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outoftheirdifferences · 4 months

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15 Questions For The Writer

1. Are you named after anyone? Nope; my parents chose my name specifically for its meaning, rather than anything else.

2. When was the last time you cried? Yesterday. I was watching CinemaTherapy's video about Wreck-it Ralph on Youtube, and they showed the Broken Karted scene and OH MAN that scene ruins me emotionally every time, I was just sobbing over here xD;;;

3. Do you have kids? Nerp. I'd kinda like to adopt someday, though.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Only in contexts when it's clear that I'm joking. I don't like to be misunderstood, so I try to only use it when I can be obvious about it!

5. What’s the first thing you notice about people? That's going to be their clothes, probably; not necessarily in great detail, but at least the basics of what kind of shirt or whatever they're wearing. I'm not always great with, e.g., faces - and even less so with maintaining eye contact! - so details of those don't tend to stand out to me right away.

6. What’s your eye colour? I don't even know anymore. Mostly a kind of off-grey, I think? Though there seems to be a tiny splatter of brown in there too; and I'm sure they used to be closer to blue when I was a child. So...?

7. Scary movies or happy endings? I do not do scary movies at all. As a kid I was easily upset and so wouldn't consider even touching them with a ten foot pole, and even now I'm too squeamish for guts and gore xD Happy endings - or at least endings with an aspect of hope to them even if they're not fully happy - are definitely my scene.

8. Any special talents? I am absolutely great at memorising movie scripts. I could recite the entirety of The Lion King, for example, word for word at the drop of a hat, and the same is true of several other movies too if I've watched them at least a handful of times. Toy Story 2 is another good example; and as a kid I had both Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins and Bionicle: Mask of Light - two childhood favourites! - committed to memory as well... though I'm a bit rusty on those two these days, I can probably still recite a fair chunk of either of them. There are even more movies, mostly animated ones, where I can do something like 85% of them for memory but just stumble on certain specific details.

And I have absolutely no idea what to do with this ability. I'd love to find some context in which this was actually USEFUL; but that degree of excellent memory doesn't necessarily apply to other things, it's very specific to movie dialogue, so it's kind of... a very limited usability?

9. Where were you born? Ascot, UK.

11. Have you any pets? Nope. I'd love to have a dog, but I can't really afford it at present... and am not sure I'd be up to taking responsibility for one all by myself, either. In the future once my gf and I are in the same place together long-term, maybe!

Otherwise, I haven't had a pet in the family since my parents took on looking after my grandma's elderly budgie, after she could no longer care for him, when I was really young.

12. What sport do you play/have played? NONE xD Sports have never been for me; I'm not particularly athletic anyway and even watching them has doesn't appeal to me, much less participating!

Okay, not strictly true, although the sentiment still stands! But I recall I did take part in rounders club in my last year of primary school (rounders has some similarities to, and derives from the same roots as, baseball, although is kinda a lower-intensity British version without the signature gloves) but that was just for a little bit of fun. In secondary school we had to play some sports in PE classes, but I avoided the action in those as much as possible. And I've very occasionally played casual badminton with my mum or with friends; but again never competitively, only for fun.

13. How tall are you? 1.73 metres, a.k.a. roughly 5'8".

14. Favourite subject in school? DT Graphic Design. You'd think Art, wouldn't you... but I could never really get into that, I preferred to just draw on my own terms than study different styles or whatever. Graphic Design was all about designing our own stuff, though, and that was the part that really drew me in and was a lot of fun.

Also kinda Maths, not that I especially enjoyed it but I was good at it - which made it satisfying, if not exciting!

15. Dream job? ANIMATOR! In the distant future, that is, as far as it being a job goes: for now I'm not ready to try for it as a career but I am focusing on working on animated projects in my own time. I'm pretty much entirely self-taught, so for now I just want to focus on practicing and getting good at it before I pursue it on a serious level... but that's the eventual dream, at least!

tagging: Anyone! tagged by: taken from @storybounded

#ooc #tagging meme #about the mun #mun rambles

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runnyeggsnham · 3 years

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"because this is real, and the debate is real, and the opening up to care is real."

Oh, Runny, I am back with another anon ask because your metas are chocolate for my brain.

This line of yours here "this is real", do you know what this harkens back to? Loki's conversation with Sylvie on the train about "a would-be princess or would-be prince". The kind of conversation Loki had with Mobius is the foundation of a fun and deep friendship, which honestly is where romantic relationships should begin.

