#but also kinda have sunk cost fallacy from being together for so long and the shit they helped each other through during that time

[overly-hubristic-mad-scientist]

Dan and Herbert are both married and divorced no I cannot elaborate

[izartn]

The thing with DouWata in Holic is that it would be bittersweet either way because of two reasons, even discounting Watnuki choosing to stay forever on the shop bc he's waiting for Yuuko in a kind of sunk cost fallacy way by the end of it.

1. Watanuki origins as O!Syaoran of Tsubasa substitute/not-exactly-a-clone in their world, which also means sharing the price for getting C!SyoSaku feathers out of that void he ends up with O!Syaoran at the end of Tsubasa, and paying for his anomaly continued existence. Syaoran has to keep jumping between worlds for an indefinite mount of time, and Watanuki also has to stay in one place for the same time.

Now, by Rei(I think it was Rei? Could been Rou who knows) we discover that the price was too heavy bc Watanuki was baby wish shopkeeper (and also a masochist who believes he doesn't deserve to have happiness or have a right to exist deep down), and that at some point he grows powerful enough that his existence is no longer so precarious he needs the shop interdimensional stability.

This means at the end of Holic he would have had to enter the shop as essentially a prisoner anyway; Yuuko did the most to bring his power up and to give him connections with the living world so he would keep going on, but she did set Watanuki as her successor bc it was necessary for his continued existence.

And this brings us to...

2. Watanuki grew powerful enough to physically the shop without repercussion (his dream-wandering doesn't count bc his body is anclated on reality I guess) about 100 years after entering it. By then our Doumeki has been dead for at least a decade or two minimum, if we think he lived a long life.

By being the wish-shopkeeper he has enough power he can slow down his aging to the point he's frozen in time a la Eriol of Cardcaptor. And that's when he just took the role at the end of Holic.

And given Eriol is half of Clow's soul and powers and still ridiculously powerful and Yuuko was said to be almost as good, good enough to keep up with whole Clow Reed and Watanuki is her heir and of the line of Clow himself, and his parents did something to make him look more like Clow and not like SyoSaku which may had implied effects on his metaphysical existence bc Tsubasa and Holic go on ridiculous paradox territory...

Watanuki is the kind of powerful magician who, in just being heir to Yuuko's shop, without needing to tie himself to it to the point he cannot go out like in canon, (which meant he needed to develop his power a huge amount just to be able to exist as a paradox bc Fei Wang Reed) would have outlived Doumeki by a large large large amount of years anyways. Think of Fai "has lived already many times your lifespan" Flourite re: Kurogane.

The point of Fai keeping the vampire blood and prey bond with Kurogane, even after he gets his eye back from C!Syaoran and his magic suppresses his bloodlust (bc vampirism isn't the only thing keeping his old ass going anymore lol) is that Kurogane now gets to live the long long lifespan of Fai's life with him, bc otherwise he would have died in a fraction of the amount of time of Fai's existence.

Doumeki and Watanuki don't have that kind of plot handed pass to long-lived married bliss. Which sound pretty 'wtf' bc KuroFai lives were terrible (specially Fai's) in a way DouWata backstories don't go near bc they're more grounded on modern Japan, ghost, witches and wish-shops included. But they get to be together for the next centuries or so they have left.

At best, DouWata could have kind of the Wish deal of Kohaku finding again Kudou after he keeps reincarnation, which the end of Rou plays with anyways, only we know Haruka and Shizuka weren't the same soul, and so Sayaka is just the next link of weird generation xeroxes of the Doumeki family...

Disgressing.

Going back to the start of this post. Holic would have had a bittersweet kinda ending regardless of if Watanuki keep on wishing to see Yuuko again and so keeping himself trapped on the shop (and that's just tragic not bittersweet bc even Watanuki must know by then, 100 years after everything, that's kinda impossible) bc:

1. Tsubasa's plot being intertwined with Holic demanded Watanuki to pay a price for a wish, and that made him sacrifice his ability to move out the shop and into the world.

2. He was powerful from the start but the way he needed to learnt how to use his powers so spirit's wouldn't follow him and reality itself wouldn't erase him, which meant, learning how to be Yuuko's successor made him measure his lifespan on centuries anyways.

I think he maybe could have capitalized on his fated (hitsuzen) connection with Doumeki, and the way they exchanged eyes and blood, etc, so if Doumeki made a wish to link his lifespan to Watanuki in a less tragic version of Holic where Wata learnt some healthy selfishness and wasn't keen on waiting forever for Yuuko trapped on the shop (that is, where he wasn't exactly Watanuki lol) it could been possible for these two to have a happy-ish ending.

