#rewatching s2 has been a struggle I’m sorry

[buildoblivionthenwewilltalk]

okay so tua s1 is the best, s2 is the funniest and s3 is the most like the comics

#imo idk #rewatching s2 has been a struggle I’m sorry #things I like I like a lot #things I don’t are …. hmmmm #I do really like s3 for all its faults #and it has that more motley feel with the harder edge from s1 #but the first series was/is just superior #tua #shut up min

[celluloidbroomcloset]

Hey there,

You’ve got a lot of insight into Ed and his whole journey from S1 to S2. Apologies if you’ve covered all this already (and I’m not the most articulate of people so also apologies for any confusion), but I’m interested in your thoughts…

I get the impression that a basic debate here is that either Ed is a psychopathic sadist (who basically ‘reigns in his sadistic tendencies’ until he loses Stede) or he’s someone struggling with his own self loathing and the toxic environment he’s had to live in (or maybe I’ve missed the mark entirely).

If it’s the latter, do you think he becomes at all vindictive in S2? Or is he more going through the motions of what he thinks is expected of ‘the pirate Blackbeard,’ because he’s somehow trying to cut off his emotions or is just tired of even trying to be anything else (ie himself) anymore? Or maybe it’s something else?

Also, to me personally it seems like Ed is stuck in… how to describe it… a depressive stasis at the beginning of S1, like at least resigned to death but doesn’t actively seek it until the end of S1/beginning of S2. I can’t decide though if in S2 Ed wants to take the crew with him (because that at least means not dying alone, like the mother and the cat in Crimes of the Heart), or if he doesn’t mind one way or the other what happens as long as he’s dead, or if the goal is to actively make the crew despise him because he thinks hatred and death are what he deserves?

Again, sorry if I’m beating a dead horse here…

Thanks!

So a lot of people have written a good bit about this. This is just what I think (and my thoughts may change—I'm planning on rewatching "Red Flags" today).

When we meet Ed, I think he is depressive and perhaps passively suicidal—he's talking about how the one thing he hasn't tried yet is death, but he doesn't seem to be really looking to die, and meeting Stede makes him re-evaluate the life he's been living and what he wants from it.

Stede and the space of the Revenge make Ed feel safe to express the parts of him that he’d concealed within Blackbeard in order to survive (the whole bringing out of his mother’s silk and Stede giving him the space to wear it openly on his heart). He tries to find this again with the crew after Stede leaves him, and it is Izzy who tells him that he is not safe unless he is Blackbeard (by directly threatening him and telling him that he would be better off dead than being the person he is).

I think a lot of what he’s doing at the end of Season 1 and into Season 2 is malicious compliance - “You wanted the caricature of Blackbeard, well HERE HE IS!” By the time we pick up with the Revenge in Season 2, he's moving from passive to active suicidality - he has been unable to correctly perform (Izzy invoking Stede and the fact that Ed's feelings are what have made the atmosphere on the ship toxic - quite literally his inability to conceal those feelings have poisoned everything around them, according to Izzy. Ed's feelings themselves are poisonous). Ed cannot reconcile his past with what he wants to be with who he is, and he has lost the safe space to be Ed.

I don’t think he wants to take the crew with him - his first move is to try to get Izzy to kill him; when that fails, he tries to get the crew to do it. If anyone actually just pulled a gun and shot him, he'd not try to stop them. He’s goading them until they’re forced into a space where they either have to die themselves or take the initiative and kill him (hence his “finally” right before his death).

Ed has been working to become all the monstrous/demoniacal stories about himself, the ones that have been told by the English and by his trio of monstrous fathers. He hates them but he also wants their approval, and he’s transforming himself into the monstrosity that others say he is. His love for Stede and the things that he was allowed to access via his relationship with Stede are the soft, genuine parts of himself that he has been told are not him but that he's also now incapable of concealing. He’s not worthy of that softness, he’s not worthy of love, and so he tries to kill it.

He’s going to die on Stede’s ship, with Stede’s cravat around his throat, murdered by Stede’s crew, as a final confirmation that all the things he wanted to be, and all the love he felt, he wasn’t really worthy of, that Stede was right to leave him because look at what he’s done, and that the people who loved him should never have loved him. He’s dying like all his monstrous fathers have died, murdered by people who once cared for him and whom he should have taken care of, but failed to because he's a monster.

#reply #ofmd #tw: abuse #tw: suicide #our flag means death #edward teach #ofmd meta

[paperstorm]

Have you had a chance to rewatch any Tarlos scenes from S1-3 since the latest season started airing? Has s4 changed what you get from those scenes? For me, it's added new meaning to some of Carlos' expressions and hesitations. It's made scenes like the one after the Tarlos fight in s2 (when TK tells Carlos he understands how unsafe he must have felt for such a long time) feel more impactful and meaningful. The only scene where I would say that the experience has diminished, for me, is the proposal. It used to feel like pure joy earlier, and now ... I dunno, it probably sounds dramatic but the scene feels corrupted to me, knowing that either a small part of Carlos was panicking about Iris during that moment, maybe he felt slightly guilty that he hadn't told TK till then but he didn't want to spoil the moment of the proposal (because I find it hard to believe that he didn't think of it at all when the word 'marriage' came up), and that TK didn't have any idea about this portion of Carlos' thought process during that moment. I dunno, it's taken the joy out of that scene for me. Is it the same for you? If not, I'd love to know how you're looking at it, because it was literally my favourite scene of 911LS and I want it to stay that way...

Oh sweetheart I’m sorry it’s taken the joy out of it, that really sucks. I have rewatched a lot of older scenes and it’s definitely changed some for me. It’s added a really beautiful and sad layer to some things about Carlos; his need for control, the strained relationship with his father (the interrogation scene in Bad Call? The way at the end carlos basically begs “I’ve done everything you’ve ever asked of me, please can I be good enough now?” with tears in his eyes? With the added layer of him marrying a woman so that he could fit into society?? Pls), the way Carlos has a tendency to blame himself for absolutely everything, the way he struggles with honesty and with sort of giving people what they need when that thing is something different than what he thinks they should need. It adds layers to his desire to be everything to TK and his feelings of inadequacy when he can’t be. It’s done a lot of good things for me, for earlier episodes! It’s also induced a lot of eye rolling haha especially in season one, because it’s just so clear that they did not actually have this planned all along - or if they did, it was only in a retrospective ‘Dumbledore was gay all along!’ way that doesn’t count, because it’s not a real storyline if it was just something in Tim’s head but he never actually wrote it that way. So many of Carlos’s scenes with Michelle just feel badly written now because there’s this giant elephant in the room that neither of them ever address. The way that he’s sort of very nonchalant and unbothered about Iris being missing feels kind of icky now. It has dulled the scene in 1x10 on the car for me a little, cause I’m watching them having this lovely moment and now I’m thinking “Carlos your best friend who you thought was dead was just found alive, why aren’t you going to see her and why are you going to let two full years pass before you do??” But I think I just have to let that go. I know you’re not really asking for advice but if you were, I’d say that unfortunately we just have to take what Tim has said about this and make that the paradigm. He has made it clear that he doesn’t think carlos has done anything wrong and that Carlos never told TK because it wasn’t a real marriage and he more or less had forgotten about it. Do I think that makes sense or is good writing? No. But it’s the framework we’ve been given so I have to just go with it.

#911ls asks #andie’s annoying character metas

[rahleeyah]

hello! your anon here. through trials and tribulations, i return. (real life has been shit.) and so i indulge instead in a thought experiment/alternate universe:

how fundamentally different olivia would be if she had been raised by her father, but he was still a rapist. she still finds out too young, but its not because her mother cannot fully forgive her the sin of being born, but because he gets arrested.

she is still alone, without a family. still struggles to reckon with the truth of who her father is, still feels the need to atone for it.

but serena also played such a key role in olivia's life, for the little we hear of her, what we know cuts deep. would she still find her way to svu? i think yes, because there's no olivia without svu, really. not in that its all she is, but in that there would be a fundamental piece of her missing if she weren't in that unit, something inside her soulwould still be lost for not being that kind of advocate. it's who she is.

but how would her outlook on the suspects be different? especially at the beginning?

i rewatched the early seasons not too long ago, and olivia was harsh, elliot had to coach her through some of the necessary sympathy/compassion. not that it wasnt there, but that it wasnt soft, the way it needed to be in certain interactions.

how different would her perspective be?

because part of the journey her character goes on (particularly in season 8) is dealing with the fact that she knew her father was terrible but still wanted him - or, at least, wanted a father who wanted her.

what would her life have been like if she'd had that, but still had a rapist for a father?

I am so sorry things have been rough for you anon I hope this week is better!!!

I'm gonna try to break this down bc oooof this is good and I have. Many thoughts.

If Olivia grew up with a father, and the truth is revealed when she's young? Oh man I gotta sit down.

Ok so first of all I imagining, then, that under this scenario maybe Serena didn’t know what he was, and Liv spends the first few years of her life happy. She remembers what if felt like to be happy, to have two parents and a warm home, and then to have it all ripped away from her. To learn that love exists but it does not stay - at least not for her. To remember a time when her mother wasn’t bitter and angry, and resent the loss of it. To war with herself, bc she loves the father she remembers and hates the man he turns out to be. I think she would be even less trusting, under these circumstances. Even harder. 

Which brings us to the next point - how different Liv would be when she first arrives at SVU and anon, my goodness, I could just kiss you on the mouth, bc I posted this back in July when I was rewatching s2:

YOU ARE SO RIGHT ANON Liv is initially hard, and Elliot does have to coach her god that is such a perfect way to phrase it. I think if we combine the hardness and the black and white view points she had in early seasons with this backstory, we get a character who looks even more like Amanda Rollins, tbh. More defensive of herself, even less trusting, and angry, bc she had a taste of happiness and then had it stolen from her. 

And what if, then, the s8 arc - Liv finding out who her father is, struggling with wanting to know him and feeling like maybe she shouldn’t, wishing she had a father who’d loved her but knowing that only father she had was the man who broke her mother and trying to reconcile those two things - was replaced with Liv’s father trying to reconnect. How would she process that? Wanting, so badly, to reclaim the happiness and the love that she knew in her childhood, knowing that not only is this man her blood but that they did have a relationship, once, wanting to hate him for what he did, for the women he hurt, for the way it destroyed their family, wanting to hate him bc he’s no better than the perps she puts away every day, but he’s her father. And does she see her father’s face echoed in every man she arrests? Does that make her hate them more, or does it make her hate herself bc she can’t dehumanize them, can’t make them all into monsters, bc if they’re monsters so is the father she loved and maybe so is she? 

This is heavy and it is good god bless you anon 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌

#anonymous #my anon #tw: rape

[unproduciblesmackdown]

@uberoll-oystercrackers putting this PT convo on blast just for the sake of switching to this format where u don’t have to break everything up via replies because [comically deep inhale]

honestly like idc idc i guess ppl are just like “uhh mytho’s got nothing going on b/c he has no feelings!!” like Yeah Correct, that’s a premise / inciting factor for this series and everything everyone’s doing lol, it’s only Boring if you don’t think about the character at all lmfao which i guess some ppl don’t, but like, there’s only 4 of them.....it’s Wildly Interesting that he literally has no feelings at first, like, for one thing it’s cool how there’s always the Idea of characters who don’t have emotions or act on them, but this is like the rare “realistic” situation where having no feelings means he needs someone to steer him around and make choices for him (and how Vulnerable that leaves him lmfao like episode 2 is wild but also that ppl just haven’t really realized that they Could just pick mytho up and pitch him into a wall, and fakir and rue are sort of careful neutral alliance keeping tabs on him) and you know, the whole s1 structure of mytho regaining both Capacity For / Experience of An Emotion and his sense of identity and by extent of all this his agency, and how like, Thematic everything surrounding this character is that’s reflected in the overall series like. trying to control someone for your own benefit vs being willing to sacrifice your own interests (and then some...) for their freedom & the Protecting Someone (And/Or Wanting To) As A Love Language that all the characters show for each other at various points & hope vs despair.......and like No Shit he’s dispassionate & passive b/c he can’t Feel Feelings & resultantly can’t make decisions or feel motivations but obviously he’s still Motivating other characters to act on his behalf, & there’s so much mystery & drama already in “yeah this guy you think is just a neat handsome guy is also an actual prince from a story who’s Real & sacrificed his heart in the fight with an evil giant raven monster that eats people & so he can’t feel anything or remember who he is” like damn!!! epic of him even if right now he can’t do much of anything on his own. i’m interested, and then i’m Interested every time in the Drama & Mystery of this person regaining parts of himself and completely rediscovering An Emotional Experience and how that is totally recontextualizing his entire existence for him.....

