#again leading my back to my theory that Izzy's death was a decision made before they knew what they were doing with the rest of the season

[thegoldenhoof]

Izzy dies, not as Izzy but as Blackbeard and that is not fair

(Not just to Izzy but to the writing jn Ep 4-7)

I wasn't able to articulate it properly until I was writing a longer meta about the death of the mentor trope but another reason why Izzy's death felt jarring (other than the lack of plot common sense) was that Izzy died as Blackbeard.

Izzy did not create Blackbeard. Inspite of the misinterpretations of Jenkins last moment inspiration, Izzy did not train Blackbeard. Inspite of the extremely ridiculous dialogues shoved into Ricky's mouth we *know* Izzy was not the bains behind Blackbeard.

Izzy says he fed Blackbeard's darkness, not created, not forced, but fed. However we may interpret this the Burden of Blackbeard has been on both of them. One of them wanted to shed it because it was boring (and he was depressed) the other wanted to keep it because it was security, their way of life and his life's work.

And yet Izzy alone has to die as Blackbeard. Izzy gets to take all the burden of Blackbeard on himself and die for the symbolic release of Ed.

And in so far as you consider everything till Episode 2 or even Episode 3 this is perhaps fine. But Izzy who was the half of Blackbeard is already dead after that. He'd shot him in the head. By Episode 4 Izzy broken and purposeless asks himself who he was anymore.

Izzy lets go of Blackbeard in what Jenkins has called his moment of divorce from Blackbeard. Izzy gets to grow and learn about kindness and community. He learns to give back. He gives his approval for Ed letting go of his leathers and he does that from the experience of having let go of Blackbeard himself. (If Ed was indeed seeking such approval we are not shown that)

And yet...

Izzy dies as Blackbeard. All of this, all of his journey is rendered meaningless not because he dies, but because his role in Blackbeard was elevated narratively to serve as a vessel externalizing Ed's self-loathing. Izzy as a person recedes to the background.

Izzy had found healing and family over the season but he doesn't get to die as Izzy, he gets to die as Blackbeard. He dies with only Ed by his side and all the people he formed bonds with this season away, audience to the tragic spectacle because in that moment he is only Blackbeard, not Izzy.

Izzy never had a single hope of redemption because no matter what he did *he* could never shed his past. Stede's love is enough to save Ed from Blackbeard but apparently the crew's love was never going to be enough to save Izzy because Ed needed him to *be* the Blackbeard who died so he could be the Ed who lived.

Perhaps the lesson here is you have to get ahead in that redemption race because if you straggle behind you are fucked even if you try.

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

Shadowhunters 3x11, Lost Souls -- Review

It's that time of the year again where I put myself through the torture of enduring this show. Watching this show is like going on an endurance run. You drag your feet when you first start, when you get acclimated to the level of exercise, you think "hey, this isn't too bad" and then by the end, it's just pain...but also a sense of pride that you made it through. That's been my experience with the show, anyway. And it's basically how I felt about Shadowhunters 3x11, Lost Souls.

I would like to preface this review with saying that I am NOT a huge supporter of this show. I do enjoy certain elements of it but I'm not what would be classified as a devoted fan. For me, Shadowhunters is not a good show and I do get very critical of the show in my reviews. Honestly, for me, I watch the show because 1) I'm too curious not to and 2) I find that this show can be so bad its funny and that's how I reap enjoyment out of it. I am not at all invested in this show or its characters anymore. I'm just watching to see what happens. If you're a die hard fan and you lash out at everyone who has a different opinion than you, you might want to skip these...I'm just saying. My reviews may not be for you. If you do decide to be a total troll, well then pay attention to the below disclaimer.

This is going to be an honest review of my thoughts and feelings regarding this episode. If you're the kind of Shadowhunters fan where you only want to hear positive things about the show, this is not the place for you. If you decide to stick around and get offended by what is said, then that's on you. I warned you. Just know that if you send me any rude comments or messages, I will 100% ignore you. I find that's the best way to deal with bullies. I work 14 hour days. Do you really think I want to waste my incredibly valuable free time dealing with derogatory comments? Hell no. This review will consist of my honest opinions. Opinions are never right or wrong. I'm not telling YOU how to think and feel. I'm telling you what I, quirky and socially awkward me, think and feel. So please, lets discuss with dignity and respect. If I'm critical about this show, it's only because I want it to get better. There is, in fact, a difference between hating a show and being critical of it. I do not hate Shadowhunters, I am being critical and analyzing the flaws as I would with any other show. There are positives but there are also negatives. It's great if you want to promote positivity with this show (and I encourage you to do so) but that doesn't mean I'm not going to point out the things that are legitimately wrong with it. Also, keep in mind that despite the fact that I do like the books, me being critical of this show has nothing to do with my fondness for the books. I don't really care if the show deviates from the source material as long as the changes are good, it makes sense, and it doesn't create plot holes within the confines of the world the show has created. My problems with this show are problems I would have with any show or book for that matter. I think it's perfectly reasonable to take issue with a show that has plot holes, shoddy world building, and inconsistent characters. There will be spoilers for the books and movie.

We are at last embarking upon the final episodes of this show and if this episode is what's going to set the tone for the remaining episodes, then I'm glad it's the final episodes because...well, this episode wasn't great and is a perfect example of what I won't miss about Shadowhunters. Bland and cringey dialogue, more characters than it knows what to do with, and too much jumping across plot points. There are individual moments in the episode I enjoyed but overall, this isn't an episode I loved.

The Loss of the Mary Sue

I'm not entirely certain of the timeline in this episode. The episode never specifies on exactly how many days have passed since the 3A finale but I'm going to estimate about a week or so. Everyone believes Clary died in the explosion caused by Lillith attacking Simon.

