#to something just between carmen and julia.

[youraveragecatastrophe]

In Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego ? Treasures of knowledge (2001), the game in which Julia Argent first appears, everyone calls her "Jules". Carmen, her new ACME partner Shadow, Chief, probably her mother and her postman. She's called Jules more often than Julia.

In the 2019 Netflix show, she is known as Julia Argent only.

Then comes along Carmen Sandiego, who meets this woman introducing herself as Julia and immediately starts calling her Jules. She is the only person to call her Jules*. She only calls her Jules.

Just a little change between the game and the show that kills me every time I think about it.

*not counting Player that one time in season 4, which is actually very neat because he knows about Julia pretty much only through Carmen, who calls her Jules.

[sircarebearalot]

Guys I need help for a fic

If anyone knows:

- for how long did Corrupted!Carmen operate for VILE!

- what specific heists she pulled

- how old she was at the time (and how old Jules was)

In case anyone is curious (or interested in being a beta!!! Dm me!!) I’m writing a fic exploring that Carmen in canon divergent setting where she stalks a blue coat (Julia) to her home and discovers that the woman knows her and is quite clever

Then, over the time leading up to the eye of Vishnu, she steadily becomes more obsessed.

Here are my notes:

Very messy,, sorry 😣

Okay, let me walk you through the ideas/outline!!! (this is kind of for me bc i perform better with a 'audience')

OVERALL: brainwashed carmen falls in love with julia

NOTES ON CORRUPTED!!CARMEN:

Driven by emotion

Quick to react

Everything she feels is distorted to suit power and her warped mind. So what she feels towards Jules before resurfaces harshly but all wrong.

(She's gonna be very yandere!!!)

So our Carmen respected Jules, but now she feels the respect and it's all twisted so she's thinking shit like— she’s my only equal, or at least, she's the only one anyone near my level

And our Carmen admired Jules, a similar tone, but it takes on a more fascinated in a mechanical sense. Like Jules is some kind of unique specimen. Carmen is thinking, She's different from other. She's made for me.

And our Carmen, for the purposes of the fic, was in love with Jules. Or at least, damn near close to it. Maybe she was even just really really fond, to be more canon compliant. So, that affection morphs and is put through the most toxic extreme. Corrupted!!Carmen is so goddamn possesive. Really caveman (she is mine grrr) and 'VERONICA OPEN THE DOOR PLEASE VERONICA OPEN THE DOOR', like, that bad.

And ofc our Carmen was intrigued by Julia. loved her facts and passion and paid her close attention. Corrupted!!Carmen has no chill and she is like, obsessed. Like yandere obsessed. Like, watches her sleep and takes scans of her internal health constantly to make sure she's healthy. It's freaky, i'm trying to emphasize.

And, she's gonna hunt Julia down bc just like her father, the lone wolf, she does as she pleases and she leaves often to be with her booboo. (Unlike, dexter, the faculty are secure in her mind wipe to be concerned)

So... I described her to you!! Now, let me show you some ROUGH snippets I had as concept bits but I might actually include.

If you rather drop it here and hang around for the actual fic, this is our stop!! this is more for a potential beta and well, me :D. but if ur invested pls stick around

This fic will have:

toxic behavior from Carmen obv (she's like mind fucked)

it's not gonna be romantic

NO SEX

pov alterations

(S4E7) Moment of Canon Divergence

Carmen knew she was being followed.

She looks down, from her vantage on the building to see a higher up blue coat turn to her. Then, to Carmen’s astonishment, a soft smile blooms on the woman's face.

Carmen waits for the officer to show interest in attack, and when she doesn’t— she leaves.

As protocol demands.

Snippet #1: (beginning? sort of a little after carmen confronts julia in her home and is now picking her apart for answers)

"Don't act like you haven't been watching me, Jules."

Julia tucks her chin into her scarf, hiding her face... hiding her grimace. When her Carmen had coined that nickname it felt like some of the cavernous distance between them had been bridged. A play at familiarity. Now, the nickname felt a bit cheap. Like this Carmen was looking for leverage, a way to manipulate her for secrets.

Snippet #2: (just to incorporate other characters)

Graham's gaze flickers from Carmen, to Julia, and to Carmen's vice-like grip on her wrist.

He opens his mouth to say something, protest maybe, but Carmen beats him to it. Within seconds she pins Graham to the wall, speaking to him under her breath harshly.

He looks nearly gray when he moves out of her reach and stumbled backwards, away.

Snippet #3:

"Do you get it? VILE cannot know about you. Do you understand me? Forget ACME. Forget VILE. You only need to think of me."

Julia was grateful that Carmen did not look desperate or upset. No, like always Carmen's gaze was steely and unflinching. It helped. On the odd ocassion before, when Julia had let herself think of Carmen in that light, she had always picked her soft and sweet. Julia doesn't think she was wrong to think so. After all, this isn't the Carmen Julia had cared for.

This Carmen was a stranger. A dangerous one.

"I need a job, Carmen."

"You don't. I'll handle it all."

This would make communicating with ACME infinitely harder, with her constantly operating under Carmen's nose. But not impossible, and that was enough for now.

"What about my interests? If I don't do something I'll go mad."

Carmen crosses her arms. "What do you want?"

"My academic career."

"No."

Julia blinks, taken aback.

"Too many people. Too many factors. No way."

Julia fights back the urge to cry, or scream. Instead, she says, "Then my blog. My academic blog.*" She fights back a sob, or a snarl. "Please. I need it."

Looking incredibly agitated, Carmen bites out, "Fine."

"Thank you," Julia whispers, surprised and sickened by how much she means it. "Thank you, Carmen. This means so much to me. It makes me so happy."

Carmen's gaze darkens, eyes going nebulous. Insistently, she says, “I only need you, Jules. You’re the only one that understands me.”

Ironic because Julia had always felt that Carmen was more a mystery than a person. Julia forces a smile on her face as a compromise.

"I wish I understood you better."

Carmen knows the smile is forced. They both know. But the smile was Julia's compliance and that is all Carmen wants now.

"I wish you only needed me. Like I do you."

Julia's smile went somewhat shakier when she says, "I'm sure it's only a manner of time."

The way Julia said it... it nearly sounded like a guarantee.

Carmen forces herself into Julia's arms and tucks her face into the crook of Julia's neck.

Julia suppressed her shudder.

"Let's see how patient I am, hmm?" **

Snippet #4: (dialogue heavy-- needs heavy editing--, near the end... this is part of Julia's plot to manipulate CArmen into ACME to be fixed by the mind machine)

Julia is far too used to Carmen parking herself in the armchair besides Julia's bed to watch her sleep. Carmen's gaze on her is alert and hungry, waiting for any discrepancy.

“Carmen,” Julia murmurs, sitting up slowly. Allowing Carmen to track the movements. Julia takes the glass of water at her bed stand and peers into the clear liquid. After a long moment, she finally asks, “Carmen, would you kill for me?”

“Just say the word.”

The response had not an iota of hesitation. Julia had expected as much. She powers forward, watching Carmen's even breathing.

“Would you die for me?”

“I’d die with you. I’d kill to avenge you. It seems sort of useless to die for you, though. You’d live, yes, but then I wouldn’t be there to appreciate you. Someone else might… " Carmen goes tense, and Julia ducks her head. "Jules.”

Gaze carefully on her glass, Jules says “Yes?”

“Jules, would you let someone else replace me at your side?��

Carmen's voice is sharper and harder than the diamonds she steals so often.

“No," Julia says, well-rehearsed. "Of course not. How could anyone compare to you? No one knows me better than you. No one ever will.”

“Alright,” Carmen says, not believing her but not disbelieving her either. (Because a part of Julia means it. Maybe. In a twisted sort of way. No one will ever pay her such close attention--as unnerving and frightening as it is-- and no one will ever know her as well.) "Good. If someone else had you... I'd have to kill them."

She says it casually, easily, like it's a fact. It is but Julia knows the look in Carmen's eye, the watching look. Like she's waiting for Julia to react negatively. Like she's searching for resistance.

Julia doesn't give a reaction, and instead asks, “What about me then? If I died?”

Another immediate response:

“I'd burn the world down to avenge you. Everything.”

Julia snorts. "Everything but VILE."

Carmen hesitates, then says, almost more to herself, "Even then..."

Julia ignored “But what of natural causes then?“

“I don’t believe in coincidence," Carmen says dismissively, relaxing quickly. She must consider this as pleasurable, as a game of hypotheticals. As if Julia was finally leaning into Carmen's brand of affection. "There’s always someone responsible. An authority to blame.”

“What about cancer then?“ Julia asks cassually.

Carmen chuckles, amused. “You don’t have cancer, Jules. I checked last night. You're such a worrier.”

The fondness was nearly authentic and that... That is far more terrifying than anything else Carmen has ever pulled.

“I’m asking hypothetically.”

“Well, then I’d kill the doctor for failing you.”

“Even if there’s nothing that can be done?”

“Yes.”

She swallows. “What if it’s my own fault then? What if my incompetence brought upon my own death?”

Carmen’s gaze hardened, looking more suspicious. “You mean suicide?"

"No," Julia says quickly, careful not to upset Carmen. "No. Not that. But, say I slipped and fell down the stairs. Something anti-climatic. Something completely my fault."

"If that's all it takes then you are not my equal," Carmen says evenly. "Then you're not the Jules I want.”

Relief sweeps through Julia like a tidal wave. She beams at Carmen.

Carmen's eyebrows shoot up. "Did I answer right?"

"I have one more scenario for you." Julia raises the glass to her mouth and drinks, faking confidence. The cup clatters on the bedside table as she sets it down, betraying her nerves. "After this, I'll be sure of this."

Carmen rolls her shoulders back, like this is all a game. Even her gaze is competitive, a mean gleam shining.

“Carmen.”

“Yes?”

“You’re so patient with me,” Julia exhales.

Carmen softens. “That’s because you are my one and only.”

“Then you must save me, right?”

Julia grins again. This time her teeth are a bit bloodied. Carmen freezes, gaze like darts.

“What do you mean? Are you endangered?”

For the first time, Carmen looks hesitant to touch her.

“Six hours ago," Julia narrarrated. "I swallowed a pill… a very potent poison once activated. I… I just activated it. The antidote can only be found in the ACME headquarters, in their lab." Betrayal flashes in Carmen's eyes and Julia hurries to finish her sentence, before the toxins render her useless. "I have two hours, if I’m lucky, before there is irreversible damage to my vital organs.”

Carmen was apoplectic. "Julia."

“Prove it to me, Carmen. Prove to me that you love me.”

Now Carmen grabs at her, taking the collar of Julia's sleep shirt and shaking her. Now, Julia's body was limp and she flopped in Carmen's grip.

"You doubt me still? You are the cruel one. I'll prove it to you. I'll save you this once, and then, then you will spend a lifetime making it up to me. Understand?"

"G't it."

Notes:

the *, the blog is gonna be how Julia gets in contact with Player and how they devise a plan (he like starts a 'rival' blog that they 'banter' through)

the **, Carmen ends up being endlessly patient. bc her feelings are too obssessove, she doesn't really need Julia to love her back as she just needs Julia around. Also, the don't even kiss or hold hands. Its really just a lot of one-sided hugs, holdings, and face cradlings (except for when julia is trying to manipulate carmen, whcih carmen lets happen bc she liked the touch)

[pegasus-624]

Carmen Sandiego Mythical Creatures AU????

Had this idea for a while, based on monster falls

but I can’t draw so I’m going to talk about my ideas instead.

I am going to write little oneshots for them.

