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lilblucat · 11 months

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Quick question!! So with the recent episode of MD out (I'm not sure if you've seen it yet, but if you have you could answer this if ya like) are you worried for how the show is gonna handle the love triangle between Uzi, N, and V? Because ship wars are still going on at least over on Twitter and Envy shippers are going crazy and insane, plus it doesn't help that some of them are toxic (not saying that Nuzi shippers aren't toxic too, because they are) but, I'm worried that these shipping wars are gonna get worse and heck, it even concerns me that shipping could end up ruining the show..just look at shows like Miraculous Ladybug + Star Vs, but Star Vs is a huge example because that show was pretty much ruined by shipping and it also ended up making Starco feel rushed at the end..I've seen people point out that the love triangle is common in Liam's work so maybe I'm missing something. But, are you worried for how this love triangle will be handled in the end and do you think it could ruin and mess up the show?? Also, which couple would you say you're rooting for (When it comes to Envy and Nuzi, at least) and who do you think works better as a couple? I don't wanna cause any shipping drama, but I was wanting to ask this question because it's been on my mind, it also gave me some concerns..because don't be wrong, I'm someone who enjoys and adores shipping and has fun with it, but there is something that I never wanna see is to have a ship take over the story entirely, you know what I'm saying?

Anon, this is not a quick question lol.

Idk I don't think the love triangle is gonna be all that important going forward. It felt like there was going to be some love dynamic between Uzi, N, V, and Thad but as of episode 5 I think that's all mostly scrapped now. Thad is completely irrelevant and it seems like episode 5 cleaned up the romantic plot threads between N and V.

Episode 5 is... weird to talk about regarding the romance threads in the series. Like yeah, it does offer some Envy moments, but then once they remember everything they go back to their dynamic up to this point. V immediately wants to hurt Uzi while N is much more excited to see Uzi again than react to V's quick embarrassed blushy moment. The events of this episode and the lack of any shipping merch for N and V kind of seal the deal for me that Envy isn't happening. Episode 3 went all in on the shippy vibes between N and Uzi on the marketing, so episode 5 not getting any for Envy just feels like proof to me, honestly.

However, most of the marketing was about N and Uzi, and while they are the main 2 characters, it feels like this episode was meant more to progress their dynamic along than N and V's. N had been saving Uzi from something every episode up to now, and this was finally Uzi's turn to repay the favor and boy do I have things to talk about regarding that. Uzi having so much ability to really mess with N, but Uzi ultimately not doing any of that because she wants what's best for him. Which, you'll notice is what V also wants, but the difference is Uzi actually communicates with him while V seems stuck on what her own idea of that is. Like, Uzi clearly has a crush on the guy, but even though she's seeing his past with V and how close they were she doesn't take any action to make him stop remembering things. She actually encourages him to uncover as much as he can, which he thanks her for at the end. I don't know how to put it, it's just such a risk she took even though she knew it was the right thing to do and I just really like that aspect of her character this episode.

Anyway, that wall of text is to explain my reasoning behind what I have to say on the state of shipping after this episode. I think the endgame ship is going to be Nuzi because I see no meta reason to ship otherwise. That's literally the only ship with merch behind it and it's the ship Glitch and staff seems to like the most art of. I feel that going forward, the show will end up going that route with these characters and people will either have to accept that or drop the show if shipping is really that important to them. And tbh, Liam's works aren't that focused on shipping anyway. There's probably going to be romance, but it won't be a tumor on the show. I haven't read any of his stuff yet where it felt like the romance threads were hurting the story tbh. That's another point for Nuzi tbh in that pretty much all of his main 2 duos have the most ship tease in his writing. I would not compare his writing to those other shows because Liam's writing is so distinct and has its quirks. Also, Murder Drones is written by a single person compared to these network shows which are written by many people, which is how you get these convoluted romance plots in the first place.

People are gonna be toxic, that's just a given and especially so because the main two ships in this fandom are at odds with each other. Once the show commits to one, I think things will chill down. I will say though, all the stupid discourse I see about Disassembler/Worker ships is pretty bad and misinformation keeps this a hot topic in the fandom. It's not a problem, yet people keep making it one and I cannot understand how this happens lol.

And yeah it's probably obvious but yeah I'm Team Nuzi. I've just always felt like Liam was aiming for it anyway plus I have a feeling that if the genders were swapped, Envy would be no where near as popular as it is. I get the appeal of Worker Envy, but Disassembler Envy is a whole different beast where V's treatment of N is still completely unaddressed. That's not to dis V exactly, but I think people forget that she remembered much more than N prior to episode 5 and cared enough about him to try to keep him safe from the Solver shenanigans. Her methods for doing that, however, definitely need to be addressed at some point. Like again, people forget that she didn't do all that because she didn't remember, she did that because she was traumatized and ended up hurting N because of her actions. Regardless of why she did it, she's still very harsh with him and hasn't made any steps to fix this. Also again, not to dis her as a character, she's obviously made these choices out of trauma and I think that's pretty realistic.

N also has baggage that V's presence gets in the way of, but since he's been with Uzi for a while he's been getting through it. When separated from V, N learns to grow a spine and respect himself. I think V can learn and grow too, but only if she takes a leave from N to get her away from the living reminder of her traumatic past. That's why I'm personally not into Envy in the current time, they cannot reconnect in the same way anymore, they are simply too different from how they were back in the past. Reconnection means a whole new dynamic, and at this point I don't think romance is in the cards for this new dynamic.

#wall of text . txt #not art #oooohhhhhhh I think people are gonna hate some of these opinions here but man this is just legit what I think and see in the fandom #murder drones

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sysakiddo · 1 year

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5 times Lewis confronted Sebastian about his writing and one time he did not have to

“You're not even listening to me.” Lewis, for lack of a better word, whines. He has a deep crease between his eyebrows. Sebastian wants to tell him the wrinkle will stay there, just to see him panic. Though he manages to hide it, Lewis is really vain sometimes.

“I'm kind of busy at the moment.” No apology. “You were saying?”

The room is too hot and sticky for Sebastian to play mind games with Lewis. He wants to be alone and count down the minutes to when he can take a cold bath.

Suddenly, Lewis moves quickly, soundlessly. He likes to remind Sebastian he is a cheetah, with or without a car.

Sebastian does not manage to hide the tab he had opened. As a rule, these days, he is not fast enough.

“Seriously, Seb? The Times crossword is more important than what I'm telling you?”

“I would never dream of saying you're not the most important thing in the world.” the blond huffs, feeling mean now.

He is very obviously fishing for a reaction and Lewis knows it. From previous experiences, he also knows the fight would not bring him any gratification. He smiles tightly instead, sitting down on the couch.

Sebastian glares at him, hating how Lewis looks like he belongs there. Like there is no place where he belongs more than on the couch in Seb's driver's room.

“I finally read your book. The one about the spies, Burning Snow?” he clarifies as if Sebastian doesn't know the plot and names of his own books.

And look, Sebastian is still mad at whoever leaked his identity to the press. It is more than a month since the whole world discovered that he, Sebastian Vettel, four times world champion, is also an acclaimed author. He published all of his books under a pseudonym, which worked pretty well. Until now.

The people in the paddock took it in stride. Out of them, who looked like they could write a book that became a bestseller long before his identity had been revealed? The bee rescuer is the only one fit for the job.

Valterri was the first to go through the bulk of his publications, three novels and one book for kids.

Your writing is pretty good. Maybe you should try and publish it someday :)

The text from Valterri after he finished made him huff, but deep down, something in his chest had eased.

Lewis, however, was weirdly evasive on the topic. He was apprehensive about reading any of Seb's work and only got to it when Valterri left all of the books on his desk, with a post-it note on the top.

READ IT!!!

Immediately after finishing the first chapter of the first novel, he regretted not starting earlier. Uncovering the similarities between the side characters and the people in the paddock was a lot of fun. It felt like an intimate look into the story that Seb's readers wouldn't normally get. One of the characters, the one who actually holds the key to the climax of the story and is far more important than the reader would have thought at first, is based on him, he thinks. Lewis only puts it together at the end. It's the way the character's dialogues are written that gives it away. He thinks it fascinating to find out how Sebastian privately perceives him. He describes him with great detail, things that Lewis wouldn't think to notice about him even. The thought of being so closely watched makes the top of his ears heat up.

Now, Sebastian is watching him, unimpressed. “You can read?”

Lewis keeps ignoring him - it works most of the time. “My favourite was Thomas, naturally.”

The top of Seb's cheeks turns bright red. “N-narcissist.” He tries to keep his composure, shaking his head a little. The stutter exposes him and Lewis smirks like he has just won. And his trophy is sitting on a stool in front of him.

“Well, I gotta run now. I'll come back with a review of book number two!”

Seb is too overwhelmed to react before Lewis slips out of the door. He sighs, returning to his crossword.

The next time Seb sees Lewis, he curses the way his heart flutters in his chest when he sees his smile.

“I tried the recipe, you know,” Lewis lets his hand linger on Seb's forearm as he stops him in his stride. They are both rushing to get to the debrief on time. Lewis does not care.

At Seb's quizzical face, he puckers his lips a little in annoyance. “The one from Freedom to Pheasants; what Matilda used to offer her cousins when they came over. I, of course, used soya yoghurt and I still had a little bit of the honey you gave me-” Seb opens his mouth to interrupt him but does not succeed. “I used almond butter and cherries instead of raspberries and let it freeze for a few hours. Why didn't you tell me sooner? It is delicious.”

“We really have to go, guys.” the intern standing beside them looks like he regretted taking this job and would rather jump off the cliff than listen about frozen yoghurt treats for another minute.

“Did you like it? The book, I mean.” Seb asked, feeling like a kid asking for compliments on his drawing. He regrets it almost immediately. Lewis flashes him a big smile, open and sincere, the sight only a few people are graced with.

“Yeah, man. The dialogues were spectacular.”

When Seb opens the freezer in his motorhome a few hours later, he is taken aback by a small white box with a sharpie-drawn smiley on top. When he opens it, five perfectly symmetrical yoghurt bites punch the air out of his lungs, like he missed a stair. With shaky hands, he fishes out one and takes a bite. The aftertaste of honey in his mouth makes his eyes water.

“Seb! Seb! Sebastian!” the whispering grows louder with each call of his name and Sebastian feels himself getting pulled out of the slumber. He groans loud enough for the woman sitting next to him, someone from McLaren's marketing team, to glare at him.

“What?” he snaps at Lewis, the other man taken aback. He doesn't expect to see the dark circles under Seb's eyes, his ashen skin looking almost white.

He gulps, worry bubbling in his chest. “Care to join me for dinner?”

The German sighs, hunching in his chair even more. He jerks his shoulders, which Lewis takes as an affirmative response.

A few hours later, every corner of Lewis' apartment is filled with quiet music. Seb is watching his every move from the bar stool in his kitchen. Lewis feels weirdly exposed like that, chopping onions for their dinner, even though it isn't the first time he has made dinner for Sebastian. Not by a long shot.

“Daniel must have been thrilled,” he cuts the silence abruptly. Seb doesn't understand and makes a go-ahead gesture with his hand. “When he found out you based the main character on him, I mean.”

“Oh,” Sebastian smiles bashfully. “You've read This room can not be eaten?”

Lewis nods. The book for kids took him the shortest to read, naturally. To his bewilderment, he enjoyed it a lot. After he had finished, he immediately bought a copy for every kid in his family.

“I don't think Daniel had realised Rick is based on him, actually.” Seb chuckles, his eyes lighting up in joy.

Sebastian starfishes on the couch after they finish eating. Lewis pours them a second glass of wine and sits down next to him. Carefully, carefully.

The German looks better after eating, though he still very clearly lacks energy. Lewis turns on the television, mainly as the white noise.

He falls asleep in no time, and Lewis stands up to put the fluffiest blanket on him. He makes sure both his shoulders are covered, hesitating a bit before brushing the stray strands of hair out of his forehead.

When he sits down, Sebastian whines softly and puts his cold feet under Lewis' thighs.

Lewis lets himself hope.

The next time they see each other, Lewis is a few drinks in, talking a little louder than he usually would. Seb finds him laughing in a circle of a few of their friends. He is like a magnet, though he never fully realised how much power he holds in a crowd of people.

“Birthday boy!” Seb beams at Charles, hugging him firmly. He already congratulated him this morning with a gift and a proper speech. Now, it's time to clink his glass with him, which, he personally thinks, is too old to do properly.

Either way, he lets himself get lost in the conversation. Charles, Lewis and Daniel make it easy for the debate to flow without his input.

“Oh, Seb, I almost forgot! Arthur told me to tell you he loved When I Was Older! He wanted to know if it would be okay to ask you some questions later.”

The attention shifts to Seb after Charles' words. Stupidly, he can feel his cheeks flush. “Eh, thank you. I appreciate that. Sure, send him my way when you see him.”

“He kept talking about the plot twist for days. I still haven't finished the first one - I'm sorry, I'm such a slow reader - but yeah, Arthur thinks the sequel is even better.”

