#outlander recap

[p-redux]

Hi P, I know your blog focuses mostly on source info and Sam's love life but do you watch the show? I'm assuming you became part of the Outlander fandom because of the books or the show. Have you watched the first two episodes of Season 7?

I understand if you don't want to talk about that on your blog but I'm just curious if you did watch and your thoughts. I'm really pleased with this season so far.

Hi, Anon, I do watch Outlander and have read most of the books. I love the show. But I have to be in the right headspace to watch it, since it's so emotional and intense.

I used to post recaps of the episodes or just my off the cuff reactions. Here's a sample of one of my PAST posts of an episode from a previous Outlander season. 👇

As for SEASON 7, yes, I've watched the first two episodes. If you don't want SPOILERS, stop reading here.

____________

____________

EPISODE 1: all I gotta say is top knotch acting by everyone involved.

Cait as Claire breaks my heart every time. So exceptional.

Mark Lewis Jones as Tom Christie is such a powerhouse of subtle acting at its best.

As for Sam...I won't say Sam AS Jamie...because Sam IS Jamie. He doesn't play Jamie Fraser; he literally IS Jamie Fraser. Say what you want about Sam's other acting roles, but no one can deny he was born to play James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Fraser and he embodies him to PERFECTION.

The last scene, where he's sitting there unblinkingly fixating his gaze on Brown and then icily deadpanning "And I'm also a violent man," I literally jumped up and started clapping. That episode was an incredible start to what looks to be an amazing season.

As for EPISODE 2, I just finished watching it. I'll summarize it in emojis:

✝️ ✝️ 😲😳😠😢 🏹 🤛🙂👶👨‍👩‍👧‍👦👵🧑‍🦲🫀💔❤️‍🩹 😊🫡👨‍👩‍👧‍👦🗿🥹😢😭😭😭👏✈️💞😍😭😲😠💥😱

ALL. THE. FEELS.

I can't wait for Episode 3! Maybe I'll do a post for each episode. We'll see if I feel up to it. Thanks, Anon!

[stevethehairington]

ohhhhh is this ep going to be the ep where claire and jamie are F I N A L L Y reunited 👀👀👀

[littleewok]

Outlander - 7x02 The Happiest Place On Earth Reaction

[nerdyish]

Book Review: Outlander - Diana Gabaldon

Published: 1991 Finished Reading: 29.12.2022 Star rating: ☆ ☆

Pffff…. Where to start. This is gunna be a long one.

This is my third attempt in about 7 years to read this book. This time round I finally managed to get through it all. And I’m so disappointed.

Trigger warnings: Rape…. A lot of it. Spoiler warnings: Loads. This is a rant.

Good Bits:

Other than the weird attempt at portraying a Scottish accent I thought the writing was entertaining, I enjoyed the pacing, it captured all the senses and did indeed transport me to another time. Between reading sessions, I found myself imagining a life in a rustic cottage in the Scottish Highlands, baking bread and gathering flowers, meeting a strong kilted man, wearing billowing gowns and wandering the countryside. Any book that can capture my imagination like that, making me see the world a bit softer and distracting me from the daily grind deserves some stars.

However…

Homophobia

In a really painful way. Not only was the main evil character gay in such a negative way, he used his homosexuality as a weapon… and also there was something about his brother… in some way? I think that’s what was happening. I don’t know, the editing/plot in the second half ended up getting me totally lost a few times.

The detail of Jamie’s eventual rape was a really intense difficult read, which was an issue in itself. But the fact that became so perverted and… insanely over the top… made it really unrealistic. I wanted to feel for Jamie when he was talking through it during his recovery, but it became a little bit laughable and awkward and just plain weird. The fact that the rape became more about Randall being gay, and less about him being a monster, felt so so so homophobic. And that was a recurring theme throughout the entire book and I hated it. It was such an awful and damaging perspective to take.

Gay people existed back then, that much was admitted in the book, but in Outlander it was in an evil terrorising way, not in the hidden, difficult, and judged way that it would have been. There was no sympathy for having to live a life like that? It just culminated in evil acts and terror?

This book could have been so much more. It could have actually explored the social differences between Claire’s time and Jamie’s time and talked about Claire’s shock of it? There was so much room to talk about how far things things has come since the 1700s. But the book never addressed any of it, at all. She was shocked by Jamie’s violence towards her for a total of about 5 minutes, then just moved on and accept society as it was.

