#4x02: alone together | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

raayllum · 11 months

Text

How Terry and Claudia Compare / Contrast Rayllum in S4

So Terry/Claudia and Rayla/Callum parallel each other as couples. Let’s talk about it.

Intro

The first is their set up, after all:

Rayla and Claudia have been foils ever since the first season. Both failing their fathers in 1x03, with Claudia letting the egg slip through her fingers and Rayla taking a hard stance against Runaan. Them being pushed into their fathers’ death seeking paths of dark mage and assassin, and being pushed further into those roles in S4, somewhat or downright reluctantly. Wandering Xadia for two years on a quest regarding Viren — one to save him, one to kill him.

Then you have Terry and Callum’s parallels. Both are concerned with their names in 4x01, agency in 4x07, and feelings, well, throughout. In some ways their differences are more pronounced in S4 because of what Callum has been through and their differing trauma; for Callum, he chose to shut down. For Terry, he decided that he would be “strong enough to do whatever [he] needs to do and still have feelings — to feel all the feelings” (4x07). But I’d wager if we put Arc 1 Callum next to S4 Terry, their goofier, sweeter natures would stand out even more — even with their “trees to meet you” notwithstanding.

Not that this is how the parallels always go. Callum and Claudia are both mages and Aaravos’ pawns with Rayla and Terry along for the ride. Rayla and Terry also have parallels (“I think too much, get confused about the right thing to do” —1x08 / “Claudia says I think too much about everything, and that it makes me weird, and wonderful, so” —4x07).

However, we’ll return more specifically to the Claudia-Rayla, Terry-Callum parallels later in regards to S5 speculation, so put a pin in that. For now, let’s just look at episode set up and contrast, beginning sparingly in

4x01 — Partnership VS Isolation

On Callum’s birthday, and Viren’s re-birthday, the final two scenes of the episode both feature couples, introducing where each currently are in ways the episode hadn’t previously prioritized establishing.

In Claudia’s final scene in 4x01, we meet Terry and learn that they began dating during the timeskip. In Callum’s final scene in 4x01, we learn that Rayla’s been gone for at least a year if not longer, and that Callum’s worried sick / still madly in love with her. The contrast is immediate and apparent, amplified by Janai and Amaya’s engagement earlier on in the episode; two couples are happy together — hell, even Claudia is happy and with an elf no less, but Callum’s previously rock solid partnership has broken apart. He’s alone. [If you’re interested in a more thorough breakdown of this aspect and indeed 4x01 in general, please check out this meta regarding 4x01 and this one about 4x02.]

Where one couple came together during the timeskip, another fell apart, both featuring a human mage with abandonment issues and an elf with too good a heart and one too many thoughts (but again, more on that later).

We of course have the parallels already demonstrated above of Callum and Terry meeting their girlfriend’s father, respectively. Terry, by virtue of having a season sharing screentime with Viren, gets to develop a much more fleshed out relationship with him than Callum does with Ethari. What’s interesting, however, is that Terry is concerned (somewhat) with Viren’s approval, and he doesn’t comment often on Claudia and Viren’s actual dynamic, even if he does nudge at it:

This is a direct contrast to Callum, who does vehemently challenge the assigned role and treatment Rayla receives upon her homecoming and reunion with Ethari:

Claudia has also suffered greatly to bring her father back to the dead, Terry seemingly witnessing most of that, a tantamount of trauma being the reason Terry probably does step back and let her steer the ship (even more so than Viren does in S4, but getting off topic again). I think it speaks to Rayllum vs Clauderry’s roots - one was formed on the basis of a shared goal (returning Zym) vs supporting a singular goal primarily driven by one of them (resurrecting Claudia’s father), and then tag teaming their way through.

However, Ethari does take to Callum quickly when all is said and done, however brief, whereas the first time Viren seems to really consider Terry is in 4x04, but we’ll get there when we get there. For now, let’s talk about the episode that probably has some of the biggest and most overt parallels between these two couples in the season, which is

4x03 - Mornings and Murder

We cut from Rayllum at nighttime, despondent and salvaging something of a reunion that didn’t go the way either of them actually want, to Claudia and Terry, flirting and talking happily even and bathed in the rising sunlight even if they’re about to attempt something dangerous.

Then we get an exchange from Claudia and Terry that should feel eerily familiar, in both dialogue and in action:

Rayla: Just one more thing. I go into the portal alone. Callum: Rayla—

Rayla: No. You said it was dangerous. I’m not going to risk both of us. Callum: Fine. But the second it seems like you’re in danger, I’m jumping in after you.

Terry: But since you’re going in alone, you need to promise me you’ll signal if you need help.

A bag is handed over, a deal is made, and we see Rayla and Claudia offer more of their independent streaks (“It’s down to me, isn’t it? Of course it is” —Rayla, 1x05 / “It’s up to me again, she thought. It’s always up to me” —Claudia, Lost Child short story) in the face of boyfriends who would really prefer they don’t risk themselves like this. Now for Terry, this does make more sense — his plant powers are useful when he has the element of surprise, but he doesn’t seem like a particularly combative elf or that he has much of a background in fighting — whereas Callum is perfectly capable of both of those things as a mage. However, Terry is still the one to bail Claudia out, much like how Callum ends up saving Rayla and helping them both escape in Through the Moon, and we see Rayla’s duality — Callum is allowed to risk his life for the things he believes in, and she’ll even encourage and offer to fight by his side, when those things aren’t her.

Rayllum do get a sweet morning scene in 4x03, though, with Terry tending to Claudia’s hair, and Rayla taking care of well, her prince’s less than dignified drool, but the softness remains largely the same (even if, like Claudia, she departs at the end of the scene).

