#up to viewer interpretation what happens next

[dead-dove-orchid]

Deciding Moment.

[accio-victuuri]

i wanna talk more about the two bros capture from xzs vlog because i can. lol. and because it makes me think how deliberate it is. the start of the vlog, you can see what appears to be a straight couple. okay cool. then for the two bros, it starts from when gg is inside some building/museum (p1) then you see a close up of him (p2) like he is a spectator, from the inside, looking into that free and open space. next he takes a photo (p3) but you can’t clearly see what the view is. so the narrator tells you exactly what it is (p4) , the two bros by the water. as a viewer, this feels like a story.

xz and his team have always been masters at this. telling a story in their vlogs. not just snaps of xz looking all handsome — there is a plot. some sequences ( if not all ) have a meaning and purpose. i don’t think it’s a coincidence at all that for a 1 minute ++ video, they took the time to add this bit. and the genius is there is still plausible deniability on their end. like any work of art or media in general, it is up for interpretation. it kinda reminds me of his ideal life painting as well. the two boys and the water.

XZS REALLY SAID GAY RIGHTS ONLY. 🏳️‍🌈

and oh, this paris vlog being out a day after wyb was on hs + lots of media outlets because of him being a torchbearer for the olympics — therefore going to paris soon.

plus someone figured out that where xz took his selfie that he shared before is close to wyb’s torchbearer route. this means he knew wyb will do it. XZ went to Orsay to check in at a very niche arcade on the first day of his arrival in Paris, and took a selfie in a toy store. the store happened to be on the edge of the torch route, very close to the street.

dude. what are the chances. was he scouting the route for yibo? i can’t.

i’m done. my job here is done. i don’t even have to try. these things just happen. bjyxszd. 🫶🏼

[shut-up-danny-kun]

I've read hundreds of Star Trek TOS fics by now and it never ceases to amuse me how many different ways there are to fuck up Spock's characterization...now hold on just a minute - this post has a more interesting point than “fanfic writers stupid”, I promise you.

Every time, it's a spin on the massacre wheel. It's kind of amazing. Will he be overly emotional to the point where he's not himself anymore? Will he be so cold it's unpleasant and kind of hard to understand how he's lived to this point? Will he be extremely horny for no good reason? Will he speak in a way that sounds complety wrong?

I chuckle and shake my head. Of course, I KNOW what Spock is like, and MY interpretation of him is the most perfect and correct one. Obviously. He's just a very nuanced character, formed by many people in an unconventional way, with traits that seem to contradict each other at first but ultimately form a rich and unique character that so many people fell in love with specifically because he's so complicated...

Or...is he?

Let's entertain the idea that there isn't one correct interpretation of Spock, that all of these messy bits of characterization are not part of a bigger picture, but...just what they are: a product of many people with starkly different visions, working on a show that refuses to properly develop its characters. What then? Well, then Spock is a Rorschach test. Each viewer connects the random dots in their own way, and ignores the ones they don't like.

Let's use an example: me! In my interpretation of Spock (the most correct one, of course) he is, first of all, gay and on the asexual spectrum, reserved, largely uninterested in casual flirting or sex. When he is interested in the aforementioned things, he tends to be quite ashamed of it.

Makes sense, right? I can show you plenty of evidence for why that could be true. However, in the beginning of the first bloody season, Uhura sings a song about how Spock is actually kind of a heartthrob who likes to drive women insane with how hot he is, and Spock smiles. He smiles at her, as if agreeing and being very amused by all this! This interaction goes against pretty much everything I think about Spock. So what do I do? I explain it away in the most bizzare fucking way possible. See, Uhura and Spock are friends (there is no evidence for this), and Uhura knows everything I've just told you about him (through telepathy I guess? Not like he'd ever tell her!) and she's just trolling him (why would she do that? That is NOTHING like Uhura!). I need to do some Olympics-level mental gymnastics here, the opposite of Occam's razor.

“But Danny,” I hear you say, “it's just the start of the show! They hadn't figured out his character yet!”

To which I say: you can say that about anything! You can blame it all on a bad writer for that episode, and ignore virtually any scene that doesn't jive with your headcanons. It's there, and I can't ignore it.

So...how am I different from the people that want Spock to be thar heartthrob Uhura is singing about? That evidence is as much a part of canon as my favorite lines. Well, I'm not any different, that's the thing. And all those writers I complained about also have a point.

It's kind of a nihilistic take, I know, but maybe the reason Spock is such a cultural icon is because he is...whatever you want him to be: just concrete enough to spur on your imagination, yet vague and contradictory enough to let your brain fill in the gaps.

Don't get me wrong: I absolutely do not believe in this. In my mind, it just so happens that I'm one of the, like, 5 people ever who truly understood Spock (and one of them is Jim Kirk himself). But I still think it's something worth thinking about next time you're mad at a fic.

[blugerine]

I’m just now realizing the geniusness of the dance scene in season 2 and how taking a “comedy” show seriously reveals so many new things about it.

NOTE: I have no idea if Neil Gaiman wrote this scene with the intention of it being interpreted in this way, but I really think it sheds so much light on why Aziraphale and Crowley’s relationship seems like it went nowhere but downhill ever since season 1.

I feel like because New Omens is marketed as a “comedy show”, viewers usually go in with the intention not to take things too seriously (except for the more emotional beats that are signaled by somber music and intense acting *cough cough*), but as a result of that, we (or at least, I did) missed out on seeing some scenes differently because we originally wrote it off as “just a silly bit”. I definitely did that during the scene where Crowley performs the “apology dance” in front of Aziraphale because he left him alone to take care of Gabriel. I kept thinking about that scene over and over again in my head because it always seemed much more intentionally childish to me than any other goofy scene we see the husbands get up to in season 2 and even in season 1, and I just realized now a reason why that might be the case.

When Crowley comes back to the shop and has to apologize to Aziraphale, the first words that come out of his mouth are “I’m back”, and both him and Aziraphale know those words aren’t enough for Aziraphale to take him back, so what’s the next best thing? The apology dance! When Crowley initially resists the idea of performing the apology dance, Aziraphale reminds him that he’s done the apology dance numerous times in the past, listing all the specific years over the centuries to really get his point across until Crowley relents. After Crowley begrudgingly finishes the silly dance, the audience share a good laugh, Aziraphale is content enough to accept him back, and the fight they just had all seems so “stupid” now in comparison to the bigger fish they have to fry.

Now, what’s the problem in this scene? Or rather, why is this scene such a big deal in regards to why they broke up at the end of season 2? That’s because it’s, again, another example of how they always DANCE (quite literally) around the actual problems in their relationship that result in them constantly breaking up. And this has been happening for CENTURIES, time and time again, they always default to pushing their problems under the rug, letting bygones be bygones. They believe they’re forgiving and forgetting, but as Aziraphale keeps recounting all the years he’s done the apology dance, it’s very clear that they’ve actually never forgotten any of those previous instances of frustration and words of venom they’ve hurled at each other. Instead, they’ve opted to pretend they’re over it, onto “bigger and better” things to do as a distraction. The only time they start conveniently bringing up past wounds is when they have YET ANOTHER breakup scene.

