#and teh needs to face up to that and let himself mourn it if he needs to

[ducktracy]

188. porky’s poppa (1938)

release date: january 15th, 1938

series: looney tunes

director: bob clampett

starring: mel blanc (porky, porky’s poppa, narrator), bob clampett (duck)

it’s safe to say that 1938 was porky’s best year. speaking in terms of solo cartoons, that is. his cartoons were genuinely funny, stimulating, and he looked great appearance wise. 1939 the porky burnout started, and he was slowly reduced to a smiling stock character whose adversaries and costars were much more alive than he was.

as daffy (and later bugs) rose to popularity, porky slipped into the sidekick role, paired primarily with the duck. with that said, the porky/daffy cartoons are some of the funniest around, and i firmly believe the best cartoons for the both of them are the ones where they’re paired together—with a few exceptions, of course.

however, let’s not get ahead of ourselves: a great year of pig stardom awaits. porky’s father, who made a few appearances during the joe dougherty era, makes his final return. in a story that has loose similarities to the premise of porky’s railroad, porky struggles to convince his father that their cow, bessie, is a much better fit for the farm than the newfangled mechanical cow his father has his eyes on.

the introduction is one of the funniest aspects of the cartoon itself. a hand erases the title credits, scrawled on a blackboard, and fills in “PORKY’S POPPA... HAS A FARM”, mirroring the underscore of “old macdonald” (with substitute lyrics) below it.

a layout of the farm cuts to our pint-sized hero, grinning at the camera as the vocals sing “...and on this farm he had a pig: porky pig, you know.” bobe cannon animates porky struggling to sing along with the lyrics, his “oh buh-beh-boy!”s lagging with the beat. the music halts just in time for porky to pump his fists in frustration, not stuttering once as he grumbles “oh, skip it!”

repeatedly cutting back to the layout of the farm in conjunction with the lyrics is practically a gag within itself. the song grows increasingly absurd, with a goose honking horns, a cow showing off her legs as the vocals sing “with a little calf here, with a little calf there...”, struggling to keep up with the rapid pace of the song. bob clampett lends his own voice to a random duck (no relation to daffy!), following a hand pointing at certain areas of the farm and quacking (”with a little quack here, with a little quack there...”) 

finally, the duck in his psuedo-donald duck voice instructs “EVERYBODY SING!”, complete with some fun and unique typography. the entire song falls to pieces--before, the cutting back to the farm’s layout added an incongruous feeling of calm to balance out the wacky antics of the animals and the song. now, everything happens at once. the duck zips across the screen in a quacking frenzy, the mother cow shows off her baby calves, thrusting them to the beat of the music, the goose is a one man band of assorted horns, etc. blissful chaos.

things slow down as we cut back to porky, who smugly whips out a phonograph behind his back. the record is just him saying “oh boy!”, playing correctly to the beat of the music. he’s got this song number figured out... or does he?

even technology can’t conceal his stutter. the record begins to skip, mimicking the sound of his stutter, and porky smashes the phonograph to pieces as he slams it against the ground. the wordless yet furious stare he gives the audience as the dying record croaks out a distorted “oooooooh..... boooooooooy....” is nothing short of priceless. though he didn’t say a word himself during this scene, his motives, thoughts, and emotions are clearly visible. you can FEEL his pride at his solution, as well of the subsequent fury of his solution blowing up in his face. a wonderful end to a hilarious song sequence. 

“but on his farm, he has a mortgage... woe, oh woe, oh woe!” the score turns in to a mournful, minor key dirge, with anthropomorphic mortgage papers posing proudly on the farm. some very clever posing and metaphorical play as we fade to porky’s dad, moping around on the farm, the mortgage aligning with his silhouette and becoming a physical weight on his back. more playing with typography as the narrator reads aloud the words on the screen:

this is a parody of the march of time, a radio program who would often announce the death of a notorious person by declaring “and so, today, as it must to all men, death came to [name], [age].” even without the context, the gag is rather amusing, bringing a different change of pace to the cartoon with the addition of a narrator and the typography. knowing the source of the gag makes it hit just the right spot.

porky’s dad mutters about ruination, how he has no milk and no money, etc. mel blanc does a fine job of mimicking joe dougherty, maintaining the stutter and the low voice--in the dougherty cartoons, porky’s father was just dougherty’s natural speaking voice, whereas porky was sped up considerably. you can hear both at once here for comparison. 

we pan over to the cause of one of these stresses: their cow, bessie, has been quarantined (how timely!) for “hoof ‘n mouth trouble”, a play on hand-foot-and-mouth disease. clampett opts to take things just a step further--we truck inside the stall to see bessie posing for the camera, grinning with her foot INSIDE her mouth, batting her eyelashes and all. the “bull bontana” (bull montana) poster  plastered inside of her stall is a clever touch. 

after seeing that bessie’s production chart has dipped overwhelmingly into the negatives--a roll of paper unfurling at porky’s father’s feet, indicating just how poor the farm is doing--he places an “out of order” sign on the stall door.

suddenly, porky’s father grows aggravated. “i need to send you to the hamburger factory!” cue a close-up of bessie tearfully picturing her fate--a pile of burgers and hotdogs make up her figure. clampett would reprise this gag (albeit in a much more cruel manner) in porky’s last stand 2 years later, where daffy eagerly envisions a steaming hot hamburger in place of an innocent little calf. 

this is the second cartoon to make an ACME reference, the first being buddy’s bug hunt back in 1935. porky’s father phones up ACME mail order company, asking for “one cow--airmail”. context clues are just as important to the gag than the reveal itself: porky, his father, and bessie all become alert to the sounds of an airplane making a cacophony overhead. suddenly, a package bursts through the barn ceiling, floating to the ground with a neatly tied parachute. the animation appears to be the work of john carey, from the tall, pill-shaped eyes to the slow, drawn out way that porky blinks.

norm mccabe takes over to animate the grand reveal. lots of wonderful little subtleties: porky and his father are timed slightly differently, giving them both a natural sense of interaction and movement. there’s a lovely little accent on porky’s father opening the package by pulling a string--he jerks his head up slightly as he plucks the string, allowing the audience to feel the physical impact and snap of the pluck. it’s subtle, but very well done. 

instead of a flesh and blood cow, a mechanical hunk of metal slowly unfurls to life as the package opens. as porky’s father reads the label (The New 1938 CREAMLINED COW), porky himself objects to the new addition. “aww, eh-the-there ain’t no such animal!”

indeed there is: porky’s father loads a pile of hay into a chute, pressing down on the cow’s paintbrush tail. the cow pumps along to a brassy score of “old macdonald”, churning out milk from its metal udders, the milk pouring straight into an assembly line of bottles below. bob clampett’s puns are plentiful in this cartoon (notice how there’s no writer’s credit--he often said that he would write some of his earliest cartoons himself. i assume he wrote this one as well? i wonder how much input chuck jones had in the story?), but delivered nonchalantly, so they can actually be enjoyed. the cow caps the milk bottles by putting literal newsboy caps on top of the bottles, the paintbrush tail painting “cream paint” to the outside of the bottles and forming the illusion of cream. interesting business practices!

bobe cannon animates a delightful scene with porky. fun animation and fun dialogue make for a great combo. some very fluid, light, and fun animation of porky giving his pep talk as he hops around, swinging his arms, nonchalantly pushing his hat out of his face after getting so excited. “c’mon, eh-beh-beh-beh-bessie! we won’t let that old eh-neh-nuh-new fangled eh-ceh-co--heifer beat us. you just eat your uh-wuh-wee-weh-whea--eh-ha-hay, and show that eh-teh-eeh-eh-tin-can cow who can make the most...”

porky lowers bessie’s foot from her mouth by climbing on it, preparing to shovel a forkful of hay into her mouth, however, she shoves her foot right back in it, much to porky’s annoyance. “aww, every time you open your muh-mee-muh-me-eh-mou--kisser, ya put your eh-feh-eh-foot in it! eh-bee-bessie, you gotta eat! you eh-deh-dee-eh-don’t wanna be eh-seh-seeah-seeah-smothered in onions, eh-do ya?” 

treg brown’s sound effects of doors creaking as her leg is lowered is the perfect touch to the gag. porky struggles to feed bessie, eventually getting stuck in her mouth himself as he attempts to hold both legs down to no avail. he frees himself, just in time to hatch an ingenious idea.

