#S2E13 Daddy Issues

[igniferrus]

I already reblogged this once, but I couldn't stop thinking about it.

Arthur Pendragon is fundamentally a good man. Even in a show where he is constantly stymied by both writing choices and other character's actions, he is honourable, caring, and brave.

He kills the unicorn because Uther's purge of magic means he doesn't know any better, and then he doesn't want to eat during the famine he caused, because his people can't. The only test he fails is also the one where it is implied he won't be a good king; and it is said that it's because he would kill to protect his honour. BUT in that scene Evan (the tester) says that Arthur is a bad king because Uther would have had Evan executed as a thief, and Arthur not doing it is a sign that he is unfit to rule. So not only does it play on his huge daddy issues, it also seems like, in that moment, Arthur is trying to fix the mistake that implies he will be a bad king..... (He's a little confused, but he's got the spirit). Other than that, he turns a blind eye to allow Evan to steal to feed his children, and tries to die to save his people.

Some people say that Arthur is too mean to Merlin, but I just don't see it. Yes, their relationship is based on banter and insults, but Merlin definitely is an equal player in that. Arthur also calls Merlin wise and a good friend, and frequently tells him that he's someone Arthur trusts. It's not all insults. Plus, I only remember Merlin expressing his displeasure at being called idiot to Gaius in S2E1, not to Arthur. Arthur can't change if he doesn't know he's actually hurting Merlin. I think the only time one of them communicates the banter actually hurts is when Arthur compares being called fat to whatever is upsetting Merlin so deeply in S2E9, but that doesn't stop Merlin. (Also, not saying your maybe gf dying is the same as being insulted, but Arthur doesn't know that's what happened.)

Arthur is constantly going against Uther to keep Merlin safe, such as retrieving the Mortaeus flower and convincing everyone that Merlin's confession of sorcery when Gwen is arrested is fake, but also in little ways like bodily catching Merlin and removing him when the witchfinder accuses Gaius. He also cares deeply about Merlin's emotional state, as seen when he sits down with him after Freya died to check in on Merlin and cheer him up. He even double checks he didn't go too far with their play fights with the eater bucket joke! Arthur also focuses on Merlin's upset in the inn in S2E13 more than his own injuries. He's got a terrible shoulder wound that is no doubt infected at that point, but he's more concerned about what has Merlin so worked up. (Not to mention that he's looking for a way to save his people rather than recovering). In S5E5, Arthur says Merlin doesn't laughed at his jokes and hasn't smiled in three days. He's clearly very attuned to Merlin's mood and wants him to be happy.

And, of course, we come to Arthur and magic. Literally everyone around him is constantly telling him how evil magic is, and that it corrupts. And that's all he really sees of it. He loses Morgana to magic; she goes from an advocate for justice during Uther's reign to repeatedly attacking Camelot. Arthur himself is repeatedly attacked by magic users, and even the unicorn's curse punishes Arthur's people rather than him directly. He would not see that as just. Everyone around him is constantly decrying magic, reinforcing Uther's bullshit teachings. Even Merlin tells him to his face that there is no place for magic in Camelot. The closest anyone comes to telling Arthur his father was wrong about magic is Gaius in S4E7 when he says Dragoon/Merlin did not kill Uther, and that there are all sorts of people who want to protect Arthur. Which is not actually an endorsement of magic. And yet!! AND YET! Arthur shows compassion and understanding towards magic users. In S5E3, he saves the witch from burning, demands that she get a fair trial, and then asks Merlin to make her comfortable as she passes. He does not believe in killing sorcerers on sight. Arthur is implied to not even be wholly on board with killing all magic users at all! Way back in S1E8, not only does Arthur ague against having Mordred executed, Morgana says "If I know you at all, you won't stand by and let this happen." Even at this point, Arthur is not the kind of man who is willing to let a child die for how they were born! And this can't be contributed to Merlin's influence, as it's so early on in their relationship. This is just how Arthur is!

