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itsclydebitches · 6 years ago

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RWBY Recaps: Vol. 5 Known By Its Song

This is a re-posting from Nov. 18th, 2017 in an effort to get all my recaps fully on tumblr. Thanks!

Five years on air and RWBY still has the ability to make me stupidly emotional. This episode was no exception.

Our title, "Known By Its Song" comes from the old saying that "A bird is known by its song, a man by his words," presumably referring to times when a man's "word" was equated with his honor. We begin the episode with Qrow--someone who is notably both man and corvus, a dichotomy that the episode will later comment on--who is out keeping his own word to Ozpin, searching for other huntsmen and huntresses to help them in their battle against Salem.

...and he's a complete drama queen about it.

Yes, in retrospect this is a Very Serious Situation, but getting a montage of Qrow literally bending over backwards in frustration before finally collapsing to his knees? Pretty hilarious. The first bar he visits, looking for someone named Shiro, doesn't go well at all, but for two minutes at least we can chock everything up to Qrow's semblance: the bartender doesn't know where Shiro is, he's not allowed back until he pays what he owes, and that debt is apparently high enough to warrant Qrow getting a knife thrown at him through the wall. Yeesh.

As his mission continues though, it becomes clear that there's far more at play than a bit of bad luck. Qrow is conducting his search in the poverty stricken areas of Haven, which is both a wonderful bit of world building and a perfect bit of characterization. After all, Qrow had a life of raids and disreputable behavior before he hooked up with the Ozilluminati. Any friends that he goes "way back" with are bound to be, if not criminals, then other huntsmen and huntresses with equally dubious pasts. The area where Qrow expects to find his friends is drab and gray, a sharp contrast to the beautiful seating area he'll rest in later, complete with holographic technology and a water garden with lily pads. The houses are boarded up and falling apart. The people wear filthy clothes, spend their time betting on street fights, and have some rather horrific injuries--hello, one-eyed weapons seller. What really completes the picture is a sign outside the bar proclaiming that there are NO FAUNUS allowed. Here in the U.S. racism has long been used as a means of pacifying those at or below the poverty line. Struggling to survive? Facing a government that cares little about whether you eat or your kids go to school? Well at the very least you're still white! It's a horrific truth about this country, but a truth nonetheless, and for once I'm glad that Rooster Teeth is forcing their race analogy back into the narrative. As flimsy as it still is, it does make sense that the most poverty-ridden parts of Haven would also be one of the most overtly discriminatory. This is just a more blunt version of what we saw back in Atlas during Jacques' little charity ball. He makes speeches about faunus who complain about dangerous working conditions. Bartenders in Haven slap up signs on their wall. It's the same thing with a different face.

Not that Qrow has time to worry about that right now. He runs through name after name learning that each person is missing--or worse. His search comes to an end when, frustrated, he reams out a guy right before a little girl toddles up, asking if this strange man knows where her Mommy is. I find it rather poignant that it's in this moment, one of his worst, that Qrow actually resists his flask. Perhaps he wants to keep feeling whatever emotions rose up from that little encounter. I think he hates himself just enough to go that route.

I also find it reassuring that for all his talk about how he can't get close to others because of his semblance, Qrow does know a lot of people. He's popular in his own way, making allies, acquaintances, and friends on both sides of the fence, so to speak. It's a punch to the gut when we see him back among Haven's upper class, staring at a mission board like the one we saw in Beacon. Every name up there--all these people he's come to care about--are missing, gone on search and destroy missions and never returned. Just as the viewer is beginning to realize why Shiro hasn't payed his debt, that it probably has nothing to do with a sleazy nature, Qrow is back at the bar. He pays off the money Shiro owes and tells the bartender firmly that "His name is clear" now.

I'd be more moved by this scene if I wasn't distracted by how the hell lien works in this world. Seriously. It seems straightforward enough at first glance. Different colors represent different amounts, right? But then here's Qrow throwing down a single card that pays off the16,000 debt. That seems like a random number. Who makes a 'bill' worth that exact amount? Unless Qrow payed him more than the minimum, or that was acting more like a credit card.

I don't know. This is the fantasy show that has yet to introduce languages other than English. You can't look too closely at RWBY's world building.

On to things I can actually conceptualize: Yang and Weiss are finally having their talk with Raven. Who was surprised by the setting that includes a decorative tea set and low table? Not me. I've seen a bunch of comics these last two weeks depicting that conversation exactly as it occurred, at least aesthetically. How did we know? Something something Yang's Asian influence. Again, don't look too closely. The point is that Raven is starting a very ironic conversation regarding "truth."

I actively dislike this woman.

