#arrow out of context season 4

[minecraftbookshelf]

Life Series Scarring Headcanons: Part 5

The final installment!

If you haven't yet, check out Part 1 for a full explanation and context

This one covers the last three players, Solidarity Gaming, TangoTek, and ZombieCleo

Jimmy Solidarity

Like the other Assigned Birb Man, fall damage is arguably his nemesis

Third Life: Somewhere along the way it became fanon that that arrow from Skizz caught him in the throat and when I decided I was sticking with that I did not yet realize what that would mean for his death scars and the pattern thereof.

Last Life: He died to fall damage trying to escape from Grian (after accidentally initiating combat by jokingly hitting him with a baked potato) He fell from the roof of Mumbo's house down into a space by some wooden stairs, and with the angle it looked like he would have hit the side of his head on the edge of the stairs. So that's what he did :)

Double Life: He was killed by an enderman. In Everen's animatic he is basically strangled by it, and Mr. Gaming blue-screened because, as he said, that is his visualization on how that went down so. Canon.

Limited Life: Fall damage again, on the other side of his head this time, he landed on rock after falling/being pushed off of/whichever version you prefer Skynet. RIP canary man. Better luck in Season 5? (I kind of don't want him to have better luck tbh. The narrative consistency is very satisfying.)

The other half of Team Rancher

Tango of the Tek Variety

Squeaky cartoon man is right up there with Scott on the "someone please help him" front tbh. Cringefail Flower Ranchers Hours apparently.

Third Life: He died at the battle of Dogwarts to fire damage from behind that finished him off after a lot of cumulative damage, mostly from Martyn.

Last Life: The famous last words of "I know what I'm doing". Blown up by his own trap. The scars are centralized on his arms and the front of his torso, with a space where his arms shielded his body. This was his only kill of the season.

Double Life: He has phantom scars from Jimmy's enderman death.

Limited Life: Fall damage claimed yet another victim. He landed feet first and so his ankles shattered nanoseconds before he hit his head and was officially out of the series, leaving him with a scar both on his forehead and thin lines up his lower legs, similar to the ones from Grian's wrists.

Cleo

Third Life: Skizz killed them while they were making a (very nearly successful) attempt to kill Ren outside the Crastle. Skizz came from behind while they were focused on Ren and killed them with The Skizz Blade. They deemed it "worth it" for the chance to almost take Ren out.

Last Life: She was killed by Joel while she and the other late-game red lifers were hunting him and Grian down. He had a terrain advantage that allowed him to reach that high, since she is significantly taller than him. EDIT: When I get the opportunity I'm going to be updating the diagram to include the blow from Boogeyman!BigB that killed her, because that falls under the category of "important enough thematically and character-wise with long enough lasting impact" that it gets a scar.

Double Life: They died from fall damage during the final confrontation with Pearl. This is one I took some creative liberties with and interpreted "fall damage" as "accidentally fell on a sharp branch". This killed both them and Martyn.

Limited Life: She was killed by Pearl with an axe during a fight with the Nosy Neighbors in the endgame of the season.

It is also worth noting that most of Cleo's scars from the games are either only partly, or barely visible, due to the whole Zombie Thing and the fact that in some of the places the scars would be she just...doesnt have skin.

-

Part 4

[alianoralacanta]

My First Race (13-03-2007)

Context: While waiting for the 2007 season to start, there was a forum thread about the first race everyone had attended live. This was before I could travel to races independently, but I did have a story to tell (even if the flies get more of a starring role than Michael Schumacher did), and it was long enough to need to go on my blog…

Warning! Long post alert!

I'm still waiting for my first GP race, but Dad did take me to the 2002 British GP qualifying. Boy was it a memorable day!

Having done my last GCSE exam the previous morning, I got home to discover that Dad had got qualifying tickets at the last minute (two friends had tickets, but couldn't go for reasons I never established). We promptly spent the next few hours getting necessary supplies - stuff for making sandwiches for lunch, earplugs for my rather sensitive ears, wellington boots that didn't have holes in them (in case of mud) and a little bag that folded out into a seat.

Waking up at 4:30am the next day, Dad and I were in our hitherto reliable red Volvo on the road to Silverstone by 6:00am. Everything was going fine and I was just remarking about how little traffic we'd seen when the fan belt went on the Volvo. It was 8:05am and we were just about to leave the M1. After a long wait and an even longer journey in a breakdown vehicle, we eventually found ourselves in Lutterworth at about 8:40am. Fortunately the local garage fixed the problem very quickly, an event Dad attributed to us telling the garage that we were heading for Silverstone…

We finally got to the track just in time to see Eddie Irvine's Jaguar go down the back straight for the last time in the morning practise. After that, we walked halfway round the track to see the paddock, with armful of Jordan advertising. The merchandising area looked really interesting, particularly for me whose previous experience of F1 merchandise stretched to a battered McLaren hat one my brother's friends gave me the previous year. Speaking of hats, Dad and I both bought a hat - Dad got a Ferrari cap and I got a Jordan one.

After this, we continued around the outside of the track, looking at all the corners. It was about when we got to Stowe that Dad noticed a problem. There was a swarm of flies and a few wasps hanging around my head! I had foolishly picked a yellow Jordan hat instead of a black one, and the poor insect life around Silverstone must have thought I was a giant flower…

The next thing we did was eat lunch while listening to the circuit radio. Dad and I had chosen the exit of Club corner for our area, and it was a very good choice. Not only could we see everything from the Stowe exit to the start of the Luffield complex, but there was also a giant TV in the vicinity. Halfway through our sandwiches, the action began.

Seeing an F1 car in its full glory was really exciting, but seeing several together was about the most thrilling thing I'd seen in my life! Hearing the V10s and seeing the different lines everyone took was exciting, especially in the rare moments I could hear the commentary over the sweet song of metal on edge. The intellectual interest was high too; not only was there the pole chase, the Jordans and the home drivers to watch out for, there was also the question of whether Alex Yoong would qualify (he didn't) and whether Arrows would even bother to participate (they did; it was the last time Arrows put its whole heart into a race weekend, too).

As a Jordan fan, I'd've been happier if that song had not been punctuated with the awful scrape of Sato's nosecone dragging on the tarmac (it fell off its connectors on its own accord, apparently) and if Fisichella's original engine had stayed operational for more than one-and-a-half laps. This was probably why I couldn't find anything suitable to say to the Jordan staffer I saw a few hours later in the petrol station on the way out…

You may have noticed that at no point during any of this did I need the new wellies. In fact, Dad and I got back with sunburn. We'd packed the bag with stuff for every weather, including a complete change of clothes - except for sunscreen. For once, summer was in Britain - and I forgot to plan for it!

As for the grid, I considered it a fairly minor matter until I got back home to watch the video Mum did of the coverage, but it went:

1st…Montoya (a fast lap that seemed to come out of nowhere, but Montoya then went nowhere fast on race day)

2nd…Barrichello (unusually, he beat his team-mate, and would go on to have an eventful race and still come 2nd)

3rd…Michael Schumacher (took it a bit steady, but won the race next day)

[riacte]

Vote False!! like please please pretty please

1. Have you ever seen her skins. Even outside of the tumblr sexymen context she has one of the Best Selection of Minecraft Skins. Like:

Like first of all there’s her saturated post-Demise skin. Look me in the eye and tell me that’s not 2013 DevianArt tumblr anime overly colourful OC core. The neon green hair. The fabulously unnecessary pink lip gloss. The jarringly violet jacket. The Ebony Darkness vampiric red boots. The overly saturated Windows XP blue goggles. She looks like a 2013 tumblrina. In fact she probably is a 2013 tumblrina.

And of course there’s her wearing the Mumbo suit and I mean just. Just look at her. I don’t need to say anything, right? Put her in a girlboss suit. That’s a tumblr sexyman.

And then of course we have [holds back sapphic screaming] her latest skins. Listen e!False’s skin did something to everyone. Don’t lie. The steampunk. The suspenders. The rolled sleeves. And of course she’s being a mildly evil pathetic murderous meow meow. And the logging outfit is here just for display because like. Just look at it. The belt. It’s red fucking flannel. And brown gloves. She’s serving. Are we all okay? Let’s take deep breaths shall we—

There’s more about False in a suit. She was the butler in Mint Maids. And she was a cute skeleton. And she had a froggy hat. AND SHE WAS SHREK. Look at her range!

And speaking of rolled up sleeves, you had to be there when she rolled them up for the first time at the beginning of a HC season and let me tell you, hermitblr panicked. Everyone was 😳. Like how can you not—

2. Enough about the skins. False has a reputation for being a scary PvPer, and it’s both right and wrong. Right as in she can be scary sometimes but in a random, cryptic way. Remember when Scar had to kill her but just couldn’t because False was wearing protection armour? And Scar sounded like he was about to cry while False looked like a pincushion with all the arrows sticking out of her? And False took mercy on Scar and stood still just so he could kill her? There’s being scary, and then there’s the supernatural type of scary imposed by her. She’s insane. And then she felt bad and politely allowed Scar to kill her. Ma’am that’s supernatural.

But on the flip side, False can actually be kinda scared herself when it comes to PvP. You can see from her streams lmfao. But the point is, while she’s panicking and hiding and running away while being 100x prepared with like a stack of potions and golden apples, her opponent is terrified of her. So we have False being a sneaky confused pathetic meow meow (her POV) while from an outsider POV she seems like a mysterious, murderous… entity.

3. Okay apparently one of the criteria of tumblr sexyman is about the fandom’s perception soooo even before e!False, the fandom has always been OBSESSED with the concept of another False. A False False. TrueSymmetry if you will. A devious, cunning mirror image. One of the OG Helsmits. The fandom’s imagination went insane.

4. False does crime. She’s sneaky. She steals. Her (in)famous quote: It’s not stealing if you’re not caught.” Remember her hero complex during the HC7 Mayoral Race when she purposefully lured in mobs just to kill them off? Slay. What a queen.

5. Look at her cultural relevance!!! We still call her Queen of Hearts from a Gucci Gang parody years ago! She’s still False Supremacy even though that began from September 2020 with her MCC9 and MCC10 wins, by the way you should watch MCC9 Blue Bats if you haven’t already— [I am forcefully removed from the podium] She’s a legend!! She won Twitch Rivals in person!! Is that sexyman of her? No but you should still vote for her!!!

6. She already lost the mayoral vote in HC7 this is the least we can do for her 👉👈

7. It would be funny for her to beat DocM77. Like imagine the Doc reaction on Twitter. Don’t tell Doc. Get slayed. Also women <3

8. Cub got kicked out early and since he shares similar vibes with False she should win this round for both of them <3 dry humour slay murder girlboss hermits <3 <3 I have no idea what I’m saying

9. If she wins this round she would face off Ren like that would be funny. I mean it’ll also be funny if Doc wins. Ignore that point—

10. I am once again asking for your vote. Queen of Hearts! ShrekSymmetry!! #FALSESWEEP LET’S GO!!!

[hugintheraven]

Since you asked (and also I'm curious your take), what RWBY weapons the Animorphs havin' in your head?

So this is also going to go into semblances etc because one of the things I like about RWBY is that all of that is connected. Ruby's weapon only exists in the context of her being a speedster, Yang wears shotgun gauntlets because getting hit while she gets close is a good thing, etc.

I also had to really work to avoid the instinctive "everyone gets clawed gauntlets" option, because Tiger Claws/Gorilla Fists/Bear Claws are just iconic looks but we don't need 4 chars like that.

Elfangor: A kusarigama, which is a chain with a knife at one end and a sickle at the other, used like a complex whip. This requires little explanation, it's just such a good match for the Andalite tail. He's an insect faunus antennae. His semblance is the ability to sense other's semblances with his antennae, which is both how he recruits random kids and has them turn out to be very effective, and how he's so good in a fight(he always knows what his oppts are trying to do). Blue.

