#the 100 s5 meta

[fluffypotatey]

Season 5 Merlin is maybe not a villain in a true sense but I think Season 1 Merlin, heck even Season 3 Merlin would be horrified by him and his choices and how he is in Seasin 5.There is a reason why he has become like this of course …..

But I think an earlier Merlin would be so appalled by the fact that he would ever try to convince Arthur not to save Gwaine. Or that he would ever say the words “why did I agree to help Gwen?” My jaw genuinely dropped at those words when I first saw that episode.

he’s definitely changed from where he started in s1 that’s for sure but (in my humble opinion) s5 has a lot of…. “interesting” choices that feel so jarring (tho :) i personally think this could have been solved is we got a longer time with King Arthur and Queen Guinevere :) s4 disheveled King Arthur you will always be famous to ME)

idk it’s hard to grapple with what’s a decision the character made that feels like something they would do given the previous seasons and their growth and what is a decision that was more for the sake of leading up dotd that feels ooc

for example: Merlin telling Arthur not to save Gwaine. it isn’t like Merlin to abandon and give up on someone he considers one of his closest friends (s3 Merlin would have his head for even considering this!). and, sure, maybe we can argue that Merlin does it as a way to keep Arthur out of danger (like how he lied about how the Ygraine Arthur saw in 2x08 was an illusion created by Morgause) bc the Battle of Camlaan is so close and going there might push more of the fate dominoes into place

but also, this argument isn’t one that would ever convince Arthur. you know, the King of Never Leave a Man Behind especially of its one of the knights he views as his closest friends (bc Gwaine is Arthur’s friend. like that is a real canon thing). and maybe you could still argue that Merlin’s fear of destiny outweighed his personal morals here, but it really falls flat when you remember how much Merlin has lost and doesn’t want to lose. Gwaine is someone he trust so much and cares for that to say they should leave him just rips the audience out of the immersion for a moment (it did for me anyway)

so uh yeah s1-3 Merlin would have a field day questioning s5 Merlin (which would be a fun fic to read btw 👀 if you got recs please lmk) and his choices as well as be so appalled by them. but at the same time knowing that these choices were made out of his desire to protect Arthur might cause him to falter or maybe even struggle with wondering if his fate is inevitable

[lingeringscars]

harper does look away eventually during that shauna lottie scene. she watches for a little bit, but when shauna goes further than they all expected, she looks away and puts her head in her hands.

[angstandhappiness]

FASCINATING

Hi, do you have any more thoughts on Kolivan recognizing keith// his parent's (mom kogane's) blade?? I'm intrigued by that angle of perspective and would love if you could divulge further! Thank you very much!

Honestly something I think about, if Kolivan and the other Blade members do recognize the Blade is… there’s an element of their own grief probably tied up in this?

From the start we’ve seen the Blade acting weirdly personal about Keith’s knife. Several members, especially Antok, were incredibly angry at him having it in a way that’s more personal than just “that’s not yours to have”. But Thace was seemingly greatly reassured by it, in the sense that even going to his death, he seemed strangely hopeful and happy to know Keith was out there with that specific weapon.

Keep reading

[raayllum]

You Have A Good Heart — It's Super Annoying :: An Ezran and Rayla Meta

Forgive me for a moment, meta readers, for a quick anecdote.

Ages ago (aka pretty shortly after S3) I had plans to write an Ezran and Rayla focused meta, centred primarily on how the show highlights their unique bonds with dragons at different intervals and thus far (and honestly still now) with an emphasis that hadn't been doled out likewise to Callum. It was meant, therefore, to be a companion piece to my "Callum and the Dragon Prince (Zym)" relationship analysis, and is built upon a similar thought that Ezran and Rayla are fundamentally more similar to one another than they are to Callum. (Also just goes to show that procrastination can, indeed, last up to four years.)

Ergo, previous meta / thoughts you might want to consult if this is an area of interest:

Brief Rayla & Ezran parallels meta + headcanons

Ezran & Rayla parallels compilation (s1-s5), some of which we'll be going into more detail with

A short meta about how Callum is different from Ezran and Rayla (s1-s4)

For fun, this poem always makes me think a lot about Ezran and Rayla a lot too.

Now, this isn't to say that Rayla and Ezran are 100% or even 80% similar; they are very different, and I would say they're one of the few dynamics in the show that doesn't quite hit the foils mark, either (at least not to me). Nor is this to say that Callum and Ezran, and Callum and Rayla, don't have parallels or similarities. The brothers are both very compassionate, love each other and their father deeply, have many big feelings, are generally emotionally pretty open, and Callum takes on being Zym's caretaker when Ezran turns around to go home. Callum and Rayla's early arcs both have a great deal to do with coping with ideas around failure and familial belonging, and their arc 2 plot lines have been dominated by their devotion to each other and being pushed back onto paths (dark magic, assassinations) that they would rather leave behind.

Therefore, what I am saying that is that Ezran and Rayla are quite similar to each other in some really important, interesting ways, and that I think they are more similar to each other in terms of their Core characters than they are to Callum. Take it or leave it. Okay? Okay. With that out of the way, let's get into it

Core vs Presentation

One thing that I find particularly useful when it comes to discussing/analyzing characters, or when creating them, is the difference between a character's core vs their presentation. The most classic kind of example we see is the "jerk / bad boy with a heart of gold" archetype where the character's presentation is one way (outwardly prickly and/or mean) but their internal core (values, priorities, 'truest self' etc) is very warm, loving, and caring. We see it so often it borders on the point of being cliche.

However, it is useful in explaining just how much a character's core can differ from somebody else's, but their presentation might be similar, or vice versa, with their presentations being different but their cores being similar. And obviously even that is simplistic (characters can have pieces of one another's core but still be very different; for example, while Viren and Callum have a similar devotion to their loved ones, Viren does not always act on it and puts things above his loved ones - leading to theirs and his downfall - whereas Callum thus far hasn't put much above his inner circle, because he always acts on his devotion).

The reason I get into all of this is because I think that while Ezran and Rayla have different presentations, they have very similar cores.

Despite Ezran being more childish and cheery where — especially season one Rayla — is more gruff and impatient, Ezran and Rayla both have similar responses when it comes to forgiveness, their families / upbringings, senses of self worth, and their priorities.

But first, let's get some of the basic parallels out of the way. Ones with an asterisk * next to them will be expanded upon later in greater detail:

General Parallels

Not being believed (by Ruthari and Callum in BH and 1x08 respectively)

Not fitting in growing up

Following in parents' footsteps vs wanting to be different/better than your parents

4x08 gift giving being relational to their fathers, whereas Callum's is Ibis' staff

Arguing to give up hands as they perceive something as being mostly their fault (1x06, 5x08)

Going the nonviolent route in 5x05 vs Callum wanting to seek out the Nova Blade *

A thematic / social emphasis that never quite affects Callum in the same way *

"I knew I had to be strong alone." / "It's not fair you have to struggle through this alone." *

Now let's get into the specifics.

Upbringing

On the one hand, Ezran and Rayla had very different upbringings. Ezran never knew his mother before she died, whereas Rayla remembers, loves, and resents the parents who left. Ezran is given plenty of space to be a fun loving, mischievous little boy, whereas Rayla is playful too, but definitely more dutiful and devoting more time to training and taking it more seriously. Ezran believes that "it's okay to be afraid of things" whereas Rayla mandates that "Moonshadow elves aren't supposed to show fear, ever".

One isn't blamed for being a child:

And one is:

Now, part of this is context. While Ezran has decisions to make, his current ones (up to s1) haven't caused any harm or consequences. Rayla sparing Marcos and then lying about it (pre-binding spell too!) has gotten her team into a load of trouble. But where Soren reminds Callum of his youth to reaffirm that Callum needs to stay safe (much more in vein with Opeli) even if it's in a cruel way, for Rayla it is little more than a critique. She's a child, she had compassion, so she's weak.

This is also a critique lauded at Ezran ("You're just a little boy believing in fairytales" -> "This is a trick and a trap, you're a fool Rayla") in terms of their hope for peace. Likewise, Viren believes that if a child king leads them, Ezran will make 'weak' (aka bad) choices. In spite of their compassion being what they are most critiqued and punished for (Ezran is imprisoned for his abdication of his duty to try to spare people, and Rayla is exiled for sparing Marcos), this is ultimately what makes the difference in ending the war and protecting Zym.