The price would have been something awful or heavy, maybe both of them are trapped on the shop until Doumeki mortal family is dead bc he's severing his mortal links to follow weird powerful Watanuki to the sobrenatural so he's giving up any chance on a mortal life?? and he also takes on a bit of wata's existence price by result of the link?? So they may get out earlier than 100 years but not by much I think...

Watanuki in canon would never see the above as possible, bc he doesn't see it as worthy, himself as worthy, and also its pretty fucked up anyways bc Doumeki would be giving up almost everything. But Holic has always been about obsession, and the way Doumeki dedicates his life and family line to Watanuki amounts to the same in the end I think. I have a feeling Doumeki would make that bargain gladly if he could stay with Watanuki for the rest of their (now long long) lives.

It would also tie back to the "sharing burdens" (and thus wishes' prices) theme DouWata have going on until Watanuki pulls his, "I'm now alone and the shopkeeper and I must pay alone, and goodbye to any hope of a normal life, bc the only motherly-ish protector-type person I've loved who loved me back has left me all alone, and my existence was a failure of the universe bc space-time shaneaningans."

But yeah DouWata had no chance from the start on an uncomplicated happy ending, and it irks me when people point to Watanuki as the only architect of his misfortune. Like. NO. They would been fucked some way or another in the end. The two asholes don't make it better on themselves, and bear some responsibility for how they end up tragically star-crossed without making a fucking move, but they were doomed from the start.

You could say it was..

Hitsuzen.

[kinetic-elaboration]

January 27: Thoughts on The 100 2x09, Remember Me

...For some reason I was really angry at the beginning of this? Also there’s a lot of Lxa bashing. Sorry. And some Clarke criticism but in the latter case, I mean it well.

Also this is really long whoops.

*

So...I miss when killing off main characters was a big deal and people actually reacted to it.

I truly cannot take Lxa seriously I’m sorry. I don’t find her... intimidating at all.

I’ve already complained repeatedly about her complete bad faith deal making at every turn so I won’t go into it again but nevertheless, here she is, again, moving the goal posts of the negotiation. ‘I’ll withdraw my army if you cure the Reapers. No, if you give up your friend. No, if you give me his body.’ Clarke should have double crossed her immediately.

Also I know that I ultimately did think it was reasonable for Finn to face Grounder justice (except insofar as that justice was itself morally untenable--that is, the Torture Porn) but now that he’s dead, I think there’s no real moral argument to be made that the Grounders deserve his body. I understand their traditions, which in fact I found quite moving when I first watched this ep, but surely his people have, or could make up, some traditions for his burial also. He is still their friend. This seems like little more than an excuse to be cruel. And Clarke’s so fucking broken she just goes with it. It’s truly awful. I mean she’s doing the only thing she can do I guess but it’s laughable that she sounds as if she has any sort of upper hand, you’re getting played bitch.

(Yeah I know, Lxa is being ‘groundbreaking’ and ‘revolutionary’ by even semi-accepting capital punishment without torture and taking his body is a way of appeasing her harder line advisers but like cry me a river--she’s either the all powerful commander or she’s fucking not.)

“We want the same things.” Lol if you wanted the same things you would have stuck to the original deal. No I’m not over this at all I guess.

I also still can’t get over how Clarke has literally never earned true leadership in the eyes of her own people and yet she continues to be randomly viewed as a leader by the Grounders and thus retains pretty much full de facto control over her own people’s power structure.

Also Kane shut the fuck up. I completely forgot about this but they really did put him through an off-screen 180 where all of a sudden Lxa is a God to him and can literally do nothing wrong and to this day we have never been given an explanation how that came to be. Guess it’s easier to tell not show huh?!?

ALSO I get we’re suppose to see a sort of racism-corollary to lines like “I don’t think they know what peace is” like obviously this rubs one the wrong way automatically. But Abby’s not really wrong. And despite what Kane thinks, Lxa has given, again, NO indication at all that she is interested in peace. She has given a lot of indications that she wants to do whatever she can to wring as much from the Sky People as she can without giving anything in return and hey we’re only halfway through the season and she’s already psychologically broken Clarke (also the only person she acknowledges as the leader even though she is not, cannot emphasize this enough, the leader of anything... and thus the only person L really has to break) and sunk-cost-fallacy-ed her into submission. Now that Finn is dead Clarke would cut off her own tit to make Lxa happy because anything else is “letting him die in vain.”

...Why am I so angry lol?