Can I forgive this opinion because it was published in 1991? No.

Jamie

How can one man go through that much??? Like??? It ended up feeling so over the top and unrealistic. The man would be suffering from some severe PTSD after all the absolutely insane trauma he experienced. His entire personality was that he was a broken, young, strong, and might have been good in bed. A himbo. I need more than that in my romances, I need some complexity. Especially if we’re doing “rough”… there needs to be something morally grey about him. Not just written off as “oh things were different back then”.

It Got Weird In the Second Half

She suddenly found God in a really intense way?

She suddenly knew how to bring about really intense hallucinations using opium? Honestly that entire scene was so uncomfortable to read. I couldn’t really follow what was happening, was it a re-enactment? Somehow it involved her ‘other husband’ and Jamie was kind of making love to what he thought was his mother by the end?!

And why was there so much conversation about wombs and men wanting their mothers by the end? Where did that come from?!

She was absolved of sins – why are we even talking about sins anyway? That was not something she’d ever mentioned, she barely struggled with the decision for the previous 700 pages.

There was a really sexualised breastfeeding scene and a scene where they made love in front of a child and death by cows and a woman killing a wolf with her bare hands???

We were introduced to a new clan in the closing stages of the book? Why? And why were so many people in love with Jamie’s mum?

And is Randall actually dead? Is the reason why we didn’t get a Jamie/Claire/Randall stand off resulting in Randall’s death because he’s actually going to pop up again later? So he just got trampled by cows and is presumed dead so we’ll have a shock reveal and further confrontation later? Because if that’s the case, then I don’t care. I just don’t care.

Uninteresting Romance And Rape As Porn

What connects Claire and Jamie in anyway other than forced marriage, “good” sex, and constantly saving each other from villains? [I say good very lightly because I only actually personally enjoyed the very last sex scene … I’ve enjoyed way better smut by much worse writers.] All of their conversations seemed to be about his traumatic past, neither of them seemed to have a personality outside of that. Claire had more of a personality back when she was in the 1940s. They connect over him saving her, then her saving him through healing, and they have some sex, and then they talk about Jamie’s tortured past, and then that’s kind of it? They don’t talk about life or love or their interests outside of running from the law, it just didn’t feel real and I didn’t fall in love with Jamie at all.

I’m not going to talk too much about the marital rape, almost rape, actual rape, abuse etc, other reviewers have done it to death. I will just add that forced sex can be an interesting kink to explore in romance books, there can be good smut from it, but there has to still be a level of consent. Both from the MC, and from the reader’s perspective. You have to hear the MC want it to be that way, and enjoy it completely. That never happened. Maybe during the “punish you for running away” scene, there could have been a moment where Claire realised that this was actually kind of good, internally, so that the reader was aware that she started to enjoy it and wanted to explore that more? Or maybe when she was saying “no” out loud to Jamie in later scenes, we read internally that she was saying no, but didn’t actually mean no and was saying it because it felt kinda hot to do so? I don’t know, anything else really, just… not this.

The concept of forced sex in Outlander then bled into so many other facets of the book – the villains, the clan, the climax of the book etc – that at no point did it actually feel like a bit of a kink being explored through the female gaze, it simply felt like torture porn and I’m not actually down for that.

Frank Deserved Better

Honestly, while some people may love a sexy Scottish man who’s a bit of a brute and is broken from all his trauma, but very occasionally shows softness, and you may get your kicks from torture porn, I’d rather take the spontaneous but actually soft and kind Frank. Unless you’re all forgetting, he did randomly have sex with her in a field. That’s fun! And it was with… yes you guessed it… consent. He was tentative, and passionate about something other than sex, which in itself is sexy. And I do not doubt at all that if Claire asked for something a bit rougher in the bedroom on occasion, he would have done it, and enjoyed it himself. By making Randall look almost exactly like Frank, we end up not wanting to end up back with Frank. It’s character assassination in order to excuse the cheating that Claire did. And I hate character assassination to justify romance switches – i.e. Jacob/Edward, Tamlin/Rhysand. What’s funny about those examples though is that I actually love Twilight and ACOTAR, so Diana Gabaldon clearly messed something up here.

