#do I need a meta tag now

[spacingstars]

Sometimes, I find myself breaking down Kix’s character, turning over his traits, his patterns and behaviors… and more and more I find the personality construed by fandom for Kix to be so wildly jarring from what we do have of Kix.

Kix has, roughly, 17 minutes of screen time across the entirety of TCW, which, when compared to the likes of Fives and Rex, who clock much more screen time than most other clones, this doesn’t seem like a lot—but when you factor in most clones' screen time, we get a lot of Kix, and there’s a lot you can learn about him if you pay attention to the moments he does have on screen.

And to illustrate my point, and because I genuinely love Kix, I’m taking it upon myself to examine what we do have of Kix—both for my own purposes, creatively, and because I also happen to enjoy being neurotically intense about my favorite characters.

From “The Deserter” (S02:10) which is also Kix’s debut episode:

1. Kix speaks with a softer and gentler affliction in his voice compared to other clones (as seen with Jesse, who debuts alongside Kix and contrasts him in being more assertive.) I generally extrapolate this to be reflective of a softness that underscores Kix’s mannerisms. 2. When confronted by Suu, Kix doesn’t react with aggression of defensiveness (even if he’s also escorting an injured Rex and has a rifle pointed at him,) instead he opts to gently, and slowly, explain the situation, (in fact, Suu cuts him off and it is Jesse who has to explain, Jesse, who speaks quickly and in a more assertive manner than Kix did.) Kix’s tone is also likely influenced by caution. 3. The most notable scene in this episode that Kix appears in is when he’s tending to an injured Rex—I say notable because I think it informs much of how Kix treats his patients, even when they’re being uncooperative. Because in this scene, Kix is nothing but gentle an caring towards Rex, even when Rex tries to order Kix into letting him back into the fight despite the nerve damage he’s taken from the shot to his chest. When he pulls rank on Rex it is done so firmly, but kindly, and his face is one of sheepishness. If this scene shows anything, it’s that Kix is patient.

From Kix’s debut episode, what can be described about his character is that he’s much more reserved and gentle in comparison to the much more assertive personality of Jesse—from his mannerisms to the tone of his voice. He will be firm, but he is not unkind. He also shows patience towards his patient, even when said patient is, initially, being uncooperative.

From Umbara (S04:07 - S04:10) which is when Kix gets the most screen time:

1. The first moment of note Kix appears in is when he raises concerns to Rex about the pace Krell has had them marching at, that this pace is taking its toll on the men and they need to rest. Kix raises these concerns respectfully, secondly, Kix is doing his duty as a medic, which, is fundamental to his character, finally, Kix cares about those around him and he does what he can to ensure the welfare of these men. (And also, I think it’s quite telling that Kix doesn’t press the issue after Krell scolds them for it, as noted before, Kix does not have an assertive personality.) 2. When Kix is taking care of an injured clone he’s dragged into cover Kix retains his professionalism and keeps himself together even under stress. Kix comforts his patient instead, and I think it speaks of that gentleness I keep mentioning that Kix says, “You’re gonna be okay, buddy, this’ll ease the pain.” Kix is comforting, and he holds himself together under stress because he has his brothers to take care of. 3. I think it’s also notable that when Torrent is starting to express their distrust in Krell, though you can tell Kix is beginning to get frustrated with the treatment of the men (expressing that with Krell’s plan, casualties will be high,) his comments are not nearly has harsh as those of Tup or Jesse. Once again, Kix is shown to be more reserved, and I see it as him maintaining his professionalism in raising these concerns, even as he is beginning to grow frustrated with this poor treatment. 4. The note of Kix beginning to grow frustrated with the treatment of his brothers will be expanded upon throughout the Umbara arc; especially in light of Kix taking his frustration and horror out on the wildlife of Umbara for feeding on the corpses of his brothers. If I am to extrapolate, those dead clones serve as a reminder to Kix; a remainder that he, more and more, has been unable to properly care for all his injured brothers. These clones are a reminder to Kix of the brothers he could not save. This is the first crack within Kix, due to the stress of Umbara, and I have to emphasis, this is not Kix’s normal pattern of behavior. 5. Continuing the thread of Kix beginning to crack under the pressures of Umbara, there is a moment in Umbara where Kix is tending to an injured clone—one that’s in his arms, and this clone gets shot to death in Kix’s arms. This is directly Kix being unable to save a clone’s life despite being right there, because Umbara is that overwhelming—to such a degree that he’s forced to leave behind the injured in this moment, even if he can save them. And this is another crack in Kix’s composure, because he snaps at Rex, he drops his professionalism and his respect, and even resorts to barbed comments against Rex for ordering him from tending to the injured because Torrent needs Kix alive. This is not Kix’s normal behavior, this is Kix, stressed and crumbling under the weight of Umbara. 6. The last notable scene Kix appears in, and this is the moment where Kix finally breaks under Umbara’s pressure—it’s the moment where he starts haphazardly firing his blaster at the enemy. This is intended to be shocking—because this is not how Kix nominally acts, he’s in immense distress, and it takes Tup pulling him into cover to get him to calm down. Kix holds his composure for so long, and when he does break, he breaks hard. 7. To cap off the Umbara thoughts, though Kix does have more scenes, he is relegated to a background character for the most part—but, I can only imagine what was going through Kix’s head when he had, under the orders of Krell, fired upon other clones, it is completely counter to who he is, both as a person and as a medic, and I imagine it cuts deep—as it did for all clones involved in that moment, but for Kix… some of that hurt I imagine would be coming from how he’s meant to save his brothers lives, he’s the medic… and yet, in that moment, all he did was take theirs.

Umbara shows that Kix—who has been shown to be a respectful, kind, and helpful clone who just earnestly wants to do his duty in providing his brothers with the care he needs—is broken by an inability to help.

From the Chip arc (S06:01 - S06:04):

1. Not much to be said about some of Kix’s first appearances in this arc, as Kix is doing what he does as a medic (and expressing concern for Tup.) But the scene where Tup is in the infirmary, and Kix is confused about what’s wrong with Tup, I do think that Kix being willing to say that he can’t figure out what’s wrong, and that if they want answers, he’ll need to be sent back to Kamino, is indicative of Kix is aware of the limitations in his knowledge and is willing to humble himself. 2. This is more light-hearted scene (at first, anyway,) and is mostly conjecture on my part but I find it too amusing to leave out. That is the scene in which Kix is checking himself out in the mirror at 79’s. I do not think this is indicative of Kix being conceited about his looks—rather, I think it’s indicative of something else entirely in light of how he also talks in this scene. When he realizes someone else walks in, he talks with a deeper tone that I can only describe as Kix trying to present himself as being cool and mysterious. All the while he’s nonchalantly brushing his shoulders off. It’s so funny to me, especially when he realizes it’s Fives who just walked in, and immediately he tone switches to his typical inflection—and his mannerisms return to the typical ones we’ve seen of him. (Yes, I also think Kix had the haircut he does because he tries to present himself as cooler than he actually is, I imagine he grew embarrassed by this insistence given he grows it out later on—Kix is a dork, I said what I said.) 3. And yes, Kix immediately jumping to concern, before offering his help to Fives—even if his duty would insist that he turn Fives in because of the attempted assassination—I think, this is because Kix fixates on Fives’ distress, and he focuses on how to alleviate that stress, so even as it’s clear he’s confused by what Fives has gotten himself into, Kix still offers his help, and gives it freely in getting Fives in direct contact with Anakin and Rex at his behest. It’s a strong moment for his character, and his face when he asks what he can do to help… it’s so earnest. He’s loyal to his brothers.