I understand the positions of both Clarke and Raven in this scene, which is fucking brutal, but I sympathize more with Raven. Clarke’s basically just a messenger, but what the Grounders are demanding is (I know I already said it) cruel, and cruel to Raven above all. And Clarke is almost all business. I think that’s what she needs to be for herself but it’s not helpful to the situation.

Anyway here are my faves in Mount Weather. It’s almost hard to watch these scenes because I want to, like, memorize them. Partially for the C/M story and partially just because. Today’s adventure is getting to a radio to send a message to the Ark-wide channel, which is a term for a thing that exists. Also I forgot how snarky everyone / Miller was to Maya. Which, I get. But--are they not thinking about how her own people have experimented on her? Like she is expendable to them, this is just a known fact at this time. So yes, there is a real risk to her, Nathan.

“Oh, is that all?” / “No--there’s more.” Monty’s so one-track he didn’t even hear the sarcasm. I love him.

“Their army has been getting their ass kicked by Mount Weather forever.” Bellamy speaking the truth. Do they need the alliance, or do they just need the Grounders to back the fuck off from attacking them? (Spoiler: they do not need the alliance.)

Ah Bellarke, always quick to reassure each other. Blindly, even.

“Since I don’t take orders from you, I’m going to need a better reason” is one of my favorite lines, and underrated. Finally someone reminding Clarke she’s not actually in charge of everyone and everything all the time. (I realize this sounds like I dislike Clarke. I don’t. I just find certain traits of hers frustrating. But this just makes her a good character.) Also you can see that, rather like her moment with Raven, she falls back on being business like and direct and issuing orders to avoid talking about feelings or breaking apart.

The United States War Room survives the apocalypse.

I’m sorry but it’s ridiculous to think that Lxa invented the concept of an alliance lol.

I guess Clarke needs to go all in on the alliance because of Finn, but... I also think this is part of who she is. Her sense of practicality outweighs any human desire to hold a grudge, and I think she assumes a level of practicality in others too, automatically, such that she underestimates wariness in others. Like Bellamy and Gustus and everyone is right to be uncertain about this literally hours-old alliance--not even an official alliance, since L’s latest demand hasn’t technically been met!--and Clarke’s like ‘yeah I’ll sleep next to people who would have killed me six hours ago np!’ because now that she’s in, she’s in. She’s neither angry nor afraid.

Linctavia like “Google Earth, always taking pictures.”

Is Lincoln wearing Ark clothes?

I know Raven is made to look kind of wan and sunken and sad but yet this scene where she’s being disarmed is honestly like peak hotness for me and I don’t know why. I like my women sullen and covered in knives?

Interesting how allegedly only the warriors knew English and yet Lxa’s big announcement re: get in line with me or die is made in English. Just going to point out yet again what a big mistake that throwaway S1 line is.

What a sad life to lead, where random declarations followed by “or death” have to form the entirety of your belief system “Don’t be upset that your wife and child are dead...or I’ll beat you to a pulp.” I truly don’t understand how we were ever supposed to get in line with this society as sympathetic or interesting. So much so that they get a whole prequel I guess???

I’d rather have a Mount Weather prequel except not really, don’t ruin it for me.

I love Miller’s canonical insane superhuman strength. This is a trait often overlooked in fics.

The usual comment on Mount Weather scenes: I love all of it.

The thing is that if everyone were on board with the funeral ceremony, it is touching. Murderer and murdered together, and the people who’ve been hurt, on both sides, saying goodbye as a group. It’s just that Clarke’s people were coerced into this--they weren’t convinced it would be a fitting ceremony, just told ‘well this is how it is and if you don’t like it, we could perhaps... KILL YOU?”

Is this a new revelation that Mount Weather crashed the Exodus ship (still a really satisfying belated explanation imo)? Or did we know that because, unlike Monty et al, we knew about the jamming signals already? Can’t remember.

You can see how L came to believe what she believes but nevertheless this is bad advice lol. “Don’t care about other people.” Okay, I’ll just stop doing that then.

Mmmm, a feast in a subway station. Delicious. Fucking full pig head as the centerpiece. Very DC.

Kane (handing over pure space moonshine probably): Just don’t drink too much of it. Clarke (five minutes later): Guzzles whole bottle at once. #partygriff is officially canon.

Waiting until tomorrow to start the war? Procrastinators. Clarke didn’t kill Finn for this.

I love Certified Dramatic Ho Bellamy knocking the cup out of Clarke’s hand even though she had made no move whatsoever to drink it.

