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spiders-hth-is-an-outlier · 4 years

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Okay start us out with those Magicians Opinions!

the first character i ever fell in love with: LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT QUENTIN COLDWATER. Okay, but yeah, they really introduced him in a way that worked-worked for me – that whole opening sequence that cuts between Quentin being tense and closed-off and miserable in this hollow, almost angry way in the office of the hospital, and Quentin trying to act normal at a party, making wan jokes while the misery and the anger leaks out of him and makes him just so unpalatable to be around – I mean, Jason Ralph just takes the character by the throat instantly and Goes There. I remember thinking as I was watching it that this was the first “anxious nerd dude” character I'd ever seen who wasn't being framed as actually funny/weird/charming/vulnerable/the clear audience stand-in, but framed as if he were a real person who's really eaten up by depression and self-loathing, and just as off-putting as that is in real life. I vividly remember just having that reaction of, “Oh. This is about someone who's really hanging on by his fingernails, not just Hollywood Depressed,” and latching on so hard, because I needed to see that so much, and I needed to root for him to find his reason, not in spite of but because as a character he was resistant to being liked by other people, by the audience. It's not loveable and charming, to hate yourself, to find your life barely tolerable. It's not a position from which it's easy to see your way forward, and to me Quentin is the most honest expression of that reality that I had ever seen in genre tv. So like, I get why some people didn't like him in first season – he's intentionally tough to like – but I was ultra-invested from minute one, and literally everything he ever said or did made me love him more.

a character that i used to love/like, but now do not: I think I was kind of intrigued by Fen early on – I liked the idea that she was this naive fairy-tale girl who was going to have this harsh awakening when her Destined Prince turned out to be a real person who couldn't fulfill her fantasies, who was going to have to figure out who she was beyond “going to marry the king someday.” That seemed like an interesting arc, and here and there they were kind of doing it – I love the realpolitik she occasionally comes out with, particularly that one scene on the boat when she's like, “The dipshits from my hometown are going to execute me because of you, so sticking with you is kind of my only option and that's just happening.” But then...I don't know, she's really irritating, and they got this weird thing in their heads where her problem is that Eliot sucks, instead of that being The Girl Who Will Marry the King Someday is a sucky role to be forced into making a real life out of, and I just gave up trying to like her eventually.

a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not: I liked Penny/Kady all right, until they started doing the weird thing where “in Doomed Love with Penny” was Kady's only emotional arc, like – they actually had her say that all she ever cared about was being Penny's girlfriend, and that's the kind of thing that kind of retroactively ruins the pairing for me.

my ultimate favorite character™: So after everything I said up top – it's actually Eliot. That snuck up on me! And my love for Quentin never went away, not by any means, but. God, Eliot.

prettiest character: If I try to take an objective stance, I'd say it's probably Margo? Like, she's just unearthly beautiful. But there's something about Jason Ralph's goddamn face that – I don't know, it just enthralls me; he does okay-ish at playing Normal-Looking for TV, but also if I look at him for too long it kind of hurts, he's so stupidly gorgeous.

my most hated character: Hyman. And I thought we were supposed to hate Hyman, but then season 5 allegedly happened, and everyone was like, aw, Hyman's okay! But – no he's not? He's obviously not okay? He deeply sucks? Ugh, season 5.

my OTP: Hi, I'm Milo, and welcome to my Tumblr. But yeah, it's Quentin/Eliot, canonical soulmates and The Ditch I Will Die In.

my NOTP: You know, they kind of wore me down to the point of “fine, what the fuck ever,” but I still don't support Margo/Josh. It's bad, it's a bad relationship, it was a bad idea.

favorite episode: I really love Be the Penny, but the actual answer is Escape From the Happy Place. I feel allegiance to Be the Penny, I have not a negative word to say about it, but Escape from the Happy Place is just a level beyond, it's astonishingly good.

saddest death: This question is a microaggression and I will not stand for it.

favorite season: I'm about to break your brain, but – it's 4! It's season 4! I fucking love the first ten episodes of s4! I love the Monster, I love Bad News Bear, I love Hard Glossy Armor, I love fucking Santa Claus. I think s4 has this great propulsive energy where the rest of the series has always been plagued by a tendency to kind of throw everything at the wall and see if anything sticks, the stakes are clear, the external villain and the emotional stuff work together for once, everyone's performances are so strong. The collapse at the end feels so appalling to me in part because I was totally on the ride for most of the season.

least favorite season: I mean, it's season 5, but it didn't have to be. I was never going to get over Quentin's death, per se, but I think there were ways to structure the next season that would've been workable, and honestly there are things about s5 that I do like. I watched most of 5 feeling like it was – messy, but messy in the same way that s2 was messy, the same way The Magicians has always been a little messy, and it wasn't until the end when I really just threw up my hands and was like, okay, I get it, there was never a plan, none of this was going anywhere. God, the last couple of episodes still frustrate me so much, because right up until that point, there was still time to salvage a lot of character work, but nope!