The dance is performed so childishly because of the childish way they deal with the problems that arise in their relationship. Despite knowing very intricately about the infinite vastness of the universe, of mankind’s greatest strengths and weaknesses, they were not made to view themselves as having human emotions, and they were not trained to make compromises that did not threaten their very existence. Crowley and Aziraphale both started as angels, and Crowley wanted God to compromise with him about keeping the universe around for more years than She had planned. But God doesn’t take suggestions, so Crowley’s angelic status was quite literally burned from him as he was sent down to Hell, which traumatized him greatly, and made Aziraphale exist in fear of the divine punishment that came to those who disobeyed God.

As such, Aziraphale and Crowley have so little understanding of how to compromise in a healthy manner, because the first time one of them tried to do it, it ended terribly for both of them, and they subconsciously vowed never to do it again. That’s why, when one of them wants to apologize, it’s almost like a child’s idea of what one is. There’s no addressing of why Crowley’s so desperate to abandon everything and run away, or why Aziraphale is so adamant on staying, even when it clearly hurts him to do so. There’s NO reasoning or compromise. There’s NO talk other than “I was wrong, you were right”. It’s either your side or my side, or we never see each other again.

Aziracrow represents a very realistic on-and-off relationship, where two broken and codependent individuals cannot compromise for fear of divine punishment or even just fear of losing the one that means the most to them. And their little dance? It’s just one of the many times they’ve tried to ignore their very real and important relationship (and character) issues, and it just continues to rot away their relationship time and time again. It’s like putting a bandaid over an infection, but they’re both immortal and everything’s working against them to actually work on healing that infection from the inside out.

So yeah, the dance scene is fucking brilliant because no one saw that coming until you actually finish season 2 and think back on it. Again, maybe I’m just being delusional reading into a scene that wasn’t a big deal, but if Neil did write it with this intention, then I think the way he disguises meaningful insights into broken relationships, tortured characters, and religious trauma through the use of comedy to be really. fucking genius.

And really sad.

I think I might cry a bit after this actually.

(Also, hello, I still have no idea how to use tumblr 💀)

Edit: Just made a couple clarifications here and there! Also, thank you so much for all the positive reception 😭!!! Reading all your reblogged tags gives me so much serotonin agsjdgs it feels so nice being in this fandom so far ❤️

[rowaelinscourt]

Rowaelin Month: PROMPT LIST

HERE IT IS! The Rowaelin Month 2024 Prompt List! We're so excited to spend the entire month of September celebrating our favorite Fireheart and Buzzard! By popular demand, we're posting the list early this year to give everyone plenty of time to plan and work on their lovely creations!

We’ve included a handy calendar image for you all, but if for any reason the image isn’t working or is hard to read, the full list is written out below the cut.

Please Remember:

1. Participation every day is not a requirement! You can create submissions for as few or as many of the listed prompts as you like! 

2. Please remember to tag your creations with #rowaelinmonth so people following the tag can find your works and give us a mention @rowaelinscourt so we can reblog it!

3. Please remember that all works MUST have appropriate tags/or content warnings. NSFW content is welcome, but MUST be tagged clearly and hidden below a ‘Read More’ cut. We want everyone to have a fun and safe time engaging with content!

4. All genres of work are welcome, but please note any major warnings at the top of the work so that readers or viewers can have some idea of what to expect. 

5. Canon week will be September 15th through the 21st ( indicated by the green squares on the calender/prompts marked with C on the prompt list below. As well as a special canon day on the 30th to end the event. While we encourage Canon Week prompts remain specifically for canon scenarios, remember that any and all prompts are welcome to be interpreted as a canon/canon inspired setting as well. With creativity and imagination, the possibilities are limitless!

6. Any kind of fanwork can be submitted for this event so long as it can be applied to the prompt. Fanfiction, fanart, headcanons, playlists or anything else you can think of! There are no requirements and you can submit multiple works for the same prompt if you so wish! 

HAPPY CREATING AL!

- Your Friendly Rowaelin Month Admin Team

2024 Prompts List

1. Long Distance Surprise 

2. Spies / Heist

3. Idiots in Love 

4. Accidental Nude

5. Birthdays 

6. Misunderstanding Leading to Disaster

7. All Dressed Up 

8. Ocean/Beach

9. Meet Ugly

10. Concert/Music Festival

11. Song fic

12. “But Daddy I Love Him!” / Forbidden Love

13. Rowaelin finding out they’re pregnant 

14. Survival

15. C: What if...?

16. C: Opening of the library or royal theater

17. C: Hobbies

18. C: Anniversary 

19. C: A day with the kids

20. C: Nature

21. C: What happens next?

22. Performers

23. Second Chance Romance

24. Family

25. Strangers on a train

26. Matching Tattoos

27. Single Parent

28. Eloping

29. Percy Jackson / Star Wars / Barbie & Ken au 

30. C: Alternate/Missing Scene from Canon

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

Are You Sure?! - Episode 2 Observations

10/10 ☆

I can't believe I've actually procrastinated so much that it's the evening before the third episode of AYS and I still haven't written a thing about the second! And it was also the one I liked best. But when I thought about it, what to pick from it, I found it difficult because almost all their activities and moments are worthy of discussion. But at the same time, I'm not really in the mood here to dissect everything. I've seen so many good posts in the last week that I feel like I don't have anything else to say that hasn't been analyzed from every angle.

I've also started to focus more on the crime shows (the Yorkshire Ripper is now playing on my tv) because I really need to channel my attention somewhere else for the next three weeks. Which also means I can't promise whatsoever that I'll be doing a more lengthy writing about the upcoming episodes. I'm not saying no completely, but from my position right now it's not looking that much fun, but I'll keep an open mind.

Right, let me just write about whatever comes to mind and apologies for this lazy attempt.

A friend asked about the favorite moments so far and I instantly thought of the second evening Jimin and Jungkook spent at that house. Actually, it started before during their trip to the store when they decided that pasta's on the menu that night. Jungkook losing focus because of twinkies, Jimin being just a tiny bit exasperated but also clearly used to all of that.

He might have been wondering about, but that was when Jungkook became laser focused on cooking the most authentic carbonara for Jimin so he gets a gold star. No, actually let's say he gets 10 out of 10 Baby Star Candies for it.

🐥🐰

Back at the house, it is among the few moments in the show in which the staff/camera people managed the "incredible" task of not showing up in the frame, but also making the presence of the camera somehow even more visible than in other situations because of this specific context. I'll explain. (I find the BH staff extremely incompetent from a skill perspective and I do admit that what I might choose to interpret as formal choices might as well be nothing. But I'm working with images here and what is ultimately presented).

During their stay at the house, there was this illusion created that they indeed might be alone there in the kitchen, cooking together and then having drinks. And despite knowing that they had go pros and cameras positioned around the house, there was a third element there. One that in some shots, it created this illusion of complete intimacy, as if there was this move from variety content in the form of reality tv style, to something that suddently almost looked like a film sequence. A couple and their routine.

It was also the part that made me feel like a voyeur for the first time, which is something that I've encountered before with Jikook. This time, it was due to a very particular shot and framing.

We as an audience, are positioned intently to look at them through the window. We're allowed to take a peak at what's happening inside that kitchen. We are made to feel part of the environment when we see the shots from inside the house, from the cameras set up to catch multiple angles and the cameras used by jikook themselves. They are making their audience part of it.

