to show that accidents happen on quests, even the most qualified and put together person can slip up, can lose and can die just as easily as everyone else.

I know I personally found Jason’s character the most interesting in the burning maze because he’s given something he wants. He’s in school, he’s not in a relationship with Piper so his character arc centers around himself, not around his relationship, and he wants to rebuild camp Jupiter. He doesn’t just have a goal he has to complete, he has something that he WANTS.

This makes his death hurt way more because Jason really hasn’t had anything he cared about for? His character was very responsibility and mission driven, so to see him focus on something for himself only to have it ripped away? Very interesting. It makes his feel ty more impactful because it wasn’t the end of his arc, he had things he wanted and like he wasn’t DONE. And he wasn’t expecting to die like he was on a quest

That being said because I am petty. Blood of olympus had very low stakes for me. The climax was over pretty quickly and although I know it’s a children’s book like. No one actually “dying” felt like a cop out. The whole series has been building up to that with the promise someone is going to die and then Leo has an anticlimactic “death” before coming right back. I wanted to see one of them get like. A really rough ending I guess? Obviously I love them all and I wouldn’t want any of them to hurt but like. To spill the blood, someone should have died. Someone should have sacrificed themselves to protect someone else. And it should have been a clear death, a permanent there’s no coming back where you see the body. When I read the book I assumed Rick didn’t do it just because it’s a children’s book and since we get POV’s from everyone it would be kind of graphic for kids to see that character die but like.

If we were going to properly kill someone, I wish we did it in hero’s of olympus. Although I think Jason’s death sets good stakes in trials of Apollo, he really didn’t get much to work with character wise. He should have been killed off In his own series where he was one of the people who was SUPPOSED to die. It would have been better for his character since we could have the POV’s of Piper, Leo and people who are really invested in him, not just Apollo.

Now I have many many thoughts about where Jason’s character should have gone especially since everyone in HOO had such interesting backstories that were just kind of thrown away and not talked about again. Like. (Tw for suicide skip to next paragraph to avoid it)

I wanna talk about Percy and his clearly suicidal tendencies. How quickly he gave up once they landed in the river, how much he struggled when he was “drowning”. I wanted to see him have some ptsd from that. A percy who can’t stay long underwater because it sends him into a panic attack. Same with Frank he had so much potential with that stick and it was just. Not there. Now correct me if this did happen I haven’t read the books in a while but I want to see a Frank who lights it on purpose, to try and save other people. Frank who screws up on a big mission, gets people hurt and sits on his bed with a lighter in one hand and the stick in the other. He was responsible for so many deaths he thinks, shouldnt i die a bit too? I know these are dark topics for a kids book but I think it’s important to talk about them and expose them to the concept so they feel less alone if they have that.

An Annabeth who’s tired, and done, and DOESNT have all the answers anymore. Shes an anxious kid who keeps losing everything, and she can’t always keep everything together. At some point, she should have cracked. Lost control for a bit and broke down, before putting the pieces back together. It’s not functional to keep being that high strung all the time. A Hazel who is terrified of herself, who won’t touch other people because her mother would say things like “you ruin everything you touch”. A Hazel who has to address and unpack the trauma from being a young child forced to care for her bad mother, dealing with her own problems and coping with her literal death. That’s way too much for a 14 year old to handle and be as stable as she is. Especially after getting thrown back into the mortal world.

A leo who has to fight the urge to run away. He’s been running for so long, when things get bad on the Argo he runs down and packs a bag. And he goes to run because he learned he just makes things worse, no one wants him and they’ll all be better if he just leaves. But this time someone stops him. Percy is there and he helps Leo because he’s been there before. And Percy doesn’t try to trap him there, if he needs to go he needs to go. But he lets him know that he’s valued here and this isn’t a place he needs to run anymore. Leo who finally feels safe for the first time in years who silently goes back downstairs and unpacks his bag. He sits silently and cries on his bed because he feels SEEN. A Piper who struggled more with her sexuality!!! I would have loved to see the POV of a child of Aphrodite who thinks she might like girls too. Piper who isn’t Just “Jason and Piper” or “Leo and Piper” but Is just PIPER. Her character isn’t tied into everyone else’s, and is given a chance to be her own person, explore herself,

And a Jason who is his own. Not just a leader or a figurehead but just JASON. Who’s allowed to have a personality, to explore, figure out what role he wants to have. A Jason who isn’t rooted in duty anymore, but wants to live his life. Jason who lives for himself, not for other people.

But we were never going to get that, so yeah I think it was a good but tragic end to his character. Makes him more likeable, gives him a final little bit of personality before writing him out. But yeah!! Thanks for asking!

#percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #Jason grace #Jason grace desth #Leo valdez #piper mclean #annabeth chase #hazel levesque #frank zhang #pjo #hoo #trials of Apollo #toa

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thebibliomancer · 3 years

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Tides of the Dark Crystal liveblog pt 14

Tides of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee because we’re unexpectedly leaving the Sifa plot to head to where Dousan dwell.

Last times in book: Amri and co are on a quest to unite all the Gelfling clans against the Skeksis and first stop was Cera-Na where the Sifa sail. Things started off rocky when Maudra Ethri tried to sail the entire clan across the ocean rather than deal with all this resistance-ing but Onica managed to convince her with a well-timed staring into a fire, soothsayingly. Now, Team Naia is off to the Crystal Desert after a run in with Dousan Periss who introduced himself by trying to steal Tavra and escalated to charging their most precious possessions to take them in his sand skiff. He’s a rascal.

Chapter 14

The team sand sails into the desert, Periss does not ingratiate himself to them

Sailing on the river of sand was rougher than on the ocean.

The skiff itself was an oval body kept upright by two floats on either side, each balanced by several webbed fins roughly the size of a Gelfling’s wings. The rigid parts of the ship were all bone, light and hollow, with leather and woven fabric attached with hardened sinews. Black sand snakes raced alongside the skiff as it cut atop the sand river, all of them carried by the current and propelled by a strong wind that howled along the bottom of the ravine.

Still, Amri preferred the skiff to the ships on the sea. Though the sands were ever changing, they were still of the earth. Still rock and dirt and crystal, and he could just make out their whispers. Like a million voices, speaking all at once, resonating against the deep tones of the red cliffs.

Oo, sand sailing.

Oo, listening to the voices of rocks!

We’re off to a fun start. Although I don’t know if I knew that Amri could listen to rocks.

Onica comments that at the speed they’re going, they’ll cross the Claw Mountains and reach the desert in two days.

Periss ties off the sails as they’ll be going just forward for a while and decides its time to get social.

“You’ve made a good investment, so let’s make merry.” He gestured to his shaved head, covered in tattoos. “Since I’ll be your guide and protector as we make way into a dangerous landscape, I should know your names, eh? So I can shout them before you make any stupid decisions that will get us all killed.”

He’s the worst, I love him.

Naia introduces herself and Periss asks if she’s the leader.

And Amri realizes that he’s just been assuming that she is and nobody has ever said it out loud. Despite Onica and Tavra being older and Tavra being a princess, yes, Naia is the leader.

But they’re finally explicitly saying in book three what’s been obvious for a while. I call it Team Naia for a reason.

Periss recognizes the rest of the Team Naia from either the dream-stitched petals or by lurking around Cera-Na but he doesn’t know Amri.

“And what about you?”

“Amri.” He was really starting to hate that question. “The Mysterious.”

“I’ve never heard of Amri the Mysterious.”

“That says more about you than it does about me.”

HAH!

Excellent. Amazing.

Periss tries to get the team to admit that the spider with the Vapran accent who speaks like a princess is the missing All-Maudra daughter who disappeared in the Castle of the Crystal and has a bounty out for information on her location.

But nobody will admit to anything and Onica swiftly changes the topic to doing that bone reading for Periss. Except she doesn’t lend her bones to thieves so he’ll need to provide his own.

Which he does. Ones he stole from a Sifa soothsayer.

So Onica pours the bone fragments into a cup and shakes them up. She places the cup upside down on the deck of the skiff, covering the bones, and asks whether Periss wants to know about love, life, or death.

“I’m Dousan, sweetling. I don’t need to know about my death. Tell me about love.”

He’s such a smarm but I do enjoy him.

And without lifting the cup, Onica begins speaking of a yearning heart and a tree that’s been pulled out leaving a cavity even deeper than the tree ever grew where nothing Periss pours in fills the hole.

