#4x05 meta

[dr-mohan]

JORDAN TODD in CRIMINAL MINDS — 4x05

[sammaggs]

4x05 The Ladies’ Man | Details

due South is a show that puts a TON of time and effort into subtle details like set dec, blocking, and framing, which invites us to do close readings of particular scenes in great detail. Let’s examine this scene in Ray’s apartment from The Ladies’ Man with that in mind!

Another thing I find fascinating about this show is its continuity; how significant time can pass between episodes, and it’s up to us to use context clues provided in future episodes in order to piece together what we can about the past; the parts of Fraser’s life that we haven’t been permitted to see. This scene is crammed with context clues.

(It’s worth remembering that John Krizanc, who wrote this episode, is a playwright first and foremost. He basically invented the style of play that would go on to become Sleep No More. The way characters phrase things, where they’re standing when they say them, what they surround themselves with—these things all matter.)

So in order, we learn:

Fraser lets himself in — By this point in Season 4, he has a key to Ray’s apartment.

“You there, Ray?” “Mhm.” — Fraser comes over so often that 1) he doesn’t call ahead, and b) it doesn’t matter if Ray is home or not. Ray doesn’t even feel the need to sit up when Fraser enters, let alone answer with words. This is long-time familiarity.

The Hat - Fraser automatically tosses his hat down on a stool that’s been pulled out from the bar and remains there for this specific purpose. That’s where Fraser’s hat lives when he’s over.

Diefenbaker - The wolf is so comfortable at Ray’s place that he jumps on top of Ray to his usual spot on the couch. Reading Dief as Fraser’s Ego, he bounds into the apartment, directly onto Ray’s LAP before LICKING RAY’S FACE. Okay!

The VCR - Fraser knows how to use Ray’s VCR and his TV remote. Those of us who were alive in the ‘90s know how much practice this would have taken. (Also, hand porn, you’re welcome.)

Seating arrangements — Fraser sits right next to Ray, who sits directly in the center of the couch, between cushions. Cannot be comfortable, but their legs and arms are touching. Their usual spots? Fraser sits ON TOP OF Dief to do this.

“Bark tea?” — Ray immediately starts teasing Fraser about his flirtation with the records gal for information. It’s teasing without intent or malice; Ray knows it was just a front, like Fraser knows Ray’s barbs are just for fun.

“What, I’m a pig?” “No, no, not that.” — This is an old grievance. This is not the first time Ray’s apartment cleanliness has come up. It’s something they’ve bickered about many times before. No, no, not that, not the usual. Something else.

The Turtle - The shot lingers on the overhead here to remind us that the macguffin note is in the VHS case, but also serves to focus in on the turtle sculpture. It’s made to catch your eye, which means we are meant to infer something about it; otherwise, it’s an unimportant, out-of-place distraction from the shot’s real purpose (again, the VHS case). Given what I perceive to be the turtle's Indigenous style, I think this is clearly a gift from Fraser (maybe from the previous Christmas?). He either had it shipped down from a friend up north, or he whittled it himself, and I like to think it’s the latter. Fraser does, after all, think Ray is the world.

TL;DR Fraser is basically living there, oh my god these cops gay, good for them, good for them

[raayllum]

Desperate

[reviewdiaries]

Nancy x Ace and that confrontation at the morgue

I am a wreck, ruined, RUINED I tell you. Nancy and Ace are putting us through it this season, and I am both absolutely here for it and SOBBING IN A CORNER. Seriously, the angst is DELICIOUS.

Sidenote: Can we talk about costumes for this episode? Ace is wearing a variation of what he wore when they kissed - white/pale blue t-shirt with a blue shirt over it (because emotionally he’s still there). And Nancy is wearing the colours of Ace’s bedspread from the night that they finally opened up and talked and she told him everything. Just in case you needed your feels smacked some more.

It’s so painful right from the start - they’re finally in the same room as each other (yay) but oh boy Nancy is not engaging. She’s gone from heart eyes every time she catches a glimpse of Ace to not even looking at him. And he’s desperate for her attention still, he can’t bear it, taking every opportunity to stand near her, try and catch her eye, literally moves away from everyone else to stand close enough that she falls over him when she stands up in the woods. 

GIF Credit @whitefluffyyeti

She’s angry and hurt and who can blame her? Nancy has a long standing relationship with abandonment issues and they are coming to bite her with a vengeance with Ace. He has triggered every single response from her by telling her they can’t be together and then walking away. Ace is doing it because sacrifice is one of his love languages, but Nancy only sees that she’s not enough, they’re not enough, these feelings, they’re not enough to make him stay. 

So she’s been physically avoiding him until she can’t, and now she’s eye contact and emotionally avoiding him until he snaps later in the episode. Because Ace is patient. Ace has always been patient - he’s the steadfast rock at Nancy’s side, always there at her shoulder with reassurance and quips and a half smile with a gentle heart. And he’s trying to slip back into that role, even though it’s killing him not to be able to reach out, touch her, hold her, kiss her. He keeps trying and she keeps rebuffing him. 

When he’s tracking down their artefact hunter his body language is open, cautiously optimistic. This is their sweet spot, the place where personal space blurs and they’re caught up in the thrill of two minds working as one cohesive whole to solve a problem. Only Nancy immediately draws a line in the sand. She brings a stool over, sets it a couple of feet away, refuses to do her usual trick of leaning over Ace to look at the screen. He leans over to point at something on the paper and she flinches away from his hand.

GIF Credit @whitefluffyyeti

That’s the moment. That’s the point where Ace can’t take it anymore. He closes off, turns away, stops looking directly at her. And that carries on when she arrives at the morgue at 8:58 to hand back the teeth.

Nancy is looking stunning, but he doesn’t look at her, barely acknowledges her except to bite off that he’ll see her when he’s next useful to her. Because she's acting like she's the only one hurting, when he's carved open and bleeding in front of her. 

And this is it, finally, finally his patience has run out and he knows Nancy isn’t one to back away from a fight and she doesn’t disappoint him now. Because he has to provoke her into talking to him, has to do something, anything, to break down the walls that she’s built between them. Colleagues, he can’t live with that, he has to lance the wound, clean out, make something new from it even if it hurts them both to do it.

GIF Credit @thatonekimgirl​

GIF Credit @thatonekimgirl

He still can’t look at her though, everything about this hurts, because he’s spent every moment since he walked away from her coming to terms with the fact that she’s the love of his life (he already knew it on some level but kissing her, holding her, having a taste of what they could have been has confirmed it in ways he never expected) and he doesn’t feel he can have her. Doesn’t feel like it’s fair to her, because as long as they’re cursed (and he’s not prepared to risk her life again trying to break it thanks) he can only give her half a relationship. They can be there emotionally for each other, have already proven how intimate that can be, but the physical side will never be an option whilst the curse is in place, and now they’ve had a taste… They could barely keep their hands to themselves before they had any idea what kissing each other would be like, what hope would they have now having had a tiny sliver of it? It’s been something noticeable about Ace in every episode since he found out about the curse, how still he is, how carefully he holds himself so he doesn’t accidentally reach for her and trigger it.

GIF Credit @thatonekimgirl

And he raises his voice - Ace never raises his voice. He’s quiet and soft spoken and everything about this shows how stretched to breaking point he is. By Nancy, the lack of her, the fact she’s finally here and acting like she’s the only one that has any right to hurt just because he walked away. The fact that that was the best damn kiss of his life and he’ll never get to experience it again. The fact that he loves her. And he’s finally admitting it (to himself, to her) he loves her so much, more than anything or anyone, and he doesn’t really believe he’ll ever feel that way again, not how he does about her. Everything else is a pale imitation of how he feels about Nancy. 

