#and this is after the reminder in the previous episode or so that parallel worlds exist

[bread-making-vikings]

Pacing myself to one Magnus protocol episode a day but aaaaaa I need to Know

[couldpolyamorysavethem]

ELIZABETH BURKE, PETER BURKE, and NEAL CAFFREY from WHITE COLLAR

Justification:

"okay listen this might already be in the queue but i sincerely believe the last three seasons of the show would've gone in a completely different direction if peter got that last little push away from his bullshit cop behaviour by neal pulling some grand romantic gesture for him + el. like, come on man, you've already come to peace with legality not being the same as morality after you ran all those cons and let neal cut and run, but he's so convinced the ONLY way to do good in the world is being an fbi agent that he like, actively makes things worse for neal (AND HIMSELF? AND ELIZABETH?) over and over again just so he can preserve the status quo of neal being his CI + while peter's an active field agent. would kissing about his devotion to their dynamic and neal's rehabilitation and peter's complicity in neal's dehumanisation by the state solve that? maybe not! but considering the alternative is neal fucking dying (he got better) about it i think we should give it a shot!

that previous paragraph was more or less me preaching to the choir wrt this relationship but still here's my pitch:

neal is essentially already the third in elizabeth + peter's marriage, with how much he lives in peter's brain during pre-series sequences, how INVESTED he is in their relationship (reminding peter of anniversaries), and then IN the actual series that only increases when he's coming around to their place all the time

each pair within this trio have supporting but distinct relationships w one another that they all benefit from (and they often need the support of all three dynamics to get through Issues™)

that one episode where peter ends up on the run w another fbi agent and neal gets paired up with that guy's CI, and there's just an unbelievable amount of parallels between the two pairs and their relationship, even after its established that those two are in a romantic relationship and peter and neal 'aren't'. like peter says he'd go to neal first if he was ever in trouble LIKEEE

fucking everything about the run up to the finale of season 2 where we hear over and over again that the only two ways conmen end up are with 'one last score' (which inevitably leads to the next, because they can't help themselves), or going to prison. OR, the 'true love' option, where an ex-conman is able to genuinely settle down and go straight (more or less). this 'secret third option' is literally even spelled out to us IN an episode about a trio of thieves (byron june and ford) who meant the world to each other!

neal uses the engagement ring he was GOING to give to his TEXTUAL 'true love' in order to pay for peter's ransom that one time and isn't even cut up about it??

also like the episode before that neal and peter switch identities (very well) and neal acts like elizabeth's wife, and the only issue peter (or anyone) has with it is that he's also committing the crime of impersonating a federal agent.

season three finale where peter asks why neal didn't run when he just got the score of his life and the first thing he says is 'you, elizabeth', before listing literally anything else. INCLUDING HIS CURRENT ROMANTIC INTEREST?

also the scene before that where neal immediately folds from his season long cat and mouse game with peter and hiding the treasure because elizabeth's in danger! and peter only believes he's not lying abt any of it bc it's elizabeth!

that one shot in the pilot where neal and elizabeth look up at peter and you can so clearly see he has a type.

literally everything about elizabeth + neal's interactions in s1. get you a girl who sneaks you into her house past dozens of fbi agents so you can talk to your handler personally about being framed for a crime that she has no reason to suspect you didn't do other than believe in your and her husband's relationship!

im losing track of my argument at this point. anyway can someone please knock peter upside the head with some kind of bi awakening for the love of god this homoerotic 'partners' situation has an unbelievably high body count not to mention all the violation of civil liberties and frankly you could've all moved to paris and started a detective agency YEARS ago and this show would become slice of life" - @time-is-restored

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

PROPAGANDA

IS (KAMEN RIDER 01)

1.) You know it's bad when the main female character is both an android built to serve humans and a secretary for the CEO of the android company. That girl is going to spend her entire life justifying the actions of a 20-something year old male CEO as he makes questionable decisions. Like that one movie where the androids become sentient and go "hey, wait, we'd like to be paid a fair wage for our labour!" and she comes out to convince them that no. No they don't. You see, 20-something year old CEO says you should LIKE doing labour for free and whatever he says goes. So she's just going to. Help him convince her race to go back to doing unpaid labour. For bosses that have been shown throughout the show to be abusive. Sometimes even killing their androids. Because a guy wants her to do that. Anyway, SPOILERS; at the end of the show she sacrifices herself for the Good Of Everyone. What does the CEO do? He replaces her with a new one. Just. Makes another android exactly like her. It's meant to be this emotional scene where he tells her about the previous Is but. That's not her. He just. He replaced her. This woman literally just got replaced.

AMBER VOLAKIS (HOUSE MD)

1.) Holy shit thank you for reminding me about Amber. Her nickname that almost everyone calls her to her face every day is Cutthroat Bitch. When she & Wilson start dating there are so so so many jokes about her keeping his balls in her purse & having him whipped & etc etc just bc she’s assertive & confident. & then the whole two-part episode where they fridge her (which is. not quite house’s fault directly but he definitely contributed to it) they make it completely about house & wilson & maybe 2% about HER. I’m still mad forever

2.) After being fridged, she does show up in later seasons! As a hallucination. She shows back up to be the devil on House’s shoulder when he is hurtling towards a vicodin-induced breakdown. Literally only shows up to steer him into making bad decisions (including almost killing Chase (allergic to strawberries) by inviting him to a party where the stripper is wearing strawberry scented lotion that sends him into anaphylaxis)

3.) im so glad someone else submitted amber because she fits so well for this poll but i couldnt get my words out right but im going to try again anyway. i think an important aspect of how ambers character is treated and written for the audience has to do with if a man did what she did, hed be opportunistic and ambitious, if not a bit of an ass, but because shes doing it it makes her 'bitchy'. "cutthroat bitch" "coldhearted bitch" etc is practically her canon alias at this point by how much she is referred to that way rather than her name. she is probably the most humanized out of wilson's canon relationships and its mostly because theyre paralleling her to house. she deserved so much better she deserved the world and more

[trigun-archive]

Omg, I just realized something that’s not gonna add much to the narrative or if anyone has noticed it.

Here we go.

So basically in episode 12, Vash did his girlboss move of flinging himself and Nai over the ledge.

And as they’re falling, I noticed something:

To me, this reminds of the Yin Yang symbol:

Then I remember that one post where someone mentioned where Vash in episode 12 wore the colors of ‘evil’ (black and purple).

Knives wore the colors of ‘good’ (white and blue).

They’re polar opposites of one another.

And that got me thinking more in depth with their relation with Yin Yang.

Obviously everyone is familiar with two sides of the same coin. It’s the same idea with Yin Yang, they’re polar opposites but they complement each other.

As part of the Naruto fandom (*groans*, I know I know). But hear me out, lots of symbolism that is related to Naruto and Sasuke is their relation to the sun and moon respectively.

Naruto is the sun. The Yang per say, because he is bright, aggressive and masculine. His respective color is orange.

While Sasuke is the moon. The Yin, because he is with the shadows, silent and feminine. His respective color is purple.

If you read the Naruto manga, then you would see how much Kishimoto bashes your head in with their respective symbolism, it’s in the cover art, the parallelism in the panels. It even showed up as their respective symbols on their hands after the ceremony for the final battle.

Back to TriStamp.

I believe they put Knives as Yang. He is aggressive and very in your face with his conquests of taking back the Plants. He is very muscular, and it’s shown through his tight bodysuit.

Then they would put Vash as Yin. He is way less aggressive with his morals than his previous counterparts. Obviously he still has them, but he is less forthcoming. His entire character design has changed, as everyone says with his non-binary haircut.

But in certain scenes, he still has those broad shoulders and managed to lift a fucking ion cannon enough to break his prosthetic arm. So, my babygirl is still fucking strong, hmph.

It’s even mentioned that the director of TriStamp has said Vash is both the female and male lead.

Same thing with Sasuke, some Studio Perriot staff has stated that he is the heroine of the story.

Obviously Naruto and Sasuke’s relationship heavily implies they’re in love with each other and soulmate coded to the max.

(Ha, get it? Trigun MAXimum??)

(. . ., I’ll see myself out).

But they did a different relationship of Yin Yang:

Twins.

Knives wanted desperately Vash to be the ‘perfect’ version that he envisioned. Taking away Vash’s bodily autonomy.

Vash just wanted to have ‘love and peace’ in the world. He didn’t want to fight Knvies, but he would defend his loved ones.

Until during episode 12, when he was ready to go in guns blazing to take down Knives.

With the color palette of black and purple against Knives’s white and blue.

Purple is the combination of red and blue. Vash’s red jacket and part of Knives’s color palette.

But also in the end, when Vash wanted to shoot that cube up in the sky.

He still wanted to save his brother, even though Knives was rejecting it by reaching to the absolute power of the cube and what it would bring him and Plant kind.

An Icarus-esque trope per say.

But yeah, anyways, this was just a jumble of thoughts I had to immediately write this down.

[erraticopeninghours]

Crowley and Aziraphale's Argument #1

Thoughts on 1.11: Crowley and Aziraphale’s argument 

I know that European countries tend to be small, and Britain is also small, but in my mind, Dartmoor is not that far away from London! 

If something terrible is going to happen to Gabriel, driving him up to Dartmoor does not seem like a very effective solution. 

(I also wasn’t sure if it was going to come up or not, but Dartmoor always reminds me of The Hound of the Baskervilles, so I was on the lookout for that throughout the rest of the season.  *ACD Sherlock spoilers ahead* Nothing huge came to mind, but I would like to point out that The Hound was the first story published after The Final Problem, so it was almost like getting a Season 2 for a novel published in 1990.  And just the fact that The Hound is not the problem/antagonist of the story, but other people are!  Which isn’t exactly a parallel, but I feel like matches this season if you squint!  Because in the end, the main problem / conflict is not the dangers posed by Heaven and Hell;  it’s the effects and costs of connections, of relationships between people: Beelzebub and Gabriel, Nina and Maggie, and - of course - Crowley and Aziraphale!) 

I know it comes up repeatedly throughout the season, but I adore how much of an issue Crowley takes with Gabriel’s attempted murder / execution of Aziraphale! 

I also don’t have anything new to add, but the “carved it out for ourselves” line! GAH! 

Also, the whole bit about the “exactlies.”  Even when they’re arguing and the stakes are relatively high, they are both such dorks, and I love that about them.  It is a fantastic demonstration of their mutual incompetence. 

I would also like to recognize Aziraphale’s character growth, even if he may or may not revert to other strategies later.  (Progress is not linear!)  I am so proud of him for being so direct in what he wanted and in explicitly asking for Crowley’s help (with the acknowledgment that Crowley - at least, theoretically - can say no.)  Like, “you're at liberty to go,” “No, I would love you to help me,” “I’m asking you to help me take care of him,” But if you won’t, you won’t.”  I’m not saying that Aziraphale was not still angling for what he wanted / trying to persuade Crowley to see things his way, but I do feel like this is a lot more direct than what we’ve heard from Aziraphale in Season 1 and the Lockdown video. 

“You’re on your own” was so painful, even though I didn’t expect it to last long.  (But I also didn’t expect the end of Season 2…) It reminded me of “we’re on our own side” which Crowley technically says in the preceding episode.  And like, yes, the precious, peaceful, fragile existence is important and, dare I say, nice.  But what about Our Side? 

Lastly, I would like to point out that when Crowley was faced with a similar situation, he did not abandon the loosely innocent and helpless being his side fobbed off to him.  When Hell gave Crowley the Antichrist, he thought about simply tossing “the basket” away, but he didn't.  And some of that was because he was still officially working for Hell and hadn’t semi-retired yet, but I also believe that a good part of that was because Crowley is firmly against killing kids (human, quasi-human, or goat.)  Instead, Crowley hatched a scheme that involved him and Aziraphale watching over the Antichrist as godfathers while they both knew that the fate of the entire world (in theory) depended on their success and that failure would mean an end to their current versions of existence.  They had less knowledge about the terrible thing that could happen to Gabriel, but I feel like there is precedence for Aziraphale's attempt to convince Crowley to help this random, not entirely welcome being together as they desperately work to prevent future Bad Things from occurring. 

(previous) (next)

[angryteapott]

A reflection on why the introductory episodes of Alchemy of Souls part 2 are putting me off so much, featuring mild spoilers:

(TLDR if you like AoS’s softer female lead as of part two ep two, I really think you’ll like the show Lighter & Princess even though it’s contemporary. Check it out!!)

To be honest, I think the reason I’m grumpy about the current direction is the exact reason other people are liking it. While both seasons lean into the salt and fat style of making entertainment (always tastes better with More), part one uses breakneck pacing and shenanigans as it’s flavoring (which I prefer) where part 2 is using wildly popular romance tropes.

IMO, part one’s buddy comedy feel suits AoS’s anachronistic hairstyles, fast and tone flopping dialogue (that part where naksu almost gives uk to the soul shifter and instead of going all angsty they have him go “hey!” never fails to crack me up) and balls to the wall world building. It’s a romance, but a romance of two people who are first and foremost partners in chaos and who treat their goals as seriously as they treat each other. While a lot of its elements are common fare for its wuxia roots (ie introducing a new technique, saying it’s impossible, and giving the MC a hack to do it anyways within 10 minutes), AoS part 1 makes itself feel fresh by not lingering on its own self importance but instead on how batshit, amoral and funny its main characters are for using duct tape power ups as they scrabble towards the finish line, all while delivering surprisingly solid character arcs that emotionally anchor the decisions about arbitrary magical problems. It reminds me of the first few episodes of sword snow stride if sword snow stride thought women were people. In other words, it’s an absolute banger.