“Yet you try... Restless and unrelenting. You seek love, but cannot find it. You believe it is because you don’t deserve it. But the truth is, love is the only thing that can heal the wound. You are looking in the wrong place. Outside, when you should be looking within. You look to what you can take from the future, instead of mourning what you’ve forsaken in the past.”

Thank you, Onica, for telling us this guy has hidden depths.

“All that without even looking, eh?” Periss said, resting one elbow on his knee and his cheek on his fist. “Impressive. Can’t wait to hear what you can read off the bones themselves.”

Onica opened her eyes, gaze falling from the skies down to the Dousan in front of her. She put a hand on the cup.

“The bones say...”

She lifted the cup. The wind rushing along the deck blasted through, scattering the bones in a cloud of gray shards. Periss yelped and grabbed after them, but they were already lost to the wind and sands.

“... That you shouldn’t ask for bone readings on a moving sand skiff.”

Thank you, Onica, for being a hilarious individual.

I like Periss’ smarm but I love Onica screwing him by giving him exactly what he asked for.

Don’t sass a soothsayer. And don’t steal her girlfriend.

Periss admits that he deserved that and gets to telling the group about the geography when Onica asks what they’re in for.

There’s a big ol’ desert between the Claw Mountains and the northwestern border of the Dark Wood. Dunno if that makes sense in terms of climate because I’m bad with climate friendly maps. But thanks to mountain bays the desert pools in four ‘seas’ on the northern edge. The Crystal Sea is where they’re going because that’s where the Dousan are during the season of the storms which is this season right now.

Amri asks if the skiff will be able to weather all the storms between here and there.

“This ship is made from the bones of my ancestor’s Crystal Skimmer. It will outlive us all. It is we mortal folk who will need to prove ourselves.”

That’s fun.

Kylan, presumably sore from losing his cool firca, asks what’s going to stop Periss from just taking everything they have, ditching them in the desert, and sailing off. But Periss insists that Dousan are Gelfling of their word.

“Words are the only thing worth keeping in this world, or so says Maudra Seethi.” This statement sounded well rehearsed, as if he’d been forced to repeat it many times.

See, a philosophy like that seems like it would lean toward practicality and a certain amount of asceticism and not stealing shiny things from sailors.

I’m watching you, Periss.

But he insists he’ll uphold the bargain they made.

Naia is already doing bad in the dry air and might have to take up Periss on his offer to sell her waterskins “at a good rate.”

“If he’s wise, we’ll travel at night and rest during the day, once we reach the basin,” Tavra remarked. It was one of the first plans she’d had that Amri wholeheartedly liked, but he didn’t say so. He was just glad when Onica replied.

“And if he’s not wise, I will educate him.”

“Did you really read his bones through the cup?” Kylan asked.

The Far-Dreamer’s smile was mysterious and misleadingly demure.

“Oh, I read his bones,” she said. “Just not the ones in the cup.”

Onica is so good! It’s a huge shame she didn’t have more of a role in Age of Resistance! I’m thrilled she joined the party this book.

#dark crystal #the dark crystal #Tides of the Dark Crystal #liveblog #Amri #Naia #Tavra #Onica #Kylan #Periss

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longinglook · 3 years

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I may or may not have spent my entire Sunday binge watching all of I told sunset about you and Gaya sa pelikula and now I have so many thoughts and feelings that I need to write about them so here we go! Under a read more (if tumblr allows me to) because it’s 2k words hehe

First of all, I knew next to nothing about both shows before starting them. I had seen a couple of gifs here and there, but really had no idea what I was in for.

I started with I told sunset about you, which has 3 episodes out of 5 out. All I knew is that it was going to be beautiful and possibly sad, and it was. Everything about this show is so high quality, from the audio to the dialogue to the locations to the acting, just wow. The production is better than a lot of movies I’ve seen, and every technical aspect is perfect. I am really loving the plot so far as well, I find the childhood friendship to stubborn rivalry to grown up friendship again very relatable. I think it’s a very common experience for a lot of non straight folks to develop an extremely close bond with a same sex friend when you’re too young to realize what you’re actually feeling for them until you’re a lot older and suddely the jealousy and possessivenes all make sense.

I love the recurring themes sprinkled throughout the episodes, starting from the chinese vocabulary that expresses the core thoughts of the two main characters: rival, intimacy, secret, male protagonist, as promised. They could easily be the episode titles, or the names of imaginary sections the show could be divided into. It’s a great way to integrate metaphors and deeper meaning into the plot.

That’s how most of the communication goes in this show, deep emotions are never conveyed through words because words are scary and loud and they can’t be taken back once they’re out there. The plot advances though stares and gestures and touch and gorgeous shots of the landscape. The pace is slow with hour-long episodes that could each be a movie of their own. This worried me a bit before starting, and I have to admit that at times I struggled to stay focused, especially during scenes that set the mood but don’t do much plot-wise. This is just a personal preference, though, and in no way I see it as a flaw.

The dancing around each other the main characters do, sometimes literal, is frustrating but it determines an emotional build up that’s just starting to reach its peak. This is one of those shows that has me screaming if only they talked to each other, but the silences and unspoken words are so well directed and acted that it works. I struggle a lot with keeping in mind that they’re still in high school, they’re very young and I can’t expect them to act rationally just yet.

I was really worried about Teh possibly going the insufferable Theory-of-love-khai way, and I am still not 100% sold on him. When he started helping Oh-aew again it felt like he was just doing it to make himself feel better about the whole thing. It was frustrating to see him so possessive and jealous while also so deeply in denial about his own feelings, to the point where he had me rooting for Bas instead. He was getting better, but then he fled at the end of episode 3 and now I have no clue what’s going to happen next. About this, I really have no idea if they’re going for a happy ending or a sad one. I’m really hoping it will be good, because so far there has been barely any emotional payoff for all the repressed longing and misunderstanding the show has put us through.

I do like their dynamic a lot though, I have a weak spot for childhood friends reconnecting and an ever weaker spot for informal mentor/mentee relationships. Oh-aew asking Teh to tutor him until he passes the admission exam was an almost exact mirror of Yuri on ice Yuri begging Victor to be his coach until he retires and I loved that a lot.

Now on to the one issue I have with this show: it feels too much like an art film. It reminds me of Moonlight and Call me by your name, in the way that I wasn’t able to connect with those movies because they are too perfect. They are so beautiful and carefully crafted that I can’t fully immerse myself in them. There’s a filter that stops me from relating to the characters and constantly reminds me that this is not reality. It’s pretty, it’s extremely well done, but it feels like art. It has some quirks, some scenes that feel too artificial. One scene in particular, the one where Teh buries his head in the paper Oh-aew wrote with his coconut scented pen to sniff it, which is a direct parallel to Call me by your name, bothered me in particular. Just as it felt over-the-top and purposefully weird in the movie, so it feels in the show. It’s a way of showcasing how a confused teen deals with attraction he barely understands, it’s raw and animalistic in a way, but it’s so quirky that all it accomplishes is to remind me that I’m watching an lgbt show. It makes me wonder if a scene like this would make sense in a straight relationship because here it seems to highlight how different and primal his attraction is. If I had to pinpoint it, I’d say that I have a problem with media showcasing queerness though peculiar, purposefully awkward scenes like these instead of normal kissing and cuddling.

Overall, I can’t wait to see how this show ends and I still think it’s one of the best bls to air in 2020, if not ever. It’s refreshing to see something with a big budget used well! So far my rating is 8/10, which I know is a lot lower than what everyone else seems to think but it’s still very much subject to change! Just hoping they won’t pull a Make our days count, but I doubt they’ll go there.

And now Gaya sa pelikula. Wow. Again, I knew next to nothing about this show before watching, and I was coming from a 3 hour I told sunset about you binge watch, so the bar was pretty high.

And boy, did this show deliver. I was blown away by the depth and the humor of it. It feels like the writers had fun taking all sorts of common tropes and stereotypes just to show everyone how well they can be evolved and made complex. Two strangers who somehow find themselves sharing an apartment sounds like the start of so many fanfictions out there, but it’s so well executed and interesting that you don’t even stop to think about how weak the premises for their meeting are. It doesn’t matter and it’s not even that far-fetched, either. The sister and the neighbor are also two characters that start off as extra stereotyped, but in just a few scenes they unveil an incredible depth and backstory. It blew me away.

