#just a reminder that mika's stated to not be interested in girls in EPISODE 1

[athina39]

gundam ibo rewatch for the orgamika, shinoyama, mcgae

at first i was gonna make an orgamika manifesto (a why ship orgamika?, type of thing) so i rewatched ibo, but then it devolved to just me flailing about and compiling all the orgamika per episode, then the tracing of how/when did mika/orga’s goals changed, then all the shinoyama, then mcgae, then galigali...

but i’m posting anyway, so i don’t forget to finish it eventually lol

this is part one, bec i’m only up to s1e19 as of now:

s1e1 - 1st scene is when mika, after killing someone, presumably for money based on orga's orders, asks what he needs to do next // next scene is mika waking orga up w/a smile, SMILING MIKAAAA // shino tries to discuss girls w/Mika, only to be shut down. also, they explicitly say that mika's not interested in girls // mika pinches eugene's ears off when eugene fights w/orga // orga talks w/ossan & tells him that he can't be seen as uncool, while ossan correctly guesses/adds "by mikazuki...?" - it's correct because orga smiles lol // during the fight, mika reacts when orga finally takes command // mika's dynamic entry has been timed / coordinated by orga // first mention of the "we'll go to somewhere not here, to someplace where we truly belong"

s1e2 mika learns that piloting barbatos can fry his brain, and he says it's ok bec he doesn't use it anyway // during their initial strategy meeting as to how to betray CGS, orga says that he forgot to call mika (is he assuming mika's already tailing him?!), tho he tells them that if mika is against his plan, then they won't push through. shino & eugene are confused, tho orga says that mika won't go against it anyway, because if orga shows his serious, mika will surely respond to him // when mika sees orga beaten up, he LAUGHS and calls orga an "iro otoko" pffft // mika also smiles when he quotes orga re: living instead of dwelling over comrades' deaths // when orga tells mika that there's a job he'd like him to do, mika agrees before orga's finished, taking the gun // when orga teases him that he doesn't even get the specs of the request, mika says he'll listen, but he'll do whatever it is anyway, if orga's already decided on it & orga thanks him for that //

s1e3 pretty domestic scene of orga & mika hanging out in the engine room, while mika eats his favorite; he offers one to orga, tho orga declines --- and they're apparently chilling just before they plan on killing off the CGS higher ups // mika acts as the bodyguard during their coup // when crank appears, orga simply calls out to mika and asks if he "can do it" while mika answers "sure", and everyone's confused, so orga clarifies that he asked mika to kill crank // mika tires of the discussion w/crank and just tells him that orga told him to kill him // mika smiles again when he says that 'tekkadan' (a name that orga decided for their new group w/o any input from others whatsoever, to eugene's annoyance) is a nice name

s1e4 mika shows disinterest in the talk about the future

s1e5 when atra asks them in public to be hired as the cook, mika doesn't react - orga has to prompt him (so i guess orga, like everyone, KNOWS that atra likes mika, while mika's more or less oblivious // also as a sidebit, yamagi asks shino if he likes girls (not if he likes girls *only*, mind) and shino says sure lol! //

s1e6 orga watching over mika & takaki & co learn how to write // and mika ofc reacting to orga's presence // orga & biscuit's convo about orga being so risky - to which orga replies that he feels that mika's eyes are always watching him & asking him as to what to do next & what kind of WAKUWAKU thing he's gonna do // and that he always wants to be the best and coolest in front of mika (cue biscuit's unimpressed look lol) // and we learn that mika was looking for orga // and then mika says that he prioritizes reading/writing so he can help w/mobile suit maintenance AND THEN reading books about farming // cute banter about being tired // orga says that while earth is far, they'll keep on moving forward AND THAT THEY'VE FOUND THEIR PLACE // mika says that orga's decided on it already // orga says that they'll make mika's dream come true //

s1e7 mika being so calculating lol // mika's watching orga as to how he'd react to naze & orga's watching mika back before he decides to do the crazy thing // when naze generously offers to take on tekkadan under his wing and have them work (separately), mika says that he doesn't want everyone to be separated - it's all orga needs to turn down the very reasonable offer // (also omg that shinoyama moment ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)

s1e8 mika was... down? after not winning against lafter, but he does cheer up once he hears about orga's raid being successful, so // and mika does consider himself not doing a job well done, he's mopey on top of barbatos even when orga praises him // when orga tries to dissuade him from that thinking, mika still pushes on with the "i need to do better", orga relents and says that "he needs to be better too" // mika reveals that the reason he tries so hard is because he doesn't want orga to have a reason to ditch him - though orga says that there's no such thing as ditching when it comes to family (orga does get embarassed as he says this tho lol)

