#whereas max absolutely goes out of her way to push people away when they get too close bc she's worried they'll leave first

[rotisseries]

max mayfield and mike wheeler same person but the difference is an avoidant attachment style vs an anxious one

[evilmortys]

Have you ever talked about/drawn/ have head among about c-136’s rick? His relationship w/ his family and morty? Is her better than other ricks or worse? Etc!

i’ve  never  talked  about  rick  c-136  much  extensively  come  to  think  of  it!  so  i  hope  you  don’t  mind  if  i  use  this  ask  as  an  opportunity  to  ramble  about  him  and  their  dynamic  and  their  dimension  in  general  a  little.  it’s  quite  divergent  from  what’s  typical  for  a  rick  and  morty  dynamic  in  places,  i  think.

first  off  i  wanna  lead  with:  morty  c-136  is  sixteen!  so  his  summer  is  of  course  older  too,  and  is  now  living  away  from  home  and  attending  college.  he  misses  her  a  lot,  but  they  still  call  a  few  times  a  week  and  bitch  about  their  parents  and  what’s  going  on  in  their  lives  and  bully  each  other  a  lot.  she  comes  home  sometimes,  usually  for  holidays  such  as  thanksgiving  or  whatever.  they’re  overly  sappy  for  a  minute  max  upon  reuniting,  then  she’s  kicking  him  in  the  balls  and  he’s  calling  her  a  dumb  bitch.

his  mom  and  dad  are  divorced,  and  have  been  since  he  was  ten,  so  jerry  is  not  really  in  the  picture.  rick  is  very  relieved  about  this  and  hates  jerry  about  as  much  as  is  typical  for  bastard  grandpas.  morty  was  sad  about  their  messy  break  up,  but  very  quickly  came  to  understand  it  was  for  the  best.  there’s  a  security  system  rick  set  up  to  kick  jerry  to  the  curb  if  he  ever  comes  around,  much  to  morty’s  aggravation,  but  it’s  not  put  to  much  use  anyway.  (usually  he  walks  over  to  his  dad’s  sad  studio  apartment  of  his  own  volition  for  custody  weekend  instead  of  being  picked  up,  because  his  dad  sleeps  until  late  noon,  so.  not  exactly  a  dependable  ride.  if  he  goes  himself  he  can  shake  jerry  awake  at  a  reasonable  hour  and ...  try  to  shake  some  sense  into  him  too.  so  he  doesn’t  come  to  the  house  much.)

c-136′s rick has a complex relationship with his beth.  she’s  still  very  much  wrapped  up  in  his  opinion  of  her  and  works  to  please,  impress  and  ultimately  attain  his  attention  whenever  she  can.  an  easy  way  to  do  this  is  back  rick  up  when  morty  backtalks  him.  if  morty  angrily  says  “shut  the  fuck  up,  rick”  within  earshot  of  his  mother,  she’s  very  quick  to  fly  to  her  father’s  defence  as  apposed  to  her  son’s-  “morty,  don’t  speak  to  my  dad  like  that!”  rick  plays  off  this,  recognizing  an  opportunity  to  make  beth  feel  like  it’s  them  versus  morty,  and  says  “thank  you,  sweetie.”  the  two  then  delve  into  conversation  about  how  morty  is  “out  of  hand”  as  if  he’s  not  even  there,  which  understandably  infuriates  him  further.  

it  hurts  him  a  lot  that  his  mom  is  so  desperate  to  feel  like  her  and  her  dad  get  along,  and  for  him  to  acknowledge  her  existence,  that  she’ll  invalidate  his  feelings  and  bitch  about  his  behavior  with  rick  to  get  it.  he  very  much  feels  like  his  mom  values  having  a  positive  relationship  with  her  dad  over  him  as  a  result.  morty  continues  to  love  and  care  about  her  even  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  it  feels  largely  nonreciprocal  at  the  best  of  times,  but  can  come  across  quite  cold,  dismissive  and  clearly  subconsciously  angry  with  beth  when  talking  about  her  at  times  as  a  result.  don’t  get  me  wrong,  they  go  see  the  occasional  movie  together  and  morty  helps  her  out  preparing  dinner  very  often.  he  cares  deeply  about  his  mom  and  he  loves  her,  of  course  he  does,  but  he's  also  felt  incredibly  estranged  from  her  for  most  of  his  life.  if  nothing  else,  they  can  always  at  least  bond  over  an  eyeroll  at  one  of  his  dad's  latest  fuck  ups  or  stupid  statuses  on  facebook.  there’s  some  stuff  about  his  childhood  i  could  tack  in  here  that’s  relevant,  but  i’m  very  conscious  of  how  long  this  is  and  i  haven’t  even  talked  about  rick  and  morty’s  dynamic  yet ...  adjaskjdfaksf  sorry!

her  alcoholism  worries  morty  whereas  rick  seems  a  little  indifferent  to  it,  or  considers  it  not  a  big  deal.  likely  because  he  knows  it  invites  accusations  of  hypocrisy  if  he  calls  out  her  self  destruction  via  these  vices.  

in  the  past,  morty’s  tried  talking  with  her,  watering  down  and  pouring  out  her  alcohol  stashes,  and  even  pleaded  for  rick  try  and  make  her  see  reason-  to  no  avail.  (his  grandpa  ended  up  cracking  a  joke  about  what  a  fucking  buzzkill  morty  is,  they  laughed  it  off  together,  and  they  both  went  out  for,  you  guessed  it,  a  fucking  drink,  or  more  likely  ten  of  them,  directly  after  the  fact.)

right  now,  beth  c-136  has  been  seeing  a  bartender  for  eleven  months.  rick  seems  to  idly  approve  of  him-  at  the  very  least,  doesn’t  hate  him  like  he  did  jerry,  which  delights  beth.  her  father  deeming  anything  in  her  life  a  good  choice  means  everything  to  her  because  she  fights  so  hard  to  impress  him  while  also  trying  not  to  look  overtly  clingy  and  needy,  because  that  seems  to  repel  him.  also,  he’s  her  genius  father  who  doesn’t  like  anyone,  so  how  the  hell  can  his  judgement  be  wrong,  right?  him  approving  of  this  guy  has  locked  him  into  her  life  for  the  forseeable  future.  again,  this  pisses  morty  off,  because  this  bartender  guy  encourages  his  mom’s  worst  vice  of  daydrinking  with  his  job  and  lifestyle.  he  makes  her  happy,  but  he’s  the  fucking  worst,  and  it  makes  morty  want  to  tear  his  hair  out.  him  and  summer  frequently  snipe  about  the  guy  in  private.  sharing  distaste  for  their  parents’  prospective  partners  is  very  valid  bonding  they  think.

c-136  rick  and  morty's  relationship  is  emotionally  flexible  at  the  best  of  times.  some  days,  so  very  rarely,  they  get  along  just  great.

