#we’re on 3x12 for reference

[littlegreen]

my mom on buddie: “i am starting to see what you mean”

[stahlop]

Once Upon a Time 4x03 “Rocky Road” Review

Reviews 1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05 1x06 1x07 1x08 1x09 1x10 1x11 1x12 1x13 1x14 1x15 1x16 1x17 1x18 1x19 1x20 1x21 1x22 2x01 2x02 2x03 2x04 2x05 2x06 2x07 2x08 2x09 2x10 2x11 2x12 2x13 2x14 2x15 2x16 2x17 2x18 2x19 2x20 2x21 2x22 3x01 3x02 3x03 3x04 3x05 3x06 3x07 3x08 3x09 3x10 3x11 3x12 3x13 3x14 3x15 3x16 3x17 3x18 3x19 3x20 3x21 3x22 4x01 4x02

So the ice cream lady is apparently the Snow Queen and she’s cursed Marian to become frozen! And she’s also, apparently, Elsa’s aunt and was trapped in the urn before Elsa was. Interesting that Elsa’s mother never thought to tell her scared daughter that ice powers run in the family! And Emma finally pushes past some of her trust issues with Hook!

Summary: Marian becomes frozen and True Love’s Kiss doesn’t work when Robin tries to save her. Hook resorts to blackmail to find out who else has powers like Elsa. In the past, Elsa and Kristoff fight Hans and his brothers and end up discovering a long-lost relative.

Opening: Any Given Sundae

New Characters:

Will Scarlet: He’s apparently an outcast from the Merry Men. How he’s come to be in Storybrooke is a mystery. He’s a thief and will always be a thief. The most helpful thing he does is show Emma and David that the ice cream shop doesn’t use anything to keep the ice cream cold. (For those that don’t know, Will was a favorite on the spin-off Once Upon a Time in Wonderland)

Character Observations:

The Snow Queen: She doesn’t have a name in Arendelle or Storybrooke yet, but Emma refers to her as the Snow Queen, so that’s what we’re going with. In Arendelle, she is revealed to have been trapped in the urn Hans was going to use to trap Elsa. Instead, the Snow Queen freezes Hans and scares his brothers away. She is revealed to be Elsa’s mother’s sister.

In Storybrooke, she is determined to make people think that Elsa is behind all the freezing mayhem that is going on. She does some kind of magic to Marian’s ice cream cone which eventually makes her frozen. She attempts to kill Hook in order to make it look like Elsa did it. Luckily, Emma comes and saves him. But the Snow Queen clearly knows Emma somehow, even if she doesn’t remember. Elsa also doesn’t remember her, but the Snow Queen tells her the Rock Trolls took her memories like they did with Anna when she was younger. She eventually disappears. We later see her talking to Gold. He offers to help her, which she rejects. He also warns her about Emma remembering her.

Regina: How the hell did she run a kingdom when she is terrible at subterfuge? She attempts to hook Henry in by buying him comic books and then makes obvious comments about how the storybook doesn’t have an author. Henry sees through her immediately. She goes on about finding the author and getting her happy ending. Henry, instead of telling her that’s not how this works, tells her it’s her best idea yet. Oy vey! Meanwhile, Marian has been frozen and Robin asks for her help to reverse whatever curse has been put upon her. It’s interesting that she automatically blames Elsa, when she, herself, has been unjustly accused of magical things happening in Storybrooke that ended up being other people (Cora in The Cricket Game).  She claims she’s trying to change, but she still jumps to conclusions at the first chance she gets. Elsa says only an act of true love can save Marian, so Robin kisses her, which doesn’t work. David claims the ice is acting as a barrier like when Frederick was turned to gold in What Happened to Frederick, but Robin later tells Regina it didn’t work because he’s in love with someone else. Regina takes it with grace, since he and Marian are technically still married. They decide to take Marian’s heart so she’s not frozen completely, and Regina can work on reversing the curse.

Emma: Her magic is acting wonky, but she won’t admit it. Regina calls her out on it when she goes to try and figure out what caused the freezing spell on Marian. Emma thinks she’s still mad about her bringing Marian back in the first place. Which, she’s not wrong, but also, neither is Regina. Hook wants to go with her, but she tells him to take Elsa to the sheriff’s station to protect her from the townspeople who think she’s responsible for Marian. Hook doesn’t want to leave Emma, but she gets angry and asks him to just listen to her for once. At Robin’s tent, Emma comes across former Merry Man, Will Scarlet. He runs when he finds out she’s the sheriff, but is taken down by David. Will gives them information about the ice cream shop’s ice cream still being frozen hours after the blackout happened. Will attempts to pick the lock of the ice cream shop to show them, but Emma gets impatient and does it for him, much to David’s surprise. They discover that Will was telling the truth when they see the back room is frozen. And also Will takes off and steals money from the till. Emma wants to go after him, but David says they have more important things to do concerning Marian and she can go after Will another time. Emma expresses self-doubt about her abilities, but David tries to lift her spirits. Emma and David arrive to the Snow Queen trying to kill Hook. The Snow Queen taunts Emma that her magic isn’t stronger than hers, but Emma knocks her back with a blast of magic and manages to magic David and Hook out of the way of the falling icicles. After the Snow Queen disappears, Emma tells David and Hook that the way the Snow Queen said her name sounded familiar, like she’d heard it before. Hook offers to help look for her lair, but Emma gets pissed at him for not following her directions and almost getting himself killed. Emma talks to Elsa who is upset that the Snow Queen told her that Anna put her in the urn. Emma thinks they’re all pawns for something bigger, since Emma brought Elsa there accidentally, but the Snow Queen was already there. Emma doesn’t think the curse brought her to Storybrooke. Emma runs into Hook outside of Granny’s and she’s not happy with his shenanigans. He accuses her of not trusting him, but Emma tells him the truth. She does trust him, but she’s afraid he’s going to get himself killed since every other guy she’s been with is dead. Hook promises her he’s a survivor and they start kissing in the middle of the street!

Hook: He certainly does not like being told what to do, which gets him in trouble with Emma, but not for the reasons he thinks. We start with him, Emma, and Elsa questioning Gold about how Elsa and the urn ended up in his vault. He claims not to know. Hook isn’t buying his BS about turning over a new leaf for a second. Even when Belle compels him to tell the truth with the dagger, you can tell he’s not buying it. Emma, Elsa, and Hook go to the mayor’s office when Marian has been frozen. Emma goes to look for whomever is responsible and Hook wants to go with her. He’s very upset when she asks him to take Elsa to the sheriff’s station instead. Immediately, Hook and Elsa decide not to follow Emma’s orders and take the investigation into their own hands. By going to Gold’s shop and blackmailing him. Can I just say how much this pains me to see Hook stooping so low when he’s trying to prove to Emma how trustworthy he is? To secretly go to Gold and blackmail him because he knows Belle doesn’t have the real dagger to get what he wants is the opposite of everything he’s trying to prove to Emma. I mean, I know it does help them find out where the ice cream lady/Snow Queen is, but using a way that harkens back to his villainous days is not the way to go about it. Sigh. Gold changes a piece of Marian’s frozen hair into snowflakes that leads Hook and Elsa to the Snow Queen. Hook attempts to call Emma, but she doesn’t answer and has to leave a message (the crux of which is, why did she get him a phone if she never answers it, lol). When Hook and Elsa attempt to leave to go find Emma (since she’s not answering the phone), Hook’s feet are frozen by the Snow Queen. Luckily, Emma saves him before the Snow Queen’s plan to kill him takes place. Later that night, Hook is drinking at Granny’s and Emma’s still pissed at him. He accuses her of not trusting him, but she says she does trust him. She’s just afraid of him getting killed. He tells her he’s a survivor before kissing her. And, this is the first time Hook has initiated a kiss with Emma, she’s initiated it every other time. Hot! Hot! Hot!

Elsa and Kristoff: In Arendelle, Elsa is freaking out over Anna. Kristoff is trying to calm her down by relaying all of Anna’s heroic feats, but Elsa is stressing big time. She then gets a report that Hans has an army and is heading towards Arendelle. Kristoff wants to go see what’s up, but Elsa won’t let him, using his status as Anna’s groom as her reasoning. He goes out anyway and overhears Hans telling his brothers about a magical urn. Kristoff reports back to Elsa that it can contain magical beings like her. He wants to bring some soldiers to go destroy the urn. Elsa wants to avoid war. She suggests just she and Kristoff go. Elsa almost walks herself off a cliff while she and Kristoff have a heart to heart. They get to the cave with the urn and Elsa goes to destroy it, but then some runes show up on it, and she’s trying to decipher them when Hans and his brothers enter. Elsa fights off two of them with her ice powers, and Kristoff dispatches another with a sword, but then Hans gets the drop on Kristoff and threatens to make Anna a widow if Elsa doesn’t hand over the urn (and Kristoff, with a sword to his neck, still makes a joke that he and Anna aren’t married so she wouldn’t technically be a widow). Elsa ends up giving Hans the urn, despite Kristoff’s protests. Hans continues to be the worst person ever by telling Elsa that she doesn’t belong anywhere so he’s going to put her in the urn like she doesn’t exist, which plays on all of Elsa’s magic insecurities. But surprise, surprise, when he opens the urn to put her inside, the Snow Queen comes out instead. And she freezes Hans and his brothers run off. Elsa is in heaven meeting someone who has ice powers like herself. They compare stories about making snowmen come to life and building ice castles. The Snow Queen sees the painting of Elsa’s parents and lets her know Elsa’s mother was her sister, making her Elsa’s aunt. Elsa is understandably confused as her mother never mentioned a sister. Elsa lets her know her mother was lost at sea and it’s just her and Anna now. She tells her how scared she is that Anna is missing, and the Snow Queen promises she’ll help her find her, because that is what family does.

In Storybrooke, Elsa is accused of using her powers to freeze Marian. Emma wants her and Hook to stay at the sheriff’s station, but they go looking for whomever actually froze Marian. They eventually find the Snow Queen in the woods. The Snow Queen wants the town to turn against Elsa and she doesn’t understand why. She tells Elsa the Rock Trolls stole her memories of when they met in Arendelle, but doesn’t say why. She also tells Elsa that Anna put her in the urn. Elsa is adamant that Anna would never do that.

Mary Margaret: She attempts to have a ‘fireside chat’ as the mayor to go over items in the town (complete with baby Neal in her arms), but all anyone wants to talk about is Elsa.Things go south quickly when Marian starts literally turning to ice. After the meeting, Mary Margaret gets some unsolicited advice from Archie about needing to let things go, meaning she doesn’t need to have baby Neal with her constantly and she’ll be better if they aren’t attached at the hip. Mary Margaret is obviously afraid she’ll miss something if she isn’t there with him constantly because of missing out on Emma growing up.