Claire

She is emotionless. She has next to no reaction to anything that happens to her, even some of the most traumatic moments. There is no internal monologue of any struggle or upset or confusion or hatred or fear, like, at all. Everything she does is so clinical and for the plot, it didn’t even ever feel like we got to understand her deep emotional connection with Jamie, she just decided she loved him and told us so, that was it.

Her decisions and actions also made no sense. She was an academic, with a background in nursing and horticulture, and thoroughly enjoyed her tour of Loch Ness. She was brought up by a travelling archaeologist surrounded by books and artifacts, and met Frank through those adventures. So… why did she hate listening to Frank talk about genealogy and Scottish folklore so much?!?! MAKE IT MAKE SENSE?! She screamed something crazy when she saw the chicken’s (??) blood at the beginning and was so so scared that a murder had taken place, but never once got spooked when out and about with a scottish clan in the 1740s?! MAKE IT MAKE SENSE?! She’d just been through a very traumatic war as a nurse, and then willingly stayed to go through another one? Why? Because Jamie was kind and made her see the world differently?! Can’t be! Because that never happened. I DON’T GET IT?!

The “choice” moment that was built up for so long was not made clear, why did she actually choose Jamie?????? Like???? It was never made clear???? Was it just because she loved him so much more than Frank? And didn’t care at all for her previously life anymore? And wanted to be in the Highlands in the 1700s because it was a better life for her?!? Like??? What was the thing that actually made her stay??? It was never, ever, ever made clear, emotionally, why Claire wanted to be with Jamie or stay, never.

I just don’t get any of it. I loved the Scottish historical vibes, the fairies and folklore and mysterious henge, I enjoyed the Loch Ness monster being real, and the concept of elderly women in post-war Scotland still doing pagan rituals, and never really knowing whether Geilie was actually a witch, but I can get that from other books where the MC’s decisions make sense and where their entire plot isn’t based on how much torture their main characters can go through. And even if it is, is done with actual consequences and urgency and discussion. I do not understand why this book was so popular.

[thetruthwilloutsworld]

Article 7 November 2024

[rainofaugustsith]

Bad SWTOR choices

I accidentally reblogged and replied on a post I didn't mean to, but I did want to talk about this - how many times the LS/DS choices in SWTOR and particularly KOTFE and KOTET seem completely off base. Top four: The reactor in KOTFE chapter 3. 

Okay, to recap: the Outlander has just been freed from carbonite, where they were slowly being poisoned to death. They are doing so poorly that Lana has to help them walk at some points. They are on a planet they know nothing about. There's a nuclear reactor Vaylin has ripped from its moorings, and the actual nuclear physicists who tend to the thing have given up on it. So of course it's perfectly reasonable to expect the half-dead Outlander to fix it, and to treat them like a monster if they make the sound decision to not try to learn nuclear physics in two seconds. 

Better decision: give the Outlander a choice to try to help people evacuate and make that LS/DS. That would still fit with Koth's desire to help people and could still be used to influence his opinion of the Outlander, but would be more realistically and logically in line with what could be done. Since nobody knows what the Outlander looks like at this point it could also be used to create more conflict/nuance for Zakuulans. They've been told the Outlander is a monster but - this person who looks just like the Outlander saved them. Could Arcann be lying to them?

Senya in KOTET chapter 1. 

So the planet of Voss is being bombed to pieces, and Senya doesn't give a single fuck about that. She just wants you to save her son, the dictator. Who has shown zero remorse and has literally run the Outlander through with a lightsaber. Your two choices: let Genocidal Dictator Boy join the Alliance and work right alongside the people he's actively tried to murder, or refuse and be considered a monster. Choices, choices. 

Better decision: Refuse to save, imprison for war crimes, save, save without joining Alliance. All of which should be neutral. They could have even branched this off further - does Arcann go off to atone through his actions of trying to help rebuild? Do you just let him flee and become a ghost? Is he turned over to the factions and put in jail? Or do you execute him?

SCORPIO in KOTET chapter 5.  HOW many times has SCORPIO lied to you, tried to do away with you and otherwise caused extensive trouble? Bonus for Imperial Agents, how many times in the class story did she casually mention she eventually wants to murder you? Of course, by all means, let her merge her consciousness with the homicidal cyberplanet who has just tried to murder you and has horrific weapons at its disposal. I'm sure no harm could come from that. After all she promised she won't bother you. It's not personal. 

