#but some points are valid and i wonder when i rewatch the episode if i will once again feel a bit meh about kirk despite being very !!! kirk | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

what-do-1000-swords-look-like · 7 months

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Rewatching 8x05 for writing reasons, which is just a brilliant episode, despite any reasons some might have to hate it, valid or invalid. Miguel Sapochnik is directing and you see his talent and epicness in every shot (that man deserves a freaking Emmy already, I said what I said) but also there are so many things being shown here that if you muted the episode after Daenerys makes her decision, during the battle scene, you would be able to tell exactly what each character is thinking and what's really going on in the story besides the surface action.

Which brings me to that one scene that a lot of people said the woman being attacked as a stand-in for Sansa in the episode for Jon. They are correct and here's how.

Jon is walking through the melee, only coming to life to defend himself when Lannister soldiers are trying to attack him. The Northerners aren't listening to him, they're attacking innocent civilians, Grey Worm is on a killing spree, Davos is trying to help people get away from the bloodshed, Dany is burning the city, Tyrion is off somewhere horrified, Cersei is watching in terror from the Red Keep... But during this scene, the sound is muted to a point where the sounds of battle happening all around Jon sound very far away. We're now seeing what Jon sees, we're in his shock fugue with him. We see on his left civilians, namely women, being brutalized by soldiers -> he keeps walking. We on his right a woman being knocked down to the ground while a child is watching in horror, blood spatter and bodies all around her (and obviously traumatized & also in danger herself since no one is left to protect her) -> he keeps walking. He then sees a Lanniser soldier telling people to run, something his soldiers should be doing (and something he himself should be doing like Davos) but he's not. While the sounds are still muted, Jon notices another Lannister soldier about to rush him and he goes into autopilot & fights the soldier off. He then looks around in horror.

This is not what he signed up for and he almost looks lost, like he doesn't know what to do. Then the sound comes back fully and he hears a scream. In all of the melee, chaos, and death around him, he hears this one woman above the rest and turns to see her being dragged into an alley to presumably be assaulted by one of his own men.

Sure enough, she's about to be and she is trying to crawl away when the man catches her again. Jon ends up saving her, threatening to run his sword through the man. When the latter tries to fight him off to go back to assault this woman, Jon kills him and tells the woman to hide.

So how is this woman standing in for Sansa besides the obvious?

Two ways.

1) Ramsay was the former Warden of the North, the former bastard of Roose Bolton who was a Northerner who "served" Robb Stark, the first King in the North, before betraying him to the Lannisters. The soldier Jon faces off with is a Northerner and is supposed to be under Jon's command as Warden of the North and the former second King in the North.

2) Sansa is who stirs Jon into action when he feels lost.

Every.

Time.

And the parallels between the gif above with Dany and the dagger to the Northern soldier that had Jon's sword run through him, and Jon's staring almost sadly at the man, realizing he had to kill one of his own are far from being coincidental.

Not only was this a precursor to what would occur in 8x06 (and why Jon would make the decision he did) but it also is symbolic of the dynamic between Jon and Sansa as a whole. She's the one who stirs him into action, no matter how terrified or traumatized or angry he might be in that moment (like the shock fugue). No matter how lost he might feel. She gives him direction and dare I say a purpose when he has none (after his death; after the WW are defeated & Dany has gone into tyrant mode).

No wonder we weren't allowed to see Sansa's (or Arya's) reaction to the news of his being a Targaryen.

No wonder Jon told Melisandre not to bring him back if he lost the Battle of the Bastards (after Sansa told him if he lost, she wouldn't be going back to Ramsay alive).

No wonder Jon was not happy with Sansa on the dock in 8x06.

She's always stirred him into action when he doesn't want to be or know how to do it himself (after his death).

He passed a woman he could have saved.

He passed a child he could have helped.

He saw someone on the other side helping and doing the right thing.

The only time he steps in to help someone else is the woman about to be assaulted.

(x) "You are the shield that guards the realms of men. You've always tried to do the right thing. No matter the cost. You've tried to protect people. Who's the greatest threat to the people now?" (no reaction)

"Do you think I'm the last man she'll execute? Who is more dangerous than the rightful heir to the Iron Throne?" (no reaction)

"And your sisters? Do you see them bending the knee?" (a little bit of a reaction)

"Why do you think Sansa told me the truth about you? Because she doesn't want Dany to be queen." (more of a reaction)

"No, but you do. And you have to choose now." (he hesitatingly goes to confront Dany and then 🗡️)

It's not just about her being his "sister" or because she's Lady Stark or family or because they were the last two Starks once upon a time. She literally stirs him into action and gives him purpose. Her pushing to go back to Winterfell led to him caring about the WW invasion again. Her being the one he chooses to protect ended a tyrant and changed history, leading for her to become the first Queen in the North and regain Northern Independence, where she can be forever safe.

It was always Sansa for him, starting in 6x04.

#jonsa #jonsa meta #jon x sansa #jonsaposts #metaposts #gotposts #game of thrones #got #jon and sansa

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crispy-ghee · 12 days

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I did think the show was at it's best when it was pushing the rivalry between bird and johnson, and I think the making him more of an asshole in season 1 would have worked better cause it could be from magic's perspective, then he gets fleshed out in season 2, but even then he still didn't get fleshed out as much as he could have been. Also the way they cut that episode where it goes from him seeing his dead dad, to buss romancing the new girlfriend was such a bad tonal shift. They could have cut that and had his mom appear, instead of holding her until the last episode. You don't introduce her with less than five minutes of screen time and then give her a 10 second big emotional payoff, you don't do that with an audience who isn't familiar with the real life people.

Another major issue for me was how they focused way more on the managerial side than the players, to the point that they would cut out a lot of the playing moments to focus on what buss and his family are doing. We know way more about the managing staff than most of the guys who are actually on the team playing basketball. And I think that's best exemplified by the fact that the final episode doesn't end on magic and the team, but on buss and his daughter.

Another thing I noticed, and I don't know if it was just me, but they seemed to continuously undercut the serious tone of moments if they were for characters that weren't the main focus, like that scene I mentioned with larry, them playing good vibrations over jeff mckinney's accident, which are just the ones that I remember really standing out to me as weird to do for actual real life tragedies.

I just think it was badly written overall.

All that said, I do like rewatching all the larry bird scenes.

I think these are all super valid points, and I agree with basically all of it. I understand them trying to focus on Buss because it was about the building of a dynasty, but that doesn't mean that it was compelling at all and it felt like they were interrupting the more interesting parts of the story. Especially in cases like, yeah, cutting from Larry's father's suicide to Buss and his girlfriend. I definitely felt like I had to sit through almost all of the family and business drama stuff just to get to the stuff I actually wanted to see.

Their approach to Larry's mom was really frustrating to me bc it diminished her role in his life a little bit in exchange for the dramatic punch of his father's death, but the fact that she wasn't seen *at all* during the episode they set aside for his backstory was baffling. I think maybe they were trying to have it be like they were saving seeing Larry's soft side to juxtapose it against when he was at his most "villainous" to the Lakers, but that didn't mean having to cut out his mother completely until that moment. Especially since she got so little screen time even then.

Part of me wonders if it was supposed to be just a taste of seeing her influence before presumably showing her hand in Magic and Larry's eventually friendship in the next season (which is now not happening), like they were trying to foreshadow something, but to be honest, I think it's largely the fact that there was too much shit happening in the second season. Literally too many plot threads. So all this stuff got relegated to only a few minutes.

I do enjoy the times when it actually is about Larry and Magic, because that's the most fleshed out/interesting thing that they had, though I do think that there's some interesting stuff about the politics of the team if only they'd approached it right. But they really wanted to make a show about the business drama first, it feels like, which sucks bc it means that the big charismatic people, the players, are second banana to the team owners and the coaches. Also again, I just...I did not care about the family drama. At all. I'm sure other people loved it, Buss is undoubtedly an interesting man, but I wanted to pull my hair out every time it cut to it.

I think they were trying for something that could've been interesting stylistically/presentation-wise, but also it came across as really messy and half-baked at a lot of points. There were moments where it really shined though, but it didn't always work. It's definitely disappointing.

I'm with you on the writing hahaha a lot of deep sighing and frustration on my part while watching. The pacing was so weird, a lot of moments that were supposed to hit felt entirely unearned or out of place.

And also liking rewatching the Larry Bird scenes. As weird and exaggerated as it was, I think you could tell they were having fun with him. If only they'd gotten better wigs and the actor didn't feel like he had to make his own mouth smaller by pursing his lips all the time ahahaha (I still think about how that was gonna be Bo Burnham and I get sad)

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retrieve-the-kraken · 2 years

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Rewatching Heartstopper for the fourth time, and making a list of my favorite things that I noticed this time around, and some things that i noticed now or before, and things that make me wonder:

-I wish for more Tori.

-I really want to understand Darcy’s game with the dice and the trinkets.

-I had already noticed that, after Nick and Charlie first kiss and Nick runs off when Harry calls him, that when he’s in the room with Harry and his mates the light is very blue, very masculine, in contrast with the reddish pink light in the hallway as Nick walks back to find Charlie. What I hadn’t noticed is how Harry stands in the middle of the room with all the mates splayed out, like a mf gang about to pounce on Nick, which further symbolizes this disgusting toxic masculinity that Nick’s mates represent. (I really like how light is used so much in this show to tell a story).

-Tao says he wants to keep staying up to watch the Oscars every year, therefore Tao and the gang have stayed up previously to watch the Oscars, therefore Tao and the gang maybe saw Nick’s mom win the Oscar...? (Or maybe not, it was 2018, maybe their parents didn’t let them)

-The morning after the party, it’s sunday 21st of march, according to Charlie’s phone. That’s literally officially the first day of Spring. (I have been smacked in the face with symbolism).

