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stray-tori · 3 years

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TPN S2 Appreciation

I remembered I started this so here we are: there's a lot of problems with s2 but you've probably heard everyone talk about them anyway so I'm skipping that and going straight to all the stuff I DID like about s2:

opening

episode 1

(episode 1) seeing them interact with the environment

(episode 1) Ray running + being out of breath animation and voice acting

episode 2

(episode 2) especially the parallel with the drop like holy shit

episode 3

(episode 3) the fish bug scene while maybe out-of-place is pretty cute and funny

(episode 3) the wall scare is pretty ominous and as of ep3, not yet stupid.

the **OPENING**

(episode 4)

(episode 5) the shot of the apple rolling and the camera turning over with it. so cool.

(episode 4) Ray shooting the demon animation cut even though Emma was robbed

(episode 4) Chris knowing the bunker tunnels after we saw him playing there with other children is really nice. Especially knowing that in the manga he's sad he can't explore properly, I think it's a nice in-character touch haha.

(episode 5) masked Norman with blood splattering behind him

Myuk Mahou cover art makes them look so cuteeeee

portraying the two worlds in parallel from the OP to wanting to care and save your family

the opening making me cry every time

cup-kun memes

(episode 3) them entering the bunker being so fecking tense and suspenseful, like i was expecting a corpse the entire time pff-

(episode 5) ray and emma using hand signals during the rooftop chase

(episode 5) the natural in-convo reveal about how they hide their scent by Lani/Thoma

(epsiode 5) the detail that they throw it in the fire to spread the masking scent when the old demon gets there

(episode 5) the old demon scene (listen ik people questioned this, but it's an old weak demon... I kind of see it like helping out a weak strong animal. I doubt this old geezer would have jumped Emma; it could reveal their location, that's true, but oh well - it’s implied he met them more often before so maybe Emma just slowly considered over time / maybe her realizing they’re not that different and all that yadayada)

(episode 5) Emma doubting herself because they've literally just been chased around (ik some people didn't like this and I get why but they've been barely surviving for like 11 months... she's lost and paralyzed, she's allowed to have her doubts, though they could be worded a bit differently. It just sucks that there wasn’t much of an arc regarding this after that, so. Yay Norman Christ has rescued us all.)

(episode 6) the reunion hug / scene, it looked so soft and nice ahhh- the entire art in that scene was just nice.

(episode 6) the atmosphere and framing of when Barbara was eating the demon meat. it came pretty unexpected and the moment you realize was such a big “ohhh… oh no.“

(episode 7) Lani and Thoma mentioning the migrating birds during their tower watch and that then later coming back when the kids think about where they could be was nice!

(episode 7) Norman’s soft “be careful” to Emma and Ray

(episode 7) Also Ray's reaction to "the gate is in gf" is just a mood haha

(episode 7) THE SHIPMENT PARALLELS! the sounds, grabbing his hand this time when he had to take hers during his shipment AHHH-

(episode 7) evolvment of the “dont do it on your own / involve your family/friends” by asking Gilda and Don to come with them on the search for Sonju/Mujika. Sadly this doesn’t carry over to ep11 where they decide to do sth as drastic as staying behind for god-knows-how-long without letting anyone know beforehand.

(episode 7) like their reactions to it are so wholesome, I really like how it is portrayed. Especially because up until now Emma was still bottling up. Idk I like that it takes a while for this to really settle in properly.

episode 8

(episode 8) “are you god?” / “I’ll be a god or a devil” / “are you a human?”

(episode 8) showing the demon suffering pretty graphically for what I expected

(episode 8) the simple fact that I got the experience of pure euphoria and a laughing attack when the parallel between Vylk and Norman was actually a thing, when I was so confused why they both had a distinct characteristic (the walking stick) in episode 5. My friends thought I was crazy but I was just big brain. (we were robbed of more stick though)

(episode 8) norman hand symbolism, with blood, Emma grabbing it, him looking at it and how it ties Emma to his plan inherently and then when it's not his blood on his hands but someone's that he's taking away from another living being.

(episode 9) the unspoken realization that he’s not the only one being tested by the test scanner was on the right-hand side. good shit. Ik thats technically not the anime’s idea but I like how they put the focus on it with blur and didn’t actively state it.

(episode 9) him coughing up blood to show how fast it’s been progressing/getting worse // though that implies he refused to take his meds OR that its that bad even with the meds which I don’t think is the point. Like the psychological warfare of giving the kids a condition that they can only fight while they’re in their prison bc they’ll run out of meds is just. hHHH

(episode 9) I really liked Norman going to talk to Vylk and… hhh- Emma *AHEM* and how he didn’t really know what to say, and .........… E-EmMa going up to him and apologizing for what demons did, showing empathy and understanding AND ABSOLUTING WRECKING NORMAN and me. man, cycle of hatred bad.

(episode 10) Emma speaking over the radio to everyone is just… so heartfelt ahh

(episode 10) The little kids sneaking amongst the others is rly cute and honestly kind of epic haha

(episode 10) the moms/sisters either not noticing them or not doing anything bc they’re on their side anyway is just… a funny thing to think about either way

(episode 10) Phil and Emma hug TvT

(episode 10/11) MICHELLEEEEEEE

(episode 11) the turning ceiling is pretty

(episode 11) I like the shadow asthetic of the Ratri exposition, generally the Ratri exposition is pretty nice aside from being so fast you cannot take all that in and process it properly

(episode 11) dramatic gate closing is dramatic

(episode 11) the slideshow of them in the human world gives nice glimpses into things, even if… very vague haha. Especially the shot of Isabella playing guitar stuck with me. And Phil on a train! Not a steam one, sadly.

(episode 11) while the demon world slideshow is uhhhhh SOMETHING, I do like that the weird dragon-on-water thing is in both the Ratri exposition during the promise thing and then also at the end, which at least gives A BIT of context to what's likely happening. Idk I liked that, but then again my standards aren't very high.

I'm not saying any of this outweighs the problems bc oh boy, but ye.

#tpn #tpn anime #tpn s2 #the promised neverland s2 #positivity #tori talks #tori has opinions

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thecosmicjackalope · 4 years

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It’s probably not gonna happen but you know what would be amazing for next episode?

Kiteman leaves without saying anything to Harley or Ivy, who are then left comforting each other about the situation. Both feel like pieces of shit and both are confused about how to move on. Days pass. Weeks pass. As the city rebuilds itself, Kiteman is nowhere to be found and there’s a wall between Harley and Ivy. Everything between them is awkward now because Harley still wants to pursue Ivy but Ivy is riddled with guilt and is still confused about her feelings for Harley and for Kiteman. The crew suffers through the tension, moving between helping them get through their shit and trying to find Kiteman. Ivy wants to find him and so does Harley, but there is still an undercurrent of jealousy from Harley because Ivy’s focused on finding Kiteman and won’t even talk to her about the future and “what happens now.”