The bulk and perhaps most immediate parallel, though, is how much Rayla and Callum are tied to Claudia and Terry through Ezran’s speech. While it is about many things and a reiteration of the show’s overall themes of breaking the cycle of violence and vengeance, it is also applying more literally to both Claudia’s ongoing fight with Ibis in the first half of his speech, and Callum’s feelings about Rayla throughout the season in the second half of his speech.

Ezran: It hurts! I feel pain about this and I am angry! We all want peace and we all want love. But violence tests us. In a twisted way, it converts us to its cause. Because pain and loss feel so terrible inside, you want to hate. You want to hurt someone else. So what do we do? How can we stop this cycle? Violence, loss, pain. Violence, loss, pain. More violence. Stop! Stop. I just want to yell stop. But that’s not enough. It won’t work.

Ezran: But… It’s not that easy or simple. Because people are still hurting and they are still angry. We can’t ignore that, or pretend it will go away. Somehow, we have to hold it all in our hearts at the same time. We have to acknowledge the weight of the pain and loss, but open up our eyes and allow ourselves to hope and maybe forgive and love again.

Callum: You’re right, though. It feels silly with everything that’s going on, but... I don’t know how to feel about Rayla either. Ezran: She’s been trying hard to get things back like they were. Callum: But things aren’t like they were. And she messed them up! And when she came back, I was so happy but so mad at the same time. I wish I could just forgive her, but it—it—it’s so hard.

The most worrisome thing, however, even if we don’t know which side of Rayllum (or possibly both) it may parallel in the future is what Terry infamously does for Claudia.

Now, there’s the obvious takeaways here: the parallels between this scene and Soren stabbing Viren in 3x09; the fact that Claudia’s path will continue to perpetuate the cycle and hurt the people she loves by proxy; the way the Dragon Prince rarely portrays murder in a less than devastating note; to further Terry’s character and his unique role to play; to offer up parallels to Viren that are explored next episode and even Callum later on in the season; and last but not least to harken back to Runaan’s words that Claudia definitely hasn’t lived by—“Life is valuable. Life is precious. We take it, but we do not take it lightly.”

But Ibis’ murder and Terry’s subsequent breakdown over taking a life does raise certain questions about Callum and Rayla going forward in two key ways, respectively. Rayla’s is the most straight forward so I’ll start there.

One of the ways that Terry and Rayla are most bound, currently, is their relationship to killing. For the first three seasons, Rayla is primarily an assassin who has never taken a life, something that is a source of shame, transformation, and occasional pride for her (although not often). It is in fact her level of doubt / belief in her own inevitability of failure that pressures into her concluding that Viren is secretly, somehow alive, propelling her to leave in Through the Moon. Then 4x03 gives us Terry, a similarly good hearted elf, who flat out breaks down sobbing after taking an innocent life - and admittedly one that was about to take Claudia’s. Then you have Callum later on in the season, for a variety of complicated reasons and muddled emotionally processing on all ends, asking Rayla to do the same thing. To take his life before he can hurt someone else - the people he cares about, as the camera pans right to showing her in the shot. Ouch.

It’s pretty clear that Rayla will not successfully and/or permanently murder Callum, if she’s even willing to attempt it at all, even in self defense. However, through Terry, the show explores the heaviness of doing something terrible largely against your will, under the burden of desperation or threat of coercion, something that both Callum and Rayla are going to have to wrestle with. For Callum, he’s already grappling with it (“I’m afraid he’ll force me to do awful things”), and for Rayla, she’ll be forced to wrestle with it at the same time as him if Aaravos does take him over again.

This is also where Callum’s parallels to Terry gets particularly interesting as well. The Dragon Prince repeatedly frames murder in the face of self defense (specifically in defense of someone else) as something that removes agency:

This is exactly what Callum is worried about - having no choice because of Aaravos’ ability to possess him - even if there could be other forms of coercion and manipulation at play. Viren did plenty of terrible things to protect his family and says as much outright in 4x04; Soren did something awful to protect Ezran in 3x09; and Viren was prepared to do something awful but “necessary” in murdering a baby, even if he didn’t go through with it, pulled in by the allure of power.

Which is to say: Rayla’s test of love will probably be refusing to kill Callum, and working to save him from possession. Thus, that begs the question of what Callum’s test will be, specifically: What will he do to protect his loved ones, perhaps Rayla in particular?

Only time can tell, but I think S5 is setting up to see the lengths Callum and Terry will be willing to go to, and what their respective girlfriends are willing, or not willing, to ask of them, in order to save their girlfriends’ parents, and/or to free/stop Aaravos in the first place.

But that’s all speculative. For now I want to talk about one of the smaller but still sweet parallels in the season, as well as one of the more interesting tradeoffs.

4x04 - Watching Your Lover Sleep / The Middle of the Night

There are four scenes this season where Character A watches Character B, with whom they have/had a romantic entanglement, sleep, which isn’t a ton but is still funny that it happened four times. I’ve already talked about one of them in 4x03 with Rayla watching Callum sleep. 4x04 boasts the second one (and the only one that doesn’t involve Callum at all) with Terry watching Claudia sleep, and is also one of my favourite scenes for their dynamic.

Then Callum and Rayla have another one, in 4x06 (which is also one of my favourite pining Rayla looks, ever).

Last but not least we have Claudia also overlooking a sleeping Callum in 4x09, but with a decidedly different reaction compared to the previous three scenes.

Then of course, you have the parallels in 4x04 of Terry and Rayla both sobbing in the middle of the night, accidentally waking Viren and Callum respectively. Again, their similarities and differences between all four are highlighted in a quite clear contrast. Terry is apologetic but opens up without hesitation, while Viren mostly silently listens, sympathizes somewhat, and then offers his “Get a grip” and goes back to sleep. Meanwhile upon being caught, Rayla attempts to shut Callum out four times (“Get away from me” + pushing him away, running away, pushing him away again + “Please leave me alone, I don’t want you to see me like this,” and walking away when he attempts to put a hand on her shoulder). Callum, however, persists, and says all the right things, leading to a much better resolution, even if the weight of Rayla’s failure and exile hasn’t entirely left her.

