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twink-frank · 4 years ago

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hi i’ve noticed the pencey prep gay conversation going on over on @awsugar and i have spent lots of time dissecting pencey prep lyrics and subjecting nathan @faggot-frank to my deranged ramblings so Here is my pencey prep super ultra mega gay lyrical analysis masterpost. it’s very long so its all under the cut but i will include a TL;DR for those who dont wanna read paragraphs of my deranged ramblings: Pencey prep uses lots of themes of: heartbreak, forbidden love, keeping love a secret, and toxic relationships. which none of that is gay on its own but combined with them almost never using gender indicators in their songs and the “nail in the coffin song” of 8th grade it ends up being a very Fruity Album.

I will be going through heart break in stereo in order and pointing out which lyrics and elements of certain songs jump out to me as Super Mega Gay and then summarizing my conclusions at the end <3

1 ) PS Don't Write

PS don't write is about leaving a toxic relationship, it has notes of moving on and leaving someone behind. "packed up all my shit / stole back all my tapes / left your spare key under the mat / this is not a joke / you'd better learn to take a hint / 'cause i'm not coming back / maybe you'll understand / when you're waking up alone / in a cold and empty bed." it has no gender indicators or pronouns which is the case in a lot of pencey prep songs, and something i'll bring up quite a bit. it also has general "coming of age" themes, something common in lots of pencey prep songs. which Yeah apply to straight people to but read in this context combined with future evidence can be pretty Fuckin Gay. "somewhere along the line / i found a hidden strength / i didn't know i had / standing on my own / cutting all the strings / that you used to control / surprise surprise / i am long gone / if you thought you could hold me down / by holding me up / you were wrong / you don't call the shots anymore." not to say only gay people can find inner strength and the room to love themselves but combined with other context it is a really poignant message about accepting yourself for who you are.

2) Yesterday

Yesterday is very repetitive and has a lot less to analyze, but the constant themes of wanting to "run away" strike me as very Fruity. once again, not saying gay people are the only people who can want to run away or escape from something But Combined With Other Context. and once again a song with no gender indicators, doesnt specify who the speaker is running away with or what they are running away from. just that they want to Leave. "i wanna run with you / i don't care what we do / gotta get out of this place / because it feels like yesterday." also saying "it feels like yesterday" could mean that the town feels backwards or old timey in its beliefs, implying homophobia. how the speaker wants to run away from an old fashioned town.

3) Don Quixote

i'm going to bring up the cultural significance of this title and literary reference first. Don Quixote is a classical novel by Cervantes which is about a crazy dude who thinks he's a knight, and goes on weird adventures with his best friend. It's typically used as a symbol of following your dreams and breaking free from what people expect of you. In the context of the song its used as a symbol of following your dreams with Someone. once again this someone is given no gender indicators. "you say it's not worth it / been burned too many times / if your spine's receding / you can borrow some of mine / don't go and quit right now / cause i'd follow you through hell." "you say so many things / and not a word of it was true / if you're still in that state of mind / i'd still vacation inside of you / cause i think you're worth every minute / and every dime that i spend / i'd spend all my time fighting dragons / just to keep you alive and talking." it's about wanting to spend time with someone, wanting to be with them no matter what. and its also about how this person feels unreachable, like being with them would be a fairytail but the speaker Still Reaches for it. "your imaginations running wild / round your deceptive heart / this is my crusade / and you're the unreachable star / but i'm reaching." talking about this person being unreachable and unattainble. which isnt gay By Itself but again combined with the other context. FRUIT BEHAVIOR.

4) 10 Rings

another breakup song once again with no gender indicators, are you guys sensing a theme here? anyways this song is about someone cutting you off and then coming back suddenly wanting to talk again after breaking your heart. it has a sense of forbidden love, like this person Told the speaker they cant be together for Whatever Reason ;] and is now trying to come back and repair their mistake when the speaker is already hurt and reeling. "learn to live with decisions you make / i learned things from the break i can't forget / catch you doing drive-bys at 1 AM / it must kill you to know we can't be friends." "end of the summer you cut me off / i cut you out all the pictures i have." which this Isnt Gay By Itself. but bringing that phrase back with other context this is such a uniquely gay experience. being in love with someone and they cut you off Because theyre weirded out by that and then they try to come back, convince you it meant nothing.

5) The Secret Goldfish

my FAVORITE pencey song. this one has a lot. it's another breakup song about heartbreak and loss and im not even gonna dwell on the no gender indicators because yall see the theme now. it has themes of heartbreak and losing someone who is very close to you and having to let go of them and having to accept that this person cant be yours and you cant be with them. "land of the lost / i found myself in nothing / this time, promises broken find me / clutching to you for something / something that you're not / believing in what you say / it makes me lie awake at night / the truth, the truth is not what scares me / it's why you have to lie / all the time." here we see these themes of having to let someone go because they just Aren't The Same as you. "clutching to you for something / something that you're not." maybe like chasing after a straight boy and getting rejected? also the repetition of "heartbreak is forever" when you're young and gay losing that first person you felt some kind of love and attraction to can feel like the end of the world and can be a huge deal because of the lack of representation and guidance young gays get. and the themes of nothing lasting forever, the fact that gay people never get promised eternal love the same way straight people do.

