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lifeandlemons · 3 years ago

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Okay so I'm fairly new to the Motherland Fort Salem Fandom. But I binged the show in like three days and caught up to watch S2 EP9/10 live. So I'm sure that someone has already posted about this. But I just want to ramble about how much I love the show, Raylla in specific, and why I think they are soulmates.

In season 1, it was established that sexuality is very fluid in the MFS universe and it also doesn't really matter. It's never brought up as like a thing and even Elliot mentions in an After the Storm episode that sexuality is pretty irrelevant. You are free to love who you love and be whoever you want to be without any judgement. Which is quite the opposite of what we see in our world and most other shows with LGBT+ rep.

What's interesting is the shows take on the concept of marriage and I guess monogamy to a certain degree. During the Beltane episode we see Abigail with Clive and Augustin, Gerit despite being with Tally in the end is seen talking to other girls and is eventually married off. You can even see Glory off in the background leaving with a group of girls (whether that was romantic or more of a friendship connect that's up to you to decide). But from the very get go, all the girls are encouraged to meet and be with multiple different people. Not just one. It's about charging up and having connections and getting stronger. Whether that be a romantic or friendly connection.

This is further solidified when we find out in episode 5 that marriage is more of a contract to make kids rather than a lifelong commitment made from love. Charvel and Ciro are only to be married for 5 years to basically have kids and continue on the Bellweather line. Charvel even says that she's not upset about being married to Ciro because she isn't tied down necessarily she can still be with other people if she wanted. Ciro was more of a means to the end to create a "proper" Bellweather heir.

What makes me think Raelle and Scylla are soulmates is because in a world where monogamy isn't necessarily the norm in the militarized witches world we have a couple that is so thoroughly meant for only each other. That are so instantly drawn to one another and continuously fight for one another.

First off Raelle and Scylla only have eyes for each other. At no point do either of them show interest in literally anyone else. Which yes I know Scylla's initial interest is very sketch because she was told to get close to Raelle from the Spree... but work with me here!

Secondly, we have Raylla's parents. Willa married Edwin and stayed with him the entire time, even though he is a civilian and she likely knew that would be heavily frowned upon. I can only assume their marriage was formed out of love, rather than the obligation to have more girls to continue on the Collar line. Similarly, I'm assuming that Scylla's parents relationship was formed out of love due to the fact that they were dodgers and probably weren't fans of the "make babies for the army" thing that's going on. I feel like Raylla would see their parents love and want what they had. A super deep connection rather than a charge up so to speak.

Third, I want to compare their relationship to Abigail and Adil's. Abigail in season 1 was very casual with her sexuality having multiple partners. But we can kinda see that shifting in season 2 where she forms a really close bond with Adil and fights for their relationship despite her mother's wishes. She even says herself that her relationship with him is different because it's so much deeper than anything else that she's had. And it's when Alban Hearst says that the sky and earth cannot meet that they are basically prophesied to be together... i.e. soulmates. They are the opposites of each other, but they blend together so well. And besides Raylla they are the only couple that we see (besides background characters i.e. Willa and Edwin) that are dedicated to literally only one other person. Now I'd like to argue that Scylla and Raelle are kind of the same. Scylla being the earth, the Necro, connecting to death and bringing people back to life. Raelle being the sky, the the Fixer, healing people keeping them from dying. Together they form the circle of life. death and rebirth almost in a sense. They are the opposites of each other and that's why they work so well together. They are connected to each other on a much deeper level. And I mean opposites attract after all.

Idk if this makes any sense and I feel like I'm rambling here and none of my thoughts are coherent at all. But my main point is that in a world that is telling them they can't be together forever, they are saying fuck that because they're soulmates and they can do whatever the fuck they want.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

#motherland fort salem #motherland: fort salem #raelle collar #scylla ramshorn #raylla #raelle x scylla #abigail bellweather #tally craven #gerit buttonwood #adil of tarim

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motherland · 5 years ago

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Most embarrassing moment on set?