Each character is so realistic. Everything they do and say makes sense, they all have their reasons and their past and they react accordingly, it’s so coherent. It’s impressive how everything takes place inside the house and you barely realize it because things happen and the plot moves anyways, and the way information about external events and people is conveyed is so seamless that you don’t even notice it. In only 7 episodes (so far) they have managed to give everyone a complex background and personality through the use of objects and small details and wow don’t get me started on the music.

The soundtrack is SO GOOD. I never really pay attention to music in shows but it plays a very important role here in my opinion and, well, it’s exactly the kind of music I like listening to and ahhh I just spent 4 hours playing the first kiss song on loop so I might be biased. Right from the start in episode 1, when Karl gives in to Vlad’s music and starts dancing to it, it’s established that it’s an important element to the mood of each scene. I love how the dancing I talked about for I told sunset about you comes back here, but while I saw it as a hesitant dancing around each other there, here it’s the opposite, it’s freeing and it’s about accepting yourself. And the end of episode 6 highlights this, with the beautiful quote “You are entitled to a love that lets you dance without fear and shame.” It made me cry a looooot.

I think the development of their relationship is masterfully done. It doesn’t happen too quickly nor too slowly. Karl goes through some needed shocks that act as his wake up call. When I’m watching bl shows I care the most about them feeling real and relatable. I don’t want to feel like they were written by a straight person trying to guess what it’s like to be gay. Now I didn’t look anything up about the Gaya sa pelikula writers, but I’d be very surprised if they were straight. I can relate to both Karl and Vlad for different aspects of their stories and their worries and thoughts. There was one part in particular that hit so close that I had to take a few breaks because it hurt too much. I am a lesbian, I’ve had relationship with a girl that lasted over a year, I am out to some friends but not all. I never came out to my parents, who are both very open minded and friends with a lot of gay people and would love me just as much if I told them, and yet I can’t. It’s not just that, I am terrified by the idea of them already knowing or being able to guess. When Karl freaked out over his uncle guessing, it hit me so hard because I’ve felt the same way so many times.

Episode 7 was amazing. I hate badly written drama the most, and 99% of shows can’t come up with any good reason for drama but they have to put it in there anyways and it sucks. This was the complete opposite, I adored it and I say this as a lover of fluff. It feels right, I think it’s an issue that would come up between two people like them. They are both right and the only thing that could happen there is what actually went down. I definitely think things will be fixed by the end and I am looking forward to it, but I am very glad this issue was included because it’s so important and so true to many lgbt people’s lives.

Another aspect I absolutely adored are the multiple references to lgbt theory and language, and Vlad has some of the best lines I’ve ever heard coming from a bl. When he tells Karl not to be afraid of the word, when he explains that “you don’t look gay” isn’t a compliment, when he scolds his sister for not acknowledging the things she used to say to him by covering them up with her ally act, those are all such important and educative moments that I hope everyone listens to. I love that Vlad is not correcting some ignorant bad guy, but it’s his accepting and loving friends and family that make the mistakes, because sometimes being supportive your own way isn’t enough if you’re not actively learning from the ones you want to support.

This is a 10/10 for me right now. I can’t find anything I don’t like about it. It never feels boring, it never feels overdone, it never feels cheap or unoriginal. It went straight to the top of my favorite bls.

And now I can’t help but compare the two a bit, because yes they are two different shows but right now the relationships they portray have reached the same point: there has been a climax and now the one who is more confused about his sexuality is panicking and taking a step back. It’s a coincidence that I watched both shows on the same day when their last aired episodes end in such a similar way, but it really leads me to compare the two. I don’t want to put them one against each other or say which one did it better because that’s not the point of this, they are both two amazing and important shows who are excelling in what they’re doing.

Gaya sa pelikula is down to earth, it’s explicit and it’s straight to the point in explaining what’s going on inside each character’s head. It feels like watching real people deal with real struggles. I told sunset about you is a lot more subtle and quiet, and since we don’t really have a clear insight in the characters’ heads sometimes it’s hard to completely understand what’s going on with them. It’s a completely different way of narrating, and while Gaya sa pelikula makes me feel like I’m a part of the events, I told sunset about you feels like I’m just spectating from an outside perspective. They are different choices, but one of them ends up feeling a lot more emotional to me than the other.

To wrap it up, I highly recommend both shows and I can’t wait to see how they’ll end! They are both among the best shows of the year, both free of all those annoyingly stereotyped characters and plot points that most bls tend to overuse.

#meta #gaya sa pelikula #like in the movies #i told sunset about you #text

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fantastic-rambles · 3 years

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You made great points as to why a final Adam/Langa race would happen. It makes a lot of sense narratively, but I do hope they’ll choose a more subversive path in which he does forfeit/quit whether that be during Tadashi/Langa or Adam/Langa. I still hope for Tadashi/Adam to occur since they’ve also built him up as an equal. They’ve made a point that in other races Adam has purposely stayed behind to match the speed of other races, regardless of whether they start together, if he was interested by them. But Tadashi matched Adam’s time exactly in the qualifying rounds. And considering how much Adam has insulted Tadashi about being beneath him, I’d find them going head to head pretty satisfying. Makes me want to see a race where both are going all out since we’ve never seen either of them particularly intense about winning. Adam because of his persona and wanting to mess with his opponent and Tadashi because of his reserved nature. Either way I’m sure it’ll be good.

And I hope that Reki is more secure in himself when facing Adam like you mentioned. If he doesn’t want to go against him again, what do you think would happen? I’ve seen ppl say Reki will probably agree for Langa’s sake and the opportunity to skate, but what if he holds his ground about not enjoying skating with Adam? Do you think it’s possible that could be what causes Langa to forfeit/quit. (That would make Adam so mad lol). It’s probably not likely since they’re our main protagonists, but I think it would a cool demonstration of their character growths. Reki because he wouldn’t skate if it’s not going to be fun for him and Langa because it goes back to the original broken promise + prioritizes the relationship that makes him happiest about skating in the first place. Also, they can get away from what could be considered unnecessary, dangerous behavior that show condemns (when Manager Oka tells Reki that he’s enjoying pain because he’s unhappy with himself). Obviously skating is good for Langa and Reki, but the illegal and dangerous races at S could be framed as self-destructive. Especially when you consider all the injuries and strife surrounding it. I think if the characters were to come to this conclusion at some point (with or without quitting yet) it may make sense plot wise since the whole political scandal/jail thing makes me nervous about S continuing. Considering that Tadashi is the main man in charge of keeping cops away and he currently wants to end Adam’s time there, I wouldn’t be shocked if a confrontation with the law happened there like it almost did that one ep when the race got interrupted.

Oh and don’t worry about rambling at all! I love any long analysis on Sk8. Plus, I can get like that too and definitely edited this to make it more understandable lol.

Yeah, I would love Adam/Tadashi, but I feel like Adam/Langa is more likely. (And technically, Tadashi beat Adam by 2 seconds, though Adam also wasn’t taking it seriously then.) Though I do feel like Langa is probably at a level that Adam finally can skate all-out against him, if it comes down to the two of them.

When Adam insults Tadashi, I feel like it’s coming from all those years of resentment/lost trust (again, not an excuse for Adam’s behavior, but an analysis of it), and I also feel like Tadashi feels that he deserves them (and he himself sincerely believes that he’s below Adam). It’s obvious to me that Tadashi feels guilty for contributing to making Adam what he is today/for not standing up for or supporting him when Adam was younger, and he has been trying to make up for it by obeying Adam completely, no matter what he personally thinks. Because he couldn’t voice his opinion when Adam’s board was being burned, which was probably one of the most painful/significant experiences Adam has ever had, he feels that he doesn’t have the right to voice his opinion now: all he can do is try to pull Adam away from the self-destructive path that he’s on by betting his ability to skate on a race. In terms of skill, yeah, they’re equal, but in their interpersonal dynamics, there’s a huge gulf, which I think would make it very difficult for Tadashi to “save” Adam because Adam has lost all of his respect for Tadashi or his opinions.

I don’t think that Reki will end up not skating against Adam. But if he did, I don’t think that’s enough for Langa to refuse as well. My scenario for Langa forfeiting is that Reki gets wrecked against Adam, which outrages Langa and/or makes him have to choose between going to the hospital with Reki or staying to skate with Adam, and he chooses Reki over Adam. To me, Reki’s growth would come from the parallels between the two times that he skates against Adam: in the first, he’s completely crushed by the difference in ability and runs away, and in the (theoretical) second, he accepts that he will never be a star skater, but he can still enjoy skating even if he doesn’t win.