Now for the last episode specific focus, which is:

4x09 - Hand over Heart

The season finale brings both couples, somewhat, to a crossroads of sorts. Rayla, for her part, sees Viren again, and has her own two cakes moment: can she chase what she feels she has to do, her self-proclaimed duty, without risking the loss of Callum - whether as a person to death, or as a partner? And Callum, for a variety of complex reasons, says “Yes,” she can.

Rayla’s drive causes her to clash directly with Claudia, as she takes Terry hostage and Claudia turns the tables on her, flaunting the coins. But where Callum gives a complicated ‘approval’ and show of unconditional love, Terry rightfully pulls Claudia back to herself through his disapproval.

T: But what you just did, the way you tricked that Moonshadow elf? It was just... cruel.

On a surface level, we can read Callum’s “I know” as him finally believing in Rayla’s reason (even if I don’t think that’s quite right), but I do think it’s interesting, then, that Claudia giving back the coins is what allowed each girl to ‘come back’ in a way. For Rayla, it was a literal return (as who knows if she would’ve left the cave, or not gone after the mage fam further, without the need/desire to protect the coins) and for Claudia, an emotional/metaphorical one.

With some final, heartbreaking 4x09 specific parallels to boot:

Honourary Mentions

Other fun parallels that didn’t fit an episode focus:

Callum and Terry’s first scenes in episode 4x01, in some ways largely opening and closing their respective plot lines (A plot in Katolis, B plot in the cave) are focused on their names. Callum stumbles through his different titles while Terry emphasizes his own name, amid trying to figure out which title, if any, he should use for Viren.

This is then impressed upon further with the emphasis on agency in 4x07.

The fact that Terry and Callum are both recipients of canonical panic attacks.

Worry over their girls not being back yet, although for Terry it is of course a much, much briefer separation. (Terry, interestingly enough, also waltzes in and saves Claudia from Soren’s impromptu ‘kidnapping’ / restraining, for lack of a better word.)

Last but not least, I want to talk a little bit more about the Rayla-Claudia parallels this season. It’s a little tricky, as most of their big parallels have to do more with Viren-Callum and Claudia-Rayla, respectively, with the bulk of the Clauderry-Rayllum ones listed up above. However, there are still some worth mentioning.

Rayla and Claudia are both defined by the parents who chose to leave (and to not come back, for forever if not years). They are both acting more and more like their fathers (Rayla with Runaan, and Claudia with Viren) as they also work to one day free/save them in S5. Rayla is far more jaded than she used to be, and Claudia is likewise increasingly unstable, even if both girl fronts decently well at being ‘fine’ most of the time. I am deeply curious to see where they will go as individuals and where their relationships with Terry and Callum will go, as well - whether each one will get better, worse, or something in between. Luckily, just a little over one more month to find out!

In Conclusion

Rayla and Callum have always been the pairing in the show the most prone to having parallels with the show’s other main couples. From a kiss-embrace-forehead touch like the Queens of Duren, holding hands while vowing to protect Azymondias like Lain and Tiadrin, sadly watching your loved one disappear onto the horizon to save someone like Harrow and Sarai, or a bittersweet goodbye kiss initiated by an elf who’s too self sacrificial for their own good like Runaan and Ethari, it seems Rayllum’s parallels to Claudia/Terry are no exception.

It makes me wonder if beyond S5, and if Claudia and Terry to have a physical-ideological split, if Callum and Rayla will also factor into what helps Claudia and Terry repair their dynamic. Forgiveness and being able to move forward, together, are tenets that Callum and Rayla still very much have to learn - but maybe they could pass it onto someone else, someday, too.

#rayllum #clauderry #claudia x terry #s4 #analysis #analysis series #tdp #canon six #parallels #trees to meet you #raydia #callum x claudia #arc 2 #the dragon prince #oof y'know?

80 notes · View notes

moremaybank · 1 year

Note

hello! can i request a imagine Klaus Mikaelson x F!Reader where it all happens in season 4 eventually reader is Hayley's older sister and they raise Hope alone and then rescue Mikaelsons and Klaus and reader reunite etc etc with fluff ending.

TOGETHER AGAIN AT LAST — k.m

pairing klaus mikaelson x marshall sister!reader

summary you and the mikaelsons finally reunite with klaus after his five years of captivity

warnings fluff, violence, physical fights, angry marcel

author's note kinda paraphrased everything from TO 4x01 and 4x02 so that this wouldn’t be a million words long lmao. not proofread bc it's new years and i'm drunk asf

klaus masterlist

you stumbled out of bed, wiping the sleep from your eyes as you walked into the kitchen. in desperate need of coffee, you grabbed an empty mug, pouring in the hot, caffeinated liquid to the brim. you let the sweet aroma fill your nostrils, sensing each note of hazelnut and vanilla as you let yourself take a sip.

now feeling more awake, you made your way over to hayley, who was standing at the doorway of your niece's bedroom. when she heard your footsteps approaching, she looked over her shoulder and smiled at you when she met your gaze.

"she still sleeping?" you asked, leaning on the opposite side of the doorway beside your sister.

"yup. she was up all night, asking questions about her father. i think she was a little nervous about the idea of meeting him. i told her that you would tell her anything she wanted if she agreed to go to bed."

"always the little troublemaker, just like her mom," you smirked, shaking your head as you took another sip from your mug.

hayley rolled her eyes playfully, but before she could respond, you both heard the honk of a car horn coming from outside your shared house.

"that's mary. would you mind waking hope up and getting her ready while i get her settled in?"