plus also even though “person literally lost heart via magic and doesn’t know what Feeling Things is” isn’t a We’ve All Been There situation i was like oh and you know it’s not like what mytho’s got going on isn’t potentially Relatable....can get into a side essay about dapressione and trauma and other types of stuff that can make it seem like someone can’t/shouldn’t have full access to their feelings / self / agency &/or it’s Dangerous if they try.....whew

but continuing on YEAH ugh just completely fascinated with mytho the Entire Time actually lol like, i’ve tended to lose steam in early s2 b/c he’s sort of Less involved beyond the [hehe time to cause some trouble in this particular ep] role lol but even so it’s like well it’s kinda fun when at least somebody’s being a bitch who lives for drama lmfaooooo & we get mytho Struggling Internally & sometimes punching through that way but again it’s like yeah oops the guy was basically autonomous but zwoop here’s a problem where that doesn’t mean shit anymore lol b/c he’s got this alternate evil self steering the ship all the time now lol got em.....the Peak of that i guess is where we get to have an epic swordfight between raven!mytho and fakir like you know what fuck yes!!! the intrinsic drama of that lmfao!!!! and then it’s like “oh no :/ loving the drama? that’s just what drosselmeyer wants” except Not b/c actually what makes it totally rule is that it’s this chance for Real Mytho to come through for the sake of protecting fakir (tbt “i wonder what i think of you, fakir”...) and really like that being what prompts fakir’s “you know what, even though before i was afraid my role as a knight would kill Me and i’m afraid my coincidental(?) role as a guy who can Reality Write could kill Anyone Else, i gotta try b/c that’s the only thing i could possibly do here and i want to try protecting everyone else b/c everyone else including mytho is protecting Me” and like augh everyone is so Thoughtful about how to try to help mytho out even as like, they can’t hardly interact with him or undo the situation lol.....as you’re getting into the series finale and everyone’s just outright Voicing things and you get “i/we want to protect mytho” like 32x and it’s beautiful each time ;___; like and well sorry but him & his heart/lack of are also the heart of the whole story here.....

and you know what *i* want to protect mytho, sympathizing with all the characters like fuck yes you’re so right, this guy rules, episode 6 aka The Fear Episode is SO good, like, you’ve gotten kinda used to the episodic format here, ep 5 did sure also make it obvious that things are Building on what’s happening prior here & that there’s stakes and stuff but it’s such a shakeup, like, that maybe just kinda sneakily dipping in and out of the arena giving back a piece of his heart until it’s done with, no problem, Isn’t Gonna Happen, and again, the Drama of it all......that the heart shards are yeah kind of their own People who are these fractions of mytho’s self and the way you interact with them is gonna like, affect things, since tutu didn’t like “resolve” things with that heart shard and just kinda got him on a technicality there lmfao so it’s like, yeah not only does mytho have a more general / abstract cause to be afraid of tutu & her bringing all these Unknowns & completely new things to him / changing things up and apparently introducing conflict, but you’ve gone and gotten his capacity for fear all recently riled up and specifically afraid of his interaction with You from 5 sec ago, and how could anyone know this mysterious magical being giving you Negative Feelings is like, Safe......and i’m sure it’s all compounding here, like, it’s Wild to be suddenly experiencing A Feeling for the (seeming) first time, and that in itself sure could be Scary, he just hasn’t had the proper emotion available with with to Be Afraid, now he’s gotten back a freshly stoked (capacity for) Fear and how off the shits it must be to be afraid for the first time anyways, or to be feeling the other stuff for the first time, and who knows what Unfun Feelings could come next, there’s a lot to freak out about.......and not like it’s trying That hard to never suggest like oh fakir's not that bad even though he’s technically an antagonist at the start b/c of being at odds with / against the protagonist, it’s pretty telling there lol like he’s unhappy with mytho having feelings again at all and has already been getting mad about it but is just being Helpful here and trying to comfort him, like aw that’s neat i think it’s nice, and again throwing it back to “I Wonder What I Think Of You, Fakir” you get fakir reassuring mytho that nobody but him is around, and mytho having this capacity for Fear is choosing to confide in fakir re: what he’s dealing with here (not that this would on it’s own be some guarantee that mytho’s Right to be unafraid of fakir, but, knowing all we eventually know...) like again lol it’s funny that drosselmeyer’s loving the Drama of mytho only having regained Negative Feelings like, i mean i’m soaking it in as well but it’s like, that guy’s all about Angst and it’s like no im here all about the Hurt/Comfort more like, thank you lmfao

it’s also SO good how it’s like, the next episode is turning around & giving the story a way forward not by like, oh let’s just counteract this Fear mytho’s struggling with by returning the....emotion of Courage i guess, but rather by giving him back Curiosity to ultimately lead to him actually seeking a conversation with tutu.......and it’s like AUGH it’s soooo fun that he goes to that river and has a conversation with his own heart shard lmfao like that’s you!!! and that You does not realize you’re them!!! that’s wild and i love it......wait i took low res screenshots when i rewatched this a few weeks ago lmfao

i Love it lmfao like it’s Such a good choice to have him not only have lost his Emotions but also memories / knowledge of who he, himself, even is.....like yeah man it was all on you to fight this heart eating raven monster!!!!!!!!! which you know, it’s also Fun that earlier in that episode when he and fakir are hanging out in the secret Problems Mill (which....fakir is hilarious like that lmfao. whole other tangent here like ppl are not only rolling with Animals As People but stuff like “yeah fakir might just be like ‘oops gotta go!’ and whisk mytho away to various out of the way Locations” like lmfao these teens have some free rein, but it’s nothing compared to s2 where it’s like “They Were Roommates but ig fakir tried to kill mytho who’s now being really dramatic and weird which is v different from before and maybe he’s in love with that one random dude who’s around now, which sucks for everyone else, oops now he’s just like Vanishing for god knows how long at a time it’s fine!!!!” lmfao like god. ballet school just is like that sometimes...) anyways Yeah that mytho’s been having nightmares about the raven and fakir is just going like IT’S FINE JUST DON’T THINK ABOUT IT lol and knowing fakir is also being pretty driven / restricted by fear, reasonably, as he thinks (well. and is correct) that he’s The Knight and his fate is literally written as “yeah if the story gets going and you’re a part of it you’ll just be killed” like yeah, oof......Wonder What I Think Of You Fakir like yeah AND he is that knight you actually did know who was suddenly killed trying to protect you and he’s sorta accepted that role again except he’s not really a fan of that Being Killed thing so here we’re having some issues in his misguided approach here re: Mytho Should Not Get His Heart Back, but he’s also trying to protect them Both from the story, and he’s only So Willing to act Against mytho, like, well hey thanks for apologizing after you hit him and then like, not doing that anymore lol, v reasonable how he’s struggling here lol where he’s trying to Protect mytho but the story a) wants to invite tragedy and b) has already said that The Knight has been / will be killed and can’t actually protect the prince within the story, also c) he’s just like one random high school guy out here......and also that it must just be kinda hard to adapt to this changing situation where mytho Is regaining this sense of self and motivation, but for like the past decade or whatever he Has needed fakir to just be in charge and tell him what to do all the time and, if he had the sense of what it was to trust someone, trust fakir to just always be acting in his best interest, but then mytho’s idea of his own best interest a) starts to Exist and b) is at odds w/fakir’s b/c also c) he doesn’t have All his feelings yet, Or all his memories, while fakir is like “noooo i know the story”.....like there was never any need to just like tell him he sucks at random times lol but it’s also kind of funny that’s just part of fakir’s shtick, calling mytho a dumbass one more time when he’s just fully himself as The Prince again lmfaooo. but prior to that, surely fakir could wonder what mytho thinks of him (or potentially Could think of him) too.......it’s just soooo good when mytho is like, expressing things verbally while trying to work through / figure out Feelings and even ones that he doesn’t have back yet, and it’s always fun how that inevitably throws off whatever character he’s musing about this to......including whenever ahiru’s just like “oh fuck yes he can do this b/c he has more feelings back now, that rules” and/or “aw :( he’s struggling w/this b/c he only has Some of his heart back”

and also that reminds me it’s SO good when the characters just kinda get to Do Something together lmfao like. ahiru and rue hanging out when looking for mytho that one time, iconic stuff, mytho and ahiru hanging out in the previous episode, iconic, maybe it kills me that in the first ep of s2 you have mytho saying ahiru’s his friend and the only person he feels like he can tell anything (and ahiru feeling bad she hasn’t Told Him Everything lol) and then he basically never gets to interact with her again knowing and as himself like Scream it’s fine ;v; !!!!!! let these people spend more than 3 seconds together Interacting lmfao it’s soooo good when they do :’0

and THEN you get into how there’s all this stuff re: The Story, like, fakir is the reincarnated knight, ahiru is the duck given tutu’s abilities Via a piece of mytho’s heart, but we had the original knight and tutu in the story as these actual ppl who we only hear a Little bit of lore about, but mytho actually knew / knows, and like, the original genesis for tutu only being on 1 Page of the story and apparently drosselmeyer doesn’t even really put any thought into what her motivations could be lol like yeah idk whatever she wants to marry the prince or whatever so that’s why she loves him and Says It and disappears......and like we have almost No direct info about her but uh nbd at least some of her actual essence is actually now an intrinsic part of mytho’s actual heart and specifically embedded in the heart shard of Hope, like damn!!!! you Know there was something more Real and Complex going on there and i love it so much.......and the original Knight, lohengrin.....might have been doomed to be unable to protect mytho with his sword, but there’s other ways to protect that guy and Someone needed to be doing it.......i’m just like wow mytho’s gf and bf!!!! and they both sort of died but hey. there’s still a lot to think about

so yeah lmfao love that you can originally see this series like, a decade ago and here it is like damn still lying down / yelling / generally riled up about mytho and just having So Much to think about / appreciate from this series like. it’s so Singular and has so much going on.......cherish it and i’m just still anytime like [epcot vine voice] Mytho...........

#uberoll-oystercracker #princess tutu

[safflowerseason]

Anonymous Asked

(post #5 in the “Tumblr ate my asks” series)

“No pressure if you're short on time since I know there's a lot to say about it, but I would love to hear your thoughts on the relationship between Amy and Selina”

Hi Anon - you sent this in weeks and weeks ago, and I’m sorry it took me ages to get around to it! But the question has been on my mind recently as I’m rewatching S3 and writing the next chapter of BMTL. 

What I find kind of interesting and frustrating about Selina and Amy’s relationship as presented on the show is that it’s a bit opaque compared to Selina’s other relationships (or Amy's with Dan, her other primary emotional foil on the show). We know virtually nothing about how Amy came to work for Selina (other than that she must have been quite young) or what she did that made her so invaluable; the most evident dimension of their connection—the fact that they are two women in a heavily male-dominated workspace—is never addressed explicitly by the writers. From the very beginning of the series, Amy has to try and defend her close relationship with Selina, but since we didn’t see how they became so close…to me, it always feels a little like there is something missing, in the way their connection is laid out.

I think the pilot actually works well as a kind of microcosm of Selina and Amy’s dynamic as it plays out through the Iannucci years of the show. Amy is presented as Selina’s right-hand woman; Selina clearly regards her as the smartest person on her team and has some measure of her respect for her that she doesn’t have for, say, Mike. But by the end of the pilot, she’s also gone over Amy’s express recommendation (hiring Dan) and has no objection to Amy performing a humiliating and sexist task (go on a date with Jonah in exchange for fixing the card situation). This is the dynamic that plays out through S4—Selina turns to Amy last and often only when she feels she’s truly backed into a corner and/or can’t discuss a particular issue with the men on her team. There is something very intimate about this kind of relationship, of course, and it’s drawn in deeply emotional terms. But in exchange for this particular kind of political intimacy, Amy has to fake a miscarriage, flush Selina’s toilet, get picked last for campaign manager (and only after she sabotages Dan and thus the very campaign she wants to run), and essentially watch Selina make increasingly bad political decisions based on advice from her current favorites while ignoring whatever Amy tells her. And one might say the tragedy of Amy’s character is that she endures these indignities not because she’ll get fired if she doesn’t do them (although that is literally true in some cases), but because she clearly derives a lot of her personal and professional self-worth from doing Selina’s dirty work. To a certain degree, and in face of stark evidence to the contrary, Amy believes that her willingness to do these things means that Selina values her the most of all. 

That all sounds a bit darker than I mean it to. Of course Amy does experience small moments of genuine triumph under Selina, and she obviously wrestles with the uneven terms of their relationship during the first four seasons of the show—she thinks about jumping ship in S2, we see it dawn on her in S3 that Selina is basically her entire life in a way that probably isn’t healthy, she goes through phases of trying to develop some kind of life outside her work. Her own personal ambition is also a huge part of what’s going on. She’s very invested in the idea of being the managing force behind the first female Vice President (and President) and that helps her put up with Selina's most infuriating qualities as a politician. And of course, she does ultimately quit mid-way through S4, as she comes into this realization that she got her chosen horse into the White House and it’s a fucking disaster. 