GIF Credit @thatonekimgirl

He is so close to breaking, because Nancy is calling him out for walking away, but she doesn’t get it yet, hasn’t listened, hasn’t understood why he did it. He wasn’t abandoning her, he wasn’t taking the easy way out, he was sacrificing how he felt for the chance that she has a full and happy and love filled life, even if it’s without him.

GIF Credit @thatonekimgirl

It bubbles out of him, pulling back the skin to reveal the desperately beating heart beneath. He walked away from her and it nearly killed him. To stay with her and her heartbreak would have killed him too. Not living with her, being near her, holding her, kissing her is killing him. And he has lived with that heartbreak, that desperate attempt to be bigger than his wants, to set her free because of how much he loves her. It has pounded in his blood with his heartbeat, it has dogged every step between his flat and the morgue, a litany in his head as he worked in silence with the absence of her that he loves, he loves, he loves her. And he walked away. 

GIF Credit @thatonekimgirl

What would I say? He didn’t have the words, barely has the words now to articulate how painful this has been, how painful it continues to be. And she’s there and she’s not listening and the emotion is choking him. 

He walks away because he can’t, he can’t bear it, any of it, it’s too much, he wishes he hadn’t started this because he wants her in his life but god this is just too much, too hard, too raw. And she presses his buttons and calls him out and finally he has the words. He turns back and his voice is soft and choked with emotion, it is an effort to get them out but he speaks to her.

GIF Credit @thatonekimgirl

And finally she listens. Stunned and heart broken, but she hears him at last.

GIF Credit @thatonekimgirl

As he tells her over and over and over how much he loves her. And he’s not said it. Neither of them had dared to, had spoken around and around their feelings when they were trying to break the curse. But now, his heartbreak has cracked him open and his heart has been in her safe keeping for so long and he needs her to understand.

GIF Credit @thatonekimgirl​

GIF Credit @thatonekimgirl​

GIF Credit @thatonekimgirl

They have been through so much - hardship and pain and grief and despair and now this, this beautiful shining light of his love and his voice is thick with tears and Nancy just wants to comfort him, hold him, show him how much she loves him in return. She’s been telling everyone around them he’s her soul mate, her person, the best kiss of her life, her love, but now she wants to show him and she moves in, reaches for him.

GIF Credit @thatonekimgirl

And for a moment, a split second, barely more than a heartbeat, he leans into her too, head tilting, hands lifting of their own accord - it’s muscle memory, his body knows exactly how to step in to hold her, to kiss her just so. Before it all comes crashing down and he remembers himself and the curse and he can’t, pushes her away without ever touching her (never touching, not even for this).

GIF Credit @thatonekimgirl

He is so close to tears as he tells her we can’t, steeling himself against the pain, the want, the desperate need that runs through him. Eyes shut against the vision of her, so soft and filled with want and love. Can’t help the flick of his eyes to her lips because this is the closest they’ve been since they kissed and the phantom press of her lips against his is too much, too real, too close and desperate.

GIF Credit @thatonekimgirl

They reach an understanding of sorts, as painful as it is. Not quite friends - it’s still too fresh, too real, too much like an epic love they couldn’t ever touch. And it is painful and filled with raw longing and grief. And still Ace holds himself rigid to stop himself from sinking into her, because no matter what he says about other people, she’s it for him, there will never be anyone he loves as much as Nancy.

GIF Credit @nancy-drew

If after all that angst you’re in the mood for some curse breaking and kissing, check out my post 4x04 fic here!

[jennastarkhasaheart]

i just rewatched 4x05 and noticed may putting daisy on the ground after the guy almost strangled her to death before she started fighting, while coulson covered them. ah my heart...

[heller-meta-of-the-day]

January 16th

Monster Movie (4.05)

This isn't just bad meta, it's IQ lowering bullshit.

Hellers, comparing apples to marbles since 2008.

[sammaggs]

DANKE FOR THIS AMAZING EXPLAINER!!

I was chatting with @sammags and @syrupmap about Frannie's German Suitor from Dead Men Don't Throw Rice earlier (have you noticed he bears an uncanny resemblance to Canadian actor Paul Gross?), and the question came up: "Zucchini, how is that guy's German?" and the answer was, of course: "ATROCIOUS, thank you!"

So, let me count you the ways in which those lines at the end of the episode are clearly supposed to be German, but were not influenced by anyone who has anything more than a passing acquaintance with the language!

Line number one:

What they're trying to say:

Their German translation and why it's garbage:

"Da komm ich nicht drauf was ich sagen."

This first line is almost a sentence, only it's missing a part, it means something else than they think it does AND it's just not something anyone would say. "Da komm ich nicht drauf was ich sagen" is like… if someone said it to me I would think I knew what he meant, but I would also think he used a bad translation app or something. Unfortunately, what I would think he meant would be "I have no idea what I'm supposed to say", which the astute reader will agree is NOT what they where going for here. A good translation would have been "Ich verstehe kein Wort", a more direct but not quite idiomatic translation would have been "Ich habe keine Ahnung, was du sagst", but neither of those happened. Aside from that, his pronounciation is... not horrific, but he would not be mistaken for a native speaker.

Line number two:

What they're trying to say:

Their German translation and why it's garbage:

His pronounciation of the first half of that sentence is so bad that I can't for the life of me make out what they're trying to say. Listened to it twenty times at least, can't do it. The second half ("Ich kann keine Englisch") is almost correct - it should be 'kein' instead of 'keine' - but it doesn't sound great. While it is idiomatic, a closer and still perfectly normal translation of their line would have been: "Ich spreche kein Wort Englisch."

Line number three:

What they're trying to say:

Their German translation and why it's garbage:

"Sie Chicago-Mädchen sind merkwürdige." Oh boy, where do I even start? A native speaker would probably phrase it as "Chicago-Mädels sind komisch" but only because the construction we would normally use only works on place names ending in a consonant. For, say, Berlin we would say "Berlinerinnen sind komisch", but 'Chicagoerinnen' is impossible to say somehow. So normally the word 'girls' would not appear in the German version of the sentence, but we would likely make an exception for Chicago. We would not say Mädchen because it mostly refers to children and teenagers; Mädels is the word to go for when then girls in question are adults. Then there's the thing about "Sie" - while that's one way to translate 'you', it's the word used in direct formal address of a single person, so it's right out in this case. A fairly direct, but not quite idiomatic translation could be "Ihr Chicago-Mädels seid merkwürdig", only no one uses merkwürdig like that. Last not least, his pronounciation is not great here either.

Line number four:

What they're trying to say:

Their translation and why it's garbage fine actually:

"Ich muss jetzt gehen" - solid translation, solid delivery. While he doesn't sound like a native speaker, he definitely sounds like a guy who's been learning German for a while.

BONUS:

This made me laugh because he said it in English and they put the German in the caption. Solid translation again!

Thank you for coming to my TED talk! In conclusion: these lines were written by a bunch of people who took German in school for a year, then pooled their vague memories to create this. It's weird and funny and I love it, actually!

[smoulderingocean]

Hi! I just found your tumblr and I LOVE all of your Nick analysis! I’ve been reading through your posts and I love the context it gives around the little screen time we have with him. I just got back into the show for final season and did a massive rewatch (binging this show is not for the weak ha).

One thing I’d love to hear your take on — how do you think Nick has been able to move up Gileads chain of command when he can barely hide that he’s quite obviously in love with June i.e. public enemy no. 1?