Also spoilers ahead

Carmen

Carmen I wanted to have a tie to Dexter Wolfe, While also keeping the black sheep energy. My friend suggested werewolf Carmen but I decided to do weredog, which is a completely different species. I imagine something a bit fluffy wolflike and black for the breed of dog that Carmen becomes, I’m picturing something like Siruis Black in a sense. I imagine like at the beginning of the series it’s like “she’s a werewolf” and then a bit later, she is revealed to be a weredog.

Player

Player is a Tanuki, a japaneese raccoon dog. In mytholgy, they are Shapeshifting and Michievious and A tanuki fits Player very well. Also I think he just gives raccoon energy. I can’t explain it. Also I imagine a raccoon with headphones for him.

Zack and Ivy

The Boston twins are both rabbit like creatures. I didn’t want them to be exactly the same so I went with Zack being A jackalope and Ivy being a wolpertinger, Kinda like a rabbit with antlers and wings and sometimes other random animal features. Most of the reason I wanted Zack to be a Jackalope was so Ivy can call him Zack-alope. But also I headcanon that Ivy is afraid of heights and rarely flies.

Chase Devineaux

Chase is a centuar. It just makes sense in my head.

Julia Argent

Julia is a fairy, specifically a fae. It also makes sense in my head. Also a fun bit I picture is “I never got your name” “I know better than to trust a fae with my name”

Cheif

Cheif is part Will o’ Wisp, Kinda like the ones in brave. I kinda wanted something that would be able to like appear and travel between places, Like how Chief mostly appears as a hologram. Also fitting that they’re usually seem as blue flames like Chief’s hologram version.

Coach Brunt

Coach Brunt is a minotaur. Very obvious. Strong and gets angry easily.

Professor Maelstrom

Malestrom is a dragon. Very scary and a very powerful creature. But This dragon is a very petty dragon.

Dr. Bellum

Bellum is a Alicanto. A mythical bird with golden feathers. She gives bird and crow energy, so thats where I was going with

Countess Cleo

Cleo is a gorgon, like Medusa. I originally wanted her to be a sphinx because egypt but I decided against it because mythical beings connecting with countries is challenging.

Shadowsan

Shadowsan is a vampire. Jackie suggested it and I’m going with it. Also turning into a bat seems like a very ninja thing to do.

Tigress

Tigress is a spinx. Again, wanted something cat like like her codename. Honestly I also imagine her to have a gazillion riddles

El Topo and Le Chevre

El topo was hard because there were not that many creatures that were known for tunneling, But I found a creature called an afanac, which was kinda like a crocodile mixed with a beaver so I was like “close enough.” Le Chevre is a Satyr. Very Clear. Half goat, probably good climbers.

Paper Star

Paper Star is a kitsune. I think their paranormal abilities would fit well with the chaos that is Paper Star.

Crackle

Crackle is a raiju. They are known for having electric powers so I though that would fit, knowing that Crackle is an electrician and uses the Crackle tod when he’s a vile operative

Mime Bomb

In becoming Carmen Sandiego, Carmen realizes that Mime Bomb was VILE’s spy. (Also in who in the world, Mime bomb was the “eyes and ears” in a mock caper so there is that) so I figured a shapeshifter who can be anyone or anything would be fitting for him, but he usually appears human.

Cleaners

I think a Cerberus-like 2 headed dog fits the cleaners very well. I don’t really have that much to say about it.

[threedaycharter]

Thinking about a Carmen San Diego MBS AU...

Kate Wetherall has grown up on L.I.V.E. island for all her short life. She's been raised to be the perfect thief. However, one day she receives a message in Morse code from a boy living on the mainland, suggesting that her idyllic life of crime may not be all that it seems...

oh my goodness.... oh my goodness....

i absolutely loved the 2019 adaptation of carmen sandiego, and it honestly could pair so nicely with MBS!!! personally imagining martina as tigress...

actually, with the little VILE operative group, can see martina/tigress, sq/crackle, jackson & jillson/le cherve & el topo...

martina & sheena just generally have that same vibe. they're both pretty snarky, sassy, and dedicated to being the best. also, the little rivalry between carmen and tigress reflects pretty well upon kate and martina!

with sq, i find a lot of people (including myself) love the sort of sibling relationship the society could've had in regards to sq, especially considering in show-verse sq and constance being canonical cousins. i've always loved the relationship between carmen and gray, and always get the feels when i encounter the clip of carmen calling him the "brother she never had" or something along those lines <3. also imagining the post-mind-wipe gray focused episode (2.07, i believe!) where he's working in the opera house... that but instead of the opera house it would be an art gallery, maybe. instead of controlling the lights, sq is getting the society (team red) information on different works in a bigger, mainstream museum. some kind of treasure hunt, maybe? clues lead to information puzzle or something of the sort. kate posing as some sort of chairty leader with some sort of art installation charity piece in reflection to carmens charity leader using ballet as a charity event (i'm pretty sure thats how that episode went, but it's been a while since i watched LOL).

with jackson and jillson, they kind of have that same attached-at-the-hip feel of jean-paul and antonio, of course with the main difference of their relationship being familial while le cherve and el topo are more up-to-interpretation (though very implied to be dating). they're both just amazing duos who look out for each other, which i think is sweet.

with your mention of morse code... i would assume sticky takes the place of player :)

reynie and constance!! as zack and ivy!! makes me wonder what they got into that life of thievery for... maybe not racing, but something with similar stakes. would have to think about that.

kate!!!! looking for her dad!!! her mom being the one who was VILE faculty, and milligan being the one she reunites with in the end.

would the society adults be ACME? would the institute adults be VILE? or even, would the younder institute folks (martina, sq, jackson, jillson, etc.) even be working for VILE? would any of them be apart of interpol instead? or even, would some of the society be in interpol instead? there are so many options to think on...

obviously, nothing would be perfectly character-for-character, but it's fun to think about where each character would stand in the sense of what they stand for!

in the original case; martina being that rival, sticky being the go-to source of information, reynie and constance being able to be a close source of support, and so on! or even in alternate cases, maybe reynie takes the part of julia and ends up being there for kate as a believer-- as julia is the believer in the good of carmen. maybe its constance! maybe it's sticky, and reynie or constance or whomever else is sending the morse code! super fun to think about !! :3

[yuraimi-lee-bunny]

What, to you, is the stupidest anti-rc argument.

Uffff.... … I have several points, and the last one I will mention is the best known but where I want to give details of why it doesn't make sense.

It's a boring ship

I don't know why many say that as an argument, when that isn't an argument, it's an opinion. And it's okay if you find the ship boring (as I think Caru+++ is SUPER boring, but I'm not saying that as an argument, and much less I'm going to say it to anyone who likes that ship because it's basically disrespect)

Tastes aren't arguments, they're opinions, and everyone has their own taste and if it isn't harming anyone, then there is no problem.

2.- It's a straight ship

……….Again, it's an opinion… and a very strange and illogical one. I don't want to get too into that because everyone has their headcanons (and in my case it makes me laugh because I have the headcanon that Carmen and Gray are bisexules, so in my case "straight ship where?")

Whether it's an LGBT or straight ship, it doesn't take away from how beautiful it can be (and again, if it doesn't hurt anyone, then what's the problem?)

3.- Age difference

Ok, the truth is I don't see any sense in this, because to begin with it is almost canon that Carmen was born in 99. According to the creator, he mentioned that VILE students enter the academy at the age of 20. Doing the math, Carmen was 18 years old when she met Gray and she was 20 (approximately). That's two years difference, it's not much. Also, I think, the vast majority of shipers, we started to love Red Crackle when they were both older (20 and 22).

(And sorry for mentioning this, seriously, sorry, but Julia must be at least 4 years older than Carmen, and I don't see ANYONE saying this argument to be "against" Caru***… so sorry, just please, don't be hypocrites)

4.- Gray left Carme brainwashed for 6 months.

Ok, I would love to give a lot of details about why this seems very unfair to me, but I can't because I would be giving more details about Gray's character analysis and I don't want to make this post long, so I'll get to the point:

Let's remember that Gray returned to VILE, and was basically on probation. The Faculty knows how close Gray is to Carmen. They trusted Gray above all to not let Carmen regain her true self. It's true that Gray was okay with this (until the fair scene) but understand something: Gray was between a rock and a hard place. Yes, wanting Carmen to return, but on the other hand having the eyes of the Faculty on him. He did something 6 months later because he no longer had Carmen in his sight, he could no longer take care of her, she was already in the complete hands of the Faculty, and worse still, hearing what she would do to Shadowsan, that's when he took the risk.

Gray in itself didn't really want to return to VILE (in my analysis I later show the evidence), being on probation, then taking care of Carmen, both being on the radar of the Faculty so that everything was fine… don't believe that Gray was afraid for his life?

Because let me remind you something: NO ONE leaves VILE.

Thus, I consider it a little empathetic that they don't understand why Gray didn't act quickly to make Carmen return to normal (I even bet you that if he had seen the red team at some point, he would do something to make her return. Although that is a 50/50 of probability) But again: Gray didn't do that to manipulate Carmen, he did it because he had no other choice.

Finally, the best known, the one that we have all known for 5 years and continue to use incorrectly:

5.- They treated each other like brothers/That ship is inc+++.

.... oh my....

I just can't take this argument seriously… It's so ridiculous. Look, they're not even blood brothers to begin with. They looked like brothers in their VILE academy years. Carmen only ONCE said that she saw Gray as a brother, and then said "But this time, it may be the start of something more." From season two onwards, she stopped saying that Gray was a brother to her.

Now, I understand the point that when two people have spent years treating and being educated as siblings, it basically counts as an insanity if they fall in love within the story or if the fandom makes the ship (a good example: Luther and Allison from The Umbrella Academy)

But Gray and Carmen were NEVER raised to see each other as siblings, and it was only for one year, and then everyone went their own way. Obviously that idea of "seeing each other as brothers" could change, especially with EVERYTHING that Gray and Carmen experienced.

So sorry, but that ince*** thing is one of the most illogical arguments to be against Red Crackle.

And look, to finish: If someone doesn't like Red Crackle, that's okay, that's normal. But don't use "arguments" to denigrate the ship, when in addition to being invalid, the ship itself isn't harming anyone, and above all: why do you want to say this just to make someone feel bad because like Red Crackle?

Anyway, these are just my observations, thanks for your ask. If anyone knows another argument that is used against Red Crackle, you can write it, I only know these 5 hahaha.

[itsdappleagain]

Here we go- on time, for once- with The French Connections Caper! As I mentioned, this is one of my favorite episodes from season one, because I am a little angst whore.

Alrighty- as always, notes are under the cut!

Who in the world reference. GET IT

The rotating pack of mints is so funny. Did acme have that on file?? Did she hack into his bank account??

The picture of julia just looking exhausted with chase is so funny

SIX MONTHS AGO?? THIS SEASON HAPPENED IN SIX MONTHS???

Chase is literally That Stupid

Man can you imagine the episode if PAPER STAR had kidnapped chase???? She would have just killed him

The standing up and saying “I will go” is theater kid level blocking i love that

I’m going to be yammering on about the lens of shadowsan’s double betrayal thing for probably the whole episode but goddd its so good. Severus snape and harry potter’s terf ass wish they had what shadowsan and carmen have

Shadowsan’s motif <333

YOU JOINING A KPOP BAND

Julia in her suit <3333333 YES YES YES part of the reason I love this episode is because its the first time julia sort of gets to stand on her own a little bit…sets up for next season, when she SLAYS

Also, ever notice that in this “virtual tailor” chase has gloves, but in s3 when he finally gets his suit he doesn’t have them? Interesting that some agents get them and some don’t

Chase getting so pissed off about julia saying she didn’t do it alone is SO FUNNY because he’s RIGHT she is NOT talking about him

Your SILENT partner yessir

I LOVE WHEN SHE GETS MAD AND YELLS AT HIM GO JULIA GET HIS ASS

DEFEND YOUR WIFE 💪

Chase’s ego is so large that it blinds him- jackie made a post on it already so I’ll just reference that, but its brilliant characterization

You can make yourself look like a law enforcement imbecile jusst fine

I love the way julia storms off. She cn’t take very large steps so its just very angry and quick heel clatters

She WANTS to be planning something nefarious but unfortunately she must be on the beach

Poor baby she looks so uncomfortable dsghfjda. Also another instance of a stellar outfit that we never get to see again </3

Ivy is actually weirdly talented at making gigantic detailed sand castles. That wave was so poorly timed her poor vile central

Also. wicked wicked

IVY YELLING AT ZACK IN THE BACKGROUND WHILE CARMEN JUST DOES NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANYTHING

Yeahhh well you say you’re never going back to vile island. And technically you are right

FIELD TRIP!

