#not entirely canon since it was a deleted episode

[theroundbartable]

Arthur: i'm dropping hints that I like this person...

Merlin: Arthur, you literally gave me your mother's sigil.

Arthur: ... And?

Merlin: That's a proposal, not a HINT, Arthur!

[jess-the-vampire]

Professor Caduceia and Snakely

Checked out the storyboard for the deleted s1 episode "Homesick"

You can read it here : https://t.co/WpZJFWbR48

I just loved these cut villains, one whose design def seemed like it was given to raine when they got cut. (I wonder if the color palette was similar, but we don't have a reference to that so idk)

Thoughts on the cut episode below:

An episode where king and owlbert of all characters bond is kinda neat, especially since it provides owlbert himself a bit more character here.

The opening is def far different from any of the final ones we ever see in the series, in fact it feels like it should be taking place during the episode but it can't be given we see hooty from being sick to not being sick in pretty chronological order?

A focus on the healing coven was nice to see, especially since we never got that in the show itself, and get some idea of their powerset and what they do magic wise.

So Manny was an ambulance driver, and Camila was a nurse in this. People originally assumed camila was a nurse when the show started, and it makes me wonder if that was changed between seasons at some point cause clearly the crew decided to change her profession and it's unclear why.

you can use your palisman as a communicator? and an umbrella? I do think it's so weird that even at the very end of the show, they establish brand new rules for palisman. Like them being able to shapeshift into objects is straight up not explained and just sorta....happens in the show, like i feel like hunter would have no issue hiding flap if this is a thing. (It also kinda makes stringbean's ability slightly less unique) Like this is displayed in these boards, but they kept it even in the show itself, and i think palisman might need a proper rulebook.

On that same note, owlbert uses magic in this board, like we kinda knew palisman could do some magic without a witch, but this is the only time we've seen one use it to fight another witch that wasn't the batqueen. Like owlbert tries to full on blast people in this. I don't know if removing this episode makes this ability less canon in the world itself since they still can do magic in the show, it's just worth noting that palisman, according to this board, CAN fight back, even if they're not incredibly strong it seems. Certainly the kinda thing that makes you think on other episodes tbh.

This episode also brings up the idea that eda actually CAN and DOES bring human food to the BI, which never happens in the show, in fact luz implies she gets to eat very little options there, so this idea seems no longer canon?

The demon hunters at one point don't even seem to recognize owlbert as a palisman, which does not entirely make sense given they seem to be mostly common to the townsfolk, so I'm kinda glad for that plot hole being gone.

Caduceia makes it out like the emperor's coven forced her to teach? and she thought handing over a house demon to belos would get her out of teaching as if it were some kinda punishment or job she was made to do? I have questions

side note, house demons are called rare in this, like they're not common, not sure if this still applies in the final show, but yeah.

there's some very sweet moments in this with luz and eda especially, but also some funny moments, and some jokes that land a little less....i don't think we needed Caduceia to be kissing her snake like that from that angle, even if it was meant to be a little uncomfortable.

one reason i think this episode did get cut? we got a glyph in this

a healing glyph, which has some ties to water based on it's symbol

i'm guessing since they kept the main glyphs element based, a healing glyph would of stuck out and been a bit weird. Like it just heals people, it doesn't produce water despite looking close to the alchemy symbol for water, and well....we already got ice so this would be redundent.

so yeah, this episode introduced a new glyph that saved them in the end so it would of come back in future episodes, but to keep it simple that would mean cutting the entire episode as a whole just to keep the four.

Since they enjoyed Caduceia's design so much, they must've repurposed it for raine somewhere down the line.

very fun insight into a scrapped episode.

[a-mel0n]

Having “slept” (slept for 2 hour intervals the entire night because this episode made me feverish and gave me a constant urge to vomit) on it, I can firmly say that this is one of the stupidest fucking decisions 9-1-1 has ever made. This is on par with Hen spending a whole season studying to be a doctor only to drop it right at the finish line and The Lucy Kiss.

At the very least, you knew — you had a gut feeling — that they wouldn’t give up on Paramedic!Hen. You knew in your soul that Buck and Taylor were already doomed and the Lucy Kiss just broke the camel’s back.

But this?

Buck and Tommy were good. They were on track to say their “I love you”’s and have actually new storylines. During the breakup scene, at no point during or before the actual breakup did I think a breakup was even a possibility. While I was texting a friend during the episode, I said the following, which I think sums up most of our thoughts:

They had a whole new character set up, that had interesting dynamics with the existing cast and insecurities that could be proven wrong, especially by Buck. What was the point of bringing up Tommy’s “lack” of daddy issues? What was the point of the group chat scene and his yearning for a family if you’re not going to commit to it? Instead, they finally made Tommy a plot device, and they did it by putting out a scene that’s the equivalent of shooting someone with a sniper rifle from five miles away.

The worst part is: This breakup is fucking out of character. I’m aware that… certain people thought Tommy and Eddie were out of character last episode, but this is what an out of character interaction looks like.

Tommy, since being reintroduced, has been established as a fantastic communicator. The only reason he and Buck ever got together in the first place was because Tommy came to Buck’s loft to clear the air in 7x04. He makes it clear during the coffee date why he ended their first date. He’s the one who initiates the dinner conversation in 7x10 and gets Buck to open up about his fears of losing Bobby.

So. Why in the EVER LOVING FUCK was he silent about seeing their relationship as a short term one? Completely ignoring the Henren deleted scene where he says he’s going at Buck’s pace, that scene is now firmly non-canon, Season 7 Tommy would have NEVER led Buck on like that. Hell, 8x01 and 8x05 Tommy would have never led Buck on like that.

The Tommy shown in the final… what, seven minutes of 8x06? Wouldn’t have accepted Buck’s invitation to Madney’s wedding. His job was done! He got Buck to “discover his sexuality.”

This entire episode felt like a slap in the face to the people who are invested in this relationship, it feels like a slap in the face to Lou, who was excited about Tommy and this storyline, it feels like a slap in the face to the general audience, because there were no obvious indications that a breakup was ANYWHERE near Bucktommy’s future.

I very sincerely hope that this is either a temporary break up, or the reaction from the GA and fandom gives the team input that they massively fucked up here and they pivot the storyline over the course of the midseason break.

As for me? I don’t think I’ll be watching the series live anymore. I might catch up on the series once it goes on it’s midseason break, but right now? I just… I can’t. I can’t put any more energy into a show that clearly doesn’t care about progressing their character. (Seriously, what the fuck, Oliver?)

This week has been awful from start to finish.

[chillinglyadventurous]

Taking advantage of the fact that it's Halloween month >:D

Ford with a scientist friend who is very reserved, just work and friendship.

Then Bill Cipher arrives and his main plan was to have a deal with the Scientist!Reader , but the reader is not stupid, so it ends with Bill making the deal with Ford, Bill puts Ford in a complicated situation by making the Reader give in to the deal, but deep down the reader knows he has nothing to fear.

My idea is that the reader, having knowledge of the bizarre things of Gravity Falls, will have a very disturbed head, with the worst things (like the episode that goes into Stan's head but is terrifying) but what could be so terrifying to make Bill back down 🤨

Well give me your opinion on this 😋 have a nice day

So, I’ve had a kind of similar idea before! I just didn’t know how to write it. Still don’t, if I’m being honest.

