#but yeah 1x03 is one of the best episodes of s1 i think

[gumy-shark]

Curious what episode / chapter sold you on mp100

oh season 1 episode 3 for sure. before that, i was just watching along bc my sibling wanted to show me the thing they liked- ep3 was when it got REAL!! it was the last of the 3 setup episodes- the first was to introduce you to the world and main characters, the second was to introduce you to mob specifically, and the third episode was there to introduce the main overarching conflict of mob vs his own emotions! ep3 is the one that tells you, there is SO much more going on here, we’ve only scratched the surface!

(also the emotions in that episode are so good. and 100% rage is so awesome. and mob���s struggles with relating to his peers and the way others reacted to his flat affect was just deeply compelling and heartbreaking to me.)

[mlobsters]

supernatural s1e7 hook man (w. john shiban)

(this is a rewatch, so spoilers abound)

as i see the tail end of skin again just reminded thank goodness green screen in the impala was only s1

chains on his hook, he fancy. come get this piece of shit boyfriend who doesn't understand the word no

DEAN Your, uh, half-caf, double vanilla latte is gettin’ cold over here, Francis. SAM Bite me.

real men drink coffee that doesn't taste good, duh

DEAN Sam, I’m tellin’ ya, I don’t think Dad wants to be found.

understatement

laughing at the link on the side about police campaign targeting unruly pedestrians lol. also top tip, just don't include the top of the window so we can't tell we're in a picture viewing app! it's a nice little mockup. still on the random skateboard resting on a chest/trunk thing for the background

just workin on my beamer with a half eaten banana in my face???

FRAT BOY Do me a favor? Get my back. Big game today. DEAN (pointing to SAM) He’s the artist. Things he can do with a brush. -- DEAN You missed a spot. Just down there... on the back

dean can't resist making sam paint this random frat boy. also, dean's reading "backside" magazine. "bottoms up! [something]'s best backside, bobbi brenner, shows off her assets" lol nice one, design team. also i don't think i'd ever heard the term skin mag before this show.

s1e7 dan butler as reverand sorenson / the x-files s2e14 as jim ausbury / the silence of the lambs (1991) as roden

okay he's been in a lot of things i know. frasier (recurring then main character for a minute?) and roseanne specifically. however! he was also in an episode of the xfiles and he was in that scene about the moth in the silence of the lambs

REV SORENSEN Our hearts go out to the family of a young man who perished. And my personal prayers of thanks go out as well because I believe he died trying to protect my daughter.

more like got interrupted trying to sexually assault her but potayto potahto

also show being real subtle with them walking into the church and reverend's daughter looks back and makes meaningful eye contact with sam while he flashes a half dimpled sympathetic smile. i wonder if they're gonna try to push sam and the girl getting together!! lol

also real subtle with the, dean doesn't care about religion/church whatever with sam needing to nudge him to get him to bow his head. he surely knows better how to play along :p

SAM I kind of know what you’re going through. I-I saw someone..get hurt once. It’s something you don’t forget.

echoing that moment in 1x03 when sam gets to hear dean talk about mary

from s1e3 dead in the water DEAN You're scared. It's okay. I understand. See, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my mom, and I was scared, too.

laughing at how squashed together they had the boys stand. i imagine it's so they're not blocking the woman's shot, but it makes me chuckle nonetheless

DEAN So, this is how you spent four good years of your life, huh? SAM Welcome to higher education.

establishing the correct number of years being away at college :p

j2 tell a story that they got the spotlights taken away because they were being obnoxious with them, wiki says they were taken off because of camera placement for an episode ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

SAM If it is a spirit, buckshot won’t do much good. DEAN Yeah, rock salt. SAM Huh. Salt being a spirit deterrent. DEAN Yeah. It won’t kill ‘em. But it’ll slow ‘em down. SAM That’s pretty good. You and Dad think of this? DEAN I told you. You don’t have to be a college graduate to be a genius.

huh! didn't remember this was something they.... invented. within the past few years. again with my impression them being this little isolated family of lone hunters vs the world

DEAN Saved your ass! Talked the sheriff down to a fine. Dude, I am Matlock.

was gonna say this feels like an old reference, but i watched plenty of matlock and dean and i are about the same age soo :p

DEAN Dude, sorority girls! Think we’ll see a naked pillow fight?

per wiki

Reference to National Lampoon's Animal House where in a scene the character Bluto, played by John Belushi, gets to see some sorority girls in a naked pillow fight.

still rolling my eyes. like the whole porky's 2 is dean's favorite movie

DEAN Yeah, that’s classic Hook Man all right. (He taps his nose.) It’s definitely a spirit. SAM Yeah, I’ve never smelled ozone this strong before.

huh. another thing that got dropped. ghostly ozone!

DEAN Man, you’ve been holding out on me. This college thing is awesome! SAM This wasn’t really my experience. DEAN Let me guess. Libraries, studying, straight A’s? What a geek.

--

LORI I saw you from upstairs. What are you doing here? SAM I’m keeping an eye on the place. (LORI looks at him.) I was worried. LORI About me? SAM Yeah. Sorry. LORI No, it’s cool. I already called the cops. (She smiles. SAM laughs.) No, seriously. I think you’re sweet. Which is probably why you should run away from me as fast as you can.

listen. i know he's cute and dimpled and all, but GIRL! hell no. she's just been traumatized significantly, twice, there's no way some rando literally watching her house isn't going to freak her the fuck out, i don't care how sweet and fuckable he seems

LORI It’s like I’m cursed or something. People around me keep dying. SAM I think I know how you feel.

oh sammy you don't even know the half of what's coming down the pike

oh hey, this was the second thing i drew for spn! couldn't quite figure out dean's face but the angle and lighting does straight up make him look a little different so i think that was part of it (pretty sure i could "fix" it a lot faster now but i'm trying to not fiddle with stuff after the fact.) i gotta remember to change up the color palette more often, it was fun

also i think an interesting thing about jackles is he has these really broad shoulders that seem almost too big for the rest of him. and they sit a tiny bit forward (kind of like joaquin phoenix, but less pronounced) along with the bow legs and the very conventionally attractive face, he's an interestingly constructed human

all right we need the boys kissing someone, sure this works. right in front of angry preacher dad's salad. oh but no! i can't, i am still too broken up over jess actually. whatever :p

music is pleasantly xfiles adjacent not eyeroll inducing, so of course it's christopher lennertz

hey, brother 🙋‍♂️lol

SAM Did you get the hook? DEAN The hook? SAM Well, it was the murder weapon, and in a way, it was part of him. DEAN So, like the bones, the hook is a source of his power. SAM So if we find the hook... SAM and DEAN We stop the Hook Man.

another relatively basic to how ghosts work on this show thing that they're apparently just figuring out right now

thought about painting this too, just would be a lot of work

padalecki and his veins poppin out at every opportunity. there's a hug that i've thought about painting that his arm would be so much texture because of it lol

pretty sure "reaping with joy" made me laugh the first time too

not me looking up the melting point of silver and how hot a wood burning stove might get

DEAN We could stay. (SAM shakes his head. DEAN watches LORI looking sad, through the mirror. He shakes his head in disappointment and drives away

so i definitely took screenshots of this and talked to someone about it the first time, how i thought it was notable dean was willing to hang around for sam to be with this girl. in hindsight though now i see it as more, we could stay long enough for you to get into her pants because she's clearly interested! and maybe that's what that little gesture that the transcriptionist calls disappointed is about

i just wasn't in enough of the mindset the first time that there is no possibility of staying anywhere more than a handful of days and dean's sheer investment in getting sam laid

feeling the trudge on writing up this episode - purely i think because i have too much to say, constantly. i do delete stuff from these too. like i was talking to my brother recently and he was saying how he didn't know how i could talk like i do in my youtube videos and i'm like dude. it's often 45+ minutes of talking i'm trying to whittle down to 10-15

[someonefantastic]

Just finished 1x03 and can safely say I'm hooked! This show is so weird in the best possible way. The guest characters in this ep, that I'm guessing came from btvs, did annoy me a little (was kinda hoping Angel would kill that weaselly vamp with the weird hair but oh well) but still very much loved the whole ep. Cordy used a crossbow! And her and Doyle being so concerned over Angel, as well as him wanting to keep them out of it so they'd be safe... found family is the BEST trope ever. Legit got emotional when Angel was walking on the beach, feeling the sun and watching the families hanging out. And loved the discussion with Doyle about why he had to get rid of the ring. I'm gonna binge watch a few more eps tonight since I don't have to work tomorrow.

(Quick question though. They haven't actually explained Angel's powers, but from what I gathered he has super strength and healing, and his kryptonite is apparently sunlight and wood? Just tryna get a better understanding of the show's lore.)

THAT WEASELLY VAMP WITH THE WEIRD HAIR KSJDFKSDFDJF that is literally the funniest description of Spike I have ever heard I'm dying akjfdadf He actually becomes one of the series regulars on btvs (and later a love interest of Buffy's) and is one of the more fan favorites on the show so unfortunately, Angle couldn't kill him. But yeah, the btvs crossover eps in s1 are a little weird especially if you don't already know the characters but I'm glad you still enjoyed the ep!! It's such a fun one! The Angel Investigations team is literally such a family and you're only on ep three! It gets even better! Also Angel in the sun always makes me 🥺 And YES Cordy with a crossbow!!!!!!!! It's Such a good scene and her haiiiir (also you'll get this but the Johnny Depp reference makes me think of that one joke in Shawn vs the Red Phantom). It makes me so happy that you're hooked and I hope you enjoy your binge!! Feel free to keep up these asks! I love getting them!!