Her attempts to manipulate Yang two episodes back were pretty blatant, but kudos for better subtly here: by insisting that Yang needs to question everything--including Raven--Raven actually positions herself as both wise (the one to gift Yang with this advice) and trustworthy; as the only one to admit her own, potential duplicity, she paradoxically comes across as the most honest. Too bad Yang's too smart to fall for her mind games. Or too straight forward. Weiss is the one talking herself in circles about whether magic might actually exist or not. Yang has a laser focus that nothing can penetrate: find Ruby.

I said last time that Raven was going to either drop some crazy plot twist about Ozpin, or just catch the girls up on what we already know. Looks like Rooster Teeth went with option two. Raven (taking her sweet time and being real vague about it) sums up what we've learned this season, if not earlier: Salem is a person that exists and is a Big Threat, she wants to kill off all of humanity (which presumably includes the faunus?), magic is a thing, and Raven just happens to know someone who can "come back from the dead." Wow. Wonder who that could be!

She does actually drop a few tidbits of interesting information. She reveals that she and Qrow entered Beacon to learn how to kill huntsmen and obviously only one of the twins was dissuaded from that goal. Her comment that the entrance exams were "child's play" is particularly fascinating because I'd always assumed there had to be something beyond just sending in transcripts and not screwing up initiation. Which begs the question, how did Jaune get past an exam of that caliber? Did Ruby just skip it with Ozpin's permission? Presumably.

In the end though, no matter how much Raven might want Yang to believe her "truth," her overwhelming bias shines through. The fact that she claims to have info on Ozpin and makes the beginning of the conversation all about Qrow hints at those feelings of betrayal. She ends the conversation on Tai--an insult that finally has Yang losing her patience. And throughout the middle Raven emphasizes that Salem is an entity that can't be stopped. Her beef with Ozpin (according to this conversation at least) isn't that he's inherently evil, but that he's convincing people to fight with him in an impossible war.

The problem here is that Raven is the only one who sees this war as "impossible." I've touched on this before, but Volume 5 is pulling strongly from that mission in Mountain Glenn, back when Oobleck got Team RWBY to think about why they wanted to be huntresses in the first place. Yes, on the surface that episode seems to confirm Raven's belief that most enter the life for money, fame, or power: Blake wants tools to fight for equality, Weiss wants to break away from her father, Yang wants an exciting life--they all have ulterior motives. But Raven didn't watch the full episode, all the way to when the girls acknowledge this around the campfire and make conscious (if silent) decisions not to be overly influenced by these motivations. They're fighting first and foremost because it's the right thing to do. Raven sees them as the "poster children" of Beacon academy, naive kids who are too blinded by their ideals to realize how cruel the world is, easily manipulated and then sacrificed by Ozpin. But she's the one who's blind here. The girls know more than they let on, they've acknowledge their failings and the world's... and they've decided to fight anyway.

For Team RWBY/JNPR fighting Salem isn't impossible. It's just incredibly hard. Ruby, their leader, is the embodiment of this belief, reminding Oscar last episode that they have to keep moving forward. And it’s a sign of growth: Team RWBY is what Ozpin once hoped Team STRQ could be. Raven hates Ozpin because she sees a man sacrificing pawns to an unbeatable foe. Ozpin's allies love him because they see a man doing everything he can to defeat an incredibly powerful foe. But not an invincible one.

Of course, we don't have all the information yet. Raven says that she hates Ozpin for one more reason, for "what he did to my brother and me." The pacing of this scene is important, because Raven's second in command tells Yang and Weiss to go "see for themselves" what this horrible sin is and it's then that we get Raven soaring through the air in her bird form. It's been a big question for a while now: how can Qrow and Raven transform if they have other semblances? The reigning theory was that it had something to do with their tribe connection, but now it seems that this was, somehow, Oz's doing.

Oz is the Wizard theory, anyone?

Why Raven views being able to turn into a kickass bird as a bad thing, I don't know. Some aversion to magic perhaps? Is there a downside here? I’m rather confused as to how this is something bad... And I'd actually always assumed that Ruby and Yang knew about their uncle's ability, but we learn otherwise here. Why keep it from the girls then? Is it just because it's personal, like a semblance? Or does Qrow also view his transformations as something tainted... unnatural even? I hope this aversion is addressed. Perhaps it will tie back to this volume's focus on semblances. In that, if Team RWBY is truly Team STRQ 2.0, then Ozpin might well gift the girls with new abilities too, just as he did for Qrow and Raven. He's already admitted that there are heights to reach beyond merely unlocking and practicing your semblance--heights that he can perhaps unlock.

Which raises another interesting possibility: Could Summer do something extra? ... can Tai?

(And then here's prodigy Ruby with semblance, silver eyes, and potential magic powers on the way. Don't overload the small child lol. There needs to be some struggle.)

In the end, if Raven had hoped that her little talk would get Yang on her side she was very mistaken. She opens the portal and Yang drives them through without hesitation, right when Qrow is agonizing over what's happened to all his contacts. His panicked "Raven?" transforming into a simple, happy "...oh" was a blessing in two words.