So, I’m a Chilling Adventures of Sabrina fan. I think mid season 2, I started writing a little fanfiction that happened after the season was over and before season 3 came out. I won’t get into the details because that work has since been deleted along with the AO3 account it was published under.

Anyways, the basic premise was that my OC eventually had more powers than Lucifer, stemming from a deal with God. OC was basically a god herself. Couldn’t die. Died a couple times. Came back from the dead. Super messed up stuff.

Well, I think something similar would translate well into this request. So, basically, you would be this sort of all-powerful being, but you would just want a ‘normal’ life, basically. With the same intentions Bill had lied about having, you knew Ford was a great mind. You had sought him out to teach him the mysteries of the universe. You work well with Stanford. When he eventually brings Fiddleford around, you work well with him too.

You look human. Nothing about you seems odd. Even if you did do something odd, it was Gravity Falls. No one would have noticed.

After Ford made his deal, he didn’t tell you, but you knew. You could just tell it was Bill. There had been a prophecy, the same one Ford had found and used to summon Bill. You see, either the entire zodiac could defeat Bill or you could. Ford was the six fingered hand and you, being all powerful as you were, knew that. Not that it wasn’t obvious to begin with.

The only way he could beat you, destroy the prophecy, was if you made a deal with him. If you did that, he wouldn’t need the portal or the rift to take over dimension 46’/. His deal would give him his physical form, but you were too smart for that.

However, one night after Fiddleford had gone home/was asleep, Bill would come in, dressed in Ford’s skin. He would threaten to kill Ford, your now good friend. You would panic because Bill was more than capable. You wouldn’t let that happen. So, you shake his hand, but, somehow, the deal isn’t complete.

He enters your mind. At first, once he’s in there, it’s a bit darker than he had expected. Nothing seems too off and he thought it would be easy. He shuffles through your mind only to find what he thinks he’s looking for. Behind a door covered in chains, he sees it. You had orchestrated the whole thing. You were the one who had controlled him to make him destroy his own dimension in an attempt to weaken him.

The master of mind games had been manipulated. You were too powerful for him and, unlike Ford, you couldn’t be tricked so easy. You’d kill him. It was only a matter of time.

After all of this is where it could either become some sort of AU or keep with canon. If the story verged into AU territory, that could be it. There could be some grand showdown in the mindscape. Anything is possible, obviously.

On the flip side, it could keep with canon. The journals/Book of Bill which I still haven’t read because it’s been sold out where I am said Bill left for a while. Ford wondered where he was. Bill could have backed down for a little bit, hoping to keep off your radar. Does could still get sucked into the multiverse. Maybe it’s you who shows him the truth about Bill. The possibilities are endless.

All in all, I think this is an amazing idea! Apart from what I’ve gotten into here, there’s a million ways this could go. There’s a possibility of so many twists and turns!

[cindersnows]

short essay thing i wrote in avf about plural tsc that i feel like people should see bc its so interesting to me

just to preface i highly highly doubt this is all intentional on alan+teams part due to the fact that plurality is just ,, not that well known. also im not too knowledgable on non traumagenic systems and all the stuff surrounding that so i will just be speaking from what i know from my own experience + research

so anyways. from the start of sec's life she has been kind of in a high stress situation. from the getgo she had to hide her existence from alan due to likely knowing the fate of the other living sticks he has made + the fact that she very much isnt supposed to be alive. she lets her guard down, makes friends, and then almost instantly theyre all deleted. although did and osdd1 form from long-term trauma (often accompanied by cptsd) and all of this only happened in a few minutes, at the very least this provides the basis for some sort of dissociation

theres a moment where she glitches and changes to black for a second. obviously back then this was intended to be an allusion to the fact that she's the chosen one's return, since alan+team hadn't planned ava s2 yet and tco was just regular dead atp, but its interesting to consider the sudden change in her personality. shes not even shown to be overly angry like she usually is, just a. Calm?? specifically the same calm that preceeds her beating up tdl in ava s2.

notably that moment in s2 where she unlocks her powers is like. sudden change in personality and demeanor, suddenly gaining the powers, and memory loss afterwards. even though she only really switches between two "modes" it's reminiscent of switching between two alters (while its uncommon for a system to have only two alters it's not unheard of, especially in cases of osdd-1a where theres not much distinction between personality states).

i said ava/e specifically because the aveducation videos in particular provide a very interesting insight into tsc's psyche. while alan said in his avg avma video that the series isn't canon, a few things about the series have already been retconned. avphys was originally supposed to be the last entry in the series, but with avma+avphys+avgeo's massive success and the lead animator's interest in these sort of topics i wouldn't be surprised if they continued to make more, especially considering that they're now interconnected via avgeo. phi, who appeared at the end of avma, is the protagonist of avgeo, and there's that scene at the end that teases avphys that i'll also get into in a sec because it's very interesting.

about why i think it represents tsc's psyche specifically and not just some math dimensions that tsc happens to stumble upon: in the avg avma video dj proposes the dream theory, that this is all happening in a dream during ava s3. noncanon of course but considering alan himself knows about it and ave seems to be gaining some kind of overarching arc, as well as the fact that its releasing between ava s3 episodes (which is going to focus on tsc's powers) i wouldn't be surprised if the episodes slowly grow more and more representative of her mental state as she works towards properly unlocking her powers

anyways speculation aside. avphys introduces a second second (haha). this is explained through the mechanics of time loops and whatnot, but at the same time, the hat tsc seems to know a lot more than regular tsc, having.. basically created the universe. even if our tsc can then explain this to the next tsc, hat tsc is shown to literally create the entire universe avphys takes place in (again tying back to her powers of creation) and also act much calmer and composed compared to our tsc. it seems like hat tsc is somewhat representative of the state tsc gets into when she unlocks her powers, shown both times in ava s1 and 2. shes cool and mysterious and all knowing i want her so bad

the scene at the end of avgeo is the most compelling thing for this idea (and the push that made me go "ohhhh my god multiplies her). hat tsc appears once more, this time seemingly wanting to communicate more with our tsc, but being cut short by tsc getting surprised and falling. the most interesting part to me is the imagery in this part— there's tons and tons of tsc's, all reflected, and being reflections makes them slightly different from what we see (of course light refraction will always make things appear slightly different; discolored, blurred, flipped etc). hat tsc is framed as Also a reflection despite being shown as different person/personality state.

i just got back from dinner and lost my train of thought. im not sure if this is enough for other people to consider her plural but at the very least i feel like interpreting her as such does enhance one's reading and understanding of her, as well as how you write her (for those who do).

[vanmarkus]

Totally agree with you on the deleted scene feeling kinda "meh". I guess it was supposed to be a moment of lighthearted/funny banter, but it fell a little flat.

I don't know if it was Lou Ferrigno Jr's acting or the script, but he came across a little too... defensive? That's the impression I got at least.

(The way he played dumb a little too long (even when it became very obvious what the conversation was about), the way his comebacks hit a bitchy note more than humorous, the way he walked away from the conversation as soon as he could.)

It didn't come across as lighthearted or funny or anything else specifically, not to me at least. It just felt tense. Maybe it's just me though.

i think it's a little bit of everything tbh but i think it's worth remembering that this scene was just before Ortiz walked up to henren, so it was probably there originally to provide a buffer between Gerrard calling Tommy a slur by omission and henren and their family being threatened...