The episode opens with Jace, Izzy, and Alec chasing after a downworlder and Jace makes some very shoddy decisions in this fight that lets you see just how reckless he's become in the wake of Clary's "death". We then get a montage of everyone missing Clary and the more significant one is Jace, that's the one they spent the most amount of time on. He's basically walking through Clary's room remembering all the times he spent with Clary...so basically three memories. Another classic example of what I've always been talking about when it comes to the adaptation changes. Clary and Jace have barely spent any amount of time together, even less actually dating and I'm supposed to believe that they're each other's one true love...not going to happen because the show didn't develop it at all. There's a moment in the montage where Jace starts looking at Clary's drawings and getting really emotional about it and I felt nothing because Jace has never been shown to take any sort of interest in Clary's artwork before. In fact, if it weren't for that one scene in 3A, I wouldn't even have known that Clary was still drawing. By the show deviating from the books in the way they did, Clace had less development but yet the show still wants to continue the aspect of Clace being hopelessly in love from the books. You can't make a significant change from the source material and then pages down the line expect to pick up exactly where you left off. By making the change, you changed the entire context of the relationship so now the entire story has to change in order to fit that new narrative. Sadly, the Shadowhunters writers have not figured that out yet and continue to make that same mistake...or they're lazy, it could be that, too. Jace eventually gets so depressed that it's implied that he's contemplating suicide but Izzy is able to talk to him and get him to think. And then she just leaves him after making him promise he won’t go through with it. If anyone's wondering, if you catch someone who you believe may be contemplating suicide, do not UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, LEAVE THEM ALONE!!! Particularly in a dark room. Being in a dark enclosed space is not the kind of place that typically sends out positive energy. But I suppose I can cut Izzy a little bit of a break. It's entirely possible the Shadowhunter world doesn't really understand how to help someone who's experiencing suicidal thoughts. They certainly didn’t help out Jace’s mother. Alec also confronts Jace about this in probably the only believable scene in this entire episode. Seriously, I've never been a Jalec shipper but I totally understand why people ship them. Matt and Dom are probably the only actors who actually have any chemistry with each other. But Alec tells Jace he's doing the memory of Clary a disservice and that if Jace were to die, it would destroy him as well. In other words, Jace isn't the only one who's going to be affected by this decision. Jace eventually is called by Luke who for some reason appears to be living in a motel room. I don't know why but whatever. Luke doesn't believe Clary is actually dead and he tries to convince Jace through some really weird conspiracy theory that probably even flat-earthers would find difficult to believe. But hey, if it leads to them finding Clary, I'll go with it. And I understand why Luke is unable to accept even the possibility that Clary might be gone for good. He can't think that about someone who he basically views as his daughter and the last connection he has to Jocelyn. Luke gives the evidence to Jace and tells Jace to at least check it out.

Simon, understandably, is also having a difficult time with all this. And Maia returns to give him emotional support despite leaving for a very particular and totally understandable reason but Simon needs her so of course she comes back for him. It's not like Maia exists for anything else but for Simon's character arc. Both Simon and Izzy kind of passive-aggressively shame Maia about leaving. And I'm particualrly disappointed in Izzy telling Maia about what happened to Simon's family as that's a very deeply personal issue and Simon should've been the one to tell her. It wasn't Izzy's secret to tell. I get that they were trying to use that scene to exposit information to the audience but there were better ways of doing that. Hell, it could've just been Izzy making an off-handed comment about Simon. Maia could've been talking to Izzy about how badly Simon is doing with the Clary situation and Izzy could've been all, "especially with what happened with his family" and Maia could've been shocked and Izzy could've been flabbergasted because she didn't know Maia didn't know. That would've been a much better way for the situation to be handled. But I'm not too pleased with Izzy saying in response to Maia not knowing, "well how could you? you weren't around." Just the insinuation that Maia should stay around and support her man and not go off and get in the right head space to properly heal herself after dealing with the re-emergence of her abuser. But I suppose I shouldn’t expect any different from Izzy seeing as she, herself, also only exists to give support the other characters. I think these passive aggressive intonations of shaming Maia are really horrible and shame on the writer. Maia, Izzy, and Simon decide to work together to find a way to get rid of the Mark of Cain from Simon's forehead. They talk to Raphael who now works at a soup kitchen in Detroit and Raphael tells them the tale of some dude chilling in the sewers of NYC who could possibly be the oldest vampire alive and may have answers to the removal of the Mark of Cain. Maia decides not to help Simon on this as its a bad idea for a werewolf and a vampire to meet and I almost forgot that was a thing, the show so rarely does anything with the vampire vs werewolf dynamic. But of course Maia has to back off to give room for Sizzy. I’m really not a big fan of Sizzy being explored here as everything that made Sizzy fun and interesting in the books has been completely stripped from the show. I’d much prefer Saia on the show. But really, I just want Maia and Izzy to have their own character arc, though that doesn’t revolve around shipping. 

The Malec B-Plot

We have a Malec B-plot that I found just completely unnecessary wherein Iris returns and kidnaps Magnus because she wants to get Madzie back. She falls for the most obvious trap in the world and hopefully we never see Iris again. What it does for Magnus's story works I guess but I just found it to be a really obtrusive subplot that didn’t fit at all with the episode. I'm not sure if it's just the fact that I've been away from the show for a year so I can see the the show a little more clearly now but the Malec chemistry is no longer working for me. Maybe it's just that I've always paid more attention to how alarmingly unequal their relationship is but I'm looking at the body language they're giving off and its not the kind of body language you would expect from lovers. They're so stiff around each other and not relaxed at all.

In fact, there's a line in this episode where Malec has just put Madzie to bed as they're baby-sitting her and Alec kisses Magnus and Magnus tells him to stop because they have a child in the apartment currently. Alec kind of scoffs because it's just a kiss and Magnus is all, "You know how we get." And I'm like, "Do we really, though?" There's plenty of scenes of them talking and I can buy them as friends with that but lovers? I’m having a difficult time actually buying that now. Like I said before, the Jalec scene was way more believable than any Malec scene in this episode.

