#his arc kinda goes backwards a bit

[frost-sama-senpai-san]

The Jake discorse has me wiling out hold on. First off, Jake English is the absolute LOVE of my GODDAMN life. So jot that down. Also, before we get started, I need you to understand I am using **manipulative** as a neutral term.

Ok SO

Im looking at this duality of like Jake is either a Manipulative Mastermind or a dumb dumb idjit boy with no brain. And I'm sitting here like!!! Neither of the two are completely true, but they can coexist!!

Jake was a child who grew up COMPLETELY alone on an island where everything was waiting to kill him at any fucking second. It follows that he would become almost OBSESSIVE about the state of his FEW relationships after that type of life. Both for companionship and literal (in Lil Hal's case) physical protection.

DO I think Mr. English uses social manipulation on his friends? Yes, absolutely. Do I think it comes from a place of malace or intention to hurt? NO! Jake is OBSESSED with how his friends view him. He is terrified that ONE DAY his friends are going to see him how he sees himself — a sad, lonely kid. So, he has to project the simultaneous images of "badass masculine movie hero" and "lovable goofballwith no brain who needs protection". The former is for HIS OWN self image, and the latter is for the PERCIEVED image of him. These two things are often contradictory... except... in the case of weaponized incompetence.

Aside from the Toxic Masculinity connotations of a lot of Jake's younger thought patterns (that he DOES actively try to unlearn), Jake PRETENDS he doesn't understand how feelings, emotions, and social cues work. He does this when he manipulates Jane into lying about how she has feelings with him by acting oblivious to them. We know he knew about Jane's feelings from a simultaneous chat log with Roxy. If he KNEW, why does he pretend he doesn't?

Remember how we talked about Jake being OBSESSED with his friends' opinions of him? If Jake were to come right out and say "No, I don't feel the same way," his relationship with Jane would become strained and almost inhospitable (at least for a little while), and Jake CANNOT handle that. His anxiety levels would go absolutely fucking BONKERS, SO, in an effort to avoid that nastiness, he forces Jane's hand into letting him off the hook. This is Best Case Scenario for Jake, as, now, the only person Jane can be mad at is herself. After all, SHE was the one who said she didn't have feelings for Jake.

I have a TON of thoughts on this but I'm gonna brief: We ALSO see it in the dissolution of Jake and Dirk's relationship. Jake had an image of Dirk in his head that didn't match the REAL Dirk. Now, in a healthy relationship, this would be something to work through and reconcile; however, there are some parts of Real Dirk that Jake doesn't necessarily like. Instead of being honest and communicating, Jake is SO conflict avoidant that he goes OUT OF HIS WAY to alienate Real Dirk from their relationship. Ugh, I can't remember the chat log, but I distinctly remember Jake talking to SOMEONE about how he and Dirk are growing apart and how he wishes the whole thing would just disappear. That would be the easiest option, right? Well, the next best thing? Blaming the breakdown on SOMEONE ELSE.

He puts Dirk in the position of the "bad guy", implying that it was *Dirk's* fault things were bad, and not his OWN inability to communicate. That way, Dirk can't be mad at JAKE. Again, like Jane, Dirk can only be mad at HIMSELF.

Ok, if you've read this far, you're probably thinking I'm firmly on the Manipulative Mastermind side of this argument, right? Wrong!

I think Jake does a lot of this as a survival mechanism. A lot of it might even be second nature. We see in the Post Trickster Smackdown from Jane, Jake is absolutely WRECKED. He is totally, horrifically GOBSMACKED by the consequences of his actions... not bc he believes they were unwarranted, but bc he KNOWS he DESERVES IT. He calls himself a coward, over and over again, bc he KNOWS his inability to face conflict is ACTIVELY HARMING his friends, and degrading his friends' opinions of him. BUT, just bc he's self-aware, that doesn't mean that second nature instinct just GOES AWAY. It can't! It's been built into him since he was a child, and, bc of the EXACT image he's built, it's been unknowingly enabled for YEARS.

Jake takes the Jane smackdown VERY hard. To the point where he becomes almost lifeless for most of the rest of the comic. His friends dont like him anymore, they TOLERATE him, BARELY. He has ended up in his worst fear — alone, with his friends thinking he doesn't care about THEM. Which couldn't be farther from the truth.

WHICH BRINGZ US TO THE CLINAX!

Up until this point, Jake has been picking fights he KNOW he can win. Whether it be social, or literal physical fights, Jake has not engaged in anything that could TRULY hurt him. He hid on his island until Lil Hal gave him freedom. He hid from the percieved danger of social downfall. He's been a coward, his entire life... until... THE moment he runs into TRUE REAL DANGER.

He steps in front of Jane to save her life. This is THE height of his arc. He cares SO much about his friend, the friend who FORCED him to look DIRECTLY into the eyes of his failure, he would do the one thing he's never done before. Without a second thought, Jake dives for her life, knowing it would kill him.

And that, my friends, is why I think the Jake discourse is silly. He IS manipulative, but he also loves his friends SO incredibly much. He doesn't do it to hurt THEM — he does it to protect himself.

The boy just needs some fucking therapy.

If you made it this far, thank you. As a reminder, I love discourse, but I do not take criticism. Amen, God bless. Go Mets.

#homestuck #jake english #what does this even say holy shit its so long wtf #also these themes continue into the eps and HS2. #his arc kinda goes backwards a bit #but only really for jane #looks at tavros crocker #sobs my lil eyes oit #kisses Jake and his son #i love them

[whatareudoinginmyhouse]

ramble warning below↓

I've had this thought kinda just sitting in my head for a while but I was feeling to lazy to post about it but I kinda feel like this song

kinda fits/describes Peepers' character development/arc in the show

So basically the song how I interpret it is about a person who constantly bends over backwards and sucks up to someone to please them finally snapping and standing up for themselves

This heavily reminds me of Peepers his character development throughout the series when it came to his Dynamic(idk if that's the right term) with Lord Hater

In the beginning of season 1 Peepers can be seen basically sucking up and doing whatever he can to stay on Lord Hater's good side + in the beginning of season 1 Peepers was kinda scared of Lord Hater and didn't back talk him at all.

But as season 1 progresses Peepers gains more of a spine and stops sucking up to Lord Hater as much and starts actually talking back, a good example of his character development in Season 1 in my opinion is in the brain storm where Lord Hater and Peepers quite literally butt heads over which plan to use to conquer a planet, in the episode Peepers can been seen arguing with Lord Hater, an example of this is when near the end of the episode when Lord Hater and Peepers were going back and forth about various ways Wander and Sylvia could ruin their plan and in the end of this bit Peepers ends up snapping at Lord Hater where as Peepers at the beginning of the season probably would've been to scared to even think about talking back to Lord Hater. But despite this Peepers still kind of sucks up to Lord Hater during the beginning of the episode by discarding a plan when Lord Hater finds out a way Wander and Sylvia could ruin the plan.

In season 2 is where we start to see more of Peepers' character development and we start see him really define himself as a character and start taking less of Lord Hater's disrespect, for example in the greater hater when Hater sees all the cool weapons Lord Dominator has Lord Hater yells at Peepers basically blaming him for the fact that they don't have all the stuff LD has instead of apologizing and sucking up to Lord Hater like he would've done in season 1 he instead yells back at Lord Hater blaming him and explaining that they could've had all the cool stuff Dominator had if he didn't need(want) all the stuff he mentioned in his rant. This only one of the many times Peepers has shown this development in his character.

+as the series progresses and we as viewers see Lord Hater become more incompetent we see Peepers fear Lord Hater less and less, and by the time Lord Dominator comes in season 2 all that fear Peepers had towards Lord Hater in the beginning of season 1 is pretty much gone (+ he becomes pretty sick of lord Hater's bs when he's trying to date Dominator)

Quick summary: I believe the song the contortionist by Melanie Martinez describes Peepers' character arc because the song is about someone who's constantly kissing up and bending over backwards to please someone finally snapping. And this reminds me of Peepers because he goes from sucking up to Lord Hater and being low-key scared of him before he had finally enough of Lord Hater's bs and stopped sucking up to him and actually started standing up for himself

(I'm so sorry if you decided to read all of this 😭)

#wander over yonder #woy #commander peepers #in short I think this song fits his character arc and I have a problem with combining my interests 😋 #this ramble is all over the place bruh idk where I was going with this😭 #stream portals btw 😍

[vynegar]

artem cards’ story arc circa 2nd anniversary

just finished reading artem's hook of love SSR and it's very cute and fun, has that type of humor unique to artem stories where they go about things so clumsily and with such delicious dramatic irony lol. i also appreciate the direction they took the story in with mc feeling sick, it's a nice change of pace from usual travel card stories where they just kinda go around doing random things

...then i saw that it's the last artem card before the engagement and it makes the latter SO much more egregious??? like, giant step backwards?? here we have peak gentle and considerate artem, a bit at a loss with animals but definitely able to take care of mc while also giving her 面子/saving face, and then he promptly forgets the lesson they learned, loses himself in the situation, and becomes the source of her anxiety. wut???

and it's such a shame because they could have done a really great story arc about communication with the cards before and after the anniversary (hook of love and fluffy fuzzy time). both have to do with the effective ways of communication, talking about simple, direct ways or through touch. ideally the anniversary could have been set after those two cards as a culmination of what they learned in those stories, and we could have seen those "lessons" put into practice as artem expresses himself in various ways: directly in his proposal, solving problems and taking care of mc to build trust, and through touch because of his feelings/desires. that would have required FFT to happen before the anniversary though, and an event schedule shift probably isn't feasible.

there's still a way to read artem's actions through the framework of the lesson in FFT: although artem tried a head-on approach (proposing to mc), touch was still needed to express his desire/insecurity/other feelings and catalyze the relationship further. both methods of communication were important. however, i feel like it's very subtle and it goes unacknowledged by the FFT card story, so i don't really think the writers did that intentionally. a few lines of dialogue alluding to as much could have really helped giving a sense of continuity to the two cards. (the first half of the proposal would still need to be rewritten in order to avoid his giant step backwards from hook of love, though.)

[i originally titled this “continued thoughts on artem’s proposal” since this is p much the spiritual sequel to that ask from when artem's proposal card first came out. back then i wondered if insecurity and desire had come up in the recent artem cards which might explain anniv2 and now i can definitely say: no. no they absolutely did not !]

#tears of themis #artem wing #tot artem #zuo ran #hmm maybe now i kinda understand why some ppl were so heated. it's just like. baffling. the choices that they made for the story #like HELP how are you just going to pay lip service to some of his themes but take most of the actual inspiration from the card where they'r #they're least in sync and before he got ANY of his character development through their relationship?? #tot liveblog #thoughts of themis

[greatrunner]

"You've given them the semblance of a choice. That's enough".

Count on Lan to be honest about the lack of honesty, lmao

Alright so, I reached the end of the Wheel of Time last night, and it's honestly making me wonder why this series was eight episodes instead, I dunno, 13 or 22?

Looking back, if this was a mere miniseries, I could understand the truncated, "let's get to Point A to Point B" number of episodes. I mean, eight (as I remember) was the hardline definition of a miniseries if it wasn't six, five, four, three, or two.

The show spends a lot of time introducing new ideas, flashbacks, and whatnot. Some of it gets paid off alright, but the rest feels more like a "please renew us" ploy than anything beneficial to the story. I like the idea that this isn't just a basic generic fantasy world. That, at some point, the world reached a "Society If [Blank] Happened" type of reality, then I guess, did a whole walk backward into the Renaissance Fair. That's cool, I wanna see more of that idea explored in the story.

But, what was the point of that false dragon narrative outside of setting up the dynamics of the white tower (specifically, giving a lot of face time to the one Team Red character who's apparently supposed to represent Misandry (????), until Moraine threatens to snitch about her male side piece, which made me cackle)?

That's not a bad thing, but with the way the character got a whole intro, I would've assumed he would've got a lot more than "Mini-Boss demoted to Jobber".

They really dragged out the whole "Who is the Dragon Reborn" nonsense until the second to last episode, then revealed it with what feels like the intention to do a speedrun of a Souls Boss Battle, right down to the "Big Fight Separates the Group" bit.

I'm not really understanding the whole Nynaeve/Lan subplot. One character says, "She likes you", and there's almost zero interaction between these characters outside of homegirl's contempt and mistrust of him and Moraine. Maybe some fireside time with the other Warders. I viewed the latter as Nynaeave becoming a little less distrustful of people, but not a foundation for a romance.

I had half a suspicion they were gonna try to pair her off with Stephin (the white guy who lost his Channeler) before I even considered Lan was a potential love interest?

But now the last couple of episodes are like, "Welp, let's run with this" and on top of the doldrums that is Moraine's #1 Stan and Angry Ginger's drama (plus the guy who gutted his wife), I'm just not here for this nonsense. (Understandably, I know that moment was just friends slinging mud at each other, but they really went Felicity with the whole thing.)

Like, when the hell in the last six episodes before that comment was the audience supposed to pick on "Tsundre Nynaeve Has a Crush on Stoic Bodyguard and Edward Cullen Stalks Him Everywhere"?

(Makes no damn sense. It displeases me.)

On the other end of things, I kinda like how Moraine's story arc ended (as far as season one goes). Like, I didn't want her to lose her connection to the one power, but it also kinda felt like a consequence of every choice she's made in the show (so far). And, ironic (I guess????). Rosamund Pike really sold the loss, and Danie Henney made it worse with the "Can you unmute me, please?" And she's all ;_;

Throughout the show, she's had great chemistry with the five Ronin Warriors she picked up. The show certainly squandered the dynamic between Moraine and Angry Ginger (I wanna call him Josh, but that's the actor's name). That whole "Last Stand" against the Dark One would've been way more compelling if, again, the show's first season chose length over expediency.

(The Dark One could be an interesting character since Ginger didn't kill him but released him. But I get the feeling he's just gonna be a pretentious version of HEROES's Sylar, who was already up-his-own-ass to begin with if you get me.)

The show tries to incorporate that into the story. Moraine's general lack of interest in anyone except that one woman who trusts her immediately after learning about the One Power. How that sends her up Shit Creek when she realizes the Dragon is that one dude she ignored. To some degree, it works, but it also just feels like them covering their asses.

Ultimately, the end of the season felt, not like the end of a story chapter, but very television-y. Moraine saying, "This wasn't the last battle. This was just the beginning", threw me into a Dragon Ball Z flashback. Specifically, the one where Gohan hits SS2 and Dale Kelly (the OG DBZ narrator) is selling the "tune in next time!" moment.

I'll probably wait until the second season's done airing to watch all of it. Overall, Wheel of Time is a decent show. Not at all like Game of Thrones outside of how the writing seems to be taking visual cues from explicitly not white cultures and framing them in questionably malicious ways in contrast to the Eurocentric White Tower girlies.

#greatrunners meta #greatrunner watches the wheel of time #amazon prime #wheel of time #screenwriting

[tuliharja]

BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Separation episode 4 review

Gotta love how at the beginning of the episode Bambiette's girlfriends were trash-talking about her...such a 'lovely' friendship they've, wouldn't you agree?

Anyway, seeing Bambiette's maniac pleasure in destroying things and trying to destroy Shinji, Momo, and Sajin somehow made me smile. I don't know, but the fact she seemed to be so thrilled when her 'bombs' landed and how pretty those were? There was almost something poetically beautiful in that whole thing. Then again, Bambiette's reckless (stupid) nature is something I really dig as there is almost this murder-like child glee in her...