Lewis snorts. Charles whips his head towards him, surprised. The same goes for Sebastian. Sure, the reviews for the second book in the spies series were mixed. But he thought the bad reviews were biased - the book came out at the same time his alias got revealed.

“You did not like it?” Charles asks naively. He hasn't been sober for hours now.

The Brit looks affronted by the idea of liking the book. “I hated it.” he spits and, yeah. Sebastian is shocked at just how much those words hurt. He has no resources to hide it, so instead, he bares his teeth in a leering smile.

To his great surprise, Daniel joins in. “Well, of course, what Thomas did was questionable, but that made the plot twist even better.”

Lewis is not buying what Daniel is selling. “Nah, it was stupid and made no sense, man. Why would Thomas betray his lover if-” If he is based on me. He almost blurted it out, thankfully cutting himself off before he could do something he would regret.

Still, Sebastian averts his gaze, bashful. The tension in the air is tangible and Charles, not wired to understand bad vibes, as he calls it, asks him another question.

“Are you working on something now?”

Seb looks at Lewis when he lies through his teeth. “No. I think I'm quite done.”

That's the reason why, three weeks after the party, when Lewis sees a post on his insta feed with Seb's picture and BOOK ALERT in big red letters, he clicks on it. He is doubtful at first, but then it turns out that, yes, Sebastian really published a new book during the winter break. It is a poetry experiment, explains Seb himself in the interview Lewis reads through.

Unexplainably, his hands shake as he tries to google a page where he can buy the poetry collection. When he finally finds it, he curses. Seb wrote a poetry book in fucking German.

He has no shame and immediately calls him to ask about the translation.

“No, I do not think it will get translated.” Seb is wary. “Why?”

“I would like to read it, that's all.”

Seb snorts, can't help himself. Why would you want to read it if you hate my writing so much.

“Well,” he says instead. “I've told you a long time ago German could be useful.”

Lewis pays big bucks to the publishing house to make the translation happen in the shortest time possible. He makes sure Sebastian has no idea he is the one who pushes for the English translation and pays off everyone, so it stays that way.

Out of all places, they are in the aeroplane when it all falls apart.

Sebastian is returning from the bathroom when he notices what Lewis is holding.

“Jesus, don't read that around me.”

“Why?” Lewis asks. “You don't have to be weird about it. It's great.” Lewis wouldn't say he is a poetry guy by any means. But there is something about Sebastian's words that curl off pages, sticking like caramel and breezing through his chest like a breath of fresh air. Sebastian's poetry is shockingly emotional, exposing his feelings with a sort of bravery Lewis has never felt. Most of them are reflections, sweet or poignant. Lewis can clearly see the inspiration from the Swiss nature, and the relationship with his family. It's beautiful.

Yet the ones that cut through his heart like a burning knife are the heartbreaking stanzas of unrequited love. And even though Seb states that not all poems are inspired by a personal experience in the prologue, Lewis knows poems like these cannot be fabricated. The one he's stuck on at the moment, Absolution, makes Lewis a bit dizzy.

In the seat across from him, Sebastian shrugs. “If you say so.”

“I mean, these love poems, man. They must have broken your heart. How come you've never told me?”

The pronouns sit awkwardly on his tongue, and he watches Seb squirm a bit.

“It did not feel like there was something to talk about. It would - I don't think it could ever work between-” he pauses, hauling a slow breath through his nose. He rubs his eyes with his right hand like always when he is agitated. He also forgets to use the eyedrops for his dry eyes; Lewis usually has to remind him. “Between him and me, I guess. I could never be the one for him.” He trips over his words.

Lewis blinks, feeling all turned out. He tries to process the words that feel too much like a confession to him.

“I doubt that, Seb.” He says earnestly. “I doubt anyone would find you anything but-” Perfect.

Sebastian interrupts him, a painful grimace on his face. “Just - just stop.” Suddenly, he looks exhausted and resigned all at once. “You must know, Lewis.”

Seb is not looking at him and misses the look of utter shock on his face. “Me?” Lewis feels like there is cotton in the back of his mouth. “But- But I-”

“You what?” snaps Sebastian, his face closed off now. He managed to build his walls high enough that it took more than a little love confession to make them crumble.

Lewis' head spins. There is just no way, no way that Sebastian could wax poetic about him. It's hard to breathe, and his face turns splotchy red.

“But you've never told me. Or reacted when I tried -”

“Oh, trust me, Lewis, I would have noticed if you had tried.”

“Sebastian.” he says, his voice breaking with the possibilities flashing through his mind. Sebastian is brave and he can be, too. “I have loved you for years.”

Now it's Seb's turn to look shocked. “But- You always-” he stutters, unable to finish.

“Come here,” Lewis beacons him over and Seb sits down next to him without hesitation. Lewis leans in and caresses Seb's cheek with his right hand. “You are very silly,” he presses their lips together and the feeling of Seb relaxing completely under him makes Lewis' fingers tingly.

“Hurry up!” Sebastian is wearing an atrocious old flannel shirt. Lewis swears he has put it in the 'donate' cabinet twice already, yet it always finds its way back.

He walks to the table where Seb sits, a big red box in front of him. “Open it,” he instructs and Lewis opens the lid.

“I wanted you to be the first to hold it.”

Lewis takes out the brand-new book in awe. When he opens it, the pages smell so good he closes his eyes for a second. He flips the pages until he finds what he is looking for. The dedication says:

Love, I've seen it all. I've seen the sunrises in Africa, the sunsets in Asia. The sun shining on the Mediterranean, the snow melting in the Alps. I've seen fireworks meant just for me, the beauty of the never-ending road. Seeing you smile beats them all.

For Lewis.

#sebastian vettel #lewis hamilton #sewis #f1 fic #f1 rpf #the monaco photo made me crazy #i am manifesting seb as a writer #my ficlets #monaco gp 2023

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synergysilhouette · 8 months

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An alternate take on "Frozen II" (2019)

I'm back! I wasn't expecting to do a rewrite for this, but considering how polarized the feedback for this film is, I wanted to give my own spin on it--but keep in mind, this takes into account my rewrite for "Frozen," so read that first! You have NO IDEA how hard this was to rewrite, especially since I had to alter a lot. Hope you enjoy this, and be sure to check out my rewrites for other revival-era films!

Again: make use of the concept art! Unlike part 1, it doesn't really look historically/culturally accurate to medieval Scandinavia, but at least it looks amazing! Maybe the silhouettes could be changed to make it more accurate. Keep the color schemes, though; I love the oranges and reds used for Anna rather than her black look used in the final product--and yes, I know the last picture is from her Arendelle festival dress at the beginning of the film; I'd like it to be formatted to her travel dress (I like the silvery-grey coat though), as well as using the blues and greens for Elsa.

2. Stay in Arendelle a little bit longer. If you recall my "Frozen" remake, it's a larger kingdom, and I'd like to see it a bit more during "Some Things Never Change" and before we relax in the castle. Considering my other changes, it works out fine; they could be perusing the town when Elsa hears the magical voice. And Liutenant Mattias and his group are never trapped in Northuldra; they remain in Arendelle and didn't have a large role in part 1 due to Agnarr's advice to the staff to keep an emotional distance from the royals.

3. Hans is Anna's main love interest, being a genuine good guy here, and joins the team on their adventure. Given the events of the first film, they actually have been engaged for a while, as Anna is working on her relationship with Elsa and Hans is trying to bond with (some of) his brothers. He's also earned bonus sister points from Elsa because he serves as a confidant to her. Despite being engaged, Kristoff hoped Anna's feelings would've changed, but despite caring for him, she chose Hans.

4. Explore Northuldra culture more, and make Arendelle ancestors (a separate culture from the Northuldra) Sami-inspired. I find it a waste that the Northuldra simply existed to give Elsa a hint to the voice and serve as the victims of a colonial story. In my opinion, they don't live THAT far from Arendelle; they just stay a little ways away, enough to keep their cultural distance while still keeping in touch with current events. Plus they're not stuck in one area. In my version, their mythology would have a BIG impact on the story.

5. Remove Iduna's Northuldra origins. Maybe it's just me, but I do think Iduna doesn't look Northuldran. In my version, she was from a tribal group, racially similar to the people of Arendelle and hidden thanks to the trolls (and I'd also make Kristoff related to them as well). Or if we wanna utilize more of the Nordic mythology, she can be descended from elves, who are said to live in Ahtohallan, where Elsa ventures to find out the origins of the voice.

8. What were different elements in the film now embody seasons: Bruni (summer), Nokk (spring), Gale (fall), and Elsa (winter), which can be spiritual or in corporeal form, usually the former. The nokk (as per mythology) can also shapeshift. I'm removing the rock giants, since they don't really serve a purpose in my rewrite.

9. "I Can't Lose You" is included. After finding out the REAL reason their parents died, Elsa feels awful for how she blamed their deaths on Anna, and Anna attempts to prevent Elsa from shutting her out again, but Elsa is realizing that she's now at a point where Anna may not be able to understand (or survive) Elsa's destiny.

10. After Elsa sends away Hans, Olaf, and Anna, a new trio forms: Elsa, Honeymaron (who joins the team to help uncover the secrets of the voice), and the spirit of a previous winter incarnation named Cajetan. Elsa is able to summon him thanks to her own abilities tied to memory (it's mentioned the nokk can do so as well). A Northuldran from decades ago, he silently guides Elsa throughout he journey to find the voice, with Honeymaron bridging certain gaps in unspoken communication that may be lost on someone not from Northuldra. Can't decide whether or not Cajetan is like a little brother to Elsa or a hinted-at love interest (like I'd make Honeymaron). Regardless, Elsa does have higher priorities here than romance, but the seeds can be sew. The other trios are Anna/Hans/Olaf and Kristoff/Ryder/Sven. It's also revealed the previous embodiment of winter killed Kristoff's parents, as well as many of the ethnic group that lived with the trolls. Elsa suffers a lot of guilt for this, and thus involves Kristoff less in their journey, not wanting to hurt him, especially given that he's still reeling about Anna and Hans' upcoming wedding.

11. "Lost in the Woods" is about Kristoff letting go of his feelings for Anna as she decides to marry Hans, with possible hinting at him being attracted to Ryder, as well as reeling from the reason his family was taken from him.

12. We get a physical, PRESENT, villain. Sound exciting right? Well, my idea for the villain might lose a few people. Diving into the world's religion a bit more, I do like the idea that the Northuldrans (as well as the Arendelle people's cousins) spoke of an embodiment of destruction and chaos, a being that made seasons violent and dangerous, and prevents them from coinciding. Their goal is chaos, hoping to rebirth the world and crafting the wretched mirror that Arendelle royalty eventually gained possession of. Failing to convince Elsa to freeze Arendelle (and eventually the world), they turned their attention to the other spirits, who, due to lacking a human form, were easier to manipulate and control, using them to corrupt Elsa, who could also be the most destructive force if they to control her. The nokk attempts to flood Arendelle, Bruni burns up the Northuldra forest (causing them to relocate to Arendelle for a period) and Gale killing off other forms of life by taking their breath away until there isn't even a breeze in the air. Perhaps I've played too many video games, but I love the idea that he oversees much of the heroes like a deity would, similar to Eris from "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas."

13. Change Elsa's origins. When Runeard dies in a frost, Iduna prays for the spirit of winter to be born as someone to bring Arendelle out of it's dark age, resulting in Elsa. "Love," as to be expected, is an honorary 5th element, and it's revealed that humans can only embody the seasons if true love is involved. It also explains why Agnarr abhors magic and attempts to put on a tough front. All of this is shown at Ahtohollan thanks to the magical elves who imbue wisdom to her. She spends a bit more time there before leaving, with "Show Yourself" being sung once she's there, and they're able to show her other memories of her family and show how much her parents loved her. Perhaps the "You are the one you've been waiting for" line is sung by the benevolent primordial entity. And Elsa is able to let go of the past discretions of the frost that killed her grandfather and Kristoff's parents.

14. The ending is a bit more open-ended. The chaotic deity is defeated, though it's noted that such things cannot be defeated, simply diminished or banished, similar to what Elsa does by working with the other seasons to defeat the deity. Elsa realizes that unlocking her full potential has made her a target for the deity's wrath, but she believes as long as she has those she cares about, then she can get through anything (it's cheesy, but it's true!) However, she does decide that she wants to learn more about the seasons and the magical world, and asks Anna to be a regent in her stead. Anna (and Hans) accept, with a bittersweet goodbye. The film ends with Anna and Hans kissing (and Olaf watches) while Kristoff, Sven, Elsa, and her seasonal contemporaries make for Northuldra, where Ryder, Honeymaron, and Cajetan await them.

One again, I've got A LOT going on with this remake. Maybe it needs to be a 2 hour movie. PLEASE let me know your thoughts and if you have any questions! I may tweak this later.

Update: I've also made a post about my own take if I was in charge of a Disney movie about the Snow Queen. This adaptation is independent of my Frozen remakes.