Then. Then we're given the scene that watered my crops, cleared my skin, and has done all my other writing for me. Ren, Nora, and Ruby happily cooking up a huge dinner together, expecting a whole slew of fighters to show up with Qrow and intending to feed every one of them. Ruby burning the food despite Ren's warnings. Hearing Qrow calling her and knowing what was about to happen. It’s all great.

I really love that Ruby was so nervous when she caught sight of Yang. Despite her letter last volume where she admits that running off to Haven was reckless, we haven't seen much about her thoughts on that decision. It all comes tumbling out here though. That a part of her regrets it, how sorry she is that she didn't wait for Yang, she should have tried to do more...everything. Not that Yang blames Ruby for any of that. She takes one look at her crying sister and runs to hug her, saying only, "I love you."

And Weiss... oh Weiss. How dare you question your place here. She looks discouraged for only a moment before Ruby (always perceptive) calls her over.

The episode ends with this.

And we're officially halfway through the volume. We've got Team RWY back together, much sooner than I expected, honestly.

Now it's time to find Blake!

Other Details of Note

Of course Weiss can tell the difference between a crow and a raven. I mean yes, that was necessary for the plot, but still.

Weiss' "I know that you're really obnoxious" in response to Raven's attempts at hospitality. Pfff drag her.

Weiss' eye roll when Raven said she wouldn't be as "nice" next time they meet. Please.

Weiss' overt concern for Yang and saying straight out that it's okay if she's not okay and my god she was on fire this episode for someone mostly sticking to the background.

Yang telling Raven not to talk about "my family" that way. Raven is no longer a part of that picture and I want to cheer at how Yang is handling all this so far.

I also appreciate the contrast, visually, between Qrow's transformation and Raven's. Their 'reveals' are done in opposite directions and for opposite purposes: Qrow transforms while flying left to right across the screen and attempting to save his family; Raven transforms right to left while trying to keep Yang from hers. Nicely done there.

I forgot to mention this last time but... can we lay off the Nora + food jokes? It was funny before we learned she starved for most of her childhood. So yeah, comments about how she's going to eat everything in sight aren't so much a joke as a sign of trauma. Let the poor girl eat what she likes.

Yang cradles Weiss in "Lighting the Fire" the exact same way she cradles Ruby here. Yang is confirmed big sister to the entire RWBY/JNPR group.

Oscar's confused look that melts into understanding, courtesy of Ozpin. It's a subtle moment, but just another indication of how they're synching up. Lovely detail there.

#rwby #mymetas #RWBY Recaps

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farsitone64 · 6 years ago

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An Introduction to the Pieces of Chess and Their Functions

The Pawn

An intriguing metaphor for Natural Selection. You start the game with eight of them, and as the game marches on, so do they towards either salvation or destruction. If by some miracle one manages to get to the opposite side of the board, you have the option to bestow one of four rewards upon him:

A horse.

A bishopric.

An entire tower.

A surprise sex change and induction into the royal family.

Fun Fact #1: The vast majority of pawns receive the fourth reward. It has thus been theorized that all pawns are secretly transgender, though there is some debate around this.

The rules surrounding the movement of pawns is remarkably simple:

A pawn can move one space forward if there is no other pieces there.

If it is his first move, a pawn may move two spaces forward.

If there is an enemy piece one space diagonally in the direction the pawn is moving, he can capture that enemy.

If there is a friendly piece in front of the pawn, he may capture them.

If white has a pawn at h7 and black has a bishop at c3, the pawn moves to h7 and captures the bishop. This takes up the turn and white has to take this move if it is available.

If it’s a Monday and neither player has eaten yet, a pawn on rank 3 or 6 can move immediately to the last rank—capturing any pieces there—and be promoted.

Fun Fact #2: ‘En passant’ is not a real rule. The continued use of it by chess players and engines is a source of confusion and frustration to rulemakers.

The Rook

Not a soldier—the rook is literally a large cobblestone tower on wheels. It is powered by an ahead-of-its-time gasoline engine and operated by a highly trained team of engineers. Its design and difficulty to control encourages a gun-ho style of splattering enemy units at high speeds, after which brief maintenance is necessary before the next drive.

A rook may move as far as you like across its rank or file (not both) until it reaches a friendly piece—which it may only stop just short of—or an enemy piece—which it may capture, but not move past it. High level players prefer to move their rooks to somewhere in Australia or Antarctica, although this is considered inappropriate in casual matches due to the time it takes to make such moves. Edgar Ejedrson, in his famous brilliancy in the ‘Unmortal Game’, left a rook at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean and left it there until he used it to to checkmate his opponent on move 512.