And now part two has launched, the ostensibly darker finish. After the teasers I personally was hoping “darker” meant the same pedal to the metal feel while it treated itself less lightly. However thus far (although it’s early days), this season’s MSG seems to be “dark” id appeasing romance tropes . They’re leaning into the fairytale elements more, which could be fun, but with this comes a closed off ML/ wide eyed FL romance and resultant overwrought angst (FL in her rapunzel era! she cries defeated until he whisks away the boat!! Marriage of convenience!!! Uwu she’s too insecure to even try with the lantern :(!! “She’s my wife” FL starstruck moment 🤩!!!). Which I’m not against as a concept, by the way!! I mean I just devoured lighter and princess and that’s a whole cheesefest. But thus far naksu’s uncut sweetness makes the simultaneous attempts at chaotic hilarity not land for me, and it doesn’t really jive with the previous emotional knots driving character actions approach as much as it does an angsty arbitrary romantic drama. Case in point is the writing giving the actress very Naksu ACTIONS (entrap a strong husband at all costs!!!) while direction is likely what’s making her give the most calf eyed, spaced out performance as she does it, which barely even makes sense. She doesn’t look frustrated at all with her “mom” for trapping her, even though she plans on escaping (and wrecking the jin reputation and harming her “mom”) in the next scene? She’s desperate enough to say something as vicious as jang uk’s so alone that he should marry anyone willing, but with a soft, spineless tone? Sheltered rich girls can have a spine, just see Lighter & Princess! For me, the screenshot parallels people are posting are the real knife in the gut- why are season one’s expressions so good while season two’s are just slightly confused? The hair is still wacky, the world building’s still like swiss cheese, and everyone else is still trying to banter… and I’m supposed to be swept into this played straight disney princess routine? While people seem to be loving the love affair, I keep waiting for why I watched in the first place.

That said, Uk and the crown prince still have mad beef in a way that feels both emotionally honest and funny (CP’s reaction to the wraiths was exactly what that plot point needed to deflate its self importance), and evil guy fieri remains delightfully schemey. So maybe they’ll bring the magic back!! For now, everyone else seems to be eating up the tropes, so maybe I’ll just stay grumpy alone.

[sindar-princeling]

all right here we go, s2 finale thoughts!

you know a subplot was useless when they don't even summarise it in the 'previously on' in the season finale (cough nori cough)

"it's not our mountain, father, you taught me that", "with these rings, it could be" - great microcosm of what dwarves are like as a race, how much they love the stone and all its richness (I'm reminded of gimli's monologue about aglarond) vs how the rings twist that, how they will always, always make you want to make things your own and control them

this pretty much confirms that showing the balrog at the end of season one was more fan service than anything else, since they left it for the whole season to come back to it in a finale again

also I kinda don't get saying "don't compare rop to pj's movies" when they clearly reference them All The Time. this show WANTS to be compared to the movies. the balrog has the literal same design, and it's a movies-only design

the balrog clawing at the stone looked cool, it made it crumble so easily, nice way to show how powerful it is even without any weapon

waaayyyyy too action movie-y for my tastes, but I think the visual effects on the durin's bane looked really good

how do you close a subplot that took all of 30 minutes of the whole season? let's find out

"pity will not defeat sauron" and then it did! I wish they made more references like this, less direct quotes that bring nothing and more connections to the world that will come later

"or would you seek to become his successor?" that's a very sudden and blunt thing to say 5 minutes after meeting him ajsjsjsjsjsns

many of the dark wizard and the stranger's interactions rely solely on the basis of the audience assuming this is saruman. but for the characters this conversation is pretty out of pocket

also like..... they clearly want us to think this is saruman. but he can't turn out to be evil so quickly because in LOTR gandalf considers him an ally. so I kinda can't see this working out. (if it turns out later that this is Pallando or Alatar they should have given him a much more distinct design and MO)

The Political Conflict Subplot should not be this boring

"one does not need eyes to lead in the dark" WHO wrote that

the shot with galadriel leading those elves was not well choreographed in my opinion

sauron torturing celebrimbor is such an important event in this story and they made it....... sauron shooting at him from a bow from like 10 meters away????? god

however, celebrimbor all bloody and with like 5 arrows in him managing to stand up and say "hear me!" was awesome

if they wanted to drop a "lord of the rings' after saying sauron is their prisoner, it would have sounded better if it was said more tauntingly or like celebrimbor was scoffing at him

charles edwards was great though

that dialogue between theo and isildur was impressively strange and messy given how short it was. what does important things happening in middle earth have to do with isildur grieving his mother?

isildur has the most useless subplots this season i swear to god

WHO are they teasing here with Adar's original name. do I dare ask

I know they're making it a parallel for sauron being killed in ep 1, but teasing a peace between galadriel and him only to kill him right after is extremely underwhelming. when will this show commit to the few interesting ideas it has

as I reread the points above it looks like I have much less patience for this bullshit today because normally I'm not THAT salty in these posts

orcs turning against adar was a good emotional moment though, at least from the orcs' side. you could tell they were hurt by his orders in the previous episode, by how easily he threw their lives away during battle

the sauron and galadriel fight has generic dialogue and its choreography is just. meh. I personally love less showy fight scenes that make it seem less "pretty", like they really require effort (what I want to say is, no-one fights better than viggo mortensen)

the switch to puppy eyed halbrand had me roll my eyes so hard I saw my throat. get this OUT of my sight STAT

the choreography just gets more and more bizarre

there are some truly strange shots in this fight, it doesn't look good

all the sauron and galadriel things make me want to throw myself out of my window, that scene was sooooooooo badly written and their chemistry is so weak and making her close her hand at the last moment looked like an unnecessary trick for show, it would have been better if she had to actually resist. GOD

elrond putting the ring on would have been more groundbreaking if he didn't spend a whole couple of episodes wearing it around his neck ajsjsjsjsns that counts as being a ringbearer, too, remember???

"and all anybody can do is try and build something new" this whole monologue didn't do much for me BUT this fragment juxtaposed with sauron holding feanors hammer and scheming (about making the one ring, one presumes) to "make something new" when his plan to get all rings failed, is really cool

it's hard to make this an emotional goodbye for nori and the stranger when they spent all of 7 minutes together on the screen this season

I don't like "tests" where you have to choose between two things but in the end get them both, it always feels a bit like cheating. also that whole talk about staffs finding their wizards is so annoying. feels like maiar are too powerful beings to be bound by things like that so much

I think they totally wasted and misunderstood the character that is bombadil but I'm glad they fit his song in the show, it was really nice to hear

did I completely forget about this brother of durin's or did they never mention him before?

okay I'm gonna reblog once more with general thoughts about the whole season - maybe later today, maybe tomorrow - but for now that's a wrap!

rop season 2 episode 1 thoughts

at this point you gotta admire the creators' dedication to absolutely bizarre choices when it comes to sauron. 15 minutes in I'm already going what the hell and fuck. like what was that supposed to be. genuinely

Charlie Vickers has grown on me; he still doesn't have much to work with in terms of the script or the plot though

this whole introductory sequence was there....... I'm not sure why? we could already extrapolate all that, and I mean All That, from the previous season

it still pisses me off that Galadriel is The Main Idiot and Everything Is Her Fault

also, I am reminded by all the plot and worldbuilding choices that annoyed me before. why is mithril important for the elves' survival again?

CIRDAN HIII CIRDAN <33333

I'm so glad they kept his beard

believe me, I AM trying to find things to like about this show, but the plot choices feel like so much unnecessary drama. Galadriel and Elrond fighting feels.... tiring. I feel like all Galadriel does is fight with people

oh are we getting Rhun?? 👀 Nice

this is a personal opinion but the elven women have wayyy too strong and modern-looking make-up

it's a shame galadriel gets the ring because she's power-hungry and reckless, not because she's one of the mightiest elves in middle-earth. she SHOULD be power-hungry, don't get me wrong, it's one of her best traits, but this way you don't put any sort of accent of how very important and mighty she is

sauron having a Badass Walk into mordor at the end of s1, which was a really cool shot to end a season on, only to then get himself in chains and then turn away and come back to Celebrimbor has got to be the most '???' moments of this show. they really have no idea what to do with him

overall I'd say my main gripe, apart from the plot solutions, is that this show doesn't have much to say. it's showy, it's lore-heavy (even if I don't like the lore they came up with), but so far it still has little heart and thought behind it. to me at least it doesn't feel like it really wants to tell you something

[j4gm]

TOGETHER AGAIN SPOILERS

A thread of lore, Easter eggs, episode connections, and background details from Adventure Time: Distant Lands: Together Again! Let me know if I missed anything! This is adapted from my original Twitter thread.

Keep reading ⬇️⬇️⬇️

1. I was expecting them to perhaps do a classic style title sequence for this episode, but I wasn't expecting them to straight up use the original title sequence. The only difference is this final screen saying "Distant Lands".

2. The background of the title cards is also the hill from the title sequence.

3. The ice cream having "50 flavours" and having an image of an enlightened soul is an obvious reference to the 50th Dead World as we see it later in the episode.

4. Continuing with the metaphor, the dirt in the ice cream could be a parallel to the fact that Jake's Nirvana actually wasn't perfect, because his inaction was allowing for injustice to perpetuate.

5. This whole scene feels immediately slightly off. Finn has his Scarlet sword and is out on a classic Ice King adventure, but he speaks in his grown voice and all the slang feels much more forced than it did in the real season one. Turns out this was deliberate.

6. The snow golem speaks with a baby voice like it did in the pilot episode, even though in canon it has a deeper voice. This further hints that something is not quite right.

7. The first major break in continuity is these snow golems resembling Uncle Gumbald and Peace Master, who Finn didn't meet until later in his life.

8. LSP sitting on Finn's head like this is reminiscent of Pen Ward's piece for the 2018 Ble crew zine.

9. Finn being given the choice of helping somebody but ending up helping everybody reminds me of "Memories of Boom Boom Mountain". It's the kind of resolution that wouldn't happen so much in the late seasons of the show, which helps make this scene feel even further out of place.

10. Jake is half frozen by Ice King in pretty much the exact same way as he was in "Prisoners of Love", and even has a very similar line.

11. The Snail is seen here. The crew have said that the Snail has been deliberately left out of previous Distant Lands specials, so its placement here is another very deliberate hint that this whole sequence is "trying too hard" to be like the early seasons.

12. The book "Mind Games" appears a couple of times, as seen in several previous episodes of Adventure Time. The first is as Finn is approaching the library in his dream. It also appears as one of the items in Finn's backpack later.

13. Jake is hurt when Finn fist bumps him with his metal arm, revealing that this scene is not real. This is also a callback to the title sequences of "Islands" and "Elements".

14. A whole bunch of familiar skeletons are seen in the bird's nest: Dirt Beer Guy, Abracadaniel, Me-Mow, Lemongrab, Mr. Pig, and the Snail again. This doesn't necessarily mean that all these characters are dead, since this scene is just a hallucination.

15. Old Man Finn! He's still got the chest tattoo of Jake, and this time we know that Jake is dead, so the theory that Jake died before "Obsidian" seems pretty likely. He looks similar to his old man design from "Puhoy", with the same facial hair.

16. There are several cameos of familiar characters who apparently died at the same time as Finn. The first is this duck, who previously appeared in "Ocarina".

17. The second is Donny, from the episode... uh, "Donny".

18. This goblin guy is an unnamed background character from “The Silent King”.

19. This old lady first appeared in "The Enchiridion", way back in season one. Old ladies are a species in the Land of Ooo, so I guess she wasn't actually very old back then, given she just about outlived Finn.

20. This is the cobbler who first appears in "His Hero". Amazing that he lived so long given all the trouble he got into in that episode.

21. Land of the Dead! This place was first seen in season two's "Death in Bloom", and now we are finally learning its actual purpose. It's a sort of gateway and hub to all of the other dead worlds.

22. There are some more minor cameos at the gates: a house person from "Donny", a soft person from "Gut Grinder", and a wood person from "When Wedding Bells Thaw". And, of course, the gate guardian himself from “Death in Bloom”.

23. Finn completely ignores the gate guardian in the same way he did in Death in Bloom. This also has the convenient effect of not having to reveal how Finn died, leaving it up to the audience's imagination.

24. Mr. Fox! We already knew he would die at some point because BMO had his skull in the finale.

25. Finn has his design from the first Distant Lands poster in this scene. Turns out it's young Finn in old Finn's clothes. But they gave him a shirt in the poster so you wouldn't be able to see the tattoo.

26. The clapping that Finn does while he's looking for Jake is a callback to "James Baxter the Horse", when Jake tells Finn to listen for that same rhythm if they are killed and need to find each other in the afterlife.

27. Mr. Fox talks about a "past life quotient", suggesting that there might be some kind of limit to how many times somebody can reincarnate. Finn's reincarnations are also seen in this scene; a callback to "The Vault", and confirmation that reincarnations share the same soul.