"i'll get right on it."

hayley squeezed your shoulder in a silent 'thank you' before making her way outside to meet mary. you, on the other hand, made your way to hope's bed and took a seat beside her sleeping form.

"time to wake up, sleepyhead," you cooed as you rubbed hope's back soothingly. she began to ease out of her slumber, eyes slowly peeling open so you could get a look at her blue orbs. the very ones that reminded you so much of her father.

"morning," hope mumbled, turning around to face you.

"good morning, gorgeous. you sleep okay?"

"yeah, i'm still a bit tired, though," she responded, her small fists rubbing her eyes as she sat up.

"i bet. i heard you were up pretty late, asking questions about a certain someone," you smiled at her, smoothing her hair from her eyes.

hope's face lit up as she remembered what she wanted to ask you.

"yeah, mom said you would talk to me about dad before you guys leave to go save him."

"i'll tell you anything you wanna know, love bug. what's up?"

hope looked down at her hands in her lap nervously before she looked back up at you, "i guess i just wanna know if he'll be proud of me. proud to know me."

your heart ached with adoration for your niece. "come here," you said, pulling her into your lap. "hope, you are so beautiful, kind, and full of light. you're insanely smart, and you amaze me every day, and i have no doubt in my mind that you are everything and more than your father could have ever dreamed of in a daughter. you're going to knock his socks off, i promise."

"you think so?" she asked, blue eyes hopeful as they looked to you for reassurance.

"i know so, baby girl. you're going to blow him away."

she smiled, throwing her little arms around your neck and pulling you into a hug. you returned her tight embrace, your mind wandering into the memories of klaus's arms pulling you close to him.

it had been difficult, leaving klaus behind in new orleans with marcel. but being able to raise hope alongside your sister gave you comfort because it was as if you got to carry a piece of him everywhere the three of you went. it was the closest you'd ever gotten to feeling him there with you over the past five years of his captivity.

"okay, c'mon. your grandma mary's here, and i'm supposed to be getting you ready."

"and then you guys are going to go save dad?" hope questioned, excitement bleeding through her wide grin.

"and then we're going to go save your dad. i promise."

after making the journey to find the last remaining wolf of the malraux pack and extracting her venom, you and hayley finally woke freya from her five year-long slumber.

“freya!”

“are you okay?” you asked, pulling her into a hug after hayley did the same.

“yes. did you get everything i asked for?” hayley nods in return, and freya sighs in relief. “okay, then i need to get started. if i can’t use all of these things to concoct a cure, then elijah and kol are going to die. we don’t have much time.”

as freya scrambles to begin making the cure, hayley’s vampire-hearing picks up on intruders entering the warehouse.

“guys, we’ve got company.”

“then let’s go and take care of it,” you replied, ready for whatever was about to go down.

"let's do this."

you and your sister worked tirelessly, fighting off the enemies that were sent to track the two of you and keelin down. you’d both turned into your wolf forms, fending off your attackers as they came at you. it was gruelling, but there was nothing the two of you wouldn’t do to protect your family. it was the most important thing to you both.

“you want more?" hayley voiced out to your opponents. the two of you stood there, ready to take on anyone else that came at you, when suddenly, bodies started dropping all around you. your heads whipped around at the sounds of the vampires collapsing onto the ground. you turned to look at hayley, whose face transformed from confusion to utter relief. you'd recognize that look on her face anywhere.

elijah.

he popped up behind the two of you, draping his suit jacket over hayley's shoulders and doing the same to you with his button-up shirt.

you clutched the fabric around your body, watching as your sister reunited with her love. she kissed him, holding him close before she wrapped her arms around him, drowning in his long-awaited embrace.

you smiled, happy that hayley could finally be with elijah after five years. however, you couldn't help but envy her. all you wanted more than anything was to feel klaus hold you again. to stroke your hair soothingly as he whispered sweet nothings into your ear, assuring you that you were safe. but klaus wasn't there, and he couldn't pull you close. he couldn't kiss the top of your head or cup your face as he spoke to you comfortingly. not just yet.

reunited with the four out of five living mikaelsons, you all concocted a plan to rescue your lover once and for all. elijah and rebekah had gone to josh's loft, and the rest of you went to the bell tower so freya could perform a locator spell on klaus.

"was it absolutely necessary that you perform the spell here where marcel or one of his men could find us?" kol questioned.

"yes. when i first moved to new orleans, i embedded my magic here. i made this place my own."

"all the more reason to let freya do her magic. we can leave as soon as he save klaus." hayley responded.

"kol, just relax and let freya do her thing. i'm not leaving without klaus." you spoke, turning back to freya.

you, elijah, freya and hayley reach the abattoir, underground as you all searched for klaus.

your heart beat out of your chest in anticipation as you tried your best to track down the love of your life. eventually, you all found klaus, and freya stated that it would take time for her to break through the previously-cast spell. hayley allowed freya to channel her power in hopes of breaking klaus free without taking too long.

elijah's vamp-hearing picked up on marcel entering the compound, and he advised freya to keep working on saving klaus, no matter what, before flashing out of there. freya nodded, and you tried to help her as best you could from beyond the spell barrier.

"klaus? c'mon, my love. wake up. we're here," you pleaded over freya's chanting.

hayley followed elijah after hearing him arguing with marcel while you and freya tried everything to wake klaus up. miraculously, klaus awakened as things began to turn sour between elijah, hayley and marcel.

"oh, thank god," you breathed, stroking his cheek gently as he stood up with you and freya. he smiled at you before you all turned your attention to the drama brewing upstairs.

hayley and elijah yelled back and forth with marcel before klaus used the tunde blade to stab marcel. you all fled as quickly as you could, your arm supporting klaus as you zoomed through the tunnel to meet rebekah and kol. rebekah hugged her brother tightly, grateful for his safety.