Questions:

Why isn’t Emma’s lie detector blaring when Gold says he’s decided to turn over a new leaf? Or when he says he’s given Belle the dagger? There should be sirens going off in her head.

Exactly how far away is Misthaven from Arendelle? With all the magic going on in the Enchanted Forest, how have they not heard of it in Arendelle?

Since the Snow Queen acknowledges Elsa is queen, why didn’t she realize her sister would have to be dead for that to happen? She seems genuinely shocked when Elsa tells her.

How did Elsa’s urn end up in Gold’s vault? Did the Snow Queen give it to Rumple since we know they know each other?

Have Gold and the Snow Queen been talking since the curse broke? How does he know that she knew Emma once? Does that mean the Snow Queen has been out of Storybrooke?

Observations:

This is the most casual we’ve ever seen Regina. Her hair is in a messy ponytail and she’s wearing a t-shirt and vest!

Emma looks amazing in this episode also. She’s letting her freckles shine through, and she just looks cute as a button.

The two comic books we see Regina get Henry are Thor and ShenLu.

Regina and Henry decide their search for the author will be called Operation Mongoose.

Hook tells Gold that he could have Belle summon him with the dagger and when he didn’t appear she’d have proof the dagger isn’t real. We’ve seen plenty of times when all someone had to do is say Rumpelstiltskin's name (even in other realms) and he’d appear.

The cage that Kristoff puts his torch in is already lit when he and Elsa enter the cave. Then he lights it again. Or there is another cage already lit, which should be a red flag that someone is already in the cave.

Hook now has a cell phone and it has an ‘Emma’ button.

Once Upon a Time Firsts:

Magic can change form but never be destroyed.

So, we find out a little bit more about the Snow Queen, but not what her end goal is yet. She is obviously very bitter about something having to do with her magic and people fearing it, and she doesn’t seem to care if people are okay with it like they are in Storybrooke. I am not happy about Hook blackmailing Gold as it just goes against everything he’s worked so hard to put in his past. But Emma and Hook seem to be getting on the right path for being together despite that! Yay!

Please leave comments and reblog! Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future reviews.

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[abriaashley]

Sharpwin is THAT SHIP!

After last night’s episode (3x12) I have reached a definite conclusion. I’ve watched a great deal of scripted television in my 28 years on this planet, I’ve seen numerous couples with awesome chemistry etc.  but none, absolutely not one of them, even my beloved Richonne, have come close to the magic that is Dr. Max Goodwin and Dr. Helen Sharpe. They are positively transcendent. 

Every look, every touch, every word exchanged between them is subtle yet nuanced, laced with love and a level of understanding that few people ever experience with another human being in real life let alone can accurately depict it on television. 

One of the things I love the most about Sharpwin’s portrayal is that it exemplifies a healthy mature relationship.  Yes, there are challenges but therein lies the organic nature that captivates us weekly, the realism that makes us forget we’re watching fictional characters. 

The honesty, intimacy and vulnerability that was beautifully illustrated on our tv screens last night was so pure and raw it sent more chills across my skin than any “hot” love scene, without one kiss. That’s the lightning in a bottle effect of Sharpwin; effortlessly electric, magnetic and powerful. 

Every aspect of that decontamination shower scene was exquisite from the acting to the cinematography. It almost felt like we as an audience were intruding on the moment. It was so special, so monumental and entrenched in the very emotions emanating from these two people; the desperation, the hope and the surrender to an inevitable love that they were both fighting since Season 1. 

What we as a fandom is experiencing cannot be faked or duplicated, this is art. Sharpwin has seamlessly displayed genuine friendship, teamwork, and soul mates in one flawless package. 

These two characters have developed a life of their own simply based on the way they interact with each other, you cannot tell me they’re not a married couple. Ryan, Freema and the show runners deserve all the awards. 

I personally will never get over this past episode, it is ingrained in my mind. It is now a reference point for which all other great ships can and will be compared. Sharpwin is no longer rising above the standard of great OTPs they have created a new nearly unattainable standard of their own. 

This is beyond a tv show, beyond chemistry between two fantastic actors, beyond excellent writing, this is even beyond the best interpretation or representation of romantic love to grace the small screen.  This is simply the epitome of true love in every way, shape and form. 

[kiss-my-freckle]

Jack makes a comment in 3x12, about Hannibal being the devil himself. Hannibal responds, “Then that makes you God, Jack.” I reference this moment while in 1x2, Hannibal and Will are discussing God and how he feels about killing. “And are we not created in His image?” What we’re given in 1x5 alllows for the series finale in relation to all of these conversations. 

Ever feel abandoned, Will? Abandonment requires expectation. What were your expectations of Jack Crawford and the FBI? Jack hasn't abandoned me. Not in any discernible way. Perhaps in the way gods abandon their creations. You say he hasn't abandoned you, but at the same time you find yourself wandering around Wolf Trap in the middle of the night. Jack gave you his word he would protect your headspace, yet he leaves you to your mental devices. 

The interconnecting is nice. Will thinks Hannibal is trying to alienate him from Jack, but Jack is doing that all on his own. That’s why Will is quite literally suffering alone, relying solely on Hannibal. Which was actually Jack’s initial intent, and he made it crystal clear. He’s gonna push Will as far as he has to in order to get the job done. He needs Bloom to be there so Will isn’t out there alone. But she gets tied up with Abigail and Hannibal takes over as Will’s therapist. Jack abandoning Will in S1 becomes Will abandoning Jack in S3. Will acting as Jack’s creation, doing as he did to him. And he didn’t just abandon Jack. He left him with the biggest mess one could possibly imagine. Will knows exactly what happened to Jack after he left, just as he learned himself in 2x13. 

Abandonment requires expectation. What were Jack’s expectations of Will Graham?

He wanted Francis dead, and he got his wish. 

[samtalksaboutshows]

Pretty Little Liars, Season 3A timeline

First half of season 3 timeline:

3x01 takes place over like, at least 2 or 3 days but it’s set before school starts, so in August.

3x02 through 3x12 are all meant to be set in September.

3x02 has at least 4 days and 2 nights featured. September 1-4. Since I would assume it was the first day of school in the first part of the episode, and that’s September 1 at Rosewood.

3x03 - Takes place over roughly 3 days and 2 or 3 nights. By the end, it should be at least September 7, which makes the events of 3x02 and 3x03 spread out over a week.

However, timing at this point is already off, since the girls are at school almost every day that is shown, and that would not add up if 2 of those days are meant to be a weekend.

3x04 - Starts off at night. And then we are shown roughly 3 different days, plus 3 more nights. So, now we should technically be at September 11. But this is where things start to really get thrown off.

3x05 - And that’s because Caleb broke up with Hanna near the end of the previous episode. In this episode, Spencer mentions that Hanna hadn’t eaten since Tuesday, implying that Caleb had broken up with her that previous Tuesday and she had no appetite. But I refuse to go with this, as it makes no sense. In this episode, it again starts at night, so I’m going with September 12, at night. We see at least 3 days past, even though 2 of those are just at night. So, by the end, it’s about September 14.

Again, this is an issue, because multiple places I checked said Jenna’s birthday is in October, and the final half of the episode is set during her birthday party.

3x06 - Majority of this is set during one single day, what should be September 15 (-ish), but its thrown off again since it’s clear this is meant to be a weekend day. One part of the next day is shown, so now the show is at September 16.

3x07 - This episode takes place over the period of one day and night, so what should be September 17.

3x08- Takes place over 2 days, 2 nights. So, ending it on September 19. We have about 4 episodes left that are supposedly taking place in September, with only 11 days to go.

3x09 - Yet again, another episode that throws chaos into this supposed timeline. In a scene early in the episode, Spencer mentions she missed the UPenn deadline. But there’s no way that deadline would have been in mid-September. On top of that, Hanna says the girls have known about Maya’s website and what’s on it for a few days, but that would mean that there’s no way the whole episode is on September 20th, like it should be.

3x10 - This episode is confusing as hell, not necessarily for the overall timeline here, but for the timeline in this specific episode. Does Emily only do, like, 2 hours shifts? Either way, it starts at night (September 21) and we see at least 2 days. So, now we’re at September 23rd.

3x11 - Not much to say. September 24th. One day shown.

3x12 - Same here, it appears that only one day has passed. September 25th.

So. yea, technically, the first half of the season could have taken place in one month’s time. But realistically, no. And that’s because, there are a lot of things said and referred to that would indicate more time has passed between certain things (like, Caleb breaking up with Hanna, etc.). It would make more sense if these episode took place over September and October. But that’s not what all the timelines I’ve seen say.

[multimetaverse]

Wait the show changed Chinese New Years from 2017 to 2018? The timeline is messy lmao

Yes, originally the show was supposed to take place a little bit in the future, so it premiered in our world in April 2016 but the story started in September 2016 but later on the show decided to retcon it so that the show started in September 2017 in an attempt to keep ahead of our real world time which ultimately failed. That’s why instead of having the Year of the Rooster in 2x02 which would have been the correct lunar new year for 2017 they changed it to the Year of the Dog which was the correct one for 2018. The timeline is not as messy as people like to claim it is and there is a rough timeline for the series contained in the context clues in the dialogue as you can see when I lay it out in production order. Obviously we get scenes in 2b that should be taking place in late Spring clearly being filmed in Winter but that’s the price the show paid for filming on location in Utah and we just have to suspend our disbelief for that. 

1x01- Takes place September 28th 2017 on Andi’s 13th birthday. People get too hung up on the hospital bracelet dates, just spring it forward a year like the show did from 2003 to 2004

2x02- Takes place on February 16th 2018 as that was the date the lunar new year of the dog fell on.  So Cyrus coming out to Buffy happens in early to mid February

2x15 -  Takes place around April 20th 2018. We know this because it’s the day after Cyrus’ Bash Mitzvah and Buffy reveals she’s moving in ten days but Andi tries to get her to stay with Celia since there’s two months left in the school year and in America the school year typically ends around June 20th. So working backward we can tell that the Marty left sometime in March, the muffin scene was early April, and the swings and invitation scene were mid April shortly before the Bash Mitzvah.

2x21- Takes place around May 1st 2018 as Buffy moves as her 10 days are up. Now it wasn’t really ten days, we can tell by the number of weekends that it would have been closer to three weeks but that’s on the writers. The timeline get’s much messier after this which unsurprisingly correlates with the writing getting worse.

2x26- Takes place around June 20th as it’s almost the end of the school year. Buffy was supposed to be gone for two months but in the only Disney editing decision I agree with, they cut that title card from 2x22 when Buffy returned. That wouldn’t have really made sense since that would put her return in July after school is out but it is what it is. Jonah has already left for Frisbee camp in 2x25 despite school still being in session which I think was an artifact of Jonah still being a year older at this point and in some schools different grades may get out a little earlier.