to  name  one  wholesome  headcanon  before  we  Get  Into  It.  occasionally,  rick  will  pretend  to  know  absolutely  jack  shit  about  one  of  the  plants  in  morty’s  greenhouse  just  to  let  him  go  off  about  it  and  suddenly  seem  excitably  sure  of  himself  for  about  twenty  minutes  of  nonstop  infodumping.  95%  of  the  time  he  knows  absolutely  everything  about  the  plant  he’s  asking  about,  actually,  and  on  some  level  morty  is  absolutely  aware  of  it.  the  smartest  man  in  the  universe  apparently  doesn’t  know  what  a  flaxtius  olcum  is?  right.  but ...  he  still  appreciates  the  gesture  a  lot,  and  it  cheers  him  up  after  a  shitshow  adventure.

it's  not  too  clear  what  allows  these  occasions  of  treating  one  another  with  basic  respect  and  almost  fondness  to  arise-  maybe  his  grandfather's  in  an  uncommonly  gracious  mood,  maybe  they're  playing  minecraft  or  bashing  animal  crossing  together,  maybe  they're  snickering  and  exchanging  incredulous  glances  during  some  cartoonishly  evil  alien's  monologue  of  a  plan  as  it's  dictated  to  them  in  painstaking  detail …  regardless,  those  come  around  less  and  less  often,  these  days.

rick  secretly  considers  morty  to  be  very  capable  and  alarmingly  more  competent  as  of  late,  and  he's  not  sure  whether  to  feel  almost  proud  or  work  to  scramble  to  unravel  all  this progress  lest  morty  start  pulling  away  from  him  and  revelling  in  his  own  independence.  

they're  a  kickass duo  when  adventuring, very  in  sync.  morty's  less  of  a  whiny  burden  or  wide-eyed,  unremarkable  sidekick,  and  more  of  a  borderline  asset  at  this  point.  which  again,  makes  rick  feel  very  conflicted  over  how  that  skews  their  dynamic  in  a  way  that's  less  favorable  for  him,  because  morty  doesn't  need  to  lean  on  him  as  heavily  or  stick  as  close  anymore.  but  at  the  same  time,  there’s  less  inherent  risk  of  him  dying  while  they  adventure,  because  he  handles  himself  so  well.  they  can  split  up  as  needed  to  get  shit  done  faster.  morty  frequently  solo  adventures,  or  as  he  calls  it,  “runs  rick’s  goddamn  errands,  actually.”  he’s  outgrown  the  concept  of  getting  to  choose  an  adventure  and  instead  claims  the  portal  gun  every  twelve  adventures  they  have  together,  and  goes  off  for  one  of  his  own.

morty  speaks  his  mind  very  bluntly  with  rick  and  isn't  really  afraid  to  tell  him  to  get  fucked  when  he's  being  an  unreasonable  dick.  he  resents  rick  immensely  for  putting  him  down  and  pushing  him  around  all  the  time.

morty's  more  assertive,  yet  still  very  much  resigned  to  their  irrefutably  imbalanced  companionship ;  there  are  countless  factors  as  to  why.  but  primarily,  it  tends  to  boil  down  to  feeling  like  he  owes  a  lot  to  rick.  were  it  not  for  his  presence  in  his  life,  morty  knows  deep  down  that  he  wouldn't  be  half  as  interesting  or  even  marginally  as  intelligent  as  he's  capable  of  being  now.  he’d  still  be  stupid,  and  mediocre,  and  uninteresting.  unremarkable.  unworthy  of  anyone’s  attention  or  time  because  of  how  dull  he  is.

he's  at  a  point  where  (to  an  extent)  he  feels  distant  from  his  life  on  earth  at  the  best  of  times,  because  space  and  the  infinite  multiverse  has  encompassed  his  daily  life  for  so  long  and  on  some  level,  he  handles  himself  far  better  fighting  for  his  life  on  the  edge  of  the  universe  than  trapped  in  a  school  full  of  sweaty  teenagers  and  material  he  either  blitzes  through  or  can  barely  grasp.  plus,  rick  was  the  closest  thing  he  ever  had  to  a  friend  while  he  was  growing  up.  morty  cares  about  rick,  even  if  the  older  constantly  cites  reasons  as  to  why  attachment  is  moronic  and  sentiment  is  stupid,  and  he's  aware  that  rick  has  come  to  care  for  him  too-  even  if  all  his  pointed  jabs  about  not  giving  a  shit  and  aloof  front  makes  it  hard  to  believe  that  all  the  time.

the  issue  is,  once  morty  seems  to  waver  in  feeling  that  he  has  to  constantly  acquiesce  to  rick  and  falters  in  tolerating  rick  as  an  result  of  this  obligated  feeling  of  familial  love,  no  matter  how  slightly,  rick  then  begins  to  exert  control  over  their  relationship  by  other  means,  such  as  emotionally  manipulating,  gaslighting  and  outright  blackmailing  him  to  keep  him  in  line  with  what  he  wants  out  of  their  dynamic:  rick  and  morty,  a  hundred  years,  the  only  two  people  in  the  infinite  multiverse  that  truly  matter-  theretofore,  they  should  both  solely  consider  one  another  as  important,  and  worthwhile.  he's  willing  to  tarnish  any  other  connections  morty  might  form  beyond  their  duo  for  fear  of  losing  him.

he  grows  out  of  this  irrational  attachment  a  little  more  each  time  his  grandfather  lets  him  down,  disillusions  him  ever  further,  hurts  him  or  traumatizes  him  or  actively  fucking  experiments  on  him-  slowly  but  surely.  he'll  snap,  in  some  sense,  sometime.  when  exactly  can't  be  known.  what  precise  actions  he  might  take  to  pry  himself  free  of  their  codependent  dynamic  is  unclear.  but  the  way  things  are  headed,  the  two  of  them  splintering  apart  is  inevitable,  and  it's  unlikely  to  be  an  amicable  thing  at  all.  rick  often  actively  renounces  and  appears  repulsed  by  the  very  concept  of  familial  love  and  basic  attachment,  constantly  rants  and  raves  in  his  drunken  stupors  about  how  replaceable  everyone  in  his  life  is,  and  it's  hard  for  morty  to  bite  his  tongue  when  he's  behaving  like  that.

he  just  hates  that  he  feels  badly  about  himself  and  second  guesses  himself  around  rick.  strangely  enough,  when  he’s  having  to  push  through  crazy  shit  alone,  he  does  fine.  great,  even.  sure,  he’s  freaking  out,  making  everything  up  as  he  goes  along,  and  secretly  wishing  rick  was  around  to  guide  him  out  of  the  chaos  because  he  knows  in  his  heart  rick  would  probably  do  it  smarter.  but  once  he’s  with  rick,  he  feels  incapable  and  stupid  beside  him.  like,  being  apart  from  him  makes  him  feel  so  much  lighter,  allows  him  to  lean  on  the  intelligence  he  very  much  does  possess,  without  being  berated,  second  guessing  it,  and  reminded  it’ll  never  match  up  to  rick’s,  so  there’s  really  no  point  in  even  trying.