But Magnus decides he doesn't want to feel helpess ever again so he decides he needs to learn how to fight. Honestly, I was surprised to learn that this is implying he doesn't even seem to really have any basic self-defense capabilities. The way he was swinging the sword earlier in this episode lead to me to believe otherwise. Plus, Harry Shum Jr is a pretty buff dude but I guess maybe Magnus lifts weights and that’s it. Alec decides to help him out on this venture, though.

Siblings Reunited

We find out that Clary is indeed not dead and that Jonathon's back. I'll be real, here. It's kind of hard to feel sad for Jace or Simon or Luke or anyone really regarding the "death" of Clary, considering this entire episode is interspliced with moments of Clary being very much alive. Honestly, I think this episode would've functioned better if it was just about showing everyone going through all the different stages of grief regarding Clary and at the end of the episode when they've hit the acceptance stage, that's when we see Clary wake up in the apartment with Jonathon. But whatever. The show decided not to go that route so we have to make do with what we got. Clary wakes up and looking pretty damn fantastic for someone who's been asleep for days. Not a strand of hair out of place, make-up is flawless, and not a wrinkle to be found on her clothing. In fact, I think they're in even better condition than they were when Clary initially had to put them on. Clary also isn't even the slightest bit groggy, she knows exactly where she's at and everything. Clary does comas well. Jonathon tells Clary that it is indeed him, her big brother and that before Lillith was sent to hell she sent them away to Siberia, apparently. Clary plays nice for a little bit with Jonathon but decides to chance out in the cold of Siberia. It's nice to see that in her state of unconsciousness her muscles didn't atrophy from lack of movement or deteriorate from lack of food. But Clary fails in her escape, Jonathon finds her and brings her back. Clary tries to stab him with a knife but they both find out that what happens to one person will also happen to the other. So yeah, we're full in City of Lost Souls plot here which is ironically the title of this episode. Shadowhunters has never been all that subtle. This new actor for Jonathon is going to take some getting used to. Will Tudor did a phenomenal job with him so its difficult to see this new guy as Jonathon. But it also is difficult to take Clary's anger and hatred of Jonathon seriously when you think about all that Jonathon's really done on the show is kill a shadowhunter Clary had never met before and then injured Max and Max swiftly recovered. Clary is all about painting him as the worst possible being and indeed, in the books, he is but here, while he may be a bad guy who's done really bad things, I don't know if its deserving of that level of hatred. We haven't exactly seen a lot of his horrifying dastardly deeds. Another example of making a change and then thinking you can still keep the same storyline at a later point in the story. I'm certainly not saying I wanted Max to die but story-telling wise, it would make the emotions Clary's feeling here a little more believable. But I'm actually really interested to see where this whole Jonathon and Clary plot goes. In the books, it's Jace that's put in this situation so it'll be interestig to see how the show tackles Clary being in this situation. I'm also wondering, because they seem to be trying to stay away from the incest vibes here, is Jonathon going to gain an unhealthy obsession with Jace instead of Clary? In the books, Clary was who Jonathon was creepily obsessed with. He was equating possession with love and viewed that Clary belonged to him in every way imaginable. So since the roles of Clary and Jace have been reversed here, will Jonathon's obsession now change from Clary to Jace? Probably not but it would've been interesting to see for sure. I mean, if you're going to do a role reversal, you might as well go all the way, right?

The Clave Acting Shady AF

The Clave is being super shady right now. They appear to be doing experiments on the incarcerated downworlders and all I can say is, "do we really need this?" And also, "Why is it being implied that Jia knows about this and is okay with this?" The interesting thing about Jia in the books was the fact that she was the first step in the leadership to help get rid of the more corrupt aspects of the Clave and instigating change. But I suppose it's per the norm for the show to make everyone but the main group a bad guy instead of morally grey. As I've said before, this show has no concept of subtlety. I can only imagine that this is leading into the part in City of Glass the show hasn't done yet wherein the alliance rune is going to be introduced but instead of using it to fight Valentine, they're going to use it to fight Jonathon. That's what these downworlder experiments seem to be leading into as it reminds me a lot of Valentine experimenting in the books. I'm sure there was 0 social commentary intended when writing this into the show, though...but I think its safe to say it's totally social commentary. The show isn't very subtle, once again.

But good news is it looks like Ollie is gone for good so yay! I am side-eying the show, though about that. What was the point of introducing her if you weren't going to do anything with her? I'd say they probably wasted about half of 3A with Ollie unnecessarily. But maybe if this show hadn't been cancelled, Ollie would've played a more significant role? Well anyway, at least some of the fat has been trimmed.

My biggest issue, as always, is the dialogue. The dialogue felt extremely one-note. It was almost like the writer made a flow chart of what they wanted to happen in this episode and was like, "crap! I guess my characters do need to speak, here's some lines to explain what's going on." The dialogue basically existed solely for the purpose of giving exposition but the real kicker is that it was really unnecessary. I could've had this episode on silent (and that might've even have made it an improvement) and I would've understood what was happening perfectly. The dialogue really didn't add anything to the experience, it just made the episode feel more awkward than it already was. And then there continues the trend of Shadowhunters treating their awesome plans as if they’re the most clever plans in the world when in actuality, the plan is beyond obvious and it was super cringey and awkward seeing Izzy being treated as this amazing strategist for making the obvious move. And the episode was already plenty awkward with the constant cutting. It's really difficult to enjoy any particular subplot going on in this show when we only spend maybe 30 seconds to a minute on any particular moment. I kind of wish this show structured their episodes more around themes as opposed to plot. Plot is temporary, plot is always changing but exploring themes through plot gives you more of an appreciation not only for the characters but the story, itself. While I didn't mind sequences in this episode, at the end of the day, it just kind of left me feeling empty. I also think the acting felt a little stilted as well. I wasn't a big fan of any of the performances given in this episode and whereas I've never thought anyone on this show was oscar-worthy for their performances in the past on this show, their performances have always been maybe a C+ to a B. But in this episode, it just didn't feel like any of the actors' hearts were in it. Now granted, that could be a side effect of the script because, as I've mentioned before, the script wasn't great. Or it could've been the directing. There's a lot of reasons for why acting can feel stilted and it very rarely has to do with the actor or actress being bad at acting.

