#like working only in subtext makes a strong writer stronger | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

shutupineedtothink · 7 months

Text

I finally landed on a Siuan theory/analysis re: 2x07! And it works prettyyyy good if I do say so myself. At the least it’s plausible. Probably. No book spoilers because I haven’t read the books, this is a show only theory. Read on at your own risk!

Background: So, at first I was on board the “Moiraine and Siuan planned this whole thing daes dae’mar blah blah blah” train. Mostly in my emotional turmoil after watching the episode initially. But, I was forced to dismiss that pretty quickly in light of some of Siuan’s lines, namely “That boy must not leave this city.” And “You lied to me.” She has to believe both of those things are truths to say them, so her somehow being secretly on Moiraine’s side still and them having conjured up some plan together doesn’t match up with either of those lines. Sadly. So that’s pretty much out. If this ends up actually being the case, I look forward to how they explain themselves out of it.

Second theory is of course that it’s playing exactly as we’re seeing it, which ultimately does work and when I can take the emotional dagger to my heart out of it, is objectively really excellent storytelling and character work. These are two women, trying to do the right thing, trying to save the world, and their love is sacrificed at the altar of duty. Duty over love is a theme that’s absolutely pounded into us with many characters, so it makes sense. (As Lan points out to Rand also in this episode, “you were born to protect this whole world, not just the people you love.” That’s kinda where Siuan and Moiraine are at too.) Plus I love the idea that Siuan comes face to face with the very real if unfathomable possibility that Moiraine has been turned to the dark based on her actions and general cageyness for the last six months, and that’s really what motivates every choice Siuan makes, up to and including invoking the oath rod. Really great stuff, brilliant subtext, two thumbs up.

However. There is a third option. *rubs hands together gleefully*

I heard some people saying Siuan could be under Compulsion, which definitely piqued my interest, because we’ve had those breadcrumbs dropped earlier in the season already and it would be nice foreshadowing for this. But most of the conversation I’ve seen seems to be around Liandrin being the one to do it. Probably because we’ve alluded to that already this season, so we know she is capable and has done it before. A tool in her dark friend toolkit, if you will.

But Liandrin being behind it never sat quite right with me either. Compelling Sheriam to change some logbook is one thing, but controlling the Amyrlin seat, for hours if not days to make this happen, is quite another. Idk what kind of strength Compulsion requires, but I bet it’s not nothing. And as powerful as Liandrin is, I don’t think she’s stronger than Siuan Sanche, or would be able to pull one over on her fast enough to make this happen. Plus, Liandrin is off doing other shit in this episode. If she was really implicated I feel like she’d be at least lurking around the other Aes Sedai. Maybe I’m wrong… but I don’t think I am lol.

So, who does have the power to do this? Who else has the means, motive, and opportunity to make this happen? There’s really only one other person.

The other scene stealer of 2x07, ya girl Lanfear.

There’s several bits of dialogue in this episode that back this theory up, both Compulsion in general and Lanfear being behind it, so let’s run from the top.

First, some general evidence that Compulsion might be happening.

Rand and Siuan meet, Rand gives his cute little introduction, Lan has prepared you I see, what else has he told you about me? Then Rand gives this line:

“That you’re not exactly what you seem.”

Interesting choice of words, writers— I mean Rand. He could have said a lot of things there, even directly repeating some of what Lan told him about Siuan, but no. And if you’re already thinking Compulsion, that’s a pretty strong nudge from the writers to PAY ATTENTION to Siuan Sanche, because maybe what she’s doing is not what it seems, even the person she IS in that moment is not what it seems. (Even if the surface level read totally makes sense and still works thematically!) This also wouldn’t be the first time that the writers seem to use the characters to say something/poke fun that’s more directed at us than the actual plot. So I definitely wouldn’t put it past ‘em.

Second, and this is kind of a throw away, but when Moiraine and Lan come in later, Lan says “this isn’t what we agreed to.” This is pretty easy to explain away, but I think it’s still notable that Lan and Siuan had some kind of conversation earlier, perhaps on their way to Cairhien, about what they were going to do in regards to Moiraine and/or Rand. And at that point Siuan at least implied that she was going to help Moiraine and Rand, not cage him. Again, pretty easy to sidestep with aes sedai truth-lies/evasions, but it’s also possible at that point she actually had no intention to cage Rand. Because she wasn’t under Compulsion yet.

Alright, still going in chronological order here, so now we’re getting into some Lanfear-did-it specifics. And I do love-hate this one.

Moiraine and Siuan are arguing over what to do about Rand, then this:

Siuan: “Can you imagine, Moiraine, if one of the forsaken got their hands on him?”

Can YOU imagine, how absolutely giddy it would make Lanfear to make her say this, to Moiraine’s FACE, knowing full well she’s got her hands all over Rand and then some? Come on, son.

Ok jokes aside, here’s the kicker.

Rand and Moiraine in the cell in the sun palace, Rand meets Lanfear in the dream world, Rand goes up to her and says “I’m in a cell, the Amyrlin’s holding me.”

And Lanfear says, so smug, “I know.”

Um, girl? You know?? HOW do you know exactly? I definitely dismissed this on the first couple watches as oh, Lanfear just knows things, but like, no. The Forsaken aren’t omniscient. Now, could she be teleporting herself here and there and spying on everything that’s going on and that’s why she knows? Sure. But that’s boring and I’m on a roll here so let’s keep going.

She knows, not just that Rand is in a cell but specifically that it’s the Amyrlin that’s holding him there, because she herself Compelled (Compulsed?) Siuan to do so.

Ok so motive. Why would Lanfear do this, why spend the effort?

1. It's definitely fun for her. 2. She sets up this scenario where she gets to “save” Rand from the big bad aes sedai, he has no choice but to ask her for help, she LITERALLY shows up in her white knight in shining armor outfit, and she ultimately hopes this helps convince him she actually cares about him and wins him over to her side. (As she tries to tell him in the finale, I’m the only one who cares about YOU, not just what you can do. Mhm sure girl.) And 3. She gets to actively pit the rest of the aes sedai against Moiraine, who she absolutely hates.

And in doing all of this SHE MIGHT NOT EVEN HAVE KNOWN about Moiraine and Siuan! That's just icing on the fucking cake! It works either way, because if she did know by forcing Siuan to tell her about their mission and she somehow gets Siuan to admit she loves Moiraine (however that interrogation goes, idk the specifics of compulsion but the show writers are playing fast and loose with the rules anyway), well now it’s game on baby because Lanfear will absolutely be using that info to wreck both of them. If she didn’t know, and her whole motivation is the first three reasons above, then she definitely finds out at the end of 2x07, because she was definitely lurking around the corner listening to that whole exchange between them and it made her fucking night.

And finally, there’s Lanfear’s last line of the episode (I think): “Lucky for you, a broken Amyrlin is more useful to me than a dead one.” Double meaning alert! Siuan is literally lying broken on the ground in that moment, but maybe she was already “broken” well before that, being under Lanfear’s control. (And there’s your Egwene/damane parallel too, damn.) And therefore Lanfear knows exactly how she’ll be “useful” to her.

This whole strategy by Lanfear could also be forecasted from a couple episodes back, when she asks Ishamael why he didn’t just kill Moiraine at the Eye. He basically tells her the same thing, that Moiraine (I believe he uses the words “aes sedai” specifically) is more useful to him alive than dead. So mayyyybe that gave her this idea to manipulate an aes sedai for her purposes, except while Ishamael is playing the long game, she goes full tilt and mind controls the fucking amyrlin seat.

On Siuan’s side of things, every bit of dialogue she has/action she takes makes sense under the assumption that Lanfear is influencing her, because she would “believe” everything she’s doing. Now I don’t know exactly how Compulsion works (in case you couldn’t tell), if it’s like someone else actually making you believe/do things you wouldn’t normally do, or if it’s more of a you’re trapped in your own head and not in control of your body sort of situation, but it works either way. And boy let me tell you, if this theory is correct, that makes Sophie Okenedo’s performance even more impressive than it already is, because it really works either way: Siuan is genuinely doing what she believes is right for the fate of the world and has her stone cold face on to do it (until the very end) OR her “real” expressions/feelings are mostly being masked/faked by the Compulsion and what she’s being forced to do by Lanfear. It tracks! Either way! Insane!!

The other big reason I think this theory works is because of what we find out in the finale — we learn from her conversations with Bayle Domon and Ishamael that Lanfear has been pulling the strings to make this whole season happen all along. (Cue It Was Lanfear All Along music lol). She sold the bits of cuendillar (although I don’t really get why… just for the money?), she seduced Rand, she played Ishamael, all of it. So why not this too? Why not control the Amyrlin seat, if she has the capability and means to do so, especially if she means to take Ishamael off the board and sort of become the de facto leader/strongest of the forsaken. Not really their leader, I know, but it’s a good power play for her is what I’m saying.

Finally, I think this could put us in a REALLY fun place for season 3, with stuff happening at the tower. We could have scenes with Lanfear, Siuan, and Liandrin. We could have Siuan acting increasingly more malevolent or just off somehow, and while most sisters are going with it, Alanna or Leane maybe starts to get suspicious (more Leane please!). We could have Moiraine send the wonder girls back to the tower, ostensibly to continue their training but also because she needs informants to know what Siuan is planning now (which kills her obvs), and because I would love to see them Scooby doo their way through some shit, the three of them figure out what’s going on and somehow (with Alanna’s help?) free Siuan from the Compulsion. Idk but it could be so much fun you guys.

Or, I could be totally wrong. Maybe this is totally not how Compulsion works. I don’t mind either way. This was a super fun thought experiment. But man, if this theory is in any way correct, this will be some of the most twisty TV/dialogue writing I’ve seen in a minute. And, you know, I’m trying to make fishwives happen here! Cmon!

Shout out to the Post Show Recaps podcast deep dive of 2x07 for questioning how Lanfear knew that Siuan had Rand captured and finally clicking this all into place for me. If you’ve got any other pulls from the episode or the season in general that back this theory up, please share in the comments!

#seriously rewatch the episode with this in mind the pieces just fall into place #the drama of it all!#wheel of time #the wheel of time #wot #wot season 2 #wot 2x07 #wheel of time 2x07 #siuan sanche #siuanraine #fishwives #lanfear #the absolute euphoria I will feel if this ends up being correct #only 2 years to find out

37 notes · View notes

criminalmindsgonewrong · 11 months

Note

hotchniss for the ask please even though I already know you love them 💞

starting off strong with this one babe.

so nobody is going to be surprised to hear that ultimately, i think they're literal soulmates and i don't care what anybody has to say against that, tbh. i think if you don't see romantic potential here, you're not watching the show carefully enough babes. its not even about the subtext (of which there is so much) it's about the text-text, the implicit context.

the fact that they knew each other before - that detail is so important to me, so important that i choose to completely ignore Hotch's "you were away at Brown at the time" - (why would he get the wrong school? he wouldn't, he loves her.) - and i headcanon that they had a whole thing that summer, hence the tension from the moment she steps foot in his office. him finding her alone in there in the dark? stunning behaviour by the writers.

"they look like siblings" you are scientifically attracted to people who look more like you x its because of familiarity, ok? so if u think they look alike then great, just means they're more likely to want to jump each others bones.

do i think they would clash? absolutely, we've seen them clash on the show, especially during emily's early days on the team, but they always work through it and we see them come out stronger and stronger each time, do we not? i choose to believe the same would happen if they were canonically a couple.

in summation, i think hotchniss is The Most Realistic of criminal minds ships, the only one that would plausibly have made sense for them to make canon and i think they should revisit this please and thank u x

#they are my everything your honour #hotchniss #emily prentiss #aaron hotchner

53 notes · View notes

lemonhemlock · 1 year

Note

On the subject of House Velaryon being race-swapped, something I don't see discussed often is the emphasis HotD places on Corlys and his house not being a dragon-riding house. This is especially strong in the end of episode 2, because Corlys talks about the fact that it was his exploits, and his Nine Voyages that made his house one of the wealthiest in the realm. And it was what effectively made him powerful enough to marry a Targaryen and have dragon-riding children and grandchildren. So rather than being born with a dragon egg like the (white) Targaryens, he actually had to work his way up and gain the status in order to have access to dragons. Not only does explain his pride and his obsession with legacy, but in this instance, I think the racial subtext was intentional, and actually works somewhat well.

That specific instance makes me feel that the writers aren't totally blind to the racial subtext in the show. There's also the instance of the Driftmark trial, where the racial subtext makes Rhaenyra's case to push her white son to inherit extremely uncomfortable, and one of the showrunners actually said that Vaemond was sympathetic in that moment for being right, but unable to change it.

The problem is that unlike Corlys, the show simply was unable to fully characterize the rest of the Velaryon characters, and as a result, it comes off looking like black characters getting side-lined in favor of white characters. And I think this was a result of their decision to cram 20 years into a single season. It's why Laena and Laenor only get bare bones characterization before being killed/vanished, because they're not relevant enough to the actual war era in the later seasons, and it's why Baela and Rhaena barely receive any screentime at all or get their scenes cut from the final product despite the fact that they ARE relevant to the actual dance - because the show does not have enough time to make them fully-developed characters with the amount of plot that is happening.

I don't think the showrunners chose House Velaryon to race-swap because they intentionally wanted to sideline them, or didn't care about making them characters at all, but I do think when push came to shove, and they had to choose which characters to prioritize in their ten episodes, the Velaryons mostly got the short end of the stick. You can tell because there is SOME material to Baela and Rhaena; little Rhaena gets a new subplot where she has issues because of her lack of a dragon, and appears to be set-up to do something in s2 with the whole dragonseeds/claiming unclaimed dragons plotline. And we have the Baela deleted scene where she fiercely declares her allegiance to Rhaenyra, and we see Rhaenys remark on how she's just like Laena.

(Tangent here, but not only was it a shame for that scene to get cut because it's one of the only scenes of Baela characterization we get, but it also does a lot to clarify Rhaenys's motivations; it's for her grandchildren. She would have stayed out of the fight otherwise if it weren't for her granddaughters being dedicated to siding with Rhaenyra, and it also makes sense why she brings up the Strong boys to Corlys to motivate him as well, because they're still a part of their legacy as Laenor's claimed sons, even if not by blood. At the very least, Corlys and Rhaenys siding with Rhaenyra because their grandchildren, both real and fake, are tied in with Rhaenyra makes the most sense to me. And that deleted scene would have clarified that point more had it stayed in.)

So the writers have SOME ideas for developing their current Velaryon characters, but again, because of the decision to time-skip the hell out of season one, they ended up getting shafted, which is not only bad writing but also comes across as racist, even if it wasn't intended to be.

So it really remains to be seen how the HotD writers are going to handle the Velaryons now that the time skips are over with. Will Baela and Rhaena get stronger characterization and interesting plot beats? Will Corlys and Rhaenys's motivations be clarified? Will there be some kind of Velaryon family dispute over siding with Rhaenyra, forcing them all to confront the issue of the Strong boys again? Who knows, I'm confident in some things and not so confident in others.

On the subject of House Velaryon being race-swapped, something I don't see discussed often is the emphasis HotD places on Corlys and his house not being a dragon-riding house.

This can actually both work well with race-swapping and end up as a slap in the face. The Velaryons were never dragon-riders, but they were still noble Valyrians. So, while they were at the bottom of the ladder in terms of hierarcy,* we don't really know whether they benefitted from the system or actively participated in it. We just know that, at some point, they left Valyria for Westeros and tried their fortunes there. They still maintain and promote their connection to Old Valyria, though, as a point of pride; they still act like their blood is special, so to speak.

