#thats a 1075 word analysis post babey

[courtney-deserved-better]

the mkulia alliance IS in character

ive heard a lot of people, some of them mkulia shippers, saying that while the evil lesbian alliance is great to watch, it isn't in character for mk and julia. however, i believe it is, and i believe it's still consistent from last season, and this is why:

facades

mk and julia were both hiding under facades in the beginning of sesaon one. mk was downplaying her skills to fly under the radar, and julia was posing as a chill influencer both to maintain her online image and not make herself a threat. these two facades had their advantages, but also their downsides. mk's contributions, specifically in the skull challenge, went unnoticed by her team, while julia had to completely hide her true personality. mk expresses frustration at everyone thinking she hadn't done anything when she got her team the win, and julia later goes on to say that it's exhausting to pretend to like yoga and whatnot. for most of the time they interact in season one, mk and julia are not behaving like their true selves.

animosity

did mk and julia have a rivalry once julia's true self was revealed? yes. did it result in mk's elimination? also yes. was mk the one to instigate that rivalry by posting the video of julia's true self? absolutely. and while they definitely had beef while this was going down, in the end, it was better for both of them. julia says that it's freeing to get to be her true self, and she even gains followers from it. the consequences of being her full nasty self don't catch up with her for a while after mk's elimination, and the worst thing that happens is julia too gets eliminated. as for mk, julia revealing that she watched everyone's confessionals means that while mk can't fly under the radar as much as she previously had, she gets to be recognized for her brains and sneakiness. because of their initial rivalry, mk and julia don't have to keep hiding their true selves.

necessity

julia and mk are both smart enough to know that in order to survive on their team, they NEED an alliance to counter the bowie-raj-wayne voting power. and seeing as scary girl was the first boot, and chase and ripper are chase and ripper, it makes sense that they would gravitate toward one another. especially with their underhanded playing styles, and especially being the only girls on the team. julia and bowie did not like each other in season one, and they still teamed up to counter the priya-millie alliance. julia has already proven to be willing to team up with people she doesn't like in order to stay in the game.

friendship

they became enemies in the first season, but after the passage of time, a necessary alliance, and most importantly, the shedding of their facades, it's reasonable that they could become friends. mk only got to interact with the real julia for an episode's worth of time, and julia never really got to see the real mk. now, she's watching mk steal an intern's uniform, sneak into production meetings, stash cheating supplies, and get the challenge answers from computers. julia is seeing a whole new side of mk, and as someone who appreciates vicious, strategic competitors like herself, i can absolutely see julia growing to like the real mk. and mk doesn't have to hide her true self from her team anymore, as she can be very upfront about cheating.

despite her rivalry with bowie, julia also had moments when she enjoyed being in an alliance with him (talking in the confessional about how they both thought they would be in the final after priya and millie were supposedly dead via avalanche) and trusted that he had her back (not thinking that he would double cross her and vote for her instead of millie even though it was the smarter move for him). i think it would make sense for julia to enjoy an alliance with mk and admire her clever thinking.

as for mk, yes, julia got her booted last season, but mk instigated that by exposing the real julia, and i think she's aware of that. i also think that even though she was the first person to see the real julia, mk still didn't understand that she wasn't just a mean girl with an influencer persona, she's a force to be reckoned with. julia loses it for her team in the episode mk is eliminated in, so mk doesn't get to see julia doing great in other challenges before her own screentime is over. i believe mk underestimated julia when she exposed her.

seeing as emma was able to watch the episode where she thought chase was performing an act of love for her when it was really just for pizza, it's completely reasonable for mk and julia to watch or at least know of each other's actions in the last season that they didn't get to witness in person. their first direct interaction is complimenting each other's moves/style, meaning that they have a greater understanding of how the other girl operates than they did last season.

because of how they play/interact with others, mk and julia don't have many friends. the closest thing julia has is bowie, who's more like her rival, while everyone else knows she's mean and doesn't like her. meanwhile nobody on mk's team would like her after she stole their stuff, and nobody else would like her for secretly watching their "private" confessionals. it makes sense to me that not only would they latch onto the other girl out of necessity, but because they're someone who can actually appreciate their play style and not turn against them because of it. not to mention mk can finally hang out with someone who likes her sarcasm for a change.

and while mk and julia definitely act like they have a romance plot in the future (and god i hope they do), i don't think their interactions together are very out of character even though they're praising one another and enjoying each other's company. julia is still mean and enjoys people getting hurt, mk is still devious and has no qualms about cheating, they just get to scheme and sabotage with someone by their side now. and while this development was unexpected even for a lot of us mkulia shippers, it is hardly unwelcome, and to me, hardly illogical. thank you for coming to my td talk.

#td spoilers #td mk #td julia #mkulia #please tell me this makes sense i wrote it right before i went to bed #thats a 1075 word analysis post babey #i will definitely wake up tomorrow and realize i forgot something #also i will be both delighted and disappointed if im the first person to make a thank you for coming to my td talk joke