And finally, there is the Echo arc of season 7, (S07:01 - S07:04):

1. When their gunship gets shot down, Kix is the first to notice that Cody was injured in the wreck and is trapped; I put this down to Kix being attentive and keeping track of the head count of the party he’s with, something done because he is the team medic and he is responsible for the well being of those around him first and foremost. 2. Then there is the scene at the campfire, which, firstly shows the bond Jesse and Kix have given the ease of banter between them and the comfort between them in their interactions. Secondly, I find it interesting how when Wrecker strangles Jesse, while Rex resorts to more direct action (trying to pull Wrecker by his collar,) Kix kind of just hovers, it’s a pretty… non-violent action when Rex and Jesse both jump to the defensive with the batch (Rex, even more directly, later on, when he actually punches Crosshair.) Similarly, even when Crosshair shoves Kix away, Kix shoves back before getting stuck in a headlock, and even after getting out of the headlock, at most he puts his hands on Crosshair to keep shoving him away. Generally, Kix is a lot less confrontational compared to either Jesse and Rex are in regards to the batch—which, circles around to my point of Kix not being as assertive, neither will he be overly aggressive towards allies. (This may be extrapolated as Kix refusing to take more direction action against another clone, given Umbara. But, that’s just extrapolation; a theory, a musing on motives.) 3. (Also yes I am aware that Kix makes jabs about the batch and I mostly construe this to be that Kix can be judgmental about others when he’s skeptical of them, I have my reasons as to why I’m not putting a lot of weight on this but it’s tied to a critique of the arc’s writing, which is not what this is about.)

In summation, Kix is shown, repeatedly, to be someone whose kind and helpful—what matters most to him is the care and well being of his brothers. He’s earnest in that care, and he’s got a softness that underscores a lot of his mannerisms and speech. He does his best to hold himself together for the sake of his brothers. He gets frustrated and breaks down in the face of mounting casualties and an inability to help his brothers. He’s respectful and professional in how he conducts himself as a medic, and even if he pulls rank, he’s firm but kind about it—he expresses patience in how he handles those under his care. Additionally, and in my own conjecture of his character, Kix tries to present himself as cooler than he actually is, suggesting a level of dorky insecurity to him. He’s also shown to lash out and make barbed comments when he’s incredibly stressed, and Kix carries judgment towards others when he’s skeptical of them.

What Kix is not is a hard ass medic whose sick of everyone’s shit, who berates and scolds his patients relentlessly—complaining about how they make his job harder. He is not quick to anger nor does he easily take his frustrations out on those around him—especially those under his care. He does not constantly throw his rank around to get those under his care to do what he wants.

It is a far cry from Kix’s character, and I think it’s a damn shame Kix’s actual character gets ignored in favor in fanon, because honestly, Kix as he is in canon is incredibly interesting—carrying a host of traits that can be explored and examined in their own right.

(Also, in quick references, I’ve narrowed down two videos that compiled Kix’s screen time across TCW, this one which clocks at ~14 minutes, and the second one with clocks in at ~17 minutes.)

#help I'm star wars posting #Clone Medic Kix #Star Wars #Fandom Stuff #Long Post #Space's Fandom Stuff #do I need a meta tag now #Space's Chatter #<- edit: I have a meta tag now lol #technically? #Fandom Salt #Fandom Nonsense

[gobstoppr]

hey guys am i allowed to say on main that i dont like metadad . am i gonna get beaten up for saying this.

guys i think we all took the term found family too literally and now everythings flattened into a boring nuclear family. guys can we stop. hello . is anybody there

#text #it was kinda charming at first but it feels like everytime i try to look at the mk tag its always the same shit . guys. guys. #we can do so much more w/ their dynamics than just dad and son ugh its so . ughhh. #every since i realized i was like . really really aroace. ive started to grow a bit of a distaste for shipping culture #this is relavant i swear. iwanna talk about metadede #like ok in fandoms right. theres often #the enforcement of specific roles onto characters for a simplified understanding of them for memes and drawing ideas #we want gay rep but we dont quite have it canonically so we make our queer headcanons seem more legit #by giving a char a same sex partner. ok easy we did it. gay people are real now #and we get awesome art and its wonderful bc people are wonderful #but its like . the relationships themselves feel flat a lot of the times. #metadede never seems to be about dedede. its about mk having a boyfriend. bc we need him to date someone. #and im not like . mad at anyone about this. i participated in it back in the day. but like. #ok so. gay hcs are the most popular in most fandom things bc its easy; hot; and sweet #but things like aro or ace hcs? its just. they. how can you depict that in a single framed drawing of a char?so theres none at all. #its not even that i actively hc chars aroace its jsut this is my world view; how i default to reading chars #maybe this rant in the tags is unrelated after all. #but idk. ive got lots of thoughts about things. #anyways as ceo of meta knigth im right about everything #i can talk more about metadad stuff specifically if people want

[galedekarios]

For your rumination: Gale is the *only* companion (besides Jaheira) that approves to "listen to your mom" choices when it comes to Jaheira telling her kids she wants them out of danger.

i am Ruminating, anon. Many Ruminations Are Being Had Right Now.

#gale dekarios #tagging it because it might interest other ppl too #no but seriously thank you for sending me this #i WILL have to go and investigate #i'm doing my canon pt right now and clearly need to take jaheira with me 100% more #and then do an addendum to my gale + his parents meta #gale is a momma's boy and i do mean that in the best and most loving way possible bc he cherishes and respects morena and tara so much #and yes morena and tara co-parent #ch: gale dekarios #vg: baldur's gate 3 #series: baldur's gate #text: asks #bg3 spoilers

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

I need the 12 year old Rangi with her mother lore dropped like yesterday FC Yee. Don't leave me hanging. TT0TT

#rangi #rangi sei'naka #rangi seinaka #hei-ran #hei-ran sei'naka #hei-ran seinaka #please theyre so funny TT0TT #is it because she didn't have military rank until rangi was like 14 or something???? jfdkls;jfa #i'll take like 8 fics of them bickering please #screw it spoilers #shadow of kyoshi spoilers #shadow of kyoshi #i know i talked about this before but that was my first read through! TT0TT I'm taking a second look! #i have more thoughts now! #did rangi go on travels with Yun before? i feel like she must've once or twice #she mentions going to other places in the earth kingdom #i need to know #did hei-ran not give her shit during that time? (she must've) #i need a series of rangi/hei-ran travels pre Yun and during yun kaljsfdlkjafsakf #rangi must've graduated at like 12/13 and then finished the junior corps at like 13/14 then she meets yun/kyoshi #wait where does Rangi/Hei-ran sleep? Kyoshi lives in the estate #do they not live in the estate? #please tell me Rangi/Hei-Ran are on an indefinite camping trip in a tent right outside the estate TT0TT #please that'd be so funny akljdfskjf;a #it'd explain how Kyoshi had never seen Rangi in normal attire too fkdasjdflf;k #please I need Rangi/Hei-Ran to be just such CREATURES! #ok ok last post for awhile #(don't mind the random meta/analysis in the tags on the pre Kyoshi novel events TT0TT)

[impossibledial]

i’m so intrigued by dannyclara despite not shipping them. i think that relationship is an interesting addition to clara’s character arc and i’m still trying to to figure out it’s purpose.