28. Boobafina, the goose who Mr. Fox was in love with in his debut episode “Storytelling”, apparently reincarnated into a tugboat. We've already seen that objects can have souls in the episode "Ghost Fly".

29. Finn is initially assigned to the 37th Dead World, which is the same one that Jake went to when he died in "Sons of Mars". We can only guess at what the other numbers on the ticket mean ;)

30. Tiffany! Despite several lucky escapes throughout his life, Tiffany has finally died. I like the use of this imagery to express Finn's conflicted feelings about him.

31. The 50th Dead World has long been established as the "highest" dead world, and the one synonymous with Heaven within Adventure Time's universe. It was first mentioned in "Ghost Princess" back in season three.

32. It's unclear what happens to souls which are destroyed within the dead worlds. It is a similar question to asking what happened to the ghosts that were killed in "Ghost Fly".

33. Death doesn't speak at all in Together Again because his voice actor, Miguel Ferrer, passed away in 2017 long before production began.

34. Finn phases through New Death when he tries to attack him, just like what happened way back in "Death in Bloom".

35. The 30th Dead World contains Tree Trunks as well as many of her love interests; Mr. Pig, her alien husband from "High Strangeness", Danny and Randy who first appeared in "Apple Wedding", and several more who we don't recognise, including at least one who presents as a woman.

36. Literally yelled when these two showed up. Joshua calls Finn a crybaby, which is a callback to "Dad's Dungeon".

37. The wall of weapons in Joshua and Margaret's house includes the iconic Demon Blood Sword, which was broken in "Play Date", as well as Margaret's auto-loading crossbow from "Joshua & Margaret Investigations".

38. Jermaine is sidelined a few times through the episode, in reference to his attitude in "Jermaine" where he feels that Finn and Jake were always their parents' favourites. I would have hoped things would be a bit better by now.

39. Fern gets name dropped while Finn and Jake are reuniting. A shame he doesn't actually show up in the episode.

40. In this scene, Finn says "What time is it?" This is a very subtle reference to the 2010 cartoon "Adventure Time".

41. In a couple of shots during this fight scene it looks like Jake might have a tattoo. It seems like it only becomes visible when he stretches out his arm.

42. New Death's amulet in this scene resembles parts of the Lich's cape, foreshadowing his influence on New Death.

43. There are several more cameos in the 50th Dead World: Booshy from "High Strangeness", one of the Marshmallow Kids from "Scamps", and Ghost Princess and Clarence, who were seen ascending to the 50th Dead World in "Ghost Princess".

44. Finn didn't interact with Booshy in "High Strangeness", but it seems they must have met at some point before they both died because Finn knows his name.

45. It seems like people in the 1st Dead World are slowly melted away until they become part of the landscape. Nasty.

46. Lots more cameos in this scene: a gnome from "Power Animal", a gnome from "The Enchiridion", a Bath Boy from "The Vault", Blagertha from "Love Games", Maja the Sky Witch, a troll from "Dungeon", Chocoberry, Choose Goose, Wyatt, a spiky person from "Gut Grinder", and possibly more.

47. Tiffany's insults are consistently nonsensical and amazing, as they were in the original series.

48. The Candy Kingdom looks extremely different. Peppermint Butler is wearing the crown so he might be in charge now, which is supported by the kingdom's very magical-looking augmentations. It’s not clear whether Finn and Jake were expecting to find Princess Bubblegum or Peppermint Butler, since both have the initials “PB” and both could be going by the title of “Princess”. Perhaps Peps and Bubblegum share the princess duties now that PB is living with Marceline more of the time.

49. Peppermint Butler has a "Boss" mug, although it's not the same colour as the one from "Obsidian".

50. Jake's ghost has the same design as he did when BMO killed him in "Ghost Fly". I also absolutely love Finn's ghost. This scene establishes that ghosts are just visitors to the mortal plane from the dead worlds.

51. Life has only appeared in animated shorts before now. Namely, "The Gift That Reaps Giving" which establishes her relationship with Death, and "Frog Seasons: Winter". This episode gives her a concrete place within Adventure Time's pantheon: she is in charge of reincarnation.

52. A translation of Life’s angry French dialogue by Shado: “After all I did for that boy. After all I did for him. No, it's not possible. It's not possible no, that... that makes me so mad but it's not possible.”

53. We finally have in-universe confirmation that Shoko's tiger is a previous life of Jake. This was previously confirmed by one of the writers, but wasn't canon until now.

54. I feel like Finn pulled off Shoko's look even better than Shoko did. I wonder whether Finn has gained the memories of his past lives now that he’s dead.

55. No Easter egg here, just want to appreciate this image.

56. There is an elemental symbol on the wall here, as seen in "Jelly Beans Have Power".

57. Tiffany's dramatic internal monologue is a recurring gag, as is his habit of nearly dying from falling into holes.

58. The Jake suit makes a cameo in the fight against New Death. It was last seen in the episode "Reboot”.

59. Finn's backpack contains a few familiar items: the t-shirt with the pocket from "It Came from the Nightosphere", Finn's underwear from "Little Dude" and other episodes, and a copy of Mind Games as I've already mentioned.

60. The Lich's Hand is present in the background of Death's... death scene. This is probably the unseen "friend" who New Death keeps talking about.

61. The Lich's menacing monologues often begin with a single command. Previously they have included "Fall" and "Stop". This time, the command is "Burn".

62. Jake uses the word "boingloings", which is a callback all the way to "Hitman" in the third season.

63. Jake's blue shape-shifter form from "Abstract" appears very briefly during his fight with Finn.

64. Finn's lumpy space person form also makes an appearance. This design was last seen all the way back in the second episode of the entire show, "Trouble in Lumpy Space".

65. Jake steps on the Lich's hand in a very similar way to how he stepped on Ash in "Memory of a Memory", which is itself a Monty Python reference.

66. The credits include a dedication to a few AT cast and crew who have passed away. Polly Lou Livingston was the voice of Tree Trunks. Miguel Ferrer was the voice of Death. Michel Lyman and Maureen Mlynarczyk were both sheet timers on the original series. Rest in peace.

67. The message that Finn and Jake write out on the ouija board is "BUTT", which Peppermint Butler takes as a distress signal. This message is also used as a distress signal by the Hot Dog Knights in "The Limit".

68. Peppermint Butler's reversed dialogue from the scene where he makes contact with Finn and Jake is "Kee-Oth Rama Pancake", the spell from “Dad's Dungeon” for banishing demons.

69. That appears to be President Porpoise with all of Tree Trunks’ other lovers.

70. In this scene, Life is humming part of "Lonely Bones", the song which Death tried to record for her in her debut short "The Gift That Reaps Giving". It's hard to notice because it's so brief.

71. Finn and Jake's cover is blown while in the Land of the Dead because Jake loudly farts, which also happened in "Death in Bloom".

72. The place where Mr. Fox explains the perception mechanics of the afterlife is the exact same location as the River of Forgetfulness from "Death in Bloom", which, as it turns out, was imaginary.

These are sort of out of order at the end because I was adding stuff to the Twitter thread as it got discovered. That’s all for now!

[aetherin21]

The answer is parallel.

Pairing: Getou Suguru x reader

genre: angst.

Part 1, Part 3

Notes: How can you turn an intersecting line to a parallel one? by erasing it completely like it never happened :D This is part 2 of my previous fic but it can be read as a stand alone. I think I did better than the first? I might come back to the last one for some small fixes here and there.

A year had passed since that incident occurred. Suguru was too lost in his world. Drowning in his ego and dilemma. Forced to return to normality with sets of homeworks, tests and missions as if nothing had happened. It made him stressed as they all neatly lined up to grab his attention in wherever direction he went, forgetting something important in the process. He could always go back to it once everything settles. Right now, for him, the present was more crucial.

Staring back at him was his failed assignment in algebra. Angry red dragged across every crevice of the paper, dictating all the right and wrong answers to him. Crosses out weighed the circles. He couldn’t help but fume on all his mistakes. He knows he answered everything perfectly. Math is his best subject, well was. Maybe the question itself was wrong? Especially the last one. All the numbers in his calculations lead him to believe they would intersect. How could he be wrong?

“Fuck this.” He said. There were still other things for him to do than to mull over something so small. He’ll do better with the next one, he has to. He’s Getou Suguru, the model student after all.

Without realizing time had flown all too quickly like a strong tidal wave. It had crashed onto him, sweeping his being along the shores repeatedly. His best friend was leaving him behind as Satoru grows stronger. Shoko had become MIA doing her roundabout ways, ignoring everything and everyone. One of his lowerclassmen had died too, only leaving half of his remains and a friend empty. As Suguru tried to crawl away from the currents, it had left him too drench in black and blue.

The imaginary chalkboard of his psyche had crumbled. Tragedy had forced its hand and added itself in his equations. Defying the equalibrium, tipping the zero scale further to the negatives. Unable to keep track what's on his mind anymore, what's universally right and wrong. Now he just stands there in the middle of the room surrounded by two corpses, in a place he once called home.

He had killed his parents. The people who he once loved and cherished. His mother who made his favorite food, who cleaned up his childish wounds and greeted him every morning of his life. She's gone and so was his father. The person who he looked up to, who proudly announced the world his only begotten son. They were all gone and all that was left were red.

That’s okay, he thought to himself. They were wrong answers anyway just like that washed up village too.

Bzzz.

Bzzz.

The sound of his phone suddenly reminded him of the thing he forgot all summer long. With a single swipe of his fingers, his eyes were greeted by a familiar name. A familiar picture.

It was her.

How dare he forget? The person who had become his pillar, his anchor and his bound eternity. Tons of messages had piled one after another in his inbox. Letters of hellos and good mornings to how are yous and goodnights. Reading every word felt too bright, too selfish. He could only squint. He hasn’t replied for months now, let alone read a single one and yet she still continued to send them.

Y/n: I miss you. I hope you're okay. One of them read. Suguru couldn’t help the annoyance swell inside of him. How was he okay? Everything had gone to shit. A few weeks ago? Months ago, he couldn't even remember extactly but he knew he almost died. Even now just a couple of days before, two innocent kids were abused and mistreated. And yet —

Inhale

Exhale

How would she know? She was probably too focused on her own little bubble to even see what’s wrong with the world. Living so freely in a rose colored world. Probably waiting for the next episode of her favorite show or gossiping on the latest news. She wouldn’t understand the dangers he faces everyday, how his kind sacrifices their life just for them to be safe. She was clueless.

He hates this.

He hates her.

He has to.

Looking at the screen with utter nonchalance, he finally replied. It's time for their mathematical lines to finally diverge from each other. No, to erase it like it never happened. In the first place they were never meant to intersect, never meant to reach and traverse each other. She was, after all, just a monkey. He can’t make exceptions, not even one. This is for the future he dreamed of.

With one last click, he asked her to meet him.

Time seemed to flow slowly as he sat on the empty park bench waiting for her. She was late for their rendezvous. It’s fine, he doesn’t really mind if she doesn’t show up. It’s rude but it's better that way. At least she was far away from him to taint his being, he thought. Far away and safe from him.

The unconscious prayer seemed to be ignored as the sound of running footsteps brought him back from hell. His vision was greeted by a disheveled figure. Y/n’s hair was strewn all over her face and skin drenched in sweat. All she wore was the sweater he left behind, her red school track pants and house slippers. A mess she was but still looked pretty in his eyes.

Y/n was Suguru’s little rebel. She would always trust whatever stupid teenage idea pops out of his mind. Played along with his little whims. Even now, sneaking out from her strict parents' gaze to have a midnight escapade with her boyfriend. She was too good for him. Rubbing his neck, Suguru couldn’t help but bitterly smile at that thought.

"Suguru, did I make you wait?" Hands on her knees, catching all the air she can with those puffy lips he loved the most. She wasn't really sporty to begin with but she was determined either way and other ways. "Sorry, I had to wait till everyone’s asleep."

“It's fine.” he responded coldly. Mustering up every fiber of his being to put on a façade. He reminded himself she’s a monkey.

Silence embraced them both as they drank in the reflection of each other. It's been months after all. Both of them were too busy with their own lives. Suguru with the jujutsu world and y/n with her own normal life. Neither of them knew what's in each other's brewing pot but they wished they did.

Y/n could only search his eyes for answers, for words to say. She missed him so much, too much. She wanted to ask how he is. Has he been eating well? He looked a bit skinnier than the last time she saw him. Is his school overworking him too much? Is Satoru being an ass to him? Her mouth could only open and close as the questions were jammed in her throat, unable to vocalize all her convoluted feelings. unable to seek the truth. So instead of words, she closed their distance with her lips. Enveloping him in her warmth.

She really missed him. She could crumble anytime with his presence alone. With his touch alone. Never even wanting to let go, holding on tightly as she can. There she waits for his answer.

But Suguru couldn't embrace her back, couldn’t kiss her back.

Even if his hands were aching to, even if they were dying to scoop her up and just eat her there all together. He can't. He already convinced himself so. Instead he broke her to tiny pieces pushing her to her abyss. Pushing himself to his abyss. "Sorry y/n, I don't think this is gonna work out." Eyes looking beyond her existence for there was a better calling for him than her religion. There's no need for prayers anymore.