*actually, similarly, the Targaryens were decidedly at the bottom in terms of hierarchy in Valyria as well, though they were one step above the Velaryons, as they did have dragons.

This is especially strong in the end of episode 2, because Corlys talks about the fact that it was his exploits, and his Nine Voyages that made his house one of the wealthiest in the realm.

Again, this is something we don't really have enough information on. If we ever get that show about Corlys' travels, we might be surprised at what actually went on. Corlys supposedly went on 9 voyages to distant places around the world and came home with so many treasures that the (liquid, at least) wealth of House Velaryon was greater than House Lannister's, a family that mined gold for hundreds of years. So I would really interrogate whether Corlys got these treasures fair and square just via trade* or whether plundering was involved, because it rings kind of suspicious. If I'm in the right here, then having POC characters becoming rich as a result of theft is... A Choice for sure.

*How many wares could you possibly carry with you on such distances though? And would those places really be that interested in your Westerosi goods that they are willing to part with so many precious things? What exactly does Westeros produce that wouldn't be available already in Qarth, Yi Ti or Leng?

And it was what effectively made him powerful enough to marry a Targaryen and have dragon-riding children and grandchildren.

Actually, Targaryens and Velaryons were known to intermarry way before Corlys was even born. Valaena, the mother of the conquerors, was a Velaryon by birth, but half-Targaryen, too, meaning that her mother had been a Targaryen woman that married into House Velaryon. Alyssa Velaryon was also Aenys' Queen. Corlys didn't really have to amass more wealth to get a Targaryen marriage as it happened frequently, out of need, because of the special Valyrian blood they carried.

I think that, in this instance, the writers may have tried to make Vaemond sympathetic, but they either failed, or SOMEONE came with a red marker and changed enough elements to screw it up. Vaemond's quest to prevent Dritfmark from being alienated from House Velaryon is very much sidelined in the viewers' minds by Viserys dragging himself to the Iron Throne to save Rhaenyra's arse. Because people love seeing examples of parental affection, the audience unconsciously starts rooting for Viserys here, as he is in great pain and the only thing on his mind is his love for his daughter, so automatically Vaemond becomes the antagonist. The fact that they added in that line of him calling Rhaenyra a whore is the final nail in the coffin. Rhaenyra is framed as the wronged party here, ALSO emphasized by Corlys later agreeing that Vaemond was too ambitious for his own good, so it's only natural that he got his head cut off.

And I think this was a result of their decision to cram 20 years into a single season. It's why Laena and Laenor only get bare bones characterization before being killed/vanished, because they're not relevant enough to the actual war era in the later seasons, and it's why Baela and Rhaena barely receive any screentime at all or get their scenes cut from the final product despite the fact that they ARE relevant to the actual dance - because the show does not have enough time to make them fully-developed characters with the amount of plot that is happening.

I agree in part, Laena and Laenor are episodic characters in the books, too, they appear very briefly, so it's not a surprise they didn't get much screen time. Baela and Rhaena, though, don't do much of anything during the Dance either. Rhaena is sent to the Vale and hatches her dragon, but that realistically would translate on screen with just a few scenes. I know people like Rhaena and don't want to hear this, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a pretty static storyline. Baela, likewise, stays on Dragonstone and only has a part to play at the very end of the Dance, when she battles Aegon. But before that she doesn't really get involved in anything significant. They're going to have to give the girls new stories in further seasons if they're interested in developing them, as their FB plotlines are too passive for a visual medium.

I do think that Baela and Rhaena could have received more family interaction and relationship exploration, though, as S1 is mainly preoccupied with building up dynamics and motivations, not with action scenes. What do they feel about their betrothals? What do they feel about being part of two families, where one tries to cannibalise the other? How do they get on with their Velaryon relatives, i.e. the Silent Five and their brood? How does Rhaena feel about Baela being fostered at Driftmark, but not her?

Yes, I agree with this. Ultimately, I think race-swapping them is gamble that's going to come off as messy no matter what they do, because the plot isn't super favourable to the Velaryons as a whole either.

#ask #anon #house velaryon

20 notes · View notes

aenor-llelo · 3 years

Text

orphan’s path season 4 trivia

-Yes, both the $100,000 Dream vs Technoblade Duel and The Potato War were a) events that actually happened b) events that are canonical to the Dream SMP timeline.

-It is implied in Dream SMP canon that Sally is dead and possibly eaten by Wilbur, though this is mainly subtext.

-We made Fundy’s AFAB name Theodosia because Fundy’s initial character reveal as Wilbur’s son in DSMP canon was based on a Dear Theodosia joke. Dear Theodosia is a song from Hamilton, a musical that the early L’manburg plotline draws heavily on. The L’manburg uniforms are based off the American soldier uniforms from the musical!

-This brief animatic by Wolfy was a driving reason why I included a “proposal” scene in the final chapter of And They Danced.

-orp!philza is demiromantic! Demiromantic is an aromantic spectrum orientation in which a person generally only experiences romantic attraction to people they have a pre-existing deep emotional attachment to. Demiromantic people often think they’re just plain aro until their romantic conditions are met!

-I was really nervous about writing And They Danced despite being an arospec writer, because I wanted to really go about an arospec love story respectfully and authentically. The “romantic fixing” of aro and aro-coded characters who “find the one” in fiction is a real problem in media. Because of this, I reached out to arospec Orphan’s Path readers and mutuals across multiple Discord servers to get their input about how I wanted to approach it.

-Philza was always going to get his hair cut short but we debated when it was going to happen. At one point it was actually going to happen during the DSMP era, then it was moved to after reaping Ender, but ultimately we decided that he should have this independent of any trauma-based decision making.

-It’s hard to write Trixtin. Not that She’s a difficult character to work with, but it’s hard to balance Her as a concrete character when Her appearances by nature require being perceived by Philza or outside parties. In a lot of ways, She almost doesn’t exist unless She’s being perceived or solicited.

-Technoblade doesn’t get a lot of POV chapters in comparison to other characters because his POV is too powerful (this is only half joking).

-Dream’s backstory as an End war veteran, and an End war being why no End portal’s are left except Dream’s, has been something we’ve had in mind even as early as Snow Angel.

-Falrisesi is pretty much the head writer of orp!Dream and drove a lot of the lore surrounding the End.

-Tommy’s character being a superhuman made in a lab is DSMP canon.

-orp!Tommy is not Philza’s child- he’s a clone, but his donor parent is some random guy. Stop being excited about when they’re going to find out tommy is philza’s child. it’s not gonna happen.

-Tubbo being found in a box by Philza and accidentally calling him “dad” as a kid is DSMP canon.

-Overall, between Tommy and Tubbo, Tubbo has a stronger canon mutual relationship with Philza, while Tommy’s is more parasocial. Expect more tubbo/philza content in the future over tommy/philza content, where orp is concerned.

-Despite Benihime’s breakdown in The Fable of Endlantis, and knowing that its current situation is better than what it had with Ender, it still has trouble really absorbing that what Ender did to it and Philza was abusive or wrong.

-Wilbur still has Sally’s totem by the end of the season.

-It was ConcoctionsFromHell’s idea to let Benihime destroy one of Dream’s dolls after Dream lost the duel.

-Since the Industrial Revolution (and resulting child labor laws) never happened in Orphan’s Path, and mandatory education still largely does not exist, the way the Orphan’s Path universe treats children is a lot more self-responsible than modern IRL. The idea that kids/teens in general should be treated more gently than adults is more recent than you think it is.

-The moon dragon egg cracked! That probably doesn’t mean anything. :)

-There was always meant to be the strong sense that like Philza’s really not meant to live. The brittle heart caught on the dance of death, he was always meant to have fallen, and the weariness of his eyes, the dance of scars on his body, they are the marks of a life past its due- he was always meant to die. (and he lives anyway. because life is hell. but there are things in life worth eternity.)

#orphan's path #orp meta #aenor-llelo

137 notes · View notes

casmick-consequences · 3 years

Text

Cas&Dean VS Claire&Jack

So I wrote [a small little theory] a while ago as to why I think Claire and Jack wouldn’t have been shown on screen together/have any connection throughout the show on-screen/off-screen at all. And so here I will some points as to why I think that is.

AKA here’s the long awaited essay/conspiracy theory y’all have been asking for.

First of all; let me start off by saying this is 100% meant as a joke (no it’s not) and it’s not to be taken seriously (yes it is) as it’s literally just a dumb theory (it definitely isn’t). And second; fuck the C*W for contributing to every little bit of tinhatting this fandom (especially us hellers) has succumbed to.

Now; for this theory we have to understand a few things:

How Dean and Cas work as individuals

How Claire and Jack work as individuals

How Dean and Cas work as a duo

Let’s start with the first two things.

How Dean and Cas work as individuals

Dean Winchester is a masculine, tough but loving hunter. He cultivates a “bad-boy personality”, and makes sarcastic jokes at even the most morbid times. Underneath, though, he's become hardened by life as a warrior (as Daddy’s blunt instrument, if you will). He’s been taught to fight his father’s battles, and protect the ones he loves and cares for. But soon began to see that neither of his parents (especially his dad) did the job they were given when they had children. He didn’t just have to be a brother; he had to be a father and mother. He’s had to grow walls around him to stay strong for his little brother, but over time, after making a family for himself, it became easier to tear those walls down. However, he has his weak spots and is an emotional and loving human being through and through.

Castiel, the Angel of Thursday, is an angel of the Lord. He’s lived for aeons, and as an angel has (just like Dean) been taught to fight the battles of his creator and father. He’s a warrior, and he’s been given the job to follow the orders of said creator. Only for those orders to be thrown out the window once he meets Dean Winchester. The man who showed him that hate and anger isn’t always the true answer and that you can choose to be good. Everything that he has been taught slowly breaks away as his hard exterior crumbles, and he develops into a being with emotions, as he slowly but eventually learns to love and care for this man, and with that; humanity.

How Claire and Jack work as individuals

Claire Novak, a woman who has lead a tragic life, where she lost both her parents early on. Her father said yes to be the (permanent) vessel of an Angel, and her mother just disappeared after dropping her off to her Grandmother. After the grandmother had passed away, she was left alone. She had to fight through the world on her own, as she put a wall around herself to make herself stronger for the people around her. It took a while before she found her place in a loving family filled with strong women, who didn’t just help bring her walls down, but build a home instead.

Jack Kline is an innocent, naive but loving Nephilim. The son of the human Kelly Kline and the archangel Lucifer. He was destined for evil, as a Nephilim is one of the most powerful creatures in existence. But, with the help of his three Godfathers (heh), he learns that he doesn’t have to be evil. He can be whatever he wants to be. Controlling his powers has been hard, but no matter what happened, his mindset never changed as he grew to love the people and love the things around him. His biological father saw his power, but his chosen father saw his kind soul. Castiel believed he could create paradise, and he did, as he became the God that the universe deserved.

There are alot of parallels between Dean/Claire and Jack/Cas that can be compared to here. Let me show you a few:

So we’ve established that with Claire being Dean-coded, and Jack being Cas-coded, there could’ve definitely been potential for a cute Claire/Jack dynamic in the show. Why wouldn’t they have done that, you think? Perhaps this question can be answered when we look at thing number 3:

How Dean and Cas work as a duo

Destiel is the relationship between the hunter Dean and the angel Castiel. Castiel was ordered by God to free him from Hell, and afterwards he was supposed to do as he was told while Dean was supposed to figure out how to “stop the apocalypse” which happened to be a bunch of garbo afterwards knowing what we know now. Nonetheless, Castiel didn’t listen, as he quickly grew fond of the hunter and, because of him, developed a sense of emotion and free will. This lead to Castiel helping Dean throughout the Apocalypse, and beyond, and they’ve been best friends ever since.

There have been MULTIPLE essays on Tumblr about how this relationship works, and it would be silly of me to try and summarize stuff that hasn’t been said a million times already. But basically; What they have is quite a bit more than best friendship. It has been confirmed in 15x18, Despair, that Castiel has been in love with Dean for quite some time, as Dean’s own feelings are kind of all over the place. Nothing has been confirmed, yet nothing has been denied. But, seeing as all the insane things Dean has done for/because of/regarding Castiel... for instance:

defended his behavior to his brother and father when neither trusted him in season 6

kept his trenchcoat when he “died” in season 7, and keeping it with him in the trunk of his car(s) for the entirety of Castiel’s absence.

absolutely despises angels, and hates praying, yet he only ever prays to Castiel when he needs anything because he’s the only one he trusts

couldn’t get his mind of of him when he was possessed by Lucifer, and later taken by Amara in season 11

Has Castiel being referred to as his Colette by Cain (subtext but not really subtext because it was so incredibly obvious)

was supposed to be completely enamored by Amara and was supposed to be so hypnotizingly attracted to her that he couldn’t focus on anything else, yet he called out for Castiel’s name when it came down to it (aka the equivalent of calling out someone else’s name during sex)

keeps looking at him like that

acted like a grieving widow when Castiel died in season 13

gets down on his knees to pray to, cry for and apologize to Castiel in Purgatory when there’s millions of creatures hunting his ass

...it’s easy to say that this is more than just a “brotherly friendship” between the two. There is dialogue that would NOT have worked between Sam/Cas because it would’ve felt weird. I wonder why.

So now to get back on topic; why is it that we’ve never seen Claire and Jack on screen together?

Is it because the writers didn’t have time to put them together in any given scenario whatsoever? Is it because the writers didn’t care enough for Claire to give her some more airtime with the boys?

Or is it perhaps that if there was a possibility that they’d be on screen together, that they’d have a very similar (if not the same) connection to one another as Dean and Cas, only written as an actual little brother/big sister friendship dynamic?

So yes, TL;DR: the actual reason that Claire and Jack never met is because they would’ve had the exact same dynamic as Dean and Cas, but in this case platonic. Which would’ve meant that the audience would’ve seen a clear difference between the Dean/Cas dynamic and Claire/Jack dynamic, and it would’ve shown that the way they’ve been writing and directing the Dean/Cas scenes is romantic.

thank you very much, and I bid thee a very good night. <3

236 notes · View notes

captaintroi · 4 years

Text

CW Supergirl....you should have the courage and conviction to deliver what you’ve set up.

Many of us saw from the first scene between Melissa Benoist and Katie McGrath noticed something immediately…. the amazing chemistry you cannot create. The CW writers saw it too, a fact that influenced their decision to keep the character of Lena longer than originally intended. The incredible portrayal by the very talented actress not only cemented interest in Lena, but also piqued the audience curiosity on where this relationship would go. The similarity in background with both having experienced loss being orphans, built an understanding that was the perfect added touch for a friendship to blossom. They delivered in Lena a complex and compelling character, who had overcome adversity from a young age. Lena is fundamentally good, in-spite of not having known love growing up, and suffering nothing but betrayals. She’s an intelligent and capable businesswoman, a dedicated scientist, and a genius who strives to better mankind having cured cancer, saved Supergirl and the world more than once. (My god! They would have married them by now if she was a man!!). Inevitably with such strong compelling portrayals by both Benoist and McGrath, the writers began playing up to the chemistry. The romantic parallels where blatant, and there was often downright baiting of the fans, with certain dialogue and scenes that were far beyond platonic. It was obvious to anyone truly looking. It was a case of doing one thing by pairing them with others, and then hinting at something underlying in practically every scene they had together. Even station episode promos and television advertisements in other countries started playing up the romantic angle. It was ‘lightning in a bottle’ and it seems it was too much to resist when gifted with such strong chemistry, knowing it was delivering ratings and fans.