THE SHOCK WHEN BRUNT SAYS THAT DJHDSFD

PLS SHE BUMPED BELLUM ON THE WAY UP WHY DID SHE DO THAT

I love the role reversal that shadowsan and brunt do here. Shadowsan is expected to be The Worst and Brunt is carmen’s closest thing to a mother. But in actuality….brunt is a murderous spiteful little bitch and shadwsan is evolving into dadowsan

Jsdfads the look on shadowsan’s face. He knows that everything just got a looot more complicated for him

At least he’s kind of self aware right

Chase only being nice to her because he knows she’s smarter than he is is so funny. He drinks the most vaguely mysoginistic respect women juice on the planet

You have no idea how much the line “wow, foamy” has impacted my daily life. I literally say it every single time i brush my teeth. I can’t stop

NOT THE VILE BRAND LOGO ON THE TOOTHPASTE AND EVERYTHING 

Chase lying on the floor looking like he just died of rabies is the funniest fucking thing

American outlets in france 👍

Carmen did a whole costume change between noon and sunset

Mesmerized by the way that top tuft of hair she has blows in the wind. Wow. could watch that all day

I love how the message goes “SURRENDER WE HAVE CHASE DEVINEAUX” and carmen is just like. Wait. partner??? Travel partner??? 😌😌😌

She’s kind of chill about mentioning that vile is definetely going to kill devineaux and then capture her in this little plan of theirs

“Which is why I’ll need to be careful” she says, walking into a closed off basement with no preparation at all

Why the hell would they put where they were keeping him in the Evil Email they sent her wouldn’t that just set her up to try a rescue mission

Props to raf for making the most diverse array of clueless grunting noises I have ever heard in my life

I cANT HELP BUT LAUGH WHEN BRUNT SAYS “BONJOUR” LIKE THAT. SHES TRYING SO HARD TO BE SINISTER BUT SHE’S JUST TEXAN

Wheeze acme set the expectation for him to be kidnapped for employment reasons

ASK YOU WHAT he’s so stupid i love him

“I’ve seen your keycard” said with the exact same tone as. Someting. I don’t know i love how she says that she’s just like Yeah. I’ve seen it. Hah

Shadowsan and that damn sword for intimidation tactics

Oogh that twisted little smile when brunt goes to get the brain scrambler 

Alternate episode where chase gets the hard way and carmen just walks in to a sad sack of broken bones on the floor

I love the almost impressed look on shadowsan’s face when he tells her that he’s singing the french national anthem. Like. of course he is

Interesting little detail that chase leans over and spits out the gag while carmen and company are just kind of making quips about him being tortured

I love he some good drunk but not drunk character tropes in cartoons. Drunk adora. Laughing gassed up anne. Sick luz. We didn’t get drunk carmen but we did get drunk chase and you know what I’m fine with that

THE WAY HIS EYES FLICK TO THEM WHEN HE SAYS BILE IS ALWAYS SO FUNNY TO ME

Love how shadowsan doesn’t care at all what happens to chase. He cares about carmen, but he’s still a VILE operative. She’s pretty much the only one he cares about until he’s spent a little while with TR

Mmm the music is so good in this ep as well

Thinking abt how if ivy was controlling red drone and carmen was sneaking off to rescue chase…that was zack in carmen cosplay who was dramatically standing ontop of the roof

The weird little petnames brunt uses for chase are also so funny

I have wanted to edit that shot of shadowsan running and jumping over chimneys onto the dinosaur game for SO LONG

Its cool how different the body types of the carmen decoys are. Its pretty easy to tell who’s who even with their faces not showing

IVYYYY

You can rock red, zack. I mean. You pick a devil costume out by yourself in s3 so clearly you know it too

I am shocked that she didn’t check the dumpster because. THATS WHERE I WOULD HAVE LOOKED. I guess she knows carmen’s style well enough- in s3 when they’re talking about catching carmen sandiego 101 zuko and luz mention that part of it was knowing that she always takes the high ground, anakin. And while this is zack the two of them are pretty well trained on carmen’s movements, clearly. They jump across the rooftops and everything just like she does to be convincing

JSHDGDS HE JUST GETS SLAMMED

BAIT N SWITCH…alright here we go

I like the little setup she has there. She brought the electrocuter thing because she had to get the cuffs off, but she uses it in the fight later too

Another little detail in the animation of chase’s sweat dripping to the floor when he falls

That little interaction between the two of them is so cool. Carmen doesn’t know what to expect, or how she can see or anything. OR that she knows exactly who she is

Pls its 4:30 in the morning the carmen team really do have a messed up sleep schedule

Sleepy julia in pajamas <3333

Me watching a france based murder mystery show: haha. Gendairme. I know how to pronounce that

It is a little inconsistent how carmen has so much difficulty dragging him out here…when these three meet again in mexico carmen just shoves him off the wrestling ring and into a chair with very little effort, although that may be evidence of her training and getting stronger over time.

Anyway, I’m exTREMELY excited for this fight. It is SO BRUTAL 

THE BENDNG THE METAL IS. GOD

She’s so. Like. hulking??? Its so creepy how she moves, especially when she uses all these little petnames at the same time as she’s cracking her neck 

THE CATCH OF HER FOOT IS SO GOOD GOD. brunt KNOWS her and even if she didn’t maybe expect her to have a gun she can catch her move pretty easily. This entire fight is full of brunt catching what carmen is going to do as she does it- except for the time with the taser

GOD the crashing into the chair augh that must have hurt so bad wheeze

Brunt is terrifying. She doesn’t slink around or do any acrobatics. She’s just like a final video game boss that has a tracker on your location and does not stop coming

GOD YEAH SEE. SHE CATCHES CARMEN’S KICK AND THEN JUST S L A M S HER INTO THAT SHELF

Carmen is again so used to the athletic, fast-moving operatives who usually match her in everything but cleverness, or use long distance weapons like paper star does. But brunt….it doesnt matter how smart carmen is when brunt can overpower her and fling her into the concrete like a bug

Goddd you can see carmen thinking about what the hell she can do. She knows strength isn’t going to work, so she has to find something else to distract brunt while she gets her baby taser

It makes sense actually now that the taser doesnt knock brunt out like a crackle rod would. Its meant for disabling hadcuff electronics, not seizing up the muscles of full grown woman

THE DESPERATION ON CARMEN’S FACE AS SHE ELECTROCUTES BRUNT IS SO GOOD. she knows this is not a good situation. She does. This is not her usual fighting style, obviously. She just wants to get out

The SMOKE when carmen gets electrocuted fuck

UNGH i love how different this fight is. Carmen stumbles on the run to the door and THAT is how you know she’s really in trouble. She’s just yanking on it trying to get out at this point. Its more instinct than battle- she’s just clawing at ANYTHING that could help her 

And then her coat gets ripped. Every time her coat is off in this show she is not in a good spot. Becauseeee COLOR THEORY!! That red is her sign she’s got a chance, but when it comes off and gets destroyed everything. Is. green. Same thing happens in hot rocks of rio, so look out for that next week. It’s really interesting to notice once you find the patterns

MMGH WHEN SHE CLUTCHES HER SIDE AND THEN HER HAND GETS CRUSHED AND HER EYES WIDEN AND SHE JUST KNOWS

That gasp when she’s down on thr ground will be the death of me. And then the rattling on the grate just. Trying to get away and do ANYTHING to save herself from this person she once called a mother figure its SO angsty god i love it

There were NO breaks in that fight scene until carmen was on the ground with absolutely no choices left. It keeps the emotion UP and TENSE and it is FANTASTIC. We get a break once we cut back to shadowsan and the gang…player telling carmen she just needs to make it a little longer, because the cops are better than being dead

Also. zack just waking up with the banana peel on his head.

Why does player have the individual tracking locations of all the cops in the city

Seaosn one and season two were written and made pretty much at the same time, which was SUCH a strong choice. THIS FINALE sets up ALL OF SEASON TWO and SEASON TWO’S FINALE. AUGH. it is such a fantastic end to the season

I love that carmen gets to learn that it wasn’t this woman who rescued her from “the side of the road” here. She doesn’t have to live with that idea in her head….that she could be saved by the same woman who was trying to kill her

Instead she’s saved again by the one who really cared all along- since the moment he saved her from the fire

Please carmen looks so small on the ground there its so scary to watch

God that returning to vile island is for carmen a fate worse than death is so. Its so

Ive always been frustrated with carmen for not. I dont know. Lying?? Saying ok sure ill go back fine to buy herself some time, so that the cops could come in and help her. But i get it. Yknow?? Carmen isn’t that person. But boy would that have prevented a lot of the rib breakage that is about to go down 

God. how limp carmen is in that moment. She flinched away when brunt goes to touch her face, but she just looks. Kind of regretful. She doesn’t really, i think, expect what is about to happen. She just thinks brunt is going to bat her around some more..

Also. how limp carmen is when brunt pulls her into the “hug” is also so scary. GOD i don’t know if its because she’s trying to prepare herself or if she’s in so much pain or if its because some part of her still trusts brunt

That tragic look almost into the camera when she realizes what brunt is doing is HAUNTING i love that sm

This is so dark btw. The foreshadowing way back in episode two for this when brunt hugs her so hard that she feels something crack to now, when that motherly role has twisted into. This

That last gasping breath carmen takes is another one thats just so. Augh. she is really and truly about to die

God the knowledge that at some point carmen just closed her eyes and let it happen because there was nothing else she could do is. What the fuck. Or maybe she just couldn’t breathe enough anymore to keep them open

SHADOWSAN!!

THE WAY SHE SCRAMBLES BACK AS SOON AS BRUNT GOES LIMP IS. god i love that shot. She’s so. Worn down at that point she’s more like a wild animal than anything ig. Just trying to get away get away get away

And then the way she, still gasping for breath and her voice choked with pain, insults shadowsan because her voice is the only defense she has against him right now

Pls i love shadowsan he doesn’t know how to not be intimidating. Running at her with a sword. “I did not come here to take you back.” this moment scared me SO BAD when i was 13 watching this for the first time. I expected it to cut back to her lying on the floor with some grevious injury, maybe to be narrowly saved by her team but frantically rushed to the hospital or something. 