Yeah, Angel's powers are weird because they're never like specifically detailed, like he'll go and do something and I'm like oh??? he can do that??? But from what I gather being a vampire on btvs/ats comes with enhanced abilities and senses so he's super strong and fast and can smell and hear things really well and heals much faster than a human would and he can withstand more injuries. And then the only ways to kill him (and other vampires) are a stake (or just wood) through the heart, fire (hence the sunlight thing which will set him on fire), or decapitation, everything else he survives even if it's really damaging. (There's actually an episode in s2 of btvs where Spike gets squashed and would've basically died if he were human but instead he winds up temporarily paralyzed.) Holy water and crosses also burn him but they don't kill him. There's also the whole immortality thing and also I think I should add that since Angel is a vampire with a soul, there's a clause in his curse that he can't find perfect happiness or else he'll lose his soul and turn back into the psychotic killer he was pre-soul so he’s really just doing his best

[feralnumberfive]

The Rewatch Academy: Episode 3 of Season 1

“Extra Ordinary”

I am in no way a good analyst so my little analysis and speculations probably sound a bit goofy or pretty wild and probably mean nothing at all. Everything I put into this post about each episode is purely what I noticed or thought, whether it's funny or serious. I will be making jokes, so please just leave it at that (in no way am I trying to make fun of an actor and or character!) I am also in no way saying I noticed this stuff first. This is just what I noticed while rewatching these episodes

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ 

1x01 | 1x02 | 1x03 | 1x04 |

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

☂ First off I’d like to say that this is one of my favorite episodes of this season. It’s just soooo good

☂ The second comic book in the window features the Televator from the actual comics, so that has to be canon in the show! Also at the time that that second comic came out, Five had already left since we don’t see him on the cover

☂ It’d be cool if they actually printed Vanya’s book for fans to read

☂ Well Diego isn’t wrong when he called Hazel and Cha Cha animals because of their masks

☂ Honestly I feel Vanya’s struggle with chair placement. I’ve fortunately had the luck of playing in all three clarinet chair placements, but 1st chair is challenging. I personally found each placement very fun to play, especially 3rd, and I hope Vanya does too! (why am I talking like she’s real)

☂ Hazel talks about people living ordinary lives, but didn’t he live like that too at one point? How does The Commission recruit people? If they get ordinary people, do they wipe their memories of their previous lives?

☂ “Let’s see’em get out from behind their desks, get their hands dirty for once.” Well Hazel, Five does indeed do this even though he only had a desk job for a day. Still, he got to experience both worlds

☂ My mind is blanking on this, but how did Five get that cut on his arm? Was it from a bullet wound at Gimbel’s? 

☂ Five must have a high pain tolerance to stitch his own wound but his bandaid probably wouldn’t stick due to the wet blood he slapped it over. Five sweetie you need a cotton pad and gauze for that one

☂ Wait, you’re telling me that The Umbrella Academy boys’ top uniform consists of a tank top, a white dress shirt, a tie, a sweater vest, and then the blazer? Someone asked Reginald what he wanted for the uniforms and he just said “Yes.”

☂ Five: *puts hands in pockets only to immediately take them out*

☂ Aidan almost sounds like he has an accent when he says “I'm done funding your drug habit.” 

☂ Five’s so soft talking to his wife

☂ No Leonard, your bread and butter is being a creep

☂ Also, he thinks wood carving is embarrassing? If someone came up to me and showed me something they carved out of wood I would be so jealous cause it’s such a neat form of art

☂ Leonard saying that he carved wood, and in that case wooden figures, when he was a kid is a slight foreshadow of all of his tampering with his Umbrella Academy figures. He can make wooden figures but he’s also destroyed a handful of the Hargreeves figures 

☂ “Never really did like The Beatles.” Well sir you’ve made me dislike you even more

☂ Vanya asking Allison if her siblings wanted her at the family meeting bugs me a bit. I absolutely get that she was literally left out of anything and everything that had to do with her siblings when she was younger, but Allison just asked her to come back home for a family meeting. Allison wouldn't have walked around looking for Vanya only to tell her that they were having a family meeting and that she wasn’t actually invited. Allison is including her in on a family meeting but Vanya is just in a bit of disbelief that she’s being included

☂ Ah yes, the only PTSD flashback for Five we see in the show! He looks so scared when he snaps out of it. I believe it was somehow triggered by the kids (I could be wrong) but do you think Five sometimes panics when he looks at himself in the mirror now since his body is the same age it was when he got stuck? Also it’s very subtle but when Luther opens the door, Five slightly jerks/flinches back. I wish we would see more of this in the show since it’s one of his major traumas

☂ “Does it matter? It’s Klaus.” Ouch! Well Five I hope you know that your siblings are somewhat thinking the same thing since they believe that you’ve lost your mind and are practically an old man crying “Apocalypse!” 

☂ Five does an ever so slight huff and smirk when Luther tells him that the meeting at the Academy is important. He finds it a little funny but so frustrating in his mind that Luther doesn’t know what’s truly important

☂ Also I love that Aidan has to turn to the side so that he can keep it together after Klaus talks about his chocolate pudding waxing. Either that or he’s portraying Five as being frustrated and in disbelief. Also this is the first time I’ve noticed that he says “Ay, ay ay...” 

☂ “We’re all you have. And you know it.” Oh Luther, you’re failing to see that that’s why he’s acting like this right now. He’s all frantic and crazed about trying to stop the apocalypse so that he can protect and save all that he has

☂ Five certainly is mad at Luther during his mini lecture. He’s clenching his jaw tightly and when he first speaks he hisses out the words through gritted teeth. He even called Luther by his number. He’s very impatient at this point and doesn’t care for Luther’s act of attempting to be a leader

☂ This is their first, and certainly not last, time watching Klaus go by in front of them doing something he shouldn’t be doing

☂ “You haven’t been home in a long time, Vanya.” Sir you were also just on the moon for four years. Yeah Vanya was away for a long time but Grace easily could have changed too during the four years you were gone

☂ How sweet, even though Five hasn’t really been home they want to include him in on the family vote :]

☂ I’ve noticed that in S1 that David really mumbles his lines. A lot

☂ I wish we got more flashbacks of the younger Umbrellas

☂ Diego my beloved mama’s boy ♥️

☂ It’s confusing as to which country TUA takes place in, but it’s really not supposed to be a specific one. It’s portrayed as being in North America, but you can see behind Cha Cha when she gets out of the car at the Academy the flag of the RAF, which Canada would have at a monument since it’s a Commonwealth country. At the same time though Delores came from Gimbels, which was a department store chain across the U.S

☂ The light above Five’s portrait is slightly crooked, which probably means no one has really been paying attention to it

☂ It makes me nervous that Klaus wipes bubbles onto his face. It looks like he got some in his eyes

☂ Ugh I love the whole scene of Hazel and Cha Cha walking around the Academy with “We’re Through” playing

☂ Diego: *has knives but instead chooses to punch and hit Hazel to try to make him let go of Allison”

☂ A rope-a-dope is a boxing tactic of pretending to be trapped against the ropes, goading an opponent to throw tiring ineffective punches. Diego sweetie Hazel wasn’t even trying to get you off of him all he was doing was choking Allison. The only person who got tired was probably you

☂ What’s the point in Diego yelling “Luther, go!” if he’s already going 💀

☂ Luther was there immediately when Hazel attacked Vanya. That means that Luther heard Vanya and was going to go get her to safety

☂ I will never stop signing my praise for the entirety of the “Sinnerman” fight scene(s). It gives me chills every single time. Easily one of the best scenes in all of the show

☂ Klaus must really have his music blasting if he can’t hear the gun shots right next to him

☂ I’ve always wondered if Allison actually registered in her mind that “The boy” is Five when Cha Cha says that’s who they’re looking for. Either she does realize that’s Five, is simply just angry that those two are looking for a boy, or registers in her mind that it’s Five through his superhero codename even though Cha Cha’s not referring to him in that way

☂ Diego is full on just standing in the background watching Allison get beat up by Cha Cha 🕴

☂ I love Diego’s little hand flap when he gets hit in the hand fighting Cha Cha

☂ Okay so I make everything about Five, but the whole Cha Cha fight scene with Allison and then Diego kind of scares me. Cha Cha and Hazel are both amazing assassins (they’re both probably right below Five) and neither Allison nor Diego could stop her by themselves. Could you imagine Five fighting one of his siblings? Especially with his spatial jumps? We already got a glimpse of his true combat skills when he fights Lila in S2. What a scary little old man

☂ “Vanya, get out of here!” Again, wanting to make sure that Vanya is safe and gets away. He even tried to go look for her

☂ Something I don’t really get about the Hazel and Luther fight is why doesn’t Luther just overpower him? Luther has super strength and on top of that he has giant muscles due to the gorilla DNA. Shouldn’t he be able to beat Hazel to a pulp? Maybe we have to consider that Hazel might have been altered by The Commission to be stronger and more durable, but they haven’t mentioned that in the show

☂ “Ah, you gotta cut down on that fast food, soldier.” What are you talking about Diego he literally just got off the moon two days ago aflksjfdk

☂ So Luther was too injured to jump out of the way of the chandelier but was able to push it up off of himself? 🤔

☂ I personally think that Luther’s body design adaptation for the show is really cool and that they gave him the perfect amount of bulk without making him look ridiculous

☂ This has been pointed out before, but cross-stitch foreshadowing, baby 

☂ Again, Diego my beloved mama’s boy ♥️

☂ Well at least Diego thought about Vanya dying before thinking about his siblings dying because of her. The latter is ironic!

☂ The clock above Luther’s mirror reads approximately 1:30 am. Hazel and Cha Cha didn’t want to wait until morning

☂ I wonder how different it would be if Five was present at the Academy when Hazel and Cha Cha attacked. He probably would have surrendered himself to them, but it's fun to entertain the idea that he would go apeshit if he knew that they were harming his family in order to find him

☂☂☂☂☂☂☂

Feel free to comment or reblog with things you have noticed too!

