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writing-of-a-british-bitch · 5 years

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A Night At The Opera- Chapter 2

Fandom: Queen/Borhap

Specified gender: Female

Pairing: Brian May x reader/ John Deacon x reader

TW: hypnotism, abuse??, Adam is still a dickhead.

Genre: Horror ig?? ( based on phantom Of the opera)

Series: A Night At The Opera

Requests: CLOSED

Masterlist

Everything was not fine. The show had gone down like a lead balloon. Another light malfunctioned, thirty minutes into the show, two strings snapped on Deaky’s bass, one of the skins on Roger’s drum tore, Freddie tripped over a stray wire twice, and Adam’s playing made almost everyone in the crowd flinch at least once. And because of all that, Roger had trashed his drum set, jostling it over on stage, storming past (Y/N) as she offered him water. The three other men exited, tails between their legs. Deaky and Freddie never spoke a word but they were furious, judging by their hunched shoulders and furrowed brows. Adam, on the other hand, made his anger very transparent. And he was very obvious about who he was blaming the entire thing on; (Y/N). As soon as the crowd began filtering out of their seats of the previous opera house, he ambushed the techie, pointing a finger with a look of murder on his face.

“It was you! I just know it! You’ve always hated my guts and now you’re going out of your way to ruin the show. You’ve always been jealous of my talent!” Adam approached her, getting closer and closer and closer until (Y/N) was crushed against the wall.

“Adam, just calm down, please. I swear, I’d never do anything to sabotage you and the guys,” (Y/N) replied, anxiety biting her voice at being pushed back into such a tight space. But just when she thought she’d disintegrate into tears, Roger seemed to come to her rescue, blonde locks stuck to his sweaty face.

“Oi, Adam, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Roger snapped, already agitated enough from the disaster of a show. Adam held his scowl for a few seconds before backing up, removing his arm from the wall beside (Y/N) and stamping off, shoulder checking Roger on his way out. Roger narrowed his eyes at the doorway that Adam had just gone through, looking back to the shaking girl stood in front of him. His hands gently gripped her arms before trailing up to her face, checking for any injuries, or bruises “Are you alright, love? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“No, no, I-I’m okay. Thanks, Rog, Adam’s just a little… on edge, I guess,” (Y/N) shook her head slightly, but didn’t say much else, gently, delivering the bottle of water she was still holding into Roger’s hand.

“I’m going to get Deaky, alright? You just stay here, love,” Instantly, the drummer ran off, leaving her isolated by the side stage. Carefully, she peeked around the curtain to see how many people were left in the audience. There were still a few people littering the crowd, but they were slowly making their way out. However, as she looked up to some of the boxes at the side of the audience, she noticed a figure, concealed in the darkness of box five. A figure that was chillingly familiar, with curly hair and a surgical mask on his mouth. (Y/N) blinked hard. She’d sworn she’d been delusional when she’d seent that figure earlier in the day. But yet, there he was. Though, before she could look further into the figure, he slunk back, further into the darkness, and was gone within the blink of an eye.

“(Y/N)?” Deaky ‘s voice made the techie turn around quickly, and the sight of her boyfriend made her grin. He was tense, irritated from the show, but still ran towards her and span her around, making both of them giggle.

“Say you love me,” (Y/N) murmured when he placed her down, their foreheads pressed together. Deaky only laughed, placing a kiss to her lips tenderly.

“You know I do,” He said, taking both her hands in his and bringing them up to his lips. Soft fingers moved to cup her face, teasingly smushing her cheeks together, laughter erupting from the two. However, that was soon interrupted by Freddie, turning the corner.

“Sorry to barge in, my darlings, but (Y/N) could you examine everything again in the morning? Things need to be perfect tomorrow since a lot of things went wrong tonight. I know it’s not your fault though, dear,” Freddie requested, smiling softly at how close his two friends were, and how happy they were together. Adam followed behind him quickly, in hopes that he had come to fire the girl.

“No, of course, Fred, I’ll arrive here earlier tomorrow and fix things, no worries,” (Y/N) stated, a kind grin crossing her face, although Adam had reappeared, narrowing his eyes at her.

“Why not stay late tonight? I think she should fix HER mistakes as soon as possible,” Adam interjected but even though the statement was meant to upset her, she only took in the possibility. I mean, she could get a few hours of extra sleep tomorrow if she did it tonight. Besides she could just walk home, it wasn’t that far.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Adam. She wouldn’t have anyone to take her home!” Deaky argued but (Y/N) only put a hand on his arm, shaking her head lightly.