6) 8th Grade

this song is the nail in penceys fucking coffin honestly. the rest of these songs have a lot of plausible deniability, just vague enough to maybe Not Be Gay. but framed in the context of 8th grade they all start to get a lil fruity. Im just gonna go through lyric by lyric for this one. "caught staring again / like a deer in the headlights / when you can't move fast enough / i take a hit for the team / pretty girl is blushing / i can't tell if she's disgusted / laughter starts to swell / someone gets the joke." this kid was staring at some cute boy ass and got caught and everyone is laughing at him for being gay. the "pretty girl" here is what most people think he's staring at but with the rest of the song it's obvious she's not the one he's looking at. "bells ring, i make my escape / helps a little, but doesn't save / beat downs a common thing / with us every day / maybe im just strange / cause i dont change schools / so maybe i like the abuse / or maybe i just like you." literally This is the nail in penceys fucking coffin. "maybe i like the abuse or maybe i just like you." this kid purposefully takes beatings from his bully who is Obviously male if you take into context the next verse. because he Likes Him. "maybe im just strange / cause i dont change schools" literally willingly taking beatings from his bully bc he has a crush. "another confrontation / you've got something to prove / your girl can't tell how tough you are / when you beat me up in the boys room." this just confirms that the subject of the song is a boy, and a tough macho boy with something to prove. maybe also hiding his own internalized homophobia through bullying? "well i made a big mistake / but i can't help who i like / this may not cost my life / but i am branded forever lame." LITERALLY ITS RIGHT IN YOUR FACE. "can't help who i like" "branded forever lame" do i even need to fucking explain this oh my god. he got outed as gay, he Can't Help Who He Likes and is now branded forever as "the gay kid." the rest of the song is general "im gonna get back at my bully" stuff but literally THIS. THIS is the song that brands all penceys other very vague songs as 100% verified super mega ultra gay.

7) 19

this song has a lot less, and is more about internal struggle than anything. but it is the only song with a "she" pronoun in it. but there is one thing i wanna mention. "I scream out loud / but no one hears a sound / i take my life with lack of sleep / i believe the things i feel / the things i see are fooling only me." this song is about not believing what the world shows you, believing what you think is true in your heart and what You feel. not what anyone else tells you. which is a gay experience. believing in yourself and your heart and your feelings, believing theyre right and theyre true and valid. Also this song has a significance in coming right after 8th grade on the album, going from being 13 to 19, from being unsure in your feelings and angry about the people who dont like you to lost and hopeless but somewhat grounded in yourself.

8) Trying To Escape The Inevitable

this song is about an abusive and toxic relationship, knowing you Need to escape it but being so infatuated with the person you literally cant. “i have this reoccurring dream / you make it hard for me to breathe / i gave you everything i could / i gave up everything i owned / and when you smile it’s not for me / you offer little sympathy / your grasp so far exceeds your reach / i wake up, this is not a dream.” “i have this reoccuring dream / where you admit that you’re not happy / i know that you will never leave / you’re here just to torment me.” which like again this isnt an exclusively gay experience but it is very interesting when framed that way. in that gay people are way more likely to throw themselves into abusive and toxic relationships because they dont feel like they can get anybody else. the repetition of “i know i should run” makes it seem like the speaker Knows he should get out but he just Cant because what if he never finds love again? and the little reprise in the middle “i have a new dream / and everything is perfect / the sky is pink, yellow, green, blue, and orange / and all the past has been forgotten / and we fell in love / and we fell in love / and we fell in love / and i fell into your trap.” implying that even if he escapes, even in his dreams he still falls for this person because he feels like he cant have anything else.

9) Lloyd Dobbler

another love song about wanting to have someone but not being able to because of Unspecified Forbidden Reasons. “why are you so far away / even when you’re standing next to me? / your eyes give you away / telling secrets your mouht don’t feel like talking.” falling in love with someone, maybe sensing that they like you too. that they Are Like You and that they have a Secret they dont want to vocalize. do i even need to explain it at this point? and in the chorus “That I’ll be your lloyd dobbler / with a boom box out in the street / and i’ll be there if you need someone / even if he isn’t me.” saying you’ll be there for someone even if that person isn’t you, also the use of Pronouns which is big for pencey prep. which yes the use of “even if he isnt me” could imply a straight girl ooorrr....Fruit Behavior. also this line “There’s a norman rockewll painting / of two kids sitting on a bench / it reminds me of all the stupid things / i’d like for us to share, but i dont care.” normal rockwell is a painter that paints traditionally “american” scenes. like the american ideal, that maybe he wants with this person. but he knows he cant have, but its stupid and domestic and he wants it but he Cant Have It because of FRUIT BEHAVIOR.

10) Florida Plates

another of my favorite pencey songs, and this one brings back those tragic “love but we cant have it” themes, except with a more somber tone. instead of being angry or resentful or spiteful in the face of adversity. its an Acceptance, of what they had and how good it was and how it just Cant Last. “kiss a mouth to open eyes / stall one last moment before goodbye / drive in different cars in different directions / never write all the letters full of good words, better intentions / it’s for the best although we don’t know it / paper words will cheapen the moments we shared / it’s better if i say nothing at all.” it’s about knowing you have to leave someone, even if having them in the moment is great they Can’t Stay and you can’t even talk or write about the moments you had. which do i even need to explain it at this point? forbidden love, not being able to have each other, not even being able to Talk about it. its a secret, and painful one but its beautiful while you have it. Conclusion alright!!! thank you so so much if you read all the way through that i Know it was long i Know it was a lot of repetition but i wanted to make my point. pencey prep has very big gay themes in their music. with forbidden love, letting go, heartbreak, keeping secrets, toxic realtionships. which none of it is gay on its own but in the context of: almost none of the songs having clear gender indicators and always speaking really vaguely about the subject and Eight Grade the “nail in the coffin song” you can see my point thank you and goodnight.

#adrian speaks #mcr #pencey prep #frank iero

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linkfms · 4 years ago

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☠️ * what is up, party people ! i’m jojo ( she/her ), 23, and in the pst timezone. it’s been a while since i’ve been in a group so... pls bear with me. anyway, under the cut you’ll find more info on resident emo boy: link ! i’m so excited to write with u all, and, if u ever want to plot give this a lil’ like or send an im over @ yea right#4256 !

lincoln “link” seong was spotted in the fashion district adorning prada combat boots, with some airpod pros on. they’re most likely listening to when you were young by the killers. you may know them as @hyperlink or as that jeon jungkook lookalike. their twenty - fourth birthday just passed. while living in tribeca, they’ve gained a bit of a reputation. they’re known to be erratic but on the other hand vehement. wonder if they’ll be the next person to hit the headlines. ( cis male & he/him )

↳ THE BASICS: STATISTICS.

full name: seong hyunjae ( 성 현재 ) / lincoln seong.

nickname: link, and will probably only answer to link !

age & date of birth: 24 & november 21, 1996.

hometown: born in busan, south korea, but moved to jefferson, connecticut in 2006.

current location: tribeca, new york.

education: completed high school and attempted first semester of university, but decided to pursue music instead.

occupation: drummer for indie/alternative rock band, my time ( sound is similar to bands like the killers, the 1975, and paramore ). also is an affiliate with an esports organization ! doesn’t play competitively, but streams and creates content for them weekly.

sexual orientation: pansexual & panromantic.

gender & pronouns: cisgender male & he/him pronouns.