And yes! Finally! We got to see our handsome wolfman as a man! Though, just like Bambiette I felt a bit disappointed. After all, doggies (yes, I know Komamura is a wolf, but calling him 'doggy' isn't that far off, considering thanks to the evolution once upon a time dogs too were wolves...so, in a way, Komamura went backward with his new technique?) are much cuter~.

I kind of wish we would have learned more about the whole ordeal behind Komamura's clan. What exactly were his people (in the past?) do, that made it so, they had to live in shadows? Not to mention, the way Komamura's grandfather speaks, implies once upon a time they were all humans? So, what kind of 'sin' they committed, that made it so, they were turned into beasts? And it seems that cycle hasn't been able to break, because Komamura too was in his beast form... not to mention, I'm now wondering if given enough time, would Komamura one day turn out to be as big as his grandfather? Or, because he used Jinka Technique (basically used up all his powers), it's impossible. After all, before that he was a werewolf, but now he is just a small wolf...so yeah. A lot of questions, which I kind of hoped would have gotten answered or at least touched one more.

They really went with Komamura's Bankai 'this is GCI, take it or leave it'. Kinda impressive that they didn't even try to tone down that fact, but at the same time...I don't know. His Bankai looked okay in the manga, but now...it's an artistic style choice and easier to animate like that, I get it, but even so...it personally wasn't my cup of cacao. But at least the fight between Komamura and Bambiette was a very good one. I bet if they had animated his Bankai differently, doing Bambiette's flying attacks around it would have been trickier to pull. But at least now it went smoother till the end.

Bambiette's biggest mistake against Komamura was her fear that he managed to install in her. Then again...most living beings are scared of death, so it was somewhat natural Bambiette would freak out when she found out Komamura was like a dead-dead. I mean, aren't all shinigami technically dead? But because we see them walking, talking, etc. it gives this illusion of them being 'alive', but...they really aren't. They're like echoes of living that can bleed. Hmm. Then again, Komamura could be different, because he is a werewolf. Or not. Like, where goes the line between being shinigami and not being one goes? Does having an education that allows you to use Zanpakuto make you shinigami? Because Komamura's grandfather seemed to view Komamura as not being one of them, but in the end he was? Because of his "wolf spirit". So yes. Where does the line between being shinigami and non-shinigami (not soul in this case) go? After all, I feel like Komamura blurred that line and in the end owned both 'worlds' if we can talk about 'worlds'...

Even so, it doesn't make it any less sad Komamura turned into a tiny wolf in the end. He gambled it all and managed to take down only one Quincy. Now imagine his transformation had lasted much longer? Yeah, he would have belonged to those big threats Yhwach warned his Sternritters about.

Komamura's whole little arc was very emotional and I feel like despite the fact his grandfather 'helped' him, in the end, his grandfather also used Komamura. (This could explain why Komamura's grandfather is so big and old because by eating other werewolf's heart/revenge/soul, he manages to keep going on and grows bigger.) But like Komamura realized, the path of revenge will only lead to one's destruction. His lieutenant's words sounded almost hollow when he tried to reassure Komamura. But, maybe this truly is Komamura's clan's curse? The need for revenge, but against whom or what? Because Komamura's revenge was to avenge Yamamoto's death...and shinigami aren't above such things as revenge, so what made Komamura's clan so special they were consumed by the werewolf curse? Because they were willing to burn so brightly for their revenge?

Somehow, this whole episode was about Komamura, even though there were little parts about others here and there. Next time...hmm, I wonder if we'll see Rose and Kensei against that Superstar and those two 'mysterious' lights. Manga readers will know what those are~.

Oh my gosh, that ending! I just loved, loved that ending clip of Senjumaru waiting for Ichigo! She looked absolutely stunning, in the middle of her clothes, with a wicked smile on her lips.

My my. What does she indeed want about little Ichigo? ;D

Also, did Ichigo just become Soul King's spare vessel in case of emergency? ^^'

#Bleach #bleach #bleach: thousand-year blood war #bleach tybw #Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War #Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War -The Seperation #the seperation #episode #episode review #episode 4 #Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War episode 17 #cour 2 #bambietta basterbine #momo hinamori #komamura sajin #sajin komamura #sternritter #shinji hirako #komamura's grandfather #wolf #kensei muguruma #rose otoribashi #superstar #kurosaki ichigo #ichigo kurosaki #senjumaru shutara #senjumaru #souk king #reio #this made me think lot of things

[cblgblog]

Hi there.

We've never spoken before, but as you can see from my username, we have at least two common interests.

Anyway, I'd like to talk to you about Wanda Maximoff. I've made it no secret that I am an avid defender of hers, despite the many, many bad things she has done.

I suppose my first question is, do you think MCU Wanda is still redeemable after everything she has done, especially recently? Personally I really want to believe that she is.

My second question is a lot more heavy: since you seem to be a fan of Elizabeth Olsen and her Wanda, you have doubtlessly heard people say that she is whitewashed. I've seen numerous people say that, and these are just a few examples:

There's also this one YouTube video that I've been trying to get help analyzing, but apparently video links aren't allowed in asks. Sad.

At any rate, what do you think? Do these accusations hold water? Is MCU Wanda whitewashed? Is Elizabeth Olsen a racist? Is it wrong to be a fan of the character like these people seem to think?

To be absolutely clear, I don't want to believe any of the questions I just asked, but the cynic in me is forced to consider all the arguments.

Hey there, fellow Wanda apologist, pleased to meet you.

Is she redeemable? That’s gonna be a your mileage may vary thing. Everyone has different thresholds of what they’re willing to forgive, and it depends on the writing. To me, the telling thing is Professor X, and them very blatantly stealing his line from Days of Future Past. “Just because someone stumbles and loses their way, doesn’t mean they’re lost forever.” That line is very telling that they’re at least leaving open the possibility of a redemption arc. To me, personally, yes, she is. The comics redeemed her after similarly catastrophic events, or they at least tried to. Some people bought it, some people didn’t, and that’s what I see with MCU Wanda’s future.

I will say that MoM majorly fucked over Wanda’s character development. Apparently the original pitch for the movie was the bits we see in the trailer: her teaming up with Strange to make up for Westview, and not having her bad turn until later. Then 2020 happened, stuff got delayed, Wandavision blew up, and, according to the commentary track on the flick, the creatives on that movie decided that they wanted to be the ones who got to shoot all the fun, scary, Wanda goes evil stuff, so they reworked the script. And while I get that theoretically, on a selfish level, I get the impulse….you idiots went and broke all her character development from Wandavision.

The whole point of Wandavision was that she messed up, she did the bad thing, then she undid the bad thing. It doesn’t undo the trauma she caused, but at least she was—supposedly—aware that this path she was on wasn’t sustainable. The thing would’ve made so much more sense if Wanda starts MoM on a path of helping Strange and America Chavez, then sees all these different universes where she’s happy with her kids, and that sets her backward. Because who wouldn’t see that and want that happiness? She’s still recovering from like…her entire damn life, it would make sense for her to backslide there. But having her start out the movie in evil mode just kinda…undid Wandavision’s whole finale, thanks guys.

But anyway.

They wrote themselves into a corner there. Do I think they’re gonna try to write themselves out of it and give her a redemption arc at some point? Yeah, I think we’ll get it down the line, and it’ll be too little too late for some people no matter what happens, and that’s fine. I will personally still love the character, while acknowledging that she did some absolutely terrible thing. Or, in the words of a friend who says stuff much more concisely than me: "If we can forgive Tony 'sold WMDS for funsies for years' Stark we can forgive Wanda "The darkhold took over my mind along with grief" Maximoff"

And now, the hornet’s nest.

Is she whitewashed? Yes, absolutely. Does that mean that you, or anyone else who likes the character is trash? No. You are allowed to acknowledge that something is flawed/has issues, and still enjoy it. Tumblr will tell you otherwise, but you are never going to find the perfect, Unproblematic Thing, that was written by the perfect, unproblematic person, and has no questionable aspects to it, or the people behind it. It isn’t happening, sorry guys.

As to Elizabeth Olsen being a racist: She didn't know who she was cast as until she'd signed a contract, so even if she wanted to back out that's a no-go.  You sign on these things for multiple movies, for millions of dollars. But I’m sure everyone who’s yelling at her for daring to work on these films is an expert in contract law.

The slurs: to my knowledge: Reportedly she's said gypsy twice, once in 2015 in an interview and once very recently in interview. Gypsy instead of Romani. The comics have been calling her gypsy for years, and we know Olsen’s read some of the comics, at least. Bad word choice all around. My personal feeling is that people slip up. I don’t know the woman, she might be an evil racist sociopath. Outside looking in? I think she’s used inappropriate terms before, without the intent to do harm, but she fucked up. I think the powers that be at Marvel—comics and movies—say gypsy in reference to her, so Olsen does the same thing at times.  

Again, every human being has problematic aspects. Celebrities are included in that. It’s your business to decide what’s forgivable and what’s not to you personally. All I know for sure is that every single person who shames strangers on the Internet has said or done something cancel-worthy, and every single one of us would look like terrible people if the Internet was able to put a microscope to everything we’ve ever done or said.

So anyway. It’s okay to like Wanda and want good things for her, while acknowledging that she’s done awful things. It’s okay to engage with the MCU’s take, while acknowledging that whitewashing absolutely happened. Tumblr will tell you otherwise, but you asked my opinion, this is my opinion.  It’s okay to like the character and not the actress. It’s okay to still like the actress and acknowledge that she’s done problematic things. It’s. Okay.

You aren’t poisoning the world by engaging with what you like in a way that you like, and anyone telling you otherwise isn’t saving it either.

#pro wanda maximoff #wanda maximilf #elizabeth olsen

[nebulaleaf]

akira i feel like would definitely have a palace based around a martyr complex / identity crisis, about how he twists and contorts his personality to match whoever he's with, all for the sake of making them happy. after all, when you spend too long wearing so many different masks, you might just forget what your own was like. there's a lot of potential there, while he appears very suave and collected i guarantee he has a bad case of Protagonist Syndrome. you could make an entire palace just about how he must feel about akechi honestly. this boy needs to think about his own happiness but he's too busy trying to save everyone else. idk. i have A Lot of feelings about akira palace aus

okay anon i don't mean to tear your idea apart i just got kinda caught up with something i see a lot in fanon and wanted to use this ask as a vessel to rant about it </3 does akira really have that bad of an identity crisis? i can agree with the martyrdom-- he literally goes to jail and allows himself to be interrogated to protect his teammates-- but i don't actually think akira is as masked as fandom makes him out to be. sure he goes about responses differently depending on the person, but everyone does that. it's just how conversations work. there's also him being a little more pandering at the start of most confidants outside the PT, but that's because he's trying to get something important like medicine, information, weapons, etc. Once you progress further though, like one or two ranks he's just back to showing off himself (albeit a bit guarded because... telling Ohya he's a phantom thief would be a dumb idea obviously) most of the confidants end in the other person praising you for showing them the way by being yourself. akira's entire "story arc" is him sticking to his guns and not bending backwards to be something else, someone else, for ANYONE else. i think he does put up some facade to mask how heavily being the leader weighs on him (see the christmas eve scene where he opts to allow futaba and sojiro one final good night with him before dipping because he didn't wanna bring down the mood) but I wouldn't go so far as saying akira doesn't "know who he is" anymore. he is very sure of his place in the world, that's trust in his sense of self and morals is what allows him to stand up to yaldy and summon satanael after all. second thing, do you mean protagonist syndrome like main character syndrome? because that's usually characterized as someone who's self-centered and out of touch with other people-- something that directly contradicts your words and akira's characterization imo. he can be selfish but not to That point. Unless you mean his palace ruler? i could see his shadow being warped to the point where he sees himself as above others, but less because that's what Akira actually thinks and more for "oh this is my WORST self" reasons. ok with that out of the way. the happiness... yeah i could see that being a big factor in his palace. especially if this is a scenario where he returns home and spawns one. akira fought so valiantly for everyone's happy endings, only to end up right back where he started, completely and utterly alone...

#pego analysis #long post #aaaaaaa sorry i just went off my bad #persona 5 #p5ram

[utakoi]

Suds

Pairing: Soft Yandere!Enji Todoroki x GN!Reader 

Summary: A reformed Enji gives you a bath and contemplates your relationship with him.

Warnings: Yandere themes (abduction + mention of lewd thoughts + bindings [it’s rlly soft stuff tho])

A/N: never thought I’d write for Endeavor, but felt like this kind of concept fit his character the most after his redemption arc and uh... Idk kinda soft and horny for him whoops. Also I started a new aesthetic for my fic headers to separate them from my hcs, but idk if I like it yet

“Is the water too hot?”

You say nothing back to Enji as you kneel next to the tub, dipping your fingertips into the water. After a few moments of inspection, you rise from your spot and give Enji a pointed look over your shoulder. Knowing what the look means, Enji turns his back towards you and crosses his arms. 

For the past couple days, you’ve been trying out a new tactic of defiance: the silent treatment. 

Silence in his home isn’t new to Enji. Rei had been a quiet wife for most of their marriage, only conversing with him if he spoke to her first or if it was in regards to their kids. After Rei’s hospitalization and Touya’s death, his life had practically become silent, save for the times his remaining sons would jeer at him and the small talk his daughter would initiate. 

But he’s not used to silence with you. The first few weeks after he abducted you were anything but silent. Begging him to let you go, screaming that he’s an asshole, shattering fine china when you threw the dishes at his face and missed… and most recently, breaking the bathroom mirror during your scheduled bath time. He had come rushing in, only to be caught off guard when you swung a shard towards his chest the second he burst through the door. Luckily, his instincts as a hero allowed him to react quickly enough to swerve to the side. After the incident, he told you that he would have to monitor your baths from that point forward. You spat at his feet in response. 

To be honest, Enji thinks you should be more grateful that he didn’t punish you more severely for attempting to kill him and for your other past acts of rebellion. He could have easily done whatever he had wanted to you. For a second, images of your wrists tightly bound by rope and your quivering lips forced apart by a dirty rag flashes through Enji’s mind. He shakes his head. 

No, he’s a new man now… sort of. He’s trying his best to please you, at least, as much as he can as your captor. Sure, he’s forced a few cuddles here and there, but he had never forced himself on you sexually. Even when you were stripped bare to bathe, he hadn’t made a single move.

… Ok, he’s not completely innocent; he’s had lewd thoughts, but he never acted on them. 

The sound of your robe falling to the floor brings Enji back to the present and he waits until he hears a splash to turn back around. Once he does, the sight that greets him makes him crack a smile. 

The tub is ridiculously full of bubbles, the cloud-like mass practically engulfing your form. If any more of the soapy solution were to be added, he’s sure that he’d only be able to see the top of your head peeking out from the suds. To top it all off, you’re pouting like a child, clearly not wanting to give him the gratification of seeing you enjoy the perfect bath he prepared for you. 

“I know that you’ve been wary of your modesty, so I made sure the bath had more bubbles today,” he says as he sits cross-legged by the tub. “Though I suppose that I went a bit overboard with them.”

He eyes your face for any type of reaction. You say nothing back to him, but he catches your eyes soften. 

Enji’s not exactly sure why they do. Are you finally warming up to him? Or perhaps you're just grateful that he had gone through the efforts to make sure your intimate parts were concealed while he washed you? It’s most likely the latter, but he can’t help but let the hope of the former possibility sweep through him. 

“Which shampoo and conditioner would you like to use today?” Enji asks. You take a while to eye the several bottles in the shower caddy before indicating your choice by pointing at them. Enji makes a mental note of the brands as he squirts the shampoo into his calloused hands. 