Better choices: - Let SCORPIO merge with the promise of helping you destroy the faction of your choice later (DS - hey, I SAID it's a dark side choice so let's go for the goalpost with it) - Kill SCORPIO (neutral), - oho, what's this? You've been able to completely neutralize SCORPIO and contain her in the Gravestone with the super special top secret program Doctor Oggurobb has been working tirelessly on for months since you learned SCORPIO wasn't dead?? Whoohoo! Victory without death! (LS). 

Dramath in KOTET chapter 7. 

Because you haven't been subjected to Valkorion's family enough, here comes Daddy Dramath. Who is imprisoned in a holocron in a max-security basement crypt and swears, up and down, that he will go away and not bother you if he's set free. I mean, you have so many reasons to take Family Valkorion/Tenebrae at their word, right? It's not like this could be a malicious Force ghost. You've never run into any of those, nope. And it's not like you're on a planet that has been corrupted into something terrible in the Force (or lack thereof) which might make it even more dangerous to release ghosties you meet. 

Better decision: - Free (LS), - Keep - but swear to release after you've defeated Valkorion and keep that promise(LS), - Imprison and tell Dramath he's your servant forever, mwahahaha (DS). Let that be the differentiating factor in whether he helps you or not in KOTET 9. 

[zalrb]

I MUST REALLY LOVE MY FOLLOWERS - BRIDGETON 3.01 review

1. "Dearest gentle reader, did you miss me?" Me:

2. I'm not doing this recap.

3. I maintain that Nicola should be Belle in the next live action we'll eventually do.

4. Idk man, Kathony just feel SO unnatural.

5. MINI MOUSE MAN NEXT TO BIGGER MOUSE MAN

6. Who will be the prize of the season? And it's Colin?

7. All of these women are gorgeous and all of these men are like basic white bread. I -

8. I'm upset because this is supposed to do something for me

and it's resolutely not.

9. Oh please. Francesca looks like every other woman there.

10. Prudence is probably the only character I somewhat like. I think. She's the terrible one, right?

11. I might like that family the most because they're the schemers. They're actually DOING QUASI-INTERESRTING THINGS.

12. Colin is a fuck boy without fuck boy good looks. Please stop it.

13. And I'm not saying he's ugly. I am saying he's plain.

14. This is my problem with Bridgerton. It SHOULD be fun. And it's punishing.

15. Where the fuck is Edwina? I DON'T CARE ABOUT KATE.

16. They should shock us all and have Edwina come back and just murder everyone like Carrie.

17. Leave her alone, Colin.

18. I know the point of this season is Polin but I already know she deserves better.

19. GIVE ME MORE OF THE BICKERING SISTERS. They're terrible. I'm interested.

20. "Well that's your fault for marrying men without title!" But Prudence's man is one of the, like, two most good looking of them all, so you know.

21. OOOOOOOH IS PENELOPE GONNA WEAR LAVENDER NOW? THE COLOUR OF LOOOOOOOOVE.

22. Considering that I barely pay attention to this show, did Penelope do like irreparable damage to Eloise and her family for this fallout to be as serious as it's meant to be?

23. That's a genuine question.

24. This Kanthony love scene is ... awkward.

25. Kanthony? Kathony? Whichever. Whatever.

26. And even when he goes down on her I'm like idk, Outlander would like a word.

Someone is BANGING ON THE DOOR and Jamie does not stop until Claire orgasms, so.

27. So Penelope is basically "draw me like one of your French girls, Jack" but with clothes.

28. The one thing Bridgerton had going for it was the music and I'm not hearing any classical renditions of pop songs. What is the POINT?

29. This ball looks like every other ball in this show.

30. Oh, there's the music. abcdefu is a good choice for her, I do have to say the music choices are at least better than TSITP. She SHOULD be talking to Colin as it plays though.

31. I'm not sure why I hate him, I just do.

32. If she enjoys embroidery let her enjoy embroidery, Eloise. Don't "not like OTHER girls" them please. Jesus.

33. "D-do you all like to read?" I get it, Pen.

34. TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF. NOW. Isn't Francesca meant to have a chaperone? Isn't there a dance card or something? Aren't there RULES?