"we have to go. marcel is right behind us," hayley said, motioning with her hand for all of you to hurry up.

"too late. i'm already here," marcel replied, shocking you all.

eventually, the mikaelson siblings managed to convince marcel to let them flee new orleans, and you all left with your limbs intact. you all piled into the car and made your way over to your and hayley's safe house. the drive was comfortably silent, your hands never leaving klaus's body as you held him close. you were in utter disbelief that he was in your arms again, and you never wanted to let go. not for anything, or anyone.

after the lot of you reached the safe house, everyone left to go inside the house and unwind while you and klaus remained inside.

"i'm so sorry, my love. i can't even begin to imagine what you've been through during these past five years," you said, your hands resting upon his chest as you looked up at him with pure sincerity.

"it doesn't matter. you've all made sacrifices for me throughout the years. it's only fair that i do the same in return for you."

"i missed you, you know that?" you spoke, running your fingers through his tousled curls softly. "i don't know how i've survived these past five years without kissing you."

"well, thankfully, that's all over. i'm never leaving you again," he replied, kissing your forehead as his hand cupped your cheek. "now, please tell me all about my daughter."

"klaus...she's wonderful. she's so intelligent and sweet. she's stunning, and she's the light of our lives. i can't wait for you to meet her."

"take me to her?" he asked, eyes glimmering with hope.

"i will. just let me hold you for a second. i need to remind myself that you're real," you said. you pulled him into your embrace, squeezing tightly as if he would disappear.

"i'm right here, sweetheart. i promise you i'm not going anywhere. never again."

you pulled away, smiling as you looked up at him.

"so...you wanna go inside and meet your daughter?"

klaus tag list (join here!): @princess-charming-01 @maybankslover @trenchmaniac @techlipse @the-kaya-aa @catmikaelson20 @hopesdadswife @amournoir @skydisneylover @kittyqrt @Iluvniklaus @diyabhanushali1 @your_best_hoe

#klaus mikaelson #klaus mikaelson x reader #klaus mikaelson imagine #klaus mikaelson one shot #the originals #the originals x reader #the originals imagine #the originals one shot #the vampire diaries #the vampire diaries x reader #the vampire diaries imagine #the vampire diaries one shot #tvdu #tvdu x reader #tvdu imagine #tvdu one shot #joseph morgan

238 notes · View notes

stagefoureddiediaz · 1 year

Text

I have an insane number of thoughts about the date outfits that my head is spinning!!! I will go into things in a bit more detail in my full meta (I cannot write another full one now - I need to go to bed but I wanted to get some thoughts out there for you!)

Firstly the colour ways - I know its already been pointed out that the colours are mirroring Bucks counselling session with Dr Copeland from 4x02

this will be intentional and suggests to me that there will be some element of a therapy session feel to the date. It also suggests to me that we might see another glimpse into the concept of ‘I hide my true feelings from others’ during the scene.

The patterning on the dress is crucifixes both inside the diamonds and alone - this pays into the resurrection theme surrounding Buck this season and also continues to play into the death doula theme for Natalia. There is also another theme developing around Natalia’s costumes and that is Victorian fashion - both the outfits I’ve seen on her so far have a victorian vibe to them and this also plays into the death theme - the Victorians were all about having a ‘good death’

Then there is Buck’s outfit. I’ve been reflecting on the use of yellow ochre on him - these yellow ochre tops that tend towards the brown side of the colour are being used at deliberate moments - we see him in that therapy session at the start of season 4, but also when he flops onto the bed while Taylor is reporting on the tv after the blackout at the start of season 5 and we also see him in it when Chimney is obsessively watching Maddie’s video. there are other instances of this colour as well. these moments are all opening moments of Buck major arcs - the therapy is connected to the Daniel and saviour baby of it all, the hoodie in s5 is connected to the Taylor arc and the one from the scene with Chimney is connected to Maddie and Chimney and their arc for the season - which Buck is a catalyst in at various points throughout it.

Then there is this new one - its on a first date (and I’m assuming at this point that it will be the first time we see them together with Buck out of uniform) thats telling me that this is the beginning of this mini arc for Buck - these arcs tend to be a bit bumpy for Buck, but they do leave him in a better place at the end of them. They are also all connected to relationships or family in some way as well, but Buck always comes out of them single and the Chimney/Maddie one also fits this theme - they end the season single as well! So Buck rocking up in that colour for a first non uniform scene with her means that this arc will end with him single but in a better place!

As an addition to this I think it is interesting that we’ve never seen him wear the colour in relation to the sperm donor arc - which suggests a different trajectory for that arc - I have no idea what that night be, but I just think its interesting to note!

Right I’m refusing to do any more metas until after the episode now - 3 in one week is quite enough and I have an additional bigger one to write thats encompasses all seasons which I also need to write but I’m leaving you in suspense as to what thats about 🤓😈😂💜

#kym costume meta #911 costume meta #this show is tryng to kill me #911 spoilers #911 on fox #911 season 6 #911 meta #costume meta #there will be more on these outfits once I've seen the actual scene!#911 fox #Buck #natalia #evan buckley

114 notes · View notes

911verse · 1 year

Photo

CORINNE MASSIAH AS MAY GRANT ↳ 9-1-1 ✗ 4x02 - alone together

#911 fox #911edit #userkourt #tuserpris #alivedean #userceecee #queenmay #userdahlias #tuserlauri #userbon #alielook #userthai #tuserambs #userhann #tuserarah #userpickles #*#by alice

240 notes · View notes

9-1-1-polls · 1 month

Text

#911abc #9-1-1 #911 poll #911

7 notes · View notes

reyesstrand · 1 year

Text

like water in your hands

2.7k- tarlos/ tk & tommy - teen

TK finds comfort in the mindless motions of it—folding the sheet in half, bringing the opposite corners together, folding it in half again—and before he knows it a whole basket is done, filled to the brim with neatly stacked pillowcases and sheets. He stalks into the bunk room, slowly putting everything in its place, when he feels a presence next to him. He glances over and finds Tommy looking at him, her eyebrows pinched together with concern, and he scrambles to pull his earbud out. "Hey, Cap. What's up?"