“No, it sounds like a good idea. I won’t have to get up early tomorrow if I do it after you guys go home. And I can walk home, it isn’t that far. The only reason we were in the van is because of equipment. I’ll manage,” (Y/N) said, watching as a frown formed on Adam’s face at the lack of reaction.

“Are you sure, darling? One of us can stay with you?” Freddie offered but she shook her head again, taking one of Freddie’s hands and one of Deaky’s, giving them a reassuring squeeze.

“It’ll all be okay, stop worrying.”

(Y/N) was sat in Deaky’s dressing room, tightening the new strings she’d just put on, replacing the ones that had broken earlier. It was the last thing she had to do before she could go home, making it nearly one in the morning, four hours since the boys had left and gone. Even Lucille had given her a key to lock up just after eleven and taking her to leave. But despite being alone in the opera house, she didn’t feel like she was. And she wasn’t sure whether to find it comforting or terrifying. Her fingers were starting to callous and felt extremely tender whenever she touched anything. A sigh escaped her lips when she finally finished sorting Deaky’s bass, placing it back in its case to bring back to him when she went home. (Y/N) was about to start packing up when she heard light humming, so quiet she almost didn’t hear it, and the soft strumming of a guitar. Her head whizzed around, glancing around the room for the sound, seeing nothing. Shrugging it off, she began placing anything she needed back into her bag, pushing it onto her shoulder and picking up the case holding Deaky’s bass. She winced as she pressed the light of the dressing room off. That ghostly strumming returned, this time, coming from the stage, so hesitantly, she followed the sound. (Y/N) near froze when she saw that man again, masked face hidden by his mass of hair, a gorgeous brown acoustic guitar held in his hands, playing a melody foreign to her, but captivating nonetheless.

“E-Excuse me, sir, the theatre’s about to close, I’m gonna have to ask you to leave, please,” (Y/N) piped up nervously. Why was she nervous around him? Well, maybe it was because he had tried leading her somewhere earlier. Of course, that was the reason. Why was she asking herself so many stupid questions? The mysterious stranger’s strumming came to an abrupt stop.

“I believe that we’ve yet to be suitably introduced,” He stated, giving her the first sound of his voice. It was smooth and soft. Gentle. Kind. But he had yet to turn to face her properly, still hidden behind his bush-like hair.

"I guess not," (Y/N) replied, taking a few steps back when the stranger stood up, slinging the strap of his guitar over his body so the guitar was against his back. A glint appeared in his eyes at her trepidation, but he hid it with what looked like a smile, though it was hard to tell behind his cover.

"Well, in that case, please forgive the absence of my manners. My name is Brian, I run this here opera house. Though I suppose it's now a theatre for performers, such as yourself," The newly introduced Brian took a few certain steps forward and clutched the girl's hand and brought it to his masked lips. Through the mask, she swore she could feel something sharp. It was probably her imagination. She let out a small, partly embarrassed laugh.

"I'm (Y/N). But you could hardly call me a performer. I'm just a roadie," (Y/N) brushed off instantly, her eyes flicking back up to Brian with a strange uncertainty.

" You're not adequate right now, but no one ever is. I promise you, by the time you've studied with me, you can take that retched boy’s position. His place is not in the arts," Brian voiced bitterly, his eyes narrowing a little. There was something predatory hidden deep within those hazel eyes, being brought further into the light the more they conversed. But instead of replying, she simply watched him as a sudden sense of awe and calmness washed over her body. The rest of the blackened theatre faded away. It was just her and Brian. Everything in the girl's body yelled and kicked at her to get away from him. That there was something wrong with him. He was dangerous. Yet, (Y/N) couldn't tear her eyes away, transfixed. All her thoughts contracted into white noise. Brian's red eyes squinted as if he was smiling once again at her lost state of mind. Wait, red? His eyes hadn't been red before. She was sure of it. A human couldn't even have red eyes.

"Are you alright, (Y/N)? You look exhausted," Brian seemed concerned except (Y/N) could scarcely hear him. He sounded so distant like she was submerged beneath the sea. Hence, she couldn't hear the joyous lilt in his voice. And she didn't notice the way his eyes lit up as she began swooning and stumbling, as her eyes grew heavier and heavier. With a quiet groan, (Y/N)'s eyes finally drooped shut and she collapsed, straight into Brian's arms. Slowly, Brian inched his arms under the girl's knees and pulled her close to his chest.