#frozen #disney #disney animation #elsa #anna #frozen 2 #hans #olaf #jack frost #show yourself #into the unknown #kristoff

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phantoms-lair · 2 months

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Playing with adding Danganronpa inspiration to an Exalted setting for my players

Major spoilers for Danganronpa and Super Dangonronpa 2 beneath cut

So setting is a literal mountain as Hope's Peak, home to a literal god of Hope who freely grants blessings to those who ask.

The person formerly known as Junko thinks this is the perfect place for her to start.

I say the person formerly know as because this whole thing spawned from the thought of 'Junko is absolutely everything a Midnight Caste Abyssal aspires to be and The Lover Clad in a Raiment of Tears would adore her.'

So Junko Enoshima, now The Most Beloved Daughter of Deepest Despair (Abyssal titles, amirite?) infiltrates Hope's Peak, conquering it not through sheer power and force of arms, but to manipulating people and driving them to the same despair she relishes in, making them destroy themselves. (The Lover is SO PROUD)

This maybe goes a little sideways for her when on of the pawns in her newest game of despairs...Exalts? As an Exigent of Hope???? (Yeah, aforementioned God of Hope ran to make an emergency petition for an Exigence flame and even the Unconquered Sun took one look at Junko and was like 'Yeah, we're nipping this in the bud') Junko is not pleased.

But Naegi is FAR from on even footing with her. He has a Terrestrial tier Exaltation he doesn't know the ins and outs of and Junko has a Celestial tier one she's well trained in AND a violent cult. The most he can do at this point is get his classmates and himself out and find help (IE my players)

Pursuing him is a lovely little asset Junko picked up and someone I'm half afraid my players will neve try to find the backstory on - Izuru Kamukura.

So the backstory starts with a young Hinata Hajime 'apprenticed' to a top scholar. The single quotes are because despite how it's supposed to work, said scholar isn't actually teaching Hajime anything and is more using him as an on call assistant/free labor. The Scholar is researching powerful figures of the past and Hajime is obsessed with stories of heroes of old. So when the Scholar receives a package from Sijan and said he's uncovered a way for Hajime to gain the strength of the heroes of old, Hajime doesn't think twice.

He really should have.

This wasn't a magical ritual like Haijime expected, it's the surgical implantation of perfectly preserved brain tissue, muscles, and other parts from aforementioned heroes of old. And a control unit scavenged from the first age because you don't create a weapon that powerful and not be able to control it. But in the process of reanimating all the dead tissue that was now more than 50% of Hajime's body something unexpected happened.

Hajime became a Liminal. One who shouldn't exist, because he's at least somewhat still alive. The Scholar is thrilled by this because this gives him additional control over his creation in the form of being the holder of his thread of life. Not just a powerful creation, but a literal Exalted whose life is tied to his own.

He had big plans, plans that did not survive a chance encounter with Junko. Junko was delighted with just how messed up a living Liminal was and after seizing the control method from the Scholar had him attach his Thread of Life to her, renamed him Izuru Kamukura, and kept him as a secondary enforcer (Murkuro being her primary) and pet.

IF the players look into Izuru's past and learn this, they can destroy the control module, allowing Hajime's psyche to resurface and gain a powerful, if very confused ally, as he has no memory past starting the procedure, which at this point was over a year ago. If they don't, he's just a very challenging boss fight. Which is fine, but oh the rpg potential of acting that out and how the players decide to treat him

#Exalted RPG #Dangonronpa #Danganronpa Spoilers

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bedlamsbard · 1 year

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Re: Marvel questions... What do you think will happen in the next Spiderman movie now that MJ and Ned don't remember Peter, and do you foresee Ned ever getting to rediscover and develop his magic skillz?

At no point in time have I ever had any idea what Marvel is going to do with their Spider-Man stuff! Part of that's because I have very little investment in Peter Parker or various Spider-people in general (whether MCU, comics, or otherwise) and partly because MCU!Peter is so far off comics!Spider-Man that it's near-impossible to predict what they want to do with him.

If I had to guess, I think we're at the point where the MCU has to bring in some version of OsCorp -- I know NWH has Norman Osborn say that OsCorp doesn't exist in the MCU, but obviously that guy was lying about many things, so there's no reason to treat that as gospel truth. For whatever reason, NWH also did not bring in any version of Harry Osborn, so I would not be surprised if the next phase of Spider-Man films start bringing in those more classic Spider-Man characters that so far haven't been introduced in the MCU, like Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy, either as regular Gwen or as Ghost-Spider. Ghost-Spider (a.k.a. Spider-Gwen) is hugely popular and she is a multiverse character, so I could see her appearing either as an alternate universe character or, if that's too close to what they already in NWH, I could see the MCU introducing her as an Earth-199999 (or MCU Earth-616, however we want to go with it) character. Just because she's a multiverse character in the comics doesn't mean she has to be in the MCU. Or bringing in Cindy Moon (Silk); love an Asian superhero and we can always use more of them in the MCU. (Please bring in Silk.) (Huh, according to Wiki Cindy is in Homecoming and IW...did not pick that up.) I would not be surprised to go a full Spider-Man movie without seeing MJ and Ned, but see them pop up in a different MCU film/show before they're reunited with Peter in Spidery 5.

If I was to write Spider-Man 4, what I would do is go back to the thing that the MCU has actually never dealt with, which is Peter Parker's origin story and where the spider came from. Statistically speaking in the MCU, the original spider was yet another attempt to replicate the super soldier serum. One could either have that be OsCorp or someone else (I've theorized it might have been Hammer Industries, which we know from IM2 is headquartered in Queens). Peter, now that he's out of high school and no longer associated with Tony Stark or the Avengers, now has the freedom to go back and look into what happened to him when he was originally bitten and what the circumstances leading to that were. Which uncovers a Conspiracy that he has to deal with all on his own, because now he doesn't have any friends or allies; this could lead to him finding other in-universe Spider-people who got different versions of the Spider bite/serum/whatever, maybe being used by Mystery Company or working for the Department of Damage Control or out there on their own. Peter's MCU appearances to date have all been so large-scale that it would actually be a huge shock to go back to something really intimate that is solely focused on him and New York, and I think that's the way to go -- to really play up on his isolation post-NWH.

As for Ned and his magic...I got nothing. Like I said up above, I would be very surprised if the next tie we saw Ned and MJ was in a Spider-film; I would expect them to show up either as cameo character, post-credits, or supporting characters in another MCU film/show first. I have no idea which one that would be; magic might suggest Agatha: Coven of Chaos, but that doesn't seem very likely. If I had to guess, I'd say we'll next see them in Ironheart, but really, it could be anything.

#metataxy #bedlam replies #bedlam watches the mcu

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littlebigmouse · 1 year

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TMA MAG 64-65

... We're getting a lot of stories about undergrounds, burials and tunnels lately aren't we. I'm sure that doesn't relate to anything at all.

Also I'm sorry, but the image of someone looking into a camera and eating an entire computer piece by piece sounds hilarious to me. Those 24 hour charity stream have really taken off, huh?

And now to the most important piece of the statement: The psychological terrorism Jon is inflicting on his coworkers I mean the office drama!

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Tim Stoker did nothing wrong, ever, in his life.

And god, I love the VA's performance in this episode. Such a good job!

OH NOW Jon is suspicious of the CCTV footage. Lord give me strength.

Jon, if you really think that Tim is a murder suspect, then why are you telling him about your suspicions regarding the footage? If you think there's a chance he did it or is an "agent" of something sinister, why are you tipping your hand like that just when everyone would have reason to believe you've been placated?

Or maybe, the fact that you've been friends for so long, as Tim is alluding to here - which, I need more details on that backstory AHH - maybe you still believe in that friendship and maybe you just desperately want to tell anyone of your findings, maybe you do actually need the support of people who regularly flirt or hack their way into police files to uncover this mystery.

I know paranoia is not supposed to be rational. But I will keep yelling at Jon to please maybe THINK for a second.

Also. Tim's practically solving this mystery for me. I feel very heard. And also damn, I need to point out and appreciate Tim's social/observational skills here. Tim is aware that Jon's been having a rough time because he went through the exact same trauma, and he acnowledges that. Tim gives further support to my "Elias doesn't care" theory by virtue of having it himself. He rightly points out Martin's - at this point - harmful conflict avoidance, and he just cuts himself off when he gets to Not-Sascha.

What have you noticed about her, Tim?

Honestly, I headcanon Sascha and Tim were something like best buddies pre-and-during-season-one, since they're mentioned to work together a lot. Maybe he noticed the 180° in her personality. Maybe he feels just as betrayed by her dismissal of Jon as by Martin's, but if it were just that, he wouldn't cut himself off, would he? I can imagine he tried to reach out to her about his troubles, but due to whatever Not-Sascha is up to, or maybe because she lacks the bond/the memories of the real Sasha, she probably brushed him off.

UGh, I am so invested in this.

What's most infruriating is that just as Tim realizes that he can't leave, and Jon explains to him that the archives are trapping them - that should have been Jon's clue that Tim is being genuine here, that he didn't kill anyone, that he's trying to get out of an incredibly shitty situation that Jon is absolutely responsible for.

But instead, Jon still refuses to trust Tim. And if Jon really thinks that Tim is faking here, that he is pretending to be this emotionally distraught, that he was faking what, years of friendship? That he is that good an actor, than that means Jon also does not take much stock into their friendship, into the very real struggle Tim is displaying here. He doesn't acknowledge it because he doesn't believe it, and that's a paranoia that's downright heinous. Imagine you're having a mental breakdown and your long time friend is so wrapped up in their own shit they don't believe you. While you're standing in front of them, having symptoms and a face full of worm holes.

So yeah, our man Tim does not deserve any of this shit.

Also, Jon's absolute social inability shining through brightly here, that he thinks that Tim thinks that Jane Prentiss is his fault. Ma brother in horror podcasts, everything after is the problem, and the fact that Jon refuses to own up to it here kind of shows that even his previous apology to all of them - what, 5 episodes ago? - was not genuine.

You're an asshole, Mr. Archivist.

Do you guys think Elias knows that none of them can leave? I think after Gertrude he should have realized the archives appear to be a job for life. Has he tried to leave himself? Maybe he doesn't give a shit because he knows, whatever is going on, he cannot escape. The only think he can do is watch everyone around him go insane and or die, until the madness claims him as well.

Now that would be interesting, wouldn't it?

#tma #tma live reaction #tma season 2 #tim stoker #jonathan sims #the gertrude murder mystery

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penny-nichols · 2 years

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Ok. Penny headcanons post here we go

-disaster bi

-half Japanese half Ashkenazi Jewish

-let cody into the studio actually. Intentionally leaves the vent uncovered because just like Maya, she feels bad for them. Literally only covered it up when she was told to and even then did a shitty job at it

-Adrian Andrews's cousin

-Adrian put in a good word for her at Global and that's what helped her land the job.

-Part Time (at least before AAI2, maybe after as well) going to college for film

-wants to be a director but would probably literally be fine doing anything except acting

-Stage Fright and Camera Shy

-Definitely has a crush on Maya

-Maybe has a crush on Matt (pre reveal, anyway). Literally she's just like "but he seems like such a nice guy!" While Adrian and Cody are just telling her that this man is Red Flag Central

-big of heart, dumb of ass

-Was kinda nervous around Will before 1-3 not in a like "he's scary" way but in a "he's cool and I look up to him" way. Literally after 1-3 realizes that he's Just Some Guy. Will absolutely talk about him casually forgetting that he's famous.

-probably goes on friend dates with Will and people are like "awww are you two dating?" And they just look at each other. And then say no. Because they're not

-literally though her and Will are besties. Would literally have a teen slumber party if they could

-was the person who had to explain to Cody's mom that he kinda sorta saw a murder.

-"hey I heard you like bad girls, because Im bad... At everything" *tries to do a cool lean but misjudges where what she's trying to lean on is and just collapses*

-strong but built like a twig.

-Will literally just wipe her glasses on her sweater if she needs to clean them

-cosplayer

-was the steel samurai for every year for Halloween once it came out. Would've been the Copper Samurai (one of the brothers from the Nickel Samurai) Halloween 2018 and was already starting to plan her costume out before 2-4 happened at which point the Nickel Samurai was soured

-Pretty ok at sewing and crafting in general, and can get pretty creative with things sometimes. Hot glue is her best friend

-Will talk about studio drama but also doesn't like saying mean things unless the person is like. SERIOUSLY bad. So the studio gossip is just funny stories that happened on set. Like "WP accidentally got the Steel Samurai costume stuck on. It took us a solid 20 minutes to get him out without destroying it"

-that being said she WILL shittalk Matt, Dee, Jack, and eventually Sal

-initially she's really inspired by sal and a big fan but as she becomes less starstruck and a bit more critical of the media she consumes she's just like "oh wow he is uh... Really leaning heavily into the misogyny here huh. Okay then."