3x01- Takes place around August 20th as it’s been two months since Jonah went off to camp for summer and the American school year starts around August 20th. Things get messier after this since technically 3x02 would have had to take place on September 24th 2018 as that’s the date of the mid autumn festival but there’s no way to make that work because of the info we get in 3x04. In the show’s timeline 3x02 followed quite closely after 3x01 as Andi is unsure whether to officially end things with Jonah despite trying to do so at the end of 3x01. 

3x04- Takes place around mid September 2018 as TJ mentions that it’s the third week of school.

3x07- Takes place around mid September 2018 as Buffy mentions she just founded the Spikes that same week and Andi refers to Jonah running off in 3x04 after she jokes about him liking someone new as something that happened the other day. Again it’s impossible for 3x04-07 to actually take place within a week given the number of weekends that occurred but we just have to roll with it.

3x12- Takes place in late October 2018. Jonah says that he learned a couple of months ago that his parents had to file for bankruptcy and that they would lose their house. Since he was gone all summer and 3x02 took place shortly after he got back we’re looking at 3x12 taking place two months after he got back in late August. 

The timeline is actually pretty smooth from here on out. 3x13 takes place immediately after 3x12 and costume day seems to be stand in for Halloween which fits with the timeline. 3x14 takes place right the weekend following costume day as Andi is just then telling her friends about the wedding, which was just weeks away according to Buffy, being cancelled. 3x15 seems to be the next weekend after that and 3x16 picks up the next weekend as the kids start their community service and then the rest of 3x16 and 3x17 take place in the same week or so of time. 

The cut 318 was almost certainly the next weekend after 3x17 ended as we know the Jamber breakup scene and Muffy friendzoning scene in 3x17 were re-shoots to replace scenes lost in 318. 3x19 must take place the school week after 318 as Buffy’s friends just then find out about her boot which Buffy didn’t have in 3x17. Buffy��s injury also makes for a nice way to track the timeline as we can see her foot get progressively worse over the weeks. 

3x19 must be late November as Andi says her SAVA application is due at the end of the month. 3x20 takes place shortly afterwards as Jonah mentions his family moving into an apartment in 3x19. And 3x21 must take place shortly after 3x20 as Bex and Bowie have their first dance as a married couple which puts the finale in early December 2018. Those pre finale texts make no sense as even stretching the time line ridiculously does not get 3x21 anywhere near the end of the school year and they deliberately put snow on the ground on the backyard set because it’s meant to take place in winter. 

So we have a rough time line for the show of September 28th 2017- early December 2018 from pilot to series finale. It’s not perfect and you can add or subtract a few weeks here or there but it works fairly well and follows what the writers told us in the dialogue.

[harrowharkwife]

PUSH-themed ask game, magicians episodes edition!

counting the upcoming s4 finale, there are 52 episodes of the magicians- 13 each season. to celebrate (and help alleviate some of the nervous anticipation we’re all feeling right now), i thought i’d try my hand at making an ask game that focuses on appreciating all 52 weird and wonderful episodes we’ve been given. 

and hey, guess how many cards there are in a single deck? that’s right, 52. you know what that means- let’s play PUSH. or, like, an adapted, digital version of it, where instead of drawing a card you have to choose between two episodes of the magicians? idk, just go with it.

the rules are this: go here to generate a random number between 1 and 52. the number you get corresponds to the question you ask whoever you’re “playing” against- the questions will be listed below! make sure that you give your own answer to each question you send, so that you can “play your own card,” so to speak. and lastly, if you get asked a question off this list, you should ask a question in return to keep the match going. good luck!

QUESTIONS:

1. ACE OF SPADES - the bank heist in 2x07 “plan b,” or the bank heist in 4x03 “the bad news bear”?

2. TWO OF SPADES - the “under pressure” number in 3x09 “all that josh,” or the “storm coming” number in 4x10 “all that hard, glossy armor”?

3. THREE OF SPADES - quentin’s arrival at brakebills in 1x01 “unauthorized magic,” or kim’s arrival at brakebills in 4x01 “a flock of lost birds”?

4. FOUR OF SPADES - eliot’s conversation with the great cock in 3x01 “the tales of the seven keys,” or fen’s conversation with the napster in 4x09 “the serpent”?

5. FIVE OF SPADES - the conversation between penny 40 and penny 23 in 3x11 “twenty-three,” or the conversation between the alices in 4x09 “the serpent”?

6. SIX OF SPADES - the welters tournament in 1x05 “mendings, major and minor,” or the trials in 1x06 “impractical applications”?

7. SEVEN OF SPADES - the “shake it off” number in 1x04 “the world in the walls,” or the “one day more” number in 2x09 “lesser evils”?

8. EIGHT OF SPADES - julia’s first encounter with our lady underground in 1x08 “the strangled heart,” or julia learning she is a goddess in 3x13 “will you play with me”?

9. NINE OF SPADES - the coronation scene in 2x01 “knight of crowns,” or margo winning the throne in 3x12 “the fillorian candidate”?

10. TEN OF SPADES - the mosaic montage in 3x05 “a life in the day,” or eliot remembering his conversation with quentin in 4x05 “escape from the happy place”?

11. JACK OF SPADES - the multiple storylines in 3x08 “six short stories about magic,” or the emphasis on the importance of side characters in 4x07 “the side effect”?

12. QUEEN OF SPADES - the gang teaming up to defeat the beast in 2x03 “divine elimination,” or everyone working together to defeat the monsters in 4x12 “the secret sea”?

13. KING OF SPADES - margo’s moment of catharsis in 4x10 “all that hard, glossy armor,” or quentin’s moment of catharsis in 4x12 “the secret sea”?

14. ACE OF HEARTS - dean fogg testing quentin’s magic aptitude at brakebills in 1x01 “unauthorized magic,” or marina testing julia’s magic in the hedge witch meat locker in 1x02 “the source of magic”?

15. TWO OF HEARTS - margo reuniting with eliot after losing her eye in 2x13 “we have brought you little cakes,” or quentin and julia reuniting after their personality wipes in 4x03 “the bad news bear”?

16. THREE OF HEARTS - margo and quentin’s conversation on the stairs of the physical cottage in 1x05 “mendings, major and minor,” or eliot making sure julia is okay in 2x13 “we have brought you little cakes”?

17. FOUR OF HEARTS - eliot, fen, and fray’s first quest on the munjtac in 3x02 “heroes and morons,” or eliot comforting fen following the revelation that fray isn’t really their daughter in 3x07 “poached eggs”?

18. FIVE OF HEARTS - margo’s “what’s the difference between a live hero and a dead moron” speech to eliot in 3x02 “heroes and morons,” or eliot and margo’s pop culture references conversation in 3x01 “the tales of the seven keys”?

19. SIX OF HEARTS - penny trying to break through in 3x04 “be the penny,” or eliot trying to break through in 4x05 “escape from the happy place”?

20. SEVEN OF HEARTS - quentin facing his depression key monster in 3x06 “do you like teeth?”, or eliot facing his repressed memories in 4x05 “escape from the happy place”?

21. EIGHT OF HEARTS - the fairy queen’s speech to the enslaved fairies in 3x10 “the art of the deal,” or margo establishing the new desert order in 4x10 “all that hard, glossy armor”?

22. NINE OF HEARTS - quentin and julia’s trip to the underworld in 2x11 “the rattening,” or julia and josh’s trip to timeline 23 in 3x11 “twenty-three”?

23. TEN OF HEARTS - ghost-eliot panicking over having killed margo in 3x11 “twenty-three,” or quentin panicking over the monster hurting eliot with pills in 4x06 “a timeline and place”?

24. JACK OF HEARTS - the chaos over poppy’s dragon egg in 4x08 “home improvement,” or the chaos over the lamprey in 3x03 “the losses of magic”?

25. QUEEN OF HEARTS - the gang trying to kill each other because of the throne curse in 2x03 “divine elimination,” or the gang fighting over the dragon egg in 4x08 “home improvement”?

26. KING OF HEARTS - margo and lizard eliot in 4x10 “all that hard, glossy armor,” or julia and beast quentin in 3x11 “twenty-three”?

27. ACE OF CLUBS - quentin and eliot getting drunk by the fireplace in 1x11 “remedial battle magic,” or julia and penny 23 talking by the fireplace in 4x11 “the 4-1-1″?

28. TWO OF CLUBS - fen protecting fray from pirates in 3x03 “the losses of magic,” or zelda trying to keep harriet safe in 3x08 “six short stories about magic”?

29. THREE OF CLUBS - quentin asking his questing creature (the white lady) for help in 2x04 “the flying forest,” or margo getting help from her questing creature (lord fresh) in 4x02 “lost, found, fucked”?

30. FOUR OF CLUBS - the sex magic in 4x04 “marry, fuck, kill” where penny 23 annoints julia with oil, or the sex magic alice and quentin have to do in 1x10 “homecoming” to save penny from the neitherlands?

31. FIVE OF CLUBS - alice and her brother in 1x03 “consequences of advanced spellcasting,” or julia and her sister in 1x07 “the mayakovsky circumstances”?

32. SIX OF CLUBS - penny and sylvia in the poison room in 2x12 “ramifications,” or zelda and kady in the poison room in 4x12 “the secret sea”?

33. SEVEN OF CLUBS - harriet’s introduction in 2x10 “the girl who told time,” or marina’s introduction in 1x02 “the source of magic”? 

34. EIGHT OF CLUBS - shadeless julia blowing up the forest in 2x08 “word as bond,” or niffin alice fighting the beast in 2x03 “divine elimination”?

35. NINE OF CLUBS - the reveal that alice is living in quentin’s cacodemon tattoo in 2x06 “the cock barrens,” or the reveal that tick pickwick has had an agenda of his own all along in 3x09 “all that josh”?

36. TEN OF CLUBS - fen convincing the fairy queen to help the enslaved earth fairies in 3x10 “the art of the deal,” or julia saving her friends in castle blackspire instead of listening to iris in 3x13 “will you play with me?”

37. JACK OF CLUBS - quentin trying to live his boring, no-magic, desk job life in 2x05 “cheat day,” or kady-as-sam-cunningham discovering magic is real in 4x01 “a flock of lost birds”?

38. QUEEN OF CLUBS - quentin’s “could i maybe have eliot back?” in 4x02 “lost, found, fucked,” or margo telling lizard eliot she’s going to save him in 4x10 “all that hard, glossy armor”?

39. KING OF CLUBS - the very first time eliot calls margo “queen margo the destroyer” in 1x13 “have you brought me little cakes,” or when he says “high king margo, long may you reign” in 3x12 “the fillorian candidate”?

