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bronx-bomber87 · 6 months ago

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Hello my wonderful fandom family :) Thanks for being so patient with me. I know I have till January but I am moving/slash road tripping at the end of Sept to a new state. Which is a HUGE change. Going two time zones ahead and everything. So wanting to get it out there before I move and have even less time LOL Also thank you for wanting to take this journey with me. S6 was hard on all of us.

Haven't had a show rock me this hard in a very long time. So I'm forever grateful for the love and comments these in depth reviews get. Never want to take that for granted. This was a ROUGH season to say the least. But I’m excited to dissect it with decompressed eyes and somewhat healed shipper heart. Be lying if I was saying it was fully healed. But was a much needed break for me. Let us begin shall we?

6x01 Strike Back.

Premiere starts off with a literal bang. They’re all trying to figure what is actually happening. The mastermind clearly not the man they just took down in Luke Moran. Also loving how scruffy Tim is in this first shot of the premiere. The stubble all over that gorgeous jawline of his. Mmm. Delicious dusting. Love to break me off a piece. Wouldn't be a review if Feral Caitlin didn't make an appearance would it? ha God he's beautiful I can't help myself. This is his fault really.

Anyway back to matter at hand.... Lucy points out Luke may have been a patsy for the real crime. Diverting all their resources to this this one spot instead of their real target. Our girl always being the brains and Tim being impressed by it. They go hand in hand. You know that man loves her brain. Her intelligence is just one of many reason's he fell in love with her. Fun to watch her flex it I have to say.

There’s so much to love about these shots in the shop with them. The Metro call sign being one of them. It does things to me. It’s just sexy. Also the automatic way she’s paired with him in this moment. Like anyone else would be in that car with him but still. Ever the packaged deal. Just the little things I always love so very much. They don’t share shops anymore. So this is a treat. Riding together, brainstorming, and just being the bad ass team they always are in the field. Makes my shipper heart happy to see it.

After the Federal Reserve mayhem we skip 6 weeks into the future. I always wondered what happened in those six weeks with our ship. Probably nothing massive tbh. But be fun to know what shippy goodness could’ve occurred. I imagine they had some time off after that. Spent it together and decompressed from the madness. Just a nice thought to think about is all. *cough fic writers cough.*

We start off our cuteness with Lucy in Tim’s office studying. There’s so much to love about this scene it’s unreal. Let’s start with Lucy taking residency in his office like it’s hers. Knowing it’s a quiet place for her to retreat to. Also I’m sure Tim offered it up long ago for her. Which makes me giddy to no end. He’s not the least shocked that she’s using it. Only that she’s not out on patrol. Married status continues to level up in this moment.

Lucy explains she’s fallen way behind in her studies. OT is killing her atm. I can’t imagine how stressed she feels. Lucy is our resident academic. Not having the time to nerd out on her studies has to be killing her. It’s why she reaches out to her man for help. To pivot this in a different direction. Something that worked for Tim when he needed studying time. Asking if she could ride with him today? Could quiz her between calls.

Getting flashbacks to 2x02 when she helped him study between calls for his exam. I always love the callbacks they do for them. Continuity is ship crack for me. I eat it up. He accepts and Lucy is beaming. Their smiles in this scene are so adorable. Couldn’t be more in love if they tried tbh. I remember thinking how much I missed our idiots in love so much. I'll be this way for S7 too. I miss them.

Tim looks excited for this challenge. You can see it in his face above. But he is also letting her know how hard it’s going to be if she wants him to do this. That it’s probably not going to solve her problem. But he’s willing to expand her knowledge base on wildcards. This way she can take any curve balls Primm has to throw. Lucy’s smile is everything when she thanks him. Relieved her man is gonna help her her out. I mean of course he would. Nothing he wouldn't do for her and she knows it.

I remember seeing the funniest post for this moment before it aired. How it was her basically asking ‘Babe, please be mean to me.’ LOL Lord knows this woman is well aware he wasn’t gonna take it easy on her. Just like the old days. It's where she learned the most. So it makes sense she would wanna dip her toe back in that pool.

Tim is ready to roll. Starting his ‘boot’ engines back up. Don’t tell me it's not a little bit of a kink for Tim. That man is too damn excited to be able to boss her around again. That being said says she learns best when she’s pissed off. I mean he’s not wrong…No one knows how to teach her better than he does. Lucy counters by saying does she? Or is this is just giving him permission to be an ass?

Tim letting her know if that’s really how she feels she doesn’t actually want his help. Lucy backtracks and is desperate for him to guide her with this. Saying she needs it. Tim is lighting up like a Christmas tree. You know that man LOVES her needing him professionally. It’s been awhile since she has. He’s excited. Lucy has been a self sufficient cop for long time now. Hasn’t needed his guidance for quite some time. So for her to come to him with this he is a happy camper.

Tim is thrilled to put his T.O. hat back on for her. They have such married energy through out this scene. Lucy telling him she doesn’t like his excited smile. Tim deflecting saying it's just his smile haha The absolute wifey look she gives him is hilarious. They just be flirting freely in the hallways. Like they aren’t completely married at this point. Even though he’s driving her insane she follows him out with an 'in love' smile. She loves her ass of a boyfriend haha

They hit the road and Lucy is still questioning her decision. Oh my girl. Saying maybe should’ve chosen Harper or Lopez instead…Tim makes a joke how Angela just got back. Her cop brain is just booting up. Which earns a smile out of Lucy. She loves this man sitting next to her so very much. Written all over her face. Doesn’t take long before Tim triggers a Lucy rant though.

Poor man is just trying to help the woman he loves get through this. Wasn't expecting the time bomb he received. He sets her off by saying no matter who teaches her they all have the same database. That there’s only a 8 percent difference between ranks. This is what ignites the Lucy meltdown above. That Primm is going to use that eight percent to trip her up. His face above when she starts is priceless. Tim is just bracing for impact at this point LMAO Ain't no stopping what's coming his way.

The flood gates have opened and phew lord what a meltdown it is LOL Holy hell. She is the queen of them. I adore how Melissa can shoot off so much dialogue in one breath. It’s impressive af if you ask me. Also makes me cackle so much cause I’ve been her. So many times when I’m under immense stress I do the same. You prattle on until you run out of steam. I can’t believe there isn’t a gif set of this rant so I made one. It’s too good not to have in this review.

It’s the look on Tim’s face that has me ROLLING. It’s been awhile since he’s had an epic Lucy rant thrown at him and it shows. Eric the King of facial expressions is at it again. I’m laughing so damn hard. I remember having to pause cause I was laughing so much at his expression. He most definitely wasn't expecting the rant that he got. If you can look at him above and not laugh you're made of stone. Hang in there Tim lmao Your girl Is worth this intense stress/anxiety vomit she just spewed all over you. It's like he doesn't even know where to begin after she's done. So he just doesn't....

The married energy continues once Lucy has wrapped up her meltdown. Tim being the smart man he is doesn’t say a word. He’s learned a thing or two from this relationship. Lucy though takes his silence as saying everything for him. With her ‘Please don’t.’ Tim trying not to start anything telling her he’s said nothing. He truly wasn’t expecting the explosion he got. Was happy to be a passenger princess today, while he quizzed her through out the day. And instead got an epic freak out right out the gate.

Tim can’t win for losing in this scene. (or this episode really) Lucy telling him she hear him thinking it. I remember there being a Chenford Bingo of some sort before the premiere. And exasperated husband was on there. This delivered that in spades. His reaction after her saying this is gold. Haha This is the woman you’ve chosen to love Timothy. LMAO You know he loves her to death neuroses and all but good lord ha.

Their banter never fails to hit and the marriage vibes on top of this is top tier. I am here for it all damn day. One of those 'When did they get married again?' moments. His look at the end is like he’s chanting to himself . ‘You love this woman…you love this woman...’ Lucy tops it off saying she just won’t sleep till the exam. Leaving Tim to shake his head more and not say a word. Only look out the window as he rolls his eyes. Primo banter and chemistry here. *chef kiss*

They roll up to their first wildcard. I adore the Metro call sign as they do. Tim assigning the crime scene to Lucy as he does. *fans self* I can’t explain why the call sign so sexy. Just is. Also them sharing it on the scene also gets me all in my feels. Tim is telling her that he is there as a resource for her. But she is the one in charge. Asking her what’s her first move?

The Plain Clothes Day vibes are all over this scene and it's fantastic. Another callback I am so happy they touched on. Lucy confidently strides onto the scene and explains her move. Tim tells her to call it in. Love the way she looks at him the entire time she does. Tim asks her what else? This is where Lucy’s confidence starts to wain sadly.

Where that panicked rookie from all those years ago begins to resurface. The way she is talking at Tim trying to figure it out oh my lord. The PCD vibes are so strong. Only this time Tim is helping her out a lot more. Unlike back in S1 he was there to watch her flop around, second guess herself and drown. It’s much different this time around. He truly wants her to succeed and let's her know as much in his responses. Lucy doesn’t see that in this moment though unfortunately.

Tim telling her the obvious boxes are checked but what’s her wildcard? The spiraling is so real for her in this moment. It hurts to watch the anxiety build in Lucy. Tim testing her knowing she can do this but her confidence is eroding in this moment rapidly. He is trying to get her there faster by saying she doesn’t have a minute. Which she really doesn’t when we know how this scene ends…

One of my fav parts of this scene is the line above. The kindness and gentleness Tim has. Because he wasn’t in love with her during PCD like he is now. Here he is trying to be supportive and gently guide her to the answer. Even give her an out for it. S1 Tim never would’ve said there’s no shame in not knowing the answer. Not this directly anyways. Doing his damn best to support her through this. But also help her get to the answer so she learns. Lucy takes it the wrong way though.

Reason being it has nothing to do with the man next to her. That man would die first before not supporting her. Level headed Lucy would know that. Sadly she is not here with us at this crime scene. Who she really is mad at is herself at this point. Because she should know the answer and her brain is stalling out in this moment. Tim told her he wasn’t gonna take it easy on her. But breaks a little with his kind reply. Giving her an out if she wants it. Lucy can’t handle it though...Because she is being far harder on herself for this than Tim could ever be. I can relate so hard to this it's unreal.

I do love the way she says ‘Sergeant Bradford, please.’ Lucy feels like she’s suffocating in her own thoughts. The panicked rush to get this right and hitting a wall. The anger building towards Tim at the same time. The confidence she has built since S3 just melting away the more she stresses. All the while taking it out on Tim. Why you ask? Because in this moment she is projecting that anxiety and stress onto him with her reply. Defense mechanism thy name is Lucy Chen.

Doesn’t take long after that line for the sprinklers to come on….The wildcard revealing itself on its own. We watch as the evidence literally gets washed away and the bullet down the drain….Lucy rushes to chase it and watches as it goes down a storm drain. A reflection for how she feels about her hopes of passing this test…It’s a rough scene to watch unfold for her. The devastation on her face when she realizes that bullet is gone is very rough.

They return to the station and Lucy is as defeated as she can be. Hoping no one knows about it as as she rubs her tattoo. They start to play clown music as she enters. SMH. Tim trying not to laugh. Aaron doesn’t help when he also laughs at her misfortune. Not a good day for our girl….Lucy gets distracted by Wesley being there with the baby.