-Sal is just some guy (derogatory) now and if she wasn't so polite she would try to explain why some of what he's doing is maybe not the best. She wouldn't even explain it impolitely she just cannot talk to people especially those in positions of authority over her

-Has anxiety (runs in her family, Adrian also has it) but WILL go "Excuse me! He asked for no pickle!" If something happens to WP. If something happens to her she's just sitting there like "if I tell anyone about this I will explode"

-her and Blackquill are besties actually. Went to the same high school and they are Absolute Nerds. Probably both quiet kids so they sat in the back of the class together. Solidarity

-they still kept in touch after HS but didn't really see each other. When she found out about his conviction she just felt... Not exactly betrayed but disappointed that there was yet another person she thought was a cool chill dude who committed murder

-she starts working on the Steel Samurai and is SO struggling not to spill the entire plot to Simon because she KNOWS he'd love it she fucking KNOWS

-anyway after DD Penny FINALLY gets to see him again (she does NOT pay attention to the news though someone had to tell her "hey did you know there's a prosecutor called the twisted samurai") and she just runs up to him and hugs him. He's like a full foot taller than her.

-also she's a great hugger. Not making this up Capcom told me

-Anyway they get boba and talk like once a month it's nice they're chillin

-WILL ramble and go off on tangents if you let her. The only reason half of Turnabout Samurai ISN'T a Penny Monologue is because she's just internally like "must not bring up my blorbos this is a murder investigation"

-Clumsy as hell. If Adrian hadn't been the one to break Ami's urn, she would've.

-could probably eat eldoons without flinching honestly. Basically lived off packaged ramen in high school and now doesn't CARE about the salt as long as it's real ramen

-will casually name drop celebrities but she's not even trying to brag or anything she just forgets that other people know them.

-"yeah I was talking with John the other day and he said-" "who the fuck is John?" "The kid at work. Not Cody, the other one." "...Marsh?????" "Yeah, so you do know him!"

-literally idk who she'd be talking to in that scenario though. Her friends are like. Work friends, Simon, and Maya

-although literally most of the prosecutors office is like. Neutral airing on the side of positive to straight up positive about her (at least those who remain prosecutors). Paynes Don't care. Simon is her bestie actually. Klavier definitely did SOMETHING at Global during 7yg and she wasn't like... Weird about him being famous? (Although he probably barely remembers her), Sebastian is just like "oh yeah, that lady John works with. I remember everything about her" (<lies. He does feel like she's a good person though because John isn't like. Actively bitching about her which he will do about people he hates. #courtneysibs). Edgeworth is in a Steel Samurai forum with her. She has no idea who he is but he definitely remembers her and is just like "Steel Samurai... Good". Basically the only current Prosecutor who DOESN'T like her already is Nahyuta and that's because they got into an argument on the Steel Samurai forum about the Plumed Punisher.

- will be a 30 year old involved in shipping discourse but she's NOT on the bad side unlike so many 30 year old shipping discoursers. She's just like "fiction can affect reality. Die mad about it"

-I wanna hope that eventually she does get to direct. I want the ultimate steel samurai fan to run the series she deserves it

-also trying to get into shipping discourse with her would be extra funny if she ran the series.

-you think she's some rando who occasionally posts Steel Samurai news and art but she tells you "I did NOT introduce a fifteen year old for you to ship him with a whole ass grown man". You just got called out by the current showrunner of the steel samurai. #ratio

-sorry for slipping into second person now anyways Im gonna post

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stonewallsposts · 3 months

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February 2024 Reading

Starting off 2024 doing some heavy lifting: first I read one of the more difficult Italian novels in Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana, then tackled the nearly one-million-word novel, Clarissa, then knocked out a smaller book on life in Italy, and now this month I launched into Il pendolo di Foucault, an 800 page Italian novel, probably the longest I've read in Italian.

Il pendolo di Foucault- Umberto Eco (1988)

This is an exceptionally involved work. The novel is essentially about conspiracy theories and how people are drawn into them.

The basic story is told by the main character, the student Casaubon. He meets an editor of an academic publishing house, and when asked what he studies, Casaubon replies that he is studying the Knights Templar. Casaubon is told by the editor, Jacopo Belbo, that all of what he has come across in this field are crackpot conspiracies written by delusional kooks. Casaubon acknowledges that there is a lot of legend surrounding the knights, but he is concerned only with the verifiable history.

But Belbo invites Casaubon into a discussion with one such writer who outlines his own studies of the what happened. This man is convinced that he is on the point of uncovering a vast conspiracy. Belbo and Casaubon both conclude he is bonkers, but he disappears the next day.

Casaubon then moves to Brazil where he meets and falls in love with a young Marxist. He discovers links between some of the mystic Afro-Brazilian religions and the legends surrounding the Knights.

He returns to Italy where he and Belbo decide on a ruse: to formulate and elaborate their own 'plan' of what happened to the Knights Templar. But circumstances lead them to start to wonder if their made up plan is actually true.

The book is 800 pages, and filled with detailed explanations of how these things fit together. These discussions serve to illuminate how even educated people can come to see connections when those connections aren't really there. The issue started in these cases with the belief and acceptance of some repository of secret knowledge. This meant that access to that knowledge included interpreting things in a type of code. Doing so required reading things symbolically, and that in turn leads to any manner of intellectual gymnastics that will make sense of things in the individual's mind. So the conspiracy theorist can take just about any number of elements he finds, and if he can reinterpret their meaning to find what he feels is a workable connection, he can find justification in believing they are connected in the way he always intuited them to be.

One of the lessons from all this is that in order even to fake a web, it has to look valid, which in turn requires one to be so intimately acquainted with the theories that he doesn't suggest an obvious error. In emerging oneself so deeply in these theories though, he risks losing his objectivity and becomes himself engrossed in the web, even knowing it was his own invention.

But as he cleans up all the connections, he begins to wonder if there really is something to the order he has created.

Someone asked Eco once if he was a predecessor of Dan Brown and the DaVinci Code. Eco responded that Dan Brown would have been one of the characters in this book.

The Italian City-Republics – Trevor Dean and Daniel Waley (1st edition 1969, 5th edition 2023)

This is a textbook of the Italian City-Republics. The Italian City-Republics generally covers the time period of around the late 900's to the 1200s, and the geographical area of the Po Valley and the area of Central Italy covering Tuscany to Pisa. The Papal lands of Central Italy and southern Italy developed under different circumstances- effectively under a more complete imperial control, that didn't allow the kind of independence that occurred in the north.

In northern Italy, there were alternating technical imperial controls from France and Germany, but those kings were generally too far removed from Italy to exercise direct control. This meant that the cities were, in effect, left to govern themselves independently. From there, they developed their own institutions of local governance. They pursued their own local interests. They developed relations with neighboring cities based on their own interests. They moved from control by local ecclesiastical authorities, who had wielded the effective power in their jurisdictions, to secular authorities who were elected. They went through the process of seeing their economic success lead to an increased business class, who began to assert their combined power against the nobles. They also went through the process of uniting ever larger geographic areas under the aegis of both Florence, Genoa, and Milan to stand up against the larger threats. Interestingly enough, many of these same dynamics played out 1500 years earlier in the Roman Republic.

The basic reason why the republican governments didn't last was factionalism. Unfortunately, self-government seemed to turn small differences into larger. Compromises and 'agreements to differ' were set aside and recourse to violence between factions became a conventional way of settling differences.

Republics usually end because they are unable to provide stable regimes. A single ruler who is able to get things done is seen as a more acceptable alternative.

When an effective single leader found his way to power, the people would eventually find a way to increase the length of his office, until he became the ruler for life.

But, of course, the arrival of the Signorie, the absolute rulers, in Italy didn't just happen either. There were power hungry men who saw the opportunity and schemed and fought for it too.

Black Beauty- Anna Sewell (1877)

A fictional story written from a horse's point-of-view. The story tells the life of a horse about the types of good and bad treatment received from humans. It would be a kind of horse's rights story, meant to instruct people to treat their horses, and by extension, their animals well.

A Doll's House- Henrik Ibsen (1879)

Henrik Ibsen was a Danish/Norwegian playwright. This book contains four of his plays, of which A Doll's House was the titular most famous piece. The other plays are Pillars of the Community, Ghosts, and An Enemy of the People. Ibsen became known as the Father of the Modern Drama. He wrote plays that were meant to depict contemporary, real people in their speech. He said the days of Shakespeare were gone, and so he wasn't concerned with writing poetic depictions of life.

Pillars of the Community was fantastic. Really great plot that kept me engrossed all the way through.

A Doll's House was a little dull to start, but picked up right at the end.

Ghosts is the shortest of the four plays and like the others, brings to light actions that the characters would rather have remained hidden. The title refers to the remnants of past actions that continue to haunt those that try to bury them.

An Enemy of the People tells the story of a man who finds there is something seriously wrong with the main source of business for the town. He tries to do the right thing by alerting people but finds that people are not at all pleased by the potential shut down of their revenue. They all turn on him and he finds himself having to stand nearly alone.

Heidi- Johanna Spyri (1881)

A children's novel about a young Swiss girl who manages to positively affect everyone she comes into contact with.

The Awakening- Kate Chopin (1899)

A sort of first-wave feminist manifesto. Edna is a young mother who is growing disillusioned with her life, which she feels has been scripted. While she has a loving husband who idealizes her, she recognizes that he doesn't really get her. He sees her purely in terms of her role as "his" wife, and "the mother of his children". She grows increasingly independent. She loves another man, but realizes that even there, eventually she would tire of him too. She ends by swimming out to the ocean and drowning as the only way to escape what she feels is a trap.

Les Fleurs du Mal- Charles Baudelaire (1867)

The Flowers of Evil is the title in English of this compilation of all Baudelaire's poetry, written between 1840 and 1867. The book starts with this haunting poem addressed-

To the Reader: Stupidity, delusion, selfishness and lust Torment our bodies and possess our minds, And we sustain our affable remorse The way a beggar nourishes his lice.

Our sins are stubborn, our contrition lame; We want our scruples to be worth our while- How cheerfully we crawl back to the mire: A few cheap tears will wash our stains away!

Satan Trismegistus subtly rocks Our ravished spirits on his wicked bed Until the precious metal of our will Is leached out by this cunning alchemist:

The Devil's hand directs our every move- The things we loathed become the things we love; Day by day we drop through stinking shades Quite undeterred on our descent to Hell.

Like a poor profligate who sucks and bites The withered breasts of some well-seasoned trull, We snatch in passing at clandestine joys And squeeze the oldest orange harder yet.

Wriggling in our brains like a million worms, A demon demos holds its revels there, And when we breathe, the Lethe in our lungs Trickles sighing on its secret course.

If rape and arson, poison and the knife Have not yet stitched their ludicrous designs Onto the banal buckram of our fates, It is because our souls lack enterprise!

But here among the scorpions and the hounds, The jackals, apes and vultures, snakes and wolves, Monsters that howl and growl and squeal and crawl, In all the squalid zoo of vices, one

Is even uglier and fouler than the rest, Although the least flamboyant of the lot; This beast would gladly undermine the earth And swallow all creation in a yawn;

I speak of Boredom which with ready tears Dreams of hangings as it puffs its pipe. Reader, you know this squeamish monster well, -hypocrite reader, - my alias, my twin.

Unfortunately, this was the best piece in the entire book, so... yeah.

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agentnico · 8 months

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A Haunting in Venice (2023) Review

Still cannot get over this movie's first teaser trailer that was released which made it seem like some Conjuring spin-off and then right at the very end we see Poirot and his moustache appear. People who knew nothing about Kenneth Branagh's Poirot movies would have been so confused as to who that man was.

Plot: In post-World War II Venice, Poirot, now retired and living in his own exile, reluctantly attends a séance. But when one of the guests is murdered, it is up to the former detective to once again uncover the killer.

I do enjoy a solid murder mystery movie, yet with Kenneth Branagh's take on the famous Agatha Christie sleuth, up until now I feel his adaptations have been playing it too safe and in the process losing the excitement of the source material. It doesn't help that both Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile are based on the two most famous Poirot tales, as such the reveals in both weren't all that mysterious seeing as many people already knew what happens due to the books. However with this third outing, it seems Branagh may finally be finding his groove, as for starters this mystery is based on a lesser-known murder from the detective's adventures (a short book titled Hallowe'en Party), and more so the movie is not in fact a fully faithful adaptation of that story.

Both Christie's novel and A Haunting in Venice introduce us to a spooky Halloween-set mystery with multiple deaths and plot twists, as the famed detective tries to uncover the truth after being lured into the case by mystery writer Ariadne Olivier (played in the movie by Tina Fey). Yet there are not many similarities between the two stories. For one unlike the original novel which is set in the English countryside, the movie swaps that setting for the sinister Venezian palazzo. To be fair, Branagh evidently seems to be a fan of the 1973 occult-themed thriller Don't Look Now, as he tries to mimic that movie's style in portraying Venice as a place that has a sense of mystery and mystique in the air, with the ever-growing feel of dread and despair. That leads to the next point - the supernatural. Unlike the previous outings in these Poirot films, this one attempts to add something new to the murder mystery genre by adding a flair of horror into the mix. Set mostly at night, with creepy voices heard in the background and eerie imagery throughout, Branagh and cinematographer Haris Zambarloukus fill each scene with unsettling darkness, and there's even a shed of jump scares throughout. Also rain. Lots of rain, rain and rain. Visually this movie looks really good, and in fact, it is nice to see less use of CGI here compared to Death on the Nile where the green screen was basically the main star of the movie. The horror stuff didn't always work and I do believe the jump scares were a tad excessive and unnecessary, especially as the lighting and look of the movie already provided that needed sense of harrowing terror, but I do appreciate Branagh attempting to actually make something more original with his Poirot films.