The shadowsan twist is one of the best I think I’ve seen. Its set up and foreshadowed, enough that you could maybe see it coming on first and have all those little “ohh” moments on later watches. When you really step back and say, “what is the consequence of shadowsan doing all of this?” its carmen being able to escape and not becoming a vile operative. Its. yeah. I dont know. Its so good

AUGH the fear on her face. He steps over coach’s pretty much lifeless body, draws his sword. All she has is a fucking wrench

Player gripping his monitor and screaming her name is SO,, UNGH HE THINKS SHE’S DEAD

And the way they cut back with just the limp bodies around them, as shadowsan sheathes his blade. They knew what they were doing obviously

MM AND THEN THE LITTLE CHIME OF CARMEN’S MOTIF WHEN WE SEE THAT SHE’S ALIVE AND SAFE

THAT IS A QUESTION pls i’ve made fun of shadowsan here before because like. Yes. please do follow me into the dark hole no questions asked. I Will Not Stab You once we are at a more convenient and private location that you have moved yourself to. Or transport you back to VILE. just trust me okay carmen follow me right now

LOCK US UP,,, YEAH. REACH US. i love that little…its so small. The us and the little admission of how VILE works (hey- also sets up season THREE’s finale. wild). Yes yes yes. 

I love how shadowsan doesn’t want to admit it. But they have been in it together

GOD YEAH AND THEN. SHE DROPS THE WRENCH and THATS how you know she trusts him, and understands. Thats her last line of defense gone

“It was you….you were the one who found me.”

“YOU ARE IN NO CONDITION TO LEAVE HERE ON YOUR OWN” i love how shouty he is in this season he doesn’t have a gentle voice. He doesnt really. Know how to be vulnerable

But he tries. He tries so hard. He just. He says please and reaches out to her

DOOGY

Girlie im sorry but opening that grate wider would not have made brunt fit any better

That mass of flashing lights in the city is such a good way to show how far they went. Also. why did shadowsan make carmen walk like three miles with her fucked up ribs wheeze. He made her climb some stairs and everything

But he’s soooo gentle with her when they’re walking its so sweet. He lets her lean on him and helps her down to the ground so she can rest…makes sure she is safe before he says anything else and tries to get her medical attention. He is the dadowsan

Ungh gina. Gina gina please. Please put any kind of emotion into “argentina tell me everything now” like thats KIND of an emotional line..,, urgh. The problem i have with gina i think is that she is a fine ACTOR but being a VOICE ACTOR is a LOT DIFFERENT THAN THAT. she doesnt have all her little nice facial expressions and stuff she has carmen who is already inexpressive as is. So when she says that line it just sounds so flat 

He’s only lying about it a little bit, really honestly

Shadowsan: a jerk

“You knew what they’d do to me when I said no” is such an underrated line i love that one

THE COAT WAS EMPTY!! 

Carmen sounds so much like black sheep when she says “i knew it” and I love that so much. I don’t know if that was a directing choice given to gina but it was a good one. Also carmen forgetting her ribs are fucked up lmaoo

FIRST SHADOWSAN SMILE WHEN HE SAYS HE KNWS CARMEN WOULD ENJOY PROVING THAT TO HERRR that is the moment i think when he really becomes human :)))

She got my posture fr

That shot of shadowsan walking away from her as the police lights flash between them and the architecture frames everything is soo pretty

I guess i scare easy when i see a drawn sword is such a good line its so funny. i would too! Maybe he didnt have to extend the ruse all the way until he was a mile away from the school and no one was in sight except carmen herself but alright

IT WAS HIMMM WITH THE HELICOPTER I LOVE THAT REVEAL

NO WAY!!!! I love that its kind of a black sheepism

Shadowsan is like yeah i was happy you escaped but GIRLIE I DIDNT THINK YOU WOULD START FIGHTING CRIME LMAO???

The lug jsdfhds

Julia’s like not chief. Not chief with the random carmen accusations too

Used it to bait him?? How would she have done that?? She’s like in the cheese and breath mints store and she goes over the intercom like “chase devineaux please report to the shadowy death basement! We have your keycard <3”

AND LEFT WITH AN EVIL VILE MASTERMIND KSHGDFJGDS player is so right for that

That shot of her sitting and talking to player as the sun rises behind her is also beautiful i love that shot

Ahhh the way she gets up so carefully because of her injuries its so good

“A present” okay its okay you can tell him carmen

I HAVE A FEELING WE’RE GOING TO HAVE MORE CAPERS TO PLOT WOOHOO SEASON TWO BABYYYYY

ONCE MORE the shot of her standing there and the camera zooming way out is ALSO gorgeous its my blog header actually

YEAHH AND THEN THE CREDITS MUSICCC

God i cant believe we’re already done with season one!! I am SO EXCITED for season two- its my favorite out of all of the seasons and its where things REALLY get juicy. We’ve got the setup and standard formula out and we can start playing around with dynamics, backstories, history, new cast, lore, character development…yes yes yes yes yes i am so excited!!!

Love this episode, solid and fantastic end to a seaosn, which cs finales usually are. Alright- with the feeling that I’m going to have more capers to react to, this is me signing off of season 1 for cs weekly!!

[rueitae]

Season 1, Episode 8 the lucky cat caper for @csweekly

Another of my favorite episodes almost entirely thanks to Chase Devineaux and his beloved coat. RIP

The screen is SATURATED in red the ENTIRE exam. Trying to show that Black Sheep was SAFE even if she didn’t realize it at the time.

I find it a neat detail that Carmen here isn’t looking to see if she has the dollar until she’s tried several pockets and has stopped to rest. The scene is really effective for me to show exactly how good she is.

More of Player and Carmen talking through nightmares for their health, please. How many times has this happened before and where are the fics. In general I crave to see more domestic in between caper scenes like this. The downtime. On that same vein, love the insight into the team that the whole scene provides. Player just literally hangs out on the phone with Carmen all day, just for fun. Presumably this is what they always do. Nice reminder that capers aside, they are still each other's best friend and they want to hang out.

CARMEN WANTS TO SPOIL HER FRIENDS. I love the entire auction sequence because probably unsurprisingly her love language to others is gifting/acts of service. Zack’s favorite movie? Yeah let’s get him the car because he’s my driver and I can’t wait to see his reaction. Player wants to spontaneously take up stamp collecting? Yeah I’ll get him the one of a kind stamp to START. Yeah I love Carmen loving her friends. This episode is so chalk full of between the lines team red bonding.

IM SORRY. THE SHOE kills me every time. Season 1 Chase is such a good fumbling foil. I love him so much. He’s on the right track usually but soooooo wrong. Julia again has such patience that she really shouldn’t have to put up with. She’s the most right track but everyone around her has blinders on. Otherwise this show wouldn’t be near as long lol.

First episode with Mime Bomb in the field! He’s such a funky dude. Nice to see that the Faculty have become proficient in mime for him. They took a while to get what he was saying in the opening episodes but now Maelstrom gets him right away. There’s a fic in there somewhere with several (probably creepy) one on one sessions between the two.

I really love that the Cleaners actually clean throughout the show lol. They don’t seem to mind. Probably my favorite of the VILE operatives. They’re just so. Done. Dangerous. Chill.

AND they pause for TEA and gossip. As in Coach Brunt and Shadowsan tensions. Love these guys.

No one backs up Brunt that VILE is family. Like yeah she can live in her own little world. It’s such a pity the show wasn’t able to explore this fully you can see the set up. They wanted to do something and it needed another season to bring it around.

FINE FINE SEND WHOMEVER. The Faculty are simultaneously the cruelest and absolute silliest people on the planet. I love them muchly. Their interactions with each other tickle me to bits.

Assuming The Troll has always been with VILE (since Shadowsan is aware of his existence), he totally made that bomb icon for the tracker app.

Mime Bomb is super clever honestly, to do the bait and switch like that. He uses Tigress and the cat and the store to make a clean getaway (at least from Carmen) WITH the stamp. The entire sequence of events in this episode is extremely entertaining. There’s so much cool stuff going on, either paralleling a previous episode or something new and fun.

Love the shop owner lol. Takes everything in panicked stride.

Chase and Julia are SO close. (Look at that lack of keycard) I'm amused that Carmen gets to witness part of that. And speaking of this interrogation scene, I do think of the interrogation scene from Detective Pikachu every single time I watch this episode. Then I double over laughing.

ON BASTILLE DAY

And the stamp goes into the lucky coat. I'm always in awe of so many moving parts to this episode that all tie neatly together at the end.

When I first watched this i really thought that Carmen would get there in time but Chase’s coat getting shredded is better because then we get one of the best deliveries of any line in the show. The *cracked sob* of SHE iS VICIOUS AND CRUEL is magical. Please appreciate this with me.

Even VILE makes sure their operatives use a seat belt.

LOOK AT HOW HAPPY ZACK iS. And how he wants to replicate the movie he is absolutely a top notch driver but he is a cinnamon roll. The duality of Carmen’s focus and Zack’s childlike delight makes me so happy. And then when he gets into serious mode LOOK at Carmen. She’s halfway convinced she’s not going to make it lol. Take notes, Carmen does not like not being in control of a situation that makes her uncomfortable. She’ll fall off buildings but when she’s being driven somewhere in a high stress situation she fears for her life.

For the record, I hope team red watches the whole Rogue Vendetta series for movie night.

Also the music in this sequence slaps.

“THIS IS EXACTLY WHY IM NOT INVITING YOU ALONG. I CANNOT BE SLOWED DOWN BY CAUTION WORDS” This man. These writers. Off the wall bonkers great.

“The woman beams herself from a fountain pen she can do anything.” Fhfhfgcff

What car number is this again the ongoing joke is superb.

The amount of upper body strength from both women to climb the bridge.

So cool that it’s all parallel to the exam and Carmen gets to sorta put her nightmares to rest. Just in time to have new nightmares next week! :D

I like how the Cleaners just stand by with their metaphorical popcorn and shine a spotlight. Running theory is that they just like the drama.

She got the phone too! I love this ending. Carmen got validation on her own, she doesn’t need the answer over the coat. Even though she gets it next episode haha. It’s freeing though for her to get some resolution here. She’s not dependent on Shadowsan’s reasoning in preparation for the next episode. It’s the message that she’s continually freeing herself from VILE every day.

Oh boy oh boy I can’t wait for next week. The angst monger in me is SALIVATING.

[disfordevineaux]

Looking over your acc, you seem to be the resident expert on cs, esp chase and julia- but im curious. What's your opinion on the faculty?

There's this one scene in season four I'd like to call attention to: where brunt falls into a freezing river after fighting shadowsan, leaving maelstrom to grab the second last vile relic/map piece, and then a maelstrom is being driven back to hq, brunt shows up, holding onto life white knuckled- and in the car she says something like

'you weren't.. going to leave me... where you?'

And maelstrom dodges the question- idk much about character dynamics and basic writing but like, imo this is a fanastastic show of how each character veiws their comradere. So like, what's your perception of that scene specifically if you don't mind sharing? (I'm usually the standard Brunt Disliker but this specific scene and line mad me admittedly feel for her)

I have no real special place in my heart for the faculty. They are super super fun don't get me wrong, I think just comes down to that the only one who received any kind of development was Shadowsan, someone who we saw was barely in VILE faculty during the show run. And that kind of nerfs them for me, especially since they only just went into how truly evil they can be. But if I was to comment on any of them, it would definitely be the contrast and actual clear beef between Brunt and Maelstrom in general on the show. And how much they were at each other's throats. Tension you could cut with a knife.

Especially in that scene too. I feel like Maelstrom only keeps those around him who are useful and or easily reprogrammable. And I definitely think he dosent value Brunt, or most likely views her as an actual threat to his views, and hierarchy. People respect her by proxy, just with her presence alone. She is the most influential person within the faculty, especially in the majority of VILES members imo. Making, at the very least, meaningfully connects with her subordinates, where he has to physically alter those to make them unwaveringly loyal. Set a precedent of true fear to what he will do among those below him, which takes a lot of resources and time to do. Aleast that's what he typically likes to do, Paper Star is his literal prodigy and I like to think that he hasn't had to do a thing for her to be that, pathological.

Also I definitely think that there was no way he would be able to go back to the rest of the faculty without Brunt. Absolutely no way at all, and he knew that, she as well.