-My favorite quote from episode 4: “Actually, when you think about it, there are 1200 people at this school, so at least a few of them are going to be lesbians.” “Maybe you’re a lesbian and you have no idea.” *confused in potential homosexuality* 🤣🤣🤣

-When Nick realizes that, if Charlie gets hurt, either physically or emotionally, it’s because of him. Because Nick is the one who persuaded him to join the rugby team, and it’s Nick who is keeping their relationship a secret.

-I’m hyper aware of Ben in every scene this time around. He was laughing and making snide comments whenever Charlie got roughed up during the rugby match, because everyone in their group was laughing and making snide comments. It is my theory that a part of him does like Charlie, in a very sick, possessive way, and that’s why he’s also hyper aware of Charlie at every moment. He’s just a garbage person who hates the part of him that likes Charlie, and is also deadly afraid of his mates finding out that he likes Charlie in any way. Ben is so pathetic, but what makes me sad is the fact that there are thousands of Ben Hopes out there.

-Ben is also hyper aware of Nick all the time, since Nick knows what Ben did to Charlie, and is probably afraid all the time that either he or Charlie are going to reveal his secret.

-It’s also the reason why he’s also, like the others, paying close attention when Imogen is asking Nick out, but in Ben's case his face is serious. He doesn’t care about finding out if Imogen and Nick get together, he just wants to know if Nick is going to agree to go out with a girl, because that would confirm that Nick is straight. Obviously at this point no one knows that Nick and Charlie are secretly together (except Isaac, who literally walked in on them being cutesy just moments before), but Ben has probably seen them being too chummy, too joined at the hip (because again, he’s hyper aware of Charlie all the time), and he’s probably started wondering if Nick might not be straight and might have a thing for Charlie, and that would piss Ben off because he didn’t choose to end things with Charlie, Charlie chose to end things with Ben, and what if he is now going out with rugby king Nick Nelson? Ben would also probably like to know, or witness, the reaction of their friends if Nick declined going out with Imogen, the kind of teasing he would be subjected to, if he would get teased for potentially being gay, and that would just confirm Ben's worst fears, because if rugby king Nick Nelson can’t get a pass for being gay, then what hope is there for Ben, who is less masculine, less sporty, etc? And it would just validate his shit behavior toward Charlie, in this essay I will-

-I hadn’t thought about it, but when Tao gives Nick an ultimatum at the bowling alley, it gives me major Lucius vibes in that scene in Our Flag Means Death, when he tells Blackbeard not to be a dick about Stede’s treasure hunt.

-I’m confused at how nobody ever gets told off for using their phones at school except for Elle on the first episode… is that a thing? Is it a continuity error? Why did the teacher pick on her for no good reason?

-I love Darcy’s ‘i knew it’ look after Nick tells her and Tara about being with Charlie. How dare they make her second-guess her gay intuition…

-i LOOOVE Charlie’s little excited dance when Nick leaves after asking Charlie out on a date to the milkshake place. It’s like he’s finally allowed to be excited about it, like It’s real! They’re telling people! They’re going on a date! It’s real!

-What on earth is all over Darcy’s room floor??? And she’s just lying there amongst all that, texting with one hand… who texts with one hand when they clearly have their other hand available? Darcy, you’re such a weirdo, I love you.

-I know that Nick was probably trying to excuse himself and the others from setting Elle up with Tao at the milkshake place, and to sneakily divert her attention from that, but I LOOOOOOVE that Nick is the one that tells Elle that he and Charlie are dating. He probably knew that Elle would be cool, but I still think it was really brave of him, because she’s Charlie's friend, and they’ve had limited interactions, but he just starts telling her. That’s how excited he was.

-And Charlie’s little face when Elle asks “You two are together???” and he goes “Yeah!” And her squeal of “CHARLIE! I’m so happy for you!” (By the way, I love Yasmin’s voice, the way that she speaks, she sounds so sophisticated all the time). (Edit: i particularly love the way she says “well your arms are basically twigs” 🤣).

-Every time I watch that scene, tho, I feel worse for Tao.

-The whole scene with Darcy and Tara in the little room is so cute. I want more of the two of them.

-I keep looking for Charlie’s parents in the crowd at the school concert…

-The look on Charlie’s dad’s face when Charlie gets out of the car at the movie theatre, and he watches Charlie meet up with Nick on the rearview mirror... I feel so bad for the dad, he must have been so afraid for his son when he was going through all the bullying (I don’t remember if he canonically was aware of all the bullying, but his look would make me think that he did), and now Charlie is hanging out with boys from the rugby team, what if he gets bullied again? He already doesn’t know the full story of why Charlie came out of Harry Greene’s party in tears, and now he’s going to the movies with the same people? Poor dad, being a parent of any kid these days must be so tough, but especially a gay kid who was outed in an all-boys school where homophobia seems to run rampant...

-And again, everything with Ben this time. When he’s standing with the group and they see Charlie and Nick arrive and he just jokes with the others. And then when he’s asked if he’s friends with Charlie and he just immediately and very disdainfully says “I don’t even know him”. But then during the movie he’s not even paying attention to the movie, his eyes are fixated on Nick and Charlie and he sees them holding hands, and his assumptions were correct, Nick and Charlie are together... And I think it’s hilarious how he follows Charlie to the garage, practically breathless from catching up with him, also fuming because he just saw himself that Nick and Charlie are in fact together, and Charlie doesn’t want to tell him the truth (because why would he tell him? What does Charlie owe to Ben? Nothing! But Ben insists on making anything that has to do with Charlie his business), and after questioning him insistingly to tell the truth, then he immediately starts spewing venom and just being in denial overall. If only he knew how pathetic he was... (oh wait, that’s right, Charlie lets him know later, ).

-I failed to pay enough attention the previous episodes, but in that scene at the movies, when Nick and Harry are arguing, and Harry is being ‘funny’, all the boys laugh... except for Sai, Otis and Christian. I hadn’t noticed it before. And then when Charlie and Nick are in form and Nick says that he doesn’t want to hang out with his friends anymore, Charlie says that some of them are not bad, but Nick says that even they stood by and did nothing. They being Sai, Otis and Christian. It makes me glad, to know that perhaps they’re going to included a scene in the next season, like in the comics, where those three apologize to Nick for not doing anything about Harry before, and saying that they like Charlie, and the whole ‘good mates’ debacle and “why did you have to say that? He could have come out to us!” and “I’m sorry!”

-I love how Nick is sensitive and mature enough to realize on his own that his mates are garbage, even the ones that seem nice (I think it’s very valuable for him to point out that doing nothing also makes you an accomplice of bullying), and that the way that they behave and follow along with Harry’s bullshit, and the way that even they make fun of Harry himself when Harry’s getting his ass kicked by Tao with a weaponized beanie, is proof that they are just a hive mind, and not really his friends, just guys that Nick hangs out with because he felt like he had to, because they were all in rugby and in the same year and that’s it. I love that Nick figuring out his sexuality and being with Charlie also helped him figure out that he deserves to surround himself with better, actual friends, friends that he can confide in, share secrets with, people that he can turn to and that can turn to him for support and advice. I think Nick looking at Charlie’s Instagram and seeing all of his pictures with his friends made him realize that there are definitely better people out there that he could be friends with, and he starts out with Tara and Darcy and even Imogen. And Nick is even the one who tells Elle about him and Charlie. But... the biggest problem will be Tao, and if he can get Tao to trust him even a little bit, he’s golden. I can’t wait to see Nick and Tao becoming friends/team Charlie in the next season.

-No offense to Tao, but he is very dense. He was so set on hating on Nick that he failed to see the very obvious heart-eyes Nick gets whenever he looks at Charlie… I’m also shocked by the way he also is very oblivious to the heart-eyes that Elle gets when she looks at him… (But then again, he is so dense that he can’t even see the heart-eyes HE gets when he looks at Elle… come on, boy…).

-That fight between Tao and Harry is iconic. The beanie smack. Priceless.

-Again, more Tori, please.

-Nick saying that Charlie was nervous about telling Tao about the two of them because Charlie obviously really cares about Tao’s opinion, clearly implying that Charlie (and probably Nick too) is worried that Tao has such a set negative opinion of Nick that he will never accept Nick. Like I said, if Nick can get Tao to trust him, he would be golden.

-Seriously, more Nick and Tao, too, please.

-”Don’t let anyone make you disappear, Charlie.” More Mr Ajayi, please.

-I can’t wait to see Tao and Elle happen next season.

-The Photo Booth scene gives me life.

-So I always cry at scenes when a kid comes out to their parent(s) with a positive result, and Nick coming out to Olivia Colman is definitely no exception. But by the third time rewatching it, I’m definitely getting worse, my eyes started welling up even before Nick had sat down… I actually got emotional from the moment she says “you’re looking very smiley today, did you have a good day?” Of course by the end of the scene I’m a mess…

And that’s it for now… until the next rewatch, which, given how things are in my life right now, might be very soon.

