#and we all know they are going to redeem Helena because this show believes in redemption for pretty much everyone

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Also - holy mother of god - is also known as a Hail Mary - you know - like the last ditch effort to rescue someone or something - a desperate attempt to rescue or save something at risk of being lost - the last hope!

I can’t be the only one seeing where this is going - Eddie’s last attempt to save his relationship with Chris - his last hope!

Because there is something in the concept of Eddie’s desperation and him choosing to ask Mary to help hi - because Catholics also believe Mary, because she was a virgin who gave birth to the son of god, was assumed into heaven without dying - that she lives there as a corporeal person. It is believed that as his mother, Jesus cannot deny a request she makes of him and that god has the same bound put upon him - because she followed his desires and gave birth to his son.

So, when you find yourself in a completely hopeless situation and start to pray to God but that doesn’t work, you pray to a saint to add their prayers to yours to get a signal boost. Still ‘no.’ Then you pray to Mary, and convince her of your dire need. If she is swayed, she intercedes on your behalf, getting a ‘yes’ when all else fails.

And so Eddie reaching this point would be really interesting and good - especially because the dual meaning suggests he will have to appeal to his own mother and get her to help him - where she has been obstructive before - that she will finally see the genuine love and care and effort Eddie is putting in and will finally choose to help him.

[phoebe-delia]

please give me a rant on Cats ily btw

Hi nonnie! Omg ily too, thank you! And thank you for this ask, because ooohh boy do I have feelings about this adaptation.

First of all, I have a few disclaimers to make:

1. I love the actual musical. Yes, I know the show is very controversial--either you love it or you hate it--but I grew up on "Cats." I loved it, and the book of poems it's based on. So for those looking for a rant about the lack of plot or criticizing the show itself, this post isn't for you.

2. I'm not even going to address the CGI other than to say....that was a choice. I think the critics and social media have done plenty to criticize it, and I won't say more about that fever dream on 'shrooms.

3. There were two aspects of the movie I enjoyed: Jennifer Hudson singing "Memory" and Taylor Swift's appearance; though even the presence of my favorite artist of all time was not enough to redeem this movie.

And for you, nonnie, I rewatched both the trailer and The Rum Tum Tugger song. I will be sending you the bill for my therapy <3 ;)

Now, onto the good stuff.

I'll start with the casting. Something that a ton of movie musical adaptations do is stunt-cast big names to draw audiences because they're afraid that people won't want to see a movie musical. This happened in the "Les Miserables" movie, and while big-name choices like Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron-Cohen, and even Hugh Jackman had varying degrees of success, Russell Crowe as Javert was an obvious flop.

People like Jackman, Meryl Streep, and more recently James Corden have been cast in all these movie musicals because they're famous enough to get the average person into the theater. But, God, at what cost? I mean honestly, the only instance in which I think stunt casting truly worked was in the "Chicago" movie, which I firmly believe is the best movie musical adaptation ever made. (But that's another post.)

But please for the love of God can we start casting people with singing talent in musicals? Please? I'm begging.

Anyway, I digress. My point is: casting big names--even distinguished, incredible actors like Sir Ian McKellen and Idris Elba and Dame Judi Dench--will not save a movie musical from being shitty.

But here's probably my biggest problem: the acting itself.

Almost every single character was just the actor's personality projected into it. With the exception of the two previously unknown actors, it just felt like the characters were simply the actors dressed in costume and being a weird, exaggerated version of themselves. Little attention seemed to be paid to the actual characterization of the cats.

I think what hurt the most for me, personally, was Jason Derulo as Rum Tum Tugger. Oh, ouch, this one was painful because growing up I was a huge fan of the character. To be fair to Derulo, it is nearly impossible to follow in the footsteps of Terrence Mann. I mean, he played both Tugger and Javert in the original Broadway casts of Cats and Les Mis respectively--he's a musical theater giant.

But with Derulo, Tugger became...weaker and kinda one-dimensional. Rum Tum Tugger is flamboyant and funny, sort of like Elvis or Mick Jagger. He's larger than life, and Derulo just made him kinda sleazy without the high energy. I will say--his take on the iconic ending riff was good; he hit the right notes while still making it his own. Derulo is clearly talented, but I don't think he was well cast in this role.

Honestly, I think "Cats" should never have been adapted. Even if it pleased every die-hard fan of the show and did everything perfectly, it's so controversial and polarizing among theater fans that there's little chance that a non-theater fan is going to even see it--let alone enjoy it. The musical itself is kind of insane; it's an acquired taste, and it's not for everyone.

The moral of the story is, in my humble opinion, if you can't use the film genre and tools to enhance the story (or at least match the quality) then do a professional shot of it on stage, and either way, hire talented, diverse, unknown theater actors who can sing.

*sigh.* Alright, end of rant. Honestly, thank you nonnie this was cathartic. I think we can call it even on the therapy bill ;)

Send me an ask about Harry Potter, broadway/musicals, The West Wing, and/or Taylor Swift! Or just about life in general :).

Also, I have a playlist of my 99 most listened-to songs of the year so far. Pick a number 1--99 and send me an ask and I'll write you a fic based on it!

[elencelebrindal]

Honest Opinion - Cancer Deathmask (SoG)

Overall score (character, not looks): 10/10

This, right here, is the best representation I’ve ever seen of Deathmask on screen, regarding the time after he died in the Sanctuary Battle. Not Hades, but this.  I know you can argue with me that he was a terrible person in Hades because he had to betray and whatnot, but that argument doesn’t work; he didn’t need to be such an asshole in that series. He didn’t need to be exactly the same as he was in the classic. Deathmask only appeared as a Saint faithful to Athena in his very last scene, while at the Sanctuary he seemed fully on Hades’ side (even though we know he wasn’t). There wasn’t even a redeeming scene for him, nothing, not even something that explained why he was still behaving like a real traitor. Same for Aphrodite, but that’s another entry. 

This Deathmask, compared to that one, is what he should have been after recognizing his mistakes and going back to Athena.  Or, at least, what he should have appeared as, at least for a minute, in order for us to understand he went back to his original deity. 

In Soul of Gold, he is a beautiful character that underwent a proper evolution in behavior and personality. He first appears gambling and drinking, he’s showed as a mess and as an insecure person; which, objectively, is perfectly reasonable for a Saint that not only lived a life of death and betrayal, but got also rejected by his own Cloth for it.  And then there’s his behavior. Not anymore the arrogant, egoistic Saint of the past, but someone that actually acts as a Saint, as a good human being. We see him giving his money to Helena, not only after learning she needed the money, but also off-screen (since it’s implied). Although this can also be interpreted as Deathmask being in love with her (I personally don’t see them together, but it’s still there and I acknowledge it), it’s obvious that he changed enough, evolved enough, to give her something instead of keeping. 