We get a small sweet departure from her anxiety in this moment. While she has him she wants his legal opinion on her crime scene. He too laughs. These men in her life are the worst right now. Not helping her building anxiety and loss of confidence. Wes telling her she fatally ruined that scene. That she’s gonna need a straight up confession to convict someone. And that’s only if she finds the killer…oof.

We rejoin our beautiful duo staking out the crime scene. Lucy grasping at straws to fix what she so royally screwed up. Her heightened state of spiraling continues on in this scene. Lucy admits she wants to skip the exam. Her face breaks my damn heart. Killing me here Melissa. I do love the way he says her first name in response. Still gets me he can. After years of Officer Chen and ‘boot.’ Just hits differently and makes my shipper soul happy.

Tim tells her she is ready. That man would not tell her she was ready if she wasn’t. Relationship or not that man doesn’t hold back. Wouldn't send her head long into failure. If Lucy was in a better place emotionally she would’ve heard him. Heard the confidence in his tone. Seen the empathy he was exuding for her. This man has changed so much in his time with her.

It sky rocketed when they got together. Tim couldn’t have been more supportive if he tried in this scene. Hell this entire episode. But she is so very stuck in her head. A place Tim could normally shake her loose from. A specialty of his really. He can’t gain an inch of ground in this scenario. Lucy has dug her heels in so to speak that she’s gonna fail. Nothing he says is getting through.

Our girl is experiencing massive amounts of anxiety and self doubt. The panic attack is real. The fact that the one person she would’ve sold her soul for, in order to get his support back in the day, isn’t getting through is a problem. Lucy goes on to say she knows herself. That if she takes this test right now she will fail. Her confidence will die along with it. That it’s better to wait. Tim steps from one minefield to the next with this convo.

When he once again is just trying to be supportive and says ‘Then wait.’ Not only is he being in her corner he gives her something she can do in meantime. Something he hates the idea of. Her going UC while she waits this anxiety/doubt out. If that isn’t him supporting her idk what is. He is also still learning how to be there for her emotionally and she isn't giving him the grace for that. Sadly Lucy isn't in the right mind to see that though. She is just stuck in the mode she's been trapped in all ep.

I get it I really do and empathize with her. I’m the same way when my emotions are in a heightened state. Nothing gets through. I'm frozen in place emotionalIy. I get very doom and gloom as well. Lash out at anyone who isn’t going to be positive and reassuring. Which Tim is doing his best to be. But Lucy is in such a dark state of mind she doesn’t see it. All she sees right now is he doesn’t believe in her and is kicking her while she is down. She needs reassurances right now. To her he isn't delivering that the way she is wanting at this point. Him agreeing with her that she should wait is only making matters worse.

Anxiety is a cruel cruel master. It makes you believe things that aren’t true. Amplifies them to the point that you’re so wound up you’re lashing out at everyone. Even your person. Which is exactly what’s happening with Lucy in this moment. Her accusing him of making it worse with how bad she already feels. When Tim is professing words of encouragement all she hears is him saying she can’t do it.

Tim is desperate for her to know he’s in her corner after this display. Asking her if she heard him? Lucy is distracted by someone showing up to the crime scene. Tim asks her what? Lucy replying that woman was looking at the crime scene while crying. Tim is so sassy in his reply I’m proud of him. ‘Or maybe she just had a frustrating fight with her girlfriend’ heh love this. Calling her his GF always gives me the feels.

Lucy gets a last minute win with this case. Catching this lady trying to get her bracelet back after tossing the gun. Her cop gut serving her well. Sadly Lucy doesn’t see this win as such and it bleeds into this final scene unfortunately. Once again the music is absolute perfection. I’ll post some of my fav lyrics at the end of my analysis of this fight. But first let us witness the incredible chemistry that is Eric and Melissa in this final portion. You know your ship is amazing when even their angst is lightning in a bottle goodness.

This fight I will say when I watched it originally excited me. Because it just showed they’re human. Real. The both of them. They make mistakes and aren’t perfect. How healthy this was for them to get off their chest. Because honestly the UC/detective tension has been building for a long while. This was the boiling point for it IMO. This scene hurt so good to watch. I rewound it a few times before I could process it the first time.

Tim starts off with congratulating her on her 4th quarter win. He’s genuinely so proud of her for bouncing back. Felt like she NEEDED this win. So he makes sure she knows. But like I said earlier Lucy isn’t viewing it that way. Her perception is more than a little skewed atm. Her building anger at Tim has reached it's peak. She is cold to him and brisk as hell. Tim immediately picking up on her clipped ‘Thanks.’ Like she was going to be able to hide her anger and frustration from him. Girl no. Tim asks her what? Lucy shrugging him off once again.

Tim pulls on her arm gently and parrots her own damn words back at her from 5x21. That they’re not gonna work if she’s going to lie to him. Lucy conceding immediately to that. I mean they have a lot to work on communication wise, but they’ve also come really far in this aspect too. Don’t wanna disregard that. Look at Tim confronting this right away and communicating effectively. There are causes for excitement with that growth. That being said they have a ways to go. This fight is proof of that.

Lucy pulls zero punches when she asks if he undermined her today so she wouldn’t make detective? The absolute look of hurt painted across his beautiful face kills me. As you all know I relate with Tim so very much. He is so deeply loyal and loving. That any of his motives are to help those he loves around him. He truly thought he was helping her out today. Being supportive and helpful. So for her to come at him like this is leaving him stunned and extremely hurt.

His person the one person who knows him better than anyone, accusing him of something he would never even fathom doing. I was hurt for him watching this. Last thing he would ever do would be to hinder her intentionally. Loyalty to a fault is having someone else hurt you first before you’d ever do the same. That’s Tim. It’s why he is so defensive the rest of this scene. And rightfully so. I'm proud of him telling her it upset him she would even think that of him. Because IMO he did not undermine her. That man did what was asked of him.

All of Lucy’s pent up anxiety, anger, and frustration comes out full force at Tim in this scene. And my boy didn't deserve it. I was on his side the first time I watched it and I am now. I didn’t see that changing though lol. Do I understand what Lucy is going through? Yes. Good god yes. I've been her. I feel so much for what she's going though. I want to make that very clear. But Tim didn't deserve this barrage against him. Wanna also note i’m so proud of the writers for tackling mental health from the jump with this season. Both our babies got issues and this was the precursor to the season really. We just had no idea at the time....

Lucy assumed all day he was undermining her. Instead of just confronting that fact she sat in it. Stewed in it really. ALL. DAMN. DAY. Which isn’t like her. She is the type to face it right away and voice that to Tim. But didn’t this time. Giving us a little taste of their communication problems early on this season. There’s that saying. 'When you assume you make an ass out of you and me.’ And by the end of this convo Lucy is feeling like an ass. I guarantee you that .

Lucy continues to dig herself a hole when she bring up that maybe it was "unconscious". Not deliberate but also that he couldn’t help it. Which doesn’t make Tim feel any better. Nor would it make me feel any better either tbh….Basically saying he has no control over things he does. Which just insult to injury at this point for him. Then Lucy goes for her next punch below. One I still feel was unfairly delivered.

Does Tim still carry those issues? Of course he does. 100% that is still a weight on him. It’s reflected in the next ep when the subject of UC comes up. But does it belong in this fight with him? No. It has zero place in it. But like I said before she is feeling a loss of control and confidence in herself. So she is projecting her insecurities and feelings onto Tim. By bringing up his and using them to stabilize hers. It's a low blow she is dispatching to him.

She is running from her own feelings about this. She is also protecting herself by making it about Tim and his problems. (Which he has for sure) Because she isn’t ready to face the fact that she’s afraid of UC and all that will come with it. How being a detective on top of it is going to pull her from him even more.

She voiced these concerns in 5x19 when she was originally studying for her exam. It’s easier for her right now to hide in and blame Tim for his problems, than deal with her own right now. Tim’s reaction is so valid in this moment. Because to him all he did was have her back from the jump. He is feels sucker punched by this explosion and it's written all over his reaction.

Lucy asked him to help her. He did. Even told her it wouldn’t be easy and he wouldn’t be soft on her. She accepted the terms of this situation willingly. Tim supported her best he could through her meltdown. Did his damndest to not comment on it. He knows it’s her process to spiral a bit then right herself. Because he knows her so well. He had her back in trying to help figure out her wildcard. She rejected it and drowned.

Tim was calm and kind even if she didn’t recognize it about the exam. When she was doubting herself he built her up letting her know she can do it. Did his best to be in her corner if she truly felt she wasn’t ready. Then congratulated her when she got her case win. To Tim all that was him having her back.

It’s why he’s so blindsided and hurt by her words. Lucy is basically kicking him while he down in this moment and it hurt to watch. Because her anxiety and immense stress has blinded her. Making her act so very not like herself. She came at him with a one-two punch. First punch accusing him of undermining her and second being an unfair Isabel punch.

The K.O. punch really is him reading her face above. The way she looks at him when he says ‘But if you can’t see that then…’ Doesn’t even finish his sentence. He can read her just as well as she can read him. Lucy cannot see that right now. Too clouded by her extreme anxiety and stress to see him and his intentions clearly. So he ejects out of the convo. She has knocked him down for the count.

Tim can’t take the way she is looking at him right now. The way she is making him feel. Tim has always held how she viewed him in high regard. Nothing means more to him than what she thinks of him. So for her to level him with this is heartbreaking for him. So he reverts back to old Tim and clams up. Tells her he’s tired and for them to take the night off. Then walks away from her with no way for her to retort.

Lucy is a block of ice until this line of his. She was fully expecting him to apologize and go home with her. And he did not. He ejected out of the conversation to go lick his wounds. The look of shock on her face is everything. She wasn’t expecting that at all. You can see the panic on her face. That raw panic of her being left behind by him. Of Tim leaving her. The tears building in her eyes as he does this. Oh the painful foreshadowing that is this moment…..

The lyrics for this scene are so poignant and perfect. As is the entire musical lineup for this season. Perfectly encompasses Lucy in this episode and especially this scene. Here are some of my favs.

‘I think I’m losing my mind. I see you’re losing your light. Drowning out the decibels. Do you wanna find the antidote? Trying to watch my obstacles, see how fully I’ve been broke.’ Lucy is so broken in this episode and doesn’t reach out to the one person, her person to help fix her. She was drowning and went to him for the antidote and then refused it the entire time. Then gets consumed by it all.

Just a glaring look into how they both deal with being emotionally overwhelmed and vulnerable. And it’s not a good look for either of them this season tbh. But we start out with Lucy’s where I side with Tim before we go head long into Tim’s and I side with Lucy it's balanced at least lol. Damn good premiere though. I was buzzing with excitement after it.

As always thank you to anyone who read this. To all the likes, comments and or reblogs I may receive you are the best. I shall see you all in 6x02 :)

Side notes-Non Chenford

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Scruffy Tim in this ep has my ovaries in overdrive. Mmm just wanna nom on his jawline like corn on the cob.

Nyla Harper being a bad ass in a tense situation is primo. Can always count on her. The aftermath sucks for her though.

Angela being more excited to see a burrito than her husband is hilarious and so on brand haha

Main baddie gets eliminated at the end of the ep. Not sure I remember why tbh haha Things got hazy at the end of the season for me with the SL.

