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deathsbestgirl · 5 months ago

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txf mytharc: pilot

preface: what you can expect from this series of mine.

i’m likely going to talk about each mytharc episode in full (at least nearly). the point of this isn’t to focus on mulder and scully, but there will still be a lot about them. we mostly see the mytharc through their eyes, and their partnership & experiences are a major part of that (and i think at this point, it’s clear i never shut up about them!). so for those that don’t really care about the mytharc, you might still find things to enjoy. at the end of each post, i’ll do a little summary of episode connections. i’m doing this as i rewatch so i will not have watched the future episodes yet – so please forgive any mistakes in details! i’m also pairing this with reading myth x: one fan’s interpretation of the the x files mytharc, and i’ll include some pieces that helped me unravel certain things, or that i’m simply keeping in mind as i rewatch! but mostly, this is just me enjoying the show. it’s what i think about when i watch. if it’s not your cup of tea, i completely understand. i do welcome discussion, but i make no promises to engage. i’m just sharing my little thoughts on this show that i really, really love.

something i get caught up in every time i watch the pilot is what csm & the syndicate were thinking (specifically in regards to assigning scully to the x files with mulder — i will probably talk about this over & over).

in the pilot we don’t even know about the syndicate. we meet section chief blevins, and other men with no names. including csm, who doesn’t even speak. he stands there looking stressed and smoking, observing scully and listening intently to the whole exchange. at the beginning, it’s hard to imagine how deep this goes, how widespread the government conspiracy is and it’s what makes it so fun for me to go back. we have so much more information later on, and we can take it back when we rewatch. there are so many connections to be made and although a lot of it doesn’t line up perfectly, i think it’s way more in line than people say. for me, there are several reasons that fit in with the world of the x files. first, there are so many unreliable narrators, people dealing in lies and coverups, only letting mulder & scully and whomever see what they want them to see. they purposely feed certain beliefs, and stifle them at other times. csm’s goals are muddled: he wants mulder on his side, he’s trying to save the human race/shape it into his own creation. he pretends to be a chess master, but as he says in sixth extinction/amor fati: he is one man.

the pilot starts with a cold open, a young woman running through the woods in her pajamas. we see a male figure and a bright white light. next thing, the young woman is lying dead on the forest floor as a team documents the scene and tries to identify her. detective miles identifies here as karen swanson and walks away, as the other investigator shouts “it’s happening again, isn’t it?”

next we follow special agent dana scully into the hoover building and to blevins office. he peppers her with questions about her fbi experience, if she’s heard of fox mulder and the x files. she’s young and open and maybe a little too honest. every time i try to write about the pilot something i always end up writing: scully understood what these men wanted her to. i don’t think it’s what csm wanted, but it might be what the syndicate wanted. scully was expected to debunk the x files, and if she did, they would probably reward her with whatever promotion or job she wanted within the fbi (or better, recruit her to the syndicate?). but as will consistently happen, they underestimated her. i’m not sure any of these men could have predicted what her & mulder would come to mean to each other. i don't think they could grasp her honesty or goodness, her ethics & morals, her complex beliefs & sense of justice. they live in a world where everyone is selfish & cruel, where they do what is “necessary” or what they're ordered to, where people will always choose themselves above others, but that is not scully. and it isn’t mulder.

(aside that maybe isn’t necessarily relevant but the thought always pops into my mind: it’s very interesting to me that they have this meeting with her and just send her down to mulder’s office. there’s no meeting with mulder, scully and their superiors together. all of it strikes me as a punishment for mulder, and a test for scully. i really think there’s something of interest to them in scully’s background. scientist, medical doctor, navy captain’s daughter, semi practicing/lapsed catholic. in theory, she could have been a perfect fit for the syndicate. but i really think most of them lack an understanding of people, of humanity. they deal in the worst of humanity – and mulder & scully are the best of humanity.)

initially when i started this (my little notebook) i was going to focus on just csm. but lately, the mytharc has gripped me. i don’t typically rewatch those episodes, unless i’m watching the entire series or a season in full. or a specific arc (like the cancer arc of course). but i’ve been slowly watching the mytharc episodes and they all connect, intricately, weaving a complicated web of truths & untruths & half truths. it’s so detailed and convoluted and maybe confusing. and so i wanted to go piece by piece. as i’ve said before, i don’t think everything lines up perfectly, and it isn’t supposed to. this is a global conspiracy, we learn things as mulder & scully do. they are largely on the outside of it, trying to break in to expose the truth & hopefully dismantle it. they are continuously misled, misdirected, stonewalled. there are many different projects with experimental science developing different defenses/giruses/andmtidotes, with different goals. evidence destroyed or stolen, tampered with. they are manipulated and used and discarded and returned and nearly killed as the syndicate sees fit at the current time. but so many things connect back to the pilot. the writers may not have had a show bible, but they most certainly looked back to pick up different threads and carry them through.

after scully’s meeting, we follow her down into mulder’s basement office. scully knocks on the door, opens it when he responds and takes in the whole atmosphere. he jumps right into it, letting scully know he’s aware of what her assignment is, that he looked into her background, and starting in on the case. in mulder’s way, he starts testing scully too, and i think she passes every single one. even if she’s saying things he doesn’t really want to hear. at the least, she takes him seriously (enough) to give rebuttals and show she cares. i’m not sure mulder has ever distrusted a single soul, but at least scully earns it.

the few things we learn about the case, what makes it an x file: the marks on the girl’s back, the compound in the surrounding tissue, no clear cause of death. and the fact that there’s a string of these killings in bellefleur, oregon with similarities to other cases in shamrock, texas and sturgis, south dakota.

mulder poses two questions, the first:

maybe what you can explain to me is why it’s bureau policy to label these cases “unexplained phenomenon” and ignore them.

scully has no answer, but i do think this starts her mind rolling. right here she’s put on the path of radicalization, in her scully way. the second:

when convention and science offer us no answer, might we not finally turn to the fantastic as a plausibility?

and i think this moment sets up their roles. scully responds with “the girl obviously died of something. if it was natural causes, it’s plausible that there was something missed in the post-mortem. if she was murdered, it’s plausible there was a sloppy investigation. what i find fantastic is any notion that there are answers beyond the realm of science. the answers are there. you just have to know where to look.” mulder, the believer, turning to the fantastic. scully, the skeptic, turning to science. this is my favorite thing about them, it builds the way they communicate and is a huge part of building trust between them. it’s also a major part in how they get to know each other. it’s always been one of my favorite things about them. it’s built on listening, not just pushing their beliefs or agenda. they always incorporate what the other says – as in, scully tends to shape the science & investigation around his theories. it gives her a place to start and build from. and scully’s science refines mulder’s theories and gets them closer to the truth.

it very quickly becomes one of the ways they depend on each other, setting up expectations they don’t yet understand the implications of and will take them years to rewrite (still built on the trust blooming from this first scene).

as soon as they’re in oregon, even still on the plane, the weirdness starts. unexpected turbulence, radio interference, inhuman like corpse unburied, the metal implant in the nasal cavity. mulder isn’t surprised by the turbulence or radio static, he marks the spot with an x. scully is just confused and baffled by his behavior (i love it). during the autopsy, they’re a little combative. my favorite moment is when mulder tells her:

i’m not crazy, scully. i have the same doubts you do.

this is an important moment for scully. he cares what she thinks, and she does take him seriously. i think it’s easy to think that she doesn’t, she does dismiss his ideas initially. but she’s still following him, peppering him with questions. they talk it through every time, and that’s special. it only gets stronger.

when mulder lifts peggy o’dell’s shirt to find the marks on her back, scully is so angry (she’s afraid) and she storms out of the building – mulder immediately follows her. she doesn’t believe these are alien abductions, she doesn’t know yet what the marks are, what the experience is. she has questions and she wants answers, she wants the truth. scully doesn’t believe his theory of alien abductions, and he asks her “do you have a better explanation?” and this is the first time he directly asks what she thinks. to me, this is the scene that really determines their dynamic. what mulder takes from this conversation is scully really does want the truth, she cares. and that’s important. and scully asks: “what were they doing in the forest?” cut to mulder and scully in the forest, scully pocketing dirt, detective miles coming upon them. (he listened to her, and the next step in their investigation becomes trying to answer that question!)

in the car, she shows mulder the dirt. he asks if it’s a campfire (it does look a lot like ash). but scully tells him it was all over the ground. right after, the car loses power and they lose nine minutes. scully doesn’t witness the time change but mulder is ecstatic.

this all leads to the motel room scene. scully has marks on her back and she can’t see them and the marks on peggy o’dell scared her. you could see it in her face, even through her anger & annoyance with mulder. the fact that she goes running to mulder, clearly afraid and vulnerable…it showed something else to mulder. this moment lets him see beyond ‘scully’s a spy” and her disbelief/skepticism. mulder cares about people, and he cares about scully despite himself. so when she turns into his chest, he puts his arm on her shoulder. shocked at her vulnerability, the way she seeks comfort from him. mulder lets her stay in his room, gives her a blanket to curl up on his bed as he sits below her and tells her about samantha.

usually this scene is discussed because of the intimacy between mulder & scully, but we learn a lot about the mytharc here too. samantha “disappeared from her bed one night” and there was no evidence, no contact, and no one would talk about it. he went to oxford, got recruited by the bureau. (while they’re having this conversation, someone is lurking outside the motel room.) he finds the x files and he was allowed to indulge because of his success and connections. mulder tells scully:

i’m telling you this, scully, because you need to know, because of what you’ve seen. in my research, i’ve worked very closely with a man named dr. heitz werber and he’s taken me through deep regression hypnosis. i’ve been able to go into my own repressed memories to the night my sister disappeared. i can recall a bright light outside and a presence in the room. i was paralyzed, unable to respond to my sister’s calls for help…listen to me, scully, this thing exists…the government knows about it, and i gotta know what they’re protecting. nothing else matters to me, and this is as close as i’ve ever gotten to it.

he covers sam’s abduction, how he found the x files, why he’s allowed to work on them, and the first inkling (for the audience) of a government conspiracy.

this is when mulder gets the call about peggy o’dell. (scully’s jump at the phone ringing is striking. she was so focused on mulder and what he was telling her, everything else faded away.) they go to the scene and mulder is shocked to hear peggy was running – “on foot?” just really cracks me up. as he’s focused on talking to the man driving, scully is taking a look at peggy’s body and makes note of the time on her watch, which is stopped. but just then, mulder learns ray soames’ corpse is missing. when they get back to the motel, it’s on fire with scully’s laptop, pictures and evidence inside.

theresa nemman approaches them in the chaos, they take her to a diner to hear what she has to say. she talks about finding herself in the woods, not knowing how she got there. she tells them she has the marks on her back too. she’s afraid she’s going to die too. her nose starts to bleed, like peggy’s did earlier, and as scully jumps up to grab napkins for her, theresa’s father, dr. nemman shows up with detective miles to take her home. this is when they realize det. miles’ is billy’s father.

mulder & scully have a brief conversation, brimming with their frustrations of losing their files & evidence, being denied access to a girl who needs help and wanted to talk, realizing how much these men are concealing. scully’s putting together dr. nemman’s & det. miles’ involvement. “they know” vs “they know something” – leading to mulder’s ultimate question (at this moment lol) of what’s in the other graves. when they go to check, the graves have already been dug up. the only other bodies already taken. at the graves, mulder puts together that billy miles is responsible. scully starts to follow his thoughts. he talks about time being stopped, he pauses “you think i’m crazy” and scully…she’s silent for a moment before telling him about peggy o’dell’s watch. another huge moment to me. she doesn’t believe it’s alien abduction, but she starts to understand the way mulder’s mind works, the connections he makes and the subsequent leaps. she doesn't keep this information from him despite it feeding a theory she doesn't agree with.