40. ACE OF DIAMONDS - quentin and julia realizing they were the ones who helped jane chatwin out of the snare in the fillory books in 1x13 “have you brought me little cakes,” or quentin realizing that the old man who solved the mosaic before jane could was actually him at the end of 3x05 “a life in the day”?

41. TWO OF DIAMONDS - eliot facing his past when the illusion key conjures up an image of his father in 3x04 “be the penny,” or eliot facing his past in the form of his memories in 4x05 “escape from the happy place”?

42. THREE OF DIAMONDS - eliot, margo, and fen singing “one day more” in 2x09 “lesser evils,” or margo, lizard eliot, fen, josh, kady, and dean fogg singing “here i go again” in 4x10 “all that hard, glossy armor”?

43. FOUR OF DIAMONDS - lizard eliot singing “don’t get me wrong” in 4x10 “all that hard, glossy armor,” or him singing “beautiful dreamer”?

44. FIVE OF DIAMONDS - the monster remembering he had a sister in 4x10 “all that hard, glossy armor,” or the conversation he has with her in 4x12 “the secret sea”?

45. SIX OF DIAMONDS - the first half of the post-mosaic conversation between quention and eliot in the castle whitespire throne room (3x05 “a life in the day”), or the second half (4x05 “escape from the happy place”)? 

46. SEVEN OF DIAMONDS - quentin and the monster breaking the model planes while quentin grieves his father in 4x04 “marry, fuck, kill,” or quentin learning his discipline is minor mendings in 4x11 “the 4-1-1″?

47. EIGHT OF DIAMONDS - quentin talking about how the fillory books pulled him out of his first depressive episode in 1x09 “the writing room,” or him standing up to his depression key monster in 3x06 “do you like teeth?”

48. NINE OF DIAMONDS - kady trying to save penny’s life in 3x03 “the losses of magic,” or the emotional conversation she has with him while holding the truth key during her escape from rehab in 3x07 “poached eggs”?

49. TEN OF DIAMONDS - josh singing “wham bam” in 3x09 “all that josh,” or kady singing “all i need is the boy”?

50. JACK OF DIAMONDS - eliot telling quentin that he killed someone on accident at 14 in 1x02 “the source of magic,” or quentin kissing eliot on their one year anniversary at the mosaic in 3x05 “a life in the day”?

51. QUEEN OF DIAMONDS - quentin and julia laying underneath their map-of-fillory table in 1x13 “have you brought me little cakes,” or their dance in the stairwell to get bacchus to let them in to the party in 3x01 “the tales of the seven keys”?

52. KING OF DIAMONDS - the animation used at the beginning of 3x13 “will you play with me?” to tell the story of the knight and the seven keys, or the animation used by the binder in 4x11 “the 4-1-1″ to tell the story of the monster and his sister?

[sir-adamus]

RWBY timeline

The show doesn’t give us too much reference for how much time has passed in-show, but we do get some indications throughout the show so i’m gonna try and lay them out (and line up some things roughly that were happening around the same time). i’m gonna break things up into seasons as we’re never given specific dates and one of our key frames of reference is gonna be Ruby’s age, as she’s introduced to us in the Red trailer at age 15, and we now know through Chibi that her birthday is the 31st of October, and from there we can roughly map out when everything takes place

everything else under the cut because obviously this got looong

~80AGW

okay so we know the Vytal Festival is held once every two years and has done since the end of the Great War, with the year the series starts being one of those years, and we’re told it’s the 40th Festival since it’s inception, so lets call this year 80AGW (After the Great War)

Winter

so we’ll start at the start - the winter of this year

only a few things happen here, namely the Red trailer/its manga adaptation by Miwa and presumably Weiss’s training with Winter in the flashback segments of the Weiss Character Short (but it’s Atlas so it could be later). the White trailer/its manga adaptation by Miwa could also potentially happen here

Spring

quite a lot happens here - so its best to bullet point from here out

White trailer/Miwa manga chapters 3 & 4 - time of year unclear, may be set not long before the start of school year as the purpose of the fight is Jacques (or rather his secretary) ‘testing’ Weiss, intending that she lose so she’ll go to Atlas Academy where Jacques can still have control over her, instead of Beacon, where she wants to go

Black trailer/Miwa manga chapters 5 & 6 - set at the same time as the flashback in 3x07 and the flashback of Blake’s V5 Character Short (that it’s set in Forever Fall doesn’t help, though 3x07 helps suggests it’s not winter and could be early spring)

Yang V5 Character Short - Yang mentions she’ll be starting at Beacon 'soon’ but evidently the two are still under the impression that Ruby will be staying at Signal this year. seems to be set around spring time

Yellow trailer/Miwa manga chapters 7, 8 & 9 - not long prior to 1x01 (as we see Roman hiring Junior’s thugs)

1x01 - not long after Yellow trailer, implied to not be very long before beginning of the semester

the assumption that these all take place in Spring is based on that during the school year we see, several months do pass and it ends in Autumn/Fall (though still before the end of October, we’ll get to that), so Spring is what makes the most sense here. now we get into the Semesters - the first semester seems to span Spring-Summer given the very temperate weather we see in Vale during this time

- Semester 1 (spring - summer)

Volume 1 - starts not long after the main events of 1x01. takes place over most of the course of this semester (episodes 2-10 being the first three days, then skipping some time further). within this, the non-Red trailer parts of manga chapters 1/2 occur, happening sometime not long after 1x10, detailing an event of Jaune getting bullied by Cardin, and Ruby fighting in the training arena for the first time (there’s a slight retcon with Ruby only deciding to wear her hood over her uniform after this event)

Summer

this semester takes place over a few months - this is when the preparations for the Vytal festival begin, and exchange students begin arriving, Ruby comments that it’s been “a few months” since she ran into Torchwick in 1x15

this episode also gives us a sense that the semesters at the other academies must occur in parallel with each other, as Cinder makes her reappearance, along with Emerald and Mercury, at the end of volume 1. we learn in volume 5 that they used Lionheart to get entrance into the tournament, and as the Haven students would notice a team they’d never met before representing them, the implication is that the posing as students was happening at Haven itself before they arrived back in Vale - this also serves as an explanation for why Cinder wasn’t directly involved in volume 1 and an in-universe explanation for why Neo wasn’t around to help Roman out, because she was the fourth teammate (and being used as blackmail against Roman no doubt) - this will be important later

a short time after 1x16, we get the flashforward at the end of chapter 6 of the Miwa manga, with Blake waking up having dreamed the events of the Black trailer and Yang getting extreme cuteness proximity over Blake’s ears

at some point following this, chapters 10-15 of the Miwa manga occur, depicting a training mission set after 1x16 (evidenced by Penny’s appearance, mention of her having been 'influenced’ by something - implied to be Ruby - and Roman scouting out the tunnels he will eventually be moving his operation into under Cinder’s orders); RWBY and JNPR fight a Grimm that fuses together 4 King Taijitu into a hydra-esque monster; said Grimm was originally living in the tunnels leading to Mountain Glenn’s undercity, and was accidentally released by Roman

- Semester 2 (summer-autumn/fall)

when the show resumed in volume 2, we’re told there’s been a minimum of a two week break since the last semester ended (Ruby mentions that “the last two weeks have been great” but that might not necessarily have been their entire holiday, for all we know Ruby and Yang went home to visit their dad)

2x01 starts the day before semester 2 starts, Ruby mentions that the tournament marking the end of the Vytal festival is at “the end of the year” as preface for how “our second semester is going to be great!”. this establishes that volumes 2 and 3 occur within the same semester (and this is going to be important later), and while yeah, there’s a season change, we know from volume 1 that semesters span ‘months’ (which does make it seem like there’s a two long semester school year and then they have winter off)

Volume 2 has a much more contained timeframe compared to volume 1, taking place over the course of a couple of weeks and Vytal festivities beginning, starting with the dance prior to first year students beginning to take on real missions around the Kingdom - it’s unclear if classes are still in session after this point for First Years (as higher year groups like CFVY are already on missions before this point)

Grimm Eclipse takes place somewhere between volumes 2 and 3, and lasts a couple of days, detailing another mission team RWBY took on (JNPR are DLC for the game, so their presence isn’t canon) against the mutant Grimm created by Dr Merlot, who also had a big hand in the destruction of Mountain Glenn (i’m just adding flavour text at this point)

Autumn/’Fall’

volume 3 wastes no time in establishing that we’re now in the tail end of the year - the leaves have turned, they’re falling, we get mention that the weather has gotten colder right before Ruby establishes that it is fall at this point

we also know that it’s happening before the end of October, as Ciel gives Ruby’s age in her profile of her and mentions that she’s 15 (and Ruby doesn’t move to correct her on that)

the volume itself is very tightly contained, with most of it taking place over the course of about 5 days (i’m gonna be using episodes as reference points but there’s some overlap)

- Day 1, 3x01 - 3x03: RWBY vs ABRN, JNPR vs BRNZ and SSSN vs NDGO and Winter arriving and Qrow causing a ruckus all happening on the same day (this also establishes that Qrow’s been on mission since at least before the volume 1 finale, as we got his message about Salem having pawns way back in 1x16)

- Day 2, 3x04: Takes place the next day, depicting the first of the doubles rounds EM vs CY, Qrow’s talk with Yang and Ruby and Winter’s talk with Weiss, and ending as Winter leaves

- Day 3, 3x05: next day, PC vs CD, WY vs FN, Cinder finds out about Penny (it’s dark outside the window in this scene compared to the next scene which is still late afternoon)

- Day 4, 3x06 - 3x07: Pyrrha gets her entire reality shattered, Yang vs Mercury later in the evening and how that all ended up

- Day 5, 3x08 - 3x12 (pre-timeskip): literally everything else happens in the same day

Ruby wakes up from her silver-eyes induced coma, implied to be a few days later

Winter

there’s a time skip in 3x12 that jumps to wintertime, when Ruby leaves with JNR to go to Haven, following Qrow’s tipoff. this means that Ruby is 16 from this point on - and she visits Summer’s grave, creating a bookend with the Red trailer. it’s unclear when exactly she left, it could’ve been December, it could’ve been as late as February, we don’t know

~81AGW

Spring

Ruby’s volume 4 character short, which features a village on the outskirts of the Kingdom of Vale (confirmed by Kerry) being attacked by Grimm, Ruby notices and goes in to clear the place - this is the earliest confirmed point in the second year of the show (as the winter sections of the volume 3 finale could still be happening in the first year, we got no clarification) but probably not too long after the volume 3 finale (although long enough for the snow to have melted) given how RNJR are still in Vale at this point, they hadn’t even left the Kingdom let alone the continent

now before we get to Summer, i just wanna point out a few things about the synchronicity of the arcs for each character in volumes 4 and 5:

the events of volume 4  for each character are actually all pretty self-contained to a few weeks (because they don’t make sense if they spanned any longer), they’re just not in sync with each other (though Yang’s and Weiss’s are close), and all appear to end not long before each character’s start in volume 5