Even his reaction when Helena and Aphrodite die (Dite kind od didn’t die, but he didn’t know at the time) is something you generally couldn’t expect from him, without the character growth he had. That genuine reaction, that pain he showed for Helena, the fear for Aphrodite... that’s incredible. I loved every second of it, even if it was probably one of the saddest scenes of the series.  More than that, the scene where his Cloth came back to him was nothing short than amazing; Deathmask evolved so much, changed so much for the better after an entire life of murder and evil deeds, that the Cancer Cloth recognized him again and came back to his owner.  If that’s not a beautiful character development, I don’t know what could be. 

He didn’t stop there, though. Deathmask, even if he said that he didn’t want to deal with that life anymore, actively decided to help his companions. When the Cloth came back to him, he stopped crying all over himself (which is not actually a questionable thing, given what he went through) and stepped into action. Mu needed help? He was there, with a whole new technique and a whole new mentality, derived from his old one but still way closer to that of a true Saint.  Deathmask, despite having experienced one of the worst ways to die (in this show), despite having already sacrificed his life twice more (after becoming a Specter, and after coming back to help break the Wailing Wall, though he wasn’t actually alive then), chose to die again. To help protect the people of Asgard, other than for Athena.  This has to be recognized as one of the biggest acts of selflessness of the entire series, mostly because of the character behind it. 

The last scene with him was surprisingly lighthearted, and I loved it. Another thing that I really appreciated and loved is the relationship he has with Aphrodite throughout the entire series. The show is short, so there’s not many interactions between them, but it’s clear that they’re good friends (or more, it’s up to the fans to choose what they like more), that they’re close and know each other really well. This is a beautiful detail, because it shows how Deathmask (and Aphrodite) evolved for the better, to the point of actually creating on-screen positive relationships. I’m so used to believe they’ve always been friends that I forget how the canon doesn’t elaborate Deathmask’s bonds with other people that much (or at all). 

All in all, Deathmask in Soul of Gold is one of my favorite characters. He’s well written, had a believable character development (which was better than what was shown in the Hades Chapter, at least in the anime), and overall he managed to seem more “real” than anyone else.  Even the smallest detail, of him caring to shave before coming back to his Saint identity, makes this character a masterpiece. 

[austencello]

Crisis on Infinite Earths, Parts 1,2,3 - Arrow Music Notes

While many events and cameos took place during the first bunch of episodes, this review will focus primarily on Oliver’s journey and sacrifice…with a little detour about Smallville and Superman Returns near the end. (After all, John Williams themes were used. How can I not talk about that?)

Oliver Queen and Sacrifice

The whole of Season 8 has been leading up to Oliver Queen’s death.  In fact, the biggest surprise to fans (including myself) was that it happened in the first episode.  While many people had expectations for Crisis and the end of Arrow, one of mine was that the music “Sacrifice” would be used for Oliver’s death which we all knew would be a noble sacrifice to save many.  I was quite pleased to hear that theme being used in that way.  However, I was also correct in mu guess that his Arrow theme would be used as he died.  But before we jump into that, I want to go through why “Sacrifice” was used for crucial moment but also in two other moments in Crisis.

Sometimes the titles of themes are just as important as the events they hearken back to but in this case, they are connected.  This theme has been the journey of loss and becoming a hero for Oliver.  The loss that made him a hero and overcoming guilt and grief.  It intertwines saying goodbye to Tommy, his mother, Laurel, Sara, William and Felicity as well as the call to keep fighting, to choose good, and show the best parts of himself.  

“Sacrifice”/“Not Going to Make it” was first heard in 1x23 (in strings) as everything came to a head with the Undertaking.  Quentin said goodbye to Laurel telling that he loved her, about to sacrifice himself to save the city in trying to stop the earthquake machine, Roy and Thea saved people in the bus, and Tommy saved Laurel only to die himself.  Oliver’s mission was to save the city not expecting to live but he failed. Not only that but he lost his best friend who had hated him and his vigilante life.  This was not the sacrifice Oliver expected to happen and it rocked him to the core, staying with him and influencing him to no longer kill, to do things a new way. 

Part of the theme within “Sacrifice” is “Just Listen” (1x08) where he showed Sara’s grave to Helena, recognizing that he hadn’t been a good person and how that affected those around him, including Sara’s death.  This bit is also used in “I who Failed” (1x09), “Salvation” (1x18, when he saves Roy: “Give him a second chance”), “Killing Count” (2x07 - rescuing Felicity but breaking his vow to kill after Tommy’s death), “Reveal to Roy” (2x12 - revealing his identity to Roy to break him out of the Mirakiru haze), “Taking a Hand” (4x13 - defeating Malcolm for good, bringing things full circle from his fight in 1x23), and in 6x13 when Oliver saved William and the city from a bomb attack by Cayden James. This part of the theme is a theme of both failures and second chances, saving those he loved and providing justice as well.  It is the actions of a man becoming a hero, believing in others, providing protection and safety, getting up from failures and trying again.

The inner part of “Just Listen” and his guilt over Sara’s death spills over into the future, alternate earth Oliver.  “Sacrifice” plays both in Legends 1x06 when Sara meets the angrier bitter version and in the first Crisis episode as she speaks to a shaken, older, emptier Oliver who feels a great deal of guilt for bringing her on the Gambit.  She tells him that it was destiny and her decision but also that they both became the best versions of themselves.  Her (and our) Oliver became a hero, a father, and a husband while she is loving adventures through time and space. She reminds him that he is a good man on every earth (we are going to ignore the Nazi version for now).

While Sara gives hope to these broken future Olivers, it was Felicity who helped our Oliver grow in his hero journey, giving hope when he had about given up: “Oliver Gives Up”/The Essence of Heroism.” The electronic background is different for this version of the “Sacrifice” theme and a little slower in the strings but it still reflects Oliver’s despair mixed with light and hope, redeeming the theme of loss.  Oliver sees no way to beat Slade, having lost his mother, seeing the city over run with Mirakiru soldiers, seeing no way other than his own death to save those he loves by giving up and over to Slade.  Felicity reminds him that he is not done fighting, he is not alone, and then tells him that she believes in him.  Tommy had hated him for being a vigilante but Felicity tells him that he is a hero, giving him strength with her faith in him.  This theme of faith in the darkness returns in “One hand tied” in 2x23, where once again Oliver feels stuck in a corner seeing only one way for things to end and Felicity suggests a different way of making Slade outthink him.  It is through this suggestion and belief that they defeat Slade together.

The theme returns in 4x18 during Laurel’s death “Canary flies away,”  a reversal from 1x23 when Quentin was saying goodbye and now instead, it is Laurel who died.  It also harkened back to the loss of Tommy in flashbacks to his funeral in 4x19 (in the piano) as Laurel spoke about how both she and Oliver loved him, the theme connecting Tommy’s death with how he saved Laurel and also how much Tommy’s death affected Oliver to the point where he couldn’t even fully attend the funeral.  (Which also happened with his mother.) The loss of Laurel affected the whole team, this time leaving Quentin and Diggle with guilt, and Oliver with grief over losing someone close to him.  He had grown enough to know that it was not his fault however and helped to recognize her as a hero to the city during her funeral.

