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criminalmutantsins · 3 years

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Top 10 Favorite Young Justice Characters

10. Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle

Starting off the list is Blue Beetle. Young Justice introduced me to him, and I was hooked. He’s probably the most mellow and calming voice. His arc and relationship with Bart (friendship or not) were my favorite aspects of S2. They bounced off each other in every scene. I was very disappointed when Jaime and Bart were sidelined so much, and hope S4 changes this (particularly with Bart).

Jaime in the number 10 spot since he doesn’t really have much of a memorable personality. Still love him to bits though.

9. Will Harper/Red Arrow

Funny enough, I did not like Will. He was an asshole in S1; S2 kind of changed my mind about him but not enough since he didn’t appear as much. What really changed my mind was the episode “Private Security” (S3 Ep.4). I started looking back into Will’s storylines and, I have to admit, his is probably one of the best character development.

The first season had him unwillingly living a lie and betraying the people he cared for. In season 2 he was so consumed into finding the original Roy for five years, not even caring or focusing about his own life. I felt really bad for Will because he was probably going through an identity crisis and thought he couldn’t live his life without finding Arsenal. Probably felt guilty.

Seeing him living his own life and being happy with his daughter was so heartwarming. I smiled every time Will appeared in the latest season (totally ignoring the Will x Artemis fiasco), especially with Lian. I’m very proud of him.

I feel bad for putting him so low, yet I adore the next characters more.

8. Garfield Logan/Beast Boy

I have been a massive Beast Boy fan since Teen Titans so you probably can imagine how excited to see him. His origin story was unique and his brother-sister bond with M’gann was very sweet. It was pretty weird seeing how much younger Gar was than Dick, but I got used to it. I was bummed that Gar wasn’t in S2 as much; however, S3 truly made up for it.

After watching Beast Boy being a great leader in S5 of Teen Titans, I wanted a leader-like and more mature version of him. Young Justice truly delivered with Gar being the leader of the Outsiders. It’s nice to see him treated with respect rather than as a joke because that was my biggest gripe with Teen Titans. Though it was weird seeing him not crack a joke at all.

Gar’s story with his mom was heartbreaking to see. I literally cried seeing his reaction to revisiting his trauma in S2 and S3; I just wanted to hug and tell him how awesome he is. My only complaint with Gar in S3 was that the Outsiders weren’t established until near the end of the season.

His voice actor being Greg Cipes also gives him extra points (He’s a chill guy and radiates BB energy).

7. Dick Grayson/Nightwing/ Robin I

Sorry to all the hardcore Nightwing fans.

I love Dick (don’t get any ideas), but he doesn’t get enough development in the spotlight. One of the things I really wanted to see from him is his growth as a main leader, and his journey to becoming Nightwing. I was really bummed when these happened between the first two seasons.

To be honest, I don’t have as much to say about him other than straightforward qualities I enjoy about him.

1.His Voice (it’s so soothing)

2.His Personality (very charismatic)

3.Very Handsome (Probably in the top 3 my most handsome YJ Men list)

I put him higher than the others since he made a lot of contribution to the story and his new words (gotta love that aster!)

6. Megan Morse/M’gann M’orzz/Miss Martian

If I made this list during S1, M’gann would have probably been in my top 3 (maybe even No. 1), but S2 didn’t give her any brownie points.

I really liked S1 Miss Martian because of her kind heart, awkward girl next door personality. Her trouble fitting in the beginning reminded me of when I was going through a time in high school; seeing her having trouble as well helped me feel not so lonely. M’gann powers were (still are) my favorite since I am a big fan of mind-like powers. I would feel so powerful. Watching her identity crisis(?) arc was great too. I’ve had trouble feeling comfortable in my own skin as well as my social anxiety (I’m a mess) and I could understand how scared Megan was of her friends’ thoughts on her true form.

Oh boy. Season 2 basically ruined her. Learning what she would do to enemies was terrifying to see and left me wondering what happened to Miss Martian that made her step this far. What she almost did to Superboy was almost unforgivable. You do not try to manipulate with your boyfriend’s mind when you guys have an argument! Shame on you M’gann. If Superboy hadn’t forgiven you then I wouldn’t have either.

Good thing S3 somewhat redeemed her. Her kind heart was noticeable again and she refused to do that mind trick again (thank god). Very excited for the Superboy and Miss Martian wedding! Please creators, I beg of you to not skip over it. I want to cry my eyes out in happiness!

5. Kaldur’ahm/Aquaman/Aqualad

Now we’re in the top 5 with Aqualad (*ahem* Aquaman) starting it off.

Creating Kaldur was the best decision the creators ever did. I love him with all my heart!

He added diversity to the original team and was a great leader. S1 was not his breakout season, though the second season definitely was.

Kladur played the villain so well that he deserves an automatic Oscar. I never doubted that he was with the heroes, but he didn’t disappoint. My favorite part about Aqualad’s performance was when he rose from the ocean slowly like a cliché villain (he made it work), and the line he said right after he “killed” Artemis; it sent me chills. Love it!

Pretty disappointed that he didn’t appear as much in S3. Very happy that he is a part of the LGBTQ+ community and is in a happy relationship. I’m a part of the community and loved that there was finally some representation in one of my favorite shows. Even so, I have to criticize how rushed and sidelined it was. I hope Kaldur and Wyynde’s relationship gets development.

4. Kon-El/Conner Kent/Superboy

Like Will, I did not like Superboy at first. Mainly angry and volatile characters were never really my cup of tea. I do understand why he was upset and felt bad for him; I just handle anger the direct opposite as him. My love for Conner started growing around the end of S1. He was very sweet towards Miss Martian (bless him for not caring about her appearance) and his anger was in control.

Season 2 pretty much switched my opinions on him and M’gann. It was awful what M’gann almost did to him. That scene with him being so sad that what she did ruined that special bond they had almost made me cry. I wanted to give him a hug. He grew so much too since I don’t think he would have handled the whole M’gann drama as well in S1. A lot of furniture would’ve been broken.

I gotta admit something. I almost put Conner near the bottom (maybe no. 7). A comment in a poll in Amino changed my mind. I wrote a poll asking other fans who did they prefer SB or MM. At that point I said SB, though I didn’t think much of it. Someone (specifically yjfangirl) responded “Superboy has the best development in the show.” This had me thinking about how far SB has gone. In the beginning, Conner was an angry guy who felt alone and rejected by the person who he was meant to emulate. Now he is happier and living for himself rather than to be the next Superman. He’s getting married people! A little detail I noticed when rewatching S3 was Superboy mentioning to new characters that they weren’t obligated to be a hero because of their abilities. I adored this! The main reason why Superboy was created to be Superman if the original ever died, and another one of Luthor’s puppets. But he strayed from that pressuring path and is doing his own thing. Conner doesn’t want other people to feel like he did. What an absolute pure soul.

Also, yjfangirl, first I want to say Hi (*waves*)! Then say thanks for writing that comment. It made me really think about the bigger picture with SB and my love for him as grown exponentially. You probably didn’t mean to do that, but I still want to thank you. 😊

3.Wally West/Kid Flash

We’re in the elites now.

I don’t know how to explain it, I just love Wally. He makes me laugh, and his character growth was great. At first, Wally was this cocky flirt who didn’t take the hero work as seriously. That changed in “Cold-hearted,” one of my favorite episodes in the series. This was when I really started seeing more of Wally than being this dumb flirt. It was great seeing him actually caring about helping people since I believed for a long time that he wanted to be a superhero to just have powers rather than actually protect others. The regret in his eyes when he thought his impulsive behavior killed Perdita helped me see who he really was- this somewhat arrogant speedster who had a kind heart. Episodes that can make me change my perspective on characters are truly special.

I was very upset that he wasn’t in S2 a lot. I understand why since he gave up the life, but I was still bummed. Seeing him being so loving and protective towards Artemis was amazing. Spitfire is my favorite ship and I will not give up on them. All I want is a happy ending! The penultimate episode of S3 was a hint that it will happen. Watching the S2 finale was heartbreaking, I cried watching him disappear, his love for Artemis being the last things he said. Artemis’ reaction did not(I just wanted to hug her).

I have more to say, though I’m leaving it for another post. 😉

2.Bart Allen/Kid Flash II/Impulse

Picking between Bart and Wally for second place was tough. Took me a while to decide; I’ll talk about it later on.

The moment Bart made his appearance, I absolutely adored him. He is amazing and I live for his hyper, fun attitude. His arc and relationship with Jaime were my favorite aspects of S2. What can I say, their chemistry is great to see.

That scene when he was meeting the Flash family was so adorable. His excitement was infectious and spoiling his dad and aunt’s births was hilarious! I watch it occasionally whenever I need a good laugh or reason to smile.

Unlike most time travelers- at least the ones I’ve seen- Bart was very involved with what was going on and befriended his biggest enemy- evil and weirdly huge future Blue Beetle. He was pretty careful about disclosing very important information and took things very seriously. You never know if disclosing everything was the thing that brought the world to chaos.

What I found interesting was his choice on how to interact with everyone. He seemed pretty gloomy in the future, but decided to portray this cheerful, devil-may-care attitude to be more likable. I understood (still kind of do). I had terrible mental health issues and I pretended to be happy in front of loved ones because I thought they wouldn’t care about me anymore. Bart got some brownie points for that.

I was dissatisfied when his role was greatly reduced. I wanted the creators to go further with Bart by revealing his past and how it affected him. He was pretty much comedy relief. You couldn’t imagine how disappointed I was, especially with it involving my second favorite character. Season 4 better change that.

I know that you shouldn’t assume a character’s sexuality, yet I really hope Bart is gay. There needs to be more clear representation and Bart can be one of them. I’m also a Bluepulse and Bartuado shipper (fine with either one as long as Bart’s bond with each of them stays strong).

Anyway, I mentioned that I would explain why I chose Bart for 2nd place over Wally. It mostly stems from wishful thinking. I really want S4 to have Bart as a main character since I believe the future will be strong plot point in the season. Development could surely happen such as Bart opening up more about what he went through. Let all those feelings go.

I’m going to write an article on my hopes for S4 when a release date is announced. Bart and Wally will most definitely be talked about.

…..

We are finally near the end!

And my No. 1 favorite character is…

Drumroll please!

…

1.Artemis Crock/Tigress/Artemis

That’s right people!

Artemis Crock, original member of the Team and daughter of villains!

She is such an inspiration to anyone who wants to go their own past without their parents’ support.

It’s hard to describe how much I love Artemis. She’s brave, strong-willed, and a kind person. It’s crazy how great of a person she is after all the terrible things that happened to her. I look up to her because I don’t have a healthy relationship with my parents (verbal and mental abuse) and there are times I don’t feel strong enough to stand on my own. I want to carry the amount of strength Artemis has as my own.

After all that happened in S2, it was amazing to see Artemis come back to the team and train the new generation. It must have been hard to walk away from a safe, comfortable life for a chaotic, dangerous life. I admire that in everyone, but I hold more respect for Artemis since “the life” “killed” Wally. I wanted to hug her so bad.

She’s also one of the kindest people in the show, the events in S3 being the best example. When Zatanna was crying about her dad, Artemis was there to comfort her. It was so sweet! Roy and her also took in Halo and Terra like they were a part of the family; the archer treated them like the best big sister. That rainstorm scene was heartwarming to the core.

Wouldn’t Artemis be an amazing mother? Lian and her have a strong bond like a mother and daughter; I loved it, and Lian is in good hands with Roy and Artemis. Though Jade deserves a chance to be a mother. Artemis also seemed to enjoy taking care of those kids in that S1 episode. Wally too. You guys know what I’m guys insinuating. 😉

Get ready for some fanfics on that someday.

My favorite Artemis-centered episode was the second to last episode of S3. I was waiting for this episode centering around Artemis missing Wally and learning to move on. It was great yet heartbreaking. Nothing bad happened. That Will and Artemis kiss never happened. Everyone makes a mistake. No matter how terrible it was.

Anyway, seeing Artemis and Wally living their lives and having a baby gave me life, even if it was fake. It was a vision of the future. I will believe this until there is confirmation that Wally will not come back.

Did anyone else cry when Artemis was so desperate to, but Wally wouldn’t let that happen (the real Wally would do that)? They are a great example of a healthy relationship with all the love and support they have for each other. I want that.

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sanoiro · 3 years

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Lucifer Meta: Smile

This meta will be divided in three parts as it involves Chloe, Trixie and of course Dad/God.

Let’s begin with the most difficult yet easier to decipher. Trixie.

Trixie is just an 11 year old on the threshold of teenagehood and now understands more than people think. Her relationship with Lucifer is not great at that point and it becomes worse when she takes it out of her scope, places it on her mother and gets it back because then she has to ask what she means to Lucifer as well.

Smile carries a great optimism as a song. A melody first from Chaplin's 1936 film Modern Times up to this day it carries its innocence. And through the eyes of the children comes the truth that Deckerstar in P2 starts and remains in a very painful place not to due to the absence of love but because it overflows.

Now Dad is seen outside Chloe’s place, his visit was not meant to be without him talking to Chloe addressing certain things but as we see when he listens to Trixie two things happen.

First he realises that everyone is in pain and Lucifer is blind to his love because he cannot connect with his son while the woman that has given Lucifer an abundance of it. However there is also so much pain from Chloe’s part, the same pain that Lucifer has exhibited in the Family Dinner. Suddenly Lucifer’s plea to have a relationship with him in order to have a relationship [with Chloe] makes so much more sense. Dad realises that Lucifer sees himself as broken and that in reality affects his relationship with Chloe and everything is sourcing from Dad’s inability to get close to humans despite having created them.

On a second note the one that started singing was Trixie not Chloe. Trixie expresses the same anguish over her mother that Lucifer did over his Dad on the Family Dinner. Dad is now more aware of how children are affected by their parents how they try to fix things but usually they bottle everything up because the parent is not there to realise they need to open up. Parent-children relationships are always hard but like He wants for Lucifer to be happy, he has ignored Lucifer’s feelings over everything. Better yet he is completely unaware of what is happening hence why in the end of the episode he says to Lucifer that he cannot fix Lucifer. Not because he doesn’t want to again but because he cannot as Lucifer has said already in S2 that he is not broken but the distorted view of himself follows him well into S5P2.

So Dad refrains from having a talk with Chloe and leaves to find his son.

Chloe’s part is the most difficult one... As the song progresses we see her main memories of her relationship with Lucifer... So let’s analyse them a bit...

In order to do that we need perhaps to put them side by side with Lucifer’s panic attack memories in 2x12.

Different circumstances of course but it is interesting what kind of memories they were more vivid for them also...

Both Chloe and Lucifer start with their meeting at LUX and end their recall of their times together with their first kiss by the water in 2x12. Although three seasons apart we see that although they have a different footing in their relationship subconsciously they were always on the same page...

So Chloe like Lucifer starts with their meeting at LUX, who could ever forget that one?

There is an innocence in his smile there something that Lucifer’s memories didn’t hold. He remember himself as being cocky and flirty but for some reason she saw him despite everything as a goodhearted man from the very beginning... Interesting to know that...

In her next memory we see her smiling and now we can be assured that she was smitten with him as much as he was in that scene. Perhaps neither of them admitted it but there was something there and now in S5 she is willing to allow herself to remember that moment as a very beautiful one where she indeed felt something. Surely not love. Perhaps lust but both felt a connection and that’s enough but also rare.

Her playful moments around him as her second memory also remind us how she tried to coax him on opening himself to her advances to a stage where she thought there was something and like then, in S5 Chloe has more cards on her hand on that relationship but not the words she need to move forward so her insecurity is creeping like it did back in 2x12.

That insecurity and naiveness comes also with youth which she experienced on Lucifer’s prom dance at LUX. There was something special there for sure but again the key here is innocence and insecurity. Do not forget that next Chloe moved to Marcus when Lucifer drew back only two episodes later on ‘Let The Pinhead Sing’ aka 3x17.