I guess we the viewers have such a direct view into their relationship, but feels like so many people know. Swiss, Americans, Mayday, Canadians (probably?), not to mention all the guardians who’ve seen them canoodling, and commanders who saw him punch Lawrence for the car hit (including McKenzie who likely ordered it!)

Maybe I’m just thinking about it too much and giving tv writers too much credit 😂 but i thought if anyone could make it make sense, it’d be you!

Hey!

Aww, thanks so much for your kindness. I love doing meta posts for Nick and Osblaine, it's a true obsession. I love getting into his head and their love. I've never related so hard to a character as I have for Nick and never obsessed over a romance like I have for Osblaine. I'm so sad we're coming to the end. Hopefully Nick and Nick & June's epic love gets a few mentions in The Testaments and maybe one or two little guest appearances so I have something good to hold on to!

Hah, no kidding! I can binge all the Nick and Osblaine scenes, but the rest of the show, especially the first two seasons, can be pretty intense.

So! Nick's rising up in the ranks. Most of his rising has come at the hands of others, a way of staying alive, or as a way to help June. Let's lay that out as best to my memory as I can (confirmed means we know it directly pushed Nick up the ranks, unconfirmed is speculative):

S1:

Nick becomes an Eye to avenge the first handmaid and to strike back at Gilead by using its own laws against itself (confirmed)

S2:

After trying to get June mental health help, Serena and Fred ultimately get Nick promoted and married off by Pryce (confirmed)

Nick saves the life of a "Commander's" baby (unconfirmed)

The bombing kills many commanders, causing power shifts, which includes Nick being promoted while other guardians move into the position of commander (mostly confirmed)

Cushing is executed through Nick, June, and Serena teaming up (unconfirmed)

S3:

After holding Fred at gunpoint, Nick is turned into a soldier commander by Fred in order for him to be sent to the front and be killed (confirmed)

Off-screen, it seems the battle in Chicago is at least somewhat successful for Gilead (unconfirmed)

S4:

After Fred is arrested, there is a void on the council (unconfirmed)

June poisons a bunch of commanders, creating a power void (unconfirmed)

Nick captures Gilead's most wanted in June (unconfirmed)

Nick is married to a high-ranking Commander's daughter (confirmed)

S5:

Serena uses Nick's propaganda idea for Fred's funeral and it is successful at restoring some international relations (confirmed)

After Fred dies, there is a more permanent void on the council (confirmed)

Nick gets Rose pregnant (confirmed)

After Nick executes Warren, there is even more of a void on the council (mostly confirmed)

Becomes Lawrence's main ally on New Bethlehem (confirmed)

S6:

Nick successfully runs New Bethlehem, essentially becoming Mayor and head of security (confirmed)

So out of all of that, the only "bad" thing he's done is lead the battle in Chicago against the rebels. And if we look at episode 4x05, we can see that Nick is not comfortable with what he has to do. He does it because he needs to survive. He can't help June or the cause if he's on the wall. There would be plenty of men out there more than willing to take his place, more than willing to be extremely brutal and violent to put down the fighters. That the one scene we see of Nick leading the fight against the rebels features an unusually silent Chicago before the air strikes and a rebels who have a decent amount of information on supply trains does indicate that Nick may have at least some connections there to do tip offs and the like to at least fight back against Gilead a little.

Most of Nick's promotions happen either because he's helping June or is being punished. Part of that def comes from his obvious feelings for June, especially the promotions "gifted" to him by Fred. His feelings for her make him vulnerable and keeping Nick close (or in the exception of Fred, sending him away) through the resultant promotions is a method of controlling him.

Haha, right? Isn't there just something endearing about how EVERYBODY just knows they're in love? They truly can't hide it at all. You'd have to be blind to not notice how these two feel about each other. And in a way that makes them particularly vulnerable as it's a point of manipulation that others use against them. We've seen that recently with Tuello, Lawrence, Luke, and to a lesser extent Rita. Even Rose and her father fall into this to some degree, though how much in these later episodes remains to be seen. At this point the only person that hasn't used their feelings for each other as some degree of manipulation is Moira! Truly incredible to behold.

Speaking of Mackenzie, it's fascinating that that was just completely written off after last season! What an odd writing choice to make.

*Ahem* Went on a bit of a tangent, but I hope this is a decent answer haha.

[chick-with-wifi]

Meta: Root's message for Shaw

In 4x05, Root says, "if the worst comes to pass, if you could give Shaw a message?" when she believes she will die in the fight against Martine. Although we don't hear the exact wording of this message, the context and Finch's reply of "I think she already knows", tell us it is a declaration of love.

Then in 5x13 when the Machine is fading, She tells Shaw, "There's something I think Root had wanted to say to you. You always thought there was something wrong with you because you don't feel things the way other people do. But she always felt that was what made you beautiful. She wanted you to know that if you were a shape, you were a straight line. An arrow." 

During their time together, Root's flirting consists of exaggerated innuendo to push Shaw's buttons ("I'll do yours if you do mine" in 3x23, "I love it when you play doctor" in 3x17), and in return Shaw pushes Root's buttons by aggressively pretending she doesn't care about Root ("I missed you like I'd miss an intestinal parasite" in 3x20, "I wouldn't want anything to happen…to the dog" in 4x10). Root never disrupts the delicate balance of this dance, never asks Shaw for more than she's willing to give or demands any confirmation of her feelings, beyond light teasing such as "and is that why you came to see me?" in 4x07.

But in the event of her death, she wants Shaw to know the true extent of her feelings. Given that she always intended it to be this way, this means the message isn't for her benefit - it's for Shaw's. She wants Shaw to know beyond a shadow of doubt that Root loved and understood her for exactly who she is, and has no expectations for what her grieving process should look like. She doesn't want Shaw to ever feel like she isn't enough.

A variation of this also appears in 4x11. In one of the Machine's simulations, Root calls Shaw while knowing she doesn't have long left and it is the only time we see her push for any sort of confirmation about their relationship. She says, "Why are you so afraid to talk about your feelings? [...] We're perfect for each other. You're gonna figure that out someday." and is elated with Shaw's reply that "maybe someday [...] we can talk about it."

Since the Machine is able to accurately predict Her assets and knows Root's final request well enough to carry it out in 5x13, She knows this is the one situation where Root would push the issue enough to make it clear that she loves Shaw and that she would be thrilled with any degree of confirmation Shaw chooses to give.

Their conversation in the real timeline begins in exactly the same way, with Root in a dire situation calling Shaw to say, "Hey, sweetie. You busy?". Shaw replies, "A little. Skip the verbal foreplay, Root. Why are you calling?" and Root says, "Can't a couple of gals take a little break from work to catch up?". However, at this point Shaw arrives in the stock exchange and the team's chance of survival increases considerably.

The rest of their conversation plays out similarly, but is toned down. Root says, "We're so good at this together. You're gonna realize that someday." Where the simulation began with Root asking a direct question about Shaw's feelings, this is an open statement that doesn't put any pressure on Shaw to respond.

Shaw replies, "Root, no offense. You're hot, you're good with a gun. Those are two qualities I greatly admire. But you and me together would be like a four-alarm fire in an oil refinery." Just like how Root in the simulation was happy with Shaw's response, she cheerily replies, "Sounds cozy." Since at this moment her life is no longer in immediate danger, she doesn't feel the need to say anything further.