Blake starts volume 4 having only just recently gotten on to the ship to Menagerie - it seems to be spring/summer time, given that she’s already dressed for warmer weather (and this arc ends not long before the 'present’ sections of her character short and the beginning of her section in volume 5, which is two months before the start of the Fall Semester at Haven, which further suggests summer time) and her abilities have evidently taken a leap - it’s possible the reason it’s taken so long for her to leave the continent is she’d been traveling to the eastern side of the continent on foot and then got on a ship there, which’d explain the advancement in her abilities and the necessity for the new outfit. Blake’s arc is, however, a few weeks ahead of everyone elses, with things wrapping up in Menagerie two weeks before the events at Haven which the other protags were only a few days away from

Summer

Ruby and JNR’s story starts with 4x01, where they’re helping out another village (so likely summer time, as this arc ends with them getting a lift to Mistral and Qrow recovering, with volume 5 starting not long after that, and that’s a month before the beginning of the Fall Semester)

Yang’s arc also seems to be summer time, again over the space of a few weeks (weeks are noted to have passed), and ends with a skip to her arriving in Anima, which can’t be too long before her appearance in volume 5 (which is a few weeks after 5x01 for Ruby and JNR, as Oscar notes having had the cane for 'a few weeks’ before Yang and Weiss arrive) 

as mentioned Weiss’s arc was more or less parallel to Yang’s, seeming to take place over a few weeks and ending not long before where she was at the beginning of volume 5 (and she can’t have been with the bandits too long before Yang showed up - they were planning on ransoming her and she was planning on breaking out with her summon) 

In 5x01, Haven is noted to not be in session a month prior to the Fall semester starting. The commentary for this volume notes that they are between semesters at this point, not school-years, thus suggesting a month-long gap (at least) between semesters

While a month passes in Ruby’s timeline by the end of this volume, two days before the Fall semester, it still appears to be Summer time, as the leaves haven’t begun to turn (Mistral is in a similar east-west lateral line as Vale and a fairly temperate climate on a mountain, the effects of Autumn should have set in by this time) - this makes sense when you remember that the semesters of the Academy school years more or less line up with each other; so the Fall semester has to line up with Beacon’s second semester, which means the battle for Haven is taking place roughly a year after volume 2′s Best Day Ever

now we move on to our latest volume, volume 6

now despite the snowy setting, only two weeks have passed in-universe, as confirmed in 6x01. the reason for the sudden climate difference is that the heroes are going from the more temperate regions of Mistral to the colder, snowier parts of the continent in the north

this also places most of the events of the volume about a year after the dance arc - just for reference, we’re still a couple months out from Ruby’s 17th birthday at least (i know Lindsay’s said on two occasions that Ruby is now seventeen, but a couple of points against that; the timeline the show gives us doesn’t support it, it’s not direct word of god and both times Lindsay was answering a question quickly, which means it’s not great confirmation as it’s hard to answer accurately when you’re on a time limit or distracted and without reference materials to confirm it)

and it’s actually pretty easy to determine this, because here’s what Patch looked like in volume 3 Fall, prior to Ruby’s birthday

and here’s how Patch looks at the beginning of the Fall semester

these are very clearly not the same time of year

volume 6 itself has a case of the main plot taking place over about 4 days (day 1, everything from the Argus Limited to finding Brunswick farms, episodes 1-5. day 2, escaping Brunswick and arriving in Argus, episodes 6-7. day 3, trying to reason with Cordovin, JNR getting caught up with the plot and Oscar disappearing and getting a new outfit, episodes 8-10. day 4 - which could be a few days later, but not necessary - pretty much the rest of the volume and ending with arriving in Atlas that night) and then other plots going on at different times

- Adam’s slaughter of the remaining White Fang is some point in the two week time skip, as we see him with his new blindfold - it’s hard to see under the hood but you can see it - during the Argus Limited attack, presumably he just waited in Argus for Blake to show up again, as his appearance in 6x07 was a hallucination, as evidenced by his vol 1-3 outfit and mask

- Cinder arrives in Little Miss Malachite’s territory a month after the Battle of Haven, already a few weeks behind the team, and she’s attacked by and forms an alliance with Neo a week later. their progress involves trekking back to Haven and then stealing an airship, so it’s difficult to pinpoint where they are timelinewise right now

- everything with Salem and the other villains happens at some point in between these two events, as by process of elimination, Hazel was ‘the big guy’ asking after RWBY that Little Miss’s bodyguard mentioned having arrived a week prior - as this is pretty much the only way he’d know that Ozpin’s taking the lamp to Atlas

[princeescaluswords]

I wouldn't really say Scott's intelligence is strategic tbh, that's definitely Stiles and Lydia's thing. He's good at coming up with ideas and acting on impulse though (Scott came up with the idea of switching Gerard's pills for cancer after smelling Gerard's disease due to his werewolf powers.) And, unfortunately, there are MANY instances in the show where Scott gets openly mocked or called dumb, the latest of which being Peter referring to him as "below average" in season 6.

You see – here’s where the racism creeps in.  Impulsivity (and hot-headedness) is a Latinx stereotype, but when you actually look at what happened on the show, Scott’s the long term planner.  

You describe Scott’s plan with Gerard’s pills as ‘acting on impulse.’  How was the plan impulsive?   Scott figured out that Gerard had cancer in Abomination (2x04).  Gerard says “It was the night outside the hospital, wasn’t it, when I threatened your mother. I knew I saw something in your eyes. You could just smell it, couldn’t you?”  Scott came up with the plan to replace his pills with mountain ash, but didn’t put it into effect until he had a chance to switch out Gerard’s pillbox in Fury (2x10) and the failsafe plan didn’t trigger until Master Plan (2x12).  How was a plan that took shape over 8 episodes ‘impulsive?’

Or how about the plans to neutralize Theo and Gerard in Apotheosis (5x20).   Gerard, again, says: “And how long have you planning this little double cross?” to which Chris replies “As long as we’ve been planning this one.”   That means that Scott had worked things out with Chris and Deucalion  since Codominance (2x13), which was seven episodes.  

Or how about the fact that Scott uses information he learned from Gerard in Visionary (3x08) that he uses against Deucalion in Lunar Ellipse (3x12).  

And then, it’s Scott who gives Stiles the garuda claws to give to Malia.

How are any of these plans impulsive?   

You know who does impulsive, seat-of-your-pants thinking?  Stiles.   In Frenemy, Stiles comes up with the plan to steal the police van on the spot.  

Scott: Not with my mom there. We need to take him somewhere where we can hold him long enough to figure out what to do with him. Or long enough to convince him he’s dangerous.

Stiles: I still say we just kill him.

Scott: We’re not killing him.

Stiles: God, f - Okay, okay. I got an idea.

Scott: Does it involve breaking the law?

Stiles’ strength is in tactical thinking, not strategic thinking.  He’s the one who reacts quickly. 

Where is evidence of Stiles’ strategic planning?  Which long term plan did he formulate and put into execution?    Where was Lydia’s for that matter?   What plan did she hatch?  

Again – they have different strengths and different intelligences. 

As for people saying bad things about Scott’s intelligence, well, a lot of people (actually, mostly Derek) make fun of Stiles’ intelligence as well.

Derek: You think your little buddy Stiles can just google werewolves, and now you got all the answers, is that it?

or

Malia: Maybe we need to think like Stiles.

Derek: Like a hyperactive spaz?

or

Stiles: Wait a sec. Wait a sec. Maybe they’re living there. You know? Like, maybe the bank vault reminds them of their little wolf dens.

Peter: Wolf dens?

Stiles: Yeah, wolf dens.Where do you live?

Peter: In an underground network of caves hidden deep in the woods.

Stiles: Whoa, really?

Peter: No, you idiot. I have an apartment downtown.

I can go on if you want.

And by the way, Peter’s quote in Radio Silence (6x05) was not just about Scott.

“And if I happen along one of your below average friends and it doesn't inconvenience me, I might mention your name.”

[allimariexf]

Do you think Felicity saying what is best for her is probably is not what's best for them is her wanting space or is there more to it than that? In my mind I thought that was basically her fear talking and afraid Oliver wont love this new version of her and she is just not sure how they move forward. I didn't see it as them separating just kind of like "where do we go from here, how do we fix this" What do u think?

Anon, I’m so glad you asked! I happen to have very strong opinions about this. Short version: I agree with you :)

For three reasons:

1. The logic of the story itself. Some people are interpreting Felicity’s words at the end of the episode to mean that she wants to break up or separate from Oliver, but I firmly believe that when Felicity says “I just don’t know if what’s best for me right now is the same thing as what’s best for us,” she is specifically referring to the fact that she has irrevocably changed and she is afraid that Oliver cannot love the “new” her.” Because:

The entire episode, she was fiercely loving and protective toward Oliver, and showed no sign of pulling away at all until after he says “the old you is the person I fell in love with.” 

Sure, they were awkward and struggling to find their footing with each other, but 

Felicity came to him in the shower

she leaned into him when he zipped her dress

she gave a small speech about him being a hero

she was overwhelmed by the fact that he remembered their anniversary and the vows he spoke at their wedding

she shielded him from the prying of the paparazzi, and Max Fuller, and the team

and she threw around that “my husband” like nobody’s business

When Oliver starts to question her and she stands up for how she’s changed, it’s only then that she withdraws from him. Up until that point, she was certain of his love for her, and with that she can get through anything. 

But he straight up tells her that he fell in love with WHAT SHE SEES AS A VERY DIFFERENT version of her.

(And of course that’s the key, right?? We know, and Oliver knows, that she’s not actually a totally different person now - she’s just exhibiting different facets of the STRONG - not weak - person that she always has been. But in her mind, she’s become someone else entirely, and she is afraid that he cannot love this new version of her.)

And her love for him is her biggest vulnerability (and I think in part this is part of what she was getting at when she said “I love you more than a human being should love another human being” - not that I don’t LOVE that line, for reasons). So in order to protect herself in this situation, she does that very Felicity thing - she withdraws. 

And of course, let’s not forget how clear it is that her love for him is NOT IN QUESTION. In addition to all the little signs throughout the episode, there’s also the fact that:

she says, very clearly, “I want to” begin pushing in the same direction as him again

she absolutely declares “I love you more than a human being should love another human being.” !!!!!!!!!!