With that in mind, let's talk about Ezran, Rayla, and

Dragons

Ezran and Rayla are both routinely shown to be more anchored to the dragons in a way that Callum is not in arc 1. This is shown in them agreeing with each other about Zym in 1x03 ("It has a mother and it needs to go back to her" "You're right, it wants its mother") even when Callum doesn't act until Ezran is put in danger, Ezran being Zym's tried and true soulmate whereas Rayla becomes the Last Dragonguard, and other little notices.

In arc 2, Soren arguably steps up to take the other half of the draonic-caring role (highlighted most notably by Rayla walking away from the drake in 4x05) in addition to Zym getting less plot focus. However, we still some of this overlap given that Rayla is the first to initiate the gift giving with Rex Igneous, and Ezran is the one to actually figure out what the great dragon wants. Additionally, when Rayla was at her best / not tamping down said self, we see that she does reflect Ezran.

One of my favourite little season four parallels was also the trio's responses to Zym's 'death' in 4x07 and Soren's an episode before, where Ezran and Rayla are the most distraught respectively (Ez stays optimistic about Soren, Rayla turns and mourns alone about Zym), and Callum steps in to look after both of them. Moving on.

That said, the parallel between Rayla and Ezran that sticks out to me is:

Blame, Responsibility, and Self Worth

One of the things that's stood out to me on my most recent S2 rewatch is how unnecessarily hard on himself Ezran is (which Callum verbally acknowledges in 2x03), and how much it reminds me of Rayla throughout the series. This isn't to say that Ezran's mental health or self esteem is as poor as Rayla's — he does have a better view of himself (good, however?), he processes and shares his emotions better, for example — but that they repeatedly use the same language and phrasing, and worry about similar shortcomings.

Ezran: I'm so sorry I messed up the plan. Rayla: Ah, you should cut yourself a break. Everyone messes up sometimes. Or in my case, all the times. (1x08)

Ezran: Corvus, I'm sorry I let you down as king. It only took a few days for me to mess everything up. (3x05) Rayla: I let you both down. I let the world down. (1x09) / Oh no, I messed up again! (4x06)

Rayla: Ugh, I'm such an idiot. I should've figured it out. She's not a healer, she's a fake. She's an illusionist. She can't heal anything. (1x09) Ezran: You knew? Ugh, I'm such an idiot. I should've figured it out! When we met you, you had two of those assassin-y ribbon-y things, but one of them fell off that night. (2x08)

We also know Ezran's super annoying good heart is something that Rayla has too ("I told him you were too good-hearted for the work of an assassin") and something she has various levels of self hatred for ("Rayla felt her heart turn soft in her chest in just the way she hated" —Chasing Shadows part 1).

The point, however, is ultimately that Ezran and Rayla tend to primarily blame themselves when things go wrong, they worry immensely about failure and letting people down, and that Ezran has a greater capacity for self loathing than I think we sometimes give him credit for.

For example, both Rayla and Ezran exchange themselves for Viren in S3. Ezran abdicates and takes Viren's spot in jail, though the mage likewise finagles his way into being king, which wasn't part of the deal, and Rayla tackles Viren off the Pinnacle even if that means also dying in order to save Zym.

That said, one of the main reasons these two are so hard on themselves is because of the amount of internalized responsibility they take on when it comes to their

Collective Priorities

While both care deeply about individuals — friends, family, strangers, animals — Ezran and Rayla most often prioritize the collective, albeit in different ways. We see this first hand in 2x09 when discussing Ezran's decision to turn home and prioritize being king of his kingdom:

E: Now that I'm king, I have to go home. Maybe I can help the world better from the throne. I can do whatever I can to stop the war. R: Ezran, returning Zym to his mother is the world's best hope. E: I know. And you guys will do that. You'll find his mom and Zym will take his place in Xadia, just like I have to take mine.

This is also reflected in how Rayla wants to stay behind in 2x07 for a stranger, Ezran reminds her they have to take care of Zym (and follows Zym down), and Callum follows Rayla down and does dark magic. We see this once again in 4x04 and 5x01 with their choices:

Opeli: King Ezran, maybe there is a way. Go with her. Ezran: But Katolis needs me. Opeli: The world needs you right now. The high council can take care of the people, I promise you. Ezran: You're right. The kingdom will be in good hands.

Rayla: I love you, and I haven't forgotten about you. But... I can't help you yet. Because right now, the world needs me. Callum and Ezran need me. A great evil is trying to return to Xadia and we have to stop it. At any cost.

We also see this in how they prioritize their own understanding of harm mitigation over Callum's, as Ezran and Rayla ally with each other over the prison vs Nova Blade discussion, even though Rayla was the one to tell Callum they should be looking into killing Aaravos in the first place. Now that both stopping the mage fam from finding the prison and going after the Nova Blade are on the table, Rayla chooses the former over the latter, reaffirming her and Ezran's 'violence as a last resort' whereas Callum sees it that way, too, but is more inclined to get there faster (since Rayla has made that mistake twice, and is trying not to repeat it.)

Season five doubles down on this Ezran-kingdom and Rayla-world set up yet again, with Ezran primarily thinking things through in relation to his duty as a king, and Rayla in the self-imposed duty she feels to the greater good, even if that means denying doing or feeling the things they want to do or need to feel:

Soren: You deserve time to do kid stuff. If you spend all your time doing adult stuff now, you'll grow up weird, like your brother and Rayla. Ezran: I don't have time to do kid things. I must gain the trust and cooperation of the dragons, and I shall not be deterred. So many people are counting on me to do my duty. [...] Every time I sit on my throne, I'm reminded of the immense pressure of my kingly duty.

Rayla: It hurts me to know they're trapped like this. It's agonizing. But I know our mission comes first. The world is in danger, and you can trust me to stay focused. Callum: We can help them. Rayla, we can undo this spell. Rayla: Not yet, Callum. Believe me, I want to do something, but [...] Callum, we have to leave! Callum: Two minutes, that's all I need.

From what we know in 6x01, this seems reflected in Ezran putting off looking for Zubeia until they have something settled on with the prison, Rayla agreeing with Ezran's verdict that the prison should stay hidden in Katolis for now (until Callum convinces her otherwise), and Rayla reaffirming that while she wants to free her parents, she won't let it bias her.

All of this honestly just makes me more excited because when Ezran's mental health starts to crack, it's going to crack hard and be absolutely devastating. What will Ezran's mental health start spiralling over? Well...

Fathers and Remembrance

Like Claudia, Ezran and Rayla are direct legacy carriers. While every character in TDP carries some kind of legacy or hold over from their past, some characters are more entrenched in it than others.

For example, Soren's occupation has — as far as we know — nothing to do with his father, so that has nothing to do with legacy, but Soren choosing to be a different man than the son his father wanted absolutely does. Callum sort of gets the inversion of this, as occupation wise as mage and particularly as a high mage, he's carrying the weight of Ibis, Claudia, Kpp'ar, Viren, and potentially the Jailer on his back. That's where legacy comes into play, as although he's very much Sarai and Harrow's son (and Harrow's letter is a legacy unto itself), he's not struggling with the same things they struggled with primarily outside of "how to break (or perpetuate) the cycle," which every character struggles with. If he was having an arc decidedly about being a warrior, leader, or ruler, it might be different, but his occupation is what his legacy is mostly about, which fits a character who's meant to be 'born normal' and ascend to great heights purely by his own merit, even if he has royal status.

Ezran and Rayla, meanwhile, are given both occupational and familial legacy to deal with, much like Claudia, namely because all three of these characters are shot down the line to carry their parents' — primarily their fathers' — mantles.

Harrow was king, so Ezran becomes a king ("So I've realized I don't have to be the king my father was [...] I don't want to be that kind of king"). Runaan was an assassin, so Rayla tries to become an assassin ("Is this right? The moonshadow assassin who isn't capable of killing?"; Lain and Tiadrin were Dragonguard, so Rayla becomes a Dragonguard ("Don't you remember who you are? You're the last Dragonguard"). Viren was a dark mage, so Claudia becomes a dark mage ("I have led my beloved daughter down this path").

We see this reflected in the gifts Rayla and Ezran offer to Rex Igneous, tokens of love and remembrance that they carry with them to remind them of their fathers, but are willing to sacrifice. We see this in the way that each want to honour their parents, but also want to be different than them (i.e. Rayla doesn't want to be an assassin like Runaan, mirroring Ezran's changing assertion of "I wish Dad was here, he'd know what to do" to realizing he can't solely look at his father in an idealized lens because of his mistakes).

Of course, their gifts to Rex Igneous highlight their interrelated trauma. Ezran lost his father because of Rayla's father. Rayla's parents were imprisoned by proxy because of Harrow through Viren. Rayla is going to get her parents back. Ezran? Well... not so much, but it doesn't stop Claudia from mirroring Callum in her offer.