I also get a hint that Brunt genuinely, views the faculty like a real family. Unlike Maelstrom. I feel like she deep down, knows that he doesn't feel the same about them. Maelstrom threatened physical and mental harm to his 'friend', Nigel Braithwaite. Keeping the guy in a cage. Literally in a dungeon just because.

And with Shadowsan 'turning' to the Red side, who wasn't openly caring to Carmen, unlike Brunt. Maelstrom would definitely be permanently wary of her. Even have a full plan to take her out if need be.

I truly, hand on my heart, LOVE how the moment he knew that VILE was truly over, he fking dipped. Just, dusted his hands off and said 'time to leave this sinking ship' as if he hadn't spent the last 30+ years with them. Absolutely savage, and heartless. True to his character. Where in contrast, Brunt was willing to fight right up until the end. Very interesting characters for sure.

[sseditorialrunway]

The Supermodel

A Supermodel is a model who is, as we would put it in today's terms, 'booked and busy'. Famous supermodels include Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Carla Bruni, Gisele Bundchen and Tyra Banks, to name a few.

Frankie Raydar is a top model who reached supermodel status in the early 2000s. She was in such high demand that designers often paid her extra to cancel other bookings.

Often, a new group of supermodels emerge from the rest of the group. Supermodels walk in multiple highly publicised runway shows by notorious fashion houses and are the face of campaigns.

Here, Gisele walks the Dior 2003 runway show and stars in the Dior 2003 campaign.

Supermodels differ from standard models because they top runway shows, print covers, achieve double-page spreads and often wear the most expensive items in the collection. Celebrities will then wear these designs on the red carpets.

Models would historically become a designer's muse. Famous muses have been Amber Valetta for Versace, Adriana Lima & Tyra Banks for Victoria's Secret and Natasha Poly for Gucci. The rise of Victoria's Secret changed this.

Victoria's Secret was a popular runway show because they used supermodels in their runway shows and, of course, put bras and panties on display. They were one of the first brands to use technology to push the commercialism of the brand.

Being contracted to Victoria's Secret as an 'Angel' meant widespread attention for the models. This was a new pathway for models to reach supermodel status.

Models who could not book every show during fashion seasons could make it up during the 1-hour lingerie extravaganza.

The commercialisation of Victoria's Secret meant that angels who could not book fashion and beauty campaigns, they would still achieve circulation attention through the catalogue produced by the lingerie giant.

Models such as Heidi Klum, Alessandra Ambrosio, Selita Ebanks and Marisa Miller reached supermodel status this way. They didn't walk in many high fashion shows like the other girls but could command high salaries when they did.

That's another thing. Supermodels are paid far better than your average model. Supermodels command 5 figures for walking just one show. This ties into the point earlier about Frankie Raydar.

90s supermodels stood out with just their first names. Naomi. Tyra. Helena. Cindy. Tatiana. Linda. Claudia. Yasmeen. Kate. Shalom. Christy.

Early 2000s supermodels include Gisele. Frankie. Carmen. Karolina. Karen. Isabeli. Eva. Maggie. Amber. Caroline. Adriana. Alessandra. Selita. Fernanda. Michelle. Natalia. Note that most, if not all, of the models, have previously worked with Victoria's Secret.

The next generation of supermodels includes Daria. Natasha. Anja. Caroline. Snejana. Lily. Izabel. Racquel. Hana. Julia. Vlada. Jessica. Magdalena. Mariacarla. Gemma. Maryna. Eugenia. Doutzen. Andrea. Karmen. Abbey-Lee. Bianca.

After this, supermodels begin to fall off. Where there were supermodels, they were few are far between. Supermodels in this generation include Candice. Chanel. Jourdan. Cara. Karlie. Joan. Liu-Wen.

In recent times, it has become difficult for some to pinpoint a supermodel. Social media is the new pathway into superstardom, and girls no longer need to be scouted in the streets.

The early 90s supermodels are now mothers, and the new generation of top models is here. Top models include Gigi. Bella. Kendall. Kaia. Binx. Cara. Irina. Adut. Anok. Imaan. Sora. Rianne. Mica. Maty. Mona. Vittoria.

A supermodel must dominate both the runway and print side of the business. Star in many campaigns at once and command a high salary for a day's work.

There you have it. When someone mentions a 'supermodel', you understand what that means and a benchmark against which to measure.

Something can be said for Victoria's Secret angels being supermodels. However, their pulling power has dropped since the early days. They also don't walk in as many shows nor command high salaries from Victoria's Secret.

A key Victoria's Secret model who doesn't fit this stereotype is Grace Elizabeth. She books multiple campaigns and runway shows, including Versace and Chanel.

Celebrity doesn't traditionally equal supermodel status. However, if a model's celebrity causes them to land multiple covers and book multiple shows in one season, they may qualify for supermodel status.

[rockislandadultreads]

Book Club Recommendations: Immigrant Experiences

Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia

In present-day Miami, Jeanette is battling addiction. Daughter of Carmen, a Cuban immigrant, she is determined to learn more about her family history from her reticent mother and makes the snap decision to take in the daughter of a neighbor detained by ICE. Carmen, still wrestling with the trauma of displacement, must process her difficult relationship with her own mother while trying to raise a wayward Jeanette. Steadfast in her quest for understanding, Jeanette travels to Cuba to see her grandmother and reckon with secrets from the past destined to erupt.

From 19th-century cigar factories to present-day detention centers, from Cuba to Mexico, Gabriela Garcia's Of Women and Salt is a kaleidoscopic portrait of betrayals—personal and political, self-inflicted and those done by others—that have shaped the lives of these extraordinary women. A haunting meditation on the choices of mothers, the legacy of the memories they carry, and the tenacity of women who choose to tell their stories despite those who wish to silence them, this is more than a diaspora story; it is a story of America’s most tangled, honest, human roots.

Ties That Tether by Jane Igharo

At twelve years old, Azere promised her dying father she would marry a Nigerian man and preserve her culture even after emigrating to Canada. Her mother has been vigilant about helping--forcing--her to stay well within the Nigerian dating pool ever since. But when another match-made-by-mom goes wrong, Azere ends up at a bar, enjoying the company and later sharing the bed of Rafael Castellano, a man who is tall, handsome, and white.

When their one-night stand unexpectedly evolves into something serious, Azere is caught between her growing feelings for Rafael and the compulsive need to please her mother who will never accept a relationship that threatens to dilute Azere's Nigerian heritage.

Azere can't help wondering if loving Rafael makes her any less of a Nigerian. Can she be with him without compromising her identity? The answer will either cause Azere to be audacious and fight for her happiness or continue as the compliant daughter.

Afterlife by Julia Alvarez

Antonia Vega, the immigrant writer at the center of Afterlife, has had the rug pulled out from under her. She has just retired from the college where she taught English when her beloved husband, Sam, suddenly dies. And then more jolts: her bighearted but unstable sister disappears, and Antonia returns home one evening to find a pregnant, undocumented teenager on her doorstep. Antonia has always sought direction in the literature she loves—lines from her favorite authors play in her head like a soundtrack—but now she finds that the world demands more of her than words.

Afterlife is a compact, nimble, and sharply droll novel. Set in this political moment of tribalism and distrust, it asks: What do we owe those in crisis in our families, including—maybe especially—members of our human family? How do we live in a broken world without losing faith in one another or ourselves? And how do we stay true to those glorious souls we have lost?

Nuclear Family by Joseph Han

Things are looking up for Mr. and Mrs. Cho. Their dream of franchising their Korean plate lunch restaurants across Hawaiʻi seems within reach after a visit from Guy Fieri boosts the profile of Cho's Delicatessen. Their daughter, Grace, is busy finishing her senior year of college and working for her parents, while her older brother, Jacob, just moved to Seoul to teach English. But when a viral video shows Jacob trying—and failing—to cross the Korean demilitarized zone, nothing can protect the family from suspicion and the restaurant from waning sales.

No one knows that Jacob has been possessed by the ghost of his lost grandfather, who feverishly wishes to cross the divide and find the family he left behind in the north. As Jacob is detained by the South Korean government, Mr. and Mrs. Cho fear their son won't ever be able to return home, and Grace gets more and more stoned as she negotiates her family's undoing. Struggling with what they don't know about themselves and one another, the Chos must confront the separations that have endured in their family for decades.

Set in the months leading up to the 2018 false missile alert in Hawaiʻi, Joseph Han's profoundly funny and strikingly beautiful debut novel is an offering that aches with histories inherited and reunions missed, asking how we heal in the face of what we forget and who we remember.

[lara635kookie]

I disagree. I commented that moment later on but to sum up:the key was something would give V.I.L.E. what they wanted:the treasure. And stopping V.I.L.E. has always been Carmen's top priority. So she only had something to win when she threatened to throw the key off because she knew an archeologist or anyone else that isn't V.I.L.E. could find it later. And I believe that is something she would have done for anybody else on Julia's place. One of the few things she loves more than history is people, as she is shown to be a humanitarian who donates money to children. Julia and her are friends. The things you mentioned are common between friends. For me, to be more than platonic, I need more than that, which other ships give me. And I don't see why the quick study line can't be interpreted as platonical, I interpret that way. Her voice tone didn't seem to imply nothing else to me. Just like her other moments. For me, they never flirted. And even if they did, Carmivy and Red Crackle did it in a more memorable way. The only moment I remember Carmen asking about Julia is in the car with Devineaux and she doesn't even look worried about her and more about teasing Devineaux. Compared to Carmen and Gray and Carmen and Ivy, they all look like friendship to me, since Red Crackle and Carmivy know each other better and for a longer amount of time. The point is that Carulia has reasonable and beliavable platonic explanations. Red Crackle and Carmivy don't.

Ship Analysis let's go.

RedCrackle, CarmIvy and Carulia.

First of all, I'm gonna show you a picture that I

A lot of people tend to say "Carmen said a multiple times Gray is like a big brother to her" No, she only said it twice. And after the Opera in the Outback Caper she never says it again. Besides, while talking about this she says:

"I THOUGHT I KNEW you like the big brother I never had UNTIL THAT MOMENT."

"I know, but before he was Crackle he was Gray and Gray WAS like a big brother to me."

She uses the verbs on the PAST, as in NOT ANYMORE. BLACK SHEEP SAW HIM LIKE A BROTHER, NOT CARMEN SANDIEGO. And the same logic applies to Gray. His teenage self saw Black Sheep as a sister, but that's not how his adult self sees Carmen Sandiego. Gray only FLIRTED with her when he had lost his memories. But FLIRTING isn't the only way of showing love.

And I actually liked this aspect of the finale because you can choose who Carmen goes with or if she stays alone. But at the same time I am a romance sucker and Gray and her really felt to me like the most implied ship. They have too many parallels, more than Julia and Ivy combined. They are literally red and blue. And no, Julia isn't blue either. Julia never wore blue. Not even once. Her dress at TSONTS interactive special was black, like pretty much everything she ever used(The only exception I recall is that photo of her with her mother where she's wearing pink). And I have proof:

Of course people have different perspections of color but these circles are the colors I've seen Julia wearing. At least to my eye, Julia never wore one single shade of blue(as long as I can remember). Unlike Ivy. Girl has blue eyes, her shirt sleeves were blue and she wore a light blue with lilac dress to The Need of Speed Caper(I'm not sure if that's really the name of the episode but you know what episode it is, that one with Trey Sterling where a badass biker Carmen fights with Zack and Ivy because they messed up in stealing a super car and for arrested, we're introduced to The Mechanic and The Driver and yay found family has an official headquarters now).

