#i'm really hoping i can finish this one before s6 starts...and i should be on track for that tbh

[coffeebanana]

Chapter 11: not-so-statistically speaking, at least one third of known sentipeople admit to enjoying sunsets. and playing with a cute girl's hair. and...

Ladybug swung through Adrien’s window. “I have an idea!” The idea in question was half-baked at best, but her excitement was in full swing—cleary, or she wouldn’t have nearly crashed into the foosball table upon landing. Eh, who was she kidding? That was just a normal day. Less normal was the way Adrien jumped straight out of his blanket when she whirled around to face the couch. And at that point she realized she’d skipped a few steps in Operation Cheer Up Adrien: Senti Edition. Namely the cheering him up part.

[lost-inanotherlife]

"316" meta part I: Beyond the "Man of Faith vs Man of Science" dichotomy.

I had initially planned to finish all my S5 meta before I started my S6 rewatch but that’s not a viable option anymore because it already takes me MONTHS to complete one season rewatch and I’d like to finish my LOST Rewatch After 20 Years (started in June 2024) before 2025 ends (lol), preferably by June 2025.

So, finally, here is my “316” meta! It was a promise I had made and that I’d never delivered on so sorry about that ^^”. I really hope you guys enjoy it! I love this episode <3!

 What does “316” actually mean?

The premise of this meta is that 316 refers to John 3:16:  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. Ngl, I’m following this interpretation because it fits with my analysis of “White Rabbit” (part I, part II, additional thoughts), of which “316” is the companion episode. I strongly recommend to read that meta as well because the two episodes are highly interconnected since “316” is a sort of “continuation” of what Jack was going through in S1 in “White Rabbit”.

If this is the premise, then we gotta ask: who is this “only begotten Son”? The episodes points to four male, only child characters: Daniel, Ben, John and Jack. Let’s see who’s the “Son” the episode is alluding to (I know you know who the “Son” is, but let’s see what’s “behind the scenes” in this episode).

Daniel Faraday is not physically present, but he’s indirectly inferred thanks to Eloise’s presence and directly mentioned by Desmond:

DESMOND: [Sighs, scoffs] I came here to deliver a message. [To Eloise] Daniel Faraday—your son—sent me here. He wanted me to tell you that he and all the people on the Island need your help. He said that only you could help them. He didn't say Jack. He didn't say Sun. He didn't say Ben. He said you.

Daniel is important because, in the context of this episode, he is the “Man of Science”. He’s the man that actually comes up with ideas and theories that are based on facts, on science. We don’t know it yet, but basically Eloise encouraged, almost forced, Daniel into an academic career in Physics precisely for ONE reason: the Island. I’d love for Daniel to be the “only begotten Son” because that would make Eloise a parallel to God and that pleases me to no end, it’s just too good, I’m sorry. I mean, it’s utterly tragic but it tingles my storytelling brain cells in a pleasing way. Alas, this is not the case because the “Son” we’re looking for is an… apocalyptic type of Son. A Son that saves people and ends the story. This is not who Daniel is but he’s nevertheless absolutely crucial in all this and you’ll see why.

Ben is physically present in the Lamp Post and he’s immediately marked by deception.

JACK: [To Ben] Did you know about this place? BEN: No. No, I didn't. JACK: [To Eloise] Is he telling the truth? ELOISE: [Chuckling] Probably not.

Ben is also important because he’s the “Man of Cons”, he’s the man who represents hurdles, obstacles, complications. He is, quite literally, the man who turns the wheel and who puts things into motion. In this episode, however, he spouts off opinions about “belief”, he theatrically prays in the church, he tells the story of St. Thomas the Apostle implying that he is the Jesus of this story, that HE is the chosen Son. But we all know by now that Ben is no Jesus, he’s not Thomas either. Perhaps he can be Judas Iscariot if he wants to be so much like a character from the Bible. Ben embodies Betrayal, a necessary feature in every story about Faith.

So if Ben is Judas, does that make John the “Son”? Let’s see. The show always blurs the line with John and this episode finally tells us why: John Locke is a “proxy”, a substitute, someone who will help someone else get back to the island:

JACK: [Sighs] Why would he kill himself? ELOISE: Ohh... there are many reasons, I'm sure, but the only one that matters is this—he is going to help you get back. John is going to be a proxy. A substitute. JACK: A substitute for who? ELOISE: Jack... who do you think?

He’s not someone that you follow but he’s someone who prepares someone else become the person that other people follow. He’s the prophet, like John the Baptist was. John is the messianic figure that anticipates a bigger figure than himself. He’s the one who prophesizes the Coming of the Son. John is the “Man of Faith” who’s certain of his word, perhaps a little too much for his own good.

So what do we have here so far? A man of science, a man of cons and a man of faith. Interesting. The Son will have to be someone who possesses all three of these things: "science" to base his beliefs onto something real, "cons" to put his beliefs to test when necessary and "faith" to believe in the veracity of his beliefs. But what are these beliefs about? What does this “Son” believe in? Well, he must believe that he… can do it.