But then, for a few seconds, we are pulled back, literally outside looking in. Is this just a way to have a diversity in the shots used at editing? Most likely. But editing always tells a story, whether there's intent or not. It can tell the story the editor/director wants, but it can also tell a story that the viewer ends up picking upon and analyze.

I see that shot as a reminder of my position as an outsider to their story. A reminder that by standing outside, looking in, we are missing so many things that are out of frame. A reminder that perhaps we should not act as the all-knowing fans, as if we have a crystal ball. Or more than that, to judge and micro-analyze every gesture and every word in order to deconstruct something, more often than not in order to dispute even the level of friendship/closeness.

We have always seen a relationship between these two people through mediated sources. That involve editing. That also involves omissions and white lies even in unedited livestreams. That situation should make us think more and to actually understand that there's an actual, more complex life shared there. We see glimpses of it, from gestures, tones, touches and they paint a particular picture, but that shouldn't turn into a way in which we have to look for more proof either in order to confirm suspicions or what has become more clear lately, proof to disprove everything there is to them.

And isn't that a waste of energy? When we could witness such a lovely evening that perhaps only cemented even more that caring for one another has so many forms. And that being vocal about the appreciation for another is so important to be verbalized. It shows people that they are loved (I think Jimin said it to Jungkook many years ago during a game they had when Jungkook had to prank Jimin by complimenting him. Jungkook now doesn't need excuses anymore).

[fairestbeard]

Did Richie jinx Sydcarmy?

(This is not an attack on Richie, just an attempt to understand his mind space regarding Sydcarmy at the time)

This scene has been playing in my mind for quite some time now and I've been wondering what part (if any) Richie played in the conflict between Carmy and Sydney. Was he just a passerby/observer in this or did he actively participate in the separation of sydcarmy?

In my last meta, I talked about how Claire's call spooked Carmy because he couldn't reconcile his intentions/desires with reality and that's why he blew off the food tour with Sydney. However, I don't think it stopped there. There's a chance that Richie may have further spooked him and contributed to breaking whatever remaining resolve Carmy may have had to still try to make things work with Syd (maybe intentionally, maybe not).

One thing we observed in season 1 is that Richie would lash out for any scrap of control when he's feeling powerless. We saw him go head to head with Syd when he felt she was influencing too much of a change in "review", leading to the ever infamous Syd/Richie fight scene.

Now we see him witness Carmy giving Syd all that controlling power in season 2 as well, even more than season 1. He's witnessed her rise to an unofficial partner of the beef, being able to raise dust when anything significant goes on without her knowledge, while he's literally unable to define his own purpose. Clocking them and making a petty signal about it as a mini lashing out is very on par for pre-transformation Richie.

One thing about The Bear is they would leave gaping plot holes, like a fill-in-the-blank-spaces kind of thing, so viewers can make up their own version of stories and interpretations. They never show what happened with Carmy running that errand for Claire but following that was Carmy being the most almost overtly romantic he had been with Syd yet, when she surprises him at The Bear later as the wall is being taken down- a scene that all fan edits never do without.

Maybe he was feeling guilty about blowing her off, but I think he was more trying to get back to the closeness they had experienced in the apartment. The way he touches her, kicks debris out of the way for her, patiently tries to understand her gripe with the recent renovations and work out their differences to a mature and logical conclusion screams "I know I veered from the path and I'm trying to get back" in the most Carmy way. But then, he completely backs off from Syd after Richie made it known he had clocked them.

Richie's main focus is the success of The he Bear. He has nowhere else to go.

Unlike the rest of them, he really has nowhere else to go. The Beef/Bear is it as at that point. Everyone else has other prospects, from Carmy even down to Neil Fak- they can pivot. He, of all people, is, in my opinion, the most desperate to have The Bear succeed and I can imagine him thinking about the possibility of a silly romance sinking or stalling its progress. He is already aware how important Syd is to that project and also how problematic Carmy is. He most probably also wanted to protect them from each other and the project from them. Even in season 1, when he was majorly wilding out, it was still in the interest of keeping The Beef afloat and running.

"It's a delicate fucking ecosystem"

I wonder if he verbally said something to Carmy after that scene. Maybe voiced his concern or gave a warning. Maybe he even just confronted Carmy about his observation in his usual jokey manner, causing Carmy to do what he does the best- "running away". Richie also clocks his next move, running to Claire and that statement Richie made to Carmy when he brings her to the restaurant is all kinds of loaded.

"Mold is the death knell"

Now, all of this things I have talked about have been more practical and doesn't equate to jinxing in the real context, so I will refer to my previous meta about the episode Pasta and the use of the magical in The Bear.

Richie is the one who ends up spoiling "the magic" in a symbolic sense when the mold (death knell) is unloaded on him, the spell master, supervisor, etc. He was the one to signify the doom to come to Sydney and Carmy's relationship. So by butting himself into their affairs in any capacity, whether with good intentions or not, maybe he put the final nail in the coffin?

All these kind of makes Carmy's unhinged outburst to Richie seem a lot less surprising (not saying that Carmy was right but that it doesn't seem as left field is you consider that Carmy partially blamed him- which Carmy is known to do, blame others). That would be why he was so triggered to unload that much unhinged vitriol at Richie, especially with Richie saying he couldn't let something good happen for once in his life.

The incredulous look Carmy gives seemed like saying no, YOU wouldn't let something good happen for once in my life, you had to ruin it like my family always does. Because even when Richie calls him Donna he was mad but didn't totally lose it until Richie made that statement. Also their conversation in season 1 about Richie only bringing bad news and Carmy afraid of good things happening seems very congruent to the leading events and to this scene.

Is Richie against sydcarmy? I would guess that with him being pleased about Carmy moving forward with Claire and with the way he was so hard on her side- encouraging Carmy to go out to her during F&F and chewing Carmy when things didn't go well- he actually was, at least initially. But I don't think it was for malicious reasons. I think he just wanted to protect The Bear and maybe Syd and Carmy from what he probably guessed would be a disaster for several reasons (one important one I'll talk about later).

So, yes, I think Richie jinxed sydcarmy.

NB: I didn't intend to post this right now but it accidentally posted, so I have to do all this rushed edit and update.

[seaslugsapphic]

I don’t think Isaac is avoiding dealing with how much he loves and misses Nigel. Honestly, it’s pretty clear from the writing throughout that he never truly loved Nigel to begin with, and his only regrets about leaving Nigel at the altar had to do with wondering whether he himself might be be a terrible person as opposed to missing Nigel. Isaac has never even doubted for a minute that he made the right choice by breaking it off with him. They might be awkwardly pushed back together before the series is over since that often works, but at this point it’s just an absurdly imbalanced dynamic and the writers will never be able to sell me or most other viewers that Isaac cares about Nigel much at all. Even at their allegedly best, they were incredibly stilted, non communicative and unaffectionate, and Isaac was clearly just in love with the idea of finally being in a relationship with another man rather than with Nigel himself. Even the people I know who used to ship them have more than given up on them at this point.