During all this, Gotham’s abuzz with gossip about what they have seen and everyone’s taking sides (like how we all are in the comments sections). There’s a good portion of the population that are hounding Harley and Ivy about their “new relationship”, some people are spitting on Harley and calling her a home wrecker (especially Kiteman’s parents, which would kind of be a nice little way to nod at the fact that despite being assholes they do still stand by him), Ivy has people who are talking about how glad they are that she’s dumped “that loser” which fills her with even more guilt, and everyone is laughing about Kiteman, with some wondering about where he is.

The scene shifts and we find Kiteman out of his costume, grounded, without his kite, blending in with everyone around him and succeeding because no one sans Ivy has seen him without his get up. He wanders from place to place, never really going anywhere, sometimes dropping by old spots where he and Ivy had some moments together. He’s not eating, he’s sleeping too much, living like he’s already dead. He walks by a wedding venue and sees the happy couple kiss and look into each other’s eyes lovingly.

He forces himself to look away.

Eventually he wanders into THE PIT or somewhere nearby, feeling low as dirt, lost, confused. He still hasn’t said a line since the episode started. He’s hanging out in the wreckage and the waste, he sees a kite, or perhaps a little harlequin doll, or something that reminds him of what he’s lost. And he snaps, and starts stomping on it and having a breakdown when he feels a hand on his shoulder. He turns to see that it’s Bane. Expecting Bane to attack him or do worse, Kiteman - or, “just Chuck” at this point - welcomes death. Bane refuses. In fact, he sits down with Kiteman and the camera and the audio pans and fades away respectively as they begin to have a long honest talk.

Back in the city of Gotham, Harley and Ivy have one big argument with a lot of their ugliest feelings bubbling up to the surface and bursting out. Very harsh words are exchanged. They separate, leaving behind the crew, lost, confused and hurt that three people they care about are suffering so much. Ivy goes to be alone in a place she loves, maybe an old greenhouse. Harley goes to a carnival or maybe some batting cages to practice her swing. Each of them respectively are confronted by different people who have something to say - Ivy is approached by Catwoman who “had a feeing she’d be at her usual spot” and Harley is confronted by Batgirl and Batman. They all talk.

Batman talks to Harley about relationships and responsibility and knowing what you want and listening to other people, going off of his own failed romances with Talia and Catwoman respectively, possibly even acknowledging a budding relationship with Wonder Woman or Superman (or both, as, in a hilarious twist, their incident with Ivy’s pheromones lead to them questioning their relationships with each other and trying to be a poly throuple). Batman closes the convo off with saying that Harley has to face the music for the people she’s hurt, but also says that he’ll be happy to see her with someone who treats her right and encourages her to listen to her heart. Harley admits that she feel like she doesn’t deserve love and Batgirl argues that yes she does. She thanks Harley for some of her good deeds, and especially for inspiring her to stand up for the person she loves (her dad) and be his hero, the hero that Gotham needed, while Batman was out. And she closes her end of the conversation by telling Harley that no matter what she chooses, she will stand by her decision. Harley smiles and hugs her, and humorously, Batman gets dragged into the hug and hates the whole experience.

In their own space, Catwoman and Ivy talk. Ivy vents to Catwoman about everything that’s gone down and all of her feelings and guilt and confusion about it, and for once, Catwoman listens, without fuss, without sarcasm, without a word at all. When Ivy admits that she thinks it’s over between them and that maybe it was doomed from the start, Catwoman talks about her romance with Batman, how she always expected it to be doomed, caused it to self destruct and how very deeply she regrets that she let him get away and didn’t try to actually fix the problems in their relationship. She admits that she’s lonely and that she lives her life alone and that she enjoys it, but that it doesn’t come without problems. It comes with regrets. It comes with emptiness. It comes with too heavy a price sometimes. And she encourages Ivy, in her own aloof, standoffish way, that if Ivy really feels like she has something special with Kiteman and Harley, she should pursue it. She should be honest with her feelings about both.

So Ivy and Harley run into each other, and they apologize and tell each other what they want. Harley wants Ivy, and also to take responsibility for how she did Kiteman dirty and wants to mend her friendship with him. Ivy admits she loves Harley and Kiteman both and wants to talk to them both to see if they can all pursue something together, namely, if Ivy is romantically with both, and if Kiteman and Harley are okay with that.

But first they have to apologize and take responsibility for what they’ve done.

At that moment, Kiteman enters the doorway. He’s wearing his uniform, he’s got his things. Ivy and Harley are relieved to see him, but somethings wrong. They can tell something is wrong. He walks past Harley like she’s not even there and he talks to Ivy and tells her that he’s leaving Gotham for another city, somewhere where he can start over, somewhere with lots of wind to soar majestically or something or other. Ivy asks him why and he finally finally lets out all his hurt feelings. Without yelling or raising his voice, he calls her out on all her bullshit, stating that if she had just respected and loved him enough to be honest, they could have worked through it. But she didn’t. And to him, that was unforgivable. He says something along the lines of “ive been a joke to everyone around me since the day I was born. But I thought, for once, I found someone who saw me for who and what I really was. A person. When I met you, I finally thought I found my match, my partner in crime who I could spend the rest of my life with, who would be with me no matter what. But I was wrong. In the end.... I was just a joke to you too.”

Ivy is hurt by this and tries to apologize but Kiteman says he’s made up his mind and he just came by for closure and to give her a proper goodbye. Harley tries to apologize, Kiteman ignores her but does tell the others he’s out of the crew and flies off.

He takes one last look behind him, but he doesn’t look at Ivy. He looks at Harley, not with hate, or anger, but bitter disappointment and betrayal. And it’s at this point that Harley truly realizes what she’s done.

Since You’ve Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson, aka Harley and Ivy’s trademark wedding song request, starts playing in the background as a sequence starts to play. Ivy and Harley drift apart. The rest of the crew - Frank, KS, Clayface and Sy - all struggle with the loss of Kiteman. If Harley was the brains of the group, Kiteman was the heart, and without him everything feels colder. Life in Gotham goes on. Villains fight heroes. People rebuild. College kids graduate, and Joker and his new girlfriend witness the kids perform at a school play, with all of his goons in the audience cheering them on. Bane continues helping others. Nora, Jennifer and Catwoman pay their respects to Dr Frieze and leave flowers on his grave before going out to dinner together as friends (and yes, they all have Cobb Squad tattoos on their arms). Riddler still does his riddles but has started teaching a class for cardio at a local gym and is deeply enjoying it. The only job Dr Psycho can get is running and operating a Ferris wheel ride at the local carnival, which, ironically, he’s good at and he actually kind of enjoys, if only because it’s easy money. He watches as a short little girl JUST misses the height test...and uses his powers to alter the sign so she can ride, just so she doesn’t know the crushing disappointment he felt when he was a kid. (Humorously, When she inevitably falls off the Ferris wheel later, he casually catches her with his powers and sets her back down on the ground without even looking up from the porn mag he’s browsing.) Batgirl and Gordon play videogames together until something comes onto the police radio, after which they race to the roof to meet Damien and Batman waiting for them in a jet. Damien shows a flicker of jealousy towards Barbara, but there’s clear implication that the two will form a strong sibling like bond. Batman smiles at Gordon and Gordon smiles at Batman.

