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tomlinfonda · 2 years ago

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Inside me there are two wolves.

One who thinks that the writers are either stupid or cruel, and that the finale was so incomprehensibly bad that I shouldn't try to make sense of it. And that I should move on.

The other one is a subtext-and-metaphor-hungry beast that is manically obsessed with finding a reason, at least subtextually, for the incomprehensible mess they made out of these characters, especially Ted, in the finale.

Everyone is so right to point out that Ted in previous episodes would not have acted like this. I think the reason for the sudden regression in his character is Dottie.

That morning, full of smiles, in a good mood, Ted starts his walk to work.

He cheerfully strolls through the streets, saying hello to his neighbors, making chit-chat with them. He is (as Trent said it in 1x03) out there in the community. He is, more importantly, part of a community. Until suddenly-

"Mom?"

Dottie's arrival changes everything. Ted gets worse and worse throughout the episode. In the hotel room in Manchester, the football anthem "Blue Moon", with the haunting lyric "You saw me standing alone" plays over Ted's lonesome figure, in the shadows, depressed.

Juxtapose that with his first scene: the lively neighborhood and daylight.

At the end of the episode, his conversation with his (manipulative) mom hits him deep. He feels immense guilt over not being there for Henry. And he's been torn over this for the entire season.

His mom, and the way she acts, and the way she manipulates him, push him in the wrong direction: Kansas.

I think Ted has disassociated for most of the finale. But I also think that he is intentionally pushing people away. Maybe he thinks that this will make it easier for him to leave, maybe he thinks that this will make it easier for them to let him go. Maybe he just hates himself so much that he cannot accept their help. Maybe he feels guilty that they're showing him so much love, when he knows he will abandon them.

Either way, he quits. Something that he would not have done, even in season 1. So his regression goes farther than the first episode, deeper into his past. He goes from:

to having doubts on the plane about leaving without winning the whole fucking thing

but leaving anyway.

And this is one of the most curious things to me. Rebecca offers to bring Henry to him in England by helping relocate Michelle:

And yet, he refuses. So, sure, this is about being there for his son. But given the choice between his son with his beloved community, and his son without his beloved community, he chooses the latter.

I've heard the argument that we don't know for sure that Ted doesn't have a support system in Kansas. But from a narrative perspective, it's important that we haven't been shown that hypothetical support system at all. And given that he actually returns to Kansas without the one person who we know supported him before coming to England, it comes across as a terribly isolating situation.

So why would Ted choose to part from his found family, even though bringing his son into that family would be an option? My theory is that he just really fucking hates himself. I think he wants to punish himself, maybe for being away from Henry for so long, maybe for something else. I don't think he believes that he deserves love or even credit for how he helped the club.

I mean, Rebecca and Trent offer him exactly that this episode: credit for what the did for the club.

And he rejects them both, choosing instead to remove himself from their lives, to erase himself from the narrative.

I think he's lower mentally than we've seen him for a while.

I think he's in his dark forest.

So the plane departs and then lands. And Ted is back in Kansas, driven through the prosaic, picket-fenced, isolating, depressing American suburbs to the house where Henry and the ex-wife who doesn't love him are waiting for him.

And the light might be golden, and he might be reunited with his son. But as we close in on the last shot of the show, you can see his smile try to fight the sadness in his eyes and you know.

He's not happy.

#ted lasso #ted lasso spoilers

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acaptainbyanyothername · 7 months ago

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Moc Weepe is an incredibly done antagonist and I love him so much.

First up, straight off the bat: he sucks. He sucks really bad. Willy Swinzy apparently was responsible for a lot of deaths just for funsies. Moc Weepe betrayed Saskia and the entire Breach just to fuel his own greed, abandoned Midst to a tearror (that he’s indirectly responsible for…), then decided it would be swell to helm a cult so he can kill MORE people. He’s selfish, greedy, megalomaniacal, and cruel. So yeah, he’s a good antagonist because he actively furthers the plot in negative ways.

But here’s the thing that makes him so special: we’ve been personally following him as a character since the very beginning. He’s an antagonist protagonist! And he is so fun, and so human. He’s the only one of our three protagonists with a sense of humor. We see him “sing” with Saskia, be confused at brunch and manicures, roll his eyes and poke fun at Imelda, and be the weirdest fucking person alive at the post office. On the flip side, we see him deal with chronic pain. We see him cry out in pain while being tortured. In the most recent episode, we see him sob and beg and plead for a loved one not to die. He represents both a sense of fun and whimsy while also being literally and metaphorically consumed by darkness. That’s incredibly cathartic, actually.

Moc Weepe is so fun to watch. He’s so, so desperately human. He is not intrinsically bad, but he continuously makes terrible decisions. We can relate to Weepe while berating his choices. We can enjoy every minute he’s on screen while he’s actively making things worse for everyone else. He’s a a victim and a perpetrator, often both at the same time. Weepe is an incredible antagonist because he is as human as every other character and feels just as loved by the narrators.

All this to say: I love Moc Weepe and I can’t wait to watch him die <3

#Midst #midst spoilers #moc weepe

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randomfoggytiger · 5 months ago

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The X-Files: the Madonna-Whore Complex

(Credit to @cecilysass, whose comment got these thoughts going.)

I have a theory.

In the fandom, the Madonna-whore complex is often attributed to Chris Carter's handling of Dana Scully. And, while I didn't give it much weight at first, going through his old interviews gave me pause.

THE CHRIS CARTER ANGLE

From 1993 to 1998 (where I stopped reading), Chris repeatedly stated that Mulder and Scully were (are) both sides of himself: “I’m equal parts of both characters,” says their creator. “I’m a skeptic like Scully, but I’m also ready to be enraptured, like Mulder.” Mulder represented his want to believe (and inner darkness-- which he doesn't outright state... but doesn't dissuade others from thinking, either) and Scully represented his skepticism with the paranormal or faith. A lot of his personal details leaked through into their lives-- Hegel Place, California childhood, a sunflower seed habit-- and his personal philosophy-- “Trusting people, generally, is bad,” he says with a slight smile-- became the backbone of the show. He used interesting turns of phrase when discussing his characters' names: "I grew up in L.A. where Vin Scully was the voice of God. Dana is just a nice soft woman’s name I like" and Carter gave The X-Files’ Mulder his mother’s maiden name.... And, as we all know, the repeating 10/13 and 11/21 are his (and Mulder's) birthday and his wife's birthday, respectively.

It could be as simple as a showrunner incorporating himself into his work... or it can make a lot of sense regarding Mulder and Scully's sexual misadventures.

Does this point to Chris Carter being a "puritan", shunning all sexual allusion? He seemed to be willing to hint at more-- letting Tea Leoni suggest a naked Gillian be cheek to cheek with David Duchovny, and teasingly gazing at David's deleted rear shot-- and was even persuaded to leave in the Millennium and Existence kisses (not to mention writing or cosigning the I Want to Believe "scratchy beard" scene.) But does a little lip-locking or a little nudity knock down the "never-nude" angle?

Ultimately, I think speculations on CC's "quirks" are fruitless: unless the man himself sits down and gives a clearer "yes" or "no", it would be equivalent to shooting blanks in the dark. Besides, the parallels don't need to be directly tied to his personal life to inform the decisions of (and for) his characters.

The parallels, though, can't be denied.

MADONNA-WHORE, SCULLY-MULDER

To draw back to the main point: both Scully and Mulder had complicated sexual hang-ups.

Scully wasn't "allowed" to definitively have sex with Ed Jerse while Mulder was only "allowed" sex under duress. Scully was "allowed" to go on normal dates while Mulder was only "allowed" porn fantasies (Chinga, Kill Switch, First Person Shooter) and an on-call phone sex operator. Scully was "allowed" past healthy relationships (except for the one Gillian created, ahem ahem) while Mulder wasn't "allowed" to have anything resembling joy or stability in his past.

All this to say: I think Mulder and Scully are two sides of the Madonna-whore complex: Scully is the Madonna, Mulder is the whore.

It makes sense, too: Scully followed the rules and was "too smart" to get entangled with people who degraded or hurt her-- which made her a little inhuman (according to Morgan, Wong, and Gillian.) Mulder too easily blurred professional lines-- which made him easily seduced by those who intended to harm him. Phoebe Green-- as written by CC-- mentioned Mulder's illicit past activities to draw him back in; and Never Again-- as vetoed by CC-- kept an element of denial about Scully and Jerse's bedroom activities.

(Scully herself was compared to the Virgin Mary once in canon-- though it was not, it appears, Chris Carter who gunned for the imagery; nor was it the writers' and director's intent to be anything other than a metaphor that was "on-theme" for the seasonal episode:

March 14, 1998

Q #16 – Hi, my name is Deborah. Two of my favorite episodes from this season are “Christmas Carol” and “Emily” and I found myself in some heated discussions with other fans who felt Scully was turned into a mere victim, that the religious iconography was heavy handed, being beaten over the head with the Virgin Mary / Scully kind of thing. None of which I agree with. I wondered if you could talk a little about the religious iconography in those two episodes and how you work that kind of thing in and was it as self-conscious as everyone else thinks it is?