[mrs-nate-humphrey]

going really hard for derena right now, but honestly? i don’t think dan put her on a pedestal that much, or at least, not in the way where it’s like he didn’t know her and he adored her anyway, like a celeb crush. it started out like that, yes. serena talks to him about it in 1x02, but by 1x03 he’s already acknowledged that he did make assumptions and think that he knew her, yes. in 1x04 he’s realising how much more there are to these popular girls than he thought there is. in 1x05 he takes serena on their first date, which gives me so much secondhand embarrassment. serena calls him out on that, too, saying something about how it was the date he thought she wanted and not what she actually wanted. and then they go and play pool, haha. 

but by the time 1x13 rolls around, his declaration of love is coming from actually knowing her. he likes that she’s smart and funny but he also likes that she’s non-judgmental and easy-going and that she’s a good friend to blair. these are observations he’s made through getting to know her. and yeah, derena kinda went from strangers to lovers - not exactly strangers, but you know what i mean. but i don’t think it’s inherently bad to like... get to know the person you’re dating while you’re dating them. being friends isn’t a prerequisite for dating and isn’t something you need to do separately from a healthy romantic relationship? what was so sweet about dan and serena to me is that they were boyfriend and girlfriend First and through that, in the process of that, as that was going on, they also became best friends. 

also seriously, it’s pretty typical for like... a first serious relationship to feel like that, all honeymooney and castles-in-the-air. both dan and serena were like, 16/17, and it was something that was new and felt bigger than anything they’d ever felt, and it was like, their relationship was such a big deal to them. they both kept seeing the best in each other and sort of ignoring the worst, which is one of those behaviours which can be sweet but also can be super unhealthy, haha. 

honestly, parts of s2 derena made no sense to me, especially the way they weren’t able to talk about the issues they were having + retconning it into a wealth thing in the first few episodes. to me, derena break-up in 1x18 was very much the result of serena not being honest with dan for like, at least a month, and dan feeling incredibly.. insecure? insufficient?? over it. it was hard for dan not to take personally, especially when serena was taking chuck’s help over his and confiding in nate, blair and chuck and refusing to see him - it was a reminder that no matter how much he loved her or what he did, he would never really “belong” to her world, or whatever.

except.. that’s not what it was, obviously, that’s just how dan felt, which is extremely understandable given dan’s experiences at school and all that. on serena’s end it’s just that she was extremely traumatized, and she was afraid. if blair hadn’t persisted and gone, ‘serena, whatever you did, however bad, i promise i still love you and will support you,’ maybe serena wouldn’t have opened up to blair, either. she thought she was going to lose dan if he knew, if she opened up about it to him, he would start hating her the way she hated herself. that’s the vibe i got, at least, like. serena didn’t want to lose dan. so she couldn’t let dan know. not because she didn’t trust dan, but because she was so afraid, and she was really struggling with it. like, on serena’s end, this was entirely personal. 

ultimately, as someone who really remembers being 15, being 16, being 17, being 18, and being incredibly in love during that time and age - i don’t know. “dan put serena on a pedestal and expected things she couldn’t give” feels very reductive? like it’s True, sure, but it’s skimming the surface of something deeper, and it also feels like it’s negating the time he spent in s1 trying not to do that. every time he made an assumption about serena and he was wrong about it, he tried to work with that. he was just 16 / 17!!! he was doing his best. 

[gra-sonas]

Do you think the shows taken it too far in terms of malex not being together because the fact that people are having to ask actors for their opinions tells me it's being shown to the audience as hopeless. I think they've had Michael choose M*ria one time too many and driven in the nail a bit too hard. Balance is needed!

Has the show taken it too far? Not an easy question to answer.

Casual viewers, people who actually enjoy M/M, and some Malex shippers would probably answer with ‘no’.

But there’s a growing number of people (I consider myself one of them) who feel like the show’s taken it too far. Which is understandable imo, fans of queer ships are naturally an anxious bunch. We never have the luxury of knowing for sure that our pairing will make it in the end (apart from that, we don’t just want Malex together at the end, but that’s a different point).

And so far there’s a severe imbalance when it comes to Malex. And it’s more than one.

Imbalance I: Echo vs Malex

I don’t want to make this a competition, but I’d like to point out the differences between both relationships. I don’t want Echo to have it worse, but I definitely want Malex to have it better.

With Echo, no one ever has to truly worry that they are not it, that they won’t end up together - you know that watching the first scene of episode 1x01, the way they look at each other and say each other’s names. There’s no doubt whatsoever that they are the show’s OTP.

Kyle and Jenna were in the picture for a bit, but neither was ever actual competition, and Max/Liz/Kyle or Jenna/Max/Liz were never actual triangles that were explored in earnest. And even when Max died, it was clear he’d come back.

When he came back ‘evil’ it was handled in one fight. When it turned out he had Liz!amnesia, him and Liz got an entire episode of falling in love with each other all over again. I’m not saying that they don’t have problems to overcome, or that they don’t deserve to be happy, but in comparison to Malex, they’ve had it fairly easy (by TV drama standards anyway). Apart from that, there are no alternative relationships presented for either of them to pick.

With Malex, we got a mostly tragic love story that’s lasted for over a decade already, despite them having experienced a brutal and homophobic attack on the day they got together initially. And over the course of S1 they showed us, that their love is cosmic. 

But no matter how clear it is on screen in every scene how much they LOVE each other still, that ‘the pieces want to be together’ regardless of trauma and years apart, a potential relationship’s been painted as ‘too complicated’, ‘too painful’, ‘toxic’, and burdened with too much trauma and bad memories to be a viable option from day one.

So, whereas Echo did get more than one shot at being in a relationship, got love declarations, happy kisses and dates, Malex got half a shot at being together between 1x01 and 1x03 and have been broken up since.

Imbalance II: mlm vs m/f

On top of that, they were thrown into an actual triangle, with one of Alex’s (alleged) best female friends even. An mlm relationship deemed too complicated and ‘toxic’ competing against an m/f relationship lauded as ‘easy’, a ‘breath of fresh air’, and something that will finally allow Michael to be ‘happy’.

We saw Alex’s friend go behind his back even tho she’d told him, had she known about him and Michael, the no-good-Texas-rounder would’ve never happened in the first place, and now that she knew, she promised him it would definitely never happen again.

She didn’t keep her promise tho, invited Michael to kiss her, kept pursuing him, and ultimately he started ‘parking in her lot’ a couple weeks later (not before ‘ending’ things with Alex for the umpteenth time tho, while casually informing him about the fact Michael would be moving on with Alex’s friend - a fact he clearly hadn’t known about before).

“Best friends who?” - She didn’t talk to Alex about entering a relationship with the guy she knew Alex still had feelings for and felt hopeful about for months, and when she finally came to talk to him, she didn’t even apologize, instead Alex was the compassionate and understanding Gay Best Friend™, and gave his blessings. Clean slate for m/f and the gay seal of approval. Awesome.

And to really hammer it home that Malex won’t happen anytime soon, the gay man was roped into a threesome by his female friend with the man she knows he loves. And, you’ve guessed it, it ended with Michael picking her over ‘too complicated’ with Alex yet again.

These are all writing choices made in favor of the m/f relationship,  while the gay character's been left in the dust over and over again, and the mlm relationship's never been considered an option.

Imbalance III: Michael vs Alex

Halfway through S2, they finally introduced a new love interest for Alex. A man picking up on his reluctance to kiss in public (which he easily and correctly interpreted as lack of enthusiastic consent), respecting Alex’s boundaries without throwing a fit, and being okay with Alex not having it all figured out right from the start. An actual breath of fresh air...

But of course Alex can’t just be ‘happy’ like Michael, who gets to play caring boyfriend, casual kisses and domestic-y moments included. Nah, Alex has to work twice as hard to even get to kiss the new guy, bc there’s a severe case of childhood abuse anxiety and internalized homophobia he has to overcome first.

Smooth sailing and a relationship for one, queer trauma struggles for the other.

* ~ *

Is anyone still surprised that Malex fans are losing hope, or flock to ForIex instead? Even those of us who believe that Malex are ‘endgame’ in some nebulous future (I’m still one of them) are losing hope because we see Michael pick someone else over Alex again and again, and the magic of their cosmic love fades and dulls every time he does.

Also, what kind of endgame are we actually talking about? The kind where they are finally allowed to get together at the very end of the show, making viewers go through an endless parade of will-they-won’t-they situations for seasons on end? I don’t think many Malex fans would stick around to see that happen, especially not when the show keeps treating Alex like a burden and leaves him sad and alone in almost every episode.

So yeah, there’s no balance imo, and the longer Malex are kept apart, and the longer the show keeps telling/showing us that Michael will always pick someone else over Alex, hope for Malex to find a way back to each other will dwindle, until one day there’s no hope left.

[babygirl06301]

SPN S1 Review

I honestly have no idea if this post is about to be hella long or moderate, but I feel like a lot of my feelings got aired out when I was reviewing each individual episode, so I’m just gonna dump the rest of my thoughts that I’ve jotted down while watching this season here. This is basically gonna be me saying, “Wow, this was interesting,” or, “This is similar to/different from later seasons because…” These are all coming from notes on my computer, so they’re half-baked. Nothing too fancy or analytical, but I’ll be doing one of these for every season.

Random thoughts:

I don’t like the monster-of-the-week, episodic format that much, and a lot of those episodes this season felt average in quality for me. However, when you don’t have much else to focus on besides an arbitrary goal of the boys finding John to kill something they know nothing about, it isn’t so bad. Filler episodes suck more later because they’re often completely disconnected from the main story, which isn’t the case for most filler episodes in this season. Plus, the main stories later have more involved goals for the season than this one did, which made the filler episodes later more annoying. For example, if Sam and Dean want to hunt a Tulpa at a haunted house because John is off doing something somewhere, that’s fine. Kill the time. But if Sam and Dean really need to figure out a way to kill God, like, now before Chuck decimates every fleck of existence he’s ever created, maybe don’t waste my time with an episode about a wood nymph, you know? If the stakes are higher, then the quality episodes shouldn’t appear with less frequency. All I’m saying.

The tone, acting, and writing of these characters is so different. Like, when you know a show intimately, these kinds of differences between one season and the next are natural to you. It’s not like I wasn’t aware that the boys looking for their father feels a lot fucking different than the boys having a kid, but when you actually let yourself be aware of how much the show has changed, it’s kind of crazy. Like, if I just think about it offhand, I’m like, “Yeah, this is Supernatural.” But if I break the fourth wall a bit in my mind, it’s like, “Damn, I really did watch these characters and their actors mature for fifteen years, didn’t I?” Crazy.

There are so many episodes that end with the Impala driving down the road. Like, an aerial shot of it. And if the very last scene isn’t that, then it’s probably the scene right before the last scene. Until the last few episodes, that is.

I don’t know why I’ve written this down, but it’s easier to remember episode titles in season one because you can match it to the creature without having to remember the plot. Like, “Oh, the Wendigo episode.” I’ve also said in this same note that the folklore plots died out later on in the series, which is true.

A quote from my notes: “The show really does feel better with Cas, huh?” Look, I’m not gonna say that the S1 finale didn’t slap, because it did. However, I will say that Cas can brighten any episode up, so, had he been in the series from the beginning, the season finale may not have been the only S1 episode to slap. Not that there weren’t other episodes that were good, but you know. Also, this isn’t to say that Cas should’ve been around the whole time because him coming into Dean’s life when he did was exactly perfect.

They do this later, too, but a handful of episodes in the early seasons will be like, “Here’s a girl. Now, one of you Winchesters, go bond with her this instant.” And it’s weird? You don’t need to bring a girl in just to make googly eyes at one of the boys? You could just give her the story she was supposed to have but minus all the flirting?