Now though Chloe knows not to give up. She has the knowledge she needs but that does not make Lucifer’s distance over their relationship and his feelings any less painful. So like in S3 she is waiting for Lucifer to open up but it ain’t easy and as we know she will not wait for much longer.

Next comes the scar scene. What an iconic scene but also a scene where Chloe understands not only his physical scars but his emotional ones. It’s a moment when she realises he is in a bad shape, where he shows afterwards his own insecurity and vulnerability to her... Not with bullets but by a being that is not accustomed on people caring, who believes all will eventually disregard him and that is a connection to his Daddy issues. What it is also is that he is not human and thus his baggage are so much heavier and agonising to carry around.

But even then, even with his scars and his deep open wounds when his Father is mentioned or when he awkwardly attempts to show emotion, he is capable of feeling so much. She remembers his words as she pretended she was asleep, he remember his gift and she now knows more than ever it was never a joke. It was him being vulnerable to her because he trusted her and yes he is capable of love...

He is capable of love because she saw him mourn and love through a friendship with a priest. Only a person who feels so much, loves so much can also find himself in so much pain... So she understands his pain but she allows herself to feel hers as well and she knows she has to be next to him once again and she does that in 5x11 and onwards. She is clear about her feelings soon after when she believes he has adjusted with his father a bit in 5x13.

What she also remembers is that again he is a man who needs support to thrive. It is perhaps why she assumes later on she has to give up her job as Lucifer is more fragile than anyone thinks. He also attaches himself to people and places and again he has exhibiting love...

In one of their earlierst *good*days she was able to see him feel and respond to love. Share it as well. Because this is real and Chloe knows she cannot doubt him. Linda has warned her as much. He is set to destroy everything good that comes his way so again he needs help. She needs to trust him as she did in 2x12.

Because when she trusts him, she knows they are incredible. She was the one that initiated their relationship, their lovemaking and their partnership after a while but he has a tenacity to make things last if only he is allowed some space and is given the love he needs.

And there have been so many happy times... In 5x07 she cannot fathom that Lucifer cannot love. He can love but whether he is in love is a different matter now.

She remembers when she felt his love (above) but also when he cryptically said it when he again opened up to her with his wings. There is a purity about Lucifer than not many if anyone can realise aside from her and it’s perhaps that reason she does not recall his bad days as she always remember him as the person she met in 1x01. A cocky lovable bastard.

So when he left he said: “It was always you Chloe”. Again she remembers that she knows he means more and her insecurities are great so that is why knowing she offers him in 5x13 an easier front. Are we together or not? Is this a relationship? She has faith in him to return to her as she had faith to him when he left to go to Hell.

And she has faith because she remebers he has protected her so much. “You are safe that’s all that matters”. If we ever wondered about 3x24 well now it is canon that Chloe even in a hazy state was aware what happened that day.

That Lucifer protected her, he bled for her and made sure no harm would come her way. For a selfish being he was so effortlessly giving to her and that again is Love. A bleeding one and she knows she would have done the same... She eventually did in 5x16.

Seriously... It’s canon she remember that scene people...

And here comes the realisation again. He would endanger himself whether vulnerable or not for her over and over and over again. He told her so in 5x02 and that was again one of his grand admisions. Because since the beginning he loved her...

Since that first kiss they both knew... Both end up their recollection of their relationship with that kiss. Because they were both so open there, especially Lucifer. It was also the point where they know even for a brief while what to do the right way in order for the person they love to feel safe eventually, consequences be damned. Because they love them so through all the anguish how is it possible not to smile?

There is love. It is apparent but not told by Lucifer yet it’s right there so they will both smile for what they feel while they try to protect the one they love. Pain be damned.

#lucifer meta #lucifer season 5 #lucifer no clue something I just felt like writing..

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dramaticviolincrescendo · 4 years

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The thing is, Ian was right. Mickey doesn't know any better, the writers on the show made sure of that, because for them the only important thing about Mickey is his devotion to Ian. But we're a bit more realistic about it and can analyze Ian's actions without being limited by someone's poor imagination.

There’s a lot to address here, so please forgive me for the lengthy response, anon! 🙂 I’ll preface all of it by saying this: my general opinion is that if Mickey has what makes him happy, we should support that regardless of how we feel about the other party (with obvious exceptions like physical abuse, etc.). If Byron was what made him happy, I would support him even if I couldn’t stand the guy. The same goes for any other character in any other franchise, at least for me. Now, onto your points:

I’m not sure which scene you mean when you mention Ian saying he doesn’t know any better, but I’m definitely with you on our ability to analyze Ian’s actions. The problem here is that analyzing will always be colored by perspective and implicit bias. If your fave is Mickey, anything that hurts him will look a whole lot worse than what he does that hurts Ian and perhaps lead to conducting a less than thorough analysis or rejecting sensible arguments about Ian’s character. Based on the number of posts I see about how Mickey is the only good thing on the show, I’d argue that that is a very real danger in many of the takes on Ian as well as everyone else. I’ve seen some pretty heavy demonizing of characters who hurt Mickey’s feelings or aren’t actively sweet to him, which is a bit unrealistic since that’s life and Mickey certainly never seems to mind or let it keep him down for long.

As far as him not knowing better, on the whole, I don’t think that gives Mickey much credit at all. Actually, it doesn’t really give him any credit, which is sort of surprising given how vehemently people defend his IQ, academically and emotionally, against what amounted to a joke. Mickey knows that Ian messes up and does things that are questionable at best and hurtful at worst. He’s not an innocent, pure character who endures heartache after heartache to throw himself at the brick wall of earning Ian’s attention. He gives as good as he gets and has hurt Ian too. They’re human and written very realistically in that regard. Their love for one another allows them to forgive transgressions and move on, not hold grudges or “not know any better” with regards to what they deserve. Love isn’t about what we deserve, and I think it’s important to remember that a relationship won’t last if it’s based on an arbitrary numerical score of who has done more harm than the other. Things happen. Poor decisions are made. They can allow that to break them or work through it. Mickey has actively chosen to work through it because at the end of the day, he loves Ian more than he is interested in finding something else. In earlier seasons, Ian similarly chose to work through it with someone who might never be in a position to come out and begin the full relationship that he so desperately wanted. That’s beautiful to me, not contemptible.

As far as the only important thing about Mickey being his devotion to Ian, we’ll also have to agree to disagree. 🙂 In the early seasons, while Ian was certainly the catalyst for it, Mickey’s story was about coming out more than his devotion to Ian. That’s why we have the scenes where he taunted Kash (focus: keeping his secret), purposely got sent back to juvie (focus: hiding from Terry if he found out), and got married (focus: self-preservation). We do absolutely see a rising devotion for Ian during this period, of course, and there’s no argument that his character was written expressly to be Ian’s love interest. The writers still made him a well-developed one with his own motives, fears, and desires outside of Ian in a way that later love interests didn’t get. (My own belief is that they didn’t intend for the later relationships to last like they did Mickey, but regardless of the validity there, Mickey was written as a character with more depth from the very beginning and existed before anything with Ian ever happened.)

The first half of s4 shows Mickey on his own merits. He’s handling his new position as a patriarch of the family, running the business while Terry is fairly hands-off and watches. He decides to help the Russian girls and ends up going into business with Kev. We learn a lot about Mickey’s character outside of Ian during that time. In fact, there are only a couple of scenes that really focus on him missing Ian until finding him becomes Mickey’s task: asking Kev if anyone has heard from him, the bathroom scene, and the later Alibi scene. Otherwise, the early s4 writers showed us a Mickey who was compassionate, ambitious, utilitarian, entrepreneurial, and collaborative—all without tying it back to Ian. Kev and V are renowned friends of the Gallaghers, but Mickey doesn’t grow closer to Kev in an attempt to learn more about what happened to Ian. He doesn’t help the girls because he thinks Ian would want him to. In fact, with the exception of those scenes I mentioned, we have no reason to believe that Ian is on Mickey’s mind at all while he’s doing these other things. He has a life outside of Ian just like the opposite is true, and s4 went to great lengths to show us that.

The second half of s4 is, once again, about keeping his secret until he decides to come out. (Read: decides to, is not forced to. More on that in a moment.) Yes, his devotion to Ian is once again the catalyst for some of his decisions, but there’s much more to it than that. Once again, we still see scenes with Mickey operating on his own for his own purposes. He doesn’t leave home entirely because he wants to be with Ian—he also wants to escape from his wife and pretend that things are the way they used to be. He doesn’t scam money from the rich guy or take more than his cut from the register at the Alibi to protect Ian—he does it for self-preservation so that Svetlana won’t get him killed. He doesn’t go to the baptism to keep up appearances and protect Ian—he does it to keep up appearances for himself and because...well, like it or not, that’s his son. The lattermost is something Ian specifically does not want him to do, and if he does, he wants to be there. Mickey goes against his wishes because it’s about protecting himself (and perhaps, by extension, their relationship), and rightfully so. Coming out at the Alibi does once again tie to Ian as a catalyst for change in Mickey’s life, but it didn’t have to happen. Mickey could have grabbed his coat, told everyone goodnight, and left with Ian. At no time did Ian tell him that he would leave if Mickey didn’t come out to everyone or admit they’re a couple, even if he did make reference to the fact that Mickey was hiding and not free. All Ian wanted was for Mickey not to treat him like a mistress or expect him to stick around if he did. Instead, it was a logical culmination of Mickey’s written development to come out. He’s stronger and more independent than he used to be. He’s capable of taking care of himself and surviving in the world without relying on Terry. He’s in a position where yes, he’s still justifiably terrified of coming out and what it’ll mean where Terry is concerned, but he’s able to do it. Ian is a catalyst for it, but being devoted to him isn’t Mickey’s only reason.

In s5, a lot of Mickey’s story does revolve around his devotion to Ian, but not any more than Ian’s revolves around devotion to him in the second half of s3. We still see Mickey doing business and running the family, but having Ian be his more central concern makes sense because Ian is sick and the writers have already told us that his health is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. In denial or not, Mickey knows this. And so we see his story center around Ian because, to an extent, it has to. Ian is mentally and physically sick. He’s adjusting not only to meds, but to a label that makes him feel ashamed and afraid. Mickey is devoted to him, and so Mickey does everything he can to take care of him. But here’s the thing: that scares Ian too. He’s seen what happens to the people who try to take care of Monica. He knows how it felt to try only to be ignored or betrayed or abandoned. The breakup isn’t about anger at being coddled or, by my interpretation and Ian’s own words, him being selfish. It’s about him seeing that Mickey’s devotion is going to keep him from living his life and ultimately (in his opinion) hurt him beyond repair, and so he sets Mickey free. It hurts him, yes, but it does work.

Because even though we don’t see it happen on-screen, s6 through s9 can’t possibly be Mickey sitting in a prison cell pining over Ian. If that was going to happen, we’d have seen it in s4. By this point, we know who Mickey is outside of Ian and can assume that he’s operating in much the same way on the inside until he figures out what he wants to do. We know he and Svetlana had a business arrangement where they took out contracts for work he could do in prison. We know that he makes a business acquaintanceship with Damon, which means he was probably involved in dealing or smuggling while there. Neither of these things can possibly revolve around devotion to Ian because they could conceivably keep him from Ian longer. His sentence is fifteen years, and if he’s counting on being out in eight to be with Ian, he needs to be on his best behavior. He’s not. He’s unapologetically not when he sees Ian again and talks about what Damon is. Ian looks less than comfortable with it, but that’s not why they ditch him—it’s because he might get Mickey caught with his behavior. Even breaking out happened once he was able to solidify an opportunity working for a cartel, so while Ian may have been another catalyst (besides the obvious desire to get out of prison), the decision wasn’t about devotion to him. The only decision that was about that was the one he made at the border to let Ian go without making him feel worse about it. He’s devoted to Ian, so he knows that dragging him along on the run into the unknown won’t be good for him. He needs stability and a support system and medication, none of which Mickey can provide if they cross that border together. So, out of his devotion, he lets Ian go. They have a heartfelt goodbye and separate for what they think is the last time.

Does Mickey’s devotion lead him to turning himself in? Absolutely. But not before spending another long stint living his own life. The writers make sure we know that he had a life without Ian playing a role in it, once again conducting business and operating successfully on his own merits. They’re limited in what they can show because Noel wasn’t available, which made logistics important, but they didn’t leave him high and dry or insinuate that he was waiting around in Mexico for an excuse to return to Ian. He was once again a successful businessman in the illicit economy. When he returns in s10, his storyline does then appear to revolve around devotion to Ian more—but it doesn’t. Mickey has people he hangs out with in prison separate from Ian and with no ties to him. With the Byron situation, it wasn’t about proving devotion for Ian when he thought Ian questioned it—it was about hurting Ian because of what happened at the courthouse, even after he found out what Ian was really afraid of. If the writers were only interested in showing his devotion to Ian, he would have ditched Byron the second Ian told him that he was scared of his disorder and ruining them. He doesn’t. He sticks it out because Mickey is so much more than his relationship with Ian: he’s independent, vengeful, hot-headed, impulsive, and stubborn. These are traits that have been set up by the writers throughout the series both with and without ties to their relationship, and he very adamantly adheres to his revenge-plot-turned-catalyst-for-Ian-pulling-his-head-out-of-his-ass because he isn’t all about devotion to Ian.

I completely respect your opinion on the matter and appreciate the opportunity to discuss it at length! Ultimately, it boils down to this for me: the writers get a lot off flack for some of the narrative decisions and, of course, they won’t always be to our liking. Opinions and preferences assure us of that. I don’t think it’s about us being more realistic or more capable of analyzing a character, though. Everything above was written. It wasn’t spelled out and handed to us, no, but the writers put it there so that we could then analyze it. There’s no analyzing a blank slate or someone whose only narrative is devotion to Ian. The writers have given us a wealth of things to consider when it comes to all the characters, Mickey included, and we wouldn’t be able to have this conversation if they didn’t. Mickey is intelligent, thoughtful, insightful, and more than capable of standing on his own two feet as both a fictional person and a character. If he chose Ian, then it’s because he has weighed all these things and found them to be nothing in the grand scheme of their love for one another. Again, though, we can agree to disagree. Thank you for this ask—I find myself writing more about Ian, so I had a lot of fun thinking back over the series to answer it! 😃🧡

#shameless #meta #Mickey milkovich #Ian gallagher #gallavich #I probably shouldn’t tag this because it’s inviting vitriol #but it’ll get shared anyway #so please be kind folks #this is just my opinion #and ultimately defends Mickey

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mikereads · 4 years

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What S5 of Supergirl should have focused on.

I wanted to post this before the season finale, just because it may have a good finale that doesn’t make up for all the mistakes the show made along the way, especially the ones that could have been easily fixed with some proper storytelling that not only pleases the fans but better suits the story your trying to tell.

1. Kara and Nias friendship/ mentor ship. This season preferably 5B is somewhat focusing on Kara trying to catch Lex. Get proof on him that proves he is not what he seems to be. One of the ways she is doing this is through journalism. Instead of having Kara work with William she should have worked with Nia and here’s why. Not only does it make sense but it would improve the plot the only thing William has is a bad feeling about Lex and as good as that can be think of Nia who not only has the same feeling but knows he’s bad because she has her memories from Earth 38 while to back that up while on the other hand William does not. It’s a wild goose chase with him he doesn’t know what he’s looking for but Nia does. I mean just think that through who would make more sense for Kara to work with Someone who simply has a biased gut feeling that he’s bad because of what happened to his friend vs someone who has all of her memories and knows he is bad so she simply knows what to look for and can investigate what Lex changed comparing her new vs old memories. Its logistically makes more sense to use Nia. As important as diversity is and as much as the show should value its woman more above all that it just makes sense. When they first introduced Nia they implied they wanted them to have a similar relationship to Supercat this time reversed having Kara be the mentor which is great. It can show how much Kara has grown since season 1. Last season they started to do that but that’s been mainly dropped since 4B and its a real shame. They could have a similar type relationship if the show focused on them more but if they don’t then they won’t be able to because it won’t have the same amount dept. They’re showing vs telling but then again the show has been having a big problem with that lately with many characters/aspects of the show.