FS – ...When we began again, we also took the Dickens story, A Christmas Carol, as our lead. So suddenly the story came together very fast and actually was one of the most satisfying to write for the three of us.

The use of the manger at the very beginning of “Christmas Carol” was deliberate. The idea of a “virgin birth” was conscious. I think the one image in that two parter that people really felt was heavy handed or was laying onto Scully as Virgin Mary idea was at the end of “Emily” there is a very slow dissolve to the stained glass and that was an image that the director chose to use because it was there on the set that day and all of us liked it. But I don’t think that we meant to suggest that she was anyway equivalent to the Virgin Mary and simply thought that, you know, it was a Christmas story and those parallels deepened the story we were telling.

Still.)

The Madonna-whore/Scully-Mulder complex explains a lot a lot a lot about their complicated sex lives.

If that be the case (whether consciously or subconsciously), it makes sense why Chris Carter only wrote a kiss for them after the world didn't end. Biblical mythology and fate were always his favorite tools, after all.

A RUN DOWN

The Jersey Devil-- written by Chris Carter-- is the first episode to tackle the boundaries of this theoretical complex.

Mulder introduces the theme with a porn magazine, at work.

Scully has to drive back to a birthday party, and Mulder immediately balks over the idea of her on a possible date.

Scully considers "a life", agrees to go out with Rob to a perfectly respectable establishment, and dances around the topic uncomfortably with Mulder later.

Mulder wants her to cancel-- not out of romantic jealousy, but because their working relationship might be hindered if her interests were divided elsewhere.

"Unlike you, Mulder, I would like to have a life"/"I have a life" brazenly slaps that motif down; and Scully on her respectable date, Mulder drawing nude jersey devil women at work, Mulder forming a charmed connection with a wild woman, Mulder getting peeved over Rob's call, and Scully leaving Rob for a place by Mulder's side continues to nail it home.

Mulder lunges for the lurid, the alluring, the impossible, with nothing but empty promises and unfulfilled expectations to show for his efforts. That pattern holds for romantic-- Fire, 3, War of the Coprophages, Syzygy (to a degree), The Field Where I Died, Kill Switch, Amor Fati, First Person Shooter-- and platonic-- Deep Throat, Krycek, CSM, Diana Fowley, sundry allies in-between-- relationships. "You think he [Deep Throat] does this because he gets off on it?" he challenges Scully, stunned when she responds, "No. I think he does it because you do."

Scully strides expectantly towards the normal, the stable, the predictable; and leaves all unsavory entanglements before they besmirch her dignity or self-worth (including the unconsummated romance with Daniel Waterston, according to Gillian Anderson.) Ed Jerse is an outlier, a symptom of how out-of-control Scully felt her life had become-- a rebellion against her expected or self-imposed or self-inflicted Madonna pedestal. "Hard to imagine, this day and age, someone having sex with a perfect stranger" plays well with the medical concern of the AIDS epidemic and her distaste for losing control completely in the throes of passion.

When the Gender Bender detective states, "Guy blew an artery-- must be some roll-in-the-hay", Scully is immediately annoyed while Mulder is immediately intrigued (and amused.)

CONCLUSION

I rest my case, Your Honor.

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

#txf #The Madonna-Whore Complex #xf meta #CC #no “hate” in this post #only sincere speculation #Mulder #Scully #Madonna-whore complex #interesting #thoughts #mine #meta #x-files #the x files #xfiles

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sokkastyles · 9 months ago

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I read that post you reblogged about Katara using bloodbending to heal Zuko during the final Agni Kai, and honestly I would have loved it if that happened too. I've mentioned before in a previous ask that I wish bloodbending had been explored more in the narrative, especially Katara's complicated feelings about bloodbending. This is going to sound a bit morbid, but I'm kind of wondering if, after the encounter with Hama, do you think Katara would be kind of hyperaware of the water flowing throughout her own body or anyone else's? Would she feel tempted to try bloodbending again? Even though the first time she had to do so was to prevent Aang and Sokka from hurting each other, so she bloodbent Hama, and she found the whole thing disturbing, there's a part of me that wonders if Katara would still have a bit of morbid curiosity about bloodbending anyways. I know this sounds like I want Katara's character to be a bit darker, but what I really want is for Katara to be allowed to have these thoughts or this type of curiosity without her being made to feel like she's a bad person for it. Idk if any of this made that much sense, but I'm curious to know, what are your thoughts?

Katara unconsciously being hyper aware of the water around her and in other people's bodies after Hama is something that has made itself into my fics. Because bending is depicted in atla as part of who the person is, and I think keeping a bender from bending is like keeping someone from being allowed to move their arms and legs.

And once Katara knows this ability exists, not just bloodbending but everything Hama taught her that goes with it, like how to find the water in everything, she will find it impossible to not have this completely alter her bending and how she sees the world.

And, like with firebending, it's not the bending itself that is bad, it's what you do with it.

I love zutara fics that include bloodbending, not just the dark ones, but something I've explored a little in my fics is how it makes her more aware of Zuko's body and heightens her physical connection with him.

Bloodbending can work as a metaphor for consent, because it's not that it's inherently evil to have that kind of knowledge of another person's body, but it's about consent and trust. I see no reason why bloodbending can't be used to heal the same way that medical knowledge can be used both to heal or to kill and torture. (I'm thinking of that particular analogy because I'm reading Gene Wolfe's Shadow of the Torturer currently).

Like, I get that the show writers were trying to add complexity by showing the dark side of waterbending with Hama, but the thing is that while waterbending was always portrayed as good before, it was also portrayed in a very limited way. Katara is the last waterbender of her tribe, who had to learn on her own. "Some waterbending is bad, actually," isn't really a lesson she needed to learn, especially not from the only teacher she's ever had who can actually tell her about her own heritage. The unintended message is that Katara exploring a culture heritage that has been denied to her through war is bad, and it actually ends up limiting things instead of making them more complex. It's also another weird way the show dichotomizes combat waterbending and healing. Despite Katara gaining Pakku's respect, she is still getting the message from things like the Hama episode that using her bending for combat and not healing is wrong. The obvious solution is to make waterbending healing a form of bloodbending, and now that Netflix has made healing an actual learned bending form instead of something Katara is naturally good at, I have hope that this connection might actually be made. And this is a win win, because making healing a form of bloodbending actually achieves the complexity the original show was going for.

#katara #bloodbending #zutara

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modernmessydisaster · 3 months ago

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Agatha All Along Theory

Aside from the Funko spoilers (HOW CAN YOU MESS THAT UP!?)

I've been thinking about Teen's identity, Nicholas Scratch, Agatha, and Wanda.

I think we are good to assume that Teen is Billy, but the question now is, how is Billy alive? What does he exactly "remember"?

And why does Agatha have an immediate attachment to him?

●

So, with spoilers from Episode 4. (From here, it's just my own rambling)

Agatha murdered her coven & her mother and we all assumed it was because of the Dark Hold

BUT

For some reason, I think Agatha got the Dark Hold AFTER the events of her trial. She was dabbling in dark magic but had not aquired the Dark Hold yet. It was after her trail that she truly sought it out.

Perhaps her travels led her to meet Rio and began their situationship. Aka, aside from being more than "coven-sisters" (QUEER WIN), I think Agatha & Rio made a vow in not only that neither could harm the other. But also quid pro quo.

Agatha gave Rio bodies. Witch bodies after she took all their magic or people she even killed. Cause maybe Rio is DEATH!? Truly, the way into an entity's heart OR Rio is related to Death in some way.

Either way, if Agatha supplied bodies for Rio, what did Rio do for Agatha? That I do not know, maybe protection? From what then? Maybe the Dark Hold?

Well, whatever Rio had to protect Agatha from, she made the decision even knowing it would hurt Agatha. That decision!?

Rio sacrificed Nicholas Scratch, Agatha's son, to Mephisto to save her.

Personally, I think Agatha was dying or being horribly corrupt by the Dark Hold that her soul was close to being owned by Chthon. So, Rio made a deal with Mephisto to save Agatha's soul and gave up Nicholas in exchange/payment.

Thus, the breakup & lover to enemies between Agatha & Rio.

My points against it!

Agatha's vision in Ep 2, the Dark Hold in the baby cradle. It's implied that Agatha did do it.

But, it's still vague enough that it could have a different meaning. She did look so emotional gazing at it, even shedding tears. Then, absolutely horrified seeing it was the Dark Hold instead of her son.

Perhaps it's a metaphor for Agatha's pursuit of the Dark Hold made her blind or arrogant to what be the consequences for such dark knowledge. The loss of her son.