As for Selina’s side in all this…this is where the opacity of their relationship really features for me. I admit, I don’t quite understand viewers who talk about Iannucci-Selina as if she is Amy’s endlessly supportive older gal pal. Selina says more nice things about Gary in the early seasons of the show than she does about Amy. Yes, she obviously sees Amy as someone who can perform a certain kind of emotional labor for her and she relies on her greatly for that. Selina is very isolated emotionally, and I think Amy’s presence in her entourage as a young woman who is personally and professionally devoted to her is very reassuring to her, even if she doesn’t really realize it until after Amy leaves. This is something @thebookofmaev pointed out to me and I think it's quite telling: Selina reacts to Amy’s resignation in S4 by arranging “girls night” with her old law school friends, which she obviously finds excruciating. It’s significant to me that Selina is trying to fill an emotional hole, rather than a political one. While it’s obvious Selina generally prefers the company of men, there is something in her relationship with Amy that I think she finds very uncomplicated and soothing in a way she doesn’t find any other relationship on the show. She needs Amy for the moments of emotional extremity that Ben can’t handle. But considering how she treats Amy outside of those few moments, it's hard for me to view the relationship as one between genuine equals (not to mention the literal power imbalance between them). She needs Amy when she needs her and there’s no space for anything else in their relationship. 

Amy returns to Selina in the S4 finale and it’s clearly a deeply psychological impulse more than anything else, more to do with herself than Selina, I would argue. It’s one of Amy’s most honest moments in the whole show—she can’t not be there after spending so much of her life invested in getting Selina elected. Selina collapses in her arms and wails that she should never have left and it’s genuinely moving and borderline romantic…and then she tells her supporters at the election rally that Amy took time away because she had a mental breakdown. Plus ça change. 

Unfortunately, we can’t know what Iannucci had planned for Amy and Selina…I suspect we would have seen a few more “break-ups” in their relationship as it became increasingly unstable, and Amy would continue to wrestle with the costs of remaining within Selina’s orbit. Obviously (as a Dan/Amy shipper, haha) I think Dan would have been part of that journey for her…S4 is pretty explicit (in my opinion) about the fact that Dan now officially occupies the third point of the triangle between Selina, Amy, and some semblance of a life, not to mention the fact that the Dan/Amy/Selina triangle is a major structural anchor of the show in its own right. 

Of course, one of the greatest objections fans had to Mandel as a showrunner was his approach to Amy and Selina’s relationship, largely driven by Selina’s transformation into the ultimate mysogynist. I don’t agree with this interpretation of Selina, but I do think the deterioriation of Amy and Selina’s relationship is very plausible even under Iannucci. Amy has to leave Selina at some point, like most strategists move on from their bosses if they want to remain politically relevant. But Selina's attachment to Amy is primarily emotional and not political, and Amy permanently moving on from her would be a bitter pill for her to swallow…she clearly views Dan and Amy at PKM as non-WH extensions of her staff, but Amy leaving to work for another politician, especially a female one, would be unbearable for her. Similarly, I do not think any version of Selina would react well to the news that Amy was going to have a baby. We can’t know if this was a sure thing in the Iannucci Veep universe, obviously, but considering how she reacts to Mike potentially becoming a father…I just can’t see Selina embracing the fact that someone else is going to have a superior claim on Amy’s time and energy. (But I also don’t think Iannucci-Selina would ever order Amy to have an abortion, of course.) 

My fic, Bring Me to Light, is exploring this theme to a certain degree. It imagines a future in which Amy has fully invested in a life outside of Selina, and when her old boss makes a reappearance, Amy struggles with old professional demons (and of course, because I’m the author, she has to reckon with Selina and Dan’s separate professional relationship as well 😈)

Well, this turned into quite an essay, so I’ll stop there. You’re right, Anon—there’s so much to say!

#amy brookheimer #selina meyer #dan egan #veep

[oh-lali-lali-lali-lalipop]

@mysteriousdbzgt: Hi oh-lali-lali-lali-lalipop! Thank you for your ask. First of all, thanks for asking this question here on my personal (and also for the follow over on t&bftw, welcome aboard! :D) I think you can probably tell from here, that I’m a huge supporter of them becoming romantically involved lol I don’t shy about that here, but I like to present a more neutral stance over on my news dedicated blog, to not influence others of my personal opinions. With regards to the new season, as much as I would be supportive of it, I unfortunately highly doubt that they would become “official” in S2 or anything in the future, but will remain extremely dedicated and attentive to one another, regardless of their constant bickering. The creators of the show are more than aware of the popularity of the “couple”, being constantly popular at doujinshi events and the continuous amounts of merchandise that they bring out, which regularly focuses on the main duo rather than all of the Heroes all the time. The fandom is primarily dominated by women, when originally the show was supposed to target men and “salarymen”, but attracted a completely different demographic that they hadn’t anticipated. I can only think that’s mainly because of the appeal of K&B. Also not helped by some of the staff’s, let’s just say, “unfiltered” thoughts when they discuss about K & B in older interviews, centering around “love” and other similar notions. I think they still want to keep this series aimed towards a male demographic, even if the results don’t line up as they expect. But highly ironically, it’s what makes the show successful, so I doubt they would want to change how they portray Kotetsu and Barnaby’s relationship. Personally I would be absolutely over the moon if they did become “official”, because they’re just perfect for one another (hehe) and it could just break so many standard conventions/boundaries on how media portrays same-sex relationships, if done appropriately, and not be labelled with any genre tags like “BL”, “yaoi” or anything similar, and still simply just be a “drama”, “superhero” tale, with the two main males eventually getting together but not make a big song and dance about it. If we want to normalise LGBT relationships within our media and what we consume, then we need to drop these tags and portray them in a healthy manner, which I think the show does well between them both. I believe that the staff have the talent to pull it off, they just need to be cautious on how they do it. Like you said, how FE is presented in the show which such great self confidence about themselves and who they are, really shows that they can write this. Also T&B’s spiritual successor show, Double Decker (who had a lot of the same staff) tackles some LGBT themes pretty well, so they could absolutely do it. But yeah, I don’t think they’ll become “official” unfortunately. But if anything, I anticipate that KxB will most likely be working even closer together in S2, so they’ll be more in tune with one another, and possibly open up even more to each other than they did before. Hopefully they’ll be over the huge feuds and split apart phase, which The Rising focused on (they’ll still bicker all the time, but that’s just how they are), so we can see just how far their relationship has come and changed for the better. Anyway this is probably way too long (sorry), but always interested to hear your thoughts too! :)  

Heya! Before I start I just wanna say thank you so much for taking the time to give me such a thorough reply, it is incredibly well thought out and written! I also want to say I am so freaking sorry you had to type out my monstrosity of a name (seriously didn’t think about that when making the joke lol). Oh, and I’m equally sorry for the formatting of the reply... really had no clue how to go about it, so I just defaulted to going about it the roleplayer way haha. Anyways, for starters, I think I should say that I actually agree with you a lot. You see, logically I think it feels highly unlikely they’d make them “official” in the new season. I’m not sure if I feel like it’s unlikely because I, someone who’s in the LGBTQ community, am a pessimist (aka, I’m negative regardless of proof) who is use to companies not delivering on it/assume companies won’t deliver on it.... or if I’m genuinely, but unconsciously, picking up on Sunrise’s stance of “not gonna happen”. Despite all that I still feel stupidly hopeful about it (y’know, heart louder than the mind and all that jazz)... and I guess for the sake of the discussion I’ll break down why! lol So, I got into the fandom.... around the time of The Rising, I think, so anywhere from 2014 to 2015. I instantly fell in love with it all, but I did end up falling out of the loop for awhile (being a teenager and all that). Recently (recently being that I finished S1 on Friday, watched The Rising on Sunday, and now I’m here lol) I got back into it and.... wow, a lot of it is the same, and.... at the same time it felt like I had so much more to process. It’s still as amazing as ever, if not even more so, and just like with everything else I love with my entire being I started to analyze it and read into it (maybe a little bit too much so lol).  In all honesty, KxB seriously stood out even more so than it did last time for me (I don’t know if it’s because I’m now accepting of my sexuality or what) and while it’s not actually the best part of the series to me (God, Barnaby’s arc means so much to me what with me struggling with cPTSD, but that story is best left on my RP blog) I do have to admit that the pairing is... incredibly meaningful, and beautiful. Moving for me, really.  I guess the following observations, and hopeful thinking that came after it, could be deduced to me just wearing shipper goggles, but considering my habit of over analyzing and breaking things down... I do try to make predictions and opinions logically, and with that in mind it’s why I’m so stuck on the “hopeful thinking”, since a tiny bit of logical thinking is fueling it. Tiger & Bunny is about human relationships, really. For a show focusing on NEXTs... it’s really about humanity, corruption, society, relationships... and KxB all along the first season is written as an undertone, like a slow burn (which is entirely fitting, and seriously makes any relationship better), which fits because the first season is, in actuality, not focused on that (the plot being bigger than we can see and all that). In the end, having rewatched it, I also noticed how, really, the undertone is written in such a way that.... it feels like Barnaby is the one with the “crush” (or is the first one to realize it) which... kinda fits with the old statements from the crew. Kotetsu the forever oblivious one who hasn’t had an epiphany yet (although if I’m being honest, The Rising seems to have this “side-plot” feeling of Kotetsu having the epiphany when he realizes what he’s lost, which is what I meant by the flow of the series somewhat feels like it’s building towards it)...  .... There’s also the whole “leaving it to interpretation thing” they said back then. Which, I have to agree with some other people that it feels like it’s just a way of saying “it’s romantic but we don’t want to take that risk”.... and that was back around 2011. It’ll have been decade since then when S2 is released, and, while a decade is just a decade, a lot has changed on a societal basis since then. Even during this decade long gap Sunrise has become more bold with their representation, whether it be Double Decker! or The Rising.... almost like they’re testing the waters...  and what better way to champion representation than to make two main characters the representation? This franchise is... so human in it’s story, and the meaning doing such a thing would have for so many people... in a way, I think out ways some of the risks. I feel like the build up is there, the want is there (tbh seeing posts on tumblr of people talking about how they hope they’ll get a kiss in S2 or something “official” like that also fueled this)... it just depends on whether they’ll feel afraid or not. Which is, really, why I asked for your opinion. You do such good work at trying to bridge the gap between the Japanese fandom/Sunrise and the English speaking community (which, btw, you are amazing at, I can’t thank you enough for the work you do), and I knew you’d be more informed on Sunrise’s attitude and statements, as well as the general opinions and depositions of the Japanese fans. In the end, I can “read into” things all I want, but it won’t matter if you can’t understand the one who pulls the strings... and because of that I wanted to know your opinion.  I’m so so sorry this got so long!! I’m really horrible at summarizing myself, so this turned into a major ramble.... I’m gonna wrap it up now before this turns into a novel haha. Again, thank you so much for responding to my question and for being open to discussing it, it means so much! I truly respect your opinion, since it helps me clear my own thoughts, as well as gives me a dose of reality so I don’t get my hopes up too much... I guess in the end though, a part of me is going to continue to think that they just might have the heart to do it, irregardless lol. I look forwards to seeing what you have to say about what I’ve written here!

#mysteriousdbzgt #thoughts #Tiger & Bunny #I have no clue why tumblr tried to squash your post when I copied it like Kotetsu squashes his burgers #but jesus fucking christ #also tumblr what did you do to block quotes wtf

[morganas-pendragons]

Best Carol/Melissa Episodes

So I got bored in Quarantine and I was so moved by Look At The Flowers that I decided to make this list of the best episodes that either feature Carol/Melissa as a lead or she plays a large part in them. I haven’t seen S1-2 since like... 2014 as they’re my least favorite (i know i’m sorry but i did include honorable mentions) but I’m so freaking proud that I couldn’t not make this list. Here we go! Feel free to add to them! ** means they’re my favorite performances of Melissa! I do mention some scenes that are also with Norman/Daryl as he is a LARGE part of who Carol is. If you think it’s ‘’shippy’’ which it might be, don't read it. I worked on this for almost two hours. 

season 1

- for real, what woman keeps a grenade on hand? That was it. That was where I started paying attention to her. 

- also, the scene where she digs the pickaxe into Ed’s head? I think Daryl and I both fell for her then. 

season 2 

- the honorable mention!! the barn scene in which carol learns the fate of her daughter. I don’t remember most of s2, but this one I do. I think this might’ve been the first point in the show where I was like, “Hey Google, how to protect someone who isn’t real.’’

season 3

- walk with me: We get to see how Carol has changed during her time on the road after the farm and how much she’s learned. This is also, unfortunately, the last time we see her for a couple episodes until Daryl finds her in the cells below. 

- hounded: daryl finds carol. It’s sweet, it’s warm and soft and there’s alot of reunions and alot of mourning over T-Dog and Lori. 

season 4

- Carol has become a leader in her own right for this season. She teaches the kids how to defend themselves during the ruse of a story time and takes on Lizzie and Mika as her own after Ryan is bit. 