his plan works: porky places the entire pile of hay onto bessie’s legs, who swallows it up whole, her mouth comically huge as she attempts to swallow it. porky is overjoyed, clapping at her efforts before rushing off to give her some privacy.

instead of porky just milking her like a regular farmer, clampett pushes the entire scenario further. porky paces around in the manner of an expectant father, accompanied by a soft score of “lullaby on broadway”. the sound of a baby crying prompts porky to do a gorgeously animated head shake of surprise--bessie hands him a milk bottle, which porky carefully swaddles and places in a basket. 

the charade continues, with clampett lulling us into a false sense of security with an already absurd gag. cue a gag that would have been incredibly risque in 1938: at about the fifth bottle, porky reaches out and finds that bessie hands him a bottle labeled “CHOC. MALT”, accompanied by an underscore of “i wish i was in dixie”. porky and bessie both grow bashful, but porky’s nonchalant whistling is cut to a half as bessie delivers yet another bottle. “gosh--eh-ceh-ceh-quin-eh-qui-eh--quart-tuplets!”

porky rushes over to his farther to share the good news. however, dad is too preoccupied with the fancy mechanics of the cow to pay bessie any mind. he shows porky a barrage of dairy-related puns churned out by the creamlined cow:

cottage cheese (cheese in the shapes of houses--and an outhouse for good measure--don the conveyer belt), limburger cheese (cheese slices with clothes pins pinned to their “noses” to ward off the stench), and swiss cheese (a cuckoo bird pops out of the cow’s mechanical side and sprays the cheese wheels with bullets, which turn into yodeling mouths). interestingly, mel’s voice for porky’s father changes in this scene--it’s still him, but the nasally undertones are absent. i wonder if he did this on a different day?

nevertheless, the staging of the next gag is genius. the majority of the screen is black, save for a small window revealing porky holding onto bessie’s udders. “c’mon, eh-beh-bessie! hurry eh... hurry eh... step on it!” the window expands to reveal bessie pouring a bucket of milk into a line of funnels (rather than udders), which are then evenly distributed to the bottles. “’ats a guh-geh-gee-eh-girl!”

mechanical cow seems to be doing just fine, plopping cherries on top of elaborate ice cream sundaes and milk shakes. the only fault in the system is the cow’s own personal whiskey bottle rolling down the assembly line, which it confiscates promptly. 

porky, on the other hand, is making do. with an ice block on her head, bessie churns out ice cream cones to the best of her ability. as the cones grow smaller and smaller in size, porky orders her to eat more hay, which she happily does so.

now, it’s cow vs. cow. the mechanical cow opts to play some dirty tricks on bessie, pouring a jar of vanishing cream it produced onto the hay bessie is eating. and, thanks to the law of cartoon physics, the milk bottles she hands porky disappear by the minute. though the effect of the bottles disappearing may not seem like much today, for 1938 the ink and paint department did a wonderful job of demonstrating the illusion that the bottles suddenly disappeared.

with the rest of the hay now gone thanks to a hefty glob of vanishing cream, porky and bessie engage in a wild goose (cow?) chase to find more hay. the mechanical cow gobbles up every square inch of hay in sight--at one point, bessie heaves a dubious shrug to the audience. i love how they made her hooves look like hands, but still remain identifiable hooves. the scramble animation she does as she dashes out of frame (with porky clinging to her like a horse) is wonderfully done as well.

both porky and bessie and the creamlined cow exit the barn, chasing each other around the farm. the mechanical cow physically turns into a vacuum cleaner, threatening to suck up the last remaining pile of hay. in a gag that’s reminiscent of the harman-ising days (is it the inclusion of the outhouse?), the cow-turned-vacuum rushes into a shed filled to the brim with hay. the audience merely watches the shed itself shrink in size as the cow gobbles up all of the hay, the final result a puny little outhouse. 

at last, the enemies reach a face-off. the last pile of hay--or, as porky puts it in his punny little way, “eh-thee-the-thee-that’s the last straw.” in a relatively tashlin-esque maneuver, clampett makes some fast cuts to heighten the suspense of the action. cut between porky and bessie to the mechanical cow to the pile of straw (facetiously labeled “MILK WEED”). the cuts grow quicker and quicker, the music crescendo-ing... 

until BLAM! in a loose parallel to the finale of rover’s rival, everything explodes at once. nuts and bolts rain in the sky, as do neat little bundles of hay. however, clampett doesn’t allow the audience to rest just yet--with bessie nowhere in sight, the mechanical cow continues to charge forth, seeking refuge in a hay to release a humongous pile of milk bottles. so high, in fact, that the shed (and cow) are elevated several feet into the air. porky’s a goner.

porky’s father, who had been absent for the past few minutes, reappears to declare the tin-can cow a winner, much to porky’s visible dissatisfaction.

yet it’s not a clampett cartoon without a twist! bessie pokes her head out of the mechanical cow’s mouth, mooing the ever popular catchphrase from the ken murray show: “mmmmmmwooooooooooah, yeeeeaaaaaah!” porky gives a celebratory “oh, boy!” as we iris out--the goose and duck from earlier poke their heads into the scene just before the iris fully closes.

this is an early porky cartoon that’s just plain fun. bobe cannon’s animation of porky serves as one of the many highlights, from porky getting aggravated with his phonograph to his excited pep talk towards bessie. corny as the opening number is, it’s a lot of fun at the same time--the intensity in increasing chaos is a prevalent theme to clampett’s cartoons. just look at the climax/ending of baby bottleneck!

i don’t have many complaints towards this cartoon, if any at all. it’s not my favorite porky entry, sure, but it’s most certainly an enjoyable watch and one of his better cartoons of the ‘30s. the visual puns aren’t nearly as hamfisted as ben hardaway’s (as we’ll soon discover), making them more enjoyable than some of the jokes present in, say, daffy duck & egghead. regardless, there are a lot of unique gags, fun animation, and amusing dialogue to constitute a watch.

the cartoon is up on HBOmax, but you can also watch it here!

#lt #looney tunes #porky’s poppa #clampett #reviews #long post

[possiblyimbiassed]

What happened to Sherlock? Part VIII - The Sign of the Hetero Norm (1)

Why does Mary Morstan play such a prominent role in BBC Sherlock? 

I’m surely not the only one asking myself this; while she’s barely mentioned in canon after marrying Watson, she’s all over the place from TEH and onwards in Mofftiss’ adaptation. And when I recently read this excellent fic by @discordantwords, a couple of things dawned on me, that I think have been brewing in my mind for quite some time. Which brings me to the long promised continuation of my marathon meta series about what I think we’re actually seeing in this show. Because the entire point of Mary Morstan seems to be to prevent Sherlock and John from getting together in a romantic relationship - a story of hetero norm. This eighth installment will explore the ‘case’ of little Rosie, and the role she and her mother plays in this show. 

This far I’ve published an intro and seven installments, each with corresponding attempts to test my hypotheses:

Introduction - The game is on (explains the method of analysis) Part I - Blog vs TV-show Part II - Re-living memories Part III - Drugs and weirdness Part IV – Heartbreak and coma (1) Part IV – Heartbreak and coma (2) Part V – Bizarre scenarios Part VI - Live and let die (1) Part VI - Live and let die (2)

Part VII - The Importance of Being Earnest (1) 

Part VII - The Importance of Being Earnest (2)

This installment will also be parted in two, and the second half can be found here (X). Many of the screen caps from BBC Sherlock in this meta are from Kissthemgoodbye.net - thanks! And thanks also to Ariane DeVere for the incredibly useful transcripts!

My next hypotheses is, in and off itself, a clear and straightforward prediction that can be explicitly verified or falsified once we finally get to S5, so it will be extra fun to see what happens with it in future: 

Hypothesis #8: John is not the father of Mary’s baby

(Disclaimer: My suspicion here only concerns John’s biological offspring. It would still be possible that John, and perhaps also Sherlock, might father the child - if it exists - by adoption. It does not exclude a metaphorical reading where the baby represents, for example, Sherlock’s and John’s relationship. I also want to stress that this hypothesis is an attempt at logical reasoning based on observations in the show and in ACD canon; it’s not meant to be ‘gossipy’ and has nothing to do with whether I would actually like to see this happen or not - that’s a whole other story. ;) )  

This hypothesis has been brewing in my mind for quite some time now, but I don’t think it’s just a hunch; there are actually a series of reasons that have made me come to this conclusion. 