I've made notes about how the dialogue and acting was stilted but those weren't the only things that were. The fight choreography and the blocking felt a little off as well. For starters, the fight choreography did not feel organic. It was strangely reminiscent of season 1 fight choreography. The constant jump cuts so you don't see too much of what's actually happening and just feeling like fight scenes move very slowly. Like the reaction times between sword swing to parry were very slow and it kept on taking me out of the moment. Then you also had moments where Alec and Izzy catch up with Jace in the sewer and everyone's staring at the seelie they're trying to capture for a good 5 seconds before the actual fight continues. And then there's just strange blocking choices where a character walks to a point in the room and then delivers their line but the walk to the new mark wasn’t organic and actually made the line feel more awkward.

I'd probably give this episode a C+. It was passable, with enjoyable moments but ultimately not something I have any desire to return to. There were cute moments (primarily Jalec and Madzie), but overall as an episode, not something to be too terribly impressed with. And yes, there were moments I did like. It’s not my fault the show just had more bad parts I felt compelled to talk about.

[simptasia]

Kateclaire and the science squad?

AHH bless you, my faves!! thank you very much!!

kate/claire

when or if I started shipping it:

i honestly don’t remember but i do know that kate/claire didn’t come into my mind during my first watch of the show, it was an afterwards thing. or perhaps… season 6? season 6 made kate/claire shippers of us all, really

my thoughts:

restless, passionate…

my thoughts are, best ship, end game. i genuinely believe they ended up together after the finale (it’s canon they at least LIVE together, raising a son)

i think they love each other, and that people can have multiple soulmates damn it (i don’t care if thats not how it hurts, multiple soulmates!!!). to me, kate really comes across as bi (and i think evie was doing that on purpose, but thats just a theory) and like, claire is bi-who-thought-she-was-straight

Straight Until Kate…. fucking poetry

they’re honestly like, my (non-canon) OTP. and what with LOST lacking lgbta+ diversity, the show would’ve been much stronger if they made ‘em canon bi

buuuut whatever i guess…. we got a lotta handholding. and also the last third of kate’s character arc is dedicated to her (and one could argue, claire was a part of kate’s arc all along) and, i say this all the time but, CLAIRE IS THE REASON KATE WENT BACK TO THAT FUCKING HELL ISLAND. she found the idea of going back to be disgusting and horrible but gosh damn it, claire needed to be rescued. nobody else was gonna do it, apparently. also i’m pretty sure nobody knew is claire was alive or not at this point but kate went back anyways

the completion of kate’s character arc (not running away, accepting responsibility, opening up to the idea of family) is because of claire & aaron!!

also it’s ironic how i imagine claire doesn’t know she’s bi considering she’s the one making the moves. (that starsign scene, the hand holding…)

kate/claire = proactive sunshine femme astrology bi + tomboy hiking butch i’ve never had a job and relationships scare me but i love everyone bi

What makes me happy about them:

that it would take very little adjustment to make them canon

that kate looks 40% butcher anytime she’s near claire (and the inverse, claire looking 40% more femme. she practically glows)

the height difference

kate is so so protective over claire (kate being protective over other women is legit one of my fave things about kate)

a few days into the crash, the first time claire has ever interacted with kate and she correctly guesses that she’s a gemini and that she’s “restless” and “passionate”. A. great observation skills and B. THATS GAY!!!!

THEY’RE LEGIT CANON GONNA RAISE A SON TOGETHER (two sons, if you include my david austen theory)

that they triggered each other’s memories in limbo. that is genuinely one of the best writing decisions ever, like it’s impressive. whoever decided that they would remember together (instead of the expected jack/kate, and charlie/claire - which happens later because MULTIPLE SOULMATES) is a fucking genius. as a writer, audience member and a sapphic, i fucking applaud you

oh and that their connecting scene was the birth of aaron. such an important event to both of them. and it’s kinda foreshadowing at how they’re gonna be mums together

What makes me sad about them:

not canon [sad horn noises]

other than that, very lovely

things done in art/fic that annoys me:

there’s not an abundance of this sorta thing…?

things I look for in art/fic:

FOR IT TO EXIST

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

jack for kate, charlie for claire. of course

My happily ever after for them:

living together, married, raising two boys, honorary aunties to ji yeon, clementine, charlie (hume), dani, izzie & lara. (some of those are OCs!)

claire is an artist for a living (i thinking an illustrator) and i can’t imagine what job kate would or could get. as i’ve said she’s never had a job before… what would she do? gasp… is SHE the housewife? that’s kinda cute. there’s pictures of charlie and jack on the wall, and they are honoured as aaron & david’s fathers and as heroes

kate knows what it’s like to be in a family that doesn’t involve pain and abuse, claire eventually feels safe as the nightmares become less and less. they both have absolute trust in each other which is quite a feat for those two

[happy sigh]

what is their favorite non-sexual activity?

claire likes to paint and draw. kate isn’t much of an artist but claire is encouraging (imagine kate getting blushy over claire’s praise)

listening/singing to music together

claire encourages kate to take up yoga. it’s relaxing. takes a bit to get used to it tho because kate is restless (more of a rock climbing kinda gal)

yeah basically i imagine they do a lot of exercise-y things together

i was gonna say camping too but claire probably never wants to see trees and tents ever again… so avoid that

~

daniel/charlotte/miles

when or if I started shipping it

the earliest sci team shippy post i made, that i could find, is like from 2013. so maybe during my first watch? or shortly after. somewhere there

my thoughts:

okay so i’ve thought about this and i’ve realised that sci trio shipping is beloved as a concept, especially by me. whilst in canon, this supposed team doesn’t do a lot of teaming. basically my imagination has built them up to be more than what they actually are. and not just in a romantic way. they’re more friends in my head than in the actual show. it’s a tad disappointing actually. see, in the show the science team (the whole thing) is barely a thing. they drop out the sky, the show tries to convince they’re untrustworthy, and then sorta forgets they’re meant to be like colleagues and friends? or at least doesn’t pay attention to that