Jake: Yeah, he gets clawed gauntlets, with the claws able to launch like grappling hooks(similar to Ren's weapons in later seasons). Close-up brutal weapons, designed to ensure the fight stays close-up. His semblance is Reflexes, he can slow the world down. He doesn't move any faster when he does, but he thinks faster, which both makes him a deadly close-up fighter and an extremely effective leader when things go bad. Orange.

Rachel: Rachel goes unarmed, because her semblance is Morphing. If she, or someone, kills a Grimm near her, instead of it vaporizing, it collapses into the death liquid. She can use that liquid to turn herself into any Grimm she's fought before. Which would be really strong, but it starts off useless if there aren't Grimm around, and she's not sure how much of her love of battle is her wanting to protect others and how much is the evil she soaks herself in every fight. That question gets worse when she stops needing to kill Grimm because she can just sprout the black liquid to transform herself. Yellow with red accents(when she transforms, the yellow vanishes and the red remains amongst the black).

Cassie: Tonfa that are also pistols. (Tonfa are t-shaped batons: skill heavy weapons better for defense than offense and great against other weapons). They're mostly hard to kill with, but can be extremely effective when they need to be, which fits her and her endurance-based combat. Her semblance is healing, which is on-the-nose but I wanted one of the kids to be able to patch up exposed intestines and decided to make it her. The fact that she can also stop someone's heart if she wants to makes her throw up when she realizes, but she does it in desperate situations. Purple.

Marco: A sniper rifle/boar spear, which is a heavy spear with a crossguard to keep dangerous things from getting impaled, running up the spear, and savaging the wielder before death. He likes keeping far from danger. The crossguard can be collapsed to use like a normal spear(or used as a mount when sniping), which is better against humans and also usually what gets him stabbed(Marco's the Weiss of the group). Semblance is Guerilla Warfare, he can shroud his allies, blurring distinguishing features to make them harder to recognize during fights. Silver.

Tobias: Recurved bow. He stabs with an arrow if someone gets close, but as an insect faunus with wings(and a semblance that makes him lighter so he can use them), he mostly tries to fly out of enemy's reach and snipe. Their first big fight, he screwed that up, and a Lancer punched through his spine. Cassie couldn't get there to heal him in time, Rachel was too busy fighting to notice, and Jake saw it happen but couldn't warn him fast enough. Now he flies, but can't walk, and the only member of the team who doesn't blame himself for that is Marco. Brown with red accents.

Ax: Elfangor's kusarigama. No explanation needed there. Ax is a similar faunus to his brother, but he's mute, and uses his semblance, Thought Speak, to communicate via broadcasts from his antenna. Blue.

I went back and forth on whether Rachel or Cassie should morph while the other heals, but Rachel turning into an Ursa/Megoliath won out. The color schemes are a guess, I'm no artist. I really wanted to make Tobias a hawk faunus, but the link to Ax/Elfangor had to happen.

[winderlylandchime]

At this point you are all in this with me and i am officially making this man everyone’s problem. He came into my home office while i was on zoom and asked for a pen and paper only to later find out that he made one of those mind maps. It’s about Britin and there’s bunch of arrows about what all he thinks could happen in the future seasons, to how Britin is connected and there’s a section for Ethan and everything. He then gave me a 10 minute presentation while I took a break. It made zero sense but he swears it does. I wish I could send you all a picture of it cause one arrow that leads out of the middle (which he named ‘beautiful bastards’) is just called ‘what the actual fuck is going on’ and under it, it says ‘idk bro, we need more context.’

The summery of his presentation that was interrupted by his alarm for pills and him going ‘for fucks sake i cant have a minute with my thoughts anymore!’ (I fear he has had too many minutes with his thoughts) was basically: Britin is connected, he doesnt know how BUT(!) they are stuck together forever even if it all goes to hell. Which he says won’t happen bc their connection is too big and no type of idiot would ever fuck this up. (Can you tell how hard it’s to keep a poker face?) Justin is linked to Brian and Ethan and also for some reason Ted(?) he has yet to make sense of that one but he swore that once he makes sense of it, it’s gonna blow my mind. Ted and brian are also linked with dotted line and he said and i quote ‘it has some weird potential cause i like how he calls him Bri like me’ only other person linked is Daphne (she is also dotted linked to Brian bc he likes them together and thinks they could be besties IF daph doesn’t disappoint him with Ethan. He thinks she will help Brian win Justin back) now here are his theories of what could happen: -he thinks that to get back together they should be put in a situation where Justin has to pretend to be Brian and Brian would be Justin (he watched an ep of White Collar where they did something similar so he got inspired but in his words he ‘made it gay’) the gay part is: role reverse sugar daddy/Justin would be forced to spend Brians money on Brian (this made me laugh bc of you) and somehow that would lead to them fucking -justin hits michael bc he still kinda hates him and he needs it to happen BUT he wants mikey to hit Justin back for Brian (since he can’t do it) which leads to Britin making up -justin breaks up with ethan bc of his ugly facial hair -justin and brian cheat together on ethan, he hates cheating but is willing to look the other way for them -brian hits ethan bc he hates his smug face and he wants Brian to hit someone -brian wins back justin and i quote ‘bri and i have yet to decide if we are okay with this one tho cause Bri is more than a consolation prize’ And for the Ethan points: there are only 4 thing’s written under his name: -i hate him, -he has a dumb goatee that makes no sense, like how does he shave that?(this was an entire 5 min long rant), -he’s not even good at playing that fucking ukulele -i hate how he talks when he says french stuff

My new favorite bit of his is the refusal to acknowledge that Ethan plays violin. Yesterday he told our mom that he plays the triangle. And i feel like it’s only right for you to know that: 1)he taped this paper on the wall next to the tv (it is an empty wall and then just a random piece of paper in the middle of it and that is all..) and 2) he did ALL this before 9 am.

I was going to send you this after we’d get back from the doctor later today but I am literally writing this while “working” cause he came back in the room to get more markers without saying a word and i am just hoping i don’t find any more papers taped on my wall when I get out of this meeting.

We welcome this man as all our problem. He’s got people going back and rewatching Ethan scenes to see if his theory that Justin’s artwork was an image of Britin. We are all in this together.

He’s gone full conspiracy theory. Too many minutes with his thoughts is right. I’m dying.

But also his theories are not entirely wrong - Randy and Scott have said they thought Justin and Ted would get along. And of course we know that Brian hires Ted for Kinnetik and they become bros. And Daphne is Britin’s biggest shipper. She DOES help them get back together. And there is hitting with Michael involved over Justin. And there is cheating involved in Justin and Ethan breaking up. He is not wrong, anon, is the point.

Cracking up about the reverse sugar daddy situation.

Dyinggg over refusing to say he plays the violin. Kind of how his beloved Bri Bri refuses to call Ethan by his name.

I’m sorry your wall has been defaced with this conspiracy theory map. But also impressed.

[ploppythespaceship]

Arrowverse Review - Year 4 (2015-2016)

I figure no one reads these, but I enjoy writing them, so here I am. I have finished another year of the Arrowverse! With a whole lot more going on this time.

This post will cover:

Vixen - Season 1

Arrow - Season 4

The Flash - Season 2

Crossover Event - Heroes Join Forces

Legends of Tomorrow - Season 1

Supergirl - Season 1

I also briefly hopped back to try out Constantine, since he showed up on Arrow with very little context. But that series turned out to be very much not my thing. I'm not into horror or spooky supernatural, so this did not appeal. I tapped out five episodes in. But I got the impression none of the plot points were really relevant to the wider Arrowverse, so I feel fine doing that.

Vixen - Season 1

If your first question is, "Wait... what the hell is Vixen?" I can't really blame you. This is an animated web series featuring Mari McCabe, AKA Vixen, as she discovers her magical powers to channel the abilities of animals and uses them to become a superhero. Mari does later feature in an episode of Arrow, that would probably not make any sense if you didn't watch this.

Anyway, this is fine. Mari herself seems pretty cool, her powers are interesting enough -- and definitely lend themselves better to animation than live-action -- and this is a solid introduction to her as a character.

Unfortunately, the Arrowverse elements are the weakest part of the story. Barry and Oliver are very shoehorned into the story, and mess with the pacing big-time. Frankly, this would have been stronger as a standalone series. Also, as a short film instead of six mini episodes.

Arrow - Season 4

This season is... eh? It's definitely better than Season 3. But I think the show just has fundamental flaws that aren't ever going to be addressed. All the characters feel same-y, and largely uninteresting. There's a severe tonal mismatch between the dark and gritty drama the writers want and the comic book silliness that's actually happening.

I will say, Damien Darhk is a fairly fun villain. The actor has a good presence, and he feels like a consistent threat for the duration of the season.

I also really enjoyed Oliver and Felicity's relationship. Firstly, it's wonderful to finally not have any sort of love triangle. Second, Oliver and Felicity have excellent chemistry, and seeing their committed relationship allows for so many great moments between the pair of them. Their breakup is also well done -- I've complained before how frustrating it is when the characters on this show keep secrets from each other for stupid reasons, but this is an instance of doing that well. It's understandable why Oliver made the decision he did, and equally understandable why Felicity would be upset. It's all solid stuff.

In fact, this is probably Oliver's strongest season, character-wise. He gets a lot of good stuff here.

Curtis is okay. Honestly, I'd probably like him more if he wasn't the fourth or fifth Arrowverse character introduced with the exact same "quirky nerd" personality. That archetype has really worn thin.

Laurel is, as usual, the actual worst. At the start of the season she resolves to bring Sara back to life, despite literally everyone telling her it's a terrible idea. And when that backfires, she acts like she did nothing wrong. When she isn't being completely asinine, she still doesn't bring anything to the show. Her character does not work, has never worked, and I was genuinely glad to see her get killed off. Which was not the response I was meant to have.

I think it's time to write Malcolm Merlyn out of the show. He's worn out his welcome. And the League of Assassins could be retired for a while, as well. Every time they show up, they feel considerably less cool.

The flashbacks this season are also really boring. Oliver's trying to find this magic idol and stop a military group with some Russian slaves, and every time an episode cut back to that I wanted to go to sleep. The idol does tie back in with Darhk, but the story line felt so pointless and inconsequential.

The ending was also pretty anti-climactic. It should have worked on paper, everyone in Star City standing up to Darhk, but something just never quite clicked. But I did like the ending, with John and Thea both independently taking a break from Team Arrow. Both choices felt well-earned and it let things end on a suitably somber note.

I feel like I just complained the whole time, but this season really wasn't that bad. Just not very good either. Definitely the weakest season out of this year.

The Flash - Season 2

Many of the strengths of Season 1 continue here. The characters and cast are all still great. The simple and cozy formula works wonders. This show just has the right vibes.

We have several new characters, and they're great. Patty is unexpectedly excellent as a new love interest for Barry, and it was a shame to see her written out so soon. Wally is a fun new addition to the West family, and only gets better as the season progresses. And I did not expect Earth-2 Wells to work at all, but it absolutely did -- he has a unique dynamic with Team Flash, completely distinct from Earth-1 Wells of last season.

In fact, all the multiverse stuff is just fun. Dumb fun, but that's literally all I want these shows to be. Give me a parallel universe where Barry is a helpless nerd, Iris is a badass cop, and Caitlin is a supervillain. Why the hell not?

Another thing I appreciate is, again, the lack of love triangles. And I appreciate that both the writers and characters respect that Iris is mourning Eddie. They actually let her grieve.

If there's one thing about this season that doesn't work, it's ironically the two characters who turn out to be one and the same. Jay Garrick is bland as hell and doesn't add much to the team, while Zoom has no real presence or personality. Things improve slightly when they reveal that Jay is Zoom, and the villain can finally have a face, but it's too little too late. I think they wanted to repeat the twist of Season 1, but it just didn't land in quite the same way.

Still, everything works well enough, and I had a good time with it. No real complaints.

Crossover Event - Heroes Join Forces

As always, the crossover event is a good time. But I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the previous year's.

This event revolves around the introduction of Hawkgirl, Hawkman, and Vandal Savage... all of whom are boring and feel weirdly miscast. It's really just setup for Legends of Tomorrow, where they also don't really work.