2. The overall narrative conflict that we always see on TV, definitely including Arrow. By this I mean the fact that TV is broken into episodes the way that a nuanced sentence is broken up with punctuation. The sentence doesn’t make sense if you stop reading at the first comma. The same is true for TV: we like to speculate and worry over every pause and cliffhanger as if it’s the end, but the truth is there’s a larger story being told here, and I absolutely believe it’s heading in a good direction. For reference, please consider:

the end of 2x23

the end of 3x01

the end of 3x09

the end of 3x12 

3x15

(guess I’m seeing some narrative arc parallels between season 3 and season 7, hmm?)

and then REMEMBER THE END OF SEASON 3

3. Stephen’s (possibly spoilery?) comments in this article: “I learn that a lot of the stuff that Diaz was saying about Felicity is true, and I thought the way that we worked it out - and we do work it out pretty quickly — we come to an understanding that nothing’s ever going to be perfect…or normal about our relationship, and I think that the sooner that the two of them accept that, the sooner that they can move on with their lives.” This comment not only anticipates the angst we’re currently seeing, but it assures me that it will be resolved to my satisfaction, sooner rather than later. Nothing about that quote says break up to me. It just says different, which I interpret to mean better and stronger.

[care-devil]

Do you believe there’s a parallel when Matt said to Maggie that he doesn't think it's possible that someone can change for the better, particularly because of a woman, and then later on Matt changes his outlook and attitude for the better partially because of Karen opening up to him and pleading for him to not kill?

See, that one’s definitely complex. When I first watched this season, I definitely thought it was a parallel. But I think it’s even more complicated than that.

Now, I feel like we have to break this down before commenting on it. Buckle up, it’s gonna take a while haha

So, I think you’re referring to 3x03, and more precisely to these bits:

39'32 

Matt: "Do you believe people can change?" 

 Maggie: "I'm still holding out hope." 

Matt: "I don't think we can. Not really. I think we come into this world who we are. And maybe we get a little nicer. Or a little angrier. But we can't change our fundamental nature." 

Maggie: “Well, you’d actually have to try to know.”

Matt: “I was talking about Wilson Fisk.”

 [...] 

41'07 

Maggie: "And according to you, people can't change." 

Matt: "'Cause he's claiming to have changed over a woman." 

Maggie: "I see. Well, if there's anything that can redeem a lost soul, love would have to top the list." 

Matt: "Oh, come on. Even a monster like Fisk?" 

Maggie: "You're talking to a nun, kiddo. Love and redemption are pretty much our sales pitch." 

Matt: "Yeah. Well, I'm not buying."

Here, Matt just came back from his little trip to Fisk’s hotel. And what is really, really interesting, is that right before this scene, we got to see Karen arguing with Ellison about whether or not she should be the one to write something about Fisk getting out of jail. 

“What I give a shit about, is Fisk getting out of prison. We have to do something, I have to do something about this. So don’t tell me to back off, because I won’t.” (Karen, 38′36).

Why is that interesting? Because in the very same episode, in the very scene you mentioned, Matt says he finds it odd that he should regain his hearing just in time to hear that Fisk got out of prison. So that’s a definitely a parallel. And I would go as far as to say that the whole episode is paralleling Matt and Karen. 

1) Karen and Matt: toward the same goal

Here, Karen is hellbent on writing about Fisk because a) she thinks it’s the right thing to do and b) I think she wants to do this for Matt. She might think he’s still alive, she doesn’t know it for sure, and there must be this little voice in her that tells her he’s not coming back, and that the least she can do is carrying out his legacy and corner Fisk. They’re connected. And it’s not a coincidence if the writers decided to have these two scenes follow each other.

Another parallel is, of course, when Matt’s incognito and passes by Karen in front of Fisk’s hotel:

“You’ll never keep Karen safe.”

She can feel his presence, just like he literally felt hers. I know we’ve already talked about this scene, but I think it’s so important. Fisk is Matt’s conscience, he crystallizes Matt’s inner demons, his deepest fears. One of them is losing Karen, or worse: not being able to save her. Get her killed, somehow. He is the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. He’s got the devil in him. He who’s doubting his purpose, his faith. He’s afraid of tainting her soul, and lose her to another real-life demon, namely Fisk.

This might seem off-topic, but I think it’s important to pay attention to the context (the context being the whole episode), especially because the episode’s title is “No Good Deed.” Now, this might be the English major in me, but “no good deed” can be read a standalone phrase OR as a phrase which needs other words to form a sentence. It’s like something’s missing. Which makes sense, because it’s reminiscent of the well-known phrase “No good deed goes unpunished.” And this echoes such concepts as karma, or redemption. If you think people can’t change... then you don’t believe in redemption. And knowing that Matt’s going though a faith crisis, this is a logical interpretation.

2) Redemption

Redemption is one of the key themes of season 3. Matt’s fighting his demons, but so is Karen, who’s haunted by her past. So is Maggie, so is Father Lantom, so is Dex... Everyone has a past. “The past is never dead. It’s not even past,” William Faulkner said. Well, here, it shows. For all these characters, past = sins, and the only thing that differentiates them is how they choose to deal with that. They ALL embrace their sins and accept the fact that they are sinners who can’t be redeemed (which is part of the Catholic doctrine, all humans are born sinners). But when some think doing more harm won’t change anything (Dex), others try to do some good (Karen, Maggie, Father Lantom) and Matt is trapped between these two options, as he plans to cross the line and kill Fisk but still has morally good intentions. All but the villains are looking for redemption, which is, I think, a way to tell the bad guys from the good guys (even though the lines are very blurry in Daredevil, which is why it’s such a great show). 

But what is redemption, exactly? Well, first know I’m treading carefully here because I’m not a believer and I’ve never been to Sunday school or anything, all I know is from what I’ve read online and in books. But basically, all humans are born sinners because of Adam’s sin, and have to be reborn to have access to God’s kingdom: 

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

Knowing this season was heavily inspired by the Born Again arc by Frank Miller, I think that redemption is definitely one of the season’s key motifs. And for most of the season, Matt doesn’t believe he’s worthy of being saved, and neither does Karen, who says “there’s no atoning for what [she] did” (3x11).

So, in 3x03, Matt basically states he thinks nothing can redeem Fisk and, by extension, nothing can redeem him. He makes clear to Maggie he’s talking about Fisk, because she thought he was talking about him... And I think he is, even though he denies it. Take a look at the way the scene was shot:

The focus is clearly on Matt, and even when she’s speaking, Maggie remains blurry in the background. This creates a sense of intimacy, the viewer’s in Matt’s mind. The focus is on Matt’s words, Matt’s face, Matt’s inner stuggle. It wouldn’t be the first time Matt and Fisk are paralleled.

In the second bit, Matt says that one of the reasons why he thinks Fisk can’t change is because the origin of that change sounds ridiculous to him:

"'Cause he's claiming to have changed over a woman."  - Matt

Notice the smirk. Matt doesn’t buy it. It’s already hard enough to believe that such a monster would be capable of love, so changing because of the woman he loves? 

3) The power of love

Love is not powerful enough to change who you are. Love will make you happier, or angrier, but it won’t change you fundamental nature.

See how it works when you include love in that quote?

In my opinion, Matt thinks that way because he considers his own experience. His love life has been a disaster. 

Karen couldn’t change who he was. He told her, in The Defenders, that he didn’t want to change (after lying to her about it): 

Karen: "God. I don’t understand. After everything you’ve worked for? You were finally rebuilding your life."

Matt: "Karen this is my life. I have to go.” (1x07)

With El*ktra, he didn’t have to change who he was, and this is partly why it felt so good to be around her. But if you look at their relationship through the prism of change... She couldn’t change him either. She couldn’t get him to kill Sweeney, for instance. She even tells him she’s glad she couldn’t in 2x08: “There’s a light inside you. I tried to snuff it out in college. I’m so lucky I failed.” So, you see, it goes both ways. And Matt couldn’t get El*ktra to change, despite all his efforts. The one thing that never changed in her is her love for him. But they almost fought until the bitter end. The only thing they could agree on was that they loved each other (and even though I don’t ship them, I can’t deny there’s something truly beautiful and tragic in their relationship, and their last moments together killed me). However... love wasn’t enough to make her change, and it wasn’t enough to make him change. Which why he can’t believe Fisk changed for Vanessa. Which is why he believes love is not THAT powerful.

4) People can’t change... but they can be forgiven.

So maybe Matt is right. Maybe people can’t change their fundamental nature. But one of the teachings of season 3 is that our mistakes don’t have to define us:  “Yeah. You’re right. His mistakes don’t need to define him. Neither do yours.” (Matt to Karen, 3x12). 

That’s a huge change in Matt’s philosophy. I can’t even begin to imagine all the effort it took him to say that. Because he’s made a lot of mistakes. And for him to say that... It must mean that, somehow, he believes this could apply to him as well. 

To conclude, I would say that people can’t change, but they can be redeemed. If not by God, then by people. And that is called forgiveness. 

Here’s the other bit you referred to, from 3x13:

Karen: “That was nice, what you said.”

Matt: “Yeah, it wasn’t just him, you know. It was you, too. You helped me see the truth about myself.”

Karen: “Ouch.That had to hurt.“

Matt: “Well, maybe one of these days, I’ll forgive you, too.”

Karen: “Before my funeral, I hope.”

Matt: “I’m glad you told me, Karen. About Wesley and your brother.”

Karen: “Yeah. Well, uh I couldn’t live with that lie forever.”

Matt: “We’re all just trying to do more good than harm. And I’d say you’re ahead on that score.”

Matt saying that she helped him see the truth about himself echoes this blessed scene from the eulogy:

“For me, personally, he spent many years trying to get me to face my own fears. To understand how they enslaved me, how they divided me from the people that I love. He counseled me to transcend my fears, to be brave enough to forgive... and see the possibilities of being a man without fear.” (Matt, 3x13)

Catholicism is about sins... but it’s also about forgiveness. It’s about darkness, but it’s also about light. So I think that, indeed, seeing that Karen, whom he always put on a pedestal, is also guilty, has even done the thing he swore he’d never do... Must have changed his mind. More than that, I think it has changed him. She shook his beliefs. And, after all, it’s her own love for justice, truth, and people in general, that redeem her. Karen has never been bad at core. She’s made mistakes. Terrible, painful mistakes. Mistakes that cost people their lives. But still, mistakes. Sins have become mistakes, in a way. And mistakes can be forgiven.

In a nutshell, I think that, indeed, this is a parallel. Karen has an impact on Matt, just like Matt has an impact on her. I truly think they make each other better persons. Which is why I love them so much: they are so alike, and yet, have such a hard time understanding each other. 

Thank you soooo much for this question, anon. I hope I answered it! :) 

[whateverisbeautiful]

Richonne in Retrospect

#8: The Save (3x12)

As y’all know, on top of saving Rick mentally and emotionally, Michonne has physically saved Rick’s life a whole lot. And one of the earliest moments of her doing this is in this episode here.