I love the way Tom and Owen played this scene. They were talking about jetskis but also /weren't/ exactly. The subtext was "what in life is worth fighting for?" and buttoned-up Mobius picks an object that represents fun and pleasure, freedom and recklessness--things a God of Mischief (or a D. B. Cooper) should be all about.

And what does Loki do later? He takes Mobius to Pompeii, where Loki demonstrates all these things with glee. When they return to the TVA, whatever joyful emotions Loki has just rubbed off on him. Mobius is giggly and excited. Like his work was given a fresh breath of air.

I honestly wish we had a few more episodes like #2 before the Roxxcart separation. I got the sense that intelligent/deeply personal conversations were hard for Loki to come by in a warrior society like Asgard. AND, something important, Loki took from this conversation Mobius's value of order, to protect others for the greater good even at expense of your own personal wants or impulses. Loki tells Sylvie, "This is bigger than us." How did Loki arrive here? It's not an accident.

You're also right: Loki takes all the kindness and wisdom he learned from Mobius and mirrors it back to Sylvie. But Sylvie hasn't had a low point like Loki has, so she wasn't ready to receive his love. Despite that, Loki loved Sylvie because he saw elements of himself in her and qualities unique to her he wished he had. In a way, he is like Mobius with Sylvie: I don't doubt Loki has qualities Mobius wish he had, too.

The difference is Mobius possesses a healthy amount of trust in Loki and Loki knows this. Which makes Loki searching for Mobius in all the spots they've spent time in that much richer. Every conversation they had in the cafeteria or the library had a great deal of trust. And the library... Loki slept there. Mobius complimented Loki there. They had a breakthrough together there. And let's not forget Mobius went there because a part of him trusted Loki more than Ravonna.

Aghghgh you're too kind, thank you so so much 🤗 I love talking like this about them, it's been a delight!

Yes, you're absolutely right about the train! I wasn't thinking that specifically when rambling but yes, definitely. The theme of what's "real" or not recurs constantly for Loki inside and outside the show and it's so integral to his growth, the incidents of it can't be viewed independently. And when you add them all up, imo, a lot of it just go right back to his time and connection with Mobius... Honestly, I cannot stop thinking about how Tom said several times that Loki and Mobius' friendship is "real" in that tomblr q&a. There's just...no other way to succinctly describe them, episode 2 onward.

In that scene, their relationship really crosses that line into real and mutual care--and "deep", too, I love that word, very apt! Loki reaches and Mobius also drops the barriers to meet him as an equal and a friend, not a superior. They're both taking a chance. (And I agree with your romance comment too, and how much trust they have. It's great that we the audience get to see it build up.) Which yeah, Tom and Owen played it perfectly! I mean, before the Pompeii sequence, Mobius couldn't have been so self-revealing to Loki without there being a high possibility of being hurt. I think the tie scene is a great example of this: Loki is trying to manipulate him, and Mobius is obviously affected by the closeness but he quite literally bites it back, because it's annoying that it's not real and he mustn't give any cracks for Loki to chip away at.

That Pompeii sequence really is just peak Lokius though! Mobius trying to maintain order, but gosh he's loving it, and Loki leaning into his mischievous side in a completely harmless and giddy way! "Like his work was given a fresh breath of air" I love that so much, it's so true. Loki's good-natured mischief just draws out Mobius' own, gives him the space for as much personal enjoyment as he's willing to take. Their whispering at the top is absolutely adorable, the way Mobius mimes the explosion with his hands and they're jittery on their feet, and it just immediately reveals so much about Mobius, love it!

It's these lines too, they're perfect: "Imagine, all that volcanic ash!" "I know, but we don't want to get too giddy." "Oh come on. It's cool!" "No, it is cool, it's just- it's just not in good taste."

We get these little glimpses like here, and end of episode 4 when they mend their relationship, and even episode 5 I'd argue, of how in sync they can be. And so easily. They bring out such good facets of each other, and temper the others. It looks very natural. I wish we got more of these types of episodes, too, it was so wonderful to see Loki relaxed! I think that's an apt observation of Asgard, too, and just goes back to his closeness with Frigga, and makes another parallel between Mobius and Frigga's understanding of Loki.