#heartstopper #heartstopper tv

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taliskermortem · 10 months

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okay, rewatch/full watch thoughts - episode 8

under the cut because its long and i dont want to bore you all

don’t talk to me about junseong beelining it straight for seongho’s room as soon as he wakes up and then... holding his hand? on the way out? what was that

seonwoo saying he feels like he has to ‘repay’ yoonghee for always calling him with a date is one of the main reasons i don’t like him tbh, this isn’t about owing people its about finding a connection and if that’s how you’re viewing it then it’s never going to work and you’re just leading people on for no good reason

junseong panicking about his appearance just to ask seongho for a date is adorable... and yoonghee helping him is so cute

hyeongjoonie is so shy and awakward bless him, waiting for seongho to leave and double checking the mission card

not minseong stress smoking trying to figure out what the hell to do, i wonder at what point he realised it wasn’t actually first come first serve like hyeongjin implied it was

hyeongjoon is a bigger person than i could ever be

minseong has some serious guts tbh not sure i could sit down and eat a meal with someone i'm rejecting but he must have seriously made up his mind because there’s not really a way back from this for these two i think but who knows maybe the voicemail he left hyeongjin will soften the blow

but wow is hyeongjin perceptive, like he knew straight away something wasn’t right before minseong even said anything but he was very gracious about it

ugh I feel so bad for jeongwook, no one even considered asking him and he was just bounced around between people without anyone really telling him what was going on – i think he was looking forward to spending some time with hyeongjoon because they do seem to get along really well

junseong and seongho leaving with absolutely zero fuss? living for it

JUNSEONGHO DATE:

HOT PACK BOY I'M DYING

starting the date by insulting his hoodie? totally valid

not both of them trying to match the other with their outfits

seongho calling him out for being obvious

seongho straight up talking with his mouth full like they are so comfortable with each other i cannot handle this

seongho: “when the cat comes, i push it away… then my cat comes to be again” junseong: “so poor, it’s similar to me” i'm dead

both of them being neverous that outside of the house it would be uncomfortable between them and then realising its exactly the same as if they were just lying on the bed and chatting again

junseong saying he wants to leave quickly so he can have seongho’s phone number has me dying

junseong remembering from the first date that seongho likes desert boy has been gone from the very start

(on a side note koreans and cheese makes me nervous okay they do things with cheese that scare me)

exCUSE ME that bossy conversation, let’s talk about it romorrow? whaaaat

god the fact that they are able to talk to each other about how they feel, that seongho isn’t afraid to talk about seonwoo and junseong respects his feelings, that’s wild to me

WAIT FOR THE VOICE MESSAGES SEONGHO YOU WANT HIM DEAD

junseong already being worrying about not being able to give seongho all his attention when they leave the house i cannot believe how gone this boy is

JUNSEONG WHAT ARE THOSE SHOES THOSE ARE THE UGLIEST THINGS I'VE EVER SEEN

did these two do anything other than walk by the sea and eat food? (kind of hoping they did and we get some behind the scenes like we did when jeongwook and hyeongjoon when to the arcade)

walking. with. his arm. around. him.

yeah that image of them silhouetted against sunset? not processing that today

YOONGHEE AND SEONWOO DATE:

okay seonwoo has annoyed me before they even got in the car with his whole ‘wooooo’ thing. just stop.

yoongheeeeeee you deserve so much better im sorry

honestly, at this point i would rather seonwoo was outwardly possessive of seongho, like show some depth to those feelings you claim to have, at least that would come across as genuine this people pleasing act is getting exhausting

not sure how i feel about them going to personal places tbh, i know hyeongjin and jeongwook go to his house later too but yeah, not sure what i think about it

for a second there i thought yoonghee was going to say he had a nut allergy

wow seonwoo way to bring down the mood

god this is awkward, i wasn’t expecting it to be this awkward

god i feel sorry for yoonghee

yeah yoonghee you’re the ace

seonwoo is just incredible insecure isn’t he and like i get it but bro

also how is yoonghee more mature than a guy 12 years his senior

wow just say yes or no… seonwoo proceeds to give no answer at all… and now yoonghee wont give up again this poor kid just let him go i beg

guy just keeps asking why yoonghee is into him, please stop looking for compliments i'm begging you its embarrassing now

“will you really answer it” okay thank god yoonghee can see through his bullshit even just a little

“i want to rely on him” fuck you seonwoo

MINSEONG AND HYEONGJOON DATE:

THE CUDDLING ON THE SOFA HELP

#his man 2 #i gave seonwoo the benefit of the doubt but this episode killed him off for me im done #but junseong and seongho date was incredible and i cant wait for minseong and hyeongjoon

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pelgraine · 1 month

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rewatching parts of s02e06

And I'm still not over the intricacies of Halsey and Miranda's relationship.

That little half-smile of happy disbelief Halsey gives upon realising Miranda is there, safe, and alive before her. The stumble forward when Miranda stands up and recognises her, as though she'd suppressed an instinctive impulse to hug Miranda. The way her face becomes utterly blank when she notes Miranda's reaction - and perhaps in that same moment, realises exactly what Miranda is doing.

And then we're straight into recriminations and professional jealousy territory again.

I think that Halsey is simultaneously worried about Miranda's safety and thoroughly underestimating her capabilities, and that Miranda also has some valid points - though it does seem sad that her relationship with the woman who gave birth to her has become so toxic over the years it's likely to have given her blinders. It wouldn't surprise me if we get a scene where Miranda becomes so wrapped up in her need to best Halsey that she misses something crucial.

I also wonder if Miranda knows what has happened to her father. I think Halsey just might have loved Jacob Keyes - or at least, that Jacob and Miranda were the only two people she genuinely cared about as human beings - and I wonder if Miranda's bitterness seeming particularly sharp in that brief scene is because she blames Halsey in some way for surviving instead of her father.

I really hope we get more Miranda in the next episode. Could do with less of Kwan and Soren and more of Silver Team, Keyes, Halsey and Ackerson, I think.

#halo series #halo tv show #halo spoilers #miranda keyes #catherine halsey

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emberphantom · 1 year

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how long have you been a fan of iasip and how long on sunnyblr? do you know who here has been around for a long time? how has the fandom developed and changed from your perspective? has it always been so reddit-oriented? what have the main opinions (general consensus kinda shit) been in your eyes? were you into macdennis right from the start? did the fandom always follow rcg so closely or is that only after the podcast? sorry for asking so much, just interested in the history of this space

Step into my office Anon. Let me regale you the tale of Sunnyblr from the days of yore. Or whatever.

Me personally, I started watching Sunny in late summer 2019 (tragically I had just missed the fake MacDennis script panic of July 2019). My friends had it on when I went to their house and we didn't have anything else to do, so we just watched like a shitton of episodes that day and I was like hold fuck on this scratches something in my brain. I didn't start poking around on the Sunny side of tumblr until possibly a week later? I think. Basically in my skipping around Sunny episodes I was starting to pick up the vibes Mac and Dennis were putting down and as a joke I was like hmm what if I just take a look at the ao3 tag ahaha jk unless. And that was the beginning of the end. I'm not sure if I checked out the Sunny tag on tumblr first or the MacDennis tag but literally at that time it didn't matter. Sunnyblr was essentially MacDennisblr. Tumblr didn't get me into MacDennis but it definitely accelerated my hyperfixation with them This was all pre-s14 at this point for reference.

Honestly, not many people remain from that time or even before. I remember some folks I had followed reminiscing about post-s12, wondering if Dennis was coming back, or if he turned into the bar. Idk man I'm so glad I didn't have to deal with not knowing if Dennis was coming back like that would've been too much for me.

But 2019 Sunnyblr, and this may just be the nostalgia talking, but man it was magical. The gif sets, the meta breakdowns of episodes, the macdennis posts--god we were eating GOOD. It felt like one giant group chat in the best way. And then The Gang Gets Romantic happens an we were absolutely FERAL. Okay? Like picture Nov 5th but on a way smaller scale. But that was the energy, okay?

But then, tragedy struck in the form of Dee Day. That, for me was kinda the beginning of the end of that version of Sunnyblr. A lot of people were pissed. The glass shelves we had propped RCG and Megan Ganz up on had shattered. A decent amount of people left right then and there. But those who stayed were holding out for something -- a better apology from them regarding the brownface for one. And that...didn't happen (I don't want to speak more on this bc like...look I'll be real with you, I stuck my head in the sand on this one. But people had a right to be hurt by that episode and to this day I haven't rewatched it since it aired). But we trudged along. Bc it's "satire" and these are "bad people" and we are DEF getting canon MacDennis okay they are going to KISS on the MOUTH in BIG MO.

....and then they didn't. Clown shoes squeaking.

Okay trying to get this back on track...

As far as reddit goes, that's always just been the "dudebro" place for Sunny. Sometimes they make valid points and our braincells align and that warrants someone posting it here to discuss.

I feel like the general opinions kinda feel the same to me? Mac and Dennis are endgame, Archie. Dennis is bastardman but also baby. Charlie poor little meow meow. I do have to say...I feel like some stuff used to feel a bit more...grounded than it does now?? If that makes sense? Like idk man people were out here writing academic prose to describe the meta in Clip Show. And I do feel like that vibe's kinda gone. But it's not a bad thing. It's just different. Like it's more unhinged but hey we're still having fun so who cares?

Uh what else? Oh yeah so the RCG stuff. Like I said before, there was a point where Sunnyblr propped them up and we got reality checked real quick, okay? They went from being UnProblematic Kings ™ to Rob posting copaganda on his IG at the height of the George Floyd protests in June of 2020. That happening after all the shit with Dee Day was basically a powder keg. And that's honestly when Sunnyblr as I knew it, really died.

I think the podcast has def shoved them back into a more favorable light in the fandom's eyes. Speaking for myself, I never stopped stanning Glenn but Rob and Charlie and Kait were on thin fucking ice (maybe not Charlie so much but def Rob and Kait--actually mostly Rob). I think RCG have to be prevalent in the fandom as much as the characters do bc they're so close to them and the show like this IS their show y'know?

That's...all I can really think of. Like I said, not many people remain from those days. I can think of maybe a handful off the top of my head but I wouldn't consider them nearly as active as they were regarding Sunny when I joined. We're still moots but that's bc we like each other beyond the MacDennis of it all.

Sorry this is so long too lmfao. Like Sunnyblr was such a huge part of my life during that time so I guess I got shit to say. I also for real in no way consider myself the end all be all expert on this either. Like in no way am I the sole authority on Sunnyblr history. This is based on stuff I experienced and picked up on from other's posts from before my time. Anybody can chime in with their own opinions and shit. Correct me too. Idc.

Uh yeah. So I guess that's what you missed on Glee. Or Sunnyblr. The end? I hope that helped (for real).

#allison answers shit #sunny asks #sunny #macdennis #long post

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linnorabeifong · 6 months

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🌟⭐🌟

Okay so here is some director’s commentary on “Happy Birthday to Me…I Guess” it wa so hard to decide what to write about. I really want to talk about the creative process behind this without spoiling it.