A quiet melody snailed its way into (Y/N)'s ears, effectively stirring her from her slumber. Her brain was pounding behind her eyes, but the faint piano soothed the pain that resonated in her head. What had happened to her? She could remember meeting that stranger. Introducing himself. His name. What was his name again? Brian. That was it. He was talking to her about her guitar? Everything was a bit hazy from that point forward. Where even was she? (Y/N) sat up, pushing back the silk red covers from the coffin-shaped bed. There was a sheer black curtain blocking her off from the rest of the domain, and she could just about make out the shape of unruly curls sat in front of a grand piano. Cautiously, (Y/N) ducked under the curtain, now stood in what seemed to be a cave of all places.

The walls were jagged and sharp, dripping with water every so often, and the entirety of, what appeared to be, Brian's home led slightly downhill to a pool of water, seeping through a metal gate. Amid this lake, there was a boat, connected to the rest of the home by a single piece of rope. The next thing she noticed, that was certainly peculiar by her standards, was that there were candles everywhere she turned, although, she doubted he could get any electricity down here if she certainly was beneath the theatre. There were many large items covered in materials and curtains and she could only assume they were mirrors, based on their shape and height.

Besides the piano that Brian was seated at, was a black desk, holding a remake of the theatre. There were many waxwork figures scattered around the table, none of whom she recognised, but on the stage of the theatre, there were tiny figures of her friends. Freddie stood front and centre, his microphone clutched tightly in his waxen hands. Roger sat behind his drum kit, except this kit had Queen's logo on the bass drum. Her eyes squinted. No one had seen the new band logo except for the band and herself. How could he possibly have known? Deaky stood, partially hidden behind Freddie. (Y/N) smiled. Her Deaky. But that smile faded when she searched for Adam, only to find nothing. Nothing but her. In her hands there was a gorgeous red guitar, glinting in the light. And even though it was just a fake figurine, she couldn't stop her self from admiring the instrument. Nevertheless, (Y/n) had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed the piano halt to silence. Brian hadn't looked at her yet, just staring down at the black and white keys. Reluctantly, she started to make her way towards Brian, eyeing him guardedly in case he made any unforeseen movements. When he stayed frozen to his seat, she allowed herself to get friendlier, not stopping until she was behind him. Despite her better judgement, (Y/N) wrapped her arms around his shoulders, beaming lightly as he sank into her embrace.

When Brian had taken the girl, he had no intention of bringing her back to his home. She was to become his next prey. His next meal. But when he had leant down to sink his teeth into her flesh, he discovered himself incapable of committing the dastardly act. He felt too enamoured with her. How strange. That was a first. So with no other option, he carried her down to his residence. Hypnotism was always tiring for the victim, not that many have stuck around after they'd been hypnotised.

(Y/N)'s hand cupped his face lightly and Brian was so subdued to the pleasure of physical contact that he failed to notice her fingers inching towards the back of his mask until it was too late. His hand darted to his lips, hiding the abhorrent things that lay beneath them, and he shot from his seat. But he knew she'd seen them. His mouth was open after all. Without thinking, he shoved her off of him as he stood so she dropped to the ground, terror in her eyes as he stamped forward.

"Damn you! You little prying Pandora!" Brian screamed though it was a little muffled behind his hand. The tall man stormed over to one of the covered mirrors, tearing the fabric off and removing his hand from his face for a split second as he said: "Is this what you wanted to see?!"His fury was beyond explosive, and extremely frightening to whoever surrounded him at the time.

Brian's hand returned to its place on his mouth as he kept screaming things along the lines of "Damn you! Curse you!". Despite his rage, it took a surprisingly short amount of time for him to calm down, seeing his beloved's fear.

"How can you dare to look at me?" He questioned, walking over and taking a position on the floor, a few steps away from her. But no words came from her mouth. Only startled eyes stared up at him, wide and unmoving as if she was trying to calculate his next move. A sigh tore free of Brian's mouth yet his eyes softened as he saw her reaching across to him, his mask in hand, offering it back to him. Appreciatively, brian took the mask from her hand and turned his face away as he fixed it back over of his mouth. When it was firmly black on his lips, he looked back to the girl, noting that she had gotten slightly closer. What she'd seen beneath that mask would haunt her, but she tried to play it off as fake, although deep down that it wasn't. It was just a costume accessory. Of course, it was.