If neither the King nor one of the rooks have moved in a game, and there are no pieces between the two of them, then they can be used to ‘castle’, moving both of them in one turn. This is a popular party trick and a good way to impress chess novices.

Fun Fact #3: The passenger air bag can injure or kill children.

The Knight

Introduced as a prank in the late 14th century, masters and beginners alike have been guessing for centuries what the moveset of this piece is. The current official moveset (subject to frequent change) is that he may move to any of eight closest spaces which are not on the same rank or file and are not the same color as the space the knight is already on. This can be remembered by the acronym ‘AoECSWANOtSRoFaANtSCatStKiAO’ or the catchy mnemonic: “It’s sort of like those two Tetris things, you know, the ones that look like letters.”

Fun Fact #4: The knight is the only piece who can jump over other pieces, a maneuver the other pieces find very bothersome.

The Bishop

An avowed member of the Inquisition, the bishop is commanded by pointing at a square and telling him that there are heretics over there. The bishop will then charge madly until he reaches either the space you pointed at or an enemy, at which point he will beat them senseless with a bible and have them sent off to be tortured.

Controlling the bishop is not straightforward. Indeed, he can only move diagonally. His movements can be remembered by the mnemonic: “It’s like the rook but diagonal.”

Fun Fact #5: Both bishops consider squares not of the color they started on to be unholy, and refuse to step on them for any reason, even to attack the bishops of the ‘false faith’. The two bishops do not work together—in fact, they don’t even think that they’re on the same team.

Fun Fact #6: The ‘bishop’ on c8 does not have a bishopric. It is recommended that you get the fraud captured before the end of the game.

The Queen

A badass warrior queen with a thirst for blood. It is theorized that she is only married to the King because it benefits her in some manner. She combines the movement patterns of the rook and bishop to become an unstoppable killing machine who can sometimes win the game single-handedly. Players try to avoid checkmating with the Queen, as this usually results in a bloody and mutilated enemy King, which makes rematches awkward.

Fun Fact #7: It was at first controversial to have the Queen do anything but wander around and get captured. All the people who complained were killed by the Queen, and so the surviving players of the era learned to fear and respect her power and authority.

The King

An inbred, out-of-touch despot. He started the war out of boneheaded pride and a lust for power and dominance. While all pieces would like to overthrow him, they fight under his banner out of fear of being ruled by the enemy king.

His movements can be compared to the Queen’s. However, in his old age, he can only move one space in a direction. He is also a coward who will not tolerate being under threat of capture. If a move would end the turn ‘in check’, the King forbids it and demands that you make a move which puts/keeps him out of check. If he is put under threat and cannot be saved—’checkmate’—then the war is over, although some casual players keep the game going by then attempting to capture their own king and claim the title for themselves.

Fun Fact #8: Pawns are known to foolishly betray the king by blocking his path of escape in cases of check. Watch out for this.

Pro Tips

Ending the game with more than one Queen leads to them attempting to kill each other. Be weary.

If there are more pieces on the losing side than the winning side once the game is over and the Queen is still on the board, she will rally them to her side and depose the winning King.

Announcing checkmate with Yes’ “Roundabout” is considered bad taste in some clubs.

Check the engines in your rooks before the game and, if you think you can get away with it, sabotage the enemy rooks.

The bishops are easily confused. Try commanding the enemy bishops during the enemy’s turn.

Talking about a rumored ‘third kingdom’ may lead to arrest.

Some people have spotted Lanky Kong as one of the knights. How you use this knowledge is up to you.

If you sacrifice your Queen, she’s coming for you next.

#chess #shitpost #why did i make this

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thevampirediariesdiary · 6 years ago

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2.05 Kill or Be Killed

I think the lead-in sentence for every episode this season is just going to be me, enthusing about what a good episode it is, full of great themes, complex relationships, and tightly woven plots. Season two, man. It’s basically perfect.

Elena catches Jeremy up on the fact that Mason and maybe Tyler are wolves. She’s promised not to keep things from him, but says she doesn’t want him involved. Stefan sneaks into Elena’s bedroom, she makes sure the door’s shut, because actually she’s definitely still keeping things from Jeremy!, and kisses Stefan. “Hi,” she says. “Hey,” he says, hugging her. “You ready for today?” “No,” Elena pouts into his shoulder, “I hate fighting with you, even if it’s fake.” Stefan reminds her that they need to keep Katherine thinking she’s getting what she wants, it’s the best way to make sure she doesn’t hurt anybody. “Just promise me she won’t get her way with us,” Elena says, “we can fake a fight, we can pretend that her threats are tearing us apart, but none of it’s real, okay?”

Stefan smiles at her, says, “Okay how ‘bout this? Today, when we’re fighting, if I say I can’t do this anymore, Elena, what I’ll really mean is that I love you.” He adds a little extra broody-smolder, she smiles.