It's ultimately the character interactions and dynamics that carry this one. Barry and Oliver pair so well together that it's a shame to only do it once or twice a year. And I think the Arrow cast just works better when they're paired with The Flash's ensemble.

Legends of Tomorrow - Season 1

This show definitely has its issues. It took a while to grow on me. But honestly... I'm coming around to it. Admittedly, I've always had a soft spot for time travel stories, so I am biased in its favor.

The main issue I have with this season is the core plot. Vandal Savage feels woefully miscast, not really having the malicious presence needed for the part (and his inconsistent accent is incredibly distracting).

Then so much of the show revolves around Kendra and Carter, who are so boring. They're meant to be star-crossed lovers, but they cast two actors with zero chemistry, and wrote that romance as though fate is forcing Kendra to be with this man against her will. It adds an uncomfortable undercurrent to their romance, and I could not figure out what they were going for.

And of course, we have another badly written romance! Kendra and Ray have no chemistry. It's like they pull two names out of a hat to decide who should date. And managing to make it a love triangle with Carter, despite him being dead for most of the season, is truly impressive.

Apart from that, though, the season really did grow on me as it went. The characters feel so random and mismatched at the start, but that actually worked in the show's favor -- seeing them become a more cohesive team felt well-earned. And all these interesting dynamics start to emerge that you wouldn't expect -- Snart and Sara, Rory and Ray, etc. And leading them all is Rip Hunter, who grew on me a lot as we learned more and more about him. (And yes, having Arthur Darvill basically playing a Time Lord is extremely fun.)

The twist of Rory being Chronos worked very well. Snart and Rory felt like the two characters that had no reason to be there, and that single twist tied them into events so cohesively. Snart's ultimate sacrifice was also very well done. (Snart and Rory were totally in love. I am not accepting other arguments.)

Overall, the setup was very fun, and it was just the main plot that didn't work. I'm hopeful that Season 2 will pick up in that respect -- especially since it looks like Kendra and Carter aren't in it.

Supergirl - Season 1

Full confession -- I have already seen this show in its entirety. And rewatching this season honestly felt like coming home. This is my TV comfort food. It has such an atmosphere of hope and love and overall good vibes. I could genuinely rewatch this season any time.

The cast is all excellent, but Melissa Benoist as Kara is on another level. This role requires a lot of things that can be contradictory at times -- gentleness and strength in equal measure -- and Benoist just nails it every time. The role is wonderfully well-written, as well. I'm definitely biased here as a Superman fan, but I do think Kara is the strongest of all these show's leads.

Calista Flockhart also steals every scene that she's in as Cat Grant. It would be so easy for her to be detestable, but her acerbic nature is always tempered by her genuine compassion. Winn is wonderful as Kara's best friend. J'onn becomes this excellent father figure to both Kara and Alex as the season progresses. I think the only weak member of the cast here is James -- he's not bad, but he is sort of bland compared to everyone else.

The single best thing this show did was give Kara an adopted sister. Kara and Alex's relationship is everything to me. It's the driving force of the entire show, and I simply adore that.

Unfortunately, like a lot of these shows, this season has a pretty annoying romance. We have not just a love triangle, but a love quartet! In the form of Kara/James/Winn/Lucy. Winn's portion of this isn't too bad -- he really just has a crush which is eventually dealt with -- but everything with Lucy is mildly agonizing. There's a lot of melodrama for the sake of melodrama, and the endgame couple of Kara/James isn't even that interesting. They very much feel like they're together for the sake of having a romance, not because they have actual chemistry.

But that truly is my only complaint. Everything else about this season works beautifully.

The crossover episode with The Flash is super cute. Barry and Oliver pair well because they're so different, but Barry and Kara pair well because they're so similar. It's just a good time all around.

[smoaking-greenarrow]

3 please!

“I’m sorry...did I leave you with the impression that I was a rational guy?”

Sequel to this!

Arrow Out of Context Part 4. Send me a number!

Also, check out chapter 1 of Arrow Out of Context, I’ve added an index for all AU organizing needs.

It was hot enough that Felicity could feel sweat dripping down her back. The sun was shining high above their heads in a perfect summer afternoon. And of course, there’s nowhere she’d rather be than at that stadium.

Her son Lincoln seemed to agree, because he refused to get out of his seat until the seventh inning stretch, when he’d made a mad dash for the bathroom, leaving her to chase behind him. 

Felicity glanced down at her five year old, his eyes fixated on the game and his legs swinging from his chair. He was almost tall enough that his feet could touch the ground, but not yet. Much to his disappointment.

Digging into her purse, Felicity pulled out her bottle of sunscreen, putting a generous portion on her palm before she reached for him. Like all the games before, Lincoln was too wrapped up in it to care as she fussed over him getting a sunburn. He let her apply it to his arms and legs, only squirming when she got to his face and blocked his view.

The kid had always been enthralled with the sport, so Felicity didn’t think very much of it. He’d grown up with an uncle in the major leagues, and now his mom was dating his favorite player. Lincoln’s interest in baseball was understandable.

Felicity loved it too, and always had thanks to her brother Jason. But she also loved a certain teammate of Jason’s who looked very, very good in a pair of baseball pants. Or shirtless. He looked really good shirtless. And Felicity had realized that he preferred to do most things shirtless. Like mow her lawn, exercise, and wash dishes.

Life was good.

“Up to bat is number six, Oliver Queen,” the announcer’s voice boomed over the intercoms while Oliver’s picture appeared on the screen with his stats from the last eight innings. “Queen has been playing an incredible game, one of his best all season. Not a single strike since the bottom of the first, let’s see if he can keep his lucky streak going.”

“Okay, Oliver,” Felicity mumbled to herself, leaning forward in her chair and wringing her hands together. Beside her, Lincoln mimicked her posture, mumbling the same words. Felicity smiled down at him, brushing his hair back.

Stepping up to the plate, Oliver made eye contact with the pitcher first, his eyebrow raised and his body relaxed. Felicity knew that for some reason, his ease always tended to rattle the pitcher.

When Oliver plays, he enjoys it. The excitement in his eyes every time he took the field was something Felicity would never stop marveling at.

Win or lose, that man came home with a smile and a positive attitude. It was one of Felicity’s favorite things about him. 

He tapped his bat against his heel, turning away from the pitcher. Oliver found her in the crowd easily where they were sitting behind home plate. And he smiled, taking a moment to wink at her before refocusing on the game. He’d gotten into the habit months ago, and the attention never failed to make her blush.

The look is short-lived, but long enough that the people around her always notice, which leads to plenty of staring and whispering as they realize that they’re sitting near Oliver Queen’s girlfriend. And then that leads to more blushing for Felicity.

Beside her, Lincoln tugged on her jersey, rocking in his seat. “Momma,” the five year old’s eyes lit up. “Get ready. It’s almost time!”

Her eyebrows furrow as she looked down at him. “Almost time?” Felicity asked. Lincoln had been excited since they arrived, especially whenever Oliver’s turn to bat came around, but his energy was more like the night before Christmas than a weekend baseball game. “Honey, what’s got you all—”

“Watch!” Her son gripped the sleeve of her shirt, shaking her until she focused on Oliver again.

The first two pitches, Oliver didn’t swing. And the opposing team started to get ahead of themselves, thinking their mediocre pitcher might just strike out Oliver Queen. “Come on, baby,” Felicity whispered to herself, holding her breath while Oliver got ready for his third and final swing.

Felicity tensed as the ball left the pitcher’s hand, and within the blink of an eye, a loud crack filled the silent stadium. Oliver’s bat collided with the ball, and Felicity jumped to her feet. “Oh!” She sighed, “run, run!”

The ball flew straight over the outfield and over the stadium wall just as Oliver’s foot touched first base.

And the man’s smile was everything.

Oliver didn’t stop, but he slowed down as he rounded second base, turning his hustle into a victory lap. Lincoln jumped up to stand with Felicity, both of them cheering Oliver on.

As he reached home plate, Oliver landed with a heavy foot, tossing his arm in the air and soaking in the enthusiastic energy surrounding him in that moment. Oliver’s eyes lock on her again, his pure joy sparking the same feeling in Felicity. She beamed at him, her own voice mixing with the Blue Jays’ fans as she screamed for him.

He doesn’t look away, giving his head a slight shake. Despite the craziness around them, Felicity could read him so clearly, seeing his eyes soften. And she knew that he wasn’t thinking about the score, the crowd, or the game.

The high of his home run was still radiating throughout the stadium, but Oliver doesn’t seem to notice. He was looking at her like he didn’t even hear it.

Felicity stopped, her arms dropping to her sides as she stared back at him.

Even when his rowdy teammates swarm him, Oliver pushed them back, keeping his eyes on her. He walked closer until he reached the waist-high wall that separated him from the stands.

Still, Felicity couldn’t do much more than blink at him. Especially when she noticed the footage of them on the mega-screen above his head, as if the whole field just wanted to know what he was up to. 

In truth, so did she. 

Oliver didn’t go out of his way to hide their relationship, but he was also a fairly private person. Aside from his little winking ritual each time it was his turn to bat, he hardly paid her any attention during the games. Probably because he knew it would end up projected in front of the whole stadium, just like this.

It wasn’t until Lincoln gently pushed her legs forward that she realized Oliver was waiting patiently for her to meet him halfway.

“Nice hit,” Felicity breathed, coming closer until her toes touched the wall between them. She cupped her hand over her forehead, blocking the sun so she could peer up at him.

Oliver’s eyes traveled down her body and back up. She raised an eyebrow, shifting on her feet while he smirked. “Nice jersey.”

Felicity glanced down at his number displayed over her chest, lifting a shoulder and smiling coyly. “You’ve seen me wear this thing a million times,” she pointed out.

“Yeah,” Oliver sighed happily, his gaze dropping again. “And it looks damn good on you every time.”

She had no idea what he was doing or why he was acting like he wasn’t in the middle of winning this game, but she didn’t really care. She’d go along with any plan that involved him looking at her just like this.

Rolling her eyes playfully, Felicity reached across the wall to push his chest. “All right, Romeo,” she teased, lifting her chin towards the field. “You better go figure out how the Blue Jays are going to beat those assholes.”

Oliver laughed, catching her hand and leaning closer. “We will. I kind of wanted to ask you for something first, though. It could very well be the thing I need to help us win tonight.”

“What’s that?” Felicity asked, cocking her head to the side.

He gave her a breathtaking, crooked smile, the sweat on his forehead distracting her for a moment. Seriously, how was it possible for him to be this sexy?

“A kiss,” he answered quietly, the dimple on his cheek making an adorable appearance. “You are my good luck charm, after all.”

“Well,” Felicity bit her lip, pushing onto her toes and smoothing her hands over his shoulders. “If that’s what it takes to help you go home a winner tonight, I think I can manage it.”

Closing the remaining distance, Oliver leaned down to meet her, not letting the wall stop him from running his hands down her back. “I’m already going home a winner,” he whispered, rubbing his nose against hers before their lips met.

His kiss was chaste and sweet, his mouth forming around her bottom lip while she tasted the salt on his upper. And his fingers skimmed to her waist, sending a shiver through her just as he pulled back.

Felicity looked up at him, ignoring the crowd that still cheered for him. She loved the calm, peaceful look in his eyes. And she especially loved that it was an expression she caused. “Will that do the trick, Queen? Are you ready to go kick some ass now?”

Oliver’s bottom lip disappeared beneath his teeth, and he gave his head a slight shake.

“Marry me.”

Blinking, Felicity hesitated as she tried to decide if she’d heard him right. “What?” She asked, certain that she did but needing to hear it again.

With a nervous little chuckle, Oliver let go. Then he lifted a leg and easily hopped over the wall. Standing in front of her, he took both of her hands while the announcer wondered out loud ‘what the hell’ Oliver Queen was doing.

Felicity’s heart was stuck in her throat, but it went soaring when Oliver got down on one knee in front of her.

“Felicity Smoak,” he spoke again, clearer this time. “Will you marry me?”