A bit of “Sacrifice” plays at the end of “Leaving the Hallucination” (5x08) when Oliver leaves the alien hallucination, hearing the words and voices of all those that he lost and loved spurring him on to be the hero that he is, including Felicity’s words from 2x22.  He could have stayed in a world where his parents were alive but he chose reality because his journey as a hero was not over yet.

Oliver becomes confronted with another kind of sacrifice as he faces trial and jail in 6x21 and 6x23.  In 6x21, he doesn’t want to admit to being the Green Arrow and face prison because he was hoping for a life with Felicity and William at some point “Never a Normal Life.”  Felicity reminds him that they fight for each other (harkening back to 2x22…you are not alone) but he cannot handle the idea of putting a target on them.  The idea of losing her and William is intolerable.  While he was acquitted for that moment, this comes back in 6x23: “What a cost.”  He gives himself up to protect his family and the team, sacrificing himself to protect them as he says goodbye to William with Felicity in the background.  Not quite sacrificing his life the way he expected to in 1x23 or 2x22 but still offering his life to protect those he loved most.  It is an Oliver who fights to live for his family, who has been giving second chances in love and family. This is a man who has grown in accepting life and fighting for the good parts instead of just fighting the bad. This is emphasized in 7x21 as a dream/hallucination version of Tommy gives a speech of hope.  While Tommy never came back from the grave, he has heard Tommy forgive him through dreams and the like.  Here the theme “Sacrifice” returns again as Tommy tells Oliver to show the best parts of himself: loyalty, courage, selflessness, compassion.  

These are the essences of being a hero and the core of who Oliver is and has become. The journey of loss and guilt turned his despairing guilt of sacrifice into selflessness, having courage to choose and put others first, having loyalty towards his friends like Barry and Kara, having compassion to save all earths.  He had been confronted with the fact that his death could help save numerous earths including his wife and children.  He knew that a sacrifice was necessary to help them survive, even more pressing now that he has his adult Mia in front of him.  That is why Oliver didn’t hesitate to fight the time/space demons to help as many people survive the earth 38 evacuation.  He had no idea that that was not the way the Monitor had foreseen his death.  He took his future into his own hands, stoping the Monitor long enough to help a billion people survive even to his own demise.  Which is why “Sacrifice” plays as Oliver fights even without arrows and facing them without a bow.  It is the heart of a hero, fighting to give everything he has to protect others, sacrificing himself so that others might live.  (Side note: this wasn’t my favorite musical version of this theme.  I do realize the drum kit and electric bass gave it a cool badass aspect, harkening back to the pilot sound, but it didn’t carry the emotional weight that I would have liked.  I did like that the melody was played in the heroic sound of the horns as well as the strings though. That was quite fitting).

Oliver’s actual death with Mia and the other heroes around him was a mixture of new and old music.  A little bit of “Sacrifice” returns as the Monitor tells them that Oliver saved 1 billion people. A theme based on an upward scale in the violas and cellos played throughout. changing after the scale each time, matching his goodbyes to Barry and Kara versus goodbye to Mia.  This natural minor scale (a minor scale that doesn’t change notes from the key signature) fits with the core sound and harmonic nature of Arrow since its inception. There are melodies throughout Arrow based on a scale in strings like “Honor Memory” (1x02) or “I forgot who I was” (1x05) and many of the repeating aspects of the fighting Arrow music include 4 notes of a scale since the pilot “Five Years”.  So while using almost all of the scale is unusual, it still fits with the musical landscape especially as it is accompanied by horns (heroism) and toms (percussion) giving it a weight and gravitas.  As he closes his eyes, the horn holds on to a major chord for a little bit giving Oliver a little peace in saying goodbye. What brings more pathos is changing the scale to a melodic minor scale after he dies.  It’s almost jarring because it doesn’t fit with what we are used to, signifying that things aren’t right.  The Arrow theme plays over it as the Monitor tells them it wasn’t supposed to be like that.  It highlights the tragedy of losing our beloved hero too soon, both for the team but also for us as an audience.  A bell also tolls at the beginning of that scale after Oliver’s death.  The horn plays Oliver’s hero theme as it pans away looking at Oliver.

As tragic as this was, it turned out not to be the end of Oliver’s journey.  Mia, Sara, Barry, Constantine, and Diggle all work on bringing back Oliver (more on that in a bit).  After they find Oliver’s soul in purgatory and bring him back to himself, they meet the Spectre (Jim Corrigan) who tells Oliver that it is his destiny to become Spectre to save everyone.  As this happens, the version of “Sacrifice”/“Never a Normal Life” plays as Oliver tells Diggle and Mia that it is ok.  He chooses to sacrifice coming back with his closest friend/brother and his daughter to once again save them all.  Mia begins to say “I love you” but is cut off as they disappear back to the ship, telling Sara that he chose to stay behind.  Each time, it is a choice that Oliver has to make and he does so willingly because Oliver loves deeply and will do what is right to save others no matter the cost.

Oliver, Sara, and Mia

Near the beginning of Crisis, Sara and Oliver have a brief moment together on Earth 38 where Sara comments on parent Oliver and while it is a little weird, it looks good on him.  The theme “The Real Me” (2x01) plays in the horn which first played when Oliver started to fit into his cooperate job, bringing in Walter against Isabel, having family to help him.  She comments that he isn’t what he seemed to be and he answers that most people fail to see the real him. Many people had an idea of what Oliver seemed to be but Sara is one of the few who has known Oliver the longest in all his forms: playboy, vigilante, now a parent.  Sara and Oliver genuinely care about each other and have been through the good, the bad, and the ugly.  She is happy to see this new side of her friend.

Oliver also has a brief moment with Mia, giving her own Green Arrow suit as a variation of Oliver’s hero horn theme (no 2 - the descending one) plays.  Drum-kit and strings play, giving a sound of new beginnings (drum-kit was used in the pilot as we see Oliver in the suit for the first time) and then Mia’s Blackstar theme plays in electric guitar as she is left looking at the suit when Oliver leaves.

Mia and Barry take Oliver’s death the hardest, determined to find a way to bring him back.  They enlist the help of Sara and Constantine to find a Lazarus Pit, who both have their reservations considering they have been down this road before with Sara.  Once they find a Lazarus Pit and put Oliver into it, the music hearkens back to Nanda Parbat when Sara and Thea had been put into the Lazarus pit.  The female vocal and choir sings as crazy Oliver leaps out with a repeated electric bass note to add to the tension and adrenaline.  