It hurt.

But it's okay. Everything has an end after all, its just this one has to be erased completely.

Y/n already anticipated this but it still hurt nonetheless. Years they spent together now being thrown aside. Was it all for nothing? Was it because she was powerless and weak? Not a part of his world? Tears flowed her cheeks, unable to hold it in anymore. “I heard from Satoru…”her hands were holding the ends of his sweater she was wearing, finding comfort from its scent as her lips trembled.

“... I love you and it's okay.” was all she could say as much as she wished there to be more.

She had known all this time. She wasn’t clueless as he thought she was. She knew what he had done and what he had become. How he felt so broken, alone and in pain. How this world was too cruel to him. To them.

She knows what he’s about to do too. His friends had informed her, warned her even but she didn't care. All she wanted was for them to continue to intersect once more, it's all that mattered to her but she couldn’t lie that a small part of her hoped it was all made up. That her Suguru isn’t capable of ever doing those atrocities but just from his demeanor alone told her otherwise.

He noticed her fear, her rejection of the truth, of reality. It wasn't only her voice that was shaking, her body too. Holding herself together as much as she can. Seeing it right in front of him made him want to puke. It wasn’t supposed to end like this. It was supposed to be quick and easy like he did to his parents yet it became too emotional.

"I am sorry." That’s all he could say as her tiny sobs increased its volume.

The agonizing sound ripped through his already resolute determination. Surprising him as his body began to betray him. The feeling of her small form against his. He wanted to be disgusted by this sudden sweet vulgarity but a part of him couldn’t. Pressing her further, deeper, swallowing all her tears and cries. this was all for him and only for him. Locking it forever inside him, this would be a fleeting memory that solely he would remember. “So sorry.” he mumbled over and over again as he dug his grave in her hair. Saying goodbye to the Suguru she knew, He was.

With every repeated apologies it had crossed off all his broken promises, marking it red and never to be fulfilled.

In their last hour of their forged numbers, forged convergence and forged eternity. They were in each other’s arms as lips danced for the last time. Whispering their I love yous over and over again till the other couldn’t speak anymore.

At that moment, Getou Suguru remembered the last question of his homework. The answers were never supposed to be intersecting. With clear bright markings correcting his mistakes, the answer was parallel.

They were parallel.

[dariamarchin]

///SPOILERS

Centaurworld S2E3 notes

Loved this episode!! The focus was more or less on Glendale and Wammawink, though Wammawink's parts felt more like a build up to the future eps, but her realising that Glendale has grown and matured is nice!

Stabby is quickly becoming my favorite character

He reminds me of Wrong Hordak from She-ra? Both accidentally get sepatated from their armies and get stuck with the main characters and slowly unlearn the propaganda that was fed to them from birth.

Stabby has a little room with posters inside Glendale's portal-tummy🥺

Glendale is Stabby's mom/aunt. I have spoken.

Also, some groups (coldtaurs) in centaurworld siding with The Nowhere King (probably bc he seems like "winning" side) is pretty realistic! I imagine, him being this legendary boogeyman-like figure in centaurworld would also play into that. Maybe some groups even worshipped him at somepoint?

I'm not really sure how coldtaurs being scared of Nowhere King led them to the conclusion that they are gonna side with him bc they are cold? Are they, uh, making up excuses?

Wammawink often leaves Glendale behind? She is also weirdly disconcerned about Glendale being, y'know, in the arms reach of murderous coldtaurs

And her little rant about Glendale... Like, yes, Glendale's behaviour is unhealthy, but its not the time to complain about it

Silly thought, but... Is Durpleton's parenting of Stabby meant to parallel Wammawink's parenting of Glendale? With Durpleton immediatly discoraging and punishing the bad behaviour in contrast to Wammawink who lets Glandale steal stuff (which apparently became a problem only now🙄)

And when interacting with Glendare fave to face Wammawink is back in her worried mom role, hmmm

Also, Durpleton, you left your son behind too

Wammawink also almost forgot Horse, hmmm... is all this stuff about Wammawink from this ep and the previous one building up to something or yes?

Also Wammawink being anxious about whether Horse cares about her or not...

Glendale becoming friends with the little birdtaur dude and his kids ghfhjvr

Glendale befriending the whole coldtaur group!! And teaching them how to cope with anxiety!! My girl's smartie and loveable af🥰

Glandale 🤝🏾 Zulius: wearing turtlenecks during their more-or-less focus episodes

I love Glendale's public speaker voice😳

Comfortable Doug 🤝 Glendale: being the emotionally intelligent ones, kinda

So, now we know what went wrong in the s2e1, they let horse do the speech😆 it should have been Zulius's and Glendale's job👏👏

Oh. Horse is getting worried about that... To be honest i thought that Horse would do more training than recruitment. She knows more about the war and fighting after all

I love Waterbaby's mannerisms and expressiveness

Poor beetroot😔

So, Nowhere King's goop can block the magic? Somehow? I don't think this was true during the s1 finale, but okay.

Durpledrop!!! its a pretty fun song :D

Comfotable Doug!! In the human/minotaur world!! In Waterbaby's sell?! Flirting?? What a king, he got taste.

Awww, Rider seems to get along with Becky!!

[starfellwish]

ML Theory: Episode 22, Finale, Ladynoir, and Everything Else

This will have rocketear and finale synopsis spoilers - be warned.

I genuinely do think that the two part finale of season 4, "The Last Attack of Shadowmoth" (which is,,, a title to say the least; more on that in a bit) is gonna be so tense for a variety of reasons.

Rocketear Analysis

We have a couple of gamechanger episodes coming up. Rocketear definitely was a gamechanger as Adrien was able to realize that Alya and Nino are aware of each other's identities with Ladybug giving them permission. And he's angry about it. He knows that Ladybug lied to him about the rules, and he also knows that her being the guardian is definitely something that has led to their relationship being affected (flashbacks to a previous s4 ep when he's like it's cool if she's the guardian, as long as their partnership isn't affected - well that was some foreshadowing, wasn't it?). Honestly, seeing that as Marinette makes all the rules now as guardian, her decisions should be able to include her knowing Chat's identity. But. Chat Blanc exists, and I think that her not telling him about it and hiding it from him is a parallel to how she wanted Alya to hide the truth from Nino (obviously this failed too - Alya went behind her back to tell Nino the truth). She knows that he'd understand if she told him and its better to tell him that he may destroy everything if they knew each other's identities than left him feeling isolated and alone and at risk for literally getting akumatized. By isolating him, she's quite literally putting the world at risk for Chat Blanc 2.0, rather than her telling him something heartbreaking and being there for him so he doesn't get hurt by Shadow Moth's intentions. I think that she'll come to realize this in the finale and learn from her mistakes.

I think that in this screenshot, we got a snippet of foreshadowing of what's to come:

I saw some people theorize that this is foreshadowing that Adrien's real identity is between Ladynoir, and while this could be general foreshadowing for the entirety of the show (Marinette is in love with Adrien, and that's why she can't love Chat Noir), I do think that interpretation could be misplaced here due to the tone of the episode. Instead, I believe that this is foreshadowing that Chat may reveal himself to Ladybug. After all, she literally knows the identity of literally every other person who has a miraculous, and is the guardian.

*Side note: It also reminds me a lot of Felix. Could be a reference to that? Not sure what my thoughts on that being, but it's just somehting that struck me.

Episode 22

In my mind, it would make most sense for Adrien to reveal himself in episode 22. We've been told by the people who make the show that since episode 22 is the 100th episode of the show overall, it will be incredibly serious. This episode may run the highest risk of Adrien being akumatized into Chat Blanc again, as tensions are definitely running high. However, another akumatization event could happen, and Chat could be left out again, making him angry. I think that him getting akumatized is more likely, however. This is because of his appearance in Sentibubbler - I think that's foreshadowing. After everything is taken care of, Chat Noir and Ladybug will get into an argument. Chat will tell Ladybug that he knows about Alya and Nino, and that he thinks she's a hypocrite. He was loyal to her, and now he's having his doubts about their partnership, because he doesn't even think its a partnership anymore. Ladybug is the guardian and has more secrets that she is keeping from him. She talks about Chat Blanc and tells him that him finding out her identity leads to basically the end of the world. Adrien is surprised that he was akumatized before. He then gets mad at her for literally hiding this from him when they could've taken precautions beforehand, and then could possibly assert that he doesn't know what else she's hiding from him. He also, at the same time, doesn't feel like he should be Chat Noir anymore if he poses that much of a risk to the world. He detransforms in front of her and gives her the miraculous. He tells her he won't be a problem again, and leaves.

Finale

Ladybug, of course, realizes her mistake and tries to get him back. However, over the course of 23 and 24, she is caught up with Alya and Nino's problems with them not hiding their secrets. Adrien is already scheduled to leave Paris for a couple of weeks with Lila, and Ladybug trying to persuade him to stay is basically one of the main conflicts of the final episode. Pair this with "ShadowMoth's Last Attack" and you've got a season finale. I think the name of the season finale, is, as always, a misdirect. There's no way Gabriel is getting all his miraculous taken away until season 5, as that's when the full reveal happens, so it seems like he'll return to just regular old Hawkie. I don't think it would make sense for him to be disarmed now and for next season's finale to have the full reveal. Here's the synopsis below so we can dissect it.

Shadowmoth's Last Attack

Having understood that if Ladybug always triumphs, it's thanks to her prudence, Papillombre (Shadow Moth) conceives a diabolical plan around a super villain endowed with the power to push his victims to take all risks. When Marinette learns that Adrien must leave Paris for several weeks with Lila, new muse of the Agreste brand, she is ready to do she is ready to do anything to stop him. How far will she go? Even to the fatal risk of betraying her secret identity for love? And will Adrien take the risk to finally stand up to his father?

Okay, so let's dissect this. What I said before adds up to Adrien leaving with Lila. It would also explain why Marinette would potentially reveal herself to Adrien, if only to get him to stay. Because she knows that he's Chat, and maybe her being Marinette will somehow influence his decision. Or, it may show him that she's finally willing to trust him with everything.

It could also allude back to the song in the movie. Since the Miraculous movie was originally intended to act as a finale to Season 5, we can take things from early development and see if they end up fitting in the narrative. In this situation I'm going to quote "Ce mur qui nous separe" (English translation: The Wall Between Us), the French song that was made for the movie when it was intended to be the Season 5 finale.

It’s strong when I see him I want to scream on the rooftops our love that reaches out to us But I know that I can’t It’s not the right moment We have to be patient be patient

Here's the French translation in case the translation Genius gave me was wrong:

C’est fort quand je le vois Je veux crier sur tous les toits Notre amour qui nous tend les bras Mais je sais que je ne dois pas Ce n’est pas le moment Il faut être patients Être patients

This part of the song is from Marinette's perspective, and the fact that she's saying that she has to wait for the right moment to actually be in love with him probably means that she knows Adrien's identity. Because why would she "know" that she can't love him? Why is it not the right moment? Why do they have to be patient? Her being Ladybug and being unable to be in a relationship may explain why it's not the right moment, but the fact that she says "our" love points me in another direction. She knows she loves Adrien, and she knows that Chat, and therefore, Adrien, loves her. But she can't tell him her identity yet. However, her knowing his identity would make sense. I remember that before season 4 started airing, a lot of the fandom wondered if Chat was going to have to reveal his identity to her because she's the guardian. After all, that would make sense. Them making it a problem over the course of the season would mean that it would have to be handled in some way. I think that her finding out Chat's identity is probably the most logical course of action, as she can't be a good guardian until she has all the information at her disposal.

There are two specific lines which I find interesting in the finale synopsis. The part where it says, "Papillombre (Shadow Moth) conceives a diabolical plan around a super villain endowed with the power to push his victims to take all risks," is particularly interesting. This could mean a couple of things. Shadow Moth could be akumatizing Felix - after all, he stopped at nothing to try and replace Adrien in order to ruin his relationship with his friends. He kissed Ladybug when she told him no. He was snooping in Adrien's things. Clearly, there was nothing he wasn't willing to do in order to get the ring back. (This whole thing is never explained either after Felix - why is the ring so important?) Maybe that will make a comeback? Or, the "his" in the synopsis where it specifies that the villain has no limits, may be referring to Shadowmoth. In that situation, it could be Lila who is again akumatized. She has clearly no limits, as she's working for Shadow Moth willingly, and likely knows his identity. This is one likely scenario. Or Shadowmoth will akumatize Adrien. He may feel detached, and Gabriel will interpret it as being sad that he's being taken away from all of his friends. Adrien is known for being quite stubborn, and having Ladybug fight Adrien's akumatized state would be season finale material. However, if he is akumatized in the finale as something else, then the Chat Blanc akumatization in episode 22 is unlikely (they wouldn't do something like that twice in a row). Of course, his akumatized state would be different than Chat Blanc because people can be akumatized into multiple different villains and Hawkie doesn't know that Adrien=Chat Noir.

The second line that I find particularly interesting is this one:

And will Adrien take the risk to finally stand up to his father?

