#take a shot every time someone says it’s fanon behavior | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dendrite-blues · 3 years

Photo

For a relatively short exchange, this scene is jam packed with characterization for Loki.

It’s also our first reliable look into what Loki was like before Thor 1. Not as described by others, but first hand and from his own mouth. I think that deserves a closer look, to see what we can learn about Loki and how he thinks.

This scene is significant because it tells us what Loki’s personality is like when he’s not running for his life. It tells us who he was before his trauma and what his core beliefs are underneath those layers of humor and bravado.

Better yet, since he’s alone we can assume that every line in this scene is presumably true, or at least Loki believes it to be true since he has no audience but himself.

The dialogue centers mostly around the statement “You deserve to be alone, and you always will be.” I’m not going to focus too much on the “alone” motif since I already dedicated an entire meta post to it.

What I think is more interesting about this scene is actually the looping, and the stages Loki goes through in trying to deal with it. There’s a lot of really interesting character traits on display in that progression.

Loop 1: A Warm Bath and Glass of Wine

The first loop entails Sif lecturing Loki about cutting her hair, kicking him in the balls, and storming away. Loki kneels on the floor and he gives us this great line:

“A bad memory prison? How quaint. Some punishment. I remember exactly what I did after that. I went and had a nice, hot bath and a glass of wine, and I never thought about it again. Because it was just a bit of fun.”

So we can take this to be Loki’s default reaction to pain and criticism. When put into an unexpected conflict without any forethought or outside influence, this is what he says/does.

1) Downplay the damage/threat. How quaint. 2) Dispel/soothe the emotion. Nice hot bath. 3) Minimize the impact. Never thought about it again. 4) Deflect responsibility. Just a bit of fun.

Keep those in mind as we move forward, since we’ll be using them to make sense of what else Loki says in this scene.

Loops 2 and 3: Okay, Sif, Hang On

This bit is about Loki realizing just how bad his predicament is.

L: Okay. Okay, Sif. Hang on. S: No, you hear this. You deserve to be alone... And I always will be. L: Alright, I get it. Listen. You are a reconstruction of a past event created by the organization that controls all of time. So you need to trust me and you need to help me escape. Yeah? S: Pathetic. (she kicks him again) L: (winces and groans)

As we all would expect from him, Loki’s first impulse is to try and talk his way out of it. What he says to achieve that goal is pretty revealing though. Because he doesn’t try to ease Sif’s upset by apologizing or explaining or offering to magic her hair back.

Any of these would have been more likely to save his nads in the given circumstance, right? The present threat is Sif, and she’s mad about what Loki did to her hair. But Loki doesn’t really see that. Rather, he treats her as a means to an end.

“So you need to trust me and you need to help me escape. Yeah?”

To me, that choice reveals something of a blind spot Loki has to the feelings of others. Even if he doesn’t actively like hurting people, he does prioritize their problems below his, and quite shamelessly. And at least on his first impulse, he doesn’t seem to feel much remorse or empathy for them.

Usually in fanon we attribute this callousness to his trauma. He’s learned that no one can be trusted and no one cares, and so he doesn’t allow himself to care for others.

But between his Loop 1 sentiment of “It was just a bit of fun” for an event which caused real hurt to Sif, and his Loop 2/3 behavior of “you, stop being mad and help ME” I think it’s reasonable to say that selfishness/low empathy are traits Loki possessed pre-trauma.

Loop 4-????: Happens Off Screen

It’s unclear how many times Loki loops while the camera is following Mobius, but the implication is clear that it was been many, many repetitions. Somewhere in this his denial and deflection must break, because we come back to a much humbler, more pleading Loki.

The Final Loop: I Crave Attention

S: You conniving, craven... L: Sif. Sif. S: ...pathetic worm. L: Please, please, no more. Please, I beg you. I'm a horrible person. I get it. I really am. I cut off your hair because I thought it'd be funny. And it's not. Uh... I crave attention... because I'm... a narcissist. And I suppose it's... It's because I'm scared of being alone.

HOOO BOY, so this is quite a tough bit to analyze. There’s a lot of interpretations you could make, and a lot of topics to delve into. For the sake of focus, I’m going to ignore the narcissism question. That one really needs an entire post, and I want to focus on something else here.

That being, Loki’s way of processing conflict/punishment.

I’ve always found it strange how Loki takes such pride in being called a liar and cheat when he simultaneously has this chip on his shoulder about how nobody likes him.

Those two traits don’t seem to play well together, and I always scratched my head over how they coexist in his character. If he wants people to be nicer to him, maybe he should stop antagonizing them? Yeah?

Well, here we’re finally given a clear reason. Loki craves attention, he hates being alone. So how does he avoid it? Pranks and mischief.

Fair enough.

But then, if all his pranks lead to this outcome--outrage, retaliation, insult--why doesn’t he ever learn? How is it that after 1000 years of this behavior, he hasn’t found a better way to get the attention he craves?

Loop 1: Downplay, dispel, minimize, deflect. He accepts zero accountability for the impact of his actions, and doesn’t think at all about how they affect other people. Just a bit of fun. I had a hot bath and a glass of wine, and never thought about it again.

The only reason he reaches the level of self awareness on display in the Final Loop is because the looping forces him to contemplate his actions and the impulses within him that lead to that behavior.

This is projection on my part, but to me he acts as though this kind of deep reflection is a new thing for him. He sounds like someone sharing a revelation that he’s just had about himself. We’re being shown that Loki is a man of action. He will always move forward if he can, possibly because looking back to so painful that he can’t bring himself to do it.

Circling back around to the pride Loki has for his knavery, let’s suppose that he’s been on this negative reinforcement cycle since childhood. He’s always acted out to get attention, then received retaliation and insults for it, and then pushed the bad feelings out of his mind with creature comforts and mental gymnastics.

What happens over time, when you’re being constantly told that you’re a pain in the ass and no one likes you? Most of us would take it to heart, but Loki doesn’t. He has a big ego, big enough to resist that constant barrage of hate coming at him.

So how does he marry these two conflicting realities?

He turns it into an identity, the God of Mischief.

In his head, Loki excuses himself of blame by shifting the culpability to his moniker. It’s not that he’s immature and petty, he’s just a “trickster.” It’s in his nature to cause trouble, so he can’t help it. You wouldn’t dangle a steak in front of a tiger and blame the tiger for striking, would you? And if other people can’t take a “joke” then that’s not his fault, that’s on them for not having a sense of humor. It was just a bit of fun.

Here we see the union of these two halves of Loki, the lonely ice runt and the mischievous scamp. (And a little bit of the original Loki who Thor accused of being incapable of growth!)

By refusing to think about others, and excusing himself from responsibility, Loki successfully preserves his self worth and insulates himself to most of the negative emotions he experiences.

Pain, embarrassment, and grief aren’t pointless emotions though. They are vital feelings that serve to regulate our behavior, and that push us to conform to the ways of our social circles. Without them, we annoy and upset others. Be annoying for long enough and you will eventually find yourself, well, alone. As Loki is.

Thus “Mischief” is a self-defeating loop, and Loki is just as caught in it as the cell Mobius trapped him in.

In order to be free of both traps, Loki has to stop running. He has to take a deeper look at himself and realize how much he is getting in his own way. The entire scene is one big parallel between these two “loops.” Pretty neat, huh?

Sadly these kinds of thought loops are really difficult to break, they’re buried so deeply in our personalities and habits that we usually don’t notice them until life forces us to address them.

The cell is Loki’s wake up call, and thankfully he does seem to rise to the occasion. He tells Sif quite clearly what his problem is, and he does it with beautiful, painful honesty.

Which is why it’s so fucking awesome for Mobius to acknowledge that, and to finally give Loki a taste of positive attention.

You don’t deserve to be alone. I believe you can be anything, even something good. Whatever you two did, it was powerful enough to bring this whole place down.

It’s a beautiful scene. Well written, meticulously acted. The clarity of vision in the pacing and shot selection, it’s really something special.

#loki spoilers #loki #mcu #mobius #meta #discussion #discourse #scene study #long post #sif #time loop #tva #character study

546 notes · View notes

happyanimelover · 2 years

Text

I posted 29 times in 2021

28 posts created (97%)

1 posts reblogged (3%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.0 posts.

I added 79 tags in 2021

#mdzs - 27 posts

#anti jiang cheng - 20 posts

#not for jc stans - 17 posts

#anti yu ziyuan - 8 posts

#anti jc - 2 posts

#bamf wei wuxian - 1 posts

#jin guangyao - 1 posts

#jiang cheng - 1 posts

#wei wuxain - 1 posts

#mdzs fics - 1 posts

Longest Tag: 19 characters

#jiang cheng bashing

My Top Posts in 2021

pl are just so deep into their own headcanon that they completely disregard canon. Fanon JC and Canon JC are not the same at all!!. bruh.

29 notes • Posted 2021-11-23 21:42:49 GMT

Even with wwx's golden core, jc isn't that strong, and all he does is swing his zidian around.His sword, on the other hand, is simply decoration . and some delusional stans thinks that he is stronger than lan wangji when He couldn't even defeat Jgy.

38 notes • Posted 2021-12-01 16:17:13 GMT

jc is a toxic person

for the people (mainly jc stans and yunmeng bros reconciliation stans) that are saying that wei wuxian and jiang cheng should reconcile . NO !!! THEY SHOULDN’T . their relationship is TOXIC !!!!!. here are some characteristics of a toxic person :

1)CHORONIC ANGER : the person uses anger to control .and you can find your self tiptoeing around their anger. ( How many times did wwx have to make jokes, smile, and try to satisfy jc so he wouldn't become upset, and how many times did jc stans expect wwx to dismiss his bitter and harsh comments as a sign of worry when they weren't? He shouldn't say that even if he doesn't mean it.)

2) PUNITIVE MINDSET : felling as thought people deserve the bad things that happen to them (Jc believes that the Dafan Wens deserved and even contributed to their deaths simply because their surname was Wen.)