Cameos - primarily Superman

One of the fun parts about the Crossovers is all the musical themes that return and get woven together, like Supergirl and Batwoman’s themes interweaving as they face off each other in the 3rd episode.  Not only were a lot of characters brought in for small or longer cameos but most of their musical themes were as well (which is quite impressive from a copyright side).  While I needed help identifying the Batman characters, thanks to @jorahtheandal​, I did recognize their themes from the various shows and movies.  However, the ones that made me excited were the Smallville cameos and Superman Returns.  My first introduction into the world of DC were through those two and “Lois and Clark.”  I loved hearing the sounds of Smalliville again especially in the clarinet.  There weren’t a lot of winds in this Crisis (the orchestra was made up of strings and brass) but that made moments like this even more special.  Smallville had two composers and the second, Louis Febre, used a lot of solo winds, especially clarinet for the Clois theme and the feeling of home during seasons 7-10.  It felt like truly returning home to the Kent farm and you could feel the warmth of the love Clark and Lois had for each other and the farm. (“The Proposal” is a good example of the solo winds used on the Smallville soundtrack)

Even more impressive was the fact that Blake Neely and team got permission to use John Williams’ themes for Superman.  While the main Superman theme was used throughout Superman Returns, the love theme was not used much.  (Superman Returns was written by John Ottman since John Williams was busy with Star Wars).  However, in the second episode of Crisis, both the love theme for Lois and Superman and Superman’s main brass theme by John Williams appeared, definitely cementing that Brandon Routh’s Superman was a continuation of Christopher Reeve’s Superman.  It was a lot of fun to hear those themes as he interacted with Earth 38’s Superman and Lois, especially when Clark switches into the Superman suit and his iconic brass theme is heard. 

Other notable themes heard included Danny Elfman’s Batman theme at the beginning as well as his Flash theme for the ‘90s Flash TV show when Barry from earth 90 died.  Black Lightning made an appearance in the 3rd episode along with his theme which was cool.  The Crisis had its own theme of doom in the brass as well as the heroes banding together to fight against the Crisis (heard in trumpets) throughout the episodes.  While Crisis on Earth-X is still my favorite both story-wise and musically, this definitely had some cool moments.

@dust2dust34 @academyofshipping @smoakmonster @ah-maa-zing @herskirtsarentthatshort @dmichellewrites @almondblossomme @withgraceandlight99 @jorahandal

[nikky-the-writer]

Ghost from the past

Diego x Reader

Part 6 (You can find previous parts on my Masterlist) Warning: cursing, mentions of death, spoilers for the show, blood, sad… Summary: Diego still can’t accept what happened when he was younger and he isn’t the only one….

A/N: There are only two more parts left after this one...

_____________________________________________________________

Your head was pounding and your body was almost numb as you were coming to consciousness. You couldn’t open your eyes and you didn’t hurry yourself to do it, you actually squeezed them even tighter as there was noise around you and the ache in your head only grew. And the sounds weren’t even recognizable just hundreds of silent noises growing around you.

Your head was hanging low as you had no strength to lift it and you couldn’t move your limbs even if you tried as the rope was digging into your skin. But none of that was as annoying as the woman's voice constantly repeating your full name at least the first one was correct while the other seemed to be Hargreeves which Reginald changed when you were brought there. You could already feel how many people were in the room however you were still a little gone to do something about it however when you heard a familiar voice you forced yourself to lift your head. It took you long to open your eye but when you did you could see an almost nude man sitting in front of you tied to the chair. You stared at him as you immediately knew who he was, however, your gaze was changed when your chin was forcefully turned. “Who is this girl?” the woman questioned as you stared at the picture of yourself when you were a kid. After you didn’t say anything with your eyes rapidly blinking the woman turned to Klaus and as she started torturing him you could feel your powers coming closer to the surface just as Klaus could see them when in one of your eyes the color in iris was starting to fade only to come back as you were trying to control yourself not wanting to hurt Klaus. The woman noticed your eyes and turned back to Klaus. “What is wrong with her?” “She is waking up, obviously,” Klaus stated with a smile on his face as he has missed you and as he was also well aware of your powers. He even started laughing as your other eye was doing the same. “B..”, you tried to speak as your eyes moved around the room. “B..b,” your throat was dried and your lips chapped making it hard for you to speak. “B…”, you tried again, but as you stopped your gaze at the place next to Klaus he glanced to there before back to you. “Ben?” he questioned with Ben curiously watching you as you stared right at him. Klaus asked and you nodded while in the meantime the woman stared at you both as if you were crazy. “You can see him?” This time you shook your head and Ben lowered his gaze in disappointment. “Fe…Feel,” you managed to say and Klaus’ eyes got wide as he remembered what you told him when you were younger. You told him that you could feel the presence; souls of those who were dead but still close. “What is she talking about?” “You are so screwed,” Klaus chuckled as he saw the way the rope around your hands was slowly untying itself, just as his were. However the woman had no time to say anything or do when both of your eyes changed and with it, your control was out of your hands as you did what you did the best; you took her soul, your name said it all; The soul harvester. Soon the double murder almost turned into three as a woman appeared at the door with her gun raised at you. You were close to taking her down as well the same way you did the two before her; however, as you were having it already hard to control yourself and with Klaus so close to her you couldn’t kill her in the same way. It was hard and it took you a lot of effort however with the new taken energy you lifted your hand towards her. Soon the gun stood on its own and pointed towards her head. “Hey, hey…no, she is a good guy,” Klaus was quick to stand in front of the cop however the gun stayed still. Your eyes moved from Klaus to her as you were still sited in the chair. Your legs were feeling heavy and too unsteady to even try to stand up. You observed Klaus, you didn’t know if you could trust him, you didn’t even know what was happening or why would somebody want to kill you. And at that moment you remembered something that broke you; you remembered your own tipping point. You remembered the moment when you could see yourself as a traitor, but you quickly chased the thought away as you knew that you will redeem for it. “You a…” you started as you let the gun fall to the ground not carrying enough to move it slowly. Your eyes lingered on Klaus and he moved closer to you to encourage you to continue, he even offered you a glass of water. In the meantime, the woman checked both the man and the other woman after she took the gun. “We naked?” you questioned and Klaus’ eyes moved to his towel. “It doesn’t r…ring a bell…” you stated with your voice hoarse and although it took you a while to say it Klaus was laughing seeing that not even time could change you. Klaus wanted to say something as he stopped laughing, but he didn’t know what to say. He continued staring at you reaching with his hands towards yours and just holding them. His lips stretched into a smile however his eyes welled up as he couldn’t believe it. He thought that you were one of the ghosts when he saw you the first time sitting in the motel room with him. He was slightly disappointed as he wished that you were alive however he was happy to see you again. “Who killed them?” the woman questioned. “Me…” you whispered as you smiled at Klaus as if you were the only ones in the room with the woman’s questions just as background noise. The woman moved her gaze over you not understanding how someone who looked sick as you could kill both of them no matter that she witnessed your powers you seemed to weak, however as you admitted she had to take you in. You didn’t even acknowledge her words as she spoke again, but Klaus got defensive not letting the woman come closer to you. “I have to take her in,” the woman started moving closer only for Klaus to stand in front of you shielding you. “No!” “She killed two people,” she insisted. “And I...I will kill more,” you stated suddenly moving your gaze towards her. “Help me up,” you said to Klaus who moved your hand over his shoulder. Your legs were barely keeping you up as his hand sneaked behind your back to get a better hold on you. “You just admitted to the police officer that you have and will kill again.” “I ca....can e...e..easily help you with that problem,” you rasped out. The woman looked from you to Klaus before questioning. “You will go?” “I don’t think she meant that,” Klaus stated as he knew you well enough. “I have t-” “Why are you even here?” Klaus interrupted as there was no way that the police would come here for either of them. “I know your brother,” the woman stated and there was no real need in asking which one as one was on the Moon until recently and the other just got back from future. “Then let us go,” Klaus offered as if her friendship with Diego meant a free pass for him. “I can’t.” “I have been locked for...” you stopped for a moment as you actually had no clue. “Klaus ho...how old...?” “30,” Klaus was quick to answer and your eyes went wide as you have been gone almost as long as you had lived freely. “Shit… so you thi....think that I'll let anyone to...to lock me again after those 14 years?” you breathed out moving even closer to Klaus for comfort although you were already pressed against him. “You are Y/N?” she questioned as she remembered Diego talking about losing someone fourteen years ago. “I don’t know you…” you stated however you were also questioning even looking towards Klaus as you couldn’t place her not even if you imagined her as a kid. “Diego.” You scoffed as you heard Diego’s name as you really didn’t expect to hear it for the first time from to you a random woman. “It seems...that y...you should never trust a fifteen ye....ar old boy because this really doesn’t seem as forever.” “Lo-” “Be useful....and take us to my sister,” you interrupted as you were getting inpatient and also as you were hurt. It seemed as you were forgotten or maybe in their eyes buried. “I ca-” “I will kill you, I didn’t have to touch them to kill a...a....and as obviously Diego ta....ta..lked about me, you should know not to question me,” you shut her up and she stayed in place just staring at you. “Take us to Vanya!” it was the final thing you said to her before moving towards the doors with Klaus’ help.