We see this aspect of remembrance and loss and mistakes in S3 as well, as a good deal of the first half of the season emotionally deals with Ezran and Rayla coming home and finding not quite the circumstances they wanted. The primary father they wanted to be like (Harrow, Runaan) is fallen, and so they have to step into different roles. For Ezran, that means being a new kind of king; for Rayla, that means becoming a Dragonguard.

With all this in mind, we're wrapping in similarities (though I'm sure there's some I missed or didn't touch on much, like the "the crown is a heavy burden" and "There's a burden I'm carrying" y'know?) but for now, onto the

Differences

Shorter section as these are more obvious, and I'd expect apply to both surface level and core aspects. Ezran's never been as prone to action/violence or being super active, Rayla's mental health is still somewhat in a ditch whereas Ezran's holding on (by a thread maybe but a thread nonetheless), Stella is the only animal Rayla's had a very close bond to meanwhile Ezran bonds with every animal, etc etc.

That said there are two I want to highlight in particular.

The first, like I've already alluded to, is that Ezran is better at holding and thinking of dualities in terms of priority and in terms of emotions (even if sometimes he can barrel on a bit too fast, like in 4x03). For example, when heading up the Cursed Caldera, Ezran is the one who mentions her hand (fittingly, since if she loses, it'll be for him):

Ezran can hold and prioritize two things at once. To help break the cycle, you have to hold love and pain in your heart at the same time. Upon inviting Zym and Zubeia to Katolis...

Corvus: But is this really about changing the world, or is it just an excuse to see Zym again? Ezran: Can't it be both?

Ezran is, of course, likely going to initially fail at his own challenge of thinking about Both when it comes to Runaan, prioritizing his pain and love over Rayla's, but the point stands that Ezran is usually better at focusing on what can and what needs to be done.

Ezran felt bad for Rayla and her fear of water, but he knew she could face the fear again. He was about to encourage her to cross the bay when Callum jumped in. “You know what?” Callum said. “We’ll just walk around it somehow. With our legs.” Ezran couldn’t believe what he was hearing. But thankfully, Rayla shook her head no. (—Book 2: Sky novelization)

Rayla, meanwhile, tunnel visions, and tunnel visions hard. When Ezran brings up her hand, she tells him, "Don't worry about my hand, the egg is all that matters." When she goes to save Pyrrah, she states, "It doesn't matter what happens to me, live or die, this dragon goes home." She destroys her relationships in the name of killing Viren and puts herself at risk, and it takes two years to come back and start making amends and recovering. Where Ezran's passivity shifts to carefully weighing things and making pretty measured decisions most of the time, Rayla's tendency to not consider anything but the immediate goal in front of her routinely gets her into trouble... such as abandoning a mission to save an individual (Harrow + the egg, Pyrrah, the Dragon Queen) no matter what the personal cost.

On that note, we also see Ezran directly reject the worst of Rayla's more toxic mindset, re:

The other difference that I noticed, particularly in S5, is that Rayla knows not everyone has a good heart, even if she expects someone to:

Ezran, meanwhile, continues to see the best in everyone even when being told it's unlikely.

Both these perspectives are good and bad circumstantially, and both can get them into trouble, but it's an interesting one to me to say the least.

Conclusion

Overall, I hope you enjoyed this dissection of Ezran and Rayla's similarities, contrasts, and flat out differences. I don't think we'll see a lot of their bond in S6 as we got to see in previous seasons, but fingers crossed for S7! As always thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed.

[kradogsrats]

collecting old meta posts for an update and I had forgotten that by seven days after the s5 release, I had figured out:

Leola was important to Aaravos, and possibly his child

Leola was punished by the Stars for giving primal magic to humans

The Sea of the Castout was formed by Leola's fall

Aaravos's revenge plot against the Stars is because of this

so I have, in fact, been sitting on an almost 100% correct Aaravos backstory for an entire calendar year

part of me is like "well duh it's pretty obvious" but it actually wasn't obvious last July—people still thought the statues of Aaravos and TMO was Aaravos receiving judgement, and I was like "okay but what if it's both of them reacting to Leola, TMO extending mercy or comfort to her and Aaravos mourning her"

literally the same day they posted the stargazing clip for s5, I was like "oh my god what if Aaravos and Leola are connected somehow"

... really this is just testament to the level of storytelling going on in this series but part of me is also like "I am going to get a good grade in literary analysis, something both normal to want and possible to achieve 20 years after graduating"

[doubleslashkarma]

I've been having a lot of thoughts about Poafa recently, and I'm gonna try and condense it into something comprehensible so bear with me for a second.

Poafa is afraid of trust. He's said it many times, but on top of that, he's said that Zam is changing that. Why? Why is he so afraid of trusting people, and why is Zam's actions the singular thing that makes him reconsider his past several seasons of self-isolation?

Poafa has never had the privilege of being important. Which sounds really fucking mean but let me explain for a second. He doesn't get involved in most conflicts in a super meaningful way, and he's never the one leading the charge. And that's just because he doesn't log on as much, to be meta about it (but let's be real, we can't talk about Lifesteal without being meta). But what that means is that his deaths ultimately mean less than people who are more prominent to others on the server.

When Poafa is killed, it's never a dramatic moment where people are upset that he is the one that's dead. For a lot of Lifesteal, he's served as the stand-in for "innocent bystander" that people kill when they want to make a statement about something. People kill Poafa when they need a body on the floor to make a statement, not because Poafa himself, as a person, has actually done anything wrong. Either that, or as a free heart. People kill Poafa to affect others, he's a proxy. And no one has ever really... cared? People get upset about it, sure, but only because of the aforementioned "innocent bystander" position he fills. The last time I can think of where he participated in an actual team was S3, and he's already said he never felt like he fit in with Poggies. And then there was Cleanup Crew, but, well... I think everyone remembers him mostly because of the shitshow THERE. People still make Medusa jokes about him because that's the big thing he's really known for, and you know what role he filled there? Strawman. Fall guy. Never really part of the team, just there to distract everyone else from the real masterminds. The important people.

(And PLEASE understand when I say important it's not to like. Diminish any of the Lifestealers, it's just a shorthand for "more active, more likely to stand out due to their willingness to make big moves".)

And Zam is guilty of this! He killed Poafa during the S5 impeachment of MinuteTech to make a statement. To kill an innocent player, to mess with Minute. Hell, he originally said he was going after Spepticle! The target didn't even matter, but it was Poafa who paid the price for other people's conflicts, and fuck, man, I'd self isolate too! If I was only ever seen as a pawn to be used to fuck with other people, and nearly everyone on the server was guilty of either doing it or falling for it, I'd have a hard time trusting as well! In how many of these situations do we see people going after Poafa and making sure he's OK after? How many people offer to help him re-gear or give him a heart back? Everyone's too busy dealing with the threat that used him as a demonstration.

But then Wemmbu jumps Poafa and he calls Zam, the only other person online, for help. And he immediately starts kicking himself for it! He says that he needs to be self-reliant, because asking for help only ends with people wanting something from him in return. But Zam shows up and helps out and when he does it's for Poafa. "Stay away from my Poafa, Wemmbu." (CRAZY sentence but that's beside the point here). And Zam DOES stick his neck out and DOES go out of his way to tussle with Wemmbu, and even tells Poafa to just run. He puts himself between Poafa and danger, and he CARES about Poafa making it out. Because he's Poafa. Because he's been building and repairing spawn, and Zam noticed, and he CARES.

And then Poafa reaches out to Zam saying that Zam can rely on him, even if he doesn't feel 100% like he can rely on Zam just yet, but he's considering it. And then The Incident happens. And Poafa is killed twice, by Wemmbu, because he can. Because Poafa is free hearts. But Zam did try and stop them and he GIVES HIS OWN HEARTS TO POAFA as an apology for not being able to save him. And suddenly his life means something to someone. He's not another death message in chat, he's not "aw man, not Poafa! He hasn't done anything :(... oh well!" It's "fuck, Poafa, I'm so sorry, I should've been able to help you." And Poafa is like. Dude. It's OK! You don't have to protect me, I don't want to be someone you have to take care of. He says that this is the way it's always been, and he's right! This is average treatment of Poafa, right up until someone actually gives a shit besides "killing innocent player at spawn >:(".