#motherland: fort salem #answertime #jessica sutton #Tally Craven #Gerit Buttonwood #Kai Bradbury #cravenwood #beltane #motherland #motherland fort salem #motherlandfortsalem #motherlandAT

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arbitrarygreay · 5 months ago

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Gerit Deep Dive

The Gerit storyline is the only time that MFS appears to be a youth relationship drama like the Freeform shows that came before it. However, the fact that a storyline like it (a temporary love interest with DRAMZ) never happens ever again, combined with the prestige pedigree of the writers of the show, indicates that the Gerit storyline had a designed thematic and permanent character development purpose, nothing so simple as "a protagonist dates a jerkass."

And this will make the shippers really mad, but when I really looked at the structure of it, Gerit is a preview of the same patterns of behavior that Alder will exhibit (and therefore is also setting the stage for Tally's reactions to that behavior).

To begin with, we have to look at the implications of the fact that as of the time that we first met Gerit in 1x3, he had already completed a "trial run last season" with Hilary Saint, a trial run that was so successful that a handfasting was approved based on it. That looms over the background of all of his interactions during Beltane. Next, the very first scene of 1x5 features Tally noting that Gerit's actions during Beltane were textbook from the Codices. Presumably, these actions worked just as well with Hilary. So, Gerit is good at his job, of being a High-Atlantic man who serves the desires of the women according to the traditions of their culture.

And what were those actions during Beltane? Besides the more obvious Codices things like dick pic Tweets, Gerit praises Tally's dedication to service in the museum. He also claims that hanging out with Tally alone (instead of mingling with other witches) is special, a sentiment he repeats in 1x5 that he wants to be with Tally alone because Tally is a contrast to High-Atlantic behaviors (per 1x3, "Try growing up around them. The appeal doesn't last.").

Meanwhile, though, Tally is told to "trust the dance." If we come back to treating this storyline with thematic purpose, Gerit in this time represents Fort Salem military witch culture, and Tally has been told to trust it.

So, Gerit Buttonwood, High-Atlantic himself, following High-Atlantic seduction procedures to a tee, is nonetheless intrigued by someone who doesn't come from that tradition, someone who still chose to serve even when she didn't have to. Then, at the wedding, he says that he wants to be exclusive with Tally, despite having already put the lie to that by agreeing to handfast with Hilary (which is following his role as a High-Atlantic man). And this after Tally has already told him "Don't mess with me, Gerit Buttonwood."

The responsibility isn't completely one-sided, though. Tally is bulldozing over his chances to come clean, and Gerit has been raised to be subservient to the women's desires and demands. Furthermore, he is raised in a non-monogamous culture, so when he says "I love you. And you have to believe me, no matter what happens," that doesn't have to be a lie in a non-monogamous framework. Too bad he did also say "But I want to be with only you." That is non-negotiably a lie.

Thematic parallel: Tally's first stated opinions on Alder, from her debate with Raelle in 1x1. Tally acknowledged that Alder was "controversial", but what is her defense? "Part of what she said is agenda-less and true." So, treating Gerit as a metaphor, Tally knows that military witch culture (as epitomized by High-Atlantics) has its issues, but she believes that enough of what Gerit said (his confession of love) is agenda-less and true.

Also, consider the nature of Gerit's lie, which is what made Tally fall for him: that he wanted to be with Tally alone, not just mingling with other witches, as would be expected of him. Throughout the Beltane episodes, Gerit/Tally was contrasted against Abigail/Clive/Augustin, who represented what an uncomplicated version of the High Atlantic dynamic should look like (with no moral issues associated with their behavior). Simply being charming wasn't the thing, it was the idea that Gerit wanted to break from the standard witch culture for her that captivated Tally. Abigail was continually telling her that Tally herself shouldn't be seeking monogamy in the first place. The applications of this as a metaphor to Tally's expectations of Alder are obvious. And they were said outright in 2x8, too, where Tally's fantasy was that her connection to Alder was something special, not content with being just another Biddy like all of the others.

So I reiterate that the responsibility isn't completely one-sided, because what happens from here to the end of the storyline is about Tally. She is indeed devastated by learning of Gerit's marriage, because this is the first lie that she's been confronted with the truth of in the show. However, the moment she sees Scylla, Gerit is shunted down to, like, less than tertiary priority. Gerit was seeking her out during the crisis, but in the aftermath, Tally sees him holding to his duty of being at Hilary's side. So, Tally gives up and commits to her sisters.