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randomfoggytiger · 2 years ago

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Mulder Didn't Use Scully's Apartment Key Until He “Belonged”

We all know Scully had Mulder's apartment key, confirmed in S2's "Little Green Men" when she snooped around his living room for clues-- but Mulder having a key to Scully's place isn't confirmed so clearly; though, of course, it would make sense that he did. (Of course, canon did make a point to show he had a key to Diana's place-- but thankfully David Duchovny portrayed Mulder as cluelessly stumbling around her room, showing he'd never been there, post here for a "blink and you'll miss it" screenshot of Mulder taking a key from his key ring-- but that's neither here nor there and better left undwelt on for blood pressure reasons.)

Onto proof hunting!

Squeeze

The first time Mulder enters Scully's apartment is in Squeeze where he breaks down the door (something he will repeat a few times):

Nothing to be learned here.

Another door breakdown occurs in--

Small Potatoes

But what preceded that incident is crucial: when NotMulder drops in, Scully is shocked he showed up, afraid something bad had happened or she was needed for a work emergency.

Mulder, it seems, makes precious few visits in general; and that would explain her surprise that he was here at all, before Eddie even introduced the idea of a little taste-testing get-together.

Gethsemane

A notch in Mulder's favor; but can easily be explained away:

Scully enters her dark apartment, not noticing anything amiss with her lock. When she finds Mulder in her room, she doesn't argue how he got in, frustrated instead that he'd almost watched her undress.

We can glean two facts from this moment:

#1. Scully didn't know the lock was damaged because Mulder used a key; or Scully didn't notice a pick-pocketed lock because she was too exhausted anyway (which might work, because she didn't notice that Pfaster broke into her apartment in S7.)

#2. Regardless of the key business, Mulder is not a usual visitor at Scully's apartment period, since she reacts more with shock that he's here rather than annoyance that he'd dropped in again.

FTF

It appears Scully is more used to Mulder dropping in for work now; but she still seems on-edge and surprised that he is at the door.

SKIPPING AHEAD--

Orison

This episode provides no answer either way; but it includes another Mulder break-in, so it counts slightly.

Mulder would have had to kick the door down to open the door and break the chain lock before Pfaster could intercept him or set a trap; and we see the door bang open and Mulder's slightly hunched posture dodge in as he swivels his gun from his side to his front

As the door swings back into frame, his boot print is visible next to the lower doorknob:

Again, this incident is inconclusive.

En Ami

This episode is either the clincher against Mulder having a key to Scully's apartment or a fluke the writers accidentally wrote in.

Mulder famously recruits Scully's landlord to unlock her apartment

(before ditching that idea and running off to investigate other leads); and this is puzzling and raises some questions:

#1. Mulder doesn't have a key of his own-- recently, or at all. OR this is part of the distance game he plays: he won't allow himself to enter her apartment at all (that theory will be expounded on later.)

#2. CSM orchestrated for the locks to be changed after Scully left. ...Why? I'm sure for very nefarious and unexplained reasons; but all showing to his certainty that Scully wouldn't return from her trip (in all probability hoping he'd sweep her off her feet.)

Per Manum

This episode proves Mulder has a key-- at least during the IVF arc (which I place early s6 while others place sometime S7.)

The bolt is unlocked;

and Scully walks in, too worn (but trying to be strong) to be surprised that he has crashed on her couch.

Mulder apologizes for doing so,

demonstrating that, regardless if he owns a key or not, this is abnormal behavior for him. Which proves that, if anything, he and Scully socialized all those years at his apartment (confirmed in Milagro) rather than hers, an added bonus to her confusion when NotMulder dropped by in Small Potatoes and her consternation when he sneaked in later in Redux.

That means there is proof that Mulder stayed out of Scully's hair all those years-- perhaps not wanting to wear out his welcome-- and that his visits to her place were only under extreme circumstances (Elegy, Redux, FTF, En Ami, Per Manum, Existence, etc.) As much as my headcanon-loving heart would prefer it otherwise, Mulder seems to have one boundary he doesn't cross: willy-nilly, familiar apartment visiting. Is this because of Scully's need for distance? Or is this a Mulder thing (spoiler: it's a Mulder thing)?

What I don't like (or do?) is that Mulder was never confirmed to have had a key until the series had no choice but to admit he and Scully were together romantically (because of the pregnancy plotline.) I like it a little more or a little less depending on the day.

Essence/Existence

Mulder has already moved in by this point, so of course he has a key (there's a longer post but I couldn't find it-- thank you @baronessblixen for finding this one!)

Mulder is finally shown to unlock Scully's door and pocket the key-- a first in the entire series.

Conclusion

There seems to be a pattern that emerges:

Mulder, whether he had a key or not, was never at Scully's apartment for longer than a late night door-kicking sesh or a rare work emergency. He had the key all these years (confirmed in Per Manum); but he never felt like he truly belonged, waiting for Scully or her landlord to open the door hospitably for him.

Mulder is shown to open the door for the first time in Existence, having used it naturally only once during the IVF attempt and never presuming again after its failure. Now, he enters a bit hesitantly; but warms up as he meanders over to his family. He's home.

SO! Mulder had a key, like he had Scully by his side all those years; but, while she used his apartment key religiously, he never returned the favor until he felt that he could build a home with her. And that's very Mulder, in his own way.

#txf #meta #Mulder #xf meta #key #Scully #x-files #the x files #xfiles #Mulder Didn't Use Scully's Apartment Key Until He “Belonged”#Per Manum #IVF #S7 #S8 #Essence #Existence #thoughts

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angelsdean · 8 months ago

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could you expand a little more on your interpretation of the differences between ruby and meg’s blonde vs brunette versions? like i also can sense that there’s a difference, but only kinda through vibes, like i can’t explain why. is it the writing? is it the acting?

like for meg, to me the first appearance of her brunette version (that is, rachel miner) does still feel like the original blonde version, but after that? she’s so different to me. but i have no idea how to explain why that is or what exactly feels different 🙃

hi! so I have to preface this by saying I've only recently rewatched s1 and rewatched some later seasons eps from tv reruns but haven't formally watched those seasons in full since 2021 SO my memory is hazy on the specifics.

From what I remember Meg 2.0 sticks close to Meg 1.0's characterization throughout the Lucifer arc in s5, and I think the change starts happening when she comes back from Hell in s6. And then becomes more-so throughout s7 + s8. And I get it, character growth, she becomes an ally to TFW, she's changing, etc. But, I don't know, something about it all just falls flat to me. I think, partly it's due to her becoming a Cas-centric character later on. And imo that was a mistake. Like, she was introduced as a Sam-centric character, she was made to have all this tension with Sam specifically, to really be able to get under his skin. And I feel like they eventually forgot about all that. She and Sam have a bonding moment before she dies in s8, but idk! I wish there had been more of a focus on her history with Sam. I think they could have approached Meg's "redemption" arc differently instead of just making her Cas's friend. I also feel like my "I feel nothing for megst/iel" is maybe coloring my feelings toward meg 2.0 becoming such a Cas-centered character. But it's also that Sam literally seems to have NO characters centered around him until Rowena (sorta of, she's Crowley centered first) and then Eileen. I feel like if they wanted to redeem Meg, having her and Sam become friends would have been an interesting approach, actually. (Or they could have left her an antagonist. Like I think she could've very much just stayed an antagonist to TFW).

But anyways, this is getting away from me. And obvs this is all just my personal opinions, I don't expect anyone to agree, but personally, yea I just think I found Meg more entertaining to watch when she was an antagonist like Meg 1.0. Anyways, I will probs have more thoughts about the change between these two once I get to Meg 2.0 on my rewatch.

As for Ruby, I think this one is really down to performance. There was just something about Ruby 1.0 that was soooo captivating. She felt more believable in her lies and manipulation. She was more charismatic, imo. (She also lowkey had chemistry with Dean, even though they both hated each other). Idk! She was just way more interesting to watch for me than Ruby 2.0.

#replies #vics spn rewatch

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onekisstotakewithme · 2 years ago

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🔥 TWW

I have many opinions on TWW and some of them are fairly unpopular so uhhhh here goes.

I'll get the biggest one out of the way first: for when it happened, I actually don't find the shuttle leak storyline out of character for Toby, nor do I hate it. If it had happened back in season 4, sure, and I'm mad at the post-Sorkin writing team for their slow destruction of Toby's character, but by end of s6, start of s7, it's not out of character for him. Could it have been better executed? Sure. But where he is as a character, unfortunately, it doesn't feel supremely terrible to me.

Second, the best Donna is season 1 Donna. A bit of an audience surrogate sometimes but in a not-overly-clumsy way, funny and spunky and just a bit quirky... and her dynamic with Josh is SO fun in season 1. I'm almost through s1 in my rewatch and I'd genuinely forgotten how much I enjoyed Donna. I feel like she really got flattened out once they really committed to the will they/won't they with Josh, and then was worse because of the whole season 6/7 disaster (that was a mess!), PLUS they had her make some very dumb decisions to advance the plot that did not feel realistic (the dumb shit with Cliff Calley, the accidentally voting for Ritchie).

(more under the cut because apparently I'm not done!)

I know season 5 was the weakest season overall, BUT season 4 was the weakest Sorkin season. I'm not saying season 4 needed to be all about re-election, but I feel like there was a better balance to strike between the "rush through all the election stuff by episode 8-ish" and "stretch it out into a season and a half long affair" (as in 6-7). It also just, despite everything it took to get to this point, felt INCREDIBLY rushed and unsatisfying. it didn't feel like there were any stakes! I wanted to see the whole debate, I wanted to see a genuine election night with stakes, dammit! And I think, much as I love Will, that dedicating so much time to THAT storyline was part of the problem. This also wasn't helped by the fact that Ritchie was a caricature and a Bush expy which worked when the episodes were airing but just makes him look cartoonish and one-dimensional now. Like Arnie Vinick may be a unicorn of a Republican and impossible to believe in now, but at least he's a person and not a cardboard cutout. Anyway! It feels like for all the build-up to the difficulty of getting re-elected post-MS scandal, it was just. they won, shuffle them offscreen again.

Okay, fuck, this is getting long.

I don't MIND Annabeth but I find the whole Leo-Annabeth flirtation thing REALLY weird and honestly out of left field. That scene in the elevator where she says they shouldn't be spending too much time together 'because of the tension', I was RIGHT THERE with Leo like 'what tension?' Like I'm sorry, I just don't see it!

Okay a few more bullet-point gripes just because

I got used to it eventually but I'm still not a fan that CJ got promoted to COS. Like yeah by the end she did a damn good job and she has one of the best relationships with Jed, but c'mon. she loved being press secretary, and she was a damn good one.

CJ's dark hair in season 7 is not a good look on her, I'm sorry CJ my love, but it doesn't look good. The only non-canon part of the flashfoward is that she definitely does NOT still have that hair.

Amy was fun when she first appeared, but in seasons 6 and 7 her character definitely got worse.

For the most part, I actually wanted less election plot in season 7 and more focus on the west wing (and I say this as loving both Matt and Arnie!)

Gina Toscano/CJ is a great ship also. I rewatched "six meetings before lunch" last night and remembered that I ship them.

Episode specific: the B-plot of Requiem makes absolutely no sense to me and I've watched the episode about 6 or 7 times now (the whole 'meddling in the speaker race' plot).

And finally: Danny should've been in every single season, as a regularly recurring character. I know that Tim Busfield was busy with other commitments but Mr. Busfield, I'm begging you.