Tommy has been tense during the entire time aside from like maybe the few minutes while they got their medals... understandably so.

the script pulled the scene along for just a little too long imo (and it was still less than a minute lmao) with too many deflections before giving in, but i just feel like it's kinda justified not wanting to talk about your queer relationship minutes after being confronted by your homophobic ex-boss.

all that being said, there was so clearly no bad blood between any of them, the whole convo was just them joking back and forth, while Tommy was trying to run away from this and probably any other conversation... i think he, personally felt tense but the actual conversation was lighthearted yk?

i mean, not to get all analytical and whatever, but during the scene with Gerrard, Tommy answered his question methodically about when he left the 118 and then clammed right up and stayed silent when Gerrard insinuated that he was a "fairy"

i just think the scene had a purpose but it just didn't work out in the end — which is probably why it was cut. the creators saw that it wasn't working and got rid of it, but knew that the fans would love to see it, so they posted it. it's really not much of a grandiose fandom event imo

i'm glad we got it, but it's not canon since it wasn't in the actual episode and while i understand why everyone wants to read so much into it (on both sides of the fence) it didn't really tell us anything we didn't know already and it just wasn't structured in a way that'd give the scene and the characters a good flow, but ehh what can you do, it is what it is.

[ladykakata]

Do you think that after canon Mickey will attend some kind of therapy/eventually take medication? I've read a couple of AUs where he got diagnosed with depression but I realistically don't see it happening in canon sadly, with the whole Gallagher's don't do therapy premise

This is a very interesting question. A deleted scene shows him mentioning 'triggered' (which I thought was out of character as a word for him to use, I would have thought he would use a different phrasing even if he learned the word from reading up on mental health issues) so he's clearly been researching in the background things about mental health, likely focusing on Bipolar II and psychosis, as that's what Ian has. I do wonder if he did what I did and also got interested in various medications, since Ian's doctor explicitly mentioned the possibility of trying a few if the initial prescriptions didn't work.

If you asked me before watching the deleted scene where Ian mentions attending pilates together (much to Mickey's quiet irritation), I would have said he'd never do it. However, with the pilates scene and the very, very gradual melting into accepting some parts of West Side life in exchange for letting him be a gremlin to assert his own way of doing things ("Can I piss in the pool?" "Yeah ... *pause* ... Really?" "Yup!"), it's possible. It's POSSIBLE. But there would be a lot of caveats.

You said rightly 'Gallaghers don't do therapy'. Ian is aware his upbringing was screwed-up, but he's also still fiercely loyal to his family, he was so offended by the other couples at the gay meetup mentioning how much they hated their families. For as much as Ian loathed Frank and had conflicted feelings about his mother, his love for his family is not dimmed*. Ian is still loyal to certain family principles, and he only started taking his medication regime seriously and understanding his mania and depressive episodes are an issue when his family and Mickey hammer it into him. Without the family making the caveat, he likely would have stuck to avoiding mental health help. Mickey would only go to therapy if Ian went first (and probably only go if he were tagging along with Ian with the latter being the main focus), he would only go if the therapist had an understanding of Mickey's background, and I'd argue for a female or femme-presenting therapist as I still think he gets on better with women than men overall.

A counter to the idea of Mickey going, apart from the fact his feelings have to be dragged out kicking and screaming and the only person to get them out of him is pretty much Ian, is the fact in a deleted scene he outright was dismissive and irritated at talking out his feelings with the possibility of sock puppets with his Prison Officer.

TL;DR - It's highly unlikely he'd ever even consider going to therapy in his current state. After a few years, if Ian goes first, and if they do adopt like Ian is hoping for? It's possible. But he is never, ever going to go without Ian being first and being there, that's for damn sure. And I wouldn't see him going for depression, I'd see him more going for PTSD considering he flinches violently everytime someone touches him in his sleep and he doesn't do being startled very well either.

[* - I don't take Ian siding with Mickey over Lip in their disagreement as Ian growing away from his family at all. I think this is part of the silent agreement that exists between the two that they each deal with their respective families and the other does not interfere, something that has genuine merit when watching Mickey deal with paralysed Terry and also not really fighting back when Lip told him to butt out of the kitchen home-selling discussion, but that's going to be an entire post by itself lol]

[nrilliree]

https://www.tumblr.com/princessyuue/746324718985035776/you-know-what-pissed-me-offeveryone-saying-that?source=share

There's no denying that the Green stans live in a parallel universe. Rhaenyra did not propose marriage to Helaena to make her son more legitimate, but simply out of a desire to make peace with Alicent.

Secondly, Rhaenyra did not want the attention to be on her during Aegon II's birthday, or for people to care about her particularly at that time. She simply feared that people would be wanted Aegon II in his place on the throne. Not to mention that Viserys was putting pressure on her to find a husband. And what do we see in this episode ? Suitors who clearly piss off Rhaenyra and look disgusting, and that there are really people wanting his brother in his place on the throne, that Viserys changes heirs and is already plotting for that. (Also, there was a cut scene of Rhaenyra trying to teach her little brother how to say his name, so she was being nice to him, but obviously the writers needed to remove that...)

Oh and yes, what a shame that Rhaenyra wants Viserys to question Aemond more harshly to find out where he got the accusation of bastardy on his children, an accusation so serious that it would risk the DEATH of his Velaryon boys. How dare a mother put her children first ?!

The people on team greens really love transforming what happens in this series to prove themselves right, specifically about the character of Rhaenyra. That's crazy. And it will always come back to the fact that she had children out of wedlock (while ignoring why she had them in the canon of the show) at one point or another. They are so predictable.

Some anonymous had previously sent me part of this post without adding that it was part of the post, so I deleted the reply to avoid mess again, but I'll say the same thing again:

Does anyone really expect Rhaenyra to be happy at Aegon's birthday when she heard chants of "Aegon the Second of His Name" everywhere? Aegon was not the second Aegon in the family, not even the second since the Conquest, but the fourth. So there was no room for stupid explanations. This was a title reserved for a king, so the people made it clear that they expected Rhaenhra to be replaced. And she, cruel, was mad! How could she!

It is also obvious to me why Rhaenyra mentioned "torture" - because she knew well where Aemond heard it from and wanted Alicent to confess under pressure. No one would torture anyone (that's Viserys 🙄). But Alicent didn't confess even when her son faced potential torture, because she preferred to shout that Rhaenyra was evil rather than face consequences for her actions. And the children had to defend her.

Not entirely related to the post:

People like to prove that Rhaenyra is evil and mad. They do not take into account why her rule was the way it was, because "the loss of her children does not justify her" and she should be fully mentally stable. I wonder if this doesn't justify Helaena's behavior as well? After all, how could she break down instead of fighting? Rhaenyra lost five children (she didn't know Viserys was alive) in a short period of time. Of course it affected her! She was mentally broken, deprived of any funds in the treasury, and made bad decisions. She was not a good queen. But she could be if she was given the chance to rule as she deserved.

