#he's become embittered and self-pitying in a situation that requires a good deal of self-sacrifice

[maedhrus]

#imo he's nothing like crozier at all tbh. bc crozier starts giving up the moment things start getting worse#he straight up stops caring. or at the very least avoiding his sense of care and responsibility through drink#making the worst calls ever bc he's angry all the time#when he goes fully alcoholic that's him avoiding his responsibility.#for everyone on those two ships. that's the entire point. it takes blanky losing a leg for crozier to think wait actually#i should be giving a fuck. bc that's my job!#and sure then he goes all redemption saviour arc but too bad! damage already been done by that point.#you know who carries on with a million burdens on his shoulders while crozier is off drinking himself into a stupour? edward.#every time i think abt it i get mad on edward's behalf like what do you MEAN you're still this loyal to a man who did all of that.#to you personally and to all the men on the expedition. how is there still any hope in you.#when people r like 'wow edward isn't suited to command he could not be a captain he's so anxious' i don't like that#he is anxious bc he wants to keep EVERYONE alive against all odds. and he never gives up even when he's scared out of his mind#and constantly abused by a direct supervisor whose condition he has to keep a secret from everyone else#idk this is a personal opinion but sometimes i feel like at the end on the shales when crozier is like 'no we need to bring everyone home'#i still feel like a big part of that is him looking for redemption. that he leans into this saviour complex#bc he feels extreme guilt over what he did. and bc he knows what his own rash decisions have led to re: feelings amongst the crew#nd when things go wrong he still takes that out on other people (like edward). which im not saying no one else out there is making mistakes#bc well they are. but personally! personally. i am a little tired of the way crozier is so often#painted as this flawless human being once they're out there on the shales. and im like actually he is still being a person#with conflicting emotions and being unfair sometimes and not always capable of assessing ur own mistakes#he's just as full of trauma as everyone else. (via @abrahamvanhelsings)

Matthew McNulty on Edward Little

Q:  At what point do you think Little begins to give up hope/worry about survival? A: I think Little's probably one of the most hopeful out of them all, simply because he has clung on to his humanity. I don't think he's compromised his morals up to this point, despite everything that's happened. So, I would say that he's still hopeful. He still thinks that humanity will prevail in this dark, dark world. There's definitely still a chunk of positivity in him.

[abrahamvanhelsings]

#oh these tags are very very interesting to me!!!#i would say that there's a degree to which i think edward is like crozier in terms of leadership but i also think it's very complex#i think - in an ideal world - crozier and little are foils to franklin and fitzjames#franklin and fitzjames can reach the men on a personal level and have swathes of charisma and station to stand behind#crozier and little on the other hand are of slightly more humble origin (at least for rn officers)#and are more conscious of the practical decisions that need taken (see how the look at each other at dinner in ep 1)#while also having less presence/popularity#i think i've said before how little seems to be the spiritual as well as the actual successor to crozier wrt caring for their men#'more than god loves them' mainly because i think every leadership decision edward makes (and he does make them because he's a good officer#whether for good or ill is all in the name of saving as many men as he can. which crozier echoes to a degree#little's very competent but i also think he's pretty emotionally intelligent and knows fairly well the thoughts of the men which he utilise#he's also never going to use his power to exploit a man beneath him in station and power which is something crozier himself does#but re the hope that crozier and little enkindle respectively yeah i think it's fair to say that crozier lets his depression win out more#he's become embittered and self-pitying in a situation that requires a good deal of self-sacrifice#i think it's interesting to consider angles where crozier's care for the men on the shale is - to an extent - a performance#he knows he's in command he knows he fucked up he knows to get back in business he needs to have the men behind him#but also because he's spent the last 3 years in a bitter drunken stupor the men have no reason to stand behind him#they also seem to give little a fraction more respect but also i think they know he's a soft touch that will readily support them#and exploit this empathy in cases such as the gun distribution and leaving the sick#little needs crozier's decisiveness but crozier needs little's compassion#a compassion that extends to all the men and not just the ones crozier likes via @maedhrus

Matthew McNulty on Edward Little

Q:  At what point do you think Little begins to give up hope/worry about survival? A: I think Little's probably one of the most hopeful out of them all, simply because he has clung on to his humanity. I don't think he's compromised his morals up to this point, despite everything that's happened. So, I would say that he's still hopeful. He still thinks that humanity will prevail in this dark, dark world. There's definitely still a chunk of positivity in him.