I had the idea when I rewatched the show and saw the scene with the photo of Yasuko and I realized we know nothing about her. I really wanted to remedy that. I also really love Asami and Asami centric fics. She’s such an enchanting character. She’s so elegant and mysterious 💜🤍

I couldn’t find a fic that was exactly what I was looking to read so I decided to write it myself. The premise is a little unoriginal I’m sure I could probably find a lot of ficus tackling this if I actually looked.

Where it gets fun is well… Asami doesn’t remember anything about her childhood or mother. It’s between seasons three and four and all of her friends are busy with their respective careers and she’s just kind of left out. She is still feeling the lingering affects of her father’s betrayal, Varrick’s attempt at stealing her company etc. She’s just really going through it and focusing on keeping her company going, to be honest she is neglecting herself.

She forgets her own birthday ! A girl’s twenty first birthday should be an occasion and so while Asami may neglect it someone else doesn’t. She’s sent a dress that was her mother’s and it sparks her curiosity. But there’s more. There’s a photo too… So now she wants to rediscover her parents past and figure out who tf sent this.

Along the way she enlists the help of her friends. But there’s more to the gift because it triggers memories. She has these really creepy/bizzare dreams and nightmares.

it’s a bit obvious who the gift sender is. But there are multiple plot points besides the mystery and the focus of the story alternates and changes as it develops.

(Side tangent/ secondary plot: She also really misses Korra, who hasn’t responded to any of her letters or calls and Asami doesn’t know how to handle her more than platonic desires. More on that later)

Through circumstance she finds out more information.

there is also a Kya-centric sub plot.

i don’t want to spoil anymore of it here’s more of the creative process/ inspo.

I wanted to use a large cast of characters and really flesh them all out more ( even and especially background characters) and give them something. I wanted to fill this with so many soft moments and backstory.

I also wanted to flesh out the city itself.! I love Republic City, it’s the most wonderful mix of cities around the world. Chicago, New York, Shang Hai, (Fun fact: The square in the park where the equalists protest in episode one is actually based off of a place in London) I know some fans don’t like how Americanized LOK is compared to its predecessor and the city is a massive part of that criticism. This is valid ! But I also feel that in some ways the Chicago influence ( the city is infamous for 20’s mobsters and I personally hear more old man from the Windy City than grumpy New Yorker in Zolt’s voice, but once again maybe I am over analyzing) kind of works. Hear me out. These American cities are a melting pot of cultures, and RC is supposed to be that as well, it’s the only place where all four nations combine.

tangent aside we’re given a massive city and so little lore. So I’ve sprinkled in street names and head cannons that one day I will expand upon.

💖I LoVe Yasuko💖

The idea behind Yasuko’s backstory was what if she had a rough background and weaseled her way into the upper class… and what if she had some interesting friends… I really wanted to see her as more than just a mom. I wanted to give her hobbies and make her proud of her culture and a sassy sweetheart. I wanted her to be the kind of person who fights tooth and nail for the people she cares about and is loyal to the bitter end.

I also may or may not be writing a companion piece set about (does the math) almost forty years before this one.

maybe I’m giving away too much.

I’m trying to keep it lighthearted but it’s kind of hard because we’ll… the circumstances of Yasuko’s death and the …. details of it.

there is also fluff and there will eventually be romance .💖 Korrasami 💖

so that’s my rant … and I still have more to say.

#korrasami #directors commentary #legend of korra #fanfiction #archive of our own #asami sato

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nonamehorse · 9 months

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so I just rewatched s1e1 and I'm immediatly reminded why I love the show it really just sets upp the whole rest of the show perfectly

before the opening we ofcourse start with the introduction to Gene, this part is a bit weird when you watch it the first time and makes you wonder what the hell is going on but its clear that Saul is in hiding as Gene, that he is verry on edge, and that he is verry unhappy

and we get the opening (I love that song)

so we start with the first court case, our first time seeing jimmy mcgill and they make it verry clear that he has the same gift for gab as saul but less confidence (he has to hype himself up in the bathroom first ( I've been there buddy)) and we are shown what kind of cases he's doing right now and that he is not verry happy about it he lies on the phone to act like he has a secritary (scenes like this always remind me why Bob Odenkirk is perfect for the role) and then we meet mike, the parking validation scenes are always funny but they also imedeatly make you wonder where things are going to go with mike if this is where he starts he meets up with the craig and betsy (wich feels unimportant but if youve already seen it you now that this is the start of alot of plot points)

then we get the jumpscare scene with the skaters this scene is one of my faves because you can really see the moment jimmy realizes its a scam and reacts to it in a way only a scammer would (also I love jimmys shit ass yellow with a red door car)

we go to jimmy's "office" it becomes even more clear how unhappy jimmy is and we also get the first set up for hhm the scene of jimmy walking through the hhm building talking to people give a lot of I despretly want these people to like me but its clear they don't vibes we meet howard and we learn about chuck (e cheese) jimmy does some brooding and we get our first jimmy+kim moment (they are my fave t4t couple)

and we go to chucks house and honestly this whole scene feels like a greek tragedy because of all of the fact that I know how its gonna end (and I have a lot of strong emotions about their brother relationship) and god the "I'm going to get better!" from chuck really fucking hit me hard also we get some talk about jimmy not being alowed to use his own name for his lawfirm wich really sets upp how important jimm's identity is in this show (wich is also fuel for my personal headcanon of jimmy being non binary)

after this rather heavvy scene we get a fun one with jimmy talking about slipin' jimmy we get this shows first scam by jimmy (gonna keep a counter for how manny scams he pulls in the show) the scam faills and we see tuco and thats the end of ep1

this episodes had so manny plot hooks (and also some things that didn't look like plot hooks but later it turns out they are) and when you first watch the show your like "I have no idea how they are gonna follow all these plothooks" but now I'm like wow its almost magical that they set all of those things up at the start

anny way that was my way to long ramble about better call saul I promise that my next post aren't gonna be this long

and if you read all of this WHY?

#daily bcs post #day 1 #bcs #better call saul #rambles

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jackiestarsister · 10 months

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OUAT rewatch: Episode 1x01

~ The written intro feels more like the script for a trailer than a prologue/introduction. It doesn’t seem necessary to me, since the audience presumably has some idea of the premise already, and if they don’t, it’s explained pretty early on.

~ The open scene really is magical, from the landscape shots to the perfect actors to the real snowfall.

~ No disrespect to Prince Charming, but shouting “Hey” to get the Evil Queen’s attention before throwing the sword at her was not smart. It’s like shouting “Sneak attack” while attacking someone.

~ Emma’s blue star-shaped candle = making a wish on a star, associated with the Blue Fairy

~ It’s striking how Emma and Henry face each other. He’s much shrewder than you’d expect a 10-year-old to be, and he has some similarities to her in attitude and intelligence. The way he outmaneuvers her is similar to how she outmaneuvered her fake date at the start of the episode.

~ “Come home with me.” = a Hadestown reference?

~ “Believing in something doesn’t make it true.” “That’s exactly what makes it true.” Sounds like a convicting statement, but that’s not how either stories or the real world work. There is truth in metaphor, symbolism, and story itself; but truth does not depend on whether someone believes, understands, or acknowledges it. But (spoiler alert) this becomes a key concept in the season 6 finale.

~ Rumpelstiltskin’s first scene is fantastic. I wonder if him being in the dungeon at the beginning has some psychological symbolism for Snow and Charming. His return at the end is a bit startling, and confirms him as a significant recurring character, someone Emma will have to contend with, rather than just a footnote or supporting character in her parents’ story.

~ I don’t know why I didn’t realize it from the start, but the title is much more than just the first line of most fairy tales. Time itself is a central theme of the show, from the very beginning. The curse is being frozen in time. The story structure in each episode jumps between different points in time, showing the impact of the past on the present.

~ In light of these themes, the fact that the clock tower is located right above the library, a place that houses books, is quite fitting!

~ “Giving into one’s dark side never accomplishes anything.” – That line, spoken twice in this episode, could be one of the theses of the show. It hits differently knowing what lies in store for many of the characters!

~ The reply, “How many wars has a clear conscience won?” is a valid question. It’s easy to have principles and ideals in the abstract, but it’s another thing to live them out, especially when someone is threatening you or your loved ones.

~ “Our fate rests on a tree?” makes me think of the cross of Christ, another foretold Savior

~ It’s interesting that Regina’s house has a white color scheme, and in her first scene as mayor she’s wearing light-colored outfit. It’s only afterwards that she switches to a darker outfit. Maybe, instead of the white = good and black = evil symbolism used elsewhere, they decided to contrast white/neutral colors for Regina with vivid colors for Emma, as seen in her red jacket and yellow car.

~ I have questions about the castle setup. Why did Gepetto and Pinocchio go about constructing the wardrobe so far away from the royal couple’s bedrooms? My only guess is that they didn’t expect the baby or the curse to come as quickly as they did.

~ It makes sense for Emma’s last name to be a type of bird, given her mother’s connection with them and the metaphor they serve in her first scene as Mary Margaret.

~ I remain curious about religion in both the Enchanted Forest and Storybrooke. An archbishop officiated Snow and Charming’s wedding, and Mary Margaret is wearing a cross necklace in her first scene. Given that the Grimm brothers were theologians, it would make sense for these characters to be influenced by Christianity, but that raises questions about where the Enchanted Forest and other realms exist.

~ The queen and her forces approaching when a mother is giving birth and searching for her child to kill it is reminiscent of the mother, child, and dragon in Revelation 12

~ Snow and Charming’s love for their daughter and capacity for self-sacrifice are what establishes them as heroes, even more than the audience’s familiarity with their story.

~ Prince Charming defending his newborn child with his life = the most dramatic possible visualization of fatherhood, both gentle and fierce

~ Emma’s journey through the tree-wardrobe is similar to the stories of Moses, Elora Danan, and other mythical children who escape danger as infants, signifying hope for the future of their people.