[bpdanakins]

Name ten favourite characters from ten different things (books, tv, film, etc.) then tag ten people

I was tagged by the dear @gffa who clearly enjoys making these lists and seeing everyone else also struggling with just choosing ten. It’s hard but I shall do my best sdfk <3

1. Lara Croft - Tomb Raider Okay, let’s just get it out: I prefer reboot!Lara. idk I know some people think she sucks and the games suck for whatever reason, but I found the games and their mechanics super fun, and Lara’s story really compelling. She was a young girl who was determined to make her own way in the world, and instead went through something extremely traumatizing. She kept pushing through, kept getting back up no matter what the world threw at her. She went on this clear journey that was compelling and fun and messy. She wasn’t perfect. She pushed people away, she fucked the world up because she was determined to find the answers she felt would make all she went through make sense. Her survivor’s guilt was present really well in RotTR but most especially in SotTR. People were dying but she was so focused on finishing her personal mission. She was numb to it despite the fact it still horrified her. And her arc ended well. She finally was able to reach a place where she was able to let go of her losses and try to join society again. And I’m gay for her. So, you know.

2. Senua - Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice I cannot recommend this game enough. It’s tough to play bc it’s not just a horror game but you feel a lot of Senua’s anxiety, which is part of the point to the game. Senua’s a Celtic warrior who suffers from psychosis, and the game devs worked directly with both professionals and those who experience psychosis. There’s a whole mini doc to it which is great, even if you can’t stomach horror. You’re in Senua’s head with her throughout the game. You see what she sees, you hear all she hears, and she talks to you directly at times. But the beauty of the game is Senua’s true journey. She goes on a quest to try to rescue a loved one she lost to Vikings, but the real story is about a girl realizing she’s not a monster for seeing the world differently. That the abuse and ableism she faced weren’t her fault at all. There’s so many little things I can point to in this game that just made me so emotional, and it’s such a beautiful and necessary story to tell. Senua is great and deserves a hug.

3. Anakin Skywalker - Star Wars If you asked me at what point in my life Anakin became one of my favourite characters, to the point I frequently talked about him even on my main blog at random intervals, I couldn’t tell you. I haven’t the faintest idea; he just was. And if you asked me why he was a fave early on, I also couldn’t tell you lmao. It might partially be that I grew up on the prequels, and maybe at such a young age I didn’t really grasp at first that this was a story about a guy who was already revealed to be a villain, but I haven’t the faintest clue. He just is now, and I’m so passionate about his story. He’s complex and difficult and written so well. You want him to be happy, you feel heartbroken seeing a good character fall so deep, and you want to smack him upside the head a whole lot. You laugh at his silly dialogue (which he has as Vader too smh), you cry when you see him struggling, you become horrified by his actions. His story’s also a great inversion of the Chosen One trope - whereas usually we see Chosen Ones struggle, become imperfect and undoubtedly traumatized, they remain heroes the whole time. Anakin doesn’t. He becomes the bad guy, one of the worst in the series (Palps takes the award tho). But even then, when you think this guy has nothing to offer but an intimidating villain, he’s shown to have good. And then we see how much good he had all along, the good he forgot and was punished for and hated himself for. His heart that had good intentions but he chose the worst actions. He’s complicated and I love him. And more over, I love how many people who struggle or have mental illness can relate to him. I love that he wasn’t treated as a guy whose actions were glorified, but that were honest in both the good ones and the bad ones. Anyone can fall, and anyone can get back up, if they choose to. I just. Love him. He means a lot.

4. Commander Shepard - Mass Effect I know that Shep is technically the player’s character and can be any combination of person, but anyone who’s played Mass Effect would get why they were put here. The original trilogy for Mass Effect touched on so many things, and was a really emotional one. You had your great moments with friends, you had your struggles against both unknown horrors, and horrors close to home (so to speak). There are so many small moments that stick out to you, and idk how many people can say that playing this story didn’t impact their life in a meaningful way, bc I can’t see how it couldn’t. I’ve played the games many times, but even after all of this, there are moments that I not just still get emotional to, but take on new meaning as I go through my life. And Shepard’s the hero of the story. They’re not perfect, and they can downright be an ass if you play them that way, but their story is one of perseverance, of fighting on even when entire worlds are being lost and everyone is still looking to them. Everyone needs them to find a solution. But even then, it’s a story about friendship too. About tons of amazing characters that all have their own motivations, their own pasts and goals and hopes and failures. About how all these varied characters become a found family. And so Shepard’s the hero of the story, but their companions aren’t just there to be sidekicks, but end up with all their own accomplishments and arcs and you go on this journey with all of them. idk the whole series is great dsalkkljads

5. Lexa & Clarke - The 100 Let’s not talk about how terrible this show got and how messy it was because we all know. But it started with a really compelling story that was interesting, and to see two characters on screen who were flawed but understood each other, and to have them both be women - one who was a lesbian and one who was a bisexual?? It made me so excited and it’s a really flawed show but it meant a lot to me at the time to have a couple like that on a tv show, and so despite all its flaws, that relationship still means a lot to me. 

6. The BAU team - Criminal Minds Yeah, I put the entire friggin team down, and that means all of them. There was only maybe two or so characters that were on it I didn’t like so every iteration is put down. Criminal Minds isn’t exactly a complex show; it’s a typical crime drama, and its unique feature is that it looks into the behaviour and minds of criminals instead of finding the science, like we saw with CSI. But the episodes were compelling and entertaining to watch, and, what do you know, there’s a found family at the center of it all and naturally I’m a sucker for it. Strangely enough this show is kind of a comfort one to me, bc it’s entertaining but not always overwhelmingly emotional. I can put it on at any time and just have it on in the background, or when I’m not feeling well, and I’ll enjoy myself. Also strangely enough, I’ve seen almost every episode enough times that there’s a game in my house to see how long it takes for me to recognize the episode and its plot once a rerun is put on lmao. There’s a lot of good shows like this out there - I enjoy SVU a lot too - but something just draws me to the characters on this one. We’ve been with them for, what, 14 seasons?? And we’ve seen them go thru some shit, we’ve seen them grow and change and they’re all really unique. It’s not a complex show but it is good enough to just binge. A part that plays in it is probably the time in my life I started getting into it too, but I’m alright with standing by it.

7. Korra - Avatar: The Legend of Korra I probably don’t need to wax poetic about atla or atlok much at all. I just love her journey, as a brash and overconfident girl who realizes that being the Avatar is hard, the people expect so much and there’s a lot put on your shoulders. That, when things go wrong, people will blame you. She went and became this giant blue monster thing, but her struggles were all human. Her PTSD was shown really well, despite it being a kid’s show. She’s fun and her journey is lovely and it’s definitely true that Korrasami did it way better, and both characters are bi women too (◡‿◡✿) We Do Not Talk About That Dumb Love Triangle Nonsense Though

8. Chloe & Max - Life is Strange What can I even say about this game? I don’t know. If you’ve played it, you’ll know why it’s here. It’s.... way deeper than you’d think it’d get at first. I love the story, and I love the journey Max and Chloe go on together. I love their friendship, how Chloe was always trying to uplift Max and encourage her to follow her dreams, and Max just doing the impossible for Chloe. I love their relationship, because it was built on support and love and struggle. I love their complexities, their flaws, their strengths, their times together. I just fskljdjlksfd love them, I love this game and all its various stories and character arcs. It’s all so beautiful and raw and unique and yay, another pair of ladies loving each other is on this list.