The thing is, Carulia can have different interpretations to every single one of their interactions. You can see them as romantic or not. Meanwhile, with Red Crackle and Carmivy, the romance scenes are clearly romance scenes. I think Julia showed some little interest in Carmen, but Carmen never showed interest in Julia. And I'll tell you why:Carmen meets Julia on a train in India, to keep an eye on Paper Star, where we have the following dialogue.

Carmen:Is this seat taken? (Sits before having an answer)

Julia:Actually yes. But, feel free to use it, until my partner returns.

Carmen:Partner? (Looks to the side, to the other seat while the camera focus on a suitcase with the C.D initials)

Julia:(clears throat)Travel partner.

We see later on the episode that Carmen leaves the Magna Carta along with Devineaux's suitcase on the other seat she looked at. So I interpretate that Julia got it wrong what she meant and Carmen realized she was with Devineaux. Of course you can interpretate otherwise but here's the thing:Unlike Red Crackle and Carmivy, Carulia doesn't have any moment that is UNQUESTIONABLY romantic. You can always interpretate the Carulia moments as friendship or something else.

The fashion caper with the medicis dresses and hypnotized models, you can interpretate that Carmen was checking her out or analyzing her outfit to enter the runway. The Stockholm Syndrome Caper you can interpretate Julia was checking her out or she was really just concerned about Carmen freezing in the winter(which seemed more likely to me). Then Julia leaves A.C.M.E. and some people say she left because of Carmen. I definetely agree that's one of the reasons but we see that the main reason is because she wants to work more with history, her true passion. Where her heart was. And she wanted to leave because of Carmen not because she's in love with her but because she believes Carmen is good and the rest of A.C.M.E. doesn't and she doesn't want to chase someone who is doing good but as she already tried to convince people and wasn't heard, she left. Or because she doesn't understand Carmen's actions being so confusing, sometimes good, sometimes seem to be not so good so she was just sick of the mess and drama and wanted to comeback to just history which seemed to be so since when Devineaux goes to ask Julia if the "crimson ghost" was good Julia goes all like "that's a hard question to answer". At least that's my interpretation. And when Chief says something about A.C.M.E. stopping to chase Carmen and Julia goes like:"Or I'll have to retire/quit/leave all over again" it proves one of the reasons she left was Carmen, but doesn't go over the implications. It might be love, it might not be. It can be the things I stated before. Julia being "Carmen's favorite A.C.M.E. Agent" can be seen in a love light, but also in a friendship light. Julia saying "Who knew my two keen areas of interest would ever collide" which I interpretate as being closer to history and still doing super secret stuff but sure it can be Carmen. The thing is that the Carulia moments are never something SURE that only has romantic interpretation and nothing else. Carmen doesn't even show any signs of jealousy in hearing Julia is going to have lunch with Devineaux. And some people go like:She was jealous when Devineaux picks her phone. For me, seems unlikely. She could just be wondering why was Devineaux picking up her phone in her office and where Jules was, thinking Devineaux was being invasive like we know he can be sometimes. The way she partners up with Devineaux to save Julia, she would have done to save anybody else. And lastly, To Steal or Not to Steal. First having Julia to help is not even a canon event, since Carmen can save Zack and Ivy without it and then the final scene with Julia doesn't happen. Secondly, red roses definitely have romantic views but at the same time they are also a common symbol of respect. People throw them at stages, at ice skating rinks, etc, in a way of saying "Good Luck" or "Good Job", which is proven since Carmen also gives red roses to Lupe Peligro before her fight.

Some people might argue that they made Carulia that subtle to have casual representation for children in a way some parents won't complain. But you can make something less subtle but still discreet. Like Carmivy! Ivy clearly had a crush on Carmen, which Carmen seemed to reciprocate sometimes. Yes, Carmen's a flirt, but the way she looked at Ivy sometimes and smiled it was something else.

I think that what Carulia needed (besides romantic chemestry and more time to build better their relationship) is a huge moment in an episode that deepens the way they feel about one another. Like The Stockholm Syndrome Caper when Carmen is with her head on Ivy's lap, or the entirety of the chocolate factory girl's trip. Or something like the entirety of The Crackle Goes Kiwi Caper and the episode Carmen tries to rescue Gray from jail and V.I.L.E. takes him. And of course The Opera in the Outback Caper, serving both Red Crackle and Carmivy goodness. Carulia needed its own episode. When I think about The Crackle Goes Kiwi Caper my first thought it's "That's a Red Crackle episode". The same thing with Carmivy in the chocolate factory girls trip. Carulia tried to have an episode, that's when Carmen rescues her from Countess Cleo but the problem is:

1-It was the last ship episode. So they give us Carulia when we already had Red Crackle and Carmivy, who were already established first and had more developing. And it was also one of the very few last episodes so we don't see how Carulia goes from there because it doesn't have the time with such a rushed finale.

2-They didn't have "THE MOMENT". Red Crackle has "hang on tight, don't let go". Carmivy has "by Carmen Sandiego, who else?". And Carulia...?

3-They didn't have a date. Red Crackle had a coffee date, Carmivy had a fountain date(yes they were dates) and Carulia...?

I wonder how Carulia manages to, out of these three, be the ship with the least number of interactions and still feel like the most forgettable ship to me. I love both characters and their friendship but in a romantic scenario, I just don't see Carmen and Julia working. Carmen, to me seems like that kind of person that needs someone badass, who can keep up with her like Gray and Ivy, not a "cutie cutie lil bean wholesome smol uwu pie" like Julia. She may act as a badass sometimes but she's not a badass overall. Julia just seems like she would be that awkward flustered blushing mess when in love and for me, Carmen would go for someone who can be more comfortable around her, like we see she is definitely the case with Gray and Ivy.

For me, it's kinda like Carmen is Anthony Bridgerton, Julia is Edwina Sheffield/Sharma and Gray and Ivy would be Kate Sheffield/Sharma. Carmen might like Julia, but she still feels boring to Carmen.

Besides, Gray and Ivy also know Carmen for more time than Julia, what makes Carulia look, in my vision, superficial, shallow, artificial and forced. Gray, along with Shadowsan and Player, is the only person Carmen has since her past as Black Sheep and Ivy, along with Zack, were there at the very beginning of Carmen becoming The Carmen Sandiego. Compared to that, what does Julia know about Carmen? Romance requires a deeper connection, a bond Carmen clearly has with Gray and Ivy, that know her better and for a longer time. Compared to that, Julia barely knows a thing Carmen. Between a person you still have to build a bond with and one you already have that kind of bond with, it's a no-brainer who the best choice is. Really, I can't think of something Carmen and Julia have in common that has nothing to do with history. For a relationship to work you don't need to have everything in common, but you do need more than that. Just history isn't enough. And I can say that because my favorite subject in school is history(alongside with geography, english, philosophy and sociology)(I am a languages/humanities kind of person, fuck math and sciences). History may be enough for a friendship but not a romantic relationship. Besides, history and geography are things Carmen and Player bond more about and in a better way so having Carulia bond over the same thing just seems like it's nothing special and passes the idea that Carmen can bond with anyone as long as they like history and geography, that are intrinsically linked subjects, making Carulia feel, for me, even more basic than it already is. Not all ships need a complex storyline but it does add to it. Because Carmen and Ivy have that "strangers to teammates to friends to lovers" that has a lot of potential to it like one of them being in denial about having a crush on the other, fear that the other doesn't feel the same, fear of ruining their friendship, flirting accidentally, doing capers together with Zack making fun of them, having to put their feelings aside for the sake of the mission, Carmen can't truly open up about her feelings showing vulnerability, jealousy, etc.

And Red Crackle has that "acquaintances to class/roommates to friends to best friends to consideration siblings to enemies to strangers to friends to lovers to enemies to partners in crime to casually making out/hooking up without commitment during six months to enemies to strangers" vibe. The six months thing it's a headcanon but the way it's shown Carmen and Gray work so well together and how it is implied they made a lot of missions as a duo, without the others from their class, just makes me dream, and no one can stop me. Red Crackle are "opposite sides of the same coin". And they'll end up as lovers again because I see Red Crackle as a "right person, wrong timing" situation. They are meant to be and they will be one day, even if it takes a lot of time. They just have too much chemestry, angsty potential and drama material to count and that's exactly what I like. The possibilities are infinite and that just makes their storyline so interesting and I love that for them. So for me, it just felt like Carulia was kinda just there. Only existing.

(That was too long so I decided to divide it. Part 2 is coming soon)

[inoghmia]

If Carmen and Crackle/Grey are supposed to be a sister-brother relationship, why didn’t the show known for its show don’t tell, show it? What even are they?

Before you say that it was clarified 2 times and that you prefer Julia x Carmen, this is NOT a Redcrackle post, just hear me out. I love Jules and Carmen as much as the next fan, but since season one I couldn’t shake off the weird tension Grey and Carmen have.

I’m not really good at rants and these are just my thoughts and confused feelings I’m trying to understand.

Ok so it was clarified in the beginning that Crackle is “like the big brother she never had”, and in the flashbacks of the academy you can kinda feel that vibe, it’s very reserved but it is there. They’re kinda playful and caring but not to an extent I personally would call it a sibling relationship, but I digress, family bonds come in all forms and some may be more reserved than others. However, having said that, after the academy flashbacks, it’s back to the weird tension in the train. It was really hard for me to describe it, but I feel like the fact I had to repeatedly remind myself of their supposed relationship indicates something about the writing.

Carmen Sandiego as a show is great in “show don’t tell”, the quiet representation of different relationships (lgbtq+ representation my beloved) and atmosphere and even if some aspects are stated, a lot of things are left for interpretation, or it just well shown. The best example I can come up with at 2 am is how we see shadowsan slowly become more and more a part of the family, and even if in the later episodes it’s acknowledged by the characters once or twice, we mostly see the development happen and notice it for our self. It's great writing.

Now I’m mentioning this because Carmen Sandiego did an amazing job at writing family relationships, in which we have a sibling relationship, Zach and Ivy, and they did an incredible job. Some aspects can appear exaggerated, but even I, a lonely child, felt like all their interactions and body language was one of true siblings, it felt right and I never had to question anything.

So WHY (I’m asking this genuinely) do they mess up on Grey and Carmen? You could argue that they both come from very different lifestyles, Grey lived his life presumably lonely and since he doesn’t seem to have any family bonds with any foster family, (assuming all VILE operatives are indeed orphans) and doesn’t have a pet or partner, he doesn’t seem like someone to get acquainted with others. Carmen on the other hand, has been always surrounded by people she sees as family and later on seems to love making new acquaintances. While others may see students at the academy as just that, students, Carmen may have seen them as something like distant cousins you see at family gatherings. It would be understandable if they weren’t very compatible but despite it, they don’t necessarily need a strong bond to maybe be called siblings by Carmen since everyone at VILE is, to quote Coach, family. If you look at their relationship, it truly started off the “mutual enemy” kind of thing, and and idk, I feel like it would be understandable why their vibe was off when calling eachother such endearing names. (Edit Note: I wrote this at like 2am and have no clue what I was going on about for the most part of this paragraph)

They act more like work friends than anything. The lack of intimacy that you’d find in siblings COULD be explained, seeing as Grey may never have had the chance to feel brotherly love for a longer time than a few years (assuming he even had siblings in a foster home to begin with) and Carmen being mostly surrounded by adults and therefore not having a chance to bond with someone her age. Still, personally, I expected SOME intimacy, seeing that they were at the very least best friends, which is to be fair, something we see happen in the academy flashbacks, but like only once (talking here about body language).

In the train scene there’s this tension between them, but it’s not one of seeing your best friend or sibling betray you, it felt more like a coworker letting you know HR is mad, and tbh, I was really surprised when Carmen said she saw Grey as a brother.