And I frankly was really pissed by Reki trying to force Langa to promise not to skate against Adam. Yes, he has a reason for it and he’s worried about Langa, but what about Langa’s own feelings? It’s obvious that Langa has fun taking on challenges, and Adam is the ultimate challenge, not just for him, but also for everyone else. If we want to talk about it in terms of relationships, which it seems most of the fandom does, I saw that as a possessive partner trying to forbid their partner from going out and having fun with their friends. Would Adam be a terrible “friend” to hang out with? Absolutely. But if Langa enjoys spending time with him, what gives Reki the authority to forbid him from doing so? So if I’m being entirely honest, my opinion of Reki plummeted after Episode 5 and just kept going downhill until the most recent episode. xD

I don’t think that “S” itself was particularly dangerous initially, other than for Shadow. Most of the skaters that we see seem to play fair and engage in contests of pure skill, even though it’s always been an “anything goes” sort of thing. Of course, it could be because the best skaters won’t get thrown off by petty tricks so it’s not worth trying them, but in the end, the result is the same. It’s only when Adam reappeared on the scene (from other people’s reactions, it seems clear that he’s been missing for a while since nobody could capture his interest) with his Langa-obsession that he started to contribute his own brand of madness, but that’s limited only to him. Unless someone is skating against Adam or Shadow (or that gang in the prelims), the majority of races are just normal races on a challenging track. Yes, they’re illegal (though it boggles my mind as to why: can’t Adam just buy it and turn it into “private property” so that he can do whatever he wants on it?) (though I guess it’s understandable since buying it would be a matter of public record and he’s keeping his skating life and public life separate) (but then can’t he get someone else to buy it for him?), but part of the attraction of skating is developing new things (like when Reki is gushing about ollies) and figuring out how to “skate anywhere,” so challenging locations like an abandoned mine and factory are places that people can do that. Like taking a turn with what Miya/Reki did by riding the board sideways, and improving on it by instead using a Caspar Slide. Or the various ways Langa goes through the factory (dropping down a broken beam, skating down the railing, using Joe’s momentum on the other beam to push himself forward, etc.). I think that Adam must have chosen that place for a variety of reasons, but one would have been its ability to promote improvisation/the evolution of skating in the hopes that he could find someone who would excite him. Which is why he’s so disappointed by Cherry’s “overcalculated”/boring skating.

After Adam gets arrested, though, I think that “S” will shut down simply because it’s Adam’s influence that’s kept the police away for so long. Tadashi takes care of the logistics, but that’s because that’s what Adam’s told him to do. But I don’t think Tadashi will betray him just to get it closed. (I also don’t think he phoned it in the first time, as I’ve seen other people speculate. I do think that the explanation is as it was presented: the prosecutor was suspicious about an area that was taken out of the patrol route, so she used her authority to override Adam’s bribes.) We’re talking about someone who will go to jail for a crime he didn’t commit to protect his boss. He’s not going to call down the police and risk them getting caught up in the net and in trouble.

#sk8 #sk8 the infinity #skate the infinity #sk8 adam #shindo ainosuke #ainosuke shindo #sk8 snake #kikuchi tadashi #tadashi kikuchi #sk8 snow #sk8 langa #hasegawa langa #langa hasegawa #sk8 reki #kyan reki #reki kyan #analysis #long post #mine

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im-justso-bored · 4 years

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Week 8 of Clown Theories and Analysis

S3E08: Are You Leading or Am I?

Oh man, what a finale. I went through so many emotions, that was a ride! I’m gonna try to keep this one a bit shorter than the others. I just really want to touch on the main themes for this season and how they led up to this finale.

Freedom

Family

So instead of going scene by scene like I usually do, I’m gonna touch on our four main characters: Konstantin, Carolyn, Eve, and Villanelle.

Konstantin - So it seems like Konstantin’s true loyalties are to himself which is seen and mentioned a lot in this season. It seemed, especially in seasons 1 and 2, Konstantin had a loving relationship with his family. We don’t really see much of his relationship with his wife but we do with Irina in the season 1 finale.

it went from this:

Irina defending Konstantin.

To this:

Seasons 1 and 2, Konstantin seemed to genuinely care and look after his family, putting them before himself. But somewhere between season 2 and 3, he becomes solely focused on saving his own ass. Even going so far as to leaving Irina locked up. I don’t think season 1 or 2 Konstantin would have done that, even when his life was on the line in season 1, he risked it to get Irina back which led to him being shot. But all Konstantin is concerned with in season 3 is staying alive, therefore putting himself before his family.

This begs the question, deep down, was he always like that? It definitely didn’t seem like it in the first two seasons so was it what ever happened in between seasons 2 and 3 after getting his family back? I wonder if they’ll ever dive into that and give better clarity on why Konstantin has changed so much.

Outside of his family however, it does seem like normal behavior for Konstantin to betray everyone around him: Carolyn, Eve, Villanelle. We’ve seen it all multiple times. I’m glad that Villanelle say that too, when it really came down to it.

Villanelle experienced Konstantin’s betrayal firsthand and seeing him do it again to someone else he claims to have loved, made her decision to not save him all the more clear. That’s who he is and he can’t ever be trusted. Family or not, Konstantin chooses freedom and himself first.

Carolyn - So I think I found a reason for Geraldine lol she’s still useless plot-wise but she does fit the family theme that’s prevalent in this season. We see each of our main characters dealing with their family dynamics in different ways and for Carolyn, that’s losing Kenny and now being stuck with Geraldine. Which I think highlights just how compatible (in their own way) her and Kenny were.

This scene here really captures that dynamic.

“You were your father’s. And Kenny was mine.”

Carolyn is who she is and always will be just as Geraldine is the same. And it seemed to work well when Geraldine had her father and Kenny had her mother. Which is normal (although I’d say it’s a bit more extreme in the show), there’s usually a daddy’s girl/boy or a mommy’s girl/boy. Whether you’re one or the other, doesn’t mean the other one doesn’t care or love the same. But because of that and just how different Geraldine and Carolyn are, it created a dynamic that felt forced or without love. Which isn’t necessarily true.

It’s understandable that Geraldine would want to connect with the last of her family that she has left but instead of meeting Carolyn in the middle, she was constantly too much which is the exact opposite of Carolyn.

All that being said, I think one of the main things they wanted to get into this seasons was the different family dynamics. And with Carolyn and Geraldine, the main thing here is the constant struggle for Geraldine to “change” Carolyn or to get her to “properly grieve” and connect with her which Carolyn just can’t do and won’t pretend to do. She cares in her own way but she can’t change who she is and that’s something Geraldine just can’t seem to accept even though Carolyn has accepted who Geraldine is. Which leads to Carolyn saying what we all as a fandom have been screaming since Geraldine entered:

Eve: Eve doesn’t really seem to have any close ties with any of her family. You hear about an aunt in the beginning of the season but that’s about it. Her family is Niko, that’s all she really has. Well that and her work, you could say that for a while she was married to her work more than Niko. But season 3 begins with her not working for MI6 and Niko isn’t with her either leaving her alone. Which is, of course, why she tries to hang on to him so much. It’s not about love anymore. It’s about Eve selfishly hanging on to her last strand of humanity and family, ignoring how toxic and bad she really is for him.

It took a long time but Eve finally accepts this, especially when Niko tells her to piss off. I know that especially hit Eve hard after everything that happened just for Niko to still tell her that he wants nothing to do with her. I think this is what it finally takes for Eve to really come to terms with the type of person she is and the darkness inside of her.

She’s always been aware of the darkness growing in her but I don’t think she ever took full responsibility for it. Like in the season 2 finale after killing Raymond (still upset this wasn’t really brought up this season). Yes, Villanelle manipulated her into that, but Eve still made that choice, and it was something that we all knew she thought about like in the train scene in season 2 when she’s about to push the guy in front of the train. Despite all of that, she never accepted or admitted to that part of herself. Which adds to Villanelle’s frustration and confusion in the s2 finale, as we found out this season is something that she can’t stand.

I think what happened with Niko was the beginning of her accepting that and then killing Dasha was the moment where she fully acknowledged it.

