This part in 32 chp always felt kind of odd to me and this is the reason why:
The coward wolf boy, Lock. Until Choi Han found him, Lock had been hiding as the chief had told him. The Lock at that point is very much a coward, a weakling, and kind of slow. In simple terms, Lock easily took the position of the character that readers found to be extremely frustrating.
This has bothered me since I first read the novel, and to this day, even after several rereads, it still haunts me.
Cale simply isn't the type of a person to actually call a kid, no matter how they behave, to be "frustrating".
(When the text said "readers" it's damn well obvious of Cale being the one to think so.)
Pondering for some time I can roughly guess why the wording was so unexpected for his character.
At the time of the assassination/kindaping in the village, Lock was only thirteen years old. He also hasn't had his first berserk transformation yet. Therefore it is not surprising that Lock's uncle hid him and told not to go out, saying that everything was fine and he should continue to hide.
Now let's look at the situation realistically.
Lock (in tcf) jumps out of his hiding to protect his younger siblings. The adrenaline and inner Blue Wolf Tribe's instincts to protect turned on his berserk transportation one year beforehand, however if not Rosalyn and Choi Han, who came earlier than in the actual novel, i don't think it would help much.
Lock would possibly be able to kill a few people or at least seriously injure them, but CMON. They killed an ENTIRE village full of berserk Blue Wolf's and with almost-Wolf King (Lock's uncle). Do you really believe that a thirteen years old boy jumping into his first berserk transformation would be able to fight properly against strong organization that had holy water or some sort of holy artefact on their hands?
Again, if not for Choi Han's and Rosalyn's arrival... it would have definitely ended pretty bad.
In TBOAH Lock for some reason didn't jump out. Different circumstances, wrong wroted part in the novel, idk, but the fact is stated: Lock stayed hidden. He also most likely survived only because of Choi Han's help. Just with much worse scenario where he was left alone from the whole village.
And it wasn't Lock's fault yet again. He was a child. No matter if a Beastman one or not, the boy was just an innocent, naive and weak child.
So why would Cale, Kim Rok Soo at the time, find him frustrating? Extremely so even!
The answer is much easier if you think about it.
Because it wasn't Kim Rok Soo blaming a kid for being weak and cowardly in a fearful situation, it was a man who saw his own past that he hated so much.
A coward, a weakling and kind of slow.
For Rok Soo, who blamed himself for half of his life for the deaths of team one members, Lock was like a salt for still open, but ignored wounds.
KRS greatly disliked and maybe even envied Lock for a bit. The boy got a new family, he got friends and some sort of guidance from them even after facing so much despair.
While he was all alone, trying to understand what to do on his own.
It sure is irritating for Rok Soo.
Yet Team Leader Kim Rok Soo was probably unable to fully hate Lock for his weakness, because while the latter was still a kid, the same forgiveness can't be used on him. At least in his own head.
So with conflicting feelings Cale settled on "Extremely frustrating" description.
401 notes
·
View notes
yes i'm rooting for m*leven breakup because byler is neat but mostly? i'm rooting for m*leven breakup for the sake of el and mike.
to me, their romance was always a puppy love born out of a combination of social pressures, naïve curiosity, and a lack of true understanding regarding intimacy and romantic love and what it really is. it was real in that they do truly, deeply care about each other and they are close friends, maybe even shared an attraction, but a maturing romance is so much more than that. they've grown up and out of being boyfriend/girlfriend, and that's okay! i think television/film needs to show more often that most of us don't have definite "soulmates" or first childhood loves that we spend our whole lives with. it doesn't mean these relationships meant nothing and didn't impact us, it just means they've run their course and that something else is in the cards, and this is part of life!
i've always felt el was at her best and most confident self when broken up with mike, discovering who she was and what she liked alongside another girl her age instead of just relying on mike for mentorship on how to live in the real world. she deserves more of an opportunity to find herself, her autonomy, and her independence, and to love who she is, and she's made it clear she's felt insecure in the relationship with mike because she isn't being loved and understood the way she wants, needs, and deserves from someone who is her partner.
also, it's okay if mike doesn't love her in "the way he should". he is not obligated to love her romantically and stay in a relationship with her just because she's a girl, because she "needed someone", or because he cares about her a lot. he shouldn't be pressured into a romance if it's not truly coming from his heart. he deserves freedom to find out and honour who he is, too, instead of just staying in his non-functional first relationship — one he got into as a child, essentially — and defining himself that way because it's what's expected when a boy and a girl are close. he loves her in some way, yes, but it's okay if he doesn't feel comfortable or secure being her boyfriend anymore, for whatever reason that is. he's felt insecure too, and that's valid and it matters.
they are their own people and are steadily growing and changing every day. they need time to figure out who those people are, and it's become clear (at least in my opinion) that those people aren't meant to be a couple at this stage.
they deserve freedom. they deserve to grow up and be authentic to themselves and not feel like they need to lie for the sake of a relationship. they deserve to move on from this version of their relationship that isn't making them happy and rekindle the best part of their bond: their strong, beautiful friendship. they don't have to be a couple if it doesn't make them stronger and better and happier people.
i think it would be healthy and wonderful for a show, especially one consumed frequently by young adults, to show a relationship starting, progressing, and ending on good terms in this way. sometimes things don't work out, and that is okay.