s1e9 during kudelia's moment of (in)decision re: her half-metal/mars independence movement, mika tells her that she HAS to decide, because her entire future will depend on her decision. this is a parallel to his decision to follow whatever orga decides on (he even says that this is a moment like the time he first killed someone - implied to be that one scene they keep on flashing back on). something noteworthy here is that mika says that it's a decision that must come from the person itself (which should shoot down any 'orga led mika to being his puppet' theories) // orga just looks on worriedly at orga getting carried away at the treats and at drinking // and then mika ends up just rubbing orga's back after he (presumably) throws up // and the way mika jolts after merribit intrudes lol and his reaction as merribit goes away // also, the translation is kinder - orga literally calls the handkerchief STINKING (not just smelling) like a woman // mika just stares at the drunk orga and says that it's the first time he's seen orga like this // but then mika SMILES when orga babbles that the reason he's so HAPPY is because he finally made a family for tekkadan // mika taking care of the drunk orga again - he's so worried about orga catching a cold, he even drapes his jacket on him; such a cute "taku" there too! // when mika and biscuit talk, mika asks if it's okay that he DIDN'T OPPOSE with the decision (that he didn't make, and not up to him to make) without asking orga // though the 99% of the time they were talking mika was looking at the sleeping orga and not biscuit, how rude // "thanks to orga's guts, we can continue to dream" // (also yamagi sulking after shino's night out lol and yamagi sulking even more when shino appears and is all sexed up) // mika, i caught that stare at orga's clothes // and mika being happy at sharing a kanji with orga;;;; - and thanks naze, for unsubtly pointing out that the kanji (that mika likes!) mika and orga's names share means "oneself" // naze foreshadows that orga should not lose this "self" in his character (so if he loses it, it's still w/mika, and vice-versa...) // after the ceremony, mika calls orga cool lol  and orga apologizes for worrying mika;;;; and mika smiles again at orga

s1e10 ossan teases mika about being sad as he's left behind, but mika just admits it lol // and the conversation between shino/eugene/orga... where orga says that he doesn't care for women (women are just fucking betsu ni for him lol), then as they squabble, orga says that he's fine w/the family he has with tekkadan

s1e11 not a lot of orgamika, as the episode focused mostly on akihiro's plot & the gaelio/mcgillis in the middle

s1e12 shino being a bro to akihiro (and mika being a badass by saying outright that he'll try to go easy on his opponent, but he'd kill them if he's in trouble)

s1e13 mika continuing not to mince words to shino // mika looking so unimpressed w/the funeral rites & he doesn't cry when everyone's crying // shino finding yamagi to thank him about the funeral flowers & then yamagi refusing shino's request to make the fireworks again when he dies (though he said it in such a tsundere way tho, just admit that you hate the idea of shino dying already) // also, mika just kisses kudelia after he says that she looks cute after trying to comfort him (hc that he does it so cleanly because he's practiced in doing that lol)

s1e14 mika just goes on as normal after that lol, poor kudelia's so confused // kudelia's side-eyeing mika, but mika's just staring ahead/at orga

s1e15 during the Dolt coup/kidnapping fiasco, orga first checks in on mika's condition instead of y'know, they're client, kudelia // mika being so overprotective of atra and biscuit (mostly atra bec she's the one who's tortured) // also, orga's dynamic entry doesn't surprise mika at all despite hte lack of planning, but biscuit's all surprised

s1e16 not much gay haha;;

s1e17 when they decide what to do re: escaping to the elevators, orga asks mika for the decision, which mika cycles back to "i'll do what you decide, but seeing them getting beaten isn't interesting" // when shino launches, yamagi gives him a video call (as opposed to orga previously just giving him a voice call) and tells him to take care, and shino replies/refers to the funeral flowers again and says that yamagi will not need to make those for him this time // also, when mika recognizes gaelio's voice, he just goes, "you're chocoman's..." lol // also, GALI GALI

s1e18 dat gaelio/ein moment - gaelio proving that he's BEST MAN //

s1e19 such pure gali gali omg // also SHINO trying to console eugene saying that if eugene fails, they'll just think it's good ol' stupid eugene and won't blame him for sending them to their deaths lol // also eugene character dev't!!! // tho shino just laughs at eugene's akogare for orga lol // also, gaelio reminiscing about the past & how carta fell in love at first sight for mcgillis // "the place they truly belong?" "what kind is that?" // amazing + plenty of food + beds, but orga tells him that they won't know what it is untilt hey see it // if i follow you, orga, i'll see lots of things i never have //

[twdmusicboxmystery]

2017 Re-Watch: 7x13 - Bury Me Here

Wow. I really didn't expect to find much that was new in 7x13, but I did. I'll admit most of it is tied to Morgan and Carol's arc rather than Beth's, but there are lots of important Beth-symbols in this episode.

This episode is very, very heavy, probably heavier than most people realize. The obvious thing is Benjamin's death, which is tremendously sad. I also think there's a lot here that will be catalysts going into S8.