Also hes not even a good reporter/journalist Lex said he has been spoon feeding William all his info. It’s such a joke the show tried to amp him up as being such a good reporter yet he’s awful heck Winn could have done a better job at reporting.

2. Karas past/ trauma

Kara has been through so much this past season and it isn’t even finished yet. The fall out of her relationship with Lena. Lex rising to power once again and lastly LOSING HER ENTIRE PLANET AND FAMILY once again! The show really hasn’t discussed/ tackled Karas trauma/ past since s3 and even then it was only briefly and contained to one episode arcs vs in s1 when it was dispersed throughout the entire season. With everything that has happened this would have been a perfect season to do that and go back to its roots of S1 but in true Supergirl fashion they didn’t. So far has contained Kara only mentioning her past when it comes to Hope speeches which even those are rare now a days. Since crisis ended I think Kara has only mentioned it twice if at all and that’s when week of the villains forced her to (other Brainy bottling his earth). Kara has lost everyone once again in s1 it was Karas main mission to make sure that wouldn’t happen again she would save earth like she couldn’t save Krypton at whatever means necessary. Then in crisis she wasn’t able to do that and despite everything she did she wasn’t able to do so and lost everyone. Her sister her moms her friends everyone. She succeeded in getting everyone back but it shouldn’t be dismissed that she lost everyone yet it is. 5B should have heavily focused on this through the main of the week plotlines/ through her relationships with her friends and family. Like Melissa wants this finally should have been the season where Kara goes to therapy. Like I genuinely don’t get this show Kara lost everyone yet its barely mentioned Kara and Alex only share one scene discussing it and that was during the crossover in the legends episode it wasn’t even an episode of Supergirl that did it (big sigh) when another show does better things with your characters then you do that’s a problem. She lost her mom Eliza yet they have shared no scenes well none outside the funeral which had nothing to do with her and was another example of them not letting her grieve. Its so unrealistic that Kara wouldn’t have flown to Midvale the minute she was able to do to give Eliza the biggest hug it doesn’t matter if Eliza wouldn’t have her memories Kara would (the actress returned this season so she was clearly available to shoot more scenes yet didn’t because this is supergirl after all). Sidenote can they have Kara call Eliza mom more often like having her call her mom doesn’t make Alura her mom anyless she can have two moms because she actually does I know mind blowing. She lost her mom Alura twice yet they refuse to mention outside of a line or two that’s there more so to move along the plot. This has been a problem ever since they had her return in s3 but Kara has so many unresolved feelings and now she’s lost her twice and yet they still refuse so address it which is not only frustrating but sad for Kara as a character. She should be able to address these feelings about how she’s mad at her/ how she felt abandoned by her and still love her a the same time. Them showing Kara be mad at her doesn’t mean she loves her anyless and would be more healthy in the long run yet they won’t do it.

3. Lenas past, ptsd, and her mother.

They have been teasing for years whether not not Lena would turn truly evil but hinting at things over and over again and even though everything Lena has done proved the opposite it was still a lingering question. This was supposed to be the season that finally tackled this subject headon and show where Lena would land now knowing Kara/ Supergirl’s secret. I’m not upset Lena did questionable things going into this season I knew they would do so more then ever and from 5x01 that was adamant and I think it was very important to finally do for her character going forward to finally confirm that Lena was good/isn’t Lex. If they wanted to show and contrast how different Lena is from the Luthors there is so many others ways to do that, by just letting Lena be Lena is one of them. You’ve have been writing her that way for 4 YEARS, don’t change that by trying to make the show more interesting by adding “drama” you began to ruin it and an amazing character. That being said the way the show executed that was very poorly 5A was okay but 5B like it did with a lot of things was ultimately the down fall for this season. They’re first big mistake being Non-nocere. Now seeing 5x18 I get its overall idea and reason for being there but it still only should have been a side plot that was around for 4 to 5 episodes tops in the beginning of the season. It also really proves that it was never truly there for Lena it was a plotline made for Lex and to show just how manipulative he can be over which is so frustrating because once again they throw their main women characters to the side to help the men which are guest/minor. It was dragged on to long and stayed way past its prime to the point where it was unenjoyable even Katies amazing acting skills can only carry a bad plot line for so long. Non-nocere should have been there to help Lenas plot line not the other way around. It should have revolved around her story but not be her entire plot line for the season. I think them just going over Lenas trauma, abuse, neglect and abandonment issues would have been enough and a much more effective storyline then Non-nocere but if they wanted to use it then I think they should have atleast called back to Lenas past storylines. When Lena found about what Jack was doing with Biomax she was not only disgusted but terrified her feelings on that wouldn’t have changed so instead of it being nearly implied it should have been mentioned and it should have been one of the things that helped her realize how bad it was sooner. Her getting over the lo0se of Non-nocere and how she feels as though she failed once again would have been much better than the actual story of her using non-nocere itself. She was so afraid in season two that her feelings would get the best of her “I am very, very afraid of the person I might be”. This should have been explored way more and lastly instead of them only focusing on her mom for one episode for the plot (the medallion) it should have been a recurring storyline all season. Not only that she misses her but how her death affects her and how she puts her mom up on a pedestal because she never really knew her only what she remembers about her which isn’t a lot. The guilt she feels over her death etc. If they wanted to use it to move the plot forward they easily could have done that. There was a fan theory Lena’s mom was not only alive but behind Leviathan and that would have been so interesting. Here’s a woman she’s held up to such high standards all her life it would be interesting to see the effects of that. That maybe her mom wasn’t who she believed she was to be and that combined with Karas betrayal could have launched her going to the “dark side”. Also I love Katie and I love seeing more of her on my screen but they really couldn’t find another actress to play her mom or better yet not use a shitty wig. A wig isn’t gonna change anything we all know its Katie. It’s fine you used her many shows use there actors for multiple parts the wig was so unnecessary especially when it’s that bad (thank god Katie could pull off any look, ugly outfits and party city wigs included). Using her to play the mom wasn’t bad and would make a lot of sense as to why Lillian hates her so much she’s a spitting image of her mom. It doesn’t excuse the abuse Lena was a child but it makes sense. I mean she did say Lena looked so much like her etc. Then again shitty wigs are the least of their problems, fix your storylines above all else.

Bonus: You know your fan favorite couple is Lena and Kara and since this is supposed to be a season about their relationship just lean all in don’t tease and then not have them interact for 5 episodes in a row it’s frustrating.

This post is becoming a little too long so I may make a part 2 because I sure have a lot more to say.

#supergirl #kara danvers #alura zor el #Nia Nal #eliza danvers #alex danvers #lena luthor #supergirl cw #supercorp #long post

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alltingfinns · 4 years

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The Hounds of the Baskerville

Holding a phallic object, splattered with a body fluid and breathing heavily.

“Well that was tedious!”

And as if that was too subtle, he keeps playing with the harpoon even after it and him has been cleaned off and he’s switched to one of his robes.

John taking just two seconds to pretend considering to give in, just to be a little shit.

Also I am pretty sure that John has a secret scrapbook just for pictures of Sherlock in the hat.

Oh look, begging for mercy. Twice.

I just really love this scene, the manic energy of Sherlock and the calm sass of John gives us some of the funniest moments of the entire show. Also Ben needs to do more physical comedy.

Here he mentions a blog entry on perfume identification which plays out in HLV, so I’m a bit disappointed that the blogging on textile tensile strength in TEH didn’t feature in s4. Maybe some shirts get ripped in s5?

It’s so mean, but my favorite bit really is the mocking of the little girl asking for help finding her rabbit.

The wagging from side to side “please please please can you help?”

“Like a fairy!” with accompanying high pitch and hand motions.

Followed by a look from John that suggests he doesn’t think a lack of substance is Sherlock’s present issue.

And then suddenly he’s like “wait this actually does sound better than nothing”

And Cluedo. “It was the only possible solution”

Trivia note: the Swedish name for the game is also Cluedo, except we pronounce each vowel seperately. Clu-e-do.

It’s so domestic how they say “client” together. Apparently there’s a certain way frequent callers would ring the doorbell that differentiates clients.

Sherlock’s mainly looking at Henry looking at the video, don’t think I’ve noticed that before.

John’s irritated already when Sherlock begins listing things he noticed. Maybe he feels it is a bit too similar to when they first met, meaning he might be jealous that Sherlock does it with others or irritated at his past self for being as mesmerized as Henry is.

Sherlock inventing aggressive passive smoking.

Sherlock is so annoyed that Henry keeps thinking he’s in a horror story rather than a detective story.

I wonder what kind of poetry John wrote. He probably tried to use his feelings for Sherlock to simulate the romance his girlfriends wanted, which is why it is extra exasperating that Sherlock found it “funny”. Although that might be because he’d find the poetry mismatched to the girlfriends and/or the emotional investment John showed them.

“Childhood trauma masked by an invented memory. Boring!”

The parallel has been pointed out before but it bears repeating. Even if they hadn’t planned ahead by the time this episode was written, why go ahead and use an already discarded plot device they themselves called boring?

Interestingly the plot of the episode does more or less lead to this being the solution but not quite. The memory was invented and masking the real events, but it wasn’t Henry’s childhood brain doing it (at least not without aid). Might be worth comparing these plots. If only for the meta moment of it wasn’t you who imagined what you saw, someone made you see it. And then they tried to drive you into fear and doubt to keep secrets hidden.

“The vanishing glow-in-the-dark rabbit! NATO is in an uproar.”

That :( face is so funny every time.

Hound is a bit tricky in Swedish as the Swedish word for dog is hund. So the subtitles just go with spökhund. (Ghost dog)

“It’s cold.” John doesn’t even say anything but he still makes Sherlock self conscious.

Wonder why they showed us the therapy session?

John standing by the counter looking at Sherlock just looking very soft.

Doesn’t even complete his denial. And was that a single key, or were two keys just so closely held together? I’ve never been fully sure if they shared a single room or had one each. John’s incomplete denial would suggest separate rooms (it’s okay because they’re not actually a couple).

John showing his detective skills. And for once it won’t play out like the cats in TGG. It’s an important reminder that John is a smart man overshadowed by a genius, instead of the common enough Everyman and/or bumbling oaf that some believe of Watson.

“And the ruddy prisoner” probably the full extent of the subplot from the novel.

“Is yours a snorer?” “Got any crisps?” Pretty high pitch there, John.

There is sort of a running theme of characters waxing poetically in vague spookiness and Sherlock just scoffing at it. Reminder that the novel is a horror story starring a detective outside of his normal trappings.

“We’ll get caught.” “No, we won’t. Well not right away.”

More exact words from John as he pulls rank and activates Sherlock’s military kink.

The timer doesn’t start ticking at the gate but at the building itself, wonder why. Or maybe it has been ticking, but now there’s atten paid to it?

“Enjoy it?” Just something to file away in the John wing of his mind palace.

I halfway expected one of the elevator buttons to be key activated for the really tippy top secret secrets.

I see one monkey has seen Raiders of the Lost Arc. That or it’s still upset that it didn’t get the part.

“Stapleton?” He may have mocked little Kirsty, but he still remembered her name.

“People say there’s no such thing as coincidences. What dull lives they must lead.” But the universe is rarely so lazy? Of course rarely does not mean never, and looking at the forebears website Stapleton is a 1 in 3600 name in Devon. So the only question is if Kirsty listed her whereabouts on the forum. Not in her message but maybe in the profile she made.

The dramatic reveal of BLUEBELL.

Sherlock deducing the inside job while John just repeats “the rabbit?” is as good a summary of the show as anything, honestly.

Mycroft’s exasperated “goodammit, Sherlock!” look is almost too loud for the Diogenes club.

I think I read on tvtropes that the Major’s beard isn’t regulatory. Acceptable breaks of reality for the sake of original reference.

“It wasn’t my hat.” I love how the hat is used as a summary of the artifacts attached to the character. The trappings that come from adaptations and parodies and whatnot. Like Igor, who apparently wasn’t even in the original Universal Horror film but its sequel.

Exactly how does John expect Sherlock to turn off his cheekbones? Also the idea that Sherlock is turning up his collar to “play cool” as they’re leaving Baskerville kind of shows that it’s mainly for John’s benefit. Like his later choices to wear the hat. Sherlock starts off wanting to impress John, and by s3 it is about playing a specific Sherlock Holmes role. And again, John betrays his real thought by mentioning the cheekbones. “Stop being so attractive, dammit!”

“Has she been working on something deadlier than a rabbit?” “To be fair, that is quite a wide field.” Cue the killer rabbit jokes.

John’s awkward “are you... rich?”

In the original story the wealth was far more plot relevant, here it’s just a bit of dialogue fodder.

Not spelling out “in” this time?

Pretty sure those are IKEA mugs.

The plan sounds bad, but it is perfectly sound. They have done as much preliminary research as they can at the moment, and by going all three of them they do stand a decent chance should the beast be real. Of course Sherlock still doubts it’s real, which is the main plot for his character.

With the exception of this episode and episodes of Midsumer Murders I hadn’t really heard fox screams before. Imagine not knowing that’s what it is and just hearing this almost ghostly screech specifically when watching English mystery shows.

John just wandering away from the others without alerting them, and then he’s surprised that Sherlock and Henry has continued on without him. If he has a survival instinct it is in a coma.

Umqra. John knows Morse, which I honestly have found tricky trying to learn.

Taking a break here.

#rebecka’s sherlock rewatch #sherlock #johnlock #tjlc #sherlock meta #john watson is a disaster

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tonystarkbingo · 3 years

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TSB MIV Week 17 Roundup!

We have only TWO MONTHS LEFT for this round of TSB!

Title: When We Break With Tradtions - Chapter 1: A New Path Collaborator: J_Gun_i (Fighting_for_Creativity) Card Number: 4004 Link: AO3 Square Filled: T5 - Fatigue Ship: Ironhusbands, (pre)M'Baku/Rhodey/Tony Rating: Mature Major Tags: Spiritual Man M'Baku, Established Rhodey/Tony, Meddling Shuri, panic attack (?), strong opinion against outsiders (at first), kinda soulmates. Summary: M'Baku was approached by Princess Shuri who had an unusual request. Agreeing to it, M'Baku found soon out that he set things into motion, he'd never have dreamed of. But what can he do when souls are bound to be together. Also, no one is safe from a meddling Princess Shuri. Word Count: 8625

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Title: a moment in between Collaborator: ohjustpeachy Card Number: 4017 Link: AO3 Square Filled: S5 - Fears appear in reality Ship: IronHusbands Rating: Gen Major Tags: hurt/comfort, angst Summary: Those few blissful seconds right before he regains complete consciousness sometimes feel like all he has left. Then, of course, the realization hits, and Rhodey feels the loss all over again, hears the words anew every time. Complete paralysis. Tonight is one of those nights. Or, Rhodey wakes from a nightmare and Tony does what he can. Word Count: 1203

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Title: Rumor Has It Collaborator: Faustess Card Number: 4059 Link: AO3 Square Filled: K3 - Holding Hands Ship: IronHusbands; Pepper/Steve Rating: Gen Major Tags: Implied (not actual) Infidelity Summary: Rhodey wakes up to find Tony reading aloud to Pepper and Steve about his (supposed) wild, playboy lifestyle and their respective roles in it. Jim Rhodes is not caffeinated enough for this kind of hilarity. Word Count: 1319

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Title: m the Edge (Screaming My Name) Collaborator: ralsbecket Card Number: 4056 Link: AO3 Square Filled: A3 - Free Space Ship: Stony Rating: Mature Major Tags: Major character death, angst/tragedy, canon-typical violence Summary: They’d gotten there too late. Everyone used to joke with Steve about him being the Man Out of Time, and today of all days the reminder is just a sharp slap to the face. Maybe he needs a slap to the face, Steve thinks briefly, because then at least he would feel something. Word Count: 5128