TL;DR:

#thank you sarah!!#disclaimer: if anything I've said isn't 100% accurate. please forgive that I have only recently watched seasons 7 and 1!#the west wing #tww #tww spoilers #(i shan't even discuss what i think of 'i wouldn't stop for red lights' because been there done that)

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addictedtostorytelling · 1 year ago

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hi! first of all, i love your stories :) and second, last year i started watching csi from beggining and i just finished season 7 and i wanted to ask if it's in my head or sara appeared less on the episodes? i liked s7 more than the previous ones, the cases were more interesting imo (apart from the first seasons) but like in half of the episodes i got the impression that she barely shows? anyway i'm already bummed that jorja's leaving haha she was always my favorite

hi, @lamprey-savage!

thank you for your kind words! i'm glad you love my stories. <3

as for your question:

though jorja fox was negotiating her contract throughout parts of s7's production, she was still technically under contract as a regular cast member for its full run. accordingly, sara does appear in every episode of s7 and generally has about as much screen time as she has had in previous seasons. while there are some episodes of s7 where she is noticeably sparse (such as episode 07x08 "happenstance," where she only appears in one scene near the end), these "low visibility" episodes generally balance out with episodes where she is a major focus character (such as episode 07x18 "empty eyes").

that said, the sense you're getting that you're not seeing as much of her in s7 as you have in previous seasons may be because she really doesn't have a "front and center" personal storyline for most of the season.

whereas previous seasons—like, say, s4, which contains her depression arc, or s5, which reveals and expounds her backstory—provided her with consistent, dynamic mainline development, in s7, much of what happens with her happens on a "between the lines" level.

jorja fox has talked before about how early s7 was essentially a "romcom" period for sara, so a lot of her scenes then were on the lighter, more comedic side, with her playing off of grissom.

however, as the season went on and grissom eventually left on his sabbatical (coincident to billy petersen taking a break from the show to take part in a rhode island stage production in real life), the focus with her eventually shifted—just not to a more prominent storyline.

as i talk about in this post, "there is a subtle storyline that plays out for gsr over the course of s7, which sees sara wondering if grissom views their relationship in the same way she does and if he feels as deeply for her as she does for him. she is insecure because while grissom most often demonstrates devotion to her, there are occasions when he behaves carelessly regarding her and/or their relationship; sometimes she can’t help but wonder just exactly how he feels, particularly as he seldom verbalizes his feelings to her."

they keyword in the above paragraph is subtle, because the thing is, for the most part, this storyline does not really get a lot of direct attention throughout the season. only a handful of episodes—such as episodes 07x11 "leaving las vegas" and 07x23 "the good, the bad, & the dominatrix"—really broach the subject of sara questioning how grissom feels about her/their relationship and his level of commitment to her directly. the rest of the time, her anxieties are much more subtly implied.

since sara feels she can't really talk about her insecurities with anyone (including grissom himself), exploration of what she's feeling is limited to how she's shown to react to him. there's not a lot of dialogue where she expresses her emotions outright; more just facial expressions and body language.

the storyline is there if you look for it, but you do have to squint a bit to see it, particularly as the miniature killer storyline so dominates the s7 landscape otherwise, and sara plays a central role in that investigation, meaning that nine times out of ten when you see her on screen, the focus will be on what she's doing in relation to the case rather than what may be going on with her personally and/or in her relationship.

so tl;dr? sara isn't actually scarce in s7 in terms of how much screen time she gets; her personal development just isn't really spotlighted in the same ways it might have been in previous seasons. there's never actually a point in s7 where the show comes out and says, "here's what's going on with her!" for the most part, her development is much more subtextual/sublimated.

thanks for the question! please feel welcome to send another any time.

and good luck with s8! it's a heartbreaker, especially as a sara fan.

#answered #lamprey-savage #asks: csi #**#my meta #meta: csi #meta: sara #meta: production #season seven #let's talk shop #csiverse

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frazzledsoul · 4 months ago

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As threatened promised, here is an accounting of how Gilmore Girls and various shows that also featured various cast members were watched by the Netflix faithful in the first half of 2024

This includes shows that appeared on Netflix only. So Heroes, The Handmaid's Tale, Parenthood, The Good Wife, etc are not included.

Some of the numbers may look funky because the views are the amount of hours watched divided by how many episodes there were and not all of these shows have the same number of episodes.

However, let us proceed.

Gilmore Girls season one is ranked the highest at #297 (out of 6800 series) with 88.6 million hours watched for a total of 5.8 million views.

Next up comes The Resident, the medical drama Matt Czuchry headlined for most of the last decade. I have been told it is the most bizarre medical show to ever exist. However, I once saw an actress written off of Chicago MD by slitting her own throat and Robert Romano was attacked repeatedly by a sentient helicopter on ER, to say nothing of the shenanigans that happen on Grey's. So it can't be that weird. Anyway, it comes in at #325 with 55.9 million hours watched and 5.5 million views.

Gilmore Girls season 2 comes in at #325 with 81.2 million hours watched and 5.1 million views.

Gilmore Girls season 3 ranks at #394 with 76.9 million hours watched and 4.8 million views.

Gilmore Girls season 4 comes in at #412 with 75.3 million hours watched and 4.7 million views.

Gilmore Girls season 5 follows at #413 with 74.8 million hours watched and 4.7 million views.

Unfortunately, many people also chose to watch season 6 after that, which ranks at #476 with 68.4 million hours watched and 4.3 million views.

A few observations here: while many fans will prefer the early seasons as opposed to the latter ones and vice versa, it appears that there was a huge drop in the show's viewership from S1 to S2 and then to S3, but a lot of fans watched S3, S4, and S5 together before a bunch of them dropped off instead of watching S6. I guess people are binging the whole thing, then, before S6 forces them to run away screaming. This was not the way the ratings worked in real time: S2 and S3 were hugely popular, S4 lost half the audience, and then the ratings went up slightly for S5.

Coming in next is The Resident S2 at #539 with 66.3 million hours viewed and 3.9 million views.

Gilmore Girls finishes off its OS run with S7 ranking at #540 with 60.7 million hours watched and 3.9 million views.

Finally, This Is Us enters the chat, for those unfortunate souls who felt like watching hour after hour of peak DILFness and emotional masochism, which I guess is worth it for getting to spend time with the cutest married TV couple of all time. They are ranked at #542 with 49.3 million hours watched and 3.9 million views.

The Resident S3 follows at #687 with 46.8 million hours watched and 3.2 million views, followed by The Resident S4 at #748 with 30.5 million hours watched and 3 million views.

Next up is....AYITL, which may or may not be canon depending on who you listen to. It ranks at #836 with 17.6 million hours watched and 2.8 million views.

That's still a pretty significant number given that the experiment is largely seen as a failure, not that this stops fans from being whipped into a frenzy at the mere suggestion of a sequel eight years later, in the vain hope that ASP will write a satisfying ending someday. As I said yesterday, there was a rumor on DeuxMoi a while back that claimed that Netflix was planning on a sequel, but Alexis (who hasn't worked in the industry in the past few years) said hell no and it didn't happen. It's probably best left that way.

This Is Us season 2 ranks at #859 with 34.3 million hours watched and 2.7 million views. Hope y'all enjoyed your head getting stomped on and splattered against the wall.

The Resident S5 follows at #897 with 43.2 hours watched and 2.6 million views.

So I've never watched this show because of what happens at the beginning of S5. Apparently Conrad (Matt) and Nic (Emily Van Camp, of Everwood/Brothers and Sisters/Revenge fame) had an epic romance that culminated in a marriage and a child, but then Van Camp wanted to leave and Nic uh....exited the narrative. It wasn't something that could be avoided, but it's put me off watching the show. I guess people didn't mind because the views didn't drop too much after this.

This Is Us season 3 comes in at #1019 with 29.9 million hours viewed and 2.3 million views. This is the last of the Jack heavy seasons and I never quite loved the show the same after this.

The Resident S6 ranks at #1028 with 22 million hours viewed and 2.3 million views.

Next up, we have season 4 of This Is Us, which comes in at #1123 with 27.5 million hours viewed and 2.1 million views. In my opinion, this was the last real quality season of the show. There's not as much Jack, but we do start the roller coaster of the super flash forwards and the soap opera of who is going to be Kevin's wife and/or baby mama, which I rather enjoyed, because he is a chaotic, messy slut and I loved that

Along with your many, many, many other women, Kev. Anyway.

Season 6 of This Is Us came in at #1192 with 25.7 million hours viewed and 2 million viewed, while This Is Us S5 came in at #1196 with 23.1 million hours viewed and 2 million views. Season 6 only had two more episodes than S5 and they were both all over the place, so I think there is something here and it's probably mostly....the COVID stuff and Randall's deeply ridiculous Zombie Mom storyline. Madison and Kevin might have been too much for some people as well, although I actually rooted for them. It does seem since the last four seasons are relatively close in numbers that if you made it to S3 you most likely watched the rest of it. I could never, but I guess some people love pain.

But we did get that reunion at the end.

Okay, ranked below all of them is Supernatural.

I'm not going to do all 15 seasons, but season 1 comes in at #1618 with 22 million hours viewed and 1.4 million views and the lowest ranked is season #15 at #3115 with 7.1 million hours viewed and 500,000 views. The views drop below 1 million after season 5. I think the show has lost a bit of its luster, although that doesn't keep the clickbait media from talking about season 16 like it's a done deal.

So what have we learned, other than that Matt's show was pretty popular, Milo fans are masochists, and people inexplicably keep watching AYITL? This fanbase remains active even after twenty years. Gawd help us.

#ratings #nielsen views #gilmore girls #this is us #the resident #the resident spoilers #supernatural

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igarbagecannoteven · 1 year ago

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hi megs i'm a little late but! if you'd like to answer i'd like to know 🤘🧠 and 👀 please (also!!!! i've read preach electric to a microphone before!!! that's a good one!) -hazel

hiya hazel! no such thing as late here on igarbagecannoteven 😊and omg that's so cool that you've read it too!! fic buddies :))

🤘: first song i'm gonna rec is Candy by Joe Mama which is like if a spaghetti western was also a musical this might be the villain's/morally grey character's solo but also it's not like that at all bc it's also kinda an anti-war song? among other things that i don't fully understand but it slaps so! yeah! completely switching gears we've got Teeth by Small Talks (which is not a cover of the 5sos song) which is just kinda vibey!

👀: well since you read some hellcheer i gotta mention counting flowers on the wall by HearJessRoar which is a hellcheer ghost au i read recently! (i kinda fell down a hellcheer rabbit hole a few weeks ago lol) to keep with the theme of giving everyone two fics from different fandoms, there's An Antonym for Serenade by ForsythiaRising which is a riverdale fic with aro-spec betty!