↳ THE BACKGROUND: BIOGRAPHY. ( tw: mentions of alcoholism & abuse )

seong hyunjae ( later given the english name lincoln seong... thanks linkin park ! ) was born in the heart of busan, south korea. his parents married at the age of 21, due to the cultural expectations of having a child born out of wedlock. while things seemed to be smooth sailing for a while, the couple realized the real struggles of adulthood. financial issues came into play. stress from working multiple jobs every single day took a toll on their mental health, as well as their relationship with each other. link’s mother began to develop an alcohol addiction, and her abusive behavior came following after. their home was falling apart, with four-year-old link falling asleep to muffled screaming and glass being thrown on the next room over. his father was able to withstand it for a while, but he drew the line after coming home from work to see large cuts on the side of his son’s thigh, and a bruise forming across his cheek. that was when he knew his wife was dangerous. so, one night when lincoln’s mother as at work, he packed his belongings, grabbed link, and left without looking back.

for a while, it was just the two of them. they found ways to make it work, and despite the fact that it was a constant struggle, his father never wanted link to lose his childhood. in fact, his father gave him everything he could give — but most importantly, as cheesy as it sounds, his unconditional love and support. as someone who lost his own parents young, he made sure that link would never feel like he’s being deprived of that, ever. they created this tight-knight bond because of that, which can’t ever be broken. and now, link’s fondest memories always involved spending time with his father. one favorite memory of his involved morning jam sessions after breakfast. link’s father was previously a lead guitarist in a garage band with a few of his high school friends, so while he was playing riffs on his electric guitar, eight-year-old link would be banging the coffee table with plastic straws.

when link was about ten, he and his father sold all of their belongings and moved all the way to jefferson, connecticut for a job offer that he couldn’t refuse. fast forward a few years, and he’s a teenager in high school. growing up link was more of an introvert, and would spend his time in the computer lab playing video games or browsing in online forums. he was a regular in this my chemical romance forum ( under the username @hyperlink ), and made a lot of his lifelong friends over there. one of his online friends jokingly suggested one afternoon that they should start a band over their nightly skype call, and while it was initially shrugged off as dream more than an arm’s reach away, my time was born. link had to endlessly plead his father to buy him a secondhand drum kit off of craigslist for christmas. but once he found it under their tree that year, it sparked this drive in him to learn and practice nonstop.

their first official band practice happened a day after link’s high school graduation ( which was also the first time everyone saw each other in person ! ), and they spent that entire summer making music. at first, link only thought of it as a hobby... since, he was attending his first year of university that fall. but after playing their first few shows and making all these memories, he couldn’t keep the band in the backburner. he dropped out not too long after to pursue his music career full-time. moved out, spent the next few months working long shifts at the local amusement park, and shared one two-bedroom apartment with his bandmates. one of their songs went viral one crazy night, and the next thing they knew, they were being signed into a record label. now ? they’re one of the biggest alternative/indie rock bands out there with multiple platinum records, sold out world tours, and millions of streams each year. their time finally came.

↳ THE INSIDE LOOK: PERSONALITY.

link definitely... gets babied a lot ( by his bandmates and his fans ), and he uses that to his advantage :] because of that he gets away with a lot of things, but it’s usually with things that are small like eating the last slice of pizza and it would be justified with “ no he is a growing BOY he NEEDS it ! ”

that being said, he eats nonstop. the guy carries a sandwich bag full of cheerios wherever he goes. his friends know that if they can’t finish eating something, they can always donate it to link for a good cause.

when my chemical romance announced their reunion tour in 2019, he threw his phone across the room and cried. my chemical romance ( with green day and linkin park as a close second ! ) are his all-time favorite bands, and a lot of my time’s sound is heavily inspired by them.

when i tell u that this man is so chill, i mean it. like things could LITERALLY be on fire and he’d be like “ just throw some water on it it’ll be fine 😎 ” ... he’s not the type to worry about things, and is more of a go with the flow type of person. he doesn’t even need to be zooted to be like this. KJFGDG

being in the band and a part of the entertainment industry caused a small shift in his personality. maybe he just blossomed ? who knows ! but because he’s been exposed to the rockstar life, he was able to open up more. he’s always seeking thrills, big or small, and won’t have the time to think about the consequences for his actions.

because the my chemical romance forum that was once his second home shut down, he’s since moved on to reddit. social media isn’t really his thing ( and his fans always get mad at him for posting a selfie once a month then dipping ), but catch him on subreddits making comments or starting fights for the sheer entertainment of proving someone wrong.

this might sound bad but... he still can’t wrap his head around the fact that he isn’t ? financially struggling anymore ? even if he’s already bought a house and two luxury cars for his dad, he still gets ticked off if he sees something small like an APPLE that is marked a dollar and a few cents over the usual. he catches himself using things until they’re ABSOLUTELY worn out, and still leeches off of his bandmates/friends when he can. <3 also, if something is broken, he’ll be the type to figure it out and fix it himself.

people... don’t exactly remember the last time he’s slept. it could be the insomnia ( it’s definitely insomnia, thx childhood trauma ! ) but it’s almost gotten to the point where he’s afraid to fall asleep on his own. he’ll always try to find ways to sleep in someone’s company, even if it’s just him crashing on a couch while someone is watching tv right there. if he’s alone though, he’ll always try to find ways to distract himself like stream for 10 hours straight.

speaking of trauma... he’s also scared of relationships. after witnessing the way his mother treated his father, he’s cautious of history repeating itself... but with him. so whenever he catches himself even falling for just a little, he dips.

his life revolves around the 4 m’s: marvel movies, minecraft, music, and my chemical romance. that’s it.

a link 😏 to his pinterest ! also, i don’t have any wcs, but if we plot, i promise i’ll use my big brain to brainstorm something with u. <3

#wealthyhq:intro #the way i spent too much time writing this.................

