#there was a lot of good stuff this season but the implications at the last couple eps......... eeeeh

[nipuni]

Hello! Time for another blog post! I think my last one was two months ago and a lot has happened since 😊

We have been attending a ton of historical recreation events so I still have many photos to share, hope you don't hate those! It's been really fun! We are exhausted and all out of social battery however so we are taking it easy this month. Another thing that's been happening a lot is that even when we are not dressed in historical clothing we keep getting stopped by strangers on the street because of our everyday outfits, it's been like that for a couple of years now so we are no longer startled or nervous about it but it's happening more and more often now and it's so nice! we always end up chatting about the events we go to and our jobs and hobbies and exchanging contacts or they ask for photos and stuff! people are really kind and excited about it and I still find it so surprising in the best way. We grew up in a very hostile city and environment and that makes you paranoid and cynical so these interactions and response has been healing really. I know their words will stick with us for years to come 😭 Sadly the unbearable heat is starting though so that means our outings for the next three months will be limited to the crack of dawn and after sunset 😞 but at least the summer brings a lot of fruit with it so we can sit at home and eat pineapples and strawberries while we wait for autumn.

My family came to visit a few months ago too and we made them watch most of Doctor Who's season one to four and some of our favourite episodes from all the other seasons lmao. And much to our delight they really enjoyed it!! They both loved Ten the most and my step dad is now in love with Martha ��

We have also been watching the current season and it's been so fun keeping up with fandom theories in real time and talking about it and speculating with friends in person, it's the first time we get a chance to do it since we got into the series and we are enjoying it a lot!

We also watched season one of Jessica Jones and we loved David's performance as Kilgrave!! He stole the show for real. Kilgrave is such an incredible villain, one of the best I've seen and DT does such an amazing job portraying every aspect of him. He's detestable and volatile and frighteningly powerful and has such an intimidating terrifying presence in the narrative while also being pathetic and vulnerable and ridiculous and childish and so human with all it's worrying implications. It was just so gripping and I wish he had stayed for the rest of the show honestly!! Now we have to pick our next David Tennant series to watch! 😊

Also!! Dragon Age is back!! AHHH I wanted to thank everyone that commented on my last DA pieces, it has made my month to read the comments, I didn't expect so many people to remember my art or my character after so many years and it's so touching and flattering you have no idea 😭💘 I look forward to making more and sharing them with you all, I'm truly grateful for the kindness you've shown me both back then and now I hope you know.

I feel so spoiled lately with all these franchises that I love releasing new content!! I've never been in these many fandoms at once!! I have so many ideas to draw and keep jumping back and forth between drawings from different shows and games AAAAA it's a good and welcome change honestly, keeps me busy and inspired!

Anyway that's all for now I think! I hope you are doing well and this summer/winter is kind to you all ❤️

[rey-jake-therapist]

I just want to tell my fellow Haladriel fans one thing (spoilers ahead)

NO, don't blame yourselves for imagining that this relationship would be more complex and deeper than what we witnessed in episode 8. They gave this relationship big words such as, "cosmic connection" and "greater than romance". The second season showed Galadriel battling with her own feelings, on the edge of crying when Adar shared his own experience with Sauron, and admit that everything else was now "dull and grey". You didn't imagine this ! It all happened on screen !

Don't blame yourselves for thinking that Galadriel wouldn't straight out reject Sauron without having even a moment of hesitation : it was foreshadowed in the first episodes, through Gil-Galad and Elrond's words. Him pesting about the rings in two episodes, warning Galadriel against the possible implication of Sauron (who proved him right during the fight, by the way!) only to make a 180° at the last minute was certainly a choice, by the way, but that's another can of worms I won't open here.

Don't blame yourselves for believing that they had set up a complex character prone to temptation of power, who also misses the connection she thought she had with the man who manipulated her !There was nothing to warn us that Galadriel would suddenly cast all her doubts and feelings for Sauron away after just a two minutes conversation with Celebrimbor, or that Sauron only cared about his rings ; we saw him obsessed with Galadriel, it was clear as water !

That most of the script for season 2 was written before season 1 is not an excuse. These people said they had paid attention to the reactions to season 1... Well, now we know they've been reading Reddit.

Was it delusional to believe that we'd get a romantic kiss or Dark Galadriel following Sauron? Sorry, but yes. We weren't baited into believing that Galadriel and Sauron would ride off together under the sunset at any point, or even that they would admit being in love with each other.

But we were baited into believing that we wouldn't get a repeat of season 1. And yet, that's exactly what we got : Sauron (who displayed more genuine emotion after Celebrimbor's death than during this entire encounter) made his proposal again, Galadriel rejected him again, he took the piss again, and he stabbed her. Before that, he very awkwardly tried to sway her with a vision of Halbrand, but it was basically Annatar impersonating Halbrand really, and he disappeared in a second anyway, so... It could have just as well not been done. And it was all manipulation, anyway. Nothing genuine here. I found the sentence about putting a crown on her head and not resting until everyone worshipped very romantic ! Too bad it was ruined when he showed that now, he just wanted Nenya. It felt like something he used to feel, not something that he felt at the moment, which by the way is completely in line with Charlie told us in interviews. We should have listened to HIM, and no one else. Charlie spoiled the whole thing in interviews, we just were naive enough to believe that there was more to it. *Sigh*.

Don't blame yourselves for believing Charlotte Brandström when she said that "Sauron really loves Galadriel, and we'll see it at the very end". It's not your fault if you're not walking bullshit detectors !

Criticism is ok as long as it's constructive. Personnally, there's a lot of stuff I enjoyed about the Saurondriel scenes. The fight was awesome, they confirmed that Sauron used Nenya to communicate with Galadriel (when he repeated "aren't they the seeds you planted?") and probably stalk her as well.

I think Sauron didn't really want to kill Galadriel ; he wanted her to give him Nenya and would have healed her with it, I think. He could have just taken it by force and walked away with it, after all. That's another thing I like. But c'mon now, it was overall very underwhelming, and not a very good sign for what we'll get in season 3 for this relationship.

Just my two cents anyway. Don't feel bad, I swear it's not your fault if you believed we'd get a good and emotional finals.

[cloudmancy]

I have no desire to get you in trouble but I would be curious to hear your thoughts on the new episode and the preview because I also have.. thoughts and I'm interested in what other people clocked as not great or kinda.. idk. other people's concerns, because I have had a lot of them and I never see people really talk about those things

they're doing a new format this season where they film a bunch of rp episodes in a row then take a break when there's a battle so the crew can get the battleset ready, so I understand the dissonance. but the tone of this episode from the tone of last episode was SO jarring. I was ready to chew drywall at the end of episode 17 but we head into the episode 18 fight and at the end all I can say is... damn! that sure is a battle that happened. the entire fight felt really low-stakes even though objectively a few of the bad kids were in mortal danger, but the mood at the table was so relaxed and chill and there was almost no roleplay at all... which drove me so crazy

>no rp except for fun silly party stuff (no callbacks to the adaine elven oracle in a storm thing? after all the fun setup last time??)

>fought 8 different antagonists and none of them said a word

>nobody questioned why or what oisin's grandma or all those dragon were doing there they just started taking them out one by one like raid battles in world of warcraft

>cassandra/nightmare king showed up only to not make any impact or get a single word in

>dos2 lady vengeance fight did the floating boat/ballistas/dragon fight better SMH

and then after all of that we're headed straight into ANOTHER battle episode judging by the preview... and it's against the rat grinders and porter/jace! let me out I want PLOT & DIALOGUE fhjy cannot end like this (5 hours straight of battle where they just kill everyone that moves). there's 2 eps left so I really hope they do the last ep as a 4 hour long roleplay only epilogue episode because as we've all seen ending campaigns on a battle leads to frankly really rushed character and world decisions. it's ultra disappointing too because I loved this entire season so much so far. the setup and buildup and plot points and mystery of fhjy is the best they've ever done it in dimension 20 period

ep 18 fhjy battle was a letdown to me... not giving the party an rp episode after 3 hours of loredump + going straight into a final battle without being able to interact with the world after gaining info is bad. they should've had a chance to process everything they learned about house sunstone, porter's plan, the rat grinders being used as ascension fodder, whatever the whole deal behind ambrosia and lucy frostkettle and why they needed a helios cleric in buddy IN ROLEPLAY. I don't want all this stuff explained to me after the battle by brennan or in some throwaway lines in the adventuring party - I want the bad kids to talk to people! I want them to investigate! I want fig to pull some BS with porter knowing the full extent of all his plans. it really sucks for us as an audience too to be hit with all this lore and get approximately 0 time for it to sink into the implications of how the worldbuilding was shaped by it or realizations of "ohhh that's why that happened at the beginning of the season" before we go straight into killing everyone.

with the way this is going I don't have any confidence they're gonna be able to actually empathize at all with the rat grinders too before they start lopping heads off because in battle episodes everyone kind of just. becomes numbers and an objective to take out except for pet favourite npcs of the cast. and they've mostly been interacting with the rat grinders as nuisances all season 😭 I'm PRAYING to be proven wrong and the last 2 episodes of this are fantastic but it's not looking good folks

[lover-of-mine]

Hello love, I read your masterpost about color theory and I find the last part about how Eddie is wearing a lot of black in season 7 interesting, because it caught my attention too.