character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate: So I don't hate her, and in fact I came to kind of like her eventually, but I did actively hate Julia for a long, long time. Just. Like, she really – pushes my buttons in a very specific way, and if she were a real person I would absolutely love myself by having as little contact as possible with Julia, but because everyone except me loves her so much, I really kind of forced myself to delve into her and try to see what people liked about her, and I do think it was a pretty successful project. I would definitely say at this point that I appreciate Julia as a character, and I have a pretty good sense of what Stuff she activates in me that produces that ruffled reaction, which has allowed me to go beyond Julia Sucks Actually to This Character Is Not Really For Me. I love and support the 98% of fandom who like Julia! In my way, I love and support Julia! But kind of like – a sibling you're sort of forced to into a relationship with, that you love even though they drive you crazy and you're not too sure you will really ever like them.

my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave: The Monster. I mean, it's not that I wanted a redemption arc for him or anything (although @portraitofemmy has always been onto something with the idea that if the Monster is essentially a child, allowing Quentin to save the world by parenting him would've been a pretty clever payoff for long-term arcs), he's just the kind of villain that is just endlessly fun to watch.

my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave: I mean, that's a pretty succinct summary of the entire Eliot Waugh Experience.

my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship: With the caveat that I still don't believe in guilt because these are just imaginary people in imaginary stories, I definitely still think there's a great romantic tragedy right there for the taking with Eliot/Seb. I wouldn't say the show should have done it, because that would obviously have been just a very different direction than they intended to go, but as a non-canonical ship, I think it's so potentially rich, and someday I'm going to have time to go back to that story I was writing about them, whether or not anyone else ever gives a shit about it.

my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship: I never could figure out what people's issue was with Julia/Penny23, they seemed to make each other happy. He was a sweet, supportive dude, and I like their little Wild Thornberrys Interdimensional Adventurers family at the end, although I wish they'd done it on purpose, because “guess what life-changing thing is happening to Julia's body without her consent this week!” was not a well the writers needed to go back to, in my opinion. But I like the idea that Julia ends up with a good guy and a magic kid and is off doing quests and shit, the whole shebang, I thought that was a nice ending. For whatever that's worth, and I imagine that from the perspective of a real Julia fan, my opinion at this point is not worth much!

#the magicians

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irisouy · 6 years

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Why I still believe in bellarke after S5

At the end of season 5 I wrote some meta about The100 that I did not publish. Season 6 arriving in April, I feel I should at least publish some of the content I wrote back then. And yes of course my first meta is about my OTP: Bellarke. So here is my first piece: how much I loved bellarke in season 5.

Disclaimer: this is my perception of season 5. I am a faithful bellarke believer and I do not hate any character, nor any cast member, nor any writer, nor producer. You have the right to disagree with my point of view, and if it’s the case just disregard my meta. No need to be angry, nor rude. Constructive criticism only. Beware, because I mention B.echo a lot in this meta.

Season 5 ended and so did the hopes of many bellarkers in the fandom; many feel betrayed and/or baited, others have just simply lost faith. For the very few who read me (trust me I am not a popular blog), you should know by now that I am not a disappointed bellarker and that I really enjoyed season 5.

Why do I still have faith? Because so far all I have seen about them is consistent and steady, slow… indeed, but very much steady.

Here are the points I am going to be discussing regarding the evolution of Bellarke during S5:

Reestablishing their partnership and connection

B.echo a tool to propel romantic bellarke

Betrayals to ground bellarke into reality

Let’s dig into the season, shall we?

1. Reestablishing their partnership and connection

At the end of season 4 when Bellarke was separated and the time jump was introduced I was pissed. I thought the twist was great, but I knew what it meant for my favorite ship: more delay. Indeed, this meant that all the escalating closeness and build-up between those two characters would take a major setback.

So when season 5 started I could not wait to have the bellarke reunion, because I was aware they would need to restore build-up because 6 years is a big deal. I hoped the build-up would be quick, but of course, this is The 100 we’re talking about and we all know that Bellarke is on top of the food chain when speaking about slow-burn love stories. The first step then was to reestablish the connection between two characters that spent 6 years apart and who started the season with two very different mind-frames:

On one hand we have Bellamy thinking he left Clarke behind to her death and having to cope with his guilt and move on with that idea at the same time. On the other hand, we have Clarke who has spent 6 years isolated with a child but has kept her hope that one day, Bellamy and Spacekru would come down.