they head over to see billy miles. mulder talks to the nurse and scully starts to examine billy, finding his feet dirty, covered in the same dirt she found in the forest. a boy, who has been in a coma for years, completely bedridden and seemingly unaware of what’s happening around him. and scully is ready to run with this. he was out in the woods!!! and another important moment, mulder grounds her. reminds her of what she needs to do, her reports, procedure. and i think this is the moment that cements their roles – but shows they can also switch as need arises. mulder didn't understand how much he needed the science & evidence until he had someone ready to find it. so they go back out to the woods to get another sample of the dirt. that’s when they hear theresa scream and they go running. det. miles hits scully over the head and goes running after mulder, holding him at gunpoint as theresa continues to scream. and i love this moment too, because mulder appeals to this man’s better nature, urging him not to let billy kill another person. mulder stops him from shooting his son too. we see the marks on billy’s back, as a white light starts to overtake the scene with leaves blowing like a cyclone around billy & theresa. when the light finally fades, billy is conscious again, theresa is safe and the marks are gone from billy’s back. instantaneously.

the ending scenes are billy under hypnotic regression with dr. werber. mulder in the room with them. scully, blevins, the other man from scully’s meeting, and csm observing. billy talks about the aliens, the tests, the implant. the tests didn’t work, and the aliens were destroying the evidence. killing the abductees…mulder and scully make eye contact through the glass. cut to scully reporting to blevins. she can’t substantiate anything, they have no evidence, how do you prosecute?? this is what blevins & company care about. but scully held onto one piece of evidence: the implant, made of a metal that could not be identified, the implant billy miles claimed was controlling him. she leaves it with blevins, and when she exits, she watches csm enter blevins’ office. she has no idea who this man is, but he has been present at crucial moments and she took notice. she doesn’t understand yet but she won’t forget him.

in the end, mulder calls scully late at night to tell her the case file on billy miles has disappeared. csm is walking into the pentagon storage facility, filing away the metal implant with others just like it.

the pilot really lays a lot of groundwork. the implants, the marks/scars. the abduction experience, time loss, electronic interference, hypnotic regression. deformed corpses. government connections. disappearing evidence, constant interference. samantha’s abduction.

episode connections (before i watch future episodes):

conduit: small detail, but the ash-like dirt reminds me of the sand & glass at lake okobogee.

duane barry: he has an implant in his nasal cavity, much like the one they find. later on, in the anasazi trilogy, we learn scully has a chip in her neck which later connects her to other female abductees and carries through to cassandra in patient x/the red and the black.

cancer arc: billy miles indicates the exact place scully gets cancer.

reduxes: blevins is exposed as the mole. for the first part of the first season, scully reports to him until the x files is reassigned to skinner’s jurisdiction. his involvement isn’t fully explored, but he doesn’t completely disappear.

deadalive: ray soames’ transformation – possibly a failed attempt of what happens to billy miles & others, and nearly happens to mulder. also similar to the bodies mulder finds in anasazi.

csm: he’s there for scully’s meeting with blevins, he is there at the end for billy miles’ hypnotic regression. he is the most prominent figure in the conspiracy, as far as what we see, with a direct hand in scully’s & mulder’s experiences.

samantha’s abduction: there are two different versions of her abduction. truthfully, i think they just changed the story to work better for them. BUT (as i’ve mentioned before) i think it fits well into the mytharc later on – within the framework of the show, i think it’s possible samantha was abducted twice. conduit, paper hearts, demons, and another episode.

myth x:

one thing i really do like about this book is that it breaks down all the players. each group of aliens are given a clear name (which appear in the show but was never completely clear to me until this time around). michelle bush purports that the aliens abducting the oregon teens are walk-ins, representing the divine. they’re supposedly good but don’t know how to go about their goals. in some ways, this rings true. it’s the walk-ins that “save” samantha from more suffering. it’s like the walk-ins cassandra spender believes are trying to help them. bush describes their goal as “reintegration of both halves of the whole (alien and human) using natural means; this results in a single sentience allowing a return to physical and spiritual harmony.” which on paper, doesn’t sound bad. but their methods are as harmful as any of the others (alien and human alike).

#the x files #pilot #mytharc #myth x #mulder and scully #txf meta #not rebloggable for now

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kodamaghost00 · 8 months ago

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30 Charlie headcanons

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[Disclaimer!!]

I know Chaggie is canon but for the sakes of this post Charlie will be single. [Im a passionate chaggie shipper pls don’t kill me]

This post will contain: NSFW,Sfw, Fluff, Smut

It's also Genderless for the girls,gays and theys! You're a new resident at the Hotel in this scenario.

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Let’s begin!

Her favorite nicknames for you are “Sunshine” and “Pumpkin”. And everything sweet in general.

She makes you breakfast every morning and gets excited when you do the same.

Loves morning cuddles. She’d stay in bed just enjoying the embrace and warmth of your body.

Would not really understand your interests but enjoys seeing you being happy. So she will engage and learn about your interests and hobbies. “So you’re into that? Sounds interesting, Sunshine!”

She is definitely an early sleeper. She wants to get the most out of a day as possible.

Listens to 2017 white girl music on a daily basis and you guys vibe all the time.

After she got to meet Rosie she always went to her for advice or help in general.

She gets very flustered and ashamed when people as about her sexual life and declines to talk about it openly.

She likes PDA a lot though. Showing off her perfect partner with kisses and hand holding? Fuck yeah!

She definitely confessed her love to you first. She gave you flowers and a love letter wich read “Please be mine and go on a date with me!”. With an adorable doodle next to it.

She’s more of a dog person but loves KeeKee with her whole heart.

She’s is surprisingly dominant in bed. She pins you down aggressively but afterwards asks you if you are okay with it.

She is very flexible so there are many poses you guys could try out.

She enjoys oral a bit more than anything else. Seeing you shutter under her control makes her feel very reassured.

She definitely goes into her demon form when she’s close. Her tail wrapping around her waist trying to keep her composer.

Great at aftercare. She makes sure you feel reassured and comfortable once you’re finished. Cuddles and kisses are a must.

“Are you comfortable pumpkin? Would you like a towel?” And also whispering reassurance to you is important. “You did great by the way… you look so cute!”. A total sweetheart.

She is great with all sorts of people. Even the ones who are really disrespectful to her. So sometimes you keep those people in place.

Won’t curse until she needs to. She isn’t really going hard on the curses when she does curse. A simple “Fuck you” or “Motherfucker” is enough for her.

She absolutely adores kids. She also wants at least two in the future.

Gets shy easily. When you compliment her hair or her big round eyes she gets flustered right away.

In her emo phase she definitely said “ITS NOT A PHASE!” and now she looks back on it and laughs every time.

Hopes she will see Emily again one day. They definitely had a great time together.

If you’re not able to sleep at night she’s singing you to sleep. With your head on her lap and her playing with your hair.

LOVED the Barbie movie and rewatched it twice. And cried at the ending.

She is an hardworking woman so she’s encouraging you to help her out a lot. Trying to make you feel included!

When she gets overwhelmed she locks herself in her room and cries herself to sleep.

“Hey Charlie…? Are you okay…?” You asked knowing she’s feeling down. “Y-yeah! I’m fine pumpkin… don’t worry!!” “You don’t have to pretend my love…”

She sighed as she opened her door. You see her puffed up eyes so you open your arms wide. “Come here…” she hugs you deeply. “Thank you…”

You kiss her forehead as she embraces the hug. “No need to thank me sweetheart.”

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MASTERLIST

Yes I know no one asked for this but I love Charlie so you gotta listen to me rant about her. Give my girly more love and attention! So as always I’d love to get some requests for characters, I’ll try to do all of them but there’s so many! Thanks for reading my dear friends and have a lovely day/night!

- Your Ghost ༼ つ ╹ ╹ ༽つ

#charlie morningstar #hazbin charlie #charlie magne #charlie hazbin hotel #charlie x reader #charlie headcanons #hazbin headcanons #hazbin hotel headcanon

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bloomingskullz · 2 months ago

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Now that Mers officially over can I talk about how much Theo and Mer has meant to me.

Mer came out when I was still a sophomore in high school (15 years old) and at the point I was still figuring out my own gender and identity stuff, so seeing a character actively working through the same things as me meant the world to me.

Me and Theo have similar struggles with our transness and that’s hard to find rep for. Feeling like you’re not enough for the gender you know you are and thinking you’re still just that little girl no matter what you’ve tried. Being able to watch Theo go through that struggle but still be accepted by house around him and by himself is part of the reason I think I’ve been so accepting of myself. At the beginning of mer I wouldn’t be wearing or doing half the things i am now just cause of how uncomfortable it would make me to look “like a girl”. And well a lot of dysphoria and discomfort for still present I’m able to handle everything a whole lot better.

Not even just being queer wise Theo is so similar to me and I see so much of me in him. Being overprotective of people we consider family, being paranoid about things constantly, and worrying about everything. And then being able to see him grow and change from that makes it seem like I could get better with it too. Even if those are still struggle with watching mer shows that I could stop feeling this way.

Theo is like a light showing me what my future could look like and I’m so thankful that I was able to find it.

Mer became a big part of my life (even if I only really watched heyhays pov) from the moment I watched the first vod. I would recap the newest episode to my friend durning chemistry almost every class ( I thing I still do with him). Being able to watch this story play out from the very beginning was a magical ride that I’ll miss being on.

I’ll miss coming home and instantly watching the newest lore of Theo. I’ll miss rewatching the first few episodes over and over again cause that’s all I had and I was already obsessed. I’ll miss the big surprises and emotional twist this series gave us. But I’m so happy they all got the ending they deserve and that they got their stories shared.

While I’m sad to see Mer leaving that just leave more room for me to latch onto the smp they put out.

#mer smp #Theo mer smp #writing right after watching the final episode #writing will stop the tears right #heyhay13 #transgender #queer

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anoriginalweirdo · 8 days ago

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All Of Us Strangers (2023)

Directed by Andrew Haigh

With Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell, Claire Foy

✨ Personal ‘review’, it might contain spoilers ✨

‘I’d always felt lonely… even before. This was a new feeling. Like… a terror… that I’d always be alone now. And then, as I got older, that feeling… just solidified. Just a knot here all the time. And then losing them, it just got… tangled up with all the other stuff… about being gay… and just a feeling like… the future doesn’t matter. Does that make sense?’

‘Yeah. I know how easy it can be to stop caring about yourself.’

⭐️ 🌟 ⭐️

I’m NOT fine. Why did it have to combine most of my traumas like that with my obsession for ghosts and old places?

Goddamnit I kinda want to throw up, that felt way too close and too brutal at the same time. So funny how it has a parallel with the idea of the novel I’ve started to write - which has been on my mind for the past 3 years. Ghosts and imagined conversations and loneliness and sadness and trying to make sense about the future when everything takes you back to the past.

How insane is it to see a younger version of me in the eyes of Harry and not completely lose my fucking mind? I’ve only been able to let go of her and of the worst ‘what ifs?’ a couple of months ago so watching his character going through all of this throws me back two years ago.

I feel like Adam, surrounded by ghosts and loneliness and having to keep going. Luckily I feel way way better now, but I can’t help the sudden good old loneliness to find its way back and make its home again inside my tight chest.

What I would give to talk to my mother, ask her if she’s proud of who I’m trying to be and if she loves me still.

As the crazy person that I am I rewatched twice two scenes that made suffocating cause of tears.

Anyways, Andrew, Paul, thanks for the tears AGAIN. Thanks Ireland, always haha.

Also Death of a Party by Blur playing made my brain go wild.

I kinda want to rewatch it again, because it’s that kind of film that you need to rewatch to understand the story all over again with the new details. Everything is brilliant and I want to cry.