Now, why would Adrien stand up to his father? Maybe with literally everyone betraying him, he'll find no reason to stay. He needs a constant in his life, and telling his father that he needs him to be here for him may be a step that he makes. After all, Ladybug and him are having their biggest fight, his best friend Nino told him that he finds his hero persona absolutely abhorrent, and he doesn't feel like he has a place on the superhero team. He needs someone, and he's hoping that Gabriel can be that person.

That could be one scenario, or Adrien may find out about Hawkie's basement. Now, this, could raise a lot of questions for him. While I believe that Adrien would have the normal tendency to be like "father, what the hell." He may honestly believe that this is all he has left, and therefore, will assist his father. This takes me back to the season 2 opening card.

Where is Chat Noir? With the villains.

Maybe Adrien will have his well deserved Dark!Chat Noir arc. Or maybe, he'll be a spy for the Quantic team. Ladybug and him will make up, and he'll tell her that he can spy on Hawkie for the team, and that's how they move into season 5 - with Adrien as a double agent. He will help his father in everything that he does, and therefore, get access to more information that he can share with the team. He can help establish a meeting for Hawk Moth to get caught, with evidence, by planting cameras, calling police, etc.

Honestly, I'm hoping for the latter subplot, as I don't want Chat Noir to go evil for everyone's sakes. I do think that the latter would also give him a cementable role that would logistically make sense and help establish him as an strong character, and more importantly, a valuable member of the team and Ladybug's true partner.

Or, they could go down the more simpler route, and choose Adrien to find out, be shocked, and then yell at his father for being who he is. Gabriel just assumes because Adrien is only just Adrien, he doesn't have to worry about him. He will threaten Adrien, and Adrien will stay silent in front of him, but tell the team on the side. Of course, this doesn't really mean double agent Adrien, but it still implies spy Adrien. It also still manages to make his character more relevant.

Regardless, there's a lot of different ways that line could go, and I'm excited to see where it moves on from there.

Implications on the Love Square

The love square seems entirely messed up this season. There is almost nothing going on in relation to it, especially in regards to Ladynoir, Ladrien, and Marichat. Adrienette has honestly the most action right now, especially with the reverse umbrella scene, them helping out Juleka together, etc. This leads me to think that while we'll get a lot of Ladynoir in the finale as they repair their relationship, Adrienette may be the strongest ship of the four when moving into season 5. Let me explain why.

Over the course of this entire season, Adrien has been getting closer to Marinette, and is honestly more warm with her than he has been with Ladybug. This can explain what everyone has been thinking - a reverse love square. Even if Ladybug and him make up, Chat may honestly want to go and see other people. This includes Mari. What Nino said about Ladybug finding him annoying may actually really affect him and his feelings and make him realize that he can find love elsewhere. It's also the fact that it was enunciated twice during Rocketear that Alya couldn't fall in love with someone that she didn't really know. That could lead Adrien to wonder if he really knows Ladybug, which will definitely complicate his feelings. The Kagami thing was never going to work out, so he just needs to find someone else who cares for him. He knows Marinette; he has called her similar to Ladybug - he may rebound from Ladybug to Marinette. Ladybug may realize that she messed up, and she has already shown that she is becoming more indifferent to dating Adrien, due to what happened with Luka. When she and Chat Noir fix their relationship, she may see him as the only person she doesn't have to lie to, and therefore thinks about pursuing a relationship with him. Therefore, a reverse love square would make the most sense in this situation.

If a ship were to start actually dating in season 5 - it may honestly depend on how the finale is. The two most likely ships imo are either Ladynoir or Adrienette. If Ladynoir makes up during the finale, then the barriers to them dating aren't really present, unless the Alya thing actually makes it complicated for them. Adrienette may get together, but Marinette is wary of dating because she's Ladybug. However, we all know she's weak in the knees for Adrien and will definitely say yes if he asked her out.

Therefore, I feel like this season is leaning more towards plot and character development, and while it may set some things up for season 5, it is important to pay attention at the little shifts in the square, because they are happening right in front of us.

Alya and Marinette

I wanted to be able to talk about this at some point in this theory, but since everything else is more Adrien centric, I added it here at the end. Okay, so we know that Alya is lying to Marinette about telling Nino things. We also know that Alya has bended the rules for Nino multiple times, both before and during Rocketear. This could go one of two ways: Alya telling Nino teaches Marinette that she needs to be able to trust Chat, and therefore helps her realize that she doesn't need to be so secretive and lie all the time. It could also lead to a plot where Alya basically messed up largely by telling Nino, and everything goes downhill from there. Ladybug shows Chat that they can't know each other's identities because of what happened with them. We also Nino is a bit of a blabbermouth - love his character, but he is. He told Adrien not only his identity, but also Alya's. He also told him that they know the other's identity. This is bad, and Adrien knowing definitely affects the plot later on. If Adrien ends up revealing himself to Ladybug, it is likely that she'll find out about Nino saying that, and having to revoke their kwamis. This could lead to a strained relationship with Alya. In fact, it is likely that at this point, Marinette will already have a strained relationship with Alya, as it could be revealed that Alya told Nino about Rena Furtive. This could lead to Ladybug being defensive and worried that she made mistakes, and literally just closing the Miraculous box because of it. Maybe Alya will go rogue? After all, it was mentioned in Rocketear (and I appreciate that they talked about this) how Alya was a reporter and that by extension means that her personality is one of a truthteller. Alya getting angry at Mari could definitely lead to a situation where she threatens to tell he everyone. I don't think Alya would or could do that, but anger leads to akumatization, and an akumatized Alya would not be good for anyone as her judgement would be impaired. Regardless, Rena Furtive may be a short time hero, and Mari and Alya may end the season in a fight. I don't see that being resolved in the finale, as no fight like that is mentioned in those episodes. There is also simply too much going on in the finale for it to make sense. It may be resolved later on, just like how other problems in season 3 started being solved in the beginning of season 4. Or, it could be fought out and resolved in episodes 23 and 24.

Therefore, I think that the Nino carelessly revealing his identity and Alya carelessly disregarding Ladybug's orders may lead to a plotpoint at some point where Alya and Ladybug fight. While I do think that it would be nice if Alya proved Ladybug wrong and showed that they were stronger for working together, I do not think it's likely. The show was deliberate in showing that Alya had a weakness for Nino, and has shown before that it has led to many situations where there were risks for everyone involved. Even Hawkmoth said that love and secrets don't go well together (is he talking from experience?), and I feel like that was so deliberate, but it could also be alluding to Chat and Ladybug. (Side note: it was so weird for Hawk Moth to say that, as he had no idea of the situation; regardless I do think this it's heavy foreshadowing.) Therefore, I do not think the situation that Alya has placed herself in is a situation which will have a peaceful ending.

Final Notes:

I personally cannot wait for the "Gabriel Agreste" episode. I think that the fact that we did not get it yet means that it has serious story implications. Personally, I believe it's going to explain allllll the backstory we need for the whole Bourgeois/Tsurugi/Agreste history and tell us why Emilie is the way she is right now. Of course, maybe it won't do everything, but the fact that it is named after Gabriel makes me wonder if it'll be his origins episode of sorts.

EDIT AFTER MEGA LEECH: IF GABRIEL AGRESTE REVEALS ADRIEN TO BE A SENTIMONSTER I WILL BE SO SO EXCITED BC ANGST BUT ALSO LIKE??? WHAT ABOUT THE PLOT? WHAT ABOUT THE NINE YEAR OLDS?

Chat snapping is honestly something that I cannot wait for. All of his anger has been building up over the entire season thus far, and the implications of his feelings are definitely serious for the show's plot.

I wonder if Mayura will be making a comeback at some point. While this is less relevant, Nathalie's health seems to be making her bedridden for a long time. Maybe she'll return to a similar state to Emilie? I saw theories that stated that if Hawkie gets his wish, Nathalie's life may be sacrificed for Emilie's, and idk, I think it's not likely that it'll happen, but it would be cool if it did. The ultimate payback for his actions being the loss of Nathalie.

Look at the end card of Rocketear:

He's looking at the moon, which was shown in New York to be something he does when he's sad. Also possible reference to him destroying the moon in Chat Blanc.

Kitty do be on a roof all alone without his lady :(

[s5anyu]

he is a terrible man. and yet amongst men, he is the most beautiful of characters.

Character Analysis for Askeladd of Vinland saga

On the surface, Askeladd is nothing more than a self-serving man. He is cunning, charming, and intelligent, qualities that no matter the disdain people have for his abrasive personality, have earned him respect amongst the Vikings, and beyond. Floki respects his intelligence enough to approach him to request the killing of a man who is regarded to be the strongest amongst all warriors. This being his first appearance is a solid testament to his ability to overcome any predicament – the basis of his development as a character throughout the Vinland Saga prologue. His men trust in all of his decisions, no matter how rash. They believe him to be as lucky as he is intelligent. His intelligence, wisdom and kindness complements the air of arrogance with which he carries himself. When hosted by his uncle Gorm, he laughs at him, before imparting wisdom on a young man who tells him that he would sooner die than live without pride. He says:

“Look. It’s terrible. The guy who’s a slave to money holds a whip and pretends to be the master of the slave he bought with his money. He just doesn’t realise it himself. Everyone is a slave to something.”

Such a sense of wisdom places Askeladd as a tool for Yukimura to present and explore the status of elders in Norse society. As an elder to Thorfinn, he guides him through different trials and encourages him to push his limits as a warrior, and become a better combatant. Regardless of whether or not life at war is the best option for Thorfinn, Askeladd always believes in him and his ability, and though he never expresses verbally his concern for Thorfinn’s wellbeing, he always shows an interest in Thorfinn’s safety and is always waiting for his return where the rest of his band do not care. To the other Vikings, Thorfinn is just another one of their men. Bjorn says of Thorfinn, “You trusted in his [Thorfinn’s] luck too much this time. It doesn’t matter. I didn’t lose anything.” This statement also reflects the stark individualism displayed by Vikings – although they may work together in bands of warriors or mercenaries or otherwise, they do so to serve their own interests – honour, valour, wealth, among many things. But to Askeladd, he is someone important - someone he cares for. When one considers the question of whether life at war is the best for Thorfinn the answer to this question evidences Askeladd’s selfishness. Despite knowing that life as a warrior is not the best for Thorfinn, he still uses him as a tool to further his own goals. In his own words, “It’s just easy to make use of an idiot who is not afraid of anything.”

There are, however, multiple occasions on which Askeladd appears to be straying from the typical Viking individualism of the era. The first example of this, is his kindness towards Thorfinn, as introduced in the previous paragraph. Amongst Vikings, such ideas of care and brotherhood are ultimately trumped by ideas of valour in battle and honour in death. One would not be greatly concerned with the death of one’s companions as long as they are assured that the departed are well on their way to the esteemed Valhalla – however the concern that Askeladd shows towards Thorfinn is evidence of his holding of attitudes that were unconventional for his time. This ties into the subtle revelation towards the end of the prologue that Askeladd does not believe that life at war is honourable, and does not hold the Viking people in esteem because of this; going so far as to disdain his own Norse heritage in favour of his Welsh heritage. His final actions and his final words reflect his sentiment from episode 10, Ragnarok, in which he declares:

"This is the age of twilight, Bjorn. Let’s go out with a bang."

In his final moments, he kills King Sweyn to protect both his motherland of Wales and the young Prince Canute. In this, he sacrifices himself to protect what is dear to him – and to protect King Canute who he grows to respect as a man with potential to be great in their short period of companionship. This is him leaving his mark on the age of twilight; this is him going out with a bang. He tells Thorfinn:

“In the future, after I die, how do you plan to live your life, Thorfinn? You haven’t thought about it, right? Move forward already. Don’t stay stuck in a boring place like this forever. Go far ahead, go beyond the world where Thors went. You’re Thors’ son. Go. That’s your real fight. Become a true warrior son of Thors.”

These last words reflect multiple things that are introduced at the beginning of the prologue and explored throughout it, the first being Askeladd’s feelings towards Thors. At the beginning of the prologue, Askeladd shows great respect to Thors throughout the duration of their battle. He outwardly expresses an appreciation for his strength, saying that he “could lead a whole army”. This statement shows that Thors is a man who is both physically strong and strong in character, and that Askeladd recognises this. He then asks of him, “why don’t you become our leader?” which shocks his men – as mentioned before they trust in him absolutely and are already surprised to see a man who can best him in hand-to-hand combat. However, none of them express dissent to this; whether this is out of shock or acceptance is open to interpretation. When he backtracks on this statement and says he’s only joking, one of the young men from the village try to attack Askeladd, to which he responds

“Damn kid. You should start valuing your life. You should be grateful to Thors. He was a man who was worth more than a hundred bratty kids like you.”

Askeladd greatly respects Thors and despite his decision, holds him in high esteem. The first part of this statement also reflects on his belief in – or at the very least respect for – Thors and his philosophy. He calls him a man of great value and he scolds the young man who he perceives as disrespecting the sacrifice that Thors made to keep him alive. “Don’t stay in a boring place like this” refers generally to the life of a warrior as opposed to their physical location of the king’s court. As detailed briefly above, Askeladd disdains the life of a warrior, and disdains the Vikings for it. Therefore, when he reminds Thorfinn “You’re Thors’ son”, he believes that Thorfinn Karlsefni has the potential to be as great as his father, if not more so. He believes that he can grow to become something greater than a warrior.