Do you have any more ideas about that? Because every episode we get more moments of Eddie wearing black in important scenes, like him meeting Shannon's clone in today's episode!

Have a good day!

Hi, darlings, thoughts on the black. I have thoughts on the black and I have theories about the black, but I actually only solidified them after talking about it with @stagefoureddiediaz and honestly, if you want costume analyses she's the blog to go because her insights get me mindblown all the time because she talks a lot about patterns I kinda saw but didn't fully understand were there, so seriously, props to her with this one.

But to talk about Eddie in black, I'm gonna go back to Shannon in s2. And his love interests in general.

Shannon was a character that was always wearing color, and she always wore warm, bright tones, and considering Eddie's earthy, somewhat muted, still army colors palette, she literally brings color to his life. They go as far as making this quite literal in 213, because the hospital scene, Shannon is literally a point of color in this very dark moment, since most people around are in darker colors, her orange stands out. And obviously, the yellow she died in is a staple.

Ana was very muted when it was about the 2 of them, she was allowed color when it was about Chris, but about Eddie, it was black, white, or soft colors.

Marisol also follows that same pattern, she's mostly in black and white adjacent stuff, but she was allowed color during Chris' date and when Eddie was daydreaming Shannon. But with Marisol is worse, because Ana was allowed he's baby blue outfits, and Eddie had color around her, Marisol is just whites, greys, and blacks. And Eddie too. She brings no color to the table.

And the thing is, Eddie has been looking for the yellow. In very simple terms the dude has been looking for the color he thinks Shannon was supposed to bring to his life. I think that was even more exemplified by the way the daydream about Shannon didn't have the usual muted colors flashbacks have in the show.

And the thing is, black is the absorption of all colors, right? Dude is trying to find something to absorb, to get that color, but he has nothing to show for it because these relationships don't bring color to his life in any way. I think this even ties to the way he keeps getting hit by the sun when it comes to Buck or gets some random pops of color even if his outfit is black when he's around Buck, maybe even the random rainbow lens fair that keeps happening this season on him. But he is trying to force something that's not there and it's never gonna be there, if you mix black with white all he's gonna keep getting is grey. And when you think about the implications of black, the association with mystery, something hidden, and, yeah, even mourning, Eddie being consistently in black can also be a way for him to hide behind the ghost of Shannon and never face what he's actually searching for, because he can't get what he wants. He will never have the future he planned with Shannon, he's never gonna be able to fix the mistakes he's made. He needs Shannon to tell him is okay he fucked up, but that can never happen because she's dead so he's holding on to the widow status. It's something I talk about a lot, Eddie was always written to be the tortured widower, even when Shannon was alive, he already had the archetype, and considering we found out they met when they were 14, Shannon is literally all he knows, but the Eddie we meet and deal with, only knows her when she left him and he's searching for that color the plans you can only make when you're a teenager going through you first love give. But considering the black he also has nothing to give this woman he meets in this quest, he's not reflecting anything back because he wants a do-over and that's not something someone can give him.

Also, no one asked but I gotta say it, I am obsessed with the way Kim is blue where Shannon was yellow/orange, but she is also in neutral colors when interacting with Eddie.

And he is still very much in black interacting with her.

But the blue/yellow thing is interesting because when you look at a color wheel, they are on opposite sides. They are complementary colors and complementary colors create contrast and it's very deliberate the way Shannon was warm-toned and Kim is cool-toned.

But the idiot (affectionate) is still in black, because he's not reflecting what he needs, he's absorbing what he thinks he wants.

But that's just a theory, a game theory. (Sorry, I read this back and my brain filled the space with this, I had to say it okasoasoaksas)

if you read this, I love you 💜

[bloodyshadow1]

A-Train is such an interesting character, because is season 1 he is clearly the bad guy. He is basically Hughie's arch enemy because he killed Robin and barely cared, it's not just enemy stuff because they're on different sides, it's personal for them. That caused Hughie to join the boys and created their feud, where the Boys blackmail Popclaw, A-Train kills her and blames Hughie for using her, A-Train goes to his house and threatens his dad, Hughiehas Kimiko break one of his legs, when A-train is healed up he goes after Hughie personally and has a heart attack after beating Starlight. Hughie however saves his life but they aren't even in A-Trains eyes, but they're both alive by the end. That's kind of the last time A-Train specifically is 'the bad guy' in the show because once season 2 rolls around, he has other problems than Hughie to deal with and so does Hughie. They don't like each other, but they're forced to ally up for their own advancement.

The things is, as the show goes on, we see how dark the world is and unfortunately, while Hughie hates him personally, A-Train is one of the better Supes, and even people in the main cast. It doesn't make him a good person by any means, but just by showing how terrible the rest of the world is, it changes the curve and puts him on the better side, despite his actions being very personal. As far as we know, his 3 big sins are killing Robin, killing Popclaw, and betraying Supersonic to Homelander so he killed him. There might be more but that's why I can remember. I'm not counting standing aside to let Deep and Newoir kill the homelander stans, or taking Bluehawk to the community meeting because while that was dumb and ended tragically he was trying to do some good with it. And don't get me wrong, he's done plenty of terrible things and threatened to do more, but wasn't able to follow up on it so it's hard to judge. I'm not downplaying what he's done, it's just that 3 people are a lot less compared to what other people have done. And yes, the implication is that Robin wasn't the first or last person A-Train killed like that, but it's hard when it's just the implication of something that happened off screen.

Everyone in the Boys has blood on their hands on both sides and it's hard to judge A-Train given how horrible the other characters are. Because the thing is, there's a difference between personal and actual when it comes to judging a person. You hate the person who bullied you in school more than someone who committed a mass shooting hundreds of miles away. It's not that you like the shooter more, it's just that while you condemn them, it's not personal, you don't hate them, you think they're horrible and but you stop thinking about it because it doesn't impact your life. Whereas even if you adulthood you might hate your childhood bully for what they did to you, you might never actually recover or get closure for it. That's what it's like Hughie/the viewer and A-train. Because Hughie is the audience surrogate and we see the shit that happens between him and A-Train, we're trained to hate him. However he's still only the middle of the pact in the Seven that we meet. Homelander is homelander, The deep is a serial rapist, Black Noir has killed a lot of people on missions and cleaning up after Homelander, but is also Edgars hitman until he's ousted. Then there's Translucent who I'd put on the same horrible level as A-Train, he's a pervert who sexually harrasses at least his teammates and went to silence Hughie, but we don't really see him (for lack of a better word) do anything else as horrible as the other 3, partially because he dies so quickly. Below A-Train's level are Maeve who is apathetic, but does still do hero stuff and is more broken than evil. And finally Starlight who genuinely wanted to do good in the Seven, but then realized what they actually were.

The thing is, even Starlight has blood on her hands. She murdered someone in season 2. It was to save Hughie's life and he drew a gun on her, but she still killed him. You can't even call it self defense because the only reason why he drew the gun on her was because he didn't want to get his car stolen, and even then a handgun wouldn't have hurt her anyway. He died so she could save Hughie. I don't think it makes her a monster, but it does mean she has blood on her hands that she kind of ignores for the rest of the series so far. The point isn't that she is a monster or just as bad, but she has done bad stuff to protect herself and the people she loves, or in the name of the greater good.