And people still sometimes add rumors (about throwing a party) and nonsense written by Mushroom (about the rape of Alicent and Helana) to show how bad she is 🙄

[supercalime]

i thought about adding "(yes, bucktommy kids, i take no criticism)" to my last anon ask but decided to delete it last minute LMAO!

in all honesty, i've thought about buck becoming a dad since season 1 (started watch 911 when it was on season 2, so it's been a few years). idk like season 1 alone just set up so much imo? his intriguing relationship with bobby, the first signs of deeply rooted abandonment issues, his clear want to connect to somebody emotionally (and trying and failing to do so with his hookups, which speaks for his desperation), and how he was soooo incredibly protective of the baby that was stuck in the pipe (and angry af at the teenage mom who did this to her own child)? i knew in that very moment that i'm capital i Intrigued with buck's stance on and search for love and family.

it also kept being highlighted throughout all season. buck saying he loves kids, how he's usually the one shown with child characters (saving them during calls, bonding so deeply with chris, the entire tsunami thing being given to him and not any of the canon parents, playing at the kids' table with the children, doing school assignments and baking and cooking with chris), his own childhood and trauma revolving around his own birth, the famous Baby Box, the adoration for his niece, the sperm donor arc and what that has taught him about parental love and family, how he is often shown to be in a position to teach somebody younger (was instructing albert how to cook; was the one teaching ravi; both instances where he was too harsh but only because he was going Through Shit at the time; also baking and cooking with chris). there is more.

if they canonize that buck doesn't want kids of his own, i'd be fine with that, because i still absolutely love how buck loves kids and how kids love buck, and that'll always be canon! but in my heart, buck will be a dad someday idc. give that man a baby okay he'd be fantastic!

Great analysis anon! It’s true, Buck has a great way with kids and I agree that it would be a great way to see him be a father someday, even if it’s one of those cheesy montages in epilogues of tv shows that show the characters in the last episode ever, with everyone with their happy families.

To know that, only time will tell. As we know, procedurals have a hard time committing to big changes for their characters (specially with love interests and kids), so if buck being a dad (with tommy pls) eventually is in the writers’ mind, I wouldn’t be surprised that we get to have that only in the final episode of the show (or if the actor leaves, the final episode he’s in).

I also agree with you about him maybe not wanting to have kids of his own (if it’s stated in canon in dialogue). But as I see, it definitely wouldn’t be out of character for him to want to have kids.

I do think that even Buck, at this point in his life, is not thinking that ahead as well. Maybe he could have an awakening about fatherhood. I mean, if I may hc for a sec here: we know tommy (I’m obv using bucktommy endgame here because of course) likes kids otherwise Chris wouldn’t have loved him so quickly, so it’s safe to say he would like Jee as well, so I could see in the future buck seeing tommy being cute with Chris or Jee and being like “i want to have that for me with tommy”.

Anyway, I love rambling haha

[trickster-archangel]

Random thoughts about Hawaii Five-0 rewatch: part 1/?

So, as someone of my mutuals already knows, I'm currently undergoing the exhausting task of checking all the fucking 61 DVDs from the H50 box set before the 30-days guarantee expires, because it's physically impossible to watch them all completely in that time, even if I took 1 month leave. So I'm simply skipping back and forth and leaving the regular rewatch for when my life will be less of a living hell...so, supposedly around 2038...

I have one complaint, which is the subtitles are not completely matching all dialogues, but since my brain only needs them until it's switched to English-mode and I can start understanding it again, I guess it's alright. Second complaint: they're fucking HUGE and OVERLAPPING THE SCENES SO RANDOMLY IT HURTS.