- indifference: After killing Karen and David to stop the spread out a virus, Rick takes it into his own hands to banish Carol. This one hurts too because it’s quite obvious why she did it. She did it to protect herself and the people she loves, but sometimes that’s just not enough. 

- the grove: emmy emmy emmy emmy material. Holy crap, I CANNOT stress this enough! This is the make or break episode for Carol as a character. There’s beauty and devastation and anguish all wrapped up into 45 minutes. This should’ve made Melissa well known. This should’ve won her multiple awards, and it didn’t. But we know. We know. 

season 5 

- sanctuary: this one goes down in history for multiple reasons, and most of us know them. 1.) Caryl reunions galore. Even if you don’t ship it, that moment is so, so sweet. 2.) If it weren’t for Carol, your fave would be dead. That’s literally it. 

- consumed: OOF. Really. 

- The back half of season 5 after the arrival at Alexandria is hilarious to me. Because these people are so sheltered from the darkness and the cruelty of the outside world that Carol takes on their own persona to blend in with them, to know the naivety of these people and to hide easily among them to get what she needs. This is also how she befriends Sam, who probably reminds her of Sophia which is why she’s so cruel to him. 

season 6 

- jss**: ‘’Miss Peletier, you are an honest to goodness hero.” No. Freaking. Way.  I remember watching this episode and rocking back and forth on my heels in anticipation because up until this point, I think this might’ve been one of the bloodiest moments in the show - and right in the center of it all is Carol - who is now of the mindset that, ‘’hey, we need to kill, we don’t have a choice.’’ and she portrays the internal struggle behind all of this so, so well. The scene with Melissa holding the body on the stairs was what won me over for this episode. It’s very much a merciless 45 minutes. 

- no way out: Carol is not a lead in this episode, but Melissa is very heavily influenced between this one and the previous because of her confrontation with Morgan. I remember how angry that made me, having to watch him bodyslam her (a former domestic abuse victim) against the floor. Outside of Carol, this episode is one of my favorites in the show. 

- not tomorrow yet/the same boat**: Carol moreso plays a bigger part in the latter as opposed to the former, but these two episodes really showcase two things: Her heart to protect her family (IE: A now pregnant Maggie) and her deteriorating mental state. Outside of The Grove, I think this is one of Melissa’s most powerful performances. it’s also the only female led ep in the show  

- east**: I cried the first time I watched this. Carol vs The Saviors, #2. This episode breaks between Morgan and Rick going out to look for her (HENCE ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITE QUOTES ABOUT CAROL: “That woman, she’s a force of nature.) I don’t think I really understood the power behind the eyes in the midst of television until I saw this episode. I can’t find the gif, but I’m sure most of you who’re reading this know what I’m talking about. 

- last day on earth**: again this episode shifts between perspectives as TF is trying to get Maggie to Hilltop for her pregnancy complication, but Melissa is stellar here. Carol doesn’t want to love because if she loves, she has to kill, and she attempts to manipulate one of the survivors from the massacre into doing what she can’t: taking her own life. She just wants to go, and Morgan won’t let her. This one is a bit darker, and the episode as a whole is not my favorite, but it’s definitely up there in my favorite performances for Melissa. 

season 7 

- the well: if there was ever an episode that would show you that Melissa aces comedy, it was this one. This is meant to be an introductory to The Kingdom, but the hilarity behind the way Carol talks to Ezekiel is so entertaining. It’s kind of hard to believe she ends up marrying the man (we’re not going into shipper discourse here, friends) but this one also shows you something through Carol’s eyes: The differences between people and walkers and her desire not to kill. She wants to hide, and she does. 

- new best friends: Daryl lies to Carol about what happened in the clearing with Negan. This one is so so heartfelt. It’s deeply intimate. It showcases two people who’d move heaven and earth to ensure the safety of the other, both physical and mental and emotional. Norman and Melissa aced this. I can’t say it more simply then that. 

- bury me here**: I love love love love love this episode. The entire thing is a metaphor, but I love it anyway. If I remember right, this is also the one where Morgan tells Carol about Glenn and Abraham. Remember what I said about the power behind a look? This is another instance in which Melissa shows she is the master of this. 

- carol spends alot of the time at the kingdom for the rest of the season and i cannot really remember any more memorable performances for this garbage, as they took my fave and reduced her to a side character for this and most of s8.

season 8 

- the only performance i will give any credit to in this season is 8x04, which is Some Guy. I barely remember the rest of it. Minus the moment where she finally saves a kid - Henry - instead of losing one. And a heartbreaking moment between her and Morgan that I also barely remember. Case in point, S8 was and still is garbage. 

season 9 

- 9x01-9x05 all have Carol in them because whenever Angela Kang took over the show, she had the brilliant idea to actually use her lead women as leads. Season 9 feels like an eternity ago and I can’t remember if she took over before or after AL signed off, but my point remains. Between Carol’s loyalty to Ezekiel because of Henry, (who she has now taken as her son), and their marriage, and her short stint as the leader of the Sanctuary as Negan is in confinement, there’s something in Carol here we haven’t seen in years. It’s something akin to peace, or as close as she’s gonna get to it. 9x03 and 9x04 (particularly the conversation b/t Rick and Carol) are my favorite of this cluster for her. 

- I almost dropped off after 9x05. I thought that was it, I thought that was gonna be where I ended. Nope. This woman - AK- took this show and made it what it had been and I’ll never be able to thank her enough for it. 

- Who Are You Now: I only remember this one because of the scene where Carol and Henry are in the carriage - side note: I really need to go back and rewatch this season again - but one of the things that caught my attention about the after of the bridge was how the relationships b/t parent and child are approached as significant. They’re not the future. The adults are building for the future of the kids. Michonne/Judith, Ezekiel/Henry and Carol/Henry. It’s sweet. Very sweet. 

- Stradivarius: this is a very Caryl heavy episode, but we find out something here: Even with being married to Ezekiel, Carol has still gone out to see Daryl where he resides by the same river that took Rick. Henry sees the relationship between him and his mother. It’s as obvious as the nose on your face. This one is just adorable. I love it. 

- The Calm Before**: Ow. OW OW OW OW OW. You want more pain? Here you go! Carol faces the dark truth as she crests the hill that holds her worst nightmare: Henry has died. She’s lost another kid. You wanna restrain yourself from breaking through the TV to comfort Carol for the umpteenth time as she breaks? Cool. That’s what you get here. 

- The Storm**: Split apart by the death of Henry, Carol and Ezekiel no longer remain married. She gives up that fairytale - one of the happiest she’d ever had - and begins wallowing in her suffering over the loss of her son. Heartbreak and grief do not come easily to her. They never have. Can you imagine being suffocated by things you’ve never talked about? Can you imagine having to live every day with your grief? Well, look here... that’s exactly what Carol does, and you want to know who her guiding force is? 

It’s Daryl. 

season 10 

- I remember when Season 10 aired, I watched the first episode in Kenya and loved it. I’d heard something about how PTSD was a BIG factor in the progression of the story throughout this season, and as someone who wants to go into mental health counseling, I was so intrigued by this that every single episode kept my eyes glued to the TV. Carol is the lead female now besides Michonne, but I’m gonna tell you every single favorite episode of mine anyway. 

- Ghosts: Carol makes a mistake and fires at Alpha when they meet her at the border. She wears a mask that’s so composed it’s almost hard to see the heartbreak beneath it, and that’s the point. She’s not considering her life. She’s considering vengeance for the life that was taken. This is a constant circle for her. Alot of people are tired of this arc and I get it, I do. But the difference between this one and the three seasons previous is that we’re meant to get to a resolution now. This episode broke my heart. Especially the last scene in the gym. 

- Bonds: Another Caryl heavy episode. I love this one. It’s very lighthearted compared to the rest of the season. 

- Open Your Eyes**: This one is utterly terrifying and eerily reminiscent of the one in S2 where Daryl interrogates Randall. Carol, having just brought back a Whisperer from her escapade with Daryl, interrogates him to find out the location of Alpha’s horde without any real consideration for the people around her. She also uses Lydia for her own personal gain, and I’m not gonna lie - Even though this one is one of my favorites because of Avi Nash (WHO WAS SUCH A GOOD ADDITION TO THE SHOW I LOVED HIM AS SIDDIQ) This episode made me so angry because of Carol’s motives. 

-  The World Before**: And when I said I was angry, this episode turned it all into heartbreak. This one remains one of my favorite of the show and of Carol for one very specific reason: The scene in the woods between her and Daryl. 

As someone who has never done grieving well, this scene hit me so. hard. She’s so set on this path of vengeance and blood that she’s neglecting a very real truth that she has never done well: talking about her burdens, talking about the pain and if she does that, if she acknowledges it, then she will hurt. 

- Squeeze: I don’t have to talk about this. I just have to show you. 

Ow. Please, please let her heal. I’m so tired of seeing her hurt. 

- 10x11 and 10x12 don’t really have Carol, and neither does 10x13, but she’s there. We see her a couple of times, we have a conversation or two. Let me get to the penultimate moment. One we’ve waited for years to see and which next week will give us the rest of. 

- LOOK AT THE FLOWERS*****: You can be a Carol fan for five minutes or five years and still somehow managed to love her MORE after watching this one. There’s a couple reasons why this one is probably in my top 3 for both Melissa and Carol as a whole. 

1. I have waited years to see Negan meet Carol. JDM has made it very clear how he feels about MMB and I knew, I knew, that once this interaction happened I would not be disappointed. I should’ve realized she was the one who let Negan out, but I didn’t. That entire first scene is gold. 

2. This entire episode is just.. art. The fact that Carol’s darker side takes the form of the being of her hatred - Alpha - is fitting, and it’s also the first time we’ve really gotten an actual dialogue about multiple things that have formed her character for the last several seasons: The Grove, the loss of Sophia, Ed... It’s heartbreaking to see because she keeps telling herself pushing people away is better, it’s better to be alone because there’s no one to burden, and the darker side of her asks a very simple question: What do you want? 

Her answer is clear, at least to her. I want to be alone. But the fact that the darker part of her, the one that keeps calling out on Connie, doesn’t agree. No. There’s something deeper. Something she’s too afraid to acknowledge. 

3. That whole final scene. Wow. I’ve watched it like four times because Samantha Morton is just so good as Alpha, as Carol’s dark counterpart, trying to mock and taunt her into doing the one thing she never was able to do herself: Dying. This episode is dark because of this realization. “Look at the flowers’’ is akin to ‘’It’ll all be over soon.” but instead of choosing death, instead  of choosing the one thing that would let it be over, she chooses life. She essentially chooses to fight for herself which she has not done in YEARS. The minute she acknowledges that it’s never too late (FOR WHAT?? HM??) the demons disappear. I think that this point into 10x15 will give us two things that every Carol fan is desperate for: Healing for Carol (FINALLY!), and a resolution to this endless arc of suffering. 

Also... Why do we think that Daryl is the one who ends up welcoming her home? Why is he the one who opens the gate? 

Long story short: I love this character. I love Melissa McBride as she is one of the most down-to-earth, humble and compassionate actresses in Hollywood. It’s a shame she’s not gonna be recognized by The Academy because if ever there was an actor/actress on this show to win, it’d be her. 

#Carol Peletier #Melissa McBride #The Walking Dead #TWD #twd spoilers #messing up my own tagging system just to prove my point

[xsecretblastsx]

i1x16 - All about my brother

Last week was so busy for me and my brain was so fried I didn’t think I could do this until today. I’m excited to though to reach this episode, only two more two go and S1 will be done. So here we go.

As usual recap under the cut.

Thoughts I had while watching the episode:

This one of my fave uniform looks of Blair. I don’t even know why, but it is.

I so love the Jenny vs Blair dynamic. Because even if I’m rooting for Blair I can’t help but admire Jenny here.

Chuck and Bart are at the Bachelor party in Montecarlo, and he still calls Serena to see how she is. Brother and sis in the making.

Hello Georgina, oh sorry Sarah. Having watched the series already this is a plot I can’t help but roll my eyes at

Jenny telling Eric that he has a crush on her, actually that whole since she reminded me a lot of Regina George when she was fake nice.

Asher was really bad a hiding his relationship, like the dude is kissing his boyfriend right next to the school where anyone could see them.

I wonder who was Mr Spitzer and why he couldn’t be seated near Serena at the wedding, I want to believe there’s a funny story behind it, and not because he’s a perv.

Sure, Jenny’s being a bitch to Dan, and for once he’s in the right, and yet I can’t feel bad for him. 

“Don’t go to France, I’ll be there for you” a throwaway line from Blair, and yet bits like this are what fueled the fandom scale towards Blair for so long, Blair’s drama is petty compared to Serena’s and yet... still to this day people still argue about this mostly against Serena. 

“You look stressed even for you” an acurate description of Dan Humphrey at any given time. And Serena’s so eager to have that in her life, poor girl.