The rest of the boys are even worse because MM is probably the cleanest besides Hughie, he is still an accomplice to a lot of horrible stuff that they do for the sake of taking down Supes. Butcher, like Homelander is Butcher, he's willing to do horrible things to get what he wants, he has more restraint than his arch nemesis but he's still done a lot of horrible things to kill Homelander, murder included. Frenchie has done tons of horrible stuff when he was working for Nina, he is trying to make up for it or at least do good and be kind now, but it doesn't change he murdered innocent people because his boss told him to. Kimiko murdered a lot of people, most were bad, but she didn't do it because ti was the right thing to do, she did it for money and because they were bad so it made it okay. And let's not even get started on the stuff she did as a brainwashed child soldier of the Shining Light.

But it's okay that the Boys are doing bad things, because for the most part supes are worse. Every Supe that is mentioned is horrible unless they're a joke of fodder. Racists who kill black people because they're 'criminals,' or target migrant workers because they know they can get away with. Rapists who know vought will pay to cover up their crimes and keep their victims silent one way or another. the list goes on.

The point isn't that A-Train is innocent or not a bad guy, he's done both and has been sympathetic since season 1. then kind of became the butt monkey of the show that no one really respects by season 3, before getting his powers back. He is a complex character in a gray world. The more time goes on, the more messed up the curve is. He isn't a saint, but I think he's sympathetic and it does mean that it seems like currently he seems to be on the path to redemption, and I hope he is redeemed and survives switching sides.

[txttletale]

(Other than the really weird bit about "Male presenting Doctor") what were your thoughts about the specials?

pretty mixed bag, pretty messy, but good overall. i think they were very obviously a nostalgia trip for people around my age lol and it worked! i loved seeing tennant and tate back onscreen together, their chemistry hasn't aged a bit, and honestly just watching doctor who that wasn't written by chris chibnall was a breath of fresh air. they weren't boring, like seasons 11 and 12 were, and they didn't go too far off the other end into nonsense like flux did. characters want things again! the show can let itself just be silly! i was literally cheering out loud when donna and the doctor were just saying random scifi gobbledegook at each other for like a solid several minutes during the star beast.

the structure of the specials kind of baffles me. i love wild blue yonder--i think it's definitively the best of the specials as a standalone, it's absolutely fantastic, creepy and atmospheric and bringing things around to RTD's strength, which is well-written characters interacting with each other and letting good actors just act. but at the same time i dont understand why it exists? it feels like...idk. imagine if you watched the star wars original trilogy but instead of the empire strikes back the middle film was just a feature length film about luke and han surviving on an ice planet with no reference to anything that happens in the last film except the two characters' relationship. and then the next film was still return of the jedi, unchanged. it felt like that

i liked all the weird campy silliness of the star beast and the giggle, and they were both very fun! neil patrick harris gave a fantastic performance, there are a lot of very memorable sequences from the giggle, but it's very very all over the place. so many threads get kind of picked up and go nowhere. the toymaker's haunted house dimension goes nowhere. RTD's eyerolling social media commetnary goes nowhere (thank god tbh but yknow im illustrating something here). even the toymaker kind of goes nowhere, after ncuti gatwa shows up he's bascially an afterthought who loses by dropping a ball. obvious parallels to david tennant's first episode with that ball scene could be made, but just... aren't. it feels like load-bearing sectikons of the plot and themes were cut out to make room for a backdoor pilot for the stupid fucking UNIT spinoff

oh and it goes without saying i fucking hate all the UNIT wank in the star beast and the giggle. i hope space nine eleven 2 happens to their stupid fucking avengers tower i cannot stand kate stewart who is constantly a murderous bonehead (in the giggle alone she gets two pepole killed by not listening to the doctor and assuming that this teleporting godlike entity could be restrainted by Two Guys) who is both in and out of universe just a boring nepo baby with no merit of her own

um. i still dont know what happened with the regeneration. i think the implication is that when david tennant dies hell time travel back to become ncuti gatwa inside himself--at least the rehab dialogue seems to make that implication. but it's not really explained or explored? baffling. i do think that fourteen getting to settle down and live a peaceful life with his friends is cute.

oh yeah and the ask said other than that but goddd there was some good stuff in the star beast and honestly with the state of the UK media i will take any perspective on trans people that includes baseline human erespect but some of those lines made me cringe so bad. anyway overall i am cautiously optimistic for the future of the show--oh ncuti was fucking great did i mention that i instantly bnought him as the doctor he owned the scene, the moment he was there it was clear he was the protagonist, and i liked the church on ruby road well enough too--i am cautiously optimistic but i worry that a big UNIT-shaped tumor will devour huge chunks of it and it'll be annoying. also russel t davies is like 60 and i just dont want to hear what he has to say about twitter so im not looking forward to dot and bubble

[cbrownjc]

So about that Justin Kirk spoiler:

So yeah, there is a spoiler out there about whom Kirk is playing. And I have some thoughts about it that I just want to say, even if the rumor ends up not being true. But I'm going to put this all under a spoiler cut just in case.

So word on Twitter is that he's playing Raglan James. And honestly, yeah I can see that. In fact, thinking about it last night as well as today, it actually works better than when I thought and was so sure he was playing Marius.

And you know, he still might be. But there was a good argument about why pull the same hidden vampire identity plot two seasons in a row? I personally thought it would be fine, seeing as Marius would regularly do such a thing in the books, and so it would make sense that he taught his fledgling Armand to do so.

But there is an even bigger method to the idea of introducing a character like Raglan James this early if that is who he IS playing. And that is to get people ready for the body-switching plot of Tale of the Body Thief.

Rolin Jones already spoke about how tricky and goofy body-switching stories can be. So the show starting to plan that out way in advance isn't unbelievable IMO.

And I also am getting a sneaking suspicion that the body thief plot is not going to be played out how we've all assumed it would be if the show did it.

I and @nalyra-dreaming have both noted that Raglan James' original body was not a brown man, but that of a white man. James stole a brown Southeast Asian man's body to then switch with Lestat. A body that David then later ended up in permanently.

And well, I kinda think the show is going to want to avoid the racist implications of all of that. Three white men switching around, and trading back and forth, a brown man's body? If the show did go there they would very much do a commentary about it I'm sure. However, at the end of the day, the story would still end up with a white man occupying the stolen body of a brown man and keeping it for himself.

So really, what would all and any commentary about it be saying after it was done? Many book readers already don't like David's character. And I just don't see them doing such a thing with Daniel's character either.

And the easiest way to still do the body thief plot but avoid all of that? Is to just cut that part out. And have James only make one switch . . . and that is switching with Lestat while James is still in his original body.

And I suspect that's what we're going to get if Kirk really is going to be playing Raglan James. And why the rumors regarding him are that he's only going to be reoccurring in Seasons 4 and 5, not become a main cast member.

When they do the body switch, Kirk is going to be playing Lestat. And Sam will be playing Raglan James. But first, the show is going to get people familiar with Raglan James' character and the Talamasca starting this season, and probably in Season 4 as well. (With Season 5 being when the body-thief plot finally plays out . . . meaning yeah, we really might get the QotD/Akasha stuff in Season 4!)

"But what about Daniel?" I know some people are thinking. Well, I have an idea/theory about that too. But I'm not confident in saying anything about it yet. But yes, I do think Daniel speaking with Raglan James is significant. And a lot of people have already thought/predicted that Daniel would get David's body swap plot.

I just don't think this is all going to end with Daniel's character being played by Justin Kirk.

And that is all I feel confident in saying about it right now.

[angst-and-fajitas]

Pantheon Analysis: Peter Waxman

I've been doing another series rewatch to collect screenshots for art references, and I have come to the conclusion that Peter Waxman is just a really fascinating character who doesn't get enough appreciation. While the main duo are my ultimate favs and Ellen Kim is my 3rd, I think I'd have to put Waxman right after her.

It's personal taste, but I really love when characters are written with intentionally contradictory traits and motivations. It just feels very human, acknowledging the messiness of individuals, how hard it actually is to stick to your guns and figure out what's right. Waxman is a brave coward and an honest liar, and he's a good model of the kind of writing that Pantheon does so well.

Also there's some season 2 spoilers under the cut

He was David's best friend before uploading him, and it seems like he honestly still considers him a friend and still cares about his family, but not enough to let him go free! Not enough to not lie to his grieving widow! And yet he's happy when David escapes the tracking program, and he helps Ellen by bringing him the tracking program. He doesn't bat an eye at deleting the copies of David in s2 ep1. He never has the guts to stand up to Pope, but he still tries to save Maddie.