The proposal wasn’t coming completely out of left field. They’d talked about marriage. More kids. A life together.

She’d told him that she always wanted a memorable engagement and he’d told her that he would make sure it was. When that day came. They both understood that they were ready for ‘that day,’ Felicity just hadn’t been expecting it to be today.

A giggle passed her lips as she tried to catch her breath. The crowd erupted into thunderous excitement as they realized what was happening behind home plate. And the stadium grew louder than his home run celebration. Felicity tuned it out, focusing on Oliver. 

She already knew her answer. And he did too, or else he never would have asked her like this. “Are you sure you’re not just on an adrenaline high?” She clarified anyway.

Felicity was hoping to keep him in a little bit of suspense, tease him for a moment, but Oliver just grinned as if he’d expected her not to give him a ‘yes’ right away. He shook his head. “Definitely not.”

Since he was playing along... “How would I know?” Felicity cocked her head, and he squeezed her hands. “This whole thing seems like a spur of the moment decision, Oliver. I don’t even see a ring. How should I know that you’re thinking rationally about this?”

“I’m sorry…did I leave you with the impression that I was a rational guy?” Oliver grinned, his voice sarcastic.

“True,” she pulled her lips to the side, pretending to analyze him.

“Come on, Smoak,” he winked. “I always have a plan. You don’t think I’d do something this big without some help from a teammate, did you?”

Felicity’s eyes furrowed, following Oliver’s gaze over her shoulder. And there she found her son standing there, or rather bouncing there. Lincoln looked so excited...

Oliver waved him over. “Don’t you know us at all?” He teased, bending down to lift Lincoln into his arms. 

Standing in front of her, Oliver gave her a knowing look, and then he leaned in to whisper in the boy’s ear.

With a mischievous grin, Lincoln reached into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out a simple, gorgeous ring. Her son raised it in front of Felicity’s face, and she gasped, watching the diamond glint in the sunlight. A surprised laugh fell from her lips.

Tears sprung to her eyes, finally realizing why her son had been so fidgety all afternoon, carrying that thing around. Felicity could only hold the tears back for a moment, because as soon as she looked at Lincoln, he smiled at her as if this was his dream, too.

As if Oliver was their dream.

“Hmm,” Oliver hummed, leaning in again to whisper to Lincoln.

Her son nodded along with whatever Oliver was saying. And then he sighed, holding the ring a little higher. “Oliver would really, really like it if you said yes, momma. Because he would really, really, really, really like to marry you.”

“Yes,” Felicity laughed, shaking her head at them both. She finally snapped out of it, taking the ring from Lincoln’s tiny hand. “Of course I want to marry you. I really want to.Yes.”

The smile Oliver gave her in response was gorgeous, his eyes swimming with emotion as he took her hand, looking down at the ring now on her finger.

Felicity watched him, trying to burn the expression on his face into her brain. As much as she knew that Oliver was a dream come true for her and Lincoln’s life, Oliver proved to her every day that he felt the same way about them.

Looking back up at Oliver, Felicity cupped his chin in her hand, pulling him in for a kiss. “I already can’t wait to marry you,” she mumbled, forgetting all about the crowd, the game, and even the animated five year old getting squished between them.

Oliver didn’t break away from her this time, so they finally parted when Lincoln shoved a hand against Oliver’s cheek. “Guys!” The boy interrupted, “I can’t wait to eat cake, either! It’s okay!”

Chuckling, Oliver kissed the top of his head. “I told you buddy, that’s only part of what weddings are about.”

Lincoln rolled his eyes, “and I told you that you can marry my momma as long as it’s a chocolate cake.”

[nowmemoriees]

MIKE'S UNSENT LETTER TO WILL

i wasn't a firm believer of the "Mike carries a letter for Will" theory until I combined four different official hints: Music, Costume Designing, ST Social Media and the show parallels.

This theory came from the first hint: costume designing.

It's been pointed out that Mike's side pocket seems kinda.. weird. (Seems like there was some piece of paper inside of it).

This pocket was interesting even before the unsent letter theory, because many people pointed out that the grey piece looks like an arrow pointing to Mike's left, which is curious because we can see Will standing on Mike's left in suspicious scenes like this.

This pocket was mentioned again by Finn just a few days ago in the latest con. 👀

But, this is not part of the letter theory, so let's keep moving. Now let's find the context.

First of all, let's position here.

In season four, letters are probably one of the most relevant topic of the season. They're always brought up. They're meaningful. (El's letter, Jonathan's admission letter, Max's letters) Letters, Letters and more Letters.

So, it wouldn't be surprising if we had another hidden letter too, right?

Now, to go deeper, let's go back to season 3 ending.

First, we have Mike realizing his feelings for Will. (Too late for him, because now Will was moving across the country)

Then we have, surprise, another letter. Probably one of the most important letters in the show.

Hopper's letter. A letter where he tells El how he is feeling about all the recent changes.

But, somehow, this letter not only relates to Hop or El. We've been shown that Hopper's voiceover focuses on Mike at some specific phrases.

"Feelings. Jesus. The truth is, for so long I forgotten what those even were" - FOCUSES ON MIKE AND WILL HUG

"I guess I've been feeling distant from you. Like you're pulling away from me or something" - Focuses on Mike watching the Byers leaving.

"And I guess, If i'm being really honest, that' what scares me. I don't want things to change" - Focuses on Mike turning back to see the empty byers house for the last time, then focuses on Will crying.

"So I think maybe that's why I came in here. To try to maybe, stop that change. To turn back the clock, to make things go back to how they were" - Focuses on Mike hugging his mum, almost in tears. (Which also parallels the scene where he cries because he thought Will was d3ad)

Hopper's letter was not only the main hinter to Mike's feelings. It was also the beginning of some other meaningful letters in the show.

Now, let's focus on this detail before moving back to season 4. Second hint: parallels.

When Hopper wrote this letter, he never gave it to El. He never read it. He just hid it, he kept it on.. oh, his left pocket. Well, it could be just a coincidence, right?

But then, moving forward to season 4, again, we have another "hidden" letter.

Jonathan lies to Nancy about this letter, he says he never received it. But he has it. He hides it. Where does he hide the letter? Oh... his left pocket.

It wouldn't surprise me if there's another hidden letter on a left side pocket (cof cof, Mike's)

Well, now let's go to our third hint: Music.

We know background music is maybe one of the most important ways to send a message in this show.

We've been told about this by the writers. Music is carefully selected.

Then, I found this post on instagram (from @sagebyers on tumblr)

Mike nods. He understands what Will is saying on the heart to heart scene.

"Its scary to open up like that, especially to people you care about the most, because what if they don't like the truth?". Oh, have you got some hidden feelings there Michael? That phrase really got into your heart.

Yesterday, @emily-tumbles-on pointed out that El said, through her letter, that Will may like someone, so he has been acting weird. But the one who has been acting really, really weird this season was Mike.

This is related to his internal struggle. To his internal jealousy, too. But, could it also be about him trying to find the perfect moment to give Will that letter?

Finally, the fourth hint. Social media spoilers, maybe?

We've been hinted about the existence of, probably, another letter.

I believe this could be THE letter from Mike to Will. It couldn't be one of Max's letters, because what we are shown here is the date when Will went missing. So, it may be a letter for him. It must be. A letter signed with "Love, ...."

A letter that's probably about untold fellings "you mean so... / sorry I couldn't get this done.../" makes sense after Mike's realization. Right?

ok im editing this 3 days later cause we have some more hints already, i'll probably keep adding info.

- birthday letter? reblog

ok so now I've read a lot of your theories talking about the fact that the duffer bros may have actually INTENTIONALLY forgotten about Will's birthday, so it's an interesting point to add here because this letter could be a birthday one. It would make so much sense and also it would show us that Mike didn't really forget about Will's birthday, he just felt so uncomfortable that day.

if thay's the case this is going to hit so hard because i'm suffering as a Will Byers stan rn.

- another addition: finn's mention about the pocket

- addition: a great analysis here by @willbylersheart

- another analysis by @vulvatar

- mike's unsent letter to will is from season 1? analysis by @doriandrifting

[youjibyers]

I know we’ve talked about the color-coding, but I still wanted to separately get some thoughts out about it because I’m insane. Will wears plaid (I know there are probably more specific pattern names for some of these, like checkered, but using “plaid” to refer to the criss-crossing patterns is just simpler) during a lot of season 4, and one of his plaid shirts (long-sleeved and buttoned, with pockets on the front) has primarily yellow/lighter coloring with blue detailing. Mike is Will’s person, his one, after all.

We happen to see Mike wearing a plaid shirt as well in season 4. His shirt is also long-sleeved, buttoned, and has a front pocket (on the same side that we later see his arrow-pointing-to-will on the heart of his jacket). The main difference is that Mike’s plaid shirt has primarily blue/darker coloring with yellow detailing. Conveniently, this is the shirt he wears when he has a fight with his girlfriend about whether or not he really loves her.

Of course, El also is seen wearing plaid, and it’s interestingly been implied that some of her clothing might be borrowed/hand-me-downs from Will.

So El’s probable hand-me-down from Will in the airport scene also has blue on it, which on the surface might be, in this context, interpreted as representing how El loves Mike (because she’s wearing his colors). Then you think about it for another second, and it’s like, but the shirt was really Will’s, so doesn’t it ultimately just reflect that Will loves Mike again even though El is being used to convey that? Kind of like how El was used to convey that Will loves Mike in the van indirect confession scene?

And then, to really drive the point home, we can compare Will and El’s airport outfits.

Even considering that El has the plaid shirt with some blue on it and that her dress has some blue on it, I’d still say that Will wins in terms of how boldly/completely blue his outfit is.

Feels like everyone’s talked about how Mike’s airport outfit: 1. Has byler colors, and 2. Is inauthentic, implying he’s putting up a (hetero) front, but there’s also the hat situation.

Not only is he wearing sunglasses (hiding his eyes/symbolically being deceptive) to meet El and Will, but he also wears this visor that similarly helps hide his eyes (more deception symbolism?) and block out the light. It’s also got a turquoise/teal coloring on it that kind of reminds me (definitely a stretch lol) of the coloring we see on that one shirt worn by Ted Wheeler (who Mike has been shown to mimic in both behavior and clothing). Adding on to this, we see Mike trying on the hand-made sunglasses at Surfer Boy Pizza…more blocking out the light imagery being used for Mike. So basically this is like build up to the idea that it’s important we see Mike reach out a bit into the light (which Will is continually framed in) from the darkness that he’s been continually framed in. And I think there’s been an attempt to connect the outfit choices to the dark/light (lie/truth) symbolism.

Going back to El and the early fight scene with Mike again, we see her upset in this plaid piece (long-sleeved but no pockets on the front and unbuttoned, unlike byler's plaid) with a lot of blue, and it’s helping to cover up the more floral (the more her?) shirt underneath.

During their time at Surfer Boy Pizza, we see that she:

Enters Surfer Boy Pizza in her complete layered outfit with the plaid piece on top:

Has an interrupted conversation with Mike, now having shed the plaid layer to reveal just the striped (less connected/less intersecting?) piece covering the floral:

And enters the salt bath to save Max, having shed both blue layers in favor of wearing her floral shirt alone.

At the end of the season, we see she’s chosen to stay in the same floral shirt, but this time it’s free of any other competing colors or clothing items. Almost like she’s prioritized this piece of hers now.

Almost like her dependency on Mike/Mike’s romantic validation was restricting her and her more authentic sense of identity, and now she is free of it. Thus, she is free of his color…or something. Or I’m delusional…

Anyway, I just think it’s neat how there’s a bit of a plaid connection with byler + El. Plaid as a pattern seems to call to mind ideas like being interwoven or different colors intersecting or even different colors meeting…like how blue meets yellow in the west.

[deliciousobservationbird]

Parrot, Pangi, The NPPP, and Protest Humour

In 2009, in a seminal piece of work named after a particular study on the power of humour as an act of rebellion, Robert Darnton confessed that “There is no better way to ruin a joke than to analyse it or overload it with social comment.”