🧠: guess what i'm going to talk about. just guess. (hint: it's riverdale again)

listen listen listen the fact that if you watch season one after you finish season seven it almost feels as though you're supposed to do that. they really said 'we will make a show about being trapped in the narrative' and they did!!! all the parallels btwn s1 and s7 are honestly too many to count and while i've seen some people say "watching s1 after s7 makes s1 seem so realistic" and like sure there isn't an angel who had to fight with time itself in order to keep a mass extinction event from happening but also in some ways s7 is looking at things in s1 through a looking glass where maybe sometimes some of the people will do the right thing or do the wrong thing but minus the murder or things are fucked up and murdery/nuclear bomb-related but it didn't completely rip the town apart the way it did in the presentpast of s1 and etc or what if more of them were explicitly queer actually. like yes several things are worse in s7 than s1 (arguably veronica's parents, obvs the homophobia and racism, the threat of the cold war, etc.) and there's no "but" to that sentence so yeah! the parallels!!! the returning to old plotlines!! cheryl trying to use archie as a beard/way to win her parent's approval kinda, mrs grundy appearing (altho the dynamic is completely different), mr blossom being the murderer, cheerleader leadership drama, mrs cooper wanting betty to act perfect to make up for polly's "mistakes", archie's struggle between balancing sports and art, etc etc etc. and then they all die and go to heaven (back to riverdale as teenagers again) and jughead is the one narrator to rule them all (since the other jugheads have presumably all been destroyed when tabitha merged everything into one single timeline) and maybe they're taking a position on how time travel works (the philosophical position that time is actually a circle and that the heat death of the universe will lead to the big bang and everything will play out the same way all over again) but they're definitely taking a stance on determinism and AAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! absolutely buckwild anyway.

#i completely lost the thread on that ramble less than halfway through but i soldiered on skdljflkdsjfklsdjj #answering mail #hazel

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pixiemage · 3 years ago

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Widely accepted Hermitcraft Headcanons I’ve discovered since joining the fanbase last winter:

[ADD MORE IF I MISSED SOME!]

(DISCLOSURE: I’m currently 80% of the way through S7 and I’ve seen Grian’s POV of S6 (and his Evo series) but other that than I haven’t watched other HC seasons. All my knowledge of these comes from what I’ve seen, and Tumblr.)

- Grian has wings. This is an indisputable fact. Sometimes they’re white/gray like elytra, sometimes they’re like parrot wings (S7 Pesky Bird~), but they’re always there somehow. Often he’s also portrayed as a bird hybrid, since the concept of Mob Hybrid Hermits is an exceedingly popular one.

- (Less common addition: Grian is/was a Watcher, something that carried over from his Evo SMP series, though this headcanon is hit or miss depending on who’s drawing/writing him.)

- Mumbo is one of the few totally human people on the server, and half the art I see draws him with redstone dust stains on his clothes. (Also, the occasional headcanon of radiation burns accompanies this.)

- (I’ve also seen Mumbo portrayed as an enderman hybrid due to his height.)

- Stress is technically human, but she’s also a witch. Seen this one a lot, perhaps in relation to her potion shop in S7? Like I said that’s the only season I’ve seen in depth (beyond Grian’s S6) so that’s my only connection lol. But I love it! You need a healer? Go to Stress.

- Doc - of course - is half creeper, which may or may not have a hand in why he’s often morally gray in most HC plots. I often see him drawn as a centaur of sorts as well, with four legs like a creeper has. (Not sure if I love or hate this concept lmao)

- Doc is also part goat, a la S7. Hence the horns we see in like every drawing of him. Amazing.

- Tango is often portrayed as a blaze hybrid, though I’ve also seen him drawn as a kind of demon. The red eyes and fiery color palette work well for both options, though I’m partial to the blaze theory.

- Impulse - though usually drawn as a normal dude - is also sometimes seen as a sort of friendly demon. Not sure if that’s to do with the nickname Tango uses for him - “Impy” - or just the fact that the fans seem to like the idea of Hermits with wings. Though the fact that his first appearance on Hermitcraft involved the other members summoning him in with a summoning circle most definitely adds to this headcanon.

- Zed is a sheep hybrid. I’ve got no friggin’ clue where this one’s from but I’m here for it anyway. (EDIT: I’ve been told it probably has a lot to do with a game show he made during Season 5 called “Is That Sheep Looking At Me?” which sound hysterical and I can’t wait to see what that’s about)

- Scar is a vex hybrid, which is also part of why he was able to use “magic” at the start of Season 7. As far as I know this comes from ConVex, which was a S5 thing, but that’s all I know on the subject.

- (Cub, too, is sometimes a vex hybrid, due to being the other half of ConVex. Though this depends on the artist.)

- Xisuma is a Voidwalker, though I’m not entirely sure what that is. Apparently this is different than a Watcher and (obviously) has something to do with the void, but while I’ve seen this concept in passing in fics, I don’t have a basis for where this came from outside of Xisuma’s username, Xisumavoid. (If anyone can explain this to me I’d appreciate it! It sounds cool even if I don’t fully understand it!)

- I’ve ALSO seen the “Xisuma is a shapeshifter” or “Xisuma is a bee/axolotl/strider hybrid” because of how many different mob-based skins he’s used over the past few seasons.

- Ren is a werewolf or a canine-based shapeshifter. Friggin’ love this idea actually, and I’m never sure if this is solely based on Ren’s name or on something he did in a season I haven’t seen yet, because knowing him he’d totally have a wolfman character somewhere in his repertoire.

- Bdubs - and this is a headcanon I discovered more recently and it makes sense - is a phantom hybrid. He’s so finicky about sleep, and if he’s kept awake during the night he gets in a pissy mood because of it. I don’t see him drawn with any features from phantoms often, but behavioral habits show up in fics a lot. (Though a part of me finds this one funny because it also feels a bit backwards - phantoms are AWAKE at night and Bdubs abhors night time - but hey, maybe phantoms are just trying to kill you because you’re keeping them awake with your late night thoughts lol.)

- xB is often some kind of water creature hybrid, like a guardian or (occasionally, more recently) a glow squid. Super cool concept in my opinion.

- Joe may look human, but he is decidedly not normal. Either he’s some sort of humanoid cryptid, he has undefined psychic abilities, or he’s just in tune with the universe in a way most people aren’t.

#Hermitcraft #Hermitcraft Headcanons #Hybrid Hermits #Hybrids #HC HC

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seriouslycromulent · 2 years ago

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The Results of My Night Court re-watch (More Larroquette gushing)

Hey folks! I'm back with a (final?) update on my Night Court re-watch. I know you were waiting with bated breath to see how it turned out. /sarcasm

I managed to knock out all 9 seasons on Freevee in about 2.5 weeks, and it was a nice little trip down memory lane combined with some new episodes that I didn't remember at all. Not that I'm complaining. I liken it to finding a couple of extra french fries you missed at the bottom of your McDonald's takeaway bag. Technically, they were always there, but hey, they're new to you, right?

Anyway, while I was watching, I kept a tally of my favorite episodes over the 9 seasons, with a special focus on the one and only Mr. Larroquette. Since he was the reason I was re-watching the show, it made sense that my list of faves heavily favored him. (The overall list also favored Roz, surprisingly. I liked her character the first time I watched the show, but I don't think I appreciated how much character development they gave her for the era this TV show appeared in. But that's a different conversation.)

So I thought I'd share my final results of my re-watch for anyone who hasn't seen the show and wants to, but they're really only watching for the awesome-ness that is John Larroquette.

Although I don't encourage you to only find joy in John's performance (because everyone is quite good and the show was well-written for the majority of the time it was on the air), this is just in case you're someone who would say: "But I only want to see the best of Dan Fielding, so what episodes do you think I should watch?"

Here is that list ... in 2 parts.

Part 1 focuses on Larroquette's dramatic skill as an actor. Sure, we all know he is talented as hell, but I think what really stood out to me was how well he could deliver a great monologue or manage to wrench empathy from you even when Dan was being completely abhorrent.

John will probably always be known for his comedic skill -- covered in Part 2, but you will note that my list for his top dramatic episodes is much longer. And I think that says something.

---

So without further ado ...

The "Dramatic Chops" list includes episodes I think give the audience a chance to see the depth of Dan's character beyond the constantly wheeling and dealing, sex-obsessed scoundrel he appears to be on the surface. We not only get to see Larroquette show that there's more to Dan than the image he projects, but it also allows the character to grow a little, proving that he is indeed capable of growth.

Part 1: Top Dan Fielding episodes - Dramatic Chops

Married Alive (s2, ep19) -> Dan's relationship with an heiress is deeper than everyone thinks

Best of Friends (s3, ep6) -> Dan's close friend is transgender

Dan's Boss (s3, ep7) -> Dan butts heads with his new boss, who is a little person

Dan's Escort (s3, ep12) -> Dan moonlights as an escort & receives an indecent proposal

Dan's Operation, Pt. 2 (s4, ep6) -> Dan comes out of a coma & admits why he's afraid of turning 40

Paternity (s4, ep19) -> Dan may be a father

No Hard Feelings (s5, ep8) -> Dan turns down a high-powered job where sexual favors are expected

The Constitution, Pt. 2 (s5, ep10) -> Dan saves Roz when she goes into insulin shock

Danny Got His Gun, Pt. 2 & 3 (s6, ep1 & 2) -> Dan lives with an Inuit family after his plane goes down near the Arctic Circle

The Law Club (s6, e7) -> Dan gives up joining an exclusive law club to save Christine from a creep

Strange Bedfellows (s6, ep17) -> Dan falls for Joan, his electoral opponent / Dan finds real love

For Love or Money (s7, ep6) -> Buddy gets married and Dan hits rock bottom

Branded, Pt. 2 (s7, e10) -> Dan gets a job as a waiter while he's suspended pending an investigation

A Family Affair, Pt. 2 (s8, e2) -> The aftermath of Dan's sister and Bull hooking up

To Sleep, No More (s8, ep19) -> Dan's insomnia gets the better of him and his conscience

Santa on the Lam (S9, ep11) -> Dan convinces a department store Santa to keep living

The "Comedic Chops" list is pretty much what you would think. These are episodes that I think really showcase how great Larroquette is at comedy. I mean, pretty much the entire series is a showcase of that, but these episodes really stand out as a cut above the rest. In short, if someone said they didn't find John particularly funny, I would use this list to support my argument that he has a gift for comedy.

Part 2: Top Dan Fielding episodes - Comedic Chops

Hurricane, Pt. 1 & 2 (s3, ep21 & 22) -> A childbirth class is stranded in court & goes into labor all at the same time

Earthquake (s4, ep9) -> Dan is trapped in an elevator with Roz & 2 wrestlers

A Day in the Life (s4, ep15) -> The team must clear 200 cases before midnight

Passion Plundered (s7, e11) -> Dan and Harry compete for the attention of a romance novelist

A Night Court at the Opera (s8, ep9) -> Dan tries to seduce Harry's girlfriend

Guess Who's Listening to Dinner (s9, ep6) -> Dan dates a mob boss' daughter

And this, just for the helluva it, is my list of what I think are the best overall episodes featuring Dan or where his contribution to the ensemble definitely made the episode a winner overall.

My Top 10 Favorite Dan Fielding episodes

Dan's Escort (s3, ep12) -> Dan works as an escort & receives an indecent proposal

Dan's Operation, Pt. 2 (s4, ep6) -> Dan comes out of a coma & admits why he's afraid of turning 40 (This has one of my favorite scenes John has ever done on the show. If you've seen the episode, you know the one.)

No Hard Feelings (s5, ep8) -> Dan turns down a high-powered job where sexual favors are expected (When he stands up for himself, rattles off his career record, and insists he deserves more than to be someone's boy toy, you will want to rewind & watch it over and over again.)