_____________________________________________________________

A/N: Thank you for reading!!! Guys, please tell me what you think!!!

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[spidersmiceandeverythingnice]

Gonna write my scatterbrained Spicy Hot Takes on Agartha before the news is stale and I delete this annoying and boring chapter from my mental landscape, so bear with me:

I think Agartha’s main issue was just straight up poor writing. The Japanese direct translations being as downright offensive as they were is one thing - but overall, the chapter is just one plot contrivance after another. It tries so, so hard to go for a certain tone but can’t seem to stick to any one thing or idea. Disregarding themes about sexuality probably would have been the very best way to go about this chapter, since I think the most interesting part was the theme about storytelling and in-authenticity - we all know that That Line was annoying af in a game like FGO, but it CAN work in a series like Fate as a whole. I had a helluva long day at work so allow me to explain in the least scatter-brained way I can manage right now:

Here’s what I’m thinking: Scheherazade, whose name I guarantee I will spell wrong/differently every time I write it even though I’ve been able to pronounce it properly since I was thirteen (I was in a speaking competition and told some of the Thousand and One Nights using her framework as the opening monologue, long story short ANYWAY -) is traumatized by her ordeal with the king. This is a really good and interesting thing to explore! Fitting it in with the theme of storytelling - Scheherazade is deeply afraid of dying and will do whatever it takes to live, so she makes a fantasy world and fills it with legends, and feeds their energy to a Holy Grail. With this, and the power of a Demon God at her side, she plans to reveal magic to the human world in the most destructive fashion possible, allowing the fantastic to become ordinary, and destroying the Throne of Heroes itself in the process. Fate is a series were stories have power - but Scheherazade survived basically by telling the most fantastical, interesting tales she could and never finishing them. She always would pause in the middle, and say, “That’s all for tonight.” I think this is the kind of thing we can run with in terms of setting.

Dahut is the weirdest example because it’s the one story in the chapter that I know next to nothing about. At one point it’s mentioned that Dahut is impossible to summon as a Servant, and so Drake was “forced” into the role of the Pirate Princess. Ys is probably the weakest part of the chapter for that, but I did like the idea of her being “Drake Alter,” where Drake vibrantly pursues her goals and desires but takes nothing for granted; Dahut gives into her every whim and takes absolutely everything for granted. The conflict between “Drake” and “Dahut” should have been emphasized more instead of having the player/Da Vinci dismiss her as “Oh, it’s not Drake, except when she conveniently comes back to delivery us the MacGuffins Ex Machina in the eleventh hour.” Dahut has little connection to Drake - it’s not her story, but a role she was forced into because Scheherazade was building a very specific kind of world. Therefore it is inauthentic. Perhaps that’s all it needs to be in this context. 

This can also work with the Amazons. Scheherazade never told stories of the Amazons, but she has access to basically all stories in the world through her Noble Phantasm - she learns that they are a society of warrior women who live without men, and so decides that they will be a society which oppresses men due to her fear/bitterness towards men after the ordeal she suffered through. The “oppressing men” plotline was honestly dumb all around but using the Amazons as a mechanism to explore Scheherazade's trauma would’ve been more interesting than just having them be the Big Bad before the Big Bad Columbus Reveal: Scheherazade doesn’t like fighting, but wishes that she had been strong enough to protect herself. Because she views herself as a coward and her ordeal with the king has complicated her view of sexuality - “I’m better suited to a bedchamber than a battlefield” - she uses the Amazons of Agartha as a mechanism to cope. 

This brings us to Wu, whose design I’m still not happy about even though I think the in-story justification is somewhat fair. (Let Helena and Wu be gray-haired grannies together or so help me!) Wu was absolutely an authoritarian ruler who did, in fact, invade and conquer several nations and institute a terrifying network of secret police. In her later life, she was given to decadence - but her tenure on the throne showed her to be a highly competent administrator. Notably, she ruled over an era of religious tension and balanced matters quite well, and though she was accused of undoing meritocracy to put her supporters into power, many of the men she appointed held positions in government long after she’d died because they were actually good at their jobs. Wu has been heavily mythologized over the years - later Tang emperors and Neo-Confucian scholars wrote her off (Wu founded her own dynasty under her own name, so they kind of had to legitimize it somehow), she became associated the nine-tailed fox spirit thanks to a few popular novels and poems, etc., etc., etc. The crazy thing is that Wu actually left very few records of herself behind, apart from some poems. Even the inscription on her tomb is blank! People can say whatever they want about her - it’s extremely difficult to know the full truth of the matter without any objective observers in the field (and without Wu’s own words to give context/another story), especially if you don’t read any Chinese. 

BTW - the first thing I learned history class is that when you’re dealing with primary sources, you must always remember that translators have agendas. Every word is a deliberate choice, and it changes the meaning from the original text. When dealing with historical documents, this is not always a good thing. 

Scheherazade reads some, but not all of these stories, and integrates Wu into her world as the sadist empress with an iron grip on her decadent mythical city. 