I’m gonna shut up now, I’m listening to Fontaines D.C. while writing all this, trying not to overthink about the past, and I want to cry but I should just go fucking sleep. I’ll probably see ghosts again during the night.

I want to cry again, if you didn’t get it.

I’ll be ok.

#the weirdo's mind #paul mescal #andrew scott #all of us strangers #film diary #this felt so so close #Paul mescal will always make cry

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crguang · 2 months ago

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I like paying Genshin…🫣 but I suppose you and I can’t have all the same opinions. Speaking of which, I don’t understand why people like Natasha…I’m sorry in advance. I can understand liking most of the others, like I get the appeal but idk….can u explain? now that I’ve told you all my bad opinions…I still haven’t gotten all the messages from Kafka, very upset, I got yanqing from standard the same day AND HE KEEPS MESSAGING ME, I need him to stfu. I was rewatching kafkas story quest and umm, I haven’t looked at that photo in a bit….ngl I kinda want to rip open that slit in her shirt and—yk I need to sleep, ik when I start being less shy I need more sleep I haven’t sleep for like two days. also my friend just said that I probably don’t like nat bc she’s a doctor…my mommy issues strike again.

-🌠

i loved genshin i played it for over 3 years but by sumeru their characters stopped appealing to me, arlecchino saved me from boredom in fontaine and that archon quest was also really good but character wise she’s the only one i care about. with natlan and those white ass characters i just cant like logging in and seeing white people with latin indigenous/african inspired clothing, names and history pisses me off to no end, they lost me forever with that one bc yelan reran and i still didn’t log in consistently to get her cons… shes c3 forever now. i get mad seeing any natlan character atp like im so over this stupid game

not liking natasha is insane… if you like himeko theres no reason to not be as crazy about nat because they’re so similar personality wise and we actually know more about nat than we do about hsr himeko rn😭 i don’t see why you don’t see the appeal honestly, she’s a sweetheart who’s upheld an entire city basically on her own. not to diminish wildfire members but she literally created that too. only doctor in an impoverished and disorganized city, runs an orphanage, leader of the sole organization meant to keep the peace… she’s willingly taking on all of that responsibility because she can and wants to help. shes not even from the underworld, she was adopted by a couple in the overworld and did her studies there. not to mention that before she was a doctor in the underworld she went on expeditions to heal those fighting against/researching the fragmentum…she’s literally the most “morally good” aligned person ever. disliking her is kinda unimaginable to me bc all shes done is save people’s lives and be pretty. kafka’s nothing compared to my natty. i get it if she’s just not your kind of character but disliking her is insane to me when himeko is the same kind of kind-hearted, diplomatic, intelligent, courageous, ruthless-when-need-be person😭 natasha stepped up and saw people dying all around her for over a decade, she gave kids like Seele a future and a purpose in life and has spent every day fighting for them, she’s even condemned her own brother because the methods he was using for his research/goals were hurting others. hasnt talked to her parents in years and didnt know her dad had died because of it so she wasn’t allowed a moment to grieve like im sorry shes a hero of the people, no one has worked harder than she has— i’ll die defending natasha she’s incredibly admirable and inspiring to me. she thanks her patients for surviving gruesome surgeries, imagine the amount of people she’s lost because of the underworld’s lack of supplies yet she CARRIES ON! the strongest person ever. and she’s so gorgeous like that’s my baby fr. plus her voice is really nice. she’s the whole package, i take her so seriously if theres only one natasha fan in the galaxy its me!!! thee only healer for months before lynx came out, let’s all remember our roots (i wasn’t there but wtv) for a second. everyone’s used natty she’s an OG!

i thought kafka had only 2 messages and was getting moze/jiaoqiu’s for days then saw that anonymous “hi, nyx” and lost my mind at 6am on tuesday. hope u get them soon theyre so pathetic… she cares so bad. like soooo bad i cant believe she exposes herself like this do we think it’s because texting is easier or bc she’s intrinsically linked to the tb or both?… because those texts (+ the fact that it’s her reaching out) are just insane.

i love how yall never go all the way with thirsting when i literally write smut like i promise you can say you wanna fuck her 😭😭 everyone’s gonna agree. the things i’d do to her would have me in the hospital for dislocated joints like it’s okay theres no shame in being horny

and you definitely need to go to bed!!!!!!!! now!!!! try taking some melatonin/tea if you can or getting off your phone an hour before going to sleep, it might help a little. but you should be sleeping it’s dangerous to go too long without it, how are you even functioning right now

#sat answers #🌠 anon

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mikrokcsmos · 2 years ago

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Glimpse of Us

synopsis; in which Namjoon runs into you — his ex, at an awards show.

pairing; ex!namjoon x ex!reader

genre; angst, hint of fluff, drabble, idol au, ex au

warnings; a bit of POV switching and joon hopelessly being still in love with you 🙃

rating; PG-13

w/c; 778

a/n; imagine if he actually looked at you that way omg. OR REWATCHING HIS INTERVIEW AND SEEING HIM LOOKING LIKE THAT BECAUSE OF YOU LIKE STAAAHP.

He knew it was only a matter of time, as did you, but nothing could prepare him for the amount of memories that flooded his mind upon seeing you for the first time since your split.

It was his first time coming alone to an awards show. Normally, he would have his band mates by his side, a friend, or you — his now ex.

When he stepped out of the unmarked vehicle, his confidence was through the roof. The smiles and posing came easy, like second nature. The flashes were blinding, the shutters of the cameras were loud, the praise of the fans was heartwarming.

He thought he was doing well.

He thought that after a year of being apart, he was finally over you.

He was about to be proven wrong.

In the middle of answering an interview question about his upcoming music, he’s asked if there’s any possible way that you could’ve inspired any tracks.

“I’ll just let the lyrics speak for themselves.” His answer is cryptic, and the interviewer ‘oooo’s’ for dramatic effect. Thinking the interview is close to being done, he’s about to politely excuse himself when he gets interrupted by the interviewer’s gasps of delight.

They point at an area above his shoulder and behind him. The crowd around him also murmurs in shared excitement and he swears he hears your name whispered among them.

As if in slow motion, he turns around, and has to do a double take when he sees you in all your beautiful glory, dress flowing effortlessly around you as you walk and wave with a dazzling smile that has his eyes widening both in amazement and fear.

His breath gets caught in his throat, heart rate increasing to an abnormal speed. His palms become sweaty and he has to wipe them on his pants discreetly as your figure draws closer to where he’s at.

You haven’t noticed him yet.

For a split second, it crosses his mind to just run while he can and avoid the impending reunion with you, but ultimately his decision is made for him when the same interviewer calls out your name loudly, and waves you over.

Here goes nothing.

“Miss Y/L/N, we were just talking about you! How are you? You look amazing in your dress!”

You keep a healthy distance between you and Namjoon, smile tight, and brow raising in question at the interviewer’s words.

“All good things, I hope?” Your eyes meet Joon’s for the first time and it takes everything you have to keep your eyes from watering as you look away first, feigning cleaning off makeup from your eyes with your fingertip in an attempt to remain poised.

He frowns, noticing your tell for when you’re upset. Clearing his throat, he fixes the attention back on himself to allow you a moment to collect yourself. You give him a small smile in thanks. He nods subtly.

After a few indirect questions he skillfully dodged about your previous relationship, the focus was once again switched back to you. Full smile on display, you answer some questions yourself, keeping calm and witty, even sharing a few laughs with Joon.

Something you realized that you missed hearing until now.

As it finally comes to a close, you both make your ending remarks, wishing each other well in future endeavors and congratulating one another on your individual award nominations. To his surprise, it was you to make the first move. Your hand lays on his chest as you lean up to give him a chaste kiss on his cheek. Gently patting his chest, you step away and give him a final wave with a warm smile.

“See you, Joon.” Your voice is light and airy, eyes full of a kind of love he didn’t deserve.

Try as he may, his voice cracks as he replies, and your smile falters, the brightness in your eyes dimming.

“See you, y/n.”

He’s the one to pivot on his heel and walk away, hands shoved anxiously in his pants pockets, knowing if he allowed himself to look at you any longer his fake facade of being put together would begin to crumble in front of millions of viewers — in front of you.

And, most importantly, he didn’t want you to see how hopelessly in love with you he still is.

If he turned back around right now, he would witness your tearful eyes full of longing, lip quivering so badly you have to bite it, as you stare at his departing back with a sliver of hope that he would run back to you with a public declaration of love.

But, he never does.

#kim namjoon x you #kim namjoon x reader #namjoon x you #namjoon x reader #jungkook angst #rm x you #rm x reader #kim namjoon #bts kim namjoon #bts namjoon #namjoon #namjoon angst #namjoon fluff #masterlist; rgds

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v-i-r-i-d-i-a-n · 1 month ago

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The main question: What was after Will Byers?

(And a second more important question: what did it want?)

The show obviously wants us to believe that it’s a demogorgon, on first watch anyways. I believe we can infer there was a demogorgon in the shed with him- at least in the upside down. Even considering everything I’m going to talk about- I still agree with that, strangely. But before that? I’m calling bullshit.

(For reference this is technically the second thing I wrote about for the first episode, BUT I’m releasing this BEFORE that because it’s a more well thought out analysis, and can exist more as a standalone, I will probably add to this in the future. This is also technically unfinished? I don’t have a definitive answer to the questions I ask. I’m simply trying to bring more attention to it.)

🚨SOMETHING TO NOTE‼️ I HAVE NOT WATCHED A SEASON OF ST IN LIKE 6 MONTHS, PROBABLY MORE, IF ANY QUESTIONS I ASK GET ANSWERED IN LIKE AN EPISODE, DON’T BE A DICK ABOUT IT, I DONT REMEMBER EVERYTHING🚨

Also just one more thing before we get started, I’m sorry this post has a lot of exposition- I know that some of the things I say have probably been said before, hell the analysts in this community have talked about and seen this show far more then I have and I have nothing but respect for anyone whose put in that much effort- and I truly do not mean to copy or steal anyone’s work- if you feel like I’m not giving credit where credits due, or like I’m stealing something PLEASE tell me- i’ll @ you or cut something out- I don’t want anyone to feel disrespected by what I talk about, but I also don’t remember every post I’ve ever read or that’s on this app, this is merely supposed to my own fun twist and thoughts about the events

NOW, I know, I know, fifty billion other people have talked about how weird Will’s vanishing is, how it doesn’t make any sense and there’s something else going on, BUT, if I’ve learnt anything from this fandom, it’s that we love to read and write the exact same things over and over again. And!! That’s how discovery is made, so I’m doing it anyways >:3

Its hard to decipher where exactly to start with Will’s vanishing, because the entirety of it is completely jumbled and twisted and doesn’t make sense, whenever I think just a little too hard about it I feel like I’m being so completely mindfucked, like even now I’m sorting out things and every other sentence I realize something else and have to figure out where to put it- ANYWAYS

So I’m just gonna start at the beginning! In the Wheelers house.

Now, the first bit of strangeness we get in this sequence is when they’re all going home (I could also argue the DnD game has some weirdness, but that’s for another time, as we’re focusing something else right now) more specifically, when Mike waves Will off and his garage light starts flickering.

I think that’s supposed to be because of the like “town wide electrical problems” that are happening because of the gate opening up, and most likely not because of something already being at the Wheeler’s house.

i’m gonna argue there’s something there later in a different analysis I’m complying, because, I don’t believe that the thing following Will is the same being that killed the scientist in the lab, hell, I don’t think it was a demogorgon AT ALL, honestly I’m a little skeptical that the thing that killed that scientist was even a demo BUT that’s for my first analysis to cover >:))

I want you to think about this for later however, because I am desperately trying to stay on track, but I just have way too many thoughts about this little stupid show.