The Law Club (s6, e7) -> Dan gives up joining an exclusive law club to save Christine from a creep

Strange Bedfellows (s6, ep17) -> Dan falls for Joan, his electoral opponent / Dan finds real love (I really loved this episode and was sad that we never see or hear from her again.)

To Sleep, No More (s8, ep19) -> Dan's insomnia gets the better of him and his conscience (The scene at the podium was both hilarious and heartbreaking in equal measure. You just want to give him a hug by the end.)

Hurricane, Pt. 2 (s3, ep22) -> A childbirth class is stranded in court & goes into labor all at the same time

Earthquake (s4, ep9) -> Dan is trapped in an elevator with Roz & 2 wrestlers (His fear of confined spaces is really well played. The perfect balance between humor and pathos.)

A Night Court at the Opera (s8, ep9) -> Dan tries to seduce Harry's girlfriend (John just stole this whole episode. It's easily one of his best performances in the entire run of the series.)

Guess Who's Listening to Dinner (s9, ep6) -> Dan dates a mob boss' daughter (The physical comedy throughout this episode was just hilarious!)

Honorable Mentions:

The Blizzard (s2, ep10) -> Dan is trapped in an elevator with a gay man who hits on him

Hit the Road, Jack (s5, ep13) -> Dan becomes friends with Christine's dad when he retires

A New York Story (s9, ep13) -> Dan is a beauty pageant judge for Ms. Transit contest

OK. That's it. I know it's another really long post, but to praise Mr. Larroquette is a honor, not a duty.

Please feel free to tell me what your favorite Dan Fielding-focused episodes of Night Court are. And if you have any questions about why I chose what I chose, don't be afraid to ask.

#john larroquette #night court #dan fielding #fandom

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moonlayl · 3 years ago

Note

for the five things ask, 5 aos episodes:

Nothing personal (1x20)

Melinda (2x17)

Spacetime (3x15)

The Ghost (4x01)

Fun and Games (5x06)

Ooh, this is a good one! (also not me remembering everything about those episodes immediately 😂)

Anyway, I love every single one of these episodes so much, but I’m going to have to rank them, aren’t I?

So…for some of these, if you’d ask me this right after I finished watching the whole show, before any rewatches, I would’ve placed them higher. But going back and rewatching, while I still love the episodes, they’re greater when it’s the first time you’re seeing it, so I’m ranking based on what I like now, and what I would want to rewatch (and edit. And write fics about) now.

1. The Ghost (4.01)

It’s the one that’s easiest to rewatch. The angst is >>>> (I love it when my faves suffer) and it’s when Robbie first appears. We get Daisy and Elena interacting. We get a feel of what Daisy’s been going through (she’s a vigilante now!!!) and all of Ghost Rider’s scenes aren’t just mesmerizing to look at (seriously, flaming skull looks so good) but Gabriel Luna is such a good actor. We’re back to “Coulson is no longer director” which I LOVE, because it brings back certain obstacles from s1, where the team actually had to go BEHIND the director in order to save people, and Coulson is more of a rebel. Elena was just amazing in that episode. I love Daisy’s beanie. I love all of Daisy’s badass scenes and powers, and I love all her scenes with Robbie. There was a “mystery” feel to s4, and it started with the first episode. It was like a new era of the show beginning and the start of something new :)

2. Melinda (2.17)

We finally learn May’s backstory. Everything about those flashbacks, seeing more of Andrew (and Mildrew), seeing May from before, her fight scenes, her humour, and than the horrifying realization that it was the little girl the entire time? Holy crap, that was good, and completely makes everything we knew about May before, make sense. It was also very smart, the way it connected back to inhumans. Almost every mystery of s1 was connected, and idk but that was very satisfying to watch.

In the same episode, we get Daisy and Jiaying. (Which before s7 came out, I wouldn’t have been as appreciative of, but now I am.) Daisy finds her mom, after a lifetime of searching (and Jiaying finds her daughter, after decades). Unlike when she first comes face to face with her dad, her scene with Jiaying was so emotional, so beautiful, and they were both crying (which made me want to cry). We also get a little call back to s1 Daisy.

“Hoping for something and losing it, hurts more than never hoping for anything” (s1) and “deep down I think you knew [that I’m your mother]” “I was too afraid to hope” (s2)

Daisy opens up about her past a bit, about being sent away, about never spending more than 2 years anywhere (and she’s probably also emotional because she lost shield) which is also similar to that scene in s1, where she mentions she called a foster mom “mom” and how she gets sent away (but in this scene, she actually finds her mom!!!) it’s just…so bittersweet and amazing. Jiaying makes her promises (that she doesn’t keep, but they were GOOD in the moment) and Daisy finally feels at home in Afterlife. Jiaying helps her with her powers, and Daisy actually starts to control them without hurting herself. The “I moved a mountain scene”!!! Jiaying explaining Daisy’s powers, Lincoln being a sweetheart, Daisy making music. It was a good episode!

3. Spacetime (3.15)

Despite s3 being my least favourite season, (no matter the amount of meta I read or how often I rewatch episodes) this episode is one that I really love. I love how Daisy centric it is.

The entire thing about seeing visions and trying to prevent them from happening and being confused about them all, but each one making sense in the end? It was really well written.

The fact that it involves the whole team, that scene between Daisy and Coulson before she heads off. Coulson shooting the mirror, and us realizing it wouldn’t have made sense if he’d actually shot her! Coulson trying so hard to prevent it all (and failing spectacularly)

Daisy’s promise to protect Robin, how each scene led to the next, the final vision that leads to the rest of the season (who will die?) Daisy and May’s parallel fight scenes!

The entire team bonding while attempting to set up Daisy’s vision and act it out (that was so good!!) Fitz trying to explain science stuff but doing a terrible job, and he and Simmons disagreeing!

The whole first scene with the man calling out Daisy’s name and then dying in front of Daisy and her absolute horror and fear once she realizes the actual inhuman man was in danger. (Lincoln being very 💕 and holding her and trying to help her when she panics)

Many others have talked about this episode and why it’s so good (I haven’t done as good of a job 😅) but yeah it was just a really good episode. How it was written, and shot, and how each scene leads to the next, and how much focus Daisy got.

4. Nothing Personal (1.20)

I thought it would’ve been higher up in the list, because it has one of my favourite daisy scenes ever, but oh well.

I’m just going to talk about that scene specifically. One thing I will always love about this show and give it so much credit for, is how they DIDN’T make their female hero and protagonist “forgive” the terrible “misunderstood” attractive male character, or compromise her morals because she has feelings for him. Daisy cared for him, yes, but him ending up being a traitor, killing Koenig, and being HYDRA, was crossing a line, and immediately caused her to push him away and not want anything to do with him, her feelings be damned. Even after he admitted that he DOES actually care for her, her reaction is to turn away and say “I think I’m going to throw up” WHICH MAKES SENSE!!! That’s how a normal person would react to finding out a murderer and traitor has feelings for them. Ward’s look of utter shock and disbelief will NEVER not be funny. I’m so so glad the writers made THAT be her reaction (it was the moment I truly realized she wasn’t going to be written like all those other female protagonists written by men) because it was needed. Even despite the amount of Skyeward skippers, and despite the fact that them as a couple was something clearly the show was leading up to, they had her reject him (and keep rejecting him).

I loved when she hit him and insulted him. When she refused to help him, and her look of disgust and shock when he started going on and on about how “difficult it was for him”, 10/10!!

Her lines: “you did NOT just say that. It wasn’t PERSONAL? God, you might actually believe that. THAT, is the twisted logic they teach you even you sign up to be a nazi.”

and “I’m a survivor” “You are a serial killer”

and “because that was part of the mission, right? Just gonna kick back, and watch ME bleed, until it’s your turn to pull the trigger”

were perfect! Such perfect lines!! I was mentally applauding every word she said, every expression she made, that entire episode.

5. Fun & Games (5.06)

Unpopular opinion, I know, but I actually really loved and enjoyed the first half of s5. It’s disappointing what happened later, but that first half? Amazing. (Not many would agree lol)

In this episode, we finally get multiple reunions after the team’s been separated. It’s super easy to rewatch, feels fun (even while there are high stakes) and I just loved every moment. Daisy’s entire new look, and the arena fight. She looked so good and was such a badass. May also gets an arena fight, and like Daisy, was super badass despite being INJURED and having no powers! That whole scene where Daisy flies, Jemma slits a man’s throat, jumps with Fitz and they land and than all three run off to try and escape? It was amazing. Then they run into Deke, and both fitz and simmons are like immediately defending Daisy (for one episode, I thought fitz and simmons were back to being characters I enjoyed watching. I loved the dynamic between those three in that one episode alone). It was just really cool and the first time I watched it, I was definitely grinning because FINALLY Daisy and Jemma aren’t stuck with Kasius anymore.

So yeah, that’s my ranking. (I write too much XD) this was fun, thank you!

#aos #agents of shield #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d.#ask game #ryder616 #daisy johnson #melinda may #jiaying #robbie reyes #elena rodriguez #long post

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kittydemon9000 · 3 years ago

Text

SO MERLOPIAN KAI PART 2 ELECTRIC BOOGALOO

So, with Kalmaar, he ofc immediately goes to his parents about his feeling, slightly placing his revenge on hold. They are...dubious about it, but Maya raises the point of how there has never been a human/merlopian hybrid before, and from what Ray has told them about having two EM parents it’s possible for Kai to have some water abilities himself, which could be what gave Kalmaar his feeling. So, they agree to look into it.

Moving on..... Uh. Kai doesn’t have a fun time in S6, as briefly as he’s there. You see, Nahdakahn knows exactly what buttons to press and is able to get Kai into a panicked state where he, on the verge of a panic attack and mental breakdown, just says “I wish that I could just be normal! I wish I could just go home! I wish I could be with dad and mom and father and Kal and Bentho and Nya!!!”

The “normal” comment comes from how they weren’t able to completely hide Kai’s heritage since yeah, there were other people on the boat who saw him. That and he also tried a lot less to keep it hidden. And because some humans are assholes, he has to deal with that.

So ofc, Nahdakahn interprets it in the worst ways and as two wishes. Kai is now a full human yes….but was also sent to where the fish fam currently were……which just so happened to be at the bottom of the ocean.

So yeah, double trauma for both groups. Kai got to experience what drowning felt like, and his fam was essentially forced to watch him die since there was nothing they could do. They were too far under to take him to the surface and too far from the palace to take him there.

But dw, it gets even worse.

You see, the whole reason Nahdakahn is being this malicious about Kai’s wishes is because he learned that Kai was the reason the Preeminent was destroyed, thereby destroying Djinjago.

Nahdakahn is then able to do a “oh? Is this not what you wanted? I thought you wished to be normal.” Which ofc sounds really bad since it’s in front of his family. “But, I understand. You grow tired of the stares in the street, how they whisper behind you back about what you are. Not human, not merlopian, not normal. Just a freak masquerading as one of them.”

This ofc supremely pisses off the fam. Like, weapons drawn ready to commit murder.

But then Nahdakahn stop them with a “ah ah ah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. After all, I am the only way your son has a chance at living. So go ahead. Make a wish.”

Trimaar ends up being the one to do it, and is smart enough to know this uh will twist it in anyway he can so says. “I wish for Kai to be sent safely to the surface without harm done upon him.”