Speaking of Branagh's Poirot, you can tell he absolutely adores playing this character, and to be fair he does a splendid job as always, with his lovely Belgian accent and adorable persona, so as always it was delightful seeing him chew up the scenery. The rest of the cast does well too. It's not as A-list as the previous films, but I think that was to the movie's benefit, for instead of focusing on the actors you actually can enjoy more connecting with the characters themselves. Tina Fey is out of her comfort zone by playing a more serious role compared to her known comedic performances. Michelle Yeoh is fantastic as the mystic psychic, and leaves an impression, especially during the séance scene where she completely loses herself in her 'possessed' madness'. Jude Hill, who's mainly known as the kid from Belfast, was great as the son of the doctor, as even though he's just a kid, he's very mature for his age and shows that he knows more than you'd expect, and Hill is great in delivering this and was one of the standouts.

The mystery itself is unfortunately pretty predictable. The journey to the reveal is solid, however, most of the resolutions are very easy to work out and I do wish there was a bigger plot twist than what we got, but overall I believe A Haunting in Venice is the best Poirot outing in Kenneth Branagh's trilogy, as it manages to finally find its own voice and take a risk of trying something different. It visually looks great (have I mentioned there is lots of rain??) Branagh's Poirot is adorable, but the narrative itself is a bit thin still. If there are more of these Poirot adventures made, I feel like Branagh should give directing duties to someone else, but still stay as the actor for Poirot, as from all three films the one thing that's always been a positive was his performance as the Belgian sleuth. But yes, this is a step in the right direction for this murder mystery franchise.

Overall score: 6/10

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m-chillin · 4 years

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Well, just a reminder that He Tian actually is not about rainbows and sunshine.

He Tian really has a dark personality and we've seen it a lot at the beginning of the story and we see it every time when he is alone he has this menacing expression on his face. Old Xian does not draw him like that to make him look cool but because he doesn't need to wear his mask when he is alone.

So, this new panel is his instinctive possesive reaction that uncovers his true self, which he tries not to show in public.

I've seen a comment today like "oh he's a meanie I don't like him like that". Well, what some people forget is that his true self is not that smiles cutely at the girls at school, he just plays his "good boy" role perfectly every single day. And what happened today in this chapter is that He Tian simply lost his cool and revealed his true face for a split second, then he just played it out nicely as usual.

He Tian basically doesn't give a shit about random people and MGS knows that too well, because he is the only person who sees He Tian true self on daily basis. That's why He Tian said that he admires MGS for "not being afraid of darkness". His darkness, of course.

I think Old Xian showed us this situation right after the "harsh" night chapter scene exactly to remind us that He Tian is not a school softboy, he is not that role, that made the part of the fandom fall for him.

Yes, he made a dick move the night before but he immediately realised it and apologised which is A FUCKING HUGE STEP for him. And today we see this serious panel of him really fucking up close - sharp lines on max, serious eyes, no teenage shit. It's really not about that girl. It's a good reminder about his personality.

Not only MGS needs to go through some change, but He Tian as well. And MGS usually behaves rude around He Tian and says that he is a chicken dick because, ya, well, HE IS.

I really fucking admire Old Xian for the ability to make kinda "mass market" product, where some people can enjoy their fanservice not caring to look too deep into the story, BUT AT THE SAME TIME creating a very complex piece of art, where a lot of panels have a deep meaning, explaining a chain of events, and like a simple gesture in one panel you can keep explaining with ten pages of writing.

I love Old Xian and 19 days and I love Tumblr because there are a lot of people out here making analysis of this work and I like reading it, so I decided to share some of my personal thoughts into the blue.

This panel is just too good.

#19 days #old xian #he tian #tianshan #19 days update #mo guan shan #19 days thoughts #19days

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spaceecoffe · 3 years

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The Owl House x Slavic Mythology, Part 2 (this one will be longer)

Okay, so in this post I will tell you about few things. First of all you need to know something: slavic mythology is hard to uncover. It is not so easy to find true informations about this like about Greek, Roman or Norse mythology. A lot of Slavic beliefs were twisted by christian propaganda (like in last post I told you about Domovoy bringing good luck to you house -> with a time christians started to tell a story about mean house demon Domovoy and that all the good things he did were actually done by Angels, ugh). It is also twisted by patriarchy that with time didn't want people to believe in some powerful female demons or goddesses.

Slavic mythology for sure was kinda like Boiling Isles: most of demons and nature wants to kill you in some strange ways, but there were also some good demons, good characters and good gods/goddesses. And when you search for some informations you need to remember this. I'm writing it here because one of characters in this post suffers from her story being twisted by christians and men. And you can also see influence of patriarchy in first part.

But lets start the main stuff:

1. Witches and Wizards

Oh, yes, first thing you can think of is a second episode of first season "Witches before Wizards" AND I LOVE IT. Why? Because it destroys traditional look on the witches and wizards, of course! But from the beginning.

In slavic beliefs witches were women who signed a pact with the devil and gained from it magic powers. They used it to turn other people lives into hell by hexes and all that stuff. It was hard to recognise them, but people say that normally woman drinks a glass of vodka (or apple blood!) on three times while witches do it in one sip! Also, if you look deep in their eyes you will see head of a goat. But it could be any women in yours surrounding: single one, old one, married, young... You couldn't trust any woman!

And that is the misogynistic view on witches. The truth is that witches were a wise women who helped other. They often were herbalists and healers in their villages. But people didn't understand how they did their "elixirs", they only knew they worked, so the ones that were jealous about their knowledge create this story about "terrible and scary witches".

At the same time there were Wizards. They were the ones that people looked up to. And it's all because Wizards used their magic for a science and not hexing people! Like, you know... The only thing women can do is to be mean to other people and only think about how to make others lives worse, while man think about more important stuff. But, fortunately, wizards had also some bad traits, like being too ambitious.

So when Luz goes to Boiling Isles it appears that it is full of witches. Not only women witches, but also men. And this is kind of amazing because we finally abandon this archetype of only women being witches. At the same time (in second episode) we can hear King saying:

"Wizards are only old people with glitter in their pockets"

Oh, how I love this! Why? Because there always been a discourse in the topic of magic. When magic was used from science (by wizards or by alchemists) it was good, but when it was coming from nature (used by witches or folks) it was satanic and scary. But here? Here everything is opposite. We know now, thanks to Lilith, that magic in Boiling Isles is highly bonded to the nature and it is used from it. That's why everyone there is called witch, regardless of gender.

Why it is so important for me that witches are cool on Boiling Isles and wizards are only having glitter in their pockets? It's because at the same time that witches were burned on piles in Poland (1600s), you could go on Cracovian Academy (now Jagiellonian University) and get education in being Wizard or Alchemist.

So yeah, this episode just destroyed the archetype of good and wise wizards against bad and wild witches which should happen more often. But until Tolkien's books will still be "best fantasy" I doubt we will se more of breaking this stupid rule (and also sexism in fantasy).

Also, fun fact, in this episode we see Radegast in clothes with stars:

and also we hear that he was "looking at the stars" when Luz came. I know that wizards are usually depicted with some star-theme, but he really reminds me of the legend of Pan Twardowski, the most powerful wizard in Polish (some says he was a German actually) history. He signed the pact with the Devil to gain his power but run away from him to the other side of the moon, were some says, he still lives. He also probably was a real person (Jan Twardowski) who worked on Zygmunt August's court as magician and astrologist, sometime between 1530 - 1570, while as I said, witches were burned on piles.

But let's move to the second thing!

2. Eda, The Baba Yaga

Oh, yes! You've seen this coming. And also it was greatly showed in this amazing post, which you have to read! But I will put in my tuppence here.

First of all, who was Baba Yaga? You heard about her for sure, but probably all of this were lies. Surly, she was the most powerful known witch. She could do almost anything with her magic and she also could brew any potion. As you probably know she lived in the house on chicken legs deep in the forest.

As for her look she was small, old with a big nose and a lot of wrinkles:

She doesn't look nice, does she? Isn't that strange that the most powerful witch in our beliefs has to be so "ugly" (ugh, I hate this word but I have to use it here I think)? The truth is that probably she never looked like this. Historians thinks that at the beginning she was one of the most important goddesses in Slavic Mythology. She was in control of life and death, she was the personification of nature and its power. Some people also believe that she was the one responsible for children initiation to adult life. One of the historians, Zygmunt Krzak, said:

"This is about the reviled figure of the ancient goddess, a characterisation created by religious and secular male elites fighting against matriarchal religion."

So now we can see how Eda works as alternative Baba Yaga from Boiling Isles.

First of all, she IS the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles. She lives deep in the forest and she is great at brewing potions. Everyone is scared of her but at the same time, if someone is in trouble, she will totally help. Also, in episode one of season two we can see how she actually care about animals (and probably all nature).

But, most importantly, she is against Emperor's rules. As I said in subsection 1, being a witch is all about taking your power from nature. And actually what Emperor is doing is fighting with this, just like christianity when it started to appear on slavic lands. Emperor forbids to use wild magic, he tries to cut witches away from nature. He makes them join covens that can control their magic so they are becoming more and more distant from the natural magic. And Eda is this one person on whole Boiling Isles that is against it and that's why Emperor's Coven tries to change her image so people would think of her as a scary and wild witch which should meet her punishment for being that close to nature.

Another thing that reminds me of Baba Yaga is, of course, how she took care of Luz and helped her to became the witch. This is how initiation of children looks like. Yes, Eda did this in her own way but if not for her, Luz would never went do Hexside and problady wouldn't ever found out about glyphs. So yes, Eda was that one witch who helped Luz, the child (or "her kid") to become real witch, and that is probably what real Baba Yaga was doing.

Also...

Yes, I don't have to comment that, you know what I'm showing to you. But I just want to remind you that Kikimores hate chicken so it naturally goes that Kikimora is on the opposite side to Eda, The Baba Yaga.

The last thing I want to add is that Belos clearly do the same thing to witches on Boiling Isles that christians did to slavic folks (and yes, a lot more cultures in the world but here I'm focusing on Slavs). That is why I am almost sure that he is a human, probably Philippe, because this is just what people of middle and west Europe always did to different cultures -> "Veni, Vidi, Vici" as Julius Cesar said.

Part 1

#the owl house #toh #emperor belos #the owl house emperor belos #eda the owl lady #eda clawthorne #luz noceda #the owl house luz #slavic mythology #baba yaga #baba jaga #the owl house x slavic mythology

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wintersky94 · 3 years

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Revolutionary Girl Utena: After The Revolution By Chiho Saito (Review) Part 1. (⚠SPOILERS!!)

.Okay so back in 2018, I had ordered the original Japanese manga and held it for a while until the Viz English version came out last October 2020. I gotta say, Ms. Saito's artstyle has evolved over the years and I fell in love with her work even more! Okay, don't read this review for those who haven't read this manga if you don't like spoilers.

Okay, let's get started.

"After the Revolution" consists of three short stories that give us an update on the Student Council members who are now Ohtori Academy Alumni. We can tell that these stories pick up after the anime. The first one focuses on Touga and Saionji, the second one focuses on Juri, and the third one on Miki and Kozue. The similarities are them all encountering the disturbing memories of Ohtori Academy (i.e., Akio's Paintings, The sword of Dios, and Anthy's abuse at the hands of her own brother) and uncovering secrets they are trying to find their own Revolutions. In this book, Utena's the new Dios, now! It was nice she got to keep her boyshorts uniform with the princely epaulets, but I would've liked it better if she had an outfit that was similar to Dios' just like in her final confrontation with Akio. That kind of outfit would have made Utena more princely and fully bloomed (matured).

I. After The Revolution- There's an auction taking place and everybody is bidding on a Picasso nude painting. Among those bidders, we see Touga and Saionji outbidding each other...on telephones! Not gonna lie, I didn't know that's actually something you could do at an auction. I've gotta research some more.

So Touga wins the auction and the painting belongs to him. After the auction, Touga and Saionji cut eyes at each other for the first time in years, and Touga, being the playboy that he's always been, has a new gal on his sleeve. Touga recognizes Saionji but he seemingly doesn't remember him. Saionji tells him that he's a Galleriste hired by a client to do a job and Touga said he was also doing the same. This could mean that these two either own an art gallery or operate at an art gallery. Saionji points out that Touga has always been flirting with different women to which Touga responds that the woman he's with doesn't understand Japanese. The unnamed lady took offense to that and insisted that she did understand Japanese. Saionji expresses his displeasure at Touga as they part ways. Boys will be boys, they always say. Geez, Touga would be better off being a Gigolo than a Galleriste. Maybe he is a Gigolo, this art thing must be his side job. I mean look at him, he has the looks, the charm, anything that a girl would want in a man. So why not have Touga be a Gigolo?