His motivations for what he did are an interesting puzzle to solve, because he hardly talks about himself. Based on his comments to David when first trying to persuade David to join Logorythms, it seems like he was mainly in it for the science. He never comes across as greedy, he never talks about wanting to live forever, and he wasn't part of the inner-circle-holstrom-cult. He was just dedicated to this UI project, until his morality got slowly boiled to death like a metaphorical frog as he began excusing unethical stuff for the sake of the project.

I love his line to Maddie in the cafeteria at the data center: "We keep you alive to row this ship. Row well, and live", a quote from Ben-Hur. There's possible implication in that offhand comment that he's done a lot of what he's done out of coercion and threat of retaliation. It makes sense that, if he tried to go rogue, Logorythms could easily pin some heinous crimes on him because he did in fact participate in them, and so he stays and digs his own grave deeper just to stay afloat.

And I really like his season 2 growth. He's still kinda spineless a lot of the time, but he's moving in a good direction. He sees the danger Maddie's in and tries to help her by warning Ellen, even if he lies on the witness stand to do it. He tries to help Ellen find Maddie, and their conversations show a lot of self-awareness and inner conflict. He even goes to the CDC to try and stop Holstrom's virus, even though he kinda gives up when they push back. Also that scene in the last episode of season 2 where he's piloting all those robots and drones to fight back against Safesurf was pretty badass tbh. Respect.

Tldr, Peter Waxman is a spineless coward who's lost his morals, who has to slowly work to get them back, and I think he's iconic for that. It's human, and it's messy, and that makes it very compelling.

[tomwambsgans]

i'm ngl it's because i recently read fight club, But i'm thinking a lot lately about castration and the true/deepest implications of it irt nero and sporus and tom and greg. obviously we've got tom's line about greg being "castrated on pay" and some pretty solid analysis on that being a matter of tom keeping greg dependent on him, but tbh even with said meta posts...

like, i'm sorry, but it's a weak line. it feels just as strangely on the nose as shiv falling down the stairs, and in fact like a line that exists specifically to match shiv falling. it almost even seems like a last-minute rush to complete Following Up The Nero And Sporus Thing, like they did the first part and managed to get all the way to the last episode before realizing they'd forgotten to do the second thing, so they had to reach for anything they could relate castration to without having to film a new scene. this feels especially evident/likely in the fact that there is NO way greg's salary is actually getting docked to the degree that tom implied. it's markedly disappointing, too, in the way that setting it up with shiv literally falling down stairs had the audience looking forward to how the rest of the overt symbolism would play out. castration on pay was the most mundane and least expected possible conclusion, lol. and not at all on par with the literal fall. like if that is the castration we were actually waiting for the whole time...

it's also all overkill, for that matter, considering that the s3 finale fit "pushed his wife down the stairs and married sporus" thing perfectly fine and a perfect amount of vague. like tom ALREADY betrayed shiv, symbolically "killing" her, and had an ancient-roman-wedding-handshake agreement with greg about his soul. even tom and greg's initial dynamic in the final season often feels like that of a married couple. which begs the question: why have the stuff in s4 on top of that? it may very well be simply one of the many marks of s4's drop in quality, caused by a myriad of irl factors. or it could possibly be on purpose to specifically bring home something else about the nero and sporus story. maybe it's to reinforce the tomshiv divorce and also tom and greg's marriage after all the rapid shifts in dynamic. who knows.

but what i DO know is that i wanna get to the bottom (lol) of the castration symbolism/motif. so i'm gonna go through everything that could possibly inform the audience's interpretation.

i'll start with the least significant, which i believe is the reality of castration in ancient rome and in the circumstances around the irl nero and sporus. part of why this falls on the bottom rung is the fact that historical accounts of nero especially with sporus are hotly contested. another reason is that the story tom tells is one that not only omits many details in a technically misleading/recontextualizing way, but also adds details that are present in no known accounts.

so: WHY was sporus castrated? there are 2 main possibilities/reasons.

to maintain his youthful [and therefore feminine] beauty. the real sporus was most likely around 16 when nero had him castrated. and the practice of castration to preserve youth had precedence. basically, twinks were REALLY in. it's alleged that sporus may have already been more effeminate (and sexually attractive) than average. but it's also said that sporus bore an uncanny resemblance to poppaea, which nero chose him for specifically and wanted to maintain.

in order to marry him with legal/social sanction. ancient roman society, rather than being built upon the heterosexual, was more built upon the Top/generally masculine. Eunuch was a gender class/category essentially equivalent with Woman, which allowed sporus to specifically be nero's wife. this didn't mean that his marriage to sporus was necessarily seen as good and normal, only technically acceptable.

and i have a ways more to go with the analysis but i'm gonna say right here that i do not think the first reason bears any significance to tom and greg. firstly due to that there is no textual evidence that tom wants greg to be explicitly feminine, even compared to himself, and a LOT to the contrary. tom consistently invites greg to join him in performing masculinity and gaining power through it, case in point the "let's fight like chickens" scene that directly follows the nero and sporus story. secondly, sporus's possible resemblance to poppaea does not track to greg and shiv more than incidentally; greg being shiv's cousin doesn't directly earn tom anything. but more importantly, imo, is the fact that what would have made nero want sporus to look like poppaea is in direct contrast with both the story tom tells AND the way their arc plays out.

so NOW, to demonstrate this, let's look at the irl poppaea's death/murder, which happened during her second pregnancy. different historians (even those alive at the time) have different theories for how it went down. who knows how much truth they're based in, bc there's a clear heavy bias against nero, but they're all we have anyway and therefore all tom would have had. here they are:

nero kicked her in the stomach in a fit of rage, while she was fighting with him about how much time he spent at the races (main theory/rumor)

nero kicked her in the stomach in a casual outburst

nero "leapt upon her belly" either accidentally or on purpose

nero poisoned her (uncommon rumor, most likely bs)

she died through no fault of nero's at all, simply bc of complications with her pregnancy (this has the most evidence, and is believed by many modern historians)

you'll notice a complete lack of stairs-related death theories, and in fact a near total lack of Nero Purposefully Murdered Poppaea theories. the general idea is that nero deeply mourned poppaea's death (and was remorseful, if it was his own fault), and proceeded to replace her with sporus, even calling him by her name.

which feels like a good segue into the more significant story of nero and sporus to analyze: the one that TOM told.

Sporus was a young slave boy. He was Nero's favorite. And, uh... you know what Nero did to him? Well, Nero... pushed his wife... down the stairs. And then he had Sporus castrated and he married him instead. And he gave him a ring. And he made him dress up like his dead wife. ...I'd castrate you and marry you in a heartbeat.

without looking into the actual story, this would sound like nero murdering his wife in order to marry sporus. with bringing up sporus first, it even sounds like nero met sporus and started favoring him prior to killing poppaea. which is also overtly analogous to tom and greg's relationship arc.

despite what tom must have read in his book, and what one could very easily imagine him, a Wife Guy, latching onto in that book... tom isn't telling greg about the tragedy of an emperor who accidentally killed his wife and then had to replace her with a young boy. tom literally invents a method of death that there is NO preexisting source for. furthermore he chooses one that does not sound remotely unintentional. at best he keeps in line with themes that suggest a violent miscarriage. but he removes all notions of an accident. he turns it into an unambiguous, purposeful uxorcide.

so, since all notions of trying to keep sporus looking like poppaea are not only unfitting as potential parallels, but also utterly irrelevant to the version of events that tom tells, and since we know tom twists and omits many other details (like what happens just a year into their marriage) anyway... what reasons DOES tom have for bringing up castration in this story? here's the possibilities i can come up with:

to make it sound less overtly romantic through means of the bizarre. classic diversionary tactic. literally without the castration it would sound undeniably like he's just saying "i read about this ancient roman gay marriage. an emperor murdered his wife so that he could marry a boy. i would like to do that with you also :)"

to make it sound less gay, specifically, because of nero's power in the situation. this of course calls back to that second reason for the actual sporus to be castrated. it's not gay if i've made you a eunuch, greg.

to emphasize the cruelty on nero's end. tom often puts himself in the role of a villain, especially irt his behavior with greg. considering also that this whole scene follows tom talking about how he's going to prison (AND that the next time he calls greg sporus it's in the scripts before the diner scene, where he agrees to sacrifice himself and go down for greg), it would make sense for him to buffer this confession with the caveat of what a bad person he is, like express in SOME way how insane his feelings are and how terrible he knows it is that he feels this way about greg. tom is notoriously unable to make normal apologies either, so. it tracks.

i think all of these are true, and i'm sure most would agree. i'm also sure most who've read this far are in full agreement that tom fixated on the story of nero and sporus in particular because it was a gay relationship with just enough ambiguity that he's able to relate to it without panicking. hell, the "he gave him a ring" line alone doesn't even evoke an ancient roman marriage nearly as much as a modern american one. i can't find even any sources that specifically mention a ring from nero to sporus, so i imagine tom invented that as well.