I got a little sidetracked there, but yes, Niko was Eve’s only family, her last strand to normality. And I think that a big part of accepting the darkness inside of her was also accepting that attraction and connection she has with Villanelle. Villanelle is the only one that Eve can understand and relate to, she’s the only one who truly sees Villanelle for who she is, just as Villanelle truly sees Eve. For a long time, Eve was too afraid to admit that Villanelle was always right though.

Accepting her own darkness also meant accepting Villanelle and their connection. It also meant accepting the only person who has been consistent, open, and understanding of her true self. And then choosing her as her family in the end, which Eve does.

Villanelle - So I talked a lot about Villanelle’s family dynamic in my 3x05 review so I’m not gonna spend much time on that. I wanna talk about how in these last few episodes, V has to make the choice between family and freedom.

She’s stated a few times that she doesn’t want to work for the Twelve anymore, she doesn’t want to kill anymore. She wants to be free. And after the events of 3x05, being free meant leaving Eve behind.

V is so emotionally vulnerable here that the only thing she can think of is just getting away from everything. It doesn’t matter that Konstantin has betrayed her before or that he has constantly chosen himself and his family over her, she just needs to get away.

After what happened with her family in Russia, and with everything that people have said to her and about her, we see Villanelle really struggle with her sense of self and how lonely she is.

“She is a perfect killing machine.” “You are a beautiful monster.” “You are darkness.”

That’s not who she wants to be and I think the only way that she sees as a way of distancing herself from that is by running away with Konstantin, then she can be whoever she wants. That is, up until this scene:

Eve sees her for more than just the terrible things she’s done. She knows that Villanelle is more than just a tool for chaos.

I think watching what happened between Konstantin and Carolyn, two people who “cared” about each other, really resonated with V. It almost parallels Eve and V in the past, never quite trusting the other and constantly hurting each other. Konstantin, as I said before, is someone who has betrayed everyone around him which has left him alone and on a lot of people’s hit list. This could easily be Villanelle in the future had she stuck around with the Twelve as long as Konstantin did. Even here, he still continues to use other people to his advantage, begging Villanelle to do something, again seeing her as a means to an end like everyone else (except Eve). I think it was here that Villanelle realized that freedom doesn’t really mean anything on its own, especially if it’s running away with Konstantin. For Villanelle, Eve is her family and that’s more important to her than freedom.

In this way, she’s learning from Konstantin’s mistakes. Which is also shown in her decision to respect Eve’s choice to walk away in the end.

It’s all about choices. This is something Eve had to learn this season and something Villanelle learned as well. Villanelle has seen what constant manipulation and betrayal can do to someone (i.e Carolyn and Konstantin). She doesn’t want to be that anymore, she doesn’t want that for her and Eve. She’s finally reached a point where she can think outside of her own desires and feelings and acknowledge Eve’s and not only that but put her own aside and put someone else first. Villanelle finally understands what love is and that it’s not possession (”You’re mine”). Knowing full well that Eve is who she wants, she still gave Eve the chance to walk away like everyone else has done.

I read in one of the interviews that Villanelle pretty much knew (99%) that Eve would turn around but I’m pretty sure that 1% was the only thing Villanelle could think about in this moment as she turned around. It was so important to have Eve turn around first. It’s so important that Eve picked Villanelle first and that V turned around to see that Eve couldn’t walk away. That shit pulls at my heartstrings. This was such a beautiful and perfect scene in every way.

OVERALL - So I definitely didn’t keep this one shorter like I intended to lol

This was such a great finale, there’s so much growth from season one and I love it. I think that while I was a little apprehensive about this season at certain points, I think that it all led up to this finale really well and going back and rewatching this season will definitely be a treat. Everything about this episode was great, the humor was spot on, the dialogue was great, the music was perfect, everything was just *chef’s kiss*. Actually hold up, there is one thing haha how tf did Bear forget about a camera for two weeks while investigating a murder??? I can’t let that one go but other than that *chef’s kiss*! I’m really looking forward to season 4 and where Eve and Villanelle end up after this scene. I have very high hopes for s4, Laura Neal really came through this season so I can imagine that season 4 will be a ride!

Anyway, thank you to the people who have read my reviews. As well as those who have left comments on my posts and who have reached out. This has been a great distraction from the shit fest that is 2020. I’ll still be around and will be writing some fanfic to get me through this hiatus for anyone interested. I’m currently writing a series of one-shots but will soon start planning out an AU. Send me some AU ideas that you guys wanna see, I haven’t quite figured out what I’m gonna write about yet. Or if anyone wants to talk about the finale or expectations for season 4 or just anything at all, my inbox is open! Stay safe out there and make sure to take care of yourself, these are difficult times and it can be hard to stay positive but hang in there, change is coming.

I didn’t proofread this so sorry for any mistakes 😅

#Killing Eve #Killing Eve season 3 #Killing Eve spoilers #Killing Eve season 3 finale #KE 3x08 #Sandra Oh #Jodie Comer #Eve Polastri #Konstantin #Carolyn #Konstantin Vasiliev #Carolyn Martens #Villanlle #Villaneve #Oksana #Oksana Astankova

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ellsey · 4 years

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Agents of Shield Rewatch 7x09 As I Have Always Been

First of all, we’re not going to discuss how many times I’ve seen this episode because...welll...the number is pretty high. But this is legit my #1 favorite episode of all time. This episode is an example of this show firing on all cylinders and just at it’s absolute best. And it’s really one of the last times we get to see our family all working together, and that’s where I think this show gets its strength.

Anyway, this may get super long idk I just have a lot of feelings about this ep.

The number of times Chloe must have had to film waking up in this thing is probably pretty high

Ok first things first, my very favorite thing is Sousa using that box of gloves as a pillow because having spent a good portion of my lower to mid-20s in labs I will not pretend like I haven’t considered doing that

“I was so much happier asleep” MY MOOD EVERY SINGLE DAY

94 km away...I’m going to try and keep track of these numbers

Sousa’s face at the smell of Deke’s 80′s cologne hahahaha

And now we’re in our loop #2 (but who knows the real number)

Ok, since I used to be a med tech (aka I worked in a hospital lab), I have questions about why they have so many green and blue tubes there. I mean...green tops are heparin tubes so I guess you can use those for basic chemistry tests, so that might be usable for multiple things. But those blue tops? That’s sodium citrate and the only thing I know of we used those for were coagulation tests. Which require some specific equipment. Does Jemma plan to run that many PT/PTTs?? And on what???

LOOK I HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT OK

And yes I remember those anticoagulants by heart still

The repeating title card is :chef’s kiss:

Daisy very quickly realizes she’s looping

91 km now

I’m wondering if there was something cut here by the way Sousa says, “See?” to Simmons as if we are missing some part of a conversation they had

My guess would be Jemma was all “You can go rest in your bunk you know Agent Sousa” and he’s like “Nope, gotta make sure Daisy rests” and Jemma’s like “...do you though?” and Sousa’s all “Yep. She will not do it on her own. Trust me.”

Maybe there’s enough for a fic plot in there

Ok, we’re now on loop #3

Daisy also very quickly realizes that she’s waking Sousa up with her boots and is very quiet so he can get some sleep

Awwww

I kind of wish I knew what May was sensing from Daisy right about now

I love love that Robo Coulson is so over this

The way he says “This guy” KILLS ME

So Coulson knows of 87 loops, but we know in this case Daisy didn’t wake him for 2 loops this time...we’re going to be doing some mathing soon lads

Also we just covered loops #4 and #5 since the ep started

Coulson says this is loop #90 which matches up still

And loop #6 for us now

Daisy was kind of loud there but didn’t wake up Sousa sooo...idk

79 km now

I love that Daisy realizes that to solve faster she needs the entire team

This must be loop #7 because Deke now says they are 65 km from the vortex

“It’s kind of hard to access” YOU DON’T SAY

And now people know about Jemma’s implant which...FINALLY

Phlebotinum is an amazing word bless

Making yourself cough like that seems like a rough day of filming

And directing

Deke’s face when Nana is dead though :(

Loop #8

It was sabotage!!!

But also Daisy died so we’re starting over memory-wise

Loop #9

48 km

Daisy legit forgot about her boots waking Sousa up too ha

Loop #10

And this time we wake up Coulson again

41 km

Enoch, Deke, and Jemma standing there is so freaking hilarious

Jemma is so done even though she doesn’t remember any of this hahaha

Loop #11

This is the one where we try to get Elena out and helping

Loop #12

Phlebotinum!