So, sorry NPPP. I’m going to take your joke and, not only analyse it, I’m going to charge it with social commentary, symbolism, and also meaning. Consider it, an act of rebellion, of protest, provoked by your faction name.

What is the NPPP? Who are Parrot and Spoke? To answer those questions I must say: Welcome to the Lifesteal SMP. A server where if you die, you lose a heart. Lose all your hearts and you get banned.

Within the opening days of Season 4 there was the expected primordial chaos, which was then followed by the expected still-chaotic ordering and solidifying of alliances. Two players, both alike in their goals, quickly found themselves at the opposite ends of the Lifesteal SMP hierarchy:

The first (Pangi), had many hearts and many allies. He was able to achieve the goal of most Lifesteal players by gaining 20 hearts and was one of the first to do so.

The other player (Parrot) had a different experience. He found one main ally in Spoke but quickly found the initial phase of Season 4 to be a harsher climate than he had expected. He was low on hearts, allies, and he and Spoke had to skim-off the bases and resources of other players.

The weird almost-meritocracy based class and wealth system of Lifesteal SMP becomes quickly apparent. There’s material wealth in the form of bases, villagers, and farms, and then there’s the unique Lifesteal currency in hearts. Material wealth and heart-wealth are the two separate markers of a player’s status. It is possible (and interestingly, most common) to only have one of the two.

Take the “Three Hearts Trio” for example. It’s clear that they lack in heart-wealth, which would put them down at the bottom of the Lifesteal hierarchy; however, their base was a site of immense material wealth. It was the choice target of Parrot and Spoke’s “re-appropriating” of resources. Their material wealth allows them to rise in the hierarchy and gain a particular protection due to the important resources and exports their base is able to provide the server.

Pangi (the wealthy player mentioned before) from the beginning, had set his eyes on the ambitious target of becoming the most powerful player, of being the top of this ever-present hierarchy. He gains the heart-wealth early on in the server and, due to this strength, is able to take a comparative risk by setting up a base near spawn. He is able to spend time on decoration and aesthetics and by doing so, shows off his ascension to the top. Pangi gained both material wealth and heart-wealth and so established himself as part of the ‘upper class’ of Lifesteal.

So, within Lifesteal Season 4 there is already a sense of an established hierarchy and order. The heart-rich are able to get heart-richer and grind raids with ease, whereas the heart-poor become heart-poorer, dying to stray arrows, vexes, and creeper explosions. Dying to things that aren’t even a consideration the more powerful players would need to make. There comes a need (from at-least one end of the hierarchy) for some sort of upheaval, a reversal of this social order. There comes a need for a carnival. 

By carnival, I refer to the concept of a traditional European Christian festivity (although comparable to Purim in parts) that stood in opposition to Lent. Carnival was a period of openness and freedom that was to be let out and acknowledged before the solemeness of Lent was to set in. Darnton says “Carnival was high season for hilarity, sexuality, and youth run riot-a time when young people tested social boundaries by limited outbursts of deviance, before being reassimilated in the world of order, submission, and Lentine seriousness.”

Mock trials were held and plays were produced where (within this particular context of carnival) dissent and acts of rebellion were almost encouraged. Established powers such as the pre-reformation Church were able to be challenged and the more personal enforced social norms were up-turned. As Marjolein't Hart puts it “[carnival] allowed the articulation of the idiomatic "world turned upside down", a funny and subversive way to play with established rules and hierarchies.”

She, and other historians, stressed the usage of carnival as a release of tension, a safety valve that allowed discontent people, usually at or near the bottom of their particular social hierarchy, a way of expressing their displeasure openly due to the fact it got masked or understood as a form of humour, often satire. By making these jokes, the possibility of a different reality gets aired. Elizabeth Hansot points out that “the joke is in the structures we create, structures that frame some individuals or groups arbitrarily at the expense of others.”

So, you may be thinking, that’s all well and nice but what have Parrot, Spoke and the NPPP got to do with some pretty old European folk customs?

Well, within Lifesteal there are several established structures that form the Lifesteal norm. Ideas that are taken for granted eg. that every player wants to achieve power in the form of material wealth and heart-wealth. Ideas that there is a correct way to go about this ‘inevitable quest’.

Steps for a successful Lifesteal experience:

Firstly, you want to gain allies. Don’t make enemies where you don’t gain from doing so.

Secondly, in order to gain heart-wealth, material wealth should be obtained beforehand. Either you, or one of your allies, should set up a secret base stacked with villagers and potions so you can gear up for step 3.

Now you can start to evaluate the position of each player and faction on the server. Who is poor enough to be an easier target, yet rich enough that you can gain something from the kill?

The NPPP take these pre-existing Lifesteal norms and use the framework of their alliance to protest and mock it. Their name “The No-Pants People Party” stands in opposition of former teams in previous seasons (“Men Of Battle” “People Of Gallantry” etc.) in its lack of grandeur and use of —what’s often considered— low-brow humour.

The NPPP takes one of the key beliefs of Lifesteal, that the natural desire of players is to gain wealth and power, and turns it on its head. They take the armoured leggings (which offer the second most armour points within an armour set) and refuse to wear them. They take the pre-established order of allies-gear-hearts and stand outside of it. The NPPP are able to acknowledge the expected course of action and satirise it. They make enemies with powerful allied players, they refuse to set up their own permanent base for grinding, and they mock the caution of powerful players by using The NPPP’s circumstantial group identity as players with few hearts to emphasise their refusal to ‘play the game’, to drive home the mockery they make of Lifesteal norms by not wearing trousers.

In doing so, they are effectively protesting the expected hierarchy of Lifesteal from the bottom of said hierarchy. They are not acting on game theory or rationalism. The NPPP act in defiance of the norms, they challenge players like Pangi who have more allies and have more wealth and are able to wield their unique privileges (gained from stepping outside the expected frame) to force an upheaval in the previously-solid social structure.

Just as the jester is able to mock the king due to their station, the eccentricity of the NPPP allows them the privileges of being underestimated and allowed to carry on their humorous protest. As Hansot says, it also allows them “To make a claim for oneself with a note of humour, i.e. to establish role distance, can save face in advance by creating a self that will not be discredited by lack of success or ignored by being predictable”.

They can use this open defiance of norms and loud satirising of established Lifesteal structures to weaponise every outcome. When The NPPP clash with players like Reddoons, Woogie, or Pangi, each victory is symbolic of the great upheaval The NPPP caused and also celebrates their ‘underdog story’. It both defies structures and also reinforces them. The inherent humour and absurdity of basing collective group identity on a refusal to wear trousers also endears them to the viewers of the Lifesteal SMP as well as endearing them to each other.

The NPPP are able to very quickly establish this collective group identity due to the obvious visual markers that differentiate themselves from their enemies. They characterise “pants-wearers” as being greedy, untrustworthy, and as natural enemies to the NPPP. They signify which social group they belong to, through their choice in armour wearing but it’s the use of humour that helps keep the group together and help promote collective action. In an article regarding the usage of humour within the workplace Hansot remarks that “[humour can be used] as a way of marking ethnic or kinship boundaries or of channelling hostility and mobilising solidarity among people who are forced to interact frequently and intimately.” The NPPP usage of humour regarding their faction acts as a way of signalling who does or doesn’t belong in their group as well as helping to strengthen the bonds between established members.

The NPPP use this humour and make jokes (often crass ones) about their circumstances to the extent that they can even deny their own losses. Each NPPP loss is considered as a fruitless victory for their opponents as they still exist within the Lifesteal norms, where the resources and time taken to win are a loss in a season wide battle of attrition. The viewers are also more likely to be sympathetic and supportive of The NPPP as Hart notes that “Jokes often weaken the defences of an audience and render the listeners more amenable to persuasion.” The NPPP use this humour and are able to joke with the audience such that the audience sees their refusal of norms are interesting, engaging, and charming and will make up for the backlash The NPPP get from refusing to follow the given path within the Lifesteal SMP.

So when Parrot and Spoke decided to defy expectations by refusing to wear a useful piece of armour and making penis jokes, they were (unintentionally) mimicking the European tradition of Carnival and humorous protests and defiance of established social practices and structures. Their usage of humour as a tool of persuasion for viewers, a method of bonding for people within their group, and most importantly: their usage of humour as an act of opposition against more powerful enemies shows the oft-overlooked versatility and importance of jokes. 

Maybe the NPPP was intended to be just a joke about not wearing trousers but its context gives it these extra connotations and meanings that support Parrot, Spoke, and whoever allies with them, in their open protest against the common ideals of Lifesteal culture.

Sorry NPPP! Hopefully I didn’t ruin your joke too much, but to be fair - you can’t use humour to engage and delight without inviting some (perhaps unexpected) consequences.

Disclaimers: I'm not a professional linguist and I'm also not an expert in mediaeval European folklore and traditions. There are more layers to it the more meta you get, so I mainly stuck to within the Lifesteal canon to avoid complications and to avoid making this even longer. A point could be made about how the status of an admin can be understood within Minecraft and how that contributes to the carnival-like warping of hierarchies but that was *insanely* meta. Also I had the idea for this and started writing it at 1/ 1:30am thinking it would take like 20 minutes max. I awoke from a trance where I opened my eyes to 5 pages of text with citations at 5:20am. I slept before posting to make sure it’s coherent but at this point it’s as coherent as I can make it.

Sorry for being insane btw (:

[wasflypaw]

I saw a post that was like "Do you think c!Dream wanted his friends to ask questions about his sudden villain arc" and I gotta say. c!Dream's villain arc was definitely Not sudden.

I had a look at early streams, Pre-Tommy, and. Well. I saw Dream planning a coup against George to kill him and burn all of his enchanted diamond armor and tools because George was "going off on his own and getting more powerful than everyone / not working together with everyone else" (paraphrased) and they cant be a "utopia" when George isnt working together with the rest

I saw Dream encouraging George to burn down the Lemon Tree after George was pranked by Ponk, and even Letting Him Know about the Bigger Lemon Tree so he can burn that one also, because he thinks it was justified after what Ponk did, and this is to show Ponk that he cant mess with George

After Tommy joined, he would. Still act pretty much the same way. He would SAY "No stealing no Griefing!" and act like he's completely against it, but then he would do things like destroy all of Tommy's items, repeatedly grief his house, repeatedly spawn kill him, follow him into the nether and pour lava on him, etc. He's ALWAYS been a secret lover of chaos.

If you agree he became a character around the time L'Manberg was made, then you'll also agree he's been a villain Literally the whole time, and nobody Forced his Hand. c!Dream called L'Manberg "The Land of Pussies" immediately after listening to them explain theyre seceding and they fight with words (yep he definitely saw them as a threat 😭). He would then start provoking them by burning stuff within their walls, shooting at them with arrows, trapping Tommy and Tubbo in a hole to kill them and steal all their items, THEN declare war. He's Always been the aggressor

After War was declared, c!Dream would blow up Tommy's base and threaten him when c!Tommy came over literally JUST to talk it out. c!Tommy would decide not to grief c!Dream back. When the War started, it started because the Dream Team ransacked Tubbo's base and repeatedly spawn killed him and stole his emeralds he spent 10 hours preparing for the war with

c!George and c!Sapnap were There when c!Dream orchestrated the deaths and betrayal of 4 people. They were on his Side. c!Sapnap, shortly after the war, would try to help c!Tommy and instead get threatened by c!Dream to help him instead and here's some Sapnap quores for you. "he's threatening me", "you don't want to get on Dream's bad side" and would eventually join Dream because continuing to help Tommy wasnt "worth" it

This essay would go on for Years if I continued to write down every instance of c!Dream being Like That from Season 1. So I will stop here (this isnt even going into c!Dream getting c!Sapnap's pet killed on purpose then lying to him about it)

(people like to claim c!Dream from Before c!Tommy is completely different to how he is now, and that Early DSMP c!Dream used to be a sweet baby boy. but if you're going to use that as an example So Am I. This is Not me saying go back and analyse early Dsmp streams like Regular lore as they were not intended to be RP or storytelling. This is me looking back and viewing old DSMP days purely as context for the story/what their characters would become)

[welcometogrouchland]

For the art recs, some Jon and Melanie content?