(miles is given no reactions to char and dan’s deaths. which is FUCKED. i blame writing and direction because no fucking way is this ken leung’s fault. i also blame time constraints which is the biggest reason for lack of sci team stuff)

the dynamic most focused on is dan and charlotte (ah, love..). so throwing miles in there is wishful thinking (i love miles) on my part. because interactions between dan/miles and miles/char in canon? little and none, in that order

but the IDEA is nice

i’m in love with IDEA of these things:

two nerds and a “jeez these nerds” guy (like he isn’t a ghostbusters fan)

a polite timid nerd, a loud passionate nerd and a snarky sardonic cynic

two sciences and a magic

miles being annoyed by, slightly jealous of and wanting in on dan/char

sweet dan in love with people with “bad attitudes” (his words. translation: okay i love you but you’re being bitchy right now and it’s not helping)

char getting the best of both worlds, in my opinion (sugar and salt)

children of the island OT3

being smooshed between people whom look like rebecca mader and ken leung is honestly the best situation you can be in. godspeed dan

and basically i use their personalities (or exaggerated versions of such. espech with charlotte) to project this relationship upon them

TL;DR: barely any sci team interactions in canon, but i adore the ship anyways

What makes me happy about them:

oh shit i make that list up there too early

in general, it feels good? and like theres a lot i can do with it. like i’ve said, i love the concept of their dynamic. like, putting these personalities together is fun!

also

miles uses his powers and dan is immediately on board which means either miles told him on the boat or dan just takes miles at his word without hesitation. both are very plausible and also great

oh and my gosh, my fave thing? these people had possibly months on a boat together off screen. we didn’t get like, any sci team content on screen but thank you for that fanfic/imagination fuel, writers

none of them moved on in the finale which gives me a place to ship them… so basically they’re only shippable outside of the island… huh

char and miles were friends in limbo (thank heavens for small miracles) and thats a great concept. and it also means with char meeting dan in the finale, the TRIANGLE IS COMPLETE. THEY MAY NOW JOIN

that thing dan does where he touches/pets everybody near him? yeah, does that with miles, which isn’t remarkable. miles, like char, doesn’t seem to mind or flinch. which is interesting cuz you’d think miles would react to that. true none of the characters react to dan’s petting (???how) but idc

dan rans to char, pets her hair, face and arms and asks if she’s alright. miles, who is standing near by, says “i’m okay, too”. that sounds like something i would write for them but that actually happened in the show

i like the idea that dan/char (and later sawyer/juliet) make miles reluctantly realise he does want love in his life, which leads to miles/richard one day. this has nothing to do with anything in the show. legit all of that sentence is based on headcanons. and thats a summary of shipping dan/char/miles

uhm… they’re fucking pretty

i’ve slowly made them more and more kinky over time. that makes me happy. it’s also funny

the fact that dan is the tallest of the three and he’s 5 foot 9

i’m certain they’ve all dealt with ableism in their lives. i just like things in common, espech angst things

everything. everything makes me happy about them. even the sad stuff

What makes me sad about them:

tho again, i wish the show remembered these people are friends

on that note, two of miles friend’s died. the show didn’t show him caring but i of course imagine he did. miles has walls but he’s not a cunt

all of ‘em had a fucked up thing happen with a parent (wait no, that’s not an OT3 thing, that’s just a lost is like that thing. anyways, sad)

i have this headcanon that miles is cynical about love (and relationships and romance) cuz like, due to his powers, he grew up with this fucked up perception of death. and throughout he’s seen people absolutely devastated about losing a loved one. this includes dan losing char, sawyer losing jules, and miles himself losing his mum. basically love hurts and he’s decided that pain isn’t worth the temporary amount of happiness. i imagine miles’ bad attitude towards life is caused by this way of thinking. we’re all gonna die, so why bother? only possessions stay so $$$$

….and there’s my miles meta, wow

things done in art/fic that annoys me:

now, sci team content is like, none but i’ve noticed a trend among fandom… their personalities being flanderized a tad too much. and yeah i do that too but i mean

dan being innocent, naive and humourless. we have no reason to assume the first two and fuck no he is humourless. dan has funny lines, he’s just subtle. innocent and naive? maybe kinda. i personally portray dan as innocent and naive in COMPARISON to char & miles (and most other characters). like, the vanilla to their kinky. but again, just by comparison. he’s not totally oblivious. plus he’s a quick learner and can pick up context. i know this all comes from him being so nonthreatening (also it’s a symptom of woobifying. and is also very mildly ableist in this context)

char being a constantly angry shrill bitch. i’m most annoyed by this one. i have some words about this. yes, a couple of times char got angry/bitchy. and it stuck out to people because she’s a woman. as somebody who has analysed like, every moment she’s been on screen, lemme tell you: she is not constantly angry. in fact, when i needed a cap of her looking angry for an art thing, IT WAS GENUINELY HARD TO FIND ONE. char is also very nice to the survivors until they start being mean to her. also she got shot in the chest, i’d be annoyed too. but the most part, char is actually rather pleasant. she’s just… loud. and has a bit of temper. but most of her screentime is with dan, so for the most part she’s soft and sweet with him. because love. i’m annoyed by all this because to this day, within fandom, char is remembered as the angry bitch who died of nosebleeds. fuck y’all, she’s a passionate, polyglottal, determined nerd with a shorter than average fuse and whom loves daniel faraday and chocolate. i know she didn’t get a lot as a character but being remembered for a trait that doesn’t even describe her doesn’t help. like, yeah, my section of the fandom has her be a chocolate obsessed mega trekkie who’s super kinky. is it self-indulgent? fuck yeah (and im proud) but it’s better than seeing her as a constant bitch because she got justifiably angry a few times