But first, we get another great Grimes 2.0 shot when they enter the town. There’s a lot of great shots of these three in this episode. Like, y’all, look at this family that doesn’t know they’re a family yet. 😋

(Side note: My extra self when I saw the wall that said “No Guilt. You know that.” I was like, Rick needs to read that wall so he knows he doesn’t have to feel guilty about Michonne stealing his heart 😂)

So when they enter this town they see that someone has been busy making the street one big trap. And then we find out that, that someone was Morgan. 

I like that when Rick realizes Morgan is alive, Michonne asks “Do we care?” cuz she’s already considering them a “we”, and knowing how emotionally in sync R&M will become, asking “do we care” is pretty accurate of how they’ll soon operate.

And then they’re together outside of Morgan’s place and she repeats Rick’s words about getting in and getting out. She again says “we” cuz they a team, y’all. Also they just really look like a couple in this scene. 

It’s also sweet that once Rick tells her Morgan saved his life she stops pushing about why they’re staying and says an understanding “okay” and gives him a chance to make the call.

Also, when Rick mentions Morgan had a son you can see that this also resonates with Michonne for obvious reasons. 

There’s sort of a son theme throughout this episode with Rick trying to navigate parenting his son as a single dad, Morgan dealing with the depression of losing his son, and Michonne, who lost a son, building a bond with her future son. 😊

I love that there’s such strong family vibes in these “Clear” story lines because it just further sends a message that Michonne is going to become Rick and Carl’s family. 

So then that save I was talking about happens when Michonne tells Rick, “Don’t” before he walks in Morgan’s house as she reminds him of his own words about booby traps. And, sure enough, Morgan does have some trap under the welcome mat. 

It’s sweet that Rick responds with a thank you. He really wants this dynamic and relationship to work. Like this moment lets you know that them building a friendship is pretty much inevitable.

It’s a nice moment too cuz it’s her looking out for him and also showing that she took his words to heart and it’s him acknowledging that she looked out for him.

Rick also looks out for Michonne when he tells her not to trip on a wire as they walk up the steps and watching it back I was just like look at both of these cuties protecting their future spouse. 😋

One thing I realized as I re-watched this episode is that this episode deals a lot with who you do and don’t let in. There’s the backpack guy, Morgan letting Rick in at the beginning of the series and Rick trying to let him in now, Carl letting Michonne in and vice versa, and finally Rick and Michonne taking some major strides into one day letting each other in. 

It’s also about who you save.  And while Michonne and Rick both did things to literally help save the other, this episode also really lays the groundwork of how they will save each other even more than they could have expected.

I love Michonne’s line about how Morgan’s had a good day since they didn’t kill him. 😂 She’s low key like...

Lol I’m here for it cuz it’s really true, in this world if someone doesn’t kill you when you’ve shot at them, you’ve had a pretty great day.

And it’s sweet that even in this dispute over waiting or leaving, R&M still refer to each other as “us” and “we”. 

And I appreciate that in their little debate Rick asks, “You think he’s crazy?” cuz even in their “disputes” it’s more like equals in an open conversation. And I love that she has the sound response of “No, I think he’s dangerous”. She ain’t wrong. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Then, when Rick says he knows him, Michonne reminds him of his own words again and says, “He wasn’t like this then”. I love that she repeats his words back and it’s the perfect response. It also lets you know she really does listen to what he says and you can tell that stands out to Rick too. 

Like hearing her say that makes him take note of one; the good point she’s made and two; how much she pays attention to what he says. He still decides that they’re gonna wait tho, but notice he says it less demanding cuz again, he knows not to command or demand with Michonne.

And then I completely adore this moment where Rick and Carl are having this attempt at a father son moment, with Rick realizing why Carl might have wanted to return to their hometown, and then you hear Homegirl chewing lol. 

And of course Rick has to comment on this because he notices her every move. Like let her live, Rick. 😂 But I’m glad that he comments on it because it just further reveals how much she’s always on his radar.

It’s cute that, despite being in the middle of this father son moment, Rick feels the need to take time out to ask, “We’re eating his food now?”. Again with the “we”. They a unit already, y’all.

It’s funny how in retrospect it’s so clear that Rick would make these little remarks to combat the attraction he felt but low key it just further exposed the attraction. 

And I love Michonne’s amazing response of “The mat said welcome”. 😂😂 That line is seriously gold and, for me, it’s one of the most memorable lines of the show. 

Like Rick low key wanted to try her but Homegirl had time and was like...

I appreciate her being #unbothered lol. And this lets everybody know, Michonne has a response ready for any occasion. Here for it. 👏🏽 (and there’s an added element of humor to this line, considering the “welcome” mat had a booby trap underneath it)

In retrospect, this moment becomes even cuter because you know that R&M are eventually going to develop this really sweet playful aspect in their relationship. 

I also love how unintimidated Michonne is in general because it could be easy to feel pressure to be a certain way while on a run with the leader of the prison and his son but she’s just being real and the cool calm collected person she is.

I feel like you can tell that there’s a certain comfort Rick, Michonne and Carl have with each other that feels strange to them since they’re supposed to be “strangers” and suspicious of each other at this point, and yet their dynamic just works and feels right and natural.

As much as they tried to fight it or downplay it in the beginning, there’s no denying that they truly are meant to be family. 😊👌🏽

[kiss-my-freckle]

Anti-Tom Keen, through and through.

lmfao! This is like the second time I’ve seen someone speak to there being no proof the second memory wipe even happened. Krilov’s immunity deal literally depended on it. That would be like Dr. Koehler wanting an immunity deal and expecting to get it without his flash drive showing proof. “Criminals are notorious liars.” His ass would’ve remained incarcerated otherwise, and last time Cooper spoke of Krilov, he was dishing out information. 

Cooper: And Dr. Krilov’s in custody negotiating an immunity deal in exchange for information about his patients. The truth will come out, and you won’t be charged. In the meantime, you’re off active duty, which is exactly what Kaplan intended. Picking off another Reddington loyalist. Ressler: I’m loyal to the task force. Cooper: I know, which is why this terrible situation may have a silver lining. Ressler: Gale.

We get our first silver lining - while speaking of Ressler’s memory wipe. Gee, I wonder why ... lol. It’s about terrible situations (dark clouds) and silver linings. It’s also about the truth coming out. “The truth will out. It always does.”

Ressler: State Police are out there combing the woods. Wherever she is - we’re gonna find her. At least we got these two, right? Silver linings. Liz: Hey, if there’s anything good that happened today, it’s that we secured a witness who’s gonna testify against the man who killed Tom. Ressler: Like I said. Silver linings. 

We get two more in S5 during Keenler’s Capricorn Killer moment. And the soundtrack is 100% Keenler. Destined - of the gods. Cupid and his arrows. 

Ressler: We’re gonna find her.

Tom: I’m gonna find her.

That section of silver linings bounces back to S4. They’re making a point. We get another with Red during S6, when Dembe set up a meet with Rudiger. 

Red: A silver lining at the end of a grimly overcast day. 

A silver lining at the end. It’s not the end. Speaking of overcasts.

Tom: And if I have a quest, it’s to shine a light on the darkness you create to help Liz find her way out of the enormous shadow you cast.

More “silver linings” in The Brockton College Killer. Again with the truth.

Ressler: We’ve seen your confession. You admitted to killing those women. Tobias: I would’ve said anything to end that interrogation, and so I did. I hate that anyone more is being hurt, but maybe the silver lining is the truth will finally come out. Ressler: The truth? 

And another one with the truth, as well as being open. 

Kimberly: I always wished I could’ve opened up to you about this. Maybe that’s the silver lining.

Tom: I’m an open book compared to you. I know you swear you never lie to her, but I know better.

Here’s what I know. 

I know the writers can do whatever the fuck they want with their characters.

I know that Liz and Tom were in an on again-off again relationship. 

Liz: Do you know we had sex the other night? Do you have any idea how filthy that makes me feel?

Only a low self-esteem would sleep with a man who made her feel filthy. 

Red: But I want you to remember what your life really was with him, and imagine all that it could be without him. Liz: I don’t have to imagine.

Liz didn’t have to imagine. She was over him. Not so much as a mention while having a romantic dinner with Ressler - her eyes and lips flirting endlessly. 

Liz: That what, we’ll just work through this screwed-up situation we’re in and go back to playing house?

Further proof that she was over Tom. Coincidence that his “dream scenario” came true? I think not. I think he made it come true with the help of Dr. Krilov. 

Red: So you’re playing house.

Liz literally taking Red’s words to heart, stated earlier in the season. The very fucking definition of “playing house” since it came out Liz’s own mouth.  

"A traditional children's game. It's a form of make believe where players take on the roles of a nuclear family. Common roles include parents, children, a newborn, and pets.”

So not only do we get a “dream scenario" - we get all things “make believe.”

Proof that Liz was seeing someone else shown in Red’s dialogue. This goes back to conversations in S3, and there are three of them. 

The “assumption” came in 3x12 -

Red: I assume Tom is the father. Liz: I haven’t told him.

If Red “assumes” Tom is the father, then he assumes Tom is the father. Liz supports this idea, giving Red no reason to question unless he already knows. 

Two episodes later, in 3x14 -

Liz: You and Tom agree on something. Red: He wants you to keep the baby? Liz: Oh, yeah.

If Red “assumes” Tom is the father, this leaves two scenarios. Take your pick.  

1- Red doesn’t believe Tom would want to be a father at this stage in his life. 

2 - Red already knows Tom isn’t the father of Agnes.

Take scenario 2 to the end of Rizal’s episode. 

Cooper: If this case taught us anything, it’s that it doesn’t. Family isn’t about bloodlines. It’s about commitment and love and a whole lot of faith. The parents of Rizal’s children - no one would blame them for walking away from those kids. But I’m guessing that learning biology isn’t what’s keeping them together is a powerful reminder of all the other things that do.

What’s powerful enough to keep the Keen2 family together? A memory wipe. 

Four episodes later, in 3x16 -

Liz: We’ve decided to keep the baby. Red: We?

If Red “assumes” Tom is the father, this leaves two scenarios. Take your pick. 

1 - Liz is in a relationship with someone other than Tom, and they decided to keep the baby.

2 - Red already knows someone else is the father of Agnes. 

Again, back to Rizal’s end scenes. 

Liz: I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently, and uh - I don’t think I know what “family” even means. [ insert Agnes’ unicorn foreshadow here ] Before “we” had Agnes, I thought Tom and I were gonna adopt, that family had nothing to do with biology.

Again, one of two scenarios. 

1 - Liz was in a relationship with someone other than Tom, and they decided to keep the baby.

2 - Red already knows someone else is the father of Agnes.

Either Tom won’t be the father of Agnes, or Red won’t be related to Liz. She either adopted a parent/grandparent or she adopted Agnes’ father. 