3)EXCESSIVE INSECURITY : where the person needs you to reassure them constantly.(How many times did wwx have to hold himself back so that jc wouldn't have to put up any effort and could simply coast in his family name )

4) SELF-CENTERED : take more than they could give .while they still may give it’s easy for them to feel like they’ve given too much.(Jc believes he made a huge sacrifice for wwx when it was simply a hasty and careless action; if he knew they would melt his core, he would never do it. And, to be honest, I'm surprised he didn't think they'd melt his core. What did he expect to happen to him, for example? That they'll just let him go after thrashing him, if that's the case, WOW!his stupidity is mindblowing!!!!.. it was going to be a meaningful sacrifice if he didn’t regret it immediately .

5)THEY PUT YOU DOWN : like that time in the billing lake where wwx stated ideas about the compass of evil and jc told him to stop daydreaming and shit .

6)ABUSIVE : we all We're all familiar with JC's demeanor and how he lashes out at everyone in his path, torturing innocent people, and wwx (with a dog).

7) VICTIM BLAMING: blaming wwx for everything bad that happens to him. his parents death his sister’s husband death (jin zixuan is a dumbass who told wwx to put down his weapon when 300 hundred of archers were shotting him and even tried to restrain wwx which led to his death .and for jiang yanli death even thought she was grown ass woman who made the choice to sacrifice her self for wwx ).

ngl it honestly feels like half the fandom is living in bizarro land because in WHAT universe is "you promised to be my servant for the rest of your life" a sweet loving thing to say to someone. like... am i supposed to feel sorry for jc? I DON'T I mean what did u expect? Reconciliation? Why would u forgive someone that become ur #1 hater in life and death?

People who dismiss these warning signals are either ignorant and didn't see them, toxic people who are perplexed that they didn't get their way, or people who grew up with a toxic person and believe it is typical behavior because even objectionable behavior can feel familiar and comfortable at some level . so to the people who are saying we have mother like yu ziyuan and say it tiger mom or some shit no it’s not. go seek some help. So your mom/dad out here whippin you or verbally abusing you? that isnt strict parenting that ABUSE !!!!!.

40 notes • Posted 2021-11-29 13:44:21 GMT

We also don't know the residual effects that might have been caused by having a new but previously owned golden core implanted in one's body. He was struggling with a new level of power that he had never had before ( hhhhh. Bold of you to assume that jc noticed that hhh he is not the most observant hhhhh)…

When WWX died, JC lost the opportunity to vent his anger, so he spent the next (13/16) years stewing over it instead. If he had really wanted WWX dead, though, I don't think he would have let him go so easily at the inn. He would have handled him before he he went looking for Wen Ning...and he would have outed him to everyone else, too, which he did not do.(yep he lost his punishing bag so he tortured innocent people so he can you know vent away his anger and he led a fucking siege against his oh supposed to be brother how tha fuck he not wanting him dead ?)

I love CQL for showing their adorable brotherly relationship like the bickering, the rivalry, how Jiang Cheng is always getting Wei Wuxian out of trouble. (?????????)

Jiang Cheng spends the whole story of MDZS watching his brother's back and waiting for his brother to return. That's his story arc, waiting for his brother to come back.(like he was not the responsible of wwx death)

another take about how jc stans appears to be unaware of the concept of reading comprehension.

67 notes • Posted 2021-11-28 00:26:06 GMT

Xue Yang, “Doesn’t he hate Wei WuXian the most? Why would he need Chenqing? Didn’t you also get that sword of Wei WuXian’s? Give him the sword in exchange for the flute. It’s long since Wei WuXian stopped using his sword, while Suibian sealed itself and nobody can pull it out. What’s the use of keeping a fucking piece of decoration?”

Jin GuangYao, “You really ask me to do the impossible, Young Master Xue. Do you think I haven’t tried? How could anything be that simple. That Jiang WanYin has already gone mad. He still thinks Wei WuXian hasn’t died. If Wei WuXian returned, he might not search for his sword, but he’d definitely come for Chenqing. And so, he would definitely not give up Chenqing. A few more words of mine, and he might blow up.”

Xue Yang sniggered, “A mad dog.”

mdzs extra 118 : Villainous Friends.

73 notes • Posted 2021-12-06 19:07:59 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

24 notes · View notes

ayellowcurtain · 3 years

Note

Would you mind giving a description of the type of character sander is pls? I can't get a handle on him. At times he was inconsistent in s3(this is partially bc of the writing and partially) bc he was trying to conceal parts of himself from Robbe and exaggerating his personality to impress Robbe. The source material was a huge crutch in parts of this storytelling, then sobbe lost some spark in parts of wtfockdown, fanon help fill the empty spaces and now the transmedia is evolving him too. Help?

I’m gonna try to help you, anon but I guess what I’m gonna say is basically my opinion and so it might differ from what’s canon or what other people think of him and also gonna link you to some prior posts I already made talking a little bit of him:

- Sander’s similarities with Eliott about how sometimes they struggle to deal with emotions

- Sander and his parents, his home life and his relationship with them

- Why was Sander going back and forth with Britt

Now onto your real answer:

I think Sander, as a character, is a solid one. He as a human being in some universe is imperfect, has his flaws and maybe his bad judgment at times, of situations and of people.

Is not because he’s a fictional character that he needs to be perfect, to always say and do the right thing.

If WTFock did him (and Robbe) dirty was mainly because of their complete lack of understanding of what pacing is. I don’t think season 3 was that badly written. It does has some horrible pacing at times, yes (OHN being on a Monday can only be a joke!!!!).

I don’t think he was purposefully exaggerating his personality. I’m sure the Sander we now know isn’t exactly as loud and out there as we saw during the supermarket clip, for example. But he was freaking out, and being obnoxious without meaning to.

To me, it felt like was mostly freaking out, not sure what to do with himself because the boy he saw once during a random night was there, all alone with him, accepting to go out to go grocery shopping.

That’s just an example but it’s the same behavior I see when he says they won after he shot Britt during the paintball scene, when he sings Bowie to Robbe while they see the girls walking away after the Noor x Robbe fight, or when he goes to Robbe’s place the next day and tries to kiss him. All this moments, to me, feel like a boy that doesn’t know what to do with himself, how to behave when he’s around someone he’s falling so deeply and hard for.

We often see the Evens as these cool creatures, confident, sweet, chill. But we have to remember that’s just the first impression (and from their Isaks’ POV), and after they get to know each other, the Evens are often shy, insecure, kind of lone wolves to some degree.

So what I thought could be seen as “inconsistent” of Sander was just him probably freaking out he was spending time with Robbe, the boy that the moon was shining on him and that Sander knew was the one.

That’s why I assume putting “original” characters after two seasons feels a little bit like crutches (with their background stories) because if you think about it, we always know most of the characters in Skam since season 1, so even when they’re not main characters, we got to know them in the background at least, to get some information throughout the other seasons.

We feel more connected to Robbe (and every Isak), and his background story because we’ve been hearing about it for two seasons.

We know he has a messy house situation, we know his relationship with Jens is kinda platonic but also very brother like (with slaps, saying rude things to each other, etc), we know some people think he’s gay, we know he’s a caring friend because of the way he was with Jana during her season. All this information we got before his season. So when he was main, there was no need to build background around him because we already had most of these informations before.

Sander is a complete stranger to us. And WTFock even gave us two episodes of just Robbe, to get to know him even more but also leaving less time for us to connect with Sander. So what we got of him was mostly WITH Robbe and ABOUT his feelings for Robbe. We know where he studies because Noor told this in ONE line.

The fandom often falls deeply in love with Even because of what we see through their lovers eyes and for how soft, caring, and representative he is (with being bipolar and pan) but I feel like we get more of who he is and his background in Sana’s season. We learn more about his past, his friends, his MI, his beliefs or curiosity about faith, etc.

Even if we barely see him with the balloon squad, watching them we see the type of people Even (or Sander) would like to be surrounded with.

I know people are not the biggest fans of Sobbe during WTFockdown, but I said this before, and I’ll say it again: I think I love them even more after. Even the cybersex part because I thought it was cute, the way Sander was saying he shouldn’t have pushed Robbe into doing it the past week, or how they look at each other and the things they say and how clearly they’re still trying to find the middle ground both of them are willing to experiment with.

Anyway, I thought it was cute, and I thought it was necessary, with the conversations about the attack (WTFock made a horrible writing decision not letting this happen during the season, but at least they gave us something), about Robbe’s traumas that are still very much alive, about his mom and how well she’s doing most of the time, how Robbe is still trying to help her in any way he can. And also about boundaries, about Robbe, that same boy that was calling Sander the F word is now so out and proud, asking Milan about cybersex, talking to his friends about it (because he did tell the boys what they did or Aaron wouldn’t be trying to have cybersex with Amber and the boys wouldn’t be taking their clothes off for Sander’s bday).

I think WTFock would use Sobbe for as much content as they can because they know that’s their golden couple. The Willems have a unique chemistry that’s out of this world, they’re both amazing actors and WTFock knows they’re solid, that the fandom will watch, engage in whatever these characters are involved in and that they boys will deliver every time, no matter how odd the circumstances are. The WTFock team knows they can give these boys a few lines and let they create a scene out of it and it’ll still be good content.

After this long ass post I’ll have to tell you that Sander is:

Mostly private, reserved, some would say shy but I think he just saves himself the energy and the trouble so he only really engages with who he really wants. In this case, Robbe, and the people that are important to Robbe because, again, Robbe is the most important person. I really think (and hope) that when Sander keeps saying “it’s you and me, always”, he really means it. Like they’re one, a solid team that works so well together to tackle any and everything.

A natural flirt. I mean, look at him, you know? And he doesn’t even have to try. And when he tries, it’s over for anyone else because he’ll be eating a marshmallow in that way he did with Britt, he’ll be kissing his girl like he wishes he could be kissing Robbe, he’ll be licking your ear, and dragging you out of a bar, purring please say at yours like no fucking other.

He’s a full on artist. He loves any type of art, he loves talking about art, he loves doing art, painting, drawing, taking pictures, listening to music, thinking about all the intense colors. I’m sure he’s a very visual person in his brain too. If you ask him about how he’s feeling, it’ll be probably easier to draw what he fells than write.