They continued crafting this relationship that grew in-front of our eyes, that developed and strengthened season after season through trials and adversity. Their bond just kept getting stronger and their love for each other was clearly demonstrated by how a secret unrevealed caused so much devastation to both, once Kara’s identity was finally out. The emotional reveal by Melissa Benoist was riveting and powerful, and no one can forget Lena’s breakdown in the fortress of solitude, Katie McGrath delivered a level of emotional trauma not easily portrayed. Both are excellent and very talented actresses. As if it wasn’t obvious by now that Kara and Lena’s relationship is integral to the show…. the 100th episode made it abundantly clear beyond a shadow of a doubt! In addition the episode displayed just how much these characters are willing to sacrifice for each other!! If anyone still thinks that isn’t love…. I don’t know how to help you. Which brings us to the crux of the issue with audience disillusion and discontent…. (and we’re not just talking Supercop fans). Many industry reviews and non-shippers alike have seen what is blatantly obvious regarding this denial of the relationship, the CW says one thing but does another. Over the seasons it’s cost them viewers and this season may be the final nail in the coffin. For a show that supposedly says they champion LGBT characters they appear to be in a state of complete homophobic terror at having to deliver on what they have teased for season after season….and in 2020 that is no longer acceptable. What is so wrong in stating your lead character is bisexual? Why is that considered wrong for Supergirl CW, since one of the DC book writers said on twitter, they considered the character to be indeed bisexual.

The fact remains CW have backed themselves into a corner…. they have the impossible task of delivering a character to rival Lena as a fan favourite, and logical love interest. Particularly because into the 5th season it is too late to make anyone believable in comparison. Not to mention the daunting task of finding anyone with that level of chemistry is not simple….in-fact it is difficult because it is rare. You only need to look at other ground-breaking shows remembered for the chemistry of the characters, to see what can make or break your show. Xena was one show were the writers realized the chemistry between their leads and by the end of the show rather than deny it they made it obvious and stated in cannon they were soulmates, even if the romance was only subtext throughout the seasons. However, that show ended 20 years ago and CW have no excuse in 2020. Hence the reason why their actions today could mistakenly appear as though Supergirl CW are just carelessly not caring if they are insulting the collective intelligence of their fandom, by throwing William at Kara. Out of nowhere this forced pairing with no chemistry and completely lacking in any way to make it remotely special, is supposed to be realistic and satisfying?! No……it is not even remotely satisfying or even adequate. Why? Well for starters the character by no fault of the actor, is simply introduced in a very bland fashion, and is just too dull. He also lacks charisma and an interesting backstory. Also frankly the lack of chemistry with Benoist is just awkward. Maybe it’s because he’s another man and she’s newly married…. don’t know but it’s just painful, chemistry cannot be faked it’s there or it’s not. 100th ep also showed what real chemistry looks like, it was there in spades with both Lena and Mon-El. Even in just a few scenes with Mon-El. So yes, that is a huge issue whether they want to admit it or not and reviews are rife pointing this out. Kara cannot be saddled with William this late in the game as the love interest, it’s just completely and utterly anticlimactic. The female Superhero leading a cast of empowered women cannot just settle for the random guy at work!

#Supercorp #Supergirl #CWSupergirl #Superforced

157 notes · View notes

amwritingmeta · 4 years

Note

hey! i was just wondering if you think spn will actually make destiel canon by the finale? it seems like in interviews they're trying to let us down gently w/a cas death (which possibly makes it seem like cas's ending might be related to his empty deal?) + all the parallels between saileen and deancas, and it looks like dabb and co (while not rly bringing arcs into conclusion and generally making a mess of spn) are fighting to make it canon, i was wondering what ur take on it was, esp after ep09

Oh, my dear, my heart is swelling with love for those two right now. I just watched the show through from 12x19-15x13 and I swear, that moment they share in 15x12, clinking those glasses and sharing all those smiles was like balm. It’s not even five minutes of screen time, and still it was like, okay, yes, good, thank you for the room to breathe. :D

It seems to be that Cas hearing Dean’s prayer has ushered in some much earned peace between them. They’re shown to be on the same page and taking each other’s side unquestionably. Dean trusting Cas’ judgment regarding Jack without pause. And that’s a good word for it: there’s trust between them, mutual respect, understanding. It’s so lovely, isn’t it?

So, there’s this line that’s sort of stuck with me. Actually, there are two things that have stuck with me (apart from all the gorgeous symbology baked into every episode) and it’s that the word “complete” has been mentioned twice.

Once in reference to Mary in Heaven, and once by Amara in reference to God.

Then we have a line that’s recurred twice: I had to die to get what I want.

The fact that its spoken verbatim twice made my antennas perk up a bit. It may mean nothing, as some things in this narrative sometimes do mean nothing, but it’s still interesting to take these things into account: that we’re searching for completion and that sometimes, in order to get what you want, you have to die.

So. Will Cas die?

I don’t think so. I don’t think so for many reasons that I’ve laid out here (I just posted this) (it was like you read my mind that this was coming today), but foremost because I cannot see how him dying does anything for his character arc, or for his joint journey with Dean.

You know, dark!Kaia (Kaia’s Shadow) going back to the Bad Place (Kaia’s unconscious) and accepting the ending waiting there, releasing our!Kaia back to the world where she belongs, makes me think, more than ever, that the integration of the main character’s Shadows are a necessity.

The Empty, way I see it, is representative of Cas’ Shadow, his unconscious, all the repressed and suppressed emotions of guilt, shame and doubt that has kept his self-worth down until Jack came on the scene.

And this is just my reading of this situation, but I’m not sure I can see Cas defeating the Empty in the Empty, if you know what I mean? The last time Cas intruded, the Empty made him suffer greatly. I don’t think Cas holds any sway there, nor should he.

To me, the weapon our conscious has against our unconscious ruling our decisions, is our ability to grow aware of our own impulses, our own thought patterns, and making choices to break away from them.

I think Cas can only beat the Empty through making a choice and, well, for a long time I’ve felt that choice should be to become human, because by making a final choice of who he is and who he wants to be, he brings himself into awareness, integrating his Shadow in the process, and narratively nullifying the Empty’s hold on him, since humans don’t go to the Empty when they die: they go to Heaven.

But that’s wishing and hoping and speculation, of course.

Here’s where the Destiel question comes in though.

Do I believe they’ll make it canon?

Personally, I can’t think of anything more a part of our story than the love story between those two, but I know what you mean. You mean a representative, tangible, clear, statement type of making it canon. Textualising it, so that there’s no room for doubt whatsoever. No more arguments, no more queer baiting complaints, just Destiel in plain sight. Undeniable.

I do and I don’t.

Watching these last few seasons through again made me realise what a different feel to them this last season has, because the emotional stakes for Dean and Cas have everything to do with what they mean to each other. Yeah?

Dean taking his anger out on Cas and it pushing Cas into a turning point where he chose to leave, to move on, which was a moment of clear independence a statement of his sense of self-worth, and it in turn pushing Dean into a turning point where he faced a side to himself that he’s needed to name since forever, admitting to not having any control of himself, which is something he has to acknowledge if he’s to move into trusting himself fully, all of this has been gosh darn breathtaking to get to witness.

And having them land back in this ease, where they work together seamlessly as a team, being kept together more than not, the framing of them, all of this makes me feel like they could give us canon Destiel. I’m not going to say they absolutely won’t.

I believe the writers want it. I believe the actors want it. But, again, that’s just what I take from the narrative itself, because the subtext is stronger than ever this final season.

Especially with Sam and Eileen being reunited.

Because it’s been that clear parallel you mentioned, but it’s been that clear parallel to those of us who see it. The echoes of the Saileen romance that trace through the Destiel progression won’t be as resounding to those that don’t.

And because of that, at this point, I also feel quite reserved with my belief that Destiel could become canon. Because there’s so much, but there’s also nothing. There’s so much for us to enjoy, there’s so much evidence they keep throwing at us that the writers support this reading of their story, but still, there’s nothing, really, to let on that they’re building towards these two men, at some point, declaring their love for each other.

There has been zero textual foreshadowing of that.

There have been throw away moments, like the cop flirting with Dean, for example, but he frowned at that, and then got sincerely flirted with by a woman, so that deescalated that very quickly.

There was Dean at first rejecting Garth’s compliment of “You smell SO good”, becoming uncomfortable, to then, by the end of the ep, tell Garth he didn’t smell half-bad either.

And there was that amazing moment with Cas calling out Sam being “sexually intimate” with Ruby and Dean repeating the words as if he can’t believe Cas even knows how to pronounce them.

So, there’s... you know, stuff?

But it’s not foreshadowing if it can be overlooked by the wider audience.

That said.

This show isn’t about this love story of ours. The fact that it’s so downplayed could mean that what we’ll get is something textual, but extremely subtle. I mean, for me, lingering eye-contact and a shared smile in a context that makes us understand they’re choosing each other would be enough.

If, by canon, you mean do I think we’ll get them kissing, then the answer is I want to believe that we might get that, because they could build towards that on the foundation of ease and trust that they’ve put down over the last few episodes and they could build it effectively, but I just don’t know if the studio (who own the characters) is onboard.

My hope is that they are, because the topic of healthy representation is so hot right now, and the question of the longevity of Supernatural to the younger generations (you know, you young ones who are proving exceedingly more open-minded and looking for something beyond the superficial brothers-hunting-monsters aspect of the show) would bank on the show opening itself up to the possibilities of solid representation already seeded throughout its run.

But Dean has flirted with more women than men this season. You know? I mean, he hasn’t flirted with any men. So.

Look, I’m not going to say I don’t think we’ll get it, because I don’t know.

I watched S15 yesterday and finished it today and suddenly I feel this wave of hope that it actually might happen, because they’ve already changed how Dean and Cas interact, they’ve given them so many scenes with just the two of them, and we have Sam clearly meant to end up with Eileen, and doesn’t Dean and Cas deserve that same happiness? That same sense of completion? That internal peace of loving unconditionally and being loved in return?

Sam and Eileen could be foreshadowing. These writers are subtle and they could be gleefully rubbing their hands together at the thought of springing textual Destiel on the GA, you know? The green light from the studio might make them diabolical. *sadism* And I love that thought.

Because that’s been the point of the love story for me, this slow, slow build to the moment when Dean and Cas have reached a point in their progression when what they’ll have together is a healthy, balanced, loving relationship because they’ve both let go of the past and are looking to the future.

But I won’t expect textual Destiel. If we do get it, I’m going to treasure it as a big cherry on top of an already perfectly inviting and exquisite pie.

What I do believe, more than ever, that we’re getting, though, is closure. Even if it’s only at the subtextual level, I believe that those of us who read the subtext will have Destiel verified beyond a shadow of a doubt. And yes, I will be quite surprised and disappointed if we don’t get that. Because of how these first 13 episodes have been shaped and how strong the subtext is in them.

I believe we’ll end on a hopeful note.

And wouldn’t that just be gratifyingly phenomenal?

(it really would) (honestly I just need to know that they are happy and alive and together and well and finding peace and carrying on) (you know?) (thank you and amen) :)

#answered asks #spn s15 spec #cas #dean #destiel #deancas #canon #oh I have the hopes #just not the expectations #:)

54 notes · View notes

rachelbethhines · 4 years

Text

Digimon Adventure Shipping Masterpost - Part 1

Digimon is the first fandom I ever got into where I started actively shipping characters, and Digimon is a treasure trove for multi-shippers since it features a large group of friends being forced together for long periods of time and being emotionally vulnerable while fighting for their lives and relying on one another.

Now for this reason, I maintain that there’s a good basis for nearly every possible ship out there and I’ll be talking about most of them within the Adventure continuity. Just giving the lowdown about them, fairly listing their pros and cons, and explaining why someone might like them while others might not. Afterwards giving my personal thoughts on each.

Now a few ground rules before we start. First off I’m only covering the adventure seasons and movies, minus the reboot and the newest anniversary film as I haven’t seen those yet. Secondly I’ll only be covering the main human characters of those films/seasons. Last off, I won't be covering crack and OT3s, just because this list is too damn long as it is. Characters must have interacted on screen before, be no more than five years apart, and this probably can go without saying, but they can’t be related to each other.

Oh, and any antis starting shit will be blocked!

So without further ado, LET THE SHIPPING BEGIN

Tai x Matt (Taito)

Pros: If you like rivals to lovers, boy do I have a ship for you. Taito is like the typifier of this trope. They constantly fight, but are best friends, and when they do argue it’s usually over deeper things than just their rivalry/jealousy. Once the fighting is over, they tend to become stronger people with a firmmer relationship. They also hold a lot of respect for each other that only grows as they get older. While not a ‘canon’ ship, (most of these aren’t) there’s a lot of gay subtext between them, especially towards the end of Tri. Now how much of that is the writers throwing the fans a bone and how much of it is just anime being anime, who knows.

Cons: If you’re not a fan of the rivals to lovers trope than this ship may not be for you. You may prefer them as friends only, and hey that’s valid since they indeed are friends first and foremost. Also if you’re looking for a more officially canon gay ship/rep you may be disappointed with how they are portrayed.

Personal Ranking (6/10) I’m one of those people who doesn’t typically like ‘rivals to lovers’. Just not my thing. However I’ve warmed to this ship over the years due to fanworks and the fact that Tri is indeed very, very gay.

Tai x Sora (Taiora)

Pros: I don't know if this is the most popular pairing in the show, but it’s high up there. All throughout the first season and the second movie these two were heavily hinted at. Especially in the dubs. Sadly it came to nothing, but for a lot of people this was the first thing they shipped in the fandom. But beyond just the hints, these two have that ‘childhood best friends to lovers’ dynamic that resonates with a lot of people. They’ve known each other the longest out of the group and were friends before getting stuck in the digital world. Now add in how they they compliment each other so well, Sora’s level headedness getting through to Tai stubbornness, Tai’s optimism and can do attitude encouraging the more doubt ridden Sora, and their shared interests in sports and kicking butt, and you can see how this pairing took off.

Cons: The writers tried their damndest to sink this ship in season two by pairing off Sora with Matt. Much to everyone’s frustration. Even Sorato fans agree that it was handled poorly. Since then, the writers of the fourth film and Tri have tried to keep things more open ended between the three of them, but for some it’s not enough and the bad writing can indeed kill this ship. There’s also the usual reasons of simply not gelling with their dynamic or preferring them with other characters. Some may even like the unusual subversion of the lead guy not getting the girl but remaining good friends.

Paronal Ranking (8/10) - Count me with those that first shipped them in season one when it first aired. That said, they were never my absolute favorites so season two’s reveal didn't hurt me as much as it did for some others. It’s still my preferred ship for the two of them, but I’m flexible and open to others.

Tai x Izzy (Taishirou)

Pros: While not as popular as the previous ships, Taishirou is really cute. Izzy and Tai interact with each other a lot. In fact Tai might be the character Izzy is on screen with the most besides his digimon. They’re very much a comedy duo, but with enough underlining heart to heart moments to sell the idea that they have a working basis for something deeper. Also Izzy isn’t afraid to call Tai out on his bullshit, which is good, but it’s not like Tai ever actually listens.

Cons: They are primarily a comedy team. Tai is very much a foil for Izzy’s more serious nature, but play for laughs rather than angst like it is with Taito. If that doesn’t jive with you then this ship isn’t going to appeal to you as much as some others.