Except, now Tally is the one caught in a lie, because she is stuck between her orders from Anacostia and the ideals of unit sisterhood. In some respects, she should understand the situation Gerit is in. Not that she is thinking about him. In 1x6, the only mention of Gerit is by Glory. Like Tally bulldozed over Gerit in 1x5, now she comedically bulldozes over Glory, as well. But what is the subject of that ramble? Justifying to herself how she can continue to lie to Raelle, through her duty:

The whole point of being a soldier is to defend our nation with all of yourself, even the parts of you that are ambivalent. It isn't your fault, per se, if you can't tell the whole story. If you can't be completely honest due to circumstances beyond your control, simply don't focus on it. Focus on what you can do and not what you can't. And if you've already done everything you can do, if you're doing your duty, then you can just forget the rest and trust that it will all work out.

A speech that Gerit probably told himself, too! But it also sure sounds like a line of reasoning Alder herself would proudly spout, doesn't it? Can you imagine Tally saying this about Liberia? The sweet sweet ironic preview.

So, in 1x7, when the men make their return to Fort Salem, Tally is all in on trying to live up to her Alder-esque model of soldierly behavior (which Gerit is modeling, too). But she's also firm in her decision to dismiss Gerit. She's got the same confident smirk of defiance when Glory asks what she'll do about Gerit that she does when arguing with Alder in 1x10 and 2x8.

Gerit apologizes to her! (A thing that Alder never does before S3? I'm still making my way through transcripts, but that's one of the big things I'm checking on.) And what he says next is just the facts. (With Hilary watching the two of them from like six feet away, mind you! He mentions kissing at the wedding! Hilary totally knows at this point and she and Gerit probably already have their agreement! Nothing he says in this scene implies that Hilary doesn't know or disapproves!) We see Tally subtly waver for a second before Glory rescues her. One can easily parallel this moment to when Tally talked to Alder in the Tarim cave in 1x10, when Alder also swayed her by simply being sincere about her feelings. It's the same camera angle on Tally, certainly.

When Tally next meets Gerit, we get another scene where Tally rambles about her concerns that are not about Gerit, to his face. She muses that friends share secrets and burdens, words that she will also associate with Alder in S2. (Not to mention an implication that perhaps Tally was so swayed by Alder's 1x10 cave speech because it felt like Alder was sharing her dreams/secrets/burdens with Tally in that moment.) In this moment she is clearly talking about her own failure to be honest with Raelle (and also therefore not being able to relieve Raelle's burdens about Scylla being alive). Tally tried to justify it to herself in the previous episode, but is clearly not buying it anymore now.

And when Gerit cluelessly tries to claim that Tally can share with him, Tally again flashes that "I have written you off already" face at him that she used when pushing her protesting mom out of her room in 1x1. Gerit's next words are instructive. "You can tell me everything or nothing, it doesn't matter. I'm here for you." This is not about friends or love, it's a statement of fact about his role in military witch culture. The men are there at the service of the women. They are there for them, even if the women give them nothing. Clive and Augustin said the same to Abigail earlier. And so, Tally, trying to live up to the justifications of a High-Atlantic soldier (All Secrets Keep), reacts by treating this man like Abigail treats hers. She tells him nothing, and uses him for sex.

(Meanwhile, Abigail is unable to treat Adil the same way because Adil doesn't belong to that culture, and instead challenges Abigail back.)

Next, Tally is confronted with the fallout of her own being Gerit-like, when Raelle finds out about her reporting of Scylla during Citydrop. It is here that Tally regains her personal sense of justice. She concedes to both Raelle and Abigail that following Anacostia's orders to stay silent was something she regrets, but she is adamant that protecting her sisters was the right thing to do.

So, she has no bones about talking about how dishonorable their actions were in killing the hostages. She's not going to try to convince herself that it wasn't wrong. In 1x9, she stews in resentment about Alder lying, being used, about it not being why she joined the service, being "involved in something deeply unjust", contrasting it against doing good. Apparently, stopping the spread of Spree munitions doesn't count as doing good. In contrast to her words from 1x1, part of it being agenda-less and true is not enough.