Again, nobody likes talking about this but Sander is a horny one. And he knows how to tease with the stepping back before Robbe can kiss him, he knows what to say, how to look at you with those shiny lips, wetting his lips with his tongue all the time, asking to have cybersex. And I’m also sure he’s really good at sex and enjoys it so very much.

When you’re not Robbe, and when you’re not involved with Robbe, when Robbe doesn’t care about you, Sander can be hard like a brick. He’ll scream at you with no shame if you get under his skin because he really doesn’t care. He’s finally fully happy, with the guy he thinks is the one and he doesn’t want to spend a second of his energy with you so he won’t even try.

I think he has a really small filter from what he thinks and what he says. Like when he says Robbe can bribe the teacher, or when firts with Robbe while Britt is taking a shower, or when he says they need to put some better music instead of making out with his boyfriend during the last episode.

His “all the way or no way” line is basically words he lives by and he’s also a taurus, like myself, so he really means those words with any aspect of his life.

He forgave Robbe so easily after the F word scene because 1) he’s a teenagers, he won’t be thinking as hard as the fandom did about it 2) again, it’s Robbe and he can get away with anything because Sander is completely gone for this boy that he won’t be able to stay mad even when he knows he should because he wants to be with Robbe, that’s it.

He and Robbe are very close, not only as boyfriends, I feel like right now, after everything that happened between Robbe and the boys and Sander with Britt (and probably the ballon squad) they’re very picky with trying to start new relationships, and they know they’re solid with each other, they have similar taste and opinions. Robbe softens Sander’s edges a little bit and Sander makes Robbe a little more confident in being himself, picking himself first.

I hope this very long, ridiculous answer helps you a little bit, anon, don’t mind me getting carried away talking about characters I love :’D

#wtfock #sander driesen

31 notes · View notes

gallavictorious · 3 years

Text

11x01 Reaction Post

Random thoughts on and reactions to 11x01; no careful analysis or anything, just the bits and pieces that's not likely to make it into meta proper but which I still want to make note of so I can go back later and remember what my initial reaction to the episode was (since my impressions are likely to change as the season unfolds). Mostly Gallavich related, because duh, but there's disordered rambling on a bit of everything. Under a cut (God I miss LJ sometimes) because this got long.

Ian looks damned good as the homocidal muscle. I don't do AU:s, but if I did... On the other hand, Frank as a member of the Chicago “Eight” looks like a werewolf. Less interested in that AU. And listen, I get that they couldn't get Emmy Rossum for this, but I really miss Fiona showing up in a few random olden day pictures. She's gone, but she's still a Gallagher dammit! Carl at the slaughter house looked weird – and part of me thought that was appropriate because slightly off editing would be a sweet way of communicating that it's all bollocks, but the rest of shots looked okay (Debbie as a milk maid and Frank as the aforementioned werewolf) or good (everything else) so no.

The sound of a baby crying is a horror matched only by persistent lack of sleep so I feel for Lip and Tami so much. Here's to all parents who managed to get through the first year without murdering anybody! I think that maybe you don't get enough credit... I, for instance, want to kill someone just hearing Freddie cry in the background for half a minute. Not sure it bodes too well for their relationship for them to be so ready to spend every night apart like Lip suggests, but a, what wouldn't you do for a good night's sleep, and b, love the thought of Lip spending more time at the old house. Could see them breaking up during the course of the season, though. Not sure how I feel about that – Tami's my favourite out of Lip's love interests, but having too many of the couples staying together all through the finale wouldn't feel quite right (for Shameless) and I don't see them breaking up Ian and Mickey or Kev and V. Don't really expect Sandy or Debbie to last either, but since it's more of a casual thing it might have more of a casual end.

Do you remember when the promo dropped and there was Concern about That Look on Ian's face after he kisses Mickey, and I tag theorized about it being because Mickey stole his coffee? Turns out there wasn't really A Look in the actual episode, but I sure as hell was right about the coffee, and I want noted somewhere. Maybe there should also be a small diploma? A golden statue seems a little over the top, but I mean, if you insist...

I appreciate that Ian is very adament about it being their money but when Mickey thinks it's their breakfast it's suddenly every man for himself. Do you share or not, Ian? Hmm? (Let the record show that I'm joking, please. Ian is damned right to take his toast back, and I say this as a “person most likely to steal their partner's toast right out of their hand”. I also love that Mickey completely gives up on breakfast when he can't have Ian's toast and just grabs a beer instead.) The kitchen scene is glorious and I just really like their dynamic here; the casual kiss, “I only make breakfast for husbands who have jobs”, how relaxed it is even when Ian's a bit annoyed, Mickey being so... Mickey. I do wonder what went through his head when Ian started talking about their wedding present money, though – he seems worried for a moment, but then shrugs it off, and that could be either bravado or just actual lack of concern. I tend mostly towards the latter, since Mickey quite genuinely figures this isn't a big deal (even though he still recognizes that Ian will probably think it one). Please note that he immediately offers to get money when Ian mentions that they need more of it coming in. Not his fault Ian vetoes his methods, right? (Also love that Ian's objection is due to him not wanting to be separated from Mickey, rather than any moral qualms about robbing stores.)

Okay, the gag ball. Would they really keep it like that if they were actually using it? Maybe either of them just tossed it there after taking it off, I suppose... Yeah, I don't know. Not what I'd imagined them being into, but that might be my own extreme lack of enthusiasm for gag balls and harnesses talking. Either they're into it and if so, you do you, boys, or it was a gift and they're keeping it around and semi-prominently on display for shits and giggles. (But if it was a gift, they did try it at least once, right?)

Mickey in the bath remains stupidly and surprisingly gorgerous. Incidentally, I really don't think his question about the meds is any indication of him not thinking them important, but there's little wonder that Ian bristles at the mention of them. Maybe not be an ass just to prove a point, eh, Mick?

I've already talked about how hard Ian is trying here but let's just take another moment to congratulate our boy on his persistent attempts at mature communication. Though he might have given some actual consideration to Mickey not wanting to save the money if he's really serious about them making decisions together... But he gets there! I think this whole situation – which would royally piss most people, including me, off – is actually particularly difficult for Ian, because he might well see Mickey's behavior as uncomfortably reminiscent of Frank and Monica's destructive habits and yeah, that would fuck him up. And still! He forces himself to calm down! He takes Mickey's hand! He refuses to let himself be distracted by Mickey looking SO INSANELY PRETTY I CANNOT EVEN UNDERSTAND IT! Ian, I salute you!

[starwars_eu_nerd_mode]KORRIBAN! YES! HA! TAKE THAT DISNEY! You take your new so-called “canon” and your “Moraband” and you fuck right off. I salute you, Bitcoin Boy![/starwars_eu_nerd_mode]

Ah, the porch scene... This one I do have a bunch of thoughs on that will probably make it into meta proper one day, so I'll leave it for now. It was the one that took the most thinking about for me to square (still not a lot, it should be noted), but now I'm actually very happy about it. (Full disclosure: none of their scenes feel quite right the first time I see them these days, because I'm just so very on edge about what's to come that I kind of miss the forest for all the trees you know? It's not a Shameless thing – it's always like this when I'm extremely invested in something and have waited for it for some time. Will it fit with how I see the characters? Will it be cringey? Will Mickey suddenly profess a love for hideous Hawaii shirts? Also, what are they saying because English is hard... But then I watch them a couple of times and they sink in and I start to get giddy over them. I guess watching actual canon unfold always requires a little bit of re-calibration if you've been busy fanoning while waiting for it to arrive, and while I love that sort of interpretative work, there’s also the fear that the show will veer off into a direction I cannot easily follow.)

Mickey's insistence that he spelled monogamy wrong does genuinely amuse me. Not to mention the whole “No more parking tickets for me!” - “You don't have a car, dumbass.” Also, Mickey being friendly with Carl kills me, in a good way. Family FTW!

Frank's storyline fails to stir even the vaguest hint of interest in me, as per usual. For all his talk of family in this episode, the lack of interaction with any of his kids is striking. If he's to have any value at all this season I'll need him to get involved in the rest of the Gallagher's storylines (which seems like it might be happening at least for a bit later on, so I'm vaguely hopeful?). I find but faint intrigue in Carl's and Debbie's stuff, but it doesn’t annoy me either so I'll call it a win. Kev and V are (almost) always a delight, but do anyone else feel like their kids are only props, even to them? I don't know... I just don't think there's a connection or sense of realness to their relationship, you know? Maybe it's just me... Anyway, here's to hoping V turning pageant mom changes all that! Oh, and I'll need Liam to have some more screentime and stuff to do.

The Tommy and Kermit thing was weird. Eh. Whatever.

Sandy is so gorgerous. I can't. The Milkoviches really be bringing it this episode.

This is only the second season I've watched episode by episode as it airs (other one was S6) and it's a curiuos experience. I think that by and large, and particularly in later seasons, Shameless works better when you binge it, but I love the delightful anticipation of waiting for a new episode and the feverent discussion that follows. Sometimes I also despair over the ferverent discussion that follows, but... you know. It is what it is. Admittedly, any attempts at meta this early in the season is a precarious venture at best, since we don't have the whole story, and it might be wiser to abstain but it's just so much fun, so I'm not very likely to stop.

All in all, I love the Gallavich stuff, am intrigued by Lip & Tami and Kev & V's lives, okay with whatever Debbie and Carl's got going on, hot for Sandy, bored by Frank, and missing Liam. It sets up a lot of promising things, but as an episode all unto itself it felt a bit empty – probably because there were no real plots and the storylines didn't intersect as much as I would have liked them to. Shameless is best when it's about family, which both the show and Frank seems to recognize, but there's little narrative follow-through on that realization in this episode; everyone is pretty much doing their own thing. Adored the Lip and Ian convo, and that house party scene was wonderful, but so short. Think we'll get more of all of them together going forward, though, and more actual plots too, so I'm very excited about it all. Can't wait for Sunday!

