#I APPRECIATE YOU RUTINA MARIA
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messrmoonyy · 1 year ago
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The only annoying thing about tlou going live action is that finding game posts/gifs/etc is such a mission now
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thedestructionofgrace · 2 years ago
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Tlou ep6!!! (It’s 2:07am, please excuse any mistakes as I haven’t proof read lol)
You just know the couple at the start have a great relationship, even though we only got to see them briefly I loved the back and forth between them and the fact that the lady made joel and Ellie food, it was interesting to see Joel’s interrogation technique (regarding the map) on the couple especially since he’s so violent with it in the game. The white rabbit that Ellie steals reminds me of the rabbit she shoots in the winter phase of the game.
I also love how the show has a much deeper insight to Joel’s mental health, we all know he’s a badass but to know it takes a toll on him mentally makes him a lot more relatable and human, when he has his first panic attack outside the cabin I was like oh shit
The show is also more realistic in regards to his age, the fact he’s slower, looks like he’s having trouble with his hands and his instincts aren’t quite as sharp, it’s really sad to watch him realise that those kind of things are catching up to him and the fact that he doubts his ability to get Ellie to the fireflies is just 😢 I believe his age is something we see more in the second game. I felt so bad when he thought that girl was Sarah.
Oh I was scared for a minute when the dog was approaching ellie but it was so cute when it ended up liking her. The group riding up on their horses was really cool, I love the western theme that’s been applied, and maria hanging back then realising Joel is her brother in law, can’t imagine what she was thinking there, especially since everything she knows about him is through Tommy, she probs never thought they’d meet. Rutina Wesley did an amazing job as Maria.
Joel shouting for Tommy 🥹 you could tell it was such a relief for Joel to find his little brother and for Tommy a surprise after all these years. Gabriel Luna is just spot on with tommys voice especially in that first episode, he sounds just like Tommy from the game
Communism lol, tommy having to pause, realising that that is what their town is like and Maria being like “yeah it is communism!! 😁” just made me laugh
Joel mentions sheep once and now they’re eveywhere, also that’s exactly what Ellie and Dina end up doing at the end of tLou 2, raising jj and sheep, ugh just makes me 😫😫
I had real conflicting feelings towards joel, you just found your little brother after years of being separated and you can’t be happy that he has a wife and their going to be starting a family together “guess we’ll find out” ???!!! What on earth would ever possess you to that to someone, your little brother is trying to tell you some good news and even confesses that he thinks he’ll be a good dad and that’s what you say 🤬 and Tommys confused face after Joel saying that 😫. On the other hand Joel’s moments with Ellie, teaching her how to shoot, telling her about his job and what he would like after this is all over and that he used to want to be a singer, that was all super sweet. While being a sorry excuse for a brother his dadness really came through in his moments with Ellie
I love how we get to see how Ellie ends up with all her iconic outfits, first getting her red palm tree top from bills place and now getting her jacket from Maria, love it!!! It’s such a simple nod to the game but so satisfying to watch as someone who’s played it. I really love being able to point out things to the folks I’m watching the show with and noticing all these little details.
Maria providing Ellie with a mentrual cup, again I love how realistic the show is and that it isn’t shying away from these kind of things, also Ellie inspecting it and being like cool 😁 made me chuckle. Maria giving Ellie a haircut too was 🥹 they gave Maria a lot more back story and I appreciate the way they did it cos it didn’t feel forced, she had a son, was an ADA, is on the council etc. I’m looking forward to seeing her and Tommy having a kid in the second season
Was that Dina??!!!! Please tell me it was Dina!! Also, Shimmer!!!!
It annoyed me when Tommy went to talk to Joel and started apologising, I personally believe Joel is the one who should be apologising but you know 🤷🏻‍♀️
The house they set up Ellie and Joel in, had a really beautiful exterior lol it’s not really relevant but I really liked it, cool how Ellie’s room was the one she ran away to in the game, would have been cool to see a Joel/Tommy/Ellie team up but I think it made sense the way the shows done it too. Bella is also spot on with her acting, she’s doing such an amazing job, her accent doesn’t even hint that she’s English, her facial reactions and emotion in her voice are just on point, I really really don’t understand the hate towards her 🤦🏻‍♀️
Joel letting Ellie drink??!!! Lmao why not 😭
Pedros voice “you have no idea what loss is” oh my god, 10/10, perfect
Curious as to why they’ve bunched Jackson, the university and probably what is going to be the cannibal episode next into the one season (I mean winter season) maybe it’s just to shorten the jumps between the next few episodes?