The sequence of Will Byers Vanishing

(And all the fuckery is includes)

For this segment, I’m going to take you through Will’s vanishing, and all the little discrepancies and “plot holes” that I’ve seen on my rewatch

The vanishing starts with the light on Will’s bike going out, he looks down, momentarily taking his eyes off the road, and looks back up to the “demogorgon” standing suddenly in front of him. We don’t see any obvious gate, or anything of the sort really, it just sort’ve appears (unless we think that for some reason it’s been stalking through the real world…which doesn’t make much sense considering how demo’s hunt.) And the thing that tickles my brain the most about this scene is that…the demo just sort’ve seems to be standing there? We only get a few seconds of it on screen, but the way it moves makes me feel like that it doesn’t even really know what it’s supposed to be doing. Like, it got zapped down from some alien spaceship or something.

Will, in response to seeing a horrific nether monster, veers off the side of the road, like any child would, and gets up slowly, which again, its sort’ve strange he’s able to get away with that? Most of the time, when a demo gets its eyes on a target, it’s pretty quick to act, not quite the “lie in wait” type of hunters when they’re in the regular plain. He gets up and just sort’ve stares for a second, and we don’t really get to see what he see’s, instead, we just a hear growl, which sends Will running in a panic.

The next few things are fairly normal in the sequence, he gets home, locks the door, pets his dog a little (me too bro), and runs around looking for his brother and mom.

He runs quickly back to the window, after he can’t find them, and as he’s looking through the clothesline…wait-

*wipes glasses*

Nope, I’m seeing this shit right WHY ARE THE CLOTHES THERE?? THATS NOT WHERE THEYRE SUPPOSED TO BE. Why is it so close to the window??? With how the lines are set up we should’ve seen them when he’s running into the house- but we don’t. They’re actually at a completely different location in the next scene at the Byers house in the morning.

(Put a pin in that)

Anyways, in the distance through the classic horror fog we see the demogorgon slowly walking up towards the house, on its back legs again. Looking like a person stalking through the night. Like some weird Jason knockoff, I half expected it to try and get through the door with a hatchet on my very first watch through.

WHICH AGAIN, isn’t how they act. Even back in the lab, in the very first scene it suggests that whatever is after the scientist is fast, he’s running, he’s hitting the button over and over again to try and get the elevator to come faster, he’s outwardly panicked and looks desperate to get away. He’s looking over his shoulder to make sure it’s not there yet. And then after that whenever we see a demo chasing someone, they’re quick to chase after their prey. They don’t slowly walk up towards a house.

It reminds me WAY more of how a human hunts their prey, slowly following and tracking it until it wears itself out. However, I’d argue it’s less like whatever is chasing him is actively hunting him, and more so like it’s corralling him, herding him. Attempting to manipulate him to go where it wants him to. If it wanted to kill him, it could’ve done so already (especially if we take into account the whole telekinesis thing). It had plenty of chances, especially when Will was in that ditch after he fell off his bike, that’s when a human hunter would’ve attempted to kill him. It’s as if, whatever was on that road, whatever is following Will, actively wants him to go to the Byer’s shed. To the demogorgon lying in wait ready to pounce.? That doesn’t sound quite right either.

All of these analysis are gonna be me going “that’s not quite right, that shouldn’t do that” over and over again LMAO

When you take everything into account, I think there’s a quite a bit more evidence that this thing didn’t want to hurt Will at all, at least not physically, at least not in this exact instance. Whether it was corralling him in hopes of figuring something out, or actively wanting the demogorgon to feed on Will. I have no idea. But you cannot decisively say that whatever was following Will had the active intent to kill him with its own hands.

Will gets scared once more and attempts to call someone, it doesn’t work and instead he just gets the static-y growling sounds of the upside down. Which is a tad bit strange considering that the reason Joyce hears that later on is because Will’s actively trying to communicate with her. But what number is that? Like 55 of “things that don’t make sense in Will Byers vanishing?” Oh, and then immediately after we get the whole DEMOGORGON USES TELEKINESIS SCENE. 56.

(Put a pin in this as well)

Will runs into the shed, and we know (WE DONT.) what happens from there, there’s a demo in there with him(?) and he’s somehow he’s pulled into the upside down- without any real evidence of a gate there. Unless you take…the slime in the shed the next morning that Hopper finds as proof. But I’ve learnt not to hold a suspension of disbelief here. (“Did Mike see it? Then it doesn’t count” worst vibes y’know? Gotta see it to believe it.)

There’s also the whole thing with instead of the light flickering it just gets really bright. Which is another thing I don’t believe we see often- especially if we assume the light glowing bright is because of a gate opening.

I’d actually like to talk about that point for a sec, because it genuinely doesn’t seem or feel or look like anything we see after that. The way that nothing really happens, and that’s what’s so terrifying about it, we don’t hear any screams or even see the signs of a struggle. He’s not dragged through a portal by vines or a demo.

Will just vanishes, he’s not taken, or kidnapped, he vanishes. It’s truly the only word that can describe it. And it truly doesn’t make any sense. We don’t see anything like it again really, at least not that I’m aware of or can remember right now. He’s there one second, and then he’s gone. The only thing I can really think of like it is El killing the demo at the end of the season and vanishing.

All and all we get back to the same point I started with and a point I think pretty everyone agrees with. Whatever was after Will was not a demo.

But then…why does it look like one? And sound like one? Well my curious little reader, I THINK I ACTUALLY HAVE A LOGICAL SOLUTIONNN

We’re being fucked with.

(And as much as it might sound like it, I’m very much NOT joking here.)

Remember everything I told you to put a pin into? Yeah this is the section where I want you to think about it more.

By now, I’ve described the entirety of the sequence of Will’s vanishing. I don’t want to say disappearance or kidnapping because I don’t believe that’s what it was. The oddness of the demogorgon, the strangeness of his surroundings. And I’ve come to only one seeable conclusion, which probably isn’t good on a scientific aspect, but it’s the only logical solution I can come up with.

Will is being fucked with, and since we’re in his eyes for this scene, we’re being fucked with.

Will has always been my favorite little unreliable narrator.

Now, what exactly could be happening? I don’t know yet, I’m still at the beginning of the series after all in this rewatch- these are all just thoughts I’ve been having after the first episode. I can’t present a de facto answer to whatever’s going on here because I don’t think we’re supposed to know yet.

My main guess? Some sort of upside down shit. With everything we know about timeline fuckery, and illusions, and visions, and memory sequences even being untrustworthy- isn’t it possible we’re being shown something that didn’t happen? Or maybe more accurately didn’t happen the way we’re being shown?

It might be a problem with the actual timeline, like somehow false memories were implanted and the universe itself is being tricked. Or, some sort of upside down related nightmare sequence only Will see’s- maybe Will got planted into another timeline directly who knows. MAYBE- it’s even Brenner’s fault (especially with all the TFS Brenner vs Will Byers stuff) Because I will find a way to blame that man for everything.

With all of the characters saying constantly that things are a nightmare, or that it isn’t real, we can’t trust what we’re seeing on screen.

The Duffers, don’t want their audience to know what’s happening. They’ll tell us when they want to.

So, if it wasn’t a demo after Will what was it?

A person, probably

Though in this show, it’s hard to tell exactly what that means.

God. Where do I start? There’s just so so many possibilities for this one instance that I can’t fully wrap my head around it. Now I’m going to say this again, I don’t have a definite answer to what’s going on, and my opinion will probably change as time goes on and I reread other analysis posts and rewatch the show- I’m small potatoes in the analysis community and I think this is actually the first analysis I’m posting(?) wow that’s crazy actually. So my thoughts are gonna be especially jumbled for this part because at this very moment it’s a pretty big question mark.

I will say this though, I don’t think it’s Vecna. At least not the Vecna we’re shown on screen.

Why do I say this? Mostly because it doesn’t really feel like Vecna gives too much of a shit about Will- if anything, the MF seems much more interested in him.

And I know that’s like the main theory in part of the fandom, that for whatever reason Vecna is super into Will but I just don’t agree with it. There is some substance to it but I think a lot of you forget that Vecna and the MF are two separate beings (Hell Vecna and HENRY are two separate beings). Vecna is not controlling the MF, even if he believes he is. That’s pretty much proven in the VR game, if you’re willing to look deeper at it than what it’s putting forward.

Remember, we cannot trust what we see. We’re actively being fucked with at any point in time. The Duffer’s do not care about tricking their audience, they want to. So it’s almost never going to be the obvious answer.

I guess this section just turned into me saying “I don’t know exactly whats happening but it’s NOT Vecward”

I wanna say Brenner, trying to find out something about the upside down or Will himself, but the whole telekinesis thing is really throwing me off. Hell maybe it is Henry trying to disrupt the timeloop by stopping a TFS William Brenner from forming.

Everything I try and think about and put forward just doesn’t really feel quite right, I don’t have enough evidence or backing for any of my theories right now to definitively say one thing or the other- so if anyone has any idea’s they’d like to bounce off of me I’d appreciate it, because I’m kinda at a loss at this exact moment.

None of it was real

(And what that means)

This is the only thing I’m really sure of right now. Nothing about what we see is what really happened. Maybe it’s how Will remembers it, maybe his memories were actively altered by the MF or Brenner or Owens or something.

But if nothing that we saw with Will was real, then how do we know anything we’ve seen is real. Especially through Will’s POV. Throughout the entirety of the story Will has always been an unreliable narrator, from the very beginning.

That also means that this show built itself around unreliable narration. There is a reason that the one of the first big scenes we get doesn’t make sense. There’s a reason it feels like it’s built on a shaky surface.

Id argue, that the literal first scene is unreliable, but that’s again for another time.

TL;DR Everything is fucked and nothing makes sense, and everything will continue not making sense until the Duffers decide to let it make sense, oh and Will was definitely not being followed by a demo no matter how much the show wants you to believe it

If you made it this far, thank you so much for listening to my relentless rambling! Sorry the format is kinda fucked again this is my first analysis I’m actually posting. Again I’ll probably add onto this in future- but for now I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, hope y’all have a good day <33 !!

#have fun with my insanity rambles #stranger things #will byers #s1 ep1 #the vanishing of will byers #my insanity #stranger things analysis #rewatching stranger things #THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER YHINGS I HAD PLANNED TO TALK ABOUT AND FIND A WAY TO FORMAT SO MAYNE PT 2 IN THE WORKS???

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centralperkchenford · 1 year ago

Note

I’m back with another prompt I thought of while rewatching 🥰

Future Married Chenford + Tim going to Grey (cause he’s basically the station’s dad lol) and telling him Lucy’s pregnant and asking advice cause he’s nervous

(A parallel to when he goes to Grey to say they’re dating 🥹)

Future Married Chenford + Tim going to Grey (cause he’s basically the station’s dad lol) and telling him Lucy’s pregnant and asking advice cause he’s nervous. (A parallel to when he goes to Grey to say they’re dating 🥹)

Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you (And I will hold on to you)

I really liked this one! I tried to parallel it to 5x12 as much as I could 🫶🏻

Tim finds out Lucy’s pregnant on a Wednesday, except neither of them realize that until later. He wakes up and she’s not in their bed. He finds her in the bathroom, kneeling on the ground with her forehead on the toilet. Her hair is tossed over her shoulder. He bends down so he’s at her level, and lifts her head up gently. Her cheeks are tear stained and her eyes are red. He kisses her sweaty forehead and pulls her close to him.

“What’s wrong?” He asks softly. She looks up at him, a single tear on her eyelashes.

“I-I think I have food poisoning.” She whispers. Her head is against his chest and he’s rubbing circles on her back.

“What did you eat that would have given you food poisoning?” He asks softly still rubbing her back.

“I don’t know it could be anything.” She says weakly. “I have had an appetite lately.”

