#this is season 1 coded but i guess the whole spying on people thing is more season 2

[starrodent]

@jonmartinweek day 8: martin’s poetry

nosey little shit. also that tiny succulent in the background is my pride and joy and i’m annoyed at myself that i only showed it in one panel

[hopesbarnes]

Black Swan (1)

Summary: Y/N used to be a Russian spy under the code name Black Swan. But that was a lifetime ago, now she’s a part-time avenger, dance teacher, surrogate sister to Natasha Romanoff, and trainer to new Shield Agents. She’s come a long way from the days of killing targets and being tortured. But when someone from her past comes around will she be able to ignore her history anymore? Or will she end up falling in love with the only man her sister ever loved? 

Warnings: None for this chapter  

A/N: Here we go againn! This is a edited form of the story I had posted last year. Taglist is open, send an ask 

“Bucky is going to be staying here,” Steve says at breakfast that morning. In the same nonchalant tone, he used to say “I’m going on a run’. Not the type of tone to use when announcing a dangerous assassin would be your roommate. You knew what he did wasn’t his fault, out of anyone, you understood this. But he killed without blinking, and his brain is scrambled like an egg. This didn’t make the most stable man, and it definitely didn’t make him safe to be around. 

“Steve, is that really a good idea?” Natasha says before you could form the exact same question. 

Natalia was your sister, you’ve known her your whole life. You’re not blood-related but related through things much stronger. The two of you were widows. A KGB experiment that stole girls and trained them to be merciless spies. They took your life away and killed anyone too weak to handle the stress. Natalia and you were the only known survivors. She took on the mantle of Black Widow upon graduation, and you took the mantle, Black Swan. 

“They took out the programming, he’s not the Winter Soldier anymore,” Steve combats with. “He needs help, and I need to be the one to give it.” He turns and leaves the room after this statement, leaving you and Natasha with no room to debate this fact. 

“This is not going to end well” you mumble under your breath, and Nat nods in agreement. Nothing about this screamed ‘good idea’. But then again, they did take in your sister and you. 

After breakfast, you head to the gym with Nat for morning workouts. It was never a crazy exercise, just enough to start the day. You head towards the treadmill, and she speaks first.

 “I remember him.” She admits softly. You knew the conversation was coming, but like hell did you want to avoid it. “Do you?” The ‘training’ you went through involved wiping, so there were spots in your memory that may never be filled. But James wasn’t one of those.

“Yeah, and I remember how you would talk nonstop about him,” you say teasingly. She throws her towel at you and the two of you break into giggles. A sound most people never dream of hearing from the two of you. 

“I was naive then! We were kids,” she says. Kids that never should have gone through what they did. 

“I never liked him,” you declare bluntly taking the goofy tone from the room. She exhales loudly. 

“I know сестренка (sis). What time is it, don’t you have class today?” She says effectively changing the topic. A trademark of hers.

 “It’s at 11, I have two hours and the building is 10 minutes away,” you tell her, even though she knows this information. 

“I still don’t get why you teach all those испорченные дети (spoiled children)” she says. 

“It’s my way of paying back to the society I guess. I might as well use my dancing skills for good for once.” She nods and you both continue running for a little while longer.

You arrive at the studio 15 minutes before class, which is more than enough to set up the barres and find the right CD for the lesson. The girls slowly start trickling in. It was your senior class so the girls are all teenagers. It’s Saturday which means the girls are here all day long. They stretched, ran through barre work, ate lunch, and then learned their choreography the rest of the time. They were part of a competition team, and put their all into dance. It was always refreshing to see such passion and reinvigorated your love for the sport. It may have lead you down a path that took everything, but it still held your heart.

“Alright girls, take off your street clothes. Barres mean leotards and tights only!” You say in an authoritative teacher voice and they all hurriedly shuffle to their assigned spots. You hit the music count “5,6,7,8-” and they begin their pliés. 

Two hours later the class ends and the girls go to their lunch break in a flurry of laughs and gossip. You put the barres back against the wall and join the other teachers for lunch. You’ve been with the studio for close to 5 years now. At first, they were wary of hiring an ex KGB spy, part-time avenger. But there were few people as trained as you, and when word got out that you were teaching, tons of girls signed up for a class with ‘The Black Swan’. Luckily the novelty of your celebrity status wore off with the girls and they stopped asking a hundred questions about the avengers and your past. (They were still obsessed with Natalia though.)

Lunch passes and you’re joined in the room by the girls of your large group. It was the beginning of the season and you had just announced they would be dancing to “Cosmic Love” by Florence and the Machine. They were still giddy with excitement and constantly heard “Miss Y/N Look!” by excited girls showing new ways they could turn or fold in half. The dance would start with three of the girls extending their leg above their head and holding it. You told them the previous week that this week whoever could hold it longest would get to do it in the dance. The girls all got ready before you count down and let them bring their legs up. You hear them all egging each other on and it reminds you of when you were younger before the program.

All but three girls eventually drop their legs and you have to practically shout over their excited squeals. The rest of the time goes by quickly and you have the first part choreographed and the girls seem to have it memorized. You give them all homework to work on their turns and bid them goodbye for the day. Before you can leave two of the girls come up and ask you to choreograph their solos and you agree before shooing them to their parents.

You head back to your apartment in the compound upstate and shower. Your floor consisted of bedrooms for the Nat and you and a shared area in between. There were few people you could tolerate early in the morning and Nat was about the extent of it. You head to the common area upstairs, where everyone gathered.

“The old man give any more information on when he’s bringing him here?” You ask Nat in your native tongue. She’s stretching and watching television. 

“Steve left today. Said they’ll be back Monday,” she replies from the straddle she’s sitting in on the floor. “How was the class?” 

“Good, started choreographing the large group today. They’re all super excited and want better spots in the dance so they’re trying their best right now.” You smile thinking about the girls all trying to see how long they can hold their tilts. “Two of them asked me to do their solos for them, so I’m a little excited too,” You answer.

“Sometimes a part of me misses the tutus and tights. Then I remember what came with them.” She says in a wistful voice.  

“You should come to class with me sometime if you want. I promise they’re not that vile,” you say. “Plus, they’ve been dying to meet you. It’s nothing like our lessons.” 

She smiles and says “Maybe.” You join in her stretching and watch the show with her.  

Later on, Bruce finds the pair of you chatting while sitting in splits.

 “You do know that the body was not designed to bend that way?” he asks. 

“It also wasn’t meant to turn big and green. But here we are.” Tasha quipped back. Bruce pointed as if he was going to refute that, but lowered his hand in defeat instead.

“You hear about the new addition? You ask.

 “Bucky? Yeah, I never met him,” he says, “But at this point what’s another messed up person who could kill everyone!” He laughs.

“How much do you think he’ll remember?” Nat asks. 

“Hard to say. Guess we’ll find out in time.” You and Natasha share a look but go back to talking with Bruce and hope for the best going forward.

Perm Taglist:

@brokenthelovely​ @inkedaztec​ @buckysmischief​ @hailmary-yramliah​ @poppunkdork​ @bythebloodofafangirl​ @gwenvrse​ @momobaby227​ @winterprincess-sky​ @marvelousmrstark​ @starstruckpersonearthquake​ @katshrev​

Black Swan Taglist:

@desimarie12​ @puddinsqueen​ @fogfolk​ @creepylittlemarvelgirl​ @jennmurawski13​ 

[365days365movies]

January 2, 2021: Mission: Impossible (Part 1)

My mission, should I choose to accept it...

YEAH I KNOW IT’S A CLICHÉ. I just wanted to say it once.

So, previously on this blog, I watched the film Top Gun. Also previously, I didn’t like the film Top Gun that much, especially not its main character, Maverick, played by one illustrious Tom Cruise. Goodbye, Maverick. I banish ye from this sacred place, for this is a place where your toxic, arrogant, douchebaggery will NOT stand. 

Instead, we’re gonna jump into a separate Tom Cruise vehicle, one so iconic that he launched a multi-million dollar, 6-movie franchise, and made himself known as an actor who (obsessively) does his own stunts. Which, of course, he likes to let people know, and ramps up with every successive movie. Y’hear that he’s going to space next? Like, real actual space? Don’t know what action’s going to happen there, but call me cautiously intrigued. And by the way, I know that Top Gun: Maverick is coming out this year, and that it’s technically a continuation of the original Top Gun franchise, but as I said...Maverick is no longer allowed here. It’s all Ethan Hunt now.

A few things before I start the recap. First off: did I like this movie? And the answer is...I mean, yeah? I’d like to see more Mission: Impossible movies after this, if I’m honest. I’ve heard that Henry Cavill’s lip is amazing in the most recent one, so call me interested in getting to that point. I mean, that’s 5 movies, and I’m not doing that this month, I tell you what. Still, consider them on my list! As for this movie, let’s get into it. Might help me dissect my feelings a little better.