Ok so, I fear you might be right. At least partly, some stuff I really gotta disagree with you on

But first off, when I said I thought Isaac’s behavior this season could be because he is avoiding his feelings, I did not necessarily mean his feelings towards Nigel. I meant more his feelings about the breakup and about himself. Like Hetty said, he’s been around for 300 years but has really only known who he is for a short time. I don’t think he is fully comfortable with this part of himself yet and is avoiding the work it would take to reach actual self acceptance.

I will admit, I do feel like I like the idea of them more than I have the actual execution of their storyline. There were plenty of times where their lack of communication was frustrating to watch.

However, I can’t agree with you about Isaac never having loved Nigel. I don’t think the writing shows that at all. It might be the opposite actually. It seems to me that Isaac clearly had feelings for Nigel but was afraid of the idea of being in a relationship with a man.

Like in that scene in D&D where Isaac accidentally lets an “I love you” slip out at a point where he hadn’t even come out to anyone, or even really to himself. I think that shows that his feelings were genuine from the start, and that it was the acceptance of those feelings that was difficult for him.

We’ve also seen how much his unresolved issues from life have affected their relationship. Like in The Christmas Spirit, when he couldn’t bring himself to kiss Nigel under the mistletoe, it wasn’t because he didn’t love him. It was because of his unresolved guilt about his marriage to Beatrice. If he kept Beatrice from being happy in life, how could he allow himself to be happy now? That tells us that Nigel made him happy. And once the other ghosts helped him work through that guilt, he was able to progress their relationship and let himself be happier.

In retrospect, what is clear is that the wedding was never going to happen. The way I see it, the proposal happened because Isaac was overcompensating for the centuries he spent not acting on his feelings. He rushed into things and it was never going to work out that way. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t genuinely care for Nigel. It also doesn’t mean that their relationship can’t still be mended with time and work and decent writing.

But again, this is just my interpretation of these characters, and I could be wrong. I don’t know what the writers intentions are, and I don’t know what’s coming next. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see 🤷🏽‍♀️

[thatonecrookedsmile]

"A small memo to all administration offices! Rumors have begun to fly that we simply can't tolerate any longer. The idea that the company is in some form of financial difficulty is untrue and a slanderous lie against us. It's also been known to me that some backroom incompetents are not trusting in my leadership. As a leader, I'm always steering the boat, guiding our destiny. Looking at the big picture. No need for you people to worry about such complicated things. Just do whatever it is you do and trust your leader... which is me." -Joey Drew.

[Don't Believe His Lies]

-Hoax- -----

I think lying/pretending that your failing company isn't going under is a bigger hoax than "slanderous lies" about bankruptcy, Joey.

I don't know how - if at all - hard it is to be an accountant, but I assume being an accountant at Joey Drew Studios is an extremely stressful and shitty job. Imagine having to work on the costs and finances of a Joey Drew project. Imagine working on the finances of BendyLand AND the Ink Machine projects. No wonder Grant was having a hard time, anyone would.

I guess my take on Grant's fate and what happened to him/what he became is like, "I don't mind being a mystery but I also wouldn't mind having an answer."

I kind of like the idea that Grant's predicament is something that's left open. We know that something bad happened to him, but we don't know what exactly happened to him. And that's a mystery that ends up being left to the interpretation of the viewers. Which I don't think is necessarily a bad idea and can lead to cool interpretations and renditions made by fans. I think the "What happened to Grant" question is one of the few things in Bendy that I don't have much of a problem with being left a mystery, especially compared to other things, like, oh, I don't know, "Who the hell is Boris in the games" (a question that, because of Recent Events, is back on the table to be answered)

On the other hand, I can't deny that I would appreciate having a definitive answer in the games too. Yeah, it would be cool to know what actually happened to Grant and what eventually became of him. A potential appearance in a story would be awesome, too! I'd be happy to know Grant's fate, and it would be a big W for his fans as well.

In other unrelated news, I'M LATE AGAIN. 🗣️🗣️🗣️ Benn busy with other things but I'm back to the Bendy grind. Let's see how long the next prompt will take (it'll be full digital but I hope it doesn't take too long)

Also, the uncropped version of this one, because I noticed during editing that there was more space to the right and Grant didn't seem centered and I don't think I could bring myself to post this drawing in this condition. So I cropped it. So here's the original. Enjoy:

(It doesn't change much, but still,I prefer the cropped version.)

[sherl-grey]

dangerous words I fear but I’m craving some OFMD critical but civil discourse… s2 finale spoilers included below the cut. this is incredibly long FYI bc I’m truly desperate to get all my thoughts out

I want to preface by saying I loved S2. I think I loved it more than s1, I think there were some absolute GENIUS moments this season (the entire Calypso episode was *chef’s kiss* my favorite), and I think the cast, crew, and DJ deserve a lot of love and, of course, a renewal for another season.

I know there’s been a lot of anti-finale-critiquing posts out there (and yeah, I also don’t want to see baseless hate or, god forbid, people trying to interact with the cast/crew with anything less than love and respect) but personally, I think the biggest sign that I love a show is me wanting to pick it apart. I think digging into the writing and decision-making and characters of a show means you really appreciate the choices that were made even if you don’t agree with them, because you’re working to understand the story on a level most people only dive to if they’re forced to in an English class. No story is going to be perfect. No story is going to be written specifically for me unless it’s literally by me. But sometimes I still want to study it like a bug under a microscope, you know?

So here we go: I didn’t like the finale, and I didn’t think it fit very well with the rest of the season/show. Weirdly enough I didn’t feel a need to discuss online until I started reading the interviews DJ has been giving about the finale (specifically the choice to kill Izzy and Ed/Stede’s ending) and I’m so curious as to whether others interpreted things the same way. (Yes, they’re DJ’s characters. No, I don’t think all viewers are obligated to interpret things the same way as writers did—that’s half the beauty of storytelling and media consumption.)

Izzy’s Death

Let’s unpack the big one first. I think a lot of what DJ/finale defenders (if I may respectfully call fans who enjoyed s2e8 that) have mentioned is that Izzy’s arc was over and he’d served his narrative purpose. I’ve got a few different issues with this:

1. Part of what I love(d?) about this show is that I did not think this was a show that kills characters once they’ve served their narrative purpose, or a show that kills characters as punishment/retribution for mistakes/earlier actions. To me, OFMD symbolizes the idea that everyone is deserving of love, forgiveness, and second chances. I truly trusted that no one on the Revenge crew would die in this show, and to be proven wrong was a bit disheartening, to say the least. Will talk more on the suicide notion in the next bit because I think it was symbolic, but Izzy also now represents a suicidal character who finds the will to live again. I’d argue that a “full arc” for a character like that should be ending in happiness, not death (and especially not with a line like “I want to go��� or whatever the specific words were).

2. DJ seems to describe Izzy’s role as being a mentor to Blackbeard, which I personally struggle to see at all. Despite the Captain/First Mate status difference, I think most signs have pointed towards them being roughly equals—the unrequited love Izzy feels for Ed, the way the two of them stand right up to each other when everyone else would be afraid to, the clear shared history and longevity of their friendship/companionship. (If anything, I’d argue Izzy takes on the mentor mantle for Stede in s2, though it’s a bit glossed over because of how crunched for time everything was.) I certainly have trouble seeing the “father figure” relationship that DJ mentions in interviews, because I think Izzy is the one crew member that puts himself on even ground with his captains.