Gotham rebuilds. Life goes on.

But in the very last scene, as the song comes to a close, the crew disbands, and Harley and Ivy separate, with heavy hearts and too much baggage between them for anything, even their friendship. King Shark goes back to the ocean, ready to throw himself into his loveless marriage. Clayface leaves for Hollywood, ever hopeful that maybe someday he can become a true thespian. Ivy takes Frank and Harley takes Sy. As Ivy and Frank look on with teary eyes, Harley gets into her car and drives off into the sunset, and leaves Gotham city limits while crying her heart out.

And that’s how the season ends.

#the harley quinn show #harley quinn #poison ivy #kiteman #spoilers #headcanons #harley quinn show

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creativenicocorner · 5 years

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Now it’s no secret that Terpsichore is riddled with missing scenes that try and peek into the reasoning and actions of characters, be it why Strickler keeps going out of his way to sneakily not kill Jim, or all the off screen dates Walter and Barbara have had (especially if you HC that they’ve been seeing each other since the museum break in lol), and juggling his feelings to the changeling cause he’s been working towards for 200+years.

Or as I affectionately like to call it; Walter Strickler’s Trolly Problem Scenario haha (I wonder if I should share that as an essay here someday)

but THIS scene OOFF is probably very self indulgent and teeters between a pre and post redemption Strickler in a very pre-redemption scenario.

Anywho, here’s a Ch13 sneak peek! A Convo between Jim and Walter while they wait for Claire and Toby to bring the binding spell incantation. Aka why I think Jim ended up going to Claire and take her to a nice lookout to dance, instead of staying by his mom’s side at the hospital.

In short, Strickler:

There’s a always a possibility certain bits might change when the chapter is officially posted, in the meantime enjoy!

“I’m not doing this for you, I’m doing this for her.” explained the changeling calmly. Parroting back what the teen had told him back at the Lake house.

Jim closed his mouth, and looked morosely at his mother, giving her hand a little squeeze.

An awkward quiet settled between them, punctuated by the occasional sniffles from a pained Barbara. The tiniest of hurt groans breathing out of her as she slept.

Jim covered his mother’s hand, with his other hand, moved by how her fingers curled.

The changeling, on the other hand, had his brows furrowed together so much it almost looked like a unibrow,if it wasn’t for the fleshy worried crease between, looking like a bald patch on a furry mountain. And although he was exceptionally worried about Barbara, he was also worried about Jim. For his brows were knitted together for him too.

Jim who was working with less than 7 hours of sleep. Jim who had a near run in with death while fighting Angor Rot. Jim who’s life was thrust into a war he had inherited because of an unjust amulet. Jim who’s mother’s life hung at the balance because of the changeling’s actions. In fact, a lot of Jim’s scenarios were caused by the changeling’s actions. The majority even.

Strickler squeezed Barbara’s hand, and shamefully looked away. So many things to say, and what a day to have words fail, and escape him. Again, the changeling found himself tongue tied.

With a heavy heart Strickler pressed on with the best an experience of war since a young age could give the changeling, the power of momentary distraction.

“I, ah,” Strickler awkwardly cleared his throat, “couldn’t help but notice you and Claire..”

Jim gave Strickler a look, unsure where the changeling was going with his word fumbling, and unsure if he wanted to know.

“It’s a shame about the dance.” Strickler managed at last. “I, ah, think the faculty and students did a mighty good job decorating this year.” he braved a smile.

“How can you even think about something like that right now?” asked Jim with a deep frown.

Strickler’s smile dropped, and he bit his lip, “Right, yes.”

The silence returned with a new painful wave of awkwardness. It was dreadful.

And yet, with the idea of the school dance now in his head, the teen was surprised when he managed to say, “You know, I was looking forward to dancing.” with an added distance the teen added, “I was looking forward to a lot of things, actually.”

Strickler gave a guilty nod, “Well...there’s, no reason why you can’t go on with your plans.” he said and scratched the side of his face.

Jim gave the changeling a perplexed look, and gestured fervently to his mom in the sort of shocked surprise to hear someone describe water as not wet. “Are you kidding?! You’re joking, right??”

Walter Strickler exhaled a small patient smile, “Allow me to explain.”

And with an exasperated gesture, and a silently sarcastic ‘why not’, Jim allowed it.

“Life is a series of poorly planned trench warfare tactics. You gain ground, you loose ground, celebrate, cry, and march on. What counts are the small moments in between that help you keep marching forward.”

Jim squinted, and despite the shuddering eerie sensation that Strickler probably lived through trench warfare combat at some point, Jim was unsure he was following.

Strickler gave another patient smile, and reframed his advice in a more frank level, “When this is over, and your mother is safe, go dancing with Claire, Jim.”

“But- Angor-”

“Isn’t going to barge into Trollmarket without a plan. Plans take time. Something I’m sure you can trust me in knowing about.”

Despite himself, Jim snorted. The laugh tasted bittersweet. “Alright, you got me there.”

“You can use that time worrying yourself sick in circles, or dancing. It’s alright to take a step back, a small bit of indulgence can be refreshing. Helpful even.”

Jim frowned thoughtfully. Slowly rubbing his thumb over Barbara’s hand. Unable to shake off his guilty feeling at enjoying himself dancing while his mom could still be suffering even after the binding spell is broken. He wanted to dance, liked the idea, and yet...

Strickler, too, looked over Barbara’s face. Watched as her brows knitted together, and her pale skin almost illuminated under the Heartstone light, and perspiration.

Guilt can only be mentioned so many times. Yet the changeling felt it every time of every passing second, and more as his eyes slid back and forth between Barbara and Jim. The family his presence caused so much chaos in.

Jim looked full of frowns and worry. Again, Strickler’s heart ached. Experience informed the changeling that a dance would help. But he could insist only so many times.

Walter Strickler gulped, and licked his lips. Yet when he spoke again his voice croaked. “For all sad words of tongue and pen. The saddest are these, ‘it might have been.’ ”

“Are you talking about my mom again?” asked Jim flatly, “Making this about you?”

A hurt smile grew over the changeling, though really he was in no place to deny that wouldn’t be something he would have tried to do. Walter Strickler wondered if he should be worried about Jim’s new found cynical bone. Regardless, the changeling felt responsible. In an attempt at looking at the bright side the changeling thought, ‘if cynicism can one day save my favorite student to live another day..’ His thoughts trailed in a vain worry the cynicism won’t absorb Jim completely.