9. Solas - Dragon Age: Inquisition Okay. There’s a TON of characters I adore in Dragon Age, and to be honest, I don’t know he’d be my absolute top one. But I do like his story. I love Dragon Age companions, because, like in Mass Effect, they’re all their own characters with their own stories and journeys. Solas is flawed. Like, really flawed. Here’s another guy on my list who went and fucked up the world a bit. His worst actions (and the consequences of them) were built on good intentions, on his desire to help his people. We can get into the way this direction BW went with the elvhen religion was icky, but it’s a different conversation. I adore elvhen lore and I love exploring theories on it all the time. For Solas, I just like that he’s complex. I mean, he’s still silly and kinda weird, and he loves to hear himself speak on topics and loves Lavellan for encouraging him to never shut up, but most of all I kind of like their relationship? A friendship with Solas is still great, but I like that it’s an asexual one (don’t fight me on this, idc, it’s how I see it). It’s soft, built on mutual respect, one with no pressures or expectations. Solas asks for time and Lavellan gives it. There’s no fade to black s.ex scenes that so many times aren’t optional in BW games. I just really like my asexual wolf god egg ok

10. Mulder & Scully - The X Files Okay, it’s super hard to choose characters for this holy heck. BUT I really, really, really love their relationship. Mulder is an idealist who believes in the supernatural, and Scully his pragmatic scientific counterpart. And we could talk about how Scully’s character as a woman in science meant to a lot of people, and how Mulder’s tenacity to not give up on his beliefs is a nice one (when it’s not getting him into trouble). Their relationship is the slowest of slow burns in television history, I think. But it’s good that way. Scully starts out thinking Mulder’s just a delusional guy, one who’s intelligent but wastes his accomplishments, and he knows that. Then they go through shit, they’re a team and many times it’s them against a whole bunch of unbelievable stuff (and their own government). What I loved most was also their son, and I’m literally deleting all knowledge of the new seasons from my brain bc I think it was gross and took away from the story, but I liked that they were so close, loved each other so much despite there not really being a romance yet, that Scully trusted to go to Mulder to donate to her bc he was the only one she could think of for this. It’s another asexual relationship on screen, and it’s built on a love that happens over time. I just fljksdfkjl could go on about it too.

-

This was hard lmao. I wanna give an honorary shout out to Peggy Carter since she had wonderful lines like: “I know my value. Anyone else’s opinion doesn’t really matter.” Which is *chef’s kiss*. Peggy was the true unsung hero of the MCU and they gave her and Steve a weird ass ending.  

idk who to tag bc I’m not sure who’d be into this, but if you’re willing, I’d love to hear from @sapphicfinalpam, @mariaromanovs, @vinterskald, @zombiefishgirl, @nb-aziraphales, @serkonans and anyone who feels like doing it. Feel free to obvs ignore this, or only make a list without rambles, idk. I am never too sure about who’s into this or not, but if I didn’t tag you and you wanna do it, you can just say I tagged you and I definitely wanna read what you have to say!

[tellywoodtrash]

Recently, I saw a post on Mais' blog, drawing comparisons between Khushi Kumaari Gupta and Gauri. While I love both of them and agree that there are similarities, I do think they're pretty different. Since, you've watched both (I presume), how would you differentiate KKG and GKS?

Hi anon!

No doubt, 4 Lions used the same template for the two characters. Small town religious girls, full of spunk and life, both adopted after childhood traumas, willing to do absolutely anything for their adopted family, their meetings with a certain man changing the course of their lives, etc. Yeah, they seem to be very similar at first look, but they do have differences in their demeanor and they way they approach the situations they’re put in.

I would say that the key difference is in the maturity of the characters. Khushi was very young (about 18) at the start of IPKKND and is aged up in the middle to 23/24 to make the age difference between her and Arnav less creepy once they get married. Gauri’s age hasn’t been specified in the show yet afaik (both Arnav and Om are around 26/27 at the start of their shows), but her demeanor belies more of a worldliness and maturity than Khushi, who seems to be in her own little bubble, and has some very naive and romantic ideas about how the world works (despite being more educated. Khushi appears to have finished high school, whereas Gauri dropped out after 5th grade.) Gauri seems more level headed and rooted, a realist; while Khushi seems more dreamy and prone to flights of fancy and an idealist.

Khushi has more of a handle on her anger. She mostly goes silent when hurt/angry, unless really pushed to her limit, and then she uses her words. Gauri is a woman of action. You ran over my shop? Oh ok, no biggie, imma just flatten your car with a fucking bulldozer. Can you imagine if Gauri was the one Arnav dropped from the first floor of his office? You best believe that GKS would drag him to the nearest skyscraper and push his ass off the top of that. Gauri is very much like Shivaay, in that she doesn’t seem to see straight when angry. They’re hella easy to provoke and once in that sweet spot, they just dissociate and want to fuck shit up to the max in their red-eyed rage haze.

Both have a tedha side to them, but Khushi’s more childish, pleased with herself at imitating people and mildly inconveniencing and annoying Arnav; whereas Gauri’s waaaaay more twisted and cunning, and truly relishes her ability to hoodwink people. If she so wished, GKS could actually be an excellent criminal mastermind, coz she seems to be able to understand what makes people tick and how to best utilize them to her advantage.

Khushi seems to have more of an instinct for self preservation than Gauri does. At the first instance of possibly dying (in the guesthouse), Khushi is like OH FUCK THIS, I’M OUT; whereas Gauri likes to talk big talk irrespective of whether she’s equipped to deal with the situation or not, and seems to run TOWARDS danger instead of away from it.

Khushi is the type who puts people’s feelings first; she chooses not to disclose the truth about Shyam to Anjali and Arnav to spare them the pain. Gauri on the other hand is straight up like YO LISTEN TO ME YOU LITTLE SHIT, YOUR BUAMAA IS FUCKIN MENTAL AND I’D RATHER YOU BE ALIVE FOR YOUR STUPID LITTLE FEELINGS TO BE HURT, THAN 6 FEET UNDER. IMMA GET HER TO TRY AND KILL ME IN FRONT OF YOU TO MAKE YOU BELIEVE ME.

Then there’s how they deal with the circumstances they’re dealt by life. While both are forced into marriages under less than ideal conditions, Khushi rails against Devi Maiyya, loses her faith in her for a while, and refuses to accept Arnav as her husband till quite a bit later in the relationship; whereas Gauri comes to the conclusion that this is what Shankarji has ordained for her, her faith is strengthened, and she immediately accepts Omkara as her husband. While Khushi fights against Arnav and struggles to understand the reasons for his actions, Gauri accepts Omkara’s decision to not pursue the relationship and vows to uphold it alone. Khushi tries to run away from Arnav repeatedly when their relationship is in a grey zone, whereas Gauri is compelled to stay on to protect Om and his family and carry out her duties as a bahu/behen, irrespective of the status of her marriage. Khushi maintains a healthy distance from her husband’s brother/sister’s husband and always sees Akash within those parameters, while at this point Shivaay and Gauri have their own deep and meaningful relationship independent of their spouses (assuming Anika and Gauri are sisters.) Any change of status in either of their marriages would be unlikely to affect the Shivaay/Gauri bond.

