#so many ben feels :(((

[ryzanecrow]

I'm cackling bruh this is why I became an artist

I will never forget Ben's necrofriggian babies

just two single dads who can turn into giant dudes

[foolsocracy]

I can't help but notice you haven't posted any angst in a while and I'm suspicious

whipped this one up just for u anon

[dariusaurs]

wait i just realized that the ending didnt actually make it clear what the nublar 5 will be up to in s3..

[fist-of-vengeance]

thinking about how essentially every relationship john locke formed in the early seasons of lost has completely disintegrated by the time of his death.

of course there's his relationship with jack, which starts tense but manageable and culminates in jack pointing a gun at john's head and pulling the trigger. but even his smaller, less narratively prominent relationships either implode or drift apart. he bonds with walt in season one but then walt leaves the island, which is itself a severing of their bond since it was mainly based on being the only two people who wanted to stay. still, he goes and visits walt off the island so this is probably john's most successful relationship. I dont think i need to explain how he fucked up with boone, "the sacrifice that the island demanded." charlie viewed john as a mentor and claimed to trust him more than anyone on the island, but after the events of fire and water, that trust is destroyed and charlie despises him. at the same time we get john bonding with claire and having a pseudo-paternal dynamic with her, but their closeness basically drops off the face of the earth as he gets less and less involved with the other survivors.

his arc in the series is essentially a gradual distancing from everyone around him. it starts when he abandons hunting (providing for the others) in favor of trying to get the hatch open (it's extremely clear his primary motive isn't any survival applications but getting answers to the mystery). when they do open the hatch, he spends more and more time inside, underground, cut off from other people. he spends more and more time interacting with ben, a human mystery box that he's obsessed with cracking even if it gets him killed. he follows the proverbial white rabbit deeper down the hole and leaves his connection to humanity behind. the island and its mysteries become more important to john than anything or anyone else.

then in season three we get him claiming to go undercover with the others only to unceremoniously tell sawyer that he's actually going to join them. and it doesn't feel shocking, it feels inevitable. because john has spent the entire series becoming less and less connected with the people he arrived with. in that sense he actually makes a fascinating foil to juliet, who is introduced as one of the others and yet never really fits, she's increasingly sympathetic and kind in a way the rest of them aren't, her redemption arc feels so natural that she actually starts referring to her old people as "the others" like she's been one of the crash survivors from the beginning. her and john basically have inverse arcs, which is probably accidental but very neat.

in season five john tries to convince everyone to go back to the island, and fails spectacularly. and of course he does, because he was so consumed by obsession that he stopped maintaining his relationships, and in many cases actively alienated people (this is also basically what happened with helen) and now he can't wrap his head around why they're all so hostile to him. i am forever obsessed with the scene where he confronts kate and she brutally calls him out for wanting to return to the island because he doesn't love anyone. it actually struck me on rewatch how well the two of them got along in season one, and how badly their relationship has degraded by this point. john repeatedly casts aside interpersonal relationships in favor of his obsession with destiny, so when said destiny actually involves persuading the people he once shunned, he's at a loss. this is because john treats purpose as a supplement for connection, destiny as an alternative to love.

as an aside, this aspect of john's character kinda ties into my opinion that several lost characters can be read as allegorically neurdivergent under a certain lens. i know this was absolutely not intended, but as an adhd former gifted kid who struggles socially, there is something uncomfortably familiar about a character who allows their relationships to burn around them because of a single-minded obsession, especially as a result of being promised the fickle status of "special."

tl/dr: john locke is a doomed idiot and i love him

[greenpidge101]

I just know the losers club 4th of July party is wild

Like it’s at Ben and Bevs beach house and every loser is drunk or high (minus Ben, sober king) and they blast stupid American music and just have a good time grilling and dancing and swimming

[sleazyjanet]

getting insecure about liking a character is so stupid. one moment i'll be like "i get this character and love them so much" and then think "oh my god people are going to drop kick me for how i perceive this character and hate me"

[canirove]

Aston Villa Vs. Chelsea | FA Cup | Post-match interview | 07.02.2024

[elmendea]

he is so perfect in this role, I cannot--

like. look, you don't understand. I've had Sam Neill as my Círdan in my head since like...'03, '04? I was that bitch who was whining on Livejournal and moaning when the super popular LotR websites were painting the Shipwright as basically Draco Malfoy's father with silver hair (no, no kidding, I cannot tell you how many blends/photomanips I saw of beardless Círdan who looked as cold as ice, and that was like, accepted as the canon. Go straight to hell, damn). Like. I was so ready to panic about who they cast as this astounding, beautiful elf that I have loved for the longest time. Who could do better than who I casted in my head?