35. I'M ONLY 30 MINUTES IN?

36. Original Mouse Man, what are you doing? Aren't you a viscount with responsibilities?

37. "I expected conversation, I did not expect to be inspected--" then you weren't prepared at all for this. This is the ERA for that, should you not KNOW? WHAT?

38. Everything is muted and dramatic at the same time.

39. Oh, Kathony in another scene. Are they going to try and have sex?

40. Yes.

41. "I've already spent YEARS taking care of Edwina" I mean, did you?

42. "So why don't we put ourselves first for once?" I MEAN, DIDN'T YOU?

43. BRO, WHERE IS YOUR SISTER?

44. "We have our lives to be viscount and viscountess" man, pull a Downton Abbey and kill him.

45. "Think of the balls as..." You should've had this conversation BEFORE the ball.

46. "It pains me to see you upset." "Then perhaps you should not have come." Ha.

47. "and what I have learned is charmed can be taught" which is funny because Colin isn't charming no matter how much the show tries to convince me he is.

48. I suppose it's better than watching Theo James.

49. AND HE WILL FALL FOR HER DURING THE LESSONS.

50. The handshake is supposed to be a Moment and it's interesting because it's called attention to and yet also breezed by at the exact same time.

51. LOL what she wrote was SO TAME especially for a MAN in THIS society? "Is this new character the real him or is it a ploy for attention?" DAS IT??? Please be serious.

52. oooh drama, if he finds out who Lady Whistledown is, he'll destroy her life. It's just hard to think there are stakes when it's ... Colin.

DONE.

[outlanderanatomy]

Mini Anatomy Lesson – William’s Wound!

Hello, anatomy students!

Good to see you again so soon. 😉

Today’s lesson explores the horrific circumstances leading to an intended amputation of William’s forearm.

Just so you know what to expect, this lesson does contain a number of rather gruesome images!

William’s wound appears in Outlander episode 704,  “A Most Uncomfortable Woman.”

A short recap: William hastily rides through the Great Dismal Swamp. His steed, Jupiter, is startled by a snake, which looks very much like a copperhead to me!

Read more! https://www.outlanderanatomy.com/mini-anatomy-lesson-williams-wound/

[drunklander]

Ep. 708 Recaps & Interviews

[Updating as new ones post.]

Outlander Recap: Stupid Hero Complex (Vulture)

Outlander Finale Recap: A Pivotal Death Sends Jamie and Claire Back to Where It All Began — Plus, Grade It! (TVLine)

Outlander midseason finale recap: Jamie and Claire return home (EW)

Outlander producer on midseason finale, what's to come after that journey: 'You can never go home again' (EW)

Outlander Season 7 Mid-Season Finale Recap: Jamie & Claire Barely Escape the War & Return to Scotland (SheKnows)

‘Outlander’: The True Story Behind Benedict Arnold and the Battle of Saratoga (Decider)

‘Outlander’ Season 7 Episode 8 Recap: “Turning Points” (Decider)

‘Outlander’ Season 7 Episode 8 Ending Explained: Who Kills Simon Fraser? Will Mr. Bug Kill Rachel? Where Did Roger and Buck MacKenzie Go? (Decider)

What Song Plays at the End of ‘Outlander’ Season 7 Episode 8? Lyrics and Meaning of “Tha mi sigith ‘n fhogar seo” (Decider)

‘Outlander’: I Adore Rachel and Ian’s Tragically Horny Romance (Decider)

'Outlander' Author Diana Gabaldon on the 'Amazingly Successful' Season 7 Midseason-Finale (Parade)

All Your Questions About Outlander's Mid-Season Finale, Answered (Glamour)

Outlander Season 7: EP Maril Davis Previews the Show’s Midseason Finale (Glamour)

[littleewok]

Outlander - 7x01 A Life Well Lost Reaction

[seerofmike]

yo. not sure if ure the right person to ask but idk where else to go. i recently came back to apex and am trying to catch up w the lore except im a bit confused. i knew octane hated his dad and was working under him to fuck him over later but now he fell for his dads BS? or am i missing something? and i heard his dad isnt even his dad but his grandpa and im just confused.

also, before i took a break from apex i used to read ur cryptane fics a lot. i found u still into apex and still writing for it as well which is why im asking u. rly like ur fics, tyvm for them :) ty in advance if tumblr doesnt eat this ask.