Serena’s turning around while Blair’s describing Jenny as self obssesed, self serving, self centered is hilarious, but hey she knows what she’s talking about

The four G: guys, girlfriends and Gossip Girl.

“Now you know how Vanessa Hudgen feels”, that is so 2008. Worse thing is I remember it.

“Wasn’t me, wish it was”, so Blair.

“Is your brotherly duty to save her from becoming the next Katie Holmes” Seriously this episode is getting quite savage with the not so nice pop culture references, also I dind’t want to remember this.

Dan being like “I don’t want Jenny to get hurt” and Blair pointing out that he should have thought of that before telling all of Manhattann that she’s a  glorified hag is why Dan sucks so bad.

Rufu’s seeing Lily on that wedding dress 

Jenny having a rude awakening, and even though she hates it she still goes along with it. 

Again, he may be right, but thanks Jenny for telling Dan to stop judging everyone all the time.

Serena blowing up Blair, and for once this actually was important. Too bad she couldn’t know that.

I so wish Georgina had refered to Blair as Snow White more in the show. And I guess people loved it because I’ve seen it more than once on fanfic. Also Eric being like “Oh, snow not so white, did you hear that...” but in Eric’s favor that was juicy gossip. 

Now I feel bad for pointing it out earlie the same thing Georgina says here, that was so in plain sight, this was really mean though.

Eric calling Chuck after the fall out, and he sums it up pretty well, the guy may have flaws, but being a judgmental ass  is not one of them. 

One of my fave bits of S1 was all the heartfelt moments between Serena and Eric. 

Blair’s arrival at Jenny’s party: EPIC. “The most importants parties to attend are the onew you’re not invited to” girl is serving. Also one of her most underrated looks in Season one

Georgina, Vanessa, Serena and Dan sitting at a table, talk about akward, also  I don’t know how to interpret this because either: half of the table are sociopaths, or just roll my eyes becaue the writers totatlly forgot about this plot when writing the final season of this show. 

Penelope and Hazel bitching about how their first time’s were awful. Not cool.

I wish we had got a nice moment between Blair and Eric, because they did care about each other, and we got so little between them. Because these kids were family, dysfunctional one for sure, but family nonetheless.

I know Asher was a jerk, and this was a moment of empowerment for Eric, but outing people is never good. Like I get why Eric did it, and he’s also really young, but still. 

Seriously Blair look’s gorgeous this episode.

That scene with Lily and Eric brief as it was really made me emotional, it’s one Lily’s most honest  and realest moment as a mom.

 Jenny raising the white flag, this scene is my second fave scene between them,their power struggle may be over for now, but it was a ride. And I love how honest they get with each other.

So Dan can tell Serena what to do, what not do, talk about her friends, but the moment she tells him she has misgivings about someone, he’s like how dare you! why don’t you trust my judgment... and then list all the bad things she did, and just leaves. He’s the biggest hypocrite ever.

Seriously angry Scrabble? And the words are like... ugh. I just can’t with him.

This is one of my favorite moments of Blair and Serena because Blair’s words are such a perfect description of the bond between them.

That’s such an ending for an episode “I kill someone”

No Chuck or Nate this episode. 

So this episode... it was quite packed. It’s basically the set up for the finale of Season One, putting and end to the Blair vs Jenny storyline and leaving us with Georgina breaking havoc front and center, only to drop the bomb that Serena killed someone. On first watching I remember I was like what? and hitting next episode really fast. Now not so much because this episode was one of those were rewatching reallly felt diferent from the first time. It’s also the one so far were knowing how the show ends was really distracting

I remembered this episode mostly for being the final round of Blair vs Jenny and it being quite a thing to watch, feeling bad for Eric,loving his scenes with Lily and Serena, and that last scene between Serena and Blair. And unlike the episode of Jenny’s birthday, I didn’t enjoyed their struggle for power as much this second time around. Not because I hated or anything, in fact Blair arriving to that party was still epic, I guess it had a lot to do with the fact that this was my favorite Jenny storyline, back then I didn’t knew what to expect, and I was excited about seeing where her character goes next, and now I know, and I didn’t like it how it went in the end, and it was sad to see her so defeated here,because she is never happy, whenever she gets something she wants it turns out it doesn’t make her happy at all, and even knowing that, the way things go, the way she acts, make it hard to root for her.  

I still loved her last scene with Blair though, because it didn’t matter how much antagonism there was between them, they also still saw a bit of themselves in each other, they hate it but they admire each other, and it’s was make their relationship so interesting and why they have these moments of such honesty between them, and sure, here Blair was condecending and Jenny basically tells her that she destroyed her life just to be like Blair, as if being like her was not something good, so each of them believe she’s better than the other, and yet it ends on a really sad not because Jenny’s words “I don’t expect anything anymore” are actually really depressing for a 15 year old girl, and as soon as she turns back towards the elevator, Blair drops the smile, because she gets it. So like I said, a really good scene, and even though I may not be excited about Jenny’s storylines anymore, I’m excited about a certaing scene betweem them in S2. That’s my fave. You can probably guess which one it is.

The other main plot this episode was Georgina still breaking havoc on Serena’s life, this time by blackmailing her, and becoming friends with Dan and Vanessa. Now, I normally don’t like to think that much about future events, particularly how it all ends, because I like enjoying the episodes trying to yes get more insight on why things happened the way it did, and it’s easier to analyse the characters actions and motivations in the moment, rather than focusing in their whole character arc, but this episode I found it pretty impossible to do because, knowing Dan is Gossip Girl means he’s pretending the whole time in a more obvious way, playing it up next to Georgina who’s presented as manipulative, a tad crazy and evil, is hard not to notice how he’s basically the same, and at least Georgina was honest about her nature, Dan on the other hand is not, Penn and the whole internet has being pointing out since  “You” came out about how Penn’s character Joe, is Dan upgrading to murder, and this is where the comparison really cames to life.  It kind of creeps me out. 

Dan aslo makes me really angry, becausse to top it all he gets mad at Serena, for basically not trusting her judgement because he is the trustworthy one in this relationship and she is not, and he drives the point home by listing all the times she has lied to him, never mind that part of the reason she lies is beacause he’s a judgmental ass who has lowkey constantly drilled her with how he loves the good Serena, and this episode he’s even critical of her haning out with Chuck who is a) her soon to be step brother b) someone she’s been reluctant friends with since she was a kid, and he also is critical of her partying, so basically the things she did before she met him, and that’s wrong on itself, but having Dan Humphrey acting all high and mighty because he doesn’t lie to Serena, makes me angry because he being a hypocrite not capable of seeing his own mistakes, never asking for forgiveness is what I dislike the most about his character.

I’ll leave it here for today, because this carries on to the next episode, and because Dan’s gets even worse on the next ones, so I’ll know I’ll be ranting about him even more so, and I don’t want to repeat myself, at least not that much. I’ll end this by remembering that last scene between Blair and Serena, because it’s such a precious moments and the reason why no matter what happened between and how bad it got, they are sisters and love each other to pieces “We're sisters. You're my family. What is you is me. There's nothing that you could ever say to make me let go. I love you”

Random bit’s I’ve noticed:

Lily’s schedule was so full, between disscusing her prenup, a final fitting at Mark Ingram’s Atelier, a mani/pedi, a conference call about an article, an appoitment at Barney’s... oh the good life.

So this episode is where the “whoever said money can’t buy happiness didn’t know where to shop” quote cames from. I’ve seen that one on a ton of edits, no one of my fave though.

Funny but if there was one character that really put into practice Blai’rs words about crashing parties it was Vanessa now that I think of it.

Shut up and let me go! I was so obssesed with that song back in 2008. Though when I think of the Ting Tings and Gossip Girl, I have a different song in mind. 

#gossip girl #gossip girl recap #gossip girl rewatch #1x16 #all about my brother

[38sr]

I wanna know everything

WHERE DO I BEGIN, VULPES????

Okay okay, I’m just gonna list off the things that I’ve already written for this AU and hope I don’t get into spoilers for the Undercut DJ. To make things clear, this AU is like a mix of canon divergence/fix-it since I’ve been taking the time to rewatch VLD and analyze the story as a whole. So let’s start at the beginning~

Voltron 2020: A canon divergence/fix-it AU based on the 2016 VLD series. I only call it Voltron 2020 since the stories I’ve written/drawn for it so far wouldn’t be out in the public until next year haha.

Where does it start?

V2020 (I’m just shorten it to this) keeps S1 and S2 in canon and kicks off in S3. There’s only one small change I would make to S1 but I’ll get into that when I talk about Shiro in this AU.

These haircuts??? Explain please???

Haha, yes I’m a fan of the idea of Keith, Lance and Allura (yeah you heard me) having shorter haircuts. More so Lance because compared to the rest of the cast’s original designs, his hair maybe be simple but lacks a bit of flair. Lance is the one who get’s his undercut first and the story behind how it happens is covered in a fan comic called undercut that’s slated for release this year.

How Keith and Allura get their haircuts are part of the story as well but doesn’t come until maybe S4 or after (I have to figure out the details on that). But for now, I just wanted to see how Keith looked with short hair and it looks pretty good! 

Keith is in BP suit and Lance is in RP suit?

Yup, one of the things that drove me bonkers in VLD was how they didn’t match their lions. This is more of an OCD thing because I prefer matched colors over mix-match. However, once again changing their suits also has a reason behind it in the story. You can sort of call it…truly stepping into their new roles in the Paladin team. For Keith, becoming the leader Shiro always saw in him. For Lance, becoming the right-hand man and gaining confidence in his skills as a pilot (also becoming Keith’s rock haha).

Okay the real question: Does Shiro die in this AU?

Here’s where things get…a bit interesting? I have two versions of this AU where Shiro does die in his battle with Zarkon and the other where he does not die. So a divergent…within a divergent haha. I have to preface this with I don’t hate Shiro by any means and love his character with all my heart, which is why I made a version where he doesn’t die. Shiro as a disabled, LGBT and PoC character has so much potential that killing him off would be a waste for storytelling. Since the AU takes off in S3 where it was implied that he died, that’s where I took the story and started writing how his death affected the team, mainly Keith. The main point I want to get across is that Shiro needs to lose his connection to Black Lion in order for Keith, Lance and Allura to grow as characters.

In the case I choose to have Shiro die….

As per usual, Keith reluctantly becomes the Black Paladin, Lance becoming the Red Paladin and Allura is the Blue Paladin. We see how Keith is struggling with his loss of Shiro and how he feels incompetent being the leader of Voltron. This would then lead to into the undercut comic and spark a more genuine, supportive friendship between Keith and Lance. I would also keep how Shiro’s conscience remains in the Black Lion, which only Keith knows about cause he’s BP now. This would be great thread to connect Keith and Allura who have lost someone dear to them and rely on technology to keep them alive (when in reality they will always live in their hearts). 

I would also keep the Kuron idea but instead of him joining team Voltron, Honerva and Zakron use the Shiro clones and make their own version of Voltron with the Robeasts we see in S7-8. That way, we could keep The Black Paladins fight since that’s a very emotional and groundbreaking moment for Keith having to face someone cares deeply for. 

In the case I choose to have Shiro live….

I wouldn’t have him be BP again since that prevents Keith from growing into a leader, which then prevent Lance growing as a character and then prevents Allura from growing as a character. If anyone has noticed after watching the series, the character development kind of gets wonky when they decided to bring Shiro back as BP. If anything, it really hindered Keith, Lance and Allura’s character development since S3 focused so much on the dynamics in team Voltron shifted (which would have been super interesting to see as time went on). Since this idea is fairly still new I haven’t quite figured out how I would write the story if I went this route. But, I’m not opposed of having Shiro being involved with the Altean colony…again gotta workshop some stuff here but killing off Shiro is such a waste of potential!

ALSO, if Shiro stays alive, then we need to address Adam in S1 E1. It can be simple like when everyone is at Keith’s shack and Adam’s name gets dropped casually like this:

Shiro: How did you get all this information? This is classified stuff from the Garrison…

Keith: I had someone help me.

Shiro: Someone….?

Keith: …it was Adam.

Shiro: Oh…

Not exact but my point is that could have been a great moment to tell the audience Shiro and Keith have a connection with Adam (more so Shiro because we all didn’t know he was gay until much much later in the series). But lemme move on before I get too into Adam cause so much needs to be written out before I spill it all haha.

Next big question: which ships are canon?

Y’all don’t burn me at the stake but….

Allura and Lotor. 

I KNOW I KNOW! BUT WHAT ABOUT KLANCE!?!?!?!?!??!

Y’all know I will ship Klance until the end of time but right now I haven’t gotten to a point in the story where confirming Klance as a romantic relationship feels natural and right yet. If anything, in V2020 I really want to build Keith and Lance’s relationship as friends and teammates which in turn can lead into something more. But the groundwork needs to be done in order for that to happen.

But yeah Allura and Lotor are confirmed in V2020 cause that feels right and Lotor deserves so much more than what we saw in the show. I’ll leave it at that for now.