●

I would also like to point out the possibility that Agatha doesn't even know what exactly happened to her son? She might actually believe she sacrificed him for the Dark Hold, but she herself isn't sure.

Hence, why the sudden attachment to Teen. She grows to believe that Teen is her son, that she/Rio didn't sacrifice him. That Agatha put the sigil on him and gave him up instead.

Either way, Agatha has doubts about what actually happened to her son.

Teen

Rio confirms that at the end of Ep 4 to Agatha, that Teen isn't her son.

And yeah, obviously Teen is Billy, Wanda's son BUT my crack theory.

Wanda tried making Billy & Tommy real after the events of WandaVision with the help of the Dark Hold. But she thought she failed, hence why we have Doctor Stange MoM. But it actually worked!

Wanda did bring Billy & Tommy into existence but unknowingly had help from Mephisto. He gave her Nicholas' soul to use to bring her sons to life. Might explain why Agatha believes Teen is her son. She senses something about him that makes her want to believe.

BUT why would Mephisto do this? Honestly IDK, maybe he has plans to use Billy & Tommy as leverage against Wanda to get her soul, and maybe her powers to bend reality at his will. Instead of only doing so when making deals. Maybe to use her & the boys against Cthon or the boys are sleeper agents that he's waiting to use one day.

Moving on,

Teen even asks Agatha if she put the sigil on him, so Teen has doubts about his identity!

Teen even starts to question if he is Agatha's son, but why?

It's because all the memories Teen has about his suppose parents & life aren't "real"

It's either fake memories implanted in him and people "acting" in their roles to keep it up.

Since in the trailer, we see Teen in a hospital gown? Along with Agatha in a type of prison cell. I think the government or some type of organization found Teen/Billy and had him locked up monitoring him since he does give off some type of energy/magic. Agatha will probably unlock the truth to Teen and even break the sigil.

I'm ending it here since I am tired, it is late. Well, here are my theories. I am probably horribly WRONG, but I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in.

#agatha all along #agatha harkness #rio vidal #billy maximoff #a theory❔️

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miminmimikyu · 6 months ago

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Prodigy episodes 11-12: Jankom you hero! You know that those anger management classes were good if Jankom managed to de-escalate a conflict between a tactless angry Dal and an absolutely livid Chakotay in a room with no Janeway

Jesus episode 11 got really dark really quickly.

Gosh that opening sequence of Chakotay’s life on Ysida was so beautiful. The gentle piano and strings music accompanying this montage was so understated and pretty. The soundtrack on this show...

ngl when Chakotay carved that third chess piece I thought it represented a child

TEN years! That’s longer than Voyager was stranded in the Delta Quadrant! If anyone of the ex-Voyager crew can survive 10 years on an isolated planet, it’s Chakotay, but oooff. I guess 10 years of solitude and the deaths of your entire crew weighing on your mind constantly will do that to a guy. I think that the closest he’s ever been portrayed as this.. callous(?) was in Timeless, where he also lost all but one of his (& Janeway’s) crew. It was so satisfying to see Chakotay get so many emotional moments this episode (still, quite shocking to see him try to attack defenceless kids).

The scene in the cave was so perfect, everything came together— the moody blue of the cavern, Dal’s initial shocked expression and inability to speak, Adreek’s skeleton just sitting there and protecting the antimatter for god knows how long.. and then to top it off the two-hit KO of the incredible animation conveying Chakotay’s horror and grief and guilt, and Robert Beltan’s voice acting!. (I’m so used to his clocked-out performance for a large part of Voyager, I was taken so off guard by the emotions he conveyed in this episode (and the next).…. God that was beautiful

Please.. I’m already dead π_π

I love how it’s not a sense of sudden responsibility for some children but the kids just earnestly working away that gradually drags Chakotay out of his shell. Worn down by their work ethic (and them finding the corpse of his first officer for him 💀).

Yet again: what a cool planet!! A lot of the planets the kids have visited this season have been devoid of humanoid life but each of them is so unique and interesting. Not the worst place to be marooned, if not for the beasts.

I really like the reversal of the Janeway-Chakotay dynamic here. On Voyager, Chakotay kept Janeway in check, now holo Janeway does that for Chakotay. It’s cute how he looks back at her for input from time to time.

Dal and Chakotay actually make a great duo. I really liked their heart-to-heart. Also the way they clash, definitely a different dynamic compared to Dal and Janeway. I didn’t expect Dal to confess his insecurity re:the peek at his future so soon. I don’t think that this solved it but I’m glad that he was given a bit of a confidence boost.

These two episodes sure reminded me of Resolution… stranded on a planet, the planet is plagued by ion storms, Chakotay/Janeway infected vs. the Protostar infected. Chakotay is resigned to his fate while Janeway/Adreek is set on fixing the situation (Janeway didn’t manage but Adreek did).... and then in episode 12 Chakotay tells Dal about how he always felt lost (as a child on his homeworld, in the maquis as an adult..), until he met Janeway and became her number one… that’s almost exactly the same thing that he told Janeway in Resolutions (minus the metaphor + heavy romantic overtones). Hell, episode 12 even starts with Vice Admiral Janeway getting her shoulder massaged (/manhandled. by the doctor. and she hates it. unlike when Chakotay did it on New Earth ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ). Only Janeway isn’t actually stranded with him on Ysida…

Chakotay and Holo Janeway�� do you think they explored each other’s bo-

Beverly Crusher is k i l l i n g me being all “Jean-Luc? Dunno, you know him, always working!! Hahaha, let’s talk about motherhood” while hiding her now 4-year old secret lovechild.

Anyway. So if Voyager is nearby (ish), that means that this is present-day and Chakotay crashed 10 years in the past? So besides fixing the protostar back up, they need to wipe holo Janeway’s memories, crash the Protostar in the past and I guess Chakotay just loses 10 years of his life now?

#where did he get that cowboy hat from?#star trek prodigy #star trek prodigy spoilers #prodigy spoilers #prodigy s02e11 spoilers #prodigy s02e12 spoilers #long post #mmnmmq.txt

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redxx95 · 6 months ago

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Thoughts on the VR game scene in ep 8 of the cherry magic radio drama

that is one long ass title

Hello dear friends, this will only really interest like 5 of you but I shall ramble about this surprisingly thought out scene nonetheless.

For the uninitiated: There's a (in my opinion) fantastic chinese radio drama adaptation of cherry magic, which you can find right here. The person translating this adds a new episode every wednesday and it's currently at 8 episodes (out of 13). If you enjoyed the manga, you will really enjoy this adaptiation, I promise.

On to my rambling now tho.

Disclaimer: I haven't watched the whole rd yet, so I might be mischaracterizing them a little bit (maybe). Also some of the things I'm saying might be a bit of a stretch but oh well 😌

So the scene I'm talking about is actually made up of two parts: the wait for the VR game and the actual game.

Pre-VR game, they're both standing in line and immediately we're met with a deviation from the manga: Kurosawa gets a number and suggests to play this rhythm game while they wait. Adachi doesn't end up playing but he does put the headphones for the game on Kurosawa, who points out how loud they are. I thought it's kinda weird that Adachi's the one putting them on him (cuz like, couldn't he just do that himself?) but if you see it in a more symbolic way it makes a lot of sense. Adachi's line "Now you can sing all you want" while Kurosawa's happily humming to himself, coupled with the fact he's blissfully unaware of the mean girls chattering about them in the background, makes me think this is symbolism for Adachi "shielding" him from the outside world and giving him a space to be himself, free of judgement and harsh words. The rest of the scene plays out pretty much the same as in the manga, with Adachi getting into his head and subsequently slapping Kurosawa's hand away.