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118th-special-forces · 4 years ago

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Introduction to the 118th

Welcome to my rp blog! Since the 118th battalion and their general are my ocs, I thought I would post this so that other people can get a feel for these characters. Below is a list of everyone in the battalion who currently exists. I’m still figuring out the details for several of them (and I don’t want to infodump too much), but I’ll include as much info as I can :)

The idea with this battalion is that they’re special forces, so each of the four companies has specialized training that makes the men of a particular company well-suited to specific missions.

General: Veekah “Veek” Bala

female togruta with purple skin

18 years old

recently knighted

Commander: Nero

tired™

his hair is already turning a bit grey on the sides

battalion mom

Blitz Company: (the insect haters)

Locke (Captain of Blitz Company, battalion mom part 2)

Topaz (Blitz’s medic, very weird and definitely at least a tad unhinged, braincell? what braincell???)

Dan (A+ singer and dancer, differs from the rest of the company in that he hates spiders instead of bugs, has definitely written and performed a one-man stage production)

Jib (pilot)

Bowser (ARC trooper,�� Blitz’s chosen guardian against insects)

Kraken (specifically hates insects with too many legs, Big Shield Bisexual, batchmates with Hydra)

Hydra (also specifically hates insects with too many legs, Big Gun Bisexual, batchmates with Kraken)

Tank (ARC trooper, perhaps the quietest clone in the battalion, other members of Blitz take naps on top of him because he’s comfy, batchmates with Moss)

Teo (battalion cinnamon roll, armor is painted with many tic-tac-toe boards, apologizes to inanimate objects)

Moss (ARC trooper, loves his brothers more than life itself, “stuck like moss”, batchmates with Tank)

Whisper Company: (the sneaky boys)

Deacon (Captain of Whisper Company, loves telling and listening to stories, he has a braincell but has he ever used it?)

Bones (Whisper’s medic, he has one emotion and it’s “exasperated”)

Beetle (somewhat frightened by Blitz Company’s hatred of bugs, he’s competent but timid)

Ray (pilot)

Cyclops (ARC trooper, do no harm but take no shit, he looks scary but he’s actually a sweetheart)

Nox (likes to yoink his brothers’ possessions when they aren’t looking for the funsies, but he always gives it back afterwards)

Jair (ARC trooper, he can talk so much it’s unreal but at least he has Cyclops to listen to him yammer away)

Levi (one of the most appearance-conscious clones ever, can and will single-handedly spend the battalion’s entire haircare budget)

Nash (will throw hands with anyone who disrespects his captain, commander, or general)

Pixel (ARC trooper, honestly??? his main personality trait is probably Sad)

Firebolt Company: (explosions.)

Merrick (Captain of Firebolt Company, able to harness the company’s chaotic energy for good)

Grim (Firebolt’s medic, not impressed with anyone’s attempts to hide their injuries or illness)

Troll (specializes in destroying structures like ships and buildings with the fewest number of strategically-placed explosives)

Brogue (pretty intense, takes preparedness for potentially dangerous situations very seriously)

Titan (pilot)

Needle (ARC trooper, partnered with Diego, he has a phobia of needles and his drink of choice is hot apple juice)

Ziggy (masquerading as responsible and calm, but he’s just as chaotic as his batchmate Incident)

Incident (imagine Hardcase but with easier access to explosives)

Kip (able to keep a level head in even the most high-stress bomb defusal situations, he can create or dismantle explosives in record time)

Diego (ARC trooper, partnered with Needle and adopted Ziggy and Incident with him, easily coerced into shenanigans)

Enigma Company: (*hacker voice* i’m in)

Alcor (Captain of Enigma Company, he definitely doesn’t encourage his company to do stupid things. not at all. never.)

Siris (Enigma’s medic, definitely the most outwardly nice medic in the battalion but won’t hesitate to slap a brother if necessary)

Wash (just wants a tooka pls, strangely skilled as a magician)

Mack (goes on adventures on strange planets to pet strange creatures and paints his armor to reflect all the cool plants and animals he’s seen)

Jax (he is a very intense individual and has been known to yell very loud, he also loves tookas but not as much as Wash)

The Triplets (three partnered ARC troopers - Jackal, Beskar, Cass)

Jackal (ARC trooper, best artist in the battalion)

Beskar (ARC trooper, battalion mom part 3)

Cass (ARC trooper, nonbinary but will accept any pronoun)

Kane (pilot, superstitious)

Gambit (we all know that many of the clones have no clue how to lie well but THIS BOY CAN LIE, champion sabacc player of the battalion)

#intro

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creaturecarnival · 5 years ago

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Gogomaggedon Part 7

Almost to the halfway point!

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6]

Name: Lessi

Description: Sometimes feels a little low. You might need to perk him up.

Ability: Shock-Absorber

Aw, poor guy. Judging from the description and ability, it seems like maybe absorbing all of whatever impacts he’s receiving is not great for his mental stability. At least he’s got that helmet which his eyes are sticking out of. Cute design choice, but probably not great for protecting your noggin.

3.5/5

Name: Lessei

Description: Moves his head to the rhythm of any music.

Ability: Rotating Neck

When I imagine someone moving their head to the rhythm of music, rotating isn’t the first action that comes to mind, but it is pretty hilarious to imagine someone walking down the street blasting speed metal as they furiously rotate their head faster than your eyes can even track. I like the classic look of a helmet or hair that makes the eyes look half-lidded, but the design is pretty plain otherwise.