Is the ending the same?

HA. NOPE. FAR FROM IT!

This is probably biggest change I made in V2020 but when VLD did this it made me worried for the show as a whole:

Zarkon remains as the main villain and final boss for the entire series.

I would have not killed off Zarkon as early as they did in VLD simply because Zarkon was made out to be such a big threat in the beginning. Don’t get me wrong, Honerva and the war factions are a cool idea as opposing forces but they could have happened first and left Zarkon for last. 

Honevra regaining her memories and going on her rampage could have happened first. Lotor could have found out that she was his mother  and had to confront his abuser. Allura would have to face the fact someone of her own kind was doing horrible things and that evil isn’t determined by (alien) race. All of that could have been presented before killing Zarkon and would have pushed Allura and Lotor’s character development. Also, having Honevra written off first would give Zarkon even more incentive to do what he’s doing cause well, that’s his wife and love makes you do crazy things. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The war factions could have happened after Honerva and that’s where we learn more about the Galra empire and society. Where are there are cracks in the system? How are half breeds like Keith and Lotor viewed? How do factions like the Blade come into play and help team Voltron? All of that could have been explored! Honestly, the war factions arc(?) is an opportunity to further develop Keith and Lotor characters and their relationship since they are both half-Galra. 

As for the final battle and ending of it all, Allura doesn’t die and Voltron (the robot) is the one to be sacrificed.

I wrote a whole theory on it after watching S8, so if you wanna read yet another long post you can check it out here haha.

The point of keeping Zarkon as the main (and final) villain in V2020 is to keep the overarching story simple. Think of ATLA, the story as a whole is really simple: 4 nations based on elemental powers are under the tyrannical rule of a dictator and only one person can stop him and save the world. By keeping the objective of the story simple, there’s room for character development and world-building. Instead of a dark, broody space epic (if that’s what you wanna call it), V2020 focuses more on the characters and world-building that are affected by the main opposing force known as Zarkon. A lot of the stories I have in mind are more episodic but I think that works best for a show where the stage is as grand as space haha.

Pidge and Hunk??

As for Pidge, she kind of….gets everything she wants in the show?? There isn’t really anything drastic I would change since the show fixed her issues…

As for Hunk my baby boy sweet cinnamon roll, don’t worry. I’m making sure he’s more than just a scaredy cat who loves food. I really liked how in the show Hunk learned about Galra diplomacy so maybe I can work with that! 

___

Yeah, I think….that’s everything I can tell you about this AU and I’m so sorry, Vulpes, that I made this answer so long! ^^; Thank you showing interest in my AU!

#ask #send me asks #send me anons #voltron #canon divergence au: undercut #v2020 #txt

[ducavalentinos]

I was tagged by @lady-eleanor-vane, thank you! 💜

rules: pick 5 shows, then answer the following questions, don’t cheat. tag 10 (or however many) people.

Bates Motel

Narcos

Rome HBO

Breaking Bad

The Borgias

who is your favorite character in 2?

Narcos: Tata Escobar, I mean I already loved her in S1, but I feel s2 gave more depth to her character, and I loved watching that, and I love her inner conflict between her love for Pablo, and having to think about her children safety. And how brave she is. How that doesn’t mean not feeling afraid, because she is always afraid, but she doesn’t let that paralyse her, she pushes through that fear and tries to protect her family as best she can, and ughh I love my queen so much! I miss her! <3

who is your least favorite character in 1?

Bates Motel: Emma, but then again I don’t like her character in any season.

what is your favorite episode of 4?

Breaking Bad: I’m thinking ep 12, Crawl Space. It’ soooo good it actually feels like a season finale.

what is your favorite season of 5?

The Borgias: I can’t choose, oh my god! lol. Ok probably season 3.

who is your favorite couple in 3?

Rome HBO: of course it’s my historical otp cleopatra x antony. who is your favorite couple in 2?

Narcos: Pablo x Tata, my babies! amor bandido at its finest. I’ll never be over it.

what is your favorite episode of 1?

Bates Motel: this is literally so hard, but I guess I’ll say ep 101 because it really does a great job establishing Norma and Norman relationship, their individual characters, and it sets the tone of the show basically. But I also love ep 205 because there’s some good moments of Vera Farmiga’s amazing acting.

what is your favorite episode of 5?

The Borgias: I can’t choose, sorry djsdjsdjs

what is your favorite season of 2?

Narcos: Season 1 and 2.

how long have you watched 1?

Bates Motel: hm, the show started on 2013, but I only started watching on 2015 I think, and just keep following after that until the last season on 2017, so it’s been 2 years?? since I last watched it. Seems longer bc I really miss this show *cries*

how did you become interested in 3?

Rome HBO: Well, my interest for Ancient Rome came back again a few years ago, and I have always had this show on my list to watch, but never got around to it because the copy I had was bad, but I was able to find another copy, more decent and decided it was time to finally watch it and it was one of the best decisions I ever made djsdjsds.

who is your favorite actor in 4?

Breaking Bad: I don’t actually have a favorite??  They all great, honestly. 

which do you prefer, 1, 2, or 5?

Bates Motel, Narcos or The Borgias: Oh my god, why are you doing this to me??? I....love these three shows for different reasons. I don’t prefer one over the other, I’m sorry, but I can’t lol.

which show have you seen more episodes of, 1 or 3?

Rome HBO: because it has only two seasons so it’s easier to watch and rewatch.

if you could be anyone from 4, who would you be?

Breaking Bad: JDSDJSJD is no one an answer here? like....their lives is the defintion of The Struggle™ and I already enough of that in my own live so I’ll pass.

would a crossover between 3 and 4 work?

Breaking Bad and Rome HBO: hmm, I don’t think so? maybe for Walt’s caracter individually? he has the intelligence, ambition and ruthlessness of the many characters on Rome HBO, so maybe it could work out for him, idk.

pair two characters in 1 who would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple?

Bates Motel: Actually we had that, with Emma and Dylan, I never thought about them romantically, and at first I didn’t think it was going to work out, but then they ended up becoming strangely fine. I never care for the ship, but they were ok together, that much is true.

overall, which show has the better storyline, 3 or 5?

Rome HBO or The Borgias: Both have it imo, but I’ll say the Borgias just because I enjoy the overall storyline better. I love Rome, but I think I should say that I only really loved the part that covered the “elite” and their lives. The part that deals with Vorenus and Pullo is one I just didn’t find interesting.

which has the better theme music, 2 or 4?

Narcos or Breaking Bad: No doubt Narcos. Tuyo is a masterpiece and there’s so many good Colombian songs, I listen to them all the time now and it’s a joy. Tagging: @borgialucrezia @elcctra @aphollos @bergmancapa @roseneys and anyone else who wants to :)

#p #tagged #about me #this is super fun #:)

[ayankun]

AoS S2 Rewatch Briefest of Thoughts

Maybe watching a thing five times is too many times lololol

First I have to admit, I found myself spacing out through a lot of this season.  I mean, my annual rewatches are typically always in the background of other activities, but this time through I definitely just didn’t pay attention to a lot of it.

Even so, here is a list of Things I Noticed This Time:

Not sure if watching S1 directly before this really made a difference or not, but this time I have a much clearer understanding of “S2″ and “S3.”  When I first started watching this show, I shotgunned 2 and 3 back to back, and have done that once a year since, causing the two seasons to feel like one mega-season in my mind.  Not this time!

A lot of the stuff I consider to be “the show” is introduced in S2, sure, but isn’t developed until S3.

Daisy Johnson

Terrigenesis & the Kree (wow my new band name)

Mack and Daisy brotp

FitzSimmons as an actual item

Collecting/protecting Inhumans

Talbot and Creel

The Monolith

Lincoln (gross)

And a lot of the stuff in S2 doesn’t even make it into S3!

Cal :<

Raina :<<<

Afterlife and all those poor fools who just wanted to grow up and get wings or whatever

Edward James Olmos

Agent 33 lol GOOD

Fitz’s brain injury

And of course there’s also big S3 specific stuff that hits you right away in the season opener, like Rosalind and Maveth.

I feel like ultimately I’ll have to say from now on that S3 is my favorite season.  More on this as it develops -- only just started ep 2 today.

A note about Lincoln.  Since actually he’s going to be way more important in S3 than he was in S2, let’s talk about his introduction.  So far, there’s really nothing about the character that warrants my knee-jerk dislike.  The character is supposed to be good for Daisy!  He’s soft and patient and sort of cool and is one of the first people she’s met who is honestly supportive of her new situation, a situation that he understands from experience. 

I guess maybe I don’t like the trope of pairing people up with their primary physician?  There’s a conflict of interest there, I think.

Also that dude’s performance rubs me the wrong way (and I only found out like 35 minutes ago that he’s Australian so I’m going to blame it on the fake American accent?).

There’s no narrative symmetry in the structure of S2.  I got really excited at first because there’s a ship in ep 3 and I know that the season ends on Edward James Olmos’ ship, but that was about it.

However, they did purposefully split it down the middle, 10 eps and a break for Agent Carter, and then the last 12 eps.

The story of part 1 takes us to Daisy and Raina’s Terrigenesis, and part 2 is about A) Daisy has superpowers now whoops and B) Edward James Olmos is in charge whoops and these two storylines smash together at the end.

But the story of the whole season is trust.  Not an exploration of the concept, not “what does it mean to trust” or “how is trust earned” but a literal “man nobody trusts nobody and it’s probably for the best.”

Heck the season straight up tells us we shouldn’t trust anything by opening with with Team Coulson monitoring a black market deal between an ex-SHIELD agent and some mercs -- the mercs are also SHIELD agents and it’s a sting -- the sting team doesn’t know Team Coulson was sent as backup etc etc

Ward swears never to lie to Daisy ever again

Fitz can’t trust his own physical self

Nobody can trust Simmons because she’s undercover at Hydra

Nobody can trust Coulson because he’s whacka-doodle (see what I did there) cray cray

Hunter whining about his she-devil ex-wife, but she’s delightful and perfect

Hunter’s ongoing and ACTUALLY QUITE VALID protestations that he can’t trust Bobbi when it comes to her angle on their relationship

Brainwashing is a thing now

Hydra’s still doing Hydra things and blaming them on SHIELD

Man, anything either of the Ward brothers say at any moment is to be distrusted as a Rule

The heads of Hydra can’t trust each other

Daisy gets powers and she and Fitz decide they can’t trust anybody else with this information because errybody acken’ cray cray

Simmons is SO MAD that Fitz didn’t trust her with this information

Daisy is never quite sure if she can trust her dad (because he cray for sure)

You can’t trust May because half the time she’s Agent 33

You can’t trust Bobbi and Mack because they’re working for Edward James Olmos

Edward James Olmos doesn’t trust Coulson AND doesn’t trust that Fury left SHIELD to Coulson and also I guess just doesn’t trust Fury

Turns out Coulson was doing some secret stuff, too, so better not trust him even if he’s not crazy anymore

Nobody can ever trust Ward, no matter which side you’re on, even if he’s actively helping you at the moment

You can’t trust Raina’s vision until you can

You can’t trust Jiaying after all!!  Edward James Olmos wasn’t going to be the bad guy!!!

I think a lot about how this show has such active characters.  Like, there aren’t just plots for plots sake or characters for characters sake*, events happen to shape character motivations, and then character motivations go on to shape events.  I’m thinking about how Fitz’s condition in the first half is almost complete plot-less -- he’s just a character living through some stuff, and it effects ... his interactions with other characters, mostly.  There’s no narrative “point” or payoff to it (other than to remind that Ward Is Bad), until -- until Daisy comes through the mist and

12 episodes of frustrated aphasia, feeling like he’s letting the team down and they’re letting him down, of struggling to cope with Simmons’ abandoning him and then struggling even more with her return ... until ep 12, the only real, uh, utility Fitz’s condition brings to the story is as a means to introduce Mack as 100% Best Guy. 

And then ep 12, getting to see these two beloved OG characters have this moment that only the two of them can have

.... as far as moments go, second best only to the Skimmons quake/hug in 4x15.  My ship sails, my dudes.

I got way off track here, sorry

Anyway my point is sometimes, in other shows, giving a lead character a brain injury is probably a Major Plot Point that is Meant To Be Resolved (and within 40 minutes if at all possible), but on our perfect show, characters are allowed to Just Be -- and the things that they Are will always manifest in narratively satisfying turns of events.

I’m trying to think of any of my “this time I noticed” items and

Not to be all down on 2/3 of my OT3, but especially after watching their siblings dynamic in S1, and seeing just how painfully awkward their relationship is throughout S2, the Simmons-has-feelings-for-Fitz moment REALLY came out of left field.

S1 gave you the Exact Moment that Fitz realized that his crush was on Simmons instead of Skye, and you saw him live with that information for like 16 episodes.

Knowing that they end up together AND always starting my series rewatch with S2 makes her coming to him at the end not just reasonable but inevitable.