In the wake of reconciling with Raelle and Abigail over her lying to them on Anacostia's orders, Tally has decided that she will never sit back again. If she has done something wrong, then "we have to do something. […] I can't hold on to any more secrets. No more secrets." To the point of breaking chain of command.

After talking to Petra, they're in a limbo of what will happen next. Tally has done something, but hasn't actually affected any real change. So she's still stuck in part of her rationalization from 1x6. "Focus on what you can do and not what you can't. And if you've already done everything you can do, if you're doing your duty, then you can just forget the rest and trust that it will all work out." And in this state of emotional conflict, what is Tally doing? Continuing to participate in what she believes is adultery, under the justification that "I need this." ("this" being "complicated") Going behind the back of another soldier for the sake of using an asset for her own purposes.

Tally is still trying to somewhat follow High-Atlantic military witch culture, despite having found her resolve in other areas. The next scene makes it clear that she never got her hopes back up after the wedding, because she reiterates to Gerit that "this is an all sex, no‐talking thing." Talking, of course, being the thing reserved for friends. So Tally has still mentally written Gerit off, objectifying him as a means for her to forget her actual woes. Tally was steaming about being used by Alder, but here she is, using Gerit herself. And since she didn't know that Hilary knew, in her own mind Tally was complicit in betraying Hilary, going behind her back. As well, being so frustrated that Gerit set up an encounter knowing that Hilary would be back early implies that Tally wanted to keep them a secret, indicating that Tally felt shame about it. Contrast all of this to how Abigail shamelessly had sex with Raf at the wedding even after he disclosed that he was there with someone else (which is not morally incorrect because of the non-secret nature of the non-monogamy, as confirmed by Charvel's description of her future handfasted life).

As we know, this "insatiable" encounter is then what pushes Gerit to work with Hilary on the threesome scheme. Which, honestly, I don't think Gerit did anything wrong there? Tally has written Gerit off. Gerit isn't a fool. He's recognized that the chance for romantic love (to be exclusive, against High-Atlantic custom) with Tally is dead. So, Gerit falls back on said High-Atlantic custom, which is for men to objectified in a non-monogamous framework. See again Raf and Abigail at the wedding. Tally has told him that they're not friends, they don't have talking privileges. Why wouldn't he think that therefore she is following the rest of the framework? Because Tally is kind of doing that, at this point.

Note that the end of the Gerit storyline comes before President Wade's address. Tally still thinks that she's committing adultery with Gerit. But upon being confronted with the reality of transparently participating in High-Atlantic non-monogamous custom, Tally finds that she can't go all of the way. She drags back up old resentments that were previously forgotten (if only ambiguously forgiven). She not only brings up Gerit's omission of his engagement, but also goes back to the first accusation around his following the Codices playbook of seduction, as if that was an inherently bad thing to do. Despite this appearing to be a chance for everything to be transparent and truthful, Tally instead decides that she is not compatible with "this way", and that Gerit should not have accepted her attempt to push herself into that mold. She acts as if Gerit should have pushed her to be true to herself instead of rationalizing herself into adultery. That is the final sin that she charges him with: not the lying, but not knowing her.

And so, in the wake of having re-discovered her moral core, that is the Tally that witnesses Alder Puppetting the president. A Tally that has decided that she won't bend to the High-Atlantic ideals of All Secrets Keep is the one that doesn't hesitate to throw her accusations at Alder's face in Tarim.

The implications of this for S2 are obvious. It is because of the Gerit ordeal that Tally so quickly flips on Alder, instead of spending more time waffling around in angst. She has already personally experienced lies of omission, being swayed by partially agenda-less and true appeals of sincerity, being the perpetrator of lies under orders and duty, being used, and doing the using. So now, Tally knows deep to her bones that it isn't her. That is why she can jump straight to taking the initiative in digging for the truth, and working to undermine the situation.

Note that in 2x4, despite having started to dig into Liberia, Tally is still supportive of Alder's speech at the testing center. What actually happened to make Tally storm into Alder's office wasn't Liberia at all. It was that Alder lied to the public that it was the Spree that attacked the testing center, not the Camarilla. It was because Abigail said that part of why she was vulnerable to attack was because Alder told her to stand down on the matter in 2x1.