Do you see what I’m getting at here? It’s a lot, but I’m not done. Now we have to deal with Columbus - there’s “In Defense of Columbus” video is floating around in the Agartha tag, but I haven’t watched it in full and haven’t done like, any intensive research on Columbus in particular, so I’m going to apologize right now for any historical inaccuracies/misconceptions that I’m about to write. The point I want to make here mainly is that Columbus, like Wu, has been heavily, heavily mythologized for both good and evil at various points. The thing about Columbus that is also interesting is that the authenticity of his journals is or was apparently a subject of debate. The man who published most of them actually happened to be Bartolomew de las Casas - one of the founders/first vocal supporters of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. The reason de la Casas supported this is because he believed that using African labor would be an improvement over enslaving the native populations of the New World. Soon after, he had a change of heart and devoted the rest of his life to fighting against slavery in all forms. De la Casas went on to be named a saint, and was possibly the first person in history to propose the idea of universal human rights - which is how I had heard of him until literally just this afternoon; I had no idea he’d ever supported the slave trade until I was looking up basic info about Columbus’s writings so I could write this long-ass post. History is full of complicated people. 

But as I mentioned in Wu’s bit, it’s very important to note that in many ways, Columbus is literally just whatever people decide he is. Like, he never even set foot in any land that would become the United States, and yet he’s a huge symbol here! Along these lines, his amnesia would fit the theme of inauthentic storytelling, choosing what to read and what to believe in. Columbus regaining his memories was an understated moment, which is actually fucking fantastic because it could be used to really emphasize the choice that is being made here. He’s a Heroic Spirit who can choose to be whatever he wants. He can choose to be the simple hero-explorer that schoolchildren sing about, or he can choose to be the Big Bad, the first and perhaps most infamous conquistador. And he chooses to be the bad guy. That is so fuckin’ fantastic, y’all! I honest to God love that not only did FGO portray Columbus as a villain of history but that the bad reputation is something he chooses to maintain! I can write a list of Servants who were less than stellar people and got a makeover for Fate. Nero is probably one of the worst examples but like - Ozymandias absolutely owned slaves in his life as a pharaoh. Hercules and Medea murdered their own children. Asterios literally ate humans as the Minotaur. Gilles de Rais exists as a playable character. Jack the Ripper is your daughter. Hell, Nobunaga burned temples with the monks still inside - but she feels bad about it now! Enough digressing but I a hundred percent get why Japanese fans found Columbus “refreshing” at his introduction. He owns his cruelty, his desire to exploit others - he challenges the narrative that everyone is redeemable because he doesn’t even want to be redeemed, he just wants to get rich and famous, and he doesn’t give a shit who he steps over in the process! Like, Columbus said, “I’m just doing what comes naturally,” at one point when he still had amnesia, so when he got his memory back and turned on the player, I really would’ve liked for him to say is something like, “You’ve already decided that I’m the bad guy, right? You know my story, and I’m nothing if not a man of my word.”

These kinds of questions/debates could have been used to emphasize the themes of Agartha. Legends are what people decide they are. People make choices and history decides whether they were good or evil or important retroactively. Can you know what someone is like by reading a translation of their poetry? Can you judge a king’s reign by the words of their successors or their rivals? Does the context of a story matter? This all could have been super interesting to explore!

Like I said, the main theme of Agartha being “inauthentic storytelling” could have been hella, hella good considering that this is a world created by Scheherazade’s fears and trauma feeding into her escapist desires. But Minase’s incompetence as a writer made everything so hamfisted and awkward that everything just suffered under his desire to insert his fetishes at every moment. It was so obvious that he didn’t read any material for old Fate characters - like Astolfo you poor sweet thing, you deserved so much better! - and even the new characters that he clearly did research on, like Columbus, fell flat because he couldn’t figure out what he was trying to say beyond mildly-to-extra offensive sex jokes.

[personalsortinghat]

Since you feel you have robert figured out & i personally have no clue what he's thinking ever, what do you think will happen in the finale? Any idea what twist will pop up?

INVADE MY INBOX! 👑  

     You know, I actually have a lot figured out. Literally nothing has shocked me this season. I knew that the whole thing with Kathryn was too easy for Liam not to be in on it, I knew that Helena would eventually rise to the occasion of taking Robbie ‘down’. This is the same woman who attempted to not only dethrone Cyrus but make the QUEEN the single ruling monarch. And you can tell this entire season she doesn’t feel needed, and rather than being an actual MOTHER ( as she’s been supposedly attempting to be -- again, here is what really boils my blood about all of this -- this entire season has been complete character assassination on a bulk of characters that have gained so much back, only for it to be swiped away closer toward the finale ) -- Either Helena never changed in antithesis with the way she was showcased ( or she changed more in favor of Liam ), never loved Robbie as much as she claimed to, or is just this horrible person all around. It’s just utterly devastating really.      In regards to theories on what could happen I will only say a few things because I believe that too much speculation only takes away from the ride of the show. We get so caught up in our conspiracies and pointing fingers and all that jazz. I don’t want to play party to that. I just want us to have a better understanding of the deeper insight to some complex characters. But also have FUN. No one is black and white in this series...except Cyrus. ( & Jasper. )       1. Willow and Robert will quarrel. But it will not be as terrible as everyone expects. They obviously make up. ( If you look closely at one of the previews, too. Helena seems very surprised and Liam looks exceptionally displeased. )      2. Helena is in on Liam’s plan. & on Liam’s side. ( If we are to twist it, really twist it, sure she’s on Robert’s side -- but my gut is telling me no. This seems like complete wishful thinking however -- it could also be truth. If we are to believe her love for Robbie? She could be being of ‘use’ to Robbie, finding out what Liam is up to. Proving her loyalty.  Because, remember how she was so put out that Robbie had he planning a wedding?? Perhaps this is the extra task he gave to her. -- again, WISHFUL thinking as I don’t see this being the twist Mark would apply. )      3. ROBERT. KNOWS. Somehow he knows. Something is going to go down. He’s onto Liam. Now, I don’t know to what extent. But he is absolutely aware that something is going to go down. And this isn’t mere speculation, he’s said he always has to expect the worst, as people also expect the worse from him. And naturally? That is just the way he is. He thinks everyone is out to get him, thinks everyone sees him as this failure, as this human being who never earned a single dime in his life, never rose to the occasion, was nothing but a King’s son, but couldn’t even redeem himself in that. Internally he’s entirely bitter. He tries to be hopeful but it only knocks him down. So he’s become exceedingly soured. However, this “hubris” ( everyone enjoys bringing up ), this ability to undermine will keep him one step ahead.      I don’t think he is the true villain of this story. I think someone else will pop up, and it’s going to be huge. Now I am NOT presenting these things as if they are mere truth or fact, not whole-heartedly. They’re my interpretation, this also doesn’t touch base on half the theories fluttering around in my head, and some of them are probably prominently obvious, but. Just to answer your question. Here you go.  :) Thank you for sending this in.

[cogentranting]

Arrow 6x10 Liveblog

All in one post for no particular reason. 

-I like Thea advocating for Rene

-So like.. Dinah and Vinny are kinda cute together? I want their weird morally ambiguous and violent hallmark movie love story

-Being forced into working with the Bertinellis is fun. As are all the Helena references. Aaaaannd the Bat signal reference. 

-I like chilling at Argus

- ZOE!!!! 

-This is why Rene is awesome. Looking at him trying to make things right and help Oliver even after all this.

- wait why did the FBI toss Oliver’s case back to the city DA? 

-Did the mayor’s office just go like six months without a Chief of Staff? is that an optional position? 