Sousa finally woke up on his own I guess

That smile when he says, “Reminds me of my SSR days” like

He lives for this chaos he just doesn’t want to admit it

Also look at him being a smart agent here

And let’s talk about the trust Sousa has in Daisy for a sec

He not just immediately believes her about the time loops, but he immediately understands what she is saying about what is happening. Thus he knows this isn’t really a sacrifice play because he’ll come back AND he’ll have saved her the trouble of forgetting. But also, he trusts her so implicitly that he’s willing to risk his life for her.

It’s beautiful y’all

And poor Daisy has to add watching Sousa die to her list of traumas cool cool cool

Although that does give me writing ideas...

Loop #13

Daisy immediately pops up to ensure herself that Sousa is still there napping away and like

I legit thought this was going to be the peak Dousy moment in this episode when she stops and just watches him breathing for a bit hahaha

She does not want to leave him there either and then the way she says, “We’re making progress” then adds a kind of soft “thanks to Sousa” like

Daisy is going through some stuff here

Coulson is going through some stuff too

Clark Gregg is killllllling this

And Coulson realizes that Enoch is the problem

“Oh dear” ENOCH HAHAHAHA

Loop #14

“Why do you care?” “Because you don’t”

Ummmmm MY HEART

But Daisy is not just accepting that he’s willing to die for her, she wants to know why now

Which obviously we will circle back to in a few loops or so

See, Jemma says she has to be awake to remove them implant...I guess the difference before was that Enoch wasn’t removing it?

Idk that makes no sense

Loop #15

Send in Sousa to distract Enoch

That “Hello!!” omg Sousa no

Sousa is surprisingly bad at this

Sousa’s muffled “Sorry” KILLS ME

As does Daisy’s face

Loop #16

Appeal to Enoch’s sense of irony

Loop #17

Have Jemma countermand her previous order

Loop #18

Bring in the whole gang

EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS KILLS ME

“Where’d he get all those weapons?”

Poor dead Deke

Them realizing it doesn’t matter because they’ll all come back

The way May looks like she’s relaxing

Sousa’s feet framing Daisy’s face

Legit this is amazing and I love it

Loop #19

“Actually, I can take a loop”

WE LOVE TO SEE IT

“It all phases me, just maybe not my face”

Ummmmm sir

Your face

While lovely it definitely gives you away

The saddest thing to me about this is that Daisy can’t seem to understand why he’s always willing to help and wants to watch over her. It’s like she still doesn’t think she’s worthy of being treated like this.

“Some of my favorite people are people like you” I CRY

Whew there’s a lot to parse here.

First of all, I think Daisy actually really likes that Sousa is seemingly not phased by anything (or at least, not super bothered by it) because her life is always going to be chaotic that’s just facts

Second, in this very short time of knowing her, Sousa definitely has her pegged. He knows that she craves other people, but is also probably a bit scared to want to be around other people. He knows she’s hopelessly stubborn, but that’s because she cares so much. And he knows that she needs someone to have her back no matter what, because she won’t have her own.

Of course, there’s also a personal element here as indicated by the next part of their conversation.

Also of note, when Daisy is pressing with the questions, wanting to know why he’s always there for her, she’s leaning forward while he sits back.

Now though, when the question is a bit more personal, she sits back in a very protective stance. I think she’s a little scared of what he’ll say to her question. Because she realizes that she likes him. A lot. And what if he’s just like a generally good guy and this has nothing to do with her?

But of course, it has everything to do with her as indicated by what Sousa says next. “Not for everyone. It helps if they’re fun to be around, and if they say what they mean, and if they have that super power where they can rock things around which is very impressive.”

And Daisy’s immediate response?? SHE SMILES. Like...this is what she needs and what she wants but what she’s been too afraid to go after. And here it is just falling in her lap.

Now that everything is out in the open, they are both leaning towards each other...

Also I love that she says, “That’s awfully specific” and he doesn’t shy away from her. He just agrees with her. They both know what that really means.

And they both like it

Legit here I was chanting KISS KISS KISS but I thought it was a missed moment

I am so happy I was wrong

So the new plan is to misdirect Enoch by having Sousa go in to take the implant out, but really Sousa is leading Enoch into a fight with him, Mack, May, and Elena and like what a squad

But also this was a super plan, and I wonder if Coulson was involved or if this was Daisy/Sousa original

Either option seems likely

“Next time, same thing but faster”

Daisy is really good at following instructions y’all

Loop #20

Daisy asks for help and Sousa immediately agrees to help and THAT IS WHAT DID IT FOR DAISY JOHNSON FRIENDS

Like...I know she’s feeling under the gun for time because Coulson said same thing but faster

But also, peak romance is someone just wanting to help her no questions asked which, given her history makes complete sense

She needs a constant, someone who will be there for her no matter what

I feel like this started in some ways with Lincoln. He was just so sweet and helpful to her. And granted he had his own demons to deal with, but in the end he was willing to give up everything to save the world and Daisy herself.

But he also showed Daisy that she could expect love and support and she was worthy of that (even if she doubted it later)

So here’s this guy, who’s just smart and kind and good and clearly into her

So, knowing that this could be one of her lasts chance to do this and realizing that at any rate he’ll totally forget about it anyway, she makes a move

And like this kiss?? It’s hot y’all

You can tell Daisy just like lol Imma kiss him, but then they are both caught in this moment and go back for me

But also he definitely led for that second kiss

“That was nice” like hahahaha amazing undersell Daisy

And then she traces his collarbone like whoa I need to fan myself for a bit

“Now we need to drop a space robot”

I can’t tell what Sousa is more confused by- that statement or the kiss itself

Imagine being Sousa though. You just got woken up by this beautiful woman who asks for you help then kisses you when you say “Sure thing.”

He’s truly living the dream

Oh also we’re 11 km from the vortex now

It turns out Enoch is the answer to all our problems

But also we have to kill him in the process :(

And then poor Simmons has a breakdown over leaving Alya presumably, but also she’s a better mom than me because after 3 years in space with one of my little super geniuses I’d be more than ready for a vacay idk

I love my kids but they are...a lot

And finally, Loop #21

I guess Daisy left Sousa to sleep for this loop

<1 km from the vortex too eek

Enoch immediately understands what is happening :(

I love that Enoch has reached the point where he feels like this entire crew is his family and would sacrifice themselves for him

Enoch didn’t feel lonely until he had friends :((

This whole thing is breaking my heart...not just Enoch in the process of dying, but Coulson actually talking about his deaths and Daisy having to try and process all this

“Yet, this is the nature of families. I have seen it countless times on countless worlds. People arrive so we celebrate, and people leave us, so we grieve. We do what we can with the time in between, but the cycle is always there. No one escapes it. Not even me.”

This really got to me. My family has changed a lot through the years. People have come and gone. Babies have been born. People have died. And nothing I do can change this cycle. Sometimes it makes me happy; sometimes it hurts. But nothing I do can change that process, and that’s not always easy for me to accept.

I think Daisy and Coulson are having a moment here too, where Daisy is telling both Coulson and Enoch that even though they are not human, that doesn’t make them any less alive to the people who love them

RIP Enoch, you were the bestest Chronicom to ever robot

And of course we get one last buzzkill with Nathaniel and Kora

Queen Kora you deserve better

Ok first some timeloop math. We saw 21 loops on screen, but loop #5 was loop #90 for Coulson. So if we figure Daisy died say...every 10-15 ish time loops and it took her 2 or 3 to wake Coulson up, we can probably add an additional 25 time loops or so. So we’re probably looking at around 130 loops roughly.

Of course this begs the question, did Daisy decide to kiss Sousa more than once? It’s possible. I kind of like to think she did.

First of all, mad props to Joel for nailing that death scene. He was absolutely incredible. And clearly this episode rates 1000000000/10 on the Dousy scale because like...everything. The talk, the kiss, the sacrifice...amazing. I was 95% sure I was getting ending Dousy after this. This episode also gets 50000/10 on the Teamwork! scale because our team did so well and were strongest when they worked together. And of course Enoch gets a 10000000000000000/10 on the Good Chronicom scale because he legit was the bestest Chronicom that could ever not-live.