You know, that's a great point--"Loki took from this conversation Mobius's value of order"--and adds so well to how Loki, when they're at different impasses in the convo later, concedes with lines like "fair enough; you believe it's real" and pivots, his questions prompting Mobius to think about the TVA and explain this or that. It's a completely mutual back-and-forth rapport. And again, I think your point is so right; that would be the moment if there is any one where Loki took in that perspective, wouldn't it be?

Also, Mobius doesn't seem like he has any idea there how unique his instincts are within the TVA, does he? I think it's important that this is before that bit at Roxxcart, where he intercedes with that other Hunter's aggressiveness -- "they're about to die, they should be scared." "hey, not of us."

He operates from like a guardian perspective with compassion and a greater good "the ends justify the means" ideal, and believes that everyone else there is too, and it's so interesting how Loki catches onto that and tries to get Mobius to distinguish himself from the TVA. It's that line "in a way, you and I here at the TVA, we're the only ones who are actually free" that just...kills me.

With Loki taking that value of order from Mobius, it just makes how Mobius took the value of freedom from Loki here that much more beautiful. I'm so glad you pointed that out! For Mobius, it's that part, where Loki takes out the hyperbole of the TVA's party line and reduces it to: if everything's written, no one has free will. And Mobius struggles with that and is like "well, that's- that's an over-simplification." That bothers him. And he's definitely thinking of it later, when Loki makes him question everything with the variant reveal; how could he not?

With regards to Sylvie, I think the low point idea is accurate, too. May I further add: I don't think Sylvie has had a low point, before the finale, that was from the consequence of her own bad choice. It goes to that elevator scene, when she asks what her nexus event was, and Ravonna says she doesn't know. That devastates Sylvie. Her 3 lowest points, that we see, are 1) when she's first abducted to the TVA, 2) when the Time Keepers are revealed fake, and 3) when her first ally is pruned in front of her. In all these points, she's stuck in a position of reacting. Her entire life is that pattern, her running and reacting and surviving with this plan that takes ages to execute, in the hopes of finally getting vengeance, finally being on the offensive.

So, it does make sense that she sees Loki not wanting to kill Kang as another moment of the rug being torn out from underneath her. She can't trust him because she can't trust anyone not be taken from her, betray her, or at least follow their own agenda first. Sylvie's been driven by her mission for so long and been deprived of the catharsis of...freedom, I think is the best word. So yeah she wasn't ready to receive that love and imo a lot of that's because it's unfathomable to her, the pressure inside of her to defeat whatever Big Bad disrupted her entire life has built up too strongly for too long inside of her. She just couldn't let that go, couldn't compromise with love.

That's why-- there's a comment that went around, I think it was the director? Who said Sylvie's story probably wouldn't return, and I wouldn't be surprised. I love the complexity of her character and her being gone makes me really sad, but I had a sinking feeling in my gut that they wrote an intentionally finite tragic arc, with the way that last fight between her and Loki went. She got a chance to make a different choice, multiples times, and rejected it. I tried to find the trope for this, I think I've seen it before, but here's a close one: Last-Second Ending Choice. She could've changed course right there and started fresh-ish, despite everything she had done before, but she was too consumed by her path, so she didn't. But here’s hoping she does return!

Sorry, that was a really long answer that got away from me at times, I hope you don't mind 😅

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jonroxton · 3 years

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can you talk about chlark beyond chloe? personally i think it's weird that the writers kept adding kisses and weird romantic moments without any pay off. i don't know much about the fandom back then but i think the writers were baiting fans since clark/chloe seems to be the second most popular ship after clex. second i personally think chloe would never be happy with clark or anyone tbh and she doesn't seem like the type of person who would have kids so the finale was weird to me.

this got looooong :)

0. it WAS weird, and the choice to never not once go for it with them was to the story's detriment. I'll get into it a little later on in this post.

Re: shipping in sv fandom. there was definitely drama (clana was HUGE when the show was airing and every ship was basically derailed by it lol) but I stayed in my clois lane with a small circle of fandom friends much like I do now. a good measure of clois fans were fans of lois and clark from other mediums, come to sv just for lois and clark, myself included. we were pretty insulated as a fandom even back then. I do remember seeing more Chlark after the S5 finale (when Chloe kisses him goodbye), but those dropped off after Jimmy was introduced right away in S6. The most drama I encountered was with Chloisers: Chloe fans who believed wholeheartedly that Chloe was Lois. They hated SV!Lois and were convinced she would die so Chloe could take her name and job and place by Clark's side, thus a Chlark endgame. this was a popular theory amongst that fandom even into s9, when the clois ball started to roll for true.