#read tags #doctor who #doctor who meta #clara oswald #clara oswald meta #danny pink #twelfth doctor #discussion #tagging pinkswald but let it be known i don’t ship them. #i think they were cute for what they were though. #it’s hard for me to view their relationship without being blinded by twelveclara but i’m trying. #my reason for not shipping them is due to clara’s treatment of him which i feel people don’t bring up often enough. #the only thing danny ever asked of clara was to stop lying. #twelveclaras tend to act as if he was possessive or territorial or demanding but he wasn’t. #he wasn’t insanely jealous in the caretaker. twelve was. he just wanted to know what was going on. #even in motoe he checked in to ask clara if she’s really sure she wants to stop travelling. she had no need to lie. #in the flatline script he says ‘if you’re back with the doctor it’s okay. you don’t have to lie to me.’ #yet time and time again clara does. #clara may have loved danny but there was no trust. #she continually broke his trust. she never felt like she could confide him. #despite this i still view clara as a fundamentally selfless character. #i now think this is why she was willing to die to be with him dark water. she felt that was the least she could to make up for her lies. #i hesitate referring to it as a punishment because being with danny could never be that for her but i do think it was because of guilt. #it’s that lack of trust that makes her hang up in a sense.

[quinn-pop]

sorry for the metadede flood lately um. anyway i think dedede officiates waddle weddings. if they even have them lol. it’d be funny and cute

#reason for the flood: thinking abt one idea means i get 50 more #one of these were drawn with the old pen! and my god it shows #one is also two sketches fused together (which ive had to do a lot lately) and…okay actually it’s still easy to tell but not bc of that #i am mad with power #meta knight #king dedede #kirbyposting #my art or something #i think my art ideas are probably very weird lol #but you know me i love a good shenanigan #if it’s any condolence i swear ive been working on less self indulgent stuff too lol #not…NOT self indulgent because it’s me and i like having fun #it’s my blog i do what i want or something #im juggling like 7-9 projects right now (and most of the time) so my progress on each is very random #i thrive off of goofiness #but yes that is why i do this stuff. and then the Big Serious Projects never get finished #half kidding. i have a lot of stuff at abt 80% rn #metadede #because i forgot if i need to tag when it’s already in the post lol #id probably save this for a few weeks out but i dont have anything else done and yeah im procrastinating on sleeping #wow i really do write an essay in every tag

[pbnmj]

thinking of gwen and peter, who have been through so much of “spider-man”'s hardships, loneliness and particularly the loss and destruction they bring to their own, other's and loved one’s lives. and miles is excited to be spider-man (ripeter "but after everything, i still love being spider-man. who wouldn't?") so how can EITHER of them tell the kid who changed their lives for the better that his is going to get worse . like they talk to miguel about how to talk to miles !!! they try to keep the truth from miles while also wanting him to trust them regardless, and like every spider, they try (and fail) to do both. and yeah pretty much every meta post has said this already but that trying is what makes them spider-man

#re: shokuto’s ‘But Miles trying to save his dad now that he knows what’s going to happen?’ #‘That’s just doing what you can. That’s just being Spider-Man’ post #fundamentally fucking making me worse. #im just baking brownies and being a little sick. maybe im misunderstanding spidey but its my incomprehensible meta post #on my terrible sideblog. SO I CAN SAY WHAT I WANT #atsv spoilers #meta #which . needs a tag on this blog cause im starting to write paragraphs.. #atsv #ofc i have said this in like . tags in prev posts before but i want it written out for myself. the blog deserves it . im so sick over atsv #but i cant draw anything rn cause of uni. so meta posts it is!

[theladyyavilee]

Okay YES the electricity of it all, and I just have to add that the second-to-last time Buck tried to complete his donation (before Connor and Kameron actually came to the station) he couldn’t because the clinic had a power outage…(something too about the way that Eddie ended up stuck working longer during the blackout, giving him plenty of time to reflect on the Ana situation and decide to break up with her, but Buck refused to let the delay(s) make him reconsider any of his choices + actively fought the universe when it killed his jeep at the end…and here we are…)

no wait, because now you got me thinking (and spiralling) because OF COURSE the electricity is a RECURRING THEME, you are SO RIGHT

(feeling especially unhinged about the clinic power outage, because that was VERY MUCH the universe hollering at buck and her VERY staunchly refused to listen, didn't he?? but oooooh intriguing about eddie maybe listening a little with the blackout and the ana of it all 👀👀👀)

but also may day???? the electrical fire? eddie telling linda 'well I hope he [god] gives me a shout soon' about knowing where he is supposed to be and then the whole fire being a very LOUD 'you are a fucking firefighter you dumbass' because ONCE AGAIN eddie tempted fate xDDDDD also buck and eddie saving carson the gay ELECTRICIAN together? who was shocked and thrown because of fucking electricity???????????!!! yeah yeah yeah, I am feeling so normal about this

I am supposed to go sleep, but now I just want to keep thinking about electricity, WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME

#9-1-1 #911 spoilers #911 season 6 speculation #buddie #me answers a thing #extasiswings #nobody does parallels like 911 #do I need an electricity meta tag now??????!!! #SCREAMS

[themyscirah]

Feel like as a fandom so many people have forgotten how to write meta other than like 'because of XYZ, man sad :(' or just like talking about Bruce or Jason

Like where are the discussions of morality, of politics, of religion, of race, of culture, of language, of grief and family in the greater dc fandom (beyond just a select few of the bats)

It's like I want to see more meta about the characters I love and care about, and just a wider variety of the ways that can be shown!

Trying not to frame this as complainy (although I know us comics fans love complaining haha!) because it's a change that I also want to see more in myself and the stuff I put out on this platform

So just like imagine it with me guys.... essay length examinations on blorbo.... the political ramifications of her actions, his relationship with his mother and ethnicity, her moral stances and how she will deviate from them when under immense stress, or their relation with gender and how it interacts with their powers

Think about it guys... this could all be yours for the low, low price of taking my hand and moving into this beautiful world together

#i just looooooovvveeeeee analysis and reading analysis #we need more essays #not saying that ppl dont make essays about this stuff bc i know ppl do and i love them for it #but like im so greedy i want more and more and more <<<larfleeze impression here #idk idk #just like imagine the stuff you want to see because character names WILL start coming to mind and youll judt be like bro.... bro.... #blah #shit wait im getting ideas now post over i gotta think abt this one #uhhhh id love it if people put ideas for meta posts theyd want to see in the tags or commets or my asks or dms or whatever #and then like make it haha #bc even thinking abt the stuff you want starts putting names in your mind and you just !!!!!!!!

[sollucets]

guys i am trying Really hard not to have public opinions about of this morning... pray for me

#i work really hard not to do that. genuinely. every single time i reblog a meta or post my own opinion or write more serious tags #it is Vetted #i keep these things to my friends & my discord & such on purpose because. because. it's better for everyone #but im hanging on by a thread today i guess :') #for now.... just.... people need to remember that when youre debating fiction like this #the characters are fictional but the people listening aren't #and you can cause real fucking harm by talking about demographics the way people have been #rowan chatter #(if i see someone fucking say ray can't love again i'm going to kill. it's directly to murder i will be committing crimes) #(AND if i see another implication that he should've had to get sent to prison it'll be arson also) #fuck you all you dont get to have ray anymore. im taking him he's in my pocket now #do people even know how rehab & therapy fucking WORK #okay. okay. okay okk okokokkok mission failed a little #but we're far enough down in the tags now. reblogs are off. don't eat me

[godsfavoritescientist]

Building off of what I wrote in my fic "Sparks," I'm really compelled by the idea of Ford genuinely no longer being interested in sailing around in a boat with Stan by the time they were seniors in high school.