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Title: a lifetime’s a short time (when love never ends) Collaborator: deehellcat Card Number: 4028 Link: AO3 Square Filled: A2 - whump Ship: Pepperony Rating: Teen Major Tags: Canonical Character Death, Dementia, Grief, Aging, Avengers Endgame compliant, with all that implies, I'm Sorry, Implied Suicidal Actions Summary: Years have taken a lot from Pepper, and in the waning of her life, even her memories begin to fall away. Word Count: 2101

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Title: Along Collaborator: periwinklepromise Card Number: 4053 Link: AO3 Square Filled: A1 - Lip Sync/Karaoke Ship: Maria Hill/Natasha Romanova Rating: Teen Major Tags: none Summary: “Remind me again why I agreed to this?” Maria grumbles. Natasha gives a slim smile. “Because I asked you to.” Word Count: 388

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Title: That’s Fiancé Badass Collaborator: JehBeeEh Card Number: 4058 Link: AO3 Square Filled: K3 - Image (IM3 - Tony Handcuffed by his captors) Ship: Stony Rating: Mature Major Tags: Mob AU, Fluff, BAMF Tony Summary: Steve Rogers was many things. Patient was not one of them. This usually seemed to be less of a problem where his beloved Tony was concerned, but tonight his patience was wearing thin. He had plans. And Tony was late for them. When his phone rang, 20 minutes past the hour, he did his best not to let his irritation show. He really did try. “Anthony,” he answered in a levelled but commanding voice. “You better have a very good reason for being late tonight of all nights, my love.” Word Count: 1880

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Title: At the End of the Day Collaborator: Politzania Card Number: 4007 Link: AO3 Square Filled: A2 - Writing Format: Past Tense Ship: Stony Rating: Gen Major Tags: domestic fluff, established relationship, sleep deprived!Tony Summary: Steve helps Tony get undressed after a long day, gently fending off his overtures along the way. Word Count: 416

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Title: i am the horizon that you ride towards - Chapter 1 Collaborator: deathsweetqueen Card Number: 4066 Link: AO3 Square Filled: R4 - Kink: Alpha/Beta/Omega Society Ship: Stony Rating: Explicit Major Tags: major character death, rape, underage content. Warnings for this Chapter: forced marriage Summary: Tony’s mother and father die when he is sixteen. He doesn’t mourn his father, but when he sees his mother’s still, gaunt face, the dark colour of her skin washed out, there are tears in his eyes that falls, running down his face in rivers, matting in the collar of his jerkin. “Come,” Obadiah says, coldly, his hand landing on Tony’s shoulder. Tony cringes, but follows, mostly because he has no other choice – Obadiah, as his father’s second-in-command, had made his feelings clear; he had no intention of caring for his dead liege lord’s omega son, not when he could get to business and begin making alliances with Tony as the thing to be sold to some stranger like a horse. Word Count: 4664

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Title: My Favourite Day Dream Collaborator: startrekkingaroundasgard Card Number: 4048 Link: Tumblr Square Filled: T5 - arranged marriage Ship: Stony, Natasha/Reader Rating: Teen Major Tags: mentions of homophobia Summary: Forced to marry as young nobles, both Anthony and the reader had to abandon the people they truly loved for status and reputation. When Sir Steven and his trusty assassin Natasha agree to spend a few nights at their estate, the pair have the chance to see their loves again. However, around Steven, Anthony is a blabbering mess and Natasha is still angry that the reader chose to marry for duty over running away with her. Can they find their happiness or will they waste their second chance? Word Count: 1581

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Title: Iron Man + Avengers A Collaborator: rebelmeg Card Number: 4034 Link: Tumblr Square Filled: T5 - framed Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: cross stitch Summary: Cross stitch of tiny Iron Man flying around an arc reactor blue Avengers A

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Title: In Victory, and in Defeat Collaborator: JehBeeEh Card Number: 4058 Link: AO3 Square Filled: A3 - free space Ship: Stony Rating: Teen Major Tags: marriage proposal, fluff and angst Summary: The Battle of New York seems all but lost. Until it isn't. And Tony can't risk saving the world without knowing the answer to a very important question first. Word Count: 2146

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Title: soothing Collaborator: ohjustpeachy Card Number: 4017 Link: Tumblr Square Filled: A1 - writing format: drabble Ship: Stony Rating: Gen Major Tags: fluff, drabble Summary: Steve realizes that the arc reactor has a sound. Word Count: 100

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Title: untitled Collaborator: Nicnac Card Number: 4048 Link: Tumblr Square Filled: S2 - Riri Williams Ship: Tony Stark & Riri Williams Rating: Gen Major Tags: none Summary: Ironheart moldboard Word Count: N/A

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Title: Bowling for Platypuses Collaborator: newnewyorker93 Card Number: 4042 Link: Tumblr Square Filled: A5 - Dark Alleys Ship: IronBros Rating: Gen Major Tags: Moodboard Summary: A moodboard for rebelmeg’s and my yet-to-be-actually-written fic in which Rhodey out-pranks Tony at a glow-in-the-dark bowling alley using an intriguing fact of platypus biology. Word Count: N/A

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Title: Skinmage Collaborator: 27dragons Card Number: 4027 Link: AO3 Square Filled: R5 - AU: Urban Fantasy Ship: WinterIron Rating: Gen Major Tags: AU: Urban Fantasy, Tattoos, Magic, Pre-relationship Summary: The magic for making pictures move was relatively well-documented, though it was a difficult and costly process. But getting marks on the skin to react -- that was infinitely harder, complicated by the living cells of the canvas and compounded by the changeability of the shape.There was archaeological evidence of past civilizations that had dabbled in it, usually reserved for especially high-ranking leaders. But those cultures had jealously guarded those secrets, and to the best of Tony’s knowledge, no one had ever managed to actually replicate the art. Word Count: 1027

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Title: A nice day for self-discoveries Collaborator: Gottalovev Card Number: 4077 Link: AO3 Square Filled: A1 - Kink: Figging Ship: Stony Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Slight BDSM (hair pulling, exploring power dynamics, talk of kink, talks of figging-but do not get your hopes up, I didn't tag it for honesty), blow job, hand job. Summary: Tony gets the wrong idea when he sees what Steve bought at the grocery store. (It leads to sex anyway). Word Count: 3772

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Title: Stanley Cups Before Wedding Rings Collaborator: JehBeeEh Card Number: 4058 Link: AO3 Square Filled: R3 - Arena Ship: Stony Rating: Teen Major Tags: N/A Summary: Steve Rogers and his team just won the most coveted trophy in hockey. And yet, that's still not the best part of his night. Word Count: 2040

#tonystarkbingomarkiv #tsbmiv #tsb miv weekly roundup #tsb miv week 17

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ksfd89 · 4 years

Text

Riding in Style

Oneshot set in S5 where Lorelai impulsively buys a Vespa! A little Literaiti thrown in too! Enjoy!

"What is that?"

Rory stares at her mother's porch in disbelief. There, propped up against the steps, sits a bright turquoise motorcycle and Lorelai crows, "It's a Vespa!"

"I can see that."

"I wanted it in Hello Kitty but they only had this colour. Thoughts?"

"Well, my first my thought is why," Rory says honestly and rolls her eyes as Lorelai explains, "Roman Holiday was on and I thought it looked cool."

"So you bought a motorcycle."

"A Vespa."

"Excuse me, you bought a Vespa because it looked cool?"

"Yes," Lorelai says, protectively putting a hand on it. "And it is cool, isn't it?"

"Where'd you even buy it?"

"Oh, online somewhere," Lorelai says carelessly. "You can get anything there."

"Of course. Can you even ride it?"

"I rode it around the lot I picked it up from."

"And how did that go?"

"Wobbly," Lorelai admits. "But I can drive, and I can ride a bike, and that's kind of the same, right?"

"Um, sure," Rory says but smiles as her mother says pleadingly, "Isn't it pretty?"

"It's very pretty," Rory allows, going over to take a closer look. "I think turquoise is a more classic colour anyway."

"Very possibly," Lorelai beams. "I need to name it - any contenders?"

"Audrey?"

"Meh, too obvious."

Rory nods, going around it and placing a hand on the seat. She's usually used to unusual sights when coming home from Yale (her mother gardening is the first that comes to mind) but Lorelai has outdone herself with this. It does look cool, Rory has to admit.

"What did Luke say when you showed it to him?"

Lorelai coughs, looking away and groans as Rory exclaims, "Mom!"

"I thought I'd show him in person...maybe later today, or tomorrow is good too, if I put it in the garage..."

"Mom, don't you think he'll want a clue if someone tells him his girlfriend got in a Vespa accident?"

"Who says there'll be an accident?"

"Luke will, that's for sure."

"And that's why I haven't told him yet - he's filled with doom and gloom about these things," Lorelai says defensively. Sighing, she looks at her daughter and says, "I guess I'll tell him now - you want to take it into town with me?"

"As long as take doesn't mean ride," Rory says suspiciously, groaning as Lorelai says, "Hey, where's your sense of adventure?"

"It's busy with my sense of keeping all my limbs intact!"

"Fine, fine. Coffee before we get coffee?"

"You read my mind," Rory says, following Lorelai into the house.

They walk into the square with the Vespa between them, causing a lot of excitement and admonishment from Taylor, who shouts out road safety horror stories all the way to Luke's.

"You know Taylor won't let you ride it."

"We're ignoring him," Lorelai says cheerfully. "Check us out - the Gilmore girls and their Vespa!"

Rory has to admit it's kind of fun. Her bookbag is swinging against her leg and Rory has to shake herself from a fantasy of riding it to school and back. It's a fun picture, if completely ridiculous, and it breaks as Luke marches out of the diner and barks, "What the hell is that thing?"

"My new Vespa," Lorelai says sweetly. "I bought it online."

"It could be a total piece of junk!"

"Stop, you'll hurt its feelings!"

"Lorelai, you can't ride a Vespa!"

"I can learn!"

"It might not be safe!"

"I'll get Gypsy to check it out!"

"I'll check it out right now," Gypsy says wistfully, making Lorelai and Rory jump. "I got my stuff ready the minute I saw you two walk it down the street!"

"All yours," Lorelai says, reaching into her bag. "Here's the helmet it came with and there's another under the seat."

"Great. Can I get a spin on it sometime?"

"Sure, as long as it makes Taylor mad. What do you think, Luke? If Gypsy checks it's safe, can we make Taylor mad with it?"

A look of frustration passes Luke's face and Rory suppresses a giggle. Making Taylor angry is one of Luke's greatest joys in life.

"If Gypsy says it's safe and if you get some lessons, then I guess it's not too dangerous."

"You can bring me coffee on it!"

"What?! No way am I getting on that thing!"

"We can ride it together!"

"I have no interest in dying, thank you!"

"It won't be dangerous!"

"I was talking of dying from humiliation!"

As they argue back and forth Rory wanders over to the counter to get a slice of pie. She's just put the lid back on the plate when she almost drops it; Jess comes down from the stairs behind the counter and stops, looking as stunned as Rory feels.

"Hi."

"Okay, hi," Rory says, feeling a severe sense of déjà vu. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for the day...was passing through and thought I'd see Luke."

"Oh."

There's a long, awkward pause, broken by Rory saying, "My mom bought a Vespa."

Jess blinks, almost smiles and says, "Why?"

"I don't know," Rory admits. A small smile creeps across her lips but she can't let herself relax. She's too caught up in remembering their last meeting, where she told Jess to leave. It seems Jess feels the same as he coughs and says, "I'll just get some coffee and head back up...I won't come back down."

"It's okay," Rory says, but Jess is already halfway there and doesn't stop, and Rory doesn't try to make him. She opens her bookbag to study and takes a bite of pie, but fails to absorb a single word.

Luke awkwardly mentions about Jess when he and Lorelai come back in and is mortified when Rory informs him she's already seen him. Rory pretends it doesn't matter, deliberately taking a large bite of pie, and Lorelai loudly starts talking about Vespas to try and diffuse the tension, to no avail. They stay at Luke's until Gypsy gives them the all-clear on the Vespa, but by then Lorelai has to go to work and says she'll leave it at Luke's for the night.

"I was so excited to ride it there too," she says gloomily, pouting when Luke points out it wouldn't have handled the bumpy road too well. She and Rory walk back together, picking out a movie for later, and Lorelai heads out to the Dragonfly. Rory eats some pizza and tries studying some more, but she can't focus. As Rory searches fruitlessly for a textbook she realises she left it at Luke's and, biting her lip, decides to brave getting it. She swore to get some studying done tonight.

Rory knows where the spare key is but in the end it doesn't matter. Jess is sitting at the counter, eating the last of the pie, and turns as Rory hesitantly opens the door.

"Hi. Sorry. I left my book..."

Jess lifts it up and Rory nods. "That's it. Thanks."

She takes it from him, her thumb brushing his, and blushes. They look at each other for a moment, hesitate, and at the same time say, "I'm -"

"Never mind," Rory says, shaking her head, and Jess looks at her, eyes sad. "Rory..."

"It's okay."

"None of it's okay."

Rory gives him a kind of shrug. What happened between them feels too much for a simple apology but she finds herself saying again, "It was a long time ago."

"Not really."

"Well, it feels like it," Rory says honestly. That night Jess asked her to go with him feels almost like another lifetime and yet, in the same moment, seeing him doesn't seem strange. It's as though Jess was always there. Rory doesn't voice the last part.

"It feels a while ago for me too," Jess admits. "I'd do it all differently - Rory, I -"

"We don't have to talk about it," Rory says quietly. Jess nods, and it's her cue to leave, but Rory simply stands there with him, hugging the book to her chest. The silence stretches between them until Jess asks, "Lorelai get you on the Vespa yet?"

"Not yet," Rory laughs, relieved. "She'll be trying tomorrow though, I'm positive."

"It sounds cool."

"Do you want to see it?" The words are out of Rory's mouth before she knew she was saying them. Jess stares at her, smiles and says, "Really?"

"Well, it's just sitting outside. No harm in taking a look."

It's totally normal to show Jess the Vespa, Rory tells herself. It's something friends would do. They can be friends, right? It's all Rory feels good with these days anyway, after the whole disaster with Dean. They open the door and see the Vespa standing outside, looking cheerful next to all the cars.

"Very cool," Jess says approvingly. "You going to ride it?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't bet a lot of money on that."

"Why not?"

"Why not? Jess, I've watched those road accident videos Kirk shows at the movie theater! Plus, it'll be driven by my mother, who gets distracted by anything shiny."

"Lorelai can drive. So can you."

"I am not riding it by myself," Rory says stoutly, her fantasy from taking it to Yale rapidly diminishing.

"But you'll ride it with Lorelai, right? Once she learns how?"

"I think she might be riding it solo."

"Where's your sense of adventure?"

Rory shrugs and teases, "Would you ride it?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Jess - I was just joking. You can't ride a Vespa!"

"I can ride a motorcycle. If you want, you can ride it with me."

Rory stares at him, unsure what to think, and he smiles at her.

"I mean it - I'll take you for a ride on it, if you want. But if you don't want to we can just forget it..."

"Ride it where?"

"Hadn't thought where," Jess says slowly, checking to see if Rory's kidding. "Around the square?"

"Fine, you're on. I'll go get the keys."

Jess watches as Rory goes back into the diner, emerging with them glinting in her hand and laughs.

"You sure you don't want to drive?"

"One hundred percent sure."

"Hand them over, Gilmore."

Rory passes them to Jess who takes them, hesitates and says, "How much will Lorelai kill me if she finds out about this?"

"We'll be fast!"

"That's not exactly an answer."

Jess fastens one helmet under his chin, passing the spare to Rory and climbs on, looking over to where Rory is waiting.

"Ready?"

"Yes," Rory says decisively. This is just to help her nerves, she tells herself, and climbs behind Jess. He looks at her, about to put the key in the ignition and says, "You need to hold onto me."

"What? Oh, right," Rory says, blushing. She hadn't thought about that, she berates herself and almost thinks of calling it off, but shakes herself. This is fine - it's going to be fun - and she firmly puts her arms around Jess's back. "I'm ready."