"Teach me to play the guitar. The way you did on the empty stage last night,"(Y/N) begged, though not quite sure where it had come from. He'd just pushed her to the floor and screamed in her face, taken her from the safety of the theatre to his home. Why would he agree? She'd pulled his mask off. Betrayed the little trust that had formed in the minimal time they'd spent together. Brian gazed at her, his breath hitching in his throat as he took the time to look at her properly. Hair messy from sleep, her eyes glowing in the candlelight. A scratch on her face from the uneven floor. He'd never taught anyone to play the guitar. No one ever wanted to stay long enough, especially once they'd seen what was beneath his surgical mask. However, this beautiful girl, who'd captivated him as more than a meal, was asking him to teach her. After he'd hurt her. After he'd scared. After she'd betrayed him. Brian should've killed her for pulling off his mask without his permition, but if he couldn't kill her earlier, how would he be able to now. He took one look into (Y/N)'s big (E/C) eyes, staring up at him in awe, and he knew exactly what his answer was, despite a part of him telling him that it was a bad idea. (Y/N) tilted her head when she noticed the internal battle he was having about her question. It was calming to know that she wasn't the only one. Why did she trust him so? What even was the time? Deaky would be missing her. So would Freddie. Oh god, they had to be worried sick. She needed to get back to them. But one look at Brian and that thought was erased from her mind.

"Alright. I will teach you about my music. But you must never, ever, touch my mask ever again. Am I understood?"

"Absolutely."

TAGS: OPEN

Tags (for this series): @queendeakyy @scarlettequinn

Tags: @writingfortoomanyfandoms @metaphorical-love-for-a-car@queens-n-roses @freaky-dcaky@yourealegendfred@fierce-bab@dusthas-beenbitten @bensroger@strangeandwonderfulconcepts@babebenhardy@benhardyjones @silvver-rose @psychosupernatural

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weapon13whitefang · 7 years

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Liz Talks TWD 8x01 [Possible Spoilers]

So I went back and rewatched S08E01 and here are my few opinions on some things that caught my eye or that went through my mind. Keep in mind, these thoughts will be all over the place because I have so many things in my head.

But before I really get into that, let me just say that – for the 100th episode – I wasn’t too impressed. Now that’s not to say this was a bad episode. No as a story piece it was pretty good. It set up the top half of TWD and seeing all these different factions come together was needed. My favorite line was “I got your back” and the guy goes “you just met me” (or something like that) and I was happy because THAT is an important message in the show. Right next to “It’s not about you”.

And why is that important? Because later – in the next episode preview – we see Tara say “we have a job to do” and Jesus goes “we’re not here for revenge”. Each character has a motivation for why they’re fighting Negan. Whether to protect family, themselves, the future or whatever. And each fraction – Kingdom, Alexander, and Hilltop – have a different person they stand for (again either for themselves or for Maggie or Ezekiel or Rick). And hell some of them don’t even know what they’re fighting for, but they’re there and they’re gonna fight.

This season is called All Out War. A war doesn’t have to be just about what’s happening physically. In fact, a war can also mean what’s going on inside ones self. When people go to war, they start out one way. In the beginning of a war you see boys. By the end of a war, you see men with troubled or peaceful faces. War happens to the body and the mind as much as on a battlefield and I think that’s a big thing to keep in mind for this season and for each character; what is their own war and how is it going?

But anyway, the reason I wasn’t that impressed with this episode is that I was… Bored. Like the first half of the episode, until they drove the vehicles to the Savior Compound, I was bored. Because as someone who writes scripts and who studied scripts and film, I understand what’s going on and I just find it frustrating. What’s happening is the setup. We are setting up the season. We are setting up what’s going on and whose with us. We have three fractions vs one giant fraction. Rick and Maggie and Ezekiel’s team VS Negan’s team. We have the three fraction coming together and meeting for the first time and it’s one of those “hi nice to meet you this is awkward but I guess we’re partners” moments one might feel in high school or college when you have to partner up with someone you’ve never once talked to or even paid attention to. It’s awkward and uncertain… But this time you’re partners to survive in an apocalyptic world war of survival… No pressure.

So we have this set up happening… And that’s so boring. I’m not saying it isn’t needed! By God no, it’s needed. We can’t just suddenly be standing in the middle of the battlefield with Rick and Maggie and Ezekiel screaming orders while Negan is laughing and yelling about his dick (btw that scene was stupid but I laughed a little because JDM gets all the stupid lines) as he swings Lucille around. I mean I get that… They could do that but it wouldn’t work as well and all the crazy shit happening at once could leave people just as confused as it not happening at all.