BUT while i'm here i do still want to mention a couple other queer things about nero to drive home that it's not just incidental gayness but overt homosexual desire being portrayed, as well as to emphasize that second reason that the irl nero may have had to castrate sporus:

prior to knowing sporus, nero had a mock-wedding as part of festive role-reversals during saturnalia. in this wedding he took the role of a bride, marrying a different freedman.

this is apocryphal and practically historical fiction, and may also specifically be due to perceived deviancy in nero, but it's old enough (like 13th century) that it's lowkey in the nero "canon" that he had womb envy and was obsessed with being the one to get pregnant

okay so NOW... how does all this translate into the actual events demanded/foreshadowed/symbolized by this story? if pushing shiv down the stairs is the betrayal that keeps her from being able to block the gojo deal (but also shiv is shown to fall down a couple real stairs)... and marrying sporus is making the "deal with the devil" (AND the sticker on the forehead)... then what's the castration? what was the first, less on-the-nose-and-simultaneously-meaningless castration, at least?

my best answer is that it's tom getting greg to drop his brightstar buffalo plans and follow him instead. because if death is just corporate death, then your testicles/manhood is your independence. tom says you're a joke, you can't function on your own, you need me (i need you). he's insecure that greg will leave if he has the option to do so. fair enough.

......and yet i come back to my initial disappointment, because that is barely different than the pay castration. and it's redefining greg's symbolic testes to something that tom gave him in the first place, thus practically retconning the first castration. but if that's it, does shiv's literal fall also replace her kick out of the company? that would sure be stupid! is the point of rehashing the symbolism to be stupid? to have meaningless stuff follow up the more significant events? even if that was the case, wouldn't you at least be doing it to give a visual element to the symbols? if shiv gets actual stairs, WHERE are greg's actual balls? or ANY balls!!!! greg even started wearing grey suits which he hadn't done before (but shiv had), and got a "ring" in his final scene. where's the FUCKING balls, huh?????

(anyway)

occam's razor, i think, may be that the meaninglessness of the castration specifically is the point. tom's insecurity that greg will leave if he has the option to (that greg would never actually want him but only need him), has been present for basically the duration of the show. it's just a character trait, and thus doesn't even work as foreshadowing when that just means "he's gonna keep doing what he's been doing." then, take that second reason--the purely pragmatic, not based in heterosexual-adjacent desire reason--for nero to castrate sporus. aka the only reason that makes sense for the way tom spins the story.

(it's also a motivation that leaves room for not even actually doing it. sporus wasn't going through rapid masculinization or anything. and they only lived another year. you could get away with just claiming that you did it for a while, probably.)

i should say there IS technically a third reason, postulated by modern scholars, for sporus's castration: to intentionally humiliate a potential rival for the throne. imagine if tom had told greg about nero and sporus upon first meeting. obviously things changed very quickly, but if all castration is here is tom keeping greg on a tight leash, then it works. and if the castration is nothing, then greg nearly tanking tom's plan out of naivety can be a nothing version of sporus wanting revenge. and shiv falling down real stairs can, instead of actually intending to set up a meaningful castration, be a red herring in that regard and simply foreshadow her pregnancy.

and that could be it. but... i've got One More Thing. maybe the most significant of all. lightning round:

who or what, in modern day where tom and greg live, actually IS castrated?

animals

specifically dogs

hmmmmmm

and why are DOGS castrated?

to reduce sexual and territorial aggression

reduce other unwanted behaviors

to keep them from breeding

okay. think greg's newfound sexual confidence in s4 and tom's distaste for it. tom's continued anxiety that greg's independence might lead him to leave him. think greg being tom's attack dog and how that nearly backfires at the very end. greg approaching tom at the end like a begging puppy.

think full circle: who's the rescue pup, i'll take care of you, i've got you...

i feel justified in recontextualizing all of this, and i come back to fight club:

Valley of the Dogs. Where even if they don't kill you, if someone loves you enough to take you home, they still castrate you.

[nipuni]

Doctor Who report!! We are all caught up with NuWho and in time to watch the new season when it comes out!! mission accomplished, It took us around 6 months total and we loved every minute of it 🥰

Now that we have watched all eras I can share our tastes and opinions nobody asked for under the cut 😌

We can confidently say RTD's era is our favourite and for Doctors 10 (and 14) followed by 12, but honestly there isn't a single Doctor (or Master!) that we didn't love.

We've also started rewatching the first four seasons now with more context and there is just something so special about them. They almost feel like a different show from all the later ones. The silliness and the way the story doesn't take itself seriously at all until all of a sudden it does and then the pain hits you twice as hard because of it. How with just with a line or deed and it's implications the Doctor can be so unbelievably inspiring. The way the narrative seems to place you in the role of a companion trying to catch up with the Doctor and figure him out yet never quite managing to do so creates this distance but also admiration and reverence in you too and you can't help but adore him flaws and all. It has just the right amount of room for every side character and relationship to develop and feel human and the right amount of exposition to keep the pace quick and don't hold your hand. The glimpses behind the doctor's cheerful childish façade into an unsettling calculating alienness and immeasurable trauma but also a weary wisdom. The complete selflessness to the point of martyrdom. The reckless irresponsible acts of devotion from both the companions and the Doctor. The near apotheosis of the companions the closer they get to him. The contagious feeling of awe and wonder and hope for life. The way it's so unabashedly centered around love of every kind 😭 ARGHH I don't know man there is nothing like it!! Ultimate comfort show for us, just.. healing really. There is so much more I can say and gush about but I'd be here typing all day so I'll draw more about it instead!! We would also like to get started on classic Who soon! and try to get our hands on the audio episodes and comic books and all the extra stuff as well 😊

We also watched more David Tennant works since the last report!

Blackpool was hilarious, infuriating and horny, the singing was a choice but overall so fun!! The Escape Artist was great, very sad and tense, would have loved for it to be longer, these miniseries are always so good but so short!! Mad to be Normal is so underrated? we enjoyed it a lot!! RD Laing's portrayal was so compelling, it's beautifully shot and the 60's setting is really immersive and well done. Einstein and Eddington was also really good, incredibly accurate historical setting!! the costuming was fantastic, one of the best I've seen!! These last two films are biographical and sort of no plot just vibes so maybe this is why they are not everyone's cup of tea but we enjoyed them very much. David just never misses, I'm sure we can watch anything with him in it and we will love it no matter what lmao what a guy 😭

Anyway that's all for now! I hope you are all doing well, spring/autumn is almost here! best bits of the year 😊

[amrass]

Fanfiction updates and excerpts 06.16.24

Happy summer, everyone! The worst season lol. Late spring was intense and I'm still recovering, but we're experiencing a lot of nice rain, and I am engorging myself on coffee and books :)

I miiight open up for RDR2 oneshot requests sometime later this summer or early autumn, under a collection - or a fic at Ao3, most likely - called Barbwired Tumbleweed. So watch this space!  

As always, most of the fics underneath the cut are explicit and rather dark, with a focus on Morbell and Drisbell.

Main projects: 

Salt part 16+. Colm/Micah. Sugar daddy AU. Dark.

While carrying a large barrel of moonshine of his wiry, but considerably strong body, Toothpick paused beside Micah. He looked him over from head to toe, making him feel weirdly slimy.

"What do you want?" 

"Oh nothing, really. Just admiring Colm's taste, that's all."

"Not everyone can fuck their way to the top," Daniel commented, breaking the staring contest between them. Micah snarled at the implications, lighting himself a smoke and breathing like a dragon.

"That puts you two boys in the same boat, doesn't it? One boy for each brother. Oh, I like our bosses, I really, really do."

.

The Lost and the Lethal part 3. Gen? Biker AU in the 90s.

"Listen," Hosea began. "Bringing back this bad stuff with Annabelle, it's obviously meant to antagonize you."

"Damn right it antagonizes me," Dutch muttered.