[Image ID: a digital comic of characters from the Magnus Archives. there is a narration box saying "meanwhile, in season 4...". First panel shows Basira and Melanie talking, with Jon in the corner. The text "minding business" is placed next to Jon with an arrow. The background has the spiral door, lonely fog, a web in the corner and an eye floating next to Jon. Next panel cuts diagonally into the first and is a close up of jon's glaring eyes as they glow green, action lines and eyes breaking the panel. Jon says "Melanie...". Next panel is a closeup of melanie's shirt, which is a light blue button up with a yellow and pink cat stitched on it. The slogan "me-wow" is written on one of the sleeves. In the corner of this panel is a small circle with a simplified version of jon's face in it. He says "is that my shirt?". Three diagonal reaction panels of melanie, basira and Jon follow. Melanie looks mortified, Basira looks confused and says "um, some context please?". Jon looks awkward and says "Georgie gave me that shirt in uni as a semi ironic gift. You can keep it if you want, it looks nice, I just-". He is cut off by a panel of Melanie holding a hand up to hide, saying "I'm going to change". In the background of the panel is the phrase "I am not going to return to the slaughter" over and over again. The comic ends with an arrow pointing right with the text "Tune in next week to see if Melanie murders her girlfriend for inadvertently embarrassing her at work!" End ID]

This ask made me think of Georgie still having some of Jon's clothes left over from when they dated and Melanie inadvertently picking one out and wearing it to the archives, and then I spiralled out of control and made a comic <3

[quibblesandscribbles]

Centaurworld Rewrite: A Serious Adventure AU - S1E1 Outline

I’m doing rewrite outlines, prepare for some AU. That being said, I still like several parts of Centaurworld a lot, namely Rider, Horse, Wammawink, and whatever the hell is going on with the Nowhere King, and hope there’s a second season to watch (which I will if Netflix doesn’t ruin our hopes and dreams).

Anyways, here’s like, a rewrite or whatever. I will probably post the outlines as I go, episode by episode. Will I get to them all? ADHD-willing, we’ll see. Also feel free to use these ideas/outlines? I don’t mind. 

Also assume there are songs in this even if I don’t specifically mention all of them. Also I guess this rewrite kinda chains the 1st and 2nd episodes together as a two parter? Maybe, idk.

Also I’ll preface this with this too: I ship Wammahorse, yes I SHIPSHIP it. Moving on.

Some headcanons before we start:

Warworld (*the world Rider and Horse are from) is a Low Fantasy Setting, there IS magic, but it comes in two variations, either very subtle low-powered but relatively uncommon, or Terrifyingly Powerful and so extremely rare to the point that it’s not very well known and “just myths” (usually for Big Baddies)

Ideas for Horse’s Degree of Sapience Prior to Worldhopping:

A: Horse was just a regular, non-magical horse, and their exposure to the Artifact and Centaurworld has essentially made them a Fully Uplifted Animal. - This is interesting, but ultimately a difficult idea to convey because it would require a lot more setup and wouldn’t exactly fit Horse’s characterization without some rework. This is an amazing idea, but I won’t be using it because it would slow things down too much.

B: Horse is a low-fantasy magic steed raised as warhorse/war asset, who is much smarter than your average animal steed/companion similar to a DND Ranger’s pets, or Mabari from Dragon Age, or a Ranger Horse from John Flanagan’s ‘Ranger’s Apprentice.’ The combined exposure to the Artifact and Centaurworld could account for her gaining speech and her body expressing limited physical adaptation to Centaurworld’s different physics (her body’s new extended range of motion for example) but of course I’ll be limiting this because having stakes make it more fun imho. This is my favorite, I’m using this.

Horse would’ve been considered a very valuable war asset (trained warhorses are like, historical ferraris, expensive as hell, i can only imagine what low-magical smart warhorses would be valued at), though still ultimately expendable for the war effort like anything else

Let Horse have horse behaviors (*can you tell I haven’t really left my horse phase behind lol)! Nipping and grooming behaviors as affection or warnings, ear positions to indicate mood, grazing to eat, laying down only when truly relaxed, sleeping standing up. COME ON.

Centaurworld is a High Fantasy world with an Absurdist bent but with darker undertones, similar to how Adventure Time is, with an extremely high saturation of magic, maybe you could even theorize that due to the Splitting of the Two Worlds that all the magic is being Dammed up in Centaurworld like a river or reservoir, this could be a future plot thread that could be picked up in a later season.

Basic Changes: 

Durpleton, Glendale, Ched and Zulius are supporting cast, not main

Durpleton is less stupid and more of a Kronk-expy: a little dim but ultimately kind/means well, has at least 1 life skill he’s good at buried in there though for the life of me I can’t think of one right now.

Glendale’s Narrative Framing: Glendale is amazing, but the kleptomania will be allotted ONE (or two) joke mentions but narratively isn’t treated like one after, somehow establish that her kleptomania is directly intertwined with her anxiety levels. Are there other denizens of the Valley that know the Herd? Are they mad at Glendale for stealing things? Does Wammawink have to constantly run interference to cover for Glendale? Probably.

Make Ched look like less of a pointless asshole: Have him show concern for his friends’ safety and his suspicion of outsiders, AKA Horse. If he’s going to be a jerk, at least let it serve a purpose.

Zulius can stay roughly the same - Zulius is great okay, just don’t tell me there’s backstory and then NOT TELL OR SHOW US ANY CLUES about what said backstory/history IS! (other than forcing us infer/project the headcanon[?] that him and Splendib might’ve been exes, from how they act around each other without any other context/visual/or confirming exposition we literally know nothing other than Splendib and him split/had a nasty falling out and Splendib took the glittercats and the career in the divorce.)

S1E1: Hello Rainbow Road

Opening scene in Warworld

If these episodes were allowed to be longer (shuddup it’s my AU), have the scene open with Horse sees Rider comes running out of some underground castle ruin catacombs and ominous roaring and clanging behind her as she deliberately sets off a dungeon booby trap (arrows or fire) she must’ve avoided while dungeon crawling earlier, and Horse runs towards her and circles at a canter and then Rider does a Running Mount (mounting a horse while the horse is in motion) and shoots an arrow at that flies offscreen

Smash cut to the DRAWBRIDGE door falling and Rider and Horse come galloping out while dodging some javelins and arrows and 1.5 seconds later 1-4 armored minotaurs (the lizardmen?) riding some coursers (swift horses or horselike creatures idk have fun) gallop behind in hot pursuit.

WARWORLD CHASE/FIGHT SCENE

Rider and Horse take out 2 of the pursuers on the run have Rider stay on horseback, dodge and make 1 pursuer shoot/javelin another 1 into a nasty-looking fall, and then Rider nails another 1 right through the helmet visor with an arrow. Have Rider throw a smoke bomb or something at the 2 remaining ones trying to catch up.

2 Enemies left but Horse is forced to skid to a stop as the suspension bridge approaches, then a tense moment forced to walk in order to escape safely across the suspension bridge which Rider cuts once they’re across. Maybe have 1 of the minotaur pursuers having been on the bridge somewhat behind them before Rider had to cut the line, sending the enemy hurtling down below. The remaining minotaur scout stares at them ominously from the other side before leaving.

Have Rider breath a sigh of relief

Smash cut to Horse and Rider traveling across a wartorn landscape, start Horse’s internal monologue narrative until they finally get to the hill and see the ruins of their village

Everything from this point to Horse getting transported to Centaurworld is the same as canon

Not Actually a DREAMVISION SEQUENCE: 

Shot/Animated from Horse’s 1st Person POV: Darkness, the sound of whooshing Horse falls, shimmering flash colors [if this were an actual show pls put a Epilepsy warning at the beginning of the ep], then a loud Splash as Horse falls into Dark Water. POV looks down and we see Horse’s front legs and a bottomless abyss below and a then flash of green and off-white from deep below, then look up to see blue light, see the swimming motions of Horse’s front legs and getting closer to the Blue Light

Horse wakes up, blinking, alone (no Durpleton)

Horse gets up looks around, doesn’t see Rider anywhere and starts makes Whinnying sounds (specifically, Whinnying is a social horse call, like specifically going, “Rider where are you!?” in IRL horse)

“And what are you supposed to be?” the “camera” wheels around to see Ched who has landed on Horse just within reach of her tail so Horse lets out a startled squeal (the Horse noise, not the human one) and does that thing where horses use their tails to swat away insects which sends Ched FLYING as Horse’s squealing morphs into her Talking/Yelling “what the heck is going on?!”

Horse does what panicked horses do, she runs

Horse stumbles into meeting Durpleton, who freaks her out more

Meeting kinda the same as canon but with less constant emphasis on reminding the audience that the writer’s can’t write comedy

Wammawink and Horse meet, Ched flies in and goes “hey that asshole kicked my a-I mean attacked me, but I totally beat ‘em.”

Horse tries to leave, discovers the Barrier, tries to get through, fails multiple times, but only 3-4 attempts shown with time passage show by the time of day changing, have Horse’ talking to herself a bit about how utterly weird the talking words thing is, that this is a “human” thing why is this HAPPENING she needs to get back

Waste less time on the visual gags of the Barrier repelling Horse, also get rid of the Tree Catapult scene because it doesn’t jive with Horse being a horse, why do they know how to make a catapult? Also because I hate how it basically shows us that Horse has no physical danger or chance of injury from being FLUNG around like Pokemon’s Team Rocket.

Have the rest of the centaur Herd come up to and talk to Horse while Horse is trying to get through the Barrier, and Horse talks about the outside and her world and doing things, squeeze in some convo about how there’s no (current) war in Centaurworld and how Horse thinks that that “freedom must be nice.” Anyways these conversations are what has Glendale, Zulius and Durpleton at least considering the ups of leaving.

Durpleton: Durpleton approaches Horse alone and asks about where she’s from, what’s home like, expositiony bits for Warworld and how much Horse needs to get herself and the Artifact back to Rider; Horse should say something offhand, like how she dreamed about exploring the world with Rider after the War seeing new things together, to which we’d cut to a shot of Durpleton looking thoughtful, before asking a completely unrelated question before Horse asks to be left alone. He doesn’t go originally, but gets distracted by something (butterfly?) and trots off.

Wammawink, Ched & Glendale: Atop a hill, Wammawink looks up to see stormclouds gathering off in the distance and comments that they’re going to be in for some rough weather, then goes over to offer Horse food, but gets distracted by some other Valley Denizens who are mad suspicious that Glendale is responsible for something of theirs that’s missing. Leaving Wammawink to go off and have to run interference leaving Glendale to approach Horse alone. Horse will learn that there’s no (current) war in Centaurworld but there was one historically, and Glendale will offhandedly mention that they’ve stolen everything from everyone in the Valley at least 4 times and with the unspoken implication of boredom. Ched will butt in and heckle Horse like, “could you leave any quieter?” and Horse sniping back, ears pinned back and animated horse stress behaviors. And Horse’s last failed attempt at passing the Barrier has them drop the Artifact, and we get a shot of Glendale spotting and eyes widening at seeing the Artifact unattended on the ground, then we get a smash cut of Glendale getting herded away by Ched.

Zulius: Goes over to ask about Horse’s avante garde accessories (her bridle, saddle & armor[barding]), makes comments on her style/aesthetic and asks where he could find some. Horse loses her patience, and says that she Needs to concentrate on getting back to someone they care a lot about and could you please just go away? 

Horse: (voiced as a rhetorical question) “Haven’t you ever wanted to go back to someone you loved before?”

Zulius gets a Look on his face, then he’d puff up, cover up the Armor Piercing Question’s effect on him with more bluster and then turn away as it gets later

Around sunset, Horse finally gives in to go ask Wammawink what’s up, and how can they leave.