But here’s the thing… They’ve been setting up this war since the beginning of Season 7 with Abraham and Glenn’s death. And it was topped off with Sasha’s death at the end of last season and Shiva coming into save Rick and Carl. I mean we’ve been ready for this war since season seven… More build up is… It’s kind of getting ridiculous at this point. It’s frustrating because I REALLY DO GET WHAT THEY’RE DOING but I do not like it because I’m getting tired of all this stacking and building. I love this shit but after a whole goddamn season of it, I’m just… I’m done.

But that said, I get it and I’m like “fine, fine okay whatever” right now. And when we see Negan step out of the Savior compound, I wasn’t as bored. Because now we were getting something fun. Negan’s swagger wasn’t as… Swag. He actually was slowly showing frustration because his call out plan didn’t work. Gregory didn’t come through because everyone had fallen behind Maggie (for the most part anyway) and Jesus. Gregory (Fuck this motherfucker by the way) was a useless trump card for Simon and Negan… Same with Eugene and Sasha last season. Negan is losing his trump cards slowly. Which THAT I found fascinating and fun to watch. Little by little he’s getting picked away.

Anyway, my main thought on this episode – my overall feel – is that it could’ve given us a lot more. I get building up the theme and the season. I get that they’re waiting to give us something big to chomp down on. But I need them to at least give me some meat on this pile of ribs because a girl can only lick a bone for so long you know? That’s my frustration with it. Not the episode itself. Not the storytelling device that it is. Just the lack of more.

And a lot of that might be that it’s the 100th episode. Episode 1 gave more than the 100th and that’s just kinda like “wtf”. Yes I know it was a brand new show back then. But that’s an excuse more than anything to me. I’ve seen this show give us amazing over the line episodes. This was a chance to do that while also setting up the season. They could’ve used next weeks episode as the kind of extra build up. That would’ve been more satisfying for me personally. You can still build up without taking away from the hype.

That said, I don’t hate this episode at all. The first part bored me but overall I liked seeing the visions of Old Man Rick (I don’t wanna call it future Rick or daydream Rick or whatever because that whole set up didn’t feel like a daydream or future view but more like a hallucination but not… So I’m just calling it a vision and Old Man Rick). I’m also laughing because people pointed out that older Judith’s eyes went blue from the brown they were when she was a baby and also wondering if that’s because Rick’s eyes are blue and Shane’s eyes were dark brown and Lori’s eyes were a very light brown and this is part of Rick’s vision that Judith is fully his child instead of falling on that belief that she’s Shane’s daughter. Either way, it made me kind of laugh but also go hmm.

I also liked the shot for shot image of Carl mimicking Rick in Season 1 and then Rick turning to see a young woman zombie with her face ripped open and wearing a light bathrobe and looking just like Summer – the little girl zombie Rick kills in the first season that was played by Addy Miller – only older. Was curious and looked her up on Twitter and sure enough, she’s the walker we see walking to Rick and Carl. Very very nice touch and that made me grin!

Eugene getting cut off was kind of deserved. I mean I believe he’s just grabbing information and playing a part because, hey, Eugene is good at that kind of shit like he did against Abe and his old crew. But I still think he’s being a real big piece of shit coward and needs to be SIT THE FUCK DOWN from time to time.

So no I didn’t hate this episode. Just got a bit frustrated with it.

Now for some fun little TD shit because I gotta nudge the water sometimes. I’ll probably do this any chance I can. Because I like TDers. Most of them have been nice to me and I find their metas fascinating sometimes.

Ticking clock noise in this episode and in next weeks episode and lots and lots of clocks.