The most obvious thing is the melon symbolism, which I do believe is a representation of Beth's arc. Ezekiel has to give the Savior's 12 melons as tribute. When they arrive, there are only 11. Later we learned that Richard purposely put the shopping carts across the road and took one of the melons to start a war with the saviors. He thought he would be the one to die. Instead Benjamin is shot.

It may sound a little ridiculous to say that the melons represent Beth. I didn't think that at all when I was first watching it. The yellow crate and Morgan finding it were what really tipped me off.

In the opening sequence, Ezekiel puts one melon in the back of the truck. The melon is on its own, tied in place with blue ties, and left there by people who could represent TF. When the doors are shut, we see blood spatter on the door that looks like it could've come from a bullet wound.

We have a lot of sunrises at the beginning of this episode. They're not focused on as they are at the beginning of a new arc, so I don't think that's what's happening here. We see Carol having nightmares, which means she has not healed by being at the cabin by herself. When she goes to the kingdom to ask Morgan what really happened with Glenn and Abraham, the sun is rising. Morgan also teaches Henry, Benjamin's little brother, with the sunrise. It's emphasized because Henry asks why they had to get up so early.

Morgan says, "Check your feet, because if you're feet ain't right, nothing's right." It jumped out at me as possibly being part of the Lost Shoe/Foot Symbolism around Beth. I've said before that maybe she'll literally lose a foot in the show, or maybe it's symbolic. This line makes me think it's symbolic. We saw the shoe by Beth in Inmates and she started to cry. Maybe the lost foot thing means that something simply isn't right. It could just be representation that something about her death "ain't right."

Also remember just one episode ago, Rick pulled the foot and shoe off a walker, during a scene which felt like a heavy parallel to Beth.

When Carol talks to Morgan, he refuses to tell her what happened at Alexandria, but says, "I will go with you to Alexandria if you want. You shouldn't go alone." He asks if being alone turned out how she wanted, or was it just a just "too late to get away?"

I think it shows that Carol's solution to her problem isn't working. She's still having nightmares, which means it's not healing her. When Morgan asks about this, she starts to cry. I think she's finally realizing that going it alone is not going to work here. We'll see a continuation of this theme in the finale. I'll talk about it more when we get there.

So here's where it gets really heavy. This wouldn't have jumped out at us the first time we watched it. Let's return to Carol's arc. I've said that children always die around her, and whether we see it or not, whether she's there when they die or not (such as Sam) she thinks of their deaths as her fault.

I didn't remember anything in particular about Benjamin's death being her fault. In fact, she didn't get close to him at all because she was so afraid of hurting him. If anything, I saw it as her being very callous. Unfortunately, there is something here that suggests she could've present prevented his death. Chances are, Carol will have to deal with this next season.

When Carol goes to the kingdom, Benjamin tries to talk to her and she keeps giving them the brushoff. Finally, Benjamin asked if he can go with her. He says, "We have a drop today, but I can miss it. I want to learn from you and see how you do what you do." Carol says, "No, go do your drop." The point is, if she'd let him come with her, he would have lived. It follows the pattern of Sophia, Mika and Lizzie, and Sam. Sucks to be Carol.

This is a little random but it occurred to me because of something @Paolo_pedini (IG) said to me. Nadina, Ezekiel's gardener, gives him a speech here that mirrors Hershel's from 4x01. She talks about how no matter what you do, you can always regrow things. Check out these similarities:

 Hershel in 4x01, talking about tomato plants: These leaves are gonna be in the shade, so we won’t get any good fruit from it. So we just pinch it off here. Things break, but they can still grow. These little bristles, they’ll take root, and we’ll have a whole new plant.

(Aside: we’ve seen tomatoes specifically around Carol and Morgan, but @Paulo_Pedini suggests maybe the tomato plant = Beth. She broke, but she can still grow and start a whole new arc. Seeing the tomatoes around Carol and Morgan could represent her entanglement with them, or them being paralleled with her.)

Nabila in 7x13, talking about having to burn the royal gardens because the plants have weevils: Here’s the beautiful thing, Your Majesty. You can tear it out and cut it down. You can burn it and throw it all away. But if you want, it can all grow back.

 (Aside: I’ve also wondered if we could somehow connect this weevil story to the Aphid symbol and the wolves...)

Then there's the bullfighter picture. Check out my analysis of it at the links below. Definitely some suspicious colors and such.

Morgan asks who the girl is who helped Benjamin fix it. I've honestly always been skeptical about it being Beth. But it's emphasized, as Morgan asked him two different times who the girl is. Both times, Benjamin refuses to answer. So whether it's Beth or not, I think it's important. Hopefully will get an answer in S8.