Wammawink tries to feed them and convince them to stay, but Horse waves her off and moves away while muttering something about coming up with a plan

Speaking of plans, the Herd excluding Wammawink (& Ched) start talking about being bored, and mention Horse saying stuff about exploring the world (taken out of context, deliberately)

Wammawink, smelling the ugly head of discontent, sighs in defeat at not being able to recruit this new outcast in the Herd and approaches a grazing Horse and says she’ll help her through it with her magic(not admitting that the Barrier is her magic working in the first place because it’s not relevant right now okay) but then we get the “What’s magic?” bit from Horse and the rest of the Herd butts in with the Song. They wander off to go to bed afterwards, and Horse wants to go Now but Wammawink says that she’ll help Horse leave the Barrier but only in the morning because “you look tired”

Horse: “That doesn’t matter.” *awkward silence*

Wammawink, sadly: “Of course it does.” *Horse has already walked away*

The sun finishes setting as the wind blows the plants and through Wammawink’s fur (ominously) and she shivers, going back to the campfire

DREAM SEQUENCE: It’s dark, then we get a flashback dream of a younger Rider and Horse, idk a memory of something to showcase them either while in training or really show their Bond okay? End with them sitting around a campfire with other young soldiers and horses, someone is humming something (the first few bars of the Nowhere King’s Lullaby, no actual words yet). Then Dream!Rider turns to face Horse and asks, “how could you?”

Horse: “How could I what?”

Dream!Rider: “How could you leave me behind?” (The humming grows louder, there’s a lute being played, growing discordant)

Then Horse starts calling into the darkness/void, “I’m coming back for you, Rider! Just hang on, alright?!”

Rider: “Oh Horse, it’s already too late for me.”

“Rider!” Horse yells as they jolt awake, standing, because horses typically sleep standing up.

It’s dawn but the wind and stormy weather signs are picking up but not here yet, Wammawink walks Horse to the edge of the Valley barrier and tries to convince Horse to stay here where it’s safe, but Horse refuses to be deterred

Brief shot of Glendale hiding a bunch of things from her Tummy Hammerspace in order to simulate the feeling of stealing things again later, including the Artifact which falls on the ground

A shot of Durpleton seeing and picking up the Artifact and spotting Wammawink and Horse some distance away going toward the barrier’s edge

Wammawink hangs back on a hill, glowy hands and the magic wall flickers and disappears, and Horse immediately breaks into a gallop and disappears into the forest, Wammawink sighs and turns away

Indeterminate amount of time later, Wammawink recasts the Barrier, and Durpleton misses breakfast so Wammawink enlists Ched to help her look for him because Ched can fly

Cut to a shot of Horse dropping from a canter to a trot on the Rainbow Road, it’s grown darker and the stormclouds are in the sky. Distant thunder booms overhead, and a few scattered raindrops start to fall

“Heyyyy! You forgot your necklaceeee!” a shout from behind

Horse looks back and sees a running Durpleton holding the Artifact, and stops, he catches up to Horse and is gasping, “Wow, you run fast, hoooo, *deep breaths* you’re really *another gasp* athletic! Anyways you forgot your Necklace.”

Durpleton ties the broken string into a necklace around Horse’s neck and Horse thanks them and wishes them a safe journey back to the Valley, but as this happens the rain gradually falls harder. Then the sounds of the Rest of the Herd finally catching up happen, and Wammawink mother hens Durpleton and wants take everyone back home but then a loud BOOM of thunder and lightning overhead, and then it starts to Pour down rain, forcing Horse and co to find shelter until it lets up. Maybe have someone mention something about landslides being a possibility? Durpleton asks how they found them so fast, dim remember, then brief flashback.

FLASHBACK: Wammawink and co searching and calling out for Durpleton everywhere in the Valley, and realize that he must’ve followed Horse for some reason when Zulius FINALLY shows up and mentions that he remembers Durpleton saying he was gonna give Horse back her necklace. The recast Barrier is brought down and they leave the Valley to bring back their friend.

Back to the present where the group has taken shelter as the storm picks up more, and thunder booms overhead, Horse has some nervous horse body language going on, then we get to hear her mutter-singing or humming the “I never fear the drums of war” to calm herself down, but with more stanzas please, when asked she says it’s a battle hymn that Rider sang.

If Horse was humming, Wammawink could ask why she doesn’t sing, she’s sure that Horse has a lovely voice

Horse goes “I’m a horse, I don’t sing.”

Wammawink tries to be encouraging, Horse is resistant

Wammawink invites her to eat (AGAIN) but Horse still turns her (love and affection) down (AGAIN!) and says she’s fine with grazing and Glendale pipes in excitedly that they have decided that they want to travel with Horse (Ched pipes up that he didn’t agree to this) but pls help us convince Wammawink and Horse protests but someone points out to ask “do you even know where you’re going” and they have a point

Horse acknowledges this and relents, states some stuff about how she’s not going to slow down much however. Then Glendale, Zulius and Durpleton rejoice, Ched acts tsundere, but Wammawink looks nervous and wrings her hands together and relents that “they’ll go with Horse as far as the nearest Shaman” and Ched will go, “hey don’t you know he-” and Wammawink shushes him quickly with a gigglecake

Wammawink doubles down on the mother henning behavior

Horse doesn’t eat Wammawink’s gigglecakes but grazes by herself nearby, occasionally answering a question or two when engaged by the others (not Wammawink) and Wammawink mentions how the weather probably won’t let up for very long and they should take it slow and that Horse should bundle up

Horse disagrees but its bedtime and a bedtime song occurs in the backdrop as a restless Horse struggles to stay alert and awake but eventually falls asleep

VISION SEQUENCE: A shimmer of soft blue light, then shots of Rider ducking and weaving, her sword flashing as she tries to weave her way through a horde of enemy soldiers, blood spatters, then an enemy archer takes aim at a fleeing Rider, and Horse calls out a warning. 

Rider turns her head with a surprised look on her face suddenly just enough that the arrow buries itself into her shoulder instead the middle of her back and then she stumbles, one of her arms going limp, but everything goes dark before we can see if she fell

Everything goes dark and the din of war fades away, we get a shot of Horse’s hooves splashing and making ripples into dark water but the camera doesn’t follow her, we hear Horse’s cries for Rider fade, growing further and further away

Still dark, but in the silence we hear distant sound, drip, drip, drip, drip.

Then the episode ends and the credits roll.

[luulapants]

Teen Wolf and Perceptions of Character Age

There is a certain discussion that I find myself having (in different variations) over and over again with other Teen Wolf fans: how the age of the actors, compared to the age of the characters, affected the way we perceive and empathize with those characters. Studios have good reasons for not using actual underage kids in their shows - work hour restrictions, school arrangements, limits on racy/sexy scenes - but using adults in a show depicting younger teenagers drastically changes how we interpret their stories.

It’s easy to brush off with some of them, to think, “Oh, well it was a 19-year-old playing a 16-year-old. Not that big a difference.” But I’m going to challenge that notion with a few examples:

Erica Reyes:

Gage Golightly was about 19 when she played 15-year-old Erica. Erica was unpopular, struggled with epilepsy and medication side-effects. She was offered the bite, given the opportunity to make the life-altering decision to become a werewolf. She had no support in making that choice, and the consequences were fatal.

Remember how bad you felt for Erica when she and Boyd were being shot full of arrows, begging Allison to stop hurting them? Well, now imagine that scene with Gage Golightly as she actually looked at age 15-16:

Look at that picture. That is a child. Probably a child that thinks she’s an adult (I know I fucking thought so at that age) but a child nonetheless. Imagine that face being offered the bite. Trying to kiss Derek. Having the shit beat out of her as “training.” Being tortured by Gerard. Being killed by Kali.

Isaac Lahey:

Daniel Sharman was 25 when he played Isaac, who was 15-16 in S2.

Again, we had some really harrowing, emotionally difficult scenes with him. His father abused him. He was offered the bite. Derek beat him as part of their “training.” Chris sent him, alone, into an arms deal with the Japanese mafia. His girlfriend was murdered. Now, I couldn’t even find a picture of Daniel at 15 or 16, but here he is at 17:

How does picturing that face change Isaac’s scenes? His whole story arc?

Scott McCall:

This is a big one for me. Tyler Posey was only 20 years old when he played 16-year-old Scott, but the difference still made a stark contrast in the audience’s expectation of him as the hero of the show. I constantly see people wondering why he didn’t make better decisions, why his priorities weren’t right or why he reacted poorly in dire circumstances.

This is the (admittedly youthful) face that we see going through all of Scott’s S1 challenges. He gets attacked by a monster, turned into a monster himself, has his life threatened by multiple adults, is put into multiple deadly situations within the span of a few months, and is thrust into a position of leadership as the protector and savior of Beacon Hills.

Here is Tyler Posey at 15 (couldn’t find a great 16 pic):

I’ll admit that he was one of the more youthful looking actors in the early seasons. But by season 6, where he is supposed to be 18 (still younger than S1 Posey) but Tyler Posey was 26? When Scott was leading an army and clawing his own eyes out?

What is my point?

My point is NOT that we need to re-interpret the entire story in the context of them being children. Because, clearly, the writers didn’t treat them like real children either. And that’s part of the problem. TV shows present us with teenage characters that often look, act, and feel like adults. When it’s convenient for the plot, of course. We get glimpses of immaturity when that’s convenient, too.

Having older actors gives writers permission, in a way, to write about children in situations that we, in reality, would never want to see a child in. Who would be able to stomach watching a 16-year-old Daniel Sharman being beaten? Or 15-year-old Gage Golightly being shot full of arrows? The show suddenly goes from exciting and suspenseful to outright horrifying.

Maturity-wise, how different did 18-year-old Lydia Martin feel from 24-year-old Jordan Parrish? Not very. So when you see part of fandom freaking out that it was an inappropriate and predatory relationship and another part of fandom like “Are you joking? No, it just... wasn’t,” it’s not necessarily because that second part of fandom would actually see that sort of relationship in real life and think it’s 100% okay. It’s because Lydia Martin wasn’t portrayed as an 18-year-old physically, emotionally, or intellectually. Holland Roden was 30 years old by season 5. They just put her in a high school.

Similarly, there are people who think Sterek is an inappropriate ship. And I agree that it would be VERY creepy for these two to date:

But that’s not what we saw. Dylan O’Brien was 20. Tyler Hoechlin was 23.

Some people have very clear mental pictures of what teenagers look and act like. When watching shows like this, they will project age-appropriate thoughts and expectations onto those characters. Others don’t have that clear picture. When you are that age, you don’t think of yourself as being young, and if you’re not around people that age afterward, you probably won’t develop a clear sense of what a 16-year-old is or is not. For those people, they’ll take these depictions at face value: adult-like people walking around a high school. It produces two very different watching experiences.

So when one person says Derek is a horrible monster for abusing children in Season 2 and another says that he was just training his army to prepare them for the real danger... that’s what that is. It’s not that one is right and the other is wrong. The first person was watching an adult beat children. The second person was watching a 24-year-old, pretending to be 20-mumblety-something or whatever the fuck Derek was, giving tough-love training to three people who, by function of appearance and how they were written, were his age and older.

(Side note: Derek was actually playing someone his own age, but only retroactively. Originally, his character was meant to be “a few years older” than Scott and Stiles but that was retconned due to the Kate Argent plotline.)

Oh and here’s Shelley Hennig at 17 vs 27 and playing 17:

Here are some who I couldn’t find pictures of at younger ages, but whose age gaps from their characters are significant:

Sinqua Walls was 26 when he played Boyd, about a decade too old. There’s a whole mess of complicated implications with perceptions of black boys being perceived as “looking older” in that casting.

Crystal Reed was also 26 when she played 17-year-old Allison Argent, and was 29 by the time she left the show. Allison was still 17.

Keahu Kahuanui was 25 when he played Danny, who was 15-17.

Arden Cho was 29 when she started playing 16-year-old Kira.

Colton Haynes was 23 while playing Jackson, who was 16 or 17.