The second idea that this quote reflects is that of Askeladd’s care and concern for Thorfinn. He asks, “You haven’t thought about it, right?”. Askeladd has thought about how Thorfinn has been mentally since the passing of his father. Thorfinn has a stark hatred of battle and engages in it purely because of the hatred he has for Askeladd, and the proximity it gives him to his goal of killing him. Askeladd is aware of this. In his last moments, he could have been unkind and goading towards Thorfinn as he had been in the past – but instead he pushes him to seek something better. He knows that Thorfinn has been suffering emotionally and hasn’t known happiness from the day they met. Askeladd doesn’t appear as a man who wants to seek redemption – he wants Thorfinn to find happiness now that he has nowhere to direct the anger that has been his only motivator for the greater part of his childhood. From this, one could argue that Askeladd’s selfishness trumped his desire for Thorfinn to be happy. However, very early on in the prologue, Askeladd hints at his acceptance of defeat at Thorfinn’s hand.

"You’ve grown a lot. Well, time is on your side. You’re going to grow, and I’m going to get old. Someday, I’m going to lose to you. It’s only natural. Even the strongest dies someday."

Askeladd doesn’t attempt to dissuade Thorfinn from his desire for vengeance. Rather he tries to guide him towards the idea that vengeance is empty, and that any defeat he faces at Thorfinn’s hand is meaningless in the face of the natural order of the world. He knows that it is pointless to try and calm the resentment that Thorfinn harbours towards him; he knows the gravity of his sin and can’t tell Thorfinn not to hate him for it. From this, we can begin to explore the idea that Askeladd is similar to Thorfinn and sees himself in the younger man. Askeladd is just as full of hatred as Thorfinn is – as much as he is to a father figure to Thorfinn as a man, as a character, he serves as both a parallel and a foil to Thorfinn.

Askeladd is just as full of hatred as Thorfinn. His mother, Lydia, was taken from her homeland of Wales as a concubine to Olaf, and when she grew sick, she was of no value to him. She and her son were discarded and Askeladd grew to despise his father, and by extension his people. Askeladd, like Thorfinn, learned from the man he hated the most and sought revenge against him. Askeladd was successful in killing his father but his disdain for the Viking way of life and his bloodline led him to harbour resentment even into his old age. He is therefore a parallel to Thorfinn in that they both resent battle and war but tolerate it as a means to satisfying their own end. Askeladd, however, has seen and experienced first-hand the effects of Viking conquest on the innocent. Thorfinn has only seen it from the eyes of the oppressor.

Despite this, both continue to kill.

Askeladd’s ability to relate to Thorfinn’s anger is what makes him such a good father figure to him. He knows what it means to be so consumed by anger that you see nothing else, that you live for nothing else – to endure something you despise for the sake of vengeance. He knows that Thorfinn is miserable, and hurting, and lonely, because he is too. Such a sense of relatability is what puts him in a position to understand and take care of Thorfinn. It is because he understands how Thorfinn feels that he does not attempt to dissuade him from following him around in the hopes of killing him. He knows that Thorfinn cannot let go of the anger he has until he sees the recipient of that anger gone, because he too suffers from the same affliction. Therefore, it is not selfishness that drives Askeladd to keep Thorfinn around in his suffering – it is resignation; the same resignation he displays when he says that he will someday lose to Thorfinn.

Askeladd proves himself throughout his life to be ahead of his time. He is wise, caring, and understanding; but he is also cold, cunning, and ruthless. Man is not absolute, and Askeladd is no exception. But from those of his time, he is far above men – even with each and every of his nuances and flaws. he comes close to attaining the status of a true warrior as Thors was – and maybe if he had had more time, he could’ve seen his mother’s dream come true. The world is never that simple.

word from the writer:

When Askeladd was first introduced to me, he appeared to me as a terrible man. His intelligence and his strength is terrifying. A man who can kill for his own gain, without remorse. Such a terrible man. But amongst men he is the most beautiful of characters.

When I was writing this I wanted it to be a prelude to my upcoming essay on his relationship with Thorfinn. To some degree I’ve covered that here, so the next piece will most likely be on how Thorfinn views him and I would also like to talk about his relationship with prince Canute. Askeladd, despite not seeming like it, is a very fatherly man and I love looking at how he interacts with the other members of the cast. I hope you enjoyed this, and I’d love to hear what you guys have to say about this. my asks are always open.

Please look forward to the next piece in my Vinland Saga series.

[chooseyouovereveryone]

What are some of your fav underrated Brittana moments?

Oh honey you just asked for a book! I have so many. I literally categorise Brittana between background moments, the larger well known scenes and then in the middle of that there's the smaller scenes that are more than a background moment but less a poignant scene. So many of those smaller moments are underrated! I'll hit you with my top 10 under the cut.

10. Stop the violence- 3x06

This moment is too cute for words. I love the way they both look at each other. I love how Santana's face visibly melts, and how she can't even look at Britt properly in the end. I also appreciate it so much more knowing that Heather ad libbed and sang the line instead of speaking it, which caused Naya to laugh and break character. One of many examples of Heya's natural chemistry feeding into Brittana.

9. Home (First Valentines Day)- 3x13

Similar to the above, this scene is also too cute for words. But I'll give you some words anyway 😂. This scene actually reminds me of the scene above, because both scenes show how in love they are with just a look. I love how Santana is just watching Britt with adoration, who's in her own little world swaying along to the song, while Santana can't even begin to keep her smile in. Then when Britt catches Santana staring she breaks into her own smile, and Santana just breaks into the biggest most lovestruck grin/laugh as they meet eyes. They look utterly smitten, and I love the way it parallels the previous Valentines Day episode (2x12) where Santana sat bitterly rolling her eyes as she watched everyone around her loved up, while Britt canoodled with Artie. How far they had come <3

8. Prom I love you- 3x19

The prom in itself gave us some sweet, sweet scenes, from them dancing together to Santana fixing Brittany's bow tie. But this moment of Brittany gesturing "I love you" to Santana really has my heart. So often people say "Brittany didn't love Santana as much as Santana loved her", and this scene is a great example to disprove that. Brittany adored that girl, and Santana adored her right back. I love how Santana seeks Brittany out in the crowd, and what she gets in return is that gesture from Britt, as soon as her eyes land on her. Santana was always so full of doubt when it came to Britt's love, and this little scene is an instance of Britt constantly reminding her of that love she had for her. It then leads directly into their adorable dorky prom photo. I also enjoy the way it parallels the S2 prom, and how Britt went alone while Santana went with Karovsky, both of them spending the night unhappy and pining for each other. In this scene, we get the complete opposite, and get to see them happy, in love and attending prom together.

7. Home- 6x02

This scene is just so pure, and they both look so happy. You can tell by the way Santana sings the line "man oh man you're my best friend" directly to Britt that she really does mean that. Britt is her best friend, and that's their foundation, and it's a nice nod to that. I also like the context of the scene of how Brittany is proudly leading Santana out to the pitch to commit her "Alumni Homecoming Royalty" duties. This will undoubtedly remind them of a time of unhappiness, when Santana was in the closest and assumedly ran for this campaign with Puck (since he seems to be Homecoming King), while Britt had to watch on from the sidelines. Britt might not get to stand up there with Santana, but she gets to walk her up there and know that she's hers this time around, and they couldn't look happier. But my favourite part about this is the little nose rub at the end. By this point they had been together on and off for years, but the way they look at each other and act around each other is still very much honeymoon period.

6. Santana comforts Britt after Artie calls her stupid- 2x19

This scene is so gold to me, and tbh if it wasn't so short it would probably rank higher. You wouldn't believe the amount of times I've tried to lip read what they are saying 😂. But still, you don't need to be able to hear their words to know how intimate and caring this gesture was. Fresh off the back of being outed in the muckraker, Santana puts all of her own worries and insecurities aside to hold Brittany in the corridor and comfort her. It was a move that could have caused the rumour mill to overflow, but in that moment Santana didn't care, and her priority was making sure Brittany was okay. The way she holds her is so tender, and in the next snippet we have the adorable nose boop, and her protectively walking Britt away. You can only imagine the way she was building Britt up and reminding her she wasn't stupid, but a genius instead. I will infinitely adore Santana's softness towards Britt.

5. Cherish/Cherish Hand Kiss- 3x13

I mean it goes without saying that this ep was a Brittana fans dream. I've already mentioned one other cute moment in this ep, but the hand kiss is even more adorable. This comes right off the back of Santana feeding Britt chocolate covered strawberries (I die every time), and as if it couldn't get any more adorable, we get this gem of a moment. Contextually, the fact Santana has got The God Squad to dedicate a love song to Brittany is cute af in itself. Also her means for doing it, to prove that their love is as valid as everyone else's, which shows such growth for her since she is not long out. There is no way Santana Lopez would have sat in a crowded restaurant publicly declaring her love for her girlfriend just months before this, but here she is now sat proud, beaming at Britt's embarrassment. Then we get the tender moment of her kissing Britt's hand and it's just perfect. Not only is the gesture in itself insanely sweet, the little smile Santana gives afterwards just about kills me. I also could swear on the fact Brittany calls her babe <3

4. Domesticated Brittana at Will's apartment- 6x06

This scene was everything because it gave us a little glimpse into domesticated Brittana. It's what we would have loved to see of them living in New York but never got, but also a teaser of what future life would be like for them. They arrive together as a proper couple, despite the fact they assumedly didn't live together at this point (it's up for debate though whether they did or not, I'm in two minds). They also bring a joint casserole (?) dish, so they're the epitome of wifey's, in prep for soon to be married life. Brittany slipping her arm around Santana while they stand and talk to their friends is just everything, and of course there is the part with Brittany so proudly showing off her engagement ring to Emma while Santana is in the background fussing over Daniel. No one will ever convince me this scene wasn't shot deliberately in that way to have us consider the future for Brittana consisting of marriage and children. Obviously marriage in the near future (Brittany's closeness to the camera indicating that) and babies in the distant future (with Santana/Daniel being situated further in the background to symbolise that). It was short but sweet domestic bliss, and I loved it.

3. You Learn/You've Got A Friend- 6x03

A severely underrated Brittana moment in my opinion, is the moment when Santana appears in the auditorium to sing her lines and Brittany pretty much leaps out of her chair to join her. Before that, she is sat watching the others sing, and singing along with them. That is until her fiancé arrives in the room, and she pretty much sprints over to her all giddy. It's all eyes on Santana for Britt, as soon as she walks in, and the look on Britt's face says it all. Also the way Santana senses her coming and turns to beckon her over, outstretching her arms for her. We can't forget that they're probably all excited in post-engagement bliss too, and they continue to be adorable throughout the whole performance. But I just think the fact Britt has to get up and stand by Santana's side as soon as she walks in the room, is such a sweet moment. It's that feeling of always looking for your lover in a room full of people.

2. The First Time Locker Flashback Scene- 3x10

At risk of sounding dramatic once again, I will never ever ever get over this scene. It's just perfect. One thing I wish we knew was the context, but I have a pretty strong head canon that it is in fact their first time meeting. There are so many things that I love about it, and if there was ever a commercial for love at first sight, this is it. The way they instantly lock eyes with each other, Britt's flirtatious glances and knowing smile, Santana visibly melting and looking like she's fallen straight head over heels. I will never get the image of nervous and smitten Santana out of my head. Why are you so damn soft Santana Lopez? This scene literally makes me feel so gooey inside. I love them.

1. The Post-Alfie cheek kiss- 6x06

I don't even need to go into detail about how special the context of this scene is. As a wider scene in itself it's definitely one of my favourite scenes if I was talking about all the main Brittana scenes, but I wanted to specifically mention this kiss as a smaller segment in itself. We've just witnessed they way they looked at each other when Britt joined Santana on stage, and the way Britt approaches Santana in time for her hand to slip in hers before the music ends so that Santana doesn't have to stand so vulnerably alone in silence. Then we have the cheek kiss. What I love so much is that you can really see Britt's pride in this scene. She is so proud of her future wife, and the tender but firm kiss she gives her is a way for her to communicate that, whilst also pouring some strength into her for the moment that lies ahead. It's a kiss that says "whatever happens, I'm right here with you". Santana is instantly calmed by Britt's touch, and whatever Britt says has her beaming (another moment I've tried and failed at lip reading), despite her fears for the moments ahead. I love that Britt caresses Santana's face not once, but twice, as if she doesn't want to let her go. I also love how Santana's stare lingers on Britt when she walks off stage. It's such a sweet moment between them; and you can really see the strength in the love they share. I'll never have anyone convince me of Brittany's love for her girl, when scenes like this canonically exist <3

[my-mt-heart]

TWD 11x02 “Acheron Part 2″ Review

Not to start out on a complaint, but dammit, these episodes definitely should have aired together. Narratively, they really do feel like one extended set up for a longer season arc (did I mention yet how painfully slow this season is going to be). Tonally speaking, however, the change is palpable. Shit gets dark. As does the lighting, but we’re used to that by now. 