“And when I say, Fine, Stefan, whatever – it really means I love you too,” she answers. “Deal,” Stefan says, and they both stop beaming at each other long enough to kiss.

This is a pretty good episode for them, so expect me to run with my rare Stelena feels for as far as they’ll take me.

Caroline signed her mom up for the Historical Society Volunteer Picnic some time ago, and Liz tells her she’s going to go and spend a whole day with her daughter. “Come on, give me one day,” she says. “I’ve been buried in work mode, I’ve barely seen you.” “Well, be warned,” says Caroline snippily, “I’m in a mood.” “Goodie for me,” Liz says wryly, then asks, “Is everything okay with you?” “I’m fine,” Caroline says. “It’s just, lately you’ve seemed…different,” Liz tells her. “I’m not different, I’m fine,” Caroline insists. “I know you don’t think I notice these things,” Liz persists, “but I do. What’s going on with you?” “You know,” says Caroline, “there’s pretending to be mother and then there’s reality. Let’s not push our luck.” Nothing puts strain on a relationship like one party not telling the other that they technically died.

At the picnic, Stefan proposes peace to Mason, who’s understandably miffed given that his own overtures of friendship were so violently rejected, and tells Stefan that Damon should watch his back. Stefan switches gears, reminds Mason that he’s outnumbered and only dangerous once a month. He assures Mason that Damon won’t attack him, and the two shakes hands. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, these moments of Stefan threatening people are so wonderfully funny when you remember Stefan is supposed to be a seventeen-year-old little high-school shithead. Mason leaves; Damon sneaks up on his brother. “What are you doing?” he asks flatly. “Negotiating peace on your behalf,” Stefan says. “But I don’t want peace!” Damon whines. “Well,” Stefan says unsympathetically, “consider it opposite day.” “Stefan,” says Damon, putting his hands on his brother’s shoulders as if he’s about to give him the close-talking-est neck massage ever, “tell me you don’t seriously think a handshake just solved all our problems.” “No, actually,” Stefan says, mock-casually,“I think the first chance he gets Mason Lockwood is going to drive a stake through your heart. And then through mine! All because you took it upon yourself to try to kill him. So thank you, because we don’t have enough problems.” He cups Damon’s face in one hand in a quasi-manly gesture of affection and frustration, shakes him, and then leaves.

Jeremy is sitting in the Grille, sketching Tyler Lockwood. Eventually this gets boring, so he gets up and asks Tyler how he’s been, and Tyler (after a kneejerk-jerk response) thanks him for being a decent person at Mayor Lockwood’s wake. Tyler then invites a couple of girls and Jeremy back to his house to drink and party while his mom’s supervising the picnic. Since this little arc is 85% moonstone shenanigans, this is pretty much all I’m going to say about it: Tyler knows Jeremy knows, Tyler doesn’t kill anybody, Tyler gives Mason moonstone. Bing bang boom. Also, Mason’s sort of with Katherine.

At the picnic, Mason asks Liz to talk about the council. “I know vampires exist,” he says, “and you have two of them living right under your nose.” “Really,” says Liz, impatiently, “who would they be?” “Damon and Stefan Salvatore,” Mason says. Easy as that – every other mini-villain threatened to expose the boys, but Mason just went straight for it. Liz’s eyes narrow. “That’s impossible,” she says. “I know Damon Salvatore, do you know what he’s done for this town? I have watched him kill vampires, he’s an ally, he’s part of the council.” “Think about it!” Mason insists. “When did the vampire attacks begin – when Damon and Stefan Salvatore moved to town?” “No,” Liz says firmly, “Damon Salvatore is my friend.” But of course – Mason offers to prove it. It is nice to hear “Damon and Stefan Salvatore” instead of “Stefan and Damon Salvatore” for a change – Damon is older, after all.

“So, suddenly she’s in the running for mother of the year, just when I’m trying to avoid her the most!” Caroline complains to a very distracted Elena, who has to be prompted to supply the requisite “then what happened”. “Well, I was a bitch,” Caroline admits, “but that’s par for the course with us. So,” she adds, in that terrible fake-casual Mystic Falls Liar voice, “how are things with you and Stefan? Anything?” Elena heaves a theatrical sigh, says, “No, not since the fight. He’s been pushing me away because he thinks Katherine might get jealous enough to hurt me. I just don’t know how to change his mind.” “You said that Katherine’s dangerous,” Caroline says, coming over to sit by her, “maybe he’s got a point.” “Yeah, I know that she’s dangerous, and I know that he’s just trying to protect me, but it feels like giving up, and I just –” She cuts off, fake-frustrated. “Just what?” Caroline asks quietly. Elena makes eye contact with her, says innocently, “I just thought that we were stronger than that.”