So then they both get ready to play the VR game, which is actually just one big metaphor for their relationship. They both get told they'll first have to "adjust to the VR vision" -> adjust to their new relationship Kurosawa: "We'll fight side by side" "Don't shoot me before the round starts" -> "We're finally together!" "Don't write me off before I've even had a chance to prove myself a worthy boyfriend" The game starts and they both can't see each other, tapping around in the dark. -> This relationship is new to both of them, for Adachi because he's never been in one, and for Kurosawa because it's the first genuine loving relationship he's ever been in. Adachi gets really in his head about how the date is going, same as in the manga. While he does that, Kurosawa is repeatedly calling out for him in the real world. -> They're both trying to make this work and stumbling, Kurosawa not getting through to Adachi with his spoken words, yet so desperate to reach him. Kurosawa: "Adachi, say something back" -> Kurosawa craves acknowledgement, pre- and post-getting together. Then finally Kurosawa touches him and that's when Adachi finally responds, Kurosawa going "Found you" in his thoughts. -> Adachi is touched, literally and metaphorically, by Kurosawa and his thoughts, his positive influence pulling him (here only briefly) away from his negative thoughts. The staff instructs them to stand apart, while Kurosawa's surprised at this. ("Aren't we on the same team?") -> I think the staff is supposed to represent the judging eyes of society in this metaphor, telling them they're meant to be apart, as they don't fit together (just like the gossiping girls at the beginning said). (This might be a stretch but it also gives heteronormativity vibes, as in, you're supposed to be apart, you're both "on the same team" (same gender)) Staff: "But if you two get too close during the fight, you might accidentally hurt each other." -> If we drop the staff=society metaphor here, this sentence really just represents their entire early relationship dynamic of trying to do what they think is best for the other, but ending up hurting each other instead, without meaning to. The closer they get, the more friction their differences create. Kurosawa being the one who acts first: "Is this much distance alright?" -> Of course he would be the first to try to accomodate these new restrictions, always trying to take up as less space as possible to not be a source of trouble for Adachi. Eventually the actual game starts up and they play, Kurosawa telling Adachi that he'll "cover for him", but ultimately failing at this ("I said I'd cover for you but I only ended up slowing us down") -> Kurosawa trying to do more than he's capable of and messing things up for both of them is kind of a running theme with him. (shameless plug to my essay about this here lol) Adachi performs poorly in the game because he couldn't focus. Kurosawa immediately asks if they want to go again, but he doesn't feel like he can do it, ending the scene there. -> Adachi worrying too much about how others see him/them is not only how he loses the game but also how he "fails" the date, losing all hope that him and Kurosawa are meant to be together at all, even though Kurosawa is very willing to try and make it work.

The rest of the episode plays out very differently from the manga, so I can only really analyze that when I finally get to watch the next episode. 👍

Hope yall enjoyed this long ass read 🫶

#cherry magic #this is such a silly little scene but they still put so much thought into it #thank u rd writers 🙏#my essays

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raviolitin · 5 months ago

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Ouat Theory:

So i’m rewatching Into The Deep (2x08) and I noticed something about the sleeping curse.

In 1x21, Regina states that when someone is under the sleeping curse, they’ll suffer dreams formed of their own regrets. But, does this really line up with what we see in this episode?? David goes under a sleeping curse and manages to break through into the netherworld, but that’s not where you go initially.

Here is David in his sleeping curse, very clearly not a dream let alone one detailing his regrets. It’s just a room of mirrors. This contradicts what Regina said right?? Wrong.

Because while David is up and moving this is still technically a dream, he’s not awake. It’s like lucid dreaming, he’s asleep but has full agency to do what he wants.

So, what about the regrets thing?? Well, my first conclusion was that it’s an abstract thing - a metaphor. When you’re forced to stare at yourself what else can you do but self-reflect, both literally and figuratively.

But then I came to a second conclusion, which I like much more. The sleeping curse looks different for everyone. It’s personalised.

David Nolan is a very self-loathing character. Almost every time he gets screen time it’s to lament about how many insecurities he has.

For David, his regrets look like himself. Because he regrets the man he feels like he is. When David Nolan looks in those mirrors, he sees a failure of a father, an unworthy leader, a dishonourable son, so many things that he feels he isn’t good enough at. I can’t imagine looking in a mirror would be a worthy enough punishment for most people, but if we consider this is personalised to David it makes so much sense.

And then you can dig a layer deeper and say that James factors in here. He admits later in the season that he feels like if he was raised by George he would’ve turned out like James did, a corrupt, cruel prince. Looking at himself, the face of his estranged twin brother, it reminds him of the darkness that lays within him. It reminds him that he isn’t completely good, a fact that seems to haunt him throughout the series.

David is a character that overcompensates for his own self-hatred to the point it’s extremely damaging to himself. He throws his life away for other people so he feels worthy of their love, he believes he’s only of worth when he’s providing something for someone, a fact he learned throughout both his childhood and adulthood.

Making David stare at himself, reckon with the man he is, is the perfect punishment for someone wracked with self loathing like him.

That’s why I think the curse changes for each person. It also makes me wonder what the other characters curses would look like.

#ouat #once upon a time #david nolan #ouat rewatch #theory #maybe this is obvious #and people are reading this and laughing #but idk #ouat theory #analysis #i suppose #ouat 2x08 #into the deep

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dragonprincebr · 1 year ago

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[ENGLISH] Interview with Devon Giehl!

O Príncipe Dragão Brasil Team realized an exclusive interview with The Dragon Prince's Lead Writer and Producer, Devon Giehl! We asked about episode 8 from season 5, as well as questions by fans!

We translated the interview so more people can read about it! Here's the portuguese version.

Finnegrin was such an interesting and exciting villain! How did you guys created him, and is there any chance he survived?

Devon Giehl: It started because we wanted to take the characters to a sort of pirate town after they lost Zubeia’s help, they needed a boat to get down the coast. We started developing the idea of Scumport first and then we decided that the minor villain they would encounter In Scumport, this pirate-y lawless town would be Finnegrin. At first, he was only meant to antagonize the cast for one episode, but we had so much fun coming up with stories about the pirate town that we decided to invent the three-part arc in order to be able to fully tell a bigger story about the pirates and the trouble that Callum and co get in with him. So, we ended up saying “what if he chases them?”, “what if he’s part of the plot for the next 2 episodes?” that he pursues them and eventually captures them. We wanted him to be really mean, but also charismatic and charming and he was inspired by the character Al Swearengen from Deadwood. In terms of any chance of him surviving, I think it’s possible, I like to imagine that he had some magical or clever way of escaping his fate. I would like to see him again because I really had fun writing him. Maybe he got out, it’s possible, he’s a powerful ocean mage and a tidebound elf, so maybe. I know that there were jokes about why does he worry about drowning and I was like “why did I write it that way?” but I think even tidebound elves probably have ways of dying. It’s probably more of a metaphor than literally. If you go down far enough anything will be crushed down there. And she’s an Ocean dragon, she can probably just kill him in multiple ways.

In our understanding, a major theme of the episode was the lack of control of things that are bigger and deeper, like the tides of the Ocean, the dark parts of ourselves, which are things we can’t and shouldn’t control. And we wonder what will it mean for Callum, who values his freedom and his choices, when considering that in the last season, Callum lost control of himself when possessed by Aaravos, and now he reached this understanding of the Ocean arcanum.

DG: As a character, Callum explores the themes of freedom and to me that connects to themes of growing up in a way that there is this moment when you are young, especially when you are an early teenager, you gain some sense of self and you realize your individuality, your potential, the limitless power you can potentially have in the world.

You come into yourself in a powerful way and it’s really exciting and you feel like you can do anything. And then very quickly, as you get a little bit older, you come into a place where you realize it’s not that easy. There’s so many things in the world that are bigger and scarier than you, and you start to feel more powerless in how you may confront them, overcome them, and whether or not you even can, you start to make decisions more out of fear sometimes, out of desperation, you compromise parts of yourself, and it wears the way that person thought the world was infinite.

For Callum, in season 2 when he unlocked the Sky Arcanum, he was over the moon, he was excited, the entire world was open to him, he was free of everything. But now, he is a couple years older, a couple years wiser, for better and worse, and this is a scenario in which he was sort of backed into a corner and the only way out he could see was doing something that he didn’t want to do. To me it’s tough ‘cause it changes what he might think he originally believed in only connecting to the Sky. And it makes him a little bit more complex, he rattles his assumptions about his potential and he’s not quite sure anymore if he is who he thought he was going to be and I think all of us go through that at some point of our lives, and it’s really hard.

With maturity comes the sort of darker awareness of dangers of the world and your very small place in it. Whereas the Sky says “look, the whole world is yours, it’s open, beautiful and wild, you can be and do anything”, the Ocean arcanum says like “now, hold on, it’s not quite that easy and infinity possibility does mean that some of these possibilities could be bad”.

Another theme of the Ocean primal is accepting there are dark parts of ourselves, and it seems similar with the Moon primal, that recognizes that there are sides of other people that are hidden from view. So, is Callum ever going to try to tap into Moon arcanum?

DG: There’s a little bit of connection between the Ocean and Moon primal, because they are sort of the push and pull of the tide, they are related, they influence each other. In terms of Callum and the Moon Arcanum, from a more storytelling perspective he might. For me it’s hard to commit to that because the moon it’s Rayla’s special territory. It’s tough because if you have Callum to start to be able to do all this cool Moon magic, it actually kind lessens what Rayla is and what she is capable of. I don’t think it’s necessarily impossible, but I think it takes something away from her in a way we don’t really want the narrative to do currently, which is why we gave Callum his own identity with the Ocean and Sky for the moment. All of the moon stuff is very much how Rayla shines and she’s not going to get other arcanums as a moonshadow elf, we wanna make sure that she still gets to be cool and powerful with what we gave her and not just take that and give it to someone else.

And does the Ocean (and Moon) primal reflects the relationship between Callum and Rayla, considering we also saw the themes of trust between them – even when Rayla temporary hid the truth about what she was doing in his office – and eventually help mend their relationship?