It is interesting that, starting in Season 4, they began hiring actors and actresses a little bit closer to their characters’ ages. Someone else write a meta on that, plz.

[magicianapprenticelyra]

Actor AU: Season 4 [Muriel]

Credit for the basis of the AU goes to both @lightvsdark18 and @lynmay-arcana.

[Original Link] | [Additional Link]

O*O*O

[Season 1: Nadia Satrinava] | [Season 2: Asra Alnazar] | [Season 3: Julian Devorak] | Season 4: Muriel

Muriel—Behind the Scenes & On Set Happenings/Shenanigans

[After the end of Season 3, the show took a two year hiatus. The cast had several other projects going on and needed some time off from the series. It'd been especially taxing for Lyra, who had almost been working in The Arcana nonstop since the series began].

With the hiatus, the show writers started to do more in-depth research for where Muriel came from. Specifically, they looked to Central Asia. Securing filming spots and/or finding similar enough environments close to base of operations—and within budget—was a bit taxing, but it did get done. One source of information was from Muriel’s own grandmother, who was the basis for Khamgalai.

[More under the cut!]

Here’s how the filming of this season went:

Lyra had to relearn how to ride horses. Lysinger wasn’t an option, thankfully.

Still, Lysinger had a short cameo toward the end of the season.

Appleberry gets many, many, many hugs and cuddles from Lyra, as it was in the past.

Muriel spend so much time getting measured and remeasured that he joked that he felt like he was getting ready for a wedding or a fashion shoot.

Asra, in the nearest makeup booth: “Give my character enough time, he’ll officiate the whole wedding!”

The writers ran with that, much to Asra’s delight.

Inanna was a wolf-dog hybrid that had been trained by professional handlers.

Muriel adored the dog, but at times noted she was really, really rambunctious.

Finding a horse that could hold Muriel’s weight and walk through the terrain of the proposed terrain for The Shining Steppe wasn’t too hard for Muriel to figure out.

He bonded so quickly with the horse the he actually adopted them.

Lyra and Asra visit said horse every time they visit Muriel’s plot of land.

This season has arguably the most amount of fake blood used between every single showcased character in the show.

Muriel: “I swear I can smell that red, minty concoction they made. Ugh.”

Interviewer: “They added a mint flavoring?”

Muriel/Julian: “Yup.”

Lyra: “I think it was to make them wince more realistically? The-the minty vapors, you know? I actually got packets of the leftovers and they tasted great on vanilla ice cream!” (^^)

Muriel: . . .

Julian: . . .

Interviewer: . . .

Julian: “Why are you and Asra like this?!” [everyone in the room falls apart laughing]

When it came to a certain scene with Khamgalai, Muriel and Khamgalai fretted over permanently staining the traditional costume she was going to be in.

They found a way to use some plastic wrap covered in the blood over the traditional attire, so it wouldn’t be stained.

Some after effects on it made the scene a lot more tragic and sad.

Horseback riding is one thing. Archery is another. Archery on top of a moving horse!?

Lyra got a stunt double for it, and she’s forever grateful for them.

When MC is learning archery from Morga, Lyra actually did do some bow and arrow work.

As far as her wrists could handle, anyway.

Morga only made a cameo in Asra’s route before Muriel’s happened.

Getting to know the actress/stunt woman behind the character was really fun for Lyra and Muriel.

Knowing the background of the Scourge of the South in context of Muriel’s route, on the other hand . . . oof.

To get inspiration/proper research for the Steppe games, cast and crew visited Mongolia to see the actual Mongolian Games in action.

Muriel had an in with a cousin that was an archer, who provided tips for Lyra in how to hold her bow, if she so wished.

Everyone else had to be respectful or they’d be immediately ejected from the grounds.

The actor who played The Hermit needed to wear elevated shoes. He was a big guy, but he wasn’t taller than Muriel.

Lyra: “I craned my neck so much this season.” XP

Lucio got to try so many prototypes of his character’s gradual/eventual Devil transformation.

Not to mention that he got to prance about in special shoes/heels that gave him satyr/goat hooves.

Lucio: I had so much fun chasing her [Lyra] around.

Lyra: He’s so fucking fast in those things! I don’t even—!

Lucio: Walk enough runways kid and you’ll get it quick enough.

The sparring matches were very fun for everyone involved.

Morga: Everyone had a fight scene one way or another. The magicians got to get ridiculous and fighters got snarly.

Morga: The kids [Muriel and Lyra] were damn cute though.

The actor for Morga actually had six of her own boys, often shaking her head at Morga’s treatment of Lucio.

Morga: “Treat a kid like that of course they’ll turn out to be a brat.”

There were so many memes surrounding Khamgalai’s and The Hermit’s relationship. Romantic? Platonic? Sexual~?

Muriel’s actor provided the biggest meme—

Muriel: “Did you f*ck my grandma, Hermit??”

*insert Lyra and many others face palming*

During some of the colder nights of filming, Muriel open placed his palms over the tops of the crew’s uncovered heads in order to keep them warm.

On the B-roll of filming the river and bathing scenes, camera catch Lyra and other crew members blushing/getting flustered at the sight of Muriel being drenched.

All the kids that got to play the children of Vesuvia utterly adore Muriel.

Unlike his character—at least earlier on—he doesn’t mind being climbed on by them between takes or on breaks.

The kid that plays Nashin actually had their own chicken in hand when asking Muriel about how to raise chickens.

B-roll footage shows Lyra ducking to the side, collapsing on the ground, exclaiming, THIS IS TOO CUUUUUUUUTE!!!!!!!!!!! \(TOT)/ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

During the Coliseum game/fight—dependent on Upright/Reversed endings], Muriel and MC both got to bat Devil!Lucio around like a shuttlecock.

The wire work required to do such a thing was time-consuming. More than once Lucio’s costume got caught in some of the rigging.

Crewmember: We might need to nix the cape for your safety, man.

Lucio: THE CAPE STAYS ON! EVEN IF I’M GETTING MY ASS BEAT!

It was an exhilarating day, to say the least.

The last scenes to be shot were of the dance Muriel and MC did on one of the balconies of the palace.

Lyra had a hard time with it because she and Muriel kept cracking up with giggles, especially with Asra silently clowning around behind the camera-people.

The cheesy, romantic music the crew played to help set the mood did not help, but oh well.

An unfortunate fire that occurred at the studio—it was suspected to be arson, but no one was ever caught—where a number of scenes were messed up.

The footage of the Coliseum games during the Upright finale were damaged or completely destroyed.

They had to redo everything, and it upset everyone involved that it came about so crappily.

There’s still B-footage that exists of the original polished material, but it isn’t the same.

At the end of the filming the redos, Muriel actually had his own wedding to attend! It was to his partner, and they had been dating for over a decade!

Most of the cast attended, while the rest sent well wishes and gifts.

A few scenes that hit the cutting room floor are as follows:

Inanna being more mischievous than shown in the season/show.

MC/Lyra actually catching a river fish in their/her mouth.

Extended scenes of Muriel and MC’s training montage.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading this as I had with writing it!

Next: [Portia Devorak]

[smoaking-greenarrow]

There are so many wonderful ideas here. Thanks so much for writing. 14, about breaking into the lair. This is a great running gag. 20 (I think) about sentence fragments. Please. Thank you. Sorry, this ask is mostly sentence fragments.

@icannotbelieveiamhere since I know you meant 19 ;)

“Let’s get one thing straight. The only person who gets to talk in sentence fragments around here is me.”

Arrow Out of Context Part 4. Send me a number! 

She could see the smirk on Oliver’s face out of the corner of her eye. The one that he was trying to hide, acting as if he wasn’t paying any attention to her at all.

Felicity ignored him, growing frustrated with their baking adventure that was really more of a kitchen nightmare. Half of the cookies on the counter were decorated with bulls-eye targets that Oliver had crafted into perfect little circles. The others were supposed to look like arrows. And it was embarrassingly obvious who had frosted which cookies.

“Does this look right?” She groaned, holding up her best attempt so far.

Oliver pressed his lips together, his telltale sign that a lie was coming. “Yeah,” he shrugged.

“Ugh,” Felicity set the mess back on the counter and pouted up at him. He was barely even trying to make it convincing. “They suck.”

Chuckling, Oliver dipped his head to hers, kissing the tip of her nose where she knew she’d gotten icing on her face a few minutes ago. “William is not going to care whether or not the cookies are perfect. He’s just going to love that we’re doing this. And that we’ll all be together.”

She sighed, “it’s not William I’m worried about impressing. You know if his grandparents don’t deem this party and our home perfect, they’ll never let William come stay with us.”

“We all agreed that this is William’s decision,” Oliver reminded her calmly. Leaning in, he pressed a kiss to her lips, smiling as he pulled back, “why don’t you grab the extra cookies out of the oven? I’ll help you frost them.”

Felicity frowned, “the extra…” she glanced back at the oven, realizing that there was another full tray of the arrow cookies inside. “Oliver!” Felicity complained, smacking his arm with the back of her hand. “You assumed I was going to screw up, so you made more?”

Rubbing his arm as if it had hurt, Oliver pouted back. “First of all…ow. Second of all, I didn’t assume you’d screwed up, I was just prepared with extras so you could have more practice. And more cookies,” he shrugged, moving his hand to splay over her growing stomach. “My girls deserve all the cookies they want.”

Like usual, Felicity melted at the words. “Yes, we do,” she hummed, hooking her fingers in the collar of his sweatshirt and pulling him back down.

“Mm,” Oliver hummed, surprised but not objecting when she deepened the kiss, tracing the tip of her tongue over the seam of his lips. He opened willingly, his hands tightening on her hips, holding her as close as he could with her belly between them.

Just as Felicity’s heart was starting to pick up speed, knowing that this moment could very well lead to clothes discarded around the room and her body spread out across the kitchen table. It had before, and she was sure that it would again.

But Oliver groaned before they could get too carried away. “Cookies,” he whispered breathlessly, “burning.” And all her fun was over with one more kiss. He winked, squeezing her hand and stepping back towards the oven.

“So,” he continued, finding the oven mitts on the counter and checking if the cookies were done. “William’s train is going to be here about an hour before the party.” Felicity rubbed her stomach as he spoke, feeling a slight pain near her bellybutton. She took in a deep breath, listening as Oliver explained how William’s surprise party would work.

A moment later, Felicity felt water trickling down her leg, and she looked down at her feet in confusion.

Oliver was placing the cookies on the cooling rack, his back to her as he kept talking, “Thea said she could pick him, Frank, and Irene up at the train station and entertain them until everything's all set up here—”

“Honey,” Felicity gasped, her heart jumping in her chest as she quickly realized where the water was coming from.

Her husband turned quickly, his eyes finding hers in an instant, probably hearing the muddled panic in her tone. “I think my water just broke,” she whispered, although Oliver was already staring at the floor below her, his eyes widening.

If there was anyone, between the two of them or in the entire world, who Felicity would expect to be cool, calm, and collected at a time like this, it would be Oliver Queen. She probably would have bet money on it. He was the last of her concerns during this pregnancy. But in that moment, Oliver stood stunned in front of her for a little too long. Looking like a deer in headlights.

“Honey!” Felicity tried to shake him out of the panic written all over his face.

His eyes snapped up to hers, and then he damn near threw his tray of cookies across the counter. “Okay!” he jumped into action, still looking as terrified as before. “Okay, I need to grab your bag—did we pack those little—oh my god—where did you put the keys—and my phone—Thea will need to—this is—”

“Hey,” Felicity interrupted, putting a soothing hand on his arm to stop him on his mad dash for the nursery. “Let’s get one thing straight. The only person who gets to talk in sentence fragments around here is me.”

Her words had the desired effect.

Oliver let out a long breath, relaxing. And Felicity smiled. “I love you,” she stroked his arm, “we’re in this together. Just like we always have been, and will be for the rest of our lives.”

He nodded in agreement. Another calming breath. “I love you, too. So much.”

Felicity nudged him, “all right, you can get that bag now. Not trying to freak you out here, but I think we better go now.”

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