im glad u like my fics thank you!!!

okay so, not entirely sure when you left or how much you know of the current storyline but quick recap, octane's abusive POS father does some terrorist shit and continuously ridicules him and disowns him in that one season 9 comic, then starts running for Syndicate Head Honcho in season 12 after some fuckery framing maggie for the destruction of olympus.

obviously concerned about his father who is uhhh an evil terrorist (not like maggie, the cool terrorist <3) octane tells lifeline he'll break into his father's safe to gather some info. duardo catches him, but basically like. bribes octane into 'working' for him and octane agrees because he's like teehee!!! i'm gonna screw him over!! che will be sooooooo impressed

then over the course of the quest duardo continuously praises octane and convinces him that he's doing good things by donating to the Frontier Corps. the climax of the quest is lifeline managing to break into duardo's safe while octane finds a video on his computer from a press conference where duardo seems to confess that he loves his family more than anything and that his son is very important to him.

the secret in duardo's safe is his own death certificate. lifeline wants to expose him. octane wants to wait it out and see what happens and might be a little emotionally vulnerable from the whole shebang (as is lifeline tbh cuz she likes to take the whole weight of the outlands on her shoulders), so some petty arguing ensues but it escalates until octane grabs the certificate from her and burns it. they break up as friends officially and both remark that their friendship has been dead for a long long time.

fast forward, octane apparently helps 'duardo' campaign but doesn't question him until the night of the election where he wins, and duardo announces he's taking over lifeline's organization and installing her mother as the new head. octane confronts him after the election, devastated and angry at the idea that duardo had played him. his 'father' insists he hasn't, so when octane demands to know his true identity he tells him: torres silva, his grandfather, and continues to gaslight octane into thinking he's doing it For The Family. in the epilogue, lifeline teams up with maggie to do some terrorist girl shit herself.

so the quest ends with lifeline and octane on opposite sides, and also the reveal that the video that made octane think his father actually cared about him was in fact his grandfather talking about his father LMAAAAAO

how eager / thrilled / willing he is to work with torres seems to fluctuate a little and hasn't really been explored since. on the one hand, he shows moments of anxiety about the whole situation like in this image in the newcastle teasers where the description explicitly says he's nervous about the whole thing;

and in the final chapter he seems genuinely upset and freaked out about the fact that lifeline's mom has taken over the frontier corps, who he thinks is 'not cool' (so true bestie)

he also seems to occasionally be suspicious of torres, right now when you drop in certain areas of the new map (Broken Moon), if he's alone (and notably, *only* if he's alone) he will ask himself what torres wants with the place.

on the other hand, he seems...Fine with engaging with torres still? and maybe even helps him do shitty things? it's implied in this interview between seer and lisa stone that torres paid her to pin the blame of boreas's turbulance on seer, and the way octane reacts after the interview seems to imply that either a.) he knew what torres was planning and is amused or b.) he didn't know, but regardless, was very amused by what torres did to him.

in a loading screen torres also says this (context: they are filming a PR video apologizing for the giant sea monster attacking the legends)

it's not outright confirmed octane still helps him do his political shit after campaigning with him, but it's likely. he also helped pitch boreas as a new apex map to torres with seer and still seems very engaged with him despite the bombs dropped at the end of s12. given that he helped seer pitch boreas, and questions (alone) on cleo about what torres wants with the moon, he seems to suspect something is up, but he isn't as open about it as others and seems kind of hesitant to say anything.

so. the verdict;

i get what apex was trying to do in the season 12 quest. torres DOES start love-bombing octane all of a sudden, which makes octane give literal pause like Twice because "what?? he called me son???? he's never done that before ??????" (<- transgender btw) and i think they were hoping to give the impression that octane is gaslit and manipulated into siding with torres. the narrative also acknowledges that octane's actions are Extremely selfish here and driven entirely by emotion and wanting to feel loved than any sort of logical reasoning or 'greater good' like he insists.

that being said, it really needed more time in the oven. he goes REALLY quickly from "i'm gonna trick him!! teehee!" to burning one of the very few bridges he has and possibly throwing the entire outlands into turmoil because daddy said he loved him once. then it goes very quickly again from "octane unconditionally supports his (grand)father because he is desperate for his approval" to now "octane may in fact regret this and be very suspicious of him" but the latter thing is kind of up in the air given that octane still actively works for him and seems to do a little bit of villainous shit himself.