NOTE: (*Did I forget to mention that Chiho Saito had a manga called "Gigolo"? Think of it as "Two Broke Girls" but with guys. It's about these two broke rich guys that are desperate to get back into the game by looking for more rich women. I sure can't wait for more of her work, besides Utena, to get serialized. It's like she's received the same treatment as Naoko Takeuchi. They both have a manga that became a worldwide phenomenon while their other works get overshadowed by the most popular manga they've ever created. Which is a shame, really. Oh well, can't win 'em all, I guess. Enough of my rambling. Let's get with the program!*)

Now Touga is in the middle of a business call with a client. Ya' know, just doing some galleriste stuff and then he receives some daily mail but the envelope that stood out the most was the one with the rose seal. Sound familiar? He opens it to reveal a cryptic letter that said: "You who seek the Revolution, Return to the academy". Okay, so imagine being an adult years after you've graduated (escaped) from Ohtori Academy only to find out that you have to go back to that twisted world full of messed-up fairy tales and people getting manipulated by a rich handsome chairman whom everyone looked up to as an ideal prince when he's really the Prince of Darkness, The End of The World. What would you do? You mean to tell me that I have to go back to that crime scene of a school, after being taken advantage of mentally, physically, and sexually by "The End of The World"?? By the looks of this, I could already tell that Touga has forgotten about the shady biz behind the ritzy, glitzy school and the duels that took place. To be honest with you, this would've been called "Surviving Ohtori Academy". If I was one of these main characters, let alone a female main character, this would reopen old wounds with me.

Anyways, Touga goes to revisit his old Alma Mater, the now-defunct Ohtori Private Academy. He saw a bunch of auditors wheeling out boxes of rare items to possibly sell them or something. He couldn't go through the entrance of the academy so he took the other way in. Touga runs into Saionji yet again as they had both received the same letter. So the Student Council "Frienemies" began the search for the Revolution that the letter mentioned. Touga mentioned that The Revolution was a painting that belonged to Akio Ohtori, the former chairman who was also a famous artist. Twenty years after the chairman had killed himself, the value of his work had increased. He even explained that a painting of the chairman's younger sister, Anthy, was sold to a winner at an auction but the painting disappeared before the winner could collect it. Oooh, scary! So Touga finds a portrait of the chairman and his sister, then they get a surprise visit by none other than the man himself, Akio Ohtori! (*cue Phantom of the Opera theme song*)

The dead chairman appeared before them in all his ghostly wickedness with the Akio car behind him. He asks them, as a favor, to keep his painting, The Revolution safe because he didn't want anybody to have it. Akio didn't disclose the location of the painting but he said that if Touga and Saionji did what he asked, then they can have his whole art collection. Then he showed them a will he wrote years ago before he died. When Touga asked who wanted the Revolution, Akio tried to tell them but a sword flew right through him. Was Akio trying to say it was the Rose Bride that wanted the painting? Maybe, maybe not. So Akio's spirit disappears and Saionji and Touga were trying to figure out where that sword came from and next thing you know, a storm came and knocked them into a flashback memory of the day they lost their families as little kids. Touga wakes up in a hospital and sees Saionji crying and saying everybody was dead. Touga wanted to know where his sister was so he gets out of bed to go look for her. Touga calls out for his sister, Nanami while they look around the hospital. Then they see a trail of rose petals that lead to a door and find a room with three coffins. A little girl, none other than Utena, was inside one of those coffins mourning her parents. Touga notices the Rose seal on her finger which Utena reminded herself that she can't die yet because she saw a girl (Anthy) that literally has the world on her shoulders. She declared that she's going to become a prince and save her and revolutionize the world. Saionji tells Touga that the castle was falling on them.

The two awaken back in the present and realized they both had the same dream about Utena. Then Touga gets a call from an artist named "Rime" much to Saionji's disgust. "Rime" called to tell Touga he's finished with his piece and Touga arranged to see it in person. Saionji is against it saying that "Rime" has a criminal history of pedophilia, kidnapping, and sexual abuse! That's gross!! 🤢🤢🤢Touga, of course, disagrees and says it's in the past, and Saionji counters that "Rime" has no redeeming qualities whatsoever and he changed his identity and ran an art school to collect more children. Despite showing him evidence, Touga still believed that we should separate the art from the artist, which is pretty tough to do given the circumstances that someone we look up to turns out to be a terrible person underneath.

(It has been an ongoing debate over the years, it's become the new "chicken or the egg". What do you think, ladies and gents? Is it possible to separate the Art from the Artist?)

Saionji is a bit perturbed with Touga supporting someone like that and pulled a sword on him saying he doesn't deserve The Revolution. They clash swords causing the all too familiar dueling arena to appear and they are wearing their dueling uniforms. This began to ring some bells with the frienemies and they duke it out some more. Then all of a sudden, the bells were tolling and rose petals began to shower them. The castle appears once more and a familiar pink-haired girl appeared before them. It was none other than Utena Tenjou in all her princely goodness! The way she descended from the sky was almost similar to Dios when he came to her. It turned out that she was the one who sent them that letter. She gives Touga a rose ring and uttered yet another cryptic message, "The power to revolutionize the world".

Once again, Touga and Saionji woke up and realize that Utena was the same little girl they saw in their previous dream. Touga gets a little teary-eyed at the fact that Utena had fulfilled her goal to become a prince. He tries to hide it from Saionji, though. Thanks to the rose ring that Utena gave Touga, they begin to put two and two together and use the Sword of Dios that was lodged in the wall as a key to Akio's Sex Dungeon-I mean Secret Chambers. There, they finally get a good glimpse of The Revolution, which is a framed painting of Anthy naked in a bed of roses. (Oh No... *has Adolescence of Utena flashback*) Then, Akio's spirit rematerializes for the last time to take back his precious Revolution. And this time, he's armed. He aimed his sword at Touga but Saionji took the hit for him. As Akio prepares to do away with the two, Touga slips the Rose ring that Utena gave him and prays to Prince Utena for the strength to revolutionize the world. He picked up the Sword of Dios and, with his newfound strength, knocks Akio's rose off, and the wicked spirit of Akio Ohtori was no more. Touga checks on Saionji to see if he's okay and begins to help him up. Touga's ring was gleaming and they notice that the ring was reacting to the painting. The painting of The Revolution had changed from naked Anthy to Anthy and Utena together. Then the painting disappeared. As they leave Ohtori, Touga believes that the reason they were chosen was that she needed help in rescuing Anthy from her brother and escape his world and that was the meaning of having the power to revolutionize the world.

Well, that's the end of this review of the first short story of "Revolutionary Girl Utena: After The Revolution"! Whew, what a ride that was. We have Touga and Saionji, two former student council members with an interesting taste in art, Prince Utena, who is the new Dios working her way up to save Anthy, and we got Akio Ohtori, the dead chairman (or genius loci) that haunts Ohtori Private Academy trying to hold on to what little power hs has left while guarding his painting of his NAKED SISTER!! This lead me to believe that sometime before his death, he painted her while she was drugged or that's what he thought (The Adolescence of Utena). That picture made me uncomfy, like "I-touched-wet-food-in-the-sink" kind of uncomfy. Though, I liked that Touga channeled his inner Ghostbuster and sent Akio on his way. But why was he crying after seeing Utena as a prince? Anyways, Part 2 will come up if I feel up to it.

~Until Next Time, My Friends! 💖☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

#revolutionary girl utena #shojo kakumei utena #after the revolution

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lifeisadoozy · 3 years

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sharing a short dousy video edit i made.

i don't know why but i really like this and thought i'd share it on here too.

should i rant about what goes in my head while making this video? no. will i? yes.

basically the song is beginning middle end by leah nobel from to all the boys i've loved before part 3. this song is basically about two people falling in love from the early years of their lives. since lara jean and peter met when they were kids. but then started (fake) dating in high school and their adventure together started right then and there. anyway, watch the movies if you haven't already. this song fits lara jean and peter so well (i don't know if it was written specifically for them or not).

but daisy and sousa didnt meet when they were kids because of one obvious reason: when daisy was a kid, sousa's dead; and when sousa was a kid, daisy hadn't been born yet. they weren't supposed to meet. so their journey started off separately.

daisy's beginning in shield was rocky, to say the least. but she found a home there with coulson, fitzsimmons and may (i'll get to ward) in season 1. they bonded quite quickly, mainly daisy skye and coulson. i think it shifts when she got shot by ian quinn. everyone in the team, especially ward was terrified and angry at the situation. now. she had a relationship with miles early on in the season, which was broken off. but within the context of the song, her beginning was ward. he was her s.o. she was falling for him when she uncovered that he's hydra. add that trauma to the ones she already had prior to shield. no wonder she has trust issues.

her middle was her powers. even though the story started early in the series, it's still the middle. because she struggled with her powers throughout seasons 2 - 5. the middle would always be the bulk of it all. it's where everything happens. it's the crux of a character, of a person. it's where daisy became daisy. now, in the middle of her middle (pun very much intended), was lincoln. the first inhuman who helped her and understood her. i'm sure they've got their own problems and everything, but it doesn't change the fact that he was someone who knew what she's going through. none of her found family could help her the way he could. this is where i think it gets interesting. seasons 2 - 5, where i said was her middle, and basically the peak/climax of daisy as a character, she was falling for and fell for lincoln. it was known that daisy was still in love with lincoln in season 5. possibly around 2 years after he died. but then we found out that she had moved on from lincoln in the beginning of season 6.

season 6 and 7 is the end of her journey with the team. they're still a family. just a family who occassionally see each other. now in season 6, like i mentioned previously, it was acknowledged that daisy had moved on. the past will always be with her, no doubt. the trauma would stick. hopefully just bits and pieces. but it would still be there until she either had alzheimer's, dementia, any other retrograde amnesia injuries or diseases, or the day she died. she would never forget lincoln or ward, heck even miles. she won't forget her past. unless it was taken away from her. so, back to the topic at hand, she wanted her own fitz. she had grown from the woman she was in the beginning, she had grown from the woman and superhero that she was in the middle. she knows who she is now. with the people she worked with. and the people she calls her family. and also with anyone. daisy's ending was perfect (to me at least). she wasn't looking for love right then and there. she was burnt one too many times. but she wanted that kind of love and support. the love and support that fitz and simmons have for each other. something that daisy lacked all her life. she ended up with someone who gave her what she wanted. and what she needed.

with sousa, it's a little different. because we didn't get to see much of his background and family life. we didn't get to know what his life was like during the war and before the war. we begin to see him in the ssr. we all knew, literally everyone knew, even the characters knew that sousa's practically in love with peggy. except for maybe peggy herself. but i'm sure she had an inkling. she definitely had an inkling. but then things go on and he became chief of the west coast office and he was in los angeles while peggy was in new york. he moved on (or so we thought). he started dating violet and was ready to marry her. he told her he loved her. and he did. it's just that he was also in love with peggy. still. and violet saw that. it's as clear as day. and they broke it off.

we didn't get to see much of sousa's middle. mainly because ac wasn't renewed for a third season. which was such a waste because it ended with so many things left unanswered. but we know that between 1947 - 1955, peggy and sousa broke up. we have no idea why. we don't know if steve was back. nada. all we know is that they broke up. when did they break up? again. no idea. but we know that peggy means a lot to sousa. she's like (sorta; i don't like making comparisons but anyway) sousa's lincoln in a way (i'm not saying that they're the exact replica. daisy/lincoln and peggy/sousa are quite different. but they do have similarities. those pairings are the kind where they want to be together forever but knew that it wouldn't work; my interpretation). she didn't die, we know that. but she's sort of the one that got away. my guess is that it's because shield and the world was more important than each other. which wasn't dissimilar to daisy and lincoln's situation. so, yes. peggy's sousa's middle. she influenced him a lot. and he found himself amidst ssr and shield (just like daisy did).

sousa's end was again, perfect. he went to the future. got to see what the organisation he helped build came to be. he went on an adventure to explore space. which he would geek out over. instead of dying, he got to live. with the love of his (new) life. he may be a man out of time, but with daisy and their ragtag family, he is right where he belongs.

daisy and sousa began with "who the hell are you" and ended with "it's beautiful" (just putting this here because i love that fact).

so. they started pretty quickly, didn't they? 4 episodes in and sousa fell in love with daisy. 7 episodes in and daisy fell in love with sousa. though i doubt that they thought they're in love. but they're falling. or walking towards it. 7x03 was when they met. it's where it all began. in area 51 of all places (foreshadow much?). but what's even more interesting is that technically, they began twice. from daisy's perspective, they met in 6x13 (which plenty of people had pointed out; but @agents-of-fangirling was the most recent). even though they didn't actually meet because sousa was wearing that blue (seriously his colour really is blue) hazmat suit and daisy was disoriented (may dying and all that jazz). but from sousa's perspective, they met in 7x03. where they actually made eye contact and conversed. how many couples can say that the when of their first encounter was debatable?