Personal Ranking (7/10) - I more drawn to this dynamic then say the aggressive sexual tension of Taito, so this was always going to rank higher than that one for me.

Tai x Mimi (Michi)

Pros: Mimi is one of the more popular characters to ship with. She gets paired with nearly everyone in the group routinely. Now this isn’t the most popular ship featuring her, but it has its share of hardcore supporters. I think it’s cause both she and Tai are the most outgoing and optimistic of the group. So it’s a case of two very upbeat people pumping each other up while also being forward enough to call out each others bull.

Cons: If you prefer Mimi with someone else this is obviously not going to appeal to you. There’s also the issue of her not being with the main group in season two and therefore doesn’t have as strong a relationship with the others as she should.

Personal Ranking (7/10) - I really like just about all of the Mimi ships and this is no exception.

Tai x Joe (Taijyou)

Pros: If Mimi is over-shipped then Joe is under-shipped. All the Joe ships are underrated, imho. Heck Joe himself is underrated. He plays off most of the characters really well, including Tai. If you like ‘opposites attract’ then you can’t get more opposite than Joe and Tai and they’re really entertaining for it. Plus there also those more serious moments to suggest that they are good friends and have that basis to build off of.

Cons: They’re again a comedy duo, and that might not be your thing. More than that though, they have the same arc. They’re opposites but they grow and develop in much the same way. As such, they don’t team up as much as say Tai and Izzy do.

Personal Ranking (6/10) - I really like Joe, he’s one of my favs, but this isn’t the best ship with him. Though it still can be cute on occasion.

Tai x T.K. (Taikeru)

Pros: This pairing only works if we’re talking about season two or later, and that is where they have less interaction. But I won’t act like there’s zero basis here. They were stuck together in S1 same as all the others and did have lots of friendly interactions there, they do team up now and then in 02, and they are there with the rest of the group in Tri. As far as dynamics go, both older Tai and older T.K. are very chill and laid back people. They’re more level headed, but always up for fun when they aren’t busy saving the world, so it’s easy see them getting along well with one another. There’s also the unrequited crush route if you wanna go that way with T.K.

Cons: There is an age gap here. Now it doesn’t matter as much in later seasons or post series, but it can be enough to put people off initially. Especially since it’s the time period when that age gap would actually get in the way is also when they have most of their interactions with one another. I call this a good for fanfiction but not so good for AMVs pairing.

Personal Ranking (4/10) - Yeah not enough of them interacting when they’re both older to really sell this one for me. I’ve read the occasional fanfic with them, but I don't actively ship it myself.

Tai x Davis (Taisuke)

Pros: Davis and Tai are two peas in a pod. In fact they are so alike that the series comments on this several times and Tai even appoints him as the new leader. As such they get to bond over a lot of things on the occasions they do interact. Also, while Davis is the same age as T.K., he and Tai only ever interact in season 02 when they’re both already young teens. So things are a little less awkward on that front. There’s also the unrequited crush route, or post series fanfic, as always.

Cons: They only ever interact in 02 where Tai’s role is greatly reduced, so limited screen time. Hopefully the upcoming anniversary movie will give us some more interaction between all of the 02 gang and the original group, regardless of shipping. There’s also the fact that age gap will be a hurdle for some people no matter what point in their timeline you have them hook up. Three or four years don’t matter when their both adults in their twenties, but it can make a difference in high school, so context is key with a ship like this. It helps that the show covers several years and all the characters age, but it’s up to you if that’s enough or not. Then there’s people who just don’t like their dynamic and think they’re too similar to each other.

Personal Ranking (5/10) I like it more than Taikeru, if only because Davis is my favorite character in 02 and like the rest of the new digidestined, he really doesn’t get enough love from the fandom. That said it’s still not that great of ship for all of the previously stated cons. I’ll give the occasion fan fiction or AMV a shot, but it’s all about context and how it’s presented.

Tai x Yolie (Taiyako)

Pros: She is the oldest of the 02 gang, and like Davis she only ever interacts with Tai in S2, so it’s a little less awkward to ship them than some. Also she’s really assertive and outgoing and not one to put up with bull from anybody; so she she can balance out Tai’s impulsiveness in theory. Likewise he can calm her down enough to think, if we’re talking post Tri.

Cons: They barely interact even in 02. They’re together in group scenes and there’s the potential they’ve interacted off screen, but there’s no ‘one on one’ screen time for them. Because of that, plus the small age gap between them, no one really ships these two. They’re the ultimate rare pair, and once again I hope the new movie will provide some genuine interaction between the 02 gang and the original group. Cause at the moment, dynamic wise, they’re kind of just a watered down Michi.

Personal Ranking (4/10) - Yeah I’d just sooner just read about Michi, but the rarity of them does pique my interest just a little bit. I’m now genuinely curious how they would play out post Tri.

Tai x Cody (Taiori)

Pros: Does anyone ship this? Ok, well in the interest of fairness, I did say the cut off was five years and that they had to interact at some point and they do fit the bill, so... Here I go. If you wanted to, you could do a post series route with these two. One is a lawyer for digimon rights and the other is an UN ambassador for the Digital World, so they would work together often. So there’s some grounds there for a childhood friends become co-workers to lovers plot. You can also pull a one sided school boy crush if you go for a pre-Tri route instead.

Cons: Like with Yolie, Tai only interacts with Cody in group settings during 02 and never one on one. There’s the potential that they hung out more off screen, but unlike Yolie, the age gap between them is wide enough that that seems improbable. Maybe, The Last Evolution will give us something more to go off with, just for their friendship sake if nothing else. After all these two will be working closely together someday according to the epilogue.

Personal Ranking (2/10) There’s just not enough there. I might be interested in that future based story I pitched, but even then it’s a stretch.

Tai x Ken (Kenchi)

Pros: Ken is unique in the fact that he’s a former villain, and in Tri it seemed as if he had reverted back to his old ways. This ultimately proved not to be the case, but since Tai is the main hero of Tri, you had the basis for a hero/villain ship for a while.

Cons: Like with all of the 02 cast, Tai doesn’t interact with Ken much. They appear in group scenes during 02 and that’s it. Even in Tri, it turns out that wasn’t the real Ken all along. Though his VA there is going to be his VA in final movie, which is cool I guess. There’s better ships with theses two, and if you want a villian/hero thing there’s more options for Ken. Plus there’s the awkward age gap, tho it’s no worse then than say Taisuke. Also Ken does have a canon partner in Yolie, if canon matters to you.

Personal Ranking (3/10) Not enough one on one scenes to get a feel for their dynamic imo.

Tai x Jun (Taijun)

Pros: What do you mean Jun isn’t a main character? Yeah, I don’t care. She should have been given a bigger role in 02, but that’s a rant for another time. The appeal of Taijun is a pairing of the spares essentially. He’s Sora’s ex, and she’s Matt’s ex. (well sort of) But that leaves you with a tantalizing ‘let's pretend hook up to make our exes jealous only to fall in love for real’ plot. There’s other routes you can go with obviously, but that one in particular makes the pairing more unique than other ships.

Cons: Obviously if you don't like Jun as a character, then your not going to like this ship. She’s pretty decisive within fandom.

Personal Ranking (7/10) - Yeah, I really, really like Jun y’all. Plus anything thing that sees her treated better than how Matt did in 02 is a win in my book.

Tai x Catherine ( Taicat )

Pros: It’s cannon that Tai has a crush on her and her openly flirts with her. He also has an amusing rivalry with TK for her affections. It’s harmless cute fluff and interferes with the love triangle

Cons: Catherine is a pretty bland character. She’s pretty and French and that’s all there is to remember of her.

Personal Ranking (3/10) I suppose there’s a certain appeal to having a semi-cannon ship that is so barely explored that you could do anything you wanted with it and it wouldn’t be out of character, but beyond that I can’t see anything else to recommend it.

Tai x Meiko (Meichi)

Pros: They have some cute moments together in Tri, though they are subtle. It does feel at times like the writers introduced her character as a means of resolving the Tai/Sora/Matt love triangle. Though they never follow through with that completely. In terms of the dynamics Meiko is a complete woobie. A ‘moe’ is what I believe to be the term in Japanese. Shy, quite, cute, and in need of protection. So you get plenty of instances of Tai being the big hero and saving her. Tai himself is also much more subdued in Tri and therefore less impulsive and reckless, so he’s very considerate of Meiko’s emotional needs, much than he would have been had they met earlier. In a way she just shows off how much he has grown as a character. So basically lots of hurt/comfort angst going on.

Cons: If you’re not a fan of Meiko, then you wouldn’t be a fan of this ship. She’s not as well developed as the rest of the cast due to only appearing in Tri, and she relies more heavily on her archetype to carry her interactions with the mains. So how much you’re predisposed to that archetype factors heavily in shipping her with anyone.

Personal Ranking (5/10) I’m lukewarm to Meiko as a character. Her interactions with Tai can be cute, but she just doesn’t grab my interests the same as Jun does.

Matt x Sora (Sorato)

I just realized that this very official screenshot from the fifth movie, has a poster advertising a band with the words ‘fucking night’ on it. This is suppose to be a kids show. Lol. Never change Japan.

Pros: The ship is about as close to canon as you can get. They’re confirmed dating in season two and it’s movie, and there are hints that they wound up together in the epilogue. Also there is a basis for the relationship given their interactions in the first season and Tri. They communicate well and trust each other. Sora comes to rely on Matt in ways she just doesn’t with Tai. He’s an outlet for her to let her guard down and share things, while she helps him come out of his shell sometimes.

Cons: The writing for them in 02 wasn’t good. They got together with zero build up and it came across as very forced. Since then, both in the fifth movie and in Tri, the writers have been pushing a subtle love triangle between them and Tai. Leaving things more open ended to appease the fans who were angry over how Taiora ended. Also, dynamic wise, they can be kind of boring on their own. Without Tai there, there’s no drama between them, and that can be a pro or a con depending on your tastes.

Personal Ranking (6/10) It’s not a bad ship, but the writing in 02 lets it down and, I still prefer Taiora over all.

Matt x Izzy (Yamashirou)

Pros: It’s the ‘cool dude’ who tries way to hard to be edgy being paired with the nerd who sees through his bullshit, but they’re both level headed enough to work together if need be, and they do indeed work together as a team quite well.

Cons: Izzy and Matt don't interact one on one often. Usually when they do, Izzy is sandwiched between Matt and Tai as they work on some problem or other. People who do even ship it, often just go all the way and make it an OT3 with Matt/Izzy/Tai.

Personal Ranking (5/10) There’s a basis for something there if you want to explore it, but both characters have better options.

Matt x Mimi (Mimato)

Pros: Well for one, it’s Mimi. She’s one of the few people who can get under Matt’s aloof exterior. It’s also a case of hyperactive girl paired with quite and closed off guy, if you like that dynamic.

Cons: It has all the same cons as Michi. Mimi is absent in 02, she and Matt usually interact within a group setting, and there’s more popular pairings out there for both of them. So if you ship either one with someone else, you may not be inclined to ship this.

Personal Ranking (7/10) I like Mimi, so I’ll always like this pairing to some degree, but it’s about the same level as Michi for me.

Matt x Joe (Jyouato)

Pros: If Izzy is Tai’s foil, than Joe is Matt’s foil. They get a lot of one on one scenes and come to depend on one another more so than then they do with most of the group. Plus it’s the geeky nerd paired with the cool kid. Joe isn’t confident but he holds a secret inner strength. While Matt appears calm on the surface but has a lot of issues underneath. So if you like ‘opposites attract’ then this could be for you.

Cons: It’s a comedy duo, just like with Tai and Izzy. Though they do have their more serious moments and deeper conversations. Also Joe is pretty decisive in fandom. If you’re not a fan of his you’ll probably want to ship Matt with someone else. Or you can make the argument that Matt is too mean to Joe at times, though he always apologizes for it and tries not do it again.

Personal Ranking (7/10) They’re two of my favorite characters in Digimon. While this isn’t my favorite ship for them, I’m all down for indulging myself every once in a while.

Matt x Kari (Yamakari)

Pros: The few people who ship this, do so because of the above scene where Matt has to protect her from Myotismon. Also if Taikeru exists, than it’s only fair if it’s counterpart does as well. You can do the same for this as you can do for that and either go a post season one ruote, or a one sided school girl crush.

Cons: Outside of that one previously mentioned interaction, Matt and Kari get very little one on one screen time. Especially in 02 and Tri, where the age gap wouldn’t matter anymore.

Personal Ranking (3/10) I rank this lower than Taikeru because there’s even less to go off of and I struggle to see how they’re supposed to work together.

Matt x Davis (Yamasuke)

Pros: Same as with Taisuke, Matt is something of a mentor figure who grows to be a friend. And if you disliked Taisuke cause you found Davis and Tai to be too similar, then Matt has that shifting dynamic but with a different personality.

Cons: It also has all the same cons as Taisuke tho. They don’t interact outside of 02, and there’s a bit of an age gap. So make of that what you will.

Personal Ranking (4/10) I do genuinely like Davis and I think he gets along well with most people, but this feels too much like a watered down Taito to really care about it.

Matt x Yolei (Yamayako)

Pros: Yolei does mention in 02, that she helps out Matt and his band sometimes with their audio equipment. Therefore we know for sure that they hang out together as friends even when not on screen. Dynamic wise, its a case of nerdy girl gets the cool guy.

Cons: Near zero on screen interaction save for group scenes in 02, a small age gap,(tho smaller than most 02/Adventure ships), and its similarities to Mimato, is enough to put people off the ship.

Personal Ranking (5/10) I like the ‘nerdy girl gets the cool guy’ trope, but beyond that there’s not much to them.

Matt x Cody (Imato)

Pros: In fairness this about as plausible/implausible as Taiori, I guess. If you like a post series story about two hot dads hooking up or something, then this might appeal to you. Who knows.

Cons: Unlike, Taiori, Cody and Matt don’t even have that coworker angle going for them. Matt’s a fucking astronaut! Which is stupid, but it is what it is. I can’t see any reason why they would wind up together outside of them being in the same social group. Cody is TK’s best friend, and he might hang out with Matt that way, but it’s a long shot. Also the age gap is right on the cut off, so that limits their relationship to only being post Tri.

Parsonal Ranking (1/10) I don’t know why anyone would ship this, and I honestly don't think anybody does. If someone out there does, I’ll give it a look out of sheer curiosity but that’s it.

Matt x Ken (Kenato)

Pros: It’s the two broody boys together. That’s it. They’re both sad and cute, with some anger issues that they’re both trying to work past. So on that point they can connect. So basically soft hurt/comfort fics galore. They also get a teamup episode in 02, so we see them interact one on one.

Cons: They’re a bit too similar dynamic wise. If you don't like both of your characters in a ship to be moody and angst ridden then this might not work for you. They also don’t interact much outside of their one team up episode, and like with Yamasuke there is an age gap.

Parsonal Ranking (4/10) Count me in the ‘too much broodiness for me’ camp.

Matt x Jun (Junato)

Pros: It’s Jun. Also she clearly likes Matt in 02, and he seemingly likes her back their first episode together. They free up Tai and Sora to be together. Oh and if you like the hyperactive optimistic girl with broody cool guy, then this has you cover. If you also a fan of the ‘assertive girl chases after her hopeless crush’ trope, like with Sonic/Amy, Kermit/Miss Piggy, or Bugs/Lola. This also covers that.