I’ve complained before about Stefan treating Caroline like a pawn – feeding her vervain to knock Damon out instead of actually making a move to save her – and again when Stefan and Elena both reacted to Caroline’s being turned into a vampire with “Katherine’s doing this to me”, instead of “it’s awful that Katherine did this to Caroline”. But this is a new low. They’re using Caroline to feed false information to Katherine, while simultaneously guilting her for something they must know she’s being forced to do. I don’t love it.

Damon wanders up to Liz and asks what her chat with Mason was about. “Oh,” she answers awkwardly, “I just asked him to help me with clean-up in the woods.” “That’s what I’m here for,” Damon says, cheerfully, “put me to work! Should I go help him?” “Oh, no, no, you know what, he’s – I’m sure he’s fine,” Liz says, avoiding eye contact, which is a darn shame, because Damon is having an Extra Pretty Eye Day.

“Are you okay, Liz?” he asks. “You seem really upset.” “It’s Caroline,” Liz answers, “we had a moment.” “Is there anything I can do?” Damon asks, sounding genuinely regretful for her pain.

“No, Damon,” she says, “thank you. It’s just horrible parenting skills paying off in spades.” She makes her exit, he watches her go, looking blue-eyed and worried.

Stefan and Elena ogle each other from across the picnic. “Uh-oh,” Caroline says, “longing looks are being exchanged.” “I’m gonna go talk to him,” Elena decides. “No, Elena, I think it’s a bad idea,” Caroline says, but Elena’s already gone. Damon sidles up so that he and Caroline can look pretty and blue-eyed and watch Elena together; Damon asks, “What’s her problem?” “Don’t worry about it,” Caroline says. “Why are you being such a bitch to your mom?” Damon says, with a frankly surprising amount of sincerity behind it.

“Don’t worry about it,” Caroline repeats. The answer should be obvious – she can’t let her mother get too close, or Liz will find out she’s a vampire, and Damon should know that. Everybody’s getting on her case for things that aren’t her fault; she’s in several impossible positions and she’s doing the best she can, but nobody’s helping her. Across the way, Elena asks Stefan, “Do you still care about Katherine?” “Don’t do this, please don’t turn this into something it’s not,” he pleads, which kudos to Stefan, is totally believable! Their fights have always consisted of Elena asking straightforward questions and Stefan doing backflips around them. “So this isn’t up for discussion, that’s what you’re saying?” Elena says. “No, I’m saying this isn’t up for discussion right now, because we have ears on us,” Stefan says. Caroline gets busy painting something, Damon gets busy…staring at the ground? Great job, real subtle, hon. Elena huffs a sigh, asks, “Okay, when?” “I don’t know,” Stefan says. “I saw her, Stefan,” Elena says, her voice starting to shake. “It’s like we’re the same person, how could you hate her and be in love with me?” “You’re reaching,” Stefan says, “I’m not…I’m not Damon.” “How about we don’t bring Damon into this right now,” Elena answers. “You know what,” says Stefan, dropping his voice lower and looking her in the eyes, “I can’t – I can’t do this anymore, Elena.”

Comprehension dawns in her eyes, she swallows. “Fine, Stefan,” she says, nodding slightly, “whatever.” She walks off; Damon murmurs to Caroline, “Relationships are about communication…” This could have been such a corny scene, but you get the sense that as Stefan and Elena are talking, the reality of their situation starts to bleed into the fight. It feels like when they use their code phrases, it’s not to say “none of this is real, like we planned, like we wanted – everything’s okay, and I love you.” But rather, what they’re communicating is that even in the midst of this, even though they’re both really afraid and even a little frustrated with each other, they do still love each other: “Nothing’s okay, and I love you.” Relationships are about communication, and they managed to say exactly what they needed to.

“Heard you talked to Stefan,” Damon tells Mason. “Nice guy,” Mason says. “Way nicer than me,” Damon says, grinning. “Nice is overrated,” Mason answers. “That’s what I think,” Damon says, clapping him on the shoulder. This is very reminiscent of his early interactions with Alaric – as in, the interactions directly before he killed Alaric. Damon, you are bad at making friends. Mason leaves, Stefan zooms over to yell at his brother for shit-stirring. “So what’s up with this faux-drama in your relationship?” Damon asks, point-blank. “What are you talking about?” Stefan says, shifty-eyed as can be. “Oh, come on, Stefan,” Damon says, “you and Elena don’t fight.” He adds, wryly, “Especially not over me.” “Drop it, Damon,” Stefan says. “With pleasure,” Damon answers, and accepts a lemonade from a pint-sized volunteer, which he promptly spits all over, coughing. “What’s wrong with you?” Stefan says, somewhat petulantly. “Vervain,” Damon gasps. Across the park, Liz watches as Stefan sniffs the drink and fusses over his brother. They’ve been caught.