Finally, to close out this overly long meta (which didn't even touch on everything I meant to...), Kara. She wasn't executed for being a magic user. She wasn't even executed for trying to kill the King of Camelot (which I'm pretty sure in most medieval kingdoms was an offence that usually meant death), Arthur puts her on trial for hurting his people. "But you stand before the court, not because of an act of sorcery or sedition, but because an act of murder. Your actions have brought about the deaths of many good men and threaten the lives of many more." By his father's laws, Kara should be killed for being a druid. Arthur doesn't do that. By the law of pretty much any kingdom ever, Kara should be killed for her assassination attempt. Arthur doesn't focus on that. Rather than the danger to his own life, Arthur focuses on the safety of his people. Exactly as he always has, since the unicorn, since the dragon, since searching desperately for Merlin when everyone else had given up, since he literally had to have his wits and personality removed in order to be evacuated from his castle while it was under attack.

During Kara's trial, Arthur lays out his reasoning for keeping the magic ban, in a way that I feel like most people miss. "In your words…I hear the voice of Morgana. It is she and others like her who have abused the powers of magic. It is they who have brought the rift between our people. It is their deeds, that have terroised Camelot and forced us to outlaw such practices." Unlike Uther, Arthur isn't calling magic itself evil, he's focusing on those who "abuse" it, in other worse, use it improperly. His problem is the detrimental effects magic has on his people! No one has shown him or told him magic and the well-being of his people can co-exist! So what if Gaius says some magic users want to protect him? The people of Camelot are what matter. (And yes, I absolutely know magic users are only attacking Camelot because Uther outlawed it, but I'm just trying to show Arthur's perspective, and all he's ever known).

Arthur's priority is shown again and again to be his people and his friends, because he is A Good Man! I simply cannot vibe with anone who is anti-Arthur, we just didn't watch the same show.

I've been in this fandom for so long i don't even feel the need to argue with arthur haters/misunderstanders anymore i just go 'ohhh so you don't Get it I'm so sorry for your loss' and move on (said with clenched teeth and twitching eyes nails breaking as i pretend to be normal and chill about the daily slander)

[kosemsultanim]

ELENA GILBERT APPRECIATION WEEK 2021 | Day 5 (November 22nd): Favorite Relationship → Elena x Bonnie x Caroline

[hotchocolateandpillowforts]

Watching my last episode of The Vampire Diaries for the day (s2e13 "Daddy Issues") and watching Caroline being tortured--one of the many times she gets to go through that experience--and I had a couple thoughts.

1.) How ABSOLUTELY FERAL Klaus Mikaelson would be if he saw this happen to her.

2.) How when Tyler goes into the trailer to rescue her he fucking hesitates. Her future boyfriend fucking hesitates when he sees her locked up in a cage. And it's after he's kissed her. Drink wolfsbane, jackass.

[ao-anonymousobsesser]

We Remain "Previously On" Timeline

NEXT

I've decided to move the timeline up for... well, mostly for convenience to be honest, but also to help match up the Moon Phases. Apologies for any inconvenience/misunderstanding! (ALSO THIS IS 100 PERCENT NOT GOING TO INCLUDE ANY REAL-WORLD EVENTS FROM THE LAST 5 YEARS SO DON'T EVEN WORRY ABOUT THAT)

Previously on... Vampire Diaries...:

2017 AD:

26 May (Fri, New Moon): Delena meet, Grayson and Miranda die

4-8 September (Mon-Fri, Full Moon-Waning Gibbous): S1E1 “Pilot”, S1E2 “Night of the Comet”

11-15 September (Mon-Fri, Last Quarter): S1E3 “Friday Night Bites”

16-17 September (Sat-Sun, Last Quarter): S1E4 “Family Ties”

21-23 September (Thurs-Sat, New Moon): S1E5 ��You’re Undead to Me”, S1E6 “Lost Girls”

30-31 October (Mon-Tues, Waxing Gibbous): S1E7 “Haunted”

1 November (Wed, Waxing Gibbous): S1E8 “162 Candles” (which is already incorrect even if the episode took place in 2009 because Stefan was born in 1846 so he would be 163 not 162, so I’m just changing it to be “171 Candles”)