DG: Ooh, that's spicy. I think both of them keep a lot inside, specially stuff that they feel ashamed of or frightened by, and I think that’s very natural for a lot of young people, even people in general. Rayla kept what she was doing from him, and it wasn't necessarily an attempt to hurt him or deceive him, it was very much because she didn’t know how to handle what she learned about the coins, she had no answer, she felt like “maybe if I learn a bit more, I can do something about it, but I’m not sure” and then in the end she has her little vision and she decides “I can’t figure this out right now, even though I really want to, I’m gonna have to go help Callum”‘. So I think it was very personal for her, even when you are in really loving relationships. They are not currently dating, but they do care about each other very deeply, there are still things you attempt to handle on your own and not share even with your partner.

I think Callum is a little bit the same way because there is that sort of like not quite mended trust between them, you also see reflected in how he doesn’t tell her right away about what he did to get out of Finnegrin’s grasp. I think once you unlock an arcanum, it doesnt mean you are gonna be a perfect person and act by the thing you’ve accessed, it just sort of is… sort of like mental breakthroughs, but even when you have little mental breakthroughs in real life, you can still screw up and take those breakthroughs and be destructive with them. The trust between them isn’t perfect yet, but they care about each other enough the other is not trying to hurt them. When Callum said at the end of season 4 “I’m so glad you are back”, everything that followed that, to me, was about him living by that realization, he’s not holding things against her, he understands and cares about who she is. It still is not what it was, but it’s more worthy to have her back in my life than to continue to be angry and resentful and sort of keep her at arm’s length. That doesn’t mean that they are gonna be totally honest and share everything with each other right away, so you still see both of them still taking on their individuals burdens and struggling with them.

What were Ezran and Soren feelings on Callum being tortured and then Rayla being almost fed to the Levianthan? We couldn’t get much into it because of time constraints, but we would love to know more!

DG: The episodes are only 22 minutes long. I would’ve love to do a scene where everybody has like a sort of immediate reaction. If I had to write that scene, I think I would have a lot of people, like Soren and Rayla, basically everyone, making a really big effort to see if Callum’s is okay and if Soren is okay, but I think Callum is in that moment… He doesn’t really want everybody’s immediate attention, he would probably say that he was fine and to check on everyone else, and that’s why you see Rayla with Stella, and everybody coming out, letting off the shackles and things like that and then you see Rayla going to Callum, I don’t think anybody ignored him or took him from granted, there was probably a very brief like, everybody checking in with each other, but his emotions were very confusing. He goes and sits down by himself, huddles up. Then Rayla reapproaches him and you see it play out as it did on the show. Everybody was pretty scared.

In this season, we saw Soren bring up the fact that Ezran, despite being king, is still a child. Is this conflict going to be brought up again, perharps by other people in his council or other Human Kingdoms?

DG: I won’t say how it comes out, but I think Ezran struggles as a really young kid versus the King. He talks like a twenty-five year old, he’s like really, really mature and trying so hard to “grown up”, but I think there’s parts of him that are suffering quietly because of that and we will see that come in to play. The fact that he is a child and there are parts of him that aren’t quite ready for all of this will definitely impact some things in the future.

Ezran’s grief in his short story was such an interesting take in his character, and i wonder if we’ll see more about it in the next seasons?

DG: Yes… Is that too much? That short story was more like a tease for the next three seasons, not just season five. So it’s something that's simmering in him during season 5, season 6 and onward. You’ll see a little bit more of it. He’s outworldly, very wise, very perfect, but there is a part of him that’s very vulnerable to pain, just like everybody, It’s easy to say out loud “peace and love and harmony”, but to actually act on that, not harbor any resentment, is super human. Even he is not immune to that. Everybody has things they are mad about.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FANS

Will the first human to ever do primal magic be explored more at some point?

DG: As far as I know, it’s really open ended and would be the subject of its own story, at some point, but i think it would be pretty cool.

Is there a connection between Aaravos and Callum’s mind, to the point of giving him nightmares? Or is there something else you can tell about a connection between them?

DG: I like the idea that he has nightmares, if anyone wants to write fanfiction about it, please do it! I don’t want to say much about their connection, but once Aaravos has control and touched him in some way, this connection still exists and it’s not something that just disappears, it’s with you Forever. That’s all i can say!

Will we see more of the Silvergrove, or if some of its inhabitants will be making an appearence?

DG: That’s too many spoilers, but we will see more Moonshadow stuff, and revisit their culture in a meaningful way.

Can you tell us anything about Claudia’s feelings on Rayla, or if they’ll be explored in the next seasons? Up until now, they didn’t share many positive interactions, and now Rayla was the main responsable for Claudia not freeing Aaravos, and also cut her leg (even if it wasn’t her intention).

DG: I think Claudia blames all 3 of them with the same amount of anger, I don’t think she focus on Rayla specifically. She sees Rayla as somebody who poisoned people who used to be her friends Against her, she hasn’t really taken the time to consider her as a person. She’s “The Elf” and has a really hard time moving on from that, and I think this encounter just reinforced that. It’s a very negative interaction and They didnt enjoy it. I don’t think she’s gonna blame Rayla especifically, it’s those 3 people – her old friends and the elf. It’s not a specific focus on Rayla.

Will we see more interactions between Soren and Corvus?

DG: Yes. Without saying too much about it, there’s na episode written by our sênior writer – Paige VanTassel – about Soren and Corvus and a storyline they go through. It’s extremely funny because Paige is the funniest writer in the room, and i hope people like it, cause they’re just so funny. The dynamic between Soren and his sort of goofy, himbo humour and Corvus who has deadpan reactions is delightful, and Paige made a Whole story about it. You’ll see it in a future season, and I love it!

In season 4, Rayla says “we can’t save everyone”, in response to her decision to no helping the Drake. Is this foreshadowing for something that might happen in the next seasons? Or it means a change of heart, in contrast to her saving Phyrrah back in season 2?

DG: I think when Rayla said that, she was having a very hard time. When you say things that are against your own nature – because i really think she didn’t mean it, she said the most mean, tough thing she could think of because nothing was going the way she wanted it to go. She was struggling with Callum, stuggling to connect with everybody, Soren was kind of annoying her, and I think she said something completely unlike her, in ways that are difficult to take back. And in the next morning she realizes what she did and freaks out, and it’s just another small mistake in her inability to process her own feelings very well. She routinely proves it’s not something she really believes, but in that moment she was feeling pretty low and angry, and it did not lead her to take great courses of action.

Could Callum adapt Manus Pluma Volantus the way he adapted the Ocean runes to allow his friends to breathe below the water?

DG: That’s a really good question. Maybe? To be honest we never though about that. Maybe it might not work the same way. But It’s possible!

About Terry: will his role remain as an emotional support for Claudia, or question what she does – which is something he already does, and in this season he did it twice, so we wonder if it’ll continue?

DG: I think he very much sees a version of Claudia that’s heroic, even though her methods are dark magic, and it’s a choice she’s making to save her father, and he genuinely believes that’s a good cause. He’s not like Rayla, raised to be na assasin, he’s kind of a normal elf, just a guy, he’s not quite aware of the world and the threat of Aaravos and what everybody else is fighting. He understands Claudia wants to save her father, but he has very limited knowledge on what that means.

From Claudia’s perspective, Aaravos is a “bro”, he sat on her shoulders for 2 years and helped preserve her father. So Terry's got a diferent set of information than the main cast, and sometimes people seem to not consider that – he doesn’t know everything our main characters have learned, and we’ve already seen him a couple times Calling her out when she tiptoes on the edge of cruelty, when she gets very angry, when she lashes out at Rayla and doesn’t give her the coins, when she lashes out at the dragon and wants to hurt it instead of just stopping, and that will continue. But he genuinely loves Claudia, he thinks she’s funny, charming, loyal to her family in a way that’s truly beautiful (even if for us, as the audience, is kinda twisted), he’s seen her best version and seen her do incredible things to get what she wants, but she’s slipping a little, and it’s alarming to him, so we’ll see more of that.

#the dragon prince #interview #devon giehl

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autismprotocol · 10 months ago

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Hey, sorry if this is long, but I really like what you guys are doing and have nowhere else to put my theories, so...

Firstly, sorry to be that person, but I actually think you mislabeled the entities for two episodes. Needles reads like an avatar of the slaughter to me. It's like Lietner said, the physical description is less important then the emotional or metaphorical. Needles' thing isn't "look at this scary trick I can do with my flesh body." It's "I am going to cause you intense pain at random by stabbing you with my needles. Please be scared of me :)"

I was also surprised you didn't mark Putting Down Roots as a filth statement. Illness, rotting alive, swarming flies, a deeply unhealthy romantic love. All reads as corruption to me.

Now let's get to my fun crack theory. Episode 7 almost reads to me like the point the powers breached into the new world. Think about it, hilltop road was suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of artifacts and "people" (avatars) that map to many different powers (I counted stranger, slaughter, dark, filth, and possibly hunt among the artifacts present). The timeliness doesn't quite match up (we have a statement from the 1800s), but maybe the powers are capable of having retroactively always existed. Or maybe the fan theory that the entities are now the "hungers" that feed on obsession was true until the fears intruded into the world.