Second, I should say that Mission: Impossible (the whole series, but especially this film), is loosely based upon the original television series from the 1960s, starring Leonard Nimoy, Peter Graves, Martin Landau, Lesley Ann Warren, and more. It was a spy-series starring members of the Impossible Missions Force, or IMF. Ran for 7 seasons starting in 1966, then was revived in the ‘80s with Peter Graves returning. And, interestingly enough, I’ll have more to say on that later.

Third and finally, I should say my relationship with spy movies. Can’t say I’ve seen a lot of them, in truth, but I have seen the original Sean Connery (RIP) James Bond films, with the exception of Never Say Never Again. Haven’t seen any other Bond films, and any other spy movies that I’ve seen aren’t super notable, in truth. And yeah, I’ve seen the Austin Powers films, but that’s a conversation for a different month.

OK, enough background folderol, let’s get to that impossible mission, shall we? And SPOILERS, by the way.

Recap

OK, so we start with our intrepid spy group mid-mission, interrogating a guy using a fake dead-prostitute, a fake hotel, and a fake face, as seen by Tom Cruise taking off one of the iconic masks from the original show. And while this is clearly enhanced special effects, the original series used real latex rubber masks to accomplish the effect of taking the mask off. I dunno, that seems more charming to me than this:

But call that personal opinion, I guess. Anyway, we cut to Jon Voight...he’s the villain, isn’t he?

I mean, come on, he’s gotta be the villain, it’s Jon Voight in a ‘90s movie, where there are very few big names outside of himself and Cruise. But, I might be wrong about that, as Voight is playing Jim Phelps in this movie, and they wouldn’t turn Jim Phelps, of all characters, into a villain. He’s one of the main characters from the original series, played by Peter Graves. Dude even made it into the sequel series in the ‘80s as the head of IMF, a role which he appears to have taken up here as well. So, OK, I must be mistaken, he’s not gonna be the villain.

Right?

Anyway, after Jim Phelps chooses to accept the mission, the tape self-destructs, and our guys are going to Prague for find proof that some dude is stealing government secrets. We also find out that Phelps (Voight, remember) is married to Claire, played by Emmanuelle Beart, a woman 25 years younger than Voight. Well...sure? Anyway, we set up some nifty gadgets and planned disguises, and we make our way to the mission. And once there, the plan goes off without a hitch. I mean, mostly, anyway. No plan is foolproof after all! So, anyway, everybody’s dead.

Yeah. Wow. Everybody just got MERCED. Emilio Estevez gets crushed by an elevator, Kristin Scott Thomas gets stabbed alongside the suspect (somehow; I don’t understand how and why she doesn’t just walk away when she sees the dude clearly getting stabbed). Ingeborga Dapkunaite gets blown up, Emmanuelle Béart does to, but...off-screen. Hmm. And Voight gets shot...on camera...so that Hunt can see it happen...

It’s them, right? It’s Jim and Claire, the married couple, right? Like...they’re totally the villains of the movie, yeah? Because, like, we don’t see Claire get killed, and Phelps literally gets killed on camera. And the way the gun is pointed at him, CLEARLY looks like he’s shooting himself. It’s even the same suit that he’s wearing, you can see the sleeve! Come ON, man!

But, no, it can’t be that easy, right? This is a spy movie, after all, one of the best! Plus, I’m only, 20 minutes in? It CAN’T BE THAT EASY! And again, they wouldn’t do that to Jim Phelps, arguably the most well-known character from the original series! Right? RIGHT?

I’m just gonna say right now, I’m gonna be so upset if I’m right about this. Anyway...

Well, looks like Ethan’s being framed for the death of his team. Ah. So, it’s this story, huh? The mission was an attempt to root out a mole, and was apparently successful, according to Agent Kittedge (Henry Czerny at his most slimily dickish). Hunt is (very badly) interrogated by Kittredge, who literally only exacerbated the situation with his dumb, dumb interrogation tactics. Yeah, it’s gonna be one of those movies. Anyway, Ethan uses explosive chewing gum to escape, blows up a tank, and kills, just, SO many fish. Aquarists everywhere shivered as it happened, I’m sure.

Hunt goes...back to the safe house? Would...would the IMF not know where their agents are stationed? And you just went...back? Couple that with the fact that Hunt figures out how to contact the mysterious dealer “Max” within about 10 minutes, and IMF officials couldn’t figure that out for 2 YEARS at this point, and...these guys aren’t great spies, are they? So much slipping under their nose, geez. And if Jim actually is the mole, then WOW, these guys are incompetent. Still, outside of suspicion, there isn’t much proof of that yet...

Oh, look. Claire’s alive. Yeah...yeah, I’m calling my shot, it’s Jim and Claire. I don’t care if I’m wrong. In fact, I sincerely hope I am, for multiple reasons. But, yeah, I’m calling it officially now. And yeah, I’m not happy about it.

Anyway, Hunt, being not nearly suspicious enough of Claire’s survival, has indeed cracked the code that the entire IMF couldn’t crack in, again, 2 YEARS up to this point. Max has contacted him through the AIM server boards (Usenet, I know, but it’s the ‘90s; couldn’t resist). Max, played by Vanessa Redgrave in a pleasant surprise, makes a deal with Ethan to get the real list of agents, rather than the decoy that she’s been given. She accepts, as they narrowly escape capture by the IMF, and Ethan agrees to give her the full list for $10 million. And for the record, that set of demands is...VERY specific, on Ethan’s end. Thought about this before, huh, buddy-boy?

Anyway, Claire (who’s definitely guilty) and Ethan recruit two disavowed agents to help them. One is Franz Kreiger, a knife-loving sociopath played by the amazing Jean Reno. The other is Luther Stickell, a slickly-dressed computer hacker charmingly played by Ving Rhames. And I gotta say...I’m into it. Like, these two are both awesome characters, and I’m all for it. Rhames, while visually not looking like you’d expect an IT guy to look, pulls it off really well. He’s potentially my favorite character in the film, behind Max and Kreiger. Because, Kreiger...

So, Leon: The Professional is on my list for this month, and having seen Reno in this movie, I am EXCITED to see a movie in which he’s the star. I’ve only really seen him in this and Godzilla and heard him in Flushed Away, and he’s always my favorite character in those films. Not sure if it’s his characters, or his rakish charm, or his ABSOLUTELY AWESOME voice, but I’m a sucker for some Jean Reno, lemme tell you.

Allllllll right, time for some spy action! Looks like we’re going into Langley to get some information. Not an easy mission, that’s for sure. In fact, some might even say it’s a-

...Yeah, OK. Anyway, the mission proceeds in what may be, and I’m gonna be honest...one of the most heart-poundingly tense and enjoyable sequences I’ve seen in a spy movie. Cruise dangling by a wire over a supposedly break-in-proof room that sets off alarms at even the slightest trigger? Yeah...yeah, that shit was cool, I’m not gonna lie. Kreiger struggling to hold Cruise up, Luther coaching from the comms while awaiting the NOC list on his computers; it’s pretty awesome. No complaints there, 10/10.

OK, let’s break it up into two halves again, yeah? Part 2!

[duhragonball]

‘21

Amidst all the popular hype for seeing the end of 2020, it didn’t hit me until about lunchtime what the real highlight is that I’ve been waiting for: For the first time since 1999, the year finally ends in “numberty-number” again.    It low-key irritated me that we had to call it “two thousand three” and I was relieved when “twenty-thirteen” caught on, but it still wasn’t right because it was too short, and now we’re back in the sweet spot, and I should be safely dead by 2100, so that’s one less thing I gotta deal with.

Really, even “numberty hundred” rings true to me.    “Nineteen hundred” sounds like a year.    “Twenty-one-oh-six” sounds like a futur-y year, which is even cooler.   So did “Two thousand five”, until I was actually living in it, and it sounds even worse now that it was a long time ago and adults will talk about their childhood happening in that year.    Daniel Witwicky would be old enough to get married and grow a fancier beard than me.    That’s nuts.    My point is that, honestly, it’s the year 3000-3019 that I have to worry about, so if I ever decide to go vampire, those will be the years I hide in the ocean or force society to reset the calendar, whichever’s easier.  