Overall, yes, the characters definitely do have more similarities in common than differences, but both girls are definitely distinctive characters in their own rights; their motivations and methods of operation are worlds apart. I don’t think you can dismiss either of them as clones of each other; that would be a severely limiting assessment of the two characters.

[hereticaloracles]

Asteroid Files: Achilles

Helios– Okay, I couldn’t just NOT do Achilles. He is the quintessential Aries, and leaving him off of the roster would have only been an affront to all things good and decent. Except Achilles rarely cares about what is good and decent, he’s just in it for the glory.

The Astronomy– 588 Achilles is a large and dark asteroid, classified as Jupiter trojan, the first and 6th-largest of its kind ever confirmed by astronomers. It was discovered on 22 February 1906, by the German astronomer Max Wolf at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany. It measures about 135 kilometers in diameter.

The D-type asteroid, classified as a DU-subtype in the Tholen taxonomic scheme, orbits the Sun at a distance of 4.4–6.0 AU in the L4 Lagrangian point of the Sun–Jupiter System once every 11 years and 10 months (4,337 days). Its orbit shows an eccentricity of 0.15 and an inclination of 10 degrees from the plane of the ecliptic. The asteroid is the first known example of the stable solution of the three-body problem worked out by French mathematician Joseph Lagrange in 1772, after whom the minor planet 1006 Lagrangea is named. After the discovery of other asteroids with similar orbital characteristics, which were also named after heroes from the Trojan War (see below), the term “Trojan asteroids” or “Jupiter trojans” became commonly used. In addition, a rule was established that the L4 point was the “Greek camp”, whereas the L5 point was the “Trojan camp”, though not before each camp had acquired a “spy” (624 Hektor in the Greek camp and 617 Patroclus in the Trojan camp).

The Mythology– In Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War and the central character and greatest warrior of Homer’s Iliad. His mother was the immortal nymph Thetis, and his father, the mortal Peleus, was the king of the Myrmidons. Achilles’ most notable feat during the Trojan War was the slaying of the Trojan hero Hector outside the gates of Troy. Although the death of Achilles is not presented in the Iliad, other sources concur that he was killed near the end of the Trojan War by Paris, who shot him in the heel with an arrow. Later legends  state that Achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except for his heel. Alluding to these legends, the term “Achilles heel” has come to mean a point of weakness, especially in someone or something with a strong constitution.

Achilles’ name can be analyzed as a combination of ἄχος (akhos) “grief” and λαός (laos) “a people, tribe, nation.” In other words, Achilles is an embodiment of the grief of the people, grief being a theme raised numerous times in the Iliad (frequently by Achilles). Achilles’ role as the hero of grief forms an ironic juxtaposition with the conventional view of Achilles as the hero of κλέος kleos (“glory”, usually glory in war). According to the Achilleid, when Achilles was born Thetis tried to make him immortal, by dipping him in the river Styx. However, he was left vulnerable at the part of the body by which she held him, his heel. It is not clear if this version of events was known earlier. In another version of this story, Thetis anointed the boy in ambrosia and put him on top of a fire, to burn away the mortal parts of his body. She was interrupted by Peleus and abandoned both father and son in a rage. After, Peleus entrusted Achilles to Chiron the Centaur, on Mt. Pelion, to be reared.

The first two lines of the Iliad read:

μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος

οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί’ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε’ ἔθηκεν,

Sing, Goddess, of the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles,

the accursed rage that brought great suffering to the Achaeans (the Greeks).

Achilles’ consuming rage is at times wavering, but at other times he cannot be cooled. Thetis foretold that her son’s fate was either to gain glory and die young, or to live a long but uneventful life in obscurity. Achilles chose the former, and decided to take part in the Trojan war. Homer’s Iliad is the most famous narrative of Achilles’ deeds in the Trojan War. Achilles’ wrath is the central theme of the poem. The Homeric epic only covers a few weeks of the decade-long war, and does not narrate Achilles’ death. It begins with Achilles’ withdrawal from battle after he is dishonored by Agamemnon, the commander of the Achaean forces. Agamemnon had taken a woman named Chryseis as his slave. Her father Chryses, a priest of Apollo, begs Agamemnon to return her to him. Agamemnon refuses and Apollo sends a plague amongst the Greeks. The prophet Calchas correctly determines the source of the troubles but will not speak unless Achilles vows to protect him. Achilles does so and Calchas declares Chryseis must be returned to her father. Agamemnon consents, but then commands that Achilles’ battle prize Briseis be brought to him to replace Chryseis. Angry at the dishonor of having his plunder and glory taken away (and as he says later, because he loved Briseis), with the urging of his mother Thetis, Achilles refuses to fight or lead his troops alongside the other Greek forces. At this same time, burning with rage over Agamemnon’s theft, Achilles prays to Thetis to convince Zeus to help the Trojans gain ground in the war, so that he may regain his honor.

As the battle turns against the Greeks, thanks to the influence of Zeus, Nestor declares that the Trojans are winning because Agamemnon has angered Achilles, and urges the king to appease the warrior. Agamemnon agrees and sends Odysseus and two other chieftains, Ajax and Phoenix, to Achilles with the offer of the return of Briseis and other gifts. Achilles rejects all Agamemnon offers him, and simply urges the Greeks to sail home as he was planning to do. The Trojans, led by Hector, subsequently push the Greek army back toward the beaches and assault the Greek ships. With the Greek forces on the verge of absolute destruction, Patroclus leads the Myrmidons into battle wearing Achilles’ armor, though Achilles remains at his camp. Patroclus succeeds in pushing the Trojans back from the beaches, but is killed by Hector before he can lead a proper assault on the city of Troy. Triumphant Achilles dragging Hector’s lifeless body in front of the Gates of Troy.

After receiving the news of the death of Patroclus, Achilles grieves over his beloved companion’s death. His mother Thetis comes to comfort the distraught Achilles. She persuades Hephaestus to make new armor for him, in place of the armor that Patroclus had been wearing which was taken by Hector. Enraged over the death of Patroclus, Achilles ends his refusal to fight and takes the field killing many men in his rage but always seeking out Hector. Achilles even engages in battle with the river god Scamander who becomes angry that Achilles is choking his waters with all the men he has killed. The god tries to drown Achilles but is stopped by Hera and Hephaestus. Zeus himself takes note of Achilles’ rage and sends the gods to restrain him so that he will not go on to sack Troy itself before the time allotted for its destruction, seeming to show that the unhindered rage of Achilles can defy fate itself. Finally, Achilles finds his prey. Achilles chases Hector around the wall of Troy three times before Athena, in the form of Hector’s favorite and dearest brother, Deiphobus, persuades Hector to stop running and fight Achilles face to face. After Hector realizes the trick, he knows the battle is inevitable. Wanting to go down fighting, he charges at Achilles with his only weapon, his sword, but misses. Accepting his fate, Hector begs Achilles, not to spare his life, but to treat his body with respect after killing him. Achilles tells Hector it is hopeless to expect that of him, declaring that “my rage, my fury would drive me now to hack your flesh away and eat you raw – such agonies you have caused me”. Achilles then kills Hector and drags his corpse by its heels behind his chariot. After having a dream where Patroclus begs Achilles hold his funeral, Achilles hosts a series of funeral games in his honor.With the assistance of the god Hermes, Hector’s father, Priam, goes to Achilles’ tent to plead with Achilles for the return of Hector’s body so that he can be buried. Achilles relents and promises a truce for the duration of the funeral. The poem ends with a description of Hector’s funeral, with the doom of Troy and Achilles himself still to come.