Ben goddamn Daniels is who.

He is so absolutely, utterly Círdan I can hardly believe it. He is this paragraph come to life: "Very tall he was, and his beard was long, and he was grey and old, save that his eyes were keen as stars", and the way he plays him, oh goodness. I can see all his wisdom and kindness and age and longing and steadfastness.

I mean. Just. Goddamn. Like, do you have any idea how much this elf has denied his own happiness and longing to make sure his divinely appointed task wasn't just done, but done well? And his longing was like a sunset that never passed into dusk, no less -- and Ben Daniels communicated that in his performance. And took my breath away wholly.

I have fallen in love with this character ten times harder than I already was, and that, my friends, is utterly unheard of. This actor is a delight and this show is a Silmaril in the sunset. ♥

[forlouren]

I am honestly partial to the idea of Darth Plagueis' being Qimir's Sith Master─although I could understand that had it been confirmed in an interview instead of revealed in the show itself, that could be disappointing─It doesn't worsen, or better Qimir's chance of survival. Plagueis is going to crash in on their [ Osha and Qimir ] party either way, seeing as they are all on the same planet, and he has interest in the concept of life created by the Force.

Qimir is evidently a practitioner of Darth Bane's teachings, even if loosely so, seeing he recites the Sith code to Mae. He lives beneath a cortosis mine in an unknown planet, which I could only assume is a callback/reference to Darth Tenebrous' ( Plagueis' master ) who owned a claim of cortosis in a planet named Bal'demnic in the EU. Plagueis having a former apprentice before Palpatine doesn't ruin anything important either. Nor do I think it contradicts any of Qimir's unorthodox-sith characterization, or my earlier reading of such.

If Qimir is the apprentice of Plagueis; it would re-contextualize his want for an acolyte somewhat, I suppose. But there is poetry in that in the rejection from the mother, he ran into the teeth of the beast to feel held, and even in that, he didn't find absolution. So naturally, he'll seek another path.

[periodcostumefantasylover]

The Darkling in every episode 2x05 Shadow and Bone

[miss-galaxy-turtle]

Sparrow Ben would absolutely be the type of person to say that Orpheus was an idiot for turning around and that he could've done it if it was him

Then he meets Jennifer

And he realizes that if she were his Euridyce, he'd look back, too

[captainsavre]

I hate being alone. Carina DeLuca || Station 19 (4.02 Wild World)

[thisisntreaver]

Aurora must be absolutely horrific for Ben.

Leading up to this, his long time best friend dies in front of him, something he likely should have expected but didn't simply because of how lucky Jammy is. Not long after his father figure is branded a traitor and murdered in a public execution. All he really has left is Page who hes only beginning to know, HOBW, who would arguably be his best friend at this time, and Walter, their father figure and a man he respects.

He leaves with two of them, their ship is attacked and when he wakes up he is alone.

He asks for help, to find two of the only people left in his life, because while anyone else would think they're dead, he can't accept that. He won't, not until he's given proof but he'd sooner search all of Aurora and the surrounding lands than do that.

And he ends up being right they are alive.

Just barely.

HOBW who was the only one not to fall when Lt. Simmons' came back, who -with Pages help- decimated Reavers Wheel of Misfortune, who he saw kill dozens of Logans soilders before boarding their ill-fated ship, is half dead. They're in the middle of the desert, injured, weapons dropped beside them, and alone. Hes found them but he doesn’t know if in their current state that they'll make it through the night. His only real comfort is that Kalin says they're strong.

They wake up and Ben teases them, of course he does, they're showing signs of life, hes relieved to see that they're still fighting. And then they ask for Walter and immediately without question he says "We'll find him."

Not just to comfort them, but to comfort himself, because this gives him hope that they were together, but also imagine the fear over the fact that they're separated now? These two who have traveld throughout Albion together, separated seemingly against their will?