At this point the problem with Bellarke is obvious: Bellamy has moved on and buried his remaining feelings for Clarke deep down, while Clarke has been waiting for him all along but is stuck with her memories of him. They both kept endearing memories of each other but they are not the same people anymore. And none of them are ready to open-up about the feelings they have for each other (yet).

When Bellamy finds out Clarke is alive and he swoops in to save her from Diyoza and delivers the infamous “She is”, I, just like all bellarkers was in awe. The subsequent hug was also beautiful and so intimate that I was surprised, because 6 years had passed, but it was obvious their connection was still there, it was real. The episodes started flowing one after the other and it was astonishing how they instantly moved back into their partnership: communicating through looks, moving in unison.

And then we got them acknowledge in canon that they were the “Heart and the Head” giving us a throwback of their conversation from the finale of Season 4: this marked the return of their bond.

Of course, us Bellarkers know that their non-romantic partnership is no longer enough… neither for us, nor for them. So how do you propel Bellarke into romantic territory, knowing that all they’ve had until now is a deep loving partnership? They have never been involved romantically with each other, and even though I believe they have been pining for each other for a while now, none of them thinks the other considers them in “that way”. They are both clueless about their real feelings.

So I believe the writers had to do something to stir things up and propel Bellarke towards a clear romantic path (or clearer). That’s where they decided to use a tool that had great advantages for them: B.echo.

2. B.echo a tool to propel romantic bellarke

I know B.echo has clearly been controversial this season and for good reason: it was yet another obstacle put in the way of Bellarke. But as much as I don’t enjoy B.echo (although I don’t hate E.cho as a character, but again I don’t hate any character), it was not only an obstacle, it also was a “propeller”.

Yeah, you might think I’m crazy, but I am very much convinced of it and here’s why.

B.echo was first a tool to further Bellamy’s character development. Yes, he started a relationship with a former enemy, someone who tried to kill his sister, Clarke and who killed many of Bellamy’s people (Gina was not killed directly by her, it was another IN assassin who did the deed). E.cho was an antagonist in season 3 and 4, so starting season 5 with Bellamy in a full-on relationship with her was a big controversial move. But it was big mostly for Bellamy because it was an indicator of how much he had changed and grown during the 6 years spent in space. B.echo showed that not only Bellamy was able to move forward in his life, but that he learned to forgive himself and mostly others. Way back in season 4 I believed E.cho would play a role in Bellamy’s redemption arc because he needed to start seeing others as people who make choices just like him: not everything is black or white.

But if the existence of B.echo was the sign of Bellamy’s change, it was not the cause: leaving Clarke to die was. Throughout those 6 years Clarke remained a vivid memory and Bellamy lived his life with Clarke’s last words engraved in his head and heart. Bellamy’s change started because he wanted to live to Clarke’s expectations, dedicating his whole life to her. However, Clarke was a memory of a partner, not a romantic one, and with time passing, Bellamy buried deep down his burgeoning romantic feelings for Clarke.

Then it turns out that Clarke is alive. Bellamy is of course beyond thrilled, but it’s been too long and there are too many things going on for him to process what he really feels for Clarke. It seems that he has compartmentalized Echo being his girlfriend, Clarke being his long lost best friend and partner in crime. But then comes the scene where Bellamy poisons his sister in to save Clarke. This was fucking HUGE (excuse my language).

First, we had a direct comparison of B.echo’s relationship (romantic) with Bellarke’s relationship (not romantic yet) with the “traitor who you love” line from Octavia. This was made intentionally for Bellamy to realize that what he feels for Clarke is similar in nature to what he feels for E.cho: it is certainly NOT platonic. But the fact that Bellamy went to the most extreme lengths to save Clarke while he didn’t do it for E.cho speaks volumes about the intensity of his feelings.

So, in this case his relationship with E.cho has put in light the fact that:

His feelings for Clarke are romantic in nature

His feelings for Clarke are way more intense than those he has for E.cho

Not too shabby!

But B.echo has also helped Clarke consider her “pal” Bellamy as maybe more than that?

Obviously, Clarke’s close-ups while B.echo was kissing in two occasions where not an accident. That was intentional to show Clarke’s reaction: she is shocked and dumbfounded. You can clearly see that she doesn’t like it, she is very much bothered. Why would she feel bad that her “pal” Bellamy is making out with another woman? Well maybe because Clarke’s feelings for him are not platonic. Seeing B.echo together made Clarke well aware that she loves Bellamy romantically. She feels jealousy and sadness at the same time, because she is not in Bellamy’s life anymore, he has moved on, she lost her chance (at least that’s what she’s thinking).

And then we had the E.cho-Clarke scene which has caused a lot of controversy in the fandom, especially when E.cho calls out Clarke for “now caring” for Bellamy. You may like or not like the fact that E.cho is the one calling Clarke out on her feelings for Bellamy, but what I see here is Clarke’s response: “I always cared!” she responds right away, indignant.