JACK: My father... is gone. My father has been dead for three years. You want me to... [scoffs] a—and to give it to Locke?! He's in a coffin! This is ridiculous! ELOISE: Oh, stop thinking how ridiculous it is and start asking yourself whether or not you believe it's going to work. That's why it's called a leap of faith, Jack.

So, of course, you already know by now that the “Son” is Jack Shephard. The "leap of faith" he's got to do is a leap of faith in... himself. He's not St. Thomas who follows Jesus. He's the One people follow. We can start the meta about the episode now (hahahah).

[lydmstilinski]

That's so true! Especially when the plot is emotionally heavy having filler episodes lets you and the characters breathe. You know what else I miss about old network shows getting at least 22 episodes a season to me these 8 episodes a season aren't true seasons they feel like miniseries. At least make it 13 episodes like a lot of UK shows used to be.

That's why I love fan videos I know there's some for Wild Cards I think you should finish seasons 1-2 before you watch them though you might get spoiled. I didn't watch Dawson's Creek when it was airing either I watched it a couple years ago didn't know about until then. Thanks for that edit I'll watch it right away I feel that way when I'm down bad for a lot of ships.

I always hated love triangles I wish they never existed it's such a lazy way to not develop your character's relationships I find them boring too. A lot of the time I stop caring about the show/ship when all they focus on is the love triangle I don't get why people love them.

I'm glad you love it! What do you think of Ellis and Max so far? Yes glad you ship them too they really do have amazing chemistry and partnership I can't wait for the new seasons.

I know!!! The first two seasons are only worth watching everything else is crap every season kept getting worse and worse then we have season 6 which is GOT final season writing. I wanted more Nick and less Luke I have heard in the book Nick isn't in it a lot because it's from June's pov but their story was better in the book right? See that's making me want to read the books now I also thought throughout the series that June was just using Nick and she didn't really love him then I get to season 6 and they confirmed it with the I loved you they really made June my villain origin story. You're right about the revolution I wanted that to happen over multiple seasons why couldn't we of got it? It's okay with the delayed response I understand!! hope everything is going good for you.

I also saw you say you already ship MoonCovey that's another ship of mine I've been loving them since season 1 I started shipping them since the trailer though I saw the enemies to lovers potential.

ugh yes bring back 22 episode seasons!!!! you can’t accomplish much in 8 to 10 episodes!!! we need time with characters to connect with them and you just can’t establish that kind of connection in what amounts to a miniseries

i finished wild cards s1 last night and oh myyyyy that final plot twist!!!! i can’t wait to dive into s2 and yes i’m holding off on watching fanvids for now to avoid spoilers lmao. that twist was too good and i don’t want to ruin anything about it. but the tension THE TENSION i do so love a good betrayal of trust (which tht did not pull off despite what bm and em think lol) ellimax are AMAZING and they just reached that perfect place of trust and longing after the bank robbery only for her betrayal to knock him off his feet but that’s why it hurts him so much because he loooves her oh my god i’m in angsty heaven with them right now

imo love triangles only work when both pairings are on equal footing and either one could viably be a logical endgame but that’s almost never the case lol one pairing is always obviously favored by the writers or is deliberately written as lesser than in order to prop up the other. again it all comes down to bad writing smh

as someone who actually didn’t completely hate got s8 (i know i know 🙈) i can confidently say that tht s6 is waaaaay worse just unprecedented levels of fumbling the bag. yeah nick isn’t in the book as much because it’s just june’s narration of events after the fact BUT the nick content we do get is fantastic and the way she talks about him makes her love very clear. i will always recommend the books they are SO much better than the show.

ahh mooncovey 😍 yes i ship them and i haven’t even watched the show yet. good to know you like them too!!! they remind me of pacey x joey s1 and i’m always here for enemies to lovers!!! i’m going to binge that as soon as i finish wild cards

[basicallyjaywalker]

The final day!!!! Only about 4 hours left to vote! I'm on pins and needles about the results. I'll be (after I finish making them it's been a busy week) releasing the link to the playlist of the winner as well!!

Time to compile the current details

On Razed Ground/Never Quit:

-"Never Quit" is going to be the first part of the larger "On Razed Ground" series, which will be a collection of fics set in my Zombie AU, these facts should cover Never Quit exclusively

-It will follow the core six ninja from the start of the infection to a year in

-The ninja will still have their powers!

-Taking place right after S6/Jay's Final Wish

-Pure angst and terror and fear. my favorite :D

Quotes:

"How bad can a little stomach bug be?"

"You don't think this virus could become digital, do you?" "I hope not."

"Even the sun must set, so a new day can begin." "I'm worried the sun set too early."

Center Stage:

-Nya is gonna be a pink lady in Grease, Jasmine is a techie who quickly falls into bisexual panic

-Nataly and Lloyd are roommates. Is this plot relevant? Not really. Is it the funniest dynamic ever? Yeah.