(Edit: this was a part written late at night so it’s a bit hasty)

Later on their relationship is hard to describe, it feels uncertain and could range from a random coworker to the dearest person in the world, it’s really confusing imo.

Then the amnesia happens and oh boy. I 100% believe Grayham had a crush on her, I mean, who wouldn’t fall for a random mysterious lady in red that (literally) sweeps you off your feet? Every time I saw them interact I was always expecting a different reaction from Carmen, instead of acting like the supposed younger sister, she acts mysterious, (imo) almost unaware to herself flirty, due to her unnecessary secrecy.

They later on bump into each other and at that point it was SO fucking hard to understand what they were, they were neither acting like siblings, two strangers attracted to each other, nor friend or enemies, the jail scene was so confusing I had to rewatch it a few times and I’m still not sure what I’m meant to understand them as.

After Crackle gets his memory back, I will say it, he acts like a past lover. In all the later episodes I always felt like I was watching two people that had some tragic lovers-to-enemies story which one was still bitter about. I’ve often been considering the possibility it may have been Greys resting fuckboy face, but idk, I don’t think that’s totally it. As I said it feels weird in the grand context of things, but I really would believe they were lovers at some point If I were to watch just the last season. Heck, when Carmen was evil, they lowkey had a power couple vibes, but EVEN THEN it was hard for me to distinguish if they felt romantic, platonic or like siblings.

Tell me I’m not the only one who sees this

(WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!?!???)

Here’s my biggest problem tho:

In the last episodes, the moment Grey contacts ACME, was the first time in the show I felt like I was watching a brother fight for his sibling. Idk if it was because it felt like I first ever really saw raw emotion in him or what it was, but I truly understood the sibling implication for the first time. In the scene he’s begging her to come back and Carms about to electrocute him (side note, can we talk abt how she was willing to kill like 3 ppl), I truly felt the sibling dynamic.

AND THEN THE FUCKING HOSPITAL SCENE MAKES IT FEEL LIKE THEY WERE IDK WHAT BUT SOMETHING LOVING, IDK IF IN A PLATONIC, FAMILY OR ROMANTIC WAY BUT IT WAS LOVING AND AWISSFIOASJMDFÖIKJAGJWSIO WHY IS THIS SHOW SO CONFUSING

final conclusion:

I am so fucking confused and its 02:30 am - somebody send help

[medusarevengetheory]

devotionals of ugliness, part five: offensive v defensive

“(That girl on the news never invited that man to touch her. All I can think about is how I wish she had had something savage coursing through her skin.

God should have made girls lethal when he made monsters of men.)”

Elisabeth Hewer, from God Should Have Made Girls Lethal, in Wishing for Birds

There lies a certain sort of freedom in wanting to be monstrous. Not simply ugly, but monstrous, and thus powerful. A monstrous woman is so far beyond the realm of acceptable that none of the rules apply to her anymore. She’s ferocious, fierce, free, and most of all (best of all): untouchable. The monstrous woman doesn’t need to be afraid of men and male violence, which is why it’s such a romantic fantasy for women. 

Julia Armfield writes: “When Daphne transforms into a bay tree, the moment is one of both horror and deliverance. She is no longer what she once was, but the metamorphosis frees her from the unwanted attention of Apollo. This duality of horror and emancipation sits, I think, at the core of female transformation. Within the horror genre (and arguably everywhere else), bodies read as female are always subject to pain, and to the threat of violation. Becoming something else—a tree, a freak, a monster—preempts this pain and reduces the risk of harm. It may even, if the transformation is the right one, allow you to cause harm in return.” (Emphasis mine). 

Daphne and Medusa are two women in the Metamorphoses that are transformed either because of rape, or to escape rape. Daphne is transformed in the nick of time, but she becomes static, unable to escape the moment of terror that necessitated her transformation. And Medusa was not protected by her goddess, but rather punished, and said punishment made her a living weapon. Perseus had to wait until she slept to kill her, and he needed a goodie bag full of godly gifts to do it (not to mention that Athena guided his sword-hand). 

The freedom inherent in monstrosity is clear in many of today’s current horror literature by women. Julia Armfield, Carmen Maria Machado, and more all explore this theme. 

As does Hannah Williams, in her essay on the monstrous-feminine, which concludes thusly: “Sometimes, when I’m walking home on my own at night, I think about what it would be like to stalk silently behind men, my feet soft and easy on the pavement, quick flash of my shadow under the street lights. How I’d watch the whites of their eyes shine as they turned to look behind them – softly, quietly, can’t be too obvious – see the glisten of sweat on the back of their necks. I’d watch them quicken their pace with fear, recognise the measured gait – not wanting to run so as not to inspire a chase, keep calm, breathe deeply, act self-possessed but do not linger. I’d like to test it; to not be five-foot-four, soft-fleshed, short-sighted, to not think about the keys slotted between my fingers, the correct way to escape a chokehold. To not think, even in passing, of defence. Just once I’d like to think about attack: scaled wings, glinting incisors, long, yellowed claws. A pact with the devil that let me split concrete, burn with the touch of my finger.” (Emphasis mine). 

[Wishing for Birds, Elisabeth Hewer]

[On Body Horror and the Female Body, Julia Armfield] 

[The Resurgence of the Monstrous Feminine, Hannah Williams] 

[carmensbroom]

I've once again had 6 hours to process everything I saw in season 4 so I'm just gonna say my thoughts on it (hold onto your fedoras again folks)

first off, WE FOUND OUT GRAY'S LAST NAME?? I was so shocked and happy at the same time I love how everyone asked for player's real name and we ended up with gray's surname for some reason shsjsj. NOBODY ASKED FOR THAT BUT THEY DELIVERED ANYWAY

ALSO GRAHAM IS AN ORPHAN?? my precious boy *throws mommy's boy headcanon out the window*

the second episode really had me shipping carmivy they're so cute we got a girl's trip and I'm all for it

I think I may now be a dash haber stan but let's not make a big thing of it

also ivy eating the chocolate in the middle of a mission deserves an honorable mention because of her cute little tongue (I'm weird okay djsjsjs)

zack trying to bond with shadowsan and him having none of it was delightful

that fucking robot god damn bellum really thought of everything didn't she every time I thought it was gone it made a come back I literally said out loud "carmen is so fucked"

I SWEAR TO GOD EVERY TIME GRAY TALKED ABOUT CARMEN I KEPT THINKING HE WAS GONNA SAY "BECAUSE I LOVE HER" IN WHICH CASE I WOULD HAVE DIED AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY

yall have no idea how relieved I was when I found out that photo of julia was her and her (presumably) mother and NOT a boyfriend sjsjsjs

catch me making a headcanon that julia has a single mom because her father disowned her for coming out as gay based on that picture alone 😭

I'M SORRY BUT THE AMOUNT OF FLIRTING BETWEEN CARMEN AND JULES?? PLEASE THEY'RE SECRET GIRLFRIENDS JUST ADMIT YOU CENSORED THEM AND GO

OKAY BUT WHEN THEY WERE IN JULIA'S OFFICE AND CARMEN SAID "WAY TO FOLLOW YOUR HEART JULES" AND SHE WAS LIKE "YOU REMEMBERED" I LOST IT WHAT DID CARMEN REMEMBER JULES?? DID THEY HAVE A CONVERSATION OFF SCREEN? MAYBE I'M JUST A BIG HUGE LESBIAN BUT THAT'S A BIT GAY LADIES

carmen getting all worried when julia wasn't answering her phone was the blessed gay content I signed up for PLEASE THEY CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER SO MUCH

never thought I'd say this but I loved devineaux this season he was funny, he improved his treatment towards julia (I don't recall him officially apologising I must have missed something djsjsjs)

the only thing I didn't like was it kinda seemed like they were trying to hint that chase and jules were into each other and I didn't really vibe with that

all that shit with dr bellum and the crown for cleo really had me thinking cleobellum was gonna be canon what a clown I am (seriously tho the way she lost it when the crown got stolen GIVE IT BACK IT BELONGS TO HER WIFE)

look all I'm saying is: tigress new outfit in the egypt episode was hot

HER FACE AT THE END AFTER SHE GOT TRAPPED WITH ALL THOSE BUGS

I wish julia and gray could have met there's so much friendship potential there 😭

is player... is he a bit 💅 I SEE THAT PRIDE STICKER ON YOUR LAPTOP YOUNG MAN YOU'RE NOT SUBTLE

ngl I nearly teared up when player finally met carmen in person

I'M SORRY BUT JULIA'S BLUSH IN EPISODE 7 PLEASE SHE'S SO SMITTEN WITH CARMEN IT'S BRILLIANT

EVIL CARMEN WAS REALLY SOMETHING ELSE I WAS SO SCARED SHE'D BE STUCK LIKE THAT FOREVER

I mentioned this in another post but when julia was like "don't you remember me? I'm your girlfriend friend, jules" I NEARLY FUCKING CRIED THEY WERE GETTING KINDA CLOSE AND THEN CARMEN GOT MIND WIPED

JULIA TOPS JULIA TOPS I SAID IT ALL ALONG AND IT'S TRUE SHE REALLY PINNED VILE CARMEN THAT'S TOP BEHAVIOR (also this now makes carmen a bottom I don't make the rules)

kinda shocked that paper star was hardly here I don't stan her so it didn't bother me much but still it was just strange they didn't use her this season

when shadowsan whipped out the last doll and carmen had all those flashbacks to when she was at vile I nearly started crying AGAIN

I LEGIT THOUGHT CARMEN HAD KILLED GRAY DJSJSJS AN ELECTRICIAN GETTING ELECTROCUTED THAT'S SOME IRONY RIGHT THERE

gray really confused me towards the end he kept switching sides every five minutes for the whole season I wasn't sure whether to trust him half the time dhshsjs

THE LOOK ON CARMEN'S FACE WHEN SHE THOUGHT SHE'D KILLED GRAY WAS SO HEARTBREAKING AND THEN SHE STARTED CRYING OH MY GOD I'M SORRY BABY

the way she's always been against hurting people/taking lives and then she ended up hurting all the people she loves (she nearly killed zack for god sake) really hit me hard

gray's ending was... kinda weird I understood the parallel of him not wanting to complicate carmen's life like she said about him in season 2 but it was still kinda strange that they didn't have one more conversation or get any closure

I'm obviously kinda upset that carulia wasn't canon they had so much potential imo and the show isn't about romance anyway BUT I'm happy with the content we got and THEY FLIRTED SO MUCH THEY'RE CANON IN MY HEART

THE TEAM RED GROUP HUG KILLED ME IT WAS SO CUTE

kinda annoyed that carmen just straight up left zack and ivy she really just left a note and said YEET

ivy's voice crack when she read the note got me all choked up

ngl I'm still not entirely sure how it ended I had to rewatch it a few times to understand what they were trying to imply sjsjsj

would have loved to know carmen's given name but at the same time she's literally THE carmen sandiego that's who she is, it would be silly to go by a name that she doesn't connect with just because her parents gave her it

her mom being a regular citizen was kinda bittersweet I mean a plot twist would have been good but at the same time it would make the story even more complicated

*dreams of a spinoff movie where we get better closure on everything*

ACME IVY ACME IVY I'M NOT AN IVY STAN BUT DAMN IF I AIN'T SIMPING FOR ACME IVY

I know carmen didn't want revenge but I feel like chief got let off with killing her father way too quickly if I'm honest sjsjsj

JULIA BEING IN CHARGE OF FINDING CARMEN'S MOM OH MY GOSH

I feel so bad for laughing when julia got knocked out the way the cloth fell on her head sent me but when the pole hit her head I was like "OKAY I TAKE IT BACK THIS ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE"

was not expecting julia to physically fight anyone I mean she's always been so calm and collected and then this season she was like fuck it might as well hit a few people before we finish forever

wishing carmen and jules could have hugged or had a scene together where they talked about stockholm but I won't complain it wouldn't have really made sense anyway considering they were cool with each other at the university

so glad the trailer was misleading about the coach brunt situation I really didn't want her to get a last minute redemption

another honorable mention: cleo snapping at julia "DON'T YOU DARE IMPLY THAT I AM COMMON" sent me djdjs she was just stood there like "I am but a humble history lesbian leave me be"

I think that's everything I'll probably add to it later if I think of anything or I might make a part 2 djsjsjs (I've been writing this for almost an hour now 😭)

overall I enjoyed it from start to finish. I haven't really cried about it ending yet I'm still processing everything but I'll probably have a little sob when it finally hits me djsjsjs

CARULIA NATION WE BASICALLY WON NOW EXCUSE ME WHILE I REWATCH ALL THEIR SCENES TOGETHER AND MAKE IT MY ENTIRE PERSONALITY

[aspoonofsugar]

Red and Gray in a Black and White World

Carmen Sandiego likes playing with colors.