Elena sits at the edge of the creek and rips at grass, angrily. Caroline tries to tell her maybe it’s for the best – and given Caroline’s own decision to break up with Matt, maybe she believes it is – but Elena snaps at her. “I don’t mean to take it out on you, you’re just trying to be a good friend,” she bites out. Elena, quit being an asshole. “No, I’m not,” Caroline says, “I’m not being a good friend at all.” But before she can confess anything, she sees her mother leaving the picnic and takes off after her. They have a very cliched back and forth – “you lasted longer than I thought”, “it’s important”, “it always is” – and then Liz, apologizing, leaves. “Something’s up,” Caroline tells Elena. They climb to the top of a hill and Caroline shushes Elena so she can listen to what’s going on.

Damon and Stefan rassle at the edge of the picnic. “I’m not listening to any more of your give-peace-a-chance crap, he’s dead!” Damon spits. “Alright, I don’t like it, but he’s making threats, he could expose us, we need to put him down,” Stefan says. Man, he caved fast. They take off after Mason into the woods, where they make uncreative threats and then are shot full of wooden bullets and vervain by Liz and her deputies. The brothers are dragged to the old Lockwood estate so they can be interrogated and killed; Liz sends Mason away. He runs into Caroline and Elena above-ground, is smug and condescending. He grabs Elena, tells Caroline, “Don’t be stupid, necks snap easy around here.”

“I can take you,” Caroline says, like she’s psyching herself up; she’s insecurity on crack, and yet – “Wanna bet?” Mason says. “Yeah, I do,” says Caroline, and in a flash she has him away from Elena and pinned by the throat to a tree. “Told ya,” she says, and knees him in the groin.

Underground, Liz is shooting Damon’s knees. She shoots Stefan once as well, but he doesn’t move, and so she goes back to shooting Damon. “I will drag this out painfully,” she tells Damon. “But you’re my friend…” he murmurs. “Our friendship was a lie,” Liz says, “answer me and I’ll kill you fast.” He doesn’t answer; he’s heard Elena and Caroline arrive upstairs. “My mom…she’s killing them,” Caroline says. “We have to stop her!” Elena says, and makes for the entrance. Caroline doesn’t follow; “Elena, I can’t, she’ll find out about me!” Elena leaves her at the top of the stairs, and hits a deputy with a wooden board. “You can’t kill them, I’m not gonna let you!” she tells Liz. Liz barely has time to exclaim before there’s a whoosh, and then Caroline’s taken out both the deputies – one dead from the other’s bullets, and the other thrown aside, neck possibly broken.

“Hi, mom.”

“You need to drink some deputy blood,” Damon tells Stefan, who’s hunched over in Elena’s arms, breathing shallowly. “No, I’ll be fine, it’s just gonna take a little bit longer,” Stefan says. “No, Damon’s right,” Caroline puts in in a small voice, “if there was ever a time to break your diet – ” “He said he didn’t want it, okay?” Elena interrupts. Damon struggles to his feet, declaims, “This is a most unfortunate situation. Two deputies dead. And you,” he addresses Liz, “what am I gonna do with you?”

“You won’t tell anyone, will you?” Caroline says.

Liz looks away. “Mom?” Caroline repeats. “Mom? I know we don’t get along and that you hate me, but I’m your daughter, and you’ll do this for me, right? Mom, please. He will kill you.” Damon nods, literally snarling. Liz looks up at him, sobs, “Then kill me.” “No!” Caroline protests. “I can’t take this,” Liz says, “kill me, now.” Damon leans over her, says, “But you were going to drag it out so painfully!”

He smirks at her fear, grabs her roughly. Caroline screams “no” repeatedly, Stefan shouts, “Damon, don’t!” as Elena begs “Damon, please!” “Relax, guys, no one’s killing anybody!” Damon says, the malevolent spark in his eyes gone like it was never there, replaced by the usual ironic humor.

Stefan and Elena look relieved albeit flabbergasted. Damon ignores them, turns to Liz, and says gently, looking straight into her eyes, “You’re my friend.” He didn’t overhear her conversation with Mason – he’s not echoing her words back to her in an accusatory way, throwing the label in her face to make her feel bad about shooting him. He’s even saying it again, now that his life’s not on the line. This is really, truly his assessment of their relationship – everyone else thought the friendship was a lie concocted so he could get information on the council, everyone else thought he’d turn on Liz the same way he turned on Caroline when she became a threat. But if Damon is anything, it’s inconsistent.

Caroline arrives on the boys’ doorstep with a giant overnight bag for her mom, who’s staying in the Salvatore Detox Hotel for two-to-three days until the vervain has left her system and she can be compelled. “Hey!” she says to Stefan. “Get some bunny in you?” “Yeah, thank you, I’m feeling much better,” he replies. D’awwww. Downstairs, Damon helps Liz get settled: “It’s not exactly the Ritz, but it’s secure. And I brought you a good thread count.”