Omg thank you so much for the ask I absolutely love over analyzing this goofy lil podcast and i really wanted to have this board be a collaborative and community thing for all of us TMAG/TMAGP fans out there!

starting with the board corrections you pointed out you are absolutely right after reading this I ended up rereading the wiki entries about the Entities because its been a hot second since I've read up on those goobers and I've kinda forgotten how many little nuances that each one has. I had no idea how we missed the clear corruption tie-ins that were occurring in Samuel Webbers journal (Putting Down Roots) especially when you brought up his toxic relationship to his partner.

As with Needles before doing my reread about the fears I just assumed flesh because body modified with needles. but looking into it, sudden piercing needles more cleanly falls into slaughter.

I actually have this ongoing theory originated by my roommate and other blog contributor that the fears might have been scrambled when crossing dimensions. maybe because of this many minor powers have begun to branch out from the main 15 and with that hybrid avatars and entities have been created. With needles I think maybe they fall under the umbrella of slaughter and spiral because of the way they mentally toy with their victims. also could explain why needles has to convince the man on the phone that they're scary because this hybrid power may be new and people have not gotten fearful of it yet.

I'll be making those changes for next weeks board so thank you for pointing them out :D

on to your theory that would make sense especially since this episode (EP 7) is kind of serving as the catalyst for the story to shift into high gear. I think that if the Hilltop charity shop was the entrance point for all of the fears to enter the world it would make complete sense. Hilltop is the one place in the Magnus canon that people have reported traveling to different dimensions. also the date of the incident falls right about the time that Archives started early 2016 so the fears may have also gone back in time to when Jon became the Archivist in TMAs universe (since Jons death is the catalyst that forced them to jump dimensions.) I'm really liking where your theory is heading

also real quick if anyone has more info about the theory that Protocols world lived off of hunger and desire pre the fears appearing I'd love to hear more about that because I've never heard of the until now.

Again thank you so much for the ask I'm so happy you're liking what we're doing here and I hope you continue to share your thoughts and theories with this blog.

-Echo

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raayllum · 9 months ago

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Because @kradogsrats got me thinking about it with their Harrow and Pip and Viren meta so now I'm throwing in two adjacently related cents

The first is that there is absolutely a fucking Premonition going on with dreams in the show (specifically Viren and Callum's dark magic dreams as well as Janai's nightmare) which only makes sense because all of these are 1) connected to Aaravos and subsequently star magic, and 2) dark magic which loops right back around to Aaravos

There are multiple times that images and ideas are relayed to characters who would have no way of knowing these things in the present

For example, Viren is surprised and asks Kpp'Ar about his arm, even when we know that Viren was the last person to see Kpp'Ar before he got coined, and presumably would've already been hurt / Viren would've been aware it had happened. But that doesn't seem to be the case given the dialogue

This also means that the answer Kpp'Ar gives either has to be not truthful and purely something Viren concocted (about something he didn't know had happened), which wouldn't make sense from a character or an audience standpoint, because in an episode titled "Old Wounds" we're going to remember the one visible wound we see on screen. So if the wounds are real and Kpp'Ar is truthful, there's some wonky magic knowledge time space stuff going on (which does sound like Star and adjacent dark magic to me)

We see this again with Janai's dreams concerning Khessa evolving past the point of a reoccurring nightmare to one that actually gives her, again, what we're supposed to assume is the Truth, even though Janai was leagues away from Aaravos (although she did hear his voice) and the lack of discerning his whisper wouldn't suddenly go away for no reason

And we Know there's some overlap between the dark magic dreams and the current reality happening outside the dreams, considering Viren's material reality in 5x02-5x03 directly informs his dreaming reality ("You keep moving" -> "We have to keep moving" as one example)

Most notably with the flower, Claudia begins discarding it in the dream before she drops it in real life, with Claudia receiving the flower in real life before it appears with her in the dream. So the interplay is not consistent moving in one direction solely to the other, but very much does exist

We even see this noticeably (upon rewatches) with Callum's dark magic dreams featuring foreshadowing for future seasons. Not only does having the Key represent dark magic in the dream make extra sense because it is connected to Aaravos, who is also connected to dark magic of course, it likewise has the Ocean rune on display in particular, hinting at things that haven't yet come to pass, but things that very much will

Why does this matter? Well... when Harrow does show up in Callum's dark magic dream, he is notably chained down

Or, y'know, caged like a bird

Now, this could just be because TDP likes its poignant but hella on the nose symbolism on a regular basis. It likes to use a variety of symbols concerning freedom, with a multitude of metaphors just in this episode alone: navigating a storm and steering a ship; keys and chains; the key; and verbally, books to go along with the idea of fate and destiny being "written" or being rewritten by yourself. And I'm willing to bet that that's Most of it

But also... the Claudia with the flower, Kpp'Ar with his arm, the cube with the Ocean rune, and all that stuff... alongside how blithering little we know about Star magic at the present. Hopefully "Dreamer's Nightmare," which focuses the princes and a town beset by horrible nightmares pre-series and set to come out early August 2024, could give some answers if S6 hasn't dropped by then

Regardless leads me to my second thing regarding what actually happened in that goddamn kindly bedroom between Harrow and Viren (innuendo half intended)

I think Harrow's soul got split

The main reason this makes sense to me is twofold on a plot level and then there's 1-2 things thematically, but let's talk about the most concrete stuff first

1) There is a significant chunk of time between the last possible chance Viren could've done the spell and when we see the binding actually fall

Now to be fair, there's a delay between Runaan's binding falling off and Rayla's (because story constraints) but it's worth noting that as Runaan makes his way to the balcony, only then does it begin to loosen. He's left the room and (rightly) assumed his job is done probably because he knew he was growing weak and still needed to send the arrow, but it's clearly something that gave Harrow a bit of time to like, Live. If Harrow had fully died earlier than that in some capacity, the bindings would have fallen off ahead of time, so Runaan did something and we know (thanks to the Flowers) that Moonshadow elves can enchant objects tied to souls, not bodies, even if other people can be fooled by their appearances

So although the novelization and the show indicate that Viren did something shady as hell ("If Viren wanted to defy his former friend one last time, he'd have to do it tonight"), it isn't something that could've fully killed Harrow at that time

Hence the split. As Kradogsrats pointed out, the Soulfang serpent spell is something that due to the unique nature of the specimen as well as it's not exactly something you can practice (S4 even emphasizes how specific ingredients have to be sometimes in order for a spell to work correctly as well as multiple TDP short stories showing what can go wrong if you lose concentration) it was something that could've gone so wrong so easily.

Some of his soul had to have stayed in his body (but possibly left Harrow momentarily unconscious). Maybe Viren thought he had failed and killed him, and that would explain why he does nothing in the hallway while the assassins are attacking (he seems to kind of know but not fully get what Runaan's binding means in 1x08), although he does seem to have a hint of reservation about Callum being there in the hallway, which wouldn't make sense if he was sure that Harrow was dead, because then who was gonna give a shit that Callum was there?

Another part of his soul could've gone in the bird, as the Soulfang was in the room and so was Pip (quite prominently displayed). Viren at least attempting the spell and it being partially successful would explain why dream!Harrow imprisons him further (after all, why not let it be Kpp'Ar, who literally got coined?) in addition to Pip. Harrow has Runaan's arrow in him during the imprisonment scene as well, so it seems likely that both Viren and Runaan had an equal hand in ruining Harrow's body on that level

The main reason I can see there being at least a partial piece of Harrow's soul in Pip is well

2) Runaan and Ezran

Even if we disregard the thematic irony of Harrow being trapped in the physical symbol of freedom (a bird), there is the fact that Ezran being able to talk to animals is like... the biggest tell that something is coming around with this goddamn bird.

Like Ezran's ability to talk to animals thus far has not had a lot of plot relevance, okay, outside of season one. Like him with Ava and the spider is the last time it's directly core relevant in ways that would be hard to get around. Like his bond with Zym could exist regardless as well as seeing through his eyes. Even if being able to talk to animals absolutely helped set that up, it's not necessary for Ezran to have the communication ability per se to have what he has with Zym, and thus far even as more animals have been introduced (most notably Stella) it hasn't really come into play.

The main reason to give Ezran an ability like this is so that he can talk to Pip. The main reason to remove Pip from the castle as of S2 is because - even in the original plans where Ezran didn't go home in 2x09, he would still would have off screen after S3 and inevitably run into Pip. So there's clearly something with the bird that will become evident upon him interacting with Ezran, hence why they've been separated.