27-30 November (Mon-Thurs, First Quarter): S1E9 “History Repeating”

30 November-3 December (Thurs-Sun, Full): S1E10 “The Turning Point”, S1E11 “Bloodlines”

7-9 December (Thurs-Fri, Last Quarter): S1E12 “Unpleasantville”

16-17 December (Sat-Sun, New): S1E13 “Children of the Damned”, S1E14 “Fool Me Once”

2017-2018 AD (transitioning/new year):

27 December-2 January (Wed-Tues, First Quarter-Full): S1E15 “A Few Good Men”

2018 AD:

12-13 January (Fri-Sat, Waning Crescent): S1E16 “There Goes the Neighborhood”, S1E17 “Let the Right One In”

30 January (Tues, Full): S1E18 “Under Control”

9-10 February (Fri-Sat, Waning Crescent): S1E19 “Miss Mystic Falls”

16-17 February (Fri-Sat, New): S1E20 “Blood Brothers”, S1E21 “Isobel”

22-25 February (Thurs-Sun, First Quarter): S1E22 “Founders Day”, S2E1 “The Return”, S2E2 “Brave New World”

2-4 March (Fri-Sun, Full): S2E3 “Bad Moon Rising”, S2E4 “Memory Lane”, S2E5 “Kill or Be Killed”

7 March (Wed, Waning Gibbous): S2E6 “Plan B”

11-13 March (Sun-Tues, Last Quarter): S2E7 “Masquerade”, S2E8 “Rose”, S2E9 “Katerina”

19 March (Mon, New): S2E10 “The Sacrifice”

30 March-2 April (Fri-Mon, Full): S2E11 “By the Light of the Moon”, S2E12 “The Descent”, S2E13 “Daddy Issues”

3-4 April (Tues-Wed, Waning Gibbous): S2E14 “Crying Wolf”, S2E15 “The Dinner Party”

9-10 April (Mon-Tues, Last Quarter): S2E16 “The House Guest”, S2E17 “Know Thy Enemy”

13-14 April (Fri-Sat, Waning Crescent): S2E18 “The Last Dance”, S2E19 “Klaus”

28-30 April (Sat-Mon, Full): S2E20 “The Last Day”, S2E21 “The Sun Also Rises”, S2E22 “As I Lay Dying

22-30 June (Fri, Waxing Gibbous-Full): S3E1 “The Birthday”, S3E2 “The Hybrid”, S3E3 “The End of the Affair”

31 August (Fri, Waning Gibbous): S3E4 “Disturbing Behavior”

2-5 September (Sun-Wed, Last Quarter): S3E5 “The Reckoning”, S3E6 “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, S3E7 “Ghost World”

15 September (Sat, Waxing Crescent): S3E8 “Ordinary People”

21-22 September (Fri-Sat, Waxing Gibbous): S3E9 “Homecoming”

30 September (Sun, Last Quarter): S3E10 “The New Deal”

10-11 October (Wed-Thurs, New): S3E11 “Our Town”

20-21 October (Sat-Sun, Full): S3E12 “The Ties That Bind”, S3E13 “Bringing Out the Dead”

22-24 October (Mon-Wed, Full): S3E14 “Dangerous Liaisons”, S3E15 “All My Children”, S3E16 “1912”

27-28 October (Sat-Sun), Waning Gibbous): S3E17 “Break On Through”, S3E18 “The Murder of One”

3 November (Sat, Waning Crescent): S3E19 “Heart of Darkness”

9-12 November (Fri-Mon, New): S3E20 “Do Not Go Gentle”, S3E21 “Before Sunset”, S3E22 “The Departed”, S4E1 “Growing Pains”

17-18 November (Sat-Sun, Waxing Gibbous): S4E2 “Memorial”

26-28 November (Mon-Wed, Waning Gibbous): S4E3 “The Rager”, S3E4 “The Five”, S3E5 “The Killer”

29-30 November (Thurs-Fri, Last Quarter): S4E6 “We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes”