Just as Caroline reaches the doorway, Liz asks Damon, “Keep Caroline away from me, please. I don’t wanna see her.” “She’s your daughter, Liz,” Damon says. “Not anymore,” she answers, “my daughter’s gone.” “You have no idea how wrong you are about that,” Damon says, solemnly. But Liz doesn’t answer, and when he meets Caroline’s eyes on the other side of the door she drops the luggage and flees.

Up until now, Caroline’s vampire-experience has been straightforwardly paralleled with Stefan’s – he’s the one helping her, teaching her, trying to make sure she doesn’t suffer the way he did. But here, just for a moment, Damon puts his oar in – like Caroline and her mother, he had a complicated relationship with his father prior to turning. Unlike Caroline, and unlike Stefan, he never got the opportunity to resolve that – but he knows that the destruction of that relationship after turning is what pushed Stefan over the edge. So, he does his best – after all, he’s already been low-key trying to fix Caroline’s relationship with her mother all day.

Stefan stops at his fridge o’ contraband, contemplates a blood bag. “Katherine took a little vervain every day and built up a tolerance,” he tells Elena. “I could do the same with blood, learn to control myself on it.” “But you can’t, Stefan,” Elena says, “you don’t have to.” “I almost died tonight, Elena,” he says, “because I was too weak. I told you I was gonna find a way to stop Katherine, and this is it.” She taps her ear, says, “Can we talk about this later?” “He can hear us wherever we are, because he drinks this!” Stefan shouts. “This is the only thing that can help me.” “Are you serious or are you pretending to fight, because I can’t tell,” Elena says, shaken. “No, this is real,” Stefan says, “no more pretend.” She stares at him like she’s not seeing him, like she’s remembering every awful thing they went through last time he drank human blood – and then she runs.

Caroline confesses to Elena that she’s scared to go home because Katherine will be there; Elena admits that she’s known and she’s been angry, but then she thought about it and realized Katherine had to have threatened someone Caroline loved – “Matt,” Caroline sobs, “she threatened Matt. Why is she doing this? What does she want?” “That’s the million dollar question,” Elena answers.

This resolution is more than a little unsatisfying – Caroline sensed something was wrong, Caroline tracked the disturbance, Caroline took down Mason, and Caroline saved the Salvatores, risking her life, committing as many as (1) murder, and exposing her undead identity to her mother in the process. Stefan and Elena assumed Caroline was most useful kept in the dark, an unwitting double agent – but hasn’t she proved in the course of the day that she can hold her own? Why aren’t they apologizing to her? Why aren’t they thanking her?

Elena crosses paths with Damon on her way out, says “Caroline’s sleeping on the couch.” This, by the way, is ridiculous – it’s a boarding house, they have spare rooms up the wazoo. “I heard,” Damon whispers back, “and you?” She gives him a look I can’t decipher, says, “I’m going home.” But she stops at the front door, turns back around and says to him, “What you did for Caroline’s mom…?”

“That’s the Damon who was my friend.” He blinks, offers her the slightest acknowledging smile; she turns to go. “Hey,” he says. She turns. “Stefan didn’t drink the people blood, if you were curious,” he says, keeping his voice light. “But he needs to, and deep down you know that.”

She stares at him – this is the first time, since Jeremy, that they’ve looked at each other like this, torn open and vulnerable and visible. He nods at her, and leaves her alone – he’s given her the distance she asked for all episode, and even now, he takes her words to him for what they are, and doesn’t pressure her for anything more.

Elena stands in Stefan’s doorway, asks, “You really think you can control it?” “I don’t know,” he answers. “I think it’s worth trying.” “So do I,” Elena says, “but I don’t want you to do it alone.” She pricks her palm with a (truly ostentatious) letter opener, and sits opposite him. “It’s you and me, Stefan,” she says, “always.”

It’s the two of them against the world, holding each other through every trial, each acting as the anchor point so that the other doesn’t slip away. This is the final movement away from the Miss Mystic Falls era of the show dynamics – it’s not the Damon and Elena team, anymore, bonded by their shared love for Stefan, working together to keep him safe and on the straight and narrow. Now, it’s Stefan and Elena, facing the thing that they couldn’t before, ready to stare it down by the strength of their bond. Damon provides the push – but then he steps aside.

Music Moments: Kris Allen’s “I Need to Know” plays over the last two scenes with Damon and Elena (are you leaving me / or are you leading the way? / can you hear what I'm saying? / I need to know), and Stefan and Elena (feels so far away / I want to see your face / are you even there? / can you show me? / can you make me believe?).

Previously: 2.01, 2.02, 2.03, 2.04

#2.05 #tvd #kill or be killed #rewatch

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