3.5/5

Name: Pop

Description: Loves music and dances non-stop.

Ability: Top Rhythm

This review really likes making me type “rhythm” apparently. Pop is pretty simplistic, but pretty cute anyway. The blocky eye-shape and dotted-line mouth make me wonder if she’s a robot, but that’s probably overthinking it.

3.5/5

Name: Popo

Description: Doesn't like too many bumps but with his lucky star he is a very skillful player.

Ability: Lucky Star

Oh cool, another trans one! At least I feel like Pop is pretty female-coded. I mean, in the South American/Asian line, her name is Lynda and the wiki uses she/her pronouns, so I’m counting it. Popo is pretty wild, with Pop’s bangs turning into some kind of… helmet? It’s hard to tell, but much like Lessi, his eyes are on that part rather than the actual “head” itself.

4/5

Name: DJ-Imon

Description: Absorbs ideas through its star.

Ability: Mental Strength

What is going on with all the headphone guys?? Well, whatever it is, I guess it’s okay, because their designs have all ranged from alright to good. The aforementioned “star” looks more like a cartoon explosion, but I guess stars are just big, prolonged explosions, right? Hey, do you think before it goes on stage it says “Well… looks like Imon.” Get it??? Like... because of... never mind.

3.5/5

Name: Imooki

Description: A voice in his earphones tells him the rules of every game. He's got such a terrible memory.

Ability: Voice Recorder

I don’t know what it is about Imooki, but I think he’s very cute. Maybe it’s the silly face with the little bitty eyes, or maybe it’s that the grooves that were originally DJ-Imon’s teeth now just look like funny little Thanos chin-grooves (I have an Imooki, which is literally the only way I ever would have known that considering it looks like they filled in those grooves for the official sticker art). His description only makes him even more endearing.

4/5

Name: Jelly

Description: Brave enough for any battle.

Ability: Super Warrior

Just kind of an alright knight guy. Not much to report on here except that it’s funny that a brave warrior’s name would be “Jelly”.

3/5

Name: Jezo

Description: A long losing streak has made this once confident Gogo suddenly very modest.

Ability: Macromodesty

Other than the fact that their ability sounds like some kind of bizarre euphemism, Jezo is a MAJOR upgrade from Jelly. They were always one of my favorites as a kid, too. I just love that nervous face, and the red-orange-on-white color combo is really nice.

5/5

Name: Sumon

Description: Traps his enemies inside his huge powerful jaws.

Ability: Mouth-Cage

Oh I really like this one. Just a big weird mouth with snail-like antennae. He even appears to have stripes that run vertically along his body, much like a snail does! What more could you ask for?

5/5

Name: Sumi

Description: Full of encouragement. Sumi welcomes everyone with open arms.

Ability: Hugs

D’aw! I was kind of expecting them to make the mouth into an eye, but instead they made it into a face! They look like they’re wearing some kind of space suit, and it’s very cute. Also, I like how the ability doesn’t have any descriptors like “Super Hugs” or “Encouraging Hugs”. Just “Hugs”.

4/5

One more review and we’ll have met 80 Gogos! That’s as many as a full series, but because my hubris will be my eventual downfall and we’re doing two series at once, we’ll still have 80 more to go. I didn’t call this Gogomaggedon for nothing!

#gogo's crazy bones #mod frankie

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travllingbunny · 5 years ago

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The 100 6x11 Ashes to Ashes

This episode was the subject of a lot of hype, and not just because it is Bob Morley’s directorial debut, but also because there was a lot of speculation and expectations and rumors of different kinds, caused partially by the info that it would contain Echo’s backstory, and partially by a photo of a writing staff’s board with half-joke descriptions of episodes, including the one for 6x11 that read: “people sitting around, talking about their feelings”. It also has a very misleading title, which does not refer to what everyone thought it would, but which caused speculation that someone would die in it. (Someone did die, permanently or temporarily, but not any of the major characters.)

As it turns out, it is a solid episode that works as a bridge between Clarke’s return at the end of 6x10 and her upcoming mission to infiltrate Sanctum, with some important plot movements and setup, And, indeed, it did have several scenes where people were talking about their feelings, in one way or another, but no more than most episodes of this season. The most important one of those scenes was the one between the Blake siblings, which was a long time coming. Gaia and Miller also reflected on their role in the Blodreina years, and Miller had his best character moment in quite a while. Madi and Sheidheda about murdery feelings, and Echo and Ryker talked about the necessity and consequences of committing murder, before he failed in trying to murder her and then she murdered him, and we got an Echo flashback that was pretty good in itself, but its meaning and importance in the narrative is something that the fandom doesn’t seem to agree on and that needs to be analyzed. We also got an introduction of some minor characters from Children of Gabriel, Layla and Nelson, and Layla expressed some angry feelings for Gabriel about the death of her brother Xavier and the fact that Gabriel had lied to her for 10 years. Bellamy and Clarke were showing feelings for each other, as they tend to always do – not so much through words, but through looks, soft touches, and things that were left unsaid.

The opening scene with Madi and Sheidheda in her mind space had a wonderfully creepy atmosphere – the two of them sitting on thrones in a half dark room, lit by many candles, playing chess on with very weird chess pieces. The rooks look like the tower in Polis, but more interesting than that are strangely lifelike human figures in somewhat disturbing poses – one of the figures (bishop?) seems to be tied to a pole, another (pawn?) seems to be dying, while another (knight?) has been pierced by a spear. The king and queen are the only ones who don’t look injured or dead. Interestingly, Sheidheda played with the white chess pieces, and beat Madi with his white queen getting right next to the black king for a check-mate. (Foreshadowing, perhaps?)