As per routine, you shift yourself against the tub so that the back of your head is facing Enji. Gently, he lathers your hair. To be honest, he could probably trust you with bathing yourself; it’s not like you could do much damage by swinging some shampoo and froth at him. He could have just stood by the side and watched, making sure that you wouldn’t do anything like before. 

Still, he can’t help but just want to spend some peaceful quality time with you. Anytime you’re in the same room as him, your shoulders are always squared, as if you’re prepared for an attack at any moment. The few times he’d gone in for a hug after an exhausting day of hero work, you struggled and told him to fuck off. Your bath times are the only moments where you allowed yourself to relax. 

Actually, the first bath time after he announced your punishment was completely opposite to now. You had screeched and clawed at him when he tried to touch your hair; Enji still had a light scar on his forearm from where you managed to scratch him. 

Now… Well, he could only guess that you gave up on rebelling, at least, during your baths. Enji felt warmth pool in his chest at the thought. He had put in a lot of effort in trying to make the baths as nice as possible so that you could ease into the practice easier. The idea that he had succeeded in making you happy made his pride skyrocket. 

He takes his time scrubbing your arms and legs, savoring the feeling of your skin against his. You’re obviously aware of his actions, but seem to let them slide, only giving him warning glares when his hands would get too close to your torso. He turns his back towards you again once he’s done with your limbs, leaving you to clean your most intimate parts and wash off the foam. 

When you give him a tap on his shoulder to signal that you’ve put the robe back on, he sits on the lid of the toilet and lightly holds onto your waist to pull you onto his lap. Once you’re situated, he takes a brush and combs through your damp hair. While he could trust you in washing yourself, he could never trust you with combing your own hair; the brush was what you used to break the mirror. 

“Enji?”

He stops brushing your hair for a moment, surprised that you had broken your silent treatment. He hadn’t even realized that you had called him by his given name for the first time rather than his hero name until after you leaned your head back to lay on his chest. 

He clears his throat before responding with a shaky, “What is it?”

“Will I ever be able to bathe alone again?” You tilt your head backwards to meet his downward gaze. 

He resists himself from frowning at your question. If he let you bathe alone, he wouldn’t have moments like these anymore. He’d be back to experiencing your anger and malice 24/7 again.  

“... If you behave for a while longer, then I’ll consider it.” He hopes that, while it’s not a straight yes or no answer, it’ll suffice.

To his relief, you merely let out a hum in response and lean forward again. Enji goes back to brushing your hair, trying his best to be gentle when combing out the knots. 

For a while longer, he lets himself enjoy the serenity of the moment, pretending as if this wasn’t a punishment. 

He was just taking care of the love of his life and you were simply enjoying being pampered by your loving husband.

#yandere bnha #yandere mha #bnha imagines #mha imagines #enji todoroki x reader #todoroki enji x reader #endeavor x reader

[leverage-commentary]

Leverage Season 3, Episode 4, The Scheherezade Job, Audio Commentary Transcript

John: From left to right on your radio dial this is John Rogers, executive producer.

Aldis: This is DJ Chocolate Skittles, also known as Aldis Hodge.

Chris: And this is Chris Downey, executive producer and writer of this episode, The Scheherazade Job.

John: Aldis has very kindly decided to join us for this commentary since he was-

Aldis: Hello!

John: He did a lot of work on this episode. This one rode- 

Chris: Oh yeah

John: This was one of those ones where you're just like, ‘This actor's gonna be working his ass off for this.’

Aldis: Oh joy.

John: Well Chris, why don't you tell us the origin of this episode?

Chris: Ah well the origin came from a- my friend here to the left, Aldis, back in season one we were just talking about you know things we like to do in our spare time and Aldis mentioned that he loved the violin, he’d been studying it, it was the closest thing to the human voice for an instrument.

Aldis: Yes.

Chris: And coincidentally my wife is a violinist and at the time I said to you, ‘I'm gonna find a way in an episode of Leverage to have you play the violin’ and what did you say to me?

Aldis: I think I said, ‘Do it.’

[Laughter]

Chris: And then you laughed at me.

Aldis: Yeah, we were shooting what was that, the season finale?

Chris: Might've been the season finale

Aldis: That was- yeah, Pasadena?

John: Yup

Aldis: Yeah, yeah, I remember that conversation.

Chris: And this is Martha Boles, terrific actress from Los Angeles.

John: This is interesting actually, we had a- when we were setting up the bad guy here, we had an interesting conversation about- and this is one of those things you talk about in television. Should the reporter be white or not?

Chris: Yeah.

John: Yeah. We were looking at casting and we were like, no it should be a black reporter working with that. And then we got some, you know, feedback that's like, well now it's a white crew of criminals, apparently missing Aldis’s presence, helping out a black reporter. 

Aldis: Don’t worry, they miss me all the time.

John: It's one of those- it’s tricky, it's one of those things where one of the reasons we kinda were leery of doing international crimes, first season and second season. And you kinda- because it's always a minefield, it just is. And now in third season, everyone’s comfortable and everyone knows the show well enough that you can kinda try to swing outside the box. I think Chris did a great job taking this outside the box for the first time on the show.

Chris: Yeah it was- it was interesting cause most- I think we talked about this, most episodes start with the bad guy and we kinda work our way from there. We kinda talk about ‘what's the bad guy, what does he want, what is his weaknesses’. And this is one of those episodes that started with a big idea late in the episode which was the orchestra heist, and we kinda worked from there to kind of try and figure out whose our bad guy? And that's- we decided- we hadn't done an African kleptocrat, we wanted to do that for a long time, and this seemed like a good opportunity to do that.

John: Now also when doing a straight heist, because we were coming at it as a straight heist, we wanted a small highly portable object. The cleaner the object, the cleaner the goal of the heist, the more you can work around the elegance of the heist itself. And when you're staring with an elegant heist, which is the music heist, you have to do something very clean, which was diamonds. And so it all sort of fed into this one storyline.

Chris: Yes, yes.

Aldis: Didn't you want to play the organ? At first I mean that's plain and portable and-

[Laughter]

John: Yes, originally it was a giant Wurlitzer organ. 

Aldis: Yeah, just a whole thing.

John: This was a ton of fun, this was a great little fight scene. 

Chris: Yeah.

Aldis: Kane had too much fun shooting this.

Chris: He had a lot of fun here. And these gentlemen are Garfield Wedderburn and- yeah, Garfield Wedderburn is the lead goon here; his name is goon.

Aldis: Goon.

[Laughter]

Chris: And there he is doing this- some kind of scary tai chi?

Aldis: That was actually a joke and it just made it on the reel, it was like-

John: You know what? We saw it in the dailies, we were gonna cut out of it but it was like- but the idea he would just scare the shit out of those guys to get them to go. ‘Can your dog do that?’ That was great.

Chris: ‘Can your dog do that?’

John: It is nice every now and then to remind people exactly why everyone on the team is there.

Chris: By the way, I love that you named the dog Megabyte. 

Aldis: Megabyte, yeah, yes.

John: That was you, that’s right. 

Chris: That was all you.

Aldis: If anybody can get that, Megabyte, yes. Now if one of those days we just see the dog, which will probably be a poofy little yorkie or something like that.

John: Dogs are too expensive; we can't afford them.

Chris: We can't afford them.

Aldis: We can't afford dogs.

Chris: We'll do a virtual dog.

Aldis: A virtual dog, yes.

John: That's sad.

Aldis: The little mechanical one with the batteries? Yeah.

Chris: Sure.

John: Now continuing the original conversation, so we knew we were working backwards towards an African kleptocrat, but how do you find a guy who’s like based in the states, so we’re not flying overseas, we’re not trying to fake a city you can't fake on our budget. And so that led us to the research and- did we find someone who was real, Chris?

Chris: Well, there's no similarities to persons living or dead. But, um-

John: We’d like to say for both legal reasons, and so we don't get shot in the face.

Chris: Yes, please.

John: Oh my god, this guy is real and he's horrible!

Chris: He's real, he's horrible. He's not a classical music fan, that was something we brought to it, to facilitate the story. But he is a very wealthy relative of an African kleptocrat who has a house here in the United States and in Paris and has a Bugatti and all the things you would imagine a kleptocrat would.

John: All the way down, actually, to the fact that the reason he does not fall under the- is not criminalized under some of the kleptocrat laws we have here in the States, with the same plot point we have in the show, which is he's been a friend in the war on terror.

Chris: Yes, yes that’s all true.

John: Which looks like he pretty much turns in political opponents.

Chris: Wow, we certainly don't want to say that he does that, but-

John: But oh come on.

Chris: And here we have-

John: Your name’s on the show, they're gonna kill you. I'm not too worried. 

[Laughter]

John: And here's Elisabetta Canalis, the loveliest Elisabetta Canalis.

Aldis: Aldis Hodge was never here, was never here. This actually is the second time we've seen her in the entire arc of this third season. So now the audience is getting another taste of exactly who she is, because she just left us off with blackmail, and now, you know, we're digging into her story. Of course at the end of the show, we get to see that she's not as fair game as she comes up to be.

Chris: Yeah, and we wanted to make her kind of you know sexy and mysterious, and I like this scene cause-

Aldis: Sexy what? Sexy?

Chris: Yeah well she-

John: Well there's no reason we just shoot her legs in every scene.

[Laughter]

Aldis: Exactly, there's no reason to put her in heels and closeups on the face, no! Not at all.

John: This was a nice bit that you came up with: the idea that kind of flirting, sexy, dangerous. And Nate Ford being smart enough to realize it’s a very bad idea.

Chris: I love this, this is one of my favorite flashes.

John: It's one of my favorite zooms, it's a hypothetical zoom, it's something we never usually do.

Chris: I like it because right here she looks so bored,

[Laughter]

Chris: There's something about the insouciance of it, of her.

John: Oh another guy being garotted in front of me.

Chris: Oh stop the tape.

John: It's another Thursday for me.

Chris: And he was- Tim was great at, you know, holding his throat like that.

John: Yeah the- well the sort of implication, again, is again, it’s tricky the team has been playing a lot without ever being taken down themselves. Tim has to carry a lot of the weight acting because he's the one who interacts with Elizabetta the most, to convey the threat she portrays to make sure you take her seriously. And nice diagrams on the glass boards. I always love the glass boards

Aldis: Provided by…?

John: Who drew on that one? I don't think I drew on that one, I wasn't there for that one. 

Aldis: Really?

John: No, that handwriting is too good that's not me. Usually- yeah, usually I spew the bullshit that goes up on the glass.

Chris: Now what's nice- 

Aldis: And it- oh, sorry, go ahead

Chris: Oh I was gonna say it’s a nice opportunity to get a little bit into Eliot's backstory which we, in the early scene in the bar, he alludes to the fact that knows about these- what goes on in these countries, these Chinese- these child soldiers. And you know I think here you can kinda see this whole- this whole particular case is really, you know, affecting him directly.

John: Yeah it's part of the over the course of the arc, kind of peeling back everybodys past this season. And we gave Eliot you know- we really wanted to sort of reset and remind people for the finale that Eliot, you know Eliot killed people. Eliot was not a good guy and is trying to be a better guy.

Aldis: What I had to say was nowhere near as intuitive as that, but the prior scene a lot of- a lot of times you'll see Sophie wearing that dog tag, it’s blank. It's like a name tag, but it's blank, and that's an ode to the fact that she hasn't given Nate her real name. And it kind plays throughout the entire season so for those of you have paid attention-

John: We actually used it, we actually- the audience doesn't know those dog tags are blank because she doesnt show the dog tags. But when she told us she was doing it we wrote- 

Aldis: Did I just give up a secret?

John: No, no, no it’s cool. What happened is: she wears them. And we were like, ‘What are those?’ And she told us dog tags are blank, it's a little private joke. So we wrote it into the show, that's why she gets the blank pendant in episode 13, cause we just thought that was really cool and that's something Gina came up with on her own.

Aldis: It's just gonna be a drinking game every time they spot the dog tags. 

John: Sure, there's already a lot of drinking games.

Aldis: There are.

John: There are a lot on the web, you go on there's a lot of drinking games.

Aldis: Every time we say ‘seriously’, drink! 

[Laughter]

Aldis: Not that we promote that here, no.

Chris: Not at all.

John: No, I don't do all of these with a beer in my hand.

Chris: No no drinking games.

Aldis: What is that you're drinking John, water?

John: It’s- yes, dark Irish water.

Aldis: Yes.

John: This was a nice again- we started splitting people up so we could- the coverage is a little easier. and it helped us remind- Third season we started taking a lot of the prep that was implied in act 0 of seasons 1 and 2 and moving it into act 1 and act 2 of this season. Where you see them doing the prep and putting together the plan on the fly as they get information.

Chris: Right.

John: Which both makes it more dynamic, and helps us with shooting.

Chris: Yeah, I mean this is a very plan-intensive episode, and you want to try and make the planning side interesting visually.

John: Yeah because there's so much pipe to lay in a believable way to get to that great fourth act. I mean you have to make sure the audience is utterly invested by that point.

Chris: I like this little bit with you guys right here.

Aldis: Me and Kane man, when we get together it's always a party.

Chris: But what's great about you guys is it's not always the bickering brothers, where you're yelling at each other that makes me laugh. It's just the little throwaway things of the two of you together.

Aldis: It's the little things that bring the sparkle to your eye, the little things.

[Laughter]

Chris: And they just the way we did this- 

Aldis: This was a funny sequence to shoot.

John: Yeah this was great. This was- what did we name the reporter?

Chris: Guy Hamilton which is an ode to Mel Gibson's character in The Year of Living Dangerously.

[Laughter]

Chris: For all you folks out there keeping score. By the way, I forgot yesterday when we did Gone Fishing Job that you are- your names when you went into the bank and were Brody and Quinn from Jaws.

John: Because you're gonna need a bigger boat.

Chris: This looks great, by the way!

Aldis: I'm pretty sure you need another drink for that.

Chris: Look at that, he's there!

John: I've seen far less convincing stuff on CNN.

[Laughter]

John: I'm fairly sure, yeah

Chris: And there's Giancarlo Esposito fantastic.

John: Friend of Tim, came in and did this for us. Really really great, flew in.

Aldis: His daughters’ actually in the orchestra, they- one plays violin the other plays viola.

John: Oh cool.

Aldis: Yeah, so he had a lot to discuss.

John: I love seeing the evil dude Skype list; I just realized we could see it on there. It’s like ‘Lefou is away. Where is Lefou?’

Chris: Pizza Hut? Why does he have Pizza Hut on Skype?

John: On Skype? That's weird. And who is that lurking behind him?

Chris: Oh lurking behind him is Nnamdi Asomugha who is an all pro cornerback for the Oakland Raiders. Arguably the best cornerback in the NFL.

Aldis: And you have your Raiders ball here, it's perfect.

Chris: And I have my Raiders ball here to prove it.

John: Now how did he wind up on the show?

Chris: Well, you know, like any famous Hollywood story, it started at a hockey game.

[Laughter]

Chris: My- we have a mutual agent, and he invited me to a hockey game and said, ‘This is my friend Nnamdi.’ And although I am a big sports fan, for some reason the best cornerback in the NFL eluded me and I just met him as a guy. And we were chatting and found out he was- he acted and I asked him at the time, his families from Nigeria and I- this was a year ago, and I said, ‘Can you do a good African accent?’ He said, ‘Oh definitely.’ I said, ‘Alright, well if we get a part for, you know a big guy, menacing guy with an African accent I'll call you’. And lo and behold, episode came up and he did a fantastic job.

John: I think his family is from Ethiopia, actually.

Chris: No, I think he’s Nigerian.

John: Nigerian? Oh ok. And here- this is her playing Christie Connelly again.

Chris: Yes, yes.