So he searches, an they do find him and hes in a worse state than HOBW. Alone, blinded, hanging on by a thread. While Kalins words calling HOBW strong are a comfort, her words aren't as optimistic for Walter.

Ben has them back, and HOBW is back on their feet near immediately, but imagine the fear? Hes already lost one friend, and he nearly lost two more. He's lost his father figure, and he doesn’t want HOBW to lose theirs. Walter recovers, but as their leaving he's still not back too top shape, but that doesn’t matter because they want to, need to leave.

Aurora has left its marks on HOBW and Walter physically, but theres a a headty mental toll put onto Bens shoulders that he is alone in.

[withdenim]

Man this house is fucked up!!! Who fucked these kids up!!

[spoondrifts]

role reversal hmc au where sophie gets isekai'd into modern day wales after her sisters leave for their apprenticeships and she accidentally speaks a portal into existence with NO idea how she did it. after a lot of shenanigans she eventually lands a job at a local university library, where she realizes "hey, i'm actually more capable and respected in this world than my own, where the Laws of Nature mean i will never succeed. the rules are different here, why go back?" cue sophie actually thriving in wales to the point where she starts to be like "oh, so it wasn't me. it was the actual universe that didn't want me to succeed. good to know that i just need to stay here if i want to be valued and successful." (← lying to herself; self esteem lower than dirt)

and then one day she's shelving books when she overhears patented loserfailure grad students howell and ben arguing over magic at a table and interrupts them to be like "you guys are idiots. that's not how magic portals work." and neither of them have ever opened a portal before despite their theoretical prowess, so they're fascinated by her, because they can CLEARLY tell she's a witch by her story but she refuses to believe them, because obviously she was just the hapless victim of a random magical accident. so now ben and howl are trying to drill information out of her about how exactly she created a portal, while also cracking open the chest of deep-seated inadequacy issues inside her that stem from the whole magical world thing in the first place (that directly play into her inability to admit she might have magic after all). she flourished in wales without magic just fine, she doesn't need it and she doesn't have it!! shut up about the magic SHUT UP!!!

meanwhile howell is enchanted by this peculiar witch woman who accepts approximately none of his bullshit + ben is deeply impressed with her practical spirit and her obvious gifts, and sophie eventually grows to love them both—howell for his callous habits and cowardly personality and good heart underneath it all, ben for his dogged loyalty and biting wit and kind soul shining through.

and herself, too, learning the lesson she'd always needed to learn: that it was never about ingary, or wales, or anywhere else. it was always just about her, and what she's capable of when she's willing to trust herself enough to try.

the three of them build a door. ben enchants the doorbell with a beautiful song, strummed from his guitar; howell paints the dial with a colorful, slapdash scour of four equal quarters; for the first time in many months, sophie asks the door to take them home, and means it.

and it does.

[sleazyjanet]

i understand why alex had to die (to push ben's narrative), and understand less why danielle had to die (the streets are saying her arc was done? oh ok fuck that) and i know none of the characters get what they deserve, not really, but it really makes me sad that after all she went through, after so many years of being so utterly alone, and terrified, danielle just died like that? not even an interesting death, just a bullet (dart? arrow? what the fuck was that) to some imprecise part of the body and she's dead

and her arc wasn't complete, not to ME. she and alex were not close. alex never reacts much to danielle's affection, which makes so much sense of course, because she doesn't know this woman who loves her so much. it's as danielle herself said, she spent 16 years missing and loving this girl who never knew she existed, who never knew how much she'd been loved by her

so i understand alex had to die. but you know how the mib loves haunting people? danielle being haunted, regularly, by alex, being told what to do, and DOING it, because it's alex telling her to do it, being manipulated into doing things... and then learning the truth. that this was not really alex. idk, chefs kiss (+ danielle being visited by alex's actual ghost, too, like hugo with his ghosts)

(also the contrast of ben only seeing alex once, when mib needs him to do everything he says, preys on his guilt vs danielle not even being guilty at all for alex's death but still feeling responsible, being haunted by her regularly, seeing her everywhere, trying to grasp at straws, trying to build a relationship with a ghost of a person who never had the chance to really love her)