I spent New Year’s Eve finishing Superliminal, which I bought on Steam after I watched Vegeta play it on YouTube.  It has a similar look and feel to the Stanley Parable, so if you liked one you’d probably enjoy the other, although Superliminal has a different theme.  I kept hoping I’d find some secret passage that I wasn’t supposed to take, and a narrator would scold me for finding the “Chickenbutt Ending”, but it doesn’t work that way.    Superliminal’s all about puzzles and awesome visuals, but it does have the same soothing design aesthetics as TSP.   Honestly, I enjoyed just wandering around in Stanley’s office, and Superliminal does the same thing with a hotel and several other settings.   It’s nice.

This got me thinking about how I kind of did everything there was to do in The Stanley Parable, and I sort of wished they would add new stuff to the game, but I’m not sure there would be much point to that.    I could play the older version, but it presents the same message, just with different assets.   The Boss’s Office would look different, but it’d be the same game.   And this got me thinking about various “secret chapters” in pop culture.  Secrets behind the cut.

I first heard about this idea in the 2000′s, when fans invented this notion that there was a secret chapter of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.    I read a website that tried to explain the concept, and of course it lauded J.K. Rowling with all this gushing praise for working an Easter egg into the book, a literary work of “well, magic.”  

That pretty well sums up my distaste for Harry Potter, by the way.    These days, JKR has thoroughly crapped all over her reputation and legacy, but in the 2000′s it felt like half the planet was in a mad rush to canonize her as a writing goddess, to the point where fans were congratulating her for writing secret chapters that didn’t actually exist.   The idea was based on lore from the books about Neville Longbottom’s parents.    They were patients in a mental hospital, and he’d go to visit them, and they would give him bubble gum wrappers, intended to demonstrate how far remove they’ve become from reality.   The secret chapter lies in those wrappers, which all read “Droobles Best Blowing Gum” or some such.    What if Neville’s parents were only pretending to be mentally ill, so as to throw off their enemies?   Naturally, they would want to stay in contact with their son, so the bubble gum wrappers would have to contain coded messages.    Said code involves unscrambling the letters on the wrappers to make new words, like “goblin” or “sword” or “Muggle” or “Dumbledore”.    The problem is that you can also use it to make other words like “booger” or “drool” or “booobbiess.”   Play with it enough, and you can make the code say anything you want it to say, which means it’s no code at all.   

But the idea was that the not-yet-published sixth HP book would reveal all of this gum wrapper nonsense, and Neville would decode the messages and discover all of his parents’ super-cool adventures.   I’m not sure why we needed a secret chapter if Book 6 was going to explain all of this anyway in several not-secret chapters, but that was the whole point.   Fans didn’t have Book 6 yet, and they were so desperate to read it that they started trying to extrapolate what would happen next based on “clues” from the previous five.    That’s like trying to figure out what Majin Buu looks like by watching the Androids Saga.   I guess some wiseguy would have guessed that he’d resemble #19, but that’d just be blind luck.  

And when you get down to it, this whole secret chapter business is really just a conspiracy.   This is literally how Qanon works.   Some anonymous jackass posted vague “hints” on an imageboard, and people went goofy trying to interpret them and figure out what would happen in the future.   They call it “research” because they spend a ton of time on this, but there’s no basis to any of it.    It took me a few minutes to figure out that you can spell “Muggle” with the words in “Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum”, but that’s not research and it doesn’t prove anything.   But all these guys keep looking for “Hilary Clinton goes to jail next week” and lo and behold that’s all they ever find.   

In the same vein, the gum wrapper thing was really a complaint disguised as a conspiracy, disguised as a “magical secret chapter”.   At least a few fans wanted to see more Neville in their Harry Potter books, they wanted Neville’s parents, or someone like them, to have cool spy adventures or whatever else.   The point is, they clearly weren’t getting what they wanted out of the printed works, but they didn’t want to turn against their Dear Beloved Author, so they started casting about for an alternative reality, one where J.K. Rowling wrote a cooler story and hid it in the pages of the one that actually went to press.    So instead of just saying “Hey, Order of the Phoenix was kind of a letdown, I hope there’s more ninjas in the next book,” they said “Rowling is a genius because I wanted ninjas and she’s definitely going to give them to me, I have the gum wrappers to prove it.”

The same thing happened all over again when the BBC Sherlock show took a turn for the nonsensical.    I don’t know from BBC Sherlock, but I watched the fascinating video critique by Hbomberguy, and it sounds like the show did tons of plot twists until it stopped making sense altogether in the fourth season.    If you skip to 1:09:00 in the video, you’ll hear about fan theories that suggested that season four was supposed to be crappy, as part of a secret meta-narrative plan that would be paid off in a secret, unannounced episode that would not only explain everything, but retroactively justify the crappy episodes that came before.    But it’s been a few years and it never came to pass, so I think we can call this myth busted. 

Most recently, I think we’ve all seen a lot of talk about the final season of Supernatural, where I guess Destiel sort of became canon but only one guy does the love confession and the other doesn’t respond.   But I guess he does say “I love you too”  in the Spanish dub, which means the English language version was edited for whatever reason.    It’s not exactly a secret episode, but the implication is that there’s more to this than what made it to the screen.    So the questions turn to what the screenplay said, what the writers and actors wanted to do, etc. etc.    My general impression is that SPN fans are a bit more used to crushing disappointment, so they’re not quite as delusional about this show being unquestionable genius, like Sherlock and Harry Potter.     Maybe this is an Anglophile thing?   Like, if you suck at something with a British accent, people will accept it more unconditionally?   

I had seen something on Twitter about how there should have been a secret Seinfeld episode in the 90′s.    Someone suggested it at the time, they tape a whole episode, then wait until 2020 to air it, because by then it would be worth a fortune.    But they didn’t do it, because it costs a lot of money to make a TV episode, and if you don’t air the show right away, you aren’t making that money back any time soon.    Yeah, you might recoup a fortune someday, but Seinfeld was making a ton of money then.    It exposes the fannish nature of the idea.    A fan would love to discover a cool secret chapter, but a content creator isn’t necessarily keen on making a cool thing and then hiding it where few people would find it.  

I thought about doing this myself recently.   Maybe Supernatural gave me the bug, but I thought “I’m writing this big-ass story, so what if I wrote me a secret chapter for it?   Wouldn’t that be cool?”     But no, it wouldn’t be cool, because it’d be the same work as writing a regular chapter, and the same stress I feel when I hold off on publishing it.    Except I’d just never publish it, I’d put it in some secret hole on the internet and hope that some superfan who might not even exist can decode whatever clues I leave.  

I mean, it’d be awesome if it got discovered and everyone loved it.    “Hey, I found this hidden chapter!   Mike’s done it again!”   And I could bask in the glory.   But what if no one finds it?  Then I just wasted my time, right?   I want people to read my work.   My monkey brain needs the sweet, sweet validation of those kudos and comments, folks.   Once I realized that, I understood why no one else would want to do a secret chapter either.    Easter eggs are one thing, but the bigger bonus features they put on DVDs were pretty easy to find, and with good reason.

I think that’s what made the Stanley Parable so appealing to play, because it teases you with the idea that you can “break” the game and find some extra content that you weren’t supposed to see, but as you go exploring all those hidden areas, it gradually becomes clear that this is just part of the game; you were meant to find all these things, and that’s why they were put here.      It’s hidden, but he secret aspect of it is just pretend.   

I suppose that what I like about games like TSP and Superliminal is the illusion of secrets more than the secrets themselves.    I like roaming through the hallways, having no idea what I might find ahead.    I kind of wish I could open all the doors, and not just the ones the game designers put stuff behind, but the reality is that there’s nothing on the other side.    I used a cheat code once  to explore the unused doors in TSP and it’s just a bright white field on the other side.   Interesting to look at, but not much of a reveal.   Honestly, the doors themselves are more appealing than anything that could lay behind them.  

And that’s probably what makes secrets so fun.   They could be almost anything, but once you open the present, the number of possibilities drops to one.   If they had ever made that Secret BBC Sherlock Episode, I doubt it would have lived up to expectations, but fans could amuse themselves by imagining what could have been in it.    In the end, though, things usually don’t justify the hype.  For every Undertaker debut at Survivor Series 1990, there’s a Gobbledygooker debut at Survivor Series 1990.   It’s impossible to manufacture a secret with a guaranteed payoff.   

[clarkgriffon]

An Overly Long Analysis of Harper McIntyre that No One Asked For

So... I love Harper McIntyre. You all might be aware, if you know I attempted giffing every scene she has been in. And I just had the sudden urge to express why in a bunch of word vomit. Harper is one of the few side characters that The 100 really has excelled with. And The 100 does have a good amount of interesting side characters, but I think with the amount of characters they have, it’s hit and miss. And I mean really side characters, not mains who kind of feel like side characters, such as Jasper and Monty. But really side characters.