now. their middle, in the video edit, i used the scene from 7x10. because i think that's a pretty good middle. they had their first first kiss. sousa had no idea that happened. yet, there he was, wanting to help. just like his time-loop self. he extended a hand and she accepted. she accepted help. do you know how much of a development that was??? because i think that it's a huge character development (i still haven't rewatched so don't take my word for it). i think that's a good depiction of their middle. oh yeah. before i forgot. they also had two first kisses. and again, i say, how many couples can say that they had two first kiss? figured i'd choose the scene in the middle of those first kisses (pun intended lmao).

sidenote: did y'all see the devastation in her eyes when sousa volunteered to stay in the 80s? or how her eyes went wide and she started to panic when he was injected in the time loops? sousa's a man of action. and when he says something, he means it. so, his constant concern over daisy and him wanting to help in any way he can, it's his love language.

and then we have their ending. the perfect end to an imperfect couple (because nobody's perfect *cue hannah montana*). daisy got sousa a typewriter. because he's from the 50s. since when did daisy buy gifts for her boyfriends/partners/lovers? and they watched e.t. together? that's normal couple things. even though they are far from normal. but they get to experience it all together. daisy didn't get to in the past. none that we know of anyway. and now she does. also, that smile when she talks about him. that fond smile that grazed her lips at the thought of him. i've never seen her smile like that before (none that i remember; and if she did, well then i'm so so happy for her). she looks happy. serene. and her saying "he's a dork" twice in the season just makes my heart burst with happiness for them.

sidenote: my headcannon is that "he's a dork" is code for "i love him too much to explain it in words."

i'd like to believe that even though it has ended, their story has just begun. they're going through their middle right now. and i hope that they won't end. in other words, their end was not an ending. it was a beginning of a new life.

as daisy said, "we're loving the journey together." keyword: journey. it's a long road up ahead. with countless of challenges and obstacles in the way. but in the end, all that matters is that they face it together.

that's it. thanks for coming to my ted talk (for those who actually read it all the way through, i love you).

#watch the video til the very end😉#dousy #i know nobody's gonna read this #but i needed to hash it out #😬😬#character analysis #sort of #relationship analysis #🥺👉👈#sorry for the long ass post #like seriously long #i set out to write a quick lil paragraph and ended up writing an essay

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roswelldetails · 4 years

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RNM 2x10 - American Woman

EPISODE SUMMARY:

SECRETS OF THE PAST — After uncovering a cryptic message from the past, Alex (Tyler Blackburn), Isobel (Lily Cowles), Max (Nathan Dean), Michael (Michael Vlamis) and Maria (Heather Hemmens) set out in search of answers at the reservation where Alex’s mother grew up. Meanwhile, Cameron (guest star Riley Voelkel) encourages Liz (Jeanine Mason) to reach out to someone from her past after Auturo (guest star Carlos Compean) gets detained. Marcus Stokes directed the episode written by Rick Montano & Vincent Ingaro & Jason Gavin (#210). Original airdate 5/18/2020.

DETAILS:

Tripp brings Louise to the Reservation in a body bag where the Navajo doctors are able to save her life.

"Your message said that you were gonna bring two women that would be no trouble. This looks like a lot of trouble."

"I must have gotten the codes wrong."

"No, don't give me that Manes man nonsense. Not here in my own home."

"Her name is Louise. I promised her friend Nora I'd protect them. My brother triggered an ambush before I could get them here. And Nora…"

"Wait, what does the Air Force want them for?"

"They're not from around here. They're from...up north."

"Yìiyáh. No. She can't stay here… What if your brother comes here and finds a fugitive. I can't put my people at risk for a white woman."

"Please. You're the only person I trust. If she doesn't make it, it was all for nothing."

"I'll have you remember that I was the one that saved your ass in Okinawa. I don't owe you anything. I'm only doing this because you're my family. And because I'm a damn fool."

A few notes on this scene:

--I don't know why Tripp pretends he got the codes wrong. Unless he's spiraling and talking about the timing of the attack. But it seems like he means the message that he was bringing them to the reservation. Clearly things didn't go according to plan. Though, it is always possible that we're still missing bits of the story.

--OG Easter Egg. "They're not from around here. They're from up north." For anyone who didn't watch OG, this is almost exactly how the exchange went when Max told Liz he was an alien in the 1999 pilot.

--Yìiyáh - I found nothing on this word. I'm assuming that it's a curse word or general exclamation of negativity, but literally got zero results on google. It's possible, of course, that it's misspelled in the captions. There were a lot of errors in the captions in this opening scene.

--While there really isn't any overt statement that Alex is half Navajo and this town is part of Navajo Nation (which has been in the news a lot lately and therefore is a good place in this country to be aware of), there's lots of clues or subtle enough statements that I feel like it can be accepted as fact, since: Harrison is a codetalker, the necklace is Navajo, tsela is a Navajo word. So I did a little peeking and it could work. The closest Navajo town is about a 4 hour drive from Roswell.

Navajo Nation:

(side note - Navajo Nation has extreme poverty but also is utterly gorgeous. And the Tribe gets income from tourism. Just a few places there that I'm dying to go? Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon, Shiprock. Check it out.)

Liz comments on Max's irregular heartbeat, with literally no acknowledgment of the fact that she's straddling him and has a history of causing his heart to race...and other forms of lack of control (think 1x03).

"I'm excited about this though. You know Alex dug up all that info on our bio Mom. You sure you can't come?"

"Got to take my dad in for his blood tests. I want to check on Jenna too. Cannot believe she's back in the hospital again."

"She's been in pain for weeks. I have no leads on the mysterious hunting van, and Charlie hasn't made contact."

"Hmm. To be fair, I do hear that phone service is a little spotty in flying saucers."

"Okay, I get that. You think my alien abduction theory is bogus."

"I know you're worried that this has something to do with you, but I don't think this is an alien thing."

"Cam and I had fractal burns on our necks. We had no memory of what happened. That's alien stuff. I just want clarity on something."

--Note that it's past time to abandon all hope of anything resembling a defined timeline for this show...once again we have weeks passing between episodes. This is the second time this season that the time passing has only been generically described as "weeks". It's been at least a year since Liz came back to Roswell (per her conversation with Diego), but a year would be summer (late May or early June, specifically), and in this episode Isobel mentions that it's winter (which would be a year and a half).

Maria's pitch:

"In conclusion, esteemed members of the Roswell Tourism Board, while the Pony is normally a sanctuary for locals during CrashCon, I think that my plan to turn it into the Contact Cantina Pop-Up Bar will be a hit with alien fans."

"We're talking more money than we first speculated, aren't we now?"

"You know, Mayor Bernhardt, I forgot to tell you about our new morning cocktail… It's coffee, vanilla cream, and our best bourbon. Let me get you a double."

Note: so this is the famous Mayor Bernhardt. Funded by the Long family. Doesn't like immigrants. Had a racist relative who wouldn't give first prize to the black man.

Maria's vision…

Herself, younger, sitting at the Pony bar.

"You have to let me go! You're just crazy! And I'm trapped!"

And then she runs from the bar crying.

She's not wearing the necklace.

Describing it to Michael:

"I had a vision, but it was more like a memory. Of a fight I had with my mom when I was younger."

Isobel interrupts Michael and Maria to pick them up for the road trip. Just a few relevant excepts from this scene:

"Pack your bags. We're going on a family road trip."

"Is this why Max wanted the day off?"

"In the photo of Max and Isobel's bio Mom, there was a water tower. Alex recognized that water tower from the town where his mom grew up. You should come with us."

Alex and Forrest talk in the Crashdown:

"Hope that limp isn't from a paintball injury."

"Nope. Those bruises have mostly healed. I just got a new prosthetic. Takes a minute to get used to. You working on your book?"

"I write my book on my computer. However, I write my angsty emo poetry in an angsty emo journal."

"I'm actually working on some poetry myself. Well, song lyrics, technically. It's a lot harder than it was in high school."

"Yeah, writing was easier for me when I was a kid too. Feelings...we bury 'em now. You just got to find that thing inside of you that doesn't have a voice. Lend it yours. You know? Listen, I have like, zero musical talent, but if you need help with the worst part, we could, uh…"

"Actually I'm leaving tomorrow for a few days to go talk to some recruits."

Michael interruptus, and the conversation goes casual.

--What happened to "angsty nerd isn't really my type." Or...was it FORESHADOWING!!!?! 😂

--Oh hi there clear shot of Forrest's clearly Deep Sky logoed ring…

Cam has been having debilitating migraines that have been keeping her bedridden since the abduction.

Nurse Kate is a badass. she tries to keep ICE from getting into a patient's room. Liz hears her and hurries to the waiting room, where there's more ICE activity. Liz panics and tries to get Arturo out of the hospital, but she caught the attention of the ICE officers. However, Liz knows her rights.

"He has applied for his green card. I'm his sponsor, okay? This is his G-1145 right here."

"You can show that to the court."

"It's okay. Call the lawyer."

"No. He is a diabetic. It is illegal to detain a patient."

"Exigent circumstances. Move."

"No. Hey, this is an unconstitutional arrest and the ACLU will be all over you."

"Elizabeth, we respect the law in this family. If you're in trouble, who will take care of the mouse?"

--G-1145 is a request for confirmation that your green card application has been accepted:

--The timing of this all. Liz has been prepared for this moment all her life and would fight it to the point of getting arrested herself, if not for Rosa. Rosa's safety is the only thing that convinces Liz to step aside.

--As an only semi related note, this is a really interesting contrast to how they wrote Jeanine's character out on Grey's Anatomy.

--Also feel like it would be remiss of me to not point out Liz's reactiveness and fightinf mentality is mirroring how Liz initially reacted to Max pulling her over in the pilot.

"Okay. So the Deputy on call says there's one detention center in the county. Here's the info."

"He doesn't have anything left in Mexico. No one. Nowhere to go."

"You can't think like that right now."

"I think like this always. Rosa and I used to recite our escape plan for if our parents got deported and we got separated in foster care. I begged my parents not to tell Santa where we lived because I was afraid he'd ask for papers. My whole life was built on a fear of this day coming, and it's here. If I'd have kept better track of his health, he wouldn't need these tests. I should have made him move to California. I thought we were safe being outside the hundred-mile zone, but after this election I should have known better. And I should have made him wear a sweater this morning because it's freezing out there. And what if he…?"

"...okay think. Is there someone we can call?"

"Kyle's at a conference, but I can have him call his mom."

"Do you know anyone with some real power? You know, Federal muscle?"

Cam gets dressed to take Liz to the Detention Center and Liz calls Diego for help.

The road trip group arrive at the reservation and meet Gregory Manes. He says he remembers them all from high school. He takes Max, Michael, and Isobel to learn about Louise while Alex and Maria go jewelry shopping.

Meanwhile Gregory is taking the Pod Squad to Louise's grave, but pauses for some flirting:

"You're still the Isobel Evans who convinced the basketball captain to pull four different fire alarms to get out of AP Gov, right? Yeah, legend. Here she is."

"Oh my God, it's covered in flowers. It's winter."

"Rumor is they grow year-round unattended. She was a healer. I'm told she helped with trauma, addiction, that sort of thing. All without speaking."

"This another grave?"

"She was pregnant."

"Louise arrived gravely injured. And the baby didn't survive.

--Louise died the same day the Pod Squad came out of the pods, confirming that she is probably the old woman on the reservation that was described in 1x09.

--Michael found the mysterious purple flowers growing on Louise's grave.

Alex and Maria at the trading post.

"Are you okay? Seem a little off."

"I had a vision during a meeting this morning. It almost cost me a deal that could save the bar. Maybe I should just wear the necklace. Go back to being a social media guru. Slash barkeep. Slash magical trope in our redneck mayor's fantasy."

"So why did you really come today? Your ideal day off isn't fighting for the radio silence with Isobel Evans, so…"

"This is the back of my necklace. The word stamped in the silver says Tsela. The necklace is Navajo, so I thought maybe that was the jeweler, but no one I've asked here seems to know who made it. I just want answers."

"Well, there's a ton of silver jewelry for sale here. So why don't we just keep looking for something with the same stamp?"

Pod Squad sharing a bottle of acetone by Louise's grave.

"Noah said our planet was war-torn. But the hell they found here can't have been worth it."

"Do you think that Louise's baby died from her injuries or do you think maybe it was never going to survive?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I was pregnant. When you died. Obviously I'm not anymore. I just can't help wondering if that was my last chance. Assuming that humans and aliens can't procreate because they're different species. Maybe that little baby wasn't viable."

"You almost died during the abortion, didn't you? I could feel it. Noah almost killed you again, huh? Oh, I need a minute."