John: Yes, this is why we started bringing back the- as we realized that they are gonna be roles that the- it also sort of came up as we did our research that con artists tend to settle into certain roles that they've done background on, and also that they've established the credentials to. We mention later actually on another episode that she's like, ‘I got seven years worth of work on this identity’, so she's doing a similar gig, so why not use the same name?

Chris: And let's be honest it's also our nod to James Garner, who was Jimmy Joe Meeker in multiple episodes of the Rockford Files.

John: Yes exactly, also she gets to use her native accent in this.

Chris: Yeah, that’s right!

John: Cause Gina is from New Zealand, not England. Most people- she grew up in England but she was born in New Zealand, and was a child in New Zealand, so she gets to use her kiwi accent here. Very kicky little gold chain going on there.

Chris: And I love this, this is a great kind of subtle sales pitch that she just sells so well.

John: Yeah. And again this is one of those great things in the show, not blowing smoke up our own skirts, but the fun of having great actors is you con, con, con, and then you park it on these little two-person scenes and it's fun, you know, it actually plays.

Chris: And here's- you know I like the idea that we've kind of developed with Hardison’s character that, you know, he's chafing a little bit around the crew, and, kind of, as the youngest member of the crew, kind of like, sees that he’d like to run his own crew someday and kind of expressing that here. I mean how did you approach this Aldis? Was that something that you kinda thought of for the character?

Aldis: I approached it, I stretched, I, uh, did a couple push ups.

John: Well we get a lot of emails from him ‘I should be the lead of the show,’ so it's a similar thing.

[Laughter]

Chris: But I know we had discussions about it not being a typical father/son kind of vibe. Right?

Aldis: Right, right, right. This is- this entire situation was newly presented to me in the script. That's when I found out that I was  like, ‘OK, Hardison wants to step up.’ But I think that- I mean, it's a great premise and he is the youngest, so he has the most to learn because he hasn't figured out all of his bad habits just yet. 

Chris: Right.

Aldis: And so he can sit back, watch his team, watch how they work, watch the mistakes they make, and then ten season later, hint hint, audience, hint hint-

Chris: Ten seasons when you'll be all of 35.

[Laughter]

Aldis: Exactly.

John: Then you'll be ready to lead the crew. 

Aldis: Exactly.

John: Yeah no it's- we really played around with it. It's not father/son it's sort of- it’s really Paper Chase but for crime.

Chris: Yes, yes, very much, I think that's a great way of putting it. And I love, here, too, if I can blow some more smoke up you, that, you know, we play big characters in these cons that are, like, larger than life. I mean, I think, you know, the Ice Man Job character comes to mind-

Aldis: [Mimicking the accent he did] The Ice Man Job.

Chris: When you play a kind of a small reserved guy, all inside, it's such a nice change, and it’s like it adds a vulnerability to these con characters that I think is great.

Aldis: He's very not- he wasn't a meek character, but he's very, very humble.

Chris: Humble that's better.

Aldis: He came from a hard life, he knew how to appreciate what was there, he knows how to prioritize, you know, to put everything else before his own needs. And that's kinda where I felt this character was coming from. He couldn't be too big or else, you know, with all of the skills, his grandeur, he would have done something with that by now; he's a cab driver, so he's gotta be quiet about something.

John: And the- also, this was the first time I think we put- we had talked about the different skills, as you go into every season you talk about like, ‘How do we make sure we focus on the characters? How do we make sure nobody blends in the background?’ And one of the things is reminding everyone- and we did this really in the Jailbreak and especially in this one to set it up, Parker is great at three dimensional heists. Parker rotates objects in three dimensional space. So she's Nate's partner here; he might be able to cook up plans, but she's the one telling him the parameters of those plans with the physical heists. 

Aldis: Right.

John: No one is better than her at physical insertion, and that's one of the things we kinda hammered during this season. 

Aldis: I think our skills- I mean we’re all necessary to one another, but our skills kinda levy a system of checks and balances-

John: Yeah.

Aldis: The way the government should do it. But we can do one thing and take it only so far and then pass it off, then the next team member polishes it up and takes you to the very next level. 

John: What- Chris why don't you talk about how we structured the heist?

Chris: Well you know the- back when we were trying to break the story the initial idea behind it was that there would be two levels of tension in the big act, in the big heist. There would be part of the team breaking in to steal the object, and there would be Hardison on stage sweating out having to play this impossible solo in front of people. And the problem that I was running  into was: why did these two things have to happen at the same time? Why now? Why can't they be breaking in on a Wednesday, you know, when Hardison's not scheduled to play this. And John, you said- thought about it for a minute, and you said, ‘Well obviously it's the only time that they can do the heist is when there’s- when the orchestra is playing because that's when they have to turn off the motion detectors.’

Aldis: Because John has stolen from an orchestra before, when they-

[Laughter]

Aldis: He speaks from personal experience.

Chris: And I took a minute and I said, ‘I could kiss you on the mouth.’

[Laughter]

John: That was one of those ‘what's in the Arclight’ days? I contributed almost nothing else to this episode. I was busy off doing the season opener. We were banging these out before the rest of the staff- and I came up with that bit and I'm like, ‘You're gold, go have fun, I’m out.’ I got that, and then we basically- knowing the motion detectors couldn't be beaten and played us back into the other security measures, and created this impossible vault. And that was also fun, we started for the first time throwing stuff at the team where it's like, ‘yeah there's some stuff you just can't beat,’ you know, that you have to go sideways. 

Aldis: I’d like to note here that I'm wearing every possible shade of gray that there is known to man.

[Laughter]

John: Why is that? Is that an emotional choice? Is that about his ambivalence about his role in the con? Or is that-?

Aldis: I have no idea

John: Always say- you know what? Do the thing I just did with him, start with ‘obviously’ it's a good way- when you wanna throw up an enormous amount of bullshit just start with ‘Obviously.’

Aldis: Obviously!

John: And then just, people buy it.

Aldis: What we wanted to do was confuse the audience.

John: Oh Scheherezade, exactly how'd you choose Scheherezade?

Chris: Well we needed- we needed a piece that was public domain, as a practical matter, because we have budget constraints in this show. And that ended on a violin solo. And it was- I forgot what the other candidates were, but my wife, I have to give her credit at least a little, fantastic violinist, picked Scheherezade and said, ‘You gotta listen to this.’ And I listened to the last 7 minutes because I knew we needed it to kind of roll out in real time over the course of the heist. And the solo just kinda like dropped me, I thought, ‘Oh my god, this is gonna be fantastic.’ And then when I did a little research on Scheherezade’s story, how she was the wife of a- in the story of the Arabian Nights he killed- every night he married a different wife, and killed them the next morning. And then Scheherezade walked in and figured she'd be finished, but every night she told him a story, and the story kept him on- you know, on the edge of his seat, she never told him the ending and finally after 1001 nights he married her. So I said OK, that’s the first grifter in history’. And that just kinda fit in thematically with the whole episode, and that's when we knew we had to use that piece.

John: And our music guy Joe Deluca putting a lovely little sort of spin, sort of- 

Chris: Yeah he had a very nice-

John: -Arabian Nights spin on the score there. Now, you play violin. What did you think when we dropped Scheherezade on your lap?

Aldis: Well I was screaming inside, running for my life.

[Laughter]

Aldis: Jesus I've only been playing just for- not even five years, and when I took the music to my music teacher, she like- lord have mercy, she had a heart attack. She was like- she had been playing professionally for 20 years before she tackled Scheherezade. My other teacher had been playing, also, I believe between 20 and 30 years before she tackled Scheherezade so I had no confidence whatsoever. No, kidding, obviously I was very impressed with the piece. It's a beautiful piece. I love the song and I was actually very open to the challenge. I just wanted to make sure I did it well enough to do the song some justice. Now shooting these scenes being surrounded by actual musicians was awe-inspiring and-

John: Really? You really? Oh.

Aldis: Man, it was terrifying.

Chris: Yeah where did this rank among the scarier things you've done on the show? Where would you put this?

Aldis: This is the top right here.

Chris: This is the top right here.

John: So not running on top of a moving train.

[Laughter]

Aldis: Not at all man.

John: Really? That was fine, but this? This was terrifying.

Aldis: I'm a nut man, I'm a nut. I can do that because-

John: I can tell you as your executive producer with an insurance policy on you, you can do this whenever you want, don't do the train again.

Aldis: I shan't! I shall not.

Chris: And this actor, Michael Winther, fantastic New York stage actor who came in and did an amazing job. It was originally written I think he was Spanish and then I asked Michael-

John: Well you were kinda basing it on Dudamel.

Chris: Exactly it was based on Gustavo Dudamel who was the Venezuelan, kind of, rockstar conductor of the LA Philharmonic.

Aldis: Oh yeah.

Chris: Yeah, and Michael said that he could do German and I thought well there's nothing more intimidating than someone talking to you with a German accent.

Aldis: German accent, yeah.

John: Really?

Chris: And he was just great.

John: Even if it's like ‘I would like some hugs now,’ still it's creepy, it's not- yeah.

[Laughter]

John: Apologies, and now the angry letters from people with a German accent will be coming in.

Aldis: Exactly, you'll be getting a letter from the government.

John: A nice stall, you can't get it too far. And, you know, this again is kinda focusing on how everyone does things. Parker needs paper. Parker needs plans. Parker needs drawings. This is how she thinks. She was trained by an old school thief, and it's cool cause we're kinda hinting at the thing you're gonna find out in episode 5, like how she was trained, you know, trained by an old school thief, she thinks like an old school thief.

Aldis: Yeah

John: And then we do the fun- and this is, when you're constructing something based on a high concept, the fun of it was we have an impossible heist, stuff rolls back from that. Okay if it's impossible, that means we have to see the planning, we have to see the surveillance, we have to see the surveillance to establish to the audience the rules of the heist. 

Chris: Right.

John: Cause you had already said, and I will say the first thing you said to me was ‘I wanna do a heist where there's no words.’

Chris: Yes.

John: And I said ‘You're out of your mind and it's unshootable’. I actually utterly dismissed you, and then you came back like, ‘We do it this way.’ And I was like, ‘Alright, that’s slightly less insane.’ But that required the rest of the episode to do an enormous amount of work.

Chris: Yeah, you need to know- once you got to the heist, you need to know exactly what people were doing and why, without any dialogue. And so- and that kinda required that the heist needed to be fairly simple.

John: Yes.

Chris: So, you know, that kinda was a little bit liberating for me, cause once I realized, OK, I drew this corridor, you know, we had to get past this keypad, and then there was a room, we had to blow a hole in the floor, it was like from a to b to c, as long as I made it fairly simple and easy to remember in the planning stages, we could carry it out. 

John: And this is also one of the great things about physical production. You actually flew up and scouted this, right? 

Chris: Yeah, we did.

John: You adjusted the heist based around the physical location.

Chris: Yeah well, we built this hallway here-

John: Is that a build? I thought it was a-

Chris: This is the hardest working hallway in show business.

John: I thought it was the hallway on the other side of the concert hall?

Chris: No, no.

Aldis: No, me and Chrisitan built it ourselves.

John: Oh that's where Elizabetta was. That's right, there you go. 

Chris: That’s right.

John: Yeah, now we're establishing the rules, and a little hint there that Nnamdi is not your ordinary thug. 

Chris: Yeah.

Aldis: Yes.

John: Yeah, just that little wince. 

Chris: And here, again, you know, it was we had plans in front of Tim that he could actually trace the line and that's exactly where you were going. Those are the plans of the set. 

John: Those are the plans for the set?

Chris: Yeah. 

Aldis: Yeah!

John: That’s great!

Chris: I mean that showed him, he could draw- I showed him here's where you draw the hole, that’s where it’s gonna be.

John: Yeah and big props to Bekka Melino and everybody in production design this year. That vault looked gorgeous. 

Chris: Yeah, it did.

John: Everything looked gorgeous, you know, set dec.

Chris: I have to give her credit for something else in that too. In the original script, the locker numbers in the vault were numbered; they were just numbered. And she called me up and said, ‘What do you think if we made like some kind of symbol or something for them, and maybe like musical terms?’ And I said, ‘That's fantastic.’ And it kinda helped build the character of Moto as someone who is just, you know, obsessed with music.

Aldis: Appreciates music.

John: Yeah. 

Chris: And here's where-

Aldis: This is a tough thing, a tough deal for me. Not me personally, but for Hardison because of the fact that- I mean, this is a big deal trying to walk away from a mission with such reasonable cause. 

Chris: Right.

Aldis: Only because of the fact that he's afraid, it's not because his life is endangered, it's simply because he's afraid. 

Chris: Did you feel like that was- I mean, but performing without being prepared is like the, sort of, go to nightmare that people have, right?

John: Only if you were pantless could this be worse.

Aldis: Exactly, it's also the fact that if he performs poorly he could mess up the entire heist.

Chris: Yes

Aldis: But he was more afraid of himself performing badly then messing up the heist. And-

John: It's an interesting look into the character, because he's a perfectionist and he tends to- he’s tended to take the path he has in life because he's been able to be good at it.

Aldis: Yes.

Chris: Right.

John: You know, it's always interesting once you're past school and once you're an adult when you try to do things, you try to learn a new skill once you're out of your teens, and you realize ‘Oh, this is very hard.‘

Aldis: Yeah it's like learning violin.

John: Yeah exactly.

Aldis: As an adult, as I am doing now.

John: Really hard. But no, you just couldn't drop Scheherezade on you.

Chris: Here's a great-

John: This is a great shot actually, because we actually never shot this. This was footage of them actually getting into place.

Chris: Yes.

John: From the dailies that we had when we rolled the camera on. And that we wound up assembling together into a shot and then digitally placing the conductor into the middle of it.

Chris: Oh yeah, when we get to the later shot of the conductor there, that was- that’s totally digital. This the- orchestra is Marshall Tuttle is the conductor of the orchestra, it’s a local Portland community college orchestra. And they, you know, I have to give a lot of props to them because they got the music and they had to mock play the piece, but that meant they had to prepare for it, they had to know. 

Aldis: Yeah I actually learned from them that day the rest of the piece. I mean all I knew up to that point was the solo. Until they said- and I knew bits and pieces of the other music until they said, ‘Hey, so we actually wanna shoot you playing the, you know, the bit before stuff.’ I’m like, ‘Right now, guys?’ 

John: Oh yes, a surprise by the way.

Aldis: Surprise! 

John: This quick thing, they're gonna pop the camera on you there as you do this thing you just learned how to do.

Aldis: So I was just watching my fellow musicians around me as we shot, I was just watching their fingers and going off of them but hopefully you can’t tell.

John: That's a great little shake, that head shake like, ‘No, let's not get too heavily invested’.

Aldis: That was a real head shake that was ‘I do not wanna shoot this scene right now.’

[Laughter]

John: Could we please stop?

Aldis: None of the trepidation in this is faked, it’s real fear people. Real fear. 

[Laughter]

Aldis: I dreaded this more than anything.

Chris: So there was less acting in this than typical episodes because you actually had fear.

Aldis: The fear yes, no acting at all, man, it was not hard to be afraid. At all. Whatsoever.

John: And here's Elizabetta, and it was interesting- I will be totally honest we knew we needed stuff for the finale-

Chris: Yeah.

John: And no idea what we needed it to be yet.

Chris: Right and right. And also to a certain degree, you know, when you have a MacGuffin, you know an item I want you to get, and you struggle as to what it could be, and we did struggle, we argued what is- what's in the envelope? And ultimately it's pretty cool when you don't know what it is.

John: Yeah it's point blank. It’s- yeah.

Chris: And you know we don't want to give anything away, but it did help us in the finale.