Instead of addressing it, however, Strickler smiled at Jim. In that patient fatherly way Jim had grown bittersweet and angry about. That reminded Jim of how he once thought of his favorite history teacher, and the pain to see that expression in the face Jim barely trusted.

At the risk of sounding overly paternal Strickler said with a gentle insistence, “Go dancing with Claire when you can, Jim.”

“I don’t-”

“-Doesn’t have to be at the school.” said Walter Strickler intuitively. After all, after so much commotion, loud places filled with other people who wouldn’t understand what Jim was going through aside from a select few, probably didn’t sound too appealing. “You can dance anywhere, Young Atlas.”

“Anywhere...” repeated Jim thoughtfully. And with a pause, an idea slowly crept into the teen’s head.

[kazoo sounds] this is still pretty rough, I think I can spruce it up better, but thank you for reading!!

#Ch13!#aka everyone makes a great point and everything is horrible #Knife Family #Trollhunters #Tales of Arcadia #Jim Lake #Jim Lake Jr #Walter Strickler #Stricklander #Strickler #father son relationships #Terpsichore #Stricklake #Barbara Lake #Dr Barbara Lake #Nico Writes

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ladyandtheghost · 5 years

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“They’re coming to get you, Barbara!” a.k.a Zombies in the Crypts

I’ve said that I loved the episode and I stand by it, however, to me 8x03 also had one big fat flaw and that was everything that went down in the crypts:

1. It’s a place full of dead people, what did you expect?:

The fact that no one in WF anticipated that the dead in there might rise if the NK give the sign is plain stupidity. I’d also strongly advise to avoid cemetaries during a zombie apocalypse, so...

2. Sansa being the only one who was armed apparently?

Even IF no one expected the dead to get up for breakfast, what if the dead outside DID find a way in. Arming at least the adults so that they can at least defend the children would have been the more intelligent approach...

3. Don’t give her the knife if you won’t let us see her use it:

Making a big fucking deal out of Arya giving Sansa the knife and telling her to “stick em with the pointy end”, then *showing* Sansa with knife in hand, resolute and clearly ready to use it...only to then CUT OUT the scene where she actually uses it - was a goddamn stupid decision to say the least.

Do it properly or leave it! Don’t create such a build up to something and then pretend it didn’t matter. If they thought people are smart enough to realize that she did kill wights “off screen” they clearly do not know their audience at all. The bias AGAINST Sansa was, is and will always be strong.

4. The entire “zombies in the crypts” idea:

IF all the dead were rising in the crypts, then this would include some of the Stark family members that we knew and loved e.g. Rickon, Lyanna or Catelyn (Lady Stoneheart anyone?) in which case I could have understood that Sansa would rather run and hide from them than try to “kill” them.

Arguing that the bones are too long dead doesn’t fly either, seen as the first zombie we saw was a Stark family member who had been dead for quite some time given their bad shape..literally only bones and they still managed to smash the coffin and get out...Fact is that “zombies” we actually care about would also have been there and this is completely disregarded...

The crypts - always shown as a place of sanctity, the place of the family - was turned into a place of cheap thrill zombie shocker moments. The poignancy of Sansa possibly facing her dead family members down there is not even brought up or talked about.

The focus is only on creating suspense, against all logic or lore.

5. Don’t warm it up if you ain’t committed to it:

While I did enjoy Sansa and Tyrion talking (and I think this convo will have consequences) and having a moment, but Tyrion trying to “warm up” the marriage that he himself claimed was only a “sham” felt a bit out of place. I could see it as banter between two old friends, but I’m sure other people will get their hopes up about it and might end up severely disappointed (like the Theon and Sansa crowd).

I wonder if there is a pattern of them bringing Sansa close to certain people again every single episode (Theon, Tyrion, The Hound next?) in order to get them all on her “side” (like the “Queen’s Guard” I wrote in another meta), in which case it would make a lot of sense...

My theory is that those “moments” might also be Goodbye scenes - we saw it with Theon and we will probably see it with Tyrion who is definitely heading for self-made disaster...

#jonsa #sansa stark #the crypts

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blackcatmanor · 5 years

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RWBY Volume 7, Episode 7 Visual Review (Spoilers)

I have been lurking around RWBY tumblers for some time so I thought it was time to join the convo. If you want to see a review and pics of Ep. 7 click below.

The good:

1. Characters that are done right.

a. Ironwood- Tin Man was so greatly written this episode, second to Nora. We got a lot of anger, desperation, and even PTSD from him. He shows symptoms of PTSD with reasonable triggers- seeing the monitors causes him to flash back to the Queen logo that Salem taunted him with at Beacon. I also like his internal conflict about having morals and humanity because he wonders if it disadvantages him versus Salem. It’s an interesting angle to take and hopefully will be explored more hopefully without having him go fully off the deep end.

b. Nora- She is MVP of the episode. I appreciate how much she cares for marginalized people and she confronts Ironwood in a really brave and logical way. However, I didn’t like how Ruby literally tacks onto the end (putting her hand on Nora’s shoulder to add “this plays into Salem’s hand”). Nora did all of the heavy lifting but Ruby tried to step in with her cliché “I’m the protagonist and have to make my speech seem leveled and calm so you trust me” bit. I’m glad it didn’t work and Ironwood pressed on with his orders.

c. Bumblebee- I appreciate Blake and Yang actually getting some screen time to TALK and flesh out their relationship. Clearly killing Adam is weighing on Blake and it was nice to see her bring it up, as well as express her frustration with doing things that, while good intentioned, aren’t right to her. It’s nice to see Yang is open to taking a different path after Blake confronted her. This was a nice issue that they talked through to advance and grow as a fledgling couple.

This has been a big annoyance I had with the Blake and Yang pairing: they had SO MANY issues after V3 that never was addressed. With how angry and betrayed Yang was, the writers built up the feeling that there would be a pretty epic fight between them for TWO volumes and it didn’t pay off. They just literally ignored it like it never happened and went straight into giving each other flirt eyes and going on dates. I hope this is intentional, that they are ignoring and repressing their issues and problems for them to blow up later but I doubt it. But this episode is a step in the right direction for establishing an actual relationship between two complicated characters.

2. Story and lore done right.

a. Penny- The writers did a good job of writing themselves OUT of a corner with Penny. I always thought Penny would come back because she’s a robot, but I also understood how fans felt like it a cheap ploy to hit people emotionally only to basically retcon it away. HOWEVER, the reveal that Pietro’s aura is used to create Penny each time, and he doesn’t have any more to give is interesting and a really effective way to explain why she did come back, but also why it is not an unlimited plot button they can keep pressing.

That being said the line about him not having any more aura to give Penny gives me huge death flags for her. Unfortunately, if she dies again it won’t have the same impact. Sure it’ll be the “for realsies last time” she dies, but since we already went through that it won’t matter the same way it did before. If anything, I hope they turn the death flags on their head a little bit and kill off Pietro. Not that I WANT to see him die, but *if* someone has to for the story, Pietro dying will put a whole new layer of complication into Penny’s existence and make it feel like there are stakes to Penny’s life again.