[goginaporter]

rina + iconic couples in media

this is my fun way of responding to the alternate universe prompt for @rinaweek <3. rina and their parents in every universe, finding each other and falling in love. alsooo this post was slightly inspired by this absolutely brilliant edit linked here (x) and if you want rinatroyella or rinajacey edits, please lmk and I'll send my favorite ones <3333

troyella

the essays that can and have been written about troyella and rina are extensive (and I'm happy to do a longer form one in a separate post). but from being the new girl x boy who's never moved, girl encouraging boy to audition for the musical and actually commit, kissing in the rain, starring in the school musical together, to making a huge commitment to the other person on a stage in front of a bunch of people, rina is quite literally troyella reincarnated. and yeah, lots of people can argue that troyella is perfect as is, that they didn't need another version. and on one hand, i agree. but the way in which rina takes core parts of troyella's story while standing on their own as a ship is beautiful and truly does justice to the original franchise by anchoring the story around these two, both individually and as a couple, just as was done with troyella in the original trilogy. my favorite troyella parallel moment from s4!

4x01 - ricky sneaking into gina's room just like troy would come into gabriella's room through her balcony

4x02 - the note ricky gives gina in the hallway to meet in their secret staircase is just like the note troy slips in gabriella's locker in hsm to meet on the rooftop. (honorable mention to them auditioning for and getting the roles of troy and gabriella in this ep as well <33)

4x03 - of course, it has to go to their rendition of can i have this dance. their voices sound gorgeous and though the choreo they do has similarities to the original, they've made it their own.

4x04 - this one is kinda reaching but I wanted something for each ep! in hsm2, sharpay forces troy to sing a song with her, one she prepared for the talent show, instead of allowing him to go on a date with gabriella. in a similar vein, though with considerably less scheming from dani's side, dani is selected to replace gina as gabriella because she is so busy with the movie, though this is done behind her back.

4x05 - has to go to the rain kiss obviously. although troy and gabriella only ever kiss under sprinklers, it's the same vibes. there's also a still (not included in the scene) of the rain kiss of ricky holding gina's waist as she throws her arms up that's so reminiscent of troyella in the rain during cihtd.

4x06 - ricky and gina running down the hallway at the beginning of the episode feels like a direct parallel to troy and gabriella running to auditions in hsm. also rina fighting to save the show is super similar to gabriella (and troy once gabriella convinces him) pushing for the theater department to put on a show about them for their spring musical.

4x07 - they're literally playing troyella in this ep so I could say so much. i'll just use this space to talk about how much I love them in a night to remember and how much it looked like they were dancing at their wedding. I will say that terri, gina's mom, telling ricky about gina's movie with a smile on her face, reminds me a lot of gabriella's fans setting troy up to talk shit about her on camera to convince her to focus on the decatholon. also reflects sharpay telling troy about stanford, again with a smile on her face.

4x08 - again, this ep is rife with toryella coding because they're literally playing troyella, but the show goes super meta in having them sing the right here, right now reprise as ricky has just found out that gina is potentially moving across the world to film her movie, just as troy finds out about stanford and struggles with gabriella not being there for the rest of their senior year. on a much less angsty note, ricky singing love you forever to gina has the same vibes as troy choosing gabriella and going to school close to her, not to mention that lines in the song directly reference the song "high school musical" (which you can read more about here <3). gina also deciding to move the movie to salt lake is very much her "I choose basketball but I also choose theater but more than all of that, I choose gabriella" her version is "I choose filming this movie but I also choose theater but more than all of that, I choose ricky" just a beautiful perfect scene all around.

these s4 moments only scratch the surface of the troyellarina tether but i'll stop ranting for now and move on to rina's teen drama parent sets.

jacey

after s1, tim federle did an interview where they asked him about him about the ricky / nini / gina triangle, he directly mentioned dawson's creek in guiding his writing process, stating that at the center of his thought process was "how do I surprise audience members with who they're going to ship?" (x). for those who don't know the jacey lore, to make a long story short, their love triangle centered around joey, pacey, and dawson. joey and dawson were childhood best friends and joey has a crush on dawson. pacey and dawson are best friends and joey and pacey do not get along initially. after events of life, dawson asks pacey to "look after joey" at the beginning of s3, the two get super close and eventually catch feelings for each other and they secretly date as they figure out a way to break it to dawson (sound familiar?). they do break up but come back together at the end of the show and are endgame. the parallels between jacey and rina exist both on and off screen. dawson and joey were the initial endgame for the show, just like rini was the show's s1 endgame. however, electrifying chemistry between katie and joshua (jackson) & sofia & joshua (bassett) in their respective shows changed everything. rina is one of the strongest examples of continuing this legacy of disrupting the initial plans concocted in the writer's room to make way for insane chemistry. some of my fave jaceyrina parallels

rina and jacey having a formative, chemistry presenting moment in a car (rina in 1x05 during homecoming, joey and pacey in 1x during their science project)

the sheer parallels between them in 3x19 of dawson's creek and 3x08 of hsmtmts with their kiss scenes. just watch here (x) and here (x) to see. the "stop me" "wait" parallels actually make me go crazy

joey tutoring pacey in 3x09 and gina (presumably) becoming ricky's tutor after 4x06

i'm rewatching 3x09 in preparation for this and jacey has a scene where dawson catches them talking about pacey helping joey with a ballroom dance scholarship thing in exchange for tutoring and he asks them what no one can find out about and a) pacey sucksssss at improv just like gina it's like that 4x02 scene with rina and ashlyn and b) it also feels like rina with the chocolates, again with ashlyn LMAOOO in 2x04

ALSO in this ep (wow it's a goldmine), when dawson and jen catch joey and pacey ballroom dancing, they're forced to join the class and the instructor psychoanalyzes both couples. for jacey, she mentions that the tension and bickering between them suggests their underlying attraction for one another. this is literally what val (their choreographer!!) does after watching rina perform wdykal in 3x05

too much to explain for the final scene of this episode but i just encourage everyone to watch 3x09 to get the same sense of a major scene in a coat check and an ensuing apology

pacey telling joey he remembers everything in 3x22 and ricky telling gina he's never forgotten a thing she's said in 4x03

pacey telling joey that the simple act of loving her is enough for him and that she's "off the hook" and ricky telling gina that of course she has to go and be a star, as well as singing lyf not knowing that she was staying in slc, so he just wanted to let her know that he loved her for the sake of it, not to convince her of anything

pacey having to tell joey something but lying to protect her (and ricky having something to tell gina but lying to protect her (3x07)

naley

another paragon of teen drama royalty is naley. literally the best people ever and it makes sooo much sense that rina is similar to them because they're actually rina's grandparents. naley birthed troyella, who birthed rina. a beautiful family tree. anyways, naley doesn't seem to, on the surface at least, seem to have a lot of parallels to rina. a shy tutor girl and a cocky basketball player who get married after knowing each other for less than a year? (though I will go down with my headcanon that rina gets married super duper young, will not be taking any arguments). despite this, at their core, naley's love for each other is so reminiscent of rina's love for each other, not to mention some incredibly direct parallels that the two have, listed below:

nathan dropping haley home after a party & ricky dropping gina home after homecoming ("yeah, this is my house" & "so, this is where I live")

connecting over dubious circumstances (nathan requesting haley as a tutor/getting close to her to get back at lucas & gina convincing ricky to stay in the show so she could get gabriella, attending hoco with ej to psych nini out but instead connecting with ricky)

nathan putting haley's hand to his heart after telling her it's racing (it was because of drugs but still, it beats for haley) and ricky putting gina's hand on his heart after telling her that his heart's racing (i'm telling y'all this scene is the same, just with the characters and setting swapped)

alllllll of naley's s2 angst is like the intense and more painful version of rina's angst in s4

naley invented rain kisses (even if they existed before them, no they didn't) and rina obviously does justice with their own rain kiss in 4x05

when nathan proposes to haley (their first proposal), he tells her that "I could love you forever." audience, what's the title of ricky's love song for gina? i rest my case

haley being nathan's tutor and gina being ricky's tutor <3333

nathan sneaking into haley's bedroom to study and makeout and ricky sneaking into gina's bedroom to sing and makeout

nathan and ricky being haley and gina's biggest fans when it comes to their careers, putting their success over their personal feelings (nathan collecting clippings of haley's tour, paying chris to let her record music & ricky decorating gina'ss trailer, encouraging her to go to nz to be a star)

rina served cheerleader x basketball player (though at different times and both were fictional but wtv) just like naley

this was super nonexhaustive as rina also has parallels to jam, mondler, sethmer, romeo & juliet, and so many other ships. however, I'm lazy and didn't want to write all of those out. maybe I'll return to them another time, but for now, pls enjoy this <3333