Knowing their history, tension between Maggie and Negan feels like the most natural thing in the world theoretically, and yet when it plays out on screen, it’s jarring. I don’t buy it. The cliffhanger at the end of part 1 isn’t a misdirect. Negan really does leave her ass to get torn to shreds by walkers. Thankfully she pulls a Glenn, a parallel I greatly appreciated, and manages to escape by crawling under the train car. Unfortunately for Negan, who’s finally able to take charge, the moment she reappears through that hatch alive and fuming, she has him dead to rights. Of course nobody is going to doubt her when she recounts what he tried to do, and he doesn’t even try to deny it. Everyone can see who he is at his core, someone who will unapologetically seize the moment to ensure his survival even to the detriment of someone else’s. So then, why not just kill him right on the spot? Why the hell are they keeping him around when he’s clearly untrustworthy? Again I ask, is he really the only person who can help them navigate through the city? Maggie and her people haven’t made this journey before?  These are all rhetorical questions obviously. The most basic and truest answer is plot armor. They land in a place where they can potentially establish some trust between them, but there’s still a long way to go. 

It doesn’t help with the realism of it all when Maggie shows no hesitation to let Gage meet his demise, denying him access to their car because he’s being followed by a swarm of walkers they apparently don’t have the means to take out. It seems doable to me, but whatever. Someone has to be the sacrificial lamb to illustrate Maggie’s dark understanding of the world, and if not Negan, I suppose the stupid, cowardly kid who attacked Lydia in S10 and tried to dip in the previous episode is as good a choice as any. By the way, for a stupid, cowardly kid, he takes it fairly well. Alden on the other hand, taking the moral high ground, does not approve of letting one of their own people die “in the worst way imaginable.” I kept waiting for Maggie to quip back with something like, “Try being beaten to death with a barbed-wire bat,” but then she tells a lengthy story of the horrors she and Hershel Jr. witnessed while out on their own instead. Note: This is probably where a flashback would’ve come in handy. 

I think it’s safe to say none of this shit between Maggie, Negan, and Gage would fly with Daryl around, but alas, he’s busy chasing down a very disobedient Dog through tunnels that bring back a sense of claustrophobia. The suspense around finding Dog doesn’t quite reach its full potential, settling into moments of quiet, but deep reflection such as when Daryl comes across a section of the tunnel that had clearly served as a refuge for people of all walks of life shortly after the apocalypse began. He studies a mural depicting how a structured society fell into chaos, which juxtaposes what we’re seeing over at the Commonwealth (I’ll get there in a second). He also holds onto a one-hundred dollar bill that a little kid used to write a note to his parents, though it’s assumed none of them survived. 

This scene serves as a reminder of what’s at stake for Daryl. He doesn’t want his people to end up like the people in the subway. Additionally, it reminds us that material wealth and social class don’t shape people in this world. Daryl, who came from nothing, obtains his worth by constantly striving to do good. For example, helping C. Thomas Howell’s character, Roy, even though he abandoned their group with Gage. This could be foreshadowing what’s to come with Leah, calling attention to Daryl’s refusal to leave anybody behind. Once he’s in captivity, I imagine he’ll be pressured to re-evaluate who he is, and maybe that bill is going to be his physical motivation not to let the darkness consume him. Am I jealous that it’s not the double capper? Admittedly, yes, maybe a little bit. Look, season 10 really spoiled me, guys. I’m looking for Caryl clues every chance that I get. Anyway, Daryl gets a cool hero moment, blowing up the walkers in the train car with a grenade and reuniting with his group (for now).

In contrast to the dark, despairing underworld, we also intercut with Eugene’s group back at the Commonwealth. It’s funny how I said this arc is the least interesting to me, but somehow it also feels the most grounded so far. All throughout, we’re subtly being shown a revival of the old world. They use U.S. currency. There are functioning bathrooms. It’s the opposite of what Daryl is experiencing. Instead of structure to chaos, it’s disorder to law and order. Makes me wonder how Daryl and everyone else for that matter is going to function here, but I imagine that’s much further down the line. 

The knowledge of her brother fresh in her mind, Yumiko reprises a role she hasn’t needed since the apocalypse started and that’s being a lawyer, presenting a case for herself and her friends that convinces the auditors they need them. She does a stellar job of assessing how the Commonwealth works, though in my opinion we should be able to learn more about it as we go along, not hear it all at once in a lengthy monologue.

We don’t know they’re in the clear right away though. Instead, the episode builds up the paranoia, each member of our group disappearing until it’s just Eugene. In an interrogation room with Mercer, he reverts back to being skittish, but it’s hard to tell if all of it is genuine or if there’s at least some front to make himself appear more trustworthy. Mercer is under the impression that Eugene “can’t lie for shit,” but we know that isn’t true. In earlier seasons, his entire survival tactic was based on a lie. 

Regardless of how much Eugene is really afraid (and if he’s really a virgin), he passes the last test, while still managing to protect his community back home from being exposed. He’s reunited with Ezekiel, Yumiko, and the always hilarious Princess who have all been approved for citizenship. Ezekiel mentions receiving medical attention, which for now just consists of sleep and cough syrup. It’s weird that a medic wouldn’t also look at his goiter, but moving on to something more important, Eugene finally gets to meet Stephanie. Or so it seems. I’ve seen theories to the contrary. The scene ends with a funny confrontation between Ezekiel and Mercer, the ladder sharply pointing out that the former had misjudged him. “I went to West Point, asshole.” I’m not sure yet what exactly is fueling all of this tension between them, but it’s delicious. 

The Reapers’ introduction at the very end is pretty eerie and intense. Their group is brutal and unafraid. Roy gets taken out (Do we care? I didn’t think so). Cole also gets hurt, one of the Reaper’s weapons slices his hand clean off and stabbing him in the leg. Looks like we have to wait until the next episode to determine who will be left standing, though I think we can gather Maggie and Negan will end up escaping together while Daryl and Dog get separated (again). Gabriel also seems to be in for quite an adventure. The symbolism definitely isn’t lost here. Our group has gotten across “the river to hell” and now they’re about to enter.

Did I love this episode? No. Did I hate this episode? No, not at all. I’m a little more excited for the next one because I know we’re going to see our girl Carol again. She’s determined to get Alexandria back on its feet and we all know her motivation. It would be really great to see it laid into the story instead of leaving us to infer, but my hopes for that are not high. At the very least, it’ll be nice to see her interacting with other female characters. I’m all for Carol and Kelly bonding, but it’ll be more interesting to see how Carol and Magna work together since I suspect there’s still going to be a little bit of tension there at first.  Presumably, we’ll get to see Carol relinquish more of her guilt. Thank god for that.

11x01 “Acheron Part 1″ Review 

[medusinestories]

Onwards to the episode in which we get to see Flint and Silver each having a very bad day (as well as two literal dicks that nobody had asked to see).

Black Sails VII (s1 ep07)

- We open on Pastor Lambrick's sweaty face as he intensely rehearses the Easter sermon and he’s obviously eaten up by what he did with Miranda. His sermon, unsurprisingly, focuses on sin, keeping sin hidden, and the hell that awaits the sinner. Which leads us nicely onto Flint, who’s distracted (by his own sin? by thoughts of Miranda? both?) during a meeting with Eleanor. Eleanor is pissed that Miranda let Richard Guthrie send a message to the Andromache and then waltz into town to close up his business; Flint tries to take the heat off Miranda, once again protecting her (at this point, he may not know the contents of the letter).

- During this meeting, Flint is startled when Silver first speaks up to say that the mob in the street was bad - clearly Silver is a sort of intruder in this meeting. But Eleanor, after Silver reminds her by unsubtly clearing his throat, tells Flint that he’s not to harm Silver because he was instrumental in setting up the Consortium. Silver looks so pleased with himself in these scenes, and Flint quite defeated when he tells Silver to follow him back to their camp. I love it.

- To parallel Flint/Miranda’s Sulky Sex scene from ep4, we have Anne/Rackham’s frustrating/disconnected sex scene. It shows us a few things about them mainly that Anne wants to keep a lot of control over what happens, hence Rackham being tied up (though of course this might also be his kink), her wearing a shirt that covers up most of her body, and the reverse cowgirl position that means that she’s both in control of what happens and completely avoids eye contact. The position reminds us of the Flint/Miranda scene, where Miranda was also on top, but their scene involved more eye contact (yes glaring counts, he’s still intensely focused on Miranda), gentle touching (on Miranda’s side) and her being naked and open to him. Another parallel is that both Flint and Rackham aren’t in the right frame of mind for sex, Flint being angry and Rackham lost in a sea of worries (and probably also somewhat angry/disappointed at Anne for forcing him into the plot to kill their crewmates). The difference between Flint and Rackham is that while Flint doesn’t seem to have any trouble performing, Rackham is miles away and doesn’t even notice that he’s lost his erection - again. Anne is frustrated by this, and apparently knows him well enough that she offers to put something up his arse, but he’s clearly not in the mood, and she leaves in a huff, abandoning him all tied up as a sort of revenge for his performance problems. Whatever the problem is between them isn’t put into words (because Anne can’t yet, for starters), unlike the one between Flint and Miranda. The intimacy between Rackham and Anne, so often described as close partners, seems much more distant to me than the one shown between Flint and Miranda. I’m not sure whether it’s because of anyone’s sexual orientation, or just the fact that they’re fucking but they’ve never discussed the big important things, such as Anne’s identity/feelings/etc.

- In this episode, Dufresne gains a lot of power: with a freshly (and badly) shaved head and a new tattoo, he’s been promoted to Quartermaster on the Walrus in Billy’s place. And very quickly he has a problem to deal with: Randall revealing that Silver stole the page. Gates had actually already told this to Dufresne, as is revealed at the end of the episode, which might explain why Dufresne is relatively calm during the whole conversation, while DeGroot wants Silver and Flint hanged and Howell is surprisingly ruthless: he brings up the idea that it may be better to kill off Randall in order to get to the treasure, if they can’t make sure he’ll keep quiet about Silver being the thief. Dufresne is actually quite kind towards Silver in the scene where he puts Silver’s memory to the test - a test that could result in his death if he fails it and that Silver constantly grumbles against (I love his grumbling!). Basically, at this point Dufresne remains quite a sympathetic character, which will change a lot as the show goes on, especially after Jannes Eiselen had to leave the show (such a sad story, RIP Jannes).

- In the meantime, the Flint and Gates relationship is crumbling. It's sad to see, especially since they're shown sharing chuckles as they talk about Dufresne's appointment in the beginning of the episode. But then Gates brings up the subject of Miranda and demands explanations about the letter Billy found. We're not shown exactly what Flint answers, but it's clear that he's actually trying his best to give him an explanation without incriminating Miranda too badly. The sad thing is that Flint is actually telling the truth: he actually wasn't involved in any betrayal of his crew and and can only guess at Miranda's motivations. But the fact that he's lied time and again in previous situations, including on the Maria Aleyne where he claimed Lord Alfred drew a weapon on him (and Gates secretly verified that this was a lie), and used men as pawns to advance his and Miranda's plans, is now catching up to him. Flint seems truly hurt when Gates accuses him of using the men for his own purposes, and turns spiteful, telling Gates that he should have been "a better father" to Billy and helped him "understand the world he was living in" (suggesting that such a forthright character as Billy can't really survive in a world of pirates who are all ready to stab each other in the back). After that slap in the face, Gates says he's exhausted from Flint and threatens to take it to the crew. Somehow, this pushes Flint to bare all: he tells Gates about his plan to keep a part of the treasure and use it to build up Nassau, depicting himself as a sort of saviour, doing it for the men's good: they'd rather be rich men in a safe place than dead thieves hanging from a noose. Gates sees this as delusions of grandeur, and tells him that while he'll see the Urca plot through, after that they're done. I actually think he sees Flint’s point, since he doesn’t just throw him to the crew, but won’t admit that out loud. The whole of this scene hurts bad, because you can tell that Flint is desperate and sad to be losing his closest ally and friend, and that Gates is hurting from the loss of Billy and exhausted from the toxic relationship he has with Flint, where he's played enabler to his manipulations for years.

- While Flint and Gates’ alliance is breaking, Silver has to forge one with Randall or die. Randall finds out in the beginning of the episode that he’s been voted out of the crew. This is apparently due to DeGroot’s fears that Randall could be a fire hazard, which the crew took disproportionately to heart. Randall is furious with Silver, who smugly tells him that in these situations, a setback often comes with a new or unexpected opportunity. He’s right, but at this point he doesn’t know that he is the opportunity Randall’s going to latch on. Randall reveals that Silver is a thief, and Silver denies it, saying that Randall is both a halfwit and was in a haze of opium when he heard what he thought he heard; he even tries to convince Randall that he was mistaken (this, my friends, is gaslighting). However, by revealing that Silver was the thief, Randall sets a chain of events into motion which could either end with his death (if Howell has his way, since Randall is an inconvenient witness) or Silver’s (if DeGroot tips the balance, not trusting Silver to remember the coordinates and not wanting to sacrifice Randall for nothing). Silver figures out that these are the outcomes, and tries to talk sense into Randall by making a deal with him: he’ll care for Randall and make sure he can stay on the ship. But it’s only when Silver finally admits that he is the thief and that Randall was right, that Randall accepts the deal. Later, Silver realises that Randall might have orchestrated the whole thing: he’s now got Silver to serve him, doesn’t have to take any risks on the ship, and gets to remain with the crew. Silver wonders if Randall is a genius rather than a halfwit (a word thrown about a lot to describe him). And it seems quite obvious, considering what happened, that Randall still has strong survival skills (an amputee with impaired cognitive skills doesn’t stand a chance of survival outside a crew and he must be aware of it), that he still has a good memory and an ability to pick out useful information and that he’s aware enough of what’s going on to be upset by the crew’s rejection and Silver’s attempt to gaslight him. I think it’s important to recognise that Randall is more than a comic relief or a grotesque character: he’s a disabled man who's lost parts of his cognitive ability and is struggling to survive.