Here’s a little fun nudges I wrote awhile back dealing with the trailer that I think is important for us to note. This is talking about the trailer In the trailer, we have the beating of an instrument in a sort of tribal-like setup. I found out from a friend – who is more musically trained than I am – that the instrument is most likely what is called a clave. AKA those wooden stick instruments a music teacher gives young kids to teach them how to learn music rhythm, to keep a beat. Since music is important, I decided to look into the clave. I did some research. Probably not needed and probably a bit excessive, but blame the scriptwriter in me. I found a blog that talks heavily about the clave and the first thing it discusses – besides telling us that the clave looks like a hot dog without the bun… So a hot dog – is that the clave “also refers to the 2/3 or 3/2 rhythmic glue that holds all the different polyrhythms together. You hear the rhythmic pattern and sound in all Cuban music, most Puerto Rican salsa, and a great deal of African music as well… The hardwood sticks have a sharp, penetrating sound that can be heard even over a large orchestra of loud, blazing horns.” (x) I found this information fascinating. As I said, trailer music I number one on the list of three important things in a trailer. That is because music – as well known – sets a mood. It sets a rhythm for the chosen images and cut-list of the trailer. A good example of how music can set a trailer is the infamous “Scary Mary” trailer (x) that can be found on Youtube – turning Mary Poppins from the whimsical musical and into a horror film. Simply by changing the music, they had an outline for a way to choose clips and make it seem that the classic Disney film Mary Poppins was instead a horror thriller. It’s still the same story, but the change in music makes it a whole other level of cinematography. That in mind, why the clave for this trailer? My thoughts go first back to the line “…The hardwood sticks have a sharp, penetrating sound that can be heard even over a large orchestra of loud, blazing horns.” Which is true. From 0:41 to 2:14 of the AMC posted trailer (x) we can hear the clave being played alone. No other instrument is with it. The music is the only clave’s being beaten to different rhythms to create a single sound/song. As rick begins to talk at 2:14, the clave’s – even muted, are not blocked by Rick’s speech. From 2:14 to 3:04, Rick’s speech is undertoned by the clave’s… This is important. This music – this instrument that can even be heard over larger sounds and can penetrate through it all – was chosen for a reason. What reason? Well, in my personal opinion, because it sounds like a clock and it sets up a feeling of anxiety. Also, according to my research and stated in the website above, the clave was created when slaves – who missed music – took two cuban carved pegs – pegs made to hold the ship together since nails were very expensive back in the late 1400s – and beat them together and discovered their sharp sound. “The Aricans started fashioning these pegs into smooth, round sticks that could be used as rhythm instruments.” (x). This sound also – to me – gives the whole things a sort of tribal feel. It makes me think I’m off running with a tribe. It’s like I’m on a hunt… And that’s what is happening. There is a hunt going on. Negan vs Rick. I mentioned that the clave also sounds like clocks. Like clocks ticking away. This show does love its time and clock. A ticking of a clock symbolizes many things. In media, it is often like that old saying “the clock is ticking”, meaning “time is running out”. This could be someones clock is ticking away to their death. A good example I like to use is ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN and how Charlie the Dog has a watch that represents his time on earth and he’s told his watch has stopped and meant his time is up. The clock stopped ticking for Glenn and he was eventually lost… Now it doesn’t all mean bad. “The clock is ticking” is also a saying that yes, your time is up. But that doesn’t mean your time is up in a bad sense. It could also symbolize an approach of someone or something. And since season 8 is supposed to be about the war with the Saviors (so it seems anyway), then the ticking clock sound can mean the time of approach of the war. A ticking away of a clock is also used in media to give narrative tension. To me – personally – we do get this. There’s something tensing about hearing the clave’s beat away like a clock. Like we’re Captain Hook and we hear the clock of the crocodile coming to get us. A post by Julie Eshbaugh gave the best example of explaining this tension. She said the ticking of a clock creating tension is a simple concept. And the concept is that “a certain task must be completed by a certain deadline or the character will fail and suffer the consequences of that failure… The addition of a ticking clock instantly creates increased tension. A challenge may feel relatively easy to overcome if time is not an issue. But take away the luxury of unlimited time and you immediately turn up the heat on your characters.” (x) Team Family is out of time. Negan has rallied together his Saviors and rallied Jadis with her Scavengers (a union that may have its own ticking clock hanging over it; a ticking bomb clock with how bull-headed Jadis and Negan seem to be just from their last seen exchange) and they have to rally together their plan of attack or risk their loss. The clock is ticking on the approach – on the drop – of the war.Now as for that little bit of Team Defiance / Team Delusional in me that likes to peak out? Well, maybe this is the ticking – the final tick-tock – of Beth’s approach to team Family. She’s been linked with clocks and time before. Wouldn’t surprise me if this ticking clock was Beth’s clock ticking over team family… But again, that’s just me being a speculator.

The Weird Al song made me so confused/baffled, but @dynamicsymmetry pointed out how it’s interesting they used a Weird Al Song for a background song. Because a Weird Al song is a cover and a distorted version of an original song. Another One Rides the Bus is a parody of Another One Bites The Dust. He takes the songs and basically rewrites them with a new feel. The parody song resembles the original but it’s been altered to give a whole new mood. And to me, that’s kind of a good example of what they did with WHAWGO because they gave us this feel of a funeral for Beth but the feel was wrong because it was actually supposed to be a feel for Tyreese. See what I mean? Now of course not all music relates to Beth but Sunny pointing that out made me kinda pause and nod because yeah lol

Carl left a sorry note. Which can also be a nudge to Beth wanting to leave a Thank You note at the funeral home.