So, Sam is meant to be the central character for the first five seasons, right? Yes, Dean is supposed to be his equal; yes, he went to Hell and had that whole storyline; yes, he’s Michael’s vessel, but it was always really about Sam, you know? Sam was the one who had the connection to the biggest, baddest thing imaginable (at the time), that being Lucifer. Sam was the one chosen for Lucifer. Sam was the one with the psychic abilities and the one to drink demon blood and the reason Dean sold his soul. Dean is obviously a main character with his own story, but Sam was meant to be the special one, yeah? But even so, Dean is such a beautifully complex character because he wasn’t special. You can see that, even in S1—that his specialness came from his lack of central focus. It’s almost like the plot was saying, “Sam,” and Dean went, “I’m gonna cause problems anyway,” and that’s awesome. I don’t know if that makes sense, but I just feel like Dean is the most interesting character in the entire series, and he wasn’t even the one S1 picked out as special.

Sam’s psychic abilities seemed a lot cooler when you didn’t know as much about them. Like, yes, Sam having those abilities for the purpose of housing Lucifer is cool and all, but it felt so much more mystical when it just seemed like something Sam could do for some reason. Not that that would’ve been a better payoff than what we get—it’d be stupid for the story to say, “I know a demon chose you to be the vessel of Lucifer himself, but the psychic thing you can do? Just a coincidence”—but it’s some food for thought.

John is barely fucking there even though his existence permeates the entire fucking season. I thought he was so much more present than he was in this series. They treated him like they treated Cas. “We said his name a few times, that’s good right?” No. No, it isn’t.

I hate the pattern the episodes have in S1. It goes: location name, bad thing happens in said location, Sam and Dean talk about said thing, they go to said location, they research and maybe flirt with some random girl, they fight, they drive away in the Impala. Like, nearly every episode is like that.

Without demons in the mix that often, the tone of S1 is really different when you compare it to every other season.

Dean is a lot more emotionally vulnerable in this season. I mean, he’s not sitting down with Sam to talk about his feelings all the time, but his emotions are definitely closer to the surface. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that he hasn’t had to emotionally shut down to protect Sam yet. Obviously, he represses things because of the way he was raised, and because he had to raise Sam; however, he still had John to lean on at this point. So, he hadn’t developed that habit of hiding his feelings and leaning on no one but himself yet as he did when he lost John. Because of that, he was able to be scared and tell Sam that he was afraid of losing his family and stuff like that. He becomes a way darker character in after John dies, and he more or less only leans fully on one other person for the rest of the series, albeit in a different way.

John saying in 1x21 that he wants Dean to have a home after Azazel is killed is the saddest thing I’ve ever heard. For one, because John is aware that he deprived Dean of a real home, and by extension, is aware that Dean is damaged because of that. But also, it’s sad because Dean has lived 26 years of his life up until now without ever having a home he felt safe and loved in.

Dean running from a potential fight with Azazel in 1x22 is super interesting because he’s fighting to be a part of his family rather than simply fighting for them to be saved. Dean doesn’t want to die, isn’t willing to die. That’s something that definitely changes later. Big time.

Filler episode rate:

By my count, which admittedly might be wrong, there were 7 episodes that were primarily main story episodes this season and 15 monster-of-the-week/filler episodes. 

Now, in the early seasons, it isn’t as easy to separate the filler from the main story because almost every episode will deal with character conflict that’s tied to what’s going on with the main story. However, I called it a filler if the primary plot was just a random hunt. For example, I called “Scarecrow” a filler because, even though Meg was introduced after Sam and Dean have a big fight, the main plot is hunting a god.

My bottom 5 episodes in order:

These next two sections are based on my ratings of these episodes from my reviews of every episode. I’ve just ordered them, with one being my least favorite/favorite episode this season.

5.) 1x07: Hook Man

4.) 1x03: Dead in the Water

3.) 1x02: Wendigo

2.) 1x13: Route 666

1.) 1x08: Bugs

My top 5 episodes in order:

5.) 1x14: Nightmare

4.) 1x06: Skin

3.) 1x15: The Benders

2.) 1x21: Salvation

1.) 1x22: Devil’s Trap

My top episodes for Sam:

This section and the next will just be me bringing up some good points of development for Sam and Dean throughout this season. I mean, of course they develop almost all the time, but these episodes are some of the best/most interesting. At least, in my opinion. If you want to read more about my reasons, check out my reviews. Just search for “spn s1 reviews” on my blog.

1x05: Bloody Mary - Sam’s psychic abilities got alluded to for the first time during this episode, but it also told us how much Sam blamed himself for Jessica’s death.

1x10: Asylum - Sam’s resentment for Dean is voiced, and though he’s under the influence of a ghost while he talks about Dean, some of it is supported by development in other episodes this season.

1x14: Nightmare - Sam bonds with Max over their shared abilities and pasts. We also get to see that Sam initially related his own trauma when growing up to Max’s, even though he acknowledged that Max had it worse at the end. It’s an interesting point of development that Sam saw his upbringing that way.

1x19: Provenance - Through Sarah being a part of this episode, Sam reveals that he sees himself as dangerous because the abilities he has has put the people he loves in danger in the past.

1x21: Salvation - Sam reveals that he’s willing to die, and by extension, risk his family to get the job of killing Azazel done.

1x22: Devil’s Trap - Sam has to choose between losing his family through getting his revenge or losing his chance at revenge to save his family.

My top episodes for Dean:

1x06: Skin - Dean’s abandonment issues are touched on for the first time.

1x09: Home - Dean shows fear when faced with returning home and dealing with the trauma of what he went through the night Mary died.

1x12: Faith - This is the first episode that we see a serious internal conflict in Dean about the worth of his life, which is interesting, because we can see in later episodes that he doesn’t want to die. However, his attitude in this episode seems to suggest that he doesn’t see his life as valuable.

1x18: Something Wicked - Honestly, this isn’t my favorite episode in the world, but it’s the first flashback episode of the series; in it, you’ll see the reason behind Dean’s feelings of responsibility regarding Sam.

1x21: Salvation - Dean insists that nobody will die to kill Azazel, showing that he wants to be a part of his family rather than just saving them.

1x22: Devil’s Trap - Dean shows a darker side of himself in an attempt to get John back, and his fears of being unneeded by his family are revealed as well as his fears of losing his family.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for this season’s review. I’ll rate this season in my series review that I’ll write once all this is over, but my impressions right now are that the first season of Supernatural was all right. It didn’t necessarily walk in a straight line, but it still felt like there was a definite destination. And, on top of that, the season ended in one of the most banger ways an SPN season has ever ended. The monster-of-the-week stuff has made most of the episodes this season ones I would probably not revisit, but S1 is definitely still special. 

We’ll see if this changes later, but for now, my rating (and average, based on my ratings in my reviews) for S1 is ★★★☆☆.

[spaceorphan18]

Season 1 Wrap Up Thoughts (Part 1)

I guess I just wanted to take some time after each season and reflect on it as a whole.  And, as always, I have lots of opinions on things.  

Today I’m going to post my rankings of the episode -- tomorrow I’ll post my thoughts on various different story arcs.  :) 

Rankings: 

I thought it’d be interesting to rank the season after I finish up to see how it differs from my big rankings that I did last year.  (No - I’m not going to redo the full rankings list - it was tiring enough the first time around.)  But it’s interesting to see how things can change when I’m watching it in its entirety one at a time.  The thing that stands out to me the most, I suppose, is that I like the show as a whole better when I do it this way -- opposed to binge watching where I get sick of things I don’t like quicker.  

So - ranking season 1 from least favorite on up. 

22 - The Rhodes Not Taken (1x05):  Looking through all my notes, this episode I had the hardest time sitting through.  It’s, like, 90% April Rhodes , and Will clearly not knowing how to be a teacher, with included music that doesn’t keep me interested enough.  Boring seems to be more of an issue than bad in this season.  

21 - Acafellas (1x03): Well, this was original least favorite episode from season 1, but I’m bumping it up a little.  The whole Acafellas part - where Will leaves teaching for the second time in three episodes to start a wanna be boy band is still probably my least favorite single episode story out of season 1, but Kurt and Mercedes deserve better than being last - and at least this episode isn’t boring. 

20 - Mash Off (1x08): This is another episode that just doesn’t have a lot of interesting things going for it.  It’s mostly about the Will/Terri/Emma/Ken love triangle and the lack of interesting things going on during this episode just makes it drag.  Not helping it is the fact that it’s the last one before we get to Wheels - and a much more kid focused show and I’m, like, chomping at the bit to go on.  Also not helping it is a not so great selection of songs.  

19 - Hairography (1x11): This is another episode that I often struggle with because I feel like the main plot lines in the episode drag.  But it’s got the beginning of Hummelberry and some decent songs to save it from being at the very bottom. 

18 - Vitamin D (1x06): Everyone always remembers the fun part of the episode - where the kids are all high on Vitamin D - and I agree, that’s a fun and fantastic and it’s why it’s higher than the rest of the episodes on the list, but it’s also only a small part of the episode.  Most of this episode is dedicated to Will and Terri’s martial issues, which include a five minute Ken/Terri scene that no one really needed.  

17 - Funk (1x21): People really hate this episode.  I get it - I’d categorize it more ‘bad’ than ‘boring’ -- but I can tolerate this rather bad episode albeit rather entertaining episode more than struggling through things I can’t keep focused on.  And really - I don’t even think it’s that bad until the Will/Sue Feud takes a turn into -- oh gross, don’t do that...  

16 - Hello (1x14): The Back 9 kicks off with a solid, fast-paced story with essentially two story lines.   The problem isn’t even that I don’t care about Wemma or Finchel (cause I really don’t) it’s the fact that both Will and Finn are major douchebags in the episode in the name of plot, which makes them both kinda annoying to watch.  I don’t think it’s a bad episode.  I just get annoyed people’s actions.  Bonus points for Jesse St. James though.  

15 - Mattress (1x12): The episode is pretty solid, even if there are some weird tonal shifts in it.  It does what it needs to, moving the plots into the final episode of the Front 13.  It’s not bad, and it’s not even boring, but it’s just kind of there.  

14 - Throwdown (1x07): This episode may be about the Will and Sue feud, but it’s pretty entertaining, and has some good music in it.  There are some minor issues, and I don’t think it stands up that well to subsequent viewings, but it’s more fun than a lot of the other early S1 episodes. 