But even humoring that, Ed’s story has been about shedding Blackbeard. And DJ has a great quote in the Entertainment Weekly interview where he says that Izzy and Ed are both Blackbeard, that the two of them together are what makes Blackbeard “happen.” So in theory, if we’re killing Izzy off to further Ed’s storyline, it’s to ultimately kill Blackbeard, right? Especially since his line at the end is to “just be Ed.”

Except we already have metaphorically killed Blackbeard, several times. I think S2E3 is a really interesting episode because in season 1, it can be argued (and is, by Chauncey Badminton) that Stede kills Blackbeard in his own pirate-y way—with kindness. The crew is also somewhat a part of this, as they all accept and love Ed for who he is and not only because he’s Blackbeard; the crew follows the example of their captain and it changes who Ed is as a person. S2E3 is a crew under Blackbeard, and they also kill Blackbeard following the method of their current captain—violence. And this “death” is, in my mind, the death of Blackbeard while Stede symbolically saves the part of him that is just Ed. (Bonus: we also get Ed trying to sink his leathers, and while it might just be because he’s on a damn boat, it’s interesting that Blackbeard’s clothes are drowned/sunk while Ed’s metaphorical comeback was being saved from drowning by Mer!Stede.)

So Ed’s half of Blackbeard is dead. If we stand by DJ’s idea that Blackbeard is half Izzy, we’ve still got half of Blackbeard left, right? Well, that would’ve been right immediately post-S1, but then they gave Izzy a beautiful arc that seems to be a shadow of Ed’s S1 track. Ed and Izzy are very similar characters, but in S1 Ed is on the receiving end of love, acceptance, and admiration—namely from Stede, but also from the crew. Meanwhile, Izzy is subject to contempt and hostility… once again, namely from Stede, and also from the crew. Ed blossoms under the love during S1 until that’s taken away; Izzy simply moves in the reverse direction. He continues to be an antagonist while being treated like one, but once others start treating him with kindness (Fang hugging him, Jim and Archie amputating his leg while Frenchie lies for him, the whole crew making him the unicorn leg), he too becomes a part of the family. And wouldn’t you know it—Izzy has a near death scene as well, a suicide no less. Izzy is the one who is responsible in S1 for “bringing back Blackbeard,” so the symbolism of him pulling the trigger on himself is huge. This is Izzy killing his half of Blackbeard! Because Izzy Hands continues to live, even if it takes him some time to remember how to live without Blackbeard at first, and his relationship with Ed effectively dies here.

(As a side note, this growth arc and the way Izzy fully transforms into a member of the Revenge crew afterwards—whittling Lucius a shark and talking to him about forgiveness, dressing up in drag and singing to the crew, cracking silly jokes about Ed and Stede’s relationship—are also why I find the “Izzy Hands is the symbol of traditional piracy and his death is symbolic of traditional piracy dying” argument to be weak. In season 1, he was that definition, but we’ve literally watched him grow out of it. He’s no longer symbolic of something stagnant that will remain the same or be destroyed—he’s symbolic of something that grows and adapts to the new situations, that survives when all of the rules change on him.)

And then we have the return of Blackbeard: Pop-Pop pushing Ed to go back to doing “what he’s good at,” Ed fishing his leathers out of the ocean, Ed killing a ton of people because he thinks Stede is likely dead or at minimum in captivity/grave danger. This bit seems to go against everything the season was building towards; Blackbeard was almost entirely gone, but Ed is now the one who brings him back because he thinks Blackbeard is the one who can save Stede. And that’s fair, but what does that have to do with Izzy at this point? Why does he need to die for Ed to put that part of him away again? While we’re not owed a main character having a death that serves a narrative purpose, I’d hope for that to be the case, and I struggle to interpret what happens to Izzy as beneficial to either plot or character.

3. I think the actual core arcs of the show are character arcs and not plots. I get that they might’ve been trying to wrap plots with Zheng and the British in case they aren’t renewed, but I don’t think it was necessary—the pirating has always been secondary to the rom com and the found family, IMO. In S1, we had two main characters, but I’d argue Izzy got enough focus and attention to be a third this season. Which left us with a great character-driven story: we’re watching all 3 of them come into their own and discover who they are individually, while also discovering that the changes in themselves are causing friction between them now that they’re growing into new people. Which is an amazing story to tell, if you ask me, but the fulfillment of that story requires all three characters to be there. The conflict to be resolved is how these characters can become the people they want to be and still coexist together, because on some level they’re family now. Notably each pair combination of these characters grows together or apart (or in Stede/Ed’s case, both) during this season. Ed and Izzy are growing apart because they hold each other back from becoming the person they want/need to be; to complete this narratively, I would’ve expected the next challenge to be finding a way to become friends again as their new selves while letting go of the fact that they used to have a toxic relationship when they used to be different people.

Ed and Stede’s S2 Ending

So Izzy’s death is the big talking point, but I also think DJ’s take on Ed and Stede was interesting. He said that they deserved a happy ending for the work they put in this season. I agree with him in theory, but I’m curious as to whether others agree that they put in a lot of work. I think Stede followed through with his goal to come back and tell Ed how he feels, and to stay instead of running away from his problems. I think Ed followed through with trying to understand who he is and what his needs are while also trying to find the courage to open himself up to love again. But critically, they never talk. E7 makes a point to highlight the miscommunication/lack of communication between them, and then in E8 they still aren’t shown talking.

(I realize part of the issue is the limited amount of time and the amount of plot shoved into episode 8. I get it; personally, I think the plot should’ve been sacrificed for the characters. At this point, we were 7 episodes into a very character/relationship-heavy season. Plot could’ve waited for a potential S3.)

What’s more—there’s a huge, glaring gap between where they left off and where they end up. Ed left in S2E7 after he begins panicking and realizing Stede is becoming deeper entrenched in pirate life just as he’s finally finding his way out of it. Not once do they talk about this, but suddenly they’re retiring together? And right after Ed says Izzy was his only family and Izzy calls the crew his family (which… is also an unearned line, as Ed and the crew have almost no bonding or forgiveness this season, since we focused mainly on Izzy with the crew and Ed with Stede), they leave the crew to do their own thing? They’re all relatively minor things that could be fairly easily addressed by dialogue, but they fact that they’re not only serves to underscore the way that Ed and Stede really aren’t on the same page.

I want them to get their happy ending. They deserve it. I’m just not sure that I agree that they earned it to the degree that it was received, with retirement alone together without their crew, if that makes sense.

Positivity Tax: Calypso Love 😊

I’ve probably got more to say but those were the big ones on my mind after reading the Vanity Fair and Entertainment Weekly interviews. Just to counterbalance some of the more critical things I’ve said, I wanted to share some loving analysis of the Calypso episode:

1. It’s a minor thing, but the way this episode shows that Ed’s actions as Blackbeard had consequences is amazing. Despite him arguably committing the more grievous wrongs in S1, he’s the one we get the least redemption for in this season (his apology to the crew wasn’t great, and most of his screen time is spent repairing his relationship with Stede), so for him to have to face something that happened because of his past actions is cool, especially because it was done in a way that doesn’t further damage his standing with the crew.