And like. Holy shit dude I really hope they interact more and continue to team up, even though they stream at different hours. Because oh my god. They've both been burned pretty bad by The CycleTM but I feel like Zam is going insane without anyone to talk to about all the shit he's putting up with and Poafa could really use a relationship on the server where he feels like he actually matters. Can anyone hear me. Please don't let this story line die out i will cry

[gammija]

In my view of him, while Martin does also tend to miss things around him (usually in a social context actually - the knock knock joke, saying insensitive things around jon-), it's more often a case of denial, especially in what he says to other people in non-emergency situations.

As if, by acting like the tapes aren't weird and Sasha is definitely still alive, he can make it so. Even if he might know deep down what's actually happening; he is able to survive Prentiss' assault by acting quickly, is the one to point out in 79 that the not!Them looks like Sasha, and in 186 'also martin' speaks a lot more openly about things he hadn't even mentioned thinking about before that episode, like having to either kill Jon or stop him from sacrificing himself, or having to do something else drastic to save the world, instead of his 'we'll get there and fix it!' attitude he had been projecting.

Basically, he always acts like everythings normal, sometimes because he genuinely didn't notice, other times because he's pretending, or hoping for the best. It's a good way to be underestimated, as we already see in s1 when Sasha doesn't think Prentiss can be all that serious, if Martin got out fine

1) i love elias choosing deliberately to let jon listen to this tape later, and really illustrate EXACTLY what he's capable of if jon tries to act up again

2) tim knows about the tapes turning on by themselves, so why doesn't martin...?

Martin also doesn't know Sasha is dead until much later... I think martin tends not to notice some things around him

[ven0moir]

S5 Byler prediction

i am going to put this out there:

my byler prediction is that mike's confession to Will will come out of ABSOLUTE NOWHERE to will, will-bylers, and the GA (following the laurie/amy parallels). neither will nor the audience will believe it's real? like i picture the writers giving us very little context as to where this came from, and to mike-bylers/henry stans it will 100% make sense but the rest? at a complete loss. we're all going to be there like 'oh my god is it VECNA fooling him??' and will is going to be like 'omg its VECNA fooling me' (talking about a full on meta moment)

and somehow, will believing mike's feelings are genuine is going to be Very Important to the supernatural plot. *joyce voice* i just know it in my heart. like maybe vecna/mf makes will question his own sanity/perception of reality to some nefarious end like taking over him completely this time.

so mike himself is going to figure out what he needs to do. he will have to re-contextualize his scenes with will as romantic. they weren't romantic then, but they are now. and prove that he's loved will this entire time. and hell, it might even be a thing where he himself is realizing the depths of his feelings as he says them out loud.

so will saves the world by saving himself (and unlocking powers, etc what have you), and mike saves the world by proving to will (and the audience) that will is the one he truly loves.

mike and will both get their superhero arcs in a way that feels REAL. and weren't we promised by david that the ending will feel REAL?

i've been cooking this idea for a while but i haven't gathered enough evidence yet for a full on analysis (i'm still on it and i keep changing my mind in parts here and there)

but i'm putting this out there in case i turn out to be right (though if i am completely wrong this could be adapted into a fanfic)

[3nigm4art]

An informal essay/rant on Samurai Jack S5

I love Samurai Jack, for the most part. But my biggest gripe is how season 5 turned out.

Despite the artistic achievement of season 5, the main issue was how rushed it was. With only 10 episodes and still having to deal with the 50-year time skip, many characters feel underdeveloped.

Take Jack as an example. Jack's change was the most drastic yet resolved the quickest. 50 years of a battle with no end in sight is incomprehensible to a normal person, and winning seems impossible at this point for Jack. Understandably, depression, guilt and anxiety have taken over Jack, especially after he lost his magic sword. The voices in his head and the vision of the phantom samurai are evidence of his mental decay. But as a mental health struggler of many years, it feels like Jack's mental struggle should have been way past that stage. Though it should be said that everyone experiences these mental health struggles differently, it just felt less realistic as Jack's descent was not documented well enough. Depending on when his descent started, it could have very different results. Many things could happen in 50 years that would affect a person's outlook in life. It could be total despair: Jack finds no way of continuing and believes that he has completely failed. It could be dutifully depressed: Jack no longer considers himself righteous but still carries on out of habit. It could be blind optimism: despite losing the magic sword, Jack thinks, "Hey, I have fought for 40+ years. I could still do this!" Are these outcomes sound? No! Because there is no development for Jack to prove that they are sound. It also doesn't help that Jack's characterisation is so consistent in the first 4 seasons that jumping from level 1 to 100 in depression for Jack seems improbable and leaves the audience to imagine what happened. After all, depression and anxiety often do not originate from a singular event and build up gradually. Sure, I can buy that Jack is depressed, but I cannot buy that it can be resolved within 7 episodes, with half of that time occupied by Ashi's arc.

Speaking of Ashi's arc, her arc demanded the most time yet is the most unrefined. Her character has simply bitten off more than it could chew for 10 episodes. Within season 5, she went from being a daughter of Aku to an ally of Jack to Jack's lover. Each of these changes can be at least 10 episodes on its own. Especially when she has to undo 20+ years of conditioning, and completely acknowledging that she is on the wrong side of the war is bound to take a toll on her perception of reality. Yet it was resolved as quickly as 6 episodes, thanks to finding out, "Wow, Jack is actually a good guy and helped so many people!" This part of the arc was resolved because of Jack. So naturally, she becomes Jack's ally and then becomes Jack's lover. There is a terrifying idea that lurks in Ashi as one comes to realise that her entire personality revolves around Jack. In other words, if you remove Jack from Ashi's life, she becomes nothing. It is also deeply worrying that Ashi lacks emotional maturity and development as she "falls in love" with a man she has only met for maybe a week (not to say Jack is not also immature here). Her lack of independent development makes her character flimsy and frankly disturbing. She is literally made to become Jack's love interest. There is some irony in one of her final lines in the show; she says, "Without Aku, I would have never existed" when on a meta-fictional level, she would not have existed without Jack.

Character development is crucial in crafting the themes of a story. The above tackled the lack of character development leading to weak characters, but there is one thing that will determine the legacy of the story, the ending. Though it is often commented how Samurai Jack's ending was unfulfilling, it is not true that unfulfilling endings are bad. (Minor spoilers for True Detective season 1) True Detective season 1 did not end in a fulfilling manner, as it did not resolve all of the mysteries it brought up. That wasn't a huge issue as it complied with the genre of strange fiction and the theme of the world being a strange and inexplicable place that evokes more mysteries than it explains. Samurai Jack's ending and, thus, the conclusion to Jack's arc promotes the idea that overcoming one's weakness, sacrificing for the greater good, and bringing justice will not bring you the happiness you deserve... Which does not make sense relative to Jack's character development and characterisation. Jack is often characterised as a selfless hero and a bringer of hope. And the people benefit greatly from his aid. The only person who often does not benefit from this is Jack himself, who often forsakes his opportunity to return to the past in favour of saving the people in need. The show promises that Jack will find peace and happiness when he fulfils his destiny of defeating Aku. And with the classic hero's journey-type story Samurai Jack has, the show rips it apart at the very last moment, with no warning whatsoever. It wasn't a comment on the genre, as it did not deepen its themes. If one wants to turn Samurai Jack into a "we don't always get what we deserve" (please don't) story, then make fate truly cruel and unkind and provide Jack with no divine help in the story. Again, with the irony of Jack's tea being unbalanced, the show is unbalanced, too, as it rewards a suffering protagonist with more sadness and suffering at the end of his story.

Despite what this blog is about (it's art, by the way), art and aesthetics are not everything. Samurai Jack as a whole is beautiful aesthetically, but the rushed story and an unfulfilling legacy feel like a shame. Characters did not have the time to grow in complexity or realism, which made the audience feel disconnected from the characters. I wished I could see Ashi grow and develop into something more than "Jack's love interest". Or they could even develop into something that is not romantic, such as a mentor and apprentice story, which could be as, if not more, interesting. Having more refined characters creates a more refined theme that, if done right, can stir the right emotions in the audience that impact them for a lifetime.

Samurai Jack season 5 had a lot of potential but just couldn't deliver.

[bellamyblake]

hi!! I’m a former HUGE fan of the 100 and bellarke, but after the final season completely shattered my heart and destroyed my trust in showrunners 😀, I haven’t been able to really return to the show or ship at all.

Did you have a similar experience? How do you still enjoy it without the sting?? 💔 Just curious, thank you!!

I understand that this is how it is for most fans, that everyone pulled away because of the ending and I understand and respect that.