~ I love all the motifs and little details that nod to the characters’ stories, like Pinocchio carving a whale, Henry’s bedroom lamp showing images of birds, starting with a swan, and Regina going to a mirror when she is threatened.

~ The episode is relatively simple and self-contained, but soooo good! Even though it switches between two timelines, they manage to lead into each other with great effect. For example, Pinocchio appears just one scene after he’s first mentioned, and Grumpy gets his big closeup and line right before his first scene as Leroy.

#Once Upon a Time rewatch #ABC's Once Upon a Time #Once Upon a Time #Welcome to Storybrooke #Emma Swan

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beetlegoose01 · 2 years

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In Defense of 2012 April

TW for mentions of sexual harassment and misogynist slurs

I'm back here for another semi long post. I want to discuss TMNT 2012's version of April O' Neil (perfect timing with the month and all) and why I personally think the hatred that goes towards her is …excessive to say the least, and frankly makes little to no sense.

Before I begin, I would like to say I do think there are valid critiques of April as a character. Some of them I will mention here because even with characters I like, I will always point out flaws to not be a hypocrite. However, many of those complaints can be attributed to poor writing and lack of a woman's perspective when creating female characters.

Let's step back for a moment and think. If April was not April, say she was August, or heck if she and Casey Jones swapped roles, would she get the same amount of hate? Well she sure as hell wouldn't get sexualized as much by the animators I'll tell ya that.

The truth is, I'm not really sure of the answer to that question. I do think there are double standards when it comes to guy characters vs girl ones. A guy with psychic powers but is prone to emotional outbursts sounds cool, right?

I know there will be people that argue with me in the notes saying there isn't an unconscious bias towards gender, and clearly I'm being over dramatic. Well, I might as well go through the common complaints about April instead of stalling lol

1. She gets kidnapped too often!

Starting off with probably my favorite complaint. *GASP* April O' Neil gets kidnapped too often in a superhero cartoon where kidnapping is the most life threatening but still kid friendly crime they can do!

In early 2021 I rewatched 2012 and recorded a tally chart. For those who aren't in the server don't know, it's basically a count of every single instance a character got kidnapped. April got captured a total of 20 times. Sure seems like a lot. But you know who got captured more times than her?

Mikey, Donnie and Raph.

In fact, Mikey got captured more than 30 times! Yes, I counted and yes I'm aware I have no life. Yet I haven't heard anyone complain about those dudes in distresses getting their asses rescued by literally everyone.

Like I said. It's a superhero cartoon. Kidnapping is…kind of a thing that happens. Everyone gets captured in this show, it really isn't that deep.

2. April is rude to Donnie!

Alright, this one legitimately gets me frustrated.

If you are being harassed and stalked, you absolutely have a right to be rude to the person harassing you. Abusers do NOT deserve kindness, especially when they won't leave you the fuck alone.

Now you may be wondering, what does this have to do with April? I'll tell you.

That's the entire Apriltello arc in a nutshell. She is repeatedly harassed by Donnie and to a lesser extent Casey (and yes, Donnie did stalk her, no matter how good his intentions were it's fucked up). There is no win to this scenario. If this was real life, she would be called a bitch for rejecting such a "nice guy" . If she accepted him…well you know how some guys aren't always as nice as they seem…

If she was nice, she's a slut and trying too hard, if she's cold and upfront she's a bitch. I know this because I had to deal with the exact same thing April was going through during the early seasons of 2012.

Now that the heavy part is out of the way, I would like to clarify I don’t hate 2012 Donnie. In fact, he’s my favorite Donatello. But I’m not going to say his actions were excusable.

In regards to general rudeness, most of her comments ("Nice catch Donnie!") are just snarkiness typical of a teenager, and the boys have actually said and done a lot worse.

3. The Kiss (es)

Yeah okay I agree with this one. It doesn't make any sense, especially in the episode a Foot Too Big. I think it would be nice to have her not kiss him, but keep the speech there. And after that ironically, Donnie mellowed out with his crush.

I guess I can only really blame poor writing on that.

4. She's a Mary Sue

So in terms of her psychic powers, I think if they were explained a bit more, it would make more sense. If there were scenes of her practicing, or heck, the origins behind it beyond "she's part Kraang". Actually, come to think of it, wouldn't it be awesome if she actually had some Kraang-like appearances to her design? Maybe as her powers got stronger?

As for her becoming a kunoichi, it was obvious that she was not as strong of a fighter as the turtles in several instances. The only times I can think of where she saves them involve her powers, not her ninja skills. She graduated the first part of being a ninja in Season 4, she didn't automatically become an expert.

5. Uh didn't she kill Donnie-

Oh my God. NO SHE DIDN'T. Okay, am I the only one who finds this "reason" to be stupid? She was under control of an aeon crystal! Za-Naron 'killed' Donnie, not April.

In conclusion? April deserves better and stop reblogging my April appreciation post with hate. Thank you.

#tmnt #tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2012 april #tmnt april #tmnt april o neil #long post #rant #teenage mutant ninja turtles

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lenievi · 9 months

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Do you recommend SNW? I’ve been trying to get into it because I like Gia Sandhu and enjoyed some episodes like The Elysian Kingdom. But I’m finding it hard to like what they did with Spock. I like Chapel as a character but Sp@pel isn’t my thing even though Gene Roddenberry wanted it to be canon. (Roddenberry apparently wanted Spock to be a Byronic character who circled between Uhura and Chapel before finally settling on the latter.)

Ok, I’m sorry, but first… people call it SPAPEL? This is the first time I’m seeing it lol took me a moment, anyway…

I’m probably not the best person to ask because I’m not watching Star Trek for… Star Trek? My favourite Star Trek is Discovery which is apparently not Star Trek at all to most people, so…

I think that overall SNW is a good series, but the focus on romance is, quite frankly, disappointing. (You can call me a hypocrite if you want, since I’m all into Kirk/La'an, but I still maintain that Kirk should not be in this show at all at this point - or only as an AU version of himself, since that’s fun - but since he is in it, well, I’m going to enjoy him - since I do like Wesley’s portrayal - and ship him with La'an.)

What is also disappointing is the focus on Spock. Again, I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t enjoy Spock’s journey in the first season, but I would prefer it if romance wasn’t the focus, and Spock was featured way less and other characters more. I have enjoyed Spock a bit less in s2, but I… enjoy Spock overall less even when I watch TOS; he’s just not my primary focus atm

I like La'an, I like M'Benga, I like Una, Uhura, Hemmer, Kirk, I enjoy Pelia, I like Pike when he doesn’t cook, so there is plenty to focus on for me (watching TV is about characters for me).

There are things I’m disappointed with (that are mainly: where are my strange new worlds? LOL), but I try not to dwell on them (except complaining every week about how Una was underutilized again lol), because they don’t really hold me back from enjoying what the writers are offering.

I don’t mind Spock/Chapel. I quite like them tbh; I’m interested in where it’ll go or rather how it gets there. (At this point, I’m most interested in “Is Chapel going to leave the Enterprise and the show at the end of the season?” because I feel that’s where it’s heading atm I don’t want it to happen, but I started to wonder because of Korby…)

I’m just very easy to please tbh and that’s why I don’t recommend things to people (I’m the kind of a person who will tell you that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is the best TOS movie lol and it is my favourite~) I’m just lucky, so far, that SNW is matching my expectations and even validates some of my TOS readings and various headcanon. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want some things to be different, but I’m not the one writing the show.

I do like SNW, even though my reaction to episode 5 last week might suggest otherwise lol The comedy aspect just didn’t work for me… I’ll probably change my opinion after I rewatch it in a few months though.

also, I didn’t like The Elysian Kingdom when it aired, even though I cried at the end. I liked it more when I rewatched it in preparation for s2, but it still isn’t anywhere near my fave episodes. (I checked my rewatch ranking - based strictly on my enjoyment, not how good the episode is - and I put the episode as second to last, so… we might actually have different taste, so my opinion might be completely irrelevant to you…)

#submission #snw nonsense

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epicene-humanoid · 3 years

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some trans Jeff thoughts:

he realized he was trans in elementary school and just went fuck it I'll just start introducing myself as Jeffery and see if anyone decides to stop me (as we know, jeff winger can get away with almost anything)

he got top surgery the second he could afford it (around the same time he started at his law firm), and probably bribed someone to keep it a secret

"I'm jeff winger and i would rather look at myself naked than the women I sleep with" are the words of a man proud of his transition

he's really insecure about his fashion sense, which is why he mostly dresses like the douchey guys at his firm in the start of the show, he thought you can't go wrong with the sleazy lawyer look

he will never admit it but he feels super good about the dean hitting on him, because the dean is a (cis) guy, acknowledging that Jeff is more manly than him

i think he starts out stealth and comes out to everyone one by one, probably starting with abed because he knows abed won't judge him and will probably just see it as an interesting backstory.

abed just says it's cool and maybe worth a prequel exploring Jeff's transition, and jeff asks him to predict how all of the members of the group will react to him coming out.

abed's predictions:

britta will be over-the-top supportive and do a ton of research about trans history, probably put together a slideshow just to prove how progressive she is, and jeff will be a little bit weirded out, but also touched that she did all that for him, though he would never let her know that

shirley will be confused, because she doesn't know how someone she trusts and knows so well could be part of a group she was raised to hate, but ultimately realizes that there's nothing actually against the lgbtq people in the bible, and, as a cool character development arch, starts to advocate against use of the bible to justify bigotry

troy will just think it over and decide that Jeff's physique and coolness are even awesomer knowing how much work he'd had to put in to be like that, and respects Jeff's manliness even more

annie will give him a hug, say something sweet about how she'll always love him, and worry about his health, because even she read somewhere that taking testosterone makes you more likely to have a heart attack, jeff will explain that the risk is still only as high a cis guy, and she'll be the one to always remind him to take his shots

peirce will say at best say "jeff winger used to be a chick?" and at worst call him a slur, either way there's sure to be a lot of misgendering from him, and pestering to know Jeff's deadname (needless to say, Jeff just doesn't tell peirce)

the whole group goes out of their way to keep their beach trips a secret from pierce (the girls don't want him there anyways, he's too liable to be creepy) even though jeff knows that even if pierce saw his scars, all he would have to do is make up a story about some childhood accident and pierce would never question it

sorry this ended up being super long. can I hear some of your headcanons for him?