Okay, let's move on to Morgan's arc. When Benjamin brings the fighter picture to him, he quotes the aikido book, saying, "To injure one's opponent is to injure oneself." Then Benjamin says, "I guess you get injured no matter what." They emphasize this again when Benjamin is shot. When they take him to Carol's and is on the table, he grabs Morgan's hand and repeats the line again.

This ends up being a major theme and foreshadowing for Morgan. On one hand, I think it refers to the saviors. Benjamin's death brought Ezekiel and Carol into the war, and we gotta figure eventually TF will prevail. So the saviors injured themselves by injuring Benjamin.

It also refers to Morgan himself. Morgan killed Richard and psychologically/ emotionally killed himself. We can tell by how messed up he is afterward.

We have a lot of evidence here what's going on with Morgan. After Ben dies, he leaves Carol's cabin and goes off by himself. He has a breakdown in the road and we see flashbacks of Morgan's previous arcs, including images of his wife and Duane. (Remember he later calls Benjamin Duane, which is heartbreaking.)

Finally, he kicks the yellow bucket and finds the melon. It's obvious that he regarded Benjamin has a son. When Benjamin died, Morgan went back into the PTSD state that he was in after Duane. Morgan still feels guilt about not being strong enough to shoot his wife, which led to Duane's death.

In S7, Richard begged him to fight the saviors. Because Morgan didn't, Benjamin is dead. Or at least Morgan probably sees it that way. So Morgan is in a very dark place as we head into S8. I also noticed that when Morgan freaks out, he's wearing a blue shirt, which shows he's psychologically imprisoned again. Remember, before he wore a white shirt which shows change or freedom. (White Shirt Theory).

Near the end, Carol convinces him to stay in her cabin for a time. I remember there being a lot of talk about whether someone else was in the cabin. Morgan turns to look behind him, as if he heard something. That didn't seem to be the case.

 We do see a black handled ax on top of the wood pile. I think black shows death or preparing for war. 

Morgan is sharpening the end of his stick to make it into a spear. This is the epitome of turning a plowshare into a sword. In other words, he's preparing for war. I don't think this is necessarily a good thing in Morgan's case. Of course we want him to fight with TF, but he's descending into a darkness like he was in before Eastman helped him. A lot of people have speculated that Morgan will die in season eight. We can't be sure of the time frame because they move so slowly, but I have to agree that I think Morgan's heading into his death. Even if it doesn't happen until S9, I think he's close to it. I'll explain why.

So Morgan kicks the yellow bucket and finds the melon. Yet another reason I think Morgan found Beth. We've have 3 major evidences in the show of him finding her. 

1) The after-the-credits scene of Coda. 

2) Him finding the white horse in the S6 finale, which represents Beth. (Horse Theory) 

3) Him finding the melon after it was "taken" from the others. The yellow bucket = escape and/or Beth's yellow polo.

(Maybe we could even throw in a Rule of Threes here. Now that we have 3 sequences to show this, now we’ll see the real thing in S8?)

The interesting thing is that Morgan doesn't take it back to where the other melons are. That would've been possible in the show (he would've had to knock on the Sanctuary's front door) but the symbolism is still interesting. He takes it, instead, to Richard.

Here's the interesting thing about that. I noticed that in Richard's room, we see maps on the walls. I can't tell for sure if they're maps of the D.C. area, but they probably are. Why wouldn’t they be? I was going to mention them as random details that reminded me of maps we've seen before. Then it hit me. If Morgan found Beth, he would have taken her to back to Grady. That's the theory. In this case, he found the melon and took it to Richard. In both cases, there are maps on the walls in the background.

 So in this allegory, Richard's room = Grady. Morgan took the melon there. 

Richard gives an interesting speech to Morgan when Morgan confronts him. It has a lot of parallels to earlier events in the story, including Beth. I don't think it's entirely about her. I think a lot of it is about Rick and I want to do an edit about it, so look for that in the next week. I also found some interesting titles stuff in this episode, but I'll talk about that later this week.

So a lot of what's in this episode backs up what we've said about both Carol and Morgan's arcs. Morgan is getting into a darker and darker place, which is why he probably will die soon. After analyzing this dialogue, I think Carol may actually be on the upswing. She's far from being healed but I think she's finally recognized that she's going about things the wrong way. Hopefully will start to see some more positive stuff from her. That's all I have for this episode. 

Thoughts?

Relevant Theories:

Conjecture About Benjamin and TD (This was written before 7x13 aired; you can check the dates. When I wrote this theory, spoilers for 7x13 weren’t even out yet. I could just tell by Ben and Carol’s interactions where it would go.)

7x13: General (TD) Analysis 03/13/2017

7x13: TTD Clues 03/14/2017

7x13: Thoughts on Morgan and Carol’s Arcs 03/16/2017

7x13: Details 03/17/2017