John: Yeah, well they've seen it by now, in theory. 

Chris: Oh, okay.

John: Usually they watch all the way through and then do the commentaries.

Chris: That’s fine then. So that's fine, I'm not a spoiler.

Aldis: So what was in the envelope, fellows?

John: In the envelope is the evidence that the Italian needs because she's part of the shadowy international intelligence organization that launders money through Moto’s blood diamond accounts.

Chris: Yes.

John: And yeah that's actually- if you do a lot of research in money laundering, we did a lot of money laundering this year. 

Aldis: Yes we did.

John: You find out that a lot of sort of black ops stuff, and a lot of the governments- there's a reason it's still around. You know governments find it useful, you know, and certain parts of governments find money laundering, international money laundering useful.

Chris: And here we go now we start- we start the clock and the dialogue is about to end pretty quickly.

John: Yeah I think we did like two touches, two clarifying things once we test screened it.

Chris: Yeah.

Aldis: We did an entire fourth act with just pure music.

Chris: Yeah, this is it here, we go.

John: Yeah this is it. Nnamdi did a great job in this, by the way, I want to say, because he's acting without dialogue and that's hard, you know, for a young actor. 

Aldis: It’s like stare at this paper bag and make it interesting.

John: Yeah, exactly.

Chris: And I have to give Brian Gonosey here, our editor, a lot of credit here, too, because this was like editing a music video, because this was- we had to kinda time this stuff to the music, and this was, you know, this- in listening to the piece, you know, in my mind I had punching in numbers for this part, cause I could hear it in my head, and-

Aldis: Now this-

Chris: And now- oh.

Aldis: No, I’m sorry, go ahead.

Chris: Well this is just when you have an all pro quarterback from the NFL on your show, and you have Christian Kane who is a gigantic football fan, you're gonna have him knock him down in full run.

Aldis: Now Christian really took that hit.

Chris: He sure did folks.

John: He hit that wall hard, baby!

Aldis: This man is paid to hit people.

[Laughter]

John: Beth took this hit too.

Aldis: Yeah.

Chris: She did take that hit.

Aldis: She took it like a trooper.

John: Wait where'd- Chris played football for a while, what was he, tailback? What was Chris?

Chris: Well I know, back in high school, yeah.

Aldis: He played in it, and he wrestled, too. Nnamdi is a big guy.

John: Nnamdi is a big guy.

Aldis: He's like 6’ 4” something, 6’ 6”?

Chris: And he wanted to do all his own stunts and we were like, ‘Please, we do not want Al Davis on our ass.’

[Laughter]

John: ‘I'm sorry, did you hurt the greatest quarterback in the NFL in your little pretend show this weekend?’

Chris: He's like, ‘You know what the stunt mans doing? I can do that!’ And we said, ‘We know! Please don’t!’

Aldis: Now the NFL owns Leverage.

John: We’d have a bigger budget, that'd be alright. 

[Laughter]

John: And then now down through the floor, this was fun playing around with- thank you Mythbusters, playing around with directional blowouts, and thermite and all the other sort of how to- oh that's a- and Nnamdi won't go down. 

Chris: No, he won’t.

John: We were- this- he’s the thug who ate his Wheaties.

Aldis: I think that's a great part about this entire sequence and just the character in general is: cause he finally- somebody gave Eliot a challenge, a real challenge you know. It was kinda like the season finale for the first season.

John: But that guy had technique, you know, that was the thing. What Eliot is facing right now is another dude who kills people professionally.

Aldis: Yeah.

John: You know, and just with power. It's also fun cause it’s- all Eliot/Parker scenes are inherently fun.

Chris: And here, and this was all built around the music. We knew this was gonna- we were gonna build to- there's a giant gong hit here and that was gonna be- that was the whole thing was timed to the explosion and now one of the words ‘boom’.

Aldis: We really blew a hole in a floor and let Nnamdi fall through? He was a trooper, he took it?

John: Yes, please don’t tell the Raiders.

Chris: Please don't tell Al Davis.

Aldis: I'm kidding, guys. Kinda.

John: This was actually shot later, we actually rebuilt the ceiling and then dropped it in later.

Chris: Yeah, it’s great.

John: They did a great job because they- it was like ‘We need you to build that ceiling that we built a couple episodes, but put a hole in it.’ Like, ‘Alright.’ Yeah. And Nate being in the middle of it unexpectedly is a wonderful development.

Chris: Even this, all this all the editing was just timed perfectly to the music as he pulls, Walle is his character, pulls into the corner. And here it is.

John: That's a nice beat, actually, was Sophie- that's a nice choice by Gina, Sophie being totally confident because she knows, she's already in on the hypnosis thing. So she's already ahead of it, and what that was meant to be encouraging. 

Chris: Now here it is. 

Aldis: [Humming the song]

Chris: And, you know, I have to say my wife, violinist, gives you huge props here for your fingering and your bow work.

Aldis: Thank you. You do realize this song haunted me as I was practicing and preparing for it? It literally was playing in my head when no other sound was on in the room. I painted a picture called The Scheherazade. I painted the notes themselves because I had to get it outta my head. It was-

Chris: That’s great.

John: Where's the painting?

Aldis: It’s still back in Portland waiting for me to get back to it.

John: Nice.

Chris: Now what kind of response did you get from people when this aired?

Aldis: A lot of musicians actually said I did a good job, which I was proud about. I was- I was more concerned about how musicians would take it. Because they know what to look for, and as I watched I was like, ‘Alright,’ you know, cringing, but a lot of them they really, really dug it.

John: Well you always see the flaws in your performance, you know.

Aldis: Yeah of course because I’m looking for it, as the actor. By the way, this scene when Beth has the tear, that wasn't a tear she just had allergies, but played to her strengths and- right there the yeah.

John: It's just the smoke and stuff, the allergies.

Aldis: Very dusty, you know, we just kept it, we kept it. I’m kidding Beth’s a great actress, she did that on her own.

Chris: She’s fantastic. She did that, I mean, that's pretty amazing. 

Aldis: Yeah was that her choice there?

Chris: Yeah.

John: Yeah, that wasn’t in the script.

Chris: And we didn't have a lot of time for that, too, we were really running out of time for that scene and they, boy were they great reacting to it.

Aldis: The boy did it! Uh!

[Laughter]

Aldis: Y'all know what this is! Sexual chocolate!

John: We’re gonna have to make t-shirts now, I hope.

Aldis: We are gonna have to make t-shirts.

Chris: Now in the original script, you got a girl's phone number; we had to cut it for time but there was.

John: Sexy violinists.

Aldis: It's alright, Hardison gets numbers.

Chris: You know, Hardison, we've been trying to hook you up and I'm sorry we ran out of time.

John: Well, you know that's alright, there's- I don't think the fans would like the girl.

Aldis: I think if I ever got hooked up, fans would just murder Hardison because-

John: They would not be happy.

Aldis: They're waiting on Parker.

John: Well also, you know, and what's interesting is: you've kind of changed looks since the first season. You were a very skinny kid when you came in that first season. You turned 21 the night we hired you.

Aldis: Yeah 21, I'm 24 now.

John: Yeah, you put a little man weight on you now.

Aldis: Man weight, shaved the whiskers a little bit, try to give you a little something different each year. Next year I'm gonna come in about 250 pounds.

John: Nice, maybe with a cane cause you can't quite walk, you got the gout.

Aldis: Cankles baby.

John: Rock the gout. This is brutal- just looking for the rematch.

Chris: I love the look.

John: Every time I see this, I try to figure out a way to bring that character back.

Chris: Can we bring him back?

John: Seriously man, that look as he rolls forward is like, I want that rematch.

Chris: You know he makes more money than everyone in- you know, I mean he's- he’ll fly out on a private jet and come do it.

John: Just I gotta figure out something. And then I remember cause it was great, cause- I was actually out of town and then you shot this, and I didn’t see anything until I saw the first cut of this. I didn't see any dailies and so I saw the first cut of this and when he rolled forward that time I'm like ‘Oh! No wait, I know there's no rematch’ but-

Aldis: Yeah.

John: It’s- it was fun it was being able to watch this episode as a fan was a big treat.

Chris: Yeah, and here it was trying to pay off the Scheherezade story by having Nate make up something on the fly.

John: Yeah, it's the- thematically it yeah it starts with a con, it has a heist in the middle, and ends with a con.

Chris: Ends with a con.

Aldis: Yeah.

John: And you just the balls- the sheer stones it takes, ‘I have no idea what's in this.’

Chris: Yeah, right?

John: Just absolute sheer stones. To just bet on a sealed deck. We actually talked about that, we had played around with poker episodes and just what kind of- we talked at length- and it's one of those things that will never wind up in the show but we wind up talking in the room, what kind of gambler Nate is. And Nate is a guy who will bet on whole cards he hasn't seen.

Chris: Right, yes.

John: Yeah which is not necessarily the smartest thing in the world, but that’s that guy.

Aldis: He's the kind of guy who loses all his money first at the table, but eventually gains a couple chips back.

John: Yeah, yeah. Or manages to just be luckier than smarter, but smart enough to know he's lucky.

Chris: And I have to say Marcel Davis here played Simian Moto the president, and did an amazing job. I mean he's a local Portland actor. 

John: Yeah, really- Portland. Never disappoints, Portland is a great place with great actors.

Chris: Now you can kinda see Gina slipping in there. It was- I know we had a couple of comments.

John: We had ten people on that set!

Chris: It was hard.

John: She's that black shape that kinda moves in with the secret service.

Aldis: I just saw her slip in there, keep your eyes open.

Chris: Keep your eyes open folks. She had- apparently she had a great time assembling this gun.

John: She was kinda rocking out the Helen Mirren in RED there.

Chris: She was.

John: She was really kinda- that was hot. She did- I watched the dailies on that like eight times, come on, she's very good at this. And the gloat, the drag out, the gloat.

Chris: The gloat and the drag away.

John: Very nice and the president. Oh Nnamdi wants to go! Let them go! Let them fight! That drinking game for Enter the Dragon. It’s like every time.

Chris: There we go, another time we’ll bring him back.

Aldis: Let's just send this out to all the Oakland raiders fans and see if they put in a vote, do you want Nnamdi back?

Chris: Do you wanna see Nnamdi back, please?

Aldis: Let's see what happens.

John: Promised by the DVD. Yeah. 

Aldis: I feel it'll be promising.

John: And this was a nice set up, and again it was interesting because she had such the upper hand in the first episode, this is the one where Chris really kinda reset that, yeah, Nate Ford is not a patsy. 

Chris: Yeah.

John: You know he is- there's a reason they’re using him. He's a dangerous guy, and he's become more of a dangerous guy this year because he's acknowledged who he is. Last year this would've played out differently.

Chris: Yeah, no it was- you know, the sequence was flirty, dangerous, a little bit of banter then she puts the screws to him and then he puts the screws to her here.

John: Yeah cause he knows. He knows, he dealt with these types of people, you know, he's not ignorant of exactly how big a game he's playing in right now. Great, great shot. She- this is a 1960s shot, that shot right there, I really love this. And she's got a very classic late 60s look and that was interesting because we used it- we actually called the character the Italian as shorthand because it was an archetype from the 60s, and then when she came on the show we were trying to come up with a name it's like, we're not gonna beat The Italian. 

Chris: No no, it’s the best.

John: Just keep it there. And it kinda kept her in the headspace, when we wrote the scripts it kept her in that zone.

Aldis: And when she happened to actually be Italian!

John: We started with that, that was the-

Aldis: Ahhh, ohhh, ahhhh!

John: Did we not explain that to you?

Aldis: Ahhhh!

John: We just happened to get Elisabetta. Yeah, there you go.

Aldis: There go- ahhh!

Chris: And this is a nice kind of close out to, you know we sort of set up earlier that Eliot has some regrets of things that he may have done back when he was a soldier. Things he saw in Africa. And I thought Tim had a nice ad lib here, cause he kinda indicated that it was Eliot's idea to provide money for kids in the community based on them selling the violin.

John: And that's- and yeah it was another thing, too, as we moved into the third season of, why are these people still together. You know the second year they had realized they were family but were not emotionally evolved enough to explain, to acknowledge that. Third year where they are together and you begin to see- you know Hardison sees this as his crime college. And he loves these people, but this is his crime college. You know, Eliot is beginning to see the path to his redemption. You know, Nate is the acknowledgement of his identity. Parker is becoming a human being. You know, everyone has their reason they're there. You know, Sophie's reason to be there is basically, she had come back to run the crew while Nate was in prison. And to be acknowledged as the co-lead. This is a great scene. By the way, you play this wonderfully, this is a big turn here.

Chris: Yeah.

Aldis: Thanks.

Chris: It was- you know this was a tricky reveal here because- and I'll say that on the hypnosis front I consulted with a hypnotist-

[Laughter]

Chris: This is not just me making stuff up out of thin air.

John: I'm the one to make stuff up out of thin air, Chris actually researches shit.

Chris: And in fact, the hypnotist said to me that if somebody had a- was extremely proficient in something at an early age, whether it was athletics or music, that he could put someone in a deep trance state and return them to their ability, that their life experience is kinda what's gotten in the way of their ability, that it's all up there in their head. And that's all that we’re saying here, we’re not saying that he made you- Nate made Hardison able to play, Hardison always knew how to play, it was just cleaning out the cobwebs to get you back.

Aldis: Right.

John: Also Sophie's- Gina's playing that complicitness in a really nice way, which is she went with it, she didn't like it, and she doesn't necessarily like what Nate’s become. Also fun, you had really focused on this is, during the research, the idea that prison is a bad idea for most criminals. Most criminals just go in and become better criminals. It's- they call it crime college, you know, and what tricks had Nate picked up while he was inside.

Chris: And look ultimately that the one of the things that makes Nate able to run this crew from- is that he's not a nice guy. And that he will push any button to get whatever he wants done. And that makes him, I think, a better leader, and a more interesting character than if he's just you know got your back every time you're in trouble.

John: We cannot say this enough: Nate Ford is not a nice man. 

Chris: Yeah.

Aldis: Right.

John: But that's what's required in the world that we set up in this show. And that's Scheherezade Job! Amazing job, both of you. I really wanna say this, I came to this as a viewer and this is one of my favorite episodes of the season, and of the entire run.

Aldis: It's one of my favorites.

John: I told the first time I watched this, I told Chris I wish my name was on it. I wish that I had the ‘Written by’ credit.

Chris: And you, you know I made a little comment to you back in season one, and boy did you make me happy.

Aldis: It happened. 

John: It’s great.

Aldis: Well thank you man I enjoyed it. The script was one of my best scripts, one of my favorite scripts from the entire three seasons, so.

John: Thanks man.

Chris: Thanks.

John: Alright stay tuned more coming up.

Aldis: Peace.

#Leverage #Leverage TNT #Leverage Audio Commentary Transcripts #Audio Commentary #Transcripts #Parker #Alec Hardison #Elliot Spencer #Nate Ford #Sophie Deveraux #Season 3 #Episode 4 #Season 3 Episode 4 #The Scheherazade Job

[ackermanshoe]

"Mikasa?!"

"get your shit together"

"we are the only ones who can stop Eren"

Well smart ppl, this is the first time in the entirety of attack on titan Levi "snapped" towards Mikasa. The look on his eyes it's so full concern, did he know what was happening to her? Did he realise it was her headache or did he think it was Eren doing something?

Maybe he snapped bc he was absolutely tired of Erens shit and mikasa's hesitation towards him. Maybe he was so worried that he couldn't get his words to come out? "Get your shit together" is such a Levi think to say if he said "are you okay?" It would be so out of character.