I kind of like how much they cut out (most of) the university part and got straight to the point, don’t know if they could have made that into an entire episode of them being at the uni so I think it makes sense, loved seeing a classic Joel take down when he strangled the guy that came at them with the bat, also was shocked that the goon manage to stab Joel with a piece of the broken bat, it’s nice that the writers stay really close to the original material but are still able to surprise us
Little moments that deserve shoutouts
Ellie talking about space and seeing northern lights 🥹✨
Joel’s smirk after proving Ellie wrong with the rifle and of course he gets a bullseye 😏
The fact the target said asshole on it
Random but Bella Ramsey looked really cool with her hat on
Joel trying to repair his shoes (with duct tape lol), realistic in terms of the shoes durability
Marias nose piercing, I know it’s a random thing to point out but she looked good
“Some people wanted to own everything and some people didn’t want anyone to own anything at all” Ooft can’t get any realer than that, plus “which one were you?” “Neither” 😂
The dining hall looks like where the dance is held and where Ellie and Dina kiss in tlou part two!!! Fitting that their first kiss is in the place the first see eachother 😍
“Damn” (dam)
Ellie mind your manners at the dinner table lol
Also “you gonna shoot this thing or get it pregnant” no fucking way did she say that 😂😭
I really think and hope this next episode (which I’m assuming will be the cannibal episode with David and Troy baker!!) will be bellas turn to shine and we’ll get to see her own her own for a bit. She’s gonna do such a good job I know it already.
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mariatesstruther · 1 year ago
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very valid and fair points @two-birds-alone-together i also am not at all fond on maria throwing away ellie’s clothes. i skipped on that little detail in this lil analysis before it’s more about joel/maria than maria/ellie, and yeah i TOTALLY agree that it’s messed up and maria should’ve saved ellie’s clothes. i think it shows some oversight on her part in that she’s been comfortable in jackson for so long that maybe she’s forgotten how important things like keeping your even rattiest clothes are to someone who’s been on the road, like ellie and joel!!!! homegirl wasn’t thinking that through at all, and we see immediately how it rubs ellie the wrong way. no argument there
i personally feel differently about the hair-cutting scene given what i think the overall gesture symbolizes in a broader sense (and what giving someone a haircut means in terms of establishing intimacy in terms of being a black woman, for me), but i totally agree that i wish the writers let ellie make the choice to let maria cut her hair voluntarily. i think it would’ve meant so much more in terms of establishing some trust between them. just like you said, it totally rubs ellie and me the wrong way that ellie felt at all forced into it
and tbh i rlly do disagree that maria was trying to be condescending with the laywer thing 😭 but ily and i see both sides. i think coming from ANYONE else it would a condescending thing to say, but considering maria is an actual lawyer and ellie did just technically one-up her in an argument???? i would argue that maria said that because she was genuinely impressed. she can think ellie is a little bit naive towards joel and also that’s she’s incredibly cunning at the same time. i think ellie doesn’t like her because she was saying that stuff about tommy to sort of get a rise out of maria (“well, maybe im smarter than tommy” is basically implying homeboy was dumb enough to not take responsibility for any of his decisions, which like. point fucking ellie) and she’s bothered that maria doesn’t take the bait, instead continuing to place blame and distrust on joel.
that’s just my personal interpretation of that scene tho! totally agree that the tone shift after is jarring, especially since ellie literally JUST found out about sarah and has like 3 seconds to process before the next scene. i hope the writers give rutina more time in s2 so maria’s decision-making is more clear. i totally get how you see it otherwise and thank u so much for sharing bc i can understand a little more now why people feel a disconnect with maria 🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾 appreciation always friend. i too am looking forward to see how they develop her in s2
I honestly don't get why Maria was so anti-Joel oh he's a horrible person he's done horrible things he can't be around us, but accepted Tommy fully to the point he's the father of her child when both did the same things, ran with the same people and all of that.