#11x01 #shameless spoilers #episode reaction post #random ramblings #my stuff

27 notes · View notes

panharmonium · 4 years

Text

more rambling re: that last post (+ the merlin/will fic survey overview)

because i generally refrain from reading fic while i’m actively writing for a fandom, the only real ao3 reading i have done for merlin is my survey of the merlin/will ship tag. and the only reason i undertook that survey in the first place is because while i was doing an introductory cruise of the various merlin tags during my first exploration of the fandom (after i finally finished S5 and was able to start looking into fandom dynamics without fearing spoilers), i noticed that a LOT of the fic tagged with this ship was also tagged merlin/arthur, and despite the fact that i personally am more interested in gen stuff, i started to get both suspicious and annoyed about what i was seeing. but i also wanted to have the data to back up my annoyed feelings, so i made a little spreadsheet for myself and then just filled it in whenever i had time to kill and wanted something to do.

the data, when i eventually finished, backed up my annoyance pretty much as well as i expected, which was disappointing, but not surprising.

to clarify - i’m not annoyed by the fact that will and merlin don’t have a whole lot of material in their ship tag. will only showed up directly in one episode; i don’t expect him to be a popular subject. what i AM annoyed by is the fact that there are actually more merlin/arthur fics in the merlin/will tag than there are fics that actually focus on...merlin/will. by, like - an extreme margin.

(the rest of this is just me griping about fandom trends. popping it under a cut so folks can just move on with their days if this isn’t relevant to their interests.)

The Numbers

two quick notes before i get into the nitty-gritty:

1) i originally did this survey a few months ago, but i updated it this week with fics that have been added since then, so the numbers are current.

2) some of the data below would probably vary slightly depending on who was conducting the survey, so there’s a bit of wiggle room in either direction. the criteria i had to use [aka what counts as just a ship ‘mention’ vs actual content] would be subject to reader interpretation, obviously, but even with that, i do feel that most stories fell into pretty clear categories.)

so, without further ado -

total # of fics in the ship tag: 145

number of fics that are inappropriately tagged (meaning either will himself or merlin/will as a ship does not actually appear [which is kind of bizarre, but which i saw happen surprisingly frequently], OR where there is only a brief reference to will or past!merlin/will and that’s the extent of their inclusion: 50

number of fics that are duplicates of works already in the tag (ie podfic), or (in one case) a meta podcast about the show: 5

so, that brings down our total number of fics with some sort of actual merlin/will content to 90.

of these 90 works, only 17 of them are actually focused on merlin/will.

everything else in will’s ship tag, including the 54 works from the previously discussed "incorrectly tagged” category, is either a) fic where will is dumped, broken up with, or otherwise passed over in favor of arthur (and very occasionally gwaine, at least once mordred, once percival, once arthur and gwaine in a threesome, and once CENRED, which i’m sure will would be especially thrilled about), or b) fic where will is only included as a previous/ex relationship (again, almost always in lieu of arthur).

moreover - of the 17 actual merlin/will fics, 7 still end with will dying or the relationship ending for reasons other than him being passed over for arthur. an additional 4 are <1000 word PWP snippets, generally written for old LJ summer pornathons, one of which still somehow manages to be...you guessed it - all about arthur.

in terms of actual one-shots/full fics where merlin/will is the endgame/non-dead pairing, there are only 6 stories.

i repeat: will gets six earnest stories, IN HIS OWN SHIP TAG.

i repeat once again: will, in a non-dead, endgame form, gets 4% of his own ship tag.

The Content

the in-fic trends are frustrating, if you actually like this character.

the asshole. will is an abusive boyfriend. he is a jealous ex. he’s a shitty friend. he’s a stalker. he’s manipulative. he’s emotionally abusive. he’s physically abusive. he dumps merlin for someone else. he cheats. in one fic he’s so mad at merlin that he outs merlin’s magic to arthur. in multiple fics, i watched him literally go off the rails and try to murder somebody.

the fuckbuddy. they’re just messing around, guys! no, of course it’s not serious! they just do this for fun! of course there’s nothing to get in the way of arthur’s inevitable arrival! no sirree!

the unrequited. will is actually in it deep for merlin, but merlin doesn’t feel the same. this does not, however, prevent merlin from using will for sex, companionship, comfort, distraction, etc - until arthur shows up, when will either steps aside in deference to merlin’s all-consuming passion for arthur or is dropped like a hot potato.

“not even will.” that sentence. over and over again. merlin had never felt like this before, not even with will. nobody had ever understood merlin like this, not even will. even in fic when they were like. married. or engaged. fanon arthur pendragon must be truly mind-blowing, y’all.

dead long-term relationship. will was merlin’s husband/fiancé/long-term partner. now he is Dead. merlin getting together with arthur is what allows merlin to Heal. (these stories sometimes contain some variation of “not even will,” as discussed above.)

lastly, in a related phenomenon:

who are you and what have you done with arthur pendragon??? i suppose in a way it’s nice to know that will isn’t the only one who gets the OOC treatment, but it is still really...something, to read fic where will is twisted into an unpleasant, abusive, canon non-compliant version of himself, and then to see arthur, on the very same page, transformed into a gentle, solicitous, kind, caring, equally canon non-compliant angel. fanon!arthur is more worried about merlin’s well-being than literally anyone i have ever seen. he is so invested in merlin’s emotional health. he is so concerned about merlin’s boundaries. he says things to merlin that no version of arthur pendragon has ever - EVER - in any universe, thought about saying to anybody. he wants to hear all about merlin’s problems, and he’s all about taking it slow and making sure merlin feels comfortable and loved and worthy and safe (from all that horrible stuff done by that horrible other guy; that must’ve been so hard, merlin; ‘it’s okay, i’ve got you now’) - the man is utterly unrecognizable. and you know what? it’s okay! it is fine to make your characters as OOC as you want. it is fine to make them better/nicer than they were in the canon. sometimes we all want that, right? it’s fanfic! have a ball. i will never tell anyone to stop writing what they like, and i will NEVER interact negatively with a fic i don’t care for. EVER. do not do this, people - click the back button and move on with your life. but i reserve the right to be annoyed, in my own space, about a persistent trend of will and arthur’s canon functions being flat-out reversed, in service of merlin/arthur. not in the sense that canon!will is particularly gentle or sweet, because that’s not the case - but in the sense that will, in canon, is the one who actually cares about merlin’s best interests, whereas arthur is, quite frankly, the ass. a lovable ass (sometimes). but an ass nonetheless, and one whose relationship with merlin is, from start to finish, an unhealthy, oppressive mess.

The Point

the point of me typing this up is not to say that what people choose to write is bad or wrong. this is fanfic! you can write whatever you want. you can make characters as OOC as you want. you can create as many AUs as you want. i don’t mind fic authors writing stuff i don’t personally care for; someone else probably loves those stories! and i am never going to interact negatively with anything i don’t personally enjoy - i am going to let people continue to have fun in their own ways, and i am going to grumble about my frustrations in my own space, and then i’m going to direct my energy into writing stuff i would personally like to read.

the point is just that i needed a brief second to complain, on my own blog, about my most familiar bbc merlin nemesis (otherwise known as ‘single-ship ubiquity’). and what i mean by this is that it is REALLY FRUSTRATING that other little relationships are not even granted the tiniest concession of owning their own ship tags, in a fandom that is already so SATURATED with merlin/arthur content. like - even if i’m generous and use the number 17 for the number of actual merlin/will fics in the tag, that still means 88% of will’s ship tag is actually fic about merlin falling in love with people who aren’t will (*cougharthur*). eighty-eight percent! of his own ship tag!

(to put it another way - the ship tag isn’t supposed to be where you go to watch your character get repeatedly dumped or left behind for someone else, okay? it’s supposed to be literally the opposite of that.)

will’s ship tag is already tiny. and almost all of it belongs to arthur. moreover, a significant chunk of it uses will as a convenient villain (completely contradicting every canon aspect of his characterization), when in the actual story will dies to protect arthur (who he doesn’t even like) and then lies to save merlin (at the expense of his own reputation, and despite the fact that he personally thinks merlin returning to camelot is a bad idea). his behavior in canon is selfless, and wholly committed to merlin’s welfare, and yet in his ship tag he gets treated like trash.

the kid can’t catch a break. and it’s such a pervasive thing that even though i personally am primarily interested in merlin and will as friends (i am pretty romance-averse in general when it comes to media, and i have never written anything that isn’t gen, for any fandom, ever, in my life), i am also so indignant on will’s behalf that i’ve basically become invested in the well-being of this ship as a matter of principle. it’s not my main thing, and it’s not necessarily how i view the canon-verse, but i am SO IRRITATED about how virtually all of will’s shipfic has been taken over by merthur (and about how maligned will is in his own tag) that i have actively committed myself to supporting merlin and will together in as many AUs as possible.

(this is basically like when i trained myself to love allison argent after teen wolf killed her off. i did that out of spite, y’all. it’s the principle of the thing.)

so, y’know. all i am saying is that i think will deserves his share of happy endings, and i think it would be nice to see fics where he is not just a stepping stone on the road to merthur or an unrecognizable parody of himself.

more importantly - EVERY merlin ship deserves to have a tag that isn’t completely swallowed by the local fandom behemoth. merlin/arthur already owns three quarters of the archive. a gargantuan oil tanker like that can afford to let the little rarepair canoes float down their own streams in peace.

#tl;dr version:#GIVE MERLIN AND WILL THEIR OWN FICS 2K20 #I WILL NOT REST UNTIL THIS INJUSTICE HAS BEEN ADDRESSED #(y'all think i am kidding but i have already walked the walk ok)#(i am currently the internet title-holder for 'most words dedicated to this relationship')#(it might be the platonic version but if you don't think i will stretch myself and try something new)#(then you underestimate just how aggravated i am)#(and just how much i want this kid to get everything he deserves)#the once and future slowburn #no kings no masters #fandom

59 notes · View notes

cblgblog · 5 years

Text

On that Siberia fight in Civil War

Rewatched Civil War recently and just…need this of my chest.

First thing, Steve saying yes when Tony asked if he knew about Bucky killing the Starks.

If the implication is that Steve did know unequivocally, for sure, then that should’ve been handled a lot better. What we were actually shown was a blink and you’ll miss it shot among a montage of HYDRA’s greatest hits that was, at best, an implication. And Steve’s being shown this by a computer version of an evil Nazi, who admits in the same breath that HYDRA’s whole thing for the last 70-odd years has been lies and manipulation.