Anyway, I've by now processed only s1-s5, and dude....some things I caught in the deleted scenes (which I've watched entirely) AND in some parts of the commentaries I specifically sought because curiosity won, and which I've never seen giffed or captioned....man, I was so angry and disappointed at times. So I thought I'd be randomly processing them here, no pics sorry, only thoughts.

~~~~~~more under the cut~~~~~~

Thought #1: Alex and Scott goofing around.

Trust me. The gag reels are so much better than you'd expect. At times I was genuinely laughing to tears and god knows how rare it is.

What I loved most was to watch that scene where Alex and Scott start cussing in Italian, and I bet no one who's not Italian could understand a fuck about what they're yelling. Best part, though, were the subtitles, captioning ALEX AND SCOTT: SWEARING IN ITALIAN 😂 Just to make sure what language exactly they were using.

Thought #2: missed chance to make Amber's character less of a plastic doll, or: Why did you fucking cut those 57 seconds?!?!

While watching s5 deleted scenes, I stumbled upon two real jewels from the 24th episode. I'm still trying to understand why they couldn't include them in the canon episode, since both of them combined are less than a minute and surely there were other moments that could've been cut. My only explanation, sadly, is that it would've painted Amber in quite a different light, making her a stronger, rounder character, and giving her an agency we rarely saw in her, except when confronting her ex husband. They could've followed that route, but we cannot have a beautiful woman who's also her own person, a self-confident person, and not just a plastic Barbie doll, right?! God forbid a woman can have agency and call out men on their bullshit, it would threat masculine privilege too much....

So, what exactly happened that bothered me so deeply? (Be aware I'm quoting by heart and not literally, as I didn't take screenshots and anyway I can't make gifs. Also, the following meta is just my interpretation of the implications running through subtext).

The first scene is very short, just six or seven seconds long, but it's a jewel in subtext and non-verbal communication. It takes place presumably after or around the moment Rachel tells Danny about Charlie: we see them from afar, clearly in a street-taken point of view, from an external observer. They are agitated and distressed, Rachel more than Danny, who's tensely spread on the bench with his arms looped behind the backrest, angling far from Rachel's compact and almost self-hugging frame.

They're distressed, not happy, not even remotely connecting to each other, so it's clear it's not a scene which could be envisioned as romantic. It's only a couple of seconds long, and then we see whose this external point of view belongs to: Amber. Amber who's not an idiotic, mellow, shallow doll. Amber who's been so clearly upset by Danny's lie about the texts, that she decided to follow him to the place Rachel had indicated. Amber who's been manipulated and controlled and abused long enough to become suspicious and self-preserving when someone she loves, and who knows her vulnerability, tries to play her around. Amber who looks at them, and clearly isn't angry nor jealous, because those few moments the actress uses to convey all of Amber's inner distress, are some of her best ones (giving that the actress, alas, is not very expressive to begin with), and we understand that she doesn't see any romance in the air. She's disappointed. She's hurt. Betrayed. Again.

Amber's face, in a handful of seconds, perfectly displays the devastating feeling of someone who finally felt safe and respected and secure, only to discover that it's yet another kind of control and manipulation, less cruel, less brutal, but not less humiliating and even worrying.

This is something she's learnt at her expense, and now that she knows the red flags, she cannot trust a man who can't be honest with her, not with this kind of problems, not with something which is clearly affecting his life to a deep level. He wants Amber to be a part of his life, but only if he can control the terms, limits, boundaries and times of their relationship. And Amber has been through it all before, and can't trust that history won’t repeat itself.

She then drives away, hurt and disappointment written all over her face.

The second deleted scene is even more important plotwise, because it explains Amber's absence as Danny’s plus one at Kono's wedding, after all the talk he did in the car about bringing some Amber's friend as Steve's date, and it casts a new light over Danny's reaction to Steve's resolve to ask Cath to marry him, or his tension about Lynn, or Amber's condistent absence for the whole first part of s6, or even Danny's and Amber's fight during their Valentine's dinner.

The scene is longer, about fifty seconds, and it supposedly takes place right at the end of the episode, after Danny pulls up at the hospital's parking lot, after Steve's affectionate text. He takes his phone out of his pocket again because he's received a voice-mail message.

A message from Amber (sorry, I noticed just now I'm still going with Amber instead of Melissa).

She says she's sorry to be doing this by voice-mail because she'd prefer to do it in person, but given their situation it's probably for the best if she spares them both the trouble to be forced to find shallow excuses. She says he's an amazing man, and that she likes what they have and that she thinks it might be real, and that she hopes he feels the same. She's understanding that his job comes first and it's terribly demanding, as she's also aware of how hard his life and his backstory is, with Grace and Rachel. This all considered, she thinks it's best if they stop and take a pause, so that he can reflect and decide if he wants to keep this thing going, but as for now, she can't keep seeing him on these terms.

Amber decided to stop seeing Danny until he decided what to do with their relationship and be honest with her, and started thinking seriously if he was just using her, as she probably felt.

Why?? Why did they cut this whole plotline? It's pivotal for Danny's arc, for his strained and angry attitude towards everyone, for his constant distress, for his even worsening negativity, for the way he's overcompensating with excessive euphoria to Steve's announcement about Cath, for how he meddles with them and confronts Cath about being honest, for how he's not thrilled about Lynn's insertion inside Steve's life.

Because he's alone, at that time. Call it temporary breakup or period of reflection or a break, but he was single and thinking, again, about everything he was doing wrong with his life and his relationships, and falling again into his old black hole of depression and self-sabotage, and seeing Steve going on with his life even at the cost of pretending he was happy with this woman he had supposedly no trouble cheating on, during their "couple retreat", making him wonder if either what he had with Lynn wasn't serious, or if his obvious charade about his threesome with Alyssa and her friend had a second meaning.

Also, they were probably both single again, or at least testing the waters, when they were at the retreat. And Danny definitely was when Cath left Steve once again abandoned, betrayed, and never-chosen in face of anything else.

Quite a lot of subtext to think about, for just 57 seconds which were, prudently, cut.

[authortobenamedlater]

S2 deep dive. The whole season. Bring the scuba gear for this one.

Negatives, positives, overall impressions, speculations about a possible S3 under the cut.

This has been sitting in my drafts for way too long and even though it’s incomplete I’m posting it. I’ll have more later I’m sure I just need it out there before it becomes irrelevant.

The bad:

It’s too short. I have pontificated about short TV seasons and long waits between seasons before so I won’t revisit it.

The fall of Reach felt more like a speed bump than the single most traumatic event in the Human-Covenant War. This is probably related to the It’s Too Short problem.

This one is entirely subjective, but I am here for The Chief & Cortana Show and this season was not The Chief & Cortana Show.

Much of the unfinished business from S1 remained unfinished or was finished lazily. The Reach for Life Project and the weirdness surrounding John’s childhood? Never mentioned. Madrigal? Glassed. Separating John and Cortana? Reduced to a one-minute flashback. This isn’t to say these threads won’t get picked up down the line, but having to potentially wait another two years doesn’t appeal. Again, this goes back to It’s Too Short.

The Spartan-IIIs made little sense. And why were they capturing kids if they can use adults to make Spartans now? Are there enough left to make up a Spartan corps?

Somehow, Makee returned. This isn’t bad in itself, but it’s never explained. The closest we get is Var saying “you live only by my grace.” OK, what grace is that? Did he resurrect her? Convince the prophets to resurrect her?

Speaking of Var, why did he exist? To make way for Thel next season? Why not just have Thel from the start? Especially since deleted dialogue from S1 had that Sangheili who ran out of the cave on Madrigal named as Thel ‘Vadamee.

Jacob Keyes is dead. It’s somewhat canon, but I didn’t want it to happen. I wanted him to live and face his music.

I did not like what they did with Soren this season. The Kessler storyline got draggy. And the way Soren acted at times didn’t really seem in line with the guy in S1 who made a promise to John and kept it even though he could probably have broken it without John ever knowing. Soren also gave the impression in S1 that he didn’t want anything to do with fighting a war and just wanted to hole up on the Rubble with his family. That changed in S2 without any real reason given.

They still can’t figure out Kwan. I liked the direction they were taking her last season, but that all got blown up, literally.

The Spartan-IIIs seemed awfully rushed. We don’t know anything about them, if or how they are augmented, or what.

The good:

Halo’s cast continues to rise above the show’s shortcomings, and the crowning achievement this season is Joseph Morgan’s Ackerson. Morgan manages to make Ackerson the bad guy, but never a bad guy. You love to hate him and want him to realize he’s wrong just in time to make that last-second pivot and then he does.

Laera might not be back for S3 (although hey, somehow Makee returned), but she got some great material this year.

For all its flaws, Halo does have a way of sticking the landing and the final episode of this season delivers. The introduction of the Flood was about as great as I could have asked for. That scene where the no-name bit part gets infected and the ironically happy music is playing while everyone goes about their business? Appropriately horrifying.

I liked Talia’s progression from jumpy regular Marine to confident Spartan-III, even if the show didn’t have enough time to do it well.

Makee and John continue to have a fascinating dynamic.

The back and forth with John and Guilty Spark (I assume) in the last episode was excellent and did a fine job setting the stage for season 3.

The big question: Will we get a third season?

Nothing is guaranteed in the era of streaming shows, but Halo has been P+’s most watched show since it launched. It’s been the third most watched original show in the US across all streaming platforms this year. Basically, no matter how terrible the show is sometimes or how much fan hate it gets, Halo is making money. I can’t see it not getting renewed. If Halo didn’t get renewed, another network might want it, or P+ might do a spinoff (thoughts on that at a later date).

[thegeminisage]

ranking voyager characters from favorite to least favorite

i meant to do this at the end of season 1 and again after the finale but we'll just have to go with at the end of season 2 instead

seven of nine - i haven't met her yet but i just know.

janeway & tuvok - cop out to do a tie? possibly. they remind me so much of kirk and spock respectively. every time i go "oh no it's gotta be tuvok" it switches to janeway. every time i go "oh no it's gotta be janeway" there's another good tuvok episode. tuvok is such a wonderful look into vulcan culture through the eyes of someone who was not alienated from it and abused by it, and you never doubt his ability to get ANYTHING done, even if it's sketchy as hell. i think about his wife of 68 (almost 69! nice) years and his 4 babies and his orchids and his lute all the time. man can SING. on the other hand, janeway is such a breath of fresh air after deanna troi - who i love, but who was constantly victimized for being a woman. janeway just gets to be janeway - she's excited about exploration, she's deeply compassionate, and none of these things make her weak anymore than they made kirk weak. sometimes her adherence to her Ideals is a little picardian, but i forgive her, because she reminds me way more of kirk

chakotay - sometimes a man builds a bathtub and your opinion of him rises by. a lot. i've always liked the difficult position he was in of trying to balance maquis and starfleet interests and protect both sides from themselves and each other, but the ADDED LAYER that for much of the journey he has CANONICALLY been in love w janeway is simply too much to bear. also, i think his trust issues w betrayal are very gripping and they compel me. he has been through so much SHIT and i do love a little traumatized guy. ALSO also, they don't do enough w this in canon, but in my mind palace he and tuvok HATE each other (chakotay hates tuvok for being a spy, tuvok hates chakotay for nabbing first officer job), which i think is extremely funny

the doc - my best friend the emergency medical hologram...i like that he's a brand new kind of person, even if it brings up infuriating questions about the status of all these endless holodeck characters we create and then carelessly abuse or delete. he doesn't have a name! people treated him like he didn't exist! watching him come into his own and bond w kes has been one of voyager's great delights. also, gay king.

b'elanna - she doesn't always get a lot to do but when she does it's almost always good, racism episode notwithstanding. what i like most about her is how ride or die she is. she was willing to get her ass beat to give tuvok a tiny chance of escaping torture, she was willing to die to take down her own superweapon, she defended chakotay when his actions were entirely indefensible (AND she's secretly in love w him?? girl.), she will not hesitate to do any number of crazy things for Her People, and since she's estranged from her family or whatever they are all aboard this ship. you couldn't ask for a better friend than b'elanna and good for her. also, she gets to be gay with janeway about once a season so far which i've really enjoyed. she could do so much better than tom paris

harry - harry also rarely gets anything to do, but that makes his episodes all the more distressing. he's just a little guy! the so-called baby of the ship, until he was replaced by an actual baby with tiny adorable mother-killing spines on its head. i'm still mad that the really big important harry kim episode we got turned out to be such fucking garbage when the concept was SO good, and i'm not super hopeful for his future, but who knows. btw, he could also do better than tom paris. he and b'elanna could ride off into the sunset w/o him

kes - i don't dislike kes, and her scenes with the doctor are especially nice, but i feel like she, like deanna, gets victimized a lot, and her whole thing with neelix was so difficult it's hard to get the taste of it out even though it's over now. that said, i do love how compassionate and mischievous she is, and i love when janeway gets to give her mom hugs :( <3

neelix & tom paris - another tie. this is so difficult for me because i started out HATING tom paris and really liking neelix, and a few plotlines/episodes made me reverse my opinion. tom paris got a lot better when he was like yeah i decided i'm not gonna be a shitheel anymore! especially that he went on a multi-ep arc tricking us into thinking he was backsliding when really he was doing secret agent shit. props! but he's still not terribly interesting. neelix was AMAZING in the atom bomb episode but my interpretation of him as a guy who was gentle not in spite of but BECAUSE of past suffering didn't last long when he decided to be so fucking horrible to kes for no reason. i really want to get over it with neelix the way i got over it with tom paris, but for now they're both at the rock bottom of this list

for fun, i think my season 1 list would have looked like: janeway, tuvok, doctor, b'elanna, chakotay, harry, neelix, kes, tom paris. probably? it's hard to know now. we'll see how all this shakes out by the end of the series.

[jimmyspades]

Watching the Boston Legal season 5 special features and there is an entire deleted storyline about Denny having a daughter. Liveblogging my thoughts <3

Alan buying matching slippers for his sleepovers with Denny. Flamingo moment

Alan in a rare brown (?) suit

A woman threatening/promising to tie Alan up, asking him to spank her

Alan on a date and being properly flirty for the first time all season finally??

Alan saying he loves waking up next to Denny. Flamingo moment

Alan loves Werner Herzog he's my soulmate fr

Alan fan of age gaps

ALAN IN HIS PERVERT TRENCH COAT AGAIN!!! <333

ALAN’S CAR

ALAN OPEN-MOUTHED KISS WITH TONGUE!!!!!!!

I just realized her name is Liz LMAOOO lizzington nation where are you STAND UP!!!!

Alan tries to prove how respectful he is to women and gets called a hound dog and a pervert. True

Alan calling Denny a deadbeat dad wow that was one of the meanest things he's ever said definitely NOT a flamingo moment

Denny playing Legend of Zelda on the Wii in his office

Denny: "I love you like a son, I don't want to lose you, I don't think I could bear to lose what we've got, honestly I don't think I could survive it." Alan: "Denny, you will never, ever lose me, ever." Flamingo moment

Balcony scene: Denny suggests he and Alan adopt a baby together. Flamingo moment

D'Elia said they cut this storyline bc the emotion wasn't quite there, they needed more scenes to make it happen and didn't have the time. I think if this was a plot in season 4 or earlier in season 5 (or if season 5 got a full 20+ episode order instead of just 13) it could've worked but it's for the best it was cut. It would be too big and too rushed for something the week before the series finale

Since it never aired and the actress who plays Denny's daughter ends up playing the opposing attorney at the Supreme Court the next episode, I don't think this is canon. But Alan and Denny having matching slippers is real to me

If I had a nickel for every time James Spader was a main character on a multi-season network television show that included a storyline about a complicated confusingly erotic relationship between a wealthy powerful potential father figure and a daughter named Liz I would have two nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird it's happened twice

[sam-loves-seb]

gallavich questions

thanks for the tag (and the questions) @callivich !!

What’s a fic you’ve read more than once? intro to quantum dating by @spoonfulstar, i think i've read it 3 or 4 times now, it's one of my all time favorites

What’s a gifset you always have to reblog? anytime i see a gifset from that one s5 deleted scene, yeah that one, i have to reblog

What’s a headcanon you can’t stop thinking about? i have a very specific headcanon for a tattoo ian gets post-canon for mickey, and i hesitate to even explain it now bc i think one day i do wanna write a fic about him getting it, but whatever--my headcanon is that he gets an M tattooed on his left ring finger and it's a subtle yet sweet nod to his husband. (i could talk about this for 9 hours but i will limit myself and stop here)

What’s a fanart you love looking at? i've spent an obscene amount of time staring at this fanart by @doodlevich it just checks all my boxes (domestic, husbands, fluff, etc.) and it's so well done, i'm obsessed with this pieces