After Max leaves Michael offers to be a sperm donor for Isobel if she ever wants to have a kid.

Liz at the Detainment Center

"It's Ortecho. Arturo Ortecho. He's my dad. And he needs gliclazide and beta-blockers. I brought both."

"We can't take contraband here, but there is an infirmary on-site, if he's here."

"You know, out of curiosity, did Nebane Abienwi visit an infirmary before he died of a brain bleed in your custody? What about Johana Medina León? She was 25 years old, okay? People walk through those doors and they die...Who's your supervisor? You need prior approval before conducting enforcement in a hospital. There was a compliance memo."

"Right, a memo, which is just like a law only not. Unless you calm down, I'm gonna arrest you for obstruction."

"Okay, Liz, maybe sit down. Sir, I'm Deputy Jenna Cameron, and we appreciate your interpretation of your guidelines, but we have an urgent health concern about an inmate here, if you just wouldn't mind checking the system."

Jenna goes with the agent…when she returns...

"Do you have a court case next week for a vandalism charge?"

"What? Yes, but I didn't do it. I'm just gonna plead guilty and pay the fine. It's nothing."

"They denied your dad's green card application because of a misdemeanor on your record. You can't be his sponsor."

Jenna's headaches overtake her. Meanwhile, the ICE agent comes back with news:

"Here just came up. Ortecho is being transferred to El Paso for his deportation hearing. You can see him there around Tuesday."

--Liz's misdemeanor is taking the fall for Rosa's vandalism from when she was arrested by Sheriff Valenti in 2x02.

Gregory takes the Pod Squad to see Harrison who is on his death bed. Manes boys are always welcome here, the woman tells them. Harrison is the only one Louise ever spoke to on the reservation.

"He met my great uncle Tripp Manes fighting in WWII. Harry was a code talker."

Michael gets Gregory to leave with him so that Max and Isobel can go inside of Harrison's head. Their conversation:

"You look like her."

"Harrison. You look different."

"That was a lesson I learned from Louise. How to take your mind to a better time when you're in pain. Come on. I haven't seen the sky in a while. I'll tell you about her...I taught Tripp the codes in the Pacific. That's how we set up the rescue. He was supposed to snuggle Louise and Nora here, but the plan fell apart."

In the past between Harrison and Tripp:

"You've changed. The man I met on that ship obeyed orders."

"Guess I saw what happens when good men fall in line with bad orders. I'm a Christian, Harry. When evil itself tells me to kill a woman with child, I disobey. Even if the evil looks just like my brother."

A nurse rolls Louise into the room in a wheelchair.

"Did you find a family for her?"

"There should be music where you take her. I think she's a dancer."

"You can give her a house full of music, Louise. Nora wanted me to protect you so that you could protect the child."

"No. He's coming for me and I can't even move. No. When the devil comes, I won't be able to fight for her. Please. It is hard to be a woman on your planet. It's only gonna be harder still for her. Roy Bronson believed in meeting hatred with compassion. And I want her to be like him. A light in the darkness. A little star on the ground. I want that for both my girls."

"Where did he take the baby?"

"Can't say."

"No. Tell us where our sister went."

"She isn't your sister. Louise rarely spoke, but when she did, she spoke of two daughters. Two stars on the ground. She had no sons. You aren't hers. You came from something else...She lived for decades longer than she should have, trapped inside of a body that could no longer dance, waiting for a sign that you would be all right. She loved you."

Jenna wakes up back at the hospital.

"I asked them to run a new test. Your headaches are spinal headaches. Because there was a hole torn into your spinal cord."

"I'm sorry, what? My kidnappers gave me a spinal tap?"

"Do you mind signing off so I can look at your tox screen?"

"Yeah, of course, but, Liz, you don't have to do this, okay? Your dad, and…"

"I need a distraction. I can't leave for El Paso until tomorrow, and they're not letting him have visitors other than his lawyer until Tuesday, so...thank you for being here. You used your privilege to help me. I'm furious that I needed it, but I needed it."

--Reposado is a type of tequila

--Spinal Headaches:

Isobel and Max on what they learned from Harrison:

"You've always been different than me and Michael, okay? Always. You were the leader. From the start. I mean, you're the special one. You're the healer."

"I was. Now I can't even sneeze without my heart skipping a beat. All my life, no matter how weird things got, I never felt alone. Because I was your twin. Maybe I'm different. Maybe I'm a freak...I can't stop thinking about being chained up when I was a kid. It didn't feel like someone bad chained me up. It felt like I was the someone bad."

"Max, you're not dangerous."

"Saving people destroys me. But killing Noah? That felt good. I was high. And whenever I think about what he did to you, I want to chase that high. I wish I could kill him a thousand times. Louise mentioned the devil. Maybe something evil was chasing them. And maybe that something was me."

"Okay. I want to show you something. You see this hand on her shoulder there? See, Michael thought it was just someone who got cropped out of the photo, but no. Any female would recognize that body language. She does not want that hand on her. Louise said the devil would come. I think something evil was after them, but it wasn't you. I want to find out who it was."

Alex and Gregory:

"Hey, I just wanted to say thank you before we go. I also feel like I should congratulate you on getting out."

"Of the Navy?"

"Of the family. Getting out from under Dad."

"You got to break free of him, man."

"Do you feel free?"

"I don't think I get to be free until you are, Alex. You know, you're my brother. I wish that I would've stood up for you more."

"You know, I think he's actually getting a little bit better. It's like the stroke melted away the psycho in his brain or something."

"If you can forgive him you should. Cast off the stone. Let me hate him for you. I owe you that much."

Back at the trading post with the whole road trip group.

"We scoured the store for jewelry that said Tsela on it, but nada. Although I did manage to spend an entire week's worth of tips anyway."

"Tsela?"

"Yeah it was printed on the back of my grandmother's necklace. I thought I might find some answers here."

"Well, apparently, it is Navajo for star on the ground. So, you guys ready to go?"

"Star on the ground. Maria? What year was your grandmother born?"

"Uh, '48, I think?"

"Was she adopted?"

"Yeah. Oh my God."

"Your grandmother was my sister."

Note: The direct translation of Tsela is stars lying down. Interestingly, it's often a name in Navajo. When I googled it, the top results were names for Navajo boys.

Diego and Liz's conversation:

"Diego, I never would have reached out if it weren't an emergency. Thank your mom for me."

"The Senator was more than happy to call in a favor. She's always liked you."

"I like her too. We need more people like her."

"Look, we got lucky your dad got out at all, much less without an ankle monitor. And you pissed a few people off back there, so it's not likely that this is the end for you. Who's your lawyer? Or should I make some calls?"

"No, you've done enough. After what I did, I can't even believe you listened to my voicemail...How did you get here so fast?"

"I was at the airport in Phoenix when you called. Just had to reroute real fast."

"And how have you been?"

"Well, my fiancée left me. I'm kidding. No, I'm seeing someone. It's getting pretty serious, so…"

"Good. Me too."

"Good. We can be friends...And don't take this the wrong way. Please tell me you're not wasting that incredible brain of yours writing alien hamburger puns."

"I am working on a few projects. Nothing I can talk about, but, I'm not wasting anything."

"Well, all the coolest studies make you sign NDAs anyway, so…"

"You know what? There actually is something...Do you know what butyricol is? Worth a shot. It's this chemical I found in my friend's tox screen. I had never heard of it."

"Maybe you're slacking, Ortecho."

"I am sorry, it has only been a year. Did you literally forget everything about me?"

Note: I'm very pleased to say that when I googled butyricol, half of the top results were RNM related. Definitely not a real drug.

Malex fight in the bunker:

"We're closed!"

"Hey, that alien console piece that Jim Valenti left me...You still have it?"

"No. I sold it on eBay."

"You didn't attach it to your console."

"I tried. Doesn't fit."

"So, Tripp left this for my dad before he died. My dad thought it was a code, but this is a reference sketch of this exact piece. My dad's been looking for this thing for 30 years and Jim Valenti had it all along...I'm gonna give it to him. I want to see what he does with it once he's got it. Look, if it didn't fit in your console, then it fits somewhere else. My dad could lead us there.""Your dad hunts aliens, Alex. He'll lead my family right off a cliff."

"I've protected you so far. That's not changing. Besides, he's different these days...I don't trust him, Guerin. I just…I'm asking you to trust me.""When we were kids, you believed people were good, despite humanity doing everything to prove you otherwise. And, God, I loved you for it. But what was charming when we were 17, it's just stupid now. How do you not see that? You believe there's some good in your father?"

"Yeah. Yeah I do. God forbid I have faith in people who don't give me a good reason to."

"That's not fair."

"No? Why is your hand covered? You miss your injury because you want to hurt. Your anger made you feel safe. I will always hate my father for what he did to you, but I don't want to live in that toolshed for the rest of my life. I don't want to walk around thinking that people don't change, that one day everyone's just gonna let me down, 'cause I am not building a damn rocket ship in a hidden lair. There's one way for me off this planet. And I need to believe in a reason to stay. I promise I'll keep you safe."

"Can't let you leave with that."

"What are you gonna do? Fight me for it?"

And then Alex leaves and is kidnapped. Hit over the head by an unknown assailant. The note from Tripp blows away.

Max and Liz are talking back at Max's house while Max drinks a lot of bourbon.

"You know, you never told me why your parents immigrated here in the first place."

"My dad wanted a family, but not in Juárez. There was no opportunity, no money. Women were disappearing there all the time. He didn't want my mom to be one of them. So he fled. You're wondering why your family came here."

"If I even had a family. I know so little about my own story. And the parts I thought I understood are just unraveling."

"Max. Family is the one area where I am certain that biology does not matter. Look, when I found out that Rosa was only my half sister that didn't change anything."

"This is different...There are only three of us on this planet, as far as we know. I mean, feeling disconnected from them makes me feel completely alone."

"Completely alone? I'm right here."

"When you needed a rescue today your Mensa society, old money son of a senator ex was there to answer your prayers. I couldn't even answer a call. You didn't need me."

"Oh my God. Okay, so would you prefer that I did need you? Would you prefer to come home to find me crying into my dad's windbreaker so that you can swoop me up and drive me to El Paso for his deportation hearing in the morning?"

"That's not fair. You wanted me to talk about today."

"Yes, okay. I'm sorry. I want you to feel better."

"Well, you think maybe you could go back in time and not meet someone as handsome as Diego? Seriously. He's like if someone mixed a cologne ad with a Kennedy. It's ridiculous. I will never feel adequate again."

"You're wrong. Max, let me be clear. You are objectively better in bed...And I never woke up on a Sunday morning to him singing Hank Williams in the shower...He never snuck unreasonable tips into my dad's checks. Or quoted Henry the Fourth. Coming home to you at the end of my worst days and my best days is the only rescue I need."

I actually found this background on the Ortechos to be fascinating. In case you don't know Juárez is a pretty big city directly opposite the border from El Paso. It does have some huge crime issues. But it also is one of those border cities where the border is a little thinner. Like San Diego and Tijuana. People live in Juárez and work in El Paso and vice versa.

If you want to see a really dark & gritty portrayal of Juárez, I'd highly recommend you to check out the American version of the show The Bridge. Which literally deals with an investigation related to disappearing women.

Isobel and Maria at the Pony:

"She looks so determined."

"Yeah, neither of us would be here if she hadn't been. You know she was paralyzed 50 years and she still managed to use her powers to help ease troubled minds. You know how hard that is? To take on someone else's suffering? I mean, it doesn't just disappear. She would have been carrying all of that."

"She suffered so much loss."

"I don't know how to be worth it."

Michael on the bracelet.

"The beads are made with pollen from the alien flower. I found another plant growing at Louise's grave. Okay my working theory is that they grow from alien remains. There's this UFO lore about that Libyan desert where the flowers have been discovered before. You don't have to wear it if you don't want to. I know better than to think I can save Maria DeLuca. I hope you decide you can save yourself."

Max is still drinking after Liz went to bed. At 4:04am Diego calls and wakes her up.

"I made a call, about that toxin in your friend's system. Butyricol. It's a drug. It's a memory eraser. It was developed by a private organization and purchased by the military for weaponization. There's no approved application outside of violent combat."

Liz tries to call Alex, but he's too busy being unconscious in the back of his SUV. So his kidnapper pockets his phone.

Max has a memory flash. There's fighting, weapons clashing, a woman's voice...all while he's chained down in the cave. Louise appears and kneels down to touch his shoulder. He looks afraid, but she's trying to comfort him (even though she has blood splattered all over her white clothes). She smiles and nods and then cuts Max free of the chains with her alien weapon. She offers him her hand, but before he can take it a figure in white appears and he and Louise fight. Max cries out and hides his face.

Present day Max is visibly shook by the flash.

MUSIC:

1. Shelly Fairchild "Worry No More"

2. Powerslide "Just You And I"

3. Will Fox "Against The Tide"

4. Tommee Profitt feat. Sam Tinnesz "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"

#roswell new mexico #details #rnm season 2 #episode details #long post #rnm 210 #american woman

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