2. The way Stede saves the day is incredible. Competent Stede this season has been an absolute joy to watch, and his success in this episode is twofold: first he wins his way, with signature Gentleman Pirate flair. He listens to Ned’s crew, helps facilitate communication between them, and encourages them to stand up for themselves and demand better treatment. That’s a very classic Stede win. But then he wins in the traditional pirate way, and it’s absolutely glorious; he’s been working towards becoming a better pirate, both in terms of stomaching violence and building up the necessary skills. Ned’s crew can be taken down with kindness, but Ned himself is a pirate and will only be matched by another. I genuinely cannot think of a more perfect way to show that Stede is still himself while also showcasing the newer side of him that he’s been working towards this whole time.

3. Speaking of that newer side of him, the way this episode starts to open up Ed’s insecurities? The combination of seeing his least favorite parts of himself reflected in Stede as well as watching Stede grow into the career that he’s trying to leave? Amazing conflict development.

4. I’ve already talked so much about Izzy but the way this truly caps off the crew’s acceptance of him as part of the family is gorgeous. He’s an entirely new man at this point and there’s no jokes made, no friendly ribbing… just love and acceptance. It highlights both his newfound comfort and familiarity with the others as well as the extent to which they care about him.

5. Less analytical, but it’s also just a really pretty episode.

Considering the fact that I have zero OFMD mutuals and this was a whole essay (I’m on mobile and can’t see how long this is but I’m honestly scared), I would be shocked if someone made it down this far, but if somehow people are here and open to civil discussion… I’d love to know how you felt about this, if you thought DJ was right, if you were a little more on my wavelength and thinking things weren’t adding up, etc. Realistically I’m not sure if anything could change my mind as I’ve done a lot of stewing, particularly about Izzy arc, but new perspectives are always refreshing. Much love to the fandom and of course the creators, who hopefully never see this and get their s3 renewal 🤞🏼

[olreid]

riverdale is.. schrodinger's show? ??

lol re tags on this post i assume? this is actually alfie @hypokeimena's phrase #alfiepilled and literally just means that he does not watch the show but does watch us watch the show and so always at any time any plot point or series of events is possible because riverdale exists in a state of totipotency right up until the moment of viewing the footage to see what actually happened which again he crucially never does.

HOWEVER i have adopted this phrase into my own riverdale lexicon because i think it helps to get at something which is usually kind of difficult to articulate about riverdale's method. riverdale, more than your typical tv program, IS a show where anything can happen, and that quality has not changed or diminished over the course of its run. typically, in tv, as you build out the world and the characters, you become better able to predict what will happen next; the window of probable events grows smaller, even if only slightly. people pair off, foreclosing other relationships; they pick a career, choosing one life over other possible lives they might have lived. even shocking plot twists are operating under a set of basic rules that govern how the setting and the genre operate such that the overarching parameters of what is possible in the world don't change. but not so in riverdale! it's not committed to the sanctity of its own canon, which frees the team up to create a show that reminds me more of a collage; different narrative pieces get swapped around to see what kinds of meanings they might produce with very little preciousness about continuity or canonicity compared to other programs. different storylines are repeated by filtering them through new genres to see what emerges. season 7's premise is a perfect example of this!

the other thing about riverdale that makes it schrodinger's show to me is that it is always operating on multiple registers of reality simultaneously, so that any number of things might be happening at once depending on how you're reading it. for example, in the season 3 g&g plot, many episodes are framed by games of g&g that precisely mirror real-world events going on concurrently in town, e.g. jughead accurately describing archie's prison break as it's happening even though he's not physically there. maybe this is just an extradiegetic narrative device; maybe particular characters are omniscient or psychic in some way; maybe the game itself has powers that allow it to shape the world or the story; maybe riverdale itself only has a certain number of pre-set stories that it can tell. the list could go on. the point is that all of these are equally likely; riverdale does not privilege realism or groundedness, really the opposite, but neither does it often confirm for certain that something supernatural is happening. rather, the viewer is left to interpret for themselves; to choose between these options if they want, or perhaps instead to hold them all simultaneously. indeed, riverdale never forces you to pick, to narrow it down; in riverdale, more than any other show i've ever watched, you can have everything you want, and you can have it all at once, because there is no definitive reality, which means everything is pretty much equally (un)real. the cw is pioneering quantum television and we're here to witness it! what a time to be alive!!!

[randombrambles]

Okay...going to wade into the Sabezra discussion. May the flying spaghetti monster in sky have mercy on my soul...

I guess you could call me a "causal viewer" because, despite being a life long Star Wars fan, I'd never watched an episode of Rebels before watching Ahsoka. I just never got around to it and I've only watched a handful of eps of The Clone Wars too. But anyway once I started Ahsoka I was like "this show will clearly make more sense if I watch Rebels" so I started. I'm almost done season 3 of Rebels as of writing this post. And really loving Rebels btw. Part of me of like "why didn't I watch this earlier?" but on the other hand I don't have to wait for the next episode and I know the major spoilers already so I'm not going to get the rug yanked out from under me.

So back to Ahsoka and Sabezra...the big questions. Did I see the romance "coding" (not sure I agree "coding" is the right word but whatever, that's semantics) in Ahsoka? Yes. Sabine's actions definitely come across as her being in love with Ezra to me. That said I can also see the platonic angle, especially after having watched some of Rebels, so I'm not going to tell anyone they are wrong for viewing Sabine and Ezra's relationship as platonic. These things are subjective and open to interpretation until anything definitively romantic or definitively not romantic happens on screen. And at this point nothing definitive has happened either way on screen. Nobody has been proven right and nobody has been proven wrong yet. Sabezra is basically schrodinger's cat right now.

Next how did I interpret the "like a sister" line in Ezra's holo. Um...full disclosure the first time I viewed that scene I didn't even register that he'd said she was "like a sister" to him. I'd never even seen Rebels at that point so I didn't know Ezra yet. So as a causal viewer my take away from that scene was Ezra meant a lot to Sabine and Sabine meant a lot to Ezra. And I'd be wiling to bet that that was the takeaway for most causal viewers.

So on rewatch do I think the "like a sister" line means that Ezra truly sees Sabine as a sister? No. On rewatch, paying close attention to the body language, and after having watched some Rebels, I think Ezra is both struggling to find the words to tell Sabine how important she is to him and telling her what he thinks she needs to hear in that moment. The problem is that in English we don't have a word to describe someone isn't technically family but who isn't a lover either but who's also way more than "just" a friend. Sister is the best word Ezra can come up with in that moment but you can tell from his awkward body language and his literal scoff as soon as he says it that its not the right word. And yeah I think Ezra thinks that Sabine sees him as a brother so he tells her what he thinks she wants to hear right before he heads of on what very well could have been a suicide mission.

Do I think Sabezra is going to be made canon on Tuesday's final episode of Ahsoka (of season 1 at least). No, but hold on nobody panic!!! I also don't think that means Sabezra is dead in the water either. And frankly I'm kind of mystified as to why Sabezra shippers seem to think that the next episode is make or break for Sabezra when its clearly not? If there isn't a love declaration or a kiss or both (which is what I'm assuming people would interpret can them being made canon) its not like either Sabine or Ezra are going to marry someone else on Tuesday either. And since much of Ahsoka has been set up, meaning not much is actually going to get resolved in the next ep (Thrawn hasn't even left Perida[?] yet! I fear we are ending on a cliff hanger), we'll be seeing Sabine and Ezra again. There's no rush for them to get together romantically (and I know that's hard to hear for people who've been shipping for years but its true).