-Okay I’m not mad and I know there’s a lot of stress... but Oliver and Felicity need to act more married

- that was the shot that the trailer made it look like Felicity was keeping William from seeing so now I”m wondering what she actually hides from him

- Who’s this extra villain team member? 

-In addition to being effective that trick arrow for Black Siren is pretty brutal and i love it

- Anatoly calling Oliver “Kapiushon” makes my heart happy

-pfft you thought you had Oliver trapped. This isn’t his first day.

-I like that each of the team members is responding to the split differently. Like Dinah’s clearly the most angry. Curtis is more hurt and awkward and is also the most willing to have a friendship with OTA still, although he and Oliver have never been close so that one is awkward. And rene feels he deserves it.. cuz he kinda does (still love him)

I like the lighting of that scene and I’m curious about the decisions- Felicity in the light, Oliver doused in blue, Diggle half and half.

-Enough talk about ‘can Siren be redeemed’. Let’s get to the bigger issue: can Anatoly be redeemed? He’s the villain who matters. 

-AH! Quentin and Oliver father/son moment last time. Quentin and Thea father/daughter this episode my heart!

- Dinah they weren’t pointing fingers at anybody until you started throwing shade at Oliver, and even then they only pointed fingers at Rene and frankly he did everything they said he did. FIght me, the surveillance was justified. 

- I’m really glad we got Diggle and Felicity really getting in on the argument not maintaining some kind above the fray status. I like that it’s really OTA vs. NTA not just Oliver vs. the newbies. 

-Everyone is really in character in this feud and I love it but also I’m frustrated but in a good way. I really like this arc so far and I think it’s so cool that we’ve come to the place that we can do an arc of this sort

- Yesss so glad that Dinah’s smart enough to realize that Oliver wouldn’t just make that up about Vince, even if that’s what she snapped in the heat of hte moment

-oooh I like that they’re rooting at least part of Oliver’s anger in that he was arrested in front of William

- nice ‘this started with the three of us’ callback. 

-The super villain team is a really good choice because its big enough to make be truly believe that OTA might not be able to handle it on their own. If only for pure numbers. Its a really nice pairing of arcs. 

-”I’m already in charge” Yeah you are Ben Cayden. ... I might start calling his club the Others. its shorter than “the villain team”

- None of the other shows can come close to matching Arrow’s fight scenes- this warehouse fight tracking Oliver: superb

-I repeat:  pfft you thought you had Oliver trapped. This isn’t his first day!

-Awww look at Oliver expressing his emotions. He’s doing so good. I’m sure he and others are gonna blow it soon but that was a good speech. Especially the part to Rene. 

-Ok now the newbies are in the wrong- that was definitely not Oliver blowing it. That was Curtis and the other two followed him off a cliff. “he didn’t create an environment of distrust” ummm okay Oliver spied on you because someone REALLY DID BETRAY him. they keep acting like Oliver just got paranoid?? But there was a real betrayal?!

-Also, much as I love Rene and Dinah (and kinda like Curtis) it’s really cute that they think they’re a match for the Others without Oliver. 

But once again can express how much i love what oliver said to Rene about “as a father i know why you did what you did but I also knew you were taking me away from my son and i got angry” because its perfect

YAY SPARTAN IS IN THE HOUSE.

Original Team Arrow is now, truly, back in action. 

[abberryyang]

Long Internal Sigh

Now, this is a disclaimer for any of my 0licity fans who follow me: no, this is not a post telling you not to ship them. This is a post that expresses why they are my NOTP and how they are not #relationshipgoals, to me.

Now, as all of my followers know, I did not like Arrow S5x10, and this is one of the biggest reasons why:

Felicity constantly putting Oliver down, as a leader, as a person, and for his “island”/mistakes/past.

As much as I don’t like Oliver, he’s still the hero of our story. I understand his struggle, his fight, and I want to know who the character really is. We’ve struggled to really know who he is since mid S2, when Guggenheim took over the show, and every time he left, he came back as a new person and proceeded to regress back to his “island state”, his depression. The show has made Oliver’s mental illness and trauma as a plot device, and don’t show any ways or “hope” to overcome his trauma. Five years from the trauma of the island, China, island again, to Russia, and we have yet to really reach a consensus on his trauma. The promise since the pilot of Arrow was to see Oliver progress to comic!Ollie with constant jokes, trickshot arrows, and an undeniable love for his Arrow family - we have yet to reach that point.

This episode was just another reminder, another let down, and another tragedy for Oliver - and Felicity was the real villain, Prometheus did little to nothing to “hurt” Oliver.

Felicity undermined Oliver’s every attempt to redeem Laurel, to keep her safe, and to meet her halfway - Oliver’s first instinct wasn’t to kill, it was to save. The moment he sees Laurel, after he just killed Malone by accident, he tries to save her. It was such a great moment for Ollie, to have a chance at redemption, to be able to just feel Laurel’s touch took his breath away, and to hear her voice, talk to her, and hear her kind words completely relaxed him. Oliver, moments before this, struggled to find footing, find happiness, to let go of things, and here he is, sitting side-by-side with Laurel - Oliver is happy.

Oliver’s happiness is cut short by Felicity, as she tries to take his place as a leader in the team, telling them to take orders from her, be prepared to hurt Laurel, and trash talking him at every chance Felicity gets. There’s not a moment in their shared interaction where Felicity gets to be angry, Felicity gets to talk down on him, and Felicity insults Oliver’s feelings for Laurel to his face. Felicity destroys every thing Oliver thinks, feels, and believes.

The one line that upsets me the most, was Felicity saying to Oliver, “What gives you a degree in psychology?” First off, Felicity, you don’t have one yourself.  IT and Psychology are two different things, very - not to mention the fact that any and all trauma you have gone through has done nothing for your character or obnoxious, self-centered, personality. Oliver’s own personal experience is more than enough to give him credibility to want to help Laurel, see the signs, and want to help her change as he did. It’s in character for him to want to “save” people similar to him, e.g. Helena, Roy, and Evelyn.

Even after Oliver’s heart-to-heart talk with Laurel in the basement, Felicity goes down and says the exact opposite of what Oliver said to Laurel. Exclaiming that Laurel [and Oliver] could never change from who [they] were, [they] would always be the darkness that consumed [them], and no good [they] ever did would undo that. Oliver even replays to hear it in the Foundry, after Felicity lets go of Laurel. 

When Oliver questions Felicity’s decision to do that, Felicity throws that he did it last season with Anarchy to catch Darhk, so she is therefore justified in doing it. It was a mistake Oliver made, and he wanted to catch Darhk because he hurt Felicity - an action of love that he did for her was a mistake, but he stood by it because he loved her. It’s a downright shame that Felicity did that to him, and I can’t understand why anyone would ever, ever, want these two together after this episode. 

Of course, at the end of the episode, Felicity is right, she’s always right, like how she was right about everything else in this god forsaken episode. This is exactly like the episode after the last mid-season finale, Felicity using Oliver’s feelings, manipulating him, somehow she’s out on a mission she shouldn’t be on and destroying who he is as a hero, leader, person, and the love he has for the women in his life.