What's up, he thinks, scoffing at himself internally. As if the whole crew doesn't know his whole world has been completely upturned. (Or, a coda for 4x01/spec fic for 4x02-4x04, where Tommy doesn't let TK stew in his emotions alone.)

thanks to this anon for the inspiration. also shoutout to charlie @safeashousespdf for getting moon song stuck in my head <3

After the news eventually spreads, nobody questions it as TK starts offering to do extra chores.

He's been completely exhausted these past few days, in part due to the calls they're still getting after the frog-rain-heat-wave, and partly due to the fact that he just can't sleep.

That first night, Carlos slept on the couch, because even if all TK wanted was to celebrate the new eight-week timeframe they could be looking at for the wedding, he also desperately craved some space to think. And that meant all he could do was think, tossing and turning as the night melted into morning, burrowing his face into Carlos' pillow and squeezing his eyes shut until he blearily got out of bed before his alarm could go off, and slipped on some gym shorts and his sneakers, and ran.

TK'd started running again over the past few months, mostly to tone up before they get going on suit shopping, but that morning had been more about making it hurt: pounding his feet into the pavement and sprinting instead of jogging, moving down the streets in the downtown area around their home until his heart pounded against his ribcage. He had felt like he was burning all over, and it was glorious, and for a single blinding moment he'd been able to just forget. The moment he'd slid back the front door to the loft, though, and found Carlos making them coffee, looking up at him like he was expecting a yelling match, it all came back at once. TK had swallowed and thrown him a tiny smile and gestured toward the shower, where he stood under painfully hot water and clenched his jaw and listened to the muffled sounds of Carlos getting ready for work. He skipped breakfast, afterwards, and barely got out an I love you before he was walking out the door.

continue on ao3!

#tarlos #911 lone star #tarlos fic #my fic

63 notes · View notes

diazly · 2 years

Text

4x02 -> Alone Together

#911 fox #911edit #911 #chimney han #hen wilson #minee #useralie #userdei #userrin #ajlook #tuserjames #tuseralie #tuserksn #userdahlias #chimney im obsessed with you #i wish i had the patience to blur the credits but i dont so i am sorry ab that

170 notes · View notes

bylertruther · 2 years

Text

nancy says ily to keep the peace with steve bc at that point in time she still hadn't grappled with what growing up with parents in a loveless marriage did to her and still hasn't accepted herself for who she really is and what she really wants, and

mike doesn't want to say i love you and avoids it for almost a year despite hearing it all the time from el, because he doesn't want to lie to keep the peace like his parents (specifically his mom), but he also doesn't want to discuss The Issue of why he's still in that relationship despite not feeling that way.

part two of this delves into sexuality which is where i'm gonna lose some of you, but...

it's easier for nancy to play her part and say ily, because even if she isn't in love with steve, she still likes him and feels attracted to him. it doesn't have the same emotional weight to it for her as it does him, but she can still participate convincingly.

it's not as easy for mike to play his role and say ily, because he doesn't love her like that and despite being physically there in their interactions, he's not totally Mentally there.

we see this in 4x02 where he's too busy focusing on will and his every mood and move, but not noticing when el is in clear distress despite being glued to his side. (he can tell when will breathes differently once, but doesn't think anything of el's caught in the headlights look or her stammering as she says she doesn’t want to go? were just supposed to gloss over that? lol. ok.) it also doesn't help tht we see them from will's pov where they look giggly n happy, but when we see them from angela's pov they look like they're just there, chilling.

the physical interactions they have after act one aren't super intimate or intense either, and they don't feel too different from when we saw them from angela's pov. even when lucas and max are just standing next to each other, they still feel more couply than those two (and that's with lucas and max being broken up and just friends right now, too, lmao).

to bring up previous evidence of this, i'd also like to submit all of season three. they've supposedly been making out in her room from sunrise to sunset, but el doesn't know anything about herself or what it means to be a human being with your own interests and taste. mike also doesn't seem to know much about her other than she's a brave superhero that likes eggos and shouldn't overwork herself. put that all together and you get the impression that all they did was kiss like hopper said. they never had actual conversations of any value.

every other couple and even friendship on the show can tell you qualities about the other and what they like or don't like--we've seen this time and time again, but never for these two. (S4 literally has every other couple, including by|er, express what they love abt the other person to contrast it with them. mike can't say anything he likes abt el other than her powers and how she saved the world twice [which max said btw], urging her to be their superhero once more [and using other people's words again as he does so]. you're supposed to notice the difference, how one is not like the others, and it's especially hammered home when his speech splits hawkins in four. love did not save the day for once, because this time.. it wasn't true.) even when they're alone, we see mike struggle and evade being emotionally intimate with her and el is left more confused than when they started. their season four fight is the closest they get to their first ever serious conversation post-season one, but as soon as it gets Too Serious and requires him to be honest about his emotions, mike clocks out again.

mike is there in the flesh, yes, but not there-there.

compare this to steve and nancy, where nancy's "bullshit" outburst and inability to say ily and mean it this last time take him by surprise, because everything else made him feel like it was requited. she was there in every way a person can be, and she liked him, so he doesn't understand where this is coming from and assumes he must've done something at first. this is why he goes to say sorry with roses in hand afterward until he later on sees how she acts around jonathan and realizes what her having those feelings for someone really looks like.