Tim nods and pulls her up and leans her into him. “Do you feel well enough to go into work?” He asks and she starts to nod but then she’s on her knees throwing up in the toilet and Tim has his answer to that.

Lucy stays home that day, and Tim puts crackers and water by her bed along with a can of ginger ale.

He kisses her goodbye and tells her he will call later. He goes through his day worried about his wife and her possible food poisoning.

When he calls at lunch she sounds better but only just. “I’m not sure it’s food poisoning.” She says and his stomach flips. Could it be the flu? Could it be something else that he’s not thinking of?

“What do you think it is?” He asks her, Lucy is silent for a long while.

“I don’t know Tim. But hopefully it’s gone by tomorrow. I hate missing work.” She says mournfully.

Tim hates when she’s not at the station, even if they are in different units he still sees her around the station and he feels at peace when he does.

“I know baby.” He says calmly. “But you need to focus on getting better.” Lucy gasps over the phone line and then lets out a hysterical giggle.

“Oh my god!” She says still giggling. “How the heck did I not think of it before?”

Tim is confused. Think of what? “What are you talking about Lucy?” He asks urgently.

Lucy giggle again. “I have to go babe. I will see you at home.” She says and hangs up the phone before he can get another word in.

Tim goes through the rest of his day.. confused. And anxious. He has no idea what Lucy has figured out but he can’t wait to go home so she can tell him. Whatever it is she figured out.

Tim makes it home earlier that day, his limbs propelling him straight towards Lucy when he gets inside. She’s laying on the couch and grins up at him when she sees him.

“Hi!” She says jumping up and meeting him halfway. “How was your day?” Tim sighs and pulls her down on the couch.

“It seems like you are feeling better.” He comments and she nods a smile on her face.

“I am.” She says but doesn’t say anymore as she reaches for his hand and drags it to her stomach. That should have been his first clue.

“Do you want to tell me what’s going on?” He asks slightly perplexed. Lucy giggles and gets up from her spot.

“I’ll be right back.” She says. He gives her a look and she bends down to kiss him. “I promise baby.”

She heads toward the hallway and comes back not even 30 seconds later holding something behind her back.

He looks at her curiously, a question on his lips before she is placing something in his hands. He looks down at it. A pregnancy test.

It all makes sense now. Lucy’s being sick. Her appetite. She had been tired too lately and they both thought it was from the late shifts she was pulling to make up from when she was on their honeymoon.

“Lucy…” he starts and she giggles again a little like she did on the phone. “We.. are you..?”

She nods with tears burning in her eyes. He stands up and pulls her to him and hugs her tight, his own tears forming. Holy crap they were having a baby!

“How- did you figure it out?” He mumbles into her hair. She pulls back to study him, a smile on her face.

“When we were talking earlier. I was trying to figure out what was wrong but—then you said baby and it just clicked. I ran out and bought a pregnancy test and it was positive.

Tim smiles even bigger if that is possible and pulls her back towards.

“Oh my god Luce.” He mutters. “This is amazing. I can’t believe—” He feels her nod against his shirt.

“I know Tim. You are going to be a great dad.” She says and he pulls her chin up so he can kiss her. And then lowers himself to the ground so he is level with her stomach. He places a soft kiss there and then rises back up. A grin on his face, “I guess we are pretty good at the other stuff.”

She rolls her eyes at him. But he barely notices because he’s kissing her again holding his little family close.

***

They don’t tell anyone for a few week, preferring to keep it a secret. Lucy goes to the doctor’s two weeks after the positive pregnancy test just to confirm she’s actually pregnant. She is. And all the emotions Tim was feeling when he first found out come rushing over him again.

He holds the sonogram picture of his baby, no more than a little blob and stares down at it. His baby. Their baby. Half him. Half Lucy. He loves it so much already and he hasn’t even met them yet.

“When do you want to tell people.” Lucy asks when they climb into his truck. He’s still holding the sonogram like it’s something precious. (It is). He shrugs his shoulders tucking the sonogram picture into his visor. He doesn’t miss Lucy’s soft smile at him. “Whenever you feel comfortable to tell everyone Luce.”

Lucy nods and reaches out to hold his hand. “Let’s wait a little bit more.” She says and he squeezes her hand. Okay.

***

Unfortunately as much as Lucy wants to wait to tell everyone her puking in the station bathroom gives it away.

She’s suppose to be on patrol but instead finds herself crouched over the toilet. She texts Tim to tell him what’s happening and so he goes to Grey’s office as soon as he gets the message.

“Hey. Do you have a second?” He asks him. Grey nods and puts down his pen and motions him in.

“What’s going on?” He asks Tim leaning forward. Tim grips his phone tightly. His eyes darting around the room.

“Lucy is pregnant.” He says quietly. “We found out a few weeks ago.”

Grey nods a small smile twitching on his lips. “I figured as much. Lucy never takes sick days.” Grey says and Tim nods.

“Yeah. She thought it was food poisoning.” He says and Grey nods looking amused.

“I’m guessing she still has morning sickness so that’s why she’s not here right now with you.” Grey says and Tim nods suddenly feeling bad that he’s not with Lucy.

“Well congratulations.” Says Grey. “How are you feeling about this?” Tim sits back in his chair to think about the question. How was he feeling? He is excited. He always wanted to be a dad. And the fact that it was with Lucy made him even more excited. But there is a small part of him, a voice in the back of his head that says he’s going to be a disappointing of a father, he is not meant to be a father much like his own dad.

“I’m excited but nervous.” He admits and Grey nods smiling softly at him.

“It’s okay to be nervous Tim.” He says gently. “Mostly everyone is nervous when they find out they are going to be bringing another human into this world. It doesn’t make you weak or anything. You are going to be a great dad.”

Tim blinks at him and sits back studies his hands. His wedding band on his finger as always, a permanent fixture. Lucy had gotten him one where he could wear it to work.

“You are not your father and you are not your past self. You have changed and grown so much Tim.” Grey says gently. Tim opens his mouth to say something but there’s a knock at the door.

“Come in.” Grey calls. The door opens and Lucy comes in. She’s still dressed in her uniform and her hair is slightly messed up. Tim jumps up as soon as he sees her gesturing her to sit down.

She smiles at him and takes a seat and he sits on the arm of the chair. “You both have changed and grown since I have met you.” Grey says. “I never thought pairing you two up would lead to this.” Tim snorts. “But I do know you two make a great team. Whether it’s riding together or becoming parents. I know this baby will be so loved and cared for.”

“Thank you sir.” Says Lucy smiling up at Tim. He reaches for her hand. Grey nods at her.

“If you ever need anything you know you can come to me.” Grey says looking at them both but his eyes focus in on Tim.

“Thank you sir.” He says. “We appreciate it.” Grey nods at them and then turns to Lucy

“Do you feel well enough to go out on patrol? Or do you need desk duty for awhile?” He asks.

Tim watches as Lucy chews on her bottom lip.

“I’m fine sir. Once I pass the detective’s exam I’ll be at the desk more. Might as well get in as much action as I can.” She says. And Grey nods.

“Okay.” He says. “But I trust you to not push yourself too much.”

Lucy nods and then she stands looking at Tim. He smiles at her and they leave Grey’s office together their fingers brushing.

And then Tim leans over and says quietly. “I can’t wait to raise a baby with you.”

Lucy grins at him. “You are going to be the best daddy Tim. I mean it. You are going to love this baby to the ends of the earth. And I can’t wait to see it.” She says.

“I love you…” he says softly.

And he may still be nervous but Grey is right they do make a great team and this baby is going to be loved no matter what. And he can’t wait.

#chenford #the rookie #chenford fanfic #tim bradford #tim x lucy #lucy chen #chenford fic #lucy x tim

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oceanic-sunsets · 2 years ago

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S4 and Its Role Storytelling Wise: The GA’s (lack of) Understanding of The Show

[Warning: long post ahead]

So I stumbled across two videos on youtube about season 4 of Stranger Things, analyzing it from a storytelling standpoint. As one does, I watched them, because I was intrigued about what people thought outside our bubble or places like reddit and fb. And I wanna talk about it because it’s intriguing how the answers are right in front of us, but most people, even people with knowledge about storytelling and media analysis, don’t consider more possibilities, too blinded by heteronormativity and how we’re used to the same formulas, the way most stories unfold.

The first video, “Why Stranger Things 5 (Probably) Won’t be Good”, considers that the show is dragging on too long because all the characters have solved their conflicts and the entire main cast of characters are perfectly fine with each other, which means s5 won’t be a compelling story because you can’t separate the character development and inner conflicts from the plot. And I was genuinely surprised because this is the complete opposite of how most of us perceive s4.

If anything, I don’t like rewatching s4 for this reason, because everything feels too open, too unresolved, with some clues and some key reveals but no real answers.

Mike and El are far from okay, they ended up the season not talking to each other. Will lied to Mike about the painting. Nancy and Jonathan haven’t had a real conversation about their future and how they really feel about it. Dustin is grieving Eddie and Mike isn’t even aware of his death. Lucas and El are grieving Max but not giving up on her.

And the most important one that upset me to no end for a while after I finished s4, before I sit down and analysed it: the characters come together to try to save Max, and Mike and Will do the same for El, and then they reunite… But they don’t have any real moment that reminds us that they’re friends, or why they are. This is hard to do when there’s so much action going on, but there’s always time to show us where these characters stand with each other. And this hurts me to write, but they don’t feel like a group of friends anymore, haven’t, for a while, since s3 probably. And this is intentional because they purposefully show us the party drifting apart in the beginning of s4, as soon as the first episode.

The fact that they’re all back in Hawkins and working together again isn’t enough to show us that they’re back to being best friends. We need moments that show us why these characters are friends and stick together because they love and care for each other, choosing each other, not only because the circumstances force them back together.

And in that sense, s4 lays the foundation for it to be something touched upon next season, but these characters are far from completely fine with each other. It’s going to be good and rewarding to have them all reunited and working together again and rebuilding their friendship at the same time, but it has not happened yet.

To say there’s no more “personal drama” to add on is a complete misunderstanding of where our main characters stand. When I heard that I was just thinking, did we just forget Will lied to Mike about the painting and he was only able to say “I love you” when he was pushed by Will, and we got no explanation for his weird behavior?!

The second video (Stranger Things 5 is NOT the Redemption You Think It Is) analyses several aspects of the show and brings up very important points about what makes a story feel real and compelling. This is a very good video, however, I found myself disagreeing once more with most of it. I’ll divide it into sections so it’s more organized, and I’ll talk about their arguments and my counterarguments. Keep in mind this is how most people perceive the show, and this person in the video is someone who does have some sort of knowledge about storytelling.

*They see the Cali plot as useless.

It is a fact that Mike, Will and Jonathan have been sidelined this season. While I don’t like this or agree with the amount of screen time they were given this season compared to other characters, they are far from useless. A lot of people seem to think they didn’t know what to do with them, so they put Mike and Will together in a van with Jonathan in Argyle just for funsies, and gave Will a crush on Mike as a last-minute decision. They perceive Will’s plot as simply being the “sad gay best friend who is obviously getting rejected”.

Their reasoning is quite simple: They aren’t looking at the bigger picture, failing to consider how these characters all have a purpose and how the Duffers always say that each scene adds something to the story. Even seemingly insignificant moments have weight in the story and are used to help us understand the how and why’s, or as callbacks, parallels, or even to reveal future plot points.

So what IS the purpose of the Cali plot? First I’m going to say what is NOT their ONLY purpose: saving El.

Yeah, that’s what we see them doing the entire time, but it’s not like El had an issue getting out of there by herself. I’m sure she would’ve been fine, ultimately doing the same thing we see her do: find a way to try to save Max when she’s miles away from Hawkins.

So, if their purpose (storytelling-wise) is not to save El and help her get to Hawkins… What does the Cali plot add?