The Bad:

1. Story stuff done wrong.

a. You tease- Once again we ended on a cliffhanger last episode that teases combat but doesn’t deliver. It would have been nice to see them help Mantle but with the reception of a very hostile Mantle citizenry.

b. Mantle- Speaking of Mantle, an ongoing annoyance I have with this season is the lack of misery in Mantle. They keep talking about how miserable and struggling it is, but whenever they show shots of Mantle, it just looks like a city. It may not look like the nicest parts of a city, but it’s lacking the Misery factor. Maybe show abandoned or crumbling buildings, people en masse living on the streets, etc. Also having more shots in the day where you can see the bleak and sad nature would be nice.

2. Character stuff done wrong.

a. Happy Huntresses- Robyn’s crew have awesome semblances and work in connection with one another- with one girl who can create a mirage to cover their heists and Fiona who can apparently zap away all of the goods into her black hole hand?! OMG! Robyn’s lie detector semblance is neat, but doesn’t really fit with her heist team and it shows with how she just stands to the side and watches everyone else working, or she just yells orders at people. Speaking of Robyn...

b. Robyn the Edgelord- I am having a really hard time liking her, with her smarmy attitude and pithy little nicknames for everyone like Fistacuffs, and Pipsqueak and Wags. Is she SUPPOSED to seem douchey? I was hoping for a Dolores Huerta-infused Robin Hood: someone with a passion for assisting the marginalized with a quick but powerful way of conveying her message but instead she’s just kind of a snarktopus.

c. Ren the bummer- When did he become so Emo and angsty? He went from calm, zen ninja to hyper-antsy, wannabe Ace op kinda out of nowhere. Why? They keep making him turbo annoying without any reasoning, and then they cop-out of an explanation when Nora asks what’s wrong by having him say “I’m not good at talking.” They need to address this quick before it drags too long.

d. Voice acting issues- Is Barbara’s voice acting is getting worse, or is the evolving tone of her character a bad fit? She was great as fun-loving party Yang in volumes 1-3, but all of the dramatic dialogue has been awkward and filled with pauses between words. I think Barbara equates dramatic performance with dramatic pauses. For instance, the line, “We did…….what we had to do,” and in episode 3 when talking about lying to Ironwood she says “Can we….talk about that again?” And two seconds later says “How did Oscar feel about that” in such a robotic tone it was jarring. No one talks like this. Are you forgetting the words you’re about to say as you say them?! What is happening?! I think Arryn does a good job at dramatic acting so the directors know what it sounds like. It’s getting distracting, especially with other talented deliveries in the show.

3. Thoughts for the next episodes:

a. It’s interesting that Qrow explicitly mentions that Atlas is Salem’s next target. With knowledge beforehand will it mean Atlas’ fate will be different than Beacon? (spoiler: Probably not).

b. The Dinner with Jacques will be the perfect time to finally see Willow Schnee, and I hope they don’t blue balls us on this one, too. We could see her forced into the role of political wife, probably even more despondent and desperate than before.

#rwby vol7 #rwby #robyn hill #bumblebee #rwby spoilers #rwby bumblebee #nora valkyrie #ruby rose

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twdmusicboxmystery · 5 years

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9x16: Details

Okay, let's dive into the details. These are in chronological order (not categorized by subject) which makes them feel a little haphazard. Bear with me.

Let me preface this by saying that I think Beth will return in S10, and probably fairly early in the season. So I think a lot of the details in this episode exist to point to how soon we’ll see her.

For example, we figured out a long time ago that Beth = water, right? So having snow at all, seeing parallels to Them or other previous Beth-heavy episodes except that there’s snow on the ground now, is really telling to me. Perhaps these parallels before, when it was hot = no Beth. Now that we see them again and there’s snow (Beth = water) it shows that she’s about to appear.

During the opening montage where Ezekiel talks on the radio, we see Carol and Ezekiel in their bedroom. They're facing separate directions. This is something the show has used before to show a couple isn't doing particularly well. They did the same thing in S7 with Richonne. We saw them waking up, facing away from one another. That was when Rick was doing as Negan wanted. Michonne didn't agree with his decision. So, they use this to show that a couple is in on the same page or isn't seeing eye to eye about something.

We also see Carol and Ezekiel closing the gates of the Kingdom together. That not only foreshadows their breakup at the end of the episode, but it supports what Angela said on TTD. This chapter of their lives is over. It’s not that their relationship is over and, who knows, the might return to the Kingdom at some point, but they’ll probably never be living happily together at the Kingdom in the same way they did during these past 8 years.

When Daryl gives Lydia food, the plate includes carrots (Carrot Theory) something green (looks like asparagus to me), apple sauce, and something red. I’m thinking maybe they’re kidney beans? So carrots are definitely a Beth thing, especially because of the King of Carrot Flowers thing in Alone. Applesauce is really jumping out at me, not only because of the Apple Theory but because Aaron specifically showed up with applesauce RIGHT after the music box woke up.

I also think we should note parallels between Lydia and Daryl here. She’s acting very much like he did in 5x10, after losing Beth. She even takes off, leaving the group during the journey, to be on her own, much like Daryl did. I think Daryl is taking care of her because he went through this exact same thing once. He knows she needs support right now.

Henry's box with all the cards reminded me of the music box. Which I suppose makes sense from a parallel standpoint. We didn’t see Beth’s music box until after Coda, and we didn’t see this box of Henry’s until after the pikes.

No one's heard from Maggie in a while. I'm sure that will end up playing into next season in some way.

We catch a glimpse of this blonde torso walker. It reminds me a lot of bicycle girl from 1x01. They said on TTD it’s an Easter egg for another movie, but if they were also going for a callback to 1x01, that suggests that perhaps someone (like Rick in 1x01) may be about to awaken.

When Jerry says the huge storm is coming, Ezekiel answers that they're going to have to travel through the night if they want to survive. That's obviously a huge piece of symbolism right there. The night representing trials and their fight for survival. Again, it just reminds me of 5x10, Them. They didn’t travel through the night in that episode, but they stayed awake most of the night, fighting to keep the barn doors shut. In other words, to survive.

Back in Alexandria, they have no power and decide that they need to keep everyone together in three places (the meeting room, Aaron’s house, and Barbara’s) to keep them warm and wait out the storm. We have a rule of 3s there. Also, we see red and green wires coming out of the radio in this scene.

On the road, Alden is somewhat mean to Lydia, and Daryl intervenes, telling him to lay off. @thegloriouscollectorlady is working on a much more detailed meta about this, but this is important because it shows us the contrast between Daryl and Lydia's relationship as compared to Daryl and Beth's relationship. Daryl is being very protective of Lydia and defending her against those who are being mean to her. Obviously Daryl was protective of Beth too, but for the most part, Beth did just fine defending herself.