(Continued under the cut)

But first of all: can we debunk my hypothesis at this stage in the story, by testing it ‘scientifically’? Well, not really, since the show doesn’t provide any reliable evidence that confirms John as Rosie’s biological father. Not even IRL would this have been possible without a DNA-test (or without physical circumstances that would have made any other option impossible). And the only thing that the show tells us about human DNA-tests is that not even this procedure is 100% reliable, as shown in ASIB:

JOHN: You were dead on a slab. It was definitely you. IRENE: DNA-tests are only as good as the records you keep. JOHN: And I bet you know the record-keeper. IRENE: I know what he likes, and I needed to disappear.

DNA is brought up in TGG (Ian Monkford’s blood) and again in TST (the identification of Charlie Wellsborough’s body), but since John’s fatherhood is never questioned in the show, little Rosie is never tested, as far as we know. The remaining evidence that speaks for John being the father is circumstantial: that John and Mary obviously must have been living together at the approximate time of conception. And that they both act as if they’re both Rosie’s parents.

So I guess that in order to get any further with this, I’ll have to start at the other end, analysing the characters and see if I can find evidence that support my hypothesis - on a textual level as well as metaphorically and on the meta level. 

Mary’s function in the story

I think we can safely say that Mary is the most controversial character of BBC Sherlock. Some viewers love her, others hate her, but I can’t recall anyone claiming to feel indifferent towards her. Mofftiss have indeed managed to push forward a character who is hardly even visible in canon, once she’s married to Watson. In BBC Sherlock, however, Mary totally dominates the show from HLV and onwards. Her appearances may have been increasing in numbers and length already from her introduction in TEH. But from the point where John wakes up in HLV, there isn’t a single case where she’s not somehow involved. Up until TFP, everything is about ’Mary’. And even then, once we might have believed we’d got rid of the ghost of this hijacking protagonist, she comes back, only to once again take over the narrative with a weird and basically inexplicable voiceover. She seems like some kind of obsession; a brain ghost stuck on someone’s mind.

This is rather different from ACD canon, where Mary Morstan has extremely few lines as soon as she’s no longer a client, but Watson’s wife. Personally I find it hard to see the lovable aspect of this character in BBC Sherlock, since she constantly shifts appearance, behaviour and motivation; it’s almost impossible to pin down who she actually is. Which makes me convinced that Mary is not meant to be a real, believable character that we can relate to as such - at least not all the time. And maybe that goes for canon as well.

But what then is the purpose of her, what’s Mary’s actual function in the narrative, looking at the subtext? I think there’s basically three of them, and by no means mutually exclusive:

1. Mary is a metaphor for heteronormativity and its power over people when they internalise it

2. Mary is a façade or ‘beard’, where a straight marriage is established to cover up a story of a gay relationship

3. Mary is a mirror for Sherlock; by substituting himself with a female spouse for John, Sherlock can be with John ‘by proxy’, trying to figure out John without having to face his own real problem: reveal his emotions and risk failure.

As soon as Mary firmly puts her foot in the show, it all becomes a spectacle, a demonstration of how to keep up a straight facade at any cost. After TSoT, no-one ever assumes John and Sherlock are a romantic couple; Mary is the ultimate ’proof’ that John is indeed straight. Which is of course illogical, because why would a bi person stop being it because they married someone, no matter of which sex? Mary admits it herself by telling Sherlock that ”neither of us was the first, you know”. And Sherlock complains that John is dancing around Sholto ”like a puppet” even after the wedding ceremony. But in all the episodes after TSoT, John is happily freed from people’s assumptions regarding his sexual orientation. Gone are all the gay jokes, and John Watson is miraculously ‘cured’. 

I think this is perfectly illustrated in the fic by @discordantwords​ that I mentioned above. The plot follows logically on TFP, as things would be if everything we’ve seen from HLV and onwards is actually meant to be ‘true’. Mary is now dead and John lives alone with little Rosie. For a case, in order to get close to the suspects, Sherlock is planning to fake his own wedding with Janine Hawkins, and John is feeling jealous and excluded – especially when he finds out that one of the murders that Sherlock is investigating had involved a wedding of a gay couple:

"Why all of this, then?" he asked. He tipped his head towards the kitchen, where Janine was fiddling with the kettle. "I could have just—wouldn't it have been easier for us to just—?"

"You're not gay," Sherlock said.

"Well," John paused. "No." He cleared his throat, looked back at the wall. "But everyone already thinks we're a couple. Wouldn't be that much of a stretch, really. For a case."

"No one has thought that for quite some time."

This fanfic rings perfectly true to me, considering S4 on the surface level; John and Sherlock appearing as a couple wouldn’t work after John’s own wedding in TSoT. Because gone is now every allusion to John being anything else than straight. Gone is also John’s admiration for Sherlock; from HLV and on, he hardly ever even speaks about Sherlock in a positive way. (Which also makes me wonder: was ‘The Fall’ also about Sherlock feeling he had fallen from John’s pedestal of admiration?). For the rest of the show, it’s only Sherlock whom we see suffering from (presumably) gay pining. It’s only in Sherlock’s Victorian imagination that Moriarty tells them to ’elope’ together, while John in TLD is shown to be exclusively fixed on his dead wife. 

On the surface, Sherlock seems to support John’s relationship with Mary, while I’m sure he is actually suffering deeply. But I think, metaphorically, that Sherlock is acting like some kind of self-sacrificing Christ figure. (Don’t forget Irene’s words from ASiB: “I think you’re damaged, delusional and believe in a higher power. In your case, it’s yourself”). He bears the ‘cross’ of torture by seeing John with someone else, until he can’t stand it any more and trashes himself on drugs. This is what we see at the beginning of TEH, John holding hands with a woman in front of Sherlock’s grave:

Why can’t we see Mary’s face already here? I think it’s because this is from Sherlock’s POV; he’s either seeing or imagining them from behind. She might have a hidden face but a familiar shape because by the time Sherlock is recalling this, he already knows what Mary looks like. But at this point in time, maybe he didn’t? In any case, it must be devastating for Sherlock to see or imagine John with someone else, when he should be there to mourn him, Sherlock. 

Thinking about John with Mary, Sherlock can’t even sleep. He is tortured on a cross and dies for all our ’sins’, doesn’t he? On the meta level Sherlock Holmes sacrifices his life, he extinguishes his true self, in the name of heteronormativity. So that John can have his straight marriage, even if it’s dysfunctional. But our worst ’sin’ as an audience, I believe - our ultimate mistake - is to buy into this narrative without questioning it. That’s literally letting the hetero norm rule.

King David the Adulterer

Mary’s ex-boyfriend David is introduced in TSoT, but after this episode he never shows up again. But this seems very random to me; why is David even there, and why is he depicted as some kind of rival to John? What is his narrative purpose? David is often blurred out in the scenes, but he is definitely present during the whole wedding reception, where his role is to be an usher (showing people their places/seats). David gives the impression to be single, since he attends Mary’s wedding without any partner as company.

Sherlock, who meets David alone at 221B during the wedding planning, deduces that he still seems to have an intimate relationship with Mary. Only recently I discovered this meta from 2014 called The Baby Problem by @abitnotgood​, which brings up pretty much exactly the same suspicions I have had for quite some time now. The main points are the following:

Mary was dating David for 2 of the totally 5 years she had been undercover with the false name Mary.

They’re still close enough friends for David to attend the wedding, which might indicate their breakup was unwanted from one or both parts.

Mary’s reactions during the wedding reception indicates that she still cares for David.

Sherlock finds out that David has “offered to be her shoulder to cry on no less than three occasions.” 

David sits at the same table as most other major characters, which indicates that he’s important.

David doesn’t look particularly happy while toasting for the bride and groom.

To these I could also add that Sherlock gets so suspicious about David that he threatens him with keeping a close eye on his whereabouts with Mary. From a story telling POV, when a character is suspected by the main character who is a genius detective, there should actually be some reason for this - shouldn’t it?