I like the idea of it not being just a symptom of the resentment that had been building between them, nor it being a dream of Ford's that only paled in comparison to west coast tech, but it being a genuine loss of interest on Ford's end. I think it complicates things even further in some really juicy ways.

Like, imagine going through high school slowly losing more and more interest in the dream you've shared with your twin and only friend ever since you were little kids. How do you break it to him? How do you explain it to him without making it sound like a rejection of him? Without it making him hate you?

How do you explain it without it feeling like a spit in the face to all the hard work he's put into a plan that started out as a way of him comforting you by telling you "it doesn't matter what people say about you, you're going to be an adventurer who sails away into the sunset and never has to hear their mockery ever again, and there will be babes and treasure and heroism, and then they'll all see how cool you really are!"

And all through high school you think to yourself, "he's going to move on to more realistic dreams any day now, and then I won't have to say anything about it!" But no matter how many times you mention something else he could do with his life that he seems interested in, or bring up the challenging logistics of traveling around long-term in a boat, he sounds just as committed to the childhood dream as ever, and completely oblivious to how apprehensive you sound.

So resentment grows, little by little. Because that's easier than confronting the soul-crushing levels of guilt that are building up inside of you, every time you don't take an opportunity to tell him you don't want to do the plan anymore. You don't have a single person in your life who modeled how to have difficult conversations for you. As far as you know, having this conversation with Stan would crush him into tiny little pieces and then he would hate you forever, and you can't stand the idea of losing the only friend you've ever had.

So tensions grow. A lack of interest turns into a bitter resentment that, if you were really being honest with yourself, is directed more at yourself than it is at Stan.

And then the falling-out happens, and it seems like you were proven right. Stan hates you now, and he's never going to forgive you for giving up on his dream. But two can play that game, so you try to hate him too. Because if you hate him too, then maybe it won't hurt as much that he never came back. That he never even turned up at school, or by the boat, or in through your bedroom window in the middle of the night. He knows what dad's like, and how he says impulsive exaggerated things when he's angry, and haven't you both dealt with his harsh words countless times before and been able to dust yourselves off and joke about it later? So why isn't he back at home, joking with you about how absurd your dad acted that night, being impossible and belligerent about ruining your dream, but at least now you're even, because you've ruined his dream too.

-

And now imagine you find out he risked the lives of everyone in existence to bring you back, right after you had accepted your fate was to die killing Bill. It would be terrifying and confusing and infuriating. If he cared so much, why didn't he do something to reconnect with you sooner? Why did he ignore you in favor of trying to make it big without you? Why didn't he take the infinitely safer and simpler action of reaching out to you without you having to track down his address and send a desperate plea for help? You were convinced that he didn't care enough to bother with you unless you had an important enough reason for him to come. But even then, he thought your plans were stupid. He didn't want anything to do with you, not even with the world at stake.

Did he save your life out of guilt? Does he pity you that much? It doesn't add up with what he did in the decade leading up to shoving you into the portal. And the dissonance between the version of him in your head that hates you, and the man who held out his arms to welcome you back to your home dimension, is so strong that you feel like you're being lied to again, like you're back in the depths of gaslighting and manipulation that Bill put you through, even though there's no way that's what Stan is trying to do... right? You can't figure it out, so you run away from it. You don't want to know the answer to whether or not Stan hates you, because you don't know which answer would hurt more, so you try to make him hate you more than ever, because at least then you would know for sure how he feels.

And in the end, after he sacrifices his memories for you, and for the world, things seem clearer. The layers upon layers of confusion and anger and hurt seem to have washed away like drawings in the sand, leaving behind the simple truth: that you two had an argument, and didn't move past it for forty years, and despite everything you put each other through, you both still want to re-connect.

So you sail away in a boat together.

And at first, it's wonderful. It's exactly what you want. It feels like an apology to Stan, and a thank-you for saving the world, and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to heal the rift between you two, and it's good to be back on earth, and you wonder why you ever doubted the dream you two once had.

But then, after the first long journey you spend on the sea together, when you get back home to dry land, Stan is already talking about planning your next adventure out on the open sea. He recaps every adventure you had on the first trip, over and over again, and he wants to chat with you all through the morning and long into the night, and you don't have the words to explain to yourself that you don't have enough social battery for this, and suddenly you're slipping back into the horrifyingly familiar feeling of Stan being overbearing and needing space from him and how could you think that? How could you think that about him after everything he's done for you and everything he's forgiven you for? But the longer this goes on, the more you realize that you still don't want to spend the rest of your life sailing around with Stan. It's great fun in moderation, but the idea of your whole life revolving around Stan and going on adventures with Stan and being in a boat with Stan with no time to be by yourself thinking about your own things and figuring out your own dreams makes your skin crawl with a claustrophobic kind of panic that you still don't know how to put into words forty years after the first time this feeling grabbed you by the throat and ruined your friendship with Stanley.

But the first time this happened, it nearly ruined his life forever. You can't let yourself feel this. You don't feel this. You're happy to spend the rest of your life fulfilling Stan's lifelong dream, and making up for the time you crushed his dream, and sure, maybe he crushed your dream once too, and maybe it would be nice for him to support your dreams like you're now doing for him, but you can't say that. He saved the universe, and it would be horrible and ungrateful and cruel for you to try to voice these feelings, especially when you don't know how to voice your feelings without it making other people feel like you twisted a knife into their gut. So you try to pretend the feeling isn't there.

You go out on a boat with Stan again. You planned out another incredible journey together, and this should be fun, and you should be happy about this, but the unspoken feeling you shoved as far down in yourself as it could possibly go is eating you alive. The worst part? Stan is starting to notice. You have never been good at hiding your emotions. The trick to it has always been to convince yourself you don't feel it at all, and not think about it, and that has always worked like a charm. But whenever the emotion claws its way back up to the forefront of your mind, you can tell Stan knows something is wrong. So you can't even give him the happy ending he deserves. You can't even convince him that you want to be here on the open seas forever with him, like he deserves. And you keep trying and trying to hide it, but Stan keeps asking in roundabout ways, like "You're being awfully quiet, sixer," and "whats that look on your face?" and eventually it comes exploding out of you like a shaken-up soda bottle dropped on its cap.

And then it's like you're back at home in New Jersey again, standing in the living room while dad grabs Stanley by the shirt. It all comes pouring out of you, in the worst possible way, with the worst possible phrasing, like a pandora's box of monstrousness, and Stan tries to fight back against the sting of your words, but you're made out of acid and you're burning through him and you can see it on his face, and there's never any coming back from this, not this time, you'll just have to either jump into the ocean or become a monster forever, so Stan can hate you more easily again, and-

-and at the end of the outburst, you're still on a boat in the middle of nowhere in the ocean with your brother, in dangerous waters, and you have things to do to keep the boat running smoothly.

You can't run away from him. He can't run away from you. You're stuck here for at least a couple more weeks, even if you turned around and sailed back towards shore right away.

-

And the thing that compels me so much here, despite how unbelievably angsty it all is, is that it sets up a situation wherein the Stans might end up forced to actually address the decades of resentment and confusion and wanting-to-reconnect-throughout-it-all that they thought they could gloss over and heal with enough time spent adventuring together on a boat. They might end up forced to actually address the crux of the issue that drove them apart in the first place: Ford wanting a little more space to feel like his own person, and to feel like he's able to have his own dreams, too.