I know I don't need to explain this as we are all aware that Levi's way with Mikasa is like none other, right? Eg when he snapped at historia for not being able to give a straight answer to the biggest decision of her life - more: he often snaps at hanji despite them being friends for years etc.

It also makes me wonder how Levi is so in touch with reality, he's right next to her, could it be that his presence helped Mikasa come back to hers and finally decide to end Eren?

"a theory isn't a fantasy, it's a coherent set of ideas intend to explain something.." and this is me theorising so stay with me. The Ackerman's who had their inhumane power activated are Levi Mikasa and Kenny. Kenny met his tragic end with Yuri, Levi met his tragic end with Erwin and now it is clearly Mikasa's turn. Ik it wasn't obvious but when Kenny Ackerman lost his liege he was completely alone then eventually he had died off. Isn't it funny how the only two Ackerman's to have had years side by side were Mikasa and Levi? It's just my belief that Erwin's death would have caused more harm on Levi if he hadn't had Mikasa by his side and Mikasa would have been more lost in her delusion or dreams without Levi's consent attempt to bring her back to reality. Eg female titan arc.

Even after killing Zeke Levi never found true happiness, was it really the purpose of his life? Definitely not. It almost feels like there's a loose end to tie, possibly with another Ackerman. This is where my theory ( or more questions ) about the shine in his eyes comes in which I will explain later.

I have always seen Mikasa as a doer, who is not indecisive and always goes for the kill. Levi knows that too. This one moment where got her headache and she hesitated to move forward it was a conflict that clearly irretated Levi.

But man if it were anyone else with all their love and care for Mikasa they would have snapped at her ages ago. The patience this man has for Mikasa is unmatched.

Furthermore

"got it"

"Mikasa"

He said this to himself, TO HIMSELF I repeat not to Mikasa or anyone. What does this tell me? It tells me he trusts Mikasa to make the right decision. He knows it's time and he knows that she won't hesitate this time. Remember the gleam in his eyes when Mikasa asked him to help her kill Eren?

It's a gleam of trust and recognition.

To me this is the purest form of support Levi has given not only to Mikasa but anyone at all. It kinda makes me feel soft if I'm being honest but I can't explain that with facts.

Might I mention how how Levi said mikasa's name more in this one chapter than he has said in the entire manga?

( if someone know why he never calls Mikasa by her name please let me know I'm so hung up on that and still wondering what could be the meaning behind it )

It can be said the same with Mikasa calling Levi "captain" several times in the last chapter and possibly this one.

It may be a personal view of mine but the I think there's a lot of significance in calling ones name. But in rivamika's relationship the lack there of name calling makes it much more interesting to theorise. I have always been someone who would hesitate to say my crush's name because I feel like it would be awkward and make the conversation much more intimate. Yeah it's just a theory but most people would avoid using their crushes name because it makes them nervous and the fact their crush exist near them much more realistic. ( Input scene from there first caridge scene where Levi called Mikasa by her name to tell her to protect Eren with all her skills and Mikasa had a drop sweat on her, she was caught off guard by his voice calling her name )

If I was to assume this is what happened with Levi not mentioning mikasa's name ( all that often ) then it kinda makes sense. And now that we have Levi finally calling out her name in the middle of a life or death battle it makes me wonder if he is finally breaking out of a invisible shell and confronting his feelings (?)

Note: "feelings" can be interpreted as romantic AND non romantic. I don't mean to say that I think he is in love with her that's realistically thinking.

Idk how to word this properly but it's like he is becoming more aware of mikasa's importance in his life and vice versa (?)

Ones name is the biggest connection they have with their individuality and the fact that Levi calls her name several times in this particular chapter makes me think it's somehow connected to Mikasa letting go off Eren and choosing herself + Levi and whoever is left to save. I believe Levi already knew this since the moment the gleam came into his eyes, like I mentioned many many many times Levi knows things about Mikasa before she does. For Levi it's like looking into a mirror that goes backwards in time.

If I'm going to talk more about the gleam in Levi's eyes I might as well put it all down on the table and you can view it however you want.

Remember this

"is it from hope or despair that this strength comes from?"

Well the gleam to me represents hope, not only for the survival of them two by killing Eren, but for Mikasa herself, finding herself MIGHT just be the gleam of hope Levi's strength came from. Individuality. This is more like forshadowing the future than the present.

It also reminds me of S1 when Levi's eyes gleamed when Eren expressed his hatred towards the titans. The look of obsession, to kill the titans and now mikasa's determination to kill Eren ( her obsession).

If I'm being a delulu then yes I do think he is in love with her and nothing less 🤩 and this look^^ above is so sexy can they just idk send me the wedding invitation already I'm 🕯️😔🕯️ tired of waiting.

Anyways I'm going to end this here I feel like I write so much and if anyone asked me what this was all about in real life I would prolly run away rather than speaking. Thank you guys for being here and supporting me and everyone else! I hope the last chapter is at least 100 pages long because we need it 😭🕯️😭.

Edit: I apologize for making this so long I was going to post it like tomorrow but I think it will makes sense if I do it now rather than later.

Also regarding the snapping bit I honestly think it's just because the way he speaks it comes out as harsh which is natural for his character we already know he cares so much about her, he was panicking guys.

#levimika #rivamikacanon #rivamika #levi x mikasa #levikasa #rivamika analysis #theory

[ohtendril]

1x04 vs 1x07 parallels

I’ve had this in my drafts for ages, idek. I think i was going to come up with 10 parallels and then couldnt. it was triggered by my finally noticing that they both said “it’s okay” and then ran with it and overanalyzed it. the usual. Anyway, here’s wonderwall.

1) Being the ones to go after the other, to go out looking for the other, to make sure they’re okay.... essentially being each other’s angels/saviors.

2) “it’s okay”

3) the use of green & red

in 1x04 Rebecca’s background is a red brick wall when she’s the one going through something, making us, and Ted, alarmed and concerned for her. And behind Ted there are warm tones of green from the trees in the distance, with Ted being the one to console her, bring some peace. The colors are warmer though. compared to Ted’s scene. in 1x07 it’s Ted that’s bathed in punchy red light near him, and from the left there’s Rebecca and her green light. Rebecca being the one to console him this time around.

4) stroke of the thumb. you what im talking about

5) offering an out. They both offered to leave with them.

6) Touch. and they way they just...melt into the comfort of it. it’s grounding. it’s consoling. it’s what they need at that moment.

7) how they’re both these moments happen during “events”, at night, outside, in an alley somewhere, with the background noise of the passing traffic (yeah, listen closely)

8) it’s essentailly triggered in some way by their (ex)spouses, or about their exes and their inability to cope.

9) direction. or the character’s movement. and this is me being somewhat into movies and me studying conceptual linguistics BUT characters who are placed to the left of the screen are seemed to be in a more negative position than those on the right of the screen. You can see this often when there are battle scenes, with the winning army attacking from left (of the screen) to right.

and that is all because of how we see time and space. life goes from left to right (in the western culture at least). To us left-to-right direction is natural, like an axis, it begins on the left and leads towards right. so when you see a character going the opposite direction it feels... odd, and sometimes even just wrong, like they’re going backwards.

that’s what we see happening in these two scenes, seeing as they’re both emotionally compromised - they are both (in their respective emotional breakdown scenes) placed on the left. throughout Ted’s whole panic attack he’s on the left side of the screen, he never leaves that space, not even when he’s walking away, he’s still off center to the left. he’s still in the “losing” space/direction.

with Rebecca it’s a bit different. the scene ends with Ted walking away, but he’s walking away to the right, and so we know that that’s the same direction/route Rebecca is going to take. She’s going to follow him, she’s going to move forward on her axis

To me this says a lot about their emotional journeys. Rebecca, by the end of s1, gets (kinda) better, she’s done with her schemes, she’s forgiven, she’s let go of the hurt she was feeling (as far as we know). 

But Ted? He’s not suddenly better. He’s just had a panic attack, he’s just signed his divorce papers. His life is falling apart. Sure, he seems Fine-ish throughout the rest of the season, but his arc is not done....

and neither is Rebecca’s

#ted lasso #ted x rebecca #meta #i pulled this out of my ass #take this with a grain of salt i was just hiperfixating kshkhhfhfdkh #also i wanted to drop this before s2 comes out cause yeah #anywhomstve #thoughts feelings? i'd love to hear them #or a 10th parallel please im so anxious and uneasy about the nine but i cant come up with it

[girlmuppet]

You seem to know quite a bit abt venom and I don’t rly know who else to ask so…..I’ve been wanting to pick up reading the comics but I’m not rly sure where to start so I was wondering if you have any thoughts on where to begin/ what I should read first thanks!!

I have lots of thoughts!!! This is long and im sorry.

Fair Warning: If you are looking for the movie storylines, you will not find them. The movie storylines, to my understanding, are an amalgamation of different arcs from the comics. The recent movies are not comic-compliant for their origin stories meaning the other content isnt going to line up w comic-canon perfectly ( I can talk more about this if anyone is curious!)

Short answer 1: there is no good place to start just pick up a Volume 1 from any author and go at it.

Short Answer 2: Mike Costa's 2016 run. Volume #1: Homecoming (leads into the most recent run by Cates and Stegman and you can work backward after you catch up)

Long Answer:

It depends on how much back story you want and what stories youre looking for. Venom goes through many different iterations and hosts over the years so theres a few different places you could start based on ur personal story tastes and what you want out of the comics. Im going to outline the general runs from newest to oldest.

Keep in mind i havent read all of the comics yet so im going off of what i know and my own experiences working through the comics.

Note: In general, you get more bang for your buck by buying Omnibuses, complete collections, collected editions, volumes, etc instead of individual issues. (I only buy back issues for collecting purpose or for ongoing series). You can also read them for free online if you dont like paying money for things (personally i like owning things but w/e)

Anyway:

If you want to really see the relationship between eddie and venom you can start w the Mike Costa run from 2016 or the Donny Cates run from 2018. I LOVE the donny cates run but theres some backstory and info you may miss if you dont have other knowledge of venom from previous comics. (Flash Thompson, Cletus Kassidy/Carnage info mainly) Most of it is easily google-able though and if youre jumping into later issues im guessing you dont care too much about spoilers so google away! I think the Cates and Stegman run of venom is so so good it adds some dark story elements and new layers to the character of Eddie (#11 and #12 will hurt you in a good way). It also adds some mythology and additional lore to the symbiote that i kinda love. This is also the most recent run and it ended earlier this year. The venom comics will begin a new run next month i believe but i have no idea how beginner friendly that will be.

The Costa run will require you to know a little about Flash Thompson, but again all easily google-able. As i mentioned above, this directly leads into the Cates run. The costa run starts as the transition between the symbiote being w Flash Thompson and going back to Eddie Brock through Lee Price and then the story follows Eddie.

Speaking of Flash Thompson, this is a good place to start if you want the full lead up to where the comics are now. Flash Thompson as Agent Venom comics are from the Rick Remender and Cullen Bunn runs, beginning in 2011. This was part of a Rebirth for the character and lasted for i believe 40-something issues. There are 3 large complete collections (2 for Remender and 1 for Bunn) or theres smaller collected volumes. (This leads into the Space Knight story line which will then put you at the Costa run.)

If you wanna start with Venom #1 in his solo comics, David Michelinie's 1993 Lethal Protector is the first issues of venom solo comics and i can outline where to go from there as these issues are usually collected in like limited runs with series titles (ex. Venom: The Madness, Venom: Seperation Anxiety, Venom: Carnage Unleashed etc.) instead of just having the volume numbers and it can get confusing v quickly. The Venomnibuses collect a lot of those early issues and story arcs along with some appearances in other characters' comics all in order. Theres 3 Venomnibuses currently that collect all the venom comics (plus bonus issues) up to 2003 i think? So that includes all the OG venom solo run from Michelinie and the Daniel Way runs and would set you up to start the Agent Venom story arc. Again this is pricey if your buying omnibuses but theyre also like 1000 pages and cheaper per issue in the long run.

If you want REAL OG venom and to start from the beginning, Marvel Comics has an Epic Collection for venom called Symbiosis that collects a good amount of venom appearances in the Amazing Spider-Man series before he got his own series, including Eddie's origin story. Although this collection does miss some crucial story points like #361-364 (i think) which is the first fight between carnage venom and spiderman and #375 which is the point where vemom/eddie go to San Francisco (also first canon appearance of Ann Weying) and is basically the launch point for the 1993 6 part Lethal Protector series (as mentioned above). Those missing issues i THINK are on a spiderman collected edition, you can also buy back issues online or just read them for free online if u feel the burning desire to read them.

I hope this is helpful lol.

Like i said, theres no qrong place to start it mainly just depends on how you wanna do it. Some people are purists and wanna start from the very beginning, others may just wanna dive in and work backwards (basically what i did, i started on either end eventually ill meet in the middle).

If you have any other questions im happy to help! If you want a more tailored suggestion for where to start let me know and ill do my best!!!

Happy reading!!

#Venom #long post #comics #my post #ask #anon #let me know if im wrong on anything like i said i havent read all of them im slowly making my way there tho

[dragon-ball-meta]

This is actually an ask all about fashion! Prior to DBS I loved that the characters had different looks in each arc. New Kanji for Goku's gi, new battle armor for Vegeta, new haircuts and stylish outfits for Bulma, etc. I don't like how there was a regression for Goku and Vegeta in particular, they took a step forward in ROF and then a step backwards in the latter parts of DBS. Do you like Goku's BOG gi and Vegeta's Cell Arc armor too much to care or would you like to see them in new attire?

I think there's something to be said for an iconic look, and I think there are reasons related to both characters that they stick with a certain look. In ROF, Goku and Vegeta had new outfits, yes, but I don't think I'd have been happy to see those carry forward, simply for the reasons they've stuck with said looks for so long in the first place. In Goku's case, his dogi is his Turtle School outfit. It's symbolic of who taught him how to really tap into his potential, who really taught him the fundamentals of combat, who set him on his life path. The kanji evolved as he got new teachers, yes, but by the end, the kanji was wholesale gone, symbolizing Goku's growth, that he'd become his own master of his own style of fighting. They added the new gi and had Whis make his "mark" on it intending for the same effect, but given Whis wasn't really actively his teacher beyond that arc, I'm kinda glad that got ditched, and I ADORE the fact that Goku still goes back to that outfit. It shows how much he still reveres Master Roshi and the memories made under his tutelage, and maintains his connection with Krillin as well. Vegeta's is a bit more straightforward, I think; he simply likes the outfit that most closely resembles what he always used to wear. It's a symbol of his heritage, his people, something he's had a really strong connection to in life. I don't really see him wholesale giving that up for the sake of an aesthetic change. It keeps him connected to what he lost... and also maybe reminds him of his sins just a little bit. Doesn't let himself forget what he used to be, but also shows his desire to do something to sort-of redeem the legacy his species left behind them. And in fairness, their fashion and looks still evolved over time. They grew beards for a minute, they wore suits, they had different casual clothes that would appear, Goku had his work outfit, etc. But I kinda feel like they wear what they wear for a reason, y'know? And I'd be sad to see them lose that.

#Goku #Vegeta #clothes #db fashion #Dragon Ball #Dragon Ball Z #Dragon Ball Super #DB #DBZ #DBS #Dragonball #Dragonball Z

[little-ligi]

you have SIX PLANNED FICS OF CAGE FIGHTING GWAINCELOT???!!!

*unholy screaming*

and i will be checking out that published one later today 😌

it is such a good trope and you can get the ✨ angst ✨ in there too, it's wonderful

😁😁😁 I do indeed...! (you know what we were saying the other day about having two cakes?!! Well yeah..... HAVE SIX!!)