So who is David? Does he appear anywhere in canon? I actually think he does. In ACD’s short story The Crooked Man (CROO), the name David plays a symbolical role. The story is about a (supposed) murder of a middle-aged military officer, colonel James Barclay. It’s a classical Sherlock Holmes mystery with a door locked from the inside and the key missing. The death seems to originate from a domestic quarrel between the colonel and his wife. (Which is particularly interesting considering the Watsons’ ‘domestic’ in HLV). 

Turns out the colonel died of fright when he saw his old rival Henry Wood, whom he had betrayed in the war and deliberately left to be captured by the enemy. Henry was repeatedly tortured and crippled and held prisoner for many years, until he could escape back to London and a coincidence brought his old love interest in his way, who was now married to the colonel. (Hmm... tortured by the enemy. Been away. Love interest married. Does this seem like anyone we know? ;) ). Henry was “the crooked man” of the story, who was bereft of his loved one because of James. 

But the name David was mystically uttered by Colonel Barclay’s wife while quarreling with her husband - why? Holmes claimed it was a biblical reference to the drama of king David, Batsheba and Uriah. King David committed adultery with the beautiful Bathsheba, who was married to his soldier Uriah. Bathsheba got pregnant after sleeping with David, while Uriah was out fighting a war. David tried to cover up that fact by sending Uriah home, but Uriah refused to leave his comrades. Then David betrayed his rival Uriah the same way James betrayed Henry: by deliberately leaving him exposed to the enemy. The only difference was that Uriah died on the battlefield, while Henry was caught and crippled. Which leads us almost inevitably to Captain John Watson - he is a soldier who was crippled by the enemy too, wasn’t he? ;)

What about Rosie?

Although Mary is dominating the show from TEH and forwards, John’s and Mary’s daughter - little Rosie - is subjected to the opposite treatment; she has very little screen time, and we never learn about a single character trait of hers. In ACD canon the Watsons never had a child, as far as I know. And – even in Victorian times – I believe it would have seemed strange with the Doctor spending so much of his free time (besides work) together with Holmes, obviously neglecting his family duties. So since Mofftiss have introduced a totally new ingredient to their adaptation - a time-consuming baby - one would think this has to have a clear purpose, right? I would have expected Rosie to play a part of her own, someone the audience could relate to just like the other characters, if only still a baby. 

But instead, Rosie is seen most of all as an obstacle. Mary is balancing her while discussing a case with Sherlock. Rosie is handed over to John like a sack of potatoes when the family goes on to solve a case with Sherlock; she doesn’t make a sound and we don’t even see her little face. We see John change Rosie’s diaper once (basically to show that he has a toy daisy behind his ear, which is apparently a good flirting device), and then we see Sherlock trying to babysit her at 221B, getting hit in the eye by her toy. We also hear her cry in the background once, and see Molly hold her once. And that’s about it. 

When Sherlock texts them from the London Aquarium at the end of TST, Mary and John debate which of them is going to have to stay with the baby, but finally both of them show up at the Aquarium – without Rosie. And this happens not long after Mary has taken a ‘little trip’ around Eurasia ending up in Morocco and John and Sherlock going after her – little Rosie staying at home. Which means weeks without any of her parents. If S4 were real, I’d feel truly sorry for little Rosie.

In TLD, Rosie is more absent than her dead mother! While Mary haunts the episode, all we hear about the baby is John’s tremendous guilt for neglecting and abandoning her (which he manages to do completely). John does seem to have enough spare time and energy to go on another case with Sherlock, though, in the middle of his therapy session. At the end of TLD, all is supposedly fine again with Rosie (until John gets shot with a tranquiliser), but we never get to see it. But then in TFP John goes on a long journey with Sherlock to a far away island, and not a word about Rosie. She’s not even present when John receives Mary’s DVD at home. At the end she’s suddenly there again, though, without any comment. 

Based on this, it doesn’t seem farfetched to ask if this little character is even supposed to be real. There’s a subtle hint in TLD which could point in this skeptic direction: 

Sherlock: “And, of course, I hadn’t really anticipated that I’d hallucinated meeting his daughter.” “Still a bit troubled by the daughter. Did seem very real, and she gave me information I couldn’t have acquired elsewhere.” 

John: “But she wasn’t ever here?”

An earlier quote from TGG could also question John’s fatherhood: ”Of course he’s not the boy’s father - look at the turnups on his jeans!” (Sherlock while watching telly with John in TGG, right after the fourth ‘pip’).

And - of course - if S4 is all imaginary, only happening in Sherlock’s head, Rosie would probably not even have been born yet. 

There are also some more subtle hints about Rosie’s narrative function: John’s guilt about cheating on Mary in TLD is connected to the baby. John specifically mentions that he was “cheating” on Mary while she was taking care of Rosie: JOHN (to Ghost!Mary): “We texted constantly. You wanna know when? Every time you left the room, that’s when.  When you were feeding our daughter; when you were stopping her from crying – that’s when.” This does make the (otherwise rather exaggerated) texting affair sound a bit more damning for John, doesn’t it? ;)  If this is all taking place inside Sherlock’s head, it might rather reflect one of Sherlock’s (possibly) major excuses to himself for not confessing his true feelings to John; it might (once the baby is born) disrupt a whole family and affect an innocent little child.

John and Mary’s relationship

The other day I took to re-watch this little piece of extra material from S4: statements by Martin Freeman and Amanda Abbington about John’s and Mary’s relationship (X). Every time I see this video I’m just laughing so hard. Please don’t miss how Martin is struggling to keep a straight face without smiling, after claiming “they’ve been through stuff already in S3 that would test any couple.” (Yep. Like the discovery that Mary is actually a contract killer who shot his best friend and hasn’t even revealed her real name to John). Or how Amanda avoids looking at the camera when she’s lying talking about Mary’s feelings towards John, closing her eyes and shaking her head. Great acting! :)

I mean, this cannot even be intended to fool anyone; I think this is meant to signal to the audience that the marriage we’re seeing is a dishonest, superficial construction made up of empty words. It’s very similar to the scene in HLV where Sherlock tells John about his ‘relationship’ with Janine. Platitudes like “we’re in a good place” are not only included, but also called out in the very same dialogue. John: “You got that from a book!”  Sherlock: “Everyone got that from a book!”. In the video clip, overly sweet violin music is playing when Martin and Amanda talk about their characters’ supposed deep love for each other, but this is mixed up with sitcom-like scenes where this love is made very hard to believe in, like Mary about to give birth in the car and roaring to her husband to pull over, or John telling Mary that he simply intends to forget about a recent past where she very nearly murdered his best friend.  

John’s marriage actually seems terrible from start; he can’t even keep himself off Sherlock’s blog comments during his own honeymoon. Which I believe is canon consistent; in ACD’s stories Mary Morstan even encourages Watson to never leave Holmes’ side. And the bad marriage is also confirmed in HLV by Wiggins’ and Sherlock’s deductions about John’s cycling to work and keeping his shirts ‘folded and ready to leave’ at any moment.

But what’s Mary’s position in this? Let’s say, as a mental experiment, that she knows from start about John’s feelings for Sherlock. Why would she want to be together with, and even go on to marry, a man who is obviously in love with someone else? Well, while I don’t buy the facade-climbing Ninja!Mary who tries to kill Sherlock in HLV, she could still be dishonest in her approach to John. She could still be on some sort of mission related to Sherlock, where her role simply is to get in between John and Sherlock, while she actually is together with someone else (and even carrying that someone’s child). Her aim could be to hurt Sherlock as much as possible, for a specific reason. 

As far as I see in TEH, Mary seems suspiciously eager to befriend Sherlock. Instead of behaving like one would expect from someone in love who just got their special moment ruined by a rival; with anger or at least annoyance, and of course supporting the beloved - Mary immediately sides with Sherlock.

And she seems to side with him most of all on an intellectual level, taking part in his explanations of how he managed to fake his death.

“Oh, he would have needed a confidant...”

So - what can we deduce about Mary?

If everything we see in the show after TSoT only has happened inside Sherlock’s head (as I’ve tried to make a case for in this meta series), from this follows logically that in Sherlock’s ‘reality’, there is no Assasin!Mary, no SecretAgent!Mary, no Martyr!Mary and - of course - no Ghost!Mary. Because up until the wedding, Mary seemed to be just an ordinary woman. The character’s appearance from HLV and onwards would all be fabrications of Sherlock’s drug-influenced mind, albeit loaded with a lot of metaphorical meaning from his subconscious. 