All of this feels very Star Wars-like, and while it may not be very original or complex as a story, the sinister atmosphere makes it work. While she seems to be acting fully evil to anyone on the outside, Madi is still resisting Sheidheda in her mind, if only by questioning his most extreme suggestions. It was enough for her to only attack Jackson so she could get away, but without trying to kill him, because she considers him innocent and “one of us”. The way Madi is using the pronoun “we” when talking to others and the fact Sheidheda asked her why she didn’t let him go for Jackson’s throat suggests that Sheidheda has almost as much influence on Madi’s external actions as she does, though, for now, she is still not giving him full control.

I really like the angles in this scene where Clarke wakes up, next to a very caring Bellamy – we get an outside look, close-ups, a shot from Clarke’s perspective, and a shot of Gabriel, who is in sad thoughts when Clarke mentions that the fact that Josephine is dead-dead and the drive is empty. Bellamy seemed to have been by Clarke’s side all the time, waiting for her to wake up and comforting her by saying he was still there. As Clarke gave him heart eyes while saying “You saved me”, Bellamy’s face showed a combination of love, concern and guilt, and for a moment, it seemed like he wanted to tell her something more, but stopped himself. It’s very interesting that Bellamy told Clarke he was sorry for not having protected her even though he knew she was a target. He didn’t know about the bodysnatching, but yes, he did know about the Children of Gabriel – but how was he supposed to protect her from being kidnapped by an apparently harmless guy who danced and flirted with her and had sex with her? It’s not like Bellamy is her bodyguard who constantly goes with her and watches over whatever she does? Unless… he regrets that he wasn’t there for her in some other capacity (let’s call it that) that would mean she wouldn’t have needed to look for someone else to hook up with…

Some of Bellamy’s guilt was, no doubt, over the fact that he left his other people, including his actual girlfriend, in danger because, as Josephine pointed out in 6x09, he cares for Clarke more than for the others. When he asked “how do we save those I left behind?”, Clarke tried to reassure him that he did the right thing because, if Josephine were still alive, not only would she be dead but so would everyone else – and she specifically named “Echo and Madi”, because Echo is who she thinks Bellamy cares about the most. However, when Clarke suggested going as Josephine to fool Russell and lower the radiation shield so the others could get in, Bellamy immediately opposed that plan and kept opposing it, until the decision had already become a done deal due to circumstances, because he wasn’t willing to risk Clarke again. When Gabriel outlined the plan and Clarke pointed out that the mission isn’t just about their people, Bellamy heatedly stated that for him, it is. But the plan was, in fact, no riskier – arguably less so – than the plan Bellamy went on to propose a bit later, or any other plan they could have come up. It was only riskier for Clarke. Which begs the question, when he said it was all about his people for him, was he mostly thinking that it is all about her safety?

It is great to see the character development Clarke has gone through this season, especially in 6x07. The things she went through in the previous 5 seasons, especially Mount Weather in season 2, had traumatized her and made her lose almost all of the moral certainty she used to have back in season 1, when she believed in trying to save everyone, instead of accepting the motto that everyone is just trying to save “their people” (which culminated in her views we heard in 5x01, that there are no good guys, and it is all “kill or be killed”). She has now realized that being a good guy matters and that they need to fight evil, while also trying to save all the innocent lives. The current situation is, as she pointed out, like a repeat of Mount Weather in many ways. Back then, Clarke and Bellamy were desperate to save their people, but they were also trying, to the last moment, to spare the innocents – such as children and the people who helped them, like Maya – but unfortunately, other people’s actions and betrayals backed them into the corner and put them in a situation where the only options were to let all their loved ones and themselves be killed horrifically and to let the evil techno-vampire overlords win, or to save their people by killing all the Mountain Men with radiation. They made the only right choice in those circumstances, but what they had to do broke them, strained their relationship and has haunted them ever since. It is very important that now they are getting a chance to have a do-over. Not because they were bad people then – they were not – but because they can now try to plan things differently and not get in a situation where these are the only choices. Of course, Josephine was completely wrong about Clarke when she thought Clarke would kill everyone in Sanctum – because Josephine didn’t actually understand Clarke even after seeing into her mind, and projected herself and her own views of people into what she imagined Clarke to be life.

Let’s get something right: Bellamy didn’t “revert” to a “pre-season 5 Bellamy” who supposedly doesn’t care about killing people from the enemy faction if it saves his people, or any similar BS I’ve been reading these days. That could not happen for the simple fact that this Bellamy never existed. Bellamy was never OK with killing innocent people, especially not children, or killing people in any situation other than battle. He would sometimes say things in anger, such as “I will kill everyone in this mountain” when he was trapped in the cage in MW (just as Clarke angrily said “I will kill Mountain Men, all of them” after the missile had hit Tondc), but when he got to see things up close and see the actual people who would get hurt, he immediately started insisting that they need to find a plan that doesn’t kill everyone. In early season 2, he tried to stop Finn from killing a captured Grounder thief. In season 3, he agreed to participate in killing 300 warriors that Pike believed were a potential threat to people in Arkadia – while they were sleeping, rather than in a battle, but that was during a time when he was particularly vulnerable and afraid of not being able to protect his people, but he both tried to prevent the others from killing the wounded, and immediately felt guilty over all of it – and it went on to haunt him to this day. In season 4, he was doing everything to save people, not just as an abstract group but as specific individuals, whoever they are, including potentially jeopardizing a future rescue for his people and himself by freeing slaves (people he didn’t even know, most of them from various Grounder clans Azgeda had captured) that were suffering in that very moment. What was going on here, again, is that Bellamy was very worried, angry at the Primes, and on edge, because he is worried about what the Primes and their brainwashed followers may be doing to his people, and most of all, because of what he went through thinking Clarke was dead, and now having to see her risk her life, again. I wish people would stop doing that thing where they pretend that saying things in anger is the same things as doing them. And, frankly, I can’t blame Bellamy for being frustrated with the non-Prime Sanctum residents for their sheep-like mentality, but if he got in the position to see them killed, I’m sure he would try to save them.

People hate on Abby for not realizing that “Clarke” was really Josephine, but what about the fact that Gabriel managed to fool Layla into thinking he was her brother Xavier, for 10 years?! Wow.