I think for me, it's simple, i'll be honest that I never expected Bellarke to happen as much as I wanted it and for me the simple reason why was because of the way things happened back in season 3 with Lxa and everything else. I wanted it, of course, I was hopeful for it, especially after 6x10 and I wished for it to happen but when we found out Bob needed time off, I understood that decision and I understood why it won't happen. Yes, I still think that it was just JRoth being absolutely bitter making that ending, they all admitted it, even the writers that for example Levitt's ending where he gets hurt in the final episode was supposed to be Bellamy but that didn't happen because Bob needed that time off. And yes, I am pissed because of the fact that she killed him, I don't think I'll ever get over it but I just...find it to be absolute bullshit and that is because of the way Clarke's character is ruined to me rather more so than Bellamy's.

I know people talk about him being OOC in s7 and him never doing that, never believing Cadogan, I get that. I do agree that it is somewhat OOC. BUT

I have always been a person to look at all sides about this and that is why I survived season 3 and the way fans were back then (may I remind you the bellarkers hated Bellamy and people were awful to him) and I do think that I find it i my mind the reason why he chose that side. I have my own theory about Bellamy's choices about season 7 but I won't indulge here in that because I'm sure I'll bore you to death (It's a Jasper-Monty-Bellamy meta that I have talked about before I think and for me they are still the only three characters who reached a sort of understanding of how to survive/not survive in this world but who separated themself from the cicle or wheel that Clarke talked about in s7 and who saw things for the way they were, as grim and sad as they happened to be at the time-again, another meta if you want me I can indulge).

But the truth is I have always been realistic about Bellarke and them not happening (Not that it didn't hurt me that they didn't happen, i catch myself wishing I saw a kiss) but I also cannot say I was too surprised. For me, and people talked again a lot of shit about Bellamy in s5, but I do think Clarke is a lot more different in s5 than she was before and I think from there on now we don't see the character we first saw, just glimpses of her. The problem with s6 as much as I like it and find it interesting is that we don't see Clarke much in it since she's kidnapped and I hoped we did saw her in s7 but I feel like she wasn't really herself back there.

So...anyway I can talk a lot and probably bore you to death, but I don't want to do that. The simple truth is that I CAN thankfully separate myself from the show and what I love. I know it was shitty what happened, I cried and still cry when I think about my boy Bellamy dying (Because I will be honest, I was always a Bellamy fan first and Bellarke second, I even write more familial fics with Bell than I do Bellarke, that's how I am) but I can find my reasons behind his actions and no, I'm not blindsided by my love for him, I know his mistakes, I can point them out and I can explain why they happened.

I really have no other simple explanation other than I chose to enjoy what I love and have always loved and ignore the last part. I know most people can't and I do not judge them. He brings me joy. Bellarke do bring me joy still, I love think, headcanon and meta about them and just because someone was bitter and because they didn't really show any understanding and BECAUSE and let's be honest, he didn't want to make Bellarke because Bob and Eliza happened and he refused to play into the narrative of actors being married in real life and indulging fans in the fantasy one, is not my problem.

I often think about JRoth and how shitty he was on more than just the Bellarke occassion (that's another meta) but just how much he, because he is an a**, hates religion for example, so he absolutely demolished it and made fun of it and then used it to show stuff in the most awful of ways just like not just with the deciples btw, but starting from season 1 where he crucified the kids on the trees, how he made fun of the grounder's religion and the commanders, everything JRoth did was a mockery caused by his own inability to deal with his problems so ...honestly WHY would you give away something you love to that guy? I think that's just bs.

Again, I am sad and devastated, I always will be but I choose to separate myself from this narrative, enjoy my Bell and writing about him, enjoy reblogging gifs and making gifs in our now little circle, I enjoy seeing new fans of the show too and them reblogging our stuff. That's basically it.

My love for Bellamy Blake is stronger than JRorth's bs.

[kmze]

Thoughts on 5x01 - 5x11 again SO MUCH FUN watching this half season. Does the plot make sense? Not really. Was it a compelling storyline? Not so much. Did I laugh a lot? YOU BETCHA! The thing with this season (at least this half) is you cannot take it seriously, it is the most this show has ever been "meta" because this was just episode after episode of laughing at the Triangle of Doom. I would say DE got it the worse but even SE got hits against it too. Stefan was mocked by having amnesia Stefan point out all his worst qualities. Damon was mocked relentlessly via his insecurity. Elena was mocked by being the flip flopper that she is. It was beautiful. Silas and Tessa were great as scorned lovers/enemies and I truly enjoyed the doppelgänger shenanigans. Amnesia Stefan you will always be famous! Of course there's bad stuff, like Bonnie's storyline and Jesse's treatment and sadly that's not surprising because Dries (racist) was in charge. I touch on all of this below!

5x01

LMFAO at Elena’s little shimmy

Damon is such a moron that is obviously not Stefan, when would Stefan ever say “Chateau Salvatore” thank god Jeremy could tell. Katherine too like when has Stefan EVER blatantly flirted with her like that, but Katherine was just thinking with her downstairs brain I understand.

Poor Caroline, but at least Jesse is smoking hot.

Random observation: last season the beginning of the season did not look like it was filmed in the summer like every other season and I've always kind of wondered why that is. I think I read somewhere that they continued filming the beginning of S4 when S3 ended and that's why you never get the summer attire in S4 like we do here again in S5.

5x02

Elena coughing up blood/water after kissing Stefan keeps happening and it’s so mean LMFAO

CRYING at the camera angle and lighting of “Stefan” seeing Elena and her getting all googly-eyed at him and then hanging up on Damon. Serves him right for not telling her! Silas causing problems with Delena almost instantly, amazing no notes.

Katherine shooting Silas YAS QUEEN

This scene LMFAO!!! The fact that they made thinking about Stefan be the thing that stops Elena from trying to kill Damon is just a hilariously mean thing to do to Damon!

Caroline’s face seeing Damon and Elena in what looks like some weird sex thing DEAD.

Paul does a good job of differentiating Silas from Ripper Stefan. They’re both evil of course but Silas has more calmness to him and more quips whereas Ripper Stefan is chaotic and mocking.

Lexi changed clothes on the other side so why can’t Bonnie!

5x03

Katherine and Silas are having way too much fun making Damon feel insecure about Stelena and I truly love it!

Stefan saying he didn’t want to turn his humanity off so he could be himself when he murdered Silas. Classic Stefan! Revenge is his biggest motivation in life I swear.

The doppelgänger curse (aka creating shadow selves every 100-ish years because of Silas and Amara) is good mythology, I thought it was a good reason to explain the existence of doppelgängers. But I also think it hurt some of the special-ness that Stelena had because it cheapens the fate part about it (and that’s before we find out it’s a literal spell pulling them together). Tessa saying she watched versions of S&E fall in love over and over the last 2000 years makes it feel like it’s predetermined destiny, which is a weakness against a ship IMO. It actually gives more power to Delena because having a love that conquers destiny is a great trope. I'm not even sure the writers meant to make this hurt SE at first because I don't think they like DE either. I know Dries was the showrunner this season and it's hard to understand what she likes when it comes to the triangle (her fav is Katherine that's all I understand about her). Everyone always thinks it's DE but LOL the person who wrote this season does NOT like DE I assure you. It would make sense she'd think this storyline is strong for SE on paper, but in tone it's not. It's like she cut her nose despite her face.

Delena being described by Tessa "like a soap opera, but boring and with no volume control" best description ever!

Silas saying his doppelgänger's face makes him wanna vomit THEY JUST KEEP GOING!

I like that they almost made you believe Damon was going to leave Stefan there lol, but even Damon isn't that selfish.

This season is just one big kinda mean commentary on the show and I love it LMFAO. I can see why it’s hated because it’s not really an intriguing plot as far as forward movement (I mean Silas' motivation is to die). But I'd be lying if I said the way it’s being used to mock and almost break the fourth wall isn't giving me so much joy. I guess I’d describe it as camp? Like Silas said messy but fun to watch.

5x04

Am!Stefan not remembering Elena’s name and the look on her face ADXSFXGGGKKHK (this episode makes me so incredibly petty)!

Again, Damon worst sober sponsor ever.

I’m sorry but Elena is cracking me up the way she is GLOWING at making Am!Stefan remember when he bumped into her. The way she spreads her fingers over his chest DEAD! Her excitement at molding her Stefan back together with only the pieces she wants... I have never seen her more alive!

"Whenever someone tells me I can’t do something I prove them wrong" her life’s motto!!!

Am!Stefan being like “I need time to process that I let my girlfriend drown” I KNOW RIGHT? It’s so crazy isn’t it you’re just like flabbergasted.