13 - Showmance (1x02): I can never remember much about what happens in this episode.  But it’s not bad at all -- more so a continuation of the pilot if anything.  The comedy is really the thing that really does a lot for this episode, because the plot focus of Wemma and Finchel really don’t hold my attention. 

12 - Pilot (1x01): I’m never quite sure what to do with the Pilot when doing things like rankings.  On the one hand - it’s a fantastic pilot, it’s incredibly funny and Don’t Stop Believin’ is very moving.  On the other hand, all the characters I care about, save maybe Rachel, are not developed or don’t even exist yet.  The conflict of these things always sets it right in the middle for me. 

11 - Dream On (1x19): In terms of all around good TV as a way of art, I think Dream On is fantastic.  It’s plots are solid and entertaining.  The music is amazing.  Neil Patrick Harris shines as a guest star.  And yet -- I just don’t care enough about what’s going on in this episode.  In terms of best episode on an objective scale of TV making - this would be number one.  However, I just don’t care enough.  I’m sorry! 

10 - Preggers (1x04): This is another one of those episodes I feel like is remembered for one thing, while everything else is forgotten.  Kurt, his dad, and all that development is a fantastic story that deserves great praise.  But a majority of this episode is dedicated to Will and Finn dealing with pregnant significant others being pregnant and it just doesn’t hold my attention the way other episodes do.  Unlike Acafellas, though, there’s nothing bad in the episode, however.  

9 - Journey to Regionals (1x22): I’ve said it before, and probably say it until y’all are sick of it, but Glee doesn’t have the greatest track record with their season finales.  This one works just fine, wrapping up the season’s plot lines nicely, having good music, and being entertaining as one might expect.  But the main plots are usually not the ones I’m here for, so my engagement level just isn’t as high. 

8 - Ballad (1x10): It’s funny - I used to really hate this episode, but it’s grown a lot on me.  The episode’s solid, the Kurt/Finn stuff is great, and while I’m not a huge fan of the Rachel’s crush on Will thing - it holds up pretty decently.  

7 - Sectionals (1x13): I think this episode is incredibly engaging the first time around.  Illogical, and not really holding up on subsequent viewings hurts it a little, but I still think it’s a great way to cap off the first arc of the show, and has some strong emotional moments throughout.  I mean - I even cared for Wemma for a half second in there.  

6 - Wheels (1x09): This is the first time the show really focuses in on the kids’ stories, and it really works pretty well.  The stories are all really engaging, the minor characters all get more development, and it’s the introduction to Becky Jackson.  But of course - it’s way up high for the iconic diva-off between Rachel and Kurt that really sets this one apart. 

5 - Bad Reputation (1x17): This episode is really, truly pretty darn funny.  It’s a great use of music, a nice little mystery throughout, and gives everyone something to do.  I love it - and often think it’s a pretty underrated episode. 

4 - Theatricality (1x20): What?!? Yeah - most people tend to like this episode more than I do.  But hey, it’s 4, that’s pretty good on my list ;)  The Shelby/Rachel stuff brings it down for me. Eh.  But everything else is pretty spectacular -- even the questionable use of Lady Gaga music.  Oh- and the fact that it’s the wrap up of Kurt’s season 1 story arc in an incredibly meaningful and moving way really seals the deal on this one for me.  Bonus - Lady Gaga costumes. 

3 - The Power of Madonna (1x15): For an episode focusing on Sue of all people, I really do enjoy this episode.  It’s mostly Madonna music, sure, but I’m incredibly entertained every time I get to it.  It’s very funny, the music is amazing, and there are just a lot of great things going for it.  

2 - Home (1x16): The five minute Will/April song makes the episode drag for a hot second.  But outside of that - I love this episode.  It’s amazing, and every time I go back to it I’m always blown away by how much I really love it.  The Kurt-Finn/Burt-Carole stuff is so amazing and it just blows me away.  I have so much love for this emotionally heavy episode. 

1 - Laryngitis (1x18): After rewatching season 1, this episode still holds up as my favorite.  Yes, I know the quadriplegic story is iffy at best - I get that.  But I’m kinda letting that slide since I love everything else that goes on in this story (yes, even the kinda silly Mercedes/Puck stuff.)  Kurt’s amazing in this episode, and I love everything about it - from dressing up as his dad, to dating Brittany, to becoming himself again in song.  This episode is amazing and truly my favorite from season one.  

My biggest takeaway from this is that Season 1 holds up as a really solid season of television  -- it’s a great comedy, the music is fun, and Kurt’s story arc, in a shocking surprise, is still my favorite.  But that’s kind of an objective opinion.  While I’ll get into it more tomorrow - The Front 13, while being entertaining on a weekly bases, just doesn’t hold my attention anymore, while the Back 9 blossoms into what I love about the show.  I also have a hard time with boring - and the Front 13′s slower pace, and focus on stories I don’t necessarily care about is what hurts it for me on subsequent reviewings.  

So there ya go - more on the specific arcs tomorrow.  :) 

[becketted]

little cousy things i love about the pilot

Tonight we watch “the Magical Place” for the #CousyRewatch so I wanted to post a kind of audio-commentary style recap of all my favorite Cousy moments in the pilot (which are ALL OF THEM, cause the babes are precious in the pilot).

And ugh I’ve been trying to post this for 2 days but tumblr was making it impossible to upload the pics :(

So under the cut, warning for image-heavy and incoherent squeeing...

The way we see Daisy and Coulson in parallel editing because they’re our heroes so we have to follow them until they meet up. Even before the epic lead-up to their meeting with the Daisy’s voice over Coulson in the plane as he goes to pick her up... well, even before that their paths run parallel, with Daisy following Mike while Coulson explains what happened to him after the Battle of New York and recruits Ward, and it creates such a nice tension.

Okay I know this is JUST ME but Ward asking Coulson what got him back in the game after his recovery and Coulson looking at the images of Mike recorded by Daisy and with daisy’s voice there as part of the Rising Tide audio is just such a perfect summation of what happens to Coulson in s1. What got him back in the game? Daisy. It was Daisy. It ties with his speech to May in episode 1x05 about being different after a scepter went through his heart and that’s why he invited daisy into the team like WOAH, REALLY? You want to go there, Phil?

Coulson admiring Daisy’s skills even before they met. Look at his little impressed face, he can’t wait to meet this Rising Tide person. even though Daisy is a pain in SHIELD’s ass and technically “an enemy of SHIELD”, but he’s still so excited.

(psst Daisy would have let you finish your joke, and she WOULD HAVE LAUGHED)

EPIC BUILD UP TO OUR HEROES MEETING. And also I like thinking Coulson has checked out Daisy’s podcasts and was familiar with her voice even before seeing her face. (A recurring theme in the Cousy fandom: he fell in love with her voice etc)

(oh no, Coulson probably loved this wordplay, didn’t he?)

THEIR FACES. THIS IS SO FUCKING EPIC AND THEY’RE BOTH SUCH COCKY LITTLE SHITS WHO HAVE NO IDEA THEY JUST MET THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN THEIR LIVES.

I like this moment for the subtle connection it has to future behaviors between these three. Ward suspects Skye is not her real name (he’s always had an innate knowledge of Daisy and how to exploit it) and tries to intimidate her with that, but Coulson lets her have her name, tabling that for now (and for good, he never pressures her for her story), the name she chose. Plus the way Clark Gregg utters the “what’s your name?” line is so weirdly gentle. I love that Daisy is a bit thrown off by that and turns down her bravado for a moment.

I love Daisy all smug implying she has the upper hand and Coulson impressed yeah but MOSTLY ANNOYED, it’s so delightful. We have never really gotten a moment like this, when they are on opposite sides, because they tend to agree on everything, but it’s delicious tension for me.

Coulson’s plan was always trying to tell Daisy that they were the good guys and wanted to protect people, instead of simply intimidating her to reveal the information. He knew she thought SHIELD was dodgy and wanted to get her to collaborate because she changes her mind, rather than confirm her suspicious about SHIELD’s authoritarism.

Notice the expression of disgust Coulson has when Ward starts being his inappropriately misogynistic self, he takes him out of the room rather than let him continue his gross accusations.

He’s known her for ten hot seconds and he already considers her an “asset” that he is willing to defend in front of other SHIELD agents. The first of many times.

WHY IS COULSON SO EXCITED AT THE IDEA THAT HE DOESN’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT DAISY? Okay, so later in 1x04 we get confirmation that he is an expert profiler so meeting someone he doesn’t have any basis of knowledge to work on (no birth certificate, no records, nothing) must have felt like a challenge. Which, mm, yeah, it makes me feel things. (look at his stupid face, he looks smitten)

You know what? i don’t care if the serum was real or not. (Ward, as an elite Hydra agent,  was surely to have built tolerance anyway, so he was lying either way), Maybe it was just a shorthand to show Daisy that she could trust him, or at least to surprise her, so she might think he was not the kind of agent she thought (and had ranted against in her podcast) he was. In any case he fulfilled that promise, Daisy could trust him, and by the time Daisy discovers the serum might have been just a ruse in 1x03 she knows Coulson is one of the good ones. (Coulson really likes impressing her, it’s sexy) (also the idea that they were both playing each other without the other knowing it and then ooops feelings happened is kinda sweet)

I like this for how it ties with later stuff in the relationship. In the next episode he tells her again how Tahiti is “a magical place” and Daisy points out that he has said that before, the only person to notice something might be off about that (since Ward and May already knew about Tahiti, and FitzSimmons doesn’t give a shit about other people).

I like it when the babes say nice things about each other. A shame we don’t get one of the typical reverse shots when Daisy does this, showing how pleased Coulson seems every times she does this - during s1 whenever Daisy says something to him he’s going to make this “wow, that’s the nicest thing anyone has said to me in years, she’s so nice” expression and it’s kind of sad but also well, shippity shippy.

I think this is the moment Coulson decided to offer her a place in the team. It’s not just her skills or that she’s a mystery, he sees how she genuinely wants to help others (her criticism of SHIELD comes from there, rather than being the “pseudo-anarchist” fake Ward accused her of being) and she is willing to work with the people she thought were a threat to save Mike. Empathy just seeps out of her, and I believe when Coulson sees this he knows that he has to have her in his world. Apart from the whole “driving/flying into the sunset” moment I think this my favorite bit in the whole episode? Because it shows that Daisy’s and Coulson’s relationship is based on common ideals of morality and empathy towards those who are weak, and sorry but that’s so attractive to me (and obviously it’s what made me ship them, not the fact that their faces would look good smashed together - that’s just a nice extra)

Again, Phil, try not to sound so impressed and just damn happy when talking about how a homeless hacker outsmarted your huge super powerful secret organization.