It’s possible that Steve could’ve gotten better confirmation later. He could’ve gotten it from Bucky’s file, the one Nat gave him at the end of Cap 2, he maybe could’ve gotten it during the 2 years he was looking for leads…it could have happened. But they needed to show us if it did, because that HYDRA clip show? Not enough for a solid “yes” on Steve knowing.

I always took Steve saying yes as Steve being Steve in a bad situation, knowing that saying he didn’t know was a lie, so he says yes. Because he knew more than Tony did, and it’s not like Tony is going to take a “Yes, but let me explain” answer. But regardless, it needed better handling, if we’re meant to believe that Steve did know for certain.

Now, Tony attacking Bucky, even though he acknowledged 5 minutes earlier (with his Manchurian Candidate jab) that he knows Bucky isn’t responsible for Winter Soldier’s actions. So many people hate this, and rightfully so. I will say that I don’t condone it, but I understand it. Off the top of my head, the usual anti-Tony arguments here are

· The loss was decades ago, not recent, he shouldn’t be reacting so strongly

· He should’ve gotten some therapy and handled his grief like an adult

· He hated Howard anyway, why react so violently?

Yes, the loss was decades ago, but it’s still a man watching his parents be murdered. By the man standing a few feet away. With Tony’s mind and his instant “I know that road” we can assume he’s played out the scenario in his head a thousand times over the years. And that’s when he thought it was a car wreck. Watching your parents get murdered is going to screw with anyone’s mind, even someone healthy, which Tony so isn’t.

He should have gotten therapy, dealt with the loss in a healthy way, but he clearly didn’t. He even says during the MIT demonstration that he actively avoided processing his grief. Which isn’t an excuse for his behavior, but does explain it somewhat. Wounds heal if you treat them. If you don’t, there’s festering, infection, scarring…the 20-odd years on it’s own wouldn’t have automatically softened the loss.

Tony may have hated Howard, or parts of him, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t love him too. If he didn’t yearn for the man’s approval, he wouldn’t have made such a speech about not getting it in IM 2. If he didn’t care, it wouldn’t matter. Parent/child relationships are so much more complicated than just one thing, and if there’s abuse or neglect, even more so. On a side note, Howard always seemed more the absentee dad, the careless dad who talks without knowing the damage of his words than the raging abusive drunk the stans want to make him out to be. Which in this case means it’s more likely that Tony didn’t all out hate the guy, even before Endgame where we get the Tony and Howard scenes.

And even if he did, Tony’s feelings for Howard don’t have to matter here, because he says “I don’t care. He killed my mom.” Even if he hated Howard completely (which later canon disproves), okay, he’s still hearing his mom begging for her life.

So, it was a cruel, manipulative tactic by Zemo, and I get why it pushed Tony to doing what he did.

Here’s the thing. That doesn’t make it okay. It doesn’t make his prior actions throughout this and other movies okay. Should Steve have told him about Bucky? Maybe, if he knew for sure, which again, don’t think he did. But Tony’s actions on finding out are pretty solid proof that Steve had solid reason to shut up, too. The video exacerbated the whole thing greatly, yes. If Tony was thinking a little more clearly, it maybe wouldn’t have gone that far.

Does that mean that Steve could’ve told him in a better moment and Tony wouldn’t have reacted in a similar way? Hell no. He might not have physically attacked Steve, or had Bucky there to beat on, but that doesn’t mean we’d get the lovely fanon of Tony forgiving and forgetting, doing his best to treat Bucky, giving him a wing in Avengers Tower…hell no. He still would’ve hunted Bucky down, or tried. He still would’ve been out for blood.

Tony hasn’t had a healthy brain in years. He’s been a mess of fear and anxiety and misplaced savior complex. Even if Steve had told him the truth at some point in the 2 years between Cap 2 and 3, it wouldn’t have gone well for Bucky.

And I kind of get it. Mind controlled or not, the guy physically murdered Tony’s parents. That’s hard to just shrug off. But ultimately, Bucky didn’t have a choice in it, it was not Bucky who really pulled that trigger, and it’s not fair to try to kill a man for something he couldn’t control.

And again, I do not totally hate Tony for that fight. I can understand why he did it. He’s a damaged man, he was manipulated. But, not an excuse. Every other Avenger has some kind of trauma equal to or worse than anything Tony went through. Nat was sterilized, tortured. Clint had his mind controlled and killed innocent people because of it. Bruce turns into a green rage monster and, at least in early films, has little to no control over the destruction he causes.

Everyone on that team is damaged, but Tony is the only on who gets a free pass for everything because of it. Tony’s parents being killed by Bucky wasn’t revealed to him until the end of the movie. The Accords are still the equivalent of hitting a nail with a sledgehammer, a terrible solution to a legitimate problem. He’s still using them as a way to deal with his guilt, and you don’t do that when it affects countless other lives, including those of your friends. He still shot Sam at close range…why? Because Sam did the very human thing of trying not to get shot out of the air? Because Vision, a member of Tony’s team, shot down Rhodey?

Even if you go for the fact that Steve lied, and he is a terrible friend, and that Tony ultimately trying to actually kill Steve for it was a somewhat understandable reaction in the moment? Doesn’t excuse Tony’s behavior. In Civil War, in AoU, in Infinity War when literally no one else on either Avengers team cared about The Accords, the airport fight, but he’s still hesitating to call Steve when the fate of the universe is at stake.

I can understand why Tony does a lot of what he does. I think some of it is more complex than some of the antis who are more anti than me do. Understanding is not an excuse. Being hurt and traumatized yourself doesn’t excuse giving anyone, especially your friends, the same treatment.

#anti tony stark #anti tony stans #pro steve rogers #Steve Rogers #civil war

73 notes · View notes

shellheadtm-a · 4 years

Text

alright, y'all, fuck it, i'm not going back and rereading civil war again bc it literally breaks me every goddamn time bc my stupid ass will literally always reread the confession and the road to civil war, and leads to me rereading iron man: director of shield, which also breaks me, which makes me read secret invasion and dark reign, which makes me read fraction's run, which makes me-

you get the idea.

but let's. let's talk about this a minute. i'm not gonna rehash the entire comic civil war here, it's a lot, but you should read it if you haven't. it's a big turning point in the 616 world and leads almost directly to the current state of things as they stand today. you should read it. period. if you're mcu be prepared for a bigger gut punch than anything the films gave you, i sob like a fucking baby every time i read fallen son and the confession. and...the end of the brain wipe, which i'll also get to here in a minute, when tony starts filling himself in on what he's missing. it's different. it's bigger, but more contained (as in us-based only). it's nastier. and it drags on a hell of a lot longer than what amounts to one fight in a walmart parking lot, i'm talking months. there is no nomad bullshit in this (steve hasn't picked up nomad in a very, very long time and the circumstances were different). what i'm saying is, civil war literally divided and tore the entire us superhero community apart. people that were friends were suddenly on opposite sides of the debate. it didn't just tear apart tony and steve, think of carol and jess. think of peter parker caught in the middle. think of all the people who loved tony and steve equally and found themselves torn on who to support. think of sue and reed, and johnny and ben, who were all over the board and nearly ripped their family apart permanently over it.

civil war was no bullshit. it hit hard. it hit fast. people died. it left the superhero community in complete tatters.

so let's get going.

extremis: there are things concerning this i want to touch on. one: steve rogers did not like extremis. this isn't fanon, he vocally was displeased about what tony had done to himself. he thought it made tony strange. distant. more machine than man. (he wasn't really wrong in some ways.) but something i really want to point in connection with it, outside of execute program which is a nice move into civil war, is that...tony never once really used it to find the rogue avengers. not once, not really. he had access to every camera, every satellite, every...digital anything. he had the upper ground there. and yet, somehow, the new avengers always managed to mostly stay free. funny, huh.

miriam sharpe: there's something too right about her, which makes her feel too wrong, you get me? there's something about her that...is too perfect at pressing tony's emotional buttons to make her...mmm...legit. i don't know if she was a plant for sure. i don't. but i'd be completely, utterly unsurprised to find out she was. i also wouldn’t be surprised if she also turned out to be a skrull, tbh.

the night before registration was signed into law: the team leads were separated. god, folks, outside of steve's touchiness about extremis, and execute program, this was one of the best teams of avengers since the early mansion years. tony and steve were closer than ever, they'd put down the avengers and then when steve wanted them back, tony couldn't tell him no. they were doing what they do best, and doing it next to each other (and i'm sorry, you can fight me, but steve and tony are at their absolute peak when they're working together as an unstoppable duo, they're a team within a team, they're partners, they're best friends - in a lot of ways they're each other's whole world and driving force). but the night before while they'd all gathered together, steve got called to the helicarrier. tony and steve were separated. steve was given an illegal order and refused. he had fire opened on him. and he bolted. he and tony never did regroup and circle the wagons, not really, to actually talk about it. i don't think...in any way...things would have gone as sideways as they did if steve and tony had been together and presenting a united front. and i think certain powers that be were well, well aware of that fact.

thor clone: tony might have had a thor hair, okay. sure. i can see him thinking at some point it would be neat to see what asgardian dna looked like but uh. did everyone forget that biochem's not his thing? it's not his wheelhouse? he's an engineer. an electrical and mechanical engineer. now...who do we know that's a biochem person that supported registration, one of the foremost scientists in the field, hmm...oh, that's right. hank pym. and...gasp. it turned out...hank pym...was a skrull. wow, what a coinkidink. i'm sure that totally absolutely doesn't mean a thing.