Sometimes this show just hits my narrative and this episode is it baby! Am!Stefan knowing Caroline’s full name (unlike Elena), that she’s his best friend and BLATANTLY flirting with her saying she’s much hotter in person (the way he totally checks her out a few times too) THAT'S THE STUFF. Then you’ve got Caroline being the only one who actually stops the ripper because she reminds Stefan who HE is, not who she is (because just to point out again she didn't have to because he studied her pictures and knew her instantly!!!) Damon and Elena on the other hand keep telling him who they are (which is a bunch of liars) and that’s why Stefan trusts her and not them. Their scene in the crypt is so nice too, it's one of the first times they get a scene like this with the hand holding, the comforting emphasis, and a beautiful shot on the bench. Plus Am!Stefan staring at Caroline's lips *swoon* you can really tell he has a crush on Caroline.

This Bonnie memorial is so infuriating I can't believe this Bonnie is dead for 8(!!!) episodes was a plot.

5x05

This shows racism towards black characters is really disgusting the more you become aware of it. I swear everytime a character is cast that’s going to get tortured or brutally murdered they are always black. Luka, Jonah, Aja, Connor and now Jesse. There’s no way it was a coincidence.

Nina’s physical comedy as human Katherine is just perfect!

The costumes Caroline picked ARE KILLING ME! First having her and Tyler as Bonnie and Clyde because they almost ran away together (and perhaps a part of her knows they’re doomed like B&C). Having Damon and Elena as Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn because she hates Damon and thinks he’s so bad for Elena he’ll get her head chopped off LMFAO. And then Stefan as JAMES FRIGGIN' DEAN can’t make this up, I know I keep saying this but amazing, no notes.

CTFU at Am!Stefan TOTALLY IGNORING Tyler when he asks Caroline to dance with him, like even with amnesia he knows he doesn’t fuck with Tyler. Am!Stefan’s face when he twirls her HE IS SO SMITTEN (and so is she if we’re being honest), James Dean daydream look indeed.

EL OH EL Silas trying to get Tessa to admit that she’s still in love with him. Honestly Silas your doppelgänger is way better at this, Stefan would have gotten that confession no sweat.

Poor Forwood but honestly I do think this makes sense and neither of them is really wrong, they are both acting like themselves. It makes sense Tyler can't just let Klaus walk away after what he did, and he especially can't deal with Klaus giving him permission to be with Caroline. Caroline on the other hand wants to move forward with her life and as far as she's concerned Klaus is out of sight out of mind. Caroline's also not a big revenge person, I don't think she's ever cared enough to enact revenge on someone (with humanity of course).

Amnesia or not Stefan will always be smarter than Damon.

5x06

For my own sanity I’m not even gonna pay attention to scenes talking about the cure and how it works because I’m STILL not over that bullshit in S8.

Silas again being the audience surrogate and pointing out how SUPER WEIRD it is that Defan keep falling in love with THE SAME FACE!

KATHOLINE TEAM-UP!! You know Caroline enjoyed slamming her against the wall after Katherine used her as her lackey in S2.

Crazy bitch kinda is Stefan’s type ASASCDHGHKKHH

God I love the Katholine team-up.

KATHERINE’S CHURCH HAIR!! I’m not even kidding I have tears in my eyes. This is the BEST! Omg Aaron is so much more smitten with Katherine than Elena, but like she’s absolutely adorable how could you not be!

Am!Stefan being like "I didn't think you deserved to be killed" translating to "I will always protect you Elena, memories or not" is an impressive delulu journey Elena has decided to take. She was acting like he was dead because he wanted to talk to Caroline and not her! Elena he has amnesia, he doesn't have the script anymore for the persona he's supposed to be performing.

Tessa was trying to do God’s work too getting Stefan to let go of Damon but he never learns!

5x07

Elena get out of your ex-boyfriend's bedroom JFC she’s so desperate.

Tessa kinda the best vindictive bitch ever! Janina Gavankar is also a beautiful and stunning woman who is just a pleasure to look at. But why was she so cold to Bonnie? Dries again I'm sure...

THANK GOD BONNIE IS ALIVE AGAIN!

Elena's thought process about this speech she gives Stefan is something else... I just don't know what kind of delusional narcissist you have to be to think this was a good way to ask if someone is okay. Stefan absolutely looks done with her too lol. This is the season where Stefan's facade from the earlier season really starts to come down. He doesn't want to be the person in his journals anymore.

5x08

FINALLY THAT HIDEOUS WIG IS GONE!

Oh look! Stefan not telling anyone he needs help, something new and different for him! /sarcasm

Matty Blue-Blue might be my favorite nickname ever used on this show and there’s a lot so that’s saying something!

I love how much Caroline embraced being a teacher for baby vamps! Makes her endgame even better!

Caroline is right why couldn’t Elena just snap his neck or just not stab him in the heart stab his back shoulder.

One thing about Stefan he has never seen a crazy bitch in danger that he didn’t want to save. I do really enjoy Steferine with human Katherine because it gave all the power to Stefan since she can’t physically hurt him anymore. It’s kind of like the scene in the series finale where Caroline comforts human Damon because he can’t hurt her anymore and she doesn't need to be afraid.

They really had to interrupt Bonnie’s first SEX SCENE EVER IN 5 FUCKING YEARS so she could scream in agony because the show killed another black character. Dries you will never see heaven!

Gee I don’t know Elena when is someone supposed to get over the fact that they were abused and raped by your fucking boyfriend. And you laughed about it with him! Never? I’m gonna go with never. And yes I realize it’s a bit hypocritical to enjoy Steferine and hate Daroline when they both have the same consent and rape issues. I fully admit Katherine is a rapist too. Stefan might be over it, Caroline is not and that's what matters to me.

5x09

I like that Katherine knew to ask Caroline for help knowing the other morons would be no good.

I know the answer is “plot reasons” but how did Damon not immediately recognize Whitmore when Elena started going to college there or even last year when he visited it?

Enzo… yeah *falls asleep*

Not to defend Stefan because I still think he’s an idiot for not seeing that Caroline had feelings for him. But he hears this whole conversation Caroline and Katherine are having where Katherine asks if they’ve slept together and Caroline is appalled like no absolutely not we are friends and I’m just saying! It makes sense why he never thought she did with scenes like this. Mostly because Stefan compartmentalizes people but that’s a topic for later this season. Katherine though bless her heart is not blind and can obviously tell these two feel a tingle for each other.

Not sure how intentional this was but I like the parallel back to the scene in 5x07 where Stefan said when the safe opened he wanted Damon and Elena to be the ones he saw. And now that he went back into the safe to get over his PTSD from that (and their betrayal) the person he sees when the safe opens up is Caroline.

5x10

Katherine’s exhilaration at sleeping with Stefan CTFU I can’t help it, she’s too much!

I love how little Elena is wearing essential what S1/2 Elena used to wear.

Feels like they just implied Grayson was testing if vampire blood could cure cancer. Would have been good to check on that next season folks!

Stefan starting off on the wrong foot with Enzo already LMFAO

Anytime they try and make Matt more relevant to a plot I instantly zone out from that plot. Case in point, I have no idea what is going on with the passengers and travelers and all I really know about Nadia is she’s Katherine’s daughter.

OMG Elena torched her Dad’s experiments! Important information what are you doing!?! I guess that’s why they don’t check next season.

5x11

Caroline throwing a breakup breakfast because Delena broke up is why she is my favorite character ever!

Stefan is so sanctimonious lol.

I like how they reminded me how awful Klaus is with the Katherine flashback before he has sex with Caroline. This show.

OMG Damon is insufferable! First his list of evil things Katherine did are all things HE did and now he's just torturing her because he's mad he broke up with Elena??? Can we just put him in the '94 prison world now I need him gone.

Stefan really switched from heartbroken to team Delena in like 3 episodes lol. I get it was the PTSD and we gotta speed stuff up but it did not take long. Another moment of "what are people talking about on Reddit" because they are always like "it took Stefan so long to move on from Elena" IT TOOK 3 EPISODES!

It's kind of amazing how many parallels and mirroring storylines Stefan and Caroline get with each other (these gifsets illustrate it well (x) (x)) but I really like how Steferine and Klaroline are used similarly for Stefan and Caroline in their journeys (these gifsets are great (x) (x)) and this season shows that a lot. Klaus and Katherine were both looking for love confessions from Caroline and Stefan respectively and while they sleep with their admirer/abuser they don't give them a love confession in return (because they don't love them). There's even the Klefan and Katholine connection as they are both used as their lackeys (Stefan in S3 and Caroline in S2) but then they also have a kind of understanding with each other. They both show pity for Katherine in this episode and they both felt remorse for betraying Klaus in 4x09. If this had actually been Katherine's death it was similar the Klaroline's ending on TO, with Caroline giving Klaus the date in NOLA and kissing him goodbye. Stefan sleeps with Katherine after she helped him through his PTSD, then he gives her peace with the memory before she dies (he thinks). Too bad the show had to RUIN that!