(Eee!! I hope you like Blindfolded, it is one of my favourite things I've written!)

Ok, so, since I love talking about my wips and I adore screaming about Gwaincelot, please allow me to prattle on self indulgently for a while...

I’m going to put this under a cut because it is kinda long and has some little snippets!! 😉

1. So first, one that is pretty much exactly like that post, set in episode 3x13. When Lancelot and Percival arrive, Gwaine takes one look at Lancelot and goes, ‘I know you’. And then immediately punches him in the face. The other soon-to-be knights split them up and Merlin has to try and reassure them that they are all friends (at which point they basically have a ‘Merlin is MY best friend! No, he’s MY best friend!’ kind of fight 😂) Equal parts angst and humour!

“Come and meet everyone,” Merlin said, leading Lancelot and Percival over to where the others were sitting.

“Good to see you again, Lancelot,” Gaius said gladly, a smile breaking over his tired face.

“Hang on,” Gwaine suddenly blurted, a frown tugging his eyebrows low over his eyes. “I know you.”

He stormed over until he was right up in Lancelot’s face, scrutinising him with disdain. Then, without warning, he drew his fist back and punched Lancelot solidly in the mouth. Lancelot staggered backwards, stunned and cradling his face. Percival caught him before he fell and practically growled at Gwaine.

“Whoa, whoa!” Leon cried, putting a hand on Gwaine’s chest and pulling him back. “What was that for?!”

2. This one is after they have become knights, and they can’t work out why the other seems so familiar, until Arthur pits them against each other in training and Gwaine does his cool disarming and catching the sword then fighting two handed thing and BOOM... ✨angsty flashbacks!✨

Lancelot’s fingers are bent backwards as the sword is twisted out of his grip. It jars his wrist painfully and he dodges back, suddenly defenceless. Gwaine catches Lancelot’s sword as it arcs out of his hand, bringing the tip down to point at Lancelot’s chest with an easy grin.

Lancelot falters. Only once before has he ever had someone disarm him in such a way; years ago, in a slaver’s fighting cage. He blinks, staring at Gwaine. He imagines him without his chainmail, his face covered in dirt and bruises, his beard longer, his hair tied into a ragged knot at the back of his head.

He stumbles backwards and falls to the ground. It was Gwaine. It was Gwaine fighting in that cage.

3. Another is basically episode 2x04, except Gwaine is there too. It’s Gwaine that does the first fight and sees Gwen (and because he hasn’t been to Camelot yet, he believes she is Morgana) After the fight he tells Lancelot about Hengist having kidnapped Morgana. Lancelot being the noble knight-wannabe he is, obviously wants to rescue Morgana, goes to her cell and finds Gwen instead. (This one is actually more Gwencelot 💕 than Gwaincelot really.)

“Hengist has captured a princess. He’s holding her for ransom.”

“This is no place for a princess,” Lancelot said darkly, his gaze fixed on the dank corner of the room, the echoing sounds of fighting coming from the main hall.

“Particularly not one as beautiful as the Lady Morgana,” Gwaine said. He shook his head sadly.

Lancelot sprang to his feet, hand on the hilt of his sword. “The Lady…? Did you say the Lady Morgana?” Gwaine nodded. “We have to rescue her,” Lancelot said firmly, his voice brooking no argument.

Gwaine considered him for a moment; he knew Lancelot had a twisted loyalty to Camelot despite the way the king had treated him, but this seemed a little crazy. Although…

“Rescuing princesses?” He ran a hand through is hair and grinned. “Sounds like just my kind of thing.”

4. This one they are prisoners and after a fight they are shoved in a cell together and start talking. Lancelot mentions Camelot and being friends with the prince’s manservant and how he was banished, and Gwaine turns around and spouts basically the entire plot of episode 5 (minus the magic bits of course 😂) Lancelot is slightly freaked out and asks how the hell Gwaine knows his whole story. And Gwaine tells him how Merlin and Arthur and Gwen all talked about Lancelot constantly the whole time Gwaine was in Camelot. Basically everyone loves Lancelot, including Gwaine before he even met him!

“You’re Lancelot!” Gwaine cried suddenly, making the other man flinch back. His jaw clenched and alarm flared in his deep dark eyes.

“How do you know my name?” he asked warily. Gwaine didn’t miss the way his hand crept to his waist to draw a dagger.

“Merlin never shuts up about you; his friend who wants to be a knight but isn’t noble.” He grinned. “You killed a griffin.”

“No…” Lancelot shook his head uncomfortably, ducking his eyes away from Gwaine’s. “I… didn’t –”

“Don’t be modest!” Gwaine crowed, slapping him on the back. “Even Arthur mentioned how brave and honourable you are.”

5. A darker whumpy one, where they are really fighting for their lives, fighting to kill each other. They are both pretty badly hurt and are just left for dead by the bandits that were keeping them. They end up grudgingly helping each other. While delirious with pain, Gwaine starts talking about Merlin and Lancelot decides they need to try and get to Camelot (screw their banishments, they need Merlin!) Lots and lots of angst!

6. And lastly, they are both in the fighting ring and have beaten everyone else so their captor keeps pitting them against each other hoping to name one of them as his champion. They are pretty much equal and there is lots of juicy 🔥rivalry🔥(my favourite thing 😉) They start betting each other, but they have nothing to bet with except their life stories so it becomes a case of every time one of them gets a good hit in the fight the other has to tell him a secret about his life. They become really close and eventually fall in love! 💗

Unfortunately you can’t have snippets from these two because neither of them actually have any words yet, just very long rambly plot plans and notes! 🙈🙈

So there we go! Ligi is finshed shamelessly talking about her wips!! (for now 😉😉) I will try and finish all of these at some point... but you know, I say that about all of my wips and then rather than doing it I create new wips instead! My wip count is now up to 84.................. 😑

While writing this post I have actually had two more ideas for new cage fighting gwaincelot fics as well.... 😂🙈😅

#i like talking about my wips way more than actually writing them #gwaincelot rivalry🔥 #gwaine and lancelot cage fight #yup that's my kink now #to be honest i didn't realise i had used it quite so many times until i counted this morning #🙈🙈🙈 #it's just such a good trope #you can pry it from my cold dead fingers #now i just need to finish these #i will try #i will get around to writing more at some point #god if i had a pound for every time i had said that #i would be so fucking rich #BUT AT LEAST I AM RICH IN GWAINCELOT CONTENT #I HAVE MUCH OF THAT #i have so many wips

[lycorogue]

Thoughts about episode “Lie”

Okay. Here we are. This is back to the better writing I was talking about the other day. I love me parallel stories, so this was just *chef kiss* in that department. 

Before I delve into my thoughts on the episode itself, I want to take a step back and talk about my views of the non-love-square ships Lukanette and Adrigami. (Feel free to skip ahead; I have a header for when I start talking about this episode again)

Lukanette and Adrigami

For me, Marinette and Luka had romantic chemistry from the word go. As much of a Marichat shipper as I am, I knew that if anyone could make Marinette forget about Adrien, it wouldn’t have been Chat Noir. It would be Luka. Chat Noir would then come in at a close 3rd (a bit ironically) when it comes to Marinette’s heart. Meanwhile, Kagami slowly grew to have a crush on Adrien post-Riposte, and then charged forward knowing exactly who she wanted. On the flipside, though, I stand firm that there wasn’t really much romantic interest coming from Adrien. If anyone was going to make Adrien forget about Ladybug, it would be Marinette; not Kagami.

The episode “Frozer” - the one where Kagami makes her crush known for the first time, and Adrien first attempts dating her - practically gives us some foreshadowing of their entire relationship. Aside from clearly finding Kagami attractive (as showcased by the pink-bubbles-vision when Adrien first sees her sans-helmet in “Riposte”), he doesn’t seem to have any romantic inclination towards Kagami until after she cups his cheek and lets him know, in not so many words, that she likes him. Even so, it isn’t until Marinette basically gives the thumbs up that he should pursue this relationship does he give it a try. He’s still very uncomfortable around her, and only gets a bit more comfortable in “Animaestro”; probably because he’s seen his father around Kagami’s mom and just mimics that (as seen in “Backwarder”). Going back to “Frozer” though, Adrien spends most of his time with Kagami watching Marinette, and even abandons Kagami in favor of checking in on Marinette - something Luka could have easily done and probably doesn’t because he sees Adrien already on it and knows Marinette would prefer Adrien’s comfort. So Luka doesn’t push the issue. That whole ice rink interaction shows that, while Luka trumps Chat Noir as a potential alternative love interest for Marinette, Marinette still surpasses Kagami as a potential alternative love interest for Adrien. This, for me, is again hinted at in the episode Heart Hunter where, while enjoying himself seemingly equally with both girls, there’s just these little hints - complimenting Marinette more than Kagami, asking Marinette to choose the ice cream - that, at least subconsciously, Adrien is leaning a touch more towards Marinette over Kagami. His heart just isn’t all that into this relationship. This is again showcased in the New York special when Adrien (at least in the English dub; I haven’t watched it in other languages) asks Marinette to dance with him with an almost pleading tone in his voice. (To be fair, clearly Marinette isn’t thinking of Luka at all during that trip either...)

I think the final Foreshadowing nail in the Adrigami coffin is this dialogue from “Frozer”:

Kagami: “You still keep doing what other people want you to do.” Adrien: “No, I just want him to be happy.”

In the end, Adrien did the same thing with Kagami: he did what he thought would make her happy because he’s a people pleaser to his core.

Adrien of course found Kagami attractive and fun to hang out with. She was a fantastic companion, and I love their companionship so much. However, I feel like he dated her mostly because he knew he had to find some way of getting over Ladybug, and here’s this pretty girl who clearly has a thing for him, so why not???? Their parents were practically setting them up as a couple anyway, between the trip to the royal wedding and the movie premiere. Plus, this “approved” friend meant he could spend more time outside of his father’s house while genuinely enjoying the company. Win-win. He then did all the pseudo-dating stuff he’s clearly witnessed in media; kind of following a play-book as it were. 

However, he never did anything even remotely romantic or flirty towards Kagami that was on par with his romantic gestures and flirtations towards Ladybug (or even Marinette, for that matter). His love language is obvious after watching him with Ladybug, and he uses some of that same language (albeit subconsciously... probably...) while interacting with Marinette. Things like leaning in playfully (ending of “Troublemaker” and when asking Marinette for a macaron in “Despair Bear”), sharing a romantic picnic (“Glaciator”) even if it was just to cheer Marinette up, winking (the endless winking in too many episodes to list here), whispering in her ear (“Despair Bear” and one other that I can’t recall right now), Soft SmilesTM (“Chameleon”, pretty much all of the NY special, tons of season 3 episodes), confessing insecurities or secrets (“Gamer” and “Gorizilla”), or asking her to dance (“Despair Bear” and “NY Special”). I’m sure there’s tons more and each example has more episodes it’s showcased in, but you get the idea. Alternatively, Adrien just never used that same love language with Kagami. With her it all felt like calculated moves; it was expected of him to lean in for the kiss in “Heart Hunter” and “Miracle Queen”, or wipe away the smudge of ice cream by Kagami’s mouth, so he did it. Aside from his protectiveness and care for Kagami in “Onichan”, Adrien never really treated Kagami any different than his other friends.

Marinette, on the other hand, does show some of her love language towards Luka. She blushes around him and does that bashful little shoulder shrug. She makes excuses to touch his arms, hands, chest, or back. She literally leans on him. She has an interest in his interests and even goes above and beyond for gifts, such as the necklace (yay; Luka looks so good in a necklace!) and, unofficially, the contract with Bob Roth for Kitty Section. 

Granted, she doesn’t flirt with Luka like she does with Chat Noir, but, as someone who also used to flirt with my guy friends without truly realizing the romantic implications (I was a disaster as a teen, okay?), I don’t know if Marinette has truly realized how flirting is part of her love language. If she is anything like I was, flirting is more a fun past-time to see if you could get a rise out of someone in some sort of sextual-tension game of chicken or something. It’s not something you do with someone you have serious feelings for. 😝

Back to Kagami though. I want to stress that, while I didn’t see any romantic future for Adrigami, I do still very much like Kagami and appreciated the character development the writers gave her. I love her as one of Marinette’s potential friends and, as I mentioned, a companion for Adrien. I just never saw any romantic interest coming from Adrien towards Kagami. He never even truly seemed himself around her the way he is around Ladybug or Marinette. I don’t think he’s comfortable enough to not be Textbook BoyfriendTM around Kagami. He even mentions in this episode that him being a clown IS the real him and she calls bullshit (although @gale-gentlepenguin​ does have some nice commentary on how even that wasn’t exactly truthful and Kagami was right to call him out). Point being, Adrien loves to be nerdy and goofy and playful, and she just doesn’t get that????? A lot of what Adrien likes she seems to dismiss.

I’m sorry, Adrigami shippers. There could have been potential there as these two grew, but as it stood? I just didn’t see it.

The Episode “Lie”

Going back to my thoughts on “Lie” though with all of that above commentary for context. I just feel a bit cheated that Clearly-There’s-Mutual-Pining Lukanette gets ONE kiss lean-in for the whole “love rival” arc they’ve had set up for 1.5 seasons before the relationship implodes, but Clearly-Only-One-Has-Feelings-And-The-Other-Is-Just-Kinda-Going-Along-With-It-Because-Hey-He-Likes-Hanging-Out-With-Her-And-She’s-Cute-So-Why-Not Adrigami has THREE kiss lean-ins in THIS ONE EPISODE ALONE (not to mention the 2 from Heart Hunter/Miracle Queen)!? Like I said, I feel a bit robbed, but... well fed, Adrigami shippers, I guess...

Anyway, my heart hurts so much because yes, Kagami deserves someone who will take the time to be with her (just like how Luka deserves the same), but also, it’s not like Adrien WANTED to abandon her (much like Marinette not wanting to abandon Luka). These poor kids. All four of them. My heart breaks. 😢

I did feel a much stronger emotional gut-punch with this episode, which is surprising because a) we already saw a good 5-10 min of it in “Truth” so this episode was essentially shorter than the premiere, and b) I’m a much stronger Lukanette shipper than an Adrigami shipper (see above). So, bravo to the writers on this episode. I hate that this team broke so many hearts, but this is the caliber of writing I was hoping for. 

(I know Marinette is the Guardian, but can we agree to have more Adrien-centric stories, please? They’re just so good).

My final thoughts though: WHY ON EARTH DID THE WRITERS EVEN BOTHER WITH THE “LOVE SQUARE RIVALS” STORY LINE IF THEY WEREN’T GOING TO FOLLOW THROUGH!? ADRIGAMI AND LUKANETTE FINALLY GET TOGETHER AFTER 1.5 SEASONS ONLY FOR THE RELATIONSHIPS TO BE DOA BASICALLY THE NEXT EPISODE!? WHY!? TO RESET THE STATUS QUO THEY WORKED SO HARD TO SHAKE UP!? I already talked Friday about the lost story potential with Lukanette, but there’s also a lot Adrien could have learned from his relationship with Kagami. 

Adrien is still VERY vocal about his love, and, while he has learned a lot, matured a lot, and has eased up a lot, Adrien does still semi-burden Ladybug with his feelings; something Luka never did to Marinette. Adrien, possibly due to witnessing his parents - I have theories about the romance dynamic between Emilie and Gabriel - seems to have this view of love being okay even if unbalanced. Ladybug is far more powerful and crucial to the protection of Paris, but they are still partners and equals in their eyes. So maybe he feels the same about love; he may be more romantically devoted to her, but as long as Ladybug loves him even a little, it’s like they’re equals in romance... right???? So... yeah, a more balanced relationship with Kagami could have taught him how important a romantic balance is as well. Plus, if I am right in my assumption that he just kind of went along with the relationship because he thought it was expected, then he could have also learned something about being a people-pleaser. There was a lot of growth potential for both Marinette and Adrien in these non-love-square relationships, and it just feels squandered.