[reviewdiaries]

Nancy Drew Season 4 Analysis masterpost

If you've enjoyed any of my meta analysis posts for Season 4 of Nancy Drew, I've grouped them all together in a handy little post!

4x01 Examining that Nancy x Ace scene from 4x01

4x02 Nancy x Ace and the case of emotional intimacy in 4x02

4x02 Nan-spreading: An exploration of Bro!Nancy

4x03 Be still my beating heart - examining that Nancy x Ace moment from 4x03

4x04 An ode to Ace's heartbreak in 4x04

4x05 Nancy x Ace and that confrontation at the morgue

4x06 Love & ferrets - Ace in 4x06

4x07 Nancy x Ace and the case of miscommunication in 4x07

4x08 Nancy x Ace and the enigma of hope in 4x08

4x08 Nancy's moment of grief

4x09 Ace and the paradox of finding peace in 4x09

4x10 - Nancy x Ace and the quandary of choice in 4x10

4x11 - Nancy x Ace and the riddle of knowledge in 4x11

4x12 - Nancy x Ace and the conundrum of pain in 4x12

4x13 - Nancy x Ace and the soulmate we choose ourselves in 4x13

4x13 - Nancy x Ace and the lives we guard in 4x13

GIF Credit @yellenabelova 

[spinelli-gemelli]

A Degrassi Essay Series About Rick Murray

(Part 5)

In the last post we looked at those students who antagonized Rick in their interactions with him. Let's now focus on those who served as his allies in what was otherwise a miserable school environment for him. This will be a fun post to write considering all of the following characters have different reasons for why they're interacting with Rick, yet they all seemed to have left a strong, positive impact on him.

Darcy

I'm starting with little Miss Edwards because she is the most neutral towards Rick out of everyone on the list. She agreed to kiss Rick for five dollars, Toby being the one to pay her. Because she's a freshman, or as they say in Canada, in Grade 9, she is unaware of who Rick is and why everyone at Degrassi hates his guts. It's her inquiry about Rick's reputation that earns her the five dollars to begin with. We watch this minor scene unfold in "Islands in the Stream" (4x06) as this ninth grader gets Rick's attention while he's walking past her in a hurry and compliments his glasses, causing him to pause and face her. For someone so young, Darcy was very smooth in her delivery. It helps when you don't care about the guy you're being paid to kiss. This prompts Rick to tell Darcy about the "game" he and Toby are playing. Darcy, armed with meta knowledge of the game already, asks what she can do to help him win, and that's when Rick replies with, "A kiss." He tells her he doesn't need a lips or a cheek kiss, but before he can finish his sentence, Darcy stretches up and smooches him on the cheek, and we cut to see Rick grinning from ear to ear afterward. Hell, his face is even a soft shade of pink. After all, he was losing this game in a humiliating (and honestly hilarious) defeat, so that kiss must have felt like heaven to him. It kind of shows us as the audience that Rick wasn't all there since he had the audacity to believe that women would be a fan of his after what he did to Terri and after the ribbon campaign that was launched against him just a few weeks ago. I mean c'mon, dude. I guess he assumed that just because the head organizer of the campaign softened her defenses against him, he believed that every other girl would too. Think again!

Here's a fun fact behind this scene. The actress who auditioned for Darcy (Shenae Grimes) read her Darcy lines while a woman in the audition room, who I'm assuming was Linda Schuyler, read lines for Rick. Grimes' audition was an extension of Darcy's scene with Rick. As Darcy is walking away after having kissed Rick, "Rick" (played by Schuyler) asks for Darcy's name, which she has no problem telling him. When Darcy then asks for his name in return, Rick is awkward and can only respond in verbal pauses. "Uhhh...d-uhhh...". It's as if Rick didn't want her to know who he really was for fear of her hating him too. Darcy closes out the scene with the line. "Guys are so weird." No, Darcy. It's just that guy who's weird. The rest of them are simply stupid (lol, just kidding).

Jimmy

Jimmy started off much like Spinner: he was understandably hostile towards Rick in the beginning, then began using every opportunity he could to meddle Rick at school after the protesting died down. We get the famous foreshadowing scene in "Anywhere I Lay My Head" (4x05) where Rick shows up to the Spirit Squad car wash in his mother's black Volkswagen. Jimmy walks up to the driver's window after he notices Rick talking to his girlfriend, Hazel, and threatens to shoot him with the water hose, telling him to "bounce." As Rick is driving away, Jimmy sprays the water gun at the back of Rick's car. Jimmy is also the one who is with Spinner as they both throw him in the dumpster in "Time Stands Still" (4x07).

Something happens though. By fate, Jimmy is Heather Sinclair's replacement on the Whack-Your-Brain team after she falls ill with mononucleosis. Now that they are forced to work together, Jimmy realizes that Rick isn't the worst person on the planet. Rick even gives Jimmy a compliment, as awkward as his speech mannerisms are. "Futility perfected." Rick says to Jimmy during practice drills the day before the finals. Now that Jimmy notices that Rick these days is just minding his nerdy business, he sticks up for Rick in front of Spinner, Jay and Alex.

What a shame that Rick assumed that Jimmy was the culprit behind the paint and feathers prank based on what Spinner and Jay told him. The scene in which Rick approaches Jimmy in the hallway with every intention of shooting him regardless of what Jimmy said is a mixture of frustration and dread. Jimmy, being the bigger person, decided to set aside his differences with Rick and move forward with the seemingly not bad person he was during the time of "Time Stands Still". He was the biggest supporter to Rick on stage as he answered all of the trivia questions correctly on stage. Maybe they wouldn't have been buddies in an alternate future, but similar to the crew that was featured in "The Breakfast Club Episode" of Degrassi (3x16), they would behave civilly towards each other. They would come to an understanding. Jimmy would defend Rick against the bullies in the halls as he promised to Rick before he decided to shoot him. "...and if those guys give you anymore problems, I got your back." Jimmy Brooks being the classic good guy. Sadly it cost him his legs, though none of it was the cause of his own doing. Rick was quick to believe the lie he had been told since Jimmy did resort to plain old bullying like Spinner and Jay after the protesting died down, and that was the Jimmy Rick had in mind as he approached him slowly, blinded by his incorrectly perceived injustice and rage. To Rick, in that moment, he was a fool to believe that Jimmy would really want to be his friend. He should have known it was too good to be true, and in his mind, it was. Jimmy betrayed him.