Look Stefan has his flaws (manipulative, enables Damon, can be a dick, serial killer) but one thing I love about him is he has a willingness to forgive the unforgivable. He didn't have to give Katherine peace after everything she had done but he did. I think it does come from a place of he believes everyone can be saved because he wants to believe he can be saved, but I also think he has a lot of empathy (at least for women).

The Katherine twist was great I will give them that, she's a survivor!

Lines that made me laugh:

Am!Stefan: I think I still need to be drunk to understand this story (REAL I chose edibles instead but YMMV)

Katherine: So are you part of the secret society? You know the "Society" (SHE KILLS ME)

Tyler: You're the hottest serial killer here (LMFAO the levels to this line are what makes me laugh the most)

[lemonhemlock]

i am way too late for any of this, but i felt like ranting a little (a lot) over tma, so here it goes.

i actually really, really liked the dreamlike quality of the S5 statements. i think they're some of jonny's best work. so evocative and just beautifully written, the feeling of horror so prevalent, so delicate, so entrapping. i would listen to them absolutely enthralled. what a submersive experience. so on that front, 100% would recommend.

the problems i have are mainly with the meta-plot. certainly, personal preferences and biases come into play here, bc i despise jonmartin with the fire of a thousand suns and would have loved a jonelias corruption narrative, but, i feel that, in his quest to appease the j-mart shippers, jonny sacrificed a lot of his story's integrity. also, i have no way of verifying this, but it also felt like he inserted his own biases in a way that wasn't necessarily productive.

ultimately, i feel like he disrespected his main antagonists and that essentially translated into a sort of irreverence towards his own story. elias was easily his most dramatic and interesting villain (regardless of what he originally intended for him, it's how he developed throughout the story & i think there is a certain honesty in a writer acknowledging and respecting that), stole every scene he was in, yet after his great villain reveal in S4, he is absolutely absent throughout his entire apocalypse. it creates a lack of catharsis that i find bothersome. his death is way too easy. yet when he finally appears in MAG 193, it is glorious. he is terrifyingly in the throws of religious ecstasy as the eye's pupil. such an interesting idea! so little it was developed though bc jonny for some reason doesn't like elias.

there's this entire commentary about how elias is really just there to be eye's pupil until jon takes over from him, bc it's jon the eye truly desires. as if after faithfully serving the beholding for two centuries and bringing about his ritual, the eye would just disregard elias and actually be interested in the one person who is unwilling to play ball. please be serious. not saying that jon can't be the eye's "special little boy" or whatever, but the nerfing of elias/jonah borderlines on petulant. ofc, jonny is the author and you cannot begrudge a man for writing whatever he wants, but, as a listener, i have to say it feels very unsatisfying whenever authorial biases directly affect the storyline. very deus-ex-machina. very unearned.

i also have a problem with how the eye was ultimately handled and, once again, nerfed. the introduction of this element in relation to the beholding, that it sees but does not understand, felt very trite to me. it was added as a way to de-power the eye and elevate the web. but how could it even be true in the context of the entity conceptualization? the reason scopophobia is a thing is because people fear someone is behind the watching. what they fear is judgment or someone keeping tabs on them and using that information to harm them in some way. that requires intelligence, a capacity to distinguish between the harmless and the incriminatory, a propensity for casting moral judgment, of holding people accountable, of assigning blame, of discovering people's deepest, darkest secrets, of weaponizing shame. no one is afraid of a crow or a cat staring back at them, because, while those are also living beings, they lack the higher intelligence that creates the context necessary for scopophobia. so how can the eye not possess intelligence? apparently it doesn't, because jonny decided he didn't like the eye and the spider was oh-so-cooler instead.

but that only lead to the spider being way too overpowered than it should have been. as the so-called brain of the operation, the web really manifests a lot of faults that could have been exploited, yet the character never do, because the web needs to be true It Girl for some reason. this all feels very childish. the web's motivations do not work in-universe. we are often told it doesn't have a ritual because it is content with playing its games of manipulation within the world as it currently is. and that honestly seemed a rather fair assessment to make, but later proved to be a red herring, because it was the web that was actually behind the eye's own ritual.

i have several gripes with this. 1. if the spider is so smart, why doesn't it/can't it have its own ritual and re-shape the world according to its own preferences? why does it have to piggyback on the eye's grind? 2. the spider's big plan seems to be bringing about the eyepocalypse just to convince the characters to let the fears out into the metaverse so it can start again. because, as it turns out, the eyepocalypse isn't really it's preferred state of being? it was the status-quo after all? the web DID prefer the world as it was, because it allowed it to thrive off manipulation and puppeteering, things it can't really engage in as much as it would like, since now everyone is trapped inside various fear domains. so, why-oh-why, not just leave the world as is? why even bring about an apocalypse in the first place if your intention is to always inhabit a apocalypse-less place?

i felt like this was such a plot-hole of an explanation the way it was presented. the web's greatest flaw was that it loved intricate plots so much there was a real danger of over-complicating its own plans and failing to see the forest from the trees, so to speak. the eye could have been used not to boggle down on meaningless details and ramifications, but to get a better sense of the bigger picture, something the web could very well lose sight of (pun intended). so the web's "plan" could have been ultimately rendered meaningless, because instead of choosing the simplistic, straightforward, occam's razor solution (no apocalypse, just thrive off the world as it is), it chose the overly complicated path that placed it in a situation it didn't thrive in (eyepocalypse) and made it even more complicated to get out of in the first place. it basically surrendered its destiny into the hands of people who had zero reasons to act sympathetic and could have very well chosen to destroy the entire world, fears included. and yet i am supposed to be in awe of the web's great intelligence and buy into the whole dumb eye propaganda?

many things have already been said about the moral dilemma at the end of S5 and my take on that is that jon was right. it was the merciful and just solution to prevent other people from other universes from suffering at the hands of fear entities. but i will be indulgent and account that it is a difficult choice to make for anyone, since human beings are so survivalist in nature and the choice to just make the fears someone else's problem in the hopes of their plans maybe getting foiled more effectively by others is tantalizing. who knows what any of us would have chosen had we been in their situation? perpetuating the horrors on someone else just so you could get reprieve is so cravenly but it's human and i get it. however, by no means is this a happy ending the way it was framed by the narrative. what melanie, georgie, basira and martin did was horrible and evil, but it is never acknowledged in that way. the least jonny could have done is have jon resist martin's selfish decision and have martin genuinely kill him. but, no, martin gets his romantic send-off together with jon, with the open possibility that they get transported to another world where they could start over. melanie, georgie and basira get to start a new life in the entity-less world, after contributing almost nothing. the worst characters get to live & they're validated in their awful behaviour.

however. i do feel like there were other ways to resolve the eyepocalypse without resorting to a horrible sophie's choice in the first place, but that would require a more extensive endgame re-write.

[coldflasher]

2 and 10 for those salty asks? Thanks!

2. Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BrOTP?

Hm, I think its popularity as a romantic ship is debatable but I could never get into Barrisco in a romantic or sexual context.

If I can also include Legends, Nate and Zari, 100%. I do not enjoy them as a romantic couple, it just doesn't make sense to me. They have such wildly different vibes. Same with Behrad and Astra, I get that opposites attract and all but...

10. Most disliked arc? Why?

For Flash, the forces arc, of course. I HATE IT. I know most people think the quality dipped in s4/s5 but when i tell you there is one PARTICULAR ep in 7 where the writing is so offensively bad that I can now pick it out as the exact moment the show stops going downhill at a gentle decline and falls screaming into a dark pit like the alton towers rollercoaster "oblivion", and it's one of the forces eps...

i hate everything about it. i hate the characters, i hate how they're basically just bog standard metas but they make them ridiculously OP for no reason. i hate that barry and iris are their "parents" and we all have to pretend that's not fucking weird. i don't find them compelling and i feel like they don't fit the tone of the show, they showcase just how bad and cheap the CGI gets, and there is just nothing redeemable about that storyline whatsoever.

it's so bad that i don't even wanna get in the sandbox and fix it. like most plotlines on the show, even the bad or silly ones, i can be like "oh that could have been cool if they did it this way or expanded on this aspect of it" and i have ideas about how i would approach it differently, but i hate this arc so much i don't even wanna play in the sandbox with it, i just want to bury it at the bottom and pretend it doesn't exist

I will also do an honourable mention for crisis not because I actually hate it---much as I dislike how they resolved it, I actually think the build-up is fantastic. However, watching it week to week was an awful experience cos I was so stressed about Barry dying that I would get physically unwell. I would get stomach pains and anxiety even though I KNEW they'd never kill him off. It was a bad time for me. On a rewatch, though, it's a really good arc as long as you turn off the TV before you get to crisis and imagine it had a good ending lmao

Thank you :D

[guess-that-ship]

Guess That Ship Tournament S5: Submission Closed

The concept: You describe your ship* to me, I pick out the submissions which I find most compelling and pit them against each other without revealing who they are, people vote on them, and their identities gets revealed once they're eliminated.