Why He Matters– Okay, so there’s a lot of great stuff that I didn’t get to put in the myth section because of brevity, but Achilles’ hijinks are legendary. He is very much a point of great rage, but he is more than that. He is in service to his people, he is a leader, and their greatest hero. Unfortunately his rage and his passions are his undoing. Achilles lacks restraint, and that carries over to his position in your chart. His placement indicates where there was a lot of pressure placed on you, a mantle that was impossible to truly live up to. He is where you seek out glory, where you chase your fame.

To find out where he shows up in your chart, go to astro.com, put in your birth details and in the extended options, all the way at the bottom of the next page, there will be a menu of additional objects. Under that is a blank space where you can enter the number 588, for Achilles. Once you have it entered, generate the chart! Where does Achilles affect your life? Let us know in the comments below!

Asteroid Files: Achilles was originally published on Heretical Oracles

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

Shadowhunters Season 2 Episode 8 -- Love Is A Devil -- Review/Discussion

Shadowhunters Season 2 Episode 8 – Love is the Devil aired and I’m just like…eh. I don’t really have a whole lot of feelings on it. I wouldn’t say this episode was like The Guilty Blood. If you recall, in that review, I was very apathetic. I didn’t love The Guilty Blood but I didn’t hate it either. I suppose Love is the Devil is one step above that. I kind of sort of liked it but I also kind of sort of didn’t at the same time.

This is going to be an honest review of my thoughts and feelings regarding this episode. If you’re the kind of Shadowhunters fan where you only want to hear positive things about the show, this is not the place for you. If you decide to stick around and get offended by what is said, then that’s on you. I warned you. Just know that if you send me any rude comments or messages, I will 100% ignore you. I find that’s the best way to deal with bullies. I work 14 hour days. Do you really think I want to waste my incredibly valuable free time dealing with derogatory comments? Hell no. This review will consist of my honest opinions. Opinions are never right or wrong. I’m not telling you how to think and feel. I’m telling you what I think and feel. So please, let’s discuss with dignity and respect. If I’m critical about the show, it’s only because I want it to get better. There is, in fact, a difference between hating a show and being critical of it. I am not hating on Shadowhunters; I am being critical and analyzing the flaws as I would with any other show. There are positives but there are also negatives. It’s great if you want to promote positivity with this show but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t acknowledge the things that are legitimately wrong with it. There will be spoilers for the show and spoilers for the books and movie.

Here’s the thing. This episode wasn’t a bad episode. Really, I think our days of bad Shadowhunter episodes have long since passed. I think our last really iffy episode was Parabatai Lost and since, the episodes have been pretty consistently good. This was just a luke warm episode. This is probably my least favorite of the episodes from the new showrunners, so far. If I had to sum this episode up in one phrase, it would be “potential wasted”. They had some interesting ideas in this episode that could’ve taken the plot and the character development into really interesting directions and the show just did not follow through. There were some nice moments in the episode but it wasn’t really enough to make me actually enjoy this episode. But it’s nothing against the writers. Not every episode in a in a good show is good. Sometimes, you do get episodes like this one that just fall a little flat. You shouldn’t hold it against them. It’s when the episodes are continuously bad that’s the problem. And a lot of the times, episodes like this do fall a few weeks before a season finale. It’s to be expected. They’re trying to put the wheels in motion to set up the finale. I still have plenty of faith in these writers; far more than I ever had for the Season One writers to be sure.

Valentine Being All Villainous 

We have Valentine in this episode being his usual villainous self. It’s pretty much the same kind of stuff you always expect whenever Valentine’s on screen. I just wish we had some scenes where Valentine isn’t being the generic villain. I wish we could have scenes where we see him as an actual human being who feels things because that’s what he is. And not just a power-hungry racist. It’s kind of disappointing. But Valentine is confronting Iris (the warlock who tried raise Jocelyn) and is going to coerce her into helping him steal Magnus’ spell book. To do this, he’s kidnapped Madsie (the little girl Alec and Clary met). I really had apathetic feelings towards this scene. The show wasn’t really showing any kind of new facet about Valentine that we didn’t already know. Ideally, with a well-written villain, every time that villain comes on screen, you want to learn a little more about him. The show started doing it and then it just did not follow-through. So we’re back to the cliché villainous Valentine.

Party at Magnus’…whoop, whoop 

I think a main reason why this episode suffered a little is that the A plot was more front and center in this episode. Previously, this show has been doing really well with their B plots. So they tried to push the A plot to the front in this episode and it wasn’t a bad A plot, to be clear. It just was not developed all that well and there was a potential to take the characters in a really interesting direction that the show just did not take. Wasted potential, like I said. Everything was resolved a little too easily and there were no lasting effects to the plot. 

So Alec and Magnus are throwing a rune ceremony party for Max in an attempt to show Maryse that their relationship is not going away. So while we’re at this party, the principle cast members fall under this spell where all of their biggest insecurities are brought to light. It was a little weird how it all went down. Essentially, they’re hallucinating these people saying these insecurities to them when in reality the person really isn’t. 

Clary and Simon have finally started dating and Clary becomes convinced that Simon is cheating on her with Maia. I really don’t understand why this is her biggest insecurity. She’s been dating Simon for all of one day. But she keeps on seeing Simon flirting with Maia but as it turns out, Clary is only hallucinating Maia. I did like the part when Clary decides she’s going to give Simon a piece of her mind and Magnus stops her. He sees Simon is talking with Raj and not Maia. He’s all, “This is an elegant affair. Not an episode of the Real Housewives of Idris.” I enjoyed that line and also, The Real Housewives of Idris sounds like an awesome show. Instead of having women tearing out each other’s hair and earrings like we do in the real world, wouldn’t it be great to have the Real Housewives of Idris going at each other with seraph blades and whips and whatnot. I don’t watch any of the housewives shows but I’d watch that one.

Jace is hallucinating that Maryse is trying to kill him when she really isn’t. It makes sense this would be his insecurity since Maryse did forsake him a little in the beginning of this season.

Alec is hallucinating that Clary is blaming him for Jocelyn’s death and he feels so guilty that he tries to commit suicide by jumping off the building. Magnus is fortunately able to stop him just in time.