Emma

Yes, we're talking about Emma again. After she leads the charge against Rick, puts an end to it, sets the record straight about how she feels about him, Rick and Emma tolerate each other as classmates. After all, they seem to share at least three classes together as both of them are in grade ten. Then something happens in "Islands in the Stream" that changes the tone of their relationship. In a bet where Rick and Toby each try to get a kiss from Emma in order to win, she winds up kissing both of them. There's just a bit of...inconsistency in her behavior here. If you're a girl who learns from the upperclassmen about how Rick Murray beat his ex-girlfriend, organized a campaign to get rid of him with said upperclassmen, would you not be disgusted at the thought of kissing him? Being a woman beater is a major turn off. It's one thing if you buy into Rick's repentance and believe that he is different from last year. It's another if you just put up with the fact that he's around, like Emma originally did.

"Things got out of hand, and I stopped it." Emma tells Rick at the end of episode 4x04. "It doesn't mean I like you, and it doesn't mean we're friends." Then, two episodes later, she has no problem pecking him on the cheek? Maybe this was the moment Rick believed that Emma was into him. If you take away this scene in his character arc, then yes it seems like Rick developed this delusion of Emma flirting with him out of thin air, but the fact that she decides to kiss him suggests at the very least she can't dislike the guy the way she implied at the end of "Mercy Street". To Emma, perhaps her motivation to do so was that she didn't want Toby to believe that she was into him, which is why she discretely kissed him on the cheek. Isaacs then went and blabbed about it to his new friend, so Emma, being annoyed that Toby didn't follow her lead, evens the score by kissing Rick. "This is so you're not lonely." She says to Rick before she leans in to make her move. Her attempt to not show any favor towards either boy had the opposite effect on Rick. He seems to think that the fact that Emma kissed him does mean she likes him. She did make it clear two episodes ago that she wasn't his fan. Maybe he's making the implication in his mind after she pecked his cheek--and we're talking a smooch so light and so fast that if you blink, you'd miss it.

Ironically, he doesn't respond to Darcy's kiss the same way he responds to Emma's. In NotaVampyre's video essay, the uploader points out a small detail at the end of episode 4x06. Toby and Rick are plot B of that episode, and in it they have a little competition to see who can get the most girls to kiss them by the end of the day. We learn that Toby wins, managing to get eleven kisses that day, but Rick only had one, which was Darcy, and even that was only because she was paid to do so. In Rick and Toby's final scene, Rick says that Darcy's kiss has given him all of the confidence he needs before strutting down the hall with his supposed new confidence. When Toby asks "To what?", we see Rick's "confidence" is short-lived as Jay looms over him, successfully intimidating Rick to turn the other direction. Rick never goes into an explanation about what he meant, but NotaVampyre suggests that the confidence he's speaking of was meant for asking Emma to be his girlfriend. This suggests that Emma's affectionate gesture towards Rick meant more to him than it did to her. This explains why Rick thought that Emma being more pleasant towards him during episode 4x07 meant that she returned the same feelings he had for her. It wasn't just that she was being nice to him in this episode, but also because of the kiss she gave him in the previous episode. As I write about this, it sounds as if I'm creating a mountain out of a molehill, but from Rick's perspective, this is exactly the point. Any minute, friendly gesture that Rick receives from the opposite sex is inflated in his mind. Hell, the same is true with members of his same sex as we saw in his interactions with Jimmy.

I believe what began Rick's crush on Emma was that in the beginning, she was the only person who rushed to his aid as the protesting got out of hand. It is also suggested that Rick is into blondes after we see his list of his "Top Twenty" crushes at the school (episode 4x06), with Emma and Ms. Hatzilakos both being in his top three. This puts Emma in an impossible situation. She's trying to do the right thing and help support Rick on the Whack-Your-Brain team, but because she's smiling at him and being nice to him, Rick assumes that she's now into him, which encourages him to make the moves on her...if you want to call it that. Anyone with eyes would find Rick's advances to be cringe, awkward, creepy, and uncomfortable. After Rick is humiliated on stage, Emma famously goes after him in the hallway to console him, but unfortunately, Rick misreads her actions yet again. He decides that this is the time to make his big move--he grabs her face and kisses her on the mouth, which causes Emma to pull away from him, shocked, repulsed, and upset. Rick says to her, "I thought you loved me." It's this simple line that lets us know as the audience that Rick doesn't have it all together upstairs. Emma scoffs at him, telling him to get a clue, that she only felt sorry for him.

Before Rick winds up resenting Emma for not reciprocating his love for her, Emma seems to come full circle in her interactions with Rick. This seemed to be very healthy for him until, of course, he was humiliated on stage, and his delusions of Emma flirting with him were shattered when he was forced to face reality. It makes me wonder what would have happened if Rick hadn't been pranked on stage and was still rejected by Emma. Would it have hurt as much if he got to win the tournament and receive positive feedback from all of his pupils? I'm inclined to believe that while, sure, he would have been hurt, he wouldn't have resorted to a gun. Emma's rejection was simply the straw that broke the camel's back, the icing on the cake of despair.

Toby

Toby's character becomes something of a glorified extra in season three all the way to season seven where he actually becomes a recurring guest role in season six. Sadly in t.v. shows that feature a large ensemble cast, some members get thrust into the shadows. The writers don't do this intentionally; however, it is hard to give equal screen time to multiple characters, especially when you're restricted by a tight budget and twenty-two minutes of showtime. That isn't to say that they don't have any significance. In this case, I'm referring to Toby's friendship with Rick. Toby is also the only character in the whole show who Rick remained friends with all the way to his tragic end. I don't believe Rick ever meant to hurt Toby. He was just unfortunate in being caught with one of Rick's targets: Emma.

I see some people say online that one of Toby's worst offenses was befriending Rick: a known abuser. I disagree. Throughout Toby's time at Degrassi, he and his closest friend, J.T., have been growing apart since the beginning of season 3. It is even mentioned in Google's episode description of "Gangsta Gangsta" (3x06), which reads "...while J.T. leaves Toby behind by spending more time with Paige and the popular kids". In season 4 you see the pair of them, along with Manny and Liberty, hanging out in Liberty's hot tub in her backyard, but it is still suggested that J.T. prefers to spend his leisure time with Danny Van Zandt over Toby, and since the cool kids reject Toby, he sees something of himself in Rick. It has nothing to do with the fact that he put Terri in a coma. Some fans say that Toby should have condemned Rick for what he did to Terri rather than form an allegiance with him, which I think is absurd. He's a teenage boy, for one, and adolescent boys don't make for very good activists of any kind. Again, Isaacs related to Rick being a loner, not an abuser, and Rick has since acknowledged how terribly he treated Terri in the past. They were both nerdy outcasts with shared interests in role playing dice and computers. Toby certainly doesn't condone what Rick did last year, but rather accepts who Rick is in the present day as good enough of a friend as he can get at this time. I think that Toby knew that something was off about him after he visited Rick's house the day of the Whack-Your-Brain finals and heard him inflate the truth about their relationship with Jimmy and Emma. Still: it isn't his duty to be Rick's moral teacher. He's a kid who just needs a friend.

I've seen another voice online saying that people underestimate the impact that Toby's friendship had on Rick, a statement that I agree with. While it was certainly a tragedy what Rick did, who knows how much worse it could have been, how much further he could have spiraled, how many more lives he could have devastated, if not for the presence of Toby. It would be unthinkable to bear the brunt of being bullied completely alone with nothing but your private thoughts to console you. There was a moment in episode 4x06 where Jay slams Rick into a locker, and shortly after he does, Toby is right there to offer Rick a hand. Something as simple as helping someone off of the floor after they've been knocked down can make a huge difference to a bullied victim.