ahem anyways

miles as a constant deadpan snarker. okay i see where this comes from, my brain does it too, but miles is not daria. he has tones and inflections. when he isn’t resting grump face, he’s quite emotive. also he has feelings. inside he is very sad. also he cares about his friends. basically he’s not always deadpan. most importantly, miles is an asshole. yes. but he’s not an ASSHOLE. you get me? like, he’s a snarky dick to people but he’s not actually genuinely a bad mean person. this is kinda the point of his character. like his snark is a defense mechanism for his issues. miles would never be an actual (and ableist) cunt to say, hurley or dan. he just has issues connecting with people due to his powers and internal conflict

basically: 

dan isn’t a delicate perfect flower of innocence, char isn’t angry all of the time and being a bitch isn’t her entire character, and miles is actually (eventually) a good person who cares and emotes. i’ve seen ken’s face do things, ya know

things I look for in art/fic:

any art and fic of them existing would be nice (points at my icon)

and in fic, as with anything, i’d like it to be in character. and like, boat times, limbo times, it’s all good. have it anyways. also i’ve found like zero fic

there used to be loads of lost fics, but most of ‘em were purged in 2010

[the saddest violin]

• Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

miles/richard is another pairing i love, and thats how i imagine miles lives his life

• My happily ever after for them:

they all live together in limbo land, in dan’s penthouse. basically 80% of my sci team imagination center (the part of my brain specifically dedicated to the science team) is spent in that house. a great dymantic and lots of sex ensues

also piano. also rats. also char has a cat named jean-luc. it hates miles

fuck, i just realised between dan being a musician/sort of scientist, char being an anthropologist and miles being a detective, that penthouse is gonna be FULL of stacks of paper laying around… the sci team personally killed the rainforest

• what is their favorite non-sexual activity?

PLAY US A SONG YOU’RE THE PIANO MAN

watching tv together

i’ve pictured ‘em doing most domestic activities… right now i keep imagining them eating breakfast together in their underwear

showers

dan likes to draw on his lover’s bodies (music notes, equations, cute little pics of rats. miles says dan’d make a decent tattoo artist)

and holy shit get dan and char going, they can talk for hours. and miles can just sorta follow it (and throw in quips) but he loves ‘em anyways

[singingwordwright]

Shadowhunters recap - s2ep18 “Awake, Arise, or Be Forever Fallen”

SHADOWHUNTERS Recaps Intro and Masterlist

These recaps may contain spoilers from the books (that may or may not happen in the show.) Proceed at your own risk.

Recap and meta under the cut.

Gotta give it to Max, he’s a little badass. Temper that with a bit of discretion and maybe he’ll actually live to reach adulthood, contrary to all book canon. Like, seriously Max, you couldn’t have gone to find Alec or Izzy once you realized what the hair leading you to Sebastian meant, instead of confronting Sebastian yourself?

Gratifying just how many times Sebastian gets stabbed in this episode. Of course, I’d prefer it if one of them was a mortal wound, but alas…

If Lindsay was lurking in the hall outside Alec’s office, she should have heard Max’s head crack against the desk. A blow hard enough to knock someone out and cause them to bleed from their nose and ears would be LOUD. I’ve literally heard real people hit their heads in ways that do much less damage and it sounded like a melon exploding.

Now that the banter and fun goofing around is back, so is Simon and Maia’s chemistry. I think this is the magic of Simon. I bought the Climon relationship the most when he and Clary were being giggly and having fun together. I found Simon and Maia’s chemistry in s2ep06 to be off the charts, again, when they were bantering and laughing. For some reason, whenever Simon forgets to be that guy whom women can laugh and have fun with, he loses a lot of what makes him click in his various potential pairings.

My frustration hit its peak with the fact that Sebastian was right there in the middle of everything while everyone was all, “Where is Jonathan?” There’s only so many times you can yell “HE’S THERE!!! HE’S RIGHT FUCKING THERE IN FRONT OF YOU!!!” at the TV before you just throw your hands up in the air and say, “You know what? Fuck it. You’re too stupid to live. I hope he guts you all.”

They carried this plotline right up to the brink of me hitting that point.

Current sexuality: Magnus saying, “m’lady.”

“Your crush” Oh, I’ll show you a fucking crush, you pint-sized wretch!

Let’s all take a moment to bow our heads and be grateful the producers are making a young-adult urban fantasy show and not a hospital drama. Because they would be really, really bad at it. Seriously I was cringing.

And what the fuck were the runes flashing on the monitor over Max’s head about? Are they there to remind the infirmary medics “This is how you draw an iratze. This is how you draw Nourishment. This is how…” (I’m not sure what that last one was, but it looked like some Shadowhunter stylized version of the Caduceus or the rod of Asclepius.)

Of all the times for Magnus to refuse to take Alec’s call.

Wow. I’d forgotten what an asshole Season 1 Alec could be. He’s come a long way, considering that in-universe it has literally been six weeks since he and Magnus met (No, seriously, check out my timeline if you doubt me. I did the math so you don’t have to.)

I say “asshole” in the most loving way possible, of course. He had his reasons, but he was indeed an asshole. It just goes to show how unhappy and uncomfortable in his own skin he was, and how much losing that burden of hiding himself away from the world impacted him.

Still, I sort of wanted Magnus to push back a little harder when Alec low-key threatened him. “If you let anyone know…”/“Oh, you’ll do what, Shadowhunter?” Because Magnus could almost certainly kick Alec’s ass with all but one of his little pinky fingers broken.

I’m glad we’re finally getting down to business with the whole Ollie thing. But IIRC it’s against the Accords (or Covenant?) to let mundanes know anything about the Shadow world. Which means Luke could be in trouble if the Clave gets wind of her finding out.

And why is so so eager to know, anyway? Like, why was she all up in his business?