What’s an idea you’d love to create if you had the time/inspiration? listen, i have this idea for a rock band au that lives rent fucking free in my head, and if i can find the time and the inspiration to actually turn these vibes and unorganized plot points into actual words and a coherent story in the new year, then maybe it'll see the light of day in 2024 but no promises. for now, i leave you with this: four milkovich siblings are in a rock band that is rising to success with the launch of their second studio album and subsequent tour, and ian gallagher is lead singer mandy's (fake) boyfriend--at least in the eyes of the public--and he spends some time that summer touring with the band and hooking up with their lead guitarist in secret until the band's manager/father catches wind of what's going on behind closed doors

What’s something you’ve discovered since entering this fandom? A new trope you love? A different analysis of the show? Something else? i've always been a post-canon enthusiast for almost all of my ships, but i think before gallavich i always envisioned them with a very cookie cutter standard american dream family with the house and the careers and the 2.5 kids, which usually fits a lot of my ships, but with gallavich i... don't have that same vision ?? i think they're actually my first ship that i hc more often than not without kids in their post canon life, which is a new vibe for me entirely but i kinda love reading/writing it. idk if that answers the question you asked, but it definitely answered a question

What’s an underrated trope or concept you’d like to see more of? honestly i want more s9/10 prison era gallavich fics (and/or fanart). i think it's a gold mine era with so much untapped potential, and there are very few fics/series/whatever that really get deep with it and get to the good stuff of these two boys who haven't spent any significant time together in years but still love each other like they did way back when

What’s your favourite season? And has this changed after multiple rewatches of the show? it flip-flops for me between s4 and s5, like right now i think it's s5 but idk if i could actually pick one or the other as my absolute favorite

What’s a plot hole you wish had been answered or resolved? i would give my left arm to know how the fuck (and why the fuck) mickey started rolling with his dad again in post-prison s10 era, like in 10x08 he's going to terry for advice on how to protect ian, just for terry to try to kill him again 3 episodes later ??? make it make sense john wells i'm under your bed

What scene or moment do you feel isn’t discussed enough? personally i think the promise ring scene in 10x09 is criminally underrated and not talked about nearly enough, like you don't understand how happy that scene made me (stay with me here) seeing mickey stand up and fight for the future he really wants with ian and not settling for anything less

What line/dialogue/description from something else (a poem, a book, a tv show, a movie, or something else) do you feel describes Ian and Mickey’s relationship? can i do song lyrics? i'm gonna do song lyrics--i've always thought the song godlight by noah kahan was very gallavich, especially the chorus, and especially during s4/5/6 era and it may or may not be a piece of inspiration for my big bang canon divergent fic

What do you think is next for Ian and Mickey post-finale? i think they take a while to really settle into their new place and and make it their own, and it's a bit of an adjustment (for both of them) to fit in with this new crowd and this new environment, but they're learning how to grow and evolve together and at the end of the day that's all that really matters to the both of them

tagging: literally anyone who wants to play bc my brain is tired and i am too tired to try and remember everyone i probably should tag

[vikenticomeshome]

Cyberchase- Why is The Hacker Such an Ass?

So, I was on TV Tropes awhile back. I was specifically on the Wild Mass Guessing (WMG) page for Cyberchase. The WMG page is a place for people to put their head-canons and wild ideas and explain why they have those ideas.

One head-canon that struck me as a bit odd was the idea that The Hacker is infected by some sort of virus that led to him becoming a villain. The idea is that he is not entirely in control of his actions, and that much of his current personality is just the virus talking. I'm sure people have already tapped into this idea for its fan-fiction potential.

At first, I sort of laughed off the idea and moved on. However, when I thought back over the various episodes of the show, I realized that the show did poke at the idea a few times, whether it was intentional or not.

I want to talk about two cases where the show poked at the idea. However, I want to make a few things clear first. First, I don't think this theory will ever be confirmed in the show. The show-runners love him just the way is. They love how pompous and preening he is.

They love him endangering our child protagonists.

They love setting him up for the Cybersquad to foil his plans in the end.

They love embarrassing him and poking holes in his image.

While the original story of The Hacker was that he was just born evil per "How It all Started"...

... they have since expanded his backstory to include a period of faithful service to Motherboard...

...followed by a turn to villainy later on, perhaps when he realized what the Transformatron could do.

Even when he went through his inevitable villain decay due to being defeated by children so many times, they fit it into the universe. The Hacker's current arc is that no one is Cyberspace is scared of him anymore, so he's trying to restore his image.

So, no, I don't think we're going to have the revelation that The Hacker is really a good person who is forced to be evil via a sentient virus, a magic spell, or hard drive damage.

If they were to go that route, they would have a problem. They would probably have to permanently reform The Hacker. And if he permanently cures Motherboard's virus, then the show ends.

Even if they decided to reform him, but left him unable to cure Motherboard's cirus, they would lose their OG villain. Yes, Ledge and Zusk exist, but they barely exist at this point, especially Ledge, who Motherboard probably deleted off-screen after what he did to the kids and Digit vanished a few seasons ago. They can't fill his shoes. Even Wicked, who's been the main villain in a few episodes, probably wouldn't be able to come up with a new, interesting, magic spell for every episode going forward.

And if they tried to confirm this theory without reforming Hacker, then the whole dynamic of the show changes. The kids wouldn't be cyber-chasing after a power-hungry cyborg who wants to control Cyberspace. They would be trying to heal a brain-damaged cyborg who once served and protected Motherboard.

Now, let's get to the two times where I think the show poked at the idea that The Hacker became a villain against his will and need to be healed.

The first case was in Season 3 Episode 6 "The Grapes of Plath". The main plot here is that the Crab Prince was dared to go into the forbidden abyss and came out with a glitch.

He has been transformed into a compulsive liar. This would apparently up-end society in Aquari-yum worse than when Icky, the last Cyberslug, dies, and he can no longer feed on the energy that threatens to boil over the site.

So, now, the kids need to go to the Fountain of Truth and retrieve the Grapes of Plath, which will cure him.

Meanwhile, the Hacker has a problem. His chin is all floppy. It just isn't as firm and rigid as it was when he was a younger borg, and now he is self-conscious about it.

He accidentally intercepts a transmission from Motherboard. While it's a bit garbled, he hears her mention a "fountain of *unintelligible* uth". Of course, we know that it is the Fountain of Truth, but he believes it to be the Fountain of Youth. He wants to use the grapes to restore his chin.

Now, we don't know much about the Grapes of Plath. We know that they come from the Fountain of Truth, and we know that, when the Crab Prince was dipped head to toe in them, they removed the glitch that turned him into a compulsive liar.

Were these grapes specifically engineered to fix glitches that involve compulsive lying? That's a very niche use case. I can't imagine Plath gets many visitors. We don't see any evidence that they force the subject to always tell the truth like the spell from the Jim Carrey movie "Liar Liar". Are these Grapes all about restoring someone to their true self by removing a glitch? I like that explanation best.

Still, despite the kid's warnings that these grapes are from the Fountain of Truth, not the Fountain of Youth, The Hacker jumps in and covers himself from head to toe.

And he comes out of the juice a completely different Borg.

The Hacker: Happy Birthday, Princey. Say hello to your new best friend, the meanest guy in Cyberspace. When it's my birthday I want a cute little pony, no, a lollipop.

He is promptly removed. At this point, he seemingly goes back to normal, and is no longer covered in grapes.

Hacker: Follow me, ya duncebuckets!

Hold up, what the fuck just happened? We go back to the status quo almost immediately, as this is a status quo show, but the Grapes of Plath affected The Hacker. Why would they do that? This isn't like The Hacker hitting his head in Season 2 Episode 10 "Raising the Bar", and then, afterwards, he thought that Buzz was the boss, and that he was the henchman. This is more like mixing a cure for magnetite poisoning, and then discovering that the cure didn't fully work because the damage was more severe than expected.

No one ever said the Grapes of Plath make someone friendlier. No one ever said they make you want things like lollipops and ponies. We know for sure that they were able to cure the glitch that made the Crab Prince a compulsive liar. We know for sure that they have some association with truth, as they come from the Fountain of Truth. We know that The Hacker started wishing the Crab Prince Happy Birthday and asking for lollipops and ponies after his exposure. We can theorize that their ability to heal someone from a glitch could come from an innate ability to help restore someone to their true self.

We know very little about what The Hacker's personality was like before he turned to villainy. Even his expanded backstory is mostly just the villainy he did before the Cybersquad was recruited.

his plans for the Transformation (and Coop's attempt to stop him)