mike's physical distance isn't what drives el to realize her suspicions were warranted. it's the fact that he isn't there physically ("the way you looked at me...") and emotionally ("you never say it") that makes her feel wholly unloved. she can't feel his romantic affections through his writing, his words, or his body--nowhere is she receiving it and she wants him to be honest about it for once. she knows that he cares about her, but she doesn't feel any romantic love from him anymore now that they've moved out of that tween puppy love doing-nothing-but-kissing-all-day phase and into what she considers a more serious relationship.

and when mike is then later on talking around his dilemma with will, he doesn't talk about love or romance at all! he just talks about needing to be needed by her and how her relying on him makes him feel like less of a loser. bc mike needs other people and hates that, hates that he needs them but they don't need him. bc mike is scared that if she doesn't need him, then no one does, and why would they? bc mike thinks he's a loser with nothing to offer and no one to love him and it doesn't help that he's heard it from everyone, too. troy, ted, kids at school, and even lucas. el is canonically the first girl that's ever not been grossed out by him. if she exits his life, then what does that make him? it proves that everyone else was right about him. and while mike doesn't want to be popular and is a proud member of hellfire, he still wants what everyone else wants: to be normal, to be a person that's liked, to be found worthy as he is.

he describes el as superman landing on his doorstep, dumb luck, and others describe her as the first girl to ever like him as a person. she's what he perceives as his one chance at being normal, the one person in all his years that he thinks has ever liked him like that. of course he can't give her up, even if he refuses to lie to her by telling her he loves her. of course he's going to will himself to fit in this spot that is simply not made for him no matter how hard he tries.

and while there's always a chance that it couldn't swing this way, i think that his journey is going to be much like nancy's. he'll reach a point where he can no longer pretend and he's going to come clean. he's going to stop playing it safe, stop trying to make himself fit where he doesn't, and will himself to be brave enough to want what he wants and go for it.

because will is the one with shared interests, shared goals, shared history. will is the one with whom he can talk without ever having to actually talk, who can look at him and know exactly what he needs but won't ever ask for. will is the one that he trusts with his emotions, even the most mortifying ones of all. will is the one that he’s always waiting on, always wanting to hear from, always considering his equal partner against the world. he's the one that mike separates from their other friends, the one that hawkins simply isn't the same without, and who he says the past year has been weird without. will is the one he always knows exactly what to say to and who he never chokes up with. he can tell will exactly what he means to him and how important and irreplaceable he is to mike, without will ever having to beg for it. will grills him and mike immediately rises to the challenge, spilling his unfiltered truth at will's feet. will wasn't dumb luck; no, their relationship is the best thing mike's ever done.

it has always been will, for mike. mike just keeps retreating or, perhaps as is more accurate now, getting pulled "back to the safety" of el. el, who he likes, cares for, and thinks so highly of, but doesn't love like that. because he's "harder to read". because he's ultimately "afraid of what would happen if [he] accepted [himself] for who [he] really [is]". he's scared to open up like that, especially to the person he cares about the most, because what if she doesn't like the truth?what if superman looks at him and doesn't like what she sees when he's no longer pretending? who is he, what is he, if he breaks the heart of the hero that's saved them all and the world countless of times when she didn't have to? when she never asked for that? who is he to break the heart of the girl he and everyone else owes their lives to? he can't do that. of course he can't do that--not to her, not a "loser" like him of all people.

he thinks that keeping the band-aid on is an act of mercy, because he doesn't yet realize that eleven wants out. she wants to find out who she is and be seen as that girl and loved for it. he thinks this is what she wants, because will (who has no idea of the clusterfuck that is their relationship) tells him so and he believes anything will tells him, because will never lies and he trusts him more than anyone including himself. because he felt the intensity of will's love for him in that van, was reminded of it when el was on her death bed, and responded to it, but ultimately did nothing when el then didn't discuss it afterward.

when he sees that this is no longer what she wants, when he sees that his "selfishness" won't hurt her as much as he thinks it will, that's when he'll allow himself to want what he wants. because sometimes the scariest thing in the world, the most unspeakable thing in the world, isn't actually as scary or unspeakable as you once thought it was. sometimes, the truth is exactly what the people you care about the most want.

he'll get there, in time, just as his sister did. in every season he's always the last one to arrive, always late to whatever it is, but this time... he'll be on time. he'll say and do whatever it is he needs and it won't be too late. it won't tighten the metaphorical vines around will's throat. it won't split hawkins in four. this time, love, true love, will save the day. (crazy together + you said yes + i think it'll be easier if we're a team + let's start a new party, me and you)

#byler #mine #this looks bite sized on my phone bt im sure its the ugliest wall of text ever on desktop. rip 🤡#anyway bitches be thinking sometimez when they should be studying for their exam 🤔 hmmmmmmmm

85 notes · View notes

buddieisgoingcanon2024 · 9 months

Text

So yesterday I was walking around in Las Vegas (on vacation) and what do I find on a tv screen in one of the casinos… none other than 9-1-1. And it was episode 4x02 Alone Together.

Apparently the show follows me EVERYWHERE.

#buddie #ryan guzman #oliver stark #evan buck buckley #edmundo eddie diaz #911 on fox #911 on abc

18 notes · View notes

911bts · 2 months

Text

This is 7x05

Brenna Malloy previously directed:

4x04 "9-1-1, What's Your Grievance?"