"Let's go," Jess says, powering up the engine and kicking into the road. Rory's yelp turns into a silent gasp, her grasp tight as they curve through the streets. Jess isn't going fast but Rory's heart is barely stopping, the wind is rushing through her helmet and hair and she can barely reply as Jess calls, "You good back there? Rory?"

"I'm okay!" Rory manages to call back. "I'm okay!"

That's a matter of opinion, Rory amends silently. Her initial panic has disappeared to a kind of rush, the same rush Rory felt when Jess drove her car to get icecream in cones, all those years ago. Rory tries not to think about how that ended, but Jess is steering smoothly, and her fear is more focused on herself, the way her body is thrumming against his. Suddenly, Rory isn't so sure they can be friends after all. Her feelings for him aren't as dormant as she thought. All of her senses seem magnified, more, and all Rory can do is hold onto Jess. She's not sure what it means. She holds onto him, watching the world whirl by, and then suddenly it's over. Jess is slowing down, parking the Vespa back by the diner and climbing off. He holds out a hand which Rory awkwardly takes, helping her off, and grins as he takes off his helmet.

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"For this," Jess says simply. "All of it - thank you."

"You're welcome," Rory says politely. She smiles, unsure of what else to say, and thinks of mentioning what she felt before, but doesn't know how. It seems too weird. Instead, Rory focuses on taking off her own helmet and the keys from Jess.

"I'm leaving early," Jess tells her. "Guess I should say goodbye..."

"Yes. Okay. Bye."

They look at each other, start to laugh and Rory feels instantly relieved. Maybe it's okay after all.

"Good seeing you," Jess says and Rory says sincerely, "And you too. I'm happy we ran into each other."

"I imagine people will think they hallucinated if they saw us," Jess says, nodding at the Vespa, "but I'll be a few states away if they argue. Besides, I'm just a hoodlum."

"No," Rory says. She laughs but is serious as she says, "You're not a hoodlum, Jess."

"Maybe," Jess says, giving her a crooked grin. "Goodnight, Rory."

"Goodnight, Jess."

Rory walks slowly home, dazed. It already seems like a kind of dream.

The next morning, Lorelai insists on riding the Vespa and drags Rory to the diner before she's even finished her waffle.

"There's waffles at Luke's," she says mercilessly. "And neither of you are going to stop me from taking it for a spin!"

Once at the diner, Luke argues back and forth until agreeing that it's probably fine to ride the Vespa down the street.

"I rode it when I was sixteen," Lorelai insists, ignoring Rory as she says, "You also got pregnant with me."

"Yeah, yeah. Come on offspring - want to brave it with me?"

"You know, I do," Rory says and Lorelai looks at her in surprise.

"Seriously?"

"It's just down the street."

"Didn't think I could wear you down that quickly!" Lorelai says happily. "Was it the Roman Holiday reference?"

They don their helmets, climb on, and Rory puts her arms around her mother's back as the townspeople gather and cheer. Lorelai turns on the engine, drives slowly into the road and then down the street, finding a little speed.

"Isn't this the best?" Lorelai shouts and Rory shouts back, "The Gilmore girls ride in style!"

Carefully, Lorelai turns the Vespa and drives back up to the diner where, keeping her promise, she turns off the engine and hops off, to much applause. Rory gets off as well, laughing, and gives her mother a hug.

"See? I told you I could do it," Lorelai says, before stumbling into Luke's arms.

"Lessons," he says and Lorelai sighs, nodding.

"Real lessons, I swear. But I've got to name it something cool first!"

Rory takes off her helmet, shaking out her hair and as she looks up sees Jess in the window, smiling at her. She smiles back, lifting her hand in greeting, and he waves before silently moving out of sight.

"What?" Lorelai asks and Rory shakes her head, laughing.

"Nothing. This calls for coffee, don't you think?"

"Daughter, everything calls for coffee!"

#Gilmore Girls #lorelai gilmore #rory gilmore #jess mariano #literati #mine

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twdmusicboxmystery · 4 years

Text

TWD 10x15: The Tower - First Thoughts

The episode is SOOO good! How did everyone like it? It also really sucks because we won’t get the next episode for a while. It definitely feels like a transition to the big battle. And it literally ends on the steps of Grady. I swear they’re doing this to us on purpose. Like the last shot in the episode is Beta showing up at the hospital with the horde and it shows a shot of the exact door Daryl carried Beth out of! Gaw!

But there’s TONS of good symbolism the spoilers, of course, missed.

***As always, spoilers for 10x15 abound below. Don’t read until you’ve watched! You’ve been warned!***

Symbol #1: Negan walks into the hospital with…a possum. That stuff he’s cooking? It’s possum stew. No lie. They draw attention to it several times. Recap: possums like to “play dead,” so it’s an apt metaphor for Beth seeming to be dead, but not being, and rising up to live again at some point. There are only two times I can remember seeing the possum symbol: at the moonshine shack, and then Daryl shot one when they first got to Alexandria. Definitely a Beth symbol.

So here’s the thing. I think the possums represent the coming death fake out in a particular arc. So the one at the moonshine shack obviously represented Beth.

I think the one Daryl killed outside Alexandria represented Glenn’s death fake out. (Remember, it knocked over some garbage cans; and Glenn slid underneath a garbage can.)

I’m sort of missing one. I’m thinking there must have been one around Rick in S8, but we missed it, or at least I don’t remember it.

In the other two cases, we saw one the season before the death fake out happened. S4 for Beth, and her fake out happened in S5. S5 for Glenn, and his fake out happened in S6. So there must have been one around Rick in S7 or S8. So, this possum really may be to represent Zeke’s death fake out, which will probably come next season. But, the tie to Beth is clearly there. And, Glenn survived his death fake out, so…

Cats:

At first, I was really confused about the cats. I don’t mean symbolically. The symbolism around them is resurrection-oriented. 9 lives and such. What I mean is, the stuff going on with them in the episode was extremely weird and random. Carol pets Dog (which, btw, happens once, for all of 3 seconds; that’s it. Yes, that’s sarcasm because the spoilers were extremely weird about that point) and she says, “he’s keeping all the cats away.”

Why would stray cats leave because Dog was there, or because TF moved into the hospital. And why would they care whether the cats stayed or not? And you could argue it was just a joke or something to say (which we know the writers don’t do anyway) but they keep mentioning it.

Lydia later pets a cat and Judith says, “I thought all the cats left.” And there’s the cat that crosses Beta’s path. Which, btw, they give no indication that he followed that cat to the hospital. I suppose he MIGHT have followed it, but what I could tell, he saw the cat, but kept going. It wasn’t until a little later that his horde turned toward the hospital. So either the source misunderstood, or if it turns out to be true, it’s just more proof that the spoiler source knows things that aren’t actually shown in the episode. At the very least, I wouldn’t have thought Beta followed the cat to the hospital if I hadn’t read it in the spoilers. And we don’t see the cat again when the horde reaches the hospital.

Anyway, obviously the cats are symbolic. But wasn’t even sure how they were justifying putting them into the episode at all. The plot around them wasn’t making sense to me. Plot-wise, I’m still unsure.

However, while making the episode edit, something finally occurred to me. I was taking some screenshots to make an edit for the episode and thought I might include a picture of one of

the cats, since they have such a huge presence in this episode. I was staring at this one

(which incidentally I didn’t end up using, LOL) and something occurred to me. Lydia is wearing pink here. Pink = Beth.

It kind of came together for me all at once. Lydia = Beth because of the pink. Beth tamed Daryl. Daryl = cat, because Joe Claimer called him a cat in S4. But Lydia also kind of tamed Daryl because parenting her is what gave him purpose again. So, I think all the cats in this episode represent Daryl in some way. It just makes some of the weird lines about them make more sense.

For example, in this particular shot, Lydia is playing with the cat and Judith walks up to her and says, “I thought all the cats left.“ Lydia replies, “not this one.“ Later in the episode, Judith tells Daryl she was afraid he would leave if she told him about Michonne. He tells her that he won’t. So, he’s the only cat that didn’t leave.

I had to think about what the line about Dog keeping the cats away meant. Because taken literally, with Dog =ing Beth, that would mean that Beth kept Daryl away. And obviously that doesn’t make any sense. But then it occurred to me that Joe Claimer was specifically talking about Daryl being an “outdoor” cat, or a wild cat. So, Beth keeps Daryl tame and civil, rather than having him become wild.

Lydia has had a similar civilizing influence on him. I’m not entirely sure what to make about the cat crossing Beta’s path, but I half think it might be a death omen for Beta. In terms of Halloween symbolism, a black cat crossing someone’s path is a bad omen. And I’ve always believed that Daryl will kill Beta, just as Carol killed Alpha, even if she didn’t actually deal the killing blow. She orchestrated it all. But I’m not positive about the cat that crosses Beta’s path. We’ll have to wait and see what comes of it.

@wdway added these thoughts:

“The reason Daryl and Beth work so well together, the reason you could say they complete each other is that they have a sweetness, a kindness that is about being able to understand another person’s pain. Even though they might not have had the same experience themselves.

Beth understood Daryl's past life, the pain he had as a child growing up just as Daryl understood her loss of a beloved father, something he never experienced himself. They both are extremely strong people and it's not about the ability to physically fight, it's about not losing themselves in the fight. Beth realized that in Daryl, their souls share the same heartbeat. Daryl was drawn to Lydia because just like her he had been a child of abuse and he recognizes that her heart beats a similar rhythm as Beth's. I would like to point out the fact that the one-eyed dog in Alone was a stray. Beth (dog) and Daryl (cat) are both strays. The only true home either of them will ever have will be with each other.”

In short, Beth = dog, Daryl = cat. Yet another way they complement one another.

More evidence of this:

Judith is SO Beth in this episode. I know we already knew that because…obviously. But there were like 16 things aside from the obvious hat/braid/trained by Daryl. She was up in the tower/Grady/ hospital and sort of snuck out to be with Daryl. He trains her, of course. After he kills the whisperer woman, she gets upset that he just leaves her there. She doesn’t actually say the word burial, but she says, “we’re just gonna leave her?” and is obviously upset they aren’t burying her or returning her remains to her people.

There’s a line where Daryl tells Judith to go back to the tower and she says, “No. I hate it up there. It smells like cat pee.” It reminded me of the line Daryl said in 5x11: “This barn smells like horseshit.”

The scene between Daryl and Judith was STELLAR. Like when she gave him the vest, it’s sweet and beautiful and SO Full of Beth. Judith literally gets mad at him for leaving that woman behind. (It’s important to note that Judith worries the woman might have a family that is looking for her—also a Beth parallel. I doubt that, as the woman is a Whisperer and didn’t show any signs of being chummy with them. Plus she told Daryl that she left Beta anyway. But I think it’s sweet that Judith thinks that. She’s just young and naïve enough, and has grown up with people who care about her, to think everyone must have a family who would look for them.) Anyway, she says, “I can’t believe you just left her there. In a ditch. What if you were lost? And no one could find you…?” Sound like what happened to Beth?

He asks where all this is coming from and she tells him she talked to Michonne. And this is interesting. She does not tell him about the possibility of Rick. As the spoilers said, she just says Michonne went to help people who needed it. She says she didn’t want to tell Daryl and when he asks why, she says, “Because I was afraid you’d leave, too.”

I think this is 1) the answer to whether or not Daryl will leave to go find Rick. Even if he found out now, I don’t think he would. He knows Judith needs him too much. And 2) I think that’s why she didn’t tell him about Rick. She had really no reason to think he’d leave to go help Michonne unless Michonne actually asked him to. But I think Judith instinctively knows that if he knew about Rick, he might have. Just really interesting.

But then it gets better. Judith has an “it doesn’t matter” line. (Beth.) When she asks Daryl to promise not to leave and he says no, she gets upset. My favorite line was when he said, “Nothing will take the place of someone you love being gone. But that doesn’t mean that everything that follows will break your heart.” He’s SO thinking about Beth there. I mean, he’s been training Judith, she talks about leaving people behind, and not being able to get back to one’s family. Then there’s the “gone” reference. Remember, he literally told Rick that Beth was “just gone.”

And actually, we get at least three different references to the “old days,” meaning S4/S5 in this episode. There was this one (the one Daryl loved who is gone). When he’s trying to radio Michonne and she doesn’t answer, he’s talking about how being on the run like this, outside the walls, reminds him of the old days and the old gang. The last time they were on the run was between the prison and finding Alexandria. In other words, when everything happened with Beth. And the third one is when Kelly is talking to Carol. She says everyone has heard stories of things Carol did in the old days. Before. I can only imagine she’s referring to Terminus. So yeah. Lots of reminders of that time.

I think the whole Princess arc in this episode was a Beth parallel. That gets into Detail territory, so I’ll go over that on Wednesday. Carol and Connie’s scenes were kind of interesting. Not particularly ground-breaking but setting something up. I’ll talk about them later, too.

That was most of the big stuff. But it totally blew my mind that one of the last shots of the episode was this one: guys, that’s LITERALLY the door Daryl carried Beth out of How can that be a coincidence?

There have been plenty of times that they’ve filmed in locations they used several seasons ago. But they make the place look so different in the episode that we don’t even recognize it. They usually have to tell us that it’s a familiar locale. For example, I remember at some point during S7 or S8 (don’t remember for sure) they said they’d shot some forest scene in the same place they’d shot where Sophia went missing in S2. Now, granted, most forest locales look similar, but my point is that they had to tell us that. Here, they’re not even trying to make it look different. They’re not showing us a different side of the building. This is the exact door from Coda. No way that’s not purposeful.

We REALLY think we’re going to see her in the finale. Which SUCKS because we don’t know how long it will be before we get to see it. But I really do think we will. I’m going to show you why tomorrow, even before I do the Details. It’s that important.

Stay tuned!

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theorie #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

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clarkgriffon · 5 years

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(wrong opinion anon 😁) Don't worry I'm not offended, I would've responded in the same way if I felt the way you do. I guess the hug was just too short for me idk. I'm used to the clinging hugs from Bellarke lol

You’re definitely not the only person feeling that way, there were some replies on the ask you sent agreeing with you. And I don’t know that I can convince you or anyone else otherwise, because I know once people have an opinion, they tend to be firmly set in it, but I can still at least share with y’all why I am loving Bellarke this season.

It could get lengthy, so I’m going to throw it under a cut.

I figure this is a good place to start. “They’ll come around.” This was the first thing that hooked me with Bellarke this season. Because not even ten minutes into the first episode, we get confirmation that Bellamy himself has already come around. And there are clearly still hurt feelings there (on both ends), but he’s the one person who doesn’t need convincing to forgive Clarke. He does it like it’s second nature. Forgiveness is their thing. (Which is implied further by the BE scene later in 6x01.)

This next. We’ve never gotten to see Bellarke smile at each other like this. E V E R. And don’t get me wrong, I love Bellarke smiles, but they’re usually muted, understated things that make light of a dark situation. Like, “Some medicine would be nice.” or “You distract him, I’ll shoot him.” or “Mama bears don’t think.” They know they’re fucked, so they joke about it. The closest one to how big and wide these smiles are is We Will Rise, when Clarke and Bellamy almost crash the rover, but that’s a smile of pure relief. They aren’t smiling just for the heck of it.

These smiles are special because they don’t need an instigator from an outside source. It’s not relief, or fear that’s causing them to smile at each other. It’s just the two of them. And just to paint the broader picture, they talk about the radio calls here. You know, what we were waiting for all of Season 5 and didn’t get a semblance of anything close to it until 5x13? Yeah, that was addressed in the first episode. And we know that after four episodes, it’s still not done being talked about. It keeps coming up because it’s imperative to Bellarke’s relationship.

This is a little more subtle, but the keys were a detail I loved. Clarke kept Bellamy’s key. Clarke. Why not Echo, arguably the person he should trust the most on the planetary exploring mission? She’s his girlfriend and he lived with her six years. Same goes for Emori, minus the girlfriend part, but he should explicitly trust her. Okay, but they weren’t in the same room and we’re going to ignore the implications entirely of why Bellamy and Clarke had to be stuck in the same room even though that’s even more proof of the writers feeding us. But what about Murphy? Again, six years in space. Bellamy is the one to continually tell him he isn’t useless, to have faith in Murphy. But when it boils down to it, he gives Clarke his key. Clarke, who left him in the pits. He still, after everything, trusts her more than anyone.