-Will feature one of those stupid college parties in an abandoned lot you hear so much about, breeding grounds for drama

-Human/Non-Elemental world

-Everyone is a first or second year in university

-Just fluff and dramedy, very goofy and fun, two young adults try to have a romance when both have only dated one person before and one is just realizing she's bi

Quotes:

"My new roommate has been sizing me up like she wants to eat me."

"Being a woman in STEM is not a hobby."

"Well, how do you feel when you look at her?" "Like I've blown away a thousand dandelions and made the same wish every time."

Rook Can't Make Choices so Here's a Poll

In November I wanna work on another fic project alongside Selenelion, but I can't decide between these two options

I've never done a poll either so why not start here!

I'll start working on both because I plan to do both, but the question is which I want to focus on for the time being

Whoever wins at the end will be the focus!

Info about both fics current direction under the cut:

Zombies (ay ay ay)

Set in the same universe as my whumptober zombie au shorts, this would be a collection of short stories involving the ninja and how they make it through the zombie apocalypse

Would be VERY angst heavy and include major character death, alternating POVs between chapters.

Included would be: Skylor Chen being a certified badass, a lot of crying, ethical and moral quandries, blood and guts from the dead and undead, and a sense of dread I will never let up on

Sapphic College Love Story

Nya x Jasmine romcom where they're working on a play together!

I haven't done much for Jasmine but this would alternate between her's and Nya's POVs as one goes through sapphic panic and the other has a bisexual awakening

Included would be: Jay in a polycule less than half a year after they break up, Jay and Nya are besties, Pixal trying to help her two best friends actually talk to each other and needing to see Zane to treat the headache it gives her, and Nataly and Lloyd being a hilarious roommate pairing

[inmyarmswrappedin]

Idk if you've heard, but druck's dropped the ball on this season and they don't seem to have the tools to locate. Being that that is the case, would you still want an Ava season at the hands of these writers? Idek how likely an 8th season is bc ik that my own country would have scrapped druck mid-way through s6. I do wonder if Germany will keep on letting druck keep on?

Hi anon! 🎀 Let me answer your questions from last to first.

I'd say a s8 is all but guaranteed. Druck tends to get renewed 2 seasons at a time. It happened with s2-s3, and then s5-s6. The exception is s4, and really that was more so they could finish off the original run and get to the new seasons. There was a casting call for teens when s4 was still dropping, and I think they must've wanted to s5 to start dropping in fall 2019 because they introduced Zoe right away. (Hell, Zoe was introduced via chats during the Abiball special.) For whatever reason the new gen got delayed a year. Tl;dr: I'm pretty sure they've already guaranteed funding for s8, regardless of how s7 performs.

I more or less know what's going on with Druck. Truth be told, my impression is that they fixed none of the things I was hoping they'd fix (mostly having to do with episode runtimes, which tbf, is on the network rather than the writers or cast) and messed with things that weren't broken. I think the loss of Raquel as casting person is the one that's most acutely felt.

As for the writers: The head writer is Mareike Almedom. As far as I can tell, she's a white woman. Naomi Bechert is a black woman who was part of the social media team in s5-s6. Bahar Bektaş is a Kurdish refugee according to her website. Kai Kreuser is a white man. We know who Lukas is. And Crew United has also recently credited Arda Görkem (who played Abdi in s1-s4) as a writing intern. (An actual writing intern credited as such, not like the script coordinator that the wtf fandom framed.) Given that Arda is of Turkish descent, he might've had a hand in writing the Turkish parts of the script.

What I mean to say with this is that the writer's room isn't a lily white bunch. And none of the people who've worked on Druck before and can guide the others (Naomi, Lukas, Arda) are white. So... idk. I'm not sure that changing the writers again is necessarily going to make things better.

So would I want to see an Ava season with these writers? I mean... lol. First the argument was that Ava shouldn't get s7 because the viewers would abandon the show and Druck should choose a main that would bring in viewers, like Ismail! Have the numbers improved in s7, then? And if so, how much? Are we back to s5 numbers, to s4 numbers, to s3 numbers, to s2 numbers?

And what is the argument now? "No, Ava shouldn't get s8 because this writers' room would only ruin her character"? So, when does a character like Ava (a fat, dark-skinned black woman) get to be main on a Skam then?

For as much as people will complain if the writers fuck up an Ava season (which we'd have every right to), getting to be part of the Skams mains is still important. Take Kato's season. It's absolute trash, and it'd have been absolute trash even if Moyo had been main instead. But if Moyo had been main, then he'd have been the first black boy main, the first moc main across Skams (Bilal got that honor instead), the first wtf main of color, and only one of two mains of color for wtf. So, personally, I'd rather Ava gets that honor over it going to like, Mailin or even Finn or Yara.

Besides, even if they fuck it up, at least they will have had to put work into centering a narrative around Ava for ten weeks (assuming they don't switch povs like in Amira's season). If someone else gets to be main, then they won't have even tried.