CHARACTER CONFLICT that is going to BE IMPORTANT LATER. It’s, again, part of the FOUNDATION for the climax. Even with their little screen time, the Cali plot is KEY for future events. It builds lies upon lies that ended up inadvertently killing Max.

Mike wasn’t being himself, incapable of having an honest, open conversation with El, not being able to tell her I love you. Mike’s inner conflict, his tumultuous relationship with El, isolation from his friends, and awkward behavior towards Will drove Will to lie to him, presenting his feelings as El’s. Will’s lie pushed Mike to rush a love confession in a life-or-death situation and instead of helping, it contributed to Max’s death and Vecna not being defeated.

It serves the purpose to show the audience:

The characters are lying. They’re not being honest with each other, and this has BIG consequences.

They’re acting that way for a reason, but we don’t know why yet. It’ll be important later.

Mike and El do not understand each other and don’t work as a couple.

It sets Mike and Will’s relationship apart from the rest. They’re not just our usual friendship story, because if they were, their conflict would’ve been solved when they made up in s3. But their story is not over. This is the writers telling the audience: look here, we’ve established this pair and dynamic, it’ll be important.

And the thing is, if Will was supposed to be your usual “gay best friend in love with the straight guy” story, why bother with the points we just went over? It was a choice to have Mike act that way, not being able to hug Will and tell El I love you, it was a choice to have Will lie about the painting making it impossible for the truth not to reveal itself eventually, it was a choice to establish them as a pair who has multiple hearts to hearts, and it was a choice to have El not speaking to Mike by the end of the season.

It was a choice to have THIS as the final shot of the season.

*Mike’s Character

Next, let’s talk about Mike, one of the least liked characters by the general audience right now.

To be honest, it’s easy to understand why, and even some of us were worried about how they’ve been handling his character. The GA perceives Mike as a supporting role, El’s incompetent boyfriend who went from this smart kid that acted as a leader, to an oblivious, mean character. He feels DUMB to the audience, because how could he not notice El acting weird and how upset Will was in the van scene? They think it’s a shame because he used to be a perceptive kid and now he apparently lost his perception.

But this isn’t true at all.

Even in s4, when Mike is not his best and focuses too hard in pretending to be someone he’s not… He has shown us

Again

And again

That he is still his smart, perceptive self. He just struggles when it comes to emotional awareness and communicating his feelings, which, you know what? it’s completely fair for a teen boy whose best friend went missing, discovered an alternative dimension, saw multiple people die, and… Do I have to keep going? And he still managed to figure out the number was inside the pen, that Nina was a computer, and had the idea to ask Suzie for help. But they don’t read him as a three dimensional character, which brings me to the next point.

*Mike being “The Heart” feels undeserved

Honestly, my first reaction right after finishing s4 was the same. I thought they had murdered his character, and how could someone who is a bad boyfriend, a bad friend, and mean be the heart of the group, the leader? (I’m so sorry, he’s my favorite character now and my resentment lasted like two days)

I get them. This is what happens when you don’t consider the bigger picture and the clues for the character arc they’re clearly setting up for him.

In the video, it is said that “S4 doesn’t do a good job of conveying his emotional growth”. This is true. That’s why the monologue doesn’t feel genuine, it’s unsatisfying and just overall weird. Not to mention the deathly (literally) consequences. But that’s the thing. S4 doesn’t try to make his love confession a sudden, magic solution for his individual issues and his relationship with El.

Because it’s not a resolution. It’s not growth. There’s nothing in S4 that made him suddenly realize how much he loved El, nothing that inspired him to want to tell her those words. It’s the opposite: he has to be pushed by Will, who lied to him and put words and feelings in El’s mouth that weren’t hers. The grand love confession that saves the day was prompted by a lie.

So again, they DON’T try to fit into the “love confession saves the day” trope. They make a POINT of showing us the indirect consequences.

And while this season Mike was distant for both the audience and the characters (for a reason), we have to remember the role he has always played: he’s the friend that cares too much, who doesn’t give up on the people he loves, who is always there supporting and trying to protect others (mainly Will and El).

And this season finally has him as the one receiving emotional support, it shows us someone else looking out for Mike the way he always does for other people. This was said by Finn Wolfhard himself! and the Duffers, I’m sure, I don’t remember where right now, but if someone knows, please link me:).

Besides, these are Will’s feelings. His words show us how beautiful and intense they are. It’s how he sees Mike, despite their fights and the tension that seems to follow them everywhere. And Will has a lot of reasons to feel that way: Mike has always been kind and a good friend to him, it’s only recently that the complexity of growing up and feelings shifting into something new changed their dynamic.

*”Max mourning Billy feels undeserved”

I’m gonna be honest, this is what annoyed me the most. It completely brushes over the real message and the source of a lot of Max’s trauma and the reason why she’s the one who got cursed: Max isn’t suddenly sad because she lost her step-brother who sacrificed himself to save them. She isn’t sad because the bad guy turned good in the end and died to redeem himself. She feels guilty because she wanted him to die, wanted him gone, and when it actually happened she feels like it was her fault. Billy didn’t redeem himself, one single good action resulting in his death doesn’t absolve him of all the bad. And Max knows this, that’s why she feels so guilty. It’s the mixed feelings of sadness, relief, and guilt.

The last thing the video touches upon that I’ll address brings me again to something I mentioned before:

*"Even in the same town, the characters feel a mile apart"

This is something I agree with. No counterargument here, because it’s true. What tends to be overlooked, however, it’s the fact that it’s intentional. The Duffers themselves have said that you’re supposed to feel like the characters lost, like it’s hopeless.

This is because Stranger Things as a whole is written using the Five Act Structure. You can read a post by @dinitride-art that explains this better here, but in summary, this is how stories are structured if you divide them in five acts:

That’s why s4 feels the way it does. I love what it adds to the overall story that is unfolding, but I really don’t like it is as its own season. That’s because you’re meant to interpret the show as a whole, and yeah, last seasons tried to sort of give us a good and satisfying ending, but as we’re nearing the end of the show, s4 couldn’t do that.

It’s the second to last act, the moment we feel everything is lost and can’t be fixed. That’s why the characters even back together in Hawkins do not feel like a group of friends again (yet). That’s why the truth about the painting hasn’t come out. That’s why El and Mike aren’t talking. That’s why Mike and Will still have unresolved tension despite being friends again and a team. That’s why Max is in a coma. That’s why the Jonathan/Nancy/Steve love triangle was left unclear. That’s why Hawkins is falling apart, Vecna is getting strong again, and the Upside Down is starting to leak into the real world.

There are many things I didn’t like about s4. There are things I think could’ve been done better and clearer to the entire audience. But I’m excited about what’s to come, and after seeing the effort and details put into the show, and how much care and love they put into their characters, I’m choosing to trust we’ll get a good, satisfying ending for the characters we love.

And with that, I’m done here! If you made it this far all I have left to say is thank you and sorry lol.

#byler #stranger things #mike wheeler #will byers #analysis #st analysis #max mayfield #anti m*leven #this is a monster of a post #i just cant shut up #i'm just really passionate about storytelling okay #and when i watched these videos i became too aware of how most people dont interpret the show the same way we do #anyway #stranger things meta #stranger thing s4 #byler proof #byler is endgame #mike wheeler is gay

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adhd-merlin · 1 year ago

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Merlin S1 rewatch: episode 5

here we go! again!!

today we are watching the Lancelot episode. just a few random comments because. I am so very sleepy and I deleted the first draft by accident.

A nice little episode all in all. Nice set up for an incredibly sexy recurring character. Some nice foreshadowing. What's not to like?

• I like how this episode opens. Merlin picking mushrooms, looking so baby. Eyes full of awe and wonder. Looking like... like he's never seen a mushroom in his life, in fact. Anyway, something very cottagecore about this. Fairy vibes.

• Also he's scarfless? For much (most?) of the episode? It looks like early in the series they weren’t so obsessively attached to Merlin’s neckerchief as part of his character design

• I love how Merlin doesn’t even try to use magic against the Griffin. He just falls on his back, shuts his eyes and goes, “Welp, guess I'll die”

• HOW DID MERLIN CARRY LANCELOT BACK TO CAMELOT

• “Ever since I was a child I've dreamed of coming here. It's my life's ambition to join the knights of Camelot.” -> Guy who's spent his whole life dreaming about becoming a knight of Camelot doesn’t know the first thing about the job requirements

• (No but really, the funniest thing about this episode for me is Lancelot’s utter shock at finding out only noblemen can be knights. That's, like. The first thing about the knights of Camelot, it seems like. You’d think he would have done some basic research beforehand. But that's also how I apply to jobs so I won't make fun of him too much)

• Merlin is such a hype man, “LANCELOT THEY'RE GOING TO LOVE YOU!!” This is literally what he says! He’s adorable.

• Merlin's acting like a kid who's found a stray puppy on the side of the road and is trying to convince his dad to keep him. “He’s great, you’ll love him, I promise. He won’t be any trouble I’ll walk him every day”

• MERLIN: “He's saved my life” / ARTHUR: “That's blown it for starters” -> ARTHUR IS FUNNY. I just feel the need to point out that Arthur is funny, actually. Especially when he’s being a cunt.

• MERLIN: “You're not a nobleman by any chance, are you?” / LANCE: “haha, good lord, no” -> someone didn’t read the job description 👀

• The way Gaius pointedly glares at Merlin after telling Lancelot he’s sorry he can’t be a knight… Like, he knows his son might be tempted to do something stupid about it (commit crime)

• I did not remember Lancelot’s tragic Origin Story!

When I was a boy, my village was attacked by raiders from the northern plains. They were slaughtered where they stood, my father, my mother. Everyone. I alone escaped. I vowed that day that never again would I be helpless in the face of tyranny. I made sword craft my life. Every waking hour since that day, I devoted to the art of combat, and when I was ready, I set forth for Camelot.

"Every waking hour since that day, I devoted to the art of combat" -> Yeah that sounds like a sane and healthy way of dealing with the trauma of losing both your parents and your entire village in one go, well done my boy

• Merlin looks SO proud of his little fraud scheme! BE GAY DO CRIME

• Seriously he is such an instigator! He says, “DAMN THE RULES, THE RULES ARE WRONG”! But he can see Lancelot’s obvious reluctance so he’s like, “We're not breaking the rules, we're bending them” HE’S SO SNEAKY I LOVE HIM

• This is such a basic narrative trope (if it even is a trope) but I love first meetings of characters who are going to become famously important to one another. I'm talking, like, Holmes and Dr. Watson. Or yes, Merlin and future King Arthur. There’s just something about it that I find delightful. "They don’t even know!! They have no idea. But I do!" This is about Gwen and Lancelot.

• Such a cute Meet Cute™. I love the way it plays with what we know is going to happen. Even if we don’t exactly know how it's going to happen in the series, Guinevere and Lancelot’s romance is the stuff of legends. I love their obvious and immediate mutual attraction. The slight awkwardness. The foreshadowing! “I'm not a knight yet, my lady” / “And I’m not a lady.” NO YET, BUT YOU WILL BE!! AAAAAH

• I didn’t pay much attention to it the first time I watched this episode but Lancelot speaks in such a formal, lofty way compared to everyone else. He literally sounds like he walked out of a book of chivalric romance. "I faced it myself, Sire. Some days past. I struck it full square. I wondered how it endured"; "Arthur stands in mortal peril", like WHO TALKS LIKE THIS. BE NORMAL. But it never crosses the line into being obnoxious, and I love how his character is defined through his speech as well as by his behaviour. Well done, writers.

• LANCELOT: "Are you two...you know" -> Lancelot wastes no time in checking if Gwen is on the market. GOOD FOR HIM. (I like how Merlin finds the idea of dating Gwen literally laughable. Bit harsh, that).