At the same time, I don't think Harrow can wholly be in the bird just because that removes some of Runaan's teeth (and Ezran's subsequent potential beef with him) in ways the show just... doesn't do? I always think about how easy it would've been for Harrow to have no knowledge of what Viren had done with the egg/Zym until it was already over (which 1x02 kinda indicates) only for 3x06 to go "No, Harrow was fully conscious and complicit, even if he had reservations and it wasn't his idea." Our mistakes indeed. So I don't think it'd make sense to let Runaan completely off the hook, especially when we just spent two seasons giving Viren an atonement arc and showing that he can grow and change (and it'll be Runaan's turn afterwards -- especially because within the narrative of the show, killing Harrow is the Only Tangibly Bad thing he's really done, so if he's absolved of that than he doesn't really have a point of being here to the same degree).

Continent Split in Two

If Harrow's soul was split in two, not only would reconciling that (aka maybe letting it Leave Pip, the way the Moonshadow troupe and Sarai's breath had to be released) be a way for the boys, particularly Ezran, to get another shot at processing their father's death... It would also reflect the divide of Xadia itself because of dark magic, and how that literal rift metaphorically, magically, and literally, is being healed and mended over.

It would also have an interesting parallel of Claudia (presumably whether Viren lives past s5 or not) having to likewise learn to let her father go and cope/grieve in a healthier manner, and it would mean that Harrow never comes back fully formed (because Ezran has to keep being King, narratively / arc wise) but we finally understand what truly happened to him.

#tdp meta #tdp #the dragon prince #king harrow #so here we are again #analysis series #analysis

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sheppardsmckay · 1 year ago

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I’ve finally finished the incredible show that is Stargate Atlantis and I. Have. Thoughts.

I watched Vegas and Enemy at the Gates together (on the advice of my sga leader @lightthewaybackhome) and I’m so happy I did.

So Vegas feels like a different show entirely, from the filming to the characters. Sheppard does not seem like Sheppard nor does anyone else. They’re all darker, more broken versions. My heart was just broken the whole time, but I didn’t cry until I saw Rodney though. This is the Rodney without his Sheppard to guide him and help him. This is the Rodney who lets Keller pass him by. This is the Rodney that lets Sheppard go alone. This is Rodney without a Sheppard that lit up Atlantis (this is honestly worse than last man but it’s a good parallel).

This is the Sheppard that goes alone on yet another suicide mission because he’s lost everything anyway…and then he dies. While Johnny Cash’s “Solitary Man” plays. Because that’s who Sheppard is, not the man in black saving the world with his people, but the solitary man who is alone without a home and no chance to be healed. And yet still he sacrifices himself and is brave and dies saving the world. Sheppard becomes the action hero at the end of the movie that goes out guns blazing and, while it’s usually cool to see, this one just breaks our hearts.

And then we move to the finale and…oh! Sheppard is Sheppard again, and Rodney is Rodney and everyone is okay.

And we see the parallels between the Vegas world and ours throughout the episode. Sheppard about to go on a suicide mission stops right at the last moment because Rodney’s voice breaks through the radio. The team is about to die blowing up the hive ship but stops because Atlantis is there in time to save them. Atlantis is lit up because of Sheppard. And then we see them all at the end. They’re happy, and alive and not broken.

And even though they aren’t fully healed, cause who ever is in this life, they’re on the path to healing. There’s hope, there’s light that has broken through the darkness (the way the show ends with the light piercing through the clouds is so beautiful in a literal and metaphorical sense like I’m sobbing).

There’s a couple lines from songs that my Sheppard told me about that is forever linked with SGA now. Ghosts That We Knew has a beautiful line, “So give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light”. Throughout the show there’s so much darkness and pain, but we stick through it with the team because there’s hope that it’ll be okay. There’s hope because John is there, because they’re all there right where they should be. It’s a beautiful metaphor for life.

And then there’s a song called Hospital for Souls. It’s mainly a Sheppard song, as he lets himself burn for his family, but it’s also how Atlantis is a hospital for all the broken souls and brings them together. It’s why Sam didn’t stay there long and Woolsey came on board. It’s why Ronon says at the end that he is home. It’s why Teyla chooses to stay and raise her son in Atlantis instead of her home world. Why Rodney waits 48000 years for Sheppard and why Sheppard realizes finally that he doesn’t have to die to be redeemed, that living and healing is possible for even him.

It’s been a wonderful journey watching this show, it’s changed me, helped me grow and made me realize that healing is possible for even me. That a family is what you make it and they can be your hospital for your soul no matter how weary, broken or hurt.

I just love this show. I’m immediately gonna start rewatching it from the beginning because this. This is my family, my home. I’ve found myself in the darkness of Sheppard and the outlierness of Rodney. In the fierce love of Ronon and sisterly bond of Teyla.

I’m ever so grateful my friend got me to watch this, so happy that I went through the darkness into the light with my team, through tears and shouts of joy. I always said Supernatural would be the only show with this kind of life-changing, life-saving impact. But Stargate Atlantis now holds that honor too, this little, cheesy, ridiculously funny and terribly sad series has changed my life, helped me be the person I wanted to be for so many years but always struggled with (yeah I’m louder, complain more and am maybe a bit more annoying but gosh it’s more fun) and just generally helped me with so many endless things. And I’ve found some great friends and got closer to one of my best friends, aka my Sheppard lol.

Anyway, all this to say that this show is beautiful and incredible and please do yourself the honor of watching it but definitely bring tissues. Don’t worry too much about why they wear sneakers for like two seasons or their military tactics are off, but just enjoy the friendship, the humor, and how wonderful it shows that it doesn’t matter how messed up you are. How dark you’ve gotten or how many pieces of your soul you’ve sacrificed for others. You can be redeemed and healed and made whole. You can find people who love you despite your flaws and shortcomings. And you can find the light no matter how dark the world has become. You too can be home.

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coraniaid · 9 months ago

Note

Character asks:

Xander, 1 and 21.

1 Why do you like or dislike this character?

Going to focus on the why part and avoid coming to a firm conclusion about the implicit binary choice.

Season 5's The Replacement posits that there are two Xanders -- one suave and self-confident, one a bumbling walking punchline -- before revealing that both of these Xanders are equally real and exist as aspects of the true and singular Xander, with neither having primacy over the other. However, while there are indeed two diametrically opposed versions of Xander Harris, real fans of the show know that they don't exactly correspond to what the show suggests here. The true distinction is between, on the one hand, the Xander who grows up miserable and alone in an abusive household and is determined not to become his father and who loves and supports his friends unconditionally and is maybe/probably/definitely bi but doesn't seem to realize it yet and, on the other hand, the Xander who makes frequent gross sexual comments about all the women he knows and visibly and bitterly resents the ways they outshine him and who considers it his moral duty to give them terrible, patronising, unsolicitied advice about their personal lives whenever he can.

As in The Replacement, both versions of the character have equal claim to be the 'real' Xander. The much more irritating one is perhaps more present in the early seasons (especially when the writers genuinely seem to be trying to set him up in an actual love triangle with Buffy herself, but also throughout much of his 'romance' with Cordelia) but he never really goes away, even after the writers started trying to find new things to do with his character from The Zeppo onwards. He shows up in Season 5 to explain to Buffy how it's all her fault that her boyfriend metaphorically cheated on her while she was selfishly worrying about her sick mother and he's actually a really great guy Buffy never properly appreciated (he doesn't say "can I have sex with Riley too?" in this episode, but he might as well have done); he shows up in Season 6 to sulk about the fact that the woman he left at the altar dared to sleep with somebody who wasn't him and how much she "disgusts" him as a result; he shows up in Season 7 to help kick Buffy out of her own house.

But, equally, the sympathetic, loyal and, yes, even heroic Xander isn't just some post hoc fandom creation either. There are hints even earlier, but Season 3 and especially Season 4 really do make it clear that Xander's home life is horrific. He does risk his life to save Buffy's in Prophecy Girl, even when Angel wouldn't, even after Buffy had been clear she didn't reciprocate his feelings toward her. He does eventually admit to some of his worst behaviour (his jealousy about Angel, his betrayal of Cordelia). His treatment of Anya, while horrible, really does make sense as an attempt to do the right thing for somebody he cares about by somebody almost utterly consumed by self-loathing.

His speech to Buffy in the second half of The Freshman ("when it's dark and I'm all alone and I'm scared [...] I always ask: what would Buffy do? You're my hero.") is, despite what he says immediately afterwards, genuinely touching. The way that, in The Replacement, even the cowardly incompetent side of Xander is willing to risk his life to protect Anya from what he thinks is a demon is honestly kind of sweet. His speech to Willow at the end of Season 6's Grave ("I'm not joking [...] I can't imagine the pain you're in [...] You're Willow [...] I love you") and to his speech to Dawn in Season 7's Potential ("You gave her your power [...] You're not special. You're extraordinary") both feel like genuinely well-earned moments in light of everything we've seen of Xander so far.