Since we’re in a timeloop and not in a particular time period, I’m going with the Dousy-est of songs, “peace” by Taylor Swift.

youtube

#aos #aosrewatch #aosrewatchs7 #dousy #daniel sousa #daisy johnson #phil coulson #jemma simmons #enoch #deke shaw #melinda may #alphonso mackenzie #elena rodriguez #time loops #so many time loops #this really got so amazingly long #I regret nothing

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twdmusicboxmystery · 3 years

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TWB 1x09/1x10: A Template for the Daryl/Carol Spinoff and a Bethyl Reunion

So, what did everyone think of TWB finale? I really enjoyed it. As I’ve been teasing, I had a HUGE lightbulb moment about this series and what it points to symbolically. I know many in the fandom are asking what the point of this series is if we don’t see Rick. Well, I think I know. As I’ve said in Asks, I think plot-wise, we may still see Rick (or even Beth) in S2. The characters aren’t actually inside the CRM yet, but at least Hope and Silas are going there, so there will be more opportunity for them to run into Rick or Beth next season.

***As always, spoilers abound below for TWB 1x09 and 1x10. Don’t read until you’ve watched!***

So, what was my big lightbulb moment? Here it is:

Symbolically, this is foreshadowing what will happen with the Daryl/Carol spinoff, Rick, and how Daryl and Beth will reunite. The good news is, I’m more convinced than ever that she’s close. You’ll see why as we go along. The bad news is, we really probably won’t get a Bethyl reunion until the spinoff, which will come after S11. That’s a ways off. I was just praying we’d see her either in the flagship series or in TWB or FTWD before then, and then the news broke that she’ll be in the bonus episodes in flashbacks. I know that doesn’t prove she’s alive, but it was still kind of an answer to a prayer for me. Okay, so here goes.

This will be long, as I have a LOT of things to talk about here. Let’s establish names, first of all, as I’ll be referencing all these people. Iris and Hope’s dad is Leo. The woman with him (the same female scientist we’ve seen in the codas) is Lyla Belshaw. Felix’s boyfriend’s name is Will.

So, we finally met Will in ep 9. We see him in flashbacks. We see when he and Felix first met (which incidentally was when he first met Huck; that’s important). Then there’s a bedroom scene where they’ve obviously been in a relationship for a time. We see Felix talking to Will about how he really wants to go with Leo, but Leo has asked him to stay behind with Iris and Hope. Then we see Felix find out Will was going with Leo instead (which kinda crushed him) and then we see them all say goodbye.

This is a funny thing to say, but it was the bedroom scene that made it all click for me. Lol. It was because of the sleeve Felix wears on one arm. My fellow theorists tell me that they talked about this earlier in the season, but I either completely missed it, or it went in one ear and out the other. Hey, I’m human, too. ;D

It reminded me of the plaid sleeve on Daryl’s coat when they went to Oceanside in 7x15 to take their guns. Remember that?

At first, I thought he was missing the sleeve of his jacket. But then someone told me it was actually just that a different sleeve was sewn onto the jacket. As though someone had put it together piecemeal. Well, same thing, only this was black rather than plaid. Now, we’ve seen parallels between Felix and Daryl before, especially in the beginning. He talked about how he had a not-so-happy family background and specifically how his dad (like Daryl’s) was just not cool. He’s also like Daryl in that he’s kind of the badass protector of the group, right? So when I first noticed the sleeve, I went, “Okay, another Daryl parallel. Hmm.”

Then Will had an interesting line. As they got up, he said, “I’ll make pancakes if you made dinner later.” I went, “pancakes!”

Cue first lightbulb moment. (Reminder: pancakes/Bisquik is a Beth/resurrection symbol.) Felix = Daryl; Will = Beth. That’s what these symbols are pointing to. And it actually makes perfect sense in a way I hadn’t really thought of before. Think about it: at the beginning of this series, we had Felix who was once in a romantic relationship with Will, but the two of them are separated. Felix hasn’t talked to, seen, or heard from Will in a long time, right? So, it’s a separation thing. You could even argue (and I think I did back in ep 1) that Felix keeping and wearing Will’s coat lines up with Daryl having Beth’s knife. At the end of ep 10, Felix runs into Will and they have a huge reunion. I’ll come back to that in more detail in a minute.

So here’s the thing: the more I thought about this, the more lightbulb moments I had. What do we know about Felix’s backstory, especially where Leo (Iris and Hope’s dad) is concerned? We know Felix and Leo became friends, Leo kind of adopted him, and Felix became part of the family, right? Well, that’s pretty much exactly what happened with Rick and Daryl. If Felix = Daryl and Will = Beth, Leo = Rick. Think about that. Leo left to join the CRM/helicopter group. Felix was left behind to protect his children. The biggest difference in TWD is that Rick didn’t go voluntarily, where Leo did. But other than that, same situation. Rick was taken into the CRM, and Daryl is now raising and protecting his children.

My next lightbulb moment came later in the episode. Felix gets hurt. He can’t walk very well. Huck says she has to leave him behind. Everyone is upset and saying goodbye and Felix hugs Huck and tells her he loves her. And of course this isn’t romantic love because, well, he’s gay. And THAT’S when it hit me.

From a Daryl standpoint, who is a woman Daryl loves, but not romantically? Carol. Gals, if Felix is Daryl and Will is Beth and Leo is Rick, then Huck is Carol. And think about it: if you set Iris and Hope and the boys aside for a minute, this entire story line is about the Daryl character (Felix) and the Carol character (Huck) taking off together to look for Leo. (Otherwise known as the Rick character.)

Boom. This entire thing is a foreshadow and parallel/proxy of the Carol/Daryl spinoff storyline. I guess you could say that my official theory now is that it’s new of Rick that will pull Daryl and Carol away from the community. They’ll go to find him. That’s why they’ll leave together after S11. But what happens here for Felix? On his journey to find Leo, he runs into Will, his love interest, who represents Beth.

So, Daryl will leave to find Rick, and somewhere along the way, he’ll finally find Beth and they’ll have their reunion.

Couple of thoughts/details here, just for clarification:

1) I’m not sure Huck’s exact arc here will be Carol’s. She’s a member of the CRM, which Carol is clearly not. And she really betrays Felix with all this. In the finale, the two of them get into full-on hand-to-hand combat, which I REALLY don’t see being the case with Daryl and Carol. But we also know Carol has betrayed TF in various ways over the years (Karen/David, letting Negan out of his cell, Connie) so it may be more about the type of character than about the exact arc.

2) I’m not sure how the kids fit in. Even though we’ve always thought Iris and Hope might be proxies to Beth and Maggie (and I still think that’s true) overall, I think they MORE represent Judith and RJ. Only because of Leo = Rick and they’re his kids. Now, obviously Iris and Hope are much older than Rick’s kids, and Judith and RJ aren’t going to take off to find Rick. So I don’t know if they’ll figure into this or not. It’s hard to say because in this show, Leo’s kids are with Felix. So will it be a matter of Judith and RJ being taken, or will he leave them behind? I honestly don’t know.

What I said above about Felix meeting Huck and Will at the same time? It just struck me as yet another parallel. Even though Daryl knew Carol before Beth (because S1), S2 was only days after s1. So really, he met them around the same time. And while he became besties with Carol, the romance lies with Beth. Same with Felix. Besties with Huck. In love with Will. Just saying.

Oh, and something @frangipanilove reminded me of: Tom Sawyer Theory. There have been tons of Mark Twain/Widow Douglas/Tom Sawyer references around Carol. Now this character’s name is Huck, and it’s a nickname that comes from Huckleberry Finn because she was found on a raft.

Okay, moving on. Um…let’s talk Percy for a minute.

Remember that I said last week he was a major Beth proxy, because he seems to have staggered off, wounded, and everyone assumes he’s dead, but there was no body.

In this episode, Elton finds him and guess what? He’s been shot. So in keeping with the Beth parallel (no body, staggered away, presumed dead) he was also shot, not stabbed. Not in the head, of course, but in the chest/shoulder. But it was important for Elton to find that because it made him realize Silas didn’t do it. Silas didn’t have a gun.

Another thing I found interesting is that Elton was sure Percy would die. His hallucination of Percy kept saying, “you know I’m going to die, right? I’m not going to survive.” And things like that. But low and behold, Percy actually lives. So, yet another way to round out the Beth parallel. Got shot. Staggered away. No one correctly understood what actually happened there. But he runs into someone who helps him and saves him. And, he lives.