Submission Guidelines

*For the purpose of this tournament, relationships do not have to be romantic in nature. I'm sometimes going to use "ship" as a shorthand, just know I mean "relationships" in general.

Relationship can be between any number of characters.

Real people are accepted if they've been dead for more than 100 years.

Roleplay characters are accepted as long as the description only pertains to the characters and not the players.

OCs are accepted.

1 submissions per person. (I cannot enforce this on google form without forcing you to log in. So just be champs and respect this rule.)

Summary Guidelines

Here's the selection process: Me or another judge is going to read through the list of descriptions submitted without looking at their names, we're gonna pick the most compelling submissions, then we check the name to make sure there's no repeats.

Keep it concise but bring something unique to the table.

Keep your description canon compliant, omit headcanon. (Eg. You can say "they love each other" instead of "they're lovers" if their romantic nature is debatable.)

Use canonical pronouns. (If a character's gender is popular fanon or often debated, then I kindly ask that you omit explicitly stating it in your summary.)

Avoid identifying information or setting specific giveaways. (ie. Ninja village, space necromancers.)

The more popular your ship is the more vague the description should be.

No need to mention any meta commentaries or words of god, like whether the ship is canon. Just tell me their story.

Here are some previous submissions for reference.

Exclusions

Ships which were previously selected will no longer be accepted. You don't have to go through the whole list, just hit ctrl+f and search for your characters' names before you write a submission.

I will also not be including any submission from Harry Potter, sorry.

Notes

I will not vet the ships/pairings for problematic content.

If you participate in this tournament, know that you run the risk of unintentionally voting for your nOTP. The mod does not take any responsibility for any distress that may cause you.

Polls will be up around the 9th of July.

[blogquantumreality]

Neo-Colonialism In The 100

I’d like to preface this by saying that I feel the Season 1 and 2 arcs are not implicitly in support of a colonialist “we have the right to take whatever exists here” narrative.

When the dropship lands, the young adults and teenagers (it’s hard to come up with one classification since we’ve got Bellamy at 23 all the way to Charlotte who might be 13 or so) don’t appear to be immediately targeted until they cross a river and Jasper unwisely (in retrospect, obviously) holds up a Mount Weather sign and yells loudly in what is obviously gonasleng.

Even afterwards, as wariness rises, the delinquents only secure for themselves a defensive space and Clarke tries to seek peace even though there are repeated incidents that make it harder to get. And Anya seems amenable to at least trying to negotiate something until Jasper’s itchy trigger finger ends up tilting the balance to war.

And even in the aftermath, the kids decide to take Lincoln’s advice and leave for a possibly more hospitable area - hardly die-hard colonialists intent on wiping out the indigenous population.

The Ark landing can be argued as the best of a set of essentially not-great alternatives, and luckily, none of the Ark fragments landed in populated areas. It could be argued justifiably that the Ark landing could have been better controlled to aim at a known uninhabited area.

The essential thrust of Season 2 is the discovery of a common threat amid efforts by Lexa and Kane, as well as Clarke, to secure a workable peace everybody can live with.

However, in Season 3, explicitly colonialist narratives begin to be articulated, which through the “lens” of the camera we the audience are asked to sympathize with even though there is no internal canon support for the allegations made by Pike and Bellamy. In addition, aggression and expansionism with no effort to seek peaceful resolutions are screaming neon bright signs of colonialist worldviews.

Even in Season 4, there are colonialist overtones in the meta-narrative surrounding the finale. It has been reported that S4 was intended to contain explicit S1 callbacks and that S5 is in a sense a “reboot” of the series.

What that effectively means is that all grounder identities have been essentially erased because the bunker, for all intents and purposes, might as well be dead; all the work that over a thousand people have put in has been for nothing. There’s just Nightblood Clarke defending her small patch of Earth against unfamiliar intruders.

[raayllum]

I think sometimes the way I approach fic / meta writing / analysis stems from how I character build and write my OG stuff as well, because while the classical writing advice is about asking "what does your character want?" I've always found it most useful to ask "What does your character want, and what are they willing to justify to get it?"

(Asking how they justify their actions is also incredibly useful but more on that later.)

For example, when ('good') characters are under stressful situations and respond well regardless, we take that as being indicative of who they Truly Are—heroic, helpful, selfless, often even compassionate, etc, and when antagonists behave that way, we dismiss it as just glory hounding or being selfish, when it can Be multiple things at once.

When ('bad') characters respond poorly to stressful situations—threatening harm, using dark magic to saved loved ones, being angry and cold hearted—we take that as who they are, and when it's the protags, we say they're stressed or coerced or any number of things... that are true for the antags often, too! And still true even if you don't like them or have as much compassion towards them.

But unfortunately sometimes people are rarely inclined to do the opposite. They're rarely inclined to take antagonists' good moments as honest statements of their character because "well they're mean/evil" and often dismiss protagonists' complicated or less than stellar choices because "well they're good and they feel bad" (Viren saying he'll never forgive himself for the things he's done even when they saved his son, and Claudia crying over what she's done to save her father? yeah those scenes don't exist anymore sorry).

The fact of the matter is that, at least in TDP and in many other works (including my own), actual antagonists are not always evil and awful and morally bankrupt 100% of the time, and actual protagonists are not always perfect or good or making the right choice (because sometimes there isn't one, tbh).

Who your character is at their best and their worst, regardless of circumstance, is ALL of who they are. It all has to be taken into account. No cherry picking. Rayla can be selfish and dismissive and a liar who routinely fails at whatever she sets out to do and is awful at communicating, and Viren can love his kingdom and his family and genuinely believe that's what he's doing everything for, and neither encompasses their whole character. A perfect example is Claudia, who we cheer for when she chooses Soren over the world-saving mission of the egg in 2x07, and despair at when she chooses Viren over the world-saving mission of maybe not freeing the dangerous imprisoned Startouch elf in S4 and S5. Same principle, character, motivation, different circumstance, but we're happy about Soren (because he's not Viren) and bummed about Viren (because he's not Soren), and because character traits are consistent, and whether those traits are good or bad is inherently circumstantial. Claudia's loyalty can be great, and it can be a terrible, awful justification. Both of those things are true.

To be clear, this isn't to argue for false equivalency: Viren and Claudia and other antagonists are far more often Wrong than the protagonists are, and the protagonists are routinely more Right than our two favourite dark mages are. TDP likes its complications and circumstantial stuff, but there's still some things that are Bad No Matter What (like gaslighting your child, or routine dehumanization). And some of our associations are because antagonistic characters tend to be routinely cruel and mean, which are part of the horrible things they do, and protagonist characters are routinely kinder and more compassionate to the people around them, and protecting each other / innocent people is part of what makes them a good person, but... There's no inherent difference between a lot (not all, but some) of the actions the characters across the board take, particularly in arc 2, just their perspective and who we're personally more attached to and thereby more willing to justify their decisions surrounding.

Like idk my main WIP protag buries people alive en masse and tortures someone vindictively because they killed her friend and I'd still classify her as a Good Person (fictionally), and it's just always wild to me when people don't take All Parts and Choices and Relationships of a character into account especially because TDP spells it out for us over and over that we Should with quite literally every single character, whether those actions are good or bad:

Once again I am asking for encompassing wholes and character nuances where the only time a character should be like "well it's totally fine that you did a Thing actually" (Rayla towards Callum's dark magic use or Callum towards Rayla lying to/stealing from him) or "totally not okay that you did a thing" (Runaan about Rayla sparing Marcos, or Claudia doing dark magic) is taken as an aspect of Character Bias, not a definitive Narrative get off the hook slant or condemnation, because neither of those things Get us anywhere in a writing or analytical sense thank you