Beth wouldn't let Daryl bring me to her and got in his face and told him to knock it off. Lydia, so far, is just be taking the abuse. Haters like to say that Daryl and Beth had a father/daughter relationship because of the age difference. This more or less disproves that argument. Daryl does have a father/daughter relationship with Lydia, and it's very different from his relationship to Beth, who challenged him and was his equal, rather than just someone he protected.

When Ezekiel asked Daryl to step back, the phrasing he used jumped out at me, because we’ve heard it before. He says, "I'm just trying to get back a piece of what I lost. What we lost.” In 5x16, Maggie says the same thing to Deanna. In defending Rick's meltdown with Pete the previous episode, Maggie told Deanna that Deanna didn’t understand “what we’ve lost. What we’ve all lost.” I always wanted to read into that, especially where Beth is concerned because that was only a few episode after Beth and Tyrese's deaths. Now, Zeke is using the same phrasing right after Henry dies, and Henry had a gazillion parallels to Beth.

Lydia almost lets the walker bite her and Carol sees. They said on TTD that this was a nod to how Carol died in the CBs, but I think it's more than that too. Carol herself has been suicidal before. She, like Morgan, is not someone who would actually kill herself. She's never tried and I don't think she ever will. But if you remember in 6x16, when she had the encounter with that Savior who shot her several times, and Morgan saved her, she kept asking him to kill her. So, I think part of the sadness of Carol seeing this is that she knows exactly how Lydia feels because she's been there before herself.

Back in Alexandria, Negan uses the line, "it's like Christmas to me." So just another Christmas reference. There have been so many in the last couple of episodes, they’re pretty hard to ignore.

Judith tells Negan that Dog has run off and is lost. She wants to look for him, but of course there's the blizzard. That really jumped out at me as a Sirius/Dog Star reference. Any dog on the show relates back to this symbolism, but here, Dog is specifically lost. Which means he has to return at some point, right? He does, before the end of the episode, but again, we’re literally talking about a dog who was lost for time and then returns.

The fireplace in the meeting room explodes. I really want to read into this, but I’m not sure exactly how. I think it could parallel to big burning events in the past, such as the burning of the prison or Terminus. (I talked earlier this week about how there are major parallels both to Alone and also to S5 before Daryl and Carol go to Atlanta to look for Beth.) So it depends on how you want to interpret it.

Eugene also says that what caused the explosion was that the chimney was gunked up. A mixture of creosote and H20. Creosote is just the black gunky stuff that really will block a chimney if it doesn’t get cleaned out. Obviously they haven’t used this chimney much and it hasn’t been properly cared for. I’m assuming the H20 comes in from the now and the storm. But it’s also interesting that we have a reference to a mixture of fire and water here. (Daryl = Fire, Beth = Water).

(Not to mention, the flashlight beam in the above pic looks a lot like the ones I’ve pointed out before, one of which was around Beth.)

Once the fireplace blows, they decide to squeeze into Aaron's house. I'm wondering if there's some significance to it being Aaron's house. They mention his house several different times, emphasizing it. I mean, they couldn't grant any house or any building. I'm not sure what the significance would be. We know that Aaron's been a proxy for Beth before, and he showed up right as the music box awakened. But I'm still not entirely sure how to relate back to this particular situation. Just something I noticed.

When Daryl and Carol talk at the Sanctuary, we heard the “it’s okay/not okay” theme. We’ve heard similar convos between Daryl and Carol before. In Strangers, for example. *ahem, right before they went to Atlanta to search for Beth; just saying* The two of them tend to say this when one of them is actually not okay but saying they are.

Daryl also says, “We’re gonna make it.” It's a dialogue foreshadow because they do. Maybe that's obvious, but if one of them wasn't going to make it to Alexandria, they wouldn’t have included this line in the conversation. We can always rely on dialogue parallels.

Carol also says she's losing herself and doesn't think she can hang on. I didn’t catch this reference but Angela explained it on TTD and I went back to find it.

When Carol and Ezekiel first got together back at the end of S8 after she saved Henry, she told him about Sophia. She said (and I paraphrase bc I didn’t get all this down in my notes, “I had a daughter. When I lost her, I was nothing. But the people I was with (meaning TF)…I found myself again. Some better version of myself. It always feels like it could just be swept away again. But that doesn’t mean that it will and it doesn’t mean that I couldn’t find myself again if it does.”

So Angela said that’s the real reason she wants to go with Daryl. She wants to be around him and Michonne and those she’s known from the beginning. She’s genuinely trying to find herself again. That was also a foreshadow back in S8 that Carol’s fairytale would be swept away again at some point.

Trying to figure out where to go next, Ezekiel and Michonne talk about what route to take. The mention route B, which has been a big theme in the past.

I also thought it was interesting that Aaron says, "Rick's bridge would have saved us." In way, that makes me look at the bridge symbolism from a different angle. I said recently that the bridge represents the cohesion of the community, and I still think that’s true. But I also think, in terms of individual character arcs, the bridge may represent someone who almost died, or should have died, but something about the bridge saves them.

If you look at past bridges, we have some evidence for that. Rick was blown off the bridge into the river and swept downstream. If he’d been anywhere else, there wouldn't have been a place for him to go. If he'd been cornered in a canyon or something, either the dynamite would've killed him, or the surviving walkers still would've gotten to him. The same could also be true of the bridge in Consumed. Daryl and Carol got trapped on it (from walkers) but they drove the van off it. Again, that was only possible because they were on a bridge and had the option of driving off of it.

Oh, another thing. I know this top pic is hard to see, but Daryl wore his black bandanna again in the storm. We’ve seen it more than once, but he first wore it at the prison back in 4a, and AMC made a big deal about it, even doing a special Daryl figurine with the bandanna. So another callback to S4, and could point to something important coming.

I talked on Monday about how Lydia’ suicide arc parallels Beth’s, and they use walkers in the field to show that. But I also want to mention one more thing about Carol and Lydia, specifically the part where Lydia asked Carol to kill her. (First off, Carol finds Lydia in a BARN, so that could be a thing.)

It occurred to me that at this part, Lydia becomes something of an antiparallel to Lizzie (notice the similar names). In both cases, Carol comes to a point where it's just her and the girl (Lizzie and Lydia) and she has the option to kill them. I think we can all agree Lizzie was pretty messed up. She honestly didn't know what she’d done wrong in killing Mica, and therein lay the problem. Carol told Tyreese it wasn’t safe for Lizzie to be around other people, which is why Carol did what she did. She simply couldn't trust that Lizzie wouldn't kill someone else.

So we have Lizzie who obviously didn't want to die, but Carol killed her anyway because she had no humanity, and that made her a danger to other people.