right now, i think they are intentionally going with a rather messy narrative because like...abuse is messy. family is messy. being manipulated and gaslit and you yourself manipulating and gaslighting your friends and repeating this cycle of abuse because your abuser suddenly pretends he cares about you because he wants to USE you for political gain is a very messy story and it always would have been.

i don't think octane 100% is onboard with torres or fell entirely for his BS, but i don't think he hates him either or what he's doing. it seems like there *IS* a part of him that cares for people Other than himself, but octane's focus is kind of on Me Me Me and right now what matters to Me Me Me is the fact that HE feels loved and gets what HE wants, outlands be damned, and admitting he was wrong means that torres does not love him, and that che was right. and since he also happens to be very petty he doesn't want to admit she was right since they're fighting rn LMAO

i think the story suffers from the main problem with All of apex's storytelling which is just that there wasn't enough time to sit with what it presents but overall i think this is like. fine. almost good, even. one of the better characters arcs apex has going for it right now.

(sorry for how long this is btw i think i went off topic <////3)

(btw cryptane enjoyer. they have voicelines now. they're shite but by god do they have them)

[easays]

show notes for ep 5 of the ravening wars

anything below the cut may contain spoilers! here's my nerdy thoughts on this episode as it's happening

okay, so the immediate launch into initiative while raphaniel is possibly, maybe, still naked is the kind of body humor that this intense episode is going to need -- I can already tell the sound design time is putting in work with this low-level tone that keeps merging in and out of combat!

deli climbing over colin is the meat n' cheese moment we absolutely deserve -- it's like outlander but the homoeroticism is text not subtext

also amangeaux continuing to want to send this mothering comfort is absolutely in the same weird level as seeing karna through a maternal light and karna being like "absolutely not"

raphaniel: if I just connect to them on a deeper level, I can make them UNDERSTAND me, I ca-

deli: TIME TO SLAM IT DOWN AND I DON'T MEAN BIG STYLE

karna: did he start it? yes. am I ending it? also yes

C'EST MOI is brilliant and please aabria iyengar doing more French accents

wow the 1-2 punch for colin provolone while he's trying to show off for his ex is very funny and matt mercer taking pity and saying "yes the 13 counts" so colin can in fact show off and THEN amangeaux saying "I don't like it but goddamnit I have trained for this and I will help"

also, we know, we KNOW brennan will make capitalism the villain, but the way he's been able to capture the horrors of church power, and how it's distilled in his outburst as "you know where they go?! my study!" while holding a bloody skull is honestly inspired

okay the telepathy freak out is such good improv from zac -- like it is fucking WEIRD to just suddenly have someone in your head!

AARON GODDAMN FONTINA EVERYONE -- and yeah I'd def swing on my dad too if I was zac

as someone who grew up playing theatre of the mind dnd, I've never really understood the fascination with minis, but being able to just whip out three-dimensional versions of a map as the party proceeds is kind of bad ass

[I will not recap combat turn by turn because it is inherently outside my wheelhouse but I will scream about the parts that make me go 'ah!']

brennan lee mulligan with the "raphaniel now understands physical arousal" line is mvp line of the episode

deli "is Colin watching me" katzon everyone, the level of interpersonal horniness/conflict that the cast can manage in an incredibly combat heavy episode is impressive as fuck

the necromancy closure bit, as Colin finally kills his dad, is fucking wild and Brennan's ability to play unhinged religiosity never ceases to amaze me

and it seems like we're finally getting some answers about raphaniel's visions? and the answer is...deus pa'zuul....?

an elder saprophus apparently made a deal with those above -- the saprophians PRE-EXISTED calcorum, and the bulbian elders have used them for their own advantage. when the bill comes due, it seems that the death from the ravening war is the "payment" to the sapophorians...? I'm not one hundred percent on it but this is great dramatic acting from all involved

the seventh kingdom of calorum! saprophus!

[iamanartichoke]

Apropos of nothing, does anyone know where I can go to read in-depth recaps of what's been happening on Outlander, preferably on a site where I don't have to disable my ad-blocker or register for an account?