It also tells you something about Toby’s character, someone who is boastful about his victories, that he goes out of his way to make sure Rick isn't humiliated at his own game. In this case, Rick deserved to lose in such a mortifying way. A guy with an abusive history needs to keep his ego in check. Still, Toby has a heart and wants Rick to get some satisfaction out of participating in their silly bet, so he pays Darcy to kiss his friend. He even lets Rick believe that the kiss happened organically as Rick is reminiscing about it the next day. Since Jay is around to witness this ordeal, he decides to punish Toby for it by shoving him into a locker. Fun fact: we get another bit of foreshadowing in this scene. Right before Jay pushes Toby into his own locker, he explains to Jay why he did what he did. "Look. Rick’s my friend. I was just trying to save him from humiliation." How sneaky of the writers to tell us what was going to happen to Rick in the next episode! Sadly, Toby wasn't able to save Rick from humiliation when it counted the most.

Rick has also stood up for Toby. We see this in part one of "Time Stands Still." Jimmy has just joined Whack-Your-Brain and is still at odds with Rick at this time. Jay and Spinner come after Toby in an attempt to find Rick. When Toby refuses to give away his friend's whereabouts, Jay punishes him by slamming his face into the water fountain he is drinking out of. When Toby meets up with Rick, Emma, and Jimmy in the gym, he has a bloodied lip. Both Rick and Jimmy know Toby had been attacked, and Jimmy tries to pry information from Toby. Instead, it is Rick who responds to Jimmy, challenging him to see the error of not only his ways but also the ways of his friends. The most poignant part of the dialogue is when Rick says, "Toby doesn't deserve this. Nobody does." This tells the viewers a couple of things. One, it shows that Spinner, Jay, and Alex are actually bullies at this point in the story since they've reared their aggression towards Toby, a kid who, unlike Rick, has done nothing wrong. Secondly, it shows that Rick is thinking of more than just his own suffering, as he is visibly upset at the fact that his bullies came after his friend. I point this out because people tend to say that Rick's return to Degrassi in search of forgiveness is only for the sake of his ego, arguing that he doesn't take into account anything else except his own problems and his own suffering. This scene with Jimmy proves that he is capable of feeling sorry for more than just himself. Abuser or not, Rick’s display of sympathy for Toby proves that he's not the "psycho" that everyone has branded him. Notice that Rick doesn't say "I don't deserve this," which takes the focus away from himself, but rather says that no one deserves to be tortured by other humans, and he is right. Granted, he does say right before how he has "...been suffering for weeks," which suggests that the viewers should garner empathy for Rick's situation, but nonetheless, Rick has the moral high ground for the first time in the series.

While this essay was dedicated to those who showed kindness towards Rick that most would argue he didn't deserve, it's a tragic irony that two of the people on this list are the ones he targeted at the end of his character arc. I remember watching the "Time Stands Still" two-parter and feeling a mix of emotions from indignation, to anxiety, to sadness. Toby could only watch helplessly as his friend was determined to kill his other friend since seventh grade. Before Rick pulled a gun, Toby tried to convince Rick to stay home after the prank, but Rick insisted that that was the one time he wanted to be at school. Toby tries to talk Rick out of it, but Rick isn't hearing any of it. The cold, malicious glare he gives Emma the entire time Sean tries to deescalate the situation is so unnerving. It's like he doesn't even see Toby standing in the halls with them, or doesn't care. Although Rick felt like he was betrayed by Jimmy, Toby was truly betrayed by Rick. I can't imagine being the person associated with a dead school shooter because I was friends with him. Rick might not have aimed a gun at Toby's face, and Toby might not have wrestled for the gun the way Sean did, but he was just as impacted by the shooting as Emma and Sean.

[cloysterbell]

Hello, I really love your meta posts (I've recently been enjoying your Haven meta) and I was wondering if you had any meta/thoughts/headcanons/theorises about how the Knights would react to finding out that Merlin was a sorcerer? Imagine they had learnt earlier in the series or they learnt when Arthur did except nobody died. I know, I know. But just think about the most ideal moment when they weren't fighting for their lives and dropping like flies. If Merlin had to use his magic to protect him or just felt compelled to confess for some reason (maybe he thought he was dying and needed to get it off his chest) how do you think they would all react? Would they hate him at first? Would they wonder why he didn't tell them? Would they laugh and be supportive? Would they be like "ah ha! I knew it!" or would they think he was joking until they saw his eyes?

Oh wow I haven't thought about this in probably 10 years. Uhhhhh let's see.......

Obviously Gwaine, first off. Since he seems to have no real beef with magic as a concept, just those who use it given that he's from Lot's kingdom initially (right...? or is that fanon......??) he'd almost definitely be fully supportive of Merlin but would probably feel super betrayed that Merlin didn't trust him enough to confess. Gwaine is so ride or die for Merlin so of course, that would hurt, but he'd probably come around quickly once he digested Merlin's reasoning. He understands, he's a lot smarter than everyone thinks he is. Anyway, the second Gwaine found out, regardless of if he'd forgiven Merlin for lying or not, he'd be immediately defending Merlin from everyone who wanted to stir the pot

I think Percival has secretly known for a while. He always gave me vibes of he knows so much more than he lets on so there was probably a high chance he saw Merlin secretly doing magic on hunts once or twice and just never said anything. He was probably surprised but had enough time to process it before Merlin was discovered so it didn't come as too much of a surprise

Leon probably reacted the strongest since he was Uther's knight before he was Arthur's. And he was probably super conflicted too because he knows Merlin, he respects Merlin, but magic is still dangerous and a crime. I feel like he probably would've initially followed the laws and would've arrested Merlin but he would've felt so so bad about it. Merlin, of course, wouldn't fight back because he gets it, he knows who Leon is too, but Arthur would have to step in (in this AU where Arthur knows) and would have to mediate. Leon would eventually come around but I think the most reluctantly out of anyone. If it were anyone else, he never would've, but for Merlin (and Arthur), he would

Elyan (in this AU where he doesn't die) I think would also be reluctant mostly because I think he's the most afraid of magic. He'd never admit that but magic killed his dad and he got super possessed in whatever that banger of an episode was. Plus he died because he fought a magic sword and lost. So like, he definitely has beef with magic. But I think Merlin's just so dang charismatic that he would eventually somewhat change Elyan's mind, though I don't think Elyan ever really loses his distrust of magic. He just trusts Merlin enough that it's mostly okay. He still gets a little jumpy though whenever Merlin does anything

Lancelot never finds out. He would kill Merlin immediately on sight if he knew and then would attempt to kill Arthur for harboring a criminal. Team Lancelot 2k24 let's goooo #Gwencelot

So tl;dr because it's Merlin, the knights would each go about it differently but I think they'd all be okay with it at the end. Maybe not magic as a whole, but definitely with Merlin having it. We've all seen that campfire scene in 4x05. Merlin's their brother and they're all ride or die for him (but Gwaine is the most)

[gallavich-headcanon]

Do you know what I think about this moment?

I think it was the first time Mickey realized that someone knew about him and Ian and was cool with it. The first time he realized Ian told someone. I can't help but wonder what he felt in that moment, to know that someone he doesn't trust (but Ian does) knew about him, about them, and didn't use it against him. "You gonna make me spell it out?" Lip knew he had to give him something to get his cooperation, but he was sensitive about it. They are in front of the Milkovich house, he can't say anything too blunt but he's not there to play games either.