“When you plunged your knife into the heart of the boy you loved, did you not wish that it was mine.” Lxa, also a certified Dramatic Ho.

Clarke kinda deserved to be punched in the face given that it wouldn’t actually make sense for Raven to try to poison Lxa--and make Finn’s death mean nothing? And put them all in danger in enemy territory? Nonsense. Nevertheless it’s hard not to feel bad for her when she follows this accusation up with a psychotic break.

Hmmm, do I think Abby turning in Jake was the same as Clarke killing Finn? Not really. She didn’t directly kill Jake, that was Jaha, and Jaha is who Clarke should really be mad at. That said, I don’t think she was really saving anyone in the direct way Clarke was. So, apples and oranges. Crazy awkward moment to bring it up, though lol. “Oh Clarke, you’ll feel better eventually--remember that time I killed your Dad? I got over that! Wait--does talking about your dead father upset you? That’s a surprise!” Nevertheless I appreciate major actions having consequences as that’s a semi-rarity on this show.

Monty Green: hero.

“Lxa needs this alliance as much as we do.” - True, if she intends to get her people out of MW. “She’s shown herself to be flexible.” - Not true. She’s given the bare minimum of concessions. Kane, please crawl back out of her colon for like 5 seconds, get some air.

Interesting that Raven and Bellamy are chilling near each other. I wonder what they were discussing. Tbh Bellamy’s feelings on everything in this episode are rather opaque. Other than understanding why Clarke mercy-killed Finn and being skeptical of the alliance.

“Kill one person and destroy the alliance” is literally only merciful because the default in this society is “kill everyone all the time for any reason.” Like, I guess??? That’s mercy by comparison?? But forgive me if I am not moved to admiration.

“This time justice will be done” says the woman who used the barest sliver of evidence to decide that a random person was guilty so she could have a public execution. A public execution to replace the other public execution, in fact, not to avenge a death because Gustus isn’t dead. (Yet.)

Kane’s really okay with letting Raven be tortured to death, huh? Gah he’s fucking annoying.

Bellarke: Crime Solving Duo. That’s some satisfying teamwork. Clarke figures out how the scheme worked. Bellamy figures out who’s behind the scheme. With all the evidence put together, the motive becomes clear. (Honesty, they should have been suspicious that the poison not only didn’t kill Gustus, it barely harmed him lol.)

Check out all the Department of Homeland Security stuff on Monty’s computer. This is perhaps Dante’s log in? There’s a set of “personal” files too. And a set of President’s Office files, which one would assume not everyone would have.

Anyway, I have a Thing for tense sequences of hackers...hacking.

When I first watched this season I was often so tense my whole body hurt and it’s mostly because of MW scenes like this one where Monty is caught. Like aaaaah it still gets me. He almost makes it... and then almost makes it again, with his silly little salute... (Never forget that he is A Dork.)

On the one hand, Raven being tortured and then seeing Gustus tortured to death allows her to see why Clarke killing Finn was an act of mercy, to forgive her, and to move on, so the narrative can continue with them as allies and nominal friends. And it works, basically. But I also think there’s something to the theory that they were never the same, that the wound never really healed.

I’m sorry but Octavia’s face when Clarke’s like “Yeah B, you’re expendable, go get yourself killed, have a map!!” is hilarious. Like, he’s just said that Gustus doing anything for Lxa made sense, and Octavia responded with “Look at the thanks he got” which seems to me like She Knows and then 5 seconds later Bellamy is basically thrown away by the person we all know he’d do anything for... I mean the face is fair. Also this is Bellamy’s idea and it’s a good idea and so he was right before and Clarke is also right now, but it’s still so... annoying.... like “okay, I’m done caring about you lol bye.”

And Raven’s just totally confused. It’s been a damn long day I guess.

Why are they all such fucking hotties? It’s hard to pay attention to “the plot.”

So the ashes Abby tries to give to Clarke are the same ashes, perhaps, that Jasper scatters in S3? This vial looks smaller. Why did she not immediately give them to Raven? That would seem to be the obvious thing to do.

And here we see Clarke, under L’s direct influence, becoming Increasingly Insufferable. I love her but this is obviously supposed to be her descent into the abyss: she treats her friends like little expendable minions, she turns her back on Finn’s memory, and then she ends the episode by dramatically walking into a dark room in slow motion to creepy chamber music. I mean this is the hero’s fall guys!! That’s what it always was!!!

If only they’d handled Bellamy’s hero’s fall in 3A, and Clarke’s rise again in 3B, as well.

That ending is a straight up horror movie thanks that’s why this is my favorite season.