In this case, Lydia is doing the opposite. She begs Carol to kill her. The thing is, the reason Lydia wants to die is because she does understand how terrible what's happened is, and what her role in it is. She's not homicidal and looking to kill people and turn them into walkers. She's genuinely depressed and understands exactly why Carol blames her. She obviously blames herself a lot.

I don't think Carol would have killed her one way or the other, but understanding the difference between Lydia and Lizzie is probably one of the reasons Carol didn't. She said, “You're not weak,” which is another way of saying Lydia is strong. Of course we can relate that back to Beth, but I think we’re supposed to relate this more to past things in Carol’s arc. Lydia is different than Lizzie. She strong specifically because she’s sad about what’s happened and understands other people’s grief (neither was true of Lizzie).

I’m also reminded of a convo Carol and Rick had in S4. Carol talked about looking back on her time with her abusive husband. She says she didn't understand back then that she could be strong. That she already was. I feel like she’s applying that line to Lydia here. And, in my opinion, it does show a lot of growth on Carol’s part, even if she’s still in a dark place

I really want to read into them crossing a frozen river. I'm not sure exactly how to apply it, but a river is water. Water =s Beth, and water is what often runs under a bridge (not always, but a lot of the time.) So it’s interesting that to save themselves from death, they crossed over frozen river. It also occurred to me maybe we should draw a parallel between the frozen river here and the dry river in Them. I know they’re kind of opposite things, considering the weather, but we had them able to walk in or on the actual river without being swept away by water both times.

Daryl fights a blonde, female walker. It's the one he stabs in the eye with the icicle. I thought it was very Beth-like and made this joke in my group:

The thing is, stabbing in the eye with the icicle (also water) could actually be a Sirius/Dogstar reference. We’ve talked about this a lot in my group, and I’m sure @frangipanilove has mentioned it in her metas. Sirius is the one-eyed dog, and we had the one-eyed dog in Alone. Also consider Denise, who had so many Beth parallels and took an arrow to the eye. Same eye as the one Daryl stabs with the icicle here. So basically anyone who gets in the eye, we think is a Sirius/Dogstar reference.

So why would they make that reference here? As I said at the beginning, I think it’s to show that Beth is about to return. Everything about this storm, the snow (water), the Christmas theme, etc., points to her being the next thing we see.

It’s also worth mentioning that an icicle to the eye is a reference to the classic Christmas movie, A Christmas Story. So more Christmas references there too.

I already mentioned the Negan/Judith/Dog/Alone parallel. Just wanted to add that the “okay/not okay” theme was heard here too. Negan asks Judith, “you okay,” to which she replies, “I’m okay.” It was a theme we saw around Beth at Grady. Details HERE.

When Carol breaks up with Ezekiel, she says, “I'll never regret the fairytale.” In TTD, Angela Kane explained that Carol feels like her life at the kingdom, being queen and having a husband and son was a fairytale. She loved that part of her life, but she thinks it's over now, which is very sad.

When Michonne and Negan talk at the end, they mention Adam. I'm not sure what all these Adam references are referring to, but we’ve heard them more than once in the last couple of episodes. Earl and Tammy discussed naming the baby Adam before Tammy died. I wondered if there was some symbolism in that but I didn't know it was. Now, Negan says it again. The name Adam obviously holds a lot of biblical symbolism, but beyond that, I’m not sure where to go with it. I’ll keep an eye on it moving forward.

We saw Beta whipping Alpha’s arm. Little bit twisted, no? The writers told us the Whisperers migrate south for the winter. I can’t keep my mind from straying to the fact that Atlanta lies to the south, and if they went so far that there was no snow and tons of green while TF pushed through a blizzard, they must have gone pretty far south. Like the Saviors, the Whisperers obviously roam over great distances. So it wouldn’t be at all hard for them to run into a certain blond at some point. Just saying.

When Ezekiel talks to Judith at the end, he uses the phrase, "the winter of our discontent." We’ve talked about this in our group and, to be honest, I’m not entirely sure what conclusions to draw from it. It’s a famous line from Shakespeare’s play, Richard III. For those who don’t know, that a play where the main character is the villain. He’s an evil king who kills lots of people, including two children to hold onto his power. In the end, we see his downfall.

We saw a reference to Richard III around the Governor in S4. And it made perfect sense for it to be a symbol of him. Because we saw his ultimate downfall in S4, and he was a villain/evil ruler. I’m even wondering now if that’s why they put in the part where Lily brought him Megan’s body and he shot her. It was such a cold, calloused thing to do, but maybe they were trying to liken him to Richard III and show that same kind of evil.

The thing is, I’m not sure why they’re using this line here. On the one hand, we literally saw the downfall of the Kingdom in the middle of winter. So as a tongue-in-cheek line, it really fits the plot. But Ezekiel isn’t an evil king—quite the opposite—and TWD is usually more specific in their symbolism than that. Not to mention, I think it must foreshadow something. The only “evil leader” we have on the show currently is Alpha, so I’m wondering if this foreshadows something for next season. We just really have no way of knowing what.

We actually had a discussion in my group just today about this and something else (very Beth-ish) that it may point to. I’ll probably post about that later, but I don’t want to get into it here.

For now, perhaps we can argue that we saw the Richard III reference in S4, which was right in the middle of Beth’s S4/S5 arc. Hearing it again now might be yet another way to point to her imminent return.

One thing I know @frangipanilove was super excited about from this conversation is when Ezekiel tells Judith that, “just because we lost our house doesn’t mean we lost our home.” He means that home is where your family is, not where your house is. Guys, that kind of proves everything @frangipanilove said in THIS POST about the Sirius/Dogstar/North star symbolism. It’s about coming home. Returning to family after an absence, and we’ve seen that symbolism around Beth a ton!

TTD:

Angela Kang talked about Ezekiel in the relationship, and it struck me that everything she said exactly what TD has always said. Find that. She also said that Sue think about how she always goes back to those people in that earlier scene.

Melissa also talked about Carol's hair and she said pretty much the same thing we've always said. Courses been confirmed anyway that the reason she grew it out was because she was happy with Ezekiel, but I just wanted to point out that we predicted that here in this post. So just another thing TD was write about.

Angela also said that the voice be heard on the radio will play in the story and asked 10 and it will "turn the story in an interesting way." Kind of interesting that says turn the story. I think that could definitely be a Beth thing. All of our ears perked up when she said that.

In closing, let me just add two more things that might give you hope for season 10.

Credits for the first one goes @bethgreeneprevails. She found this picture, which is a trading card of Beth. Notice how the blood on her forehead kind of looks like an H.

In 9x15, we saw Hilde making the H coins. She specifically mentions her and her husband's five year anniversary. We’ve seen many 5s over the seasons, and I usually suggest that they point back to S5 and Beth’s arc. However, if she returns in S10, that will be exactly 5 seasons after she disappeared. Perhaps the 5s have pointed to that. Remember, Hilde said the H represents both hope and home, as in coming home. As @frangipanilove said HERE, the Sirius/Dogstar/North Star symbolism all represents coming home.