I’m wondering if it doesn’t actually have something to do with Maia, considering the way Ollie zeroed right in on her. Say, Ollie’s a cop, but she also, idk, moonlights helping Sam (who maybe is a private investigator?) by taking on missing person cases at the behest of desperate families. Contrary to book canon, we’ve been given some indication that Maia’s parents may actually care for her, so what if they hired Sam and Ollie to track Maia down, and find out she’s gotten mixed up in what might look to be (on the surface) a weird wolf-worshipping cult?

IDK I’m just spinning bullshit theories.

I like how at SDCC Isaiah said that Luke is grooming Maia to take over the pack someday, and how we actually sort of saw that in action here.

I liked Jace’s distress here, because with the exception of s2ep08 and a pat on the head in the last episode, we haven’t really seen him and Max interact or gotten any impression of how his relationship is with Max. And his distress here feels a lot more…sincere? relatable, maybe?...than his oft-repeated bouts of brooding manpain over his upbringing under Valentine.

And, strangely, his pain feeling more genuine also made Clary’s empathy and support feel more genuine. This moment made me feel more of a connection between them than just about any other moment they’ve had on-screen together.

Funny how when you build a relationship between characters out of moments and situations that are arise organically within the plot—rather than forcing it—it just works better, isn’t it?

I feel like I should say something about Bat, but I just don’t have much of an impression of him or what part he’s going to play within the plot, yet. Kevin Alves seems incredibly sweet and eager to be a part of the show, however, so there’s that?

“Rebooting of the brain.” Really? (The part of me that actually knows something about medicine is rolling its eyes so hard right now. This was badly done. Suspension of disbelief in one area only works if you are meticulously grounded in accurate reality in other areas, and this would have been a good area to do that. Massive head trauma that can’t be magically woo-wooed away.)

I have lots of thoughts on the decision to keep Max alive, most of them not good. I was prepared for the pain of him dying, which would have struck pretty close to home because I have a 10yo son. And as a storyteller, I think it would have gone a long way to establishing the stakes for this story.

Like, Valentine wants to commit genocide, and Sebastian wants to help him. We all get that. And we’re all horrified by it. But genocide is a MASSIVE concept to try to really wrap your head around. The human brain, I think, tends to shield you from really grasping it. It’s just too much.

This is a problem faced often by storytellers who are writing stories in which the fate of the world is at stake. It’s too big. The audience can’t connect with it personally, can’t internalize it. So you take that, and you distill it to make the stakes personal. One death, of a character who is beloved by your protagonists and hopefully by your audience, an innocent with all the potential in the world that will now never manifest, stands in for the thousands or millions who will actually die if the bad guy isn’t stopped. That death becomes a rallying point for your protagonists, and a symbol to your audience of just how evil your bad guy is and how much he needs to be stopped.

In short, Max needed to die. He needed to die as tragically as possible. It would have had a lot more storytelling mileage.

God. This scene was just everything I could have asked for their first time to be. I’m pretty sure I wrote a line in a fanfic once about Magnus telling Alec that one of the rules of his bed was that you had to be able to laugh in it, so the giggling and giddiness was just so perfect. And the fact that Magnus responded “No such thing” when Alec expressed concern that he might be doing something wrong is really something else I could have written myself.

It was tender and sweet and sexy without being objectifying and I loved it.

I will say, though, I’m probably in the minority in that I never wanted or needed to see a scene where Alec was confronted with Magnus’s cat eyes for the first time and explicitly stated his unstinting acceptance of him. I always felt it would be othering to go that route. And I felt like this idea that Magnus, who is so incredibly powerful, would lose control so easily a little absurd. I always liked to imagine that the idea that Alec would find NOT being accepting of Magnus unthinkable, that he would be honestly and sincerely befuddled by the idea that Magnus’s eyes might be a Big Deal. “Yeah, he’s a warlock, he has a warlock mark, I’m not sure why that’s supposed to be something that matters.”

That said, if they were going to go there, then this was the way to do it. The thread that weaves through Magnus and Alec’s story in this episode and ties past to present is the fact that they come from different worlds, and with those different worlds come different obligations and priorities. So in this case, the othering was entirely the point and it played into that theme.

So, if it had to happen, I’m glad it at least happened within this context and wasn’t just schmaltzy.

I really loved Luke being such a badass here but I’m certain allowing Russell to live is a bad idea.

Seriously, though, Russell. Not only is Luke a badass just as a werewolf, but he’s got the martial training of a Shadowhunter. How do you imagine you’re going to win this?

Probably one of the most realistic fight scenes I’ve ever seen in terms of showing just how exhausting fighting becomes in very short order. Too many drag out too long before the combatants start to show fatigue.

I really want to know about the cooks at the Jade Wolf. Are they werewolves themselves? Is that why the kitchen staff never bats an eye at anything, including these people waltzing in and out of the kitchen and storeroom?

The scene with Maia explaining her backstory was extremely well done and Alisha Wainwright is all things wonderful and I love her.

“This is what love got me.” Let’s take a moment to recognize the symmetry of Maia and Simon’s stories though. Becoming a vampire, a Downworlder, is what love got Simon as well.

I can’t say anything about this scene that hasn’t been said before, and better, since they released it as a sneak peek. But it’s so beautiful and my heart hurts.

Magnus’s moment with the Lightwoods all together on one side of the hall and him by himself on the other is incredibly poignant but I can’t find the words to really examine it properly. This is the point at which things just began to hurt too much and my brain stopped being able to cope with it.

I’d really like to know how Jace, who can sense Alec’s happiness over things like having sex with his boyfriend for the first time, couldn’t sense the lack of a spike in grief that would have surely occurred upon Max’s death. Grrr.

The fight sequence with Sebastian taking out all the guards was amazing and Will Tudor is brilliant. Did he really use a sword that was still stuck through someone’s body to parry a blow?

What the hell was with him just using his hand to open the crypt, though? No rune or anything. Can Sebastian somehow channel magic?

This whole thing with Clary was awesome and for once she seemed to be working for her miracles so I’ll ungrudgingly let her have this. The one thing I don’t know is what finally tipped her off about Sebastian. Was the electrum nugget thing too warm after he handled it? Did she just realize she never saw his palm? What made her chase after him and check his palm?