steve's extremes: okay, so...steve does some stuff that is...drastic. like steve is stubborn. he's bullheaded. once he plants his feet, getting him to move is damned near impossible. you know who can usually bring him around to some form of compromise or agreeing to disagree? ding ding ding, tony stark can. this is not the first time tony and steve have had a bitchfit at each other. they're in each other's pockets, literally, at almost all times, they fight sometimes. it happens. but they always, always manage to patch up and walk away friends and better for having had that talk. the supreme intelligence. tony erasing him being known as iron man. the whole shebang, if you're familiar with the older comics. they fight, they make up, they climb back in each other's back pockets again and they go home happy. so...this is it? they've had bigger shit on their plate and this is the one that does them in as friends? this is the one that makes them fight like they do? steve...does some hinky as fuck shit here, no one is blameless in this, steve is not in the right, tony is not in the right, no one is. that's the fucking point. but the extremes steve went to: tony meeting him in good faith to actually talk because they haven't and need to and tony knows that, and steve taking him out with an emp (which if it had shut down extremis completely it would have killed tony and don't think steve isn't aware of that - steve is far more tech savvy than you'd think). tony begging for another talk to ask steve directly if he had anything to do with happy hogan's death and yet another ambush by team steve. meeting in the mansion one final time to talk and he and tony literally beating the shit out of each other (or rather, steve really unfairly smacking tony around because tony dropped his armor, and had been practically sobbing, begging steve to talk to him) and parting ways for good. the thing here is: tony called steve and steve still picked up. steve still fucking picked up even though they were at war with each other. and...of course...that final fight. tony's armor was disabled by the vision. he was a fucking sitting duck, he could not fight back in any meaningful way against 220+lbs of pissed off super soldier. his armor was dead. and steve beat the everloving fuck out of him. tony, laying there in the street, his helmet smashed to hell, jaw broken, face swollen, steve on top of him with the shield raised about to drop it on tony's unprotected face, and tony laying there...begging steve to end it. begging him. and then steve getting yanked off of tony by a bunch of civilians who saw steve about to murder tony right there in the street and took action.

is it all steve's fault? fuck no, tony did some nasty shit, too. which is my point. they both did things that overall, were out of character for both of them. tony okaying hit squads? of supervillains? to bring in kid superheroes? tony? are you fucking serious right now? that is not typical tony stark behavior. see: young avengers for details, when it's very obvious he doesn't think steve coming down so hard on kids wanting to help make the world better place was necessarily the right thing to do. steve rogers, the man who mourned bucky barnes for years? because he lost his best friend? about to kill his other best friend in cold blood? in the middle of a street? really? really???

steve in his cell: when steve surrenders and steve's in the helicarrier, power dampner on, under arrest, awaiting arraignment, and tony comes to talk to him...things i want to point out: this wasn't like an extended period of time after steve surrendered. this was...very soon after that. please remember, tony had been beat to all fucking hell by steve. he shows up in full armor, never removes his helmet, nothing. extremis's healing factor is good, but it's not that good. tony's still beat to hell. i'm willing to bet he was using the armor's autopilot function, too, because if he could actually stand up straight i'd call you a fucking a liar. steve flinging out accusations on tony's mental health like barbs (he's not wrong, though, but you can bet tony takes every fucking word to heart in the absolute worst way). the last words steve rogers says to tony stark is "was it worth it? answer me." as tony walks away.

steve's death: hoo boy. okay. so, let me just...throw this out here: steve's death fucking broke tony. broke him. completely. utterly. unmade him entirely. steve on his way to arraignment takes a sniper shot for someone else, because steve is that kind of guy. sharon, under mind control, pumps three bullets (time bullets it later turns out) into steve's stomach. steve bleeds out. dies. you know what happens? tony, who was supposed to give steve's eulogy, loses it. breaks down when he gets up to speak. starts sobbing hopelessly. has to step down, there's no way in fuck tony stark will ever hold it together to deliver a real eulogy like that for steve. i keep saying i cannot overstate how important they are to each other. i can't. i really can't. like...they're so close at some points i feel like they're one soul in two bodies. anyway. when asked, tony says finding steve was the greatest day of his life. not only does tony just fucking lose it, it turns out they don't bury steve that day. instead, the remaining of the original avengers (tony, hank, jan) meet in the ice fields they found steve in. they give him a quiet send off, for just the three of them and steve. it's where "i miss your battlecry" comes from. namor takes steve's coffin, promises no one will ever bother it. they put steve back in the ice they found him. yeah that...sure sounds like...the treatment of a guy who hated steve rogers, huh, and this on top of the fact that, yes, tony watched steve's autopsy (through the helicarrier camers). he tortured himself just like that. clint never had to tell tony he might as well have pulled the trigger himself, tony was already telling himself that. he saw what happened to steve's body after, just...what it looked like. he argued with sharon. and then made sure sharon was taken care of, as completely as he could, after everything, because that's the kind of person tony is. he continued to completely fall apart and not deal with steve's death in any fucking meaningful way. he talked to steve's body after they brought him to the helicarrier before his autopsy. he told him literally everything. he told him through snot and tears and sobs and a complete and utter breakdown. he told him it wasn't worth it, because the truth is, tony stark cannot bear the thought of living in a world where steve rogers does not exist. there's a flipside to this, hold that thought.

tony's breakdowns: post civil war tony has...quite a few of these. he hallucinates steve (a side effect of extremis, all the info he takes in on a daily basis gets shoved into the part of his brain that processes guilt to be sorted through, and then his brain spits out important information in the form of people who are dead that tony blames himself for - steve played a prominent role there). everyone can see it. he doesn't leave the armor most of the time. he flips out randomly. he loses his shit utterly. he's put on admin leave barring a psyche eval as direct of shield (a position he got ultimately railroaded into). tony doesn't deal, is what i'm saying. steve's death? fucking breaks him. totally. tony does not pull himself back together at fucking all. he doesn't handle it. he blames himself for everything. utterly everything. yes, he was at fault for some things. yes, he made a lot of bad calls. but he canonizes steve (who also did hinky shit) and then turns around and tells himself he doesn't deserve even the modicum of happiness. he has good days and bad days. sometimes he almost seems like his old self. most of the time he's barely holding himself together with spit and bubblegum. ...i'd argue he may have been more than a little suicidal, at points. he does some really, really risky shit - riskier than normal.

bucky/steve's letter: bucky comes to kill tony. there's just no other way to put it. and they fight. and tony does his absolute best not to hurt bucky. he'd just gotten steve's letter - via execution of steve's estate - and even in the thick of it...steve still reached out to tony. that letter was like...a friendly shoulder squeeze through the veil, you get me? tony needed that, he really did. it was a bandaid over a bullet wound, but he needed it. and he turned around, and because steve utterly believed in bucky, put the weight of his faith and his trust behind bucky completely. gave him the shield. knew no one else would carry on steve's legacy the way bucky would. ended up trusting bucky enough as the new cap to give him all the info on iron man, and how to shut tony down permanently, if need be.

frank castle: steve damn near kills him. steve. that steve. steve rogers. y'all get how weird that is, right? steve is wound like a bowstring the entire goddamn length of civil war. i wonder if...the purpose...wasn't to get him to snap utterly and you know what that could have culminated in? that's right. tony's death at steve's hands. you'd never get tony to kill steve. ever. ever. but the other way around? if you...tweak it just right? hmmm.

the brain wipe: so tony just...magically doesn't have any backups that include the worst year of his life. i'm supposed to believe tony "meticulous to a fault" stark didn't back up his brain more than once. uh huh. okay. so he just...manages to forget completely how unfunctioning he was after steve's death. wipes out how utterly devastated and destroyed he was because steve was no longer in the world, who was fine with steve hating him and never speaking to him again as long as tony could protect him. okay. sure, karen. but also, as a point, he left the decision up to thor and cap, ultimately, whether or not to bring him back. at the time, thor was...mmm... but they had don. and cap was bucky. but they also brought steve in, who was alive at that point, because everyone knew when tony said cap in that recording he meant steve rogers. and the holdout was pepper. no one else really hesitated. of course they bring tony back. the world needs iron man. the world needs tony stark. gee, does...does that sound...like the guy ready to turn his best friend's head to mush with his shield? hmmmm hmmmm hmmmm.

brain wipe aftermath: tony's not wrangled well enough. i...will argue that leaving him alone with pepper and maria hill might not have been the best of things to do. i get it, osborn was being osborn, but. it played out as being vindictive, letting tony stumble upon all of that himself. but the huge, key thing to note here is steve fucking rogers tearing into the building where tony's being kept, knowing what's up, demanding to know where tony is because tony's only very recently woken up and...it turns...out...he's playing catch up on the last year and...has found...he thinks steve is dead. in that moment tony stark thinks steve rogers is dead and you know what he does? what tony always does when confronted with steve's mortality: he starts crying. he gets upset. and i definitely think how tony finds out sets the tony for things for...a good long while, especially between himself and steve.

and going on in the background of all of this melodrama is...civil war itself, of course, everyone fighting each other viciously over registration, the nightmare of the fifty state initiative, which does not...go well. the shit with the negative zone and a huge flashing warning light in the form of tony telling carol that of course they have to bring their friends into custody. if he and the mighty avengers don't, they will. they being shield. remember project wideawake? think microchipping every superhuman. think genetic testing for powers. think sentinals for everyone, not just mutants. think people like spider-man on a dissection table. all the shit tony was trying to get in front of, and put a stop to.

secret invasion happens. and the first person in the entire thing, openly, that gets taken out? tony stark. extremis is mostly shut down. his tech gets taken down. iron man is, for a time, effectively removed from the picture completely. tony, having seen it coming, has set rhodey up with a suit that has no starktech. has a plan in place. tony seizes. he damned near dies, really. almost gets taken in by the skrull queen (who's been psing as spider-woman all this time). and during all of this steve's floating through time, trying to make his way back to his own body so the red skull can't take it. eventually succeeds at that. what i'm saying is everything was a complete and utter shitshow.

norman osborn? now director of shield. it goes about as well as you think it does, him and his dark avengers. he tries to lay siege to asgard (which is floating up above and near broxton, oklahoma) after going off the rails. he does some naughty naughty things. it's not good. he steals tony's tech. he damned near beats tony to death on live tv. the rt in tony's chest doesn't just cover the brain wipe, folks, it handles the fucking brain damage norman osborn did to him.

things to particularly consider: jessica drew was a skrull during all of this. with pheromone powers. firmly on the side of team steve. just...think about that. think about steve's aggressiveness. think about how easily the real jess is able to like. sweeten up the hulk (he made her a sandwich and it's the most precious thing) even when he's angry and in pain. just. think about it.

think about project wideawake. think about how firmly tony opposed it. think about how he saw the writing on the wall after stamford and knew they had to get in front of it. think about tony going to all those kids' funerals. think about how emotionally open he'd be. think about how perfectly miriam sharpe played into things. think about all the praise she heaped on tony every time he did something she wanted. think about how tony's self-esteem issues work. just...think about that.

think about how a lot of players in shra were all involved in anti-mutant stuff. consider that a moment.

think about how easily the green fucking goblin was able to get into the good public graces by killing the skrull queen.

and the most important piece of evidence i'll give you: civil war: warzones. it's a what if. a what if had civil war dragged on instead of ending in steve's death. guess what. turns out the skrulls had been escalating and manipulating the entire fucking time.

just. think about it. all of it. and civil war starts to make a hell of a lot more sense.