This episode emphasized the lot that home isn’t a place. It's where your family is. Wherever they are, that's home. So between the H on Beth’s forehead, what the coins mean, and paired with the five year reference, were thinking the idea is that she’ll return after five seasons, which will be S10.

Finally, this last thing just occurred to me last night. A non-TDer on IG was asking questions about Beth. In short, the conversation got me thinking about how the writers knew about Rick’s departure since S4, and they both planned for and foreshadowed it.

So I started thinking about that foreshadowing, and something potentially huge occurred to me. While there might have been earlier signs, the bulk of the symbolism we picked up about Rick’s departure came in S7. There was when he fought Winslow and got the stigmata wound

as well as all the stuff in 7x12. Now, Rick didn’t leave until S9, which was two seasons later, but we now know he was originally slated to leave in S8. It wasn’t until they were filming 8b that he asked to push his departure out until S9. So when they put the foreshadowing of his departure in S7, they were planning on him leaving in S8.

Then I started thinking about other foreshadows we’ve already seen fulfilled. We saw this foreshadow in S4

which is obviously a foreshadow of her arm falling in Coda. So we had the foreshadow in S4, and the fulfillment in S5. Same with Tyrese. I’ve said before that his injury to his arm at the prison foreshadowed his death, because he was bitten in exactly the same place. The foreshadow came in S4 and the fulfillment in S5. I’m going to revamp my Red/Green theory next week, and I’ll talk about this more then, but I recently noticed a major foreshadow of Sasha and Abraham’s deaths that came in S6. They both died in S7.

So I’ll admit this may not work across the board (I’m sure some deaths were foreshadowed more than a season in advance) and then there’s the fact that we’ve seen foreshadows of Beth’s return every season (nearly every episode) since Coda aired. But I also think we can all agree that the Beth parallels were more obvious and on-the-nose during season 9 than during any past season. So I’m just saying that, based on precedent, her return in S10 makes more sense than ever.

Whew! Okay that was long. I’m done now. ;D

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusiona #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

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m00nslippers · 6 years

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So I watched Young Justice Season 3, episodes 4-6...

The three Roys and Dick episode is just...oh my god, the best thing ever? Like, Will with Dad-bod running a security company with a super derivative and dumb name (Bowhunters security, really?) saying shit like the “The clipboard doesn’t lie!” and the hilarious music, cuts to Will being melodramatic about security, and Will calling out Dick for jumping around missions like a lost lamb and belike “I already got Artemis and Lian, I don’t need a third daughter, get Halo a place to live, DICK,” I just...you need to watch this episode. It’s a gift. It’s amazing. Everything about it.

Also, the VR tech stuff is mentioned/shown in every episode, obviously it’s part of a bigger plot and someone is going to try and take people over with it somehow. It was stolen by Brick, Artemis and Halo ran into a Gonk clone using it, and Black Spider killed a guy playing with it and we see Barb playing with it.

Speaking of Barb, confirmed Oracle in wheel chair.

Guy who showed up to talk to Dick about Brion, Forager and Halo (I was confused about who he’s supposed to be, someone from a previous season I guess), mentioned leading joker to Mount Justice accidentally via brainwashing before when he was part of the Young Justice. Not sure if this is when it happened to Barbara or how Jason ‘died’.

And speaking of Jason OH MY GOD JASON IS CONFIRMED! He’s being kept by Ra’s and Talia with baby Damian! And he did a classic Red Hood move where he flipped over forager and planted a bomb on his back and it was freaking awesome! And Jason was totally beating Dick for a second there, he kicked him in the gut. FINALLY MY BABY JAY IS GETTING THE RECOGNITION HE DESERVES FOR BEING A BADASS. Someone turn that bomb-plant flip into a gif please.

If that is the only time we see him I’m going to cry. What I’m hoping happens is Dick belike, “I guess we’re going after the League of Shadows now to get Brion’s sister, R.I.P. me,” and Ra’s is all, “I’m pissed at them, here take my Red Hooded ninja that is totally not your brother Jason Todd to help you.” And there is a whole episode of Jason and Dick working together and Dick not knowing his identity and then his hood/mask gets knocked off at the end and Dick gasps and is all, “My brother Jason!” then Jay says, “Who dis? He sounds sexy.”

Halo dies again for like the third time. This better not keep being a thing because it’s really messed up. But her talk with Brion about wanting a secret identity and to be called violet is adorable. He called her violet and she’s like, “No, I’m violet at home!” I am starting to like her a lot and Brion is growing on me. Forager is already a sweet cinnamon roll. The apples scene was also awesome.

Conner calling out Dick on complaining about the new kids running off to Infinity Island when he specifically told them not to was hilarious. And Conner framing it like he’s the one who saved them when it was Dick doing it with Cadmus is funny.

Dick being like, “No! I don’t want to lead another team! Why you make me do this?” so full of shit, you’ve just been going to all your friends trying to make them come on missions with you Dick. You love teams, idiot. Leading a bunch of morons is your natural state of being, get over it. And he says, “I hate being a grown up!” like he actually is a grown up, yeah right.

Also, when Conner said they’d had the bio-ship to live in for five minutes and they’d already made a mess, such a dad thing to say. Also I like the running joke that Wolf just acts like an old dog and sleeps all the time even though he’s a giant whatever that used to fight crime.

Tara is Terra. Somehow I didn’t see that coming until the giant rock killed a dude. I am an idiot.

Seeing M’gann transform into her White Martian self was pretty awesome, like that is something she would have never done in the previous seasons. She’s grown a lot.

Also, I’m not a big Barbara fan, but she was there and there was a little Barb/Dick and it was cute. Apparently she’s into VR games. I need Barb and the batboys playing Beat Saber right now.

And speaking of bat boys, in the awesome all-harper all-the-time episode, Roy used the term ‘bats’ to collectively describe the Gotham vigilantes. The fandom term has been legitimized.

And Will going, “This is his fault! Where is Dick!” with such emphasis was hilarious. Actually everything Will says and does is the best. This is a fact.

At the end of the episode he was dispensing advice and Dick says, “You were right,” was Will is all, “Of course I’m right, I’m older and wiser,” and Dick is like, “You’re a clone, you’re the youngest guy here!” then Will says, “Hey, I’m older than Jim!” And then Jim (biggest clone) is all, “And I’m prettier!” Best convo ever.

I cannot say this too much, best episode ever.

Dr. Jase is staying in Luthor Grande Hotel. Luthor owns a fancy Hotel. Just pointing that out. Make of it what you will.

Oh yeah and we saw Zatanna, but that was like the least exciting thing about these episodes, for real.

Like I don’t want to say this was the best day of my life, but it kind of felt like it for a second there? These three episode were the best 20/10, the wait was worth it for this season, I love this so, so much!

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