I mean I love the character, but that confuses the hell out of me. Why's Tommy accepted but Joel damned?
okay, so… this response took me like half hour to write. my wrists hurt, my jaw is clenched, my brain is hot. i love u anon thank u very much for this chance to vent about just why my girl maria has been so misunderstood. let’s go
i personally think this is where many people fundamentally misunderstand maria’s perception of joel. she’s not cautious of him primarily because of tommy or anything tommy has said, in my personal opinion—she’s cautious of him for and because of ellie
ive said this on my blog a few times and i think so have @steeb-stn and @clickergossip (and maybe @liveandletcry23 and @bumblepony i have a shit memory so tagging just in case) so im gonna tag them to credit their words and ideas about maria as well, but the FIRST time maria sees joel, he’s with this rando twelve year old girl who he is seemingly so protective over that she cant even be sniffed by dogs who are just trying to detect infection, which would be good for ANYBODY. that’s his first strike for untrustworthyness, because why the fuck wouldn’t he let this girl be tested???—we know why, of course, but maria doesnt. shes working on the very limited info about joel/ellie’s relationship that she has from just her own observations, and i think we need to remember that as we go through analyzing why she moves how she moves
shes knows from tommy at this point is that joel had a daughter, but it is definitely not this little girl. so why the fuck are they so close. what have they gone through. are they okay. is ellie okay. is their relationship safe for her??? THAT’s what she’s thinking about, in my opinion, while shes staring joel down at that dinner table. she’s reasonbly suspicious, and i can’t blame her for it.
i had to cut this it’s literally maybe my longest post ever so. heres the cut
ALSO, it’s not like she’s a straight up bitch to joel like some of y’all seem to make it out to be??? she never says or implies that “they can’t be around” or anything like that. she offers them clothes and food and supplies. she sets them up in a house. before dinner, she gives them a personal tour (which, to be fair, she did because she was probably trying to keep an eye on them and figure out more about whether or not ellie is safe, but who wouldnt???? i know tess would! and yall would love her for it!). tommy literally says to joel before they leave that there will always be a place for him and ellie in jackson—you cannot tell me you believe he said so without already have maria’s green light for joel and ellie to stay
ALSO, i wanna consider some other things that i haven’t seen many ppl talk about. on that walk she takes with tommy and joel and ellie, she makes it sound like tommy has been with them for at least years AND she maintains the confidence to say that residents in jackson stay off the radio—i could totally be wrong, but it seems to me from the look tommy and joel share right after that it’s obvious tommy has been talking to joel BEHIND MARIA’S BACK???? did no one else catch that??? am i misinterpreting big time??? id assume because theyre married and from the way tommy talks about jackson that he’s been in jackson for at least 3 years maybe, and we know that he only stopped radioing joel a couple months before the show’s main plotline starts, so timeline wise there had to be some overlap of tommy still radioing joel from/around jackson. idk if anyone of my mutuals has thoughts on this but i personally think it’s important to point out, because it establishes that maria likely doesn’t know or think tommy and joel kept in contact, at least not as recently as up to some months ago. she knows that tommy and joel are close, but at the same time, she doesn’t think tommy really knows or talks to joel anymore, either. so how is she supposed to extend him any trust as tommy’s brother????? how and why would she give this man any benefit of the doubt???? it wouldn’t make any sense. she’s more practical and discerning than she is naive and kind, and y’all can think what y’al want about that but i love her for it. it’s very necessary for a woman like her to be the way she is
okay, so back to your question. back to why joel is “damned” and tommy is “accepted.” let’s talk about joel for a sec
y’all like to babygirl and idolize the absolute fuck out of this man
we know that not only was he a smuggler, but he killed and tricked and took advantage of people, shamelessly and brutally. we know that tommy did so too. maria knows that tommy has done the same things. maria also knows that tommy left that life because he couldnt do it anymore, and joel continued because he could
point blank period!!!!! yall can argue with me all u want but tommy left that murder life and joel did not. im not saying this makes either brother good or bad or better than the other, i love joel sm and i think both of them have an undisputed capability to do unspeakable things in order to survive. but tommy got to a point where he hit a limit, whereas joel doesn’t seem to have one. this is at least my personal interpretation of their conversations in the game and the show
tommy DID join the fireflies, which we all know now is not any fucking better than whatever the fuck joel was doing—the difference is the reasoning, though, and considering tlou is all about reasoning and the why, we need to consider the reasoning behind tommy’s decision: he wanted to do something better, something good, something he thought had a purpose. we all know now that the fireflies are bullshit, their purpose is bullshit, and they’re willingness to kill a child for the sake of the “cure” is it’s own entire paradox of bullshit. but they were a rebel organization fighting fedra, who fucking suck, and probably had somewhat of a better reputation back when tommy was interested in joining—or maybe they didn’t, to be fair, i don’t know! the point is, tommy went to them seeking some sort of better purpose, some type of redeption; in joel’s own fucking words, “tommy’s what we used to call a joiner. had dreams of becoming a hero... wants to save the world.”