"Only if you let it," Hosea said, tone sharp until the Duke meowed in irritation. Hosea petted him and said, more quietly, "You're good at ignoring Arthur when he's had too much to drink, no matter how much crap he comes up with. Use some of that skill for this." 

"Hey," Arthur said, feeling less like a sergeant at arms sitting between the president and vice president of a biker club, and more like a kid dragged into the quarrel of his parents.

.

These Days part 3. Arthur/Micah. Biker AU in the 00s.

He turned the water to its coldest setting. He'd done that often, before, so he didn't expect the dizziness when it came. Nearly falling, he grasped the wall to keep his balance. 

Legs shaking, he glared at the shower chair. 

"Fuck you," he said, and then laughed at himself for cursing a piece of furniture. The laughter was bitter, and he didn't let go off the wall. If shower chairs could gaze, this one did so somberly and purply. 

.

Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill. Arthur/Micah. A sequel to Through the Wilderness. Micah is a bounty hunter, hunted by Arthur, who has survived TB through the method of artificial lung collapse. Dark.

"But I guess that was a while ago. Last time I saw you, I didn't think you'd pull through! All skin and bones now, but better than all blood and coughs. Is it true that they cut out one of your lungs? Leave it up to a creature like you to beat a thing that kills most men. Better men, some would say. Not me." 

Let that silver-tongued bastard talk. Let him stall the massacre in the saloon. Let him put fuel to Arthur's rage so it'll burn them both.

"My boys tell campfire stories about you, you know. They say you take the shape of a big black dog, lurking in the shadows, waiting for the scent of blood. Can you smell it right now? We're planning to do some hunting soon. We're real good at it, too, cause you've been picking off the boys who ain't worthy of following me."

.

Slug. O'Driscoll Gang/Micah. Biker AU in the 80s. VERY DARK.

"Easy, baby," Toothpick says as if cutting the hair of a pet, not slicing up boxers. As soon as he steps back to look at his handiwork, Micah closes his thighs and pulls his knees to the side, hating to be exposed. The position remains awkward, all the duct tape on him leaving him in a sort of standing kneel rather than anything stable.

"Adorable." Toothpick puts the knife back in his boot. He begins toying with the waistline of the sweatpants, showing off the outline of an erection. Slowly, he reveals himself only to hide himself again, like he's teasing a lover with something wanted.

Cheeks burning, Micah wants to look away, but the tape keeps his head fixed in place. He's vaguely aware of Prince Albert piercings being a thing, but he's never seen one in person until now.

"You like it?" A step closer. Every muscle in Micah's body tenses. "It doesn't have to hurt," Toothpick croons. "Will it be your first? I like introducing boys to this very important part of life."

.

LOL what an excerpt to end with ... Ngl Slug might be my best work. Anyway, that's it! I'll probably be working on these until autumn :)

Hope you're all are doing great!

[zariahthechocolatecookie]

Thoughts on TDP 6x06 - "Moment Of Truth"

Made it through episode 6! Oh my god are things picking up and is exciting stuff happening! The pace is definitely picking up and I'm very excited to see what comes next, and what the implications of this episode are for later ones.

Starting with what I feel is the most important revelation from the Callum and Rayla section - they brought the wrong pearl!?! What the hell?? That is bad. Very incredibly bad for so many reasons.

Okay, screaming about that aside - onto my actual composed thoughts. So, obviously, Callum having the fake pearl means the real one is back in Katolis. First, the shot of the pearls at the end of the last episode makes a LOT more sense now.

Second, I think everyone is in significantly much more danger now. Two of the people Aaravos has / is manipulating are in Katolis or on their way there: Viren and Claudia. I could very much see a world where one of them is manipulated into freeing Aaravos - which would put Katolis under a lot of threat immediately. Very worried about what will happen then.

The other thing is, what will happen when Callum and Rayla learn about the mistake? Whatever Kosmo did made it so they don't know (anymore), but from what brief glimpse we got of it, Callum was devastated. I imagine that will be significantly worse if he learns about it after when / of Aaravos gets freed.

The other thing is important interest is that the term "timeblind" makes a WHOLE lot more sense now. I was horribly confused about that when it was mentioned in previous episodes, so I'm glad there's some clarification on that. I'm very curious to see how it plays a role in future episodes and/or the next season.

Also the whole scene with Callum finding out that RAYLA is his "deep truth" or whatever it's called was ✨ amazing ✨ Not only is it super adorable, it's a really powerful way of representing their relationship and how they've helped each other through their various struggles. It's just so cute 🥰 Also sparkle Rayla is so pretty!!

Okay, moving to Viren's section... I know there's other things from Callum and Rayla's section, I'll touch on those later.

So, first of all, Viren really fucking sucks. Like, he deserves his lonliness. He deserves to rot to death in his cell. He deserves to never see his children again. I know all the things he did to save Soren STARTED with good intentions, but... Pinning his wife to the wall to get her treats for a spell is WAY too far. Waaaay too much.

Lissa was definitely right to leave him. However, I'm really wondering why she didn't take Claudia and Soren with her. I feel like that would have helped both Claudia and Soren in the long run, even if they did still have some problems that arose. I could see Claudia having an Azula-like situation, if she was still into dark magic, but I think Soren would have significantly less issues. Anyone got any fanfics dealing with this concept / idea?

Viren being a horrible human being aside, the backstory on how he got his staff and his old mentor is very interesting. Specially his mentor. From how it was described, it seemed like he had quit dark magic. I want to know WHY and how he was able to make that choice without going back to it. I'd say Claudia could learn some things from him about not doing dark magic, but he's a coin now, so...

Circling back to the ending... I absolutely LOVE how both Astrid and Kosmo told each other the line about truth being light vs. a burden. And how when Kosmo was saying it, we saw Viren burning the letter? Masterful. I still hate Viren, but at least he did the right thing there. Soren doesn't need to know about anything that was in that letter.

And, last but not least, the Rayllum kiss at the end!!! Oh my gosh was that moment so cute!! They're just so adorable together and it spectacular. And the fact that it was a 'redo' of that one scene all the way back in season 4 - gah it was just a perfect moment!!

Alright, that's everything about this eoisode. Onward to episode 7!

[spot-splatter-splash]

Been rewatching old Lalaloopsy stuff, so far up to the pre-Nick Jr. stuff and all the little differences and details and I need somewhere to ramble and you're the only Lalaloopsy fan I know of so-

-The fact that they lean so much more into the fact that they're dolls. The shininess of their eyes, the callbacks to the playsets in real life, the fact that they can fall from great heights and not be injured. I'd say that they somewhat less polished voice acting helps to emphasize this, like they're really just being played with by little girls.

-How unique each of the littles are. They all seem to be slightly different ages (Bundles is less good at talking and speaks in the third person, Sprinkle had a clearer voice but only says small phrases, Squirt can speak longer sentences, and Specs is nonverbal but clearly extremely intelligent). They each have slightly different relationships with their sisters as well - Mittens is more parental with Bundles, Crumbs is a lot more doting, Bea treats Specs like an annoying little sibling, and Squirt is basically Peanut's assistant.

-The way the pets are animated and how much character they're given. (The littles' pets are irrelevant which is hilarious to me)

-Rosy just popping up in random places a la that one Persona 4 food delivery girl

-All the unique quirks given to each character to flesh them out that are left out of the Nick series (Pillow's narcolepsy, Mittens' snow magic, Peanut and Jewel being somewhat more sassy in a way, Jewel being into dance, Specs being nonverbal, Dot being easily distracted, etc)

-All of the smaller locations added to Lalaloopsy Land to give it more personality, like the playground or the flower fields

-Idk I'm just really normal right now I am so sorry-

I find it heartwarming how many fans are popping up to send asks. Considering the last piece of animated media dropped in 2017 and the 10th anniversary dolls are 3-4 years old now; It truly goes to show that there's always a fandom for something! Even if its just a handful of people or one fan getting their friends into it. I love talking to everyone and making art again.

I love that the earlier works for the series plays with and leans into the fact that they are dolls. Its subtle but works for what the series is meant to be. As much as I love the later series and thinks it does stuff well I can admit that some of the charm can be lost in the transition.

That's part of why I like the implication that the dolls were aging. Just like us, the former children who were playing out little stories with them the dolls and their stories were maturing. Though MGA never fully committed to any real over arching plot. Which is why I want too. We've seen it work with MLP and Ever After High (other series meant to sell dolls).