YES ALL THIS!!! yes yes i’m fully accepting this as canon oh my god

i’m about to type a whole ass ESSAY at midnight because i have been DYING to talk about this for months ajfdksljk,,, this is going to be obscenely long and i might end up adding even more to it as i continue to rewatch the show because there is truly no shortage of trans jeff content (especially when you’re trans and see transness in every little thing ajdkslfkjs)

spoiler warning for literally everything about this show under the cut <3

i 100% agree, i feel like he realized he was trans super young, especially since in the show we see him as a little kid a couple of times.

like look at little jeff with the oversized sweatshirt and little ponytail!! that’s childhood trans fashion. not to be dramatic but part of me thinks that jeff’s dad left before he fully came out to his family (which gives him even more angst about it, because until that one Thanksgiving episode, he’s never able to prove to his dad that he’s a better man), but part of me thinks that his dad left after he came out (which adds that spicy i-should-have-stayed-in-the-closet guilt that he has to work through).

either way, because his dad wasn’t there, he had to base his concept of masculinity on something else, which was becoming a lawyer!! there’s some line that’s like “after the dust and divorce papers were settled the only man i looked up to was [the lawyer guy]”. like, replacing your father figure in your mind with the concept of “a job where you can talk your way in and out of anything and distort other people’s concept of reality”? that’s trans.

and the fucking THANKSGIVING EPISODE... i struggle to watch it without crying hehe <3 yeowch! the dichotomy of willy jr. being the “wrong” kind of man because he’s “too soft” but jeff also not being enough despite adhering to all the social standards of masculinity... fuck!! this whole scene of him telling his dad “i am Not well adjusted” and talking about how he gave himself an “appendix surgery scar” when he was a kid and he still keeps the get-well-soon letters from his classmates under his bed? oh my god. the implication of people loving him not despite his scars but because of them?? trans. i can’t think about this episode for too long or i’ll start yelling.

OH and this scene? where he talks about how his mom got him a girl costume for halloween?? and everyone said “what a cute little girl” and after a few houses he stopped correcting them?? and “once the shame and the fear wore off, i was just glad they thought i was pretty”?? THAT’S TRANS... the man needs validation oh my god... and then in all the halloween episodes we see he has these ultra-masculine costumes (a cowboy, David Beckham, one of the fast and furious guys even though he never watched the movies, a boxer with his DAD’S boxing gloves... god) costumes are about becoming something else and he always chooses to be hypermasculine and that is trans.

THE PHYSICAL EDUCATION EPISODE!!!!!!! being uncomfortable during P.E. is a queer experience. period. but him being specifically uncomfortable in the clothes someone else is assigning to him? trans. “are we gonna talk about clothes like a girl? or use tapered sticks to hit balls around a cushioned mat like a man?” TRANS. and him eventually stripping in public? celebration of transness. and the fact that he eventually becomes comfortable in both the uniform and his own style!! trans!! god i love this episode.

AND AND AND!!! the gay dean coming out episode!!! where it’s the three of them discussing the best way for the dean to come out as gay despite not entirely identifying with that label!! so we have both frankie and the dean who are sort of ambiguously queer, and jeff who’s a stealth trans man who’s probably only out to only the study group at this point. this scene where the dean and jeff have this like eyebrow communication while frankie is talking is just so cute. queer-to-queer communication. “I am so curious” “oh?” “intellectually.” “oh...” ajfdksljfk this scene just screams high school GSA to me and i love it so much.

and SPEAKING of the dean!! i totally see you on that. i feel like jeff has some internalized homophobia/biphobia (like he’d throw punches over someone else, but when it comes to himself he has a lot of shame). and also seeing the dean so confident in all his different outfits/costumes has a weird affect on him bc it’s like “okay, the dean, a cis guy, can do that, but i as a trans guy could Not because that’s Breaking the Rules”. which, like, throwback to the halloween thing. of course there’s no right way to be masculine, but mr. winger does not know that.

another thing!! the episode where their emails get leaked? that includes his emails with his therapist. fuck!! he was outed to the whole world in that episode!! no wonder he was so fucking angry!! this whole episode (and really any time he mentions his therapist) is so interesting when you think about them as a person he talks to about his transition. OH which adds to the thing with the dean!! “and you told your therapist you wanted to be alone this weekend” and “not you jeff, i know you’ll be visiting your dad” ”I told you to stop reading my emails”. luckily his study group has his back and just makes fun of him for emailing astronauts lmao

and WHO can forget “they’re giving out an award for most handsome young man!!!!” what else is there to say about this line besides: he’s trans. you know he didn’t get awarded enough for being a handsome young man when he was a kid, and no amount of compliments when he’s fully-grown can really make up for that. some people crash a kid’s bar mitzvah to cope with the fact that they struggled to be seen as themselves when they were a teenager <3

also his weird relationship with pierce? where he kind of hates him (understandably lmao) but at times has this almost-friends-almost-father-son relationship with him? especially in this episode where he’s forced to bond with him and ends up having a good time by accident (at a barber shop no less, the perfect place to Be A Man with your Man Friend). idk what to say about him besides the fact that pierce says his mom wanted a girl when he was born and made him dress like a girl (and his middle name is anastasia!) so if they’re gonna do any bonding over transness it’s gonna be that.

okay one last thing and then i’ll shut up for the night. this episode kills me (and almost kills jeff hahahahelpi’mcrying). it’s a very Trans thing to not be able to visualize your future self, it just is. growing up trans at the time he did? i don’t know what kind of future he saw for himself, but i’m so happy that he ended up with a group of friends who became his family and love him the way they all do. i’m so emotional over this asshole it’s ridiculous.

in conclusion:

they’re trans, your honor <3

#community #jeff winger #trans jeff winger #GOD i'm gonna make a video essay about it if nobody stops me #yall know that youtube channel AreTheyGay? i want to be that but AreTheyTrans #the videos would just b like... jeff community. neo the matrix. bill and ted bill and ted. audrey little shop of horrors. jo little women.#maybe i should start that youtube channel sjdfklsj #thank you for prompting me to talk about this because i think about it twice a day #i might end up reblogging this and just adding different responses jeff has had to casually homophobic/transphobic things that happen #in the show #like the episode that last photo is from when the dean is like #'spring transfer student dance isn't rolling off the tongue so we're calling it The Tr@nny Dance!' 'much more greendale.'#OH AND ACCIDENTALLY KILLING PIERCE'S DAD!!! HOW DID I NOT MENTION THAT EARLIER SJFKLSJ #'you LITERALLY killed a father!' 'well not MINE dummy!!'#alright i need to do my homework now ajfklsdjfl

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whitleyschn33 · 3 years

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Not Everything Can Be Wiped Away With A Hug

Or why I’m not happy with Weiss and Whitley’s reconciliation.

Whitley and Weiss haven’t had a great relationship. From the first time we see him, the two are shown to not be comfortable with each other. Weiss’ tone when they meet is one of dismissiveness and wariness, even if the conversation ends on a technically hopeful note. As the show goes on, every interaction the two have is riddled with tension. Weiss accuses him of wanting her loss of status, Whitley gets angry and bites back. Whitley stops by her room to ask if she wants anything and twist the knife, Weiss asks if he’s jealous and slams the door in his face. When Weiss comes back at the party, she does everything she can to brush him off, clearly annoyed, while Whitley talks about what he’s been up to since she’s been gone. Weiss laughs when Whitley gets splashed with wine, Whitley storms off in a huff. Then Weiss comes back during the... siege(? I don’t know what to call this failed attempted at a Fall), commanders the house, shoves a weapon in Whitley’s face, sends him to his room like he’s a child, and then doesn’t acknowledge him again until he calls Klein. At which point she hugs him and all tensions disappears from their relationship.

See what’s missing here? We have point A of massive hostility between the two with both parties having grievances with the other and point B of both parties having found a balance in their relationship. What’s missing is a strong connection between those two points. What’s missing is the meat of the actual arc, something between set up and pay off, and that’s ultimately the problem with their reconciliation. It wasn’t worked for, at least on Weiss’s end. There was no effort for any of their grievances to be addressed, talked about, and worked through. There was no point where they took the grievances that had been brought up and had the characters discuss or react to them in any meaningful way. It just fell into their laps - or rather, it fell mostly into Weiss’s lap. That’s the short version, anyway. Let’s discuss the long version.

In Volume 7, Weiss and Whitley’s relationship is tense, Weiss clearly annoyed and dismissive of her brother for being a snot towards her, and Whitley angry that Weiss ignores him and abandoned him to their neglectful/abusive parents. In episode 7, though, Willow flat out tells Weiss why Whitley acts the way he does to her. Willow gives us Whitley’s motivations - that he’s hurt and resentful towards Weiss. This is the set up for a reconciliation; Weiss has been given insight into Whitley’s point of view (had it literally shoved in her face), and has the chance to contemplate it so as to be able to find common ground later.

Plot stuff happens, and the two are separated as Weiss deals with all that until Weiss needs a place to lay low. Armed with new information on Whitley’s disposition, Weiss...

Whitley: Oh, you’ve picked a fine time to--

Weiss interrupts by pointing Myrtenaster at him, and he looks at the blade in fright.

Weiss: Not. Another. Word. We’re coming in.

Whitley steps aside and groans as Ruby’s group walks into the manor.

...threatens him after saying 7 words. Not even words of “you can’t come in” or anything to suggest he won’t let them in but, “oh great, this is a wonderful~ time to drop by”, venting frustration. Weiss doesn’t try anything else before shoving a weapon in his face (the face of an unarmed, defenseless, civilian minor that physically can’t stop her from coming in anyway) and forcing her way inside.