It wouldn't happen easily, nor right away, but if they were stuck together on a little boat in the middle of nowhere surrounded by magical creatures they have to protect each other from in order to make it back home alive, then after they had one fight where they brought up all the things they silently agreed to never bring up again, it would probably happen many more times, and each time it would leave them both angrier at each other than ever, until eventually something honest slipped through amidst all the saying-anything-except-what-they-mean bickering. And once enough of these honest moments slipped through, then they would have a thread to tug on to start to unravel the gargantuan knot of their decades of unresolved conflicts.

And then, eventually, maybe Stan could learn that he can have a good friendship with his brother without needing to be glued to him at the hip, and Ford needing a certain amount of alone time doesn't mean he dislikes him or wants to abandon him, and Ford could learn that he can be honest and have a meaningful connection with someone without it driving them away and making them hate him.

#succumbed to the stan twins angst visions and wrote 2000 words about this #ford pines #ford meta #this turned into a character analysis that almost reads like a fic #godswriting #<- i need to change my writing tag to this #something bothers me a little bit about the solution to their conflict being 'ford appreciates stan more now so he is now fine with- #-boat adventures with stan'. to me it leaves the initial conflict of 'he doesnt want to do that anymore' unresolved #obviously you could easily argue that ford never stopped wanting to go on boat adventures with stan and he just couldnt justify it to- #-himself when compared to the opportunity at west coast tech. but that has one less layer of conflict #compared to the possibility that he truly was not interested in boat adventures anymore. ESPECIALLY if its a manifestation of him #feeling suffocated by the whole dynamic-twins-duo thing #its normal to start wanting a little bit more space especially at that age. to want to have space to figure out who you are #the healthy thing would have been them talking about it and figuring out a compromise. like 'when ford needs space he can spend a few hours #-alone without stan being worried the whole time that it means ford hates him' and 'we still spend x amount of time working on the boat and #-we still chat on the way to and from school every day and hang out at the beach on weekends' #like of fucking course it was never about hating stan or about wanting to get away from him because of who he is as a person! #he literally just wanted to have a little bit of breathing room to be his own separate person. he just didn't know how to put it into words #I really think the crux of it all was them not knowing how to navigate that balance between independence and identity while staying close #so ford misattributing/reducing that feeling to 'I dont have the exact same dream as stan anymore. why does he still have that dream. oh no #feels like a good way of giving that conflict a tangible aspect to it thats easy for the stans to point at and talk about as a way of- #-alluding to the REAL core of the conflict between them. #and of course the show never says 'they sail around the world for the rest of their lives 24/7' so it's not like it Actually Conflicts with #-my interpretation of the conflict and how it should be resolved. but since its the last thing we see happen between them when theyre given #their happy ending. I feel compelled to say 'hey I know them living in the shack together and traveling in a boat every single year sounds- #-really fun and like a satisfying ending but I think they should have a Little Bit more space from eachother than that. Hanging out almost- #-daily but not literally being in the same house and same boat for the rest of their lives. bc if stan was ok with ford asking for that- #-little bit of space and if ford didnt panic and isolate himself from everyone whenever he needs like one hour of alone time? that would- #-feel like a big piece of the puzzle fitting into place for their conflict resolution and growth as characters. to me #and I think they deserve to have all the tied-up-loose-ends and resolved-conflicts and character-growth in the world.

[thesherrinfordfacility]

LWA: I'm going to ruminate a bit more about the parallel between Maggie's & Nina's conversation with Crowley and the Metatron's conversation with Aziraphale--they refer to Aziraphale as Crowley's "partner," the Metatron talks about their "partnership"; both insist that Aziraphale and Crowley need to talk--because while I think it's easy enough to see that the Metatron deliberately manipulates Aziraphale (while not understanding him fully), Maggie and Nina accidentally do the same thing to Crowley (while also not understanding him fully). There's been ample discussion of the Metatron conversation, but not so much about Maggie's and Nina's messing about.

I think we have to begin from the position that Maggie and Nina are mostly misguided and, in Nina's case, explicitly hypocritical. Other people have already pointed out that Nina's barrage of questions about Crowley's and Aziraphale's relationship is ludicrous and inappropriate--this is not even bad fanfic outsider POV levels of behavior--but given her outrage when Muriel pokes into her own business later, the script sure seems to imply that, yes, her barrage of questions really /is/ ludicrous and inappropriate. (She's had, what? Two minutes of interaction with Crowley up to this point? What even is that conversation?) Given that Maggie and Nina are Crowley's and Aziraphale's primary mirrors in S2, although always bearing in mind that Gaiman likes his mirroring to be askew or warped, is it the case that Nina's behavior in particular just reflects our angel-demon duo's behavior straight back at them?

A lot of S2 struck me not as fan service so much as fan /corrective/, in particular about the fandom's tendency to read them as more human than angel and demon. Even in S1, we were shown repeatedly that no matter how much they might like humans and aspects of human affect/existence, they don't move through the world like humans, they don't have a human relationship to time (and not just because Crowley can alter it), they do things the "human way" explicitly for /fun/, and they demonstrate over and over again that they have at best a limited grasp of human psychology. Crowley's "godfather" plot doesn't work not only because of free will, but also because even in the GO comic universe, it represents near-total incomprehension about how messily nurture /operates/; neither of them understands Anathema's fear about accepting a lift home from what appears to be two men; etc. It genuinely does not occur to Crowley (and therefore to most of the audience) that turning paintguns into real guns for fun might be an issue, nor to Aziraphale that wiping Mary Hodges' memory after the interrogation might be suboptimal. This kind of mayhem is bog-standard comic character behavior,* but the trick that GO plays is to ask you to think about the ethics involved when the bog-standard comic character is super-powered. The thing is--and you will have noticed this is a running theme in my asks, I suspect!--is that while it's very easy to identify with these characters as /oppressed/ trauma victims, the novel explicitly and the series implicitly keep warning us that in relation to the humans, they are still the /oppressors./ In the novel, this is Aziraphale's insight at the end, and if S2's more pointed emphasis on how both characters unthinkingly treat human beings is any indication, it's also where the series appears to be tending. (This is why I get a little antsy about reading Crowley's brand of temptation as promoting "choice" or something else positive: it's great that Crowley dislikes killing people, but he's still mucking about with them to make his souls quota. Satan /likes/ what Crowley did with the M25.)

To circle around to Maggie and Crowley again: a) they understand Crowley and Aziraphale about as well as Crowley and Aziraphale understand them, which is to say, they don't, and b) Crowley still does not understand how to apply human frames of reference to his own relationship with Aziraphale. Besides the warning about treating humans like toys--which Crowley, in typically on-brand behavior, excuses rather than apologizes for--the most important thing Nina says is not the "romantic" advice. It's the point she makes about her readiness to be in a relationship after being dumped by an abusive ex, which is to say, her non-readiness. Because it would be cruel to the other person. /This/ is what Crowley needs to hear and understand, and he...doesn't. (Aziraphale also needs to hear this, but he's off having his relationship with Crowley rewritten by the Metatron.) S2 spends a lot of time demonstrating that Crowley and Aziraphale haven't even been dumped by their respective allegorical "exes," let alone that they've recovered sufficiently to actually "go off" together or have a full-blown romantic relationship. Crowley's panic at the end of S2 leads him to accelerate straight into marriage proposal mode, when it is exactly the thing that he has just been warned that he /should not do/. That is, he would have been warned if he grasped the analogy between his situation and Nina's, but he genuinely can't see it, much as neither he nor Aziraphale understands fictional marriage plots. It's an analogy that exists for us, the human audience, but not for him.