I do also miss

Specs being Nonverbal (I was actually so upset when she talked in her birthday episode. Her being nonverbal worked really well for her. And I liked the idea of her and Charlotte possibly being able to bond over communicating differently than their peers)

Mittens' snow magic. (There was a lot of potential to explore with it.)

Jewel's love of dance (It appears a bit in the Nick Jr. series but not much at all in L.A.L.A. Prep or We're Lalaloopsy. It's a cute part of her character. Gives her more hobbies than just...existing? ( I have really complex thoughts about Jewel and her roll in most series). And explains her dynamic with Tippy)

I also miss in general the amount of characters in the series. I understand that the later series never made it as far as the 26 episode a piece two season run Nick Jr. did. And I do feel like We're Lalaloopsy was setting up to include Cloud E. Sky. I would give anything for it to pull a Care Bears: Unlock the magic and drop a second season years after its initial run.

[shutupineedtothink]

I finally landed on a Siuan theory/analysis re: 2x07! And it works prettyyyy good if I do say so myself. At the least it’s plausible. Probably. No book spoilers because I haven’t read the books, this is a show only theory. Read on at your own risk!

Background: So, at first I was on board the “Moiraine and Siuan planned this whole thing daes dae’mar blah blah blah” train. Mostly in my emotional turmoil after watching the episode initially. But, I was forced to dismiss that pretty quickly in light of some of Siuan’s lines, namely “That boy must not leave this city.” And “You lied to me.” She has to believe both of those things are truths to say them, so her somehow being secretly on Moiraine’s side still and them having conjured up some plan together doesn’t match up with either of those lines. Sadly. So that’s pretty much out. If this ends up actually being the case, I look forward to how they explain themselves out of it.

Second theory is of course that it’s playing exactly as we’re seeing it, which ultimately does work and when I can take the emotional dagger to my heart out of it, is objectively really excellent storytelling and character work. These are two women, trying to do the right thing, trying to save the world, and their love is sacrificed at the altar of duty. Duty over love is a theme that’s absolutely pounded into us with many characters, so it makes sense. (As Lan points out to Rand also in this episode, “you were born to protect this whole world, not just the people you love.” That’s kinda where Siuan and Moiraine are at too.) Plus I love the idea that Siuan comes face to face with the very real if unfathomable possibility that Moiraine has been turned to the dark based on her actions and general cageyness for the last six months, and that’s really what motivates every choice Siuan makes, up to and including invoking the oath rod. Really great stuff, brilliant subtext, two thumbs up.

However. There is a third option. *rubs hands together gleefully*

I heard some people saying Siuan could be under Compulsion, which definitely piqued my interest, because we’ve had those breadcrumbs dropped earlier in the season already and it would be nice foreshadowing for this. But most of the conversation I’ve seen seems to be around Liandrin being the one to do it. Probably because we’ve alluded to that already this season, so we know she is capable and has done it before. A tool in her dark friend toolkit, if you will.

But Liandrin being behind it never sat quite right with me either. Compelling Sheriam to change some logbook is one thing, but controlling the Amyrlin seat, for hours if not days to make this happen, is quite another. Idk what kind of strength Compulsion requires, but I bet it’s not nothing. And as powerful as Liandrin is, I don’t think she’s stronger than Siuan Sanche, or would be able to pull one over on her fast enough to make this happen. Plus, Liandrin is off doing other shit in this episode. If she was really implicated I feel like she’d be at least lurking around the other Aes Sedai. Maybe I’m wrong… but I don’t think I am lol.

So, who does have the power to do this? Who else has the means, motive, and opportunity to make this happen? There’s really only one other person.

The other scene stealer of 2x07, ya girl Lanfear.

There’s several bits of dialogue in this episode that back this theory up, both Compulsion in general and Lanfear being behind it, so let’s run from the top.

First, some general evidence that Compulsion might be happening.

Rand and Siuan meet, Rand gives his cute little introduction, Lan has prepared you I see, what else has he told you about me? Then Rand gives this line:

“That you’re not exactly what you seem.”

Interesting choice of words, writers— I mean Rand. He could have said a lot of things there, even directly repeating some of what Lan told him about Siuan, but no. And if you’re already thinking Compulsion, that’s a pretty strong nudge from the writers to PAY ATTENTION to Siuan Sanche, because maybe what she’s doing is not what it seems, even the person she IS in that moment is not what it seems. (Even if the surface level read totally makes sense and still works thematically!) This also wouldn’t be the first time that the writers seem to use the characters to say something/poke fun that’s more directed at us than the actual plot. So I definitely wouldn’t put it past ‘em.

Second, and this is kind of a throw away, but when Moiraine and Lan come in later, Lan says “this isn’t what we agreed to.” This is pretty easy to explain away, but I think it’s still notable that Lan and Siuan had some kind of conversation earlier, perhaps on their way to Cairhien, about what they were going to do in regards to Moiraine and/or Rand. And at that point Siuan at least implied that she was going to help Moiraine and Rand, not cage him. Again, pretty easy to sidestep with aes sedai truth-lies/evasions, but it’s also possible at that point she actually had no intention to cage Rand. Because she wasn’t under Compulsion yet.

Alright, still going in chronological order here, so now we’re getting into some Lanfear-did-it specifics. And I do love-hate this one.

Moiraine and Siuan are arguing over what to do about Rand, then this:

Siuan: “Can you imagine, Moiraine, if one of the forsaken got their hands on him?”

Can YOU imagine, how absolutely giddy it would make Lanfear to make her say this, to Moiraine’s FACE, knowing full well she’s got her hands all over Rand and then some? Come on, son.

Ok jokes aside, here’s the kicker.

Rand and Moiraine in the cell in the sun palace, Rand meets Lanfear in the dream world, Rand goes up to her and says “I’m in a cell, the Amyrlin’s holding me.”

And Lanfear says, so smug, “I know.”

Um, girl? You know?? HOW do you know exactly? I definitely dismissed this on the first couple watches as oh, Lanfear just knows things, but like, no. The Forsaken aren’t omniscient. Now, could she be teleporting herself here and there and spying on everything that’s going on and that’s why she knows? Sure. But that’s boring and I’m on a roll here so let’s keep going.

She knows, not just that Rand is in a cell but specifically that it’s the Amyrlin that’s holding him there, because she herself Compelled (Compulsed?) Siuan to do so.

Ok so motive. Why would Lanfear do this, why spend the effort?

1. It's definitely fun for her. 2. She sets up this scenario where she gets to “save” Rand from the big bad aes sedai, he has no choice but to ask her for help, she LITERALLY shows up in her white knight in shining armor outfit, and she ultimately hopes this helps convince him she actually cares about him and wins him over to her side. (As she tries to tell him in the finale, I’m the only one who cares about YOU, not just what you can do. Mhm sure girl.) And 3. She gets to actively pit the rest of the aes sedai against Moiraine, who she absolutely hates.

And in doing all of this SHE MIGHT NOT EVEN HAVE KNOWN about Moiraine and Siuan! That's just icing on the fucking cake! It works either way, because if she did know by forcing Siuan to tell her about their mission and she somehow gets Siuan to admit she loves Moiraine (however that interrogation goes, idk the specifics of compulsion but the show writers are playing fast and loose with the rules anyway), well now it’s game on baby because Lanfear will absolutely be using that info to wreck both of them. If she didn’t know, and her whole motivation is the first three reasons above, then she definitely finds out at the end of 2x07, because she was definitely lurking around the corner listening to that whole exchange between them and it made her fucking night.

And finally, there’s Lanfear’s last line of the episode (I think): “Lucky for you, a broken Amyrlin is more useful to me than a dead one.” Double meaning alert! Siuan is literally lying broken on the ground in that moment, but maybe she was already “broken” well before that, being under Lanfear’s control. (And there’s your Egwene/damane parallel too, damn.) And therefore Lanfear knows exactly how she’ll be “useful” to her.

This whole strategy by Lanfear could also be forecasted from a couple episodes back, when she asks Ishamael why he didn’t just kill Moiraine at the Eye. He basically tells her the same thing, that Moiraine (I believe he uses the words “aes sedai” specifically) is more useful to him alive than dead. So mayyyybe that gave her this idea to manipulate an aes sedai for her purposes, except while Ishamael is playing the long game, she goes full tilt and mind controls the fucking amyrlin seat.