Also, as I mentioned with my review of “Truth”, I’m fearing that the writers are kind of railroading the Ladynoir ship. First, there’s Marinette realizing that she can’t have a boyfriend because he wouldn’t be safe, nor could she be truthful to him about why their time was so limited. The exception being Chat Noir, who can very much protect himself (except for when he’s shielding Ladybug, but she yelled at him for that in “Lie”), and she can be fully honest with him as long as it doesn’t involve their identities, and he very much knows and understands their time restrictions. In fact, he even goes so far as to state that ANY time with her is a gift he cherishes. He’s basically the perfect boyfriend for her in her situation; she just needs to be lonely enough to “realize” it. >3> On the Adrien side of things, Kagami tells him that she can’t trust someone who isn’t honest with her, but there’s Ladybug: fully understanding and completely trusts him even when she knows he’s lying. She also doesn’t fault him for their lack of time together and understands if he needs to run away without a moment’s notice. He’s already in love with her, but this whole situation just paints her even more as the perfect romantic partner for him. I get it, but I also hate it. I hate this feeling of this one corner of the love square being railroaded. It basically dismisses the other 3 corners as possibilities right alongside the Lukanette and Adrigami ships.

All that grumbling aside, I would like to give some applause to how the episode ended. I very much enjoyed that Kagami was like, “nope. You lied to me, and I can’t trust you, so we can’t be friends. I need time away from you. I’ll let you know if we’re ever okay again.” It shows the consequences of playing with someone’s emotions, even if under the best intentions. It also shows that it’s perfectly okay to cut out toxic relationships, even if the other person didn’t intend any harm. Well-intentioned people can still cause toxic relationships, and if you need to step away from them (as Kagami did), then you are completely valid in that decision. It’s an important lesson for kids to learn, I think. I’m just worried that Kagami brushing off even being Adrien’s friend (while justified) might mean not really seeing her in the show anymore, and that would be a shame. 😟 I do enjoy her as a character, and would love to see more of her growth. Plus, she is so limited in social interactions as-is, so I hope we see more Kagami and Marinette friendship growth.

I am also interested in how Adrien reacts to the knowledge that he can indeed ruin his friendships with people if they aren’t in the same emotional space. This is most likely what’s preventing Marinette from confessing: fear that Adrien will reject her so severely that he might not even want to be her friend anymore. So having Adrien now possibly have that fear as well has some interesting story potential (if the writers don’t drop the ball like they did with the Lukanette/Adrigami ships). Meanwhile, having a dejected Luka still offering friendship and support to Marinette - something clearly Adrien assumed would happen with Kagami; once a friend, always a friend - might give her the confidence to confess to Adrien, now trusting that they are good enough friends and he’s a kind enough person that they can still remain friends even if he doesn’t return her feelings.

There’s a lot of potential birthed from these opening episodes, but especially from “Lie” and I’m interested to see what the rest of the season is going to look like now.

Also... ARE WE SURE THAT LUCKY CHARM BRACELET IS ACTUALLY LUCKY!? IT’S BEEN THE HIDING SPOT FOR AN AKUMA TWICE NOW!

#ML #Miraculous Ladybug #ML season 4 #MLS4 #episode review #LycoRogue review #LycoRogue thoughts #LycoRogue original #Lie #Lie spoilers #Adrigami #Adrien Agreste #Kagami Tsurugi #Lukanette #Luka Couffaine #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #difference in romance dynamics #non-love-square relationships #Adrien the People Pleaser #I do like Kagami as a character I swear #no salt intended #long post

[thatsjustrwde]

For the RWBY character prompt thing: you gotta tell me about Ironwood for sure! And if somebody already asked, how's about Qrow? :)

OH BABEY A DOUBLE (I’m gunna put Qrow in a separate post to avoid making this too long) thank you so much!

Warning: This is a PRO IRONWOOD POST. I also go into team RWBY taking responsibility for their abuse towards Ozpin. Don’t read this if you don’t like it. You’ve been warned

My top three two ships for Ironwood

1) Ironqrow (Ironwood x Qrow) {Volumes 3-7}

I have loved the idea of these two since the fall of beacon. When they first interacted, I wasn’t too sure about them because it seemed like they didn’t really like each other.. but that scene where all the robots were turning on beacon and Qrow spotted ironwood, ran at him with his scythe, only to jump over him and save him from a Grimm, sold the ship to me. It was clear that they didn’t actually despise each other. Qrow wasn’t quick to point fingers; he knew that what was going on wasn’t James’ fault, and he even tried to add a little bit of comic relief to the scene. (When ironwood’s ship fell, and Qrow smirked “well, it won’t be much of a walk”)

My love for the ship was reinforced in v6 (yeah I know it was the fan service volume but I’m rolling with it anyway). Qrow knew that they HAD to get to ironwood in order to complete their goal. He trusted James, and he knew that he was a smart and capable leader who would know what to do (ah,, the good old days ;;)

And then in the early episodes of v7, their bickering that we once saw in v3 was non existent. They were happy to see each other, and James even initiated a hug. He was just so relieved to see him ;; it made my heart melt, I remember posting about this moment so much, all over instagram and tumblr. I loved them so dearly.

2) Ironwood x Glynda (idk if they have a ship name)

God,, I always loved them. that scene in v2 with Ironwood and Glynda standing together in the dead of night looking over the city of vale was so special to me. I love Glynda and her character, she is so dynamic. that scene with her and ironwood showed to us that she truly respected and cared for him and his well-being. She was worried for him as well. I just wish they had more interactions before his death. they would have been very sweet and POWERFUL together.

My three least favourite ships for Ironwood

1) Ironqrow {Volumes 7-8}

Oh boy. RT really knows how to take something good and just, ruin it huh.

I feel as though I don’t need to dive too deep into this (as I’ll be covering Ironwood’s fall from grace later) but yeah... The fight with Qrow and Clover was.. unfortunate. Everyone seemed to lose their braincells in that scene, and the moment it was over, Qrow was dead set on killing Ironwood for some reason even though he was the one who decided to side with a literal murderer, but go off MKEK you really did something there...

Yepp this absolutely killed the ship for me in canon (though I stilln love thinking about them out of the canon setting), I was an absolute wreck after this scene. they deserved better.

2) Ironwood x Winter

don’t worry I’m not about to pull the “IRONWOOD WAS AN ABUSIVE FATHER FIGURE AND GROOMED HER CAREERRHYUGGHR” no.

I always saw Ironwood as a POSITIVE father figure to winter, even before v7. We knew that winter was one of his best soldiers, and was most likely one of his students before then. I believe that Ironwood gave winter a chance at something great, to leave her actual abusive father and hone her skills as a soldier instead of becoming the heiress to a company that she did not want to be tied to. I believe Ironwood was a stellar father figure and role model to her, and that is the reason why I do not ship them. their relationship was so much deeper than that. it was found family.

3) Ironwood x Salem

What the fuck. Like actually what? This was a thing? What is it with this fandom and glorifying abusive relationships... I remember seeing a lot of people trying to justify it like “awh salem was so sweet with him she just wanted him to stop fighting. She would leave him alone after!!” Thats manipulation honey, we don’t fuck with that here. no. Absolutely not

My biggest criticism for Ironwood

See: the reason I made this side blog

It’s no secret to us in the RWDE community that his fall into the role of the villain was POORLY WRITTEN AND WE ALL HATE IT SO FUCKING MUCH. where the hell did this even come from? oh I know! TEAM RWBY LYING TO HIS FACE AFTER HE WAS NOTHING BUT KIND AND GENEROUS TO THEM. god I’m heated already.

I’ve talked about his stupid semblance before but it doesn’t even matter because his semblance wasn’t the cause of his descent anyway. We were all HOPING that it was but nope! it was him “losing his humanity” because he lost his other arm. How fucked up is that.

Shitty writing aside, I know James had flaws even before the shitshow that was v7-8, but honestly there was nothing he did that I can criticize harshly. He was a good and honest man with good intentions and a pure, big heart made of gold. Of course he made mistakes and of course he wasn’t perfect, but he was always trying to do the right thing to protect the people. He was a good man until MKEK decided they needed a reason to kill off another headmaster.

My favourite thing about Ironwood

his MUSCLES

His willingness to sacrifice himself to save others. During the fall of beacon he told the students that they didn’t have to stay, even though he could have used the help greatly. But he KNEW that they weren’t ready to handle a crisis like this, and he didn’t want to force them into a responsibility that could have left them emotionally/physically damaged, or worse.

During the Ironwood and Watts fight, IRONWOOD MANGLED HIS OWN ARM TO CAPTURE WATTS. He was so headstrong and brave and he wanted to do everything he could to prevent Salem, even if that meant hurting himself and losing another part of himself. God I miss him so much ;; I’m tearing up a little writing all of this...

A head canon I have for Ironwood

I love creating head canons for characters, it always makes them feel more real to me. one of my biggest head canons is that, in a peaceful world setting, he would enjoy sleeping in on the weekends. ;;. He is a headmaster AND a general which means he has to follow a strict schedule all the time. Maybe this is coming from my desire to take care of him and make sure he is happy and healthy and not stressed out.. But yeah, lazy Sundays, sleeping in late. pls let him sleep he needs so much sleep. What I would change about Ironwood if I were making a rewrite

Strap in kiddos I’ve been thinking about this for a very long time. I’m sure that someone has come up with a similar concept, but I will share my ideas anyway (: I am going to preface this by saying that for this rewrite to work, we need to have Winter receive the Winter maiden powers from Freya in V7.  To start, we will have to go back all the way to v2 when Ironwood was first introduced. I would have Ozpin and Glynda share their concerns to each other about Ironwood bringing all of his ships to look over the festival, but I would take that time to thoroughly explain his semblance. His semblance is stupid, so I would make some changes. To start off, I wouldn’t make it passive. The way it is now is just,, a weird way to give him a mental illness without actually giving him a mental illness. Activating it would have to be a decision that he made if he knew that he had to make decisions that would be hard for him. This way if his semblance caused him to do something actually horrible, he would be directly accountable for it, instead of blaming him for something that he couldn’t control. Semblances are a representation of the user, so with time and with more stress put onto Ironwood, I could see him falling victim to his own semblance if he were to abuse it too much. This will help as we lead into a better way to write his fall from grace. 

From there, I would keep pretty much everything the same until we get to v7. Team RWBY arrives in Atlas and gets arrested and brought to Ironwood just as they do in canon. This time, however, we have Oscar explain EVERYTHING. No lying. Salem cannot be killed. Oscar explains that Ozpin shut himself off after team RWBY forced the truth out of him, and while the truth is a lot for Ironwood to handle, he understands why Ozpin kept it a secret. He shuns team RWBY for their methods and explains why their actions were unnecessary and abusive, but agrees to help them anyway since he knows that they all need to come together if this is going to work. Hence, his arc kind of goes backwards. Instead of team RWBY having his trust from the beginning, they will need to work to gain it back. 

He takes Oscar under his wing to try and draw Ozpin back out. He greets Qrow, they fall in love, he also formally introduces the team to the Ace Ops. The Ace Ops take an IMMEDIATE backseat in the story. We don’t need more characters. For the sake of this rewrite specifically, they are barely around. We are focusing on Ironwood and his growth/relationships. I would explore more times to show the deep connection between him and Winter. As I said earlier, I see him as a healthy father figure for her, so I would definitely focus on that for a bit. At this point, Winter would not have received the maidens power yet, so we could have a scene of him assuring her that she is a perfect fit for the role, and encouraging her and just,, you know, solidifying that he wasn’t pressuring her into doing it. 

Carrying on with the main plot, instead of being left in the dark for the whole season, Ironwood is already aware that Salem cannot be killed. This gives him and the rest of the team a lot of time to work on a new plan to defeat her. They spend lots of time training, Ironwood takes care of them, offering his resources to them. Overtime the team do start to gain his trust little by little again, but this will all kinda fall apart when Salem arrives. 

With stress levels higher than ever, he activates his semblance. Team RWBY and friends KNOW about his semblance and they understand why he is acting irrationally. Maybe they have different ideas than him, but they would not directly oppose him. This completely fixes him from becoming a cartoon villain. Team RWBY and friends would work WITH Ironwood at a distance to fix amity and get global communications back up safely. From there, Ironwood could deliver a message to the world about Salem. Since people know who he is, it will make the message more impactful. Just like he did with his message to Mantle.

Qrow and Winter are positives in his life. They keep trying to ground him and bring him back to reality, but he will not deactivate his semblance. He is too scared of what’s to come with Salem. They support him in this, and do not turn their back on him. 

Winter receives the maiden’s power, and is told to open the vault to obtain the staff and raise atlas further into the sky to save his people. Winter agrees, why wouldn’t she? They have already evacuated most of mantle to atlas anyway. In situations like this it’s impossible to save everyone. RWBY could whine and bitch if they wanted to, but there is nothing they could do in this situation because, for the sake of this rewrite, they wouldn’t be as stupid as they are in the canon proper. 

The vault is open and the staff is vulnerable. It is in this moment that the ACTUAL VILLIAN comes into play. Watts took advantage of the security from behind the scenes, giving Salem the exact time that the vault was open. And thanks to him overhearing everything, he knows that all she needs to do is use the staff, and Atlas will fall. Salem appears in the room, and the big finale battle would occur. They weren’t ready yet. They hadn’t finalized the plan to stop her without killing her. Team RWBY Oscar and Qrow would do their best to keep Salem distracted while Winter and Ironwood speak to the staff. Meanwhile, Neo could breach Ironwood’s office and retrieve the relic of knowledge for Salem. 

The battle plays out, she keeps coming back, the team gets tired, Salem loses her patience and just PLOWS through them to get to the staff. She enters the realm and the mystical world around them begins to shatter and break. With that much concentrated evil in this place coming up out of nowhere, it would be sure to shift the balance. 

She goes head to head against Winter and Ironwood for the staff. She knows that using the staff will cause Atlas to come crashing down, so that is exactly  what she does. Since he is already out, she just gives him a command. It doesn’t matter what it is. Atlas starts to fall. She strikes a lethal blow to Ironwood (Keeping the theme of her killing headmasters) and flees with the staff. Qrow runs to his side, he and winter are crying, Team RWBY is upset, OZPIN IS UPSET. With his aura broken and his semblance down, he smiles at them all, says that he is proud of them for their work and he knows that they will find a way to defeat her. He tells them to get out and save themselves, save as many people as they can. They do that, but for further angst, Qrow stays with him, holding him and crying against him as Atlas falls. Team RWBY use the gravity dust keeping Atlas falling slowly to their advantage. They get as many people as they can into airships and send them to mistral. They then make their own way to Vacuo... Since global communications are back up, the world would know about this. This would give Shade academy a good chance to prepare. (damn I could write a fic)

What I think of Ironwood’s allusion and what I would change.

It’s dumb the way that CRWBY has portrayed it. In the story of the Wizard of Oz, the tin man doesn’t have a heart, but learns to love overtime. I used THIS aspect for helping my rewrite of Ironwood. He was hardened at the beginning, but managed to trust again and eventually smiled and said that he was proud of team RWBY and friends in his dying moments. It’s just more impactful that way I think. 

#long post #ironwood #pro ironwood #ironqrow #rwde #rwby crit