And further to the "there's no rush" point I actually have to say I that I think its WAY too soon for anything definitively romantic to happen between Ezra and Sabine yet (and again I get how hard that is for those who've been shipping them for a long time). And I say that as both a "casual viewer" and someone who's also watched a good chunk of Rebels now. For the causal viewer who hasn't watched Rebels, which is probably a big chunk of the audience for Ahsoka, they barely know Sabine, have just met Ezra and have only seen them interacting for ONE episode and don't know any of their history. A kiss or a love declaration would seem out of the blue at this point I think. And as someone who's getting into Rebels I still think its too soon. While I agree that Sabine is very likely in love with Ezra I don't think she's admitted to herself yet (that's why Baylan used the word family when he was getting her to hand over the map thingy imho) no way is she ready to tell HIM. And as for Ezra...dude is clueless that Sabine might might have non platonic feelings for him so no way is he going to risk ruining their friendship by blurting out that he's in love with her. And not only that they've been separated for 10 YEARS ffs. They need to get to know each other again before anything romantic can happen, again imho. I want Sabezra to become canon but I want it done WELL. Sabezra is a friends to lovers ship, they are still firmly in the friends stage right now, it needs to be a sloooooow burn.

And finally do I think Sabezra will become canon? Honestly...I don't know. I'd like it to, it would be really nice to have a non problematic ship, especially after the sequel trilogy robbed us of FinnRey and tried to force freaking r*ylo. But I think Filoni and the other powers that be over at DLF (he is NOT the sole person calling the shots here, keep that in mind everyone) are probably testing the waters right now and waiting to see what the audience reactions are like before they make any decisions. I'd be wiling to bet that by the end of Tuesday's episode the door will be left wide open for pretty much anything to happening shipping wise. So we'll just have to wait and see. Time will tell, it always does.

[daydreaming-robot]

Today is the 3rd year anniversary of the Murder Drones pilot episode.

Murder Drones is the first animated series I saw from Glitch Productions. And being a science fiction weirdo I immediately fell in love with it. And I got intrigued by the characters(Serial Designation N my beloved). And the first thing that got my attention is that the characters have different fighting styles who gave me inspiration to differentiate how my characters fight in my own stories. Another thing that I love is the horror aspects. Most importantly the BIOMECHANICAL HORRORS of the Absolute Solver. Seeing flesh and metal fused in an unnerving and painful way that isn’t that of cybernetics can give off an unnatural, disturbing feeling to the viewers. I also like how each episode pays homage to famous horror movies. Like episode 3 with the homage to the movie Carrie. And the very next episode being a homage to Friday the 13th.

One downside I have to say is the amount of plot holes it has. It can be confusing to say the least. Example 1 is the disassembly drones feeding off Worker Drones oil to survive, But N and V seem ok not consuming oil for several days, depending on how much time passes in the show. Adding up on that. All episodes except for Episode 5, imo it feels like it goes on daily. Another is how Nori survived. There’s many theories on who killed Nori. But she appears in episode 7. Conscious in her core. Everyone thought she was dead. The way to truly kill a drone is (apparently) to destroy the heart/core.

The show, despite having only eight episodes, doesn’t really feel like it’s OVER over. There are definitely some things that are to be shown.

On the bright side are the characters. N, my favorite is being from an under appreciated doormat. To standing his ground and increasing his voice and self esteem is a major character development. Uzi from not being liked and feeling like the world is against her. To finally feeling loved and appreciated by people like her and even getting a boyfriend that loves her is beautiful. V, took me by surprise. She came from a shy and sweet worker drone. To being traumatized by what happened and developing a “kill all that moves” mask and disliking Uzi. To overcoming her fears and learning to respect Uzi is amazing. J didn’t get much character development. As for Cyn, before becoming a host to the Absolute Solver, is left to interpretation. She doesn’t seem to be appreciated by her peers except for her brother N. And she seems to care deeply for the people she loves, even if it means letting the people forget about her(note the BITE ME lyrics).

Those are my main highlights of the series. I could go on but I’d be info dumping for days. There are many other fans that I wanna hear too

Here’s to three years of Murder Drones🎊🎉

[ggulmul]

For me, the ‘dog scratch’ falls into the same category as a few other recent instances of intriguing circumstances that lend themselves to certain interpretations, but are ultimately inconclusive.

In this case, we have Jimin showing up with a scratch that’s very reminiscent of one caused by a sizable dog. This, shortly after Jungkook posted a photo of Bam at the training centre, perhaps implying that he was there to take him home. The scratch would have to be relatively recent for it to still retain that flush and raised appearance. Would it still look like that after travelling from someone’s his home to Incheon? I don’t know. But it’s a compelling coincidence.

I feel similarly about Jungkook’s little laundry live. As he was meticulously folding his new Calvin Klein underwear, eagle-eyed viewers noticed a pair that was significantly smaller than the rest. Of course, there could be many explanations for this. Jungkook said the underwear had been sent by the brand, so the inclusion of the smaller undies could have been a simple mistake on their part. After all, they probably wouldn’t be ‘in the know,’ nor gifting Jungkook briefs for his partner.

But it’s possible Jungkook wasn’t only washing brand new clothes, it’s hard to say. In any case, the red briefs looked like they would fit very uncomfortably on Jungkook, so if they were indeed intended for him one might expect at least a slight reaction on his end as he was folding them. But it pretty much just seemed like he was folding a smaller someone’s underwear without any further thought.

(Again, this is not to be taken too seriously. Or seriously at all, really. It’s just a bit interesting).

Then there’s Jimin’s at-home live after he reached number one on Billboard Hot 100, during which he had a few cases of bad luck. The first being when —I assume— Jimin didn’t think his voice would get picked up by the phone mic if he whispered. But the “빨리 가” (“go quickly”) is quite discernible. And while the subsequent noises are more difficult to distinguish, they corroborate the idea of another person being present. The second instance of bad luck happened when he accidentally revealed a second gaming chair next to his own, leaving him a bit flustered (poor bb).

In the same live we also get Jimin’s slightly flippant response of “I think Jungkook’s asleep” to a comment reading “I’m Jungkook’s wife” (or something like that). These dots could connect to form a certain picture, such as Jungkook being there with Jimin when he started the live, sitting in the other gaming chair. The sounds we hear could be caused by Jungkook sliding the chair back and exiting the room after Jimin urged him to go. He may have been heading off to bed, prompting Jimin to say what he did with a certain confidence.

Ultimately though, it’s all circumstantial; there’s nothing that actually ties these events together except a few ambiguous facts and our prior beliefs about the status of Jikook’s relationship. But I think it’s fine to hypothesise as long as nothing’s taken as fact, or blown out of proportion in terms of its significance.

And, after all, enough circumstances can add up to be quite telling.

[dragonsandphoenix]

The Scene from the My Stand In Novel That Should Have Stayed

I'll be honest My Stand In is increasingly losing me as a viewer, and so I went back to the novel and the audio drama to find out why. After revisiting some scenes I've come to the tentative conclusion that MSI feels like a surface level interpretation of the novel, speaking as a novel fan.