• “She seems lovely. Guinevere.” / “Oh, yeah. Yeah, she is. And the best seamstress in Camelot, I promise” -> MERLIN THIS MAN DOES NOT CARES ABOUT GWEN'S SKILL AS A SEAMSTRESS OPEN YOUR EYES YOU SILLY CHILD

• (But no, to be fair to him, he did notice)

• Arthur just... just BITCH-SLAPPING Lancelot out of the blue is actually hilarious. He's a comedian and he doesn't even know it.

• Merlin still acts like a bit of a teenager with Gaius in this ep. When Gaius discovers his forgery of the seal of nobility, Merlin tells him, “if you wanna punish me for it, go ahead” and then walks off! I’m sorry, this is a teenager acting out against his dad.

• Merlin does seem to be still testing boundaries with Gaius, but in a way that's an obvious request for reassurance, too – later in the episode he asks him: “Do you even care what happens to me?” (!!) And back in episode 1x02, when Gaius said, "What do I do if you get caught?", Merlin asked: "what would you do?" Insecure teen behaviour. Please Gaius just tell him you love him!! (He does tell him here, thank God).

• The broomstick fight scene. Much has been said about it already. The rituals are, indeed, intricate. Something so homoerotic about Arthur’s attempts to poke Lancelot in the chest with his stick. What I want to know is – did they know? Did they know when they were filming it that it would look like this. Like, was it deliberate

• @sapphickittykatherine it’s not much but there are some hints of Morlance in this ep. During Lancelot’s knighting scene, Morgana looks at him with obvious interest and asks “Who is this man?” And also later at his celebration (I’ll get to it).

The celebration scene! I love it! I’m gonna break it down into parts:

• “You played God, Merlin" -> I like this line. I think Gaius put his finger on an important character trait of Merlin’s here. He always means well, but he can be manipulative and controlling. Not so much here, perhaps, but it does emerge more in later eps.

• Not Arthur looking at Morgana with incestuous intent 💀💀💀

• “Tell me, do you think her...beautiful?” / “Yes, Sire. I do.” -> Another favourite trope of mine – two characters talking to each other but having two entirely different conversations. A bit like that cursed scene in the Disir, and with Arthur just as much oblivious (actually, could someone tell the poor guy what's going on. just once)

• Meanwhile, Morgana’s making sexy eyes at Lancelot while biting into a… cherry? I can’t tell. Some kind of sexually-connoted fruit, that’s for sure. I love how she also looks murderous while doing it. Praying mantis energy.

• Merlin and Gwen’s conversation is so cute. I’ve said it before but it’s giving girlie-and-her-gay-best-friend vibes. Look at them! They are a woman and her gay friend sitting in a bar, exchanging notes about the men around them. Over drinks. The way Merlin encourages Gwen to commit mischief too! “OH YOU ARE NO FUN GWEN. COME ON, JUST PLAY ALONG. WHO WOULD YOU RATHER F—”

• Arthur or Lancelot? I think I know what Merlin’s answer would be. At least at this point in the series. (Hint: it's not Arthur).

• “I think our Sir Lancelot might have eyes for you, Gwen” -> Merlin playing matchmaker already. I love that he’s noticed, and that he’s trying to push these two together because LOVE MUST TRIUMPH. He’s such a romantic.

~ END OF THE CELEBRATION SCENE ~

• Oooh no, Lancelot’s ruse has been discovered, SIR YOU’RE UNDER ARREST

• “You are not worthy of the knighthood bestowed upon you. You never were. And you never will be” -> possibly the worst thing anyone could’ve said to Lancelot, SIR PLEASE STOP YOU’RE BREAKING HIM. CAN’T YOU SEE HE’S ABOUT TO CRY.

• All I can think about when I see gifs of Merlin talking to imprisoned Lancelot is, “it’s okay hun”

• It’s interesting to see S1 Uther so unwilling to accept that the creature they’re trying to defeat might be magic when later in the series he will relish the chance of accusing anything and anyone of being magic. ...Growth?

(The bisexuality of this scene. Off the charts.)

• It seems to me like they were setting up Lancelot to be more of an important character that he ended up being? I mean, he was important, just by virtue of being Lancelot, but he was in a grand total of 6 episodes. But, I love that we can see Arthur’s obvious attachment (for lack of a better word) to him already. A bit like with Gwen and Lancelot, it hints at what’s to come – he is destined to become Arthur’s favourite knight (I know people like to say that it's Leon, but I think it was Lance. And after Lancelot's death it was Mordred, eventually. If you must know.) I love it, foreshadowing. You can feel the future hanging heavy in the air.

• I didn’t remember that Gwen and Lancelot met again and she begged him not to go and I think they should have kissed here

• It’s so funny that while Merlin’s trying to master the spell to defeat the Griffin, Gaius goes, “Don't worry Merlin, we have plenty of time” GAIUS NO YOU LITERALLY HAVE LESS THAN 2 HOURS

• Actually this is a thing Gaius does a lot, telling Merlin he can make it when the chances of success are pretty slim, which on one hand is very sweet, like I get it he's being a supportive dad, but on the other hand it's also... setting Merlin up to be HUGELY DISAPPOINTED if he fails? I don't know, just something I've noticed in other eps.

• The scene of Lancelot killing the Griffin is actually pretty cool? I like the glowing blue spear (how did Merlin think Lancelot wasn’t going to notice) and THE SOUNDTRACK!!

• Merlin's PURE JOY after Lancelot's killed the Griffin is SO adorable, you just feel so happy for him. YES BABY YOU DID IT!!

• I love the parallel “You did it!” scenes with Arthur & Lancelot, Gaius & Merlin, and Arthur & Uther. Very nice, big fan of symmetry

• Gaius’s pride when Merlin comes back victorious is so heartwarming. I’ve said it before but I'll repeat it, Merlin and Gaius’s relationship is possibly my favourite in the show. I think Gaius doesn’t get enough credit for being Merlin’s main source of love and hugs during his Camelot years.

• “The Code bends for no man” / “Then THE CODE IS WRONG!” (!!) -> SAY IT LOUDER MY MAN!! S1 Arthur is so vocal with his father about what he believes is right and wrong, we love to see it

• Lancelot saying he must prove himself worthy of being a knight – of course, he might have been holding the spear that killed the Griffin but he wasn’t the one who actually defeated it, and this will not do. He must now abandon his life-long dream of being a knight and go fight strangers in a cage for money. It’s the only logical next step.

• LANCE I LOVE YOU BUT WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS

THE END!!

next episode is... one no one really cares about, but I really really liked it the first time I watched it so. hopefully it will live up to what I remember :3

#there. i've re-written it pretty much.#*me; tears in my eyes* “I do this for fun”#“actually i can just go” < now lives in my head as a lancelot phrase and it cracks me up #you'll find i go on about merlin and gaius quite a bit in these #that's because i love them #they mean a lot to me *taps own bio*#merlin's body count: still 1 #< disappointing actually. like he killed a witch in ep 1 and then 4 eps of nothing. DO BETTER #rewatch1.jls

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candygalaxyyy · 2 years ago

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It’s 4 AM for me rn, I should probably go to bed because my sleeping schedule is a mess… but I’m dead set on understanding the timeline for the eighth sense. Sorry in advance for any misinformation or plot holes :) I’ve been rewatching episode 6 since Wednesday and I’ve just finished rewatching all six episodes again, safe to say things are becoming clearer. So first of all, it’s not a dream. The whole of episode 6, the drowning scene, jae won pulling ji hyun out of the water, it’s all very real. Even though the gas station scenes felt very surreal and almost mystical, especially with the lighting, blurred polaroid effect and music, but it’s still real?! People have already mentioned that on here; about it being real, time being warped with future events and other theories. And idc if this is obvious but I need it in writing to come back to.

Here’s my understanding of the past/present/future theories. Everything in episode 6 is the present, up until the trauma kiss. After the trauma kiss scene the screen fades to black, I believe that indicates a shift in the timeline being shown (it happened before but i forgot when exactly I’ll update later after I’ve watch it again). So the eighth sense is centered around jae won’s therapy session! How do I know this? Well after the opening theme in episode 1 the first scene we see is jae won at his therapist’s, and she says ‘tell me about your worries’. And so the story begins. He mentions in either episode 4 or 5 that his current worries kicked in after leaving the military so we meet ji hyun exactly when jae won’s been discharged. We still get ji hyun’s focus sometimes because as much I feel this story is jae won centered, ji hyun’s perspective gives a full picture of their relationship (have not grasped the whole story of why yet, probably to give depth to ji hyun and his importance in this story).

Jae won’s present day therapy session only appears after certain triggers are brought up, and the most telling one is him getting wasted, and his dad smashing the camera his brother gifted him (episode 5). I think this is the trigger that causes the whole therapy session, cause he mentions him putting up a front (his fake friend taehyung talking about his family), his dad aggression (broken camera) and other things we’ve seen. Furthermore, it was the longest snippet of the session we’ve seen thus far. It’s also all one session, we know this because they’re wearing the same clothes and hair in every therapy scene. Anyways, as he lets all his worries out and she asks what makes you happy these days. He thinks of ji hyun, tells her and then she says she should further their relationship if that’s the case. So he decides to take ji hyun to the beach, following the advice of his therapist and since ji hyun told him to rely on him. (present day leading to episode 6). So now we are in episode 6, going to the beach and all that good stuff, Jae won opens up because he’s just been advised to deepen his relationship with ji hyun and he feels comfortable to do so. They surf and give each other trauma through kisses… THE SREEN FADES TO BLACK.

We’ve jumped to the future, the lighting, tones and atmosphere after the trauma kisses has totally shifted from the rest of the episode, so it’s fitting to say it’s future events. To me that hotel scene is another trip in the future because they clearly say that they are only staying for that one night on the beach, because they don’t have clothes (and after them getting close on that trip it is safe to assume they will definitely go on more boyfriend trips). One reason I think the writers might have done this is to remind us of jae won’s current relationship with well deep relationships. All of his relationships after his brother and up till ji hyun were surface level. Why? Because he lost someone who he loved so deeply in such a traumatic way, he couldn’t protect his brother, he couldn’t protect his love so he chooses to disassociate from human relationships. But he can’t do that with ji hyun, he’s on his path of loving ji hyun. HE TOLD HIM SOMETHING HE’S NEVER TOLD ANYONE EVER BEFORE, HE WANT TO BE A PHOTOGRAPHER AND ONLY HIS YOUNGER BROTHER KNEW THAT. JAE WON IS ALREADY TRUSTING AND LOVING JI HYUN ON ANOTHER LEVEL THAN ALL HIS CURRENT RELATIONSHIPS. And of course after this we cut to them getting even more intimate and in their boyfriend era in the hotel, that’s their future. The drowning scene is also their future. And how will jae won react to *potentially losing another loved one after just starting to open up again (JI HYUN WON’T DIE THOUGH). How will he handle the guilt and pain he feels when ji hyun ends up in a hospital bed because of them surfing together in deeper water when ji hyun can swim that well? How will ji hyun handle it this time around?

#idk if this makes sense #it’s 4am #and I’m sleep deprived #so this is probably not the most coherent post #but I just had to write this down before it completely escapes my mind #sorry for any grammar and spelling mistakes #but they definitely hit the mark with this one #it’s such and interesting and compelling story #even the the plot is nothing new #but the storytelling is refreshing and exciting #i love it here #i love these two #jaewon x jihyun #jae won #ji hyun #the eighth sense #Korean drama #korean bl #lgbtq

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wigglebox · 2 years ago

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Thoughts on the SPNWIN Finale

Okay so I’m gonna divide this into two parts: Implications for the future of where this show will go, and then implications for a potential continuation.