8-11 December (Sat-Tues, New): S4E7 “My Brother’s Keeper”, S4E8 “We’ll Always Have Bourbon Street”

12 December (Wed, Waxing Crescent): S4E9 “O Come, All Ye Faithful”

2019 AD

5-8 January (Sat-Tues, ~New): S4E10 “After School Special”, S4E11 “Catch Me If You Can”, S4E12 “A View to a Kill”

Recent Events: TVD Season Four (2019 AD)

9-10 January (Wed-Thurs, New Moon): S4E13 “Into the Wild”

11-12 January (Fri-Sat, New Moon): S4E14 “Down the Rabbit Hole” and S4E15 “Stand By Me”

12 Jan: Elena flips switch / burns house down

20 January-15 February: S4E16 “Bring It On”

20 Jan (Sun, Full Moon): “it’s only been a couple days” convo

15 Feb (Fri, Waxing Gibbous): “going back to school” convo / adventure, Elena’s party, Carolena fight, Klayley get “close”, Delena go to NYC

16-17 Feb (Sat-Sun, Full Moon): S4E17 “Because the Night”

16 Feb: Elena / Damon explore NYC, Bonnie completes Expression Triangle

17 Feb: Klaroline spat while burying bodies, start of Beklena road trip

5 March (Tues, New Moon): S4E18 “American Gothic”

Beklena were on the road for about 2 weeks before Willoughby

Beklena find Katherine / interrogate her

Elena goes to meet “em” at the gazebo

NEXT

[mynameisel]

So. I have started summarizing episodes of avatar as I rewatch them.

Avatar s2e7: zuko on some "come back Shane" western wandering stranger shit. Azula was always evil and someone should have poisoned her fire flakes.

Avatar s2e8:  further proof that Iroh is the best father figure ever. Ty Lee want that Sokka Cocka

Avatar s2e9:  Aang is a soft hippy wimp while Sokka talks to fufu cuddly poops (Sokka acknowledges that meat and sarcasm are his whole identity) . Iroh wisdom and Zuko angst gets turned up to 11.

Avatar s2e10: Toph makes 2 of the best blind jokes in the series. Sokka thinks he can outsmart an all knowing spirit being .

Avatar s2e11: FRIENDLY MUSHROOM mushy GIANT  FRIEND and Aang changes his name to Aangst. Iroh and zuko score pots through pai sho.

Avatar s2e12:  Hi I'm jet and I always find a piece of wheat grass to put in my mouth regardless of location. Sokka doesn't want to lose another girlfriend after his last one turned into the moon. Cue Toph and suki slashfic

Avatar s2e13: Uncle Iroh got game, but stupid heats up tea with fire ending. Toph blind joke number 5, Ty Lee still wants Sokka to rocka her world (Sokka isn't NOT down, proving that p*ssy is power).

Avatar s2e14: the manchurian candidate episode.  Jet mourns the loss of his blade of wheat grass as he exclaims that those tea makers made tea hot.

Avatar s2e15: one of the best episodes in the series. Sokka has haiku BARS. Zuko gets a date with a girl who is super smooth. Iroh makes everyone who isn't a monster cry.

Avatar s2e16: Appa is an adorable giant fluffy baby and everyone should love him.

Avatar s2e17:  Toph blind joke number 7. Lake laogai is my safeword. Zuko face turn number 2.

Avatar s2e18:  Team avatar basically blitzes through all the royal guards, the earth king rides appa. Zuko's cognitive dissonance makes him sick. Sokka thinks long feng is long gone.

Avatar s2e19:  Onion and banana juice. Zuko smiles. Azula is still evil and conniving  AF.

Avatar s2e20:  Yeah daddy, let me heal your big bad scar with this magic liquid. Zuko heel turn number 2. Bosco good bear. PikAzula, Thunderbolt!

Avatar s3e1:  someone could have at least given Aang a fade.  Katara has issues with her dad leaving for the war, because she needed more reasons to cry this episode. Zuko knows Azula is up to something.