I loved her stabbing him. Twice. I’m fully in support of stabbing Sebastian. Yes. Please. Let’s stab Sebastian more. Sebastian for Pincushion 2k17.

Sebastian continues to be a creepy-ass fuck. Seriously, WHY did they decide to go with the incestuous obsession thing? There are so many other places they could have taken that story.

I like that her Open rune that burned through Magnus’s wards also exploded the Institute security doors. I appreciated that for a couple reasons. First, because Sebastian taught her to do that, to use her runes and make them more powerful. Second, it’s also a nice little nod to the books, since we didn’t get that scene of Clary totally disintegrating and blowing up Valentine’s barge with that rune.

Sebastian has vamp speed, too?

I want to ship them, but I haven’t managed it yet. In-universe it’s been like, a week, since Clary and Simon broke up. And of course we know they’re not end-game. But the writers ended up making me buy Climon more than I ever expected to, so maybe they’ll do the same with this one.

I just don’t want to see either of them hurt, so if Simon ends up ending it with Maia, I’m going to be upset, and if Maia ends up ending it with Simon I’ll be upset. *sigh*

I hated seeing the home Simon has been making for himself torn apart like that.

This is the moment of my first death and the beginning of buckets of tears. This look on Magnus’s face after Alec says “our way back to each other.” I can’t. I just can’t. He’s just so heartbroken here.

And the way Alec’s eyes close when Magnus touches him.

And the way Magnus’s voice almost breaks when he says “I love you, too.”

And the way Magnus is trying to smile, just a little. To hold on to some of the joy he’s found with Alec. To file this portion of his life away as a happy memory. To remember Alec as a good thing and not a source of sorrow.

There are so many nuances here and every single one of them fucking slays me dead.

Alec’s disbelief and denial.

Alec’s youthful, naïve insistence that if they just work hard enough, if they’re just determined enough, they can find a way, and Magnus’s world-weary wisdom and centuries of experience telling him there’s just no chance for them.

“You once asked me what I was afraid of. It’s this.”

And here’s my second death. That all along we thought that Magnus was afraid of being alone, being abandoned, like Camille said, he never does well losing the people he cares about.

So, we’ve always thought he was afraid Alec would break his heart. Leave him. Be repulsed by him. Choose duty over him.

We should have known better. Magnus has lived long enough to have his heart broken before, and he knows he’ll survive it.

His real fear is inflicting that pain, that loss, on someone else.

My third and finale death. Alec stifling a sob is where I just lose it entirely.

So I guess what I’m saying here?

Yes, this is a break-up. That’s my read on it. Sorry. It just is.

I don’t believe it’s a permanent one. Of course it’s not. If they’re not back together by the end of the season, at least on some sort of tentative, provisional basis, I’ll be very surprised and extremely pissed off. If I’m left with this boulder sitting on my chest over the hiatus I’m not sure I’ll survive. This show is supposed to be my happy place and I think if they leave me in this hurty place for very long it’s going to ruin it for me.

I don’t think the producers will let this linger long.

But this scene right here? As far as Magnus is concerned in this exact moment as he’s walking away from Alec?

He thinks they’re done. He thinks they’re over. He means it to be that way.

Something will happen to make him change his mind, though, and that’s important. Because here’s the thing:

We’ve seen Alec choose Magnus over and over and over.

He chose Magnus in s1ep06 when he walked away from the Institute and duty to take an evening to at least investigate the possibility of doing something that wasn’t about duty.

He chose Magnus in s1ep12 when he walked away from his own wedding.

He chose Magnus in s2ep06 when he turned his back on his own fears and misgivings and plunged into this relationship.

He chose Magnus in s2ep08 when he challenged his mother’s lack of acceptance repeatedly and sent her a very pointed message about their relationship.

He chose Magnus in s2ep10 when he rejected Aldertree’s words about the impossibility of relationships between Shadowhunters and Downworlders.

He chose Magnus in s2ep13 when he risked censure from the Inquisitor to take a stand for what’s right.

Even when everything he’s ever been trained and brought up to do is telling him to do the opposite, he has chosen Magnus repeatedly.

The only time we haven’t seen him choose Magnus was with regard to keeping the secret about the Soul Sword, and even then, his choice was about Magnus, even if it was paternalistic and wrong-headed.

What we haven’t seen, though?

We haven’t seen Magnus choosing Alec. We see him clearly aware of the difficulty in their situation, especially since s2ep12, but he never really chooses to stand against it. Which is not to say he’s not committed, not at all. We’ve seen Magnus put himself on the line and expose himself and make himself vulnerable for Alec. That’s huge. But with the exception of his hesitation to keep pursuing Alec in s1ep12, we haven’t seen him make that same deliberate decision to damn the obstacles between them and make this relationship happen. His commitment has been more along the lines of ducking and covering and hoping whatever is heading toward them blows over before it pushes them to this critical juncture.

We need to see him make that choice. Everything since s2ep12 has been leading to him making that choice.

Now, I don’t want to step outside my lane, so I’m gonna tread carefully here. 

The thing we have to remember is that Alec, coming from the privileged group, is much safer choosing Magnus than Magnus is in choosing Alec. He’s got that safety net built in, so it’s easier for him. He may face censure and perhaps a decrease in some of his advantages (like being passed over for job promotions) but no consequences that he might face are on the same level of what Magnus might face.

So the two dilemmas and the choice to stand against their respective obstacles are not equal. If Magnus choses their relationship over his people, he doesn’t just face censure, he faces genocide. Pretty big difference there. The only possible way he can justifiably choose Alec at all is if he somehow discovers that choosing Alec dovetails conveniently with the best way to protect himself and his people.

My prediction is that something in the next episode, or in the finale at the latest, is going to bring Magnus to that decision point and make him turn around.

But for the moment? Right now, this scene?

I know it’s going to be an unpopular opinion, but Magnus really does mean this to be a breakup.