I do think fans sometimes forget that Aziraphale and Crowley /are/ comic characters who think and act like comic characters, and that this has ramifications for how S3 will resolve their relationship?

hello again LWA!!!✨ im so sorry this has been burning away in my inbox for a fair while!!!

i gotta be honest, the mirroring of aziraphale and crowley in the general sense to maggie and nina is something that ive had a pin in for a while, just because of the sheer amount of information the parallel in all its skewed glory contains (and then that got me to thinking about the other mirror couples too, and its taken me a while - and pages of notes - to climb out of that particular rabbit hole). ie: dear LWA, once again you're going to get ramblings you didn't ask for.

on face value, maggie = aziraphale, and nina = crowley, right? maggie is soft and gentle, more readily/outwardly compassionate and innocent, even dresses in a typically lighter palette, and runs a shop that was literally carved out of aziraphale's own one. nina is acerbic and dry, outspoken and unapologetic, dresses likewise in darker clothing, and runs a coffeeshop that not only has a name that offers its patrons a choice, but feeds people with their fix - a material desire, if you like. it's far from a direct copy-and-paste of aziraphale and crowley, but they're instantly recognisable.

but you then have their situations (and im not breaking new ground here; this is just so i exorcise the thought-demons rattling around to make way for new ones) and their behaviours, that then reflect the opposite main character. maggie is shown fairly neatly to the audience, by virtue of her interaction with shax, to follow a similar pattern to crowley's circumstances as shown to us in s2 - linking a silly gifset demonstrating where im coming from on this, bc it saves the typing. she brings what is essentially a courting gift to nina, and then helps her out in the shop after the demon raid (reminiscent of the 1800 chocolates specifically, and then just... every favour/demonstration crowley has ever performed for aziraphale, frankly). nina is shown as being in an abusive relationship that she seems fully aware is abusive, full of gaslighting and possessiveness, but that she can't, for whatever reason, bring herself to leave - especially telling given her line that she thinks lindsay actually "never liked her very much", which aptly seems to reflect a good portion of how heaven views aziraphale. she's understandably hesitant and standoffish, and despite how unhealthy her relationship is, she is faithful and loyal to it despite the (unintentional, circumstantial) temptation being offered.

what i find interesting is that aziraphale interacts more with maggie, and crowley with nina. couple of thoughts on this, and all (and more besides) could be equally true:

aziraphale and crowley are drawn to the circumstances that their mirror is in; aziraphale is drawn to showing kindness to someone who is lonely and trepidatious, crowley is drawn to showing a wider perspective to someone who is inhibited and wary. the eden scene, in this context, feels all the more recognisable... plus, the anathema/newt mirroring!

aziraphale and crowley are drawn to the person that reflects their personality, possibly because it feels comforting and familiar. they feel kinship to the human that behaves more outwardly like themselves. again, im struck by how this feels a lot like their respective interactions with tracy and shadwell in s1

the fact that aziraphale and crowley interact more frequently and comfortably with maggie and nina respectively is used to draw attention to the moments where they don't interact with the other.

this last one is something i want to parse out a little bit. it is almost certain that aziraphale has had previous interactions with nina; he's possibly been in the coffeeshop before given how easily he addresses her, and nina remarks that aziraphale never goes to the monthly meetings, etc. she doesn't know him as well as maggie does, but by virtue of being neighbours, it stands to reason that they have had previous encounters that build up an acquaintance. crowley, on the other hand, does not appear to have met either of them before.

where aziraphale appears to interact with nina, however, in a one-on-one context, is the following conversation (im blithely ignoring the end of ep4 that's not even a conversation):

specifically, the culmination of where aziraphale has not only presumed that he has license to mess about with her personal life in general, but now with her and the other shopkeepers' autonomies and agencies. he's playing god in this, weaving his power (imo, to varying degrees of consciousness) to set up the perfect romantic scenario for maggie and nina, but also for him and crowley.

the fact that nina doesn't conform, pushes back on that magic, has broken away from the collective mentality of just accepting the situation and instead is questioning it all, directly and without hesitation, is a crucial part of this for me; because aziraphale backs away, leaves the line of questioning, very quickly. he doesn't want to confront it, doesn't want to be shown where this is a reflection on his actions. he's being shown the same way of thinking that scared him with crowley, and aziraphale is still scared of it upending careful order and blissful ignorance.

he brushes it off, and carries on with what he's doing, because it's what he's able to control; aziraphale has to make order of things, cannot conceive of the chaos that asking questions would bring. translate this directly to how he ignores crowley's concerns in ep5, and then basically the fact that a good deal of crowley's characterisation is built on the premise of asking questions, and you can see where this - asking questions - is something that aziraphale still fears; it poses danger (it had direct consequences in the fall, after all!) so, of course asking questions is something to fear.

but then again, is it because nina is a mirror of crowley? if circumstantially nina is actually aziraphale, is aziraphale actually reacting in a way that shows he's scared of himself? he who is starting to ask his own questions? starting to reexamine the status quo? i think this possibly rings more true than the simple nina = crowley thought, because whilst aziraphale may still not be completely comfortable with crowley's questions, and what they mean, i do think that it's a part of crowley's... crowleyness that aziraphale likes and loves. something that he has accepted... but only when it comes from crowley. the aziraphale that baulked at questions in the pre-fall scene/in eden is not, arguably, the aziraphale we see in 2023; he's in love with crowley, as he currently is (or at least, how aziraphale perceives him).

so wouldn't it make sense that aziraphale is actually afraid of how much nina is reflecting his own innermost thoughts back at him? the thoughts that begin to question why it is that an angel and a demon can't be together, what the point of heaven actually is, why heaven is the way it is, and why - if god has set things out the way they're meant to be - does that feel wrong? if aziraphale is questioning all of this, what does that say about him? how close is he to losing being an angel altogether? he's previously defied god and heaven's orders, but is this a step too far?

moving on to the maggie and crowley dynamic; this to me is equally as interest because they... do not interact, as far as i can remember, in a one-on-one context, at all - with the exception of this one scene:

im not quite sure what to read into this. my initial thought however, if we take the conclusion that maggie's circumstances and subsequent insecurities are a reflection of crowley, i do wonder if it's the absence of interaction that is key; that crowley is avoiding his reflection. that could be for any number of reasons, and no one reason feels quite right to me - arrogance, shame, embarrassment, fear of being seen, vulnerability... it's probably a mix. but it would nonetheless correlate with crowley's portrayal as not only an unreliable narrator at times, but also, as we've discussed previously, that he hasn't quite yet reached the development point of wanting to fully confront a good handful of his decisions and actions, nor want to acknowledge his circumstances that leave him open and vulnerable.

so what seems to be a rather purposeful tepid and... uninteresting? conversation suddenly has weight in everything that is missing. add to this, the way that crowley remains outside the bookshop as maggie, blissfully unaware, strolls into the bookshop, and he leaps in to stop the demons in their tracks before they can get to her, speaks even louder. he's most comfortable in being a protector, a fixer, a hero - even if it goes unnoticed and thankless, because that is his method of control:

but anyway, to actually head back to what your ask is actually saying! i find the assessment of nina as acting somewhat hypocritical really interesting - because yeah, she definitely appears as a very private person when questioned by just anybody (if we take into her responses to mrs sandwich and muriel into account)... but she does open up slightly to maggie.

