#how she parallels jinx’s motif

[metalmachineherald]

oh silco’s motif you will forever be famous to me

[bathtubbbbbbbbb]

Can we talk about for a minute about the similarities/parallels between Ambessa & Vi? Like both of their main color schemes are red & black, they both have ‘the wolf’ motif going on, & they both wield duel hand held weapons — gauntlets & dual chakram.

Also a thought branching off from this — I feel like Jinx is much more of a lamb than a wolf if you’re comparing her to the different sides of Kindred — first she wields long range weapons, guns, comparable to bows, & she has excellent aim — & second she’s pretty apathetic in the face of death & very accepting of it, actively seeking out her own at times. When Vi & Powder find their dead mom although it looks like Powder had been crying at one point it’s Vi who visibly breaks down when faced with death.

Edit: OH & how could I forget both Vi & young Ambessa have red hair.

[greenerteacups]

Has Hermione set Snape of fire in Lionheart?

so no actually! reason being that in this universe, draco doesn't steal neville's remembrall ==> harry doesn't catch it ==> mcgonagall doesn't notice and override the first-year rule ==> harry doesn't make the quidditch team until second year tryouts + quirrell never jinxes harry's broom, meaning hermione never mistakes it for snape and sets him on fire (and accidentally distracting quirrell in the process). The bluebell flames that she conjures in Chapter 48 are a nod to that episode, and an establishing moment that she does know how to conjure them, she just hasn't used them offensively. (Yet).

i actually adore the bluebell flames as a motif, because (1) hermione is the only person we see in the series to conjure them, suggesting they're either something she came up with herself or it's an obscure variant of a flame-conjuring spell that she's fond of for personal reasons. but then also, (2) they're such a potentially rich symbol: it's fire, with all the connotations of warmth and bravery and ferocity and unhinged danger, but it's blue, which is associated with coldness, clarity, beauty, water. and then there's the fact that blue flames are used as visual shorthand (not necessarily realistically, but there you are) for being hotter than normal flames. it's so cool.

and like, it's not just "blue" flames, it's "bluebells," which are a kind of hyacinth — kids, never ever use a floral color descriptor around a flower nerd — but the word "hyacinth" comes from the Greek myth of Hyacinthus, a lover of the sun God, Apollo, who kills Hyacinthus by accident. and when he can't bring Hyacinthus back, he grows these blue flowers that are shaped like Hyacinthus's hair to remind him of his lover. and for Hermione, I think there's something resonant about loving someone so powerful and strong they can't help but hurt you; about being a mortal, and therefore expendable, because you don't have the right blood, and how that subjects you to violence even by people who try to care about you and protect you. and we could set up all kinds of parallels between Apollo and Harry, or even Ron, and not to get on my bullshit about how hermione is underappreciated in the original books but she IS—

but anyway. hey. do you know what the Greek epithet "Hyacinthine" means? Curly-haired.

[aeolid-funkt]

Okay I have to rant about this bc Silco's melody plays during the track "Old Friend" (The one where Ekko knocks jinx down on the bridge and their eyes meet and it's sad etc) and I have struggled to figure out exactly why

So far what I have is this: this track is what made me realize that the entire scene on the bridge parallels the scene where silco emerges from the smoke in ep 3 where mentees follow in their mentors/parents footsteps:

Silco(Jinx) emerges from the dark/smog, Benzo(Ekko) steps forward to protect Vander(Vi) who is with Cait(Grayson), Silco(Jinx) makes a snide remark about never knowing when to back down(boy savior), then they fight, with S/J putting the others in harms way... also Marcus is there and suffers lol

Except, it doesn't play out the same way. Jinx doesn't kill Ekko. And before she tries to kill herself, the track 'old friend' plays (not exactly the same but obviously the same melody), and it is the same motif as in the track 'a story of opposites', which backs Silco's monologue, a monologue which concludes with Silco referring to Vander as 'old friend'

AND I love it, I love jinx getting silco's motif with all its yearning and grief, but HOW DO I even BEGIN to understand this choice. The issues I'm running into are a) Ekko is not a Vander analogue (although he is more on the nurturing, community building side) b) silco and benzo never really struck me as being close pre-betrayal. in proximity, yes, colleagues, yes, but not friends. c) jinx betrayed Ekko, not the other way around

I have several theories but my main idea rn is as follows:

In ep3, this scene is about silco trying to reunite w Vander in some weird fucked up way, but the conclusion in the cannery is that silco wants to make amends and work together, but he's too committed to the cause. Jinx, likewise, is prob thinking 'I want my friend back, but I'm in too deep to turn back'

Im prob reading way too much into this, the answers probably stop at "ye it's about betrayal and feuds and longing" but yk. It occupies my brain.

leitmotifs never get old to me like holy shit dude there’s this melody that corresponds to this one guy and if you hear the melody it means the guy is there. holy shit. and sometimes it refers to ideas too not just guys. has anyone heard about this

[sandraharissa]

There’s this imagery that parallels each other that’s pretty obvious.

And what I love about it is that it’s so true. 

In Vander’s absence Vi in a heartbeat steps in his place and continues his legacy. That positions her as Silco’s rival and it’s not just for the sake of neat looking shots that parallel each other, the story earned this standoff. Vi isn’t just there cos she’s Vander’s prodigy and Vander had beef with Silco, the moment Vander dies Silco becomes her mortal enemy, and hers specifically because he indirectly led to Vander’s death. Both Vi and Silco have fantastic reasons to despise each other even tho they never interacted before this point.

And even tho they don’t use this imagery later on this motif continues.