tommy is idealistic. he’s romantic. he’s optimistic, almost to the point of being fucking naive. thats why he enlisted in the army, thats why he enlisted in the fireflies—he wanted to feel good about himself and the world he was living in. he needed it to have some light at the end of the tunnel for all the bullshit to make sense. and yeah, he was wrong both times in joining up. we know that, joel knew that while it was happening, and tommy knows that in retrospect, too. i think jackson is the first place he really found true, real purpose—not the kind that is propagandized to you and goes up in smoke, but the kind that is well and truly earned. that’s why he is so loyal to jackson and to maria—they finally gave him was he desperately spent his life searching for
and im just saying, from maria’s perspective, she’s someone who lives for purpose. she lives for jackson and for it’s people and for it’s future, and she has to maintain some sense of idealism in the face of all that fucking ugliness to be able to mentally live im and run a place like jackson, to believe that it’ll work. i think that idealism she has, she sees reflected in tommy’s desperation to be a better person who’s fighting for a better life. she sees that need for redemption and goodness in him, that need for things to be fucking worth it, and hears she hears it in his story. she gets to relate to him with this in a way she doesnt GET TO RELATE with joel YET (we STILL HAVE TIME PEOPLE. WE HOLDIN OUT STRONG FOR THE JOEL AND MARIA BEST FRIEND AGENDA)
but to continue, THEN maria spends YEARS with tommy, getting to know him, getting to know his guilt. just like tess with joel, she’s sees the worst and the best of him and gets to fall in love with all of it. so of course there’s gonna be a bit of a bias and a blindspot, towards him—just like any of are other characters have weak spots for the people THEY fucking love
so that’s i guess why i think tommy is “accepted” by her, i guess, and there’s honestly way more them and their romance that i could make a whole separate post about but i’ll leave it there for now. back to joel and why he’s “damned,” which i don’t think he is
again, from what maria knows, he made an active CHOICE to stay in the lifestyle of smuggling and murdering and QZ bullshit, even after tommy chose to leave—and idk what y’all imagine joel and tess to be doing in those many years on their own, but it’s not fuckin picking flowers, for me. they’re dangerous, dangerous people—more dangerous that fedra, and more dangerous than the fireflies, if we’re being fucking real about it. and we LOVE tess and joel for this, or at least i do
but jackson is not a place where people get by with smuggling or backstreet deals or threats. it’s not supposed to be that place. we all LOVE jackson in fics and hcs and aus because it’s literally a place where joel and ellie finally get to breathe and not worry about their safety/survival first. and you know who keeps jackson that way????? MARIA. AND HE BEING FUCKING PICKING ABOUT WHO JACKSON LETS THE FUCK INSIDE
so yall just expect her to by YIPPY SKIPPY when joel, THE JOEL THE SUPER SMUGGLER MURDER COWBOY, strolls into town????? WITHOUT TESS, WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE MORE PERSONABLE AND REASONABLE ONE???? what????? she’d be crazy not to at least try to be a little intimidating, to make it clear to joel that he will not get away with any of that qz bullshit here. she’d be naive not to, and maria is anything but naive
and i know most people don’t like her for that “a bad reputation doesn’t mean you’re bad” “not always, at least” line, but i actually think it really fits so well in establishing that she’s not afraid of joel, not afraid of challenging him or making him own up to things he’s done. it’s just so so cool to me, i just can’t hate her for that????? she’s establishing with him that she knows what tommy knows about his time in the QZ, and she’s letting him know if that joel shows up here in jackson, there will be fucking problems for him. which i think is a completely fair warning????
so let’s continue. let’s talk about The Scene, the one with her and ellie, the one with the “tommy was following joel” line. ONE thing i’d like to point out about this scene—MARIA IS THE ONE TO TELL ELLIE ABOUT SARAH, NOT JOEL. AND THAT IS A BIG BIG BIG REASON FOR WHY SHE WARNS ELLIE NOT TO TRUST JOEL COMPLETELY
we know what joel and ellie have gone through, at this point, but maria has barely any idea. she sees that ellie has this fierce protectiveness and lots of secrets when it comes to her and joel, which like—can we all be fucking objective here for a second. this can SO easily and SO reasonably be interpreted as something sketchy going on between joel and ellie that maria should be concerned about.