his poisoning of Coop (and what that did to Slider)

his theft of the Encryptor Chip (and his banishment)

his tricking of the Flying Parallinis into rescuing him from Mount Way-Up-There (and the impact that mistake had on them)

his attack on Valussa (and Digit's defection)

his action of infecting Motherboard with a virus (and the start of the series)

Maybe The Hacker enjoyed ponies and lollipops back in the day. Maybe we saw the real Hacker for a few seconds there before the virus/spell/brain damage overwhelmed the healing power of the Grapes of Plath. I wonder.

Let's move on to the second time the show implied something was wrong. However, in order to talk about that, I have to lay out two assumptions.

First, let's assume that Motherboard has a strong moral framework that leads her to always do the right thing, in spite of any personal biases. She does not seek easy ways out which would compromise her moral framework. This is what the show has been telling us for years.

I think the best example of this is probably one of the very best episodes of the show, Season 2 Episode 4 "True Colors". The Hacker calls an election for potentate and sets himself up to run against Motherboard, which is perfectly legal under the Cyber-constitution. Whether Motherboard truly believed The Hacker had reformed or not is unclear. However, it doesn't really matter. If he had won the election, she would have stepped down and followed the will of the people.

We learn that, if The Hacker wins, he will revise the Cyber-constitution to bring an end to the elections and make his rule permanent. The way he says it suggests that, as potentate, he would be able to revise the Cyber-constitution all by himself without any checks or balances.

Now, there's a whole can of worms here about a singular ruler being able to rewrite all of the laws unchecked, but I'm leaving that closed for now. However, this does mean that Motherboard could have rewritten the Cyber-constitution herself to shut down the Hacker's election plan right there. She didn't do it.

Second, let's assume that Motherboard was fully on board with the plan that Digit and the kids were executing during the episode that I am about to talk about. There are some things in this episode that suggest that the kids may have been running wild here, and that Motherboard was unaware of what was happening right until close to the end. I do plan to talk about that on another post. For now, we assume that Motherboard was on board the whole way.

Let's review:

Motherboard has a strong moral framework that leads her to always do the right thing, in spite of any personal biases. She does not seek easy ways out which would compromise her moral framework.

Motherboard was fully on board with the plan that Digit and the kids were executing during the episode that I am about to talk about.

Do you have all of that? Good. Let's talk about Season 5 Episode 8 "Inside Hacker".

So, Digit gives us the premise up front.

Digit: Reprogramming Hacker so he changes back into his good old self. Our best plan yet!

So, I think we all see the ethical implications of attempting to rewrite someone's personality against their will. Of course, that's with our world's understanding of the importance of "the self" and free will.

But hey, maybe Cyberspace has a different idea of the "self" that we would consider dystopian. Maybe borgs reprogram each other all the time without consent. Maybe the "self" is fluid here. What else does the show have to say about the concept of reprogramming someone? Wasn't there an episode where Digit was considering allowing himself to be reprogrammed to be less clumsy? Yeah, it was Season 6 Episode 1 "Digit's B-Day Surprise".

Uh oh. There are consent forms for reprogramming someone, and I don't remember The Hacker signing anything. Does anyone remember who was trying to get Digit to provide consent to be reprogrammed in this episode?

Wait, so this is a line that even The Hacker won't cross? Well, the Cybersquad's plan just sounds wicked in a bad way.

That has a double-meaning, as Wicked has repeatedly engaged in reprogramming borgs against their will. We saw this in Season 2 Episode 3 "Harriet the Hippo and the Mean Green" and Season 7 Episode 7 "Spellbound". I'm not even going to touch what happened with "Designing Mr. Perfect".

So, yeah, reprogramming someone against their will is definitely a villainous act in Cyberspace. The kids may be naive on this point, but Motherboard isn't. Even the virus doesn't eliminate her moral code, as we've seen in the other episodes. So, how we do we resolve this? Well, sometimes kids cartoons make a mess of the discussion of free will. They will claim that a "good" character being brainwashed by the "bad guys" and turned "evil" is absolutely horrible, which is an excellent point to make.

However, that same show will then claim that an "evil" character being brainwashed by the "good guys" and turned "good" is absolutely fine. As long as the character isn't evil anymore, the show calls it a win. The most famous example of this is probably the "Care Bear Stare" from the Care Bears cartoons. That was just a brainwashing attack they used on their enemies.

Cyberchase has pretty simple morality. Motherboard is the ultimate good, while The Hacker is the ultimate evil. However, we are at least a little bit above The Care Bears here. The kids are required to abide by the laws of the different Cybersites that they take action in. They aren't given easy outs like shooting The Hacker until he stops being a villain. That sounds more like a gritty reboot of Cyberchase.

So, let's add one more assumption to the board for "Inside Hacker":

Motherboard has a strong moral framework that leads her to always do the right thing, in spite of any personal biases. She does not seek easy ways out which would compromise her moral framework.

Motherboard was fully on board with the plan that Digit and the kids were executing during the episode that I am about to talk about.

Cyberchase is not The Care Bears.

So, how do we resolve the issue? Well, suppose that The Hacker started out as a good guy, who worked as a technician for Motherboard. He wanted to help make Cyberspace a great place, and all he wanted in return was to go home to his pony and lollipop at the end of the day. But then, one way or another, his personality was altered against his will, and he became obsessed with taking over Cyberspace. He became the villain he is today.

Then, perhaps the action of reprogramming him back to his original self without consent can be justified. After all, the original Hacker is not able to provide his consent. In that case, maybe it falls to Motherboard and Dr. Marbles to become his medical proxy.

Again, I don't think we'll ever see the show confirm this theory. It would just make too much of a mess if we haven't been with the real Hacker for the past 20 years. I do wonder if the implications of these two scenes were put in by the writers intentionally though.

There are other ways to look at this, of course, so let's pull our combined board here.

The Hacker acted strangely after being covered in the Grapes of Plath from the Fountain or Truth. These grapes are known to have repaired the glitch that turned the Crab Prince into a compulsive liar. The Hacker talked about celebrating the Crab Prince's birthday and wanting a pony and a lollipop for his birthday. He was back to normal shortly afterward.

The kids and Digit went forward with a plan to forcibly reprogram The Hacker against his will to turn him from a villain back into his original good self.

2a. We know that reprogramming someone against their will is a villainous act in Cyberspace. Wicked has done it numerous times. When The Hacker wanted to reprogram Digit, he would not proceed without getting his signature on the consent forms, which implies that reprogramming Digit without his consent is a line that The Hacker won't cross.

2b. We assumed that Motherboard has a strong moral framework that leads her to always do the right thing, in spite of any personal biases.

2c. We assumed that Motherboard knew what the kids were up to throughout the episode, rather than just finding out at the very end.

On #1: The incident with the Grapes of Plath could have been a fluke. We still know next to nothing about how the grapes work. It could be like magnetite, which affects all borgs differently. On #2b: Perhaps Motherboard slipped up here with regards to her moral code. Perhaps, in a moment of anger over her own suffering with the virus, she put the kids on their mission to end the threat of The Hacker via forced reprogramming. If so, this is a pretty big black mark on her record.

On #2c: Some of the dialogue in "Inside Hacker" suggests that the kids and Digit came up with the plan. We don't actually see Motherboard's face until the very end. Perhaps she didn't realize what was really going on until that point. And at that point, the important thing was rescuing Matt, not scolding the children.

[vanmarkus]

I think this episode had a deleted scene of Eddie and Buck co-parenting Christopher or them talking about how Eddie and Ana had different ideas about how to treat Chris.

Especially since the whole episode was centered around parent-kid type of relationships and we've seen Christopher exactly zero times in the entire episode until that 3 seconds at the end.

Which feels very odd to me, considering what a big part of Eddie's character is that he's a single dad and how the next season literally starts with him having a panic attack about becoming a family with Ana. (And that if they're gonna pay the actors for appearances, they might as well give them some screentime to make their money's worth, right?)

I mean, it's clear that they are both referring to something specific yet we aren't shown what that is. It might've been something setting up the will and more buddie down the line, but after editing it might've came off too strong and on the nose, so they scrapped it.

(Which would then play into my other delusion that buddie was gonna go semi-canon at the end of season 6 and if so, then it might have had something to do with why Fox went and dropped one of, if not their MOST watched show(s) and biggest money maker and gave it to a rival network.)