The fundamental tension inherent to Xander is that he doesn't smoothly and effortlessly develop from one version of the character to the other. It's not as simple as the grating Xander from the early seasons "getting better". Both sides of his character are present -- and either side can be dominant -- from the very beginning of the show and right until the end.

21 If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

Well, I am a fic writer and I have, technically, written for this character (he is the POV character for one fairly short chapter of Coexist.) I think he is a very hard character to write well (especially in the high school seasons) and I'm not at all sure I managed.

Honestly, I think well-written fanfic takes on Xander that actually treat him seriously as a character are incredibly rare. (Off the top of my head I can think of exactly one example. I'm sure there are others -- and I'm sure part of the issue is that I only really read a particular subset of Buffy fanfic -- but I doubt there are many others.)

I think a lot of fanfic writers really just don't like Xander at all (and so only write the horrible Xander, if that, and only so they can have the characters they like call him out on his worst behaviour), whereas other writers lean too heavily into the sympathetic Xander (and either have him explicitly realize and denounce his own poor behaviour early on or just write a meek and mild 'Xander' who just needs a hug and who has never even thought about saying anything inappropriate to any woman ever, which ... well, that's not the character that appears on screen, is it?).

I think the trick to writing Xander well, such as it is -- and the approach I tried to take myself -- is to try to treat him as sympathetically as possible without pretending he isn't often prone to jealousy and making mean-spirited comments, that he isn't a bit of a massive hypocrite at times and that he doesn't often say "funny" things that aren't when he shouldn't. That's harder than just playing up the angle that Xander's parents are awful and he's trying his best and suggesting he'd be much happier if he just followed Anya's advice to Buffy and found a "nice, boring, boyfriend", but I think if you don't try you're not writing a sympathetic version of Xander Harris so much as you're creating a whole new character.

Yes, Xander (mostly) is trying his best, and his parents (especially his father) are awful, but very often Xander's best is far from good enough. He will say awful things sometimes and he probably won't apologize for it, even if he does secretly feel ashamed by it. You have to try to write both versions of Xander -- both the one that makes sense as one of Buffy and Willow's best friends and the one who really doesn't seem to have anything in common with them at all -- if you're going to write the Xander.

That being said, the absolute worst thing you can do to Xander is give him magical powers or superhuman fighting skills so he can Help Buffy Patrol. That's not who he is! That's not true to either version of the character!

(... sorry, I lied. That's the second worst thing you can do to Xander. The actual worst thing is what the comics do with him and Dawn. No super-powered fantasy fanfic could be more horrible and ill-advised than that.)

#btvs #asks #thanks!

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kerubimcrepin · 11 months ago

Text

Episode 26 - A Hairy Mystery

TW: Discussions of in-universe false allegations of S.A. towards animals and/or children. Discussions of addictions, and what might be actual S.A.

This episode is a doozy, both canonically and due to the analysis I conduct.

From the first seconds of the episode, we can note one very important detail:

The episode's narration is not censored by Kerubim, as is usually the case, but filtered through Joris's very limited understanding of sexuality and other adult things, and metaphors alluding to those.

Which results in this being a very dark episode in every single way possible and kinda batshit insane, when thought about for too much.

This is the same house as the one we'll see in Episode 50, Deadly Charm.

During Episode 50's time, the two of them share this house. This may suggest that the two episodes happen relatively closely, timeline-wise. It would make sense, considering the fact that in both of these episodes, Lou investigates crimes.

This investigation sounds like how long a war that would result in the birth of a very cool huppermage would last.

This episode will be hellish to translate... First of all: all the little text on these images? Just gibberish. Also, it's the same gibberish copypasted in all the newspapers.

However, we have some juicy stuff in the big text blocks: real text, with more context for the ep, besides what we see through Joris's ~imagination~

Big text on the top:

"LITTLE CAT (??? something something)

LITTLE CAT WHO DRANK MILK WAS NICE, FRIENDLY AND WELL-BEHAVED, WHICH DOESN'T/DIDN'T---

THIS BY PUTTING LAXATIVE IN THE BOWL OF HIS SWEET SELF"

Big text on the bottom:

"HE LOOKS LIKE A BEANPOLE(???) -----------UN"

Firstly: the newspaper name says "BOTA" instead of "BONTA"... Not even a spare letter "N" for the starving public?

The text on the left is, for some reason, upside down, and the letter N is in my transcription only because it makes more sense than W. What is says is: "EST U(N)E FIOTTE"

Translation: Someone (a female judging by "une") is (I am about to quote google here) "a homophobic(?) swear word for men(??)."

I'm sure someone in Ankama was very giddy to have snuck this in, but god, I wish I knew what this really means.

Don't worry. There are worse hidden texts in this episode... Like this next one.

I guess that what Kerubim is accused of is. Uh. not... literally eating a cat. It's something... different. Or eating the cat and also doing other things to the cat. hm.

I guess for Ecaflips, doing this to a cat, is not just an animal thing but also uh. a kid thing.

...Idk if I ever wanted to know this much about the World of Twelve. Man.

To pause from the insanity of this episode so far, I want to point out, that, both here, and in the episode 50, which we had established, takes place close to this one, Kerubim and Lou are very close to marriage/consider each other fiancés (in episode 50, she is referred to as his wife, despite them not being married).

So... I am assuming both of them take place before Ecaflip City! We're making some real discoveries here, folks.

This episode was funnier before I knew this was Kerubim's twitter callout arc. Now it's just sad.·😭

Also, in a better circumstance, I would comment on how cute it is that Kerubim says he likes cats (or babies, considering that for ecaflips... yeah. man. this episode is making me say insane things.) that much.

No wonder he's going fucking insane.

The first one is a reused text asset from the first episodes that says "MAISON DE NERUBIM CREPIN". What she is writing seems to be "RMCP"

The second one is, uh. Yeah.

Judging by the paintings, I suppose this episode takes place after Vax's Art (ep10) and Bashi the Shark (ep7).

I know these are just reused assets, but also — it's Ankama's own fault that they gave me this to do theorizing with.

Jesus fucking Christ, here we go. Twenty pages of analysis incoming:

He had a very interesting evening. Getting drunk (as usual), gambling (as usual)...

But having a woman "ride" him, while being very, very drunk, too — is this also, in fact, usual? Hopefully, it was a literal riding, horse-style.

Judging from Lou's phrasing and reaction, as well as this episode's whole thing so far, it was probably not.

Which is... not good at all. Yeah.

We'll never truly know, with Joris's unreliable narration in this episode. But I am sad to report, that I don't think it would be out of character for Kerubim to... have these things happen to him, and be okay with that.

And it's in-character for Lou to view Kerubim's habits of getting drunk and gambling everything away, while having ambiguously-nonconsensual (on his side) relations with women, as punishable evils on his part, good old "shit boyfriend" behaviours.

Instead of, y'know, self-destruction.

...Okay, I think I am ready to present something to you, so here's a refresher for my earlier liveblogs, in the form of the six tenets of theorizing about their final break up we established:

She left sad, and unlike many other times, without any anger for Kerubim.

She left Luis with him to watch over him.

She also left Luis because he couldn’t go with her, but that could mean many things.

She left after Ecaflip City, obviously, and at that time, their relationship seemed the healthiest. (Well, as healthy as it could be.)

Unlike all the other times, Kerubim didn’t go searching for her. It seems this separation was final in a way no other was, and there had to be a reason that he didn’t go and try to make up. An unsolvable issue.

Both Luis and Kerubim blame Kerubim, and the first one uses this to make the second one angry.

I think it's time to make to finally reveal my Divorce Theory:

I think Lou left Kerubim after regaining her memories, and realizing that they're just bad for each other.

She often manipulated him using his insecurities and fears of abandonment, which are the result of his childhood traumas. She hit him, and disregarded, or at times exacerbated, his various mental health issues.

While he has cheated on her many times while being completely sober, without any regard for her personhood and feelings. He's gambled away her memories.

Yes, they loved each other, but they were horrible together.

And I think it's a very sad realization to have about someone you've been in love with for your whole life:

That all you've ever managed to do is hurt each other, and make things worse.

...Now that I'm done with sad divorce theories, let's finish up this episode.

The newspaper that shows miss Kitty behind bars, has all the same text as the newspaper where Kerubim is behind bars, so I won't include it, but this?

This has a plot twist:

"EM ILIE EST U(N)E FIOTTE"

...Emilie, if you're out there: years ago, in Dofus: Aux Trésors de Kerubim, someone called you a bad word.

And I hope it was a joke and not some office drama. I really do hope so.

...My reaction to this whole fucking episode, Keke.

My exact reaction to all of it.

This is the face of a parent who knows that he will have to assess the damage. A second plane has hit the fucking pentagon level damage.

The "will he be asking me what "riding" means now?" "will he be asking me why "you ate a kitten" allegations got me into prison?" level damage.

Actual nightmare.

#ep26 #ro liveblogs dofus #dofus #wakfu #krosmoz #kerubim crepin

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