143 notes
·
View notes
I have the mental image of Mick coming in to the Gallagher house one day and then realising that there's a picture of himself doing something or other nestled in among the family photos over the fireplace and then having to go off somewhere to have an emotion.
“Told ya you should have had somethin’ to eat with that coffee this morning!” He yells up the stairs, shaking his head when he hears the bathroom door slam shut.
Ten years in and Ian’s still annoying about remembering to eat something when he takes his meds.
“It’s not a lot of coffee, Mick, I’ll be fine, Mick,” Mickey mimics to himself. “I’m not that hungry, Mick. Yeah and look at you now, shittin’ your brains out.”
He wanders around the living room, poking at random stuff while he waits. The Gallagher house is largely unchanged since Debbie and Carl, and now Sandy, back for good he thinks, had moved in and taken it over. They’d brought in the last of Sandy’s stuff today, Debbie and her taking one more swing around her old place to make sure nothing was forgotten before officially declaring her moved in.
The living room is pretty much the same, couch still shitty as ever, although the tv is much newer and there’s a fresh coat of paint on the walls.
He glances absentmindedly at the pictures staggered around the top of the fireplace mantle, about to go wander into the kitchen when a newer image catches his eye. It’s nestled between a framed photo of Franny as a baby, and a shot of several Gallaghers flipping off the camera at a party somewhere.
It’s a photo of him and Ian, with Ian’s arms wrapped around him from behind. Ian’s got his head up against his ear, smiling and whispering something to him while Mickey’s grinning widely, so big his eyes are almost slits, hands holding onto Ian’s arm. Neither one of them seem to have noticed their picture being taken, or if they did there’s no evidence in their frozen expressions, just ones of pure joy and happiness.
He’s not sure when it was taken, can’t quite place where they are but it looks to be summer and they’re young, maybe 17 or 18. So young.
He stares at it, unsure of the reason why there’s tears threatening to prick at the corners of his eyes while he looks, and he’s not sure whether it’s from being happy or sad. Maybe a bit of both. He gauges it has to have been from when he was living here, or Ian with him, that whole time period a confusing mess if he thinks about it too much.
The door opens behind him and Debbie comes in carrying a cardboard box. She calls a greeting to Mickey but it’s almost like she’s far away, his senses barely able to focus on anything but the picture in front of him. She’s just about to head up the stairs when he comes back to himself a bit and he calls out to her.
“Ey, where’d you get this picture from?”
He gestures in the direction of the mantle, turning to look at her.
She steps off the bottom stair and comes closer, squinting a bit before realizing what she’s looking at and smiles.
“Oh, I found a bunch of disposable cameras when we were cleaning out one of the rooms upstairs. I had them developed to see if there was anything good on them - most of them were blurry shots and Carl doing weird shit but that one was mixed in. I thought it was cute so stuck it in a frame.” She starts heading up the steps but turns down to call, “You guys can take it home if you want, I made a few copies.”
“Yeah, thanks,” he says softly, belatedly, realizing she’s already disappeared up the steps by the time he answers.
He grabs the frame to look at it closer, swallowing hard as he stares at the images of their younger selfs, practically kids.
He’d never had a lot of pictures of himself growing up, mostly baby pictures stashed in boxes and pretty much nothing from his teenage years, save a few out of focus and blurry shots that Mandy may have taken on her small camera, when she was still here.
They have tons of pictures of them now, some framed around their place and others taking up most of the space on their phones, silly selfies and candids, cute shots of them together smiling at the camera.
But this, this feels different. Heavier. But also not. They look happy here, so it must have been a good day, he thinks. Hopes.
He startles at the feel of a hand on his shoulder, relaxing when he realizes it’s Ian, finally finished in the bathroom.
“Hey,” he says quietly, leaning back against his chest.
“Hey. What ya lookin’ at?” Ian asks, sliding his arm around his waist and hooking his chin over Mickey’s shoulder, pressing a quick kiss against his cheek before looking down.
Mickey doesn’t reply, just shakes the frame slightly to direct his attention, his heart rabbit kicking slightly in his chest.
He feels Ian still behind him, the grip on his stomach tightening for a moment before relaxing.
“Wow,” he finally says. “Where did that come from?”
“Debbie,” Mickey murmurs back.
Neither of them say anything for a minute until Ian speaks at last, voice a rumble in his ear.
“You look cute as fuck.”
Mickey laughs, the sound bursting from him suddenly, unexpectedly, and he aims an elbow backwards at his stomach that Ian dodges with a grin.
“Fuck you! I wasn’t fuckin’ cute.”
The statement dislodges something in his stomach though, and he feels like he can breathe a little easier somehow.
They settle back down, both of them lost in their own heads a bit as they continue looking at the picture. Ian wraps his other arm around his waist and holds him, the two of them swaying slightly together in the middle of the living room.
“You wanna take it home?” He asks finally.
He feels Ian nod against his shoulder.
“We can put it up next to our wedding pictures.”
Mickey smiles at that.
“Yeah, that’d be good.”
253 notes
·
View notes