It's because Alder followed the same patterns of behavior as Gerit, and that Tally loathed herself for trying to follow: hiding behind established customs/procedure that praise a devotion to service, a habit of not telling people big things, going behind fellow soldiers' backs, using people as assets, putting Tally's sister at risk, justifying it all as needing to do things because the situation is complicated, doing her duty and forgetting the rest.

(And then, of course, in 2x5 Alder completes Gerit's final sin of not knowing Tally by impugning Tally's motive in asking for answers. After that, for basically the rest of S2 Tally faces Alder with that "I have written you off" face.)

#motherland fort salem #tally craven #gerit buttonwood #sarah alder #category: tv

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sassy-bi-latina · 5 years ago

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She came to kill us... Like it's nothing...

ALSO!!!

I'm all of her cast members

ASHLEY IS THE BIGGEST MOOD THOUGH

#taylor hickson #ashley nicole williams #amalia holm #kai bradbury #jessica sutton #motherland fort salem #raelle collar #abigail bellweather #scylla ramshorn #gerit buttonwood #tally craven

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bowerbirdboy · 5 years ago

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The mind, body, and spirit of Motherland: Fort Salem

Jessica Sutton brought up this concept in an early interview, calling Raelle the mind, Abigail the body, and Tally the "heart”. However, I started thinking of this concept relating to the couples of the show and found it to be more relatable. Each couple on the show serves a distinct purpose, all very different from one another. Also yes, I’m back for another 3am semi-crack post. Not only did I initially theorize this last night at 3am, it is now 4am as I’m typing all of this up.

1) Cravenwood - Body

This is actually what started my theory because I was thinking about how many sexual scenes they’ve had and struggling to remember when they actually talked to one another. From the first kiss, to Beltane, to the multiple make-outs during the wedding, to the make-out in episode 7, to the exclusively sexual scenes of episode 9... I’m sensing a bit of a pattern here. They’ve had a few non-physical moments like their initial flirting and Gerit’s VERY rushed ��I love you”, but Gerit’s main purpose in Tally’s life is to address her physical needs. He was her first and allowed her to have the shiny mark that she desired, which was a physical need. And when she wanted a distraction from her life and someone to make her forget, he was conveniently there for that physical need. Tally is a very emotional and relationship focused person, so this dynamic is different from what she probably expected but something that is beneficial currently. I’m not saying that they don’t have feelings, clearly both of them have unresolved feelings for each other that they’re terrible at conveying, but right now Cravenwood mostly services Tally’s, and by extension Gerit’s, body.

2) Adigail - Mind

Adigail is nothing if not a mentally challenging relationship. Two people from absolute opposite sides of life with two often opposing perspectives constantly trying to find common ground. We’ve seen Abigail accidentally offending Adil multiple times because of comments she makes about the military without remembering the negative impact it’s had on Adil’s people. However, she’s learning and this relationship allows her to get on the same page as Tally and Raelle, as without this I’d doubt she’d be as easily convinced of how corrupt the military has become. Similarly, Abigail slowly coaxes Adil away from being closed off to all foreigners. Yes, clearly some caution is required, but his dislike of almost all outside help can only hurt him and his people in the end. As two very polarized characters, they help widen the others mindset and better each other.

3) Raylla - Spirit/Heart

Now regardless of if you want to call this third category spirit or heart, Raelle and Scylla have got it. It wasn’t something that was supposed to be love, it was based on lies and manipulation. Quite literally, Raelle was nothing more than a mission to Scylla. Yet somehow through all of that, the instant connection they formed was so pure that it convinced Scylla to turn away from the cause she had believed in for years, because she couldn’t bear the thought of them hurting Raelle. The bond that they have formed is still intact, even after Raelle learned of the betrayal and after Scylla had to hear Raelle tell her all the ways she’d hurt her. This is the relationship that carries much of the show, quite literally the “spirit” of the show. It’s why they have their own theme, it’s why even when they’re not together we get scenes that prove they’re thinking of one another (unlike the other couples), and why there’s no doubt in my mind that their relationship will still be prominent in season 2.

#motherland: fort salem #motherland fort salem #motherland #fort salem #cravenwood #adigail #raylla #tally craven #gerit buttonwood #adil #abigail bellweather #raelle collar #scylla ramshorn #grace speaks

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