Whitley: Things are already bad enough after what you did to father, now you want us to harbor fugitives too? Our family has a reputation.

He crosses his arms in annoyance. Blake, having set Nora down on the floor, looks at him.

Blake: That’s what you’re worried about? Your reputation?

Whitley: I’m just saying that we’ve already lost all the house staff, and Mother locked herself in her room.

Weiss: Maybe you haven’t figured out what’s going on, Whitley, but we’re busy trying to save Atlas.

Whitley continues to vent his frustration. Jacques, Whitley’s only source of familial attention, has been taken away by Weiss (”what you did to Father”), the staff has all vacated the estate (most likely a combination of their employer being carted away in the back of a military truck and then all hell breaking loose in Mantle and Atlas airspace), and Willow, the only other human being in the mansion, has locked herself in her room for several hours, up to almost 24 hours (I’m honestly lost on the timeline of this volume with how much it flip-flops between night and day, and I can’t be bothered to rewatch these episodes).

Whitley has been left completely and utterly alone, and Weiss comes back not for him, but to use his resources to hide herself and her friends, all of which are wanted by the military. I don’t know what Atlesian policy is, but harboring fugitives is a crime punishable with prison sentences in the US, dependent on what the fugitive is charged with. She’s forcing him to risk being arrested and imprisoned for her crimes, after destroying his family’s reputation with Jacques’ arrest and causing everyone to vacate the manor and leaving him utterly alone (the way he follows up Blake’s response with “I’m just saying we’ve already lost all the house staff” makes me think he’s tying those two things together. With Jacques’s arrest, their reputation is falling, and everyone’s jumping ship, starting with the house staff. Any other family allies the Schnees might have legally and politically are likely to follow suit to save their own skin (ah, societal politics of the rich). Harboring fugitives and Whitley and possibly Willow arrested as well? The Schnees are sunk, dead in the water. They’re not getting out of that, they’ll be left to the dogs.). And how does Weiss respond?

Weiss: Maybe you haven’t figured out what’s going on, Whitley, but we’re busy trying to save Atlas.

How in the absolute hell is he supposed to come to this conclusion? No, really, tell me. He knows two things: one, he knows there’s some kind of Grimm threat in the heatless Mantle and hovering around Atlas based on the news - maybe; we don’t know how much the news has reported about how bad it is outside of that one Mantle broadcast and how much Whitley has kept up with the news (he seems the type to absorb in as much information as possible, but he may not have been watching every waking second) - and two, he knows his sister and her friends have pissed off the military and are marked as fugitives. There is no way for him to know that the group of fugitives are doing anything to help Atlas, especially when he has no way to know what’s going on and what Weiss+co are up to. Weiss’ comment does nothing but imply that he’s too wrapped up in his own stuff to see the big picture, when he doesn’t have the knowledge that there’s even a big picture to look at. Rather than trying to reach out and reason with Whitley, Weiss snaps at him and treats him like he’s being self absorbed and shallow. His life is falling apart, he’s been left behind again by staff and his mother, and Weiss doesn’t just not respond to it, she gets mad at him for it. It’s Ruby that has to step up and tell him that they just need a place for their friend to heal and then they’ll leave (which turns out to be a bold-faced lie, but that’s another post).

Whitley relents then, and asks what they want him to do. Weiss then tells him to “go to his room”. Let’s set this up - we don’t know how old Whitley is, but we can guess based on Weiss’s age. Weiss is 19, and Whitley is likely 2 to 3 years younger, as he seems a bit older than Oscar but most likely more than a year younger than Weiss. That makes Whitley at least 16 years old, possibly 17. Whitley is either just a year younger or the same age as Ruby, the girl Weiss is blindly following as a leader. Whitley is not a child. A minor, probably, but not a child (I consider “child” to be 12 and under, and minor to be 13 - 16/17 (depending on what the age of maturity is in Remnant, which I’ve always considered to be 17 based on Beacon admission ages) btw to clarify). Yet, Weiss tells the boy that she has no legal or emotional authority over that’s about the same age as her leader to go to his room, treating him like he’s a petulant child. She doesn’t want to have to deal with him, so she shunts him aside - makes it clear that she’s not going to break his isolation, she wants him out of her way. Alone.

The relationship between Weiss and Whitley was already tense and hostile, but this pushes that to the next level. Before, it was hurt feelings and snipping - valid hurt feelings on both sides - but this has escalated it. Physical threats of violence, forcing him into committing a possible felony, and then dismissing him like he’s a child shows a lack of respect for Whitley, and is the exact opposite of working towards reconciliation. I wouldn’t be surprised if Whitley’s anger and resentment towards his sister grew after this; that would be my reaction.

“But wait!” You might be thinking. “That’s not really fair to Weiss - she’s worried about Nora who’s possibly dying and about being followed by Atlas’ military. She just wants to get under cover as fast as possible and then get to helping Nora! She’s stressed and tense, it makes sense that she’d be brusque to Whitley; we shouldn’t judge her so harshly.” To which I say - character is the choices you make under pressure, not when everything is just fine. Weiss resorting to the threat of violence immediately against someone she knows is no threat when faced with a tense situation where some diplomacy and respect would go a long way, it’s not a good look for who she is as a person. But alright, let’s play that game. Weiss is too worried about Nora to deal with Whitley at the moment. She gets Nora to bed, starts treating her as best she can, and then...

Nothing. Weiss doesn’t speak to Whitley again until he calls Klein for Nora, presumably a day later (once again, I’m not entirely sure. They arrive at what I believe is sunset, Amity happening that night, then the sun rising or setting in Midnight (?) and in War it’s night again as Klein arrives, so I think that this has to be the next night but it’s extremely difficult to tell and causes a crap ton of plot holes, thanks a lot CRWBY (I might skim through each episode to put together just how broken the timeline is)). That’s 24 hours where Weiss didn’t decide to ask Ruby or Blake (who I would have thought would be the one to have the most first aid knowledge of the three with her militia group experience) to watch over Nora for a few minutes while she seeks out Whitley to talk to him. 24 hours where she didn’t choose to apologize for threatening him, or go to talk to him about what’s going on, or follow up on Willow’s request, or ask if their mother is even alive still if she’s been locked up drinking for over a day, probably 2 (again, the timeline is fucked up). That’s not “I’m rushing and being harsher than I normally would out of concern for my friend”, that’s “I don’t regret or care about how I’ve treated my brother; I don’t see any reason to reach out to him” (And as side note - if Weiss had gone to see Whitley earlier, letting him know just how bad of shape Nora was in, Whitley might have called Klein earlier. By talking to her brother, Weiss could have gotten Nora the help she needed sooner, but she didn’t).

This is the next conversation Weiss and Whitley have after she threatens him and sends him to his room. I know I spent far too long breaking it down, but that was just one incident, the only one between between Willow telling Weiss to not forget Whitley and their hug.

Weiss: You called Klein?

Whitley: That girl needs a doctor. (turns away from Weiss) I didn’t do it for you.

Weiss: I know. That’s why it means so much to me.

Whitely gasps as Weiss steps forward to hug him. After some hesitation, he sighs and embraces her back. Weiss gasps when she and the others hear an explosion from outside.

That’s it. That’s their reconciliation. After this point, Whitley shows no anger towards Weiss or brings up his issues with her, so we’re meant to think that this is it, the Weiss-Whitley reconciliation is over.

Now, on Weiss’s side, I could see this putting Whitley in her good graces (maybe). Weiss’ grievances with Whitley boil down to hurt feelings over him being a snot about her loss of inheritance and being annoying. Whitley was being a jerk about it when he came around in V4E9 to twist the knife, but we know why he did that (he was pushing his own situation in Weiss’s face, a “see how you like it, being stuck here alone like I was” type thing), Weiss does get an explanation for it later from Willow, and at the end of the day, that’s all he did. He didn’t betray her, act against her, try and get her in trouble with Jacques - he didn’t do anything to her. Gloating at the role reversal is petty, yes, but it’s not like Weiss doesn’t attempt to fire right back, and it’s not like she wasn’t plenty rude to him when accusing him of wanting it to happen. Weiss mentions “you never liked me” in V4E7, but we never get anything more specific than that, and implies that he was just bitter and snippy with her like he is in V4E9. Theoretically he could have been an absolute terror before, but since we’re never shown any of this or given any examples, it’s difficult to factor in anything Whitley may have done before V4 as a piece of Weiss’ attitude towards him. Point is, since I’m starting to ramble, is that ultimately Whitley hasn’t done anything but hurt Weiss’s feelings, and him calling a doctor for Nora purely because Nora needs one feels like it might be enough to put Whitley in Weiss’ good graces, even if it raises some uncomfortable implications - that Weiss only extends her love and affection when Whitley does something she likes and can revoke it if he does something she doesn’t (like make a light joke).

On Whitley’s end, though, this scene is an absolute mess of an ending. At the end of Volume 7, Whitley is angry and resentful towards Weiss (and Winter) for abandoning him to abusive and neglectful parents, and then arresting Jacques, taking away his only source of attention and dealing a huge blow to their family’s status. In Volume 8, Weiss comes back, threatens him physically, dismisses his concerns, treats him like a child by sending him to his room, and leaves him alone again until he does something she likes. At no point does Weiss do anything that would make his attitude towards her shift to the better; in fact, she does things that should only further alienate him. Why is Whitley no longer mad at her? Because she gave him a hug? That doesn’t change that she still (from his point of view) abandoned him without a second thought, blamed him for things he didn’t do, threatened him with a weapon, forced him to harbor them, and then talked down to him and pushed him aside when she didn’t want to deal with him - abandoning him again. Weiss has done nothing to make Whitley any less resentful. She hasn’t acknowledged how she’s hurt him, they haven’t discussed why he was so hurt by her leaving, there’s been no attempt for the rift between them to be mended. Weiss just hugs him, and somehow that makes everything better. I didn’t realize that Whitley was so completely starved for affection that a hug makes him forget everything leading up to it - a hug that he initially backed away from.