During the dinner scene Silco and Vi are again positioned opposite each other but without the profile shots, with Jinx reserving her place at either Vi’s or Silco’s side. When Silco dies his chair rotates so that now he’s separated from the rest of the scene. 

In his absence Jinx in a heartbeat takes up his place. She walks over to the Jinx chair and turns it around so that it’s not on Silco’s right facing him but that this is now the chair at the end of the table opposite Vi’s place. They again don’t use the profile shots but the filling in of one character’s space by another happened in this scene exactly how it happened with Vi earlier. Jinx doesn’t just sit in the chair cos she’s Silco’s prodigy and Silco had beef with Vander/Vi, Vi has now made herself specifically Jinx’s enemy for indirectly leading to Silco’s death.

I wonder if they’re saving this image of Vi and Jinx opposite each other shown from their profiles for the next season since the last scene was about saying goodbye before they become mortal enemies and not an example of their rivalry.

[kitkatpancakestack]

Downed a pot of coffee ☕ this morning and transcended into peak hiatus crackheadery headspace, so now I'm obsessing over the possible motif of coffee in this gotdamn show, and also this might just turn into me losing my shit over Future Tense again, so fair warning ⚠️:

(If this has been discussed before I do Not apologize bc I am too far gone for these fools to be sensitive about repeat discourse.)

Now, Future Tense. This damn episode, it will haunt this fandom and my dreams until the end of time won't it? I just thought that, in an episode establishing the main pressure points for the characters/couples this season, it was fcking WEIRD that Buck and Eddie were not only featured together but their plotline was The Coffee Maker Saga. I mean, Madney was clearly set up for the birth and the fallout of the birth to be their pressure point (see: Maddie's PPD); Henren was clearly set up for med school and juggling a family to be their pressure point (see: Nia, Hen's mom returning, juggling med school with all this); Bathena was clearly set up for their miscommunication to be their pressure point (see: Athena quitting therapy and Bobby sponsoring the DUI lady without telling each other); and Buck and Eddie get.......game night and coffee maker pranks? How suspicious. Got me actin up over it, actually.

Please indulge my caffeinated crackheadery for a few minutes here. The first instance we witness coffee discourse is during the first emergency, bw Buck and Eddie. (Now, it may also be worth pointing out that one of the focal points during the emergency is the coffee maker going haywire, but I'll just leave that here for someone else to get into :3) This scene is about Eddie being scared of and reluctant to embrace the future vis a vis "that new fancy coffee maker" he was thinking about getting but now is decidedly against. It's interesting he is the one portrayed as being sus about the future and Buck is the one who says, "Welcome to the future." I'll get into why later, but it's established. This moment, yes, is a jumping off point for the comical scenes to follow, but this is 9-1-1 right?! By their self-admission these moments always mean something more.

Now, the NEXT scene is bw Bobby and Athena (Bathena x Buddie parallels have been discussed ad nauseam but you've lost your mind if you think I'm just not gonna do it here) and also involves coffee + discussion of some sort of fancy "futuristic" technology, i.e. the Roomba. Athena is the one shown here to be dinking coffee. Not Bobby. Just Athena. I thinks it's also important to mention that while both Bobby and Athena appear skeptical about the Roomba (aka the future) it is Athena who explicitly says, "I am not ready for the future," and Bobby asking if she's finally onboard with May's new job, implying he at least is comfortable with and accepting of the unpredictability of what is to come. Bobby foiling Athena vs. Buck foiling Eddie. Also note that, as Athena expresses her distaste of the future, she pick up the coffee again that she had previously set down. Hm.

Also, with the scene of Maddie, Chimney and Buck baby-proofing the house, there are a couple shots of Maddie in the kitchen where she's off center and their old-school coffee maker is the eye-catcher of the frame. Idk what this means, if even it means anything at all, but still felt like I should put it in here.

Could they be using coffee, of all things, something symbolic of new beginnings and connecting with others and realizing true inner feelings, as a metaphor for the future? I would tuck this away in my tinhattery category except for the fact that coffee was so deliberately highlighted in this ep (bw buddie specifically) and the ep itself is titled Future Tense.

(Side bar: not to forget, of course, three episodes later in Jinx where Eddie and Ana meet again bc she burned her hand on coffee, and then during their date they both turn down coffee at the same time and say "jinx!" Very interesting, Tim, very interesting indeed 👀")

Anyway, to circle back to whatever previous point I was making before, just humor me on my coffee/future metaphor. Buck being the one to say "Welcome to the future," and buying Eddie that fancy new coffee maker = Buck is done with old feelings and old behaviors and ready to move onto what's next; something better, even if it's weird and scary. HOWEVER, Eddie saying "why does that sound terrifying to me" and droning on about how his old coffee maker is just fine and him turning into a technophobe before our very eyes = Eddie is comfortable with what he's used to and content with the familiar; he is not yet ready to branch into the scary, unpredictable unknown of the future, even if it could be good for him and better than what he's known before.

And the fact that it's Buck AND Christopher pranking Eddie with the fancy Hildy coffee maker? I think you get my point that this "scary" new future is a life with Buck and Christopher, the future that is uncertain and unpredictable with a perception he cannot exert absolute control over.

(Side bar again! → I'm just saying, so INTERESTING they continue to reinforce the Buck/Ana parallels which have been blatant since S3 with two plot-centered moments between them and Eddie in S4 involving coffee)

Anyway, this post absolutely got away from me, but it's just so INTERESTING, y'know? Analyzing this show is so FUN, I need S5 like yesterday.