But Mary still seems to exist on some level, doesn’t she? She is referred to by John on his blog, talked about by other people on the blog (including Sherlock), and she even makes comments on it on no less than ten occasions. On the blog, John is clear about getting married to Mary. And after Sherlock’s final blog post ‘The Sign of Three’, it also gets obvious that Mary is now pregnant. 

And – most importantly – if S4 is all-fake, this also means that in Sherlock’s ‘reality’, Mary’s drama-loaded death in TST never happened. Mary is still alive! So if Mary is a ‘façade’, a ‘beard’ and/or a mirror for Sherlock on a meta- and sub-textual level, who is she on the textual level? Well, I think there are some clues in the show, and also a lot of subtext material in ACD canon to draw from, which might have been developed into actual story line in the show.  

And this will bring us to the second half of this meta, which you can find here (X).

Tagging some people who might be interested: @raggedyblue​ @ebaeschnbliah​ @sarahthecoat​ @gosherlocked​ @loveismyrevolution​ @sagestreet​​ @tjlcisthenewsexy​​ @elldotsee​​ @88thparallel​​ @devoursjohnlock​​ @sherlock-overflow-error​​ @yeah-oh-shit​

#who is mary?

[gotmeringinghellsbells]

An Unexplainable Trust

Fandom: Voltron Legendary Defender

Characters: Adam Wright, Takashi Shirogane, Sven (2011)

A/N: So I’ve been a fan of random generators lately. They make oc making a bit easier and now I’m trying with fanfics to see if I can get back on my ball. I’ve also slowly been trying to watch Voltron Force for various reasons, I will not watch the CGI series though Hunk is... thick. Anyway, this is the result. 

Description: After getting sucked into another reality with limited memory, Sven is panic stricken and determined to get back to his son. Still suffering form his infection, the male isn’t very cooperative with the staff on the Atlas. For some reason, he feels drawn to a certain brunette, which causes the captain of the ship to stress. 

_

Gray eyes watched as the tall brunette strode about the room with untrusting eyes. Whatever was going on, even if this was another reality, Sven needed to get back to his son, no matter the cost. But, seeing as he was stuck with his saviors who even offered to help his infection, he may as well wait to act before running around recklessly… again. 

He needed a plan to escape, more information about this so called “Atlas” and about the lions within. Or at least, he needed to know where the pods were. But this Voltron was still skeptical of his memory and of his identity. According to the red paladin, they’d met a man named Sven before, but the two looked very different. 

Sven didn’t know who or what a Slav was or anything about the information described to him. Then again, he was frantic, as any parent was when they are separated from their child. He gripped the bed sheets tighter as he tried to relax, well…. Before he was distracted. 

“So you have a son?” The brunette was looking up from his tablet. THe light of it prevented teh other from seeing the friendly looking eyes from before. “Yes,” was drawn out, as if he was going to say more. Adam waited, but there was nothing. Nodding, the other removed his glasses after turning of the tablet to rub the  bridge of his nose. 

Now the other could see scars taking up half the man’s face. Something he hadn't noticed before. When eyes opened, he blinked. “Your half blind.” Whoops, that wasn’t meant to be a statement, or a question he wanted to ask. 

Blinking a few times as he was taken aback from the statement, Adam awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. “Ah, yeah. Maybe more than that,” he chuckled as he held up his glasses. The other smiled a bit before sighing. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to just.. Blurt that out.” The slightly taller gave a shrug. 

“Your fine. Kei- ah, a family member blurted out the same thing when he saw me.” Keith? Family member? “Your a paladin of Voltron?” There was something about the accent that was just making Adam’s heart swell. It was truly beautiful. “No, I…. It’s complicated,” he sighed. Leaning forward, he looked into those familiar gray eyes. 

He was an alternate Takashi alright.

“Sven, is there a reason you didn’t trust the staff? I mean, yeah, people around here are a little on edge but… honestly, sass them back and you should be fine.” The other was trying to joke a bit. Sven had multiple freak outs until finally Adam came in with Shiro to see what was going on. The other seemed to trust him, he relaxed for him, and now he was babysitting him; Much to Shiro’s discomfort. Though they weren’t technically together, the love was still there on both ends.

Even if it wasn’t, he didn’t want some maniac they just found in an ice tundra to hurt the guy! “Just…. Memories.” He would rather not get into it. The brunette gave a nod. “Fair enough.” He stood up with his tablet and walked across the room. “So, mind me asking what you can remember? That may… help us get you home and back to your son.”

The other shrugged. “Betrayed my comrades once more, saving the princess and my baby, and finally fighting Lotor. I don’t remember that much.” Adam hummed before walking over, glasses back on. “I’m not a doctor but, do you mind if I look at your infection?” 

Keith had tons of them as a kid from never cleaning his wounds after getting hurt. It shouldn’t be anything some draining and peroxide… the hell was this? It was like a tattoo on his neck! Sven hadn't answered before the other looked. Jumping in surprise, his hand went for the male’s side, earning a yelp and a jump back from the other. 

“Sorry,” Adam muttered with panic. The bearded male shook his head before hiding his face into his hands. “No, I’m sorry. I, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” The former professor frowned. Poor guy looked so defeated. “You didn’t hurt me Sven, just triggered some nerves. May I… take a look again? It almost looks like Altean symbols. Coran may be able to decipher it… or Allura… or Pidge…. or any of them.” He let out a sigh at the end of his sentence. He’d never forgive Shiro for a.” Kerberos, B.) Coming back and not seeing him, and C.) Taking a bunch of kids to war in space. 

But at least they all picked up new skills and talents? Yeah, no, Adam was mad. “Yeah,” the other hummed as he sat up, offering his neck to the other. Nerves? What did that mean? The other stiffened as he felt a finger tracing the marks. “This hurt,” Adam asked, not stopping. 

Sven shook his head, biting his lip. Oh? Adam chuckled softly. “Ticklish, are we?” He didn’t tease too much, but he did scratch the neck away from the  wound briefly. “Nahaha!” Sven snorted after he covered his mouth, looking away. “You and Takashi are one in the same,” the former professor hummed. 

His eyes were filled with a kind of love, yet had a hint of sorrow. His smile was tired, ready to break. Sven looked back with a small blush, his own smile falling when he studied the other. They made eye contact for a moment before looking away. “I’m sorry, that was highly innap,” he was cut off. “Takashi? Your lovers, aren’t you?” 

Adam shook his head as moved away. “No, um, we haven’t been for a long time,” the brunette sighed. “You still care for him though, and he cares for you.” It seemed true, Shiro and him had shared a bed for a week now. But something felt off about it all. “He’s moving on,” the other assured. 

He’d seen how him and a young, cute, man looked at eachother. Curtis? Yeah, that sounded right. There was a squeak before Adam was brought from his thoughts. Sven’s hand was on his side again. “You have a family too, I can see it in your face.”

He looked a bit more aged then his information claimed him to be, and he looked slightly weathered. A father, and a love. “You have children who care for you?” Adam giggled a bit before moving away. “H-Hey! No, I don’t.” He giggled, moving back to compose himself. The other smiled softly. “Keith? You said you were family?” 

To be his leader’s father… so strange. This version of him didn’t look even ten years older! Well, okay the white hair didn’t agree with that, but whatever. The former professor hummed before sitting beside the other on the bed. “He’s not my son and I never truly labeled him one… but when Takashi brought him home… I was panicked. I,” he shook his head. “I even started to become my mother.” 

The other snorted before looking over to the other, as if he were an old friend.”Yeah, I felt that way too. Mine was just a babe though, not sure how much time has gone by but… as long as I can hold him one more time… I think I’ll be alright.” The other frowned. “I know how you feel… kind of.” 

He looked into Sven’s eyes. There was just something there, something inviting. Sven almost felt the same about Adam, never meeting someone like him before. “With Keith?” Adam gave a nod as he looked away. “Takashi… I’ve told you this much already, why not,” the taller sighed as he dragged a hand down his face. “Takashi was ill and leaving on a mission. I…. I couldn’t stop him and after he left, I didn’t see him for years. Apparently after a year, he came back, got Keith and those three other teens, and went back to space. No note, no anything.”

He shook his head. “I thought he was dead. We were checking out a cave he was drawn to and I searched every inch of it! I mourned him and Kashi both! I just…. I wish he’d just talk to me about this instead of acting like… everything is fine.” He felt a hand on his shoulder, pulling him into him. The male nuzzled into Sven’s neck as he would his Shiro. 