Carl talking about them needing hope because without it everything else isn’t enough. And I find it fascinating that it’s CARL that’s talking about Hope while driving around in the damn Phoenix van. I once said I think Carl is going to have a hand in finding Beth again and I still believe that if she’s gonna come back y'all.

#the walking dead #long post #the walking dead season 8 #twd #s08e01 #mercy #td #music #team delusional #team whatever happens will happen #team acceptance #team defiance

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justthefangirl · 7 years

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The Muskgrave Problem: How Season 4 is A Return to Sherlock’s Gothic Orgins, or A Defense for Season 4

This discourse/meta/analysis or whatever you want to call it will contain spoilers for Season 4. So, if you haven’t seen it yet, I suggest going to PBS.org or the official site for BBC’s streaming (or wherever you can find it honestly) and giving it a watch. Once you’re ready, click the read more below.

Before I go into the main meat of my argument, I’m going to get some things out of the way that have little to do with the Gothic themes in this season. The following are just my opinions, and if you’d rather get right to the heart of the matter, skip, by all means. But let’s address the other elephant in the room: Mary.

I was initially excited about Mary Morstan because in Doyle’s original works, she was an enjoyable figure. She was clever enough that Holmes admired her and was tolerant of her presence in his and his flatmate’s life, but brave enough that Watson completely fell in love with her. And while this worked for a Victorian society, in today’s culture, someone that good at making two previously homo-romantically charged characters suddenly accepting of her (and wanting her) is a bit on the 'Mary-Sue’ side of writing. Moffett and Gatiss (Mofftiss from this point on) saw this, thus they created someone who would be morally gray for the audience: someone we could come to like and find intriguing, but making them just dark enough that we would be able to forgive our boys for indiscretions (Sherlock’s drug relapse, John cheating, etc). Was it executed well? Not to me. I hated the ‘secret assassin’ angle, and I will never accept it. Hopefully someday someone can fully give Ms. Morstan the roles she deserves.

NOW! On to the matter at hand. You see, my friends, after The Six Thatchers, and the adaptation piece that we all expect in this series, it became clear that Mofftiss wanted to return to the Holmes stories’ Gothic origins, and they hit everything on the head perfectly. How? Well, let us consider that there is a checklist in nearly every Gothic novel or story that must be hit in order to be considered part of that genre. That list includes, but is not limited to:

1. An isolated setting where the protagonists are kept away from society.

2. An antagonist who is mentally unstable, yet also morbidly alluring.

3. Family secrets (aka the Mad-woman in the attic),

4. Taboo obsession (usually sexual; incest, homosexuality, open sexuality, etc).

When you hold this list up to the full scope of the show, the Euros story-line, the meat of the season from the tail-end of Season 3 on to this season, ticks everything off.

First, the isolated setting. Moftiss gives us two for the price of one by starting us off in Sherrinford, the island prison built for Euros Holmes. Like the titular Ortranto in The Castle of Ortranto, and Castle Dracula in Dracula, we have this massive fortress, as Mycroft calls it, situated far from any other society and outside contact. It is filled with rooms and corridors that seem designed not only to contain but confuse people, especially after Euros gains control of the facility and turns it into her own little maze of horrors. This is perfectly in keeping with the labrynthian castles and fortresses found in Gothic novels, which keep our protagonists away from help or other forms of society, and completely at the mercy of those who run/own the property, thus inciting terror upon them as well as the audience (be it reader or viewer). The second location is Muskgrave Hall, which falls into the same category as Wuthering Heights in Wuthering Heights, Thornfield Hall in Jane Eyre, and Allerdale Hall in Crimson Peak; a country-side manor that is ruined and falling apart, surrounded by the memories of the dead (or in the case of Muskgrave, fake grave-stones to simulate the dead. The Holmeses seem to like their Gothic decorations, hm?). The story actually begins and ends here, since Euros is the one who started Sherlock’s long fear of ‘sentiment’ and his belief that ‘alone protects me’ by murdering his first best friend, Victor Trevor, here, as well as attempts to murder his friend/lover John Watson here. Euros’ obsession with her little brother begins and ends here (more on that later). Could we have done with one isolated place? Sure. But many other Gothics, such as The Italian and Zofloya often change locations while still keeping the feeling of isolation and dread going, and so too did Moftiss, to great effect.

