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darkpoisonouslove · 2 months ago

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Hi Maria! One of Us is Lying + 9, Ruby Lucas + 7, Regina Mills +7, and Agatha All Along + 11 for the ask game? :D

Hiiii! And thank you so much!

9. ...which characters I think should have interacted more in canon.

This is SOOOOOO perfect! I was just watching it (yet again) and thinking how we needed more Addy and Nate scenes! I mean, for one-on-one scenes of them I can only remember the one in the abandoned cinema right after their secrets were leaked on About That and then in 2x07 when Nate confessed to Addy about kissing Fiona. They both know what it's like when people have a very narrow view of you and downright expect you to be a failure. It's something that Bronwyn and Cooper can't really understand.

I think it would have been interesting if they had contrasted Addy's capitulation of all of her agency to Jake with Nate's lack of any parental guidance. She let someone else make all the decisions for her because it was easier while Nate literally had no one to help him with his very survival. They are polar opposites in that but that's exactly why we could have gotten something great out of addressing that.

Addy could have talked to Nate when he was distraught about Bronwyn "throwing her life away for him", helped him become more open to the idea that he can allow someone else to take care of him for once and it won't lead to ruin for them or end up in disappointment for him. Maybe even made him realize that even if there's risk of that happening, he can't allow himself to make the decision instead of Bronwyn because it's her call and he shouldn't take away her agency and her right to love him and want to help him.

On the other hand, Nate absolutely should have talked to Addy about her shooting Jake! He knows what it's like to make immoral choices in order to survive which would make him the most likely person to get through to Addy. They could have even flashed back to him selling Janae the drugs that almost killed her, which would hit different for both him and Addy now that they're both friends with Janae and could have been an excellent way to showcase the developing relationships between all the characters. Maybe Addy could have even confided in Nate about her taking Xanax again because she knows he won't judge her. OH! Addy and Nate watching horror movies together to distract themselves! I just want them to be besties and have more time together! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I need to write fanfiction now. That can go on the to do list for next year.

I also wish that we got more Evanessa. I know that technically we saw the turning points and got enough to convey the point of this ship but I still want more! We could have seen a conversation about their relationship after high school. We didn't get anything to indicate that Evan didn't get into Yale and Vanessa was implied to set her sights on California, on the other end of the country from where he'd be. I think it would have been cool if they'd let Evan admit that he's actually thinking of maybe not going to Yale so he can go somewhere closer to Vanessa, which would make her freak out because no one has ever valued her so highly as to change the course of their entire life for her. And what if things don't work out between them and he ends up hating her because he didn't go to his dream school thanks to her? Cue an intervention from Addy, similar to what she did for Nate in 2x07 to get them back on track but maybe Vanessa would encourage him to still go to Yale and not give up on his dream for her. They can have a long-distance relationship instead. I can dream about it!

7. ...the scene that I think adds depth to their character or the relationship this character has with someone.

I was trying to come up with scenes that I haven't already talked about or have planned to talk about, which is why it took forever.

For Ruby I'd say that her scene with Whale in 2x12 (?) adds to her relationship with herself. The fact that despite how much the Curse took from everyone and how miserable it made them, she still saw at least a part of it as a blessing in disguise speaks to the depth of her trauma over killing Peter. And yet, we've already seen her learning to love her wolf after that and then going through the whole process a second time in Storybrooke. She was happy to find her wolf again and in other flashbacks we've seen her use her power to do good, to protect her friends from Regina. The way that these two things are true about Ruby simultaneously - that she loves who she is and she still deeply regrets what she did and is weighed down by it - only adds more depth and meaning to both. It makes Ruby a fascinating character that feels so real and strong.

This actually came to me in relation to the scene above. The scene in 3x09 where Regina takes a forgetting potion so that she'd stop worrying about Emma and be able to enjoy her life with Henry. The fact is that Regina also had so much horrible memories that she would have certainly wanted to forget. And she could have when she cast the Curse. She could have made herself forget the bad, designed her memories in a way that lets her enjoy Snow's misery and basically have it all. And yet she didn't. Sure, she could have wanted to remember for safety reasons, in order to be able to act if anything is threatening her or the Curse. But that can also be said about the moment when she decided to take the forgetting potion. In fact, back when she was casting the Curse, she was assured that it is the most powerful curse ever and it would ensure her victory. In 3x09 she's already aware of a very real, tangible potential danger. She proceeds to erase her memories regardless because of Henry. Because she is actually happy with him. The Curse was supposed to give her her happy ending but it wasn't guaranteed to her and she chose to have some sense of control by keeping her memories instead of grabbing at the chance to get rid of everything that's making her miserable. But once she had Henry, the happiness she could have with him was more important than her insecurities and her potential defeat. It demonstrates how important Henry is to Regina and how much of a failure the Curse by itself was at fulfilling her. The one opportunity that was worth all the trouble of casting it, all the pain that she'd already been through was getting to adopt Henry and Regina recognized that so she decided to risk everything else just for him.