**This is me writing after only seeing the episode once and then popping through here and there to try and remember things, but I may mis-remember or misinterpret but I wanna get these first thoughts out of the way!**

First off, just to quickly summarize my thoughts at the top: I really loved it.

They had a hard hand dealt with this show, which is, only 13 episodes and no promise of a season 2. Because of that, they had to write it in a way that both closed this season but kept the door cracked open for more season. It’s a very very hard balance to do, but I think they still did it.

To me, I have a lot of questions, but I LIKE having questions because that draws me back for season 2. And, if done properly, it can also lure people into the continuation.

Implications for the future of SPNWIN

This episode was a whirlwind so I apologize if I mis-remember anything!

I think the key thing that I took away from this in terms of future potential was the journal. They have Dean’s journal in the sense that Dean and Sam had John’s journal.

John and Mary take off in the end but I have no doubt in my mind Lata, Carlos, and Ada will all come back and play a part some how as well.

Which, by the way, the fact that this Carlos was THEE Carlos that was referenced in a Robbie episode a million years ago is so amazing, idk why. Robbie you madman!

But, now we more or less have the confirmation that this isn’t truly our world, however we are going to be sticking with these characters in the future. Therefore, I don’t know if that means they’ll be universe hopping too, I don’t know if it means they’ll uncover more mysteries from Dean’s journal? I think that’s likely. I also think that will be fun.

I also ALSO think that will provide more world building for the continuation, like this season already did.

There is the obvious issue in the room of that being there were only 13 episodes and this may have felt more like a mid-season finale rather than a finale, however not being promised a season 2 has had to have been thee most annoying thing to write around.

But, for a first season, it set up some solid base foundation work for them to continue to explore more stories while also not screwing around with canon.

There are still questions I want answered and who knows when or if they’ll ever be answered. The biggest one, however, is what on earth is in that journal?

I have more questions but I need to rewatch the show to form them so they’ll be in a follow up post most likely.

Another question I have is: Was that really Dean from start to finish? The hair is the biggest thing for me bc J finished filming Big Sky and there was no reason not to cut it, or use a wig of some kind [lol]. But also in general it felt different a little bit. Like it’s still him but also it didn’t feel like him from the pilot and from the photos we were seeing. But it really may well be him all along! I imagine that’s part of the mystery.

I don’t think we’ll see him again, or if we do, it’s not going to be the same version. I think he served as a launching point. Several friends have made this point already but basically he laid the foundation for all this multi-verse stuff and now the kiddos are on their own and there’s a lottttt to explore.

Again, I have to rewatch in order to fully form my thoughts on the future for the show.

My question is gonna be basically are they going to explore different universes? And, how, if Chuck kinda offed all of them? But I’m okay with my questions for now because I like to go with the flow of the show. I don’t want to figure everything out right now.

Implications for a SPN Continuation

I’ll talk about this first since I have some frens who were disappointed that 1) Cas wasn’t with Jack and Bobby and 2) Cas wasn’t mentioned.

If you’re new around here, then I’ll cut to the chase now: I am a full on “Cas Is Not In Heaven” believer. There are several reasons why. I am also a “Chuck Won” and “Jack is Chuck” believer. Also several reasons why.

I don’t believe Cas is in Heaven because they never showed him getting there. “Well Jack got him out of The Empty,” is one of those things that I’ll believe it when I see it, because otherwise, it’s too shady for me. Cas was last taken, alive, to an Empty where everything else was awake and alive and taken on behalf of a deal, not because he died. The Empty has wanted Cas for a while, and has been pissed that he’s gotten out. Cas is a PRIZE for The Empty so I don’t really see it giving up Cas any time soon for any particular reason.

Especially if that reason is Jack.

I don’t believe The Empty likes Jack either, especially after their last interaction being so bad (Jack exploding in The Empty, waking everything up). I don’t feel like The Empty is willing to do any favors for him.

God isn’t supposed to be able to influence The Empty but I think, since Lilith and Lucifer were brought down, that Chuck and The Empty had an arrangement. And from 15x18 to 15x20 I had literally no reason to believe that Cas, a threat to Chuck, would have been let go for any reason, even if Jack was “God” now.

It would have been sloppy story telling, in my opinon, if they tried to explain how Cas got into Heaven in such a short amount of time, and would have extremely taken away from the emotional magnitude of 15x18.

And that’s how I felt with 1x13 of The Winchesters.

If we had seen Cas I would have been upset, I think. Because again, there’s no explanation for him being there. If it wasn’t going to be a *wink wink nudge nudge* thing like “We’ll explain it in the continuation” then I didn’t want it.

The reason why I feel so passionate about this is beacuse of the Chuck Won theory. And because of that theory, and how Cas’ role evolved over time in Supernatural, I don’t believe Chuck can “recreate” Cas. Because Cas exists outside of Chuck’s narrative, and isn’t beholdened to Chuck, that means Chuck can’t reproduce Cas. It’s just never going to happen.

And I feel strongly about Chuck not being able to do that SPECIFICALLY because when all is said and done, I don’t EVER want Dean to look at Cas and wonder if he’s real or not (throwback to 15x02 anyone?).

Therefore, I did not want to see Cas in The Winchesters except for very very very specific ways that I knew deep down wouldn’t happen because this isn’t the show for that.

And I’m sorry I wish I could go along with the Cas in Heaven memes because they do make me laugh — but also the thought of him being there with no explanation and still not showing up makes me more sad than not.

And that’s another thing—

With 15x20, and no Cas, there had been conspiracy after conspiracy for the last two and a half years as to why, everywhere between network censorship to Misha secretly filming and then them not showing anything. I’m personally more inclined to believe a mixture of: Censorship (Dean can’t reciprocate so what’s the point) and a deliberate choice on behalf of Dabb. But that’s for a different post because this is already very very long.

But, him not being in the finale — while it fed into the Chuck Won theory — it also didn’t have enough stability to truly land on one theory or another because COVID restrictions were also blamed (in whatever manner people saw fit to blame it).

However, NOW — with Cas NOT showing up next to Jack and Bobby — even tho in 15x20 Bobby said that Cas helped Jack — was very LOUD to me.

So what does that imply, to me?

1) No Cas until they have the time and space to put the story and emotions into it that it deserves. AKA — since I’m a Cas Is In The Empty believer — A rescue, by Dean. Even Jackles at JIB11 said that he’d want to explore that. Both of them have expressed an interest in exploring a follow up to 15x18. They can’t do that in the season finale of a spin off show that hadn’t mentioned them virtually at all (apart from parallels) all season.

2) No Cas because Cas isn’t there. I’ll get into my “Jack isn’t Jack” thing in a second, but because there was also this choice not to have Cas there — once is a mistake, but twice? Now it’s starting something. Especially since this time, they DID have Jack there. It’s like they’re showing us a Cas-shaped puzzle piece missing. The piece may be missing but you can clearly see the hole and know what’s supposed to be there (kinda like Dean’s reciprocation!).

To me these are interesting storytelling tactics. And that’s what this is, storytelling.

I feel like maybe we lost the plot a little bit, we being The Fandom, in terms of long-term storytelling efforts.

Cas being in The Empty still really does open up a TON of plot ideas for a continuation. Is it sad he’s not with Dean right now? Absolutely. But I’d rather have them apart than have a flimsy, unexplained reunion just to have a reunion.

“They didn’t even mention Cas,” and yeah, maybe they could have, but as friends in Discord servers have pointed out, that also locks them into a story that they may not be able to tell so it’s better to keep it like how it was in 15x20 where Dean never spoke his name. That is, it adds to the uncanny valley of it all.

Jack isn’t Jack

Look at this lovely post. This reminds me of the first time I was ever exposed to Chuck Won, Chuck is Jack theory way back in ... I want to say December 2020. Someone had compared Jack’s clothes to Chuck’s, and here we are again.

Also these tags from @clarkenting

Jack didn’t feel like Jack. He hasn’t felt like Jack since 15x19.

I already freak out and ramble a lot about Chuck Won when it comes to Becky’s Notes in 15x04 about “no one even mentions Cas” and the line about rock music and the like. But another note she made was regarding the villain’s monologue at the end and how it kinda sucked. Jack had a monologue at the end. Jenny, in 15x20, said 8 words.

So Jack post-15x19 has always been suspicious to me! And last night was no different, especially since it’s the most Chuck Like he’s looked.

Also, another thing that got me, was the reference to Carry On (the Kansas song). It felt super duper pointed and not just an Easter Egg but like — hey this IMMEDIATELY reminds me of 15x20 and how Dean was like, weirdly, “I love this song!” a little too out of character in heaven as he began to drive off.

Dean’s favorite band isn’t Kansas, it’s Led Zeppelin.

Also, the reference felt like a fourth wall break, something that Chuck would do.

So no, I don’t believe that Jack was Jack last night. I’m sure if I go through the dialogue, which I plan to do lol, I’ll find even more reason to believe that.

Another thing that confused me was Bobby being there. Dean drove off, alone, and was continuously shown alone, throughout his drive. But BOBBY was there last night? Confused I am. But in the good way.

We know now that Baby can hope planes of existence so I really really hope she can hop into The Empty.

I’m someone who believes that Dean’s “Heaven” is in reality just The Empty. Or, as sometimes my friends will hear me call it, Chuck’s toy shelf. I am also someone who believes we DID see Chuck in 1x08 as part of the band and it wasn’t just a Rob cameo. Rob’s character has too much implication to just casually toss him in as a background character.

This is super duper long, and I apologize but also not really!

Some final thoughts (for now) (any follow up posts I make also will be under #spnwin thots):

I think this finale set up things for both a season 2 AND a continuation. I’ve been a contination believer since literally the SPN finale finished airing. At first it was a way to cope, but then it became a full blown belief for me the more and more first Jackles talked about it, and then the rest of the cast.

I’m really excited for season 2 of The Winchesters should it happen. I really hope it does. I personally believe it has a high chance of migrating to HBO Max for a home — and if that’s the case that’ll be awesome bc I also believe that’s where a continuation will go.

All of our favorites of the season will be in season 2 as well. We will see Carlos, Lata, Ada, Millie, Betty, Tony, etc. back. There are still questions about their characters too that we need answering. I’m still suspicious of Betty!

I liked that they contained this just enough for the finale just in case they don’t get a season 2, but still left dangling plot threads to catch for a season 2 (which felt very season 15 of SPN to me. In my eyes, they really did leave some things dangling for a continuation.)

What kind of potential world building will we get now that we know space and time is but an illusion, lol. I like the prequel being used to expand worlds more and expand the canon more, especially when it comes to hopping planes of existence.

Is The Empty really the big villain, or Chuck? I personally think so, and I personally think that this will help funnel some stuff into a continuation.

“What about Destiel” yes what about Destiel? That’s a continuation problem but one that I know Jackles and Dee and whoever else will be involved will ultimately tackle as well. I may have more faith and optimism than others, but that’s because I know from past experiences from SPN that I won’t be burned no matter what happens — so if you need me to clown for you, I can!

What about the Akrida? Do they just stop at this place? Why this particular storyline? What’s going on? We already have alternates to our own timeline that is the Akrida did not finish off our Men of Letters, Baby got into John’s hands via a car dealership (well, according to Chuck anyway), John didn’t know about hunting in our world, etc etc.

So what else is different? Will they see OUR world? Who is dead, who is alive? Is Chuck gonna send them to other places too?

Only time will tell I guess!

Time to light those manifestation candles for season 2 and a continuation!

#long post #very long post i'm so so SO. fucking sorry #spn #spnwin #spnwin spoilers #spnwin thots #spnwin finale #i wrote this all in a frenzy and before i could grab starbucks #and i'm running on 3 hours of sleep #so i apologize if i missed anything #again anything additional i wanna talk about will be under spnwin thots #walejaflwkejfw #time to go on areblog spree

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