At this point, Magnus has realized what kind of spell they’re experiencing and takes his spell book and counteracts the spell. Then everyone goes back to normal. And that is not an exaggeration. That is exactly what happened. I just didn’t like how quickly everyone came to terms with being under a spell and being understanding of the other persons’ actions. They weren’t under a spell that was making them do these things. The spell was attacking their insecurities and they were doing the rest. I just don’t think that after the spell was taken off they would all be like, “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I was saying those things.” The spell wasn’t causing them to act that way. They were doing that. They were making a conscious decision to react the way they were. It was just really weird to me. Now, almost every supernatural-based show has an episode where this plot happens. And initially, I was interested in this episode because that plot was teased. This could have been really interesting to watch and see them deal with these insecurities but they didn’t really deal with them. They just used a couple of lines here and there to explain them away and I didn’t like that. I also REALLY didn’t like how they handled Alec’s suicide attempt. I’m normally pretty tolerant of a lot of the big issues this show likes to incorporate without actually dealing with them (i.e. Clary’s almost rape and I let it slide because of the situation surrounding it) but this suicide angle is something I absolutely cannot handle being brushed under the rug. Alec tries to KILL himself because he feels so guilty about what happened to Jocelyn. And at the end of the episode, Clary is all, “You know I don’t blame you, right?” Whereas I’m happy she said that, that’s not really the issue here.The issue is that Alec BLAMES HIMSELF for what happened. That’s what drives his guilt. Clary saying she doesn’t blame him isn’t going to make that guilt and self-loathing go away because Alec can’t reconcile that he was the one to do it. This is where the real issue lays. And I didn’t enjoy the show sweeping this under the rug and not really confronting it. Suicide is an extremely big issue in our society. I have a friend who committed suicide so I feel VERY strongly about suicide prevention. This moment in the episode just rubbed me the wrong way.

I really felt that all of these insecurities that came to light in this episode should have carried over into the next episode where they actively confront these feelings and find a way to work through them. Shadowhunters had a really interesting idea here and they just did not follow through and that’s what disappointed me. 

Then Magnus’ spell book disappears and Magnus puts up his wards until he can find the warlock who took his spell book. We cut to him examining Raj and Raj is being all snarky saying he had a three-way lined up. Previously, I didn’t really like Raj but he’s starting to grow on me. Definitely not main character material but for a guy with throw-away lines, I could get behind him as a character. Magnus eventually takes the wards down and then realizes who took the spell book. I think the reason he knew is that the original spell was in French and he knew Iris practiced French spells? It wasn’t very well-developed. They find Iris disguised as a cat and Magnus immediately forces her to reveal herself. Iris “freezes” everyone but Magnus is able to deflect it and then these two have a pretty awesome warlock fight scene. I enjoyed seeing Magnus be a bad-ass. This show has been very inconsistent with Magnus and his abilities so sometimes it isn’t always clear exactly how bad-ass he is. But this scene did a really good job of showing that and I’m so happy it exists. Magnus is able to capture Iris and Iris tells Clary to find Madsie and then Magnus portals Iris to Idris. This is something that I find a little unclear about the show. When Magnus sends these downworlders to Idris for punishment, is the Clave aware they’re coming? Do they know these downworlders’ transgressions? Where exactly does he send them? Is there some sort of holding area he just deposits these people? I kind of wish they’d develop that a little better.

But everyone talks some more and Clary reveals that she made a new rune and she was able to speak to an angel. Then Magnus reveals that he heard that angels could have connections with those who share their blood and the reason Clary could talk to Ithuriel is because she shares Ithuriel’s blood, most likely. Spoiler for City of Glass:

But it does beg the question why Jace couldn’t hear Ithuriel. He also shares blood with Ithuriel. 

Also, why would Magnus know something like this? This seems like something shadowhunters would want to keep to themselves. I highly doubt they would just casually mention this to a warlock. Shadowhunters are distrustful of downworlders and this is the kind of information that could be used against shadowhunters. But whatever. Everyone realizes that Clary has pure angel blood so Valentine probably intends to use her to activate the sword so he can do his downworld massacre. Raise your hands if you were at all surprised by this plot point. Hopefully, nobody is. I called it a few episodes ago and it was a fairly obvious plot twist. I’m kind of disappointed with it as a plot twist mainly because it was so obvious but whatever. It’s happening and there’s nothing we can do about it. I can only hope the writers will put an interesting spin to a very cheesy plot.

Now, I know that I’ve ragged a little about this episode and particularly this plot. But to be clear, I feel that the plot did work. It’s just that they could have done so much more to make the A plot fantastic. It just feels like the show had this idea and they decided to do the bare minimum with it and that’s the problem I have with it. 

But now I’m going to talk about the things I liked from this episode. 

Izzy and Raphael...A Blossoming Romance?

So Izzy and Raphael get closer in this episode which was interesting. It was just a little odd when it started because these two having a casual hatred of each other wasn’t very well established in the show. Particularly, this season. This plot point just felt like it came a little out of left field. Izzy is all surprised that Raphael saves her from the other vampires because she believes he hates her. I never really felt that he hated her. I always thought he was apathetic towards her existence. They had that moment where Izzy helped free Camille but that was it. I never got any sense that Raphael had a hatred for her. Annoyance? That would be more probable. As I said, it’s an idea that could be really fun and interesting, the show just didn’t develop it in previous episodes as much as it could’ve been. It wasn’t actually making me gush when Damon pulled Elena out of her crashed car (Vampire Diaries, Season 1) or when Klaus saved Caroline the first time from Tyler’s werewolf bite (Vampire Diaries, Season 3). I don’t mean to use Vampire Diaries as an example as I know there are a lot of Shadowhunters fans who despise Vampire Diaries. There are probably other examples I could’ve used. I just couldn’t think of anymore right now. Vampire Diaries is just on my mind since I recently did a re-watch of seasons 1-3. But I know there are plenty more examples out there. I have an extremely large library to pull from. I can’t think of everything at once.

But with that said, I liked Emeraude and David’s chemistry in their scenes. And what they were actually talking about was really nice. I liked what Izzy was saying. That everyone thinks she’s strong but she’s not as strong as others like to think she is. I really enjoyed seeing that moment of vulnerability with her. Then we have Raphael telling her he understands. That he had his moments of weakness and Magnus helped him in his time of need. I really felt that Izzy and Raphael’s dynamics worked in this episode. It’s a pairing you never really consider in the books mainly because Izzy and Raphael don’t really interact with each other at all. I’m not sure they ever interact. But it works in the show so I’m all for it. Of course for me, I will always want Simon and Izzy to be end game but I’m not opposed to a Raphael and Izzy relationship in the middle. Simon and Izzy are just not in places in their lives where it would be believable for them to be a couple right now. I really hope the show is going to take its time with Simon and Izzy. As I’ve said before, everyone loves a good slow-burn. 