Some side characters are just sort of there, around all the time, but never really developed, ala Jackson. Some kind of just feel like a plot device, ala Gaia in S4, or Gustus/Titus in S2/3. But sometimes, The 100 hits the nail on the head with a side character, and I feel like Harper is one of those, alongside Miller, Roan, Luna, and Indra. (If you’re wondering why I didn’t list Emori- even though Luisa isn’t technically maincast, Emori has had enough screentime she’s truly felt like a main to me since S3.)

But back to Harper. In Season 1, she’s nothing remarkable, and I don’t expect her to be. There are a lot of delinquents, that’s the whole premise of S1, and she’s one of them. However, she does stand out from the others, because unlike say Mbege or Monroe, she does have a further purpose: she’s there to showcase Jasper’s change. That’s her role in 1x10, and it continues to follow her into S2.

In Season 2, Harper gets a boost in screentime because as soon as Clarke leaves the Mountain, Jasper and Monty become the main characters of the Mountain storyline, and in turn, Miller and Harper get boosted to Jasper and Monty’s slots. Harper and Miller in Season 2 are to Jasper and Monty in Season 1. Whenever we look into the Mountain, we’re focused on either Jasper, Monty, or the two of them convening with Harper and Miller. Harper undergoes a lot of trauma this season- she’s the first one abducted to be drilled. But this does lead to another shift. Though she does mirror S1 a lot in that her screen time is often centered around Jasper, her relationships grow to, you guessed it, Miller and Monty, which in turns foreshadows her relationships in Season 3. We get the beginnings of Monty and Harper’s relationship, though small, in them being the first two abducted together. Even at the end of Season 2, Harper’s last appearances still focus on Jasper, but we’re about to see that change in Season 3.

In Season 3, we finally get Harper breaking away from the Jasper storyline. I’ve always had a hard time picking between S3 Harper and S4 Harper for my favorite, and I used to say S4, but I think right now, my opinion is that S3 Harper is the best Harper season. She comes back from Mount Weather with all this trauma, as mentioned, and instead of let it feed her fear, she uses it to fight for justice. The Pike storyline revolves a lot around fear and being scared of the “other,” which is the theme in The 100 a lot. But in S2, Harper was the other. Being drilled in Mount Weather for bone marrow alongside the grounders because to Mount Weather, they were the outsiders, the other, and Harper won’t let that injustice happen to anybody else. 

At the end of 3x04, Harper yields to Bellamy when he gives her and Monroe a line alongs the lines of “I’ve never done you wrong before, trust me.” And then the massacre happens, and that’s when Harper really turns around. She joins the Rebel Squad with Kane and Miller. That S2 development, of course, flaring here as we see her and Miller bond. And much like S2, she’s boosted due to the fact that Bellamy and Monty are on Pike’s side; they need people to oppose that, so she and Miller get another season of good screentime. 

Although I love Marper in S2, I do believe it was only intentionally romantic from the beginning of S3 on the writers’ parts. And it’s foreshadowed well, too. We see the counterpart in Miller/Bryan and Harper/Monty, where the people they care about most are on the other side. There’s a major moment where Harper sasses, “Does your mom know you’re here, Monty?” and later in that episode, Monty recognizes her voice on the radio, but doesn’t rat her out. So, as sudden as their relationship feels in 3B, it’s also not a surprise at all.

In Season 4, we see Harper undergo her big, emotional struggle in leaving the man in the rain, and dealing with depression as the end of the world nears. I will say, I think the motivation here is a little weak and forced, and I’m not sure this storyline was originally written for her (I think it was written for Bryan). But Chelsey plays it beautifully, and it does build on all her past experience, as I keep pointing out, Harper’s storylines always do. They build. S2 builds on S1, S3 builds on S2, and S4 build on everything before it. Harper remains so strong in S3, but she can’t fight anymore. There’s nothing to fight- the world is ending, and there’s nothing she can do. Harper’s character is consistently a do-er, a soldier, a spy, whatever she is, she’s working to overcome, and suddenly there’s an obstacle she can’t do anything about. Even though the expressed motivation in show is weak, I actually like how they handle Harper’s depression arc and particularly, how she overcomes it. How she decides that life is worth it, and this immensely foreshadows S5.

I’m a little peeved at S5, I’ll admit. It’s my least favorite season, and it’s definitely sparse on Harper content. She’s relegated to the background as “Monty’s Love Interest” for a lot of it, but in the moments she does get to shine, she’s persisting with that message that she finds in S4. There are things to live for, and then she goes a step further to- Let’s make life worth living. As we know from S3, Harper’s always lived by a moral code, and alongside Monty’s values in S5 and Jasper’s legacy, they decide to live life and to make life worth living by doing it on their own terms with their own values. I couldn’t have asked for a better end for Harper than the one she got. It was beautifully fitting and unlike most endings in The 100, happy, although bittersweet.

So, what was the point of all this? I don’t know. Maybe just that Harper is amazing and All That because her storyline makes sense, the motivations are developed and every part of her journey leads to the next part. Maybe the point is just that I fucking love Harper McIntyre. Either way, she’s an amazing character and all of this deserved to be said.

[kinetic-elaboration]

April 25: Thoughts on The 100 2x10

Twenty years later, I return with Ep. 2x10: Survival of the Fittest.

This commentary is NOT pro-Grounder or pro-Lxa.

I last watched in January and I have literally no idea what’s happening lol. I mean, I do because I’ve seen the whole thing enough times but still. Like specifically.

One of Netflix’s warnings for this show is “fear.” I CANNOT.

The idea of Arkers and Grounders perhaps meeting in certain ways pre-canon is interesting (the suicide by earth idea) but then the story just becomes one of yet more Mindless Grounder Brutality and I get bored. Like I’m sorry this is truly the most boring civilization ever imagined and I cannot believe we’ve been asked to care more and more about them with each passing season.

The lost possibilities of Bellamy & Lincoln. Also of Lincoln, in general? Someone who tried so hard to be something other than what he was taught to be.

Also, his story is basically confirmation that he became obsessed with Octavia because he was illegally spying on the cool Sky People and then ran into a Pretty Girl and that was just that on that.

The underworld. They’re not subtle.

Mmm-mmm my favorite set. Indra looking badass as per usual, giving her warriors a pep talk. And Kane with friendship heart eyes like “I’ve found my new BFF!!” (This is truly how I read the expression on his face.)

“Only our Guards are armed here.” Lol okay but does anyone really believe Indra travels with ONLY two knives on her person?

I’m generally a Jaha apologist but I cannot stand him in S2, primarily because his whole thing is based around him caring about “the Grounders’ land” in this realllllly awkward native peoples parallel, as if this was supposed to make him sympathetic when (1) there is literally no evidence at all that the Sky People occupied Grounder land in s1 or are occupying it in s2 and (2) he is advocating abandoning the main characters to death, the main characters are a bunch of teens, and literally no one calls him out on how disgusting that is. The only thing he’s right about is that the Grounders are terrible and Kane’s boner for them is ridiculous, but still.

Is there a Grounder named Michael? Lol.

“My shock baton’s got your back” probably isn’t intended as wildly inappropriate adult man hits on teen girl flirting but........ I dunno how else to read it.

Murphy > Grounder I said what I said.

That woman in the background of the fight with her eyes wide like ‘oh heavens! oh my!’

Kane’s here trying to be like stern dad keeps his kids in line for the sake of peace and Indra and the rest of the Grounders are like... fucking crickets. So ridiculous. So immature. Keep your own bitches in line Indra.

I completely forgot that Mountain had multiple airlocks and thus just, you know, opening the doors wouldn’t do anything. Makes sense, I’m just dumb.

Clarke > All Grounders and seeing her show respect to Lxa or anyone, even if it makes sense in context, just irritates me.

Clarke: *gives several very good reasons why sending large numbers of Grounder warriors into the Mountain will do literally nothing but lead to more casualties.* Grounders: *raaaaa I hate being told no, let’s just attack!!! ATTACK!*

“He shouldn’t have attacked my ship.” Honestly I think part of why S2 Clarke is my favorite is because I really identify with her, surrounded by idiots, just doing her best to get fucking anything done and done right.

“You’re very brave under the Commander’s protection, aren’t you?” DUDE. DUDE. You literally just reminded everyone that this five foot tall blonde teenage girl roasted your brother and several hundred others alive and you think the commander’s protection is why she’s brave? She’s brave because she’s smarter and tougher than you, duh.

And after all this Lxa’s like “Quint’s right.” Um he’s truly not though??? Ugh, the stupidity irritates me.

“Hook up” for “alliance” I am DYING.

Kane is absolutely the worst faux-father figure. Encouraging Octavia to get her ass kicked by idiots who are training for no reason...