Next is Euros. Ah, Euros Holmes. She ticks off the next three items on the Gothic list, and she does them all with flourish. Not only is she the family secret (naturally) due to her insanity, but she’s also a strangely alluring, wicked character, much like Moriarty. How? Some, I’ve seen, criticize her ability to control people as ‘magic’, but the truth is, many Gothic antagonists are able to manipulate people to their whims even though they are clearly disturbed or evil. Look at Rosario/Matilda in The Monk, Zofloya of Zofloya. They convince their victims that what they’re doing is sound even though these two characters are literal embodiments of The Devil. Consider Doran Grey in The Portrait of Dorian Grey, as he justifies his life of hedonism and self-indulgence; you know it is wrong, but you can’t help but want to actually listen to them. When one adds in Euros’ standing as a genius and the myriad of mental disorders she suffers from, she stands up perfectly to the task as a Gothic antagonist.

So, with her skills, Euros could create her own cult, honestly, but instead she uses her genius to attack Sherlock. Why? Well, that is where we can tick off the last subject: the taboo. Traditionally, this subject is reserved for sexual based taboos in Gothics, such as Ambrosio’s desire for his (admittedly unknown to him) sister in The Monk, King Manford’s desire for his daughter-in-law in The Castle of Ortranto, and Lucille Sharpe’s love for her brother in Crimson Peak, but also can encompass homosexual/homosocial desire, as it does in Frankenstein. But here Moftiss shies away from the sexual side of that obsession, but that doesn’t make it any less obvious that Euros loves her little brother to obsession because they are so much alike. Being a year apart in age, with similar levels of genius (though hers is superior), she obviously had more in common with him, had a deeper attachment. They could practically have been twins, given what the audience is shown. But due to her natural detachment from empathy, and her other mental disorders (so many to mention they require their own meta, and I’ll leave that to others), she was unable to form that same attachment to anyone else. That makes her different from Sherlock, who clearly could and did form other loves and friendships. For the Gothic antagonist, anyone who stands between them and the object of their obsession must be eliminated. That is why she killed Victor Trevor, and why she wanted to know about Moriarty, why she spied on, and then tried to kill John. They all stood between her and Sherlock, her ‘favorite’ brother.

But, you may ask, why involve John? Why did she try to lure him into an affair? Part of her observation on Sherlock, really. To see why he liked Watson so much. Just as she didn’t know why Sherlock seemed to prefer Victor to her as a child, she wanted to know what made John Watson interesting. Hence how she learned about his moral code; when he wouldn’t cross the threshold from text-affair to an actual one, she learned he had a moral standard—a weakness. And, again, in Gothic antagonist fashion, she used it.

So, then, we come to the traps. The Game. Why do we have them? Some have said that Euros’s games are too much like the Saw films, but, I say, one they’re missing that Saw is also quite Gothic (another discourse for another time) and two that Euros had to create this over-the-top game. Not for her own ego, or to prove she was clever, but because of, again, her obsession with Sherlock. As a child she wanted to give him puzzles, and when he wanted to be a pirate, she wanted to be one, too. She has only ever wanted to ‘play’ with Sherlock. So, when Sherlock became a detective, after she saw the sort of ‘games’ he liked now, she adapted so she could play too. First she tried playing as the victim, as seen when she pretended to be Culverton Smith’s daughter. She presented herself in a way that would get her noticed (a female John Watson; clearly she’s read the blog), and followed him as he deduced what happened. She then swapped that role out for that of the mastermind—the ultimate game, the only way she could see of being with her brother. When those did not work, she went back to the beginning; she took him home to make him come to her room and spend time with her. That is the depth of Euros’ obsession for Sherlock, and it is beautifully, masterfully Gothic.

I know many are dissatisfied with this season, but I found it to be a delight. After the disappointments at the end of Season 3 and the stutter of the first episode of 4, having this return to the Detective Novel’s Gothic origin was a delight for me. Mofftiss clearly did their homework in order to tick off the tallies they did on this story line and, while I admit they could have done more if they’d had the chance for a 5th season to drag it out a bit, I’m glad they did what they did, and with how they did it. There are in fact many more Gothic tropes that were done by this season, and while I’d love to list them all fully, that would take ages. Right now, I’m going to stop here, and enjoy what, for me, was a satisfying season.

TLDR; Season 4 was a return to the Gothic roots of the Detective genre, and deserves a little more credit than most are giving it.

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#bbc sherlock #sherlock #season 4 #spoilers #a meta #or a lit critique #or a review #or analysis #or whatever #just my english lit brain at work #why i liked it and you can all accept it or stop following me

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