Blah blah blah, your wish is yours to keep, Trimaar realizing “wait there’s a lot that could be interpreted” but too late BAM now Kai’s kinda stuck on the Misfortune’s Keep.

And he....generally has a pretty bad time. Think Jay but this time it’s personal.

However, Kai’s appearance had Trimaar get the Merlopian army and start heading to the surface. The remaining ninja have a brief moment of “are you kidding me two enemies at once” before learning that this is Kai’s lost family and they’re here to help.

So now the ninja have a whole ass fish army to help them, plus a very protective, very angry fish family.

But for the rest of canon, the only difference is that when they’re leaving Tiger Widow Island, Nya gets snatched along with Jay(who was taken because he hadn’t used his wish yet) and they aren’t stuck on the island, and then later that Kai gets sucked into the sword when the ninja launch their rescue mission.

But yeah, it gets all Un-Happened by Jay’s wish(which at seeing Kai physically hurt and being emotionally torn apart at his baby sister dying, wished that none of this ever happened and that Nahdakahn was never found), only like canon Nya and Jay still remember what happens.

Nya is now firmly on team Kai Is Alive and tells her parents everything about what happened and the wish Jay made, and more importantly where Kai is.

Unfortunately, they need to take some time and prepare. Trimaar and Maya have been doing their best over the years to open the populace possibly making bonds with the humans, but now it’s finally happening. They can’t just go up there out of no where, since from what Nya has told them 1) most humans don’t even know they exist and 2) in the past few years they have been subject of many attacks, mostly from non-humans, so they need to make sure the humans understand they don’t mean any harm.

So DotD happens, then the beginnings of S7 :)

Right out, Kai never liked the museum curator. Up to that point he’d only ever caught fleeting glimpse of him but something about him Kai just despised. As a result, he also visited the museum as scarcely as possible, and thus didn’t notice a very interesting painting containing a two very strange figures.

When he learns his name was Dr.Saunders.....things don’t go well.

It happened when Kai brought the helmet with his dad’s symbol on it. As much as he disliked the curator, he was the most likely to be able to recognize what kind of helmet it was.

Then in his anger he gets himself captured.

He’s taken to a special cell lined with vengestone and has guards around the clock, and Krux takes extra care to make sure Kai doesn’t know where Ray is.

ofc it’s around this time that the Merlopians arrive and express their wishes for a possible alliance between their two races. Unfortunately they showed up at literally the worst time, and double unfortunately the people in charge of diplomacy decide to bring some of the ninja in as an extra precaution because of the villains have been running around.

So the people who join the meeting are Lloyd and Jay from the ninja(they would’ve brought Kai but he hasn’t returned from his missions yet and isn’t answering their calls) as well as some police officers and from the Merlopians is the whole royal family plus a few guards.

Both Jay and Nya have a silent moment of staring at each other since “I know and I’m not sure you know but I think you know but I don’t want to say anything since you might not”

And just as they’re about to start, The Time Twins attack. Because why the hell not.

They’re actually able to hold them off for a while, but unfortunately there are too many Vermillion. Then Kalmaar whips out his Water Powers which causes him to get kidnapped since they need both Fire and Water masters for the blade.

While they’re recovering, Lloyd then gets a panicked call from Zane saying that he checked the museum footage and Kai has been captured. The gets overheard by the royal family, and then Lloyd asks why they looked so upset at which they learn(sans Jay since wish) that Kai is royalty. The eldest son actually, and thus first in line for the throne, as well as being presumed dead for the past five years.

So basically Krux has kidnapped the King and Queen’s husband, the crown prince, and the second in line prince(if anyone knows a more fancy term for this please let me know)

Maya, Trimaar, Nya and Benthomaar are not happy. Not with the Ninjagian people, no they’re fine, but they’re bout ready to murder Krux, and they don’t even know about Ray yet.

So they offer any help they can.

Zap back to how Kai and Kalmaar are doing.

Kalmaar is….kind feral tbh. Like, he’s biting, clawing, trying to strangle them with his tentacles, and before they got vengestone cuffs on him was trying very hard to drown anyone.

Ofc, this does little to the Vermillion and soon Kalmaar finds himself in the cell right next to Kai’s. He’s overjoyed to see his brother again, albeit upset that this is why.

They both reluctantly come to the conclusion that there isn’t much they can do at the moment, and there are many Vermillion guards right outside their cells, so they decide to start catching up.

And for pretty much the rest of the season canon is pretty much the same, just shuffle around the characters a bit and add a protective Fish Fam.

Though their little trip back in time is quite sight for the Past EMs, especially because of how Kalmaar is using his powers, which leaves Kai mostly stuck in his Fish Form. This time they don’t even bother trying to explain, just give instructions on how to defeat the Vermillion and jumping into the battle.

And I mean just imagine that from the EMs perspective. An enemy you thought you defeated just returned with a giant metal creature and an army of snake things that don’t look like any kind of Serpentine they’d ever seen. Then a shark person and squid person??? show up and not only do they know how to fight the snake things but they also seem to be Elemental Masters???? Despite the fact Ray is very much alive and they didn’t even know there was a Water EM. Then the two not only summon dragons but they also fuse their dragons into an even bigger one with two heads.

And then all of them disappear into the sky without a trace.

W i l d

But yeah, after that it calms down quite a bit. Kai spends the time skip before S8 reconnecting with his family and his dad, and through some tech courtesy of Borg they're able to bring Ray with them :D

And Kai actually goes to meet the Jade Royal Family since y’know. He’s the crown prince. He’s kinda important and legitimately forgot about it. Luckily Kalmaar is able to help coach Kai through it, but is also a bit smug about how he finally has something to teach to his older brother. Kai was actually the one who suggested asking the ninja for help protecting the mask.....but we know how that inevitably ends.

Bentho, Kal and Nya were actually on the ship for this particular adventure, and then Nya and Bentho were dragged along when they got sent to the First Realm. Bentho, despite being the youngest sibling and to the surprise of literally everyone, was actually really good with kids and spent the most time with Little Wu, right behind Cole.

But yeah S9......Nya and Bentho have a really bad time in the First Realm beause of the heat, but at least they don’t get captured. Kai on the other hand....

Yeah at some point he gets accidentally splashed with water and well.....it definitely doesn’t help with the Oni accusations. The Dragon Hunters decide to burn him along with the Wind Dragon, which moves up their Build Our Own Dragon time table.

After they escape Faith is actually pretty chill about the whole fish thing, but she does ask a lot of questions.

And then S10..... kinda the same. They end up dropping off as many people as they can with the Merlopians since the smoke can’t reach them.

I might make a Part 3 for the rest of the seasons, but yeah. this is where we’re at.

#merlopian royalty au #info dump #ninjago #kai #kai smith #kalmaar #prince kalmaar #trimaar #king trimaar #krux

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the-lightning-strikes-again · 4 years ago

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Posting this for @pilotkinkade in response to their recent post made here, regarding concerns about VLD and how it includes white savior complex or potentially smears Allura’s character with that complex. I’m not reblogging directly because this is a long response lol. Thank you pilotkinkade for chatting earlier; I hope you find this post interesting at least and would be curious of your thoughts in return!

---

I do agree with your general sentiments, that VLD takes on a disquieting savior complex throughout a good portion of the show, even more so than in previous Voltron iterations. For me, it feels most apparent in the way that Voltron as an all-powerful machine in VLD is piloted by its second generation.

To compare: In the original OG alliance (Alfor, Zarkon, Trigel, Gyrgan, and Blaytz), multiple major races were represented, functioning as one to save their own collective galaxy from threats. So even among the OG paladins, there were checks and balances (maybe Zarkon had the strongest military skills personally, but Alfor had the alchemy, etc.), with mass racial diversity. This seemed like a pretty innovative and cool addition to the Voltron franchise. The s3 finale also clarifies that, unlike VLD’s second-generation, all of these paladins were leaders of their people. This meant they had political and legal authority/experience that an average warrior or citizen wouldn’t.

By removing that whole structure and retrofitting Voltron with (mostly) a group of unprepared teenagers from a single planet entirely uninvolved in the universal conflict, it created a lot of strange hierarchies...

We see much of the known universe raise up people who had zero prior experience with war, and little to no military or diplomatic training, as well as very little awareness of the traumas or people groups involved in this war. (Shiro is possibly the exception here.) But suddenly, all of these paladins also had unfettered, largely unquestioned access to ultimate power to carry out whatever vision they felt was right in the moment. Because simply “might is right,” we see even highly experienced commanders like Kolivan become castrated in authority compared to Team Voltron. Various alien groups express upset or side-eye Team Voltron’s well-meaning actions but obvious insensitivity to/ignorance of their problems or fears. Even at the paladin-level, a princess trained to fight and lead is subordinated to a boy with zero leadership training whatsoever (which is very different from previous iterations where Keith was actually very competent, more experienced, and wanted to be a leader).

And when Voltron plays the unchecked judge, jury, and executioner across the entire universe, the new paladins as a whole also do not have the political or legal authority the OG pallies did in the boundaries of their own galaxy. The second-gen paladins are not authorities of their people or representative of the people groups affected in the war they’re now leading. The OG pallies built the actual legend of Voltron in less than 28 decaphoebs, clearly going beyond their 5 nations to help others suffering from natural disasters or unknown needs, which might raise some eyebrows perhaps because we don’t know what all that entailed. But while we see that the Voltron machine eventually got celebrated, the OG pallies are never shown personally soaking in some kind of savior celebration…

(Photo ID: Alfor says, “Why I joined up this band of scoundrels, I’ll never know.” Trigel responds, “Because we’re the only band of scoundrels that would have you.” Third screenshot is of the paladins celebrating their alliance win by themselves.)

…compared to second-gen paladins (or some anyway) who pretty clearly soak in the love and prestige they’ve received based off the historical and legendary precedence of the OG alliance’s work:

(Photo IDs: Lance taking selfies with aliens excited to be around paladins. A second screenshot of Lance daydreaming about being a universal savior, stomping on Zarkon, planting a flag to mark ownership, and having Allura stare up at him in worship.)

In fact, a lot of the pro-Voltron war propaganda relies heavily more on recreating the legend already built for them, than on the actual competency or experience of the current paladins:

(Photo ID: Pidge complains about the war propaganda scripts, “This isn’t even factually accurate.” Coran replies, “Well, this is the Legend of Voltron, not the documentary of Voltron.”)

On that note, we even see the scripts reverse who is actually the most competent or capable of performing.

(Photo ID: Coran says, “Ladies and gentle-aliens, bear witness as the Paladins of Voltron attack Zarkon’s base to save the helpless Princess Allura!”)

Coran’s script, however well-meant, pretty massively infantilizes Allura as someone who needs to be saved by an external force, rather than mentioning her as someone who is an active and critical ally of the Voltron paladins in this war.

Unlike Coran’s script, Princess Allura isn’t helpless. In terms of the second-generation paladins, she’s has the most war-time experience, and is also the one that the paladins lean on constantly to create a meaningful connection with other people groups who are otherwise hesitant about Voltron.

(Photo ID: Allura speaks to the Balmeran people, “Balmerans, this is Princess Allura. You don’t know me, but I am here to help. I know what it’s like to watch your home planet die.”)