5 notes · View notes

bhadpodcast · 5 years

Text

"But poor Scoot got murdered because Stiles refused to share his own trauma with his one true alpha & owner Scoot! It was all Stiles' fault, really!"

More ableism, double standards, victim blaming, canon erasure and Scottpocrisy 101 courtesy of delusionals https://liliaeth.tumblr.com/post/184828048616/you-really-dont-know-what-conspiring-means-do

anonymous: You really don’t know what “conspiring” means, do you?

liliaeth: Oh I definitely do, I think you guys are the ones who don’t.

Stiles wanted Theo to keep quiet about Donovan, so in exchange Stiles kept quiet about Theo killing Josh. That’s conspiring. And before you bring up ‘blackmail’, all Stiles had to do to stop that, is tell Scott the truth.

It’s not like Scott’s ever thrown Braeden or Argent out for using guns. It’s not like Scott berated Derek after he said they’d make their own deadpool of those who came after them for the money.

The notion of Scott supposedly being against any and all killing is fanon. And Stiles should have known this. But Stiles was so caught up in his own guilt, that Stiles saw Scott’s statement that was clearly about what Kira had done, as the same as the clear obvious accident and self defense that happened with Donovan.

Stiles was blaming himself, so he put more trust in Theo’s willingness to keep quiet, than that he dared believe that Scott would accept him.

The reality is that if Stiles had told Scott the truth, Scott would have helped him. All Stiles had to do was stop lying.

Instead Stiles worked with Theo to hide the truth from Scott, to the point of trying to keep the pack from the Nemeton, so they wouldn’t find Donovan’s body.

And as a result, Stiles betrayed the pack, betrayed Scott.

endraking: It looks like the anon is forgetting when Stiles being blackmailed turned into conspiracy.

First, What did Theo do? Leverage Stiles killing Donovan to keep Josh’s death a secret, specifically from Scott. Keep that in mind. Stiles not only kept that secret, one he could’ve told earlier than that but what else did he do? He partnered with Theo to catch the body thief, which is not the wisest decision regardless of how he felt that he would catch Theo in the act. Then he proceeded to hide information from the pack even misdirecting Lydia from tracking and finding the Nemeton.

Stiles didn’t even lie to craft a story on why he thought Donovan was dead so his dad would stop devoting resources to finding him. He could’ve easily lied to his father, by this point it was almost second nature. That plays into Theo’s agenda in neutralizing the pack and Stiles did it willingly without outside prompt. Theo was able to succeed to the level he did because Stiles helped him. I feel that statement needs repeating: He succeeded to the extent he did because of Stiles’ actions.

Ways Stiles could’ve been blackmailed that wouldn’t have been conspiracy:

-Do Nothing; Literally go home, curl into a depressive ball and turn his back on both the pack and Theo/DDs -Toe the line in helping the pack without outing Theo to keep his secret -Tell the pack/family/friends first and steal any power Theo had over him -Leave; Theo’s power over him could only exist if he were physically present.

princeescaluswords: Something else that needs to brought in mind, as the original anon asked, is the definition of conspiracy. To conspire means, according to Webster’s, to join in a secret agreement to do an unlawful or wrong act. It doesn’t matter why a conspirator joins in that secret agreement to make it a conspiracy.

I don’t have a problem with Stiles being drawn into the conspiracy. His motivations were solid and established even if they were irrational. He didn’t want his father and his friends to look at him differently after he killed Donovan in self-defense. They were products of trauma and his own insecurity.

Yet it was a conspiracy. Stiles helped Theo cover up Josh Diaz’s first death and Theo helped Stiles cover up Donovan’s death.

My problem is when the fanon (and to a lesser extent, the show) somehow attempts to make Stiles’ participation in the cover-up and the conspiracy Scott’s fault. Because the truth is that even if Scott had believed Stiles from the moment he said that Theo was shifty, unless Scott straight-up murdered Theo or somehow managed to drive him from Beacon Hills, it wouldn’t have changed a damn thing. Donovan would have come after Stiles anyway, Stiles would have still killed him in self-defense, and Stiles would have still lied to Scott about it.

The truth is that Stiles didn’t defend himself in Lies of Omission; his goal was to shift the blame for Donovan’s death to Scott, which he failed to do. First Stiles tried to make it a referendum on Scott’s nature as a True Alpha – that it was Scott’s fault that he wasn’t Stiles shadow 24/7 “Some of us are human!”. When that didn’t work, Stiles tried to make it a referendum on their friendship “Say you believe me!” – and this emotional blackmail didn’t work.

His final shot was to try to make Scott responsible for the consequences of his actions “Tell me what you want me to do,” so Scott did, and that’s not what Stiles really wanted at all. He wanted Scott to say “Don’t worry about it” as Scott had said every time before. But they’re not the same people, and Scott was right to direct Stiles to his father. Because Stiles killed someone, lied about it, engaged in a conspiracy and got caught.

We can talk about fanon’s huge double standard forever when it comes to characters acting under blackmail, we can talk about the show’s cowardice when it came to confronting the flaws in the Scott & Stiles relationship, but it came down to the fact that Season 5A focused on the negative consequences of Stiles behavior from Season 1 to 5 – the lying, the avoidance, and the entitlement.

I think they’ve finally done it They’ve exhausted me. They gaslight and reform canon until it fits into their rhetoric regardless of what canon so obviously shows. Lil is trying to say there are time when Scott is not against killing and yet there’s never been an instance of this shown on the show. You know what is shown? Scott telling Stiles that “we can’t kill” and “there has to be another way”.

PEW trying to say Stiles is shifting the blame for Josh’s death onto Scott (even though it is Scott’s fault), when Stiles’ words never even intimated as much.

Calling Stiles a liar and sneaky and entitled, continuing to dismiss the fact he was blackmailed and trying to call it conspiracy without any context and blaming it on self loathing because why not? He’s terrible and it would suck to be Stiles so they “get it”.

They don’t get it and they never will. The thing is their arguments only work on Tumblr. As soon as people watch the show, they’ll see what they’re meant to and realize the antis are full of crap.

Right now that’s good enough for me.

If @athenadark @ravewulf @thisdiscontentedwinter or any of them wanna take it, feel free.

#submission #posey problems #teen wofl #teen wolf #links #PEW #nix nyxie #scott mccall #stiles stilinksi #anti antis #lil

6 notes · View notes

ombreecha · 6 years

Note

Oh great one, please teach us how to write smutty fanfics for Clerith. Please!

i’m literally just sitting here doing nothing so why the fuck not.iactuallymeanttoreplytothiswaaaaybeforenowimsosorryforgiveme.

Lemme just start out by saying that I don’t think there is a right, or wrong way to write smut for Clerith—don’t get me wrong when I say this though.

Badly written smut is still bad. I’ve read some shit. Trust me.

It’s all about experimenting while considering their personality types. I think the thing that gives people the most trouble when writing smut for this ship is the large misconception of Cloud, and Aerith’s characters. Aerith, especially, has had this fanon representation applied to her that just makes it almost dirty (in fact all of the characters have had large misconceptions applied to them over the years, honestly).

Fanon Aerith: The puriest of purest purer puring pure things, would never think of the birds and the bees, calmest of calm, and daintest of daint. Did I mention pure? How about dainty? What about the fact she is like the biggest child of god that ever walked with a bible in hand and is a preachers wish-fulfillment daughter?

I could literally go on but you get my point.

Canon Aerith: Spunky, sassy, vocal, outspoken, and definitely knows how to tease. Not afraid to get down and dirty including in the bedroom, has flaws, and feels more than just peaceful daisies and floral happiness pouring out of every pour of her body. The girl is confident.

Don’t lower her down for less. She is all of these things and yet because we either haven’t played the game in forever, are new and have no clue outside of her design, or even worse have bought into fandom’s fanon representation it’s become a thing.

Fanon Cloud: Is either the dumbest of fucks who can’t speak words, or the most possessive cucklord to ever exist because “mEh sHiPs” and “bEsT gUrL”. Super confident, or super anti-social to the point words don’t exist. Likes to yell for no literal reason???? Did I mention that in almost every occasion everyone loves him? Every girl is a literal self insert thirst trap whether a bystander or an actual character? I didn’t? Oh, well include those.

Sometimes you might be lucky to find a nice happy medium but usually it’s chaos honestly. You never know what Cloud you’re getting. It’s like a mystery loot box you get every month.

Canon Cloud: Sassy, not interested in dumb shit, can in fact laugh, is more than angst, is absolutely shy underneath it all, insecure to a point (large point lets not be over-dramatic here), awkward, and when it comes to deeper issues struggles to get the words out but tries his best. Does in fact feel things. Is not the internal dialogue king that is Squall Leonhart.

Don’t over do him, but don’t under do him.

Getting personality is hard. Trust me. We’ve been there. We’ve ALL been there. This shit takes literal time. You’ll get there. Sometimes you get a good feel immediately. Sometimes you don’t. I’m still working on how I write Cloud. I am by no means perfect in my writing with him and I question how I do him consistently which is a wonderful thing because it means I know I have room to improve.

Now for the smut portion and how I do what I do and wrapped it together in a wonderful nsfw bow.

Test. Those. Boundaries. Test them. Push them. Cross the line then come back.

The number one thing about Clerith is that it is wholesome. It is genuinely a wholesome pairing. From their actions to their behaviors. Canon shows and tells us their wholesome from their teasing between each other to their moments of connecting on deeper topics and wanting to be there for the other.