bait and switch

a lot of Chlark is rooted in this notion that chloe WOULD be the best thing for Clark, the ideal Lois, the true best friend, the human hand guiding him through Earth's troubles. she would be could be the BEST possible lois archetype for Clark. it's not a wrong interpretation. she was specifically written as a lois-and-lana-proxy (teenage lana is a reporter in some AUs and even some as an adult as a tv correspondent) and she's given many lois-ish traits (tenacious, secretly crushing on clark and in denial), but this interpretation is deeply flawed. first, because lois does eventually enter into the picture and she has her own defining traits that, when compared to chloe, make chloe seem much shallower than realized. secondly, within the complete context of the story, her position in the greater narrative is not as ~the one who got away, the way it did very early on in S1-S4, but one who clark tolerates.

they're friends because clark is forgiving and chloe has staying power. their friendship is riddled with insecurities and unknowns the characters create for themselves. their dynamic is defined by conflict, not resolutions. this is not made easy by the fact that chloe is such a strangely written character, but ultimately she is positioned as a counter to clark achieving his happiness. not a thematic narrative foil but an obstacle clark eventually relents to.

2. and it has been so from the get-go

S1 is the best season for them and the single season which actually considers Clark's side in this dynamic. everything about them later on can be explained with how they are in this season. and that's the problem. when they're 14 it's nice teen angst drama and works perfectly to establish the dynamic. when they're 24 it's at best a pattern, at worst regression. we expect certain behaviors, dismiss them too, when it's children, at least I do. clark and chloe never move beyond the dynamic they establish in s1 and early s2. in essence, clark and chloe remain children around each other. they have many discussions in the later seasons that make at least one appear petulant.

so S1 clark has just been told the greatest secret of his existence and he imprints on lana hard that same night (right AFTER jonathan tells him, he meets lana at the graveyard and talks to her for the first time EVER, a lot of childhood imprinting going on in SV). all of s1 follows clark's heartache over lana, watching her from afar and figuring out a way to be near her. this pain is exacerbated by the fact that he believes he caused her her greatest grief: the death of her parents via the meteor shower which he arrived in.

here the first beat of the chlark dynamic is established: chloe's job and passion – the wall of weird and her pursuing the meteor infected oddities of SV - directly affects clark in a negative way (he's suicidal for much of s1-s3). so her crush on him is countered with her unknowingly causing him great grief. om top of that: clark becomes part of this passion of hers and she eventually begins to pursue him as a story to be uncovered, very superman yes. here tho, it causes nothing but strife for them and paints chloe in an awful light (and clark too, highlighting his refusal to open up). I personally enjoy this aspect of them in s1. bc they're so young I give em a free pass and it's a good conflict playing around with old superman tropes, but it makes for a fraught friendship.

3. the second beat

is that neither chloe's crush on clark, nor his asking her to stop pursuing his truth, do anything to stay her. her tenaciousness becomes intrusiveness and inconsideration (many of her accomplishments irt the daily planet are directly bc she betrays clark). she simply will not listen to her friend and does not believe his livelihood and autonomy is worth losing a story over. this is literally the opposite of comics/live action lois lane, who in various versions drops the clark reveal story to protect him. this passion turns vindictive pretty early for chloe, who eventually pursues stories about clark out of jealousy and entitlement (against lana also).

4. the third beat

is that clark doesn't ever see chloe as romantic prospect except this time in s1. the tornado trapping lana pulls him away from any solidifying of the clark/chloe dynamic, and that's that. but we know clark was willing to go for it in early s2 when he apologizes to chloe about running off on her. it's chloe who decides not to go on with the relationship. clark is visibly confused, but also 15 so he can't see that chloe is putting on a brave front to protect herself from clark running off again. I liked this too as it's another play on superman tropes, but my sympathy for them stops here.

5. and stays here

these beats are the entirety of this dynamic. everything about chlark can be distilled down to their childhood. it's why I don't hate them completely, bc I have a lot of love for kids who hurt in such a way and that time is never easy. in s8 (I think its s8) when we get a flashback to when they meet as kids (more imprinting!). little tenacious cute chloe kisses insecure clark bc of the funny awkward tension, acknowledging it, and then immediately takes it back because they're better as friends. (also they’re like 11 lol)

every single romantic moment with them is undercut either by chloe herself, or by the presence of other storylines/romances the writers wanted to pursue. the lack of integrity in chloe and the lack of interest in clark, regardless of how sincere their connection or how messed up, is a central part of their dynamic that needs to be reconciled with their friendship. and its exhausting bc there is never a point they are ever truly comfortable around each other.