(slight tw about older men-younger woman relationships bc im gonna be personal for a sec, its quick) we don’t know maria’s past or what she has seen or been through, but personally as someone who has been in a situation where an older man has taken advantage of my naivety in the past, i am now extremely hyper vigilant when it comes to young girls around older men in my personal life today. ellie and joel’s situation and how it looks would raise MJAOR red flags for me personally, if i was in maria’s position. that’s just a personal perspective have that really affects the way i view this scene (end tw)
and so maria finds out that joel has kept the fact that HE HAD A WHOLE ASS DAUGHTER from ellie?????? WOULD THAT NOT BE SUS AT ALL TO YALL???? i mean we know why joel doesn’t tell ellie, as gameplayers and watchers of the show, but again. maria is operating on the info she has right in front of her, which is that joel has been omitting maybe the biggest fact of his life from this young girl who is willing to defend and trust him with her entire life, even after she finds out she’s being lied to. this is alarming
so at this point, she’s questioning joel’s intentions with ellie, and in my opinion, it’s not at all unreasonable for her to do so. she then continues to press, because the red flags are flying and she wants ellie to be crystal clear on the kind of man she’s traveling with (“there are CLEARLY things you don’t know about joel” — “so then you understand my concerns”)
AND THEN ELLIE. BLESSED SMART AMAZING ELLIE COMES IN WITH THE DEFENSE—“and tommy did it too, are you worried about him?”—which like, i love this line. i love this moment. i think because i go so hard for maria a lot of y’all think i’m blind to when ellie is making points, but i 100% cheered her on when i first watched this scene, like i’m sure y’all did—because it’s true! it’s fair! if maria is going to judge joel for those things, she needs to extend the same judgement to tommy
the thing is, it’s still fucking true that, as i said earlier, tommy left that life. both the smuggling, and the fireflies—he chose to stop, while joel didn’t—he was smuggling literally up until the day him and tess found ellie, so. there’s that. she continues to judge joel and not tommy because she knows for sure that tommy has changed. she doesn’t know joel enough yet to see that he has changed, too
so then, the dreaded line: “tommy was following joel.” let’s talk about it.
i don’t love this line either, tbh! i think it’s a weak defense on maria’s part, and a weak line on the tlou hbo writers part—probably my least favorite line of maria’s overall. but i do get why she says it, and i kind of think i get the purpose??? i think????
it reminds me a lot of joel’s line, earlier, about tommy being a “joiner,” and i think it’s funny that, as opposite as joel and maria like to think they both are to each other, the way they describe tommy is pretty much the same. tommy is a “joiner” to joel and a “follower” to maria, and in all respects they both love and hate him for it. idk where i’m going with that exactly, just something interesting to think about in terms of the joel and maria best friend agenda
but i also think this line get’s taken out of context a lot, because the full line is “tommy was following joel, the way you are now.” maria says this line to lead into her main point, the really fucking important line in this scene: “be careful who you put your faith in. the only ones who can betray us, are the one’s we trust.”
WHICH IS TRUE. IT IS THE POINT. AND WHEN JOEL LIES TO ELLIE, HIDES SOMETHING FROM HER YET AGAIN at the end of the season/game, IT BECOMES A THEMATIC CLIMAX POINT THAT CONNECTS BOTH OF THE GAMES
maria is not saying this to “damn” joel—and i personally don’t think she is “damning” joel in the way you imply here, as there’s definitely potential for them to develop a relationship in s2 once she has more information about the truth of how he thinks of ellie. i think she’s warning ellie not to trust joel, because she doesn’t trust joel, at the end of the fucking day—and that’s about it. she trusts tommy in a way that she can’t quite trust joel yet, and why would she, at this point? it would make no sense for her to
so y’all can blame her and hate her for her distrust all you guys want (btw not necessarily talking to you, anon, ive just gotten some very nasty asks abou,t maria from others so im talking to them rn!!!!!!!), but i’m sorry—you can’t tell me that it doesn’t at least make sense. she’s MARIA. she’s MADE OF SENSE
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