And then this bitch (Quint) tries to kill Clarke as if that were even remotely a good idea... what if you were successful? What then? Lxa would torture you for like 100 days and then kill you start thinking things through.

I miss Byrne in that she was annoying but at least had, like, a perspective and purpose, BUT that was a cool death scene. A good sort of shock.

“Work detail” is such an odd phrase, like... one would think....everyone works?? It seems to be code for “mop some floors.”

I’m gonna be honest, the search for the CoL was the clear weak point of S2 for me but Murphy & Jaha are an interesting pair to share screen time.

Murphy: hesitates to accompany Jaha to Wells’s grave until he sees the possibility of getting a firearm of his own, then falls in love. You had me at ‘can hold a gun!’

They really are wasting bullets. Those are...kinda a finite resource? Also you’d think that these literal members of the Guard (based on their jackets) already know how guns work.

Kane really is devoted to this I’m Your Daddy thing, huh? “Look at me, shooting this gun, I’m so cool--don’t you want to be cool like me? I can teach you.” (And O in the back sharpening her sword like she knows what she’s doing.)

I don’t get how Mount Weather could influence Grounder legend given that they’ve known about Grounders for less than a generation, and they tend to destroy anyone they capture, not, like, release them back into their villages? Cool idea though!

Octavia, the secret weapon, exploitable by both sides because she knows both sides, is an interesting path SOMEone at SOME point should have gone down, or should go down, like in fic. Just putting that out there.

See, literally, what did I say? Quint does not even succeed in killing Clarke and he’s sentenced to death in 0.5 seconds. You gotta think ahead man!!

Lol I’ve seen this how many times and only now am I hearing that the word “Pauna” (which I’ve also been mispronouncing) is in fact in the episode. I always thought that was extra-canonical.

Pretty hilarious that Clarke, attempting to run away from the Irradiated Gorilla, leads everyone right to...the home of the Irradiated Gorilla. AKA the National Zoo.

Look the only thing I really have to say about this entire story line is that it’s pretty clearly only here to make sure Clarke, the main character, has something to do in an episode that isn’t really about her, like it’s straight up Filler just like the Bellamy Scales a Cliff episode, and it’s dorky and laughable and awful CGI and I get that--but I still maintain that the concept of “animals from the zoo survived and are still out there in mutated form” is cool and we should do more with that, as a fandom.

Also....moose? How’d that get there??

“Leave me” Lexa says, as if it weren’t incredibly easy for Clarke to save her. Like...why do you give up so easy all the time??? Grounders are weak. The slightest thing happens and it’s either “Time to kill you” or “Time to die.”

Murphy, unimpressed by the beauty of Earth.

Completely forgot that elder Murphy’s name was Alex. Put that one in my back pocket.

This Jaha and Murphy scene at Wells’s grave is the best of a fairly lackluster episode. “Clarke sugar-coated it for you, didn’t she?” “Good can come out of even the darkest acts, John.” “Camp You is that way.”

(Also...when did Clarke get a chance to talk to him? Was this over video in S1? I guess it must have been since she’s been busy in S2.)

When Kane lets Octavia fight the Grounder he is 100% doing it for himself and the alliance. He’s using her.

And somehow this is the ONLY time Octavia lost a fight. I wish the show had acknowledged more, as it does here, that tenacity is a great virtue but it’s not the only virtue. Also the Grounders truly are canonically terrible at what they do.

My favorite O characterization is when she’s just a blank slate for people to write on because she never was able to create a personality for herself. Because I think it’s the most true to her backstory, which seems only intermittently relevant imho. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” “I would like to be stronger,” hence “I shall get beaten up.”

*Sings* Lxa is a terrible leaaaaaader!!! Getting all up in Clarke’s head trying to tell her that caring about not constantly killing people is..............somehow.....................bad??? Lol.

This scene here where Lxa provides the groundwork for the Ai-in-Commanders thing, is probably where the show began its downhill slide. Don’t get me wrong, I love S2 as a whole--most of this nonsense didn’t really come up until S3--and S3 itself has good ideas, including the AI thing, but they were just realized so badly...... Makes me sad. We could have had so much more!

“Don’t be afraid, death is not the end,” is like......the least helpful thing to say. Yet again, Clarke uses her brain and figures out an actual plan, as opposed to “die heroically” which is really all the supposedly genius Lxa ever has. “Die heroically” or “Save own ass at others’ expense I said what I said.

I’m so salty.... I can’t even believe myself.

I enjoy the Indra and Octavia relationship.

So I’m going to say that I always assumed, and still basically assume, that the reason Indra chose Octavia for a second is that she really did think there was something special in her when she saw her fight. Like that’s all. Just like she would with a Grounder kid who wanted to be a warrior. But I think it would be interesting if she’s thinking just as Kane is: that Octavia is a useful bridge between the two peoples, that perhaps, she could get something from her. (Counter spy?)

“No one gives anything without expecting something in return.” Early John Murphy philosophy synthesized.

What the fuck is Jaha eating? Little...food pellets.

It’s true that he’s being cynical but it’s ALSO true that Jaha is withholding important truth from him and ultimately, arguably, using him.

“You didn’t give a damn about us. You still don’t, that’s why you’re not fighting for this kids in Mount Weather.” SOMEONE FINALLY SAID IT. THANK YOU MURPHY. MVP of this ep.

“I was pardoned, slate wiped clean, I’m still treated like dirt.” The treatise of the Ark AU thanks.

More patented Murphy nose rubbing.

Murphy and Raven, both pulled in, to some degree, by cultists.

Murphy and Octavia, both manipulated by more powerful adults for their own ends.

Jaha is so... he has all these peace and love, everyone is accepted, nice ideas and beliefs and faith, but he also does not care at all about sacrificing a few here and there. He may remember Alex Murphy but he doesn’t really care, he’s not really haunted. Remembering is like a courtesy. He may miss his son but he still ultimately believes, even hearing how utterly stupid Wells’s death was, that it was worth it for some unknown greater good. And he’s willing to give up on people who aren’t even dead yet, just write them off as an acceptable loss, even though they’re his people and a subset of his people to whom he owes a particular debt, and still consider this sacrifice, not even yet made, to be worth it for this bigger plan. There are a lot of things I respect about Jaha as a leader, and surely in a universe of terrible leaders he is not the worst, but this is his fatal flaw, what keeps him from being good. Real leaders do accept that losses will happen, as Lxa says, but they don’t seek out losses and they don’t merely catalogue them and then move on. They feel them, and accept responsibility for them, and carry them forward.

No I am not talking about Clarke, although within this universe, she comes closer to the ideal.

The story line with Lincoln, Bellamy, and the Reapers is like nightmare fuel if I think about it too much.

Indra, with the tiniest slice of meat possible on a huge plate: “Eat! Get strong!”

Kane, trying to be sexy and seduce a new friend: “Thank you.”

Kane and Octavia are talking and Indra is just in the background, sitting on a tree stump, brooding in the most photogenic way possible, very ‘google earth, always taking pictures’ of her.

I’m sorry but I can’t stop seeing Kane’s whole demeanor in literally every scene of this episode as like “Attempted Daddy.” Not in the paternal sense.

“You’re asking me to be a spy?” / “I’m asking you.......... yes, to be a spy, that’s exactly it.”

Objectively ridiculous for Octavia to think the Grounders are her people but, I get it, she’s desperate for people of some sort.

“There’s a million ways to die out there” should have been the title of the series. More accurate than “The 100.”

“If it’s not your time than nothing can kill you” IS everything infuriating about Jaha in one line. Saying ‘it’s just what was meant to be’ is a pretty easy way to avoid responsibility for anything, ever, and it’s extra sketchy from someone who, as a leader, knows or should know that his actions have consequences for other people, sometimes life or death ones. I mean...everyone but he and Murphy did die searching for the CoL.

We REALLY need more fic that utilizes Jaha as a weird guru type.

“You wanna stop being treated like a criminal then you have to stop thinking that that’s all you are.”

Here, Clarke comes up with yet another smart idea. How many is that in one episode? She’s too smart, guys, just too smart.

That said, the first time I watched this ep with my mom (the second time in general for me, the first time for her), when Clarke explained her ‘release the Grounder prisoners’ plan, she was like “...Duh? I thought that was already the plan? Isn’t that what Bellamy was going in there to do?” Basically most people on the show < Clarke < my mom.

The tragedy of Lincoln’s addiction story line really does get to me.

I’m a little insulted on Bellamy’s behalf that he was marked Harvest lol.

I just watched the episode and I heard them explain their plan... but I still don’t really see how it was going to work. Like just... cause chaos and let Bellamy run inside? Kind of feel like someone would have caught him at some point, and also--doesn’t that run a significant chance of getting Lincoln killed? Oh well. It all works out eventually. Mostly.