MSI spoilers in all its iterations (drama, novel & audio drama):

What confuses me about MSI is that in terms of plot and broad character arcs, it's pretty faithful to the novel itself. And while Professional Body Double isn't my favourite Shui Qian Cheng novel I liked it for what it was and even thought the audio drama adaptation elevated its source material. And to be fair, I liked the first 6 episodes of MSI a lot, like scrolling through the tag in tumblr everyday a lot. To me, MSI shines when it feels like watching a 188 novel come to life.

But for the past few weeks, that investment has waned. Something's missing. Maybe it's the way that characters being shallower versions of themselves have caught up to me, maybe it's the way the show gets bogged down in plot mechanics when the characters' inner thoughts and feelings are meant to be what drives the narrative, and I just don't feel as invested in these characters.

This scene from the audio drama is what led me to read the novel in the first place. Its absence from the drama is emblematic of my issues with MSI. It happens right after Joe (Zhou Xiang) meets Ming's (Yan Mingxiu) brother. Instead of leaving the house he goes upstairs and goes to sleep. Then Ming stumbles into the room drunk and we get this melancholic moment.

My absolute favourite thing about this scene is the complexity of it. We get to the heart of MingJoe's relationship, and its fundamental issue: in spite of their passionate and (imo) genuine feelings for one another, they can never be on the same page. They love each other, but they're so deeply broken to the point of being destructive to themselves and each other.

The point is this is a character and emotionally-driven story.

It is especially Joe's story, he's our main POV character and he is so clearheaded about his feelings actually. He does acknowledge that if Ming showed him an ounce of care in his past life he'd accept him. But now they're way past that. He's disillusioned, and that feeling of lost love is captured so well here that isn't often captured in BL.

I honestly feel the story becomes incoherent if we don't have a good handle on his and to a lesser extent Ming and some important side characters' inner worlds.

One my main issues with MSI is that it seems to be constantly missing the Point. Part of that is due to the differing characterizations but it also stems from the scriptwriters losing sight of the heart of the story and the need to present the plot as clearly as possible with little ambiguity. Most recently, Ming spends a significant chunk of episode 8 trying to figure out if Joe 2.0 is Joe 1.0 and then concocting different ways to test if they're the same person. In a way it's pretty faithful to the novel, these are things that happen in there too. The drama adapts these plot elements, adds obvious visual cues (the egg, the sneeze), adds additional scenes of Ming consulting the blind shaman on finding Joe and place dramatic weight to them in a way that we as the audience should be really invested on whether Ming will solve this Great Mystery.

But it doesn't matter. It matters very little to Joe, he's just trying to move on with his life and it doesn't even matter to Ming, this obsession of his is just another form of his grief and denial ("I found someone else but it isn't you", "I feel so ridiculous now"). This emphasis on what ultimately doesn't matter comes at the cost of character depth. Scenes jump from one to the next with no room for characters to reflect or even react to what just happened to them. Relationships and characters get stripped down to their bare bones (the brotherhood between Joe and Wut will always be something I cherish) and I just think this is all a shame.

I'll ultimately be happy if My Stand In succeeds and does well, as it might open up doors for more challenging BL projects. I just hope that comes with more nuanced and complex narratives as well.

[tethered-heartstrings]

Hi sorry if I'm bothering you, I just had a question? I noticed that in season three (the first part, with the Italian names) (Italian is my first language) the names are out of order. Like, S3E2 being called "Primavera" (Spring) aside, we have "Appetizers" "Second course" "Apéritif" "Side dish" "Sweets" and "Digestive". And that's not the usual order?

You usually have Apéritif late afternoon/early evening, then you sit at the dinner table and the courses are: Appetizers, Main Course (which is replaced by Spring, but I enjoy the allegory), Second Course with Sides, Sweets and lastly Digestive (or coffee lol).

So yeah I was wondering if you knew whether there was any reason for this change?

Again sorry to bother, also I love you blog. Thank you very much and have a nice day :)

V

omg you aren’t bothering me at all this is a great question!

Let me start off by saying I do not know Italian, but I have some ideas as to the naming schematic.

“Apéritif” is the first episode of season one, and from what I looked up, an apéritif is an alcoholic drink used to stimulate the appetite. As it is the first episode of the show, it is meant to entice an audience to watch the rest of the show, so it makes sense that this episode is enticing the appetite of the viewer. Also, the first glimpse we get of Hannibal in this episode is him eating a meal, and as the titular character who has a particular appetite, we are kind of appealing to his appetite as well. And the first meeting he has with Will also indirectly stimulates his appetite and interest in Will as a person and his involvement with the GJH case and his decisions to intervene. Hannibal wanting to “see what would happen” is his appetite being stimulated. “Apéritif” is also a French word derived from Latin “aperire” which means “to open” which makes a lot of sense as it is the opening of the entire show.

The first episode of season 3, “Antipasto” makes sense as it is the first course of a meal, and thus the first episode of the season. “Secondo” I take to mean a second course, so pretty straight forward.

I wonder if “Apertivo” (aka appetizer) is next because we kind of go back in time a bit to Will being in the hospital and truly seeing how thing occurred, and not his hallucination with Abigail being alive. Like going back “before” the meal. We also see Will back in Hannibal’s kitchen, going back to where everything went down, but there is a peace there as if it was before it all happened. And Abigail is there, too. Granted, Will “knows” she is dead now, but it still feels like before when she was alive. Like Will is trying to take little pieces of life before, little bites of something more savory than the reality he is in. It is also before Will really confronts Hannibal again, seeing and talking to him directly. So maybe the use of “appetizer” is more of this episode and events in it happening before other things. The events of this episode happening before the “meal” episodes as it goes back in time a little bit.

While “Dolce” and “Digestivo” are in the “correct” order, I still want to talk about them. “Dolce” meaning sweet is so perfect because of the Uffizi Gallery scene, because it is so tender and perfect. And “Digestivo” is also perfect, because digestives are supposed to aid in digestion, and Hannibal was planning to eat Will. And not only could it be interpreted as literally helping the meal digest, but also the aftermath of having killed and eaten Will, having to digest the reality that not only is Will dead, but that Hannibal killed him. And that Will’s flesh is finite, and eventually there will be nothing left of him, and soon even the taste of him, the feel of him between his teeth, will be lost to Hannibal, nothing more than a memory.

I also found that bitter digestifs contain carminative herbs intended to aid in digestion. There are a lot of herbs that fall into this category, but two of them being parsley and thyme, which are herbs in the soup Hannibal spoon fed to Will while he was drugged prior to his head being cut open. Hannibal even says the soup is “more for my sake than yours,” after Will comments on how it isn’t very good. And I know that it technically happens in “Dolce” but the end of “Dolce” and beginning of “Digestivo” overlap and blur together a bit like they do. And in “Digestivo”, Will even comments on how he doesn’t have Hannibal’s “appetite”, thus tying it all in together a bit.

As a side note, I also love “Primavera” meaning spring, because this episode is another stage of Will’s becoming and his growth, shedding an old skin. We see a new perspective of what happened in “Mizumono”, and I think “Spring” is a very fitting title for this episode!

thank you for this ask and hope you have a nice day as well!!