6. to a fault

knowing the secret doesn't change chloe's methods. it doesn't make chloe clark's great confidante. if anything, it complicates matters for both because their relationship then becomes about the greater good and clark's great destiny. everything chloe does becomes about that, which in theory sounds awesome, but is executed much the same way as s1!chlark: by reiterating behaviors that highlight the negative aspects of that loyalty and the negative aspects of their characters.

the single time they do actively examine what this loyalty means and how chloe's hero complex complicates things for chlark is with s8 and davis. she protects davis with the skills of subterfuge and secrecy she developed as clark's friend. and it costs her jimmy and a lot of her personal integrity as a character. tho ironically it makes chloe the strongest she's been as a character. this is the first time clark is forced to view chloe as an enemy and he never quite recovers from discovering the dark depths she’s willing to go to.

it's an arc dealing with the established beats: how far chloe is willing to go for a kryptonian (very far), how much she's willing to do for him (A LOT and all of it illegal), and what it costs her (jimmy). it deals with her jealousy (always second choice) and her motivations (uncovering the truth). this great want that she struggled with for years is turned on its head and examined, revealing just how weird and dark her hero complex is because obviously davis is not clark. davis/chloe served to highlight more than any other arc how it's really too bad that clark never saw her that way, because she has so much love to give and when channeled, it's a great force. only it's a great force for evil. clark has to confront that it’s not just lex but his other closest friend who is willing to go so far. they backtrack hard in s9 and s10 but they keep this underlying wariness in clark towards Chloe throughout. it’s not anything new, but it’s no longer subtext that clark doesn’t fully trust chloe.

7. And that's the rub

in the end. chloe and clark have many storylines they're in together and chloe's important.... to develop clark and as a counter to clark. clark never instigates anything, not once, for 9 years! when the show did give us Moments TM, clark is reacting, not actively making choices to connect to her. if anything, clark is incredibly awkward about chloe when they become intimate. he doesn't seem to know what to do with her crushing on him (the elevator scene is a great one to show just how awkward chloe makes him feel). more than that. clark never tells her his secret. and later on, chloe doesn't tell him half the crazy wild shit she does to protect him bc she knows he would disapprove. I still hold that the only reason they work is bc clark is a forgiving character and would give her chance after chance after chance. that's the watsonian explanation, but the doylist explanation is that the writers just never cared to explore them beyond this point.

8. and what was beyond that point?

they would've been a great counter to lexana in S6 and early clana (clark finally having a gf who knows). it’s playing the clark/Chloe as a straight lois/clark proxy before actually pursuing lois and clark. it could’ve been the precursor to davis and caused an even more personal conflict! the kiss at the end of s5 was their chance. they could've written chlark devolving much the same way lexana did in s6 (or not). but again. the writers never went that far and clearly never wanted to. it kept chlark forever in this stage of childhood friendship always on the brink of collapsing, tittering either way. it's also tough to speculate bc clark's just not into her. in fact he becomes more and more wary of her, to the point where he believes she can do horrible things, and he's right. the stories continually make their methods complete opposite.

they go out of their way to show chloe realizing how happy clark is with lois. and even play a joke on the fandom by literally turning her into lois and seeing the sparks between her friends. it's almost... cruel but it does serve to show how clark is when he's smitten and he's never looked at chloe that way except during the dance when they were kids. other unrequited dynamics have at least some spark from the desired, but nil from clark. clark is into chloe in late s1, but she shuts him down, and when he seems to be into her again (damn that s5 kiss was a good one lol), she shuts him down again. it's just a weird writing choice all around, and that they kept nuggets of it throughout the show is the thing I cringe at most whenever I rewatch.

9. bait and switch 2

with hindsight it is definitely ship baiting and that sucks for that dynamic bc without it their friendship would’ve been the stronger, or at least not full of so much negativity. all it did was remind everyone that chloe’s been duped since she was a kid and that clark is both stupid and strange for never noticing and letting her get away with shit just bc she’s the most loyal. I don’t ship them and even I get frustrated lol

#mystuff #smallville #superman #anti chlark #sayruq #my meta

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