she doesn't outright state the true problem with her relationship - again, im fairly certain she's aware of the abusive nature of it - to maggie, but she definitely aludes to its true nature more than we see her do otherwise. when maggie makes the assumption that being bombarded with texts automatically means that the sender must care about the recipient - said with some good measure of naivety - nina puts that to bed with her thinly veiled response that it's not out of care, but out of possessiveness. she reveals a bit more of herself to maggie; it goes from "doesn't like when im late", to the more vulnerable, "...likes it if i text that im gonna be more than ten minutes late..."

so when it comes to how she comes across as hypocritical in how she questions crowley about his and aziraphale's relationship - yeah, it's odd. it's funny as hell, and the comedy of it has its own merit, but it is invasive and uncomfortable at the same time. whilst it doesn't make it right (she ultimately needs to mind her own business, same as she impressed on others to do with her), it's not difficult to see where her line of, "other people's love lives always seem so much more straightforward than our own" would suggest that this is her brand of her escapism from her unhappy one. she's just witnessed gentle/fond ribbing between aziraphale and crowley, otherwise sees them together frequently, and they probably come across to her as an incredibly happy couple, that out of a place of perhaps envy and wistfulness, she becomes inappropriately nosy about it. for me, the saddest line about her relationship, repeating it from earlier, is that she doesn't think lindsay even liked her, which is the abject opposite of aziraphale and crowley.

poking her nose into their relationship, such as it is, is absolutely a mirror to their behaviour in messing about with hers with maggie, but it is understandable why she uses this as her own outlet, same as crowley and aziraphale seem to use hers as theirs. not justifiable, but understandable. but, like you say, it's not at all on the same level playing field - aziraphale and crowley have actual power that can influence the world and people around them, including magically creating scenarios according to what they think constitutes a romantic story, full of violins-swelling, world-stops-around-them moments, whereas nina - as far as we're aware - doesn't have any of that. this very imbalance highlights that they are not the same, and that the two situations cannot be directly compared.

like maggie remarks, she and nina are not a game, and shouldn't be played with just because it amuses them. for all of aziraphale and crowley's preachings about free will (including that they don't have it themselves as an angel and a demon, but that humans absolutely do and should have it, "that's the whole point"), the show expressively indicates that they don't appear to respect it or consider it more important than themselves, going so far as to remove it entirely and render it conditional on their own terms. whilst they may stray into very human behaviours (or maybe more accurately - human situations), they are manifestly not-human, they don't understand (or... care?) how the world in the general sense works, and arguably them being on earth in the first place contradicts that free will... blessings and temptations are all well and good, depending on how you look at them, but they shouldn't be happening to begin with.

the systematic presence of heaven and hell altogether arguably contradicts the foundation of free will, which seems to be something that neither of them fully see - they don't acknowledge that very problem... actually, no! i lie - crowley dances briefly and gingerly on this very point:

it's interesting how much the condition of humanity fades into the background when the narrative focus is on two supernatural characters and their personal storyline. and it's equally interesting how those same characters prop up their own irony as being the very thing that contradicts humanity from operating as it should, and - arguably - how it may have originally been designed.

everyone accepts that free will came to humanity from knowledge, and that knowledge was tempted to humanity by crowley... but he only says that he was sent up to eden to 'make some trouble'; who's to say that humanity wouldn't have come around to eating the apple anyway, which as crowley remarks was placed very pointedly within the garden, within literal arm's reach? did free will even need crowley to kickstart it? from the very first scene, we know that crowley evidently has free will by choosing to tempt eve to the apple, but we know that aziraphale has free will too, by choosing to give away the sword... so why wouldn't god have made humanity by the same design in the first place?

getting slightly off topic now, but it all seems to feed into the point that heaven and hell are superfluous to humanity's existence, and have only proven to treat humanity as a sandbox for their own ends. unfortunately, aziraphale and crowley don't quite seem to treat them much different in the grand scheme of things, even if their story, their 'version', is very much a 'lesser-stakes' microcosm of the wider narrative. nurture - ie. their unique experiences - may well have changed aziraphale and crowley in many ways, and separated them out from their contemporaries, but they equally still haven't fully shaken off their respective natures, either.

#👏 ONCE 👏 AGAIN #👏 I CANNOT 👏 STAY 👏 ON TOPIC #good omens #ask #crowley meta #aziraphale meta #s2 meta #s1 meta #i think? fuck it it is now #do i need a tag for nina/maggie meta? #look i do my best with these asks but what can i even add to half of them? theyre perfect

[gale-in-space]

It's dangerous going into the Gale tag. Like most of the time it's fairly innocuous, but sometimes you will get people who are ranting about all the reasons they hate him and it. Sucks. Mostly because it's about people knocking on his behaviors that are highly relatable in terms of neurodivergence (from everything from his actual canonical suicidal ideations to his tendency to be a bit of an infodumper).

Like sorry. I relate too hard to this man for exactly all the reasons you find him to be annoying. Sorry.

#hurts even more when people complain about how annoying it is to have to help him #like ah. yeah. just like how people complain about having to support neurodivergent people. cool #idk if i should tag this #this is less of a vent and more of an observation? though it does feel like a bit of a vent #anyway i was talking with my qpp about this and yeah #this is kind of why i don't go in the tag anymore #which sucks because then i miss out on cool art and writing and meta and stuff #but i need to do it for my mental health #idk honestly i think i'm overreacting. this is a fictional character we're talking about after all #OKAY I JUST NEEDED TO GET THIS OUT. I'M GONNA GO DRAW WEIRD PICTURES NOW yippee

[lover-of-mine]

That one gifset got me thinking, so what's your opinion on Buck wearing pink? I've noticed he's worn it most around the Diaz boys, but never around a canon love interest 👀

Honestly, pink seems to be about conflict and family? Obviously, the first example anyone will think of Buck in pink is the tsunami. Which is a major family moment since it's canonically the moment Buck realizes exactly how much and in which way he loves Chris but it does ultimately lead to a near-death experience.

But other moments he's wearing pink are: May's graduation party and the moments we see him talking there, he's with Chris and apologizing to Bobby about the train, so he's with his kid and clearing the air with his father figure (wonder if the pink and yellow combo for Buck and Chris means something tho).

Also, Buck talking Eddie down after the skateboard thing and Chris calling him a liar, so parenting issue.

When he's talking to Albert about Veronica and accepting there's nothing he can do about it. Considering Jee, Albert is family in a more traditional way, they are bound by a blood relative, so family.

When Chim comes to tell him about the accident with Jee and why Maddie ran and finds out Buck knew and Chim is for all intents and purposes is his brother-in-law.

So, from the knowledge I gathered by putting the whole show in 12x speed to find every instance he's wearing green, I would reasonably say pink is his conflict in the family color.