Now, I’ve gone over this more in depth before, but Red Sun Rising including the line “I don’t need you anymore” from Bellamy to Clarke was extremely telling. I don’t want to rehash the whole thing here, but you can read that meta if you want at this link. The synopsis is that the eclipse-induced psychosis prays on fears, like Clarke’s fear of losing Madi or Emori’s fear of being heartbroken by Murphy. Bellamy says he doesn’t need Clarke because he’s afraid that he does, and she left him in the pits. If he needs her again, he’s afraid she’ll break his heart again. And just look at her face, she’s terrified, even before the toxin hits her, that he’ll break her heart. She wants to be able to be there for him.

“We’ll bring Madi back. I promise.” Now, we’ve gotten a lot of focus on Clarke leaving Bellamy in the pits, but weirdly none on Bellamy chipping Clarke’s daughter. This was the rectification for that. They threw in an exact parallel to 5x08/9, except this time, Bellamy keeps his promise. And it means the world to Clarke. She can finally trust him fully again.

The separated Bellarke for just one episode. Not a longer separation like it usually is when one of them leaves. Suspiciously, Clarke gets a big dress reveal while Bellamy is not there to react. ‘Nuff said.

Now, before we even get into the hug, let’s dissect this conversation. Bellamy has - from episode 1 of S6 - already made it clear he’s willing to move past Clarke’s S5 mistakes. But Clarke still feels the need to atone because she’s that distraught about leaving Bellamy behind. She wrote it on her lantern. Yes, a girl who has committed/helped commit multiple mass murders to protect her people regrets nothing more than leaving behind a boy who didn’t even die. And Bellamy, bless his soul, wants to avoid this conversation like the plague. This whole episode has a focus on Bellamy being confused about how he feels and it starts with this conversation. We haven’t seen Bellamy express any confusion about his feelings this season until after Clarke tries to apologize and hugs him. A catalyst for Bellamy to have deeper thoughts? Maybe.

And Clarke says “You’re too important to me.” She admits it. She calls him family, something he actively excluded her from last season. This triggers something in Bellamy, because he’s gotten used to keeping Clarke at a distance and protecting himself because he thought she didn’t care. And, of course, the radio calls proved that she did, but that was before he came back. It doesn’t have to mean anything. But now, she’s admitted he means something to her in the present, the current moment. And he’s confused as fuck about it.

Now, let’s actually analyze that hug shall we? You’re on the money, it’s shorter than usual, but I don’t think that’s necessarily bad in context. Because this hug, as beautiful as it is, is unnecessary. They’re hugging just because they can. Think about it. Other Bellarke hugs have a catalyst. A reunion: 2x05 - the running hug, 5x04 - the “And now you’re home hug.” A comfort: 4x13 - Clarke doesn’t get the chance to say goodbye to Abby. A forgiveness: 3x13 - Bellamy agrees to move on, to grant himself and Clarke forgiveness.

But isn’t this a forgiveness hug, too? No! As I’ve mentioned, Bellamy already forgave Clarke. This entire conversation is initiated on Clarke’s end to give her peace of mind about what she did, it just so happens to stir up confusing emotions in Bellamy. But it’s not the monumental forgiveness of 3x13 because Bellamy hasn’t been angry with her since they got to Sanctum. He forgave her in 5x13.

And just the body language- Clarke does her signature smile of relief while hugging Bellamy. Bellamy looks confused then relaxes into it, relieved, furthering the narrative he doesn’t quite know how to feel when it comes to Clarke.

Now, this is the one I’m going to give a point to you for not being sure it’s romantic. I can see how this one, more than the others, is confusing. This isn’t seething-with-rage jealousy. I’ve discussed with with some other and it’s miserable jealousy. I think it’s mixed with Bellamy’s confusion, he doesn’t want to see Clarke dancing with another man and he doesn’t know why, he just knows it makes him sad.

Right after this, we get the B/E fight and Bellamy snapping at E/cho. His reasons are Monty, Harper, and Octavia. But none of those situations are immediately relevant. What is relevant? What is the ONLY other thing we’ve seen in this scene? Clarke dancing. Bellamy admits that he has no clue how he feels and he says it’s about Monty, Harper and Octavia, but why now? Why in the club only after he’s seen Clarke dancing with someone else?

And I’d be wary about this too, because when I first watched, I wasn’t even sure his line of vision matched up with her. How could we know he was watching her? Upon rewatching multiple times and the flashing between Clarke dancing and Bellamy watching, plus the way the camera pans, it’s clear he’s watching her dance.

All of this and more is why I’m loving Bellarke this season. And I understand frustration that it’s not like the early days because it isn’t. It can’t be. Season 5 wrecked them to a point I thought it could even be beyond repair, but Season 6 is showing that it can still be repaired. They’re not going to immediately fall back into pre-Praimfaya patterns because they’re not those people anymore. But the feelings, the care is still there and THAT is what Season 6 is showing.

Yes, there’s an emphasis on reconciliation and forgiveness, and addressing feelings because it’s necessary. Without it, they’re back where they were in Season 5, not understanding who the other person is after such a long time. They’re falling back into sync this season, not just with their feelings, but also as coleaders, which we see in Clarke being a representative for their people and in the way they lead in 6x02, giving each other their keys.

And what am I most excited about now? Bellamy’s gonna lose her again. I know that sounds bleak. But Bellamy’s focus on confused feelings in 6x04 are setting this up. He’s gonna know exactly how he feels when he loses Clarke again. He doesn’t want to accept the feelings he has for her (proven in 6x02), he wants to be in denial (6x04). But when he loses her again, he’ll know. Josephine!Clarke is going to bring out that Season 1 Bellamy, where a switch will flip and he’ll do whatever it takes to get Clarke back, consequences be damned, the same as he’d do it for Octavia in Season 1. I’m thrilled about the direction this season is going.

To anyone who’s not: that’s okay! You don’t have to be. I hope you can enjoy the show for what it is. I think this - all of it - is relationship setup and romantic setup, but hey, that’s just me.

#the 100 #the 100 meta #bellarke #bellamy blake #clarke griffin #ask #i got carried away #no one is gonna read all of this #mira muses #the 100 season 6 #Anonymous

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teacup-crow · 4 years

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do you hear what i hear?

Hey @are-you-sure-its-me-you-see ! I’m your ZR Secret Santa! Thanks @runnerzero for organising!

It’s the first Midwinter/holiday party back at Abel since the events of Season 5, and Five and Sam are dealing with things sort of not really well at all.

Can you tell I’ve nearly finished S5 and am slightly too scared to end it because I want everyone to be okay? 😂 You said you did like some 5am and a bit of drama, so it’s a little angsty! I promise a happy ending, though. I also apologise for the first person, and hope it isn’t too cringey.

CW: blood + death mentioned

Spoilers up to the first half of ZRS5 at least (I haven’t played the last episode yet so probably a bit non-canonical)

Merry Christmas! Love Beb :)

It’s the first Midwinter dinner for a long time, actually.

Things have changed in Abel. We’ve lost so many people. Some quietly slipped away in the night, some were violently dragged from this world, kicking and screaming for every last ragged breath. The playground we all worked so hard to build became yet another burial pit.

But things go on, somehow. Our losses won’t define us. We can’t let them. We repeat the words over and over: maybe that will make them stick.

Snow blankets the roof of the farmhouse, muting the talk and laughter inside. Every last speck of Ian’s sliminess has been scrubbed from the building, and candles cover every spare surface that isn’t Janine’s huge oak table. Cameo is telling some long, over the top story, one arm still in a sling where a soldier shattered it with the butt of a gun. Nadia’s mouth turns up at the corners, even threatens a smile. Jack and Gene, back for the party, are pulling pranks like little kids - salt in water, custard balanced on the doorframe, the lot. People are eating quickly and carefully, lining their pockets with morsels of food no matter how many times Janine tells them they don’t need to.

And outside, no headstones, but mounds of earth where one day trees might grow. We did those earlier, said our goodbyes, planted flowers and talked and sang and now we’ve all moved on. That part of our lives is neatly boxed away. We live to fight another day.

I’m sitting not far from the farmhouse windows, in Archie’s shadow. She holds an apple in her left hand and a chicken under her right arm.

You should go inside, Five! They’re opening presents! I love presents!

“A few more minutes, okay?”

You’ll catch your death is what I’d say if you were mine, Sara Smith adds. I feel her tuck a hair behind my ear, and shiver. Point proven.

Oh look! Little Sara got booties! Oh they’re so tiny! They’re very purple, but I think we can forgive that.

“Five?” Sam is silhouetted in the golden light of the doorway. “You coming in?”

I shake my head. He closes the door, walks up and sits beside me, draping a coat and an arm over my shoulders.

“Didn’t think you were. Do you want to talk about it?”

I shrug, leaning into his chest.

“Are you sure? Because… because I think I do. But we don’t have to. We can just sit here. Whatever you want, okay?”

No matter how many times I try to piece Abel back to how it was, I can’t do it. I squint and I can see the square where Carina did her first cartwheel, Molly desperately trying to copy her, all chubby toddler arms and legs, but then it’s the same square where Owen got shot and shot and shot and the images meld and blur and drown in blood until all I can think to say is-

“Out. I need to get out. Just for tonight. Please.”

I know Sam probably wants more than anything to go back inside rather than freeze to death in a zombie infested forest, but he smiles anyway.

“Yeah. We can do that.”

***

We leave Tom festooned in party hats and happily playing with the comms rig. Crowded dinners aren’t really his thing yet, either.

Sam watches from the bottom with a stopwatch as I pound up and down the hill, not stopping for breath, up, turn, down, repeat. Can’t think if you don’t breathe. Can’t think if your lungs are burning, crackling. Lactic acid spitting at my legs. I push through harder, faster.

“Five? Five? I think you might want to- FIVE!”

I go sprawling on the icy snow, the pain biting into my hands grounding me for a moment as Sam tears towards me. “You okay? You all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re bleeding!”

I hadn’t noticed. I roll onto my back, picking some of the gravel out of my hands. It’s not so bad, although it looks dramatic. My own blood isn’t jarring. I know it well enough.

Sam collapses down next to me, and we’re suddenly both gazing at the same stars, trying to stop our hearts from hammering. I know he’s going to talk, and I won’t be able to find the right words. I stare at my hands instead of the sky.

“Y’know, sometimes I’m walking around and around the training circuit with Sara, trying to get her to sleep, and I think how could I have done it, Five? How could… how could we have brought a baby into a world like this? Why did I ever think it was a good idea?”

“Things were different.”

I told them not to at the time. My heart soared when they said it and I struck it down with my head.

I’m not going to say I told you so.

“Things were always on a knife’s edge.” His voice catches. “I keep a brave face but I can’t stop thinking that we’re never, ever going to be safe again. There’s always going to be someone. So we won this time. There’s always going to be a next time, and one day…”

“One day, there won’t be,” I try.

“I know you don’t believe that, or you wouldn’t be out here. You wouldn’t be hearing them as much as you have been.”

Archie and Sara Smith and even Moonchild are quiet, pensive, waiting on the edge of my mind to add something but coming up short.

Sam sits up, rummaging through his rucksack for a first aid kit. He takes my hand, and I hiss at the dabs of antiseptic. “But what I do know is this. We might not have tomorrow, but we do have today. Maxine says today is the only thing we can trust. Today we’re safe. We’re together. Today we are winning. Just for today, we can let it be Midwinter, Hanukkah, Christmas Eve and New Year all rolled into one. Not the future. Not the past. Now.”

“Sam, Runner Five,” my headset crackles into life, and I pull it off so we can both listen in. “Something weird at your nine O’clock. I’d get moving.”

“Something weird?” I manage, turning on the mic.

“Zombie weird, but the sound of the movement isn’t quite right. It’s hard to…”

“Oh god. Oh god, oh god, oh shitting hell!” Sam stows the first aid kit, pulls me up.

“What do you see? My visibility is poor. Do you need backup? Shall I get Jane?”

“Are those zombies on, on, on-“

Tom calls it right as we do, seconds before the first one whistles past. “Skis! Aha, that’s what the noise is! Zombies on skis! Skiing zombies!”

“Surely nobody started the zombie apocalypse skiing downhill?! How did these guys even get here?”

“You worry about running now, Yao, think about the how’s and why’s later!” Tom’s voice becomes more Commander-like as the whooshing noises ramp up. “Forward. Turn right, go, go, go.”

We run clumsily, pulling each other along, trying not to slip again on the ice. But the zombies are flying by too fast to be a threat to us, their roars and growls muffled by the speed of the skis.

“If this is someone’s… idea of a joke… it isn’t… very… funny!”

“It is a little funny, Sam. Reminds me of a time I was in Canada and-“

“Don’t… don’t… you absolutely do not have a past experience that was like this!”

***

“All right, they’ve mostly landed in a tangled mess at the bottom, but they’re going to intercept you when you get there. Best bet is to split up and each take a different route back to the gates. That should be enough to confuse them.”

“We’ve only got the one headset,” I pass it over to Sam. “You have it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Course. See you back in ten, okay?”

“Race you!” He replies, almost laughing at himself, and is swallowed by the darkness. “I need the head start!”

I’m alone. All I can hear is the crunch of ice and the moans of the crumpled horde. For once, there’s not a single voice to guide me. Running is usually enough to block out everything else, but I can’t stop thinking about them slipping away from me again. I’m alone, I’m completely alone, and I can’t breathe, and I almost run directly into the gates.

He isn’t here.

It’s stupid to panic. I’m faster. Of course I’m faster, I’ve been a runner for years. This is what I do. Every inch of me wants to go and find him

He isn’t here in five minutes.

Everything’s shaking.

I don’t know what to do. Did he get lost? Kidnapped? Do I look for him? What do I do when there’s nobody to tell me where to go?

“Why are none of you speaking to me!”

Moonchild whispers in the back of my head. You know I only pop up when you’re in imminent danger. It’s not like we have control over these things. Anyway. He’s right there. You’re only in danger of looking crazy. He can’t know you’re crazy.

Sam is staring at me, and I realise I must look even madder than I did earlier. Tears are running down my face, and I’ve run my fingers through my hair so much it’s standing up on end. He’s the only one who knows about the voices.

He definitely already knows I’m crazy.

“Five, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

It’s not his fault. Chin up. We’re proud of you.

It will be all good again. Always sunshine after rain! Big brave smiles, yes?

I take a long breath. He’s here. He’s still here. Solid. Real. He wraps his arms around me.

“Sam. I really thought we’d… I’m so scared that… I don’t want you to end up just another voice in my head.”

Just a voice in your head, Runner Five? Nah, I’m so much more than they are. Our connection runs so much deeper, y’know?

“Oh, shut up,” I mutter as Moonchild pouts.

“I can’t make any promises; nor can you. None of us can. But I have a crazy amount to live for. We’ve got this far, haven’t we? Who’s to say we haven’t another Midwinter in us?”

“... I’ll drink to that.”

“Let’s get inside first. It’s so cold out here, and I want to see what Jody made for Sara.”

“Purple booties. Archie semi-approves.”

“Five, hearing stuff is one thing, but if you tell me the ghosts give you creepy powers now-“

“We were looking in the windows!” I’m indignant, and he grins.

“That makes more sense. Come on, I don’t want to miss any more of this.”

I let him pull me into the tremulous joy of the farmhouse at last, leaving the voices of the dead behind in the snow for now.

#zr #zr secret santa #zombies run #zrs5 #sam yao #runner 5

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mittensmorgul · 6 years

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Season 13 and the Big Bad

A defining characteristic of Supernatural in seasons past was the early identification and buildup of the Big Bad character of the season, to the degree that the cosmic escalation of big bads became a running joke. And then the show itself transcended the running joke with the whole “God’s SISTER!” thing, and honestly, where the heck do you even go from there.