Don’t let that scare you, though. You can write something absolutely filthy, and still make it wholesome. You can write some amazing possessive, and passionate sex, and it still be wholesome at it’s core.

I’ve literally done this. I can’t even count the times I’ve done this for this ship and others.

It’s not always about the physical action. It’s so important to include that mental link. It’s so important to include that connection of love. Bring it back home to the fact they love deeply, and love so reassuringly.

Filthy smut is some of the best shit, but writing your OTP showing how much they love each other through smut whether it’s filthy, or a nice relaxing vanilla is even better.

Why? Because you’re literally reading or writing this because you want to see/show that love.

Now do I think you should walk away from this post doing some major dominatrix BDSM shit… I mean you can but is it probably gonna be good? Nah, fam (send me it though I’ll totally give it a shot even if I might end up not being my cup of tea cause shit I’ll read just about anything once).

That’s because it’s not within their personalities to go THAT wild.

That’s why I say test the boundaries. That’s why I say cross the line and then comeback. When you come back to this can you honest to god be sure this is how you think these characters would do this?

Wholesome doesn’t mean vanilla.Wholesome doesn’t mean you can’t be filthy.Wholesome doesn’t mean you can’t be spontaneous in the bedroom.

Remember that you can be wild, fun and kinky in the bedroom and be just as fluffy and cute outside of the bedroom.

Vanilla also doesn’t equal boring, though.

Remember that you can be fine with missionary, relaxing, and sensual sex in the bedroom and be just as fun and out going

It’s all about comfortablity in the end. I’m sure there are some Clerith who think I go too far (I’ve yet to meet them but hey can’t say it’s impossible and I respect that my work isn’t everyone’s cup of tea).

It’s all about the happy medium you as a writer have to find within yourself. Just remember to have that wholesomeness. Imagine and think about how you would want that to go down when you just love the other individual and put it on paper.

I think about Cloud getting head and how he would react far more often than I would like to admit, but I do it because I would love to hear, see, or feel those responses from someone who I love and am connected to not only physically but mentally.

Don’t be afraid to pull from your own sexual experiences as well and how those things made you feel, react, and respond. I do this far more often that I’d like to admit but fuck it truth is truth.

I have a long distance relationship IRL and after seeing my boyfriend you can bet your ass I’ll pull from the last time we did it.

Anyways, this post is forever ass long and will definitely be a major TLDR for some which is gucci as fuck. If you’re still here bomb dude.

Wrapping this up though, what makes bad smut bad is bad characterization. Nothing else. It’s not the act. It’s not what they do. It’s not how they show their love. It’s all about just bad characterization.

If you need help ask. I have helped other writers in clerith with their own pieces before because sometimes having that second set of eyes just helps. Asking how an author writes this or that helps. It helps you grow and helps you build.

You’re never going to get better if you don’t try.

Now go forth. Bring that shit to my door. Give me that filthy wholesome content. Gimme some of those sensual and relaxing romps.

I love Clerith, and I’m always down for some smut, my dude.

#clerith #cloud strife #aerith gainsborough #aeris gainsborough #ombree:asks

10 notes · View notes

teenwolfpotential · 7 years

Text

Season Facepalm Ep. 9

Seen It Before

You’ve got to be kidding me. You really, really do. ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME?!!!!!

There’s NO excuse for reusing old footage instead of showing the audience new memories of Stiles with people. Even if you don’t have the older actor, you get actors to play the younger versions and show how Scott and Stiles met or how Stiles first started liking Lydia.

One of the most unique aspects of a plot that revolves around people being erased from memory is that you then get to explore their pasts with other characters and show how much they mean to each other. Instead of doing that, they did the laziest thing possible and just used footage viewers have already seen. The lack of effort makes my head hurt.

This is symbolic, definitely symbolic. Them reusing footage in this episode to such an extent is just a smaller example of what they’ve done with this whole season. Rather than try to come up with something halfway inventive and exciting for the plot, they just decided on another generic monster-of-the-season that does nothing to move any of the overarching plot or character arcs forward.

Pseudo-Bros

The plot and dialogue is still reading like a paint by numbers for the most part. The only part that was actually relatively entertaining was Liam and Theo having pseudo-bro time while fighting off the Ghost Riders. You wouldn’t think fighting would leave time for bro-ing, but they managed it admirably. I feel like Liam’s characterization came back from war a little bit.

Riders Are Beatable?

I have to mention, though... if they could take down Riders by stabbing them in the neck or shooting them with their own guns this whole time... how have they not realized that and used it to their advantage by now? It honestly didn’t even look hard.

Someone Has To Be a Jerk

I’m not super pleased with Theo’s sacrifice. When every character ever on the show ends up “surprisingly” sacrificing themself for others even when we’ve seen almost nothing in their previous behavior that would justify it, it loses its luster.

Peter did the same thing last episode and his was at least slightly more understandable because he has a tie to his daughter that he seems to want to salvage if he can.

Quotable

Funnily enough, this episode had a few quotes that I’d really like to keep. Liam in the car with the keys is one of them and Theo in the jail with the atheist crack is another. I feel like Lydia or possibly Malia had one, but I can’t remember what it was now. If I can just get those in gif form, I’ll be good.

Ignoring the Solution?

So... whatever happened to Corey’s ability to go invisible and see the ghost world? It seems like whenever he turns invisible, he breaks the barrier somewhat since he was able to pull a Ghost Rider into visibility for everyone else in the past. To be honest, it feels like Corey should have been able to move between both worlds and bring people back and forth the whole time.

Missing the Party

Also, I’m kind of assuming at this point that we’re not going to get any footage of Stiles greeting everyone that’s been disappeared as they come into the other side and that’s just irritating. This season is doing a much worse job than usual of keeping up with where the characters are and what should be happening with them at any particular time.

Again, I get that Dylan didn’t really have time to film, but if that’s the case, then they should do a plot that doesn’t have gaping holes that make the viewer question why they aren’t seeing the logical outcome that they should be seeing. It would have been better if they never had Stiles come to consciousness on the other side at all because then it would make sense not to keep revisiting his zombie-ness.

Bad Guy?

Where was the Nazi alpha werewolf (still hurts to write) this episode? I can’t remember if most of the characters have been disappeared or not (Mason, Deaton, Lydia’s mom?), but I know that the bad guy definitely shouldn’t be trapped on one side or the other. He seems to be content to just let everyone run around and try to save the day without interfering.

Isaac

I noticed that Lydia mentioned Isaac when she mentioned ice baths. As far as I’m aware, that’s the first time someone’s talked about him since he left with Chris Argent at the end of 3B.

I’m wondering if that’s supposed to be his one and only returning cameo in the final season or if they’re hinting at his return in the second half. I don’t pay attention to the news, so if he or the show has stated something one way or the other, I don’t know.

Stydia

They saved the Stydia romance plot line a little bit now that they’ve remembered that it exists. Apparently the big deal is Lydia saying she loves Stiles back next episode, but it doesn’t really feel exciting to me considering she already said she thought she loved him quite a few episodes back. That declaration was entirely underwhelming, so I can see why the writers would want everyone to forget it happened so that they can start over fresh, but it just doesn’t work that way.

Scott’s Memories (and Others)

I honestly thought they were going to go for the yelling match in the rain when Lydia mentioned trying to find a memory, good or bad.

One thing they could have done with this scenario of remembering Stiles is have the people remembering realize something about how they interact with Stiles. Scott, for instance, could have seen the fight and then his series of talks with Stiles afterwards and realize that he never actually apologized. Or he could have heard the “Batman and Robin” remark and seen himself ditching Stiles for Allison and realized “whoops, I kind of need to fix that”.

Lydia could have seen the times she ignored Stiles or the times they worked so well together as a team instead of the obvious kiss memory.

Malia’s memory worked really well for me and I didn’t expect that at all. I wouldn’t have thought of the vault one and I was so worried they were going to bring up that ill-advised Eichen basement scene, but they didn’t.

Something else is that the line that Scott said and Malia reiterated about seeing memories of Stiles and Lydia made no sense... because WE WEREN’T SHOWN ANY MEMORIES THEY SAW THAT LYDIA WAS IN.

They could have shown when Lydia was holding Stiles up as they fought the nogitsune or when Stiles was saving Lydia from Eichen for Scott. He was there for both of those. I guess they sort of showed the flare memory, but they didn’t show any shots of Lydia when they did it, so it doesn’t really count.

They could have shown any time that Malia was there for a moment Stiles and Lydia had too. I can’t remember anything specific, but I’m sure there have been some.

You can’t just have the characters say “oh, you’re the most important to him because we saw you in our memories of him” when you’ve shown the audience no memories that have Lydia in them.

Stiles Is Damn Funny

Watching the preview for the mid-season finale was so nice because at the end we finally got that spark of Stiles humor again. Dylan hits the mark perfectly every single time even when it’s just a one liner at the end of a preview. He’s got the natural timing and attitude to make it work that only seems to work occasionally for Liam/Dylan S.

I’m actually looking forward to next episode because I can finally see Stiles again and hopefully enjoy more than one or two moments of the episode. It seems very unlikely that Dylan is returning for the second half of the season, so I’m curious what they’re going to do with him.

I’m feeling optimistic that he won’t die because that would be too poorly timed with him being missing the whole season, but I wouldn’t put anything past these writers. They have no sense of how to make a satisfying show.

Stiles’ Mom

Speaking of which, I’m going to be so very angry if it turns out that Stiles doesn’t interact with his mom at all. What was the point of having her around for so long this season if we don’t even get to see any memories of him with her?

All the fans want is one nice interaction and the show damn well needs to give it up. This isn’t like the name thing. Revealing the name with no other purpose than just to reveal the name was stupid. It was pointless and messed up useful fanon.

Stiles and his mom having a nice moment, however, needs to happen. We know that Stiles misses his mom very much, but we’ve only ever seen her bad side, so we don’t really understand her importance to him. If we could see a nice memory, then the fans could finally have their nice moment and it would serve to flesh out his character and his relationship with his mom.

#teen wolf #season 6 spoilers #episode review #mine #facepalm

4 notes · View notes