On Siuan’s side of things, every bit of dialogue she has/action she takes makes sense under the assumption that Lanfear is influencing her, because she would “believe” everything she’s doing. Now I don’t know exactly how Compulsion works (in case you couldn’t tell), if it’s like someone else actually making you believe/do things you wouldn’t normally do, or if it’s more of a you’re trapped in your own head and not in control of your body sort of situation, but it works either way. And boy let me tell you, if this theory is correct, that makes Sophie Okenedo’s performance even more impressive than it already is, because it really works either way: Siuan is genuinely doing what she believes is right for the fate of the world and has her stone cold face on to do it (until the very end) OR her “real” expressions/feelings are mostly being masked/faked by the Compulsion and what she’s being forced to do by Lanfear. It tracks! Either way! Insane!!

The other big reason I think this theory works is because of what we find out in the finale — we learn from her conversations with Bayle Domon and Ishamael that Lanfear has been pulling the strings to make this whole season happen all along. (Cue It Was Lanfear All Along music lol). She sold the bits of cuendillar (although I don’t really get why… just for the money?), she seduced Rand, she played Ishamael, all of it. So why not this too? Why not control the Amyrlin seat, if she has the capability and means to do so, especially if she means to take Ishamael off the board and sort of become the de facto leader/strongest of the forsaken. Not really their leader, I know, but it’s a good power play for her is what I’m saying.

Finally, I think this could put us in a REALLY fun place for season 3, with stuff happening at the tower. We could have scenes with Lanfear, Siuan, and Liandrin. We could have Siuan acting increasingly more malevolent or just off somehow, and while most sisters are going with it, Alanna or Leane maybe starts to get suspicious (more Leane please!). We could have Moiraine send the wonder girls back to the tower, ostensibly to continue their training but also because she needs informants to know what Siuan is planning now (which kills her obvs), and because I would love to see them Scooby doo their way through some shit, the three of them figure out what’s going on and somehow (with Alanna’s help?) free Siuan from the Compulsion. Idk but it could be so much fun you guys.

Or, I could be totally wrong. Maybe this is totally not how Compulsion works. I don’t mind either way. This was a super fun thought experiment. But man, if this theory is in any way correct, this will be some of the most twisty TV/dialogue writing I’ve seen in a minute. And, you know, I’m trying to make fishwives happen here! Cmon!

Shout out to the Post Show Recaps podcast deep dive of 2x07 for questioning how Lanfear knew that Siuan had Rand captured and finally clicking this all into place for me. If you’ve got any other pulls from the episode or the season in general that back this theory up, please share in the comments!

[asherlockstudy]

Hii, i just want to start of by saying that i absolutely love reading all you'r posts about rhett and link, and i find them so intriguing and entertaining to be honest( the amont of times i squealed reading it..😅). And i don't want you to take this the wrong way, But that being said, as much as i would LOVE for them to actually be together, and like maybe one day thay would announce and tell us that they are together, and have been together, i just don't think it'll ever happen😭… Becuse of one simple reason. they can not handle or tell that big of a lie.That is it.

I mean did you see how big of a deal they were making about rhett dying his beard in the latest ear biscuits? Like who cares, well, apparently thay do. I'm just saying that if something that simple can make them feel that they should tell us about it, becuse as link said" it feels ingenuine" "it feels like you'r hiding something" and when he was daying his hair it was the same thing, he stopped cause he felt like he was lying.. idk i just think it's something worth considering at least..

I understand what you are saying. However, it’s the very same things that make me draw quite opposite conclusions.

Because, what can you conclude about a person’s psychology or their real life circumstances, when they compulsively think that dying their greying hair makes them a liar? When they think it means “they’re hiding their true self”? Besides, Link was not very accurate in saying he thought he was lying to the viewers. We knew he was dying his hair, he was open about it from the very beginning and Rhett was cracking jokes at him for greying early all the way back to the first seasons, when his hair was dyed black.

It wasn’t that he was hiding from us that he was greying. Letting himself go grey openly was rather a personal, introspective project of letting himself be himself without fearing negative judgement, which of course has further psychological implications. But whatever they do, they do it in baby steps. Just because he has his natural hair colour now, it doesn’t mean he has worked out everything that may have been disingenuous in his life or preventing him from being his true self. I don’t think that analogy would work very well in this case.

Don’t forget that they hid perfectly their super conservative Christian background for about 8 years. They came clean about lying for as many or more years about how their first encounter and first years of friendship went down. We did not guess from Link’s typical energetic happy demeanour that his daughter underwent a very serious risky spinal cord surgery until way after it was done successfully. We had no idea Rhett was half blind for about a year until Rhett chose to speak about it after it had healed. Rhett has also confirmed recently that there are things (apparently big) that have happened in his life which he has no intention to ever share whatsoever.

They definitely do lie and they keep a lot of stuff hidden from their audience. (And it’s their right.) My point is, they’re absolutely capable of doing it and will do it, even if they do not enjoy doing it, particularly Link. The hair reference is not a good analogy because there is no comparison to what could be at stake for a hair colour reveal (essentially nothing) and what for other much bigger revelations.

But Link’s whole arc these last two years at least has been that he often calls Rhett out for keeping them both from revealing the truth. The latest example was the “If you openly love something, tell the world, tell the world, tell the world. I like open love. Shameless.”

But once again Rhett acted the fool.

[missielynne]

Not to be anti-Sam because she really is a good person, but the way she consistently prioritizes the ghosts' desires over her husband's needs without any hesitation is kind of weird lol. I mean, she's lucky she happens to be married to the sweetest, best sport in the entire world, because most people would not put up with even a fraction of what Jay does. It's true that Sam inconveniences HERSELF a lot too, but she also gets the advantage of interacting directly with the ghosts. Jay doesn't even get to form real relationships with them yet has to constantly and majorly sacrifice for them, and his wife seems to just take it for granted that he should be willing to immediately do everything and anything for them without complaint. On a different but related note, Alberta declaring that Sam was being selfish last night was just beyond the pale ---by that point Sam and by extension Jay had already done WAY more to help Alberta with this random new love interest than anyone else would! It's one thing when the ghosts expect Sam and again by extension Jay to go out of their way to help with a serious issue involving family member or to resolve a mystery surrounding their death, but the implication that Sam and Jay should blow up their lives to keep Alberta's boy toy around for a little longer is just ridiculous imo. It kind of seems like the ghosts are more selfish and entitled this season overall, but maybe it's just me. I don't mind that they're somewhat self-absorbed---it's to be expected and adds to the comedy---but they seem to be regressing rather than growing! Maybe they're leading up to a narrative where Jay finally puts his foot down and Sam ultimately chooses to side with her husband over placating the ghosts...?!

I definitely think the ghosts are getting way too comfortable with Sam always advocating for them over Jay (and even herself, as you say). You're not being anti-Sam at all, in fact I've thought everything you say myself.

I mean, in a sense, I understand why Sam does what she does: she is a caring person and she has the means to help these people have experiences that will give them richer, fuller afterlives in ways they can't achieve themselves, so naturally she wants to give it a shot for them. And when you put Jay in the mix, Sam is treating him like the ghosts treat her: just assuming that because he's naturally very accomodating, she doesn't have to ask, or be polite, or even accept no as an answer.

I really would like to see Jay take the reins more because unlike Sam, we know he can draw lines with the ghosts and doesn't hesitate to do so. That's another reason why him being able to see them would be so good: not just because of the fun that would come from him being able to see Pete, but also because he could be the muscle or the force when them that Sam seems to be incapable of being. And then that could lead to them both eventually being able to really be on the same team about the ghosts, not just Sam saying do this and Jay saying okay.

As for Alberta...yeah. Her calling Sam selfish was a real slap, you know? I mean again, I get where Alberta is coming from: With Saul, she's finally having a chance to experience a relationship again and it's frustrating that Sam just gets to cut it off. (And I shouldn't have been surprised how much Jay was willing to do but I was, honestly. Go him.)

But naturally, because they don't usually get to see things from Sam's point of view, they can't put themselves in her place. Being dead gives them a very limited world and worldview where they are more having to be helped by Sam instead of equally being in a position to help her also.

(And I think that when it comes to changing that, Alberta could be one of the first to figure things out. I mean remember when she could be heard in the Alexa and got annoyed by everyone asking her to tell Alexa stuff...giving her a moment in Sam's shoes, which she found annoying. I think more moments like that for all the ghosts wouldn't hurt for sure.)