Tom and Liz parallell Elise and Aram. In-show evidence to prove it.  Keenler parallels Saram. In-show evidence to prove it. 

Tom was the only person in-show at the time of her second memory wipe that would be willing to rape her mind. Actions provided by the character himself. Shown to have no problem getting off on Liz’s humiliation, shown through their 1x18 sex scene. Shown to have no problem physically assaulting Liz. Shown at least three times. That’s in addition to the trauma she suffered, having a man who lied to her their entire relationship. 

Aram referred to it as “soul - crushing” -

Aram: What happened with Elise was kind of soul crushing. To find out that the person that you love ...

Which gave Red reason to buy Liz the apartment in S2 -

Red: That motor lodge you call home crushes the spirit, smothers the soul.

S6 made some serious headway. Agnes is in prime position. When that second memory wipe strikes down, it’s gonna be pure fucking gold. 

[andthebubbles]

Rewatched Merlin 4x12 and 13

This show is faaaaaaaaaaaar from perfect but at least it’s never boring (unlike AHEMthecrown)

Those eps were really good

- As usual this show exists on people not telling each other the full story!!! Okay I also mostly watched 4x07 and ohhhh IF MERLIN HAD TOLD GWAINE THAT HE FOUND THAT DIRT ON AGRAVAINE’S BOOTS MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

- Always satisfying to see Agravaine die

- IF I WAS ARTHUR I’D BE SO MAD when finding out about Merlin’s magic--and he was kinda pretty mad in 5x13 wasn’t he. I mean it’s really another betrayal and being played for a fool (WELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL)

And if he’d ever found out about the made up stuff about Excalibur lmao and how it was Merlin who magicked the sword out of the stone and sold Arthur a bullshit story to... essentially manipulate him (if we’re to put it in the bluntest, harshest terms, which you probably would if you were angry)--if I were Arthur I would definitely think Merlin was laughing at me the whole time

- I soooo wish Merlin had been outed (haha) earlier, but at the same time I sorta think it would’ve derailed whatever arc they were planning for that series but HONESTLY they really should’ve dedicated a whole series arc to the magic reveal! like DUDE

I’m also once again disappointed at how we were repeatedly promised ~the time of Albion and Arthur bringing back magic and what did we get? He died. The first time I watched this show, it was as it was airing, so I was all happily hopeful and whatnot, and then s5 trashed us. At least now I know what to expect. But ugh why did they push it so hard with no pay-off 

- I feel like there’s a fair chance Gwen would’ve figured out it was Merlin who blew back Morgana. I mean, he did appear behind her afterwards, but he wasn’t right behind her when it happened--nor did she CHECK--honestly, destiny is conspiring against everyone to not let them figure out that Merlin is a bloody awesome warlock

- I still believe that Gwaine miiiight know about Merlin’s magic (referring to 3x12, which I didn’t rewatch all of it)

- Sometimes I think I might ship Merwaine more than Merthur :3

[nellie-elizabeth]

Outlander: The Bakra (3x12)

I've rarely been more split on my opinion about an episode of this show before. The stuff I loved, I loved, and I think it will be easy enough to guess what that stuff is. But then there are several things I found really aggravating and really did not enjoy. As always, let's start with those -

Cons:

Man, I was so excited for Geillis' return, but now that she's back, I really didn't like her in this episode. I know it's part of the book as well, but for some reason watching this woman in her forties sexually assaulting a teenage boy was even more disturbing to me this time around. And they made her unnecessarily sinister, what with the pool of blood and all of that. The thing that works about Geillis in the first book/season is that she's creepy but you're never entirely sure of her motivations, or how far exactly she'll go. She's kept in the shadows and hard to read. Here, all subtlety has gone out the window.

Then you've got Margaret Campbell and her brother, who are working with Geillis in order to figure out a prophecy that will tell Geillis when a Scottish King will sit on the throne. Again, I know we're pulling from the source material here, but come on. This is some campy shit. And Geillis does that exposition thing where she explains the plan to Margaret's brother even though he obviously already would have known it... the whole thing culminates in Margaret telling Lord John his fortune at the party, while holding the three sapphires that were handed down for generations, yadda yadda, and it felt like something out of a farce.

Even the scene where Geillis and Claire reunite felt forced and strange. I liked it back in Season One when you knew Geillis was fishy, but you could almost believe her affection for Claire was genuine. There's none of that subtleness on display here.

Pros:

But then on the other hand, this episode had some of the greatest Lord John moments ever, and I am so in love with that character. As much as I hated the stuff with Geillis and the Campbells, I loved the stuff with Lord John. Like. Oh my God. I feel like I want to break down and dissect every moment, but I'll try and spare you. John is so flustered and happy to see Jamie again. There's the way he refers to him as "Jamie," and Jamie calls him "John," a familiarity that warms my heart. And there's this moment when Jamie, John, and Claire go into John's office to speak in private and John makes this stuttering little step towards Jamie like he wants to embrace him, and you get the weird feeling that it's only Claire that stops him from doing so. Oh, and John keeps the sapphire that Jamie gave him, and wears it to "remember their friendship." Okay just kill me now.

After John leaves the room, Claire looks at Jamie, almost demanding an explanation. You can see it in her face: "dude, that man is super in love with you." I love the fact that Jamie doesn't offer that explanation. We know that Jamie told Claire all about John offscreen somewhere, but he clearly didn't mention that the man loved him, and there's this part of the friendship between Jamie and John that Claire isn't a part of. Claire and John next have a conversation. John is excessively polite, and he does seem pleased and astonished that Claire is alright. It's not that he wishes her dead, or anything. But there's this edge to him, seeing Jamie happy and in love, and Claire has an edge to her right back, as John remarks that she's returned to Jamie just as he hoped, and Claire simply responds: "yes, I have," with quite the tone of warning and superiority.

Okay, just one more paragraph on John and then I'll stop: there's a brief scene where Claire comes back into the party with Geillis, and she walks up to Jamie, who is sitting at a table with John. The two are clearly talking, catching up, and they both have the biggest smiles on their faces. I think what works about Lord John as a character isn't merely the fact that he's a nice and good man who has feelings for Jamie, but that he and Jamie actually do get along really well. They're good friends, and both genuinely enjoy the company of the other, on an intellectual as well as affectionate level. Even with all the social mores of the time, Jamie genuinely has gotten to a place where he doesn't resent or find disgusting John's love for him. He's able to smile away the fact that John keeps a token of him on his person at all times, even if he might fight it a tad uncomfortable. John's affection for Jamie isn't actually one-sided, even if Jamie doesn't feel for John in quite the same way.

Other stuff about this episode that I should really mention - Willoughby had the only good scene with Margaret Campbell, where he told her that she deserved much more than what her controlling brother was giving her. It was a sweet little moment of romance, to see these two people who are both outsiders for one reason or another, find some comfort in each other.

Jamie and Claire end up buying a slave in this episode, after Claire causes a scene at a slave auction in horror at what she's seeing. Not a ton comes of this, as of course Claire and Jamie free him immediately. They offer to take him with them to go somewhere a little safer for a freed black man, but the man takes his first opportunity to escape, which I quite liked. He's grateful to Jamie and Claire for setting him free, but he doesn't fall down on his knees and kiss their boots or anything. And Jamie and Claire actually ask him for his help in finding Young Ian, not as an order or as a condition for his freedom, but as a favor that he does help with. In fact, without this young man, Jamie and Claire would not have figured out that Geillis has something to do with Young Ian's whereabouts.

Fergus and Marsali are being adorable newlyweds, and I'm glad that they're still getting some screen time. Without spoiling anything about future books, let's just say I've always felt that Fergus' plot threads get downplayed at the expense of other things, and I'm always eager to keep him more center-stage when possible. I hope that the show can shed a light on Fergus moving forward, and give him a real chance to shine.

The episode ends with Jamie being arrested by the captain of the Artemis, as this young man had promised to do a few episodes back. Next week is the finale, and while I feel like we've gotten most of the pieces in place, I'm still anxious about the pacing... how on earth are they going to keep doing these behemoth books in thirteen episode chunks? Still, this has been a good season, and I'm excited to see how they wrap it all up.

7/10

[potcpoi]

Hello! Just read your re watch post. Could you say more about "the moment when Finch admits defeat and lets Root out, and TM starts ringing the phone immediately as soon as Root is out"? I really want to hear your opinion about Harold, Root, and TM's dynamic and how it changed the other ep. (Also, there's another moment when Harold refused to answer TM's calls right?)(Also, if I remembered it right it's the same episode Root referred John as Finch's the greatest creation right? I was like OmG)

Hiya! *waves confidently like I’m not super late in replying to this amazing ask*

Oh my god I have so many thoughts about Root and Harold’s journey (like in general, but also definitely during s3 of the show when they went from enemies to allies). Their entire arc in s3 was absolute genius because you can see the gradual shift happening over the earlier half of the season even before the big event of Root Path. 

We can already hear a difference in tone when Harold shares with Root his dreams about seeing every line of code he ever wrote for TM as compared to earlier in s2 when they had a pure enemies dynamic. We see a marked difference yet again in his body language when he snaps at Root at the end of Mors (”And how can you be so certain, Miss. Groves, that The Machine does not wish you to be precisely where you are?”) as compared to when he talks to her at the end of TDS (”You came back?”). Compare Harold’s panic when Root escaped the psychiatric facility in Lady Killer (3x03) to his terse “find them, Mr. Reese” when she kidnapped Shaw in Mors (3x06) to his reaction when she called him at the end of Aletheia (3x12). He’s not worried about her being out and free during the last instance. He accepts that she is going to work for TM to solve the problem of the Samaritan drives and doesn’t insist that she be brought back to The Library immediately. 

If Root Path is the major turning point in their relationship, then here’s what I think is the minor one – Root coming back to the Faraday’s Cage of her own volition at the end of TDS when she could’ve just disappeared into thin air. Harold was forced to let her out purely because he needed to find John and clearly wasn’t comfortable with the idea whatsoever (”I know this is our only option Miss. Shaw, I just want to make sure we’re prepared for what may happen”). He never expected to see her in The Library again, and the fact that she chose to come back and outright stated that she did so because she wanted the chance to fight alongside Harold went a long way towards reassuring him. 

I think that while Root Path is when Harold accepted that he himself could work with Root if need be, TDS/Lethe/Aletheia is when he accepted that Root could work with TM. It was when he shifted his focus from worrying about what may happen if Root and TM worked together, to what would happen if they didn’t with the new looming threat of SAM on the horizon. 

(Hmmm I think Harold refused to pick up the payphone in Lethe because he got Arthur’s number via Root (HT @isagrimorie for reminding me which ep). And The Crossing was when Root referred to John as Harold’s creation. I totally went “omg!” at that too!)