Cons: If you don’t like that trope, or dislike Jun altogether then this of course isn’t going to appeal to you. There’s also the added problem of Matt suddenly acting like a douche to her for no reason after their first episode together. It’s like the writers set them up, but then when ‘oh shit!’ when they decided to go with Sorato at the last minute and had to work to shut this pairing down. It’s dumb, and makes both of the characters look bad.

Personal Ranking (7/10) I like it more for what it could have been, rather than for what it became.

Matt x Meiko (Meimato)

Pros: I swear the Tri writers tried to throw in ship folder for Meiko with all of the OG cast. As if she was the potential solution to all of the love triangles in the show or something. Just like with Meichi, this ship is all about the hero protecting the woobie.

Cons: Once again, if you like this ship it’s going to come down to how much you like Meiko as a character and the archetype she represents.

Personal Ranking (5/10) Same score as Meichi for the same reasons.

Now I have to start on a part 2 because Tumblr won’t let me upload any more photos...

#digimon #digimon adventure #shipping #shipping meme

21 notes · View notes

isaacthedruid · 3 years

Text

Steven Universe’s Representation and Music: an informal essay

As the first animated Cartoon Network show created entirely by a woman, Steven Universe’s run lasted for five seasons, a movie and a sequel-epilogue series. The show was far from perfect and its fandom wasn’t the best either but there is something so special about a show that followed lesbian space rocks and a young boy saving the world.

More specifically Steven Universe is about a young boy named Steven, who is half-Gem, half-human who protects the town of Beach City from evil. Gems are a kind of alien who take on the form of pastel-coloured women, to better assimilate with the rest of the world.

Rebecca Sugar, the creator, explains her colourful characters in a behind-the-scenes promo:

“I always dreamed of making a show that would have this mix of fantasy and reality. So, I wanted to make these fantasy characters that enjoy being with Steven as much, if not more than they enjoy being fantasy characters. The characters aren’t perfect and that’s what makes them so great.”

Steven’s family are known as the Crystal Gems, a group of rebels who fought against their government thousands of years ago and now live on earth. Steven’s mom, Rose Quartz was at the forefront of the fight, she did extremely terrible things and when she gave up her gem—-so Steven could be born—-she was left unable to form a body ever again. Steven, with only his dad and three alien women, must attempt to fix her messes and deal with the repercussions of his mother’s actions.

One of the main mechanics within the series is known as fusion, in which two or more Gems become a single being who is stronger and more powerful. The fused form takes on the physical, mental and emotional aspects of those who are part of the bond. As mentioned and discussed many times within this blog, fusions are a physical embodiment of different kinds of relationships. And for a show starring a primarily female cast, they do not shy away from using this mechanic to tell queer stories.

So explicitly that in 2018, the show had the first-ever lesbian wedding in a cartoon. Of course, representation wasn’t always as accepted in Steven Universe. Just two years before the big wedding, higher-ups at Cartoon Network told Rebecca Sugar, they not happy with the multiple queer relationships, so much so that they were ready to threaten cancellation.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, she expressed:

“If this is going to cost me my show that’s fine because this is a huge injustice and I need to be able to represent myself and my team through this show and anything less would be unfair to my audience.”

Being LGBT herself, identifying as bisexual and non-binary, representation is important to her. For many queer people, especially grown-ups, they hope to see themselves represented in kids’ media today as they never had growing up. They want nothing more for children’s shows to say that being “different” or not fitting in with our heteronormative society is actually normal.

Within Steven Universe, you can find woman-loving-woman relationships, non-binary and intersex characters, woman-loving-non-binary relationships, asexual coded characters and basically every other letter in the acronym.

Rebecca Sugar even acted as the exciting force for LGBT inclusion within Adventure Time, originally working as a writer and storyboard artist before leaving to create her own show. She pushed for making the ex-romantic queer couple to be canonically part of the story and for it to not just coded into the dialogue.

A few years later, she returned to the show, multiple times, to compose over 20 songs that would air over the series 10-year-long run such as, “I’m Just Your Problem” which had lesbian subtext that would be confirmed later.

Some other iconic songs including “Fry Song“, “Remember You“, “Good Little Girl“, “Everything Stays” and even the finale song, “Time Adventure“.

Much like the show as a whole, there is something so special about the music she writes. In total, there were over 160 songs written for the franchise, some being short little tunes, no longer than a minute while others were full-blown musical numbers. No matter, all of them have their place within the show. Often when the character can’t express lines through speech, music is utilized to provide a more raw and poignant portrayal of their emotions.

Why Steven Universe is so widely loved is due to the music, as the overall story is not even close to perfect. Yet, everyone can agree on one thing, the music is unbelievably good. What is interesting is the different styles of melodies and backtracking used in the various songs, even more impressive is that every character has their own instrumental motif.

Steven’s motif is the ukelele as he is often seen playing the instrument himself, performing short little melodies and even writing the in-show version of the theme song. Additionally, Steven’s music uses a large amount of Chiptune synth, electronic music which is created using a programmable sound generator. Both instruments have a very childlike feeling to them, Chiptune especially as it is normally used in video game music like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, one of the main musical inspirations for the show. As Steven is the lead, most of the music has Chiptune somewhere in the score and fun fact, the first song in the show, sung by Steven, “Cookie Cat” was actually written on an old Gameboy.

Amethyst is very loud and fun, her motif is electric drums which is extremely reflective of her character. As she can be angry from convincing herself that she is not good enough to happy and giggling from pranking Steven, her instrument can be used in so many ways as she is not a simple character. No matter what, for the few songs Amethyst has on her own (or in the score), her drums provide such an interesting emotional response to the situation.

Garnet is a fusion, so her motif is actually the combination of two instruments. Ruby is a drumbeat as she is a fiery and loud character, she is chaotic while Sapphire is her opposite. Sapphire is calm and collected, she has ice-related powers and is represented by Synth music. The characters together have a perfect unity, expressed by Garnet’s synth bass sounds, she is the equilibrium of two very contrasting characters. The music associated with Garnet, uses primarily the synth bass but Ruby and Sapphire’s individual instruments can be heard throughout her music. All three instruments are also heavily representative as Garnet’s main dancing style is Hip Hop which clashing with others’ softer dancing styles.

Despite, not being alive during the show, Rose Quartz still has her own musical motif as she plays a large part in Steven’s growth throughout the series. As well as being in many flashbacks, she is represented with strings, more specifically, the violin. Rose’s story is rather sad which quite is visible within her associated music, yet, she was also an extremely powerful character as she led the fight against the Homeworld government. Her strength can be heard with strong uplifts and swells in the music. She is never seen playing an instrument unlike the rest of the main characters but one person who plays hers is Pearl, a character Rose was possibly in love with.

For the complex and beautiful character, Pearl, her motif is classical and swing piano. She is visually represented as a ballerina for a large majority of the series, dressed in a leotard, a small skirt and ballet shoes. Apart from Garnet, she is one of the calmest characters in the show. She is a perfectionist and is knowledgeable on many topics. She has a dark past and her fair share of trauma, all of this is wrapped up in her music. From her traumatic past with Rose Quartz, the violin had been heard throughout her music, yet, when she finally dealt with everything, the violin was lost. Swapped out for a new instrument, a bass guitar which she learned how to play at the end of the series. Pearl is a character who has been through a lot and her music reflects it. As she grew, her music changed with her, becoming her own instead of something built off of Rose’s.

My personal favourite song is “It’s Over Isn’t It?” which is this heartwrenching and emotionally painful ballad sung by a broken woman. Pearl was in love with Steven’s mom. Yet, the feelings were not mutual or at least ended being reciprocated as Rose left her for Greg, Steven’s dad. It hurts because Rose didn’t just leave her, Rose Quartz also passed away. As the song goes:

That they didn’t really matter until you I was fine when you came And we fought like it was all some silly game Over her, who she’d choose After all those years, I never thought I’d lose … You won and she chose you and she loved you and she’s gone It’s over, isn’t it? Why can’t I move on? … Who am I now in this world without her? Petty and dull with the nerve to doubt her What does it matter? It’s already done Now I’ve got to be there for her son

Without Rose, Pearl has lost her place in the world as all she ever knew was her. Yet, now she is left to help raise a half-human baby and go on with her life. It makes it more difficult as this baby is the product of Rose and the man that she left Pearl for.

Pearl doesn’t want to hate Greg, she is angry at him but she doesn’t have hatred towards him. They may not be the best of pals at the start of the series but in the song called “Both of You“ has Steven, finally, begging for Greg and Pearl to just talk to each other.

Why don’t you talk to each other? Why don’t you talk to each other? Just give it a try Why don’t you talk about what happened? … You might not believe it but you got a lot in common, you really do You both love me and I love both of you … I know you both need it Someone who knows what you’re going through

An interesting thing about this song is that Steven is this to them, the person with Rose’s gem is singing to the two people who fought over Rose. It makes me wonder if this could be Rose speaking through Steven to her two loved ones. Whether it is or not, doesn’t really matter to the overall story but it is a fun idea to look at.

Overall, these songs are a literal representation of dealing with ones’ emotions in a healthy way, something that Steven Universe actively tries to teach their younger viewers about.

To say Steven Universe is a good show only for its music would be a false statement, it’s one of the strongest aspects but without the story or the characters, the music would fall flat and not have any of its passion.

#isaac rambles #steven universe #lgbt #steven universe music #cartoons #cartoon network #rebecca sugar #cartoon review

2 notes · View notes

orionsangel86 · 6 years

Text

13x12 - Episode Review - What is Fifth Base Anyway?

So the people at Google must have been confused when they discovered the number of searches for “fifth base” drastically went up overnight… Steve Yokey you cheeky bugger I love you! (Show of hands everyone who did this? Go on, admit it!)

This episode was really good. One of the stronger ones of an already very strong bunch as season 13 continues to exceed in quality. It had jokes, it had deep emotional revelations, it had Cas once again using his SuperPower of sassing the fuck out of things to get what he wants. Yeah it was pretty awesome! So let’s delve into the main points.

The Red Herring Love Spell

We were all expecting this to be an episode similar to 12x11 based on how it was marketed to us. Dean is under a love spell! It’s up to Sam and Rowena to save him! That seemed to be the gist of the PR team’s focus. As ever, PR is not Showrunning and this turned out to be one giant red herring.

The love spell lasted all of five minutes. So why bother? WHY was a love spell even PART of this plot?! Seriously? Someone tell me how this episode couldn’t have followed the EXACT same narrative with the sisters using some other spell to force people to do things for them? The fact is, that love spell was pointless for the plot but excellent for getting people thinking about LOVE. Specifically, Dean Winchester and LOVE, or at least, what love should be, and what it most definitely is not.

Aside from the fact that the clunky music whenever the love spell was invoked made me cringe, I thoroughly enjoyed how innocent it all seemed. Dean got to play Prince Charming to the princess and provide her with a gift of her choosing. I think it says something about Dean that the love spell encouraged this fairy tale vibe specifically for him, when for Dale at the start it was all about him playing protector and hero through violence and theft. I just thought it was an interesting statement about Dean’s wishes and desires compared to other men. Though I gotta admit, the gift giving, goofiness and oh I dunno, protecting his lover from a gun? It all seemed rather familiar to me… Hmmm…

I mean who else has Dean previously entrusted with powerful one off weapons?

Who else has Dean had to recently protect from a pointed gun much to his own horror rather than the recipient who is unlikely to be harmed by a regular gun anyway?

Who else makes Dean goofy and pull these silly delighted faces?

*looks into the camera like on the Office*

Yeah, but see these are not really examples of true love, even though they are all things done with Cas. What IS true love in season 13 is something that subtextually KEEPs getting referred to in EVERY EPISODE. That in 13x01 – 13x05 Dean was deeply lost in grief. Deeply mourning over the loss of Cas – someone who he is truly in love with. Love makes you do crazy things? Yeah, and as Billy said in 13x05 (Yokey’s last episode FYI) Dean wanted to die. Cas’s death had brought him to that level. The fact that now it is SAM who is feeling low, feeling powerless because of the loss of Mary and Jack, and Dean is able to remain focussed and have HOPE that they will save them, continues to be astonishingly hypocritical of Dean given where he was when Cas was dead. But it does keep drawing our attention to that fact, and for that I love it.

Bonus point for “I think you may be right, I think its time we go ahead and call Cas…” … “I’m in love” because Yokey could have written Sam saying ANYTHING at that point but he chose to remind the audience about Cas at that exact moment… as Dean announces he is in love, because the two are connected (and because it then wouldn’t be that much of a stretch to assume that Sam’s initial reaction is “Oh… so you finally admit it?”)

(FYI this crappy gif is my own. Don’t judge. It’s the first I’ve ever made.)

Sam’s mild amusement here just fits the “oh so you finally admit it? We can call Cas and start the wedding preparations?” interpretation and NO ONE can stop me seeing it that way! :D

Bonus Point two for the mentions of “Soulmates” (which relate to Angels in the show) and “Cosmic” (which again, tends to relate to angels and Cas).

Bonus point three that this is an episodes marketed as Dean being in love! LOOK AT ALL THIS HETEROSEXUALITY! It seems to scream at our general audiences, and yet, as always in SPN, if the GA are seeking heterosexuality, they are to be disappointed. They got a 5 minute mini love spell plot and Dean once again is without even a hint of an actual true female romantic partner. Nope, sorry heteros seeking a woman for Dean. You won’t find that here!

Basically, it’s not too much of a stretch to interpret this entire love spell mini plot as exposition for the TRUTH regarding Dean and “true love”. Because we all know it. It’s right there in the subtext. I just wish they’d make it text already.

Review continues under the cut as per usual...

Addressing Long unspoken Trauma – FINALLY

Officially my favourite part of the episode (unofficially my second fave part after “fifth base”), the conversations between Sam and Rowena about their trauma at the hands of Lucifer had me welling up. This is the first time in SPN history that Sam has actually opened up to ANYONE about his Lucifer trauma. Read that again. Be amazed that it has taken this long. Send Dabb and Yokey a fruit basket for this.

One thing season 13 has been excellent at doing, is making things textual that were previously only implied. This seems to be a continued trend following on from the reveal in 12x22 that Dean is effectively Sam’s parent (A fact meta writers have been talking about for YEARS.)

I don’t really have much to say about it actually, because it’s all just THERE in the text. It has left me kind of speechless.

SAM: Its not gonna change anything, you’re still gonna feel helpless. What Lucifer did to you…

ROWENA: I told you I don’t… before he crushed my skull, Lucifer showed me his face. His true face. I’m scared Sam. All the time.

SAM: I’ve seen it too. What he really looks like behind… behind whatever vessel… yeah it still keeps me up at night.

ROWENA: How do you deal with it?

SAM: I guess I don’t deal with it, not really. I mean I…Ive pushed it down, and the world kept almost ending and so I keep pushing it down and I dunno… I don’t really talk about it, not even with Dean, I mean I could… he would listen but, it’s not something I really know how to share.

…..

SAM: Even if you do get the book, and even if you get your power back. It won’t matter. You won’t ever be able to change what happened, you won’t be able to change how helpless you felt, or how helpless you feel. You’re still gonna get scared. That feeling, that feeling never goes away.

ROWENA: Never?

SAM: Never.

…

Honestly it’s perfect. Yokey has decided that enough is enough. We need to discuss this. We need to talk about the fact that our main characters have a shit load of trauma. It’s about GODDAMN TIME.

(x)

I just want to scream about the shots for a second though because god bless Amanda Tapping for being so excellent at capturing emotions. I am starting to think she is one of the best directors for it. The intimate long close ups on the actors faces as they open about this stuff, it just works. The soft music in the back ground pulls no focus away from the gravity of Sam’s words. It’s intense, and harrowing and kudos to Jared here because I think he must have been ITCHING for a moment like this for Sam for YEARS (and for god sake someone ask him about this scene at a con instead of more bloody prank questions PLEASE.)