Alec and Maryse

Alec and Maryse  had some really nice scenes in this episode, too. Maryse tasks Alec with throwing Max a rune ceremony party and Max reveals that Maryse still doesn’t like that Alec is dating a warlock. Alec decides to throw the party at Magnus’ to prove that what he has with Magnus is very real and it’s not going away. Which Maryse was not a fan of. She’s all about tradition and Alec wants to break those traditions. Primarily the ones “born of ignorance.” I liked the line when Alec accuses her of turning her back on Jace she’s all, “I was following orders.” Alec says, “Eventually, that phrase loses its meaning.” I liked that Alec was essentially saying that orders or not, you should never turn your back on your family. It was nice. I like that Alec is becoming a little more rebellious this season. I also really liked the moment when she came to the party and hands Magnus a bottle of alcohol. “I heard you like to drink.” It made me laugh. You can tell that Maryse is genuinely trying for Alec but ultimately doesn’t really know how to interact with Magnus so that happened.

There was also this moment at the party when Magnus is talking with Max and Max asks him where his warlock mark is and Magnus shows him. I also really liked how they did the cat eyes, by the way. But then Max asks how much of Magnus is a demon and Jace reprimands him for that. Max is all, “Mom says you’re a traitor” and “you’re not my brother” which causes Jace to storm off. Alec tells Maryse that Max is learning this behavior from her and that if she ever wants to make things right with him than she needs to make things right with Jace. I enjoyed the scene. I just felt Max’s behavior was a little inconsistent in this episode. At the beginning of the episode, he tells Alec that despite what Maryse says, he doesn’t care that Alec’s dating a warlock. But in this scene, he was all for backing up Maryse’s claims that Jace is evil and not his brother? It just felt a little off that he’s listening to everything his parents are saying but doesn’t care about that one thing. Max is at a very impressionable age. If your parents are feeding you certain information at that age, you’re going to believe it no matter what.

We also had a really nice scene where Maryse confesses to Alec and Jace that Robert is cheating on her. I really liked how Alec put his feelings for his mother aside and was there for her. He hugging her and telling her she shouldn’t go back to Idris. It was really great. I thought this was really interesting. They’re essentially doing the exact opposite that the books did. In the books, Maryse told Izzy about the cheating but Izzy couldn’t bring herself to tell Alec or Jace. Here, Alec and Jace find out and Maryse is begging them not to tell Izzy because she worships Robert. I can understand that. As a fellow girl, I know that girls instinctually feel closer to their fathers and to have that kind of betrayal from her father would ruin Izzy. It certainly did in the books. In the books, her promiscuity is a result of her fathers’ betrayal. I think it’ll be really interesting to see how Izzy reacts in the show when she finally finds out. I’m sure they’re going to reveal it at some point. 

Climon is Starting

Clary and Simon are finally dating now. I liked the scene where Simon confesses to Clary. I just thought that it was a little odd that right after he confesses she goes and kisses him like she’s been in love with him all this time. Clary has just recently been playing around with the idea that she and Simon might work. Thus far, she has been very oblivious to Simon’s feelings. It just struck me as a little odd that she would suddenly be jumping to kiss him. But I did like the kiss. It was sweet and awkward in all the ways you want from a Climon romance. As much as I didn’t like them as a couple in the books, I was still sad when it didn’t work out. Simon is such a sweet guy but he needs to go through this relationship so he can be with Izzy so I can put up with this heartbreak. 

Jace and Magnus (The Roommates) 

We had a nice scene with Jace and Magnus that hit me both in the parabatai feels and the Malec feels. Jace is doing some sort of research on the patio of Magnus’ loft where he is being attacked by attention-starved cats. I was happy to see that cats are being incorporated into Magnus’ story. Everyone always makes a big deal about the fact there is no Chairman Meow but I didn’t really care about that. I don’t begrudge the show for not initially including that because Harry is really allergic to cats. I don’t want him to put his own health at risk for this show. But the cat thing works in this scene because Harry doesn’t actually have to be around them. The scene was cut in a way that I highly doubt Harry was actually in the same area as the cats. Harry is all, “I spoil them. I can’t help it.” I like that Magnus has a thing for cats. I’m a cat lover myself. Well, I’m an animal lover. I like animals, in general. Animals don’t begrudge me of my own opinions, after all. But Jace is voicing his concerns that he gets that Alec is having a great time with Magnus but is afraid Magnus only sees this as a fling and is worried Alec is going to put his whole heart in and he’ll get burned. Magnus tells Jace that what he has with Alec isn’t a fling. They also have a really awkward moment where Jace mentions he knows Magnus and Alec have had sex through their parabatai bond. Magnus starts to freak out a little because he doesn’t like the thought of Jace also being along for the ride whenever they have sex. But Jace realizes where Magnus’ mind is going and tells him, “No, it’s not like that. I can just sense that he’s happier.” They both confide that no matter what, neither of them is going to allow anything bad to happen with Alec. It was really nice. It got me in the feels. Really, any scene where Jace shows how he feels about Alec gets me because their relationship was done so horribly in the first season that I just need lots of Jalec parabatai scenes to help me forget. And of course, any scene about Malec gets me, as well. Then Magnus ends with, “Do you really think I’d invite Maryse Lightwood over for just anyone?” and Jace responds with “This party better have an open bar.” Really, the entire scene was great but I was glad it ended on some light-hearted banter.

Malec Controversy

Now, I am going to take this moment to talk about the Malec controversy. That was something I got dinged on quite frequently in my last review. That I wasn’t bothered as much by the lack of a sex scene. And I still stand by that opinion. If they had included an actual sex scene, I think I would’ve been very disappointed with it. I think it would have been very fan-servicey and objectifying because that’s how all the sex scenes are done in this show. They’re always unnecessary and I wish the show would stop doing them. And I don’t want that kind of scene from Malec. If they do a sex scene in the future, I would hope that they do it in a way that highlights the emotional connection and not a physical one. With that said, I can understand why people are angry with it. It is weird that this show is skirting around the subject of sex with Malec when they’ve never skirted around the subject before with any of the heterosexual couples. It would give the impression that Freeform is displaying homophobia here and I understand why people are angry. Freeform really dug themselves a hole with this one. I have no idea why they thought this wouldn’t come back to bite them in the ass. I understand the show is trying to be more edgy, hence the inclusion of sex scenes but if they’re afraid to represent all sexualities in a physical sense then they should’ve steered clear of sex scenes in general. I really don’t care about sex scenes and I don’t think it would’ve taken a whole lot from the show if Freeform decided not to do sex scenes, period.

Wow! I cannot believe I made it through this review. You would not believe how hard this was to write. As a reviewer, it’s always easy to write about things you like and things you hate. But something that didn’t leave you with any sort of impression at all? It’s pretty difficult. I would give this episode a low B scale rating. Maybe an 83%. As I said before, I’m on the rocks with this episode. It’s not like Guilty Blood where I didn’t love it but I didn’t hate it. I enjoyed a lot of the scenes but overall, as an episode of tv, I was a little disappointed with it. There was a lot of potential in it and it was completely wasted. The episode as a tv show episode didn’t really leave me with much of an impression. I really hope episodes 9 and 10 pick it up a little. And I still have plenty of faith that these writers are going to take Season 2A in an interesting direction. 

That’s all I got for you. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Did you like the episode? Did you hate it? Do you agree or disagree? Just remember to be respectful…not only of my thoughts but everyone else’s as well. I want this this fandom to stop spewing hate everywhere and it all starts with these reviews. Be courteous of everyone’s opinions, please.