Demons, Bigger and Scarier Demons, More Demons, Apocalypse-starting Demons with a side of Dick Angels, Lucifer and Michael, Raphael and Monsters, Leviathan, Demons and basically the Winchesters screwing with the natural order, Angels and Bigger and Badder Demons, MoC!Dean, God’s Sister the Darkness…

I mean who else was waiting for Fuckhands McMike to show up?

Once you hit that level, the whole IDEA of a single season Big Bad just… loses the power to engage. Almost everything after that point is gonna have a Been There Done That element to it.

That’s why the whole point of s12 wasn’t about a Big Bad Character, it was about the Winchesters finally having moved out beyond the plot far enough to look back at their legacy in a critical way. The BMoL weren’t there to act as the Big Bads, despite filling in part of that role. Same with Lucifer. Same with Mary. The real Big Bad of s12 was the Winchesters’ past, their legacy, their “destiny.” And finally beginning to find some sort of resolution and a fuller understanding of themselves. And that theme is continuing full-steam ahead in s13.

The real Big Bad is the friends we made along the way.

Nah, just kidding. The real Big Bad of s13 so far is Dramatic Irony. But let’s back up and examine the players on the board so far:

(under a cut because it’s like 3.6k words and this just seems practical, if annoying) :P

--There was much speculation that Wee Lil Nephilim Jack could “grow into his power” and become the season’s Big Bad, and 13.01 certainly tried hard to make us believe it… for about 15 minutes. He’s certainly got a terrifying amount of power at his disposal, but he’s such a lil marshmallow and just wants to be GOOD so badly. Just give him some nougat and watch him struggle to understand human morality with his Beyond God-like Abilities. So while he’s definitely a source of Major Cosmic Disruption, he can’t really fit the Big Bad bill.

--In 13.02 we met the Kentucky Fried Demon, the last yellow-eyed Prince of Hell, Asmodeus. Thanks to later retconning, we’ve tied yellow-eyed demons right back to the opening scene of the entire series, and the Inciting Incident of all the drama we’ve watched unfold over the last 12+ seasons. And the last one standing has now also been referred to by Lucifer as the “least” of his creations, yet Asmodeus has had a few surprises up his sleeve-- including his shapeshifting. But for all his inexplicable raw power to even confidently best Lucifer in a head to head fight, what are his actual goals? We know he’s long wanted to release the Shedim from Hell, but to what end? What does he even want? He talks a big game, but does he even have a Big Plan? Halfway through the season, we just don’t know, and as a result Asmodeus reads more like a cartoon than an actual threat, despite his “weirdly strong” powers.

--The Empty Entity, which after 13.04 I saw numerous posts speculating that maybe the Entity would grow weary of sleeping (or of being woken up by other angels and demons who somehow began awakening as a result of Cas’s disturbance to the force). But really, the essential nature of that force is… the opposite of interfering in reality. Much as God’s powers of creation held no power in the Empty, the Empty’s eternal stasis can’t hold power within Creation. Obviously Jack’s powers are somehow capable of bridging the gap between them, the same way he’s able to bridge the gap between alternate realities, but so far, the Empty Entity seems like a one-off.

--Billie as the New Death. I, for one, am SO GLAD she’s back, and that the mantle of Death has finally passed on to her. I’d been screaming about her being the New Death since 11.02, and she’s finally come full circle and stepped into that role. As such, she’s in a position to see the full scope of the Cosmic Circumstance, and her previous insistence on what amounts to a tiny cosmic imbalance of the Winchesters’ continued existence is more like a tiny grain of sand out of place while the problems the Winchesters’ continued existence SOLVES is like an entire beach crumbling away. As the linchpins holding the multiverse together, she’s counting on the Winchesters being ALIVE now. Hardly seems Big Bad-ish to have thrown her lot in with the protagonists of the piece, yes? She still has cards to play, especially after warning Dean about the cosmic house of cards and its current precarious state due to Jack’s interference with multidimensional affairs. Rather than having an agenda to do harm, like the Old Death, Billie serves more of a bellwether role. She’s a neutral force that’s acting within her powers to at least drop hints and warnings to the Winchesters.

--Lucifer has incredibly found his way back to the story AGAIN. Like, why won’t he just DIE already? *sighs heavily* At least now he’s been officially de-powered by AU Michael to the point where he’s become rather… ineffective. Poor thing and his little stick. So far, since he’s returned to the regular universe, his function has been running around Chicken Littling at everyone. Ironic since his main stumbling block so far has been his own personal Colonel Sanders impersonator. *cue all the chicken/egg metaphors* *something something chickens coming home to roost* *finger lickin’ good* It’s hard to take those sorts of parallels too seriously.

Just as Asmodeus is the “weakest” incarnation of a Yellow-Eyed Demon who has become “weirdly strong” mostly through the emotional significance that Yellow-Eyed Demons have held for the length of the entire series, Lucifer has become “weirdly weak” himself despite the effect his mere presence has just looming over the entire narrative since he was first mentioned way back in s3. His power is now largely symbolic through the psychological trauma he inflicted on Sam (and now as of 13.12, on Rowena). His Big Bad status seems far more weighty on a personal level for the Winchesters (and particularly on Sam), in finally confronting how their cosmic destiny has truly fucked with their lives.

Lucifer himself, meanwhile, has spent most of the season impotently locked in the AU, physically locked in AU Michael’s Iron Maiden, physically depowered by AU Michael’s rift-opening spell, and then tossed around by his “weakest” creation and locked in a cell for the last six episodes. Granted this gives him motivation for taking action, but his obsession with destroying Michael still seems to be his underlying motivation. Sure, he’s still interested in saving “the last perfect handiwork of God,” i.e. the natural world, but he still doesn’t give a damn about humanity. As of 13.12, the most danger he represents is the fact that the Winchesters have no idea he’s back in this world, and that he’s not the one holding Mary captive in the AU and torturing her. Which brings us tidily to…

--AU Michael. The Ultimate Big Bad of s5, at the end of the day, was Michael. He was the one who insisted on sticking inflexibly to his “destiny.” The “good and obedient son” who was prepared to carry out what he believed he had to, despite every opportunity to resolve the apocalypse peacefully and just choose not to fight. Even LUCIFER tried to make peace with him when they finally met at Stull Cemetery, and yet Michael regarded it as yet one more act of “disobedience” from his disobedient brother. And in the AU, their version of Michael actually won the big throwdown, and as a result left the entire planet a wasteland. Lucifer may have wanted humanity wiped off the planet, but witnessing the destruction of all of God’s creation was a shocking reminder that he never wanted to destroy nature… Michael didn’t even care, as long as he’d fulfilled his destiny. How… righteous (in the worst possible sense of that term, bordering on self-righteous). That has some Big Bad makings, no?

The problem with Michael so far this season is that he’s already succeeded in destroying his version of Lucifer, and destroying his own Earth in the process. It’s a fait accompli in his world, but as soon as he stumbled across the rift and learned of another world where he’d failed in the past, he’s been rejuvenated with fresh purpose. It seems almost compulsive for him-- Find World, Destroy World. It’s like his Prime Objective, and he’s incapable of NOT living up to that destiny. It doesn’t make him a Big Bad, just based on that alone, but it does give viewers the ol’ raised eyebrow of suspicion, just based on Michael’s past history.

Not to mention, Lucifer’s pointed out several times that like Asmodeus who seems “weirdly strong” (and yes I keep harping on that phrase because the Plum Sisters were also “weirdly strong” in 13.12, and for Yockey to write such terribly awkward dialogue there HAS to be a purpose, aside from gently mocking standard Bucklemming dialogue), AU Michael is more powerful than the version that the Winchesters (including Cas) helped defeat in 5.22.

The fact that Lucifer keeps insisting that Michael is so powerful, that Michael always gets his way, for those of us actually WATCHING the show, that’s just… blatantly false. The one thing Michael wanted most back in s5 was for Dean Winchester to say yes to him. It’s the one thing he never got. Because Dean’s will proved stronger than Michael’s sense of destiny and obedience. Back in 5.22, Michael rendered himself irrelevant when TFW “ripped up the ending.” The AU where this version of Michael is from never had the Winchesters to contend with, and so has never had to confront the true power of Free Will. Honestly? With TFW 2.0 resurrected from the ashes, how big of a threat does AU Michael truly pose? Because from OUTSIDE the story? No matter how “weirdly strong” that Michael is, it looks more like he and Lucifer are playing out the same pantomime they did back in s5, with just as much chance of actual success as they’d had back then.

What Michael and Lucifer DO bring to the story right now isn’t so much their power to be New Big Bads, but their power to bring the PERSONAL trauma that Sam and Dean (and Cas, by extension) went through as a result of the original setup and downfall of the Apocalypse, and an outlet for them to finally examine the emotional and psychological fallout of what they’ve suffered through and sacrificed to keep the universe from derailing itself over and over again. Which brings me to…

--The interdimensional rifts themselves. Billie had warned Dean about the cosmic house of cards that was dangerously close to toppling as the characters become more self-aware, and realize there are actually ways to cut through to other universes where they might find a way to give themselves a mulligan… where they might be able to “start all over again,” where they made different choices that led to different results. But the stability of the multiverse relies on individual realities maintaining internal continuity, and not bleeding over into one another at random. Which brings me back around to what Chuck told Dean when he left Dean in charge of the universe back in 11.23, and which Dean referenced in his anguished plea for help in 13.01, namely…

--Dean’s not only the “firewall between light and darkness,” but he’s been set in place as the figurehead for balance in the universe. He’s been appointed the guardian of creation by proxy, and hell he really doesn’t want the job. And yet who else is even going to try? Is that what Lucifer is trying to do, at least on the surface? Is that what Cas is attempting in trying to find Jack? Is that what Sam’s attempting in trying to help Jack learn what it means to be human versus a monster?

--Heaven and their Endangered Species Repopulation Project. It seems the angels are growing more desperate as their numbers dwindle. They’ve mostly ceased their interference on the mortal plane, aside from their desperate quest to find and use Jack’s powers to replenish their numbers. But considering Jack’s power level, it doesn’t really seem like much of a real threat to Jack himself. Considering the burst of power that came from Jack’s “power up” of Kaia, that seemed to make BOTH of them “weirdly powerful” enough to tear open another rift and simultaneously nuke six angels. Something tells me that if Jack wanted it enough, he’d have the power to snuff out pretty much any threat to himself. Sure, he’s trapped in the AU right now, but even that’s effectively removed him from the angels’ grasp anyway. It’s been a non-issue for the most part, and in the overall scheme of things, doesn’t seem like a top priority concern for anyone right this second...

--and finally, after 13.12, Rowena’s true nature and full powers have finally been unbound. What is she? What will she do with her powers? What are her goals now that she’s finally been restored to her full power? Will she retain reluctant Frenemy status with the Winchesters? Will she actively seek revenge against those who wronged her, primarily Lucifer? Will she make a play for power in revenge for Crowley’s demise? What does she even want now that she’s attained the personal freedom and safety she’d been seeking since her first introduction back in s10? Right now, she’s a wild card, but we do love her dearly, and I’m glad she’s back. :)

So… who’s really the big bad?

Between the season’s major themes of “things that look like other things,” and things not being what they seem on the surface, as Lizbob’s been saying all season, the Big Bad seems to be Dramatic Irony. The story ITSELF is its own worst enemy.

It’s the narrative structure screaming, “What you don’t know absolutely can and WILL hurt you.”

And all of this is being delivered through the resurfacing of old friends in slightly “off” ways. How many characters and cases and circumstances have directly pinged circumstances from the Winchesters’ past? Going right back to the opening scenes of 13.01, and the “vision” Dean had after Jack knocked him and Sam out-- the flashback to Mary burning on the ceiling overlaid against her being dragged through the rift by Lucifer in 12.23. The entire setup of that scene was rife with flashbacks to Sam losing Jess in the pilot episode, the woman in white played by Kelly Kline, the yellow-eyed monster in the nursery played by Jack, and Cas playing the role of the loved one who was burned and therefore was supposed to “stay dead.” But Mary had already defied that assumption, because she didn’t stay dead. Cas didn’t stay dead either. And now Rowena has also defied that particular truism...

Right from the start of the season we’ve been confronted with things from the past, but which only hint at the past because they’ve now either been applied to different things, or they’ve been transformed into something different, or encountered under entirely different context.

--The “Black Spur Bar,” which had previously been Demon!Dean’s hangout during his summer of love with Crowley was transformed into an entirely different bar where Dean mourned Crowley’s death and was unwittingly confronted by a new demonic adversary (dramatic irony!).

--Donatello the prophet, now purposeless in this post-prophecy, post-God world, left to live on without his soul, and yet still doing the best he could in the circumstances he was left with.

--Literal Alternate Universe versions of lost friends-- from Bobby to Kevin, to mentions of John and Mary and their existence in that other world. There’s no bigger metaphor for “Things that look like other things” than literal alternate versions of loved ones…

--Missouri Moseley, absent from the narrative for thirteen years, returned to pass on her legacy to her granddaughter, who’d been raised to doubt her own psychic powers and has now been forced to face what having those powers means for her.

--Not to mention Patience Turner’s last name dredges up questions about who the “Turner” who gave his name to James and Patience may have been, and as I sit here watching 11.16 I’m again reminded of the speculation that maybe it was actually Rufus Turner… we may never know, but heck, it’s definitely not wild to believe it might be true.

--Buddy the shapeshifter, in the sense that nobody is GIVEN the name “buddy.” It’s a nickname, and one that Dean has used many times in the past for Cas. But “Buddy” by his very nature… wasn’t. He impersonated Dean and attempted to shoot Sam. He wasn’t their “buddy” either.

--I mentioned her above, but Billie is no longer what she was before. She’s not a reaper, nor a dead reaper, but has been returned to the story as Death.

--The reaper who comes to collect Dean (and who Dean defies) in 13.05 is named JESSICA. That name is never spoken lightly in Supernatural. It’s a name nearly as loaded with personal baggage for the Winchesters as Mary or John, and again resonates straight back to the pilot episode of the series.

--Themes of monsters and the old west and cowboys and time travel (it was an antique pocket watch that even tipped Jack off to the case in Dodge City in the first place), with Cas now fully reintegrated with TFW, all call back to 6.18, even with the same musical cues, but the themes have all been twisted around sideways and reframed to new purpose. The fight’s no longer about external monsters and stopping the apocalypse, but internal monstrousness.

--We all thought Arthur Ketch was dead until he showed back up pretending to be his own “good twin.”

--We all also thought Rowena was dead.

--Nick’s Bar, where Lucifer chose as a convenient spot to have a chat with Cas about the potential Apocalyptic Situation they may be facing… while Lucifer’s now perma-trapped in the vessel formerly known as Nick…

--The new King of the Crossroads who survived less than the run of a single episode before being dethroned… He thought he could be the next Crowley, and Dean slapped him down with the truth, calling him “Some random demon.”

--Smash, aka Alice; the human dragged against her will into matters Supernatural, who pretty much everyone saw and immediately yelled OMG CHARLIE.

--The return of the Wayward crew, Jody, Donna, Claire, Alex… but now they’re no longer victims of the narrative. They’ve got their own entire spinoff. :P

--The Bad Place. Aka Purgatory Redux.

--Darth Kaia

--A monster auction that put the Winchesters on the chopping block, run by an FBI agent who literally served the monster population, in contrast to Human Authority Figures of the past, up to and including the BMoL who’ve fairly unilaterally wanted to destroy monsters in favor of protecting humanity.

--In that same episode, we finally see a bit of Donna’s personal life-- from her care for her niece to her relationship with Doug 2.0, and Doug’s ultimate rejection of the hunting life when he’s finally introduced to it.

--Jamie, aka Dean’s temporary “soul mate” in 13.12, was also the name of the bartender in 4.05 that was symbolically Dean’s “new first time” after having been “rehymenated” after his resurrection from Hell.

Not to mention Various and Sundry Villains, the theme this season being “Not what it appears to be,” as demonstrated at its most basic visual level with physical masks and hoods obscuring identity, monsters that take on different faces like shapeshifters and ghouls, or force their victims to PERCEIVE an altered version of reality such as the wraith.