- This episode focuses on Vane facing his past. He seeks out the island where he grew up and its master, Albinus. I’d forgotten or never really registered that Albinus was a pirate and that the men who work for him were mostly his crew - and likely slaves (or children, hence Vane?) that he managed to capture/press into service. He’s retired from pirating and set up a system where his men cut down trees for timber all day, without wages. It’s not clear exactly how he holds so much power over these men, although it seems that everyone is terrified of him. He’s extremely strong physically, seems shrewd, speaks rather well, and his tattoos suggest that maybe he’s involved in some kind of ritual (truly religious or just for show?) which would make him all the more scary to superstitious people. Vane is clearly still frightened: he barely makes eye contact and practically stutters when he first tries to make the deal with Albinus, which is that he’ll take some of Albinus’ men as crew and send Albinus part of their earnings as tribute. It says a lot about Albinus that Vane, after years of having run away, is still so scares that he’s willing to pay him a tribute. But he changes his mind as he stares at a boy bearing the same brand as he does: he tries to persuade the men that Nassau is a pace of pleasures rather than hard labour, and confronts Albinus. The fight is brutal and ends with Vane buried naked, just after Albinus tells him that he’s proud of him. But of course Vane wouldn’t be Vane if he didn’t rise from the dead at the last minute and kill Albinus, goaded on by his inner Eleanor voice.

- In the meantime, Mr Scott returns to Eleanor, apologising for what he did, telling her he betrayed her out of love. However he also reminds her of his slave status: technically, he belongs to her. The argument upsets her, and he quite cleverly uses this moment to ask her to free the slaves who were on the Andromache. And it works: by the end of the episode, she’s made arrangements for the men to work on ships and has bought the women’s freedom and found them jobs in her tavern. But Mr Scott has still decided to leave Eleanor to join Hornigold’s crew, to refrain from meddling with Eleanor’s affairs, since he disagrees with her so strongly re: the Urca. Hornigold approached him earlier in the episode, and the introduction to that scene is quite interesting: Hornigold says to Mr Scott “I’ll need to know your secret” and Mr Scott looks startled and frightened. It seems that he’s startled because he’d been giving food to the slaves, but in light of S3, it could be a much greater secret that’s being referred to. Mr Scott is relieved when he realises that Hornigold is simply talking about tolerating Eleanor, who he clearly can’t stand.

- Flint’s bad day continues, of course, with the big confrontation he has with Miranda. He’s furious about the letter (of which he now knows the contents thanks to Gates), telling her that it could have got him killed, or destroyed the plans they’d made and asking her whether she was trying to embarrass him. This sounds so weirdly petty, and yet it also sounds exactly like the kind of argument that would come up in a bickering couple. Miranda answers that she was trying to help him out of that life, because she wants to move on. This is where Miranda utters the famous “there is no life here, there is no joy here, there is no love here”. I noticed that, covered by Flint yelling at her, and distorted because her voice has gone very shrill, Miranda says another line, which sounds like “you used to love, then”. If that really is what she says, it’s extra-extra-extra heartbreaking to hear (if someone wants to check it for me, it’s around 35:40). It’s obvious that Flint and Miranda’s views on life are very different, and I can’t help but think back to the fact that, as a carpenter’s son from the country, Flint has had to struggle all his life to become who he is. So when he says that you can’t get a life without having a war, and Miranda tells him he’s wrong, she’s speaking entirely from the point of view of her privilege. She’s never needed to fight as hard as he has to be happy, because she got extremely lucky in marrying Thomas. And when she says that Thomas would agree with her, I’m certain she’s right. But life has never been like that for Flint, and there’s no way he’ll ever entirely agree with their point of view. Rewatching this scene is tough, btw, because they both have great points, they’re both hurting so much, and there’s so much to take in between the body language, the facial expressions, the tones of voice and the actual words that it’s a whole whirlwind. And it feels very, very real.

- It’s absolutely hilarious to see Rackham get robbed by the whores taking advantage of his lack of knowledge (and research). He should absolutely have done a better job and has no clue how to run a brothel. He’s lucky Max takes things in hand after having heard from Idelle that the girls were taking advantage.

- Then we have the beautiful Drunk Flint scene. Eleanor notices him feeling very sorry for himself after Gates has pretty much broken up with him and he’s still reeling from fighting with by Miranda. I think Flint feels very misunderstood here. He thought that he was doing something good, to save Nassau and avenge Thomas, and doesn’t understand why they can’t see it, why they only see the terrible methods he uses to reach his goals. So he’s full of doubt, clearly wondering if he’s the villain of the story, and puts the question to Eleanor: is their plan worth it? Eleanor is the only person who still believes in him, which leads us to the only scene that I would ever call straight-baiting. Flint hovers near Eleanor, breathing heavily, and a variety of emotions play over her face during this moment of tension, as she seems to think this is leading to a kiss. It does, he gives her a chaste little forehead kiss and leaves. All the elements are in place to make your average viewer start shipping these two. I actually find it hilarious that the ship barely exists in the fandom (though I wasn’t there in the beginning of the fandom and I guess the viewership changed a lot between S1 and S4).

- The scene with Flint and Gates glaring at each other from their respective ships and Parson’s Farewell playing in the background... epic! We know this is the beginning of a big struggle between them, especially since we find out that Gates has pretty much decided that he’ll hand Flint over to the crew once they get the money. But nnnnggh that scene! The ships leaving on their hunt! Awesome and heartbreaking!

[ender-baggins]

Just watched 14x13 Lebanon.

Will preface with the fact that this was a bit of my commentary on the previous episode, and that I do think John Winchester was a crap parent

Lebanon was a pretty good episode, actually. I know some people hate it, and I started off prepared to seethe every moment that John was on screen. but then I managed to get one foot out of the John-crit zone and put it in Sam and Dean’s shoes, and looking at it from both perspectives? The episode has a lot of nuance to it.

Spoilers for this 14x13 Lebanon (obviously)

Overall I think the most important thing to remember about this episode: the theme is that some things are too good to be true.

I knew which episode it was, but I was surprised because I thought it has been in season 15, and then John didn’t show up for a while, so I thought I was wrong until the Pearl came up.

I gotta hand it to Jensen. When John appeared, there were so many emotions packed into Dean’s face in that first short scene, I had to rewatch it several times to get them. Part of it was simple shock, but I could also see… something a little like panic in his face, along with Waay too many emotions for me to name.

The conversation between Sam and John was… I started off mad and then focused more on Sam’s perspective and realized that… yeah, Sam isn’t the same person he was last time he saw his dad. And he didn’t get closure. He never got a chance to get real closure on it, and then here, he did, at least in some form.

Also, interesting thing I noticed- I could see the beginnings of how it could turn into another argument, and John said something that seemed a little accusatory, “you didn’t have a problem talking about it before you left,” and then Sam was like “nope, not gonna argue, not gonna do it, REDIRECTING-“ Which, after what Dean said in the scene before—

—Sam doesn’t want to mess this up for Dean. No way is he gonna start a fight, not now, not when they just got their dad back.

I don’t like the last line of Sam and John’s conversation: “But you did your best, dad. You – you fought for us, and you loved us, and… that’s enough.” Because honestly- it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t. And… dammit he could have done better. But then again, that’s Sam’s dad, and he’s been dead for over a decade, and sometimes people tend to put rose-colored glasses on over the past. So I’ll still happily condemn John’s parenting but I won’t condemn Sam just because he’s unable to see things for what they are in this case.

Now- my absolute favorite part of this entire episode is the section of Sam and Dean going to get groceries and noticing things are changed, and realizing “oh shit, what else is different?”

One, gotta love Dean for implying that Sam being a kale nut is a worse thing than Dean being considered a serial killer by society (which, it’s not like society is wrong??). Like, ah yes, wonderful priorities there, Dean. You’re a wanted killer with your face up in the town, but clearly Sam giving a lecture about the wonders of kale is a much worse thing. (If you can’t tell, I’m being incredibly sarcastic here)

And then here. Castiel’s appearance. I was screeching watching this. Completely freaking out- so much adrenaline. I bet if I’d taken my pulse it would have been skyrocketing-

This was followed by the scene of Castiel and Zachariah in the restaurant, which was Awesome, very clearly highlighting the difference that Dean and the Winchesters made in Cas’s life (later this will be relevant in the Confession - “You changed me, Dean”).

*cue me posting an unnecessary amount of screenshots*

Castiel unfurls his wings—

(Note the messy hair from flying around everywhere. Not the same as his old haircut, but they did what they could with Misha’s hair at the time)

Notice that Dean’s got the angel blade point down, and when he attacks Castiel, he’s using the blunt end to hit him, not the sharp end

(On the other hand, Sam uses the sharp end of the blade to swipe at Castiel. No judgement from me here, Sam sees this as “not our Cas” while Dean still sees this as “my Cas, I can talk him away from Heaven again.”)

Then, the most interesting thing here- when Cas pins Dean agains the wall, Dean’s not even trying to fight Cas here.

See how his hand settles on Castiel’s chest? Not really pressing, just touching. His other hand is gripping Castiel’s wrist, I imagine to try to remove enough pressure from his neck that he can speak. Trying to use his connection to Cas to get Castiel to stop hurting him. And it doesn’t work. Castiel stares him the eyes, not even a flicker of doubt or questioning.

You’ll note that I referred to alternate Castiel in this episode as exclusively “Castiel” and not “Cas.” Because it’s not Cas. Cas is the angel that saved Dean from Hell, and the angel that’s been by Dean’s side for 11 years (at this point in time). And this Castiel has not done that. So he is not Cas.

I’m reminded of the scene wayy back in season 5 where Cas beats Dean up in the alley for trying to give up and give in to Michael. There, Dean actually encouraged Cas to kill him, at the end, and Cas softens. Can’t exactly parse out the parallels there because my brain isn’t working, but there you go.

Now, probably my favorite conversation with John is this one, with Dean.

Right here. The way that Dean says “I have a family.”

It feels almost defiant. “I do have a family. I have Sam, Cas, Mom, Jack. My mother, my brother, my best friend… and I have a son, we all have a son. And beyond that, I’ve got Jody and Donna and Claire and the girls. I do have a family. Yeah, it doesn’t look like the apple pie life, the white picket fence, wife and kids, and yeah, our son is the child of Lucifer, and yeah, I’m in love with my best friend who’s an angel in a man’s body, and I wouldn’t trade him for any woman, and you’d hate that. But they’re my family. And I’m good with that.”

It’s proud, it’s a little defiant, it’s also a little bit of a reassurance, as we see from John’s smile afterward. I don’t think John caught the hint of a challenge in there.

I loved that moment. That might be my favorite line in the entire episode. “I have a family.”

I also like… Dean’s acceptance, “I’m good with who I am.” Part of that… I think it’s both a good thing and a sad thing and also a half lie at the same time. I think he’s good with who he is, in the sense that he’s accepted that he and Sam are the people that have to fill this role in the world, y’know, saving everyone. I think he loves the people he’s with, he loves his family and wouldn’t trade them for anything, not even having John back. No way would he ever trade Cas or Jack or Sam, or Mary, for anything else, ever.

It’s sad, though, because it’s like… he can’t imagine who he’d be if he had a different life. Yes, he’s had a few runs at an apple-pie life, but they weren’t happy, there was always something wrong nagging at him. He… I think he believes there’s no way for him to be happy, and that this is the best he could have.

I’m not even sure how to analyze the goodbye scene. I mean, the clearest thing here is just so much grief from everyone. They got a taste of their father back, and now he has to go back to being dead. There’s so many complicated feelings for both of the brothers, because of the complicated relationship with John, but in the end? They can’t help but love him, and they can’t help but feel grief at losing him. I won’t fault them for that.

In short, I wanna give Dean a gigantic hug and also give him therapy-

And then Cas coming back to the bunker when he did. I bet he sensed something and headed back to the bunker as fast as he could. Also, no clue what he experienced during the whole “Castiel and Zachariah are alive” thing. I imagine it’s possible there were two Cas’s running around for a bit? Because Mary didn’t get affected by the pearl. And Sam was there with his own memories, despite there being videos up of him doing things in the parallel universe. As for Cas, he’s part of Dean’s group of “people” so my guess is two Castiels running around for a little bit.

I like how Dean looks at Cas at the end. He’s relieved to have his angel back.

In summary-

The theme of this episode is “some things are too good to be true.” John came back, the four of them got their moment together, but John couldn’t stay. Things were good for that single afternoon, because everyone was just happy to see each other again, but it sent so much stuff into chaos that it couldn’t last, it had to be undone. And even then, if they’d tried to keep going with it, I know it would have degraded, the illusion of perfection would shatter, and they’d fall into old habits, old arguments and new ones.

And so it had to end.