But lol no?  They literally never talk about it for the duration of the season?  Fitz talks to Mack and Simmons talks to Bobbi, but they never talk to each other.  Her change of heart is strictly subtext.  Which isn’t the worst, but given their literal text is either antagonistic (see: his reaction to her abandoning him; her reaction to his hiding the truth about Skye) or just ... their regular schtick. 

They’re antagonistic until Edward James Olmos comes on the scene, at which point they bond enough to play the I’m-on-to-your-plan doublespeak shenanigan, and the sandwich moment is arguably the best thing to happen to this ship up until that point BUT she made him away mission sandwiches when he was just her friend too so!!!

Ok when they see each other next there is a specific moment mentioning The Sandwich in the context of love that makes sense (unlike whatever it is that Agent 33 and Ward have) -- but it’s very subtle and the scene is really just a set up to Simmons’ plan to splinter-bomb the hell out of Ward as revenge.

Their next scene together is bonafide FitzSkimmons OT3 grilling Sky about her time at Afterlife which, again is vanilla S1 schtick, and it’s immediately hijacked by Ward and Mission Talk anyway.

It goes straight into the mission where their only interaction is Fitz telling Jemma to be careful but not in a way where she can hear.

Next they debrief Mike Peterson after rescuing him, which is just an excuse to see Simmons not own up to her killing Bakshi on accident.

New episode, now they’re just stalking Skye and (rightfully) giving her new boyfriend the stink eye, then they talk to Agent 33 about her brainwashing -- just a moment for Simmons to feel guilty about never admitting to killing Bakshi/setting up the fact that Bobbi saved Simmons and not Agent 33 so that Agent 33 has a revenge plot for the remaining 2.5 episodes of the season

THEIR NEXT SCENE TOGETHER IS ANOTHER OT3 MOMENT WHERE SIMMONS PRESENTS SKYE WITH THE HULA GIRL ORNAMENT FROM SKYE’S VAN AND FITZ RIBS SKYE ABOUT HAVE EARTHQUAKE POWERS -- FITZSIMMONS DON’T EVEN DIRECTLY ADDRESS ONE ANOTHER.

Ok and then Fitz makes up a reason to go talk to Simmons, and opens up to her about how he’d have tried to kill Ward if he’d been a lesser man, only to find out that Simmons DID try to kill Ward and is actively upset that she failed, so they’re still at odds, philosophically at least, at this point.

Then they split up again and aren’t on the same continent until a third of the way into the next episode, where they’re STILL talking about Agent 33.

The only other thing they do on screen together in this episode is to fight Skye’s dad like they’re on Scooby Doo running away from a guy in a monster mask

Season finale, they have two scenes working with Coulson on mission stuff in which they don’t speak directly to one another, and then

As Fitz is gearing up for his mission, Simmons pops up out of nowhere and drops her bombshell on him

ok, no lie, as I started compiling this and getting closer and closer to the end, I figured it out:

everyone was so collectively heartbroken at the prospect of Bobbi not making it that they all had to go talk to their loved ones before it’s too late.  May does it, too, and it’s framed with Hunter standing over Bobbi’s hospital bed in the background, and Simmons goes directly from Bobbi’s bedside to Fitz to say “because I just saw Hunter with Bobbi, and it made me realize” --

ok, my bad.  I did state up front that I wasn’t always paying attention, okay?!

I take everything back.  We do see the moment Simmons realizes she has feelings for Fitz.  It just comes at the tail end of a string of episodes  where they barely interact, is all.

Man, I gotta pay better attention next time.

Anyway this is not as brief as I thought it would be, nor have I covered all the thoughts I had.  Real quick, though:

Agent 33 is the worst.  I’m not sure what else they would have given Ward to do (gross double entendre intentional :< )  this season, though.  But did it have to be this?  Did you notice that when she picked faces, it was either May or Daisy?  And then used them on Ward, someone who sexually and/or emotionally manipulated both these women in the previous season?  Gross gross gross.  And obviously the grossness of this pairing is literally called out by several in-world observers, but, still.  I’m not sure that they actually wanted me to believe that there was still some humanity in Ward, that there was still a person who could settle down and buy succulents to put on windowsills in houses he shared domestically with another human being, but mostly I’m wondering why they thought they wanted to want me to believe that.

*as stated previously, one of the weaker parts of S2, that I still find weak having rewatched S2, is the use of the character of Trip.  POOR GUY.  Watching S1 first doesn’t do him any favors, either.  At least when you forget exactly the contents of S1, his being in S2 just feels like “guess this is how things always were, oh wait, sucks he's dead now.”  BUT NO things were NEVER like this.  We don’t know who this guy is at all!! 

His purpose in S1 is to be Not!Ward,

and his utility is to have some sort of internal logic to the team getting their hands on the low-tech WWII spy gadgets.

and he’s a very slight catalyst to Fitz’s needing to get his act together and get Simmons off the market before it’s too late (which is a couple of different yikes in my book, as far as "here’s what this character’s here for”)

So I kept my eye on him in S2 and the results were not good.  I think the only time he had lines was to ask questions to allow another character to respond with exposition, or to make jokes that any character could have been on screen to make. 

I want to say he was a side character dressed as a lead character, but HELL he shared scenes with a Koenig and those fools got WAY more character building/backstory/motivation over the course of the series than what Trip got.

Dearest Trip, our very own Red Shirt.  Rest In Pieces

#Agents of Shield #a long and winding rant #about nothing in particular

[kisilinramblings]

What did you think of The Dragon Prince New Season? I love your reviews, could you talk about the Rayllum shipp?

Ahh sorry! Although I do watch TDP and BF and I did caught up with the new season last night, I am not good analyzing shows I watch on Netflix due to the binge-watching format. I only watch the episodes once and never bother give them individually a second watch. Just like I struggle doing film analysis based upon one single watch. Because I am watching the story unfold rather than seeing how the story is told. That’s why I prefer weekly broadcast format more. Because I can rewatch the episode while waiting for the next and let the story and the events of that episode sinks more into my mind.

I can give you my impressions, but it won’t be as detailed or well constructed precisely because I haven’t rewatch things while paying more attention. 

Anyway, in general, this season was correct, but it felt rushed in term of pacing. That final big battle felt like it happened way too soon. I mean it is a large-scale battle already. What is going to happen for the next season finale? Though I did like that scene conclusion for Viren and Claudia there because the build up was properly established imo. But I cannot help but think they have combined two seasons into one. So maybe they don’t have as much “books” left to tell the story than they wanted. 

Not to mention there is the technical limitation they have to deal with due to their choice to do this show in 3D animation even though this is a very large scale story. Thus why we don’t see the other kingdoms such as Neolandia or Duran. Thus why we see a lot of open fields this season. And there was a lot happening off-screen (good thing there are the drawings during the end credits, though I would greatly appreciate it if Netflix wasn’t so prone to skip them so quickly >_

Oh! And there was a lot of flashbacks this season, wasn’t it? I can’t say I was a big fan of how most were integrated into the story. Like for Rayla’s parents, I just wish Rayla chose herself and could witness the history spell instead of being told by Callum afterward what happened. 

Anyway, character wise, I did enjoy Soren’s development even though I don’t particularly care for him. His confrontations with Claudia were strong moments.

Ezran has always been my favorite character since the beginning but that is a bit because I have a weak spot for child characters involved in big adventures. But I do really enjoy his growth. I wish they had time to better develop his relationship with Corvus and Opeli, but I understand it is a 9-episode season. Not a 13, 20 or 26 one. 

I’m however disappointed to not have seen Pip. Not even in one scene. What happened to him? I don’t recall if anything particularly bad happened to him back at the end of S2 to explain why he wasn’t present there. If I recall correctly, he broke free of his cage, no? That’s why I am surprised we didn’t see him flew around or just watch over Ezran in the forest for example. (If the theory of Harrow being trapped inside Pip’s body is correct). 

Amaya’s reunion with Glen was cute and I did like she got captured by the Sun elves. Again, just wish they had more time to build up more her friendship with Janai and that interpret I forgot the name. But I can believe Janai trusts Amaya enough because she has display warrior’s values despite being enemies. I just wish we could have seen Amaya works through her prejudices against elves more. And yes, I do ship those two. (From enemies to friends to lovers is a trope I enjoy a lot after all)

For Rayla and Callum. I like their friendship and support, but I dunno what bugged me exactly with their relationship development this season. They had cute scenes together like with the adoraburr field or when Callum tries to cheer Rayla and morally support her and sure, I can roll with them being a couple, yet there was something off-putting for me to the point I personally prefer seeing them as just friends. 

Oh and Aaravos creeps the hell out of me.   

So yeah, those are my impressions of the TDP season 3. 

#the dragon prince spoilers #tdp spoilers #tdp season 3 #tdp season 3 spoilers #pequena-strix

[ambitionsource]

S1 Rewatch - Maggie’s Take [ 1.09 ]

i read this yesterday in the hopes that after a little bit of time it would sting less... let’s see if that theory paid off

Favorite scene

We’re now entering the phase where episodes are getting like... long LMAJDSLFDSGKJDLG so this gets harder and harder to decide. It’s a good thing I gave myself time away from it because that allows me more clarity in terms of what scenes stick out to me the most, and in this case I think I will have to give the honor to Riley & Lucas’s final scene before opening night where she interrupts his “pre-show quiet.” This scene has everything I look for in a soft romantic build -- soft eye contact, light banter, a character saying something wasn’t a big deal and the other character saying it was to them... not to mention the sheer notion that Riley was able to disrupt his isolation and not get in trouble for it. Special shout-out to Jeff’s “I thought no one was allowed in here during pre-show quiet” because Lucas needs his daily dragging by the techie tots for being so oblivious / obvious / stupid.

Favorite performance

This is a toughie... considering that we literally cut numbers from this episode and there are STILL so many, you can see the dilemmas we be having. I think I will give it to “Empty Chairs At Empty Tables” though, because while “Dirty Little Secret” was iconic, this is the first number where we really actually get to see Charlie emote. It’s a song that has nothing to do with his personal struggles yet perfectly encapsulates his fears at the same time, and Katie and I cry daily about how powerful a performance it would be to watch. Honorable mention goes to the techies singing the first bit of the “Finale” while presenting Lucas with the cookie cake. That’s love!!!

Favorite character (within context of the episode)

Although I almost in fact said Lucas for the third time in a row (his growth, his nuance, the subtle peeling back of the environmental factors that impact his character!!) it has to go to Charles JP Gardner. This is the first episode where we really get to breathe with Charlie -- although that is to say, barely breathe at all because he’s so overwhelmed with new feelings. But it was really fun to start painting a more colorful picture of his circumstances, like his loving family (but perhaps conditionally), his social circles (church, predominantly), but also how he’s just... I mean, he’s just a good boy. My favorite thing about Charlie is how sweet and just... warm of a character he is, with this kind of... genuine joy sewn into him in spite of how much pressure and fear he feels (shout-out to the Queens diner scene for that). I will cry a lot about this in the episodes and days to come as we go on this AAA journey. So bear with me.

Favorite line(s)

“It’s unjust is what it is. Just say you hate women, Mister Hunter. Just say you hate me, let’s get it out in the open.” –Maya Hart

“Are your two left boots incapable of walking too? Get out of my way, gothic Butch Cassidy.” –Maya Hart to Lucas James Friar

“I’m sorry if you feel like you’re losing control. I’m sorry if you feel threatened, believe me, I’m quite familiar with both. But I’m not a dartboard, and I’m done taking your jabs whenever you need something to take your aggression out on. Either change your behavior -- which is what I would recommend -- or find someone else to play punching bag. I’m done with it!” –Riley Matthews

“I’d give up my career for these fries. I’m gonna marry these fries and move to a villa out in the countryside to live out the rest of our days in blissful matrimony.” –Charlie Gardner

“It’s a bad movie. What are you missing? I’m doing you a favor.” –Zay Babineaux

“Look, you think I pay attention to any of this? If I could get away with wearing ear plugs all day, I would.” –Lucas James Friar

Special shout out also goes to Nigel and Lucas’s exchange about kissing, and Lucas laughing at his own joke about the show being autobiographical. What I wouldn’t give for a set that’s just “Lucas + laughing at his own jokes” .......

An underrated moment

Riley getting her word in with both Maya and Farkle. I like the comedy of her little moment with Farkle -- his “... no ma’am” kills me every time -- and it’s just nice to see her stand up for herself against Maya’s diva behavior in a way that is just... so very Riley. She’s scrappy, and I’m excited for more of her scrappiness to leap out as we go onward!!!