Things are not what they seem on the surface, and the entire plot, the monsters of the week, and even ALL the potential “Big Bads,” and the narrative structure itself-- which is turning around and around this central point of Dramatic Irony-- is the fact that even us as the audience to this entire spectacle, with our added insight into SOME of the dramatic irony playing out week to week, even WE still do not see the bigger picture.

I'm cautiously optimistic that a lot of the Winchesters' problems regarding what they Don't Know will resolve when Cas joins up with them again. Cas holds a lot of Important Information that Sam and Dean need. They’ve been kept as much in the dark as a result of Cas’s imprisonment as Cas himself has. But even through the early part of the season, the validity of information they’ve worked off of has been suspect at best. The info they got from Jack's Vision Download in 13.09 wasn't the WHOLE truth about Mary’s imprisonment in the AU. They’ve made several rather large inaccurate assumptions based off that quick glimpse, though. Just like Patience's vision of Claire's death wasn't the WHOLE truth either, but it let to making several Big Choices that ended up having Massive Consequences.

Even when they think they're seeing the Big Picture Truth, there's still critical info missing from that picture.

The entire SEASON is the big bad wolf in sheep’s clothing.

That’s the entire POINT.

#spn s13 speculation #spn monsters #things that look like other things #narrative structure #dramatic irony is the the magnetic force holding all of s13 together

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sage-nebula · 6 years

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The Office Survey

@theofficestan came up with some cool survey questions for The Office, and I saw said questions in the tag, and since I have some time to kill (while I’m here, at work . . . my life is The Office in a lot of ways tbh), I figured why not?

This got long, though, so I’m putting it under a cut.

1.) Your three favorite seasons of The Office? (in order, if possible)

HMMM, outside of my top favorite season, this one is hard. But if I had to choose . . .

Four

Five

Either Seven or Nine

Four is an obvious winner. Although it’s tragically the shortest season due to the writers’ strike, every single episode in season four is pure gold, to the point where it’s really hard to pick just a handful of favorites. I mean, honestly, season four is home to these pure gems:

“Fun Run”

“Dunder-Mifflin Infinity”

“Launch Party”

“Money”

“Local Ad”

“Dinner Party”

“Did I Stutter”

“Goodbye Toby”

And that’s me narrowing it down. Honestly, season four was just . . . easily the best, imo. In addition to having so many good episodes (many of which were double the length, which slightly takes off the sting of it being a shorter season overall), the character balance was just really on point as well. Pam and Jim had just gotten together, so they were arguably at their cutest (arguably, because let’s be honest, they’re almost always cute); Michael escaped his abusive relationship with Jan and was starting his growth into a character that you could really root for; Dwight and Angela sadly broke up, and she began her relationship (read: fiasco) with Andy; I honestly prefer Ryan as the temp and wish that Karen had gotten that job instead of him, but at the same time we saw some growth and evolution in his relationship with Michael as well; Toby revealed himself to be a total creep, and so on and so forth. Season four is just really great! I really wish it had been longer.

That said, season five is also really, really good, and has to be my second favorite. Aside from the fact that this is where the Michael/Holly storyline started and was arguably at its best (I still like them later, I just prefer how they were depicted in s5), season five had the Michael Scott Paper Company arc which was AMAZING and I wish it had lasted longer (I really loved the brot3 that was Michael & Pam & Ryan; they were something else), as well as the episodes:

“Weight Loss”

“Customer Survey”

“The Surplus” (even the the “conflict” here makes no sense, it’s still a good episode)

“The Duel”

“Prince Family Paper” (COMEDY GOLD)

“Stress Relief” (ALSO COMEDY GOLD)

“Lecture Circuit” (SAME)

The Michael Scott Paper Company episodes as mentioned (“Two Weeks” - “Broke”)

And again, this isn’t to say the other episodes were bad, because they weren’t. This is me trying to narrow it down to some top faves.

Lastly, seven or nine . . . it’s hard for me to choose. Seven is up there because it did have some really good episodes, including quite a few which highlighted the relationship between Jo and Michael (which, while brief, was one of my faves). It also brought Michael and Holly back together, and “Michael’s Last Dundies” and “Goodbye Michael” are episodes that make me tear up every time. On the other hand, Michael also leaves, and that’s painful (even though the show is still good even after he leaves, and anyone who says otherwise is wrong), so. Season nine, meanwhile, was AGONIZING to watch as it was airing, considering all that goes on with Jim and Pam; I was on tenterhooks every week, terrified that the show was going to ruin everything and split them up. But it didn’t! They pulled through, and honestly I like that they were portrayed as a more realistic couple. We also had the introductions of Pete and Clark, who had a bit of a rough start but were still nice additions to the cast, as well as the best series finale a TV show has ever had (which is why I’m praying they don’t ruin it with a reboot). So both season seven and nine probably tie as my third favorite seasons overall.

2.) Your two favorite romances other than Jim/Pam?

In order:

Michael/Holly

Dwight/Angela

Michael and Holly edge out over Dwight and Angela purely because I feel that Michael and Holly were less dysfunctional. Like, there’s a quote from Angela in 2x15 where she says, “I’m in the healthiest relationship of my life,” but the joke is that she’s not; her insistence on secrecy with their relatonship is a mark of unhealthiness in their relationship, not because they’re bad for each other, but because neither of them are really in a place where they can be together healthily and happily. Of course they don’t stay this way; both Dwight and Angela grow exponentially over the course of the show, and by the time the finale comes they’re both very happy and healthy. But they had a period where they were, imo, just as dysfunctional as Ryan/Kelly, just in a different way, and others (Andy in particular) were caught in the crossfire because of it. Meanwhile, Michael and Holly never had that problem, and honestly, they’re just so dorky and cute. It’s not hard to believe that they are, in fact, soup snakes soulmates. So for me, Michael/Holly edges out over Dwight/Angela, though I love Dwight/Angela a lot as well.

3.) The five Office episodes you watch most often?

I honestly can’t answer this, because I’m one of those people that watches the show all the way through, and then two days later starts again from 1x01. I’m incorrigible. However, anything from seasons four or five is a safe bet if I’m just wanting to grab a singular episode to watch out of the blue. Also 2x12 “The Injury.”

4.) Pick just five favorite characters

MMHHH . . . I’m going to cheat and do two separate lists. The first one is for main characters (not just those in the opening credits, but also those who are in a lot of prominent storylines, such as Erin, Angela, and Robert California), and then one for side characters. I’m justifying this because it’s pretty much impossible to not have a top five list dominated by main characters since they receive so much focus, but The Office also has so many fantastic side characters that I don’t want to leave out.

So that said:

Top 5 Main Characters:

Jim Halpert

Pam Beesly-Halpert

Dwight Schrute

Ryan Howard*

Michael Scott

See?? The headliners really dominate. That said, Ryan gets an asterisk because I’m very picky about the seasons in which I love him. I like him best in seasons 1-3, where he’s there to be a deadpan snarker who is just . . . resigned and yet not to the fact that he’s a temp in this ridiculous place. I like him again in season five during the Michael Scott Paper Company arc. But otherwise I’m very “eh” about Ryan, because I feel that they often didn’t quite know what to do with him, and he wasn’t as entertaining as a hipster douchebag as he was when he was a quiet deadpan snarker. Jim says once, “I liked you better as the temp,” and Ryan says, “Me, too,” and honestly, same.

Top 5 Side Characters:

Stanley Hudson

Oscar Martinez

Nellie Bertram

Darryl Philbun

David Wallace

Yes, I really like Nellie. I’ll admit that part of it is because I adore Catherine Tate, but I also feel that a lot of people unnecessarily lambast her simply because they like Andy, and in all honesty, Andy deserved to lose his job after he did a No Call, No Show that involved hanging up on the CEO, and deliberately refusing calls when he knew that his job was on the line. He chose Erin over his job, and the fact that he felt he could just do that with impunity was a mark of his own immaturity. No, Nellie didn’t get the job in a very conventional way, but Robert California was not a conventional CEO. Doesn’t change the fact that she was selected, or that Andy acted like a prat.

Anyway, Stanley is amazing and severely underrated. I love Stanley. He deserves his decommissioned lighthouse that has a button he can press to launch that lighthouse into space. Give it to him. (Alternatively, he has earned his place in Florida. I’m glad he’s happy Florida Stanley for the remainder of his days.)

5.) Name three unpopular opinions you have about the show

Haha, let’s see:

The show was not bad after Michael left. Though honestly, I feel that this opinion is mostly shared by people who aren’t really fans of The Office as much as just people who know of it, and like an occasional episode, but otherwise don’t care that much. I’m never one to participate in “true fan” nonsense, but people who say that The Office sucked after Michael left remind me of genwunners in the Pokémon fandom: They like the early parts they saw, but didn’t want to give later things a chance. I admit that season eight especially has its rough patches, but that doesn’t mean that it was bad. I love all nine seasons of The Office---even season one has gems like “The Alliance”---and I disagree hard that the show was terrible after Michael left. Of course I missed him, but the rest of the cast was strong enough to still carry the show after he was gone.

As expressed above, Andy deserved to lose the regional manager position, Nellie would have been better at it, and Andy/Erin was tbh a bad relationship. This is three in one, but since they all center around Andy, I figure it’s fine to include them all in one. I already kind of explained above why Andy deserved to lose his job, but honestly, he really seriously did. You can’t just pull a No Call, No Show that involves you hanging up on the CEO and expect to keep your job. Hell, in most professional environments you can’t pull a No Call, No Show period and expect to keep your job unless you have a damn good excuse, and that’s the thing: Had Andy done that because he, say, got in a bad car accident on the way to work, or had a family emergency, that would be one thing. But he didn’t. He did that because he wanted to go get Erin back, and the only reason why he wanted her was because he couldn’t have her (more on that in a second). Andy didn’t have a good reason for blowing off work, he just didn’t. By doing what he did, he demonstrated that he didn’t actually care about his job. Therefore, he deserved to lose it. Secondly, I do think that Nellie would have been better. Sure, she was clueless---but so was Michael. So was Andy. The only people to have that position over the course of the show who weren’t clueless were Jim and Dwight (well, Dwight in season nine, at least). Nellie might have been clueless, but she could have learned, particularly since it was obvious that Dwight was keen on helping her with it. In addition to that, though, Nellie was her own, original character; after Michael left and Andy replaced him, it felt a bit like they were trying to write Andy as though he was Michael. He wasn’t quite a Michael clone, but there were certain episodes (such as “Gettysburg”) that had a Michael feel to them. But Nellie didn’t have that issue; Nellie had her own backstory, her own issues, and while she was clueless, she was clueless in a way that was different than Michael or Andy. She was a shake-up to the already established dynamic of the show, and so I feel that she would have been a better fit not necessarily in the sense that she was better equipped to be manager, but that having her in that seat could have led to some more original episodes over the course of season eight especially. Lastly, I’m sorry, but Andy/Erin was terrible and I’m glad it sank. It was really cute at first; the flirtationship they had was cute at first, particularly since they were both silly and immature. However: The Office is, overall, excellent in terms of character writing. For the most part, all of the characters are well-written, well-rounded, and realistic. However, Andy Bernard is one of the few exceptions. They changed his character both subtly and massively depending on the storyline they wanted to have, and writing him as more innocent and silly so that they could pair him up with Erin is one instance of this. Look at how Andy tries to court Erin in comparison to how he tried to court Angela; you could argue that he’s just shifting his approach in order to woo a different girl, and/or that his relationship with Angela changed him, but in honesty it doesn’t feel that way because we’re supposed to believe that Andy’s shyness is a genuine part of him. Andy was never shy about approaching women; in fact, in season three he says that his success with women is tied partly to his ability to slowly and steadily wear someone down. And we see this with Angela; he keeps pursuing her until she finally gives in. With Erin he was very tentative about it, coming across as more innocent, sweet, and a bit silly, which I think was probably due in part to the age difference between them, so that it wouldn’t seem creepy. Nonetheless, it’s hard to enjoy the fact that they’re both silly and naive when that’s . . . not really Andy, both before and after they’re together for the first time. They’re not really a good match for each other unless Andy’s personality is changed to specifically make it so. Moving on from that, and also setting aside how awful the will-they-won’t-they nonsense was (their first break-up was ridiculous, and clearly only done so that the writers could continue the will-they-won’t-they for the sake of drama), it’s as I said above: After their first break-up, Andy only ever wanted Erin when he couldn’t have her, and in that, it came to feel like he viewed and cherished her less as a person and more as something to win and then possess. I mean, think about it. Erin breaks up with Andy because of a contrived reason (she found out about his prior relationship with Angela). She ends up going out with Gabe, and Andy spends the duration of Erin’s time with Gabe being upset that Gabe “stole his girlfriend” (he didn’t; they weren’t together at the time), and insistent that Erin was “still in love” with him (she wasn’t; they only dated for like three weeks). Eventually, Erin decides that she does still have feelings for Andy, and she breaks up with Gabe to get together with him. After she makes this known, Andy . . . rejects her, because it “doesn’t feel right.” In other words: Andy was upset pretty much the entire time Erin was unavailable, but the second she was available and wanted to be with him, he lost interest. He then proceeds to keep ignoring her until he finally gets a new girlfriend of his own, Jessica. He then proceeds to up the ante on ignoring her, and starts going out of his way to hurt her feelings or otherwise flaunt his relationship (e.g. replacing her as head of the Halloween party without telling her, saying loudly how much he loves Jessica on a phone call with her when he knows that Erin is within earshot, etc). Eventually, Erin decides to pull a Jim and move away so that she can move on from Andy. Suddenly, after a season of ignoring her and deliberately flaunting his relationship in her face, Andy decides that he must have her back, and drives down to Florida to harass her until she comes back with him (there’s the “wear ‘em down until they say yes” Andy we all know and vaguely dislike). In other words: Andy was not romantically interested in Erin (and no, following her home to make sure Robert didn’t take advantage of her doesn’t count imo; that read less like jealousy and more like genuine concern considering that Robert is kiiiind of a creep), and in fact went out of his way to make that clear, but the second he saw that she was moving on from him, he just had to have her back. So he gets her back, and they return to Scranton. And what happens then? Well, he loses interest. Again. Except instead of breaking up with her, Andy just starts ignoring her again because there are other aspects of his life that are more interesting or enticing. His a capella drama is more interesting. His family’s boat is more interesting. And then he leaves her to go sailing on a boat for three months. And though he keeps in constant contact with David Wallace and tags her in memes on twitter, he only e-mails her four times. Once again, since he knew that Erin had interest in him, he lost interest in her. He had no interest in actually maintaining their relationship or spending time with her. So then Erin breaks up with him so that she can pursue Pete, someone who is genuinely interested in her and wants to be with her. And once again, now that Erin is unavailable, Andy wants her back. He tries to convince her to stay with him even though she is unhappy, telling her that if she fakes it, he won’t know the difference. He’s so utterly selfish that he literally does not care at all about her feelings. And while many felt this was out of left field, it’s not at all a surprise considering he only had interest in her when she didn’t have interest in him. He didn’t care about Erin as a person, really; he didn’t like or love her so much as he liked / loved the idea of her being into him. When he saw that he lost that, he flipped out. That’s not love, and it’s not a good relationship, and tbh I’m glad that she dumped his ass. Pete might have been (okay, was) underdeveloped, but at least he was genuinely into Erin, ffs.

I don’t think Creed is that great. Actually, I kind of dislike him. Don’t get me wrong, he does have some good lines. But mostly I just feel that he was a bit over the top with his creepiness in later seasons (such as the implications that he committed murder?), I don’t find any of his lines to be all that spectacular, and honestly, I can’t forgive him for what he did to Debbie Brown. I really can’t. So while most fans of The Office adore Creed, I’m just not one of them. Sorry, but I think he’s a bit overrated. That said, his song and final lines in the finale were great. But then again, everything about the finale was great, so that’s no surprise. :P

Thanks for making this; it was fun and a great way to kill time at work!

#the office

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