Once again, E.cho is used as a tool to show our protagonists’ feelings for each other. E.cho is used to stir things up…. And it works! Not just on the characters, but on the fandom as well, might I say.

The “I always cared” comes as a call back to L.exa’s “you care about him” when Clarke was denying caring about him in particular. But now, look at that, she doesn’t deny it, and doesn’t hesitate for one second.

So, you may not like E.cho, and that is absolutely fine, but when looking back at her character in season 5, she only really was used for one main purpose: stir romantic emotions between Bellarke.

Put it in your head: E.cho is only a tool at the service of Bellarke.

3. Betrayals to bring bellarke back to reality (to ground bellarke into reality)

The final obstacle for a romantic bellarke after the 6-year delay in their relationship was grounding their new-found relationship back to the reality of who they are now, and not who they were 6 years ago. Indeed, for 6 years both lived with a representation of who the other was: it was a mental picture of the other that escalated into a sort of persona that no longer existed.

But during those 6 years, both have evolved, both have found people they love and want to protect. Both carry their own trauma and are closed-off. How do you wake them up to the reality?

By showing who they are right now and breaking the illusion of the “perfect” image they had in their minds. That is why both Bellamy and Clarke betray each other during season 5.

Bellamy betrays Clarke by keeping her imprisoned while pushing Madi to accept he flame. He promised Clarke that he would protect Madi and she believed with all her heart that he would keep his promise. But she had in mind that he would do so the same way he used to: the way Bellamy used to protect his sister 6 years ago, not seeing the full picture, not caring about the wellbeing of others while doing so. However Bellamy has spent the 6 years of his life trying to fulfil the promise he made to Clarke: to lead with both his heart and head and he has succeeded in thinking and acting this way. He no longer rushes, he takes a step back and tries to assess the consequences of his actions. Clarke needed to realize that new side of Bellamy and the most effective way was by crushing the image she had of “Heart” Bellamy. But the thing is that Bellamy did keep his promise to protect Madi, just not the way she thought he would. This is the main difference and shocker for Clarke.

The same goes for Bellamy: he needed to realize that Clarke has been living alone with Madi for 6 years and that she has changed as well. She has undergone excruciating pain and loneliness: she is bruised and is no longer the cool-hearted leader she once was. All she has is Madi, she is her only world and family. Bellamy is going to be confronted to a Clarke who doesn’t think things through and who acts impulsively with only one thing in mind: her family, her person. And when she leaves Bellamy to die in the pit, his image of Clarke comes crashing down. He no longer is important to her, maybe he imagined that she once cared about him. The Clarke he has now in front of him has changed and is bruised: she trusts no one.

However why do I think this is positive for Bellarke?

Because to move onto a healthy romantic relationship, one needs to know the other person and see the person for who she/he is, not the representation one has in their heads. And the key element once they have confronted the reality is how they respond to it: do they hate each other and swear to not see each other anymore? Or do they accept this new person and move on from there?

The end of S5 clearly shows that they cannot envisage life without the other and that they are willing to accept the new person they have become. Clarke clearly showed that she regretted abandoning him to die and that she was relieved when she found out he was alive.

Bellamy only changed his mind when Madi revealed that Clarke had been calling him every day for 6 years. This proved that what hurt Bellamy the most was not that Clarke betrayed him, but that he thought she did not care about him anymore. Madi’s revelation proved him wrong, and in a heartbeat, he changed his attitude towards Clarke.

The following scenes between them clearly show that Bellarke is not done at all with each other. And the final shot speaks volumes about their relationship status.

Conclusion:

In S5 bellarke have found each other again, reassessed that they need each other in their lives and have accepted they are different people now.

So I believe that in S6 they have the perfect set up to finally become romantic. What about B.echo you might say? Well as I’ve mentioned, to me B.echo is merely an obstacle to Bellarke.

Keep in mind that Bellarke is a slow burn: every slow burn is given obstacles before they get to a love relationship. So writers “sprinkle” short to mid-term love interests throughout the seasons to:

Delay the central relationship from happening

Add drama

Teach lessons to their characters (character development)

And I am sorry to say it, but Finn and L.xa, from a pure story standpoint were only short-term love interests for Clarke (and Gina for Bellamy). Bellarke is always growing in the background…simmering. B.echo is not different from those relationships; it just delays the inevitable.

I truly believe that it’s JR intent to have romantic Bellarke and that we are not delusional: we clearly see the clues that the writers are throwing at us. For all those reasons I enjoyed Bellarke in season 5. Bellarke is the only relationship that has had a STEADY unwavering progression throughout the seasons… excruciatingly slow, yes, but steady.

Believe in bellarke. However, can they fucking kiss already?

#bellarke #The 100 #the 100 season 5 #meta #irisouy

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