Who is more incompetent, Sanctum guards or Children of Gabriel? According to the poll I recently ran, most people think that both suck equally.

While we will not get another red sun eclipse, because not enough time has passed, I’m glad that the red sun toxin is an important plot point, again. Bellamy did some quick thinking when the CoG captured them, coming up with the plan to release the toxin to cause chaos. But instead of a massacre that would probably come from the release of the full capacity toxin, the plan that Josephine and Gabriel came up with involves a milder dose, which is supposed to cause, I guess, just people being more open about their feelings and having hallucinations? This should be fun.

We now know at the Adjustment Protocol is – Josephine’s and Simone’s experiments to have the Sanctum people go nuts and have strong hallucinations, which happened to involve them seeing the Primes as gods or angels (no surprise, since they were already conditioned to see them like that), but also massacres where the most devout would start killing the less devout. (We’re constantly learning new details about how evil the Primes are.) I have a bad feeling that we’ll see something like that after all, because things tend to always go wrong on The 100.

The scene with Octavia and Bellamy in the cave is one of the most important moments of this season. Octavia finally doing some serious self-reflection, admitting that she had lost her way and apologizing to her brother is something that I had wanted a long time. I don’t think she was saying that it was his responsibility to be her moral compass, as some fans have interpreted it – I think she was just trying to tell him how important he was for her. Bellamy was obviously very emotionally affected, trying to fight back tears, but at the same time, it’s realistic that he cannot fully forgive her immediately, and that he needs to see her change in action. His line “You’re my sister, but you’re not my responsibility” is a good start for a healthier relationship between these two. Their relationship was dysfunctional from the start, because Octavia was isolated for the first 17 years of her life and had to hide, while Bellamy was taught to see Octavia as his responsibility since he was 6, becoming her pseudo-father and devoting his life to her. Now they have a chance to try and have a normal sibling relationship, for the first time.

However, since I read the longer version of this scene from the original script, I’ve been really upset that we didn’t get to see all the lines that were cut. I wish we got to see these lines that show Octavia’s self-reflection on their entire relationship since they came to Earth (the only thing I disagree with is the idea that Aurora shouldn’t have had her) and the exchange about Medea – which shows how much Bellamy feels hurt personally by Octavia’s treatment of him. It’s not just about him being critical of her actions in a detached way, as if it had nothing to do with him. Which should be obvious, but it’s something some fans are trying to ignore.

The visuals in season 6 have been so amazing, and this episode has some really beautiful shots of the vicinity of the Anomaly, especially the shot with Octavia in the glowing forest and the Blake siblings in the glowing cave.

The first practical signs of Octavia’s big change is the fact that she is arguing, together with Clarke, in favor of sparing innocent lives as much as possible. And in spite of Bellamy’s problems with the plan because of Clarke’s safety, he and Clarke agreed that they should try to spare the innocents and do better “for Monty”. In season 2, Monty, Jasper, Raven and others were thinking “What would Clarke do?”, and now Clarke and Bellamy are wondering “What would Monty do?”

Raven, Abby, Jordan and Emori were all absent from this episode, but Miller and Gaia got a good scene where they talked about the guilt over the role in Blodreina’s regime, which Miller in particular has been struggling with, and the necessity to rebel against authority in other to do good (which, in Gaia’s case, means opposing Madi’s orders to save Madi and save people from her), and as Gaia put it, to “transcend”. This led to a nice moment where we saw the return of my favorite version of Miller, the one from season 2, who is fun and knows how to use his thieving skills for good.

Now that his wife is kind of dead and his daughter missing, Russell has become quite unhinged and increasingly acting like a classic villain. We’ve all been comparing Russell to Dante Wallace and Josephine to Cage, and that comparison made sense – but Russell is now starting to fulfill the Cage role, not just because he’s definitely the main villain now that Josephine is dead, but also because he’s the guy escalating the situations with his ruthless and not-well-thought-out actions which are putting our protagonists in danger, but which are likely to ensure his own destruction. (Dr Tsing was the cold, rational villain like Simone, and she also died early.) He almost publicly burned the Earthkru, calling them criminals, but now he wants to Echo as a host – as a punishment for trying to assassinate him? He may as well announce to the whole of Sanctum that he’s been lying to all of them for 200 years, and that everything he has told them about how it is an “honor” to be a host and that it means “being one with the Primes” was just BS, and that the Primes really have been preying on them all along. How long until a number of people turn against him? At this point, the only reason they are not doing it is fear of those who are still loyal to the Primes.

The angle and lighting even gave Russell a demonic look. He really is living up to his name “Lightborne” (Lucifer). There was a lot of religious symbolism and mentions of demons, in particular: Sheiheda is called a demon by Gaia, while Gabriel was considered a demon by Russell and the other Primes and was supposed to be burned at the stake (but Ryker released him).

Ryker seemed like he could play the season 2 Maya role and do the right thing, but instead, he is the anti-Maya. At this point, I’m really annoyed by him and his wishy-washiness. He knows what the Primes are doing is wrong, but he still wants to continue doing it. He never wanted to stop the resurrections – because he benefits from them.

I can’t say I’m exactly upset with Echo for killing him – however, it’s not something she had to do, as she, Miller and Gaia would have easily subdued and captured him, and it’s interesting that the show framed it through Echo repeating a line by her mentor/abuser, Queen Nia: “Hesitation is death”. The flashback itself was good, though not very surprising – we knew that Nia was one of the cruelest people on the show, and we knew from Echo’s story in 6x04 that she was originally an orphan from people who were conquered and killed by Azgeda. The one thing that was a surprise was the twist that “Echo” is not even Echo’s real name, and that she was forced to take the name, skill, and identity of the friend she had to kill to survive. (I’m not sure that Ash was her real name, either. It could have been a nickname given to her by Nia, or else it would be too much of a coincidence that this was the name of a girl rescued from a burning house.) The show basically gave Echo a backstory that’s a mix of Don Draper, Mr. Eko and Grant Ward. However, the question is, how does this new information affect her story going forward? The fact she changed her identity means nothing to any of the people she is close to now. It can only be relevant to how we see her. Echo probably told Ryker the story just to stall, maybe garner some sympathy so she could stall more – because the real message she drew from it is definitely not something she would’ve wanted to tell Ryker (or it would have made him kill her), but I think that maybe she wanted to tell someone, but was too ashamed to tell any of her friends (even though they wouldn’t actually judge her), or unable to open up so much, so she told it to someone that she knew would either kill her, or would soon be dead when she killed him. I don’t think this flashback was just there to explain why Echo became the way she did, or to garner sympathy – because if that were its purpose, it would have worked – probably better – at any point in the previous two seasons. I think there are two things we can take away here:

A lot of people complained about Echo’s writing in S5, because viewers assumed that was supposed to be accepted as someone who has changed and been redeemed, without the show giving her a redemption arc. This was based on Bellamy saying, when defending her to Octavia, that Echo had changed and proven herself on the ring. The latter didn’t make much sense, because the ring was conflict-free, just 7 people living there and apparently struggling just with boredom, Murphy’s negativity and the lack of tasty food. And what we saw of Echo suggested that she hasn’t changed fundamentally, she just became loyal to different people. She was still someone who, when she was following Bellamy’s decisions, had the instinct to go for pre-emptive kills as the first option. Season 6 took all these criticisms and showed that they were correct, but that this may be a part of Echo’s characterization. In 6x02, Emori taunted her for being a follower who always obeys her master (implying that her master now is Bellamy) while Echo had hallucinations of her training as a child spy/assassin. In this episode, we see that Echo still believes and acts on those same lessons. It’s not surprising that Bellamy saw a different side to her on the ring – because he saw her peaceful side during the time of peace. Now, people have said that the fact she showed compassion for and mercy-killed the unfortunate man in the Offering Grove in 6x06 shows that she has changed. But that man wasn’t someone she had reasons to see as a threat. Echo was able to feel compassion in season 4, too – she looked sad when she thought she had killed Octavia, and was affected by Bellamy’s speech in 4x05 about the way that war makes people into murderers and that we can try to be different – but she was always able to repress any such feelings and go for the kill, even pre-emptively, whenever thought someone was even a potential threat, physical or political (such as the leader from another clan who suggested a council rather than Azgeda rule, and was immediately killed for that). This is something that has been ingrained in her too strongly. Is this going to play a role in the remaining two episodes? Probably. Maybe because of something Echo will do, or maybe it was just meant to explain why she killed Ryker, which may be important. (They could have tried to use him as a hostage or for negotiation with Priya, if she decides to turn against Russell, realizing that he’s putting them all in danger?)

The revelation that she took someone else’s identity may be relevant if Echo is going to have an identity crisis. In a way, she has always been an echo of whoever she is working for – she was trying to act like Nia after her death in season 4, and the biggest change in her post-Praimfaya is that she is now following Bellamy as her leader and is a part of Spacekru/Earthkru, people with very different morality and methods from those of Azgeda. And now we learn that she is also an echo of the original Echo. Who is she, really? She’s learned to be efficient, to kill without hesitation, to make herself useful and to be loyal, in order to survive and be accepted. But who is she, and does she have emotional needs beyond that? In spite of spending 6 years with Bellamy, Raven, Emori, Murphy, Monty and Harper, and in spite of dating Bellamy (for however long), she has never told them the most important things about herself (or only told Bellamy about her parents recently, after being forced to). Her relationship with Bellamy is both empty in terms of intimacy, and incredibly unbalanced – she is more like his loyal lieutenant/sidekick, not his girlfriend, and it must be now obvious to Echo that Bellamy loves and values Clarke a lot more. Why would anyone want to stay in such a relationship? Everything about Echo this season is showing that this she needs to try to find her own identity outside of Bellamy and finally get real character development.

I don’t know what plot significance the fact that Echo’s Nightblood will have, but Gaia’s reaction to that information was a little weird. Why would she be impressed with artificial Nightblood? She’s seen it before with Clarke. And we know that Grounders consider the idea of putting the Flame into artificial Nigthbloods a blasphemy, which makes me find this theory very unlikely.

Murphy continues to play his trickster role and play both sides, but this is far more understandable in his case than with Ryker, since he is doing it save Emori, who is being directly threatened by Russell. But his real loyalties are now much more obvious than they were in 6x08 – for instance, in the way he gets important info to Echo and tells her to pretend that she hates him, so he can keep playing the role of traitor for Russell. Clarke is right not to trust him and to fool him into thinking she is Josephine – just like Russell, she knows he would choose Emori’s life over everything else. But she has also noticed how angry he is with the Sanctum guards, so she is probably aware that he would be on her side if Emori were safe. Bellamy, on his part, understood Murphy when Murphy explained why he was doing what he was doing – and, after risking everything for Clarke, he isn’t going to hold that against Murphy. Murphy tried to be a good friend by telling Bellamy about Echo being in danger. (Bellamy’s reaction was quite subdued – I’m sure he does care about Echo, but the difference between that and his reactions whenever Clarke is in danger are obvious.)

Eliza has been amazing this season playing Clarke, Josephine, Josephine pretending to be Clarke – badly, Josephine pretending to be Clarke – a little better after getting coached, and now we get to see her playing Clarke playing Josephine – really well. I’m going to enjoy more of this. Not only is Eliza great actress, but so is Clarke. She has tricked Jade, Murphy, and then even Russell himself. Of course, she has the advantage of having gotten to know Josephine quite well in her mindspace. (I loved it when she told Russell, supposedly about using the neural mesh to stay in Clarke’s body: “Turnaround is a fair play”. I see what you did there). She has even managed to endure her toughest test – pretending not to care about Madi, when she sees her in pain.

Hopefully this do-over of Mount Weather, with a role reversal of Bellamy preparing cavalry outside and Clarke as the inside wo(man), will go right this time and help Clarke and Bellamy resolve their old trauma.

Rating: 8.5/10

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