I also love that it’s Rowena who Sam opens up to about this stuff, because she has that in common with him. I know that it can be argued that Cas has also experienced trauma at the hands of Lucifer, but since Cas is an angel it’s not the same. I doubt Lucifer’s true face would affect Cas, since Cas is already an angel with the ability to see and cope with seeing things that human minds struggle to comprehend.

I think Rowena and Sam is our new Dean and Crowley. They are enemies, but they have a mutual respect for one another and I see this as a really good thing both for Sam and Rowena. Because Crowley was changed thanks to his bond with Dean (love for Dean), he was able to find redemption in that. Rowena could also now find redemption, especially considering her newly powered up status. For Sam I think it was a smart choice to give Rowena the pages at the end. It wasn’t just about the bond they formed over shared trauma, it was Sam knowing that Rowena is right, that Lucifer will always find a way back, and Sam knows that eventually he will have to face him again, and he needs all the help and power he can get, so a powered up Rowena is a powerful ally to have against the creature that tortured and broke both their spirits.

Am I shipping them? No, not really. I still think Rowena is a villain. I never shipped Drowley, though I acknowledge it’s existence in the show as basically a hairsbreadth away from canon. (it’s technically just as close to canon if not more so than Destiel and strongly implied that they hooked up in various episodes). But if the show did go there with Sam and Rowena I wouldn’t mind it as such. I just don’t think it would be endgame. But sure, it could work for a while. I see them more like frenemies with mutual interests. Besides, I’m a Saileen girl all the way and will continue to hope for Eileen’s resurrection this season.

Narrative Mirrors – Witches and Winchesters

Ah narrative mirrors, don’t we love them? I especially love them when they highlight the Winchester family dynamics and just how screwed up they all are. Our witchy sisters fall extremely easily into this category. Jamie and Jenny or “J2” as I now plan to call them (I see what you did there Yokey). So J2 are motivated to do whatever it takes to bring back mum. Whatever it takes even though they are hardly competent witches and only seem to have one spell mastered – the love spell. The older sister uses her charm to encourage the victims to do whatever they wish for, whilst the younger sister is the smarter of the two, more skilled in magic (I wonder who they are supposed to represent?)

They have one purpose, and will stop at nothing until that purpose is fulfilled:

JAMIE: I’m sorry, I know I’m the big sister and I’m supposed to be the strong one or whatever.

JENNY: Yeah?

JAMIE: I just really miss her.

JENNY: I do too.

JAMIE: I know, and I like, really believe in us

JENNY: Jamie, I just want her back so bad

JAMIE: And we’re going to get her back, even if we have to cast every spell in this book and curse the souls of like a million people to make it happen.

Doesn’t this sound rather familiar? Like from 13x09:

DEAN: You were right, about mom you were right, this whole time we should have been looking for her

SAM: I was just hoping, I didn’t know. And anyway it doesn’t matter, now that we do know.

DEAN: We find her, no matter what it takes.

Which always made me kinda uncomfortable. There is a reason that Billy didn’t want Dean knowing their mum was still alive. Because Billy knows that the Winchesters would break the Universe to bring her back. “House of Cards” she called it. What’s the betting that thanks to Sam and Dean this “house of cards” is going to come tumbling down just as Billy predicted? Because I would put money on it.

At the end of the episode, we realise that Sam and Dean are in exactly the same place as J2. Jamie – the older sister, trying to support and reassure her younger sister, the one who “wants mom back so badly”. Jamie, unlike her sister, is totally focused on completing their task, whereas Jenny has her doubts. Just like Sam and Dean. We know that Dean is back to “We’ll figure it out” and “you and me” even though Sam is NOT on board with this, but like Jenny, Sam will follow Dean into a hornets nest if it means doing what they set out to do and save mum.

The girls mum came back wrong though, a zombie. When Mary was first resurrected she certainly wasn’t what the boys expected either, and now she is lost again, whose to say just what state she will be in when she is finally freed? Perhaps the message for the boys here is to actually let her go? As in, let go of the memory of Mary that they had sat on a pedestal (Dean in particular) and start to accept the woman their mother actually is, and let her do her thing, because otherwise it may kill them all.

And isn’t this moment just a perfect visual representation of the toxic co-dependency that is the Winchester brothers? Stab stab stab. One of them even has a hammer… LOL.

(Yup its another one of my crappy gifs.)

The Sassiest Angel in the Garrison

Oh Cas, I have missed your beautiful face…

(x)

(Dipper agrees with me)

Now I think everyone knows by now that I hate Lucifer. As in, I find the character extremely irritating and just want him off our screens dead and buried, and that Mark P can go annoy some other shows audience. The ONLY thing that makes watching Lucifer remotely bearable for me, is Castiel - wonderful, perfect, funny, grumpy, brilliant Castiel, sassing the fuck out of him. Bearing in mind all their scenes but one took place behind bars, I was as always captivated by Cas and the brilliant genius he is.

So far in season 13, Castiel hasn’t actually spent much time using his powers, his grace, to actually get anything done. What he has done, is be incredibly smart and used that tactician brain of his to talk himself out of any situation. Everything Castiel does has a purpose. He is generally a creature of few words (except when it comes to Dean) and therefore, whenever he does speak, it is usually with a great deal of thought. (There was a brilliant meta on the word “assbutt” and how it is the worst insult he could possibly throw at Lucifer and yet everyone still ridicules him for it. Don’t knock the word assbutt. Cas knew exactly what he was doing!)

And so Cas isn’t just being a sassy little bitch in this episode. He’s being a sassy little bitch with purpose. Lucifer may be powered down, but he still has power. Cas knows this. Cas knows that the best way to get Lucifer activating what little power he has is to make him angry. So what does Cas do? He sass’s him, over and over. Pissing him off until eventually, it works.

“Turns out rage is a good motivator”

Such a badass. Bye bye little Dipper.

This is why you should never underestimate Castiel. He will always get the better of you. He will always come out on top in the end.

“This is me, learning from my mistakes” he says whilst stabbing Lucifer at the end of the episode. I thoroughly enjoyed that moment of course, even if we know already it doesn’t stick. Since Lucifer is alive next episode. *sigh*.

Lucifer has been continuously hinting all episode that he want’s Cas’s grace. It seems possible due to pics from next week, that he may actually get what he seeks.

Cas has blood on his collar, which he doesn’t have at the end of 13x12. So is Cas about to become human again? Or at least graceless? It’s possible. @tinkdw wrote this post about it (yes I stole her screencap). We were discussing this in our group chat yesterday and thanks to the themes that would come from another human!Cas story I can certainly get behind it, even if I hate the idea that it isn’t his choice yet again. This time, having Lucifer steal his grace seems worse than the first time. But as I mentioned above, Castiel has already shown several times this season that his grace is in no way where his strengths lie. I just hope that it is still his choice in the end to give it up, or not regain it, however that story may pan out.

But yeah maybe prepare ourselves for a human Cas whose grace was stolen by Lucifer plot? I mean if it doesn’t happen great, but if it does... don’t say we didn’t warn ya okay? I know how sensitive we all get about Cas stuff - this is literally the first any of us had thought of this. Besides, he’ll still be amazing even if Lucifer does take his grace, He’ll get in a few more stabs before the end. No doubt.

Other Awesome Stuff

The “fifth base” scene. Yeah this was certainly risqué of Yokey. I was screaming about this to Tink in the chatty bubbles, trust a gay writer to throw in a gay joke aimed at our currently in the closet bisexual lead character and have him act all awkward like he doesn’t know what it is… *glances at Sam* What? Nope, I’ve never… There’s NO SUCH THING AS FIFTH BASE. Sure Jan. Just as I scoff at the idea of Dean not knowing basic French, the idea that Dean DOESN’T know what fifth base is, is absurd. These are purposely input into this episode to raise our eyebrows and DOUBT them.

Baring in mind the way Rowena asks that question “Did THEY get to fifth base?” not “Did YOU get to fifth base” strongly implies actually that Rowena was asking if Dean was pegged. Let’s get that clear. Once again, we have a bottom!dean joke in the subtext of the show. (At some point we need to round up EVERY reference to Dean’s ass and compare it to the other characters just to make this point.)

Oh gosh I haven’t even got to “What’s by is by” yet. The top result in google for this supposed saying is a destiel fanfic written as coda for this episode. There is NOTHING else. It doesn’t exist. What is Yokey playing at exactly? Bygones be bygones maybe? But she had to say it like that? After a reference to anal? To DEAN? Yeah I know everyone is probably already yelling about this on tumblr but still. This is a very huge WTF from me to Yokey that he would ever think we WOULDN’T pick up on this. He did it on purpose. It has a reason, just like everything else. The reason being “Dean is Bi”.

......

(x)

The final scene with Rowena is spectacular. It’s also oddly erotic but maybe that’s just me. Rowena is finally unbound, powerful, free, and probably quite deadly. Here’s hoping she raises a hell of a storm. I have always loved Rowena’s character so for me this idea of her being “unbound” and basically immortal is really interesting. I just hope this paves the way to her helping the Winchesters defeat the big bads to come. Because I see her becoming more of an ally as time goes by. I hope she continues to have a big part to play in the story, and after this final scene I am practically sure she will.

....

Castiel speaking about Jack like he’s a proud parent gives me life. He truly loves the kid. It’s beautiful.

....

Why does Lucifer attract so many dick jokes nowadays? I’m actually almost getting tired of them. For shits and giggles I’m gonna accept it at face value that Lucifer, unlike Crowley, is not well endowed. It makes sense. The tantrums, the violence. Little man syndrome. Pfft.

I’m also going to take it at face value that Cas is most likely huge. Yeah, that smirk is telling.

We all know he’s a big boy. ;-)

....

Hats off to Brenda. The biggest star of the episode. Never failed to make me laugh every time I watched.

You go Brenda. You were awesome.

Overall

Solid episode with lots of great moments. Now all I need is Cas to find the boys and get really pissy with them when he realises they didn’t ONCE figure out that Colonel Sanders was impersonating him. I mean sure, Dean has super low self esteem and was clearly grumpy with Cas at the start of the episode for only really checking in with Sam, not coming home after taking off, clearly CHOOSING the road over being at home with HIM... But that doesn’t excuse him being blind to Asmodeus’s impersonation. Bring on next week. I hope Dean grovels.

#supernatural #episode review #13x12 #destiel #spn meta #spn speculation #dean is bi #castiel #dean winchester #sam winchester #rowena #lucifer #season 13 #spn spoilers #my reviews #my meta

787 notes · View notes

venusdebotticelli · 6 years

Note

"We're not at the end yet" - Okay, first off there's a pattern of queerbaiting that's as long as the show (since Dean was coded as bi right from the start), and second, how exactly are you 'throwing them under the bus' for being a band of homophobes? By writing metas and supporting the show? Please. And one more thing - if I was attacking meta writers, it's precisely because I know how metaing works and I've seen people turn from dotty professors to ferocious preachers over the last two years./

Many people are aggressive rn, they call you a heller and a hater simply for pointing out what we were free to discuss as late as S10 - that yes, the story was built on romantic tropes but it wasn’t going anywhere. There is no good reason for keeping this in the subtext, and yet we’re being attacked for even suggesting that after 9 years they should make it textual or go home. Tbh, I’m very annoyed, saddened and let down by this behavior and the constant implication we’re stupid and bitter.

I think this is just a misunderstanding of what I’m saying¿? You have the certainty that it’s not going anywhere, but I don’t¿? I’m not a mind reader and I’m not in the writers’ room, so I have no idea where the story is going, but I definitely think there’s a strong possibility of it going explicit canon before the end of the show, simply because when I interpret the story that’s the direction it’s strongly pointing at in my opinion.

If I think of reasons for it *not* to go explicit, I can only come up with behind the scenes reasons, like network executives being awful and getting on the way, or the writers pulling a Buckleming/Charlie and just derailing the plot in a completely stupid and insulting way for no good reason. As I’ve already said, I think the writers have the moral obligation to make it canon at this point, and as a queer woman I’d be furious if they didn’t, because as I personally see it, in my own interpretation, there’s absolutely no reason storywise for them not to explicitly acknowledge the romantic story between Dean and Cas.

So, you have chosen to believe the story isn’t going anywhere. I have chosen to believe it probably is going in that direction, because that’s the logical conclusion I see for it and I think the writers *should* honour the groundwork they’ve laid down, but I have no idea what’s coming down the line, and I know it’s by no means a certainty they’re actually going there, so I just choose to appreciate what we already have, without inherently expecting to be disappointed. When I look at the story I see how they are getting to the point I think they’re getting at. When you look at the story you see more narrative they’re just gonna drop with no payoff, because you don’t think they’re going there. So literally until the show finishes and we see how they wrap it up neither your opinion nor mine are wrong or right.

And with that established, let me just mention some specific points:

“We’re not at the end yet” - Okay, first off there’s a pattern of queerbaiting that’s as long as the show (since Dean was coded as bi right from the start)

I think we just have a different definition of queerbaiting here. Queerbaiting for me is the inclusion of obviously queer elements with the sole intention of drawing in queer viewers, without ever intending to explicitly deliver on them or treat them with respect. If we go by that, I wouldn’t say the first few seasons were really queerbating, because even though Dean was queer-coded, it was ambiguous and vague enough that I wouldn’t really consider it a call to queer people, so much as a reading that’s there if you want to make it, but isn’t really tangible enough to really hold the writers accountable for it. And the jokes they made about Dean and Sam, while they could be considered in poor taste, allude to incest so obviously no queer person is gonna expect anything from them.

Once they introduced Cas and the jokes started to be about Dean and him, you could argue that it was queerbaiting, also because the queer-coding got stronger. It was shitty, but the show didn’t end there.

It kept going and now as far back as s7 we have had a continuous queer narrative constantly being built upon, that took them from friends to whatever they are now, and that’s still being built, so of course until the story is finished there’s no way to tell if it’s going to be queerbaiting or not. Calling the current narrative “queerbaiting” would be like closing a book halfway through and deciding you have been cheated and lead on because you never got to read a kiss or a resolution or whatever. Until the story finishes, it’s just Schrödinger’s queerbaiting, and going into people’s inboxes telling them they’re harming the queer community or whatever because they’re not certain it will end badly is a shitty thing to do. Also, if Dean and Cas end up together by the end of the show, all of the instances of queer-coding in the show would be great build up for it, even if they weren’t intended as such at first. For those of us that like to think there’s a possibility of them getting together, this is all one great cohesive gigantic love story building up towards it, and that’s what we love about it when we explore it in meta, even if we still haven’t seen the resolution and can’t be sure that’s what it will be eventually.

I know the uncertainty and wait is frustrating and disheartening, but other people choosing to enjoy the ride and appreciate it in meta is in no way an attack towards you.

how exactly are you ‘throwing them under the bus’ for being a band of homophobes? By writing metas and supporting the show? Please.

I literally do not understand a single thing about this sentence. I think you read my disclaimer and understood exactly the opposite of what I said¿?