So comforting, and the beard was a nice touch. “I… I tried to save my Lance. I was attacked by that stupid flea bag and… ended up diseased. At some point I found my baby, but it’s so blurry from…. The attack on.” He rested his head on Adam’s. It had been forever since he had a partner, someone he’d willingly snuggle with… to open up to. 

Adam let out a soft chuckle. “Don’t worry. We’ll find your Voltron. These kids, they have a way of making things work.” Sven hummed. “I’ve noticed. Well, even if they can… I don’t think I could ever face them again.” Adam sat up, with a playful bitch face. “Sven, I left Shiro before space. I had the guilt of his death and never saying goodbye for years, I felt like a monster. I punched him when he got back, I smacked Keith… and then I sobbed and it was gross and mushy. You. Will. Be. Fine. Don’t try to fight it.”

The facil haired male put up his hands. “Yes sir.” Slowly, the two started to cuddle again. It felt strange but… they both seemed so content, helped by the other. Neither knew what to say or do now. That was, until, Adam felt fingers on his stomach. Crap. “Shhhahahaven! Cut thhat out.” He slapped softly at the offending hand before feeling the mattress come up under him. 

There was a chuckle before the other followed him down, gently tickling around his sides and stomach. He watched as the male squirmed and squealed. It didn’t tickle that bad, but it was the anticipation of Shiro, the new charm of Sven. Maybe Adam should go back with him? It would let Shiro move on better. 

‘Shahahaoot!” There was a pig like squeal before the other covered his face. Fingers were working their way up his ribs, teasingly. “Sthaahaop, sthahahop!” Why was he so skilled at this?! “This tickle, huh? Where’s the worse place, hm? Is it… here?” Hands found a bare chest quickly before scratching around. Fuller laughter came out before the other started to relax more. 

“No, you seem like a rare spotted one. How about. Back here?” He’d have to have bonded with Voltron members before, or experience from being a dad. The fun didn’t last long before the clearing of a throat caught both males’ attention. Turning, both’s smiles flattered before a bit of nervousness took over. 

Veronica and Shiro stood in the door way, waiting to talk to Sven. Veronica was trying to focus on her tablet, what she was supposed to record the conversations on. She’d earned their attention and feared Shiro’s reaction. The other looked shocked, as if he’d been betrayed. 

It was just some tickling, what was the big… oh. Adam blinked as he looked how the two were positioned… whoops. Sven was between Adam’s legs, pulling his knees up and pulling Adam into him as he did so. Neither were planning on doing anything like that, but Shiro seemed to feel different. 

“Captain,” Veronica coughed as she noticed his still shocked expression. Composing himself, the other stood firm before clearing his own throat “Ah, I’m glad your feeling better Sven. Would you mind… if we talked in private? Maybe we could figure out how you got here?” His words didn’t make too much sense considering the information that he knew, but then again, he looked ready to take blood. 

It was a look more angered than when he was trying to be “nice” to Slav. Adam rolled his eyes as he and Sven separated. “Hey,” he said getting the other's attention. “It’ll be alright. I can come check on you later, if you’d like.” Was… was Adam flirting?! No, no, he was just being nice. Right? Wait… they weren’t… maybe they should talk. 

Sven smiled softly, resting a hand on the other's arm. “I’d like that. Thank you.” The two shared a smile before Adam started for the door, Veronica practically shoving Shiro out after him. There was silence, an awkward, anxiety filling, silence. “I… I guess later… if you want… we could… talk?” Gray eyes refused to meet the other’s. 

There was a soft sigh. “Takashi,” Adam started before shutting his mouth again. “You should move on”, “We were so toxic at the end”, anyway to get Shiro to move past, to move on from him. Adam’s guilt was too much and-. 

He looked up when a human hand found his cheek. “Adam?” The other sighed. Leaning into the touch, Adam couldn’t bring himself to do it. He… he was so selfish, he loved the other so much still. “He’s a bit on edge, go in trying to earn his trust, not like your interrogating him.” 

There was a moment of shock as lips found the other’s, slowly and lovingly. It was brief but… it was needed. Shiro pulled away with a guilty blush. “Sorry, I guess I couldn’t…. Guess I kind of lost it.” Adam smiled a bit before hugging him. “Your such an idiot,” the brunette chuckled softly. Shiro smirked before tickling his sides softly. 

“T-Thahakashi,” the other softly squealed before pushing him away. The captain laughed before offering a wink. “I’ll see you later?” Adam looked back to the room before nodding. “Later tonight.” He’d keep to his word, he’s help Sven the best he could.

#adashi #vld #vf #Voltron force #votlron legendary defender #shadam #veronica mcclain #sven #2011 sven #2019 #tickle #tickling #tickle fic #fan fiction #fanfic

[icharchivist]

It is kind of weird Lavi spent 2 years on the Order and Doug was the closest thing to a genuine friend from his perspective. Even then he still hated/looked down on humans even if he maybe thought Lenalee and the scientist weren't that bad. Makes you really wonder why Allen in such a short amount of time made such a huge impact on Lavi's mindset. It's not like Allen is the only kind person who fights despite his suffering. It might be Lavi is aware people block out the pain of others in order -

2 to function (pretty much what he did) for their own selfish reasons. Allen might have been the first person he met who literally can't do that. He has to stare at the hell around him every day. Even then all Allen wants is to help people and turn his own torment into compassionate strength. That kind of thing is very different from even all the other Order members outlook/reason for fighting. I think all kid Lavi really wanted was to see beautiful things but he got the ugliness instead.

Okay before replying if you want i once wrote a.... 6k long meta about Lavi specifically? and we extended on the thing you mention on this ask too (nothing against you btw lord knows I post a hundred of those metas all the time there’s no way people would dig this far. It’s just that whatever i reply there i’m almost certain i have articulated it better in those meta if you want to read it. Although it was before i reread the manga so there might be things that aren’t completely fresh there.)

I do think it’s a lot of that though: of Allen not being to stare away, to distract himself from the horror he’s seeing.

The thing is that Lavi still had seen 49 wars in 12 years of service as a Bookman. That’s a lot and probably enough to lose any sense of sensibility toward people. I think he probably saw everything around as a hopeless cause, of those people dying for nothing. But i also think that he did warm up to some people at time, he just never actually considered he was doing so. 

Doug is especially not worthy because in the novel, Doug repeats that at first he didn’t want to be close to Lavi, that Lavi freaked him out, so that Lavi ended up insisting a lot to try to understand why the good natured guy was so uncomfortable around him. And Doug made it clear that “we can see people’s soul in their eyes and yours is completely empty”, so that he knew Laavi was lying. Which left an impact on Lavi and had therefore often him check over his own mask at least around Doug - because Doug saw right through his mask.

So when Doug points out that Lavi is getting his mask loose around Doug, Lavi is forced to face what it implies in regards to his Bookman’s duty. 

In a way i think it was the difference between everyone else, Doug, and later Allen: before no one was challenging Lavi’s mask. So Lavi didn’t have to mind and wonder where that put him on his caring scale.Doug always challenged Lavi’s perception of his mask, which might have ended up with him taking extra care trying to befriend Doug, like a challenge almost. And Lavi did soften a lot about the fact Doug had a sweet compassionate good heart that he extended to everyone around him, even on the field, even people who wouldn’t remember him. And I think this sort of kindness would have struck to Lavi more than the sort of camaradery back at the Order, especially when he’s paying extra attention.

When it comes to Allen multiple things happened at once to push Lavi to question a lot of things. First Lavi compared Lavi to Doug before he learned Doug’s “kindness” ended up pushing him into calling an Akuma. Upon meeting Allen, directly after Lavi had to kill Doug, Allen mentions that his curse specifically comes from making an Akuma out of his father.

Lavi was grieving Doug in his own way. And i think for him it started to just antagonize Allen in his own mind because “how damn foolish”. That this is specifically the type of kindness that goes out first in the war. That Lavi dared to let his guard down around Doug and Doug was so kind that he ended up just as stupid. 

He projected Doug onto Allen, and therefore he was harsher on him. The guy created an Akuma. The only principle of an Akuma should probably escape Lavi completely, to grief and love someone so badly you can actually bring them back? Him who has no attachement, the whole thing must be a hard sell. And to see people give themselves up to it? How foolish. 