So then Elton and Percy find Silas. And this was super cool from a TD standpoint as well. Silas accidentally starts a fire. The smoke from it, while less, looks EXACTLY like the smoke from the moonshine shack in Still. (Ah foreshadows.) Elton sees the smoke and follows it, hoping to find Silas, which he does.

And here’s where, again, it gets interesting. They have a small but sweet reunion. Elton runs up and hugs Silas really tight and says that he found him and also that he brought Silas’s bag and that he found his walkman and headphones in the road.

It was the way he said that that caught my attention. He found them in the road. Last week, we totally compared the headphones to the music box, but I didn’t think about the fact that he dropped them in the middle of the road. I didn’t think to compare them to Daryl finding the green jasper in the middle of the road. But Elton found Silas’s MUSICAL DEVICE in the middle of the road and brought it back to him. Also, Rock in the Road story/theory. And @wdway pointed out Daryl’s line to Beth in Alone: “Go up the road a ways; I’ll meet you there.”

So, think about this. We have this rock-in-the-road reference, and a reunion between Elton and Silas. In the same episode, we see Felix, out on the road, walking through the woods, stumble onto his romantic partner, who he hasn’t seen in a LONG time. They hug, have a reunion, both are crying, and Will cries out, “I thought you were dead.”

Let’s talk about Leo, Iris and Hope’s dad. In terms of the plot, I actually have a lot of questions, but I suppose that’s the point. In ep 10, we have lots of scenes of Iris and Hope’s dad. The woman from the codas, Lyla is in them, too. She and Leo are in a romantic relationship. But it’s obvious that she’s a plant by the CRM and that she’s feeding them information. I wasn’t sure if these scenes were meant to be present day, or flashbacks. I THINK they’re present day. So, he’s actually fine and not really in any danger.

We were right in thinking that Hope is the asset. In this episode, they say they just want her for her smarts, to help her father in his research. To some extent, it’s like she’s Eugene for this show (except for real, lol). Her dad says of her at one point, “maybe she’ll save the world.” Which feels like a foreshadowing. So maybe she really will find the cure or something. We’re also wondering if there’s something more they aren’t telling us. Like some sort of immunity thing. But they haven’t said anything like that in this episode.

The other reason I’m not sure about what Hope’s role will be is that she is obviously a proxy for Beth on her own. (In one flashback, everyone is eating dinner together and she says, “I made the carrots.” So yeah, self-proclaimed Beth proxy.) Carrot Theory Here.

So maybe she’ll find the cure and save the world. Or maybe all these characters will die at the end and she’s just functioning as a Beth proxy. Beth isn’t the super-smart Eugene type that will save the world in that way, but I do think the fact that Hope is the “asset” and the CRM wants her is probably a proxy for Beth in some way. Just not sure how it will play out.

So, back to the dad. In these Leo scenes, it’s obvious that he’s suspicious about things having to do with the CRM. He says that he recognizes they do good things, but he’s suspicious about the military. He says that Will’s scouting mission should have been back days ago. (Yes, Felix’s Will.) But he’s not. And Lyla just passes it off as “lots of things can happen that might have delayed him.”

So, I wasn’t sure if Will’s group, which we only see for a few seconds at the end, is part of the CRM and has just been delayed in returning, or if they’re purposely not returning because they know what the CRM did to the people at the university and have become a rebel group. My first impression was that they were rebels, hanging out in the forest, but they honestly don’t tell us much, here.

Well, that was because, the first time through, I missed the coda at the end of episode 9. You guys gotta see this shot! What happens is basically that we see Will running. He trips and falls by this walker, stares at it a moment, and then jumps up to run again. We see CRM soldiers running after him. So, that confirms that he’s now a rebel. Hiding from and rebelling against the CRM because he saw what they did at the University.

And the only reason that even matters is that we’ve conjectured that Beth might be leading a rebel group against the CRM. This is a confirmation of that theory (because Will = Beth).

But look at this shot:

It’s a blond walker who’s literally rising from her grave. If that’s not confirmation that Will = Beth, I don’t know what is.

Oh, let’s go back to Silas for a minute. I said last week that he might be headed toward Beth, right? Yeah, I still think he might be. So, after Elton, Percy, and Silas reunite, Silas is happy to know that he didn’t kill Tony or hurt Percy. Huck did. But he and Elton want to go find the girls and tell them about Huck. Before they can, the CRM soldiers arrive. They probably followed Silas’s smoke, and also at one point Percy talked to Huck, very briefly on the walkie on an open channel.

So, the CRM knows they’re around and is looking for them. They try to sneak away, and come to a chain-lined fence with a locked gate. They unlock it to go through, but Percy is still bleeding a lot from his GSW. He tells them to leave him behind because he’s slowing them down and the dripping blood will be a trail right to them.

Silas makes a choice to save his friends. He pushes them through the gate and turns himself into the CRM, even cutting his hand to account for the dripping blood. He locks it so they can’t come back in and says, “go save Iris.” The CRM does take him into custody and Elton and Percy get away. So again, if Rick and Beth are inside the organization somewhere, he really could run into them.

What this really reminded me of was Sasha and Rosita. Major parallel there. Which, sadly, makes me wonder if Silas will die next season. A proxy, just as Sasha was. I thought it was interesting that Silas cut his hand across the palm. It’s a Christic wound and he sacrificed himself for his friends. But he’s also inside the CRM now, which means he could potentially run into Rick or Beth next season.

I wrote down other, smaller symbols. Things we always talk about like dialogue and background symbols. There’s a part where Elton kills some walkers and a bright red leaf flies across the screen. One of our red objects, I think. And that’s while he’s saving Percy, who should have died, but lived. Percy calls Elton Corduroy at one point, which is a bear reference.

Oh! Here’s an interesting one, though it’s not directly related to Beth. At one point, when Felix gets hurt, he and the ladies (Hope, Iris, Huck) go to a particular building. I believe it used to be a retirement home, though it honestly doesn’t look medical at all. More like a manor house. Like Hilltop, only in major disrepair. When they go in, Iris says, “This place feels haunted.” And Hope says, “the whole world is haunted.”

That’s a shockingly exact echo of Tyreese saying that to Carol in 4x14. He said, “the whole world is haunted now.” It’s so lovely and sad, it was always one of my favorite lines. So, I sat and thought about what the parallel is supposed to be.

I think it may be about the truth coming out. Because the biggest thing about 4x14 was Lizzie and Mica’s deaths, but nothing happened in this episode to really mirror that. No one died. But Carol also told Ty the truth about her and how she’d killed Karen. And remember that Huck is the Carol character. Here, they all find out who Huck really is and what she’s doing. It’s like, deceptions fall away and the truth is revealed. So yeah, not really a TD thing, but I thought that was super interesting.

One other thing: at one point, Hope and Huck run into walkers on the road and have to fight them. Hope has Felix’s gun, but she drops it. They’re standing on a bridge (Bridge Theory) but it’s not a huge bridge or an overpass. It’s one of those little wooden bridges over a pathetic little stream. Like, literally four feet down and they could jump off the bridge without being hurt, right? Well, when Hope dropped the gun (because she’s fighting a walker) and it slid down off the bridge and into the stream.

Visually, it reminded me a lot of when Beth kicked the gun down the elevator shaft in Coda. So I watched closely to see if they would retrieve it. They didn’t. Huck even said something like “well, the pistol is gone, so let’s just keep going.” And I had to laugh at that. Not realistic at all. The pistol isn’t gone. It’s right there. They just had to jump down and get it. No way the little bit of water would have been enough to carry a metal gun away. So yeah, I feel like that was a purposeful parallel to Beth at Grady.

That’s most of the big stuff. My overall theory, following the template TWB is laying out for us is this: Daryl and Carol will take off together after S11, either because they have word of Rick or something to do with the kids. Just as Will is inside the CRM with Leo, Beth is inside the CRM with Rick. Somewhere on that journey, Daryl will run into Beth on the road. What happens next season in TWB will give us a better idea of what will happen where Rick is concerned in the story. But this is definitely a foreshadow of the spinoff and how Daryl and Beth will reunite.

And now, with word of Emily being in the bonus episodes, even if they’re just flashbacks, it makes me think we’ll see her in the second season of TWB. The flashbacks are priming the audience for her true return. I literally wrote the above to @wdway and @frangipanilove on Friday morning. Friday afternoon, news of Emily being in the bonus episodes broke. For me, it was just everything falling perfectly into place.

Thoughts?

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

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