In particular, VILE is black, while ACME is white.

This is why Carmen’s codename is Black Sheep, which later becomes ironic when she grows to be VILE’s literal “black sheep” and their thorn in the side. At the same time, Shadowsan too has a codename suggesting something dark in color. Of course, his name also foreshadows that he is the one protecting Carmen from the shadows.

Similarly, the ACME’s agent closest to Carmen is Julia Argent aka “silver”. She is not completely “white” and she is able to see the complexity of the world, differently from Devinaux and Zari.

As a matter of fact the whole point is that Carmen refuses a black and white vision of things. She doesn’t want to join VILE, but she doesn’t want to be a part of ACME either:

She wants to use her “wicked skills” for good.

This is a fitting theme for a show whose aim is to help kids learn about geography and how rich Earth is. It conveys the idea of complexity.

In other words, Carmen explores the world and its wonders at her own pace and with her own rules. This is expressed by her color being “red”. Everything about her is red. Her codename, her clothes and even her adoptive family:

Similarly, Gray is another character, who is neither black nor white, but (obviously) gray (duh).

This is made clear in Chief’s speech above and his moral complexity is also what makes his dynamic with Carmen so interesting.

“GRAY” AND “BLACK SHEEP”: NOT MY NAME ANYMORE

Carmen and Gray’s relationship is one of mutual attraction (platonic or romantic does not matter), but also of conflict.

They want the other by their side:

But they can’t agree on which side they should both be:

This is because they both refuse a part of the other. This refusal is well expressed through the name symbolism of both characters.

On one hand Gray keeps calling Carmen Black Sheep:

He refuses her new identity because he does not understand it:

On the other hand Carmen refuses Gray’s VILE persona, but also his civilian one.

This is interesting because her refusal of “Crackle” is something Carmen does willingly:

She does not genuinely understand it, just like Gray does not understand her being Carmen Sandiego.

At the same time, though, Carmen somehow also refuses Gray’s civilian identity and keeps calling him Gray instead of Graham:

Even if the brainwashing makes their friendship easier, Carmen still feels something is amiss. The person in front of her is not really “Gray”, but somehow a “white” version of him. It is not by chance that she is able to partially rebuild their past relationship by involving him in a dangerous mission:

And in this mission Carmen needs Gray’s “wicked skills” that are still a part of him. She becomes Gray’s link to his previous world:

Just like he is the one who symbolically introduces her to what truly means to be a criminal:

And to its harsher aspects:

At the same time, it is interesting that when brainwashed Carmen still refuses the codename Crackle:

And she only uses it when she thinks he has betrayed her:

In that moment it is as if Gray truly became “black” for her and changed from her partner in crime to an enemy.

In short, both characters can’t truly pintpoint who the other really is.

Who is Carmen really? And is Gray good or bad?

The answers to these questions are difficult because Carmen and Gray themselves are not sure until the end of the series.

THE MISSING MATRIOSKA AND BROKEN LIGHTS

Carmen does not know who she is, while Gray is caught up between his wish to be a criminal and his empathic side.

These internal conflicts are well conveyed through specific motifs linked to the two characters.

Firstly, Carmen’s journey of self-discovery is commented by the burnt matrioskas motif:

The matrioskas are what links Carmen to her biological family. They’re the only things she has had since she was born and it is later revealed they’re a toy her father used to calm her down.

At the same time, the matrioskas symbolize Carmen herself. Like her “oldest traveling companions”, she too is made of multiple identities who live inside her and change as she grows. She starts as Lambkins, grows into Carmen Sandiego and finally discovers her identity in  the finale:

Both in terms of her origins and who she wants to be:

The missing matrioska represents both. On one hand it is the link to Carmen’s past and it is symbolically the smallest one (like a baby). On the other hand seeing it makes Carmen remember who she wants to be.

In short, the matrioska is Carmen’s missing piece both when it comes to who she was and to who she will be.

As far as Gray is concerned, him being caught between “light” and “darkness” is conveyed by his electrician’s motif:

Gray’s criminal career started when a light bulb went off. This is an ironic inversion of a light bulb switching on when one has an idea. Still, it also symbolizes a fall to darkness. Gray’s job was supposed to switch lights on, but he chooses to turn them off, so that he can steal.

This motif comes back in season 2 ep 7 where Carmen’s mission is to stop Doctor Bellum from causing dangerous black-outs. This is tied once again to Gray’s character. As a matter of fact not only the objective is to avoid physical blackouts, but also to stop Graham turning back into Crackle once again. The blackout which must be avoided is the one of Gray’s personality.

At the same time, this motif is not as straightforward as it may seem:

As a matter of fact the whole reason Gray has turned into Graham is a metaphorical “black-out”. This is an interesting idea. Gray has left criminality and can have a new beginning and Carmen sees it as a positive thing. However, this whole new identity is a lie built through brainwashing:

Carmen has good intentions and is ultimately proven right about Gray’s good nature. However, she is still ready to accept a persona constructed through an unethical method.

She meets an idealized version of Gray, she realizes something is missing, but still accepts it. This is why she needs to see this illusion shatter and to confront the real Gray once more.

This happens when Gray gets his memories back:

The one on the Himalaya is the second real confrontation between Carmen and Gray after the one on the train.

At this point, we are shown how they have changed and how they have not.

On one hand Carmen is finally forced to accept that Graham was nothing, but an illusion:

However, she does not completely give up on Gray:

Even if confronted with the truth she still hopes Gray will change. It is just that this change to be true should happen because of her friend’s free will and not through a coercion.

On the other hand Gray has grown enough to accept Carmen:

And to realize she will never come back to VILE. However, he still begs her to stop fighting the organization. In short, he has grown a little, but is still asking Carmen to give up on her life mission, just like she wants him to give up on criminality.

The two characters have clearly grown closer, but they are still unable to see eye to eye and this is why they end the episode as enemies, despite this:

There is clearly affection between them, but this affection is not enough to let them overcome their rift. At least not in that moment.

THE FLYING DUTCH AND THE RED PHANTOM

In season 4 ep 4, while Gray is about to make his choice, we hear a song from The Flying Dutch in the background. This is not a surprise because Graham and Carmen’s relationship has also an Opera motif.

Graham works in a operahouse and famous operas pieces comment his relationship with Carmen while brainwashed. They meet at The Carmen, are reunited through The Swan Lake and finally Graham turns into Crackle again while The Flying Dutch is playing.

This last opera is important not only for Graham’s story, but also for Gray’s overall arc. As a matter of fact the story of this opera is one whose main theme is about how love leads to redemption.

This is precisely what happens to Gray in the end.

In particular, he finds himself in the position Carmen was just a while before: he meets an idealized version of Carmen.

Brainwashed Carmen is who Gray has wanted Carmen to be all along. She is loyal to VILE, close to him and in love with stealing.

However, despite Gray having all he ever wanted he quickly realizes he does not like it at all:

Black Sheep realizes she does not want anything to do with VILE after she sees how the organization has transformed Gray.

Similarly, Gray decides to betray VILE after he sees what they did to Carmen. This is interesting because, while Carmen refuses to work both for VILE and for ACME, Gray ends up working for both.

Anyway, in the end Gray leaves VILE out of love.

Not only that, but he shows to have been influenced by Carmen on a deeper level:

It is because of this that Gray survives his final confrontation with his old classmate.

All in all, Gray manages to save himself and he and Shadowsan are the two people that helped Carmen to save herself the most.

At the same time, Gray and Carmen’s story ends on a bittersweet note. They have both hurted each other, but still clearly love each other:

Despite this, they are avoiding each other. This is not something new, if anything Gray’s final choice:

Perfectly mirrors Carmen’s one in the first season:

Both times the two characters decide that the best thing for the other is for them to walk out from their lives. However, I think that both times this is wrong.

Carmen’s decision is later on proven wrong by how the story develops. Gray would have never truly changed if Carmen had not walked in his life again and he would have stayed prisoner of a lie forever.

Gray’s decision happens at the end of the story and seems to be built on this idea:

The idea is that Carmen deserves a normal life. She deserves to stop being a symbol aka Carmen Sandiego and to become a person. She can now live a normal life and meet her mother.

However, even if it seems Carmen will do just that and she even disbands her gang aka her adoptive family, in the end we are shown this:

Carmen has not given up on being Carmen Sandiego and on fighting criminality. Whatever happened after she met her mother, she goes back to her previous identity. This is because Carmen Sandiego is not just a mask she has worn all this time, but it is genuinelly a part of who she is. The difference between the beginning and the end is that Carmen previously was Carmen Sandiego because she did not know who she was, while now she is because she knows.

Carmen will always be both a good person and a thief. She is both and ironically she has told us (and Gray) this since the very beginning:

Because of this, Gray’s worrying he will make Carmen’s life complicated if he even just contacts her is probably false.

Anyway, in the end their relationship has an open ending, but both characters have both realized who they are and who they want to be and they have done so with the other’s help.

[itsdappleagain]

welcome to my blog! here's everything you need to know.

⋆ you can call me dapple or oliver! or just "hey you" works ⋆

⋆ i use any pronouns. this includes neopronouns! ⋆

⋆ gay and ace baybee! love women hrhrngh ⋆

⋆ my most active fandom is carmen sandiego. however, i also engage in arcane, wings of fire, the owl house, amphibia, the dragon prince, and probably most kid's cartoons you could name. i also enjoy musical theater; my favorite show is wicked. feel free to ask about any fandoms you want :) ⋆

⋆ i'm most active in cs like i said and ship any which way between carmen, ivy, and julia! ⋆

⋆ i have a whump sideblog called @poeticagony. uhh its whump (hurting people) so. at your own risk. ⋆

⋆ that being said, I rarely tag things well. the only exceptions are if I've been specifically asked (feel free to do so) or after a new episode of something i engage with comes out for spoilers. ⋆

⋆ you can find me as itsdappleagain on ao3 and most things.. ⋆

⋆ i enjoy acting, singing, writing, drawing, and dabbling in animation in addtion to whatever crazy craft or project catches my attention for a few weeks. its the adhd baby ⋆

⋆ DNI: terfs, maps, homophobes (or any anti-lgbt. this includes not believing aros and aces belong in queer spaces, shaming people who detransition, thinking people in straight passing relationships are no longer queer, shaming men or people who like men, just gatekeeping in any way in general, etc.), j.k. rowling supporters and harry potter fans, anyone who ships incest or pedophilia, not that the DNI will do anything but porn blogs ⋆

⋆ ACAB ⋆

⋆ my qp polycule is the amazing @jackie-shitposts and @emily-prentits 💕💕 i love you so much ⋆

thanks for stopping by! have a lovely day :D