The villain won this episode, and the villain was Felicity, not Prometheus.

[njawaidofficial]

'Orphan Black' Series Finale Explained

http://styleveryday.com/2017/08/14/orphan-black-series-finale-explained/

'Orphan Black' Series Finale Explained

[Warning: This story contains spoilers from Saturday’s series finale of BBC America’s Orphan Black, “To Right the Wrongs of Many.”]

It’s taken five seasons, but Sarah (Tatiana Maslany) and her sisters finally finished off Neolution and the crazed scientists behind the clones’ creation on Saturday’s series finale of Orphan Black. In fact, the entire battle wrapped up with a birth, a death and the clones finding their ultimate freedom within the first 30 minutes of the episode.

That left plenty of time to explore the theme of freedom and what it actually meant to Sarah, Helena, Cosima and Alison as the show jumped forward three months in time to a happier place where the family could finally celebrate being together.

It was a happy ending not often seen these days on television, and one that creators John Fawcett and Graeme Manson always had in their heads when they first began developing this show more than a decade ago. THR caught up with the duo to get their take on wrapping up the cult-favorite show, inserting one final Easter egg for fans and how the Clone Club might live on in the future.

How did this finale change from the one you had in your heads when you started out?

Manson: We’ve been running around with a pregnant Helena for two or three seasons now so we knew the birth was going to be a huge element of the finale. But we did make this decision that there was going to be a three-month jump in time; the truth is that John and I had something similar in mind for quite a while when we were always thinking about our finale.

Fawcett: We really knew that what everything was going to boil down to was that we really wanted the climax of the story to revolve around Sarah and Helena, the two twin sisters and that there would be a dramatic, dangerous birth. In broad strokes, that was kind of always where we were driving. We also knew we wanted the finale to wind up the plot fairly early on so that we could spend a good chunk of the final show with the characters and make this jump in time and be with them in the future and see where their lives have progressed to now that they’ve won their freedom. We knew that this final episode would be more of an emotional departure than a really big action-filled episode.

What was the inspiration behind the meta scene where Helena reads from her book, Orphan Black?

Manson: That was John’s idea originally, that Helena would be journaling this year. And then it became that the snake would sort of eat its tail and we would loop back and name the series and share a few gentle laughs with Clone Club about the name of Orphan Black, everybody saying what a dumb name it was. John and I heard that endlessly when we started this show. So it was a little gem that John wanted to take further; he really wanted Helena on a book tour.

Fawcett: I wanted her to get a publishing deal, but a publisher would only print it if they printed it as science fiction.

Manson: They’d never print it as a biography.

With all of the happy endings, why not bring back Helena’s love, Jesse (Patrick J. Adams)?

Manson: We love Patrick and we had so many things that we could have done with the finale and so many things that we wanted to see, but in the end it was important to focus on our girls and on them as a group and to not dilute that too much.

Fawcett: We always felt that Helena did not need a man, that she needed her sisters more. It was nice to give Helena that lovely little romance, but it’s a little too tidy to say he’s going to come back and they’re going off in the sunset to drive tow trucks together. It’s more important that Helena is embraced by her sisters and she’s going to raise her children with her extended family.

Manson: It was always important to us to feel like that character, after the journey she’s been on and where she ends, and as kooky and crazy as she’s been, that she’s going to be a great mother and those kids are in great hands because they’re with a mother who’s going to look after them.

Were those twins always going to be boys?

Manson: No. We left it wide open. We were trying to figure out what we liked the best. I don’t think we really decided it until halfway through the last season. There was something about knowing these boys are going to be brought up by this family of women that they will be progressive men. That they will be raised right, that they will respect women and that some of the evil patriarchal things that the show has worked so hard to expose, those things that we vilified, we can now feel safe about a new generation of men being raised by these women.

Fawcett: And then it was about what do we name them. Graeme just killed it by naming them Arthur and Donnie. That was a really moving moment, discovering that Helena named her two boys after those two men. I remember Kristian Brunn, he didn’t read the script until the table read. And when he read that he just started bawling. It was an incredibly moving moment when he realized that Helena had named one of her kids after him.

Was there ever any genuine talk about killing one of the core four clones?

Manson: We pretty much knew that the main four would make it. Rachel was a different story and we debated long and hard about it. John was adamant that his girlfriend Rachel would have to survive and somehow be redeemed. We worked really hard at Rachel’s story and that was absolutely the right decision to keep her around too. It was a very interesting journey for that character and ultimately it says a lot about the sisterhood itself that Rachel redeems herself in this way. It’s not too saccharine. She’s not exactly accepted but she certainly redeemed herself.

Fawcett: Tonally, and it sounds silly, but we just wanted to have a happy ending. We wanted a hopeful, optimistic ending with our characters that we’ve spent so much time with. That was the driving emotional mood, was to end in a place of optimism.

How much did you want to push yourselves with that final group clone scene in the backyard?

Fawcett: That scene was incredibly important given fan expectation. That’s a big, difficult scene to get right. Every day on the set there was this pressure of expectation of what it was going to be. Those last scenes, the scenes in the backyard with the four of them and of course the clone birthing scene were probably the most emotional and most difficult to do just because it was the end. It was really the end of these characters that we love so much.

Manson: We were really pushing those scenes; they were long scenes. The birthing scene is a long scene. Maybe not as long on the page as it is on screen. And the scene at the end in Alison’s backyard, that was also a long scene. It was a high wire act for Tatiana and Jordan Gervais and for Kathryn Alexander particularly. And the rest of our doubles actually, because it’s a four-clone scene.

Fawcett: From a technical point of view, once you’ve done clone dance parties and clones birthing babies and big dinner table scenes, it’s actually fairly straightforward to just sit down four girls and have a conversation. It’s all about the performance at that point. Every day we were wrapping a new character. That backyard scene was the last time we saw Cosima. When we called cut, that was the end of Cosima, never to see her again. And it was sad. We had a whole whack of days like that.

At this point, how much serious talk of a spinoff or movie has there been?

Manson: Orphan Black began in 2001 as a feature film concept that John and I came up with and we could never contain this crazy universe in a single movie. Maybe now we can. Maybe now that we spat out a bunch of story on TV, maybe there is a concept that would support a feature. At the moment we’re resting, we’re going to let those characters rest a while. I have a feeling they’re going to come back to haunt us in the best way.

Fawcett: I believe that. For so many years this has been not just Graeme’s and my baby, but a lot of people’s. It was a project born of passion and excitement and just awe. It’s dramatically changed everyone’s life and I really hope people will continue to discover the show and that it will find more audiences in the years to come.

Manson: We both have a lot of fate in Clone Club, in this family that’s grown up around the show. We just wish them the best and hope they make art and science and create their own families and continue to support each other and continue to celebrate the most important theme of the show, and that is that there is strength in diversity. Especially at this time, I hope it resonates and that people carry that residue forward.

Thoughts? Sound off in the comments below. Twitter: @amber_dowling

Orphan Black

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