I bet Mickey has been worried about Ian for a while, but figured Ian kept his family in the loop. They have done the silent treatment before (Mickey after 3x666, Ian during juvie 2.0). So I'm guessing he figured Ian just didn't talk to him. He knows what it means that Lip came to him - Lip was desperate. Mickey tries to play it cool but you can see this visit filled him with worry.

I also think it was the first time Lip realized what Ian means to Mickey. Before Ian left, Lip kept teasing about how much Ian could do better. But to be honest Lip only got to see only the front that Mickey was putting in public. A front Mickey curated exactly so people would stay away from him, so it makes sense.

But for the first time he noticed that Ian meant a lot to Mickey. When Lip was ready to move on, Mickey asked him more questions. He wanted to know more, he was worried. The "I'll tell you when I find out" means that Lip got it. He saw what Mickey wanted to say and met him half way.

[teruel-a-witch]

tfw your husband's partner's surrogate Dad calls you out on acting married

👀👀👀👀👀

actual scene someone wrote of Steve's Training Officer, a decorated veteran of the United States Navy (correctly) identifying Danny as Steve's spouse (and not the woman who occasionally sleeps over at Steve's house and even happens to be prominent in this episode).

Danny's deer-in-the-headlights reaction is even more priceless, he doesn't trust or like Joe much so he is on his guard around him usually but he did NOT expect an ambush from this angle ↓

*just got read for filth*

'B-bicker?? N-no, n-no, we...we d-don't bicker. I mean, we argue from time to time, sure but there's no bickering.'

well that was embarrassing. now, now, just refreshing my memory

yep, got that right, in trying to deny that he and Steve bicker like an old married couple, Danny literally bickers about the definition of the word bickering, proving Joe's point further.

you don't need to be world class spy to see how totally married Steve and Danny are, but that's obvious to everyone but themselves.

[amwritingmeta]

So I saw your monster meta on Monster Movie (thanks btw, it was great). One thing about that episode that bothers me is that when Dean and Sam interview Anna-Marie she’s drinking this giant soda and Sam and Dean keep giving her these weird looks (like even before she says it’s a werewolf) and I just don’t get the point of the soda. If it meant nothing it would be a part of the setting instead of a prop and if it didn’t symbolize something it wouldn’t be so freaking huge, right? Any thoughts?

Hello my lovely!! 

Aw thanks so much, that means a lot! That meta was such a labour of love and it makes me incredibly happy to read that you enjoyed it!! Yayyyy for enjoyment! :)

So this was driving me crazy too, honestly, as I watched the episode and since there was sooooo much to write anyway and I couldn’t find the fucking thread for the giant ass soda and the giant ass beer (oh yeah, I’ll show you in a minute) I just left it well alone. Buttshake, guess what - you asking me this made the visual click in my noggin’. THANK YOU!

Because Monster Movie is all about Dean, right? (well yeah according to me it is anyway and… I mean it is, even if you disagree with my reading) 

And LOOK –>

*excited face like wide grin and raised eyebrows and HAHAHA sounds*

LOOK AT THAT BIG PRETZEL MY LOVELY!

So Dean starts the trend of the Big Things Occupying Your Mouth Visual. And I’m so not sorry for calling this a “penis pretzel” anymore, because it fucking IS a visual aid to underline Dean’s dual personality: mainly that what he’s really trying to overcompensate for throughout this entire goddamn narrative is the fact that he is suddenly so fucking preoccupied with thoughts of dick, of one dick in particular. And that dick is linked to new feelings and that is SCARY AF. 

But COME ON Bob Singer, are you FOR REAL even? (I love this man)

So we get our first proper plant of Jamie saying “Gutten tag” and Dean responding with a slack-jawed “Gutten tag yourself” before exchanging a look with Sam like “Daaamnnnnn” and understandable, because Jamie is gorgeous. Sam spots the sheriff (one of our toxic masculinity representatives in this episode) and he says “Guess that’s our man” (and yes I could so go deep-diving into the feminine/masculine part of the planted visuals of this scene)…

…but let’s focus on Dean, who does this –>

I will never apologise for loving it when penis shaped food in the hands of Dean Winchester are being made to look like he’s giving it a blow job. 

What is all that fast food really about, Dean. Hmmmm? 

Anyway. Here’s the beautiful part. It is not just the penis pretzel that is a phallic symbol in this episode’s visual narrative.

Ed drinks beer from this –>

Yeah. This beer drove me crazy when I watched the episode again and again to write my meta, staring at this fucking scene without being able to actually visually tie it to Dean. It’s his narrative so I just felt there HAD to be a fucking reason for this being here - it is so OVERTLY phallic, and it did not click that the penis pretzel started out huge.

(subtle plant there for Cas’ package?) (or Dean’s desire for said package) 

Ok, it’s actually not sexual, sorry, must not joke (am so tired) - the phallic symbols are actually to do with Dean’s building fear at losing control of himself. The symbolism is here to push the theme of the narrative and is interestingly tying Dean to the man being judged by the sheriff as a nuisance, but empathised with by Jamie (who represents everything Dean needs to embrace to feel whole) 

But there is more! The root of your question, my dear! 

Because I bid you LOOK –>

That, my friends, is a blow job.

So here Dean is also linked (through starting the trend of Big Things Occupying Your Mouth Visual) with the girl giving this soda the time of its life. The girl who is a victim of her lying scumbag boyfriend. 

Or to be more specific, her toxic-masculinity-lies-to-get-in-bed-using-a-dated-ridiculous-line-of-how-men-need-sex-not-to-get-clogged-up-this-show-is-all-about-desconstructing-that-bullshit-sexist-idiocy-and-this-toxic-masculinity-representative-gets-fucking-killed-by-a-werefolf boyfriend. 

To summarise, Dean is linked to the guy who’s considered “weird”, a guy who is judged for it, and Dean is linked to the girl who is a victim of toxic masculinity. 

Yeah. That’s right. Like betcha by golly wow.

With the phallic plants, it’s like the narrative is taunting Dean for trying to overcompensate away from what’s stirring inside him, the way he can’t get Cas out of his head, by throwing the phallic symbols at him after he ate his penis pretzel completely unawares of this being what he was doing, subconsciously engaging with what he really wants while ogling Jamie and making a show of really, really wanting a girl. 

To me this is actually not about him being uncomfortable with his bisexuality. It has everything to do with him being absolutely averse to (because of his upbringing) and terrified by (because of his life history) the thought of feeling things too deeply. And whatever shit Cas is stirring up has the potential of being life changing. And Dean Winchester does not want to change an inch. So dude-bro performing side is kicking up a right fuss going PUSSY PUSSY PUSSY. (Dean’s subconscious whispering dick dick dick)

Oh my God my brain is fried, I wish I could be more articulate for you, but do you get what I’m saying here?

Dean’s the one with dick on the brain - in the most romantic sense of the word - and, at least how I see it, these visuals serve as a very subtle way of informing us of that.

Bob Singer is such a fucking master.

And thanks again and again for focusing me with this question! You just helped me deepen my 4x05 meta! *heart eyes your way*

Oh, let me add this as well: how can we know the beer and the humungous soda aren’t just, idk, for funsies? To me the answer is - the way Ed and Girl drink them. Ed drinks from that huuuuuge cumbersome thing twice and very deliberately, while Girl slurps and slurps and slurps. I mean… It’s only funny if you’re in on the joke and those visual plants don’t make me laugh, they make me frown and wonder why the hell they’re even there. So that’s my reason for thinking they are planted as more than just a visual woah-big-things-should-seem-ridiculous-for-no-reason-and-make-you-giggle. :)

xx