Anyway, not the greatest episode, but it had its moments. The Jaha and Murphy story line was good, and I actually enjoyed the Octavia, Kane, and Indra stuff more than I thought or remembered. But it’s always kind of a bummer when one or both mains get lackluster filler plots--and in this case it really was both--I mean, Bellamy’s was important, but it wasn’t very long. And none of my faves: no Mount Weather, no Jasper and Monty, no Raven.

It still fucks me up that Liz Phair wrote music for this show.

[odanurr87]

Watching Voltron Season 3

Welcome to another epic instalment of Watching Voltron! Today, we’re watching Season 3 of the Legendary Defender. I already watched and commented Season 4 in case this post would be better served by commenting both seasons as a whole rather than separate. I was surprised to find that the last episode of Season 3, “The Legend Begins,” does work like a sort of season, or mid-season, finale. It’s a brief interlude, recounting the tale of the original Voltron paladins, before we’re back to the action with Season 4′s, “Code of Honor.” There’s a noticeable time skip between the two episodes and, more importantly perhaps, a shift in the way Team Voltron is working, that mark a clear separation between the two seasons, even if there is an overarching plot linking the two together.

Before we dive into it, I’ll leave you the links to my other Voltron reviews and commentaries:

Voltron Season 1 Review

Voltron Season 2 Commentary

Voltron Season 7 Commentary (yes, I have noticed the gap)

There we go. Now it’s time to watch Season 3 of Voltron: Legendary Defender!

Episode 301: Changing of the Guard

“We can’t always put the fate of the universe in the hands of a giant weapon.” Agreed.

Teamwork! Our Paladins are getting better.

Oh, I forgot, Lance still hasn’t grown up.

“The universe needs Voltron.” Not right now it doesn’t.

Lance standing up for Kolivan? I’m impressed.

You could’ve easily lied and said the lions were liberating other planets. It’s probably half right.

This season we’re getting Pidge’s brother back. Got it. (next season but so close!)

Don’t be an asshole, Keith. You were making such good progress last season.

Finding a new Black Paladin isn’t the same as giving up on Shiro.

Introducing new villains.

Why do they keep asking about Voltron? They’ve seen the lions, haven’t they?

Nice going, Keith. You just blew it.

I hate to bring this up again, but, seriously, this is supposed to be our mighty leader? Someone who can barely control his temper?

Badass villain introduction scene?

A conspiracy’s brewing.

What, does Lotor have Superman’s hearing now? I don’t like him already.

I’m skipping this. It’s obvious who’s winning the fight.

Meet evil Team Voltron.

Oh, so Lotor’s evil? Who knew? #sarcasm

Leave it to Lance to start the conversation.

Episode 302: Red Paladin

Surely calling for help would’ve been the first thing to do, right?

Oh, god, it’s Kuvira all over again. This is gonna be painful to watch.

“Keith would be the worst leader of Voltron.” I have to agree, we’ve seen nothing to show us otherwise. Won’t stop the show from making him the leader though.

“And Lance is the goofball.” How long are you going to keep this up, show?

It’s about time Allura joined Team Voltron!

“Keith, stat, make me a sandwich. I’m the leader now!” Hunk’s trial was the best!

“This is your moment.” That’s precisely why you’re not fit to be the leader at this time, Lance.

Yup, the Black Lion chooses Keith. Shocker. You could’ve at least set him up better in previous seasons. Whatever.

At least Keith is willing to admit it. Gotta give him props for that.

Wow, that was rather wise and accepting coming from Lance. In fact, I could picture Shiro saying the exact same thing. There’s leader material somewhere in there!

No takers for Red?

Admiral Ackbar said it best, “It’s a trap!”

Blue’s not responding? I think I know why.

“No way. Keith probably trained it to bite my head off.” I chuckled.

The first of several parallels between Lance and King Alfor.

Lance got the hang of Red pretty fast.

Allura joins the fight!

“Sometimes what we want isn’t necessarily what we get.” Someone’s giving Lance some great lines this season.

“This is how I lead.” By totally blindsiding your teammates?

Episode 303: The Hunted

No, Hunk, attacking right now is a decidedly bad idea.

A single fighter against all five lions. I guess it’s time to show how badass Lotor is. I’m rolling my eyes.

“Everyone stay out of my way.” Great leadership.

Now the enemy knows you can’t form Voltron. Happy now, Keith?

I know I’m getting ahead of myself but, how could anyone trust Lotor after pulling this shit?

There’s only so many times I can bring up Keith being reckless and a bad leader.

Lance’s back to being the rational one.

The explosions damage the lions but not Lotor’s ship? Okay.

About time you recognized you screwed up. I’m liking the Keith-Lance dynamic here.

“What would Lance do?” I don’t think that’s the right question to ask.

“The universe depends on me.” Whoa, slow down there.

“Someone’s learning.” Someone’s a little full of himself.

Voltron’s back, baby!

All that he’s missing is an evil moustache.

Episode 304: Hole in the Sky

Well, considering you learned in the previous season that Haggar’s Altean, I’d say it’s certain you and Coran are not the last Alteans.

Why not try tugging it out of that hole first?

First, the fact that a distress call was triggered doesn’t mean someone’s alive on that ship. Second, I can’t believe Keith is going all prudent on me, but I agree, this is probably a trap.

“I’ll do it myself if I have to.” Who’s being reckless now, huh?

Hang on, hang on. They’re only now realizing this “wormhole” connects to a different universe? Did they fail to see the other half of the ship wasn’t there when they crossed?

Alternate realities! This is shaping up to be an interesting one.

Couldn’t you have told them Alteans are evil in this reality?

Do we really need to have Lotor and his cronies every single episode?

Lotor wants to create his own Voltron. Got it.

Altea’s rule, huh? That doesn’t sound good.

The hoktril. Need any more evidence?

Someone needs Allura as a puppet head. (getting the ship moving works too, but I’d have preferred if they’d tried to convince her to impersonate Empress Allura)

The Alteans’ true colors revealed at last. Muahahaha!

Remember when Allura gets tricked by Lotor later in the series? Someone should’ve made her rewatch this episode.

Steal the comet? Why not blow up the ship? Who wants to bet the episode ends with Lotor getting his hands on that comet? This is so predictable it’s boring.

What did I say? Boring. None of Lotor’s victories have been earned, it’s like he’s getting a free pass to the season finale.

Episode 305: The Journey

Is that you, Shiro?

Something’s wrong here.

What are you remembering?

Oh, so they let him go. Trap anyone? I wonder if these guys are working for Haggar and not Lotor.

Well, looks like stage three of Operation Kuron was short lived.

Lucky that’s water and it isn’t poisonous.

Looks like there’s a lot of people invested in Operation Kuron not failing.

Subject Y0XT39, huh? You mean there were more of him?

That anomaly is probably the guy sent to spy on Lotor, right? Figures.

Self-destruct?

Oh, so this episode takes place at the same time Episode 3 does?

He didn’t get to Voltron in time. Not quite what I’ve come to expect from this show.

They found him in the end though.

That ending was… odd?

Episode 306: Tailing a Comet

Lance has a sniper rifle now.

I’d say Allura’s way past learning to use her bayard.

Black Lion’s ability to teleport? Why would it teleport its pilot away from it?

Shiro’s back. Wait, weird headache? I suspect foul play!

Shiro took command awfully fast.

I know this scene, I’ve talked about it before. Lance is willing to give up his spot on Voltron for the good of the team. An unexpectedly selfless gesture on his part.

Uncomfortable moment for Shiro and Keith. I feel bad for Keith, he only led Team Voltron for two episodes and now he’s out.

Civil war!

Keith is being the bigger man here. I feel it was Shiro’s place to stay put.

The Black Lion isn’t recognizing Shiro. The plot thickens.

Oh, it’s that guy again.

I don’t get it. Why is Lotor infiltrating a base under his command? Didn’t he have the comet already?

They’re after the teludav?

He made a ship out of the comet? A prototype?

So this is one of Haggar’s bases. Got it.

Remember what happened the last time you tried to go after Lotor, Keith.

It was Acxa alright.

Keith’s learning teleportation, nice!

Why didn’t they blow up the fighter while they had the chance?

It’s too quick for Voltron? Okay.

Well, it’s easier to destroy the cargo ship, right?

Is Lotor tapping into their communications that he knows what they’re going to do?

Good one, Keith!

Episode 307: The Legend Begins

Are we getting a flashback episode?

Flashback episode!

So Alfor was the Lance of the group? That is... interesting.