He has his hands raised defensively, he starts backing away, and his expression is completely shocked. His posture is completely stiff, his arms falling to his side and hands clenching into fists. He’s clearly not comfortable with this initially, before giving in with a sigh and hugging Weiss back - giving in and giving Weiss what she wants.

Weiss is happy with him now, so Whitley can’t be upset. Weiss gives her approval, Whitley has been useful to her, so Whitley is “redeemed” in the eyes of the characters and the audience. What Whitley wants, what Whitley feels, what motivates Whitley? They don’t matter now that Weiss cares about him again. They aren’t discussed, they don’t continue to effect how Whitley acts and views Weiss, Weiss has forgiven him, so Whitley isn’t allowed to still be pissed with Weiss. Weiss didn’t have to do anything to reconcile with her brother, she doesn’t have to be humbled or acknowledge her own role in this dysfunctional relationship. She got to treat him with violence and like a child, and then hug him and act like everything is forgiven when by all reasonable logic, Whitley should be pushing her away, repeating that he didn’t do this for her and to back off.

Weiss didn’t work for this; Weiss didn’t earn this. Whitley’s own emotions and motivations were stripped away to let her get her brother on her side without her having to confront her own mistakes, because RWBY refuses to let its main girls make mistakes.

This isn’t the first time this has happened in RWBY, far from it. This isn’t even the only example of this happening with Whitley. Next episode and a few later, they do the exact same thing with Whitley and Willow! Whitley starts episode 8 rightfully pissed at his mother; she’s left him completely alone for two days straight to drink in her room, being less than useless, straight up neglectful. This anger carries on when she tries to call him, him turning to the door as the Hound approaches with anger. During the Hound attack, Willow grabs onto him, and he lets him. That makes sense, both of them were extremely frightened by this Grimm unlike anything they’d ever seen. What doesn’t make sense is that in episodes 11 and 12, Willow is still hanging onto him. I haven’t watched episode 11 for personal reasons (RWBY’s pissed me off), but I’ve seen the screenshots.

Willow’s holding onto him like she’s showing him off with pride. It’s a cute image - but why is Whitley allowing it? Why is Whitley not pulling away? Whitley was rightfully angry at his mother for neglecting him, for leaving him emotionally and mentally, right up until the Hound attack. Now, I know what you’re thinking; Willow saved his life. They killed the Hound together. Something like that, it can being people together. I agree - and I would even buy that being the spark for Whitley giving his mother another chance if there had been any kind of scene or even conversation on screen where we get to see this transition from rightfully anger at a drunk neglectful mother to a son giving a proud mother another chance at being his mother. It would have been incredibly easy to slip in, too! Like, and I’m just spitballing here -

Willow after the Hound is killed: Are you alright, Whitley?

Whitley: Oh, so you suddenly care. That’s nice to know.

Willow: I have always cared -

Whitley: Then you haven’t ever shown it! Whitley gets visibly angry. You’ve done nothing but leave me alone in this house with him while you drown yourself in your wine. You haven’t cared about me since I was 7 years old! Stop acting like you’re my mother! Whitley starts walking off.

Willow: Whitley - ! Willow reaches out for Whitley and stops him I - she deflates - You’re right. I have been a horrible mother. I’ve left you alone, all this time, and if I had been even slightly more drunk tonight, you might have been killed. ...I might have lost you for good, and it would have been my own fault. I’m sorry...

Whitley: He pauses, and falls silent.

Willow: ...Please. I almost lost you tonight, and I don’t want to lose you to something I can fix. Is there anything I can do? Can I... Can I get a chance?

Whitley: .....he turns back to Willow, taking a deep breath, and looks up at her. ...One chance. You can’t - You can’t fix all of this, but... Whitley looks away ...I’ve wanted you back for 9 years. I don’t want to lose you either if I might get you back.

Willow: Willow looks surprised, before giving him a weak smile and pulling him into a hug. Thank you, Whitley. And I am so, so proud of you.

Whitley: Whitley stiffens with surprise, looking at his mother with shock, but returns the shaky smile and hugs her back.

One minute for this conversation, and I would be completely on board with Whitley and Willow seeming to reconcile as well. The same goes with Weiss, except a longer conversation.

If Weiss and Whitley had had even one talk where they both admit their faults and failings, apologize to each other, and agree to try again, I would be all on board with this Schnee family reconciliation. As it is now, though, with how it’s been written in the show, neither Weiss nor Willow have had to work to repair their relationships with Whitley; Whitley’s anger has just been wiped away. They set up the potential for reconciliation between Weiss and Whitley, between Willow and Whitley, acknowledging why Whitley is angry with both of them, but rather than have any of the characters take that knowledge and use it to reach out to Whitley, the writers skip all of that and let the characters treat Whitley however they want until they end up reconciled with one act. A single summon is treated like it makes up for years of neglect. A single hug because Whitley was useful to Weiss is treated like it makes up for abandonment, disrespect, and threats of violence. They don’t, and the lack of respect the writers’ have for the emotions of a male abuse victim sickens me.

#rwby #rwby8 #whitley schnee #weiss schnee #willow schnee #man this got long

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sairenharia · 3 years

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The Chosen One in The Owl House

So I binged The Owl House a few weeks ago and been reading posts and watching videos and just been wondering about what is Hunter’s ‘place’ in the narrative. (I love Hunter, btw. I love a constantly stressed person who never sleeps who needs a hug.)

He is clearly a foil of sorts. He is Luz’s love of magic, someone who wants to learn and explore more and is denied that. He is Amity’s pain and restriction of her parents. But both Luz and Amity have developed where they are the foils who know better, and can show their growth, but he may not necessarily be in a place to push them to grow.

And then when I rewatched, I realized what is Hunter’s ‘point’ in the story. Something the show hasn’t really talked about since episode two.

Hunter is the one who is given a destiny.

Its a point that Luz is not the ‘chosen one.’ She is not the ‘worthy hero.’ Her every achievement isn’t decided by fate, but her own willingness to listen and change the world around her. She takes what the island offers in glyphs. She sees people who are hurting and offers support and kindness. She is extraordinary because she chooses to go against the status quo because its the right thing to do and in a land where not fitting in is a crime, this is a major choice.

Amity had expectation. She had a dream hundreds of other kids had, but the talent and pressure to actually get there. But she was not chosen. She worked hard for her ability, first from her parents pressuring her, and then from being inspired by her friends. But its notable even if she wanted to join the coven, Amity did not ‘fit in.’ If fanfic is a crime, is fanart any better? When she saw the Emperor’s Coven didn’t meet her ideals, she was easily able to let that dream go, and when given the chance to be herself, she chose it, even if she struggled. But she was expected to become part of that system, to work and force herself to have a part to play.

Luz is the outsider. Amity is the one who could have been.

The others all have different roles in society.

Eda was rejected by society, so she decided to reject it back.

Raine is the one who tries to change the system from the inside.

Lilith had spent too much to join the system so stayed with it out of that guilt, and also in the hope she could use it to help her sister.

Willow is the one who was forced to try and be something else to be ‘better’ in the system until her talent showed her as too invaluable elsewhere.

Gus knows what he wants to be, even if he doubts sometimes, and is looking at a future where he’s not limited.

King is the seemingly mascot sidekick, but he has his own history, his own family, his story exists beyond the role people may assume.

And Hunter is the Chosen One. While everyone felt pressure to conform to the system in one way or another, they are still able to make a Choice at some point. Even Amity’s rebellion against her parents still has wiggle room. She may not be Emperor’s Coven, but she could lead SOME coven and that is still good for the family. As long as she advances their status, she is given freedom.

Hunter does not. Hunter is told what he is to be. Who he is. Because the Titan has Plans for him. Out of everyone, Hunter is the only one whose been sincerely told his destiny is decided for him.

And what a horrible thing that is.

Hunter is a good boy in his heart. He is someone who wants to make friends, he is someone who keeps his word, he sincerely thanks people, he protects a tiny bird even if it would give him the validation he wants to give Rascal up. He is an anxious mess who doesn’t sleep. He wears a mask that is cheerful and he sasses his opponents and he fights criminals.

He is guided by a mentor who he calls uncle, someone important to him, someone he trusts, who gives him responsibilities, but also pushes him to do more then a kid his age should be doing.

Hunter’s role in the story is to show just how much its a terrible thing to be chosen. How Luz is lucky to be able to choose the destiny she wants. To be allowed to still be uncertain. Because Hunter cannot afford to be.

Because Hunter is miserable and yet despite this, he believes in what he’s doing. At least believes Enough. He isn’t using the coven like Lilith was. He doesn’t want power like Kikimora. He isn’t blinded like the other witches. He knows the coven will sometimes do underhanded things, will hurt people, but it is for the Greater Good. And it is for a person he trusts and loves without question.

He believes in Belos wholeheartedly. He believes in the destiny he’s been told he must fulfill. And he’s terrified of being replaced, of being told what he is meant to be, and he STILL won’t be good enough. If he can’t perform, then what worth is he? Even if he loves wild magic, its dangerous and shouldn’t be trusted, though maybe he’s just Special Enough to use it to at least do one good thing?

In other stories, Hunter would be the hero. The strange boy with no magic, but chosen to do something special that only he can, but he must work to be capable of it. To have a powerful and beloved mentor. To have respect and admiration for the skills he learns quickly despite his obvious disadvantage. He works to stop criminals and those deemed dangerous. He does it all because he’s special and the only one who can and he’s too good of a person to say no even as he suffers.

But not having a decision in the person you will be just means you can easily be made to do something terrible instead. Or just be an ingredient in some grand plan you can’t even see.

Hunter is the hero who needs to be rescued from his own destiny.

I wonder if Belos wears sandles under those robes.

#The Owl House #toh #toh spoilers #toh hunter #hunter the golden guard #the golden guard #luz noceda #amity blight #emporer belos

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