Allura is the successor to the Altean monarchy and a direct victim of the OG galaxy wars. So unlike other second-gen paladins, she has some semblance of legal/political authority that she was actively trained for, as well as personal skin in the game. She is ultimately the only paladin who has experienced a mass omnicide of her home and people, similar to other victims of the Galra regime. She also still accepts the authority of her father, whose AI tells her in season 1 to be prepared to sacrifice everything to undo his mistakes.

We see Allura from that point onward functioning under that directive from her father and king—to sacrifice everything she has to end Zarkon’s regime. One could potentially make the argument that, within this structure, Allura might suffer from a certain subset of “white knight syndrome,” in which one feels they’re worthless if they’re not sacrificing for others. If I have my facts right, it’s a different psychological state from white savior complex (in which I define white savior complex as “when someone outside the issue at hand barges in to make a change that may or may not benefit the recipient, simply to make themselves feel better or appear useful, without regard to the recipient’s wishes or real needs”). But I feel even the comparison of “white knight syndrome” gets dicey. Because Allura is shown as acting happy without necessarily sacrificing things (in fact, she acts progressively depressed s7-s8, the more she has to give up intrinsic things about herself or her identity). But when Allura chooses to assist or sacrifice, the sacrifice she makes has a very relevant and functional impact for the people she helps.

In season 1, she chooses to sacrifice herself to save Shiro. Shiro was, at that time, the Black Paladin and leader of Voltron, so Allura saw herself as functionally the less important of the two to save since she did not pilot the universe’s only weapon against Zarkon.

With the Balmera, she similarly chooses to act because the Balmerans themselves acknowledge they are entirely out of options, and also because the Balmerans (and the Balmera itself) accept her help she offers. At this point in time, she has already established a deep personal connection with them by virtue of their shared trauma of losing their home planets.

(Photo IDs: Shay says, “We’re lost! All are trapped with no chance for escape!” Allura says, “We can’t give up.” Shay responds, “But what can be done?” The group realizes the Balmera is regenerating beneath the ship, and Shay wonders why. Allura says, “The Castle!”)

Here, Allura assumes that the Castle—which is powered by a Balmeran crystal itself—could be regenerating the Balmera. But a Balmeran elder corrects her:

(Photo ID: A Balmeran elder says, “Not just the Castle, but you, as well.”)

So Allura did not even recognize at first that she was in any way a part of the solution to the Balmera regenerating.

Regarding the Balmera act itself, I’m not sure it satisfies the conditions for a white savior complex? I’m curious about your thoughts here, because I guess I saw it happening differently, from a witchcraft perspective...

We know from both Coran and Shay that originally, Alteans were one of the historical races who sacrificed some of their own energy to replenish the Balmera when seeking a crystal:

(Photo ID: Coran saying, “In the days of old, when Alteans were given the gift of crystals from a Balmera, we would repay its sacrifice by performing a ceremony. A sacred Altean would re-infuse the Balmera with quintessence. In this way, we had a symbiotic relationship.”)

We see that Balmerans were a voluntary part of this energy exchange by virtue of their unique connective powers (which is likely why we see them kneeling and activating said powers during these ceremonies).

Shay herself seems to indicate she is highly aware of these old ceremonies:

(Photo ID: Rax says, “Everyone comes to Balmera and takes, but gives nothing in return!” Shay says, “In the past, those who took the Balmera’s crystals would replenish her with energy. It was an equal exchange.”)

Shay agrees that the ceremony itself involves a sacred exchange of life force.

So I would argue that in this case, the Balmerans are not kneeling to Allura specifically or worshiping someone—it seems to be just the imagery associated with magical spells/magical transfers (where one object in the middle is the main conduit/focal point, and the other objects surrounding help to create and sustain the spell/protective barrier, etc).

One of the basic practices in real-world witchcraft is casting a magic/ritual circle. The circle creates a space where the spell, ritual, or form of protection can be performed. Forgive the stock image, but here’s just a super basic example:

(Photo ID: A magic circle in the form of a pentagram, with a candle in the middle, compared to a screenshot of 5 Balmerans surrounding Allura in the form of a pentacle, creating a sacred space with Allura glowing in the center.)

The five points in particular mimic standard pentacle-based ritual circles designed to create a sacred space of some kind. We do see various configurations of witchcraft imagery used in other instances throughout the show, such as when the druids have to help Haggar sustain her spells:

(Photo ID: Haggar centered in a magic circle, surrounded by druids helping her complete the ritual. Haggar kneels against the glowing symbols to complete the ritual.)

I think, similar to the druids that Haggar relied upon to help her complete a spell, it can be argued that the Balmerans were an active part of the regeneration spell with Allura. We see across the entire Balmera that they magically connect to help sustain the energy transfer, because it’s a planet-wide, massive undertaking:

(Photo ID: Balmerans activating their connection to the Balmera in the middle of the sacred ceremony to regenerate the Balmera.)

To me, it felt like the Balmerans were necessary to complete this ceremony--without their agreement to this energy exchange, and without them connecting to the Balmera to assist the transfer, Allura might not have been able to connect her life force and transfer power to the whole planet.

And to complete the ceremony, Allura herself kneels as well, just as Haggar did and just as the Balmerans around her do, in connection with the Balmera:

(Photo ID: Allura kneeling alongside Balmerans to complete the ritual.)

(Which means she’s technically kneeling to at least three other Balmerans in front of her.)

So I think the kneeling imagery would not correlate to some white savior complex event as suggested.

One other thought I had is that I feel help from a “white savior” is often haphazard and pushed onto recipients regardless of their thoughts or real needs. In comparison, we know that the Balmerans were willing to try this spell with Allura and accepted her idea of attempting the ancient ceremony. The only person who expressed hesitancy is Coran, who warns Allura that this attempt could kill her.

(Photo ID: Coran warns Allura, “To heal an entire planet, it could take more energy than you possess.”)

I do think it could again be argued that Allura seriously undermines her own value and worth in an attempt to help everyone, no matter the cost, which potentially gets more into white knight syndrome born out of trauma than white savior complex born out of privilege. She snaps back at Coran for being concerned about her well-being, and then she proceeds to enact the ceremony, not knowing for sure whether she’d live or die. But Allura also knows that her life force is uniquely tied to Voltron and that she is the only one with this kind of connection to the Castle ship’s battle-class Balmera crystal—all of this makes her a very powerful capacitor in a lot of ways. Which is why she looks like this after the ceremony:

(Photo ID: Allura having collapsed in Shay’s arms after regenerating the Balmera, but her physical features are not otherwise affected.)

And not like this:

(Photo ID: A screenshot of an Altean named Petrulius from season 6, whose features are distorted after having had the life/quintessence sucked out of him.)

So to me, it seemed that Allura was enacting an ages-old, magical ceremony approved by and wanted by the Balmerans—simply on a scale that no one had ever before attempted. And it’s likely that no one else would or could attempt it, because Allura is the single character in the entire universe whose personal life force is tied to Voltron’s regenerative energy (by virtue of Alfor’s alchemy on her as mentioned in episode 1). It’s an even deeper tie to the whole machine than the transient bond between paladin and lion. No other Balmeran or Galran or Altean had that kind of tie in their life force. Likely, even Alfor would have died if he’d attempted this act himself without being connected to an infinite power source.

And after Allura saves the Balmera with assistance from Balmerans, we also do not see her like this with the Balmeran people:

(Photo ID: Lance soaking up a savior fantasy as previously mentioned in this meta.)

Instead, post-Balmera resurrection, we see it’s actually not even the Balmerans themselves who thank Allura. The Balmerans simply convey the will of the Balmera, which Allura cannot hear:

(Photo ID: A Balmeran says to Allura, “Yes. The Balmera lives. It thanks you.”)

So backing up for a second, I do think there are much larger issues happening in the narrative with Voltron itself, with the unequal power dynamics of having young, inexperienced people from a single planet make and enact all the big universal decisions. But in the instance with the Balmera, it seemed like Allura was openly welcomed to help save the planet, using magical ceremonies as approved by the Balmerans themselves for millennia, and that the Balmerans were not passive in those ceremonies but a necessary part of their success.

In general, Allura doesn’t seem to embody the “white savior complex” vibe at all to me, unlike some others in the show. Even in season 8, when Allura planned to make The Really Big Sacrifice, she asked her team to keep her actions a secret. She literally didn’t care for any respect or acknowledgment or prestige in exchange for sacrificing her life. She was doing what needed to be done because she was, once again, one of the few who could even perform at that level:

(Photo ID: Shiro says to Allura, “Most of them won’t know the sacrifice you made so they could live.” Allura replies, “And they’ll never need to.”)

(As an aside, I would argue that it was entirely unnecessary that the narrative would demand Allura sacrifice herself at all when she was literally standing in the universe’s seat of power alongside other powerful beings like her own father or the billions of other magic-wielding dead people, because apparently the lines between life and death blur in that space.)

(I also think there are some questionable “master race” vibes in the VLD universe in general, given that it forcefully pushes, even against the wishes of Alteans themselves, that Alteans are the only ones who can wield the big power to do big things. It’s clear that other groups and beings can wield magical abilities, but the larger narrative very oddly pins the “purest quintessence/bluest blood” back on Alteans time and time again in later seasons, leaving Allura in basically a no-win, no-help-available situation until other Alteans come along.)

So yeah, I hope something in this meta might help settle some concerns about Allura as a representation of white savior complex? Or at least that this would open conversation for further discussion about what could be done in future iterations to avoid that messaging. Because yeah, I agree with you that the unquestioned savior complexes in this show are a topic that can and should be discussed! And also that, despite early world-building to suggest otherwise, the narrative especially in s6-s8 pushes that Alteans have a “purer/more alive” life force compared to any other race or form. Which is just…hm. Like, the master race vibes of all that are weird and definitely not even inherent to the Voltron franchise. (In previous iterations, humans, Galrans/Drule, and Alteans could all perform incredible levels of magic. For example, in Dynamite Voltron, Keith, Lotor, and Lotor’s siblings had all been taught magic.)

There’s definitely some weird images and unnatural power dynamics in VLD at times. It seems like more often than not, the narrative does strive to make Allura sacrificing something the only viable resort for anyone ever. In those circumstances, I’m just not convinced that she herself functions as an embodiment of white savior complex, by virtue of her behavior in those instances. But it’s definitely weird that the narrative places so much weight on her when the larger Team Voltron narrative is supposed to be about found family and strength in unity.

(If you read this far, thank you! Sorry I’m not succinct.)

#Voltron #Voltron meta #Voltron critical in ways #Allura #Balmera episode #discussions of white savior complex #I ultimately state that Allura doesn't seem to meet the basic behaviors for that #but the show does get into some strange master race stuff in terms of abilities #and we do see several iimages of white savior complex throughout the show by virtue of some other characters #which idk why that got dropped in without at least a reflection on it #like I can handle problematic stories but prefer it when they know they're problematic lol #in VLD it felt like I was supposed to be cheering for those issues #that I wasn't supposed to question it or that I was supposed to actually connect with that fantasy #I feel like this is a really interesting topic because in other iterations there were other Voltrons #as in more people had similar machines #which I feel like helped to control the savior complex inherent in manning a powerful weapon #and in fact one iteration goes as far to say that voltron ISN'T special at all #which surprises various characters #Just a very different vibe from VLD entirely #I'm really fascinated by that #Anyway thanks for reading my rambles!

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