There is also the whole thing about Allen being able to see the Akuma’s souls that Lavi is jealous about. he’s explicit about it: for him, for every exorcist, they have to trust no one. Allen has the luxery to trust anyone as he pleases. Something Lavi could hold against him. Not to mention in the novel there is a huge description of Lavi coming to term with Doug becoming an Akuma by specifically pointing out to “those empty eyes”. Note that it is still very fresh for Lavi! The Doug incident happened right before he was sent to Rewinding Town.

In fact in the whole intro arc of Lavi once you have those lense on, he seems to disregard Allen a lot. When Allen gets kidnapped by the townfolks to face Krory and everyone asks Lavi to go check him since he has the hammer, Lavi is actually very recluent and doesn’t want to do it because he doesn’t care. 

The whole first arc, Lavi was more likely building up that Allen’s kindness was stupid, that he was lucky, that he took his situation for granted, that he was foolish enough to make an Akuma, that his feelings had guided him to such weakness and that said feelings now are holding him back to fight others humans (Lavi calls  Allen a baby when he refuses the idea of killing Road), he’s being naive. So naive it is dangerous, and this is the very kind of danger Lavi had trained against his whole life. The very sort of things he can see Allen do and just scolf because how stupid.

Until he sees Elliade’s soul.

Lavi is horrified by what he sees. He mentions later to Komui that he thought Allen was lucky, but what he was seeing was just hell on Earth. Suddenly it wasn’t that Allen was kind because he was too naive to know how cruel the world was, but it was that Allen was kind because he knew exactly how cruel the world was and he refused to be part of it. That Allen saw hell all the time and he would smile and carry on.

Another thing that has a lot of weird focus on Lavi is actually how he reacts when Allen talks Krory out of suicide. There is this whole feeling as the audience in this scene where you know that Allen is projecting because he himself killed the Akuma of a person he loved. So when Allen analyses perfectly how Krory wants to die and tells him how to keep living, with the way Lavi looks at them? Lavi knows exactly what Allen is talking about.

And suddenly there is a whole new thing he had never considered about Allen opening up.

And the reason it became this important later is that it took Lavi by surprise by going to full on distaint over Allen’s behavior to full blown admiration in the course of a few chapters. The moment he realized that Allen wasn’t misguided but had much more understanding of the situation than himself.

But it’s not like Lavi got it until Allen died. And there was multiple things there too: that first, Lavi feels guilty of not having saved Allen from the orde of Akuma that dragged him to Suman and then to his doom (as emphacized with Lavi having a flashback to it when he yells at Lenalee “we have done everything we could to save him”.) Then Lavi gets to see all of Allen’s final moments from Timcanpy and it is made clear that even near death, even as he was being tortured, Allen priviligized giving hope to others people. He sacrificed himself to save Suman’s innocence. 

It’s after Allen’s death that Lavi starts to feel it weight on him that what they lost with Allen was more important than that.

But also, the point i wanted to make (i know, i talk too much) is that it also is another time he had to confront his mask, because Bookman reminded him that he got carried away.

The thing is that more than the emotions Allen made Lavi feels, it is a question that those emotions were so visible and he didn’t even realize he was there (the anger against Lenalee reads as anger against his own emotions too - why would she mourns while he cannot? He swallows back his tears, he feels the same guilt, but he was never taught to mourn) : but the moment Bookman beats him up and specifically tells him “do you take yourself for an exorcist? You are not one of them. You are not supposed to get attached.” is the sudden recaller that specifically, Lavi’s mask was breaking, that he was feeling stuff.

And that’s why next scene is him looking at the Ace of Spade he picked from Allen, an emotional attachement, and think about “we are not their allies... that’s right, a Bookman has no need for a heart.” He thinks about it like that specifically because Bookman called him out.

The POINt i’m trying to make is that the reason Doug and Allen left such an impact on Lavi is not much that they did, but that Lavi was forced to acknowledge how they both go tunder his skin. He was forced to think specifically about what that brought him in comparaison to others.

I would be inclined to think Lenalee left an emotional impact on Lavi, whenever he wants it or not, which is why we see him remembering his reaction to seeing Lenalee crying in front of coffins. But he never had to acknowledge it. At no time was he challenged by teh fact the bound started, until Allen’s death where his feelings were all over the place and he started to question how good he was at keeping the mask up. And too much loss at once was too much for him to handle.

And all of that to come back: yes to what you conclude your ask with. Because in the end Allen was not the “naive type who will get swallowed by the darkness of the world” but he was litterally the “kind and strong type that helps everyone up even if he gets to fade away into the light to do so”. Lavi’s opinion shifted moreso because he knows of the horrors in life, and he underestimated Allen, and Allen knows those horros as well and Lavi is in awe by how despite knowing all of that, Allen never cease to be kind. That perhaps both of them have very fake smiles, but Lavi’s is so he wouldn’t care too much about people, while Allen’s is for people not to be too concerned about him because he cares too much for others.

I think those are things Lavi ended up understanding.

But it took 1) Allen to shift around his entiere way to piercive him in one arc, 2) the acknowledgement of how his mask was failing him 3) perhaps even more specifically having came out as hardened by the experience with Doug trying not to repeat his caring mistake with Allen who was similar to him and failing, for Lavi to really understand the impact it had on him

So anyway i ended up rambling a lot but yeah. *takes a deep breath* Lavi is a mess. 

.. god i don’t even know if i make any sense i got carried away. But yeah. Lavi man. Lavi.

#ichafantalks dgm #weeeee #Anonymous #ichareply

[sevensstories]

Christmas Wishes Chapter X: April Fools!

Fandom: Undertale Prompt: Stuffed Dog (courtesy of @petchricor​ ) Characters: Sans, Papyrus Ships:  The harbor be empty Updates Every Thursday

Chapter 1: Nightmares Chapter 2: Gotta Get That Letter In Chapter 3: Do You Have Any Word Searches? Chapter 4: Mistakes Chapter X: April Fools! You are here Chapter 5: Sans Has Regrets Chapter 6: The Morning After

WARNING!  This is not a real chapter!  This was an April Fools joke to my beta readers!  That being said, I hope you all enjoy it anyway

He had tried everything.  He had tried everything and it still wasn't good enough.

Sans stared down at the jar of dust, his sockets black and empty.  How could this have happened?  How could he have let this happen?  He had killed his little brother.  Even if fate smiled upon him just this once and the world reset, how would he ever live with himself?  He was a dirty brother killer now.  Things couldn't go back, not after this.  To make things worse there was still the matter of spreading his dust.  With how many times Papyrus had died this was far from Sans' first time performing the task.  That being said, Papyrus had never died like this before, killed by the one person he loved most.

Sans paused, considering that for a moment.  The one person Papyrus loved most.  He had always spread his brother's dust on his prized possessions but, although it wasn't an uncommon practice among monsters, he had never considered spreading Papyrus' dust on a living being.

He let out a soft sigh, running a hand over his skull before giving a sad smile.  “Heh, first time for everything I guess.”

Next he had to consider where he would do it.  Of course Snowdin was their home, but Papyrus had always been fond of Waterfall.  There was a particular little nook off of the glowing path that he liked, filled with echo flowers and soft grass.  Maybe that's where he should go.  So few people knew about it that it was unlikely Papyrus would be disturbed there.  At least, not before the world had a chance to reset.  No doubt Frisk would reset it the second they found out Papyrus was already dead.  If they didn't then Sans would either beg or, if that didn't work, kill them over and over until they had no choice.  Either way he was going to get his brother back but, for now, he was going to give him a proper send off.

He pushed himself up with a grunt before brushing the snow off his shorts.  Truth be told he lacked the motivation to walk all the way to Waterfall.  Even if he didn't feel that way he didn't want to risk someone following him in and disturbing Papyrus' final resting place.  Luckily for him he knew a shortcut.

The pupils disappeared from his sockets and there was the brief sensation of being sucked into a vacuum.  The world went black for a moment and, when the light came back, he was standing in the secret cavern.  With glowing mushrooms and crystals peppering the ceiling and the floor being carpeted by echos flowers and soft, navy grass it was no wonder why Papyrus had been fond of the secret room.  It was breathtaking.  Sans shuffled through the flowers, listening to their soft whispers.  His breath hitched and tears gathered in the corners of his sockets when he found that the majority were the remnants of his beloved brother.