Zarkon meets his wife. Also, he was scared of a cat. Just saying.

Yes, pursuing knowledge is good but nothing says you can’t be prudent about it. What am I saying, this is Haggar we’re talking about.

Looks like someone screwed up.

No doubt about it, King Alfor had style!

What if the lions hadn’t chosen any of them? That would’ve been quite the predicament.

Oh, so when Alfor built these lions he didn’t know they could turn into Voltron? Guess there’s precedent for the Atlas then. Damn.

That’s it? One punch and it’s down? These paladins had it easy!

Not so fast!

Thus begins the rift and Zarkon’s turn to the dark side.

Yeah, yeah, and what else did they discover while Voltron was protecting the universe?

Daibazaal is about to pull a Krypton.

Alfor should’ve probably blasted the thing with his lion then and there.

Something tells me Zarkon is not being straight with the paladins.

How did Alfor send away the Black Lion? Did he shortly become his paladin, like Keith?

It kinda works as a season finale, doesn’t it? Hmm, perhaps more of a mid-season finale.

Closing Thoughts

Not much to say other than that I feel Lotor is not as good a villain as Zarkon was in previous seasons. Like I said in my commentary, Lotor’s victories are unearned most of the time and, naturally, he’s good at everything: fighter and melee combat, strategy and tactics, alchemy, etc. He can anticipate anyone and has planned for everything. In other words, he’s so perfect right off the bat he’s boring. Zarkon may be an archetype, true, but at least he’s an archetype done right. The only new villain I could kind of get invested in was Acxa, given her previous interaction with Team Voltron and her restraint when facing her enemies, unlike her partners. Having said that, evil Team Voltron didn’t do it for me.

Beyond that, Lance unexpectedly comes to terms rather easily with the idea of Keith leading the team, going so far as to encourage him to accept the Black Lion’s choice. Despite a catastrophic first mission as leader of Voltron, Keith eventually recognizes he messed up in a heartfelt conversation with Lance, and becomes more prudent as a result, slowly growing into his leadership role. Sadly, that’s all out the window come Season 4, but that’s a story for another post.

Having read that Shiro’s quick return was mandated by the show’s executives, I didn’t expect it to be nearly as good as it was. Even though it didn’t feature Voltron or the paladins, it was an entertaining episode overall, hinting at a bigger mystery left to unravel. However, it’s unfortunate since Shiro’s return cuts short Keith’s growth as the team leader, a fact the writers decided to double down on in Season 4. I was honestly looking forward to seeing Keith and Lance settle into their roles as leader and second-in-command, and how their relationship evolved as a result.

Going back to the past with the last episode was a fitting choice to end the season, all things considered. While not as good as The Legend of Korra’s “Beginnings” two-parter (few episodes can be), “The Legend Begins” serves the same purpose by exploring the origins of Voltron, the rise of the Paladins, and the tragedy of Zarkon and Honerva (Haggar). I must say it’s impressive how deftly it achieves this over the span of 20 minutes, though I’ll admit I found Honerva’s radical transformation a little harder to swallow than Zarkon’s.

Not a half-bad season all in all, but still not as tight as Season 1. Also, I’ve only just noticed, was there less humour this time around? Could be, could be, and that’s not bad at all in my book. See you around in Season 4!

[antthonystark]

Hi sorry to bother you but at this point do you think Alec's greatest fault is that he doesn't trust his instincts?

i feel like “greatest flaw” is kind of subjective, and also dependent on the situation that he’s in, if that makes sense?

but, regardless, i don’t know if i would say his lack of trust in his instincts is his biggest flaw, but something slightly different, which is better described as an adherence to authority even despite his instincts or better judgment - and by authority, i don’t necessarily mean just, like, the inquisitor or maryse, but rather being generally “lawful” to a fault - even if there’s nobody explicitly giving the orders, even if it comes from his own self and the standards he perceives himself to have to fulfill as he learned growing up in the society he did.

you can see him start to develop out of this in terms of his personal life/relationships/family etc. in season 2, which wasn’t at all the case in s1, leading to the whole wedding storyline for him (as he adhered to the idea of family honour above personal fulfillment even though there was a part of him that knew it wasn’t the right thing to do). so it’s not necessarily any strict authority, but rather an internal code that he has forced himself to follow.

and not only that, but also the more typical sense of the word “authority” which in alec’s case would largely be the clave. like in s1, alec followed the letter of the law without a lot of external pressure such as in 1x09-1x11, genuinely thinking that that was what was best for him and his family and really the shadow world in general – even if it maybe didn’t feel quite right to him on a moral level. but i don’t think it came out of a lack of trust in his own instincts, but more so the high value that he places on values of obedience and adherence to authority, sometimes over his own personal feelings and - at times - moral judgments. like even if he feels that something is morally wrong, e.g. torturing meliorn, he’s more likely than other characters to look to following the rules as the ‘greater good’ that justifies it. but, as we saw with things like his confrontation with aldertree, he seems to be growing out of it. but even so, alec is not (or at least not yet) a “fuck the system” kind of guy - he largely tends to work within the system, like even when he confronted aldertree, he did it when he knew there was a way to officially delegitimize him, rather than the jace/clary style of “fuck you fuck the system im gonna do what i want”. whether that last part is a flaw of alec’s or not is probably pretty subjective though, and depends on the situation. i guess he has a trust and respect for the status quo and letter of the law that in many situations - considering the clave’s moral corruption - might pose a problem.  

THAT BEING SAID, in 2x12, though, i feel like people are putting too much of the onus on alec’s inherent flaws (dont get me wrong there are many), and less on the extremely complex and confusing situation at hand. i don’t really think it was a case of “if alec had followed his gut instead of listening to jace/imogen he could have saved magnus sooner” but it was just a really hard situation, and i’m not sure if he would have, regardless of what jace said to him. regardless of outside influence, alec is more logical and cautious than instinctive or impulsive  - like, in early season 1 before they really knew her, he’s the only person who entertained the fact that clary aka valentine’s daughter could be a spy for valentine (i mean, she wasn’t, but it made sense as a theory, rather than just instinctively trusting her as the others did). that also being said, though, jace isn’t wrong when he says that valentine is a master manipulator, and to alec, the uprising and its associated massacres are very very recent history. valentine has been the shadow world’s symbol for utter moral and social reprehensibility for alec likely throughout his entire life, and that coupled with the fact that he has seen firsthand how easily and cruelly valentine has twisted jace’s mind - his parabatai - and i think that contributes to a caution that would be reasonable in that extremely difficult situation. people don’t get that dramatic irony allows us to perceive what the characters can’t, which means it’s all well and good for us to say that he should have known, but you have to look at it from alec’s point of view. but i digress. 

[silveranjyil]

I've been wanting to write this up for some times because it really caught my interest:  Qrow and Raven's semblances.  Been too sick to really do the leg work I need to until now. I will write about Raven in a later article.

Qrow's semblance:  he causes Misfortune to those around him.  It is always on and he has no control of it.  Meaning that it is pretty much happening all the time.  He never said it was random, either, just that it was always on.

Okay, let me get this out of the way, first.  I don't buy it.  The reasoning is shoddy at best, and applying any sense of logic breaks down to misfortune NOT being his semblance.   And I will explain why with each instance.  Yes, I went through and re-watched each scene with him in it.  Great series, so really not a huge sacrifice ^_^

1) The Bartender.  Okay, right away--he is a bartender.  His livelihood revolves around fragile glasses.  In order for me to believe that him bumping a glass to the floor was a misfortune for him, I would have to either a) accept that he has NEVER in his career bumped or dropped glasses on the floor.  I have had family and friends who worked at bars--either as tenders or waiters/waitresses.  They would be the first to tell you that this is all part of the job.  b) that he was dropping glasses the ENTIRE time Qrow was there.  Unfortunately, through the whole two minute or so scene--that was simply not the case.  So, no, I don't buy it.  Maybe if the T.V. suddenly dies on him and he made some comment of it being newly repaired or new--maybe then I could buy it.  But not this one.  Sorry.  Also, he didn't even seem really concerned or upset.  "G-Darn it" was more like---happens all the time, how annoying.  Not---damnit!!