#AND OF COURSE WITH THE FUCKING DISCLAIMER THAT EVEN IF WE’RE PUMPED ABOUT THE LITERARY ASPECT OF IT #SOCIALLY SPEAKING THEY HAVE A FUCKING DUTY TO NOT THROW QUEER PEOPLE UNDER THE BUS YES FUCKING HELL #But we’re not at the end yet

What I said is that even though *us* meta writers enjoy the literary aspects of it as they are now, *the writers* have the social duty of openly acknowledging the queerness of it, and if they don’t, then *they the writers* are throwing *us queer people* under the bus. This is me holding them accountable to explicitly deliver on the queerness of it all, while still acknowledging that the story is ongoing, so just because they haven’t openly talked about it yet it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve done anything wrong yet, as frustrating as it is to have it still be subtextual.

If I was attacking meta writers, it’s precisely because I know how metaing works and I’ve seen people turn from dotty professors to ferocious preachers over the last two years. Many people are aggressive rn, they call you a heller and a hater simply for pointing out what we were free to discuss as late as S10 […] There is no good reason for keeping this in the subtext, and yet we’re being attacked for even suggesting that after 9 years they should make it textual or go home. Tbh, I’m very annoyed, saddened and let down by this behavior and the constant implication we’re stupid and bitter.

I’m sorry you have had this experience in fandom, but personally I haven’t seen it in my corner of fandom, and certainly not from @elizabethrobertajones or me, whose inboxes are the ones you went into with all of this. I’m gonna speak both for myself and for what I have personally seen on Lizzy’s blog specifically when I say this, because this is what I personally have been able to observe and you seem to have a beef with:

As I said, expressing our optimism and enjoyment of the story as it unfolds is not “preaching”. Every time we discuss the show, we do it from our own perspective, and make it clear that we are speaking for *us*, that our opinion is not authoritative in any way and just a personal interpretation of what we see on the show, based on our personal knowledge of storytelling.

The people who like to call destiel shippers “hellers” come from the corner of fandom that hates castiel and thinks the show is only samndean and no one else, so literally the opposite of any meta writer I’ve ever seen, and certainly not Lizzy or me. Whatever aggression you’re receiving on that front is not coming from meta writers, so going to meta writers’ inboxes to attack them for it makes no sense whatsoever. (Not that attacking people in general makes any sense, but I digress)

We agree there’s absolutely no reason to keep it subtextual by the end of the show. Literally *no* meta I’ve ever seen or personally written has argued that it should stay subtextual. I’ve seen people saying, from a storytelling standpoint, they’re okay with it not being textual yet because they expect it to be later on, which is also my position. Again, this is just from what I’ve personally seen, but whenever that point has been made it has been an expression of a personal stance, not an attack against anybody else. Neither Lizzy nor I have ever attacked anyone for being frustrated with it not being textual yet, because we can certainly sympathise, and hell, I often share that same view too– I think it’s pure cowardice that it hasn’t been made explicit yet, but I can justify it with narrative reasons as long as there is a satisfying pay off later on. If there isn’t in the end, I know a massive group of positive meta writers will be storming the supernatural offices to claim their heads on a plate, and I’ll be one of them.

Again, I’m sorry you have been mistreated like this, but “this behaviour” is not coming from us, so turning us into whatever caricature of a meta writer you think we are, and dumping this in our inbox, is extermely rude.

PEOPLE ENJOYING AND POSITIVELY ANALYSING SOMETHING YOU HAVE A COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP WITH IS IN NO WAY A PERSONAL ATTACK TOWARDS YOU.

#elizabethrobertajones #we should do this a weekly thing yeah¿?#just like a coffee date to catch up #so pleasant -_-#wank for ts #DESTIEL #Dean is a huge BI btw #spn meta #kind of #Meta #Ask #Anonymous #Coolification writes #I feel like this is just a long post of me repeating the same things over and over with different wording #but I wanna make myself excruciatingly clear #so there's that

3 notes · View notes

themtmshow · 7 years

Note

what do you think of romantic mary/rhoda? i know it's the 70s so it would never happen on tv at least but in fan musings?

Would it be strange to admit that I was hoping someone would send me this exact ask so I could have an excuse to dump all my Mary/Rhoda thoughts into a post? Before I get into the business of answering you, I have to first thank you for your question, because you absolutely made my day. And I’m sorry, again, that I took so long to give you a proper reply. I hope it was worth waiting for.

I’m posting below a cut because this is long and contains (probably too many) gifs.

Let’s start by talking about Rhoda because she’s my favourite: What does Rhoda wantin a romantic relationship? What does romance mean to Rhoda? I briefly touched on this in my previous post about Rhoda and Lou, but here’s the full quote from 4x09:

You know, something wonderful happens during the day, I can’t wait to rush to him and tell him. And I say to myself, “This is it. This is what having somebody really means. You wanna run and tell him the good things.” And then something crummy happens, and I wanna run to him and tell him about it. And I say, “Oh, I see, it’s this too. You want to share the crummy things as well.”

So, keeping in mind that Rhoda describes romance (in her words, “having somebody”) as the desire to share good and bad experiences with someone, who is the person who Rhoda mostwants to share good and bad things with? Who is the person she is always talking to about her day? Who does she share things with before she shares them with anybody else?

Mary, of course.

Winning the beauty contest and breaking up with one of the only men she really seemed to like: Two ofthe most emotional events we see Rhoda experience, and both times, she talked to Mary about them before she talked to anyone else. Both times, Mary was exactly what Rhoda needed and exactly what Rhoda was unable to be for herself: compassionate, understanding, and non-judgmental.

As far as what Mary needs in a relationship, it’s not too complicated either. Here is what Mary says in 7x23when she’s describing the sort of partner she wants:

Someone who doesn’t care how I look because he’s more concerned with who I am. Somebody strong and intelligent, who respects me, who I can respect, who has gentleness in him.

I mean, we know Rhoda thinks that Mary looks beautiful, and vice versa.

But that’s clearly not what makes their relationship work. Theirfriendship is solid because it is based on mutual respect. They support eachother. They pick each other up when they’re down. They’re honest with each other, even when it’s not easy. When theyhurt each other, they apologize, forgive, and move on. They allow their differences tomake them stronger instead of dividing them. Every one of those qualities is an absolutely essential component of a successful long-term romantic relationship.

And speaking of their differences, they’re a perfect example of an “opposites-attract” pairing. Mary is organized; Rhoda is spontaneous. Mary is cautious; Rhoda is bold. Mary is tactful; Rhoda is honest. They balance each other in such a way that their relationship is not only strong and healthy, it’s interesting.

Going back to the othercharacteristics Mary values in a romantic partner – strength,intelligence, gentleness – Rhoda possesses all of them. She’s strong enough tostand up for herself; she’s intelligent enough to be successful in a careerthat requires creativity and flexibility; and she can be compassionate whencompassion is called for, like when Mary loses her job.

Which brings me to another point: Mary and Rhoda love each other so much. I don’t really need to prove that because it should be obvious to anyone who watches past the first 20 minutes of the series. But I’ll give some of my favourite examples anyway.

Example 1: The first Christmas after they met, when they had only been friends for a few months or so, Rhoda bought Mary an expensive rotisserie as a present and then spent about five minutes talking about how great it was and how much she enjoyed giving itto her. She even wrapped up a tiny egg and stuck it in there, just to make Mary laugh. Now, maybe I’m a bad friend, but when I’m thinking of what might be an appropriate gift for someone I only met a few months ago, my mind doesn’t immediately go to “giant unnecessary kitchen appliance, plus egg.” (Also, Mary’s kitchen is the size of a shoebox. I question how much Rhoda thought this through.)

Example 2: Later in that episode, when Mary thought she was about to bemurdered, she had enough time to make one phone call. She could have called anyone:her parents, for instance, or even the police. Anyone in the world, and shecalled Rhoda. Her last words before she thought she was going to die were telling Rhoda how much she cared about her.

Example 3: When Rhoda said she was moving back to New York to take the window-dressing job, Mary was in denial fordays. She couldn’t even bring herself to accept it until the day before Rhoda was planning to leave. And Rhoda knew she was going to miss Mary, but at her going-away dinner, shedecided to be calm and logical about it, to make things easier for both of them– which lasted about two seconds before she started spilling all her feelings. Followed by Mary doing the same, naturally.

Mary and Rhoda are so entwined in each other’s lives that sometimes, they practically behave like a married couple. This is particularly obvious in the episode where Mary and Rhoda are temporarily living together, when Mary has the same sort of phone conversation with Rhoda that her co-workers have with their wives.

And I can’t make a Mary/Rhoda post without pointing out how Rhodalikes to touch Mary’s face during important moments, like apologies and reunions, because it’s pretty much the cutest thing ever.

There’s so much to love about them, and I’ve been working on thispost for days but I still feel as though I’ve only scratched the surface.

And yes, as you mentioned, the show was written in the ‘70s. So I’m certain that thewriters never intended even a speck of romantic subtext between these two ladies. Idoubt it ever occurred to them to write either character as anything but straight. That said, I don’t believe any of that really matters when it comes to fan headcanons. I have several thoughts on why I believe Mary and Rhoda (particularly Rhoda) can easily be read as bisexual or gay, ranging from “straight is not the default sexuality” to “Rhoda Morgenstern craves romance yet sabotages her own love life and that’s a canon fact.” Still, I personally wouldn’t care ifMary and Rhoda spent all their time together waving flaming banners that said “PLATONICGAL PALS, 100% HETERO.” I would ship them anyway, because they’re amazing, and because that’swhat I love about fandom: the way people can see possibilities that the writers of the show may not have considered and explore them to theirfullest potential.

Thanks again for your question, anon. My askbox is always open and so is my private message thing if you want to comment on anything I’ve said, share your own thoughts about Mary and Rhoda, or yell at me for taking so long to answer this.

#anonymous #asks #the mary tyler moore show #mary x rhoda #mary richards #rhoda morgenstern

52 notes · View notes

tinkdw · 7 years

Note

I am a hardcore Destiel shipper (and Sam/Eileen tbh), but I am losing hope that it will ever be made obvious on screen. I choose to see it as canon, but how do you think they would make it extra obvious to less-shippy fans? I'd be down for a hug and some hand holding, but I can't think of an outcome that doesn't sound like some fan fiction - and therefor being called out as fan service. Thoughts?

Honestly I’m really confused how anyone can be losing hope after having just witnessed season 12.

We just had a whole season of:

- Multiple near-death moments, hugs, reunions that are more and more emotional every time, by the time we get to 12x19 they both look so strained they could strain Rowena’s tea leaves with their eye balls. Let alone Cas’s “DEAN!” moment right in front of Sam and Mary in 12x23, completely ignoring them, and Dean’s “where the hell have you been?!” standard pissed off wife raging at Cas in 12x19 in front of Sam. Attempts at hiding it from these two have really gone out the window by this point…

-Sam being SO DONE and rolling his eyes practically every time they are in the same room together, even when they aren’t, yes, I’m looking at you 12x10: “you’re going to storm in….right now”.

- Dean textually saying he’s not mad, he’s WORRIED about Cas. DEAN BEING A WORRIED HUSBAND ALL SEASON LONG EVEN THOUGH THAT DOESN’T ADD AT ALL TO THE PLOT LINE, ITS JUST THERE BELOW THE RADAR ANYWAY.

- Mary treating Cas like he is Dean’s husband, comforting him when he’s missing, the ‘computing’ look at their reunion hug, looking pointedly at DEAN when asking if Cas will go along with their plan in 12x23 etc etc etc.

- DEAN GIVING CAS A MIXTAPE OF HIS FAVOURITE BAND, A BAND THAT IS LINKED TO SEDUCTION IN THE SHOW. Cas wondering if he has to return it now that Dean seems so upset with him, again, a standard romantic “returning your stuff” break up trope, but Dean waves him away, no, I forgive you, just PLEASE STAY WITH ME.

- In 12x19 Dean being angry and acting like a wife who’s husband is late home from the pub, because he was worried but then IMMEDIATELY forgiving Cas, asking Cas to stay, to be a “we”, even in 12x19 still defending him, by 12x23 saying that they will “work things out”, Cas telling Dean that he would die to protect him, that he loves him, loves all of them etc etc etc.

- Now Dean is learning to let his walls down and the catalyst occurs in the FINALE, oh, coincidentally, JUST before Cas gets taken brutally away from him right in front of his eyes and he doesn’t even compute it, is still in shock by the time the credits roll….

This whole season has been what I see as the middle ground, the link between the previous seasons where the Dean / Cas relationship has been extremely subtextual, and the next season(s) where it will culminate in canon.

You can’t just randomly show casual viewers Dean and Cas making out, so many people won’t have seen the subtext (I was just talking to a viewer this weekend, who was like Destiel? Nope, I don’t see it. When I explained the story, he was like OMG YES I never noticed that! That makes so much more sense - talking about s11 and the undercurrent of Dean’s feelings since the show and how they link to the overall plot) - So the casual viewers need it to be much more obvious before it is canon, but also it’s a long running show, it cannot just SUDDENLY become obvious, it needs to feel organic.

Therefore season 12 was for US very blatant, but for casual viewers they are just getting strong hints of it. It was around 12x10 - 12x12 that I got a few asks saying things like “I never shipped Destiel but now I do”… and after 12x19 I think many of these ideas were cemented into peoples minds, the same as after 12x22 I think many people will now understand Performing!Dean and the side that was the facade and what is real, they will look at the show in hindsight and see it where they hadn’t so much before.

Therefore next season should be even more blatant. And what could be more blatant than Cas being dead and us seeing Dean in MOURNING, fighting to WIN HIM BACK (again, this is a standard romantic trope and the next part of the story in line with the standard romantic storyline that they are abiding to, for more info search #break up theory on my blog).

Next season should be even stronger with the subtext and we will see things coming into the text much more than even in season 12.

In season 12 we had hugs, worrying for your boyfriend and a freaking mixtape.

I think season 13 will raise us something along the lines of mourning like a widower, Sam supporting Dean in this widower role, an awkward accidental date, talking about feelings, working on something together while laughing and doing the heart eyes and probably some kind of accidental kiss / falling over each other or whatever if they want to get really blatant about it ;)

With regards to how they will make it canon, these are two BAMF guys who, yes, are actually also deep down very soft and sweet in their personalities but are not going to start running bubble baths and giving each other bouquets of flowers on screen. All we need and want is a couple of shots of Cas shuffling into the kitchen in Dean’s dead guy robe for a couple of cups of coffee in the morning and Dean’s gruff “coming Cas?” as he goes off to bed, a shot of them giving each other a cute look over lunch while Sam rolls his eyes, thats all we need after the initial love declaration or 1 kiss of whatever way they decide to go...

I mean, I’m being really arrogant here, but Destiel isn’t the only thing that me and the other meta writers write about and we are all basking in the glory of the fact that pretty much everything we speculated would happen character wise in s12 has happened and that pretty much all our endgame speculation has either happened already or looks very much on track to being so. It would be weird if we were right about all the rest and not about Destiel, which is one of the most blatant ones of all…

#asks #destiel #endgame destiel #endgame positive #positivity #Anonymous

540 notes · View notes

frasier-crane-style · 7 years

Text

Mon-El

I thought I’d make a list of random things the Supergirl writers could’ve explored here.

1. In most modern-day canon, it takes a long time for Superman’s powers to develop under a yellow sun. He starts off unusually strong, by his teens he’s developing actual superpowers, and from there he just gets stronger and stronger. Maybe they could milk some drama out of Mon developing these freakish abilities, Supergirl trying to train him in their use before he’s in a situation where losing control means he sends a truck through a building. Or maybe there’s an emergency and he needs to take in a dangerous dose of solar radiation to bring himself up to Superfamily level.