Avatar s3e2: The episode where Aang basically becomes Kevin bacon in footloose.  Flamey-o hotman! Zuko hurts Iroh's heart.

Avatar s3e3:  Katara is justice, Katara is the night.

Avatar s3e4: the gang doesn't know how to be funny or pass the time while Sokka becomes a padawan. Iroh is playing 3 dimensional mental chess.

[blue-mint-winter]

ST Voy s2e13 Prototype

B’Elanna episode! She repairs a robot they found floating in space and that’s when trouble starts.

I am not convinced the Pralor and Cravic robots classify as sentient life forms even by Star Trek standards. They seem closer to TOS machines like that deadly probe Kirk found.

B’Elanna was so relatable in this ep.

The whole ep was very enjoyable with the two sides of argument. I like how it shows that caution and having full information is necessary to make a good choice. Because just having good intentions won’t matter if your decision has bad consequences.

Chakotay bringing up to Paris how they can’t afford to lose another shuttle, what a hypocrite, he’s the one who lost a shuttle first when he used it for his own personal business. Paris lost a shuttle when he was sent on a vital mission to gather food!

s2e14 Alliances

Ship is constantly under attacj by Kazons, so Chakotay suggests to Janeway to stop clinging to principles and start an alliance.

I like how she went to Tuvok for advice. Their friendship is great :)

I love how in this ep Janeway keeps to her principles and is fair, even when dealing with untrustworthy people like Kazons.

Neelix’s contacts come in handy. Too bad the alliance with Trabe didn’t work out well. But at least they were trying to do something good and bring peace to the quadrant. No one said it’s going to be easy.

Seska is still scheming with Culluh and tells him he’s her baby daddy. Lol.

Some idiot traitor is sending info to Seska now.

s2e15 Threshold

I heard this was infamously weird episode, but for the most part it wasn’t?

It’s a Paris ep about the historical breakthrough when they figure out how to go warp 10 or transwarp.

I like that Neelix helped Paris figure out the solution to ship breaking apart in transwarp.

Janeway didn’t want Paris to do the test flight because of small medical risks of complications and we get  a small reminder of their personal relationship because she’s his father’s friend.

In this ep there’s some spotlight on Paris’ issues, insecurity and feeling like a failure.

Alright, so the weirdness comes with the consequences of the successful transwarp travel. Paris is going through accelerated evolution, kidnaps Janeway and they turn into swamp amphibian creatures. It makes absolutely zero sense!!!! That’s not how evolution works. Doesn’t it depend on environment and how life adapts to it for the best chance of survival? Why and how being a space-faring race should result in humans becoming amphibians? It looks like they went down the evolutionary ladder, not up.

Farscape did future possible more evolved human quite better (that episode with 3 Crichtons) and that show was so much weirder than ST.

s2e16 Meld

There was a murder and Tuvok Holmes is on the case!

Aaaand they find insurmountable evidence and the murderer confesses. Suder is simply a sociopath?

But the ep continues because Tuvok needs to understand the logic of murder. And he’s a stupidly good person so he wants to help rehabilitate Suder and performs a mind meld to help him control his violent impulses.

Again, unintended consequences! Tuvok starts losing control over himself.

That holodeck program with super annoying Neelix and Tuvok choking him out was hardcore. I think this ep shows how Vulcans can be very scary without their usual restraint.

Real Neelix added a pinch of humour to the ep with his research into ancient Vulcan naked festivals. Tell us more Neelix!

Janeway gets insulted second time in a row (first “evolving” Paris, now emotionally unbalanced Tuvok). She’s really forgiving and understanding. Best captain:)

There’s a question what’s a moral way to deal with a murderer in their situation, if he should be executed. Janeway keeps to her principles so Suder gets confined to his quarters. However, I agree that it just makes him a freeloader on the ship with limited resources. They need everyone to pull their weight so there must be some way he can work without endangering others. Wasn’t Paris wearing a tracking/controlling device when he was in a penal colony and doing some kind of community work? They need to figure something similar out.

Anyway, no more dangerous mind melds for Tuvok.