“Nyeh!  No human today, but they'll come soon!  I can feel it in my bones, nyeh heh!”

“Sans still won't pick up his sock!  What is an amazing, handsome, charismatic skeleton to do?”

“Training with Undyne was great today!  Though I have begun to question the necessity of burning down the kitchen...”

“Mettaton came out with a new show today!  Nyeh!  I'm so excited!”

“Sans may be a lazy bones, but I still love him very much...”

“hOI!  im tem!  ur boOtyful!”

“I'll be a royal guardsman soon, I just know it!”

Sans stopped, furrowing his brow.  He took a few steps back, lowering his skull to one of the flowers.

“hOI!  im tem!  ur boOtyful!

He sighed and shook his head before starting forward again.  “Damn Temmies, I swear they're everywhere.”

Sans stopped when he reached the center of the room and knelt down in the grass.  He took one last look around the room, took a deep breath, and opened the jar.

“I love you, Papyrus.”

Sans closed his sockets and poured the jar of dust over his skull.  He held his breath and waited for most of it to slide from his bones and settle on the grass beneath him.  When he felt that the majority of it had sifted into a comfortable rest, he let out a puff of air through his teeth and nose to clear the dust from his face.  It may have been customary to leave the dust on you for a couple of days, but it was also taboo to breathe it in.  Not that that was a problem, he didn't mind watching the dust scatter before resting on the petals of the echo flowers.  That's where it really belonged, not on a dirty brother killer.  Then again papyrus would probably disagree, and his wishes were what really mattered.

Sans stood, rolling his shoulders and letting any excess dust drift to the ground.  Now all there was left to do was go home, mourn, and wait for this to all be over.

“tem cav iz thiz wai!  iz secroit!  hoory up!”

Temmie bounded towards the cave, shivering in excitement.  Beautiful flowers!  Pretty crystals!  Glowey mushrooms!  Cushy grass!  It was the best cave!  Temmie could find Temmie Flakes in the Tem cave!  Then Temmie could sell Temmie Flakes and go to Tem college like Temmie in the Tem Shop and get an education!  Temmie had the best plan!

“temmie dun wunna run no moar, temmie toired!”  Temmie whined, ears drooping.  Temmie had been chasing Temmie all day, Temmie has so much energy how is Temmie supposed to keep up?

“tem almoost theere!  iz thru heer!!”  Temmie slipped through a big crack in the rocks that looks like it's not there in the dark??

“WOA!!  temmie not see cav?!?!”  Temmie rushed in after Temmie to see the amazing Tem cave.

When Temmie got inside of the Tem cave Temmie gasped.  “iz boOtyful!!!1!1”

“tem kno!!  tem haz net 2 get teh temmie flakes!  Tem wil haz muns 4 colleg!” Temmie squealed.  “AND tem haz boOtyful floowrs!  floowrs smel prity!”

Temmie leaned in and smelled the flowers!  Temmie got weird dust on Temmie's nose and sneezed!

“aaAachuu!!!”  Temmie bounced a bit with the sneeze before scrunching up its nose.  “tis floowr smelz funnie!”

“temmie wunna smel!”  Temmie leaned in to smell it but Temmie stopped them!

“nO!  temmie cant smel, tem soid so!”  Temmie shoved Temmie away from the flower!

“foine!”  Temmie huffed.  “dun wunna smel floowr anywai!  tem floowr STOOPID!”

“tem--”  Temmie stopped, a shudder running through their body.  Their front legs collapsed, letting their cheek rest on the floor.  “tem dun feel so gud...”

“iz tem okai?”  Temmie asked in concern, crouching next to them.

“tem...”  Temmie let out a dramatic cough.  “tem dyin...  tem need...  tem need tem dooctr...”

“tem NO DIE!”  Temmie cried, leaping up.  “tem wait heer, temmie get tem dooctr!”

Temmie bounded off, leaving Temmie alone in the hidden cave.  The cave was no longer the best cave, not if it made Temmie sick.  Temmie gave a soft whine, burying its face in the cushy grass.  Temmie felt sick.  Temmie's soul hurt.  Temmie wanted spaghetti?  Temmie wanted to do puzzles??  Temmie didn't feel like Temmie anymore??!

No, Temmie didn't feel like Temmie anymore.  Temmie felt like...

The Great Tempyrus.

Sans sat curled on Papyrus' bed, staring at the wall with black, empty sockets.  Papyrus' scarlet cape was clutched between his fingers, covered in a light layer of dust.  He wasn't really planning on leaving this spot until the kid came through.  Why would he?  There was nothing to wait for anymore.  He didn't even have anyone to fight this time, not unless he wanted to kill himself.  Then again, if he didn't need to stay to beg Frisk to reset he probably would.

A loud crash from the downstairs tore him away from his thoughts.  He jolted in surprise before going absolutely still, listening to the sound of broken glass crunching under someone's shoes.  With how many times their windows had been broken he was more than familiar with the sound by now.  Normally he would just shrug it off and have it fixed later, but someone had to have open hell of a nerve to break in while he was grieving.  Sans took a deep breath before pushing himself up.  Whoever was down there was gonna have a bad time.

He shuffled out of the room, keeping a tight grip on his brother's cape.  Whoever had broken in was now banging around with the pots and pans.  That wasn't something any of the dogs normally did and Undyne wouldn't dare to even consider breaking in right after Papyrus' death.  If he weren't dust Sans would bet it was Papyrus himself.  The taller skeleton would always break through the window when he was locked out.

Sans stopped at the kitchen doorway, sockets narrowing.  Oh hell no.  There, making a mess in this brother's kitchen, was a Temmie.  It was currently trying to put a pot filled with water on the stove, but it wasn't nearly tall enough.  It could hardly even pick up the pot with its small, bony paws.

Wait, bony?  That couldn't be right.  Sans inched closer for a better look.  Instead of milky white fur, the Temmie had pale bones and was wearing what looked like a Battle Body.  Sans felt unease twist in his gut.  Absolutely none of this seemed right.

The Temmie twisted around.  A creepy, permanent grin was stretched across its skull.

“Sans!” It cried.  “Sans!  halp meh get teh pot on teh stoove!  NYEH!”

Sans went still, staring at the creature before him.  This, this thing, why was it dressed like him brother?  Why did it sound like his brother?  How dare it imitate The Great Papyrus?  The pupils disappeared from his sockets and his voice dropped an octave.

“Look, pal, I don't know who you are, but if you don't--”

“dun be silly, Sans!”  The Temmie shouted.  “i iz the GRATE TEMPYRUS!  ur luvable tem bruther!”

“My brother is dead,” Sand growled, his left eye glowing a bright cyan, “and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let anyone pretend to be him!”

The Temmie's sockets widened in terror.  “NO!  Sans, dun hit meh again!”

Sans stopped, hesitating a moment before speaking.  “What did you just say?”

Bright orange tears pooled in the corners of Tempyrus' sockets, its small frame trembling.  “i dun wunna be dust again!  NYEH!  dun hurt meh!”

Sans stood frozen, staring at the supposed Tempyrus in shock.  “How do you know about that?”

“Sans, it's ME!”  Tempyrus cried.  “im not ded!”

What Tempyrus was saying wasn't even remotely possible.  Part of his wanted to work everything out and part of him wanted to just curl up and pray that all of this was a really bad, really confusing dream.

However, before he even had time to react, the Annoying Dog leapt through the already broken window and skidded across the floor, eyes glinting with a serious light.  Tempyrus barely had the chance to squeal in surprise before the dog opened it's jaws wide and took in the entire of the abomination, swallowing it in one massive gulp.  The dog cleared its throat before trotting over to Sans.

“Man that was one hell of a meal, I'm stuffed,” it muttered to itself.  It then perked up and spoke in a deep, rich voice.  “The threat to the multiverse has been neutralized.  No need to thank me, it is my job as your god after all.  Just go about your business, citizen.”  With that it gave a high pitched bark, wagged its stubby tail, and hurled itself back out the window.

Sans watched dumbfounded for a moment before shaking his head and muttering to himself, “I really have to ask Grillby what's in those damn drinks...”

#Christmas Wishes #Undertale #SevensStories #WhySoSeven #Sans #Papyrus #Temmie #Annoying Dog