OH NO (what’s it called when you get deja-vu but about the future? because Coulson must have been feeling that)

SHIELD are supposed to be the bad guys, the scary guys in dark suits, but after spending ten minutes with Coulson Daisy trusts him (and his intentions towards Mike) enough to reach out when Mike kidnaps her, so SHIELD can save her and try to help Mike. She also trusts that Coulson would understand what she’s doing. We know Daisy is used to having to deal with everything on her own and she is still not the kind of person who believes she can be part of a team, so I love this little moment of her asking for help.

...And Coulson immediately knows that being hacked means Daisy is asking for help. It’s quite the leap. And while it’s just a narrative shortcut (& a way of telling us Coulson is smart as fuck, & fuck you science jerks) it fits the almost telepathic way of being on the same page Coulson and Daisy are going to have. They’re so in synch.

I like how Daisy instinctively goes and stands close to Coulson in this final “showdown”, even though she has no skills and Mike just kidnap her and he is about to blow up and it’s super dangerous.

Not really shippy but I get chills when Coulson says these lines, considering what comes after and how this pilot is where Daisy’s origin story as a superhero starts and how she personifies Coulson’s ideal of the superhero who is one not because of their powers but because of who they really are <3

And THIS here I think it’s the moment when Daisy suspected that there was something special about Coulson, that he wasn’t just a “scary guy in a dark suit” like she thought. She watches him try to help Mike and try to save everybody in that station without using force or power on Mike, but empathy and understanding. 

WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS LOOK BETWEEN YOU TWO AND IN SLOW-MO TOO? WHO AUTHORIZED THIS?

I just like it when they walk and talk and talk about serious stuff - and Coulson is still reassuring her that SHIELD will take care of Mike and Ace.

The SECOND magical meeting of the peisode: Daisy and Lola! We already saw established that Coulson has an ehem close relationship with his car and that he doesn’t let people near it easily. The whole “don’t touch Lola” never really applied to Daisy, who is also the first person to get a ride in it.

Dick joke #1 (SIIIIIRRRRR, WHAT IS UP WITH YOUR FACE ALSO?)

Coulson appeals to Daisy’s known curiosity about extraordinary stuff to get her into the team but also how the team is in “a position to do good” because he has already seen that’s what matters to Daisy. Also kind of funny (poor Phil9 to think Coulson didn’t need the sales pitch because getting inside SHIELD was Daisy’s goal all along.

Dick joke #2 (her face is the WOOOOORST)

He really wanted to impress her with his flying car. The whole thing is so uneccesary, getting Lola is so extra, he’s just such a show off when it comes to Daisy (cue episode 2 and his whole “I HAVE MET THOR AND I WAS STABBED DURING THE BATTLE OF NEW YORK” bragging in front of Daisy).

Dick joke #3 and the best/worst one of them all.

THEY RIDE INTO THE SUNSET TOGETHER AT THE END OF IT ALL THAT’S NOT ROMANTIC OR ANYTHING

[antthonystark]

Could you talk a little bit about how Matt's acting and how good it is? You're always spreading positivity and I always like seeing it around

This ask is like 25 days old, andI’m really sorry, but I really neededto make sure I had the time to sit down and write for a whole goddamn afternoonabout this because, as one might have ascertained from my url, sidebar image,icon, description, and content of my posts, I kinda like Matt Daddario, sorta, maybe. So yeah, I have a lot tosay about this so brace yourself!!!

(Also, just so I don’t have tokeep repeating it throughout the whole “””essay”””, the purpose of this post is notto say that Matt is better than the rest of the cast or to say that he’s moreworthy of praise than everyone else (they’re all amazing), but this lovely anonasked specifically about Matt, so that’s what..that’s what I’m talking about.)

The thing about Matt is that he’sso beautiful to look at that people sometimesthink that that’s all there is to him, and I’m the first to agree that he isindeed beautiful to look at but he’s such a goddamn good Alec that I’d justlike to take some time to draw attention to that fact too. Unlike somecharacters like Simon or Clary, Matt (similarly to Harry as well) has to sortof undergo a more complete persona shift as Alec – his mannerisms, demeanour,way of speaking and interacting all change quite a bit. It’s more subtle than,for example, the Harry-to-Magnus transformation, but it’s there. Obviously I’mnot saying it’s more Acting™ than for example Kat or Alberto (actually Albertoin my opinion delivers the best and most consistent performance out ofeverybody in the cast, and Kat of course is excellent as well), but it’s one of the things that makes his portrayalinteresting to me, because, to me, so many more things become deliberate when there’s a more significant shift from one’s own personality and demeanour.

I want to talk about every singleAlec scene in this post but, honestly, we’d be here for days, so I’m justgoing to break things down in a way that’s hopefully a bit more brief. (spoiler alert: it’s not brief….it’s not…brief at all)

Emotions & Expressions: The Alec Challenge™

I’ve talked about this before,but I think Matt has a unique challenge in playing Alec just because of thenature of Alec as a character and how he emotes. Even other characters who areemotionally guarded are not quite as outof touch with their emotions as a character like Alec is. What I mean froman acting perspective (disclaimer: I know nothing about acting in aprofessional context lol) is that Alec, rather than just being guarded bynature – like Magnus or Jace – feels things very deeply, and then activelysuppresses showing those emotions(this was true for the majority of S1 and parts of S2), meaning that Alec oftenhas an affect that’s quite stoic and flat which he forces himself to have, butwe also have to see that strugglebetween “having deep feelings –> can’t allow self to show feelings –> unfeeling appearance” in order for the performance to be dimensional and notone-note, and this is the Alec Challenge™. And I think in this – honestly –Matt excels beautifully. It’s probably my favourite aspect of his portrayal ofAlec, because it’s subtle but it’s damngood.  Because in the moments thatAlec is allowed to be vulnerable, hisexpressions speak such volumes, and moreover, they still show that conflict.

Example 1: The freakin’ goldmine for this thing that I’m talkingabout has to be that scene between Jace and Alec in 1x05, when Alec still hadfeelings for Jace and they were talking about what happened in 1x04 with thememory demon. My heart fucking breaks forAlec here and Matt does damn beautifully. When Jace tells him that he loveshim, you can almost see him stopbreathing, his heart stop beating, for a split second, as he misconstrues whatJace says – and then after Jace elaborates, just look at his reaction – with nowords at all, you’re now fully attuned to the sort of tragic circumstances ofAlec and his deep infatuation with Jace, and its inability to be reciprocated(as it’s juxtaposed with that brief hopefulness, thatdid-he-just-say-what-I-think-he-said a moment before). He nods a little bit,like ‘of course that’s what he meant, don’t be stupid’ and it’s just so very good. No words, and the relationship between Alec and Jace is made somuch more complex and added so much more depth, just in these few moments alone.(Also shoutout to Dom for being amazing wrt Alec/Jace scenes and really forbeing phenomenal in general as well. I know I disclaim-ed this before but Ican’t help it I love them all so much.)

And then, after, when Alec says,“I thought you would think that….” and Jace says “what?” and Alec can’t evenbring himself to say anything or  toelaborate, because he can’t, becausethat would give him up, so he just swallows it down - or tries to - but just look at his expression. I don’t even havewords. Just loooooooooooook.

Example 2: Still in the timeframe where Alec has feelings for Jace(sorry if you don’t like this storyline lol, I know a lot of people don’t, butMatt did such amazing work in it that I can’t ignore it in this post! – plus S1gifs are so much easier to make on the fly lol).  The beautiful 1x07 Clace kiss, made all themore beautiful for Alec’s reaction to it. Like, here you can see exactly what I’m talking about. Yousee the way he looks away immediately, you can see he’s upset (and maybe I’m reading into it too much lol but youcan also sort of tell maybe that he’s not upset with either of them, really, but more so with himself), andthen you can see exactly how he kind of re-calibrates himself (like, you can’t show this emotion), and thenschools his expression into one that’s casual and aloof and walks away. Iremember watching this like 50,000 times when this ep first came out because itwas so good and my heart just brokefor Alec a million times.

Example 3: The other goldmine for this thing that I’m describing,this conflict in feeling vs. showing emotion, is the first Malec scene in 1x12(they’re all freakin’ amazing, I couldn’t even do the wedding scene because it kills me inside and I’d be heredoing a frame-by-frame analysis for 10 days straight). But like…I mean, do Ireally need to describe it? In the “you’re confusing me” part, you can just seeso much, the confusion, apprehension, almost fear in his eyes. I really canjust let the gifs do the talking here, but damn. There’s a reason this is oneof my favourite scenes in the whole series, and these two gifs encompass awhole lot of it. So. Much. Emotion. Good job, Matt. (Also, again, shoutout toHarry for being the perfect Magnus inthis scene and always, and because Malec scenes are so much more than Matt andHarry individually but also how they play off of each other so damn well.)

Example 4: I love thismoment so much from 2x02, after he snaps at Izzy for not knowing how he’sfeeling. You can see the hugeness of his love for Jace (sorry this is turninginto a Jace+Alec appreciation post lol, but the reason why that relationship isso compelling to me is largelybecause of Matt and Dom’s amazing performances thereof), as well as his ownapprehension and almost fear the enormity of his feelings – where Alec hastried so hard to be in control of his emotions, but with Jace missing he’s beenvolatile has not been able to exert that control, and it’s difficult for him todeal with.  Also, I want to give anhonourable mention to the opening Alec scene of 2x01, because it’s anotherperfect – perfect – illustration andbeautiful performance by Matthew of this unique Alec conflict of not being in control of his emotions,and that volatility and just how poorly Alec is in touch with himself and howto handle the enormity of these feelings is perfectly captured.

Example 5: I fucking hate giffing this scene, so I’m mentioning itin brief, but the scene on the rooftop in 2x05 is another really good exampleof the quintessentially Alec conflict of not wanting to show anyone how much he’shurting. And Matt is phenomenal in that scene tbh.