First impression vs your reread impression

What I remember distinctly about writing this episode was that it was the first one where I was like... oh this is lengthy LMAO. It was the first episode to crack 60 “minutes” (we have a system where word count = a certain minute mark), although it would not be the last (and now nearly all S2 episodes at this point so far have clocked in above 60). But it felt like the first real dive into the characters like in a more... I’m not sure what way. Nuanced? In depth? Particularly characters who hadn’t been allowed to showcase their backstories quite yet, like Charlie and Lucas. I also remember the pain of having to cut numbers -- “Stars” was going to be a duet (although not like literally them singing together) between Maya and Farkle, since the two of them know so much about what they believe their PATH is meant to be, like the stars are said to in the song. You can even see remnants of this notion in their final scene together in Maya’s sequence (another contender for fave scene) where Farkle talks about understanding her mentality. And on that thought of sequences -- our multi-story episode! We thought we’d give this structure a shot since there was so much going on, and we loved so much we brought it back for an episode in S2, so it’s kind of like an AMBITION thing now. So yeah, this episode will always stick out to me as a turning point of sorts (and is also one of the top 3 fan favorites, according to the poll).

#S1 reread #S2 countdown #1x09 #by maggie #what an episode... what an ep #y'all 2 weeks away... 2 WEEKS?!?!?!?!??!

[yinnezha]

Hi! I wanna start this by saying that I don't really have an opinion on the karedevil relationship, as in I'm fine with it going canon or not as long as it's well written. So this is a genuine question: where do you see the writing that hints towards them having an actual relationship? Because to me personally it always seems like Karen is super into Matt, while he comes across as not that interested. Especially in S2, it felt more like he thought 'okay whatever, I guess we can go out.'

I also kinda feel like Karen deserves better? I love Matt dearly, but I mean, he basically dropped Karen the instant Elektra was back and acted like a douche, then decided to die with Elektra in Defenders, and then in S3 he seemed totally bitter he had to save her instead of going after Fisk. Maybe I’m just not seeing the writing you’re seeing, but that could totally be me since I’m not invested in any ship on the show. (2)

hey, I wanna start by apologizing for how long this answer is. I will address the points you raised and keep it as objective as I can, talking about the writing of the show and my understanding of it. All bias towards or against particular ships will be kept to myself.

“where do you see the writing that hints towards them having an actual relationship?”

The writing of the first season is filled with hints and foreshadowings, and while Matt and Karen spend the first season without a romantic involvement, it is underlined that they will. But is under lines, it is subtle, less in your face than Matt’s involvement with Claire (and for a reason but I’ll get to that). It is lines like Karen explaining how she promised to her grandmother to only serve her recipe to her future husband and then proceeds to serve it to Matt first, then Foggy. It is lines like Matt telling Foggy back in college that he’s looking for someone that he really likes listening to and a couple of episodes before that, he mention to Karen very matter of factly that he likes listening to her voice. It is lines like Karen’s acceptance of and trust in the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. If you rewatch the first season looking for signs like these, you’ll find them (there are more).

“to me personally it always seems like Karen is super into Matt, while he comes across as not that interested”

Of course Karen’s interest in Matt was obvious from the start; she admires his idealism, his will to fight for justice, how he’s a person who wants to do good. But to understand why Matt wasn’t immediately interested in Karen we have to see things from his perspective. She’s a stranger, involved in some messy things, who is good but lies to him (for whatever reason that she has) and we cannot forget this, that Matt knows Karen lies to him. So with Matt’s “understanding” of people we can assume he is wary of having a relationship. See, Matt’s relationship with Claire was surface and it was meant to be that way. It happened fast, it developed fast and it ended fast. Because Claire was not the one who would accept him and understand him. And so in parallel with that, because Claire cannot accept Matt’s fighting crime, we have Karen’s undying support for the Man in the mask. You see what I mean? But back to Matt’s “disinterest” in Karen… He knows she is a good person, but that’s as far as it goes. They needed time to adjust, to get to know each other beyond the circunstances of their meeting. They needed to build a foundation, and that was happening slowly throughout the first season. The strangers become friends. Enters the second season where some time has passed and they are more confortable with the idea of exploring their mutual interest. 

“it felt more like he thought ‘okay whatever, I guess we can go out’.”

Again, let’s take into consideration that they work together, they see each other all the time, they go out together. In the first episode we see a shift in Matt in which he is more playful with her, more lingering looks… Foggy says “I leave you two alone for one minute” which kind of implies that this is a common ocurrence now, that Matt and Karen are on the flirting banter for a while. And then later on the episode in which Matt kiss Karen for the first time, Foggy says “careful Matt keep going like this you might just end up happy and for a catholic boy that’s a pretty dangerous thing” interesting that he could’ve just teased Matt about being happy but he mentioned Matt’s religion as a subtle reminder to the audience of Matt’s inner struggles, how he beats himself up over what he deserves. You see when is something serious, meaningful is harder for him, his beliefs, his doubts gets on the way. Matt probably wanted to be with Karen for a while but didn’t know how, didn’t know if he deserves her (because of how he sees her, because in reality we the audience knows that she would understand and accept him). So you see, I disagree with your point on Matt “settling” for going out with Karen.

“I also kinda feel like Karen deserves better? I love Matt dearly, but I mean, he basically dropped Karen the instant Elektra was back and acted like a douche, then decided to die with Elektra in Defenders”

Remember my point on Claire not accepting Matt’s Daredevil identity? Well, Elektra is the opposite. She accepts Daredevil, but she does not accept Matt. See? This is good writing! We have different ends of the issue of Matt’s double life in both seasons. And both relationships were wrong for him because something was missing, and in both seasons we have Karen being underlined again as the one that would accept him as a whole. This is very important and it is in the storytelling. There is a reason why Elektra’s relationship with Matt was a parallel to Karen’s in episode 5, it was to show to the audience which relationship is the right one. A lot of people has issues with how Matt handled things but we’re here to talk about the writing and the second season was about Matt’s struggle with his double life and what he really wants. He spends the whole season losing control of his life, and it reflects on his choices.

Now on Karen deserving better, don’t you think Matt deserves better as well? Elektra was a toxic relationship that destroyed Matt’s life as he knew and drove away the two people that matters the most to him. And I’m not erasing Matt’s responsibility here, but no matter how we feel about his actions Matt is the hero of this story, it’s his show and so the writing is telling us to root for what is right for him and that is not Elektra. And he does deserve better. Matt is a complicated man, a tortured man (I mean he is a devoted catholic for crying out loud) he is messy so of course things won’t be easy for him. And that is what makes him interesting. And he did not just fucked up his relationship with Karen but with Foggy as well to whom he was also a bit of a douche. So it’s not about the romance here, but more about Matt’s choices and development and what he needs to fix it. And he does in the third season, he is heading in that direction.

In Defenders Matt was holding onto Matt Murdock and then in season 3 he was holding onto Daredevil. Matt never had a season in which he was not struggling with this. And part of the reason why his relationships don’t work is because of that. But now at the end of the third season we will finally see Matt being fully himself and the people that matter the most to him accepting and understanding because that’s the natural progression of the writing. We had to go through all of this, we needed him to reach this point. And not only Matt but Karen needed some development too. And the third season stripped them of their lies and made them face the truth and when that happened we had one of the best scenes of the season (a little biased sorry) and that is the start of a new chapter for them.

Both Karen and Matt deserve better and the better is themselves, a better version of themselves. Honesty and truth and trust. And that’s what we have been watching since the first season, that’s the story. That’s what the writers are telling us. They are the right, just not right now. They need to learn, they need to deserve, they need to reach that point where they’ll have the understanding and trust that we know they can have, and we know because it’s underlined, it’s being shown to us since the start. It’s a slow burn, beautiful and difficult and complicated and messy… just like Matt’s life. Just like Karen’s life. Just like all the good love stories are.

Many people has issues with Matt and Karen’s relationship, but from the writing and storytelling perspective is great. And is the direction the show will keep taking. They have been developing this romance since the very first episode of the show. Charlie Cox absolutely loves and understand the relationship because he knows Matt Murdock better than anyone, and he is right. Karen is Matt’s soulmate. It’s more deep and slow. And now to finish, something he said that sums up everything I said in a less annoying way:

What we never tried to do, and I think I’m speaking for the writers of the series as well, was to make the beautiful story with Karen – Deborah Ann Woll - look like a rebound relationship. Ultimately it’s a much deeper bond, which lasts fifty years and ironically is more important exactly because it doesn’t draw from roof-jumping, but from everyday life. I think if Karen and Matt could find a way to match their respective darknesses, they would find an excellent balance.

#anonymous #ask #karedevil

[safflowerseason]

I’m eagerly anticipating your OC rewatch commentary on the end of S2 (particularly the entire Trey storyline) because 1. I just got done watching it myself and 2. I was struck by a lot of different things, mainly how the seriousness of marissa’s attack was swept under the rug and what a poor job they did exploring the aftermath of everything that happened in early S3

Whew, you sent this in weeks ago, and I finally got around to watching the last stretch of S2 and the first episode of S3. I was visiting home for a few weeks and didn’t have the time for serious critical television viewing of The OC (not exactly a show my parents would be into…we watched the second season of Succession instead. GOD, talk about a season finale.)

Anyway, the end of S2 for The OC. 

Maybe it’s the general pandemic-related low-grade angst that's filtering everything right now, but honestly I just thought this whole storyline was so fucking sad. It was just so depressing to watch in 2020. All of it. Trey attempts to rape Marissa and it’s clearly a plot device the writers came up with to tell us more about Trey—it’s a sign that, unlike Ryan, he can’t fight off his violent demons and emotional instability and get his life together. He’s painted as this tragic figure that we, at the end of the day, are meant to sympathize with. He’s someone who could have been better than a guy who tries to rape his brother’s girlfriend, but he ultimately was not. He thought she was into him, after all—he just misread her signals. So Marissa just becomes the ultimate sign of his moral failing, an object in a bigger fight between brothers. Ryan tells Seth that even though he wanted to kill Trey, now that Trey has been shot, he still wants him around. He ends 3.01 mourning the loss of his brother in the arms of the woman that brother tried to rape. Honestly the whole thing just depressed the fuck out of me, that systemic sexual violence against women was (and is) still treated as easy dramatic plot fodder because that’s just how things are. I am not saying that Ryan couldn’t have complicated feelings about his brother’s place in his life once he learned what happened—or even that true redemption does not exist—but this show is so not equipped to wade into those morally complex waters. 

I think the show did a decent job of showing Marissa’s personal trauma in the immediate aftermath--ugh, the scene where she and Ryan are kissing and she’s picturing Trey, so horrible and real--and it was heartbreaking to watch her struggle with the burden of keeping what happened to her a secret. But of course ultimately it’s still about Ryan, about how she can’t tell anyone because she knows he’ll try to kill Trey. And then once she shoots Trey, the attempted rape is nothing compared to that fact. Does Marissa even mention it? It only matters to the prosecutor as a potential motive for Ryan, whom he’s trying to pin the crime on because apparently it doesn’t look good to prosecute a rich white girl (I think??? The legal nonsense is already too much). The shooting is a much more defining experience for everyone involved. Julie is deeply concerned that Marissa’s future is ruined because she shot someone. What about the psychological damage from the time Ryan’s brother held her down against her will and tried to rape her? That kind of trauma can absolutely fuck up a person’s life if left unaddressed. Where is the insistence Marissa go to therapy now?! She should go even if she had only shot someone, and not been attacked! I can’t with any of it, and it was only the first episode of S3. 

As for the other plot lines, Kelly Rowan turned in an incredible performance as Kirsten reaching a state of complete emotional collapse, and I can’t fucking believe she did not win any awards. Sandy came off as a patronizing asshole for a lot of that storyline? He was so morally hoity-toity about their communication issues and her drinking. I am very glad the comic-book storyline is over because it was truly dragging down S2 (sorry Zach, you were a very poor replacement for Luke Ward…although I did laugh at the line “I’m a water polo player! We’re always the bad guys!”) It’s supposed to be the lighter comedic storyline threading through these last few episodes, but it falls so flat, which is another reason S2 just feels so heavy and serious and basically no fun at all. 

In general I continued to just be very unimpressed with the writing and narrative construction this season. Why was Caleb so invested in marrying Julie only to basically ignore her for the entire season and then dilly-dally over divorcing her? Julie decides to kill him, then…oh wait, she doesn’t! Then he dies! Apparently Ryan is the father of Theresa’s baby?! The Miami episode is just a weak retread of the Vegas episode in S1! Is no one going to tell Lindsay that her dad died? Side characters like Lance and Jess were so poorly conceived. They’re just narrative chaos agents designed to do whatever the plot needs, for no coherent reason, and it’s so infurating after the grounded storylines of S1 (truly, both of them act like psychopaths in order for the story to get where it needs to go...although maybe in Jess’s case she is supposed to an actual psychopath). What is this nonsensical plot construction. Ugh, I am sorry I am such a downer on this season, but…it’s kind of a downer of a season!

I do love the sailing/beach montage in 3.01. And the intervention scene is genuinely powerful. 

#the oc season two #marissa cooper #ryan atwood #cw: rape #cw: attempted rape #the marissa discourse