2)  Next up is the fight with Winter.  Nothing bad happens--seriously.  They fight---in fact, he PICKS the fight at the right time.  There was no misfortune here---not the fighters, to the spectators---not even when Ruby comes running up to grab his arm!  Oh, I  know what you are going to say---but Ironwood. Hold your tongue.  General Ironwood summoned Winter Schnee to Vale.  Do you realize that it is the duty of a General to meet with his subordinate upon arrival?  I hope so.  Qrow saw the planes, knew who was coming, knew WHY they were coming ,and chose the most auspicious point to pick a fight to get them in trouble.  He placed a bet on Atlesian pride, and he picked right.  Did you see that smirk when he saw the General?  Instead of meeting at the entrance, like they should have, they just met further back and in a setting of Qrow's choosing.  Next you might point out Mercury spotting them.  That isn't so far-fetched, since he chose the main central thorough way for all ships and visitors.  Anyone who is anyone would be in that area after the main battles.  The fact is, he created a great fortune for all those spectators---seeing two seasoned fighters go at it plus the tournament.  Probably the closest you could get is the fact that when he let his arm go loose at his side, Ruby fell...but then, well, what else would you expect?  Sorry, not buying it yet.

3) Ozpin's office and the conference.  Nothing happens.  Oh wait, the link to the Cellphone...because the virus was already there weeks ago and it was going to happen no matter what.

4) Video games!  I think this is the second time where we see Qrow actively manipulate the people around him to ensure he gets what he wants.  I think many people point out that the misfortune is--him winning the game.  um...or he is just better at the game then them.  He is older, and I know plenty of Uncles that could turn circles around any teen in any game.  Also, his story tactic is perfect to distract Yang.  Yang has high respect for herself and she doesn't tolerate sleaze-baggery, such at fawning over the shortness of a skirt.  After all, her gauntlets are up there.  He goes on about his dirty ways telling his story, and boom--wins.  Because Yang's biggest flaw is her inability to keep a cap on her emotions, and that often leads to losses, miscalculations, and dismemberment.  She even broke fighting to throw a pillow at him.  The second win confirms that he knows his games.

5) Another conference with Ozpin, just the two of them.  Nothing happens.

6) Pyrrha and Ozpin with Qrow in the background.  Well, I suppose you could say that choosing Pyrrha was kind of a misfortune...except she was chosen long before Qrow had anything to do that.  The incident with the gears of the clock are completely on Pyrrha and her nervous nature.  Glynda and Ironwood being late?  I would have to believe that it was or wasn't intentionally and what was keeping them late.

7)  The group moves down to the chamber holding Amber in the vault.  Nothing happens here either.  No misfortune.  Just the way things were going to go whether he was there or not.

8) This is when Amber gets attacked.  Again, this was something that was going to happen NO MATTER WHAT.  Actually, if Qrow hadn't been there, they would have been successful...maybe.  Actually, any other hunter in the group probably could have protected her just as well.  All we have is conjecture on this one.  His being there could be counted as a misfortune to Cinder and her team because they could not be successful in their plan.  Or not.  Because really, any guardian set on the Fall Maiden would have had the same result.  It is obvious now that they had someone following Amber because first, they already knew she and the other Maidens were being tailed and attacked, and second she was new to receiving the Maiden's power and thus inexperienced, so required some protection.  This one is iffy at best.

9) Alone time with Yang after went happened with Mercury.  Nothing happened.  Just giving advice.

10) Brief scene during the invasion.  Well, that Grimm invasion and incident with Penny was a huge misfortune---that has been planned for months!  Nope.

11) Fighting Grimm.  He fights them..the big Grimm comes, just as expected.  Nothing here.

12) Qrow saves Ironwood from a Grimm attack---preventing a misfortune, but really not an unexpected one given the situation.  Nope.

13) Qrow visits Ruby to tell her about her Silver Eyes.  Nothing.

That wraps up Volume 3.  Honestly,  I won't count giving information as unfortunate.  Knowledge is power.

Let's take a look at V4.  If we go by the assumption that this Semblance thing was actually unofficial and still in the air until V4, then there is more of a chance of seeing instances of true misfortune...right?  Well, maybe...

1)  Qrow is keeping the Grimm off RNJR's back.  He is a damn good hunter.  Nothing here outside of his ironic remark about luck.

2) In another bar, Qrow meets with his sister.  The greatest misfortune (maybe) is the Waitress witnessing Raven's departure.  But this isn't so much misfortune.  She seems to be the only waitress, and the job of a waitress is to check on her patrons every now and then.  Which she did.  Candles going out was most likely Raven's portal opening.  As much as they have bad blood between them, no misfortune---just mistrust and anger.  So I say--Nope.

3) Now we get to the big one--the fight between Tyrian and Qrow.  This HAS to have something!  Right!?  No...not really.  First off, we have to consider Tyrian's fighting style.  He refused to engage with anyone but his target before Qrow came around.  Mainly just tried to get everyone out of his way or disarm them.  That is kind of important.  Anyway, clearly he is above them but right on par with Qrow.  Good timing Qrow.  I guess you could say his appearance was unfortunate for Tyrian...except that it wasn't a random appearance.  He's been following team RNJR for weeks!  So...no, just poor intel gathering on Tyrian's part.  He isn't a spy type, more of an assassin so that makes sense.

4) The Battle!  This must have it---finally, proof!!!  Um... well, you are getting how skeptical I am.  First, you have to understand, that when you are at a certain of level in fighting, a lot of it will come down to who makes the most mistakes or who makes the worst mistake first.  This battle is the ONLY time he shows any concern for people getting involved in his battle.  Now, Qrow gets disarmed and Ruby starts shooting at him to distract him, thus giving him time to get punched.  Also, he isn't a hand-to-hand type, and he seems to have a code about waiting for someone to actually be ARMED before he attacks them.  That is his code.  No misfortune, all his choice.  The big one that everyoen says IS THE PROOF is when Qrow takes him around on the weak rooftops and positions himself so that he will land on weak boards that are dozens of years old.  All this shows is that Tyrian doesn't pay attention to his environment.  The building is destroyed and weak, so of course it will fall.  Ruby refuses to listen to Qrow and is not paying attention either---in fact, she has done this very often since the start of the volume.  It shows more of her character and naivety than any misfortune.  She is as stubborn as her Uncle.  In fact, the only misfortune I see is Qrow getting stabbed because HE dropped his guard.  Ruby cutting off Tyrian's tail was just a natural reaction..unfortunate, but he just sat there and grinned at his handiwork while she reacted.  Reactive fighting seems to be a trait in the Xiao Long/Rose/Branwen family. Verdict---the only misfortune was to Qrow himself.

5) Everyone is sitting around a campfire talking.  Like I said, giving info isn't the same as misfortune so doesn't count.  What happened?  The poison in his system kicks in.  Really, no misfortune just continuation from his own arrogance.  Nope.

6) They are carrying Qrow---wounded, maybe dying, full of doubt and worry.  And not a single god-damn Grimm attacks them the whole time.  The worst thing is that they have to split up because he can't make the climb.  Not misfortune, just inexperience.  We know what is going to happen--the foreshadowing has been going on since the first decimated village they found.  Again, Nope.

Even if we go back to stories ABOUT Qrow, even just speculation---most of it points to NO.  He prevented more misfortune than brought.  Yang was going to go chasing after her mother no matter if Qrow had been there or not, and he saved them from the Grimm when they were just kids.  

Honestly, it sounds more like he assumed his Semblance was bringing Misfortune because he has been at the wrong place at the wrong time.  What would make someone believe they were unlucky to be around?  Maybe seeing people he cared about die---like Summer Rose...  Who else do we know who could make a similar claim?

Oh, I know--Blake!  Black cats are also omens of misfortune and bad luck.  Her friends are being torn apart, her love Adam turning to a monster, and her parents stepping down, etc.  She has seen some bad stuff go down and she is feeling more and more like she is the cause.  Kind of like how Qrow probably started out.

I just don't buy the "My Semblance is bringing misfortune" thing.  It is vague, not well outlined, and super-fudged.  Unless...

Unless they are still following the underlying theme of self-discovery and personal projection that they have been using since day one of this series.  From Blake's comment about a man with two souls fighting for control of his body, to each characters doubts and confusion about their own goals and desires--all the way to personal motivations of each of the characters.  Everything revolves around the inner monologue...finding yourself, understanding how you effect your own story of life.

Like Blake and her thinking she is a coward and always running away, Qrow thinks he brings bad luck because he has lost so much.  It makes far more sense.  After all, he can turn into a Crow and we are told you can only have one Semblance.

The thing about Qrow is that he is highly observant and very manipulative.  He knows how to goad people, to make them make mistakes, and he uses this to his advantage--whether he thinks about it or not.  That is his style.  So far, it seems more like he MAKES these things happens, not his Semblance.

If the writers stick with this and it turns out that yes, they were all signs--then I would have to say that this is a poor choice, but not much I can do about it.  It would be, in my opinion, a poorly chosen and written Semblance, or at least poorly presented and completely inconsistent.  But at this point, who knows what will happen?  I guess all I can do is hope they smooth it out or it turns out to be a whole self-discovery thing.