11. ...what I think of the central character(s).

I... hadn't watched AAA when you sent this in. But since then I've watched it, like, 4 times so let's do this!

Jen is such a vibe! "Aren't you furious?" "I mean, always but collectively we've moved on." XDDD I love the fact that she first got to see how powerful she is even without her magic but then also got that back! It really put in perspective how important and valuable the work she has done on perfecting her craft is but also didn't punish her for being good at analog magic by leaving her bound. Getting her power back won't undo her trauma but it ended it. The progression of her friendship with Lilia was also amazing! I love the way that Jen understands what it's like when people have a very narrow idea of you just based on their own prejudice and don't bother looking deeper and she took the time to understand Lilia.

I wish I had words to describe how much I adore Lilia. Unfortunately, I really don't have much that I can say. I think her episode said everything perfectly. I love how in the beginning she looks scared and lost when she's falling because this is probably how she saw her life (and her end) when she was young. She didn't know what to do with her powers, didn't understand them and what they showed her scared her immensely. But then at the end of the episode she's content because she knows who she is and she saved her coven this time, she found herself. I just relate so much to what she's going through. "I'm a forgotten woman." "Then remember yourself." will always be one of the most powerful moments in television and so will be the moment when she flipped The Tower card and the whole building turned upside down. The fact that they don't show her death but instead cut to her young self just starting out on her journey of magic is so perfect! We know the flow of time is an illusion and we see Lilia fall to her death but in a sense that's just the vision that young Lilia had and she's still at the very beginning of her path. It is so poignant and powerful I'm in tears!

I ranted a lot about Alice here and here and I don't think I will be able to put this more concisely or eloquently so I'm just linking them.

I also talked about Agatha here and here (and in that first link about Alice also). I think she's great! She's become one of my most favorite characters ever! There is so much nuance because she is objectively a bad person but she is also very vulnerable despite that and you understand her even when you don't agree with her. Watching her kill Alice is so hard for me but at the same time I can see how scared she was of the coven leaving her with her mother that when she saw a chance to get power for herself and not have to beg them and depend on their decision, she grabbed it. Even if it meant sacrificing the person that was actively trying to save her from her mother. I feel like this might relate to her rage at Rio as well. If Rio, who loves her more than anyone else alive, hurt her the worst she's been hurt when she took Nicky, how is she supposed to trust that these people, who have heard so much awful things about her and, rightfully, hate her, will choose to help her rather than abandon her? Her own mother wanted her dead, even before she'd done anything wrong at all. There is so much going there, I couldn't talk about it all if I tried!

I don't really have much to say about Billy outside his dynamic with Agatha. I do think his story (most of episode 6) was the slowest, most boring part of the show. Sorry! That doesn't mean I don't like him. I think his unadulterated enthusiasm and his wide-eyed belief in good is great considering all of the trauma that he's been through. He absolutely is the counter Agatha needs to her bitterness and cynicism. But he's not lacking complexity. It took me a lot of time to wrap my head around the fact that it has been three years since he got his new body and so the Kaplans have been his parents for much, much longer than Wanda and Vision. His anger at Wanda makes sense no matter how much it hurts me. He doesn't know the lengths to which Wanda went to have her children again. I do hope he learns, however, because then he will absolutely face the same thing he said Nicky will be able to forgive Agatha for. I want to see him put his money where his mouth is.

I don't really have much to say about Sharon but I can't not mention her. She deserves to be remembered. She just happened to be in the wrong place in the wrong time and unlike the others, she didn't get anything positive from The Road. She deserved better! RIP, Sharon, you were a queen!

I almost forgot Rio... Oops! Tbh seeing so many posts about Agathario on tumblr left me with a very wrong idea about how much Rio would be in the show and I was kinda disappointed. I had also already seen pretty much all of the scenes with her and had read analyses about them so there wasn't really anything left for me to unravel with that character, which means that she couldn't really hold my attention. I do like the moment at the end of episode 4 where she listens to the others tell stories about their scars and she decides to join in. It feels very human of her to want to unburden herself now that she can, especially since she's probably alone the whole time and the one person who she wants to tell about her pain does not want to hear from her at all. That death can love and hurt and feel lonely is certainly an idea!

I love this show so much! It's Marvel's best!

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