#sorry this one is more about family than romance #and definitely not a diaz color sorry #911 meta #since when do i do clothing metas lol #does anyone wants to talk about the burnt orange because i also noticed he's wearing burnt orange when he meets the lawyer #i forgot his name but the lawsuit era starts with him in burnt orange #hes doing therapy in burnt orange #he finds out about daniel and baby proofs madneys apartment in burnt orange #it's also the color hes wearing on that lunch he has with taylor on that episode about sue that's the first 'date' we see of them #the color he finds out about the will #and his first date with natalia #very interesting scenes to be bound by a color yk #anyway this is about pink #pink is family sokaoskaoskas #buck #i really need a tag for asks #anon 😌 #im off to bed now #i turned my computer on for screenshots lol

[thyandrawrites]

I gotta say, as much as I normally sympathize more with Reo, reading chapter 13 of epinagi and rereading the main manga at the same time makes me feel for Nagi, too.

Seeing just how often Nagi's thoughts go to Reo, his reasons for snapping at him after the 3v3 makes so much more sense. In Nagi's narration, it's obvious that he holds a lot of respect to Reo as a player, other than a friend. Every time he faces a challenging opponent or sees a great play, his mind always goes to him. When he's not wishing to show Reo all these amazing things, he's reminding himself and others that they must keep challenging strong opponents to justify having left Reo behind. One way or another, their promise is always very present in his mind, and he's giving it his all to make it come true.

But then they run into each other in the baths and Reo is acting suddenly cold. He doesn't want to hear about Nagi's efforts, and he calls him a rival. It would be so easy to take offense to that, to assume—like Reo did—that the other has forgotten about their promise. But it's not here that Nagi's temper snaps. Instead, he takes it in stride, and actually looks kind of fired up for the chance of facing a Reo who will go all out. After all, Nagi understand wanting to take on strong guys, and through this and other subtle details, it's shown that in his mind Reo is still very much one of them. I'd say that he perceives Reo as an equal, if not strictly a teammate at present. This is especially clear when Nagi's first impulse is to still pick him as his first choice when they win. We've established that Nagi doesn't let sentimentality get in the way of having the best shot at achieving his dream (think of the pep talk he gives to Bachira about leaving him behind if he doesn't step up even if he and Isagi are close). So, all of this to say: Nagi speaks with his actions, and he chooses Reo for Reo's skills, not for his attachment to him as a friend. He respects him.

But he respects their dream more, in the end. Just like how he left with Isagi not by any fault of Reo's own, but to examine his own drive for football, Nagi once again makes the choice that would best result in bettering his plays. Not because he doesn't care, but because he's that serious about it, actually.

Again, Reo doesn't make the cut not because he lacks skills, but because his playstyle isn't compatible with the way Nagi's team is evolving. Reo would bring them balance because he's skilled and charismatic enough to singlehandedly whip up their mismatched chaos into a proper team. But being a team would make them worse players individually, and Nagi has enough maturity to know that's a step back for his own skills, not one forward. Not a single moment has passed by so far where he hasn't been putting his all towards fulfilling his end of the promise, or one where he hasn't had full faith in Reo in turn.

And then Reo, who has acted cold and standoffish all this time for seemingly no reason... Reo, who is so skilled but wants to be picked even if it means losing and possibly flunking out of the program, their best chance to get closer to the world cup... The same guy who swore they'd be best in the world, but whose efforts only stopped at winning in the first selection...

that Reo goes and accuses him of not giving a shit about their promise to each other.

I think I would've snapped back too

#Let's be real for a sec. Reo was a brat there #I totally get where he's coming from and he is absolutely right to be upset and hurt #But accusing nagi of indifference was a step too far come on #He used to trade his position for the goalie's so he could better slack off #Now he's putting his whole soul into it and you don't get how that's a love confession? Come the fuck on reoo wake uppppp #Ok im kidding about the love part but these two...I swear #Blue lock #Nagireo #I need to make a tag for my ramblings.... #It's not quite meta bc it's so ship focused but it deserves a tag #People who are more creative than me do you have any suggestions?? #Nagi seishirou #Mikage reo #Bllk thoughts

[ladyluscinia]

Ok one last dip into "the Izcourse" before I take my own advice and pivot to rewatching S1 in prep and posting about what I love!

We get a lot of trolls, and harassers, and staunch antis looking to pick a fight with the "bad fans" who either drop bait or jump on people's posts to be annoying. That's the flame war part of all this mess. But we also get a fair number of posts from "neutral" people that I want to gripe about for a moment because at least the antis are misrepresenting "what Izzy fans believe / discuss" because they are actively against my take on the show for whatever reason. But it's more annoying to me personally when it's just... a lack of effort.

(And I've mentioned this before)

Like... a "neutral" observer weighing in on "The Izcourse" is a member of the general fandom who doesn't care enough about Izzy to really be an anti. Their perspective on the matter is coming from directly or indirectly following people in the antis' main meta circle. We know this, because just about every neutral person who was not from this background got classified as an Izzy apologist / problematic Edward thoughtcrimer and they are counted as in "the Canyon" now. We watched it happen a lot over the past year and a half. So the observer is not neutral, not really, but they probably aren't heavily blocking / blocked if they don't care and don't talk about Izzy.

Which makes it so frustrating when they feel the need to bring up "concerning" trends among Izzy fans and their interpretations and then they don't know what those interpretations are.

Like - in the most patient tone I can possibly manage - scrolling a bit of the Izzy Hands tag and taking fans squeeing about their blorbo as evidence there is no nuance in meta and too much babygirlifying here is dumb as fuck. Hell, even isolating a recent meta post and going "well I don't agree with this because XYZ" is still very much a "so what?" situation because that one person is not representing all Izzy fans? And also you still have a huge blind spot.

Because meta is - at its core - a collaborative structure.

You can't experience a particular branch of meta primarily through people vaguing or screenshotting and dunking on whatever looks the worst, then skim a little bit of a tag and be able to confidently call out what the "problematic trends" are. You can't even understand where the random meta you singled out is coming from, because you don't know which posts they've been looking at for over a year. And this is all really highlighted by the fact when you go to dissect that post you disagree with, you'll do it by just saying things that you understand to be established, well-defended facts from your own circle of meta and not back them up at all. Because in your mind you don't need to! And yet the post you're disagreeing with won't make sense because they are just assuming things and talking about this fanon version of Izzy you don't recognize. 🤷‍♀️

(This is why my typical meta post is linking to three separate discussions, lol. I'm building off of things said before like basically every meta writer, but I want those things referenced.)

If you aren't going to actually put in the effort to identify which blogs are the "major players" and then go back through tags or their popular posts or whatever to get an actual idea of what the meta structure Izzy Canyon has spent over a year discussing contains, then at least don't disparagingly comment on those people and discussions while lumping them into one "problematic" hive mind??? You don't know what you're talking about because you didn't care, and that's whatever. Just please stop confidently conflating random blog #7's generally happy post about how "i can't wait for my fave little guy to have friends 💕" with a concerning lack of discussions on Izzy's relationship with the crew.

My "#ofmd meta" tag - among others - is full of almost exclusively Izzy Canyon blogs writing complex posts about all sorts of things from romcom genre conventions to POC fans' takes on Edward's cptsd, and it's beyond annoying to see them repeatedly insinuated to have the depth of a puddle because the antis prefer to pile on a headcanon about Izzy reading and turn it into an insult to Edward's intelligence, and all the "neutral" blogs take it as gospel.

#i mean i do actually enjoy dissecting fandom dynamics a fair bit which is the only reason i weigh in as often as i do #if this was actually making me miserable or upsetting me i would just fully block and filter and never touch it again #but it is also varying levels of irritating so putting it on a backburner for now #pivot time! #the izcourse #ofmd harassment #ofmd meta #our flag means death #fuck it. main tagging. more people need to think about how meta works #fandom culture #ladyluscinia