2. So imagine that you find out that the Earth has been destroyed, everyone you ever knew or loved is dead, and now you’re stuck on an alien world forever. You’d be pretty broken up about it, right? Probably even have PTSD. So wouldn’t it be interesting to see the same feelings that Kara has in the subtext suddenly be foregrounded in this guy?

3. Same as above, but now imagine the alien world you’re on is insisting that you risk your life in public service. Also, you’re not getting paid for this; you have to wear a disguise and get another job to earn money, while you do the life-risking gratis. (And as someone without even a high school education, at least on Earth, what job could Mon-El get? There’s no way he’s staying in as nice an apartment as Kara has if he’s driving a cab) Wouldn’t that strike you as absolutely insane? Especially if you’re actually working at a government agency, for all intents and purposes. Just Mon-El adopting a “fuck you, pay me” stance at the DEO would put him at dramatic loggerheads with the rest of the cast.

3a. Or where does he stay? With Kara? Jimmy? Winn? Alex? J’onn? At the DEO? It seems like any of those scenarios could lead to some interesting ‘roommates’ shenanigans. “Hey, could you pay your half of the rent?” “Hey, could you stop a train from derailing? Cuz I did. Get off my back.”

4. Clark was raised on Earth from infancy, so he considers himself a really weird human, while Kara was adopted as a child. Mon-El is a Daxamite who’s coming to Earth as an adult. So if we’re going to adopt this immigrant/refugee metaphor for aliens, he’s totally unassimilated. What if he says “fuck wearing jeans and pretending to be humans, I’m a Daxamite, deal with it”? What if there’s a traditional Daxamite hairstyle or tattooing or clothing he wears? It seems like the difference between a Muslim who goes around in a nice suit and a Muslim who wears a thobe and grows a neckbeard. Could bring up interesting questions of Kara being ‘ashamed’ of her heritage.

5. By a similar token, Mon-El having a public ID. Supergirl doesn’t get much use out of Kara’s secret, since pretty much her entire supporting cast (and a government agency??????) know she’s Supergirl. Having a guy who’s the opposite--”yeah, I just stopped a train, now I’m getting a burger”--could bring that back into play. Would Kara try to separate Mon-El from herself and her friends to keep anyone from making a connection, only interacting publicly with him as Supergirl? That could be especially interesting if they start to date. A whole ‘secret romance’ thing. Hey, maybe some of the journalists who Kara works with could be looking into Mon-El, resulting in an ironic situation where Kara has to hide her relationship from them or risk her secret ID being publicized. I don’t know, could give someone at CatCo something to do.

6. I don’t know about you, but one of the sticking points of Supergirl’s backstory is that she spends years trying to be normal (as a human?) and just letting her powers go to waste. It seems like that should come up when Mon-El is resistant to being a superhero. Does she regret all the time she spent interning at Catco and going to college when she could’ve been saving lives? Does she think Mon-El will regret it too? Maybe she’s resistant to him becoming a superhero because she thinks he needs time to process and adapt to life on Earth, the same way she did.

7. The big one: we’ve all seen Superman goes evil story where Superman or another Kryptonian tries to take over the world. ‘Superman goes self-interested’ is actually a somewhat fresh idea. Basic morals and enlightened self-interest would steer anyone reasonable away from world domination or knocking over banks (who wants the trouble of a fight with the military?). But to anyone with a lick of sense and a motivation to just live comfortably and enjoy themselves, there’s plenty of ways to monetize having superpowers. That actually seems like an antagonistic ‘challenge’ to Kara that she can’t just outpunch: Mon-El asking her why she wants to be Supergirl instead of just enjoying herself. Is it because she feels guilty about surviving Krypton? Does it make her feel good to help people? If, at the end of the day, she’s just doing this to feel good, then is she any better than him for trying to feel good in his own way?

I’m talking about an existential antagonist to Kara. We’ve seen Black Cat and Catwoman try to seduce Spider-Man and Batman to their way of thinking; surely the gender reverse can work. There could be a lot of conflict in both of them trying to bring each other around. Mon-El could act to put out a fire in the neighborhood, just because he’s not so sociopathic as to let people die to keep a Words With Friends game going, and Kara could say “see, there is good in you, you saved those people” and he could say “nah, I just did it so people would cheer for me, I’m really quite selfish.” Y’know, could be an interesting discussion on the true nature of heroism.

8. Maybe Daxamite culture could actually be different from American culture? It seems like both Kryptonians and Daxamites, on Supergirl, are just Americans with a bunch of fancy toys and the odd ritual when the writer feels like it. So, Space Canadians. Maybe instead, Mon-El could have actually real, dramatic differences from your average American? What if, just for instance, Daxamites had no concept of monogamy? If Kara dates him, is she right to not want him to have a quickie with a Starbucks barista while she has a cold, or is she wrong for imposing her cultural views on him? I mean, if we’re doing ‘aliens are refugees!’ and one of the big discussions on that is of whether refugees with differing cultures can assimilate into their host country, shouldn’t Mon-El actually have a culture that clashes with America to some extent? And no, doing a Planet of the Hats ‘snobs versus slobs’ thing with Krypton (note: in 2016?) doesn’t count.

#supergirl #mon-el

19 notes · View notes

oncethrown · 7 years

Text

2x14 High Fiving a Million Angels (But Still Not Lady Angels)

I wrote a post a few months ago about how Shadowhunters was finally starting to find its feet and all signs were pointing to 2B being the point where the show would come into it’s own and really be something.

And I finally feel like I was right. after 2x14.

This was a great episode, it promised that the flashes of social concious the show focused on in 2x13 weren’t just filler to make Clary look good, but real problems in both the world and the narrative of the show that the show intends to deal with. It also managed to finally deliver strong character moments and not choke itself with action for once. While overall it was really strong, it still failed it’s female characters, but it’s not like I’m shocked anymore.

I think Alec, Luke and Maryse had the strongest episode, with Sebastian as a runner up.

Alec finally becoming Head of the Institute was written perfectly. He understands the issue, but not perfectly. He starts the downworld council, but all of the participants are quick to remind him that they’ve seen this sort of empty gesture from the Clave before, and Alec is unable to actually deliver what those downworld leaders want, despite his openness, because the Clave won’t budge.

They also show that he’s going to face resistance from the rank and file shadhowhunters, who don’t think it’s appropriate for him to bring downworlders into their place, assume its because he’s fucking a downworlder, and expect him to fail.

We also get to see just how much he wants this and how much work and thought he’s putting into it. He’s in a suit this entire episode. He’s dressing the part of Head of Institute. He puts in a call to Magnus to establish boundaries in this new arena for them and their relationship. He’s measured and careful and thoughtful with everything he says, (though I do think Matthew Daddario made the professionalism feel a little wooden) and he brings in Izzy, who he knows has stronger personal relationships with the more resistant members of his proposed cabinet, Meliorn and Raphael.

Plus the exchange with Maryse about baby Alec seriously writing crayon memos was gold.

Luke shows up hard as pack leader in this episode, he’s the perfect character to refuse to let the Clave off without a concession, and Isaiah Mustafa carries his indignation at the whole situation so perfectly. The writing is strong here too, with Luke’s episode arc of demanding concessions from the Clave, not getting them, and seeking his own revenge against Valentine because he knows the Clave will never give in to Downworld demands (also, holy foreshadowing from Raphael last week, let’s hope that goes somewhere). The way they heightened that with his interactions with Maryse was also gold.

Maryse is getting the redemption arc that I have been desperate for for 14 episodes. I am pretty salty that they’ve dropped her into the plot twice to work on that instead of giving this story line more time to breathe, especially since no one is acknowledging that Aldertree is to blame for Izzy’s addiction, so nothing he did meant anything and he was a pointless waste of time and Maryse could have been playing his role the whole time if Shadhowhunters didn’t hate women so much.

I like that they are actually using Robert’s affair to mean something. Maryse was betrayed and hurt by someone she thought loved her, and now she’s seeing herself in a new light because of it, and that barrier between herself and her children and her old friends is starting to break down.

Her scene with Izzy is easily the best scene of the episode. She’s seeing Izzy as her daughter instead of her legacy and is actually thinking about how things effect Izzy emotionally, like her knowing about Robert’s affair, and how the way Maryse raised Izzy could have made her more susceptible to a yin-fen addiction.

Her scene with Luke is also perfectly placed. She’s not only starting to think about how she raised her children, and her homophobia, she’s given real thought to the tremendously anti-downworlder things she did in the past, and we even see her look genuinely surprised that the Clave wouldn’t let Luke attend Jocelyn’s funeral.

I love that they have her starting to reach out to Alec, but that her lines about how proud of him she actually is are delivered to other people. She tells Izzy that it’s good that Alec fought for love for himself. She tells Luke that Alec’s idea for a downworld council is wonderful. She knows that the divide between she and Alec is too wide and deep right now and she needs to approach him carefully.

Her scene with Alec is still about duty and legacy. She’s excited that Alec is head of the Institute... but she’s not going to divorce Robert because she doesn’t want to risk the Lightwood legacy.

Sebastian is givin this fantastic one episode development from seemingly sweet and caring, to creepily over involved, to ‘don’t forget he’s a psycho’ and it plays so well against the rest of the episode. Will and Nicola have the same skill for giving you a ton of emotion and subtext in their eyes.

But There Were A Lot of Things That Sucked Here Too

But at least not all of them are Clary This Time

Izzy Nonsense

The two men vying for Izzy’s affection in this episode, could have done their whole schtick for the episode without her being there at all. Sebastian telling Raphael to back off when he’s known him for a hot minute and only sees him as a source of venom out there corrupting sweet Innocent, helpless to stop herself Isabelle is shitty (also... ALDERTREE IS TO BLAME HERE. BAD SHADOWHUNTER, NOT BAD VAMP). And then Raphael’s whole matyr thing rubs me the wrong way too. Everyone is always talking about Izzy being so strong and such a good shadowhunter and blah blah blah... and for the last like ten episodes she is only allowed to be strong as an addict. They don’t let her be strong as a person. It sucks. I’m over it.

And like... neither Sebastian nor Raphael are wrong, I get that, but I want to watch a show where Isabelle gets to make that decision, instead of the dude’s penising in and dickily deciding, with great turtleneck bishopry, that only they can save Izzy... from herself.

That scene also sucked because Raphael is a bad choice beyond just the yin fen thing. He hid Isabelle’s phone from her when her family needed her. If someone takes your phone away, and cuts you off from your family... you do not date them. You kick them in the nads until they puke.

Clary Nonsense

I imagine that the original first scene from this episode was cut, and went like this:

(Alec and Magnus shirtless in bed together)

Alec: One of the first things I’m doing as head of the Institute is getting Clary in some Seelie Politics training. The queen wants to see her and I can’t have her insulting someone and starting a war.

Magnus: What’s the point? She won’t listen anyway and she’ll yell at someone else when it goes wrong.

Alec: All experience tells me you’re right.

Magnus: Doi. Let’s make out.

FIN

Clary’s position as POV character who can see how the rules of the magical society aren’t fair doesn’t work if none of those rules ever affect her in anyway. She needs to be able to hear that Jace speaks to the queen very formally, and at least try to play along. She’s been in the world long enough to know that maybe dragging an uninvited guest to see a queen, is a bad plan. And her line about the Seelie Queen looking prepubescent was just stupid. Why do the writers need me to believe that that main character is stupid?

She also suffers the same fate as Isabelle, where the menfolk are so much better at everything than her, and half to make her decisions. She’s shadowhunter, but her vampire boyfriend can’t let her go off alone. It’s not safe. Blah blah blah. No agency for women, Shadowhunters hates women.

We all knew the stupid kiss was coming, and Clary’s inability to realize that like... something wasn’t about her somehow was deeply annoying, but I did like that the kiss was actually used to drive home a political point. The Seelie Queen has been around as long as the rest of the immortal downworlders who all know that Shadowhunters don’t respect them, and don’t keep their promises.

I am insanely pissed off that when Isabelle came into Clary’s room to talk about her feelings for once, they got steamrolled by Clary’s long list of stupid decisions when Isabelle has like... real problems.

Simon Nonsense

Simon is a better character than this episode made him out to be. He should know he doesn’t need to defend Clary, his insecurity about her being alone with Jace is just gross, and for the love of God the last time he didn’t listen to Shadowhunters he was turned into a fucking vampire. Come on, Lewis.

Watching Reactions:

Boo New Intro. Go Away. Boo

Yay. Hopeuflly this flashback means more Jaia. Here for it.

It’s too bad the official instrument of brooding isn’t more portable.

Hmmm... I wonder if the resentment of the only extras who get lines will go anywhere.

Nice Suit, Mr. Lightwood

I love that “Book Club” is Jace’s code for casual sex and Alec and Izzy both know it.

Clary is incapable of not fucking this up. Maybe Max can teach her things about Seelies. She is too dumb for this mission.

Alec and Luke! A Real Plot! Awesome!

Boo. Simon you are better than this.

I am LIVING for this complicated Maryse. This is everything I’ve wanted since 1x12

Goddamn it Clary and Simon. You are both better than this. I’m tired of hating you.

I’m very invested in where they go with Sebastian. It feels like it’s going to be good.

The fire message is cool. I didn’t expect it to be cool.

I’m actually not into this vision of the Seelie Realm. Very Renfest. The books made it a lot more menacing.

Whats wrong with Meliorn’s face?

Izzy is politcally important! Yay!

This scene between Sebastian and Raphael, while a disaster, Izzy wise, is really well acted. Will is bringing David up a lot.

Fuck you Clary. You’re fucking simon. Where Jace is putting his dick is none of your business. You fucking hypocrite.

Leader Luke! Leader Luke!

Ha. The thing is it totally makes sense for all of them to look the same to Meliorn. There have been so many lines about Jace looking like the rest of the Herondales, and he and Sebastian do look pretty similar, and Meliorn’s been alive long enough for them to just all run into “Blond and Tall” “Red Head” “Loud and Angry Blonde”.

Raphael, this is really not your place.

Sooo... does this cut prove that Sebastian isn’t the voice?

Maryse Redemption!

This episode is great, Clary’s had sic lines. Coincidence?

Boo. She’s talking more. Sigh.

Really Clary? Jace is dying and you gotta kick him like this?

This is too much kissing for the least engaging plot line. No matter how much pathos Dom puts into this it’s still too stupid a plot and he’s carying it all alone.

Don’t yell at the queen, dumbass.

Mother Daughter Scene! Mother Daughter scene! This is the best.

Bad Ass Luke!

The outcome of this whole Sebastian plot has better be political disruption. It is too fucking late in the game to write this time of story about romance.

I like the pointedness of Alec moving the chair. Everything from the type of chair to the way the shot is structure to how the characters are facing emphasises that Alec is not Imogen, and he did not come down here to torture a downworlder.

Alec gets the politics! Alec is good at this!

He... stole your phone to keep you in his lair while your family was facing death. He is a bad person. He is not for dating. Why are the writers allergic to letting Izzy make good choices about men?

Don’t let her in Simon! Never let her in!

I am so excited that Clary might have to learn that consquences exist. It must come as such a shock to her.

Are you fucking kidding me? How does this scene end up about Clary? Isabelle has real problems and Clary doesn’t even know about them because she’s been so selfish, and now... Izzy just has to drop all of that because Clary has a self-imposed sad? Fuck this.

Hot Damn. That’s what I call an ending.

#shadowhunters meta #episode reaction #shadowhunters 2x14 #Alec Lightwood #Maryse Lightwood #Isabelle Lightwood #I Hate Clary

24 notes · View notes