Example 6: Okay just one more real quick is 1x03, “She’s got a thing,” about Izzy, and then Izzyreplies teasingly/knowingly (about Alec being gay or Alec’s thing for Jace,it’s unclear, but one of the two), “We’ve all got our things.” The way Alec’s smile fades, a moment of insecurity, and heturns away aloof once again. Obviously, it’s a bit of sisterly teasing, and soit’s still a light moment for sure (you can still see a bit of a smile on hisface), but it’s just a subtle and nice thing okay I just like it

Another something that I reallylike, jumping back to Season 1, is this scene with Magnus in 1x09, very shortafter he has proposed to Lydia. Unlike in 1x08 and 1x06, where he has beenextremely and unprecedently open and comfortable and just generally, like,mellow around Magnus, here you immediately see his walls slam up, but you canalso see and feel the conflict thatirradiates from him, the idea that he wants to talk to Magnus but he’s not lettinghimself, and the self-consciousness of being around him in public as well,after the proposal, after he’s definitively Not Allowed himself this (I’m gonnatalk more about this in the next section too, just you wait lol):

But then, also, you see acontinuance of this kind of behaviour towards Magnus throughout the nextepisode in which they interact largely (before that scene in 1x12 that Imentioned earlier) – the “furrowed brow” as Magnus called it in 1x06, where yousee him kind of force himself to be distant with Magnus, emotionally keepingthose walls up which you can see in his expression in the following scenes aswell. A far cry again from mellow, smiley 1x06 Alec – he wants it, but hedoesn’t allow himself to have it anymore. Even when he’s smiling (“so you getit”) in 1x11, you can still see that he is more distanced, reserved compared tohow he interacted w/ Magnus in earlier episodes:

So what ALL of this does isinstead of Alec being that one-note, super-stoic character that we see in filmand television from time to time, he gets somuch depth out of these few moments of mini-expressions alone, kudos toMatt, in these moments where Alec gets to be somewhat vulnerable. You get tosee how much he feels, how conflictedhe is in such moments, and so when you have Jace saying something like “[Alecis] sensitive” in 2x08, you fucking believe it.

The reason I didn’t include theiconic™ 2x10 I love you scene is that it’s more of a 100% vulnerable Alecrather than conflicted – as Alec is learning to be more and more open with hisemotions, especially around Magnus. But I wanted to mention it to give yet more kudos to Matt for me being ableto see that development in Alec interms of the way that he emotes – there’s a distinct difference in this scenecompared to the Malec scene in 1x12 that I cited up there, for example, as Alecgrows into a more emotionally open and available person, that you can see inthe way that Alec/Matt emotes. As early as 2x05, in the scene on Magnus’s fireescape, you can see kind of a “middle” Alec, where he sort of tries to go “I’mfine” (which is another such a GOOD example of what I’m talking about) and thenstarts to blurt out how he’s actually feeling towards Magnus and is once againmore openly vulnerable. So, like. Nice.

I guess I want to say here thatMatt isn’t just goo\d at depicting the conflict between emotions, but justlike, emoting in general? He’s extremely believable in Alec’s most vulnerablemoments, and, honestly, that’s why I livefor them. Like, I could list a million scenes – the fight with Jace in1x09, the fight with demon!Izzy in 2x04, the malec scenes in 1x06 and 2x01, thedamn fucking scene at the end of 2x03, and I could go on. I guess, the thingis, this is a pretty lowbrow show, and in fantasy/YA shows you often see kindof tropey, two-dimensional characters where actors can kinda just phone it in,but in this you have these nuanced and thoughtful performances that justelevate the whole thing past what it is to make the characters so complex anddimensional – and this really goes for the whole cast, not just Matt, but alsoMatt included. (Also not just in vulnerable Alec moments, but in the raremoments where he gets to do comedic moments, he’s also amazing and justperfectly on point. Seventeen thousand,anyone? Or whenever he drinks alcohol. As a non-alcohol-drinker, let me tellyou, that is the exact face we makewhen drinking liquor and it’s fucking great. Like in 2x06, when he does thedouble-flinch after drinking the martini? Most actors who show it just grimaceonce, but there is indeed two very dramatic flinches, that’s just accurate. A+nice one matthew.)

Voice and Dialogue Delivery

So bouncing right off of theprevious section, I want to start talking about one of my favourite things inthis cruel world, Matthew Daddario’s voice. Other than his cute accent and thedumb way he says the word “something” and the way that it always risesdramatically in pitch when he’s excited or offended (I could go on), I love love love love how voice is involvedin how he emotes.

Now, you might be thinking,Mavra, come on, this is just basic acting, it doesn’t make him exceptional.Well, I don’t care. I just like it,and let me tell you why. Because ofthe above-mentioned and crucial characteristic of Alec – the inability to emoteusing facial expressions at 100% due to Alec’s suppression of his own emotions.But oh my God the voice – that little strain or hitch or crack in Alec’s voicethat comes every so often, I shit you not, nothing in this whole goddamn beautifulshow has made me more goddamn emotional than that. Because you see that part ofAlec that he can’t control – you get to feel the sheer scope of how much he’s feeling and how little he’sletting himself show it, just through that little hitch in his voice. You can’tgif voices, so it’s hard for me to illustrate, but ugh. I just. I love it somuch.

Examples: 2x05, “I let a demon in, Magnus” – you canhear it here; 1x12, “You just don’t get it…I could lose my family, my career,everything”; 2x05, “I couldn’t save you from Valentine…” and actually just thewhole scene on the rooftop is filled with instances of it; 2x01, the openingscene is just SO DAMN GOOD in every way and you can hear some of it there; whenhe’s talking to Lydia after Magnus walks into the wedding in 1x12 and he’stelling her he can’t go through with it, it’s a little bit present; and I can’tthink of any more off the top of my head, but like you feel me, right?

Also, like I said, I wanted tocome back to this scene from 1x09:

So obviously you can’t hear himin that gif, but I LOVE the way he delivered those lines. Like, he starts offhard and loud, “It’s okay.” Again, asI was talking about the scene, it’s like Alec isn’t allowing himself to haveany moments with Magnus anymore because he chose to marry Lydia. But Magnuspersists, oblivious to this fact, and it kind of melts Alec for a bit? When hesays the next line, “Magnus, I’m good, all right? I gotta…” it’s just a tinybit softer and less strident than the “it’s okay.”  Idk man, I just love it.

Also, like, he’s good atbreathing? This is utterly ridiculous-sounding, but it’s true, okay, the way Alec’s breathing was coming up short in 1x12after Magnus walks in was literally palpable and was giving me breathing problems through thegoddamn computer screen. Also in 2x10, when you can hear him literally 2minutes away from a panic attack, and that’s just so visceral and good. Butanyway, weird aside about breathing over.

And I was talking aboutexpressions a lot, but I just love the way that Matt – generally – deliverslines as well. Maybe it’s because I love his voice, but I just love it. One ofmy favourite things, because #relatable, is the way Alec isn’t so great with articulatinghimself verbally. And it’s utterly unlikeMatt himself, who has such a measured and often deliberate way of talking, atleast publicly (he barely ever trips over his words at all, if you’ll notice,instead just pausing at length sometimes), but Alec’s stutters and stammers areso well-delivered and believably rendered, I think (like, I’d like to hearkenback to the “you’re confusing me” scene from 1x12) and it’s just…Nice™, Iguess. I like it.

I don’t really know what else Ican say about his line delivery other than the fact that it’s just good, generally, it’s believable andjust, yeah. Some of my favourites of his lines actually are with Izzy (also,shoutout to Emeraude here, because Matt and Emeraude play against each other so so so so good, I love their dynamic so much and they really bring out thebest in each other), especially when he’s sort of teasing Izzy. He just has the lightly teasing, sardonicribbing thing down perfectly in his tone, and it’s so Alec. My favourite is probably the extremely sarcastic “Great job, Izzy!” from 1x03 (and really,that whole conversation). Also, the “turning over a new leaf?” in 1x07. Andthis is more Emeraude appreciation, but the whole Jessica Hawkblue exchange in2x07 was a-dor-able and theirplatonic chemistry on screen is on point.But I digress. Matt says things good, is the point of this paragraph, I think.We’re three thousand words in, I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. To add onto the Alec/Izzy thing, another one I liked a lot was the biting “is that whatyou’re calling it now?” about Izzy’s connections to the Seelies in 1x06,because it was in almost that sameteasing tone, but it has such a bitter twist to it, and it was just so good.

ALSO: A line delivery (as well asexpression and just everything) I like A Lot is from that same scene in1x06 was “I knew Clary Fray would come back to bite me in the ass.” You canfeel the anger, frustration, resignation, but his voice is quiet, his anger and sense of always coming up short and being unfairly treated, asalways, below the surface (bubbling up slightly more in the “Screw the rules,screw all of this” at the end of the scene) – but there’s that bitter twist ofa smirk and I’m not making  any sense Ijust love this moment so much bye

Final thing: THE WAY HIS VOICEGETS LOW AND DEEP AND SOFT™ SOMETIMES. THIS KILLS THE MAN. Just because sooften Alec’s voice is quite loud and somewhat uninflected, outside of hisvulnerable moments (or moments like the above-mentioned ones with Izzy), likeyou’re running into a brick wall – which is probably exactly what Alec intendswith that inflection (that Matt captures so well, I’m sorry at this point I’musing Alec and Matt interchangeably lol). But then you get moments like 1x12’s“No, you’re not sick” or 2x06’s “I hear that relationships, they take effort”or 2x07’s “In good ways I hope.” Honestly it’s 2AM, this paragraph is just anappreciation of Matt’s deep/soft voice. I love. But like, it’s good acting too.A+ showing vulnerability and softness. Nice job matthew.

Okay, one more quick one that Ilove so much for some weird reason I can’t explain – in 1x05, when they’retrying to track Clary, and it’s not working. Jace says, “Alec, concentrate”,and Alec says nothing. It still doesn’t work, and Jace says, “Alec!” in areally sharp voice, and Alec says “I’m doingit.” That last line – fuck, man, it’s like quiet but not soft and it just killsme with the weight of the insecurity and apology in Alec’s voice. It’s one ofmy weird ones, I can’t explain it but I like it so much I had to mention it.

BASICALLY. I like the way Mattsays his lines. I think his inflections and dialogue deliveries are usually sovery believable, but more than that, they addsuch an important dimension to his performance, especially for a character whophysically or outwardly forces himself not to show emotion.

Body Language

I don’t have much to say on thisexcept there’s a couple of details that I really like in terms of bodylanguage, the first one being this little nervous hand tic that Alec has.Again, Alec is in general a somewhat high-strung and withdrawn/reserved person,so I like these little, nuanced, effective reminders of the fact that he hascertain anxieties (e.g. here, talking to Magnus on the date and I’m pretty sure that’s what his hand wouldbe doing when he’s telling Magnus he loves him):

It basically is just a nice andminor way to give the performance that bit more dimension. 