4x13 "Suspicion"

5x04 "Home and Away"

5x10 "Wrapped In Red"

6x09 "Red Flag"

6x16 "Lost and Found"

Lyndsey Beaulieu previously wrote:

3x05 "Rage"

3x11 "Seize the Day"

3x17 "Powerless" (w/ Kristen Reidel)

4x02 "Alone Together"

4x10 "Parenthood"

4x13 "Suspicion" (w/ Andrew Meyers)

5x02 "Desperate Times" (w/ Andrew Meyers)

5x10 "Wrapped in Red" (w/ Nadia Abass-Madden)

5x12 "Boston"

6x03 "The Devil You Know"

6x11 "In Another Life"

6x16 "Lost and Found"

Taylor Wong previously wrote:

4x06 "Jinx"

5x08 "Defend in Place"

5x14 "Dumb Luck"

6x07 "Cursed"

6x15 "Death and Taxes"

#911 spoilers #911 abc #s7 #7x05

176 notes · View notes

outrunningthedark · 1 year

Note

Wait Andrew gets 6x12 recovery but boooo on him getting what’s your fantasy

THAT'S RIGHT. The Andrew & Lyndsey back-to-back script special has RETURNED. Previous back-to-back episodes: 3x10 // Christmas Spirit -> Andrew 3x11 // Seize the Day -> Lyndsey 3x12 // Fools -> Andrew (What a time that was, huh.) 4x02 // Alone Together -> Lyndsey 4x03 // Future Tense -> Andrew 4x09 // Blindsided -> Andrew 4x10 // Parenthood -> Lyndsey 5x12 // Boston [a one-off, but still] -> Lyndsey 5x13 // Fear-O-Phobia -> Andrew (+ Coto) This could literally go either way for us. They've had to write scripts where the Buddie content was blatant, and (in season four) scenes that were more subtle because the focus was on others/Eddie had a gf. I guess it all depends on whether 6x11 isn't just an AU episode...?

#anonymous #tina speaks #buddie #tv: 911 #tv: 9-1-1

10 notes · View notes

raayllum · 1 year

Photo

Was thinking about Rayla re: the boys (specifically Callum) being her new team in S1 and how that shifts (and sometimes doesn’t shift) throughout the first four seasons, and then the 2x04 / 4x07 parallels earlier in terms of “I have to do this” for Callum (and Rayla’s disapproval of him risking himself framing both events), as well as one of my favourite little details that bookend their interactions in 4x06 (1 here, 2 here) but mostly amount to how often Rayla either actively looks for, or takes, direction from Callum.

Even when he’s expressed dire uncertainty (1x03 and 4x07), even when she’s reluctant at best (1x04, 2x02 about Soren and Claudia, she folds first at his request), even when he’s more than a little emotionally ruined (1x03′s infamous “Say the word,” 4x03), she looks to him, often without even knowing his plan ahead of time. Now Rayla, of course, tends to rush into things even more without a plan than he does, but we still see this inherent trust being built up. He says “get behind me” and she does so without hesitation; after bickering all episode about said trust and egg, she looks to him for the answer on the ice; they look to each other to make a joint decision in 3x04 about Nyx; leaving in 3x08 is a surprise to her but she hears him out and agrees that they should go (just, later, that she can’t go with them). Even when they’re arguing in 4x06 and Ezran tells them to remember who they are (and who they are together), she goes quiet and looks to him. Are you gonna listen or not? Are you going to work with me or not? She puts the bag and his agency in his hands in 1x03 and routinely puts it back there (so long as it’s not about him risking himself for her, and even then, there are exceptions) time and time again.

Contrast this with say, his dynamics with Ezran or Soren. For Soren, they interact too little in arc 1 to say more than where Soren could be giving Callum more agency, he chooses to deride him. For Ezran, one of Callum’s big lessons in Arc 1 is to let go of trying to make Ezran’s decisions for him (typically in a protective big brother way or occasionally in a skeptical, more mean spirited way) and instead give Ezran the full picture so he can make his own decisions, and to support those decisions. We see this follow into S4 as well. (And perhaps its own analysis pending now that I’m thinking about it more? Although somewhat already reflected in my how Callum parentifies himself / is parentified in his dynamic with Ezran meta, pre-S4.)

Conversely, running in tandem of Rayla learning she can rely on people (whether she always thinks she should is another matter) is of course Callum realizing he’s someone who can be relied upon in the ways she needs. He’s noble and brave and smart and kind, and she sees all those things in him early on, bolstered by but also completely separate from his growth as a mage. But Rayla’s faith in him - to call him a mage, to get the cube, to follow his lead, to appeal to him to make decisions together, to see worth in him regardless of magic (2x04, 2x07, 3x01) or sometimes directly in spite of it (2x09) - does help him grow in his confidence. The Callum he is in S4 would not be who he is without her (both the good and the bad) and I think that’s part of why her absence is so permanent and internalized to him: “It’s not really my birthday anymore. Not to me. To me, it’ll always just be the anniversary of the day she left.”

But like, Rayla having this relationship to his agency is perfectly in line in both how she revoked it by leaving alone in TTM (bc self loathing) and how she shows up seconds before he’s going to run, possibly, right into Aaravos. That Rayla is the one who is the Mouthpiece, in a way, for Callum still having agency in spite of Aaravos’ hold on him, highlighted through her role in the actual possession scene in 4x04, in their discussion above in 4x07, and in the framing of her return in 4x02/4x03. She looks to him for direction, and most often, he looks to her for hope (turning him toward her in 2x03, “That’s the miracle. That’s hope. They’re going to be the ones to break the Cycle” from 3x06, etc) and this is no different.

And this specific exchange of support, particularly Rayla usually following Callum’s lead, is not only a really nice consistent detail that, like many things, S4 has taken from the subtextual background and then brought, textually, to the forefront in S4, but it is also, in my personal opinion, poetic cinema.

#rayllum #mini meta #analysis series #analysis #tdp #the dragon prince #arc 1 #arc 2 #two pillars #accidentally #i meant to work on my 4x03 meta. That didn't happen lmao #s1 #there were more examples in other seasons but s1 stood out accordingly /#i started going through it first and went 'welp there are too many guess i gotta cut back' so #long post #screencap heavy #THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SHORT I SWEAR #it just kept spilling out

36 notes · View notes