Otherwise, a lot of this hasalready been said previously. I really like how Alec often stands in a very soldier-like “at ease” stance, with his feetplanted wide and his hands clasped behind his back, if he’s not doing anythingelse. It’s just really nice shorthand for not only his militaristic upbringing,but his adherence to it over the other young Shadowhunters that we see.

I also like Alec’straining/punching bag scenes (for So Many reasons but no time to get into itall now) because I think it’s basically apparent at this point that Alec trainswhen he’s trying to process emotions that he doesn’t know how to process orcontrol. To that end, the scenes in 1x08 and 2x02 are very interesting to me,because unlike what one might expect of a character blowing off steam, he’sstill very regular/disciplined in how he attacks the bag – there’s no loss ofcontrol, which makes so much sense, because this is Alec’s conduit into gaining back control after the loss ofcontrol he tends to feel when his emotions get too complex for his emotionallystunted self to suppress – finding out his parents were in the Circle and hiswhole life has been a lie, almost getting Jace back and then losing him again.1x09 is different, you can see a certain anger and loss of control there(although it’s brief), and I think this is because 1x09 is a differentmotivation – this is an example of self-harm, I think, rather than an attemptto gain lost control – this is after his altercation with Magnus, pushing him away,after he proposed to Lydia. Alec is not exactly immune to self-loathing, and I’msure these events are not helping that (especially given Izzy’s “you’re hurtingyourself”). So I think that distinction is important and I really like all of thesescenes in terms of their body language.

The last specific thing I want to mention is eye contact. For somereason, idk if this is just me (I have some issues with eye contact lol), Ifeel this is a bit of a salient behavioural thing with Alec. Like, you’ll oftensee him avoiding eye contact in certain situations, especially when he’s vulnerable.1x09, after the fight with Jace; 1x05, while Jace is trying to talk to him andhe feels uncomfortable around Jace after the memory demon occurrence; his “I’mfine” to Jace earlier in 1x09; looking away from Jace throughout most of hisspeech in 1x12 about Magnus at the bachelor party; his “I’m fine” to Magnus in2x05; frequently looking away from Magnus in 2x06 esp. during the “somethingwrong with me” speech. BUT, more interestingly, whenever he wants to destroy someonein true Alec Lightwood fashion, there’s always a prolonged and deliberate momentof eye contact. I first noticed it in 1x08, when Alec is delivering the autopsyresults to Lydia, and he hands them to Maryse while literally staring Lydiadown, not breaking eye contact until after he gave it to her. Same in 1x09after his fight with Jace – he’s looking away from him until he deliberatelyand definitively chooses against Jace, and that’s when he looks at Jace, whenhe says “no”. Also in 2x09, when he especially claps Aldertree on the shoulder,looks him in the eye, smirks, and then leaves (damn son). I really like this contrast, because it’s another subtlehint at these conflicting parts of Alec – his insecurity vs. his ultimate strength.Idk how intentional it is on the part of Matt, but I noticed it and it’s like, myfavourite thing.

The Sum of Its Parts

So in the above, I sort of teasedapart separate elements just to kind of look at them in depth and in a differentway, but ultimately the whole is more than the sum of its parts. All three ofthese things, and many more nuances and details, are integrated together andare used in different ways in different scenes to communicate different things and aspects of character and motivation and emotion.All together, it creates such a damn beautiful portrait of this character, AlecLightwood, that’s nuanced and dimensional and honestly perfectly rendered. Evenwhen he’s in the backgrounds of scenes, even when he only has a couple of linesin scenes, every single thing is usually just so good that it adds so muchrichness to the character and makes it such a compelling performance to watch. (And also, like, so realistic and three-dimensional while borrowing very little from Matt himself - or rather what we know of Matt - in terms of mannerisms and such? at least, I think so) 

 Again, a lot of people like to ascribe a lot of Alec’s popularity to Matt’sphysical attractiveness – and I’m going to be honest, I do not doubt that that figures into why a lot of people like Alec, itcertainly did for me at least initially – but I also think that Matt delivers areally good performance that brings both nuance and depth to the struggles andconflicts of this character, which makes Alec such a compelling, relatable, andrealistic character.

Ultimately, I also think a lot ofwhat I showed here and what Matt does evidences something that is ultimately socrucial (and this comes through in Matt’s interviews, or at least, when someoneactually asks him a question about Alec independent of his relationships, whichlol is not too often) – his understanding of his character is so, so, so on point. And honestly at least 35% of why I’mnot going to breathe easy until June 5th is just because I cannothonestly wait to see more of all ofthis.

and that’s….yeah. that’s what i have to say… about…that….

[awaybacktothen]

Jane the Virgin and The 100 for that in-depth fandom ask thing :)

so i accidentally queued this oops

i don’t think i’d realized just how many there were :DD should i put this under read more, yeah, i should

jane the virginTop 5 favourite characters: Luisa, Rose, Rogelio, Petra, MateoOther characters you like: Scott lol and Pammy the ParrotLeast favourite characters: Rafael, Anezka, Jane *hides*Otps: i meanNotps: rafael x shitting on LuisaFavourite friendships: Rogelio/Michael, Rogelio/Mateo, Rogelio/LuisaFavourite family: Solano/Solano-Villanueva siblingsFavourite episodes: the pilot. and 1x02. and 1x03. and 1x14.Favourite season/book/movie: 1Favourite quotes: “Would you repaint the Sistine Chapel", obviously, like wtf RoseBest musical moment: “Santos is bAaAaAaAaAaAck” totally counts, right?Moment that made you fangirl/boy the hardest: every time Luisa is on screen, shocking, I knowWhen it really disappointed you: the continued shit writing for Luisa (and Rose)Saddest moment: every time Luisa cries (also when ya motherfuckers killed Rose???)Most well done character death: Rose, cause she came back! lolFavourite guest star: Yara Martinez, Bridget Regan, Britney SpearsFavourite cast member: Yara Martinez, Bridget ReganCharacter you wish was still alive: Nadine. and Michael a little bit tooOne thing you hope really happens: Luisa is happyMost shocking twist: I guess the whole Susanna is Rose thing?When did you start watching/reading?: I’m pretty sure it was the week 1x03 airedBest animal/creature: Pammy the ParrotFavourite location: none, they’re all nauseatingly pastelTrope you wish they would stop using: one character’s*cough* struggle used as comic reliefOne thing this show/book/film does better than others: I guess latino represantion? Funniest moments: Rogelio’s love for Michael. Couple you would like to see: Luisa/happinessActor/Actress you want to join the cast: can’t think of anyoneFavourite outfit: 738141 of Rose's rose patterned outfits. jk, Luisa's casual outfits.Favourite item: the parrotDo you own anything related to this show/book/film?: naahWhat house/team/group/friendship group/family/race etc would you be in?: noneMost boring plotline: honestly, 80% of the straight romances. and that... catalina? plotline.Most laughably bad moment: where do I even beginBest flashback/flashfoward if any: 4th of july, obviously.Most layered character: LUISA ALVERMost one dimensional character: rafael solanoScariest moment: Luisa's car accidentGrossest moment: can't think of any, must have repressed itBest looking male: Mateo. fine, Rogelio.Best looking female: that one and the other one, obviouslyWho you’re crushing on (if any): that one and the other one, obviously Favourite cast moment: every time that one and the other one are being very heterosexual towards each otherFavourite transportation: Luisa’s purple car, just because it’s ridiculousMost beautiful scene (scenery/shot wise): idk, beach shots are nice.Unanswered question/continuity issue/plot error that bugs you: WHERE DO I EVEN BEGINBest promo: no ideaAt what point did you fall in love with this show/book: I was told there were lesbians. I watched, a lesbian showed up. Bam, done.

I honestly don't think I can fill all these for the 100 oops

The 100Top 5 favourite characters: Clarke, Abby, Raven, Kane, MillerOther characters you like: Octavia, Indra, Lexa, LincolnLeast favourite characters: Bellamy *whoops*, JAHAOtps: DOCTOR MECHANIC. abby/kaneNotps: bldsfhsdgjsgdfarkeFavourite friendships: raven + everybodyFavourite family: griffin ladiesFavourite episodes: not a clueFavourite season/book/movie: 2Favourite quotes: noneBest musical moment: noneMoment that made you fangirl/boy the hardest: when Abby called Raven baby :DDWhen it really disappointed you: about four times per episodeSaddest moment: when good peeps died. many good peeps.Most well done character death: not Lexa lol. or Lincoln. who else died.Favourite guest star: noneFavourite cast member: Paaaaige (Turco lol) Eliza and Lindsey are such good noodles tooCharacter you wish was still alive: Lexa and LincolnOne thing you hope really happens: Doctor Mechanic becomes canonMost shocking twist: no clueWhen did you start watching/reading?: soon after s1 started, then got bored with the teen drama, then around... the time whatshiface...Finn? died everyone started raving about it so I picked it upBest animal/creature: that cgi gorilla thingyFavourite location: spaceTrope you wish they would stop using: 'this is our last chance at survival' 'NO this is our last chance' 'no but this time it seriously is our last chance' spoiler: it wasn'tOne thing this show/book/film does better than others: no ideaFunniest moments: don’t happen on this showCouple you would like to see: Abigail Griffin/Raven ReyesActor/Actress you want to join the cast: noneFavourite outfit: i like those rags/dresses clarke wore last seasonFavourite item: noneDo you own anything related to this show/book/film?: nopeWhat house/team/group/friendship group/family/race etc would you be in?: deadMost boring plotline: like 3/4 of themMost laughably bad moment: so manyBest flashback/flashfoward if any: Raven’s spacewalk was funMost layered character: Raven and ClarkeMost one dimensional character: Jasper? Scariest moment: no ideaGrossest moment: Clarke’s unwashed hairBest looking male: KaneBest looking female: Abby, Clarke, Raven, OctaviaWho you’re crushing on (if any): AbbyyyyyFavourite cast moment: idk, when Lindsey talked about Doctor Mechanic lolFavourite transportation: that thing Becca got to earth inMost beautiful scene (scenery/shot wise): spaaaaaaaaceUnanswered question/continuity issue/plot error that bugs you: too many, i don’t even care anymoreBest promo: idkAt what point did you fall in love with this show/book: the premise sounds pretty fantastic on paper, i love it. still waiting to fall in love with the actual show.